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 Orators of the American revolution 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 032 763 397 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032763397 
 
AIL IS SAM ©IE IE. MAMHaiTOKr, 
 
 
 ''.C'-er^^- 1'.' /"/.i^/^L- /y?-£ r-,r,^-iai,"kj^->'!rt:<t 
 
ORAT^ORS 
 
 ./J 
 
 f • *** OF THE 
 
 American Revolution. 
 
 I>rLt'"MAGOON", 
 
 AUTHOB or " DIBTINaUISSED AMEBICAN OBATOBS.' 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 MASON, BAKER & PRATT, 
 
 143 & 144 GRAND STREET. 
 
//CORNELL' 
 UNIVERSITY 
 \LIBRARV 
 
GOI^'TEN'TS. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE BATTLE-FIELDS OP BAELY AMEKICAN ELOQITEIirCE. 
 -II. 
 
 JAMES OTIS, 
 
 OBATOB OP INTEBPID FABSIOX 
 
 m. 
 
 SAMUEL M)AMS, 
 
 lAST OF THE FUIUTAira. 
 IV. 
 
 JOSIAH QUINCT, 
 
 ORATOR OF REFINED BNTHUSIASM. 
 
 ',y. 
 JOHN hancoce:, 
 
 DIGNIFIED CAVALIER OF LIBBETT. 
 VI. 
 
 JOSEPH WAEREN, 
 
 TYPE OP OCR MARTIAL ELOQUENCE. 
 
 vn. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, '"-' 
 
 ORATOR OF BLENDED ENTHUSIASM AND SOBRIETY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 vin. 
 
 PATRIOTIC PIETT OF '76. 
 IX. 
 
 PATRICK HENRT, 
 
 THE INCABNATION OF EEVOLtTTlONABT ZEAL. 
 X. 
 
 RICHARD HENRT LEE, 
 
 THE POLISHED STATESMAN. 
 
 XI. 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 
 
 THE MASTER OF POLITICAL SAQACITX. 
 
 xn. 
 
 FISHER AMES, 
 
 ORATOR OF GENIUS AKO ELABORATE BEAUTT. 
 XIIL 
 
 WILLIAM ^INKNEY, 
 
 THE ACCOMPLISHED COimSBLLOR. 
 XIV. 
 
 WILLIAM WIRT. 
 
 TEE ELEGANT ADVOCATa 
 XV. 
 
 THOMAS ADDIS EMMET, 
 
 THE ORATOR OF DEEP PEELINa. 
 XVI. 
 
 JOHN RANDOLPH, 
 
 THE IMPERSONATION OF SARCASM. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tee following work is an attempt to present the oratorical 
 features of the American Revolution. The political history 
 of tne country has been ably written. Vivid delineations of 
 our early martial heroes are also before the public. All the 
 great leaders in the various departments of statesmanship, 
 literature, science and art, have received the meed of skillful 
 scrutiny and discriminated praise. In view of this general 
 appreciation of our illustrious fathers, it is the more remark- 
 able that so little attention has been paid to the particular 
 merits of the great leaders of the American forum. True, a 
 good deal has been said of them in biographical sketches, 
 legislative history, and traditionary annals ; but we are not 
 aware that any work has heretofore been devoted to a criti- 
 cal and comprehensive examination of our great orators as 
 such. Many pointed allusions and partial descriptions lie 
 
JQ'' PREFACE 
 
 about in books of various kinds, facts, anecdotes, and fra^ 
 mentary sentiments, which are to a full analysis of specific 
 traits and the judicious estimate of individual worth, what » 
 confused mass of indefinite outlines are to a gallery of elabo 
 rate full-lengths, each distinctly drawn, rounded into sym- 
 saetrical shape and coiored with appropriate tone. 
 
 Our leading speakers, in Colonial and Revolutionary times, 
 were distinguished not more for their general ability, thin 
 for the wonderful originality of talent with which each in 
 particular was characterized. To indicate this individuality 
 of oratorical excellence, and the results which by a mighty 
 unity in diversity ^ere produced, is the object of the present 
 publication. 
 
 £ach one of the following portraitures briefly comprehends 
 the earthly career of its subject ; but, in accordance with the 
 above avowal, the reader may expect to meet with historical 
 details, only so far as they are requisite to explain the pre- 
 liminary training and elucidate the peculiar eloquence of the 
 master under consideration. The dates and circumstances 
 employed for this purpose the author has gathered from all 
 the resources within his reach. 
 
 It will be observed that several of the personages herein 
 portrayed do not strictly belong to the Revolutionary period 
 of our history. But, like the great patriots who preceded 
 them in the battles of life and solemnities of death, tlieir 
 merits are worthy of profound study and perpetual emulation. 
 
PBEFACE. XV 
 
 The last foar Dames in the present series represent an impres- 
 sive group, more recently departed, from whom we may here- 
 after turn to contemplate the Living Orators in America. 
 
 . E. L. M. 
 Cttteinnati, July 4th. 1848. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BATTLE-FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN 
 ELOQUENCE. 
 
 Great is the power of local association. To none is 
 its influence indifferent, but it is the most thrilling to 
 minds of the most delicate tone. Reverence for the 
 scenes of exalted deeds is a noble instinct planted in our 
 hearts for noble ends. It is inarticulate adoration ad- 
 dressed, not more to the understanding than to the heart. 
 To be in a high degree void of this, is an evidence of 
 personal ignominy and a presage of deserved oblivion. 
 
 Doctor Johnson, in a well-known passage, happily 
 refers to those feelings, which local associations awaken 
 in the refined bosom. On arriving at Icolmkill, in his 
 " Tour to the Western Islands," he wrote : 
 
 " We are now treading that illustrious island, which 
 was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions, 
 whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the 
 benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion. To 
 abstract the mind from all local emotion would be im- 
 possible if it were endeavored ; and would be foolish if 
 it were possible. Whatever withdraws us from the 
 power of the senses ; whatever makes the past, the dis- 
 tant, or the future predominate over the present; ad- 
 
18 0EAT0K3 OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 vances us in the dignity of thinking beings. Far from 
 me, and from my friends, be such frigid philosophy as 
 may conduct us, indifferent and unmoved, over any 
 ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery or 
 virtue. That man is little to be envied whose patriot- 
 ism would not gain force on the plain of Marathon, or 
 whose piety would not grow warmer among the rums 
 of lona." 
 
 The associations which are the most affecting are 
 moral. The venerable monuments of the past, and 
 localities ci/imected with which great events transpired, 
 are invested with irresistible attractions to a susceptible 
 heart and cultivated mind. They snatch the soul away 
 in rapture, as if it had already traversed the tomb, and 
 on the bosom of immensity imbue it with the inexhausti- 
 ble glories which Jehovah has diffused through the 
 universe : 
 
 " The mind hath no horizon, 
 It looks beyond the eye, and seeks for mind ; 
 
 In all it sees, in all it sees o'erruling." ^ 
 
 It was with reference to this power of local associa- 
 tion that the ancient poet, when describing the battle of 
 Salamis, together with the temples of their gods, and the 
 persons of those most dear to them, mentioned also the 
 tombs of their fathers as the objects best fitted to rouse 
 the courage and inflame the patriotism of the Athenians 
 in times of peril. Cicero beautifully alludes to the 
 pleasure, which every accomplished mind experiences 
 when exercised on the spots sanctified by illustrious 
 characters. Germanicus visited Athens with venera- 
 
FIELDS OP EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 19 
 
 iion; and during his stay, divested himself of every 
 insignia of power. Atticus paused with awe among its 
 tombs and monunients : Julian shed tears, on quitting 
 its bowers and groves : Leo Ailatries wept over the ruins 
 of a house which was said once to have belonged to He. 
 mer. And why are the ruins of that illustrious city so 
 thrilling to a cultivated and reflecting mind ? Because 
 it was the focus of intelligence ; the arena of the noblest 
 strife of the noblest heroes. 
 
 Still do we trace there the bold terrace of the Pnyx ; 
 the scene of the stormy assemblies of the free people of 
 Athens, and the battle-ground of her mightiest orators. 
 Hither resorted the intellectual sovereigns of the woi-ld ; 
 the patriots who . 
 
 " Shook the arsenal, and fuhnined over bieece, 
 To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne." 
 
 It was thence that Demosthenes spoke, and excited or 
 calmed the sea of popular commotion, more powerful 
 than the ^gean, whose billows, dashing near, mingled 
 their roar with the thunders of his eloquence. 
 
 There is a hallowed fellowship existing between all 
 master minds. The most meritorious are always the 
 first to recognize the claims of merit in others, the 
 acutest to feel their excellence, and the most eloquent to 
 proclaim their worth. When Ciceio visited Athens, he 
 wrote the following query : 
 
 " Shall I ascribe it to a law of our nature, or to a de- 
 lusive habit of mind, that when we look upon the scenes 
 which illustrious men of old frequented, our feelings are 
 more deeply excited than even by hearing the record of 
 
20 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 their deeds, or perusing the works of their genius. 
 Such is the emotion I now experience, when I tnm , 
 that here Plato was accustomed to discourse; these gar- 
 dens around us not merely recall the idea of the sage to 
 my memory, but place, as it were, his very form be- 
 fore my eyes. Here, too, Speusippus taught; here 
 Xenocrates, here his disciple, Polemon ; this is the very 
 seat he used to occupy." 
 
 From these words of the great son of Rome, turn for 
 a moment to the scene of his grandest struggles, that 
 arena whereon the mightest spirits met in terrible con- 
 flict, the Forum. Here, while Romans were freemen, 
 all state affairs were debated in the most public manner, 
 and the spot perhaps deserved the praise of being "the 
 noblest theatre on this side of heaven." Elevated in 
 the midst of the great square was the rostra, from which, 
 with his eyes fixed on the capitol, which immediately 
 faced him, and the Tarpeian rock, with which the most 
 impressive associations of honor and infamy were con- 
 nected, the noblest of orators, " wielded at will the fierce 
 democracy," filling all bosoms with a passionate love of 
 freedom and the glory of the Roman race. Cicero, in 
 his work de Finibus, has indicated a fine trait of his 
 character in the following remark : 
 
 "Often when I enter the senate house, the shades of 
 Scipio, of Cato, and of Lselius, and in particular of my 
 fenerable grandfather, rise to my imagination." 
 
 Every elegant mind will be thus haunted in the same 
 localities. 
 
 The scene that beneficent spirits have visited "re. 
 mains hallowed to all time," says Schiller; it is still 
 
FIFLDS OP EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUBNCE. 21 
 
 "blessed, though robbers haunt the place." Soul ley 
 adds, "He whose heart is not excited upon the sfot 
 which a martyr has sanctified by his sufferings, or at the 
 grave of one who has largely benefitted mankind, must 
 be more inferior to the multitude by his moral, than he 
 can possibly be raised above them in his intellectual 
 nature." We are indebted to the influence of local as 
 sociation, for one of the most valuable productions in 
 modern history. It was in the Church of St. Maria 
 d' Ara Coeli, on the Capitoline Hill at Rome, as Gibbon 
 himself tells us : "On the fifteenth of October, 1764, as he 
 sat musing amid "the ruins of the capitol, while the bare- 
 footed friars were singing Vespers, that the idea of writ- 
 ing the Decline and Fall of the city first started to his 
 mind." 
 
 Why is Pompeii so full of thrilling associations to the 
 thoughtful traveller? It is because he there views a 
 city that was old when Christ was a babe, the well pre- 
 served homes of a thousand happy circles all of whom 
 perished long before our ancestors had a language or the 
 world a substantial hope. It is a city that reposed 
 twenty centuries in the bosom of the earth, with nations 
 trampling above, while its monuments and decorations 
 have been so well preserved, and now stand out so 
 brightly in brilliant day, that a contemporary of Augus- 
 tus, returning to its streets, its forums, its temple-fanes 
 and tesselated boudoirs, might exclaim : 
 
 " I greet thee, O my country ! my dwelling is the on'y 
 spot upon the earth which has preserved its form ; a;i 
 immunity extending even to the smallest objects of mj 
 affection. Here is my couch ; there are my fav< ritt 
 
22 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 authors. My paiatings, also, are still fresh as when the 
 ingenious artist. spread them over^my walls. Come, let 
 us traverse the town ; let us visit the drama ; I rec<^- 
 nize the spot where I joined for the first time in the 
 plaudits given to the fine scenes of Terence and Euri- 
 pides. Rome is but one vast museum; Pompeii is a 
 living antiquity." 
 
 On visiting the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, 
 the ingenuous scholar is" inspired by the genius of the 
 place. He remembers that within those venerable wails. 
 Hooker and Johnson, Bacon ant' Newton pursued the 
 walks of science, and thence soared to the most elevated 
 heights of literary renown. It was the same noble emu- 
 lation that TuUy experienced at Athens, when he con- 
 templated the portico where Socrates sat, and the laurel 
 grove where Plato discoursed. 
 
 But the most interesting associations we can explore 
 are those connected with the early; struggles of our 
 country to be free. This topic is the most important, 
 and we shall dwell on it more at length. 
 
 In glancing at the historical events of our Revolution, 
 we escape from the obsqurity which invests the " dim 
 and shadowy visions" of a remoter past. We contem- 
 plate an age crowded, indeed, with unparalleled and 
 stupendous events, but one perfectly authentic and lu- 
 minous with the highest degree of splendor. Mr. Alison 
 describes the era of our national birth in the following 
 high strain of e'oquence : 
 
 "The reign of George III., embraces, beyond all 
 question, the most eventful and important period in the 
 annals of mankind. In its eventful days were combined 
 
FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 23 
 
 the growth of Grecian democracy with the passions of 
 Roman ambition ; the fervor of plebeian zeal with the 
 pride of aristocratic power ; the blood of Marius with 
 the genius of Caesar ; the opening of a nobler hemisphere 
 to the enterprize of Columbus, with the rise of a sociai 
 agent as mighty as the press or the powers of steam. 
 
 "But if new elements were called into action in the 
 social world, of surpassing strength and energy, in the 
 course of this memorable reign, still more remarkable 
 were the characters which rose to eminence during 
 its continuance. The military genius, unconquerable 
 courage, and enduring constancy of Frederic; the ar- 
 dent mind, burning eloquence, and lofty patriotism of 
 Chatham; the incorruptible integrity, sagacious intel- 
 lect, and philosophic spirit of Franklin ; the disinterested 
 virtue, prophetic wisdom, and imperturbable fortitude of 
 Washington; the masculine understanding, feminine 
 passions, and blood-stained ambition of Catharine, would 
 alone have been sufficient to cast a radiance over any 
 other age of the world. But bright as were the stars of 
 its morning light, more brilliant still was the constella- 
 tion which shone forth in its meridian splendor, or cast 
 a glow over the twilight of its cening shades. Then 
 were to be seen the rival genius of Pitt and Fox, which, 
 emblematic of the antagonist powers which then con- 
 vulsed maiikind, shook the British Senate by their vehe- 
 mence, and roused the spirit destined, ere long, for the 
 dearest interests of humanity, to array the world in 
 arms ; then the great soul of Burke cast off the unworld- 
 ly fetters of ambition or party, and, fraught with a 
 eiant's force and a propliet's wisdom, regained its destiny 
 
24 ORATORS or THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 m the cause of mankind ; then the arm of Nelson cas( 
 its thunderbolts on every shore, and preserved unscath- 
 ed in the deep the ark of European freedom ; and, ere. 
 his reign expired, the vC'isdom of Wellington had erected 
 an impassible barrier to Gallic ambition, and said, even 
 to the deluge of imperial power, " Hitherto shalt thou 
 come and no farther, and here shstW thy proud waves be 
 stayed." Nor were splendid genius, heroic virtue, gi- 
 gantic wickedness, wanting on the opposite side of this 
 heart-stirring conflict. Mirabeau had thrown over the 
 morning of the French Revolution the brilliant but de- 
 ceitful light of Democratic genius ; Danton had colored 
 its noontide glow with the passidns and the energy of tri- 
 bunitian power ; Carnot had exhibited the combination, 
 rare in a corrupted age, of Republican energy with pri- 
 vate virtue; Robespierre had darkened its evening days 
 by the blood and agony of selfish ambition ; Napoleon 
 had risen like a meteor over its midnight darkness, 
 dazzled the world by the brightness of his genius and the 
 lustre of his deeds, and lUred its votaries, by the deceitful 
 blaze of glory, to perdition. 
 
 " In calmer pursuits in the tranquil walks of science 
 and literature, the same age was, beyond all others, fruit 
 ful in illustrious men. Doctor Johnson, the strongest 
 intellect and the most profound observer of the eighteenth 
 century ; Gibbon the architect of a bridge over the dark 
 gulf which separates ancient from modern times, whose 
 vivid genius has tinged with brilliant colors the greatest 
 historical woi-k in existence; Hume, whose simple but 
 profound history will be coeval with the long and event 
 ful thread of English story; Robertson, who first threw 
 
FIELDS OF EARL-J AMERICAN ELOaUENOE. 25 
 
 over the maze of human events the light of philosophic 
 genius and the spirit of enlightened reflection; Gray, 
 whose burning thoughts had been condensed in words 
 of more than classic beauty; Burns, whose lofty soul 
 spread its own pathos and dignity over the "short and 
 simple annals of the poor;" Smith, who called into 
 existence a new science, fraught with the dearest in- 
 terests of humanity, and nearly brought it to perfection 
 in a single life-time ; Reid, who carried into the recesses 
 of the human mind the torch of cool and sagacious in- 
 quiry; Stewart, who cast a luminous glance over the 
 philosophy of mind, and warmed the inmost recesses of 
 metaphysical inquiry by the delicacy of taste and the 
 glow of eloquence ; Watt, who added an unknown power 
 to the resources of art, and in the regulated force of 
 steam, discovered the means of approximating the most 
 distant parts of the earth, and spreading in the wilder- 
 ness of nature the wonders of European enterprise and 
 the blessings of Christian civilization ; these formed 
 some of the ornaments of the period, during its earlier 
 and more pacific times, forever memorable in the annals 
 of scientific acquisition and literary greatness." 
 
 The colonial and revolutionary history in this country 
 comported with the intellectual character of the age just 
 sketched. The founders of our colonies, the Winthrops, 
 the Smiths, the Raleighs, the Penns, the Oglethorpes, 
 were among the most accomplished scholars and ele- 
 gant writers, as well as the most elevated and pure 
 spirits of their time. They were men of severe morali 
 ty and unblemished integrity, as distinguished for private 
 purity as for public virtue. Being driven into war, the} 
 2 
 
26 ORATOBS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOHT. 
 
 drew their swords for opinion's sake ; having entered 
 the contest on conscientious grounds, they deemed nc 
 sacrifice too great to be made in defence of their rights, 
 
 " Such were the men of old, whose tempered blades 
 Dispersed the shackles of usurped control, 
 And hewed them link from link : then Albion's sons 
 Were sons indeed ; they felt a filial heart 
 Beat high within them at a mother's wrongs; 
 And shining each in his domestic sphere 
 Shone brighter still when called to public view." 
 
 Diodorus Siculus tells us that the forest of the P}"™ 
 nean mountains being set 6n fire, and the heat penetrat- 
 ing the soil, a pure stream of silver, gushed forth from 
 the earth's bosom, and revealed for the first time the 
 existence of those mines afterwards so celebrated. So, 
 in circumstances of severe trial, intellectual resources 
 are developed in copious and splendid profusion. 
 
 The heroical pioneers of freedom in our land were not 
 only conscious of the dignity and importance of the im- 
 mediate consequences of their acts, but they were 
 prophetic of the future grandeur which their country was 
 destined to attain. The spirit of lofty and wise patriotism 
 was diffused through all classes, and the resolute deter- 
 mination to resist oppression was shared by all.' Ameri-- 
 can mothers early learned, like the Spartan matron, -to 
 say to their sons marching to battle, " Return mciariows; 
 or return no more." 
 
 Another striking feature in our primitive annals was 
 the unanimity of purpose and action which subsisted 
 among all the early patriots. The parent colonies teem 
 with charms " unborrowed from the eye," They abound 
 
FIELDS OP EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 27 
 
 with scenes which memory has sanctifibd, histoiy com 
 memorated, and poetry adorned ; every rivulet has its 
 hallowed associations, every secluded lake and untamed 
 forest haunts the imagination with reminiscences of 
 savage times; every field h^s its tale of blood, every 
 shore its record of suffering, and "not a mountain lifts 
 its. head unsung," or unworthy of heroic strains. Al- 
 though the external aspect of nature is becoming rapidly 
 changed by the inroads of unexampled enterprise; and 
 many vestiges of primitive wildniess' are swept away, 
 still 
 
 " A spirit hangs, - 
 
 Beautiful region.!, ,q'^ thy towns and farms,. 
 
 Statues and temples, and memorial tombs." 
 
 But one impulse moved our fathers in the great work 
 they were commissioned to perform.* Each one was full 
 of the sentiment of Grattan, "I never will be satisfied so 
 long as the meanest of mortals' has a link of the British 
 chain clanking on his lihibs ; and the declaration is plant- 
 ed, and though great men should apostatize, yet the 
 cause shall live ; and though the public speaker should 
 die, yet the immortal fire shall outlast the organ that con- 
 veyed it, and the breath of liberty, like the word of the 
 holy man, will not die with the prophet, but survive 
 him." 
 
 That spirit has survived its first propagators, enhanc- 
 ed in value, if possible, by the recollection that, equally 
 n the remotest sections, there was unanimous prompti- 
 tude for a c*>mmon defence, and not one recreant among 
 avowed patriots to disgrace their toil-. 
 
 The blood that was shed in the war of the Revolution 
 
28 ORATOES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUnCN. 
 
 was shed in thie defence of essential rights, and to secure 
 independence for all. The bond of mutual sympathy 
 was strong, and the interchange of patriotic labors de- 
 lightful. The most glorious victories of the south, were 
 won by a northern general ; and the greatest achieve- 
 ments north of the Potomac, distinguishes the name of a 
 southern officer. Patriots did not then stop to calculate 
 the value of the Union, and strike a balance between 
 imaginary and substantial allegiance to a common coun- 
 try. Then the richest consolation men enjoyed in life 
 and in death, was that their sacred trust as statesmen 
 and fellow citizens had been discharged with equal 
 fidelity to every portion of the struggling land, and that 
 the fruits of that fidelity, consecrated with their tears 
 and blood, were entailed on their latest posterity. Not 
 yet are statues and columns, and temples dedicated to 
 each of that immortal band. Perhaps the most appro- 
 priate monument and which best comports with their 
 character and fame, is the one they themselves erected ; 
 the simple and sublime grandeur of our vast Republic. 
 
 The influence of local association is strongly felt ir 
 the bosom of every American who visits the crumbling 
 ruins of Jamestown, " Glorious still in all her old decay ;" 
 or the unwasted rock at Plymouth ; the solid shore on 
 which the Pilgrims first stepped, and which is immortal 
 like Marathon or Nazareth. Truly said the great states- 
 man of the north : 
 
 " We shall not stand unmoved on the shore of Ply. 
 mouth, while the sea continues to wash it ; nor will our 
 brethren in another early and ancient colony forget the 
 place of its first establishment *ill their river shall cease 
 
FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN ELOQUENCE. 29 
 
 to flow by it. No vigor of youth, no maturity of man- 
 hood, will lead the nation to forget the spots where its 
 infancy was cradled and defended." 
 
 He must have sensibilities dull indeed who can con- 
 template unmoved the original dresses still preserved in 
 " Pilgrim Hall ;" the very plates from which our ances- 
 tors feasted and thanked God, and the venerable records 
 in which their own hands inscribed the incidents of their 
 first days on this continent, the most sad and sublime of 
 history. " Where a s{)ring rises or a river flows," says 
 Seneca, " There should we build altars and offer sacri- 
 fices." We feel the force of this sentiment when we 
 bend over the " sweet and delicate springs of water," for 
 which the Pilgrims rendered especial gratitude, and which 
 are still gushing at the foot of that hill, hard by the 
 sounding sea, on the dreary summit of which, in that 
 bleak December, the first germs of our nation sought a 
 refuge amid drifting snows. Commerce is now busy 
 there, wealth, science and art are multiplying their monu- 
 ments all around, but O ! let them not encroach on the 
 sacred precincts of that hill's summit — the first burial- 
 ground of our land ; leave that as a hallowed shrine 
 where the remotest descendants of the pure and the free 
 from his hearth far-off" by the shore of the Pacific, may 
 come and listen to the kindred tones of the Atlantic, and 
 the holy melody of night-winds as they sigh a perpetual 
 requiem over the graves of the first victims of that 
 dreadful winter. Carver, White, R:»se Standish, and 
 Mary AUerton. In the language of a distinguished 
 poet, now living in New England, may we noi 
 exclaim : 
 
80 OBATOBS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 " Oh ! if the young enthusiast, bears 
 O'er weary waste and sea the stone 
 Which crumbled from the Forum's stairs 
 
 Or round the Parthenon ; 
 Or olive-bough from some wUd tree, 
 Hung over old Thermopylae : 
 
 " If leaflets from some hero's tomb, 
 
 •Or moss-wreath torn from ruins hoajy, 
 Or faded flowers whose sisters bloom 
 
 On fields renowned in story ; 
 Or fragments from the Alhambra's crest. 
 Or the gray rock by Druids blest ! 
 
 "If it be true that things' like these 
 
 To heart and eye bright visions bring, 
 
 Shall not far holier memories 
 To these memorials cling 1 
 
 Which need no mellowing mist of time 
 
 To hide the crimson stains of crime ! 
 
 But the- most remarkable characteristic of our early 
 history is^ that Providence seems to have assigned each 
 man an especial duty, and to have marked each battle- 
 field of forensic strife with distinguished honors. It is 
 interesting to observe how the citadel of oppression was 
 attacked at different points, and a stone loosened here 
 and there, by individual efforts, preparatory to the gen- 
 eral storm and complete downfall. James Otis, in his 
 argument against "Writs of Assistance," avowed and 
 triumphantly defended the doctrine, that " taxation with- 
 out representation is tyranny ;" and Samuel Adams, in 
 a college exercise pronounced in the presence of the 
 chief minions of British power, boldly announced for his 
 
FIELDS OF EAKLY AMEBICAN ELOQUENCE. 31 
 
 theme that "Resistance to the Chief Magistrate is a 
 duty, when the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be 
 :preserved " These were radical principles and struck 
 at the foundation of all colonial wrongs. 
 
 •About the same time, Patrick Henry led off the south, 
 ern wing 'of freedom's young army in a most bold and 
 daring manner. The ruins of the old House of Bur- 
 gesses will -be for ever associated with his name. It was 
 on that spot, in 1764, that he originated the great ques- 
 tion which led eventually to American Independence. 
 The whole colony of Virginia was confounded and dispir- 
 ited on the promulgation of the Stamp- Act. It was in that 
 dark icrisis-that Henry arose, and the thunders of his 
 eloquence were heard, holding up to public indignation 
 the tyranny of Great Britain, and animating his coun- 
 trymen to resist the injustice which in that Act she had 
 presumed to inflict. It was in allusion to the august 
 scene, when this "forest-born Demosthenes" boldly 
 braved the popular feeling of the world and the world's 
 greatest power, that Jefferson declared, "Mr. Henry 
 certainly gave the first impulse to the ball of the 
 Revolution/' 
 
 ■ The same hand smote down another iniquitous prin- 
 ciple in ^ the old court-house yet standing in Hanover 
 county. We refer to the famous controversy between 
 the clergy on the one hand and the people of the colony 
 on the other, touching the stipend claimed by the former. 
 Goaded to. a sense of religious freedom by the arrogance 
 of a state establishment and the stings of intolerance, the 
 colonists sought a defender of their rights, and found 
 \vm in the person of a rustic patriot, then but twenty 
 
32 OKATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTlOJf. 
 
 four years old. We need not here recoup* tne splendid 
 scene when Henry delivered his famous "speech against 
 the parsons," making the blood of all to run cold, and 
 their hair to rise on end. 
 
 It was thus that Otis, by the flames of his eloquence, 
 calcined the corner-stone of legal tyranny, and Henry 
 with a thunder-bolt shattered the key-stone of ecclesias- 
 tical wrongs. ^ Like Hercules and Theseus, they were 
 the avengers of the oppressed and the destroyers of 
 monsters. These were not men who, as Burke said of 
 the aristocratic politicians of his acquaintance, had been 
 "rocked and dandled into legislators." James Otis and 
 Patrick Henry were, above all .others, best fitted for the 
 emergency to which they were born, because they dared 
 to say more in public than any other men. They pos- 
 sessed the brawny strength of the giant i.nder whose 
 massy club the hydra fell, and the ethereal terrors that 
 rendered Jupiter Tonans dreadful to his foes, rather 
 than the effeminate ease and elegant locks of Adonis, 
 graceful in the dance, but ineflScient on the field of 
 severe and solemn conflict. 
 
 Every conquest of value is at the price of {lopular 
 commotion and heroic blood. Men must dare if they 
 would win. The atmosphere we breathe would stag- 
 nate without tempests, and the ocean becomes putrid 
 without agitation. Galileo fought in the observatory 
 and suffered in prison while establishing the true doc- 
 trines of astronomy. Otis, Henry and Adams strugo-Jed 
 on the rostrum, and pleaded with a price set upon their 
 heads, while they cleared a space for the sunshine and 
 growth of enlarged liberty. They were just the men 
 
FIELDS OF EARLT AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 33 
 
 for the task. They struck for freedom and not for 
 phmder, and were ready to sacrifice everything in be- 
 half of the boon for the attainment of which they fought 
 To give battle single-handed, like Cocles, against a horde 
 of foes, or, like Curtius, to immolate themselves for the 
 good of their country, was a duty which they courted 
 rather than shunned. Those three men were the Ho- 
 ratii of this nation, and their renown will grow broader 
 and brighter with the lapse of time. 
 
 It is interesting to observe what great results some- 
 times flow from little causes. On NovenoJier the seven- 
 teenth, 1307, three patriotic Swiss met at night on the 
 border of a lake in the bosom of' the Alps, and mutually 
 pledged their labors and their lives for the disenthral- 
 ment of their country. By the blessing of Providence 
 on their efforts, and the vigilance of their successors, 
 Freedom won and has maintained her sublime throne on 
 that spot for 'six hundred years. Near the same pl^e, 
 three rivulets pour their limpid waters and unite in a 
 stream constantly augmented as it leaves mountain and 
 forest behind and rushes on to linger a while in the 
 placid beauty of Lake Constance ; thence it leaps down 
 the cataract of Schauffhausen, rolls along the bases of 
 Jhe Jura, the Vosges and the Taurus : traverses the 
 plains of Friesland, waters the low countries of Holland ; 
 <nd having received twelve thousand tributaries, flowed 
 »y one hundred and fourteen cities and towns, divided 
 eleven nations, murmuring the history of thirty centuries 
 and diffusing innumeraHe blessings all along its course, 
 it stretches its mighty career from central Europe to the 
 isca But who can measure the length or fathom tha 
 2* 
 
34 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOX. 
 
 depth of that current of good, first opened by the instru- 
 mentality of Otis, Henry and Adams? — a stream which, 
 more beneficent than the mighty river of Egypt or the 
 Rhine, is destined to inundate and fertilize the world. 
 
 The source of American independence may be traced 
 higher than to the period when, to speak in the verse 
 of Thomson, 
 
 " Strait to the voted aid, 
 Free, cordial, large, of never-failing source, 
 Th' illegal imposition follow'd harsh, 
 With execution given, or ruthless sought, 
 From an insulted people, hy a hand 
 Of the worst ruffiiins, those of tyrant power." 
 
 It was not the Stamp- Act that produced, although it 
 immediately occasioned, the struggle with the mother- 
 country. It has been well said by Mr. Jefferson, that 
 'the ball of the Revolution received its first impulse, 
 not from the actors in that event, but from the first 
 colonists." The latter emigrated to America in search 
 of civil and religious freedom ; they fled hither with a 
 latred toward the shackles which feudal institutions and 
 the canon law imposed upon the soul. The spirit of 
 revolt against oppression originated in England, and 
 went with Robinson's congregation to Holland ; thence 
 it emigrated in the Mayflower to Plymouth, and became 
 the basis of all the legislation put forth by the wisest of 
 colonists. Our Pilgrim Fathers moulded their social 
 compacts and ecclesiastical government in direct oppo- 
 sition to the systems under which they had been so 
 severely oppressed. But this spirit of freedom, which 
 hod been developing from the first planting of the 
 
FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 35 
 
 colonies, England attempted to quell. The chief resist- 
 ance was niade to her aggressive measures in Massa 
 chusetts, because that colony was selected for the firsl 
 trial of tyrannic control. We have seen, however, 
 that the south was as prompt to resist as her more 
 oppressed brethren at the north. 
 
 The historian of Greece records the names of ten 
 distinguished orators who resisted the Macedonian 
 conqueror, and the persons of whom he demanded, as 
 being hostile to his supremacy. Our youthful colonies, 
 soon after the conflict was commenced by the venerated 
 patriots already named, presented an array of orators 
 equal in number and efficiency to those of any land. 
 Henry, Lee, and Randolph, in the south, and Otis, 
 Samuel Adams, John Adams, Josiah Quincy, Hamilton, 
 and others, in the north, rose in grandeur and usefulness 
 as the storm increased; showing that they were the 
 voices and the beacon-fires which God had toned and 
 lighted for the welfare of mankind. 
 
 Several coincidences in our early history are remarka- 
 ble. The first and last battle-fields of the Revolution 
 are almost within sight of the colleges where our leading 
 patriots were educated, and the rostra where the first po- 
 pular debates occurred. All the chief orators of New 
 England were graduated at Harvard; the popular dis- 
 cussions which led to actual conflict with the mother- 
 country took place in the public buildings of Boston, 
 and the first great battle for freedom raged on Bunker 
 Hill. 
 
 The chief lead ^rs of the patriotic party in the south 
 were educated at the college of Wj">an \nfi Miy. 
 
36 ORATORS OF THb MERICAN •tBVOLUTION. 
 
 Jefferson', then a student, heard Patrick Henry's first 
 eloquent denunciation of oppression almost under the 
 eaves of his Alma Mater, as John Adams, then a young 
 man, heard Otis when he first attacked the principle of 
 unjust taxation in the north. In the immediate neigh- 
 borhood of Williamsburg, Cornwallis surrendered, and 
 the! long struggle of the Revolutionary war was closed. 
 Thus the ball rested near where it received its first 
 impulse. Without those collegfes to discipline our 
 heroical fathers, how different would have been the 
 destinies of the world ! Long may the venerable halls 
 remain, and there 
 
 " Long may young Genius shed his sparkling ray, 
 And throw his emanations bright around." 
 
 The apostles of liberty in America, like the original 
 preachers of our holy religion, first proclaimed their 
 doctrines to a few fishermen ; men of toil and enterprise, 
 such as Burke described : " While we follow them 
 among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them 
 penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's 
 Bay and Davis' Straits ; while we are looking for them 
 beneath t le arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced 
 into the opposite region of polar cold : that tiiey are at 
 the antipodes, and engaged under the frozen serpent of 
 the south. Falkland Island, which seemed too remote 
 an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a 
 stage and resting-place in the progress of their victorious 
 industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging 
 to them than the accumulated winter of both the poles 
 We know that while some of them draw the line and 
 
FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN ELOQUENCA. 37 
 
 Btrike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run 
 the longitude and pursue their gigantic game along the 
 coasts of Brazil. No sea but is vexed by their fisheries ; 
 no climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither 
 the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, 
 nor the dexterous and firm' sagacity of English enter- 
 prise, ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy 
 industry to the extent to which it has been pushed by 
 this recent people ; a people who are still, as it were, 
 but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone 
 of manhood. 
 
 " When I contemplate these things ; when I know 
 that the colonies in general owe little or nothing to anj' 
 care of ours, and that they are not squeezed into this 
 happy form by the constraints of a watchful and sus- 
 picious government, but that through a wise and 
 Salutary neglect a generous nature has been suffered to 
 takie her own way to perfection ; when I reflect upon 
 these effects ; when I see how profitable they have been 
 to us, I feel all the pride of power sink, and all pre- 
 sumption in the wisdom of human contrivances melt 
 and die away within me^ my rigor relents; I pardon 
 sbmething to the spirit of liberty."- 
 • Such being the spirit of enterprise among the colonists 
 in their efforts to obtain an honest livelihood on the 
 land and on the sea, we cannot suppose that they >vould 
 ibng submit to oppressive exactions. Popular discus- 
 sions of popular wrongs soon became frequent, and one 
 of the most noted places of gathering was around 
 ^Liberty Tree. This was a majestic elm, a species 
 peculiar to America, and one of the prandest trees ir 
 
38 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 the world. It stood opposite where now stands the 
 Boyston Market, with its immense branches over- 
 spreading the street. -Governor Bernard, writing to 
 Lord Hillsborough, in a letter dated Boston, June 16, 
 1763, gives the following description of the renowned 
 spot: 
 
 " Your lordship must know that Liberty Tree i? a 
 large old elm in the High-street, upon which the effigies 
 were hung in the time of the Stamp-Act, and from 
 whence the mobs at that time made their parades. It 
 has since been adorned with an inscription, and has 
 obtained the name of Liberty Tree, as the ground under 
 it has that of Liberty Hall. In August last, just before 
 the commencement of the present troubles, they erected 
 a flag-staff, which went through the tree and a good 
 deal above the top of the tree. Upon this they hoist a 
 flag as a signal for the ' Sons of Liberty,' as they are 
 called. I gave my Lord Shelburne an account of this 
 erection at the time it was made. This tree has often 
 put me in mind of Jack Cade's ' Oak of Reformation.' " 
 
 The towering elm thus referred to was the grand 
 rallying-point for the ancient Sons of Liberty. On its 
 sturdy trunk notices «f tyrannical movements and calls 
 to resist the same were wont to appear in the night, 
 nobody could tell from whence ; from its lofty branches 
 obnoxious functionaries were often suspended in ridi- 
 culous representations, nobody could tell by whom. 
 For instance, on the fourteenth of August, 1765, an 
 effigy of Mr. Quiver, recently appointed to distribute the 
 stamps, and a boot (emblematical of Lord Bute) with 
 the devil peeping out of it with the Stamp- Act in his 
 
FIELDS OF EARL1 AMEEIGAN ELOQUENCE. 39 
 
 nand, and various other satirical emblems, here ap- 
 peared in the manner described. By this time, so strong 
 had the popular inaignation become, that the sheriffs, 
 when ordered to the task by Chief Justice Hutchinson, 
 declined the danger of removing the pageantry from 
 the tree. It would seem that on this spot "liberty- 
 poles" originated, and one now marks the site of the 
 tree so dear to our fathers ; a locality thrilling indeed in 
 <ts associations. 
 
 To the thoughtful American, as he perambulates 
 Boston and its vicinity, there are many scenes calculated 
 to arrest and strongly to absorb attention; but, all 
 things considered, perhaps no place in New England is 
 more interesting than Faneuil Hall. We have already 
 alluded to several distinguished battle-fields of earlj 
 American eloquence, each of which is remarkable for 
 the conquest of some grand and specific principle of 
 freedom. The old State-House, the head^quarters of 
 colonial government in Boston, was the arena on which 
 unrighteous taxation was combatted and the true ground 
 won. The House of Burgesses, at Williamsburg, was 
 the field on which open rebellion against Parliament 
 was first declared, and Hanover .court-house, in the 
 same colony, was the blessed spot whereon priestly rule 
 was effectually destroyed ; but Faneuil Hall will be for- 
 ever memorable for still more noble and enduring asso- 
 ciations. Within those venerable walls transpired not 
 so much the work of destruction as construction" 
 patriots therein not only resisted wrong, but they 
 elicited and moulded into practical use the elements of 
 v/hat is right anr good ; while they pulled down antiqufl 
 
40 ORATORS OP THE AMERIGAN REVOLUTION 
 
 forms of government, they at the same time buili up » 
 new order of pcditical and moral architecture the most 
 symmetrical and sublime. 
 
 Three prominent features characterize our republican 
 institutions; universal representation, free discussion, 
 and the decision of all questions by majorities. It is 
 easy to demonstrate where these fundanoental principles 
 were first established. 
 
 The " town-meetings" of New England were entirely 
 a new feature introduced to the world in connection 
 with political reform. A noted one was held in Faneuii 
 Hall on the twelfth of September, 1768. Dr. Cooper 
 opened the exercises with prayer. A letter written to 
 the commissioners of the British government, by one of 
 their spies, gives us some interesting details with respect 
 to the customs and feelings that prevailed in the popular 
 meetings of those times. The informer tells .hem that 
 the people met in Faneuil Hall ; that Mr. Otis was chosen 
 moderator, and was received vidth an universal clapping 
 >f bands ; that the ball not being large enough to con- 
 ain them, they adjourned to Dr. Sewall's meeting-nouse ; 
 .hat after several motions, and the appointing a deputa- 
 tion to wait on his excellency, they agreed to adjourn to 
 the next afternoon ; "the moderator first making a speech 
 to l;he inhabitants, strongly recommending peace and 
 good order, and the grievances the people labored under 
 might be in time removed ; if not, and we were called 
 on to defend our liberties and privileges, he hoped and 
 bel evedi w.e '^ould one and all resist, even unto blood : 
 but a.i[,fk& same time, prayed A.mighty God it migh 
 nc er so happen." 
 
FIELDS UK EAELl! AMERICAN ^LOUUEKCE. 41 
 
 Thus was the right of free discussion in a popular a* 
 sembly asserted and exercised, and the still higher righ? 
 of universal suffrage connected therewith. The show 
 of hands decided every question, and the hard hand o) 
 the laboring man counted as much as that which signed 
 orders for tens of thousands. Such gatherings and dis 
 cushions had the most salutary effects. The people be 
 came acquainted with each other, and felt the need of 
 mutual dependence as well as mutual restraint. The 
 influence of every man was estimated according to his 
 personal worth. In the popular strife for universal free- 
 dom, they struck upon the fundamental principle of re- 
 publicanism, that the majority must rule; it was this 
 that gave each member of an assembly a pride in main- 
 taining its decisions, as he thereby fortified his own judg-' 
 ment and self-respect. No sooner had these meetings, 
 actuated and controlled by such original and exaltet 
 principles, began to be held in the "Cradle of Liberty,' 
 than the sagacious Burke recognized and proclaimed 
 their superior dignity. Said he of the colonists : "Their 
 governments are popular in a high degree; some are 
 merely popular, in all the popular representative is the 
 most weighty; and this share of the people in their or- 
 dina,ry government never fails to inspire them with lofty 
 sentiments and with a strong aversion for whatever tends 
 t0r deprive them of their chief importance." But what 
 this magnanimous statesman approved, others maligned. 
 Governor Bernard vilified the character of the popular 
 meetings, to which misrepresentations the " Vindication 
 of the Town of Boston," written by Otis, replied as fol- 
 lows : " The governor has often been observed to dis 
 
42 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 cover an aversion to free assemblies ; no wonder then 
 that he should be so particularly disgusted at a legal 
 meeting of the town of Boston, where a noble freedom 
 of speech is ever expected and maintained ; an assembly 
 of which it may be justly said, to borrow the language 
 of the ancient Roman, ' They think as they please, and 
 speak as they think.' Such an assembly has ever been 
 the dread and often the scourge of tyrants." 
 
 The struggle between the metropolis of New England 
 and the British government was severe, and continued 
 from the time of the Stamp- Act, in 1765, till the evacua^ 
 tion of the foreign troops in 1776. Every walk of in- 
 dustrious life and every profession, the bar, the pulpit 
 and the press, combined to give intensity and eiSciency 
 to the civil war. As an indication of the plainness and 
 power of the latter, the following anecdote will suffice. 
 A negro, whose principles were like his master's, a tool 
 of foreign despotism, one day met Mr. Edes, the printer 
 of the Boston Gazette, which was the devoted organ of 
 the patriots, and inquired of him what was the news. 
 The printer replied that there was nothing new. " Well," 
 said the sable aristocrat, " if you 've nothing new, Massa 
 Edes, I s'pose you print the same old lie over again." 
 
 It is important to remember, that in all the excite- 
 ments of those times ; the vexations that arrested com- 
 merce ; the irritations produced by the presence of mer- 
 cenary troops; the menaces of arrogant officers, and 
 even the massacre of several citizens in open day ; de- 
 spite all sorts of provocations and the most favorable 
 opportunities for revenge, during the whole period of the 
 Revolution not a single life was destroyed by the Bos 
 
FIELDS OP EARLY AMERICAN HhOOUEKCB 43 
 
 tonians, either by assassination, mob law, or public 
 execution. 
 
 In the meantime, the meetings in Faneuil Hail and 
 other large public edifices were spreading the most salu- 
 tary influence over the country. The town-meetings 
 and provincial assemblies were the arenas wherein the 
 people were trained and armed intellectually for the 
 great battle of independence. It was then that orators, 
 fitted expressly for that preparatory work, like Otis and 
 Henry, appeared, and consummated their exalterd task. 
 Driven at the points of British bayonets from Williams- 
 burg, the noble band of Virginia patriots were still loyal 
 to the highest duty. The Old Dominion continued to 
 respond to the Bay State ; the " Old Church" at Rich- 
 mond echoed back in tones of thunder the patriotic cries 
 that rang from Faneuil Hall. 
 
 Hallowed are the associations connected with that 
 venerable church in Richmond ! Often has the writer 
 sought its precincts alone, and pondered there on the 
 scene when, within the walls yet standing, Henry, as 
 the embodiment of the Revolution and all its sublime 
 results, rose like one inspired, and delivered that speech 
 unequalled in the history of man, ending with the omi- 
 nous words, " Give me liberty, or give me death!" It was 
 in the same burst of transcendent eloquence that the 
 (.hrase, " After all, we must fight !" first broke on the 
 popular ear, and fired the universal heart. The history 
 of that expression is interesting, as showing the close 
 relations that subsisted between the north and south in 
 all the Revolutionary struggle. They^are the expression 
 of a quiet Puritan in the interior of Massachusetts, gi en 
 
44 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 to the world on wings of fire by the bold Cavalier of 
 Virginia. The facts are stated as follows, in a letter 
 from John Adams to William Wirt : 
 
 " When Congress had finished their business, as they 
 thought, in the autumn of 1774, I had with Mr. Henry, 
 before we took leave of each other, some familiar con- 
 versation, in which I expressed a full conviction that 
 our resolves, declarations of rights, enumeration of 
 wrongs, petitkjjis^ retEionstrances and addresses, associa- 
 tions and non-importation agreements, however they 
 might be expected in America, and however necessary 
 to cement the union of the colonies, weuhi be but waste 
 paper in England. Mr. Henry said' they might make 
 some impression upon the people of England, but agreed 
 with me that they would be totally lost upon the govern- 
 ment. I had but just received a short and hasty letter, 
 written to me by Major Joseph Hawley, of Northamp- 
 ton, containing ' a few broken hints,' as he called them, 
 of what he thought was proper to be done, and conclud- 
 ing with t hose words, ' After all, we must fight !' This 
 letter I read to Mr. Henry, who listened with great at- 
 tention ; and as soon as I had pronounced the words, 
 ' After all, we must fight,' he raised his head, and with 
 an energy and vehemence that I can never forget, broke 
 out with ' By God, I am or that man's mind }' I put 
 the letter into his hand, and when he had read it, he re- 
 turned it to me, with an equally solemn asseveration 
 that he agreed entirely in opinion with the writer. 1 
 considered this as a sacred oath, upon a very great oc- 
 casion, (and would have swprn it as reUgiously as he 
 iid,) and by no means inconsistent with what you say 
 
FIELDS OF EAKLT AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 45 
 
 m some part of your book, that he never took the sacred 
 name in vain. 
 
 " As I knew the sentiments with which Mr. Henry left 
 Congress in the autumn of 1T74, and knew the chapter 
 and verse from which he had borrowed the sublime ex- 
 pression, ' We must fight,' I was not at aJi surprised at 
 your history, in the hundred and twenty-second page in 
 the note, and in some of the preceding and following 
 pages. Mr. Henry only pursued, in March, 1775, the 
 views and vows of November, 1774. 
 
 " The other delegates from Virginia returned to thei'" 
 State, in full confidence that all our grievances would 
 be redressed. The last words that Mr. Richard Henry 
 Lee said to me when we parted, -were : ' We shall in- 
 fallibly carry all our points ; you will he completely re- 
 lieved; all the offensive Acts will he repealed; the army 
 and fleet will be recalled, and Britain will give up her 
 foolish piioject.' 
 
 " Washington only was in doubt. He never spoke in 
 public. In private he joined with those who advocated 
 a non-exportation, as well as a non-importation agree- 
 ment. With both he thought we should prevail ; with- 
 out either he thought it doubtful. Henry: was clear in 
 one opinion, Richard Henry Lee in an opposite opinion, 
 and Washington, doubled between the two. Henry, 
 however, appeared in the end to be exactly in the right." 
 
 It is evident that John Adams and Patrick Henry 
 parted on the above occasion with a perfect identity of 
 sentiment, and returned to their respective colonies to 
 urge on the crisis which they saw was inevitable. Henry 
 acouitted himself of h's duty at Rich^lond, as has been 
 
46 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 already described. Adams rejoined his distinguished 
 colleagues in the popular movements in Faneuil Hall. 
 To describe the immediate and remote consequences of 
 those movements, we cannot da better than by employ- 
 ing the following extract from Daniel Webster : " No 
 where can be found higher proofs of a spirit that was 
 ready to hazard all, to pledge all, to sacrifice all, in the 
 cause of the country. Instances were not unfrequent 
 in which small free-holders parted with their last hoof 
 and the last measure of corn from their granaries, to 
 supply provision for the troops and hire service for the 
 ranks. The voice of Otis and of Adams in Faneuil 
 Hall found its full and true echo in the little councils of 
 the interior towns ; and if within the Continental Con 
 gress patriotism shone more conspicuously, it did no^ 
 there exist more truly, nor burn more fervently ; it did 
 not render the day more anxious or the night more sleep- 
 less ; it sent up no more ardent prayer to God for succor, 
 and it put forth in no greater degree the fullness of its 
 effort and the energy of its whole soul and spirit in the 
 common cause, than it did in the small assemblies of the 
 towns.'' 
 
 Those primary meetings, we remark agam, which soon 
 began to prevail throughout the country, served to en- 
 lighten all classes, and became the firmest cement to 
 bind them together, when a comprehensive and com- 
 bined effort was demanded. The source and model 
 ■ of those assemblies was in the " C!radle of Liberty," 
 happily yet extant. Long may it remain one of the 
 most hallowed spots on the globe. What men have 
 • here spoken, and what events have therein tran- 
 
FIELDS OP KARLY AMERICAN ELOaCENCE. 47 
 
 spired ! What American can ever ascend to that Forum 
 without standing enthralled by the intensity of thcilling 
 associations ? Here, as in the famous area where the 
 masters of the world were wont of old to address the 
 Roman people, the applause of venerated patriots min- 
 gled with the tones of kindred orators, cheered and for- 
 tified them in the exposure of crime, the vindication of 
 justice, and the defence of freedom. Here, too, as there 
 are palpable reminiscences of the heroic past. Every 
 foot of the Forum at Rome was hq^owed by the memory 
 of some great domestic or national event. Columns and 
 arches and temples testified on all sides the devotion of 
 individuals and the triumphs of the republic. Standitig 
 in Faneuil Hall, one sees not only the colonnades, the 
 galleries, the floor and the ceiling of the vast gathering, 
 place of early patriots, the battle-field of consummate elo- 
 quence, but there, too, are the artistic forms of some who 
 mingled in the sternest strife of our country's darkest 
 days. Would that the walls were all granite, and the 
 roof iron, firm and enduring as the souls whose memo- 
 ries are for ever linked with the locality, and that, from 
 niches all round this theatre of most glorious deeds, the 
 marble forms of all the chief actors might look down 
 upon interminable generations of American freemen. 
 
 We come, finally, to consider the most glorious battle- 
 fteld of all ; the Congress of '76. Everything has been 
 prepared for the grand and decisive blow. Providence 
 summons the whole country to a general council in Phi- 
 ladelphia, and the choicest spirits of every section are 
 prompt to obey. What were the thoughts that accom- 
 panied those patriots, as they turned their backs upon 
 
48 ORATORS OP THB AMERICAN REVOIiOTION. 
 
 every thing dear around home's hearth, and set their faces 
 toward a common altar, journeying up thither with the 
 determination to consecrate everything to the public 
 weal ? It is certain that they were capable of properly 
 appreciating the perils that encompassed them, as well 
 as the benefits which might flow from the efibrts they 
 designed to make. Never was there a popular assembly 
 of politicians that comprised a greater proportion of 
 highly educated members. Nearly one-half were gra- 
 duates of colleges at home or abroad. Some were self- 
 educated, in the best school, and to the highest degree. 
 The ancient poets taught that Astraea, the goddess of 
 Justice, had her last residence among unsophisticated 
 husbandmen before she quitted the earth. The Genius 
 of Liberty found a rural home in our land ere she was 
 throned by general acclamation at Carpenter's Hall, in 
 the central colony of America. Twenty-five of the 
 fifty-six immortal men had trod the soil and studied in 
 the institutions of Great Britain. Among those who 
 had not received' university laurels, were philosophers 
 like Franklin and jurists like Roger Sherman. 
 
 In this connection, we should not forget the stripling 
 surveyor, born on the banks of the Potomac, beneath a 
 farmer's roof, and early left an orphan. No academy 
 aided his youthful aspirations, no college crowned him 
 with its honors. But industry and integrity pro- 
 vided for the best education of his great natural powers 
 " Himself his own cook, having no spit but a forked stick, 
 no plate but a large chip,'' at sixteen years of age, he is 
 found roaming over the Alleghanies and along the She- 
 nandoah, training himself under the eye of Heaven, one 
 
FIELDS OP EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 49 
 
 day to be the hope and leader of a nation in arms. Mos! 
 truly might he have said : 
 
 " To rear me was the task of power divine, 
 Siipiemest wisdom and primeral love." 
 
 In the language of Sparks, " Happy was it for America, 
 happy for the world, that a great name, a guardian ge- 
 nius, presided over destinies in war, combining more 
 than the virtues of the Roman Fabius, and the Theban 
 Epaminondas, and compared Xvith whom, the conquer- 
 ors of the world, the' Alexanders and Caesars, are but 
 pageants crimsoned with blood and decked with the tro- 
 phies of slaughter, objects equally of the wonder and the 
 execration of mankind. The hero of America was the 
 conqueror only of his country's foes, and the hearts of 
 his countrymen. To the one he was a terror, and in 
 the other he gained an ascendancy, supreme, unrivalled, 
 the tribute of admiring gratitude, the reward of a nation's 
 love — our Washington !" 
 
 The congress of '76 has assembled, and solemn prayer 
 has just been offered for the divine blessing on the coun- 
 try and in behalf of the patriotic cause. Let us enter 
 the hall and contemplate the august assemblage. The 
 first thing that strikes us is, the wonderful diversity of 
 character present, constituting a perfect whole. The 
 quality that is deficient in one, in another superabounds ; 
 where one is wise to construct a theory, another is 
 equally skilful to demonstrate its practicabiUty. Whe- 
 ther we desire severe logical deduction, or gorgeous rhe- 
 torical expression ; whether it be necessary to convince 
 
 the judgment or inflame the passions ; lo models can in 
 o 
 
80 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOtUTION. 
 
 the world be found superior to those here congre. 
 gated. 
 
 In the President's chair sits Hancock, crowned with 
 a demeanor graceful and splendid, like " blazing Hype- 
 rion on his orbed throne." Prominent in the heroic band, 
 and oldest of their number, is he who at the same time 
 snatched the lightnings from the skies and the sceptre 
 from the oppressor's hand. TherCi too, is Morris, the 
 financier of the Revolution, whose generous aid, ad- 
 vanced on his own credit, paved the way for the victo- 
 ries at Trenton and Princeton, and in the gloomiest hour 
 caused the American eagle to soar aloft toward Heaven. 
 More retired, but not less interested, is that old Pu- 
 ritan, Samuel Adams, " on his front, engraven thought 
 and public care." He was among the very first to excite 
 popular rebellion against wrong, and he is here to aid its 
 progress and pray for its consummation. Of few words, 
 but abounding in great and beneficent deeds, he sits in 
 council grave and taciturn, like "gray -haired Saturn 
 quiet as a stone," his soul firm as granite and unbending 
 before the storm. His more oratorical namesake, John 
 Adams, with watchful eye and ear is scanning the pro- 
 ceedings ; while every look and motion betrays his readi- 
 ness to exemplify his favorite maxim, " I would rather be 
 in the wrong with Plato than in the right with Epicurus." 
 Lee, with inimitable suavity and elaborate grace, movea 
 in chivalrous majesty on the scene. Witherspoon, the 
 divine, " visibly written blessed in his looks," is there, 
 with the meekness of a minister of Jesus Christ but 
 with a firmness that never quailed iu the cresenee of his 
 country's foe. In the alternative between the sacrifice 
 
FIELDS OF EARLY AMEBICAN ELOaUENCE. 51 
 
 erf freedom or the loss of life, like the Spartan mother, 
 ne would rather have seen his son brought home a corpse 
 upon his shield, than dishonored by its loss. And Rut- 
 ledge, the youngest of the patriots, comes forward to illus- 
 trate in his own person the ancient apologue of the 
 youthful Hercules, in the pride and strength of beauty, 
 surrendering his entire soul to the worship of exalted 
 virtue. But it is needless any further to specify ; all, as 
 one man, are ready to exclaim, our mother is America, 
 our battle is for freedom, purity of purpose is our breast- 
 plate, and the favor of Heaven is our shield. 
 
 In the momentous proceedings of July 4th, 1776, we 
 miss the persons of several of the most famous men 
 in our colonial and revolutionary history. Their ab- 
 sence strikingly indicates the care of Providence in all 
 great events. Bold and daring patriots, with the most 
 intrepid zeal, had long since roused the colonies and 
 stung them into indignation against tyrannic wrongs. 
 Those pioneers of national prosperity had urged on the 
 fearful crisis, and at length the period had arrived when 
 everything was at stake. But when counsel was needed 
 most, and the action of sublime statesmanship com- 
 menced, the men of passion declined, their mission 
 being gloriously fulfilled. He who rules over all with- 
 drew them from the scene. Otis, disabled by a brutal 
 attack made on him by a British emissary, lay secluded 
 from public life. Henry was indeed sent up to Con- 
 gress, with one effort of almost divine eloquence to 
 break the spell that at first bound the assembly in awful 
 silence, then he withdrew, and was little heard of more 
 ".The successors of these primitive patriots were not less 
 
52 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 resolute, but more discreet. A consciousness of the 
 fearful responsibility devolved upon them by their posi- 
 tion, seems to have rendered them solemnly reflective 
 and sublimely self'possessed. To describe their elo- 
 quence will be the purpose of subsequent chapters ; at 
 present, we will look only at one grand event and its 
 associations — ^the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 One whom we have not yet named, but in some re- 
 spects the most renowned of men, Jefierson, appears 
 before Congress, bearing in his hand that noblest of all 
 documents not the result of inspired wisdom. " Whether 
 we regard it as a specimen of strong and fervid eloquence, 
 of manly remonstrance, or of deep and solemn appeal, it 
 is every way sustained and wonderful. The writer 
 speaks as if he felt himself to be the voice of a great and 
 outraged people, giving indignant utterance to its many 
 wrongs and oppressions, and in face of Heaven, and the 
 whole earth for witnesses, declaring that they shall be 
 endured no longer." 
 
 The question was on the adoption of the Declaration. 
 We should consider the character of that document, and 
 the circumstances under which it was reported. It has 
 been called the Chart of American Freedom; but it was 
 vastly more elevated than the famous Magna Charta 
 wrung from King John at Runnymede. There is somo 
 resemblance in the original of the two documents, bui 
 their spirit is very little alike. John Lackland, as he 
 was called, levied heavy contributions on the barons, 
 and seized at his pleasure their beasts of burden and 
 agricultural implements. This touched the selfish in 
 terests of the owners of the serfs and soil. It is a singu 
 
FIELDS OP EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 63 
 
 lar fact that ihe gi'eat instrument of English freedom had 
 no nobler origin than this. It seems still more strange 
 that one Article of that great charter forbids the destruc- 
 tion of houses, woods', or men, without the special per- 
 mission of the proprietor, who had full power over the 
 life of Englishmen. The haughty slave-holding barons 
 who extorted Magna Ghana from King John, did not in 
 the least consult the welfare of the plebeian orders. 
 Nullus liher homo, is its domineering phraseology. The 
 vassals who were chained to the soil, were left just where 
 Magna Charta' found them. No mistake can be greater 
 than to suppose that the war of the barons against the 
 infamous king was waged for the benefit of the great 
 mass of the people, or that the treaty of Runnymede se- 
 cured their liberties. Certain great privileges were 
 exacted, it is true, but the end designed was far aside 
 from popular freedom. 
 
 On the other hand, the first sentence in the American 
 Chart of '76 recognizes the equality of mankind, and the 
 Declaration proceeds to demand the highest privileges 
 for all. The conflicts in which our fathers signalized 
 their courage and their strength were in the defence of 
 exalted principles, and the resources they chiefly relied 
 on were moral. They did not desire to arm themselves 
 in the spirit of those 
 
 " Whose game was empires, and whose stakes were thrones, 
 Whose table earth ; whose dice were human bones." 
 
 The circumstances under which that Declaration was 
 reported and discussed were of the most impressive 
 character A proposition was brought forward in favor 
 
54 ORATORS or THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 of separating the colonies from the parent country. The 
 gi-and questipn then agitated was between power and 
 right. The orators seemed to feel and speak as if they 
 clearly saw that in the decision then to be made lay the 
 liberties of three millions of colonists, as well as the 
 hopes of all the civilized nations that should thenceforth 
 people the earth. The depositaries of the immediate 
 and prospective rights of mankind were not unfaithful to 
 their trust. They seceded from their age and elevated 
 themselves above it. They emerged from the dubious 
 atmosphere of ordinary views, and stood in calm gran- 
 deur on the serenest heights of political prophecy. 
 They assembled around the sacred shrine of liberty, and 
 under the influence of the loftiest inspiration, consulted 
 the eternal wants of man, and legislated for all coming 
 time.. Napoleon said to his staff as they entered the 
 battle of the Pyramids, " Think that forty centuries 
 look down upon you from the summits of yonder 
 monuments." But our patriotic sires took a more 
 comprehensive view, from a higher point, and under 
 convictions of a more solemn cast. With a full con- 
 sciousness of the perils they incurred, they voted for the 
 Declaration. 
 
 A classic poet has described Heaven itself as survey- 
 ing with pleasure the scene of " a brave man struggling 
 with the storms of fate." If this is allowable, we think 
 a much sublimer spectacle is presented by a brave na- 
 tion struggling for freedom and independence, especially 
 when the odds are so great as in the instance under 
 consideration ; a few feeble colonies on one side, numer- 
 ous disciplined troops, veteran skill, and al) the vast 
 
FTELDS OF UARLV AMERICAN ELOQI/ENCE. 55 
 
 resources of despotic power on the other. But the 
 question was not what is safety to ourselves, but what 
 is duty to our constituents, our successors, the world. 
 Each man of them seems to have set his name to that 
 immortal pledge with the feelings with which Leonidas, 
 in view of inevitable and speedy immolation on the altar 
 of his country, exclaimed : 
 
 " But ye rocks of Thermopylae, free mountains and 
 happy plains, ye will remain I" 
 
 The Congress of '76 was a more than Amphictyonic 
 council, in the intelligence and devotion of which one 
 might safely predict the perpetuity of national strength 
 at home and increasing influence abroad. Profound 
 and impassioned consecration possessed every breast, 
 united the; Congress in one purpose, and electrified the 
 whole continent. Every faculty of the human soul was 
 summoned to the higiiest duty, and braced up to the 
 most intense exertion. The light then kindled in Inde- 
 pendence Hall seemed to be immediately reflected back 
 from every cottage in America, and at every moment 
 since has gone on spreading wider and brighter over 
 prison and palace round the globe. 
 
 The pen with which the several signatures were made 
 on the Declaration of Independence is now in the cabi- 
 net of the Massachusetts Historical Society, together 
 with a sealed vial full of tea, caught in the shoes of one 
 of the " Mohawks" who destroyed the obnoxious cargoes 
 in Boston harbor. What American can look upon 
 those memorials without emotions of the purest and most 
 thrilling gratitude ? 
 
 Those patriots have all passed away, each one deserv- 
 
56 OKATORS OF THE AMERICAN EBVCLUTION. 
 
 mg the encomium of Pericles, " No citizen through their 
 means ever put on mourning :" 
 
 " They were below, ere they, arrived in neaven, 
 So mighty in renown, as every muse 
 Might gtace her triumph with them." 
 
 The brightest thing about the Congress of '76 was the 
 integrity which its members pledged in behalf of their 
 common country. Their lives were dear to them, their 
 fortunes were ample, but their sacred honor was their 
 choicest wealth and greatest glory. They encountered 
 hardships of the most fearful magnitude, and temptations 
 of the greatest power, but not one of them hesitated a 
 moment in his allegiance to duty, or swerved in the 
 slightest degree from the discharge of it. They were 
 not only all true to their solemn vows, but not a single 
 stain ever soiled the escutcheon of one of them. They 
 were republicans to the last. The noble sentiments 
 oroclaimed to the world on July 4th, 1776, their authors 
 never belied. As a class, they were remarkably frugal 
 and temperate, and nearly all of them lived to extreme 
 old age. For intelligence, patriotism, purity of life and 
 loyalty to country, the historj' of the world at large has 
 nothing to compare with the names of the immortal 
 fifty -six. 
 
 If other battle-fields are interesting in their associa- 
 tions, what shall we shall say of that glory of Philadel- 
 phia, Independence Hall? "If there be a spot upon 
 earth," says Doctor Clarke, " pre-eminently calculated 
 to awaken the solemn sentiments, which such a view of 
 nature is fitted to make upon all men, it may surely be 
 
FIELDS or EARLY AMERICAN ELOQUENCE. 57 
 
 found in the plain of Marathon ; where, amidst tl e 
 wreck of generations, and the graves of ancient heroes, 
 we elevate our thoughts towards Him, 'in whose sight » 
 thousand years are but as yesterday ;' where the still- 
 ness of Nature ; harmonizing with the calm solitude of 
 that illustrious region, which once was the scene of the 
 most agitated passions, enables us, by the past, to deter- 
 mine of the future. In those moments, indeed, we may 
 be said to live for ages ; a single instant, by the multitude 
 of impressions it conveys, seems to anticipate for us a 
 sense of that eternity 'when time shall be no more;' 
 when the fitful dream of human existence, with all its 
 turbulent illusions, shall be dispelled ; and the last sun 
 having set, in the last of the world, a brighter dawn than 
 ever gladdened the universe, shall renovate the domin- 
 ions of darkness and of death." 
 
 But to the free citizens of this continent, the power of 
 local associations is more powerful in the precincts of 
 Independence Hall than on the plains of Marathon. 
 Collisions with a mightier foe, and deeds of daring put 
 forth for richer conquests, took place there, than when 
 heroic Greeks grappled with the Persian host. What 
 history, what picture, could ever tell the half of what is 
 suggested to every intelligent and susceptible mind on 
 entering that venerable hall ? Who is not immediately 
 carried back to that day, thenceforth memorable for ever, 
 when an awful stillness pervaded the assembly for several 
 moments previous to voting " that these United Colonies 
 are and of right out to be, free and independent states ?" 
 What devotion then filled that consecrated place, and 
 
 rose to heaven in silent prayer for firmness, unanimity 
 3» 
 
/iS ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 and deathless resolve ! One almost hears Hancock sug- 
 gesting to Franklin, " We must all hang together now." 
 "Yes," is the characteristic response of that plain old 
 Nestor of patriots, " we must indeed all hang together, 
 or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." 
 
 Perhaps the only edifice in the world invested with 
 associations at all comparable with this, was the old 
 Parliament House in Westminster. It was there that 
 the Commons, in their feebleness, sent for the prelates 
 to aid their consultations. Afterward, when the days 
 of "the usurping blood of Lancaster" were past, and the 
 power of the Tudors and the Stuarts were trophies in 
 their hands, the same " poor Commons" abrogated the 
 arrogant rights of the peerage, and destroyed the very 
 prelacy for whose counsel they had once sued. There 
 Charles had come to seize the obnoxious members; 
 and in the Chamber adjoining the Commons, Stafford 
 and Laud had pleaded. There, in 1653, Cromwell 
 entered, di-smissed ihe attendants, locked the doors, and 
 made himself, as Protector, the council of a nation upon 
 whose council chamber was seen inscribed, " This house 
 to let, unfurnished." That room, the cradle of English 
 freedom, had witnessed the consummation of govern- 
 mental power, and its greatest possible restrictions 
 within regal limits. From 1688 to its destruction it 
 had been the arena of the greatest eloquence and most 
 impressive scenes. There, Shaftsbury and Bolingbroke 
 had spoken ; there from 1740, the contentions of suc- 
 cessive parties, animated and adorned by the speeches 
 of Walpole, Windham, Pulteney, Chatham, Burke, Pitt, 
 ■ Fox and Sheridan, had been fought with a passionate 
 
FIELDS OF EARLY AMERICAN ELOaUENCE. 59 
 
 Strength of intellect, and the mighty excitement pro- 
 duced by the conilict of gigantic minds. When that 
 ancient palace of legislation was consumed, it was 
 "ndeed a mournful sight. To all the English nation, 
 and their colonies in every clime, a link in the chain of 
 historic interest and, thrilling associations was destroyed. 
 A splendid new palace for Parliament is now rising on 
 the same site. In accordance with the laws of mind, 
 and with a wise respect for .the distinguished dead, the 
 commissioBers of the realm have recently reported in. 
 respect thereto that, "as St. Stephen's Hall stands on 
 the spot where the House of Commons was, during 
 many centuries, in the habit of assembling, it should be 
 adorned with statues of men who rose to eminence by 
 the eloquence and abilities which they displayed in that 
 house." 
 
 But the great battle-field whereon our fathers met that 
 Parliament in its most august display of oratorical talent, 
 braved '• that great kiiigdom with all its consolidated 
 strength, and won the day under the most fearful odds, 
 yet remains. The heroes indeed are departed, but here 
 before us is still open their scene of action. Death has 
 claimed them, but war and wasting elements have spared 
 the theatre of their stupendous struggle. We can go 
 and meditate there, gazing at the places where they sat, 
 the floor on which they stood, the windows through 
 which the bright sun looked in smilingly upon their sub- 
 time transactions, and may touch the walls which seem 
 yet to vibrate to the thunders of their eloquence. 
 
 Long may those walls remain, the Mecca of a worship 
 holier than the Saracen's; and when they shall have 
 
60 OEATOES OF THE AMEEICAN KEVOLUTION 
 
 passed away, may the genius of American Art, harmoni- 
 ous with the Genius of Liberty, her best patron, and 
 commemorative of her grandest work, here come, and in 
 a worthy master-piece heave up a monument which shaU 
 perish only 
 
 " When wrapped in fire the realms of ether glow. 
 And heaven's last thunders shake the world below." 
 
 Yes, the men of the Congress of '76 have passed away, 
 but let us hope that the spirit they evoked, and which 
 guided them to victory, is not yet become obsolete.. 
 Their laurels freshen in eternal bloom on their sepulchres, 
 and their posthumous influence is busy everywhere dis- 
 enthralling the world. May the flame kindled on the 
 national altar in the first true Hall of Freedom, to illu- 
 minate and consecrate the Declaration of Independence 
 in America, burn with inextinguishable splendor, quicken 
 every tardy pulse with patriotic zeal, and blast to cin- 
 ders every fetter and every tyrant's accursed thrtt 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 JAMES OTIS, 
 
 ORATOR OF INTREPID PASSION 
 
 The planting of English colonies in America was the 
 beginning of an influence which stopped not at their 
 original boundaries. The world has witnessed its ex- 
 pansion. The human race has felt its power. To the 
 world then^to the human race — belongs their influence, 
 and in that their greatest glory. 
 
 We are becoming a great nation, and already, per- 
 haps, are accustomed to contemplate the Colonial period 
 of our history as a juvenile era. But, in one sense, we 
 nave had no national infancy. We have had no age of 
 oarbarism, no gradual transition from an obscure anti- 
 quity, with much primitive degradation adhering to our 
 career. America, visited by the Anglo-Saxon race, like 
 the statue of Prometheus touched by heavenly fire, 
 awoke in adult vigor. Her first cry was for freedom, 
 and her first struggle won it. We began with the expe- 
 rience of sixty centuries. We laid our foundations in 
 the results which accompanied and glorified the opening 
 drama of a new world — the sternest battle ever fought 
 by right against power. 
 
 About the period of the first settlement of this coup 
 
62 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 try, the mental productions before the public in England, 
 were of the highest excellence. The discussion of con- 
 stitutional principles, and the fervid strife for toleration 
 in religious matters, had called forth the most potent in- 
 tellectual energies, and produced some of the profound- 
 est works in divinity and politics, to be found in any 
 age or tongue. As in the ancient republics, and as is 
 the fact in every land where the mind of man is allowed 
 freely to act and speak, the most eloquent writers and 
 profoundest orators were on the side of liberty and the 
 rights of the people. As instances and proofs of this, 
 put Locke and Algernon Sidney by the side of Filmer 
 and the other parasitical advocates of the divine right 
 of kings. It is a wholesome lesson and a vigorous dis- 
 ' cipline, to read the leading authors of England who 
 flourished between the accession of Charles the First 
 and George of Hanover. 
 
 The germs of great principles began to spring up 
 abroad, but their first productive growth was in Ameri- 
 can soil. A great truth was first proclaimed by our hardy 
 Colonists, which has since traversed oceans, and aroused 
 continents. It is impossible to exaggerate its ultimate ef- 
 fects, not merely upon this western hemisphere, but upon 
 the father-land and the remotest east. The first throbs 
 of liberty here created the tremendous revolutions of 
 Europe, the convulsive spasms of which still agitate the 
 oppressed, of all lands. The experiment which demon- 
 strated the practicabiUty of establishing a self-governing 
 republic over a vast domain, is an example which it will 
 be impossible for aristocracies, kings, and emperors, 
 either to resist or restrain 
 
JAMES OTIS. 63 
 
 It was an era of vast energy, a combinal'on of phy- ' 
 sical force and profound erudition, exemplified by the 
 French in the prpdigies which they executed while truly 
 inspired by the genius of liberty. A little army, com- 
 posed of soldiers and scholars, subdued cities and pene- 
 trated citadels, planted institutes and observatories, 
 schools of agriculture, and all the arts of civilization, 
 from the valley of the Rhine to the Delta of Egypt. 
 
 But in the birth-place of that spirit, on the sublimer 
 field of its primitive conflict and most glorious conquest, 
 in the American colonies, the main force was mental 
 rather than martial. Eloquence, then, was fervid, bold, 
 and gigantic, like the Revolution it defended. Then, 
 genius was hailed as a divine gift. No trammels were 
 imposed upon imagination — no drag-chains crippled pa- 
 triotic aspirations — no limit marked the boundaries up 
 to which daring thought might go. 
 
 It should be neither uninteresting nor unprofitable to 
 glance back upon those times, and vontemplate a few oi 
 the leading minds. In a sense equally elevated, and 
 more relevant to ourselves than Milton expressed, let us — 
 
 " To the famous orators repair, 
 Those ancients, whose resistless eloquence 
 Wielded at will that fierce democracy, 
 Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece 
 To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne." 
 
 In considering the eloquence of the Colonial and Re- 
 volutionary period of our history, we shall find less va- 
 riety m the works of the orators than in the orators 
 themselves So absorbed were the statesmen of those 
 
64 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 days in the immediate and pressing avocations of the 
 crisis, that they bestowed little or no strength on tasks 
 not imperiously exacted by great public duties. But we 
 shall find such men as Otis, and Adams, and Henry, and 
 Hamilton, and Ames, fine embodiments of our early 
 eloquence. They were among the great and gifted 
 spirits of the heroic age of American oratory, and will 
 for ever illustrate the grandeur of its mental grasp, the 
 wealth of its magnificence, and the splendor of its im- 
 perishable glories. 
 
 The Otis family, now widely extended in this country 
 and a good deal distinguished, derived their origin from 
 John Otis, who came over from England at a very early 
 period, and was one of the first settlers of Hingham, Mass, 
 He took the freeman's oath on the 3d of March, 1635 
 By his mother's side, he was connected with the first 
 founders of Plymouth Colony, who arrived in the May- 
 flower, in 1620. 
 
 James Otis, the illustrious subject of this sketch, de- 
 scended in the fifth generation from the first of the name 
 in this country, was bom at Great Masshes, in what is 
 now called West Barnstable, Feb. 5th, 1725. He was 
 carefully prepared for college under the care of Rev. 
 Jonathan Russell, the clergyman of the parish, and en- 
 tered Harvard in June, 1739. The first years of his 
 college course he seems to have devoted more to social en 
 joyment than severe mental discipline ; but in his junior 
 year he changed his habits, and by the greatest industry 
 did much to redeem lost time. He graduated in 1743 
 and in due order took his second degree. 
 
 Of his juvenile traits of character, little can now be 
 
JAMES OTIS. 65 
 
 gleaned. It is known that when he came home from 
 college, his love of study was intense and perpetual. In 
 general he was meditative and grave, but occasionally 
 was gay and sarcastic. He sometimes beguiled the 
 weariness of abstract speculation by playing on a violin. 
 A company of young people one day prevailed on him 
 to treat them to a country dance. The set was made 
 up, and when in the full tide of successful experiment, 
 he suddenly stopped, as if struck with the folly of the 
 pursuit, and hurling up his instrument, exclaimed, " So 
 Orpheus fiddled, and so danced the brutes !" He rushed 
 into a neighboring garden, and forsook the revel for a 
 nobler occupation. 
 
 After completing the usual course of classical studies, 
 Mr. Otis devoted two years to elegant literature, before 
 entering upon the study of a profession. He was very 
 fond of the best poets, and, in the zealous emulation of 
 their beauties, he energized his spirit and power of ex- 
 pression. He did not merely read over the finest pas- 
 sages — he pondered them — ^he fused them into his soul — 
 and reproduced their charms with an energy all his own. 
 In the skill of pouring the whole spirit of an author into 
 the most familiar extract, making the heart bleed at the 
 sorrows of Hecuba, and the soul quake under the impre- 
 cations of Lear — a talent of the highest utility in popular 
 address, and capable of being wielded to the noblest ends 
 — James Otis excelled. 
 
 His education was liberal, in the true and noble sense 
 of the term ; in science he was well grounded ; in ele- 
 gant letters he was an accomplished scholar ; and to the 
 on J of his brilliant career he prosecuted his studies with 
 
66 OBATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 an tiring isdustry. In the midst of innumerable profes 
 sional toils, he wrote a valuable work on Latin Compo 
 sition, and another on Greek Prosody, the latter of whicl 
 was never published,, as there was then no Greek typ 
 in the country, but remained in manuscript, and perishei 
 with all the author's valuable papers. 
 
 In 1745, he began the study of law in the office o 
 Mr. Gridley, at that time the most eminent law;^r ii 
 the Colony. Having finished his preparation for thi 
 bar, he removed to Plymouth in 1748, and was adraittei 
 to practice. Two years afterwards he removed t( 
 Boston, and came -rapidly into notice as an accomplishet 
 advocate. His talents were in requisition far and neai 
 On one occasion he went to Halifax in the, middle o 
 winter, to argue a very important cause. His privat 
 studies were as incessant as his public labors weri 
 honorable. 
 
 In the spring of Vl^, Mr. Otis was married to Mis 
 Ruth Cunningham, the very beautiful and accomplish© 
 daughter of a westlthy merchant. They had three chil 
 dren, one son and two daughters. Mrs. Otis is repre 
 sented as having been a placid and formal matron, hap 
 pily a^^ed to modify the impetuous genius and reck 
 less daring vgjsig^ so peculiarly a dapte d her husband fo 
 the great crisis of national affairs - which he was destine 
 in a great degree both to create and control. 
 
 On November 26th, 1768, he addressed a letter to Mi 
 Arthur Jones, in which intimations occur of the gather 
 ing storm. " All business is at a. stand here, little goin 
 on besides military musters and reviews, and othe 
 parading of the red-coats, sent here, the Lord, I believ* 
 
JAMES OTIS. 67 
 
 oniy knows for what. I am and have been long con- 
 cerned, more for Great Britain than for the Colonies, 
 i'ou may ruin yourselves, but you cannot in the end 
 vuin tlie Colonies. Our fathers were a good people ; we 
 have been a free people, and if you will not let us re- 
 main so any longer, we shall be a great people, and the 
 present measures can have no tendency but to hasten, 
 with great rapidity, events which every good and honest 
 man would wish delayed for ages, if possible, prevented 
 for ever." 
 
 During the period of Colonial subordination, Otis wsia 
 the constant vindicator of American rights ; and when 
 British usurpation became as burdensome as it was un- 
 just, he defended his countrymen with an eloquence 
 whose ultimate influence transcended his own sublime 
 aspirations. He sowed the seeds of liberty in this new 
 world, without living to see the harvest, and, probably 
 without ever dreaming what magnificent crops would soon 
 be produced. But he seems to have felt himself predes- 
 tined to an exalted public career, and knew that he o& 
 cupied " a dreadful post of observation, darker every 
 hour." 
 
 Circumstances do not so much form men as reveal 
 them ; they deyelope the royalty of those who are kings 
 without the name, and who, elevated by the tempest they 
 were born to rule, reign by force of character and gran- 
 deur of thought. Without ancestors and without pro- 
 geny, alone of their race, their mission is accomplished 
 when the occasion which demanded their existence is 
 passed, and they then disappear, leaving to the worla 
 'ocrees which are sure to be performed. 
 
68 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTICN 
 
 Id 1760, George the Second suddenly died., and his 
 grandson reigned in his stead. Then were edicts issued 
 which enabled the king's collectors to compel all sheriffs 
 and constables to attend and aid them in breaking open 
 houses, stores, cellars, ships, trunks, &c., &c., to search 
 for goods which it was supposed had not paid the un- 
 righteous taxes imposed by parliament, through the influ- 
 ence of the royal governors, and certain avaricious 
 West India planters. Dreading the " obstinacy" of the 
 Bostonians, the minions of power proposed to try their 
 first experiment at Salem. But the Supreme Court, then 
 sitting there, ordered that the "great question of the le- 
 gality of the obnoxious measure should be argued in 
 Boston." " The fire in the flint shmes not till it be 
 struck," and this was the occasion v, hen Mr. Otis first 
 became famous in history. When the order relating to 
 the " Writs of Assistance," as they were called, came 
 from England, he was Advocate-General of the Colony 
 of Massachusetts. Deeming them to be illegal and ty- 
 rannical, he refused to enforce them, and resigned his 
 office. At the request of the Colonists, he undertook to 
 argue against the writs, and met in stern conflict his 
 veteran law-teacher, Mr. Gridley, then Attorney-General. 
 It was on the occasion of that great argument, that 
 James Otis blazed forth, the bold, erudite, brilliant and 
 victorious champiota of Colonial rights. Knowing thai 
 he stood on the immovable foundation of justice, and 
 conscious that he was fortified by the law, he gave a 
 free rein to his oratorical powers, and soared mto ro- 
 gions of patriotic principles new both to himself anri ihis 
 world. The doctrines he broached and the conclusi .ns 
 
JAMES OTIS. 69 
 
 he deduced, fell like brands of fire on the summits of the 
 political world, and kindled a conflagration destined 
 to sunder every fetter, and enlighten every human 
 mind. 
 
