',•' '^^ua•»''^■r,^i'• ^vS:^fe-;;-vK :;■::•■::■■' (': \' THE AMERICAN 1S%^ P R T Pi i IT CI A L L E Pi Y : CONTAINING CORRECT rORTRAITS AND BRIEF NOTICES HE PRINCIPAL ACTORS IN AMERICAN HISTORY; E M B R A ^ I X G DISTINGUISHED WOMEN, NAVAL AND MILITARY HEROES, STATESMEN, CIVILIANS, JURISTS, DIVINES, AUTHORS, AND ARTISTS; TOGETHER WITH CELEBRATED INDIAN CHIEFS. FROM CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME. THE PORTRAITS ENGRAVED OX WOOD CY J. W. ORR, FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY S. WALLIN, .r BY A. D.' JONES. NEW YORK: J. M. EMERSON AND COMPANY M D C C C L V. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlie year Eighteen Hundred and Fifty-five, BY J. ^l. EMERSON AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of tlie District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York C. A. ALV O RD, PRINTER, 29 & 81 Gold Street CONTENTS. PAOE Aeldancl, Harriet 435 Adams, Alviu IIV Adams, Hannah 379 Adams, John 59 Adams, John Q 119 Adams, Mrs. John 71 Adams, Samuel 53 Afijassiz, Louis 569 AUston, Washiagtou 195 Ames, Fisher 81 Andre, John 89 Appleton, Samuel 683 Arnold, Benedict 85 Ashmun, George 677 Atherton, Charles G 765 Audubon, John James 521 Bache, Mrs. Sarah 461 Baiubridge, William 128 Ballou, Hosea 723 Baltimore 281 Baird, Robert 151 Barber, Francis 415 Barlow, Joel 431 Barnes, Albert 679 Baiuard, U. D 171 Bauey, J 497 Barry, John 481 Bayard, J. A 159 Beck, Theodorick Rimyu. . . . 5S9 Boeclier, Lyman 639 Beecher, Henry Ward 691 Belknap, Jeremy 38',) Black Hawk 573 Blakely, Johnston 465 Biddle, James 557 Biddle, Nicholas 487 Boone, Daniel 91 Boudinot, Elias 467 Bowditeh, Dr 527 Broadstreet, Simon 327 Brandt 357 Bridgman, Laura 707 Briggs, George N 627 Brooks, John 107 Brown, Charles Broekden 701 Brown, Jacob 605 Bryant, W. C 103 Buel, Jesse 559 Burgoyne, John - 99 Burke, Edmon 1 503 Burr, Aaron 349 Burritt, Elihu 191 Byles, Mather 413 Cabot, Sebastian 13 Calhoun, J. C 129 PAGE Camden, Earl of 321 Carey, Henry C 699 Carleton, Guy 401 Carroll, Charles ^.^S- S3& Cass, Lewis 181 Channing, W. E 143 Chapin, E. H 565 Chickering, Jonas 721 Choate, Rufus 173 Choules, John 761 Church, Benjamin 295 Claxton, Alexander 161 Clay, Hemy 211 Clay, Cassius M 575 Clinton, De Witt 147 Clinton, James 485 Collamer, Jacob 757 Colden, Calwallader 305 Cole, Thomas 745 Colman, Benjamin 303 Colton, Walter 729 Columbus, Christojilier 9 Cooper, J. F 205 Cornwallis 347 Corwiu, Thomas 529 Crittenden, John J 511 Crocket, David 567 Croghan, Lieut. Col 755 Cushman, Miss Charlotte .... 617 Dale, Richard 4-t3 Dallas, George M 661 Davenport, John 283 Davie, Wni. R 387 Davis, John 591 Dayton, William L 725 Decatur, Stephen 185 D'Estaiug 381 De Soto,>erdinand 279 De Wees, W. P 183 Dewey, Orville 547 DickiQson, John 399 Dickinson, M 629 Doane, A. S 651 D'Ossoli, Marchioness 675 Drake, Francis 275 Dubia, John P 583 Dumas, Count 423 Dwight, Timothy 705 Edwards, Jonathan 339 Ellet, Mrs. Elizabeth F 537 Elliot, J. D 665 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 543 Endicott, John 27 Ericsson, John 561 Evans, G 671 PAGE Everett, Edward 687 Ewing, Charles 525 Farley, Harriet 585 Fairfield, John 597 Fanning, Edmund 457 Farrar, Timothy 455 Ferdinand , . . . 269 Fillmore, Millard 697 Franklin, Benjamin 43 Franklin, Mrs 345 Frelinghuvsen, Theodore "113 Fremont, J. C 149 Frobisher, Mavt"u 37 Fulton, Robert 121 Gaines, E. P 681 Gallatin, Albc.t 135 Gaston, William G07 Gates, Horatio 451 George III 331 Gerry, Elbridge 462 Goodyear, Charles 739 Graham, W. A 601 Greeley, Horace 735 Greene, Major General 337 Greenough, Horatio 619 Greenwood, Grace 659 Grundy, Felix 647 Hale, Mrs. S. J 689 Haliburton, J 209 Hamilton, Alexander 51 Hamilton, Mrs. A 335 Hancock, John 55 Harrison, Wra. H 157 Hayne, Robert Y 189 Hendrick 317 Henrv, Patrick 61 Hicks, Elias 727 Hilliard, H. W 613 Hopkins, Samuel 369 Hopkinson, F 355 Hosack, David 635 Houston, Samuel 523 Howe, Lord 333 Howard, John Eagar 489 Hudson, Hendrick 287 Hughes, f John 581 Hull, Isaac 655 Humphreys, David 433 Hutchinson, Thomas 57 Inman, Henry 201 Irving, W 167 Isabella 271 CONTENTS. PAGE 395 •;a*-. f^r IJl ! K^^SJiVt: ::: •.;::■.:;: : u. Jackson, James, ^-'^ i ^ Jay, John Jo'fforsou, Johnson, WiUiaia 03 '.09 Tlwrnas ■■■.■..■; *. ". • . 45 Oglethorpe, James -"•' ^"°™^^ 31l|0gden, Aaron 4io , , . T. ,1 S 641 Olia, Stephen . Johnston, Josiah b "J f. ' | ^ Jones, John Paul 103 , Usceoia Judson, Adoniram Judson, A. H Judson, E. C 657 Outacite. 175 177 I Parsons, Enoch. Peun, William 5191 Perry, O. H. p ' ' [ ^ 711 Peters, Hugh. 203 Petalesharro . 01 Physic, P. S. PAGE 555 759 127 421 493 33 145 285 621 Spurzheim o^.o Stark, Gen ^^l St. Clair, Arthur Steuben, Baron Stewart, Charles Stiles, Ezra Story, Joseph Strong, Caleb Stuart, C. G Stuy vesaut, Petrus Suliivan, John Sullivan, William 386 371 747 315 141 511 101 293 393 625 Talmadge, Benjamin . ov Henrv 1 1 3 U ei ce, r i auiMn > Townsend, °^' ^"-"'I; , , ■ fiT Perce. Bern amm ^^' .i, , ,, 483 1 37 I Taylor. Zachary 139 137 Tecumsch ^ ^^ het •'>«3 673 Charles 459 599 1 Trumbull, John 3 1 3 Keokuck Kennedy, John Kent, James . . King PhilUp Kin Kirkl Knox, ticurv. . . --^ i p- „ tDq^; Kosciusko, Thaddeus ^l p ^e z M , 47 ?inkney William ^ ^ Truxton, Thoma. L^f^yette 4^Ptt, William 375 Tyng^ ^^-^•^^'^^"'■^ :^^d.Wnnt.J.H ^^^ Van Buren, Martin 103 693 Van Rensselaer, Stephen 69o 703 'Vane, Henry 733 I Van Ness, M.arcia 539 737 Laurence, James ^'^■* Lawrence, Abbott 5ol Lee, Charles Lee, Henry Lee, Richard Henry Legare, H. S Le verett, John Lewis, Morgan Linn, Lewis F Lincoln, Benjamin Livingston, Edward Longfellow, H. W 367 109 417 563 291 407 C67 79 633 535 Pleasants Pocahontas .... Poinsett, Joel R. Porter, David. . Porter, P. B. . . . Post, Wright. . . Powers, Hiram. ^ Preble, Edward -^^.j Prescott, William H '^3 Putnam, Israel ' ■> 715 579 507' 509 359 97 731 35 Quincy, Josiah . . Raleigh, W.altcr Ramsay, David. Randolph, J. . 587 Vespucius, Amcricus. Verrazzano 469 753- 125 11 273 Lowell, Charles . Macomb, Alexander Madison, James . . . Madison, Mrs Marion. Francis . . . Marshall, C. J Mason, Lowell. . . . Mather, Cotton ^ Mather, Increase 3.3 Ripley, Major General. Mayhew Jona han 3.o P 7 j^j,^ ^„,, c. M. Mcintosh, L'^eh m 4 .^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^-.^ McDonough, Thomas ^> \ ^-^-^^ ^^^^^ j^^es McLane, Lou:s < 1 1 ^^ o . Middleton, Arthur Miller, James Mitchell, Samuel Lathram Monroe, James Montgomery, Richard J '^ Morris, Goiiverneur Morse, S. F. B Morgan, Daniel. . . . Mott, Valentine Motte, Rebecca ]Moultrie, William Ware, Henry Ware, Mary L Warren, Josejih Warren, Mrs. Iklary . Warren, John Wariington, L Washington, George. Washington, Martha Randolph^Peyton ^^-^ , ^^,^^^^;„gton, William. Rantoul, Robert, Jr ^ ^ J; ^l => ^ „,i,^„.. Rawson, Edward . Rawson, Rebecca. Red Jacket Reed, Esther Reed, Joseph 4391 Rochambeau. 685 Rush, Benjamin 577 Rumford, Count. 515 Rutledge, Edwi 289 29 1.87 361 363 749 743 69 501 341 93 643 645 49 453 751 595 41 65 491 83 767 , 133 , 87 . 403 ]91 Wayne, Anthon Webster, Daniel . . Webster, Noah.. . West, Benjamin. . Wheatley, Phillis. Wilkes, John ^(U - -- " 719 473 471 19 441 353 313 17 32.', 513 105 1 Muhleubn Murray rgh, Peter 4(i51 Sharp 653 1 Santa Anna 95 Schuyler, Philip 553 Scott, Winfield _• • • • • _,7 Sedgwick, Miss Catharine M. . ^ ^^^^^^ 419 SewcU, Samuel -■'■11 ,„ ,; t Willard, Mrs. Emma Willett, Mannus. . Williams, O. H. . • Winslow, Edward White, William . . Whitfield, George, Winthrop, John . . Winslow, Josiah. . . ^ Winslow, Penelope ^^ Winthrop, John.. Winthrop. R. C. . Wirt, William.. . 603 Wistar, Carpar. 207 631 615 Rev. Dr. 517 Woodbury, Levi. riiXn. 479 Shelby,] t:„.ii„^ 199 Shippen, Isaac 4 Edward . Murray, Lindley ^ ""' I sigourney, Mrs. Lydia H.. ^^ ,, ,, ,., 549 SiUiman, Benjamin Nea. Muthla . ^^ :^ g^^^^^^l Newell, Harriet 4 47 ^^, ^^^^^ !\rir\irp,'f>r _ • Ninigret. Wool, J. E 3l3|Woostcr, David . 15 Worth, W. J 651 Wright, William 6631 15 i Zinzcndorf. 169 197 411 531 709 319 VOLUME I. PART I. EMBRACING THE PERIOD FROM THE DISCOVERY BY COLUMBUS, DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE i I PREFACE. Lord Bacon expressed his regret that the lives of eminent men were not more frequently written ; and added that, "though kings, princes, and great personages be few, yet there are many excellent men who deserve better than vague reports and barren elegies." And one of our own poets has beautifully said, " Lives of great men all remind us We may make our lives sublime, — And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time, "Footprints, that perhaps another — Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother. Seeing, may take heart again." The " footprints" of nearly three hundred and fifty individuals of dis- tinction and eminence are collected in this volume. And not only their footprints, tracking their pathway through life, but their very faces^ preserved through the magic power of the pencil, and conveying to- posterity the varying expression of features in "the human form divine." Nearly all of these three hundred and fifty individuals have lived in the last three centuries, and more than three hundred of them in our own country. The great majority of them have completed tlieir voyage across "life's solemn main," and entered that country "from, whose bourne no traveler returns ;" while some fifty or sixty of the number Iv PIIEFACE. are still on the stage of life, holding- various positions of distinction among their fellow-men. Wordsworth has said, speaking of man in his individuality, " The child is father of the man." The remark may with equal propriety be applied to the race collect- ively ; for the welfare, character, and future progress of the race are always shaped and measured by the experience and history of the past. It is universally conceded that biography is the most instructive, as well as the most pleasing department of history. The biographical sketches, in this volume, have been prepared with care by a competent and con- scientious writer, from the best materials and sources within his reach. And great pains have been taken to obtain the best likenesses of the oriirinals, from which to eno-rave the portraits. It is believed therefore that few works combine, in a more eminent degree than this, the two grand elements requisite to make a valuable book, viz., the useful and the attractive, the utile ctim dulce of the Romans. Being well aware that the useful and attractive character of the volume would insure for it a very great demand, the publishers have provided, in a liberal manner, for the best materials and elegant mechan- ical execution of the work, and at the same time have placed it at such a moderate price as to bring it within the reach of every family and every school library in the land. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. FEW men have led a life of such wild and glorious adventure as the subject of this brief memoir ; and none have exceeded him in the exhibition of those manly virtues which command the admiration of the world, — energy, perseverance, patience, and the power of endurance. Of obscure parentage, without money or influential friends, he compelled wealth to be his servant, and kings to do homage to his genius. Obstacles hopelessly insurmountable to others, only stimulated his energy, and he perceived the guaranty of success when all around him saw only despair. "With an unfaltering faith and indomitable will, he fulfilled the prophecy of his soul, and wreathed his brow with laurels which will only grow fresher and greener as time advances. Christopher Columbus was born at Genoa, as is generally conceded, about A. D. 1435-36. But little is known of his early life, save that he was remarkable for his love of such studies as peculiarly fitted him for a maritime life, and those great adventures of which Providence made him the principal agent and moving spirit. He commenced his maritime career while yet a mere youth, his first voyage being a naval expedition fitted out at Genoa in 1459, by John of Anjou, Duke of Calabria, the object of which was to recover the kinojdom of" Naples for his father, Rene, Count de Provence. 