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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
Edith and Maude Wetmore
in memory of their father
George Peabody Wetmore
B.A. 1867

PROM
D. M. ROBB,

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY.

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THE

NATIONAL
PORTRAIT GALLERY

DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS.

CONDUCTED BY

JAMES B. LONGACRE, PHILADELPHIA; AND JAMES HERRING, NEW YORK:

Under the Superintendence of the American Academy of the Fine Arts.

VOLUME II.

"These are deeds which should not pass away,
And names that must not wither, though the earth
Forgets her empires with a just decay,
The enslavers and the enslaved, their death and birth.'

PHILADELPHIA, HENRY PERKINS, 159 CHESTNUT STREET.
NEW YORK, MONSON BANCROFT, 389 BROADWAY.
LONDON, O. RICH, 12 RED LION SQUARE.
1835.

Entered according to the act of congress, in the year 1835, by James Herring, in
the clerk's office of tlie district court of tlie southern district of New York.

Philadelphia :
Printed by James Kay, Jun. & Co.
Race Street above 4th.

ADDRESS.

On presenting the second volume of the National Portrait Gal
lery of Distinguished Americans to the public, the conductors
find themselves in a position again to express their thanks for the
encouragement they have continually received from every section
of the Union ; and also for the valuable assistance which has
been offered to them by the talented contributors to the literary
portion of the work.
It is unnecessary here to speak of the unwearied exertions
which have been used in collecting and arranging the materials
of which this volume is composed ; a moment's reflection, and a
glance at the extensive range of our subjects, will show that the
labor has not been light ; but it is proper to state, and we feel
justified in saying, that as conductors of a national work, we have
never lost sight of our responsibility to the public, but have faith
fully endeavored to fulfil every pledge given at the commencement.
We only ask this to be borne in mind, that the publication of so
extensive a series of portraits, in the same space of time, had never
before been attempted in this country, and that in general, the
talents of our Engravers had to be trained to this particular branch
of the art upon this work. How well they have succeeded, every
one will judge from the evidence submitted. Thus far, then, the
Portrait Gallery has been a school for the best talent of the
country : no Artist of respectable qualifications has been refused
employment, and every one employed has been encouraged to
strive for the mastery, by his best exertions being rewarded
according to his own estimate of their value.
For the future, we cannot promise greater efforts, but greater
success we confidently anticipate, from the increased means
which have been developed and improved.
JAMES B. LONGACRE.
JAMES HERRING.

CONTENTS.
Pages.
Benjamin Franklin, LL. D., F. R. S.  20
Thomas Jefferson, 3d President U. S. . . . . . 16
John Hancock, President of Congress, . . . . . 10
John Jay, President of Congress, Chief Justice U. S. . . . 16
Patrick Henry, ......... 8
Major-General Joseph Warren, ....... 6
Major- General Henry Knox, . . . . . . . 10
Major-General Benjamin Lincoln, . . . . . . 10
Major-General David Wooster, ....... 4
Major-General Philip Schuyler, . . . . . . . 16
Hon. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, . . . 14
Governor John E. Howard, . . . . . . . 14
Brigadier-General Otho H. Williams,  4
Governor John Brooks, ........ 8
Colonel Francis Barber, ........ 4
John Barry, U. S. Navy,  6
Daniel Boon, .......... 14
David Rittenhouse, LL. D., F. R. S  6
David Humphreys, LL. D.  10
Edward Preble, U. S. Navy,  4
Oliver H. Perry, U. S. Navy,  6
Major-General Jacob Brown, ....... 8
Governor Dewitt Clinton, . . . . . . . . 10
Hon. James A. Bayard,  10
Hon. John C. Calhoun, Vice President U. S. . . . . 14
Governor Robert Y. Hayne,  8
Hon. William Gaston, . •  8
Hon. Levi Woodbury, Secretary of State, ..... 6
Mrs. Marcia Van Ness,  8
Noah Webster, LL. D  10
Caspar Wistar, M. D.  8
David Hosack, M. D., F. R. S  14
James Kent, LL. D. ........ 12
Charles Ewing, LL. D., Chief Justice of New Jersey, ... 8
Governor George Wolf, ........ 4

criso JWioricar rnnosoprucn a

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
LL. D., F. R. S.

Dr. Franklin was unquestionably a very remarkable man ; one who,
in any age or country, would, by the mere force of his native talents,
have made a respectable figure in life. It is probable, however, that
had his lot thrown him in an older or more refined community than
America was in his youth, he would not have been contemplated as
the sun of the system. He, like many other distinguished characters,
was much indebted to circumstance. It must be admitted, too, that
he had many conceits, or fancies ; that he was by no means without
his foibles ; and that, in his own phrase, he committed some great
errors in the early part of his career.
This is not said with any view of detracting from the eminent
merit of Dr. Franklin, but as his own and the candid opinion of
posterity ; when he looked back upon his errors, he freely confessed
them, pointing out to others the rocks and quicksands on which he
struck, or into which his passions or his inclinations had plunged
him. Most of his mistakes seem to have been the effect of constitu
tion, or at least constitutional organization favored their growth. His
passions were not violent; his affections were rather steady than
warm ; his sensibilities rather correct than acute.
It has been ascertained that the Franklin family were settled at
the village of Ecton, in Northamptonshire, England, on a freehold
estate, of about thirty acres, more than three hundred years ago ; the
eldest sons generally having been blacksmiths. " Our humble family,"
observes Franklin, in the admirable memoir which he wrote of his
own life, "early embraced the reformed religion. Our forefathers
continued protestants through the reign of Mary, when they were
sometimes in danger of persecution, on account of their zeal against
popery." The family preserved its attachment to the Church of England, till
towards the close of the reign of Charles II., when some of its mem
bers, amongst whom was Josias the father of Benjamin, the subject

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of this memoir, became non-conformists. Marrying early in life,
Josias came with his first wife and a few children to America ; Ben
jamin was born in Boston, January 17th, 1706 ; he was the fifteenth
of seventeen children ; his father attained the age of eighty-seven, and
his mother that of eighty-five. Over their grave at Boston, some
years after their death, our philosopher placed a stone, bearing tlie
following inscription : — " HERE LIE
Josus Franklin, and Abiah his wife; they lived together with reciprocal affection
fifty-nine years, and, without private fortune, without lucrative employment, by assidu
ous labor and honest industry, decently supported a numerous family, and educated
with success thirteen children and seven grandchildren. Let this example, reader,
encourage thee diligently to discharge the duties of thy calling, and to rely on the sup
port of Divine Providence. He was pious and prudent,
She discreet and virtuous.
Their youngest son, from a sentiment of filial duty, consecrates
This stone
To their memory.''
The father had emigrated to enjoy religious freedom ; he was a
tallow-chandler and soap-boiler. Young Franklin, having been
intended for the ministry, was sent to a grammar school when eight
years of age ; but as the father's circumstances frustrated that design,
he was taken home, and employed in cutting wicks, filling moulds,
and waiting on his parents, performing in fact the duties of an errand
boy and youngest apprentice. Not lildng that occupation, in which
he continued two years, he wished to become a sailor ; but it was at
length determined that he should be a printer ; he was accordingly
bound to one of his brothers, who, having learned the trade in London,
had returned and settled in Boston. Previously to this, the youth
had evinced a strong partiality for reading; it was now in some
measure gratified, and conceiving a passion for poetry, he wrote two
ballads on local subjects, which his brother printed, and then des
patched him about the town to sell the copies. Finding, however,
that prose was more likely to become his forte than verse, he paid
great attention to a volume of the Spectator, which accidentally fell
into his hands ; his nights were now devoted to perusing such books
as his limited resources enabled him to obtain. It is curious and
interesting to trace the progress of his mind, and we therefore enume
rate some of the books which thus early engaged his attention.
Defoe's Essays on Projects, and Dr. Mather s on Doing Good, were
among his earliest studies : the style of the Spectator delighted him ;

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
in his memoirs will be found an account of his exertions to imitate it.
Aware of the difficulties he must encounter without a knowledge of
arithmetic, in which he had failed at school, he now borrowed a little
treatise, which he mastered without assistance ; he then studied navi
gation. At the age of sixteen, he read Locke on the Human Under
standing, the Port Royal Logic, and Xenophon's Memorabilia.
At this age, he adopted a system of vegetable diet, by which he
saved one half the money allowed for his board ; and he states that by
abstaining from flesh, he found his apprehension quicker, and the
faculties of his mind in general improved. We now find the philoso
phic young typographer purchasing books with the little sums he was
enabled to save by the frugality of his diet.
His brother commenced, during this apprenticeship, the publication
of a newspaper, the second that had appeared in America. After
having assisted in setting the types, and printing the paper, young
Franklin was sent to distribute the copies. At this time, though
yet a boy, he enjoyed the singular pleasure of being the admired
author of many essays in the periodical ; a circumstance which he
had the address to keep a secret, for some time, even from his brother ;
but on its becoming known, he was severely lectured for his presump
tion, and treated with great severity. From the passionate disposition
of his relative, who even went so far as to beat him, he regarded his
apprenticeship as the most horrid species of servitude. " Perhaps,"
says he, " this harsh and tyrannical treatment of me might be a means
of impressing me with the aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck
to me through my whole life."
It so turned out, that one of the political articles gave offence to the
general court of the colony ; the publisher was imprisoned, and for
bidden to print any more copies ; to elude this prohibition, Benjamin
was now made the nominal editor, and his indentures were ostensibly
cancelled. His brother having obtained his release, our youth took
advantage of this act, to assert his freedom, and thus escape from the
ill usage he had been subjected to. He had in the course of his read
ing imbibed, from Shaftesbury and Collins, those sceptical notions
which he is known to have held during a part of his life. The
odium to which these subjected him, his father's displeasure, and his
brother's abuse, seemed to leave him no alternative but to seek another
home ; and at the age of seventeen, he embarked on board a small
vessel bound to New York.
Not meeting with employment in that city, he proceeded to Phila
delphia, where, on his arrival, he did not think it prudent, in conse-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
quence of his small stock of money, to treat himself with a dinner.
He therefore bought three pennyworth of bread, and receiving three
large rolls, a far greater quantity than he expected, he made a satis
factory meal of one, and gave the remaining two to a poor woman
and her children ; his whole stock was now a single dollar. " Who
would have dreamed," says Brissot de Warville, "that this poor
wanderer would become one of the legislators of America, the orna
ment of the new world, the pride of modern philosophy."
Having worked for a short time with a printer at Philadelphia, he
attracted Sir William Keith's notice ; Sir William was then governor
of the province of Pennsylvania, and wished to see a paper established ;
he therefore induced Franklin to return to Boston and solicit pecu
niary aid from his father, on the promise of great encouragement from
the governor. The father, however, refused the required aid, on the
ground that he was too young — only eighteen — to be entrusted with
such a concern. In consequence of this refusal, Sir William said he
would advance the sum that might be necessary, and our tyro should
go to England and purchase the requisite materials, for which he
would give him letters of credit.
To England, therefore, Franklin went, though he had never
obtained the promised letters, having been deluded by promises of
their being sent on board the ship after him, and hoping, during the
progress of the voyage, that they were in the governor's packet, and
to receive them on its being opened. What were his feelings on find
ing himself in this just expectation cruelly deceived 1 The letters
delivered to his keeping had no reference to him or his affairs ; he
was in London without money, friends, or credit, almost three years
before the period of manhood. His freethinking ideas received a
check when he remembered that Sir William had agreed with him
on topics of religion: from the disgraceful abandonment of moral
obligation which Franklin experienced in him, and subsequently in
other freethinkers, he began to doubt the soundness of the principles
of those who lived without God in the world. The moral duties are
very feebly performed, if not grossly violated, by those who acknow
ledge not the force of religious ties.
In London, where he arrived in 1725, he soon found employment
at Palmer's printing-office. Whilst there, happening to be engaged
on a new edition of Wollaston's " Religion of Nature," he wrote and
printed a little metaphysical tract by way of answer, under the title
of " A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain."
On reading this treatise, his master complimented him on his talents,

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
but condemned its principles as abominable. The pamphlet, however,
procured him an introduction to Dr. Mandeville, who promised to
present him to Sir Isaac Newton, but did not keep his word. Sir
Hans Sloane, hearing that he had a purse made of asbestos, invited
him to his house, exhibited his curiosities, and purchased the purse
for a handsome sum.
Although guilty of some excesses while in London, he afterwards
became a model of temperance and industry, and even reformed his
brother printers by his example and exhortation.
While in London, he continued to devote his leisure hours to books
and study, and in 1726, after a stay of eighteen months, he returned
to America, with Mr. Denham, a merchant of Philadelphia, as his
clerk, on a salary of £50 a year. On his arrival, he found that his
old sweetheart, Miss Read, had been induced by her parents, in con
sequence of his neglect, which Franklin justly regarded as one of
the great errors of his life, to marry another man. Extraordinary
circumstances, however, prevented that couple from ever living
together ; and, at a subsequent period, Franklin married the lady,
who proved an excellent and invaluable wife.
His truly worthy master, Mr. Denham, died in the course of the
ensuing year, when Franklin returned to his original business, first
under Keimer his former master, then with a young man of the name
of Meredith ; they printed a newspaper, which was conducted with
much ability, and acquired Franklin some reputation ; the project
was very profitable, and afforded him an opportunity of distinguishing
himself as a political writer. He also opened a shop for the sale of
books and stationery.
In 1732, having had leisure for both reading and writing, he began
to publish " Poor Richard's Almanac," which he continued with great
success for many years. " The Way to Wealth," extracted from that
publication, and consisting of numerous and valuable concise maxims,
has been translated into various languages, and inserted in almost
every newspaper and magazine in England and America.
About this period, Franklin was one of a number of individuals
who originated the Library Company of Philadelphia. The combi
nation was at first small. Franklin printed the first notices of the
meetings of the directors, and circulated them himself ; the payments
were made very slowly, and some time elapsed before the organization
of the company. The subject of our brief biography performed the
duties of librarian for a short period, for which he received a salary.
At a subsequent period, when the project was agitated of erecting the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
present ornamental and substantial structure, for the books of the
institution, Dr. Franklin intimated that he should bequeath Ins own
collection to the company as soon as a suitable building might be
prepared. This intention was never fulfilled ; he left only eighteen
quarto volumes to them. The statue which graces the front of the
library, was executed in Italy, by order and at the expense of William
Bingham, Esq. ; it is one of the few statues of marble hi the country,
and is justly admired, if not for its striking resemblance, at least as a
work of art. It is probably owing to this figure, and the knowledge
of the fact of his being one of the founders, that the institution has
obtained the sobriquet of the Franklin Library.
When a new issue of paper money was made at Philadelphia,
Franklin displayed great ingenuity in sketching and engraving the
border for the notes, and in conducting the letter-press ; and when in
want of new letter, as no letter-foundry then existed on the American
continent, he used types as punches, and struck the matrices in lead.
He also made his own printing-ink, and was frequently his own
joiner. " Reading," says he, "was the only amusement I allowed
myself. I spent no time in taverns, gaming, or frolics of any kind ;
and my industry in my business continued as indefatigable as it was
necessary. My original habits of frugality continued, and my father
having, among his instructions to me when a boy, frequently repeated
a proverb of Solomon, ' Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he
shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men ;' I
thence considered industry as a mean of obtaining distinction, which
encouraged me ; though I did not think I should ever literally stand
before kings, which, however, has since happened, for I have stood
before five, and even had the honor of sitting down with one (the king
of Denmark) to dinner. We have an English proverb that says,
1 He that would thrive,
Must ask his wife ;'
It was lucky for me that I had one as much disposed to industry and
frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully in my business, fold
ing and stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags
for the paper-makers, &c. We kept no idle servants, our table was
plain and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For instance, my
breakfast was for a long time bread and milk, (no tea) and I ate it
out of a two-penny porringer, with a pewter spoon ; but mark how
luxury will enter families, and make a progress in spite of principle :
being called one morning to breakfast, I found it in a china bowl,

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
with a spoon of silver. They had been bought for me without my
loiowledge, by my wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of three
and twenty shillings ; for which she had no other excuse or apology
to make, but that she thought her husband deserved a silver spoon and
china bowl, as well as any of his neighbors. This was the first
appearance of plate and china in our house, which afterwards, in a
course of years, as our wealth increased, augmented gradually to
several hundred pounds in value."
Such are a few of the interesting particulars communicated by this
eminent man himself, for the benefit and amusement of his country
men. His industry, frugality, activity, intelligence ; his plan for
bettering the condition of the province, for introducing improved
systems of education ; his municipal services, made him an object of
attention to the whole population. He was consulted by the governor
and council, on the most important occasions, and soon elected a
member of the assembly.
At the age of twenty-seven, he undertook to learn Spanish, French,
and Italian; and when he had nearly mastered them, he applied
himself to Latin. He was prominent as a founder of the university
of Pennsylvania, and of the American Philosophical Society, and was
instrumental in the establishment of the Pennsylvania Hospital, though
he has received more credit in that particular, than he is properly
entitled to, as the records of that charity sufficiently show. We do
not design to take from Dr. Franklin, any praise to which he is
fairly entitled ; fortunately for his fame, he does not require any
adventitious aid to command our reverence, and that of all posterity.
Dr. Franklin started in 1741 the " General Magazine and His
torical Chronicle," and invented in 1742, the Franklin stove ; for this
improvement on the old fashioned open fireplace, he refused a patent,
on the ground that such inventions ought to be made universally
subservient to the common good of mankind ; an example which the
citizens of this nation have been slow to follow. This stove, though
still occasionally seen, is in turn superseded by later improvements,
and the general introduction of anthracite. Being in Boston, in 1746,
he witnessed some experiments in electricity ; they were imperfectly
performed, but were nevertheless the origin of one of the most bril
liant discoveries in natural philosophy, which alone would have been
fame enough to have established a claim to immortality.
Upon his return to Philadelphia, he repeated the same experiments
with complete success, and adding others, of which some accounts
had reached him from England, the science for a time wholly occu-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
pied his ambition. He acquired by practice a dexterity in performing
those experiments, and soon diffused his fame through the world, and
drew upon his native country the regard and attention of all Europe.
He was the first who fired gun-powder, gave magnetism to needles of
steel, melted metals, and killed animals of considerable size, by means
of electricity.
. The various steps by which he acquired his knowledge of this science,
are too well known to need repetition here. A relation of his experi
ments was communicated by Franklin himself, in letters to a friend
in London. "Nothing," says Priestley, "was ever written on the
subject of electricity more justly admired, in all parts of Europe, than
these letters. Electricians everywhere employed themselves in repeat
ing his experiments, or exhibiting them for money. All the world
in a manner, even kings themselves, flocked to see them, and all
retired full of admiration for the invention of them." On the conti
nent his discoveries were made public by the celebrated Buffon ; the
experiments were repeated by M. de Loz, before Louis XV., and were
verified by many other philosophers. In Turin, by Father Beccaria ;
in Russia, by Professor Richmann, who, in the experiment of the late,
perished by a stroke of lightning.
The rights of the colonies had ever been a favorite subject, which
he advocated both with his pen and in private, as our dearest prero
gative. It was determined to hold a general congress at Albany ; to
this, Franklin was named as deputy, and on the route, he digested
a plan of union, regulating all the great political interests of the
colonies and the mother country. His plan was adopted, congress
proposing a general government for the provinces, to be administered
by a president appointed by the crown, assisted by a grand council, to
be chosen by the various provincial assemblies ; the council was to
have the power of laying taxes for the common exigencies. This
Albany flan, as it was called, although unanimously sanctioned by
congress, was rejected by the board of trade, as savoring too much of
the democratic, and by the assemblies, as having too much of the
influence of the mother country.
Appointed deputy post-master-general in 1751, he applied his mind
to facilitating the intercourse between the different settled portions of
the continent. In this he met with frequent difficulties incident to a
new country, where the want of roads formed an almost insurmount
able obstacle to the best laid schemes ; but he persevered, and to him
we are indebted for some suggestions which, having been acted on,
have served to perfect the present admirable system of transportation,

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
winch equalizes so rapidly the very distant points of our vast country.
In his official capacity, he advanced large sums from his private funds
to assist General Braddock, though he feared the result of his expedi
tion, and had made some fruitless suggestions with regard to its con
duct. When Braddock's defeat was ascertained, he introduced a bill
for establishing a volunteer militia ; he accepted a commission as a
commander, and raised a corps of five hundred and sixty men, with
whom he went through a laborious campaign, and was chosen colonel
after his return, by the officers of a regiment.
The proprietaries of Pennsylvania claiming to be exempted from
taxation, an unpleasant dispute arose, and Colonel Franklin was
deputed by the provincial assembly, in 1757, to visit England as their
agent. He published soon after a large work, entitled the " Historical
Review," which was much liked, and increased his reputation, both
at home and abroad, and he received the additional appointment of
agent for the provinces of Massachusetts, Maryland, and Georgia.
The degree of doctor of laws was now conferred on him by the
university of Oxford, as well as by those in Scotland, and the Royal
Society elected him a fellow.
The personal connections which Dr. Franklin formed during this
residence in England, were of the most valuable and distinguished
kind ; he corresponded extensively with the most eminent individuals
of the continent, and his letters to his friends and constituents must have
occupied much of his time. A recent volume, edited by Jared Sparks,
of his " Familiar Letters," assists us materially in forming an estimate of
his private character, while the " Diplomatic Correspondence," lately
published by act of congress, proves how sincerely he loved his native
country, and what care he took of her interests while residing in his
official capacity at the court of France. These letters added to
his own memoirs and works, afford ample evidence, if any were
wanting, of the striking union of a cultivated mind with a native and
brilliant imagination.
He returned to America in 1762, and would have gladly rested
himself in the bosom of domestic life, surrounded by his fellow citizens,
who appreciated his talents and respected his patriotism ; but in this
he was destined to be disappointed. New difficulties arose between
the province and the proprietaries, and Franklin was again invested
with the appointment of agent, in 1764. New and important events
were on the eve of transpiring, and Franklin appeared in England,
no longer as simply a colonial agent, but as the representative of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
America. Tmrty-nine years had elapsed since his first landing on
the British shore as a destitute and forlorn, nay, a deluded mechanic.
Great Britain had already announced the project of taxing her
colonies, and Dr. Franklin was the bearer of a remonstrance from
the province of Pennsylvania against it, which he presented to Mr.
Grenville before the passage of the justly odious stamp act. Through
out the existence of that measure, he opposed its operations in every
possible mode, bending the energies of his prolific mind, to prove the
unconstitutionality as well as the impolicy of casting a yoke on the
shoulders of an indignant community who were likely to bear it with
an ill grace.
His conduct on this occasion was highly praiseworthy. When
the repeal was about to be attempted, it was concerted by his friends,
that he should appear before the house of commons, and be examined
on the whole question at issue. Here he displayed (February 3d,
1766,) so much firmness, readiness, and epigrammatic simplicity of
manner, and information so much to the point on subjects of com
merce, policy of government, finance, &c. ; his precision of language
was so remarkable, that the effect was irresistible, and the repeal
inevitable. Dr. Franklin became still more bold and vehement in his expos
tulations, on the passage of the revenue acts of 1767. He then openly
predicted to the English, that general resistance by the colonies, and
a separation from the mother country, would be the inevitable result
of those and other similar measures of the ministry. These were,
however, madly pursued ; Franklin saw the coming storm with a
clear vision and undaunted firmness ; but he continued to adhere to
his original plan, to make every effort to enhghten the public mind in
England, to arrest the rninistry in their infatuation, and to inculcate
proper moderation and patience, as well as constancy and unanimity,
on the part of his countrymen. He took every suitable means, at the
same time, to keep on good terms with the British government, aware
of the importance of such a standing to enable him to serve his
country effectually ; but he ceased not to proclaim the rights, justify
the proceedings, and animate the courage of the suffering colonists.
He was not ignorant, to use his own words, " that this course would
render him suspected, in England of being too much an American,
and in America, of being too much of an Englishman." This he
braved in the conscious panoply of his own esteem, and continued to
serve his country till circumstances, which we shall briefly hint at,
induced him hastily to embark for home.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
His transmission of the celebrated letters of Hutchinson and Oliver,
in 1772, which had been placed in his hands, is matter of history, and
not the least memorable of his acts at this opening period of the
American revolution. His own share in the transaction was immedi
ately avowed, though he could never be prevailed upon to divulge the
names of the persons from whom he had received those documents.
The Massachusetts assembly, indignant in consequence of these letters,
petitioned the ministry, through Dr. Franklin, when he was imme
diately held up as the mark for the virulent abuse, the hatred and
ridicule of the periodical press, who would fain have extended the
feeling to the whole nation. The spirit and wit with which he met
the conflict, are particularly exemplified in his two satirical papers ;
" The Prussian Edict," and the " Rules for Reducing a Great Empire
to a Small One."
When the discussion of the petition before the privy council came
on, Franklin was present. Weddeburn, (since Lord Loughborough,)
the solicitor-general, assailed him in a very ungentlemanly and
undignified manner, descending even to coarse invective. He styled
the venerable philosopher, and official representative of four of the
American provinces, a " thief and a murderer," who had " forfeited all
the respect of society and of men." This impotent rage only tended
still further to inflame the breasts of the petitioners, who now saw
their agent dismissed from his place of deputy postmaster-general. A
chancery suit was instituted in relation to the letters, with a view of
preventing him from entering upon his own vindication.
Notwithstanding this treatment, the British ministry knew their
man too well to leave any means in their power untried to convert
the republican notions which had taken root in his bosom. Attempts
were actually made, as the schism between the two countries widened,
to corrupt the man they had discovered they had no power to intimi
date ; " any reward," "unlimited recompense," "honor and recompense
beyond his expectations," were held up to him to induce a change of
conduct. But they all proved unavailing, for he was as inaccessible
to bribery as to threats. He was about this time directed to present
the famous petition of the first American congress.
At the period when Lord Chatham proposed his plan for a recon
ciliation between the colonies and the parent country, Dr. Franklin
attended behind the bar, in the house of lords. While Chatham was
using his powerful eloquence in favor of his plan of pacification, he
eulogized Franklin as "one whom Europe held in high estimation
for his knowledge and wisdom ; who was an honor, not to the Eng-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
fish nation only, but to human nature." This, from such a speaker,
must be admitted as high praise.
He soon after was informed that it was the intention of ministers to
arrest him, as guilty of fomenting a rebellious spirit in the colonies,
and he immediately embarked for America, where he was enthusias
tically received, and immediately elected a member of congress.
Dr. Franklin served on many of the most arduous of the com
mittees of that body, particularly as a member of the committee of
safety, and of that of foreign correspondence, where he exerted all his
influence in favor of the Declaration of Independence, of which
instrument he is one of the signers.
Supplies from abroad becoming necessary to the infant republic, Dr.
Franklin was sent to France, in 1776, as commissioner plenipoten
tiary to that court, where he soon succeeded in gaining the confidence
of the Count de Vergennes, though not at first publicly recognised.
The reception of information that Burgoyne had surrendered, put a
new aspect upon our affairs abroad, and our plenipotentiary had the
happiness to conclude the first treaty of the new states, with a foreign
power, on the 6th of February, 1778. The American was now in
high favor at court, sought for in all circles of fashionable society, and
extremely useful in forwarding the views of his government, furnish
ing supplies, and corresponding with the prominent leaders of the
revolution. While resident there, he produced a work entitled " Comparison of
Great Britain and America, as to Credit," by the publication of which
he did much to establish the credit of America, throughout Europe ;
it appeared in 1777. The treaty with France, and the capture of
Burgoyne, created of course a great sensation in England, and no
sooner were they known than the British ministry began to talk of a
reconciliation. Efforts, plain and insidious, were made to sound
Franklin as to the terms that might probably, be obtained; his
answer uniformly was, " nothing but independence." He had next
to guard against the attempts made to separate France from our
interests, and succeeded in defeating them. He was now one of the
commissioners for negotiating the peace with the mother country.
These negotiations fairly closed, he earnestly requested, in 1782,
to be recalled, stating his anxiety to be again in the bosom of his
family ; but this was refused. He continued in Paris, where his vene
rable age, his simplicity of manners, his scientific reputation, the ease,
gaiety, and richness of his conversation — all contributed to render
him an object of admiration to courtiers, fashionable ladies and

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
savans. He regularly attended the meetings of the Academy of
Sciences, and was appointed one of the committee which exposed
Mesmer's animal magnetism.
During this period, Dr. Franklin negotiated two treaties ; one
with Prussia, and one with Sweden.
On his return to Philadelphia, after having served his country fifty-
three years, he filled the office of president of the commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, and served as a delegate in the federal convention, in
1787, and approved the constitution then formed.
Dr. Franklin died April 17, 1790, his faculties and affections
unimpaired to the last, and lies buried in Christ Church burying-
ground, at the corner of Arch and Fifth streets, Philadelphia, where
a plain marble slab covers his remains and those of his wife, on which
is inscribed simply, BENJAMIN AND DEBORAH FRANKLIN,
1790.
A complete edition of his works was published in London, in 1806,
in three volumes, octavo. His memoirs, with his posthumous writings,
were published by his grandson, William Temple Franklin, in 1819,
in three volumes, quarto, and a later edition in Philadelphia, in nine
volumes, octavo.
Dr. Franklin was free from any deep religious bias ; for some
time he subscribed towards the support of a Presbyterian clergyman,
in Philadelphia ; but after attending him a few weeks, and finding
that he was rather an indifferent preacher, and rarely inculcated a
moral principle, he withdrew, and confined himself to the use of a
small liturgy, or form of prayer, drawn up in 1728, entitled, "Articles
of Belief, and Acts of Religion." " About the same time," he observes,
" I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral per
fection ; I wished to live without committing any fault at any time,
and to conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company,
might lead me into. On the whole, though I never arrived at the
perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it,
yet I was by the endeavor a better and happier man than I otherwise
should have been, if I had not attempted it."
Blessed with an excellent constitution, aided by temperance, Dr.
Franklin enjoyed a long continuance of robust health. As he
advanced in years, however, he became subject to fits of the gout, to
which, in 1782, a nephritic colic was superadded. From that time,
he was afflicted with the stone as well as the gout, and for the last

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
twelve months of his life, those complaints confined him almost
entirely to his bed. Early in the spring of 1790, he was attacked by
fever, and a complaint of his breast, which proved fatal, and his long
and useful life was closed without a groan. He left one son, "William,
a zealous loyalist, and a daughter, married to Mr. Bache, a merchant
of Philadelphia.
We have thus given the leading facts in the life of Franklin,
from his cradle to the grave. It is necessaiy to the proper completion
of our pleasing task, to add a few remarks for the purpose of illustrat
ing the character of so remarkable an individual. His early bias to
literature was fostered in some measure by his father, who enter
taining a high estimate for literary merit, applauded the industry, and
excited the emulation of the son. In this he was standing in his own
light, for it abstracted the youth from the pursuit of the trade by
which the family lived, and induced him to disenthral himself from
the fetters of so rude and inglorious an occupation. It, however, was
a fortunate circumstance for the country. The business of a printer
led him naturally amongst books, and his inquiring mind to the culti
vation of letters ; to promote this object, he early formed a literary
club with a few ingenious young men about his own age, who con
ferred together on the subject of their studies, a practice which may
be warmly recommended — many of our most eminent men trace to
such associations the development of their minds.
Of Franklin's youthful levity on the subject of religion, it is
necessary to remark, that when he had acquired a riper age, and more
ample intelligence, he emphatically condemned it ; but the extreme
aversion, which, like many others of honest feelings, he entertained
for that senseless dogmatism and mischievous intolerance which pre
vailed, both in Europe and America, led him sometimes to express
sentiments on religious subjects, that by the severity of his age, were
not always approved. He beheved that honest men without any
regard to religious denominations, were equally entitled to esteem.
He insisted that in discussing the mysteries of our faith, much less
time should be spent than in practising the duties which it enjoins ;
and indeed in all the business of his life, in morals and politics, as well
as religion, he was much more an advocate for practice than specula
tion. But of the pure and innocent service of the Deity; of the
essential doctrines of Christianity, no man has ever spoken with more
reverence; and with such a life as Franklin generally led, we should,
perhaps, offer an injury to religion in supposing him, as some have
done, an enemy to its prevalence, or a stranger to its benign influence.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
The resolution he took up in his twenty-first year, was one which
might more frequently be adopted than we see it to be. He was
then on his voyage from England, and employed himself in marldng
down its incidents in a journal. It struck him while thus amusing
himself, that it was unbecoming the character of a man to whom
heaven has imparted intelligence and reason, to fluctuate without a
design through life ; and he then resolved to form some plan for his
future conduct, by which he might promote his fortune, and procure
respect and reputation in society. This plan is prefaced by the fol
lowing reflections. " Those who write of the art of poetry, teach us,
that if we would write what would be worth the reading, we ought
always before we begin, to form a regular design of our piece ; other
wise we shall be in danger of incongruity. I am apt to think it is the
same as to life. I have never fixed a regular design in life : by which
means it has been a confused variety of different scenes. I am now
entering upon a new one ; let me, therefore, make some resolutions,
and form some schemes of action, that henceforth, I may live in all
respects like a rational creature."
To these remarks, he attached a set of rules and moral principles,
which, while they show his noble ardor for virtue, may afford those
animated with the same spirit, no unprofitable example. They are
partly as follow : —
" I resolve to be extremely frugal, for some time, until I pay what
I owe. " To speak the truth in every instance, and give no one expecta
tions that are not likely to be answered ; but aim at sincerity in every
word and action, the most amiable excellence in a rational being.
" To apply myself industriously in whatever business I take in
hand, and not divert my mind by any foolish project of growing sud
denly rich ; for industry and patience are the surest means of plenty.
" I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter
of truth ; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged
upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know
of every body," &c.
To these resolutions, though formed in the ardor of youthful
imagination, he adhered with a scrupulous fidelity.
Soon after his return to Philadelphia, he instituted another club, in
connection with several young men of respectable character and
abilities, denominated " The Junto," of which he has spoken in his
memoirs with great affection. Subjects of a scientific, moral, or poli
tical cast, were discussed at their meetings. The association endured

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
with undiminished vigor, for thirty years, and was at last succeeded
by the present Philosophical Society.
It is a just remark, that the exigencies in which Franklin had
passed his early youth, and the expedients he was forced to adopt, that
he might improve his fortune, drew him from all barren speculations
towards those only which might tend to ameliorate the condition and
happiness of his species. All his leading enterprises appear to have
been undertaken with an eye to the public good, and even to minor
affairs he gave the same tendency. To practice virtue, and dissemi
nate it among mankind, he considered his duty wherever he went,
and he allowed no common distraction of life to turn him from his
laudable purpose. Like Lycurgus, he wished that the praise of virtue
and contempt for vice should be interwoven with all the actions of
men, and that excellent objects and actions should be perpetually
before the gaze of the multitude. He carried this so far, as even to
assist in maldng the common devices on coins, which are so con
stantly under our inspection, of a character to convey a prudential
maxim ; thus the old penny he caused to be impressed with the word
"Fugio" — I fly; and on the reverse, "mind your own business."
His Poor Richard's Almanac he made the vehicle of conveying
moral apothegms, precepts of economy, rules for the preservation of
health, and such general principles of instruction as were most adapted
to the purposes of common life. Of this Almanac ten thousand copies
were circulated in America every year ; this, considering the then
limited population, sufficiently exhibits the estimation in which it was
held. The last, 1757, in which he collected the principal matter of
the preceding numbers, was republished in various forms in Great
Britain, and thence translated into foreign languages, was dispersed
and read with great avidity throughout the whole continent. An edition
in a large folio volume has just been published in Paris in the highest
style of typographical art, under the title of "Le Bon Homme Richard."
His efforts to diffuse literature, form libraries, &c, were the means
of disseminating a taste for polite letters ; reading became everywhere
the fashionable amusement, spreading its influence even to the hum
ble walks of life. This, in a republican state, is an object of import
ance, where some equality in the diffusion of intellectual, as well as
physical benefits, is essential to the purity and permanence of political
institutions. His discoveries in electricity have been already noticed. It cannot
be expected that we should here enumerate all the experiments he
made, or the treatises he composed on the various branches of science ;

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
for there is scarcely one that has not occupied some portion of his
time and attention. He made use of oil to show its effects in stilling
the waters of the ocean ; he endeavored to ascertain whether boats
are not drawn with more difficulty in small canals, than in large
bodies of water ; to improve the art of swimming, and to prove that
thirst may be allayed by bathing in salt water. He made observations,
also, in his several voyages, on the gradual progress of the north-east
storms along the American coast, contrary to the direction of the
winds ; and likewise, for the benefit of navigation, made experiments
on the course, velocity, and temperature of the gulf stream. He made
also curious observations on the air; upon the relative powers of
metals in the conducting of heat, and of the different degrees acquired
by congenial bodies of various colors, from the rays of the sun. He
composed likewise an ingenious treatise upon the formation of the
earth, and the existence of an universal fluid ; music, too, came in for
a share of his grasping mind, and he cultivated that science with
success. He revived and improved the harmonica, performing upon
that instrument with taste.
It was a peculiarity which gave Franklin a great advantage from
his early youth, to have mingled business with study and speculation.
He thus acquired theoretical and practical knowledge together, and
was skilful in applying his information. Lord Kaimes was highly
gratified to become his correspondent, from the delight he took in him
as a philosopher ; their friendship, formed in Europe, subsisted until
the termination of their lives.
It is probable that in the first outbreak of difficulties with the mother
country, Franklin entertained no farther design than that of vindicat
ing the constitutional liberties of his country, and that no ambition for
her independence had at this time entered his imagination ; he continued
to still the angry passions which had been kindled by the operation of
bad or over-bearing laws, till they were insupportable. He still kept
up discussions with the parliament, and maintained some appearance
of impartiality ; but by the introduction of British troops into Boston,
and the tumults and massacres occasioned by that measure ; by all the
proceedings, indeed, of the government subsequent to the repeal of the
stamp act, he knew well that passions were inflamed too fierce and
vengeful to be appeased by the application of gentle remedies. He
observed, also, not only in the minds of those who were entrusted
with the supreme management of affairs in England, but throughout
the whole nation, that there prevailed a spirit of arrogance and con
tempt for Americans, or in the phraseology of the times, " the rebels

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of the colonies," which must have confirmed his opinions on that
subject. Though he still recommended, in all his letters to the colo
nies, a moderation and decorum, that the ministry might have no
pretext that might justify a more open violation of their liberties ; there
is, nevertheless, a strain of vehemence in all his writings of this period,
which indicate that he was himself not less exasperated than his
ardent countrymen at home.
During his long residence in England, he had been treated with all
the rancor and malice, the resentful and unmanly arrogance, which
power usually produces in ignoble minds. The worthy portion of the
community, however, approved his various merits, and he has
expressed in his letters, his gratification at the marks of attachment,
friendship, generosity, and affectionate attention which he received.
On his voyage homewards, he had employed himself in philoso
phical speculations, and in writmg a circumstantial detail of the whole
of his public operations during his absence ; this constitutes a very
interesting portion of his biography published by his grandson, fur
nishing many conspicuous examples of his devotion to liberty, of his
spirit and patriotism ; and affords a specimen of those diplomatic talents
which proved so beneficial to his countiy.
When appointed in 1776, with John Adams and Edward Rutledge,
to hear certain propositions of English commissioners who had arrived
on our coast to propose terms of accommodation, or rather "offer
pardon upon submission," to congress, Lord Howe, the chief of the
embassy, endeavored to wheedle him by kind words into using his
influence in promoting the great object of " the king's paternal solici
tude." His reply was highly honorable to his patriotism and abilities ;
he insisted that directing pardons to be offered to the colonies, who
were the parties injured, expressed "that opinion of our baseness,
ignorance, and insensibility, which your uninformed and proud
nation has long been pleased to entertain of us ; but it can have no
other effect than that of increasing our resentments." He continues
in a noble strain of independent sentiment, and concludes, " when you
find reconciliation impossible on any terms given you to propose, I
believe you will then relinquish so odious a command, and return to
a more honorable private station."
When Dr. Franklin left America for France, he placed the whole
of his possessions in money, between three and four thousand pounds,
in the hands of congress, thus testifying his confidence in the success
of their cause, and inducing others of greater means to imitate so
laudable an example.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
His colleagues, Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Laurens, assisted
materially to lighten his labors ; advantages were gained by their
joint exertions very far beyond what either in France or America
had been anticipated ; and if we may judge from the tenor of Frank
lin's letters, far beyond his own expectation. " Had it not been,"
says he, " for the justice of our cause, and the consequent interposition
of Providence, in which we had faith, we must have been ruined. If
I had ever before been an atheist, I should now have been convinced
of the being and government of a Deity. It is he that abases the
proud and elevates the humble ; may we never forget his goodness,
and may our future conduct manifest our gratitude."
In his treaties with Sweden and Prussia, Dr. Franklin intro
duced an article highly honorable to his memory, and one which he
had attempted in vain to add to his negotiations with Great Britain ;
it was the prohibiting from injuries of war, the property and persons
of unarmed individuals. This principle has been acknowledged to a
greater or less degree since by civilized nations, and may be dated in
a measure to the influence of the subject of our biography.
A defensive war Dr. Franklin thought justifiable, but he preferred
peace whenever it could be obtained, provided it was honorable ; nor
was he without a hope that the interests of nations might prevail
over the perversity of human nature, so far as to produce some
alleviation of the calamities insuperably attendant upon warfare. " I
hope," he says in one of his letters, " that mankind will at length, as
they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense
enough to settle their differences without cutting throats ; for in my
opinion, there never was a good war, nor a bad peace. What vast
additions to the convenience and comforts of living might we acquire,
if the money spent in wars had been employed in works of public
utility ; what an extension of agriculture, even to tops of the moun
tains !" " When," says he to Dr. Priestley, " shall we make that dis
covery in moral philosophy, which will instruct men to compose their
quarrels without bloodshed ? When will men cease to be wolves to
one another, and learn, that even successful wars at length become
misfortunes to those who urgently commence them ?"
On Dr. Franklin's return from France, he was attended at his
landing by the members of congress, of the university, and by the
principal citizens, who, formed into processions, went out to escort
him ; amidst their acclamations he was conducted to his dwelling.
He received from public assemblies of every description, the most
affectionate addresses ; all testifying their gratitude for his services,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and joy at his safe return. General Washington, in a public letter,
greeted his arrival with the same grateful sentiments, and he says
himself, " I am surrounded by friends, and have an affectionate good
daughter and son-in-law to take care of me. I have got into my
niche, a very good house, which I built twenty-four years ago, and
out of which I have been ever since kept by foreign employments."
He continued in his retirement to ponder deeply on the condition
of man, and to seek by every means in his power to promote the
interest of his fellow creatures. Several of his writings at this period,
and later, when entirely disabled from going abroad by his infirmities,
are evidence of this fact. Many societies, the philosophical, of which
he was president, that for political inquiries, for alleviating the mise
ries of public prisons, and for promoting the abolition of slavery, held
their meetings at his house, to enjoy the benefit of his council.
When his death was known, congress ordered a general mourning
for him throughout America, of one month. In France, the expres
sion of public grief was highly flattering to his memory ; there the
event was solemnized under the direction of the municipality of Paris,
by funeral orations ; the national assembly decreed that each of the
members should wear mourning for three days, " in commemoration
of the event," and that a letter of condolence for the irreparable loss
they had sustained, should be directed to the American congress.
These were honors truly glorious, and such as were never before paid
by any public body of one nation to a citizen of another.
In stature, Franklin was above the middle size ; manly, athletic,
and gracefully proportioned. His countenance had an air of serenity
and peace ; the natural effect of conscious integrity. The harmony of
the features is remarkable ; seeming formed at once to excite love and
veneration, command authority, or conciliate esteem. His mind was
stored with knowledge, which he had a very happy manner of impart
ing, enlivening his conversation by ingenious illustrations, sprightly
thoughts or pleasantry, winning even the morose. Amidst all the
pageantry of European courts, where a large portion of his life was
passed, as well as in the intercourse he kept up with the most
fashionable society, he retained his republican dress and the sim
plicity of his manners, never showing any mean pride in concealing
the humility of his birth.
Such was Dr. Franklin. In estimating his character, much
regard must be had to the times ; and faults of education or habit may
well be pardoned in one whose main design was undoubtedly good.
20 S.

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THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Thomas Jefferson was born on the 2d day of April, 1743, at Shad-
well, in Albemarle county, Virginia. His ancestors had emigrated to
that province at an early period ; their standing hi the community
was highly respectable, and they lived in circumstances of consi
derable affluence. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a person much
esteemed and well known ; he had been one of the commissioners for
determining the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina, and
at his death he left his son an ample and unembarrassed fortune.
Thomas Jefferson was educated at the college of William and
Mary, in Williamsburg, and, after distinguishing himself there, by his
habits of patience and labor, became a student of law under the well
known George Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the state of Virginia.
On coming of age, he was admitted to the bar, appointed a justice of
the peace for the county in which he lived, and, at the election
following, chosen one of its representatives in the provincial legis
lature. His mind seems to have been imbued from his earliest youth
with the most liberal political sentiments. On one of his seals,
engraved about this time, the motto was " Ab eo libertas, a quo spiri-
tus ;" and on another, " Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
These feelings gained strength from the position of public affairs.
From the year 1763, a spirit of opposition to the British government
gradually rose in the province, until, in 1769, it assumed the shape
of a formal resolution not to import articles from the mother country ;
this resolution Mr. Jefferson signed himself, and promoted with all
his influence.
On the 1st of January, 1772, he married the daughter of Mr Wayles,
an eminent lawyer of Virginia, and, in the amiable and accomplished
character of the lady, secured that domestic happiness which his own
disposition so well fitted him to enjoy. Its duration, however, was but
short ; in little more than ten years, death deprived him of his wife, and
left him the sole guardian of two infant daughters, to whose educa-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
tion he devoted himself with a zeal that might compensate them for
their untimely loss.
In the early part of 1773, the first organized system of colonial
resistance was established by the formation of committees of corre
spondence in the different provinces. This plan was devised and
arranged by Mr. Jefferson, who privately assembled some of the
bolder spirits of the state, at a public house called the Raleigh tavern,
in Richmond, and suggested it to them. It was eagerly adopted, and
its benefits became strikingly apparent, when in the following year
the measures of the British government showed the increased neces
sity of united and resolute resistance. The passage of the Boston
port act, and the bills which immediately followed it, had filled up the
measure of insult and oppression. At this crisis, not content with
his labors, which were constant as a member of the legislature, he
wrote and published " A Summary View of the Rights of British Ame
rica." This he designed as an exposition, to be laid before the British
sovereign, of the wrongs inflicted on America, and the sort of redress
she would demand. " Open your breast, sire," he says, addressing the
ldng, "to liberal and expanded thought. It behoves you to think
and act for your people. The great principles of right and wrong
are legible to every reader ; to peruse them, requires not the aid of
many counsellors. The whole art of government consists in the art
of being honest." For this publication, Lord Dunmore, the royal
governor, threatened to prosecute him on a charge of high treason, and
dissolved the legislature who had by their resolutions sustained the
same doctrines. When the conciliatory propositions of the British
ministry were sent out in the following year, the legislature was again
assembled, and they were referred to a committee, who immediately
presented a reply from the pen of Mr. Jefferson. This document,
which is to be found in the histories of that period, has ever been
considered as a state paper of the highest order ; and it announced, in
a great degree, the same sentiments as those which its author after
wards promulgated in the declaration of independence. It was hardly
drawn up, when he was called to a wider scene. The colonies had
determined to unite together, and send delegates to a general congress.
In this body, then in session at Philadelphia, Mr. Jefferson took his
seat on the 21st of June, 1775, and became immediately, what he
always continued to be, one of its most distinguished members. In
the following summer, the debates of congress, and the various
expressions of public sentiment, showed that the time had arrived for
a final and entire separation from Great Britain ; and a committee was

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
appointed to draft a declaration to that effect. Of this, Mr. Jeffer
son was the chairman, and prepared, in conformity to the instructions
of congress, the declaration of independence, which, after a few altera
tions, was adopted on the 4th of July, 1776.
During the summer of this year, Mr. Jefferson took an active
part in the public deliberations and business. Being obliged, how
ever, in the autumn, to return to Virginia, he Was during his absence
appointed, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Deane, a com
missioner to the court of France, for the purpose of arranging with
that nation a measure, now become of vital necessity, the formation
of treaties of alliance and commerce. Owing to his ill health, the
situation of his family, and the state of public affairs in his own state,
he considered it more useful for him to remain in America, and
therefore declined the appointment. He also, shortly afterwards,
resigned his situation in congress, and, being elected to the first
legislature assembled under the new constitution in Virginia, seized
that favorable occasion to introduce changes and amendments in the
laws and institutions, founded on the just and great principles of the
social compact. He was supported by able coadjutors, it is true ; but
the leading and most important laws were prepared by him, and
carried chiefly by his own efforts. The first of these measures was
to introduce a bill preventing the importation of slaves ; this he fol
lowed up by destroying entails, and abolishing the rights of primogeni
ture : the overthrow of the ehurch establishment, which had been
introduced in imitation of that of England, was a task of less ease, but
effected at length by his continued efforts. To these four cardinal
measures is to be added his labor in revising and reducing to system
the various and irregular enactments of the colonial government and
the mother country. It was, perhaps, the most severe of his public
services. It consisted of a hundred and twenty-six bills, comprising
and remodel ling the whole statutory law ; and, though not all enacted
as he contemplated, so as to make a single and complete code, they
have formed the admirable basis of the jurisprudence of Virginia.
In June, 1779, he was elected governor of Virginia, and reelected
the next year. This was a season of imminent peril : the state was
invaded at once on the north and the south, ravaged by the troops of
Tarleton and Arnold, and he himself made the object of particular
pursuit. Amid all these difficulties, he conducted the affairs of the
state Avith a prudence and energy, the more to be appreciated and
honored, from the unpropitious circumstances under which they were
displayed. The legislature, after the expiration of his term, passed a

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unanimous resolution expressing to him their thanks for his services,
and their high opinion of his ability, rectitude, and integrity.
In June, 1783, Mr. Jefferson was again elected a delegate to
congress from the state of Virginia, and, while in that body, was
intrusted with preparing the beautiful address made by congress to
General Washington, when he surrendered his commission, and took
leave of public life. He was also the chairman of a committee appointed
to form a plan for a temporary government in the vast territory yet
unsettled, west of the mountains. Never forgetting his purpose, to
provide for the ultimate emancipation of the negroes, he introduced a
clause forbidding the existence of slavery in it, after the year 1800.
On the 7th of May, 178 1, congress decided that a minister plenipo
tentiary should be appointed, in addition to Mr. Adams and Dr.
Franklin, for the purpose of negotiating treaties of commerce. To
this honorable office Mr. Jefferson was immediately elected, and
in the month of July sailed for France, where he arrived on the 6th
of August. He remained in Europe till the 23d of November, 1789,
visiting, during that period, Holland, the northern parts of Italy, and
the principal seaports on the southern and western coasts of France.
He also crossed over to England, and endeavored, in concert with Mr.
Adams, to effect a commercial treaty. Their efforts, however, were
unavailing ; and after a fruitless visit of seven weeks in London, he
returned to Paris.
While Mr. Jefferson resided in France, he was engaged in many
diplomatic negotiations of considerable importance to his own country.
He induced the government to abolish several monopolies ; he secured
the free admission of tobacco, rice, whale-oil, salted fish, and flour ;
and he obtained the right of exporting the two latter articles to the
West Indies. Among men of letters, science, and high political dis
tinction, he was received with marked kindness, and soon regarded
as no unworthy successor of the illustrious Franklin. The Abbe
Morrellet translated his little work on Virginia; Condorcet and
D'Alembert claimed him as their friend; and he was invited and
welcomed among the literary institutions, and the most brilliant social
assemblies of Paris. During the remainder of his stay there, he was
an eye-witness too of the extraordinary occurrences in public affairs
which took place in rapid succession. As the representative of a
nation which had given a brilliant example of free institutions, he
was himself an object of interest and attention to the actors in these
new scenes. He was, from circumstances, much acquainted with the
leading patriots of the national assembly, and they were naturally

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
disposed to seek his advice, and place confidence in his opinions.
These he never hesitated to avow, so far as his position, as a public
functionary, admitted him with propriety to do. His stay did not
extend to the fatal period which was marked by the horrible excesses
of popular frenzy ; and the interest he took in the French revolution
was warmed by the hope that a noble people were to be redeemed
from despotism to rational liberty.
In November, 1789, he obtained leave of absence, and returned to
the United States on a temporary visit. He found the new federal
government in operation, and, after some hesitation, accepted the office
of secretary of state, which was offered him by General Washington,
instead of returning, as he had intended, to his post of minister to
France. Though absent when the constitution was adopted, he had
seen too glaringly the inefficiency of the former imperfect confedera
tion, not to rejoice at its formation. Of the great mass of it he
approved, though there were points in which he thought there was
not adequate security for individual rights. Most of these were after
wards provided for, in amendments ratified by the states. In his
practical interpretations of that instrument, and the various powers
it confers, he at once adopted the more popular view ; and in the
course of those political contests, which soon afterward arose on
this subject, he became the head of the party which sustained it.
While in the department of state, he laid down the great maxims
relative to our foreign intercourse which were ever after regarded
as the true ones by the American people. Among other negotia
tions he became especially engaged in one with the ministers from
the French republic, which seriously involved the political rights
of the United States, as a neutral nation, and led to the adoption and
assertion of that policy, since so emphatically confirmed, of preserving
peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations, but entering into
entangling alliances with none. This correspondence forms one of
the most important and interesting features in our political history,
and while it laid down, on a solid basis, the foundations and rules of
our foreign intercourse, it developed with great strength of argument
nearly all the leading principles which ought to govern the conduct
of a neutral nation. In devoting himself to those measures of domestic
policy which were appropriate to his office, he called the attention of
congress to one subject, the nature and importance of which not only
demanded the exercise of his mature judgment, but required in its
investigation that scientific knowledge which his studies had enabled
him to acquire. This was a uniform system of currency, weights,
s

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and measures. His report abounds with the most enlightened views
of this important practical subject, and it is only to be regretted that
they were not adopted at that early period. If they had been, we
should long ere this have been relieved from the incongruities of
a system made by custom every day worse. Mr. Jefferson also pre
sented to congress an elaborate and valuable memoir on the subject
of the cod and whale fisheries, and he recommended many measures
judiciously adapted to defeat the efforts of foreign governments against
our increasing commerce, and to open new markets for our enterprise.
His last act as secretary of state was a report on the nature and
extent of the privileges and restrictions of the commercial intercourse
of the United States with other countries, and on the best means of
counteracting them. This document displayed much ability, and
attracted great attention. It gave rise to one of the longest and most
interesting discussions which have ever agitated the national legisla
ture. It was the foundation of a series of resolutions, proposed by
Mr. Madison, sanctioning the views it embraced; and it became in
fact the ostensible subject whereon the federal and republican parties
distinctly arrayed themselves against each other.
On the 31st of December, 1793, Mr. Jefferson resigned his office,
and retired to private life. He there devoted himself to the education
of his family, the cultivation of his estate, and the pursuit of his philo
sophical studies, which he had so long abandoned, and to which he
returned with new ardor. The Duke de Liancourt, a French
gentleman travelling at that time through the United States, visited
him at Monticello, and has given a pleasing narrative of the manner
in which the life of the retired statesman was past. " His conversa
tion," he says, "is of the most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock
of information not inferior to any other man. In Europe he would
hold a distinguished rank among men of letters, and as such he has
already appeared there. At present he is employed with activity and
perseverance in the management of his farms and buildings ; and he
orders, directs, and pursues in the minutest detail, every branch of
business relating to them. I found him in the midst of harvest, from
which the scorching heat of the sun does not prevent his attendance.
His negroes are nourished, clothed, and treated as well as white
servants could be. Every article is made on his farm ; his negroes
being cabinet-makers, carpenters, and masons. The children he
employs in a nail manufactory ; and the young and old negresses spin
for the clothing of the rest. He animates them all by rewards and
distinctions. In fine, his superior mind directs the management of

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
his domestic concerns with the same abilities, activity, and regularity,
which he evinced in the conduct of public affairs, and which he is
calculated to display in every situation of life." It was at this period
of his retirement, that he received a testimony of his merits with which
he was peculiarly gratified. He was unanimously elected president
of the American Philosophical Society, the oldest and most distin
guished institution of the Idnd in the United States. The chair had
been filled, first by the illustrious Franklin, and since by Rittenhouse,
one of the ablest astronomers of the age. To be chosen as their
successor, was an honor to which Mr. Jefferson could not be insen
sible ; and during the long period that he presided over the society,
he repaid their compliment by promoting the cause of science with
constant zeal, and extending to it all the advantages which his public
rank and private connections enabled him to afford.
Mr. Jefferson was not, however, long permitted by his country
men to enjoy the tranquillity of retirement. In the month of Septem
ber, 1796, General Washington, in his farewell address, made known
to the people his wish not to be again a candidate for the presidency.
The two parties which, as has been observed, had gradually grown
up in the republic, no longer able to unite, as in the case of Washing
ton, on a single individual to whom both were willing to confide the
administration of public affairs, now determined each to support a
candidate, whose political opinions were entirely congenial with their
own. Mr. Jefferson was selected by the democratic party ; Mr.
Adams by the federalists ; and on counting the votes, the highest
number appearing in favor of the latter, he was declared president,
andtheformervice-president. During the succeeding four years, the
public duties of Mr. Jefferson did not, from the nature of his office,
require much personal exertion ; and the greater part of his time was
passed tranquilly at Monticello. When the period for another election
arrived, however, he was again called forward as the popular candi
date in opposition to Mr. Adams, and with more success than on the
preceding occasion. Yet an accident went near to defeat the
acknowledged wishes and intentions of the people. The democratic
party had elected Mr. Jefferson as president, and Mr. Burr as vice-
president, by an equal number of votes ; but as the constitution
required no specification of the respective office for which each was
chosen, they came before congress, neither having the majority neces
sary by law. Under these circumstances, the election devolved upon
the house of representatives, and the opponents of Mr. Jefferson,
taking advantage of the occurrence, threw their votes into the scale of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Mr. Burr. This led to a protracted and most exciting contest. At
length, after thirty-five ineffectual ballots, one of the representatives of
the state of Maryland made public the contents of a letter to himself,
written by Mr. Burr, in which he declined all pretensions to the
presidency, and authorised him, in his name, to disclaim any compe
tition with Mr. Jefferson. On this specific declaration, two federal
members who represented states which had before voted blank, with
drew; this permitted the republican members from those states to
become a majority, and instead of putting a blank into the box to vote
positively for Mr. Jefferson. On the thirty-sixth ballot, therefore,
he was elected president, and Mr. Burr vice-president.
On the 4th of March, 1801, Mr. Jefferson entered on his first
presidential term. In his inaugural address, delivered on that day in
the presence of both houses of congress, he stated, with great eloquence
of language and with admirable clearness and precision, the political
principles by which he intended to be governed in the administration
of public affairs. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever
state or persuasion, religious or political ; peace, commerce, and honest
friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none ; the support
of the state governments in all their rights, as the most competent
administration for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks
against anti-republican tendencies ; the preservation of the general
government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of
our peace at home, and safety abroad ; a jealous care of the right of
election by the people, a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are
lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable remedies are
unprovided ; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority,
the vital principle of republics, from which there is no appeal but to
force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism ; a well
disciplined militia, Our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments
of war, till regulars may relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil
over the military authority ; economy in the public expense, that labor
may be lightly burdened ; the honest payment of our debts, and
sacred preservation of the public faith ; encouragement of agriculture,
and of commerce as its handmaid ; the diffusion of information and
arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public opinion ; freedom of
religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of the person under the
protection of the habeas corpus ; and trials by juries impartially
selected. " These principles form the bright constellation which has
gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and
reformation. To the attainment of them," he concludes, " have been

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
devoted the wisdom of our sages, and the blood of our heroes ; they
should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civil instruction,
the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust : and,
should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us
hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads
to peace, liberty, and safety."
The administration of Mr. Jefferson embraces a long and inter
esting period in the history of our country, distinguished by important
measures, whose consequences have been felt in later periods, and
which have led to results affecting, in no inconsiderable degree, the
honor and prosperity of the nation. They are subjects demanding
the research and deliberation of the historian ; we can here briefly
allude only to their more prominent and general features. The
system of foreign policy which he adopted, tended to increase our
prosperity, and secure our rights. The aggressions of the Tripolitans
were gallantly and promptly chastised, and the attempts made by the
agents of the Spanish government, to deprive us of the right of navi
gating the Mississippi, were immediately noticed and repelled. Mr.
Jefferson, while secretary of state, directed his attention particularly
to secure to the inhabitants of the western country every advantage
for their trade ; but it had, notwithstanding, been constantly invaded.
His renewed efforts resulted, after considerable negotiation, in the
purchase of the vast territory known as Louisiana. This fortunate
acquisition secured an independent outlet for the western states, and
placed under the republican institutions of America a region whose
fertility, climate, and extent have already afforded a large and increas
ing revenue, as well as a field for the wide diffusion of the blessings
of freedom and equal laws. During the same interval, the internal
policy of the United States underwent several important changes.
Measures were adopted for the speedy discharge of the public debt ;
the judiciary system was restored to the original plan, founded by
those who formed the constitution ; a salutary reduction was intro
duced into the habitual expenditures of the government; offices
tending to increase executive influence were voluntarily suppressed ;
and' the president presented the noble spectacle of a chief magistrate
relinquishing power and patronage, where he could do so, by existing
laws, and where he could not, seeking the aid of the legislature for
the same honorable purpose.
So much was the administration of Mr. Jefferson approved, that,
when his term of service expired, he was again elected, and by a
majority which had increased from eight votes to one hundred and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
forty-eight. In his inaugural address, dehvered on the 4th of March,
1805, he asserted his determination to act up to those principles, on
which he believed it his duty to administer the affairs of the common
wealth, and which had been already sanctioned by the unequivocal
approbation of his country. "I do not fear," he said, "that any
motives of interest may lead me astray ; I am sensible of no passion
which could seduce me knowingly from the path of justice ; but the
weakness of human nature, and the limits of my own understanding,
will produce errors of judgment sometimes injurious to your interests.
I shall need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experi
enced ; the want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years.
I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who
led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted
them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of
life ; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper
years with his wisdom and power." He had scarcely entered on his
office when an event occurred, threatening seriously the domestic
tranquillity of the country, and even the constitution and the union
itself. This was the conspiracy of Colonel Burr, who, ardent and
ambitious, formerly disappointed in reaching the first office of the
government, when it seemed within his grasp, and since superseded
in the second by the election of Mr. Clinton, now aimed, by desperate
enterprise, either to establish a new republic in the Spanish provinces
of the west, or to divide that of his own country. His scheme was
discovered, and he was himself eventually apprehended and tried for
treason. The evidence was not sufficient to establish his presence at
the illegal assemblages which were proved, or the use of any force
against the authority of the United States, in consequence of which
he was acquitted.
The foreign relations of the Lnited States, however, at this period
assumed an importance exceeding all domestic affairs. Nearly the
whole of their revenue depended on commerce ; this, in the war
between France and Great Britain, had sustained from both powers
the most severe and unprincipled aggressions, and to these there were
added, especially in the proceedings of the latter nation, circumstances
so aggravated as to leave the American nation no honorable course,
but that of prompt retaliation. Under ordinary circumstances, the
natural and just resort would have been to war ; but the government,
interests, and situation of America required the trial and failure of
every other alternative before that was adopted. An embargo pre
sented itself as a measure, if not decisive, at least preparatory ; and on

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
the 22d of December, 1807, an act of congress establishing one was
passed, on the recommendation of Mr. Jefferson. At first this
measure appeared to promise a successful result. In January, 1809,
after it had existed a year, overtures were made by the British govern
ment, which indicated a disposition on their part to recede from the
ground they had taken ; and these were preceded by the repeal of
some of their most objectionable measures. In this situation were the
foreign relations of the United States, when Mr. Jefferson's second
term of office expired, and when he retired from the elevated position
in which his countrymen had placed him. To trace this subject
further, therefore, belongs to general history, and to the political
biography of his successor, who had been early his pupil, and after
wards his friend and political supporter.
On the 3d of March, 1809, Mr. Jefferson closed his political
career ; he had reached the age of sixty-five ; he had been engaged,
almost without interruption, for forty years, in the most arduous public
duties ; he had passed through the various stations to which his
country had called him with unsullied honor and distinguished repu
tation ; and he now, therefore, determined to leave the scene, while
yet un oppressed by the infirmities of age, and to pass the evening of
his life in the calmness of domestic and philosophical retirement.
From this time until his death, with the exception of excursions which
business required, he resided altogether at Monticello. He indeed
appeared occasionally before his countrymen, by publications of his
private correspondence, which proved the same purity of intention,
the same earnest zeal in the promotion of liberal opinions, and the
same intelligence, forethought, and firmness, which distinguished the
actions of his earlier life. He was called forward, from time to time,
by repeated requests to connect himself with rising institutions, con
stantly forming to promote science, taste, and literature ; for it was a
subject of natural and honorable pride, to unite with these a name
always distinguished for attention to whatever improved or adorned
human life. Above all, he was sought out in his retirement by
strangers from every foreign nation who had heard of and admired him ;
and by the natives of every corner of his own country, who looked
upon him as their guide, philosopher, and friend. His home was the
abode of hospitality and the seat of dignified retirement ; he forgot
the busy times of his political existence, in the calm and congenial
pleasures of science ; his mind, clear and penetrating, wandered with
fresh activity and delight through all the regions of thought ; his heart
dwelt with the deepest interest on every thing that tended to the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
improvement and happiness of mankind ; at once practical, benevolent,
and wise, he was forever studying the welfare of his fellow-creatures,
and endeavoring to advance every plan which tended to produce or
increase it. Among these labors, the most prominent perhaps was his
effort for the improvement of education in Virginia, and the establish
ment of a noble university, which was commenced by his own private
donations and those he could obtain from his friends. This became
the object of his greatest zeal, during the remainder of his life. He
presented to the legislature a report embracing the principles on which
it was proposed the institution should be formed. The situation
selected for the university was at Charlottesville, a town at the foot of
the mountain, where he resided. The plan was such as to combine
elegance and utility, with the power of enlarging it to any extent,
which its future prosperity might require. The instruction was to
embrace the various branches of learning which a citizen may require,
in his intercourse between man and man, in the improvement of his
morals and faculties, and in the knowledge and exercise of his social
rights. The various arrangements for the conduct of the institution
were framed with a view to a liberal system of discipline, and a strict
accountability on the part of all connected with the institution. The
legislature approved of Mr. Jefferson's plans ; he was himself
elected the rector ; and from that period he devoted himself to carry
into effect what he had thus designed. All his hopes and thoughts
were turned towards its success. He rode every morning when the
weather would permit, to inspect its progress ; he prepared with his
own hands the drawings for the workmen ; he stood over them as
they proceeded, with a sort of parental anxiety and care ; and when
the inclemency of the season or the infirmity of age prevented his
visits, a telescope was placed on a terrace near his house, by means of
which he could inspect the progress of the work. After its comple
tion, he might often be seen pacing slowly along the porticoes or
cloisters which extended in front of the dormitories of the students,
occasionally conversing with them, and viewing the establishment
with a natural and honorable pride. In the library, a catalogue
written by himself is carefully preserved. He has collected the
names, best editions, and value of all works of whatever language, in
literature and science, which he thought necessary to form a complete
library; and, in examining it, one is really less struck with the
research and various knowledge required for its compilation, than the
additional proof of that anxious care, which seemed to leave unsought
no means of fostering and improving the institution he had formed.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
Thus glided on the evening of Mr. Jefferson's patriotic and
benevolent life ; as age wore gradually away the energies of his body,
his mind shone with intelligence undiminished ; and his efforts and
desires for the progress of human happiness and knowledge, knew no
change. Years, however, had crowded upon him; and when the
increase of infirmities at length prevented him leaving his chamber,
he remarked to the physician, who sought to assist him by the aid
of his art, that "the machine had worn out, and could go on no
longer." During the spring of 1826, he had suffered from increasing
debility, but it was not until the 26th of June, that he was obliged to
confine himself to his bed. The strength of his constitution and
freedom from bodily pain for a short time encouraged the hope, that
this confinement would be only temporary ; but his own conversation
showed that he did not himself so regard it. " Do not imagine," he
said to those around him, " that I feel the smallest solicitude as to the
result. I do not indeed wish to die, but I do not fear to die." His
temper retained all its usual cheerfulness and equanimity ; his only
anxiety seemed to be for the prosperity of the university, and he
expressed strongly his hopes that the state would not abandon it ; he
declared that if he could see that child of his old age fairly flourishing,
he was ready to depart — -to say "nunc dimittis domine," a favorite
quotation with him. On the 2d of July, he appeared free from disease,
but his weakness was such, that his physicians expressed a doubt
whether his strength would prove sufficient to restore him. Conscious
himself that he could not recover, and without any bodily or appa
rently mental pain, he calmly gave directions relative to his interment,
which he requested might be at Monticello without parade or pomp ;
he then called his family around him, and conversed separately with
each of them ; to his beloved daughter, Mrs. Randolph, he presented
a small morocco case, which he requested her not to open till after his
death ; when the sad limitation had expired, it was found to contain
an affectionate poetical tribute to the virtues of her from whom he was
thus torn away ; he desired, if any inscription were placed on his
tomb, he should be described only as " the author of the declaration
of independence, of the statutes of Virginia for religious freedom, and
the father of the university." On Monday, the following day, he
inquired of those around him with much solicitude, what was the day
of the month ; they told him it was the 3d of July ; he then eagerly
expressed his desire that he might be permitted to live to another day,
to breathe the air of the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of inde
pendence. His wish was granted : the morning of the 4th of July,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
1826, found him still living ; and after declaring himself gratified by
the affectionate solicitude of his family and servants, and having dis
tinctly articulated these words, " I resign myself to my God, and my
child to my country," he gradually expired without a murmur or a
groan. At the time of his death, Mr. Jefferson had reached the age of
eighty-three years, two months, and twenty-one days. In person he
was six feet two mches high, erect and well formed, though thin ; his
eyes were light and full of intelligence ; his hair was very abundant,
and originally of a yellowish red, though in his latter years silvered
with age ; his complexion was fair, his forehead broad, and the whole
face square and expressive of deep thinking ; his countenance was
remarkably intelligent and open as day, its general expression full of
good-will and kindness, and, when the occasion excited it, beaming
with enthusiasm ; his address was cordial, confirming the welcome of
his lips; his motions were flexible and easy, his step firm and
sprightly ; and such were his strength and agility, that he was accus
tomed, in the society of children, of which he was fond, to practise
feats that few could imitate. His manner was simple, mingled with
native dignity, but cheerful, unassuming, frank, and kind ; his lan
guage was remarkable for vivacity and correctness; and in his con
versation, which was without apparent effort, he poured forth know
ledge the most various from an exhaustless fountain, yet so modestly,
and so engagingly, that he seemed rather to seek than to impart
information. In his disposition he was full of liberality and benevolence ; of this
the neighborhood of Monticello affords innumerable monuments, and,
on his own estate, such was the condition of his slaves, that in their
comforts his own interests were too often entirely forgotten. Among his
neighbors he was esteemed and beloved in an uncommon degree, and
his sentiments and opinions were regarded by them with extreme
respect, the reward rather of his private worth than of his public services.
His kindness had no limits ; he omitted nothing in his power to alle
viate distress. On one occasion, when president, passing on horse
back a stream in Virginia, he was accosted by a feeble beggar, who
implored his aid to help him across ; without hesitation he carried
him over behind him, and, on the beggar telling him he had neglected
his wallet, he as good-humoredly recrossed the stream, and brought it
to him. When the British and German prisoners, taken at Saratoga,
were quartered in his neighborhood, he treated them with marked
kinndess ; he enlisted the benevolent dispositions of the neighborhood

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
to supply their wants, obtain provisions, and secure their habitations
against the inclemency of the season ; and to the officers he threw
open his library, and offered all the hospitalities of Monticello. On
leaving Virginia, they wrote him letters conveying the warmest
gratitude ; and when he subsequently visited Germany, many of these
grateful men flocked around him, loading him with respect and
affection. Li his temper he displayed the greatest equanimity: his oldest
friends have remarked that they never beheld him give way to passion ;
and he treated his family and domestics with unvarying gentleness.
Even during the exciting political contests in which he was so promi
nent an actor, he never displayed personal enmity, or used his influ
ence or power with an angry or vindictive spirit. When the celebrated
traveller, Humboldt, was once visiting him, he saw a newspaper lying
on his table, containing a slanderous and acrimonious attack ; pointing
it out to Mr. Jefferson, he said "why do you not hang the man?"
" Put the paper in your pocket," replied the president with a smile,
"and on your return to your own country, "if any one doubts the
freedom of our press, show it to him, and tell him where you found
it." Even at the period when his elevation to the chief magistracy was
contested with so much violence, he says, in a letter to Governor
Henry, of Maryland, a political opponent, " I feel extraordinary grati
fication in addressing this letter to you, with whom shades of difference
in political sentiment have not prevented the interchange of good
opinion, nor cut off the friendly offices of society. This political
tolerance is the more valued by me, who consider social harmony as
the first of human felicities, and the happiest moments those which
are given to the effusions of the heart." His attachment, indeed, to
his friends was warm and unvarying ; he imparted to them, with
unstudied and fearless confidence, all that he thought and felt; he
entertained no ungenerous caution or distrust, and he had his reward
in that fi.rm support, which he received and had a right to expect from
them, in every exigency.
The domestic habits of Mr. Jefferson were quite simple. His
application was constant and excessive. He always rose very early ;
to a remark once made to him of surprise at his being able, amidst the
numerous interruptions to which his public station exposed him, to
transact his business, he replied, " I have made it a rule never to let
the sun rise before me, and before I have breakfasted, to transact all
the business called for by the day." His habits were so exact, that in
a cabinet abounding with papers, each one was so labelled and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
arranged as to be immediately found. After his retirement from
public life, he maintained a correspondence wonderfully extensive.
He usually rode every day for an hour or two, and continued to do so
until a very short period before his death ; and though he retired
early, his afternoons were, to the last, devoted to study, as his evenings
were to his family circle.
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JOHN HANCOCK.

This illustrious patriot, than whom perhaps not one of all his con
temporaries enjoyed in his time, a higher place in the consideration
of the American community, was born within the precincts of- the
pleasant town of Qnincy, a place which has had the honor of fur
nishing, not only two of the seven chief magistrates of the Union,
but no small number also of other remarkable men, well and favor
ably distinguished in the history of their native land. Qnincy was,
at the time of Hancock's birth, in the year 1737, a part of the large
and ancient town of Braintree, (which comprised likewise the modern
territory of the same name, together with a part of the township of
Randolph, in addition to Qnincy ;) and hence the apparent incon
sistency in the statements of different writers who have noticed the
life of the subject of this memoir.
The grandfather and the father of Hancock were both clergymen,
and men of very considerable reputation. The former resided for
half a century at Lexington, in the county of Middlesex ; a spot
which subsequently became hallowed ground, in conjunction with
Concord, the adjoining town, by having witnessed the first battle
of the American revolution, and where the writer has seen within
the current year, in the wood-work of the old houses around the
green, which "still stand as they stood that day," the traces of
bullets discharged at our militia men from the guns of the advancing
enemy. The father of Hancock, of the same name with himself, has
received no little eulogy for the services which he rendered to the
cause of learning, as well as religion, in his native province. One of
the brothers of this gentleman, however, is still better known by
merits of a similar discription, as well as by the recommendation of
having elevated himself from an humble and obscure condition of life,
by his industry, intelligence, and energy, to the rank of the most

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
eminent merchant in the northern states. He was for several years
honored with high situations in the political departments of the
province ; and what is more to his lasting praise, he appropriated a
liberal portion of his well earned revenue to the establishment of a
professorship in Harvard University, and to the increase of the
library of that institution, where his name, in golden letters, may be
seen to this day over one of the alcoves.
At this seminary — now become so celebrated for the great names it
has introduced to the history of the country, and still more the sub
ject of public regard, in the period of Hancock's youth, as not only
the oldest, but far the most learned and most amply endowed lite
rary institution among us — the subject of our memoir received, under
the -charge of the paternal uncle just mentioned, his collegiate edu
cation. His father had deceased during his infancy, and he was
thus, perhaps not very unfortunately, cast upon the kindness of a
relative who seems to have been as cheerfully disposed, and as well
qualified, as he was abundantly able by his means at command, to
bestow on his young protege, all the expense and exertion which
were deemed subservient to his comfort and promotion.
He was graduated at Harvard, in the year 1754, at the early age
of seventeen. With what honors he came off at his commencement,
or what reputation as a scholar he acquired, during his course of
study in the institution, we are not now enabled to ascertain ; but
the intelligence, as well as the ambition and the application, which
he afterwards manifested on frequent occasions of as much interest
to his countrymen as to himself, give us reason to believe that his
character must have received at this early period, no inconsiderable
weight from the development of the same virtues and powers that
finally raised him to the highest place in the confidence of the
American people.
That the indistinct and incomplete account which has reached us
of this portion of his career, supplies no glowing description of any
precocious and prodigious display of genius on the part of the
youthful aspirant, is a mischance which other great men have partici
pated with himself; and on the other hand, the assertion advanced
by occasional writers, that his college career was passed chiefly in
indolent insignificance, or at best in mediocre regularity, is believed
to be without the slightest foundation in truth, as it is in proof. He
who searches, at this day, among the documents of Hancock's own
time, and especially of the period of his political advancement, for

JOHN HANCOCK.
the opinions which his contemporaries entertained, or professed to
entertain, in regard to his true character, must cautiously discrimi
nate between the statements of indifferent testimony, and the asper
sions of rancorous political rivals and foes. The remark applies to
the case before us, with perhaps scarcely less force than to those
of even Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton themselves. No
statesman in this country, of however exalted renown, has been so
fortunate as to receive the reward of his patriotism at the hands of
the public, without a mixture of bitter accusation and violent attack,
blended therewith, from time to time, quite sufficient to satisfy the
most inordinate appetite for the excitement of popular contest. In
this connexion it is well observed, too, by Sanderson, that the im
putation of dulness, and even of stupidity has been attached, during
the rudiments of their education, to some of the brightest ornaments
of literature ; and many have excited the admiration of the world
by a youthful pregnancy of genius, whose names have perished
before the hour of parturition.
For six years subsequent to the conclusion of his academical
course, Hancock was engaged most of his time as a clerk in the
counting-house of his uncle, who was then at the height of his com
mercial prosperity. In 1760 he visited the mother country, and
during that period was present at the funeral of George II., and the
coronation of his successor — a monarch with the principles and
policy of whose administration he then little anticipated the serious
conflict which subsequently occurred.
After his return to his own country, at the age of twenty-seven,
the decease of his uncle put him, by the will of that generous patron,
in possession of a munificent fortune, reputed to have been the
most ample property held by any individual in the province, and
probably little inferior to any other American estate.
This accidental and fortunate advantage, though it has never been
pretended that the proprietor used it with other than a spirit of the
most noble liberality, proved, under circumstances which have been
already alluded to, another fruitful occasion of ungenerous remarks
upon his conduct and motives. It certainly enabled him to live in a
style which differed materially from that adopted by his great rival,
Samuel Adams. The latter was in moderate circumstances, and
was obliged to conform in his manners and habits to the somewhat
severe republicanism of the times. But Hancock had been edu
cated in the home of elegant hospitality, and his revenue was abun-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
dantly adequate to the gratification of the most liberal taste. He
kept a splendid equipage, riding, upon public occasions at least, with
servants in livery, and six beautiful bays, while his apparel was
sumptuously embroidered with gold or silver lace, and all the other
fashionable decorations of the day. He was fond, also, in later life,
of dancing, music, concerts, routs, assemblies, card parties, rich
wines, social dinners, and festivities of every description, which he
supposed unobjectionable, and which were popular with a very
considerable class of the population of Boston.
We come now to the consideration of the political career of Mr.
Hancock, and it cannot fail to be the most obvious inference from
such a review, that whatever might be the bitterness of individual
opponents at different periods, and although his popularity with
even the mass of his fellow citizens was occasionally, in times ol
high excitement, subject to eclipse, yet, on the whole, few men who
have lived in this country, at any stage in its history, have enjoyed
a more substantial share of political promotion or popular favor.
He was elected one of the selectmen of Boston soon after his
return from England, and continued to hold that office for several
years. In 1766, he was chosen, with James Otis, Samuel Adams,
and Thomas Cushing, a representative to the general assembly of
the province. There was at this time, as the city papers of the
date above named sufficiently indicate, a good deal of excitement
stirred up in the public mind relating to the measures of the British
government ; and this circumstance, not less than the company with
whom he was associated in his office, plainly prove the high degree
of confidence already reposed in both his integrity and his talents.
He is said to have been somewhat indebted, for his early advance
ment, to the kindly offices of Samuel Adams, a gentleman with
whom he subsequently found occasion to differ in political sentiment
on several occasions, but it is believed not to the disparagement of
the mutual respect of the parties.
In the assembly, Mr. Hancock, though but thirty years of age,
was immediately placed in the foremost rank of the leading and
working men, being not only nominated to most of the important
committees of that respectable body, but upon more than one occa
sion of great and general interest, appointed to the chairmanship
over associates of high reputation.
In the impositions attempted by the British government, in regard
to the importation of foreign merchandise into this country, Mr.