 The lucid impetuosity of that great speech, dazzled its 
 antagonists into awe, and inspired a youthful spectator 
 with a spirit of patriotism which lived through the sub- 
 sequent struggle for national freedom, and on the memo- 
 rable death-day of two Presidents, cried, amid shouting 
 millions of happy citizens — " Liberty and Independence 
 for ever !" 
 
 " Otis was a flame of fire," says John Adams, in his 
 sketch of the scene. " With a promptitude of classical 
 allusions, and a depth of research, a rapid summary of 
 historical events and dates, a profusion of legal author. - 
 ties, a prophetic glance of his eyes into futurity, and a 
 rapid torrent of impetuous eloquence, he hurried away 
 all before him. The seeds of patriots and heroes were 
 then and there sown. Every man of an immensely 
 crowded audience appeared to me to go away, as I did, 
 ready to take arms against Writs of Assistance. Then 
 and there was the first scene of the first act of opposi- 
 tion to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. Then 
 and there the child Independence was b«rn. In fif- 
 teen years, that is, in 1776, he grew up to manhood, and 
 declared himself free." 
 
 That spark kindled where it fell ; and we shall here- 
 after have occasion to show, how the third Presi- 
 dent of the United States was in a political sense borr. 
 simultaneously with the first cry of liberty enunciated ir. 
 the Colony of Vire;inia, by the great .orator of the South 
 
TO CRATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLU TION 
 
 The iquestion is, perhaps, more curious than profitable, 
 wiiich, rebates to the source and occasion of. the first of 
 that series of events which produced the war of the 
 Ke> olution. Men have often ask«d, what was its origi- 
 nal cause, and whq struck the. first blow? This inquiry 
 was well answered by President Jeflferson, in a letter to 
 Dr. Waterhouse of Cambridge, written March 3d, 1818. 
 
 "1 suppose it would be difficult to trace our Revolu- 
 tion to its first embryo We do not know how long it 
 was hatching in the Briush cabinet, before they ven- 
 tured to make the first of the experiments which were 
 to 4pvelop it iui the end, and tp produce complete pai- 
 liamentary supremacy. Those you mention in Massa- 
 chusetts as preceding the ^Stanip^Act might be the first 
 visible syniptoms, of that design. ; The proposition of 
 that Aat, in 1764, was tht: first here. Your opposition, 
 therefore, preceded ours, as occasion was sooner given 
 there than here, and the ti-uth, I suppose, is, that the op- 
 position, in every colony, began whenever the encroach 
 ment was presented to it. This question of priority )& 
 as the inquiry would be, who first of the three hundred 
 Spartans offered his name to Leonidas. I shall be happy 
 to see justice done to the merits of all." 
 
 Leaving.,,the question as to when and how the Revo- 
 lution began, let us look at the aspect presented by this 
 era in the career of Mr. Otis. He took the side of his 
 country in the above legal contest, at great pecuniary 
 sacrifice^ai^d under other peculiar circumstances which 
 made his decision irrevocable. He was transferred at 
 once from, the ranks of private life to the leadership oi 
 opposition against the designs of the British m-.-iistry 
 
. ; JAMES OTIS. -fl 
 
 " Altliough,"-says President Adams, " Mr. Otis had never 
 beiore interfered in public affairs, his exertions on thi& 
 single occasion secured him a commanding popularity 
 with the friends of their country, and" the terror and 
 vepgeance of , her enemies; neither of which ever ae- 
 serted him." 
 
 In tne primitive opposition made by Otis to the arbi- 
 trary acts of Trade, aided by the Writs of Assistance, 
 heannouuced two maxims which lay at the foundation 
 of all the- subsequent war ; one was, that " taxation 
 without representation was tyranny," the other, "that 
 expenditures of public money without appropriations by 
 the representatives of the people, were arbitrary, and 
 therefore unconstitutional." This early and acute saga- 
 city of our statesmen, led Burke finely to describe the 
 political feeling in America as follows ; " In other coun- 
 tries, the people, more simple, of a less mercurial cast, 
 judge of an ill principle in government, only by an ac- 
 tual grievance ; here they anticipate the evil, and judge 
 of the pressure of the grievance, by the badness of the 
 principle. They augur misgovernment at a distance ; 
 and snuff the. approach of tyranny in every tainted 
 breeze.'' 
 
 Mr. Otis was unanimously chosen to the legislature in 
 May, 1761. The chief topic in debate for the session 
 was the currency. Governor Hutchinson and Otis 
 were the leaders. The latter gave proof of great learn- 
 ing and powerful reasoning, mingled with great tarcasm 
 at his opponent, for whom he seems never to have en- 
 tertained either fear or respect. From his first appear- 
 anfe as a legislator, Otis exhibited such superiority of 
 
T2 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 talent and energy over all others, that, in 1763, wc find 
 him in the full lead of all important ineasuies. In this 
 year. Governor Bernard sent a message respecting 
 troops, which was strongly resented by our hero. The 
 Governor replied in another message, to whicn Otis, as 
 chairman of the committee appointed for that purpose, 
 drew up a response, which contamed the following sen- 
 tence : 
 
 " No necessity can be sufficient to justify a House of 
 Representatives, in giving up such a privilege; for it 
 would be of little consequence to the people, whether 
 they were subject to George or Lewis, the king of Great 
 Britain or the French king, if both were arbitrary, as 
 both would be, if they could levy taxes without Parlia- 
 ment." 
 
 When this was read, Mr. Paine, a member from Wor- 
 cester, cried out " Treason! Treason I" but after an 
 eloquent speech from Otis, the answer was passed entire 
 by a large majority, and sent to the Governor. We 
 shall have occasion to notice the striking resemblance 
 between James Otis and Patrick Henry in their charac- 
 ter and career; the above incident is one of the par- 
 allels. 
 
 In J 762, a pamphlet appeared, bearing the following 
 title : " A Vindication of the Conduct of ^the House of 
 Representatives, of the Province of the Massachusetts 
 Bay : more particularly in the last session of the General 
 Assembly. By James Otis, Esq., a Member of said 
 House. 
 
 Let such, such only, tread this sacred floor, 
 Who dare to love their country and be Door . 
 
AMES OTIS. 13 
 
 Or good though rich, numane and wise though great, 
 Jove give but these, we've naught to fear from fate. 
 
 Boston, printed by Edes and Gill." 
 
 Instead of copious quotations from this patriotic work, 
 V.e present the following judgment upon its merits by 
 one best qualified to estimate its worth. " How many- 
 volumes," says John Adams, " are concentrated in this 
 little fugitive pamphlet, the production of a few hurried 
 hours, amidst the continual solicitation of a crowd 
 of clients: for his business at the bar at that time 
 was very extensive, and of the first importance, and 
 amidst the kost of politicians, suggesting their plans and 
 schemes! Look over the Declarations of Rights and 
 Wrongs issued by Congress in 1774. Look into the 
 Declaration of Independence, in 1776. Look into the 
 writings of Dr. Price and Dr. Priestley. Look into all 
 the French constitutions of government; and to cap the 
 climax, look into Mr. Thomas Paine's Common Sense. 
 Crisis, and Rights of Man ; what can you find that is 
 not to be found in solid substance in this Vindication ot 
 the House ofRepresentatives ?" 
 
 About 17\5, Mr. Otis seemed inclined to a compro- 
 mise, and labored to conciliate parties at home and 
 abroad. This excited surprise, suspicion and ofbloquy. 
 But events soon proved, that although he relaxed his 
 opposition for a while, he had not changed sides. At 
 the opening of the legislature in 1765, he resumed his 
 wonted standing, and, in the language of John Adams, 
 " he on whose zea., energy and exertions the whole great 
 cause seemed to depend, returned to his duty, and gave 
 entire satisfaction to the end of his political career " 
 
M OHATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 in the course of the same year, 1765, Otis produced 
 another work, with the following title : " Considerations 
 on behalf of the Colonistg, in a Letter to a noble Lord. 
 London : printed for J. Almon." The manuscript was 
 sent from New England, dated Boston, Sept. 4, 1765. 
 It was written with great spirit and ability, and was the 
 last printed work from the pen of Otis. 
 
 On the 19tli of October, 1765, the Stamp-Act Con- 
 gress assembled in New York. Nine colonies were re- 
 presented. Mr. Otia was one of the members from Mas- 
 sachusetts. Here, as elsewhere, he stood high in the 
 opinion of his colleagues, for ex,ti:aordihary energy ana 
 talents. 
 
 On his return to the colonial legislature of 1766, Otis 
 was appointed chairinan of a committee to reply to the 
 angry message of Governoi Beirnard. The answer is 
 characteristic of its author. They do not dispute the 
 governor's right to deliver a speeph in any way he 
 pleases ; at the same time, when, it contained sentiment., 
 which reflected on them or their constituents, they add, 
 '■ it appears to us an undue exercise of the prerogative, 
 to lay us under the necessity, either of silence, or of 
 being thought out of season in lAaking a reply. Your 
 Excellency says, that these times have been more diffi- 
 cult than they need have been ; which is also the opi- 
 nion of this House. Those -who have made them so 
 have reason to regret the injury they have done to a sin- 
 cere and honest people." More follows in the same tar 
 strain, which we need not quote. 
 
 During the session of . this year, an innovation was 
 made in the history of legislation which strikingly inds- 
 
JAMLS OTIS. 75 
 
 •ates the progress then made in free thought and freedom 
 of speech. On the 3d of June, 1766, Otis brought for- 
 vyard a ,proppsition, which was carried, " for opening a 
 gallery for such as wished to hear the debates." Thus 
 was a harmony first produced between the spirit of a re- 
 presentative government and the masses of the people ; 
 a vast leap in the improvement which tended powerfully 
 to diffuse knowledge and create vigilance among the po- 
 pulace in respect to their inalienable rights. To that 
 little beginning in the patriotic and magnanimous mind 
 of Otis, as in many other particulars, we may trace the 
 stupendous superiority of this country at present over 
 all other nations, in the influence of parliamentary and 
 popular speech. 
 
 Repeated revolutions in France' have bequeathed to 
 that country two Houses of legislation, and a press par- 
 tially redeemed from military despotism. But the Peers 
 habitually hold their sessions in secret ; and the Chamber 
 of Deputies can scarcely be called a deliberative body. 
 The members read their orations from a contracted pul- 
 nit, to fi-w or no listeners from among the people. Should 
 a debate chance to grow warmly eloquent, any orator 
 who might hazard an obnoxious sentiment against the 
 crown, is liable to be immediately marched out by an 
 arn)ed force.* 
 
 The legislature of England is scarcely more propitious 
 to free and effeclive eloquence. In theory, the House 
 of Commons contains about seven hundred members ; 
 ,n practice, debates occur and laws are enacted usually 
 n the presence of fifiy or sixty. Most of the bills are 
 iraffed, not by members, but by clerks liired for thaJ 
 
 ' A einnge is going on 1 
 
76 ORATOnS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 purpose ; leaving the dignitaries to relieve the stupidity 
 of their stammering debates with frequent cries of "hear, 
 hear \" No popular audience is permitted ; only a few 
 bystanders can gain admittance in an obscure gallery, 
 and that under very inconvenient restrictions. Reports 
 of debates are unauthorized, and of course imperfect. 
 No visitor is allowed to have pen or pencil in his hand 
 m Parliament. To render the matter worse, by a strange 
 perversion of the hours, unknown in any other country 
 or age, most of the important legislation transpires in 
 the dead of night, when those who are sane and sound, 
 and who desire to remain so, are reposing in bed, rather 
 than yawning on the lordly woolsack and the soft chairs 
 of state. 
 
 There are but three legislatures in the world that are 
 popular, even in form. We have glanced at two of 
 them, and it is evident that they present a meagre field 
 for eloquence, compared with the American Congress. 
 In the British Parliament, for instance, there are not at 
 present, and never were in its best condition, more than 
 two or three at any one time, actuated by the great im- 
 pulses of oratory. When some of the best productions 
 accredited to the best days of Parliament were praised. 
 Dr. Samuel Johnson said, " those speeches I wrote in a 
 garret." But the masterly eloquence of our Congi-ess 
 has no such origin ; it is partly inspired and fully veri- 
 fied by the crowds of freemen who :hrong free gallei'ies, 
 a right which James Otis early perceived, an<I happily 
 procured. 
 
 Another important feature in the unfolding of oui 
 free institutions, was the system of town-meetings w'li-jh 
 
JAMES OTIS. 77 
 
 began to be held as early as 1767. One held in Octobei 
 of that year was presided over by Otis, and was called 
 to resist new acts of British aggression on colonial 
 rights. On Sept. 12th, 1768, a town-meeting was held, 
 which was' opened with a prayer by Dr. Cooper. Otis 
 was chosen moderator. The petition for calling the 
 meeting requested, that inquiry should be made of 
 his Excellency, for " the grounds and reasons of sundry 
 declarations made by him, that three regiments might 
 be daily expected," &c. A committee was appointed 
 to wait upon the governor, urging him in the present 
 critical state of affairs to issue precepts for a general 
 assembly of the province, to take suitable measures for 
 the preservation of their rights and privileges ; and that 
 he should be requested to favor the town with an im- 
 mediate answer. 
 
 In October several ship-loads of troops arrive. The 
 storm thickens. Another town-meeting is called, and 
 it is voted that the several ministers of the Gospel be 
 requested to appoint the next Tuesday as a day of 
 fasting and prayer. The day arrives, and Faneuil Hall 
 is crowded by committees from sixty-two towns. They 
 petition the governor to call a General Court. Otis 
 appeared in behalf of the people, under circumstances 
 that strongly attest his heroism. Cannon were planted 
 at the entrance of the building, and a body of troops 
 were quartered in the representatives' chamber. After 
 the court was opened, Otis rose, and moved that they 
 should adjourn to Faneuil Hall. With a significant 
 expression of loathing and scorn, he observed, " that the 
 stench occasioned by the troops in the hall of legislation 
 
78 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN KEVOLUTION. 
 
 might prove infectious, and that it was utterly deroj^a- 
 tory to the court to* administer justice at the poiiivs of 
 bayonets and mouths of cannon." 
 
 Soon after this, Mr. Otis was violently assaulted at 
 the British coffee-house in State street, by a miscreant 
 named Robinson. Five or six bludgeons, and one 
 scabbard, were found on the scene of murderous atta-ck, 
 from which the assassin retreated through a back pfag- 
 sage. Mr. Otis was cruelly lacerated in body and 
 shattered in mind by this assault, to a degree from which 
 he never entirely recovered. 
 
 But the bloody 5th of March soon arrived, and with 
 it, nearly on the same spot, the massacre of citizens was 
 perpetrated by mercenary troops. This aroused a whole 
 people to the full atonement of outrageous wrongs. 
 
 In 1770, mutilated and dispirited, Mr. Otis retired to 
 the country in pursuit of health. The town of Boston, 
 on the 8th of May, passed a special vote of thanks 
 to him for his great public services, accompanied with 
 strong solicitude for his recovery. 
 
 In the debate on the Boston Port Bill in Parliament. 
 April 15th, 1774, Colonel Barre referred to the ruf- 
 fianly attack made on Mr. Otis, and his treatment 'of 
 the injury, in a manner that reflects honor on both of 
 the orators. "Is this the return you make them?" 
 inquired the British statesman. "When a commis- 
 sioner of the customs, aided by a number of ruffiahs, 
 assaulted the celebrated Mr. Otis, in the midst of the 
 town of Boston, and with the most barbarous violence 
 almost murdered him, did the mob, which is said to 
 nile that town, take vengeance on the perpetrators of 
 
/AMES OTlb. 79 
 
 this inhuman outrage against a person who is supposed 
 to be their demagogue ? No, sir, the law tiued them, the 
 law gave heavy damages' against them, which the 
 irreparably injured Mr. Otis most generously forgave, 
 upon an acknowledgment of the offence. Can you 
 expect any more such instances of magnanimity under 
 the principle of the Bill now proposed ?" 
 
 The allusion here is to the fact that when the jury 
 had awarded to Mr. Otis two thousand pounds sterling, 
 as damages, it was all relinquished as soon as Robinson 
 publicly confessed the wrong. Said the noble-hearted 
 sufferer, " It is impossible that I should take a penny 
 from a man in this way, after an acknowledgment of 
 his error." Such magnanimity had ever been a trait 
 prominent in Mr. Otis. He -was distiiiguished for gen- 
 erosity to both friends and foes. Governor Hutchinson 
 said of him; "that he never knew fairer or more noble 
 conduct in a pleader, than in Otis; that he always 
 disdained to take advantage of any clerical error, or 
 similar inadvertence, but passed over minor points, and 
 defended his causes solely on their broad and substantial 
 foundations." When he plead against Writs of As- 
 sistance he did it gratuitously, saying, "in such a cause, 
 I despise all fees." But in that contest there was 
 something nobler exhibited than superiority to mer- 
 cenary consideration. "It was," says the venerable 
 President so often quoted, "a moral spectacle more 
 affecting to me than any I have since seen upon the 
 stage, to observe a pupil treating his master with all the 
 deference, respect, esteem, and aSection of a son to a 
 father, and that wiliiout the least affectation ; while he 
 
so OEArOES OF THE AMERICAN RE TOLUTION. 
 
 baffled and confounded all his authorities, confuted 
 all his arguments, and reduced him to silence! The 
 crown, by its agents, accumulated construction upon 
 construction, and inference upon inference, as the giants 
 heaped Pelion upon Ossa; but Otis, like Jupiter, dashed 
 this whole building to pieces, and scattered the pulver- 
 ized atoms to the four winds ; and no judge, lawyer, or 
 crown officer dared to say, why do ye so ? He raised 
 such a storm of indignation, that even Hutchinson, 
 who had been appointed on purpose to sanction this 
 writ, dared not utter a word in lis favor, and Mr. 
 Gridley himself seemed to me to exult inwardly at the 
 glory add triumph of his pupil." 
 
 The ardent devotion to literature whicti distinguished 
 Mr. Otis early in life, and characterized his subsequent 
 career, remained predominant in the evening of his 
 days. His stores of knowledge were diversified and 
 extremely abundant. Even after he suffered the shock 
 which occasioned temporary insanity, he seized with 
 avidity every opportunity for discussing literary topics, 
 his strong memory and copious acquisitions always 
 enabling him to take the lead. 
 
 The above sketch of the mental character and political 
 career of James Otis, will enable us the better to analyse 
 his eloquence. But, unfortunately, few of his rhetcrical 
 productions are now extant. A sad fatality attendee 
 all his manuscripts. None of his speeches were fully 
 recorded, and he himself being cut off from actve life 
 before the Revolution actually c ommenced, his name is 
 connected with none of the public documents of the 
 natioru His memorials as an orator are rather trad 
 
JAMES OTIS. 81 
 
 tionary than actual ; we are compelled to estimate his 
 merits chiefly through the imperfect descriptions, but 
 boundless admiration, of his time. But the mutilated 
 fragments that yet survive are colossal, and with these 
 for our guide we can in faint idea reconstruct the noble 
 proportions of the original works, as Cuvier built up the 
 Mastedon from a few relics, and Michael Angelo, with 
 the Torso of the Vatican before him, projected anew 
 the master-piece of Grecian genius on a scale of artistic 
 grandeur which threw into insignificance all the con- 
 ceptions of cotemporary minds. 
 
 There is sublimity in the very idea of one man 
 presuming to brave such perils and power as Mr. Otis 
 was called to face. 
 
 " We can admire the man who dares a lion, 
 But not the trampler on a worm." 
 
 The era in which he was born was favorable to the 
 exercise of his peculiar gifts. The time to favor free- 
 dom, the set time for the advent of a powerful advocate 
 of popular rights, like Otis, had come; the corypheus 
 appeared and brought the proper talents with him. 
 His eloquence was bold, witty, pungent, and practical. 
 His boldness was a prominent trait, and the sure 
 precursor of powerful changes. Men adapted to the 
 wants of their age are never wanting. When por- 
 tentous storms are lowering — when the battles of 
 freedom are approaching — ^when the excited ocean of 
 human thought and feeling waves around some firm, 
 heroical leader, as where "the broad-breasted rock 
 (tiasses his rugged forehead in the sea" — then are the 
 4* 
 
82 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 unutterable effecis of eloquence produced less by the 
 genius of the speaker, than by the sympathy of the 
 audience. They receive with rapture what their own 
 ardor has half inspired. 
 
 From the life and education of Mr. Otis, we should 
 infer that his eloquence would be naturally and ex- 
 tremely bold. The mind grows by what it feeds on ; 
 it becomes invigOTated and fashioned both by its 
 aliment and exercise. Every original thought, and 
 every genuine utterance . imparl;s to a speaker new 
 force of will and increased felicity of speech. The 
 more pne's mind shapes excellence to itself and bodies 
 it forth in efforts to promote noble ends, the more is its 
 native capacity to create substantiated, and its happy 
 power of execution increased. Our passions are the 
 most potent artists ; they surround themselves with fit 
 occasions, assimilate to themselves appropriate mate- 
 rials; and, when wisely disciplined in a sphere com- 
 mensurate with their ability; they people the void of 
 .onging hearts with beautiful, forms, and store the king- 
 dom of thought with imagery, familiar or fantastic, 
 radiant and divine, suited to every class and every 
 theme. 
 
 Otis communed much with other minds, but more 
 with his own. He was erudite, and yet original; 
 courteous in his deference to the opinions of others, 
 out bold and daring in his owa,. investigations. He 
 was supple as a babe to appeals that were conciliating 
 and motives that were just; but in the presence of 
 arrogance and oppression, he was stubborn as rock- 
 Legions of armed tyrants were to his bold and indomi- 
 
JAMBS 0TI8. 83 
 
 table spirit thiiigs to be trampled on in sjrort, "like 
 forms of ciialk painted^ on rich men's floors for one 
 feast night." 
 
 The wit exemplified by Mr. Otis in debate was often 
 keen but never malignant, as in- John Randolph. The 
 attacks of the latter were often fierce and virulent, not 
 unfrequently in an inverse proportion to the necessity 
 of the case. He would yield himself up to a blind and 
 passionate obstinacy, and' lacerate his victims for no 
 apparent reason but the mere pleasure of inflicting 
 pangs. In this respect, the orator of Roanoke resem- 
 bled' the Sicilian, tyrant whose taste for cruelty led him 
 to seek recreation in putting insecta to the torture. If 
 such men cannot strike strong blows, they know how 
 to fight with poisonous weapons ; thus by their malig- 
 nity, rather than by their honorable skill, they can 
 bring the noblest antagonist to the ground. But Mr. 
 Otis pursued more dignified' game and with a loftier 
 purpose. He indeed possessed " a Swiftian gift of sar- 
 casm," but, unlike the Dean of St. Patrick's, and the 
 forensic gladiator alluded to above, he never employed 
 if: in a spirit of hatred and contempt towards the mass 
 of mankind. Such persons should remember the words 
 of Colton, that, " Strong and sharp as our wit may be, 
 it is not so strong as the memory of fools, nor so keen 
 as their resentment; he that has not strength of mind 
 to forgive, is by;no means weak enough to forget ; and 
 it is mUcji more easy to do a cruel thing than to say a 
 Severe qne." 
 : The following extract from his Vindication of the 
 
84 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Colony of Massachusetts, in 1762, will illustrate b(ith 
 the boldness and wit of Mr. Otis : 
 
 "Tn order to excuse, if not altogether justify the 
 offensive passage, and clear it from ambiguity, I beg 
 leave to premise two or three data. 1. God made all 
 men naturally equal. 2. The ideas of earthly superior- 
 ity, pre-eminence, and grandeur, are educational, at 
 least, acquired, not innate. 3. Kings were (and planta- 
 tion governors should be) made for the good of the 
 people, and not the people for them. 4. No govern- 
 ment has a right to make hobby horses, asses, and 
 slaves of the subject ; nature having made sufBcient of 
 the two former, for all the lawful purposes of man, from 
 the harmless peasant in the field, to the most refined 
 politician in the cabinet, but none of the last, which 
 infallibly proves they are unnecessary." 
 
 Another striking trait in the eloquence of James Otis 
 was its pungency. He was eminently natural, intelli- 
 gent, and in earnest. As completely armed as he was 
 with scholastic tools, yet, in his public speeches he 
 never played the artificial rhetorician. No sooner did 
 he face his audience than he resigned all to the noble 
 impulses of his ardent nature, and sought a connection 
 of ideas more than of words — or rather, he sought no 
 relation, and thus wielded the true one ; for passion, 
 when deep and honest, has a logic more compact, and 
 more convincing even, than reason. Figures that are 
 striking, emotions that are fleeting, intermingled with 
 close reasoning' and calm repose, ccnstitute a style of 
 address universally popular, because adapted to out 
 nature. Thoughts must not present a dry, anatomicaJ 
 
JAMES OTIS. 85 
 
 form, allowing the spectator coolly to count the muscles, 
 the tendons, and the bones ; they must be clothed with 
 flesh, all glowing with latent heat that gives the body 
 quick motion, and makes it tremble with the energies 
 of immortal life. The fragments of oratorical composi- 
 tions which remain to us ,of Mr. Otis, are marked by 
 sudden transitions, bold imagery, rapid reasoning, stern 
 deductions, and overwhelming appeals. He was fear- 
 .ess, impetuous, and imperiously independent. These 
 are the mental qualities which constitute a fascinating 
 orator. 
 
 One who is accustomed to extemporaneous speech in 
 popular assemblies, and is therefore self-possessed, has 
 a great advantage over the frigid thinker who never 
 looks for strong effects but through elaborate premedita- 
 tion. When one can 'ireate thought rapidly on his feet, 
 and has the grace of confidence in every situation, 
 ascends the rostrum to harangue the multitude on any 
 topic that admits of an appeal to the feelings, the first 
 flash of his spontaneous soul creates a sympathetic 
 communication between himself and his fascinated 
 audience. That which is thus begun in pleasure and 
 continued with a perpetually augmented force, is an 
 agency of great power, and may be subordinated to the 
 most useful ends. At every new touch of feeling, the 
 popular heart swells with enlarged conceptions ; at each 
 loftier flight of fancy, a thousand eyes sparkle with 
 delight or swim in emotion. All this tide of feeling in 
 turn reacts upon the susceptible oratoi and raoidly 
 accumulates around him the force of couviccion. In 
 this electrical communication between excited souls, the 
 
86 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 whole man is wrought tip to the highest pitch of menta. 
 action, ardent and .irresistible as the blazing torrent of 
 a volcano. The faults of such speakers are palpable^ 
 but their excellences place them immeasurably beyond 
 the abilities and fame of ;ordinary. men. 
 
 It might be said of the fervid style in which Mr. Otis 
 ^as wont to speak, as was said of the rhost renowned 
 orator of antiquity. It is scarcely possible to divide his 
 speeches, like thciseof most men, into argumentative 
 and declamatory passages. "Logic and rhetoric are 
 blended together, from the beginning to the end ; the 
 speaker, while always clear and profound, is always 
 rapid and impassioned, Theviyid feeling displayed at 
 intervals by other orators, bursts forth in him with every 
 sentence. We are forcibly reminded of the description 
 of lightning in Homer-: 
 
 " ' Sy turns one flash succeeds, as one expires, 
 Aiid heaven flames thick with momentary fires.' " 
 
 There is usually more passion than intellect in the 
 eloquence which ^creates revolutions. We are not 
 much moved by a little flame that burns for a long time 
 with a steady light. But no one is indifferent to those 
 conflagrations which, suddenly burst through sombre 
 clouds and then expire as suddenly as they were born. 
 Pindar long since sang of the astonishing effects pro- 
 duced by that great furnace of nature, Etna, which is 
 impressive not by an uniform erupt Dn, but because at 
 moments of fear and devastation it hurls up, from its 
 profound depths, cinders, rocks, and rivers of flame. It 
 is only the grand and extraordinary that is admirable 
 
JAMES OTIS. 87 
 
 and surprising. The passions are powerful advocates, 
 and tiieir very silence, when emotion grows dumb frona 
 its excess, goes most directly: to the soul. 
 
 Many of the most effective orators, of all ages, 
 have net been most successful in long and formal 
 efforts. Nor have they always been close and ready 
 debaters. "Sudden bursts which seemed to be the 
 effect of inspirations-short sentences which came like 
 lightning, dazzling, burning, striking down everything 
 before them — sentences which, spoken at critical mo- 
 ments, decided the fate of great questions — sentences 
 which at once became proverbs — sentences which 
 every body still knows by heart" — in these chiefly lay 
 the oratorical power of Mirabeau and Chatham, Patrick 
 Henry and James Otis. 
 
 American eloquence has ever resembled our national 
 domain, spontaneous and prolific, grand in outline and 
 rich in tone. The most refined taste in landscape 
 gardening acts on the principle that the greatest excel- 
 lence consists in the resemblance to nature — ^nature 
 adorned by a skilful grouping of her own charms 
 around an occasional embellishment of art — ^but in all 
 her prevailing features nature still. Otis was naturally 
 elevated in thought, and dwelt with greatest delight in 
 the calm contemplation of the lofty principles which 
 should govern political and moral conduct. . And yet 
 ho was keenly susceptible to excitement. His intellect 
 explored the wilderness of the universe only to increase 
 the discontent of those noble aspirations of his soul 
 which were never at rest. In early manhood he was a 
 Close student, but as he advanced in age he became 
 
38 OEATOR8 OF THE AMKRICAN REVOLUTIOlf. 
 
 more and more absorbed in public action. As ominous 
 storms threatened the common weal, he found less 
 delight in his library than in the stern strife of the 
 forum. As he prognosticated the coming tempest and 
 comprehended its fearful i.ssue, he became transformed 
 in aspect like one inspired. His appearance in public 
 always commanded prompt and profound attention ; he 
 both awed and delighted the multitudes whom his bold 
 wisdom so opportunely fortified. "Old South," the 
 "Old Court House," and the "Cradle of Liberty," in 
 Boston, were familiar with his eloquence, that resounded 
 likn a cheerful clarion in " days that tried men's souls." 
 It was then that his great heart and fervid intellect 
 wrought with disinterested and noble zeal : his action 
 became vehement, and his eyes flashed with unutterable 
 fire; his voice, distinct, melodious, swelling, and "in- 
 creasing in height and depth with each new and bolder 
 sentiment, filled, as with the palpable presence of a 
 deity, the shaking walls. The listeners became -rapt 
 and impassioned like the speaker, till their very breath 
 forsook them. He poured forth a " flood of argument 
 and passion" which achieved the sublimest earthly 
 good, and happily exemplified the description which 
 Percival has given of indignant patriotism expressed in 
 eloquence : 
 
 " Its words 
 Are few, but deep and solemn ; and they break 
 Fresh from the fount of feeling, and are full . 
 Of all that passion, which, on Carmel, fired 
 The holy prophet, when his lips were coals. 
 The language winged with terror, as when bolts 
 
JAMES OTIS. 89 
 
 Leap from Ihe brooding tempest, armed with wrath, 
 Commissioned to affright us, and destroy." 
 
 We have said that the eloquence of Otis was bold, 
 witty, and pungent ; we remark, in conciusion, that it 
 was exceedingly practical. The great body of the 
 people comprehend thought and genius most easily 
 under the emblems of force ; they are ready to respect 
 that which they love, and yield willingly to that which 
 impels them ; they highly appreciate that which is 
 heard with pleasure, and venerate the heart that has 
 profoundly moved them. Intellect and emotion consti- 
 tute the basis of all effective speech ; but the commanding 
 form, stentorian lungs, and flashing eye, are indis 
 pensable adjuncts to the popular speaker. 
 
 The- trait which, perhaps, was most prominent in Mr. 
 Otis, was his constant and complete forgetfulness of 
 himself in the themes he discussed. He explored all 
 the resources at command, and, in defending his posi- 
 tion, became entirely absorbed. While engaged in 
 speaking, he appeared to be absolutely possessed by his 
 subject, and thought as little of the skill he should 
 display as an orator, as he who is' fighting for his life 
 thinks' of the grace he shall exhibit in the flourish of 
 his weapons. Enthusiastic sincerity actuated his great 
 native powers, and gave them overwhelming force. 
 His was the true eloquence of nature, the language of 
 a strong mind under high but well regulated excitement. 
 The disenthralment of the Colonies of America was the 
 grand ambition of his soul ; and to the attainment of 
 this he subordinated all the resources he could com- 
 mand. Freedom, of the most exalted kind, was the idoJ 
 
90 ORATORS DF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 of his heart, and, as he braved the terrors of rebellion 
 against sovereign power, "he saw nothing, loved nothing, 
 with affection more fixed. In this consisted his best 
 qualification for the great work to the execution of 
 whicii, under Providence, he was assigned; 
 
 " For he whom Heaven' 
 Hath call'd to be th' awakener of a land, 
 Should have his soul's affections all absorbed 
 In that majestic purpose; and press on 
 To its fulfilment, as a mountuin-born 
 And mighty ^tream, with all its vassal-rills, 
 Sweeps proudly to the ocean, pausing not 
 To dally with the flowers." 
 
 In respect to physical ability,. Qtis, was happily en- 
 dowed. One who knew him well has recorded, that 
 " he was finely formed,, and had an intelligent counte- 
 nance : his eye, voice, ?ind manner were very impres- 
 sive. The elevation rof his mind, and the known 
 integrity of his purposes, enabled, him to speak with 
 decision and dignity,, , and commanded the respect as 
 well as the admiration of his audience. His eloquence 
 showed but little imagination, yetit W9.s instinct with the 
 fire of passion." It ,m9,y, be not unjustly said of Otis, as 
 of Judge Marshall, that " He was one of those rare 
 beings that seem to be sent among men from time to 
 time, to keep alive our faith in humanity.'' He had a 
 wonderful power over the popular feelings, but he em- 
 ployed it only for great public benefits. He seems to 
 have said to himself, in the language of the great master 
 of the maxims of life and conduct : 
 
JAMES OTIS. 91 
 
 " This above all, — to thine own self he true, 
 And it must follow, as the night the day. 
 Thou canst not then he false to any man." 
 
 Dtis was just the person to kindle a conflagration ; 
 to set a continent on fire by the power of speech. 
 When heard on exciting local topics, deep feeling, 
 kindred to the sentiments of the orator, opened each 
 heart and soul to the stream of his burning thoughts. 
 Assembled multitudes love that which dazzles them, 
 which moves, strikes, and enchains them. In the 
 best orations of the ancients, we find not a multi- 
 plicity of ideas, but those which are the most pertinent, 
 and the strongest possible ; by the first blows struck 
 ignition is produced, and the flame is kept blazing with 
 increased brilliancy and power, until guilt stands re- 
 vealed in terror, and tyranny flies aghast. It is indeed 
 true, as an American poet has said, 
 
 "Few 
 The spirits who originate and bend 
 All meaner hearts to wonder and obey, 
 As if their look were death, their word were fate f 
 
 but Otis was certainly one of this rare class. 
 
 His eloquence, like that of his distinguished successors, 
 was marked by a striking individuality. It did not 
 partake largely of the placid firmness of Samuel Adams ; 
 or of the intense brilliancy and exquisite taste of the 
 younger Quincy ; or the subdued and elaborate beauty 
 of Lee ; or the philosophical depth of John Adams ; or 
 the rugged and overwhelming energy of Patrick Henry : 
 though he most of all Americans, resembled the latter 
 
92 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUT'OW. 
 
 Compared with English orators, our great country- 
 man was not unlike Sheridan in natural endowment. 
 Like him, he was unequalled in impassioned appeals 
 to the general heart of mankind. He swayed all by 
 his electric fire; charmed the timid, and inspired 
 the weak; subdued the haughty, and enthralled the 
 prejudiced. He traversed the field of argument and 
 invective as a Scythian warrior scours the plain, shoot- 
 ing most deadly arrows when at the greatest speed. 
 He rushed into foresisic battle, fearless of all conse- 
 quences; and as the ancient war-chariot would some- 
 times set its axle on fire by the rapidity of its own 
 movement, so would the ardent soul of Otis become 
 ignited and fulminate with thought, as he swept 
 irresistibly to the goal. When aroused by some great 
 crisis, his eloquent words were like bolts of granite 
 heated in a volcano, and shot forth with unerring aim, 
 crashing where they fell. 
 
 No patriot was ever more heartily devoted to the 
 welfare of his country, nor more practical in his public 
 toils, than was James Otis. Taking into consideration 
 the times in which he appeared, and the sublime results 
 that have flowed from the influence he exerted, the 
 following language of President Adams seems appro- 
 priate and just. " I have been young, and now am old, 
 and I solemnly say, I have never known a man whose 
 love of his country was more ardent or sincere ; never 
 one who suffered so much ; never one, whose services 
 for any ten years of his life, were so important and 
 essential to the cause of his country, as those of Mr 
 Otis, from 1760 to 1770." 
 
JAMES OTIS. 93 
 
 Mr. Otis suffered much in the latter part of his life 
 from the gloomy effects produced by Robinson's brutaj 
 assault. He lived retired in the country in the most 
 simple and quiet manner. In the lucid intervals of his 
 mind he conducted some legal business, and habitually 
 devoted himself to literary and religious cultivation. 
 In 1782, his grandson, the distinguished living repre- 
 sentative of the family, Harrison Gray Otis,* brought 
 the venerable patriot from Andover on a visit to Boston. 
 There he received great attention from his old friends, 
 and especially from Governor Hancock. What a sceno 
 must this have been to the great pioneer of the Revo- 
 lution ! What exciting, but hallowed recollections 
 must have rushed on his mind, as in the midst of a free 
 and mighty people, and encompassed by his old com- 
 rades whose youth he had inspired and whose action 
 he had guided, he sat down, the patriarch of freedom 
 at the festive board of honor and wealth ! But the 
 exhilaration was too much for his shattered nerves and 
 agitated mind. He was immediately advised by his 
 brother and grandson to return to the quiet of rural 
 life again, which he did with the gentleness of a 
 child. 
 
 Six weeks after his return to Andover, his end 
 came in a manner as remarkable as had been his 
 career. When first emerging from insanity, he had 
 said to his sister, Mrs. Warren, "my dear sister,. I hope 
 when God Almighty, in his righteous providence, shall 
 take me out of time into eternity, that it will be by a 
 flash of lightning ;" and this desire he often repeated. 
 On the 23d of May, 1783, a heavy cloud suddenly 
 
 • Recently diei. 
 
94 OaATOES OP THK AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 arose. Otis, calm and sound in liiind, stood leaning on 
 his cane in the iront door of the house where he resided. 
 A single flash glared on the family assembled near, and 
 Mr. Otis fell instantaneously dead in the arms of Mr. 
 Osgood, who sprang forwatvl as he saw him sink. The 
 body was brought to Boston, and his funeral was 
 attended by one of the most numerous processions ever 
 seen in New England. 
 
 Peace had just been concluded. The great battle of 
 the Revolution had been fought and won, when the 
 great mind which had incurred the most fearful affliction 
 in the early strife, permitted at length to gaze in plac'.d 
 joy on the glorious result, was then by a bright boii 
 snatched to Heaven without a pang. 
 
 A cotemporary poet wrote a commemorative oifak 
 which closed as follows : 
 
 " Yes ! when the gplorTous work which he hegun. 
 Shall standthe most complete beneath the sun ; 
 When peace shall come to crown the grand design, 
 His eyes shalllive to see the work divine — 
 The heaivens shall' then his generous ' spirit claim, 
 In storms as loud as his immortal fame' — 
 Hark, the deep thunders echo round the skies! 
 On wings of flame the eternal errand flies. 
 One chosen, charitable bolt is sped — 
 And Otis mingles w-.tfa the glorious <i^d." 
 
CHAPTER in. 
 
 SAMUEL ADAMS, 
 
 LAST OF THE PURITANS. 
 
 One of the brightest and most prominent traits in the 
 early history of our country, is presented in the exalted 
 moral worth of many of the leading patriots. It is a 
 feature deli^tful to contemplate, and one that accountis 
 for whatever is worthy and stable in our free institu- 
 tions. If our .principal men are not men of principle, it 
 Ls vain 10*10011 for enduring excellence in the works they 
 execute. Btirke sagaciously remarked, " I never knew 
 a man who was bad, fit for service that was good. 
 There is always some disqualifying ingredient, mixing 
 and spoiling the compound. The man seems paralytic 
 on that side, his muscles there have lost their very tone 
 and character-^they cannot move. In short, the ac- 
 complishment of any thing good is a physical impossi- 
 bility for such a man. There is decrepitude as well as 
 distortion — he could not, if he would, is not more cer- 
 tain than he would not, if he could." 
 
 The late George Canning, himself a happy example of 
 the association of private morality and political emi- 
 nence, in an early literary work, enforced the necessity 
 
99 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 of personal purity, as illustrative of public character, 
 with a vigor of thought and elegance of diction peculiar 
 to himself. He first quotes the foUowring remark from 
 an illustrious master of ancient eloquence : " It is impos- 
 sible that the unnatural father, the hater of his own 
 blood, should be an able and faithful leader of his coun- 
 try ; that the mind which is insensible to the intimate and 
 touching influence of domestic affection, should be alive 
 to the remoter influence of patriotic feeling ; that pri- 
 vate depravity should consist with public virtue." " The 
 sentiment is here expressed," says Canning, "with all the 
 vehemence of a political chief, conscious of the amiahle- 
 riess of his own domestic life, and inveighing against a 
 rival too strong in most points to be spared when he 
 was found weak. It has, however, a foundation of truth> 
 and may suggest the advantages resulting from the 
 blended species of biography of which we have spoken. 
 Even in the anomalous cases where no correspondence, 
 or no close correspondence, can be traced between the 
 more retired and the more conspicuous features of a 
 character, a comparative exhibition of the two has its 
 use, and will furnish the philosopher with many interest- 
 ing themes of reflection. The chief use, however, of 
 such an exhibition resides in the rule and not in the ex- 
 ceptions, and belongs not to the speculative few, but to 
 the active many. By associating, in the view of man- 
 kind, whatever is amiable, and, as it were, feminine in 
 the human character, with whatever in it is commanding 
 and Herculean, it takes advantage of our veneration far 
 the latter to betray us into a respect for the former. It 
 gives dignity to the humbler virtues and domestic chari* 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 97 
 
 ties in the eyes both of public and private men, both ol 
 those who aspire to become great, and of those who are 
 content to remain little ; and thus secures the vits.1 inte 
 rests of society." 
 
 A happy instance and illustration of the above doc- 
 trine is before the world in the life and character of 
 
 Samuel Adams. He was born in Boston, on the 27th 
 of September, 1722. The family from which he de- 
 scended was one that early emigrated to New England, 
 and commenced the settlement of the Colony. His 
 father was a man of considerable wealth, of irreproach- 
 able character, a magistrate of Boston, and a member of 
 the House of Assembly for many years, under the Colo- 
 nial government. Having resolved to give his son a 
 liberal education, Samuel Adams was placed under the 
 instruction of Mr. Lovell, a celebrated teacher of the 
 grammar school in Boston. Under his supervision 
 young Adams was fitted for admission to Harvard Uni- 
 versity, at an early age. He graduated with honor in 
 1740, when only eighteen years old, and took his Mas- 
 ter's degree at twenty. 
 
 When Samuel Adams graduated, John Adams was 
 five years old, and Josiah Quincy and Joseph Warren 
 yet unborn. James Otis was three years after Samuel 
 Adams, in the list of graduates, and Quincy twenty-three 
 years after him. John Adams completed his college 
 course in 1755, which was fifteen years after the gradu- 
 ation of Samuel. Samuel Adams was distinguished at 
 the university for a serious and secluded cast of mind. 
 He at first designed, to devote himself to the Gospel 
 ministry, but read comprehensively, especially in 
 5 
 
98 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 history., The severe writers of Greek and Roman au- 
 nals were his favorite authors; but Divinity was the 
 pi!ofession he resolved to live and dife by. 
 
 The year that Samuel Adams entered Haf vardi was 
 the same in which the Earl of Chatham entered Parlia- 
 ment, so that he must have seen the whole of that great 
 statesman's . splendid career. But the greatness he saw 
 from afar and emulated, neither crippled the expansion 
 bf his own frfee faculties nor created fear in his breast. 
 He was early distiiiiguished for great assiduity in study, 
 and promptness in the performance of collegiate duties. 
 He was equally i^einarkable for the uprightness of his 
 demeanori and the frugality of his habits. From the 
 stipend allowed him by his father; he saved a sum suffi- 
 cient to pubUsh an original-pamphlet, entitled " English- 
 men's Rights." When he- took his second degree, the 
 thesis he discussed vvas, "Whether it be lawful to resist 
 the Supreme Mac^istkATe, if the Gommbnwealth cannot 
 he otherwise preserved?" This he affirmed and main- 
 tained with great force, in the presence of the king's 
 Governor and his Council, in the reign of George the 
 Second, while Sir Robert Walpole was Prime Minister, 
 and these Colonies were not only at peace but exceedingly 
 loyal to England. But in that young bosom lay the ele- 
 ments of glorious rebellion, and in the question he dis- 
 cussed in 1740, lay the whole history of the war of In- 
 dependence, which dates from 1776. 
 
 Samuel Adams niust be regarded as the great leader 
 of our Revolution. As such he was regarded beyond 
 the Atlantic, where his real character seems to have 
 been bettei* understood than at home. Mr. Adolphus 
 
■ ■' ■ SAMUEL ADAMS. 09 
 
 in the second: volume of the history of England, speaks 
 of him thus: "Samuel Adams, a distinguished leader of 
 tlae American councils, noted for subtlety, perseverance 
 and inflexibility, boasted in all companies, that he had 
 toiled tweiity years to accomplish the measure of Inde- 
 pendence. Diairing that time he had carried his art and 
 industry' so fc.as to search after every rising genius in 
 the New England seminaries, employed his utmost abili- 
 ties to fix in their minds the principles of American In- 
 dependenoy,T and now triumphed in his success." A 
 learned commentator on this authority, who thoroughly 
 understood' the character of Samuel Adams, asserted 
 that he was '' no boaster, but a polite gentleman of mo- 
 dest carriagei- '■ 
 
 The Rev. Dri William Gordon, another Englishman, 
 who resided a number of years near Boston, as a parish 
 minister, says in his fourth Letter on the history of those 
 times, "that Samuel Adams became a member of the 
 legislature in September, 1765; that he was zealously 
 attached to the rights of Massachusetts in particular, 
 and' the colonies in general, and but little to his own 
 personal interest ; that he was well qualified to second 
 Mr. Gtis, and learned in time to serve his own political 
 views by the influence of the other ; that he was soon 
 ngticed by the House, chosen and continued their clerk 
 from year to year, by which means he had the custody 
 of their papers ; and of these he knew how to make an 
 advantage for political purposes. He was frequently 
 upon important committees, and acquired great ascen- 
 dency by discovering a readiness to acquiesce in the 
 proposals and amendments of others, while the end 
 
100 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 aimed at by them did not eventually frustrate his lead- 
 ing designs. He showed a pliableness and complaisance 
 in these smaller matters which enabled him, in the issue, 
 to carry those of much greater consequence ; and there 
 were," says the historian, " many favorite points, which 
 the • sons of liberty' in Massachusetts meant to carry, 
 iven though the Stamp-Act should be repealed." 
 
 Thomas, Jefferson, in a letter to the grandson of Sa- 
 muel Adams, said : " He was truly a great man, wise in 
 council, fertile in resources, immovable in his purposes ; 
 and had, I think, a greater share than any other member 
 of Congress, in advising and directing our measures in 
 the northern war. As a speaker he could not be com- 
 pared with his living colleague and namesake, wnose 
 deep conceptions, nervous style and undaunted firmness, 
 made him truly our bulwark in debate. But Samuei 
 Adams, although not of fluent elocution, was so rigor- 
 ously logical, so clear in views, abundant in sense, and 
 master always of his subject, that he commanded the 
 most profouiid attention whenever he rose in an assem- 
 bly, where the froth of declamation was heard with the 
 most sovereign contempt." 
 
 Again, in a letter written by the same renowned {>a- 
 triot to Dr. Waterhouse, he says : 
 
 " Dear Sir — Your letter of the 15th was received on 
 the 27th, and I am glad to find the name and character 
 of Samuel Adams coming forward, and in so good hands 
 as I suppose them to be. I vi^as the youngest man but 
 one in the old Congress, and he the oldest but one, as I 
 believe. His only set ior, I suppose, was Stephen Hop. 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 101 
 
 kins, of and by whom the honorable mention made in 
 your letter was richly merited. 
 
 " Although my high reverence for Samuel Adams was 
 returned by habitual notices from him, which highly flat- 
 tered me, yet the disparity of age prevented intimate 
 and confidential communications. I always considered 
 him, more than any other member, the fountain of our 
 important measures; and although he was neither 
 an eloquent nor easy speaker, whatever he said was 
 sound, and commanded the profound attention of the 
 House. 
 
 " In the discussions on the floor of Congress, he re- 
 posed himself on our main pillar in debate, Mr. John 
 Adams. These two gentlemen were verily a host in our 
 councils. Comparisons with their associates, northern 
 or southern, would answer no profitable purpose ; but 
 they would suSer by comparison with none." 
 
 It will be unnecessary to cite further cotemporary 
 authorities, touching the general outlines of Samuel 
 Adams' character. The idea of the Independence of 
 the Colonies was doubtless more or less cherished from 
 the beginning, but he was the first man who embodied, 
 and, with extraordinary tact and effect, diflused that 
 doctrine from North to South, until it became in '76 the 
 vital principle of our constitution. Many years before 
 ordinary minds dared to hope for such a consummation, 
 Gordon -wrote in his history, that " Mr. Samuel Adams 
 long since said, in small, confidential companies, ' This 
 country shall be independent, and we will be satisfied with 
 nothing short of it.' " 
 
 In turning now to a more specific analysis of the 
 
102 OEATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 mental structure! of this great patriot, with an effort to 
 estimate the value of his public services, it is proposed 
 to consider the influence of his pen, hi& tongue and his 
 example. 
 
 First, let us glance at what he achievsed with his pen. 
 We have seen that he accustomed himself to political 
 writing while at colleg«. He was favorably known as 
 a polemic, during the administration of Governor Shir- 
 ley, whom he opposed on the ground of his exercise both 
 of the civil and military power. When the intelligence 
 reached Boston, in 1763, of a design to tax the Colo- 
 nies, and place the revenue at the disposal of Parliament, 
 Adams promptly opposed the measure. At that period, 
 when the town met to choose their repres^tatives to 
 the General Assembly, it was the custom to instruct 
 them respecting their legislative duties. Soon after the 
 ominous news arrived, the people elected Mr. Adams to 
 draw up appropriate instructions. The document is yet 
 extant in his own hand- writing ; and in- that manuscript 
 is found the first public denial of the right of the British 
 Parliament to tax the Colonies without their consent — '• 
 the first denial of parliamentary supremacy — and the 
 first public suggestion of an union on the part of the 
 Colonies, to protect themselves against British aggres- 
 sion. 
 
 Samuel Adams possessed a calm, solid, and yet po- 
 lished mind. There is a wonderful lucidness iii his 
 thought and phraseology ; every thing about his compo 
 sition is plain, forcible, and level to the simplest compre- 
 hension. Above all the men of his day, he, was distin- 
 guished fpr sound practical judgment. AH prominem; 
 
SAMUEL ADAM9. ' - . " ■• 103 
 
 statesmen looked to hitjti for counsel. He aided Otis iii 
 preparing state papers; and a direction to the printers, 
 attached to some of Josiah Q,uincy's ifaanuscripts, reads 
 — "JiCt Samuel Adams, Esq-, correct the: press." In 
 fact there were few, if any, important documents pub- 
 lished between 1764 and 1769, in Boston, that were not 
 revised by the cool and solid judgment of the New Eng- 
 land PAociow. • , I - ., . , 
 
 The idea of assranfeling the first Gongtess not only 
 originated with him, but he early became a conspicuons 
 delegate in that body. He was, placed upon every im- 
 portant committee, wrote : or revised every report, and 
 had a hand in every measure designed to counteract 
 foreign tyranny. The people of America soon recog- 
 nized in him one of their most efficient supporters, and 
 the government in England openly proclaimed him one 
 of the most inveterate of their bpponents. 
 
 Samuel Adams possessed various instrumentalities Tor 
 promoting political and moral designs, and not the least 
 among them was his versatile arid potent pen. He is 
 said to have wielded that almost omnipotent engine, a 
 free press, with the irresistible arm of a giants Cleai' 
 and cogent paragraphs, scattered about in newspapers, 
 stung the popular mind to the quick ; while more elabo- 
 rate essays, like those of Junius; convinced and im- 
 pelled leading men, afld prompted all classes to execute 
 the purposes at whfch the gre*t patriet aimed. 
 
 In the second place, his living eloquence was a pow- 
 erful auxiliary to the popular cause. But of this orator 
 as of James Otis, there are but few Written remains 
 The patriots of those tinies acted, wrote a»d spake, as 
 
104 OKATOES OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 though they felt deeply that they were born for their 
 country and for mankind. They were evidently more 
 intent in laying the foundation of great institutions for 
 the benefit of posterity, than in recording transient me- 
 morials of themselves. 
 
 Several traits in the eloquence of Samuel Adams are 
 worthy of particular notice ; among these were his sa- 
 gacity, his knowledge of man, his fearlessness of kings, 
 and his devotion to republican liberty. 
 
 He commenced his public life as a legislator in 1765, 
 in the General Assembly, as a representative from Bos- 
 ton. He very soon became distinguished in that body 
 for his wisdom, foresight, and ardent support of popular 
 rights. His commanding influence and stem defiance 
 of foreign aggression, soon attracted the notice of the 
 agents of Parliament. Overtures were made to him by 
 Governor Hutchinson, but they were indignantly re- 
 jected ; and Hutchinson, referring to his discomfiture in 
 a letter to a friend, said : " Such is the obstinacy and 
 inflexible disposition of the man, that he can never be 
 conciliated by any office or gift whatever." No lan- 
 guage could express a higher tribute to the integrity and 
 patriotism of Mr. Adams. 
 
 During the angry contention which lasted for several 
 years between the citizens and the military force quar- 
 tered in Boston, and which came to the melancholy 
 issue in the massacre of March 5th, 1770, Samuel 
 Adams, aided by John Adams, Hancock and others, 
 bore a prominent part, in effrrts to effect their rem aval 
 from the town. On the morning after the outrage was 
 committed, a public meeting was held, and Samuel 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS 105 
 
 Adams was placed at the head of a committee to wait 
 on the acting governor, Hutchinson, and demand the 
 removal of the troops. Hutchinson at first evaded the 
 immediate request, by offering some frivolous plea ; but, 
 being told by Mr. Adams that the people still remained 
 in session, determined on redress, and that the conse- 
 quences of his refusal must rest upon his own head, 
 he at last promised compliance with their demands. 
 
 Not long after another occasion occurred when the 
 sagacious firmness of this great moral hero wEts called 
 into profitable requisition. Governor Hutchinson, hav- 
 ing refused to receive his salary from the province, and 
 being paid by the crown, was made independent of the 
 people, who saw at once in this move a dangerous in- 
 novation. They remonstrated with the Governor, but 
 their memorials were treated with indifference and 
 contempt. On November 2d, 1772, on the motion of 
 Samuel Adams, a large committee of citizens were ap- 
 pointed " to state the rights of the Colonists, and of this 
 province in particular, as men, as Christians, and as 
 subjects ; to communicate and publish the same to the 
 several towns in this province and to the world, as the 
 sense of this town, with the infringements and violations 
 thereof, that have been, or from time to time may be 
 made ; also requesting of each town a free communica- 
 tion of their sentiments on this subject." This was the 
 original committee of correspondence, out of which grew 
 the subsequent union of the Colonies, and the Congress 
 of the United States. 
 
 Governor Gage arrived in Boston in May, 1774, and 
 presuming upon the truth of a maxim which originated 
 
106 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 among British politicians, and is generally believed theiOj 
 that " every man has his price," offered a heavy " con- 
 sideration" through Colonel Fenton, his agent, to Samuel 
 Adams. But those minions of regal power and rotten 
 aristocracy were destined to learn, that there is such a 
 thing as patriotism, which thrones cannot awe nor 
 bribes corrupt. If the sturdy patriot was found to be 
 proof against venality and corruption, then the agent of 
 tyrannical arrogance was directed to threaten him with 
 an arrest for treason. Mr. Adams, glowing with indig- 
 nation at such attacks upon his honor and patriotism, 
 first demanded of the messenger, Fenton, a solemn pledge 
 that he would return to Gage his reply just as it was 
 given, and then rising in a firm manner, said, " I trust 
 that I have long since made my peace with the King of 
 kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to 
 abandon the righteous cause of my country. Tell 
 Governor Gage, it is the advice of Samuel Adams to 
 him, no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated 
 people." 
 
 The Governor having vetoed no less than thirteen 
 Councilors, chosen by the people in May, 1774, and ad- 
 journed the General Court to Salem, the Assembly at 
 length advised a Congress of the Colonies at Philadel- 
 phia, in September. Samuel Adams was one of the five 
 delegates sent from Massachusetts. In the Continental 
 Congress, as everywhere else, he was indefatigable and 
 earnest in his labors to promote the cause of freedom. 
 John Adams, in a magnanimous allusion to Thomas 
 Jefferson, speaks of his namesake and co-patriot in a 
 way illustrative of our present topic. Jefferson, said he, 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 107 
 
 " though a silent member, he was so prompt, frank, ex- 
 plicit, and decisive upon committees — not even Samuel 
 Adams was more so — that he soon seized my heart." 
 Indeed, all cotgmporary proof goes to show that in the 
 committees of Congress, and in the associations of the 
 "Sons of Liberty," at Boston, he was the soul of their 
 movements. 
 
 Another peculiarity of Samuel Adams was, his pro- 
 found and accurate acquaintance with the nature of 
 man. He had studied its secret springs, and could 
 move them at pleasure. He knew that the human 
 heart is like the earth. " You may sow it, and plant it, 
 and build upon it in all manner of forms ; but the earth, 
 however cultivated by man, continues none the less 
 spontaneously to produce its verdures, its wild flowers, 
 and all varieties of natural fruits." The spade and the 
 plough trouble not the profounder depths where innu- 
 naerable germs are hid. The identity of this planet on 
 which we live is not more perpetual than that of human 
 nature. , Its latent impulses we must know. Its sponta- 
 neous productions we must learn to employ, if we would 
 toil among mankind with success. 
 
 One or two instances will suffice to illustrate Mr 
 Adams' skill in dealing with mankind. A great " town 
 meeting" was held in Faneuil Hall, to form an associa 
 tion against the importation of goods into Boston fron 
 Britain, until certain grievances were redressed. That 
 the leaders in this business contemplated a limited time 
 is evident from the fact that at a subsequent period, both 
 Samuel, and John Adams opposed, in Congress, the non ■ 
 importation scheme, lest the country shoula be exhaust 
 
108 OBiTORS OF THE AMERIOAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 ed of certain necessary articles when they came to fight. 
 The object proposed to the aforesaid popular meeting in 
 Faneuil Hall was received by general acclamation. Bui 
 a Mr. Mc , a Scotchman and large importer, refus- 
 ed to join the association. The Scotch were uncom- 
 monly loyal to George the Third, and are usually not 
 very slow to look after their own interests. Some were 
 wroth that this citizen refused to sign the non-importation 
 agreement; but angry words were by no means en- 
 couraged by Mr. Adams, for the suaviter in modo was a 
 prominent trait in his energetic character. The com- 
 mittee from the meeting who had been directed to call 
 on the stubborn Scotchman, and who had been repelled 
 by him, were directed to call on the recusant again; 
 they returned with the same answer; when Mr. Adams 
 arose^and moved, that the meeting (about two thousand 
 ))ersons) should resolve itself into a committee of the 
 
 tohok house, and wait upon Mr. Mc , at the close of 
 
 the rtieeting, to urge his compliance with the general 
 wish ; which being agreed to' without a dissenting voice, 
 they proceeded to transact the business before them. 
 The sagacious patriot knew that the individual in ques- 
 tion had personal friends in the meeting, some of whom 
 immediately slipped away to inform him, that the whole 
 body would, as a committee, wait upon him at the close 
 of the meeting. The result was, as Mr. Adams antici- 
 pated. In the midst of their deliberations on other 
 subjects, in rushed Mr. Mc , all in a foam, and bow- 
 ing to the chairman and to Mr. Adams, told them that 
 he was ready and willing to put his name to the non- 
 importation pledge. ■ Mr. Adams pointed to a seat neal 
 
SAM TEL ADAMS. 109 
 
 him, with a polite, condescending bow of protection in 
 the presence of the people, which quieted the alarm of 
 the discreet Scotchman, who was struck with dread at 
 the idea of two thousand people presenting themselves 
 before his dwelling, and hastened to avert such threat- 
 ening honors. 
 
 Another sagacious movement on .the part of Samuel 
 Adams, and one of the most profitable deeds of his 
 patriotic life, was his enlisting- the very rich and accom- 
 plished John Hancock in the popular cause. The means 
 of accomplishing this have never transpired, but as to 
 the author of the achievement there is no doubt. The 
 cause of freedom throughout thf. world is greatly indebt- 
 ed to both men. One gave to it kis great mind, and the 
 other his splendid fortune ; one obtained cotemporary 
 fame, the other, like all heroes of the highest order, re- 
 posed on posterity. But it is easy to suppose that the 
 watchful and diligent votary of liberty felt no little com- 
 placency in winning so potent an auxiliary to the cause 
 he most dearly loved. One day John and Samuel 
 Adams were walking in the Boston Mall, and when 
 they came opposite the stately mansion of Mr. Hancock, 
 the latter turning to the former, said, with emphasis, " I 
 have done a very good thing for our cause in the course 
 of the past week, by enlisting the master of that house in 
 it. He is well disposed and has great riches, and we 
 can give him consequence to enjoy them." And Mr. 
 Hancock did not disappoint his expectations ; for when 
 they gave him the " consequence," so genial to his nature, 
 by making him President of Congress, he put everything 
 at stake, in opposition to British encroachments. 
 
110 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 In the third place, Samuel Adams was fearless ol al 
 combinations of human power. Pure and exalted; pa- 
 triotism was the boldest feature in his character. The 
 freedom and prosperity of his country; the union of all 
 her sons in a common and national fraternity; and the 
 advancement of moral truth, harmony, and virtue, were 
 the grand objects of his um emitted pursuit. It may be 
 said of him, as Justice Story said of Bushrod Washing- 
 ton, " Few men have possessed higher qualifications, 
 either natural or acquired. His mind was solid, rathei 
 than brilliant; sagacious and searching, rather than 
 quick or eager; slow, but not torpid; steady, but not 
 unyielding ; comprehensive, and at the same time cau- 
 tious ; patient in iriquiry, forcible in conception, clear in 
 reasoning. He was, by original teiiniperament, mild, 
 conciliating, and candid ; and yet he was remarkable for 
 an uncompromising firmness. Of him it may be truly 
 said, that the fear of man never fell upon him ; it never 
 entered into his thoughts, much less was it seen in his 
 actions. In him the love of justice was the ruling pas- 
 sion; it was the main-spririg of all his conduct. He 
 made it a matter of bonscience to discharge every duty 
 with scrupulous fidelity and scrupulous zeal." 
 
 The propriety of applying the above remarks tr 
 Samuel Adams will be confirmed by adducing the fol- 
 lowing emergency and the sentiments it occasioned. 
 When Mr. Galloway and a few of his timid adherents 
 were for entering their protest in Congress against an 
 open rupture with Britain, Samuel Adams, rising slowly 
 from his seat, said, " I should advise persisting in our 
 struggle for liberty, though it were revealed from He* 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. Ill 
 
 len that nine hundred and ninety-nine were to perish, 
 and only one freeman of a thousand survive and retain 
 his Kbefty. That one freeman must possess more virtue 
 and enjoy more happiness, than a thousand slaves : let 
 him propagate his like, and transmit to them what he 
 had so nobly preserved." 
 
 This quotation leads us to consider yet more definite- 
 ly Mr. Adams' love of liberty, and the peculiarity of his 
 eloquence. 
 
 When, on the morning of April 19th, 1775, the vol- 
 leys of fire-arms from the British troops at Lexington, 
 announced to him and his companions, that the great 
 battle for freedom had b^un, he threw up his arms, and 
 exclaimed, in a voice of patriotic rapture, " Oh ! what a 
 glorious morning is this '" 
 
 Five days before the battie of Bunker Hill, Governor 
 Gage proclaimed pardon to all who should lay down 
 their arms, excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock. 
 Being thus signalized by superior hate only increased 
 their popularity with the people, in the support of whose 
 dearest interests they had put every thing at stake and 
 incurred royal vengeance. 
 
 The exasperation of Gage against Samuel Adams in 
 particular, had been augmented by the bold and effective 
 measures taken by the latter in the assembly at Salem. 
 It was by him and there that a Continental Congress 
 at Philadelphia was proposed, at a time when the popu- 
 lar mind was not maturely decided as to the exped- 
 iency of the measure, and contrary to the hopes of 
 British emissaries a majority was obtained .to act with 
 him. Moreover, in secret session, the five dele- 
 
112 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 gates to that Congress were elected, notwithstanding the 
 governor issued his oiEcial injunction gainst the pro- 
 ceedings. In this movement of the liberty party, the 
 authority of the governor was set at defiance, and the 
 doors were bolted against his entrance. His secretary, 
 armed with a commission to dissolve the assembly, was 
 obliged to sustain his dignity on the steps outside, while the 
 key of the hall door reposed in Samuel Adams' pocket. 
 
 Mr. Adams took his seat in the first Continental Con- 
 gress on the 5th of September, 1774, and continued an 
 active and efiective member of that great national as- 
 sembly until 1781, exemplifying wisdom seldom equalled, 
 and an enthusiasm for freedom never excelled. On the 
 8th of May, 1776, while Congress was in session at 
 Philadelphia, the sound of heavy artillery was heard 
 down the Delaware. It was known to proceed from 
 gun-boats that had been sent to protect the river from 
 British cruisers. Hitherto no sound of actual war had 
 reached that section of country, whose inhabitants were 
 conscientiously more pacific in their tone than suited 
 the ardor and exasperation of New England. As the 
 sound of the fiist gun burst upon the ear of Congress, 
 Samuel Adams sprang upon his feet, and cried out with 
 exultation, to the infinite astonishment of a few timid 
 members, "Thank God! the game's begun — none can 
 stop it now." In that hall he put his name to the De- 
 claration of Independence, and he never ceased his 
 efforts till the victory was won. 
 
 As an orator Samuel Adams was peculiarly fitted 
 for the times on which he had fallen. His eloquence 
 was characteristic of its author, full of massive simpli- 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 113 
 
 city and pungent common sense. His ideas were 
 plain, pertinent, and forcible ; comprehended by all with 
 ease, and long remembered for their pith and point. 
 He moved much among the masses of mankind, and 
 knew how to sway their* thoughts. This apostle of 
 liberty, like the heralds of salvation, began first to 
 preach to the common people, and ultimately attained 
 an influence that made despots tremble on their thrones. 
 
 One great secret of the power of his popular address, 
 probably, lay in the unity of his purpose and the energy 
 of his pursuit. He passionately loved freedom, and 
 subordinated every thing to its attainment. This kind 
 of inspiration is a necessary pre-requisite to eminent 
 success. 
 
 Samuel Adams had more logic in his composition 
 than rhetoric, and was accustomed to convince the 
 judgment rather than inflame the passions; and, yet, 
 when the occasion demanded, he could give vent to the 
 ardent and patriotic indignation of which his heart was 
 often full. 
 
 His education was ' substantial and thorough ; his 
 reading and observation comprehensive and exact. 
 The principal decorative element in his mental culture 
 was music, of which he was a proficient and devoted 
 admirer. Like Milton, whom he resembled in many 
 points, stern and rugged in general character, he could 
 "feel music's pulse in all his arteries," and was accus- 
 tomed to turn away from exhausting struggles" for 
 human weal and seek solace in the luxury of sweet 
 sounds. In him there was a happy blending of strength 
 and beauty of the highest kind. He was not eloquen* 
 
114 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 in the ordinary sense of tlie term, as his 3])eech nad 
 more of substance than, show. His deductions were 
 clear, cogent, and to the purpose ; his language was chaste, 
 luminous, and pointed; his fluency , seldom impeded, 
 and his action always mpressive,; so that, in their 
 energetic union, his great mental and moral qualities 
 possessed a charm which never failed to win upon the 
 confidence and captivate the judgment of his audience. 
 He had little of tbjpse coruscations of fancy, transient 
 gleams such as "live .in the rainbow, and play in the 
 plighted clouds ;" but w^s richly endowed with those 
 more exalted qualities which enabled him to speak in 
 "the large utterance of the early gods." He always 
 steered in the dignified medium between tameness and 
 ferocity. There was a mingling of heroical and Christian 
 graces in him, whi^ih. showed, that the ambition of his 
 soul, and the symmetry pf his thoughts, were fashioned 
 after the sublimest,m.od^lsj and for a better world. 
 
 One who knew .him intimately has described him as 
 being one of the most ardent of the patriots, before and 
 during the Revolution ; a pppukr .wril;er and energetic 
 speaker. "He was of common size, of muscular form, 
 light blue eyes, light complexion, and erect in person, 
 He wore a tie wig, cocked hat, and red cloak. His 
 manner was very serious." ,i His enunciation is said to 
 have been remar|kably slow, , distinct, and harmonious. 
 Whenever he arose to address a popular assembly, 
 ev«ry murmur was hushed, at the first flash of that 
 "sparkling eye beneath a, veteran bra vk.," Expectation 
 was on tiptoe for something weighty frotn his lips, and 
 was seldom disappointed. "Eloquence," said Boling 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 115 
 
 broKe, " must flow like a stream that is fed by an 
 abundant spring, and not spout forth a little frothy 
 water on some gaudy day, and remain dry the rest of 
 the year." 
 
 The encomium which Ben Jonson pronounced on 
 Lord Bacon's speaking may be justly applied to Samuel 
 Adams. " There happened in my time one noble 
 speaker who was full of gravity in his speech. His 
 language was nobly censorious. No man ever spoke 
 more neatly, more pressly, more weightily, or suffered 
 less emptiness, less idleness in what he uttered. No 
 member of his speech but consisted of his own graces. 
 His hearers could not cough or look aside from him 
 without loss. He commanded where he spoke, and 
 had his judges angry and pleased at his devotion. No 
 man had their affections more in his power. The fear 
 of every man that heard him was lest he should make 
 an end." 
 
 The patriotism of Samuel Adams was undoubted, 
 and his personal worth was of the most exalted charac- 
 ter. The influence he exerted on the destinies of the 
 country was probably more potent and salutary than 
 that of any other man. He might not cope with some 
 others in the ability to convulse or console an audience 
 in tumultuous debate, but he could privately lead the 
 leaders. Plain, quiet, indigent, sagacious, patriotic old 
 Puritan, as he was, now melting his stern soul into 
 unwonted tears of joy, and pacing the "Common" with 
 exulting step, because that morning he had " won that 
 chivalrous young aristocrat, John Hancock,'" to the 
 defence of the popular cause ; and now glancing, with 
 
116 OEATOKS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLtlTION. 
 
 a sly twinkle in his eye, at fiery resolutions pendant 
 from the " Tree of Liberty," purporting to have been 
 produced noctumally by the serene goddess herself, but 
 which, he well knows, first saw the light by his solitary 
 lamp; and, anon, ensconced behind the " deacon's seat" 
 in " Old South," with an immense throng crowding the 
 double galleries to the very ceiling, he stealthily passes 
 up a pungent resolution, which kindles some more 
 excitable mouth-piece, and, finally, inflames the heav mg 
 and swelling mass with spontaneous cries of " Boston 
 harbor a tea-jjot to night!" — why, he was, indeed, a 
 power behind the throne greater than the throne, he 
 ruled the winds that moved the waves. 
 
 Our third general point relates to the service which 
 Samuel Adams rendered to his country and the world 
 by the force of his example. A few words on this 
 topic. 
 
 The character of a man, viewed at large, is the 
 aggregate of his passions, and his passions are developed 
 and toned by the circumstances of his situation. The 
 most striking personages in history are produced by a 
 great variety of little incidents ; as from an infinity of 
 minute threads of hemp the mightiest cables are formed. 
 
 We have seen that Mr. Adams early became interested 
 in the welfare of his country ; to promote her weal he 
 devoted all the wealth he inherited and all the talents 
 he possessed. From a humble position in life, he rose 
 through successive gradations of rank until, in 1795, 
 he became governor of his native commonwealth. 
 The respect paid him at home and abroad was sucli 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 117 
 
 as his extraordinary merits were calculated to com- 
 mand. 
 
 George Clymer, of Philadelphia, writing from Eng- 
 land to Josiah Quincy, Jr., directed his friend as 
 follows : 
 
 " I beg you will make my particular compliments to 
 Mr. Hancock and Mr. S. Adams. There are no men 
 more worthy of general esteem; the latter I cannot 
 sufficiently respect for his integrity and abilities. All 
 good Americans should erect a statue to him in their 
 hearts." 
 
 Josiah Quincy, in turn, writing to ms wife from 
 London, in a letter dated Dec. 7, 1774, remarks: 
 
 " The character of Mr. Samuel Adams stands very 
 high here. I find many who consider him the first 
 politician in the world. I have found more reason 
 every day to convince me that he has been right when 
 others supposed him wrong." 
 
 General Joseph Read, of Pennsylvania, on being 
 offered a heavy bribe by Governor Johnson in 1778 
 returned this pithy answer to the corrupt attempt on 
 his republican loyalty. "I am not worth purchasing, 
 but ^ch as I am, the king of Great Britain is not rich 
 enough to do it." Such integrity was not uncommon, 
 during our Revolution, but in Samuel Adams it was 
 proverbial. He might have declared at any time, 
 without fear of contradiction, with Cardinal dc Retz, " In 
 the most difficult times of the Republic, I never deserted 
 the State; in her most prosperous fortune, I never 
 never tasted of her sweets ; in her most desperate 
 circumstances, I knew not fear." During the most 
 
]18 OKATORS OF THE AMERICAN KEVOLUTION. 
 
 gloomy periods of our national struggle, when other* 
 were desponding, he always kept up cheerful spirits, 
 gently rebukihg the fears of others, and expressing his 
 unwavering reliance upon the protection of an over- 
 ruling Providence, who he had felt assured from the 
 first, wbuld conduct the country through all its trials to 
 deliverance and prosperous repose. As a patriot, he 
 toiled iiicessaritly, without complaint; as a Christian, 
 he trusted in God, and was not confounded. 
 
 Grattan said of Fox, that " Be stood against the cur- 
 rent of the court ; he stood against the tide of the people , 
 he stood agaiiisr both utii ted ;■ he was the isthmus lashed 
 by the waves of de'mocra;cy, and by the torrent of des- 
 potisiiii unaffeetfed by either, and superior ttt both ;' the 
 Marpesian rook' that striick its base to the centre. 'anil 
 raised its forehead to the skies." And such, torvjwas 
 Samuel Adams. He was the most puritanic of all our 
 statesmen. Others were endowed with the more splen- 
 did gifts,; and more flexile powers 6f popular harangue; 
 but he, above all' his cotemporaries, glorified with his 
 incorruptible poverty the Revolution which he was the 
 first to excite and the last to abandon. 
 
 In 1781, Mr. Adams retired from Congress, with the 
 desire, iii the near prospect of peace, to withdraw from 
 all public labors. But he was repeatedly pi es.sed into 
 the service of his country. He was a member of the 
 convention which formed the constitution of Massachu- 
 setts, and of the committee which drafted it. He was 
 successively a member of the Senate, president of that 
 body, and member of the convention which adopted the 
 Federal Constitution. In 1789, he was elected lieute- 
 
SAMUEL ADAMB. 119 
 
 nanl-governor, in which office he continued unti/ 1794, 
 when he succeeded John Hancock as Governor of the 
 State. To this office he was annually elected until 
 1797, when his age and increasing infirmities com- 
 pelled him to retire from public life altogether. He died 
 on the 3d of October, 1803, in the eighty-second year 
 of his age. At the close of his life, and from a much 
 earlier period, he had a tremulous motion of the head, 
 which probably added to the solemnity of his eloquence, 
 as this was, in some measure, associated with the won- 
 derful melody of his tones. 
 
 Samuel Adams was the last of the Puritans — "a class 
 of men," says Governor Everett, " to whom the cause of 
 civil and religious liberty, on both sides of the Atlantic, 
 is mainly indebted, for the great progress which it has 
 made for the last two hundred years ; and when the 
 Declaration of Independence was signed, that dispensa- 
 tion might be considered as brought to a close. At 
 time when the new order of things was inducing laxity 
 of manners and a departure from the ancient strictness, 
 Samuel Adams clung with greater tenacity to the whole- 
 some discipline of the fathers. His only relaxation 
 from the business and cares of life was in the indul- 
 gence of a taste for sacred music, for which he was qua- 
 lified by the possession of a most angelic voice, and a 
 soul solemnly impressed with religious sentiment. Re- 
 sistance to oppression was his vocation."' 
 
 He was a Christian. At an early age .he was imbued 
 with the spirit of piety, and the purity of his life verified 
 tho sincerity of his profession. The last production of 
 
120 ORATOES OF THE AMBRICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 his pen was in favor of Christian truth, and the Ught 
 that cheered him in death emanated from the Cross. 
 
 " He is a freeman whom the truth makes iree. 
 And all are BlaTes besides. ' 
 
CHAPTER rV. 
 
 JOSIAH QUINCY, Jfi., 
 
 ORATOR OF REFINED ENTHUSIASM 
 
 This distinguished patriot was bom in Boston, Feb- 
 ruary 23d, 1744. His temperament was ardent, and hia 
 sensibilities were extremely acute. He acquired the rudi- 
 ments of a classical education at Braintree, and, in r759, 
 entered Harvard College, where he distinguished himself 
 for upright conduct and ripe scholarship. He graduated 
 in 1763, and in due course took his second degree, with 
 very high reputation. His theme on the occasion was 
 "Patriotism," and is said to have been remarkable both 
 on account of its composition and delivery. "His 
 taste,'' says his biographer, " was refined by an intimate 
 acquaintance with the ancient classics, and his soul ele- 
 vated and touched by the spirit of freedom they breathe. 
 His compositions during this period also prove, that he 
 was extensively conversant with the best writers of the 
 French and English schools. Above all, the genius of 
 Shakspeare seems to have led captive his youthful im- 
 agination. In his writings, quotations, or forms of ex- 
 pression, modelled upon those of that author, perpetually 
 occur. There still exists among his papers, a manu- 
 script of the date of 1762, he then being in the junior 
 6 
 
122 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 class of the college, of seventy closely and minutelj 
 written quarto pages of extracts from that author. 
 
 Mr. Qumcy read law in the office of Oxenbridge 
 Thatcher, the distinguished advocate who was associat- 
 ed with James Otis agamst .the Writs of Assistance 
 Mr. Thatcher died in 1765. Mr. Quincy had not then 
 completed his preparatory studies, but remained the resi- 
 due of his student's term, took a general oversight of the 
 business of the office, and therein succeeded to a lucra- 
 tive and extensive practice. He early made himself 
 conspicuous by the ardor with which he wrote and 
 spoke against the enferdachments of the mother country 
 
 The boldness with which Quincy entered upon the 
 great contest is indicated by the following sentiments 
 published by him in 1770, in the midst of great excite- 
 ineht, and only twenty days previous to the Boston 
 massacre : 
 
 "In answer to the question, 'What end is the non- 
 importation agreement to answer ?' I give the following 
 reply : 
 
 " From a conviction in my own mind, that America 
 is now the slave of Britain ; from a sense that we are 
 every day more and more in danger of an increase of 
 our burdens, and a fastening of our shackles, I wish to 
 see my countrymen break off— off for ever ! — all social 
 intercourse with, those whose commerce contaminates, 
 wliose luxuries pioisori, whose avarice is insatiable, and 
 whose unnatural oppressions are not to be borne. That 
 Americans will know their rights, that they will resume, 
 assert, and defend fheim, are matters of which I harbor 
 no doubt. Whether the arts oi policy, or the arts of wa' 
 
JOSIAH auINCY, JE. 123 
 
 will decide tne contest, are problems, that we will soItc 
 at a more convenient season. He, whose heart is en- 
 amored with the refinements of political artifice and 
 finesse, will seek one mode of relief; he whose heart is 
 free, honest, and intrepid, will pursue another, a bolder, 
 and a more noble mode of redress. This reply is so in- 
 telligible, that it needs no comment or explanation." 
 
 In August, 1774, at the urgent solicitation of his 
 political friends, Mr. Quincy determined to relinquish 
 business and embark for England on a secret mission in 
 behalf of .his country. In this enterprise it is believed 
 that he acoomplished much good. His efforts were un- 
 remitting, and 'his solicitude were both profound and sin- 
 cere. This is indicated by the following extract from a 
 letter dated 
 
 >'• "London, December 14, 1774. 
 
 "In the sight of God, and all just men, the cause is 
 good ; Xve have the wishes of the wise and humane, we 
 have the prayers of the pious, and the universal benison 
 of all who seek to God for direction, aid, and blessing. 
 I own I feel for the miseries of my country ; I own I 
 feel much desire for the happiness of my brethren in 
 trouble ; but why should I disguise, I feel ineffably, for 
 the honoi^— the honor, I repeat it — the honor of my 
 country. If in the trial, you prove, as your enemies say, 
 arrant poltroons and cowards, how ineffably contempti- 
 ble will you appear ; how wantonly and superlatively 
 will you be abused and insulted by your triumphing 
 oppressors !" 
 
 On the 16th of March, 1775, Mr. Quincy embarked 
 {or Boston. His health was bad, and grew much worse 
 
124 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 during the early part of the voyage. After being fiva 
 weeks at sea, and yet far from his beloved home, he be- 
 came convinced that death was at hand, and prepared to 
 submit himself to the will of heaven with heroic calm- 
 ness and Christian resignation. He repeatedly said to 
 his companions that he had but one desire, which was, 
 that he might live long enough to have an interview 
 with Samuel Adams, or Joseph Warren; that granted, 
 he should die content. But this wish was not granted 
 to his patriotic heart. 
 
 As he drew near his native sho5re, the crisis he had so 
 long expected transpired. The battle of Lexington was 
 fought. According to his prediction, " his countrymen 
 sealed their faith and constancy to their liberties with 
 their blood." But he lived not to hear on earth the 
 tidings of that glorious day. "On the 26th of April, 
 1775, within sight of that beloved country which he was 
 not permitted to reach ; neither supported by the kind- 
 ness of friendship, nor cheered by the voice of affection, 
 he expired ; not, indeed, as, a few weeks afterwards, did 
 his friend and co-patriot, Warren, in battle, on a field 
 ever memorable and ever glorious; but in solitude, 
 amidst suffering, without associate, and without wit- 
 ness ; yet breathing forth a dying wish for his country, 
 desiring to live only to perform towards her a last and 
 s'gnal service." 
 
 A few hours after his death, the ship, with his lifeless 
 remains, arrived at Gloucester, Cape Ann, where the 
 body of this devoted patriot was interred with becoming 
 respect. Mr. Quincy had no opportunity of communi- 
 cating to his countrymen the result of his observation* 
 
J0S14H aUINCY, JB. 125 
 
 bbroad, which was eager, y expected. The regret on 
 this account, was however, merged in the universal sor- 
 row for the untimely loss of a virtuous and gifted advo- 
 cate of freedom, who was cut off in his thirty-first year, 
 in the very crisis of the country he so much loved. 
 