10 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS For many years after this, the traces of his career are faint, although it is evident that his life passed in a succession of naval or other maritime pursuits. His sagacious mind led him to believe that other lands lay far oflf towards the setting sun, and he resolved to convince the world that his views were correct. Poor and friendless as he was, he conceived the bold idea which led to the discovery of the Western Conti- nent. Full of this purpose, he sought the aid of powerful courts, first applying to the throne of Portugal, and then to that of Spain. But here he was destined to encounter the fiercest opposition, and it was not until after many years of struggle and disap- pointment that he succeeded in securing the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, who fitted him out with a squadron of three small vessels, carrying in all one hundred and twenty persons, among whom were various private adventurers. With this little fleet, and full of hope and the solemn purpose he had so long and ardently cherished, he set sail from Huelva on the 3d of August, 1492. After a long and perilous voyage, in which the terrors of the Atlantic were among the smallest difficulties he had to encounter, — his officers, crews, and passengers in almost constant fear and mutiny, — his heart was made glad, and the fears of all dissipated, by the joyous cry of " Lancl^ ho ! " on the morning of the 12th of October, 1492. Columbus speedily landed, and took solemn possession in the name of their Catholic majesties, amidst a wondering crowd of naked savages, who received him with simple sincerity, little dreaming of the strange and sad results which were to grow out of the pageant that filled their dazzled eyes. After refreshing and resting his worn-out band, he cruised among the islands (to which he gave the general name of West Indies) for several months, and then, on the 4th of January, set sail on his return to Spain. His return was hailed as a triumph. and he was treated with all the pomp and ceremony of a mighty conqueror. He soon sailed, with a larger and better provisioned argosy, to the New World, bearing the titles, prerogatives, and honors of admiral, viceroy, and governor of all the countries he had discovered or might discover, and with unlimited powers to make and administer laws, form governments, erect cities, &c. He reached the place of his destination after a pleasant voyage, and immediately began to carry into execution the plans he had so long and so fondly cherished. But the star of Colum- bus had passed its zenith. He had talcen with him the seeds of faction, which speedily germinated and ripened into bitter fruit. Intrigues at court, and treachery in his own quarters, made his lot one of continual strife and discomfort, and he at length returned to Spain rather as a prisoner to answer for misdemeanors than as a conqueror to reap new honors. Still again do we find him making a voyage to the New World, only to be received suspiciously and treated with contumely ; and, after a futile effort to regain his wonted sway, he again sought redress at the foot of the throne. But alas I his guardian angel, the gentle Isabella, " had gone into glory," and Ferdinand was guilty of the meanest duplicity and most accursed ingratitude. Still professing friendship for the great man who had given him a continent, he put him off, day after day, with false promises and cruel evasions, until the old mariner, disgusted and broken-hearted, found a refuge in the grave, and carried up his cause to the court of heaven. ' I'^^o-"^' AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 4 LTHOUGH our country bears the nanne of this gentleman, it is pretty gen- A erally conceded that the honor belongs to Columbus, -'»;.- '"'f;'^* discoverer' It is claimed, and with a good degree of just.ce, hat both he Norse men and the Cabots of England saw the continent prior either to Columbus o Vespucius, yet the first occupation of the country is due to Col"™"-, and H should ha;e been called Col^b,., instead of Amer.ca But it .s too late now to hope for a change; and since it is so, we are glad that so euphon.ous a name distinsruishes the western continent. . -p, A„L,c„s VESPUc,„s_more properly AMcrigo respucc,-J.s ^0™ - Florence in 1451. He descended from a very ancient house, and belonged to one of the proudest families of that celebrated city. His education -- '"P^ ^'''^'/^f .^^ was possessed of a bold and enterprising spirit. F.rcd wrth *e a ju, ts of the discoveries of Columbus, he became desirous to see the New World ^ — • and accordingly, on the 20th of May, 1497, he sa.led from Cad.z, - » ™;-'^;"'; with a squadron of four small ships, under command of the ^'^rat d and vaUa^t Ojeda. During this voyage, Amerieus claims to have seen the contmcnt He may have done so, but much doubt envelops the matter. At all events, h,. 12 AMERICUSVESPUCIUS. success was such as to induce Ferdinand and Isabella to place a fleet of six ships under his command, when he made his second voyage. On his return, in 1500, he received the same ungracious treatment from the contemptible Ferdinand which had been visited on Columbus ; and he returned to Seville mortified and disgusted at the ingratitude of princes. A rank and growing jealousy existed in all the courts of Europe of the glory and wealth achieved by Spain in her new discoveries. Emanuel, King of Portugal, hearing of the humiliation of Vespucci, invited him to his court, and offered. to fit out a fleet of three ships, and give him the command. Gladly accepting the proposal of the Portuguese king, he sailed from Lisbon in May, 1501, and exploivd the coast of South America from Brazil to Patagonia, and returned, laden with riches and honors, to Lisbon, in September, 1502. Emanuel was so greatly pleased with the results of this first voyage of discovery, that he placed six larger vessels at the disposal of Vespucci, and he again set sail on his fourth and last voyage, in May, 1503. The great object of this voyage was to discover a western passage to the Molucca Islands. Falling short of provisions, he was foiled in the attempt, and after visiting Brazil, and loading his ships w^ith the valuable wood of that country, and other precious products, he returned to Portugal, after an absence of but little more than a year. The rich cargoes he brought home partially compensated for the want of success in the main purpose of the voyage, and Americus was received with every demonstration of joy and respect. Vespucci now retired from the busy scenes of life, and devoted himself to the preparation of a history of his adventures, and to the performance of duties growing out of the office of chief pilot to Spain, to which he had been appointed by Ferdinand. His duties were the drawing and correcting of sea charts. He drew and published the first chart of the American coast, in which he laid claim to be the discoverer of the country. In 1507, he published his history of all the voyages he had made to America, and his work was read all over Europe with great delight. It was filled with most glowing accounts of the New World, mixed up with the most splendid fictions, superlatively elaborated sentences and apocryphal events. It was pub- lished just after the death of Columbus, and was thus placed beyond the reach of that eminent navigator, who, had he lived, would doubtless have exposed the pretensions of its author. He lived but a few years after this, and died at Tercera, in the sixty-third year of his age, in 1514. SEBASTIAN CABOT. JOHN CABOT, the father of Sebastian, of whom we have no portrait, was a Venetian by birth, but a resident of England at the time of the birth of the subject of this memoir. Under the patronage of King Henry VH. he sailed on a voyage of discovery in 1497, accompanied by his son Sebastian, then only twenty years of age. The elder Cabot had three sons, whom he educated especially as navigators. Sebastian was the second son. In this voyage the continent is said to have been seen for the first time, and was explored from the sixty-seventh degree of latitude to Florida. Sebastian Cabot was born at Bristol, England, in 1476-7. As we have seen, he accompanied his father on his first voyage in 1499. He sailed again under commis- sion from the court of England, in 1517. His object, like that of Vespucius, was to discover a new passage to the East Indies. In this he was disappointed, and re- turned to England without having added to the amount of knowledge obtained on the former voyage. In 1525, Ferdinand and Isabella, of Spain, invited him to court, showed him many flattering attentions, and put a fleet under his command, which sailed in April of the same year. He visited the coast of Brazil, and entered a great river, to which he gave the name of Rio de la Plata, running up its course between three and four hun- 1-i SEBASTIAN CABOT. dred miles. He consumed six years in this voyage, and made many valnab.e addi- tions to the geography and natural history of the country. On his return to Spain in 1531, he experienced, like all others who shared the patronage of that court, the fickleness and perfidy of the weak and vacillating Ferdinand. Cabot made several other voyages, of which we have no veritable records, and at length retired to Seville, holding the commission of chief pilot to the court of Spain. In this capacity he drew many valuable charts, in which he delineated not only his own, but all others' discoveries. It fell to him, also, to draw up the instructions of those who sailed on new voyages of discovery, some of which are still extant, and exhibit an unusual sagacity in their conception, and a remarkable perspicacity in their execution. In his old age he returned to England, and resided once more at Bristol, the place of his birth, supported by a pension from King Edward VI. He was also appointed governor of a company of merchants, associated for the pm-pose of making voyages of discovery to unknown lands — an office for which his vast experience and knowl- edge eminently fitted him. Perhaps no man of his age did more to give an impulse to the commerce of England than Cabot. He was the founder of the " Russian Company," and the projector of several commercial enterprises, from which England derived no inconsiderable importance. He cherished the belief that a north-east pas- sage to China might yet be found, and died in the faith. The last account we can find of him is the relation of a pleasing and characteristic incident, which occurred in 1556, about a year previous to his death. The company had fitted out a vessel, which was just ready to sail on a voyage of discovery ; and, as was his custom, he visited the ship in person to see if every thing was in accord- ance with his instructions. He mingled freely with the seamen and passengers, having a cheerful word for each, and a smile and benediction for all. " The good old man Cabota," says the journal of the voyage, still extant, " gave to the poor most liberal alms, wishing them to pray for the good fortune and prosperous success of our pinnace. And then, at the sign of St. Christopher, he and his friends being rested, and for very joy, that he had seen the towardness of our intended discovery, he entered into the dance himself among the rest of the young and lusty company; which being ended, he and his friends departed, most gently commending us to the governance of Almighty God." It is a pleasant picture of the greenness and fresh- ness of his soul, although cumbered with the decaying tenement in which it had been enclosed for nearly eighty years. Cabot lived but a year after this event, and died at Bristol, in 1557, aged eighty years. He was a most remarkable man. Sagacious, methodical, thorough, and persevering, he was just the man for his office, whether he trod the quarter deck of his vessels, or presided at the board of commerce and navigation, of which he was governor for so many years. He is said to have been a mild and gentle person in all his relations on shore, although he was a rigid and even severe disciplinarian at sea ; and there are some intimations that he was even cruel in his treatment of offenders against the regulations of his squadrons. He is supposed to have been the first navigator who noticed the variations of the magnetic needle, and he published a work in Venice, in 1533, on the subject. He also published a large map, which was engraved by Clement Adams, and placed in the King's Gallery, at Whitehall. On this map was inscribed, in Latin, an account of the discovery of Newfoundland. CATTAIN JOHN SMITH. IN April, 1607, there arrived on the coast of Virginia a fleet of three small vessels, whose joint tonnage amounted to less than two hundred tons, containing a colo- ny, whose master spirit was the hero of this notice, Captain John Saiith. Thrice had the attempt been made to plant a colony on the shores of Virginia, and thrice had it failed. This time they were more successful. They located themselves on the left bank of the James River, about fifty miles from its mouth, and called the place, after the English monarch, Jamestoivn. The most discordant elements were mixed up in the little company that was destined to be the germ of Virginia's future greatness ; and had it not been for the sagacity and wisdom of Smith, they had, like those who went before them, perished within a twelvemonth. But his genius and courage were equal to the emergency. When provisions could not be purchased of the Indians, he seized their idols, and compelled the savages to redeem them with corn ; and by his severe example and discipline he kept the turbulent spirits of liie little colony in subjection. The savages