JOHN HANCOCK.
Hancock took an early and strong interest ; and probably no indi
vidual was more active than himself in instituting those memorable
associations of the citizens for the purpose of preventing the intro
duction and circulation of English goods, which so materially con
tributed not only to ward off some of the encroachments of ty
ranny, but to awaken the attention of the American people to a
discussion and' decision on the whole subject of monarchical and
ministerial abuse. His name was brought more particularly before
the public, in the course of this controversy, by the seizure of one of
his vessels, by the custom-house officers, under the pretext of its
being taken in contravention of the revenue laws. It was removed
by the officers under the protection of the guns of a British vessel
then in the harbor. The citizens, however, were exasperated by
this proceeding, and they assembled in great numbers, pursued them,
beat them with clubs, and drove them aboard their vessels. The
collector's boat was then burned by the mob, in the midst of loud
rejoicings, and the houses of some of the most odious of the sup
porters of " divine right," razed, in the first transport of popular
fury, to the ground. This affair, trifling as it may seem, has been
considered as among the principal of those immediate original
causes or occasions, which hastened the great, dispute between the
mother country and the provinces to a crisis.
Another incident of still greater interest, tending to the same
effect, was the celebrated massacre of the Boston citizens, by the
British troops, on the 5th of March, 1770. Probably the excitement
produced by that bloody affair was and is altogether unprecedented
in the history of the city. The bells were tolled, and the streets
filled with the population of all the neighboring towns ; and it was
only by the judicious withdrawal of the offenders at a seasonable
juncture, and the energetic interposition of some of the popular
leaders, that matters failed of being precipitated to the utmost verge
of frenzy. Mr. Hancock, with several others, was the next day
appointed, by an assembly of the citizens, to wait on the royal gover
nor and procure of him the removal of the troops from the town.
The proposition was evaded at first, but subsequently urged in such a
manner as to effect the prompt execution of the object desired by the
people. Mr. Hancock was called on, in 1774, to deliver an oration
on the anniversary of the massacre, over the remains of the mur
dered victims of tyranny. This composition, which increased even
the author's established reputation, is still preserved, and is justly

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
considered, though not remarkable for any thing like a learned 01
classic taste, a fine specimen of indignant patriotism, expressed in
the fiery phraseology of a fearless freeman. It was about this time
that he declined accepting the appointment of counsellor by the
governor, and this indignity, as the latter considered it, was followed
by his removal from the captaincy of the cadets, or governor's guard,
by General Gage. The company disbanded themselves on that
occasion, and the whole affair added to his popularity with every
class of the people. Several years before he had manifested a similar
spirit, on being offered a military commission by Governor Bernard.
At that time he tore up the paper in presence of his fellow citizens.
In October, 1774, Mr. Hancock, now but thirty-seven years of
age, was elected president of the Massachusetts provincial conven
tion, by an unanimous vote. The next year, the first of the revolu
tion, found him at the acme of his political distinction, in the honor
able station of president of the continental congress. Sanderson
correctly remarks, hi reference to this appointment, that "by his long
experience in business as moderator of the town meetings, and pre
siding officer and speaker of the provincial assemblies, during times
of great turbulence and commotion, he was eminently qualified,
as well as by his natural dignity of manners, to preside in this
great council of the nation." The officer elect is reported to have
received the announcement of his election with evident symptoms
of embarrassment — a sensation creditable at least to his modesty —
but being conducted to the chair by the friendly arm of a southern
member, he soon recovered his usual composure.
He held the presidency until October of the year 1777, a period
of about two and a half years, during which the incessant applica
tion he gave to business had rendered his health somewhat preca
rious. This consideration induced him to resign his office, and he
retired to his native province, attended by most gratifying testimo
nials of the universal respect of his countrymen.
But his fellow citizens did not suffer him to remain long in the
quietude of private life. A convention was about this time appointed
to frame a constitution for the state of Massachusetts ; to this he was
elected ; and he took, as usual, an active part in the deliberations of
that important occasion. In 1780 he was chosen governor, being
the first under the new constitution. He continued to hold the
office, annually, by the suffrages of the people, till 1785, when he
resigned; owing, as was stated, to the condition of his health,

JOHN HANCOCK.
though his enemies failed not to assert that his purpose was rather
to escape the troubles of that stormy period, which finally resulted
in the famous insurrection of Shays. However this might be, the
people appear to have been satisfied with his reasons and his admi
nistration, for in 1787 he was again called from his retirement to the
gubernatorial dignity, and he continued to fill that station succes
sively and very acceptably till his death, which occurred in October,
1793, in his fifty-sixth year. Mr. Sanderson gives him the credit of
directing the suppression of Shays' rebellion, during the latter term
of his office ; but this praise belongs justly to Mr. Bowdoin, who
was governor during the two years of Hancock's retirement, and
when the troubles in question were at their height.
The great reputation acquired by the subject of our memoir
among his own countrymen at the period when the revolution broke
out, cannot be better proved than by the importance attached to his
patriotism by the enemy, who perhaps had a particular ill will
against him from the connexion of his signature, (alone, in the first
instance,) as president of the continental congress, to the memorable
declaration of independence, issued by that body on the 4th of July,
1776. A year previous to this, however, he had the honor of being
pointed out, in conjunction with that other "notorious offender,"
Samuel Adams, as an exception to the pardon offered by the royal
governor of Massachusetts, in the proclamation, declaring the pro
vince in a state of rebellion, which he issued after the battle of
Bunker Hill. It was even intimated, that the chief purpose of the
expedition, sent on the 19th of April to Lexington, was to obtain
possession of the persons of these two obnoxious compatriots —
par nobile fratrum.
To the adoption of the federal constitution by the state of
Massachusetts — a most important event, which occurred in 1788,
no individual probably contributed so much as Hancock ; and it
was generally believed, at the time when he submitted that instru
ment to the consideration of the legislature, that if this state
refused to ratify it, the passage of it would infallibly be lost in
the other twelve. A convention assembled in Boston, to consider
the question of acceptance, and of that large and highly respect
able body, comprising all the distinguished talent of the state —
not excepting Fisher Ames, Rufus King, Judges Cushing, Parsons,
Dana, and Sedgwick, General Lincoln, Gore, Brooks, Strong, and
many others, Hancock was chosen president. Sickness compelled

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
him to leave his seat during part of the debates, but he returned to
it in the last week of the session, and it is said that his great influ
ence, exerted with his utmost discretion and energy at this juncture,
especially in pressing sundry amendments, which obviated the
exceptionable features of the proposed code, finally turned the scale
in favor of the adoption, It succeeded, after all, by a majority of
only nineteen votes, out of three hundred and fifty-five. This event
was celebrated in Boston with great rejoicings, and was hailed with
satisfaction throughout the country.
The funeral obsequies of Governor Hancock were observed in a
manner which plainly indicated the strong hold he continued, till the
last, to have on the popular good will. His body lay in state at his
mansion for several days, and the interment of it was conducted
with great ceremony. The militia of both the town and the sur
rounding country were called out, and the judges of the supreme
court joined the immense procession, which followed the remains
to their last resting place, in robes of mourning hue. The disease
from which the governor had suffered most in his latter years, was
the gout, but his decease was probably occasioned not more by this
cause, than by the fatigue of the laborious and responsible public
duties to which his whole time and thought seemed to be directed.
Governor Hancock left no lineal descendant. He had married,
about twenty years before his death, Miss Quincy, of Boston, (who
belonged to one of the most distinguished families of New England,)
and by this connexion, had one son, but this child died at an early
age. The public character of the great man whose life we have thus
imperfectly set forth, appears from the facts therein comprised much
more clearly than any dissertation of ours could exhibit it. His
private reputation, on the other hand, was not only free from serious
reproach, even in the most excited times, but at all periods of his
career, maintained in a rank worthy even of his political popularity.
The diffusive liberality, with which he dispensed around him the
benefits of his splendid wealth, was especially the subject of admira
tion. Nor did he ever hesitate, when patriotism called upon him, to
sacrifice any thing he possessed for his country's good ; — when, for
example, in 1775, it was proposed by the American officers, who
carried on the siege of Boston, to bombard and destroy the town
that the enemy might be driven out, Hancock, whose whole pro
perty was thus exposed to destruction, was among the foremost to

JOHN HANCOCK.
require that no regard to his personal interest should obstruct the
operations of the army.
The author of " Familiar Letters on Public Characters," generally
understood to be a gentleman who was personally acquainted with
most of the great men of the period of Hancock's official life,
describes the appearance of the governor in 1782, when, it is said,
though but forty-five years old, he wore very much the aspect of
advanced age. He is said to have been nearly six feet in stature, of
thin person, stooping a little, and apparently enfeebled by disease.
" His manners were very gracious, of the old style, of dignified com
plaisance. His face had been very handsome. His dress was adapted
quite as much to be ornamental as useful.* Gentlemen wore wigs
when abroad, and commonly caps when at home. At this time,
(June,) about noon, Hancock was dressed in a red velvet cap, within
which was one of fine linen, the latter was turned up over the lower
edge of the velvet one, two or three inches. He wore a blue damask
gown, lined with silk; a white stock, a white satin embroidered
waistcoat, black satin small clothes, white silk stockings, and red
morocco slippers. It was a general practice in genteel families to
have a tankard of punch made in the morning, and placed in a cooler
when the season required it. Visiters were invited to partake of it.
At this visit Hancock took from the cooler, standing on the hearth,
a full tankard, and drank first himself, and then offered it to those
present. At his table might be seen all classes, from grave and dig
nified clergy, down to the gifted in song, narration, anecdote, and
wit, with whom 'noiseless falls the foot of time, that only treads on
flowers.' "
To acknowledge that the governor had his faults and his foibles,
is but to allow that he was human. Among the latter, perhaps,
was two scrupulous a stickling for etiquette on some occasions, and
on others, a somewhat haughty preference of his own mere will and
wisdom to those of parties who were, by their situation at least,
entitled to respect, if not to concession. The author of the " Letters"

* The writer recollects to have heard it stated by an orator in Fanueil Hall, on an
occasion when the sentiments and character of Hancock came under discussion, that
he was at one time in the habit of wearing gold buttons with the figure of a sheep en
graved on them, under the motto, " you gain more by our lives than our deaths." It
was no doubt a political allusion. 9

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
mentions that when President Washington visited the Eastern states,
in 1789, Hancock took the ground, that as the representative of
state sovereignty in his own dominion, he was to be visited first,
even by the chief magistrate of the Union. This the president was
given to understand, but he did not deem it proper. Written com
munications ensued. Washington finally refused to see Hancock
except at the residence of the former, (corner of Court and Tremont
streets.) The Governor at length yielded, and on the third or fourth
day, went in his coach, enveloped in red baize, to the president's
lodgings, where he was borne in the arms of servants into the
house. The delay was by the public imputed to his debility.

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JOHN JAY.

The revocation of the edict of Nantes compelled a large number of
the best citizens of France to abandon their country, or apostatize
from their religion. Among those huguenots who sought a home
upon a foreign shore was Pierre Jay, the great-grandfather of the
subject of this memoir, who emigrated to England in 1685, with a
sufficient property to place him above dependence.
His son, Augustus, was abroad when his family left France, and
shortly afterwards returned without being aware of the troubles and
flight of his friends. He soon found means to escape from the risk
and danger to which he was exposed in his native land, and em
barked for America.
He landed at Charleston, S. C, but finding the climate unfavor
able to his health, he proceeded to the north, and finally settled in
New York, where he married the daughter of Mr. Balthazar Bay
ard, who was also a descendant of a protestant French family.
Surrounded by friends who were able and willing to promote his
interests, he successfully engaged in mercantile pursuits, and lived
in the enjoyment of the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens
until 1751, when he died at the age of eighty-six.
He left three daughters, and one son, named Peter, who was
married to Mary, the daughter of Jacobus Van Cortlandt, by whom
he had ten children. Peter Jay was a merchant, diligent in busi
ness, persevering and prudent ; so that by the time he had arrived
at the meridian of life, he had acquired a sufficient fortune, and
retired to an estate he had purchased at Rye, on Long Island Sound.
His wife was a lady of mild temper and gentle manners, and of a
cultivated mind. Both were pious. The subject of this sketch was
their eighth child, of whom it will now be our business to speak
more particularly.
John Jay was born in the city of New York, on the 12th of
December, 1745. From childhood he manifested a grave and stu
dious disposition. He acquired the rudiments of English and Latin

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
grammar under the instruction of his mother ; and at eight years of
age, was placed at the boarding school of the Rev. Mr. Stoope, at
New Rochelle, where he remained two years ; after which he had
the advantage of a private tutor until he was fourteen. In 1760, he
entered King's, now Columbia college, where he pursued his studies
with a devoted application and perseverance, and conducted himself
with exemplary propriety. Some defects, which had probably passed
unnoticed in the circle of his own family, gave him no little trouble
when he came to mingle with strangers. His articulation was indis
tinct ; his pronunciation of the letter L, exposed him to ridicule ;
and he had acquired such a habit of rapid reading, that he could with
great difficulty be understood. These imperfections by a determined
effort he corrected. Before he had completed his collegiate course,
he had decided to study law, and therefore, paid particular attention
to those branches which he considered most useful in his future
profession. He graduated on the 15th of May, 1764, with the
highest collegiate honors, and soon after became a student in the
office of Benjamin Kissam, Esq., a lawyer of eminence. The late
Lindley Murray, who was his fellow student for about two years,
thus speaks of him. " His talents and virtues gave at that period
pleasing indications of future eminence ; he was remarkable for
strong reasoning powers, comprehensive views, indefatigable applica
tion, and uncommon firmness of mind. With these qualifications,
added to a just taste in literature and ample stores of learning and
knowledge, he was happily prepared to enter on that career of public
virtue by which he was afterward honorably distinguished and made
instrumental in promoting the good of his country.
In 1768, Mr. Jay was admitted to the bar, and immediately
entered on an extensive and profitable practice. He married in 1774,
Sarah, the daughter of William Livingston, Esq., afterwards gover
nor of New Jersey. At this time his professional reputation was
high, and his prospects bright, but the political horizon was darkened
by the approaching storm. He espoused the cause of his country
with all the ardor of youth, while the dignity and gravity of his
deportment gave him the influence of riper years. Where he was
known he was confided in, and the reputation of his talents and
sterling qualities went before him. Thus he entered the broad field
of politics, not to work his way to eminence by slow and toilsome
steps, but to take his stand at once among the sages and chosen
fathers of the people.
The first news of the Boston Port Bill roused the patriots of New

JOHN JAY.
York. A public meeting was held on the 16th of May, 1774, when
a committee of fifty was appointed to correspond with the other
colonies. Mr. Jay was one of this committee, and also of a sub
committee to answer the letters received. He was afterwards elected
one of the delegates from the city of New York to the first congress,
which convened at Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774.
He took his seat on the first day of the session. He was not yet
twenty-nine years of age, and was the youngest member of that im
mortal band of patriots. All of them have long since departed ; Mr.
Jay was the last.
He was a member of the first committee appointed by congress,
and was the author of the " Address to the People of Great Britain,"
which Mr. Jefferson, without knowing the writer, pronounced "a
production of the finest pen in America ;" an opinion which it justly
deserved, and which must have been generally conceded by his
associates, if we may judge by the numerous labors of a similar
character which were afterwards awarded to him by congress, and
by the New York convention.
The address to the inhabitants of Canada, that to the people ol
Ireland, the appeal of the convention of New York to their consti
tuents, which congress earnestly recommended to the serious perusal
and attention of the inhabitants of the United States, and ordered to
be printed in German, at the expense of the continent; and the
address from congress to their constituents, on the state of their
financial affairs, were among his subsequent productions ; and they
all bear the stamp of his genius, and evince the glowing fervor of his
patriotism. It is impossible to read these addresses without being reminded
of the wells of classic learning, which supplied the rushing current
of his thoughts with a "style and language of never failing vigor and
attractive beauty. It would scarcely be extravagant to say, they
united the eloquence of Cicero with the pious patriotism of Macca
beus ; it is certain that they prove their author to have been deeply
imbued with the spirit of the ancient patriots, and not less those of
Palestine than of Greece and Rome.
After Mr. Jay's return from congress, he was elected by the citi
zens of New York, a member of a " committee of observation ;" and
soon after of a committee of association, with general and indefined
powers, which they exercised, in the absence of all legislative
authority, by calling on the citizens to arm and perfect themselves
in military discipline, and by ordering the militia to patrol the streets

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
at night to prevent the exportation of provisions. The provincial
congress assembled in May, 1775, and relieved the committee of their
responsibility. When the second congress assembled in Philadelphia on the 10th
of May, 1775, Mr. Jay again attended as a delegate from New York.
The battle of Lexington had occurred in the recess, and it was now
apparent that hostilities were inevitable. An army was therefore to
be organized, and preparations made for defence. To act on the
defensive, and " to repel force by force," was the utmost extent of
hostility which this congress would sanction ; there were some of
the members, and many of the citizens, who were not prepared to
throw off their allegiance to the king, at least not until some further
efforts were made to obtain redress. That all such might be left
without excuse, Mr. Jay advocated another petition to the king,
which he succeeded in carrying against a strong opposition. It
¦proved, as he had anticipated, a useless appeal to the monarch, but
added numerous friends to the American cause.
The exposed situation of New York, induced congress to recom
mend to the provincial legislature to arm and train the militia ; but
unfortunately that province was distracted by a much larger propor
tion of tories than any other of the northern colonies, and in many
instances the commissions for the field officers were declined. In
this strait, Mr. Jay accepted of a colonel's commission, but he never
acted under it, as his presence in congress was deemed of more
importance. Until the spring of 1776, congress had restrained their
measures within the bounds of forbearance, and had kept open the
door of reconciliation ; it then became apparent that the British
ministry were determined to listen to no remonstrances, nor to stop
short of a complete subjugation of the colonies. Congress, therefore,
determined to abandon their hitherto defensive system, and to em
ploy their arms in annoying their enemies, and especially to assail
their commerce by privateers, which could speedily be despatched
from numerous ports. This movement they thought necessary to
explain and justify, and the task of preparing a suitable declaration
was assigned to a committee of which Mr. Jay was a member. In
April, 1776, while attending the general congress, he was elected to
represent the city and county of New York in the colonial congress,
which assembled on the 14th of May. Subjects of the highest im
portance were here to be acted on, which required all the firmness and
wisdom of the ablest statesmen. The presence of Mr. Jay was
required. He attended accordingly, for by appointment of this body

JOHN JAY.
he held his seat in congress, and not by an election of the people.
The convention therefore had a right to command his presence, and
he was directed not to leave them until further orders. He was not
permitted to return to his seat in the continental congress, but was
constantly and actively engaged during the residue of the year in
his native state, and was thus deprived of the honor of being in his
seat when the declaration of independence was adopted. Had he
been there he would have advocated it ; for although he has been
" estimated" to have " kept the proceedings and preparations a year
behind,"* nothing can be more certain than that he was himself at
least a year in advance of most of his own constituents.
On the 31st of May, Mr. Jay reported to the New York conven
tion, or congress, a series of resolutions, which were agreed to, calling
on the people to elect deputies to a new convention with power to
establish a form of government. That he recommended the estab
lishment of a regular government in the state, and thereby renounc
ing all connexion with the British crown, is sufficiently expressive
of his views on the subject of independence, but the following may
also be added. The new convention with power to establish a per
manent government for New York, met at Whiteplains on the 9th
of July, and on the same day the declaration of independence was
received from congress. This important document was immediately
referred to a committee of which Mr. Jay was chairman, and he
almost instanter reported the following resolution, which was unani
mously adopted.
" Resolved, unanimously, That the reasons assigned by the conti
nental congress for declaring these united colonies free and inde
pendent states, are cogent and conclusive ; and that while we lament
the cruel necessity which has rendered this measure unavoidable,
we approve the same, and will, at the risk of our lives and fortunes,
join with the other colonies in supporting it."
A few days after this, he was appointed a member of a secret
committee, for the purpose of obstructing the navigation of the
Hudson river. The activity and zeal which he displayed on this
occasion were no doubt stimulated by the unbounded confidence
which he could not but feel was reposed in his integrity and judg
ment. He was dispatched by the committee to Connecticut for a
supply of cannon and shot, " with authority to impress carriages,

* Jefferson's Correspondence, Letter CLXXIV.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
teams, sloops, and horses, and to call out detachments of the militia,
and generally to do, or cause to be done, at his discretion, all such
matters and things as he might deem necessary or expedient to
forward and complete the business committed to his care."
He was successful in his exertions, and in a short time had twenty
cannon delivered at West Point.
So numerous and important were the subjects which claimed the
attention of the convention at this eventful period, that the special
business of their appointment could not be taken up until the 1st of
August, when a committee of which, as usual, Mr. Jay was one, was
appointed to report a form of government ; but the report was not
perfected until the following year. In the mean time the convention
exercised all the powers of government with a vigor and firmness,
which, when the circumstances of the state are considered, are truly
astonishing. The ability, energy, and decision of Mr. Jay, kept
him in constant employment, so that we may safely say, whatever
was done, he was among the foremost and most industrious
performers. He prepared the draft of the constitution which, with several
amendments, was adopted on the 20th of April, 1777, but having
been a few days before summoned to attend his dying mother, some
articles which he intended to offer as amendments were omitted and
some additions made, of which he did not approve. The state of
New York being now provided with a constitution, Mr. Jay received
the appointment of chief justice of the supreme court, and as the
judges of that court were by the new constitution restrained from
holding any other office than that of a delegate to congress on special
occasions, and no such occasion existing at that time, his seat in
congress was vacated.
Before the convention dissolved in May, 1777, they appointed a
council of safety, from among their own members, to administer the
government until the legislature should be organized. As one of
this council, Mr. Jay was almost constantly occupied until the
following September. On the 9th of that month, the first term of
the supreme court was held at Kingston, and the chief justice pre
sided. This was one of the most interesting periods of his official
life : the government under which the people had been born, and
which their education and habits had taught them to venerate, had
just been abolished, and a new one formed on new principles, in the
very seat of war, and > in the presence of victorious enemies.
Ticonderoga had fallen ; one British army was approaching from

JOHN JAY.
the north, another from the south ; the disaffected, numerous and
active, and the friends of their country, sinking in despair. How
worthy is the patriot of our admiration, who, at such a crisis, could
retain his firmness, and with an unruffled mind and undiverted eye
look forward to the end of his labors, with the full assurance of the
righteousness of the cause, and of the favor of heaven. Such a
patriot was John Jay.
The controversy between the legislature of New York, and the
people of Vermont, afforded a " special occasion" to send the chief
justice as a delegate to congress. He accordingly took his seat in
that body on the 7th of December, 1778, and three days after, was
elected president, on the resignation of Mr. Laurens. This office he
held until the 27th of September, 1779, when he was appointed
minister plenipotentiary to Spain. To obtain the acknowledgment
of the independence of the United States, to negotiate a treaty of
alliance, and to procure pecuniary aid, were the objects of his
mission. He sailed on the 20th of October, in the frigate Confederacy,
which had been ordered to France, to carry home the French
minister, Mr. Gerard ; but on the 7th of November, the ship was
dismasted in a storm, and with difficulty reached Martinico onv the
18th of December ; on the 28th, Mr. Jay embarked at St. Pierres in
the French frigate Aurora, and arrived at Cadiz on the 22d of
January, 1780. Having communicated his commission to the
Spanish court, he was invited to Madrid, but at the same time was
given to understand, that the formalities of an official reception must
be deferred. He soon found, that although Spain was at war with
our common enemy, she was not inclined to form an alliance with
us, to grant us aid, or even to acknowledge our independence, unless
on conditions which he was little inclined to comply with. The
Spanish minister required that the United States should guaranty to
Spain the possession of Florida, and the exclusive right of naviga
tion on the Mississippi. To this, Mr. Jay, who looked forward to the
future consequences of thus shutting up the mouth of one of our most
important rivers, would not consent.* To add to the perplexity of

* Dr. Franklin approved of Mr. Jay's resistance to this proposition, observing, " poor
as we are, yet as I know we shall be rich, I would rather agree with them to buy at
a great price, the whole of the Mississippi, than sell a drop of its waters. A neighbor
might as well ask me to sell my front door." 7

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
his situation, he learned, soon after his arrival in Spain, that congress
had adopted a singular expedient for raising money, (on the presump
tion of a successful negotiation,) by drawing on him for the payment
of bills to the amount of half a million of dollars at six months sight.
These bills soon began to be presented for acceptance. He
obtained the promise from the Spanish government, of the means to
meet drafts to the amount of about thirteen thousand dollars, and
this encouraged him to hope for further pecuniary aid ; but he was
held in suspense until it was probably supposed that his embarrass
ments had rendered him more docile, when he was again urged to
relinquish the claim of the United States, to the navigation of the
Mississippi. This he again declined, and he was then informed
that Spain would advance no more money. Mr. Jay then came to
the resolution of becoming personally responsible, by accepting all
future bills which might be presented, and thus at least preserve the
credit of the United States, for the next six months, and trust to a
change of circumstances for a disembarrassment. By the assistance
of Dr. Franklin, who was then in France, and some further aid from
Spain, all the bills which he accepted were paid, though not all of
them as they became due. While thus laboring to overcome the
great difficulties of his mission, he had the mortification to learn that
congress had authorized him to relinquish the right of navigating
the Mississippi below the southern boundary of the United States.
According to these new instructions, he presented the plan of a
treaty, but at the same time he required, on his own responsibility,
that a treaty should be immediately concluded, or that the United
States should not in future be bound by the offers now made. This
proposal was not accepted, and the negotiation was again deferred.
Early in the summer of 1782, having been appointed one of the
commissioners for negotiating a peace with England, Mr. Jay
proceeded to Paris, where Count d'Aranda, the Spanish ambassador,
was authorized to continue negotiations with him ; but these
progressed no further than an interchange of the views of their
respective governments in relation to the western boundary of the
United States. It will not be necessary to explain the instructions
which were given to the commissioners of the United States, charged
with the important duty of terminating the war, further than to state
generally, that they were such as left the terms of peace under the
control of the French minister, whose advice and opinions were to
govern the American commissioners. These instructions were
particularly displeasing to Mr. Jay, who thought the dignity of his

JOHN JAY.
country compromised, and her minister degraded, by being placed
under the direction of a foreign power. He nevertheless continued
to act under the commission, but earnestly requested congress to
relieve him from his station. What may have been the motive of
the desire to control the negotiations, or what the policy of the
French minister in the advice which he gave, and the opinions
declared in relation to the American claims of territorial limits, and
the fisheries, we shall not stop to inquire ; the motives and acts of
our own minister, are more to our present purpose, and these were
undoubtedly of the highest and purest character. During his
residence at Madrid, he had imbibed suspicions that the French
court, though sincerely desirous to render us independent of Great
Britain, were not willing to favor our views at the expense of Spain,
or even to see us acquire such power and importance as might lead
us to dispense with their patronage, and to pursue our own objects
without regard to their wishes or advice. These suspicions were
strengthened after his arrival at the French capital, by the influence
employed to dissuade him and his colleagues from insisting on
several points which they deemed of high importance, and which
they finally obtained.
His enlarged views of the future greatness of America, his respect
for her honor, and his firm determination never to be an instrument
to diminish it, led him to disobey the instructions which degraded him
to the station of a subaltern agent of a foreign minister, and obedience
to which would, in his opinion, endanger the interests, and tarnish
the glory of his country.
When the negotiation commenced, Mr. Jay and Dr. Franklin
were the only American commissioners present. Mr. Adams and
Mr. Laurens were their coadjutors ; the former joined them on the
26th of October, the latter on the 29th of November. In July, 1782,
Mr. Richard Oswald was authorized by the king of Great Britain,
"to treat, consult of, and conclude a peace or truce, with any com
missioner, or commissioners, named or to be named by the thirteen
colonies or plantations in North America," &c. According to their
instructions, Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jay consulted Count de Ver-
gennes, and he advised them to proceed ; but Mr. Jay objected to treat
with the British commissioner, unless the independence of his
country was first recognised, and he took upon himself, without the
concurrence of Dr. Franklin or the knowledge of the French
minister, to assure Mr. Oswald of his determination not to enter upon
any negotiation in which he should be recognised only as a com-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
missioner from colonies. The British cabinet being informed of this
objection replied, that it was intended to recognise the independence
of the United States by treaty, but Mr. Jay continued firm in his
resolution, and at length Mr. Oswald received a commission author
izing him to treat with the " commissioners of the United States
of America."
The negotiation now commenced, and in a few weeks the pre
liminary articles were agreed to without the knowledge of the
French government, and were signed by Mr. Adams, Dr. Franklin,
Mr. Jay, and Mr. Laurens, on the 30th of November, but were not
to take effect until peace should be concluded between Great
Britain and France. By these articles all the claims of the United
States were granted, and France being thus deprived of all pretext
for continuing the war, a preliminary treaty was arranged and
signed between France and Great Britain, on the 20th of January,
1783 ; congress proclaimed a cessation of hostilities on the 11th of
April, and on the 15th, formally ratified the treaty. In September,
the definitive treaties between the belligerant powers were signed at
Paris, and the American definitive treaty was ratified by congress
on the 14th of January, 17S4.
Mr. Jay's health had suffered severely from the climate of Spain,
and his subsequent close application to business had added to his
indisposition. By the advice of his physician he visited Bath, and
derived essential benefit from the use of the waters. He then
returned to Paris, and being freed from the cares of public duty,
he had leisure to enjoy the polished and elevated society in which
he moved. But his heart's desire was now to return to the land
of his nativity, and a private station. He declined the appoint
ment as a commissioner to negotiate a treaty of commerce with
Great Britain, and having heard it rumored that he would probably
be appointed minister to England, he wrote to the secretary of foreign
affairs earnestly requesting not to be considered a candidate for that
station. As soon, therefore, as the definitive treaty was signed, he
prepared to return home, he resigned his Spanish mission, and
having attended to the settlement of his accounts, he left Paris on
the 16th of May, 1784, and arrived in New York on the 24th of
July. He was greeted by his friends and fellow citizens in the most
affectionate and grateful manner, and learned that on the probability
of his return having been made known to congress, that body had
elected him their secretary for foreign affairs, and soon after his
arrival, the state legislature appointed him one of their delegates to

JOHN JAY.
congress. He continued at the head of the department of foreign
affairs, and in the faithful discharge of its laborious duties until the
organization of the government under the federal constitution.
It is generally known that Mr. Jay used extraordinary exertions
to secure the adoption of that instrument by the state of New York,
where the question was held for some time in suspense. It will not
be improper in this place to review the immediate causes of those
exertions, with a sketch of his opinions and views of passing events.
Mr. Jay held the office of foreign secretary a little over four years ;
during that time all the powers of government were vested in con
gress. It had' been perceived even before the conclusion of the war,
that this body possessed in fact very little real power, and when the
first great object of the contest had been secured, every succeeding
occasion for the exercise of sovereignty betrayed the imbecility and
insufficiency of the government. The official station of Mr. Jay
constantly brought this embarrassing fact to his view to his great
mortification and regret. His letters written at this period express
his wishes distinctly. His own words will best illustrate his senti
ments. In a letter to J. Lowell, in 1785, he says; "It is my first
wish to see the United States assume and merit the character of one
great nation whose territory is divided into different states, merely
for more convenient government. In another to John Adams, in
1786, he repeats the sentiment thus. " It is one of the first wishes
of my heart to see the people of America become one nation in every
respect." This was the abstract desire induced by occasions of
frequent occurrence. The most prominent of these were, the Alge-
rine war in 1785, when congress could not command the funds to
redeem the captives, nor to build a navy which he recommended.
In 1786, the negotiations with Spain were renewed in relation to the
disputed navigation of the Mississippi below the southern boundary
of the states, which broke off unadjusted, as Spain refused to grant
the right, and the United States persisted in claiming it. Mr. Jay
was an honest minister, he never hesitated to express his opinions,
and on this occasion he remarked to congress, that if they insisted
on the navigation of the Mississippi at that time, " the Spanish forts
on its banks would be strengthened, and that nation would then bid
us defiance with impunity, at least until the American nation should
become more really and truly a nation than it is at present. For
unblessed with an efficient government, destitute of funds, and with
out public credit, at home or abroad, we should be obliged to wait
in patience for better days, or plunge into an unpopular and danger-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
About the same time it was proposed to negotiate a loan
in Europe, and the subject being referred to him, he reported against
it, considering it improper " because the federal government in its
present state, is rather paternal and persuasive than coercive and
efficient. Congress can make no certain dependence on the states
for any specific sums to be required and paid at any given periods,
and consequently are not in capacity safely to pledge their honor
and faith for the repayment of any specific sums they may borrow."
When, therefore, a convention was appointed, and a constitution
formed and recommended to the states for their approval, which
promised, if not all he desired, at least as much as could reasonably
be expected, he was better prepared than most men in the country
for advocating its adoption. Still, it was for some time doubtful
whether it would be approved or not. There was a strong party in
the opposition, some of whom thought the old confederation with
modifications would be sufficient, and some were unwilling to relin
quish any of the rights of the states ; thus originated two great
parties in the country. Mr. Jay was not a member of the conven
tion by whom the constitution of the United States was framed, but
its superiority to the articles of confederation was too obvious to
allow of any hesitation on his part ; he accordingly united with Mr.
Madison and Colonel Hamilton, in the publication of a series of
essays in explanation and commendation of the document, when it
was submitted to the people for a final decision. These essays, col
lected in the well known work, "the Federalist," now form a standard
book of reference on most great constitutional questions. After the
second, third, fourth, and fifth numbers of these essays were written
by Mr. Jay, he was for some time prevented from a continuation by
an unfortunate occurrence. Some young physicians, after violating
the grave for subjects of anatomical study, had the folly to exhibit
parts of limbs at their window to the passengers in the street. A
serious riot was the consequence. The magistrates of the city of
New York, to protect the physicians from violence, shut them up in
prison, but the mob, determined not to be disappointed in their
vengeance, assembled for the purpose of executing summary punish
ment on the culprits. Mr. Jay, and other gentlemen, armed and
placed themselves under the command of Colonel Hamilton, to pre
vent the outrage. This party was attacked by the rioters with
stones, one of which struck Mr. Jay on the temple, and nearly
deprived him of life. He however recovered, but only in time to
write the sixty-fourth number of the Federalist. He also published

JOHN JAY.
an address to the people of the state of New York, in favor of the
adoption of the constitution, and when the legislature called a con
vention to decide the question, Mr. Jay was elected one of the
delegates from the city. The convention consisted of fifty-seven
members, forty-six of whom were understood at the time to be anti-
federalists ; nevertheless, the constitution was adopted ; but only by
a majority of three votes.
Mr. Jay received the very gratifying testimony of the respect and
confidence of President Washington, who, on the organization of the
departments, requested him to select any office he might prefer. He
did so, and was accordingly appointed the first chief justice of the
United States.
In April, 1794, he was appointed envoy extraordinary to Great
Britain, to negotiate a treaty for the regulation of commerce, and a
settlement of the disputes between the two countries, in relation to
the infractions of the treaty of peace. On the 19th of November
following, he concluded and signed with Lord Grenville a treaty of
amity, commerce, and navigation, between his Britannic majesty and
the United States. This treaty gave great offence to France, and
produced a fearful excitement in the United States. Forty years
have since passed away, and at no subsequent period has the stability
of the government been placed in more imminent peril. The judg
ment of Washington, however, approved the treaty, and his firmness
carried the country through the crisis, but the minister who nego
tiated the treaty was assailed and denounced by a numerous and
powerful antagonist party. For this Mr. Jay was prepared, as his
letters written at that time declare. "I carried with me to Europe,"
said he to Edmund Randolph, " and I brought back from thence a
fixed opinion, that no treaty whatever with Great Britain would
escape a partial, but violent opposition. I did clearly discern that
any such treaty would be used as a pretext for attacks on the
government, and for attempts to diminish the confidence which the
great body of the people reposed in it." In another letter, addressed
to General Henry Lee, after expressing a sentiment similar to the
above, he said, " apprised of what had happened in Greece and other
countries, I was warned by the experience of ages not to calculate
on the constancy of any popular tide, whether favorable or adverse,
which erroneous or transitory impressions might occasion. The
treaty is as it is, and the time will certainly come, when it will
universally receive exactly that degree of commendation or censure
which, to candid and enlightened minds, it shall appear to deserve."

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Mr. Jay arrived at New York, in May, 1795, and found that he had
been elected governor of the state. He felt bound by the circumstances
under which he had been elected, to accept the honor conferred, and
accordingly resigned the office of chief justice. He held the station
of governor until 1801, when, having declined to be considered again
a candidate, he withdrew from public life to the peaceful shades of
his paternal estate at Bedford.
President Adams attempted to retain his services for the public, by
nominating him to the senate for his former seat on the bench of the
supreme court, but he had deliberately made up his mind to retire,
and declined the honor, on the ground "that his duty did not
require him to accept it." The public services of Mr. Jay fill a
broad space in the history of his country, but the value of them has
been variously estimated amidst the zealous strife of contending
political parties, and it is perhaps even yet too soon to attempt an
adjustment of the balance. We shall therefore be content to leave
it to the calm judgment of our readers.
That Mr. Jay, at the age of fifty-six, should have abandoned all
participation in public affairs, excited some surprise at the time ; but
a view of his private character and motives affords a sufficient
explanation. Through all his life, he was influenced mainly by a sense of duty.
At no period the creature of impulse, whatever he undertook to do,
was the result of cool, dispassionate conviction, so that whatever
was the labor or the difficulty of the performance, he pressed for
ward regardless of the consequences. So long as he believed it to
be his duty to serve the public, he remained at his post, and having
" borne the heat and burden of the day," until he saw the institutions
of his country, which he had assisted to rear, effective and pros
perous, he naturally turned towards a station and mode of life that
from early youth had been his desire. Firm in his political princi
ples, and decidedly attached to one of the great parties of his day,
he was yet tolerant of the opinions of others ; he never deserted his
friends, nor sought to purchase an opponent ; he never asked a vote
nor an office, nor did he ever remove an officer for his political views.
Being therefore neither factious, ambitious, nor anxious for distinc
tion, he was willing, when he saw the administration of the govern
ment passing out of the hands of his political friends, to give a fair
trial to their successors.
In 1802, he had the misfortune to lose his excellent and beloved

JOHN JAY.
wife, which left a breach in the family circle at Bedford, that was
long and painfully felt.
Mr. Jay's life exhibited a beautiful illustration of the power of
religion. It was never laid aside for convenience, nor brought for
ward on special occasions for effect, but it was a pervading influence
equally acknowledged and obeyed from day to day, in public and in
private. In the very storm and tempest of political passion- — and
there is none more reckless — his private character was always
respected by his antagonists. By his friends he was venerated. In
his retirement, he devoted much of his time to study and reflection ;
and while he was prudent, economical and diligent in the improve
ment of his estate, he lived in constant preparation for " another and
a better world."
He was a plain republican in his manners ; warm and enduring
in his friendships, and liberal in his benevolence. He was a member
of most of the great religious associations of his time, and succeeded
Elias Boudinot, as president of the American Bible Society.
For several years before his death, Mr. Jay's health had gradually
declined. In 1827, he was dangerously ill, so that his recovery was
not expected. When apprised of his danger by his son, he received
the information without any apparent emotion, but in the course of
the day he conversed with cheerfulness and animation.
On being urged to tell his children on what his hopes were
founded, and whence he drew his consolation, he replied, " they have
the book." From this attack, however, he recovered, but con
tinued feeble and gradually declining until the 14th of May, 1829,
when he was suddenly seized with palsy, which almost deprived him
of the power of speech, though his mind remained perfect to the last.
He departed on the 17th of the same month, in the eighty-fourth
year of his age.
The public acts of Mr. Jay form an important part of our early
national history. A memoir of his life by his son, William Jay,
with selections from his correspondence and miscellaneous papers,
has recently been published in two octavo volumes, which we hope
will find a place in the library of every American, who designs to
set before his children a bright example of public and private virtue.
" It would be difficult," says a late writer, " to point out a character
in modern times more nearly allied to the Aristides drawn by Plu
tarch, than that of John Jay. Justice, stern and inflexible, holds
the first place in his exalted mind." Yet Plutarch admits, " that
although in all his own private concerns, and in those of his fellow-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
citizens, Aristides was inflexibly just, in affairs of state he did many
things, according to the exigency of the case, to serve his country,
which seemed often to have need of the assistance of injustice." In
this respect the resemblance fails between the ancient and the
modern, John Jay never departed from the strictest rule of right ;
and the patriot and the Christian may equally point to him with
admiration and applause.
J. H.

Ei.jpwd hv E WeDmntt (ram i Pulniin j b v i&lcegKze iTat t n Ongnal IfiaiaunuipoBjeMlmiDfJotni S.Fleirdna Eiq* of Mi^Jmi

ipawjehsik moi^Ex

PATRICK HENRY.

Patrick Henrvt was born of respectable parentage, in the county of
Hanover, state of Virginia, on the 29th of May, 1736. He displayed
in his youth none of those admirable qualities which, in after life,
rendered him the admiration of his country, and the terror of her
enemies. Deficient in early education, and deprived of the opportunities
of improvement by which the powers of his mind could be developed,
his genius, which was at a future period destined to shine so brilliantly,
was involved in obscurity until aroused from its dormant condition,
by circumstances which brought all its powerful energies into action,
and displayed its vigor and splendor to his astonished associates and
countrymen. Agriculture and shop keeping were successively pur
sued and abandoned by him. Failure attended his early career, and
in whatever avocations he was engaged, or when struggling to subdue
his undisciplined spirits to the useful employments of fife, he seemed
to be doomed to an humble and unprosperous condition. At the age
of eighteen, he married a Miss Shelton. After all other means of
subsistence had failed, he determined to exchange manual labor for
the practice of the law, and after studying for about six weeks, ob
tained, in the twenty-fourth year of his age, with great difficulty, a
license to practice. It was not, however, until he had reached his
twenty-seventh year, that an opportunity occurred for a trial of his
strength at the bar, when the powers of his unrivalled genius were
exhibited in full relief, and placed him at once in the highest rank of
his profession. The cause in which he first made his appearance
before a court and jury, was familiary called the parsons' cause, and
involved a question upon which the country was very much excited ;
the clergy and people being arrayed in opposition. A decision of the
court on a demurrer in favor of the claims of the clergy, had left
nothing undetermined but the amount of damages in the cause which
was pending. The counsel who had been concerned for the defend
ants having retired from the management of the case, Mr. Henry
was retained, and on a writ of inquiry of damages, he took advantage
of the opportunity furnished of addressing the jury, to enter into a

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
discussion of the points which had been previously settled, and
although in deviation from regular practice, succeeded by the force
of his eloquence in inducing the jury to give but nominal damages.
The management of the cause gained for him the most enthusiastic
applause, and brought him so prominently before the public, that he
became the idol of the people whom he had so efficiently served, and
received the most earnest demonstrations of their admiration.
In 1764, he removed to the county of Louisa, and in the fall of that
year, appeared before a committee of the house of burgesses, then
sitting at Williamsburg, as counsel in the case of a contested election,
and amidst the fashion and splendor of the seat of government, the
rustic orator commanded attention and respect.
A wider field for the display of his eloquence was soon open to
him, and as the controversy with Great Britain began to thicken, the
champion of the people's rights was called into the public counsels, to
rebuke the spirit of despotism, and sustain the drooping spirits of his
countrymen, by an eloquence which springing from the great fountain
of nature, no power could control or subdue. The seat of a member
of the house of burgesses was vacated to make room for him, and in
the month of May, 1765, he was elected a member. He was now
destined to act among the most accomplished and distinguished men
of the country. Following no other guide than his pure and patriotic
spirit, and using no other instrument of action but his own matchless
eloquence, he rapidly ascended to the loftiest station in the confidence
and affections, both of the legislature and of the people. Taking at
once a bold stand, he rallied around him the opposition, and became
the envy and the terror of the aristocracy. His plebeian origin and
rustic appearance were singularly contrasted with the rich veins of
intellectual wealth, which the collisions of debate and party strife
brought to the public view. By his almost unaided skill, he defeated
the aristocracy in a favorite measure, and acquired an ascendency at
the outset of his public career which enabled him to give the impress
of his own undaunted spirit to the future counsels of the state. In
1765, " alone, unadvised and unassisted," he wrote on the blank leaf
of an old law book the resolutions of 1765, denouncing the stamp act
and asserting the rights of the people. On offering them to the
legislature, they met with violent opposition, which drew from Mr.
Henry one of the most vivid and powerful efforts of his eloquence.
Breasting the storm, and bidding defiance to the cries of treason, by
which in vain it was attempted to silence him, he secured their adop
tion, and thus gave an impulse to public feeling, and a character to the

PATRICK HENRY.
contest, which essentially aided the revolutionary cause. In the year
1767, or 1768, he removed from Louisa to his native county, and
continued without intermission in public life, until after the close of
the war. The higher courts engaged his attention, and although a
want of familiarity with the common law, and a dislike to the forms
of practice obstructed his progress, he found in the trial of criminal
causes an extensive sphere for the exercise of his abilities, and tlie
acquisition of a professional reputation.
In the assembly he continued to espouse the cause of the people,
and permitted no opportunity to escape, of stimulating them and
their representatives to repel the aggressions of the mother country.
Prior to the commencement of hostilities, he predicted the dissolution
of the connection which subsisted between her and her colonies, and
the triumph of the latter.
The house of burgesses having been, in 1774, dissolved by Gover
nor Dunmore, in consequence of their energetic opposition to tyranny,
the members recommended a convention of the people to deliberate
on the critical posture of affairs, and particularly to appoint delegates
to a congress to be convened at Philadelphia. Mr. Henry was
elected a member of the convention, and by that body was appointed
with Messrs Randolph, Lee, Washington, Bland, Harrison, and Pendle
ton, delegates to congress, which assembled at Carpenter's Hall, on the
4th of September. The most illustrious men of America who had
been heretofore strangers, or only known to one another by fame, were
now brought by the common danger which hung over their country,
into the closest intercourse. The organized masses of virtue, intelli
gence, and genius, formed a body which attracted by its wisdom, firm
ness and patriotism, the admiration of mankind, and must ever reflect
unfading lustre on the country whose destinies they controlled, and
whose freedom they achieved. Mr. Henry's magical eloquence first
broke the solemn silence which succeeded their organization, and in
breasts so lofty and so pure, the undisciplined and untutored voice of
patriotism and of native genius found a response, which sustained its
boldest exertions. The impartial judgments of the greatest and most
accomplished men awarded to him the highest place among orators.
Unfortunately for Mr. Henry, he did not excel in composition, for
having been placed on a committee to prepare an address to the king,
he did not fulfil the expectations which his eloquence had created, and
accordingly his draft was recommitted, and John Dickinson added to
the committee, who reported the celebrated address which so much
increased his reputation.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
The Virginia convention met a second time in March, 1775, at
Richmond, when Mr. Henry brought forward a series of resolutions
containing a plan for the organization of the militia. In defiance of
the opposition of the ablest and most patriotic members of the conven
tion, they were sustained by a torrent of irresistible eloquence from
Mr. Henry, who inspired the convention with a determined spirit of
resistance. An opportunity soon occurred for a trial of his courage,
as well as of his influence with the people. The prohibition of the
exportation of powder from Great Britain, was followed by attempts to
procure the possession of magazines in America, by which the colo
nists would be deprived of the means of defence. A large quantity
of gun-powder was clandestinely removed from the colonial magazine
at Williamsburg, and placed on board of armed British vessels. The
excitement which it produced, extorted from the governor a promise
for its return, by which public feeling was for the time appeased, but
subsequent threats and rumors of fresh encroachments on the maga
zine, together with the irritation produced by the battles of Concord
and Lexington, aroused the country to arms. The movements of the
military corps was, however, arrested by the exertions of Mr. Randolph.
But Mr. Henry, determined not to submit to the aggressions of the
British governor, despatched express riders to the members of the
Independent Company of Hanover to meet him in arms at Newcastle.
Having aroused their patriotism by all the efforts of his eloquence, by
the resignation of the captain, he became the commander, and they
commenced their march for Williamsburg. The country was electri
fied. Other companies joined the revolutionary standard of Patrick
Henry, and at least five thousand men were in arms, rushing to his
assistance. The governor issued a proclamation denouncing the
movement. The greatest consternation prevailed at Williamsburg ;
even the patriots were alarmed, and despatched messenger after mes
senger to induce him to abandon the enterprise ; but undaunted, he
resolutely pursued his march. The governor, after making prepara
tions for his defence, deemed it most prudent to avoid a conflict, and
accordingly ordered Mr. Henry to be met at Newcastle with a com
pensation in money for the powder. Another proclamation from the
governor denouncing him, not only fell harmless before him, but
seemed to render him an object of greater public regard. Mr. Henry's
journey to congress, which had been interrupted by this event, was
now resumed, and became, as far as the borders of Virginia, a tri
umphant procession.
The affair of the gun-powder brought Mr. Henry to the notice of

&

PATRICK HENRY.
the colonial convention in a military point of view, and accordingly
"he was elected colonel of the first regiment, and commander of all
the forces raised and to be raised for the defence of the colony."
Having resigned his commission, he was elected a delegate to the
convention which met on the 6th of May, 1776, at Williamsburg. On
the 1st of July, he was elected the first republican governor of Vir
ginia, and was continued in that station by an unanimous vote,
until 1778. A wish having been expressed to reelect him for
the fourth term, he declined being a candidate, on the ground that
the constitution had declared the governor to be ineligible after the
third year, although an impression existed on the minds of some of
the members of the legislature, that his appointment for the first year
having been made prior to the adoption of that instrument, should not
be counted in his term of service under it. Mr. Henry entertaining
a different opinion, communicated his views to the assembly, " that
they might have the earliest opportunity of deliberating upon the
choice of his successor." Few opportunities occurred for distinction
during his gubernatorial career, but he appears to have performed all
the duties of the station, to the satisfaction of the country, and to have
retired with an increase of reputation and popularity. During the
gloomiest period of the conflict for independence, a project was twice
started to create a dictation, and whilst the most satisfactory evidence
exists that Mr. Henry had no participation in it, it is highly honora
ble to him, that the drooping spirits of his countrymen were turned to
him as the safest depository of uncontrolled authority. After retiring
from the executive department, Mr. Henry became once more a repre
sentative in the assembly, and continued to enlighten the public coun
cils by the splendor of his eloquence, and his liberal views of public
policy. Among the measures which he advocated after the close of
the war, the return of the British refugees, the removal of restraints
on British commerce, even before the treaty by which that object was
accomplished, and the improvement of the condition of the Indians,
were conspicuous. On the 17th of November, 1784, he was again
elected governor of Virginia. His circumstances, owing to the small-
ness of the 'salaries which he had received, and the sacrifices he had
made in the public service, had become embarrassed, which induced
him to retire from that station in the fall of 1786, whilst yet a year
remained of his constitutional term, and also to decline accepting the
appointment which was tendered to him by the legislature, of a seat
in the convention to revise the constitution of the United States.
"On his resigning the government," says his accomplished biographer

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Mr. Wirt, " he retired to Prince Edward county, and endeavored to
cast about for the means of extricating himself from his debts. At the
age of fifty years, worn down by more than twenty years of arduous
service in the cause of his country, eighteen of which had been occu
pied by the toils and tempests of the revolution, it was natural for
him to wish for rest, and to seek some secure and placid port in which
he might repose himself from the fatigues of the storm. This, how
ever, was denied him ; and after having devoted the bloom of youth
and the maturity of manhood to the good of his country, he had now
in his old age to provide for his family." He accordingly resumed
the practice of the law, in which the powers of his eloquence secured
him constant employment. But it was difficult for him to abstract
himself entirely from public affairs, and the formation of the consti
tution of the United States, respecting which he entertained most
erroneous views, enlisted his feelings once more in political struggle
as a member of the convention, assembled for its adoption, at Rich
mond, on June 2d, 1788.
Professing to be alarmed at the character and extent of the powers
conferred on the federal government. Mr. Henry exerted all his
great abilities to produce its defeat. Fortunately for the country,
Virginia possessed, and was enabled to bring in opposition to his con
stitutional views, an array of great men, who, although inferior to
him in eloquence, surpassed hirn in knowledge, and by their combined
exertions, were able to counterbalance the influence which his skill in
debate, unquestionable patriotism, and long continued services, ena
bled him to wield. Madison, Marshall, Pendleton, Wythe, Nicholas,
Randolph, Innis, and Lee, were the bulwarks of that sacred shield of
liberty, the constitution of the United States, against which our patri
otic orator, with his wonted vigor and matured skill, week after week,
cast the darts of his stupendous eloquence. Ridicule, sarcasm, pathos,
and argument were resorted to, to accomplish his object, and with untir
ing energy, he assailed it as a system and in detail, as the one plan
or the other seemed best calculated for the purposes of the veteran
tactician. He denounced it as a consolidated, instead of a confede
rated, government, and charged the convention by which it was
framed, with an assumption of power, when, by the preamble they
declared the instrument to emanate from the people of the United
States, instead of the states by which they were appointed. The
powers conferred on the government, were, in his opinion, dangerous
to freedom, and he condemned the whole system as pregnant with

PATRICK HENRY.
hazard, and ruinous to liberty. Mr. Henry was combated with
admirable skill, and triumphantly defeated.
His failure in the convention did not however affect his influence,
and hi the subsequent fall, he possessed in the assembly the confidence
and popularity which had so long clung to him. He succeeded in
procurmg the election of candidates for the senate of the United States
in opposition to those nominated by his antagonists ; and also in pro
curing the adoption of a series of resolutions favorable to a convention
of the states to alter the constitutioh, which had been so recently
adopted. In the spring of 1791, he declined a reelection to the
assembly, with the view of retiring altogether from public life. Neces
sity compelled him to continue the practice of the law, and in the fall
of that year, he argued before the circuit court of the United States
the celebrated case of the British debts, with an eloquence and pro
fessional ability which extorted the admiration of the bench, and the
crowded audience which his great reputation had assembled. Such
was the curiosity to hear him, that a quorum of the legislature could
not be obtained, and a large concourse were subjected to disappoint
ment by the multitude which thronged the court room. For three
days he riveted the attention of a promiscuous audience, whilst dis
cussing the usually uninteresting details of complicated law points.
His success in the practice of the law was eminently distinguished,
and being relieved by the assistance of other counsel from the neces
sity of turning his attention to such branches of the practice as were
unsuitable to him, his genius had ample scope to range in the direction
most congenial to it.
In the year 1796, he was once more elected governor of Virginia,
which he declined. He also refused to accept the embassy to Spain,
which was offered to him during the administration of Washington,
and that to France, to which he was appointed by Mr. Adams. His
declining health and advanced age, rendered retirement more desirable
to him than ever ; but prior to the close of his earthly career, he was
induced to forego the comforts and peace of domestic Ufe, to embark
in the stormy conflicts of political controversy. Believing that the
democratic party in Virginia were yielding to passion, and advocating
principles hostile to the safety of the country, and opposed to the con
stitution of the United States, Mr. Henry espoused the cause of that
instrument, the adoption of which he had so strenuously resisted.
The Virginia resolutions of 1798 filled him with alarm, and although
subsequent events have shown that the authors of them did not harbor
intentions hostile to the union, Mr. Henry firmly believed that he

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
saw in their train the most ruinous consequences. He presented
himself at the spring election of 1799, at the county of Charlotte, as a
candidate for the house of delegates, and in an eloquent address to the
people, expressed his alarm at the conduct of the party opposed to the
national administration, his belief that their measures were not in
accordance with the constitution, and his determination to support
that instrument. He reminded them of his opposition to it on the
very grounds that the powers which they were then condemning, were
conferred, denied the right of a state to decide on the validity of
federal laws, and declared his firm belief, that the destruction of the
constitution would be followed by the total loss of liberty.
His usual success attended him, and he was elected. His health,
however, yielded to the disease with which he had been afflicted for
two years, and he expired on the 6th of June, 1799.
Mr. Henry was twice married, and was the parent of fifteen child
ren, eleven of whom survived him. In domestic life, he was con
spicuous for his simplicity, frankness, and morality. Without ostenta
tion, his retirement was enlivened by the cheerfulness of his disposition,
and the stores of practical knowledge which a long career in public
life had enabled him to accumulate. He was a firm Christian, and
devoted much of his time in the concluding years of his life to reading
works on religion. Temperate in his habits, indulgent to his children,
and rigid in his morals, there was but little in his conduct for detrac
tion to act upon. The charge of apostacy was made against him
on account of his determination to sustain the constitution of the
United States, which he had so strongly opposed; but when we
reflect upon the incalculable blessings which it has showered
upon the country, and how triumphantly it has refuted, by its
practical operations, the objections which were made to it, we cannot
but admire the frank and honorable conduct of the patriotic orator,
who did not hesitate to sustain a system which experience must have
convinced him he had erroneously opposed. The eloquence of Mr.
Henry has been attested by evidence to which every American will
yield conviction. Unrivalled in its influence, it was one of the causes
of the independence of the country : the remembrance of it deserves to
be perpetuated to after ages, as one of the most striking characteristics
of the contest for freedom. In recurring to the events of that strug
gle, with the virtues, patriotism, and heroism for which it was con
spicuous, will ever be associated in grateful remembrance, the impe
tuous, patriotic, and irresistible eloquence of Patrick Henry.

EnPxavedlty THa?,JjUiriaa.fxoiD. the Pamtuig'by- J.S Copleyin Famieil HaJl,Boston. '

jj ® s m ip mi ;wMs.miE '

Ea*wacCordinptoact.o£C-ii2Te!:i' in^ey«ff l.SBS.WJiam^Heraiirmthe clerks o'Bce oftlis I)iEtrier. Court of tlio Southern DistriA of'TIev,'

JOSEPH WARREN.

To have been the most distinguished man slain in the battle of Bun
ker hill, "whose glorious name might turn a coward brave," is
sufficient to secure an immortality of fame to the name of Joseph
Warren.
" Brief, brave, and glorious was his young career,"
and although the time and circumstances of his death present the
most prominent point of observation, yet, the active part he took in
the preliminary events, and the zeal and ability of his previous ser
vices in rousing the energies of his countrymen to resist oppression
are interwoven with the history of his time, and entitle him to a place
among the first of American patriots.
Joseph Warren was born at Roxbury, near Boston, in the year
1741. At the age of fourteen he entered Harvard university, where
he bore a high character for talents, perseverance, and correct
deportment, as well as for a generous, courageous, and independent
spirit. He graduated in 1759, and under the direction of Dr. Lloyd,
an eminent physician of that day, he pursued the study of medicine.
He commenced the practice of his profession in Boston, and very
soon acquired a high reputation for skill and humanity, which,
added to the favorable influence of a handsome person and courteous
address, gave the promise of a brilliant professional career with the
usual reward of industry and talent — influence and wealth. But
" with all the endowments and accomplishments which make refined
life desirable," and all the opportunities of gratifying professional am
bition, no private interest, no love of ease, nor fear of consequences,
could balance his sense of public duty. The passage of the cele
brated stamp act first turned his attention to political subjects, and he
entered upon a serious examination of the great question which then
agitated the country. Occupied through the day by professional
duties, he gave his nights to the investigation of the rights of the
British parliament, and of the chartered rights of the colonies.
Having thus formed his opinions by study and reflection, he delibe-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
rately took his stand on the side of his country, and with his consti
tutionai ardor devoted himself to the common cause. His private
interests suffered by neglect, and his pecuniary affairs became em
barrassed ; but young, and zealous in the performance of a para
mount obligation, self was forgotten, and he labored to convince
others, as he had satisfied himself, by reason and argument.
In 1768 Dr. Warren addressed a letter to Governor Bernard,
which was complained of as a libel, and an attempt was made to
silence the author by an indictment, but the grand jury refused to
find a bill. From this time forward his pen was restless, and his
exertions unwearied, and as he enjoyed the affections and confidence
of all classes, his influence was extensive.
Private meetings were held by him and other leaders of the oppo
sition, which were attended by many persons in public offices,
respectable mechanics, and others in the middle classes of society : in
these meetings the most important matters were decided and after
wards carried into effect, while the hand of the master remained
unseen. But it was not by these means only that Dr. Warren retained
his influence over the spirits he had raised ; he often found it neces
sary to restrain the impatient zeal of his friends, and held their con
fidence by his prudence and circumspection, as he had gained it by
his intelligence and resolution.
In public, and especially in the face of the agents of the crown, he
was bold and daring. One memorable instance of this occurred in
1775. He had delivered in 1772 the annual oration in commemora
tion of the massacre of the 5th of March, 1770, and when the time
arrived for the appointment of an orator for 1775, he solicited the
honor on that occasion in consequence of a threat uttered by some
of the British officers, that they would take the life of any man who
should dare to speak of the massacre on that anniversary.
Dr. Warren was appointed, the day arrived, the Old South meet
ing-house was filled to overflowing ; the aisles, the stairs, and even
the pulpit, were occupied by British officers ; the orator made his
entrance by a ladder at the pulpit window ; and cool, collected, and
intrepid, he advanced into the midst of them and addressed the
audience. One of the British officers upon the pulpit stairs, in the mean time
amused himself significantly by playing with a couple of musket
balls, which he occasionally threw up and caught in his hand. " A
solemn silence pervaded the whole assembly. The speaker seemed

JOSEPH WARREN.
absorbed by his subject, and indifferent to every thing but his theme.
It was momentarily expected that some interruption would take
place. In a few minutes a drum was heard. Was it the signal for
another outrage 1 It approached, and its sound broke the attention of
the audience. With a countenance displaying the indignant feelings
which the subject excited, his arm outstretched in an attitude of
dignity, the orator paused till the noise should subside, and leave him
at liberty to be heard again by the people. There was a slight
movement round the house, the effect of intense interest ; for not a
hair of his head would have been hurt without the most signal re
venge."* The interruption was short, and the oration proceeded
without further disturbance.
Dr. Warren was a member of the first committee of correspond
ence appointed by the city of Boston, in November 1772, which led
to the subsequent union of the colonies. This committee made a
report to their constituents, in which they gave a statement of the
rights of the colonies, and of the violations attempted by the British
ministry ; this report was circulated through all the towns of the
province, with an impressive letter to the inhabitants. We have not
the means of knowing what part the subject of this memoir per
formed in this work, but there is no doubt of his sentiments, and that
his efforts were constantly directed to a proper state of preparation
to meet the crisis which he saw approaching. He had no confidence
in the virtue of petitions or remonstrances, but he had a high opinion
of the bravery of his countrymen and of their determination to defend
their liberty. In a letter to Josiah Quincy, dated November 21st,
L774, at which time he was president of the provincial congress, he
says, " It is the united voice of Americans to preserve their freedom
or lose their lives in defence of it. Their resolutions are not the
effects of inconsiderate rashness, but the sound result of sober inquiry
and deliberation. I am convinced that the true spirit of liberty was
never so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of people,
in any country on the face of the earth, as it now is through all
North America."
On the evening of the 18th of April, 1775, the design of the British
to seize the military stores deposited at Concord, was communicated
to Dr. Warren, and he immediately despatched several messengers
with the information, by various routes, to Lexington, to rouse the

* Note in Austin's life of Gerry, Vol. I. p. I

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
militia in the neighborhood. He followed them himself, and was
actively engaged in the action of the 19th. Whatever hope had
been entertained of an amicable settlement of the dispute, was dissi
pated by the battle of Lexington ; the war had begun, and large
bodies of undisciplined and irregular troops — gathered in haste from
the peaceful pursuits of civil life — began to assemble at Cambridge
with such arms as they could command. The British forces, shut up
in Boston by these brave and enthusiastic men, remained inactive
until the middle of June. It was then determined by the provincial
congress that Bunker hill should be occupied by a thousand men ; a
council of war was summoned to consider the proposition ;* and on

- Dr. Dwight (Travels, Vol. I. p. 469,) has recorded a specimen of the deliberations
of this council, derived from a gentleman who was a member of it, which may be
regarded as a military curiosity. " After it had been resolved that a thousand men
should occupy Bunker hill, a question arose concerning the number of cartridges
which it would be proper for each man to carry. The younger officers, guided only
by their books and their common sense, proposed that the detachment should receive
sixty rounds.
" The older officers, some of whom probably knew the small quantity of ammunition
then in the province, and dreaded every expense of it not demanded by absolute neces
sity, thought this number too great. One of them, who in his former life had been
accustomed to the business of scouting, and valued himself upon being an expert hunts
man, observed, that the young men evidently did not understand the business, and in
deed could not, since they had had no military experience. ' War,' he said, ' is in
substance the same thing with hunting. A skilful hunter never shoots until he is
secure of his mark. On the contrary, he watches, and waits till the deer is fairly
within his reach ; and then, taking exact aim, almost always makes sure of his object.
In the same manner ought soldiers to act. To shoot at men without being sufficiently
near, and without taking aim, is to shoot at random, and only to waste your powder.
A thousand men are ordered out to Bunker hill. Suppose each man to have five
rounds of cartridges ; the whole number will be five thousand. If half of these should
take effect, (and if they do not, the men are not fit to be entrusted with cartridges,)
the consequence is, that two thousand five hundred of the British soldiers fall. Does
any man believe that they will keep the ground till two thousand five hundred are
shot down 1 Let our men take aim, then, as I do when I am huntmg deer, and five
rounds will be enough.' Ten will be more than enough. Such was the opinion which
in the main prevailed." And such, we may add, was the advice acted upon in the
battle. General Dearborne, then a captain in Colonel Stark's regiment, says in his
account of the action, " each man received a gill cup full of powder, fifteen balls, and
one flint. As there were scarcely two muskets in a company of equal calibre it was
necessary to reduce the size of the balls for many of them ; and, as but a small pro
portion of the men had cartridge boxes, the remainder made use of powder horns and
ball pouches. * * * Our men were intent on cutting down every officer whom
they could discover in the British line. When any of them discovered one he would
instantly exclaim, ' there ! see that officer, let us have a shot at him,' when two or three
would fire at the same moment; and as our soldiers were excellent marksmen, and
-ested their muskets over the fence, they were sure of their object." Port Polio, 1818.

JOSEPH WARREN.
the evening of the 16th, the detachment marched under the com
mand of Colonel Prescott ; but instead of halting at the designated
hill, they advanced to Breed's hill, where in the course of the night,
they threw up a redoubt and an entrenchment or breastwork, extend
ing from its northern angle fifty or sixty feet towards Mystic river.
Four days previous to these transactions, Dr. Warren had been
appointed by the provincial congress, a major-general of their forces ;
we are not informed whether he assisted at the council of war, men
tioned above, but think it most probable he did, and that it led to the
conversation alluded to in Austin's life of Elbridge Gerry, and which
together with the subsequent events, has been narrated by one of his
biographers as follows : " On the 16th of June, he had a conversa
tion with Mr. Gerry, at Cambridge, respecting the determination of
congress to take possession of Bunker's hill. He said that for him
self he had been opposed to it, but that the majority had determined
upon it, and he would hazard his life to carry their determination
into effect. Mr. Gerry expressed in strong terms his disapprobation
of the measure, as the situation was such, that it would be in vain
to attempt to hold it ; adding, ' but if it must be so, it is not worth
while for you to be present ; it will be madness to expose yourself,
where your destruction will be almost inevitable.' ' I know it,' he
answered ; ' but I live within the sound of their cannon ; how could
I hear their roaring in so glorious a cause, and not be there !' Again
Mr. Gerry remonstrated, and concluded with saying, ' As surely as
you go there, you will be slain.' General Warren replied enthu
siastically, ' Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.' The next day
his principles were sealed with his blood. Having spent the greater
part of the night in public business at Watertown, he arrived at
Cambridge at about five o'clock in the morning, and being unwell,
threw himself on a bed. About noon he was informed of the state
of preparation for battle at Charlestown ; he immediately arose,
saying he was well again, and mounting a horse, rode to the place.
He arrived at Breed's hill a short time before the action commenced.
Colonel Prescott, ' the brave,' (as Washington was afterwards in the
habit of calling him) was then the actual commanding officer. He
came up to General Warren to resign his command, and asked
what were his orders. General Warren told him he came not to
command, but to learn ; and having, as it is said, borrowed a musket
and cartouch box from a sergeant who was retiring, he mingled in
the thickest of the fight, animating and encouraging the men more
by his example than it was possible to do in any other way. He fell

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
after the retreat commenced, at some distance in the rear of the re
doubt. A ball passed through his head, and killed him almost in
stantly. His body was thrown into the ground where he fell."
After the British troops had evacuated Boston, General Warren's
remains (which were identified by a particular false tooth) were
exhumed and removed to Boston by the free-masons, and interred
with their usual solemnities ; and a eulogy was pronounced by
Perez Morton, Esq., in presence of a numerous assembly in the stone
chapel, beneath which the remains were finally deposited. General
Warren held the appointment of grand master of masons for the
continent of America, by warrant from the earl of Dumfries, grand
master of Scotland. The fraternity erected a monument to his
memory on the battle field, which has given place to the magnificent
pile, the corner stone of which was laid by Lafayette, in 1825, on
the fiftieth anniversary of the battle.
On the 8th of April, 1777, the general congress passed a resolution
to erect a monument to the memory of General Warren, who
" devoted his life to the liberties of his country, and in bravely de
fending them, fell an early victim." It was also resolved to provide
for the education of his eldest son ; and in July 1780, they further
resolved to allow the half pay of a major-general, from the time of
his death, until 'his youngest child should be of age for the education
and maintenance of his three youngest children. These latter reso
lutions were accordingly carried into effect.
" Let laurels, drenched in pure Parnassian dews,
Reward his memory, dear to every muse,
Who, with a courage of unshaken root,
In honor's field advancing his firm foot,
Plants it upon the line that justice draws,
And will prevail, or perish in her cause.
'Tis to the virtues of such men, man owes
TTis portion in the good that Heaven bestows ;
And when recording history displays,
Peats of renown, though wrought in ancient days ;
Tells of a few stout hearts, that fought and died
Where duty placed them, at their country's side ;
The man that is not moved by what he reads,
That takes not fire at their heroic deeds;
Unworthy of the blessings of the brave,
Is base in kind, and born to be a slave." — Cowper.

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HENRY KNOX.

When we contemplate the lives of the leaders of our army, wc
are irresistibly attracted by their valor and the glory of their
exploits. But in confining our admiration to their deeds of heroism,
we rob them of half the meed of applause which they have justly
earned. They not only fought our battles, but for eight years were
the watchful guardians of their country. It is not merely their phys
ical aid to which we are indebted; it is also to their moral worth,
their integrity and firmness, which saved us from the open assaults
of the foe, and the covert and more dangerous designs of domestic
treachery. Eight years witnessed their entire self-devotion, in
which property, health, personal safety, and the pleasures of
domestic life, were exchanged for the scanty and unpalatable
rations of the soldier, the diseases incident to exposure in every sea
son and climate, the dangers of the battle, and the cheerless shelter
of the tented field. And for all these services, all these sacrifices,
as well as positive suffering, what was their compensation ? As far
as it can be estimated in dollars and cents, it was " poor indeed."
Yet they reaped that harvest which was more to be envied than
any reward which wealth could have bestowed, in the consumma
tion of their most sanguine hopes, in approving consciences, and the
gratitude of a nation.
There are few of our revolutionary patriots who are more deserv
ing of having their names handed down to the love and admiration
of posterity, than the late General Knox ; and very few to whose
memory so little justice has been accorded. The limits of the pre
sent sketch will permit but a brief outline of the life and services of
this eminent man, whose virtues and talents well entitle him to a
more copious and extended biography, which is loudly called for by
his friends and the public. At present it will be sufficient to say that
of the many who devoted themselves to the noble cause of their
country's freedom, none engaged in it with more ardor and enthu
siasm — with more entire dedication of all the powers of body and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
mind — both of which were uncommonly vigorous, and well adapted
to encounter all the trials and vicissitudes of that stormy and event
ful period.
Henry Knox was born in Boston, in the year 1750. It was his
misfortune in early life to be deprived of a father's care, but as good
is frequently educed from evil, this event however painful in itself,
had probably the happy effect of stimulating him to exertion, and
calling his energies into early action. His attachment to a widowed
mother, who was left to struggle with pecuniary embarrassments,
was the strongest incentive to industry and effort, and these com
bined with an unblemished moral character, enabled him to establish
himself, even before he became of age, as a respectable and enter
prising bookseller in his native town. His prospects were encou
raging and satisfactory, but when the injuries and insults heaped on
us by the parent country, roused the long suffering and forbearance
of our citizens to open resistance, he hesitated not to abandon all
selfish and minor considerations, and to devote himself heart and
hand to what he believed the righteous cause of his country. Even
before this period he had been distinguished by his fondness for mar
tial exercises, and as one of the officers of a company of grenadiers,
which for the strictness of its discipinle, and perfection of its evolu
tions, received the warm encomiums of a British officer of high
distinction. Thus early initiated in the routine of military duty, he was
well qualified to become the active and energetic officer which he
afterward proved. He had married the daughter of a gentle
man who had long held an important office under the British
government, and whose views and feelings were altogether opposed
to what he considered a desperate cause. Yet this alliance had no
effect to unnerve his arm, or paralyze his efforts. The influence
of the lady, indeed, was not exerted to dissuade him from the path
of duty, for she had fully adopted the views and feelings of her hus
band. Although from the bosom of a tory family, she reluctantly
yet resolutely severed herself from them, and unhesitatingly encoun
tered all the privations and hardships incident to the wife of a sol
dier, at this perilous and eventful period of our history. They
together effected their escape from Boston, when in the occupation
of the British, and in their precipitous retreat Mrs. Knox concealed
the sword which he wore through the war, quilted within the lin
ing of her cloak.
General Washington had a short time before this established his

HENRY KNOX.
head quarters at Cambridge, a short distance from Harvard college.
Here Knox presented himself before him, and volunteered his ser
vices in aid of his suffering country. An occasion soon offered
which enabled him to prove how sincere was his devotion, how un
tiring his zeal in her cause. It was soon discerned by the comman
der-in-chief, after his arrival in the vicinity of Boston, that without
ordnance, in which we were deplorably deficient, it was impossible
to cope with the power of the enemy, or dislodge them from the
capital of New England ; but could this deficiency be supplied,
the commanding heights of Dorchester would afford our army
ample facilities for annoying their ships, and probably be the most
effectual means of compelling them to evacuate the town. The
anxious inquiry now presented itself — how was the difficulty to be
remedied ? how were cannon to be procured ? It was at length sug
gested that the dilapidated forts on the Canadian frontier presented
the only resource ; but to encounter the toils and perils of procuring
them from so great a distance, at the most inclement season of the
year, required a chivalry of spirit and determination of purpose, that
damped the ardor of the bravest. The object, however, was of vital
importance ; Knox felt it to be so : he saw that on its success might
depend the freedom of his country. Undeterred, therefore, by the
many obstacles that presented themselves, he resolved to encounter
them, and to put forth all his strength to accomplish so desirable
an object. Washington, who duly appreciated the magnitude of the
attempt, and the incalculable value of its success, accepted with
affectionate gratitude the generous proposal, and afforded him all the
facilities that circumstances would permit.
Knox was then in the morning of manhood, with a fine constitu
tion, and an athletic frame, well calculated to encounter hardship
and fatigue. Nor were his mental qualities less adapted to the
emergency than his physical powers. A heart glowing with patri
otic zeal, was sustained by a determination of purpose not to be
subdued. All difficulties yielded to his energy and perseverance,
and before it was thought practicable for him to have performed the
journey, he had the satisfaction of presenting to our army the all-
important munitions which their destitute situation so imperiously
demanded. The neighboring heights soon presented, as if by magic,
a formidable array of heavy artillery, and the evacuation, by the
British forces, giving relief to our imprisoned countrymen, was the
happy and almost immediate result.
Washington never forgot the enthusiasm which suggested, nor

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the heroic resolution that effected this daring achievement. A
regular corps of artillery was now organized as a constituent part
of the army, and the command conferred on the brave soldier who
had so much contributed to lay its foundation ; for indeed, it was
in a measure true, as the poet Humphreys expresses it, that " Knox
created all the stores of war." This command, notwithstanding the
intrigues of rival claimants, could not be wrested from the hands in
which impartial justice had so judiciously placed it, and where, by
the concurring testimony of the most distinguished French as well
as American officers, it deservedly belonged.
An incident which occurred to General Knox while on his north
ern expedition ought not to be omitted. It so chanced, that his
steps were directed to the same cottage where the unfortunate Andre
had taken shelter for the night : they had passed the evening in
social intercourse, and found so many points of congeniality, that
when informed that they must occupy the same bed, they were not
unwilling to have a prolonged opportunity of continuing their con
versation, which, although it turned on general topics, was replete
with the interest which refinement and cultivation always impart
even to subjects of indifference. The frankness and intelligence of
these youthful warriors made a strong and mutually favorable im
pression, although their characters and pursuits were not disclosed
until the moment of separation. But the manly sentiments and
amiable manners of Andre, created so favorable an impression on
General Knox, that the pleasure of this transient interview greatly
enhanced the regret (as he often observed) with which he was after
ward compelled to perform the painful office of a judge upon that
tribunal where duty required the sentence of condemnation against
him as a public offender, whom in private intercourse he had found
so interesting and unexceptionable as a companion and a gentleman .
After the battle of Whiteplains Washington deemed it prudent to
retreat towards the Delaware, which he crossed with his army.
The letters of General Knox written at this most gloomy period,
afford indisputable evidence that his confidence in the goodness of
our cause, and in the aid of that power who can alone ensure sue
cess, was never shaken. They express a conviction that whatever
trials might be encountered, the cause of freedom would be eventu
ally triumphant.
General Knox took a conspicuous part in the battles at Trenton
and Princeton, and he was no less active in the succeeding battles of
Brandywine and Germantown, in the former of which he was

HENRY KNOX.
slightly wounded. This was the only wound he received in all the
battles in which he was engaged.
Although the actions to which we have last alluded were both
severe, the most trying scene in which the main army was engaged,
was yet to come. The battle of Monmouth was the most severely
contested of all the actions of the war. In this engagement so sig
nal were the services of the artillery and its brave commander, that
even the enemy could not withhold their commendations. His cool
bravery, and the skilful management of his pieces, were subjects of
unqualified encomium, and the commander-in-chief, in his general
orders, expressed his approbation in the warmest terms.
" New laurels were reserved for him at the siege of Yorktown.
To the successful result of that memorable siege, the last brilliant
act of our revolutionary contest, no officer contributed more essen
tially than the commander of the artillery. His animated exertions,
his military skill, his cool and determined bravery in this triumph
ant struggle, received the unanimous approbation of his brethren in
arms."* In the capitulation of Cornwallis he was entrusted, as one
of the commissioners, with that important and delicate negotiation.
He was immediately afterward advanced by congress to the rank
of major-general.
The war having been brought to a happy termination, there yet
remained a duty to be performed of no common magnitude, and
which had not generally been anticipated. The men who had
fought the battles of their country, were to be disbanded and turned
upon the world without a dollar in the treasury to discharge their
hard earned wages. The resources of the country were exhausted,
and the faith of a government, not yet established, was all that could
be pledged for their payment. To quiet the murmurings of a dis
contented soldiery, who had too much cause for their complaints,
required the influence, the persuasion, the firmness, and example of
our bravest and best men. Knox was among those who strongly
felt the impending danger, and that the liberty they had toiled so
hard to win, was in danger of being lost by domestic faction. With
conciliating arguments, but intrepid resolution, he interposed all his
popularity and influence, and by assisting to soothe the growing
irritation, he rendered important service in recalling our misguided
soldiers to a sense of duty. Had the influence of a few such

* Thacher's Military Journal.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
men been added to the scale of disaffection, all must have been
lost. This imminent peril thus surmounted, the officers of the army
were soon to separate ; and the bonds of affection which had been
so strongly woven, by long and intimate union in the same glorious
career, were probably to be severed forever. It was while surround
ing the table of the commander-in-chief at Newburg, where nothing
damped the joy which affectionate hospitality imparted, but the
intruding thought of a solemn separation, that Knox, with a
warmth of feeling which so much endeared him to his friends, sug
gested the idea of a society to perpetuate the memory of their friend
ship and their toils, and of that fraternal union which the blood of
the revolution had cemented. Such a society he believed might
transmit to their descendants, as a legacy, the same kind feelings by
which its founders were allied. With these objects in view the Cin
cinnati society was organized, and he was elected vice-president,
which office he continued to hold during his life.
On the 25th of November, 1783, the British troops evacuated the
city of New York, and General Knox took possession with the
troops under his command.
Throughout the war General Knox shared intimately and con
stantly in the councils of the commander-in-chief; this naturally
resulted from the nature of his command, independently of which,
his personal qualities were peculiarly calculated to inspire confidence
and affection, and such was the regard generated "by constant inter
course, that he has sometimes been designated as the beloved disci
ple." This affectionate interest manifested by Washington, continued
until the close of his life unabated, as was evinced by his letters long
after he had retired from public life. The ardor with which he em
braced him, after a very narrow escape from a party of British dra
goons, and the parting interview between them at New York, where
General Knox was in command after the evacuation of the British,
furnish the most unequivocal testimony of his esteem and regard.
In this sketch it will not be expected that all the events with
which the subject of it was connected should be related. It is suffi
cient to say that wherever Washington fought, Knox, as commander
of the artillery, shared in his dangers. The sole theatre of action
of this body was in the northern and middle states, until the cam
paign that terminated the war. The southern states exhibited many
severe conflicts, but they were conducted by divisions detached for
those important services, and the names of the immortal Greene and

HENRY KNOX.
other heroes who there led our troops to victory, have been recorded
in the annals of the nation, as their memories are embalmed in the
hearts of their countrymen.
After the establishment of peace, General Knox returned to his
native town, with the intention of devoting himself to his private
concerns, which had long suffered from unavoidable neglect. Less
than a year, however, elapsed, before he was called to aid in the
administration of the government. In the year 1784 he removed to
New York to assume the office of secretary of war, to which he was
appointed under the old confederation. When the constitution was
adopted, he was reappointed to that office by President Washington,
and was the efficient supporter of those measures of his administra
tion, which laid the foundation of the unexampled prosperity of our
country. Five years' acquaintance with official duties previous to the elec
tion of General Washington to the presidency, had given him such
intimate knowledge of the existing interests and relations of the
country, as well qualified him to be the confidential adviser of the
executive ; and his reappointment to the department of war was no
less satisfactory to the people than it was in accordance with the
inclination of him by whom it was made. His capacious mind was
not confined to the mere details of office ; it reached forward to the
increasing necessities and to the future greatness of the nation.
The impending war with France, and the daring outrages of the
barbarous freebooters of the Mediterranean on the unprotected per
sons and property of our citizens, together with the importance of
some means of external defence for our extensive sea-board, forcibly
impressed his mind with the necessity of a naval force. His meas
ures for the establishment of a navy, although its expediency was at
first distrusted by some of our wisest and best men, and which, for a
time divided the opinion of the cabinet, were at length carried into
effect in no small degree by his sanguine confidence in its success,
and strenuous exertions for its accomplishment. The result soon
justified its friends and silenced its opposers, and it has long since
been identified as well with our glory as our prosperity.
As it was too small in its infancy to warrant a separate establish
ment, it was connected with the war department, and its additional
duties were performed by the secretary with equal zeal and ability,
until the imperious claims of private interest compelled him to turn
his attention to the long neglected concerns of his family. The
expenses of his open hospitality far exceeded the limited compensa-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
tion of his office, and had compelled him to draw on his private
resources ; he had therefore, for some time felt that duty required
him to retire from public life. The president, whose solicitations it
was difficult to withstand, had expressed a desire that he would
remain with him till the close of his own official career, and had
from time to time induced him to continue, but in 1795, Washington
reluctantly accepted his resignation. He was still, however, in the
meridian of life, and he deemed it advisable to give himself entirely
to the cultivation and improvement of an extensive tract of land in
the then district of Maine, part of which Mrs. Knox inherited from
her ancestor, the late General Waldo, and the rest he had purchased
of the other heirs. This property comprised a large portion of what
are now the counties of Lincoln, Waldo, and Penobscot. And as
much of it was in possession of usurpers, or, as they are vulgarly
termed, squatters, who had flattered themselves that they should be
permitted to continue undisturbed, and had made valuable improve
ments ; it was a task of no small difficulty and embarrassment to
quiet their pretensions, although unsupported by a shadow of right.
The firm yet conciliating course, however, which the proprietor pur
sued, eventually overcame all obstacles, and established him in the
affection and esteem of all good men. His liberality and benefi
cence, together with the vast improvements which he suggested and
carried into effect, in various branches of industry, soon rendered
his residence among them a blessing, which all felt and were willing
to acknowledge, for he literally made the desert to bud and blossom
as the rose.
A splendid mansion had been erected at the head of St. George's
River previous to his removal, and in this delightful spot, surrounded
by the comforts and elegancies of life, in the bosom of an amiable
and intelligent family, and with full employment for all his powers
of mind and body, General Knox enjoyed a degree of happiness
greater probably than he had ever before known. His wife, too,
who had accompanied him through all the vicissitudes of an eight
years' war, and in the hour of peril had been ever near to adminis
ter to his relief, should circumstances require — who had been the
choice of his youth, the friend and companion of his riper years,
and who was truly his congenial spirit — she too, was well satisfied
to retire from scenes of gaiety and fashion, to the privacy of domestic
life, and the society she most prized and loved, her rising offspring ;
this gave full scope to her active and intelligent mind, and full occu
pation to her leisure hours. It was soon found, however, that this

HENRY KNOX.
section of country, hitherto little known and less appreciated, was
fast rising into notice, under the fostering care and active exertions
of General Knox, and his house became the favorite resort of all
whom curiosity, business, or unemployed leisure led into the vicinity.
Here they found all the attractions of elegant hospitality, interesting
and instructive society, and every resource which literature or
science could supply. The conversation of General Knox was
itself a feast. It was remarkable for originality of thought and
strength of expression. He was affable without familiarity, digni
fied without parade — imposing without arrogance. He was blessed
too with an uncommon cheerfulness of disposition, which seemed to
diffuse its charm on all around him. It was, indeed, difficult to be
long in his society without feeling happier as well as wiser. This
trait of character — this disposition to regard the bright side of
things, he cultivated and recommended as almost a religious duty —
as an evidence of gratitude to the Giver of all good. It was not
that he had known uninterrupted prosperity — that he had not felt
a chastening hand — for it had been the will of Heaven to deprive
him of a large portion of his interesting family, and no man ever
more acutely felt the deprivation of these dear objects of affection.
But he felt that it was the Lord, and that it became him not to mur
mur, or to overlook the many blessings that were accorded him.
His religious views and feelings, although in some measure peculiar
to himself, were enlarged and elevated : he had the firmest belief in
our immortality and accountability, and believed that those who
were so blest as to be admitted into heaven, would be continually
progressing and advancing nearer and nearer to the great source of
light and life.
The plans and projects of General Knox for the improvement of
his estate, and of the province of his adoption, were more suited to
his expansive mind than to his actual resources, and the conse
quences more advantageous to others than to himself or to his own
family. They required, indeed, the finances of a company, rather
than of an individual. Had he been permitted, however, to attain the
common age of man, which from his vigorous constitution might well
have been expected, the gradual rise in the value of the property
would have undoubtedly enabled him to realize all his anticipations,
and to have left his family in possession of great wealth. It was
otherwise ordained. A sudden and unlooked-for accident cut him
off in the midst of his days and of his usefulness, to the universal
regret of all who knew him. The whole neighborhood mourned as

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
for a public benefactor, and felt that they " ne'er should look upon
his like again." They knew, indeed, that their best friend was taken
from them, and could not reasonably expect that his place would
soon be filled. But to his more immediate family, the loss was over
whelming, for it came upon them like a flash of lightning, without
a moment's time for preparation, and they could derive consolation
only from the belief that the change was unspeakably to his advan
tage. They knew that he had no dread of death, that he had even
considered it as a translation from a very imperfect, to a blessed and
glorious state of existence, and had he been permitted to converse
with them in his last moments, they knew that he would have spoken
peace to their troubled souls, and charged them not to grieve for
him, but so to live that they might be reunited in a never-ending
union. T.

