t*fnmR82*»KU?a!en;H?»»8j^ife V -fi & -r:^'' A *c> '♦'TTT'-.A .//iJ^'A. %.^" .m- %/ .*»': %.*' 0' * .^ .o^"-^"^- 'ij ^"-^t.. . -ol.-' •_cs55?..x.k'-. o ._ .1 #n SKETCH OF THE LIFR OF SAMUEL DEXTER, LL. D. BY THE HON. JOSEPH STORY, LL. D. JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, PKESITJIXO .rtIDG2 OF THi: CIHC. COUnT OF THE V. S. FOR THB FXRST CIRCUIT, AS DItlVEnED TO THE GRAND JURORS OF THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 'I ^'.. xyj) TO THE I I MEMBERS OP THE SUFFOLK BAR I |i AT THK OPENING OP THE COURT IN BOSTON, MAY 15, 1816, PUBLISHKD AT THEIIl JOINT BEa^TEST. I • I " Pertecti oratoris moderatione et sapientia, non solum ipsius dignitatem, sed et I privatorum plurimorum, et universse reipublicse salutem maxime cODtineri." " Domus jui isconsulti totius craculura civitatis ; maxima quotidie frequentia civium, suramorum hoiciaum splendore celebratur." '• Cn nostra civitate, arapUssiraus quisque et clarissimus vir ." Crc. BE Or. BOSTON : PHI?fTEI) BY JOHN BtlOT. 1816. i^EQUEST OF JURY AND BAR. Sir, THE graad jtsrors for tli'.> Circuit Court of the United S(atcs, no\^' sitting at Boston, — Voted, Unanimoushj, — ^That a Committee be chosen to wait on the Hon. Judge Stoiit, to express their high sense of approbation for the excellent charge given them this day, especially tliat part which brought into view the melancholy event of the death of the late Hon. and much respected Samuel Dextf.w, Esq. and to request a copy for the press. ISAAC TVARREN, NATHANIEL H ALL, ^ ^«'""'''^^'^' BosTO^r, May 15, 1816. Hon. JosEPU Story, Esq. AT a mecthig of the Bar of Suffolk, May 15, 1816,— Voted, — That the District Attorney of the United States, the Solicitor Geu- eral, and Alexander Towur lud Esq. be a Comn.ittee to request of tlie Hon. Judge Story a copy of Jiis cliai-ge to the Grand Juiy for the press. Attest, OCTAVIUS PICKERING, Secrelaii/. Boston, May 15, 1816. SlK, The ujidersigned, being a Committee of the Suffolk Bar, have been instructed by an unanimous Vote of tlie members present on the occasion, to ex- press to you an assurance of the great satisfaction they have derived from the ad- dress of your Honor to the Grand Jury at the opening of the Circuit Court this morning, especially that part of it containing the interesting sketch of the life and death and character of their much lamented and most distinguished friend and brotlier, the late Mr. Dexter ; and to request you would favour them with a copy of the whole production for the press. We have the honor to be, with gi-eat esteem and respect. Your most obedient servants, GEORGE BLAKE, DANIEL DAVIS, ALEXANDER TOWNSEND. Hon. Joseph Stor\, J'irmihtj Judge of the C'lradt Cqvrt, Boatov, IG May^ I8O0. I REC£iVK witli great sensibility the cxjirtssious of approbation which the grand juiy and the bar have been pleased to express ; and 1 submit to their disposal that part of the charge which respects the life and character of the Hon. Mr. Dexter. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, JOSEPH STORY Messrs. Watirkn and Hall, A Committee of the Grand Jzin/. GKonoE Blakf, Daniel Davis, and Aletander TowjfSFKD, Esquires, Jl Committee of the Bar. From the Boston Gazette of j\Taij IG. UxiTEii States CincuiT Couht, Massachusetts District. YESTERDAY the session commenced. The court was held in the room of the Supreme Court of the State, to accommodate the concoui*se of people, brought together by sympathy for the death of Mr. Dexter, in numbers, that the U. S. Court room could not contain. At eleven o'clock the procession, preceded by the Marshal of the District and his Deputies, moved from the Old Court House, con- fflsting of the Hon. the Judges, the Rev. Chaplain (Mr. Lowell,) the U. S. Attor- ney for the District, the Officers of the Court, the Hon. the Council, and Senate of tlie Commonwealth, witli tlie Sheriff of Suffolk, Members of the Bar of this and tlie neiglibouring counties, citizens and strangers. It passed through Court Street, Cornhill, and School Street, to the NeAv Court House. When it reached the State court room, this Avas already neai-ly filled. After the forms, usual on the opening of a Court, the throne of grace was addressed by the Rev. Mr. Low- BLL, in a prayer of extreme fervor, in which the divine mercy was most devoutly and pathetically supplicated to sanctify to this community and the countiy the se- Tere loss both had sustained in the sudden death of " the honorable many and the Cminsellory and the eloquent orator."