regarded him with awe and hatred; now compassing his life by every ingenious artifice, and now reverencing him as a god. While on an exploring expedition, he was taken prisoner, after having slain three oi 16 JOHN SMITH. his fot\s with his own hand. He was carried before Powhatan, and for some time was feasted, and fantastically dressed and carried about as a show. At length, in solemn council, he was condemned to death, and preparations were made to carry the sentence into inuuediate execution. His head was laid on a stone, and a stalwart Indian stood ready, with a war club, to dash out his brains. Just as the blow was about to descend, Pucahontas, the favorite daughter of Powhatan, threw herself upon the victim, and shielded his head in her own bosom. Her entreaties prevailed, and he was liljerated and sent back to Jamestown, in rude and savage triumph. Here the good sense and courage of Smith prevented the breaking up of the col- ony. Early in the seventeenth century, he was very seriously injured by the prema- ture explosion of his powder flask while on one of his exploring rambles, in conse- quence of which he returned to England for medical advice. He never recovered from the effects of this disaster, and after various adventures he died in London, in 1631, in the tifty-second year of his age. Few men have exhibited such a love for the romance of life, and few have been more gratified in this respect, than the brave and gallant Captain John Smith. He exhibited this trait in early childhood, engaging in the most reckless and dangerous exploits. At thirteen, he sold his school books and satchel to raise money to run away, it being his purpose to go to sea. At fifteen, he left his master and went into France and the Low Countries. At seventeen, having acquired a little money, he embarked once more to carve out his own fortune, in company with some pilgrims bound for Italy. A violent tempest assailing the ship. Smith, who was deemed the cause of the misfortune, — he being the only heretic on board, — wa^ thrown over- l>oard, and saved his life by swimming to the shore. After this, he entered the ser- \ ice of Austria, and sowon the confidence of the emperor as to be intrusted with an important command. At the siege of Regal, he accepted the challenge of a Turkish lord, and smote off his head, fighting on horseback. A second, and a third, shared the same fate. He was finally taken prisoner, and escaped by slaying his master; and, after visiting Russia, he returned to England, and immediately turyed his atten- tion to the colonization of North America. Smith published several volumes of his voyages and adventures in America, as well as a map of the whole coast from the Penobscot to the James Rivers, giving both the Indian and the Engli^h names of the principal places. GOVERNOR JOSIAH WINSLOW. JOSIAH. WINSLOW was the first New England born governor. Hitherto that office had been filled by men whose birthplace was abroad. Now they had begun to raise their own officers and magistrates ; and this first American production was an honor to the new world and to his colony. Marshfield claims the honor of his birthplace, and he was born in 1629, just nine years after the arrival of the Pilgrims. He was the son of Edward Winslow, one of the company which came over in the Mayflower, the third governor of Plymouth colony. Josiah Winslow was born of brave stock, of which he proved to be no degenerate scion. He was a man of proper person, charming address, a well cultivated mind, and an amiable disposition. These traits, added to his fearless courage and military bearing, all resting on a highly refined piety for their base, eminently fitted him for the then highly important office of governor, and gave him great popularity. His first public act, after he was chosen governor, was the restoration to their civil rights of Isaac Robinson, son of Rev. John Robinson, and Mr. Cudworth, of which they had been deprived on account of their religious opinions. King Philip's war was coinci- dent with his administration, in which war he did eminent service, and proved him- IS J O S I A H W I N S L O \V self a sagacious leader and a brave warrior. He was mild and tolerant himself, and could not endure the persecutions which were pursued against nonconformists, of whatever name. His moral was fully equal to his physical courage. He encoun- tered public prejudice with the same unblenching resolution that he exposed himself to the bullets and ambushes of the Indians. He commenced his public life very early. No sooner had he arrived at the age eligible to office, than he was chosen deputy to the General Court from his native town ; and from that period to his election as governor, he was constantly employed in public business. In 1637, soon after the death of his father, he was elected to the office of commander-in-chief of the military forces of the colony. For many years he was one of the commissioners of the confederated colonies. He was of the number " born to honors," and they crowned his whole life. Of highly polished manners, greatly gifted in conversation, fond of society, and blessed withal with the means to gratify himself in all these respects, the social and festive scenes of "Careswell" were of the most delightful, refined, and instructive kind. Here, with his beautiful wife presiding, he won for himself the proud distinction of being " the most accom- plished gentleman and the most delightful companion in all New England." He married the daughter of Herbert Pelham, Esq., who early took a deep interest in the New England colonies. In 1637 he came over to America, but returned again to England after a short sojourn. Governor Winslow never enjoyed very robust health, and his exposures and hard- ships in Philip's war, in which he rendered most important service, exhibiting the stern qualities of a soldier, combined with the shrewdness and circumspection of a diplomatist, doubtless aggravated his disease and accelerated his death, which took place on the 18th of December, 1680, in the fifty-second year of his age. Although he died in the prime of life, he departed full of honors, carrying with him the love and respect of the entire colony, and of a numerous circle of friends both in the old world and the new EDWAUD WINSLOW. BY a wise economy in the moral realm, all great exigeiifies in the woilj produce those master spirits which are necessary to guide and regulate i;i Mn. The golden dreams which the discovery of the New World by Columbus' had produced throughout Europe had long been dissipated by the stern truth. In England, all that was sterile and bleak was associated with New England, and nothing was found there to tempt cupidity or promise fame. For many years would the Indians of Massachusetts Bay have remained in undisturbed possession of their broad hunting grounds, had not a spirit of intolerance at home led the austere but devout Puritans, deeming their religious freedom of more value than personal liberty and pleasant homes, to seek, as exiles in an unkindly cliuiato, " freedom to worship God." They came here to establish a church — they founded an empire I They came to sow and nourish the plants of religious freedom; and out of it sprang the mighty tree of civil and political liberty! They came to build up a colony — and lo, a mighty and independent nation! John Carver was the first governor of the new colony, and William Bradford (he second. As no portraits of these eminent men are extant, we are obliged, \vi;li 20 E D W A R D W I N S L O W . great reluctance, to pass them by, and come to the third, the subject of this brief memoir. Edward Winslow was born in Droitwich, in England, in 1594. At a very early period of life, he became acquainted with the Puritans, and embraced their doctrines. Determining to share their fortunes, he married among them, and embarked on board the Mayflower. His name comes next after those of Carver and Bradford. Soon after his arrival, he buried his wife, and in due time, married Mrs. Susannah White. Mrs. White was the first white mother in New England, and as this was the first marriage, became also the first white bride. Winslow was one of the choice spirits of these trying times. Born and educated in a gentleman's family,, he had acquired a suavity of address not common with the Puritans. He exhibited uncommon tact and sagacity in his intercourse with the savages, and in the management of fiscal aflairs. With all this he was a man of most unyielding integrity and fervent piety. These qualities caused him to be frequently made ambassador to the court at home, and to the neighboring chiefs, many of whom acquired an affectionate regard for him, which ended only with their lives. His visit to the dying Massasoit, to whose necessities he adminis- tered with his own hand, and who by his kind attentions was restored to life, is characteristic, and won for him the love and respect of all the Indians. He made frequent voyages to England on the business of the colony, and while there wrote a book on the condition of New England. It was entitled " Good News from New England, or a Relation of Things remarkable in that Plantation, by E. Winslow." On one of his return voyages, in 1624, he imported the first neat cattle ever seen in New England. He was first elected governor in 1633, which office he held at various times until 1650. When the Puritans obtained political ascendency in England, Wins- low was there. His talents and character were appreciated by Cromvv^ell, who offered him such distinctions as induced him to remain in England, and he never afterwards returned to America. When Cromwell sent out an expedition for the reduction of St. Domingo, Winslow was appointed chief commissioner, with full powers to superintend the opt^rations of the expedition, and to negotiate and make terms with the insurgents. This was the last act in his useful life. He took the fever incidental to the climate, which carried him off' on the 9th of May, 1655, in the sixty-second year of his age. Thus died a great and good man. The dazzle of military glory or courtly splen- dor rests not on his fame, but a halo of moral grandeur encircles his brow, which outshines all lower glories, and which shall last, and burn, and glorify him, " When victors' wreaths and monarchs' gems Shall blend in common dust." POCAHONTAS. THIS beautiful Indian princess, whose romantic story has filled so many bosoms with wondering emotion, and whose sad and early fate has dimmed so many eyes, was the daughter of Powhatan, or Wahunsonacock, the most powerful of all the chiefs in the sunny regions of James River and Chesapeake Bay, and was born about 1594-5. Her name signifies a run betiveen tivo hills. She seems to have been as amiable and intelligent as she was beautiful ; and to her love for the English the colony at Jamestown owes its preservation from destruction. We first hear of her on a visit of Smith to Powhatan. That chief being absent, Pocahontas did the barbarous honors on a grand scale, nearly frightening Smith and his associates out of their wits. The next year after Smith arrived at Jamestown, he fell into the hands of Pow- hatan, as has been narrated in the brief notice of "the redoubtable captain," in an- other part of this volume. After much feasting and parade, it was decided, "in a 22 POCAHONTAS. grand council of more than two hundred grim warriors," that Smiih should be put to death. Accordingly two stones were brought into the council chamber, and with great noise and shouting Smith was dragged forth, and his head laid upon one of them, the savages standing by ready with clubs to despatch him. At this mo- ment, Pocahontas, who seems to have conceived a partiality for Smith, although not more than twelve or thirteen years old, threw herself upon his body, and laid her head close to his, entreating her grim and savage sire to spare his victim. Her prayers were effectual, and Smith was restored to his friends. At another time, while Smith was on a visit to Powhatan, Pocahontas, learning that it was determined to take his life, conveyed him away into a thick wood, and sent his murderers off in an opposite direction from that in which he lay concealed. Subsequently, when the garrison was weak and the colony reduced by sickness and famine, it was resolved by the savages to destroy the colony. Here, again, Pocahontas became the deliverer of Smith and his band of famished men. Alone, amidst the darkness of a dismal and stormy night, she made her way through the dense forest, and rousing Smith from his insecure slumbers, made known to him the danger that impended over him and his companions. Grateful to his youthful savior, he would have heaped upon her those trinkets in which he knew a young maiden savage delighted ; but she resolutely declined them with tears, and betook herself to her dreary return through the wilderness and the storm, happy that she had saved the lives of her