MA.TOR GENERAL

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ST.. Ol-.fc. LN[ THE CO-LUiX: Tj '.J N CT :iVr L/L^.^AOH^PliTT'^ HJ---

BENJAMIN LINCOLN.

This distinguished individual, who truly deserves, in the language
of one of his biographers, " a high rank in the fraternity of American
heroes," was a native of the pleasant little town of Hingham, situated
on a small bay which sets up south from Boston, at the distance of
about thirteen miles from the city, and within a few years become one
of the principal summer resorts of such of its residents as grow weary
at that season of the dust and din of its " populous streets." He was
born January 23d, (O. S.,) 1733, in the same house which he died
in, and which is still pointed out to the stranger by the members of
the large and highly respectable family of his own name, who are
among the inhabitants of the place to this day.
The parentage and early situation and education of Lincoln,
although far enough from being remarkably imposing, were well
calculated, like those of many others of the greatest men of the
revolutionary period, to prepare him for the trying contest in which
he was destined to act a conspicuous, as well as a laborious part.
His father, Benjamin Lincoln, was a maltster and farmer, in good
circumstances, and a man much respected by his fellow-citizens, who
repeatedly elected him, during times of no little political interest, the
representative of Hingham in the general court, as the legislature
was then usually termed. The young man enjoyed also, during
the entire period of his early life, the eminent advantages implied in
a good Massachusetts common school education ; an opportunity of
access to a considerable variety of books, and frequent leisure to read
them ; and especially, so far as his moral character was concerned,
and upon that very much depended during his after life — in the
exemplary, religious, orderly, and cheerful habits of his father's
household. Previous to the revolution, though his regular vocation was farm
ing, and his robust constitution enabled him to pursue it with an
industrious perseverance, he was several times called on to interest

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
himself in the civil and military affairs of the county and province.
At the age of twenty-two, he was appointed an adjutant in the regi
ment of militia then commanded by his father, and not long after
wards major, under Colonel Josiah Quincy — Bernard being at that
time governor. In 1772, Governor Hutchinson made him lieute
nant-colonel of the regiment. He also sustained several of the town
offices, and was elected its representative in the legislature.
When the disputes between the colonies and the mother country
grew warm, he espoused the cause of the former, and supported it with
energy and effect. This course brought him necessarily into political
life, and in 1775, he was chosen a member of the provincial congress,
which assembled at Cambridge and Watertown : that respectable
body made him one of their secretaries, and a member of the impor
tant committee of correspondence who were instructed to communi
cate with the towns throughout the province, and with the other
colonies, in relation to the critical circumstances of the times.
During this year he was not called into actual military service.
On the memorable 19th of April, when blood was shed upon the
plains of Lexington and Concord, he summoned the troops under
his command to march to the scene of contest ; but the rapid return
of the British to the capital that same night, prevented the movement.
The celerity with which the intelligence of this affair, we may
here remark, travelled in all directions over the commonwealth and
the continent, was perhaps till that time unexampled in colonial
history. The writer has frequently conversed with a venerable
citizen of Concord,* lately deceased, then an artisan in the village,
who, having at the first news of the approach of the enemy some time
before day-break, commenced the voluntary labor of alarming the
neighboring country, actually rode on horseback more than one
hundred miles during the next twenty-four hours, in the perform
ance of that duty — a task which, considering the condition of some
of the roads he traversed, may be regarded as a feat worthy to be
mentioned. This gentleman's wife and her young children had,
meanwhile, deserted his house, and gone off to find security in
the neighboring woods, with a large number of inhabitants situated
like themselves.
Having been appointed by the council of Massachusetts a briga
dier in February, 1776, and a major-general by the same authority,

* Mr. Reuben Brown.

BENJAMIN LINCOLN.
in May of that same year, he employed himself industriously during
the summer, in the exercise of the militia under his command. In
August the council appointed him, by virtue of the supreme execu
tive power reposed in their hands, to the control of all the troops of
the state, doing duty at and about Boston ; and the high opinion
generally entertained of his ability and fidelity is still farther mani
fested by the selection which the general court, in the following
months, made of him as commander of the regiments to be raised by
the state to reinforce the army of Washington in New York and
New Jersey, which had now become the chief theatre of the war.
Previous to leaving the environs of Boston, he had the honor of
headhig an expedition of provincial troops and volunteers, who suc
ceeded in clearing the harbor of the last remnants of the enemy.
Until the 13th of June, they remained about Nantasket, with a fifty
gun-ship, and several other vessels. The general embarked at Long
Wharf, with the view of dislodging this force ; and having landed
upon Long Island, made arrangements for a vigorous cannonade ;
but a few shots soon convinced the British commodore of his danger,
and he hastily abandoned the Boston waters, never more to infest
them. " Thus," in the language of the Journal of Dr. Thatcher,
who was himself one of the party — "is the port again opened by
our own authority, after being closed during two years by virtue of
an act of the British parliament.
The acquaintance which the illustrious commander-in-chief of the
American army had formed with Lincoln, while at Cambridge, in
duced him to recommend the latter to the continental congress as
an officer whose services it was desirable to secure in the federal
line, and accordingly, in February, 1 777, he was appointed by that
honorable body a major-general of their forces. During the spring
and summer of this year, he was intrusted by Washington with the
command of divisions or detachments of the main army, and was
frequently in situations which required the exercise of a high degree
of military skill, though by no means fruitful in the means of bril
liant distinction. The inferiority of the American force to that of
the enemy, and the uncertainty of the operations of the latter, ren
dered the campaign a continual trial of vigilance and perseverance,
much rather than of more imposing qualifications, on the part of the
American generals.
On one occasion, notwithstanding all his caution, he was very
near being surprised. He was at Bound Brook, on the Rariton, near
the enemy, with a detachment of a few hundred men, appointed to

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
guard a line of some five or six miles. About day-break of the morn
ing of April 13th, owing to the negligence of his patrols, he was
suddenly assaulted by a large British party under Cornwallis and
Grant. They had arrived within two hundred yards of his own
quarters when discovered, and the general, with one of his aids,
had hardly time to mount and leave the house before it was sur
rounded. The other aid, with the baggage and papers of the party,
fell into the enemy's hands, as did also a few small pieces of artil
lery, while the general led off his troops between two columns of the
British, who had nearly closed, and made good his retreat to the pass
of the mountains near his encampment, with the loss of sixty killed
and wounded.
The commander-in-chief on all occasions manifested great con
fidence in the talents and patriotism of Lincoln, and with the view
of turning these to the best account, he directed him, in July, to join
the northern army under Schuyler, (afterwards Gates,) which was
to oppose Burgoyne. " My principal view," said his letter to the
general, " in sending you there, is to take command of the eastern
militia, over whom, I am informed, you have influence, and who
place confidence in you. I have this day received two letters from
General Schuyler, in such a style as convinces me that it is abso
lutely necessary to send a determined officer." This, for Washing
ton, who was not a man of many compliments — was saying a good
deal. Having made his first station at Manchester, in Vermont, to form
the militia as they came in from the northern sections of New Eng
land, and to operate in the rear of the enemy, Lincoln soon dis
tinguished his energy and good judgment advantageously by an
expedition which he sent out on the 13th of September, under
Colonel Brown, with five hundred men, to the landing at Lake
George. The object was to release the American prisoners, and
destroy the British stores, and this was effected completely by the
capture of the fort and two hundred batteaux, with two hundred and
ninety-three of the enemy's soldiers, and by the liberation of about
one hundred American prisoners, while the loss of our party was
only three killed and five wounded ; an incident which contributed
not a little to raise the spirits of the northern militia at this critical
period. After some other operations, Lincoln joined the army of Gates,
to whom he was second in command, and arrived in camp on the
29th September. Here he distinguished himself by his usual acti-

BENJAMIN LINCOLN.
vity until after the warm engagement of the 7th October. The day
succeeding that action, he had occasion to ride from one part of
his line to another about a mile distant, and before his return the
same route was taken by a party of the enemy. The general know
ing that a number of the captured German uniforms had been placed
on his own troops, mistook these soldiers for Americans, and came
within reach of their fire before the mistake was discovered. They
discharged a volley, and wounded him in the lower part of the leg
so severely, that he apprehended for some weeks the loss of the limb.
This disabled him, and he was removed, first to Albany, and thence
to Hingham. He joined the army again in August of 1778, but
suffered for several years from the effects of the wound.
In the course of this season, the reputation of Lincoln induced
the delegates in congress from South Carolina to request that body
to appoint him to the command of the southern army, which he
accordingly assumed, and reached Charleston in December. Here
he was soon engaged in the bustle of an active campaign ; for on the
25th of the month, he learned the arrival of the enemy's fleet at
Tybee, and on the 29th, that they had effected a landing, routed the
Americans under Howe, and gained Savannah. He immediately
put his own forces in motion, while the enemy extended himself into
Georgia ; but was unable to commence offensive operations until the
last of February. On the 2d of March, General Ashe was defeated
at Brier Creek, and thus Lincoln lost nearly a fourth part of his
army. From this time until June, a variety of movements took
place ; but of an inconclusive character. On the 20th of that month
he attacked the enemy at their works near Stono Ferry, and a very
warm action ensued, in which nearly two hundred were killed and
wounded on each side. The battle was bravely fought, but did not
effect a decisive result. The general was on this occasion, after
being without sleep the previous night, ten hours on horseback at
one sitting. Both armies rested in their summer quarters till Sep
tember, the enemy being at Savannah.
In the beginning of that month, Count D'Estaing arrived off the
place just mentioned, with a considerable French force, and Lin
coln joined soon afterwards with one thousand men, though not in
time to prevent the garrison being largely reinforced. A siege and
bombardment ensued, which proving too slow an operation for D'Es-
taing's temperament, he determined on an assault. This occurred
on the 9th of October, and was one of the bloodiest engagements of
the whole southern war, but less successful than glorious. The

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
count reembarked his troops for the West Indies, and Lincoln re
crossed the Savannah, and made his head-quarters at Charleston.
At this time he stated to congress his conviction, that the British
would soon commence a more serious campaign in the southern de
partment, with a view to its permanent acquisition, than either of
the preceding had been ; and he made an urgent call upon them for
a supply of troops adequate to the approaching contest. He was
accordingly reinforced, but not to a sufficient extent, and his little
army was soon engaged in the defence of Charleston, where, on the
30th of March, General Clinton encamped in great strength, in front
of the American lines. The works of the enemy were carried on
industriously, so that on the 10th of April, the first parallel was
completed, and the garrison summoned to surrender. The second
parallel was finished in ten days more, and another summons given
and rejected on the 20th. A vigorous cannonade was kept up
on either side for several days more. On the 23d, the third
parallel was begun, from eighty to one hundred and fifty yards from
our lines. Batteries were erected upon it, and a new summons issued
on the 8th of May. On the 11th it was found necessary to capitu
late, and the negotiation was concluded on the following day.
" Having received," says the general on this occasion, " an address
from the principal inhabitants, and from a number of the country
militia, desiring that I would accept the terms — and a request from the
lieutenant-governor and council that the negotiations might be re
newed, — our provisions, saving a little rice, being exhausted, the
troops on the line being worn down by fatigue, having for a number
of days been obliged to lie upon the banquette, — our harbor closely
blocked up, — completely invested by land by nine thousand men
at least, the flower of the British army in America ; besides the large
force they could always draw from their marine, and aided by a
great number of blacks in their laborious employments ; — the garri
son at this time (exclusive of sailors) but little exceeding two thou
sand five hundred men, part of whom had thrown down their arms, —
the citizens in general discontented, the enemy being within twenty
yards of our lines, and preparing to make a general assault by sea
and land, — many of our cannon dismounted, and others silenced for
want of shot, — a retreat being judged impracticable, and every hope
of timely success cut off, we were induced to offer and accede to the
terms executed on the 12th."
On the whole, it is generally conceded, that situated as General
Lincoln was during this campaign, with a force inadequate, not

BENJAMIN LINCOLN.
only to any brilliant achievement, but to any effective defence, he
" deserves great praise," in the language of Ramsey, " for his judi
cious and spirited conduct in baffling, for three months, the greatly
superior force of Sir Henry Clinton and Admiral Arbuthnot. Though
Charleston and the southern army were lost, yet, by their long pro
tracted defence, the British plans were not only retarded, but de
ranged, and North Carolina was saved for the remainder of the
year 1780." Lee, in his memoirs, correctly remarks, that " so esta
blished was the spotless reputation of the vanquished general, that he
continued to enjoy the undiminished respect and confidence of the
congress, the army, and the commander-in-chief." His exertions and
fatigue during this laborious campaign, were such as few constitu
tions would have been able to endure. He was on the lines night
and day, and for the last fortnight never undressed to sleep.*
Being admitted to his parole, he returned in the summer to his
residence in Hingham. In November following he was, to his great
joy, exchanged for Major-General Phillips, and in the spring of 1781,
he again joined the army of Washington, then occupying the high
grounds bordering on the North River. The operations of the troops
in this quarter, though important, are not sufficiently interesting to
be detailed here. The crisis of the war, however, was approaching.
All eyes began to be turned towards Virginia, and the armies of
Lafayette and Cornwallis. The brilliant campaign which ensued
in that state is familiar to the memory of all readers. General Lin
coln commanded a central division, during the siege of Yorktown,
and had his full share in the honors of the splendid consummation
in which it closed. He had the duty appointed him on this occasion,
of conducting the conquered army to the field where their arms
were deposited, and of receiving the customary submission. These
were of course among the last of his revolutionary services.
On the last day of October, 1781, he was chosen by congress
secretary of war, with power still to retain his military rank. He
immediately entered on the duties of his new office, and continued
in it for two years, when he resigned. Congress accepted his resig
nation with the following emphatic expression of regard : —
" Resolved, That the resignation of Major-General Lincoln, as
secretary at war for the United States, be accepted, in consideration
of the earnest desire which he expresses, the objects of the war being

Memoir in Massachusetts Historical Collection, Vol. III., Second Series.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
so happily accomplished, to retire to private life ; and that he be
informed, that the United States, in congress assembled, entertain a
high sense of his perseverance, fortitude, activity, and meritorious
services in the field, as well as of his diligence, fidelity, and capacity
in the execution of the office of secretary at war, which important
trust he has discharged to their entire approbation."
For some years subsequent to this abandonment of the honors of
public life, the general, in the true spirit of republican simplicity, not
only contented but indulged himself in the favorite employments of
his early life. Most of his time was spent on his native estate, but
the government of the state still called him occasionally from his
" dignified ease." He busied himself in treating with the Penobscot
Indians once or twice, and was also induced to take command of the
first division of the Massachusetts militia. At another period he
busied himself in settling a tract of land in the district of Maine, one
of the towns and counties in which state were honored with his
own name.
The famous insurrection of Shays' breaking out in the beginning
of 1787, summoned the veteran once more to the field. The rebels
having gone so far as to obstruct the sessions of the court of justice
with bodies of armed men, the governor and council appointed him
to the command of the militia of the state, who were ordered out in
a force of between four and five thousand. He began his march
from Boston on the 20th of January, for Worcester, where, having
protected the court in their session, he hastened to the relief of
General Shepherd, at Springfield, where he had already engaged
with Shays once, and routed him, though not with any conclusive
success. The latter was now at Wilbraham, and his chief ally,
Day, with another detachment of rebels at West Springfield. Lin
coln pursued and attacked the latter and put them to rout. Shays
moved off to Amherst, and Lincoln followed him ; Shays fortified
himself at Pelham, and Lincoln sent an address to him, callino- on
him to disband his force, and submit to the government  ao-reeably
to instructions he had received from the state. A correspondence
ensued, but without effect ; and Shays beginning to draw off a°-ain
Lincoln still pursued him. During the night of February 2d, he
marched in remarkably severe weather, to Petersham, the present
encampment of the rebels, and there came upon them in the centre
of the town, without giving them time to call in even their guards.
About one hundred and fifty of them were taken, and the rest fled.
Some other parties of rebels were broken up in other places, and the

BENJAMIN LINCOLN.
insurrection thus terminated, the general himself, with two distin
guished civilians, was appointed under a state commission to deter
mine who should have the benefit of certain .acts passed by the
legislature for the exemption of some of the insurgents from trial ;
and having executed this delicate duty, early in the spring he re
turned again to his farm.
Here he was not permitted to remain long, for in April he was
elected lieutenant-governor by the legislature ; an office in which he
was succeeded, however, the next year, by Samuel Adams, the can
didate of the anti-federal party, which at this time had gained the
ascendency. The general was a member of the convention which ratified
the new constitution. After that event, in the summer of 1789, he
was made collector of Boston ; and that office he continued to hold
till within two years of his death, when his earnest request to resign
it was complied with, by Mr. Jefferson. In 1789 also, he was ap
pointed a commissioner to treat with the Creek Indians ; and in
1793, a commissioner with Timothy Pickering, and Beverly Ran
dolph of Virginia, to treat with the western tribes. In the latter
years of his life, he interested himself occasionally in literary and
scientific pursuits ; and several essays, the result of this leisure, are
to be found among the collections of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, and in other works. As early as 1780, Harvard University
had given him a degree of master of arts. He was subsequently one
of the first members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and belonged to several other similar associations. His decease oc
curred after a short illness, on the 9th of May, 1810, at the age of
seventy-seven years.
The bravery, energy, and indefatigable industry of General Lin
coln, as a military officer, have never been denied, even by those
who, at critical periods, doubted the policy of some of his movements
during that unfortunate southern campaign, where he was left to
contend single-handed against such fearful odds as have already
been described. His courage, too, was unalloyed by rashness. It
has been said that his perfect calmness in danger seemed like un
concern ; but it was one of his own remarks, that he never was ex
posed without feeling deeply interested, as he was free to acknow
ledge, as well for his own life, as for that of the soldiers around him.
He was humane as he was brave.
In private life few men have been more respected. He was a
practical and rational Christian from his childhood up, and to his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
practice joined also the profession of his principles, being during
most of his life a communicant, and for many years a deacon in the
church with which he worshipped. Amidst all the licentiousness
of the army, no stain came upon his character, and no impurity fell
from his lips. The warmth of his disposition was plainly percepti
ble in all his habits, in his liberal charity, his hospitality, his fond
ness for the company of the young, his constancy in friendship, and
the pleasure which he communicated, through the medium of agree
able manners and lively conversation, in the intercourse of domestic
and social life. With the wife of his youth he lived in great conju
gal happiness more than fifty-five years, and had by her a number
of sons and daughters, among whom it gave him pleasure to distri
bute a considerable part of his handsome property on two occasions
previous to his decease.
General Lincoln was of middle height, remarkably broad-chested,
muscular, in his latter years corpulent, with open intelligent features,
and a countenance distinguished by its benignant aspect. The
author of "Familiar Letters on Public Characters and Events,"
recently published at Boston, says, "his hair was combed back from
his forehead unpowdered, and gathered in a long queue. He was
usually dressed in a blue coat and light under clothes, and wore a
cocked hat. He always appeared in boots, in consequence of the
deformity of his left leg, occasioned by his wound at Saratoga."
This writer remarks upon a peculiarity of the general's constitution,
which is well recollected by many other individuals now living ;
his remarkable somnolency ; this overcame him to such an extent,
that he would fall into a sound sleep at table, and when driving
himself in a chaise ; and it is related, that when he commanded the
militia against the insurgents, he dictated despatches, and slept be
tween the sentences ; for his sleep rarely appeared to disturb his
perceptions of the circumstances passing around him. " This he
considered an infirmity, and his friends never ventured to speak to
him of it."
B. B. T. 10

Kn#mibyJBl,Dii£cir tinman Oii^ailtAmnliBiponocmiiiiiol VPTbonBiWoomtei,
COMMANDER IN C1T1KP OP THE I'ROVrNGIAL ATLMT AGAINST QUEBEC

'MAJ^z^T5

DAVID WOOSTER.

David Wooster was born in Stratford, Connecticut, on the 2d
March, 1710, of very respectable parents. Of his early life, little
can now be ascertained, as all the family papers were destroyed by
the British when they pillaged the town of New Haven, in 1779.
We only know that he received a liberal education, and graduated
at Yale college in the year 1738. In the following year, when the
Spanish war broke out, he was employed as first lieutenant, and
soon after as captain of the vessel built and armed by the colony, as
a guard-a-costa. Not long after this, he married the eldest daughter of the Rev.
Thomas Clap, president of Yale college, a young lady not less dis
tinguished for her strength of mind, than for her uncommon resolu
tion, and he became the father of two children, a son and daughter.
David Wooster had naturally a military turn, and he soon had
an opportunity of following his inclination, and was first appointed
a captain in Colonel Burr's regiment, which formed part of the troops
sent by Connecticut, in the celebrated expedition against Louisburg,
in 1745. He then proved himself an active and spirited officer, and
bore a distinguished part in the siege and capture of that strong
fortress. He was retained among the colonial troops to keep posses
sion of the conquest he had assisted in effecting ; and he was soon
after selected from among the American officers to take charge of a
cartel-ship for France and England. He was not permitted to land
in France, but was received in England with distinguished honor.
The young American officer, as he was called, was presented to the
king, and became the favorite of the court. The king admitted him
in the regular service, and he was presented with a captaincy in
Sir William Pepperel's regiment with half pay for life. His likeness

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
at full length was taken* and transferred to the periodical magazines
of that day. The peace of Aix-la-chapelle which took place in 1748,
restored Louisburg to France, and the young American officer to
private life and his family. He was not, however, permitted to
remain long in this situation ; the war of 1756 followed, and in this
great contest, Wooster was appointed colonel of a regiment raised
in Connecticut, and afterwards to the command of a brigade, in
which station he remained until the peace of 1763. He then returned
to his family, bearing many marks of his valor and intrepidity.
Soon after the close of this war, he engaged in mercantile business
in New Haven, and held the office of his majesty's collector of the
customs for that port. Having in the two preceding wars mixed
much in the world, and formed a numerous acquaintance, both in
Europe and America, and possessing a generous and liberal mind,
his house was the seat of hospitality.
In the great contest between the parent country and the North
American colonies, although an officer in the British regular establish
ment, and entitled to half pay for life, he did not hesitate to take part
with his native country, and his pen and sword were actively em
ployed in the defence of its rights.
After the battle of Lexington, he was fully aware that the sword
alone must decide the contest. He, as well as other military men of
experience, at once saw how important it was for the Americans
to get possession of the fortresses of the country, together with the
cannon, arms, and military stores therein deposited. The peculiar
situation of the fort at Ticonderoga, commanding the great pass
between the north Atlantic colonies and Canada, did not escape his
notice. He, therefore, with a few others of a kindred spirit, early in
May, 1775, secretly planned an expedition from Connecticut, to seize
upon and retain that important fortress ; and to enable them to
carry their design into execution, they privately obtained a loan of
eighteen hundred dollars from the treasury of the state, for which

* This portrait is in possession of an English gentleman residing at Valparaiso. A
descendant of General Wooster accidentally met with it there, and had it copied ; from
that copy our engraving was made. While on this subject, we will add another in
cident connected with it. The autograph of General Wooster is a fac simile from
a deed dated May 5th, 1772 — the only document we could find bearing his signa
ture — conveying to him the whole township of Wethersfield, in Connecticut, contain
ing twenty-three thousand acres of land, in consideration of five pounds, New York
currency, paid to each of the original patentees, twenty-two in number. — Ed.
2

DAVID WOOSTER.
they became personally responsible. Such was the secrecy and
despatch in executing this measure, that, on the 10th of May, as is
well known, this fort was surprised and delivered up to Allen and
Arnold, and their brave followers. This step, one of the boldest
taken at that period of the contest, was at the sole risk and responsi
bility of General Wooster and other individuals. Congress, when
informed of this transaction, recommended that an inventory of the
cannon and military stores found in the fort should be taken, " in
order," as they said, " that they may be safely returned when the
restoration of the former harmony between great Britain and these
colonies, so ardently wished for by the latter, shall render it prudent
and consistent with the overruling care of self-preservation."
The military experience as well as the daring spirit of General
Wooster recommended him to congress, when raising an army of
defence, and among the eight brigadier-generals appointed by that
body, on the 22d of June, 1775, he was the third in rank. The
operations of that year were principally confined to the vicinity of
Boston, and to an expedition against Canada, under the command
of General Montgomery.
During the campaign of 1776, General Wooster was employed
principally in Canada, and at one time had the command of the
continental troops in that quarter. Owing to several circumstances,
the Americans lost in Canada, during this year, all that had been
gained in the preceding. The small pox which unfortunately broke
out among the troops, and the want of medical aid and accommoda
tions, together with the consequent insubordination of the men, may
be assigned among the principal causes.
This rendered the situation of the officers in command peculiarly
trying, and General Wooster, on his return, requested congress to
institute an inquiry into his conduct, while he commanded in
Canada. This inquiry was made by a committee of that body, and
the general was acquitted of all blame.
After this expedition, he returned home, and was then appointed
first major-general of the militia of his state. During the whole
winter of 1776-7, he was employed in protecting Connecticut against
the enemy, and particularly the neighborhood of Danbury, where
large magazines of provisions and other articles had been collected
by the Americans. He had just returned to New Haven from one
of his tours, when he heard on Friday, 25th of April, '77, that a
body of two thousand men sent from New York on the preceding
day, had effected a landing between Norwalk and Fairfield, for the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
purpose of destroying the magazines at Danbury, which object they
accomplished the next day.
Immediately on hearing this news, Generals Wooster and Arnold
set off from New Haven, to join the militia hastily collected by
General Sill iman. In consequence of a heavy rain , the militia ordered
from New Haven, did not arrive in the vicinity of Danbury, until the
26th, in the evening. The number of the militia thus collected, was
about six hundred men, and with this small force it was determined
to attack the enemy the following morning on their retreat, and for
this purpose a part of the men were put under the command of Gene
ral Wooster, and a part under General Arnold. General Wooster
pursued and attacked the enemy, regardless of the inequality of
numbers. But being inexperienced militia, and the enemy having
several field pieces, his men, after doing considerable execution, were
broken and gave way. The general was rallying them, when unfor
tunately for his family and his country, he received a mortal wound.
A musket ball took him obliquely, broke his back bone, lodged within
him and never could be found. He was removed from the field and
had his wound dressed by Dr. Turner, and was then conveyed to
Danbury, where all possible care was taken of him. The surgeons
were from the first aware of the danger of the case, and informed the
General of their apprehensions, which he heard with the greatest
composure. His wife and son had been sent for, and arrived soon
enough to receive his parting benediction. He told them that " he
was dying, but with the strong hope and persuasion that his country
would gain its independence." How gloriously his presentiment has
been verified !
He expired on the 2d of May, 1777, at the age of sixty-seven.
His remains were deposited in the burying ground of the village,
which he had thus died defending.
Duly sensible of the loss the country had sustained in the death
of General Wooster, and justly appreciating, " his merits and servi
ces," congress, on the 17th of June following, " Resolved," that a
monument should be erected to his memory. They appropriated
five hundred dollars for that purpose, and requested the executive
of Connecticut to carry their resolution into effect ; but it has been
neglected, and the bones of the hero lie inglorious in a country grave
yard, without even a stone to mark the spot.
T. P.

hgraved ay XTCel-ly.

> J A J PR ( ; P. X LO K A ¦! , !P 13 ,1 1 . 1 1 ' *S { * H V ¥Um ,

PHILIP SCHUYLER.

Among the patriots of the American revolution, who asserted the
rights of their country in council, and equally vindicated its cause
in the field, the name of Philip Schuyler stands preeminent. In
acuteness of intellect, profound thought, indefatigable activity, ex-
haustless energy, pure patriotism, and persevering and intrepid pub
lic efforts, he had no superior ; and it is to be regretted that the
limits assigned to each portion of biography in the present work,
will permit only a rapid sketch of his distinguished services.
General Schuyler was descended from Dutch ancestors, and born
at Albany the 22d November, 1733. His paternal grandfather,
Colonel Peter Schuyler, was mayor of that city, and commander of
the northern militia in 1690. He was also agent of Indian affairs,
and presiding member of the provincial council. John Schuyler,
his father, left five children, and though as heir at law, his son
Philip was entitled to the real estate, he generously shared the
inheritance with his brothers and sister. The Saratoga estate, of
which the British army, in 1777, made such sad havoc, he inherited
from his father's brother. Being deprived of his father while youno-,
he was indebted to his mother, Cornelia Van Cortlandt Schuyler, a
lady of strong and cultivated mind, for his early education, and those
habits of business, and that unshaken probity, which never forsook
him. At the age of sixteen, he was martyr to an hereditary gout,
which confined him, while at school at New Roche] le, to his room
for nearly a year. But he was still able to prosecute his studies, and
to acquire in that period the use of the French language. His
learning was of a solid and practical character. His favorite studies
were mathematics, and the other exact sciences, and he was enabled
in after life to display unusual skill in finance, and as a civil and
military engineer, and in all the leading topics of political economy.
He entered the army when the French war broke out in 1755, and
commanded a company in the New York levies, which attended
Sir William Johnson to Fort Edward and Lake George. He was

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
employed that year in rendering Fort Edward a safe depot of military
stores. In 1758 his talents and activity attracted the attention of
Lord Viscount Howe, who commanded at Albany the first division
of the British army of four thousand men, then preparing for an
expedition to Canada. Being in great difficulty in respect to supplies
and the means of transportation, Lord Howe had the discernment
to select and employ young Schuyler in the commissariat depart
ment. When it was suggested to him that he was confiding in too
young a man for so important a service, he declared that he relied
on the practical knowledge and activity of Schuyler, and was con
vinced that he would be enabled to surmount all obstacles. The
event justified the choice. The duty was discharged with that
sound judgment and calculating precision, that were so often and so
signally displayed in his subsequent career. The army under the
command of General Abercrombie arrived at the north end of Lake
George, early in July, and when Lord Howe fell in a conflict with
the French advanced guard, Schuyler was directed to cause the
body of that lamented young nobleman to be conveyed to Albany
and buried there with appropriate honors. He continued afterwards
during the war to be employed in the commissary department.
After the peace of 1763, Colonel Schuyler (for by that title he
was then known) was called into the service of the colony, in vari
ous civil employments. He was one of the commissioners appointed
by the general assembly, in 1764, to manage the controversy on the
part of New York, respecting the partition line between that colony
and Massachusetts Bay ; and he was actively engaged in that dis
cussion in 1767, with associates and opponents of the first rank and
character. In 1768, he was elected a member of the general assem
bly, for the city and county of Albany, and he continued a member
until the colonial legislature, in April 1775, terminated its existence
forever. A seat in the assembly at that day, was very important,
and an evidence of character as well as influence, inasmuch as the
members were few, and chosen exclusively by freeholders, and held
their seats for seven years. The services which Colonel Schuyler
rendered in that station, and the talents, zeal, and intrepidity which
he displayed in asserting the constitutional rights of the colonies,
and in resisting the claims of the British parliament, and of the colo
nial governor and council, may be considered as having laid the
solid foundation for those marks of distinguished honor and confi
dence, which his countrymen were afterwards so prompt to bestow.
The majority of that assembly were favorable to the interest of the

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
crown, and they continually checked the bold measures of the whigs
in their determined opposition to the claims of the parent power. A
very difficult, arduous, and responsible duty was imposed upon
Colonel Schuyler and his leading associates, who were in the mi
nority. It was in the closing scenes of that body, in the winter and
spring of 1775, amid the expiring struggles of the ministerial party
to uphold the tottering fabric of the British colonial administration,
that the talents, zeal, and firmness of the minority shone with the
brightest lustre. Every successive motion for several weeks, to give
a legislative sanction to the proceedings of the continental congress
of 1774, was negatived. But the spirit and resolution of Schuyler,
as well as of his distinguished companions, George Clinton, Nathan
iel Woodhull, Colonel Tenbroeck, and Colonel Philip Livingston,
gained strength by defeat, and arose with increasing vigor suitable
to the difficulties and solemnity of the crisis. On the 3d of March,
eleven distinct divisions on so many different resolutions were taken
and entered at large on the journals. The persevering efforts of the
minority, and the energy of public opinion fairly dismayed the
ministerial majority, and they were impelled, as well from a regard
to their own character, as from a sense of what was loudly called
for, and due to the occasion, to introduce and sustain sundry meas
ures, which, though rather too tame and loyal for the vehement
spirit of the times, yet contained an explicit condemnation of cer
tain acts of parliament, as being public grievances, and dangerous
to the rights and liberties of America.
The great scenes of the revolution were now unfolding, and the
eyes of his fellow citizens were instantly turned to Colonel Schuy
ler, as one on whom their highest hopes of confidence were placed.
He was elected a delegate to the continental congress which assem
bled in May, 1775, and he had scarcely taken his seat in that as
sembly, when he was appointed the third major-general of the
American army. His services were now to be transferred from the
cabinet to the field, and he immediately entered upon his new thea
tre of action, with surprising promptitude and vigor.
On the 25th of June, he was charged by General Washington
with the command of the army in the province of New York, and
in his first general orders announcing the command, he at once
enjoined order, discipline, neatness, economy, exactness, sobriety,
obedience ; and that the troops must show to the world that " in
contending for liberty, they abhor licentiousness — that in resisting
the misrule of tyrants, they will support government honestly ad-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ministered." He directed his attention specially to the northern
frontiers, and called upon the commanding officer there for exact
information and specific details, on every subject connected with his
command. He was directed by congress, as early as the ] st of July,
to repair to the forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and make
preparations to secure the command of the lake, and, " if practicable
end expedient, to take possession of St. Johns, Montreal, and Quebec."
He at once communicated vigor and rapid motion to every part of
his command, and his orders upon all the details involved in prepa
rations for the campaign were exact and specific. But the difficulties
in an expedition to Canada without the materials, the equipments,
and the habits of war, were clearly perceived by him, and strongly
felt ; and he surmounted them with a rapidity and success that no
other individual could at that period have performed. Before the
end of August four regiments moved down the lake from Ticonde
roga, under the command of Brigadier-General Montgomery. To
add to his other distresses, General Schuyler at that crisis was
taken down with sickness, and confined in bed with a fever. He
nevertheless followed his friend Montgomery, and was carried in a
batteaux to the isle Au Noix, where he established his head-quarters
on the 8th of September. He was there reduced to a skeleton by a
complication of disorders, and was obliged in ten days to return
and leave Montgomery, much to the regret of the latter, to command
the Canadian expedition. " All my ambition," said that excellent
man, and chivalric hero, " is to do my duty in a subordinate capacity,
without the least ungenerous intention of lessening the merit so justly
your due." General Schuyler's services were not lost on his re
turn to Ticonderoga. They were invaluable on the all-important
subject of supplies. General Montgomery declared, in his letters of
the 6th and 9th of October, that Schuyler's foresight and diligence
after his return, had saved the expedition. So wisely and promptly
did he exert his feeble health, but vigorous mind, to restore order
and accelerate supplies of food and clothing to the army, then esti
mated at three thousand five hundred men, and occupied before St.
Johns. No general had greater difficulties to contend with, than
Montgomery during his short and disastrous campaign. The effort
was too great for his means. There was a deficiency of specierand
military equipments of every kind, and a want of discipline, subordi
nation, economy, and probity, in the various branches of the service.
These embarrassments subdued the patience and generous temper
of Montgomery, and he frequently in his letters avowed his fixed

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
determination to retire from the service at the end of the campaign.
The friendship of the Canadians was to be preserved at all events,
and private property sacredly protected, and all Canadian supplies
punctually paid for in gold and silver. Congress had attached the
utmost importance to the expedition, and expected from the exertions
of Schuyler, that Canada might be induced to accede to the union
of the colonies.
His very impaired health rendered General Schuyler's situation
oppressive. He was charged with the duty of supplying the Cana
dian army with recruits, provisions, clothing, arms, and money, and
to do it adequately was beyond his power. He was obliged to apply
to congress for leave to retire. But his application was not listened
to, and on the 30th of November, congress resolved that his conduct,
attention, and perseverance, merited the thanks of the united colo
nies. They expressed, through president Hancock, their "greatest
concern and sympathy for his loss of health, and requested that he
would not insist on a measure which would deprive America of his
zeal and abilities, and rob him of the honor of completing the glori
ous work which he had so happily and successfully begun." Gene
ral Washington, who always maintained a close and constant
correspondence with Schuyler, expressed the same regret and de
sire, and in his letters of the 5th and 24th December, conjured both
him and Montgomery to lay aside ail such thoughts of retirement,
" alike injurious to themselves, and excessively so to the country.
They had not a difficulty to contend with, that he had not in an
eminent degree experienced." Who can withhold his unqualified
admiration of the man, who gave such advice, at such a crisis ! To
his incomparable fortitude and inflexible firmness America owes her
national existence.
General Schuyler determined to continue in the service, and
especially, as he said, after the fall of his " amiable friend Montgom
ery, who had given him so many proofs of the goodness of his heart,
and who, as he greatly fell in his country's cause, was more to be
envied than lamented." The distressed condition of the northern
army in the winter and spring of 1776, was quite unparalleled in
the history of the revolution. General Schuyler was roused to
the utmost limit of exertion in his endeavors to relieve it, by collect
ing and despatching men, provisions, arms, and military and naval
equipments to the northern posts, and to the army. His attention
was directed to every quarter, exacting vigilance, order, economy,
and prompt execution in all the complicated concerns of the de-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
partment. His duty was more arduous and difficult ; it was inex
pressibly vexatious, and could not be sternly and effectually performed
without collisions, provoking jealous and angry feelings, and requir
ing large sacrifices of transient popularity. With his exhausted and
debilitated frame of body, every person who saw him, concluded that
he must soon sink under the pressure of his duties. His incessant
correspondence with congress was full of the best practical advice.
At that crisis, congress multiplied his concerns to an overwhelming
degree. On the 8th of January, he was required to cause the River
St. Lawrence, above and below Quebec, to be well explored. He was
to fill up blank commissions for the Canada regiments in his discre
tion. He was to establish an accountability for the waste of the
public supplies. He was to put Ticonderoga in a defencible condi
tion. But the army in Canada engrossed his attention. After the
death of Montgomery, the command devolved on Brigadier-General
Wooster. The most alarming, and next to the want of provisions,
the most distressing deficiency in the northern army, was in mus
kets, ammunition, and cannon. The call was also loud and inces
sant for specie, and General Schuyler went so far, as to raise, on his
own personal security, £2,100, York currency, in gold and silver, for
that service. Nothing shows more strikingly the want of arms than
the fact that even General Washington, in his camp at Cambridge,
applied to Schuyler for assistance in that particular. "Your
letters and mine," said the former, "seem echoes to each other,
enumerating our mutual difficulties."
Great apprehension was entertained at this eventful moment, for
the disaffected inhabitants in the Mohawk country under the influ
ence of Sir John Johnson, and congress directed General Schuyler
to cause the tories in that quarter to be disarmed, and their lead
ers secured. He accordingly marched into that country, in the
month of January, and executed the service with such zeal, despatch,
and discretion, as to receive the special approbation of congress.
On the 17th February, Major-General Lee was appointed to the
command of the northern army, and Schuyler was to take his place
at New York. This alteration was made, as the president of congress
assured him, from the conviction that his infirm state of health was
not equal to a winter's campaign in the severe climate of Canada.
But the wants of the northern army with the supply of which
Schuyler was still charged, were so varied and urgent, that he was
obliged to confine his head-quarters to Albany ; and they were again
established there by a resolution of congress of the 6th of March,

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
and that resolution continued in force until May, 1777. The
arduous business of supplying an army with food, clothing, and
military equipments, though less captivating in its results, is often
much more conducive to the safety and success of a campaign, than
prowess in the field. General Schuyler, by his thorough business
habits, his exactness in detail, his keen forecast, his calculating skill,
and his fiery vehemence in action, was admirably fitted for either
branch of military service ; and no person who has studied these
campaigns thoroughly, can fail to be convinced, that his versatile
talents were fitted equally for investigation and action.
General Lee being sent to the south, Major-General Thomas was,
on the 6th of March, appointed to the command of the army in
Canada, but with a reliance, as congress declared, on the efforts of
General Schuyler, "for perfecting the work so conspicuously be
gun, and so well directed under his orders, the last campaign."
Congress, throughout the winter and spring of 1776, continued to
consider the possession of Canada and the command of the lake as
objects of the first necessity.
When General Thomas succeeded to the command, the army in
Canada was extremely weak and in great distress. It was sur
rounded with difficulties and perils threatening its annihilation. The
best intelligence and efforts were called for. Between the 18th of
April, and the 11th of July, General Schuyler was at the upper
posts at Fort George, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, active to an
amazing degree in directing and stimulating efforts to relieve the
army. His wisdom had anticipated the distress, and if congress had
complied with his repeated -solicitations long before made for large re
inforcements, and military means, the most grievious misfortunes in
Canada would have been prevented. As early as November 1775, he
made earnest suggestions to that effect. After the fall of Montgomery,
General Arnold, then before Quebec, gave similar advice, and stated
that congress must not think of sending less than eight or ten thous
and men. The force and the means were always inadequate to the
object, so long as the Canadians remained passive. Congress im
puted the failure of the expedition to short enlistments, the want of
hard money, and the small force. But other powerful causes ope
rated, such as the want of men and arms, and discipline, and sub
ordination. On the death of General Thomas, on the 2d of June, Brigadier-
General Sullivan succeeded to the command, and the distress and
disorganization of the army had then arrived to the utmost height.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
All hopes of retaining Canada were gone, and no alternative was left
but to make the safest and most expeditious retreat. Regiments
were reduced to skeletons. The soldiers became desperate and de
serted. " Upwards of forty officers," said Sullivan, " begged leave
to resign on the most frivolous pretences." General Schuyleb
gave directions, on the 20th of June, to abandon Canada, and return
up the lake. This was accordingly done. General Sullivan left
the Sorrell with only two thousand five hundred and thirty -three
men, and on the 1st of July, he reached Crown Point with the re
mains of the army, broken down by sickness, disorder, and discord.
The retreat, says Schuyler, was conducted with prudence and
discernment, and reflected honor upon that commander. At Crown
Point, Sullivan met General Gates, who, though a junior officer,
was appointed to that command, and Sullivan retired from the de
partment in disgust.
The expedition to Canada having thus miserably terminated, the
next great object of Schuyler's attention, was to secure the forts on
the lake, and to command its waters, as well as to attend to other
pressing objects in his widely extended department. On the 14th
of June, he had been required by congress to hold a treaty with the
six nations of Indians — to fortify Fort Stanwix — to open a military
road from Fort Edward — to clear Wood Creek — to establish a canal
lock at Skeensborough — to equip a flotilla on Lake Champlain, and
to fortify Crown Point or Mount Independence at his discretion.
Though he was again visited with the return of the fever of the last
season, which served to annoy and dishearten him, his exertions
continued unremitted.- Crown Point was abandoned by the unani
mous advice of a council of his general officers, as not tenable with
their present force and means. The act was at first inconsiderately
censured, but his clear and skilful reasons for the measure, satisfied
the mind of Washington. A flotilla of sixteen vessels was created
and equipped for service on the lake by the latter end of August,
after infinite embarrassments, and he assigned the command of it to
General Arnold, who was active and intrepid. That officer was
met, on the 16th of October, by a much superior and better manned
English squadron, and after brave and unavailing resistance, his-
little fleet was defeated and totally destroyed. This put an end to
the northern campaign, for the garrison at Ticonderoga and its de
pendencies, consisting of nine thousand men, was left by General
Schuyler under the subordinate command of Gates, and they were
not disturbed.

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
In August, General Schuyler held a treaty on the upper Mo
hawk, with the six Indian nations. The negotiation was of the
utmost importance, and that service was of the greatest value. But
the presence and maintenance of one thousand eight hundred sava
ges, during a protracted and difficult negotiation was excessively
vexatious. The hostile Indians were induced to promise neutrality,
and congress afterwards gave their explicit approbation to the trans
action. In the discharge of duty amid such conflicting and harassing
services, General Schuyler had excited much popular jealousy and
ill-will, arising from the energy of his character, and the dignity of
his deportment. The loss of the Canadian campaign was imputed
to him. He was disgusted, not only with the want of public candor
and gratitude, but even with the want of courtesy and respect to
wards him by congress, in the irregular appointment of junior offi
cers to separate and independent commands within his military
department. Accordingly, on the 14th of September, he tendered
once more to congress the resignation of his commission. They
resolved that they could not consent to accept his resignation in the
then situation of affairs, and they assured him that they bore their
willing testimony to his services, and that no aspersions on his
character had any influence on their minds. He then resumed his
duties with his wonted zeal and energy, and made every manly
effort consistent with his station and character, to cultivate unity of
views and harmony in his department, and to shew a kind and
generous spirit to all his subordinate officers, and particularly to
General Gates, who did not meet him with the like magnanimity.
Gates had been even rebuked by the commissioners from congress,
who visited Canada in the spring of 1776, for his suspicious and
unkind feelings towards General Schuyler. Charles Carroll of
Carrollton (nomen venerabile) in his letter to Gates of the 14th of
June, "begged that his suspicions might not prejudice him against
Schuyler, for he was confident he was an active and deserving
officer." Samuel Chase, another commissioner, in his letter of the
same date, recommended to General Gates to place " the most unre
served and unlimited confidence in Schuyler. Be assured, sir, of
his integrity, diligence, abilities, and address."
During the past year General Schuyler had extended his views
forward to the future, and had repeatedly recommended to congress,
and particularly in his letters of the 29th of August, and 16th of
October, to make large preparations on land and water, to meet the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
exigencies of the next northern campaign. On the 11th of November
and 2d December he submitted to congress a plan of operations for
the ensuing year, both at the north and on the Hudson, and pointed
out what was requisite in troops, provisions, artillery, ammunition,
fortifications, and naval force. He informed General Washington on
the 30th January, 1777, that the ensuing campaign would require
at Ticonderoga, ten thousand men, besides two thousand men more,
for the several points of communication, and for Fort Schuyler on
the Mohawk. His orders to every branch of his department, and
his advice to congress, to General Washington, to the authorities in
the New England states, and in his own state, were comprehensive,
provident, wise, skilful, patriotic, and almost incessant. He did all
that the efforts of any one individual could do for the public service,
until the 20th of March, when he went to Philadelphia and found
himself superseded in effect by General Gates, in his northern com
mand. The orders he had given for the security of Ticonderoga,
and the letters he had written to that effect prior to that event, would
fill a volume.
He took his seat in congress as a delegate from New York, and at
his request, a committee of inquiry was instituted to examine into
his military conduct. The satisfaction afforded was prompt and
complete, and by the resolution of congress of the 22d of May, he
was directed to resume the command of the northern department of
New York, consisting of Albany, Ticonderoga, Fort Stanwix, and
their dependencies. During the interval of two months that he was
in Philadelphia, he was bestowing on the public interests, his usual
vigilance. Being the second major-general in the armies of the
United States, (General Lee only being his superior,) he was in
active command on the Delaware, directing fortifications, and
accelerating troops and provisions to the commander-in-chief. He
also contributed most essentially while in congress to reorganize the
commissary department.
But the storm that was gathering on the frontiers of his native
state, soon engrossed all his attention, and he went into the com
mand with an ardor and vigor that can scarcely be conceived. He
arrived in Albany on the 3d of June, where he met General Gates
The latter, offended with congress for not allowing him to remaii
commander-in-chief at the north, and unwilling at any rate to serve
under Schuyler, who offered him the command at Ticonderoga
he, at his own request, had leave to withdraw from the department
Nothing, literally nothing, he observed, had been done during hio

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
absence, to improve the means of defence on the frontiers. Nothing
had been done, comparatively speaking, to supply Ticonderoga with
provisions. But General Schuyler was fortunately in this season
in good health, a blessing which he had not enjoyed the last two
years. He now displayed his activity, fervor, and energy in a bril
liant manner. General St. Clair was placed by him in the command
at Ticonderoga, and specially directed to fortify Mount Indepen
dence. He informed Congress, on the 14th of June, that consider
ing the extensiveness of the works at Ticonderoga, the smallness of
the garrison was alarming, and incompetent to maintain it, and that
he found the department in the greatest confusion. Application
was made to the eastern states to hasten on the remainder of their
troops, and he informed them that the garrison at Ticonderoga did
not then exceed two thousand two hundred men, sick included. On
the 16th of June, General Washington was apprised by him of the
fact that he had no troops to oppose to Sir John Johnson on the
Mohawk. He visited Ticonderoga and Mount Independence on the
20th, and found them not in a good state of defence, and very defi
cient in troops and provisions ; but it was resolved, at a council of
officers called by him, that they be defended as long as possible.
General Schuyler then hastened back to the Hudson, the more
effectually to provide for the garrison, reinforcements of provisions
and men, and nothing conducive to that great object was omitted.
He solicited reinforcements of every kind with intense anxiety. On
the 28th of June, he communicated by expresses to General Wash
ington, to the governor of Connecticut, to the president of Massa
chusetts, to the committee of Berkshire, and to the committee of
safety of New York, his apprehensions for the safety of the garrison
at Ticonderoga, from the inadequacy of the means of defence. On
the 28th and 30th of June, (for dates now become important,) he
encouraged St. Clair, that he should move up with the continental
troops and militia, as soon as he could possibly set them in motion,
and " he hoped to have the pleasure of seeing him in possession of
his post." So again on the 5th of July, he assured him the troops
from Peekskill, and the militia were in motion, and "he hoped to
see him in a day or two." On the 7th, he informed General Wash
ington by letter, that he was up as far as Saratoga, with about seven
hundred continental troops, and about one thousand four hundred
militia. He was then in the utmost distress for provisions, and he
then and there met the news, that General St. Clair had abandoned

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Ticonderoga and Mount Independence on the 6th, with the loss of
all his military equipments.
These posts were evacuated upon the advice of a council of
officers, founded on the extreme weakness of the garrison, the ex
tensiveness of the works, and an insufficiency of provisions. But
General Schuyler had given no order for the evacuation. It was
done without his advice, direction, or loiowledge. It was as much
a matter of surprise to him, as to the country. He expected to have
been able in a few days to have joined General St. Clair with a very
considerable body of troops, and he observed most truly in a letter
of the 14th of July, to Chief Justice Jay, " that if Ticonderoga was
not sufficiently fortified and supplied with provisions, it was not his
fault ; if there was a want of men he was not to blame."
The last scene of General Schuyler's military life, was full of
action befitting the occasion, and worthy of his character. Every
quarter of his department was replete with difficulty and danger.
The frontier on the Mohawk was menaced by an army of one thous
and six hundred regulars, tories, and Indians, under Lieutenant-
Colonel St. Leger, and he cheered and encouraged Brigadier-General
Herkimer to rouse the militia, and act with alacrity in defence of that
frontier. He addressed the civil and military authorities in every
direction, with manly firmness, and the most forcible exhortation to
assist him with men, arms, and provisions, " every militia man,"
he said, " ought to turn out without delay, in a crisis the most alarm
ing since the contest began." He directed that the inhabitants re
tire from before the enemy, and that every article be brought off or
destroyed, that was calculated to assist them — that the roads, cause
ways, and Wood Creek be rendered impassable. He issued a pro
clamation to encourage the countiy, and counteract that of Burgoyne.
He assured General Washington, on the 12th of July, that he should
retard the enemy's advance by all possible means. " If my country
men will support me with vigor and dexterity, and do not meanly
despond, we shall be able to prevent the enemy from penetrating
much further into the country."
St. Clair had not above three thousand five hundred men when
he evacuated Ticonderoga, and he joined Schuyler with only one
thousand five hundred, as the militia, almost to a man, had deserted
him, and gone home. Nixon's and Glover's brigades had been
ordered by General Washington from Peekskill, to reinforce Schuy
ler, and when the former brigade arrived on the 14th of July, it
amounted only to five hundred and seventy-five men, so that Gene-

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
ral Schuyler's whole strength did no/ then exceed four thousand
five hundred men, including regulars and militia ; and they were
without shelter, or artillery, and sickness, distress and desertion pre
vailed. The enemy whose triumphant progress he had to check.
amounted to upwards of six thousand regular troops, with the best
equipments in arms and artillery. Fort George was abandoned on
the 14th of July, for it was utterly indefensible, being only part of
an unfinished bastion holding one hundred and fifty men. On the
24th of July, Schuyler retired with his army to More's Creek, four
miles below Fort Edward, as the latter was only a heap of ruins,
and always commanded by the neighboring hills. The enemy kept
pressing upon his advanced posts, but in the midst of unparalleled
difficulties, his retreat was slow and safe, and every inch of ground
disputed. The distress of the army, in want of artillery and every
other military and comfortable equipment, was aggravated by des
pondency and sickness, and the restlessness and insubordination of
the militia. They could not be detained. Almost all the eastern mili
tia had left the army. By the advice of a council of general officers,
Schuyler was obliged to let one half of the militia go home under a
promise of the residue to continue for three weeks. Though the sub
ject of popular calumny, he did not in the least despond or shrink
from his duty. " I shall go on," he writes to General Washington,
"in doing my duty, and in endeavors to deserve your esteem." He
renewed his call on the eastern states for assistance, and told his
friend, Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, (whom he always men
tioned with the highest esteem, and between whom a mutual confi
dence and attachment had invariably subsisted,) that " if the eastern
militia did not turn out with spirit, and behave better, we should be
ruined." The greatest reliance was placed on the efforts of his own
more immediate countrymen, and his most pathetic and eloquent
appeals were made to the council of safety of the state of New York,
for succors to enable him to meet the enemy in the field. By the
beginning of August, he was preparing to act on the offensive, and
by his orders of the 30th of July and 13th of August. General Lin
coln was directed to move with a body of troops to the north of
Cambridge, towards Skeensborough, and take command of the troops
under General Stark, and Colonel Warner, who had orders to join
him ; and if he should have force enough, to fall on the enemy in
that quarter. As Burgoyne advanced down the Hudson, there was
constant skirmishing at the advanced posts, and General Schuyler
retreated slowly, and in good order down to Saratoga, and then to

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and below Stillwater, and in every instance by the unanimous advice
of his officers.
During this eventful period, the western branch of Schuyler's
military district was in the utmost consternation and peril. The
army under St. Leger had besieged Fort Stanwix, and General Her
kimer, with eight hundred of the frontier militia, marching to the
relief of the fortress, was attacked by a detachment of the enemy,
under Sir John Johnson, and defeated at Oriskany, on the 6th of
August. On the 16th, General Schuyler despatched Arnold with
three regiments, amounting in the whole only to five hundred and
fifty men, to take charge of the military operations on the Mohawk.
But the period of his eminent services was drawing to a close.
Congress, yielding to the clamor and calumny of the people and
militia of the eastern states, suspended General Schuyler's com
mand, and on the 19th of August, (three days after the victory at
Bennington,) General Gates arrived in camp, and superseded him.
General Schuyler felt acutely the discredit of being recalled in
the most critical period of the campaign, and after the labor and
activity of making preparations to repair the disasters of it, had
been expended by him, and when he was in vigorous preparation to
win, and almost in the act to place the laurels of victory on his
brow. " I am sensible," said this great and injured man, in his
letter to congress, " of the indignity of being ordered from the com
mand of the army, at a time when an engagement must soon take
place ;" and when, we may add, he had already commenced offen
sive operations, and laid the foundation of future and glorious
triumphs. Though he was directed by the order of congress of the 1st of
August, to repair to head-quarters, he was afterwards allowed by
the resolution of congress of the 14th November, to attend to his
private affairs, " as they had greatly suffered by the barbarous rava
ges of the British army," until the committee of inquiry were ready
to act. This preeminent r-xjiot, statesman, and soldier, rising
above all mean resentments, continued his correspondence with con
gress, and afforded his valuable counsel. He even tendered to them
his gratuitous services as a private gentleman, in any way in which
he could be useful. As president of the board of commissioners for
Indian affairs, he gave specific advice respecting the conduct of the
six nations, and he recommended preparations to carry the war into
their territories ; and his counsel eventually terminated in the expe
dition under General Sullivan, in 1779.

PHILIP SCHUYLER.
After long and painful delays, in which his eastern enemies, both
in and out of Congress, had full opportunity to search for testimony
against him, he was gratified with being able to have his military
conduct tested before a court-martial, in October, 1778. He was
tried and acquitted " with the highest honor" of every charge pre
ferred against him, notwithstanding congress had eight months
previously, appointed " two counsellors, learned in the law, to assist
and cooperate with the judge-advocate in conducting the trial."
The sentence was of course confirmed by congress, and though it
was the desire of his friends, and particularly of General Washing
ton, who, in January, 1779, stated to him that " it was very much
his desire that he should resume the command of the northern
department." He had too much self-respect and pride of character
to be shaken in his purpose. After repeated applications, congress,
in April, 1779, accepted his resignation, and Schuyler finally with
drew from the army.
He continued during the remainder of his life to be eminently
useful in the civil departments of government : he was one of the
commissioners from New York in 1784, and again in 1787, to settle
the boundary line between that state and Massachusetts : the diffi
culty depended essentially on the variation of the magnetic needle,
and the perusal of the correspondence shows that he executed his
trust with great industry and skill. He was continued a delegate
in congress from New York in 1778 and 1779, and all the authori
ties and leading patriots of that state, and his fellow-citizens at large,
who thoroughly knew his worth and transcendent merits, continued
to afford fresh proofs in every way, and on every proper occasion,
of their warmest affection, and exalted sense of his talents, activity,
and devotion to his country. In 1781, and for several years there
after, he was a member of the New York senate. He took a zealous
part in promoting the adoption of the constitution of the United
States, and in 1789 he was elected a member of the first senate
under that constitution. His sagacity, and practical skill and zeal
for the public interests, led him to give the earliest and most stren
uous support to measures for the improvement of internal navigation.
He drafted the acts for incorporating the western and northern
inland lock navigation companies, and was placed at the head of the
direction of both those companies, and he was truly the master
spirit which infused life and vigor into the whole undertaking. He
had sketched and caused to be executed, the plan of locks at the
little falls on the Mohawk, and of connecting the head waters of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Mohawk and Wood Creek. Those feeble beginnings led on step by
step to the bolder and glorious consummation of the Erie canal.
In 1796 he urged, in his place in the New York senate, and after
wards published in a pamphlet form, his plan for the improvement
of the revenue of the state. It contemplated the institution of the
office of comptroller, and that branch of the plan was literally
adopted by the legislature. He demonstrated that upon the meas
ures he suggested, the surplus fund, beyond all reasonable wants,
might at the period of 1826, or thirty years from that time, be made
to accumulate to three million five hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars. But he predicted that under bad management "very little
principal would be left, and the people burthened with taxes for the
support of government."
In 1797 Schuyler was unanimously elected once more a senator
in congress, and he took a final leave of the senate of his native
state, in an affecting address, which to his honor was ordered to be
inserted on their journal. General Schuyler at that time labored
under the pressure of ill health, and he was not able long to con
tinue his seat in congress. He lived for the last few years of his life
in dignified retirement, commanding universal veneration and
attachment, arising from the known memorials of his illustrious
services ; his stern integrity ; his social virtues ; his polished man
ners ; his extensive knowledge ; his generous hospitality. When
Washington died he clothed himself in mourning. His bodily
health was not only broken down by disease, but he was severely
visited with domestic afflictions. In 1801 he lost his daughter, Mrs.
Van Rensselaer, which dissolved an honorable and highly gratifying
family connexion. In 1803 he lost the wife of his youth, and was
left at the age of seventy in painful solitude. In July, 1804, he was
deprived, under circumstances the most distressing, of his beloved
and distinguished son-in-law, General Hamilton. " Consolation,"
as he afterwards stated in a letter of the 6th of August, " was to be
sought, where it can only be truly and effectually found, in an hum
ble acquiescence with the Divine will." This great man died on the
18th of November, 1804, at the age of seventy-one, leaving in the
history and institutions of his country, durable monuments of his
fame. J. K.

Engravd ly E Prndlioiiiijit- frum ilic Original Mioifltar*- !by .Arch Hoborti

AlLlSXAlTOlfiB. BLOO&TOET.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

Alexander Hamilton, whose life is deeply interwoven with the
history of the American revolution, with the formation and adoption
of the constitution of the United States, and with the civil administra
tion of Washington, was born in the island of Nevis, in the British
West Indies, January 11th, 1757. He was of Scottish descent. His
paternal grandfather resided at the family seat of Grange in Ayrshire,
in Scotland. His father was bred a merchant, and went to the West
Indies in that character, where he became unsuccessful in business,
and subsequently lived in a state of pecuniary dependence. His
mother was of a French family, and possessed superior accomplish
ments of mind and person. She died when he was a child, and he
received the rudiments of his early education in the island of St.
Croix. He was taught when young to speak and write the French lan
guage fluently, and he displayed an early and devoted attachment to
literary pursuits. His studies were under the direction of the Rev.
Dr. Knox, a respectable Presbyterian clergyman, who gave to his
mind a strong religious bias, which was never eradicated, and which
displayed itself strongly and with consoling influence on his death-bed,
though it may have been checked and diverted during the ardor and
engrossing scenes of his military and political life. In 1769, he was
placed as a clerk in the counting-house of Mr. Nicholas Cruger, an
opulent and highly respectable merchant of St. Croix. Young Hamil
ton went through the details of his clerical duty with great assiduity and
fidehty, and he manifested a capacity for business, which attracted the
attention and confidence of his patron. He displayed, at that early age,
the most aspiring ambition, and showed infallible symptoms of supe
rior genius. " I contemn," said he in a letter to a confidential school
fellow, " the grovelling condition of a clerk, to which my fortune con
demns me, and would willingly risk my life, though not my character,
to exalt my station ; I mean to prepare the way for futurity." This
extraordinary feeling and determined purpose in a youth of twelve

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
years ; this ardent love for fame, and the still stronger attachment to
character, were felt and exhibited in every period of his after life.
While he was in Mr. Cruger's office, Hamilton devoted all his
leisure moments to study. Mathematics, chemistry, ethics, biography,
knowledge of every kind, occupied his anxious researches. In 1772,
he gave a precise and elegant description of the hurricane which had
recently swept over some of the islands, and which was anonymously
published in the island of St. Christopher, where it excited general
attention, and contributed to give a happy direction to his future
fortunes. When the author became known, his relations and patrons
resolved to send him to the city of New York, for the purpose of a
better education.
He arrived in New York in October, 1772, and was immediately
placed at a grammar school, at Elizabethtown, in New Jersey, under
the tuition of Mr. Francis Barber, who afterwards was distinguished
as an accomplished officer in the American service. Hamilton
entered King's (now Columbia) College at the close of 1773, where
he soon " gave extraordinary displays of richness of genius and energy
of mind."
His active and penetrating mind was employed, even at college, in
sustaining and defending the colonial opposition to the acts of the
British parliament. In July 1774, while a youth of seventeen, he
appeared as a speaker at a great public meeting of citizens in the fields,
(now the park in front of the city hall,) and enforced the duty of
resistance by an eloquent appeal to the good sense and patriotism of his
auditors. He also vindicated the cause of the colonies with his pen
in several anonymous publications. In December 1774, and February
1775, he was the author of some elaborate pamphlets in favor of the
pacific measures of defence, recommended by congress. He suggested
at that early day the policy of giving encouragement to domestic
manufactures, as a sure means of lessening the need of external com
merce. He anticipated ample resources at home, and, among other
things, observed that several of the southern colonies were so favora
ble in their soil and climate to the growth of cotton, that such a staple
alone, with due cultivation, in a year or two would afford products
sufficient to clothe the whole continent. He insisted upon our
unalienable right to the steady, uniform, unshaken security of consti
tutional freedom ; to the enjoyment of trial by jury ; and to the right
of freedom from taxation, except by our own immediate representa
tives ; and that colonial legislation was an inherent right, never to be
abandoned or impaired.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
In the course of this pamphlet controversy, Hamilton became
engaged, though unsuspected by his opponents, in an animated dis
cussion with Dr. Cooper, principal of the college, and with wits and
politicians of established character on the ministerial side of the ques
tion. The profound principles, able reasoning, and sound policy
contained in the pamphlets, astonished his adversaries ; and the princi
pal of them held it to be absurd to suppose that so young a man as
Hamilton could be the author. He was thenceforward cherished
and revered by the whigs of New York as an oracle.
The war had now commenced in Massachusetts bay, and Hamil
ton, young, ardent, and intrepid, was among the earliest of his fellow-
citizens to turn his mind to the military service. In 1775, and while at
college, he joined a volunteer corps of militia in the city of New York,
studied the details of military tactics, and endeavored to reduce them
to practice. And while he was most active in promoting measures of
resistance, he was busy also in studying the science of political eco
nomy, relative to commerce, the balance of trade, and the circulating
medium ; and which were soon to become prominent topics of specula
tion under the new aspects of social and political organization, of which
the elements were then forming. In checking the wild spirit of mobs,
he showed himself equally the intrepid advocate of freedom, and the
enemy of all popular misrule and licentiousness.
On the 14th March, 1776, Hamilton was appointed captain of a
provincial company of artillery, in the city of New York, and in that
' rank he was soon in active service, and brought up the rear of the
army in the retreat from Long Island. He was in the action at White
Plains, on the 28th of October, 1776, and by that time his character
and. conduct had attracted the observing eye of Washington. He was
with his artillery company, firm and active, in the retreat through
New Jersey, and resisted the progress of the British troops on the
banks of the Raritan. He was with his command at Trenton and
Princeton, and he continued in the army until the 1st of March, 1777,
when he was appointed aid-de-camp to General Washington, with the
rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Colonel Hamilton remained in the family of the commander-in-
chief until Februaiy, 1781, and during that long and eventful period
of the war, he was, in the language of Washington himself, " his
principal and most confidential aid." In that auspicious station, and
in the very general intercourse with the officers of the army and the
principal men of the country which it created, he had ample opportu
nities to diffuse the knowledge of his talents and the influence of his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
accomplishments. As he spoke the French language with facility, he
became familiar with the officers of the French army in America, and
with the distinguished foreign officers in the American service. He
recommended himself to their confidence by his kindness and his
solicitude to serve them in the best manner. Their attachment and
admiration were won by his genius and the goodness and frankness
of his heart. This was particularly the case in respect to the Marquis
Lafayette, and the Baron Steuben.
The principal labor of the correspondence of the commander-in-
chief fell upon Hamilton ; and the most elaborate communications
of that kind are understood to have been made essentially with his
assistance. In November 1777, he was deputed by Washington to
procure from General Gates at Albany reinforcements of troops, which
were exceedingly wanted for the army before Howe in Philadelphia.
His object was to obtain the three continental brigades, then under
Gates, and without any northern enemy to employ them. But Gene
ral Gates insisted on retaining at least two of the brigades, and would
only consent to part with the weakest of the three. The negotiation
was conducted by Colonel Hamilton with consummate discretion ;
and without having recourse to the absolute authority of the com
mander-in-chief, he overcame, by dint of argument, the unreasonable
reluctance and dangerous temper of insubordination in Gates, and
procured the march to head quarters of two of the brigades. In 1778,
the accuracy of Hamilton's judgment was tested on the subject of
the inspector-general of the army, and in the appointment of Baron
Steuben, and the designation of his powers and duties. He was in
the same year intrusted by General Washington with much discre
tion respecting a general exchange of prisoners with the enemy ; and
he was very efficient and most happy in his advice in favor of the
attack of the enemy upon their retreat through New Jersey, in June
177S, in opposition to the opinion of a majority of a council of war
consulted on that occasion. The determination to attack led on to the
action of Monmouth, in which fresh honor was added to the American
arms. Colonel Hamilton was that day in the field under the Mar
quis Lafayette, and his merit was very conspicuous in the activity,
skill, and courage which he displayed.
The finances of the United States had become involved in great
disorder, and the enormous issues of paper currency to the amount of
two hundred millions of dollars, and its consequent depreciation almost
to worthlessness, had prostrated public credit. The government and
the army were reduced to the greatest difficulties and distress, from the

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
want of means to sustain themselves, and support the war. In this
extremity, the mind of Colonel Hamilton was turned to the contem
plation of the subject, and the means of relief. He was led on to those
profound investigations in reference to the complicated subjects of
finance, currency, taxation, and the fittest means to restore confidence,
by the mastery of which he was afterwards destined to be "the founder
of the public credit of the United States." In 1779, he addressed a
letter to Robert Morris, one of the first commercial characters of the
country, giving in detail his plan of finance. The restoration of the
depreciated currency, and of credit and confidence, was not to be
effected by expedients within our own resources. The only relief, as
he declared, was to be sought in a foreign loan to the extent of two
millions sterling, assisted by a vigorous taxation, and a bank of the
United States to be instituted by congress for ten years, and to be sup
ported by the foreign as well as by domestic loans in the depreciated
currency at a very depreciated ratio. This institution was to rest on
the firm footing of public and private faith, and was to supply the
want of a circulating medium, and absorb the depreciated paper, and
furnish government with the requisite loans. The scheme was in
part adopted in June 1780, by the voluntary institution, through the
agency of a number of patriotic individuals, of the bank of Pennsyl
vania, and which received the patronage of congress. Colonel Ha
milton looked with intense anxiety on the distresses of the country,
and he perceived and avowed the necessity of a better system of
government, and one not merely advisory, but reorganized on founda
tions of greater responsibility, and more efficiency. He addressed a
very interesting letter to Mr. Duane, a member of congress from New
York, on the state of the nation. This letter appears at this day,
with all the lights and fruits of our experience, as masterly in a pre
eminent degree. He went on to show the defects and total ineffi
ciency of the articles of confederation, and to prove that we stood in
need of a national government, with the requisite sovereign powers,
such, indeed, as the confederation theoretically contained, but without
any fit organs to receive them. He suggested the idea of a national
convention to amend and reorganize the government. This was
undoubtedly the ablest and truest production on the state of the union,
its finances, its army, its miseries, its resources, its remedies, that
appeared during the revolution. It contained in embryo the existing
federal constitution, and it was the production of a young man of the
age of twenty-three.
In October 1780, Hamilton earnestly recommended to General

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Washington the selection of General Greene, for the command of the
southern army, which Gates had just left in disorganization and scat
tered fragments. He had early formed an exalted opinion of the
merits of Greene, and entertained unmeasured confidence in his mili
tary talents, and " whose genius," as he said, " carried in it all the
resources of war." In December 1780, he married the second daughter
of Major-General Schuyler, and in the February following, he retired
from the family of General Washington, but still retained his rank in
the army, and was exceedingly solicitous to obtain a separate com
mand in some light corps. Being relieved from the active duties
imposed upon him as an aid, his mind became thoroughly engrossed
with the situation of the country, which was in every view replete
with difficulties, and surrounded with danger. Public credit was
hastening to an irretrievable catastrophe. In April 1781, he addressed
a letter to Mr. Morris, the superintendant of finance, on the state of
the currency and finances, and he transmitted the plan of a national
bank, as the only expedient that could give to government an exten
sive and sound paper credit, and as being essential to our success and
safety. He reasoned out the utility and policy of a bank, and met
and answered the objections to it with a force, perspicuity, and conclu
siveness, that swept away every difficulty, and carried with it almost
universal conviction. The plan of a national bank was submitted to
congress by Mr. Morris, in May, 1781 and they adopted it with great
unanimity, and resolved to incorporate and support it under the name
of the Bank of North America. That institution, with the incipient
and more feeble aid of the bank of Pennsylvania, then in operation,
was of inestimable service in restoring and sustaining the credit of the
country; in bringing forward our resources, and carrying on the
operations of the army during the concluding scenes of the war.
The last act of Colonel Hamilton's military life, was at the siege
of Yorktown, in Virginia. After repeated solicitations, he was at last
gratified with the command of a corps of light infantry, attached to
the division under the command of his friend, the Marquis Lafayette,
and he was so fortunate as to be able to lead the night attack by
assault of one of the enemy's redoubts, and which was carried with
distinguished rapidity and bravery. This event was the consumma
tion of his wishes. The active service of the army had now ended.
He immediately turned his attention to the duties and business of civil
life ; and having selected the profession of the law, he fitted himself for
admission, in 1782, to the bar of the supreme court of New York with
surprising facility, and with high credit to his industry and research.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
The country being about to settle down in peace, our civil govern
ment became the primary object of attention to reflecting statesmen.
The defects of the confederation had grown to be prominent and
glaring. The machine had become languid and worthless, and
especially after the extraordinary energy and enthusiasm of the war-
spirit, which had once animated it, had been withdrawn. In the
winter of 1781-2, Mr. Hamilton wrote a number of anonymous
essays in the country papers in New York, under the signature of the
Continentalist, in which he went largely into an examination of the
defects of the confederation, and into an enumeration of the powers
with which it ought to be clothed. In the summer of 1782, he was
appointed by the legislature of New York, a delegate to congress.
The same legislature that appointed him unanimously passed resolu
tions, introduced into the senate by General Schuyler, declaring that
the confederation was defective in not giving to congress power to
provide a revenue for itself, or in not investing them with funds from
established and productive sources ; and that it would be advisable
for congress to recommend to the states to call a general convention
to revise and amend the confederation.*
Colonel Hamilton took his seat in congress, in November, 1782,
and continued there until the autumn of 1783, and the proceedings
of congress immediately assumed a new and more vigorous tone and
character. He became at once engaged in measures calculated to
relieve the embarrassed state of the public finances, and avert the
dangers which beset the union of the states. His efforts to reanimate
the power of the confederation, and to infuse some portion of life and
vigor into the system, so as to render it somewhat adequate to the
exigencies of the nation, were incessant. He was sustained in all his
views, by that great statesman, the superintendant of finance, and by
some superior minds in congress, and especially by Mr. Madison,
whose talents, enlightened education, and services, were of distin
guished value in that assembly. On the 6th of December, 1782, he
moved and carried a resolution that the superintendant of finance
represent to the legislatures of the several states, the indispensable

* This sketch has hitherto been chiefly made from materials contained in the first
volume of the " Life of Alexander Hamilton," by his son, John C. Hamilton. That
volume carries the biography down to this period, and it is a production deeply interest
ing. The filial reverence of the historian awakens our sensibility, and he commands
our confidence by his frankness, his pains-taking research, his documentary accuracy,
and sound principles, his just reflections, and perspicuous and elegant narration.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
necessity of complying with the requisitions of congress, for raising
specified sunls of money towards sustaining the expenses of govern
ment, and paying a year's interest on the domestic debt. On the 11th
of the same month, he was chairman of the committee which reported
the form of an application to the governor of Rhode Island, urging
in persuasive terms, the necessity and reasonableness of the concur
rence on the part of that state, in a grant to congress of a general
import duty of five per cent., in order to raise a fund to discharge the
national debt. It contained the assurance that the increasing discon
tents of the army, the loud clamors of the public creditors, and the
extreme disproportion between the annual supplies and the demands
of the public service, were invincible arguments in favor of that source
of relief; and that calamities the most menacing might be anticipated
if that expedient should fail. So again on the 16th of December, he
was chairman of the committee that made a report of a very superior
character in vindication of the same measure. On the 20th of March,
1783, Mr. Hamilton submitted to congress another plan of a duty
of five per cent., ad valorem, on imported goods, for the discharge of
the army debt. On the 22d of that month, he again, as chairman,
reported in favor of a grant of five years' full pay to the officers of the
army, as a commutation for the half pay for life which had some
time before been promised by congress. On the 24th of April follow
ing, he, as one of the committee, agreed to the report which Mr.
Madison drew and reported as chairman, containing an address to
the states in recommendation of the five per cent, duty ; a document
equally replete with clear and sound reasoning, and manly and elegant
exhortation. If such a series of efforts to uphold the authority and good faith of
the nation failed at the time, yet Hamilton and the other members
of congress who partook of his fervor and patriotism, had the merit,
at least, of preserving the honor of congress, while every other attri
bute of power was lost. There are other instances on record in the
journals of that memorable session, in which Colonel Hamilton was
foremost to testify national gratitude for services in the field, and to
show a lively sense of the sanctity of national faith. He was chair
man of the committee which reported resolutions honorable to the
character and services of Baron Steuben ; and he introduced a resolu
tion calling upon the states to remove every legal obstruction under
their local jurisdictions in the way of the entire and faithful execution
of the treaty of peace. His seat in congress expired at the end of the
year 1783 ; but his zeal for the establishment of a national government,

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
competent to preserve us from insult abroad and degradation and
dissension at home, and fitted to restore credit, to protect liberty, and
to cherish and display our resources, kept increasing in intensity.
His statesman-like views became more and more enlarged and compre
hensive, and the action of his mind more rapid, as we approached the
crisis of our destiny.
On the recovery of New York in the autumn of 1783, Mr. Hamil
ton assumed the practice of the law ; but his mind was still deeply
occupied with discussions concerning the public welfare. In the
winter of 1784, his pamphlet productions under the signature of
Phocion, and addressed " to the considerate citizens of New York,"
excited very great interest. Their object was to check the intempe
rate spirit which prevailed on the recovery of the city of New York ;
to vindicate the constitutional and treaty rights of all classes of per
sons inhabiting the southern district of New York, then recently
recovered from the enemy's possession ; and to put a stop to every kind
of proscriptive policy and legislative disabilities, as being incompatible
with the treaty of peace, the spirit of whiggism, the dictates of policy,
and the voice of law and justice. His appeal to the good sense
and patriotism of the public was not made in vain. The force of plain
truth carried his doctrines along against the stream of prejudice, and
overcame every obstacle.
Colonel Hamilton had scarcely began to display his great powers
as an advocate at the bar, when he was again called into public life.
He was elected a member of assembly for the city of New York, in
1786, and in the ensuing session he made several efforts to surmount
the difficulties, and avert the evils, which encompassed the country.
The state of Vermont was in fact independent, but she was not in the
confederacy. His object was to relieve the nation from such a peril,
and he introduced a bill into the house of assembly renouncing juris
diction over that state, and preparing the way for its admission into
the union. His proposition was ably resisted by counsel, heard at the
bar of the house, and acting on behalf of claimants of lands in Ver
mont, under grant from New York. Mr. Hamilton promptly met
and answered the objections to the bill with his usual ability and
familiar knowledge of the principles of public law. In the same ses
sion he made bold but unavailing efforts to prop up and sustain the
tottering fabric of the confederation, and the prostrate dignity and
powers of congress. His motion and very distinguished speech in favor
of the grant to congress of an import duty of five per cent., was
voted down in silence without attempting an answer. But a new era

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
was commencing. The clouds began to disperse, and the horizon
was soon seen to kindle and glow with the approaches of a brighter
day. Hamilton was destined to display the rich fruits of his reflec
tion and experience, and his entire devotedness to his country's cause
in a more exalted sphere. In the same session he was appointed one of
the three New York delegates to the general convention, recommended
by congress to be held at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to revise and
amend the articles of confederation.
His services in that convention were immensely valuable. All
contemporary information confirms it. His object was to make the
experiment of a great federative republic, moving in the largest sphere,
and resting entirely on a popular basis, as complete, satisfactory, and
decisive as possible, in favor of civil liberty, public security and
national greatness. He considered the best interests of mankind, and
the character of free and popular institutions, as being deeply, and
perhaps finally, involved in the result. Experimental propositions
were made in the convention, and received as suggestions for con
sideration. The highest toned proposition which he ever made, was
that the president and senate should be elected by electors chosen by
the people, and that they as well as the judges should hold their offices
during good behavior, and that the house of representatives should
be elected triemiially. His opinions essentially changed during the
progress of the discussions, and he became satisfied that it would be
dangerous to the public tranquillity, to elect by popular election a
chief magistrate with so permanent a tenure ; and towards the close
of the convention, his subsequent plan gave to the office of president
a duration of only three years.
When the constitution adopted by the convention was submitted to
the consideration of the American people, Mr. Hamilton, in associa
tion with Mr. Jay and Mr. Madison, commenced a series of essays
under the signature of Publius, in explanation and vindication of the
principles of the government. Those essays compose the two Volumes
of that celebrated and immortal work "The Federalist." Several
numbers appeared successively every week in the New York papers,
between October, 1787, and the spring of 1788. The whole work
consists of eighty-five numbers. Mr. Jay wrote five, Mr. Madison
upwards of twenty, and Mr. Hamilton the residue. The value of
the union, the incompetency of the articles of confederation to pre
serve it, and the necessity of a government organized upon the
principles, and clothed with the powers, of the one presented to the
public, were topics discussed with a talent, force, information, skill,

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
and eloquence, to which we had not been accustomed. Mr. Hamilton
was also a member of the New York state convention, which met at
Poughkeepsie in June, 1788. That convention was composed of
many distinguished individuals of great weight of character. Most
of them had been disciplined in the varied services of the revolution.
But as Mr. Hamilton had been a leading: member of the national con-
vention, and had signed the instrument before them, he felt and nobly
sustained the weight of the responsibility attached to his situation
and as he had been also a leading writer in the Federalist, his mind
was familiar with the principles of the constitution, and with every
topic of debate. The wisdom of the commentator was displayed
and enforced by the eloquence of the orator. He was prompt, ardent,
energetic, and overflowing with an exuberance of argument and
illustration. After the constitution had been adopted by the requisite number
of states, it went into operation in the course of the year 1789 ; and
when the treasury department was established, Colonel Hamilton
was appointed secretary of the treasury. He remained in that office
upwards of five years, and resigned it in January, 1795, after having
built up and placed on sound foundations the fiscal concerns of the
nation confided to his care, so as to leave to his successors little more
to do than to follow his precepts, and endeavor to shine by the imita
tion of his example. His great duty consisted in devising and recom
mending a suitable provision for the gradual restoration of public
credit and the faithful discharge of the national debt. His reports as
secretary, made under the direction, of the house of representatives,
were so many didactic dissertations, laboriously wrought and highly
finished, on some of the most difficult and complicated subjects in the
science of political economy. Among those reports, the most interesting
were, first, his report of January, 1790, on a provision for the support
of public credit, in which he showed the necessity of funding the
public debt ; the inexpedience of discrimination between original and
present holders of it ; and the expediency of assuming the state debt.
Second, his report of December, 1790, on the establishment of a
national bank, in which he demonstrated that it was within the reach
of the legitimate powers of the government, and essential to the con
venient and prosperous administration of the national finances. His
reasoning was so clear and cogent, that it carried the measure tri
umphantly through congress ; notwithstanding the objections of Mr.
Jefferson in the executive cabinet, he satisfied the cautious and solid
judgment of Washington. Third, his report of December, 1791, on

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the subject of domestic manufactures. This was one of his most
elaborate reports, equally distinguished for knowledge and strength ;
and he seems not to have entertained a doubt, either of the constitu
tional right of congress to exercise its sound discretion on the subject
or of the wisdom of the legislative encouragement of them in particu
lar cases. Fourth, his report of January, 1795, on a plan for the
further support of public credit. In his view, the true principle to
render public credit immortal, was to accompany the creation of debt
with the means of extinguishing it ; and he recommended a provision
for augmenting the sinking fund, so as to render it commensurate with
the entire debt of the United States. By these financial measures
which he had the honor to suggest and recommend, he enabled his
country to feel and develope its immense resources ; and under his
administration public credit was awakened from death unto life, and
rose with fair proportions and gigantic strength, so as to engage the
attention and command the confidence of Europe. In connection
with these splendid results, the integrity and simplicity with which he
conducted his department, and which the most jealous and penetrating
inquisition into all the avenues of his office could never question,
forms with posterity one of his fairest titles to fame.
While Colonel Hamilton presided over the treasury department,
the French revolution burst forth with destructive violence, and
brought on an embittered war between Great Britain and the French
republic. Being a member of President Washington's cabinet council,
Mr. Hamilton was one of the advisers of the proclamation of neu
trality in April, 1793, and he supported it by his vigorous pen. That
proclamation was the index to the foreign policy of Washington, and
it was temperately but firmly maintained against the intrigue and
insolence of the French minister to the United States, and against all
the force and fury of the turbulent passions of the times, engendered
and inflamed by the French democracy. He aided the American
policy of neutrality in some fugitive pieces under the signature No
Jacobin, and in the more elaborate essays of Pacificus, and vastly
more so by his advice in favor of the timely mission of Chief Justice
Jay, as minister extraordinary to Great Britain, in the spring of 1794.
After Colonel Hamilton's return to private life and to the practice
of his profession in the city of New York, he felt himself called upon
by a sense of duty to vindicate the justice and wisdom of Mr. Jay's
treaty, which had adjusted and extinguished the complaints and diffi
culties existing between the two nations. This he did in a series
of essays under the signature of Camillus, in the summer of 1795.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
They were profound and exhausting commentaries on. particular
branches of public law, and sustained with great ability and a tho
rough loiowledge of the subject, the grounds on which our treaty and
neutral claims and commercial interests had been ascertained and
adjusted. On reassuming his profession, Colonel Hamilton entered at once
into an overwhelming share of professional business. He was a great
favorite with the New York merchants ; and he justly deserved to be
so, for he had uniformly proved himself to be an enlightened, intrepid,
and persevering friend to the commercial prosperity of the country.
He was a great master of commercial law, as well as of the principles
of international jurisprudence. There were no deep recesses of the
science which he did not explore. He would occasionally draw from
the fountains of the civil law, and illustrate and enforce the enlight
ened decisions of Mansfield, by the severe judgment of Emerigon, and
the lucid commentaries of Valin. In short, he conferred dignity and
high reputation on the profession, of which he was indisputably the
first of the first rank, by his indefatigable industry, his thorough
researches, his logical powers, his solid judgment, his winning candor,
and his matchless eloquence.
In the spring of 1798, he was involved once more in political dis
cussion. The depredations of France upon our commerce, and the
insults heaped upon our ministers, left to this country no alternative
but open and determined resistance. At that crisis Mr. Hamilton
published a number of essays in the New York papers under the sig
nature of Titus Manlius, with a view to rouse the people of this
country to a sense of impending danger, and to measures of defence
which should be at once vigorous and effectual. No productions of
any pen ever portrayed in more just and more glowing colors, the
atrocities of revolutionary France towards her own people, and
towards other nations, under the impetus of unprincipled ambition
and ruthless fanaticism. He suggested that we ought to suspend our
treaties with France, fortify our harbors, protect our commerce, attack
their predatory cruisers on our coast, create a respectable naval force,
and raise, organize, and discipline a respectable body of troops, as an
indispensable precaution against attempts at invasion. The facts were
so undeniable, and the conclusions so just, that in the summer of 1798,
all those precautionary and necessary measures were literally carried
into execution by congress, and received the prompt and hearty sanc-
on of the nation. At the earnest recommendation of General Wash-
13

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ington, Hamilton was appointed inspector-general of the small
provincial army that was raised in that year.
That public trust did not detach him from his profession, nor long
detain him from its duties. He continued his devotedness to the bar
during the short residue of his life. In the winter of 1804, Colonel
Burr was proposed at Albany as a candidate for governor. General
Hamilton, at a public meeting of persons belonging to the federal
party, decidedly objected to the nomination, declaring that he deemed
Colonel Burr an unsafe and unfit person to be placed in such a trust,
and that he would never unite with his party on such a candidate.
Declarations of that kind made on public and patriotic grounds, and
when it was his right and his duty to make them if he thought so,
(and of which no one doubted,) cost him his life. In the summer fol
lowing, after Colonel Burr had lost the election, he deemed it expedient
to call General Hamilton personally to account for what he had
said. The latter very mistakingly thought it necessary to meet his
antagonist in the field. He fell on the 12th July, 1804, and all Ame
rica mourned over the fate of such an innocent and illustrious victim.
14
J. K.