 We will now proceed to notice more particularly Mr. 
 Quincy's character as an orator. He was early distm- 
 guished at the bar, and has rendered his name immortal 
 as a patriot. The cultivation of elegant literature sup- 
 plied his pastime, but love of country was the strong 
 passion of his soul and the habitual inspiration of his 
 public toil. 
 
 The peculiar excellence of his oratorical character 
 was refined enthusiasm. The exercise of this was fre- 
 quent and most effective. In the great debates which he 
 mainly led in Faneuil Hall, on the Stamp- Act, the Boston 
 Massacre, and the Boston Port-Bill, the pathos of his 
 eloquence, the boldness of his invectives, and his im- 
 pressive vehemence, powerfully inflamed the zeal and 
 aroused the resentment of an oppressed people. His 
 lips teemed with those significant sounds and sweet 
 airs which ever give delight, as in sincerity he could 
 exclaim, 
 
 " Hail to the glorious plans that spread 
 The light with universal heam, 
 And through life's human desert spread 
 Truth's living, pure, perpetual stream !" 
 
 True enthusiasm is no other than the sublime inspira- 
 tion of an imagination vividly exalted, always united to 
 reason, which it does not sacrifice, but which it animates 
 with thii interest and piingency of impassioned senti- 
 
126 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 ment. It is not to astonish by the scafTolding of his 
 \earning, that the true orator addresses assembled multi- 
 tudes ; it is to agitate, instruct, and subdue them. True 
 eloquence dissipates doubt and rends prejudice, as hot 
 shot explode a magazine ; it is heat combined with force. 
 Hence Dionjsius, of Halicarnassus, compared Demos- 
 thenes to a sacred fire kindled on the Acropclis at 
 Athens, to illuminate and warm a people equally blind 
 and careless, upon questions of the greatest moment. 
 
 The orator of the people must vividly arouse in his 
 own bosom all the grand sentiments of liberty, equality, 
 humanity, and virtue, which are dormant in the hearts 
 of all men. Before their fixed eyes and open mouths 
 and swelling bosoms he must evoke the gigantic images 
 of religion, country and glory. He- must be able to 
 make the meadows smile at their feet, and the shepherd's 
 pipe of peace sound from distant hills ; or, if it bet- 
 ter suit his purpose, he must banish all pleasing images, 
 and wrap the awed multitude in gloom made doubly 
 fearful by earthquakes- beneath and thunders on high. 
 To do this successfully, there must be 
 
 "Holy revealings, 
 From the innermost shrine, from the light of the feelings." 
 
 ■ - i- - ■ 
 
 The speaker must foster a constant regard for the high 
 principles of truth and justice. He must rethember that 
 human beings are composed not of reason' only, but of 
 imagination also, and sentiment ; and that his energies, 
 are legitimately employed only while, with simultaneous 
 force, they give shape to the judgment and open proper 
 springs of emotion in the heart. Speaking thus, he will 
 
JOSIAH aUlNCY, JH. '127 
 
 command universal confidence while he diffuses univer- 
 sal delight. 
 
 " And aged ears play truant at his tales, 
 And younger hearings are quite Tavished, 
 So sweet and voluble is his discourse." 
 
 Quincy appeared at an auspicious moment for the 
 exercise of his peculiar talents. The statue of Liberty 
 was not yet cast, but the metal was abundant, was al- 
 ready boiling in the furnace, and how soon the glorious 
 work was to be consummated, is indicated by the fol- 
 lowing extract of an address which our orator published 
 in the Boston Gazette, October, 1767 : 
 
 "Be not deceived, my countrymen. Believe not 
 these venal hirelings when they would cajole you by 
 their subtleties into submission, or frighten you by their 
 vaporings into compliance. When they strive to flatter 
 you by the terms, "moderation and prudence," tell them, 
 that calmness and deUberation are tP guide the judg- 
 ment; courage and intrepidity command the action. 
 When they endeavor to make us ' perceive our inability 
 to oppose our mother country,' let us boLdly answer : 
 In defence of our civil and religious rights, we dare op- 
 pose the world; with the God of armies on our side, 
 even the God who fought our fathers' battles, we fear 
 not the hour of trial, though the host of our enemies 
 should cover the field like locusts. If this be enthusiasm, 
 we will live and die- enthusiasts.. Blandishments will 
 not fascinate us, nor will threats of a 'halter,' intimidate 
 For under God, we are determined, that wheresoever, 
 ■ whensoever,,f»r, howsoever, we shaH , be called to make 
 our exit, we will die freemen. 
 
128 ORATOES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 " Well do we know that all the regalia of this world 
 cannot dignify the death of a villain, nor diminish the 
 the ignominy with which a slave shall quit his existence. 
 Neither can it taint the unblemished honor of a son of 
 freedom, though he should make his departure on the 
 already prepared gibbet, or be dragged to the newly 
 erected scaffold for execution. With the plaudits of his 
 conscience he will go off the stage. A crown of joy 
 and immortality shall be his reward. The history of his 
 life his children shall venerate. The virtues of their 
 sire shall excite their emulation." 
 
 This is a fair specimen of Mr. Quincy's composition. 
 It indicates a power to seize boldly on the attention of 
 an audience. It is a style calculated to arouse its pity, 
 or its indignation, its sympathies, its repugnances, or its 
 pride. It is thus that the popular orator must deal with 
 his fellow men, whether addressing them through the 
 pen or living voice. He must seem to love the public 
 breath and receive its inspiration, while it is himself 
 who communicates to others his own. When he shall 
 have, in a manner, detached all the souls of the com- 
 munity from their bodies, and they have come to group 
 themselves at his feet, and are docile under the magical 
 power of his look, then might it be truly said that all 
 those souls had passed into his own. Behold how they 
 undulate in sympathy with the movements of the ora- 
 torical mind, the master whom they rapturouslv obev. 
 They advance or retire, are raised or depressed, as he 
 wills. They are suspended upon his lips by the graces 
 of persuasion, and by a glorious abandonment to his 
 
JOSIAH aUINCT, 'R. 129 
 
 own strong emotions, he captivates and subdues every 
 listening spirit. 
 
 In his popular harangues, Mr. Quincy produced the 
 results of his extensive reading in a simple and most 
 forcible manner. He was familiar with the best writers 
 in poetry and prose, and frequently quoted from them, 
 especially the English dramatists. Tradition says, that 
 in doing this, the execution was extraordinary. He 
 gave forth not merely the verbiage, the cold medium of 
 sentiment, but he vividly reproduced all that his author 
 originally designed to express. He quoted a literary 
 gem as though every line and word had been early 
 transplanted into his heart — had been brooded over in 
 silence and bathed at the fount of tears, to burst forth 
 when called for, like the spontaneous and native growth 
 of his soul. 
 
 However severe he was in private discipline, and 
 strictly logical in the construction of his argument, in 
 public, he stood unshackled, and careered over the popu- 
 lai mind on the wings of a free and flexible imagination. 
 We should estimate addresses made to miscellaneous 
 audiences by the circumstances which demand a little 
 license and a good deal of freedom. Who would be so 
 rash as to apply the square and compass to the delicate 
 lyre of Homer, or the sublime one of Pindar ? Thus 
 wounded and encumbered, the divine instrument which 
 before was redolent of ravishing harmony, henceforth 
 utters nothing but sharp and discordant sounds. 
 
 This refined enthusiasm, so habitually exemplified bjr 
 Mi . Quincy, constituted th» main force of his public in- 
 6* 
 
130 OEATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 fluence. His speech might generally be defined as being 
 logic set on fire. This is true of all eflfective eloquence. 
 The speaking that is not imbued with the living light 
 «d heat of profound emotion, is like the statue of Po- 
 
 rphemus with his eye out ; that feature is absent which 
 
 >ost shows the soul and life. 
 About the last of September, 1768, hordes of foreign 
 
 oops were landed in Boston from fourteen ships of war. 
 
 Vith muskets loaded, bayonets fixed, drums beating, 
 
 -les playing, and fortified by a whole train of artillery, 
 (hese mercenary soldiers took possession of the Common, 
 the state-house, the court-house, and Faneuil Hall. It 
 *fas at this moment of terror and danger that Quincy 
 openly and fearlessly addressed his townsmen in a me- 
 i.norable speech. The following is an extract from his 
 oration, the whole of which was reported in the Boston 
 Gazette of October 3d : 
 
 " Oh, my countrymen ! what will our children say 
 when they read the history of these times, should they 
 find we tamely gave way, without one noble struggle, 
 the most invaluable of earthly blessings ?• As they drag 
 the galling chain, will they not execrate us ? If we have 
 any respect for things sacred ; any regard to the dearest 
 treasure on earth ; — if we have one tender sentiment for 
 posterity; — if we would not be despised by the world ; — 
 let us, in the most open solemn manner, and with deter- 
 mined fortitude swear, — we will die, — if we cannot live 
 freemen! ' 
 
 Another fine display of his bold enthusiasm, was oc- 
 casioned by the arrival of the obnoxious tea in Boston 
 
, , ..JOSIAH aUINCY, .14. 131 
 
 harbor, oo Saturday, November 27th, 1773. A town 
 meeting was held on the Monday following, and resolu- 
 tions were passed, calling.on theconsignegsnot to receive 
 it. In urging this measure, Mr. Quincy, with a strong 
 perception of the events which would naturally follow, 
 and wishing to try the spirit and to increase the energy 
 of his fellow citizens, 'by" setting' before them in a strong 
 light, the consequences that ' might be expected from 
 their resolves, addressed the meeting in the following 
 terms : 
 
 ■" It is not, . Mr. Moderator, the spirit that vapors 
 within these walls that must stand us in stead. The exr 
 ertions of this day will call fprth events, which will make 
 a very different spirit necessary for our own salvation. 
 Whoever supposes that shouts apd hosannas will termi- 
 nate the trials of thp day, entertains a childish fancy. 
 We must be grossly ignorant of the importance and 
 value of the prize for which we contend; we must be 
 equally ignorant of the power of those combined against 
 us; we must be blind' to that, malice, inveteracy, and 
 iiisatiaUe, revenge, which actuate our enemies, public 
 and private, abroad and in our bosom, to hope that we 
 shall end this controversy without the sharpest conflicts; 
 to flatter, ourselves that popular resolves, popular ha- 
 rangues^ popular acclamations, and popular vapor, will 
 vanquish our .foes. , Les us consi4er thp issue. Let us 
 Ipok to tile end. Let us weigh and consider, before we 
 adyaace .to those measures, which must bring on the 
 mo^t trying and terrible struggle this country ever 
 saw." 
 
132 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOlf. 
 
 These specimens are enough to show that, howcTei 
 powerful this orator was with his pen, he was much 
 more potent when seen and heard in the impressive act 
 of living and spontaneous speech. 
 
 " How this grace 
 Speaks his own standing ! what a mental power 
 His eye shoots forth ! how big imagination 
 Moves in his lip ! to the dumbness of the gesture 
 One might interpret." 
 
 The spirit of eloquence is a social spirit, liwelling in 
 the midst of men, making appeals to their sympathies, 
 beguiling them of their fears, and aggrandizing their 
 minds. ■ It gathered its thousands around the bema and 
 rostrum of old; it nerved nations like the tocsin of 
 war, and made aggressions on the kingdom.s of igno- 
 rance and tyranny with the clear clarion cry of perpe- 
 tual triumph. It was heard at the banquet of artists 
 the festival of authors, and the coronation of heroes. 
 Eloquence was twin-born with Liberty ; together they 
 have harmoniously lived through all vicissitudes, and 
 together they have migrated from land to land. The 
 spirit of eloquence is the sun, which from its rising, in- 
 spired the statue of Memnon; it is the flame which 
 warmed into life the image of Prometheus. It is this 
 which causes the graces and the loves to take up their 
 habitations in the hardest marble, to subsist in the emp- 
 tiness of light and shadow on the pictured canvas, or in 
 winged words to bound from soul to soul through con- 
 gregated masses with the potency and impressiveness o/ 
 omnipotence. 
 
70SIAB aUINCY, JE. 133 
 
 Mr. Quincy possessed, in no ordinary degree, those 
 attributes of voice, figure, look and action, which are 
 essential to complete the full charm of eloquence. His 
 face was instinct with expression ; his eye, in particular, 
 glowed with intellectual splendor. 
 
 The lovers of elegant oratory must have keenly en- 
 joyed Quincy's thrilling, imaginative, yet forcible style 
 of address, which broke forth like intermittent flashes of 
 lightning amid the thunders of colonial agitation. When 
 fully aroused in view of the coming conflict, he was 
 " seraphic all in fervency," and was superlatively im- 
 pressive while " rolling the rapturous hosanna round." 
 He was not less a patriot, for being something of a poet, 
 he was in soul an orator, and his ardent heart fused into 
 the liquid flow of brilliant eloquence the purest elements 
 of democratic power. He had a warm heart and quick 
 perception, organs which are ever on the alert to explore 
 the beautiful and feel the sublime under all their forms , 
 borrowing from multifarious life all its sensations, from 
 nature all its wealth, and from art all its blandishments. 
 If the fastidious condemned his style, the enraptured 
 masses of the people adored his sentiments ; some, it 
 may be, pronounced him too ornate, and others too dif- 
 fuse, but all listened to him with that profound admira- 
 tion which is always the test and reward of noble and 
 harmonious eloquence, emanating from a generous and 
 honest heart. 
 
 " As I listen'd to thee, 
 The happy hours pass'd by us unperceir'd, 
 So was my soul fi-xed to the s,ift enchar.tinent." 
 
134 OBATORS 0E< THE' AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 The popular orator must study the wholenature of nmn, 
 and learn how to sway his passions, prejudices and sec- 
 sibilities, as well ias his reasoning faculty. The human 
 soul is like a many-stringed instrument, upon whiph he 
 alone can play with, success who can touch with skill 
 all the cords, i And Hume, with all theaneieut critics, 
 has pronounced in favor pf the orator, who can produce 
 the most powerful: effect: on the passions. Quinctilian 
 says, logicians can be found every -where.. "An able 
 argument is not rare ; but seldom has that orator ap- 
 peared ■yvhose eloquence icould- carry the judge out of 
 his depth ; who could throw him into what disposition 
 of mind he pleasedy fire feim into resentment, or soften 
 him into tears." Many have constructed arguments as 
 logical as those of Demosthenes. and Cicero, but none 
 ever an-ayed them ibefpre ; their audiences with such 
 magic power. The greatest, men .of the age acknoiw-r 
 ledged the registliess force of such oratory. . Even Julius 
 Caesar once confessed himself subdued by the eloquence 
 of Cicero, and- absolved a criminal contrary to his. set- 
 tled purposes. : . i 
 
 Abstract speculations and the astute deductions ol 
 the metaphysician are very well in their place, but they 
 are not by any means the best part of eloquence. On 
 the contrary, they are utterly subversive of that glow 
 of interest, vivacity , of spirit, and richness of sentiment, 
 Khich it is the prerogative of eloquence alone to create 
 
 " Clear aTguments may raise 
 In short succession : yet th' oratorio draught 
 Shall occupy attentions stedfast soul." 
 
 From deep and ardent enthusiasm alone, gush up 
 
JOSIAH aUINCY, JR. 135 
 
 with irresistible impetuosity those overflowing streams 
 of thrilling emotion, which take captive the popular 
 heart and ignite it withcprresponding zeal. 
 
 We have said that Mr. Quincy appeared at a time 
 favorable to the cultivation of extraordinary foi-ce in 
 speech. All great masters in this divine art are disci- 
 plined in storms. When Demosthenes — "the orator hy 
 eminence" — was thundering his patriotism over the 
 country of his birth, and summoning the " band of the 
 faithful" to resist the encroachments of a foreign and 
 merciless usurper, he made Philip of Macedon quake to 
 the very centre of his iron heart. That this faculty was 
 soon extensively cultivated in ancient Greece, besides a 
 vast quantity of. evidence derived from other sources, 
 not only from historians, but, likewise, from actual speci- 
 mens of oratory yet extant, we may infer from the 
 poems of Homer. This " Prince of Poets" invests his 
 heroes with all the charm of eloquence, and in the third 
 book of the Iliad there is a beautiful comparison between 
 the oratory of Ulysses and that of Menelaus. This com- 
 parison cannot be more happily expressed than in the 
 language of the admirable translation, by the illustrious 
 poet of Twickenham. , 
 
 " When Atreus' son harangued the listening train, 
 Just was his sense, and his expression plain ; 
 His words succinct yet full, without a fault, 
 He spoke no more than just the thing he ought. 
 But, when Ulysses rose, in thought profound, 
 His modest eyes he fixed upon the ground ; 
 As one unskilled or dumb, he seemed to stand. 
 Nor raised his head, nor stretched his sceptred hand. 
 
136 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 But, when he speakB, what elocution flows ! 
 Soft as the fleeces of descending snows, 
 The copious accents fall, with easy art. 
 Melting they fall and sink into the heart. 
 Wondering we hearj and fixed in deep surprise. 
 Our ears refute the censure of our eyes." 
 
 The eloquence of Nestor, of Diomede, of Hector, and 
 of Agamemnon is truly pre-eminent. Of each of these 
 men it may be said, with emphasis, that in this depart- 
 ment, at least, he was unsurpassed if not unequalled. 
 Their oratory embraces a union of the most polishea 
 elegance, the most glossy neatness, and the most exquisite 
 modulation, with a remarkable purity and originality of 
 mind, and strength and pomp of diction. The reply of 
 Diomede to Agamemnon, in the ninth Iliad, displays the 
 highest order of intellect and sentiment; and it is 
 worthy of frequent and attentive perusal, so rich is it in 
 sublimity and noble pathos. 
 
 " When kings advise us to renounce our fame 
 First let him speak, who first has suffered shame. 
 If I oppose thee, prince, thy wrath withhold. 
 The laws of council bid my tongue be hold ; 
 Thou first, and thou alone, in field of fight 
 Durst brand my courage, and defame my might : 
 Nor from a friend th' unkind reproach appeared, 
 The Greeks stood witness, all our army heard. 
 The Gods, Chief ! from whom our honors spring, 
 The Gods have made thee but by halves a king. 
 
 * * Ni * * « 
 
 The noblest power, that might the world control, 
 They gave thee not, — a brave and virtuous soul. 
 Is this a general's voice, that would suggest 
 Fears like his own to every Grecian breast 1 
 
JOSIAH aUINCY, JR. 13'' 
 
 Confiding in our want of worth he sta ids ; 
 And if we fly, 'tis what our king rommands 
 Go thou, inglorious ! from the embattled p^-.n : 
 Ships thou hast store, and nearest to the main. 
 A nobler care the Grecains shall employ, 
 To combat, conquer, and extirpate Troy. 
 Here Greece shall stay, or if all Greece retire. 
 Myself will stay, 'till Troy or I expire ; 
 Myself and Sthenelus will fight for fame ; 
 God bade us fight ; and 'twas with God we came." 
 
 The tears which an orator like Quincy compels hia 
 audience to shed, make friends and brothers of them all 
 
 •' One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." 
 
 Faith and feeling become strengthened by diffusion 
 Each individual feels himself stronger among so many 
 kindred associates, and the minds of all flow together in 
 one grand and irresistible stream. The auditor loves to 
 yield himself up to the fascination of a rich, mellow 
 voice, a commanding attitude, and a brilliant physiog- 
 nomy. He outruns the illusion. He is thrilled in every 
 nerve, he is agitated with rapture or remorse, with in- 
 dignation or grief. He blends all his emotions with 
 the speaker, and is subdued or inspired under his power. 
 He soon beconjes stripped of all defence, and willingly 
 exposed to every blow, so that the greatest effects are 
 produced by the slightest words adroitly directed and 
 skillfully expressed. 
 
 Mr. Quincy died before our national triumph was 
 won. But he saw its glories. He prophetically de- 
 scribed them in language worthy of his august theme> 
 and equalled only by the splendid reality when it came. 
 
138 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 " Spirits and genii like those who arose in Rome," 
 said he, " will one day make glorious this more western 
 world. America hath in store hei: Bruti and Cassii, — 
 her Hampdens and Sidneys ;— patriots arid heroes, who 
 will form a band of brothers: — men, who will have 
 memories and feelings, courage and swords ; — courage, 
 that shall inflame their ardent bosoms, till theit hands 
 cleave to their swords, and ^heir swords to their ene- 
 mies' iiearts " 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 JOHN HANCOCK, 
 
 DIGNIFIED CAVALIER OF LIBERTY 
 
 The Revolutionar)"^ period of our history is exceed- 
 ingly interesting, whether considered in the object at 
 stake, the series of acts by which it was accomplished, 
 or its immediate and remote results. Says Sparks, " it 
 properly includes a compass of twenty years, extending 
 from the close of the French war in America to the 
 general peace at Paris. The best history in existence, 
 though left unfinished, that of the Peloponnesian war, 
 by Thucydides, embraces exactly the same space of 
 time, and is not dissimilar in the details of its events. 
 The Revolutionary period, thus defined, is rounded with 
 epic exactness, having a beginning, a middle, and an 
 end ; a time for causes to operate, for the stir of action, 
 and for the final results. The machinery in motion is 
 on the broadest scale of grandeur. We see the hew 
 world, young in age, but resolute in youth, lifting up 
 the arm of defiance against the haughtiest power of the 
 5ld ; fleets and armies, on one side, crossing the ocean 
 n daring attitude and confiding strength ; on the other, 
 nen rallying round the banner of union, and fighting 
 !>n their natal soil for freedom, rights, existence; the 
 
140 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTIOX. 
 
 long struggle and successful issue; hope confirmed 
 justice triumphant. The passions are likewise here at 
 work, in all the changing scenes of politics and war, in 
 the deliberations of the senate, the popular mind, and the 
 martial excitements of the field. We have eloquence 
 and deep thought in council, alertness and bravery in 
 action, self-sacrifice, fortitude, , and patient suffering of 
 hardships through toil and danger to the last. If we 
 search for the habiliments of dignity with which to 
 clothe a historical subject, or the loose drapery of orna- 
 ment with which to embellish a narrative, where shall 
 we find them thronging more thickly, or in happier 
 contrasts than* during this period ?" 
 
 Prominent among the actors in the great drama 
 referred to above, was John Hancock. He was born 
 in Quincy, formerly Braintree, 1737. The grandfather 
 and the father of our hero were bath distinguished 
 clergymen. His father died early, leaving him to the 
 care of a wealthy uncle, by whom he was educated and 
 made the heir of great wealth. Young Hancock, at 
 the early age of seventeen, was graduated at Harvard, 
 in the year 1754. Having spent some years in the 
 counting-house of his uncle, in 1760 he visited England, 
 was present at the funeral of George II. and the coro- 
 nation of his successor — a monarch against whom he 
 was destined to wage a protracted and successful war. 
 When twenty-seven years old, he returned to his native 
 land, and, on the death of his generous patron, came 
 into the possession of an mimense fortune. 
 
 In October, 1774, Mr. Hancock was unanimously 
 elected president of the Massachusetts Provincial Con- 
 
JOHN HANCOCK. 141 
 
 vention. The next year, the first of the Revolution, 
 he ascended to the highest political distinction then 
 possible, by being made the president of the Continental 
 Congress. It has been well remarked, " that by his 
 long experience in business as moderator of the town- 
 meetings, and presiding officer and speaker of the 
 provincial assemblies, during times of great turbulence 
 and commotion, he was eminently qualified, as well as 
 by his natural dignity of manners, to preside in this 
 great council of the nation." 
 
 Hancock was chosen governor of Massachusetts in 
 1779, and was annually re-elected until 1785. After 
 an interval of two years, during which Mr. Bowdoin 
 occupied the post, Hancock was again placed in the 
 governor's chair, which he occupied until Oct. 8, 1793, 
 when he died, aged 56 years. 
 
 Mr. Hancock was a meignificent liver, lavishingly 
 bountiful when once enlisted, and splendidly hospitable 
 to the friends of any cause he loved. Mr. Tudor, in 
 his life of Otis, thus speaks of the effect which the 
 sudden acquisition of his uncle's bounty had upon him, 
 aiid the manner in which his resources were employed. 
 
 " This sudden possession of wealth turned the eyes of 
 the whole community towards him, his conduct under 
 this trying prosperity secured universal esteem and 
 good will. It made him neither giddy, arrogant, nor 
 profligate ; he continued his course of regularity, in- 
 dustry, and moderation. Great numbers of people 
 received employment at his hands, and in all his com- 
 mercial transactions, he exhibited that fair and liberal 
 
142 ORATOES OF- THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 character which commonly distinguishes the extensive 
 and affluent merchant J' 
 
 It was natural that the Boston patriots should wish 
 to enlist this ardent and influential citizen in the popular 
 cause. The manner in which this end was attained is 
 dbsciibed- in the following letter from John Adams to 
 the author referred to above: " I was one day walking 
 in the mall, and accidentally' met Samuel Adams. In 
 taking a few turns together, we came in full view of 
 Mr. Hancock's house. Mr. Adams, poinimg to the 
 stone-building, said, 'This town has done a wise thing 
 to day.' " 'What?-' I'T-hey havemade that young man's 
 fortune their own.' His prophecy was literally fulfilled, 
 for no man's prx}pgrtyjvasev«r more entirely devoted 
 to the pnhlioittiiThel town had that day chosen Mr. 
 Hancock into the legislature of the province. The 
 quivering anxiety dfthe ptjblic under the fearful looking- 
 for of the vengeance of king,' ministry, and parliament, 
 compelled him to a 'constant attendance in the House, 
 his mind, was soon engrossed by public cares, alarms, 
 and terrors ; his busliness was left to subalterns, his 
 JMrivate affairs neglected, and continued to be so to the 
 end of his life." 
 
 ;Once interested in -the cause of his country, he put 
 every thing at stake, a nd incurt-ed the most violent 
 hatred of England.'- He was the dignified cavalier of 
 American liberty. In the proclamation issued by Gen- 
 eral Gage, after the battle of Lexington, and a few days 
 before that of Bunker Hill, offering pardon to the rebels, 
 he and Samuel Adams were especially excepted, theit 
 ofTences being "of too flagitious a nature to admit 
 
lOBN HANCOCK. 143 
 
 of any other consideration than that of condign pun 
 ishment." 
 
 When the Declaration of Independence was to be 
 authenticated by the signature of the president of 
 Congress, and given to the world, Hancock wrote his 
 name in a bold character, that was evidently, designed 
 never to be erased. 
 
 Hanco'cM and Adams, by their station in popular 
 esteem, and zeal in the- popular cause, succeeded Otis 
 as flieidbjeci' of parliamentary insult, and denunciation, 
 as is evident from abundant instances recorded in the 
 debates of that day. The two. following are extracted 
 from the speeches of Mr. Fox. The first occurred in 
 a debate in 1779, on the Irish discontents, when he 
 assailed Mr. Dundas, and illustrated the present subject, 
 by allusions to former measures respecting America: — 
 " What Was the consequence of the sanguinary mea- 
 sures ' i-ecommended in those bloody, inflammatory 
 speeches? Though Boston was to be starved, though 
 Hancock and Adams were proscribed — ^yet, at, the feet 
 of thesec very men, the Parliament, of Great Britain 
 were obliged to kneel, to flatter, and to cringe ; and as 
 they '. had the cruelty at one time to denounce ven- 
 geance fs^ainst those men, so they had the meanness 
 afterwards to prostrate themselves before them, and 
 implore rtheii- forgiveness. — Was he who called the 
 Americans 'Hancock and Ms crew,' to reprehend any 
 set of mea for inflammatory speeches ?" In the debate 
 on the address to the king, in 1781, speaking of the 
 American iwar, he said, " They (the ministers) com- 
 menced war against America after that country had 
 
144 ORAIORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 offered the fairest propositions, and extended her arms 
 to receive us into the closest connection. They did 
 this contrary to their own sentiments of what was 
 right, but they were over-ruled by that high and secret 
 authority, which they durst not disobey, and from 
 which they derive their situations. They were ordered 
 to go on with the American war or quit their places. 
 They preferred emolument to duty, and kept their 
 ostensible power at the expense of their country. To 
 delude the parliament and the people, they then described 
 the contest to be a mere squabble. It was not America 
 with whom we had to contend, it was with ' Hancock 
 and his crew' a handful of men would march triumph- 
 antly from one end of the continent to the other." This 
 was the language sounded in that House, and for this 
 language a learned member of it (Lord Loughborough) 
 was exalted to the dignity of a peer, and enrolled 
 among the hereditary council of the realm. He was 
 thus rewarded for no other merit, that he could discover, 
 but that of vehemently, abusing our fellow subjects in 
 America, and calling their opposition, the war of 
 "Hancock and his crew." 
 ■ Mr. Hancock was indefatigable in his patriotic labors 
 to the last days of his life. The author of " Familiar 
 Letters on Public Characters," who was his neighbor 
 and knew him well, says that Hancock was mainly 
 instrumental in causing the constitution to be adopted 
 in Massachusetts. " He had been absent some davs, 
 from illness. On the 31st of January, 1788, he resumed 
 his place, and after remarking on the difference of 
 opinion which prevailed in the convention, as he had 
 
JOHN HANCOCK. 145 
 
 seen from the papers, he had to propose that the con- 
 stitution should be adopted ; but that the adoption 
 should be accompanied by certain amendments, to be 
 submitted to Congress, and to the States. He expressed 
 his belief, that it would be safe to adopt the constitution, 
 under the expectation that the amendments would be 
 ratified. The discussion appears then, to have turned 
 on the probability of obtaining such ratification. It 
 cannot be assumed, for certainty, that this measure of 
 Han^'ock's secured the adoption ; but it is highly proba- 
 ble. The convention may have been influenced by 
 another circumstance. About this time a great meet- 
 ing of mechanics was held at the Green Dragon tavern, 
 situated in what is now part of Union street, and 
 westerly of the Baptist meeting-house. The tavern and 
 the street were thronged. At this meeting resolutions 
 were passed, with unanimity and acclamation, in favor 
 of the adoption. But notwithstanding Hancock's con- 
 ciliatory proposal, and this expression of public feeling, 
 the constitution was adopted by the small majority of 
 nineteen out of three hundred and fifty-five votes. 
 
 " The adoption was celebrated in Boston by a memo- 
 rable procession, in which the various orders of mechan- 
 ics displayed appropriate banners. It was hailed with 
 joy throughout the States. General Washington is well 
 known to have expressed his heartfelt satisfaction that 
 the important State of Massachusetts had acceded to 
 the union." 
 
 The talents of Hancock were useful, rather than 
 Drilliant. His personal dignity and great practical skil 
 in business, rendered him a superior presiding oflTicer ii 
 
146 OfiATORS op. THE AMEKICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 dfeliberative assetnbliesi -Has- voice • was sonorous, his 
 apprehensions were ' quick, and his knowledge of par 
 liamentary' formsy combined wilih his' well known devo- 
 tion to (he popular cause, rendered' liim the object' of 
 Universal respect.. ' 
 
 When Washington consulted the legislature' of Mas- 
 sachusetts upon the proprietyf- of- botribsirding ■ Boston, 
 Hancock advised- its, being done immediately, if it 
 would benefit the cause, although the most of his 
 ilnftmense property^ consisted in houses and other real 
 estate in that town. > > . • ■ •■ < 
 
 But' Hancock Was 'ready to sacrifice more thariipro- 
 piferty, more than life even ; if necessary, he was willing 
 to sacrifice his popularity in aid of the cause of national 
 freedom. Though in this matter'he was a man of deeds 
 more thai! words, yet lie shunned not in the most public 
 and forcible- mannei: to express the* most ardent and 
 patriotic sentiment^; -- 
 
 ■In the very darkest hbur of csolbnial despair, he came 
 boldly forward in an eiiercise commemorative of those 
 who fell in the- unhappy collision with British soldiers 
 in State street, and in hi« "^ Oration on the Massacre," 
 as it was called, poured forth the following terrible 
 denunciations : ' 
 
 " Let this- sad tale of death 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 shameful 
 story to his listenirig childrfett' till; tears of pity glisten 
 ini theii feveiS, or t'oiling: paskion shakes their tende> 
 frames. V '^ 
 
JOHN HANCOCK. .147 
 
 " Dark and designing luiaves, murderers, parricides ! 
 aowdaia-'you tread' upon the heartn 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 groaiis of those who fell a sacrifice to 
 your aiJcursed ambition ? But if the laboring earth 
 does not expand her jaws — ^if the siir you breathe is not 
 rCQjntnissiofied.to, be the minister of death — ^yet, hear it, 
 and itremble! The eye of heaven penetrates the secret 
 ;chamber^ pf the.spul-; and you, though screened from 
 , human, qbservation, must be .arraigned-^must lift your 
 haivlsi^r^d, with the blood of those whose death you 
 have procured at tfie tremendous bar of God.' 
 
 lU; an oratiorn delivered in Boston, on the 5th of 
 jyiarch,,:17.74, Mr. Hancock concluded vyith the follow- 
 ing, .excellent j-en93.rks: 
 
 .. ".I M^YP the most animating confidence, that the pre- 
 sent noble struggle for liberty will terminate gloriously 
 for i^jn^riGa. And let us play the man for our God, 
 .{^pidifor rtb& cities of our God ; while we are using the 
 mean^s in our power, let us humbly commit our right- 
 eous cause to the great Lord of the universe, who loveth 
 .^•ighteousBeiss and hateth iniquity. And having secured 
 .thfi approbation of our hqarts, by a faithful and unwea- 
 fried^ discharge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully 
 rlsave our concerns in the hands of Him who raiseth up 
 :,and pullath down the empires and kingdoms of the world." 
 
 The; Greeks had a saying that every man lived as he 
 spoke- and Quinctilian tells us that it used to be said of 
 Caesiar, tha,t he always spoke with the same mina as that 
 with : which he conducted war. HancocK was natu- 
 
148 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 rally eaergetic, and in his happier inspirations he was 
 very eloquent. Under his oratorical sway, his cotem 
 poraries were sometimes greatly moved. 
 
 " Their listening powers 
 Were awed, and every thought in silence hung, 
 And wondering expectation." 
 
 New England has ever been fruitful oi -ipe scholars 
 and effective speakers. Why is this? Why should 
 vivid imagination, blended with sound judgment, abound 
 in that frigid region ? We think that several causes 
 tend to produce the result ; and among the first is the 
 fact of its high northern latitude and rugged soil. 
 
 Edward Everett, speaking on this topic, well remarks: 
 ■ The qualities of our climate and soil enter largely in 
 jther ways into that natural basis, on which our pros- 
 perity and our freedom have been reared. It is these 
 which distinguish the smiling aspect of our busy, 
 thriving villages from the lucrative desolation of the 
 sugar islands, and all the wide-spread, undescribed, inde- 
 scribable miseries of the colonial system of modern 
 Europe, as it has existed beyond the barrier of these 
 mighty oceans, in the unvisited, unprotected, and un- 
 avenged recesses of either India. We have had abun- 
 dant reason to be contented with this austere sky, this 
 hard, unyielding soil. Poor as it is, it has left us no 
 cause to sigh for the luxuries of the tropics, nor to covet 
 the mines of the southern regions of our hemisphere. 
 Our rough and hardly subdued hill-sides and barren 
 plains have produced us that, which neither ores, nor 
 spices, nor sweets could purchase, — which would not 
 
JOHN HANCOCK. 149 
 
 spring in the richest gardens of the despotic East. The 
 compact numbers and the strength, the general intelli- 
 gence and the civilization, which, since the world began, 
 were never exhibited beneath the sultry line, have been 
 the precious product of this iron-bound coast. The 
 rocks and the sands, which would yield us neither the 
 cane nor the coffee tree, have yielded us, not only an 
 abundance and a growth in resources, rarely consistent 
 with the treacherous profusion of tropical colonies, but 
 the habits, the manners, the institutions, the industrious 
 population, the schools and the churches, beyond all the 
 wealth of all the Indies. 
 
 'Man is the nobler growth our soil supplies, 
 And Eouls are ripened in our northern skies.' 
 
 " Describe to me a country rich in veins of the pre- 
 cious metals, that is traversed by good roads. Inform 
 me of the convenience of bridges, where the rivers roll 
 over golden sands. Tell me of a thrifty, prosperous vil- 
 lage of freemen, in the miserable districts where every 
 clod of the earth is kneaded up for diamonds, beneath 
 the lash of the task-master. No, never ! while the con- 
 stitution, not of States, but of human nature, remains 
 the same ; never, while the laws, not of civil society, 
 but of God are unrepealed, vidll there be a hardy, virtu- 
 ous, independent yeomanry, in regions where two acres 
 of untilled banana will feed a hundred men. It is idle 
 to call ihat food, which can never feed a free, intelligent, 
 industrious population. It is not food ; it is dust ; it is 
 chaff; it is ashes ; there is no nourishment in it, if it be 
 
150 OEATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 not carefully sown, and painfully reaped, by laborious 
 freemen, on their own fee-simple acres." 
 
 In hardy industry, the body becomes healthy and ath- 
 letic ; while the mind, by Tike discipline, grows free and 
 mighty in its freedom. It is to be expected, under such 
 circumstances, that a race of men will spring tip in full 
 maturity, as from the sowing of Cadmus. Such per- 
 sons enjoy the highest liberty, and are prompt to defend 
 their rights, exclaiming, 
 
 " Seize then, ray soul! from Freedom's trophied dome. 
 The harp which hangeth high hetween the shields 
 Of Brutus and Leonidas ! With that 
 Strong music, that soliciting spell, force back 
 Earth's free and stirring spirit that lies entranced." 
 
 New England has a sterile soil and severe clime ; but 
 she also has comfortable school-rooms and a co|)ious lite- 
 rature, and these are the products and proofs of her 
 greatest power. Our distinguished countryman, Mr. 
 Wheaton, in his history of the Northmen, indicates the 
 reasons why they are passionately attached to their 
 bleak homes, and why they are not only happy there, 
 but intelligent beyond the majority of mankind. Before 
 the tenth century, Iceland possessed a nsltibnal Ktera- 
 ture in full blOom! The flowers of poetry sprang up 
 luxuriantly amidst eternal ice and snowsi' ' Eiin^bling 
 wisdom and beautifying art were cultivated with suc- 
 cess. How so? The Icelanders were free and inde- 
 pendent. Their arctic isle was not warmed by a Gre- 
 cian sun, but their hearts glowed with the fire of free- 
 dom The natural divisions of the country by'icebeigs 
 
JOHN U'ANCOg¥< ,r 151 
 
 and lava streams, insulated' the people from each other, 
 and the inhabitants of each valley and each hamlet 
 formed, as it were, an ijidependent community. These 
 were again re-united in^thie general national: assembly 
 of the Althing, which resembled, the Amphictyonic 
 Council or Olympic Gajnes, where all the- tribes of the 
 nation convened to offer the «omrnon rites of their re- 
 ligion, to legislate on general affairs, and to listen to the 
 lays of the Skald a,nd the eloquent' eulogy which com- 
 memorated the. exploits of their a,ncestors, The best 
 writers of England and Germany have been translated 
 into Icelandic, and when each family pursues its avpca- 
 tions through dreary winters, assembled around the 
 reading and working lamp pendant from each roof, it is 
 the business of some one constantly to read aloud from 
 favorite authors, a practice which explains why the 
 people are free, and their intellects both elegant and pro- 
 found. 
 
 It is not often that education, becomes subservient t> 
 the cause of tyranny, France,, in three revolutions, 
 poured forth her scholars to protecl; popular righfci. 
 Elevated institutions of learning have, alnjost alwa; s 
 arrayed themselves on the side of liberty., .The UniveiV 
 sity of Oxford presents a melancljoly exception, 'n 
 connection with the era when the spirit of republicanisrti 
 was extinguished for a tirpe, in the blood of Sidney and 
 Russell. In direct reference to the d»ath of these 
 patriots, while the block was yet reeking with their 
 blood, that institution, in solemn convocation, declaied 
 that the principles for which they, died — that civil au- 
 thority is derived from the people — ^that government v 
 
J 52 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 a mutual compact between the sovereign and the sub- 
 ject — that the latter is discharged from his cbligation 
 if the former fail to perform his — ^that birthright gives 
 no exclusive right to govern — were "damnable doc- 
 trines, impious principles, fitted to deprave the manners 
 and corrupt the minds of men, promote seditions, over- 
 turn states, induce murder, and lead to atheism." But, 
 when, in the Colonies of America, gathered and burst 
 the tempest which threatened to " push from its moor- 
 ings the sacred ark of the common safety, and to drive 
 the gallant vessel, freighted with every thing dear, upon 
 the rocks, or lay it a sheer hulk upon the ocean,'' then 
 did the graduates of our colleges appear in the front 
 rank of heroes, powerful to "ride on the whirlwind and 
 direct the storm." 
 
 Accuracy of observation is a trait in New England 
 minds as prominent as that of patient investigation. 
 An incident in the life of the German poet, Schiller, 
 will illustrate this characteristic. His father once 
 found him, perched in a solitary place on a tree, gazing 
 at the tempestuous sky, and watching the flashes of 
 lightning as luridly they gleamed over it. To the 
 reprimands of his parent, the enthusiastic truant plead 
 in extenuation " that the lightning was very beautiful, 
 and that he wished to see where it was coming from." 
 And so of the Yankees, they will climb, if possible, to 
 the sources of the sublime, and earnestly inquire whence 
 every thing beautifril is derived. 
 
 But, perhaps, that which gives most fcrce and prac- 
 ticalness to the oratory of the eastern States, is the 
 mfluence which the Bible and religious institutions 
 
JOHN HANCOCK. 153 
 
 every where exert on the popu'ar mind. It is unneces- 
 sary to midtiply proofs of the divine power of religion 
 in forming an effective style of written language and 
 living speech. Dryden attributes his excellence in 
 prose composition, to the frequent perusal of Tillotson'a 
 works ; and Lord Chatham, when asked the secret of 
 his elevated and eloquent style, replied that he had 
 often learned Dr. Barrow's sermons by heart. 
 
 If we carefully analyze the speeches of the greatest 
 orators of Christendom, living and dead, we shall find 
 them indebted for their best passages to the holy Scrip- 
 tures. The influence of these on the mind of a true 
 orator is well set forth in the following passage descrip- 
 tive of Curran. "In the course of his eloquence, the 
 classic treasures of profane antiquity are exhausted 
 He draws fresh supplies from the sacred fountain of 
 living waters. The records of holy writ afford him the 
 sublimest allusions. It is there he stirs every principle 
 that agitates the heart or sways the conscience, carries 
 his auditory whither he pleases, ascends from man to 
 the Deity, and, again, almost seems to call down to 
 earth fire from heaven. While they who listen, filled 
 with a sense of inward greatness, feel the high nobility 
 of their nature in beholding a being of the same species 
 gifted with such transcendent qualities; and, wrapt in 
 wonder and delight, have a momentary relief, — ^that to 
 admire the talents, is to participate in the genius of the 
 orator." 
 
 Mr. Pickering has left us the foUovinng description of 
 the personal appearance of the subject of this sketch : 
 
 " In June, 1782, Governor Hancock had th& ap 
 7* 
 
154 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOIf. 
 
 pearance of advanced age, though only forty-five. He 
 had been repeatedly and severely afflicted with the gout, 
 a disease much more common in those days than it 
 now is, while dyspepsia, if it existed at all, was not 
 known by that name. As recollected, at this time, 
 Gov. Hancock was nearly six feet in stature, and of 
 thin person, stooping a little, and apparently enfeebled 
 by disease. His manners were very gracious, of the 
 old style of dignified complaisance. His face had been 
 very handsome., Dress was adapted quite as much to 
 be ornamental as useful. Gentlemen wore wigs when 
 abroad, and, commonly, caps when at home. At this 
 time (June, 1782), about noon, Hancock was dressed 
 in a red velvet cap, within which was one of fine lindlti. 
 The latter was turned up over the lower edge of the 
 velvet one, two or thrpe inches. He wore a blue 
 damask gown, lined with silk ; a white stock, a white 
 satin embroidered waistcoat, black satin small-clothes, 
 white silk stockings, and rtd morocco slippers." 
 
 After having suffered ssverely for several years from 
 gout, he died, rs before rstated, in October, 1793, aged 
 fifty-six. Hii body lay. in state at his mansion for 
 some days, an'i then was interred with extraordinary 
 «lenr'0'~strat".r.ii : of pyH'c. grief. 
 
 •" iJ«iw p«M'<»*vl ind how powerful is the grave !* 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 JOSEPH'WARREN, 
 
 TYPE OF OUB MAKTIAL ELOQUENCE. 
 
 Before proceeding to the main object of the present 
 sketch, let us briefly review the circumstances which 
 compelled our fathers to the employment of military 
 force in the conquest of personal and national freedom. 
 
 The British cabinet attempted to tax the Colonies, 
 under the pretence of providing for their protection, but 
 in reality to relieve the nation from the. enormous debt 
 under which Great Britain was oppressed. Ifl March, 
 1764, as a prelude to the Stamp- Act, the House of Com- 
 mons resolved', " That towards further defraying the 
 necessary expenses of protecting the Colonies, it may be 
 necessary to charge certain stamp duties upon them ;'.' 
 and this resolution was followed by what was commonly 
 called the Sugar Act, passed on the 5th of April, pre- 
 faced by the following obnoxious preamble : " Whereas 
 it is JUST and necessary that a revenue be raised in 
 America, for defraying the expenses of defending, pro- 
 tecting, and securing the same ; we, the commons, &c., 
 towards raising the same, give and grant unto youf 
 Maiesty, after the 29th day of September, 1764, on clay- 
 
156 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOIitIT ON. 
 
 ed sugar, indigo, and coffee, &c., &c., the sum of," &c 
 This measure, declared by parliament to be so just, was 
 regarded by its subjects here as oppressive and tyranni- 
 cal, and as such they treated it. It is literally true thai 
 they waged war against a preamble. 
 
 Having passed both Houses of Parliament, on the 
 28d of March, the Stamp- Act received the royal assent. 
 Dr. Franklin, then in EiigJ^nd, as agent for Pennsyl- 
 vania, wrote to Charles Thornpsori, afterwards Secretary 
 of Congress-^" The sun of liberty is set; you must light 
 up the lamps of industry and economy." Mr. Thomp- 
 son significantly replied, " That he thought other lights 
 would be lighted up to resist these unconstitutional mea- 
 sures." The Qplonies were immediately and deeply 
 aroused. The pulpit, especially, in New England, la- 
 bored in the patriqtic cause with great zeal and effect. 
 The fires of liberty were kindled in every vale and on 
 every hill, spreading their heat and light from province 
 to province, until the conflagration embraced the whole 
 land. 
 
 In Virginia the cry of resistance resounded in tones 
 of thupder. In New York, ten boxes of stamps were 
 seized by the populace, and. destroyed. In Massachu- 
 setts, the strife was sterner still, and there, under the 
 violence of hired ruffians, the first marfyrs to American 
 .iberty fell. Otis, the invincible advocate, was mutilated 
 by the bludgeons and,; dirks of assassins, Gray and othei 
 worthy citizens were shot dawn- in the streets, and, in 
 the great battle which these and other out"ages had 
 hastened^ Warren expired. 
 
 Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury, in 1741. When 
 
JOSEPH WAREEN. 157 
 
 fourteen years old, he entered Harvard college, where he 
 bore a high character, and graduated with distinction. 
 Under the direction of Dr. Lloyd, he studied medicine, 
 and in the course of a few years became a distinguished 
 practitioner in the town of Boston. 
 
 But he soon became absorbed in the great questions 
 of the day, and sacrificed the fairest prospects for wealth 
 and luxurious ease to perpetual toil in behalf of his 
 country. In 1768, Dr. Warren addressed a letter to 
 Governor Bernard, which the minions of royalty r& 
 garded as libellous, and an attempt was made to silence 
 the author by an indictment, but the grand jury refused 
 to find a bill. Nothing daunted, our hero became more 
 busy than ever with both pen and tongue, and as the 
 afiection with which he was regarded, especially by the 
 industrious classes, was universal and sincere, his in- 
 fluence upon all ranks was very great. 
 
 In the most open scenes and in the presence of the 
 most envenomed foes, he was explicit in the assertion of 
 republican sentiments and fearless in opposition to regal 
 arrogance. A memorable instance illustrative of his 
 character occurred in 1775. Several years before he 
 had delivered theannual oration, commemorative of the 
 massacre of the 5th of March, 1760, and when the time 
 arrived for the appointment of an orator for 1775, he 
 solicited the honor of appearing on that occasion in 
 consequence of a threat uttered by some of the British 
 officers, that they would take the life of any man who 
 should dare to speak of the massacre on that anniver- 
 sary. The day arrived, and the " Old South" was filled 
 
158 OKATORS OP' THE AMERICAIT REVOLlj flON. 
 
 to overflowing ; the aisles, the stairs, and even the pul. 
 pit, were occupied by a foreign military. The intrepid 
 orator nnade his entrance by a ladder at the pulpit win- 
 dow, and with cool, collected mein, addressed the im- 
 mense auditory. An awful stillness preceded the exor- 
 dium. Each man felt the palpitations of his own heart, 
 and saw the pale but determined face of his neighbor. 
 The speaker began his oration in a firm tone of voice, 
 and proceeded with great energy and pathos. Warren 
 and his friends were prepared to chastise contumely, 
 and avenge an attempt at assassination. 
 
 " The scene was sublime. A patriot, in whom the 
 flush of youth and the grace and dignity of manhood 
 were combined, stood armed in the sanctuary of God, to 
 animate and encourage the sons of liberty, and to hurl 
 defiance at their oppressors. The orator commenced 
 with the early history of the country, described the 
 tenure by which we held our liberties and property, thf 
 affection we had constantly shown the parent country, 
 boldly told them how, and by whom these blessings of 
 life had been violated. There was in this appeal to 
 Britain— -in this description of suffering, agony, and 
 horror, a calm and high-souled defiance which must 
 have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. Such an- 
 other hour has seldom happened in the history of man, 
 and is not surpassed in the records of nations. The 
 thunder of Demosthenes rolled at a distance from Philip 
 and his host — and TuUy poured the fiercest ton-ent of 
 his invective when Cataline was at a distance, and his 
 dagger no longer to be feared; but Warren's speect 
 
JOSEPH WARREN. 159 
 
 was made to proud oppressors, resting on their arms, 
 whose errand it was to overawe, and whose business it 
 was to fight. 
 
 If the deed of Brutus deserved to be commemorated 
 by history, poetry, painting, and sculpture, should not 
 this instance of patriotism and bravery be held in last 
 ing remembrance ? If he 
 
 " That struck the foremost man of all this world," 
 
 was hailed as the first of freemen, what honors are not 
 due to him, who, undisnnayed, bearded the British lion, 
 to show the world what his countrymen dared to do in 
 the cause of liberty ? If the statue of Brutus was placed 
 among those of the gods, who were the preservers of 
 Roman freedom, should not that of Warren fill a lofty 
 niche in the temple reared to perpetuate the remem 
 brance of our birth as a nation ?" 
 
 An extract from this oration will be adduced, when 
 we come to speak of Warren's eloquence. We are 
 now more particularly concerned with his bravery. On 
 hearing of the conflict at Lexington he hastened to the 
 bloody scene and shared in its perils. While pressing 
 on the foe, a musket-ball took oflT a lock of his hair close 
 to his ear. IPrevious. to receiving the appointment of 
 major-general, he had been requested to take the office 
 of physician-general to the army, but he chose to be 
 where wounds were to be made, rather than where they 
 were to be healed. Yet he lent his aid to the medical 
 department of the army, and was of great service in its 
 organization 
 
160 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 Several days before the battle of Bunker Hill, the 
 Provincial Congress appointed Dr. Warren to the com 
 mand of their forces. The motive for not assuming 
 the functions of that office, and the manner in which he 
 chose to conduct himself on that occasion, are detailed 
 as follows, in Austin's Life of Elbridge Gerry : " On the 
 16th of June, he had a conversation with Mr. Gerry, at 
 Cambridge, respecting the determination of Congress to 
 take possession of Bunker Hill. He said that for him- 
 self he had been opposed to it, but that the majority had 
 determined upon it, and he would hazard his life to carry 
 their determination into effect. Mr. Gerry expressed in 
 strong terms his disapprobation of the measure, as the 
 situation was such that it would be in vain to attempt 
 to hold it, addingf ' but if it must be so, it is not worth 
 while for you to be present ; it will be madness to ex 
 pose yourself, when your destruction will be almost iu 
 evitable.' ' I know it,' he answered ; 'but Ilive within 
 the sound of their cannon ; how could I hear their roar 
 ing in so glorious a cause, and not be there!' Again, 
 Mr. Gerry remonstrated, and concluded with saying, 
 'As surely as you go there, you will be slain !' General 
 Warren replied enthusiastically, ' Dulce et decorum est 
 pro patria mori.' The next day his principles were 
 sealed with his blood. Having spent the greater part 
 of the night in public business at Watertown, he arrived 
 at Cambridge at about five o'clock in the morning, and 
 being unwell, threw himself on a bed. About noon, ht 
 was informed of the state of preparation for battle a 
 Charlestown ; he immediately arose, saying he was wel 
 
JOSEPH WARREN. 161 
 
 again, and mounting a horse, rode to the place. He ar- 
 rived at Breed's Hill a short time before the action com- 
 menced. Colonel Prescott, 'the brave,' (as Washing- 
 ton was afterwards in the habit of calling him ) was then 
 the actual commanding officer. He came up to General 
 Warren to resign his command, and asked what were 
 Ills orders. General Warren told him he came not to 
 command, but to learn ; and having, as it is said, bor- 
 roWed a musket and cartouch-box, from a sergeant who 
 was retiring, he mingled in the thickest of the fight, 
 animating and encouraging the men' more by his exam- 
 ple than it was possible to do in any other way. He 
 fell after the retreat commenced, at some distance in the 
 rear of the redoubt. A ball passed through his head, 
 and killed him almost instantly. He was thrown into 
 the ground where he fell." 
 
 General' Warren may be taken as a type of our mar- 
 tial eloiqueTice, as well as a specimen of the highest 
 bravery. His career was brief, auspicious in its dawn, 
 diversified in its progress, but glorious in its termination 
 and subsequent influence on the welfare of man. He 
 cast himself into the front ranks of the Revolution, and 
 sacrificed himself the first victim of rank in the sublime 
 struggle for national independence. 
 
 While yet a student in college, he bore the reputation 
 t>^ great talents, undaunted courage, and a generous but 
 indomitable independence of spirit. His manly life did 
 not belie the promise of his youth. His magnanimous 
 spirit soon became tempered in the furnace of national 
 sufiering. His mental vision was therein clarified like 
 
162 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 a prophet's, and like one inspired he proclaimed the 
 triumph for which he was ready to die. 
 
 To his friend. Josiah Quincy, jr., then in London, 
 advocating the claims of his country, he wrote the 
 following memorable note, dated, 
 
 "Boston, Nov. 21st, 1774. 
 
 " It is the united voice of America to preserve their 
 freedom, or lose their lives in defence of it. Their reso- 
 lutions are not the eflects of inconsiderate rashness, but 
 the sound result of sober inquiry and deliberation. I 
 am convinced that the true spirit of liberty was never 
 so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of 
 people, in any country on the face of the earth, as it 
 now is through all North America." 
 
 The times in which General Warren appeared were 
 calculated to give a martial hue to men's minds, and 
 powerfully to urge them to deeds of valor. By a little 
 effort a fine collection of anecdotes might be made, to 
 illustrate the determined resolution and ardent enthu- 
 siasm, that pervaded the country. The instance of 
 General Putnam is well known, who. hearing of the 
 Xiexington engagement while he was ploughing on his 
 farm, more than a hundred miles distant, unyoked his 
 cattle, left his plough in the unfinished furrow, and with- 
 out changing his dress, mounted his horse and rode off 
 to Cambridge, to learn the state of things. He then 
 returned to Connecticut and raised a regiment in the 
 course of a few weeks. Among other examples that 
 might be related, the following is from a living witness: 
 The day that the report of this affair reached Barnstable, 
 a comnany of militia immediately assembled and marched 
 
JOSEPH WAEEEN. 163 
 
 off to Cambridge. In the front rank, there was a young 
 man, the son of a respectable farmer, and his only child. 
 In marching from the village, as they passed his house, 
 he came out to meet them. There was a momentary 
 halt, the drum and fife paused for an instant. The father, 
 suppressing a strong and evident emotion, said, "God 
 be with you •all, my friends ! and John, if you, my son, 
 are called 'into battle, take care that you behave like a 
 man, or else let me never see your face again !" A tear 
 started into every eye, and the march was resumed. It 
 was with this spirit that tbe noblest heroes of antiquity 
 spoke and acted. "The forests of our arrows will ob- 
 scure the sun," said Xerxes. " So much the better," 
 replied Leonidas, " for then we shall fight in the shade." 
 Warren was himself but a vivid reflection of the 
 popular feeling and its strong expression. The instincts 
 of a true soul are sure ; all the strength and all the 
 divinity of knowledge lie enwrapped in some of the 
 soul's profounder feelings. 
 
 Great national commotions, like the American Revo- 
 lution, generally elicit martial orators, whose eloquence 
 is like their profession, full of thrusts the mo^ piercing, 
 and of blows the most deadly. The son of Macedonia 
 and pupil of Aristotle, captivated Greeks and Barbarians 
 »s much by his eloquence as by his martial victories. 
 Jsesar commanded the Roman legions by the regal 
 rower of his speech. The gi'eai military eloquence of 
 ?rance was born amid the first shocks of tyranny and 
 reedom. Napoleon, by a sudden blow of martial fire, 
 tmbodied in words that spoke like exploding cannon, 
 v.ized upon the old generals of the republic, upr>n the 
 
164 OSATORS OF THE AMERICA.V REVOLUTION. 
 
 army, and upon his nation, — the irresistible empire of 
 victory and of genius. 
 
 But Warren aspired only for personal rights and 
 national independence. For this he plead and fought 
 with all the power he possessed, body and soul. He 
 felt the Yalue of the boon, and put every thing, except 
 honor, in jeopardy to attain it.. To convince, one must 
 be convinced ; he must have something at stake, he 
 must have character. 
 
 As the storm thickened, and ordinary souls quailed at 
 Its lowering aspect and rapid approach, Warren stood 
 unblenched. When the awful crisis actually had come, 
 he coolly buckled on his armor, and only as he snuffed 
 the hot breath of battle, did he rise to the full height of 
 his native grandeur. Then with bosom bared to the 
 fiercest blows, and with heart throbbing high for his 
 country's welfare, he rushed to the deadliest breach, 
 diffusing animation among friends and consternation to 
 foes. It is easy to conceive him careering amid the 
 carnage on Bunker's height^ like Homer's hero on the 
 plains of Troy : 
 
 " FUl'd with the god, enlarged his musdes grew, 
 Through all his veins a sudden vigor flew, 
 The blood in brisker tides began to roll, 
 And Mars himself came rushing on his son}. 
 Exhorting loud through all the field he strode, 
 And looked, and moved, Achilles, or a god." 
 
 We gain a more distinct conception of the martial 
 spirit of Warren, from the peculiar character of his 
 eloquence yet extant. One extract will suflice. 
 
 On March 6 th, 1775, he delivered an oration, com^ 
 
JOSEPH WAEKEN. 165 
 
 memorative of " the Boston Massacre." In that fearful 
 scene an event occurred which it is necessary to men- 
 tion in order to feel the force of Warren's skillful and 
 terrific amplification. After Mr. Gray had been shot 
 through the body, and had fallen dead on the ground, a 
 bayonet was pushed through his skull ; part of the bone 
 being broken, the brains fell out upon the pavement. 
 The orator alludes to this act of needless barbarity in a 
 manner worthy of Mark Anthony. 
 
 " The many injuries offered to the town, I pass over 
 in silence. I cannot now mark out the path which led 
 to that unequalled scene of horror, the sad remembrance 
 of which takes the full possession of my soul. The 
 sanguinary theatre again opens itself to view. The 
 baleful images of terror crowd around me ; and discon- 
 tented ghosts, with hollow groans, appear to solemnize 
 the anniversary of the fifth of March. 
 
 " Approach we then the melancholy walk of death. 
 Hither let me call the gay companion ; here let him 
 drop a farewell tear upon that body which so late he 
 saw vigorous and warm with social mirth ; hither let 
 me lead the tender mother to weep over hfer beloved 
 son — come, widowed mourner, here satiate thy grief; 
 behold thy murdered husband gasping on the ground, 
 and to complete the pompous show of wretchedness, 
 bring in each hand thy infant children to bewail their 
 father's fa,te ; — take heed, ye orphan babes, lest, while 
 streaming eyes are fixed upon the ghastly corpse, your 
 ^et slide on the stones bespattered with your father's 
 brains ! Enough ; this tragedy need not be heightened 
 by an infant weltering in the blood of him that gave it 
 
166 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 birth. Nature reluctant, shrinks already from the view 
 and the chilled blood rolls slowly backward to its foun- 
 tain. We wildly stare about, and with amazement ask, 
 who spread this ruin round us ? What wretch has 
 dared deface the image of God ? Has haughty France, 
 or cruel Spain, sent forth her myrmidons? Has the 
 grim savage rushed again from the far distant wilder- 
 ness, or does some fiend, fierce from the depth of 
 nell, with all the rancorous malice which the apostate 
 damned can feel, twang her destructive bow, and hurl 
 her deadly arrows at our breast? No, none of these — 
 but, how astonishing ! it is the hand of Britaiii that 
 inflicts the wound!" 
 
 Warren, viewed as he uttered the above sentiments in 
 •' Old South," was a striking symbol of the revolt against 
 tyranny which he led. Without any other weapon than 
 his eloquence, he boldly threw himself into the midst of 
 hostile legions, like a brave old paladin, defying whole 
 armies, alone. 
 
 " Thou hast seen Mount Athos; 
 While storms and tempests thunder on its brows, 
 And oceans beat their billows at its feet, 
 It stands unmoved and glories in its height. 
 Such is that haughty man ; his towering soul. 
 Midst all the shocks and injuries of fortune, 
 Rises superior, and looks down on Caesar." 
 
 Indignant at the efforts made to stifle free discussion, 
 and to cheat the popular mind " of that liberty which 
 rarifies and enlightens it like the influence of heaven," 
 he proclaimed the rights of man, undismayed by menace 
 and cheered on his patriotic brethren, while he awed 
 
;OHEPH WARRPN 167 
 
 unprincipled sycophants into silence. His brave exam- 
 ple and eloquent speech caused millions of hearts to beat 
 with a common sentiment of resistance. Every rock 
 and wild ravine was made a rampart to " the sons of 
 liberty," and their banner was on every summit un- 
 furled, inscribed in letters of fire, " Resistance to tyrants 
 is obedience to God!" 
 
 General Warren's speech resounds with the clash of 
 arms, and is imbued with a high spirit of chivalry and 
 faith. '' Brief, brave and glorious was his young ca- 
 reer," and while, by the fearful emergency in which his 
 country was plunged, he was compelled to tread " the 
 blood-shod march of glory," he was an upright and con- 
 scientious patriot, ready to receive " the deep scars of 
 thunder," and by his example to fortify the weak. 
 Warren knew that "'tis liberty lends life its soul of 
 light," and he was ready to immolate himself, if thus he 
 might win the boon for all mankind. 
 
 Says Edward Everett : " Amiable, accomplished, pru- 
 dent, energetic,- eloquent, brave ; he united the graces 
 of a manly beauty to a lion heart, a sound mind, a safe 
 judgment and a firmness of purpose, which nothing 
 could shake: At the period to which I allude, he was 
 but just thirty-two years of age ; so young, and already 
 the acknowledged head of the cause ! He had never 
 seen a battle-field, but the veterans of Louisburg and 
 Quebec looked up to him as their leader ; and the hoary- 
 headed sages who had guided the public councils for a 
 generation, came to him for advice. Such he stood, 
 the organ of the public sentiment, on the occasion just 
 mentioned. At the close of his impassioned address, 
 
168 OEATOKS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOW. 
 
 after having depicted the labors, hardships and sacrifices 
 endured by our ancestors, in the cause of liberty, he 
 broke forth in the thrilling words, "the voice of our fa- 
 thers' blood cries to us from the ground !" Three years 
 only passed away ; the solemn strugH*^ came on ; fore- 
 most in council, he aiso was foremost m ine battle-field, 
 and offered himseH" a voluntary victim, the first great 
 martyr in the cause. Upon the heights of Charlestown, 
 the last that was struck down, he fell, with a numerous 
 band of kindred spirits, the gray-haired veteran, the 
 stripling in the flower of youth, who had stood side by 
 side through that dreadful day, and fell together, like the 
 beauty of Israel, on their high places !" 
 
 Warren was eininentlv chivalrous and brave. Like 
 Louis Xn. at Aignadel, he would exclaim to the timid 
 •'Let those; who have fear, secrete themselves behind 
 me." Or like the bold and generous Condfi, he would 
 animate his countrymen in the darkest hour with the 
 cheerful cry, " Follow my white plume, you shall re- 
 cognize it always on the road to victory." 
 
 In speech, as in action, he was sagacious and ener- 
 getic. His words teem with the sulphurous breath of 
 war, and are lurid with patriotic indignation, as if 
 coined at the cannon's mouth. He seized his victim, as 
 a vulture grasps a serpent in his talons, and bearing him 
 aloft in triumph, tore him in fearless strength and scat- 
 tered the fragments to the winds. But this was the rage 
 produced by foreign aggression, and not the blind fury 
 of mad ambition. Herein -was Warren, like Washing. 
 ton, greater and nobler than Napoleon : 
 
JOSEPH WAKREN. 169 
 
 " The mighty heart that battled for the empire of the world. 
 And all but won, yet perish'd in the strife !" 
 
 Warren was a powerful orator, because he was a true 
 man, and struggled for man's highest rights. Eloquence 
 and liberty are the inseparable offspring of the same 
 mother, nursed at the same breast; iwo beams from the 
 same sim ; two chords of the same harp ; two arrows 
 from the same quiver; two thunderbolts twin-born in 
 heaven, and most glorious in theiir conflicts »J3J con- 
 quests on the earth. 
 
 " 'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower 
 Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, 
 And we are weeds without it. All constraint, 
 Except what wisdom lays on evil men, 
 Is evil ; hurts the faculties, impedes 
 Their progress in the road of science ; blinde 
 The eyesight of Discovery ; and begets 
 Xr thoKo that sufier it a sordid mind, 
 Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit 
 To be the tenant of man's noble fontt." 
 
CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, 
 
 ORArOR OF Bi,£NaEP ENTHUSIASM AND SOBRIETT. 
 
 John Adams was, born at Quincy, then part of the old 
 town of JBraintree, October 19th, 1735. He was of Pu- 
 ritanic descent, his ancestors having early emigrated 
 from England, and settled in Massachusetts. He was 
 early noted for studious habits, and was placed under 
 the classical tuition of Mr. Marsh, who was also the 
 teacher of Josiah Quincy, Jr. Having been admitted 
 to Harvard College, in 1751, Mr. Adams was graduated 
 in 1755. In a class that was distinguished, he stood 
 among the first. In 1758, he was admitted to the bar, 
 and commenced the practice of law in his native town. 
 The skill with which he conducted a criminal cause, at 
 Plymouth, first gave him professional fame. His busi- 
 Less increased with his reputation and ability until 1766, 
 tvnen he removed to Boston where he could enjoy a 
 Alder scope for his talents. In 1770, he had the bold- 
 ness to undertake the defence of the British officers and 
 soldiers, on account of the memorable massacre of the 
 5th of March. The result reflected bono, upon himself 
 and upon the jury who, in the midst of great exaspera- 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 171 
 
 tion, dared to be just in maintaining the supremacy of 
 law. 
 
 In 1776, Mr. Adams was appointed Chief Justice of 
 Massachusetts, but yielding to the ruling passion of his 
 ardent and patriotic nature, he devoted himself almost 
 entirely to politics. The impressions early made on his 
 mind by James Otis in the famous argument against 
 Writs of Assistance, seem to have given tone and direc- 
 tion to his whole subsequent career. Before twenty 
 years of age he predicted a vast increase of population 
 in the Colonies, anticipated their naval distinction, and 
 foretold that all Europe combined, could not subdue 
 them. His thoughts were early and sagaciously occu- 
 pied on these topics. On the 12th of October, 1755, he 
 wrote from Worcester as follows : 
 
 " Soon after the Reformation, a few people came over 
 into this new world, for conscience sake. Perhaps this 
 apparently trivial incident may transfer the great seat of 
 empire into America. It looks likely to me ; for, if we 
 can remove the turbulent Gallics, our people, according 
 to the exactest computations, will, in another century, 
 become more numerous than England itself Should 
 this be the case, since we have, I may say, all the naval 
 stores of the nation in our hands, it will be easy to ob- 
 tain a mastery of the seas ; and then the united force of 
 all Europe will not be able to subdue us. The only way 
 to keep us from setting up for ourselves is to disunite us. 
 " Be not surprised that I am turned politician. This 
 whole town is immersed in politics. The interests of 
 nations, and all the dira of war, make the subject of 
 pvery conversation 1 sit and hear, and after having 
 
1'72 ORATORS Or" THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 been led through a maze of sage observations, I some- 
 times retire, and Jaying things together, form some re- 
 flections pleasing to myself. The' produce of one of 
 these reveries you have read above." 
 
 It has been said that "the true test of a great man — 
 that at least which must secure his place among the 
 higher order of great men — is his having been in ad- 
 vance of his age. This it is which decides whether or 
 not he has carried forward the great plan of human im- 
 provement ; has conformed his views ana adapted his 
 conduct to the existing circumstances of society, or 
 changed those so as to better its condition ; has been 
 one of the lights of the world, or only reflected the bor- 
 rowed rays of former luminaries, and sat in the same 
 shade with the rest of his generation at 'the same twilight 
 or the same dawn." 
 
 Tried by this test, it must be acknowtedged that the 
 author of the above letter was among the wisest and 
 most provident seers of his day. 
 
 In 1765, Mr. Adams appeared before the public as an 
 author, in a work on the Canon and Feudal Law. 
 
 " The object of this work was to show that our New 
 England ancestors, in consenting to exile themselves 
 from their native land, were actuated, mainly, by the 
 desire of delivering themselves from the power of the 
 hierarchy, and from the monarchical and aristocratical 
 political systems of the other continent; and to make 
 this truth bear, with effect, on the politics of the times. 
 Its tone is uncommonly bold and animated, for that 
 period. He calls on the people, not only to defend, but 
 to study and understand their rights and privileges ; 
 
■ - JOHN ADAMS. 173 
 
 urges earnestly the necessity of, diffusing general know- 
 ledge, invokes the elergy and the bar, the colleges and 
 academies, and all others who have the ability and the 
 means, to expose the insidious designs of arbitrary power, 
 to resist its approaches, and to be persuaded that there 
 is a settled design on foot to enslave all America. 'Be 
 it remembered,' says the author, ' that liberty must, at 
 all hazards, be supported. We have a right to it, de- 
 rived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers 
 have earned it, and bought it for us, at the expense of 
 their ease, their estate, their pleasure and their blood. 
 And liberty Cannot be- preserved without a general 
 knowledge amoug the people, who' have a right, from the 
 frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Crea- 
 tor who does nothing in vain, has given them under- 
 standings, and a desire to know ; but besides this, they 
 have a right, an ■ indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible 
 right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, 
 I mean of the character and conduct of their rulers. 
 Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees 
 of the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is 
 insidiously betrayed,; or wantonly trifled away, the peo- 
 ple have a right to revoke the authority, that they them- 
 selves have deputed, and to constitute other and better 
 agents, -attorneys and trustees.'" 
 
 In 1770, Ml". Adams was elected to the legislature by 
 the citizens of Boston. He took a deep interest in the 
 conflict with England,^ for which zeal he was especially 
 contemned by Governors Hutchinson and Gage. 
 
 By this time, impending dangers had so multiplied 
 that the united counsel of all fatriots was demanded 
 
IH ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN Rli VOLUTIOW. 
 
 A general Congress of delegates, to corifeider the affairs 
 of the Colonies, having been decided upon, the legisla- 
 ture, on the 17th of June, 1774, elected Jannes Bowdoin, 
 Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and 
 Robert Treat Paine, delegates from Massachusetts. 
 The four last-named persons accepted their appointr 
 merits, and took their seats in Congress, the first day of 
 its session, September 5th, 1774, in Philadelphia. In 
 this office Mr. Adams remained, till November, 1777, 
 when he vpas appointed Minister to France. The year 
 following, he was appointed Commissioner to treat of 
 peace with England. Returning to the United States, 
 he was a delegate from Braintree in the convention 
 which framed the constitution of Massachusetts, in 1780. 
 During the eight succeeding years, he was employed in 
 the diplomatic service of the country, and resided at the 
 various courts of Europe. In 1782 he concluded our 
 first treaty with Holland. At a later period,, he had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the Minister Plenipotentiary of the 
 Crown of England subscribe to the instrument wiiich 
 declared that his " Britannic Majesty acknowledged the 
 United States to be free, sovereign, and independent." 
 Returning to his beloved country in 1788, he was 
 elected the first Vice President, a position which he 
 occupied eight years, when he was raised to the Presi- 
 dential chair, as immediate successor to the immortal 
 Washington. 
 
 Leaving the illustrious subject of this sketch for a 
 while in the most exalted political station man can ever 
 hope to attain, let us attempt to analyze his character 
 and describe his person. 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 175 
 
 Mr. Adams' individuality as a man and c'tizen, was 
 Btrongly marked. We take him to have been the best 
 specimen our early history affords of sobriety and en- 
 thusiasm happily combined and wisely employed in 
 prombting the public good. As a patriot he was firm, 
 sagacious and persevering. 
 
 His firmness was indicated by the position he as- 
 sumed as early as 1774, when, in company with three 
 others named above, he was chosen by the Colony of 
 Massachusetts, to represent them in the first Continenta'. 
 Congress. His friend, Sewall, who had taken the min 
 isterial side in politics, and was at that time attorney-gen- 
 eral ol' the province, hearing of his election, endeavored 
 earnestly to dissuade him from his purpose of assuming 
 the seat to which he had been appointed. He told him 
 of the resolution of Great Britain to. pursue her system 
 with the greatest rigor ; that her power was irresistible, 
 and would involve him in destruction, as well as all his 
 associates. His response unfolds at once the dignity uf 
 his resolutions on contemplating this great and daring 
 national movement. 
 
 " I know that Great Britain has determined on her 
 system, and that very determination determines me on 
 mine. You know that I have been constant and uni- 
 form in opposition to her designs. Sink or swim, live 
 or die, survive or perish, with my country, is my fixed, 
 unalterable determination." 
 
 That this firmness was based on patriotic principle 
 and inspired by it, is further indicated by what he said 
 'n a letter to his wife under circumstances of great pub- 
 ic distress He had heard of the attack made by the 
 
176 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOiUTIOH. 
 
 British on Boston, of the dismay and ruin consequent 
 thereon, but being not in , the least daunted in his pur- 
 pose, he wrote as follows : 
 
 ' JIhiladelphia, 20th Septepiber, 1774. 
 
 " I am anxious to know how you can live without 
 government. But, the experiment must be tried. The 
 evils will not be found so dreadful as you apprehend 
 them. Frugality, my dear, frugality, economy, par- 
 simony, must be our refuge. I hope the ladies are 
 every day diminishing their ornaments, and the gentle- 
 men, too. Let us eat potatoes and drink water. Le^. 
 us wear canvas and undressed sheepskins, rather than 
 submit to the unrighteous and ignominious domination 
 that is prepared for us.'.' 
 
 But Mr. Adams was a sagacious prophet in political 
 matters, as w«ll as a ifirm patriot. The celebrated let- 
 ters of the 3d of July, 1776, abundantly prove this. A 
 great living statesman has treated these letters in such 
 a splendid manner in his eulogium ontheir author, that 
 to quote them in their original shape, may indeed seem tc 
 destroy much of their effect. But we wish to contem- 
 plate the character of Mr. Adams through a medium of 
 his own making ; and shail here introduce the prophecy 
 as he recorded it, in order to substantiate the positioi. 
 we have assumed; 
 
 " Yesterday, the greatest question was decided, which 
 ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, 
 never was nor will be decided among men. A resole 
 tion was passed without one dissenting Colony, " that 
 these Uui'^ed Colonies are, and of right oBght to be, free 
 
JOHN An\MS. 177 
 
 and independent States, and as such they have and of 
 
 right out to have, full power to make war, conclude 
 
 peace, establish commerce and to do all other acts and 
 
 things which other States may rightifuUy do." You will 
 
 see, in a few days, a Declaration, setting forth the causes 
 
 which have impelled us to this mighty Revolution, and 
 
 the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and 
 man. 
 
 "When I look back to the year 1761, and recollect 
 the arguments concerning Writs of Assistance in the 
 Superior Court, which I have hitherto considered as the 
 commencement of this controversy between Great 
 Britain and America, and run through the whole period, 
 from that time to this, and recollect the series of politi- 
 cal events, the chain of causes and effects, I am sur- 
 prised at the suddenness as well as gi'eatness of this 
 Revolution. Britain has been filled with folly, and Ame- 
 rica with wisdom ; at least, this is my judgment. Time 
 must determine. It is the will of heaven that the two 
 countries should be sundered for ever. It may be the 
 will of heaven that America shall suffer calamities still 
 more wasting, and distresses yet more dreadful. If this 
 is to be the case, it willhave this good effect at least. It 
 will inspire us with many virtues, which we have not, 
 and correct many errors, follies and vices which threaten 
 to disturb, dishonor and destroy us. The furnace ot 
 affliction produces refinement iu States as well as indi- 
 viduals.'' 
 
 Then, speaking of the day on which the Declaration 
 of Independence passed, he foretold that it would " be 
 the most memorable epoch a in the history of America. 
 8* 
 
178 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOl.UTIOW. 
 
 I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeed- 
 ing generations as the great anniversary festival. It 
 ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, 
 by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought 
 to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, 
 games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, 
 from one end of this continent to the other, from this 
 time forward, forevermore. 
 
 "You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but 
 I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood, and 
 treasure, that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, 
 and support and defend these States. Yet, through all 
 the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and 
 glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all 
 the means ; and that posterity will triumph in that day's 
 transaction, even although we should rue it, which I 
 trust in God we shall not." 
 
 We have said that Mr. Adams was firm, and that he 
 was sagacious ; we remark, thirdly, that he was ardent 
 and energetic. His feelings were quick, and fully en- 
 listed in the defence of his country ; anything that re- 
 flected on her welfare was sure to arouse his indigna- 
 tion. Writing to his wife, he presents several instances 
 in which his enthusiastic patriotism involved him in tem- 
 porary confusion, such as on the following occasion, 
 describea in a letter, dated, 
 
 " Falmouth, Qth July, 1774. 
 •• At another time, Judge Trowbridge said, ' It seems 
 by Col. Barre's speeches, that Mr. Otis has acquired 
 honor by releasing his damages to Robinson.' ' Yes,' 
 savs I. 'he has acQuired honor with all senerations 
 
JOHN' ADAMS. 179 
 
 Trowbridge — ' He did not make much profit, I think.' 
 Adams — ' True, but the less profit, the more honor. He 
 was a man of honor and generosity, and those who think 
 he was mistaken, will pity him.' 
 
 " Thus you see how foolish I am. I cannot avoid 
 exposing myself before these high folks; my feelings 
 will at times overcome my modesty and reserve, my 
 prudence, policy and discretion. I have a zeal at my 
 heart for my country and her friends, which I cannot 
 smother or conceal ; it will burn out at times and in 
 companies, where it ought to be latent in my breast 
 This zeal will prove fatal to the fortune and felicity of 
 my family, if it is not regulated by a cooler judgment 
 than mine has hitherto been. Colonel Otis' phrase is, 
 ' The zeal-pot boils over.' " 
 
 In all his public career, in perils the most imminent, 
 and before foes the most mighty, Mr. Adams seems to 
 have resolved on maintaining his position at any risk 
 and, with this intent, to have ever sternly declared, 
 
 " Let them pull all about mine ears ; present me 
 Death on the wheel, or at wild horses' heels ; 
 Or pile ten hills on the Tarpeian rock, 
 That the precipitation might down stretch 
 Below the beam of sight, yet will I still 
 Be thus to them." 
 
 The coalition in Mr. Adams, of the three great attri- 
 butes named above, — firmness, sagacity and fervor, — 
 rendered him powerful in action and speech. Sound 
 and substantial intellect must ever constitute the basis 
 of true eloquence. It is this only that can sway the 
 intellectual faculties of mankind, and take captive tb^ 
 
180 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTICf,. 
 
 I . 
 
 judgment. In its deepest pathos and most impassioned 
 appeals, this element must still predominate, or convic- 
 tion that is enduring cannot be produced. Emotion is 
 essential to deepen impressions and incite to 'action ; 
 but in the most tumultuous agitations of both head and 
 heart, the sovereignty of reason must be maintained, or 
 the momentum derived from passion will only accelerate 
 its victim to speedier disgrace and ruin. The great de • 
 sideratum is, not to rely on intellect only, nor on feeling 
 only, but appropriately to blend the two; and thus by a 
 natural and almost omnipotent process to gra^p and 
 control with spontaneous domination the feelings and 
 understandings of men. The language of superior elo- 
 quence is nothing else than the enunciation of mi'tid the 
 most indomitable, earnest, and free ; and the highest 
 power that the human spirit can possibly know may be 
 thus expressed, since thought the most vast and compre- 
 hensive, as well as affection the most intense and inex- 
 tinguishable, have their adequate expression in the ver- 
 nacular of man, and, when honestly expressed, are 
 instantly recognized and responded to by all mankind. 
 
 But this happy union of enthiisiasm and sobriet} 
 is exceedingly rare, even in the first rank of Orators 
 Sir James Mackintosh said that, Fox was a ipeakei 
 " the most Demosthenian since Demosthenes," ]^ecause 
 he was supposed to combine in his mental structure much 
 of that reason, simplicity and vehemence, which^ formed 
 the prince of ancient speakers. Others have insisted 
 that the youngei Pitt was endowed with a certain severe 
 and majestic earnestness, a calm and self-balancea 
 energy, which rendered him even more like the mighto 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 181 
 
 Grecian than was the great parliamentary rival before 
 named. Both these renowned Englishmen were cer- 
 tainly well qualified to debate great questions and sway 
 the destinies of empires, but they were not orators of 
 the most imperial power. Pitt especially failed in the 
 poetic part of popular discourse, and Fox did not habit- 
 ually manifest those splendors of imagination which 
 constitute the most ethereal component of pure elo- 
 quence. One may be fertile in argument, and prolific 
 in illustration, — memory may contribute innumerable 
 facts, ^nd invention may cunningly display vast re- 
 sources of learned lore, — and yet, unless the speaker 
 breathes a higher inspiration, the "third heaven" is 
 never reached by his fancy, nor are intelligent crowds 
 entranped by his tones. Such auxiliaries are like the 
 wings of an ostrich, a profusion of showy but nerveless 
 feathers which assist in running along the earth, but 
 which are utterly unable to bear their cumbrous pos- 
 sessor in sublime flight to the skies. Where enthusiasm 
 does nqt melt into reason and adorn its strength, a pro- 
 saic tatneness is sure to characterize the printed page or 
 spoken debate. 
 
 John Adams was sometimes impetuous but rarely dull. 
 When matters of great moment were at stake, he rose 
 with a riatura! grandeur to a level with the emergency, 
 and became master of the most violent storm. It was 
 then th|j,t the mens divinior, the unquenchable fl,ame of 
 eloquence, seemed to expand his person arid invest him 
 with almost superhuman force. In such spontaneous 
 bursts, g,s Jefferson declared, he raised his hearers from 
 their seats. Swelling sympathy, irrepressible admira- 
 
182 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOIf. 
 
 tion and patriotic determinations, the most resolute and 
 profound, filled every bosom and made sworn brothers 
 of all. His speech was indomitable, because it was the 
 inspiration at once of head and heart, the organs of a 
 great soul fired with comprelensive and disinterested 
 designs. He was luminous on the surface, because 
 there was a perpetual and pure splendor Within ; he was 
 capable of a high polish, and endured without injury the 
 severest shocks, because the substance of his eloquent 
 nature was adamant of the finest and firmest grain. 
 