friends. Pocahontas seems to have been most strongly attached to Captain Smith, but whether it was love or reverence which drew her to him it is impossible to say. From the fact that she was ready so soon to marry another, we are inclined to be- lieve it was the latter. But from the time of Smith's departure for England, in 1609, she was seen no more in Jamestown, until she was forcibly and treacherously abducted, in 1611, and held as a hostage by the English for the space of two years, during which time she was kept a prisoner on board a ship. It was during this hostageship that Pocahontas formed an attachment with one Jjhn Rolfe, with whom, by the consent of Sir Thomas Dale and her kingly father, she entered into the holy bonds of matrimony. She lived happily with her husband, expressing no wish to return again to savage life. She embraced the Christian religion, went to England, was presented to court, and was about to embark once more for her native country, when she fell sick and died, at the early age of tweiitij- tico, leaving one son, from whom have sprung some of the noblest stock of the Old Dominion. Her meeting with Smith is described as being truly affecting. Owing to the prejudices of the times, " he objected to being called father by the child of a king, which she was greatly desirous of doing." At their first interview, after sitting in silence for a long time, she said to him, ^^ You promised my father that ichat wan yours should be his, and that you and he should be all one. Being- a stranger in our country, you called Poivhatan father; and I, for the same reason, ivill noiv call you so. You ivere not afraid to come into my country and strike fear into every body but me ; and are you now afraid to have me call you father ? / tell you, then, I will call yon father, and you shall call me child; and so I will forever be of your kindred and caun'ry" JOHN WINTHROP. BY vsome strange mistake, nearly all the early historians of New England have called Winthrop the first governor of Massachusetts. But nothing is more certain than that John Endecott has the honor of first acting in that capacity, as we have already stated in his memoir. Endecott was chosen by the Company in Eng- land before they removed the seat of their authority to the Massachusetts Bay ; and Winthrop was elected first after the transfer. Bat he also was elected in England, and Endecott served a full year before Winthrop came to this country. John Winthrop was born on the 12th of June, 1587, in Groton, Suffolk county. England, of a highly respectable family, and received, in his early life, the best edu- cation that England could offer. He was bred to the law, but being of a religious turn of mind, did not devote himself with much energy to his profession. He was possessed of considerable wealth, and the path of ambition and fame was open before him. He had, however, become converted to the faith of the Puritans, and he resolved to commit his fortunes to the support of the cause in the then infant church in New England. He converted his large estate into ready money, and hav- ing been elected governor of the Massachusetts colony, he embarked for America at the age of forty-two, arriving at Salem on the 12th of June, 1630, and immedi- ately entered on his duties as governor of " the colony of Massachusetts Bay." 24 JOHN WINTIIROP. Oil the removal of the seat of government to Boston, which ooenrred soon after, Governor Winthrop took up his residence there, where he resided until his death, which took place on the 26th of March, 1649, in the sixty-third year of his age. lie was a man of polished manners, possessed of great firmness mingled with gentleness, and was admirably adapted to the situation in w^hich he was placed. He ruled with great discretion in all the financial and political matters of the colony, but with great severity in all things appertaining to religious faith and life. He knew no toleration for heresy, and could not wink at any open immorality. He had withal a very low estimate of the intelligence of the masses, and deemed them utterly incapable of ruling themselves. When the people of Connecticut were about forming a govern- ment, they sought the advice of Winthrop. Among other things in his answer, he writes thus : " The best part of a community is always the least, and of that least part the wiser are still less." In a speech delivered before the General Court, we have his idea of" a pure democ- racy." " You have called us to office," he says, " but being called, we have authority from God ; it is the ordinance of God, and hath the image of God stamped upon it ; and the contempt of it hath been vindicated by God with terrible examples of his vengeance There is a liberty of corrupt nature which is inconsistent with authority, impatient of restraint, the grand enemy of truth and peace, and all the ordinances of God are bent against it. But there is a civil, sacred, federal liberty, which consists in every one's enjoying his property, and having the benefit of the laws of his country; a liberty for that only which is just and good; for this liberty you are to stand with your lives." He, however, became more tolerant of religious opinion as he grew older, and was far less harsh in his treatment of those who thought differently from himself. He was naturally of a noble and benevolent turn, and the acidity of his faith could not utterly cover the leaven of his generosity. He sympathized deeply with all the neighboring colonies, corresponding with, visiting, and advising them in all things pertaining to the general weal. He was endowed with an excellent judgment, which he exercised with great coolness and deliberation. He was also assiduous in his duties, and labored with unwearying diligence to accomplish them. Governor Winthrop came to New England possessed of considerable wealth, and died a poor man. Exceedingly benevolent, and deeming no sacrifice too great for the holy cause to which he had consecrated himself, he therefore gave freely of his fortune, as of his time and intellect, in its support. An anecdote is related of him which exhibits at one view his benevolence and his humor. During the severe cold of a hard winter, when wood was both scarce and dear, he was told that a poor neighbor was in the habit of drawing his supply of fuel from his wood pile. " Is he?" replied the governor, in much seeming anger; " send him to me, and I will cure him of his stealing any more." When the culprit came trembling into his presence, he put on his blandest expression, and taking him by the hand, said to him, " Friend, it is a cold winter, and I hear that you are meanly pro- vided with wood. You are welcome to help yourself at my wood pile until the winter is over." He afterwards merrily asked his informant if he did not think that lie had cured the man of stealins:. SIT^ riENUY VANE. T requires a much loftier and nobler courage than that which enables the hero to walk, unblenching, to the cannon's mouth, to set one's self against the popular voice, and confront the executive power that sustains and enforces it. The men who have heroically dared to deny the right of tyrants and tyrant-governments to trample on the liberties of mankind, and freely and cheerfully given " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor," to maintain their denial, are few indeed — here and there one in a generation. In that bright galaxy of names, that of Sir Henry Vane shines as a star of the first magnitude. Sir Henry Vane, eldest son to Sir Henry Vane, was born at Hadlow, in Kent, England, about the year 1612. After pursuing a course of studies at the famous Westminster school, he was admitted, at the age of sixteen, as a gentleman com- moner at Magdalen Hall, Oxford. Of his life prior to these events nothing is now known, and but little can be gathered concerning him from the time of leaving the university to his emigration to New England, except that he spent a year or two in foreign travel. While abroad, he spent considerable time at Geneva, and there imbibed such sentiments, that on his return home he became quite obnoxious to 26 SIR HENRY VANE. both his father and the court. Finding his situation at home an uncomfortable one, and his influence being feared by the government, " he was permitted to dejjart for New England " — a sort of expatriation practised upon many a troublesome and influential patriot of those times. In August, 1635, Vane, with a dozen or more others of the same dangerous opin- ions, were freighted to New England " in the good ship Defiance," and were landed at Boston on the 3d of October. The following May, Vane was chosen governor of the colony, " which election was congratulated," says Hubbard, " with a volley of shot by all the vessels in the harbor." It was a compliment of no mean character to Sir Henry, that the choice should have fallen on him, when such men as Winthrop, Endecott, and others, were his colleagues. His administration was a marked one, and in the divided state of feeling then prevalent in the colony, begat for him strong friends and most bitter enemies. This period was, doubtless, the most difficult one in the previous history of the colony. Religious dissensions ran high, and " the church was sadly torn and rent." Mrs. Hutchinson and her party sided with Gov- ernor Vane, while most of the clergy attached themselves to the side of Governor Winthrop. It was in Sir Henry Vane's administration, also, that the dreadful scenes of the Pequot war were enacted, and when, but for the pacific overtures of Roger Williams, the whole New England colonies would have been annihilated. At the next election the party of Vane were found to be in the minority, and Winthrop came into the succession. Weary of his office and New England, Gov- ernor Vane returned the same year to England, and, through his father's influence, was soon invested with the dignities and emoluments of offices of high trust and power. He became singularly mixed up with the exciting and bloody scenes in which Strafford and Charles I. lost their heads, as well as during the Protectorate and the Restoration. Under this last regime he was impeached for " compassing- and imagining the death of the king ;''"' and although not a shadow of evidence was afTord- ed to support that charge, he was condemned, and accordingly beheaded, on the 14th of June, 1662, on the same spot where Strafford had suffered. His conduct during the trial and execution was such as became a great mind and a Christian spirit. He disdained to make submission, although promised his life. Sir Henry Vane was a man of imposing aspect, and he won the respect of al! around him by his dignified and easy address. GOVERNOR ENDETOTT. JOHN ENDECOTT, "the Father of New England," as he has been called by historians, was born in Dorchester, Dorsetshire, England, in the year 1588. That he was of respectable parentage, that he had a good education and a refined mind, that he was at one time a surgeon, as well as captain of a trainband, seems to be about all that is known of his life, previous to his connection with the " Ma-ssa- chusetts Company," who settled the colony first at Naumkeag, or Salem. Governor Endecott seems to have embraced Puritanism, under the guidance and through the influence of Rev. Mr. Skelton, who became one of the earliest ministers of the colony, and between whom and the governor the most afl'ectionate relations existed. In 1628, Governor Endecott, in company with other influential men, purchased a grant from the " Plymouth Council in England " for the settlement of the " Massa- chusetts Bay," and in June of that year came over and took possession of the same, Endecott having received the appointment of governor of the colony. The model of the government was formed in England, and consisted of a governor and twelve persons, styled " The Governor and Council, of London's Plantation in the Massachusetts Bay in New England." None but stern men, moved by a high religious purpose and sus+ained by a 3 28 JOHN EN DEC OTT. martyr spirit, could have borne " the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" which their new residence invited. Disease, famine, suffering, hardship, and death filled the measure of their choice, and yet they shrunk not at the trial, nor withdrew their hand from the lot that had fallen to them. In a word, these men were Puritans, — only the synonyme for endurance, — they gloried in the cross as their crown. And among this band of hardy and pious men, Endecott was an " ensample to the flock." In all their trials, they looked to him for counsel and direction, and they found him always equal to the emergency. Bereaved of the wife of his bosom, whom he dearly loved, he moved among the sick and suffering, administering comfort with his own hand, and imparting courage by the example of his own energy and lofty endurance. Governor Endecott was a strict disciplinarian. He could not wink at any flagrant violation of the