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JOHN EAGER HOWARD.

In the history of the world there is no instance, where love of coun
try has been exhibited in bolder deeds, than by those who carried us
through the struggle for independence. The battles which were
fought employed but few persons, it is true, compared with the im
mense armies brought into the field by more recent warfare ; but
then the stake for which they contended was of such magnitude,
that the present political condition of the civilized world can be
traced up to its being won. The narratives of battles fought by
armies of fifty or a hundred thousand men upon a side, confuse
the reader by their number and perplexing generalities ; but we view
the struggle of smaller bodies, with some portion of the intense
interest with which we would regard a tournament, where every
thrust of the lance or stroke of the sword would be visible with
painful distinctness. In the hard fought battles of the south, we can
trace the movement of almost every corps ; and although much
controversy has arisen within the last few years respecting many
of them, yet none has existed with regard to the conspicuous part
acted by the subject of this memoir.
John Eager Howard was born on the 4th of June, 1752, in
Baltimore county, and state of Maryland. His grandfather, Joshua
Howard, an Englishman by birth, having when very young left his
father's house, in the vicinity of Manchester, to join the army of
the Duke of York, subsequently James the second, during Mon
mouth's insurrection, was afterwards afraid to encounter his parents'
displeasure, and came to seek his fortune in America. This was in
the year 1685-6. He obtained a grant of the land in Baltimore
county, upon which Colonel Howard was born, (and which is still
in the family,) and married Miss Joanna O'Carroll, whose father had
lately emigrated from Ireland. Cornelius, one of his sons by this
lady, and father of the subject of this sketch, married Miss Ruth
Eager, whose estate adjoined, and now constitutes a part of the city
of Baltimore. The Eagers came from England, probably soon after

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the charter to Lord Baltimore ; but the records afford little informa
tion prior to 1658, when the estate near Baltimore was purchased.
During the interval of a century that elapsed between the emigration
of these early settlers and the revolution, the ancestors of Colonel
Howard appear to have pursued the quiet occupation of cultivating
their farms, without participating in the political concerns of the
colony. At least, no traces can now be discovered of their activity.
John Eager Howard, not educated for any particular profession,
was induced to take up arms by the circumstances of his country.
Upon his expressing a desire to take a part in the approaching
struggle, one of the committee of safety offered to procure for him
the commission of colonel ; but he expressed his distrust of being
able to perform the duties appertaining to so high a rank, and pre
ferred the humbler station of a captain. Such a commission was
accordingly obtained, in one of those bodies of militia termed flying
camps, in the regiment commanded by Colonel J. Carvil Hall. The
commission was made dependant upon his ability to recruit thirty
men. Such was the esteem in which Captain Howard was held in his
neighborhood, that he enlisted a company in two days, and marched
immediately to join the army. He was present at the battle of
White Plains, and continued to serve until December, 1776, when
his corps was dismissed. In the preceding September, congress had*
wisely resolved to raise eighty-eight battalions to serve during the
war, the officers of which were to be commissioned by congress ;
and in the organization of the number allotted to Maryland,
Captain Howard was requested to accept the situation of major.
The winter of 1776-7 was industriously devoted to raising troops
upon the continental establishment, and early in April we find him
marching with part of his regiment to join the army at Rocky Hill,
near Princeton, with which he continued until the British crossed
over to Staten Island, on the 30th of June, when he received
information of the death of his father ; upon which Colonel Hall
sent him home to superintend the recruiting service. In the
following September he rejoined the army, a few days after the
battle of Brandywine, and at the battle of Germantown gave
conspicuous proofs of that cool courage which afterwards so greatly
distinguished him. As the incidents of this action have become the
theme of discussion, in consequence of Judge Johnson's account of it
in his life of Greene, and as this is not the appropriate occasion to
review the controversy, even if sufficient materials were at hand,

JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
we shall confine our remarks to the personal share and observation
which Major Howard experienced. He was then major of the
fourth regiment, commanded by Colonel Hall ; and in consequence
of the latter's being disabled early in the action, and Lieutenant-
Colonel Samuel Smith having been detached to Fort Mifflin, Major
Howard assumed the command of the regiment, which formed a
part of Sullivan's division, upon the extreme left when displayed, and
upon the west side of the Germantown road. In the attack these
troops encountered the British corps of light infantry, which had
been posted some distance in advance of the main body, and after a
sharp contest, pursued them through their encampment, Major
Howard passing with his regiment amidst the standing tents.
Continuing upon the west side of the road, and passing Chew's
house without any serious injury from the fire of the British troops
then occupying it, the Maryland troops (almost exclusively compos
ing Sullivan's division) advanced about a quarter of a mile farther
cowards the main body of the British army, where they maintained
their position until the unsuccessful attack upon the house caused
a retreat. Upon again passing this temporary fortress, (the unfor
tunate character of which was amply redeemed as far as Major
Howard was personally concerned, by his finding it, a few years
afterwards, the summer residence of the lady whom he married,)
the garrison sallied out and attacked their retiring foe ; but a return
of the fire killed the officer who commanded the party, and no
farther molestation ensued. It was the opinion of Colonel Howard,
that instead of Musgrave's retreat into the house being a prompt
movement, the hasty resolution of military genius stimulated by the
pressure of instant danger, it was only the execution of a plan pre
viously digested and arranged in case of attack. After the marriage
of Colonel Howard, he was repeatedly shown, both by the family
and neighbors, the ground where Musgrave had been encamped for
some time previous to the battle, and which, from its vicinity to the
house, was probably selected for the purpose. So firmly was he
persuaded of this, that he did not believe Musgrave to have been
with the light infantry when they were defeated, as above stated.
The occupancy of the house and consequent halt of a portion of
the American troops, certainly exercised a most pernicious influence
upon the result of the battle, although it could not have been the only
cause of failure, because a body of troops (Muhlenberg and Scott's
brigades) passed it upon the eastern, whilst the Marylanders were
passing it upon the western side. Those upon the east penetrated

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
so far into the British lines, that the gallant ninth Virginia regiment
was assailed in front and upon both flanks. Mathews surrendered,
but nine bayonet wounds bore evidence that he had resisted to the
very last extremity. If the question should occur, why the concert
of operations was not renewed after so many corps had passed
Chew's house, the answer is given by referring to the dense fog
which covered the earth, so that the positions of the various divi
sions could not be ascertained. General Charles Cotesworth Pinck-
ney described the fog as follows : — "the only way we knew of the
enemy's being drawn up in opposition to us was, by their fire and
whistling of their balls ; and it was some time after they retreated
before we knew of it, and that only by our not hearing the whist
ling of their balls, and seeing no flashes in our front."
Colonel Howard said of it, " whilst we were halted, the British
army were formed in the school house lane, directly in our front,
six or seven hundred yards from us ; but owing to the denseness
of the fog, which had much increased after the action commenced,
we could not see them." The impossibility of knowing where
the various divisions of the army were at any given moment,
and of transmitting orders to them, even if their positions had been
known, caused the battle to become a disjointed series of detached
encounters, instead of a concentrated effort to support a fixed plan.
From this period Colonel Howard remained with the army, and
was present at the battle of Monmouth, although the particular
share that he bore in it cannot now be ascertained.
In April, 1780, the Maryland and Delaware troops, amounting to
fourteen hundred infantry, were detached from the army to effect a
diversion to relieve the city of Charleston, South Carolina, then
besieged by the British under Clinton. On the third of May these
troops embarked upon Elk river, at the head of the Chesapeake
Bay, but were not able to reach Petersburg, in Virginia, until June.
As Charleston capitulated on the twelfth of May, they could not
possibly have reached the upper part of Carolina in time to have
produced any relief to that important post, even if the facilities of
transportation in the bay had then been as great as they now are •
but it may be interesting to compare the tedious progress of those
troops with the rapid movements effected under our present improved
communications. In the summer of 1832 an Indian war broke out
upon the upper waters of fhe Mississippi, and a portion of the United
States army was transported thither from Old Point Comfort, in Vir
ginia. Their route led them over a part of the same course, revers-

JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
ing the direction, which had been followed in 1780 ; but instead of
occupying a month in traversing the waters of the Chesapeake, as
had been necessarily the case with the continental army, they had
in that space of time reached the far distant regions of the west, in
the state of Illinois. Twenty-four hours would now be sufficient to
move fourteen hundred troops from the head of Elk river to Peters
burg, an operation that in 1780 employed a month. When Wash
ington moved upon Cornwallis, it required four weeks to transport
his army from the Hudson to James river, and even then we must
admire his celerity ; now one week would be more than enough.
On the first of June, 1779, Major Howard had received the com
mission of " lieutenant-colonel of the fifth Maryland regiment, in
the army of the United States, to take rank as such from the
11th day of March, 1778 ;" and he availed himself of the vicinity
of the troops to Baltimore to arrange his affairs ; as, to use his own
language, "our march to the southward seemed to be a forlorn hope,
and my return very uncertain." He sold some property, which he
converted into half joes, leaving fifty in the hands of a friend, as a
provision in case of his being taken prisoner.
Upon the arrival of the Baron de Kalb at Petersburg, he received
intelligence of the fall of Charleston ; but wisely judging that the
presence of a body of regular troops in the south would sustain the
fortitude of the militia, he pressed on rapidly to Deep Run, in North
Carolina, where he was obliged to halt for want of provisions. On
the 25th July General Gates arrived in camp and took command of
the army, whilst the baron contented himself with the Maryland
division. Flushed with the victory and honor obtained at Saratoga,
Gates overlooked all considerations flowing from the ill condition of
his stores and barren nature of the country before him, and marched
forward in quest of his enemy. Blinded by the luxuriance of the
laurels upon his brow, and heedless of the advice of those who
knew the country, he pressed on, and supported his troops upon
such supplies of lean beef as could be caught in the woods ; and
which, when boiled with unripe corn, constituted their chief diet.
Some of the officers directed the meat to be made into soup, and
with a refinement of luxury that would amaze the cooks of the pre
sent day, contrived to render it palatable by emptying into it the
contents of the bags which held their hair powder. It is but justice
to mention, however, that they were not confined exclusively to this
meagre diet, but occasionally enlarged their bill of fare by the very
agreeable addition of green peaches.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Whilst Gates was making a night inarch to attack the British
army, commanded, as he thought, by Lord Rawdon, it so happened
that they were marching to attack him. Cornwallis had arrived
from Charleston with a strong reinforcement on the 14th, and
resolved to assault Gates in his camp. On the night of the fifteenth
the light troops encountered each other in the woods to their mutual
astonishment. Then, for the first time, Gates learned that Corn
wallis was his antagonist, and that the enemy were equal, if not
superior to himself, in numbers. A retreat was impossible, and
nothing remained but to form the line of battle. Nothing is more
trying to militia than to await an attack. Drawn up in a line, and
having nothing external to engage their attention, they turn their
thoughts inward. The approaching battle is viewed through the
magnifying mist of a. heated imagination, and armed with unknown
terrors, particularly if it is their first fight. An old soldier thinks of
the chances of escape from death, if he thinks at all ; a young one.
of the danger of being killed. Reflection is of service to the first.
but ruinous to the latter. In the darkness of night these circum
stances act with double force. If to these considerations we add
the reception of the disheartening intelligence that Cornwallis had
reinforced the British army, it is easy to account for the bad conduct
of the militia in the battle of Camden. They gave way early in
the action, and thereby threw the pressure of the whole of the Bri
tish troops entirely upon the two Maryland brigades, aided by a very
few other gallant corps. One of these brigades (in which was
Lieutenant-Colonel Howard) was drawn up in a line with the rest
of the army ; the other was a short distance in the rear, with its
right flank behind the left flank of its colleague. In this position
they maintained the contest obstinately against superior numbers,
and the front brigade at one time made a partially successful
attempt to use the bayonet. Lieutenant-Colonel Howard drove the
corps in front of him out of line ; and if the left wing of the Ame
rican army had *ieen able to occupy the attention of the British
right, the fate of the day would probably have been propitious. But,
attacked in front and flank by a simultaneous charge of horse and
foot, the continental troops were overpowered and driven into the
swamps, hitherto considered impenetrable. Colonel Howard suc
ceeded in keeping a few of his men together, and being joined occa
sionally by other officers and men, reached Charlotte, about sixty
miles off, on the 19th. The writer of this article once asked him

JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
what he found during those three days for his men and himself to
eat ; his brief reply was, " some peaches."
In October a small supply of coarse clothing arrived in camp, and
was appropriated in the first instance to the equipment of four com
panies of light infantry, which were formed into a battalion and
placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Howard, to take
a position nearer to the enemy. Early in December Greene arrived,
and the command of the southern army was transferred to him with
due solemnity. Soon afterwards, a detachment was placed under
Morgan to act farther in the west ; and in it we find Lieutenant-
Colonel Howard, having under him four hundred continental in
fantry, and two companies of Virginia militia under Captains Trip-
lett and Tate. With these troops and Washington's cavalry, together
with a considerable body of militia, Morgan fought the celebrated
battle of the Cowpens, on the 17th January, 1781. It is not our
purpose, either on this or any occasion, to encroach upon the pro
vince of the historian, by attempting to give a particular description
of any of the southern battles, or to embark in a controversy with
any author ; but it is absolutely necessary to contradict the account
of this affair, as it is recorded in Johnson's life of Greene ; and we
rest upon the manuscript or printed statements of Colonel Howard
himself, whose retentive memory and scrupulous accuracy render
his authority unquestionable. It was Howard, and not Morgan, who
gave the order to the right company to change its front and protect
his flank ; and it was Howard who afterwards ordered the charge
with the bayonet upon his own responsibility. We shall use his own
language. " Seeing my right flank was exposed to the enemy, I
attempted to change the front of Wallace's company; (Virginia
regulars ;) in doing it some confusion ensued, and first a part and
then the whole of the company commenced a retreat. The officers
along the line seeing this, and supposing that orders had been given
for a retreat, faced their men about and moved off. Morgan, who
had mostly been with the militia, quickly rode up to me and ex
pressed apprehensions of the event ; but I soon removed his fears by
pointing to the line, and observing that men were not beaten who
retreated in that order. He then ordered me to keep with the men,
until we came to the rising ground near Washington's horse ; and
he rode forward to fix on the most proper place for us to halt and
face about. In a minute we had a perfect line. The enemy were
now very near us. Our men commenced a very destructive fire,
which they little expected, and a few rounds occasioned great dis-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
order in their ranks. While in this confusion 1 ordered a charge
with the bayonet, which order was obeyed with great alacrity. As
the line advanced, I observed their artillery a short distance in front,
and called to Captain Ewing, who was near me, to take it. Captain
Anderson (now General Anderson of Montgomery county, Maryland)
hearing the order, also pushed for the same object ; and both being
emulous for the prize, kept pace until near the first piece, when
Anderson, by putting the end of his spontoon forward into the
ground, made a long leap, which brought him upon the gun and
gave him the honor of the prize. My attention was now drawn to
an altercation of some of the men with an artillery-man, who ap
peared to make it a point of honor not to surrender his match. The
men, provoked by his obstinacy, would have bayoneted him on the
spot, had I not interfered and desired them to spare the life of so
brave a man. He then surrendered his match. In the pursuit I was
led to the right, in among the seventy-first, who were broken into
squads ; and as I called to them to surrender, they laid down their
arms and the officers delivered up their swords. Captain Duncan-
son, of the seventy-first grenadiers, gave me his sword and stood by
me. Upon getting on my horse, I found him pulling at my saddle,
and he nearly unhorsed me. I expressed my displeasure, and asked
him what he was about. The explanation was, that they had
orders to give no quarter, and they did not expect any ; and as my
men were coming up. he was afraid they would use him ill. I ad
mitted his excuse, and put him into the care of a sergeant. I had
messages from him some years afterwards, expressing his obligation
for my having saved his life."
At one time Colonel Howard had in his hand seven swords of
officers who had surrendered to him personally, whilst he was " in
among the seventy-first."
The moral effect of this victory was felt throughout the whole
country. Congress voted medals to Morgan, Washington, and How
ard, descriptive of their conduct upon that memorable day.
The action at the Cowpens is believed to have been the first in
which the American troops fairly conquered the British, with the
bayonet, in the open field; and no higher compliment could be paid
to those engaged in it, than the subsequent conduct of Greene in
ordering the Maryland line to use the bayonet in every battle.
In the extreme fatigue and danger incurred by the rear guard in
protecting the retreat of Greene into Virginia, the subject of this
memoir bore his full share. After refreshing and reinforcing his

JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
array, that enterprising general resumed offensive operations, and
inarched into Carolina to fight his enemy. The battle of Guilford
ensued, in which Howard again exhibited the discipline of his regi
ment, and won additional honor for himself. Having the advantage
of one of his manuscript notes, we shall use his own language.
¦'The second regiment was at some distance to the left of the first,
in the cleared ground, with its left flank thrown back, so as to form
a line almost at right angles with the first regiment. The guards,
after they had defeated General Stephens, pushed into the cleared
ground and run at the second regiment, which immediately gave
way ; owing, I believe, in a great measure, to the want of officers,
and having so many new recruits. The guards pursued them into
our rear, where they took two pieces of artillery. This transaction
was in a great measure concealed from the first regiment by the
wood, and unevenness of the ground. But my station being on the
left of the first regiment, and next the cleared ground, Captain Gib
son, deputy adjutant-general, rode to me, and informed me that a
party of the enemy, inferior in number to us, were pushing through
the cleared ground and into our rear, and that if we would face
about and charge them, we might take them. We had been for
some time engaged with a part of Webster's brigade, though not
hard pressed, and at that moment their fire had slackened. I rode
to Gunby and gave him the information. He did not hesitate to
order the regiment to face about, and we were immediately engaged
with the guards. Our men gave them some well directed fires, and
we then advanced and continued firing. At this time Gunby's horse
was shot, and when I met him some time after, he informed me that
his horse fell upon him, and it was with difficulty he extricated him
self. Major Anderson was killed about this time. As we advanced
I observed Washington's horse, and as their movements were quicker
than ours, they first charged and broke the enemy. My men followed
very quickly, and we passed through the guards, many of whom
had been knocked down by the horse without being much hurt.
We took some prisoners, and the whole were in our power. After
passing through the guards, as before stated, I found myself in the
cleared ground, and saw the seventy-first regiment near the court
house, and other columns of the enemy appearing in different direc
tions. Washington's horse having gone off, I found it necessary to
retire, which I did leisurely; but many of the guards who were lying
on the ground, and who we supposed were wounded, got up and fired
at us as we retired."

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Such is the modest narrative of one of the most spirited charges
in the whole war.
After the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, which we must pass over,
Colonel Gunby returned to his native state, to superintend the
recruiting service, and left Colonel Howard in command of the
regiment, from which he was transferred to the second at the death
of Lieutenant-Colonel Ford, who never recovered from the wound
received in that battle. At Eutaw, therefore, he had the command
of the second regiment. When the Maryland line " swept the field
with their bayonets," it fell to the lot of Colonel Howard to encoun
ter the Buffs, whose resistance was so stubborn, that (according to
Lee) many individuals of the Marylanders and of the Buffs were
mutually transfixed with each other's bayonets. That the contest
was obstinate, is evident from the loss sustained. Colonel Howard
says in a letter, "nearly one half my men were killed or wounded,
and I had seven officers out of twelve disabled ; four killed, and
three severely wounded." Towards the conclusion of the battle he
himself received a ball in the left shoulder, which, passing entirely
through, came out under the shoulder blade, and disabled him. In
a letter to General Small wood, written a few days after the battle,
Greene says, " nothing could exceed the gallantry of the Maryland
line. Colonels Williams, Howard, and all the officers, exhibited
acts of uncommon bravery; and the free use of the bayonet, by this
and some other corps, gave us the victory."
Immediately after the battle Greene retreated about seven miles,
and so long a time elapsed before Colonel Howard could have his
wound dressed, that the surgeon, after bestowing upon him all the
attention that a sincere friendship inspired, whispered to the attend
ant to be vigilant during the night ; for if the wound began to bleed
again, the patient would probably expire before assistance could
reach him, unless it was instantly rendered. It is mentioned as an
anecdote to illustrate the self-relying character of Colonel Howard
that when the surgeon visited him in the morning, he was much
surprised to learn from his patient, that he had overheard the cau
tion on the preceding night, and determined to remain awake him
self, which he had accordingly done. As soon as he was able to be
moved, he was carried to his native state, accompanied by the most
affectionate commendations of General Greene, who observed in
one of his letters, that Colonel Howard was as good an officer as
the world afforded, and deserved a statue of gold, no less than the
Roman and Grecian heroes.

JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
At the conclusion of the war Colonel Howard retired to his
patrimonial estate, and soon after married Margaret Chew, daughter
of Benjamin Chew, of Philadelphia ; a lady whose courteous man
ners and elegant hospitality will long be remembered by the society
of Baltimore, of which, as well as of the best company throughout
the country, her house was the gay and easy resort. In November,
1788, he was chosen the governor of Maryland, which post he filled
for the constitutional term of three years, during which period the
federal government was adopted and put into operation, receiving all
the support that the influence of the governor could bestow. In
May, 1794, he was appointed a major-general of militia, but declined
accepting the commission. In November, 1795, General Washing
ton invited him to accept a seat in his cabinet, and take charge of
the war department, but the offer was respectfully declined. " Had
your inclination," said Washington in reply, " and private pursuits
permitted you to take the office that was offered to you, it would
have been a very pleasing circumstance to me, and I am persuaded,
as I observed to you on a former occasion, a very acceptable one to
the public. But the reasons which you have assigned for not doing
so carry conviction along with them, and must, however reluctantly,
be submitted to."
At the time of this offer he was a member of the senate in the
legislature of Maryland, from which he was transferred, in 1796, to
the senate of the United States, being elected first to fill a vacancy
occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Potts, and afterwards for the
full term of service, which expired on the 4th of March, 1803. In
1798, when it was probable that Washington would have to take the
field again, Howard was one of the few officers whom he insisted
upon naming, and whom he intended to bring to his aid as one of the
brigadier-generals. But the threatening storm passed away, and in
1803 he finally withdrew from public life, devoting himself to his
own private concerns, intermingled with the exercise of a liberal but
unostentatious hospitality, and a participation in all leading measures
for the advancement of the city of Baltimore.
After the lapse of a few years, the sound of the trumpet and drum
broke in upon his retirement. The capture of Washington, in 1814,
produced an excitement in the adjacent portion of the country, which
can better be remembered or imagined than described. Amidst the
din of preparation for resistance to the meditated attack upon Balti
more, a suggestion was made that it would be wise to capitulate.
As soon as it reached Colonel Howard, the spirit of the old soldier

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
burst forth in the following indignant denunciation. " I have" said
he, " as much property at stake as most persons, and I have four sons
in the field. But sooner would I see my sons weltering in their blood,
and my property reduced to ashes, than so far disgrace the country."
The committee of safety, of which he was a prominent member,
left no effort untried to prepare for defence, and the result is recorded
upon one of the most glorious pages of our history. A troop of aged
men was organized to render such services as their infirmities would
allow, and Colonel Howard was, by unanimous consent, placed at
its head. Although this corps was intended to act only within the
city, yet he had resolved to be present at the battle to offer his advice
or assistance ; but it occurred on the day preceding that on which
he expected it to take place.
In 1821 he had the misfortune to lose his eldest daughter, and in
1822, his eldest son, John Eager Howard junior, whose character
had secured the warm affection of a numerous circle of friends, and
who had already filled, with universal approbation, some of the prin
cipal offices in the state. In 1824 he had the farther misfortune to
lose his wife, and his own health began to decline. The effect of
his early wound had always been felt upon his taking the slightest
cold ; but now his constitution suffered a gradual decay. In Octo
ber, 1827, a slight exposure brought on a severe cold, which the most
active treatment could not subdue. After a few days' illness, which
he bore with inflexible and characteristic fortitude, he expired on the
12th, without a struggle or a groan.
His funeral was attended by the public authorities of the city, and
an immense concourse of people. A numerous detachment of the
military also escorted the remains of the soldier and patriot to their
place of rest. One of the newspapers spoke of it in the following
manner. "We do not remember ever to have witnessed a greater
concourse than that which composed the funeral procession, and
lined the streets along which it passed. A mournful interest ap
peared to pervade all ranks of the community, who flocked from
every quarter to take a farewell glimpse of the remains of one, who
had possessed, whilst living, their unbounded respect. The military
appeared in fine order, and the hollow beat of their muffled drums
told that a soldier had gone to his rest." Mr. Adams happened to be
in Baltimore on the day of the funeral, which he attended, after
sending to the family the following beautiful and appropriate letter.
" The President of the United States has received with deep con
cern the communication from the family of the late Colonel How-

JOHN EAGER HOWARD.
ard, informing him of the decease of their lamented parent. Sym
pathizing with their affliction upon the departure of their illustrious
relative, he only shares in the sentiment of universal regret with
which the offspring of the revolutionary age, throughout the union,
will learn the close of a life, eminently adorned with the honors of
the cause of independence, and not less distinguished in the career of
peaceful magistracy in later time. He will take a sincere though
melancholy satisfaction in uniting with his fellow citizens in attend
ing the funeral obsequies of him, whose name has been long and
will .ever remain, enrolled among those of the benefactors of his
country. " Baltimore, 15th October, 1827."
At the ensuing session of the legislature of Maryland, resolutions
were adopted of a highly complimentary character, and directing
the portrait of the deceased to be placed in the chamber of the house
of delegates. From the scene of his youthful exploits also, the voice
of the house of representatives was heard declaring, " that it was
with feelings of profound sorrow and regret, that South Carolina
received the melancholy intelligence of the death of Colonel John
Eager Howard of Maryland, and that the state of South Carolina
can never forget the distinguished services of the deceased."
The beauty of the thought tempts us to make the following extract
from an obituary notice written by the most celebrated dignitary of
the Catholic church. " One after another, the stars of our revolu
tionary firmament are sinking below the horizon. They rise in
another hemisphere as they set to us ; and the youth of other times
will gaze upon their lustre, as he learns their names and marks
them clustering into constellations, which will recall to his mind
some interesting event of our period of struggle."
The character of Colonel Howard partook of the strength of the
school in which it was framed. His first lessons, received in the
thoughtful infancy of our country, had imbued his mind with the
nervous and unadorned wisdom of the time. His manhood, hard
ened in the stormy season of the revolution, was taught patience by
privation, and virtue by common example. By his worth he had
won the painful station of a champion who was not to be spared
from the field of action, and his sense of duty was too peremptory to
permit him to refuse the constant requisitions of this perilous honor.
In the camp, therefore, amidst the accidents of war, his moral con
stitution acquired the hardihood, and his arm the prowess of ancient

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
chivalry. He reached in safety the close of that anxious struggle,
with a mind braced by calamity and familiarized to great achieve
ments. It threw him on the world in the vigor of his days, gifted
with the qualities of a provident, brave, temperate, and inflexible
patriot. The characteristics thus acquired, never faded in subse
quent life.' Pursued by an unusual share of honor and regard as a
founder of the liberties of his country, he was never beguiled by the
homage it attracted. A fortune that might be deemed princely, was
never used to increase the lustre of his station or the weight of his
authority, but was profusely dispensed in public benefactions and
acts of munificence. With the allurements of power continually
soliciting his ambition, he never threw himself into the public service
but when the emergencies of the state left him no privilege of refu
sal. Under such conditions only, he administered the grave duties
of office, with an integrity, wisdom, and justice, that gave to his
opinions an authentic and absolute sway. Amidst the frantic agita
tions of party, which for a series of years convulsed the nation, he,
almost alone in his generation, won the universal confidence. The
most inveterate popular prejudices seemed to yield to the affectionate
conviction of his impregnable honesty, his unblenching love of
country, and that personal independence which neither party zeal
could warp from its course, nor passion subvert, nor faction alarm ;
and in their bitterest exacerbations, his fellow citizens of all ranks
turned towards him as to a fountain of undefiled patriotism. In
private life he was distinguished for the amenity of his manners, his
hospitality, and his extensive and useful knowledge. He possessed a
memory uncommonly minute, and a love of information that never
sank under the labor of acquisition. These faculties rendered him,
perhaps, the most accurate repository of the history of his own time,
in this or any other country. His habits of life were contemplative,
cautious, scrupulously just, and regulated by the strictest method.
Few men have enjoyed a more enviable lot; — his youth dis
tinguished in the field, his age in the council, and every period
solaced by the attachment of friends. Affluent, in fortune, as rich
in public regard, and blessed in his domestic and personal associa
tions, he has glided away from the small band of his compatriots, as
full of honors as of years. The example of such a citizen is a legacy
to his country, of more worth than the precepts of an age.

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OTHO HOLLAND WILLIAMS.

The military operations of the revolution naturally present them
selves in review in two series, divided geographically by the Chesa
peake bay ; so distinctly drawn is this line, that in every connected
history of the period, from the evacuation of Boston to the capture
of Cornwallis, we find the narrative alternately carries the reader's
attention from one to the other side of that estuary.
This has placed the officers of the army in groups, which are
inseparable in our mental associations, and renders the repetition
of much historical memoranda unnecessary in this work, in which
the memoirs of many of the most prominent actors in the same scenes
are brought together ; we shall, therefore, in the present instance,
confine ourselves to as brief a space as is possible, with a due regard
to the merits of an accomplished gentleman and gallant soldier.
Otho Holland Williams was born in Prince George county,
Maryland, in 1748. His ancestors were among the earliest emi
grants from Britain, after Lord Baltimore became proprietor of the
province. At the age of about twelve years, he was left an orphan,
but was protected and educated by his brother-in-law, Mr. Ross.
While yet a youth, he was placed in the clerk's office of the county
of Frederick, and he afterwards removed to the clerk's office of Bal
timore. He was then about eighteen years of age, nearly six feet high,
elegantly formed, his whole appearance and conduct manly beyond
his years, and his manners such as made friends of all who knew
him. He returned to Frederick, and early in the revolutionary war
(1775) was appointed a lieutenant in a rifle company, commanded
by Captain Price. The company marched to Boston, and his captain
being promoted, he succeeded to the command of it. When Fort
Washington was attacked, he had the rank of major, and as com
mander of the riflemen, was stationed in a wood in advance of the
fort. The Hessians attempted to dislodge him, and were twice
driven back with great slaughter. Having been reinforced, they

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
made a third attempt, and succeeded in driving the riflemen from
their position. In this last attack, Major Williams received a
wound in the groin, and was taken prisoner. He was sent to New
York, where he was suffered to go at large on his parole. His fine
martial appearance, gentlemanly manners, and polite deportment,
procured for him civilities that few others were favored with, until
a suspicion arose that, being competent, he would carry on a secret
correspondence with General Washington, and on that suspicion
alone, he was put in close confinement, with ten or eleven other
officers, under the provost guard, in a small room not more than six
teen feet square, without the privilege of egress, or of having the
room cleaned more than once or twice a week. Their provisions
were of the coarsest kind, and barely sufficient to keep soul and body
together. In that miserable situation he was kept, until exchanged
for Major Ackland,* who had been wounded and taken prisoner at
Burgoyne's defeat. The length of time he was confined, and the
treatment he received during that period, shattered his fine constitu
tion, atid planted the seeds of the complaint which terminated his
existence. During his captivity, Major Williams was promoted to the
command of the sixth regiment of the Maryland line ; that division
marched to the south, and in all the battles that were fought by that
celebrated line, Colonel Williams distinguished himself.
He acted as deputy adjutant-general of the southern army, under
General Gates, and has left a detailed and lucid narrative of the dis
astrous campaign of 1780, from which we shall occasionally borrow.

* These gallant young men became warm friends before they parted ; and Gene
ral "Wilkinson, in his Memoirs, has preserved an anecdote of the period, which we
transplant to our pages, for the double purpose of illustrating our subject, and of ren
dering a tribute to the memory of a generous enemy, who afterwards lost his life in
vindicating the military character of Americans. " On an occasion, after dining with
Lady Harriet, he (Ackland) proposed to Major Williams to visit an assembly ; they
entered, and the attention of the belles and beaux could not but be attracted by two
such elegant figures as Ackland and Williams ; but the rancour of civil animosity
prevailed ov,r the obligations of good breeding, and Williams was shunned like a
pestilence. Ackland made his introduction general, but without effect, and after saun
tering across the room several times, ' Come, Williams,' said he, ' this society is too
illiberal for you and me ; let us go home, and sup with Lady Harriet.'
" Ackland, after his return to England, at a dinner of military men, where the cou
rage of the Americans was made a question, took the negative side with his usual
decision ; he was opposed, warmth ensued, and he gave the lie direct to a Lieutenant
Lloyd, fought him, and was shot through the head. Lady Harriet lost her senses, and
continued deranged two years."

OTHO HOLLAND WILLIAMS.
After the battle of Camden, all the fragments of the army that
could be gathered together were marched off from Charlotte to Salis
bury, "constituting," in the language of the narrative referred to, "a
wretched remnant of the late southern army ; amongst the rest were
six soldiers who left the hospital with other convalescents ; they had
all suffered in Buford's unfortunate affair, and had but two sound
arms amongst them ; indeed four of them had not one arm among
them, and two only an arm apiece." Such are the shocking specta
cles that war exhibits.
After a little breathing time had been allowed at Hillsborough, a
board of officers, convened by order of General Gates, determined
that all the effective men should be formed into two battalions, con
stituting one regiment ; to be completely officered and provided for
in the best possible manner that circumstances would admit, and the
command of it given to Colonel Williams and Lieutenant- Colonel
Howard. This nucleus of the southern army was encamped at
some distance from the town — if the word "encamped" can be pro
perly applied to men who were sheltered in " wigwams, made of
fence rails, poles, and corn tops." But, notwithstanding this unosten
tatious mode of dwelling, by the judicious conduct of the officers, a
spirit was diffused amongst the troops which was felt by the enemy
in the next encounter. Parade duties were regularly attended,
as well by officers as soldiers, and discipline not only began to
be perfectly restored, but even gave an air of stability and confi
dence to the regiment which all their rags could not disguise. In
this encampment, no circumstance of want or distress was admitted
as an excuse for relaxing from the strictest discipline, to which the
soldiers more cheerfully submitted, as they saw their officers con
stantly occupied in procuring for them whatever was attainable in
their situation. Absolutely without pay; almost destitute of cloth
ing ; often with only a half ration, and never with a whole one,
(without substituting one article for another,) not a soldier was
heard to murmur, after the third or fourth day of their being en
camped. Instead of meeting and conferring in small sullen squads,
as they had formerly done, they filled up the intervals from duty
with manly exercises and field sports ; in short, the officers had very
soon the entire confidence of the men, who divested themselves of all
unnecessary care, and devoted themselves to duty and pastime
within the limits assigned them.
On General Greene's assuming the command of the southern
army, he soon discovered the superior abilities of Colonel Williams,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and appointed him adjutant-general of his army. In this high trust,
he enjoyed the confidence of his general and the army, and fully
merited it by his gallantry and his strict attention to his duties. In
every action — and they were numerous — he displayed tact, judg
ment, and presence of mind. He gained great honor for his conduct
in covering, with the rear guard, which he commanded, the memor
able retreat of the army through North Carolina.
He baffled every attempt of the enemy to bring on a general en
gagement, and by checking his advance, gained sufficient time to
enable the main body of the army to secure its retreat. The preser
vation of that army has been justly attributed to him for his firmness,
coolness, and able manoeuvres.
In the battle at the Eutaw Springs, he led that celebrated charge,
which gained him the highest honors of the day. At a critical
moment General Greene issued the order, " Let Williams advance
and sweep the field with his bayonets." Promptly was the order
obeyed — the field was swept, but the victory was dearly bought.
Near the close of the war, he was sent by General Greene with des
patches to congress, and was by that body promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general, as a reward for his gallant services. About that
period the state collector of the customs for Baltimore, died, and
Williams received the appointment from the governor of Maryland.
The office was lucrative, and he enjoyed it until the adoption of the
constitution of the United States, when Washington appointed him
to the same office, which he held until his death.
General Williams married Mary, the second daughter of Wil
liam Smith, a wealthy merchant of Baltimore, who had been a
member of congress. They had four sons, William, Edward, Henry,
and Otho, all of whom inherited handsome fortunes, and many of
the fine qualities of their father. William and Edward married, the
former Miss Susan Cook, and the latter Miss Gilmore, of Baltimore.
The four brothers have all, however, been called to early graves,
and the only lineal representatives of the gallant, amiable, and ac
complished Williams, are the two sons, and two daughters of his
son William, and a daughter of his son Edward.
The health of General Williams had been very delicate for
many years ; the result of the cruelty inflicted on him while a
prisoner, and of the severe service he was engaged in, during his
campaign in the south. He died on the 16th of July, 1794, on his
way to a watering place, regretted by his country and his friends.

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Ci>urt of -die Southern District oF Now York.

JOHN BROOKS

Governor Brooks was one of the most favorable specimens of a
truly useful character. He united the gentleman, the soldier, the
civil magistrate, and the citizen, in a most perfect harmony of all
the qualities which give respectability to public and private life.
He was born in the village of Medford, near Boston, in the year
1752. His family had been established in this place from the ear
liest settlement of the country, employed, from one generation to
another, in the cultivation of the soil. The father of Governor
Brooks was a respectable farmer ; and he himself passed the early
part of his life in the usual occupations of village husbandry. The
circumstances of the family prevented his acquiring an academical
education ; but he attained, in the town school of Medford, sufficient
knowledge of the learned languages to enable him to engage to
advantage in the study of medicine, — the profession of his choice.
While at school in Medford, the celebrated Count Rumford, a
native of the neighboring town of Woburn, was his associate and
friend ; and the intimacy then formed was kept up by correspond
ence, till the death of that distinguished philosopher and friend of
man. Having completed his medical studies, he established himself in
the practice of his profession in the adjacent town of Reading, and
there he was found at the commencement of the revolutionary war.
No part of the community engaged with greater ardor in the cause
of the country than the members of the medical profession ; a cir
cumstance, no doubt, to be ascribed in part to the brilliant example
and commanding influence of Dr. Joseph Warren, the martyr of
Bunker Hill. A company of minute-men was raised in the town of
Reading, and young Brooks, a stranger, just established in the town,
and but twenty-three years of age, was chosen its commander. He
was indefatigable in drilling and disciplining the men, and prepared
himself for this duty by carefully observing the military trainings
of the British soldiery, in Boston.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
The alarm of the approach of the British, on the nineteenth of
April, was given in advance along the tract of country through
which they were to pass. Colonel Paul Revere passed through
Medford for this purpose, on his way to Concord and Lexington, on
the night of the eighteenth, knocking a^everydoor, and rousing the
inhabitants. In Reading the alarm was received from Medford ;
and Captain Brooks' company was immediately put in motion.
After proceeding some distance on the morning of the nineteenth,
he was ordered, by a superior officer, to halt; but after a short
delay, Brooks took the responsibility of continuing his march
towards Concord. Within a short distance of that place he came
up with the retreating army of the British, by a cross road which
traversed the highway from Concord to Boston, at a point where a
bridge and causeway were thrown over a marsh. Captain Brooks
perceived, that on arriving at the causeway the enemy would have
to call in their flank guards. He accordingly took a position partly
covered by a barn and stone wall, near the road, and greatly
annoyed the flying column of the British. After they had passed,
he joined the other American forces in the pursuit to Charlestown.
In the organization of the army, which immediately took place,
Brooks was appointed a major in Colonel Bridge's regiment. A bat
talion from this regiment formed a part of the detachment under the
command of Colonel Prescott, by which the heights of Charlestown
were fortified on the night of the 16th of June, 1775. Although
Major Brooks' own battalion was not ordered upon this service, he
himself obtained General Ward's assent to attach himself to Colonel
Prescott's party. He was very active, during the night, in assisting
in the work of intrenchment, and, in company with Colonel Prescott,
reconnoitred the enemy. They heard, on their midnight rounds, by
the water's side in Charlestown, the voice of the sentinels on board
the British man-of-war, the Somerset, proclaiming " all's well." As
soon as it was made manifest in the morning, from the enemy's
movements, that they were preparing to cross over and attack the
redoubt, Major Brooks was despatched by Colonel Prescott to
Cambridge, to the general-in-chief, to make known the condition of
affairs, and the want of a reinforcement. He wished to take one of
the artillery horses, for greater expedition. This was opposed by
Colonel Gridley, who was unwilling to risk the safety of the piece ;
and Major Brooks was obliged to perform his errand on foot, which
he did with promptitude and success.
During the residue of the year 1775, Major Brooks paid great

JOHN BROOKS.
attention to the discipline of his regiment, which was considered as
a model in the army. When the new organization of the troops, at
the beginning of the year 1776, took place, he was attached to Colo
nel Webb's regiment, of the Connecticut line. With this regiment
he was detached to assist in throwing up the works on Dorchester
heights, by which the enemy were compelled to evacuate Boston.
After the British retired from Boston, Major Brooks marched, with
the greater part of Washington's army, to Long Island ; and was
actively concerned in the service on that station, and in performing
his duty in the skilful retreat which the army was compelled to
make. After the retreat of the army from Long Island, Washington took
a position at the White Plains. His advanced guard occupied a
hill, about a mile in front of the main army. Colonel Webb's regi
ment formed a part of this advanced corps. The whole of the Bri
tish army moved against this position. Unable, of course, to main
tain the conflict successfully against a force so overwhelming, the
Americans, nevertheless, made a brave and resolute stand. Major
Brooks' gallantry and conduct were conspicuous ; and the regiment
received the particular thanks of Washington, in his general orders,
not only for its firmness in battle, but for the perfect discipline and
good order evinced in the retreat. It is believed to be no injustice
to the other officers of the regiment, to attribute to Major Brooks a
large share of the credit which it acquired for its exact discipline
and soldier-like conduct on this occasion.
This regiment was included in the division of the army which
marched through New Jersey, under the command of General Lee,
to reinforce Washington, on the right bank of the Delaware. Major
Brooks bore his part in the hardships and dangers of this winter
campaign, and remained with the regiment till the term had expired
for which the men had enlisted.
In the campaign of 1777 Major Brooks was advanced to the
rank of lieutenant-colonel, and attached to the eighth regiment of
Massachusetts troops, recruited principally by himself. Colonel M.
Jackson of this regiment having been severely wounded in 1776,
the command in the field devolved principally upon Lieutenant-
Colonel Brooks during the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, and till
he was promoted to the command of the seventh regiment, with the
rank of colonel, on the death of Colonel Alden, in 1779.
In the spring of 1777, after the regiment was recruited. Lieutenant-
Colonel Brooks was ordered to march to Albany and join the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
northern army. On his arrival there, Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk
was besieged by a portion of Burgoyne's army, then in the full career
of success. A division of the American army under General Arnold
was ordered to the relief of the fort, and Brooks' command formed
a part of the detachment. The route lay through a wilderness, for
almost the whole distance of a hundred miles. The inarch was
performed with great rapidity ; the object was accomplished, the
siege raised, and the savage auxiliaries of the British army dis
persed. This service having been performed, the detachment returned to
the main army on the Hudson. Immediately afterwards, General
Gates advanced and stationed himself on Bemis' heights. General
Burgoyne crossed the Hudson, and took up a position within two
miles of that of the American army, where he established and forti
fied his camp. On the ground between the two armies, on the 19th
of September and 7th of October, two of the severest battles of the
revolutionary war were fought. On the 19th, Lieutenant-Colonel
Brooks occupied the extreme left of the American line, and was
engaged with the German troops. His regiment was the last to quit
the field, where it remained till near eleven o'clock at night. In
the still more important and severely contested action of the 7th
of October, the regiment commanded by Brooks was particularly
conspicuous. He turned the right of the enemy's encampment, and
stormed the redoubt occupied by the Germans. Their commander,
Colonel Breyman, was killed, and the works were gallantly carried.
Orders were given by Burgoyne to endeavor to retake them, but the
attempt was not made ; and Colonel Brooks and his regiment re
mained masters of the ground. In this important action, the influ
ence of which on subsequent events was so decisive, it is believed
that Colonel Brooks bore a part as distinguished as that of any
officer of his rank engaged. He occupies a prominent position in
Colonel Trumbull's picture of the surrender of Burgoyne.
.Immediately after this glorious event Lieutenant-Colonel Brooks
was ordered with his regiment to Pennsylvania, to join the army
under Washington. Soon after his arrival, the army took up its
winter quarters at Valley Forge. Here Baron Steuben joined the
army as inspector general, and introduced his new system of mili
tary manoeuvres. Colonel Brooks was designated by Washington to
assist the baron in bringing it into general use.
When the British army retreated from Philadelphia, in the spring
of 1778, Washington left his encampment at "Valley Forge and

JOHN BROOKS.
marched on its rear. At Monmouth the two armies came in con
flict ; and Colonel Brooks, as adjutant-general to General Lee, per
formed a very conspicuous part in the events of that important day.
After the troops had again taken post on the banks of the Hudson,
Colonel Brooks was employed under Baron Steuben as inspector
of discipline, and rendered the most valuable services by introducing
uniformity and order, under the new system, into the ranks of the
army. In these various duties he acquired the confidence of Wash
ington, and established an enviable reputation, alike for military
science and the personal qualities of the brave officer. But the
services which he rendered as a patriot citizen, at the time the army
was disbanded, were in no degree inferior to those which he had
performed in the bloodiest fields of the war.
On the appearance of the Newburgh letters, Washington summoned
the officers of the army together, and affectionately exhorted them
to withhold their countenance from the suggestions contained in those
publications. After this address of the general, the officers raised a
committee to express their views of the subject, in the form of reso
lutions. Of this committee Colonel Brooks was an active member.
The tone and purport of the resolutions reported by the committee,
are well known to all who are acquainted with the history of the
American war. It wouldnot be easy to overstate their importance, in
preventing the army from being excited at this crisis to rash and un
patriotic measures. We should do injustice to this part of the sub
ject did we not relate an anecdote, preserved by the late Chief Justice
Parker of Massachusetts, in an interesting biographical sketch of
Governor Brooks ; nor can we do it so well, as in the words of the
chief justice : — "On this occasion the commander-in-chief, to whom
this was the most anxious moment in his life, rode up to Brooks,
with intent to ascertain how the officers stood affected. Finding him,
as he expected, to be sound, he requested him to keep his officers in
their quarters, to prevent them from attending the insurgent meeting.
Brooks replied, 'Sir, I have anticipated your wishes, and my orders
are given.' Washington, with tears in his eyes, took him by the
hand and said, ' Colonel Brooks, this is just what I expected from
you.' "
Colonel Brooks, like most of his brethren in arms, retired in
poverty from the service of his country. He immediately resumed
the practice of his laborious profession, in Medford and the neigh
boring towns. The kindness of his heart and the gentleness of his
manners procured him the love and confidence of all around him ;

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and increased, if possible, the extraordinary reliance which was
placed in his professional skill.
The community, however, was not willing to release its claim on
his public services. He was, immediately after the close of the war,
appointed major-general of the third division of the Massachusetts
militia. He was frequently chosen a representative to the general
court of the commonwealth. He was a delegate to the convention
of 1788, by which the constitution of the United States was adopted.
To this happy frame of government he gave his hearty and intelli
gent support. He took part, on several occasions, in the debates of
the contention. His remarks are characterized by good sense and
discrimination ; and in pointing out the difference between " a con
solidation of the states" and " consolidation of the union," he
evinced a forethought and sagacity indicative of the sound practical
statesman. He was for several years a senator for the county of
Middlesex, and a member of the executive council. On the visit of
Washington to that part of the country, in 1789, General Brooks
had the satisfaction of passing his division of the Massachusetts
militia in review before the beloved and revered commander-in-
chief. Their state of discipline attracted Washington's especial
notice ; and he said to General Brooks, 'f if we had had such men
as these when I was here before, we should have made short work
of it." When the army of 1798 was organized, Washington desig
nated General Brooks for the command of a brigade ; but not
thinking the dangers of the country to be such as required from him
a second sacrifice of the comforts of domestic life, he declined the
appointment. During the administration of Governor Strong, he was appointed
adjutant-general of the commonwealth of Massachusetts ; and on
his retirement from the chief magistracy, was called to the chair of
state. This event took place shortly after the close of the war of
1812. Governor Brooks was happily calculated to cooperate in the
work which then took place, of allaying party dissension. Before
the close of his administration, which was renewed for six succes
sive terms, from 1816 to 1822, the state was brought to a good
degree of internal harmony ; and mainly under the healing influence
of his character.
He labored assiduously to discharge the duties of his office. His
addresses to the legislature evince large and liberal views of the
policy of the state, united with a spirit of moderation and impar
tiality. It was impossible to bring less of the partisan to the perform

JOHN BROOKS.
ance of official duty. But we cannot so effectually do justice to
this part of his character, as by again borrowing the words of Chief
Justice Parker: — "He maintained the dignity of the office, and
thereby honored the people who bestowed it ; receiving all distin
guished strangers with becoming attention and courtesy. Though
the style of his living was conformable to his limited means, yet
the order and regularity of his household, the real comfort of his
entertainments, the polite deportment of the host, struck strangers,
even those accustomed to magnificence, as a happy specimen of
republican simplicity, and of generous but economical hospitality.
Bred in the best school of manners — a military association of high-
minded, accomplished officers — his deportment, though grave and
dignified like Washington's, was nevertheless warm and affectionate.
On all ceremonious occasions, ceremony seemed to become him
better than any one else. In the chair of state, when receiving the
gratulations of a happy people on the birth-day of their independ
ence; — on the spacious common, paying honors to the president of
the United States; — on the military field, reviewing our national
guard, the militia; — at his own humble but honored mansion,
taking to his breast his early friend, ' the nation's guest,' what young
man of taste and feeling could be unmoved at his soldierly air, his
graceful demeanor, covering, but not impairing the generous feel
ings of a warm and affectionate heart ! If the writer does not mis
take, he was one of the last and best samples of that old school of
manners, which, though it has given way to the ease and conve
nience of modern times, will be regretted by some, as having carried
away with it many of the finest and most delicate traits of social
intercourse." After his voluntary retirement from the chair of state, Governor
Brooks still continued to serve the community in various important
capacities, and to manifest his sympathy in the public spirited
objects which were presented for his approbation. He continued to
his death president of the Massachusetts medical society ; of the
Cincinnati ; of the Washington monument society ; and of the Bun
ker Hill monument association. He received from the university at
Cambridge, at different periods, the honorary degrees of Master of
Arts and Doctor of Laws, conferring on that ancient and venerable
society, in thus becoming her adopted son, an honor not inferior to
that which he himself derived from these academic distinctions.
Returned to the shades of private life, he devoted himself to the
cultivation of his farm; — to a wide course of scientific, political,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and various reading ; and to a free and unceremonious intercourse
with the circle of friends and neighbors of which he was the orna
ment and boast. He reaped and enjoyed the harvest of a life
of virtue, honor, and usefulness. He had retired from the public
service with his faculties unimpaired, and his name untarnished by
the breath of reproach. Respected, honored, and beloved, his life
at every stage was passed with, perhaps, an unusual share of good
fortune, yet not without trial.
He became in early life a widower, and remained so till his death.
An only and beloved daughter died in a foreign land. A gallant
son, — beautiful and accomplished, — the heir of the manly graces
and heroic patriotism of his father, was slain in the ever memorable
battle of lake Erie.
Governor Brooks was a Christian in the best sense of the word ; —
in heart, in principle, in action, penetrated with the influence of the
gospel. He paid, throughout life, undeviating respect to the sacred
offices of religion, and died consoled with its hopes, in the possession
of his reason to the last.
On the 11th of February, 1825, he went abroad, perhaps for the
last time, to attend the funeral of his revolutionary associate and
successor in the chief magistracy of Massachusetts, the late Gover
nor Eustis ; and died himself on the second of the next month, at
the age of seventy-three ; leaving an only surviving child, Lieute
nant-Colonel Alexander Scammel Brooks, of the army of the United
States.

IV

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FRANCIS BARBER.

Colonel Francis Barber was the son of Patrick Barber, Esq.,
who was born in the county of Longford, in Ireland, at a place
called the Scotch Quarters. His maternal ancestors were Scots, of
the name of Frazer, and he married Jane, the daughter of Francis
Frazer, some years before his migration to America, in 1749 or 1750.
After a short residence in New York, he removed to the then
small village of Princeton, in New Jersey, where the subject of this
memoir was born, in the year 1751. After Francis had entered the
college, or the classical school attached to it, his father removed into
the county of Orange, in the state of New York. He received ap
pointments to civil offices under the colonial and state governments
of New York, and his ashes now repose in the family cemetry in
Orange county, beside the untimely grave of his gallant and lamented
son. After Francis Barber had finished his education at Prince
ton he took charge of the academy at Elizabeth town, New Jersey ;
and the classical department under his charge was soon distinguish
ed. He was charged with the instruction of several young men,
who in after life rose to the highest eminence. Among others, Alex
ander Hamilton was placed at this school by Governor Livingston,
himself a ripe scholar, whose preference for the school is the best evi
dence of his confidence in the teacher. Upon the breaking out of the
revolutionary war, Francis Barber, with his two younger brothers,
John and William, devoted themselves at once to the service of their
country. John commanded a company in the New York line, and
Francis and William were officers in the New Jersey line. Francis
received a commission from congress, bearing date the 9th of Febru
ary, 1776, as major of the third battalion of the New Jersey troops.
On the 8th of November of the same year he was appointed by
the legislature of New Jersey Lieutenant Colonel of the third Jer
sey regiment, and was commissioned by congress on the first of
January, 1777. Not long after, the office of inspector-general of the
army was conferred upon Baron Steuben, and Colonel Francis

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Barber received that of assistant inspector general. In a letter
addressed to him by the baron at the time, he says, — " I make no
doubt but with a gentleman of your zeal and capacity the troops
under your inspection, will make great progress in the military dis
cipline, and the good order prescribed in the regulations."
Colonel Barber was in constant service during the whole war. Al
though a strict, nay rigid disciplinarian, always scrupulously perform
ing his own duty, and requiring it from all under his command, yet
so bland were his manners and his whole conduct so tempered with
justice and strict propriety, that he was the favorite of all the officers
and men, and possessed the friendship and confidence, not only of
the general officers, but of the commander-in-chief. He served with
his regiment in the northern army, under General Schuyler. He
marched with the army from Ticonderoga to join General Washing
ton, previous to the battle of Trenton. Colonel Barber was in that
battle, and also in that of Princeton which so soon followed it. He
was engaged in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Mon
mouth, and in the latter was severely wounded. Even when unable
to remain in the field, his active spirit was employed in devising
means of usefulness, as is shown by the following letter from the
commander-in-chief, dated July 9th, 1778.
Dear Sir,
I was this afternoon favored with your letter of the 8th instant. While you are
at Elizabethtown, I wish you to obtain the best intelligence you can, from time to
time, of the enemy's situation, and of any movement they may seem to have in view.
For this purpose you will employ the persons you mention, or such others as you may
judge necessary. Whatever expense you are at upon this occasion, will be repaid on
the earliest notice. I am extremely happy to hear your wound is in so favorable a
way. I hope it will be better every day. Though I wish for your services, I would
not have you to rejoin the army before your condition will admit of it with the most
perfect safety. I am dear sir,
Your most obedient servant, Geo. Washington
On the 14th of the same month, the commander-in-chief acknow
ledges the receipt of another letter of Colonel Barber's of the 13th,
expresses his obligations for the intelligence it contains, begs him to
continue his endeavors to procure every information he can, con
cerning the enemy, and closes with his best wishes for his speedy
recovery, and with much regard, &c.
In 1779, Colonel Barber served as adjutant-general with General
Sullivan in his memorable expedition against the Indians, and was

FRANCIS BARBER.
slightly wounded at the battle of Newtown. At the close of the
campaign, he received from the general a highly complimentary
testimonial of his conduct in that department of the army. During
the expedition, Colonel Barber kept his wife constantly informed,
not only of his personal safety, but of the movements, progress, and
success of the army, and the letters preserved of that correspondence,
furnish, probably, as particular and detailed an account of the expe
dition, as is any where to be found.
On the 8th of January, 1780, Washington entrusted to him the
important and highly delicate duty of enforcing in the county of Glou
cester, in West Jersey, the necessary requisition made throughout
the state for grain and cattle, to relieve the distresses of the army.
The Jersey brigade was again conspicuous at the battle of Spring
field, where Colonel Barber was actively engaged. In this battle,
fell that high minded and gallant youth, Lieutenant Moses Ogden,
the brother-in-law of Colonel Barber. When the mutiny, first of the
Pennsylvania, and afterwards of the Jersey line, threatened the dis
solution of the army, Colonel Barber received from the commander-
in-chief, the following, in the hand writing of General Hamilton.
New Windsor, January 21st, 1781.
Dear Sir, With no less pain than you communicated it, I receive the information con
tained in your letter of yesterday. This affair, if possible, must be brought to an issue
favorable to subordination, or the army is ruined. I shall therefore immediately
march a detachment to quell the mutineers. Colonel Frelinghuysen will impart to
you what I have written to him. In addition to that, I am to desire you will endeavor
to collect all those of your regiments who have had virtue enough to resist the per
nicious example of their associates. If the revolt has not become general, and if you
have force enough to do it, I wish you to compel the mutineers to unconditional sub
mission. The more decidedly you are able to act, the better.
Your most obedient servant, Geo. Washington.
The mutineers had threatened to shoot any officer who should
attempt to restrain or in any way molest them. Notwithstanding
this threat, it was supposed by many of the officers that the Jersey
troops entertained so high a regard for Colonel Barber, and his
influence over them was such, that he might safely appeal to their
patriotism and honor as soldiers, and in this way lead them to sub
mission. The popularity of the officer had an influence in restraining many,
and the decisive measures of Washington, together with the partial

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
relief afforded by a timely supply of money, soon restored the Jersey
line to order.
In August, 1781, Colonel Barber accompanied the Jersey line on
their march to Virginia, and was at the investment and capture of
the British army at Yorktown. During the march of the army,
Colonel Barber, as before, kept his wife informed by letter, of the
daily movements of the American and British armies, so far as the
latter could be ascertained. One of those letters, so correctly foretold
the glorious termination of the contest, as to seem written almost in
a spirit of prophecy ; it proves, at least, the accuracy of his judg
ment. Speaking of the enemy, he says, " sometimes their move
ments indicate the design of embarking from some southern port,
probably to return to New York ; others of proceeding to Yorktown.
If they pursue the first alternative, the struggle may yet be protract
ed for some time. If the latter, I think it will be brought to a
speedy and glorious termination." The latter was adopted, and
the auspicious result soon followed ; peace was concluded, and the
independence of the country was confirmed. The day on which the
commander-in-chief intended to communicate these joyful tidings to
his army, was the day on which this high minded soldier was sum
moned from this, to witness the more glorious realities of another
world. On that day many of the officers, and such of their wives as
were in camp, were invited to dine with the commander-in-chief at
New Windsor, and among the rest, Colonel Barber and his wife.
He was acting at the time as officer of the day in place of a friend.
While on duty, and passing by the edge of a wood where some
soldiers were cutting down a tree, it fell on him, and both rider and
horse were instantly crushed to death. He had received an intima
tion that the commander-in-chief intended to communicate to the
officers at his table, the intelligence of peace before it appeared in
general orders.
His afflicted and disconsolate widow received letters of condolence
from many of the officers upon this mournful event. It was, in truth,
a cloud that not only shrouded her mansion in mourning, but ap
peared to eclipse for ever, the brightness of her future prospects. To
the honor of his native state, its legislature allowed to her, during
life, the half pay of a Colonel. The death, the untimely death of
this gallant officer was not only lamented by all his companions in
arms, but long after sorrow was soothed by the lapse of time,
many a war-worn soldier has halted at the mansion of his widow, to
recount his virtues and consecrate his memory with a tear.
4 W. C.

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JOHN BARRY.

The war of independence was conducted with a very small naval
armament, which sprang into existence during its progress, and was
indebted for its successes to the genius and prowess which the
emergencies of the times developed. John Barry, whose valor and
services were eminently conspicuous in that perilous conflict, was
born in Ireland, in the county of Wexford, in the year 1745. A
passion for a maritime occupation, which he displayed at an early
age, induced his father, who was an agriculturist, to place him on
board of a merchantman. The intervals of his voyages were assidu
ously engaged in the improvement of his mind. At the age of four
teen or fifteen, he emigrated to America, and having entered into the
employment of the most respectable merchants of this country, con
tinued to pursue his favorite profession with earnestness and signal
success. The commencement of the war of indedendence found him
a prosperous man, actively employed, and rapidly acquiring wealth.
To that contest he could not long remain indifferent. His ardent
love of liberty, combined with those admirable qualities which were
the foundation of his growing reputation, impelled him to sacrifice
the brightest prospects, to embark in the noble, but impoverishing
struggle for freedom. He accordingly abandoned, to use his own
language, " the finest ship, and the first employ in America," and
entered into the service of his adopted country.
In 1776 he was employed by congress to fit for sea, the first fleet
that sailed from Philadelphia, and by the authority of the council of
safety of that city, he superintended the building of a state ship. In
the month of March, of the same year, he was requested to take the
command of the brig Lexington, of sixteen guns, and clear the coast
of the enemy's small cruisers with which it was infested. He ac
cepted the appointment, although it was destitute of emolument, and
notwithstanding a British forty-two gun ship, and two frigates were
actively cruising in the capes of the Delaware, he successfully per
formed the duty assigned to him. He captured some of the enemy's

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
small cruisers, and compelled the rest to keep in port. Prior to the
declaration of independence, he was transferred to the command of
the frigate Effingham, and in the succeeding winter he displayed
fresh proofs of his enterprising and patriotic spirit. The frigate
being useless, in consequence of the suspension of the navigation,
he sought other means of aiding the cause which he had espoused.
With a mind fruitful of resources as it was daring and skilful in the
use of them, he exhibited on land the prowess and sagacity by which
he had acquired distinction upon the ocean. Having obtained the
command of a company of volunteers, and some heavy cannon, he
assisted in the operations at Trenton, and continued with the army
during the winter campaign, performing important services, and
winning admiration and respect. When the British obtained pos
session of Philadelphia, he took the frigate up the river Delaware,
with the hope of saving her from the enemy. When within a few
miles of the city, and in a situation in which, without risk to him
self, he might have traitorously advanced the cause of Great Britain,
an offer was made to him of fifteen thousand guineas, and the com
mand of the frigate in the king's service, if he would bring in the
ship. The bribe was indignantly rejected, and the answer returned
by Captain Barry, " that he scorned any offer they could make
him." The frigates Washington and Effingham were subsequently
burnt by a detachment of soldiers sent by Lord Howe for that
purpose. Whilst Captain Barry was deprived, by the occupation of Phila
delphia by the enemy, of an extensive sphere of usefulness, his dar
ing spirit, impatient of restraint and incapable of inactivity, was
continually exerting its power in hazardous enterprises. Supplies
of provision for the army were, at times of urgent necessity, procured
through his instrumentality. On one memorable occasion, he man
ned two boats belonging to the frigates, and proceeded down the river
with such secrecy and despatch, that the first knowledge of his ex
pedition was conveyed to the enemy by the destruction of their
vessels. Consternation and dismay agitated the hostile ranks, and
facilitated the work of ruin which marked his rapid progress. Two
large ships, and a schooner carrying eight guns and thirty-two men,
were taken and destroyed. The courage which inspired the small,
but heroic band, is not alone sufficient to account for his wonderful
success, but it must be ascribed to a combination of daring bravery
and consummate skill, by which the diminutive power under his
control was directed with unerring rapidity and irresistible force.

JOHN BARRY.
The trophies of his valor, productive of no personal benefit to him
self, nor calculated for mere display, consisted of articles eminently
serviceable to the American army, which was then in great want of
them. In September, 1778, he was appointed to the command of the
frigate Raleigh, of thirty-two guns, which then lay at Boston, and
on the 25th, went to sea. He was not long upon the ocean before
his courage and abilities were subjected to a new trial by the appear
ance of a British fleet, from which he in vain endeavored to escape.
With the view of getting into a harbor he sailed for land, which he
succeeded in approaching, the enemy being in full chase ; but to his
infinite grief not a man on board was acquainted with the coast, or
knew of a harbor in the vicinity, so that before he could reach a place
of security, the smallest of the hostile ships was within gunshot. Be
lieving that he was a match for her, he ordered the American colors
to be hoisted and a gun fired. The St. George's ensign was imme-*
diately exhibited by the enemy, and the ships exchanged broadsides
as they crossed each other. A warm action ensued which lasted for
about seven hours. Being obliged to carry all the sail that he could
to keep clear of the large ship, by an unforeseen accident, the fore-
top-mast, the main-top-gallant-mast, jib and fore-stay-sail of the
Raleigh went over the side and rendered four of the guns useless.
It was with difficulty, in a warm engagement, that the ship could be
freed from the encumbrance of the wreck. Finding it impossible to
escape with his ship, his next expedient was to board the vessel with
which he was engaged, before the large one could come up, but the
enemy perceiving the project, and having the command of his ship,
shot ahead and went to the windward, where he remained during
the rest of the engagement. The enemy at length retired, apparently
much injured, and made signals, supposed to be of distress. Captain
Barry now determined to run the Raleigh ashore, but before this
could be accomplished, the battle was renewed by both of the
enemy's vessels, which lasted for half an hour before the Raleio-h
struck the ground, and a quarter of an hour afterwards, when the
British ships retired and came to, half a mile astern of the Raleigh.
Captain Barry now discovered that he was on a desolate island, or
rather a barren rock, about twelve leagues from the main land, with
the wind right ahead to interpose another obstacle to their reaching
the shore. He, however, succeeded in saving eighty-five of his men,
and but for an act of treachery would have destroyed the ship ; a
midshipman having been left to set fire to the combustibles, whilst

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the master with a boat's crew waited to carry him ashore. He faith
lessly extinguished the lights, and the master having waited until
daylight, found it necessary to retire, the enemy being within sight.
The conduct of Captain Barry was submitted to the examination
of a court martial, and the loss of a ship so valiantly defended, did
not impair the confidence of his country.
His services were afterwards actively employed in several voyages
to the West Indies ; and in 1781, he took the command of the frigate
Alliance of thirty-six guns. In February of that year, he sailed from
Boston for L'Orient, to which place he carried Colonel Laurens, who
was on an embassy to the French court, and subsequently cruised
with great success until the 29th of May, when it was his fortune to
come in contact with two British vessels, the Atalanta, Captain
Edwards, and her consort, the brig Trepasa, Captain Smith. He
ordered them to haul down their colors, which not being done, the
¦battle commenced. A dead calm left the Alliance floating on the
water like a log, whilst the enemy, by means of sweeps were enabled
to command their movements. They accordingly selected a posi
tion in which the guns of the Alliance could do them the least
injury. In the midst of the engagement, Captain Barry received
a wound on the left shoulder, and after remaining upon deck for
some time, the loss of blood rendered it necessary for him to be car
ried below. The colors of the Alliance having been shot away in
the interval of loading the guns, the enemy supposed that she had
struck. One of the lieutenants went to Captain Barry and repre
sented the great injury which the ship had sustained, and the diffi
culties with which they were contending, and asked whether they
should surrender. " No !" said the hero, " if the ship can't be
fought without, I will be carried on deck." The reply communi
cated to the crew, animated them to renewed exertions. A favora
ble wind enabled the Alliance to pour a broadside into the enemy,
and before the dressing of the gallant captain's wounds would
permit him to reach the deck, both of the hostile vessels, after a
battle which had lasted nearly the whole of the day, had struck their
flags. The loss on board of the Alliance was eleven killed, and
twenty-one wounded. The ship was much injured in" her rigging
and hull. The enemy had an equal number killed, and thirty
wounded. In the succeeding fall, Captain Barry was ordered to refit the
Alliance for the purpose of carrying the Marquis de Lafayette and
Count Noailles to France on public business. After accomplishing

JOHN BARRY.
that object, she sailed for Havana and cruised with her usual success
until March, 1782, when another conflict with the enemy acquired
fresh laurels for her entrepid commander. The Alliance during that
month left the Havana for the purpose of convoying the American
sloop of war Luzerne, Captain Greene, having on board a large
amount of specie, the safety of which was of the utmost importance
to the country. The appearance of a British squadron proved a
severe trial of the naval skill and dauntless courage of Captain
Barry. The largest of the enemy's vessels sailed with equal rapi
dity with the Luzerne, whilst the English sloop surpassed her, and
was making rapid advances to an apparently easy conquest. The
Luzerne was lightened by throwing her guns overboard, to furnish
her with a better opportunity of escaping. The specie was removed
to the Alliance, and the condition of the Luzerne seemed so hopeless
that her abandonment by the Alliance was resolved upon, as afford
ing the only prospect of saving the valuable treasures from the grasp
of the enemy. But the spirit which animated the naval hero, and
which had borne him triumphantly through many dangers, im
pelled him to rush to the rescue. Those great abilities which had
been so often signally displayed in the most hazardous emergencies,
were at that critical period exhibited in more than their usual lustre.
Captain Barry took his station on the weather quarter of the
Luzerne, and as the British sloop endeavored to close with her, he
bore down and engaged her before the other ships had time to come
to her relief. The coolness of Captain Barry was eminently con
spicuous ; by his example and exhortation, he inspired his men with
that heroic courage which filled his own breast. The guns of the
enemy had been kept actively employed from the commencement ;
the fire of the Alliance was rendered more effective by being reserved
until she was within a very short distance of the British sloop. The
action lasted for about three quarters of an hour, when the enemy
retired and made signals of distress to her consorts. A sail, which
had appeared in sight prior to the engagement, was now discovered
to be a French frigate. The united forces gave chase to the British,
which was continued until they lost sight of them in the darkness
of the night, when the Alliance, being at a considerable distance
ahead of her companions, it was deemed prudent to join them. The
loss on board the Alliance was three killed and eleven wounded,
whilst the enemy had thirty-seven killed and fifty wounded. The
specie that was saved contributed to found the bank of North
America. The British officers on various occasions indulged in

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
generous feelings when describing their defeat, and applauding the
wonderful skill and intrepidity by which the Luzerne was rescued.
Captain Barry continued in the public service after the close of
the war, and contributed to the introduction of a superior model for
ships, and of naval arrangements which have often supplied the want
of numerical force in the American navy. Under Mr. Adams' ad
ministration, he superintended the building of the frigate United
States, of which he retained the command until she was laid up in
ordinary during the administration of Mr. Jefferson. During the
French war he was busily employed in protecting our commerce
from depredation.
The active and useful life of this distinguished hero, was closed
by an asthmatic affection with which he had been for many years
afflicted. He died at Philadelphia on the 13th of September, 1803.
His private life was as estimable, as his public career was brilliant.
In his domestic relations he was ingenuous, frank, and affectionate.
In his intercourse with mankind, his deportment procured an exten
sive circle of friends. Deeply impressed with religion, he exacted
an observance of its ceremonies and duties on board of his ship, as
well as in the retirement of private life. His lofty feelings of honor
secured the confidence of the most illustrious men of the nation, and
gave him an extensive influence in the various spheres in which his
active life repaired him to move. The regard and admiration
of General Washington, which he possessed to an eminent extent,
were among the enviable fruits of his patriotic career. His public
services were not limited by any customary rule of professional duty,
but without regard to expense, danger, or labor, his devotion to his
country kept him constantly engaged in disinterested acts of public
utility.