^ The Hon. Judge StORX then charged the Grand Jury of the Distinct, and closed with an affecting notice of this afflictive event, in wliich, embaiTassed by tears, for " on this occasion it was manly to weep," he gave a very comprehensive account of the character of the illustrious deceased, and a biogiaphical outline of his life. The merits of this highly distin- guished performance we attempt not to sketch, as it is understood, at tlie joint so- licitation of the Gi-and Jurors and the Bar, that a copy will be given for the press. Boston, May 9th, 1816. I'HE Members of the Bar of Suffolk, are requested to wear crape on tlie l«ft arm thirty days, as a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. Samcbl DsxTER. DANIEL DAVIS, President. OcTATivs PieKERJtxcf, Secretary. SKETCH. I HAVE now finished the brief review of those 6ffences which are most important in the criminal cod© of the United States. And happy should I be, if I could congratulate you on the peace and general pros- perity of our country without mingling emotions of a painful nature. But how is it possible to enter this hall of justice and cast my eyes among my brethren at the bar, without missing one, who for many years has been its distinguished ornament. On ordinary occasions of the loss of private or professional friends we may properly bury or.r sorrows in our own bosoms. In such cases the public do not feel that deep sympathy, which authorises us to speak aloud oar anguish and disquietude. But when such men, as Mr. Dexter die, the loss is emphatically a public loss, and the mourners are the whole nation. To give utterance to our feelings is therefore a solemn duty. It is fit that the example of the great and good should be broudit forward for the imitation of the young and ambitious ; that gratitude for eminent 'ser- vices should find a voice as public as the deeds ; and that exalted genius, when it has ceased to attract 6 admiration by living splendour, should be consecrat- ed in the memories of those, whom it has instructed or preserved. I feel assured therefore that I am not stepping aside from the path of duty, or pressing unduly upon your attention, by devoting a few minutes of your time to a sketch of the history and character of this illustrious laAvyer and statesman. Mr. Dexter was descended from a highly respect- able parentage. His grandfather was a clergyman. His fiithcr, the Hon. Samuel Dexter, was a merchant, and resided many years at Boston, where his son Samuel was born in tlie year I76I. The father early distinguished himself in the struggles between the crown and the people of Massachusetts previous to the revolution ; and for his public services was seve- ral times elected to the Council, by the House of Representatives, and as often rejected by the royal governor of the province. He was at length admitted to a seat in the Council by the prudence or the fears of the executive ; but in 1774 was again negatived *^by the express commands of his majesty.'^ To- wards the close of his life he retired altogether from public aftairs, and engaged in a profound investigation of the great doctrines of theology. At his death he bequeathed a handsome legacy to Harvard University for the encouragement of biblical criticism ; and upon ibis honorable foundation the Dexter lectureship has since been established, Mr. Dexter, the son, after the usual preparatory studies, was matriculated at Harvard University in 1777, and received his first degree of bachelor of arts in 1781, During his residence at the University h^ gave ample promise of those talents, which shed so much lustre on his riper years. At a public exhibi- tion he delivered a poem, which was at that time re- ceived with great applause, and is still considered as highly creditable to his taste and judgment. On re- ceiving his degree he was selected for the first literary honors in his class, which he sustained with increas- ing reputation. He now determined to engage in the profession of the law, a science, whose acute distinctions and logic- al structure were wonderfully adapted to invigorate and develope the powers of his understanding. He passed the usual preparatory term at Worcestei*, un- der the tuition of the Hon. Levi Lincoln, then an emi- nent counsellor at the bar, and since Lieut. Governour of the Commonwealth. During this period, and for several years after his admission to the bar, Mr. Dex- ter devoted himself with unceasing assiduity to ac- quire the elements