laws. At Mount Wollaston, Dorchester, one Morton, notorious for his latitudinarianism and contempt of law and the church, had collected a company of men of a similar spirit to himself, erected a May-pole, and christened their place Merry Mount. Their unseemly orgies were a stench in the nostrils of the pious Endecott, and forthwith he went there in " the purifying spirit of authority," (Morton having been just before sent to England to answer to the charges preferred against him,) cut down their May-pole, changed the name of the place to Mount Dagon, and " rebuked the inhabitants for their profaneness, and admonished them to look to it that they walked better." In the summer of 1630, the government was entirely transferred from England to the colony, and John Winthrop was chosen governor, who administered the affairs of the company in the same spirit that had governed the conduct of his predecessor. Governor Endecott was again married, on the 18th of August, 1630, to Elizabeth Gibson, of Cambridge, England, who came over with Winthrop in the Arabella. The first open act of defiance to kingly authority of which we have any record in the history of the colony was performed by Governor Endecott. It was on this wise. He cut the red cross from the king's banner with his sword, and declared that he would never recognize such a relic of Popery. It was a direct insult to the king and the church of England, and would have probably cost him his head had not the unfortunate Charles I., just at that period, been entirely occupied with the storm which had already burst on his head, and which eventually overwhelmed him in ruin, and brought him to the block. It was a daring exploit, and although every true Puritan rejoiced in it, yet their fear of the throne compelled the colony to take notice of the act, and to enter their protest against it. Governor Winthrop died in 1649 ; and from that time until his death, which occurred on the 15th of March, 1665, at the age of seventy-seven years, Endecott held the office of governor, with the exception of two years, when he was elected deputy governor. This was, perhaps, the most trying time in the early history of the colony, and it needed that a man of great energy and probity should be at the head of the government. During his administration, Charles I. suffered a violent death, Cromwell usurped the government of England, and the Stuarts were again restored to their legitimate authority. In every emergency and difficulty he was found equal to the trial, and won for himself the respect and love of all good and wise men, and when " he fell asleep in the Lord," was interred, as tradition saith, in the " Chapel burying-ground," with great honor and solemnity. It is a blot on the fair fame of Boston that " no stone marks the resting-place of the Father of New England." REBECCA RAWSON. THE sober history of New England has been written many times over by men of the most widely differing views, tastes, and opinions. There is no lack of material out of which to form a pretty just estimate of the acts of that history, and the men who performed them. But of the romance of our colonial existence, little has come down to us. Of fiction, we have had enough. We have thought that a considerable volume might be made, filled with the strange and romantic scenes which decorated the warp and woof of that historic web. Rebecca Rawson was the sixth daughter and ninth child of Edward Rawson "the famous secretary," who traced his descent from Sir Edward Rawson, "a doughty knight of ancient memory." She was born in Boston, May 23^ 1 6£G, and her life affords material for as romantic a tale as ever adorned the pages (»f fictitn. She was nursed in the lap of luxury, and was pronounced to be one of the most beautiful and accomplished young ladies in New England. "Beautiful and vain,'' she considered herself " suitable to wed a lord." An impudent knave from Eng- land, by the name of Ramsey, possessed of a pleasing person and attractive address, passed himself off as Sir Thomas Hale, Jr., nephew to the lord chief justice of that ;^0 REBECCA RAWSON. name, and as such paid court to the fair Rebecca, gained her consent, and "in pres- ence of forty witnesses," they were solemnly married, " for better and for worse," by a minister of the gospel, on the 1st of July, 1679. She was " handsomely furnished," and immediately sailed for England, with her boxes and bundles, and her lord, her vain bosom swelling with pictures of the gay and giddy life she was to lead at court. In due time she safely arrived, and went on shore in a dishabille, leaving her trunks and packages to be sent after her. Early the next morning, her "lord" took the keys, and told her he would send up the trunks in season for her to dress for dinner. In due time the trunks came, but with them no keys and no husband. After waiting until a late hour, with the greatest impatience, she had the trunks opened by force, and, lo ! not an article of any value was left in them. He had decamped, stripping her of every thing but the dishabille in which she was attired. In an inexpressible astonishment, she ordered a carriage, and drove to the place where she had spent the night before with her husband, and inquired for Sir Thomas Hale. " She was informed that he had not been there for some days. She was sure that he was there the night before. In reply, she was told that one Thomas Ramsey was there the night before, with a young lady, but that he had gone offtjiat morning to Canterbury to see his wife .'" The news fell on her ear like a thunderbolt, and crushed her hopes, and crushed her heart, and crushed her pride. She never saw him again. Alone, abandoned, betrayed, ruined, expecting soon to become a mother, with no funds, and too much pride to apply to her friends, she sought a humble abode, and with the aid of her needle and pencil, for thirteen long years supported herself and her child in a genteel manner. Yearning at length to see her friends, she left her child in care of a sister who had come to England to reside, and embarked for Boston, by way of Jamaica. While at this latter port, her vessel was swallowed up ')v an earthquake ; and thus tragically ended her eventful and melancholy life. PENELOPE WINSLOW. ONE of the most mortifying reflections, in connection with New England history, is the fact, that so little is known of the lives and characters of the mothers and wives of those eminent men who founded our institutions, and framed and adminis- tered our early laws. Unhappy mistake, which supposes that the history of a nation is complete when its public acts arc recorded, and the biographies of its eminent men are written. The influence of woman on the character and growth of a nation is universally confessed. How would the present race, sons of the Pilgrims, love to be able to look into the record of those HOMES where such Anaks were born, and study the quiet virtues of the brave dames which bare, and the gentle sisters who held their magic thrall over, those sturdy sons and brothers ! The men that knelt on the deck of that emigrant ship at Delft Haven, when th(^ godly and gifted Robinson " lifted up his voice and wept " his prayer for a prosper- ous voyage to the bleak shores of New England, held no more in their strong hearts the destinies of the new world, than those gentler ones who bowed in holy trust and wondrous fortitude by their side. And yet the record of their bosoms and their lives is lost, and scarce a trace can now be discovered. And of them all not a portrait ij- 32 PENELOPE WINSLOW to be found, whereby we might refresh our imaginings of their persons or their virtues. The portrait of the wife of Governor Josiah Winslow (and of which we have been kindly permitted to take the above copy) is the only one that can be found, as far as we can learn, of any woman prior to 1650—60. It represents the subject of this sketch as young and comely, and " dressed with grace and great becomingness." Mrs. Penelope Winslow was the daughter of Herbert Pelham, Esq., an Eng- lish gentleman of considerable distinction. He was among the first to feel and express an interest in the affairs of the new and struggling colony at Plymouth, and contributed liberally towards its support. He never made New England his home barely visiting it in 1637. His daughter, it appears, enthralled by the handsome and fascinating son of the elder Winslow, did not scruple to forego the refinements of her English home for the more republican one of the gallant captain, to whom she gave her hand. The date of the marriage we have been unable to ascertain, but it is supposed to be in 1657. Mrs. Winslow is represented as a woman of exceeding beauty, and extremely fascinating in her manners. She was very accomplished for the age in which she lived, and presided at her husband's board with great dignity and urbanity. When we take into consideration that her husband acquired the distinction of being the handsomest and most polite man of New England, we can readily conceive how recherche must have been those weekly reunions in the drawing rooms of Careswell, where the beauty, and wit, and talent of the colony were assembled, and where taste and money were lavished to make them brilliant and delightful. Mrs. Winslow bore her husband four children, — two sons and two daughters, — and survived him twenty-three years. She died at " Careswell," Marshfield, December 7, 1703, in the seventy-fourth year of her age. WILLIAM PENN. rjriHIS very gifted and singular man, the founder of the state which bears his Jl name, was born in London, October 14, 1644. Before he was fifteen he entered Oxford, and was converted to Quakerism by the eloquence of an itinerant preacher of that sect, and expelled from college for nonconformity before he was sixteen. Honest in his convictions and sturdy in adhering to them, neither the expostulations of his friends, the discipline of his father, nor the threats of the church could shake his faith in his purpose. He studied law in Lincoln's Inn uuiil the year 1665, when, the plague breaking out in his native city, he went to Ireland to manage an estate for his father. Here he joined himself to a fraternity of Quakers, in consequence of which he was recalled. He was so persistent in his adherence to the habits and dogmas of his sect, that his father banished him from his house, and he commenced the life of an itinerant, and was very successful in gaining proselytes to his sect. He was exceedingly obnoxious to the government, and was several times lined and imprisoned — but nothing intimidated him. Even in prison he wrote and published books, and sent them forth into the world. On the death of his father, a large estate fell to his possession ; but h>^ connnned io 34 WILLIAM PENN. write, and travel, and preach as before. The crown owing large debts to the estate, Penn asked and obtained, in 1681, a charter of Pennsylvania, where a colony was 'soon planted, and he himself arrived there the following year. Feeling that he had no moral claim to the soil, he negotiated with the Indians who occupied it, and pur- chased it of them at a price perfectly satisfactory to them. He established the capi- tal, and named it Philadelphia; drew up a code of laws for his growing colony, or- daining a perfect toleration of religious opinion, and returned to England in 1684, to exert his influence in favor of his suffering brethren there, who were exposed to all the rigors of an unrelenting persecution. His earnest and honest eloquence was not unsuccessful, and he had the pleasure to know that he was the instrument of deliv- erance of more than thirteen hundred of his brethren who had been cast into prison for their heresy. So malignant were his enemies that they succeeded in casting hira into prison on the charge of Papacy. He succeeded, however, in obtaining his free- dom, and returned once more to America, when he revised his code of laws, made some alterations in the form of government, at the same time travelling through the country, preaching and writing on the subject which was nearest his heart. In 1700, he sailed again for England, where he resumed his favorite pursuits, and continued there until 1712, when paralysis put a stop to his active life. He lingered under this disease until 1718, when he was called to his reward on high. William Penn was a rare character. " He combined gentleness and dignity in an eminent degree, sometimes extremely facetious, at others grave and severe ; of an extraordinary greatness of mind, yet without ambition." His intercourse with the Indians was void of treachery, and he won their confidence to an unlimited degree. He overcame them with gentleness and truth, and conquered them without spilling their blood or violating their homes. Penn was a laborer in the vineyard of his Master. Besides travelling and preach- ing constantly, he superintended all the affairs of his colony, and wrote innumerable tracts and