E,n£avnll>y J.B.Loajpcie from an Orijjpal Failing by CHudui;^.

iffi^srrcisiL -iB©<n)snBt

/TTP^O

DANIEL BOON.

Of all men, saving Sylla the Man-slayer,
Who passes for in life and death most lucky
Of the great names which injaur faces stare,
The General Boon, Backwoods-man of Kentucky,
Was happiest among mortals any where ;
For killing nothing but a bear or buck, he
Enjoyed the lonely, vigorous, harmless days
Of his old age in wilds of deepest maze.
Crime came not near him — she is not the child
Of solitude ; health shrank not from him — for
Her home is in the rarely-trodden wild ;
Where if men seek her not, and death be more
Their choice than life, forgive them, as beguiled
By habit to what their own hearts abhor —
In cities caged. The present case in point I
Cite is, that Boon lived hunting up to ninety ;
And what's still stranger, left behind a name
For which men vainly decimate the throng,
Not only famous, but of that good fame,
Without which Glory's but a tavern song-
Simple, serene, the antipodes of shame,
Which hate nor envy e'er could tinge with wrong j
An active hermit, even in age the child
Of Nature, or the Man of Ross run wild. Byron.
Just twenty-two years before the birth of Daniel Boon, Governor
Spotswood, of Virginia, established an order of lmighthood in the
" Ancient Dominion," under the title of " the Tramontane Order, or
the Knights of the Golden Horse-shoe." Each of the knights was
entitled to wear a golden horse-shoe upon his breast, as a mark of
distinction for having penetrated to the summit of the Blue Ridge, all
beyond which, at that day, was the unknown west. Could these
redoubted heroes have extended the limits of human life but a little
beyond the allotted three score years and ten, and have been permitted
to stand face to face with the great western pioneer, how their golden
honors would have dwindled into insignificance, in comparison with

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the higher stamp of heroism imprinted upon the person of the sturdy
old warrior who is the subject of this brief sketch !
Daniel Boon was born in the year 1746, in Bucks county, Penn
sylvania, near Bristol, on the right bank of the Delaware, about
twenty miles from Philadelphia. His father emigrated successively
to Reading, on the head waters of the Schuylkill, and to one of the
valleys of South Yadkin, in North Carolina.
It is believed that his immediate ancestors were among those
Catholics who emigrated to Maryland soon after its settlement by Lord
Baltimore ; but as there is no evidence that he either inherited, or
derived from parental culture, even the germ of those peculiarities
which distinguished him in after Ufe, we shall not occupy our limited
space in tracing out his ancestry, or dwelling at length upon his early
years. Daniel Boon was preeminently the architect of his own
character and fortunes. Very early in life he exhibited a fondness for
his gun, and the stirring pastime of the chase. Numerous instances
are on record of his hair-breadth escapes and daring adventures in
pursuit of the panther, the bear, and the wolf, with which the country
of his father's adoption abounded. But his peculiar temperament was
destined to unfold itself in another and wilder field of adventure. Just
before his third emigration, however, he was engaged in an affair
which exercised such an important influence upon his after life, that
we cannot resist the temptation briefly to relate it. In the immediate
neighborhood of his father's new settlement, another adventurer,
named Bryan, soon mad© his appearance, and planted himself upon a
beautiful spot, washed on one side by a lovely mountain stream, near
which had been the favorite hunting-ground of the young sportsman.
On a certain evening, Boon engaged a friend to meet him at this spot,
for the purpose of engaging in a " fire hunt." In this wild sport one
of the parties usually rides through the forest, with a pine torch borne
on high, which, shedding a glaring light through the gloomy precincts,
so dazzles the eyes of the deer, that the other party, who is on foot, shoots
the game between the eyes, while the bewildered animal is staring at
the blaze. Boon's companion was to bear the torch, and accordingly
appeared upon the field, and commenced the usual round. They had
not proceeded far, when Boon gave the concerted signal to keep the
light stationary. The horseman obeyed, and waited in momentary
expectation of hearing the sharp and fatal report of his friend's rifle.
Not hearing it, however, he turned his horse to ascertain the cause
of the unwonted delay, when he saw his friend drop his rifle, and

&

DANIEL BOON.
set off in pursuit of some shadowy object, over bush and briar, fence
and field.
When Boon gave the signal to his friend, he indeed saw the flame
of the torch reflected by a pair of brilliant eyes, and he immediately
cocked his gun, and brought it to his eye ; but instead of standing
stupified by the light to be shot at, the supposed fawn wheeled preci
pitately, and fled. During this unusual movement, Boon caught a
glimpse of the flowing folds of a petticoat — dropped his rifle, and made
chase after his game. So intense had been his interest in the pursuit,
that he was little less surprised than his new neighbor, Mr. Bryan,
when he found himself standing in his door-way, having driven the
object of his chase into the paternal arms.
Boon's embarrassment and surprise may easily be imagined, when
he saw the consternation of the father and the panting terror of his
beautiful daughter, who had scarcely turned her sixteenth summer, and
whose lustrous ringlets were flying about her face, neck, and palpitat
ing bosom, in the richest contrast of light and shade. Strange as it
may appear of our hardy backwoodsman, he became agitated in his
turn ; with all the stern and rugged qualities of his nature, he was taken
captive at first sight by a maiden's charms. And what was not less
strange, the blushing Hebe, who had run into her father's arms,
declaring that she was pursued by a panther, now perceived that he
was not such a frightful animal, as her first impression in the dark
had led her to suppose.
Indeed, Boon was at this time just in the first flush of youthful
vigor ; his person straight and well proportioned — countenance manly
and prepossessing, and the whole appearance of the man presenting
such a hero to the eye of the unsophisticated girl, as her imagination
was likely to create for itself in that remote and secluded scene. In
short, they loved mutually, and Miss Rebecca Bryan in a very short
time became Mrs. Boon.
On the first of May, 1769, Boon resigned the domestic comforts of
his peaceful habitation on the Yadkin river, and, in obedience to those
roving impulses which were always predominant in his character, but
which, we may presume, lay dormant during the first joys of conjugal
love, started upon his first expedition beyond the Alleghany mountains.
He was accompanied, as we are informed by himself, by John Findley,
John Stuart, Joseph Holden, James Monay, and William Cool. John
Findley was the only one of this adventurous band who had ever
visited these untamed regions, as yet under the dominion of wild
beasts and wilder men. Findley, in his former trading expedition

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
with the Indians, had penetrated as far as Red river ; and on the 7th
of June, our adventurers found themselves on the banks of the same
stream. Here, from the top of an eminence, Boon, like Moses of old,
beheld the land of promise, here the broad bottoms — skirting the since
far-famed Kentucky, first greeted his longing eyes. He informs us of
his raptures at the enchanting prospect, with something of the true
poetical fire.
Here they erected a rude shanty, to protect themselves from the rains,
which had much impeded their previous hunting excursions on the
route. They found the country abounding with game of every
description indigenous to those latitudes of North America. The
plains were covered with buffaloes, running wild in herds far surpass
ing in number, as Boon informs us, any thing he had ever seen in the
fields of the wealthiest grazier. To the salt springs of the region,
especially, they found that the buffalo and deer came in droves. Here
Boon was in his glory : killing all kinds of game to his heart's content
through the day, and at night meeting with his companions in their
rude shanty, to recapitulate the adventures of the day, eat their veni
son and buffalo steaks, and enliven the solitude of the place with such
minstrelsy as their company afforded. This sort of life, so congenial
to the feelings of Boon, was kept up until the 22d of September, when
an unfortunate adventure befel two of the party, which turned their
hitherto jovial evening meetings into sorrow and repining.
On the morning of that day, it fell to the lot of Boon and Stuart to
hunt together ; they met with extraordinary success throughout the
greater part of the day, until toward evening, as they were ascending
a high hill near the Kentucky river, covered to its summit with
majestic trees, which threw their gigantic shadows far down its sides,
casting a sombre hue over the primeval landscape, a horde of savages
rushed from their gloomy hiding-places, and made them prisoners.
The Indians plundered them of their game and principal clothing,
and kept them in close confinement.
With that tact for which Boon was afterwards so distinguished, he
induced his companion to assume, and pretended himself, the greatest
indifference as to their escape. On the seventh night of their captivity,
when the vigilance of the savages was well nigh disarmed by the
well acted ruse, and the whole camp was wrapt in profound slumber,
Boon gently awoke his companion, and regaining their arms, they'
escaped without rousing their usually watchful captors. They imme
diately pursued their way to the shanty ; but here another disappoint
ment awaited them : they found it plundered, and their companions

DANIEL BOON.
dispersed, murdered, or gone home — they knew not which. Desolate
and friendless indeed was their situation now : hundreds of miles from
the habitation of civilized man, almost destitute of clothing and
ammunition, surrounded by thousands of cruel and murderous
savages ; and the wild forests, in which the sound of the axe had never
been heard, teeming with wild beasts, which nightly sent up frightful
howls to destroy their rest. But Boon never despaired ; he kept up
his own vigor of body and mind, and reanimated the spirits of his
companion. He called all their slender resources into action, hus
banded his ammunition and the game which was its product, and was
proceeding in that course which only could have preserved their lives
and conducted them to their homes, when Providence sent them by
other and more direct means a most unexpected deliverance. Boon's
brother, either fired with some of his ardor for the wild excitement of
the forest, or fearing the result which had actually occurred, set out
in company with a friend upon the same route. While Daniel
Boon and his now sole companion, Stuart, were out in pursuit of
their daily supply of game, Squire Boon (as our adventurer calls his
brother) and his companion accidentally discovered their encamp
ment. The new comers were quietly seated in the shanty, regaling
themselves upon the good things which Daniel and Stuart were so
carefully husbanding for the last resort, when the two latter arrived
towards night-fall at their camp. What must have been their surprise
and delight when they returned to their lone quarters, and found two
civilized beings like themselves, well provided in those necessaries
the failure of which they had begun to anticipate with so much dread !
Joyful indeed was the meeting, and the reader may conceive with
what zest their various adventures were related and listened to.
But this restoration to something like the enjoyment of social life,
was destined to be again interrupted. John Stuart, the companion of
Daniel Boon in his captivity among the Indians, was soon after slain
in an encounter with a small party of one of the numerous hordes
inhabiting that wild and unreclaimed country. After this unfortunate
occurrence, the companion of Squire Boon became disheartened, and
returned home ; thus leaving our adventurer once more with a single
companion in the wilderness. His situation, however, was now vastly
better than it was when the unfortunate Stuart and himself were the
sole tenants of the forest. They had now horses and ammunition,
and all those necessaries upon which life depends in such a situation.
Winter began to make its approach, and the two Boons thought it
advisable to construct for themselves a more commodious dwelling,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and one better calculated to protect them from the inclemency of the
advancing season. Accordingly they set to work, and built (as
Daniel assures us, in such fragments of his journal as have been
preserved) a comfortable cottage. They found plenty of game to
subsist on through the winter, and were undisturbed by the savages.
But the month of May found the brothers again looking forward, with
dread and anxiety, to the exhaustion of their stock of ammunition.
With that true wisdom which necessity and suffering always teach,
these energetic young men did not wait until the evil day came on,
but braced themselves like true heroes to the urgency of the occasion.
One of them resolved to return home, and procure those things of
which they now stood in need, while the other should await his
return. On the first of May, 1770, Squire Boon commenced his journey
homewards, for the purpose of procuring ammunition, salt, and
sugar, leaving Daniel without any of these necessaries, except
a small supply of ball and powder. One would naturally suppose
that the remaining brother would have suffered dreadfully from the
constant dread of savages, wild beasts, famine, or sickness, in this lone
place ; but, strange as it may appear, he assures us that he was amply
compensated for the want of society, by the glories of nature, so
lavishly spread around him, — the magnificent trees just clothing
themselves in the green livery of summer, the beautiful flowers, and
the wild herds nipping the pasturage on the wide plains extending,
like an immense panorama, as far as the eye could reach. It would
seem, from this view of his character by his own hand, that the
sterner qualities of mind, and the power of enduring bodily fatigue,
are not necessarily incompatible with the softer sentiments of the
heart. Daniel Boon continued in these solitary quarters until the 27th
of July, occasionally expending a small portion of his ammunition in
killing game necessary for his sustenance, with such caution as the
miser uses in parting with his treasured hoard. The Indians fre
quently visited Iris quarters during his absence, as he found by their
foot-marks. This induced him, whenever the weather would permit,
to secrete himself in the cane-brakes or neighboring bushes, for the
purpose of passing the night in greater security. To this precaution
he attributed the preservation of his life. On the day just mentioned,
his brother returned, provided with an ample supply of those articles
which are more valued than gold and silver in these primitive regions.
They soon after left the quarters which had so long, and under such

DANIEL BOON.
variety of incidents, afforded them shelter, and proceeded on an expe
dition to the Cumberland river, maldng observations on the country
through which they passed, for future use ; and naming the rivers
which they were compelled to ford.
In March, 1771, the two adventurers returned to their families on
the Yadldn, in North Carolina. The subject of our memoir found his
family in happy circumstances, and, as may be well imagined, delighted
at the return of him whom they had almost despaired of ever more
beholding. He informs us, that he was so charmed with the country
of the " Kentucke" that he was determined, at the risk of his Ufe, to
remove his family thither. Accordingly, having sold his farm on the
Yadkin, and induced five famiUes in the vicinity to join him, they set
out on their expedition on the 25th September, 1773. As they jour
neyed through Powell's Valley, which was then one hundred and forty-
five miles from the settled parts of Virginia, forty hardy sons of the
forest joined the adventurous enterprise. They pursued their journey
uninterruptedly mitil the 10th of October, when the rear of the cara
van was furiously attacked by a large body of Indians. Our adven
turers fought with great bravery, and handled their rifles with their
usual unerring precision, and were at length enabled to repulse an
enemy greatly superior to them in number, but not without losses
in their own ranks. Six men were killed, and one wounded. Among
tUe former was Boon's eldest son, a most daring and impetuous lad,
whose death, he assures us, covered the enterprise with gloom and
melancholy. During the engagement, the Indians succeeded in scat
tering their cattle and otherwise injuring their property, so that they
were compelled to retreat forty miles to the settlement on Clinch
river. They had passed over two mountains, Powell's and Walden's, and
were approaching Cumberland mountain, when this misfortune befel
them. These mountains are situated in what was then called the
wilderness, between the settlements then existing in Western Virginia,
and the place of their destination. These they were now compelled
to recross, and the enterprise was abandoned by nearly all those who
had engaged in it. Thus was this gallant little band dispersed by
the unfortunate rencounter with the savages. Boon remained with
his family at the settlements on Clinch river, until the 6th of June,
1774, when he, together with an adventurer by the name of Storer,
was engaged by Governor Dunmore, of Virginia, to conduct a number
of surveyors to the falls of the Ohio. This was a tour of near eight

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
hundred miles — performed on foot, and accomplished in sixty-two
days. On his return, Governor Dunmore gave him the command of three
garrisons, which he maintained during the war of the period, against
the Shawnese.
In March 1775, he was requested by a number of gentlemen of
North Carolina to attend at an assemblage of the Cherokee Indians,
convened for the purpose of forming a treaty, and purchasing their
lands south of the " Ke?itucke."
He was soon afterwards employed to mark out the most direct route
for a road from the settlements in Virginia to the country of his first
adventures. Having collected a number of hardy and enterprising men, well
armed, he soon began his work, and proceeded until he came
within fifteen miles of where Boonsborough now stands. Here the
savages attacked them, killed two, and wounded two more of the
adventurers. On the 5th of March 1775, three days after the rencounter just
mentioned, the Indians attacked them again, when two more were
killed and three wounded. After these disasters, they pursued theii
enterprise to the Kentucky river, without further molestation.
On the 1st of April 1775, Boon commenced the erection of a fort,
about sixty yards from the river, near one of the salt licks, the very
spot upon which Boonsborough now stands.
This rude paUsade was finished on the 14th June of the same year,
when he returned to the settlements on Clinch river, for the purpose
of removing his family to this distant and uncultivated land. They
arrived at the fort without any adventure worthy of note. Mrs.
Boon and her daughter were the first of their race and sex that ever
stood upon the banks of the Kentucky river.
The Indians were much dissatisfied at the erection of this fort, and
on the 14th of December 1775, made a desperate assault upon its
inmates, by which one man was killed and another wounded. .After
this repulse, and the great loss sustained on this occasion by the
Indians, they treacherously appeared to give up all idea of farther
molesting the new settlers. Their seeming resignation to the presence
of the intruders was persevered in until the 14th of July 1776, exactly
seven months, by which time the inhabitants of the fort were com
pletely thrown off their guard, insomuch that the daughters of the
residents made frequent excursions into the forests in the vicinity.
On the day above mentioned, three young ladies, two of them daugh-

DANIEL BOON.
ters of Colonel Calaway, and the third the daughter of Boon, were
leisurely strolling through the woods in the immediate neighborhood
of the fort, when they were pursued and captured by a party of
Indians, before they could make good their retreat within the gates.
On this occasion the treacherous foe had separated into small
parties, as agreed on by previous arrangement, and simultaneously
attacked all the other forts and settlements, several of which had
sprung up during the long season of tranquillity.
Boon was no sooner apprised of the absence of the young ladies, on
his return from hunting, than he promptly and without waiting for
the cooperation of his friends, pursued the trail, which he easily dis
covered. He knew perfectly well, that if he waited to collect a large
force, the cunning robbers would be entirely out of his reach. By
that, sagacity for which he was so remarkable, he was enabled to keep
on the trail without the least deviation, and at length he discovered
that the fair young captives had themselves preserved sufficient
presence of mind to indicate the course of their captors, by snapping
a small twig from time to time, as they passed through the shrubbery
on their route. At length he came in sight of the kidnappers, and
after slaying two of the three, recovered the fair prisoners,* by his
single, unaided and unerring rifle.
Hostilities were continued from this time until the 15th of April
1777, when a simultaneous attack by the united hordes was made upon
Boonsborough. The effective force of the savages amounted to about
one hundred ; in this engagement the whites had one killed and four
wounded. July 14th, they made a second assault with double their
former number; — the battle lasted forty-eight hours, during which
the besieged again lost one man and another was wounded. This too,
it appears, was but a part of another simultaneous movement against
all the white settlements, as Colonel Logan's fort and others were
attacked at the same time.
About the 25th of July, Boon's settlement received an accession of
twenty-five men from North Carolina. The sight of these new
adventurers was truly welcome to the inhabitants of the town or fort,

* This, it will appear to the reader, is a very different account of the adventures, from
that given in a life of Boon by one of our most distinguished writers. We have fol
lowed the account given in Boon's own journal, dictated by himself, and published dur
ing his life time. This explanation may also suffice for many similar discrepancies in
the two accounts. s

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
as it was indifferently called, as their previous losses in battle rendered
such an accession of strength almost indispensable to the farther
prosecution of the enterprise.
But this deficiency was still more amply supplied, on the 20th of '
August, when Colonel Bowman, with one hundred men, arrived
from Virginia. After this powerful reinforcement, they waited no
longer to receive the attacks of the Indians behind their breast
works, but salUed out nearly every day, and drove them from the
vicinity. " The savages now learned the superiority of the Long Knives, as
they called the Virginians, being out-generaled in almost every battle."
The affairs of the colonists began to wear a brighter aspect ; the
savages no longer ventured to attack them in open day, but prac
tised cunning devices, laid in ambuscade, and treacherously betrayed
the whites on all occasions when they could induce them to Usten to
their promises of friendship.
On the 1st of January 1778, Colonel Boon set out with thirty men,
and commenced making salt for the first time in that region, at the
Blue Licks, on Licking river. They manufactured a sufficient quan
tity for all the civilized inhabitants of the infant community.
On the 7th of February, as Colonel Boon was hunting alone
through these primitive forests, he was surprised by one hundred
Indians, and two Frenchmen.
They took him prisoner : after which he ascertained that they were
marching to attack Boonsborough. He immediately capitulated for
his followers, now only twenty-seven in number, many of the former
company having gone to the settlement with salt.
The Indians carried their prisoners to Old Chilicothe, the principal
Indian town on the Little Miami, and according to the terms of capi
tulation, used them generously. They arrived at Chilicothe on the
18th of February, after havhig suffered severely with the cold and
fatigue of the journey.
On the 10th of March, Boon, with ten of his followers, was ordered
to Detroit, where they arrived on the 30th, and were treated with
great humanity by Governor Hamilton, the British commander at
the post.
The Indians set out with Boon, determined to offer him for ransom
to the governor, but by the time they arrived at Detroit, they had
become so much attached to him that they refused one hundred
pounds sterling, which was offered for his person. They left the
other persons and returned with him to Chilicothe. He was now,

DANIEL BOON.
according to their customs in such cases, regularly adopted into one
of the aboriginal families, and he informs us that he became very
intimate with his new sisters and brothers, and that his new father
and mother were passionately fond of him. By affecting great fond
ness for their sports, and perfect contentment in his new situation, he
was soon permitted to consult his own pleasure as to his time and
movements; — their vigilance entirely abated, and after frequently
increasing their confidence by returning from long excursions, he at
length determined to attempt his escape. This determination was
greatly precipitated, however, by a most unexpected incident. While
he was thus meditating upon the plan of effecting the long cherished
object, he was astonished to see an assemblage of four hundred war
riors at Chilicothe. They came to make arrangements for an attack
on Boonsborough. Boon no sooner heard their destination, than he
determined to anticipate them. Accordingly, on the 16th of June,
before sunrise, he escaped and reached Boonsborough on the 20th, a
journey of one hundred and sixty miles, during which he ate but one
meal. He found the fortress in a bad state, but immediately set all
hands to repairing flanks, gates, and posterns, and also to forming double
bastions, all which was completed in less than ten days. Soon after his
return, another of the prisoners, who had escaped from Chilicothe, made
his appearance and informed Boon that the Indians had postponed
their intended attack for three weeks, in consequence of his escape.
About the 1st of August, Boon set out with nineteen men to sur
prise an Indian town called Point Creek, situated on the Sciota.
Within four miles of their own fort, they met forty Indians on their
way to attack them. A desperate engagement immediately ensued,
in which Boon and his party came off victorious, and without losing
one of their number. They took three horses and all the Indian
baggage. On the 8th of August, Boonsborough was summoned to surrender
by the most formidable armament that had ever appeared before its
walls. The assailants consisted of four hundred and forty-four In
dians, and eleven Frenchmen, the whole commanded by Captain
Duquesne, also a Frenchman. Boon requested two days for considera
tion, which were granted ; in the mean time, he brought in through
the postern gate all the horses and other cattle that could be collected
on the emergency.
On the 9th, in the evening, Boon informed the French commander
that he was determined to defend the fort while there was a man
capable of handling a rifle.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
The Frenchman then proposed a treaty, the articles of which Boon
agreed too, and the enemy required that he should come out with
nine men and sign it. Boon with the required number issued forth
and signed the documents. The Indians then told him that two
Indians must shake hands simultaneously with each of his men ; that
it was a custom of their's from time immemorial. To this Boon with
some reluctance also consented. When the Indians came to perform
this part of the ceremony, they found that they had rather underrated
the strength of the whites when they matched two Indians to each.
As Boon had apprehended, the two savages attempted to hold fast,
each couple to their man, but the hardy pioneers threw them off with
ease, and rushed to the fort, which was not more than fifty yards dis
tant. In this last attempt, however, one of the nine was unfortunately
wounded by a heavy fire, which the enemy showered upon the
fugitives. The Frenchman next attempted to undermine the fort, and com
menced operations at the water mark of the Kentucky river. Boon
immediately commenced countermining, which the Frenchman no
sooner perceived than he gave up the scheme, and on the 20th, raised
the siege. During the siege, the beleaguered party had two men killed
and four wounded, besides a number of cattle. They killed thirty-
nine of the enemy, and wounded a large number.
During the absence of Colonel Boon, or rather during his captivity
among the Shawnees, Mrs. Boon and her children, supposing the head
of the family slain, returned to the house of Mrs. Boon's father on
the Yadkin, in North Carolina. Colonel Boon now determined to
return into North Carolina in pursuit of them.
He returned to Boonsborough with his family, after an absence of
nearly two years, during which time many important Indian battles
were won and lost by the hardy adventurers on the western frontiers.
Colonel Boon's brother returned to Kentucky with him, and shortly
afterward, as the brothers were returning from the licks, Squire was
killed by a shot from the Indians. Colonel Boon escaped after a rapid
fiio-ht, and kilUng a dog which the Indians had set upon the trail.
The country began now to assume the appearance of cultivation
and civiUzation, and numbers seeing Boonsborough, and hearing fine
accounts of the country, came from Virginia and North Carolina, and
settled in the new country.
It would be utterly impossible to give even a synopsis of the many
adventures, Indian battles, treaties, and hair-breadth escapes in which
the subject of our sketch was engaged during the greater part of the

DANIEL BOON.
time occupied by the war of independence. It has been seen that
Boon and his companions waged war upon their own account, and
in all other respects acted as men alike independent of the restraints
and the protection of the social compact ; nevertheless, many of his
late adventures were more or less connected with the interesting
events of that period ; to the history of the general transactions on the
western frontier, we would refer our readers, our business being purely
with the adventures of Daniel Boon.
Many forts were now erected in the vicinity of Boonsborough:
every settlement hi this new region being generally protected by a
palisade or block house. To the defence of these, Boon was often
called, and seldom was the call made in vain. He often during this
period, also joined adventurous bands and sallied out into the open
field to meet the enemy. Such was the life led by him until the
defeat of the northern Indians by General Wayne, when he again
resumed uninterruptedly, that employment in which he deUghted.
While he was thus engaged a constant stream of emigration had been
pouring into this new and attractive region, until April 1792, when
Kentucky was admitted into the Union.
During the time which intervened between Wayne's victory and
the establishment of the new state, Virginia had enacted laws, con
cerning the land titles of the new territory, with which Boon in the
simplicity of Uis heart failed to comply, or if he complied at all, it was
done so loosely, that the discoverer of the region was deprived of that
very spot for which he had fought so heroically and suffered so much
in person and family. These considerations, together with a certain
uneasiness at the growing density of the population, induced him
again to think of seeking the " far west."
Having lately seen some adventurers returning from an expedition
up the Missouri, who described the country bordering on that river
in glowing colors, Boon resolved once. more to seek a new home in
the soUtude of the Missouri. Accordingly, in 1798, we find him
journeying again to the " new land of promise." " Being inquired
of as to what induced him to leave all the comforts of home, and so
rich and flourishing a country as his dear Kentucky, which he had
discovered and helped to win from the Indians, for the wilds of Mis
souri? 'Too crowded! too crowded! I want more elbow room,' he
replied." He proceeded to what is now caUed St. Charles, about
forty-five miles above St. Louis. Here he found a government some
what after his own heart, and a country as wild and unreclaimed as
he could desire. The only form of government was a sort of military

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
republic, or rather huntsmen's republic ; the chief of which was called
commandant. To this office Boon was immediately elected. He
retained this office until his new home, like the former, became subject
to other laws and other councils.
He continued to reside here, however, until 1813, when he had
the misfortune to lose his wife, the faithful companion who had
followed him through so many trials and troubles.
After this melancholy event, the now aged adventurer removed to
the residence of his son, Major Nathan Boon, where he continued to
reside in comfort and repose, amusing himself occasionally by trap
ping beavers, until the year 1818, when he calmly and resignedly
breathed his last at the age of eighty-four years.
The name of Boon wiU endure as long as the rivers he discovered
shall continue to pay their tribute to the great father of waters.
14
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DAVID RITTENHOUSE,
LL. D., F. R. S.

The life of a philosopher affords less scope for the pen of a biographer,
than the career of a warrior or statesman. His thoughts make but a
small impression in comparison with deeds of arms, but he is never
theless entitled to equal regard when his mind is employed for the
purpose of extending the knowledge of his fellow creatures, or his
discoveries and acquirements are such as those of Rittenhouse.
This amiable philosopher was born near Germantown, Pennsylvania,
April 8th, 1732 ; his parents emigrated from Holland, and had been
distinguished, as well as their progenitors, for probity, industry, and
simple manners; they had been proprietors of considerable paper
manufactories. The youth of Mr. Rittenhouse was passed on the
farm of his father in the county of Montgomery, twenty miles from
Philadelphia, whither his father removed during the childhood of the
son. His pecuhar turn of mind there manifested itself; his plough,
the fences, and even the stones of the field in which he worked, were
found covered with figures denoting a talent for mathematics. His
health, never robust, unfitting him for hard labor, his father consented
that he should acquire the trade of a clock and mathematical instru
ment maker ; a trunk containing tools which had been the property
of a maternal relative, afforded the instruments with which he worked,
and he was mainly his own teacher. He early made himself master
of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia, through the medium of Mott's trans
lation, and studied the science of fluxions ; of this invention he con
ceived himself at first to be the author, nor was he undeceived for
some years, when he ascertained that a contest had been carried on
between Sir Isaac Newton and Leibnitz, for the honor of the discovery.
On tKis, Dr. Rush remarks ; " what a mind was here ! without literary
friends or society, and with but two or three books, he became, before
he reached his twenty-fourth year, the rival of the two greatest mathe
maticians in Europe !"
From the age of eighteen to twenty-five, his time during the day

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
was actively employed upon his labors, while the night, or his idle
hours, as he called the time for sleep, was devoted to study. It was
during this double occupation, that Mr. Rittenhouse projected and
completed an instrument which required the union of knowledge and
mechanical skill of the highest order ; this was his Orrery, which he
succeeded in making more complete than had been done by former
astronomers. A description of this great instrument will be found
in the first volume of the Transactions of the American Philosophical
Society ; this Orrery was purchased by Princeton college, New Jersey,
where it still remains. It exhibits the positions of the planets and
their satelhtes at any given period of the world ; past, present, or future ;
thus forming a perpetual astronomical almanac, where the results, in
lieu of being found in tables, are actually exhibited to the sight. He
completed a second, after the same model, for the coUege of Philadel
phia, now the University of Pennsylvania, where it still is. This
extraordinary instrument commanded the wonder and admiration of
the learned from every part of the world.
A genius of such superior order could not long remain in obscurity ;
the fame of his Orrery spread far and wide. Several gentlemen,
among whom were his brother-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Barton, Dr. Smith,
and an ingenious mathematician, named John Lukens, appreciating
more fully his talents, united in inviting him to take up his residence
in Philadelphia, where his opportunities for acquiring knowledge and
fame, would be enlarged ; yielding, not without reluctance, he removed
to that city in the year 1770, where he continued to manufacture
mathematical instruments, which were acknowledged to be superior
to any imported. Having previously joined the American Philosophi
cal Society, he made a communication to that body, respecting the
transit of Venus, as it would occur on the 3d of June, 1769, and was
appointed on the committee to observe it in the township of Norriton,
In the preparations for this observation, he was extremely active and
useful ; the management and construction of the apparatus being per
fectly famiUar to him. This phenomenon had been seen but twice
by the inhabitants of our earth ; it would never be again visible to any
person then alive ; on it depended many astronomical calculations :
under such circumstances, our young star-gazer was of course in a
state of mental excitement and solicitude. The sun of that day rose
without a cloud ; the moment of observation came — the great event
occurred as Rittenhouse predicted, and so excited was he at the
circumstance, that in the instant of one of the contacts of the planet
with the sun, he actually fainted with emotion. His report was

DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
received with satisfaction by the learned, everywhere, and acquired
him an extended reputation.
In 1775, he delivered the annual oration before the Philosophical
Society ; it was marked by ingenious though simple language, and
comprehended a lucid history of astronomy. Though delivered in a
feeble tone of voice, and without the graces of the practised orator, it
commanded profound attention from the audience. Astronomy was
his favorite study, and the theme of the greater part of his communi
cations for the society's transactions.
Pennsylvania viewed with pride the accession of so valued a son,
and soon took care to provide for talents so uncommon ; he was
employed in several geodetic operations involving a considerable
stake. In 1779, the legislature appointed him one of the commission
ers to settle the boundary between Pennsylvania and Virginia ; this he
was mainly instrumental in terminating satisfactorily in 1783. In
1784, he assisted in determining the length of five degrees of longitude,
from a point on the Delaware, in order to fix the western Umits of the
state, and in 1786, he fixed the northern line between New York and
Pennsylvania. He performed the same service for New York and
New Jersey, hi 1769 ; and in 1787, he was called upon to ascertain
the boundary line between Massachusetts and New York. This
occupation led him to long and lonely rambles hi the wilderness, to
which he carried with him his habits of inquiry and investigation ; but
we do not find any mention of particular acquisitions thereby obtained
to natural history.
In 1791, he was elected to fill the chair of president of the American
Philosophical Society, vacant by the death of Dr. Franklin. His
attachment to the society was evinced by a donation to its funds of
the sum of three hundred pounds.
Though so ardently attached to the study of his choice, he had
paid attention to theology, and was well acquainted with practical
metaphysics ; a great reader, a musician, and a poet ; had acquired
an intimate knowledge of the French, German, and Dutch languages,
in which he took dehght to peruse the works of the learned of those
countries. His name was known and revered in every place where
science was respected. Wherever he went, he was honored. As
president of the society, he was much esteemed for his bland and
unassuming manners, as well as for his affectionate regard for others.
He received the degree of master of arts, in 1768, from the college
of Philadelphia, and the same honor was conferred upon him by the
college of William and Mary, in Virginia, in 1784. The college of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
New Jersey made him a doctor of laws, and he was elected a member
of the American Academy of Sciences, at Boston, in 1782, and of the
Royal Society of London, in 1795.
Rittenhouse was not only practically a Christian, but he believed
emphaticaUy in the Christian Revelation ; forming another triumph
over the vague assertion that men of genius are unbelievers. Newton
and Rittenhouse wiU outweigh a host of thoughtless blasphemers.
His beloved country occupied much of his thoughts, and was the
object of the affections of his heart. Educated a republican by his
father, he was firm to the principles of the revolution. In 1777, Dr.
Rittenhouse was appointed treasurer of Pennsylvania ; this office
he held by an annual and unanimous vote of the legislature, till 1789.
In 1792, he reluctantly accepted the appointment of Director of the
Mint of the United States ; this office his ill health obliged bim to
resign in 1795. His conduct was here above suspicion ; his colleague
in office having declared, that he even paid for work done at the mint,
out of his own salary, where he thought the charges would be con
sidered unreasonable.
His economy extended to a wise and profitable use of his time ; he
was never unemployed, giving once as an apology for detaining a
friend a few minutes, while he arranged some papers he had been
examining, that " he had once thought health the greatest blessing in
the world, but that he now thought that there was one thing of much
greater value, and that was time." The philosopher was a stranger
to pride and imposture in every thing. His immediate family con
stituted his chief society, and when the declining state of his health
rendered social intercourse more pleasing than solitary study, he
passed his evenings in reading or conversation with his wife and
daughters. His house and style of living, exhibited the taste of a philosopher,
the simplicity of a repubUcan, and the temper of a Christian. With
his estate, though small, he was content : his mind was his fortune ;
avarice found no place in a breast which could calculate the stars, and
estimate, at its true value, the fleetness of time and the length of
eternity. Happy, indeed, is that family, where such just ideas pre
vail ; there content waits upon cheerfulness, and the hope of immor
tality fortifies against the fear of death.
His constitution was naturally feeble, and he had impaired it by
sedentary labor, and assiduous midnight study. A weak breast was
the result, and whenever he made unusual exertions of body or mind,
or during sudden changes of temperature, it became the seat of a

DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
painful and harassing disorder. His last illness was short and painful ;
but his patience and Idnd feelings never forsook him while life re
mained. Upon being told that some of his friends had called to
inquire how he was, he asked why they were not invited into his
chamber to see him 1 " Because," said his wife, " you are too weak
to speak to them." " Yes," he said, " but I could still have squeezed
their hands." Thus, with a heart overflowing with love to his
family, his friends, country, and to the whole world, he peacefully
resigned his spirit into the hands of his God.
Dr. Rush, his intimate friend, has thus described his person and
manners ; " The countenance of Mr. Rittenhouse was too remark
able to remain unnoticed. It displayed such a mixture of contempla
tion, benignity, and innocence, that it was easy to distinguish his
person hi the largest company, by a previous loiowledge of his
character. His manners were civil and engaging to such a degree,
that he seldom passed an hour, even in a public house, in travelling
through our country, without being followed by the good wishes of
all who attended upon him. There was no affectation of singularity,
in any thing he said or did ; even his hand-writing, in which this
weakness so frequently discovers itself, was simple and intelhgible at
first sight, to all who saw it.
" Here I expected to have finished the detail of his virtues, but in
the neighborhood of that galaxy created by their connected lustre, I
behold a virtue of inestimable value, twinkling like a rare and solitary
star. It is his superlative modesty. This heaven-born virtue was
so conspicuous in every part of his conduct, that he appeared not so
much to conceal, as to be ignorant of, his superiority as a philosopher
and a man, over the greatest part of his fellow-creatures."
In stature, Dr. Rittenhouse was somewhat tall ; in his person,
slender and straight ; and although his constitution was delicate, his
bodily frame did not appear to have been originally weak ; his gait
was quick, and his general movements lively ; his face was of an oval
form; his complexion fair, with brown hair in youth, somewhat
whitened by age. AH his features were good ; forehead high, capa
cious and smooth ; his grayish-colored eyes expressed animation,
reflection, and good nature. In his temper, he was naturally placid
and good humored, yet sometimes grave and inclined to pensiveness ;
in proportion to his means, he was remarkably charitable. He loved
quiet and order, and preferred retirement to the bustle of the world.
He considered ambition, pomp, and ostentation, as being generally
inconsistent with true happiness.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Professor Barton, the deceased's nephew and friend, who attended
him in his last illness, states, that after doing something to alleviate
his pain, he asked him if he did not feel easier ; " he calmly answered
in these memorable words, which it is impossible for me to forget, for
they were the last he ever distinctly uttered, and they make us
acquainted with the two most important features of his religious creed;
' Yes, you have made the way to God easier !' "
The remains of this distinguished philosopher were deposited,
agreeably to a desire he had expressed long before his death, beneath
the pavement within the smaU observatory which he had erected many
years before, in the garden adjoining his house. The house is still
standing at the north west corner of Arch and Seventh streets, but
the observatory has disappeared to make way for modern improve
ments, and the body now rests in the cemetery adjoining the Presby
terian church in Pine street, Philadelphia, near the body of his son-
in-law, Mr. Sergeant. The grave of the American astronomer is
enclosed under a plain marble slab, thus inscribed :—
IN MEMORY OF
DAVID RITTENHOUSE,
BORN APRIL 18TII, 1732,
DIED JUNE 26th, 1796;
AND
HANNAH RITTENHOUSE,
HIS WIFE,
WHO DIED OCTOBER 15tH, ,
1799,
AGED 64 TEARS.
Mr. Jefferson succeeded him as president of the Philosophical
Society. That individual, in his refutation of the Count de Buffon's
preposterous theory, " of the tendency of nature to belittle her pro
ductions on this side the Atlantic," has said, after mentioning in proper
terms, Washington and Franklin, &c, " we have supposed Ritten
house second to no astronomer living ; that in genius he must be the
first, because he is self-taught. As an artist, he has exhibited as great
a proof of mechanical genius as the world has ever produced. He
has not indeed made a world ; but he has, by imitation, approached
nearer his Maker than any mere man who has lived from the creation
to this day."
A list of the papers communicated by Dr. Rittenhouse to the society
of which he was president, will be found in his memoirs, written by
William Barton, M. A., and published in Philadelphia in 1813.

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DAVID HUMPHREYS.

David Humphreys was the son of the Rev. Daniel Humphreys,
pastor of a Presbyterian church in the town of Derby, in the state
of Connecticut.
He was born in the year 1753. His juvenile history would pro
bably be of little importance, even were it practicable to trace it with
accuracy, after the lapse of so many years.
He entered Yale college as a freshman, in the year 1767, and
received his diploma as bachelor of arts, in the year 1771. Either
owing to the exciting causes, which eventually terminated in the
establishment of American independence, or to a singular combination
of youthful intellectual powers, the brief time of the presidency of
Dr. Daggett seems to present the most brilliant display of eminent
names that is furnished by the catalogue of Yale college.
Young Humphreys was among the pupils of that presidency.
Trumbull, Dwight, and Humphreys, contemporaries as academi
cians, and soon after, Barlow, while they maintained honorable rank
as scholars, brought the charms of poetry from their studies, to grace
the progress of freedom, and strew flowers on the pathway of liberty.
Excitements that influenced teachers, who considered even clerical
immunities and obligations as forming no just exemption from active
personal service in opposition to tyranny and oppression, operated
with wonderful effect on the minds of pupils. A love of letters became
united with a love of country ; scholarship and patriotism formed an
alliance, and literature in all its branches lent its aid to the cause of
freedom. The young bards of the college raised their animating strains ; and
with the caustic satire of Trumbull, the noble songs of Dwight, and
the elaborate efforts of Barlow, were mingled the patriotic effusions
of Humphreys. Their early efforts presaged much for the future ;
and now, since they have all passed from the stage of action, it is with
pride and pleasure that we can interweave their laurels.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
But it was not alone in poetry that their efforts were expended.
Trumbull, the friend and favorite law student of the elder President
Adams, gave an animating impulse, as a political writer, in further
ance of the cause of liberty ; Barlow and Dwight became chaplains
in the army ; while the more ambitious energy of Humphreys, led
him to the field as a soldier.
After tlie completion of his collegiate studies, Humphreys resided
(it is presumed in the character of an instructer) in the family of
Colonel Phillips, of Phillips' manor, in Westchester county, New
York. How long he remained in the family of Colonel Phillips, is
not known to the writer ; but from a sonnet " addressed to his friends
at Yale college, on leaving them to join the army," it is supposed, that
he returned again to classic ground, and, having there sought a place,
in which his talents could be useful to his countiy, embarked as an
early soldier in the cause of the revolution. The first stanza of the
sonnet expresses his feelings :
" Adieu, thou Yale! where youthful poets dwell;
No more I linger by thy classic stream.
Inglorious ease and sportive songs, farewell !
Thou startling clarion ! break the sleeper's dream !
Mr. Humphreys entered the army as a captain. His literary
talents and patriotic sentiments commended him to the early notice
of the most efficient and discerning officers ; and in 1778, with the
lineal rank of captain, he held the additional appointment of aid to
Major General Putnam. In October, 1777, it appears from a note
inserted in his " Life of General Putnam," that he was " major of bri
gade to the first Connecticut brigade." The period to which the note
refers, was the time of the capture of Fort Montgomery, by Sir Henry
Clinton ; and the brigade to which Humphreys was attached, was
commanded by Brigadier General Theophilus Parsons. The acquaint
ance formed at that time, probably led to his more intimate association
with Major General Putnam, who was then acting under the appoint
ment of Washington, as commander "of a separate army in the
Highlands of New York."
The pecuUar circumstances, under which the revolutionary army
was organized, rendered the services of well educated and patriotic
young men pecuUarly acceptable to sagacious commanders. The
confidential situation of aid became important, both in field and
cabinet service, and the ablest and best informed young men were
selected for that station. It was in this field of duty, combining as

DAVID HUMPHREYS.
well the cultivated talents of a scholar as the ardor of a devoted
soldier of liberty, that Humphreys was destined to serve his country.
Without tracing his biography with the minuteness befitting the
historian of a national chief, it may, perhaps, be sufficient to note the
outline of his services as a soldier, by a quotation from his poem,
" On the Happiness of America," addressed " to the American people,"
soon after the close of the revolutionary war. In alluding to the
interest that another generation might feel in the incidents that
resulted in the birth of a new empire, he thus alludes to his personal
agency : " I, too, perhaps, should Heaven prolong my date,
The oft-repeated tale shall oft relate ;
Shall tell the feelings in the first alarms,
Of some bold enterprise the unequalled charms j
Shall tell from whom I learnt the martial art,
With what high chief I play'd my early part :
With Parsons first, whose eye, with piercing ken,
Reads through their hearts the characters of men ;
Then how I aided, in the following scene,
Death-daring Putnam, then immortal Greene ;
Then how great Washington my youth approv'd,
In rank preferred, and as a parent lov'd,
(For each fine feeling in his bosom blends
The first of heroes, sages, patriots, friends,)
With him what hours on war-like plans I spent,
Beneath the shadow of th' imperial tent ;
With him how oft I went the nightly round,
Through moving hosts, or slept on tented ground ;
From him, how oft, (nor far below the first
In high behests and confidential trust,)
From him how oft I bore the dread commands,
Which destined for the fight the eager bands :
With him how oft I passed th' eventful day,
Rode by his side, as down the long array
His awful voice the columns taught to form,
To point the thunder, and to pour the storm.
But, thanks to heaven ! those days of blood are o'er," &c.
From aUusions in the preceding extract, it appears that Hum
phreys had the singular good fortune to be allied, on terms of family
intimacy, with several of the most discriminating, intelligent, and effi
cient chiefs of the revolution. To have been selected in perilous
times, from a host of aspiring young men, as the confidential friend
of Parsons, Putnam, Greene, and Washington ; and to have accom
panied them successively, as a staff officer, through the vicissitudes
and dangers of their campaigns, is proof sufficient of his capacity and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
bravery as a soldier. Indeed we cannot but readily pardon the vanity
of the youthful poet, in recording with pride the noble testimonials
that had been thus awarded to his talents and patriotism by such
illustrious men.
He received his appointment as aid and' military secretary to Gene
ral Washington, in 1780, and, after visiting his old friend, General
Putnam, who was suffering under the effects of a paralytic attack, at
Pomfret, Connecticut, joined the family of the commander-in-chief,
in the early part of that year. From that time, he constantly resided
with Washington, enjoying his full confidence and friendship, and
sharing in the toils of his arduous duties, until the close of the war.
On the surrender of Cornwallis, the captured standards were
delivered to his charge. In the honors conferred by a grateful
country on the actors in that brilliant campaign, Colonel Humphreys
was not forgotten. In November, 1781, congress "Resolved, that
an elegant sword be presented in the name of the United States, in
congress assembled, to Colonel Humphreys, aid-de-camp of General
Washington, to whose care the standards taken under the capitu
lation of York were consigned, as a testimony of their opinion of his
fidelity and ability ; and that the board of war take order thereon." In
the year 1786, this resolution was carried into effect, and the sword
presented by General Knox, secretary of war, accompanied by a
highly complimentary letter.
In November, 1782, he was, by resolution of congress, commis
sioned as lieutenant-colonel, with order that his commission should
bear date from the 23d of June, 1780, when he received his appoint
ment as aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief. He had, when in
active service, given the sanction of his name and influence in the
establishment of a company of colored infantry, attached to Meigs',
afterwards Butler's regiment, in the Connecticut line. He continued
to be the nominal captain of that company, until the establishment
of peace.
The preUminaries of peace between the United States and Great
Britain, having been agreed on, in November, 1782, the operations of
the army were soon after suspended ; although the commander-in-chief
continued with the northern division until December, 1783, when he
resigned his commission. He was attended at Annapolis, on that
interesting occasion, by Colonel Humphreys, who thence, accom
panied him to Mount Vernon.
In May, 1784, Colonel Humphreys was elected by congress,
secretary to the commission for negotiating treaties of commerce with

DAVID HUMPHREYS.
foreign powers. The commissioners were John Adams, then ministei
in Holland ; Benjamin Franklin, then minister in France ; and Thomas
Jefferson, who received his appointment as commissioner three days
previous to the election of Colonel Humphreys as secretary.
In July of the same year, he accompanied Mr. Jefferson to Europe.
Several eminent men, and among them his friend, General Kosciusko,
were the companions of his voyage. The commission was limited in
duration to two years ; at the expiration of which time, Colonel
Humphreys, having spent a part of the winter of 1785 in England,
returned to America, and immediately visited General Washington,
at Mount Vernon. In the year 1786, symptoms of discontent, arising
from the arrangements of the government, manifested themselves in
regular military preparations for redress or resistance. The period
alluded to, is commonly known as " the time of Shay's rebellion."
With a view, probably, to aid in suppressing those dangerous move
ments, Colonel Humphreys returned to his native place, and was, in
the autumn of 1786, elected a member of assembly from Derby, in
the Connecticut legislature. He was by that legislature appointed to
the command of a regiment, raised in compliance " with a requisition
of congress, on account of an Indian war ;" the real object of the
requisition being disguised from motives of policy.
On receiving his commission, Colonel Humphreys fixed upon
Hartford, as his head quarters and recruiting rendezvous. He there
had an opportunity of renewing his intimacy with his early literary
associates, Trumbull and Barlow, and, in connection with them and
Dr. Lemuel Hopkins, an accomplished poet and satirist, was engaged
in writing the Anarchiad. It consisted of a series of poetical essays,
characterized by the brilUancy, sentiment, and wit, which such a
union of talents could not fail to give.
The time of Colonel Humphreys' active employment in his new
department of military duty, was of short duration. He continued,
however, in command, until the suppression of the insurrection in
1787. In the year 1788, he again went by invitation to Mount Vernon,
and while there wrote his "Life of General Putnam," and several
poetical pieces. From the dates of the prologue and epilogue to the
tragedy, entitled " The Widow of Malabar," translated by him from the
French, it is presumed, that these compositions engaged his leisure
hours at that time.
In the year 1789, he was appointed by congress as one of a board
of commissioners, to treat with the southern Indians. His associates

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
were Cyrus Griffin, afterwards judge of the United States' court, for
the district of Virginia, and General Benjamin Lincoln. The com
mission was closed in the same year.
In the year 1790, Colonel Humphreys was appointed minister to
the court of Portugal, and was resident there, as a diplomatic repre
sentative of his country, until the year 1797, when he took leave of
that court, having been transferred to the court of Madrid, where he
continued until the year 1802.
At that time, Thomas Pinckney, minister to England, was trans
ferred to the court of Spain, and Colonel Humphreys took leave,
and returned to the United States.
During his residence in Portugal, he was authorized by special
powers to open negotiations with several of the Barbary states, with a
view, as well to obtain the liberation of many American citizens, held
in captivity, as to secure our commerce by treaties from further
spohations ; the act authorizing him to appoint agents. In further
ance of his duties, Colonel Humphreys (who had made a short visit
to the United States in the early part of the year 1795, in order to
render full personal representations on the subject of Barbary aggres
sions,) returned to Europe in April, 1795, accompanied by Joseph
Donaldson, consul for Tunis and Tripoli ; who was to be employed
to negotiate the treaty, while Colonel Humphreys himself went to
France, to obtain the aid of the French government.
In aid of Mr. Donaldson, Joel Barlow, then residing in France, was
appointed to act in the negotiation. Through the agency of Mr.
Barlow and Mr. Donaldson, treaties were subsequently formed with
Algiers and Tripoh, and "approved and concluded" by Colonel
Humphreys.
Several of the most important of Colonel Humphreys' diplomatic
communications, have recently been presented to the pubhc. They
are considered by enUghtened statesmen as being creditable to him,
both as a national jurist and a correct and lucid negotiator.
During his residence in Europe, Colonel Humphreys corresponded
with his friend Dwight, in poetical epistles, and wrote several of his
best compositions in verse. On taldng leave of the court of Lisbon,
he addressed a sonnet " To the Prince of Brazil," which was " trans
lated into Portuguese verse," by "the Marshal General and Command
er-in-chief, Duke de Alafoens." His correspondence with General
Washington was of the most friendly and confiding character, and
Washington expressed a strong desire, that he would, after his return
from Europe, make Mount Vernon his permanent residence, as the

DAVID HUMPHREYS.
companion of his declining years. During his residence abroad,
Colonel Humphreys married, in the year 1797, in Lisbon, a daughter
of John Bulkley, an English resident merchant, of great wealth.
While minister at the court of Spain, he received the afflicting
intelligence of the death of his venerated chief and friend. He wrote
on that occasion a letter of condolence to Mrs. Washington, remark
ably beautiful in expression and delicacy of feeling, and subsequently,
on the 4th July, 1800, pronounced a poetic eulogium on the character
of General Washington, at the house of the American legation in
Madrid ; which was forwarded to Mrs. Washington, with a dedicatory
letter. Previous to his departure from Spain, he purchased a flock of one
hundred sheep, of the best selected merino breed, and forwarded them
to the United States, from Lisbon. It was was an important and
valuable accession to the agricultural and manufacturing interests of
his country ; and the allusion to the golden fleece of Jason, inscribed
on his monument, is not less correct than beautiful. Colonel Hum
phreys also contributed to agricultural interests, by the introduction of
Arabian horses, and good varieties of English cattle. His important
services were justly appreciated by enlightened citizens, and in De
cember, 1802, " the Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for Promot
ing Agriculture," transmitted to him a gold medal, with appropriate
devices, and a complimentary inscription.
From the year 1802, until 1812, Colonel Humphreys devoted his
time, almost exclusively, to agricultural and manufacturing pursuits.
He erected, in that part of his native town, Derby, now known as the
incorporated village of Humphrey sville, (a name conferred in com
pliment to its founder) one of the earliest, and then the most extensive
wool, cotton, and paper manufactories in the country. It is still in
active and successful operation.
He did not resume his station as an actor in pubhc life, until the
year 1812. Among the revolutionary men who were then called
from their retirement to mingle again in the strife of nations, Colonel
Humphreys was found ready to obey the summons ; and to render
his aid in sustaining his country, during the perilous trials of a second
war with England. In the years 1812, '13 and '14, he was a repre
sentative in the legislature, from the town of Derby, and bore an active
part, in organizing the state troops for the purposes of local defence.
In the year 1812, he took command of a corps of state troops, com
posed of " volunteers exempt by law from military duty." The corps
was raised under an act passed in the August session of 1812, and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Colonel Humphreys was then commissioned as the special com
mander, with the rank of brigadier-general.
His public services terminated with the Umitation of that appoint
ment. General Humphreys was, in personal form, of lofty stature and
commanding appearance ; and, whatever peculiarities may have blended
with his manners and address, impressed those who viewed him even
as strangers, with the conviction, that he possessed high intellectual
as well as physical powers. His early reputation as a scholar ; his
indulgence in poetic enthusiasm, fostered by youthful associates of
kindred feelings ; the countenance and support of the ablest officers
of the revolution ; his free admission to counsels, on whose result an
empire's fate depended ; and finally his long residence at European
courts, were well adapted to affect the mind of a young man with senti
ments of self-esteem, that gave to his manners the appearance, perhaps,
of vanity and ostentation. He was fond of dress and equipage ; and,
although his sentiments and public conduct were such as to prove his
devoted attachment to republicanism, yet, like John Hancock, he was
not insensible to the brilliancy of courtly style. His fondness for
display (since it must be acknowledged as a trait in his character) is
redeemed by the consideration, that he made, on all occasions, his
personal gratifications secondary and obedient to public duty.
During his early career in the army, this characteristic was mani
fest, and observed even by foreign officers. In an unpublished
manuscript letter from General Kosciusko to his friend Pierce,
paymaster-general of the northern department, now before the writer,
dated 30th July, 1778, in commending his regard to the board of
officers, he incidentally notes the qualities of his friend Humphreys,
by requesting his correspondent to consult him as a person peculiarly
familiar with the rules of military etiquette, if he were at loss as to the
mode of complying with his wishes.
Anecdotes have been mentioned, alluding to the same peculiarity
during his residence with Washington.
As a prose writer he wets correct and animated in style, and exhi
bited less of display than would have been expected from his sanguine
temperament. Generally, his writings of that description are graceful,
unaffected, and free from redundancy of ornament.
As a poet, considering the peculiar circumstances under which he
wrote, he is entitled to a respectable rank among the bards of the
country. Some of his lighter effusions are marked by a playfulness

DAVID HUMPHREYS.
and vivacity that evince his sensibility to the most sportive and gay
attractions of fancy.
After his return from Europe, his occasional literary productions
were collected and publisUed in an octavo volume, in 1804. As this
work was arranged under his personal direction, it may be presumed
to embrace aU selections from his compositions before that date, that
he wished to note as connected with his character as an author. It
is dedicated by him to the Duke de Rochefaucault, who had been his
personal and particular friend in France.
Colonel Humphreys, in the first and concluding paragraphs of his
dedication, conveys sentiments of independence and patriotic virtue to
his titled friend, that the history of his Ufe warrants us in believing to
have been as heart-felt as they are correct. They are as follows. In
the commencement he says :
" It is consistent with the frankness of a free-born American to say,
that your noble blood and immense possessions would be of little con
sideration with the republicans, whose constitutions of government
you have made familiar to your own nation, by translating tbem into
FrencU, if unsupported by your personal merit and amiable accom
plishments." In the conclusion of the dedication, Colonel Humphreys makes
this remark : " In presenting for your amusement the trifles which
have been occasionally composed at my leisure hours, I assume
nothing beyond the negative merit of not having ever written any
thing unfavorable to the interests of freedom, humanity, and virtue."
A perusal of his writings, certainly will induce a ready assent to
the truth of this observation ; and it may be added, that it is more
than " negative merit," that ever poetical writings, which are so liable
to be tinged by a licentious freedom of expression and tUougUt, should
have been composed by a soldier and diplomatist, in his hours of
relaxation, without being affected by the contaminating influence of
camps and courts.
The principal poetical writings of General Humphreys, embraced
in his collection, consist of " An Address to the Armies of the United
States," and poems " On the Happiness of America," " On the Future
Glory of the United States," " On the Industry of the United States,"
" On the Love of Country," and " On the Death of General Washington."
Besides these patriotic and more elaborate productions, he has pre
served many lighter effusions, both of a grave and humorous character,
several of which are felicitous as well in expression as in thought.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
His prose writings, aside from diplomatic and other official papers,
relate almost entirely to such subjects as are connected with patriotism
and political economy.
Among these productions, the life of General Putnam, the lion-
hearted chief, is the most elaborate. It is a beautiful tribute of a
young soldier to his teacher in the art of war ; and will always main
tain an interesting rank among the literary records of the fathers of the
republic. It was dedicated, through their president, Colonel Jeremiah
Wadsworth, to the state society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut, to
be preserved in their archives ; and is mentioned by the author, as
" the first effort in biography that had been made on this continent."
To this essay may be added two orations before the Cincinnati
society ; " A Memorial to the Legislature," for its incorporation ; " Re
marks on the War with Tripoli ;" " Thoughts on the Necessity of
Maintaining a Navy ;" " Means of Improving Public Defence," in a
letter to Governor Trumbull; "A Dissertation on Merino Sheep,"
besides numerous minor productions. Many of Colonel Humphreys'
writings, in poetry and prose, have passed through numerous editions
in Europe and America, and have been favorably noticed by critics
in both hemispheres. His friend, the accomplished Marquis de Chas-
telleux, translated into French without the knowledge of the author,
his poetical " Address to the Armies of the United States," and accom
panied the publication in Paris with an elegant introductory notice,
highly complimentary to his talents and character. It need not be
added, that his American friends, Barlow, Dwight, and Trumbull,
were ready in offering their testimonials of affection and respect.
He received while in active life the honorary degree of doctor of
laws from three American colleges, and was associated, as member
or fellow, with numerous literary institutions, both in Europe and
America. The last years of his Ufe were principally spent in New Haven and
Boston, and his attention during that time was directed more to
personal concerns than pubhc engagements.
He died of an organic affection of the heart at New Haven, on the
21st February, 1818, aged sixty-five years. His remains were
interred in the burial-ground of that city, over which has since been
erected a plain but lofty and durable granite monument. The epitaph
which briefly, and with no exaggerated praise, relates his history, was
written by his early and faithful friend, the Hon. John Trumbull.
E. B.

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Zs#faya/n)

EDWARD PREBLE.

Commodore Edward Preble, one of the most distinguished among
American naval commanders, was born August 15th, 1761, in a
part of the ancient town of Falmouth, which is now Portland, in
Casco Bay, Maine. He was the son of the Hon. Jedidiah Preble,
a brigadier-general under the government of Massachusetts Bay, and
after the commencement of the revolution a member of the council
and senate. He died at the age of 77, in 1783.
Edward being designed for a liberal education and a profession,
was at a suitable age placed at Dummer academy, in Newbury, then
under the care of Mr. Samuel Moody, a celebrated teacher. The
young gentleman is understood to have been less engaged here, in
the interest of his literary pursuits, than in more active and enter
prising employments, but he nevertheless gained, during his stay at
school, much valuable information and discipline, the effect of which
was plainly discernible, as well in the quality of his conversation, as
in the phraseology of his official orders and letters.
Preble is said to have discovered, from his childhood, a disposi
tion for athletic and adventurous exercises, and a firm, resolute, and
persevering temper. Tradition reports that his preceptor was much
impressed with the last-named trait in his character, and that on
one occasion at least, he had a remarkable opportunity of testing it.
Our young hero, in an encounter with a school-fellow, had given
him a blow, which covered his face with blood. The boy presented
himself in this plight to Mr. Moody, and announced the guilt of
Preble. Mr. Moody, who was unfortunately an irritable person,
in the heat of his indignation, seized the fire-shovel of the school
room, sprang toward the offender, and aimed a blow at his head,
which, however, he took care should just escape on one side of
his mark, and fall on the desk. He repeated the movement, bring
ing down his deadly weapon on the other side, with the utmost
violence. Preble, meanwhile, never changed his attitude or coun
tenance ; but sitting perfectly erect, looked calmly in the face of his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
assailant. The latter from being pale and quivering with rage, be
came instantly composed, and, turning away, exclaimed, " That fel
low will make a general !"
On leaving school, the young man felt within him so strong a
renewal of a predilection he had early entertained for a seafaring
life, that his father, though opposed to his choice, thought it unwise
to thwart him, and he was put on board a ship. His first voyage
was to Europe, in a letter of marque, Captain Friend, near the close
of which, as they came upon our coast in severely cold and boiste
rous weather, Preble had an opportunity of manifesting his acti
vity and hardihood to eminent advantage, and he gained himself
no little honor.
About the year 1779, he became midshipman in the state ship,
Protector, of twenty-six guns, commanded by John Forster Williams.
That vessel on her first cruise, engaged off Newfoundland, the letter
of marque, Admiral Duff, of thirty-six guns, and so disabled her in
a short but bloody action, that she was forced to strike, but blew up
a few moments afterwards. On her second cruise, she was captured
by a British frigate and sloop of war. The principal officers were
taken to England, but Preble, by the interest of one of his father's
friends, Colonel Tyng, obtained his release at New York and re
turned home.
He now entered as first lieutenant on board the sloop of war Win-
throp, Captain Little, who had been Williams' second in command in
the Protector, had scaled the walls of his prison at Plymouth, (Eng
land,) and escaping with one other person in a wherry to the coast
of France, thence took passage to Boston, and it was upon this sta
tion that one of Preble's exploits took place, which well exemplified
the" daring courage and intrepidity natural to the man.
Captain Little had taken the tender of a brig, of force superior to
his own, which lay in the waters of the Penobscot, (in Maine.)
From the crew he gained such information of the position of the
brig, as determined him on an attempt to seize her by surprise. He
ran her alongside in the night, having prepared forty men to jump
into her, dressed in white frocks, to enable them to distinguish friend
from foe ; coming close upon her, he was hailed by the enemy, who,
as was said, supposed the Winthrop must be her tender, and they
cried out, " You will run us aboard !" " Aye !" shouted Preble, " I
am coming aboard !" and he immediately sprang into the vessel,
with fourteen men. The motion of the vessel was so rapid that the
rest of the forty, destined for boarding, missed their opportunity.

EDWARD PREBLE.
Little cried out to his lieutenant, " Will you not have more men ?"
" No !" he answered with great presence of mind, (expecting to be
overheard by the enemy, " we have more than we want, we stand
in each other's way." Those of the English crew who were on
deck, by this time were leaping over the side ; and others below
from the cabin windows ; and they were soon seen swimming for the
shore, which was within pistol shot. Preble instantly entering the
cabin, found the officers either in bed, or just rising ; he assured
them they were his prisoners, and that resistance, if attempted, would
be fatal to them. Supposing themselves mastered by superior num
bers, they submitted without the slightest effort to rescue the vessel.
The enemy's troops on shore, marched down to the water, and com
menced a brisk firing with muskets ; and the battery also opened a
cannonade, but the latter was too high to take effect, and no damage
was done by either. The captors were meantime beating their
prize out of the harbor, whence they soon conveyed her to Boston.
Preble continued in the Winthrop during the whole of the war,
and that vessel is acknowledged to have rendered eminent service
in protecting our trade near the shores, and picking up a great num
ber of the small privateers which issued from the British ports to the
eastward. After the close of the war, when our flag began to be
extensively known in foreign seas, he was a ship master, in succes
sive voyages, for a number of years.
In 1798, our relations with France called the attention of govern
ment to the state of our navy, if navy it deserved to be called ; and
during that and the ensuing year, fifteen frigates, and about twelve
other vessels of war, were built and commissioned. Preble was
one of the five first-lieutenants first appointed. In the winter of
1798-9, he made two cruises as commandant of the brig Pickering,
and the next year, with a captain's commission, he received com
mand of the frigate Essex, of thirty-six guns. In January, 1800, he
made a voyage in this vessel to Batavia, in company with the frigate
Congress, to convoy our homeward bound ships. The Congress
was dismasted, and put back. Preble proceeded alone, and in
June he took under convoy fourteen sail of merchantmen, valued at
several millions of dollars. Afterwards he was appointed to the
command of the Adams, for the Mediterranean, but his health, which
now began to fail, compelled him to leave the profession until 1803,
when he commenced a career in our operations against the Algerine
pirates, which not only redounded much to his own credit, but
exalted the character of the American navy in the eyes of all

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
nations. On this occasion he commanded the Constitution frigate,
and had under him also the frigate Philadelphia, and several smaller
vessels. The satisfactory, negotiations concluded by him with the
emperor of Morocco, and the details of the memorable bombardment
of Tripoli, till Preble was relieved by the arrival of his senior,
Commodore Barron, are familiar to all readers of our history. The
value of his services was recognised by a vote of congress, confer
ring upon him the thanks of the nation, and an elegant medal,
which were both presented by the president, with the most emphatic
expressions of esteem. The officers of his whole squadron, also, on
his leaving them, had joined in a highly gratifying address. Peace
was concluded with Tripoli the next year.
In the latter part of 1806, the commodore's health began again to
fail under his old complaint, a debility of the digestive organs.
He struggled with it for some months, indulging a hope of recovery
till within ten days of his death, which took place on the 25th of
August, 1807, in the forty-sixth year of his age. He regarded the
approach of that event with the fortitude which became his charac
ter, and his exit was in full correspondence with his life.
The inhabitants of Portland united in every mark of respect to
his remains. On the day of his funeral business was suspended,
and the colors displayed at half-mast in the harbor, and he was
interred with military honors. On the intelligence of his decease
reaching Washington, the event was commemorated with the testi
monies due to the memory of a patriot hero.
The private character of Commodore Preble was eminently
attractive. In authority, indeed, he was rigid, and perhaps some
times failed in restraining the native impetuosity of his temper ; but
in domestic life he was placid, affectionate, patient of labor, social,
and in business of all sorts remarkable for exactness and despatch.
He had been married several years, and left a wife and one son to
mourn his loss and inherit the legacy of his fame.
4 B. B. T.

i-d by J.B.Fon-e** from thu original by J.W.Jarvis. by pormi.ss.ion or the
COUI'OKATION OF NF.W-YORK.

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KS HERlTrSO 1\T7»VYOHK. CWTCRKD ACC0HD1NG- TO 1HT. ACf Of CONiilUiSS .

OLIVER H. PERRY.

The success of our naval warfare with England in the revolutionary
struggle, and in the war of 1812, has given a greater impulse to the
patriotic feelings of our nation than a hundred battles on land would
have produced, however victorious they might have been. In jus
tice to this feeling, and to keep it alive, the general history of our
navy should be familiar to every one in the nation.
There are many of our naval heroes who deserve much from
their countrymen, and who should be grouped in our history, as well
as separated for distinction in our biography. From among these
we have selected, for this number of our work, a name dear to all
who have at heart their country's honor.
Oliver Hazard Perry was born at Newport in August, 1785.
He was early destined for the navy by his father, then in the service
of the United States. He was entered a midshipman on board of
the sloop of war General Greene, in 1798 ; a period of general
excitement on account of our commercial difficulties with France.
He was too young at that time to gain any other laurels than those
which are won from friends by polite observances of gentlemanly
courtesy and strict probity. These are truly earnests of future
fame, and should be prized as things of promise as well as of
present value.
Midshipman Perry was in the Tripolitan war, and secured the
affection and respect of all the officers and men in the squadron.
By seizing every opportunity to gain information, and showing to
all that he was desirous of being instructed, and ready on any
occasion to instruct, he became, very early in life, an accomplished
navigator and seaman.
In 1810, he was a lieutenant commandant in the schooner Re
venge, a vessel attached to the squadron under Commodore Rodgers
at New London, and employed in Long Island Sound to prevent in
fractions of the embargo laws. In this vessel, in the spring of 1811,
he was wrecked in a fog near Stonington. He demanded a court of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
inquiry on his conduct. The court acquitted him of all blame, and
reported that it was owing to his coolness and intrepidity that the
guns and other property, with the crew of the Revenge, were saved.
Such a misfortune often tries an officer's character more than several
ordinary battles.
The nation not only responded to the report of the court of in
quiry, but Mr. Secretary Hamilton wrote Lieutenant Perry a very
complimentary letter on his admirable conduct under the calamity.
It is seldom that an officer gains by his misfortunes, but this was
distinctly the case with Perry.
This time of peace and restrictive system was trying to our naval
commanders ; they hated to be made spies upon smugglers, and
overseers of little matters ; and many of them resigned their com
missions. In 1812, Lieutenant Perry was promoted to the rank of master
and commander, and appointed to the command of the gunboats in
the harbor of New York ; but he was soon disgusted with this ser
vice, for it was duU and mactive, and did not afford any chance ol
gaining distinction, or of improvement in naval tactics. Every
sailor under his command imbibed the same impressions ; and when,
at his solicitations, he was ordered to Lake Ontario to reinforce Com
modore Chauncey, his men volunteered to go with him. On his
arrival at Sackett's Harbor, Commodore Chauncey ordered Perry to
Lake Erie to superintend the building of vessels, in order to meet
the force the British had on those waters. He commenced his labors
with extraordinary zeal, and gave animation to every heart and hand
engaged in increasing the naval power on Lake Erie. On the 4th
of August he got his squadron over the bar, and swept into the deep
waters of the lake. The enemy did not molest him while in this
unpleasant situation, although they were daily watching his move
ments. He sailed in pursuit of the squadron, but soon returned, not
being able to meet them. Being reinforced by a considerable num
ber of men, on the 12th he sailed again ; on the 15th he arrived at
Sandusky ; then cruised about Maiden, and offered battle to the
enemy's fleet at anchor under the guns of the fort, but the challenge
was not accepted.
On the 10th of September the American squadron were lying at
Put-in-Bay ; at sunrise the British squadron were discovered by Perry,
making towards him. Perry's force was two twenty-gun brigs, and
several small vessels, carrying in all fifty-four guns, and manned with
about six hundred persons ; sailors, landsmen, and boys. The British

OLIVER H. PERRY.
force was superior in men and metal, being six vessels, carrying
sixty-three guns. At eleven o'clock, A. M., the British were formed
in line of battle ; but the wind now changing, Perry had an oppor
tunity to bear down upon them as he chose. The commodore, in
the Lawrence, led. From her mast head was displayed the last
words of the gallant Captain Lawrence, who fell in the action
between the Chesapeake and Shannon : " Don't give up the ship."
At a few minutes past twelve, the British commenced firing, and
some damage was done to the Lawrence before Perry could make
his short guns bear upon the enemy. At length he opened his
battery, and stood the fire of the enemy's force for two hours. The
other part of his own fleet did not come to his assistance. The
Lawrence was become unmanageable ; her decks were strewed with
the dead; her guns were dismounted. At this moment Perry
conceived a bold and most admirable design. It was no sooner con
ceived than it was put in execution. Giving the command of the
Lawrence to Lieutenant Yarnell, he took his flag under his arm,
jumped into his boat, and amidst a shower of shot made his way
to the Niagara, the second ship of his squadron. He went off from
the Lawrence standing up in his boat ; but the seamen, seeing how
much he was exposed, seized him with affectionate violence, and
pulled him down to a seat. His flag was now seen flying from the
mast head of the Niagara, comparatively a fresh ship. This was a
moment full of peril. The youthful hero was as calm as adven
turous. He brought his ship in a position to break the enemy's line
of battle. He gave two ships a raking fire with his starboard guns,
poured a broadside into a schooner from his larboard tier, and lay
his ship alongside of the British commodore. The effect of his fire
was terrific, and the enemy's battery was silenced in a very short
time. The small American vessels were soon brought up, and the
contest decided, which had now lasted for nearly three hours. The
enemy was not only entirely subdued, but all his vessels were taken,
and brought to the American side of the lake. Never did a warrior
fight with a braver or more skilful foe. Commodore Barclay, who
commanded the British squadron on that day, was a man of no
ordinary fame. He had gained laurels at the battle of Trafalgar,
and other sea-fights, where Englishmen had bled and won the
victory; but this day his experience did not avail him — he was
forced to yield. The loss was great on both sides, but much more
severe on the part of the British. They had two hundred killed
and wounded ; the Americans about one hundred and twenty-three.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Commodore Barclay was severely wounded, having lost his remain
ing hand in the fight ; the other had been shot off in some previous
battle. In this fight Perry's conduct was marked with skill, bravery, and
perseverance. He omitted nothing, did every thing he should have
done, and no more. He was as humane as brave, and as modest as
humane. He took special care of the wounded of the enemy, as
well as of his own gallant crews, and did all that could have been
done to assuage the wounds of person and of feeling of Commodore
Barclay, while he was a prisoner in his power.
The effects of his victory were felt in every part of the countiy.
It silenced those who had clamored against the war, and who, among
other things, had ventured to prognosticate that our officers could not
manage a fleet, however well they might fight a single ship. Those
who had opposed the war now united with the friends of it in
wreathing garlands for our victorious seamen. The whole story had
an epic effect, national pride was kindled up, and the people in every
part of the country celebrated the victory with enthusiasm.
For this action Perry was made a captain in the navy, and re •
ceived the thanks of congress, and other marks of distinction, parti
cularly from several of the state legislatures ; but he did not repose
upon his laurels, or rest satisfied with what he had done. Finding
no more hostile fleets to subdue, he offered himself as an aid to
General Harrison, then in pursuit of the enemy, and ' participated
with that gallant officer in his dangers and honors at the battle of
Moravian Town, on the 5th of October following his own victory.
The president of the United States, in his message to congress,
speaks of the conduct of Captain Perry in the highest terms of
praise, as reflecting honor on this nation ; and Mr. Madison was
never given to flattery.
At the time of the invasion of Virginia and Maryland by the
British under General Ross and Admiral Cockburn, Captain Perry
had a command on the Potomac, but not in sufficient force to do any
thing effective. Washington was taken, but no naval officer suffered
any diminution of his fame from this act ; the fault must rest among
others if there was any fault in the affair.
At the conclusion of the war Captain Perry was appointed to the
command of the Java, a frigate of the first class, and sailed with
Commodore Decatur to chastise the Dey of Algiers, who had, during
our difficulties with Great Britain, thought it a favorable time to
plunder our commerce. Decatur reached the Mediterranean in June,

OLIVER H. PERRY.
1815, and in a few days captured an Algerine frigate, under the
command of Admiral Reis Hammida, who had been styled " Tfte
Terror of the Seas." Decatur then proceeded to Tunis and Tripoli,
and speedily adjusted matters with those powers, who had like
wise thought it a favorable time to make unjust demands of our
government. After Perry had returned to the United States from the Mediter
ranean, and while the Java was lying at Newport in midwinter,
information was received by him that a merchant vessel was on a
reef, about five or six miles from that place, and that the crew were
still on the wreck, at the mercy of the winds and waves. He manned
his barge, and said to his rowers, " Come, my boys, we are going to
the relief of shipwrecked seamen ; pull away." They returned him
a look of fearless determination, which seemed to say, where you go
we go. The vessel had gone to pieces, but eleven men were on her
quarter deck, which had separated from the hull of the vessel, and
was floating as a raft on the billows. This act may not be thought
to belong to the class of heroic deeds by some, who are attracted only
by the blaze of military glory ; but the great mass of his countrymen
declared that he was as deserving of the civic as of the naval crown.
Such a man as Perry could not be idle ; and in 1819 he was
sent in the John Adams to the West India station, with sealed orders.
He had the command of the squadron on that station. It was a
command of importance, for pirates had swarmed in that vicinity,
and not only vexed our commerce, but had committed murders of
the most horrid character. The utmost vigilance and energy were
necessary, but. he was not long to be the guardian of those seas.
The yellow fever was in the squadron, and of this disease he died
on the 23d of August, 1820, just as his ship was entering a port in
Trinidad. Thus perished, in the prime of life, and in the midst of
usefulness, one of the most gallant officers of this or any other
country. He was buried on the 24th, with military honors.
When his death was made known in the United States, every
tribute of national grief was paid to his memory. The congress of
the United States made a liberal provision for his family, including
his mother, who was leaning on him for support. A republic is now
and then grateful.
Commodore Perry had early in life married a daughter
of Doctor Mason, of Newport, and was happy in his domestic
ties. He was a man of splendid talents, of great tact in his pro
fession, and every way fitted for a great naval commander. His

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
intrepidity was at the same time constitutional and acquired. He
had in his youth contemplated the beau- ideal of a naval hero — a
model of his own creation — whose elements were formed from all
the great commanders, from Themistocles to Nelson ; and if the
Fates were kind, he intended to emulate him ; and this before he had
heard the whistling of a ball, or seen one drop of blood shed by
contending with a foe.
In his whole course of life he had measured means in relation to
ends. He never ventured upon any thing that was not feasible, and
of course seldom acted without success. His mind was prolific, but
well balanced. He never was swayed from his purpose, or " fright
ened from his propriety ;" but in all the business of his profession
conducted with a wisdom and gravity beyond his years. His letters
prove that he could write with taste and spirit, and had a sense of
honor worthy his station in our republic. He was said to have imi
tated Nelson ; but every great 'man is like some distinguished prede
cessor. There is a similarity in mighty minds, whenever or wherever
they appear.
In person, Commodore Perry was of the warrior cast, tall and
well proportioned ; yet not so colossal as to destroy a fine symmetry
of limbs, and graceful movement of body. The expression of his
face was manly and intellectual, with a greater proportion of refine
ment than is often found in the countenances of sea-faring men.
The remains of Commodore Perry have been brought to his
native country, and buried in Newport. The legislature of Rhode
Island appropriated a sum of money to erect a monument to his me
mory, and this has been done. From a connection of the deceased
a memoir has long been expected. This has not made its appear
ance ; but we do not despair of seeing it, for a land of heroes cannot
be wanting in masters of the pen.

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JACOB BROWN.