of law ; and, as may be easily sup- posed from his great abilities, he was completely suc- cessful in his purposes. Notwithstanding many dis- couragements of a public nature which at that time pressed heavily on young lawyers, Mr. Dexter rose rapidly into professional notice, and soon found liiin- self surrounded with clients and business. In a short time he was chosen to the State Legislature ; and his sound judgment and comprehensive policy gave him great weight and influence in all the delib- erations of that body. From the State Legislature lie was transferred to the Congress of the United States, being first elected to the House of Represen- tatives, and afterwards to the Senate, by the suffrages of his native state. Perhaps there has been no period 8 since the establishment of the government, which more imperiously demanded all the foresight, virtue, and discretion of the ablest statesmen, than that in which Mr. Dexter was called to assist in the national coun- cils. The first talents in the respective parties, which then divided the country, were drawn into Congress, The floors of the two houses became a vast amphi- theatre, on which the struggles for political power and principle were maintained with all the eloquence of rhetoric, and strength of reasoning, which the zeal of party could enkindle in noble minds. The most deep and impassioned feelings took possession of the nation itself ; and the same thrilling sensations, which agita- ted Congress, electrified the whole continent. It seemed, as if every power of the human mind was summoned to its proper business, and stretched to the most intense exertion. Many of you can recal the emotions of those days ; and to those of us, who were then reposing in academic shades, the light, that burst from the walls of Congress, seemed reflected back from every cottage in the country. At no period of his life did Mr. Dexter more completely sustain his reputation for extraordinary talents. His clear and forcible argumentation, his earnest and affecting ad- monitions, and his intrepid and original developement of principles and measures, gave him a weight of au- thority, which it was difficult to resist. Perhaps no man was ever heard by his political opponents with more profound and unaffected respect. Mr. Dexter resigned his seat in the senate on his appointment as Secretary of War under the adminis- tration of President Adams. He next received the office of Secretary of the Treasury 5 and during a short period of vacancy discliarged also the functions of the department of State. These were to Mr. Dex- ter new and untrodden paths. The habits of his life, and the pursuits of his mind were ill suited to that minute diligence and those intricate details, which the business of war and finance unavoidably impose upon the iucumbents of office. He felt a great reluctance to engage in such employments, for which he profess- ed no peculiar relish, and in which his forensic disci- pline and senatorial experience might not always guide him to correct results. His acceptance of these high stations was not therefore without much hesita- tion ; but having accepted, he immediately employed the whole vigour of his mind to attain the mastery of all their multifarious duties. That he fully accom- plished his purposes can be no surprise to those, who knew him. Such was his intellectual capacity and discrimination that, what he had the wish to acquire, cost liim far less, than any other man. The readi- ness, with which he received knowledge, seemed at times almost like instantaneous inspiration. He did not often choose to engage in laborious inquiries ; but he had the necessary firmness and perseverance to at- tain, whatever was essential to his ambition or pub- lic duties. Towards the close of Mr. Adams's administration he was oflfered a foreign embassy, which he declined ; and upon the accession of Mr. Jefferson to the presi- dency he resigned his public employments, and re- turned to the practice of the law with unabated zeal. From this period he engaged less in political contro- versies ; and reserved himself principally for profes- sional or theological researches. He had always a«- 10 i'ustomed himself to an independence of thinking up- on ail subjects, l^g^^^? political and religious. Ue subscribed to no man's creed ; and dealt in the dog- mas of the school of no master ; but lie examined, Aveighed, and decided every thing for himself. He observed, or thought he observed, that