quite a number of books of considerable pretension, among which were the following : " No Cross no Crown, or several sober Reasons against Hat Honor, Titular Respects, ' You ' to a single Person, &c., &c.," 4to., 1659 ; " Serious Apolo- gy for the People called Quakers, against Dr. Jeremy Taylor," 4to., 1669 ; " The Spirit of Truth vindicated, in Answer to a Socinian," 4to., 1672 ; " Quakerism a new Nickname for old Christianity," 8vo., 1672 ; " Reason versus Railing, and Truth versus Fiction," 8vo., 1673 ; " The Christian Quaker and his divine Testimo- ny vindicated," folio, 1674. Few men have lived whose efforts, through a long life, have been so productive of good, and so free from evil. When the prophecy of the angels, at the advent of the Messiah, shall become a fulfilment, and " peace on earth " shall no longer be the ideal of the s eer, then shall the name of PENN be written high on " the scroll of heaven," and angels shall do homage to it. COTTON MATHER. rr^HIS eminent divine was born in Boston on the 12th of February, 1662-3. JL After availing himself of the advantages of the free schools of his native town, he entered Harvard College, where he was graduated at the early age of sixteen. Before he was nineteen, he received the degree of M. A. Dr. Mather would have ranked high as a scholar, at the present day, and in the times in which he lived was considered a prodigy of learning. "Wonderfully precocious, and possessed of a powerful memory, he gathered up knowledge with the greed a miser exhibits in amassing gold. He became the greatest linguist of the age, and wrote more books than any other man. He became known through- out Europe as well as his native country, and was in constant correspondence with the learned men of the world. In forty-one years, he wrote and published two hundred and eighty-three books, averaging nearly seven books to each year. His " Magnalia " was, without doubt, the most remarkable of his productions, and the one that is inseparably connected with his name. He was a firm believer in witchcraft, never doubting but that it was the immediate handiwork of the Father of lies. Perhaps, had he lived in these days, he would have been a full convert to mesmerism and spiritual rappings. 3 3 C O T T O N M A T 11 E R . In 1684, at the early age of twenty-two, he was ordained as colleague with his father, Rev. Increase Mather, D. D., and two years afterwards, commenced his authorship, his first publication being " A Sermon to the Artillery Company in Middlesex." He was married about this time, and losing his wife in 1702, he married again, in less than a year, Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbard. His son, Samuel Mather, M. A., thus speaks of this excellent lady : " She was a woman of good sense, and blessed with a complete discretion, with a very handsome, engaging countenance ; and one honorably descended and related. He rejoiced in her as having g-reat spoilt It was his misfortune to follow to the grave, also, this ines- timable woman, who had borne him six children, his first wife having blessed him with nine. He married yet once more, but there was no issue from this third union. He died on the 13th of February, 1727-8, just sixty-five years of age. Pr. Mather was a very fluent writer. He wrote with great ease out of the furnishing of his own mind, and in an off-hand style, which shows the ready and the careless writer. Consequently, his numerous works are destined to be forgotten by posterity, with the exception, perhaps, of his " Magnalia." In 1710, he published " An Essay upon the Good to be devised by those who would answer the great End of Life." It was full of sound maxims of life, and has been rendered somewhat famous by the notice taken of it by Benjamin Frank- lin, who was well acquainted with the subject of this memoir, when the former was a quite young man. When Franklin became an old man, and Dr. Mather slumbered with his fathers, he writes thus to Samuel, son of Cotton Mather, of a little incident in their lives which has become known wherever books are read, through the inimitably practical turn given to it by Franklin : — " You mention being in your seventy-fifth year ; I am in my seventy-ninth. We are grown old together. It is now more than sixty years since I left Boston, but I well remember both your father and your grandfather ; having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them at their houses. The last time I saw your father was in the beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his library, and on my taking leave, showed me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam over- head. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said hastily, ' Stoop ! stoop! ' I did not under- stand him until I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed an occasion of giving instruction, and upon this he said to me, ' You are young', and have the ivor/d before you ; sloop as you go through it, and you ivill escape many hard thumps,^ This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me, and I often think of it when I see pride mortified, and misfor- tunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too high." SIR MARTIN EROBISHER, ri'^lHE world is indebted for all its valuable knowledge to a few hopeful and in- JL domitable spirits, who, in their day and generation, were the objects of much ridicule and persecution — the '■^knights de la Mancha^^ of the age they lived in. It is a blessed consideration, that satire and contempt, persecution and stripes, Only stimulate, not imprison, true genius. Faith is an essential element of genius. By its aid it penetrates all mists, reaches all heights, compasses all possibilities, and predicates the true, which the eyes of the million see not, and the lips of the million deny. " Wisdom is hidden with the few." The subject of this sketch was a seer, and foretold somewhat that has come to pass. He also rendered very important service to the world by his various voyages of discovery along the shores of the western hemisphere, as we shall see. It is matter of much regret that the early history of most of these ancient navigators is so obscure and uncertain. It is often difficult to say, with any preciseness, where or when they were born ; and the record of their death is often no more than that of their birth. From what we can discover, it seems that Sir Martin Frobisher was born near Doncaster, England, about 1536, and that he commenced his voyages of discovery about 1576, or at the age of forty. He must have become interested in 38 SIR MARTIN FR OBI SHER. these matters very young, for the celebrated chronicler, Hakluyt, tells us that " he had been fifteen years on this enterprise before he was able to set out on it." Not only Hakluyt, but Camden, Stow, and Speed have briefly noticed the voyages of Frobisher. We shall transcribe what Stow says of him, entire ; for, meagre as it is, it seems to embrace all that is known of him. " Martin Frobusher, borne neere Doncaster, in Yorkeshire, in his youth gaue him- selfe to Nauigation, he was the first Englishman that discoured the North way to China, and Cathay, and at his first discourie of the way to Cathay at which time for tryall of what he could find there, brought thence a black soft stone like sea coale, supposed to be gold, or siluer Oare, & in that perswasion made two seuerall voyages againe to Cathaye, bringing with them great quantitie of the sayd supposed Oare, the which after due tryall & much expence prooued not worth any thing, neither fit for any vse, a great quantity of which stufFe was layed in the nursery at Darford, no man regarding it, he was vice-admirall to Sir Francis Drake, at the winning of Saint Domingo, Saint lago, Carthagena, and Saint Augustino. " Hee did great seruice in the yeere one thousand fine hundred eightie and eight, vpon the inuincible Spanish Armado, for which he was Knighted, after that hee was General of tenne ships, to keepe Brest-hauen in Britaine, where the Spaniardes neen; thereunto had strongly fortified themselues, in whose extirpation he did speciall ser- uice by Sea and Land, and was there shotte into the side with a Musket, the wounde not mortall, he lined vntill hee came to Plimmouth, through the negligence of his surgeon that onely tooke out the Bullet, not sufficiently searched the Wound, to take out the Bombaste strucke in with the shotte the sore festered, whereof he dyed, & was buried in Plimmouth, he was very valiant, yet harsh & violent." The account of Speed is still more brief, and is as follows : — " For the searching and vnsatisfied spirits of the English, to the great glory of our Nation, could not be contained within the bankes of the Mediterranean or Leuant Seas, but that they passed farre, towards both the Articke and Antarticke Poles, in- larging their trades into the West and East Indies : to the search of whose passage, that worthy Sea-Captaine Sir Martin Furhusher, made Saile into the North-East- Seas, farre further then any man before him had euer done, giuing to these parts the name of Queene Elizabeths Foreland. " The next yeere hee attempted thirty leagues further, when finding Gold Ore (as was thought) and taking a man, woman, and child, of the Sauag-e Catayes, he re- turned into England; but as his gold prooued drosse, so these lined not long, neither turned that discouery to any great profit, though it was againe the third time assaied by himself, and since by other most famous Nauigators, the Northwest by Englishmen being lately descried, to bee Seas more safe, and the passage of farre better hope." Sir Martin had the entire confidence of Elizabeth, and for his gallant deeds in the defence of her kingdom against the famous Spanish Armada, was honored with knighthood. P A R T II. EMBRACING THE PERIOD FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, WAR OF 1812 WITH ENGLAND. GEORGE WASHINGTON. IT is easy to find a gi'eat hero, a great statesman, a great patriot, or a great saint; but we rarely see heroism, statesmanship, patriotism, and religion combining to make a man. Providence seems for once to have been profuse in her gifts to the great and good Washington. Brilliant in nothing, exceeded by many men in all that marks a genius, yet he stands out among and above his race for that rare com- bination of all that is excellent in the character of a man. His patriotism was as incorruptible as it was ardent, and a lofty rectitude marks every small, as well as every great, action of his life. He was a man to be loved as well as venerated, and every true American delights to accord to him the proud title of " The Father of HIS Country." He was born in Virginia, in 1732. The common schools of the state afforded the only opportunities for his education, and the study of mathematics was his principal delight. At the age of nineteen, he received an appointment in the army with the title of major, and of lieutenant colonel in 1754, and the same year was advanced to a colonelcy. He was elected a member of the House of Burgesses in 1759, and a delegate to the first Continental Congress in 1774. In that day of great peril, when the Congress had done what they could to raise " that glorious old continental army," 42 GEORGE WASHINGTON. all eyes were turned to Washington as its leader, and he was unanimously appointed its commander-in-chief, where his prudence and firmness, his bravery and wisdom, were the admiration of all calm and wise men, and brought order out of discord, and triumph out of difficulty. In May, 1787, that celebrated convention met at Philadelphia for the purpose of forming a constitution, over which Washington was called to preside, and the result of which was that admirable instrument which has ever since been the law of the nation. And when, after being adopted by the states, it became necessary to fulfil its first requisition, namely, the election of the first President of the United States, no other man was thought of but George Washington, and he was unanimously chosen to that office. He was, by the unanimous voice of his country, called to serve a second term, and was again inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1793. During the administration of his successor, the elder Adams, when war seemed inevitable between France and the United States, Washington was again called from his retirement, and appointed commander-in-chief of the American forces. Fortunately his valuable services were required but for a brief period, and never in actual conflict; and he once more retired to the shades of Mount Vernon ; from which, to his higher reward, Providence saw fit to call him the succeeding year. He died December 14, 1799, at the age of sixty-eight, and was buried at Mount Vernon, amidst the grateful tears of his countrymen. The patriotism of Washington was most severely tested; but nothing could shake it in the heart of the man who peremptorily declined any kind of compensation at the hands of Congress for the inestimable services he had rendered to his country. In the dark and stormy period of 1775-6, when the hopes of many brave patriots almost died out of their bosoms ; when the public faith was weak in the stability of our institutions ; when Congress seemed paralyzed, and all spirits gathered fear, — many of the officers of his army, believing that if the power were placed in the hands of one man, and that man Washington, the country might yet be saved, through one of their number, proposed to him, in a written communication, that he should consent to be made King, as the only hope yet left to the country. Washington's reply to this proposition is worthy of all praise. " With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment," he writes, " I have read with attention the sen- timents you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than yovir information of there being such ideas existing in the army as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity. . . . Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any one else, a sentiment of a like nature." It was, however, the pure and rational spirit of Piety which gilds with a charm the whole character of Washington. His consistent recognition of Providence ; his unfaltering faith in the rectitude of the great object which inspired his breast and the breasts of his countrymen ; his invincible repugnance to deceit or treachery in any form ; his untarnished honesty in all he said and did through life, — these form a halo of glory, which adds beauty and symmetry to his character, and marks " The Perfect Man and the Upright." "^i ■\,w^^ BENJAMIN FllAMvLIN ON a raw. cold morning in October, 1723, might have been seen strolling along Chestnut Street, in the city of Philadelphia, an awkward, green-looking lad, of about seventeen years of age, dirty and ill dressed, with his pockets stuffed out with various articles of his scanty wardrobe, a roll of bread under each arm and another in his hand, which from time to time he munched, as he stared at the various objects which attracted his attention. In 1778, there was to be seen moving amidst the gay and richly-dressed courtiers, ministers, and ambassadors'of the brilliant court of the King of France, " a venerable man, with straight, unpowdered hair, a round hat, and a plain brown cloth coat," who commanded the respect of all around him, and whose acquaintance was sought with eagerness by civilians, statesmen, philosophers, scholars, and kings ; a man whose fame had preceded him as the great philosopher and statesman of that age. That friendless and destitute stripling, taking his breakfast from a threepenny loaf in the open streets of Philadelphia on a chill October morning, and that venera- ble man to whom all sought to render honor in the gay court of Versailles, were one and the same individual, and no less an individual than the world-wide celebrated Benjamin Franklin. j. 44 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. " The child was father to the man ;" and it was the same invincible energy and faith which had brought him from his brother's printing office in Boston to the then far distant streets of Philadelphia, that elevated that courageous and hopeful stripling to the highest honors and distinctions. To no sudden freak of fortune, to no unex- pected turn of luck, did he owe his wealth, his knowledge, or his position. No; round by round did he ascend the ladder of his greatness, laboriously, and not without great perseverance. He has shown us the method in the brief memoir of himself which he has given to the world, and in those maxims of life which he has drawn up for the young and the old. Every body knows his history ; and we propose to fill our allotted space with a selection of those wise sayings of Dr. Franklin which have become proverbs in the lip,s of the world. His philosophy was eminently of the practical kind, and he illustrated it in his own life. When he became master of his own business, and set up shop for himself, " in order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman," he says, in the biography he has given of himself, " I took care not only to be really industrious and frugal, but to avoid the appearances to the contrary. T dressed plain, and was seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out a fishing or shooting. A book, indeed, sometimes debauched me from my work, but that was seldom, was private, and gave no scandal ; and, to show that I was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchased at the stores through the streets on a wheel- barrow. Thus being esteemed an industrious, thriving young man, and paying duly for what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery solicited my custom, others proposed supplying me with books, and I went on prosperously." The following hints are from his " Advice to a Young Tradesman," written in 1748 : — " Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings per day by his labor, and goes abroad, or sits idle one half of that day, though he spends but six- pence during this diversion or idleness, ought not to reckon tliat the only expense ; he has really spent, or rather thrown away, five shillings besides. " Remember that credit is money. If a man lets money lie in my hands after it is due, he gives me the interest, or so much as I can make of it during that time. This amounts to a considerable sum when a man has a good and large credit, and makes good use of it. " Remember that money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is six; turned again, it is seven and threepence; and so on, until it becomes a hundred pounds. " The most triHing actions that aifect a man's credit are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning or nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months longer ; but if he sees you at a billiard table, or hears your voice at the tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his money the next day. " In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as the way to market. It depends chieny on two words — industry a.nd frug-a/ify ; that is, waste neither lime nor monry, but make the best use of both." > '; THOMAS JEFFERSON. r ]Vr ARROW minds judge of men by the party badge they put on ; enlarged and L^ liberal ones by the temper they manifest, and the actions they perform. Enough that a man belongs, or has belonged, to one or the other of the great national-political parties ; he is a had man in the eyes of all small men in the oppo- site ranks. To discriminate is the task of the historian — the duty of all. It is no mean tribute to the worth of Jefferson that he was called so soon to succeed Washington in the administration of the new government of the United States; that he was deemed a worthy competitor with John Adams for that high honor. In those days no mean man could have entered the lists with the slightest prospect of success. , Thomas Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Albemarle county, Virginia, on the 2d of April, 1743. He took his degree at William and Mary's College, and studied law with George Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the State of Virginia. The stern spirit of resistance to tyranny which manifested itself in all he said and did, during the progress of the Revolution, exhibited itself very early in life. One of his seals, while in college, bore the following motto : " Ab eo libertas a quo spiritus ;^^ another, "Resistance to tyranl^s is obedience to God." He strongly sympathized with the 46 THOMAS JEFFERSON. spirit of freedoiTi in the colonies, and, in 1769, signed a resolution not to import any articles from the mother country. In 1772, he married, but lived in the connubial state only ten years, when death took from him his truly amiable and intelligent wife, leaving to his care two infant daughters. "While a member of the House of Delegates, in 1773, he advised and arranged the first plan of regular resistance to British aggression, by the formation of committees of correspondence in the diiferent colonies. He took his seat in the General Colonial Congress on the 21st of June, 1775, and became one of its most prominent members. In the following year, he was appointed chairman of that immortal committee chosen to draw up a Declara- tion of Independence. This instrument was the work of his pen, and was adopted on the 4th of July, 1776. He was chosen commissioner to the court of France with Franklin and Deane, but declined the honor. He also resigned his seat in Congress, and was immediately chosen to the first legislature under the new constitution of Virginia. Here he turned all the powers of his great mind to the revision of the code of laws then existing, and so effectually did he labor, that there is scarcely a section of the present code that is not the result of his action expressed in his own words. This was the great act of his life, and justly entitles him to the respect and admiration of the world. In 1779, he was elected governor of Virginia, and in 1783, member of Congress from his native state. While a member of this body, Washington resigned his com- mand of the army and retired to private life. Jefferson was the author of the elegant address to the Father of his Country voted on that occasion. In 1784, JeflTerson went as minister to France, where for five years his talents for diplomacy w^ere often tasked to the utmost, and were always found equal to the trial ; and in 1789, he returned to the United States, where he was received with many marks of public favor. Washington immediately called him into his councils, and he received the appointment of Secretary of State. His great statesmanship eminently qualified him for this important post. He immediately set himself to lay down maxims and rules of foreign intercourse which have governed all our subse- quent administrations. In 1795, he was called to the chair of the American Philo- sophical Society, and was the third president of that institution ; his predecessors being the illustrious Franklin and Rittenhouse, one of the most celebrated men of his times. In March, 1801, Mr. Jefferson was inaugurated as third President of the United States, with Aaron Burr as vice president; and again, in 1805, with George Clinton as vice president. That the administration of Mr. Jefferson was an able one, all admit; and we have no desire to enter into a consideration — even had we room — of the acrimonious party spirit of those times which could see nothing good in an oppo- nent, nothing wrong in a friendly partisan. Of Mr. Jefferson's private life, it is enough to say that he was beloved and re- spected by all who knew him ; and his death, which occurred on the ever-glorious anniversary of the declaration of independence in 1826, filled his country with mourning. MAHQUISDE LA FAYETTE. OF all the heroes who enlisted in the cause of American freedom, no one is more deserving of our gratitude than La Fayette. A stranger and a French- man, — born to wealth and honors, — refusing preferment and distinction at home, — at his own expense he fitted out an armament for the relief of the American col- onies, when their cause seemed most gloomy and despairing, and came to assist us with his counsels, purse, and troops. Arriving in Charleston, in 1777, he soon joined the army with a major general's commission, which he accepted from Congress only on the conditions that he should be allowed to serve at his own expense, and be permitted to enter the army as a volunteer. In vain the courts of London and Versailles protested against his expedition ; in vain they attempted to intercept his passage — a movement as brilliant as it was successful ; — an armed force was sent out to the West Indies to arrest his course in vain ; he eluded all pursuit, reached his destination in safety, with " Cur non?" flying at his mast head — a worthy ensign for such a man. La Fayette was then but twenty years of age ; but his judgment was so profound, and his courage so cool, that the prudent and sagacious Washington confided to him the post of difl[iculty and of danger, and never found his confidence misplaced. He remained in America two years, sharing freely in all the hardships of our 48 MARQ[JISDE LA FAYETTE. suffering army, and returned lo Paris, bearing honorable scars, and the grateful thanks of all the colonists. The Continental Congress voted him a sword and thanks, which were presented by Benjamin Franklin. He remained in his native land two years, actively engaged in the affairs of his government, and using all his influence, in conjunction with Franklin, then American minister to the court of Versailles, in behalf of the American colonies. He soon returned to the field of strife in America, and after a brilliant campaign, had the satisfaction of seeing the British forces compelled to surrender at Yorktown, and the boastful Cornwallib give up his sword to the hero