Major-General Jacob Brown was born in Bucks county, Penn
sylvania, in the year 1775. His first ancestor in America, George
Brown, was an emigrant from England before the establishment
of William Penn, on the Delaware river, and was well known as a
man of vigorous and cultivated intellect. His children and grand
children partook of his character, and several of them were for many
successive years, prominent members of the provincial government
of Pennsylvania. Samuel Brown, the father of the subject of this
memoir, and the fourth in the line of descent from George, was a
man of high character and strong mental endowments. He was the
third of the family who had professed the principles of quakerism,
and was a frank, liberal, and enlightened man. His father left him
in possession of a valuable, flourishing, and unincumbered estate ;
but with the hope of making it still more valuable, he imprudently
embarked in some commercial enterprises which proved unfortunate,
and his property was totally sacrificed.
Jacob Brown was at this time about sixteen years of age ; and it
was remarked that his father's pecuniary misfortunes wrought an
instantaneous change in his character and conduct. In a spirit of
rnanly resolution, superior to his years, he formed the determination
of retrieving the fortunes of his family, and from that moment he
devoted himself assiduously to the task. To this object are to be
traced his succeeding exertions in preparing himself for the practical
business of life ; and in these exertions, perhaps, were laid the
foundations of that distinguished reputation, which he has trans
mitted to his descendants. From the age of eighteen to twenty-one,
he was entrusted with the management of a large and respectable
school at Crosswicks, New Jersey ; and during this period of time,
his efforts to improve his mind were laborious and unremitted.
During the two next years he was employed in that section of the
country which now constitutes the state of Ohio, in surveying and
laying out public lands.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Soon after his return in 1798, he removed to the city of New
York, and was again induced, by the solicitation of his friends, to
take charge of a school for a few months. But the cultivation of his
mind, and the preparation of its powers for future action, were still
the principal objects of his exertions ; and at that excited period in
the political history of the country, an ample theatre for improvement
was presented to him in the discussion of the great topics of public
interest on which parties were divided. He did not fail to convert
the occasion to his use. He took a prominent part in political
debates, and the press exhibited frequent essays from his pen, which
attracted no inconsiderable share of the public attention. During
his residence in New York, he commenced the study of the law, but
soon abandoned it as uncongenial with his disposition for active and
adventurous pursuits. An opportunity being presented to him to
make a purchase of land on the borders of Lake Ontario and the
river St. Lawrence, in that part of the state of New York which is
now the county of Jefferson, he established himself upon it while it
was wholly uncultivated, and built the first human habitation within
thirty miles of the lake. Under his direction the new settlement
soon became flourishing and extensive ; and to the influence, which
he subsequently acquired with the legislature of the state in various
public situations, which he filled, the county of Jefferson owes much
of its early prosperity and wealth. Immediately after effecting some
necessary improvements, he removed his parents to his new abode :
he established them near him, and to the close of his life he devoted
himself to their happiness and comfort.
The active and enterprising spirit, by which General Brown was
distinguished in his youth, was chastised by repeated discourage
ments. But his energy never for a moment forsook him ; his first
and last acts bear the same impression of fearlessness and resolution.
His early life was a scene of constant trial. He was thrown, when
a mere youth, upon his own resources ; and his powers were tasked
to the utmost in providing simultaneously for his education and his
subsistence. But every obstacle was overcome by the same firmness
and perseverance, which, in the progress of his military career,
enabled him to triumph over difficulties far more trying and
formidable. In 1809, he was appointed a colonel in the militia ; and in the
following year he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
At the declaration of war in 1812, he was selected to defend the
eastern frontier of Lake Ontario and the southern shore of the river

JACOB BROWN.
St. Lawrence, a line extending from Oswego to Lake St. Francis,
and nearly two hundred miles in length. The duty imposed on him
was, from the exposed condition of the frontier, highly responsible
and delicate ; and from the inadequate means at his disposal, it was
also both embarrassing and vexatious. It was, however, discharged
with his characteristic promptitude and vigor ; the vulnerable points
were put in the best possible state of defence ; and on the 4th of
October, he succeeded in repelling an attack made upon him at
Ogdensburg, where he had fixed his head quarters, by a British
force far superior to his own in numbers. In this affair, the enemy
lost several men in killed and wounded, while on his own side, no
one sustained the least injury.
The term for which he was called into service having soon after
wards expired, he returned to his civil pursuits at Brownville. But
his capacity for war had attracted the attention of the government,
and the command of a regiment in the regular army was immedi
ately tendered to him. The offer, however, from a determination
on his own part to submit to no sacrifice of rank, was declined.
In the spring of 1813, the regular forces having been almost wholly
withdrawn from Sackett's Harbor, to act in the reduction of Little
York and Fort George, in Upper Canada, a demonstration against
that post was made by a British force from Kingston, under the
command of Sir George Prevost, and Sir James Yeo. Colonel
Backus of the dragoons, who had been left at Sackett's Harbor with
about four hundred regular troops, having been but a few days on
the frontier, and being unacquainted with its localities, immediately
despatched a message to General Brown, who resided within eight
miles of the post, requesting him, in a noble spirit of disinterested
ness, to come and take the command, and to bring with him as large
a body of the militia, as he could assemble. To this request, alike
honorable to both parties, an immediate assent was given. Colonel
Backus was promptly reinforced by several hundred men of General
Brown's brigade, and their united forces were disposed by the
general with admirable skill and judgment. The attack of the
enemy was fierce, and for a time successful ; but after a series of
skilful and spirited movements on the part of General Brown, and a
most gallant and resolute resistance by the regular troops, the British
forces were completely vanquished, and retreated precipitately to
their boats. The British loss was about four hundred and fifty,
while that of the American force was only one hundred and fifty-
six. Among the slain was the brave and chivalrous Backus, who

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
fell, animating the courage of his men by gallant exhibitions of his
own. General Brown again retired to his rural abode and occupations,
and in the month of August ensuing, he was appointed a brigadier-
general in the regular army. He descended the St. Lawrence in the
fall of the same year, on the expedition against Montreal, which was
frustrated by a want of concert and cooperation between the com
manding generals of the two divisions of the northern army.
Early in 1814, General Brown was promoted to the rank of
major-general, and was placed in command of the northern division
of the army at French Mills. The military reputation of the
country was at this period exceedingly depressed. The principal
enterprises, in which our forces were embarked during the latter
part of the year 1813, had proved abortive ; and a strong feeling of
disappointment had taken possession of the public mind — a feeling
rendered more acute by the confident hopes, with which they had
been undertaken. The officers of the army were deeply chagrined,
both on account of the ill success attending the expeditions referred
to, and the unfavorable impression which prevailed with regard to
their military capacity. General Brown labored during the winter,
to inspire his subordinates with a resolution to retrieve the reputation
of the army ; he had the good fortune to gain their confidence, and,
with the aid of many spirited and efficient coadjutors, he succeeded
not only in renewing the spirit of the northern army, but in uniting
to it that mechanical discipline, which was indispensable to give it
effect. To these exertions are to be ascribed the brilliant triumphs,
which he subsequently achieved.
In the spring of 1814, he marched his division from French Mills
to Sackett's Harbor, and thence to Buffalo, and after executing a few
necessary preparations, he crossed the Niagara river and carried
Fort Erie, which surrendered without any resistance.
On the 5th of July, General Brown fought the battle of Chippewa,
the first in that series of distinguished successes, which have so
eminently contributed to exalt our military character. The British
forces had made a rapid advance from the Chippewa with the hope
of finding the American commander unprepared for their reception,
and were hardly formed in line, when General Scott was ordered to
make an attack with the first brigade. The combat was maintained
with great gallantry on both sides in the open field, where victory
must necessarily turn on superior bravery or skill. After a brief, but
sanguinary conflict, and before the second brigade under General

JACOB BROWN.
Ripley could be brought into the field, the whole British force was
routed, and retired precipitately under cover of their works on the
Chippewa creek, which alone secured them from total destruction.
On the evening of the 25th of July, the two armies again met at
Niagara, in the immediate vicinity of the falls. General Brown
had sent forward General Scott with his brigade to divert the enemy
from the design of crossing to the opposite side of the strait, for the
purpose of seizing upon the depot of the American army, and thus
cutting off their supplies of munitions and subsistence. The mo
ment General Scott came in sight of the enemy, he made an attack,
and despatched intelligence to General Brown, who was in a few
minutes on the field, followed by General Ripley's brigade. The
combat now became obstinate and bloody beyond all parallel. It
was fought like the battle of Chippewa, in the open field, but with
advantages on the part of the enemy, against which nothing but
superior courage and skilfulness in evolution could have prevailed.
Here, as at Chippewa, the American army was completely victorious.
The enemy had chosen his own ground ; he was attacked in a com
manding position, which he had occupied with superior numbers,
and which was sheltered by a height elevated above the surrounding
country, and garnished with artillery. From this position he was
driven at the point of the bayonet, his cannon captured, and his
forces completely put to rout. After this discomfiture, he was rein
forced by fresh troops from Fort George and Qneenston, and made
three unsuccessful attempts to regain possession of the height by
charging the American line. The two last charges were among the
most desperate in the annals of warfare. They were decided
entirely by the bayonet, and the result is the best evidence of th©
firmness and spirit, which animated the contending parties.
The skill evinced by General Brown in meeting all the fluctua
tions of the battle with such movements as were necessary to coun
teract the advantages of his opponents, and to give effect to his own ;
the coolness, with which he executed his plans ; and the spirit of
self-devotion, in which he maintained his position at the head of his
troops until the victory was complete, although he had received two
severe wounds, and was so much exhausted by the loss of blood,
that he was supported on his horse by the members of his military
family ; have given him a high and enviable rank in the military
history of his country.
It was not until the 2d of September that he was sufficiently
recovered from his wounds to resume the command of the army. It

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
was then enclosed within the walls of Fort Erie, environed by
superior numbers, worn down by a long and harrassing siege, desti
tute of necessaries as well as comforts, deficient in munitions of war,
and abandoned, as it were, to its own efforts. The enemy's force
amounted nearly to four thousand men, while the American army
did not exceed half that number. With this inferior force, enfeebled
by laborious service, General Brown, after having executed all his
preparations with profound secresy, made a sortie on the 17th Sep
tember, at midday, drove the besiegers from their entrenchments, and
either destroyed or rendered their works totally unserviceable. The
loss of the enemy was one thousand, and that of the American army
five hundred. On the 21st, the enemy abandoned his position, and
retired beyond the Chippewa. Thus was executed one of the most
brilliant achievements of the war, and it may be said to have
crowned the other successes on the Niagara frontier, in which there
had been a successive display of firmness, intrepidity and persever
ing resolution, with an instance of boldness as spirited as any to be
found on the records of modern warfare.
General Brown was eminently qualified to excel in the military
profession. With a constitutional insensibility to fear, he united a
moral courage, which was equally proof against surprise or intimi
dation. Responsibility he never feared ; he was always ready to meet
any emergency however remotely connected with the discharge of
his duty to his country, or to himself; nor could any obstacle, how
ever formidable, deter him from the execution of his objects. Indeed,
it was on the most trying occasions, that he appeared to the best
advantage ; when dangers were greatest, his coolness and resolution
were most conspicuous. With all the energy and vigor which dis
tinguished his plans, they were never rash or imprudent ; he never
embarked in an enterprise without fortifying it with such means of
achievement, as might, with skilful management and unshaken
firmness, be safely relied on, as adequate to the execution of his
object. It is worthy of remark, that General Brown never failed in any
enterprise which he conducted himself, or which he caused to be
executed under the direction of others. Every partisan movement
undertaken by his orders, by officers chosen by himself, was success
ful. He was, in truth, not less remarkable for the sagacity with
which he selected the individuals best calculated for the particular
service to be performed, than for the promptness with which he
always resolved on the right course of action in different emergencies.

JACOB BROWN.
The vigor which he infused into his offensive movements, was
altogether unlooked for by the British generals on the Niagara.
The operations of the American army had in general been vacillat
ing and dilatory ; and the effect of General Brown's movements
was, for this reason, the more decisive. The firmness with which
the British forces were encountered on the open field of battle, was also
wholly unexpected. It had been vauntingly said that the " British
bayonet was irresistible ;" but on the Niagara, man was opposed to
man, and the tide of victory was more than once turned against the
British forces by the very weapon to which they appealed as the test
of their invincibility.
At the close of the war, General Brown was retained in the com
mand of the northern division of the army, and after the reduction
of the peace establishment in 1821, he became commander-in-chief.
From that time he resided in the city of Washington until the 24th
February, 1828, when he fell a victim to an attack brought on by a
disease which he contracted at Fort Erie, and from the effects of
which he was never exempt until it terminated his life.
In person, General Brown was tall, erect, and commanding ; his
countenance was animated and full of intelligence ; and it was not
difficult to trace in its strong and decided expression, that energy of
character, which he has so deeply impressed on the actions of his life.
The impression made upon the public mind by General Brown's
decease, while yet in the full vigor of manhood, was deep and
universal ; an impression corresponding with his high character, and
unsullied fame. The estimation in which he was held by those with
whom he was most immediately connected by official relations, will
be best illustrated by the following general order, issued by the
direction of the president of the United States on the occasion of his
decease. " DEPARTMENT OF WAR, )
February 28th, 1828. S
ORDERS.
" The secretary of war, by direction of the president of the United
States, announces to the army the painful intelligence of the decease
(the 24th of February) of Major-General Brown.
" To say that he was one of the men who have rendered most im
portant services to his country, would fall far short of the tribute
due to his character. Uniting with the most unaffected simplicity,
the highest degree of personal valor, and of intellectual energy, he

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
stands preeminent before the world, and for after ages, in that band
of heroic spirits, who, upon the ocean and the land, formed and sus
tained, during the second war with Great Britain, the martial
reputation of their country. To this high and honorable purpose,
General Brown may be truly said to have sacrificed his life ; for the
disease which abridged his days, and has terminated his career at a
period scarcely beyond the meridian of manhood, undoubtedly origi
nated in the hardships of his campaigns on the Canada frontier, and
in that glorious wound, which, though desperate, could not remove
him from the field of battle, till it was won.
" Quick to perceive, sagacious to anticipate, prompt to decide, and
daring in execution, he was born with the qualities which constitute
a great commander. His military coup d'ceuil, his intuitive penetra
tion, his knowledge of men, and his capacity to control them, were
known to all his companions in arms, and commanded their respect,
while the gentleness of his disposition, the courtesy of his deport
ment, his scrupulous regard to their rights, his constant attention to
their wants, and his affectionate attachment to their persons, uni
versally won their hearts, and bound them to him as a father.
" Calm and collected in the presence of the enemy, he was, withal,
tender of human life ; in the hour of battle, more sparing of the blood
of the soldier than his own. In the hour of victory, the vanquished
enemy found in him a humane and compassionate friend ; not one
drop of blood, shed in wantonness or cruelty, sullies the purity of his
fame. Defeat he was never called to endure ; but in the crisis of
difficulty and danger, he displayed untiring patience and fortitude,
not to be overcome.
" Such was the great and accomplished captain whose loss the army
has now, in common with their fellow citizens of all classes, to de
plore. While indulging the kindly impulses of nature, and yielding
the tribute of a tear upon his grave, let it not be permitted to close
upon his bright example, as it must upon his mortal remains. Let
him be more nobly sepulchred in the hearts of his fellow soldiers,
and his imperishable monument be found in their endeavors to
emulate his virtues.
" The officers of the army will wear the badge of mourning for six
months on the left arm, and hilt of the sword. Guns will be fired
at each military post, at intervals of thirty minutes from the rising
to the setthig of the sun, on the day succeeding the arrival of this
order, during which, the national flag will be suspended at half mast."
J. A. D.

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DE WITT CLINTON.

The life of De Witt Clinton is contained in the political history
of his state and nation. Like all public men, he had violent enemies
and attached friends; and though the voice of censure has been
hushed in the burst of lamentation that followed his hearse, it must
be supposed that there are some, who are unwilling to grant all that
is asked by partiality for his private character and public conduct.
The consciousness of this diversity renders the performance of the
present sketch a delicate task. We shall endeavor so to execute it,
as to render it an acceptable offering, not to party, but to truth.
Mr. Clinton's family was of English origin. His paternal an
cestor became an officer on the royal side during the civil wars, and,
at their termination, left his native soil as an exile. Having spent
some years on the continent, he finally settled in Ireland.
One of his descendants, the grandfather of De Witt Clinton,
emigrated to this country in 1729. He arrived at Cape Cod, and
remained in its vicinity until 1731 ; when, with his wife and chil
dren, he removed to that part of Ulster county, in the state of New
York, which is now called Orange county.
Two of the children of this gentleman rose to eminence during
the war of the revolution. George Clinton had the honor of being
selected by his fellow citizens as the first governor of the state
of New York. Popular, energetic, and practical, he proved emi
nently qualified for his arduous station, nor were his services forgot
ten in after times. He was repeatedly reelected to that office, and
finally died vice president of the United States.
The other son was James Clinton. He early acquired a fondness
for military life, and served in the memorable French war of 1756.
At the breaking out of the revolution, he received a colonel's com
mission in the continental service, and left it at the conclusion of the
war, as a major-general.
De Witt Clinton was the third son of General James Clinton
and Mary De Witt. He was born on the 2d of March, 1769, at the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
family residence, in Little Britain, Orange county. His early educa
tion was conducted at the grammar school of his native town, by
the Reverend John Moffat ; and he was prepared for college at the
academy in Kingston, then under the care of Mr. John Addison.
We believe that this gentleman was subsequently a colleague of Mr.
Clinton, in the senate of the state of New York.
In 1784, at the conclusion of the war, Mr. Clinton entered the
junior class in Columbia college, and continued there until his gra
duation, in 1786. On this occasion he delivered the Latin salutatory
oration, "the exercise always assigned to the best scholar;" and,
accordingly, in the printed list of the alumni of the college, his
name stands as the first in his class.
The advantages attending a full course of instruction in this vene
rable institution had undoubtedly their full influence in the formation
of Mr. Clinton's character. It is not to be denied that thorough
classical instruction (and for that no college in this country is supe
rior to Columbia) strengthens and prepares the mind for all the
active professional and political duties of a citizen. This opinion
may be sneered at, or it may be attempted to confute it by referring to
the examples of Washington and Franklin ; but the sciolists who
offer such an argument forget that all are not Washingtons and
Franklins ; that great occasions develop talent of every description ;*
and that the real question is, what system is best calculated to
improve the intellect of the leading portion of the community, under
all its variety of talent. If properly conducted — if it be made the
vehicle of ideas instead of words — if it be studied with a comment
ary on the history of ancient republics, and a reference to the cha
racter of our own institutions, classical learning must prepare the
ingenuous youth to understand his duties and to " act well his part."
The subject of our memoir selected the law as his profession, and
commenced its study under the late celebrated counsellor, Samuel
Jones. He was admitted to the bar in 1789; but had scarcely com
menced practice in the city of New York, before he was appointed
private secretary to his uncle, Governor Clinton. He thus early
entered on that political career which ended only with his death.
It is understood, that during the period of his appointment, which
ended, in 1795, with the resignation of the governor, he was much
engaged in political discussions ; and he undoubtedly thus acquired

* " When there is nothing great to be done, (says Cousin,) a great man is
impossible."

DE WITT CLINTON.
much of that facility and vigor in composition which always distin
guished his writings. We are not aware of any acknowledged pro
duction during the above time, except a correspondence, in his
official capacity, with several members of congress from the state
of New York, relative to the mode of declaring vacancies in the
national house of representatives.
Conjointly with the above office, he held that of secretary to the
regents of the university, and to the board of fortifications of New
York. In 1797 he was chosen to the house of assembly from the city of
New York, and in 1798 to the senate of the state. While in the lat
ter office, and being a member of the council of appointment, a con
troversy arose between that body and the governor, (John Jay,) rela
tive to the right of nomination to office. It was claimed by Mr. Jay
as his exclusive prerogative — while Mr. Clinton and his associates
asserted their co-ordinate powers. A convention of delegates was
called to interpret the language of the constitution on this point, and
it decided unfavorably to the opinions of Mr. Jay. Experience,
however, has justified the policy of his doctrine, if not its positive
conformity to the letter of the constitution. The convention which
a few years since remodelled that instrument, struck from its pages
every vestige of the council of appointment, and gave to the gover
nor the sole power of nomination, and to the senate that of approval
and disapproval.
In 1802 Mr. Clinton was elected, by the legislature of the state,
a senator in congress, in the room of General Armstrong, who had
resigned. He continued in that office during two sessions, when he
retired, upon being appointed mayor of the city of New York.
In congress he was a supporter of the administration of Mr. Jef
ferson. The most exciting question that arose during his senator-
ship, was the proposition of Mr. Ross, of Pennsylvania, to seize New
Orleans, then a Spanish possession, with a military force. Spain
had given the right by treaty to the citizens of the United States to
deposit their goods and produce at that place. She now interdicted
it. In the debate that ensued, Mr. Clinton urged the propriety of
previous negotiation, and the importance of delaying so decisive a
measure, which indeed was equivalent to a declaration of war.
His speech on this subject was reported ; and it may be considered
a favorable specimen of the style and logic that characterized his
public addresses. All farther discussion was happily concluded, by
the subsequent purchase of Louisiana.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
He continued in the mayoralty of the city of New York, with
the exception of two years, from 1803 to 1815. It was in this situ
ation, undoubtedly, that he developed his matured powers, and
appeared before the country in the light of an eminent and enlight
ened citizen. In his capacity of presiding law officer in the courts
of that city, his decisions were highly approved. As the first magis
trate, he displayed the energy and decision of character which so
strikingly distinguished his after history; while on every proper
occasion he appeared as the patron of benevolent and literary enter
prise. We shall, however, refer to this last subject hereafter in
greater detail, and prefer at present to continue our narrative of his
political life.
In conjunction with the mayoralty, he continued, during several
terms, to hold a seat in the senate of New York. Although active
as a politician, he forgot not his duties as a lawgiver, and originated
or supported many measures of public utility. During the sessions
of 1809, 1810, and 1811, in the language of one of his biographers,
"he introduced laws to prevent kidnapping, or the farther introduc
tion of slaves, and to punish those who should treat them inhumanly
— for the support of the quarantine establishment — for the encou
ragement of missionary societies — for the improvement of the public
police — for the prevention and punishment of crime — for perfecting
the militia system — for promoting medical science — and for endow
ing seminaries of education."
In 1811 he was elected lieutenant-governor of the state. It was
while holding this office, that he was nominated to the station of
president of the United States, in opposition to Mr. Madison. It is
sufficient in this place to state, that he was preferred by many be
cause he was a northern candidate ; by others, because the war which
had now commenced had been fruitful in disasters ; and from the
character of Mr. Clinton it was hoped, that he would either con
duct it vigorously or speedily terminate it. The crisis was an
alarming one to our country and its institutions ; and the men of the
present day can hardly fully appreciate the conduct of parties at that
period, when they read its history, embellished as it finally was, by
land and naval triumphs. Mr. Clinton divided the nation with Mr.
Madison. On the canvass, the latter had one hundred and twenty-
eight votes, and the former eighty-nine. He was unsuccessful, and
this event exercised for many years a baneful influence on his public
and private fortunes.
His native state did not, however, forget him. In 1817 he was

DE WITT CLINTON.
chosen governor almost without a contest — was reelected in 1820,
in opposition to Governor Tompkins, then vice president of the United
States — retired at the adoption of the new constitution, but was
again elected in 1824, and continued to fill the office until his death.
It is an idle fancy now to conjecture to what height he might have
risen, had he lived to the present period. But the opinion may be
hazarded, that he was the candidate of a plurality of the people of
the United States (could the sentiments of that plurality have been
concentrated) at the election which elevated Mr. Adams to the pre
sidency. That eminent individual offered him the embassy to Lon
don, but he declined the honor ; preferring, on many accounts, to
continue in the situation to which he had been recently reelected.
With many of our statesmen, a narrative like that which we have
now given may frequently conclude the incidents of their lives. It
forms, however, only the frame work of the moral achievements of
Mr. Clinton. It was remarked with great justice by Mr. Butler,
(now attorney-general of the United States,) on the morning after his
death, " that whilst he pursued with avidity political distinction, he
had the wisdom to seek enduring fame, not from the possession of
power, or the triumphs of the day, but by identifying himself with
the great interests of the community. It was his ambition to be
distinguished as the friend of learning and morals, and as the advo
cate and patron of every measure calculated to promote the welfare
or increase the glory of the state."
In connection with various associates, he was among the found
ers of several literary and scientific institutions in the city of New
York. The American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York His
torical Society, and the Literary and Philosophical Society, each
numbered him among their earliest members ; and, at different periods,
he held the office of president in all of them. For the Historical
Society, he assisted materially in obtaining a liberal donation from
the state, and the Literary and Philosophical commenced its- labors
with an elaborate inaugural discourse from his pen. In the transac
tions of both, valuable communications were made by him on sub
jects of civil and natural history.
To the New York Hospital, the Lunatic Asylum connected with
it, and the various other charitable institutions of the state and city,
he proved an efficient friend ; urging their claims on the public
consideration and bounty.
Under his auspices, a board of agriculture was incorporated.
Like its prototype in England, it served its day amidst reproach and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
jealousy ; yet its effects have been salutary, and not the less so from
being slowly acknowledged.
The high rank which Mr. Clinton held in the masonic frater
nity deserves some notice, since he considered that institution wor
thy of his attention for more than twenty years.
He held the office of Grand Master of masons in the state of New
York from 1806 to 1820, when his public engagements not permit
ting his personal attendance, he resigned. In September, 1825, he
installed, in Albany, the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer as Grand
Master ; on which occasion he delivered an address on the history,
objects, and tendencies of the society, from which we give the follow
ing extract, as a sufficient explanation of his unfaltering attachment
to the fraternity, through good and evil report. "Although the
origin of our fraternity is covered with darkness, and its history is
to a great extent obscure, yet we can confidently say that it is the
most ancient society in the world : and we are equally certain that
its principles are based on pure morality; that its ethics are the ethics
of Christianity; its doctrines the doctrines of patriotism and brotherly
love ; and its sentiments the sentiments of exalted benevolence. Upon
these points there can be no doubt,"
He was General Grand Master of the General Grand Encamp
ment of the United States, from 1816 until his death : he also pre
sided in the Grand Encampment of New York, and some other
branches of the institution, for many years.
As the patron and assiduous promoter of education, and particu
larly the education of the poor, the name of Mr. Clinton deserves
especial mention. He was sagacious enough to perceive that our
institutions are frail, unless strengthened by the intelligence and
morality of the people. He hailed the Lancasterian system as a
mighty engine in diffusing knowledge, and was successful in pro
curing its introduction into this country. The whole plan of public
instruction, extending from infant schools up to our colleges and
university, frequently became the subject of animated notice in his
messages ; nor was he content without reiterating its value, or sug
gesting improvements in its various parts.
His most brilliant public service remains to be mentioned. As a
political leader, he allied himself to the friends of the canal policy,
became its champion, and succeeded in completing the magnificent
undertaking. We have been thus specific in stating what we con
ceive to have been his special and peculiar honor, in order to avoid
all cavil. He never claimed to have originated the idea. The

DE WITT CLINTON.
ghosts of Brindley and the Duke of Bridgewater would have con
fronted him; but because he did not, is it to be tolerated that
an idle traveller, passing along the results of their labors, should
usurp it? They were indeed viewed by the eye of genius, and
we accordingly find the name of Gouverneur Morris indissolubly
connected with that of Mr. Clinton, in the active inception of the
project. As early as 1812, they were deputed as commissioners to
ask the aid of Congress. They found little sympathy and less sup
port. They returned from their bootless errand, and in their report,
used this thrilling language: — " These men console themselves
with the hope, that the envied state of New York will continue a
supplicant for the favor and a dependant on the generosity of the
union, instead of making a dignified and manly appeal to her own
power. It remains to be proved, whether they judge justly who
judge so meanly of our councils."
Union did not, however, exist in these councils. Opposition was
always at hand — magnifying the expense, denying the utility, or
doubting the practicability of the undertaking. For several years
the contest was uncertain ; but at last the effort succeeded, and all
difficulties vanished. It is of this period that the editor of the Ameri
can (Mr. Charles King) speaks in his beautiful obituary notice. " In
the great work of internal improvement he persevered through good
report and through evil report, with a steadiness of purpose that no
obstacle could divert; and when all the elements were in commotion
around him, and even his chosen associates were appalled, he
alone, like Columbus, on the wide waste of waters, in his frail
bark, with a disheartened and unbelieving crew, remained firm, self-
poised, and unshaken." " Is it (he adds) extravagant or unjust to
say, that, like Columbus, he was recompensed by opening new
worlds to our intercourse — vast regions, which the canals of New
York must be the means of subduing, civilizing, enriching V
The burst of exultation that extended from Lake Erie to the
ocean, in the autumn of 1825, when the canals were completed,
was to Mr. Clinton like the triumph to an ancient worthy. It is
given to few men to earn so proud a civic wreath. The madness of
party, which subsequently removed him from the office of canal
commissioner, served only to render his gratuitous services more
conspicuous. During the last years of his life political hostility was greatly
allayed. It seemed to be felt, that the people, without regard to
party, desired his elevation; and he sought to reward their partiality

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
by suggesting and promoting whatever might promise to increase
their prosperity and happiness. Disease was, however, sapping the
foundations of his vigorous constitution. It is highly . probable
that he labored for some years under an organic affection of the
heart or its vessels. Symptoms strikingly characteristic of such a
complaint were very manifest during the delivery of his address to
the alumni of Columbia college, in May, 1827 ; and it is understood
that he was alarmingly, though but temporarily ill, during the ensu
ing summer. There is every reason to believe that he was conscious
of his situation, and that his mind was in a state becoming such a
period. He did not intermit in his public duties, but was, with
scarcely an omission, found daily at his chamber in the capitol,
during the session of the legislature.
On the day of his death he had attended there as usual, and on
bis return home had written several letters during the afternoon.
At a few minutes after six, on the evening of the 11th of February,
1828, while sitting in his study and conversing with two of his sons,
he complained of a stricture across his breast ; and almost in a
moment thereafter, his head fell forward, and life was extinct.
Such was the fearfully sudden departure of this great man. It
was the fortune of the writer of this article to be in Albany at the
time ; and certainly never was a place in greater agitation, nor a
population buried in more profound grief, than when the sad news
spread like lightning through its streets. The legislature were not
unmindful of their duty to themselves and the deceased. Whatever
of funeral pomp the civil and military authorities, the crowd of
citizens, and appropriate emblems of mourning could present, was
exhibited in the solemn march to the grave.
Throughout the state, and, indeed, the nation, deep and sincere
sorrow was expressed. The representatives of the state at Wash
ington assembled to pay their tribute of respect to his memory. Mr.
Van Buren, then a senator, (now vice president,) spoke of him in a
manner befitting his station and character. "All other considera
tions out of view, (he observed,) the single fact that the greatest pub
lic improvement of the age in which we live was commenced
under the guidance of his councils, and splendidly accomplished
under his immediate auspices, is of itself sufficient to fill the ambi
tion of any man, and to give glory to any name. The triumph of
his talents and patriotism cannot fail to become monuments of high
and enduring fame. We cannot, indeed, but remember, that in our
public career collisions of opinion and action, at once extensive,

DE WITT CLINTON.
earnest, and enduring, have arisen between the deceased and many
of us. For myself, it gives me a deep-felt though melancholy
satisfaction to know, and more so to be conscious, that the deceased
also felt and acknowledged, that our political differences have been
wholly free from that most venomous and corroding of all poisons —
personal hatred. But, in other respects, it is now immaterial what
was the character of those collisions. They have been turned to
nothing, and less than nothing, by the event we deplore ; and I
doubt not that we will, with one voice and one heart, yield to his
memory the well-deserved tribute of our respect for his name, and
our warmest gratitude for his great and signal services. For my
self, so strong, so sincere, and so engrossing is this feeling, that I,
who, whilst living, never, no, never, envied him any thing, now that
he has fallen, am greatly tempted to envy him his grave with its
honors." We have but a small space left to speak of the character of Mr.
Clinton. Many of its leading traits may be inferred from the
preceding narrative. He was bold and decisive in conduct, tena
cious of his purpose, and stern to those whom he considered as his
enemies. He was not unfrequently charged with haughty or re
served manners ; but we apprehend that much of this is to be attri
buted to a distrust in the success of his public performances. He
was, in fact, a diffident man throughout his life ; and hence the charm
of his conversation, and the lights of his intellect, improved by
extensive and varied reading, could only be appreciated (and there
how delightfully !) in the private circle. Occasionally it is to be
regretted that he indulged in a disposition for ridicule. What he
intended should only be harmless mirth, from his situation, and the
malevolence of those who retail the conversation of the great, often
turned into venom that rankled and stung him.
If he had these faults, he had greater virtues. No one ever en
listed a more numerous or a more devoted body of personal friends.
His frankness commanded their respect, his decision their esteem,
and his public and patriotic views their admiration.
We have said that he read much. This indeed was one of the
most striking traits of his intellectual character ; and to it he owed
much of his reputation. He disdained to be superficial. He in
formed himself on all subjects connected with his duties, and, as far
as leisure would permit, studied natural history with all the love of
a devotee. That he was occasionally incorrect or misinformed, is
what must always be expected, whilst our scientific men have to

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
beggar themselves in purchasing those libraries which other govern
ments delight in spreading before their subjects.
Mr. Clinton improved his style by much practice. Its predo
minant characters are vigor and clearness. He erred occasionally
from indulging in diffuseness, and, in some of his productions, a
want of connection may be detected. Many, however, it must be
recollected, were written in haste, or for temporary purposes. When
" the matter matched his mind," as in some of his messages, and in
his addresses to our naval heroes on presenting them with the free
dom of the city of New York, his manner often rose to eloquence.
If there was any figure in which he delighted, it was antithesis ; and
his success in it frequently gave double force to the severity of his
sarcasm. As a public speaker, he was somewhat deficient in voice and ani
mation; but he was always listened to with profound attention, from
the talent displayed in discussing the important subjects to which he
devoted himself.
His form was emphatically that of one of "nature's noblemen."
Tall, erect, commanding, with a countenance beaming with intellect,
no one could meet him without being struck with his appearance, or
conceiving that he bore with him the attributes of greatness.
" In all the private relations of a father and a husband, Mr. Clin
ton was most exemplary, amiable, and indulgent."
Such was the individual " who," to use the eloquent language of
President Nott, of Union College, "during a life so short, so change
ful, and yet, withal, so fortunate, was able, not only to fix some impress
of his mind on most of the institutions under which we live, but also
to grave the memorial of his being on the bosom of the earth on
which we tread, and in lines, too, so bold and so indelible, that they
may, and probably will continue legible, to successive generations."

KI^^eSl5WellJIl«frcTO^0^y^lalpai.llIiT;^b/¦ Wferu

JAMES A. BAYARD.

The work of which the present article forms a part, being in its
biographical portion merely auxiliary to the talent of the engraver,
requires nothing beyond a mere sketch of the principal incidents of
life, especially of such as connect the individual with public affairs ;
and, although in the present instance, the notice of those incidents
would naturally lead to a discussion of many interesting points in the
history of the country, and of its political parties, yet the limits and
design of the work forbid in relation to them, any thing more than
a passing notice.
James A. Bayard was born in the city of Philadelphia, on the
28th July, 1767. He was the second son of Doctor James A. Bayard,
a physician of promising talents and increasing reputation, but who
died on the 8th January, 1770, at an early period of life.
Doctor Bayard was the brother of Colonel John Bayard, who,
during the revolutionary war, was a member of the council of safety
and many years speaker of the legislature of Pennsylvania. Their
father, whose name was James, married a Miss Ashton. The family
were originally of French extraction, but being Huguenots, and
dreading that spirit of religious persecution which belonged to the
age, they abandoned their native country, and came to North America
some time prior to the revocation of the edict of Nantes.
A part of the family settled in the then province of New York, and
one of them afterwards selected Cecil county, in the province of
Maryland, for his future residence, from whom James Bayard, the
grandfather of the subject of our present notice, was descended.
Mr. Bayard having been left an orphan at a very early age, was
placed under the guardianship of his uncle, Colonel John Bayard, in
whose family he lived for several years. His education was, in the first
instance intrusted to the Rev. Mr. Smith, a respectable clergyman of
Lancaster county, with whom he remained some time, but eventually
he returned to his uncle's family, and pursued his studies under the
direction of a private tutor until his admission into Princeton college.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
At that place he spent the usual period allotted to collegiate life, and
graduated on the 28th September, 1784, at little more than the age of
seventeen years ; but from the early development of those talents, and
that industry which distinguished him in after life, he succeeded in
obtaining the highest honor of the institution.
Upon leaving college, Mr. Bayard returned to Philadelphia, and
having selected the profession of the law for his future occupation, he
commenced his studies under General Joseph Reed, the former
president of Pennsylvania, and after his death, in 1785, resumed and
concluded them under the direction of the late Jared Ingersoll, Esq.
Being now prepared to enter upon the busy scene of life, Mr. Bay
ard resolved to pursue the practice of his profession in the adjoining
state of Delaware, and with that view was admitted to the bar at the
August term of the court of common pleas for the county of New
castle, in the year 1787, when he was little more than twenty years
of age.
The first years of his professional life he devoted to severe study,
during which time he attained that familiar and exact knowledge of
the principles of political science, and of general jurisprudence, which
in after Ufe were alike serviceable to him at the bar and in congress.
On the 11th February, 1795, he was married to Miss Bassett, the
eldest daughter of Richard Bassett, Esq., who was subsequently
governor of the state of Delaware.
Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Bayard became actively connected
with the dominant party in the state, and in October,- 1796, was
elected a member of congress, and took his seat in the house of repre
sentatives on the 22d of May, 1797, at the first session of the fifth
congress, which had been convened by the proclamation of the presi
dent, in consequence of the existing difficulties with France.
Immediately upon his appearance in congress, Mr. Bayard became
prominent for his zeal, industry, ability, and knowledge ; and was at
the first session appointed one of the committee to prepare and report
articles of impeachment against William Blount, a senator of the United
States ; being the first instance of a resort to that high constitutional
proceeding. In the subsequent session of that congress, he was
elected one of the committee to conduct the impeachment on the part
of the house, and became chairman of the committee on the appoint
ment of Mr. Sitgreaves, who had originally filled that station, as
commissioner under the sixth article of the treaty with Great Britain.
On this occasion a plea to the jurisdiction of the senate, on the
ground that a senator is not a civil officer within the meaning of the

JAMES A. BAYARD.
constitution, having been filed by the counsel of Mr. Blount, who
were men of great learning and ability, an opportunity was presented,
in the discussion to which it gave rise, for the display of those talents
and that loiowledge for which Mr. Bayard was eminent. The
senate, however, by a small majority sustained the plea.
The period to which we now refer was one of strong party excite
ment ; and no event was suffered to pass unnoticed by those in the
opposition, which it was supposed might bring the administration into
disrepute with the people. The case of Thomas Nash alias Jonathan
Robbins, was one therefore not to be neglected. Thomas Nash, who
artfully represented himself to have been an impressed American
seaman, had committed piracy and murder on board the British
frigate Hermione while at sea, and having been arrested in Charleston
on that charge, was demanded by the British minister, under the
twenty-seventh article of the treaty with Great Britain, to be delivered
up to his government for trial. The president of the United States
had advised and requested the district judge of South Carolina, before
whom the case was depending-, to deliver him up on receiving the
evidence of criminality stipulated by the treaty ; this was accordingly
done, and he was afterward tried by a court martial and executed.
The whole matter was communicated to congress by the president ;
and Mr. Livingston, on the 20th February, 1800, submitted to the
house of representatives two resolutions, condemning the conduct of
the president as a " dangerous interference of the executive with
judicial decisions," and the compliance of the judge as a "sacrifice
of the constitutional independence of the judicial power, exposing it
to suspicion and reproach." The discussion which followed called
into action the talents of the friends as well as of the opponents of the
administration. The propriety of the course pursued by the president
was sustained and successfully vindicated by Mr. Bayard and Chief
Justice Marshall, who was then a member of the house from Virginia.
Judge Marshall, who followed Mr. Bayard in the debate, in one of
those luminous and irresistible arguments which characterize the
vigorous and logical mind of that eminently distinguished man,
opened his speech with the following observations : " Believing as he
did most seriously, that in a government constituted like that of the
United States, much of the public happiness depended, not only on its
being rightly administered, but on the measures of the administration
being rightly understood; on rescuing public opinion from those
numerous prejudices with which so many causes must combine to
surround it ; he could not but have been highly gratified with the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
very eloquent, and what was still more valuable, the very able and
very correct argument which had been delivered by the gentleman
from Delaware (Mr. Bayard) against the resolutions now under
consideration. He had not expected that the effect of this argument
would have been universal, but he had cherished the hope, and in this
he had not been disappointed, that it would be very extensive. He
did not flatter himself with being able to shed much new light on the
subject, but as the argument in opposition to the resolutions had been
assailed with considerable ability by gentlemen of great talent, he
trusted the house would not think the time misapplied which would
be devoted to the reestablishment of the principles contained in that
argument, and to the refutation of those advanced in opposition to it."
The resolutions were rejected by a vote of sixty-one to thirty-five.
Mr. Bayard had been reelected to congress in October, 1798, and
was again elected in October, 1800, at a period when the highest
party feeling prevailed. The event which we have now occasion to
notice, was one which called for the exertion on his part of the greatest
discretion, firmness, and magnanimity. At the presidential election
which took place in November, 1800, the greatest number and
majority of electoral votes which were in favor of Thomas Jefferson
and Aaron Burr, the democratic candidates, being equal, the election
devolved upon the house of representatives. The mass of the federal
party throughout the country, and most of the federal members of the
house, deprecated the elevation of Mr. Jefferson to the presidential
office, as an event that would be fatal to the federal government, and
to the existing constitution. The greatest excitement prevailed, and
the two parties viewed each other with feelings of mutual jealousy and
distrust. The federalists seriously believed, that it was the design of
their opponents, and particularly of Mr. Jefferson as their chief, to
abase if not to destroy the federal government. With this belief, and
the apprehensions and feelings resulting from it, the federal members
of the house of representatives were called upon by that constitution
to choose between the two candidates.
The one was known to be decidedly hostile to federal principles
and federal men ; the other, though belonging to the same party, and
standing high in its estimation, as well as in that of his fellow candi
date, was yet less distinctly marked by his principles, and believed to
be less visionary in his poUtics. The federal members of the house
had several meetings for the purpose of consulting on the subject of
the election ; among whom there existed many shades of opinion, both
as to the possibility of electing Mr. Burr, and as to the expediency of

JAMES A. BAYARD.
attempting it : they formed the majority of the house, though not of
the states. Mr. Huger, of South Carolina, absolutely refused to vote
for him ; and Mr. Dent, of Maryland, declared his determination to vote
for Mr. Jefferson. Among those who acquiesced with most reluctance
in the course ultimately adopted, were Mr. Bayard and Messrs. Baer
and Craik, of Maryland. Mr. Bayard, though he believed Mr. Burr
to be personally better qualified for president, thought it vain to make
the attempt, but to use his own words, " was chiefly influenced by the
current of public sentiment, which he thought it neither safe nor poli
tic to counteract." General Hamilton, than whom no man out of
congress enjoyed a larger share of the confidence of the party, or
exerted greater influence over its movements, was decidedly opposed
to the step, and in a correspondence with Mr. Bayard earnestly
advocated the election of Mr. Jefferson. The majority of the federal
members were, however, in favor of Mr. Burr ; and many of them
would have preferred to defeat the election altogether, rather than
choose Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Bayard, out of deference to the opinion
of the majority, agreed to make an attempt to elect Mr. Burr ; but with
the fixed determination that there should be a president chosen, and
that the election should not be protracted beyond a reasonable period.
Messrs. Baer and Craik, of Maryland, and General Morris, of Ver
mont, entertaining the same views and opinions, concurred with him
in this resolution ; and they entered into mutual engagements to sup
port each other in that course. It was in the power of any one of these
gentlemen to terminate the election at any moment. The balloting in
the house commenced on the 11th February, 1801, and terminated
on the 17th February, without any adjournment. On the first ballot,
it was ascertained that Mr. Jefferson had eight states, Mr. Burr six
states, and that two states, Maryland and Vermont, were divided. As
there were sixteen states, Mr. Jefferson wanted the vote of one state,
which might have been given, either by Mr. Bayard, who held the
vote of the state of Delaware, or by General Morris, who held the
divided vote of Vermont, or by either Mr. Baer or Mr. Craik, who held
the divided vote of Maryland. These gentlemen, possessing an abso
lute control over the election, so far as regarded the certainty of
making a president and the duration of the contest, authorized Mr.
Bayard to exercise his own discretion as to the precise period it
should terminate, and pledged themselves to abide by his decision.
Mr. Bayard then took pains to ascertain what were the probabilities
of success ; and becoming convinced that it was hopeless, and being
resolved not to hazard the constitution and the safety of the union, he

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
determined to put an end to the contest. Previously to this, however,
he was induced to believe, from the representation of some of the
intimate friends of Mr. Jefferson, that he would observe in his admi
nistration those great points of policy wUich, being intimately connected
with the prosperity of the country, the federal party had most at
heart. On the 19th February, 1801, Mr. Bayard was appointed minister to
France by John Adams, whose presidential term did not expire until
the 4th of March following. Nothing could under any other circum
stances have been more gratifying to his feelings ; but from the delicate
situation in wtiich he had been placed by the late presidential election,
he instantly declined the appointment, and on the same day addressed
to the president the following letter : — Washington, February 19th, 1801.
Sin,— I beg you to accept my thanks for the honor conferred on me by the nomination
as minister to the French Republic. Under most circumstances, I should have been
extremely gratified with such an opportunity of rendering myself serviceable to the
country; but the delicate situation in which the late presidential election has placed
me, forbids my exposing myself to the suspicion of having adopted from impure
motives the line of conduct I pursued. Representing the smallest state in the union,
without resources which could furnish the means of self-protection, I was compelled by
the obligation of a sacred duty so to act, as not to hazard the constitution upon which the
political existence of the state depends. The service I should have to render by accept
ing the appointment, would be under the administration of Mr. Jefferson ; and having
been in the number of those who withdrew themselves from the opposition to his election,
it is impossible for me to take an office, the tenure of which would be at his pleasure.
You will therefore pardon me, sir, for begging you to accept my resignation of the
appointment. I have the honor to be,
With perfect consideration,
Your very obedient servant,
The President of the United States. JAMES A. BAYARD.
In writing on the 22d February, 1801, three days subsequently, to
one who was both a near relation and an intimate friend, Mr. Bayard
says —
" You are right in your conjecture as to the office offered me. I have since been nomi
nated minister to France, concurred in nem. con., commissioned, and resigned. Under
proper circumstances, the acceptance would have been complete gratification ; but under
the existing, I thought the resignation most honorable. To have taken eighteen thou
sand dollars out of the public treasury with a knowledge that no service could be rendered
by me, as the French government would have waited for a man who represented the
existing feelings and views of the government, would have been disgraceful. Another
consideration of great weight arose from the part I took in the presidential election. As
I had given the turn to the election, it was impossible for me to accept an office which
would be held on the tenure of Mr. Jefferson's pleasure. My ambition shall never be

JAMES A. BAYARD.
gratified at the expense of a suspicion. I shall never lose sight of the motto of the great
original of our name."
Among the first acts of those who now came into power, was the
repeal of the act passed on the 13th February, 1801, " to provide for
the more convenient organization of the courts of the United States,"
which had divided the United States into six circuits, and provided a
system of circuit courts for the administration of justice. The organ
ization of this system, and the appointment of the judges under it
towards the close of Mr. Adams' administration, gave particular
umbrage to Mr. Jefferson ; and as the constitution would not permit
the removal of the judges, who held their office during good behaviour,
it was determined to cut the Gordian knot, and to get rid of the judges
by destroying the system. This measure produced one of the most
memorable struggles in the political history of the country. On this
occasion, Mr. Bayard, who on the part of the majority was called the
Goliah of the adverse party, and sarcastically denominated the high
priest of the constitution, made one of his most eloquent and powerful
speeches ; but party spirit demanded the sacrifice, and it was made.
In November, 1804, Mr. Bayard was elected by the legislature of
Delaware a senator of the United States, for the unexpired term of Mr.
WeUs, who had resigned that office ; and in February, 1805, was again
elected by the legislature a senator for the ensuing term of six years.
So hasty a sketch as the present will not permit more than a passing
notice of prominent events ; and we shall here, therefore, simply
remark, that while he pursued with great success and reputation, his
profession at home, he was alike distinguisUed in public life for the
great ability and zeal with which he largely participated in the trans
actions of the day.
Certain resolutions introduced in the senate, in the year 1809, by
Mr. Giles, gave occasion for the delivery on the part of Mr. Bayard
of a very able speech against the embargo system, which had com
menced in December, 1807.
It was in June, 1812, that the president communicated to congress
his message recommending a declaration of war against Great Britain.
On this occasion, Mr. Bayard, who had been reelected by the legis
lature of Delaware, in the year 181 1, a senator for another period of
six years, did not deny that there were sufficient causes for war, but
insisted that the measure was premature ; that it should be postponed
for a few months, to furnish time for the return of our ships and sea
men, and of the immense amount of property which was either in the
ports of Great Britain or afloat on the ocean, as well as for putting

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the country in a situation for offensive and defensive operations
With this view, he moved, on the 16th June, to postpone the further
consideration of the biU declaring war against Great Britain, to the
31st of October. In his speech in support of this motion, he observed
that he was greatly influenced in making it, " by the combined con
siderations of the present defenceless condition of the country, and the
protection which Providence has given us against a maritime power in
the winter season. During the winter months, you will be protected
by the elements. Postpone the war until November, and you will not
have to dread an enemy on our coast till April. In the mean time go
on with your recruiting, fill up, discipline, and train your army.
Take the station, if you please, which will enable you to open an early
campaign. Your trade will all have time to return before hostilities
commence ; and having all your ships and seamen at home, you may
be prepared to put forth all your strength upon the ocean, on the opening
of the ensuing spring. Shall we by an untimely precipitancy, yield
ing to a fretful impatience of delay, throw our wealth into the hands
of the enemy, and feed that very rapacity which it is our object to
subdue or to punish 1"
War, however, was declared on the 18th June; and Mr. Bayard,
whose heart was truly American, and who never suffered any influ
ence or inferior motive to interfere with his duty to his country, was
prompt in advising the adoption of such measures and such line of
conduct as its safety and honor demanded. He was the chairman of
the committee of safety in the place of his residence, (Wilmington,)
and, at the head of his fellow-citizens, was the first to assist with his
own hands in the erection of the temporary defences of the town. His
prevailing and uniform sentiment was that of devotion to the welfare
and honor of his country, which demanded the sacrifice of all minor
considerations. Shortly after the intelligence of this event reached St. Petersburg,
the emperor of Russia offered his mediation to both nations, to promote
the restoration of peace. The president of the United States deter
mined to accept the offer, without waiting to know whether Great
Britain would do so likewise, and, on the 17th April, 1813, appointed
Mr. Bayard, together with Mr. Gallatm and Mr. Adams, ministers
plenipotentiary, for the purpose of negotiating a peace, with further
power, in case of a successful issue, to make a treaty of commerce.
This appointment was entirely unexpected on the part of Mr. Bayard,
and was accepted by him from an imperious sense of duty to his country,
with the hope of rendering her some service, and with the confidence

JAMES A. BAYARD.
that his acceptance of it could be attended with no mischief. In a
letter addressed to the secretary of state, (Mr. Monroe,) on 5th May,
1813, after stating his receipt of the instructions prepared for the
mission, and that there was nothing in them of doubtful construction,
or which he could not cordially promote, he intimates a doubt
whether the chief point of difficulty (the impressment of seamen)
was placed on a practicable footing ; requiring as they did, a stipula
tion against impressment, as a sine qua non. The event proved that
he was right. On the 9th May, 1813, Mr. Bayard and Mr. Gallatin
departed from the United States, in the Neptune, on their mission to
join Mr. Adams, who was then at St. Petersburg in the capacity of
American minister. After a stormy and disagreeable passage, they
arrived at St. Petersburg, on the 21st July following, having travelled
by land from Revel, where they had disembarked. The emperor was
then absent with his army at a distance of more than a thousand miles
from his capitol. They were presented to the empress, and received
by the chancellor Romanzoff in their official capacity ; but they could
obtain no satisfactory intelligence as to the intentions of the British
government, in relation to the object of their mission. After remain
ing six months in St. Petersburg, and becoming satisfied that the
British government did not mean to accept the mediation, although
they could not obtain from count Romanzoff any official acknowledg
ment of that fact, Mr. Bayard and Mr. Gallatin determined to leave
Russia, and accordingly departed from St. Petersburg on the 25th
January, 1814. They traveUed by land through Berlin to Amsterdam,
a distance of more than one thousand five hundred miles, and arrived
in the latter place on the 4th March following. There they received
despatches from the government, apprising them of the fact, that Great
Britain had refused the mediation of the emperor of Russia, but had
offered to negotiate directly, either at London or at Gottenburg ; and
that the president having acceded to this proposition, and selected the
latter place, they were to repair to that point. On the 18th January,
1814, the president appointed Mr. Bayard, in conjunction with Messrs.
Adams, Clay, Russell, and Gallatin, ministers plenipotentiary, to nego
tiate directly with Great Britain. Messrs. Clay and Russell sailed from
the United States on the 25th February, and arrived at Gottenburg
on the 14th April. At that time, Mr. Bayard and Mr. Gallatin
were in London, whither they had gone on the 10th of that month.
On the 13th May, soon after the receipt of their despatches, they
communicated the fact of their appointment to Lord Castlereagh. A
few days afterward, they received a note from Lord Bathurst, sug-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
gesting the substitution of Ghent in preference to Gottenburg, as the
seat of the negotiation, which was subsequently acceded to by the
American ministers. Mr. Bayard left London on the 23d May, and,
arriving in Paris on the 28th, left it on the 15th June for Ghent, where
he arrived on the 27th of the same month, and found Mr. Adams and
Mr. Russell. In a few days, they were joined by Messrs. Clay and
Gallatin ; the members of the mission having been informed that they
might expect the arrival of the British ministers about the 1st of July.
The latter, however, did not arrive until the 6th August ; and on the
next day the negotiations commenced, which terminated in a treaty
of peace, which was signed on the 24th December, 1814.
Mr. Bayard left Ghent on the 7th January, 1815, and arrived in
Paris on the 11th of the same month; here he designed to remain
until it should be necessary to repair to London, to assist with the
other members of the mission, in the negotiation of a treaty of com
merce with Great Britain, with which they had also been charged.
On the 4th March, however, he was attacked with the disease which
was to prove fatal to his life. After severe suffering and a confine
ment for most of the period to his chamber, he left Paris in a state of
great debility on the 10th of May, and embarking immediately on his
arrival at Havre, the vessel sailed for Plymouth, where she arrived on
the 14th of the same month. Here, in daily expectation of the arrival
of Mr. Clay from London, who was to take passage in the same ship,
he was detained for five weeks, during which time he was unable to
leave his berth, but remained in a state of excessive suffering and
alarming debility. The appointment of minister to Russia had been
conferred on him by the president, and confirmed by the senate ; but
he promptly declined its acceptance. At length the ship was ordered
to sail, and arriving in the Delaware on the 1st of August, Mr. Bayard
found himself once more, after an absence of more than two years, in
the bosom of his family. But it was only to receive their welcome,
and to mingle the tears of joy at his return with those of grief for their
final separation. He expired on the 6th August, 1815, at the age of
forty-eight years, and that Providence which saw fit to remove him
from this life, in the maturity of his powers, and the highest capability
of usefulness, indulged the fond wish of his heart, to embrace once
more his wife and children, and draw his last breath in the land of his
nativity.

. wu3 byT B wbkh from a Sirariijjgty JB Eongacro ,.

JUCMSTKT (SMQoANH^Mt, (Biy.f,M'H;TffW„

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.

John Caldwell Calhoun was born March 18th, 1782, in Abbe
ville district, South Carolina, where his youngest brother, Patrick,
now resides. His grandfather, James Calhoun, emigrated with his
family from Ireland, and settled, in 1733, in Pennsylvania. His
father, Patrick Calhoun, was then six years old. Several years
afterwards the family removed to the western part of Virginia ; but,
upon Braddock's defeat, the settlement was broken up, and they
went to South Carolina, where, in 1756, they established themselves
in a place which was called "Calhoun's settlement." Here the
Cherokees, their immediate neighbors, very soon attacked them.
The struggle was violent. Half the males, and among them, the eldest
brother, James Calhoun, who commanded on the occasion, fell ; and,
after the defeat, their aged mother, with several of the other females
and many of the children, were butchered by the savages. Patrick
Calhoun, who displayed daring courage, was immediately appointed
by the provincial government to command a body of rangers for the
defence of the frontier, and showed himself worthy of the station.
Upon the conclusion of peace, the family, which had been dispersed,
re-occupied their "settlement."
In 1770, Patrick Calhoun was married to Martha Caldwell, of
Charlotte county, Virginia, niece of the Rev. James Caldwell, of
New Jersey, a presbyterian divine, who stood prominent in the revo
lutionary war. The issue of this marriage were four sons and one
daughter, of whom the subject of this memoir was the youngest but
one, and as a tribute of respect to the memory of his uncle, Major
John Caldwell, a zealous whig, who had been inhumanly butchered
by the tories, he received the name of John Caldwell Calhotjn.
Both parents were exemplary for piety and virtue. The father
was a hardy and enterprising pioneer ; but unlike most of that class,
he placed a high value upon education. Though he was entirely
self-taught, and lived the greater part of his life on the frontier, sur
rounded by danger, he made himself an excellent English scholar,
and an accurate and skilful surveyor, which profession he long fol-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
lowed. He was the first member ever elected to the provincial legis
lature from the interior of South Carolina. Of this body, and the
state legislature, after the revolution, he continued a member for
thirty years without intermission, except for a single term, until his
death, in 1796. He was a zealous whig, and a disinterested patriot.
He opposed the adoption of the federal constitution on the ground
that it conferred rights on Congress incompatible with the sove
reignty of the states.
At thirteen years of age young Calhoun was placed at the aca
demy of his brother-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Waddel, since so distin
guished, as a teacher, in the Southern states. The death of his
father, however, interrupted his studies, and the academy ceased for
a time. He continued to reside with Dr. Waddel, and made ample
use of a circulating library, of which his brother-in law was libra
rian. Hither he resorted instinctively, and without any direction,
passing over lighter, and, to persons of his age, usually more allur
ing literature, fixed his attention upon history. With such unremit
ting industry did he labor, that he is said to have read, in the course
of fourteen weeks, Rollin's Ancient History, Robertson's Charles V.
and America, Voltaire's Charles XII., the large edition of Cooke's
Voyages, the first volume of Locke on the Human Understanding,
and several smaller works. Under this severe application, in which
his meals and rest were neglected, his eyes were injured, his counte •
tenance grew pallid, and his whole frame became emaciated. His
mother, alarmed for his health, took him home ; where separation
from books, air and exercise very soon reinstated him ; and to his
love of books, succeeded, by a natural transition, a passion for the
sports of the country. Though the progress of his education was
now arrested, yet his new manner of life laid the foundation of a
vigorous constitution, and he contracted, also, that fondness for
agriculture, which has distinguished so many illustrious names.
In the midst of family arrangements, and in consequence of his
growing attachment to agricultural pursuits, John had abandoned
all thought of his former studies, when his brother James, who had
been placed in a compting house in Charleston, returned home to
spend the summer of 1800, and was so struck with his capacity, that
he importuned him to turn his attention at once to a classical educa
tion, though it was not till after great persuasion, that he yielded to
his brother's judgment, Accordingly he proceeded to Dr. Waddel's
academy, which had been reopened in Columbia county, Georgia,
where, in 1800, he may properly be said to have begun, at the age

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.
of eighteen, a classical education. Here his progress was so rapid,
that he was enabled to join the junior class at Yale college in the
autumn of 1802.
In that institution he took a high grade in all the studies ; but,
though he did not want imagination and taste, he was peculiarly
distinguished by the depth and quickness of his intellect. He dif
fered widely from Dr. Dwight, the eminent individual, who presided
over the college, in political opinions, and, although they had frequent
discussions, they were always of a friendly character. It is related
that in the course of a recitation in Paley's Philosophy, the Doctor
expressed a doubt, " whether the consent of the governed, was the
only just origin of legitimate government ?" This caused an ani
mated debate between him and his pupil which held the class in
delighted suspense till dinner, in the course of which the student
evinced such depth of thought, and such power of argument and
eloquence, that his celebrated preceptor predicted his future rise.
" That young man," he said to a friend, " has talents enough to be
president of the United States."
Just four years after commencing the Latin grammar, he gradu
ated with the highest honors, at the head of a large and talented
class, but was prevented by sickness from delivering his oration, the
subject of which was " The qualifications necessary to a perfect
statesman." After enrolling himself, on his return home, a student of law with
H. W. Desaussure, he returned to New England, and entered the
Litchfield law school, where for eighteen months under the Judges
Reeve and Gould, he made great advancement. The morning was
devoted to law, the rest of the day to general literature and political
science, and he cultivated with especial care, extemporaneous
speaking. It was in the debating society of this place, where the
most agitating political topics of the day were discussed before
crowded meetings, that Mr. Calhoun who was ever the champion
of the republican side, first developed his great powers of parliamen
tary debate. It was his custom, even then, to prepare by reflection,
and not by arranging on paper, what he meant to say, nor by taking
notes of the arguments of others. A good memory preserved the
order of his own thoughts, and a wonderful power of analysis and
classification enabled him to digest rapidly, and distribute in their
proper places, the answer and refutation of all the arguments of the
speakers, however numerous, whom he followed.
In 1806, he returned to South Carolina, and in 1807 commenced,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
in his native district, a lucrative practice, ranking, from the very
outset, with the most eminent lawyers in his circuit. An incident
occurred about this time, which brought him into distinguished
notice. The affair of the Chesapeake had just created great excite
ment throughout the south : a meeting of the people was called at
Abbeville court house, and Mr. Calhoun was one of the committee
appointed to draft an address and resolutions. He was requested also
to address the meeting. The day arrived — the assembly was large.
It was his first appearance before the public, and trying as was the
situation, he acquitted himself in a manner that excited enthusiastic
approbation. Soon after he was proposed as a candidate for the
next legislature, and in spite of a prejudice which for years had pre
vented the election of a lawyer, he was chosen by an overwhelming
majority. Here, during two successive sessions, he took the lead in
every matter of importance, and eminently distinguished himself for
that political foresight and sagacity, for which he has ever been so
remarkable. He took his seat in congress in the autumn of 1811, at the com
mencement of the first session of the twelfth congress, having been
elected by a vast majority to represent the district composed of Abbe
ville, Newberry, and Laurens. His reputation had preceded him, and
he was placed at once second on the committee of foreign affairs,
which was at that juncture the most important. An able report, on
which the discussions of the session chiefly turned, recommended an
immediate appeal to arms, and Mr. Calhoun's first effort in con
gress was, in sustaining the measures recommended, to reply to a
most able and eloquent speech of John Randolph, also a member of
the committee, and one of the most sagacious opponents and power
ful orators, which this or any country ever boasted. Public excite
ment was strong, the house crowded, and the orator, rising with the
greatness of the occasion, delivered a speech, which, for lofty patri
otism, cogent reasoning, and soul-stirring eloquence, has seldom been
equalled. It met unbounded and universal applause. He was com
pared to " one of the old sages of the old congress, with the graces
of youth," and the " young Carolinian" was hailed as " one of the
master spirits, who stamp their name upon the age in which they
live." Early in the session General Porter retired from congress, and
Mr. Calhoun was placed at the head of the committee on foreign
relations, which committee, in addition to their appropriate duties,
were called upon to report bills to carry into effect the military pre-

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.
parations they had recommended. Thus, by circumstances, as well
as by preeminent ability, was he at this early period at the head of
the party in the house of representatives, which sustained the war
with England.
It was at this momentous period he delivered one of his best
speeches, from which a short passage may be here extracted, as well
because it evinced his profound and philosophical character of mind,
as the independence of spirit, which could not in all cases, submit
to the trammels of party, and led him to differ, in common with his
able and virtuous colleague, Lowndes, from the administration, on
the subject of the restrictive system and the navy. In speaking of the
embargo, he says, — "I object to the restrictive system because it
does not suit the genius of the people, nor that of the government,
nor the geographical character of our country. We are a people
essentially active. I may say we are preeminently so. No passive
system can suit such a people ; in action superior to all others ; in
patient endurance inferior to many. Nor does it suit the genius of
our government. Our government is founded on freedom, and hates
coercion. To make the restrictive system effective, requires the
most arbitrary laws. England, with the severest statutes, has not
been able to exclude prohibited articles ; and Napoleon, with all his
power and vigilance, was obliged to resort to the most barbarous
laws to enforce his continental system. This nation ought to be
taught to rely on its own courage, its fortitude, its skill, and virtue
for protection. These are the only safeguards in the hour of dan
ger. Man was endowed with these great qualities for his defence.
There is nothing about him that indicates that he is to conquer by
endurance ; he is not encrusted in a shell ; he is not taught to rely
upon his insensibility, his passive suffering, for defence. No, sir, it
is on the invincible mind, on a magnanimous nature, he ought to
rely. Here is the superiority of our kind ; it is these that render
man the lord of the world. It is the destiny of his condition that
nations rise above nations as they are endowed in a greater degree
with these brilliant qualities."
To trace Mr. Calhoun's course or to recount his services during
the war, would fill a volume. It is sufficient to say that in the lead
ing position of chairman of the committee of foreign relations, in a
complication of adverse circumstances, during the gloom of that
contest, calculated to overwhelm the feeble and appal the stoutest,
against a weight and ardor of opposition unknown to the congress
of the revolution, he never faltered, never doubted, never despaired

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of the republic ; but by his genius and wisdom, patriotism and un
shaken firmness, he rose conspicuous in the constellation of talents
which distinguished both sides, and arousing his countrymen to
action by the most animating strains of eloquence, made himself the
chief support of the " second war of independence," and finally tri
umphed in the sunshine of glory which burst upon his country at
its termination.
At this period the army, the navy, and the revenue had grown
beyond the wants of peace, and the currency was deranged beyond
all former example, except at the close of the war of the revolution.
These subjects gave birth to momentous questions. Of them the first
was the military peace establishment, about which there was great
diversity of opinion. Mr. Calhoun contended that a small peace
establishment was most congenial with the institutions of the coun
try, and that the great point was to have it permanent and well
organized, an object which he afterwards effectually accomplished
while secretary of war.
The other important subjects were deferred till the following ses
sion, when Mr. Calhoun was placed at the head of the committee
on currency. Events which took place at the preceding session,
had designated him for the place, as he had then successfully resisted
the project of a non-specie-paying bank, (devised principally with
a view to enable the government to raise loans for the prosecution
of the war,) under the conviction that such a bank, by reason of
those loans, would on the return of peace be enlisted against the
resumption of specie payments, and that its influence united with
that of the state banks would defeat the efforts of congress to re
establish a sound currency. He believed that it was intended by
the constitution, to place the currency under the control of the
general government, and that the power over it was delegated to
congress, and was not a right reserved to the states. Nothing could
exceed the derangement of the currency at the termination of the
war, when that power was exclusively exercised by the states, and
the notes of banks incorporated by them which could not be con
verted into specie, and were depreciated according to circumstances
from one to twenty per cent., constituted the currency in which the
public dues were collected, the public creditors paid, and the moneyed
transactions of the country carried on. After a full examination of
the various remedies proposed for so fearful a disease, which
threatened the union itself, it was believed by the committee, that
the only practicable means of restoring a sound currency, and plac-

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.
ing it under the constitutional control of the general government,
was the establishment of a bank of sufficient capital on sound prin
ciples, bound to redeem its notes in cash, which, by its influence and
aid, would at once compel and assist the state banks to return to
specie payments. A bill in conformity with this belief, was reported
by Mr. Calhoun, and with such forcible arguments did he sustain
it ; so clearly did he demonstrate the unconstitutional condition of
the currency ; so manifestly did he prove its danger and injustice,
and that there was no other feasible remedy in the power of the
house, that in spite of the opposing influence of the state banks, the
constitutional scruples of many of the members, and the resistance
of a number of the leaders of the opposition, he succeeded in effect
ing the passage of the bill, though it was well- ascertained that a
decided majority was opposed to it at its introduction. Of this
powerful speech, nothing remains but an imperfect skeleton.
Beside the revenue bill, which gave rise to a debate on the state
of the union, involving a discussion of the policy of the country in
time of peace, in which Mr. Calhoun made one of the most splen
did displays of parliamentary eloquence ever exhibited before con
gress ; other important subjects arose during the session, in all which
he took a prominent part. But the lofty course pursued by him in
regard to the " famous compensation law," very strongly marks his
character, and may, perhaps, be best judged of, from the following
eulogium pronounced by a strong political opponent. Mr. Gros-
venor said " he had heard with peculiar satisfaction, the able, manly,
and constitutional speech of the gentleman from South Carolina."
Here Mr. Grosvenor, recurring in his own mind to a personal
difference with Mr. Calhoun, which arose during the war — paused
a moment, and then proceeded, — "Mr. Speaker, I will not be restrain
ed — no barrier shall exist, which I will not leap over, for the purpose
of offering to that gentleman my thanks for the judicious, independ
ent, and national course which he has pursued in the house for the
last two years, and particularly on the subject now before us. Let
the honorable gentleman continue with the same independence, aloof
from party views and local prejudices, to pursue the great interests
of his country, and fulfil the high destiny for which it is manifest
he was born. The buzz of popular applause may not cheer him on
the way, but he will inevitably arrive at a high and happy elevation
in the view of his country and the world."
In December, 1817, Mr. Calhoun was appointed by Mr. Monroe
to the office of secretary of war. Here was a new theatre ; his con-

&

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
gressional career of six years had been brilliant ; as a legislator and
as an orator he stood on a proud elevation before his country, and
now his capacity for administration was to be tested. Such was the
deranged state of the department, the vast accumulation of its busi
ness, and its imperfect organization, that many friends dissuaded him
from occupying a post of so much danger. Space will not permit
even a sketch of the history of his administration of the war depart
ment during seven years. He found it, in all its branches, in confu
sion, and left it in complete order. He found upwards of forty millions
of doUars of unsettled accounts, which he reduced to less than three
millions, and he completely prevented all further accumulation by
the unexampled exactness of accountability which he introduced into
every branch of the disbursements, and in consequence of which he
was enabled to report to congress in 1823, that, " of the entire amount
of money drawn from the treasury in 1822, for the military ser
vice, including pensions, amounting to four million five hundred and
seventy-one thousand nine hundred and sixty one dollars and ninety-
four cents, although it passed through the hands of two hundred
and ninety-one disbursing agents, there had not been a single defal
cation, nor the loss of a cent to the government ; and that he had
reduced the expense of the army from four hundred and fifty-one
dollars per man, to two hundred and eighty-seven dollars, and
thereby saved to the country annually more than one million three
hundred thousand dollars.
It is to be remembered that all this was effected under adverse
circumstances ; when Mr. Calhoun, who had been brought forward
as a candidate for the presidency, had to encounter misrepresenta
tions, and a violent opposition to almost every measure he proposed
for the improvement of the department. In fact it is only by the
perfect order and system brought into the department, that it is pos
sible to explain how Mr. Calhoun found time for preparing his
numerous reports, which are not surpassed in ability by our ablest
public documents, particularly those on our Indian affairs, internal
improvements, and the reduction of the army ; for the despatch of
the immense mass of unsettled accounts of the war ; for the exami
nation of the claims for revolutionary pensions ; the thorough resus
citation of the military academy; the establishment of discipline and
rigid economy in the army; a complete reorganization, which gave
us, at the expense of a force of six thousand men, so officered as to
be capable of prompt enlargement, a peace establishment having the
military capacity, and defensive power of thirty thousand ; the stir-

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.
vey of our maritime frontier ; the institution of a system of perma
nent fortifications for our coasts ; the establishment of a cordon of
military posts, stretching from the upper lakes around our western
frontier ; and, finally, for his duties as a leading and influential
member of Mr. Monroe's able and enlightened cabinet.
In the second term of Mr. Monroe's presidency, the question of
the choice of a successor agitated the country, and Mr. Calhoun's
name was brought forward with those of four other distinguished
candidates. Events had turned the controversy, so far as he was
concerned, more particularly between his friends and those of Mr.
Crawford, on the subject of a congressional caucus, as the means of
designating the chief magistrate. Mr. Calhoun believing that, in
consequence of the great increase of the patronage of the govern
ment, it was dangerous to place thus in the power of the president,
the choice of his successor, through his influence over the members
of congress, took a decided stand against it. In the progress of the
canvass, Mr. Calhoun's name was withdrawn so as to strengthen
the probability of a choice by the people, and consequently to lessen
the hazard of the election being devolved upon the house of repre
sentatives. The contest terminated in returning General Jackson,
Mr. Adams, and Mr. Crawford as the three highest candidates to the
house, and the election of Mr. Calhoun by a large majority of the
people as vice-president. We cannot dwell on the events which
succeeded. During the whole canvass Mr. Calhoun bore very
kind personal and political relations with both the leading candi
dates ; but acting on the principle which had placed him in opposi
tion to a congressional caucus, he did not hesitate to avow his
opinion that the members of the house, in discharging the high
duties devolved on them, ought to act in reference and subordination
to the will of the people. He was necessarily, therefore, placed in
the opposition, which at the end of the term, overthrew the adminis
tration, and terminated in the election of General Jackson as presi
dent, and the reelection of himself as vice-president.
It is admitted that Mr. Calhoun conferred upon the vice-presi
dency a dignity and character worthy of the station. His decisions
gave universal satisfaction with one exception, the circumstances of
which were remarkable, viz., his decision in regard to the power of
the vice-president, as presiding officer of the senate, to call a senator
to order for words spoken in debate. The senate at no period had
been in such a state of excitement. Mr. Calhoun was known to be
opposed to the administration. It was the first case which had

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
occurred, and the principle on which the decision rested was novel.
The constitution gives each house the power of establishing its rules
of proceeding, and there existed at this time no rule in the senate
which gave the vice-president the power in question. Accordingly,
while those who took the opposite view contended that the vice-
president possessed this power inherently under the constitution, as
the presiding officer of the body, Mr. Calhoun deoided that as the
rules did not confer the power, either expressly or by implication,
he did not possess it, believing if he possessed it under the constitu
tion there could be no appeal to the senate, and the freedom of
debate in that body would depend upon the pleasure of an officer
who held his place independent of it. Satisfied with the correctness
of his decision, Mr. Calhoun evinced not the slightest impatience
at the clamor which followed. He calmly and confidently left his
conduct to abide the result of cooler, and more mature investigation.
The result has proved that a good cause may be left to the quiet
operation of time. After the lapse of two years, the senate, withou.
any movement of his friends took up the subject, and after a full
examination and discussion, Mr. Calhoun's decision received the
deliberate sanction of that body.
This brings us down to a period so near the present time, that it
is not necessary to give even a succinct narrative of Mr. Calhoun's
course as connected with public events, and accordingly we pass
over the measures adopted by General Jackson on his accession to
power, the position in which Mr. Calhoun was placed in relation
to him politically in consequence of those measures, the rupture of
their political and private relations, the correspondence to which it
o-ave rise, the character of that correspondence, and the vindication of
his own conduct which it contains. We pass over all these and
come to that portion of his political life which his friends confidently
believe will hereafter be the most distinguished, and will most
strongly mark his character with posterity. We mean that which
followed the passage of the tariff of 1828, and the part which he felt
himself compelled to take in resistance to what he considered an
unconstitutional and oppressive, act, in order to arrest a course of
events which he clearly perceived, at that early period, would grow
out of the measure, and which he was under a deep conviction
would terminate, if not arrested, in the destruction of the liberty and
the constitution of the country, or in the dissolution of the union.
Apprehending, from what he saw in the passage of the tariff act of
1 828, that the expectations of the friends of an equal system of benefits

&

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.
and burdens in reference to the protective system, and a thorough
reformation of the government, and restoration of the constitution to
its primitive principles, which he deemed necessary to the preserva
tion of the country, could not be realized in any other way, he turned
his attention from that time to the sovereignty of the states and
their reserved rights as the only certain means of effecting these
objects, the salvation of our institutions, and of the union. The
result was, that view of our system which recognises in each state,
as a sovereign party to the political compact, a right to declare an
act of congress, which it believes to be unconstitutional, to be null
and void, and of course not obligatory upon its citizens,^ and to
arrest the execution of such an act within its limits. This doctrine,
which was rendered so unpopular under the name of mdlification,
is maintained to be clearly contained in the Virginia and Kentucky
resolutions, is more fully stated and carried out in the discussions
to which it gave rise in the controversy between South Carolina
and the general government. In these discussions the papers pre
pared by Mr. Calhoun, constitute a striking part.*
The first of these papers attributed to him, is the exposition of the
South Carolina legislature in the session of 1828, in which a full

* The Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, which were the platform of the old
democratic republican faith, contain the following passages, which are given for the
satisfaction of the reader.
" Resolved, That this assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare, that it
views the powers of the federal government as resulting from the compact to which
the states are parties, as limited by the plain sense, and intention of the instrument
constituting that compact, as no farther valid than they are authorised by the grants
enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous
exercise of other powers not granted ly the said compact, the states, who are parties
thereto, have the right, and are in duty bound to interpose for arresting the progress of
the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits, the authorities, rights, and
liberties appertaining to them." Virginia resolution, of 1798, drawn up by James
Madison. " Resolved, Th it this commonwealth considers the federal union, upon the terms,
and for the purposes specified in the late compact, as conducive to the liberty and
happiness of the several states : That it does now unequivocally declare its attachment
to the union, and to that compact agreeably to its obvious and real intention, and will
be among the last to seek its dissolution ; That if those, who administer the general
government, be permitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total
disregard to the special delegations of power therein contained, an annihilation of the
state governments, and the erection upon their ruins of a general consolidated govern
ment, will be the inevitable consequence ; That the principle and construction con
tended for by sundry of the state legislatures, that the general government is the ex
clusive judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, stop nothing short of despot-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and very original view is taken of the relations between the states
and the general government, and the operation of the protective
system as affecting unequally the two great sections of the union.
This was followed, in 1830, by a statement drawn up by Mr. Cal
houn, containing his opinion on the relations between the state and
the general government, in deference to public opinion, which
seemed to demand an exposition of his views on a subject which
then began so deeply to agitate the country. The open avowal of
doctrines then considered by many as little short of treason, which
he knew would separate him from many of his political friends, on
a conviction of duty, and without regard to the effect it would have
upon his popularity, required a firmness of purpose and a deep and
solemn sense of duty which few possessed. Subsequently, at
Governor Hamilton's request, he addressed him a letter in which the
subject is more amply discussed, and which acquired for Mr. Cal
houn a reputation for ability and candor even among those who
did not approve his doctrine.
The payment of the public debt, without a satisfactory adjustment
of the tariff, brought on a crisis which will long be remembered.
South Carolina carried out her doctrine ; a convention of the people
was called in their sovereign capacity, and the protective acts de
clared unconstitutional, and therefore void, and no law. At the call
of his state, Mr. Calhoun resigned his office of vice-president of the
United States, and was elected senator in congress, and took his seat
in that body to defend her cause, which he believed to be the cause
of liberty and the constitution. His re-appearance, after so many
years, on the floor of a deliberative body, was under circumstances
the most trying that can be conceived. He and his colleague stood
almost alone. The cause was universally unpopular, and regarded
as synonymous with disunion and treason. Under these circum
stances, with all the disadvantage of not having spoken in a public
assembly for more than sixteen years, he had to meet the joint
array of the talents, both of the administration, and of the opposition.

ism, since the discretion of those who administer the government, and not the
constitution, would be the measure of their powers ; That the several states who formed
that instrument, being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right lo judge
of its infraction, and that a nullification by those sovereignties of all unauthorised acts
done under color of that instrument, is the rightful remedy." Kentucky resolutions of
1799. The original draft of which was made by Mr. Jefferson.

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN.
In this trying juncture he acquitted himself so well, that the tide
of public opinion which so strongly set against him at the beginning
of the session turned in his favor, and those not convinced by his
arguments, felt at least a conviction of his sincerity, integrity, and
patriotism. The contest was mainly between Mr. Calhoun and
the distinguished senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Webster, the
principal point in issue between whom was finally reduced to the
naked question, whether our constitution is, or is not a compact
between the states, the latter admitting that if it be a compact, the
doctrines contended for by the former followed as necessary
consequences. We can not dwell upon the efforts which Mr. Calhoun made
during the highly interesting session of 1833-4, but we may with
confidence cite his speeches on the question of the Deposites, the
Currency, the repeal of the Force bill, and the Protest of the president,
as being among the best models our parliament history affords.
In the present sketch of Mr. Calhoun's career, only the outlines
of his political life and conduct have been given. Many important
particulars have, from necessity, been entirely omitted, and space
now remains to add only a short notice of his family, his person, and
his private character, and to make a few concluding remarks.
On the 8th of May, 1811, Mr. Calhoun was married to Miss
Floride Calhoun, the daughter of John Ewing Calhoun, formerly a
senator in congress of great respectability from South Carolina.
They have seven children, five of them are sons, and two daughters.
In his person, Mr. Calhoun is slender and tall. His countenance
at rest is strikingly marked by decision and firmness. In conversa
tion it is highly animated, expressive, and indicative of genius. His
eyes are large, dark, brilliant, and penetrating, and leave no doubt
at first view of a high order of intellect. His manners are easy,
natural, and unassuming, and as frank as they are cordial and kind.
He has none of the cautious reserve and mystery of common politi
cians ; but is accessible to all, agreeable, instructive, and eloquent in
conversation, and communicates his opinions with the utmost free
dom and unreserve.
In all his domestic relations his life is without a blemish.
As an orator he stands in the foremost rank of parliamentary
speakers. On first rising in debate, he has ever felt the anxiety of
diffidence which is almost always the companion of genius. His
manner of speaking is energetic, ardent, rapid, and marked by a
solemn earnestness, which inspires a full belief in his sincerity and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
deep conviction. His style is forcible, logical, and condensed ; often
figurative for illustration — never for ornament. His mind is amply
stored with the fruits of learning, but still more with those of obser
vation and reflection. Hence depth, originality, and power charac
terise all his efforts.
As a statesman in the most enlarged and elevated sense of the
term, he has no superior ; for to the highest intellectual powers, he
unites those elevated moral qualities which are equally essential
with ability to complete the character of a perfect statesman— in
flexible integrity — honor without a stain, disinterestedness, temper
ance, and industry; a firmness of purpose which disdains to
calculate the consequences of doing his duty ; prudence and energy
in action, devotion to his country, and an inextinguishable love of
liberty and justice.

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ROBERT Y. HAYNE.