 " He on whose name each distant age shall gaze, 
 The mighty sea-mark of those troubled days ! 
 He, grand of soul, of genius unconfmed, 
 Born to delight, instruct, and mend mankind ; 
 Adams ! in whom a Roman ardor glow'd, 
 Whose copious tongue with Grecian richness fiow'd," 
 
 was the impersonation of fervid eloquence standing on 
 the pedestal of solid judgment. 
 
 As was said above, it is seldom that we meet with 
 great depth and acuteness in the same person ; but in 
 every such coalition, the result is genius. It is ever 
 observant and meditative; even while it seems to be 
 in repose, it is in fact advancing by some secret path to 
 great results. This is a power which cannot be alto- 
 gether restrained. It is a vehement force, as irresistible 
 to the mind of its possessor as it is potent on others ; it 
 stimulates all contiguous faculties and ir^sures success 
 by the enthusiasm which always accompanies strong 
 passions. 
 
 Genius is the constructive faimlty of the mind, it is 
 o accumulated erudition, and men of talents, merely. 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 183 
 
 what a skillful architect is to a mass of building niati- 
 rials lying inert before a body of plodding mechanics. 
 
 Oratorical genius has two organs of vision, observa- 
 tion and imagination. This double look, always fixed 
 on nature and humanity, is the inlet of that inspiration 
 peculiar to the gifted, and which adorns every thing 
 excellent in the department of eloquence and art. It 
 neither distorts nor falsifies the natural tone and quali- 
 ties of the materials it employs, but simply does the 
 work of a wise lapidary who brings out many a hidden 
 vein and beauteous tint, thus raising to the rank and 
 value of gems what had often been discarded by the 
 unobservant traveller in the dusty highway of life. 
 
 Every masterly production of the mind is an aggre- 
 gate of the sobriety and enthusiasm we have described , 
 it is the result of two intellectual phenomena, meditation 
 and enthusiasm. Meditation is a faculty mainly ac- 
 quired ; inspiration is a special and invaluable gift. 
 All men, to a certain degree, can meditate ; but very 
 few are inspired. Meditation alone never wrote an Iliad, 
 nor drove back Xerxes ; it never could break the 
 slumber of centuries, nor reform the world. In medita- 
 tion, the spirit of man acts ; in inspiration, it obeys ; in 
 the first instance, the influence that impels is native 
 to man ; in the other, it originates in a higher region, 
 and imparts to meditation its greatest force. It is the 
 amalgamation of these two faculties, meditation and 
 inspiration intimately allied, that constitutes the true 
 orator. He wins inspiration through meditation, as the 
 ancient prophets arose to extacy on the wings of prayer 
 In order that divine scenes may stand revealed to hia 
 
184 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 gaze, it is necessary tiiat he should in a manner disrobe 
 himself of material existence, and in calm silence gather 
 up the loins of his mind. Thus isolated from the exterior 
 life, he enjoys a plenteous development of the life inter- 
 nal; in the same proportion as the material world is 
 withdrawn, the world of ideal beauty stands revealed 
 Holy and eloquent thought cannot spread its pinions 
 and sublimely soar until it has laid off the gross burdens 
 of earth. No healthful inspiration comes to the soul 
 except as preceded by devout meditation. Among the 
 ancient Jews, a people whose history is full of instructive 
 symbols, when the priest had built an altar he kindled 
 thereon terrestrial flames, and it was then raily thai 
 divine rays descended from heaven. 
 
 They who most relish the ideal, and have the greatest 
 facility in creating it, ever most enjoy the real. The 
 refined artist, for instance, when abroad in the rough 
 thoroughfares of life, will closely observe every changing 
 aspect around him, and from the social confusion will 
 elicit many a grace. In the street, on the strand, in 
 the hovel, and under gilded domes, he culls with uniform 
 skill and with equal success, everywhere gathering 
 hints for his pencil and choice honey for the hive of his 
 thoughts. In the rank mire of worldly strife, Dante 
 and Milton selected pearls for the wreath of song ; and 
 Raphael found among dancing rustics and romping 
 children the germs of many of his most magnificent 
 creations. Look at Shakspeare's wonderful impersona. 
 tions, and see how the actual and the ideal aie closely 
 conjoined. If at one moment he whirls you on high, 
 and makes you dizzy and lonely in your sublime eleva 
 
- ^oanrii WAiinEW . 185 
 
 tion, the next moment he opens a vista to earth again, 
 and entrances the heart with feelings of home. A true 
 man, one born to command the confidence and admira- 
 tion of others through the medium of eloquent senti- 
 ments, is perpetually refreshed and invigorated by the 
 inexhaustible resources which he seeks and enjoys in 
 the play-grounds of the world. He is exhilarated by 
 the streams that intersect the popular heart, just as by 
 the mysterious attraction of nature the highest moun- 
 tains draw up, through a thousand hidden tubes, the 
 waters that thunder in the cataract and sparkle in- 
 beauty along the flowery plams. 
 
 This blending of enthusiasm with sobriety is the most 
 prominent trait in the highest order of minds. Eccen- 
 tricity is by no means a necessary concomitant of 
 genius. Bacon, Milton, Newton, Locke, Bowditch, 
 were the greatest geniuses and most sober men of their 
 day. Genius is never more potent and useful than 
 when chastened and restrained by reason, like the 
 impetuous courser, Bucephalus, curbed and directed by 
 the haif>d of Alexander. Men of the highest stamp 
 unite in themselves the conformations of many subordi- 
 nate grades ; they who stand at the summit of the 
 social pyramid are the exponents of the unbounded 
 sentiments and passions .which slumber in the masses 
 beneath. Such was the natural position and rare 
 endowments of John Adams. He was one of those 
 energetic and audacious spirits who seem to be born 
 expressly to revolutionize the world. They appear on 
 iKe public stage robed and crowned with 
 
186 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOH. 
 
 " Truths serene, 
 Made visible in beauty, that shall glow 
 In everlasting fieshness, unapproached 
 By mortal passicn ; pure amidst the bla 1 
 And dust of conquests ; — never waxing old, 
 But on the stream of time, from age to age. 
 Casting bright imi^ges of heavenly youtb," 
 
 We ought to expect that eloquence the most exalted 
 would spontaneously emanate from such a soul. The 
 orator, grand by nature, like the eagle, hovers above the 
 clouds in the pure region of principles ; while the mere 
 haranguer, the demagogue, ruled by time-serving expe- 
 diency, like the swallow, skims earth and sea, garden 
 and swamp, making a thousand erratic turns, catching 
 a few grovelling insects, and annoying tne though ttui 
 traveller with its clattering wiijgs. John Adams was 
 the eagle of Colonial and Revolutionary eloquence in 
 America, quick of eye and strong of wing, habitually 
 calm in his grandeur, sometimes passionate and rapid in 
 his course- beyond all example. 
 
 He was an admirable model of Mended enthusiasm 
 ind sobriety ; this constituted his individuality as a 
 popular oratdr, -and his consummate excellence as a 
 statesman. 
 
 The marriage of the powerful Jupiter with the lovely 
 Latona produced the graceful symmetry of Apollo — the 
 happy combination of beauty, precision, agility, and 
 strength^and these were the elements that composed 
 the mental character of our great countryman. He 
 resembled two of England's greatest forensic gladiators. 
 Fox was a logician, Lord CI itham an orator. John 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 187 
 
 A.dams combined in his eloquence mucii of the severe 
 reason of the one, and the power of fascination so exu- 
 berant in the other. Arguments set forth by Fox were 
 adapted to convince the reflecting; a speech from 
 Chatham would impel all hearers immediately to action, 
 ohn Adams was happily endowed to accomplish both 
 ■osul/'s at the same time ; his reasons for acting were as 
 luminous as his appeals were exciting. Like the courser 
 described by the classic poet : 
 
 " His high mettle, under good control. 
 Gave him Olympic speed, and shot him to the goal." 
 
 To think deeply and feel strongly, at one and 
 the same time — to blend thought and emotion in 
 luminous expression, and to concentrate both simulta- 
 neously on the audience in one blaze of argument and 
 illustration — this is the means and guaranty of success, 
 this is eloquence. 
 
 Herein consisted John Adams' great excellence. His 
 head was cool, but his heart was ardent — a volcano 
 beneath summits of snow — he projected his -argument 
 frigidly, in premeditated compactness, as if the fountain 
 of emotion was entirely congealed in him ; but when he 
 arose in the eye of the nation, and began to feel the 
 TOportance of his theme, he became lucid with the fires 
 ■){ patriotism, like the frenzied Pythoness, and seized 
 »ossession of the general mind, with the authority of a 
 caster and a king. He clothed the bony substance of 
 lis dialectics with the flesh and blood of his ardent and 
 pontaneous rhetoric ; he kindled the Continental Con- 
 *ress into a flame, because he was himself inflamed 
 
188 OKaTcJKS op the AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 He precipitated himself upon his hearers, without wan- 
 dering in extravagance, and commanded their feelings 
 with his pathos, without ceasing to rule their judgments 
 by the justness of his thought. Sometimes, indeed, he 
 seemed to stagger under the weight and pungency of 
 conceptions which, language could not express : 
 
 " Low'ring he stood, still in fierce act of speech, 
 Yet speechless." 
 
 His great talent lay in this : he intuitively saw tc 
 what point in the minds of his audience to apply his 
 strength, and he sent it home there with the force of a 
 giant. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson has himself afBrmed, " that the great 
 pillar of support to the Declaration of Independence, 
 and its ablest advocate and champion on the floor of 
 the House, was John Adams. He was the colossus of 
 that Congress ; not always fluent in his public addresses, 
 he yet came out with a power, both of thought and 
 expression, which moved his hearers from their seats." 
 
 Let us look back a moment and consider how the 
 great orators of the Revolution were disciplined, and 
 perfected for the sublime mission they performed. They 
 were highly educated and ckssically refined ; but their 
 best weapons were forged in the presence of tyrants and 
 desperate toils. Eloquence, to be affecting and grand, 
 must have perils to brave, the unfortunate to defend, 
 and daring honors to win. Great trials and fearful con- 
 flicts make great orators. The grammarians and the 
 musicians, the men who cured stammering, and taught 
 their pupil to pronounce the letter R distinctly, aided the 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 189 
 
 great Athenian much undoubtedly, but they created no 
 nerve of his eloquence. Neither did his shaved head, 
 his cave, his mouthful of pebbles, and his declamation 
 by the sounding sea, inspire the imperial orator who ful- 
 mined over the world like a tropical storm. The mighty 
 tempest of military force and political domination low- 
 ering on the hills of Macedon, and crashing on the 
 plains of Choeronea — the fiery furnace of mental con- 
 flict," where the aspiring spirit is its own best instructor 
 — the dread arena of physical battle with adverse 
 iegions, and lofty mental strife with malignant foes 
 leagued to impel a falling state to ruin, — this was the 
 school where Demosthenes was trained, and these were 
 the means by which his eloquence was won. 
 
 And so of Cicero. Archias with his elegant learning, 
 and Philo with his elaborate rhetoric, — the groves of 
 Athens with all their philosophy, and the school of the 
 Rhodian Milo, with all its gymnastic development,— 
 formed not the master orator, potent alike in the fasti- 
 dious Senate, or amid the tumultuous masses of that 
 gorgeous pandemonium of imperial Rome, — the" Forum. 
 But to be the sport of rival chiefs and remorseless fac- 
 tions, hailed with a torrent of acclamations at one mo- 
 ment, and at the next drowned in the execrations of 
 armed throngs, — to fight his way from the obscurity of 
 an humble plebeian to the highest pinnacle of fame, and 
 thence to be rudely dragged down to banishment, pov- 
 erty, and popular oriium by the traitorous Catiline and 
 the accursed Clodius.^his was the source that inspired 
 the Philippics, this was the school of Cicero's eloquence. 
 
 This first indication of mental freedom at the begin 
 
190 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTl N. 
 
 ning of the French Revolution, and the most remark 
 able department of intellectual improvement, vv^as elo- 
 quence. The sudden expansion of senatorial oratory 
 at that period, was a sure prognostic of rising liberty. 
 If a Barnave and his associates were virulent in their 
 attacks, and excited the populace to frenzy by their 
 stormy declamations, it was because the wrongs they 
 suffered were exasperating, and nothing but a.tornado 
 could clear their path. Mirabeau was roused by seven- 
 teen leltres de cachet, directed against his own person ; 
 and under such motives to action he defended popular 
 rights with an energy that crushed a throne. 
 
 The discipline and destiny of an oratorical soul is 
 much like that emblem of freedom, the eagle. Dwelling 
 in the solitude of mountains^ it seeks the highest sum 
 mit, where with proud cry it hails the advent of morn, 
 and with eyes flashing fire outdazzles the sun. Its nesJ 
 is not lined with down nor encompassed with flowers ; 
 but on some craggy height, where the thunderbolt has 
 scooped a hollow, the eaglet breathes his natal air, and 
 perpetually augments his strength, tossed by tempests 
 between gulfs below and sombre skies on high. He 
 hears the avalanche shoot and the thunders crash ; bul 
 unterrified by the celestial flames that fringe the clouds 
 around him, and unexhausted by protracted toil, he 
 shakes rain and snow away, nourishes his famished 
 heart with fortitude, and turning a triumphant glance 
 towards receding storms, spreads his mighty wings and 
 sails in triumph through heavens purified by the war of 
 elements he has braved. 
 
 Effects are often mistaken for causes Accidents 
 
JOHN ADAMB. 191 
 
 ™ay sometimes develope great orators, but accidents 
 never create them. Their high endowments come 
 direct from God ; their best discipline is occasioned by 
 the injustice of their fellow men. Philip, it has been 
 said, formed Demosthenes. The dangers which he oc- 
 casioned, developed the latent powers of the eloquent 
 patriot. For example, look at the circumstances under 
 which he delivered the great speech that brought about 
 the alliance between Thebes and Athens, and led to the 
 fatal battle of Charonea. He had warned his country- 
 men against Philip, but the tories of that day calmed 
 the popular excitement. At length, late one evening, 
 news arrived that Philip had seized Elatea, the key of 
 Phocis and BcEOtia, and might soon be expected before 
 the walls of Athens. On the morrow, at dawn of day, 
 the Senate met, and the people crowded into the assem- 
 bly. The Prytanes reported the news. The herald him- 
 self was produced and made to recite from his own lips. 
 Then the crier called aloud to the assembly, " Does any 
 one wish to speak ?" None answered to the call ; and 
 it was repeated over and over again, until Demosthenes 
 mounted the bema, and delivered that soul-stirring 
 speech which made the assembly cry out, with one 
 voice, " Let us march against Philip !" It is only this 
 sort of men who reveal the full splendors of their native 
 majesty, " on occasions calculated to strike and agitate 
 the human soul." When consternation prevails in all 
 common minds, — when the brave are dumb and the 
 most resolute dismayed, those choice spirits intent on 
 securing the common weal, exclaim, with Patrick Henry, 
 " whatever others do, I'll fight ;" and with John Adams 
 
193 0BAT0E3 OF THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 at the awful crisis of the vote of July, 1776, " Indepen- 
 dence, now ; and Independence for ever !" 
 
 The following is a specimen of Mr. Adams' style of 
 thought and composition, which we copy from an ora- 
 tion delivered before the citizens of Boston, on July 4th, 
 1793. 
 
 " We cherish, with a fondness which cannot be chilled 
 by the cold, inanimate philosophy of skepticism, the 
 delightful expectation^ that the cancer of arbitrary 
 power will be radically extracted from the human con- 
 stitution ; that the sources of oppression will be drained ; 
 that the passions, tvhich have hitherto made the misery 
 of mankind, will be disarmed of all their violence, and 
 give place to the soft control of mild and amiable senti- 
 ments, which shall unite in social harmony the innume- 
 rable varieties of] the .human race. Theii shall the 
 nerveless arm of superstition no longer interpose an 
 impious barrier between the beneficence of heaven and 
 the adoration of its votaries ; then shall the most distant 
 .'egions of the earth be approximated by the gentle at- 
 traction of a liberal intercourse ; then shall the fair 
 fabric of universal liberty rise upon the durable founda- 
 tion of social equality, and the long expected era of 
 human felicity, which has been announced by prophetic 
 inspiration, and described in the most enraptured lan- 
 guage of the muses, shall commence its splendid pro- 
 gress. Visions of bliss ! with every breath to heaven 
 we speed the ejaculation, that the time may hasten, 
 when your reality shall be no longer the ground of vo. 
 tive supplication, but the theme of grateful acknowledg- 
 ment ; when the choral gratulations of the liberated 
 
JOHN ADAMS.. 193 
 
 myriads of the elder world, in symphony, sweeter than 
 the music of the spheres, shall hail your country, Ameri- 
 cans ! as the youngest daughter of Nature, and the first- 
 born offspring of Freedom." 
 
 It would seem that, at a period somewhat later than 
 the date of the above, this ardent and profound votary 
 of Freedom had already realized much of his early and 
 most enthusiastic desires. In one of the delightful let- 
 ters written in the maturity of his eventful life, he says 
 — "When, where, and in what manner we shall see the 
 unravelling of the vast plot, which is acting in the 
 world, is known only to Providence. Although my 
 mind has for twenty years been preparing to expect 
 great scenes, yet I confess the wonders of this Revolu- 
 tion exceed all that I ever foresaw or imagined. That 
 our country, so young as it Is, so humble as it is, think- 
 ing but lately so meanly of itself, should thus interest 
 the passions, as well as employ the reason of all man- 
 kind, in its favor, and effect in so short a space of time, 
 not only thirteen revolutions of government at home, 
 but so completely accomplish a revolution in the system 
 of Europe, and in the sentiments of every nation in it, 
 is what no human wisdom, perhaps, could foresee.'' 
 
 True orators are character-born, or, as Napoleon 
 said, they ape victory organized. They make a distur- 
 bance in the scene where they appear,, because they are 
 both strong and new ; they will have to encounter the 
 force of love and hatred proportioned to their own origi- 
 nality. A massy and fleet maurof-war makes a wake 
 as it ploughs the sea; the sixty-four pounder rakes the 
 earth and shatters huge obstacles as it flies ; and so does 
 9 
 
194 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 a man like John Adams make impressions that agitate 
 the world around him. He fights the noblest battles 
 and wins the most enduring fame. 
 
 Says Fenelon, " Demosthenes moves, warms and cap- 
 tivates the heart. He was sensibly touched with the 
 interests of his country. His discourses gradually in- 
 crease in force, by greater light and new reasons, which 
 are always illustrated by bold figures and lively images. 
 One cannot but see that he has the good of the republic 
 entirely at heart, and that nature itself speaks in all his 
 transports." Adams, we repeat, had much of the spon- 
 taneous passion of this great prototype, as well as much 
 of his premeditated wisdom. Happy is he who com- 
 bines in his thought this double power of meditation 
 and inspiration. Sooner or later, whatever may be his 
 age, or rank, or preliminary suffering, his day will come; 
 and then, endowed and disciplined for his career, he will 
 rise boldly above the multitude, and " read his history in 
 a nation's eyes." 
 
 John Adams, in his day and for his country, was 
 second to no man that ever lived. Within his simple 
 exterior the divinity was concealed, not only latient, but 
 effective at-will. If he did not appear before the world 
 with the insignia of Hercules, the shaggy lion's skin and 
 the knotted club, he bore a full quiver and the silver 
 bow of the god of the sun, and every shaft he loosened 
 from the string told with unerring aim at the heart of 
 his monster-foe. 
 
 Contemplate him as he appeared in the great debate 
 on the adoptioa of the Declaration of Independence, 
 standing, in that crisis of indescribable grandeur, like 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 195 
 
 Moses on the mount, encompassed with thunders and 
 lightnings, bearing the tables of the law in his arms, his 
 brow encircled with a halo of fire, and his eye gleaming 
 with a prophetic view of a mighty nation soon to 
 emerge from thraldom, and send generation after gene- 
 ration down through untold ages. 
 
 . It was on the evening of that day on which the most 
 momentous victory was won that history can ever re- 
 cold, that this champion, yet agitated by the storm and 
 covered with the foam and dust of battle, retired in 
 triumph from the field and wrote that glorious letter to 
 his distant wife, beginning with the memorable words — 
 " The die is cast. We have passed the Rubicon!" 
 
 Taking into account the circumstances under which 
 Adams inscribed the above triumphant expression, and 
 the patriotic valor therein contained, we are strongly 
 reminded of an incident recorded in classic history. 
 Immediately after the battle at Marathon, an Athenian 
 soldier, still faint with the loss of blood, quitted the 
 army, and ran to Athens to carry his fellow citizens the 
 happy news of victory. When he arrived at the chief 
 magistrate's house, he only uttered two or three words . 
 "Rejoice, rejoice, the victory is ours!" and fell down 
 dead at their feet. 
 
 As might be expected from the temperament and 
 talents we have thus attempted to describe, the speeches 
 and writings of Mr. Adams abound with brief but sig- 
 nificant expressions. When the mind is free and 
 thought is fearless, eloquence speaks in condensed and 
 pointed terms, like arrows which are most sure when 
 they are least encumbered and most swiftly wingcjd 
 
196 OKATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLCTTIOW 
 
 When the soul is heroic and its conceptions fervid, its 
 corruscations bear the brilliant potency of lightning, ir 
 resistible to earthly obstructions, and terrible to guilt. 
 
 Cotemporaries say that John Adams was peculiarly 
 luminous in his demonstration:: — as if jets of light »!ioi 
 out from his eyes, his mouth, and his finger ends. He 
 was not large in body, but his well-formed and expres- 
 sive figure reflected all the passions of his soul. He 
 was eloquent all over. He was a mental gladiator, a 
 man of forensic war, and never was he more beautifu 
 than when surrounded by the hottest flames of the fight. 
 
 On March 4th, 1797, Mr. Adams, then in his 62d 
 yed,i, was inaugurated President of the United States. 
 A cotemporary, an intimate acquaintance of our re- 
 nowneu countryman, has told us that on that occasion 
 he was dressed in a full suit of pearl-colored broadcloth, 
 with powdered hair. He was then bald on the top of 
 bis head. The same writer observes, " Mr. Adams was 
 of middle stature, and full person ; and of slow, deliberate 
 manner, unless he was excited ; and when this happen. 
 >u, he expressed himself with great energy. He was a 
 luAn of strong mind, of great learning, and of eminenl. 
 aoility co use knowledge, both in speech and writing. 
 He was ever a man of purest morals ; and is said to 
 have oeen a firm believer in Christianity, not from habit 
 and example, but from diligent investigation of its 
 proofs." 
 
 But if the. morning and noon of Mr. Adams' life wen 
 auspicious and splendid, the evening was full of the 
 moral sublime. " Even when the brilliancy of reason's 
 sunset yields to the advancirlg gloorh, there is an inde- 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 197 
 
 scribable beauty haunting the old nran still, it in youth 
 and vigor his soul was conversant with truth; and even 
 when the chill of night is upon him, his eye seems to 
 rest upo 1 the glories for a while departed, or looks off 
 into the stars, and reads in them his destiny with a 
 gladness as quiet and as holy as their light. When our 
 little day is folded up in shadows, the darkness must be 
 deep indeed which does not reveal eternity by the ray.s 
 of light that reach us from afar ; but the soul that can 
 rise above the clouds of earth, can always behold the in- 
 finity of heaven, and perhaps every rightly taught man, 
 before God takes him, ascends to a Pisgah of his own, 
 from whence to look farewell to the wilderness he has 
 passed in the leadings of Jehovah's right hand, and to 
 catch a glimpse of the promised land lying in the ever- 
 lasting orient before him," 
 
 It is well known that on July 4th, 1826, this great 
 man, after a useful life found a peaceful death, breathing 
 a blessing on the country which he had so eminently serv- 
 ed, and exclaiming to the last, " independence for ever !'" 
 
 Justice Story, another mighty name since inscribed 
 by death high in the Pantheon of American renown, in 
 allusion to Mr. Adams' departure from life, well said : 
 "That voice of more than Roman eloquence, which 
 urged and sustained the Declaration of Independence, 
 that voice, whose first and whose last accents were for 
 his country, is indeed mute. It will never again rise in 
 defence of the weak against popular excitement, and 
 vindicate the majesty of law and justice. It will never 
 awaken a nation to arms to assert its liberties. It v*ill 
 never again instruct the public councils by its wisdom 
 
198 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 It will never again utter its most oracular thoughts in 
 philosophical retirement." That great and pure spirit 
 \v3s dfjparted, gone as a sunbeam to revisit its native 
 skies — gone, as this mortal to put on immortality, 
 
 " Ne'er to the chambers, where the mighty rest, 
 Since their foundation, came a nobler guest; 
 Nor ne'er was to the b3werB of bliss conT«yigil 
 A iaiier ipirit, or more welcome iihade." 
 
CIIAPTEK YIII. 
 
 THE PATRIOTIC PI/STY OF '76. 
 
 The original chart of American Liberty was drawn 
 and signed in the cabin of the Mayflower. It was a 
 civil compact, based on republican principles and sanc- 
 tioned by religious faith. Such men as Carver, Bradford, 
 Brewster, and Winslow, blessed our nation in its cradle, 
 and patriotic teachers of religion have ever fostered its 
 growth. At an early day, the acute and subtle Cotton, 
 the erudite and energetic Hooker, and their associates, 
 replenished the beacon-fires of learning, patriotism, and 
 piety along our " rock-bound coast.'' Not a little did 
 these men of God contribute to produce that state of 
 things which prospectively seemed propitious, and in 
 view of which they greatly rejoiced. In 1644, Cotton 
 wrote to his friends in Holland, " The order of the 
 churches and the commonwealth is now so settled in 
 New England by common consent, that it brings to 
 mind the new heaven and new earth, wherein dwells 
 righteousness." Hooker was an apostolic hero, whose 
 eye, voice, soul, gesture, and whole form were animated 
 with the vital energy of primitive zeal. He was full of 
 public spirit and active charity, serenely trusting in 
 Providence with " a glorious peace of soul ;" and. 
 
200 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 "though persecutions and banisnments tiad awaited him 
 as one wave follows another," he adhered to the cause 
 of advancing civilization without wavering, and looked 
 for its ultimate triumph without a doubt. His cotem- 
 poraries placed him "in the first rank of men," and 
 praised him as " the one rich pearl, with w^hich Europe 
 more than repaid America for the treasures from her 
 coast." 
 
 But such is the selfish tendency of our corrupt nature, 
 that even the best men are inclined to consolidate 
 power in themselves for the fortification of their favorite 
 creeds. Some of the leading Puritans early strove to 
 check the democratic tendency of colonial institutions. 
 On the election day, in May, 1634, Cotton preached to 
 the assembled citizens against rotation in office. But 
 the instinctive sense of political rights in the masses 
 prevailed ; the electors, now increased to three hundred 
 and eighty, were bent on exercising their absolute power : 
 they reversed the decision of the pulpit, elected a new 
 governor and deputy, of congenial sentiments, and thus, 
 to use their own language, "the people established a 
 •eformation of such things as they judged to be amiss in 
 :he government." The dictation of popular rights by 
 aristocratic cliques was annihilated by popular discus- 
 sion. " The freemen of every town in^ tbe Bay were 
 busy in inquiring into their liberties and privileges.'" 
 The principle of representative democracy was recog- 
 nized and established as perfectly two centuries ago, as 
 it is to-day. 
 
 But there were two other elements not yet clearl} 
 defined and popularly enjoyed — universal silage and 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 201 
 
 free toleration of religious sentiments. Who shall be 
 the herald and type of these to the world ? Let the best 
 of American historians present him to your judgment 
 and admiration. Says Bancroft, in the first volume of 
 Ills History, " Roger Williams' mind had already ma- 
 tured a doctrine which secures him an immortality of 
 fame, as its application has given religious peace to the 
 American world. He was a Puritan, and a fugitive 
 from English persecution; but his wrongs had not 
 clouded his accurate understanding ; in the capacious 
 recesses of his mind he had revolved the nature of intol- 
 erance, and he, and he alone, had arrived at the great 
 principle which is its sole effectual remedy. He an- 
 nounced his discovery under the simple proposition of 
 the sanctity of conscience. This was the great tenet, 
 which, with all its consequences, he defended, as he 
 first trod the shores of New England ; and in his 
 extreme old age it was the last pulsation of his heart. 
 He was the first person in modern Christendom to assert, 
 in its plenitude, the doctrine of the liberty of conscience, 
 and in its defence he was the harbinger of Milton, the 
 precursor and superior of Jeremy Taylor." ^ 
 
 Dr. Robertson, in his History of America, says, 
 " Roger Williams' spirit differed from that of the Puri- 
 tans of Massachusetts ; it was mild and tolerating ; and 
 having himself to reject established opinions, he endea- 
 vored to secure the same liberty to other men, by main- 
 taining that the exercise of private judgment was a 
 natural and sacred right ; that the civil magistrate has 
 no compulsive jurisdiction in the concerns of religion ; 
 that the punishment of any person 6n account of his 
 9* 
 
202 OBATORS OF THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 opinions was an encroachment on ccinscience and an 
 act. of persecution. These hftmane principles he instilled 
 into his followers ; and all who felt or dreaded oppression 
 in other settlements, resorted to a community in which 
 universal toleration was known to be a fundamental 
 maxim." 
 
 The Puritans were a noble race. As Junius said to 
 the king, " They left their native land in search of free- 
 dom, and found it in a desert." But they imported 
 errors, and were imbued with the common imperfections 
 of mankind; to correct which, Roger Williams was 
 raised up by Providence, and early planted, with all his 
 wealth of sublime principle and worth, in our infant 
 land. It is worthy of note, that the sentiments respect- 
 ing toleration which he first proclaimed, and for which 
 he was severely persecuted by his fellow refugees, are 
 now the unanimous opinions of this great nation, while 
 those of the Puritans, on the same subject, have been 
 discarded, as false in theory and oppressive in practice, 
 and are at this moment obsolete in every free section 
 of the globe. The germinal principle of religious li berty 
 which first struggled into being under that great and 
 good man's fostering care, amid bleak winters and 
 savage tribes, has since grown to a mighty tree, under 
 which the nations are beginning to worship in peaceful 
 joy. And its growth is not yet consummated, thank 
 God! 
 
 " Millions of souls shall feelits power, 
 And hear it lown to millions more." 
 
 A. careful perusal of our primitive annals will induce 
 
THE PATRIOTIC TIETY OP '76. 203 
 
 B high appreciation of the patriotic piety and mutr.al 
 sympathy between preachers and their flocks that then 
 prevailed. Devoted ministers of religion, like Eliot and 
 Wilson, shared in the hardships and dangers consequent 
 on the early Indian wars. And when news first arrived 
 in Boston of the menacing attitude assumed by Eng- 
 land, prompt consultations were held for the common 
 weal, and the boldest measures were projected. The 
 fathers in Israel were all assembled, and " discovered 
 their minds to one another."' They voted unanimously 
 against submission, and publicly declared, says Winthrop, 
 " We ought to defend our lawful possessions, if we are 
 able ; if not, to avoid and protra,ct!" Six hundred pounds 
 wei'e immediately raised in the poor settlements of the 
 northern colony, arfd the fortifications were hastened by 
 every kind^of popular aid. The influence of the minis- 
 try was pa,triotic and conservative, at the South as weJ 
 as around Plymouth rock. Smith, in his history of the 
 colony at Jamestown, refers -to the excellent Hunt, by 
 whose, " good doctrine^ and exhor.tation," popular vices 
 were restrained, and the welfare of all promoted to tho 
 utm(?st extent. 
 
 The Revplutionary War was a struggle imposed on 
 our fathers, not sought by them ; injustice was in their 
 esteem a legitimate cause for resistancej and all willingly 
 shared in the discharge of a duty which none could 
 doubt. Those who led in the church, and those who 
 led ■ in the field, were impelled by one conviction and 
 labored together with the same design. One taught the 
 law of justice, the other defended it ; one was the voice 
 of God,, the other was His arm. Thus, the American 
 
204 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Colonies, confederated by patriotism and piety long be- 
 fore they were united under a written constitution, felt 
 that their resistance to oppression was a common cause, 
 and simultaneously grasped a sword which had been 
 tempered in the fires of suffering and bedewed with the 
 tears of the sanctified. Then were laity and clergy 
 distributed to all the posts of defence — the chamber of 
 council and the field of battle, — the rural church and 
 the martial camp, — and from each* station of trust and 
 solicituue, ferment prayer ascended to heaven for favor 
 on our arms. 
 
 Burke said : " The Americans augur misgovernment 
 at a distance, and snuff the approach of tyranny in every 
 tainted breeze." The sense here described was most 
 acute in those whose faculties had "been educated and 
 refined in the school of the Prophets. As a hunter, 
 standing armed, listens at the foot of a tree to see 
 whence comes the wind, so they stood by the altars they 
 were appointed to guard, and listened attentively in that 
 direction whence wrong approached. Considerations 
 of time, place, peril, or calling, impeded no one. Men 
 of the greatest dignity, largest wealth, and most sacied 
 functions did not stop to compute profit and loss : blood 
 was poured out freely and poured for all. ' The sainted 
 Robinson had magnanimously said to the voyagers in 
 the Mayflower, that he would not foreclose his mind tc 
 the truth of God, even if it were new. The new light 
 and liberties which our fathers had here learned tc 
 enjoy, were deemed of too much value to' be lightly sur 
 rendered to injustice or the miserable expediency ol 
 false mercy Conscience was their only compensation 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 205 
 
 on earth, and God on high. Hands consecrated to sa- 
 cred service, breaking the bread of life and soothing 
 penitential sorrow, from the pulpit scattered profusely in 
 moral and martial tempests, seeds of palriotic piety 
 whose glorious harvests the whole world Is yet destined 
 to reap in peace. 
 
 Prominent among the religious patriots who preceded 
 the Revolution, was the old President of Yale College, 
 Doctor Ezra Stiles. He was small in stature, but of 
 vast learning, undoubted piety and fervid patriotism. 
 On the Occasion of the death of George II. and the ac- 
 cession of George III., he preached a sermon, in which 
 he admonished the latter against suffering any retrench- 
 ment of the liberties of New England. In his history 
 of the three judges of Charles I., (Whalley, Goffe and 
 Dixwell,) published long before our Revolution, he an- 
 nounced that the 30th of January, which was observed 
 by many Christians, in commemoration of the martyr- 
 dom of that king, " ought to be celebrated as an anni- 
 versary thanksgiving, that one nation on earth had so 
 much fortitude and public justice, as to make a royat 
 tyrant how to the sovereignty of the people." Let it be 
 added here, that another distinguished President of that 
 ancient seat of letters and religion, Doctor Timothy 
 Dwight, served with becoming zeal in the councils of 
 liis country, and as a chaplain in her army. 
 
 Indeed, patriotism was a trait common to the great 
 majority of our clergy, both before and during the Re- 
 volution. They sided with their country in all the dis- 
 putes with Great Britain, — they prayed and preached ia 
 favor of Independence, and in several instances went so 
 
206 OEATORS .'F THE AMEEICAN EEVOLDTIOW. 
 
 far as personally ta tafce up arms. Jonathan Mahew, 
 the famous leader of, the Episcopal controversy, lo whom 
 Archbishop Seeker and Dr. Johnson replied, was not 
 only an ecclesiastic of great literary accomplishnnents, 
 but a republican of the .boldest port. On every jwJnd, 
 intelligent and patriotic pastors contributed; powerfully 
 to prepare the people for prompt and persevering resist- 
 ance against every encroachtnen,t on their rights. 
 
 Rev. SamueT Davids, for some time a pastor in Vir- 
 ginia, and afterwards President of Nassau Hall, deserves 
 especial notice. He was born ip Delaware, Nov. 3d. 
 1724, and received bis education in Pennsylva,nia, His 
 grand characteristic^ as a patriot and preacher, was 
 boldness. This is a valuable attribute in every public 
 agent. The great Lord Verulam declared, that " if he 
 were asked what is the first, second, and third .thing ne- 
 cessary for success in business, he should answer,. bold- 
 ness, boldness, boldness." Tjmid, and effeminate efforts 
 in the pulpit are as inefficient and more destructive than 
 elsewhere. The stupid soul is startled into attention 
 only by bold blows. Ministers may describe for ever the 
 beauties of nature, the pleasures of virtue, the dignity 
 of self-respect and the vulgarity of vice, but until more 
 exalted motives are urged, and more potent influences 
 are employed, few effects will follow that are either 
 great or good. 
 
 Davies was the ablest Dissenter in the southern pio- 
 vinces. His custom was- to study his discourses with 
 great care. Being pressed to preach, on a certain occa- 
 sion without his usual preparation, he replied : "It is a 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OP '76. 207 
 
 dreadful thing to talk nonsense in the name of the 
 Lord ■' 
 
 But he was as prompt and fearless in any sudden 
 enier<;ency, as he was habitually deliberate and studious. 
 Thanks to the movements in behalf of religious liberty 
 made at the North, England granted th« Toleration Aot 
 in favor of all the CoJonies. Virginia, howsever, ruled 
 by her Episcopal establishment, refused to admit that the 
 Dissenters of their territory were included. Davies 
 withstood all their forces alone, with Peyton Randolph 
 at their head. He had made himself a thorough master of 
 English law, civil and ecclesiastical, and always chose to 
 meet every persecuting indictment in the highest courts 
 with his own plea. So powerful was he in the capacity 
 which the law of necessity compelled him to assume, 
 that many of his friendsj and even his foes were wont to 
 exclaim, "What a lawyer was spoiled when Davies took 
 the pulpit!" Spoiled, forsooth! As if the pulpit, with 
 all its themes of eternal interest, was not the sublimest 
 field for the development and exercise of eloquence ever 
 vouchsafed to man. 
 
 Not satisfied with establishing his religious rights at 
 the bar of colonial power, he went to England and ob- 
 tained the explicit sanction of the highest authority 
 with respect to the extension of the Toleration law to 
 Virginia. It was during this mission that he gave an- 
 other striking instance of his boldness. George II. and 
 many of his court were in the congregation of this 
 American Dissenter. His majesty, struck with admira- 
 tion, or forgetting the proprieties of the occasion, spoke 
 several times to those around him and smiled. Davies 
 
208 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 paused a moment, and then looking sternly at the king, 
 exclaimed, " When the lion roars, the beasts of the forest 
 all tremble ; and when King Jesus speaks, the princes 
 of earth should keep silence." 
 
 Mr. Davies was tall, manly and dignified. A distin- 
 guished character of the day, on seeing him pass, said : 
 "he looked like the ambassador of some great king.'' 
 His understanding was strong, his elocution graceful, 
 and his address on some occasions was overwhelming. 
 Patrick Henry was his neighbor and ardent admirer. It 
 is believed that the renowned pupil was greatly indebted 
 to this patpiotic preacher, both for his sentiments and 
 the invincible manner with which he enforced them. 
 
 During the gloomy period when the country was 
 alarmed and distressed to the highest degree by the 
 French and Indian war, Davies exerted himself con- 
 stantly to mitigate the sufferings of the people and to 
 disperse their fears. On the 10th of July, 1755, Gen- 
 eral Braddock sustained his memorable defeat, and the 
 remnant of his army was saved by the courage and skill 
 of Colonel Washington, then but twenty-three years old. 
 On the 20th of the same month, our moral hero preached 
 a sermon, "On the defeat of General Braddock, going 
 to Fort Du Quesne." In this sermon, he calls on all 
 his hearers, in the most impassioned and patriotic terms, 
 lo show themselves men, Britons, Christians, and to 
 make a noble stand for the blessings they enjoyed." In 
 the same year, he delivered a sermon before Captain 
 Overton's company of volunteers, under the title of 
 " Religion and patriotism, the constituents of a good 
 soldier." It was in the discassion of this subject that 
 
THE TATUIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 209 
 
 his famous prophecy occurred. Speaking of the en- 
 couraging fact, that God had " diffused some sparivs 
 of martial fire through the country/' said he, " as a 
 remarkable instance of this, I may point out to the 
 public that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I 
 cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved, in 
 so signal a manner, for some important service to his 
 country." 
 
 Sacred eloquence, in revolutionary times, is the chief 
 conservative of order and the grand solace of the popu- 
 lar mind. While it fortifies the patriot in his rebellion 
 against tyranny, it exhorts him to a patient endurance 
 of unavoidable wrongs. It alleviates as much as possi- 
 ble the pressure of the chain, by opening before the suf- 
 ferer celestial horizons, fragrant with immortal ama- 
 rynths, and teeming with infinite beatitudes. Davies 
 was of this stamp, a bold patriot and a bold Christian 
 
 " He had a twofold nature, and the one 
 Was of a higher order, with the souIb 
 Who shine along the path of centuries 
 Tn full and perfect brightness, standing forth 
 In their own loftiness, the beacon lights 
 By which the world is guided and upborne 
 From its for ever downward tendency. 
 
 Another patriotic preacher fell a martyr to his zeal in 
 behalf of his country, at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. 
 On the 21st of January, 1780, the first Presbyterian 
 church was burned by the British, and in the following 
 November, they shot its minister, the Rev. James Cald- 
 well. He was a learned, pious, and devoted servant of 
 
210 ORATOKS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 his country and his God. He embarked every thing in 
 the Ijoly cause he espoused, pouring his blood on the 
 earth after they had burned the pulpit from which he 
 had pften poured his patriotic exhortations on the peo- 
 • pie's heads. " There were giants in those daj's ;" and it 
 is easy to explain the force of their language, and the 
 fidelity of their actions. They preached in an age of 
 revolution, a time of popular excitement and national 
 transition, when ,tbere transpired in rapid succession 
 changes more momentous than ever, before agitated the 
 world. Then every man was intensely absorbed in the 
 general struggle ; feeling that the welfare of all was en- 
 trusted to each, every citizen was a consecrated soldier, 
 in some form contending for freedom and national life 
 at his appointed post in the very heat of the combat. 
 Among the excited mass, ministers of the Gospel were 
 by no means the least active or eifficient. . They ex- 
 tended the aegis of a divine religion' over the battered 
 and exhausted form of the colonial confederation, and in- 
 spired fortitude in all who were faiflt. They were agi- 
 tated with a lofty inspiration,' as the earth is shaken in 
 the convulsions of'an earthquake, liot by'the assaults of 
 external power, but by the irrepressible fires of freedom 
 and piety which burned within their patriotic hearts. It 
 was for this reason that they had such a mighty influ- 
 ence on their hearers. True eloquence, like true religion, 
 is a movement of sensibility as well as an act of reason. 
 If one has " thoughts that breathe,", you may be sure he 
 will have " words that burn."! If^ one is truly a patj-iot, 
 in the pulpit or out of it, his conduct: will comport with 
 
THE PATRIjTIC PIETY OF '76. 211 
 
 his professions, and his life will be at the service of his 
 country as well as of his God. 
 
 Illustrious examples abound in every direction, but 
 we will take our next in a region farther north. It was 
 fitting that the first battle of the Revolution should be 
 fought under the eves of the church at Lexington. It 
 was in that vicinity that the Genius of Patriotism had 
 long dwelt with her enthusiastic devotee. 
 
 The town records of Lexington contain many impor- 
 tant documents which discussed the great questions in- 
 volved in the national struggle for Independence. In 
 1765, the citizens vindicated the popular movement in 
 respect to the Stamp-Act. In 1767, they unanimously 
 concurred with the resolution of Boston, to prevent the 
 consumption of foreign commodities. In 1768, they 
 argued with great force against the right of Great 
 Britain to tax America. In 1772, they resolved, in most 
 thrilling terms, to seek redress for daily increasing 
 wrongs; and in 1774, they took measures to supply 
 themselves with ammunition, arms and other requisites 
 for military defence. What hero drew those masterly 
 papers, defended their principles, and fired the people at 
 all hazards to defend them ? History has recorded the 
 fact, that the Reverend Jonas Clark, was their author 
 md chief defence. He was one of the many patriotic 
 clergy of New England, who instructed their beloved 
 lock in peace, and guarded them amid the dread neces- 
 aties of war. "Mr. Clark," says Edward Everett, 
 ' was eminent in his profession, — a man of practical 
 *iety, — a learned theologian, — a persoa of wide, general 
 wading, — a writer perspicuous, correct, and pointed, be- 
 
212 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIClN. 
 
 yond the standard of the day, — and a most intelligent, 
 resolute, and ardent champion of the popular cause. He 
 was connected by marriage with the family of John 
 Hancock. Their connection led to a portion of the in- 
 teresting occurrences of the 19th of April, 1775. The 
 soul-stirring scenes of the great tragedy which was 
 enacted on this spot, were witnessed by Mr. Clark, 
 from the door of -his dwelling hard by. To perpetuate 
 their recollection, he instituted, the following year, a ser- 
 vice of commemoration. He delivered himself a his- 
 torical discourse of great merit, which was followed on 
 the returns of the anniversary, till the end of the Revo- 
 lutionary war, in a series of addresses in the same strain, 
 by the clergy of the neighboring towns." 
 
 These were the brave men of prophetic eye who as- 
 cended the altars of God to proclaim in clear tones and 
 firm faith the future era of American democracy. They 
 had the disposition and capacity to take far-reaching and 
 comprehensive views. They were not content to con- 
 sume the passing hour, in amusing on the deck of the 
 ship of State, the audience that surrounded them with 
 applause ; they knew the extent and the perils of the 
 sea upon which they were borne ; they consulted the 
 currents of the tides and the ominous winds; equally 
 regardful of charts and guiding stars, they gave heed to 
 the reef on which their buffeted oraft might suddenly 
 be dashed, and looked anxiously forward to a haven 
 where tempest-tossed humanity might in safety be 
 moored. But their solicitude, instead of impeding their 
 activity, inspired it. Animated by motiv is grand as the 
 hberties of a contiiient, these Christian soldiers illus- 
 
THE PATE OTIC PIETY OF '76. 213 
 
 trated, in their persons and work, how courage becomes 
 more firm when fortified by the principles of patriotic 
 piety, that a warrior is invincible when inspired by 
 faith, and when he can raise pure hands to the God of 
 battles, in whose name he fights. It is under such cir- 
 cumstances and from such men that we may expect im- 
 pressive preaching. The eloquence of the pulpit is not 
 a festive pantomime, but a bold and -rugged eloquence 
 that does battle with stern realities. The weapons 
 which the preacher is called to use, like the sword which 
 guarded Eden's gate, must have the brilliancy of flame 
 as well as the force and edge of steel. The era of '76 
 was favorable to the highest order of eloquence. Every 
 youth came upon the public stage with the cap of lib- 
 erty upon his head, and a passport to victory or death in 
 his hand. Then the people assembled in their churches, 
 to invoke the blessing of God on their arms, while their 
 pastors preached to them under the frowns of power 
 and in the prospect of martyrdom. This gave fervor 
 to their thoughts, depth to their sympathies, earnestness 
 and solemnity to their daring resolutions. Outward 
 perils and inward solicitude invested the preacher with 
 the power of thrilling his audience through and through 
 with repeated shocks of mental batteries highly charged. 
 They did not fatigue with elegant inanity, nor stupify 
 with excessive prettiness. Their soul teemed with an 
 intense virility, and their language was forked with ter- 
 rific splendor. They seemed more like prophets than 
 priests, master-spirits raised up to mould the destinies 
 of mankind; their attitudes were dignity ; their gestures 
 power. The functions they discharged were divine ; their 
 
214 OBAi;OSS pP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 
 
 tones were trumpetg{vpeal \yith messages frorp heaven; 
 their _ sentiments ; blazed like meteors prognosticating 
 conflicts, conquests,; and final doom. Each one of those 
 moral herpes who glorified the era of '76, was a co- 
 lossus among ordinary men, and stood fprth in native 
 majesty;, -indomitable, unmoved,, sublime.^ 
 
 A happy combinatiun of piety and patriotism, consti- 
 tuting the most. useful private and public virtue, we 
 ha,ve already foijnjijin different sections of our common 
 country during the Revolution. We have only to turn 
 to the highest council of our infant nation, the most 
 august assembly of men that ever congregated to declare 
 themselves free, _ and we shall find another illustrious 
 example in the person of /pAn Witherspoon. 
 
 He w;as line;ally descended from John Knox, the 
 mor^l, hero of Scotland, was born near Edinburgh, 1722, 
 and, .from the tim^ he adopted Amenqa as his country, 
 was as much distinguished as a preacher as a patriot. 
 Dr. Witijierspoon was one, of the signers of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, which he eloquently defended; 
 through a trying period of congressional responsibility 
 he was a v^ery efficient legislator ; and for many years 
 performed the. duties of a laborious, erudite, and emi- 
 nently successful president of Princeton College. On 
 taking his seat in Congress, he surprised his associates, 
 as his brother Dayies, who now sleeps by his side, had 
 surprised the courts of Virginia, with his wonderful 
 knowle4ge ?tnd skill as a civilian. He was associated 
 with Richard Henry Lee and John Adams on several 
 important committees and himself drew many valuable 
 
■rnm PATKIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 216 
 
 State papers. All his productions are marked oy wit, 
 energy, and eloquence. 
 
 Of his wit, one or two examples will suffice. Just 
 beforethe .momentous decision of the fourth of July, a 
 distinguishedonember had said in debate, that we were 
 "not yet.rips for a Declaration of Independence." Dr. 
 Witherspooa responded, "in my judgment, sir, we are 
 not only ripe but rotting." Close and rigid argument 
 ■was his rule of debate, but corruscations of vivacious 
 fancy sometimes furnished amusing exceptions. He 
 had the tact to beguile an audience pf weariness, by 
 indulging wisely in sarcastic mental frolics. 
 
 ^' The humorous vein, strong sense, and simple style, 
 To teach the gayest, make the gravest smile." 
 
 For examiple,:, when Burgoyne's army was cajptured at 
 Saratoga, Geaeral Gates despatched one of his aids to 
 convey the iatelligence to Congress. ' The officer in- 
 dulged too freely in amusements by the way, so that the 
 news reached Philadelphia several days ahead of him. 
 Congress, however, principally for form's sake, proposed 
 to present him an elegant sword ; but Dr. Witherspoon 
 rose, and begged leave to move, that instead of a sword, 
 they should present him a pair of golden spurs. 
 
 This aneedote suggests a word or two with respect 
 to his energy. It was a trait which rendered him ex- 
 ceedingly useful as a patriot and preacher. In Novem- 
 ber, 1776, the army was in a deplorable condition for 
 want of necessary supplies. They were retreating, 
 almost naked and barefooted, in wintry cold, before a 
 numerous and well-appointed foe. Congress was in* 
 
216 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 formed that the military force of the country was " much 
 more disposed to secure safety by submission, than to 
 seek it by a manly resistance." In this fearful crisis, 
 Witherspoon was appointed the chairman of a commit- 
 tee to repair to head-quarters, and co-operate with 
 Washington in redressing the grievances of the soldiers. 
 Triumphant success crowned their energy. 
 
 Numerous tokens of Dr. Witherspoon's eloquence 
 remain on the journal of Congress and in the literature 
 of the country. He usually wrote the main body of 
 his discourse with great care ; but being a ready speaker, 
 and possessing a remarkable talent for extemporizing, he 
 could dexterously blend that which was premeditated and 
 that which was spontaneous, so as to give the aggregate 
 an air of great beauty and force. In one of his admira- 
 ble rhetorical works he has himself said, "There is a 
 piercing heat and penetrating force in that which flows 
 from the heart, which distinguishes it not only from the 
 coldness of indifference, but also from the false fire of 
 enthusiasm or vain glory." 
 
 Excepting Washington, he is said to have possessed 
 more of what is called presence, than any other man of 
 his day. He was six feet high, nobly proportioned, and 
 remarkably impressive in voice, movement, and mien. 
 It was equally difficult for unruly students or thoughtless 
 men to trifle in his presence. 
 
 As soon as the liberties of the country were won. 
 Dr. Witherspoon gladly resumed his classical pursuits 
 and the work of the ministry. In a ripe and glorious 
 old age, he died in peace, having accomplished vastly 
 more than the Cardinal de Retz. " A man." said Bos- 
 
rsl PATRIOTIC PIETY OP '76. 217 
 
 suet, " who w w so faithful to individuals, so terrible to 
 the State; of so lofty a character, that it was impossible 
 to esteem, to fear, to love, or to hate him in moderation. 
 Firm in himself, he shook the universe, and obtained a 
 dignity, which he afterwards wished to resign, as un- 
 worthy of what it had cost him ; as an object beneath 
 his mighty mind. But while he was in pursuit of what 
 he was afterwards taught to despise, he shook every 
 thing by his seci'et and powerful energies. Even in 
 the universal overthrow of all around him, he appeared 
 to suffice for his own support, and his intrepid aspect 
 still breathed defiance to his adversary." 
 
 But the doctor's greatest forte was in the pulpit. He 
 felt habitually, and especially in preaching, — a pursuit 
 in his avowed opinion the most sublime of all, — that " it 
 is not enough to speak, but to speak true." His viva- 
 city, his fervid logic, his impressive manner, and spon- 
 taneous ease, all combined to make him a mode 
 preacher, as well as model citizen. The ambassador 
 for Christ, to be eloquent, must be true to the promptings 
 >')f his nature when least shackled. It will not answer 
 to conceal that which is intrinsically noble, for the 
 purpose of conciliating the ignobly prejudiced." The 
 inspired heart and the glorious gospel are both 'the 
 creations of the same infinite hand, and, " being things 
 so majestical," we should not " offer them the least show 
 of violence." Let the preacher throw himself into the 
 heart of his audience with all the brave confidence of 
 spontaneous inspiration, then will the tones and emo- 
 tions native to his soul awaken a sleeping echo in every 
 other bosom. Delicate specimens of refined style are 
 10 
 
218 OEATpRS QF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 usually the cpncQmitants oClatiguor aad.imbecilily. 
 They are ofti^n obtained, atj ;thg saerifipe of those hardier 
 felicities, wljich, like alpine -flpwers,; adorn the inequali- 
 ties of a more rugged and artless composition. It is 
 not new arguments or novel images that , are most 
 demanded in the ordinary routine of modern' pulpii 
 ministrations, but .that energy of soul which invests 
 even feeble logic vvith starring power, and renders trite 
 illustrations, appalling: tp ithe aroused.' We need more 
 of that deep and strong, fepling which melts into love, 
 kindles into hppe,i or stiffens with despair. The mind 
 of a pulpit orator should, traverse the field of literary 
 research and, biblical exposition, as a potent angel 
 careers through theunfathomed abyss pf etherial space ; 
 now obscured in the 4ark, recesses of thunder, and now 
 jshpoting, in bold relief, through fleecy clouds of gold ; 
 now plunging tp the remote horizpUj as if to test the 
 speed and power of ;hiswingi. and now floating in calm 
 majesty' through th^. infinite azure of untroubled sky. 
 Such a man was ^- ■; 
 
 Dr. Sflmuel Stillman', of Boston. This distinguished 
 patriot and divine was ; born in Philadelphiaj but was 
 removed early tp Charleston, South Carolina, where he 
 was educated, and where he was ordained, in 1759. 
 He removed to Boston, 1763, and remained there until 
 his death, 1806, the universally admired pastor of the 
 First Baptist Church. 
 
 He was small in stature, but great of soul. His cour- 
 tesy was proverbial, his accomplishments were diversified, 
 his piety was undisputed by all, and his patriotic preach- 
 ing unexcelled. He was explicit and bold in avowing his 
 
THE RAIEIOTIC PIETY OF '16. 219 
 
 own peculiar, views, but was exceedingly forbearing in 
 his demeanor towards those who were conscientiously 
 opposed;. It was only the vicious and the recreant, — 
 those who armed themselves with malignant hatred 
 against the, cross and his country, — that suffered beneath 
 his scathing bpjits. His anibition was that of a moral 
 hero, who contended without anger, conquered without 
 meanness, and accumulated triumphs without pride ; 
 habitually desirous of being governed by the golden 
 rule. he. fashioned his conduct under the influence of 
 virti.e and wrisdom from above. Clothing his arms 
 with, I'gbt he fought against the powers of darkness ; at 
 the, same time contemplating with humble gratitude 
 the miry pit from which he had emerged, and putting 
 forth an active hand to rescue those who remained behind. 
 He fostered every Christian enterprize, and neglected 
 no effort that might contribute to instruct those- whom 
 prejudice had blinded, or set free from the thraldom of 
 error those whom cupidity had long kept bound. 
 
 The respect which this admirable preacher won was 
 most comprehensive and of the highest kind. Among 
 refined gentlemen, liberal scholars, and eloquent divines, 
 he ranked second to none of any section or name 
 Standing in the presence of armed foes, he preached 
 witli a power that commanded respect, even when he 
 could not create compunction. When the British took 
 possession of Boston, and desecrated its sacred edifices 
 some of the more skillful of their number, who had 
 recoiled under Stillman's patriotic appeals, illustrated 
 their spite by drawing a charcoal outline of the great 
 divjne on the : plastered wall of his own pulpit, in all 
 
220 OttATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOW. 
 
 the freedom of expressive gesture and eloquent denun- 
 ciation. 
 
 It will not seem strange that Dr. Stillman's own 
 church was habitually thronged, or that whenever he 
 visited other cities his instructions were sought with 
 avidity by the most exalted minds. John Adams wrote 
 to his wife, thus : 
 
 "Philadelphia, 4th Aug., 1776. 
 
 " Went this morning to the Baptist meeting, in hopes 
 of hearing Mr. Stillman, but was disappointed. He 
 was there, but another gentleman preached." 
 
 These letters of John Adams to his wife, abound 
 with intimations of the patriotism of the pulpit in those 
 days. In one, dated "7th July, 1775," he inquires: 
 " Does Mr. Wibird preach against oppression, and the 
 other cardinal vices of the times ? Tell him, the clergy 
 here, of every denomination, thunder and lighten every 
 Sabbath. They pray for Boston and the Massachu- 
 setts. They thank God explicitly and fervently for 
 our remarkable successes. They pray for the Ameri- 
 can army. They seem to feel as if they were among 
 you." 
 
 The secular and the sacred patriots of that age labor- 
 ed, in different spheres, to fortify the two wings of the 
 same army. One promoted defence by martial force, 
 the other extended the interests of religion; one beat 
 down the ramparts of invading power, the other erected 
 the shrines of education and piety ; one drove back the 
 Philistines from our shores, the other built pavilions 
 for Israel's God When the battle was over and the 
 great boon of liberty was won, both parties were founa 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 221 
 
 at the same altars, having toiled for one end, and 
 expressing gratitude fbr blessings dearly bought, and by 
 each equally prized. 
 
 Dr. Stillman was foremost among those who with one 
 hand discomfited the Amalekites, and raised the other to 
 implore divine benedictions. To the heroism of Joshua, 
 in the combat, he joined the faith of Moses upon the 
 mountain, beholding the goodly heritage which he had 
 panted to secure, and bearing under the arms of a war- 
 rior the heart and docility of a child. Always on the 
 field of battle, conquering souls for God or confounding 
 his foes, each step he took marked a new victory, anc* 
 at the end of his career he triumphantly grasped the 
 amarynth of immortal bliss. 
 
 " And now 'tis silence all — Enchanter, fare thee well !" 
 
 Archbishop Carroll was a devoted patriot and elo- 
 quent preacher. He was the first Catholic Bishop of 
 the United States. On the 22d of February, 1800, by 
 a solemn and admirable discourse, he commemorated 
 the character and services of General Washington, who 
 had died but a few months before. It has been said by 
 those who heard it, that when he recited the terrors, the 
 encouragements, the distresses, and the glories of the 
 struggle of Independence, he appeared to be laboring 
 under intense emotions correspondent to those topics — 
 to be swayed like the aged minstrel of the poet, with 
 contagious influences, by the varied st.-ain which he ut- 
 tered. Happy for our country and the world will it be, 
 if all our divines shall remain as loyal as these. A high 
 tense of o-itional honor, that everlasting fire which alone 
 
222 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 keeps patriotism warm in the hearts of its citizens, we 
 cannot guard with a care too vigilant, and a jealousy 
 too acute. A nation without the conservative influence 
 of patriotic piety, may well say to corruption, thou art 
 my father, and to the wOrm, thou art my mother and 
 my sister. Every citizen, be his calling what it may, 
 should bear the rose of heaven on his cheeky and the fire 
 of liberty in his eye. 
 
 The best orators of every age have been created by 
 the oppressive circumstance, in the midst. of which they 
 have suddenly arisen with resistless power, as if they 
 gathered strength and inspiration from the terrors of the 
 storm. When the age needs great men it. will find them 
 — heroes not of the timid mimosa kinds who "fear the 
 dark cloud, and feel the coming sound." Preachers in 
 Revolutionary times are eminently practical ; nature 
 supplies them with abundant ammunition, and necessity 
 'caches them expressly to load and fire. They are the 
 flying artillery of " the sacramental host of God's elect." 
 They are inspired by no fictitious goddess of the Aonian 
 Mount, but by that Eternal Spirit who directed the pen 
 of Moses, the fingers of David, and the tongue of Paul; 
 they drink of no fancied Pierian spring, but at a purer 
 and more exalted source. 
 
 The great Reformer said, " Human nature is a rout*-., 
 thing, and must have rough ministers to chastise it." 
 Preachers who deal in sentimental commonplaces about 
 the odor of roses and the blandishments of Virtue, with- 
 out enforcing the repugnant doctrines of transforming 
 truth, are more recreant to duty and the welfare of man 
 than was the tyrant Nero, when he despatched ships to 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OT '76. 223 
 
 Egypt, the granary of the world, in quest of sand for 
 his gladiators, at a time when Rome was starving with 
 famine. 
 
 The most highly endowed among men are the chosen 
 medium of communications from- heaven. Such spirits 
 are most numerous when most needed, and most pow- 
 erful in the tempests which they are born to rule. The 
 impressive march of events through which power on 
 high is manifested to powers here below, the eternal 
 unity of their cause and the solemn harmony of their 
 results have an aspect that profoundly strikes the mind- 
 Under such eliciting influences, that which is suoiimc 
 and immortal in man clearly reveals itself, and listens 
 to the voices that proclaim 
 
 " A Providence that shapes our ei^ds, 
 , Kough-hew them as we may." 
 
 The chosen ones of earth garner up these mysterious 
 testimonies, atid with them substantiate their faith. 
 While Providence thunders in portentous events they 
 fulminate with -divine itispirations, and it is thus that 
 celestial instruction is perptetuated and rendered intelli- 
 gent to mankinds This was the' ilnission which our pa- 
 triotic fathers were raised up to perform ; in every dread 
 emergency, heroes like them are placed by Jehovah on 
 the watch-towers of i Jerusalem, aiid they are ^ileiit 
 neither day nor' night. They are' the godlike, "who re- 
 sist unto blood, striving against sin." The banner of 
 Constantine bore upon its folds a cross for a dfevice, and 
 the motto inscribed below, Spes Puhlica. Christian 
 leaders have never been permitted to be mere carpet 
 
224 ORATOES OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTIOW. 
 
 knights, effeminate actors in gay tournaments, — but 
 masculine antagonists amid gigantic perils on a fearful 
 battle-field. 
 
 Glance for a moment over the page of ecclesiastical 
 history, and see how the noblest heroes have been edu- 
 cated and employed. Chrysostom, the most brilliant 
 preacher of the ancient church, was compelled by duty 
 to face Eudoxia as Latimer braved Henry the Eighth, or 
 our own Davies awed into silence George the Second. 
 
 At a dark period of moral history, the preaching of 
 Peter the Hermit and of Bernard induced multitudes to 
 assume outwardly the symbol of the cross ; and under 
 more divine auspices, at a later period, a monk of the 
 order of Augustine, transformed into something nobler, 
 influenced the hearts of myriads to take up the true 
 cross, — the truth that saves the soul. And who was 
 this hero of the famous German Reformation ? Frederic 
 had power and wisdom ; Reuchlin and Erasmus had 
 talent and learning; Hutten had wit, and Sickengen 
 courage ; Cronberg had virtue of an exalted character, 
 and Melancthon was endowed with almost every excel- 
 lence that can belong to man. But these were all com- 
 pelled to say, in respect to the needed strength, " it is 
 not in me." Something mightier was needed than 
 erudite scholars, accomplished princes, valorous warriors, 
 and pedantic priests. Luther appeared, and brought 
 with him, to use his own description, " that theology 
 which seeks the kernel of the nut, the pulp of the wheat, 
 the marrow of the bone." The world began to listen 
 to preaching, strange mdeed, but life giving. It was no 
 .onger a meretricious rhetorician nor a subtle schoolman 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 225 
 
 that addressed them ; it was a brother man who had 
 felt the power of divine truth on his own heart, and 
 whose impressive manner certified that he was intent 
 on winning souls to Christ. A famous doctor, Meller- 
 stadt, mixed in the crowds who attended on Luther's 
 preaching. " This monk," said he, " will put all doctors 
 to the rout ; he will introduce a new style of doctrine, 
 and will reform the whole church ; he builds upon the 
 word of Christ ; and no one in this world can either 
 resist or overthrow that word, though it should be 
 attacked with all the weapons of Philosophers, Sophists 
 Scotists, Albertists, and Thomists." 
 
 The great maxim of Erasmus was " Give light, and 
 ihe darkness will disperse of itself." Luther practised 
 on that rule, and the light came. " I swear manfully to 
 defend the truth of the Gospel," was the oath he took 
 when he was made a doctor of theology. His words 
 smote against the popular heart as mighty waves dash 
 against the shore of the sea. 
 
 The American most like him was Samuel Davies. 
 Said Luther,- " If in my sermons I thought of Melanc- 
 thon and other doctors, I should do no good; but I 
 speak with perfect plainness for the ignorant, and that 
 satisfies every body. Such Greek, Latin, and Hebrew 
 as I have, I reserve for the learned. Nothing is more 
 agreeable or useful for a common audience than to 
 preach on the duties and examples of Scripture. Ser- 
 mons on grace fall coldly on their ears." President 
 Davies understood these maxims of common sense well, 
 aad reduced them to practice. He was undoubtedly 
 one of the most accomplished and successful pulpit ora- 
 10* 
 
226 OEATOK3 OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 tors of this or any other land. Though he died at 
 thirty-six, he reared memorials of the power of his sacred 
 eloquence, more precious and enduring than Pharaonic 
 monuments. 
 
 "These stars have set; O, rise some other such !" 
 
 When the children of Israel were about to leave 
 Egypt, Moses was afraid to take the command, because 
 he felt the need of sovereign eloquence to sustain such 
 an office. Jehovah, in his promise to supply the want 
 of this exalted gift, acknowledged its importance as he 
 answered, " Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy brother ? I 
 know that he can speak well, and he shall be thy spokes- 
 man unto the people.'" And as the tide of Reformation 
 moved westward, observe how good speaking- was, m 
 ever, its herald and support. An impressive manner is 
 always most conspicuous when it is most needed. The 
 immense crowds that thronged around St. Paul's Cross, 
 in London, and listened through successive hours in the 
 open air to Jewell and Latimer, were not influenced by 
 the artistic glories of ma:gnificent architecture, — thrilling 
 melody, breathing marbles, soaring arches, or the en- 
 trancing illumination of gorgeous windows, — and yet 
 those motley multitudes were swayed to and fro by 
 sacred eloquence, as a whirlwind bends forest boughs. 
 Colet, the persecuted dean of St. Paul's, in 1505, was 
 highly gifted in rhetorical excellence ; and so was the 
 superlatively accomplished Andrews. ConcerniDg the 
 latter, the illustrious Sir Thomas More went so far as 
 even to praise the language of his face. Of Donne, also 
 dean of St. Paul's, in the reign of James L, the follow 
 
ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 227 
 
 ing exquisiie sketch is given by Walton: 'A preachei 
 in earnest, weeping sometimes for his auditory; some- 
 times with them ; always preaching to himself, like an 
 angel from a cloud, but in none ; carrying some, as St. 
 Paul was, to heaven in holy raptures, and enticing 
 others by a sacred art and courtship to amend their 
 ives; and all this with a most particular grace and an 
 inexpressible addition of loveliness." 
 
 While the great theological contest was yet raging, it 
 happened that Hooker was the master of the Temple- 
 Church, and Travers the afternoon lecturer. It was with- 
 in that exquisite edifice recently restored, that the author 
 of the Pohty delivered some of the noblest prose in the 
 English language. But his manner was bad. He 
 spoke with a feeble voice, and with his eyes fixed in a 
 downward look, says Walton, " insomuch that he seem- 
 ed to study as he spake." His opponent, Travers, on 
 the contrary, was endowed with popular gifts ; and it 
 was not, as was often said, because they had Rome 
 in the morning and Geneva in the afternoon, that the 
 Temple was crowded in every part when Travers as-, 
 cended the pulpit. The preference, felt instinctively by 
 all, will ever be given to the glowing utterance of 
 thought and feeling, instead of the calm enumerations 
 of frigid logic. Argumentative preaching is efiective 
 only as it is associated with the emotional part of reli- 
 gion. Burke has said, "There is no heart so hard as 
 that of a thorough-bred metaphysician," and he might 
 nave added, there is no public talk so insufferably dull 
 as metaphysical preaching. Studied nonsense in ser 
 mons is a more painful affliction than unstudied, sincv 
 
228 ORATORS OF THK AMERICAN REVOLtTTIOIf. 
 
 the latter has at least the mitigation of disgiist which 
 usually attends an extemporary effusion. 
 
 If we unite the solidity of Hooker and the ptactica 
 manner of Travers, the aggregate would be much like 
 Witherspdon. Our renowned countryman was a kind 
 of theologico-dejnnocratic compound ; erudite and enthu- 
 siastic, like Augustine; bold and patriotic, like Brutus. 
 While in the President's chair at Nassau Hall, he shone 
 pre-eminently as a scholar and divine; but in the im- 
 passioned gjadiatorship of Congress, the spirit of the 
 Tribune predominated, and the patriotic priest bore no 
 slight resemblance to the militant prelate of the middle 
 ages, who,- at the battle of Bouvines, would wield no 
 other weapon than a mace, because his religion forbade 
 him to shed blood, and who, in the midst of the conflict, 
 blessed with one hand the numerous foes whom he 
 crushed with the other. He was the devout cavalier 
 of Liberty in her own temple of legislation. 
 
 It is not to' be understood, however, that Dr. Wither- 
 spoon, or his distinguished co-patriots in the pulpit, were 
 religious or political fanatics. When a clergyman 
 transforms himself into a phrenzied partizan, the dupe 
 or champion of a' local faction, he' renders himself the' 
 more odiotis in contrast with the exalted profession he 
 has disgraced. This is an instinctive feeling of the 
 popular heart; and' it is just ; for what crime can be 
 greater than to idelitify the things of earth vvith those of 
 heaven, the illusions of time with the iirtperishable 
 things of eternity ? What can be more sacrilegious 
 and fetal to humati hopes than to pldce ar earthly pas- 
 lion or human interest on the altar by the side of Chrii^ 
 
THE PATRIOTIC PIETY OP '76. 229 
 
 and sometimes even in Christ's own place? But the 
 appropriate functions of a religious teacher do not forbid 
 tiie duties of a patriot — they imperiously demand them. 
 God designed that the minister of the Gospel should be 
 the man of the people, the confidant of their miseries 
 the balm of their secret griefs, the depositary of their 
 tears, the interpreter of their necessities, their protector, 
 friend and father, a living providence to all who hunger 
 and thirst, a light to guide the benighted, and a beacon 
 to warn those in danger of destruction. 
 
 It would be unjust to pass from the heroical age of 
 pulpit eloquence, without adverting to that glorious man 
 of God whose hallowed influence is flooding the world 
 with ennobling power, John Wesley. Neither should 
 We forget, that about the period we are now contem- 
 plating, Whitefield's glowiiig," impassioned, and awful 
 eloquence — his incessant, daring, and quenchless en- 
 thusiasm — produced a profound and extensive impression 
 on all classes of people in our land. But these allusions 
 suggest topics quite too prolific to be broached fully at 
 present. They richly deserve an extended article by 
 themselves. 
 
 Before concluding, however, it will be well to remark 
 that, all things considered, perhaps, the finest specimen 
 of a captivating and profitable American preacher in 
 Revolutionary times was the Boston pastor already 
 described, Dr. Stillman. His views of pulpit ministra- 
 tions were elevated and comprehensive. And what 
 are they but to unfold the doctrines and explain the 
 pure and sublime morality of the gospel, illustrating it« 
 tendency and diffusing its spirit — ^to exalt the aim oi 
 
230 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 the soul and direct its aspirations toward immortd. 
 worth, — to proclaim the conditions of holy faith and 
 enduring joy, exemplified in " the victorious agonies of 
 saints and martyrs," — to reveal that glorious and dread- 
 ful destin}' so intimately connected with every act of 
 life, ascending with Milton to those immortal heights of 
 light, love and glory : 
 
 " The living throne, the sapphire blaze, 
 ■^ Where angels tremble while they gaze." 
 
 In efforts to do this, what stores of wealth are there in 
 genius, eloquence, poetry, profound erudition, and sanc- 
 tified embellishment, that may not be judiciously em- 
 ployed ? When considered simply as a sphere for 
 intellectual greatness and cultivation, how sublime is 
 the station, and how glorious are the privileges which the 
 Christian minister enjoys. But where are the zealous 
 competitors whose chief ambition is to run for the prize 
 of this high calling ? Where are the men whose pas- 
 sions are educated to fortify their understanding, and 
 whose rational powers are penetrated and invested with 
 heavenly grace, as the Shekinah burned in splendor 
 ineffable, over and around the mercy-seat ? 
 
 The most effective preachers are not subtle dialecti- 
 cians, nor the fastidious retailers of bigotted creeds. 
 They do not always believe that it is indispensable to 
 "explain upon a thing till all men doubt it." In their 
 estimation it is desirable occasionally to take for granted 
 what dubious metaphysicians and astute dogmatists deem 
 it essential, as a primary step in all discourse, eternally to 
 prove. Preachers like Stillman will make a better use 
 
THE PATBIOTEC PIETT OP '76. 231 
 
 of their powers. They will feel that they are employed 
 in the divinest diplomacy ; and, as ambassadors com- 
 missioned from heaven, they will exert every faculty in 
 direct negociation for the salvation of souls. That is 
 the best sermon which is easiest understood and longest 
 remembered. The minister must be well-educated, but 
 his education is for use and not for show. Preachers 
 of ihe right stamp remember this and act accordingly. 
 With the concentrated fires of an intelligent, enthusi- 
 astic, and ravishing eloquence, they impress transcend- 
 ent worth upon the hearer, inflaming him with a passion 
 for moral excellence, and imparting to him a vital im- 
 pulse which, in virtuous habits and practical godliness, 
 is perpetually reproduced. 
 
 The magnificent, equally with the majestic, is a 
 source of power to the pulpit orator. Every kingdom 
 of nature, every department of science, and every 
 production of art, — philosophical research and patriotic 
 disquisition, — whatever history has bequeathed, imagi- 
 nation invented, or fancy embellished, — may be appro- 
 priately employed in the foundation of the preacher's 
 work, or as blandishments to adorn it. His audience 
 yield to him this right willingly, and rejoice in its exer- 
 cise, never more hapj)y than when he snatches them 
 " from Thebes to Athens, when and where he will." 
 To him, at the head of all speakers, most legitimately 
 belong the richest treasures of earth, air, and sea, the 
 peculiar tint and tone of each clime, the mental wealth 
 of each nation, and the accumulated wonders of the 
 whole universe. He may revel in " gorgeous Ind," with 
 lier golden skies and glittering djmes ; "fanatic Egypt 
 
232 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 and her priests ;" the waving palms and wizard glen* 
 of the South ; and the stern superstitions of the North, 
 with all its hills of snow and lucid air, "clad in the 
 beauty of a thousand stars." He may cull gems fi om 
 coral caverns, pluck flowers from sunny fields, and robe 
 himself in splendor from the radiant heavens ; he may 
 lay all literature under contribution to illustrate his 
 theme, array all worlds around him as the theatre of his 
 discussion, and summon spirits from bliss, and devils 
 damned, to verify and enforce his thought. 
 
 Such a preacher was Stillman. The " truth came 
 mended from his lips." A few venerable persons yet 
 survive who remember his august and imposing action, 
 — that action which is the soul of thought. Nothing 
 ostentatious in the mode of his commencement indicated 
 premeditated display ; all was simple and sublime. His 
 figure was not corpulent, but it was compact and 
 gi-aceful in an extraordinary degree. The full wig and 
 ample robes in which he was accustomed to preach 
 added to the nobleness of his exterior, while an air of 
 modesty and earnest candor augmented the force of his 
 speech. His voice was sweet, flexible, and sonorous, 
 but grave, firm, and masculine. His gestures, produced 
 without effort or aflfectation, moved simultaneously with 
 his mind, and both were animated, dignified, and per- 
 suasive. He occupied the same pulpit for many years, 
 under the scrutiny of a vast congregation, all of whom 
 found it difficult to decide wbich most to admire in 
 their preacher, his exemplary life, or his unequalled 
 eloquence ; the soundness of his doctrine, or the graces 
 of his delivery. Whenever his elegant form and ex 
 
THE PATEIOTIC PIETY OF '76. 233 
 
 pressive features- appeared in their presence, the vivid- 
 ness of his emotions and the pungency of his appeals 
 served to remind the classical hearer of that ancient 
 patriot who " bore the republic in his heart." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PATRICK HENRY, 
 
 THE INCARNATION OF REVOLUTIONARY ZEAL 
 
 If there be one attribute of man supreme in dignity 
 and worth it is that of oratory. The illusions of the 
 eye, combined with the enchanting power of music, 
 constitute an influence less potent upon the imagination 
 and will, than the spirit-stirring appeals of "eloquence 
 divine." Other charms are mostly drawn from the ex- 
 ternal world, but this emanates from the unseen spirit 
 within ; its splendors gleam through animated clay 
 and proclaim the superior majesty of immortal mind. 
 
 When men are exhilarated in the presence of excel- 
 lence, when they are greatly moved by the power of 
 cultivated speech, the imagination is more susceptible of 
 receiving agreeable impressions, and the mind becomes 
 insensibly imbued with the worth it in rapture admires 
 
 When the heart and fancy are thus taken captive by 
 those sentiments which are addressed to our sensibilities, 
 the better to move our reason, the severe rules which 
 we impose on the frigid logician, become generously ex- 
 panded. The orator feels no longer wounded by hyper- 
 ■ critical restraints ; more latitude is granted for the 
 expansion of his genius, and in the moment of fojftunate 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 235 
 
 daring, he creates happy emotions in others and fore- 
 tokens fame for himself. 
 
 The era in our history, now under consideration, was 
 exceedingly favorable for the cultivation of the most 
 exalted order of eloquence. It was a period when the 
 public mind was strongly agitated by the popular dis- 
 cussion of interests, the most comprehensive and en- 
 during. 
 
 The war of 1776 was the Trojan war of America; it 
 diffused one impulse over our whole domain, united the 
 Colonies in one spirit of resistance against oppression, 
 and bound them together in one national bond. More- 
 over, it had the effect of the Persian war, when Miltiades 
 led the flower of Greece to Marathon, and a young, but 
 vigorous, nation could successfully compete with supe- 
 rior numbers and veteran skill. The different sections 
 of the country vied with each other in generous compe- 
 tition for precedence in facing a common foe, feeling 
 that stern conflicts and a glorious triumph were neces- 
 sary to give them all a consciousness of their real 
 strength. 
 
 The period of our Colonial and Revolutionary history 
 was, in fact, an era of great superiority in eloquence, at 
 home and abroad. England then presented an array of 
 orators such as she has known at no other time. In 
 Westminster Hall, the accomplished Mansfield was con- 
 stantly heard in support of kingly power, while the phi- 
 losophic and argumentative Camden exercised his 
 mighty intellect in defence of popular rights. Burke 
 had awoke with all his wealth of fancy, daring imaginar 
 lion and comprehensive learning. Fox had entered the 
 
236 ORATORS OF TKE AMERICAN REVOLUTIO>f. 
 
 arena of forensic and senatorial gladiatorship, with his 
 great, glowing heart, and titanic passions, all kindled 
 into volcanic heat. Junius, by his sarcasm and auda- 
 city, stung the loftiest circles into desperation. Erskine 
 embellished the darkened heavens by the rainbov? tints 
 of his genius ; and Chatham, worthily succeeded by his 
 " cloud-compelling" son, ruled the billowy sea of excited 
 mind with the majesty of a god. 
 
 Against all that is powerful in mental energy and 
 martial force, our fathers had to give battle under the 
 most fearful odds. The chivalrous antagonists came 
 into open field ; empires were at stake, and the struggle 
 was worthy of the prize, as the result was glorious to 
 those whom we delight to commemorate. 
 
 Eloquence in America then was a system of the most 
 invigorating mental gymnastics. The popular orators 
 hurled accusations and arguments into the bosom of the 
 populace, and aroused universal rebellion against regal 
 wrongs. Prominent among the mightiest of the " rebels," 
 stood the subject of this sketch. 
 
 The ancients set up statues of renowned citizens in 
 the most public resorts, to keep passing generations in 
 remembrance of the worthies whose patriotijm and piety 
 they ought to emulate. Sometimes filial love would 
 prompt admiring disciples to bring garlands, not with 
 the vain hope of adding to the intrinsic worth, or ex- 
 ternal elegance, of the venerated form, bj^t simply to 
 wreathe round its brow a token of fond regard. In the 
 present instance, our ambition "hath this extent, no 
 more." We do not herein expect to elicit any new 
 fscts in the Ijfp of Patrick Henry, but shall attennpt (>nl7 
 
PATRICK HENEY. 237 
 
 10 group, as comprehensively as possible, some of our 
 views respecting the source and characteristics of his 
 eloquence. The circumstances relating to his paren- 
 tage, birth, and early history, have been carefully com- 
 piled by his biographer, Wirt, and are freely copied in 
 the historical portion of the following sketch : 
 
 Patrick Henry, the second son of John and Sarah 
 Henry, and one of nine children, was born on the 29th 
 of May, 1736, at the family seat, called Studley, in the 
 county of Hanover, and colony of Virginia. In his 
 eaily childhood his parents removed to another seat in 
 the same county, then called Mount Brilliant, now the 
 Retreat; at which latter place, Patrick Henry was 
 " raised" and educated. His parents, though not rich, 
 were in easy circumstances ; and, in point of personal 
 character, were among the most respectable inhabitants 
 of the colony. 
 