Washington. Again La Fayette received the thanks of Congress, and the benisons of the col- onies, and was sent home in triumph in an American frigate. The following year, he paid a visit to the United States, and was received amidst the most grateful and expressive manifestations of the people ; his progress through the states being a con- tinued /e7e. He was received by Congress with great ceremony, and Virginia placed his bust in her capitol, and presented one of a similar kind to the city of Paris. On his return to France, he at once entered upon the arena of political strife, already open in that unhappy country, in which his patriotism and love of liberty doomed him to confiscation and prison, and nearly to loss of life. Many of his family laid their necks beneath the keen edge of the guillotine ; others, his wife among them, were shut up in gloomy dungeons. At length the dismal hinges of his prison doors turned once more, and the worn and weary patriot tasted again the free air of heaven. As soon as it was known that he was free, the most urgent invitations were sent to him to visit the United States, " that country dear to his heart." Congress, in the most honorable manner, seconded this voice of the people, and placed the seventy-four gunship, the North Carolina, at his disposal. Declining, however, the honor, he embarked with his son in one of the regular packets, the Cadmus, and reached New York on the 25th of August, 1824. Never was a reception so imposing and so spontaneous. One general shout of «' Welcome ! welcome ! " burst from all lips, prompted by every heart. The gray- haired men and women who lived in those terrible scenes which in the pride of his early manhood he shared, and in which he poured out his gold as dust, and his blood as water, clasped his knees in tearful joy ; and their children, now grown themselves to lusty sires and fair dames, swelled the paean of his praise with such hosannas as only a ransomed people can offer; while the youth and children gazed in silent awe on the ^^good and great La Fayette,^'' and clapped their hands and opened their throats in loud and long huzzas. From city to city, from town to town, from hamlet to hamlet, through the entire borders of the land, for the space of a full year, he journeyed, and the enthusiasm abated not a tittle. Valley and hill top echoed with his beloved name ; joy and thanks rung out from every spire and boomed from every piece of ordnance in the land. It was a spectacle for angels to smile upon, and patriots to rejoice in — to carry paleness to the brows of despots, and " to make the devils tremble." On returning to his native land, he again entered, heart and soul, into the great scenes which were then enacting there, always pleading for liberty, and doing what- ever lay in his power to establish it in the bosom of his country — suffering, laboring, sacrificing, praying for " his dear, dear France," until .Tune, 1834, when his earthly struggle closed, and he opened his eyes on " the glorious freedom of the sons of God." MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN. rr^HIS brave revolutionary patriot, whose blood stains the soil of Bunker Hill. _L was the son of a respectable farmer of Roxbury. He was born in 1741. entered college in 1755, commenced the practice of medicine in 1762, in 1775 received the appointment of major general in the continental army, and the same year, on the ever-glorious 17th of June, 1775, sealed with his blood the protest of freemen against the usurpations of tyranny. Had Warren lived, it is easy to perceive that he would have been among the most conspicuous of that holy band who pledged " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor " to the cause of freedom in the New World. Among many of his manly traits of character, we have room to speak only of his indomitabk courage. He not only knew no fear, but he seemed to court danger for the'ver^ love of it, as the following anecdote will show : — The "Boston Massacre" took place on the 5th of March, 1770. Its anniversary had been celebrated by an oration for three years. The British residents of Boston had become incensed at the free spirit in which that bloody act was discussed in these orations, and in 1775, several British officers openly declared that it should be at the peril of his life, should any patriot attempt to pronounce an oration or 50 MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN. the coming anniversary. This threat roused the fiery spirit of Warren, and although he had ollieiated only the year before, he requested permission to assume the peril and the honor. He received the appointment, and notice was speedily given to that effect. Public expectation was on tiptoe, and on the day appointed, the " Old South " was crammed to its utmost capacity. A large number of British officers were present, some of whom occupied the pulpit steps, and even the pulpit itself. At the time appointed, it was found impossible to penetrate the densely packed masses that filled the aisles and doorways, and Warren, with his friends, was obliged to enter through the pulpit window by a ladder. The officers were struck by his cool intrepidity, and involuntarily yielded up the pulpit, and suffered him to assume his proper place. As he came forward, with a calm brow and flashing eye, he appeared the very impersonation of moral courage and personal bravery. It was a moment of intensest excitement. Stillness that was palpable rested on all lips. Many a heart palpitated with wildest enthusiasm, and many ceased to beat, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the scene ; while faces pale as ashes spoke an intensity of emotion which mocked the poor medium of words. When he opened his lips, his voice was firm and unfaltering, while its deep and almost unearthly tones told how fully the spirit was stirred within him. Soon his voice rose, and warming with his theme, in tones of thunder he poured out the vials of his wrath upon the actors in the bloody tragedy of March 5, 1770; and hurled defiance in the very teeth of those who, but a few hours before, had threat- ened his life, but who were now awed before the majesty of his sublime courage. It was the same unflinching bravery that prompted him, although holding a major general's commission, to decline the proposition of the veteran Prescott to rake the command of that sanguinary field, on the 17th of June, 1775, and led him to assume a volunteer's position in the ranks, where he fought, musket in hand, until the battle was lost, and his brave compatriots were driven from the ground. Even then he was among the very last to quit the breastwork, and fell only a few yards from it, fighting to the last. No wonder that our independence was achieved, when such spirits leagued for it. All the armies of the earth could not have conquered the invincible spirit of freedom that reigned in such bosoms. What a boon have they bequeathed to us ! What a debt of gratitude do we owe to their blessed memories I ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ALEXANDER HAMILTON was born in the island of Nevis, in the British West Indies, on the 11th of January, 1757. He was of Scotch blood on the paternal, and of Gallic on the maternal side. He lost his mother when a child, and his education was intrusted to a Presbyterian clergyman, by the name of Knox, of the island of St. Croix. At twelve years of age, he was placed in the counting room of a merchant of that island, where his talents and ambition soon displayed them- selves. The following prophecy of the future man is from a letter written to a fellow-clerk before he was thirteen: ^^ I contemn the g-rovelling- condition of a clerk, to which mi/ fortune condemns me, and ivould willinghj risk my life, though not my charac- ter, to exalt my station; I mean, to prepare the way for futurity P In 1772, Hamilton came to New York, and at the close of 1773, entered Columbia College, where he made "extraordinary displays of richness of genius and energy of mind." It was during his college life that the country was roused to the consider- ation of British aggression and American independence. He took strong and decided revolutionary grounds, and wrote and spoke in so clear and forcible a manner as to attract the attention of the wisest minds engaged in that controversy. Dr. Cooper, principal of the college, and several others of the ablest tory writers, 52 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. were confounded by "the profound principles, able reasoning, and sound policy" (/f his essays, and would not believe that they were the productions of a youth of seventeen. He also joined a volunteer company of militia while in college, and made himself familiar with all the tactics and theory of war. In 1776, Hamilton was appointed to the command of a company of artillery, and from that time up to 1781, he was in constant, active service, mostly as aid to the commander-in-chief. In that capacity he won the admiration and love of all his brother officers, and became, in Washington's own words, "his principal and most confidential aid." General Washington intrusted him with the most delicate and difficult diplomatic duties, and with nearly all his important correspondence. He rendered most essential aid, by his advice and counsel, in restoring the confidence of the army, and improving the currency. Indeed, there is scarcely a plan which was ad()|)ted by Congress during the administration of Washington which does not bear the mark of his mighty genius. In 1780, he married the second daughter of Major General Schuyler, and devoted his attention to the law. He rose rapidly in his profession, and soon stood at the head of the New York bar. He did not, however, retire from the arena of political strife, and in 1782, took his seat in Congress, where his genius and sound common sense were speedily felt, and "the proceedings of Congress immediately assumed a new and more vigorous tone and character," He retired from Congress in 1783, and assumed the practice of his profession in New York, where his clear mind and lucid eloquence won for him the admiration of all. But the services of such a rnati could not be well spared by the country at such a time. In 1786, he was sent to the General Assembly of New York, and was chosen by that body one of the three New York delegates to the General Convention recommended by Congress to be holden in Philadelphia, in May, 1787. His services as a member of that august body were exceedingly valuable; and when, on the recommendation of the convention, the constitution was presented to the people for their adoption, Hamilton, in conjunction with Mr. Jay and Mr. Madison, commenced and completed that series of essays, composing the two volumes of the Federalist, as profound in their logic as they are brilliant in execution and patriotic in spirit. Of these eighty-five papers, Mr. Jay wrote five, Mr. Madison twenty, and Mr. Ham- ilton the balance. On the adoption of the constitution, Mr. Hamilton was called by Washington to the head of the Treasury department, where for five years he exhibited the same zeal and fitness for office that had always marked his career. From this period until his untimely death he divided his time between the duties of his profession and those of public life, awaking general admiration by the bril- liancy of his talents, and winning the respect and esteem of all by his many amiable virtues. On the 12th of July, 1804, he fell in mortal combat by the hand of Aaron Burr, and " all America and Europe mourned his untimely fate." SAMUEL ADAMS. A MONG the names of the brave band of patriots who first offered resistance to J7\. the encroachments of British power on the liberties of the English colonies in America, none is more reverently and affectionately cherished in the American heart than that of the patriarch Samuel Adams. None bore in his bosom a stoater heart, and none raised a stronger arm to resist the oppressor. He had not the suaviter in modo of Hancock, his compeer and fellow-laborer, nor the genius of Hamilton; but for stern, unbending republicanism, and unflinching devotion to the cause of free- dom, none exceeded him. With a sound judgment he combined unyielding firm- ness of will, and nothing could dislodge him from the strongholds of his opinion. No man had more individuality of character, and no seductions or bribes from friend or foe could reach his integrity. Governor Hutchinson, in reply to the question from England, why the friendship of Samuel Adams was not secured by the gifts of office, replies, " Such is the ubstinacij and injiexible disposition of the man, that he can never be conciliated by any office or gift whatever^ Yet he was always poor, and was by no means a stranger to necessity. Such a man could not escape the favor of his friends and the notice of his ene- mies. His great mental powers were speedily and constantly called into exercise by