Robert Y. Hayne, the subject of this sketch, was born near Charles
ton, South Carolina, on the 10th November, 1791. He was the third
son of a respectable planter, and is descended from a revolutionary
family, the only male members of which, who were able to bear arms
in the war of the revolution, sacrificed themselves in the cause of
independence. The one lost his life in consequence of confinement
in a British prison ship, and the other (the gallant and lamented mar
tyr, Isaac Hayne,) perished on a scaffold, the victim of British perfidy
and cruelty. The father of the subject of this sketch had ten child
ren — but in consequence of the moderate extent of his fortune, and
of pecuniary embarrassments, resulting chiefly from liabiUties incurred
for others, he was unable to give his son the benefit of collegiate
education. Robert, therefore, began and finished his education at a
common grammar school in the city of Charleston. He then, at the
age of seventeen, commenced the study of the law, under the direction
of Langdon Cheves, well known throughout the union as an enlight
ened jurist and distinguished statesman. At the conclusion of the
usual period of study, during which he had applied himself with unre
mitted assiduity and diligence to the attainment of legal science, he
was admitted to practice his profession. An incident may be here
mentioned, which, as it is indicative of that zeal and ardor to which,
perhaps, Mr. Hayne has been in a great measure indebted for his success
in life, may well deserve a place in this brief account of his career.
Early in 1812, when our second war with Great Britain was rapidly
approaching, a requisition was made by the United States for a corps
of militia to defend tUe seaboard. Mr. Hayne, though not then of age,
and incapable, therefore, by the laws of South Carolina, of practising as
a lawyer, applied for and obtained leave from the judges to be examined;
and having obtained an order for his admission to the bar, upon the
condition that his certificate should be withheld until he should attain
the age of twenty-one, he immediately volunteered his services to the
United States, and took the field as a lieutenant in the third regiment

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of state troops, with which he remained until the expiration of their
term of service. Whilst servhig at Fort Moultrie, (under the command
of Colonel Wiltiam Drayton, of the regular army,) he delivered an
address on the 4th July, 1812, to the officers and soldiers of that
garrison. This was his first effort as an orator, but, young as he
was, the patriotism of his sentiments, the classical purity of his style,
and the decisive manifestations which he even then gave of the pos
session of oratorical powers of a very high order, brought him promi
nently forward to the public view. Mr. Hayne is now major-general
of the South Carolina rniUtia, to the improvement of which, hi disci
pline and military science, he has very essentially contributed by his
zealous devotion to his duties in every grade, from the lowest to the
highest. He is universally acknowledged to be one of the most
accompUshed and popular officers that have ever exercised the elevated
command which he now holds.
On receiving an honorable discharge from the service of the United
States, Mr. Hayne returned to Charleston, and immediately com
menced the practice of the law. Having no patrimonial estate, he
was, from the beginning, thrown entirely upon his own resources.
Falling heir, however, in some degree, to the practice of Mr. Cheves,
who had accepted a seat in congress, he was rapidly and eminently
successful in his professional pursuits, and his practice continued
regularly to increase up to the period of his final retirement from the
bar. Before he had attained his twenty-second year, he found him
self in possession of an income, which authorized him to incur the
expenses of a family ; and from that time, it is believed, his profes
sional advancement and emoluments were not surpassed by those of
any practitioner at the Charleston bar.
Mr. Hayne was first elected a member of the legislature in October,
1814. This was the first general election which had occurred since
he had attained his majority. And, as a very decisive evidence of the
hio-h stand which he even then occupied in pubhc estimation, and of
the abundant promise which he had even then given of future useful
ness and distinction, it deserves to be mentioned that he was elected
at the head of a Ust of thirty-one candidates, (most of them men of the
highest character and talents,) and that he received on that occasion,
probably, the largest amount of votes ever given to any individual in
a contested election in the city of Charleston. For this very flattering,
and in one so young, extraordinary success, Mr. Hayne was no doubt
much indebted to the firm and decided stand which he had taken in
support of Mr. Madison's administration, and the war. Party spirit,

ROBERT Y. HAYNE.
at that period, ran high. The city of Charleston was nearly equally
divided in relation to the war, and upon all the other great questions
which were then so warmly contested by the poUtical parties of that
day, Mr. Hayne, upon all public occasions, avowed his opinions
boldly, and displayed unusual zeal and energy in support of the prin
ciples he had espoused, and of the national character and honor. On
the 4th of July, 1814, particularly, he delivered the annual oration as
the organ of the democratic party, and of this performance it is cer
tainly but justice to remark, that as none of the land have ever been
better composed, or more forcibly delivered, so not one, perhaps, has
ever been attended with more triumphant effect upon the feelings and
understandings of an audience, or upon the political fortunes of its
author. It was towards the close of the same year in which that
oration was delivered, tUat he was elected, as above mentioned, to the
legislature of the state.
Mr. Hayne was now in his proper element, a deliberative assembly.
Upon taking his seat, he was chosen chairman of the military com
mittee, then the most important in the house — and having at the same
time received the appointment from the governor, of quarter-master-
general of the state, he acted a very conspicuous part, not only in
preparing and arranging the military defences of the state, but in all
the most important business of legislation, and especially in originat
ing, advocating, or supporting all such measures as were best calcu
lated to strengthen the arm of the federal government hi the honorable
contest in which it was then engaged.
After having served five years in the house of representatives,
during which he had deservedly acquired the reputation of one of the
principal debaters on the floor, Mr. Hayne was unanimously chosen
speaker of that body, and presided over its deliberations during the
session of 1818. No stronger proof need be given than this, of the
high estimation to which he had risen at the early age of twenty-seven.
The occupancy of that chair, at such an age, is a compliment which
has been awarded to him alone, nor is it more than ccmmon justice to
say, that he proved himself worthy of the flattering distinction by
his perfect acquaintance with, and prompt and exact discharge of, all
its important duties, and by the general satisfaction which he gave in
the impartiality of his conduct, and the amenity of his manners.
Of this satisfaction with his conduct as speaker, and of the rank
which he held as a lawyer and an orator, a very honorable proof was
quickly given, for at the close of the very first session of the legisla
ture over which he had presided, he was unanimously elected to the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
office of attorney-general of the state ; an office not only highly im
portant and responsible in itself, but one which had never been fiUed
by any but the most eminent lawyers in the state. It may be proper
also, here to state, that shortly after Ins election as attorney-general,
Mr. Hayne was offered the appointment, by President Monroe, of
attorney of the United States for the district of South Carolina, wnich
he declined.
Mr. Hayne continued to serve as attorney-general for four years,
at the expiration of which, in December, 1822, (having just then
attained his thirty-first year,) he was chosen senator to congress for
six years from the 4th of March, 1823. To this station he was
reelected in 1828, without opposition, for another period of six years.
The character and public services of General Hayne, open a wide
field ; but our Unfits rather restrict us to an outline, than permit us to
fiU up and develop all the features of the picture.
As a lawyer, General Hayne was deeply skilled in the principles
of the science, and always happy and judicious in their application.
His forensic displays exhibit great versatility of powers, and an admir
able union of all the essential requisites of oratorical distinction.
Comprehensive in his views, lucid in his arrangement, and possessed
at the same time of the very happiest mode of public speaking, he was
equally successful in convincing the understanding of the court, and
in enlisting and controlling the feelings of tUe jury. Liberal in prac
tice, and courteous in demeanor, he not only never took an unfair
advantage of an opponent, but always extended the hand of kindness
to those of the profession who required his aid. Of him it may be
truly said, that as he had no superior in legal learning at the Charles
ton bar, so few approached him in eloquence, or in public estimation.
No man was ever more popular hi his profession, or more regretted,
as the loss of a distinguished ornament, when he was removed to a
higher sphere.
But it is as a statesman and an orator, that General Hayne is best
known to the Union at large ; and it is to his displays and services in
the senate of the United States, that he is principally indebted for the
reputation which he now enjoys. Although scarcely of the constitu
tional age, when he first took his seat in the senate, he soon attained
a very distinguished rank among the enlightened and experienced
politicians who composed it. Amongst his first efforts, was his speech
against the tariff of 1824, in which he exhibited the views of the state
he represented, and forcibly exposed what he considered the impohtic
and ruinous tendency of the restrictive system. He soon after ori-

ROBERT Y. HAYNE.
ginated and zealously supported a general bankrupt law, which,
although it did not succeed, was not the less demanded by the neces
sities of the country, or the principles of justice. His speeches in
reference to that bfil have been justly and universally admired as very
able arguments in reference to a great question of constitutional and
mercantile law. As chairman of the naval committee of the senate,
he deservedly obtained high commendation, both for his intimate
knowledge of the wants and details of the navy, and for his patriotic
devotion to its interests and honor. It is to him that the nation is
indebted for the excellent law for the gradual improvement of the
navy, and preservation of ship timber, and for several other acts which
have tended greatly to increase its usefulness, perfect its discipline, and
preserve its popularity. TUese were not, however, the only acts
which he originated, or the only matters which engaged his attention
as a senator. Few members of the senate were more attentive to
business, or took a more active part in general legislation. But of all
Iris displays in that body, none, perhaps, have been so universally or
so highly admired, as his two speeches, and particularly the last, in
the " great debate" upon Mr. Foot's resolution respecting the surveys
of the public lands. As a constitutional argument, his second speech
upon that occasion will rank with any ever delivered in tUe senate.
" Cogent and masterly in its reasoning — keen and delicate in its irony
— pure, perspicuous, and elevated in its style, it exhibits," says a cor
respondent, " a profound loiowledge of the true principles of our consti
tution, and of the relative rights and duties of the federal and state
governments ; exposes the fallacy and danger of constructive doctrines,
and has already done much to bring the federal government back to
its original limits and intentions, and to revive and reestablish the
principles of Jeffersonian democracy. As an effort of intellect, it will
rank amongst the highest in the annals of American eloquence ; and
as a faithful exposition of the true structure and objects of the Ameri
can confederacy, it will be regarded as a text book by the supporters
of the sovereignty of the states in every section of the union."
History has already recorded the events of the latter part of the
year 1832, and of the commencement of 1833. The opposition
against the protective policy in South Carolina, which had for many
years existed, had acquired such strength in the first mentioned year,
that the legislature, assembled in special session, enacted a law, on the
26th of October, for the convocation of a convention of the people of
the state, for the purpose of taking " into consideration the several acts
of the congress of the United States, imposing duties on foreign im-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ports, for the protection of domestic manufactures, or, for other unau
thorized objects, to determine on the character thereof, and to devise
the means of redress, &c." Of this convention Mr. Hayne was
elected a member from Charleston, the place of his residence, and
when that body, on the 24th of November, adopted the celebrated
ordinance of nullification, he voted Avith the majority. In December
following, he was elected by the legislature, governor of the state, and
was inaugurated on the 11th of that month, resigning his seat in the
senate of the United States, which was filled by the election of Mr.
Calhoun, who had vacated the post of vice-president. As governor
of the state, Mr. Hayne was very soon called upon to act. The pro
clamation of the president, issued on the 10th of December, in relation
to the proceedings of South Carolina, reached Columbia in a very
few days, and was met by a counter proclamation from governor
Hayne, expressed in terms of lofty defiance, on the 20th of the same
month. The warlike aspect of tUese two documents, exhibiting on
the one hand a determination to put down South Carolina by force,
and on the other, a fixed resolution to resist unto death, very naturally
excited an alarm for the safety of the Union, in all parts of the United
States, which predisposed the majority of the people in favor of con
ciliatory measures. In South Carolina, preparations of the most
vigorous and efficient kind were every where made for the defence of
the state, and in these arrangements the governor took an active and
conspicuous part. The proceedings which took place in congress on
the 2d of March, 1833, are too well known to need a recapitulation
here. Suffice it to say that the simultaneous passage of a bill modifying
the tariff, and of one designed to enforce the collection of the revenue,
put an end to the apprehensions of an approaching conflict between
the federal government and the state of South Carolina, which induced
the convention, on the 15th of March, to enact an ordinance, repealing
the previous one of the 24th of November. Of this convention,
Governor Hayne was elected president at its second session, which
commenced on the 11th of March, and closed on the 18th ; General
Hamilton having previously resigned.
From this memorable epoch until the month of December, 1834,
Governor Hayne continued in the executive chair, though not with
out havino- subjects of exciting interest to demand his solicitude. The
spirit of party in South Carolina, Uad not been appeased by the settle
ment of the dispute with the government at Washington. The pre
dominant party were desirous of enforcing obedience to the state in all
future conflicts, by demanding an oath of allegiance, whilst the mi-

ROBERT Y. HAYNE.
nority threatened resistance to any law which should be designed to
exact it. In casting oil upon these troubled waters, Governor Hayne
was mainly instrumental, by putting forth a proclamation enjoining
obedience to the decision of the court of appeals, which pronounced
unconstitutional a miUtary oath enjoined by the legislature, in oppo
sition to the decided opinion entertained by the party in power.
Perhaps to this wise and prudent course of the governor, may be
traced that gradual relaxation of the spirit that urged the enforcement
of an oath of allegiance, which subsequently terminated in the recon
ciliation of tUe two parties in the legislature, commemorated by the
almost unanimous election of Mr. M'Duffie as governor of the state,
and the abandonment of the bill designed to exact an oath of allegiance.
In his valedictory message, Governor Hayne signified his wish to
pass the residue of his days in retirement from public life ; but in this
desire he will scarcely be indulged.
The great characteristics of Mr. Hayne's mind, are comprehensive
ness, clearness, and strength. He readily perceives and embraces the
strong points of a subject, and, directing all his energies to them,
omits those which are merely minor or incidental. His speeches,
therefore, whether long or short, are generally strictly confined to the
subject before him ; nor does he indulge in unnecessary amplification,
or occupy time with the discussion of irrelevant or subordinate topics.
He never speaks for the sake of speaking. He is always more intent
upon ideas, than words — more desirous to convince, than shine. His
style, therefore, has none of those Uttle arts or affectations which are
usually more designed to tickle the ear, than to inform the sense.
Let it not be supposed, however, that his speeches are not polished, as
weU as vigorous, beautified by ornament, as well as recommended by
intelligence. Argument, indeed, is his forte, but he also possesses,
and often draws into requisition, extensive stores of classical literature,
and the rich and varied resources of an active and fertile imagination.
If he does not abound in metaphors and (similes, his illustrations are
natural and apt, and always strengthen what they are intended to
embellish. His speeches, in fact, may be consulted with equal
advantage, as sources of pohtical information, or as furnishing a happy
specimen of that finished style which ought ever to be aimed at in
parUamentary debate.
Generally mild and persuasive, he is frequently, notwithstanding,
vehement and impassioned ; and though he prefers to reason or per
suade, he often deals out invective with no sparing hand. His style,
indeed, is always admirably adapted to his subject, and his readers

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
are often astonished and dehghted by vivid bursts of indignation, or by
exquisite appeals to the best feelings of their hearts. His voice is full
and melodious, and his manner earnest and impressive. FuU of in
genuous sensibiUty, his eyes are as expressive as his tongue, and as
he pours out his thoughts or feelings, either in a strain of captivating
sweetness, or of impetuous and overbearing passion, every emotion of
his soul is distinctly depicted in the lineaments of his countenance.
When he does not convince, he deUghts, and even prejudice itself
hangs charmed upon his lips.
Our tirnits now compel us to a close, and therefore we shall only
say further, that no man in the Union is more distinguished by public
spirit, and by an ardent devotion to tbe welfare of his country.
Though steadfast in his own political principles, he is without a particle
of intolerance towards his opponents, and in all the relations of
domestic and social life, he is beloved and respected, amiable and
affectionate, pure and irreproachable.

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WILLIAM GASTON, LL. D.

The name of Gaston is honorably associated in the annals of
France, where the ancestors of the subject of this notice were zeal
ous and distinguished adherents of the Huguenot cause, in the latter
part of the seventeenth century. On the revocation of the edict of
Nantz, they retired to Ballymore in Ireland, where Dr. Alexander
Gaston, the father of the judge, was born. He was the younger
brother of the Rev. Hugh Gaston, a presbyterian clergyman of great
piety and learning, and the author of "Gaston's Concordance," a
standard work in his church. Dr. Alexander Gaston was graduated
at the medical college in Edinburgh, after which he accepted the
appointment of surgeon in the navy, and attended the expedition
which captured the Havana. The epidemic dysentery which pre
vailed with so much fatality among the troops, assailed even the
surgeon ; and with a constitution broken by disease, and daily wear
ing away from the exhaustion of a warm climate, he resigned his
post and sailed for the North American provinces. He landed in
Newbern, and after a residence of some years, during which he was
engaged in the practice of his profession, was married, in May,
1775, to Margaret Sharpe, an English lady of the Catholic church.
She had come out to North Carolina, on a visit to her two brothers,
Girard and Joseph Sharpe, who were extensively engaged in com
merce, and it was during this sojourn, that the gallantry of the
young Irish physician, succeeded in permanently detaining her in
Newbern. William Gaston, their second son, was born on the 19th of
September, 1778. His elder brother died very soon after he was born,
and before he was three years old, the accidents of war carried off
his father. The circumstances of the death of Dr. Alexander Gaston
are too tragical and interesting to be omitted, and as they strongly
illustrate the ferocity of the intestine war, that was waged between
the whigs and tories of the south, we shall venture to detail them
somewhat at length. Dr. Gaston was one of the most decided whigs
in North Carolina, and as early as the month of August, 1775, was

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
elected, by the provincial congress, a member of the committee of
safety, for the district of Newbern. At various periods of the war
he served in the army, generally as a surgeon, and once (in the
spring of 1776) as captain of a volunteer band, that marched to the
aid of Wilmington, on the approach of the armament of Sir Henry
Clinton. By his zealous and ardent support of the cause of freedom,
he acquired the confidence of the popular authorities, and was dis
tinguished by the bitter hatred of the loyalists, who, though in a
minority, were still numerous in that section of the state.
In the month of August, 1781, Major Craig, of the British army,
whose head-quarters were at Wilmington, advanced at the head of a
small detachment of regular troops, and a gang of tories, towards
Newbern, with a view of occupying that city. The tories were
several miles in the advance, and rapidly entered the town on the
20th of August. The whigs, thus surprised, had but little opportu
nity to make a regular stand, and after an ineffectual resistance gave
up the contest. Dr. Gaston, however, knew too well the hatred and
ferocity of his foes, to surrender himself into their hands, and hurry
ing off his wife and children, endeavored to escape across the river
Trent, and thus retire to his plantation on Bryce's creek.
He reached the wharf, accompanied by his family, but before he
could embark them in the light scow which he had seized, the
tories in a body came galloping down, in their eager and bloody
pursuit, and forced him to push off in the stream, leaving his wife and
children unprotected on the shore. He was standing erect in the
boat, which floated about forty yards from the shore, watching the
situation of his wife, and while she, at the feet of his pursuers, with
all the agony of anticipated bereavement, was imploring mercy for
herself and life for her husband, a musket, levelled over her
shoulder, was discharged and the victim sacrificed.
Mrs. Gaston was thus left alone in America. Her two brothers
had died, and the inhuman murder of her husband left her no other
objects of affection, save her son and an infant daughter. But she did
not shrink nor despair amidst these multiplied disasters. Supported by
her high sense of religion, and an admirable energy of character, she
sedulously devoted herself to the arduous duties which now devolved
upon her. The education and proper training up of her son, be
came the grand object of her existence, and whatever of good there
is in him must be ascribed to the affectionate tuition and admoni
tions of maternal solicitude. Her strong feelings, her exquisite
sensibility, her high integrity, and above all, her religion, she

WILLIAM GASTON.
indelibly stamped upon his mind, and even at this advanced period
of his life, his character, admirable as it is, is nothing more than the
maturity of the efforts of his mother.
While a school boy in Newbern, he is represented as having
been very quick, and apt to learn ; of an affectionate temper, but
yet volatile and irritable. His mother used every means to correct
his infirmities of disposition, and to give an aim to his pursuits —
sometimes employing kindness, or mild but solemn admonition, and
occasionally still stricter discipline. He continued under tier guar
dianship and strict observation, until the fall of the year 1791, when
he was sent to the college at Georgetown. The course of stu
dies, though not very extensive, were rigorously enforced, and, as in
all other catholic colleges, the ancient classics were long and pain
fully studied. In the spring of 1793 it was apprehended that the
constitution of our student was sinking under a consumption. Ac
cordingly he returned to his native climate, and there soon recovered
his health, and renewed his studies. Determined to give her son
every advantage of education which America afforded, Mrs. Gaston
placed him under the direction of the Rev. Thomas P. Irwing, and
after a few months of preparatory instruction, he entered the junior
class of Princeton college, in the autumn of 1794. In 1796 he was
graduated with the first honors of the institution ; and he has been
frequently heard to say, that it was the proudest moment of his life
when he communicated the fact to his mother.
On his return from college he commenced the study of the law,
in the office of Francois Xavier Martin, now a judge of the supreme
court of Louisiana. In 1798, when he was only twenty years of
age, he was admitted to the bar, and in August, 1800, the first year
after his coming of age, he ' was elected a member of the senate of
North Carolina. In 1808 he was chosen by the Newbern district
an elector of president and vice-president, and in the same year he
drew up the act of the assembly regulating the descent of inherit
ances. In 1813 he was elected a member of congress, and continued
in that body until 1817, when he retired to the more agreeable pur
suits of domestic and professional life.
Judge Gaston carried into congress the zeal and independence of
an upright politician, as well as the learning of a jurist ; and on
reviewing his congressional career, his friends will find no cause for
chagrin or mortification, whilst those who differed from him in
opinions, will at least acknowledge the invariable rectitude of his
political course.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
His first great effort on the floor of congress, was his celebrated
speech in opposition to the loan bill, and on that occasion he appears
to have acted as the acknowledged leader of the federal party.
In the early part of the year 1815, a bill was introduced to
authorize a loan of twenty-five millions of dollars to the government
of the United States. In opposing this bill, Mr. Gaston declared
that if it could be shewn necessary to accomplish any purposes
demanded by the honor and welfare of the country, it assuredly
should meet with no opposition from him. It was, he said, avowedly
not necessary, except to carry on the scheme of invasion and con
quest against the Canadas ; and to that scheme he had never been a
friend, and to its prosecution at that time he had invincible objec
tions, founded on considerations of justice, humanity, and national
policy. In the course of this speech he took a very extensive view
of the causes of the war, as well as the manner in which it had
been conducted.
There is one sentence in this speech which we shall extract as a
fair specimen of Judge Gaston's style of oratory. Mr. Calhoun
had, in the course of his remarks, spoken with much warmth of Ihe
factious opposition to the administration, which he was pleased to
say might be salutary in a monarchy, but was highly dangerous in
a government so republican as ours. Judge Gaston concluded his
reply to this remark in the following eloquent peroration.
" If this doctrine were then to be collected from the histories of the
world, can it now be doubted, since the experience of the last twenty-
five years. Go to France — once revolutionary, now imperial
France — and ask her whether factious power or intemperate oppo
sition be the more fatal to freedom and happiness. Perhaps at some
moment, when the eagle eye of her master is turned away, she may
whisper to you to behold the demolition of Lyons, or the devastation
of La Vendee. Perhaps she will give you a written answer. Draw
near the fatal lamp post, and by its flickering light read it as traced
in characters of blood that flowed from the guillotine — 'Faction is a
demon — faction out of power is a demon enchained — faction vested
with the attributes of rule, is a Moloch of destruction.' "
In 1816, Mr. Stanford, of North Carolina, moved to expunge " the
previous question" from the rules of the house; and this motion,
which was opposed by Mr. Clay, Judge Gaston supported in one of
the ablest speeches ever delivered by him in the hall of the represen
tatives. It contained more learning than we thought existed on the
subject, and we doubt whether, at the present day, its history in the

WILLIAM GASTON.
English parliament, or the American congress, is any where so ac
curately and ingeniously discussed, as in this speech. It was entirely
a new field, and we shall venture to ascribe as much genius in the
ingenuity which selected such an occasion for display, as in the
eloquent and vivid manner in which the orator set forth his store of
learning. It is a studied and richly carved work, and had obviously
occupied his attention for a long time. We have not space for more
than a short extract from this speech, but commend the whole of it
to the perusal of all politicians and statesmen. After a few intro
ductory remarks, Mr. Gaston said : —
" And, sir, I rejoice equally at the opposition which the motion of
my colleague has encountered. If this hideous rule could have
been vindicated, we should have received that vindication from the
gentleman who has just resumed his seat. (Mr. Clay.) If his inge
nuity and zeal combined, could form for the previous question no
other defence than that which we have heard, the previous question
cannot be defended. If beneath his shield it finds so slight a shelter,
it must fall a victim to the just, though long delayed vengeance of
awakened and indignant freedom. If Hector cannot defend his
Troy, the doom of Troy is fixed by fate. It is indispensable, before
we proceed further in the consideration of this subject, that we
should perfectly understand what is our previous question. Gentle
men may incautiously suppose that it is the same with what has
been called the previous question elsewhere. This would be a most
fatal mistake.
Our previous question is altogether sui generis, the only one
of its kind ; and to know it we must consider not merely what is
written of it in our code, but what it has been rendered by exposi
tion and construction. Our previous question ' can only be admitted
when demanded by a majority of the members present.' It is a
question, ' whether the question under debate should now be put.'
On the previous question '¦there shall be no debate;' '¦until it is
decided, it shall preclude all amendment and debate of the main
question.' If it be decided negatively, viz., that the main question
shall not now be put, the main question is of course superseded ; but
if it be decided affirmatively that the main question shall now be put,
the main question is to be put instantaneously, and no member can
be allowed to amend or discuss it. The previous question is entitled
to precedence over motions to amend, commit, or postpone the main
question, and therefore, when admitted, puts these entirely aside.
This, according to the latest improvement, is now our rule of the pre-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
vious question, and certainly in your patent office there is no model
of a machine better fitted to its purposes, than this instrument for
the ends of tyranny. It is a power vested in a majority, to forbid at
their sovereign will and pleasure, every member, not of that majority,
from making known either his own sentiments, or the wishes or com
plaints of his constituents, in relation to any subject under conside
ration, or from attempting to amend what is proposed as a law for
the government of the whole nation."
After detailing the history of the previous question in the British
house of commons, and in the American congress, and shewing that
it was not considered a machine to close debate, up to the year 1808,
he proceeds to say, " It was impossible that any rule could be more
completely settled, both by uninterrupted usage and solemn, delibe
rate adjudication, than was the rule of the previous question in this
house. It was a rule perfectly consistent with good sense, with the
requisite independence of the members of the house, and with the
right of the free people whom they represented. It preserved deco
rum ; it had a tendency to prevent unnecessary discussions ; it super
seded unnecessary questions ; while it left perfectly untouched the
fundamental principles of parliamentary and political freedom.
Thus, sir, it continued the more firm for the impotent attempt
which had been made to prevent it, and the better understood from
the blunders which its examination had exposed. Such was the
state of things, when on the memorable night of the 27th of Febru
ary, 1811, the monster which we now call the 'previous question,'
was ushered into existence, and utterly supplanted the harmless,
useless being whose name it usurped."
This speech, so profound and so violent in its character, was
received by the house with astonishment and admiration.
There is always something remarkable in the speeches of south
ern orators. A striking similarity of manner and of language, which
shews at once the " latitude" of the orator. Vehement whenever
they condemn, enthusiastic whenever they applaud, they carry into
political strife " the rancor of opposition, or the idolatry of love."
Something of this feeling may be observed in the speeches of Mr.
Gaston, which we have noticed, and which are among the finest
specimens of southern eloquence. They contain a great deal of
calm, weighty argument, but it is only when the orator turns to
watch the position of his antagonist, that his language is fired by
passion, and his denunciations are sent forth burning, and blazing,
and " withering as they go."

WILLIAM GASTON.
After his retirement from congress, Judge Gaston frequently
appeared in the assembly of North Carolina, and always as the
leader of what may be called the constitutional party. In that body
many of his most splendid speeches were made. He framed the law
establishing the present supreme court of the state ; and the liberal
basis upon which it is established, is to be ascribed to his zealous
and efficient support. In 1828, he delivered a speech upon the
currency of the state, which has been classed among his highest
efforts. His defence of the constitution of North Carolina, in 1831,
will long be remembered. The constitution of the state is a vene
rable instrument. It came down to the present generation, from the
sages of the revolution, and is loved and venerated in North Carolina
for its very antiquity. It was a fit subject for tbe exhibition of his
learning, eloquence, and patriotism, and those resources of his mind
he poured forth with the most brilliant profusion.
Judge Gaston is now the junior member of the supreme court of
North Carolina. It was in the practice of his profession, more than
in the legislative hall, where he acquired his great reputation as an
orator. He has been ever remarkable for his steady adherence to
the union, and has distinguished himself for his zealous opposition
to the doctrine of nullification, as lately set forth by the South
Carolina politicians.
Although Judge Gaston has been, throughout his life, busily
engaged in the discharge of professional and legislative duties, he
has yet found time, in the intervals of such labors, to keep pace with
the literature of tUe day. It has been his custom, in riding the cir
cuit of his courts, to take with him the last new publication, and to
peruse it as he rode along the road, and he has frequently been
aroused from the enchantment of Scott, or Irving, by the upsetting
of his sulky. His habits of study have ever been intense, his habits
of recreation, refined. His intercourse in the society of his friends
is marked with great mildness, affability, and occasional conviviality.
In the narration of an anecdote, especially a professional one, he is
unrivalled, and his manner of conversation generally playful and
easy. Judge Gaston is eminently a domestic man, and has devoted
much of his time to the religious and moral training of his children.
He has been thrice married. On the 4th of September, 1803, he
married Miss Susan Hay, (daughter of John Hay, Esq., of Fayette-
ville,) who died on the 20th of April, 1804. On the 6th of Octo
ber, 1805, he married Hannah McClure, the only daughter of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
General McClure, and she died on the 12th of July, 1813, leaving
one son and two daughters. In August, 1816, he again married
Eliza Ann, eldest daughter of Doctor Charles Worthington, of
Georgetown, District of Columbia, and she too died, on the 26th of
January, 1819, leaving two infant daughters. On him thus devolved
the sacred duty of educating and training up five infant children.
In the discharge of this parental obligation he has amply repaid the
debt of gratitude he owed his own mother, and in the fulfilment
of the various duties of a citizen, he has proved himself worthy of a
father who sacrificed his life in the cause of his country.

Diiesvnfcoralife 3

IL11W ^X^T^fT^TOflSr

LEVI WOODBURY.

In the state of society and the form of government which exists in
this country, the biography of individuals distinguished in our con
temporary annals for the industry, ability, and success with which
they have discharged the duties of civil life, is of tUe highest value.
Those who read for mere amusement will not probably find in such
notices so much attractive and interesting matter, as in animated
details " of moving accidents by flood and field." But a sketch of
the progress of individual men from the common level of society
to the most conspicuous stations in the government, cannot fail to
produce a salutary effect upon the rising generation, as well as indi
cate to the reflection of mature age the proper basis of public confi
dence. The plan of this work does not permit us to present at length
the grounds and arguments, upon which political measures have
been assailed and defended by their friends and opponents. All that
has been undertaken with regard to politicians, is to give such
leading facts as may have come to our knowledge, which will serve
to throw light upon their education and introduction into public life,
together with a succinct narrative of the most important situations in
which they have been placed : leaving those readers who are desirous
to obtain more minute particulars of personal history, to recur to
other sources of information.
Levi Woodbury (the present Secretary of the Navy) is a native
of the state of New Hampshire. He was born at Francistown, in
the county of Hillsborough, about the beginning of 1790. His ances
tors were among the early settlers of Beverly, one of the first planta
tions of the colony of Massachusetts, whence his father, Peter Wood
bury, emigrated when quite young. With the exception of a few
months spent at a permanent seminary, the elementary education of
Mr. Woodbury was acquired in the free schools kept in his native
village, in pursuance of those laws which are justly regarded as the
pride and glory of New England.
Young men in the course of education are frequently accustomed

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
in New Hampshire, as weU as the other New England states, to
bestow a part of their time upon instruction of these free schools in
the country towns. Of her most distinguished sons, a large number
have temporarily pursued the business of instruction in this manner.
The habits of responsible and circumspect deportment induced by
this custom, are in themselves an essential branch of practical
education. Mr. Woodbury was several times thus employed.
It may be mentioned as a striking instance of the confidence placed
in his capacity and discretion at an early age, that he was engaged
to instruct a large school at Pepperell, Massachusetts, in his four
teenth year, and discharged his duty to the entire satisfaction of his
employers. In 1805, he entered Dartmouth college, and remained connected
with this institution until 1809, when he graduated with a high
reputation for talents and acquirements. His elevated rank as a
scholar while in college, added to his subsequent well known devo
tion to literature, were probably the grounds which induced his
alma mater, as early as 1824, to confer upon him the honorary
degree of LL.D.
On leaving coUege, Mr. Woodbury attended the law school of
Judge Reeve, at Litchfield, Connecticut, for a year, and spent the
residue of the usual term of study preparatory to admission to the
practice of law, at Boston, Exeter, and his native place. He was
admitted to the bar in 1812, and immediately opened an office at
Francistown. The period at which Mr. Woodbury entered upon the business
of active life was a crisis of the deepest political interest. War had
just been declared against Great Britain. The whole population
was arrayed in opposition, and in support of the policy and expe
diency of this measure. In the New England states, the discussions
of party politics were carried on at this time with unparalleled zeal
and intensity. Public meetings were held in every part of New
Hampshire, at which speeches were made and resolutions adopted,
expressive of the views of the respective parties, and circulated
among all classes of society. The immediate friends of Mr. Wood
bury were earnest supporters of the measures of the general govern
ment. The early impressions imbibed from that source, appear to
have been accordant with his more mature opinions ; since, notwith
standing his youth, he came forth publicly and took a high stand in
these discussions. At a public meeting held at Weare, in the county
of HiUsborough, soon after the declaration of war, a series of spirited

LEVI WOODBURY.
and eloquent resolutions, attributed to his pen, were adopted, which
produced a decided effect upon the subsequent course of that county.
But in aU the other counties of the state, the party opposed to the mea
sures of government prevailed, and retained a majority until 1816.
During this interval, Mr. Woodbury devoted himself to his pro
fession. Few lawyers have so early been engaged in such extensive
practice ; still fewer have so rapidly attained such high professional
reputation. In 1816, the political friends of Mr. Woodbury obtained the
ascendency in the state elections. On the meeting of the legislature,
Mr. Woodbury was chosen secretary of the senate ; and the January
following, he was appointed one of the three judges of the superior
court. This appointment to the bench of the highest judicial tribunal of
the state at an unprecedented early age, drew general attention to
the manner in which the duties were discharged. It is but bare
justice to say, that the most sanguine expectations of his friends
were fuUy realized. The readiness of apprehension and reach of
thought, combined with great firmness and moral courage, mani
fested by. Mr. Woodbury in the trial of causes, rendered his conduct
upon the bench a model of judicial deportment. His legal opinions
evinced extensive research and accurate discrimination. Many of
them have been publisUed in the New Hampshire reports, and are
held in high estimation by the profession.
In 1823, Mr. Woodbury was elected governor of New Hampshire.
When his term of office had expired, he again returned to the bar,
where his assistance was sought from every quarter of the state.
In 1825 he was elected representative from the town of Ports
mouth, to which place he had removed in 1819, upon his marriage
with Miss Clapp, of Portland. On the meeting of the legislature he
was chosen speaker of the house of representatives ; and near the
close of the session was elected a member of the senate of the United
States. At the commencement of the session of 1825-6, Mr. Woodbury
took his seat in the senate. During the six years succeeding, his
name was connected with the most important measures discussed in
that body. At his first session, he took a decided part in the debate
upon the Panama mission ; a subject of universal interest at that
time. To enumerate the various subjects upon which he offered his
opinions at length, with great force and eloquence, would require us
to transcribe the lists of the more important reports and bills before

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the senate. For four successive sessions, he was chairman of the
committee on commerce, in which capacity his report and speeches
upon the Delaware breakwater, upon discriminating duties, and
upon the West India trade, were considered as displaying uncommon
ability. He was also a member of the committee upon agriculture,
from which he made a much esteemed report against the salt duty.
Upon the committee of naval affairs, he was long an active and
useful member.
He was also placed upon various important select committees.
Of that upon the petition of the surviving officers of the army of the
revolution, composed of Messrs. Webster, Van Buren, Hayne, and
Harrison, he was chosen chairman ; and his report and speeches
upon that subject placed the claims of that gallant band in the
strongest light. Upon the report of the select committee raised on
the concerns of the general post office, he was distinguished for his
eloquence, as well as upon the bankrupt bill, and upon Mr. Foote's
resolutions relative to the public lands.
For several sessions, Mr. Woodbury served upon the joint com
mittee on the library of congress. His extensive acquaintance with
general literature peculiarly fitted him for the duties of this situation.
To his enlarged and systematic views as to the proper mode of filling
up that collection, it is generally understood, it owes much of its
utility and prosperity.
During his whole period of service in the senate, important duties
devolved on Mr. Woodbury in his own state. At the intervals of
the sessions of congress, he continued to be employed as counsel in
the most important causes before the superior court. Such heavy
sacrifices, both of pecuniary emolument and of domestic comfort,
were demanded by these periodical absences from home, that on the
approach of a new election of senator, in 1830, he addressed a letter
to the governor, containing a request that it might be communicated
to the legislature, declining a reelection.
The term for which Mr. Woodbury was elected to the senate of
the United States, expired on the 4th of March, 1830. At the annual
state election, held on the eighth of March, some days afterwards,
he was chosen a senator in the state legislature, for the district in
which he resided.
His numerous friends at home, at that time expected that he would
thenceforward remain among them. But on the reorganization of
the cabinet, in the month of April following, he was invited by
President Jackson to become a member of his cabinet, as secretary

LEVI WOODBURY.
of the navy. This invitation he found it impossible to decline. He
accordingly signified his non-acceptance of the office of state, senator,
and forthwith returned to Washington and entered upon the duties
of his office.
In the execution of these duties, Mr. Woodbury has manifested
his characteristic industry, zeal, and spirit of systematic arrange
ment. The officers of the navy feel assured, that so far as it
depends on the head of the department, the most rigid justice will
be exercised in the distribution of their proportional burdens and
privileges. The whole course of Mr. Woodbury in public office,
whether as judge, governor, senator, or secretary of the navy, has
been distinguished for his energetic and fearless discharge of duty, —
for his unwearied endeavors to ascertain with accuracy what that
duty required, and for his disregard of labor, expense, or comfort,
in fulfilling his public avocations with promptitude and impartiality.
In a sketch like the present, the agreeable manners and the collo
quial powers of Mr. Woodbury can be but alluded to. In private
life, his tastes and habits have led him to the extensive cultivation
of science and literature. He was one of the earliest members of
the New Hampshire Historical Society, to whose published collections
he has been a contributor ; he is also a member of several other
scientific and literary societies of our country.
In the intercourse of men of letters, as well as in the discharge of
those public duties wbich have devolved upon him, he has exhibited
the same admirable traits of character.
To what point soever his attention has been turned, it has been
his first object so to view it, that his aim might be directed with a
clear eye and steady hand. He has not looked for success at any
time, until he faithfully applied his earnest efforts. Calm reflection,
persevering assiduity, a judicious method, both in his private studies
and his official engagements, and, above all, a resolute and intrepid
adherence to whatever he has conscientiously believed his duty, have
enabled him to go forward, with a firm and sure step, to the elevation
of honor and public trust where he now stands.
The contemplation of a character like that of Mr. Woodbury,
affords a pleasing evidence, that, at least in our happy land, rich
rewards await a course of honorable exertion. In our National
Gallery may be found not a few men, who, by dint of talent, under
the guidance of integrity and diligence, have risen from obscurity
to distinction, and won immortal honors for themselves and our
country.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
There is an eloquence in such examples, which ought by all means
to be consecrated to the public welfare. On every occasion, there
fore, as the editors of a national work, we shall cheerfully do our
part toward the attainment of this object. And while we faithfully
keep in mind the Roman patriot's injunction, we shall zealously
urge it also on our fellow-citizens: — Perpetuate the memory of
those men who are our nation's pride ; and the record of their
talents and their toils shall be a precious boon to you and to pos
terity. "Conservate reipublicoe civem bonarum artium, bonarum
partium, bonorum virorum; quern si vobis, si reipublicce conser-
vatis, addictum, deditum, constrictum vobis ac liberis vestris habe-
bitis: omniumque hujus nervorum ac laborum vos potissimum
fructus uberes diuturnosque capietis."

En^avpd by T'B.Weleh fT<-.m a huntmg K Ale-rand'

XEK o XH^J WGilM- «&&$? me. &&,-

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MRS. MAR CIA VAN NESS.

If " a brave man struggling with the storms of fate," be one of the
sublimest moral spectacles, one of the most beautiful is that of a
good, amiable, and accomplished woman, who performs her social
duties according to her rank, and especially those of domestic life,
with grace and dignity. And if a woman, to the virtues of her own
sex, unites the energy of the other — extends her usefulness beyond
the limits of her household, and by her example, means, and exer
tions, benefits a great community, she becomes at once an object of
public interest ; and the sex have a right to require that the golden
list should be swelled by another name to which they may point
with pride and exultation.
For this reason we commit to publicity the name of Mrs. Marcia
Van Ness, careful, in speaking of her, to observe that simplicity
which accords with her character.
She was born on the banks of the Potomac, in the state of Mary
land, on a large and valuable plantation, within the original limits
of which is now embraced a great part of the American metropolis,
and of which she, at an early age, became the sole heiress. Her
paternal great-grandfather, emigrated from North Britain. Her
father, David Burns, Esq., was heir at law to the family estate, was
a civil magistrate of the county, and was respected and esteemed
for his hospitality and other virtues. Her mother was of a highly
respectable family of the neighboring country, named White. The
daughter was soon distinguished by her sprightliness and fancy,
which, when not saddened by affliction, continued to characterize
her throughout life. When at maturity, her form, rather below the
common height, was light and graceful ; her face, without being
formally handsome, was of uncommon loveliness, with that mixture
of innocence and archness so much admired and rarely seen ; the
tout ensemble yielding that interesting expression which may be
called the essence of beauty ; add a penetrating mind, engaging and
unaffected manners, and the accomplishments of an excellent educa-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
tion, and it will be admitted that in her case, virtue had chosen to
appear in the most agreeable shape.
After preparatory education at the best school in Georgetown, —
where she was associated in her juvenile years with the most re
spectable of her sex and age, many of whom are now on the stage
of life in the vicinity, and recollect with pleasure the prepossessing
interest of her early youth, — she was sent to Baltimore for the com
pletion of her studies, and became an inmate in the family of the
celebrated Luther Martin, Esq., a particular friend of her father,
and then at the height of his professional fame as a jurist and an
advocate. The female family of this gentleman consisted of his
wife, a most interesting and accomplisUed woman, and several
daughters, with whom the subject of this memoir was a constant
associate at the best boarding-school, and in the best society in
Baltimore. The habitual conversation of Mr. Martin, then distin
guished in politics as well as in the forum, contributed, no doubt, to
fan that flame of public spirit which never glowed in human breast
more brightly, and at the same time mellowly, than in her's, and
prepared her to take an interest in those great public questions, in
which we are pleased to see our fair friends more and more inclined
to exert an influence, and take a part not inconsistent, however, with
that delicacy and those feelings which preeminently adorn the sex.
A woman is seldom placed in a position to achieve great actions ;
the more sedulously should she prepare herself, and be prepared by
her friends, for the performance of her more appropriate duties —
those sweet and tender charities of life, which, " like the gentle dew
of heaven," prove more precious to society, a thousand fold, than
exploits, " lights flashing through the northern sky," which seem
meant only to be gazed at. Of such useless exploits there are none
to offer in this sketch. No modern Semiramis do we attempt to
present to an astonished and subjected world — no Elizabeth,
who, by the masculine ambition and relentless rigor of her character
acquired a fame, perhaps less to be envied by her own sex than by
ours — no Madame de Stael with her affectation or reality of literary,
or political greatness ; but the friends of virtue will listen to a few
remarks illustrative of the character of one, who uniformly held the
onward path of goodness with untiring steps, filled the measure of
her duties to overflowing, and whose actions did not less " point the
moral and adorn the tale," in an extensive public sphere, than those
loftier adventures which have fallen to the lot of some others.
Miss Burns had a brother older than herself, a fine young man,

MRS. MARCIA VAN NESS.
who was successfully studying law in Mr. Martin's office, at the
same time that she was in his family. This young gentleman died
before he was licensed. Soon after her return from Baltimore, in
1799 or 1800, to her family residence, her father died, leaving a
widow and his daughter, then an only child. From her other ad
vantages, and the splendor of her fortune, she soon became an object
of interest and attention; idolized by her mother, and universally
sought and admired.
This was about the period when the government was removed to
Washington ; an event that brought with it a great influx of genteel
society from all parts of the country, as well as from abroad, with
which she was in the constant habit of associating.
On the 9th of May, 1802, the anniversaiy of her birthday, she
was, at the age of twenty, united in wedlock to the Honorable John
P. Van Ness, member of congress from his native state, New York.
Although a member of one of the ancient, respectable, and numerous
families of that state, and, of course, having many strong ties and
relations there, he, from the moment of his marriage, became a resi
dent of Washington — thus yielding, too, his political, to his domestic
prospects : since which he has enjoyed the highest municipal honors
which the political condition of the district of Columbia affords ; and
is now one of the fathers of the place in which he thus acquired so
valuable a stake. This choice did not fail to be gratifying to Mrs.
Van Ness, who found in him, besides, a uniformly affectionate and
devoted husband, and a kind son to her aged and beloved mother.
In the year 1803, their union was blessed with the birth of a daugh
ter, the only child they ever had. She soon became every thing her
fond parents could desire. They bestowed upon her the most finished
education ; she was the ornament and delight of society. " All the
anxious feelings of a devoted mother prompted her to labor most assid
uously to impress the mind and imbue the heart of her daughter, as she
rose into life, with the solemn concerns of eternity ; and in this, with
the blessing of God, she happily succeeded :"* and from this, as well
as other sources, Mrs. Van Ness, during the course of twenty years
ensuing, derived a felicity seldom attainable on earth — seldom so
gratefully acknowledged to the giver of all good things. Her grati
tude, which she was always anxious to manifest, increased with her
prosperity, which had but one drawback — the delicate state of her

* Rev. Mr. Hawley's funeral discourse.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
husband's health. But as his attacks, though severe, were short,
and the intervals considerable, her anxieties were relieved, and her
cares repaid by seeing him return, with renewed activity, to those
pursuits, no less of public utility than private emolument, to which
his life has been zealously devoted. Her chief enjoyment seemed
to consist in making others share the blessings with which she was
herself surrounded. Her house became the seat of an elegant hos
pitality, where abundance reigned without profusion, and a refined
society, without the frivolities of fashion. As a hostess, indeed, per
haps none was ever more agreeable and popular. But she felt her
self called upon to act a higher and nobler part in society. The
virtues of an enlightened piety and seeking charity were always
predominant with her. Through the whole circle in which she
moved, was felt the genial influence of her example and exertions.
To the chosen few who enjoyed her intimacy, she gave a thousand
proofs of the warmth, the truth, the delicacy of her attachment.
But she widened the sphere of her affections, and became "the
general friend," the mediator, the counsellor, of all within her reach.
Was a work of piety or benevolence in contemplation ? Her hand
and tongue were always the foremost to advance it. In the
chamber of the mourner, at the bed of the sick, in the cabin of the
destitute, who was always seen the first ? From whose looks and
sympathies did the afflicted always draw the sweetest comfort ? In
short, the strictness with which she discharged her religious and
moral duties was almost unexampled. But all this cost her heart
no troublesome effort. Her piety began spontaneously with love
and reverence for her Creator, and ended in good works towards
his creatures. Much of her time was appropriated to reading,
generally books of a serious character, though occasionally relieved
by those of a lighter class. Although she considered the grave
and sober duties of religion and humanity as preeminent, she
was not insensible to or averse from the innocent amusements
and recreations of life. She happily blended them, both being
always made the sources or instruments of moral and intellectual
enjoyment. A sound judgment, and a correct taste, equally distin
guished her. Whilst she discriminated judiciously between the
comparative merits of the moral objects of her benevolence and care,
she relished physical beauties in a high degree; whether it was
the sublime aspect of a richly variegated sky ; or the less exalted
scenery of the lofty mountain or tremendous cataract ; or the beau
tiful tree, shrub, or flower of the forest or the valley— all were

MRS. MARCIA VAN NESS,
considered by her as designed by the Creator, for the rational enjoy.
ment or admiration of his creatures. A portion of her time was
agreeably spent in directing and superintending the cultivation of
flowers and plants. There is scarcely a spot in Mansion Square,
that does not bear testimony of her taste and attention. Extending
the same principle to the works of art, she exercised her taste in, and
derived great pleasure from them also. Her house was filled with
elegant specimens of the best masters in painting, sculpture, engrav
ing, &c.
Much of a woman's character is developed in her treatment of her
servants. Morning and evening she summoned the whole corps,
and joined with them in prayer and other devout exercises. Besides
providing for them liberally, she allowed them all reasonable oppor
tunities for innocent relaxation and enjoyment, consistent with their
condition. To speak of the conduct and character of a wife when the hus
band is survivor, must always be a matter of much delicacy. But
this much we must say, that a union for upwards of thirty years, in
unabated attachment and uninterrupted harmony, between two in
dividuals of unusual energy of character and vivacity of disposition,
proves something more than negative merit on both sides. Her
gentleness, be it remembered, was not a constitutional passiveness
of temper. It was the result of a combination of amiability, good
sense, self-discipline, and patience. If ever, on topics of particular
interest, there was about her a momentary appearance of abruptness
or harshness of manner or expression, it was not characterized by
rudeness or want of courtesy ; it was the manifest effect of a stern
ness of principle, and far from being offensive, it increased respect,
without diminishing esteem. Mr. Hawley, in his funeral discourse
upon the occasion of her death, justly observes, " her uniform candor
and sincerity, her decision of character, her principles of independ
ence and integrity, uncompromising with the least approach to vice
or immorality, formed a combination of virtues seldom found in the
same individual."
As a mother, Mrs. Van Ness accomplished a task which may well
be reckoned arduous — to bring up, without spoiling, an only and
adored child, one in whom the respected author above referred to,
truly and emphatically remarked, " her parents lived." In the year
1820, the daughter, Ann Elbertina Van Ness, returned from Phila
delphia, whither she had been sent to finish her education, and
shortly afterwards she was allowed to engage herself to Arthur

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Middleton, Jr. Esq., (now secretary of legation at the court of. Mad
rid,) of South Carolina, eldest son of Governor Middleton, and
grandson of one of the signers of the declaration of American inde
pendence ; to whom she was married, in 1822.
Henceforth, Mrs. Van Ness was destined to see less of her daugh
ter. After a few months, accompanied by her husband, she visited
his friends in Carolina. Shortly after her return to Washington, in
giving birth to a daughter, she fell a victim to a malignant fever,
which had already proved fatal to many other ladies of the district,
in a similar situation, and with her infant of a day old, was con
signed to the cold mansions of the grave.
From this shock Mrs. Van Ness never recovered. Of the beau
tiful and charming young woman just referred to, we might say, if
we obeyed our impulses, more than the occasion may appear to
warrant ; yet something must be said, though it be only to justify
the absorbing love of such a mother, and to account, perhaps, more
rationally, for the extraordinary influence on the mother, produced
by the loss of a daughter. Mrs. Middleton was, we repeat, an only
child, " steeped to the very lips" in flattery and blandishments, which
on her pure soul " ne'er left a spot or stain behind." She was a
pattern of gentleness and truth ; and her face was really the mirror
of the mind within. " On her smooth forehead, you might see expressed,
The even calmness of her gentle breast."
Her attractions, talents, and accomplishments served but to lend
a grace to the noble qualities of her heart. Although she was the
centre of a circle composed of the gay, the refined, and exalted in
rank, both foreign and American, the radii of her virtues and feelings
extended in all directions to the humble objects of want. Her
heart and her hand were equally open to them. The confidence
she inspired, was instantaneous. But what rivetted the esteem and
admiration of her friends, was that generous and feeling soul which
" looked through her eyes and spoke in every action."
After the death of her daughter, Mrs. Van Ness bade adieu to the
gayeties of life, in which she had till then been a partaker ; but her
sorrow, though profound, had nothing in it complaining or repining.
It touched one more from the gentle equanimity with which she bore
it. If ever a momentary gloom enveloped her, it was promptly dis
pelled by the reflection that cheerfulness is among the Christian
duties " I feel," she often said, " that this trial will be good for me.

MRS. MARCIA VAN NESS.
My thoughts will now turn still oftener (o my Maker, my husband,
my friends, and my fellow creatures."
Indeed, affliction seemed to add fresh vigor to her virtues. She
became, if possible, a still more devoted wife ; and presently was
blessed with the restoration of her husband's health. To her son-
in-law, she transferred the fondness she had shewn to her own child ;
and to all her friends, and every object of benevolence and charity,
her attention and devotedness greatly increased, tier's was a heart
that prosperity could never harden, nor adversity rob of its energy
in her laudable pursuits.
And now it was that she specially devoted herself with redoubled
zeal to what had long been one of the dear objects of her affection.
The Washington City Orphan Asylum. This valuable insti
tution, Mrs. Van Ness, with the aid of several benevolent ladies in
Washington, had originated many years before. Mrs. Madison, a
name dear to its citizens, was first directress during the presidency
of her husband — a station which, after her departure, Mrs. Van
Ness held with but little interruption, (and that earnestly solicited
on her part,) to the day of her death. Her donations to this interest
ing charity were munificent ; her personal attentions unremitting.
She became as a mother to all its children, who have been gene
rally advantageously provided for, and many respectably connected in
life at the proper age ; and when a classic monument (built in imita
tion of the beautiful temple whose ruins still adorn the site of modern
Tivoli) was erected to the memory of her daughter, Mrs. Van
Ness, perhaps thinking it rather ostentatious, determined to hallow
it by associations more affecting than any that could spring from the
most finished works of art. Beside the grave of her child she, aided
as b efore remarked, raised up a spacious asylum building for the
destitute orphan, cheering as it were, the darkness of the tomb with
a light which will shine throughout ages. For a succession of
years she was never more assiduously and agreeably employed than
in carrying into full effect, by her own personal exertions, and the
other means in her power, (always seconded by a wealthy, liberal,
and sympathizing husband,) the design of this eleemosynary estab
lishment, which had several years ago been incorporated by an act
of congress, and afterwards handsomely endowed by them. But
owing to a constitutional delicacy, frequently aggravated by fatigue
in laborious duties of humanity, her health had long been infirm.
She had repeated attacks of fever, which at length admonished her
and her friends, that her earthly career was drawing to a close.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
On the 9th of September, 1832, after a painful and protracted
illness, aged fifty years and four months, she was called from the
stage on which she had acted so well the part allotted her. We
must draw the curtain over the closing scene ; remarking only that
after having taken an affectionate leave of all about her, and having
in a most emphatic and impressive manner bestowed her dying
blessing on her husband, who was kneeling and weeping at her bed
side, and whom she addressed, (laying her hand upon his head,) in
these words, " Heaven bless you, my dear husband, never mind me,"
she expired. To the last moment of consciousness, she expressed
her faith and resignation to her God and Saviour.
The departure of her pure spirit cast a gloom around. Many a
tear was shed upon her bier. Few hearts, if any, remained un
touched by the bereavement. The sense of it may, in some degree,
be appreciated by the general attendance at her funeral of all classes
of that extensive community, which never withheld from her while
living its respect and acknowledgment for her public as well as
private virtues ; by the proceedings of a public meeting of the citi
zens of Washington, and those of various societies, upon the distress
ing occasion ; by the almost unprecedented tributes of public sym
pathy and private grief recorded in many public prints, in the form
of obituary notices, at a distance, where she was known only by
character, as well as at her own door ; and, lastly, by the numerous
letters of condolence and sympathy addressed to her bereaved
husband. She was laid by the side of her daughter and grandchild in the
family vault, beneath the monument already alluded to, on Mauso
leum Square, which daily echoes to the innocent and grateful voices
of the orphans to whom she had proved a parent and protectress ;
and who, with streaming eyes, amidst the immense surrounding
multitude, performed the melancholy task of singing an appropriate
hymn to her departed spirit.
After her death, the board of managers procured and placed in
the Asylum, at their own individual expense, a full length portrait
of her, by King, from an original painting by Alexander. It repre
sents her in a sitting posture, with three little girls claiming her
maternal kindness and protection ; one of whom reclines its head
on her lap, with tears trickling down its cheeks ; the others regard
ing, with invoking interest, the benignity of the countenance above.
The painter has done the subject so much justice, that it is difficult
to behold it without the tribute of a tear.

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NOAH WEBSTER.

The name of Noah Webster is familiar to almost the entire popu
lation of our country, as associated with the period of their first
instruction in the rudiments of knowledge. As an author he has
acted an important part, in laying the foundation of American
literature ; and as a devoted friend to the institutions of his country,
he has consecrated the best efforts of his genius, in some of the most
trying exigencies of our government, to the promotion of domestic
quiet and national security. In the following sketch, a brief outline
will be given of the leading occurrences of his life, with particular
reference to the occasions which called forth the principal produc
tions of his pen.
Noah Webster was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, on the
16th of October, 1758. His father was a respectable farmer and
justice of the peace; and was a descendant, in the fourth gene
ration, of John Webster, one of the first settlers of Hartford, who
was a magistrate, or member of the colonial council from its first for
mation, and, at a subsequent period, governor of Connecticut. His
mother was a descendant of William Bradford, the second governor
of the Plymouth colony.
Mr. Webster commenced the study of the classics, in the year
1772, under the instruction of the clergyman of the place, the Rev.
Nathan Perkins, D. D., and in 1774, was admitted a member of
Yale college. The war of the revolution commencing the next
year, interrupted the regular attendance of the students on their
usual exercises, and deprived them of no small part of the advantages
of a collegiate course of instruction. In his Junior year, when the
western part of New England was thrown into confusion by Gene
ral Burgoyne's expedition from Canada, Mr. Webster volunteered
his services under the command of his father, who was captain in
the alarm list, a body comprising those of the militia who were
above forty-five years of age, and who were called into the field
only on pressing emergencies. In that campaign, all the males of
the family, four in number, were in the army at the same time.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Notwithstanding the interruption of his studies by these causes, Mr.
Webster graduated with reputation in 1778. This was an unpro-
pitious time for a young man to be cast upon the world without
property. The country was impoverished by the war to a degree
of which it is difficult, at the present dpy, to form any just concep
tion ; there was no prospect of. peace ; the issue of the contest was
felt by the most sanguine to be extremely doubtful ; and the practice
of the law, which Mr. Webster intended to pursue, was in a great
measure set aside by the general calamity. It was under these
circumstances, that his father, on his return from the Commence
ment when he graduated, gave him an eight dollar bill of the
continental currency, (then worth about a dollar in silver,) and told
him that he must thenceforth rely on his own exertions for support.
As a means of immediate subsistence, he resorted to the instruction
of a school, and during the summer of 1779, resided at Hartford,
Connecticut, in the family of Mr., afterwards Chief Justice, Ells
worth. An intimate friendship was thus formed between these two
gentlemen, which was interrupted only by the death of the Chief
Justice. Not having the means of obtaining a regular education for the
bar, Mr. Webster, at the suggestion of a distinguished counsellor
of his acquaintance, determined to pursue the study of the law in
the intervals of his regular employment, without the aid of an in
structor; and having presented himself for examination, at the
expiration of two years, was admitted to practice in the year 1781.
As he had no encouragement to open an office in the existing state
of the country, he resumed the business of instruction, and taught a
classical school, in 1782, at Goshen, in Orange county, New York.
Here, in a desponding state of mind, created by the unsettled con
dition of things at the close of the war, and the gloomy prospects foi
business, he undertook an employment which gave a complexion to
his whole future life. This was the compilation of books for the
instruction of youth in schools. Having prepared the first draft of
an elementary treatise of this kind, he made a journey to Philadel
phia in the autumn of the same year ; and after exhibiting a specimen
of the work to several members of Congress, among whom was Mr.
Madison, and to the Rev. S. S. Smith, D. D., at that time a professor,
and afterwards president, of the college at Princeton, he was en
couraged by their approbation to prosecute his design. Accordingly,
in the winter following, he revised what he had written, and leaving
Goshen, in 1783, he returned to Hartford, where he published his

NOAH WEBSTER.
" First Part of a Grammatical Institute of the English Language.'1
The second and third parts were publisUed in the years immediately
following. These works, comprising a spelling book, an English
grammar, and a compilation for reading, were the first books of
the kind published in the United States. They were gradually
introduced into most of the schools of our country ; and to so great
an extent has the spelling book been used, that during the twenty
years in which he was employed in compiling his American Dic
tionary, the entire support of his family was derived from the profits
of this work, at a premium for copy-right, of less than a cent a copy.
Between thirteen and fourteen millions of this book have been pub
lished, in the different forms which it assumed under the revision of
its author ; and its popularity has gone on increasing to the present
time. To its influence, probably, more than to any other cause, are
we indebted for that remarkable uniformity of pronunciation in our
country, which is so often spoken of with surprise by English
travellers. In entering thus early on his literary career, Mr. Webster did
not confine himself to the publication of his own works. At a period
when nothing had as yet been done to perpetuate the memorials of
our early history, he led the way in this important branch of literary
effort, by the publication of that highly valuable and characteristic
work, Governor Winthrop's Journal. Having learnt that a manu
script copy was in the possession of Governor Trumbull, he caused
it to be transcribed, at his own expense, by the governor's private
secretary ; and risked more than the amount of his whole property
in its publication. The sale never remunerated him for the expenses
thus incurred.
At the period of Mr. Webster's return to Hartford, in 1783, the
state was agitated by violent dissentions, on the subject of a grant
made by congress to the army, of half pay for life, which was after
wards commuted for a grant of full pay for five years beyond their
term of service. To this grant it was strongly objected, that if the
army had suffered by the reduced value of the bills in which they
were paid, the country at large had sustained an equal loss by the
depreciation of the currency, and by other causes. So strong was
the excitement on this subject, that public meetings were held
throughout the state, to prevent the laws of congress from being
carried into effect, and at length a convention met at Middletown
with the same design, at which two thirds of the towns in Connecti
cut were represented. In this state of things, Mr. Webster, though

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
only twenty-five years of age, came forward to vindicate the meas
ures of congress ; and wrote a series of papers on the subject under
the signature of Honorius, which were published in the Connecticut
Courant, and read extensively throughout the state. The effect was
great. At the next election, in April, 1784, a large majority of
the legislature were supporters of congress in their measures. So
highly were Mr. Webster's services appreciated on this occasion,
that he received the thanks of Governor Trumbull in person, and
was publicly declared by a member of the council, to have " done
more to allay popular discontent, and support the authority of con
gress at this crisis, than any other man."
These occurrences in his native state, together with the distress
and stagnation of business in the whole country, resulting from the
want of power in congress to carry its measures into effect, and to
secure to the people the benefits of a stable government, convinced
Mr. Webster, that the old confederation, after the dangers of the
war were past, was utterly inadequate to the necessities of the people.
He therefore published a pamphlet in the winter of 1784-5, entitled
"Sketches of American Policy," in which, after treating of the general
principles of government, he endeavored to prove, that it was abso
lutely necessary for the welfare and safety of the United States,
to establish a new system of government, which should act not on
the states, but directly on individuals, and vest in congress full
power to carry its laws into effect. Being on a journey to the
southern states, in May, 1785, he went to Mount Vernon, and presented
a copy of this pamphlet to General Washington. It contained, the
writer believes, the first distinct proposal made through the medium
of the press, for a new constitution of the United States.
One object of Mr. Webster's journey to the south was, to petition
the state legislatures for the enactment of a law, securing to authors
an exclusive right to the publication of their writings. In this he
succeeded to a considerable extent ; and the public attention was
thus called to a provision for the support of American literature,
which was rendered more effectual by a general copy-right law,
enacted by congress soon after the formation of our government.
At a much later period (in the years 1830-31,) Mr. Webster passed
a winter at Washington, with the single view of endeavoring to
procure an alteration of the existing law, which should extend the
term of copy-right, and thus give a more ample reward to the labors
of our artists and literary men. In this design he succeeded ; and
an act was passed more liberal in its provisions than the former law,

NOAH WEBSTER.
though less so, than the laws of some European governments on this
subject. On his return from the south, Mr. Webster spent the summer
of 1785, at Baltimore, and employed his time in preparing a course
of lectures on the English language, which were delivered during
the year 1786, in the principal Atlantic cities, and were published
in 1789, in an octavo volume, with the title of " Dissertations on the
English Language."
The year 1787 was spent by Mr. Webster at Philadelphia, as
superintendent of an Episcopal academy. The convention which
framed the present constitution of the United States, were in session
at Philadelphia during a part of this year ; and when their labors
were closed, Mr. Webster was solicited by Mr. Fitzsimmons, one
of the members, to give the aid of his pen in recommending the new
system of government to the people. He accordingly wrote a
pamphlet on this subject, entitled an " Examination of the leading
principles of the Federal Constitution."
In 1788, Mr. Webster attempted to establish a periodical in New
York, and for one year published the American Magazine, which,
however, failed of success ; as did also an attempt to combine the
efforts of other gentlemen in a similar undertaking. The country
was not yet prepared for such a work.
In 1789, when the prospects of business became more encourag
ing, after the adoption of the new constitution, Mr. Webster
married a daughter of William Greenleaf, Esq., of Boston, and
established himself at Hartford in the practice of the law, which he
pursued for some years with increasing success.
This employment he was induced to relinquish, in 1793, by an
interesting crisis in public affairs. General Washington's celebrated
proclamation of neutrality, rendered necessary by the efforts of the
French minister, Genet, to raise troops in our country for the inva
sion of Louisiana, and to fit out privateers against nations at peace
with the United States, had called forth the most bitter reproaches of
the partisans of France ; and it was even doubtful, for a time, whether
the unbounded popularity of the Father op his country, could
repress the public effervescence in favor of embarking in the wars
of the French revolution. In this state of things, Mr. Webster
was strongly solicited to give the support of his pen to the measures
of the administration, by establisUing a daily paper in tUe city of
New York. Though conscious of the sacrifice of personal ease
which he was called upon to make, he was so strongly impressed

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
with the dangers of the crisis, and so entirely devoted to the princi
ples of Washington, that he did not hesitate to accede to the propo
sal. Removing his family to New York in November, 1793, he
commenced a daily paper under the title of the Minerva, and after
wards a semi-weekly paper, with that of the Herald, names which
were subsequently changed to those of the Commercial Advertiser,
and New York Spectator. This was the first example of a paper
for the country, composed of the columns of a daily paper, without
recomposition, a practice which has now become very common. In
addition to his labors as sole editor of these papers, Mr. Webster
published, in the year 1794, a pamphlet which had a very extensive
circulation, entitled " The Revolution in France."
The publication of the treaty negotiated with Great Britain by
Mr. Jay, in 1795, aroused an opposition to its ratification of so violent
a nature as to stagger for a time the firmness of Washington, and
to threaten civil commotions. Mr. Webster, in common with
General Hamilton, and some of the ablest men of the country, came
out in vindication of the treaty. Under the signature of Curtius, he
publisUed a series of papers which were very extensively reprinted
throughout the country, and afterwards collected by a bookseller of
Philadelphia, in a pamphlet form. Of these, ten were contributed
by himself, and two by Mr., afterwards Chancellor, Kent. As an
evidence of their effect, it may not be improper to state, that Mr.
Rufus King expressed his opinion to Mr. Jay, that the essays of
Curtius had contributed more than any other papers of the same
kind, to allay the discontent and opposition to the treaty ; assigning
as a reason, that they were peculiarly well adapted to the under
standing of the people at large.
During the residence of Mr. Webster in New York, the yellow
fever prevailed at different times in most of our large Atlantic cities ;
and a controversy arose among the physicians of Philadelphia and
New York, on the question whether it was introduced by infection,
or generated on the spot. The subject interested Mr. Webster
deeply, and led him into a laborious investigation of the history of
pestilential diseases at every period of the world. The facts which
he collected, with the inferences to which he was led, were embodied
in a work of two volumes, octavo, which, in 1799, was published both
in this country, and in England. This work has always been con
sidered as a valuable repository of facts ; and since the prevalence
of the cholera, the theories of the author seem to have received so
much confirmation, as to excite a more than ordinary interest in the

NOAH WEBSTER.
work, both in Europe and America. It is understood, that a gentle
man from Hamburgh is employed in translating it into the German
language. During the wars which were excited by the French revolution,
the power assumed by the belligerents to blockade their enemies' ports
by proclamation, and the multiplied seizures of American vessels
bound to such ports, produced various discussions respecting the
rights of neutral nations in time of war. These discussions induced
Mr. Webster to examine the subject historically ; and in 1802, he
published a treatise full of minute information and able reasoning
on the subject. A gentleman of competent abilities, wbo said he
had read all that he could find on that subject, in the English,
French, German, and Italian languages, declared that he considered
this treatise as the best he had seen. The same year he also pub
lished " Historical Notices of the origin and state of Banking Insti
tutions, and Insurance Offices," which was republished in Philadel
phia by one Humphrey, without giving credit to the author ; and a
part of which, taken from this reprint, was incorporated into the
Philadelphia edition of Rees' Cyclopasdia.
At this time Mr. Webster resided at New Haven, to which place
he removed in the spring of 1798. For a short period after his
departure from New York, he wrote for the papers mentioned above,
which, although placed under the care of another editor, continued
for a time to be his property. He very soon succeeded, however, in
disposing of his interest in them ; and from that time devoted him
self entirely to literary pursuits.
In 1807, he entered on the great work of his life, wUich he had
contemplated for many years, that of compiling a new and complete
dictionary of tUe English language. As preliminary to this, he had
published, in 1806, a dictionary in the octavo form, containing a large
number of words not to be found in any similar work, with the defi
nitions corrected throughout, though necessarily expressed in very
brief terms. From this time, his reading was turned more or less
directly to this object. A number of years were spent in collecting
words which had not been introduced into the English dictionaries ;
in discriminating with exactness the various senses of all the words
in our language, and adding those significations which they had
recently received. Some estimate may be formed of the labor be
stowed on this part of the work, from the fact, that " The American
Dictionary of the English Language" contains twelve thousand
words, and between thirty and forty thousand definitions, which are

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
not to be found in any preceding work. Seventy years had elapsed
since the publication of Johnson's Dictionary ; and scarcely a single
improvement had been attempted in the various editions through
which it had passed, or the numerous compilations to which it had
given rise, except by the addition of a few words to the vocabulary.
Yet in this period, the English mind was putting itself forth in every
direction, with an accuracy of research, and a fertility of invention
which are without a parallel in any other stage of its history. A
complete revolution had taken place in almost every branch of physical
science ; new departments had been created, new principles de
veloped, new modes of classification and description adopted. The
political changes which so signally marked that period ; the excite
ment of feeling and conflict of opinion resulting from the American
and French revolutions ; and the numerous modifications which
followed in the institutions of society, had also left a deep impress
on the language of politics, law, and general literature. Under
these circumstances, to make a defining dictionary adapted to the
present state of our language, was to produce an entirely new work ;
and how well Mr. Webster executed the task, will appear from the
decision of men best qualified to judge, both in this country and in
Europe, who have declared that his improvements upon Johnson
are even greater than Johnson himself made on those who preceded
him. Still more labor, however, was bestowed on another part of
the work, viz., the etymology of our leading terms. In this subject,
Mr. Webster had always felt a lively interest, as presenting one of
the most curious exhibitions of the progress of the human mind.
But it was not till he had advanced considerably in the work as
originally commenced, that he found how indispensable a knowledge
of the true derivation of words is, to an exact development of their
various meanings. At this point, therefore, he suspended his labors
on the defining part of the dictionary, and devoted a number of
years to an inquiry into the origin of our language, and its connex
ion with those of other countries. In the course of these researches,
he examined the vocabularies of twenty of the principal languages
of the world, and made a synopsis of the most important words in
each ; arranging them under the same radical letters, with a trans
lation of their significations, and references from one to another,
when the senses are the same or similar. He was thus enabled to
discover the real or probable affinities between the different lan
guages ; and in many instances, to discover the primary, physical
idea of an original word, from which the secondary senses have

NOAH WEBSTER.
branched forth. Being thus furnished with a clew to guide him
among the numerous, and often apparently inconsistent significations
of our most important words, he resumed his labors on the defining
part of the dictionary, and was able to give order and consistency to
much that had before appeared confused and contradictory. The
results of his inquiries into the origin and filiation of languages,
were embodied in a work about half the size of the American dic
tionary, entitled " A Synopsis of Words in Twenty Languages."
This, owing to the expense of the undertaking, has not yet been pub
lished ; though its principal results so far as our language is con
cerned, are briefly given in tracing the etymology of our leading terms.
During the progress of these labors, Mr. Webster, finding his
resources inadequate to the support of his family at New Haven, re
moved, in 1812, to Amherst, a pleasant country town within eight
miles of Northampton, Massachusetts. Here he entered, with his
characteristic ardor, into the literary and social interests of the people
among whom he was placed. His extensive library, which was
open to all, and his elevated tone of thought and conversation, had
naturally a powerful influence on the habits and feelings of a small
and secluded population. It was owing in part, probably, to his
removal to this town, that an academy was there established, which is
now among the most flourishing seminaries of our land. A question
having soon after arisen, respecting the removal of Williams college
from a remote corner of the state, to some more central position, Mr.
Webster entered warmly into the design of procuring its establish
ment at Amherst, as one of the most beautiful and appropriate loca
tions in New England. Though the removal did not take place, so
strong an interest on the subject was awakened in Amherst and the
neighboring towns, that a new college was soon after founded there,
in the establishment of which Mr. Webster, as president of its first
board of trustees, had great influence, both by his direct exertions to
secure it patronage, and by the impulse which he had given to the
cause of education in that part of the state. This institution now
stands third in numbers among the colleges of our country.
In 1822, Mr. Webster returned with his family to New Haven ;
and in 1823, received the degree of LL. D., from Yale college.
Having nearly completed his dictionary, he resolved on a voyage to
Europe, with a view to perfect the work by consulting literary men
abroad, and by examining some standard authors, to which he could
not gain access in this country. He accordingly sailed for France
in June, 1824, and spent two months at Paris in consulting several

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
rare works in the Bibliotheque du Roi, and then went to England,
where he remained till May, 1825. He spent several months at the
University of Cambridge, where he had free access to the public
libraries, and there he finished " the American Dictionary." He
afterwards visited London, Oxford, and some of the other principal
towns of England, and in June, returned to this country. This visit
to England gave him an opportunity to become acquainted with lite
rary men and literary institutions in that country, and to learn the
real state of the English language there.
Soon after Dr. Webster returned to this country, the necessary
arrangements were made for the publication of the work. An edi
tion of twenty-five hundred copies was printed in this country, at the
close of 1828, which was followed by an edition of three thousand in
England, under the superintendence of E. H. Barker Esq., editor of
the Thesaurus Gracee Linguae of Henry Stephens. With the publi
cation of the American Dictionary, at the age of seventy, Dr.
Webster considered the labors of his literary life as brought to a
close. He has since revised a few of his earlier works for publica
tion ; and spent a number of months in superintending a new edition
of the Bible, in which some phraseology of the common version,
which is offensive to delicacy, is altered ; and some antiquated terms
and forms of expression are changed, in accordance with present
usage. His revisions have met with the approbation of many per
sons who have examined the work ; and if there is any name in our
country which will give currency to such an amendment of the com
mon version, it is that of the author of the American Dictionary
of the English Language.

ZngrOTolliy JHLon£a£Te from a. Punting by B Gus

^

CASPAR WISTAR, M. D.