 His father. Col. John Henry, was a native of Aber- 
 deen, in Scotland. He was, it is said, a. first cousin to Da- 
 vid Henry, who was the brother-in-law alld successor of 
 Edward Cave in the publication of that celebrated work, 
 the Gentleman's Magazine, and himself the author of 
 .several literary tracts : John Henry is also said to have 
 been a nephew, in the maternal line, to the great histo- 
 rian, Dr. William Robertson. He came over to Virgi- 
 nia, in quest of fortune, some time prior to the year 
 1730, and the tradition is that he enjoyed the friendship 
 of Mr. Dinwiddie, afterward the governor of the colony. 
 By this gentleman, it is reported, that he was introduced 
 to the elder Col. Syme, of Hanover, in whose family, it 
 >«i certain, that he becamo domesticated during the life 
 
238 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 of that gentleman, after whose death he "intermarried" 
 with his widow, and resided on the estate which he had 
 left. It is considered as a fair proof of the personal 
 merit of Mr. John Henry, that, in those days, when of- 
 fices were bestowed with peculiar caution, he was the 
 colonel of his regiment, the principal surveyor of the 
 county, and, for many years, the presiding magistrate of 
 the county court. His surviving acquaintances concur 
 in stating that he was a man of liberal education ; that 
 he possessed a plain, yet solid understanding ; and lived 
 long a life of the most irreproachable integrity and exem- 
 plary piety. His brother Patrick, a clergyman of the 
 Church of England, followed him to this country some 
 years afterward ; and became, by his influence, the 
 minister of St. Paul's parish, in Hanover, the functions 
 of which office he sustained throughout life with great 
 respectability. Both the brothers were zealous mem- 
 bers of the Established Church, and warmly attached to 
 the reigning family. Col. John Henry was conspicu- 
 ously so : " there are those yet alive," said a correspond 
 ent in 1805, " who have seen him at the head of his 
 regiment, celebrating the birthday of George HI. with as 
 much enthusiam as his son Patrick afterwards displayed, 
 in resisting the encroachments of that monarch." 
 
 The mother of this "forest-born Demosthenes," was 
 a native of Hanover County, and is said to have been 
 eminently endowed with amiability, intolligence, and 
 the fascinations of a graceful elocution. She had a 
 brother who was one oithe most efFecti (^e orators of 
 that day. 
 
 It is seldom, or never, that we meet with a man dis> 
 
PATRICK HENS 7. 239 
 
 tinguished ii; any intellectual pursuit who had a num- 
 skull for a mother. How much does England and the- 
 world owe to Alfred ? Liberty, property, laws, litera- 
 ture ; all that makes the Anglo-Saxon people what they 
 are, and political society so nearly what it ought to be 
 And who made Alfred all that he became to his own age, 
 all that he is destined perpetually to be ? She who 
 nursed his first thought and moulded his regal mind. 
 " The words which his mother taught him," the lessons 
 of wisdom she instilled into his aspiring soul, were the 
 germs of thought, genius, enterprise, action, every thing 
 to the future father of his country. 
 
 And to " Mary, the mother of Washington,'' whose 
 incomplete monument at Fredericksburgh lies shame- 
 fully neglected, we owe all the mighty debt due from 
 mankind to her immortal son. He has himself declared 
 that to her influence and early instruction he was indebt- 
 ed for all that was human in the direction of his fortunes. 
 
 Curran's mother was, comparatively, an obscure 
 woman, but one of strong original understanding and 
 glowing enthusiasm. In her latter years, the celebrity 
 of her son rendered her the object of increaised atten- 
 tion ; and critical observers could easily discover, in the 
 irregular bursts of her eloquence, the primitive gushings 
 of the stream which, expanding as it descended, aflength 
 attained a force and majesty that excited unbounded 
 admiration. Mr. Curran himself felt his indebtedness 
 for hereditary talent. Said he, " the only inheritance 
 that I could boast of from my poor father, was the very 
 scanty one of an unattractive face and person, like his 
 own ; and if the world has ever attributed to me some- 
 
240 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 .hing more valuable than face or person, or than earthlv 
 wealth, it was that another and a dearer parent gave her 
 child a portion from, the treasure of her mind." He attrib- 
 uted much of his subsequent success to the early influence 
 of such a mother; and, to his latest hour, would dwell 
 with grateful recollection upon the wise counsel, upon 
 the lessons of honorable ambition, and of thorough piety, 
 which she enforced upon the minds of her children. 
 The mother of the Schlegels is said to have contributed 
 greatly to form the character of her accomplished sons. 
 We know that Canning, and Brougham, and Guizot, are 
 indebted mainly to the same source of success. 
 
 The Scotch " gumption," and Virginia ardor, inherited 
 from his parents, and so finely blended in his own men- 
 tal organization, constituted a richer patrimony for 
 Patrick Henry, than all the splendors of remote pedigree 
 and ancestral fame. 
 
 The basis of Mr. Henry's character was acute com- 
 mon sense. His insight into the workings of human 
 nature was early exercised to an extraordinary degree. 
 In the common acceptation of the word, he was not 
 educated ; like Shakspeare, according to Ben Jonson, 
 he "knew little Latin and less Greek." But in the best 
 sense of the term, he was superlatively disciplined for 
 the mission he was destined to fulfil. His principal 
 book was the great volume of human nature. In this 
 he was deeply read ; and hence arose his great power 
 of persuasion. The habit of critical observation formed 
 in early youth went with him through life. Meeting, in 
 a bookstore, with his friend Ralph Wormley, who, al- 
 though a great book- worm, was infinitely more remark- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 241 
 
 able for his ignorance of men than Mr. Ilenry was foi 
 that of books—" What* Mr. Wormley," said he, " still 
 buying books ?" " Yes," said Mr. Wormley, " I have 
 just heard of a new work, which I am extreruely anx- 
 ious to peruse." " Take my word for it," said he, " Mr. 
 Wormley, we are too old to read books ; read men — they 
 are the only vplumes that we can peruse to advantage." 
 But Mr. Henry aeglected neither. From his earliest 
 youth he studied both with care, though his education 
 was desultory in the extreme. As early as most boys 
 he had learned to read, write, and perform the ordinary 
 tasks in arithmetiCi At ten years of age he was taken 
 home,' and under the instruction of his father learned 
 the elements of Latin and Greek. 
 
 Men of rare genius are generally fond of the ex- 
 tremes of existence^profound solitude or boisterous 
 glee. Such was the case with Henry. While yet a 
 youth, he would spend protracted seasons in silent 
 meditation, and then with frenzied zeal would abruptly 
 .plunge into the greatest hilarity. He was much ad- 
 dicted to field sports, but these were employed as the 
 occasions of mental discipline, rather than for purposes 
 of dissipation. He was habitually frugal, though con- 
 stitutionally sanguine and impetuous. If he freely used 
 the angle and the gun for pastime, he assiduously pon- 
 dered some great theme, or deduced an argument while 
 a superficial observer would scarcely have supposed him 
 to be at the same time employed in pursuits so widely 
 diversified. His violin, his flute, a few favorite books, 
 habitual and critical study of mankind, fi-equent ramb- 
 lings :n the wild woods, and profound meditations by 
 11 
 
242 OBATORS OF THE AMER)CA^ REVOLUTIOX. 
 
 flowing streams, occupied the early years of his youth 
 The only science he loved was mathematics, and the 
 book he most read, among uninspired authors, was a 
 translation of "the pictured Livy." With respect to 
 reading, his motto seems to have been, " much, but not 
 many." He might have adopted Hobbes's opinion, " that 
 if he had read as much as other men, he should havi? 
 been as ignorant as they were." But the books he did 
 peruse, he digested thoroughly. He was not a thing 
 made up of fragments, — he was himself, a man self-de- 
 veloped, — he thought more than he rea/l. 
 
 By this kind of severe self-tuition amid the beauties 
 and sublimities of nature, he cultivated a flexile majesty, 
 a natural grandeur of soul. It was not the artificial 
 groves of the Academy, the polished pavements of the 
 Portico, nor Grecian steeds constrained with bit and 
 curb, that listened to the harp of Orpheus, but the wild 
 trees of unfrequented haunts, the rocks of deserts un- 
 adorned, and the untamed tigers of the wood. 
 
 When fifteen years old, Mr. Henry was placed behind 
 the counter of a country store ; but the hands destined 
 to forge thunderbolts, were unskillful in measuring tape 
 and hoarding worldly gains. Pegasus chafed in the 
 contracted sphere, and struggled for escape. By en- 
 larging the domain of more exalted excursions, however, 
 he ruined the petty profits of the shop. At the early 
 age of eighteen, he was married. This apparently in- 
 discreet act was probably an advantage in fact. It fur- 
 nished him a secluded home of his own, a solace in 
 pecuniary trials, and a restraint on vicious indulgence. 
 Thus, in lonely studies, healthful toils and domestic joys. 
 
PATRICK HENET. 243 
 
 lie cullivated in deep obscurity the giant faculties of his 
 soul. 
 
 " There have been those that from the deepest cayes 
 And cells of night, and fastnesses, below 
 The stormy dashing of the ocean- waves, 
 Down, farther down than gold lies hid, have nursed 
 A quenchless hope, and watch'd their time, and burst 
 On the bright day, like wakeners from their graves !" 
 
 Fortunately for our hero, he was endowed with a fine 
 flow of elastic spirits ; with a noble fortitude he braced 
 himself boldly against every disaster of life. Mr. Jef- 
 ferson made his acquaintance in tl.o winter of 1759-60, 
 and has left us the following impressions respecting 
 him. " On my way to the college, I passed the Christ- 
 mas holydays at Col. Dandridge's in Hanover, to whom 
 Mr. Henry was a near neighbor. During the festivity 
 of the season, I met him in society every day, and we 
 became well acquainted, although I was much his ju- 
 nior, being then in my seventeenth year, and he a mar- 
 ried man. His manners had something of coarseness in 
 them ; his passion was music, dancing, and pleasantry 
 He excelled in the last, and it attached every one to 
 him. He had, a little before, broken up his store, or 
 rather it had broken him up ; but his misfortunes were 
 not to be traced either in his countenance or conduct." 
 Says another cotemporary, " He would be pleased and 
 cheerful with persons of any class or condition, viciouss 
 and abandoned persons only excepted ; he preferred 
 those of character and talents, but would be amused 
 with any who could contribute to his amusement.'' Ha- 
 bitual cheurfu'ness is doubtless a mighty auxiliary to the 
 
214 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REV0L.UTIOW. 
 
 mind, and happy is he who can rise above lowering 
 storms and say, 
 
 " I will dash these fond regrets to earth, 
 E'en as an eagle shakes the cumhering rain 
 From hia strong pinion." 
 
 After a six weeks' preparation, he obtained a license 
 to practice the law, being then twenty-four years of age, 
 and almost entirely ignorant of the simplest forms of the 
 profession he had embraced. For these facts we are 
 also indebted to Mr. Jefferson. In the spring of 1760, 
 he says, Mr. Henry "came to Williamsburg to obtain 
 a license as a lawyer, and he called on me at college. 
 He told me he had been reading law only six weeks. 
 Two of the examiners, however, Peyton and John Ran- 
 dolph, men of great facility of temper, signed his license 
 with as much reluctance as their dispositions would 
 permit them to show. Mr. Wythe absolutely refused, 
 Robert C. Nicholas refused also at first ; but on repeated 
 importunities and promises of future reading, he signed. 
 These facts I had afterwards from the gentlemen them- 
 selves ; the two Randolphs acknowledging he was very 
 ignorant of the law, but. that they perceived him to be a 
 young man of genius, and did not doubt that he would 
 soon qualify himself." 
 
 Henry was one of those who are " victory organized," 
 and will ever " find a way or make one." The same rule 
 applies to all such, that was announced to the Directory 
 by the principal in command, when young Napoleon 
 first began to display his astonishing power, — " Promote 
 this young man or he will promote himself." 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 245 
 
 For some time he was entirely unnoticed, but in his 
 famous' speech in the parson's cause, he at length began 
 to engross public attention. As counsel for Mr. Dan- 
 dridge in a contested election, he made a brilliant 
 harangue on the rights of suffrage. Such a burst of 
 eloquence from so plain and humble a man, struck the 
 popular mind with amazement, and at once made the 
 speaker an object of universal respect. The incident is 
 described as follows, from the pen of Judge Tyler. It 
 was the young advocate's first appearance in the digni- 
 fied and refined society at Williamsburg, then the seat 
 of lordly arrogance and colonial power. " The proud 
 airs of aristocracy, added to the dignified forms of that 
 truly august body, were enough to have deterred any 
 man possessing less firmness and independence of spirit 
 than Mr. Henry. He was ushered with great state and 
 ceremony into the room of the committee, whose chair 
 man was Col. Bland. Mr. Henry was dressed in very 
 coarse apparel ; no one knew any thing of him ; and 
 scarcely was he treated with decent respect by any one 
 except the chairman, who could not do so much vio- 
 lence to his feelings and principles, as to depart, on any 
 occasion, from the delicacy of the gentleman. But the 
 general contempt was soon changed into as general ad- 
 miration ; for Mr. Henry distinguished himself by a 
 copious and brilliant display on the great subject of the 
 rights of suflrage, superior to any thing that had been 
 heard before within those walls. It struck the commit- 
 tee with amazement, so that a deep and perfect silence 
 took place during the speech, and not a sound but from 
 his lips was to be heard in the room." 
 
246 OEATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLOTIOST. 
 
 Let us at this point dwell a little on his personal up- 
 peararice and modes of address. 
 
 In his youth, Mr. Henry was exceedingly indifferent 
 to both costume and style, but as he rose in experience 
 and influence, he became more refined. Through all 
 vicissitudes, however, his personal appearance was won- 
 derfully impressive. He was nearly six feet high ; spare 
 and raw-boned, with a slight stoop of his shoulders. His 
 complexion was dark and sallow ; his natural expression 
 grave, thoughtful and penetrating. He was gifted with 
 a strong and musical voice, often rendered doubly fasci- 
 nating by the mild splendors of his brilliant blue eyes. 
 When animated, he spoke with the greatest variety of 
 manner and tone. It was necessary to involve him in 
 some great emergency in order to arouse his more ster- 
 ling qualities and then to the surprise of himself as 
 well as every body else, he would in the most splendid 
 manner develop, 
 
 " A treasure all undreampt of : — as the night 
 Calls out the harmonies of streams that roll 
 Unheard by day." 
 
 Gleams of passion interpenetrating the masses of his 
 logic, rendered him a spectacle of delight to the friendly 
 spectator, or of dread to his antagonist. He was care- 
 less in dress, and sometimes intentionally and extrava- 
 gantly awkward in movement; but always, like the 
 phosphorescent stone at Bologna, he was less rude than 
 glowing. Hb could be vehement, insinuating, humor- 
 ous, and sarcastic by turns, and to every sort of style ho 
 gave the highest eflect. He was an orator by nature. 
 
PATRIfiK HEWBV. 247 
 
 and of the highest class, combiDins all those traits cii 
 figure and intellect, action and utterance- which "lave in- 
 jissolubly linked his brilliant name with the history of 
 his country's eniaiicipation. 
 
 The true orator is not the actor of his subject, but its 
 organ. With him who has something to say, under 
 the importance of which he trembles, and is anx- 
 ious to disburden his soul in the most direct and forcible 
 manner, there will be no hollow wordiness, no gaudy 
 decoration, no rhetorical sophisms, but a profound and 
 manifest feeling of truth and honesty will gleam all over 
 the speaker's person and fork the lightnings of his elo- 
 quence. The inspiration will be profound, the thought 
 will be lucid, and the action natural ; looks, gestures, 
 and tones will be such 
 
 " As skill and graceful nature might suggest 
 To a pruiicient of the tragic muse." 
 
 The etherial splendors which burned through Patrick 
 Henry's words, were not elaborated, spark by spark, in 
 the laboratory of pedantic cloisters. It was in the open 
 fields, under the wide cope of heaven, full of free, health- 
 ful and livid atmosphere, this oratorical Franklin caught 
 his lightnings from gathering storms as they passed over 
 him ; and he communicated his charged soul with elec- 
 trical swiftness and effect. He was the incarnation of 
 Revolutionary zeal. He had absorbed into his suscep- 
 tible nature the mighty inspiration which breathed 
 throughout the newly awakened and arousing world. 
 He tempered and retempered his soul in boiling preme- 
 ditations against tyranny, as the cutler tempers a sword 
 
248 ORATORS OF THE AMKRtCAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 by plunging it inio «^ater while yet red hot I'rorn the idr ■ 
 liaoe. Tlie popular oraior must be lucid it" he would be. 
 iiifluentiai. He must not be a metaphysician, an anti- 
 quarian, nor a pedant, 
 
 " Plunged to the hilt in musty tomes and rusted in." 
 
 He cannot have too much learning ; but he must show 
 the edifice and not the scaffolding ; or rather, he must 
 show nothing, but let all be seen without effort. He 
 may possess subtle schemes and recondite erudition, but 
 these must be dragged from their obscurity into a full 
 blaze of light. He may be skillful in fine theories and 
 cumbered with much learning, but they must be rendered 
 plain and prominent to common sense, or they have no 
 claims to the honors of eloquence. That which cannot 
 be invested with a blaze of imagination and made pal- 
 pable to the public gaze, is not a fit subject for the ora- 
 tor. It is not meant by this that in order to be com- 
 prehended by the general mind one must be superficial ; 
 on the contrary, nothing so soon palls on the popular 
 taste as shallowness, and nothing so soon disgusts as- flip- 
 pant uniformity. Affectation and common-place are as 
 loathsome to the masses as to the most refined indivi- 
 dua^ls ; and nothing will long interest them but deep 
 thpught in clear expression, a compound of untamable 
 vigor, and daring originality. Assembled multitudes 
 are enthralled by a style that is rich in meaning, vivid 
 in color, and varied in tone ; its combinations must be 
 bold, unexpected, clearly significant, pertinent to th* 
 topic in hand, and powerfully directed to one great end. 
 Mr. Honry> knowledge of legal science was quite 
 
lATRICK HENET. 249 
 
 hmited. but his great natural sagacity enabled him to 
 make tlie most successful use of such resources as he 
 possessed. His great forte lay in arguing questions of 
 common law, or in the defence of criminals before a 
 jury. " There, his intimate knowledge of human na- 
 ture, and the rapiditj' as well as justness of his infe- 
 rences, as to what was passing in the hearts of his 
 hearers, availed him fully. The jury might be com- 
 posed of entire strangers, yet he rarely failed to know 
 them, man by man, before the evidence was closed. 
 There was no studied fixture of features that could long 
 aide the character from his piercing and experienced 
 view. The slightest unguarded turn of countenance or 
 motion of the eye let him at once into the soul of the 
 man whom he was observing. Or, if he doubted whe- 
 'tier his conclusions were correct from the exhibitions 
 of countenance during the narration of evidence, he 
 had a mode of playing a prelude, as it were, upon the 
 jury, in his exordium, which never failed to " wake into 
 life each silent string," and shovs^ him the whole com- 
 pass as well as pitch of the instrument ; and, indeed, (if 
 we may believe all the concurrent accounts of his exhibi- 
 tions in the general court,) the most exquisite performei 
 that ever " swept the sounding lyre," had not a more 
 sovereign mastery over its powers than Mr. Henry had 
 over the springs of feeling and thought that belong to a 
 jury. There was a delicacy, a tact, a felicity in the 
 touch that was penectly original, and without a rival. 
 IJirt style of addresf, on these occasions, is said to have 
 resembled very much that of the Scriptures. It was 
 SuuDj^iy luaxkea wjm me same simplicity, the same 
 
; 250 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 energy, the same pathos. He sounded no alarm , ha 
 made no parade to put the jury on their guard. It was 
 all so natural, so humble, so unassuming, that they were 
 carried imperceptibly along, and attuned to his purpose, 
 until some master-touch dissolved tJiem into tears. His 
 language of passion was perfect. There was no word 
 " of learned length or thundering sound," to break the 
 charm. It had almost all the stillness of solitary think- 
 ing. It was a sweet reverie, a delicious trance. HLs 
 voice, too, had a wonderful effect. He had a singular 
 power of infusing it into a jury and mixing its tones 
 with their nerves in a manner which it is impossible to 
 describe justly ; but which produced a thrilling excite- 
 ment in the happiest concordance with his designs. No 
 man knew so well as he did what kind of topics to urge 
 to their understandings, nor what kind of simple imageiy 
 to present to their hearts. His eye, which he kepi 
 riveted upon them, assisted the process of fascination, 
 and at the same time informed him what theme to 
 press, or at what instant to retreat, if by rare accident he 
 touched an unpropitious string. And then he had such 
 an exuberance of appropriate thoughts, of apt illustra- 
 tions, of apposite images, and such a melodious and va- 
 ried roll of the happiest words, that the hearer was 
 never wearied by repetition, and never winced from 
 an apprehension that the intellectual treasures of the 
 speaker would be exhausted."* 
 
 Henry exercised tremendous pt wer over the peopre. 
 because he was one of them — li.<id studied then cna- 
 
 * This oTitline.. diaivn by Mr. Wirt, in a fine sketch of bis own wo? 
 derfnl abilities, as weil as those of his admired predecessor at tne b'aj 
 
PATRICK HBNET. 2S1 
 
 f BC*er — wjis familiar with their habits of thought and 
 action — had gained their confidence, and could con- 
 cihate their prejudice. He was skillful to ingratiate the 
 atlections of the popular heart, and could impel the con- 
 victions of all, before the current of his declamation and 
 /he fervor of his appeals. He smote right and left, like 
 an invincible warrior armed with broadsword, hewing 
 his way through opposing legions. Action was his forte 
 rather than meditation. He was not adroit in fortifying 
 a case with obscure precedents and subtle distinctions. 
 He was little, accustomed to hunt a principle through 
 the musty alcoves of black-jetter libraries ; but his moral 
 instincts were acute, his sense of justice as infallible as 
 in the best of men, and the logic of his passionate soul 
 commanded respect, if not conviction. Like Indian 
 rubies of the finest water, he required no polish ; his 
 soul glowed with its own fire, and emitted a brilliancy 
 that was native to the quarry. But the field of conflict, 
 and not the quiet study, was his appropriate sphere ; he 
 was most splendid when in arms and involved in furious 
 fight. Whenever his extraordinary faculties were 
 aroused, he is reported by ^>'s cotemporaries to have 
 been exceedingly fascinating, judge Lyons said " that 
 he could write a letter, or draw a declaration or plea, at 
 the bar, with as much accuracy as he could in his ofllice, 
 under all circumstances, except when Patrick rose to 
 speak ; but whenever he rose, although it might be on 
 80 trifling a subject as a summons and petition for 
 twenty shillings, he was obliged to lay down his pen, and 
 could not write another word until the speech was 
 finished." 
 
252 ORATORS or the AMEHICAN EEVOLUTICy. 
 
 On the contrary, the most di'stracting dafigeis ui a 
 tumultuous scene coiild not disturb thei sett-possessioli di 
 Mr. Henry, nof shake the steadfastness of his 'purpb^c. 
 It might have beisn triily said of him, "Half his strehf^rn 
 he puts not forth.'but'stays'his thunders in mid-volley." 
 So firm and imperial was the control of his' mind, that 
 at any instant he could arrest the torrent of his fiify, 
 and, by a sudden change in its direction, overtake and 
 scathe his foe. An exemplificatioh of this will soon be 
 quoted. In boldness oX manner, and habitual Self-com- 
 mand, that spirit of daring arid cbrifident reliance on in- 
 ternal resources which always commands attentioii and 
 respect, our herb resembled Lord Chatham. It is related 
 of the latter, that once in the House of Commons he 
 begah a speech with the words, "Sugar, Mr. Speaker," 
 — and then, obset-vitlg a smile to jpervade the audiencn, 
 he pdused, looked fiercely around, and with a loiid voice, 
 rising in its ribt^s; atai swelliilg^ into vehement anger, 
 he pronounced again the word "Sugar" three timSsl 
 and having thus quelled the House, and extinguished 
 every trace of laughter, turried found and scornfully iff 
 quired, " Who Will laugh at sugar now ?" 
 
 After Mr. Henry's death.thefe was found among' his 
 papers one sealed, and endorsed as follbws; in his own 
 hand- writing : " The within resolutions passed the House 
 of Burgesses in May, 1765. They formed the first op- 
 position to the Stamp-Act, and the scheme of taxinj; 
 America by the British Parliament. All the Colonies, 
 either through fear, or want of opportunity to form an 
 opposition, or from influence of some kind or other, had 
 remained silent. I had been, for the first t'me, electeii 
 
PATRICK HENKY. 25.3 
 
 a burgess a few days hefore, was young, inexperienced, 
 unacquainted with the forms of the House, and the 
 membeirs that composed it. Finding the men of weight 
 opposed; to the opposition, and the commencement of 
 the tax at hand, and that no person was likely to step 
 "brth, I determined to venture ; and alone, unadvised, 
 and unassisted, on the blank leaf of an old law book, 
 wrote the within. Upon offering them to the House 
 violent debates ensued. Many threats were uttered, 
 and much abuse cast on me by the party for submission. 
 After a long ,and warm contest, the resolutions passed 
 by a very small majority; perhaips of one or two only. 
 -The alarm spread throughout America with astonishing 
 quickness, and thcj ministerikl party were overwhelmed. 
 The gteat point of resistance to British taxation was 
 universally established in the Colonies. This brought 
 on the war, which finally separated the two countries, 
 and gave independence to ours. Whether this will 
 .prpve a blessing or a curse will depend »ipon the usa 
 our people make of the blessings which a gracious God 
 hath bestowed on us. If they are wise they will be 
 gr^at and happy. If they are of a contrary character, 
 they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt 
 them as a nation. Reader, whosoever thou art, remem- 
 ber this ; and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself, and 
 encourage it in others. 
 
 "P. Henry." 
 
 T^ie speeobdelivered by James Otis, in Boston, against 
 " Writs of Assistance" made John Adams the orator 
 The eloquence of Patrick Henry, in the Colonial As- 
 
254 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTICN. 
 
 sembly, at Williamsburg, May, 1765, created anothei 
 college student, Thomas Jefferson, the patriot. This 
 great statesman was young when the orator, whom he 
 styled " the magnificent child of nature," first appeared 
 in public with his famous resolutions against the Stamp 
 Act, referred to in his own record just quoted. " The 
 debate," to use Jefferson's strong language, " was most 
 bloody," but torrents of indomitable eloquence from 
 Henry prevailed, and the resolutions were carried. 
 
 Incidents which occurred during this famous debate 
 indicated new features in Mr. Henry's oratorical cha- 
 racter. A remarkable instance proved that his power of 
 self-control was as great as that of his habitual impetu- 
 osity. As a courser of high mettle and pure blood 
 suddenly reined in, stands on his haunches with every 
 nerve trembling, so he could arrest the impetuous course 
 of his eloquence, and turn in a moment to reply to any 
 pertinent or impertinent interruption. The following 
 illustration of this point is preserved to us by Mr. Jef- 
 ferson. " I well remember the cry of ' treason' by the 
 speaker, echoed from every part of the House, against 
 Mr. Henry. I well remember his pause, and the admi- 
 rable address with which he recovered himself, and baf- 
 fled the charge thus vociferated." The allusion here is 
 to that memorable exclamation of Mr. Henry : " Caesar 
 had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and George III. 
 — " Treason," cried the speaker, " treason ! treason !" 
 echoed the House — "may pr)fit by the example," 
 promptly replied the orator, " if this be treason, make 
 the most of it." 
 
 It seems to be a fundamental law, that moral courage 
 
PATKICK HENRT. 2oa 
 
 should constitute the true basis of oratorical success as 
 well as personal honor. " No slave can be eloquent," 
 says Longinus, and all literary history shows that the 
 highest attainments can be secured only by the union of, 
 the most unshackled and uncorrupted qualities of head' 
 vand heart. To think vigorously, and fearlessly to. say 
 what you think, is. the only way to be effective in the 
 use of speech. The faculty of profound and penetrating 
 thought was a distinguished feature in Henry's mental 
 character, and the boldness with which he expressed his 
 opinions at the hazard of personal convenience was 
 equally remarkable. Exalted sentiment was the inform- 
 ing soul which invested his person with an imposing 
 grandeur ; but the nobleness of his mien was enhanced 
 by the perfect independence with which he employed 
 Ijis resources in defence of whatever he deemed essential 
 to individual integrity or the public weal. His mind 
 was ardent, and prolific of illustrations ; it threw off a 
 profusion of beauties in its progress as naturally as a 
 current of molten iron glows and sparkles as it issues 
 , from the furnace. His eloquent soul was one of that 
 elevated class that revels in the luxuriance of splendid 
 imagery, in every succeeding sentence changing its hue 
 and form with Protean facility, throwing out something 
 original at each remove, and generally terminating tha 
 cliain with a link more magnificent than all the rest. 
 
 Jefferson was present during the whole of the occa- 
 sion, alluded to above. He stood in the door of com- 
 munication between the House and the lobby, where he 
 heard the whole of the violent discussion. Like the boy, 
 John Adams, he thenceforth consecrated himself to the 
 
!56 ORATOKS OF- THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 service o|" his country. Scipio Africanus, while yet in 
 lis early youth, stood one day on a hill near Carthage, 
 md looked down on a terrific battle-field where those 
 ireterans, Massanissa and Hamilcar, crushed through 
 apposing legions in the tug of war. This chance view 
 Tave direction to his life. But Adams and Jefferson, in 
 the presence of Otis and Henry, were inspired with 
 loftier impulses, and for nobler ends. 
 
 On the fourth of September, 1774, the old Continental 
 Congress of the United States met, for the first time, at 
 Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. It is not our intention 
 to dwell here on the wonderful effect produced by Mr. 
 Henry's eloquence in that body in the opening of its 
 solemn session. Neither at present do we more than 
 simply allude to his still more extraordinary speech made 
 in the convention of delegates which assembled on the 
 20th of March, 1775, in the old church at Richmond, 
 Virginia. 
 
 Those were scenes of stupendous interest which have 
 already been sketched in the opening chapter on The 
 Battle-Fields of Early American Eloquence. It will 
 be appropriate, however, in this place, to quote a por- 
 ticHi of the Richmond speech, as a distinguished specimer 
 of his style. 
 
 "He had," he said, "but one lamp by which his feet 
 were guided ; and that was the lamp of experience. 
 He knew of no way of judging of the future, but by the 
 past. And judging by the past, he wished to know 
 what there had been in the conduct of the British min- 
 istry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with 
 which gentlemen had beeo pleased to solace themselves 
 
PATRICK HENRY.: 257 
 
 and the House? Is it: that insidious smile with which 
 our petition has been lately received ? Trust it no:, 
 sir ; it i wilh prove a snare to your , feet. Suffer not 
 yourselves to be betrayed wilh a kisS. Ask yourselves 
 h(}w this gracious reception of our petition comports 
 -with those warlike preparations which cover our waters 
 and darken our land ? Are fleets and, armies necessary 
 to a work of love and reconciliation ? Have we shown 
 aurselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must 
 be called, in to win" back our love ? Let us not deceive 
 ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and 
 subjugationr— the last arguments to which kings resort. 
 I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if 
 its purpose be not to force us to submission ? Can 
 gehtlertien assign any other possible motive for it ? 
 Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the 
 Wdrld, to call: for all this accumulation of navies and 
 '4irmies ? No, sir ; she has none. They are meant for 
 us ; they can be meant for no other. They are sent 
 over to bind and rivet upon us those chains, which the 
 • British ministry have been so long . forging. And what 
 have we to oppose to them ? Shall we try argument ? 
 Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. 
 Have we any, thing new to offer upon the subject? 
 Nothing. We have held; theisubject up in every light 
 of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. 
 Shall we resort to entreaty and hunible supplication ? 
 What terms shall we .find, ,which have not been already 
 exhausted ? Let' us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive our- 
 selves longer. Sir, we have done every thing tha* 
 could be done, to avert t)ie storm which is now coming 
 
258 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOM. 
 
 on. We have petitioned — we have remonstrated — we 
 have supplicated — we have prostrated ourselves before 
 the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest 
 the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament. Our 
 petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have 
 produced additional violence and insult; our supplica- 
 tions have been disregarded ; and we have been spurned, 
 with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, 
 after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace 
 and reconciliation. There is no longSr any room for tiope. 
 If we wish to be free — if we mean to preserve inviolate 
 those inestimable privileges for which we have been so 
 long contending — if we mean not basely to abandon the 
 noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, 
 and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon, 
 until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained 
 — we must fight! — I repeat it, sir, we must fight!! 
 An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts, is all that is 
 left us!" 
 
 John Randolph said of Patrick Henry, that he was 
 Garrick and Shakspeare combined. That was the 
 most eloquent encomium ever pronounced on eloquence, 
 and no doubt as much deserved by its object as by any 
 human being. His appeals to the heart were not less 
 forcible than were the bolts of his invective or the 
 deductions of his argument. 
 
 His style of thought and expression seems to have 
 
 ' been formed much after the manner of the Hebrew 
 
 prophets, and the unsophisticated orators of our western 
 
 wilderness. His most piercing expressions in the famous 
 
 speech just quoted are borrowecf from the Bibl$*and 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 259 
 
 their suggesti\re trains of association, more grand and 
 impressive even than those which he uttered, are much 
 like the following extract from the Choctaw Chief 
 Pushmataha, who died at Washington, in 1824. "1 
 shall die, but you will return to your brethren. As you 
 go along the paths, you will see the flowers and hear 
 , (he birds ; but Pushmataha will see them and hear them 
 no more. When you come to your home, they will ask 
 you, where is Pushmataha ? and you will say to them, 
 he is no more. They will hear the tidings like the 
 sound of the fall of a mighty oak in the stillness of the 
 wood." 
 
 Having previously held several high offices, both 
 civil and military, Mr. Henry, on the 1st of July, 1776, 
 was elected the first Republican Governor of Virginia, 
 and was continued in that station, by an unanimous 
 vote, until 1778. "On resigning the government,'' 
 says his biographer, " he retired to Prince Edward 
 County, and endeavored to cast about for the means of 
 extricating himself from his debts. At the age of fifty 
 years, worn down by more than twenty years of arduous 
 servioe in the cause of his country, eighteen of which 
 had been occupied by the toils and tempests of the 
 Revolution, it was natural for him to wish for rest, and 
 to seek some secure and placid port in which he might 
 repose himself from the fatigues of the storm. This, 
 however, was denied him ; and after having devoted 
 the bloom of youth and the maturity of manhood to the 
 good of his country, he had now in his old age to 
 provide for his family He accordingly resumed the 
 
260 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 practice of the law, in which the powers of his elo 
 quence secured him constant employment." 
 
 Mr. Henry was actively occupied in patriotic and 
 professional toils through a long series of years. 
 
 In his habits of living he was severely temperate and 
 frugal. He seldom drank any thing but water, and fur- 
 nished his table in the most simple manner. His morals 
 were strict ; and as a Christian he was very decided, es- 
 pecially in his mature life. 
 
 Education among the Greeks was not effeminate. 
 Themistocles says of himself that he had learned neither 
 to tune the harp nor handle the lyre, but that he knew 
 how to make a small and inglorious city both powerful 
 and illustrious. He could not sleep for the 1rophie» of 
 Miltiades. In his boyhood he shunned puerile sports, 
 and spent his time in severe self-discipline. Having 
 been a poor and disinherited child, he achieved the 
 highest honors in Athens, and for a season controlled 
 the destinies of the civilized world. In like manner, 
 Patrick Henry won, and worthily wore, the most exalted 
 honors. He collected the first corps of volunteers in the 
 South, after the battles of Lexington and Concord, and 
 was the most efiicient patriot in his section of the land. 
 
 Probably no man ever passed through so long a series 
 of public services with a reputation less tarnished. In 
 the year 1794, he bade adieu to all professional toil, and 
 retired to the bosom of his family, attended by the grati- 
 tude, confidence, admiration, and love of his country. 
 
 " It is said that there stood in the court, before his 
 door, a large walnut tree, under whose shade it was his 
 delight to pass his summer evenings, surrounded by his 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 261 
 
 affectionate and happy family, and by. a circle of neigh- 
 bors who loved him almost to. idolatry. Here he would 
 disport himself with all the careless gayety of infa icy. 
 Here, too, he would sometime^, warm the bosoms of the 
 old, and strike fire from tlie bosoms of his younger 
 hearers, by recounting the tales of other times ; by 
 sketching, with the boldness of a master's hand, those 
 great historic incidents in which he had borne a part. 
 Thus employed, in his sixtieth year, disease met him 
 and began to waste away the mighty energies of his 
 body and mind. He sank rapidly, but in the placid con- 
 fidence inspired by Christian hopes, and on the sixth of 
 June, 1799, a great man in Israel had fallen, Patrick 
 Henry was no more. 
 
 The great orator of Virginia, whose career we have 
 so rapidly delineated, never worried his prey by darting 
 on him javelins from afar ; he advanced directly up with 
 raised sledge, and smote his victim between his two 
 horns with a blow that felled him at once. The 
 effective speaker will be more intent on striking with 
 force than with elegance; wholly absorbed in his great 
 purpose, he will not stop to polish a phrase when he 
 should compel his antagonist to fall. He will make his 
 weapon keen rather than glittering. 
 
 There are two kinds of eloquence. The highest order 
 flows directly from the soul, as from a perennial and pro- 
 lific fountain. Its current is incessant and irresistible ; 
 if opposed a moment, it accumulates its own chafing mass, 
 and vi^ill inevitably crush the obstacles by which it is im- 
 peded. The other multiplies its delicate threads around 
 its object, betraying him into the meshes of a skillful ne*. 
 
262 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLtTION'. 
 
 by the fascination of a look, in the meantime strength' 
 ening every finy bond until the victim is secured and 
 tortured to death by a thousand malignant stings. 
 
 Henry's mind was nqt disciplined into symmetry by 
 sevei e science, nor was it embellished with the decora- 
 tions of classical learning; but massy fragments of ori- 
 ginal thought frequently appear in the progress of his 
 speech, like shattered colonnades and broken statues, 
 hurled from pedestal and base, buried in common dust. 
 He was richly endowed with that permeating imagina- 
 tion which gives vitality to the body of thought, and 
 which makes the fortune of every great master in the 
 divine art of eloquence. He was imbued with that ve- 
 hemence of conviction, that oratorical action, which 
 modulates the tones, and tinges the visage with irresisti- 
 ble power, and suggests to the rapt listener more than 
 articulated language can express. His soul melted when 
 he spoke, and there were tears in his voice which no 
 heart could vcithstand. His argument grew luminous 
 as it arose, like a majestic tree on fire, and its com 
 bustion shone with a splendor inextinguishable and 
 unexcelled. 
 
 The insipid prettiness of rhetorical mechanism no 
 more reserpbles the soul of true eloquence, than the 
 unconscious quiverings of galvanized muscles resemble 
 the spontaneous throbs of a living and impassioned 
 heart. Sampson chose an uncouth weapon, but three 
 hundred Philistines felt its force. 
 
 It is necessary to bring into bold relief Ae natural 
 yrandeur of things by simplicity of expression. The 
 orator must be familiar without vulgarity, orginal with- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 263 
 
 out eccentricliy, natural and yet hignly artistic, — « 
 apparent carelessness " snatching a grace beyond tht 
 reach of art," — fluent in language, but elaborate ii. 
 thought, speaking at once to the instincts that are most 
 profound, as well as to those that are most superficial. 
 Ordinarily, Henry's style was the natural current of hi«; 
 thought, and glided along in limpid, glowing abundance 
 iis if it reflected the still beams of the sun. But whei 
 some exciting crisis occurred, his speech became impet- 
 uous and rugged with scythes and daggers, like a Saxon 
 war-chariot ; then his flashing bolts shot off in every 
 direction with the concussion of lightnings which in the 
 ^ame instant shine and kill. He drew the great masses 
 of mankind closely around nim by the exaltation of ka 
 sentiments; he held them still more enthralled by the 
 simplicity of his language. 
 
 The April shower is grateful to the soft herbage, and 
 the still snow falls gracefully to earth, but neither of 
 these produce strong impressions on the beholder 
 On the contrary, when rugged clouds, fringed with elec- 
 tric fires, and buffeted by terrific winds, pour down 
 piercing hail and torrent rain, intermingled with thun- 
 ders that shake the skies and astound the earth, then 
 do men tremble unbidden in the presence of natu/a! 
 fublimity. 
 
 Mr. Henry seldom used the pen, and has '.nerefore 
 eft but little written eloquence authenticated by him- 
 self To form our estimate of his powers, we have 
 mainly to rely on the reports of those who had wit- 
 .lessed the wonders he wrought — those who had felt the 
 magic of his action, trembled at the maiesty of his voice 
 
264 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN BEVilMmoW 
 
 and caught the flashings of his eye, — who had been fas 
 3inated by his smile, or repulsed by his terrific frown, 
 and who always found themselves incompetent to express 
 fully the power with which he impressed conviction. 
 When all his great attributes were fully aroused, his 
 anguage, like that of Pindar, burst forth. with sponta- 
 neous force and splendid majesty. Ordinarily, his rea- 
 soning was made obvious by the intense light of genius 
 with which it was invested; and if, sometimes, his judg- 
 ment seemed bewildered, it was not so much from ub 
 scurity of perception, as from profuseness of emotion ; 
 like the throne of Milton's Heaven, his mind,, when most 
 excited, would grow "dark from excecs of; light." He 
 himself intimated that his chief lamp was the inward 
 light of reason, which is the brightest ' " affluence of es- 
 sence increate." When called upon the stage of public 
 life, he trusted to the guidance of truth, patriotism, and 
 justice, those primeval principles which " shine aloft as 
 stars." The blazing brand of heaven which flashed 
 upon the earth, and arrested the careering steeds of 
 Diomed, was not more appalling to their affrighted 
 driver, than were the awful denunciations which Henry 
 hurled against tyranny and guilt. 
 
 Grattan said of the Irish orator, Malone,: that " when 
 young, his eloquence was ocean in a storm ; when old, 
 ocean in a calm ; but whether in a calm or storm, the 
 same great element, the sublimest and most magnificent 
 phenomenon of creation." Tradition and Mstory speak 
 m rapturous terms of Patrick Henry's eloquence, and 
 some of his speeches, reported by cotemporaries, sub- 
 stantiate his fame. But as well might one attempt to 
 
PATRICK llENEY. 265 
 
 paint lightning with charcoal, as to delineate a soul like 
 his in dull words. In order properly to apprec'ate hit 
 pciwer, we 
 
 "--Should have seen him in tne Campus Martius, — 
 In the tribunal, — shaking all the tribes 
 With mighty speech. His words seemed oracles, 
 That pierced their uosoiiia : ttnti uactk man would turn, 
 A nd gaze in wonder on his ireighboi's lape, 
 That with the like dumb wonder anSwer'd him : 
 Then some would weep, some shout, some, deeper touch'dt 
 Keep down the cry with motion of their hands. 
 In fear but to have lost a syllable." 
 
 We should have seen him when he knew that he spote 
 tinder the shadow of the scaffold, — when British cannot 
 were booming in the North, a:nd standiiig in the out- 
 lawed assembly of Virginia^ like a lion at bay, he caugk 
 the first cry of distress from Lexington and Bunkei 
 Hill, — with a generous devotion that made no reserve 
 and knew no fear, — with a voice solemn, tremuloui 
 with- patriotic rage, and swelling over the thrilled audi- 
 ence like a trumpet-call to arms, and with an eye flash* 
 ing unutterable fi's, he exclaimed — "Give me liberty, or 
 give me death !" 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 RICHARD HENRY LEE, 
 
 THE POLISHED STATESMAN. 
 
 Mr. Lek was a dignified citizen and scholar whose 
 profound erudition and captivating rhetoric were ren- 
 dered very efficient in moulding the early institutions of 
 our land. He was born in Westmoreland County, Vir- 
 ginia, January 20, 1732. His juvenile studies were 
 pursued in his father's house, but his more mature edu- 
 cation was acquired in Yorkshire, England. Mr. Leo 
 was noted for his assiduity as a student, and early be- 
 came distinguished for his proficiency in the classics. 
 He returned to. his native land when about twenty years 
 of age, and, as he possessed a large fortune, his time 
 was mainly devoted to the improvement of his mind. 
 Works of civil and political morality, history, law, and 
 elegant literature were constantly perused by him with 
 avidity, and their principles made effective in practical 
 life. 
 
 The first public service which Mr. Lee attempted, 
 was in the capacity of commander of the volunteer 
 companies which were raised in 1755, forthe purpose 
 of aiding the expedition under General Braddock. ' In his 
 
RICHARD HENRY LEE 
 
 267 
 
 twenty-fifth year, fie was aopointed to a civil office in 
 his county, which attested the, high personal considera- 
 tion in which he was held. Soon after, he was chosen 
 a delegate to the House of Burgesses, and thus began 
 the political career which gave his name its chief 
 renown. 
 
 Mr. Lee was a republican of an early and rigid stamp. 
 When, in 1764, the declaratory Act was passed in the 
 British Parliament, claiming the right to tax America, 
 he was the first to bring forward the subject to the no- 
 tice of the Assembly of which he was a member. A 
 special committee having, in consequence been appoint- 
 ed to draught an address to the King, a memorial to the 
 House of Lords, and a remonstrance to the House of 
 Commons, Mr. Lee, as . chairman, prepared the first 
 two papers. These, as his biographer remarks, "con- 
 tain the genuine principles of the Revolution, and abound 
 in the firm and eloquent sentiments of freemen." lu 
 1765, Patrick Henry introduced in the Virginia legisla- 
 ture his famous resolutions against the Stamp-Act, 
 which had just been passed by Parliament. Lee lent 
 Henry's motion his zealous and powerful assistance. 
 Shortly after the triumph gained on that occasion, Lee 
 planned and effected an association "for the purpose of 
 deterring all persons from accepting the office of vendoi 
 of stamp paper, and for awing into silence and inactivi- 
 ty those who might still be attached to the supremacy 
 of the mother country, and disposed to advocate the 
 right of colony taxation." This result the association 
 bound tliemsel ves to attain, " at every hazard, and pay- 
 i.Mg no regard to danger or to death." 
 
■268 ORATORS OP THK AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 The tax on tea, arid the measure adof)ted by Pailia> 
 ment hi 1767, "to make pro^sion i'or quafttringa part 
 of the regular army"^ at the expense of the colony, Lee 
 exerted himself every "way to oppose, perceiving, as he 
 did, their despotic tendency, and feeling that a struggle 
 for freedom was inevitable. Ir 1775J, a plan was adopt- 
 ed by the House of BurgesSes, for the formation of corres- 
 ponding committees to be Organized by the legislatures 
 of the several Colonies, and also that of corresponding 
 clubs or societies, among the " lovers of liberty" through- 
 out the Provinces, for the purpose of diffusing amongst 
 the people a correct knowledge of their rights, of keep- 
 ing them informed of every attempt to infringe them, 
 and of ' rousing a spirit of resist&,nce to all arbitrary 
 measures. Of both these important suggestions Mr. 
 Lee was the author. 
 
 In 1774, the first generil Congress assembled at 
 Philadelphia; Mr. Lee was a delegate from Virginia. 
 His labors during this session, and throUghioUt his whole 
 Congressional career, were Tinrerriitting and invaluable. 
 In all the leading measures he took an active part, and 
 was not less influential in the appeals which went 
 abroad from his pen than n the counsels which came 
 iving from his lips. He vas the author of many im- 
 portant State papers, and the resolute defender of the 
 Doldest resistance against foreign aggression. The 
 great motion of June 7, 1176, "that these United Colo- 
 nies 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 connection between 
 them and t\ie State of Great Britain, >s, and ought to be 
 
RICHARD HENRT LEE. 269 
 
 totally dissolved," was drawn, introduced, and ably sup- 
 ported by Mr. Lee. 
 
 The speech delivered by him in defence of this motion 
 is reported as follows : "• ' 
 
 "Ought I not to begin by observing, that if we have 
 reached that- violent extremity, beyond which nothing 
 can any longer exist between America and England, 
 but either- such war or such- peace as are made between 
 foreign nations ; this can orily be imputed to the insa- 
 tiable cupidity, the tyrannical proceedings, and the out- 
 rages, for ten years reiterated, of the British ministers. 
 What have we not done to restore peace, to re-establish 
 harmony? Who has notiheard our prayers, and who is 
 ignorant of our supplications ? They have wearied the 
 universe. England aldne was deaf to our complaints, 
 and wanited that compassion towards us which we have 
 found among all other nations. And as at first our for- 
 bearance, and then our resistance, have proved equally 
 insuffl*»8nt, since our prayers were unavailing, as well 
 as the blood latelyshed ; We must go further, and pro- 
 claim our independence. Nor let any one believe that 
 we have any other Option left. The time will certainly 
 come when the fated separation must take place, whether 
 you will or no ; for so it is decreed by the very nature 
 of things, the progressive increase of our population, the 
 fertility of our soil, the extent of our territory, the in- 
 dustry of our countrymen, and the immensity of the 
 ocean which separates the two States. And if this be 
 true, as it is most true, who does not see that the sooner 
 it takes place the better ; and that it would be not only 
 imprudent, but the height of ftAly not to seize the pre 
 
'270 ORATORS OF THE AMLRICAN KJiVOLUnoN 
 
 sent jccasion when British injustice has filled all hearcs 
 with indignation, inspired all minds with courage, united 
 all opinions in one, and put arms in every hand ? And 
 how long must we traverse three thousand miles of a 
 stormy sea, to go and solicit of arrogant and insolent 
 men, either counsels or commands to regulate our do- 
 mestic affairs ? Does it not become a great, rich and 
 powerful nation, as we are, to look at home, and not 
 abroad, for the government of its own concerns ? And 
 how can a ministry of strangers judge, with any dis- 
 cernment, of our interests, when they know not, and 
 when it little imports them to know, what is good for 
 us and what is not ? The past justice of the British 
 ministers should warn us against the future, if they 
 should ever seize us again in their cruel claws. Since 
 it has pleased our barbarous enemies to place before us 
 the alternative of slavery or of independence, where is 
 the generous-minded man and the lover of his country, 
 who can hesitate to choose? With these perfidious 
 men no promise is secure, no pledges sacred. Let us 
 suppose, which heaven avert, that we are conquered ; 
 let us suppose an accommodation. What assurance 
 have we of the British moderation in victory, or good 
 faith in treaty ? Is it their having enlisted and let loose 
 against us the ferocious Indians, and the merciless sol- 
 diers of Germany ? Is it that faith, so often pledged and 
 so often violated in the course of the present contest; this 
 British faith, which is reputed more false than Punic ? 
 We ought rather to expect, that when we shall have 
 fallen naked and unarmed into their hands, they wil 
 wreak uoon us their fury and their vengeance ; thej 
 
RICHARD HENRT LEE. 27] 
 
 will load us with heavier chains, in order to depri'v e ui 
 not only of the power, but even of the hope of again re- 
 covering our liberty. But I am willing to admit, although 
 it is a thing without example, that the British govern- 
 ment will forget past offences and perform its promises, 
 can we imagine, that after so long dissentions, after so 
 many outrages, so many combats, and so much blood- 
 shed, our reconciliation could be durable, and that every 
 day, in the midst of so much hatred and rancor, would 
 not afford some fresh subject of animosity ? The two 
 nations are already separated in interest and affections ; 
 the one is conscious of its ancient .strength, the other 
 has become acquainted with its newly-exerted force ; 
 the one desires to rule in an arbitrary manner, the other 
 will not obey even if allowed its privileges. In such a 
 state of things, what peace, what concord, can be ex- 
 pected ? The Americans may become faithful friends 
 to the English, but subjects, never. And even thor gh 
 union could be restored without rancor, it could uot 
 without danger. The wealth and power of G'rieat 
 Britain should inspire prudent men with fears for the 
 luture. Having reached such a height of grandeur that 
 she has no longer any thing to dread from foreign 
 powers, in the security of peace the spirit of her p( opie 
 will decay, manners will be corrupted, her youth will 
 grow up in the midst of /vice, and in this state of degene 
 ration, England will become the prey of a foreign enemy 
 or an ambitious citizen. If we remain united with her, 
 '■ve shall partake of her corruptions and misfortunes, the 
 more to be dreaded as they will be^ irreparable ; sepa- 
 rated from her, on the pontrary, as we are, we should 
 
272 OEATOE3 Op: tHB AMEHICAV REVCLUTION. 
 
 neither have to fear the seductions of peace nor the 
 dangers of war. By a declaration of our freedom the 
 perils would not be increased ; but we should add tc tha 
 ardor of our defenidets, and tothe splendor of victory. 
 Let us then take a firm step, and escape from this laby- 
 finth ; we have assumed' the sovereign power, and dare 
 auf confess it ; we disobey A king, and acknowledge our- 
 selves his subjects ; 'vviige war against a people; on 
 whom we incessantly protest our desire to depend 
 What is the cohseqtienee of so many inconsistencies ? 
 Hesitation paralyzesi all our measures ; the way we 
 ought to pursue is not marked out; our generals are 
 neither respected nor obeyfed'i our soldiers have neither 
 confidence nor zeal : feeble at home, and little considered 
 abroad, foreign princes can neither esteem nor succor 
 BO timid and wavering a people. But independence 
 once proclaimed, and our objfect avowed, more manly 
 abd decided- measures will be adopted'; all minds will 
 be fired by'th^S greatness of the enterprise, the civil 
 magistrates will te inspired with new zeal, the getierals 
 with fresh ardor, and the citizens with greater con* 
 stanoy, to attain so high and glorious a destiny. There 
 are some who seem to dread the effects of this reso- 
 lution. But will England, or can she, manifest against 
 us greater rigor and rage than she' has already displayed? 
 She deems resistance against oppression no less rebellion 
 tha'* independence itself. 
 
 ' The Americans' may become faithful friends to the 
 E'nglish,"buf subjects,' never. And even though union 
 coulf' be restoi'ed without rancor, it could not without dan 
 
RICBARO HENRT LEE. 273 
 
 ger. And where are those formidable troops that are to 
 subdue the Americans? What the English could not 
 do, can it be done by Germans ? Are they more brave, 
 or better disciplined ? The number of our enemies is 
 increased ; but our own is not diminished, and the bat- 
 tles we have sustained have given us the practice of 
 arms and the experience of war. 
 
 America has arrived at a degree of power, which as- 
 signs her a place among independent nations; we are 
 not less entitled to it than the English themselves. If 
 they have wealth, so also have we ; if they are brave 
 so are we ; if ,they are more numerous, our population 
 will soon equal theirs ; if they have men of renown as 
 well in peace as in war, we likewise have such ; political 
 revolutions produce great, brave, and generous spirits. 
 From what we have already achieved in these painful 
 beginnings, it is easy to presume what we shall hereaftei 
 accomplish ; for experience is the source of sage coun 
 sels, and liberty is the mother of great men 
 
 Have you cot seen the enfemy driven from Lexington 
 by thirty thousand citizens, armed and assembled in one 
 day ? Already their most eelebrated generals have 
 yielded, in Boston, to the skill of ours ; already theii 
 seamen, repulsed from our coasts, wander over the 
 ocean, where they are the sport of tempests, and the 
 prey of famine. Let us hail, the favorable omen, and 
 fight, not for the sake of knowing on what terms we are 
 to be tne slaves of England, but to secure ourselves s 
 free existence,— to found a just and mdependent govern- 
 m«Qt. Animated by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the in 
 12* 
 
' 274 ORATORS or THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTIOW. 
 
 numerable army of Persians ; sustained by the love oi 
 independence, the Swiss and the Dutch humbled the 
 power of Austria by memorable defeats, and conquered 
 a rank among nations. The sun of America also shines 
 upon the heads of the brave ; the point of our weapons 
 is no less formidable than theirs; here also the same 
 union prevails, the same contempt of dangers and of 
 death, in asserting the cause of our country. 
 
 Why then do we longer delay, why still deliberate? 
 Let this most happy day give birth to the American 
 republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, 
 but to re-establish the reign of peace and of the laws. 
 The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us ; she demands of 
 us a living example of freedom, that may contrast, by 
 the felicity of the citizens, with the ever-increasing 
 tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She in- 
 vites us to prepare an asylum, where the unhappy may 
 find solace, and the persecuted repose. She entreats us 
 to cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant 
 which first sprung up and grew in England, but is now 
 withered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, 
 may revive and flourish, sheltering under its salubrious 
 and interminable shade, all the unfortunate of the human 
 race. 
 
 This is the end presaged by so many omens ; by our 
 first victories, by the present ardor and union, by the 
 flight of Howe, and the pestilence which broke out 
 amongst Dunmore's people, "by the very winds which 
 oaffled the enemy's fleets and transports, and that terri- 
 ble tempest which engulphed seven hundred vessels 
 
EICHASD HENST LEB. 275 
 
 upon the coast of Newfoundland. If we are not this 
 day wanting in our duty to our country, the names of 
 the American legislators will be placed, by posterity, at 
 the side of those of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, 
 of Numa, of the three Williams of Nassau, and of all 
 those whose memory has been, and will be for ever, dear 
 to virtuous men and good citizens." 
 
 The address which, by the direction of Congress, Mr. 
 Lee drew up in 1775, on behalf of the twelve United 
 Colonies, to the inhabitants of Great Britain, is a mas- 
 terly production, and will continue to the end of time 
 an imperishable monument to his patriotism and elo- 
 quence. 
 
 Having enumerated the wrongs endured by the Colo- 
 nies, and defended the measures of resistance by them 
 employed, the Address closes with the following solemn 
 adjuration : 
 
 " If you have no regard to the connection that has for 
 ages subsisted between us; if you have forgot the 
 wounds we have received fighting by your side for the 
 extension of the empire; if our commerce is not an 
 object below your consideration ; if justice and human- 
 ity have lost their influence on your hearts ; still, mo- 
 tives are not wanting to excite your indignation at the 
 measures now pursued; your wealth, your honor, your 
 liberty are at stake. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the distress to which we are re- 
 duced, we sometimes foiget our own afflictions, to anti- 
 cipate and sympathize in yours. We grieve that rash 
 And inconsiderate councils shoild precipitate the d&< 
 
276 ORATORS or THE AMERICAN REVOI CTION. 
 
 struction of an empire, which has been the envy and 
 admiration of ages-; and eallGod to witness that we 
 would part with our property, endanger our lives, and 
 sacrifice every thing biit liberty, to redeem you from 
 ruin. 
 
 "A cloud hangs over your heads and ours; ere this 
 reaches you, it may probably burst upon us ; let us 
 entreat heaven to avert our ruin, and the destruction 
 that threatens our friends, brethren, and countrymen, 
 on the other side of the Atlantic !" i 
 
 As chairman of the committee appointed for tnai 
 purpose, it was also Mr. Lee?s privilege to furnish the 
 commissions and instructions which invested George 
 Washington with the command of th6 American army. 
 In 1780, he retired from his seat in Congress, and de- 
 clined returning to it until 1784. In the interval, he 
 served in the Assembly of Virginia, and, at the head of 
 the militia of his countyi protected it from the incui'-sions 
 of the enemy. In 1784, he was chosen president of Con- 
 gress by an unanimous vote; but vfithdrew at the end of 
 the year. In 1792, hissheahh compelled him to retire al 
 together from public life, and on June 19th, 1794, he 
 died. ' i 
 
 Mr. Lee was a pplished gentleftian. ■ His meintal 
 accomplishments Were rtchty'^di^^ei'sified, aiid hi» man- 
 ners were of courtly elegance. He had more talent 
 than genius. In' the pompous" regularity of insipid 
 elegance, and punctilious mediosrityp orators elaborated 
 in the schools are more' distinguished for the fewness of 
 their faults, thart the"tti6rllitude--a.&d' c«gi*iality of theii 
 beauties. No enthusiasm, no blaze of imagination, no 
 
RICHAEI) HENSYLEE. ., 277 
 
 weighty arguments irradiate their spe'ephes with flash. 
 Lng splendors. , . ,, _, 
 
 Lee's eloquence was like a beautiful river, meandering 
 through variegated and elegantjscenesj but which nevejr 
 inundates its- Jt.inks nor bursts its barriers. He was 
 not, like.Patrick;. Henry,. a, mountain torrent, springing 
 from exalted sources, and .dashing away every thing in 
 itsJrresistible. career. ,, 
 
 _. But Lee was a fine rhetorician . and a sagacious 
 debater. He had the happy faculty of throwing oil on 
 the agitated sea. When the Continental Congress met 
 in Philadelphia on the. 5th pf, September, 1774, it is 
 said that silence, awful and protracted, preceded "the 
 breaking qf the last seal,'; .and . that astpnishmenti and 
 applause filled the house.when,this was done by Patrick 
 Henry. The excitement consequent on that, wonderful 
 efibrt might have subsided. . ^nto lassitude and despon- 
 dency,,had not; Mr., I^ee, perceived ." the, quiver on every ^' 
 lip, the gleam in every eye." With the quickness of 
 intuition he^saw the.crisi.s and ; happily attempted; to 
 turn the mass of ^^gitated feeling tP great praeti€.&l 
 good. He arose, and the sweetness of his language, 
 and, harmony of his tones, ^ooJ;hed, hut did not suppress, 
 the, tide of tumultuous emotion-swelling in every breast. 
 Wjth the .most persug^ive elpquence, he demonstrated 
 that there_,was, hut. one. hope for the country, and 
 that lay in- the energy of immediate aoid united resis- 
 tarice. 
 
 Mr. Lee was undoubtedly a copious and eloquent 
 speaker. Some of his admirers called him "tht Ameri 
 can Cicero. '' but, unfortunately, none of his populai 
 
278 ORATORS O*' tHE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 speeches extant, justify this comparison. He certainly 
 occupied a high grade in oratorical excellence, but, 
 perhaps, not the highest. 
 
 • In the Gallery of Natural History at Florence, there 
 is a fine Venus in wax, an elegant imitation of life, 
 which you may deliberately take down in parts and 
 study at your leisure, but in which model there is no 
 throbbing heart. Speakers abound of the same stamp. 
 Their language is correct, but powerless ; their illustra- 
 tions are pretty, but dry. There are poHshed phrases 
 in abundance, but what is wanting is animus, soul 
 The body of their speech bears no vital complexion, its 
 circulation is water-colored, and not warm, vivifying 
 blood. Such a speaker does not animate his subject 
 with the power of self-impulsion, but laboriously drags 
 it after him, as one would a steamless locomotive. He 
 has not those powerful touches of deep feeling which 
 act like a talisman upon the sympathies of an audience 
 all aroused. He lacks the inspiration of true oratorical 
 gernius, that earnestness and sincerity which often 
 advantageously supply the place of copious erudition 
 and elaborate finish. 
 
 Many speakers remind us of the Apollo Belvidere 
 seen in a wintry morning, glittering all over with frost ; 
 it is a fine form, symmetrical as possible, and as cold. 
 When a man withdraws himself from the direct agency 
 of human affections, and lives in abstract intellect alone, 
 he may be an adroit machinist in working out astute 
 propositions, but he can never exert a wide and effi- 
 cient control over the popular mind. His is not that 
 
RICHARD HENRT LEE. 219 
 
 *' Eloquence, that charms and burns, 
 Startles, soothes, and wins, by turns." 
 
 He only is a true orator who has the power of 
 commanding intellects and hearts with simultaneous 
 .nfluence on both.; drawing them with the irresistible 
 magic of sympathy — penetrating them with deep emo 
 tion and lofty thought. Such an orator unites in 
 himself all the blandishments of art, all the force of 
 feeling, and all the dignity of wisdom. The spirit of 
 eloquence is not limited to any particular form, but 
 adapts itself to every variety of time, class, and occasion. 
 With logicians, it argues; with mathematicians, it 
 demonstrates ; with philosophers, it teaches ; with poets, 
 it chants; with the mass of the people, it talks in 
 language and sentiments graduated to the capacities 
 and tastes of each. It can conceal the sternest truth 
 under the veil of graceful allegory, or cause the repulsive 
 skeletons of bony dialectics to assume the graceful form 
 and hues of poetic life. Under all circumstances, the 
 spirit we speak of is full of energetic vitality and is 
 bodied forth in "action, utterance, and the power of 
 speech, to move men's minds." 
 
 The above remarks would indicate the importance of 
 uniting strong emotions to strong arguments. Mr. Lee 
 was skillful in stating the terms of a question, and was 
 often lucid in the exposition of facts, but his manner of 
 addyess was not of that resistless order which makes the 
 speaker and his speech to be forgotten in the subject. 
 His fluency of language was almost preternatural . it" 
 
280 ORATORS Of THE AMERICAN REVOLUTU H. 
 
 perpetual flow was like a iivei', and like Pactolus, its 
 current was often enriched with glittering gold. He 
 was not wanting in elegance, but perhaps he lacked 
 force. He was a great and useful patriot, but not of thC) 
 most exalted' rank- in the forum, who speak in toner; 
 of power, as cataracts " blow their trumpets from th?- 
 steeps." 
 
 Eloquence is not something to be put on from witk- 
 aul, but to be put out from; within. It is manliness and 
 not mannerism that makes the orator. Manner i» 
 something artificial, eloquence is natural, the external 
 manifestation of the inmost soul. When one feels deep- 
 ly he will be felt ; the popular mind will recognize and 
 revere him as quick as flesh feels fire. ' " The faculties _ 
 of the orator are judgment and imagination : and reason 
 and eloquence, the product of these faculties, must work 
 on the judgment and feelings of his audience for the at- 
 tainment of his end. The speaker who addresses the 
 judgment alone, may be argumentative, but never can 
 be eloquent ; for argument instructs without interesting, 
 and eloquence interests without convincing; but ora- 
 tory is neither ; it is the compound of both ; it conjoins 
 the feelings and opinions of men ; it speaks to the pas- 
 sions through the mind, and to the mind, through the 
 passions; and leads its audience to its just purpose by 
 the combined and powerful agency of human reason 
 and human feeling." 
 
 It has been degantly remarked that "a good style is 
 like the crystal of a watch, attracting attention, not to 
 itself, but to what is beneath it," Refined sensibility 
 
SICHARD HENKT LEE. 281 
 
 letraots nothing from the utility of rugged strength, but 
 rather augments its worth; as Apollo found a rough 
 shell on the sea-shore, and with a delicate fibre formed 
 it into a lyre. Indeed, we know that it was the practice 
 of some of the"eloquent Romans, and of all Athenian 
 speakers, to learn frcm dramatists and musicians to im- 
 part graceful ease to their delivery, and modulation to 
 their periods. 
 
 " Thus was beauty sent from Heaven, 
 The lovely ministress of truth and good 
 In this dark vcorld ; for truth and good are one, 
 And beauty dwells in them and they in her, 
 With like participation ; wherefore then, 
 sons of earth ! would ye dissolve the tie V' 
 
 The triumphs of true eloquence, the most augus' 
 manifestations of power on earth, are never seen 
 except when the orator comes forth in the simple 
 majesty of truth, overpowered with the weight of his 
 convictions, and the momentous import of his theme. 
 Under such circumstances neither speaker nor hearer 
 is much occupied with polish and prettiness; tlm 
 grand question is, what is to be said, and how shall 
 it be most forcibly expressed. There will be a back- 
 j,"-ound of skillful arrangement, coloring and decora- 
 tion , but that which is brought into boldest relief, 
 and made to absorb the profoandest attention, is the 
 matter at issue. Entering with whole heart and soul 
 into the subject of his discourse, the speaker transports 
 with his pathos, fascinates with the pictures of his im- 
 tginatipn, melts masses of listeners with gushes of teri' 
 
282 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 derness, and moves all before him on the impetuous and 
 !resistless tide of his arguments. 
 
 " Now with a giant's might 
 
 He heaves the ponderouci thnus'bt. 
 Now pc .rs the storin of eloquence 
 \vit3 SGauuog ugntmng iMogat. 
 
CHAPTER XL, 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 
 
 THE MASTER OF POLITICAL SAGACITY. 
 
 Patriots of exalted worth appeared in the Colonial 
 period of our history, and signalized their respective 
 merits in achieving enterprises of comprehensive and 
 enduring utility. Their successors of Revolutionary 
 renown were no less dignified in talent and untarnished 
 in worth. Looking at the era of the formation and 
 adoption of the Constitution of these United States, and 
 the civil administration of Washington, next to the 
 great President himself no name shines fairer than that 
 of Alexander Hamilton. He was born January 11th, 
 1757, in the island of Nevis the most beautiful of the 
 British West Indies. His father was a Scotchman, his 
 mother a French lady, descended from that noble race, 
 the Huguenots. This happy blending of contrasted 
 elements in the original source of his blood and char- 
 acter, solidity and enthusiasm, sagacity to project 
 . theories and facility in their execution, will be exem- 
 plified in all his subsequent career. The father was a 
 merchant, but his business was disastrous, and he died 
 in penurj' at St. Vincents. The mother possessed 
 
284 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVULUTION. 
 
 elegant manners and a strong intellect, which n ade a 
 vivid impression on her son, though she, too, died when 
 he was but a child. 
 
 Like most men who are destined to become truly 
 great, young Hamilton was early left to buffet adverse 
 storms and' in the midst of dimcuiiies to be the archi- 
 tect of his own fortunes. By the favor of some persons 
 related to his mother, ne otherwise unprotected child 
 was taken to San'taOruz, where he -received ihe nidi- 
 ments of early education. He soon learned to speak 
 and write the French language fluently, and was taught 
 to repeat the Decalogue in Hebrew, at the school of a 
 Jewessj when so small that he was placed standing by 
 her side on a table. But his education at this period 
 was conducted chiefly under the supervision of the 
 Rev. Dr. Knox, a distinguished Presbyterian clergyman, 
 who gave to the mind of his aspiring pupil a religioua 
 bias as lasting as his life. In 1769, he was placed as a 
 clerk in the counting-house of Mr. Nicholas Cruger, a 
 wealthy and highly respectable merchant of Santa Cruz. 
 By his skill and assiduity as a clerk, young Hamilton 
 soon won the attention and confidence of his patron, 
 and at the- same time betrayed in his favorite studies 
 and private correspondence an ambition that soared far 
 above his mercantile pursuits. Before he was thirtf en 
 years old, he wrote as follows to a young friend a* 
 school : 
 
 "I contemn the grovelling condition jf a clerk to. 
 which my fortune condemns me, and would willingly 
 risk my life, though not my character, to exalt laj 
 station : I mean, to prepare the wav for futurity." 
 
:"':■ ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 285 
 
 Herein gleams the true iire of a noble youth, love of 
 fame and the strongest attachment to untarnished 
 mtegrityv guarantees of splendid succcess, which in this 
 mstance were never disproved by facts. 
 
 While in Mr. 'Cruger's office, thd predestined states- 
 man appropriated every hour he could -command from 
 recreation and repose, to mathematics, ethics, chemistry, 
 biography, history, and knowledge of every kind. Some 
 of his youthful compositions were published, and their 
 promise was so extraordinary that .his; relatives and 
 friends resolved to send him, to New York for the 
 purpose of maturing his .education.u He arrived in this 
 country in October, 1772,^ and was placed at a grammar 
 school in New Jersey, under the. instruction of Francis 
 Barber, of Elizabethtown, who.afterward became; a 
 distinguished officer in the American service. At the 
 close of 1773, Hamilton \entered: King's (now Columbia) 
 College,, where he soon "gave extiaordiaary displays 
 of genius and energy of mind.'' i ;i. 
 
 In college Hamilton, never relaxed the severe appli- 
 cation to study which his natural tastes and glowing 
 ambition required ; nor was he unmindful of the storm 
 gathering beyond the quiet cloisters wherein he prosecu- 
 ted scientific research, and classic lore with hallowed 
 delight. ^ His penetrating mind, versatile pen, and power- 
 ful living tones were from the first employed in defending 
 colonial opposition to the acts of the British Parliament. 
 In December, 1774, and February, 1775, he wrote 
 anonymously several elaborate pfonphlets in favor 
 of the pacific measures of defence recommended by 
 Congress. 
 
286 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN KEVOLUTION. 
 
 He suggested at that early day the policy of giving 
 encouragement to domestic manufactures, as a sure 
 means of lessening the need of external commerce. He 
 anticipated ample resources at home, and among other 
 things, observed that several of the southern colonies 
 were so favorable in their soil and climate to the growth 
 of cotton, that such a staple alone, with due cultivation, 
 in a year or two would afford products sufficient to 
 clothe the whole continent. He insisted upon our 
 unalienable right to the steady, uniform, unshaken 
 security of constitutional freedom ; to the enjoyment 
 of trial by jury; and to the right of freedom from 
 taxation, except-^by our own immediate representatives, 
 and that colonial legislation was an inherent right, 
 never to be abandoned or impaired. 
 
 In this pamphlet controversy, young Hamilton en- 
 countered Doctor Cooper, principal of the college, and 
 many of the most distinguished tories of the land. 
 When the authorship of the youthful champion was 
 proclaimed, all classes were astonished to learn such 
 profound principles and wise policy froni so young an 
 oracle. By his extraordinary writings and patriotic 
 influence he early deserved and received the appella- 
 tion of the "Vindicator of Congress." 
 
 The country was at length compelled to plunge into 
 war, and the struggle for emancipation from British 
 domination had already commenced. The letter that 
 announced the battle of Lexington to the New-Yorkers, 
 concluded with these words: "The crimson fountain 
 has opened, and God only knows when it will be closed." 
 
 Young Hamilton organized a military corps, mostly 
 
ALEXANDER HAM LTON. 287 
 
 ol tellow students, who practised thftir daily drill early 
 in the morning, before the commencement of their col- 
 lege studies. They assumed the name of " Hearts of 
 Oak," and wore a green uniform, surmounted by a 
 leathern cap, on which was inscribed " Freedom or 
 Death." Early and late our young hero was busy, not 
 only in promoting measures of resistance, but in master- 
 ing the science of political economy, the laws of com- 
 merce, the balance of trade, and the circulating medium ; 
 so that when these topics became prominent matters of 
 speculation, in the light of new organizations for the 
 general good, no one was more prompt and lucid in his 
 demonstrations than Hamilton. 
 
 In March, 1776, he abandoned academic retirement, 
 and entered the army as captain of a provincial com- 
 pany of artillery. In this capacity he brought up the 
 rear of the army in the retreat from Long Island. He 
 was in the action at White Plains, on the 28th of Octo- 
 ber, 1776 ; and with his company of artillery was firm" 
 and heroical in the retreat through New Jerse}', on 
 which occasion he repelled the progress of the British 
 troops on the banks of the Raritan. He fought at the 
 head of his brave company at Trenton and Princeton, 
 and continued in the same command until the first of 
 March, 1777, when, having attracted the admiration of 
 Washington, he was appointed his aid-de-camp, with 
 the rank of colonel. From this time, he continued until 
 February, 1781, the inseparable companion of the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, and was always consulted by him, and 
 by all the leading public functionaries, on the most im- 
 portant occasions. He acted as his first aid at the bat- 
 
288 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 ties of BrandywindJ Germantown and Monmouth, and 
 at his own request, at the eiege of Yorktown, he led the 
 detachment which carried by assault one of the strong- 
 est outworks of the foe. 
 
 Many fine qualities were combined in Hamilton to 
 render him useful to all, and especially to- make him, in 
 the service of "Washington, what that great man declared 
 he was: "his principal and most confidential aid." Hi? 
 accurate and comprehensive knowledge of military 
 science placed him in the first rank of tacticians ; his 
 courteous manners rendered his general intercourse with 
 the arihy a delight to all; his familiarity with the French 
 language won the especial attachment of all the French 
 division of our army, making him the constant favorite, 
 in particular, of the Marquis Lafayette and the Baron 
 Steuben. 
 
 Never, perhaps, in the history of nations was a youth 
 of - twenty called to such precious honors and responsi- 
 bilities as those which Hamilton, at that early age, was 
 called to assume as the private secretary and confiden- 
 tial friend of Washington. On none did the arm of that 
 great man more habitually lean for support than on this 
 erudite and patriotic youth, and by no iOther earthly 
 power was he more fortified than by him. It is in vain 
 that we look through the gallery of universal history to 
 find a fit companion to this picture of early wisdom and 
 unblemished honor, standing forth as. the palladium of 
 national safety in the days of greatest peril. We do not 
 mean that he stood alone, but only that he was unex- 
 celled. Among the many willing and devoted hearts of 
 that heroic age, in the camp and in the cabinet, patriots 
 
ALEXANDER HAMtETON. 289 
 
 Vity.^m danger and suffering could not appall, .lor treason 
 or despair divert from their high enterprise, the fame of 
 no one is brighter, and the path of none more exalted and 
 pure, than that traced by Hamilton. This position we 
 will attempt to substantiate by hastily reviewing first his 
 merits as an orator, and secondly as a statesman. 
 
 Hamilton's first political speech to a popular assembly 
 was delivered at " the great meeting in the fields," as it 
 was called, and was occasioned by a call to choose dele- 
 gates to the first Congress. At that time he was a stu- 
 dent in King's College, and was every way exceedingly 
 juvenile in appearance. Being unexpectedly called 
 upon, his effort was unpremeditated, and at first he fal- 
 tered and hesitated, overawed by the impressive scene 
 before him ; but his youthful countenance, his slender 
 form and novel aspect awakened curiosity and excited 
 universal attention. An immense multitude were as- 
 tonished and electrified by " the infant orator," as they 
 sailed him. After a discussion, clear, forcible, and strik- 
 ing, of the great principles involved, he depicted in 
 glowing colors the long continued and constantly aggra- 
 vated oppressions of the mother-country. Touching 
 this point he burst forth in a strain of bold and thrilling 
 eloquence. 
 
 " The sacred rights of mankind," were his words; 
 " are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or 
 musty lecords ; they are written as with a sunbeam in 
 the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of Di 
 vinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by 
 mortal power." 
 
 He insisted on the duty of resistance, pointed out the 
 13 
 
(290 OEATOES OP THE AMERICAN REVOIiUTIOW. 
 
 means and certainty- of success, and descr bed the wavei 
 of rebellion sparkling with fire, and washing back on 
 the shores of England the wrecks of her power, her 
 wealth, and her glory. Under this spontaneous burst 
 of mature eloquence from lips so youthful, the vast mul- 
 titude first sank in awe and surprise, and then rose with 
 irrepressible astonishment : 
 
 " Down sank 
 Instant all tumult, broke abruptly off 
 Fierce voice and clash of arms : so mute and deep 
 Settled the silence, the low sound was heard 
 Of distant waterfall, and the acorn drop 
 From the green arch above." 
 
 The death-like silence ceased as he closed, and re- 
 peated huzzas resounded to the heavens. 
 
 Soon after this memorable event, young Hamilton 
 entered upon that military career which we have already 
 sketched down to the close of the Revolutionary con- 
 flict. But the belter qualities of his head and heart 
 were developed more especially in powerful speech, 
 during those five years of sorrow, and almost despair, 
 which succeeded, beginning with the close of the mar- 
 tial contest in 1782, and extending to the adoption of 
 the Constitution in 1787. This period of our history is, . 
 perhaps, least attractive to the general reader, but one 
 which in fact is most worthy of being explored 
 During these five years, Hamilton was a prominent 
 advocate for wise freedom in the four deliberative 
 bodies which most powerfully determined the future 
 destinies of the country. These were the Congress of 
 the Confederation, n 1782 and 1783, which closed th» 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ^Ol 
 
 war and ratified the definitive treaty ; the Convention 
 't Annapolis, in 1786, that laid the foundation of the 
 General Convention adopting the Constitution; the 
 Legislature of the State of New York in January, 1787, 
 m which the battle of State rights was fought against 
 the definitive treaty ; and lastly, the General Conven- 
 tion which met in Philadelphia, in May of the same 
 year, and by which the Federal Constitution was con- 
 structed and adopted. In each of these great and 
 important bodies he appeared as an influential leader, 
 always relied on as among the most safe, and universally 
 esteemed for the clearness and force with which he 
 originated and sustained great measures of national 
 policy. 
 
 In December, 1780, Hamilton married the second 
 daughter of Major General Schuyler, and in the Feb- 
 ruary following, he retired from the family of General 
 Washington, to become more completely absorbed 
 in forensic toil. He took his seat in Congress in 
 November, 1782, and continued there until the autumn 
 of 1783. The legislators of that body had many diffi- 
 cult and exhausting duties to perform. Army discon- 
 tents were to be appeased ; complicated claims to be 
 settled; and if possible, the half-pay of innumerable 
 patriots to be obtained. Hamilton renounced his own 
 demands, accruing from long martial service, that he 
 might freely plead the .cause of his brethren in arms. 
 On the 6th of December, 1782, he moved and carried 
 an important resolution on national finance ; the begin- 
 ning of his invaluable labors in behalf of an improved 
 revenue ; the sinking fund and assumption of the State 
 
292 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLnTIOIf. 
 
 debts; a currency well defined and the-establishmenl 
 of a national coinage. I i : 
 
 Immediately after Hamilton entered Congress all its 
 proceedings assumed a more vigorous tone and exalted 
 character. Grievances were redressed,, and effective 
 measures ■ of general interest were promptly passed. 
 His report in answer tO- Rhode Island^ and many other 
 documents and speeches in behalf of a more solid and 
 effective union, gave a new and more cheering aspect 
 to the whole face of public affairs. His influence in 
 guiding the terms of peace was very great, and especially 
 was he efficient in rendering the fruits of peace in the 
 highest degree profitable to all classes of Ms countrymen. 
 
 In the brief Convention at Annapolis, Hamilton fur- 
 nished the original draught lof the report > which was 
 adopted and sent to the four States therein represented, 
 namely, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New 
 York. 
 
 In the New York Legislature of 1787, among other 
 measures, we are told the following, are due to him: 
 The Bankrupt Act and amendment of its criminal 
 code; the establishment of the State university and its 
 general system of public instruction,' then a novel 
 scheme ; and above all, his influence was pre-eminent 
 in carrying into effect the provisions of the definitive 
 treaty, in opposition to the dominanit party, to many 
 existing State laws, and to strong popular feeling 
 against it. - ^ , 
 
 In the Convention of 1787, his labors were undoubt- 
 edly the most important of all : to these we shall revert 
 when we come to consider their author's statesmanship 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 293 
 
 It is believed that Hamilton's eloquence consisted in 
 a happy combination of a high sense of honor, a cleai j 
 but energetic understanding, and an acute sensibility. 
 
 In the first place, he possessed' a high sense of honor, 
 which fortified all his powers, and crowned him with 
 the majesty of a great and useful orator. We may 
 apply to this master mind what Pope said of the distin- 
 guished English statesman : 
 
 " Argyle, the State'.s whole thunder born to wield, 
 And sl^ake alike the senate and the field." 
 
 The biographer of Hamilton, speaking of his father's 
 powers as displayed in the Congress of 1782, laments, 
 in common with the whole country, that so little remains 
 to perpetuate the memory of it. 
 
 " Of the distinctive features," says he, " of that com- 
 manding and winning eloquence, the wonder and 
 delight of friend and foe, but of which no perfect 
 reports are preserved, a delineation will not now be 
 attempted. It suffices here to observe how deeply his 
 modes of thinking imparted to the proceedings of this 
 body a new tone and character. And those who re- 
 mark 'in these" pages the sentiments with which he 
 regarded • the demands of the army, how solemn his 
 tespect'for the requirements of justice, how incessant 
 and undespairing his efforts to fulfil them, can best 
 image to themselves with what living touches and 
 thrilling appeals he called up before this Senate their 
 accumulated wrongs, and with' what deep emotions and 
 almost holy zeal he urged, he enforced, he implored, 
 
294 ORATORS ->F THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 with all the ardor of his bold and generous nature, an 
 honest fulfilment of the obligations to public faith." 
 
 But a clear and energetic understanding, vivified and 
 ennobled by acute sensibility, were traits equally promi- 
 nent in the constitution of Hamilton'^ mind. His 
 heart was as generous as his will was /esolute. He 
 seems to have ever been the object of passionate admira- 
 tion to those who knew him best. A senior officer in 
 Washington's staff conferred on him the epithet of 
 " The Little Lion," a term of endearment by which he 
 was familiarly known among his bosom friends to the 
 close of his life. 
 
 "Hamilton's great characteristics," says his son, 
 " were firmness and gentleness. His spirit was as bold 
 as it was sympathizing. He hated oppression in all its 
 forms, and resisted it in every shape. Governed by the 
 highest principles, with them his lofty nature would ad- 
 mit no compromise ; for he was accustomed to view 
 infractions of them on all their remote consequences. 
 Hence his denunciations of tyranny were universal and 
 unsparing." It was this " lion-like" fearlessness of heart 
 that infused into the whole of Hamilton's public life that 
 chivalric tone which so prominently marked it. Whether 
 at the bar, in the cabinet, or on the field, he was still the 
 generous foe and the peerless knight, " sans peur et sans 
 reproche." Wherever viTong was to be redressed, or 
 rights vindicated, Hamilton stood foremost. Wherever 
 the strong arm was needed, or the gallant heart, or the 
 eloquent tongue, to smite down the oppressor, or to raise 
 up the fallen, the first name invoked by the sufierer was 
 that of Hamilton. It is one of the pleasing character- 
 
AlEXANDER HAMILTON. 295 
 
 istic incidents recorded by his son of his professional 
 career, that his very first appearance as an advocate 
 was in defence of one in name a foe, who, having been 
 through the war an adherent to the enemy, had fallen 
 under the hated proscription of the State itself. The 
 trial, too, was held under circumstances sufficient to have 
 daunted a less determined mind, irrespective of the inex- 
 perience of the pleader ; " while the strife of the fierce con- 
 test was recent," are the words of his son, " in the midst 
 of a dilapidated and yet disordered city, where all around 
 were beheld the mvages of the invader, in a hall of jus- 
 tice desecrated and marred by the excesses of its late 
 occupants, a licentious soldiery. On one side was the 
 attorney-general of the State, armed with all its authority 
 to su^ain its laws, representing the passions of an in- 
 flamed community. . . . On the other stood Ham 
 ilton, resting on the justice of this mighty cause, the 
 good faith of the nation. The result was honorable 
 9like to the court and the advocate. It was the triumph 
 of right over usurpation." But such triumphs were 
 often enjoyed in after life by this noble, dauntless, and 
 eloquent pleader. His son just glances at a celebrated 
 instance, when, in giving the touching history" of his 
 father's return to the city of New York, after its evacua- 
 tion by the enemy, he says : " Cordial were the greet- 
 ings of this grateful city as it welcomed in its once 
 ■' stranger boy" the now powerful advocate of mercy to 
 its apprehensive denizens, hastening to shield them from 
 persecution for the venal offence of mistaken policy." 
 Thus, m the powerful eloquence of their strong foe, the 
 vanquished found a panoply to protect, where they^ 
 
296 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 dreaded a destroying sword.' It is added, that on his 
 return from the seat of the- legislature, whither he had 
 hastened to defeat an unjust bill that would have brought 
 ruin on the defenceless tories, he sternly refused from 
 them a purse of some thousand dollars, made up for him 
 in his absence by his grateful but unknown clients ; re- 
 fused it with the magnanimous reply, that " the cause of 
 national honor was not to be paid for." It was this 
 happy union of largeness and loftiness of soul that made 
 Hamilton the model-advocate of his own and of every 
 age. 
 
 One who wrote on the character of this renowned 
 statesthan lawyer says : " He was a great favorite with 
 the New York merchants ; and he justly deserved to be 
 so, for he had uniformly proved himself to be an enlight- 
 ened, intrepid and pefsevfering friend to the commercial 
 prosperity of the country. He was a great master of 
 commercial law," as well as of the principles of interna- 
 tional jurispruderlce. ■ There were no deep' recesses of the 
 science which he did not explore. He would occasion- 
 ally draw from the fountains of the civil law, and illus- 
 trate and enforce the enlightened decisions of Mansfield 
 by the severe judgment of Emerigoh and the lucid com- 
 mentaries of Valin. In short, he conferred dignity and 
 high reputation upon the profession, of which he was in- 
 disputably the first of the first rank,- by his indefatigable 
 industiy; his thorough researches, his logical powers, his 
 solid judgment, his winning candor, and his matchless 
 eloquience."' ' 
 
 Colftttel Hamilton was as forcible in speech as he was 
 substantia]. His arguttients were like artillery of heiv> 
 
ALEXANDER HIMILTON. 297 
 
 calibre, planted on a commanding position, tnd worked 
 with an agility that captures or destroys tvery point. 
 His ponderous metal, put into nimble and fatal execu- 
 tion, reminds one of Schiller's description : 
 
 " Straight forth goes 
 The lightning's path, and straight the fearful path 
 Of the cannon-ball. Direct it flies, and rapid 
 Shattering that it may reach, and shattering what it reaches. 
 
 The momentum of his thought was as great as its 
 magnitude and value, all of which traits in him were 
 seldom or never excelled. The severe grandeur with 
 which he sketched the outline of his subject, and the 
 elaborate beauty with which he wrought out its perfect 
 execution, remind one of the rule which Tintoretto 
 adopted : " I follow Michael Angelo for my designs, and. 
 Titian for my . coloring." When impetuous feeling is 
 the. concomitant of lucid and legitimate argument, the 
 passion of eloquence becomes contagious in its pos- 
 sessor, and is irresistible in its power of fascination. 
 Hamilton's imagination " was strengthened by discipline 
 and fed with truth; the ardor of his heart melted his 
 towering understanding into streams of inexhaustible 
 richness and perennial flow ; so that his limpid and irre- 
 sistible thought, was poured forth like some majestic 
 river, whose current, deep, vast and waveless, rolls past 
 us silently, but will roll for ever." 
 
 Let us, in the second place, glance more particularly 
 
 at the character of Hamilton, considered as a statesman. 
 
 We have referred to the early period when he, then a 
 
 stripling youth of seventeen, went forth to battle and 
 
 13* 
 
298 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 spoke with so much success in the great meeting held 
 where now stands the Park in New York. It was at the 
 same period that he sent forth his first recorded appeals 
 through the press, calling to union and pointing to glory 
 " through," to use his own words, " the steady, uniform, 
 unshaken security of constitutional freedom;" adding, 
 with that noble enthusiasm which was his habitual in- 
 spiration and chief reward, " I would die to preserve the 
 laws upon a solid foundation ; but take away liberty, 
 and the foundation is destroyed." 
 
 It would be difficult to over-estimate the value of 
 Hamilton's services during the long period lie acted as 
 first aid and confidential secretary to the Coniinander-in- 
 chief of the American army. The principal portions of 
 the voluminous correspondence fell on him, and the most 
 elaborate communications are understood to have been 
 made essentially by his assistance. " The pen of our 
 country," says . Troup, was held by Hamilton ; and for 
 dignity of manner, pith of matter and elegance of style, 
 General Washington's letters are unrivalled in military 
 annals." The public documents drawn up by this 
 secretary and by his associates richly deserve the enco- 
 mium pronounced on them by Lord Chatham, in the 
 House of Lords ; " When you consider their decency; 
 firmness and wisdom," said he, " you cannot but respect 
 their cause, and wish to make it your own. For my- 
 self, I must declare and avow, that in all my reading, 
 and it has been my favorite pursuit, that for solidity of 
 reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom of conclusion, 
 under all the circumstances, no nation or body of men 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 299 
 
 can stano in preference to the general Congiess at Phil- 
 adelphia." 
 
 We have quoted the words of one who called Hamil- 
 ton the pen of the Revolution. Others, with perhaps 
 still better reasons, have termed him the thinker of that 
 momentous period ; and, as such, the prophetical patriot 
 who was above and beyond his age. It is certain that 
 he projected many plans which seemed to his cotempo- 
 raries impossible at first, but which were afterwards 
 demonstrated to be not only bold and majestic, but emi- 
 nently sound and practical. His most difficult labors 
 were attempted and gloriously performed during the 
 gloomy period which extended from 1782 to 1787. 
 " Whatever," says Hamilton, " might be the future re- 
 sources of this nation, whatever were the capacities of 
 the people, America now presented an unrelieved picture 
 of anarchy and disunion. Her public engagements had 
 nearly all been violated, her private resources appeared 
 either to be exhausted, or could not be called into ac- 
 tion ; and while the individual States were pursuing 
 measures of mutual hostility and detriment, the confed- 
 eration was powerless over their laws, powerless over 
 public opinion." Nor was this the worst : " The gene- 
 ral relaxation of morals, an usual and most lamentable 
 concomitant of war, was attended with a prevailing 
 disregard of, and disposition to question, the decisions 
 of the courts. In the political speculations to which the 
 Revolution bad given rise, the sovereignty of the popu- 
 lar will, which was recognized as the basis of. every 
 proceeding, was pushed to its utmost extremes in its 
 
300 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 application; and wn^rever the operation of the laws 
 bore hard in the then unsettled relations of society; to 
 recur to elenientary principles of government, and re- 
 solve every rule by its apparesnt adaptation to individual 
 convenience, was the prevailing tendency of public 
 opinion." 
 
 This great statesmian felt the weaknfess of the existing 
 confederation, and saw how the national resources were 
 either utterly confused or exhausted. But, to use the 
 language of the historian of that period, " a new world is 
 seen rising into view; a world of hope; and as the 
 great lights that shine upon its morning path appear, 
 the grkteful inquiry is : " Whose were those superior 
 minds that, amid the darkness of a chaotic confederacy, 
 combined the elements of social order, and formed them 
 into a vast majestic empire?" 
 
 Let us seek for a suitable res{)onsie to that question in 
 the consideration of aeveral facts. 
 
 When the enormous issues of paper-currency had in- 
 volved the finances of the United States to the amount of 
 two hundred million^ of doUai-s, and both the goverTi- 
 nient and army were plunged into the greatest distress, 
 Hamilton set about discovering the best means of relief. 
 This was not to hini an entirely new field of research, 
 and he explored most profoundly the complicated mat- 
 ters of finance, currency and taxation ; studies which 
 sOon invented him with the immortal honor of being 
 "the founder of thepiiblic credit of the United States." 
 In 1779 he addressed a letter' to Robert Morris, detail- 
 itig a plan which he 'had projected for the restoration of 
 a depreciated currency, credit and confidence. About 
 
ALEXAN'SKB HAMILTON. . 301 
 
 a year later he addressed a letter to Mr, Duane, a inem- 
 Der of- Congress; from New York, on the state of the 
 nation, i "This, letter appears at this day,' says one, 
 "with all the lights and fruits of our, experience, as mas- 
 terly in a prereminent degree. He went on to show the 
 defects and totalinefficiency of the articles of confederal 
 tion, and to prove that we stood Ln need of a national 
 goTfernment, with the requisite sovereign powers ; such, 
 indeed, as the confederation theoretically contained, but 
 without any fit organs to receive them. He suggested 
 the idea of a national con viention to amend and re-or- 
 ganize the. -government. This was undoubtedly the 
 ablest ai|d truest prdduction on the state of the Union, 
 its finances, its army, its miseries, its resources, and its 
 remedies, that a,ppeared during the Revolution. It con- 
 tained in embryo the eisisting federal Constitution, and 
 it was the production of a young man of the age of 
 twenty-three." In the winter of 1781-2, this indefati- 
 gable patriot continued his discussion of the same en- 
 grossing theme through a series of anonymous essays 
 published in the country papers of New York. In 
 brief, itt was his pen that traced so early and so pro- 
 foundly, with outlines the most clear and distinct, the 
 stupendous chart of empire then just opening on the 
 sta:rtled gaze of emancipated but feeble colonists. To 
 answer the (]uestion propounded above, we will ask 
 several more. Prom whose eloquent lips came so often 
 the thrilling cry of " union" and a " Sblid confederation ?" 
 •H^who wrote the " Continentalist ?" — who named the 
 'FederaUst?" — who was then stigmatized as the 
 ''Unionist ?'■ — 'what mind roused ■ the whcle country to 
 
302 OBATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 reflection in the burning words of Phocion and Publvus ? 
 —who fought. its battles through good report and evil 
 report, even from the very hour that the first blow was 
 struck in the Colonial contest? These questions have 
 been asked before, and may be answered, once for all — 
 Hamilton! 
 
 But after all that may be justly said in praise of this 
 patriot as a popular orator, heroical soldier and polished 
 writer, the most substantial service conferred on the 
 country by his diversified and transcendent talents was 
 performed by him in the ch'aracter already referred to 
 as the national financier. As Secretary of the Treasury 
 he was the creative spirit that ruled the tempest and 
 reduced chaos to form : 
 
 " Confusion heard his voice, and wild upioar 
 Stood ruled." 
 
 Being a member of President Washington's private 
 council, he was one of the advisers of neutrality in 
 April, 1793, when the proclamation was issued with re- 
 spect to the war then raging between Great Britain and 
 France. This neutral policy Hamilton aided much by 
 his essays, under the signature of " No Jacobin," by the 
 elaborate productions of " Pacificus," and still more by 
 his advice in favor of the especial mission of Chief Jus- 
 tice Jay, as minister to England, in 1794. 
 
 In reviewing the life, of Hamilton as a statesman, it 
 should be remarked that he was fully equal to the highest 
 stations he occupied, and that he honored them all. In 
 this respect he resembled Edmund Burke. Owing no- 
 thing of his elevation to birth; o])u]ence, or official rank 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 303 
 
 he required none of those adventitious supports to rise 
 and move at ease, and w^ith instinctive power, in the 
 highest regions of public effort, dignity and renown 
 the atmosphere of courts and senates was native to his 
 majesty of wing. There was no fear that his plumage 
 would give way in either the storm or the sunshine ; 
 those are the casualties of inferior powers. He had his 
 share of both the tempest and that still more perilous 
 trial which has melted down the virtue of so many as- 
 piring spirits in the favor of cabinets. But he grew 
 purer and more powerful for good ; to his latest moment 
 he continually rose more and more above the influence 
 of party, until at last the politician was elevated into the 
 philosopher ; and fixing himself in that loftier region, 
 from which he looked down on the cloudy and turbulent 
 contests of the time, he soared upward calmly in the 
 light of truth, and became mor» splendid at every wave 
 of his wing. 
 
 Brougham thinks justly that Chatham's highest enco- 
 mium rests on the fact that, " Far superior to the paltry 
 objects of a grovelling ambition, and regardless alike of 
 party and personal considerations, he constantly set be- 
 fore his eyes the highest duty of a public man, to fur- 
 ther the interest of his species. In pursuing his course 
 toward that goal, he disregarded alike the frowns of 
 power and the gales of popular applause, exposed him- 
 self undaunted to the vengeance of the court, battled 
 against its corruptions, and confronted, unappalled, the 
 rudest shock of public indignation." That Hamilton 
 actually pursued such a course as this, and was governed 
 by such principles, is well known from cotemporaneous 
 
304 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 history, and especially ffdm his own pen in the opening 
 language of the " Federalist:" " An enlightened zeal," he 
 observes, " ftfr the energy and efficiency of government, 
 will be stigmatized as the offspring of a temper fond of 
 power and hostile to the principles of liberty. The con- 
 sciousness of good intentions disdains ambiguity. I 
 shall not, however, multiply professions on this head. 
 My motives must remain in the depository of my own 
 breast ; my arguments will be open to all, and may be 
 judged by all. They shall at least be offered in a spirit 
 which will not disgrace the cause of truth." 
 
 But by ingenuous and honest minds his integrity was 
 never suspected. His moral worth was of an exalted 
 character, and his varied services in behalf of his coun- 
 try and the human race can never be rated too high. 
 To him with the strictest propriety may be applied wh^t 
 Mr. Burrowes said of Grattan : " His name silenced the 
 skeptic upon the reality of genuine patriotism. To 
 doubt the purity of his motives was a heresy which no 
 tongue dared to utter; envy was lost in admiration, and 
 even they whose crimes he scourged blended extorted 
 praises with the murmurs of resentment. He covered 
 our then unfledged Constitution with the ample wings of 
 his talents, as the eagle covers her young ; like her he 
 soared, and like her he could behold the rays, whether 
 of royal favor or of royal anger, with undazzled, unin- 
 timidated eye." ' 
 
 To speak well and to write well are intellectual ac- 
 complishments every where considered of the highest 
 order, and in Hamilton the combination of these rare 
 excellences was strikingly exemplified. Like the re- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 305 
 
 nowiied Surreyrhg was the most accomplished knighi 
 and the mo§t accomplished scholar of his day : 
 
 , , ," Matchless his pen. yictorious, was his lance, 
 .■. Bold in the lis.s, and graceful in the dance." 
 
 In the hall, the camp and the forum, Hamilton was 
 always employed in tfeaching the loftiest sentiments of 
 patriotism and in executing the most generous deeds. 
 When a whig student in college, he secured the tory 
 president's safety at the risk of his own, even while the 
 stubborn object of undeserved kindness cried out to the 
 mob, " Don't listen to him, gentlemen ! He is crazy ! 
 he is crazy!" And in all his subsequent career, we 
 " find him thus fighting the cause of reason against 
 popular passion, of the right against the expedient, and 
 that, tbb, with the uniform and very natural reward of 
 having his acts misconstrued, his motives misunderstood, 
 his language misinterpreted; and himself held up, if not 
 to public, at least to party odium, as a citizen without 
 patriotism ; an adopted but not a filial son of America ; 
 branded as a royalist, because he wrested from the law 
 its sword of vengeance against the tories; as an Eng- 
 lishman, because he would not hate the ancestral land 
 against which- he was yet willing to shed his blood ; as a 
 monarchist, because he loved not revolutionary France; 
 as an enemy to the people, because he would save 
 them from their own mad:passions;.and as a Caesar in 
 ambition, because he gave up his heart to his public du- 
 ties, and ever labored in them as men do in that which 
 they love. But popular fickleness and political rancor 
 never moved him from his chosen and conscientious 
 
306 oftAroRs OF the American revolution 
 
 path. The motto that in the main governed his whole 
 life, was, first, truth and honor, then the popular will." 
 
 In 1795, at the age of thirty-eight, Hamilton resumed 
 the practice of law in the city of New York, where he 
 continued in active professional pursuits until the close 
 of life. His personal appearance at that time is repre- 
 sented as follows : He was under the middle size, thin in 
 person, but remarkably erect and dignified in his deport- 
 ment. His hair was turned back from his forehead, 
 powdered, and collected in a club behind. His com- 
 plexion was exceedingly fair, and varying from this only 
 by the delicate rosiness of his cheeks. In form and tint 
 his face was considered uncommonly handsome. When 
 in repose, it bore a severe and thoughtful expression ; 
 but when engaged in conversation, it immediately as- 
 sumed an attractive smile. His ordinary costume was 
 a blue coat with bright buttons, the skirts being un- 
 usually long; he wore a white waistcoat, black silk small- 
 clothes, and white silk stockings. His appearance and 
 deportment accorded with the exalted distinction which, 
 by his stupendous public services, he had attained. His 
 voice was engagingly pleasant, and his whole mien com- 
 manded the respect due to a master-mind. His natural 
 frankness inspired the most affectionate attachment; 
 and his splendid talents, as is usual, elicited the firmest 
 love and the most furious hate. 
 
 By nature Hamilton was a moralist and metaphy- 
 sician. The axioms of political sagacity and the pro- 
 fusion of pointed and perspicuous reflections which 
 flowed from his pen, as well as from his lips, gave 
 an enduring value to his works. His great endowments 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 307 
 
 of disciplined thought and energetic will imparted to his 
 hastiest composition elaborate force and the grace of 
 perfection. He could do that by intuition and a single 
 blow which ordinary statesmen would require months to 
 ponder and execute. Bold in his propositions, he was 
 inexorable in his conclusions ; grant him his premises, 
 and the result was inevitable as fate. He did not 
 fatigue himself with profuse skirmishes nor bewilder his 
 mind in the labyrinth of a formal exordium ; but like an 
 arrow impelled by a vigorous bow, he shot directly to 
 the mark. One of the most enlightened critics of mo- 
 dern times has pronounced a worthy eulogium on him 
 as the most eminent framer, most eloquent defender, 
 and soundest expositor of the American Constitution. 
 " Hamilton," says Guizot, in his late work on the charac- 
 ter of. Washington, "must be classed among the men 
 who have best known the vital principles and the funda 
 mental conditions of a government; not of a govern- 
 ment such as this, (France,) but of a government worthy 
 of its mission and of its name. There is not in the 
 Constitution of the United States an element of order, 
 of force, or of duration, which he has not powerfully 
 contributed to introduce into it and caused to predomi- 
 nate." 
 
 Hamilton was the great master of the human heart. 
 Deeply versed in its feelings and motives, he " struck by 
 a word, and it quivered beneath the blow ; flashed the 
 lightning glance of burning, thrilling, animated elo- 
 quence ;" and its hopes and fears were moulded to his 
 wish. He was the vivid impersonation of political 
 sagacity. His imagination and practical judgment, like 
 
308 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN KEVOI.UTION. 
 
 two fleet coursers, ran neck-and-neck to the very goa 
 of triumph. Military eloquence of the highest gi*ade 
 had its birth with liberty in the American Revolution. 
 But the majority of our heroes were not adepts in lite- 
 rature. They could conquer tyrants more skillfuUythan 
 they could harangue them. - To this rule, however, Ham- 
 ilton was a distinguished exception. He was the most 
 sagacious and laborious of our Revolutionary orators. 
 He anticipated time and interrogated history with equal 
 ease and ardor. He explored the archives of his own 
 land, and drew from foreign courts the quintessence of 
 their ministerial wisdom. He illuminated the councils 
 wnere Washington presided, and with him guarded our 
 youthful nation with the eyes of a lynx and the talons 
 of a vulture. 
 
 But we should give especial attention to Hamilton as 
 a writer. Through the pen he wrought more exten- 
 sively on the popular mind, perhaps, than by all the 
 impressiveness of his living eloquence. He well un- 
 derstood the utility of this mighty engine for weal or 
 woe. The ancient orators and writers, slowly tra,nscrib- 
 ing their Words on parchment, breathed in their little 
 pipes a melody for narrow circles; but fame gives 
 modern thought the magnificent trumpet of the pre.ss, 
 whose perpetual voice speaks simultaneously "to de- 
 lighted millions at the remotest points. 
 
 It is of vast advantage to a nation that men of the 
 most elevated positions in civil affairs should take a part 
 in its literature, and thus, with their pen as well as by 
 their patronage, foster its development and perfection. 
 /Eschylus, the oldest of the great tragedian* of Greece 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 309 
 
 was himself a soldier, and fought with heroism in many 
 of the glorious battles of his country, one of which fur- 
 nished the theme of his most celebrated work. Hero- 
 dotus was born only a few years beforfe the great conflict 
 with Xei-xes ; and Xenophonparticipated prominently in 
 the remarkable military achievements he has commem- 
 orated. The profoundest sbholars, acutest poets-, most 
 masculine heroes, the best writers aiid most sagacious 
 statesmen are always polished into enduring elegance, 
 and fortified with the best strength amid the stern 
 realities of life. 
 
 Such was Alexander Hamilton. He was the indefa- 
 tigable soldier of the press, the pen and the army ; in 
 in each field he carried a sword which, like the one 
 borne by the angel at the gate of Paradise, flashed its 
 guardian care on every hand. In martial affairs he was 
 an adept, in literary excellence he was unexcelled, and 
 in political discernment he was universally acknowledged 
 to be superior among the great. We read his writings 
 with ever-increasing zest, fascinated by the seductive 
 charms of his style, and impelled by the opening splen- 
 dors of his far-reaching and comprehensive thoughts. 
 They accumulate with a beautiful symmetry, and ema- 
 nate legitimately from his theme. They expand and 
 grow, as an acorn rises into an oak, of which all the 
 branches shoot out of the same trunk, nourished in every 
 part by the same sap, and form a perfect unit, amid all 
 the diversified tints of the foliage and the infinite com- 
 plexity of the boughs. " That writer would deserve the 
 fame of a public benefactor," said Fisher Ames, '• who 
 could exhibit the character of Hamilton with the truth 
 
310 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 and force that all who intimately knew him conceived 
 it ; his example would then take the same ascendant as 
 his talents. The portrait alone, however exquisitely 
 finished, could not inspire genius where it is not ; but if 
 the world should again have possession of so rare a gift, 
 it might awaken it where it sleeps, as by a spark from 
 heaven's own altar ; for surely if there is any thing like 
 divinity in man it is in his admiration for virtue. 
 
 " The country deeply laments when it turns its eyes 
 back and sees what Hamilton was ; but my soul stiffens 
 with despair," continues Ames, " when I think what 
 Hamilton would have been. It is not as Apollo, enchant- 
 ing the shepherds with his lyre, that we deplore him ; it 
 is as Hercules, treacherously slain in the midst of his 
 unfinished labors, leaving the world overrun with 
 monsters." 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell on the unrighteous and 
 fatal event which robbed Hamilton of life — the duel 
 with .\aron Burr at Hoboken, when 
 
 "A Falcon, tow'ring in his prjde of place, 
 Wae by a mousing oxl hawk'd at and kill'd !" 
 
CHAPTER XIL 
 
 FISHEE AMES, 
 
 ORATOR OF GENIUS AND ELABORATE BEA JTY. 
 
 In the progress of our national growth, there have 
 been emergencies which demanded and received the 
 patriotic support of extraordinary men. Of this charac- 
 ter was the Colonial period, signalized by the eloquence 
 and self-sacrifice of Otis, Quincy, Henry, Lee, and 
 Samuel Adams. The era of the Declaration and War 
 of Independence was one which demanded wisdom in 
 council as well as valor in fight. It was then that such 
 heroes as Washington, Warren, Hancock, and John 
 Adams, appeared, and conducted the ship of State through 
 terrific storms. 
 
 But of not less importance and difficulty was that 
 portion of our history which dates from the peace of 
 1783, and immediately succeeds it. The independence 
 of the United States was happily confirmed, but the dif 
 Acuities whtch attended this conquest were far froir 
 oeing at an end. The new government went into ope 
 ration under the pressure of an enormous debt, and with- 
 out either a revenue, or the power of ra'ising one. A 
 long war had destroyed commerce, and fearfully con. 
 
3i2 OKATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 tracted the ordinary sources of nationa] sustenance 
 The late army was unpaid, conflicts with the Indians 
 still raged, civil dissensions distracted the borders of the 
 country, and foreign politics exerted a threatening influ- 
 ence all over the land. It was a crisis which demanded 
 talents unlike, and, lu their way, superior to any that 
 had ever before appeared. It was a period for ever mem- 
 orable as having given employment and fame to those 
 kindred spirits of mastefly endowments, Alexander 
 Hamilton and Fjsher Ames. 
 
 In sketching the personal history of Mr. Ames, we 
 shall rely mainly for facts on President Kirkland, as he 
 has stated them in a biographical notice prefixed to the 
 great orator's collected works. 
 
 Fisher Ames was born on the 9th of April, 1758, at 
 Dedham, about nine miles from Boston. His ancestors 
 were distinguished in England, and his family was one of 
 the most respectable in his native State. Fisher was the 
 youngest of five children. His father died when he was 
 but seven years old, leaving widow and orphans in pen- 
 ury to be buffeted by the storms of the world. But the 
 mother, as if " anticipating the future lustre of the jewel 
 committed to her care," early resolved to struggle with 
 her narrow circumstances in order to give this son a 
 Uterary education ; and she lived to see his eminence 
 and prosperity, to receive the expressions of his filial 
 piety, and to weep over his grave. 
 
 Precocious talents are not usually the most auspicious 
 of enduring power, but in young Ames they were neither 
 feeble nor transient. He began the study of Latm 
 when but six years old. In 1770, soon after the com- 
 
FISHER AMES. ' 313 
 
 pletjon of his twelfth year, he was admitted to Harvarc" 
 College. With a mind too immature, perhaps, to receive 
 the full benefit to be derived^ frorti the collegiate course, 
 his uncommon industry enabled him to outstrip many 
 of his seniors, and he soon 'obtained a high standing. 
 Even at this early period he was remarkable for the ta- 
 jent which afterwards constituted his principal claim to 
 [•epujation. In a society fotmed among the students for 
 mutual improvement in oratory, Ames was a favorite; 
 and his declamation, says Kirklandj " was remarkable for 
 its energy and propriety. His compositions at this time 
 bore the characteristic stamp which always marked his 
 speaking and writing. They were sententious and full 
 of ornament. ■ In 1774, he received his degree as 
 Bachelor of Arts ; but owing to the disturbed and ex- 
 cited condition of the country, his own youth, and the 
 narrow circumstances of his mother, he did not enter at 
 once upon the study of a profession. Meanwhile he 
 was not idle ; in teaching in one of the district schools 
 of his native State, he at the same time obtained the 
 means of maintaining himself, while leisure was left him 
 for the prosecution of his favorite studies. All this time, 
 he used afterwards to repeat, he read, with an avidity 
 bordering on enthusiasm, almost every thing within his 
 reach. He revised the Latin classics, which he had 
 studied at College. , He read works illustrating Greek 
 and Roman antiquities and the mythology of the an- 
 cients ; natural and civil history, and some of the best 
 novels. Poetry was both his foqd and luxury. He read 
 the principal English poets, and became familiar with 
 Milton and Shakspeare, dwelt on their beauties, and 
 14 . 
 
314 ORATOES OF THE AMERICAN KEVOLCTION 
 
 fixed passages of peculiar excellence in his menioiy. 
 He had a high relish for the worAS of Virgil, and at this 
 time could repeat considerable portions of the Eclogues 
 and Georgics, and most of the touching and splendid 
 passages of the iEneid. This multifarious, though, for 
 want of a guide, indiscriminate, and, probably, in some 
 mstances,' ill-directed reading, must have contributed to 
 extend and enrich the mind of the young student. It 
 helped to supply that fund of materials for speaking and 
 writing which he possessed in singular abundance ; and 
 hence partly he derived his remarkable fertility of allu- 
 sion, his ability to evolve a train of imagery adapted to 
 every subject of which he treated." 
 
 Mr. Ames, having studied law in the office of William 
 Tudor, Esq., of Boston, commenced the practice of that 
 profession at Dedham, his native place, in 1781. He 
 entered warmly into the struggle for Independence, 
 although quite young, and his talents were soon both 
 recognized and employed by his fellow citizens. 
 
 To devise some means for the relief of the general 
 distress, occasioned by the great depreciation of the pa- 
 per currency of that day, a convention of delegates 
 from every part of the State assembled at Concord. Mr. 
 Ames was chosen to represent his town at that meeting. 
 In a lucid and eloquent speech he demonstrated the fu- 
 tility of the measures at first proposed, and, at that early 
 period, rendered himself a debater of much note. 
 
 The fame which followed his early efforts conduced 
 to place him in the Massachusetts Convention for rati- 
 fying the Constitution, in 1788. From this sphere, in 
 which lie made a deep impression by some of his speeches. 
 
FISHER AMES. 315 
 
 particularly that on biennial elections, ne passed to the 
 House of Representatives in the State Legislature. 
 Here, he soon became so eminent as an orator and man 
 of business, that the voters of the Suffolk District elected 
 him their first representative in the Congi-ess of the 
 United States. He had not been long in that assembly 
 before his friends and admirers were satisfied that they 
 had not overrated his abilities and claims on their sup- 
 port. He won there the palm of eloquence, besides 
 proving himself equal to the discussion of the profoundest 
 subjects of politics and finance, and the execution of the 
 most arduous committee labors. He remained in Con- 
 gress during the whole of Washington's administration, 
 which he constantly and zealously defended. 
 
 Having thus rapidlj^ traced Mr. Ames from his birth 
 to the exalted position he in the maturity of his life at- 
 tained, let us more minutely analyze and examine the 
 elements of his character as an orator, a patriot, and a 
 man. 
 
 Fisher Ames, among the great men of his day, was the 
 orator of genius and elaborate beauty. Genius is the power 
 of hard thinking. The two simple words which Newton 
 employed to explain his own greatness, are " patient 
 thought." The faculty of which we now speak, and which 
 our countryman largely possessed, is an aggregate in 
 which imagination, intelligence, and sentiment, are equal 
 ly elevated and exactly combined. It is a soul whose 
 glance penetrates exalted ideas, and whose skill can em- 
 body them in marble, in brass, in speech, and in writing ; 
 communicating to each offspring of the intellect a power 
 from the heart, which, in turn, hurls it all living into the 
 
316 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 hearts of others. Genius is the most beautiful endow- 
 ment, and the most indomitable force possessed by man- 
 kind ; one can despoil man of rank, or of fortune, but 
 genius is invulnerable. It is the greatest among finite 
 powers; an intuition vast and subtle tO perceive the 
 relations that unite all gradations of being; a limpid lake 
 wherein God and the universe are reflected with as 
 much brilliancy of tint as splendor of light. When em- 
 ployed by those who are richly endowed, it is the faculty 
 of rendering ideas visible to those who are not blessed 
 with native vision to discover for themselves ; it makes 
 thought palpable in bold' imagery,' and imbues it with a 
 power to touch, enlighten and subjugate, analagous to 
 what one experiences when love comes to seize our at- 
 tention and command our will. 
 
 In the ideals which genius creates, we meet with no 
 dry mechanism, but an organic nature throbbing with 
 the highest pulsations of life. Its offspring emanate 
 from the inmost depth of the soul, and unfold with won- 
 drous charms peculiar to each, like works fresh from the 
 hand of God. Every mind endowed vvith high creative 
 power, is a mystery standing by itself, a flower from 
 Paradise, redolent of fragrance and perpetually blossom- 
 ing with original charms, but for ever unmingled with 
 others and unexplained. Who can ever mistake the 
 spirit of beauty that hovers over Raphael's pictures, and 
 who can ever analyze its power? Who has not been 
 moved by the intellectual breath, the inner charni of 
 Boul, that reigns in Shakesperean creations, and yet whc 
 can define the influence which compels us to shudder or 
 shout when we contemplate their features and feel the'f 
 
JfSHER AMB3. 317 
 
 touch ? We believe that genius is taste in its greatest 
 ■oerfection, formed by long practice on the best models 
 and so disciplined as to create excellence with sponta 
 neous ease. Sophocles, speaking of his great predeces- 
 sor in the tragic art, said very happily : " jEschylus does 
 what is right without knowing it." These few words 
 explain all that it is possible to understand respecting 
 powerful genius seemingly unconscious of its powers. 
 
 All ingenuous readers of the works of Mr. Ames, will 
 concur with those who heard him in public and in pri- 
 vate, in accrediting to him a mind of high order, in 
 marij^ respects of the highest, and that' he has a just 
 claim to the honors of genius ; that quality, to use his 
 own words, "without which judgment is cold and 
 knowledge inert;' that energy, which collects, combines, 
 amplifies, and animates." In presenting his idea of this 
 power, he would not liken it to a conflagration on the 
 mountains, consuming its fuel in its flame ; but would 
 represent it as a spark of elemental fire that is un- 
 quenchable, the cotemporary of this creation, and des- 
 tined with the human soul to survive it. " Genius feels 
 the power it exerts, and its emotions are contagious be- 
 cause they are fervid and sincere. As well might the 
 stars of heaven be said to expend their "substance by 
 their lustre, as that genius becomes exhausted by the 
 offshoots of its splendor." 
 
 But, while he could more safely trust to his native re- 
 sources than most men, Mr. Ames never neglected to 
 subordinate the labors of other men to his use. " With 
 the dews of life in his brimming urn," he early formed 
 a passionate attachment to books ; and thia strong love 
 
318 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Le cherished through his whole life. He was particular- 
 \j lond of moral philosophy, but explored history with 
 uiost enthusiastic zeal. He read Herodotus, Thucydi- 
 des, Livy, Tacitus, Plutarch, and the modern historians 
 of Greece and Rome. English history he studied almost 
 constantly, and mastered beyond most men. Hence he 
 possessed a great amount oT historical information which 
 was always at command both in writing and oral de- 
 bate. His biographer says that " he was accustomed to 
 read the Scriptures, not only as containing a system of 
 truth and duty, but as displaying in their poetical parts, 
 all that is sublime, animated, and affecting in composi- 
 tion." He was a devout admirer of the ancient classics, 
 and especially of the poets. Homer he often perused, 
 and read Virgil with constantly increased delight. 
 Ames had all of Plato's admiration for the beauty of 
 verse, but would have been less stern in legislating 
 against the children of the muses. The latter banished 
 poets from his ideal republic, but he directed that they 
 should be crowned with flowers and conducted to the 
 gates of the city, with the music of harps, in honor of 
 that ray of divinity which they possessed, though he 
 wished not to accept of their domination. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds thought that excellence of the 
 highest order may be acquired. But this theory of indus- 
 try, so essential to genius, yet so useless without it, never 
 produced a Correggio or Demosthenes. Still, nothing 
 can be more incorrect than to suppose, that genius needs 
 no study. Goethe rose early every morning, and studied 
 closely the whole day. Leibnitz confined himself to his 
 tasks for weeks together. Though it must be admitted 
 
FISHER AMES. 319 
 
 ihat Shakspeare had not a complete education, his 
 works show a vast amount of knowledge which must 
 have cost him much research. He lived in an age 
 highly favorable to poetry, and which cultivated the 
 great poet much more than a practical age like ours. It 
 was an era full of romantic thought and the quick in- 
 stincts of this master of the heart readily absorbed its 
 richest treasures. 
 
 The influence of genius pervades a wide area and 
 effects all susceptible intellects according to the prevail- 
 ing tendencies and peculiar endowments of each. In 
 Elizabeth's day, the light of inspiration came from Italy, 
 and it deeply toned the very atmosphere in which the 
 literati breathed. More recently, the influence of Ger- 
 many has gained ascendancy and has been reproduced 
 in every department of literature. Genius was reflective 
 with Coleridge, chivalrous with Scott, impassioned with 
 Byron, and fiery to extreme in Campbell's thrilling melo- 
 dies. But in every form, genius is the same — the 
 ethereal soul of beauty and sublimity, which refines the 
 gross and modulates the inharmonious, even as an 
 vEolian harp arrests the vagrant winds and transforms 
 them into enchanting strains. The atmosphere in 
 which Ames was born and educated was fervid patriot- 
 ism ; this he imbibed into his fine-toned nature and re- 
 produced in the loftiest and most elaborate eloquence 
 
 " Thy words had such a melting flow, 
 And spoke of truth so sweetly well, 
 Thay dropp'd like heaven's serenest snow, 
 And all was hrightness where they fell." 
 
 Being thus endowed, we can understand how it was 
 
329 OEATORS OP THE AMESICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 that Mr. Ames produced so many original combinations 
 resemblances and contrasts which none saw before,, bu 
 on being presented, were ImmediE^tely pronounced jus* 
 and striking, Says President Kirkland : 
 
 " As a speaker and as a writer he had the power to 
 enlighten and pprsuade, to move, to please,. to charm, to 
 astonish. He united those decorations that belong to 
 fine talents to that penetration and judgmept that desig- 
 nate an acute and solid mind. Many, of his opinions 
 have the authority, of predictions fulfilled and fulfilling. 
 He ha4, the ability of :ijivestigation,t and, where it was 
 necessary, did investigate with patient .attention, going 
 through a sprier of obseryation and deduction, and 
 tracing thg links whiijh connect one truth with another. 
 When, the result of his researphes was exhibited in dis- 
 coursBj the.steps.of a logical process were in some mear 
 sure concealed, by :the, coloring of rhetoric. Minute 
 calculations ^nd dry details were employ merits, however, 
 the least adapted. to his peculiar construction of mind. 
 It was easy and delightful for, him to illustrate by a pic- 
 ture, but painful and laborious, to prove by a diagram. 
 It was the prerogative of his mind to discern by a 
 glance, so rapid as to seern intuition, those truths which 
 common capacities struggle hard to apprehend ; and it 
 Was the part of his eloquence to display, expand, and 
 enforce, th^m, - ' ; , 
 
 " His imaginatipn was a distinguishing ieature ot his 
 mind. Prolific, grand, sportive, ordinal, it, gave him 
 the, command of nature and art, and enabled him to vary 
 the disposition and Ae dress of his ideas vvithout end. 
 Now it assembled pnost pleasing images, adorned witb 
 
FISHBE AMES. 321 
 
 all that is soft and beautiful ; and now rose in the storm, 
 wielding the elements and flashifig with the most awfii' 
 splendors." 
 
 Mr., Ames had a distinguished share in all the great 
 measures which were discussed in 'Congress during the 
 eight years of his membership. His speeches on Mr. 
 Madison's resolutions, and on the appropriation for the 
 British treaty, claim particular notice. The latter consti- 
 tuted the most renowned act. of his life. His health was 
 feeble, but the magnitude of the dangers which he be- 
 lieved threatened the country inspired him with ex- 
 traordinary animation. The speech he theij made 
 abounded in the most elevated notions of national 
 honor, and in the most impassioned appeals to the pa- 
 triotism and reason of his hearers. During its delivery, 
 a crowded house listened with themost profound atten- 
 tion ; and when in conclusion he alluded, in a touching 
 manner, "to, his own slender and almost broken hold 
 upon life," the audience was moved to tears. As he 
 took his seat, the question was loudly called for; but 
 the opposition dreaded, the. effects of a speech so hostile 
 to their views, and one of its members moved that the 
 decision of the question be postpoaed to the ensuing day, 
 lest they should act ujader the inHuence of feelings which 
 their calm judgment" might condemn. The eloquence 
 of Ames on this great occasion, and the motion in re- 
 spect to it, were thg same as in the famous instance of 
 the great English orator at the close of his impeach- 
 ment of Warren Hastiiigs., 
 
 This speech on the British Treaty affords the best 
 specimens of his style. He speaks of the power of pre- 
 14* 
 
322 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 judiced nations as follows: "They are higher than a 
 Chinese wall in truth's way, and built of materials that 
 are indestructible. While this remains, it is in vain to 
 argue ; it is in vain to say to this mountain, be thou 
 cast into the sea. For, I ask of the men of knowledge 
 of the world, whether they would not hold him for a 
 blockhead, that should hope to prevail in an argument, 
 whose scope and object is to mortify the self-love of the 
 expected proselyte ? I ask further, when such attempts 
 have been made, have they not failed of success ? The 
 indignant heart repels a conviction that is believed to 
 debase it." 
 
 Instances of this sententiousness so peculiar to this 
 orator frequently occur. As specimens, take the follow- 
 ing : " Evil to a fatal extreme, if that be its tendency, 
 requires no proof, it brings it. Extremes speak for 
 themselves and make their own law." 
 
 " It is the prerogative of folly alone to maintain both 
 sides of a proposition. Shame should blister their 
 tongue, and infamy tingle in their ears." 
 
 Sometimes with a few strokes of his pencil, he sug- 
 gests a fearful scene. For example : " Before we re- 
 solve to leap into this abyss, so dark and so profound, it 
 becomes us to pause and reflect upon such of the dan- 
 gers as are obvious and' inevitable. If the assembly 
 should be wrought into a tempest to defy these conse- 
 quences, it is in vain, it is deceptive, to pretend that we 
 can escape them." 
 
 Mr. Ames always entertained the most jealous fears 
 with respect to the dangers of anarchy. Speaking on 
 that topic, he presents a specimen of the highly figurai' 
 
FISHER AMES. 323 
 
 rive style in which it was so natural and common for 
 him to indulge. " A mobocracy is always usurped by 
 the worst men in the most corrupt times ; in a period of 
 violence by the most violent. It is a Briareus with a 
 thousand hands, each bearing a da^er; a Cerberus 
 gaping with her thousand throats all parched and thirst- 
 ing for fresh blood. It is a genuine tyranny, but of all 
 the least durable, yet the most destructive while it lasts. 
 The power of a despot, like the ardor of a summer's sun, 
 dries up the grass, but the roots remain fresh in the soil ; 
 a mob-government, like a West India hurricane, in- 
 stantly strews the fruitful earth with promiscuous ruins, 
 and turns the sky yellow with pestilence. Men inhale 
 a vapor like a Sirocco, and die in the open air for 
 want of respiration. It is a winged curse that envelopes 
 the obscure as well as the distinguished, and is wafted 
 into the lurking places of the fugitives. It is not doing 
 justice to licentiousness, to compare it to a wind which 
 ravages the surface of the earth ; it is an earthquake 
 that loosens its foundations, burying in an hour the ac- 
 cumulated wealth and wisdom of ages. Those, who, 
 after the calamity, would re-construct the edifice of the 
 public liberty, will be scarcely able to find the model of 
 the artificers, or even the ruins. Mountains have split 
 and filled the fertile valleys, covering thetn with rocks 
 and gravel ; rivers have changed their beds ; populous 
 towns have sunk, leaving only frightful chasms, out of 
 which are creeping the remnant of living v(n:etches, the 
 monuments and the victims of despair." "" 
 
 This profusion of imagery may ofiend the taste of 
 phlegmatic persons. It is not uncommon for frigid 
 
324 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 critics to be dissatisfied, while enthusiastic throngs are 
 charmed. In the productions of Mr. Ames, it is certain 
 that there was great energy and quickness of conception, 
 an inexhaustible fertility which sometimes superabounds 
 in ornament. A wise reviewer has said : 
 
 " Image crowded upon image in Ms mind, he is not 
 chargeable with afFectation in the use of figurative lan- 
 guage; his t,."opfc,s- are evidently prompted by imagina- 
 tion, and not forcediiito his service. Their novelty 
 jnd variety create constant surprise and delight. But 
 they are, perhaps, too lavishly employed. The fancy 
 of his hearers is sometiines overplied with stimulus, and 
 the importance of the thought liable to be concealed in 
 the multitude and beauty of the metaphors. His con- 
 densation of expreskion may be thought to produce 
 occasional abruptness. He aimed rather at the terse- 
 ness, strength, and vivacity of the short sentence, than 
 the dignity of the full and flowing period. His style is 
 conspicuous for sententious brevity, for antithesis and 
 point. Single ideas appear with so much lustre and 
 prominence, that'the contiection of the several parts of 
 his discourse is not always obvious to the common 
 mind, and the aggregate impression of the composition 
 is not always completely obtained. Iri those respects 
 where his peculiar excellencies came near to defects, 
 he is rather to be admired than imitated." 
 
 But fire and fancy are hot incompatible with truth 
 and wisdom. Lord Chatham's reply to Mr. Pelham, when 
 taunted on this ground, was very just. "What the 
 gentleman on the other side means by long harangues, 
 or flowei's of rhetOrLii, I shalT'not pretend to determine 
 
FISHER AME8 325 
 
 Du( if they make use of nothing of the k md, it is no very 
 good argument of their sincerity, because a man who 
 speaks from his heart and is sincerely affected with the 
 subject upon which he speaks, as every honest man 
 must be when he speaks in the cause of his country, 
 such a man, I say, falls naturally into expressions which 
 may be called flowers of rhetoric, and, therefore, deserves 
 as little to be charged w^ith affectation as the most stupid 
 serjeant-at-law that ever spoke for a half-guinea fee." 
 It is evident that Mr. Ames was better adapted to 
 the, senate than the bar. " It was easy and delightful to 
 him to illustrate by a picture, but painful and laborious 
 to prove by a diagram." Genius sees by intuition, 
 illustrates by pictures, and speaks in music. The 
 phraseology in which its sentiments are clothed, is not 
 a kind of patch-work laboriously tagged together, but is 
 part and parcel of the thought, and is born mature and 
 splendid, like Minerva glittering from the brow of Jove. 
 But of the great effects produced by Mr. Ames through 
 his living tones and impressive action, we can form no 
 adequate conception from the comparatively lifeless 
 matter of his printed works. 
 
 " There's a charm in deliy'ry, a magical art, 
 That thrills, like a kiss, from the lip to the heart; 
 'Tis the glance — the expression — the well-chosen word- 
 By whose magic the depths of the spirit are stirr'd — 
 The smile — the mute gesture — the soul-stirring pause — 
 The eye's sweet expression, that melts while it awes — 
 The lip's soft persuasion — its musical tone : . 
 
 Oh ! such were the chiirms of that eloquent b le !" 
 
 We have glanced at Fisher Ames as an orator, let us 
 
326 DKATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 in passing, contemplate him a moment in the character 
 of a patriot. He very early became distinguished, not 
 less by the power of his pen than by the splendor of his 
 living eloquence. Abhorring the excesses of the French 
 Revolution, he feared the hold which France had upon 
 the sympathies of America. He foresaw the downfall 
 of the federalist party, to which he was zealously 
 attached, and he dreaded lest the country should perish 
 with it. But time has shown that his fears, and the 
 fears of many other good men, on this score were 
 unfounded. Repeated experience confirms the belief 
 that changes of party tend to preserve the Union rather 
 than destroy it. 
 
 If Mr. Ames was excessively fearful as to the purity 
 and permanency of the young republic, it ought not on 
 this account to be inferred that" he was insincere or 
 wanting in patriotism. Such 9,n imputation is disprovea 
 by his own strong and explicit declaration. "I detest 
 the man and disdain the spirit, which can bend to a 
 mean subserviency to any foreign nation. It is enough 
 to be Americans ; that character comprehends our 
 duties, and ought to engage our attachments." He did 
 not love his own country less, but he hated foreign 
 politics more. He beheld, he said, in the French Revo- 
 lution, a " a despotism of the mob or the military from the 
 first, and hypocrisy of morals to the last." Impelled by 
 a zeal that was doubtless honest, though sometimes 
 gloomy to excess, he kept his pen busy in the defence 
 of his political views, even when sickness had withdrawn 
 him from forensic strife. In the character of " Lucius 
 Junius Brutus," he wrote a series of powerful essays to 
 
FISHER AMES.. 327 
 
 animate the government of his country to decision and 
 energy ; and after the Revolutionary storm subsided, as 
 " Camillus," he taught the nation to profit by the dan- 
 gers it had passed. The eloquence bf the tongue and 
 the pen are not often combined in the same man ; but 
 Ames was alike eminent in both. 
 
 We have already presented several extracts from his 
 great speech on the British Treaty, as specimens of his 
 style and eloquence. We will draw still farther from 
 the same source, in order to present in Mr. Ames' own 
 language one or two^e^llifications of jiis spirit as ji_ 
 _jiatriot^ Said he, " A treaty of amity is condemned, 
 because it is not made by a foe, and in the spirit of one. 
 — I like this, sir, because it is sincerity. With feelings 
 such as these, we do not pant for treaties. Such 
 passions seek nothing, and will be contented with 
 nothing, but the destruction of their object. If a treaty 
 left King George his island, it would not answer; not 
 if he stipulated to pay rent for it. It has been said, that 
 we ought to rejoice if Britain were sunk in the sea ; if 
 where there are now men, and wealth, and laws, and 
 liberty, there were nothing more than a sand-bank for 
 the sea-monsters to fatten on ; a space for the storms 
 of the ocean to mingle in conflict." v 
 
 Ames entertained exalted and worthy views respect- 
 ing political integrity and national honor. " If," said he 
 " there could be a resurrection from the foot of the gal 
 lows, if the victims of justice could live again, collect 
 together and form a society, they would, howevei 
 loath, soon find themselves obliged to make justice, that 
 justice under which they fell, the fundamental law of 
 
328 ORATOKS OP THE AMERICAN KEVOLUTION. 
 
 their Stale. They would perceive it was their interest 
 to make others 'respect, and they would therefore soon 
 pay some respect themselves to the obligations of good 
 faith." It is thus that he goes on to deprecate the 
 existence of bigotry and intrigue in our relations with 
 foreign nations. " For," exclaims he, " What is patriot- 
 ism? Is it narrow affection for the spot where a man 
 was born? Are the very clods where we tread entitled 
 to this ardent preference because they are greener ? No, 
 sir, this is not the character of the virtue, and it soars 
 higher for its objiect. It is an extended self-love, min- 
 gling with all the enjoyments of life, and twisting itself 
 with the minutest filaments of the heart. 
 
 It is thus we obey the Jaws of society, heeause they— 
 are theJaws ^F_virtue. In their authority, we see, not 
 the ai-ray of force and terror, but the venerable image 
 of our country's tonor. Every good citizen makes that 
 honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious, but 
 as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defence, 
 and is conscious that he gains protection while he 
 gives it. 
 
 For, what rights of a citizen will be deemed inviola- 
 ble, when a State renounces the principles that con- 
 stitute their security? Or, if his life should not be 
 invaded, what would its enjoyments be in a country 
 odious in the eyes of strangers, and dishonored in its 
 own ? Could he look with affection and veneration tc 
 such a country as his parent? The sense of having 
 one would die within him ; he would blush for his pa- 
 triotism, if he retained any, and justly, for it would be a 
 vice. He would oe a banished man in his native land." 
 
FISHEK AMES. 329 
 
 At the close of the session, in the spring of 1796, 
 Mr. Ames travelled in Virginia for his health. At 
 this lime the college of New Jersey expressed their 
 estimation of his public worth by conferring on him the 
 degree of Doctor of Laws.. He gained sufficient strength 
 to attend the next session of Congress, though with 
 rapidly decreasing health. He was chairman of the 
 committee which reported the answer to Washington's 
 speech. This answer contained a most affectionate and 
 appropriate allusion to the President's declaration, that 
 he now stood for the last time in their presence. In 
 ponclusion, it said; "for your country's sake, for the 
 sake of republican liberty, it is our earnest wish, that 
 your example may be the guide of your successors, and 
 thus, after being the ornament and safeguard of the pre- 
 sent age, become the patrimony of our descendants." 
 
 The session being terminated, Mr. Ames, having de- 
 clined a re-election, retired to his favorite residence at 
 Dedham, to enjoy repose in the bosom of his family, 
 amid those rural occupations in which he greatly de- 
 lighted. 
 
 Having rapidly sketched the character of Fisher 
 Ames as an orator and gatriotj^it remains briefly to 
 speak of him as a man. Kirkland says : " Happily, he 
 did not need the smart of guilt to make him virtuous, 
 nor the regret of folly to make him wise. His spotless 
 youth brought blessing t)» the whole remainder of his 
 life. It gave him the entire use of his faculties, and ali 
 the fruit of his literary education. Its effects appeared 
 in that fine edge of moral feeling which he always pre 
 
330 ORATOKS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 served ; in his strict and often austere temperance , in 
 his love of occupation, that made activity delight; in 
 his distaste for public diversions, and his preference of 
 simple pleasures. Beginning well, he advanced with 
 unremitted steps in the race of virtue,, and arrived at 
 the end of life in peace and honor. The objects of re- 
 ligion presented themselves with a strong interest to his 
 mind. The relation of the world to its author, and of 
 this life to a retributory scene in another, could not be 
 contemplated by him without the greatest solemnity. 
 He felt it his duty and interest to inquire, and discovered 
 on the side of faith a fullness of evidence little dhort of 
 demonstration. At about thirty-five he made a public 
 profession of his beUef in the Christian religion, and 
 was a regular attendant on its services.'' 
 
 In 1804, Mr. Ames was chosen president of Harvard 
 College, — an honor which ill health compelled him to 
 decline. When Washington died, he was appointed to 
 pronounce his eulogy before the legislature of Massachu 
 setts, a duty which he performed with distinguished suc- 
 cess. The theme seemed to inspireiirr. with a primitive 
 glow of eloquence. It was almost the last public service 
 he performed, and a fitting close to a brilliant and useful 
 career. His energies rapidly declined, until, after an 
 extreme debility for two years, death at length ended 
 his sufferings. He expired, July 4th, 1808. His remains 
 were carried to Boston, where they were interred with 
 iionors such as had never before been accorded to a pri- 
 vate citizen. To such a man, having performed sucb 
 services, 
 
FISHER AMES. 331 
 
 " Death is the crown of life : 
 Were death denied, poor man would live in vain 
 Death wounds to cure : we fall, we rise, we reign ; 
 Spring from our fetters, fasten to the skies. 
 Where hlooming Eden withers from our si^t. 
 • This king of terrors is the prince of peace." 
 
 Those who were familiar with the person of Mr. 
 Ames, represent him as being above middle stature, 
 and well formed. His features were not strongly 
 marked. His forehead was neither high nor expansive. 
 His eyes were blue and of middling size ; his mouth was 
 handsome; his hair was black, and short on the fore- 
 head, and, in his latter years, un powdered. He was 
 very erect, and when speaking he raised his head. His 
 expression was usually complacent, when in debate, and 
 if he meant to be severe, it was seen in good-natured 
 sarcasm, rather than in acrimonious words. It was 
 said that the beautiful productions of his pen were the 
 first flow of his mind, and hardly corrected for the press. 
 " In public speaking he. trusted much to excitement, and 
 did little more in his closet than to draw the outlines of 
 his speech and reflect on it, till he had received deeply 
 the impressions he intended to make ; depending for the 
 turns and figures of language, illustrations and modes of 
 appeal to the passions, on his imagination and feelings 
 at the time. This excitement continued, when the 
 cause had ceased to operate. After debate his mind was 
 agitated, like the ocean after a storm, and his nerves 
 were like the shrouds of a ship torn by the tempest." 
 Such, in brief, were the appearance and mental habits 
 of the great man, 
 
332 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 " Whose eloquence brightening whatever it tried, 
 Whether reason or fancy, the gay or the grave, 
 Was as rapid, as deep, and as brilliant a tide. 
 As ever bore freedom aloft on its veave !" 
 
 The training preparatory to public life which PIfahe» 
 .\mes experienced, was thorough and comprehensive, 
 la moral worth he was excelled by no statesman of his 
 lay. His youth was studious, and his whole life was 
 consecrated to the highest cultivation. He 'has himself 
 ^ajd, " The heart is more than half corrupted, that does 
 aot burn with indignation at the slightest attempt to 
 ?educe it." 
 
 He excelled all his cotemporaries in the. fascinations 
 of conversation, even more than he was superior to 
 most persons in public debate. He quailed before none 
 amid the severe splendors of the rostrum, but he turned 
 with hearty delight and unequalled'attractiveness to the 
 .more genial charms of social life, of which he was very 
 fond. " The value of friends," he observes, " is the most 
 apparent and highest rated to those who mingle in the 
 conflicts of political life. The sharp contests for little 
 points wound the mind, and the ceaseless jargon of hy- 
 pocrisy overpowers the faculties. I turn from scenes 
 which provoke and disgust me, to the contemplation of 
 the interest I have in private life, and to the pleasures 
 of society with those friends whom I have so much rea- 
 son to esteem." 
 
 He who pulls but one string, will ring but one bell ; 
 he who has not his whole nature cultivated, will be nar- 
 rowly restricted in his influence on mankind. We 
 reach the passions only through the passions ; we impeJ 
 
FISHEE AMES. 333 
 
 m others only that which is identical with what we first 
 move in ourselves. The great orator must be " many- 
 sided" and variously educated. He must grow up like 
 the mountain oak, which, from unfolding germ to ma- 
 tured development, feeds as it grows on every kingdom 
 of nature — taking in strength of heart, vigor of limb, and 
 that ruggedness to endure which, is perpetually appro- 
 priated from rocky earth and genial dews, from summer 
 zephyrs, and wintry storms. 
 
 Fisher Ames was the orator of genius among our 
 Revolutionary patriots. He was ipjpelled in his oratori- 
 cal career by those mighty wings vouchsafed to few, 
 but which re-appearing from time to time in aid of the 
 choicest minds, are necessary to bear Truth through 
 the sea of time. He united the substantial and orna- 
 mental, — the multiflora rose-bush in full bloom wreathed 
 round a column of granite, — the decorations welling up 
 from the fount of fine emotion, and lending vividness 
 and momentum to the penetration and judgment which 
 always constitute the basis of a great character. He 
 was fond pf patient investigation, when required; but 
 was more skillful in that prophetical sagacity of mind 
 which lays hold of remote consequences with the force 
 and accuracy of intuition. He seems to have meditated 
 without effort, and to have produced without exhaustion. 
 
 The sublime in speech is nothing else than that which 
 true genius discovers beyond the hackneyed regions of 
 ordinary ideas. The impressive orator must plunge in 
 the deep mines of thought, and not be content to gathei 
 the brilliant grains of sand which cover the profoundei 
 veins of .massy gold. He must leap beyond vulgar con- 
 
334 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 ceptions, and create his thought in those pure regions 
 which extend between the extremes of trite prettiness 
 and vapid exaggeration. The popular speaker must de- 
 velope in their splendid magnitude'the harmonious and 
 imposing forms of expression which give to eloquence its 
 force, its dignity, its vehemence, its gradation of thought 
 and majestic movement. " The fulminating arrows of 
 Demosthenes," says Cicero, " would strike with much 
 less power, if they were emitted with less rythm and 
 impetuosity." 
 ! Acute sensibilityi the inseparable concomitant of 
 \ genius, and potent" auxiliary of reason, was finely devel- 
 \ oped and copiously abounded in Fisher Ames. A mind 
 kindled with enthusiasm unfolds its grandeur in the light 
 of its own flames, as the sea is never more grand than 
 at night when it heaves, storm-tossed and brilliant, with 
 the illumination of its own phosphorescence. When 
 fully aroused in debate, Ames frequently trembled from 
 head to foot; he wept in irrepressible emotion, and 
 paused in the struggle to embody the inarticulate elo- 
 quence of his heart. He bent under the reflex passions 
 he aroused in others, and then in turn bowed them 
 under the augmented weight of his own. 
 
 The great orators of antiquity labored loiig and pas- 
 sionately to develdpe their own sensibilities, and, in 
 speaking, to make their heart a mighty auxiliary to their 
 intellect. They strove to feed the fires of their elo- 
 quence with the choicest materials, selected from the 
 most glowing sources; not as dry quotations, frigid 
 ornaments tagged to the limping dullness of their own 
 stupid thoughts, but as spontaneous contributions of 
 
FISHES AMES. 835 
 
 volcank lieat and power, kindling where they fell arid 
 blending with the flames they augmented. 1 heir minda 
 were rich with the selectest stores of elegant Uterature, 
 and as some pertinent maxim or splendid illustration 
 occurred in extemporaneous discourse, the gem gre-,« 
 suddenly briUiant amid the corruscations of inflamed 
 fancy, while the orator poured his whole soul into hi? 
 quotation, and sent it, revivified and blazing to every 
 enraptured bosom. This power of reproducing familiar 
 though's with all their original inspiration and effect, 
 is a rare gift, and was constantly improved by Fisher 
 Ames. He possessed the power of striking those deli- 
 cate notes of soul-harmony which a sympathetic audience 
 always repeat with rapture in their own hushed hearts 
 He diffused a charm around him, like ambrosia evapo- 
 rating from an open vase, and which was worthy to be 
 served at the table of the gods. He was not simply a 
 rhetorician, or an adept in metaphysics,, he was an 
 orator by the true passion of eloquence; he was 
 a' musician in his tones, and a poet in his expres- 
 sions. 
 
 Ames was a sound reasoner, but his style of argument 
 was harmonious with the constitution of his mind. The 
 logic that is most felt is least seen, as the cannon-ball 
 that rends the target is not visible in its flight. True 
 force should be measured by its efficiency, rather than 
 by the manner in which its results are executed. 
 
 Popular eloquence must be rich in colors, simple in 
 subject, sparkling with light, palpable in premises, bold 
 in deduction, and varied in tone, in order to please the 
 multitude and convince all. As in natui« there are 
 
336 ORATORS OF 'iHi!; AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 ^on■le prominent objects which can be seen from far, as 
 }. }iouse, a tree or a mountain, so there are but a few 
 ' > iSORs so obvious as to strike the common mind. That 
 '>*i ich a philosopher comprehends by an argument, the 
 aiass of the people comprehend in an image. It is in- 
 dispensable to use variety. The ear is soon pained with 
 sameness of tone, and the soul loaths a perpetual string 
 of syllogisms. 
 
 Ames in this respect was a master. He was easily 
 excited, but exercised a sovereign power of self-control. 
 He knew that it was necessary to be master of his own 
 passions, in order to govern those of others. He as- 
 sumed diversified forms and hues with Protean facility. 
 Now he skims the ground and obscures himself in 
 smoke ; anon he darts through the empyrean with corus- 
 cations of flame, and with resplendent light illuminates 
 the waters, the earth and the heavens. 
 
 " The rapid argument 
 Soar'd in gorgeous flight, linking earth 
 With heaven by golden chains of eloquence , 
 Till the mind, all its faculties and powers, 
 Lay floating self-surrendered in the deep 
 Of admiration." 
 
 His imagination was imperial. The whole universe 
 of nature and art were at its control and subordinated 
 to its use. The beautiful and the sublime, those two 
 great pulses of eloquence, he felt deeply and could em- 
 body in multifarious forms. There were many stops ot 
 great power in the organ of his soul, and he could touch 
 them all in a manner to suit his purpose and the time, — 
 now piping in tender pathos, like night-winds sighing 
 
FISHBR AMES. 337 
 
 among reeds over a fountain iu a lonely dell, and, on 
 more fearful occasions, crashing on the startled ear like 
 bursting tempests, or distress-guns booming amid the 
 awful magnificence of elemental storms. 
 
 His power of giving a rapid sketch of a comprehen- 
 sive and diversified field, is exemplified in the fo'lovving 
 paragraph. He is speaking of the ambition of a nation 
 whose infidelity he dreaded. " Behold France, conduct- 
 ing her intrigues and arraying her force between the:' 
 arctic circle and the tropics; see her, in Russia, the 
 friend of despotism ; in Ireland, the auxiliary of a bloody 
 democracy ; in Spain and Italy, a papist ; in Egypt, a 
 mussulman ; in India, a bramin ; and at home, an athe- 
 ist; countenancing despotism, monarchy, democracy, 
 religion of every sort, and none at all, as suits the neces- 
 sity of the moment." 
 
 As an example of his illustrious imagination, take tho 
 following. He is speaking of England as a model of 
 national industry to be imitated, rather than the nations 
 on the continent. Among the latter he proceeds to say : 
 "Commerce has not a single ship; arts and manufac- 
 tures exist in ruins and memory only ; credit is a spectre 
 that haunts its burying-place ; justice has fallen on its 
 own sword ; and liberty, after being sold to Ishmaelites, 
 is stripped of its bloody garments to disguise its rob- 
 bers." 
 
 Mr. Ames habitually dealt in a copious use of figures 
 of speech. In his eulogy on Washington, he discourses 
 as follows : 
 
 " Great generals have arisen in all ages of the world, 
 and perhaps most in those of despotism and darkaess. 
 13 
 
338 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 In times of Tiolence and convulsion, they rise, by the force 
 of the whirlwind, high enough to ride in it, and direct the 
 storm. Like meteors, they glare on the black clouds with 
 a splendor, which, while it dazzles and terrifies, makes 
 nothing visible but the darkness. The fame of heroes is, 
 indeed, growing vulgar; they multiply in every long war; 
 they stand in history, and thicken in their ranks, almost 
 as undistinguished as their own soldiers. 
 
 " But such a chief magistrate as Washington, .appears 
 like the pole-star in a clear sky, to direct the skillful 
 statesman. His Presidency will form an epoch, and he 
 distinguished as the age of Washington. Already it 
 assumes its high place in the political region. Like the 
 milky way, it whitens along its allotted portion of the 
 hemisphere. The latest generations of men will survey, 
 through the telescope of history, the space where so many 
 virtues blend their rays, and deUght to separate them into 
 groups and distinct virtues. As the best illustration of 
 them, the living monument, to which the first of patriots 
 would have chosen to confiiga his fame, it is my earnest 
 prayer to heaven, that our country may subsist, even to 
 that late day, in the plentitnde of its liberty and happi- 
 ness, and mingle its mild glory with Washington's." 
 But, after aU, the chief excellence in Mr. Ames, and one 
 that renders him a worthy model to he emulated by all 
 pubhc speakers, was his great industry and care in im- 
 proving to perfection the chaste beauty of his style. 
 As a specimen of his elaborate composition, and at 
 the same time the very best description of himself, 
 
FISHER AMES. 339 
 
 we will take the following extract from his encomium on 
 Alexander Hamilton : 
 
 " It is rare that a man, who owes so much to nature, 
 descends to seek more from industry ; but he seemed to 
 depend on industry, as if nature had done nothing for 
 him. His habits of investigation were very remarkable ; 
 his mind seemed to cling to his subject, till it had ex- 
 hausted it. Hence the uncommon superiority of his 
 reasoning powers, a superiority that seemed tj be aug- 
 mented from every source, and to be fortified by every 
 auxiliary, learning, taste, wit, imagination, and eloquence- 
 These were embellished and enforced by his temper and 
 manners, by his feme and his virtues. It is difl&cult, 
 in the midst of such various excellence, to say in what 
 particular the effect of his greatness was most manifest 
 No man more promptly discerned truth ; no man more 
 clearly displayed it: it was not merely made visible — it 
 seemed to come bright with illumination from his lips. 
 But prompt and clear as he was, fervid as Demosthenes, 
 like Cicero, full of resource, he was not less remarkable 
 for the copiousness and completeness of his argument, 
 and left little for cavil, and nothing for doubt. Some 
 men take their strongest argument as a weapon, and use 
 no other ; but he left nothing to be inquired for more — 
 nothing to be answered. He not only disarmed his ad- 
 versaries of their pretexts and objections, but he stripped 
 them of all excuse for having urged them ; he confounded 
 and subdued, as well as convinced. He indemnified 
 them, however, by making his discussion a complete 
 map of his subject; so that his opponents might, 
 
340 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 indeed, feel ashamed of their mistakes, but they 
 could not repeat them. In fact, it was no common effoit 
 that preserved a really able antagonist from becoming his 
 convert; for the truth, which his researches so distinctly 
 presented to the understanding of others, was rendered 
 almost irresistibly commanding and impressive by the 
 love and reverence, which, it was ever apparent, he pro- 
 foundly cherished for it in his own. While patriotism 
 glowed iij his heart, wisdom blended in his speech her 
 authority with her charms." We have said that Fisher 
 Ames, among our Revolutionary statesmen, was the orator 
 of genius. We mean by this that he possessed something 
 higher and better than mere talent. Genius is the native 
 breath of the most richly endowed, luxuriating in every- 
 thing beautiful and fair — ^the inspired vision which makes 
 the future present, and the distant near — a lingering 
 reminiscence of the infinite ocean from which we all 
 emerged, and a vivid prognostic of an eternity to come. 
 It is a fare possession, the line of demarcation between 
 the highest form of the intellectual, and the lowest form 
 of the divine, causing its possessor to be a "maker" of 
 things, most like God; a "declarer" who speaks the 
 highest law in tones like the sound of many waters, and 
 with a splendor as pure and pervading as the light of 
 heaven. It is the quality of genius to flow, while plod- 
 ding talent has a constant tendency to freeze. He who 
 is blessed with the first, passes through life as a broad and 
 placid river traverses continents, and, in its calm but 
 irresistible course, reflects every natural charm. 
 Ben Jonson possessed an extraordinary opulence of 
 
, FISHER AMES. 341 
 
 thought; but it was the- produce of the amassing power 
 of talent, not, as in Shakspeare, the creative power of 
 genius. Materials which, in the hands of talent, are but 
 herbs and crude metal — ^papyrus and bronze — by the mag- 
 ical touch of genius are elevated into stupendous archi- 
 iecture, temples that outlive the Pyramids, around which 
 the deluge of ages roars in vain^ Talent accomplishes 
 results with slow toil, like Caliban ; while gpnius works 
 its spontaneous wonders like the wand of Prospero. The 
 traces of taleiit are discovered by the searcher after excel- 
 lence ; but genius strikes us like the lightning, without 
 the eye being obliged to look for it. It illumines every- 
 thing with its own broad, clear flash. Genius is daring, 
 thinks for itself, and pursues its ends out of the beaten 
 track ; while talent plods on after the manner and dictum 
 of others, and is applauded only by critics of the same 
 taste and mental calibre. Talent takes impressions from ' 
 beautiful objects ; genius creates its own originals. Talent 
 collects data, and from them deduces conclusions ; genius 
 overleaps the intermediate process, and reaches the same 
 result by intuition. Newton had genius, and it discovered 
 the law of gravitation ; he also had talent, and with this 
 he proved it. The higher attribute is necessary to render 
 one great in his own presence ; the other must be em- 
 ployed to render one useful to the world. Without 
 the sun, the universe is a chaos; genius kindles an 
 original flame, and talent walks in the light thereof. 
 Exact definitions of these qualities are difficult ; but 
 Ames was certainly not entirely wrong when he said 
 
342 OEATORS OP THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 that, "talent might be compared to a bee, gathering 
 honey from every flower, but creating none ; while 
 genius is like a spider, it spins from its own bowels." 
 We may add that genius is insatiable, and becomes 
 vigorous in proportion as it is appropriately fed. Like 
 the Phoenix, which rises renovated from its own ashes, or 
 the vitals of Prometheus which grew as fast as the vul- 
 tures devoured them, the finer powers of the soul become 
 purified by the flames they traverse, and are strengthen- 
 ed by the struggles they endure. Lord Brougham is 
 an orator of talent, but Fisher Ames was the orator of 
 j^eniua 
 
CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 WILLIAM PINKNEI, 
 
 THE ACC0MPLISHP:D COUNSELTjOR. 
 
 Serjeant Talfoued, one of the most elegant scholara 
 and able lawyers now practising in Westminster Hali, 
 has said that there is no pursuit in life which appears 
 more captivating at a distance than the profession of the 
 bar. " It is the great avenue to political influence and 
 reputation ; its honors are among the most splendid 
 which can be attained in a free State ; and its emolu- 
 ments and privileges are exhibited as prizes, to be con- 
 tested freely by all its members. Its annals celebrate 
 many individuals who have risen from the lowest ranks 
 of the people, oy fortunate coincidence, or by patient 
 labor, to wealth and station, and have become the 
 founders of fortunate families. If the young aspirant 
 perceives, even in his hasty and sanguine glance, that 
 something depends on fortuitous circumstances, the con- 
 viction only renders the pursuit more inviting, by adding 
 the fascinations of a game of chance to those of a trial 
 of skill. If he is forced to confess that a sacrifice of 
 principle is occasionally required of the candidate for 
 its more lucrative situations, he glories in the pride of 
 
344 ORATORS OF THE AMURICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 untempted virtue, and pictures himself generously re. 
 sisting ithe bribe which would give him riches ana 
 authority in exchange for conscious rectitude and the 
 approbation of the good and the wise. While he sees 
 nothing in the distance, but glorious success, or more 
 glorious self-denial, he feels braced for the severest exer- 
 tion ; nervedfor the fiercest struggle; and regards every 
 throb of an impatient ambition as a presage of victory." 
 
 Among the early, persevering and triumphant devo- 
 tees at the shrine of , Themis, in America, William 
 Pinkney, of Maryland, stands pre-eminent. He was 
 born at Annapolis, on the 17th of March, 1764. His 
 father was an Englishman and a tory, but the son early 
 avowed his ardent attachment to . republican liberties, 
 and to the last struggled for the independence which in 
 boyhood he espoused. 
 
 He commenced his law studies in the office of Justice 
 Chase, in 1783, and was called to the bar in 1786. His 
 first efforts commanded piiblic admiration, and to the 
 minds of the sagacious foretokened eminent success. 
 At that time the lawr of real property, and the science of 
 special pleading, were the two great departments of 
 legal study, and in these he was considered accurate 
 and profound. " His style of speaking," says Wheaton, 
 " was marked by an easy flow of natural eloquence and 
 a happy choice of language. His voice was very melo- 
 dious, and seemed a most wincing accompaniment to 
 his pure and effective diction. His elocution was calm 
 and placid — the very contrast to that strenuous, vehe- 
 ment, and emphatic manner, which he subsequentlv 
 adopted." 
 
WILLIAM PINKNEY. 345 
 
 In 1786, M> Pinkney removed to Harford County, 
 where he {jraoticed his profession, and 'in 1788, was 
 elected a delegate to the State Convention which rati- 
 fied the Constitution of the United States. In the same 
 year, he was elected to represent the county of Harford 
 in the House of Delegates, which position he continued 
 to occupy until 1792, when he removed to Annapolis 
 In 1789, he married Miss Ann Maria Rodgers, sister to 
 Gomniodore Rodgers, the celebrated ornament of our 
 navy. 
 
 While in the State legislature, Pinkney distinguished 
 himself in several important debates. In 1789 he made 
 an admirable speech on the voluntary emancipation of 
 ^iaves, neai-ly the whole of which has been preserved. 
 The following are brief extracts which illustrate his 
 character and exemplify his style : 
 
 " The door to freedom is fenced about with such bar- 
 barous caution, that a stranger would be naturally led 
 to belie,ve that our, statesmen considered the existence of 
 its opposite among us as the sine qua non of our pros- 
 perity ; or, at Jeast, that they regarded it as an act of the 
 most atrocious criminality to raise an humble bondsman 
 froni the dust, and place him on the stage of life on a 
 level with their citizens. 
 
 "Eternal infamy awaits the abandoned miscreants, 
 whose selfish souls could ever prompt them to rob un- 
 happy Afric of her. sons, and freight them hither by 
 thousands to poison the fair Eden of liberty with the 
 rank weed of individual bondage ! 
 
 " Sir, it is really matter of astonishment to me that 
 the people of JVIaryland do not blush at the very name of 
 15* 
 
346 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 freedom. That they who have, by the deliberate acts 
 of their legislature, treated her most obvious dictates 
 with contempt ; who have exhibited for a long series of 
 years, a spectacle of slavery which they are still solicit- 
 ous to perpetuate ; who, not content with exposing to 
 the world for near a century, a speaking picture of 
 abominable oppression, are still ingenious to prevent the 
 hand of generosity from robbing it of half its horrors ; 
 that they should step forward as the zealous partizans of 
 freedom, cannot but astonish a person who is not cas- 
 uist enough to reconcile antipathies 
 
 " For shame, sir ! let us throw off the mask, 'tis a cob- 
 5veb one at best, and the world will see through it. It 
 will not do thus to talk like philosophers, and act like 
 unrelenting tyrants; to be perpetually sermonizing 
 with liberty for our text, and actual oppression for our 
 commentary." 
 
 In 1792, Mr. Pinkney was elected a member of the 
 Executive Council of Maryland, in which office he re- 
 mained until November, 1795, when he resigned his 
 seat as President of the Board, to assume still higher 
 functions to which he had been appointed. During all 
 this time he was exceedingly assiduous in study, and rose 
 rapidly to the head of the bar, and to a distinguished 
 rank in the public councils of his native State. Mr. 
 Walsh, speaking of this period of Pinkney's life, says, 
 " His acuteness, dexterity, and zeal in the transaction of 
 business ; his readiness, spirit, and vigor in debate ; the 
 beauty and richness of his fluent elocution, adorned 
 with the finest imagery drawn from classical lore and a 
 vivid fancy; the manliness of his figure and the energy 
 
WILLIAM PINKNEY. 347 
 
 of his mien, united with a sonorous and flexible voice, 
 and a general animation and graceful delivery, were the 
 qualities by which he attained this elevated standing.'' 
 
 In 1796, he was selected by President Washington 
 as one of the Commissioners on the part of the United 
 States, under the 7th article of Jay's treaty with Great 
 Britain. After some hesitation he .accepted the trust, 
 and embarked for London, where he arrived in July, 
 1796. His services abroad were of a difficult character, 
 but were executed with great care and success. In 
 1804, ha returned to his country, and with enlarged 
 capacities and renewed' zeal entered again upon the toils 
 of his profession. During his diplomatic mission abroad, 
 he was far from relaxing his forensic studies. Like 
 Homer's hero, though withdrawn from the field a while, 
 bis arm was not in the slightest unnerved by indolent 
 repose. He obtained in retirement a full suit of Vulca- 
 nian armor, and renewed the conflict with fresh strength, 
 with a facility and force of action more propitious to the 
 combatant than unremitted battle might have proved. 
 He returned to the American bar and Senate, to " shed 
 lustre upon letters, renown upon Congress, glory on the 
 country." 
 
 Soon after Mr. Pinkney's return from England, he 
 removed to Baltimore, and commenced attending the 
 Supreme Court at Washington. In 1805, he was ap- 
 pointed Attorney-General of Maryland, and may be 
 considered as having then entered upon . the widest 
 sphere of professional honor and emolument. At this 
 point, let us more minutely analyze his character, and 
 cansidei the instrumentalities he employed. 
 
348 ORATORS OF THE AMBRTGAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Like all proficients ■ in every professsion who win « 
 wide and enduring fame, Piakney laid his foundation 
 deep and' strong in a truly libfetal education. Jh early 
 manhood his classical training was irhperfecty but in ma- 
 ture life' he abundantly repaired all -deficiencies.- An 
 anecdote is related of him which strikingly i illustrates his 
 character iii this tespect:- When at the Court of St. 
 James, he wasdini'ng in company with BurkejSheridail, 
 Fox, and a hoet of great names, when a discussion airose 
 upon a passage in Virgil. All of the guests expressed 
 their opinions'btltLMr. Pinkney, and' as he had said 
 nothing, 'pro or con., they appealed to him as umpire. 
 He had to confess his ignorance of the- Latin language ; 
 but when he left the'company, he sent immediately for 
 a teacher:, Jjind . commenced the study of it. The result 
 was, that, amid all the tumultuous cares of exalted Sta- 
 tions, be continued to prosecute the study of ancient 
 literature and became an accomplished' classical 'scholar. 
 He accustomed himself to acute observation ahd un- 
 tiring application. Abfoad, as well as at home, he 
 emulated the best- models, and was ambitious of the 
 highesti honors. He was . as- unremitting in his search 
 for the elements of oratorical power and professional 
 celebrity, as ever was alchymist in pursuit- of his- golden 
 secret. This isalways a happy omen, since, as Johnson 
 has said, ''Men's attibition is generally proportioned to 
 their capacity. Providence seldom sends any one into 
 the world'With an iaclirtatiOH'-to: attempt great things, 
 who has not likewise abilities to' perform them." 
 
 But oui' renowed countryman's heart did not only 
 run o'er in silentworshipof the great of old ;" he was 
 
WrLtlAK PINKNEY. 349 
 
 assiduous in winning excellence from the most i)romi- 
 nent among bis cotemporaries. His residence in Lon- 
 don, in intimate connection with the most distinguished 
 masters of the bench and bar, was of great service in 
 consummating Mr. Pinkney's forensic educatioii. When- 
 ever his diplomatic- duties allbwed, he was constant in 
 attendance in all the higher courts, and critical in his 
 analysis of all the proceedings. Hence, when he re- 
 turned to the American bar, it was observed that he had 
 lost nothing' in legal attainment by absence, but had 
 gained immensely. He resumed his position in the lists, 
 ipWJ'pletely armed at every point. '■ " 
 
 The two men abroad ! who ;sto6d' 'highest in Pinkney's 
 esteem, and the latter of whom he not only admired but 
 imitated, vvere Sir William Scott, and Mr. Erskine. 
 According to the following estimate of Scott, by Lord 
 Brougham, no jurist was worthier of; being emulated. 
 "Sir William Scott's learning,-exten^ve'and profound 
 in all professional matters, was by no means confined 
 within that range.- He was amply and accurately en- 
 dowed with a knowledge of all history of all times ; 
 richly::provided with the literary and the personal por- 
 tion of historical lore ; largely furnished with stores of 
 the niore curious and recondite knowledge; which judi- 
 cious students of antiquity, and judicious students only 
 are found to amass ; and he {Assessed a rare facility of 
 ii)traducing such matters felicitously for the illustration 
 of an argument or a topic, whether in debate or in more 
 familiar conversation. But he was above the pedantry 
 which disdains the gratification of a roore ordinary and 
 every-day curiosity. No one had rr 9re knowledge of 
 
350 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 the common affairs of life ; and it was at all times a (!ur 
 rent observation, that the person who first saw any sight 
 exhibiting in London, be it production of nature or of 
 art or of artifice, was Sir William Scott-^who could 
 always steal for such relaxations an hour from settling 
 the gravest questions that could be raised on the rights 
 of nations or the ecclesiastical law of the land. Above 
 all, he was a person of great classical attainments. Ot 
 diction, he was among the greatest masters, in all but its 
 highest department of energetic declamation and fervent 
 imagery." 
 