Among the individuals of our country, whose talents and example
have been most serviceable in establishing the profession of medicine
on its present footing, may be ranked without fear of contradiction,
the late Professor Wistar. As a disinterested and faithful physi
cian, an ardent lover of the sciences, an indefatigable teacher, and
a genuine philanthropist, his character may always be examined
with pleasure and instruction.
Dr. Wistar was of German descent on the father's side, being
the grandson of Caspar Wistar, who emigrated from the dominions
of the Elector Palatine in 1717. On the maternal side he was of
English origin, his grandfather, Bartholomew Wyatt, having reach
ed this country shortly after William Penn had commenced the settle
ment of Pennsylvania. His father was a man of great firmness of
character, and bestowed much pains on, the moral and religious
training of his children.
The subject of this notice was born in Philadephia, September
13th, 1761. His parents being of the religious Society of Friends,
he was educated in the principles of that sect. His classical studies
were also accomplished in an academy in Philadelphia belonging to
them. The first germs of fondness for the profession of medicine, were
evolved in 1777, when he was only sixteen years of age, by the
battle of Germantown. His religious principles withheld him from
participating in the conflict itself, but they, together with his native
humanity, prompted him to succor the wounded with such kind
offices and attention, as the horrors of a fight render doubly estima
ble. The benignant and useful character of the profession of medi
cine on this occasion, made such an impression upon him, that he
determined thenceforth to devote himself to its interests. He accord
ingly entered as a student into the office of Dr. John Redman of
Philadelphia, and continued upwards of three years ; the conclud-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ing year of his attendance was improved by his following the practice
of Dr. John Jones, an eminent surgeon, who had left New York in
consequence of its occupation by the British. In 1782, he gradu
ated as a Bachelor of Medicine in the college of Philadelphia, an
institution to whose reputation he was destined to contribute so
largely at a subsequent period of life. As a student, he was dis
tinguished by his zeal, his assiduity, and the promptitude and extent
of his information, qualities which were well exhibited on the day
of his examination. At that period the profession of medicine
was divided into two sects of theorists, one advocating the doctrine
of Lentor, invented by Boerhaave, and the other that of Spasm,
originating with the no less celebrated Professor of Edinburgh, Dr.
Cullen. A schism on this subject existed in the faculty of the college
of Philadelphia, and as each professor required explanations con
formably to the theory he was attached to, our candidate had to
vary his answers so as to suit the predilection of the interrogator.
This delicate task he executed with so much address and good
sense, as to excite the highest admiration of the audience.
From his own country, Dr. Wistar repaired to Great Britain,
where he remained three years. In Edinburgh, then the chief resort
of Americans, he became highly distinguished for the same qualities
which he had exhibited at home. He was there the friend and asso
ciate of Sir James M'Intosh, afterwards one of the leading members of
the British Parliament — of Mr. Emmett, subsequently one of the most
powerful and eminent members of the New York bar, and of Dr.
Jeffray, now professor of Anatomy in the University of Glasgow. In
the collision of such talent, Dr. Wistar wielded with great effect the
weapons of debate, and obtained in the midst of these competitors
the high honor of being made, for two successive years,, president of
the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. In 1786, he graduated
there as doctor of medicine, having written a thesis, entitled De Animo
Demisso. The chief objects of his studies were anatomy, surgery,
and chemistry. In January, 1787, he returned home, having left in
Edinburgh a name which was most affectionately and respectfully
remembered for a long time afterwards.
In the year 1792, Dr. Wistar became the associate of Dr. Ship-
pen, after the latter had stood alone for thirty years, in his efforts to
create a permanent school. This union grew out of the existence,
from 1789 to 1792, of two medical institutions ; the most recent of
which had its origin from feelings generated by the revolutionary
war. One of these schools and the eldest belonged to the college of

CASPAR WISTAR.
Philadelphia, and the other to the university of the state of Pennsyl
vania. Dr. Shippen was professor of anatomy in both. In the year
1789, Dr. Wistar had been appointed professor of chemistry in the
college ; but before accepting, he hesitated much, lest by his acqui
escence the consolidation of the two institutions, which he had
much at heart, should be delayed or prevented. During his delibe
rations it-occurred to him, that he could be much more efficient as a
professor in procuring this union, than as a private individual ; he
therefore accepted the place of chemist, and in three years afterwards,
had the satisfaction of seeing his wishes realized, and of reflecting
that he himself had contributed largely, by his moderation and good
management, to an arrangement which has since been so successful
in developing the character and usefulness of the present institution,
under the title of University of Pennsylvania.
Nature did not grant to Dr. Wistar that graceful and command
ing exterior which she had lavished on Dr. Shippen, but even stran
gers were struck with the benignity of his countenance. Extreme
suavity of deportment on every occasion of life, was his predominant
mode of conduct. Many of his students remember the courteous and
sprightly smile, with which he entered and departed from his lecture
room. As a teacher, he allured them, by gentleness and affability,
to flock round him on every occasion, and to ask him such questions
as their want of information or misapprehension suggested. He was
always on the alert to serve them in sickness, and to procure for
them such places of profit and trust as his personal influence could
control, but invariably, on such occasions, with a conscientious re
gard to his knowledge of their characters and to their qualifications.
TUis principle of impartial, but merciful justice, always guided him
in his decisions on the claims of candidates for medical degrees.
Willing to attribute every deficiency to embarrassment, he only be
came convinced that it was ignorance, when every proper mode of
inquiry repeatedly and leisurely tried, proved the incapacity of the
candidate. In such cases his decisions were inflexible ; as a con
scientious man having a public trust of first rate importance, he
never consented for any one to take a recognised appointment in the
profession, with a smaller share of knowledge than what he con
ceived necessary to the practice of medicine. From the goodness
of his heart, he felt more on many such occasions, for the candidate
than the candidate felt for himself. His justice was evidently so
impartial, and his goodness so conspicuous, that the slightest breath

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of censure was never cast upon his proceeding, either by the fortu
nate or the unfortunate ; on the contrary, their admiration of him
had received a new impulse.
In his social intercourse he possessed unusual tact in communi
cating pleasure. Though gifted with unusual strength and cultiva
tion of intellect, and possessing varied and immense resources of
conversation, he, on every occasion, seemed more desirous 'to hear
than to be heard. From this turn of mind, his conversation abound
ed, in a remarkable degree, in questions ; he culled information in that
way from every source, and where he found a deficiency, he im
parted abundantly of his own stock. Many young men, on first
obtaining the pleasure of his acquaintance, were struck with this
peculiarity — he inquired concerning the mountains, the rivers, the
natural productions, the manners of the section of country to which
they belonged, and listened with patient and obvious satisfaction to
their answers. These interrogations not being expected, the person
to whom they were addressed was not always prepared to answer
them correctly. But if, through a desire of displaying more infor
mation than he actually possessed, the unfortunate individual an
swered like one who was well acquainted with the subject, another
well-timed and pertinent question, hinted to him that it was better
for him to confess ignorance than to speak erroneously, for he was
talking to one already acquainted with the subject of conversation.
All this was done with so much delicacy, that pleasure instead of
pain was excited, and many persons must have resolved forthwith
to make themselves well acquainted with objects so readily learned,
and which till then, it had never occurred to them, could become
such interesting subjects of inquiry and of conversation. This hap
py tact made Dr. Wistar the charm of every circle. Unbounded
in his hospitality, and fascinating in his manners, his house was the
resort of literary men of every description, both citizens and strang
ers ; his company was courted equally by the young and the old,
the gay and the sedate. Upon his habit of a Saturday evening enter
tainment, has been founded the well known associations of Phila
delphia, called the Wistar parties whose hebdomadal hospitality
contributes so much to the charm of its society, and to the gratifica
tion of respectable strangers. It was very justly said of him, " if he
addressed a promiscuous circle, he spoke like a man of the world,
carefully avoiding every thing professional, technical, or in any
way insulated ; if an individual, he so suited his remarks to his taste

CASPAR WISTAR.
and capacities, as to entice him into discourse, and draw from him
his knowledge of the subject discussed."*
So deeply had his philanthropy affected his general deportment,
that persons but just acquainted with him, were as fully persuaded of
his disposition as those who had known him for years. In the sick
room he was the ministering angel, compassionate, unwearied,
prompt, and deeply skilled ; in bad cases never abandoning his
patients, or ceasing to apply the resources of the art till life was ex
tinct. In those terrible and unexpected accidents which sometimes
come with overwhelming suddenness upon the practitioner of sur
gery, when even the stoutest and most collected hearts are paralyzed,
Dr. Wistar, though on common occasions the most sensitive of
mankind, found here all his faculties at their post. Whatever inge
nuity could devise, and skill combine, was rapidly executed. He
was not one who, in witnessing the immensity of a calamity, forgot
the means by which it could be repaired. He practised on the most
disinterested principles, being possessed of a good fortune with a
lucrative professorship, his charges were proverbially moderate. In
this, however, he probably did a disservice to the profession. In
considerable charges from a man of his reputation and extent of
business, in forming a sort of rule in the profession, of course affect
ed deeply such as were only beginning, and such as had not the
other resources which he wielded. Indeed, society itself is scarcely
benefited by such a proceeding, for it is generally admitted, that the
most' able members of the profession, have, for the most part, re
ceived the first impulse from the stimulus of necessity, encouraged
with the hope of reward ; but if the value of the latter be diminished
much, it turns the minds of enterprising men from the pursuit, and
renders those who are already in it, lukewarm ; under which cir
cumstances medicine loses much of its skill and respectability. No
man, however, entertained, higher notions of the value of professional
services than Dr. Wistar, and it was this very lofty conception of
them which prevented him from estimating their worth in pounds,
shillings, and pence.
Scrupulous and conscientious to an extreme in doing every thing
for a patient which he thought could be of service, his efforts
went much beyond those of a simple medical attendant. He felt the
deepest personal interest for his patient, and not unfrequently after-

* Eulogium on Caspar Wistar, by Charles Caldwell, M. D.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
wards his mind was filled with the strongest sentiments of friendship,
founded principally on the benefits which it had been his happiness
to extend. In difficult chronic cases he made numerous and pro
tracted visits, and entered into the most minute and comprehensive
investigation of them. It was on such occasions that the solace and
sympathy of friendship were superadded to the balm of the healing
art, and that impressions of devoted affection to him are to be found
among numbers of individuals yet alive in Philadelphia, who upon
any one touching this string even gently, find it vibrate to the in
most recesses of their hearts, and in the crowd of recollections which
the association excites, incapable of utterance, give vent to them in
a flood of tears. To call this man good, is only to show the insuf
ficiency of human language.
In a point of vast importance to the harmony of society and to the
efficacy of Christian convictions, he was a perfect model. The rule
" Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against
us," was most indelibly and productively imprinted on his mind.
Endowed by nature with a sensibility to be compared only with that
of a delicate, youthful, and highly refined female, it is not to be ex
pected but that in his profession he received some rude shocks,
enough so indeed to stagger a mind more coarsely organized than
his own. Incapable of injustice and of rancor himself, when the
first burst of indignation was over, which he owed to human nature,
then came the sunshine of a calm and undisturbed conscience.
Judging other men by himself, he trusted that there was some mis
take, that it had not been intended, that the person had been be
trayed into extremities by a vehement and uncontrollable disposition.
If, however, a perseverance in injury proved that it was a deliberate
and unrepented act of malice, no harsh retort came from his lips ;
they were closed forever upon the personal demerits of the individual,
while he did ample justice to the merits, professional, or otherwise,
which the person may have possessed. From this Christian charity,
even many of his most intimate friends declare that they never heard
him depart, nor utter an unkind word against such as had flagrantly
injured him.
Dr. Wistar commenced the discharge of his duties as adjunct
professor of anatomy in the little building in Fifth street, opposite
the State-House yard. It is now called the Health Office. The in
creasing celebrity of the school, producing a corresponding con
course of students, that house was insufficient to contain them.
Accordingly, about the year 1807, a building was erected on Ninth

CASPAR WISTAR.
street below Market. In the winter of 1808, the class met in it.
Dr. Shippen, whose domestic misfortunes and bodily infirmities had
borne heavily upon him for some years, had retired from the active
duties of the chair. But on this occasion he delivered the introduc
tory lecture, which was rendered more than usually interesting to
him by his recollections of almost half a century, when but twelve
students had assembled to follow his course, in an obscure room in
the city. Now he had spacious and comparatively elegant accom
modations, and an immense concourse of students from all parts of
the union. In a few weeks after this effort of strength, in which he
described in glowing terms his emotions, he was gathered to his
fathers. This circumstance left Dr. Wistar sole professor of
anatomy. The talents which had borne him up to this period of life, were
now applied with renewed vigor. Determined on discharging his
duties to the best of his power, no pains, no expense, were spared.
Well experienced in the best mode of instruction, in what was most
useful to be learned, he sustained in the maturity of his reputation,
the high opinion that had been formed of him. As a teacher of
anatomy, differing in many respects from his illustrious predecessor,
his elocution was equally popular. His style of speaking was of
that earnest and fluent kind, which, abounding in important truths,
commanded the attention without restricting itself to the formal rules
of oratory. It was not so much the speaker that spoke as the sub
ject which he was discussing ; the absorbing interest was in the
latter. From the uncertainty of continuing the course of anatomy in the
early years of the school, no arrangements had been made for an
anatomical museum. Dr. Wistar soon became sensible of this
deficiency, and to the day of his death continued to supply it.
Many years before, he had made a very fine and numerous collection
of dried preparations of the arterial and venous systems. A consider
able number of corroded preparations in wax were executed about
the same period. About the year 1812, a friend of his travelling in
Italy, enabled him to add to his cabinet, from the school of Mascag-
ni, several very superior preparations of the lymphatics ; their arrival
gave an impulse to the cultivation of that branch of practical anatomy
among the students of the school, and from it has resulted a number
of very creditable preparations. The most signal effort, however,
of Dr. Wistar in this line, was having a number of very large

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
models in wood executed by Rush, with the view of giving every
member of his class an equal opportunity of learning.
The last year of Dr. Wistar's mortal career was marked by an
unusual concourse of students, and by a series of lectures, in which
he even exceeded his former reputation. In his fifty-eighth year.
animated by a new and improved lecture-room, but in an impaired
state of health, his excessive fondness for the duties of the chair still
stimulated him to advance in the noble career. In this zenith of
popularity, and of public confidence, in January, 1818, he was as
sailed with the malady destined by Providence to close his labors.
So long as reason maintained her seat, his exclamation was " Well,
to-morrow I shall certainly be able to meet my class," and even
when dark delirium threw her mantle over his faculties, his inco
herent ravings were addressed to the same subject, and it was only
by coercion that he was prevented one day, long after the usual
hour of his lecture had expired, from repairing to the University.
Thus perished one of the most distinguished ornaments of the
medical profession, and of the literary circles of this country. That
his loss was deeply felt, was manifested by the various eulogiums
and notices of this event, in different parts of the United States.* A
constant memorial of his estimation is now found in the name of the
Wistar parties before alluded to, and in the cards of invitation of the
association having a vignette of his head.

* Eulogium on Dr. Wistar by Chief Justice Tilghman, March 11th, 1818.
" by Professor Hosack, January 26th, 1818.
" by Charles Caldwell, M. D., February 21st, 1818.
Note Necrologique Par J. Correa de Serra, Avril, 1818, unpublished.

?^teilryTSl-%

JEng. byA-BT-urinia

W<^-z^^C

>jrJii-L'd u-rcoi'din

• .iclu)' Couplet's in- tlie year 18*1. Ly Jaiiirs IJ-a-riugiii flu; clerkts pjFTiw uf. die
T>iNtijp.l Court of "tlie Sotiiliem District uf !Ncrw York.

DAVID HOSACK, M.D.F.R.S.

" The only advantage which the world can gain from the publi
cation of the lives of individuals, is the knowledge of the circum
stances that tend to the formation of character, or of those which
influence the happiness of life."
The only objection which can be raised against the publication
of the memoirs of living men is, that truth is apt to be buried in
panegyric. Although we willingly admit that there is an appear
ance of reason in the objection, yet, there are others, and, as we be
lieve, stronger reasons which may be presented to cast the balance
on the other side.
That we should speak favorably of the subjects admitted in this
collection, ought not to be considered a fault, as if we had nothing
to say in their favor, we should not admit them at all. It is not our
design nor practice to lavish praise indiscriminately, but rather to
gather facts and state them fairly ; and such facts, published during
the lifetime of the subject, can with more certainty be relied on, than
such as may be collected from his friends, — and who would seek truth
from his foes? — after death, when the maxim " de moriuis nil
nisi bonum," is most generally strictly observed.
In the memoir before us, we shall be restrained, by our limits, to a
narrative of the prominent incidents in the life of a physician of
nearly forty years' practice ; which, of course, cannot be few, nor
uninteresting. David Hosack was born in the city of New York, on the 31st of
August, 1769. His father, Alexander Hosack, whom he never men
tioned but with reverence and affection, was a native of Scotland,
born at Elgin, in Murrayshire, on the 29th of August, 1736. His
mother, Jane, the daughter of Thomas Arden, of the city of New
York, was born on the 2d of March, 1743. Her paternal ancestors
were from England, but on the maternal side, were among those
who fled from France during the persecutions which succeeded the
revocation of the edict of Nantes.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Their first child, the subject of this memoir, after receiving the
rudiments of education in his native city, was sent to the grammar
school of the late Dr. Alexander M'Whorter, at Newark, New Jersey,
about the year 1783, where he pursued the study of languages, &c.
until 1784, when he was removed to the school of Dr. Peter Wilson,
at Hackensack, for the purpose of obtaining an accurate knowledge
of the Greek tongue, in teaching which Dr. Wilson had acquired
distinguished reputation.
In 1786, Mr. Hosack entered as a pupil in Columbia college,
where he remained two and a half years ; he then proceeded to
Nassau Hall, Princeton, then under the presidency of the Rev. Dr.
Witherspoon. Here he finished his course of collegiate studies, and
received the degree of bachelor of arts in the fall of 1789.
During the last year of his attendance at Columbia college, he had
commenced the study of medicine and surgery, under the direction
of the late Richard Bayley : while at Princeton, these studies were
intermitted, but immediately resumed after his graduation, and ex
clusively continued with great assiduity. Medical instruction at that
period in New York, was imparted by private teachers : the faculty
of medicine, which had existed prior to the revolution, in King's (now
Columbia) college, not having been reorganized. Nevertheless, the
pupil enjoyed favorable opportunities of becoming well instructed
in all the practical branches of a medical education. At that time
an excellent course of lectures was delivered by Dr. Richard Bayley
and by Dr. Wright Post, upon Anatomy and Surgery ; Dr. Nicholas
Romayne lectured upon the practice of physic, the materia medica,
chemistry, and botany; Dr. Samuel Bard delivered a practical
course of instruction upon obstetrics and the diseases of women and
children. At the same time too, the alms-house, then located in the
city of New York, on the site now occupied by the city hall, was
attended by Dr. Nicholas Romayne, Dr. William Moore, and Dr.
Benjamin Kissam, as physicians, and by Dr. Post as surgeon of the
establishment. Under their care, this infirmary was rendered a
profitable school of practical instruction to the students of medicine
and surgery ; while the sick received all the benefits of the abilities
and education of the distinguished physicians by whom they were
visited in rotation. The cases were regularly recorded, and the
prescriptions entered by the clerk of the house, selected from the
students, in the same manner as is pursued in the infirmary of Edin
burgh. These cases were afterward made the subjects of clinical
lectures by the physicians in attendance.

DAVID HOSACK.
The subject of this memoir not only gave daily attendance at this
school, but enjoyed more immediate advantages as one of the clerks
of the prescribing physicians.
Solicitous of further improvement, he afterwards proceeded to the
city of Philadelphia, which had great reputation from its distin
guished professors, Shippen, Rush, Hutchinson, Kuhn, Wistar, Bar
ton, and Griffiths. After attendance upon a full course of lectures,
and the practice of the hospital of that city, the University of Penn
sylvania conferred upon him, in 1791, the degree of M. D., upon
which occasion he wrote a dissertation on Cholera Morbus, in which
he defended the peculiar doctrines on that subject taught by Dr.
Kuhn. He also, during the same winter, attended the lectures of
Dr. Rush, the professor of the theory and practice in the college of
Philadelphia, — which was a rival medical school, to that of the uni
versity — availing himself at the same time of the benefits of a course
of lectures on practical anatomy, by the late Dr. Foulke.
By the advice of his friend, Dr. Rush, in whose family he had
become domesticated, and who always took a deep interest in the
welfare of his pupils, Dr. Hosack undertook the practice of his pro
fession in Alexandria, D. O, but after a year's residence there,
although in that time he had a full share of the practice of the town,
he returned to his native city, taking with him the warmest testimo
nials of approbation from the public authorities, and of the most
distinguished private citizens.
Upon his return to New York in the spring of 1792, a number
of deaths by drowning having occurred, he wrote and published an
essay on the means of restoring life in cases of suspended anima
tion, and succeeded in obtaining the cooperation of the corporation
of the city in the establishment of a humane society. We shall
avail ourselves of the language of a communication on this subject
from a contemporary,* and, if we mistake not, a co-worker with Dr.
Hosack in his benevolent projects ; " But in the charities of life, in
those services which carry comfort to the poor and distressed, was
he eminently useful. To him the humane society is indebted for its
establishment : when he first joined it, it was called the Jail society,
and its services were confined to the supply of provisions to the pri
soners confined in jail for debt ; upon his suggestion, and through
his instrumentality a charter was obtained extending the objects of

* General Jacob Morton, of New York.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
its charity, and naming it the "Humane society ;" a convenient soup
house was erected with the funds of the institution, aided by the
corporation ; apparatus for the recovery of persons apparently
drowned, were procured and distributed in several parts of the city.
The services of the society were then extended to a relief of the
respectable poor who chose to apply. In the severe winters with
which our city has been visited, this institution was eminently and
extensively useful. A general direction was also given to the
matron of the house never to refuse an applicant ; so that our city
might have the proud boast that no one need perish of hunger."
A few weeks after Dr. Hosack's return to New York, finding the
chief practice of the city in the hands of physicians who derived
considerable reputation and the confidence of their fellow citizens
from the circumstance of their having been educated abroad ; and
being animated by a desire of further and more extensive improve
ment, he resolved to repair to the medical schools of Edinburgh and
London. His father cheerfully assented to his views, and liberally gave
him an unlimited credit. He accordingly repaired to the university
of Edinburgh, then in the zenith of its reputation, and adorned by
a constellation of the greatest men of that age. Here he had
unceasing opportunities of improvement in the practice of medicine
during the autumn and winter of 1792-3. His attendance, too, upon
the royal medical and the royal physical societies of Edinburgh, of
which he became a member, doubtless contributed greatly to his
improvement. His intercourse with the learned of Edinburgh was no less profit
able. His acquaintance with the Rev. Dr. Erskine, Mr. Henry Mac
kenzie, the author of the "Man of Feeling," Dr. Charles Stuart, &c,
added to the attentions he received from Principal Robertson, Pro
fessors Gregory, Hamilton, Duncan, and others, could not fail to
have greatly enlarged his views, professional and literary, and thus
to have laid the foundation of that devotedness to those pursuits
which he ever after manifested, and for which he has been distin
guished. In the spring of 1793 Dr. Hosack visited the birth-place of his
father, in the north of Scotland. In this tour, carrying with him
letters of introduction from Professors Gregory, Stewart, and others,
he became acquainted with some of the most distinguished philoso
phers of that country. Principal Campbell, of Mareschal College,
Aberdeen ; Dr. Beattie ; the Rev. Dr. Skeene Keith, of Keith Hall,

DAVID HOSACK.
the Dean Swift of Scotland ; James Brodie, of Brodie House, &c,
were among the most eminent whose society and friendship he
sought and acquired.
He then proceeded to London, where he was introduced by letters,
to the patronage and friendship of Dr. Andrew Marshall, a distin
guished teacher of anatomy and surgery, having been formerly the
professor of humanity in the university of Edinburgh ; to Dr.
George Pearson, a physician of St. George's hospital, who was then
zealously engaged as a lecturer on the practice of physic and on
chemistry, and to whom the credit is due for the first introduction
of the new French doctrines and chemical nomenclature of Lavoi
sier ; to Mr. Curtis, author of the Flora Londinensis ; to Sir James
Edward Smith, the Linnaeus of the day ; and many other medical
and literary characters of the metropolis.
Dr. Hosack's first step on his arrival in London, was to enter St.
Bartholomew's hospital, as a pupil of surgery, under Sir James
Earl and John Abernethy, the assistant surgeon of the same institu
tion ; he at the same time commenced the study of botany under
Mr. Curtis, at the botanic garden at Brompton. Here he had the
fortune to add to his acquaintance the Rev. Dr. Martyn, professor of
botany at Cambridge ; the Rev. Dr. Goodenough, late the bishop of
Carlisle, but still more distinguished as the vice-president of the
Linnsean society, and author of the valuable monograph, published
in the transactions of that society, on the genus carex. Dr. Hosack,
also, with a class of amateurs, consisting of the late Drs. Babington,
Smyth Gibbes, and others, made weekly botanical excursions with
Mr. Curtis, investigating the plants in the vicinity of London ; and
occasionally he gave his attention to the cryptogamous plants, under
the direction of the celebrated Dickson, of Covent Garden, the
"maximus in minimis" as he was facetiously and appropriately
called by his friends ; such was his skill in his investigations of this
minute tribe of plants. Dr. Hosack also attended the public lec
tures on botany and zoology delivered by Dr., the late Sir James
Edward Smith, and enjoyed the privileges of his private instruction,
in the examination of the genera and species comprising the Lin
nsean Herbarium.
Such was his progress in botany and natural history that he was
introduced as a foreign member of the Linnsean society, of which
he was subsequently elected a fellow. During his residence in
London, he made known to Dr. George Pearson, some valuable

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
facts relative to the communication of the virus of small pox from
the mother to the foetus in utero, which he had observed while
practising in Alexandria : these were published by Dr. Pearson, in
his excellent paper on this subject, in the Commentaries of Dr.
Duncan. Upon the commencement of the medical lectures in the autumn,
Dr. Hosack devoted himself to the dissecting room of Dr. Marshall ;
to lectures and the hospital ; occasionally visiting the literary insti
tutions of London. In the winter of 1793-4 he attended the first
course of lectures on mineralogy that was delivered in London, by
Schmeisser, the pupil of Werner. With this additional knowledge
of mineralogy, which Dr. Hosack had begun to study at Edinburgh,
he continued to augment the cabinet of minerals which he had com
menced in Scotland. This collection was brought by him to the
United States, and was, we believe, the first cabinet that crossed the
Atlantic ; it was afterward deposited in Princeton college, in rooms
appropriated by the trustees, but fitted up at the expense of the
donor, similar to those at the " Ecole des mines," at Paris : to render
this donation immediately useful, it was accompanied by a collection
of the most important works on mineralogy.*
In the winter of 1793-4, Dr. Thomas Young's paper on the mus
cularity of the chrystaline lens was read to the Royal Society, attri
buting to this power the capacity which the eye possesses of adapting
itself to the different distances of objects. This subject attracted the
notice of our young American physician. By an examination of the
structure, and by various preparations of the chrystaline lens, he
very soon discovered the errors of Dr. Young, and by his experi
ments upon the eye, made upon himself and others, and a minute
dissection of the external muscles, ascertained that these last organs
alone possessed the power of changing the axis of the eye according
to the distances of objects observed. His views were exhibited to a
number of scientific friends, who recommended him to present the
paper to the Royal Society. It was read to that body by Dr. Pearson,
and referred to a committee, who at the next meeting of the society,
made a very elaborate report upon the whole subject and the peculiar

* The specimens were systematically arranged and marked by Dr. Hosack soon
after his return from Europe, assisted by the late Dr. Archibald Bruce, who was then
his private pupil, and whose attention was thus first awakened to the subject.

DAVID HOSACK.
views of the writer.* It was ordered to be published in the trans
actions of the society, and the thanks of that body to be communi
cated to the author. That paper made a strong and favorable im
pression upon the medical and literary men of London, gave the
author high consideration, and laid the foundation of the honor
afterward conferred upon him by the Royal Society, in admitting
him a fellow of that institution. In the abridgment of the Transac
tions, published by Drs. Hutton, Shaw, and Pearson, the same paper
has been reprinted entire.
In the summer of 1794, Dr. Hosack returned to New York, and
entered upon the practical duties of his profession, which he has
continued to prosecute with unremitting ardor and success nearly to
the present time.
In 1795, he was elected to the professorship of botany in Columbia
college : the following year he published a syllabus of his lectures
in that branch of natural history, containing an outline of tUe history
and progress of botany from the earliest period to the time of the
publication, being aided in the same by an extensive botanic library,
afterwards purchased by the governors of the New York hospital.
About this time he commenced a system of instruction to his private
pupils, that proved not only of signal benefit to them, but to all who
were engaged in the study of medicine, — the other practitioners of
the city finding it necessary to adopt the same system in giving
private instruction to their pupils. The advantages offered by Dr.
Hosack to his pupils, and the liberality with which he provided
every thing necessary or useful in their education, soon became
generally known and served to secure to him an ascendency as a
private teacher, which he continued to retain while in practice.
But Dr. Hosack's interest in the welfare of his pupils was not
confined to the period of their study ; such was his " attachment to
those who signalized themselves by their industry, zeal, talent, and
correct moral deportment, that when they entered on the practice of
their profession, he never ceased to exert himself in their behalf, by
aiding in their establishment, and anxiously availing himself of
every occasion to bring them into public notice.
Dr. Hosack's early practice was eminently successful, and several

* These views of the subject first suggested to Mr. Ramsden, the construction of his
artificial eye, as the means of testing the correctness of the doctrine contended for,
and which is now generally employed by teachers of optics to illustrate the theory of
vision.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
extraordinary cases which had been under his care were described
and published in the Edinburgh Annals of medicine. The appearance
of the yellow fever in New York in 1795, afforded him a favorable
opportunity of signalizing himself, which he did not neglect.
In the autumn of that year, Dr. Samuel Bard found it necessary,
as preparatory to his contemplated retirement from the practice of
medicine, (in which he had been assiduously engaged for nearly
half a century,) to leave the city for some weeks ; upon this occasion
he requested Dr. Hosack, to whom he had formed a strong attach
ment, to take charge of his practice during his absence. Our young
physician attended to his trust with so much zeal and fidelity, that
upon Dr. Bard's return to town, finding his patients gratified by the
attentions they had received, and the success with which their com
plaints had been treated ; he immediately proposed a connexion in
business. This accordingly took place on the 1st of January, 1796,
and was continued four years, when Dr. Bard finally removed to his
country seat at Hyde Park, leaving Dr. Hosack in the full posses
sion of an extensive and lucrative practice.
During the prevalence of the yellow fever in New York in the
years 1795-6-7-8, and 1801, 1803, 1805, 1819, and 1822, he dis
tinguished himself by the zeal and success with which he prescribed
the sudorific treatment, which had been originally recommended by
Sydenham in the treatment of malignant fever ; by Dr. Warren in
the yellow fever of Barbadoes ; and by Dr. John Bard in the same
disease when prevailing in New York, in 1762. The attention
which Dr. Hosack paid to this disease in the years referred to,
received, in a peculiar manner, the approbation of his fellow citizens ;
for it was remarked of him, that during those several epidemics he
was always present, and thereby enjoyed the amplest opportuni
ties of observation and of forming correct opinions of the nature and
character of the disease. In 1798, he was himself attacked with it,
and he pursued in his own case the same treatment he had so suc
cessfully made use of in others. Such too, was the public confidence
in the correctness of his views and practice, that at the request of the
corporation and board of health of New York, he was frequently
called upon to visit the sick for the express purpose of ascertaining
the character of a disease, to allay thereby the anxiety of their fellow
citizens. In 1811, he was requested, as a member of a committee, to
investigate the nature, and trace the introduction of the yellow fever
which appeared at Amboy in New Jersey, in that year. The re
port of that committee which was communicated to Dewitt Clinton,

DAVID HOSACK.
as president of the board of health, was written by Dr. Hosack. This
luminous and circumstantial statement, was received as a conclusive
document, shewing the specific character of the disease and its
communication by means of contagion, and was republished in the
medical journals of Edinburgh and London.
The letters, essays, and reports written by Dr. Hosack on this
subject are so numerous that we cannot undertake to name them,
but will refer the reader to the " American Medical and Philosophi
cal Register, four volumes, octavo, edited by Drs. Hosack and Fran
cis, and to the three volumes of "Essays on Various Subjects of
Medical Science," which have been published by the doctor himself.
We are well aware that the doctor's views of contagion and infection
have been, and are, discussed, debated, and controverted, and it is
not for us to decide " when doctors differ ;" but it will not be impro
per for us to say, that his opinions have been approved by a great
number of the most distinguished names in the profession at home
and abroad. We select, in illustration, the following compliment from
the preface to "Thomas's Practice," which was dedicated by the
author to Dr. Hosack. " I very much regret that Dr. Hosack's
discourse on the medical police of the city of New York, and which
has been published at the particular request of the corporation
thereof, did not fall under my inspection in sufficient time to notice,
in the present edition, under the head of yellow fever, some of the
valuable observations and regulations recommended therein for the
suppression and extinction of the contagion of the disease. Here I
can only say, that the body of evidence brought forward and
detailed in this discourse ought, in my opinion, forever to set at rest
the question which relates to the origin of that fatal malady : it
clearly proves that the yellow fever arose from imported contagion,
and had not a domestic origin, or was the product of decomposed
animal and vegetable matter."
In 1797, upon the death of Dr. W. P. Smith, professor of materia
medica in Columbia college, that branch was connected with botany,
and Dr. Hosack appointed to the joint professorships ; in which sit
uation he continued until 1807, when, upon the establishment of the
college of physicians and surgeons of the university of the state of
New York, he was chosen by the regents the professor of the mate
ria medica and midwifery. In 1811, when it was deemed expedient
to remodel the medical school, he was elected to the chair of the
theory and practice of physic and clinical medicine, to which was
afterwards added the professorship of obstetrics and the diseases of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
women and children. We have seen it noticed in a resolution of
thanks adopted by the students in 1812, that during the season Dr.
Hosack had delivered upwards of one hundred lectures on the
theory and practice, exclusive of a separate course on midwifery. It
certainly detracts nothing from the reputation of his able colleagues
to say, that to his unwearied exertions and abilities in the discharge
of his professional duties, much of the celebrity and flattering pros
pects of the medical school are justly to be attributed. After a few
years of increasing prosperity, however, difficulties occurred between
the professors and the trustees, which resulted in the resignation of
the former, and the establishment of the Rutgers medical college.
This institution was organized in the fall of 1826, and a major
ity of the former professors, with the late Dr. Godman, commenced
their professional duties in a manner flattering to themselves and
advantageous to their pupils. For four terms this school maintained
a strong and powerful rivalry with the state establishment, and in
the number of its hearers and graduates, enjoyed, it is believed, a
decided superiority. Legislative restrictions, however, interposed ;
and the advantages anticipated by a noble spirit of competition in
the means of advancing medical science were thus cut off. The
Rutgers medical faculty therefore exists at present only in name.
Besides the duties of private practice and public teaching, Dr.
Hosack has filled for many years the station of physician to that
valuable practical school of medicine, the New York hospital ; he
has also been an active member of most of the literary, scientific,
and benevolent institutions of New York, and the records of those
societies bear ample testimony to the important part which he has
taken in their transactions, and the liberal services which he has
rendered. Enough has been said, we think, to show that if Dr. Hosack has
enjoyed a high reputation as a physician, a teacher, or writer on
medical subjects, it has been earned by long and laborious study
and indefatigable industry: it may here be added that he was
always observant of the strictest punctuality in tUe performance of
his numerous and various engagements, having scarcely ever been
known either to omit the performance of his duty, or to be absent
five minutes after the term prescribed for his attendance. Indeed,
it is an observation of his own, no doubt founded on his experience,
that the more a man has to do the better he does it, and the more
punctual he is in the performance. His practice of early risino- and
his temperate habits of life, have also been favorable to the accom-

DAVID HOSACK.
plishment of the numerous and varied services he has rendered to
the community.
His I iberality to numerous literary and benevolent institutions is
known to the public, (and we know no sufficient reason for conceal
ment wherever, our pages are read, particularly as his gifts have
been confined by no local boundaries.) The donation to the college
at Princeton has already been mentioned ; he has more recently
presented a large and valuable collection of works on mathematics
and chemistry to the library of Columbia college : nor should we
pass over in silence the interest he manifested in resuscitating the
American academy of fine arts. At a period when it was at its most
depressed condition, he came forward, made the necessary pecuniary
advances, and took the hazard of being reimbursed from the receipts
of its subsequent exhibitions. In this, however, he was fortunately
made whole. He has since added to the very rich collection of sta
tuary owned by the academy, several valuable donations. The
commencement of the medical library in the New York hospital; the
improvement in the organization, and the extension of the city dis
pensary; and the first introduction of vaccination in the city of
New York, are no less creditable to his intelligence than to the best
feelings of the heart.
The discourses which he has delivered before the New York his
torical society, the horticultural society, the New York city temper
ance society, &c, the biographical sketches and obituary notices
which have been published, in addition to the innumerable scientific
and professional papers, all bear witness to his habits of research,
close investigation, clear discrimination, and varied learning. He
also published a system of Practical Nosology, a second edition of
which appeared in 1821.
In 1830, Dr. Hosack concluded to retire from the practice of the
profession of medicine, and to remove into the country, exchanging
his pursuits for the more healthful occupation of agriculture. With
this view he purchased the valuable estate at Hyde Park, on the
Hudson, that had been formerly the residence of his patron and friend,
Dr. Bard : there, in the midst of a numerous, amiable, and happy
family, he continues to reside from May to November, passing the
other portion of the year in the city of New York. When in the
country, he has hitherto zealously devoted himself to the cultivation
and improvement of his farm and pleasure grounds, which are very
extensive, and adorned by all that wealth and refined taste can add
to a spot which nature has amply endowed.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
We have thus presented the readers of the Portrait Gallery with a
rapid but faithful outline of the more prominent events which have
marked the life of David Hosack. Our prescribed limits forbid
more minuteness. He who from an early beginning has devoted the
best energies of a well disciplined intellect for a period of more than
forty years to the service of science and humanity, commands the
admiration of all who cherish that devotion for the welfare of society
which ennobles our species. Conspicuous, moreover, as the medical
profession of this country have ever been in works of benevolence,
and in deeds conducive to the advancement of sound learning, none
in that eminent rank of men can be pointed out who have surpassed
the subject of this sketch. We have seen that the humane society,
the city dispensary, and other charities have had the boundaries
of their benevolence enlarged by his suggestions ; the Jennerian
discovery found in him its promptest and most strenuous advocate
almost immediately after the great blessing was promulgated abroad ;
the rigors of prison discipline have been meliorated by his measures ;
and in seasons of pestilence, when dismay and danger invaded every
inhabitant, with an intrepidity surpassing all commendation, Dr.
Hosack was found the sure and fixed guide, alike indifferent in
himself to the power and consequences of the pestilence, and solici
tous only to lessen the extent of its ravages, and to ascertain the
laws by which it was governed. Hence it was well observed by a
foreign critic, " I would rather be the author of Dr. Hosack's paper
on the laws of contagion, than the writer of the ponderous quarto
volume of Dr. Adams on morbid poisons ;" and it may be further
remarked, that no future historian of the malignant yellow fever, will
be able to do justice to his subject without a close examination of the
facts and doctrines which Dr. Hosack has recorded in his various
publications. The constituted authorities and his fellow citizens
have accordingly, on several occasions, publicly expressed their
acknowledgements of his services, and evinced their gratitude for
the fidelity with which he was ever found at the post of duty.
As the cultivator of natural science, the founder of the Elgin
botanic garden has peculiar claims to regard. This institution was
created by vast toil and at no inconsiderable expense ; the anticipa
tions of the learned and enlightened friends of natural history in
distant regions of the world have indeed been disappointed by the
subsequent neglect and decay of this establishment, but no censure
can fall to Dr. Hosack from this circumstance. Legislative provi
sion for its support, was, through a singular policy, withheld, and

DAVID HOSACK.
as a legitimate consequence, what had been effected by large
pecuniary means and scientific direction, without the continuance of
these aids, could not otherwise than prove abortive. The generous
light in which his contributions to horticultural knowledge have
been viewed, led the Horticultural Society of London to award him
one of its annual medals, and create him an honorary member.
But as the able and distinguished practitioner, as the learned, elo
quent, and sound professor of practical medicine, it is that Dr.
Hosack's title to the name of a benefactor of his species is most
strongly founded. In the responsible vocation of teacher, he may
safely be declared to have had no superior : for this department of
knowledge, his genius and capacity seem to have been peculiarly
adapted. " We take pride, (said the students of his class, in a
public address to him upon the termination of the annual course of
his collegiate duties,) in declaring our emotions of sincere and ardent
gratitude for the elaborate courses of instruction he has given on the
important branches committed to his care. His enlightened and
liberal views of the profession ; his minute and extensive acquain
tance with the treasures of ancient and modern learning; his accu
racy of observation, derived from the stores of his own ample expe
rience ; his judicious and extended application of the system of
induction to medical philosophy ; his impressive and ready method
of communication, have imparted to his lectures the highest interest,
and have left us in equal admiration of the science itself, and of the
ability of the lecturer."
As a member, and as president of the Historical Society of New
York, he appropriated a portion of his time, of his pecuniary re
sources, and of his cultivated mind, towards its advancement to its
present excellent condition : as the successor of the lamented Clin
ton, as president of the Literary and Philosophical Society, it is ad
mitted he has acted worthy of the enlightened career of his prede
cessor. A more disinterested tribute to the memory of a faithful
patriot and eminent man, cannot readily be cited than his biography
of his illustrious friend, — his memoir of Dewitt Clinton.
Many of our successful cultivators in science and the arts have
received the homage due their efforts in the testimonials of foreign
associations. The friends of Dr. Hosack refer with pleasurable
emotions to the fact that his claims to a like distinction were not
overlooked by his earliest associates abroad, and feel the greatest
satisfaction that his recommendation as Fellow of the Royal Society
of London in 1816, was supported by such names as Sir Joseph

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Banks, Sir James Edward Smith, Abraham Rees, editor of the Cyclo-
pasdia, John Abernethy, Sir Gilbert Blane, Dr. Colin Chisholm, and
others. Dr. Brewster, now Sir David, and the venerable John
Playfair, were, we believe, among the most prominent of those who
nominated him as Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His
alma mater, Princeton college, conferred on him, in 1818, the de
gree of LL. D., and the same literary distinction was also bestowed
on him by Union college.
Shortly after his retirement from the city, being invited by some
of his friends to enter into political life, and to attach himself to one
of the parties then existing, he declined the invitation, and in his
reply thus expressed his views and feelings. " If a party could be
formed favorable to the interests of education, of agriculture, and
the commercial character of our state ; to the development of its
natural resources and promotive of internal improvements ; to such
a party I could not hesitate to avow my allegiance, and to devote the
best exertions of which I am capable to advance the interests of my
native state and country : but under the existing dissentions, I must
decline all connexion with our political institutions, and devote my
self to the cultivation of the vine and the fig-tree, as more conducive
to my own happiness and that of my family."

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JAMES KENT.

James Kent was born the 31st July, 1763, in that part of Dutchess
county then called the precinct of Fredericksburgh, now in the
county of Putnam, in the state of New York. His grandfather, the
Rev. Elisha Kent, a native of Suffield, in the state of Connecticut,
married the daughter of the Rev. Joseph Moss, of Derby, and was for
some time a minister of the Presbyterian church at Newtown, in that
state. He removed, as early as 1740, to the south-east part of
Dutchess county, then wild and uncultivated, but which gradually
increased in population, and became known as Kent's Parish. He
continued to reside there until his death, in July, 1776, at the age of
seventy-two. His eldest son, Moss Kent, who, as well as his father,
was a graduate of Yale college, commenced the study of the law,
under Lieutenant-Governor Fitch, at Norwalk, in Connecticut, and
was admitted to the bar, in Dutchess county, in 1756. In 1760 he
married the eldest daughter of Dr. Uriah Rogers, a physician at Nor
walk, by whom he had three children, who are now living. James,
the subject of this memoir, Moss, who was a member of the senate of
New York for four years, afterwards a member of congress, and first
judge of the court of common pleas of Jefferson county, which
office he resigned on being appointed register of the court of chan
cery in 1817, and Hannah, who married William Pitt Piatt, of Platts-
burgh. They lost their mother in 1770, and their father died in
1794, at the age of sixty-one.
When five years old, James, the eldest son, was placed at an
English school, at Norwalk, and lived in the family of his maternal
grandfather, until 1772, when he went to reside with an uncle, at
Pawlings, in Dutchess county, where he acquired the first rudiments
of Latin. In May, 1773, he was sent to a Latin school, at Dan
bury, in Connecticut, under the charge of the Rev. Ebenezer Bald
win, a highly respectable Presbyterian minister. After the death of
Mr. Baldwin, in October, 1776, he was under different instructers,
at Danbury, Stratford, and Newtown, until he entered Yale college,

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in New Haven, in September, 1777. At these different schools, he
was remarked as possessing a lively disposition, great quickness of
parts, a spirit of emulation, and love of learning. The pious puri
tans, among whom he lived, were sober, frugal, and industrious,
and the strict and orderly habits of those around him had their
influence in forming his own. From their example and the im
pressions received at that early age, he acquired that simplicity
of character and purity of morals which he ever afterwards pre
served, without losing his natural vivacity and playfulness of tem
per. He has often mentioned the delight he experienced on his
periodical returns from school to his home, in rambling with his
brother among the wild scenery of his native hills and valleys.
The associations then formed rendered him an enthusiastic admirer
of the beauties of nature ; and in after life during the intervals of
business, he made excursions into every part of his native state,
through New England, and along the borders of Canada, visiting
each mountain, lake, and cascade ; and while gratifying his taste
for simple pleasures, preserving and invigorating his health.
In July, 1779, in consequence of the invasion of New Haven by
the British troops, the college was broken up, and. the students for a
time dispersed. During his exile, having met with a copy of Black-
stone's Commentaries, he read the work of that elegant writer, with
great eagerness and pleasure, and it so excited his admiration, that
he determined, at the age of sixteen, to be a lawyer.
He left college, after taking the degree of bachelor, in September,
1781, with high reputation ; and, after passing a few weeks at Fair
field, to which place his father had removed on his second marriage,
he went to Poughkeepsie, and commenced the study of the law,
under the direction of Egbert Benson, then attorney-general of the
state of New York, and, afterwards, one of the judges of the
supreme court. His strong and decided attachment to jurisprudence
could not fail to ensure his success. Besides the books of English
common law, he read the large works of Grotius and Puffendorf,
making copious extracts from them, and, as a relaxation, perusing
the best writers in English literature, of wUicU his favorite portions
were history, poetry, geography, voyages, and travels. He was tem
perate in all his habits, a water-drinker, and entered into no dissipa
tion, not even joining in the ordinary fashionable amusements of
others of the same age. He was very far, however, from being grave,
reserved, or austere; but was uniformly cheerful, lively, and commu
nicative. The love of reading had become his ruling passion, and

JAMES KENT.
when he felt the want of amusement, " he better knew great nature's
charms to prize," and sought it in rural walks, amidst objects that
purify and elevate the imagination. In September, 1784, he took
the degree of master of arts at Yale college, and in January, 1785,
was admitted an attorney of the supreme court. He went to Frede-
ricksburgh, with the intention of commencing the practice of his
profession there ; but the solitude of that retired spot soon became
insupportable, and in less than two months, he. returned to Pough
keepsie, where, in April, 1785, he married Miss ¦  • Bailey, a
lady a few years younger than himself, and with whom he has since
lived in the uninterrupted enjoyment of domestic felicity. He pos
sessed, at this time, little or no property, but living with great sim
plicity in a country village, his wants were few, and supplied at
little expense. Young, ardent, and active, he felt no anxiety for the
future ; but engaged with increased alacrity in professional busi
ness and literary pursuits, so as to leave no portion of his time
unemployed. In 17S7, he resolved to renew and extend his acquaintance with
the Greek and Roman classics, which he had entirely neglected after
leaving college. When it is considered that the only Greek book
at that time read by the classes in that seat of learning, was the
Greek Testament, and the only Latin works, Virgil, the select ora
tions of Cicero, and some parts of Horace, we may easily imagine
how imperfect must have been that part of his education, the defects
of which he was determined to supply. He began a course of self-
instruction, with an energy and perseverance, that mark a strong
and generous mind. That he might lose no time, and pursue his
various studies with method and success, he divided the hours not
given to rest, into five portions : rising early and reading Latin
until eight, Greek until ten, devoting the rest of the forenoon to
law ; in the afternoon two hours were applied to French, and the
rest of day to English authors. This division and employment of
his time were continued with little variation, until he became a
judge. By this practice, he was under no necessity of encroaching
on those hours best appropriated to sleep, and preserved his health
unimpaired. If his mind became weary in one department of study,
he found relief by passing to another ; " from grave to gay, from
lively to severe." He read Homer, Xenophon, and Demosthenes
with great delight. Though he afterwards relinquished the pursuit
of Grecian literature, he continued to read the best Latin and French
authors and many of the former more than once. As large public

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libraries, if any then existed, were not within his reach, he began
a collection of books which he has gradually increased to several
thousand volumes, and he has often said, that next to his family,
his library had been to him the greatest source of enjoyment. It
fed, while it increased his appetite for useful knowledge, and cher
ished that love of literature tUat had grown and strengthened with
his growing years. In April, 1787, he was admitted a counsellor in
the supreme court. He soon entered with ardor into the discussion
of the great political questions which then absorbed the attention
and agitated the minds of all. He could not long remain neutral
between the two contending parties, and after a careful examination
of the arguments of each, he, from the purest motives and with
the clearest conviction, joined the federal side. He soon became
the friend of Jay, Hamilton, and other eminent men of that party,
with whom he uniformly acted, and to whose principles he has
steadily adhered to the present day.
In April, 1790, he was elected a member of the state legislature
for Dutchess county, and again in 1792. In the session held in the
city of New York, he took a zealous and distinguished part in the
memorable question which arose in that body, on the conduct of the
canvassers of the votes given in the warmly contested election for
governor, in destroying those returned from Otsego county, by which
means Mr. Clinton obtained a small majority over Mr. Jay, (then
chief justice of the United States,) who was the federal candidate.
His writings on that occasion attracted much attention, and he
became favorably known in the city. He was, at that time, nomi
nated as a candidate for congress, in Dutchess county, but his com
petitor, who adhered to the opposite party, succeeded by a small
majority. During his attendance in the legislature, his principles
and conduct were so highly respected, that he was urged by his
friends to remove to the city, where he might find greater scope for
the exercise of his talents, and more lucrative business in his profes
sion. He accordingly removed to New York, in April, 1793. The
first month of his residence in the city was embittered by the loss of
an only child, and for a time his prospects were clouded with sor
row. In December, he was appointed professor of law in Columbia
college, and commenced the delivery of lectures, in November, 1794.
The course was attended by many respectable members of the bar,
and a large class of students. In the following winter, he read a
second course ; but the number of his hearers having diminished,
he was discouraged from delivering another. The three prelimi

JAMES KENT.
nary lectures were afterwards published, but the sale of them did
not reimburse the expense of publication. The trustees of the col
lege conferred upon him the degree of doctor of laws, and he has
since received similar honors from Harvard university and Dart
mouth college.
In February, 1796, he was appointed a master in chancery, and
there being, at that time, but one other, the office was lucrative. In
the same year, he was elected a member of the legislature from the
city of New York. He delivered an address before the society for
the promotion of agriculture, arts, and manufactures, at their anni
versary meeting in New York, on the 8th of November, 1796,
which is inserted in the first volume of the transactions of the soci
ety. It contains a rapid and animating sketch of the great natural
and political advantages of the United States, and especially of the
state of New York, for the advancement of the great objects of the
society, and the progress of the country since that time has more
than realized the most glowing anticipations of its patriotic founders
In March, 1797, he was, without solicitation and quite unexpect
edly to himself, appointed, recorder of the city. This being a judi
cial office, was the more acceptable as well as more honorable ; and
being allowed to retain that of master, the duties of both were so
great, and the emoluments so considerable, that he gradually relin-
quisUed tUe more active business of bis profession, to which he was
not strongly attached. From constitutional diffidence, or habits of
study, he appeared not to feel confident in the possession of the
powers requisite to ensure preeminence as an advocate at the bar.
In 1798, Governor Jay, who knew his worth and highly respected
his character, offered him the office of junior judge of the supreme
court, then vacant, which he accepted. This appointment gratified
his highest ambition. It placed him in a situation where he could
more fully display his attainments, and have a wider field for the
investigation of legal science. In accepting the office, he relin
quished, for a limited income, all the flattering prospects of increas
ing wealth that had opened to him during five years' residence in
the city. Though most of his friends doubted the wisdom of his
choice, he never regretted it. And all who feel interested in the
pure and enlightened administration of justice, have found reason to
rejoice that he followed the dictates of his own judgment, in a mat
ter so interesting to the honor and happiness of his after life. On
becoming a judge he returned to Poughkeepsie, but in the following

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year, he removed to Albany, where he continued to reside until
1823. When he took his seat on the bench of the supreme court, there
were no reports of its decisions, nor any known or established pre
cedents of its own to guide or direct his judgment. The English
law books were freely cited, and the adjudications of English courts
regardedywith the highest respect, and in most cases, with the force
of authority. The opinions of the judges were generally delivered
orally, with little regularity, and often after much delay. The law
was in a state of great and painful uncertainty. He began by pre
paring a written and argumentative opinion in every case of suffi
cient importance to become a precedent for the future. These opi
nions he was ready to deliver at the day when the judges met to
consult on the decisions to be pronounced by the court. The other
judges, pursuing a similar course, also gave their reasons in writing,
supported by legal authorities. As he read with a pen in his hand,
extracting, digesting, abridging, and making copious notes, the
practice of writing opinions was easy and agreeable. Besides mak
ing himself master of all the English adjudications applicable to the
points under examination, he frequently brought to his aid the body
of the civil law, and the writings of eminent jurists of the coun
tries in which that law prevails; especially, in the discussion of
questions arising on personal contracts, or of commercial and mari
time law, the principles of which have been so admirably unfolded
and illustrated by Domat, Pothier, Valin, Emerigon, and others.
Like Selden, Hale, and Mansfield, he thought law could not be well
understood as a science, without seeking its grounds and reasons in
the Roman law. From that great repository of " written wisdom,"
he drew largely, engrafting its sound and liberal principles on the
hardy stock of the English common law. Thus commenced that
series of judicial decisions which have enriched the jurisprudence
of New York, and shed their influence on that of other states.
In 1800 he and Mr. Justice Radcliffe were appointed by the legis
lature, to revise the statutes of the state ; and in January, 1802, was
published their edition of them, comprised in two volumes octavo.
Without venturing to change the phraseology of the laws, they
confined themselves to the single object of placing together the
various acts of the legislature relative to the same subject, so as to
bring the original enactments and all subsequent additions and
amendments, into one act; and by a full and accurate index, to
facilitate a reference to them.

JAMES KENT.
In July, 1804, he was appointed chief justice of the supreme
court, in which he continued to preside until 1814. We shall not
here attempt to enter into any examination of the opinions delivered
by him during the time he was a judge of that court. They are
contained in sixteen volumes of Reports, from January, 1799, lo
February, 1814; and the judgment of the public has long since been
formed on their merit and importance.
In February, 1814, he was appointed chancellor. The powers
and jurisdiction of the court of chancery were not clearly defined.
There were no precedents of its decisions, (if we except what might
be gleaned from a few cases heard in the court of errors, on appeal,
and reported by Mr. Johnson,) to which reference could be made in
case of doubt ; and it is a fact, that during the whole period of his
sitting in chancery, from 1814 to 1823, not a sipgle opinion or dic
tum of his predecessors was cited. Without any other guide, he
felt at Uberty to exercise such powers of the English chancery, as
he deemed applicable, under the constitution and laws of the state,
subject to the correction of the court of errors, on appeal. As to
the course of equity to be administered, it was to him, in effect, as
if the court had been then newly established. The causes before
the court were managed by a few lawyers. He opened wide its
doors ; and his kindness and affability, his known habits of busi
ness, and promptitude of decision, attracted many to the court. The
number of causes rapidly increased, and it soon required the most
strenuous and unceasing efforts of his active mind to hear and
decide the cases brought before him. Besides his attendance during
the regular terms of the court, he was, at all times, easy of access
at his chambers ; so that no one ever complained of delay, as to the
hearing or decision of his cause. He considered the cases in the
order in which they were presented or argued, and. did not leave
one until he was fully prepared to deliver his judgment upon it.
He read the pleadings and depositions with the greatest attention,
carefully abstracting from them every material fact; and having
become familiar with the merits of the cause, he was able, unless
some technical or artificial rule was interposed, by his own clear
moral perception to discover where lay the equity of the case. Not
content, however, with satisfying his conscience as to the justice of
his decision, he was studious to demonstrate that his judgment was
supported by the well establisUed principles of equity to be found in
the decisions of the courts of that country from which our laws
have been derived. His researches on every point were so full, as

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to leave little or nothing to be supplied by those who might after
wards wish to have his decisions reexamined or to test the correct
ness of his conclusions.
Accustomed to take a large view of jurisprudence, and consider
ing law not as a collection of arbitrary and disconnected rules, but
rather as a science founded on general principles of justice and
equity, to be applied to the actions of men in the diversified relations
of civil society, he was not deterred, but animated, by the novelty
and intricacy of a case ; and while his mind was warmly engaged
in the general subject, he sought rather than avoided difficult points,
even when the discussion of them was not essential to the decision
of the main question between the parties ; so that nothing was suf
fered to pass without examination. His judicial opinions, are, there
fore, uncommonly interesting and instructive to all, but especially
to those who have commenced the study of the law, and aspire to
eminence in that profession. The decisions in chancery are con
tained in seven volumes of Reports.
On the 31st July, 1823, having attained the age of sixty years, the
period limited by the constitution for the tenure of his office, he
retired from the court, after hearing and deciding every case that
had been brought before him. On this occasion, the members of
the bar residing in the city of New York, presented him an address,
from which, as coming from those most competent, by their situ
ation, to form a just estimate of his judicial character and services,
we cannot refrain from giving some extracts. After speaking of
the inestimable benefits conferred on the community by his judi
cial labors for five and twenty years, they observe : " During this
iong course of services, so useful and honorable, and which will
form the most brilliant period in our judicial history, you have
by a series of decisions, in law and equity, distinguished alike for
practical wisdom, profound learning, deep research, and accurate
discrimination, contributed to establish the fabric of our jurisprudence
on those sound principles that have been sanctioned by the experi
ence of mankind, and expounded by the venerable and enlightened
sages of the law. Though others may hereafter enlarge and adorn
the edifice whose deep and solid foundations were laid by the wise
and patriotic framers of our government in that common law which
they claimed for the people as their noblest inheritance, your labors
on this magnificent structure will forever remain eminently conspi
cuous, commanding the applause of the present generation, and
exciting the admiration and gratitude of future ages."

JAMES KENT.
A similar address was presented to him by the members of the bar
in Albany, and also by those from the different counties of the state,
attending the supreme court at Utica, in August following. In the
latter, it is observed, that, " in the space of little more than nine
years, an entire and wonderful revolution in the administration of
equity has been accomplished ;" and a reference is aptly made to
the account given by Sir William Blackstone of a similar revolution
in the English chancery, by Sir Heneage Finch, afterwards earl of
Nottingham, who became chancellor in 1673. " The necessities of
mankind," says that writer, "cooperated in his plan and enabled him
in the course of nine years, to build a system of jurisprudence and
jurisdiction upon wide and rational foundations." In the same ad
dress, speaking of their intercourse with him as a judge, they called
to mind "so many instances of personal kindness — so many scenes
of delightful instruction — so many evidences of pureness and single
ness of heart — such a uniform and uninterrupted course of generous,
candid, and polite treatment, that we are unable to express the ful
ness of our feelings, and can only say that our affection for you as a
man, almost absorbs our veneration for you as a judge."
In these addresses, the bar were led to express a doubt as to the
wisdom of that clause in the political constitution of the state, which
" compelled him in the full enjoyment of his intellectual faculties, to
relinquish a station he had filled with sum consummate ability."
And, in this case at least, the application of the policy of that pro
vision might well induce them to call in question the wisdom and
expediency of so singular a limitation.
In August, he visited the eastern states, and on his return home
he became apprehensive that after being so many years actively
engaged in discharging the duties of a public station, the sudden
transition to privacy and seclusion, might produce an unfavorable
effect on his health and spirits. He soon determined to remove to
the city of New York, to open a law school, and to act as chamber
counsel. The trustees of the college again offered him the profes
sorship of law in that institution, which he accepted ; and, in 1824,
he prepared and delivered a series of law lectures, on a more com
prehensive plan than that pursued in his former course. He also
gave private instruction to students, who resorted to him from
various parts of the United States. His parental kindness towards the
young, and the frankness and affability of his manners, won their
affection without diminishing their respect; and his conversation
and example could not fail to inspire that ardor and emulation so

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
conducive to their progress and success. His high reputation as a
judge, induced many, not only in the city, but in distant places, to
consult him on difficult and important questions, and, instead of the
brief answers usually returned by counsel, he gave full and argu
mentative opinions. Many causes actually pending in court, were,
by the agreement of the parties, submitted to his final decision. He
had continued, for some years, thus usefully and agreeably occupied,
when having discontinued his law lectures, he began to revise and
enlarge them for publication ; and in November, 1826, appeared the
first volume of the " Commentaries on American Law." This
volume includes three parts ; the law of nations, the government
and constitutional jurisprudence of the United States, and the
various sources of municipal law. The second volume was pub
lished in November, 1827, the third in 1828, and the fourth in 1830.
The three last comprise the law concerning the rights of persons,
and personal and real property.
He has treated the several subjects comprised under these exten
sive and most important titles, — the rights of persons and the rights
of property — in a manner more full and satisfactory than Blackstone;
and has introduced many others, not found in the work of that
author, with numerous references, quotations, and illustrations, the
result of his various and extensive reading, highly pleasing and
instructive to the student. He has left untouched the subjects of
private wrongs, and the mode of pursuing their remedies by actions
in courts of justice ; of the powers and jurisdiction of judicial
magistracy, and of public wrongs, or tbe law concerning crimes and
punishments, which occupy the third and fourth volumes of the
English commentator.
The work of Sir William Blackstone, by the elegance of its style,
its lucid arrangement and finished execution, is so well adapted to
render the study of the law attractive, and to give a knowledge of
the constitution and laws of England, well deserving the attention
of every liberal mind, that it has been, (though, for many years, more
from necessity than choice,) very properly placed in the hands of
every student ; but as much of those admirable Commentaries relate
to the political constitution of England, so different from our own,
to its peculiar institutions, and to rigUts and duties, public and pri
vate, not existing in tbis country, an American work, exhibiting our
own constitution, laws, institutions, usages, and civil relations, had
been long wanted. In the full maturity of his understanding, with a
mind long habituated to legal investigations and researches, and

JAMES KENT.
with sound and enlightened views of jurisprudence, no man, per
haps, could have been found, better fitted than Chancellor Kent to
execute such a work, and it may diminish, in some degree, the
regret felt for the loss sustained by the public and the legal profes
sion, in being deprived of his valuable services on the bench, to know
how usefully to the world and honorably to himself, he has employed
his time and talents in its performance.
The limits prescribed to this brief memoir will not permit us, if it
were proper, to go farther, or to enter into a particular examination
of the merits of this masterly work. The first edition of the com
mentaries having been exhausted, he published a second in April,
1832, carefully revised and greatly enlarged. From one who has
done so much for the improvement and diffusion of legal science,
and who has now advanced to the limit ordinarily assigned to the
duration of human life, it would be unreasonable to ask, or expect
more ; but while he appears to feel none of the infirmities of age, or
to seek indulgence or repose, we cannot suppress a wish, that he
may yet be induced to present his view, also, of that system of equity
jurisprudence, to the formation and illustration of which his own
judicial labors have so largely contributed.
Having been elected president of the New York Historical Society,
he delivered, by request, a public discourse, at their anniversary
meeting, on the 6th December, 1828. In this elegant and instruct
ive address, he very appropriately notices the principal events in the
'listory of the colony and state of New York to the end of the revo
lution, and mentions, with merited praise, some of the eminent pa
triots and statesmen of New York, who so ably assisted in achiev
ing that revolution, and in securing its blessings to their posterity.
If our attention could be oftener drawn from the absorbing pursuits
of wealth and ambition, or the contests of selfish demagogues, to the
contemplation of such illustrious examples of wisdom and virtue,
we might find more perfect models for our imitation, and haply feel
our hearts warmed with that pure love of country which glowed hi
their breasts.
At the request of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Yale College, a
literary association formed in 1780, of which he was an original
member, and comprising the most distinguished graduates of that
seminary, he delivered a public address, at the anniversary meetino-
of the associates, on the 13th September, 1831. This discourse, in
which he takes a historical survey of the college, from its origin in
he beginning of the last century, and sketches the characters of its

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
pious and learned founders, supporters, and instructers, is replete
with generous feelings and just sentiments on literature and educa
tion. Alluding, towards tUe close, to his own class, of whom twelve
(out of twenty-five) were then living, and most of those present ; he
makes this natural and striking reflection. " Star after star, has
fallen from its sphere. A few bright lights are still visible ; but the
constellation itself has become dim, and almost ceases to shed its
radiance around me. What a severe lesson of mortality does such a
retrospect teach ! What a startling rebuke to human pride ! How
brief the drama ! How insignificant the honors and ' fiery chase of
ambition,' except as mental discipline for beings destined for immor
tality." In the brief notice which we have taken of the principal events in
the life of this eminent jurist, we have adverted to some of the dis
tinctive qualities of his character ; and it will be perceived how pure,
virtuous, upright, and honorable that life has been, the full delinea
tion of which must be reserved for some future biographer. Though
not passed in scenes that attract the general gaze of mankind, or
excite the admiration and applause of the multitude, it has been
highly distinguished, affording a bright and instructive example of
industry and perseverance in the pursuit of useful knowledge, and
of unwearied diligence in the discharge of every duty, public and
private. Chancellor Kent has three children, a son, and two daughters ;
the former was admitted to the bar a few years since. Happy in his
family ; amiable, modest, and candid in his social intercourse ; kind,
indulgent, and affectionate in his feelings, it would be pleasing, if it
were proper, at this time, to speak of him in those private relations
which awaken the best affections and warmest sympathies of our
nature. With a sound constitution, strengthened and preserved by
temperance and moderate exercise, he has enjoyed that perfect and
uninterrupted health, which is rarely the lot of the studious and
sedentary. Possessing a cheerful temper, and a lively consciousness
of existence that fits him for enjoyment, he seems to have experi
enced, in a high degree, those blessings for which the Roman Poet
bids the rational inquirer after happiness to supplicate heaven, and
those gifts have not been wasted or misapplied. " Semita certe
Tranquillae per Virtutem patet unica vita?.'
W. J

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CHARLES EWING, LL. D.

A virtuous life demands our reverence ; public and private worth,
our admiration ; long and practical usefulness, our gratitude. And
when death has closed the labors of the wise and good, it becomes a
melancholy, yet not painful duty, to give utterance to the expressions
of friendship, and contemplate the example which has been given.
Charles Ewing was the only child of James Ewing, the com
missioner of loans for the state of New Jersey for the whole period
during which that office was continued, and the praise of whose
integrity, accuracy in business, benevolence, and piety will there be
long remembered. He was of Irish descent, but born in the county
of Cumberland, and was the youngest son of a numerous family,
some of whom have been eminently distinguished for literature,
science, and professional ability. The subject of this sketch was
born on the 8th day of July, 1780, in the county of Burlington. In
his most tender years, the same temper and correctness of deportment
were exhibited which attended all his subsequent conduct. Though
gay, sprightly, and animated, and enjoying the innocent amuse
ments of boyhood, yet he was docile, obedient, and observant of
every duty. He received his preparatory education at the academy
in Trenton, which at that time conducted its scholars through a
course of studies beyond the ordinary requirements of grammar
schools, and at an early age he passed through this course with a
zeal, assiduity, and talent, which secured to him the palm in merit
and scholarship.
At sixteen he entered the college of New Jersey, and at eighteen
received the first degree in the arts, the highest honors of the insti
tution being awarded to him alone, as the just reward of capacity,
industry, and correct conduct, in a class whose members were
highly distinguished for them all. He bestowed a full and proper
attention on all the studies of the institution ; but if there was one
more his favorite than the rest, and in which the energy of his mind
most clearly exhibited itself, it was mathematical science. No one

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
has at any time left that venerated and most valuable seminary of
learning, more deeply imbued with the sciences and ornamented
with the literature which have been so long, ably, and skilfully
taught there.
After the usual clerkship he was admitted to the bar of his native
state. In entering upon his profession he preferred to make the city
of Philadelphia the theatre of his exertions. But the persuasions •
of his friends induced him to yield his society to them, and make
his native state the scene of his usefulness.* He received his
license in 1802, was admitted a counsellor in 1805; and in the
short space of seven years was called by the court to the honorary
degree of sergeant ; an evidence of the high estimation in which his
character and acquirements were held. Residing at the seat of
government, he confined his practice to the adjoining counties, and
the higher courts of the state, seeking with his characteristic pru
dence rather to give himself time for full and accurate preparation
in all his causes, than to extend the circle of his active employment.
His properties as a lawyer were extensive knowledge, and a just
estimate of fundamental principles ; close acquaintance with cases
and decisions ; accuracy in the forms and rules applicable both to
practice and the rights of the parties ; indefatigable industry in his
investigations ; clear discrimination and sound judgment. He took
his points, and stated them with uncommon singleness and perspi
cuity ; sustained them by fair and cogent argument ; and never
failed to exhibit in their support all the learning of the cases and
the best reasonings of the judges. As a speaker he had a full share
of advantages. His person was manly ; his features large and open,
but not harsh ; his eye prominent and mild ; his voice strong and
clear ; his enunciation distinct ; and these united bespoke attention
and trust, and reached at once the understanding and hearts of his
auditors. Cool and cautious, he did not permit his feelings to trans- ,
port him beyond the line of discretion and decorum. His language
was classically pure and correct. A chaste and polished scholar, and
enjoying his learning with high delight, he was not fond of display
ing it, and was always reluctant to cover his honest English with
foreign ornaments. With a playful imagination and fine fancy and
keen wit, he did not often indulge them, especially when engaged in
legal discussions, for he felt too deeply the weight of his responsibil-
* At this time, and shortly after his admission to the bar, Mr. Ewing married Elea
nor Graham, eldest daughter of the Rev. James F. Armstrong, of Trenton.

CHARLES EWING.
ity in representing his client's rights, to venture where the argu
ment did not force him. The fairness of his conduct as an advo
cate, and his integrity and learning as a counsellor, gave him an
unusual share of the confidence both of courts and juries ; to such an
extent indeed, that unsuccessful parties sometimes ventured the com
plaint, that it was the influence of the counsel, not the justice
of the cause, which had triumphed. But that confidence was de
served ; for no where could they find a safer judgment, better know
ledge, Or fairer dealing in an advocate. During twenty-two years
he led an active professional life, and did not permit himself to be
turned aside by the allurements of pleasure, speculation, or office.
In October, 1824, the esteem and affection of his fellow citizens
led to that result which is always to be desired, always grateful to
correct feeling, always profitable to the public interests, always safe
under popular institutions. His real merits, sound integrity, com
prehensive learning, great capacity for business, and fitness for public
service, found their appropriate location in the office of chief justice
of the state in which he lived. The station was unsought, unso
licited, and reluctantly accepted ; but the selection did honor to the
discernment and wisdom of the appointing power, and was made in
a manner which called on his high sense of duty, to yield his per
sonal interests and convenience to the public wishes.
As a judge he was learned both in principles and cases, and prompt
in their application ; a strict common law lawyer, he had drawn
deeply from the original sources of legal principles, and always de
lighted to find in the old authorities, both the establishment and the
reason of the doctrine on which he was to decide. But he did not
rely on them alone. He read diligently, and derived the aid which
they afford from the volumes of civil and ecclesiastical law ; and
examined carefully and improved by all the legal publications of the
present day. He understood thoroughly and respected the relations
which the tribunals, of which he was a member, bore in the com
paratively complicated system of our union ; and while on the one
hand, he avoided trespassing upon powers granted by the people to
other jurisdictions ; on the other hand, he could not be led to sur
render the least part of that which they had conferred on his own.
In Bruen vs. Ogden, and other cases, his views on this point are
beautifully illustrated, and exhibit not only the correct opinions and
feelings of the judge, but of the citizen and patriot; and the language
which he used in relation to the courts of the United States did
honor both to his head and his heart. He always took upon himself

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
all the responsibilities of the judge, and discharged his obligations to
juries fully, by guiding them in matters of law, and when it was
proper, aiding them in their estimate of facts and evidence. He
held it a duty of the court, to instruct them both in civil and criminal
cases, and would not permit them, in the exercise of their right to
judge of the law in criminal matters, to disregard its provisions —
but promptly and efficiently interfered to arrest their errors. And
this out of no disregard of their rights. For the system of jury trial
he had a fond admiration, and watched over it with parental care.
His exposition of it, in a lecture before the Literary and Philosophical
Society of New Jersey, is the most finished and beautiful exhibition
of its merits, which is to be found in the same compass in our lan
guage. He saw it as it is, an establishment of freedom ; the privilege
and shield of freemen ; valuable for the support and perpetuation of
our institutions ; not only by guarding against oppression in every
form, but by frequently calling on the citizen to partake in the ad
ministration of justice ; thereby interesting his feelings in its support,
and instructing him in his own rights and duties.
To his labor as a judge, there was but one limit — the perfect ex
amination of every question he had to decide. Short of this point
he never rested. He was not satisfied while one fact or authority
remained unexamined, or one avenue to light unexplored. Amuse
ments of a becoming and moral character he did not spurn ; social
pleasures he enjoyed ; literary and scientific acquisitions were his
delight ; on domestic enjoyments his heart rested with fondness : yet
none of these were ever found in the way of his complete investigations,
and his entire performance of every official duty. During the sittings
of the court over which he presided, it was his practice to examine
and arrange all the papers in the causes, to note the points of diffi
culty, and the means for their elucidation, in readiness for consulting
with his brethren. At the close of the terms he investigated all the
cases which were reserved for consideration ; and prepared opinions
upon them. In all cases in which it was proper for him to express
an opinion, and important that it should be recorded, his views were
expressed in writing ; and these were usually the judgments of the
court. After his death, his written opinions were found in all the
cases which had been argued and submitted to him at the preceding
term of the court ; and this notwithstanding the immense labor he
had undergone, in that great and interesting controversy in the
society of Friends, which he had been called into chancery to hear
and determine. His opinions, were clearly and forcibly expressed ;

CHARLES EWING.
in pure judicial diction, omitting nothing, and leaving nothing in
doubt. They may justly be compared with any with which the
profession has been favored, by the state tribunals. His integrity
and impartiality were without a stain ; nay, they were never ap
proached even by suspicion. Strong as were his attachments of all
kinds, and ardent as were his feelings, on the bench he knew no man.
The innocent and the guilty, the rich and the poor, the strong and
the feeble, the powerful controller of popular opinion, and the humble
slave of others' wills, had an equal measure of justice before him.
With his eye fixed on law and justice, no influence could solicit, no
power could drive him from the path which he believed led to their
attainment ; and he had the moral courage to dare to do whatever
his judgment and concience told him was his duty. If the time had
come when trespasses were threatened, and the constitution and the
laws in danger, he would have disregarded alike the tumults of
popular excitement, and the frowns of power. Should such a mo
ment ever come, there can be no better wish for the people of New
Jersey, than that his spirit may be found in that seat which he held.
As was his learning, so was that spirit fitted not alone for the sta
tion which he occupied ; but for any other, even the highest judicial
tribunal, and there, those who knew him best, ardently desired to see
him. We have said that he was worthy of imitation as an advocate
and counsellor ; we will add, that the judge can go no where for
a purer and better model. He stands more than acquitted in the
great account between him and his country — of confidence bestowed
and answered — of responsibility imposed and discharged — of duty
assigned and performed, of office conferred and dignified, of the ad
ministration of law and justice confided, and faithfully and impar
tially sustained and vindicated.
In youth and early manhood he was an active and ardent politi
cian, and entertaining at all times clear and decided convictions
on public measures and political subjects, he acted upon them
through life in the exercise of his right of suffrage, and frankly
avowed them whenever the occasion demanded. His political views
and opinions were those of Washington and Marshall. He admired
the institutions of the country ; believed they were adapted to its
present condition ; fitted to secure its happiness and prosperity, and
to protect the enjoyment of liberty ; and resting upon safe grounds,
that it was not wise to change them. Always decided and firm as
a politician, he was at no time intemperate or intolerant ; nor was
he of any party in his friendships or in his office. His unanimous

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
re-appointment in 1831, when he differed from the prevailing party
in opinion, testifies to the correctness of this observation. And that
which was done then, would have been found true in any state of
political feeling. No party would have ventured to break his hold
on the station which he occupied ; which was not less that of office,
than of control in the affections of his fellow-citizens.
He always contemned the fallacy that public and official merit
may safely be sought, and public interests be safely confided to
those who disregard the duties and obligations of morality and jus
tice. He had an elevated standard both for public and private
virtue ; and this standard was erected by the religions, moral,
and philosophical creed which he had adopted. It rested on the
revelation of a law, as the source and test of virtue. In that
revelation he had unwavering faith, for he had applied to it
every principle of legal and philosophical investigation, and found
it sustained by the highest and strongest evidence, amounting to
demonstration. "Desiring to be himself nothing better nor nobler
than man, he was content to be nothing less ;" but it was not man
in ruin, but in his best estate, as redeemed by the blood, and purified
by the grace of the Redeemer : and he acted and lived, and labored,
to make his fellow men see and feel their own interests in aspiring
to the same elevation.
Hence he was the zealous advocate of all efforts for the improve
ment of the moral condition of society ; of every plan that was cal
culated to advance and render dear and valuable the relations of
home and of country, and which tends to the melioration of the
condition of mortality.
He was especially the advocate of education, in all its valuable
forms. Himself a ripe scholar, and conferring honor on the highest
literary degree, which his known merits had received from a respec
table literary institution, he devoted much of his time to advance
not only the literature and science of his country, but to extend the
means of cultivating the mind, to every class, even the humblest of
his fellow-citizens. He was for twelve years a trustee of the college
of New Jersey ; and scarcely ever absent from the meetings of the
board ; and none of the venerated members of that body carried into
the government of that seminary a purer spirit, a more active zeal,
a wiser judgment, more useful talent, and higher ardor in the cause
of education.
His studies as a scholar were never neglected. He retained and
extended his knowledge of the writings of ancient authors, particu-

CHARLES EWING.
larly in the Latin language, and having previously read and studied
them in the original, he was engaged, previous to his decease, in
reviewing them in the best translations. He kept pace, also, with
the learning of the day, and there are few literary men, even among
those whose time is not occupied by official or other engagements,
who are so conversant with all branches of science, and all the mod
ern publications. His reading was various, both in works of fancy
and graver authors. He had a fine poetic taste, which he sometimes
indulged in writing, and has left several beautiful specimens, which
create regret that their number was not greater. They indicate the
delicacy of his feelings, the keenness of his sensibility, the purity of
his sentiments, and the classic elegance of his style. But his chief
literary pleasures were found in works of historical and philosophical
cast, and which treat of the higher moral and social obligations and
duties. The Bible, with one of them usually in Latin or French,
was the companion of his leisure hours, and of all his journeyings,
whether official, or for health and recreation. He had a prompt and
sprightly wit, but seldom exhibited it ; never but in moments of the
freest social enjoyment ; and never to the injury of the feelings of
others, or of the cause of virtue.
But his high elevation, his pure joy, his bright earthly honor was
in hmne. It was there that the soundness of his judgment, the wis
dom of his counsel, the mildness of his temper, the firmness of his
purposes, the affectionate tone of his manners, the unequalled tender
ness of his heart, the dignity and elevation of his virtues, appeared
in all their loveliness and all their strength. And they only could
truly estimate his worth, who saw and knew him there. There he
was eminently great, and good, and wise. There, too, " he loved
to love ;" and the only pang he ever caused, was when he ceased to
love.* The life and character which have engaged our attention are such
as the heart delights to contemplate. They form a consistent whole,
with no irregularity of proportion. They were supported by a

* The decease of Chief Justice Ewing marks a period of national calamity. The
cholera which had originated in Asia, in 1817, and had exhibited its desolating power
in its western course through Europe, made its first appearance in Montreal, in the
summer of 1832, and very soon extended its ravages through the United States.
Judge Ewing fell among its earliest victims at Trenton, New Jersey, on the 5th of
August of that year. — Ed.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
vigorous intellect, sustained by lofty purposes, and based upon an
honest and feeling heart. Such it was his high ambition to be ; and
such he was. Such does the state of which he was a native, regard
him ; and he will continue to be admired as one of the richest por
tions of the Corinthian capital of her fame. The universal distress
of her citizens ; the excited sympathies and profound emotions ex
pressed by the learned, the patriotic, the wise, and the benevolent,
of every rank and sect, form a precious tribute to his worth, and
give assurance that he did not live in vain ; and that his name and
actions will long continue in remembrance. S. L. S.

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GEORGE WOLF

George Wolf, governor of Pennsylvania, was born on the 12th of
August, 1777, in Allen township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania.
His father, George Wolf, was a native of Germany, and a man justly
and universally esteemed for his integrity. He left two sons, Philip
and George. A, classical school being opened in Northampton
county, by a society formed for that purpose, and" conducted under
the successive direction of Peter Leo, John Harold, and Robert
Andrews, A. M., the latter of whom was a graduate of Trinity college,
Dublin, the subject of this sketch became one of the pupils, and in
that institution acquired a correct knowledge of the Greek and Latin
languages. After Mr. Andrews left the neighborhood, Mr. Wolf
attended, for a short time, to his father's farm, when an opportunity
offering, he entered the prothonotary's office of Northampton county,
in the capacity of a clerk, where he studied law, under the direction
of the Honorable John Ross.
In 1799 he advocated the election of Governor M'Kean and Pre
sident Jefferson, under the latter of whom he received the appoint
ment of post master, at Easton, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, Go
vernor M'Kean appointed him clerk of the orphans' court of North
ampton county, which situation he filled until 1809. In 1814 he
was elected a member of the house of representatives of Pennsyl
vania. In the years 1824, 1826, and 1828, he was elected a mem
ber of congress, the latter year by a very large majority, and the two
former years without any opposition. In congress he was distin
guished for his habitual industry and attention to business, and while
chairman of an important committee, he made numerous reports,
evincing those powers of investigation and discrimination for which,
it is conceded by all, he is remarkable. As a speaker, he was plain
and argumentative, using good language, and conveying his ideas
with great precision. He was known to be a decided friend of the
American system and internal improvements ; and the interests of
education have at all times received from him a steady support.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
These qualities, added to the strictest integrity, had become so well
known, and were so highly appreciated by the people of Pennsyl
vania, that in 1829, they elected Mr. Wolf governor of the common
wealth. So far from having been an aspirant to this distinguished
station, there is the best authority for saying, that he was placed in
nomination by the state convention entirely without his knowledge.
He yielded to the wishes of the people, who had selected him for their
chief magistrate, and, abandoning a lucrative practice in his profes
sion, entered upon his official duties as governor in the latter end of
December, 1829. He found the state embarked in an extensive
scheme of internal improvement, by which the eastern and western
waters were intended to be united. The public improvements of
Pennsylvania were designed to be connected with those of New
York; thus affording to each state increased advantages. The
friends of the system, paralyzed by a powerful opposition to this
important and splendid undertaking, had been deterred from adopt
ing efficient measures to provide adequate resources for the expendi
ture. On the 17th November, 1829, at an extra session called by
governor Shulze, an act was passed, authorizing a temporary loan
of one million of dollars, at an interest of five per cent., to relieve the
public from present embarrassments, and to enable the state to carry
on her improvements. But the credit of the state was so depressed,
that capitalists were unwilling to advance funds on the proposed
security. A resort was therefore had, on the 7th December, 1829, to
a compulsory loan from all the banks in the commonwealth, whose
charters required them to loan money to the state, for the several
sums prescribed in their respective acts of incorporation. In this
depressed state of the pubhc credit, many of the most zealous friends
of the improvement system hesitated in their course. But Governor
Wolf, as soon as he came into office, by a bold and decided message,
recommended a vigorous effort to complete the work which had been
commenced, and without looking to the right or to the left, for that
"mushroom popularity which is gained without merit and lost
without crime," but with an eye single to the public good, and the
honor and credit of the commonwealth, recommended a system of
taxation which should be adequate to the public wants. The bold
and fearless manner in which he met the crisis, had an almost instan
taneous effect upon the public credit. So implicit and abiding has
been the public confidence in his capacity and integrity, that laws
for raising by taxation the funds necessary for the current expenses
of government, and the payment of interest upon loans, were im-

GEORGE WOLF.
mediately passed ; the improvement system was prosecuted with
renewed vigor, and capitalists, instead of hesitating to advance funds
on loan to the state, became so anxious for the opportunity of mak
ing, investments, so safe and permanent, that the premium offered
and paid for the privilege of lending to the state at an interest of
five per cent., has averaged, for some years past, from fourteen to
fifteen per cent.
In the spring of 1832, another important crisis in the improve
ment system occurred, and was as promptly met, as it had been in
1829. On the 30th March, near the close of the session of the
legislature, an act was passed for completing certain portions of the
public works, leaving numerous contractors on other portions to go
unprovided for, and the work itself, notwithstanding the immense
expenditure already incurred, to go to decay. He returned the bill
with his signature, but accompanied with a message, so character
istic of the known firmness and steadiness of purpose for which he
is remarkable, that another act was immediately passed, making the
necessary provisions to sustain the honor of the state, by completing
the work already under contract.
Mr. Wolf had not taken the responsibility of originating the
improvement system, but finding that the work had been undertaken
and adopted as a measure of Pennsylvania policy, upon which
large sums had been expended, and the public faith pledged, he
considered it due alike to the interests and honor of the common
wealth, that the most energetic measures should be pursued for its
completion. Although Governor Wolf was a supporter of General Jackson, on
each of the occasions when that individual was before the American
people for the distinguished station of president of the United
States, still, there were some important measures of public policy, in
which he entertained opinions somewhat at variance with those of
the president. Believing the United States bank to possess a salu
tary influence in regulating the currency of the country, he approved
and signed a resolution of the Pennsylvania legislature, in favor of
re-chartering that institution. After the publication of General
Jackson's celebrated veto, and during the progress of the election
eering campaign, some of the friends of the bank endeavored to
procure from the governor an expression of opinion adverse to the
reelection of General Jackson. But Governor Wolf's opinion of the
qualifications of Andrew Jackson for the presidency, at that critical
period of the history of the country, did not depend upon the views

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
entertained by the -general on the bank question. Under these cir
cumstances, the friends of the bank in Pennsylvania, in order the
more effectuaUy to reach General Jackson, at the election which
was to take place in November, 1832, united with the anti-masonic
and anti-improvement party, in opposing the reelection of Governor
Wolf, which took place in the October preceding. Notwithstand
ing this procedure on the part of the friends of the bank, Governor
Wolf, on his reelection, in his first message to the legislature,
reiterated his opinions in favor of the United States bank. It was
remarked by a member of the legislature, (an opponent of the bank,)
in reference to this high minded and magnanimous proceeding, that
" it added one more to the many evidences already before the people
of Pennsylvania, that their affairs were safely confided to the care of
a chief magistrate, whose exalted purity of motive and unflinching
firmness, in the pursuit of what he believed to be right, placed him
above the storm of party excitement, and beyond the reach of those
influences which are too apt to agitate, and render unsteady in their
purposes, the rest of mankind."
At the last session of the legislature, numerous bills for the esta
blishment of banks throughout the state were under consideration,
and several of them were passed and sent to him for his signature.
But he made no scruple to exercise the veto power, reposed in him
by the constitution, whenever, in his judgment, the interests of the
country required it. At different periods during the session, he
returned, with his objections, three bills for the establishment of
banks, and one for withdrawing from the cognizance of the supreme
court, certain claims for canal damages. On each of these occa
sions, attempts were made to procure the passage of the bills by the
votes of two thirds — the number required by the constitution to
pass a law without the approbation of the governor. But so forci
ble were his arguments, and so abiding the confidence in his judg
ment and devotion to the public interests, that he was constantly
sustained by a majority of the house in which the bills originated —
that body, on receiving the governor's objections, uniformly receding
from the bills which had previously received their sanction.
In this brief sketch, enough has been given to illustrate the happy
results of our republican institutions, and to add one more to the
number of proud examples contained in our country's history, teach
ing to the emulating youth of America this salutary lesson, that
virtue and industry may win their way from the humblest walks in
society, to the most distinguished stations in the republic.

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