 Probably few devotees ever adored and emulated 
 the "god of their idolatry," so passionately as did Mr. 
 Pinkney his friend, the great forensic orator, Erskine. 
 He had learned much from the severe dialectics of 
 Scott ; he was thoroughly enraptured by the masterly 
 arguments and appeals of Erskine. He had often heard 
 him in his happiest efforts, and seems never to have 
 lost the inspiration which he imbibed as a spectator of 
 the splendid strife. Nothing is more natural to gifted 
 minds than insensibly to imitate what they habitually 
 admire. Intentionally or unintentionally, it is we.1 
 known that Pinkney had caught many of the peculiai 
 airs of his great model. Talking one day to a fellow 
 practitioner about Erskine, he started up and said, " I'll 
 give you a specimen of his manner." " And," says his 
 
 brother lawyer, "it was an admirable specimen- of 
 
 Mr. Pinkney." 
 
 Emulation of living masters is doubtless a good pracr 
 tice, when the best models are selected, and their faults 
 are avoided. But, unfortunately, the excrescences 
 
WILLIAM PINKNEY. 351 
 
 whch are most prominent and least valuable, are ordi 
 aanly the first copied. Herein is the danger, since na 
 one can ever be great by imitation alone. Mr. Pinkney, 
 however, possessed extraordinary natural abilities, and 
 did not incur dangers so great as those that threaten 
 mediocrity whenever imitation is indulged. Moi-eover. 
 the model he chose to adopt, was second to none then 
 extant. "The eloquence of Lord Erskine," says a 
 distinguished critic, " was of a very high order. Though 
 never deficient in any of those qualities, it was not 
 indebted for its excellence either to beauty of diction, 
 or to richness of ornament, or to felicity of illustration ; 
 ^t was from its unrivalled strength and vigor that ft 
 derived its superior character. The intensenfess, the 
 earnestness, the vehemence, the energy of the advocate, 
 were ever present throughout his speeches, impressing 
 his arguments upon the mind of the hearer with a 
 force which seemed to compel conviction. Throughout 
 evei^the longest of his speeches there is no weakness, 
 no failing, no flagging ; but the same lively statement 
 of facts, the same spirited and pointed exposition of 
 argument. He never gave way to what he has happily 
 termed " the Westminster Hall necessity" — of filling up 
 his speech with common-places; but invariably pre- 
 sented his subject in some striking or brilliant light, 
 which never failed to rivet the attention, and to work 
 upon the convictions of his audience." 
 
 Mr, Pinkney possessed uncommon powers, cultivate(i 
 with mcessant care, and directed always toward the 
 the grand aims of his profession. He had great power 
 in dealing with facts, a facility in arraying and siftnig 
 
352 ORATOKS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOW. 
 
 evidence, and in arguing upon probabilities, which few 
 or none could either anticipate or subvert. Among 
 other eminent attributes, he was especially distinguished 
 for one which a high authority has declared that even 
 Burke did not possess, — ^fierce, nervous, overwhelming 
 declamation, and close, rapid argument. His career as 
 an orator was a brilliant commentary on the lines of 
 Percival : 
 
 " Men are made to bend 
 Before the mighty, and to follow on 
 Submissive where the great may lead — the great, 
 Whose might is not in crowns and palaces, 
 in parchment rolls or blazoned heraldry,. 
 •But in the power of thought, the energy 
 Of unsupported mind, whose steady will 
 No force can daunt, no tangled path divert 
 From its high-onward purpose." 
 
 The ambition which always seemed to actuate this 
 great man at the bar was complex interest in the fate 
 of his client, and the promotion of his own fame. 
 Undoubtedly, he was ambitious, as who that is worthy 
 of esteem and destined to win it is not? But his 
 aspirations were honorable, and bent towards the goal 
 of untarnished glory, rather than to the accumulation 
 of sordid pelf Iti his letters on the study of History, 
 addressed to the great grandson of the Earl of Clarendon, 
 Bolingbroke, after speaking of the profession of the law 
 as "in its nature the noblest and most beneficial to 
 mankind, in its abuse and debasement, the most sordid 
 and the most pernicious,'' makes the following remarks, 
 both eloquent and true : " There have beef, lawj'ers that 
 
WILLUM PINKNBT. 353 
 
 were orators, philosophers, historians, — there have been 
 Bacons and Clarendons, my lord. There will be none 
 such any , more, till, in some better age, true ambition^ 
 or the love of fame, prevails over avarice,, and till men 
 find leisure and encouragement to prepare themselves 
 for the exercise of this profession, by climbing, up to the 
 ' vantage ground,' so my Lord Bacon calls it, of science; 
 instead of grovelling all their lives below in a mean, but 
 painful application to all the little acts of chicane. Till 
 this happen, the profession of the law will scarce deserve 
 to be ranked among the learned professions ; and when- 
 ever it happens, one of the ' vantage grounds,' to which 
 men must climb; is metaphysical, and the other historical, 
 knowledge." 
 
 .Mr. Pinkney's mind was sufficiently acute to master 
 the' nicest ^metaphysics of law, and in this department 
 he greatly excelled. Early in life,speeial pleading was 
 his forte,: and to the last he encountered no superior. 
 He was often most eloquent on questions the most 
 abstruse, as in the elucidation of great principles which 
 involved black-letter precedents and feudal lore. Ot his 
 personal; appearance and professional excellence, no 
 one was better qualiSed to speak than Justice Story, 
 and the I following is his estimate of Mr. Pinkney's 
 character : 
 
 -"For the last- ten years of his life, he was never 
 supppsedj by. any one, to be excelled by any other 
 advocate, and rarely deemed to he equalled. His person 
 was strong, compact, and muscular, exhibiting great 
 vigor of action, with no small grace and ease of move- 
 ment. His countenance, without Iv^ig strikingly inter- 
 
354 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN RBVOLUTIOfJ. 
 
 esting for its intelligence, or suavity, was manly and 
 open ; and, when excited by any discussion, was capable 
 of the most powerful and various expression, suited, at 
 once, for the playfulness of wit, the indignation of 
 resentment or the solemn dignity of argumentation. 
 His mind was singularly subtle and penetrating, equally 
 rapid in its conceptions, and felicitous in the exposition 
 of the truths which it was employed to develope or 
 analyze. In native genius, or, in other words, in the 
 power to invent, select, illustrate, and combine topics 
 for the purposes of argument, few men have been his 
 superiors. But he did not rely exclusively on the 
 resources of his genius. He chastened, improved, and 
 invigorated it by constant study, and laborious disci- 
 pline. He was from early life a diligent student, not 
 oply of the law, but of general literature, and especially 
 of classical literature. He was ambitious to be not 
 only a good, but an exact scholar ; not only a persua- 
 sive, but an elegant writer ; not only a splendid, but a 
 solid speaker ; full of matter, as well as of metaphor ; 
 able to convince, as well as to instruct and please. His 
 professional learning was very extensive, deep, and 
 accurate. It was the gradual accumulation of nearly 
 forty years' steady devotion to the science, as well as 
 practice, of jurisprudence. He possessed a minute 
 acquaintance with the ancient common law. Its tech- 
 nical principle*, and feudal peculiarities, its quaint 
 illustrations, its subtle distinctions, and its artificial, but 
 nice logic, were all' familiar to his early thoughts, and 
 enabled him, in the later periods of his life, to expound 
 the abstruse doctrines of modern tenures ami titles, 
 
WILLIAM PINKNEY. 355 
 
 with great facility and piirspicuity. But his studies 
 were not confined to mere researches into the doctrines 
 of the old law. His reading was very extensive in all 
 the departments of modern jurisprudence ; and his 
 practice, which was, perhaps, more' various than that of 
 any other American lawyer, led him to a daily applica- 
 tion of all his learning, in the actual , business of the 
 forum. Few men, in our country, had attained so 
 exact, thorough, and methodized a knowledge as he of 
 the general principles of the Law of Nations ; of the 
 doctrines of the Prize and Admiralty Courts ; of the 
 broad and various foundations of equity, jurisprudence, 
 and of the admirable theories, as well as practical 
 developments, of all the branches of Maritime and 
 Commercial Law." 
 
 Justice Story goes on to speak of Mr. Pinkney's 
 thorough mastery of Constitutional Law, and of his 
 . frequent exemplifications of exalted patriotism, but our 
 limits will not admit of farther quotation, except a few 
 sentences on his oratorical manner. " It was original, 
 impressive, and vehement. He had some natural and 
 some acquired defects, which made him, in some degree, 
 fall short of that exquisite conception of the imagination, 
 a perfect orator. His voice was thick and guttural. It 
 rose and fell with little melody and softening of tones, 
 and was, occasionally, abrupt and harsh in its intona- 
 tions, and wanting in liquidness and modulation. These, 
 however, were venial faults, open to observation, indeed, 
 but soon forgotten by those wholistened to his instructive 
 and persuasive reasoning ; for no man could hear him 
 .*0i any length of time without being led captive by hia 
 
356 0RAT0B3 OP THE AMEBICAN KEVOLUTION. 
 
 eloquence. His imagination was rich and inventive, 
 his taste, in general, pure and critical ; and bis memory 
 uncommonly exact, full, and retentive. He attained a 
 complete mastery of the whole compass of the English 
 language; and, in the variety of use, as well as the 
 choice of diction, for all the purposes of his public labors, 
 he possessed a marvelous 'felicity. It gave to his style 
 an air of originality, force, copiousness, and expressive- 
 ness, which struck the most careless observer. His 
 power of amplification and illustration, whenever these 
 were appropriate to his purpose, seemed almost inex- 
 haustible; though he possessed, at the same time, the 
 power of condensation, both of thought and language 
 to a most uncommon degree." 
 
 It would be easy to adduce passages from Mr. Pink 
 ney's printed remains to justify the above remarks on 
 the substance and manner of his speech.' Take the 
 following from his celebrated reply to Mr. King on the 
 Missouri Question : " Time, that withers the strength 
 of man and 'strews around him, like autumnal leaves, 
 the ruins of his proudest monuments,' produces great 
 vicissitudes in modes of thinking and feeling. It brings 
 along with it, in its progress, new circumstances — new 
 combinations and modifications of the old — ^generating 
 new views, motives, and capric,es — new fanaticisms of 
 endless variety — in short, new every thing. We our- 
 selves are always changing — and what to-day we have 
 but a small desire to attempt, to-morrow becomes the 
 object of our passionate aspirations. 
 
 " There is such a thing as enthusiasm, moral, religious, 
 or political, or a compound of all three ; — and it is vron- 
 
WILLIAM PINKNfiY. 357 
 
 derful what it will attempt, and from what imperceptible 
 beginnings it sometimes rises into a mighty agent. 
 Rising from some obscure or unknown source, it first 
 shows itself a petty rivulet; which-, Scarcely murmur* 
 over the pebbles that obstruct its way^then it swells 
 into a fierce torrent, bearing all before it — and then 
 again, like some mountain stream which occasional 
 rains have precipitated upon the valley, it sinks once 
 more into a rivulet, and finally leaves its channel diy. 
 Such a thing has happened. I do not say that it is now 
 happening. It would not become me to say^^so. But 
 if it should occur, woe to the unlucfcy territory that 
 should be struggling to make its way into the Union at 
 the moment when the opposing jiBundation was at its 
 height, and at the same instant this wide Mediterranean 
 of discretionary powers, which it seems is ours, should 
 open all its sluices and, with a consentaneous rush, 
 mingle with the turbid waters of the others." 
 
 TJie best preserved argument ever delivered in the 
 Supreme Court,! by Mr. Pinkney, was the famous one 
 in ithe case of the ship Nereide. It was evidently pre- 
 pared with great care, and surviving witnesses attest 
 that it was delivered vnth great effect. 
 
 " With menacing hand, 
 Put forth as in the action of command, 
 And eyes, that darted their red lightning down." 
 
 We are told that Lord Erskiiie, like 'many other 
 characters of uncommon acuteness, had a morbid sensi- 
 bl'ity to the circumstances of the moment, which some 
 times strangely enfeebled his presence of mind; any 
 
358 ORATORS OP THE AMEEICAN REVOLUTION, 
 
 appearance of neglect in his audience, a cough, a yawn, 
 or a whisper, even among the mixed multitude of the 
 courts, and strong as he was theie, has been known to 
 disturb him visibly. Pinkney had much of this acute 
 sensibility, and something of its weakness ; but in him it 
 was manifested in an extraordinary attention to the 
 elegancies of dress. When he had a cause of momentous 
 interest to conduct, he elaborated every thing before- 
 hand with the utmost care, and came before the supreme 
 tribunal chastely, but richly adorned within and without. 
 Conceive him, dressed in the top of fashion, perfumed, 
 and gloved, in oratorical attitude, with the most impe- 
 rious air, delivering the following passage, while the 
 foam starts at his mouth and adds terror to his action 
 and look : " I entreat your honors to endeavor a per 
 sonification of this motley notion, and to forgive me for 
 presuming to intimate, that if, after you have achieved 
 it, you pronounce the notion to be correct, you will 
 have gone a great way to prepare us, by the authority 
 of your .opinion, to receive as credible history the 
 worst parts of the mythology of the Pagan world. The 
 Centaur and the Proteus of antiquity will be fabulous 
 no longer. The prosopopoeia to which I invite you is 
 scarcely, indeed, within the power of fancy, even in her 
 most riotous and capricious mood, when she is best 
 able and most disposed to force incompatibilities into 
 fleeting and shadowy combination, but if you can 
 accomplish it, it will give you something like the kid 
 and the lion, the lamb and the tiger portentously incor- 
 porated, with ferocity and meekness co-existcint in the 
 
WII.IIAM PINKNET. 359 
 
 result, and equal as motives of action. It will give you 
 a modern Amazon, more strangely constituted than 
 those with whom ancient fable peopled the borders of 
 the Thermodon — her voice compounded of the tre- 
 mendous shout of the Minerva of Homer and the 
 gentle accents of a shepherdess of Arcadia — with all the 
 faculties and inclinations' of turbulent and masculine 
 War, and all the retiring modesty of virgin Peace. 
 We shall have in one personage the pharetrata Camilla 
 of the jEneid, and the Peneian maid of the Metamor- 
 phosis. We shall have Neutrality, soft and gentle, and 
 defenceless in herself, yet clad "in the panoply, of her 
 warlike neighbors-^with the frown of defiance upon her 
 brow, and the smile of conciliation upon her lip — with 
 the spear of Achilles in one hand and a lying protesta- 
 tion of innocence and helplessness unfolded in the other. 
 Nay, if I may be allowed so bold a figure in a mere 
 legal discussion, we shall have the branch of olive 
 entwined around the bolt of Jove, and Neutrality in 
 the act of hurling the former, under the deceitful cover 
 of the latter." 
 
 The above is a fine instance of the transformation of 
 metaphors into arguments ; for as copious as the figures 
 are, it will be found, on consulting the matters under 
 discussion, that none of them are impertinent, provided 
 the position assumed is correct. This, unfortunately 
 for the eloquent advocate in this instance, was not the 
 fact. The ethereal intellect of Chief Justice Marshall 
 f!etected the sophism, and beautifully interpreted the 
 law in its relation to this case. But the magnificence 
 
360 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTl 5N. 
 
 of the speech overruled imparted something of its 
 charms to the judgment of the court, as it was rendered 
 by its chief in language like the following: 
 
 " With a pencil dipped in the most vivid colors, and 
 guided by the hand of a master, a splendid portrait has 
 been drawn, exhibiting this vessel and her' freighter as 
 forming a single figure, composed of the most discord- 
 ant materials of Peace and War. So' exquisite was the 
 skill of the artist, , so dazzling the garb in which the 
 figure was presented, that it required the exercise of that 
 cold investigating faculty which ought always to belong 
 to those who sit on this bench,, to discover its only im- 
 perfection — its want of resemblance. 
 
 " The Nereide has not that centaur-like appearance 
 which has been ascribed to her. She does not rove 
 over the ocean, hurling the thunders of war, while 
 sheltered by the olive branch of peace. She is an open 
 arid declared belligerent ; claiming all the rights, and sub- 
 ject to all the dangers, of the belligerent character: The 
 characters of the vessel and cargo remain as distinct in 
 this as in any other case " 
 
 Mr. Pinkney was every way a patriot. When the 
 British, under General Ross, meditated an attack on 
 Washington, he accepted the command of a volunteer 
 corps, and marched to Bladensburg, where he was 
 severely wounded. 
 
 In March, 1816, he was again called to the diploinatic 
 service of his country, being induced to accept the ap- 
 pointment of Minister Plenipotentiary to the court of 
 Russia, and of special Minister to that of Naples; Soon 
 after this double mission had been conferred upon himj 
 
WILLIAM PINKNEY. ■ ' 361 
 
 ji a cbnversEition with one of his frieilds, he said* 
 "There are those who wondfer that I will go abroad, 
 hdwever honorable the Service. They know riot how I 
 ioil'at the bar ;' they kiiowiibt all liiy anxioiis days and 
 ^eepless nights; I must breathe awhile; the bow for 
 fever bent will break;" "besides/ he added, "I want to 
 see Italy; the orators of Britain I hav6 heard, but I 
 want to visit that'classic land, the study of whose poetry 
 and eloquenceMs the charm of Iiiy life ; I shall set my 
 foot dm its shores with' feelingS' that"! carinOt describe, 
 and riturn with new entliusiasm, I Hope new advantages, 
 fo the habits of public speaking." 
 - This is the lailguagie 6f a trtie inah and'a true devotee 
 afthe shrine of exefeUende. He who doigs the most, is 
 the least Vain of his Work. " Geiiius, like the ApOstle 
 Paul, looks beyond the present,' and sees things indescri- 
 oable. The Iliad; the Parthenon,' York Minster, ♦.he 
 Tta&figuration of the ' Vaticahj' arid the 'Oratorio of 
 Greition, wheri- ' executesd, were' thrown behind their 
 Sithofs ks iricoiriplete'embbdimeiits of their thought. 
 No true Orator yet was' ever 's'atidfied with his best 
 achieve'riientg'. The grieitest triumphs never make the 
 onsumiriate hero vain, for he has a vivid perception of 
 He immense intei-val that lies "between what he does, 
 tad what he cbnceives' ought to be done. 
 '''In- 1818, Mr. Pinkney solicited his recall from Russia, 
 which, b^irig gfSrited, he entered with fresh zeal upon 
 the practice of his profession in the Supreme Court. 
 In 1820, he took his seat in the American Senate, whei'e 
 he disp ayed extraordinary abilities, while he still con- 
 d'ncted an immense law business. " The success which 
 16 
 
362 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUIION. 
 
 attended him every where," says his biographer, " was as 
 much the effect oi extraordinary diligence and labor as 
 of his genius and rare endowments of mind. He Was 
 never satisfied with investigating his causes, and took 
 infinite pains in explaining their facts and circum- 
 stances, and all the technical learning connected with 
 them. He constantly continued the practice of private 
 declamation as a useful exercise, and was in the habit 
 of premeditating his pleadings at the bar, and his other 
 public speeches,^-not only as to the general . order or 
 n>ethod to be observed in treating his subject, the 
 authorities to be relied on, and the leading topics of 
 illustration, but frequently as to the principal passages 
 and rhetorical embellishments. These he sometimes 
 wrote out beforehand; not that he was deficient in 
 facility or fluency, but in order to preserve the com- 
 mand of a correct and elegant diction." 
 
 Mr. Pinkney continued his professional labors at the 
 session of the Court in 1822, with the intensest applica- 
 tion and desire of success. On the 17th of February, 
 he was attacked by a severe indisposition, brought on, 
 doubtless, by great exertion in preparing for an impor- 
 tant debate. On the 25th of tfee same month he expired, 
 and was entombed in the Congressional burying-ground. 
 Richard Henry Wilde, a great and good man, recently 
 a victim to the pest in New Orleans, thus speaks of him 
 in his " Stars of the Fourteenth Congress." " There was 
 a gentleman from Maryland, whose ashes now sleep in 
 our cemetery. It is not long since I stood by his tomb, 
 and recalled him, as he was then, m all the pride and 
 power of his genius. Among the first of his countrymen 
 
WILLIAM PINKNEY. 363 
 
 and coteiT' oraries as a jurist and statesman, first as an 
 orator, h'- was, if not truly eloquent, the prince of rhe- 
 toricianr.. Nor did the soundness of his logic suffer 
 any thing by a comparison with the richness and classi- 
 cal purity of the language in which he copiously poured 
 forth those figurative illustrations of his argument, which 
 enforced while they adorned it. But let others pro- 
 nounce his eulogy. I must not. I feel as if his mighty 
 spirit still haunted the scene of his triumphs, and, when 
 I dared to wrong them, indignantly rebuked me." 
 
 Awed by this solemn dissuasive from a critical judg- 
 ment on the merits of the departed master whose pro- 
 fessional character we have attempted briefly to de- 
 lineate, it is indeed difficult any farther to proceed. 
 But it is because the subject of this sketch was so 
 admirable as a whole, that we should the more carefully 
 scan tbe degree airti complexion of his faults. No 
 one is perfect, and the imperfections of the best are 
 the most instructive of all. It was not from the pro- 
 ductions of hiedioority, but from the master-pieces of 
 Euripides and Phidias, that the refined critics of Greece 
 took their examples of error. " Go to the Parthenon," 
 said the sculptor to his aspiring pupil, "and find not 
 what bunglers but what great men have left undone." 
 
 We have seen that after Mr. Pinkney's long residence 
 in London, and habitual attendance in Westminster 
 Hall, he adopted a mode of address much more violent 
 than that which graced the beginning of his public 
 career. In the opinion of many judicious persons, the 
 change was no improvement, and the elegance of his 
 elocution did not keep pace with the augmentation of 
 
384 OKATORS OP THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 his intelectual Stores. One who studied him much and 
 'Viv'ise.y, has said that "his rhiTid was of an order that 
 could rather acquire than create. Argumentative and 
 subtle ; his figures of speech, his flights of fancy, cost 
 him more labor than his argument ; he almost always 
 wrote them out, and cohimitted them to niembryl' His 
 fancy did not grow out of his subjefct, like the leaf from 
 the summer bough; 'it was rather stiick on it, like a 
 flower in a cap, for display ; and a certain chilliness 
 remindedi us thai it was a hot-house plant — a forced 
 cultivation.- Yet as a lawyer, I know not his superior; 
 and no man could do* better than to confide his case to 
 Mr. Pinkney — because he never -heglefcted it, through 
 indolence, pleasure, or inattention; and, if he took it in 
 hand, he attended to it, not more 'for emolikment; than 
 for Success and fame." This is explicit, and, without 
 doubt, just. From all we can leflrn, he was generally 
 most frigid when he was most vociferous. This is 
 usually the case. Unlikfc the dread scene at Sinai, the 
 lightnings blaze and the thunder^ crash; but no law is 
 delivered. Like begets Uke. When noisy declamation 
 proceeds from the head rather than the heart; it is the 
 head only thai; it will reach. He was erudite in legal 
 knowledge, ingenious and stringent in argument, some- 
 times fanciful to excess, but not often truly impassioned. 
 His tumult was more like the falling of an avalanche 
 than- the bursting of a volcano. 
 
 The practice of accurate premeditation .and careful 
 composition, we have several times observed,- was 
 habitual with Mr. Pinkney. In this respect- he was 
 directly opposed to that gieat master of : the English 
 
WILMAM PINRNEY. . 365 
 
 forum, whom in mB,ny traits he resembled, ■Charles 
 James Fox. Brougham says of the latter that, " One ot 
 his worst speeches, if not his worst, is that upon Francis, 
 Dkkie of'Bfcdford; and it is known to be almost the only 
 one he ever- much prepared, and the only one he ever 
 corrected for the press." But that such oareful prepara- 
 tiomoffers no necessary impediment to the most enrap- 
 turing oratory is evident from the example of Sheridan. 
 It J is notorious that he never made, a speech of an)' im- 
 portance, without first writing out its main points and 
 most 'thrilling passages over and over again. Indeed, 
 when his; affairs became so deranged as to forbid such 
 minute and elaborate preparation, he ceased to speak in 
 public altogether. Still, in the instance of our country- 
 man, the fastidiousness of his taste may have chilled the 
 JGervor of his emotions. That- which serves best in a 
 written disquisition is often least effective in spoken 
 discourse. It has been said that a didactic poet is a 
 contradiction in terms ; the .remark, is equally true in 
 respect ta^didactic eloquence. In. a popular audience, 
 it is never permitted to make the hearer a mere pas- 
 sive listener;- his presence must be felt by the speaker, 
 and he. must not only be identified with the passing 
 scene buit . kindled .into sympathy by direct personal 
 appeals. .. , 
 
 Aristotle; speaking of certain old philosophers, com- 
 pared them to undisciplined gladiators, who strike at 
 random instead of right forward, and- therefore- fight 
 with little effect, though .they may occasionally deal a 
 powerful blow. Our hero was tooi well trained to strike 
 much at random, and. he had too much forceJn all his 
 
368 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 well-aimed blows to fail in felling his unwary antagonist 
 to the ground. From the ordinary placidity which 
 characterizes the forensic eloquence of our age, Pink- 
 ney as widely differed, as the style of Addison differs 
 from that of Dryden. The former has been liken- 
 ed to a clear and transparent stream, whose motion is 
 too gentle to ruffle the surface or sully the purity of its 
 waters; whilst that of Dryden "has the impetuosity, of 
 a torrent, which often tears the weeds from its banks, 
 and stirs up the ooze from the bottom of its channel ; 
 but that ooze is mixed wi*^h grains of precious gold, and 
 those weeds contain aniongst them flowers of the most 
 delightful hue and odor; whilst the very swiftness of 
 the current fixes our regard more intensely than the 
 tranquil surface of the gentler stream. He seems to 
 have principally aimed at being strong and forcible, and 
 to this object every minor consideration is sacrificed." 
 After all is said, it must be acknowledged that the 
 faults of Mr. Pinkney's manner were lost in the efful- 
 gence of his matter, as the fervor of the sun hides its 
 o.wn spots. There was a vast body as well as mo- 
 mentum in his argument ; a power that generates suc- 
 cess, daunts opposition, and annihilates resistance. Like 
 the giants of ancient mythology, he was in his sphere 
 and mode an ideal of strength. For ever should he be 
 admired for his industry and patriotism. With all the 
 advantage of uncommon outward talents, so intense 
 and habitual was his love of intellectual improvement, 
 that he considered every hour deducted from study as 
 worthy of a black pebble. Titus never more deeply 
 mouined the loss of a day, What the.gieatest of lush 
 
WILLIAM l-lNKNEV. 367 
 
 orators said of the best of English statesmen may not 
 unjustly be said of Pinkney, and to have deserved the 
 encomium is an honor sufficient to prompt and j-eward 
 the ambition of any man. "No state chicanery, no 
 narrow system of vicious politics, no idle contests for 
 mere party victorii-i, regnrdh'-s ci prnciple, ever sunk 
 him to the vulgar level of hr. lo called great." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WILLIAM WIRT, 
 
 THE ELEGANT ADVOCATE. 
 
 ELoauENT and upright lawyers have ever been among 
 the first to resist oppression and promote human weal. 
 Demosthenes, who roused the Athenians to resist the 
 tyranny of Philip, was an advocate. Cicero, the anta- 
 gonist of oppressors and the savior of his country, was 
 an advocate. When Charles the First commenced his 
 despotic exactions, it was the advocates of England 
 who first breasted the torrent. France was revolu- 
 tionized by advocates ; and her best patriots at this 
 moment are the ablest leaders at her bar. When the 
 enormities of Great Britain threatened subjugation to 
 her colonies in the west, it was the voice of such advo- 
 cates as Otis, Henry and Adams, that, like a Paladin's 
 horn, roused the people of America to conquest and 
 liberty. From the first planting of republican institu- 
 tions in our land, advocates have perpetually kindled 
 the beacon-lights of patriotism and law — " hcpe of the 
 fettered slave and glory of the free." Prominent in this 
 noble class was 
 
 William Wirt. His parents were a Swiss and a 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 369 
 
 3erman, who resided, at the time of hi:* b.rth, Nov. 8th, 
 1772, at Bladensburg, near Washington. His father 
 died when he was an infant ; and his mother when he 
 was but eight years old. Like most great men, he was 
 early left orphaned of every thing but resolution and 
 hope, to antagonize with worldly adversity, and, in the 
 midst of storms, to build his fortunes. 
 
 After suitable preparatory studies, he went to Lees, 
 burg, Virginia, and when seventeen years old, com- 
 menced the study of law in the office of Mr. Swann. 
 He seems to have prosecuted his studies with great 
 diligence and success. Among other good influencea 
 under which his mind was there developed, he was ever 
 of the opinion that he derived much advantage from the 
 beauty and sublimity of the natural scenery which en- 
 compassed him. Undoubtedly, his conclusion on that 
 point was correct. There is always a striking resem- 
 blance between the predominating character of local 
 scenery and the minds matured under its influence. 
 Edmund Burke grew up amid the most gorgeous 
 scenery of Ireland, and Daniel Webster was cradled 
 in the bosom of the White Mountains of New Hamp- 
 phire, where all in nature is cool, colossal, sublime. 
 
 Mr. Wirt obtained his license to practice law in 1792, 
 a few days before he was twenty years old. The first 
 cause in which he was engaged was in Culpepper 
 County, on which occasion his argument is said to have 
 been firm, collected and successful. 
 
 For several years, he resided in the family of Dr. G. 
 Gilmer, whose daughter he married in 1795. The 
 Doctor had a high professional and classical reputation. 
 16* 
 
370 ORAfORS OF THE AMEI lOAIT KEVOLUTIOJT. 
 
 and was on familiar terms with the first men of the day, 
 Here Wirt became acquainted with Monroe, Madison, 
 Jefferson, and other eminent citizens, whose learning 
 he emulated, and in whose society he greatly improved. 
 
 After the death of his wife, in I'} 99, he was elected 
 Clerk of the House of Deiogates of Virginia, which 
 Drought him into the sphere of some of his greatest 
 achievements. His first appearance in Richmond, as a 
 speaker, was upon the 4th of July, 1800, and in the 
 celebrated trial of Callender. In 1802, he was elected 
 Chancellor of the Lower District of the Chancery Court, 
 held at Williamsburg. In the autumn of that year he 
 married Miss Gamble, who survived him. During thir- 
 teen years, the time of his residence at Richmond and 
 Norfolk, he conducted a great many civil and criminal 
 causes, and competed successfully with the Tazewells. 
 Taylors, Wickhams, Randolphs, and other distinguished 
 men who adorned the Virginia bar. 
 
 One of the first trials which engaged his attention, 
 after his return to Richmond, and which gave him a 
 wide reputation, was the prosecution of Aaron Burr, in 
 1807. To him, as much as to any of the counsel en- 
 gaged, belonged the commendation of the court, that 
 " a degree of eloquence, seldom displayed on any occa 
 sion, embellished solidity of argument and depth of 
 research." 
 
 In 1808, Mr. Wirt was elected to the House of Dele- 
 gates from Richmond, and during that year drew up 
 several importaiit State papers. The British Spy was 
 written in 1803; the Old Bachelor, in 1812; and ir 
 1817, he published the Life of Patrick Henry. 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 371 
 
 In 1816, Mr. Madison appointed Mr. Wirt District- 
 Attorney for Virginia ; and in the following year, at the 
 age of forty-five, he was appointed by Mr. Munroe, 
 Attorney-General of the United States. Unlike his pre- 
 decessors, he removed permanently to Washington, and 
 continued there throughout eleven years and four 
 months, more than twice the time the office had been 
 held by any other. He was very strict in his attention 
 to official duties, and exceedingly laborious. He insti- 
 tuted a new practice in the office, and not only filed 
 every document for future reference, but made a regular 
 record of every official opinion and letter he wrote 
 Three large volumes of this kind he left for the use of 
 the future historian of the jurisprudence of the country, 
 more valuable material, no doubt, than can be gathered 
 •rom all the previous incumbents of his office since the 
 government was formed. 
 
 In 1826, at the request of the citizens of Washington, 
 he delivered an eulogy on Adams and Jefferson. It 
 was deemed one of the most masterly productions 
 which that Inelancholy event occasioned. In the winter 
 of 1822, he was severely attacked by a disease resem- 
 bling apoplexy, and was compelled to resign his position 
 as Attorney-General. 
 
 But he did not cease to prosecute with ardor the duties 
 of his profession. His aid was sought by individuals, 
 by corporations, by States, and even by the government 
 itself, in matters of the greatest importance. He visit- 
 ed every part of the Union, in his professional capacity, 
 and every where commanded admiration by his great 
 Kgal and personal worth 
 
312 ORATORS OF .THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Having , now glanced over the greater part of his 
 career as an advocate, we propose in ampler detail tc 
 delineate his character and examine his claims on our 
 regard. Let us inquire into his scholarship, his effi- 
 ciency as a lawyer, and his excellence as a man. 
 
 Mr. Wirt enjoyed no collegiate course of studies in 
 early life, but from the first he was habitually studious, 
 and before the meridian of his manhood he had become 
 a ripe proficient in the classics, both ancient and 
 modern. Horace, Virgil, Cicero, and Seneca, were his 
 favorite Latin authors; the first was a constant inmate 
 of his valise, in all his visitations to county courts, and 
 often his companion late at night. His juvenile tastes 
 inclined to works of fiction ; but in maturer life he pre- 
 ferred Bacon, Boyle, , Lockev and Hooker. His reading 
 was incessant, discriminating, and comprehensive. He 
 ranged over the whole domain of letters and science 
 with irrepressible ardor. It was his custom to prosecute 
 the study of the philosophy, of law always in oonnectioc 
 with the philosophy of mind. He mingled the investi- 
 gation of material sciences with the highest spiritual 
 truths. Astronomy, with the natural phenomena con- 
 nected J;lierewith, was a favorite theme with him, but 
 moral science was his master passion. He garnered 
 rich stores of diversified knowledge, much of which was 
 contributed by the graceful Nine under Apollo's care ; 
 but, in general his weapons were of a sterner kind, many 
 of the most potent shafts of his quiver- being drawn from 
 the glorious armory of Hooker and Chillingworth. 
 About the time some poetical extracts from Wirt's 
 famous speech against Burr were widely published, av 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 373 
 
 eminent jurist expressed to one of his most intimate and 
 learned fi'iends a doubt as to his possessing much ab- 
 struse legal erudition. " Your estimate is wrong,"' was 
 the reply. " His true character is that of a laborious, 
 profound lawyer, more conversant with the hlack letter 
 than even with works of taste, poetry, and fiction." 
 
 It is believed that Mr. Wirt, was, indeed, liberally 
 educated to an eminent degree. His knowledge of his- 
 tory, of the ancient and modern classics, and of legal 
 science, was varied and profound, while his political in- 
 formation and sagacity equalled his other accomplish- 
 ments. A mere acquaintance with the technicalities ot 
 the law will not constitute a successful lawyer in 
 America. Eloquence goes far to make the powerful 
 advocate here. To this primary requisite, extensive 
 learning of a general character, and elegant acquisitions 
 which shall fortify and adorn that eloquence, must harmo- 
 niously unite. His outfit for professional strife must be 
 practical as well as profound. " He who haseollected his 
 knowledge in solitude, must learn its application by mix- 
 ing with mankind," said Doctor Johnson. On review- 
 ing Mr. Wirt's qualifications as an advocate, and the 
 successful use he made of his powers, we think that it 
 niay be said of him justly, as was said of George Can- 
 ning, whom, in certain points he greatly resembled: 
 "He wasany thing rather than a mere scholar. In him 
 wer6 combined, with a. rich profusion, the most lively, 
 original fancy — a happily retentive and ready memory — 
 singulai powers of lucid statement — and occasionally 
 wit in all its varieties, now biting and sarcastic to over- 
 whelm an antagonist — ^now pungent or giving point to 
 
an argument — now playful for mei'e amusement, and 
 bringing relief to a tedious statement, or lending a charm 
 to dry chains of close reasoning." 
 
 It is rare that genius is not conscious of its own la- 
 tent powers. However discouraged and prostrate the 
 aspirant may be at the outset, every great man expe- 
 riences moments when he rises in dignified pride against 
 those who persecute or forget him, and, without wait- 
 ing for the commemorative statues which admiring pos- 
 terity are sure to erect, confidently crowns himself with 
 his own hands. 
 
 " There have been those that from the deepest caves, 
 
 And cells of night, and fastnesses, below 
 
 The stormy dashing of the ocean-waves, 
 
 Down, farther down than gold lies hid, have nurs'd 
 \~ A quenchless hope, and watrVd their time, and burst 
 
 On the bright day like wakeners from their graves." 
 
 Wirt wrote the " British Spy," while he was a stu- 
 dent, or immediately after he commenced the practice 
 of his profession. His eloquent description of the novi 
 homines, the new men, was to no one more applicable 
 than himself. The magnificent yearnings embodied in 
 the essays written in early manhood on the means and 
 purposes of eloquence, betrayed his prevailing tastes and 
 foretokened his success. "Genius," says Du Bos, "is 
 an aptitude, which man has received from nature to per- 
 form we! 1 and easily, that which others can do but indif- 
 ferently, and with a great deal of pains. We learn to 
 execute things for which we have a genius, with as 
 much facility as we speak our own mother tongue." 
 There can be no doubt that Wirt's genius was of the 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 375 
 
 highest order, but he began and continued through hia 
 whole splendid career under the deep and abiding con- 
 viction that eminent success depended on the most as- 
 siduous self-cultivation. His favorite pursuits indicated 
 his native capacities, and his extraordinary industry 
 justified the glowing prophecies of his most sagacious 
 friends. Every person who has decided tastes and 
 fervid aspirations, in other words, who has a strong in- 
 dividuality of his own, will be forcibly moved by cor- 
 responding traits in the objects he contemplates and the 
 excellence he adores. A man's favorite pursuits and 
 most admired authors, even the works of art he most 
 enjoys, are a sure index to the calibre and complexion 
 of his mind. The peculiar delight felt in a given pursuit 
 or recreation, if carefully analyzed, will be found mainly 
 to depend on the resen^'blance between the object ad- 
 mired and the mental character of the devotee. 
 
 What Mr. Wirt's prevailing passion and pursuits 
 .were we may easily learn from the following extract 
 from an admirable letter of advice he wrote in the 
 maturity of his life to a young gentleman engaged in 
 the study of law. His benevolence and wisdom are 
 therein signalized. "It requires a previous acquaintance 
 with the student, to ascertain the natural condition of 
 his various powers, in order to know which requires 
 the spur and which the rein. In some minds, imagina- 
 tion overpowers and smothers all the faculties ; in 
 others, reason, like a sturdy oak, throws all the rest into 
 a sickly shade. Some men have a morbid passion for 
 ihe study of poetry — others, of mathematics, &c., &c. 
 All this may be corrected by discipline, so far as it may 
 
376 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOILTIOW. 
 
 be judicious to correct it. I believe in all sound mindj 
 the germ of all the faculties exists, and may, by skillful 
 management, be wooed into expansion ; but they exist 
 naturally in different degrees of health and strength, 
 and as this matter is generally left to impulses of nature 
 in each individual, the highest and strongest germs get 
 the start — give impulse and direction to the efforts oi 
 each mind — stamp its character and shape its destiny. 
 As education, therefore, now stands among us> each 
 man must be his own preceptor in this respect, and by 
 turning his eyes upon himself, and describing the com- 
 parative action of his own powers, dis.cover which of 
 them requires the most tone — which, if any, less. We 
 must take care, however, not to make an erroneous 
 estimate of the relative value of the faculties, and thus 
 commit the sad mistake of cultivating the showy at the 
 expense of the solid. 
 
 " A brave and pure spirit is worth more than ' half the 
 battle,' not only in preparing for life, but in all its con- 
 flicts. Take it for granted, there is no excellence with- 
 out great labor. Wishing, and sighing, and imagining, 
 and dreaming of greatness will never make you great 
 If you would get to the mountain's top on which the tem- 
 ple of fame stands, it will not do to stand still, looking, 
 admiring, and wishing you were there. You must gird 
 up your loins, and go to work with all the indomitable 
 energy of Hannibal scaling the Alps. Laborious study, 
 and diligent observation of the world, are both indis- 
 pensable to the attainment of eminence. By the former, 
 you must make yourself master of all that is known of 
 science and letters ; by the latter you must know man. 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 311 
 
 at large, and pai-ticularly the charactei and genius of 
 youi' countrymen. You must cultivate assiduously the 
 habits of reading, thinking, and observing. Understand 
 your own language, grammatically, critically, through- 
 out ; learning its origin, or, rather, its various origin^ 
 which you may learn from Johnson's and Webster's 
 Prefaces to their large dictionaries. Learn all that is 
 delicate and beautiful, as well as strong, in the language, 
 and master all its stores can teach. You must never 
 'he satisfied with the surface of things; probe them to 
 the bottom, and let nothing go till you understand it as 
 thoroughly as your powers will enable you. When 
 you have mastered all the past conquests of science, 
 you will understand what Socrates meant by saying, 
 that he knew only enough to be sure that he knew 
 nothing. Seize the moment of excited curiosity on 
 any subject to solve your doubts ; for if you let it pass, 
 the desire may never return, and you may remain in 
 ignorance. The habits which I have been recom- 
 mending are not merely for college, but for life. Frank- 
 lin's habits of constant and deep excogitation clung to 
 him to his last hour. Form these habits now; learn 
 all that may be learned at your university, and bring all 
 your acquisitions and your habits to the study of the 
 law, which you say is your profession : — and when you 
 come to this study, come resolved to master it — not to 
 play in its shallows, but to sound its depths. Resolve 
 to be the first lawyer of your age, in the depth, extent 
 variety, and accuracy of your legal learning. Master 
 the science of pleading — master Coke upon Littleton — 
 and Coke's and Plowden's Reports — master Fearne on 
 
378 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Contingent Remainders and Executory Devises, tL 
 you can sport and play familiarly with its most sujtle 
 distinctions. Lay your foundations deep, and broad, 
 and strong, and you will find the superstructure com- 
 paratively light work. It is not by shrinking from 
 difficult parts of the science, but by courting them, and 
 overcoming them, that a man rises to professional 
 greatness. There is a deal of learning that is dry, dark, 
 cold, revolting-^but it is an old feudal castle, in perfect 
 preservation, which the legal architect who aspires to 
 the first honors of his profession will delight to explore 
 and learn all the uses to which the various parts used 
 to be put ; and he will the better understand, enjoy, 
 and relish the progressive improvemenlb of the science 
 in modern times. You must be a master in every 
 branch of the science that belongs to your profession ; 
 the laws of nature and of nations, the civil law, and the 
 law merchant, the maritime law, &c., the charte and 
 outline of all which you see in Blackstone's Commenta- 
 ries. Thus covered with the panoply of professional 
 learning, a master of the pleadings, practice, and cases, 
 and at the same time a great constitutional philosophic 
 lawyer, you must keep way, also, with the march of 
 general science. Do you think this is requiring too 
 much ? Look at Brougham, and see what man can do 
 if well armed and resolved. — You must, indeed, be a 
 great lawyer ! but it will not do to be a mere lawyer — 
 more especially as you are properly turning your mind, 
 also, to the political service of your country, and to the 
 study and practice of eloquence. You must, therefore, 
 he a political lawyer and historian ; thoroughly versed 
 
WIILIAM WIKT. 379 
 
 in the Constitution and laws of your country, and 
 fully acquainted with all its statistics, and the his- 
 tory of all the leading measures which have distinguished 
 the several administrations — you must study the debates 
 in Congress, and observe what have been the actual 
 effects upon the country of the various measures that 
 have been the most strenuously contested in their 
 origin. You must be a master of the science of political 
 economy, aud especially of financiering, of which so 
 few of our countrymen know anything. 
 
 But it is time to close this letter. You may ask for 
 instructions adapted to improvements in eloquence. 
 This is a subject for a treatise, not for a letter. Cicero, 
 however, has summed up the whole art in a few words ; 
 it is " apte — distincte — ornate — dicere" — to speak to the 
 purpose — to speak clearly and distinctly — to speak 
 gracefully : — to be able to speak to the purpose, you 
 must understand your subject and all that belongs to 
 it : — and then your thoughts and method must be clear 
 in themselves, and clearly and distinctly enunciated: — 
 and lastly, your voice, style, delivery and gesture, must be 
 graceful and delightfully impressive. In relation to this 
 subject, I would strenuously advise you two things : Com- 
 pose much, and often, and carefully with reference to 
 this same rule, " apte, distincte, ornate," and let your con- 
 versation have reference to the same objects. I do not 
 mean that you should be elaborate and formal in your 
 ordinary conversation. Let it be perfectly simple and 
 natural, but always in good time, (to speak as the 
 musician,) and well enunciated. 
 
 With regard to the style of eloquence that you shall 
 
380 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
 
 adopt, that must depend very much on your own taste 
 and genius. You are not disposed, I presume, to be a 
 humble imitator of any man. If you are, you may bid 
 farewell to the hope of eminence in this walk. None 
 are mere imitators to whom Nature has given original 
 pow&'s. If you are endowed with such a portion of 
 the sp.rit of oratory as can advance you to a high rank 
 in this walk, your manner will he your own. I can only 
 tell you that the florid and Asiatic style is not the taste 
 of the age. The strong, and the rugged and abrupt, 
 are far more successful. Bold propositions, boldly and 
 briefly expressed, — pithy sentences — nervous common 
 sense — strong phrases — the feliciter audax, both in lan- 
 guage and conception — well-compacted periods — sudden 
 and strong masses of light — an apt adage — a keen sar- 
 casm — a merciless personality — a mortal thrust — these 
 are the beauties and deformities that now make a 
 speaker the most interesting. A gentleman and a Chris- 
 tian will conform to the reigning taste so far only as his 
 principles and habits of decorum Vifill permit. We re- 
 l^re that a man should speak to the purpose and come 
 to the point — that he should instruct and convince. To 
 do this, his mind must move with great strength and 
 power ; reason should be manifestly his master faculty — 
 argument should predominate throughout; but these 
 great points secured, wit and fancy may cast their lights 
 around his path, provided the wit be courteous as well 
 as brilliant, and the fancy chaste and modest. But they 
 must be kept well in the back-ground, for they are dan- 
 gerqus allies ; and a man had better ))e without them, 
 tharj to show them in front, or to show them too often.' 
 
Wn-LIAM WIRT. 381 
 
 We are not aware that a better code of precepts 
 that! the above of the same length exists. How far Mr. 
 Wirt governed himself by his own rules, will be indi- 
 cated, as, in the second place, we proceed to inquire into 
 his efficiency as an advocate. 
 
 In his personal appearance, he had much about him 
 to propitiate popular favor. He possessed a fine person, 
 manners remarkably conciliating, and colloquial powers 
 of the highest order. The most casual glance upon him 
 in repose or action, impressed the beholder with an in- 
 stinctive sense of his superiority. His natural air was 
 dignified and commanding ; his countenance was broad, 
 open, manly and expressive ; his eye was full of fire and 
 feeling ; his mnuth denoted mingled humor and firm- 
 ness; and his whole appearance was truly oratorical. 
 His frame was large, but agile ; his nose was Roman, 
 his complexion pale and marked with lines of thought ; 
 his forehead was not high, but broad ; his hair was 
 sandy, and his head bald on the top. He had great 
 original powers of action, but spoke with a chastened 
 dignity which commanded respect bordering on awe.* 
 Of him it might have been said, as Dryden in his time 
 ieclared of Harte, that "kings and princes might have 
 come to him, and taken lessons how to comport them- 
 selves with dignity." Wirt's impressiveness resulted 
 from the aggregate of a Ciceronian person, a Chatham 
 face, the voice of Anthony, and the mental qualities of 
 Irving and Bowditch, — a model of grace and a master 
 of dialectics, — poetry and philosophy combined. He 
 had much of the acuteness of Marshall, and all the in- 
 trepidity of Pinkiiey ; but in his composition, there was 
 
382 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN kiSVOLUTION. 
 
 no want of fluency, and no insolence or exultation ol 
 manner. Judgment and imagination lay in the balance 
 of his mind in such delicate and equal proportions that 
 the scale seldom trembled, and the splendors that en- 
 compassed the glorious combination in his mature life 
 were never obscured. 
 
 Such an advocate will be heard. The envious and 
 fastidious may pronounce him vague, impalpable or dif- 
 fuse, and yet all are compelled to listen to him with that 
 spell-bound emotion which is always produced by noble 
 and harmonious eloquence emanating from an honest 
 and impassioned heart. Wirt was not a stranger to the 
 popular esteem which such talents command. 
 
 His pathos was refined and thi'illing. He could sub- 
 due all his admirable powers of mind and voice to those 
 delicate tones which go directly to the heart, like zephyrs 
 changed to angelic strains as they traverse jEolian 
 strings. Such was his power when he described female 
 innocence and beauty abandoned by him who had bask- 
 ed in her smiles, and who should have prevented the 
 winds of heaven from visiting her too roughly, now left 
 "shivering at midnight on the winter banks of the Ohio, 
 and mingling her tears with the torrent, which froze as 
 they fell." 
 
 " Never tone 
 So thrilled through nerve, and vein, and bone, 
 His eyebrcw dark and eye of fire 
 Showed spirit proud and prompt to ire ; 
 Yet lines of thought upon his cheek 
 Did deep design and counsel speak." 
 
 Those who wore familiar with the clearness, melody 
 
WILLIAM WIET. 383 
 
 and flexibility of Mr. Wirt's voice when at the height 
 of his fame, and his distinct, emphatic, and unembarrass- 
 ed pronunciation, may be surprised to learn that when 
 he entered on the practice of his profession, "his utter- 
 ance was thick — his tongue clumsy, and apparently too 
 large — his pronunciation of words clipping — and, when 
 excited by feeling, his voice unmanageable ; sometimes 
 bursting out in loud, harsh, indistinct, and imperfect 
 articulation.'' All this he overcame through persever- 
 ing cultivation. The miracle of the pebbles performed 
 by Demosthenes was repeated in his own person. In 
 all his life he was a passionate and persevering votary 
 of elocution in the broadest sense of the term. First, as 
 to language, as Dryden said, in one of his criticisms, 
 " the third happiness of this writer's imagination is elo- 
 cution, or the art of clothing or adorning that thought 
 so found and varied, in apt, significant, and sounding 
 words." But over and above the mere verbiage of his 
 spoken thought, he gave great attention to gesture, 
 which is the language of the body. " The hands are the 
 coriimon language of mankind," said Cicero, and another 
 distinguished Roman orator was accustomed to declare, 
 that " he was never fit to talk, till he had warmed his 
 arm." So important is a graceful manner in public ad- 
 dress, that the prince of ancient rhetoricians laid it down 
 ds a primary maxim, that "it is this alone that governs 
 m speakmg ; without which the best orator is of nc 
 ralue, and is often defeated by one, in other respect^ 
 flfiuoh his inferior.'' 
 
 • Action V ijoniieivje, an/1 'hn ej-ns of the ignorant 
 More learned than the ears." 
 
384 OKATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 The art with which Mr. Wirt came at length to con 
 ceal his art was consummate — it was carried, perhaps, 
 to a fault. He became so fastidious as to the perfection 
 of his oratorical manner that he too sternly repressed 
 those natural outbursts of emotion which constitute the 
 principal source of eloquence. It required the most 
 sagacious eye to detect the artifice, but a master would 
 see it; — or, we should say, the fault was felt rather than 
 seen. What was wanting in his ordinary efforts, was 
 the talismanic power of evoking and controlling the pro- 
 founder passions of our nature. Not altogether inappli- 
 cable to Wirt is the criticism which an English Critic 
 applied to Canning, whom we have already intimated 
 he resembled : " His declamation, though often power- 
 ful, always beautifully ornate, never deficient in admira- 
 ble diction, was certainly not of the very highest class. 
 It wanted depth ; it came from the mouth, not from the 
 heart ; and it tickled or even filled the ear rather than 
 penetrated the bosom of the listener. The orator never 
 seemed to forget himself and be absorbed in his theme : 
 he was not carried away by his passions, 'and carried 
 not his audience along with him. An actor stood be- 
 fore us, a first-rate one, no doubt ; but still an actor ; and 
 we never forget that it was a representation we were 
 witnessing, not a real scene. The Grecian aAist was 
 of the second class only, at whose fruit the hrds peck- 
 ed ; while, on seeing Parrha-sius's pic-ture, men crieJ out 
 to draw aside the curtain " 
 
 But there was no radical deficiency in Mr VVirl of 
 acute seusioility una reiiueJ iiiu^inaiiou. ilis mind 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 385 
 
 originally was like a prism of a thousand angles, through 
 which every ray of thought was made to dazzle the 
 spectator with innumerable resplendent beams. In his 
 early productions, he resembles the gorgeous bird of 
 Juno that exhibits with ostentation its plumage all be- 
 decked with emerald, sapphire and gold. When there 
 is an excess of rhetorical ornament, the superfluity palls 
 on the taste, like a surfeit of honey. Fires that buri 
 with steady and perpetual flame are impressive, as we!.'. 
 as useful; but one is soon rendered cold and discon- 
 tented in the presence of transient coruscations, tht i 
 result of idle pyrotechnic skill, which flash for a momen . 
 in gaudy hues that obscure the stars, and the next mo 
 ment are lost in the deepened gloom of night. Natura 
 and impassioned eloquence speaks in the lucid vernaculai 
 of all men, and is comprehended by all ; while that which 
 is artificial, be it never so polished, is .with difficulty 
 understood ; one recites its formal prettiness on the 
 bijink of the abyss where truth lies drowning ; the other 
 descends with energy and averts her fate. The effect- 
 iveness of poetry and painting consists in their power 
 of moving and pleasing; and eloquence, a kindred art, 
 _is valuable in proportion as it persuades. To insure the 
 desired result, the production must possess merits beyond 
 those of mere elegance and regularity. Connoisseurs 
 never examine the works of the old masters withouf 
 perceiving that they evidently considered the graces of 
 execution not as the ultimate end of their art, but only 
 as means for displaying excellences of a far superioi 
 Had. The grand aim of an orator ia not to be com- 
 
 n 
 
386 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUllON. 
 
 mended for the symmetry and beauty of his discourse^ 
 things that have comparatively little persuasive virtue, 
 but to convince our judgments by the force of his argu- 
 ments, and to move our hearts by the pathos of his 
 appeals. The sources of these indispensable materiah 
 must be native to the soul, while art can only supply 
 their judicious arrangement and economical use. In 
 the highest order of e'oquence, the powers of language, 
 music and painting are combined ; and even this con- 
 centration of forces is augmented by the momentum 
 which natural emotion and appropriate gesture impart 
 to it. We are not so much roused and inflamed by 
 what a great original mind tells us, as by what he en- 
 ables us to tell ourselves. No intelligent listener ever 
 heard a first rate speaker, without bearing away with 
 him the consciousness of abilities he never felt before. 
 The oration will seem not to have been very remark- 
 able, since it was so natural ; and the hearer who came 
 without an idea in his head, goes away quite fluent with 
 admirable comments on the theme. The truth is, his 
 torpid nature has been vitalized by coming in contact 
 with an ardent heart ; his senses have been enlivened, 
 his intellect has been invigorated, and the stagnant foun- 
 tain of his affections has suddenly sprung up responsive 
 10 the call of generous sentiments. 
 
 The limited views of persons prejudiced and dwarfed 
 in their own character, do not allow them to compre- 
 hend that universality of talent which distinguishes 
 men of the highest order. When they observe the pre- 
 sence of the agreeable, they exclude the substantial 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 381 
 
 when they discover dexterity, agility, and other phy- 
 sical graces, they cannot admit, as compatible with 
 these, the more severe and effective graces of the mind 
 Persons of one idea, and accustomed to single and ex- 
 clusive views, find it hard to credit the historical fact, 
 that Socrates, the prince of philosophers, was skillful in 
 the dance ; they are equally unwilling to believe that 
 elegant accomplishments may be intimately associated 
 with attributes the most vigorous and profound. Such 
 used to be the imputation cast upon Mr. Wirt, but 
 nobly, on a memorable occasion, did he repel and dis- 
 prove it.. The passage is well worthy of careful perusal, 
 as it illustrates many of its author's qualities — his ima- 
 gination — his fluency — his sarcasm giving force to his 
 logic — his noble bearing and indignant eloquence. 
 
 To the insinuating depreciations in which Mr. Wick- 
 ham had indulged, in the trial of Burr, Wirt replied as 
 follows: " I shall now proceed to examine the motion 
 itself, and to answer the argument of the gentleman 
 who opened it. I will treat that gentleman with candor. 
 I will not follow the example which he has set me on a 
 very recent occasion. I will not complain of flowers 
 and graces where none exist. I will not, like him, in 
 reply to an argument as naked as a sleeping Venus, but 
 certainly not half so beautiful, complain of the painful 
 necessity I am under, in the weakness and decrepitude 
 of logical vigor, of lifting first this flounce and that 
 furbelow, before I can reach the wished-for point of 
 attack. I keep no flounces or furbelows ready manufac- 
 tm-ed and hung up for use in the millinery of my fancy, 
 
388 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOK 
 
 and if I did, I think I should not be so indiscreetly impa> 
 tient to get rid of my wares, as to put them off on im- 
 proper occasions. I cannot promise to interest you bv 
 any classical and elegant allusions to the pure pages of 
 Tristram Shandy. I cannot give you a squib or a 
 rocket in every period. For my own part, I have 
 always thought these flashes of wit (if they deserve that 
 name), I have always thought these meteors of the brain 
 which spring up with such exuberant abundance in the 
 speeches of that gentleman, which play on each side of 
 the path of reason, or sporting across it with fantastic 
 motion decoy the mind from the true point in debate, 
 no better evidence of the soundness of the argument 
 with which they are connected, nor, give me leave to 
 add, the vigor of the brain from which they spring, than 
 thdse vapors which start from our marshes and blaze 
 with a momentary combustion, and which floating on 
 the undulations of the atmosphere beguile the traveller 
 into bogs and brambles, are evidences of the firmness 
 and solidity of the earth from which they proceed. 1 
 will endeavor to meet the gentleman's propositions in 
 their full force and to answer them fairly. I will not, as 
 I am advancing towards them with my mind's eye, 
 measure the height, breadth and power of the propo- 
 sition, if I find it beyond my strength, halve it; if still 
 beyond my strength, quarter it; if still necessary, sub- 
 divide it into eighths ; and when by this process I have 
 reduced it to the proper standard, take one of these sec- 
 tions and toss it with an air of elephantine strength and 
 superiority. If I find myself capable of conducting, by 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 389 
 
 a fair course of reasoning, any one of his p.'opositions 
 to an absurd conclusion, I will not begin by stating; 
 that absurd conclusion as the proposition itself which 
 I am going to encounter. I will not, in commenting on 
 the gentleman's authorities, thank the gentleman with 
 sarcastic politeness for introducing them, declare that 
 they concluded directly against him, read just so much 
 of the authority as serves the purpose of that declara- 
 tion, omitting that which contains the true point of the 
 the case which makes against me ; nor if forced by a 
 direct call to read that part also, will I content myself 
 by running oyer it as rapidly and inarticulately as I can, 
 throw down the book with a theatrical air, and exclaim, 
 ' just as I said,' when I know it is just as I have not said. 
 I know that by adopting these arts, I might raise a laugh 
 at the gentleman's expense, but I should be very little 
 little pleased with myself if I were capable of enjoying 
 a laugh procured by such means. I know, too, that by 
 adopting such arts, there will always be those standing 
 around us, who have not comprehended the whole 
 merits of the legal discussion, with whom I might shake 
 the character of the gentleman's science and judgment 
 as a lawyer. I hope I shall never be capable of such a 
 wish, and I had hoped that the gentleman himself felt so 
 strongly that proud, that high, aspiring and ennobling 
 magnanimity, which I had been told conscious talents 
 rarely fail to inspire, that he would have disdained a 
 poor and fleeting triumph gained by means like these." 
 It is a fine trait in Mr. Wirt, that his mind became 
 greatly enriched and chastely splendid, as he advanced 
 
590 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIO\. 
 
 in years. His oratorical talent was none the less vaiua. 
 ble for being developed in the vigor of manhood ; like 
 the blossoming of the aloe, although long delayed, the 
 unfolding of his riper genius was marvelous. At the 
 period when ordinarily the animal spirits flag, and fancy 
 grows dim, his intellect blazed out, like the sacred flame 
 on the altar of the fire-worshipper, at the very moment 
 of threatened extinction. In this respect, he resembled 
 Edmund Burke, and the most eloquent of the Hebrew 
 prophets, Isaiah. He was to the last accustomed to 
 invest the most grave and important topics with a 
 graceful and charming spirit, and yet he was one of the 
 most thoroughly practical men of his day. The flowers 
 with which he adorned his discourse were as strong of 
 stem as they were beautiful and full of odor. The 
 results of the most comprehensive and judicious reading 
 were constantly poured forth through his pen and living 
 voice. Imagination blended with reason and enhanced 
 its force. Running through his elaborate masculine 
 composition, 
 
 " Its veins like silver shine, 
 Or as the chaster hue 
 Of pearls, that grace some sultan's diadem." 
 
 He never allowed indolence to "hang clogs on the 
 nimbleness of his soul," but by constant struggles 
 upward, he " plumed his feathers and let grow his 
 wings." Every theme he touched he adorned. Even 
 Burr's infamy was glorified by the oratory which 
 detailed and avenged it. It is the prerogative of 
 patriotic impeachment to perpetuate the memory ot 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 391 
 
 those who would otherwise soon perish in ignomiuous 
 oblivion. Philip and Catiline, Verres and Hastings, 
 owe their most enduring fame to the accident of 
 being scatiied by the bolts of immortal eloquence. This 
 great prerogative Wirt possessed in an eminent degree. 
 In original and striking combinations, rich perspectives, 
 dramatic groupings, and the happy union of rigid 
 argument and elegant illustration, he was hardly excell- 
 ed. The secret of this extraordinary power lay in hia 
 love of research, and fidelity to his profession. 
 
 Says Mr. Southard : " His labor was without limit. I 
 know of but one individual (Pinkney) who in this re- 
 spect equalled him. They both improved steadily and 
 rapidly, to the last moment, as advocates, counsellors, 
 and scholars ; exhibiting to the young aspirant after 
 fame the true and only road to eminence ; and proving 
 to demonstration, the error of the common opinion, that 
 the mind attains its usefulness, and vigor, and abund- 
 ance, before the age of forty or forty-five ; and that the 
 struggle afterwards is to maintain its strength and ac- 
 quirements, and to use them for the individual and pub- 
 lic benefit. Their progress in intellectual wealth, and 
 its active use, was at no period more rapid than the last 
 fifteen years of their lives." 
 
 The devotion of Mr. Wirt's whole soul to the in 
 terests of his clients was proverbial. A lawyer who 
 does not believe in his heart that the man for wljgm he 
 pleads ought to have a verdict, will be very likely not 
 to obtain one. His own unbelief will be the first thing 
 lodged in the bosoms of the jury, and no perfunctionary 
 protestations will remove it. Swedenbourg professed to 
 
392 ORATORS OF' THE AMEE KAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 have seen in the spiritual world a group of persons en- 
 deavoring in vain to , express a proposition which they 
 did not believe ; but they could not, though in repeated 
 attempts they distorted thpir lips, with indignation. 
 
 As an instance in which it is well known his private 
 friendship gave additional force to his professional 
 energy, take the following description by an eye-witness, 
 Mr. Thomas, It also- illustrates this elegant advocate's 
 happj' tact in quotation. 
 
 " One of the most interesting cases ever witnessed at 
 the Baltimore bar was a trial in a mandamus case, in 
 which the right to a church was contested. Mr. Dun- 
 can had been established in the ministry, in Baltimore, 
 by a number of Scotch Presbyterians, in an obscure 
 edifice.- His talent^, drew su,ch a congregation that it 
 soon became necessary to build a larger one. It was 
 done ; and in the progress of events the pastor preached 
 a more liberal doctrine than he had at first inculcated. 
 His early :supporters remained not only unchanged in 
 their faith, but they: resolved to have it preached to 
 them by one with whom they could entirely agree upon 
 religious matters. The majority of the congregation 
 agreed with Mr. Duncan. A deep schism arose in the 
 divided flock which could not be healed, and which was 
 eventually, by a writ of mandamus, carried before a 
 legal tribunal. Mr. Taney was counsel for the old 
 school ?ide, and Mr. Wirt for the defendants. The 
 court-room, during the trial, was crowded with the 
 beauty and fashion of the monumental city. It was 
 such a display ,of eloquence, and a full appreciation of 
 it, as is seldom witnessed. Mr. Wirt was always happy 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 393 
 
 in making a quotation, and iii concluding tiiis cause he 
 made one of his happiest. After alluding to the old 
 school members, who, it has been said, were Scotchmen, 
 and after dwelling upon the tragedy of Macbeth, the 
 scenes of which are laid in Scotland, he described their 
 preacher as being in the condition of Macbeth's guest ; 
 and said, after a stern rebuke upon them, that though 
 they should succeed in their cause, which he felt confi- 
 dent they would not, they would feel like the guilty thane. 
 
 "This Duncan, 
 Hail, 'orne his faculties so meek, hath been 
 So clear in his great office, that his virtues 
 Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against 
 The deep damnation of his taking off." 
 
 " The quotation was made with such oratorical effect, 
 that there was a deep silence when Mr. Wirt took his 
 seat, which was succeeded by repeated outbreaks of ap- 
 plause." He gained the case. 
 
 A few words only must suffice in relation to Mr 
 Wirt's character as a man. His principles of conduct 
 were of an exalted order, guided by strict integrity, and 
 crowned by the purest moral worth. He never gave, 
 nor willingly received, offence. The querulous, in 
 dealing with him, found themselv-es in the predicament 
 described by Dr. Johnson, when he said of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds, that he was one of those men with whom, if 
 a person desired to quarrel, he would have been most at 
 a loss how to abuse. 
 
 Above all, Mr. Wirt was a humble and consistent 
 Christian. He had thoroughly examined the evidences 
 of oui holy religion and openly became one of its 
 17* 
 
394 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 brightest ornaments. The last acts he performed, on the 
 day he was seized with his fatal sickness, were those of 
 private and public devotion. It was the Sabbath. He 
 lingered a few days in severe physical suffering, and 
 then expired in the calm grandeur of triumphant faith. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THOMAS ADDIS EMMET, 
 
 THE ORATOR OF DEEP FEELING 
 
 Ieeland, in its natural features, nationd spirit, and 
 moral history, is a land of strange contrasts. Ancient 
 sovereignty and modern servitude, the noblest virtues 
 and most ignoble vices, intellects of the greatest splen- 
 dor and hearts of the warmest affection, alas I often 
 blinded with excess of passion and chilled under ty- 
 rannic wrongs, — these are some of her national pecu- 
 liarities and mental traits. Her poets are among the 
 oldest and the best ; her literati shine brightly amid the 
 chief (fairest) luminaries of art and science ; her martiai 
 heroes have never been excelled ; and of her statesmen 
 it is enough to say, that for centuries they have been 
 what they now are, the mightiest leaders of Parliament. 
 While they had natioaal councils of their own, they 
 ^hone supremely in legislative wisdom and justice • 
 when forced into alliance with England, they eclipsei 
 ihe splendors they encountered. The brightest names 
 in English literature and generalship, science and juris- 
 prudence, are Irish. 
 
 But it is in eloquence, especially, that Ireland may 
 
396 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 safely challenge the most refined nations of modem 
 times. Like all things human, it has its faults, some- 
 times seen in a superabundance of imagery, and more 
 often expressed in exaggerated sentiments ; but its 
 merits predominate, and are supassingly grand, in force, 
 fervor, passion, imagination and argument. An un- 
 broken series of consummate orators illuminate the 
 dreary history of injured and abused Ireland, like so 
 many pillars of fire. Prominent among these stands 
 the name of Thomas Addis Emmet. 
 
 He was bom in the city of Cork, in 1765. His 
 Barents were highly respectable inhabitants of that city. 
 At an early age, the son was fdaced at the University 
 of Dublin, and designed by his father for the profession 
 of medicine. Having completed his classical course, he 
 was removed to Edinburgh, where he pursued his medi- 
 cal studies. On the death of his eldei brother, who 
 was a member of the Irish bar, his parents wished him to 
 change his professional studies ; to which desire he as- 
 sented. He went to London, read two years in the 
 Temple, and attended the courts at Westminster. Hav- 
 ing prosecuted his preparatory studies with great care, 
 he returned to Dublin, and commenced practice. His 
 talents, natural and acquired, were seen to be of a high 
 order, and he soon obtained distinction and business. 
 
 It was at this period that a spirit of rebellion against 
 regal oppression shook Ireland to the centre. Emmel 
 was too ardent in character, and too enthusiastically 
 attached to his country to remam indifferent. He 
 deeply imbibed the indignant resentment which every 
 where prevailed against British connection and control. 
 
THOMAS ..DDIS EMMET. 397 
 
 When, in 1795, the societies of united Ir'ishnien were 
 revived, Emmet not only joined them, but soon became 
 a prominent leader. Their avowed object was revolu- 
 tion, and independence for Ireland. He boldly acted 
 as one of the grand executive committee of the socie- 
 ties, when they were computed as consisting of at least 
 five hundred thousand men. On March 12, 1798, 
 he was arrested and committed to prison at Dublin, as 
 a conspirator. In July, after a severe confinement, an 
 interview took place between Emmet and Lord Castle- 
 reagh, at Dublin Castle, and it was agreed that he and 
 the other State prisoners should be permitted to go to 
 the United States, as soon as they had made certain 
 disclosures of their plans of revolution, in respect to the 
 alliance "which it was supposed had been projected 
 between the united Irishmen and France. A memoir 
 of disclosures was delivered, August 4th, but all names 
 involved were inflexibly withheld. Further examina- 
 tions took place, and Mr. Emmet was, as he supposed, 
 discharged. Instead, however, of being sent to the 
 United States, he and nineteen more were, early in 
 1799, landed in Scotland, and incarcerated in a fortress 
 of Nairn, called Fort G«orge. This new imprisonment 
 lasted three years. At the expiration of that term of 
 injustice, pardons arrived for all except Mr. Emmet. 
 The governor of the "fortress, howevei", took the respon- 
 sibility to release him, when, with his admirable wife, 
 who had shared unremittingly his reverses and imprison- 
 ment, both in Ireland and Scotland, they were landed at 
 Cuxhaven, spent the winter of 1802 in Brussels, and 
 that of 1803 in Paris. In October. 1804, they sailed 
 
398 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 , from Bordeaux for this country, and arrived in New 
 York on the eleventh of the next month. Emmet" was 
 then forty years old. He was well qualified for both the 
 professions of medicine and law, and hesitated which to 
 adopt in the new world ; but his friends induced him to 
 resume practice at the bar. His original intention was 
 to remove at once to Ohio, but the then governor of 
 the " Empire State," George Clinton, prevailed on him ' 
 to settle in New York. By special dispensation, he was 
 admitted to the bar without delay, and by indefatigable 
 industry rendered doubly efficient by fervent eloquence, 
 he rose rapidly to the first rank of his profession. It is 
 said that in the course of a very few years, he was not 
 surpassed in business and fame by the most eminent 
 lawyers in America. 
 
 Having thus briefly glanced at Mr. Emmet's career, 
 up to the time of his landing on our shores, we will 
 examine more minutely into his qualifications, his 
 personal appearance, his progress in public favor, and 
 the peculiarities of his eloquence. 
 
 We have seen that Mr. Emmet was early and thor- 
 oughly disciplined in classical erudition and professional 
 training at the best institutions of the three kingdoms. 
 In every field he explored, he was distinguished for 
 patient toil, critical observation, and rapid conquests. 
 The variety of his studies, connected with opposite 
 professions, probably had a happy effect in liberalizing 
 his "nind with diversified and comprehensive views. As 
 has oeen already noted, it was the unhappy loss of his 
 distinguished and -eloquent brother that induced Mr. 
 Emmet to abandon the practice of medicine and aspire 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 399 
 
 after forensic glory. He entered upon this career at a 
 latei period in life than is usual with aspirants after 
 excellence in the rugged and thorny path of the law. 
 But his maturity was no impediment to ultimate sue-- 
 cess. His mind had become so well accustomed to the 
 generalizations of science, that in about two years he 
 reduced the chaotic mass of English law to an organized 
 creation. Early in life he had formed the habit of 
 recurring to first principles, and this often led him tc 
 those sources of legal knowledge of which Coke, Hale, 
 and Mansfield had drunk. His intellect was naturally 
 inquisitive and eager of acquisition ; and his natural 
 tastes, as well as cultivated habits, prompted him at the 
 outset to lay a broad and firm foundation of general 
 jurisprudence, such as is seldom formed by the effemi- 
 nate and timid hands of ordinary students. Instead of 
 being an injury to him, it was undoubtedly an advan- 
 tage of the highest order to have been variously trained 
 before he came to make his first efforts at combination 
 among the distracting and endless distinctions of law. 
 Such would be our inference from the discipline and 
 professional success of the first orators of every age. 
 Demosthenes, Cicero, Lord Erskine, and Patrick Henry, 
 were each about twenty-six years old when they com- 
 menced their forensic labors. Sir James Mackintosh 
 and Mr. Emmet were still later in their studies, and 
 were both for some time educated for another profes- 
 sion. But whatever may be our inferences, there can 
 be no dispute touching the feet as to Mr. Emmet's great 
 and invaluable qualifications for the office he finally as- 
 sumed and zealously prosecuted until death. He stored 
 
400 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 his mind witH a profusion of knowledge, profounder and 
 richer than was possessed by the great majority of his 
 competitors ; and though he was never ostentatious of 
 science, it imparted a reach of thought, variety of iilus 
 tration, and energy of expression, which, aided by the 
 bold and flowing elocution so native to the land of his 
 birth, constituted him one of the most agreeable speakers, 
 and certainly one of the most powerful lawyers, ever 
 heard. 
 
 Mr. Emmet was mainly anxious to be thoroughly 
 grounded in the substantial attributes of education, but 
 he did not entirely neglect the decorative. He was 
 eminently accomplished for the duties of his calling, but 
 it was not altogether through his having " yellowed 
 himself among rolls and records." He had an eye 
 voracious of every thing beautiful, and ai soul capacious, 
 for every thing grand. His education was liberal, in 
 the noblest sense,- i stupendous, but symmetrical tem- 
 ple, "built with the riches of the spoiled world." The 
 most eminent lawyers have ever been distinguished as 
 devotees of elegant letters as well as for skill in rigid 
 dialectics. Lord Hardwicke and Lord Mansfield had 
 great fondness for the lighter productions of the imagi- 
 nation ; Justice Story is well known to have been a 
 poet in temperament, taste, and practice, and so was 
 his great master. Chief Justice Marshall. Shiel and 
 Talfourd, the two brightest ornaments now living of the 
 Irish and English bar, are as distinguished for dramatic 
 excellence, as for being learned and brilliant advocates. 
 Emmet was skilled in that erudition which is the result 
 of long continued and comprehensive studies. From 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 401 
 
 the beginning and all through life, he mingled constant 
 practice with copious acquisition. It was thus that he 
 learned to execute with facility whatever duty required 
 or his fancy could suggest : " He read to learn, and not 
 to quote ; to digest ^nd master, and not merely to dis- 
 play." This blending of substantial and ethereal ele- 
 ments in the nutriment of his mind, inspired within him 
 a vigorous and perennial fountain of impetuous thought. 
 He was no mere passive vehicle of inspiration, but an 
 active votary who beat out much oil for the sanctuary 
 in which he adored. He studied patiently, meditated 
 profoundly, investigated minutely, till intuitive and 
 acquired knowledge became wedded to his habitual 
 feelings, and obedient to its master's call, burst forth 
 in every emergency with that invincible and enraptur- 
 ing power which rendered him great in the foremost 
 rank of men. 
 
 But perhaps the best lessons Mr. Emmet ever learned 
 were acquired in the severe school of adversity. Under 
 the iron hoof of tyranny, and in dungeon glooms, his 
 youthful aspirations had been repelled and his patriot- 
 ism scorned. Our best strength is generated in storms 
 rather than in the calm. The only spiritual engine 
 that can be wielded, so as to make all iniquitous 
 powers tremble on their accursed thrones, is that 
 which they most fear, an independent and eloquent 
 soul. This, and this alone, can arraign all princi- 
 ples, and all tyrants before the tribunal of eternal 
 right, and its greatest triumphs are always won in 
 the sternest conflicts The waters must have fre- 
 quently gone over the soul, before it wins the powei ■ 
 
402 ORATORS 0F> THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 ful suppleness to dart with fortitude under the bil- 
 lows or float in triumph, amid their foamy crests. Nc 
 one wil 1 be likely to think either with depth or precision, 
 until he hsas been mc^de ^strongly to feel. Like the pre- 
 cious gems and varied merchandize cast by wild waves 
 upon the strand near which some richly freighted ship 
 has been wrecked, — such is the spoil won by reflection 
 and stored in the e?.alted regions of the mind', when the 
 tumultuous passions- which occasioned the conquest are 
 calmed. j , : 
 
 The following sketch.of; Mr. Emmet's pferspna! ap- 
 pearance is the combination of various outlines from 
 different hands. He was of the qcdioary height, pos- 
 sessing a body compactly formed;, and stooping a little 
 in the shoulders. He. bore a frank and open counte- 
 nance, strongly expressive of that native good nature, 
 which it is so notorious he constantly exemplified. He 
 was somewhat short sighted, but this did not in the least 
 diminish the fascination of his clear, bright, blue eyes. 
 Justice Story first made his acquaintance when a little 
 more than fifty years old. The lines of. care were then 
 deeply traced upon his face ; the sad remembrances, U 
 was conjectured, of past. sufferings, and of those corrod- 
 ing anxieties which eat their way into the hearts There 
 was a pensive air about him, which suggested to the 
 observer other solicitudes than those which belonged to 
 mere professional lite. "He was cheerful, but rarely, if 
 ever, gay ; frank and courteous, but he soon relapsed 
 into gravity, when not excited by the conversation of 
 others." 
 
 But mental stimulus was essential to the development 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET 403 
 
 and display of Mr. Emmet's nobler and more command- 
 ing traits, as light is necessary to unfold the beauty and 
 grandeur of a landscape. When his soul was thoroughly 
 aroused, his figure assumed a majestic mien, every mo- 
 tion of which was graceful ; an expressive countenance 
 was lit up by a sparkling and piercing eye, that almost 
 commanded victory, while it " spoke audience ere the 
 tongue." While thus invested with the robes of splen- 
 did . intellect, his person seemed made to contain his 
 spirit; his spirit filled and animated his person. His 
 look answered to his voice, and both spoke with simul- 
 taneous power to the soul. He was crowned with the 
 diadem of mental majesty, and stood forth a monarch in 
 the realms of eloquence. He sounded the full diapason 
 of the human spirit, touched every chord of passion in 
 himself and others, and yet, like some tall cliff around 
 which the storm roars, with its head reposing in the blue 
 serene, he preserved a stern self-control amid all the tumult 
 as it raged. He combined the utmost energy with every 
 variety of expression His transitions were rapid, and 
 sometimes extreme, but the all-absorbing intensity of his 
 feelings forced them into unity and gave them breadth. 
 He produced extraordinary effects by a look, a tone, a 
 gesture. By nature and consummate art, he was ad- 
 mirably endowed for forensic war. He had neither the 
 wart of Cicero, nor the stammer of Demosthenes ; he 
 had healthful lungs and graceful limbs, melodious tones 
 and a hardy soul, revivified by an impassioned organiza- 
 tion as vigorously developed as it was rigidly controlled. 
 Since there was such a happy coalition of extraor- 
 dinary mental and physical qualities in Mr. Emmet, it 
 
404 OEAIOKS OF THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTION. 
 
 cannot be a matter of surprise that his progress- in 
 popular estimation was both rapid and triumphant. In 
 1812, he was appointed Attorney-General of the State 
 of New York; and, in ISlJi, began to practice before 
 the supreme tribunal at Washington. To succeed in 
 this most exalted forum of the nation, requires the ex- 
 ercise of the ripest knowledge of jurisprudence and 
 the clearest logical acumen. " Before such a bar, as 
 adorns that court, where some of the ablest men in the 
 Union are constantly found engaged in arguments, it is 
 difficult for any man long to sustain a professional cha- 
 racter of distinction, unless he has solid acquirements 
 and talents to sustain it." But Emmet's success was 
 founded on a power superior to the ordinary gifts that 
 command popular favor — to undoubted genius there was 
 superadded that moral interest which irresistibly com- 
 mands the best sympathies of an audience. He had 
 conduc'"d himself with such gentleness and dignity 
 through all the vicissitudes of adversity, persecution, 
 imprisonment, and exile, that every generous heart took 
 pleasure in contemplating the splendor of his talents as 
 he exercised them without ostentation on the serene 
 heights of prosperity and fame. Justice Story pre- 
 sents us the following interesting statement in point : 
 
 " It was at this time that Mr. Pinkney, of Baltimore, 
 one of the proudest names in the annals of the Ameri- 
 can bar, was in the meridian of his glory. Mr. Emmet 
 was a new and untried opponent, and brought with him 
 the ample honors, gained at one of the most distin- 
 guished bars in the Union. In the only causes in 
 which Mr. Emmet was engaged, Mr. Pinkney was le- 
 
THOMAS ADDrS EMMET. 405 
 
 tamed on the other side ; and each of these causes was 
 full of important matter, bearing upon the public policy 
 and prize-law of the country Curiosity was awakened ; 
 their mutual friends waited for the struggle with im- 
 patient eagerness ; and a generous rivalry, roused by 
 the public expectations, imparted itself to their bosoms. 
 A large and truly intelligent audience was present at 
 the argument of the first cause. It was not one which 
 gave much scope to Mr. Emmet's peculiar powers. 
 The topic was one with which he was not very fa- 
 miliar. He was new in the scene, and somewhat em- 
 barrassed by its novelty. His argument was clear and 
 forcible ; but he was conscious that it was not one of 
 his happiest efforts. On the other hand, his rival was 
 perfectly familiar with the whole range of prize-law ; 
 he was at home, both in the topic and the scene. He 
 won an easy victory, and pressed his advantages with 
 vast dexterity, and, as Mr. Emmet thought, with some- 
 what of the display of triumph. The case of the'Ne- 
 reide, so well known in our prize-history, was soon 
 afterwards called on for trial. In this second effort, 
 Mr. Emmet was far more successful. His speech was 
 greatly admired for its force and fervor, its variety of 
 research, and its touching eloquence. It placed him at 
 once, by universal consent, in the first rank of Ameri- 
 can advocates. I do not mean to intimate that it 
 placed him before Mr. Pinkney, who was again his 
 noble rival for victory. But it settled henceforth and 
 for ever, his claims to very high distinction in the pro 
 fession. In the course of the exordium of this speech, 
 he took occasion to mention the embarrassment of his 
 
4<J6 ORATORS ,0P THE AMEKIGAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 own, situation, the novelty of the forum, and the public 
 expectations, which accompanied, the cause. He spoke 
 with generous praise of the talents and acquirements of 
 his opponent, whom fame and fortune had followed both 
 in Europe an,d America. And then, in the most deli- 
 cate and affecfing manner, he alluded to the events of 
 his own life,. in which misfortune and sorrow had left 
 many deep traces of their ravages. ' My ambition,' 
 said be, ' was e;ctinguish,ed in my youth ; and I am ad- 
 monished by the premature advances- of ^.ge, not now 
 to attempt , t^he dangerous paths, of fame.' At the mo- 
 ment when he spoke, the recollections of his' sufferings 
 melted the hearts of his audience, and many of tben) 
 were dissolved in tears." 
 
 We will now enter into a more critical analysis of 
 Mr. Emmet's eloquence,., It is to be regretted that we 
 have neither the spape nor abiUty to present copious 
 extracts characteristic of this; great orator's coniposi» 
 tion. But few of his happier efforts were ever reduced 
 to writing, and almost none are now extant. In this 
 respect he much resembles the most renowned of his 
 predecessors in the best age of Irisb eloquence. No 
 full record has preserved to us the rhetorical wealth of 
 the fascinating and silvery, eloquence of Hussey Burgh. 
 Only a few fragmentary remains have come down to 
 us of the massive oratory of Yelverton. The reports 
 were never full and faithful until the times of Plunket, 
 Sheridan, Burke, Curran, Grattan, O'Connel and Shiel. 
 The original grandeur of the temple can hardly be 
 estimated by a few shattered bricks ; but as we wander 
 amid the scenes of primitive greatness, and catch the 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 407 
 
 few antique t >nes that still linger there, we remembei 
 that even the shepherds were once melodious on those 
 glorious hills, and learned to attune their souls to lofty 
 airs on pipes formed of the eagle's wing. 
 
 From all that can now be gathered from Mr. Emmet's 
 recorded works, and reputation wilh cotemporary critics, 
 we infer that his eloquence was ardent and national, 
 original and gi-aceful, sober and substantial, and always 
 studious of the good and the just. 
 
 In the first place he. was evidently full of ardor and 
 deep national feeling. The circumstances which devel- 
 oped these classes of emotion so strongly in our orator, 
 we have already glanced at in considering his early 
 life. No doubt he verified most acutely the sentiment 
 of Cowper : 
 
 '"Tis liberty alone which gives the flower 
 Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, 
 And we are weeds without if." 
 
 In all speakers of the first class, the most predominant 
 quality is force. The greatest ability in one who 
 addresses a popular audience does not consist in the 
 power of plunging deep in science or soaring high in 
 poetic inspiration, but in walking firmly on the solid 
 earth, swaying the masses of men before him as he goes. 
 He must know "how to touch and inflame the sympathies 
 of mankind, conscious that whatever is not allied to 
 these, is foreign to his purpose. His first duty is to be 
 understood by all ; and this end he will never attain, 
 until he can pour himself into the general heart through 
 the (jhannels of deep feeling in language which all 
 
408 OKATOES OF THE AMERICAN BEVOLUTICK. 
 
 instinctively compreiiend. So intimate and sagacioua 
 are the ties of sympathy which bind all hearts, that the 
 most ignorant person will immediately detect the hollow- 
 ress of false pathos whenever its imposition is attempted. 
 Transitions the most abrupt, and language the most 
 extravagant, are sufferable when listeners are once 
 imbued with the fires of sincere emotion, as the smith 
 buffets the mass of iron at discretion and with perpetual 
 effect when at a welding heat. To take such liberties 
 with an assembly on the dead level of ordinary feeling, 
 would be something worse than folly. It is much easier 
 to compel laughter and weeping in rapid alternation, 
 when hearers are once excited, then it is to create the 
 slightest ripple of emotion at the first attacks on the 
 frigid sea of mind. 
 
 The only true basis of sterling eloquence is severe 
 reason : but the imagination is always a grateful accom- 
 paniment, and the heart a most powerful aid. Their 
 skillful combination constitutes consummate excellence; 
 as the combined attributes of Seraphim and Cherubim 
 — the knowing ones and the loving ones — signalize the 
 highest bliss of heaven. Grace and harmony are essen- 
 tial to effective speech, since they strengthen the ideas 
 of the. speaker and give energy to his expression. It is 
 a primary requisite that he should invigorate the sinews 
 and muscles of his mind, and fortify all the powers of 
 will with a masculine firmness ; but the articulations of 
 bony and sinewy strength must be rounded into sym- 
 metry and beautified with the attractive lines of suppf.e 
 life. Pope's description of beauty is equally applicable 
 to eloquence. It is not the eye or the brow that we call 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 409 
 
 beauty; and it is not the exertions of intellect or the 
 evolutions of the body, separately considered, that we 
 call ploquence, " but the full force and just effect of all." 
 When a speaker is deeply absorbed in his subject, and 
 pours himself forth in a tide of glowing emotion, the 
 awkwardness of his gesture is lost in the fascination of 
 his honest feeling, but no artificial elegance of the out- 
 side can ever be substituted for the rugged and sincere 
 workings of the heart. Emmet, in his better moments, 
 wrought in the creation of oratorical armor like a god. 
 
 Some of his paragraphs are the embodiments of the 
 most powerful conceptions in the most vivid language 
 ever forged in the blazing furnace of impassioned mind. 
 
 Lord Erskine, himself an admirable proficient in elo- 
 quence, said in a letter introductory to the speeches of 
 Fox, that " intellect alone, however exalted, without 
 strong feelings — without even irritable sensibility — 
 would be only like an immense magazine of powder, 
 if there were no such element as fire in the natural 
 world. It is the heart which is the spring and fountain 
 of all eloquence." To be efficient in the use of speech, 
 one must be himself moved, must be sincere and in 
 earnest. Within, the fires of logic, fed by passion, 
 must keenly burn ; without, an air of convictio.n and 
 forgetfulness of self, must mantle the speafcei and aug- 
 ment his power. A cold-blooded retailer of hackneyd 
 phrases and empty tropes, who contenriplates his delicate 
 hand as he waves it in effeminate prettiness, and recites 
 •his pointless periods in tones as insipid as their author's 
 spirit, will never attract a crowd and kindle in them 
 the healthy excitement of fervid sensibility. A man 
 18 
 
410 OEATORS CF TIB AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 may convince a few, and even induce many to act, by 
 mere reason and argument. But that kind of oratory 
 which commands universal admiration, and stamps its 
 author a master among men, is never divorced from 
 great warmth of conception and manner of expression. 
 Passion, when it rouses and kindles the mind, without 
 disturbing the power of self-possession, always substan- 
 tiates and exalts the associated powers of the mind. 
 The fervid inspiration of the heart renders the intellect 
 more enlightened, vigorous, penetrating, and imperial, 
 than it is in the calm of indifference. Thus prompted, 
 the speaker is in no loss for words, or apt deductions. 
 Through the lucid medium of contagious sympathy, he 
 transmits to others the glowing sentiments he feels; 
 his looks, tones, gestures, are all persuasive, and nature 
 in every such instance, shows herself infinitely more 
 poweriul than art. 
 
 Eloquence, so far as it is excellent and true, will be 
 national — it will be. characterized by the most promi- 
 nent features of the nation by whom and for whom it 
 is produced. Every judicious speaker will consult the 
 taste of his audience ; in doing this he will designedly 
 or by instinct catch the tone of the inclinations he 
 jonsults, and will shortly come to possess the character 
 he has assumed. This law of assimilation is as vene- 
 rable as human nature itself, and the recognition of its 
 power in forensic life is certainly as old as Cicero 
 Said he, " The eloquence of orators has always been 
 governed by the taste of the hearers. He who is de- 
 sirous of being heard with approbation, naturally con- 
 sults the dispositions of those whom he has to address, 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 411 
 
 and in all rjspects conforms himself to their will and 
 pleasure." Emmet Was rocked in the cradle of liberty, 
 and grew in one continued struggle for human rights. 
 Every faculty he possessed had been tempered in the 
 flames of persecution abroad, ere he came to be pro- 
 tected and matured by the Genius of Liberty at her 
 great western shrine. Providence created and trained 
 him for great and noble deeds. 
 
 In the second place, Mr. Emmet was original and 
 graceful to an uncommon degree. Originality is one of 
 the best traits of Irish eloquence. It is unique both in 
 its good qualities and its bad ; it strikingly exemplifies 
 the temperament and mental structure of the people of 
 the " Emerald Isk." To attain excellence in oratory 
 of a high order, originality is pre-eminently demanded. 
 The speaker must yield to the potent impulses of his 
 own spirit, rather than conform to the cold rules not in- 
 digenous to the soul and soil of his father-land. Per- 
 severing practice may produce the frigid uniformity of 
 a fluent harangue ; but it is only when God's creative 
 breath fans the fires of patriotism in the soul sublimely 
 endowed, that a true orator is fashioned for sovereignty 
 over the hearts of mankind. Mechanism is of great 
 utility in reducing powerful elements to practical use, 
 Out mechanism has no power to create the etherial spirit 
 of omnipotence it struggles to employ. 
 
 Originality is not extravagance, nor need one be un- 
 couth in order to be strong. Indeed, as Carlyle has 
 said, "it is a fundamental mistake to call vehemence 
 and rigidity strength. A man is not strong who takes 
 convulsion fits ; though six men cannot hold him then 
 
412 OBATORS OF THB AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 He that can walk under heaviest weight without stag- 
 gering, he is the strong man." The most rugged and 
 refined qualities were combined in Mr. Emmet's com- 
 position. Fervid passions and resistless energies Jay 
 folded within him, like latent lightnings in a summer 
 cloud; but over these accumulated stores of power, 
 affection, "soft as dews on roses," spread a graceful 
 mantle, shrouding what on' fitting occasions burst forth 
 in fire-showers to blast wherever they fell. Like all 
 regal spirits of the: rostrum, he always excelled with 
 greatest certainty where his sympathies were most 
 aroused. Marinus, speaking of old Proclus, the com- 
 mentator on Plato, says, that "he did not seem to be 
 without divine inspiration. For words similar to the 
 most white and thickrfalling snow, proceeded from his 
 wise mouth ;, his eyes appeared to be filled with afulgid 
 splendor, and the rest of his face to participate of divine 
 illumination." The allusion here is undoubtedly to the 
 beautiful description of Ulysses in the third book of the 
 Iliad, which is paraphrased as follows by Pope : 
 " But when he speaks, what eloeutipn flows ! 
 
 Soft as the fleeces ofi descending snows 
 
 The copious accents fall with easy art ; 
 
 Melting, they faJl and sink into the heart." 
 
 Emmet had much of that enthusiastic suavity^ — that 
 humor combined with pungency so peculiar to his 
 countrjinen, — that knowledge of human nature, and 
 tact in controlling it, which Croly has so graphically 
 described as the leadiiig quality in Sheridan : " Of all 
 great speakers of a day fertile in oratory, Sheridan had 
 the most conspicuous natural g^fts. His figure, at his 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 413 
 
 first introduction into' the House, was manlj and strik- 
 ing ; his countenance singularly expressive, when excited 
 in debate ; his eye, large, black, and intellectual ; and 
 bis voice, one of the richest, most flexible^ and most 
 sonorous, that ever came from human lips. Pitt's was 
 powerful, but monotonous ; and its measured, tone often 
 wearied the ear. Fox's was all confusion in the com- 
 mencement of his speech; and it required some tension 
 cf ear throughout to catch his Words. Burke's was 
 loud and bold, but unmusical ; and his contempt for 
 order in his sentences, and the abruptness of his grand 
 and swelling conceptions, that seemed to roll through 
 his mind like billows before a gale, often nrtade the 
 defects of his delivery more striking. But Sheridan, in 
 manner, gesture, and voice, had every quality that 
 could give effect to eloquence. Pitt and Fox were lis- 
 tened to with profound respec't, and in silence, broken 
 oiily by occasional cheers; but frdm the' nwment of 
 Sheridan's rising, there was an expectation of pleasure, 
 which, to his last days, was seldom disappointed. A 
 low murmur of eagerness ran round the house ; every 
 word was watched for, and his first pleasantry set the 
 whole assemblage in a roar. Sheridan was aware ot 
 this, and has been heard to say, " that if a jester would 
 never be an orator, yet no speaker could expect to be 
 popular in a full house without a jest; and that Ve 
 always made the experiment, good or bad, as a laugh 
 gave him the country gentlemen to a man." Mr. 
 Emmet may not have equalled his great countryman 
 in the talent of humor and story-telling, but in all the 
 more elevated qualities of an orator, he was rarely 
 
414 ORATORS OF THE AMKKICAN EEVOLUTIOW. 
 
 excelled. Science had well trained his reasoning powers, 
 and the graces adorned with their zone every passion 
 of his breast. He conceived his argument strongly, 
 and having clothed his thought in the choicest phrase- 
 ology. 
 
 " He said and acting what no words could say, 
 He sent his soul with every lance he threw." 
 
 We remark, thirdly, that Mr. Emmet, as an orator, 
 was both sagacious and substantial. Many persons 
 doubt that great elegance and utility can be combined. 
 It is sometimes supposed that a forensic hero must be 
 ugly in order to be useful. If his weapons are polished 
 and chastely adorned, however massive, their beauty 
 and brightness raise suspicions as to their durability 
 and strength. Since gravity is usually the cloak of 
 wisdom, the undiscriminating world not unfrequently 
 forget that many exceptions exist, where dullness is 
 clothed in robes the most demure. Hence the general 
 disposition to depreciate any example of uncommon 
 brilliancy, as tending to demonstrate by its glowing 
 substance, that insipidity and reason are not always 
 .nseparable companions. Gold is not the less valuable 
 when superbly wrought into artistic shapes, elegantly 
 burnished and embossed. The solidity of a temple's 
 substructure is not weakened by the grandeur qf its 
 colonnades and the graceful swell of the dome; nor is 
 he the strongest of intellectual beings whose arid reason 
 is the only faculty with which he is endowed. The 
 power of a well-balanced mind is augmented by the 
 energies of the heart and imagination which approxi- 
 
THOMAS AODIS EMMET. 415 
 
 mate the prerc^atives of omnipresence and unbounded 
 love. 
 
 Exuberance of fancy is certainly a defect, but when 
 properly employed, it is an attribute essential to an 
 orator. Devoid of the ideal which imagination creates, 
 the speaker sinks to a mere dry arguer, the most repul- 
 sive of public men; the plodding mason, but not the 
 inspired architect ; he breathes not that divine life which 
 imparts to dull matter animation and soul. But Mr. 
 Emmet never restricted himself to a narrow range of 
 action or thought. He could conciliate attention in 
 notes as soft and gentle as birds " singing of summer in 
 full-throated ease ;" or, if necessary, with equal facility 
 he assumed the thunderer's attitude and arms, hurling 
 down those bolts that " make flexile the knees of knotted 
 oaks." In some of his bolder personifications, he some- 
 times trod the dizzy verge that marks the boundaries 
 of the sublime ; but he trod it like a god. The ballast 
 of his intellect gave stability and use to the towering 
 sails which deep feeling spread. He had stored his 
 memorj' with noble sentiments, striking images and 
 graceful expressions ; and these were rendered effective 
 by a perpetual enthusiasm for liberal pursuits, elegant 
 letters, and lofty freedom. He did not horde wisdom 
 for selfish ends, but to guide the public weal, educate 
 the people, elevate the national taste, and conduct his 
 adopted country, our glorious republic, to the head of 
 the mightiest nations on earth. 
 
 This leads us to remark, in conclusion, that Mi, 
 Emmet seems ever to have been studious of the just 
 tnd the good Justice Story speaks of this, in tie 
 
416 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 following general comments on his character: "His 
 mind was quick, vigorous, searching, and buoyant. He 
 kindled as he spoke. There was a spontaneous com- 
 bustion, as it were, not sparkling, but clear and glowing. 
 His object seemed to be, not to excite Wonder or 
 surprise, to captivate by bright pictures, and varied 
 images, and graceful groups, and startling apparitioins ; 
 but by earnest and close reasoning to convince the 
 judgment, or to overwhelm the heart by awakening 
 its most profound emotions. His own feelings were 
 warm and easily touched. His sensibility was keen, 
 and refined itself almost into a melting tenderness. His 
 knowledge of the human heart was various and exact 
 He was easily captivated by a belief that his own cause, 
 was just. Hence, his eloquence was most striking for 
 its persuasiveness. He said what he felt; and he felt 
 what he said. His command over the passions of others 
 was an instantaneous and sympathetic action: The 
 tones of his voice, when he touched on topics calling for 
 deep feeling, were themselves instinct with meaning. 
 They were utterances of the soul, as well as of the lips." 
 No man was better qualified to put a just estimate 
 upon Mr. Emmet, than the great and good judge whose 
 judgment has just been quoted, and who, alas ! has now 
 followed Legare, Wirt, Pinkney, Emmet, Marshall, and 
 others, to the great tribunal. Of Pinkney's great force, 
 but lack of feeling, we have already spoken. His 
 exhibition sometimes resembled splendid winter scenery, 
 gorgeous forests and mountains glittering with sleet, 
 and brilliant with innumerable gems, but cold as the 
 material of which their beauty was formed. But in the 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 417 
 
 scenes which Emmet evoked, the spectator beheld a 
 summer prospect of natural luxuriance and verdure, 
 less dazzling, but infinitely more replete with charms. 
 His mind was chaste and fair, "as the leaves of the 
 spring's sweetest book, the rose ;" and it was destitute 
 of no element of either natural or acquired strength. 
 His industry was perpetual and elevated. Even amid 
 the fires of persecution, like the sacred bush, he burned 
 but was not consumed. While imprisoned at the 
 fortress in Scotland, he wrote a work on the history of 
 his abused country, which was printed in New York, 
 in 1807. 
 
 Before Emmet was exiled from his native land, his 
 most intimate associate at the bar, and noble rival, was 
 Curran, of whom Lord Byron said, that he had spoken 
 more poetry than any man had ever written. The 
 two young heroes were in many respects alike, and 
 both were fine exemplifications of great suppleness com- 
 bined with great power to resist. Judge Robinson, the 
 author of several stupid, scurrilous pamphlets, on a 
 certain occasion cast a sneer on Curran's poverty, by 
 the brutal remark that he "suspected his law library 
 was rather contracted." " It is very true, my Lord," 
 leplied the indignant barrister, "that I am poor, and the 
 circumstance has somewhat curtailed my library : my 
 books are not numerous, but they are select, and I hope 
 they have been perused with proper dispositions. 1 
 have prepared myself for this high profession rather by 
 the study of a few good works, than by the composition 
 of a great many bad ones. I am not ashamed of my 
 Doverty ; but I should be ashamed -of my wealth, couW 
 18* 
 
418 • ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOW. 
 
 I have stooped to acquire it by servility and corruption 
 If I rise not to rank, I shall at least be honest ; and 
 should I ever cease to be so* many an example shows 
 me that an ill-gained elevation, by making me the more 
 conspicuQus, woijld only make me the more universally 
 and the more noto;riously contemptible." With all such 
 burning indignation towards, arrogance, tyranny; and 
 servile meanness, Emmet profoundly sympathized. ;His 
 private life was irreproachable,!: aind his; professional 
 career was ever charaqterized ,by a noblfe^ dem\,anor, 
 patient investiga,tion, and untarnished integrity., Asa 
 patriot, Mr. Emmet was worthy to take the place he 
 has won among the choicest spirits of our race. , He 
 loved freedom, as bis .dear brptber Robert ; loved his 
 broken-hearted betrothed, to whose father he wrote 
 frpm prisor^ as follows; ;"I wpuld rather have had, the 
 affections of your daughter, in the -back settlements of 
 America, than the first situation this country, could 
 afford without them." At twelve, o'clqck on the day of 
 execution, the same hand wrote its last lines thus: 
 
 "My love, Sarah! it was not thus fhat I thought to 
 have requited your affection. I did hope to be a prop 
 rdttnd which ' your affections might have clung, and 
 which w6'uld never have been shaken ; but a rude blast 
 has snapped it, and they have fallen over a grave. 
 
 "This is no time for affliction. I have had public 
 motives to sustain my mind, and I have not suffered it 
 to sink; but there have been moments in my imprison- 
 ment when my mind was so sunk by grief on hei 
 account, that death woiild have been a reiuge. 
 
THOMAS ADDIS EMMET. 419 
 
 "God bless you!' I am obliged to leave off imme- 
 4iateJy. 
 
 ■ I ►; "Robert Emmet." 
 
 The enthusiastic patridtism which allured him to his 
 destiny, and fortified him in all the'tei^pest he endured 
 of withered hopes and accursed tyranny, enabled him, 
 it is said, to write the above lines witli composure, and 
 immediately after to meet his fate with unostentatious 
 fortitude. The two brothers were alike, fearless of 
 aiistocratic oi- regal malice, and residy to die at any 
 monieiit rather than be recreant to duty. Such is the 
 inspiration which the good and the true imbibe at the 
 shrine of righteous liberty. 
 
 In the van of a glorious mom not yet risen to fuL 
 day, Thomas Addis Emmet was dragged from dungeon 
 to diingelon, hunted from continent to continent, athwart 
 seas and oceans, until he found a safe and honorable 
 protection under the aegis of America. Here he pur- 
 sued a long and glorious career. His d^th took place 
 in the sixty-third year of his age, in a manner some- 
 what remarkable. November 14th, J827, while con- 
 ducting an important case at New York, in the 
 Circuit Court of the United States, he was seized with 
 an apoplectic fit, which put an end to his existence the 
 following night. He was thus suddenly cut down in 
 the fullness of his virtues, strength, and fame. It was 
 only- on the day preceding the fatal, attack, that he had 
 delivered a most powerful address to a jury in a cause 
 of the greatest difficulty and importance. The whole 
 nation mourned his fall. Precious and splendid tes 
 
420 ORATOKS OF THE AMERICAN RBVOLUTIOW. 
 
 timonials immediately indicated the high place he 
 occupied in popular regard. Nor was the respect 
 thus proffered a transie'nt emotion. In the crowded 
 thoroughfare of Broadway, the admirers of genius ami 
 exalted worth may still be often seen to pause and con- 
 template the noble monument to his memory in St. 
 Paul's church-yard. 
 
 This perpetuity of admiration mingled with grief, 
 comports well with the character of the man we have 
 attempted to dtescribe. He was as fascinating in pri- 
 vate life, as he was splendid in the forum. His manners 
 were conciliating and attractive to an extraordinary 
 degree, blending the dignity and urbanity of the gentle- 
 man with the cordiality and playfulness of the friend. 
 Like Hector, setting aside his ci-ested helmet, that ho 
 might not frighten his boy, he laid aside all perfunc- 
 tionary austerities, and put every person in his presence 
 at confiding ease. Politeness in him was of the truest 
 type, and flowg^d from its only true source: — a noble, 
 warm, and magnanimous heart. For whatever was 
 amiable in childhood, or venerable in age — lovely in 
 woman, or heroic in man — ^lofty in principle, endearing 
 m friendship, or praise-worthy in enterprise, he had an 
 mstinctive capacity to appreciate, and spontaneout! 
 sympathies to embrace. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 JOHN RANDOLPH, 
 
 THE IMPERSONATION OF SARCASM 
 
 OsE of the most remarkable men that ever iived wm 
 lohn Randolph, of Roanoke. He was born on 2d of 
 June, 1773, at Matoax, the seat of his father, three miles 
 above Petersburg, Virginia. In his veins were blended 
 the aristocratic blood of England and the blood royal ot 
 primitive America. His lordly bearing, aboriginal de- 
 scent, eccentric career and extraordinary eloquence, 
 early fastened the attention of his countrymen' upon 
 him, and through many years engrossed popular regard 
 to a wonderful degree. 
 
 The progenitor of the Virginia Randolphs was Wil- 
 liam of Yorkshire, England, who settled at Turkey 
 Island, on the James River. William married Mary 
 Isham, of Bermuda Hundred. Several of their sans 
 were distinguished men : William was a member of the 
 House of Burgesses, from Goochland, 1740, and Adju- 
 tant-General of the Colony. Richard was a member of 
 the House of Burgesses, 1740, for Henrico, and suc- 
 ceeded his brother as treasurer. Sir John was Speaker 
 of the House of Burgesses and Attorney-General. Peter, 
 
422 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 son of the 2d William Randolph, was Clerk of the 
 House of Burgesses and Attorney-General. Peyton, 
 brother of John, was Speaker of the House of Bur- 
 gesses and President of the first Congress held at Phila- 
 delphia. Thomas Mann Randolph, great grandson of 
 William, of Turkeyr Island, was a member of the Vir- 
 ginia Convention, 1775, from Goochland. Beverly 
 Randolph was Member of Assembly, from Cumberland, 
 during the Revolution, and. member of the Convention 
 that formed the Federal Constitution, and of the Vir- 
 ginia Convention that ratified it, Governor of the State 
 of Virginia and Secretary of State of the United States. 
 Robert Randolph, son of 'Peter; Richard Randolph, 
 grandson of Peter ; and David Meade Randolph, son of 
 the 2d Richard, were, cavalry officers in the War of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 John Randolph, of Roanoke, was grandson of the 1st 
 Richard. Many distinguished families, in Virginia, 
 including Thomas Marsbali,.father of the Chief Justice, 
 were descended from Randolph of Turkey; Island. 
 
 Jane Boiling, great-grand-daughter of Pocahontas, 
 married Richard Randolph, of Curies, John Randolph, 
 Jr., of Roanoke, ?e]6;enth child of that marriage, mar 
 ried Frances Bland, and our hero, John Randolph;' of 
 Roanoke, was one of the children of' this union. 
 
 The. Randolphs were proud of their patrician blood, 
 and named their respective seats withsounding titles of 
 distil ction; such as Thomas, of Tuckahoe ; Isham; of 
 Dungeness; Richard, of Curies; and John, of Roanoke, 
 Other branches of this famous familyihad their splendid 
 mansions at Turkey Island, Bremo, "^^arina, Wilton, and 
 
JOHN BANDOLFH. .423 
 
 Chatswort, venerable localities eagerly contemplated by 
 the curious traveller on James River. The crest of the 
 arms of the Virginia Randolphs is an antelope's head. 
 
 John Randolph's early education, according to his 
 own account, was very irregular. He was sent to a 
 country school at an early age, where he acquired the 
 rudiments of the Latin and Greek languages. His 
 health failing, his mother sent him to Bermuda, where 
 he remained more than a year, losing all his Greek, but 
 reading with great avidity many of the best English 
 authors. After his return to the United States, he was 
 sent with his brother Theodorick, to Princeton College, 
 where they commenced their studies in March, 1787. 
 In the year 1788, after the death of his npother, he was 
 sent to college in New York, but returned to Virginia, 
 in 1790. In the same year he went to Philadelphia, to 
 study law in the office of Edmund Randolph, then re- 
 cently appointed Attorney-General of the United States. 
 But his law studies scarcely extended beyond the first 
 book of Blackstone. He became of age in June, 1794, 
 up to which time he appears to have led an irregular, 
 desultory life, with a residence as fluctuating as his 
 object of pursuit was undecided. 
 
 . In Greek literature, John Randolph never was a pro- 
 ficient ; in Latin he was better read, and quoted its 
 treasures with promptness and accuracy. But with the 
 best English classics he was thoroughly and comprehen- 
 sively acquainted. In his " Letters to Dudley," he 
 speaks of his education as follows : " I think you have 
 never read Chaucer. Indeed, I have sometimes blamed 
 mvself for not cultivating your imagination when you 
 
424 ORATORS OP THE AMERIL AW REVOLUTION. 
 
 were young. It is a dangerous quality, however, fof 
 the possessor. But if from my life were to be taken the 
 pleasure derived from that faculty, very little would 
 remain. Shakspeare and Milton, and Chaucer and 
 iSpeacer, and Plutarch, and the Arabian Nights' Enter- 
 tainments, and Don Quixote, and Gil Bias, and Tom 
 Jones, and Gulliver, and Robinson Crusoe, ' and the 
 tale of Troy divine,' have made up more than half my 
 worldly enjoyment. To these ought to be added 
 Ovid's Metamorphoses, Ariosto, Dryden, Beaumont and 
 Fletcher, Southern, Otway, Pope's Rape and Eloisa. 
 Addison, Young, Thompson, Gay, Goldsmith, Gray, 
 CoUins, Sheridan, Cowper, Byron, .iEsop, La Fontaine, 
 Voltaire's Charles XII., Mahomet and Zaire, Rousseau's 
 Julie, Schiller, Madame de Stael, but above all, Burke. 
 One of the first books I ever read was Voltaire's Charles 
 XII. ; about the same time, 1780-1, I read the Specta- 
 tor, and used to steal away to the closet containing 
 them. The letters from his correspondents were my 
 favorites. I read Humphrey Clinker, also, that is. 
 Vein's and Tabby's letters, with great dehght; for 1 
 could spell at that age pretty correctly. Reynard the 
 Fox, came next, I think ; then Tales of the Genii, and 
 Arabian Nights. This last, and Shakspeare, were my 
 >dols. I had read them, with Don Quixote,. Gil Bias, 
 Quintus Curtius, Plutarch, Pope's • Homer, Robinson 
 Crusoe, Gulliver, Tom Jones, Orlando Furioso, and 
 Thompson's Seasons, before I was eleven years of age ; 
 also Goldsmith's Roman History, and an old history of 
 Braddock's War. At about eleven, (1784-5,) Percy's 
 Reliques and Chaucer became great favorites, and 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 425 
 
 Chalterton and Rowley I then read Young and Gay, 
 &c. Goldsmith I never saw till 1787." 
 
 Mr. Randolph made his first appearance in public life, 
 in 1790, as a candidate for a seat in Congress, and was 
 elected. He was indebted to his eloquence for success 
 in this early contest, as he was without family influence 
 in the district, and was a mere boy in appearance. His 
 antagonist was the veteran statesman and orator, Pat- 
 rick Henry. l.Se exciting questions which arose out 
 of Mr. Madison's famous resolutions of 1798, were the 
 chief matter in debate. On the alien and sedition laws, 
 and other exciting topics of that day, the contest ran 
 high. An anecdote has been preserved strongly charac- 
 teristic of both combatants. Mr. Randolph was address- 
 ing the populace in answer to Mr. Henry, when a 
 comrade said to the latter, " Come, Henry, let us go — ^it 
 is not worth while to listen to that boy." " Stay, my 
 friend," replied the sagacious patriot, " there is an old 
 man's head on that boy's shoulders." 
 
 When he entered Congress, his youthful aspect, 
 among other striking traits, attracted universal surprise. 
 As he presented himself at the clerk's table to qualify, 
 the official demanded his age. " Ask my constituents," 
 was the characteristic reply. 
 
 Mr. Randolph soon became a marked man in the na- 
 tional councils. His fearless thought, pungent language, 
 withering sarcasm, and general power as a prompt and 
 passionate debater, attracted the admiration as well as 
 excited the dread of all parties within Congress and 
 without. He was frequently chairman of important 
 committees, participated in almost all the chief debatea, 
 
426 ORATORS OF. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 and amid one- continued whirl of changes and contra- 
 dictions, acted the.heroand.the buffoon for many years 
 on the public stage. ,; 
 
 Let us attempt to delineate his person, analyze, his intel- 
 lect, and describe somewhat minutely bis strange career. 
 
 John Randolph was about six feet high. He had 
 ".levated shoulders, a small head; and. a physiognomy all 
 the parts of. which: were, entirely unjuteUectual, except 
 his eye. His hair was dar.lj/ thin q,nd lg.nk, apd'lay 
 close to his head. ■., His voice was shrill as a fife, but its 
 clear shrieking.ton.es «ould be distinctly heard by a 
 large audience. The. muscles and skin about his face 
 were shrivelled and. cadaverous,, like wrinkled parch- 
 ment ; and his whole form was so attenuated and meagjre 
 that tall as he iWas, his acquaintances supposed him not 
 to weigh more than a hundred and thirty pounds, ^ . 
 
 The author of Clinton Bradshaw, who enjoyed , a fa- 
 vorable opportunity of observing .this strange being, has 
 given us the foUowipg graphic 4P^i!iptioB of his person, 
 habiliments and manners : " I}is long, thin legs, about 
 as thick as a stout, walking cane, and of much-supb a 
 shape, were encased in a pair of light small clothes, so 
 tight that they seemed part and parcel of the wearer. 
 Handsome white stockings were fastened with great 
 tidiness at the knees by a small gold buckle, and over 
 them, coming about half way up the calf, were a pair of 
 what, I believe,, are called hose, coarse and country 
 knit. He wore shoes. They .were ojd-fashioned, "and 
 fastened also with buckles — large ones. He trod like an 
 Indian, without turning his toes out, but planking them 
 straight ahead. It was the fashion in those days to 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 
 
 427 
 
 wear a fan-tailed coat, with a small collar, and buttons 
 far apart behind, and few on the breast. Mr. Randolph's 
 was the reverse of all this. Instead, of its being fan- 
 tailed, it was what I believe the knights of the needle 
 call swallow-tailed ; the collar was immensely jarge, the 
 buttons behind were in kissing proximity, and they sat 
 together as close on the breast of the garment as the 
 . feasters at a crowded jsublic festival. His waist was 
 remarkably slender : so slender that, as he stood with 
 his arms akimbo, he could easily, as I thought, with his 
 long bony fingers* have spanned it. Around him his coat, 
 which was very tight, was held together by one button, 
 and, in consequence, an inch or more of tape, to which 
 the buttons were attached, was perceptible where it was 
 pulled through the cloth. About his neck he wore a 
 large white cravat, in which his chin was occasionally 
 buried as he moved his head in conversation ; no shirt 
 collar was perceptible : every other person seemed to 
 pride himself upon the size of his, as they were then 
 worn large. Mr. Randolph's complexion was precisely 
 that of a mummy — witheired, saffron, dry, and bloodless , 
 vou could not have placed a pin's point on his face 
 where you would not have touched a wrinkle. His 
 lips were thin, compressed, and colorless'; the chin, 
 beardless as a boy's, was broad for the size of his face, 
 which was small ; his nose was straight, with nothing 
 remarkable in it, except, perhaps, it was too short. He 
 wore a fur cap, which he took off, standing a few mo- 
 ments uncovered. Fancy a dead man struck into life 
 by lightning, and all his life in his eye, and you have a 
 picture of John Randolph." 
 
428 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOIT. 
 
 It would be difficult, we think, to present s> moiC' 
 striking portraiture of one's exterior, than the oue we 
 have just quoted. A still more diflBcult task remains to 
 present in detail the elements of his mental and rhe- 
 torical power. 
 
 Humor, wit, and sarcasm are legitimate and effective 
 tools when adroitly used in oratory. There is no 
 malignity in true irony. If that which is intrinsically 
 absurd, is made to appear ludicrous, when sketched by a 
 sagacious master, the ridicule belongs to the subject, 
 and not to the artist. Bland humor is almost always 
 associated with great intellectual strength. Says a 
 distinguished Edinburgh reviewer, " Men of truly great 
 powers of mind, have generally been cheerful, social, 
 and indulgent ; while a tendency to sentimental whin- 
 ing, or fierce intolerance, may be ranked among the 
 surest symptoms of inferior intellects. In the whole 
 list of our English poets, we can only remember Shen- 
 stone and Savage — two, certainly, of the lowest — who 
 were querulous and discontented. Cowley, indeed, 
 used to call himself melancholy ; but be was full of 
 conceits and affectations, and has nothing to make us 
 proud of him. Shakspeare, the greatest of them all, was 
 evidently of a free and joyous temperament ; and so 
 was Chaucer, their common master. The same dis- 
 position seems to have predominated in Fletcher, Jon- 
 son, and their great cotempora,ries. The genius of 
 Milton partook something of the austerity of the party 
 to which it belonged, and of the controversies in which 
 it was involved ; but even when fallen on evil days 
 and evii tongues, his spirit seems to have retained it? 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 429 
 
 serenity as well as its dignity ; and in his private life, aa 
 well as in his poetry, the majesty of a high character is 
 tempered with great sweetness and practical wisdom." 
 
 But Randolph was not of this stamp. He possessed 
 little of that delicate and courteous humor which " gives 
 ardor to virtue, and confidence to truth." When irony 
 is refined and sparingly employed, it produces a pleasing 
 excitement of mind in all who can perceive the sig- 
 nificant force latent in every delicate allusion. But 
 when those personalities are palpable and poignant, as 
 was the custom with Randolph, they leave an irritating 
 sting in the wound, which breeds death. The dealer 
 in such wares is justly dreaded by all, for it is impos- 
 sible to tell who next will be made to bleed under the 
 keen dagger of unscrupulous sarcasm. With malignant 
 delight, such antagonists occupy themselves incessantly 
 in sharpening their arrows, and in pluming them for 
 attack. Armed with weapons which, like vipers, though 
 small are too deadly to be contemptible, these mental 
 dwarfs rendered effective by their venom rather than 
 by their reason, scornfully overleap opposing arguments 
 which have been elaborated with care, and by sudden 
 stings inflict wounds on some sensitive but unguarded 
 part, and thus destroy the equanimity of the giant whose 
 deductions they cannot subvert. One thus tormented 
 by ignoble foes will painfully verify the sentiments of 
 Southey's hero : 
 
 " Quick am I to feel 
 Light ills — perhaps, o'er hasty : summer gnata, 
 Finding my cheek unguarded, may infix 
 Thoir Bkin-deep stings to vex and irritate : 
 
430 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIDN. 
 
 , But if the wolf or forest-boar be nigh, 
 I am awake to ganger. Even bo . 
 Bear I a mind of steel and adamant 
 Against all greater wrongs." 
 
 Cailyle has, said that "true humor springs not more 
 from the head than from the heart ; it is not contempt 
 — its essence is love; it, issues not ip laughter, but in 
 still smiles which lie.fs^r d^epjer, Jt is a sort of inverse 
 sublimity, exalting, as it were, into our affections what 
 is below us, while sublimity draws down into our affec- 
 tions what is above. us." But of this amiable, vivacious 
 excellence, Randolph had little ot none. His humor 
 was npt mere pleasant, pungent railery, but generally 
 darkened into ferocious vituperation. He was as fickle 
 as the wind, implacable as the storm, and scathing as 
 lightning : 
 
 ■ " One of that stubborn sort was he, 
 Who, if they once grow fond of an opinion 
 They call it honor, honesty, and faith, 
 And sooner part with life than let it go." 
 
 Satire, in the person of one who has a shrewd eye to 
 observe, and a graphic pen to describe, is a mighty 
 agent for good in the literary and moral world. Whose 
 heart does not echo back the brief and pungent ex- 
 clamation of the prince of dramatists ? 
 
 " Life's a poor player. 
 Who frets and struts his hour upon the stage, 
 And then is heard no moi'e !" 
 
 Pope has sarcastically amplified this thought, and, at 
 the same time, added a solemn view to the subject : 
 
JOHN BANDOLPB 431 
 
 " Behuld the child, by nature's kindly law, 
 Pleas'd with a rattle, tickl'd with a straw ! 
 Some livelier plaything gives our youth delight, 
 A little louder, but as empty quite : 
 Scarfs, garters, gold, our riper years engage ; 
 And .beads and prayer-books are the toyit of age ! 
 Pleased with his bauble still as that before. 
 Till tir'd we sleep, a.ni life's poor play is o'er." 
 
 If it is correct to say that a good style resembles the 
 crystal of a watch, attracting attention, not to itself 
 but to what is beneath it ; then a judicious infusion of 
 the bitter-sweet of humor into the milk of human kind- 
 ness in composition, will be an advantage rather than 
 otherwise, since it will excite expectation and command 
 respect. In the almost universal skill of pedantic dog- 
 matism which prevails in modern society, we have little 
 of the genuine Socratic irony which once instructed 
 Athens and improved the world. Frederick Schlegel 
 has a pertinent remark on this topic : " We also find in 
 the classical works of antiquity, at a time that depth of 
 a loving sentiment was not so generally revealed, this 
 same phenomenon amidst the highest spiritual clearness 
 and serenity, in the most charming attire of exquisite 
 language. I mean that characteristic irony which be- 
 longed to the discourses and instructions of Socrates, 
 as exhibited in the Platonic writings. I must here, 
 however, observe that this word, in the modern usage, 
 has sunk to a degree lower than its original meaning ; 
 insomuch, that it now only signifies common mockery, 
 and certainly does not fulfil Aristotle's idea, when he 
 says that it makes manners gracious. True irony is 
 the irony of love." 
 
432 ORATORS or the AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 We have endeavored to show that Mr. Kandolph was 
 greatly deficient in humor ; his wit was more abnndanii 
 but not more amiably employed. Satire is undoubtedly 
 a potent ordnauce, with which one may "shoot folly as it 
 flies." But is it noble to be inclined to ridicule, rather 
 than admire, and is that a manly sensitiveness which 
 resents a burst of enthusiasm as an offence against the 
 decorum of enlightened society — a fastidious and effemi- 
 nate taste which represses all outpourings of generous 
 thought in which glowing passion impels the imagination, 
 and exalted sentiment is steeped in fancy ? True wit is 
 fearless, frank, and jocund, giving and taking hits with 
 equal magnanimity. But Eandolph was captious, acri- 
 monious, and snarly, never sparing his foes, and often 
 dreaded by his friends. The scourge with which he un- 
 mercifully lashed his' victim was composed of thongs that 
 cut deeply, and left corroding gangrene in the wounds 
 they made. 
 
 "We have seen that humor is the genial oil and wine of 
 every festival, without which there is no jovial fellowship. 
 Wit, ou the contrary, is a tart, pungent ingredient, much 
 too acid for ordinary stomachs. Its legitimate use lies 
 in the encouragement of timid merit, and the discomfiture 
 of insolence. Many crude theories and impracticable 
 systems are more successfully attacked by ridicule than 
 by reason. Satire, wisely used in the promotion of 
 public morals, and even in the defence of religion, will 
 do more good than a formal discourse; since this sort 
 of remedy is grateful to the popular taste, whilst, at 
 the same time, it imparts reproof and excites fear: 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH 433 
 
 " Of all ihe ways that wisest men could find, 
 To mend the age and mortify mankind, 
 Satire, well writ, has most successful prov'd, 
 And cures, because the remedy is lov'd." 
 
 But we never heard of any one who had a particular 
 affection for Randolph's sarcastic wit. His withering 
 spirit was not of the kind that sportively would " break 
 a butterfly upon the wheel," but a demoniac passion 
 that is sure to blast whatever embodiment of beauty or 
 strength it scornfully condescends to touch. Had he 
 restrained himself within reasonable bounds and subordi- 
 nated his great powers to noble ends, he might have 
 accomplished an immense amount of good. Shallow 
 pretenders to wisdom, and ostentatious charlatans of 
 divers sorts infest society, every where prompt only to 
 distract and destroy; to unmask the hideous features 
 of such, and to deride their boastful meanness, is the 
 prerogative of men endowed like the satirist of Roanoke. 
 But in painting in vivid and perhaps exaggerated colors, 
 the " fears of the brave and follies of the wise," or in 
 shipping off the disguise of some glittering exterior in 
 order to " bare the mean heart that lurks beneath a 
 star," his object should be not so much to diminish our 
 respect for a particular class of men, as to augment our 
 love for all mankind. If the wise reprover of popular 
 or personal faults would banish the false glare that 
 plays around bold but barren summits, it is only thai 
 through a clearer medium and over a wider area, we 
 may extend our view in the exercise of beneficent 
 regards. The most forcible and useful satirists have 
 ever been at heart the best-natured men. In them the 
 19 
 
434 ORATORS op THE AMERICAN REVOLUTtOS. 
 
 essence of generosity was much more abundant than 
 the bitter ingredient in which, for exalted purposes 
 they sometimes dipped their pen; and it is' by virtue of 
 their kindher eletnents that thei'firifltience continues alive. 
 There are a plenty pf "cooing, . insipid lacjir.a-daisical 
 moralities" in the world, fair game for the caustic lam- 
 pooner, and. an occasional scourging at,his hand will do 
 no harm. There. are many, popular errors so supreiuely 
 ridiculous that their folly could only be exceeded by an 
 Eittempt to reason tljem dovvn. "A rnan might as well 
 drag up a forty-two pounder to overthroi^v, a lodge in a 
 garden, of cucumbers. , By bringing a grave syllogisjn 
 against a supreme absurdity, 5ve piakeitmore respectable 
 than it can be by its native, merits. The bpst thing is 
 to knock it oyer with ridicule.'' Follies that are fortified 
 by fashion are mogt, effectually attacked by turning them 
 Into burlesque, after the style ofrDon Quixpte. This is 
 to reform, evils without augmenting them. . But there 
 are other minds, of darker .tone, who ever seek matter 
 of,pleasa,ntry in things serious, and are never contented 
 except as they can cause the ridiculous to emanate frpm 
 the sublime. They corrupt, if possible, what is intrinsi- 
 cally elevated and pure, by the fanfas^tic medium through 
 which they cast thqir cynical look. But this is the 
 cruel gayety of the shallpw buffoon, .rather than magnani- 
 mous satire seaspned witb ; attic, wit. Such ignoble 
 spirits have.nejther ,thp dispositjpn nor ability tp soar 
 in "tlie regipns of lofty thought, but their descent is 
 facile, clinging to the accessories of things but never 
 apjircciating th;eii; substanpe. They haunt the domain 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 433 
 
 of moral excellence only as unquiet ghosts, and through 
 ihe bowers of beauty and magnificence drag their loatn- 
 soroe slime, not because such regions are most congenial 
 to their native tastes, but because they therein find an 
 abundance of worth which they are ambitious to degrade 
 rather than enjoy. 
 
 Ridicule is a potent weapon in the hands of evil men 
 but principles which are not substantial enough to with- 
 stand the basest marauders, even when they employ the 
 basest tools, deserve to fall. Plutarch, in his life' of 
 Fabius Maximus, says, " as Diogenes, the philosopher, 
 when one said, 'They deride you,' answered well, 
 'But I am not derided;' accounting those only to be 
 ridiculed, who feel the ridicule and are discomposed at 
 it ; so Fabius bore without emotion all that happened to 
 himself, herein confirming that position in philosophy, 
 which affirms that a wiss and good man can suffer no 
 disgrace." 
 
 But that man's sensibilliies must have been indeed 
 obtuse who did not writhe nnder the hand of John Ran- 
 dolph, arid ho WiW, indeed, fortunate who did not long 
 bear the marka of his blows. He had the infernal 
 power of investing a fair name with ludicrous associa- 
 tions as lasting as life. He could at will transfix a 
 tender heart with fiory-forked antitheses, or brand his 
 victim with scorching epithets that eat like aspics to 
 the soul. There are some diseases that will yield to 
 no'thing but the caustic ; but he would be a terrible 
 practitioner who should report to th;s remedy In every 
 case. Sometimes burnmg indignation is deniaaJed wi 
 
436 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUIION. 
 
 reply to tyrannic an'Ogance; and is the o'nly kind of 
 response in which generous and patriotic bystanders can 
 sympathize. Such an instance occurs in the history of 
 Irish eloquence. The supercilious Fitzgibbon — Lord 
 Clare — had made a domineering and unmanly attack on 
 Mr. Grattan, in his absence. The eloquent and noble- 
 hearted Yelverton immediately replied to the titled but 
 base calumniator as follows : " If my learned friend 
 were present, the honorable gentleman would take some 
 time to consider before he hazarded an encounter 
 with his genius, his eloquence, and his integrity. The 
 learned gentleman has stated what Mr. Grattan is — I 
 will state what he is not". He is not styed in prejudices 
 — he does not trample on the resuscitation of his country, 
 or live like a paterpillar on the decline of its prosperity ; 
 he does not stickle for the letter of the Constitution with 
 the affectation of the prude, and abandon its principles 
 and spirit with the effrontery of a prostitute." 
 
 Randolph had all this energy of contempt, but not 
 always equal suavity of language. When fully aroused, 
 he would not condescend to steep his sting in honey. 
 He neglected the advice of that courtly gentleman, 
 Sir Lucius O'Trigger : " Let your courage be as keen, 
 out at the same time as polished, as your sword." He 
 would not only cut, but hack and mangle his victims by 
 the fierceness of his invective. It was utterly impossi- 
 ble either to avoid the lacerating edge of his scathing 
 ideas or be tranquil under the pangs they were designed 
 to inflict. Like St. Anselm he should have prayed 
 God lo take away obstinacy from his sentiments and 
 rudeness from his manners. 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 437 
 
 As a specimen of the unamiableness of his wit, take 
 
 the following : The Honorable Peter , who was a 
 
 watchmaker, and who represented B County for 
 
 many years in Congress, once made a motion to amend 
 a resolution offered by Randolph on the subject of mili- 
 tary claims. Mr. Randolph rose up after the amend- 
 ment had been offered and drawing out his watch from 
 his fob, asked the Honorable Peter what o'clock it was. 
 The honest and unsuspecting member told him. " Sir," 
 replied the scornful orator, "you can mend my watch, 
 but not my motions. You understand tictics, sir, but 
 not tactics." 
 
 Sometimes he served his purpose with apt quotations 
 which he hurled full of venom at whole bands of antago- 
 nists. His self-control and defiance were invincible. 
 Once when beset by almost the whole House in boiste- 
 rous debate, he turned to his foes with a look of ineffable 
 contempt, and then cried out to the Speaker, " Sir, I am 
 in the condition of old Lear — 
 
 " The little, dogs and all, 
 Trey, Blanche, and Sweetheart, 
 See, they all bark at me." 
 
 The power of ridicule is very great, but its habitual 
 use by no means indicates a good heart. He who is 
 copiously endowed with extraordinary qualities will 
 signalize his superiority over common men, by using his 
 wit oftener in friendship than in enmity. But John 
 Randolph chose to fight habitually with the weapon of 
 contempt; a weapon which the malignant gladly substi- 
 tute for argument, since it inflicts most pain. He pro- 
 nounced ridicule to be the keenest weapon io the whole 
 
438, ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 parliamentary armory, and he learned most skilllully to 
 cut and thrust with it, but never played with foils. 
 Conflict with him was no sham, but- a war to the knife, 
 and knife to the hilt. But this is power which ought to 
 be despised rather than admired. In the code of Charon- 
 dar, at ancient Sparta, public ridicule was assigned as 
 the penalty to "be inflicted only on the adulterer afld 
 busy-body, the sycophant and coward. :.., This indicates 
 the range such wit holds in dignity, as well- as the mea- 
 sure of its force. " The very life of such characters,"' saysi 
 Moore, "is their licentiousness, and it iswiththem, aswi-th 
 objects that are luminous from putresence— to remove 
 their taint is to extinguish .their light." 
 
 In tender strains of eloquence Randolph, never Was a 
 master. He had too little generous humor and too 
 frigid sensibilities for that. The only time he was ever 
 known to attempt the pathetic with success was when be 
 moved an adjournment to attend Commodore Decatur's 
 funeral. It is said that his expressions of grief on that 
 occasion were deep and tragical. He invoked the 
 national sorrow for the fall of. the brightest star in the 
 constellation of our rlaval glory, and e!<eTted sad notes 
 fl-om the Orphean lyre, which might ,draw ".ii;oa tears 
 down Pluto's cheek." But the pathetic was not his 
 forte. He had not that irresistible jqspiration of :. a 
 tender heart which enables its ardent possessor to play 
 with the feelings of great multitudes,, as Ariel sported 
 with Caliban and Trunculo; some tjnies diving into the 
 billows, sometimes playing in the plighted plouds. He 
 had a plenty of fickleness in his character, but no great 
 versatility of talent. His imagination was; vivid: — fo} 
 
JOHN EANDOLPH. 439 
 
 much of his life axstive to a degree of downright insanity 
 — but there were few gentle, attractive hues in his 
 wildness. H.s wit^was always tinged with sarcasm^ or 
 debased into gloomy invective. His intellect was bril- 
 liant, but its effulgence was borrowed of passions the 
 least amiable, ever-ready to blast where it shone. As 
 he advanced in life, the currents of his heart seem to 
 have merged into a single channel, and that ran pro- 
 fusely with gall. Irony to intimidate the feeble, and 
 invective to harass the strong, were the resources 
 most husbanded by him and constantly employed : 
 
 " Like two dark serpents tangled in the dust, 
 That on the paths of men their mingling poisons thrust." 
 
 la mental character and manner of speech, Ran- 
 dolphj in several particulars, was rhuch like a dis- 
 tinguished living statesman of France. A recent 
 listener -to the latter, describes the scene as follows: 
 " At length silence is re-established ; the orator is about 
 to speak; listen, or ifypurprganization is at all delicate 
 and musipal, begin by stopping your ears, and open 
 them by degrees,: for the voice, you are going to hear is 
 one of those - shrill, screeching, piercing organs which 
 would make Rubini shiver, and give Lablanche a fit. It 
 is something equivocal, anomalous, amphibious, neithei 
 masculine or feminine, but. rather appertaining to the, 
 neuter gender ; and strongly flavored, moreover, with a 
 provincial accent. 
 
 ^' And, yet, this little man, without, appearance, with- 
 out dignity, without- voice, is none other than M, 
 Thiers, one of the most eminent personages of the 
 
440 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 epoch, and one of the most powerful oiators of the 
 Chamber. Those shrill lungs emit sounds almost always 
 listened to with favor, and often applauded with phren- 
 ziea enthusiasm ; from that nasal throat issues a flow 
 of words transparent as crystal, rapid as tho.ught, sub- 
 stantial and compact as meditation itself." 
 
 If the Frenchman and American resembled each 
 other in ,the traits above named, their power of tor- 
 menting an opponent was absolutely identical. Con- 
 tinues the writer just quoted : " Have you ever seen a 
 bull endeavoring vainly to get rid of a gad-fly, which 
 fixes itself upon his sides, his eyes, his ears, his nostrils 
 and stupifies the beast with his buzz — the infuriate 
 animal bellows, foams, twists, and rolls itself about, but 
 unable to free itself from its indefatigable foe, terminates 
 the contest by plunging headlong down an abyss?" 
 This sketches Randolph to the life. His cynical sou. 
 fastened itself at different points on his antagonist, like 
 a vampire, and the victim was not abandoned till all 
 vital blood was destroyed. His attacks had much of 
 the condensed bitterness of Junius, and were not often 
 more gross. But when most restrained there was still 
 a tendency in the evil spirit to escape ; you might hear 
 the growls through the thongs of the muzzle. His hints 
 and insinuations, accompanied by significant glances 
 and sneering tones, were enough to disturb ordinary 
 equanimity ; but the withering power of his more direct 
 invective was insufferable to the last degree. 
 
 Of the new Constitution of Virginia, he said, " It 
 was brought into life with the Sardonic . grin of death 
 upon its countenance." In that expression he has 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 441 
 
 given us the outline and tone of his own portrait. His 
 language was pointed and severe, full of condensed fire 
 and inhuman energy. His oratory was Spartan in 
 brevity and force ; his words fell like vipers among his 
 hearers, and stung them into fiery excitement. He was 
 morbid and morose to excess ; but his gloom was volcanic 
 heat, ready to explode at any moment and in any direc- 
 tion. Suddenly, his stoical nature would become pos- 
 sessed as by a demon, and his cold, 'sinister eye blazed 
 with splendid fires, and radiated from his hueless face like 
 a wintry sky flashing with lightning. A political oppo- 
 nent boasted on the stump, that if his mind was not 
 naturally as strong as that of the Orator of Roanoke, he 
 had done his best, by an arduous collegiate course, to 
 improve it> &c. "Not the first weak soil, gentlemen," 
 exclaimed Randolph, interrupting him, "that excessive 
 cultivation has reduced to barrenness : — ^let him stay at 
 home — let him lie fallow, fallow." 
 
 We have sketched John Randolph's person and 
 mental constitution ; let us now glance at the use he 
 made of his powers in his public career. He entered 
 public life in 1787. In 1806, he declared open hostility 
 to the administration of Jefferson, and from that time 
 seems to have quarrelled with every public measure and 
 every prominent man. In 1811, those paroxysms of 
 insanity began to appear, of which in his Letters to 
 Dudley, he says he had a lurking consciousness, and 
 which, in the form of hypochondria, was the great 
 malady of his life. It was in this year that his Anglo' 
 mania developed itself so strongly, which led him oa 
 the loth of December so violently to oppose the war 
 19* 
 
442 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIOir. 
 
 an opposition perpetually renewed, as on the resolution 
 he offered, Maj 29th, 1812. "That under existing cir- 
 cumstances it is inexpedient to resort to war against 
 Great Britain." It was in the angry debate connected 
 with this resolution that his animosity became fully 
 arocsed against Mr. Clay. 
 
 In 1822, he visited England, Ireland, and Scotland, 
 countries of which he had previously acquired a won- 
 derfully minute and correct idea from conversation and 
 books. The attention he received abroad was very 
 great, his eccentricity was in no way abated, and he 
 returned to figure a while longer with aggravated vexa- 
 tion on the public stage. 
 
 It is easy to perceive from Randolph's letters, as well 
 as from his speeches, that he read immensely, and had 
 a strong memory to retain what he had once mastered. 
 He was the demon of cleverness. He had almost every 
 subject at the very end of his fingers, and could, if the 
 fit pleased him, converse admirably on every intelligent 
 theme. He had a vast amount of miscellaneous know- 
 ledge, but little scientific discipline. He was ready for 
 every occasion, could declaim better than any body 
 else on every thing, but was elaborate and sound in 
 nothing. 
 
 Randolph's most extensive and critical knowledge lay 
 in the department of old English literature. Evidently 
 he was chaste in language, and exceedingly fastidious 
 in the selection of words. He was feudal in taste and 
 anti-republican in education. Foreign books, baronial 
 casties and ducal pedigrees, filled his imagination and 
 formed his manners. By profession, he was a democrat: 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 443 
 
 in spirit and practice he was an ultra aristocrat. H^ 
 disliked and opposed every administration from Wash- 
 ington to Jackson ; in every thing and towards every 
 body, he was "a good hater." His tongue was "a 
 chartered libertine," steeped in the poison of asps, and 
 ready to impede any step of popular progress. He con- 
 fided in no one, and was distrusted, if not despised by 
 all. The curse-book of Pandemonium was condensed 
 by him into epigrams and antitheses of malignant con- 
 tempt, and hurled like double-headed shot at all whom 
 the whim of the moment marked as his foes. He took 
 his old books to England to be bound, rather than have 
 them repaired north of Mason and Dixon's line, and it 
 is believed, with the same hatred of every thing noble 
 beyond the contracted sphere which his own contempti- 
 ble prejudices had formed, he would have fed his enmity 
 at the expense of all the freedom of our land. 
 
 It has been said of Fox's speeches, that " they are full 
 of impressive allusions ; they abound in expositions of 
 the adversary's inconsistency ; they are loaded with 
 bitter invective ; they never lose sight of the subject ; 
 and they never quit hold of the hearer by the striking 
 appeals they make to his strongest feelings and his 
 favorite recollections : to the heart, or to the quick and 
 Immediate sense of inconsistency, they are always 
 addressed, and find their way thither by the shortest and 
 surest road ; but to the head, to the calm and sober 
 judgment, as pieces of argumentation, they assuredly 
 are not addressed. But Mr. Fox, as he went along, and 
 exposed absurdity, and made inconsistent arguments 
 clash and laid bare shuffling, or hypocrisy, and showeren 
 
444 ORATORS OF THE AMERICAN EEVO vTIOW. 
 
 down upon meanness, or upon cruelty, or oppression, a 
 pitiless storm of the ' most fierce invective, was ever 
 forging also the long, and compacted, and massive chain 
 of pure demonstration." 
 
 John Randolph possessed the erratic qualities attributed 
 above to the eloquence of Charles James Fox, without 
 its higher attributes. He was poorly fitted to rebuke 
 inconsistency in others, as of all statesmen that evei 
 lived he was most vacilkting and inconsistent him- 
 self He was utterly devoid of stability of character. 
 His positions were changed so rapidly, that it was im- 
 possible to tell where he would next appear, and what 
 new mode of- attack he would next employ. No public 
 man ever fritteired away time so uselessly, and expended 
 his resources with such abortive aims. "Watch him in 
 any one of his set speeches, and it will be a question 
 whether in any other spectacle whatever you can dis- 
 cover so great a waste of power. Every succeeding 
 paragraph has a different design; from those which pie-i 
 ceded it ; and from the utter confusion and opposition 
 of the integral foi-ces,the'aggregate. energy is destroyed. 
 You will see him at one moment Sedulously hunting 
 with a pack' of allies to whom the glow. of a common 
 hatred has united him, but in the 'next instant, if a cross 
 scent strikes him, he will be found scanpering off, in 
 hot haste, and will return before longr loaded with the 
 trophies of a victory ovei'his own associates,! This 
 extreme ficklerifess and oddity -doubtless very much con- 
 tributed to his success. He kept his hearers in con- 
 stant suspense, watching for the next vagary that might 
 appear. Like Dean Swift, he would often make a t» 
 
JOHN EANDOLIH. 445 
 
 mark, mucli like a compliment, and then transform it 
 iilto a sarcasm, or he would abruptly utter a sarcasm, 
 and with ambiguous maTice qualify it into a compliment. 
 Those who were most familiar with Randolph's mode 
 of debate, were accustomed to take him in a sense 
 opposite to his apparent design. If he began by treat- 
 ing his antagonist with unwonted respect, it was easy 
 10 see that the kindness was unnatural, and that his 
 assumed flattery was portentous. His fitful courtesy in 
 the forum was never real, but a hollow air put on for 
 the moment, 
 
 " With smooth dissimulation skill'd to grace, 
 A devil's purpose with an angers face." 
 
 The aniple folds of hypocritical complacency with 
 which he occasionally condescended to drape his foe, to 
 the infinite dismay of the victim, would soon kindle 
 into the fierce torture of the shirt of Nessus, and burn to 
 -the quick. 
 
 Randolph prepared himself for forensic strife m a 
 way as pfecuHar to himself as it was characteristic of 
 every thing he attempted to perform. In the first place, 
 he made himself familiar with the private history, pecu- 
 liar temperament, and personal foibles of every man 
 with whom he was associated. Then, as soon as he 
 conceived the purpose of making a speech, his mind 
 went to work to collect, arrange, and prepare his mate- 
 rials. Every thing strong and stinging that could be 
 wrought into his intended harangue, was carefully can- 
 vassed, and if found worthy, was put down in his ran- 
 dom notes. But it was only on the point of some 
 
446 tS-AiOM OF THE ilffERICAM EEVOL.UTIOIT. 
 
 epigram, the " sting in the tail" of a sarcasm, as he 
 himself declared, that he bestowed especial care, 'i'he 
 chain of his argumsat was left for the chances of the 
 occasion to forge ; but the perpetual accompaniment of 
 ridicule was anxiously and- maliciously premeditated. 
 He cariied these sharpened missiles about with him 
 constantly, and if the fitting occasion did not soon 
 occur to disgorge himself in public, he would often re- 
 hearse his oratorical points in private conversation. 
 Says one of his acquaintances, " I remember particu- 
 larly the last speech he made in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives. He had been waiting the opportunity to 
 make it for ten days : and in that interval, I am in- 
 clined to think, I heard from him, in private, almost 
 every brilliant thought contained in the speech." With 
 his wide scope of personal acquaintance, and with his 
 habits of prepared onslatight, his rising to address the 
 House was a signal for universal dread and commotion. 
 Piquant allusions, epigrammatic phrases, malicious 
 anecdotes, scornful and withering quotations, brief but 
 most excrutiatingly pertinent to the persons before him, 
 fleW off in evfciy direction like sparks from Vulcan's 
 forge, and, like the bolts of Jupiter, shivered wherever 
 they fell. He knew the vulnerable part of every clia- 
 racter, and often hurt the most when the popular eye 
 least saw the blow. It has been well remarked that he 
 used his tongue as a jockey would his whip ; hit the sore 
 place till the blood came, and there was no flourish or 
 noise in doing it. 
 
 Many survive Randolph who remember the aspect 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 4i1 
 
 he I resented in Congress, and the effects he wrought. 
 In the language of Wordsworth, he was one of those 
 
 " Dire faces, figures dire, 
 Sharp-knee'd, sharp-elbow'd, and lean-anckled, too, 
 Witt long and ghastly shanks, forms which once seen 
 Could never be forgotton." 
 
 His tones were as unearthly as his look. His ges- 
 ture was chiefly with his long and emaciated finger, 
 more like the talon of a vulture than the member of a 
 human form. The impressiveness with which he used 
 this in debate was proverbial. There was a great deal 
 of heedless power and striking caprice in his mannei' 
 of address. He was attractive as an orator, on the 
 same principle that the cell in the Jardin des Plantes, 
 at Paris, closely glazed and guarded with iron net- work 
 without, is perhaps the most popular show-room in the 
 world, because it contains the most destructive serpents 
 and deadly creatures any where to be found. Ran- 
 dolph was a perturbed spirit, and, like Milton's monarch- 
 fiend, seems to have thought it " better to reign in hell 
 than serve in heaven." ' He was possessed by the in- 
 temperate fury of Diomede, a passionate love of battle, 
 which no consideration of subject or place could curb : 
 
 " Creature of one mighty sense, 
 Concentrated impudence." 
 
 Randolph formed the acquaintance of a prominent 
 bookseller in Baltimore, of whom he made several pur- 
 chases, and with whom he was wont freely to converse. 
 At a subsequent period, being in Washington with a 
 
448 ORATORS OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 friend, he saw Randolph approaching him, and proposed 
 to introduce his companion to that famous man. But 
 his friend declined, knowing something of the ^vay ward 
 hero whose brutal rudeness he did not wish to incur. 
 " Well," said the quondam friend and confident book- 
 vender, " I'm sorry you will not be introduced. I'll go up 
 and give him a shake of the hand, at any rate." Up he 
 walked, with familiar air and cordial salutations. The 
 aristocratic republican immediately threw his hands be 
 hind him, as if scorning to'touch plebeian flesh, and with 
 a look as searching as his tones were impudent, exclaimed, 
 
 " Oh, oh ! you are Mr. , from Baltimore ?" " Yes, 
 
 sir," was the reply. " A bookseller ?" " Yes, sir," was 
 the second response. " Ah ! I bought books from you 1" 
 " Yes, sir, you did." " Did I forget to pay you for 
 them ?" " No, sir, you did not." " Good morning, 
 sir !" said the cynic, lifting his cap with offended dig- 
 nity, and hurrying on. 
 
 It was his custom and delight, in public and private 
 life, to deal out the contents of the bitter urn pro- 
 fusely. His most moderate style was bitter-sweet ; 
 from this he rose or sank into the pure bitter, and if 
 the matter in hand was important, and his antagonists 
 dignified, he invariably ended with vinegar distilled, 
 thickened with deadly drugs. Like the urchin of mis- 
 chief in the " Lay of the Last Minstrel," he used fairy 
 gifts with a spirit of deviltry, ever prompt to provoke, 
 to annoy, and to injure, no matter whom he wounded, 
 or when, or where._ His personal resentments led him 
 away from every consideration, save that of how ht 
 could best mutilate and silence his adversaiy. His in 
 
JOHN RANKOLFE 449 
 
 voctivesi were fearful, not so much from the grandeui 
 of his mien, or the dignity of his talents, but from the 
 acuteness of his weapons, and the condensed venom 
 they infused. He easily intimidated all but the most 
 fearless, and even they were not ambitious of encoun- 
 tering him, since it was not a battle with a lion but a 
 viper. A distinguished statesman and orator from 
 Rhode Island, known as " the Bald Eagle of the House," 
 was the only antagonist who effectually silenced this 
 forensic Thersites after his own manner. When this 
 gentleman publicly rendered thanks to God that in 
 anomalous creatures there is a physical law which pre- 
 vents the perpetuatioti of their own species, the allusion 
 would have been too atrocious if directed against any 
 one besides John Randolph. 
 
 He was not indifferent about the selection of his 
 victims, but with a choice husbandry of his resources, 
 he seemed to take special delight in setting up the fairest 
 personages as a target for his wit-bolts. And whoever 
 he pounced upon found the process no holiday sport. 
 Before ordinary harlequins of the forum, dignified 
 personages might composedly sit, " wrapt in rich dull- 
 ness, comfortable fur," consoling themselves with the 
 remark of Shakspeare, "If a man will be beaten 
 with brains, he shall wear nothing handsome about him." 
 But not so in the presence of Randolph. When sum- 
 moned to the rack, the candidate for torture was bound 
 to go and have his vitals torn by demon vultures. Con- 
 tempt, says an oriental proverb, pierces even through 
 the shell of a tortoise ; one needed a panoply strong 
 indeed to siiield him from the personal javelin hurled by 
 
450 OKATOKS OF THE AMERIOAJI REVOLUTION. 
 
 Randolph's hand. He labored most earnestly to impeach 
 fudge Chase, but failed in his effort, and came out of the 
 contest without a single laurel., 
 
 it would be unjust to deny that Mr. Randolph possessed 
 great powers of eloquence of their kind. He could 
 hold an audience fo. a long time enthralled by his speech. 
 Speaking of his own opposition to the Bankrupt Bill, he 
 said, "How delighted I am to think that I helped to 
 give that hateful bill a kick — ^yes, sir, this very day week 
 I spoke for three hours against it, and I assure you 
 that whilst I was speaking, although the northern mail 
 was announced, not a single member left his seat to 
 look for letters, a circumstance that had not occurred 
 during the session!" But he. had more talent that 
 courtesy or self-respect. He contemplated the suffer- 
 ings he produced with as much complacency as the 
 artist who wished to delineate the agonies of martyrdom, 
 and studied the contortions of the shrieking model on a 
 rack. In some of his better inspirations, there are 
 beautiful gleams of truth, impressed in graceful and 
 energetic language, "like orient pearls at random 
 strung ;" but ordinarily his snatches of truth wear an 
 ■ infernal aspect, and convufee us with dread, without 
 touching the finer chords of the heart. 
 
 " The flesh will Quiver where the pinchers tear, 
 The blood will follow where the knife is driven." 
 
 Some persons combine in themselves the attributes of 
 the toad and the salamander ; they imbibe no alirient 
 from earth but its poisons, and they breathe natuially 
 
JOHN KANDOLFH. 451 
 
 only in fire. They are of the class described by Burke, 
 in allusion to the French Revolution. "They have 
 tigers to fall upon animated strength. They have 
 hyenas to prey upon carcasses. The national menagerie 
 is collected by the first physiologist of the time • and is 
 defective in no description of savage nature. Neithei 
 sex, nor age — nor the sanctuary of the tomb, is sacred 
 to them." 
 
 John Randolph was the Sagittarius of the American 
 Congress, " armed at point," and letting fly on all occa- 
 sions his dart with terrific power. He was king Scapin, 
 and could at any moment invest his subjects with the 
 air and honors of infinite contempt. Whenever he saw 
 fit to level his long, ghastly finger, at the head of any 
 one, with the ominous shrill cry of "Mr. Speaker!" — ^it 
 was the signal for all the risibles in the house to relax> 
 and the prelude of roars of laughter at the poor victim's 
 expense- The famous "Yazoo claim," was for many 
 years a bone of contention, annually defended by 
 Randolph in a series of speeches, which some think are 
 destined to "stand the test of time, of scrutiny, and 
 of talent." Battling one day against some of the 
 strongest men of the nation, he made the withering 
 remaA which at the time rung all over the union. 
 Shaking that claw-like finger of his in the face of his 
 opponents, he exclaimed, " Mr. Speaker, I hope, sir, to 
 see the day when a Yazoo claimant and a villain, will be 
 synonymous terms." 
 
 The best scholars of our universities, the first leaders 
 in our State legislatures, and' the niaster-spirits in evwy 
 
452 OEATORS OP THE AMERICAN EEVOLUTIOV. 
 
 walk of forensic gladiatorship, trembled at the necessity 
 of a rencontre with John Randolph on the floor of 
 Congress. He was always ready to meet every new- 
 comer and at once to annihilate his pretensions, or 
 cover him with disgrace. However potent their talents, 
 and however righteous their cause, they needed to keep 
 in mina the caution addressed of old to the Archangel : 
 
 " I forewarn thee, shua 
 His deadly arrow ; neither vainly hope 
 To be invulnerable in those bright anns. 
 Though temjer'd heavenly; for that fatal dint, 
 Save Him who reigns above, none can resist." 
 
 Undoubtedly a brilliant flame burned amid the attenn- 
 ated and deranged fibres of Randolph's intellect, but it 
 did not ouicken his pulse, nor kindle his frigid nature into 
 genial warmth. His sarcasms were as stinging and 
 adhesive as the burr or nettle that annoys the lover of 
 quiet nature in his woodland rambles. He not only 
 smote his victims with blows that keenly kill, but like 
 the Levite described in the Bible, he cut the carcass 
 into fragments and scattered them to the winds. Rude- 
 ly to attack and savagely to demolish was his vocation. 
 What Burke said of the Constituent Assembly of 
 France, in the days of her phrenzy, was eminently true 
 of John Randolph : " He could not build — he could only 
 pull down-T7-he was the Vitruvius of ruin." In vain 
 shall we search for any memorial that attests any bene- 
 fit resulting from the influence of his life. He is tliC 
 parsnt of no law, the author of no treatise, and the 
 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 453 
 
 builder of no valuable institution. If his. name was not 
 written in water, it was inscribed in darker hues on the 
 memory of mankind, 
 
 Aristophanes and Juvenal were feared while alive, 
 but the worthies whom they ridiculed were the only 
 ones destined to receive posthumous esteem. To mu- 
 tilate the monuments that gratitude has erected to 
 genius, and so extinguish the lamp lighted by devotion 
 over against the image of love, can be the ambition of 
 no tender heart or exalted intellect. If it is disgraceful 
 thus to dishonor the dead, it is something worse to de- 
 stroy the pea,ce and deface the fair character of the 
 Jiving. He who shall make this the business of his 
 life, mu^ hereafter expect the retribution which the 
 malignant can never escape. A man in Bengal was 
 long distinguished for skill in hunting the tiger. His 
 adroitness in the chase won him much agreeable ex- 
 ercise and reputation. A length he came near losing 
 his life by his daring, and relinquished 'the sport with this 
 remark, " Tiger hunting is very fine amusement, so 
 long as we hunt the tiger ; but it is rather awkward 
 when the tiger takes it into his head to hunt us." The 
 tiger at length turned upon Randolph, and held him 
 awfully at bay. 
 
 In the spring of 1824, he repeated his visit to Eng- 
 land; and, in 1830, was appointed Minister to Russia, 
 where he remained but a short time. On the 20th of 
 May, 1S33, Mr. Randolph came from Virginia to Phila- 
 delphia, on his way to New York, where he intended 
 again tc embark for Europe in search of health. It was 
 
454 OEATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 Iiert! that the melancholy drama of his life came lo a 
 bolemn close, as described by his physician, Dr. Parrish. 
 "For a short time he lay perfectly quiet, his eyes were 
 closed, and I concluded he was disposed to sleep. He 
 suddenly roused from this state, with the words ' Re- 
 •norse, Remorse.' It was twice repeated; at the 
 'ast time at the top of his voice, evidently with great 
 agitation, he cried put, ' Let me see the word.' No 
 reply followed : having learned enough of the character 
 of my patient to ascertain, that when I did not know 
 exactly what"^ to say, it was best to say nothing. He 
 then exclaimed, 'Get a dictionary — ^let me see the 
 word.' I cast my eyes around me and told him I be- 
 lieved there was none in the room. ' Write it down, 
 then — ^let me see the word.' I picked up one of his 
 cards from the table, ' Randolph of Roanoke,' and 
 inquired whether I should write on that. ' Yes, nothing 
 more proper.' Then with my pencil I wrote Remorse. 
 He took the card in his hands in a hurried manner, and 
 fastened his eyes on it witft great intensity. ' Write it 
 on the back,' he exclaimed. I did so, and handed it to 
 him again. He was excessively agitated at this period 
 — he repeated. Remorse! you have no idea what it is, 
 you can form no idea of it whatever ; it has contributed 
 to bring me to my present situation ; but I have looked 
 to the Lord Jesus Christ and hope I have obtained par- 
 don.' He then said, ' Now let John take your pencil 
 and draw a line under the word ;' which was accord- 
 ingly done. I inquired what was to be done with the 
 card ; he replied, ' Put it in your pocket ; take care of 
 it ; when I am dead look at it.' 
 
JOHN KANDOLPH. 455 
 
 " This was an impressive scene. All the plans of am 
 Dition, the honors and the wealth of this world, had 
 vanished as bubbles on the water. He knew and he felt 
 tfiat his very moments were few, and ev-^n they were 
 numoered." In a few hours after this scene, on the 23d 
 of May, 1833, John Randolph was dead. His remains 
 were removed to Roanoke and there, in a lonely dell, 
 amid venerable trees, without a monument, without an 
 epitaph breathing affection, and with not even a fra- 
 grant shrub planted in the arid soil to indicate the 
 remembrance of some friendly hand, in solitude and 
 neglect his dust awaits the resurrection morn. 
 
 John Randolph at one time was regarded, and per- 
 haps still is by some persons, as the prince of American 
 orators. We have no disposition to depreciate his 
 merits, nor would we uncharitably "draw his frailties 
 from their dread abode." We leave him in the hands 
 of the benign Sovereign of all, without the slightest desire 
 either to aggravate his faults or pronounce their doom. 
 In this review of his career we have to do with his 
 character only as an orator, and not with his eternal 
 destiny. Viewing his merits in the light of his public 
 deeds, we think that if an apotheosis is to be granted to 
 him at all, it should be in company with such men as 
 Warren Hastings. Speaking of the latter, Burke said 
 that he knew something of the Brahmins. He knew 
 that as they worshipped some gods from love, so they 
 worshipped others from fear. He knew that they erect- 
 ed shrines not only to the benignant deities of light and 
 plenty, but also to the fiends who preside over small- 
 pox and murder. Nor did he at all dispute the claim 
 
456 OBATORS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 of Mr. Hastings to be admitted into such a Pantheon.'' 
 Perhaps the moral sense of enlightened nations, estimat- 
 ing a man's claims to perpetual esteem acccrdini^ to 
 the beneficent influence of his life, will assign to Joha 
 Randolph a like position in the temple of rightecius fam* 
 
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 ers. By John F. Stoddard, A.M., . . . 1 00 
 Phinnbt & Co.'S Produce Tables. 12mo, cloth, . . . 1 00 
 
 IITTEREST TABLES. 
 Jelleff & Hull's Patent Pocket Interest Tables. 6 and 7 per 
 
 cent. 33mo, bound in boards, per dozen . 2 50 
 " Patent Pocket Interest Tables, at 6 per cent. 
 
 32mo, paper, per dozen, . . . 1 00 
 
 " Patent Pocket Interest Tables, at 7 per cent. 
 
 33mo, paper, per dozen, . . 1 00 
 
 aiTARTO BIBLES. 
 
 No. Four Quarto Bible. Apocrypha and 8 new engravings, 
 
 embossed marble edge, . . . . . 5 63 
 
 No. Six Quarto Bible. Embossed, gilt side and edges, . 6 50 
 
 ABCHITECTTTBE. 
 Bottler's Chapel and Church Architecture. 1 vol., 4to, . 10 00 
 
 Buith. The Domestic Architect, . . . . 8 76 
 
 J U VENIIiES. 
 THK OikSKBll? OB' JXTVENILJES. 
 Leonard Barton. 
 
 EuiLT AND Clara's Trip to Niagara Falls. 
 The May Day Ramble. 
 The Burning Village. 
 
 TUE BOC>K OF ANIITALS. 
 
 The Boos of Birds. 
 The above 6 books put up in boxes, price per set, , . 2 70 
 
 DEIOIAX'S LIBRARY FOR CHILDREIT. 
 
 The Eagle Primer, Nos. 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
 
 Each contains 34 pages, and about 100 cuts, bound in fancy 
 paper, and put up in packages of one dozen. Assorted, por gross 6 00 
 
Mason, Baker & Pratt. 
 
 The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book Series. 
 
 By Edvards A. Faik, 1), D„ Austin Phelps, D, D., and Lorell Ifason, Una. Boo 
 
 The Salibath Hymn Book. 
 
 Smali. QnARTO Edition, Brevier type being as large as that used in 
 the 18mo edition of " Watts' and Select "), double columns, 335 
 pages, with Index of First Lines of Hymns, and Index of Authors, 
 printed on superfine paper. A v^ry neat and attractive edition ; 
 in various bindings, as follows : 
 
 Cloth extra, marbled edges, . . $1.00 
 
 Sheep, . . . 1.15 
 
 Morocco, ...... 1.37 
 
 " and gilt lines . . 1.75 
 
 BiXTBENMO Editiok, Containing 963 pages ; with very large type, in- 
 cluding the following indexes : Classification of Hymns: Alpha- 
 betical Index of Subjects; Index of Subjects of Selections for 
 Chanting ; Index of Scriptural Passages ; Index of First Lines of 
 Hymns; Index of First Lines of Stanzas; and Index of Authors; 
 printed on superfine paper, in various styles of binding, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Sheep, 
 
 $2.00 
 
 Morocco, ...... 3.88 
 
 Morocco and gilt lines . . . ■ 3 75 
 
 Morocco, gilt edges . . . . . 3 00 
 
 Morocco, gilt edges and gilt lines . . . 3.50 
 
 Turkey morocco, gilt edges, plain or flexible, or full gilt, 5.00 
 Antique or beveled ..... 6.00 
 
 DOODECIMO Edition, containing the same matter as the 16mo edition, 
 but printed on extra superfine paper, with wide margins, bound in 
 various elegant styles for the pulpit, presentation copies, etc., as 
 follows : 
 
 Turkey morocco, gilt edges, in various elegant bind- 
 ings, . . . $10.00 
 
 Tbe Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book, with Plain Tunes ; 
 
 Containing all the hymns set to appropriate tunes — the words and the 
 music being on the same page. The arrangement is generally 
 ench, that, at each opening, two or more tunes ar i presented, thus 
 affording a choice containing also a considerable number of 
 chants and short anthems. 
 
 Sixteenmo Edition, Brevier type, corresponding with the large 
 edition page for page, except that the topical index is omitted. 
 
 Cloth extra $1-38 
 
 Morocco extra, marbled edges . . . 1.88 
 
 The same, gilt edges . . . 3.50 
 
 The same " and gilt lines . ... 8.90 
 
Mason, Baker & Pratt. 
 
 Octavo Edition, with large plain type. 512 pages, including a 
 
 full topical index 
 
 Caoth extra $2.25 
 
 Morocco, ... 3.00 
 
 Morocco and gilt lines, . . 3.40 
 
 Morocco gilt.edges, ..... 3.50 
 
 Morocco, gUt edges and gilt lines, . . . 3.90 
 
 Turkey morocco, extra gilt edges, in various 
 patterns .... 7.00 to 10.00 
 
 The New Sabbath. Hymn and Tune Book, with Popular 
 Tunes; 
 
 With the same arrangement of hymns and the same indexes, but with 
 different tunes. In place of the Anthems in the other edition are 
 a number of popular tunes. 
 
 Sixteenmo Edition, Brevier type, corresponding with the large 
 edition page for page, except that the topical index is omitted. 
 Cloth extra, . . . . . . $1.38 
 
 1.88 
 2.30 
 2.50- 
 290 
 
 Morocco, 
 
 Morocco and gilt' lines 
 
 Morocco, gilt edges, 
 
 Morocco, gilt edges and gilt lines 
 
 Octavo Edition, with large plain type, including a full topical 
 index. 
 
 Cloth extra, .;, . . . . $2.25 
 
 Morocco, 
 
 Morocco and gUt lines, 
 
 Morocco, gilt, . . 
 
 Morocco, gilt and g^t lines, . 
 
 Turkey morocco, in various patterns. 
 
 3 00 
 3.40 
 3.50 
 3.90 
 7.00 to 10.00 
 
 Baptist Editions. 
 
 *»* Editions of all of the above, prepared for the use of Baptist 
 Churches, are also published. Parties desiring these should ordet 
 " Baptist Editions." The new Hymn and Tune Book has been 
 recently published, but the change has been in tunes only. 
 
 The Sabbath Tune Book; 
 Containing the tunes only. 
 
 Flexible Embossed Cloth . . . $0.'5 
 
 Htmns and Choibs ; or, the Matter and the Manner of the Ser. 
 vice of Song in the House of the Lord. By Austin Phelps and 
 Edwards A. Park, Professors at Andover, and Daniel L. Furber, 
 Pastor at Newton. 12mo, 425 pages . . 11.75 
 
 The Book of Praise — with and without Tunes 
 
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