parties were gradually changing their policy and principles ; and on this account he seems to have felt less desire to en- gage in controversies, where his judgment and politi- cal friendships might not always be reconcileable. On two memorable occasions, whicli are vet fresh in our recollections, he took an active political part. I refer to his opposition to the embargo and non-inter- course system, and his support of the late war. But ex- cept in these instances, he rarely, if ever, appeared after liis return to the bar, as the strenuous advocate or opposer of any of the great political measures, which agitated the nation. It was not that he looked on with indifference, or sought to evade responsibility by equivocation or reserve. On the contrary, he was al- ways frank, communicative and decided. But his judgment was so little in unison with the wishes of any party, that he expressed his opinions, rather as guides of his own conduct, than from a hope to influ- ence others. He was as incapable of deceiving oth- ers, as he was of deceiving himself; and would rath- er suiTender the popularity of a whole life, than sub- mit his own judgment to any sect in church or state. It is not unusual for men of eminence, after having withdrawn a few years from the bar, to find it diffi- cult, if not impracticable, to resume their former rank in business. Notliing of this sort occurred to check (he progress of Mr, Dexter. He was immediately 41 engaged in almost all important causes in our highest courts ; and popular favour seemed to have increas- ed rather than diminished during his temporary re- tirement. From the triumphs and victories of the State Bar, his reputation soon carried him to the Supreme Court of the United States, wliere it has been my pride and pleasure, for many years* to have seen him holding his career in the foremost rank of advocates. This would entitle him to no ordinary praise ; for that bar has been long distinguished by the presence of many of the most illustrious lawyers in the union. In no situation have the admirable talents of Mr. Dexter appeared with more unclouded lustre than in his attendance on the Supreme Court at Washington. For several years he passed the winters there, under engagements in many of the most important causes. Rarely did he speak without attracting an audience composed of the taste, the beauty, the wit and the learning, that adorned the city ; and never was he heard without instruction and delight. On some oc- casions involuntary tears from the whole audience have testified the touching powers of his eloquence and pathos. On others a profound and breathless si- lence expressed more forcibly, than any human lan- guage, the rivetted attention of an hundred minds. I well remember, with what appropriate felicity he undertook in one cause to analyze the sources of patriotism. I wish it were possible to preserve the whole in the language, in which it was delivered. No one, who heard hioi describe the influence of local scenery upon the human heart, but felt his soul dis- solve within him, I can recal but imperfectly a sin- 1S5 gle passage, and, stripped of its natural connexion, it affords but a glimmering of its original brightness. We love not our country, said the orator, from a blind and unmeaning attachment, simj)!^ because it is the place of our birth. It is the scene of our earliest joys and sorrows. Every spot has become consecrated by some youthful sport, some tender friendship, some endearing affection, some reverential feeling. It is associated with all our moral habits, our principles and our virtues. The very sod seems almost a part of ourselves, for there are entombed the bones of our ancestors. Even the dark valley of the shadow of death is not without its consolations, for we pass it in company with our friends. In a still more recent in- stance, and indeed in one of the last causes he ever argued, he took the occasion of an appropriate discus- sion, to expound his own views of the constitution, and, dropping the character of an advocate, to perform the paramount duty of a citizen. He seemed, as if giving his parting advice and benedictions to his country, and, as if he had worked up his mind to a mighty ef- fort to vindicate those solid maxims of government and policy, by which alone the union of the states might be upheld and perpetuated. It is deeply to be regretted, that his just and elevated views are now confined to the frail memories of those who heard him. In the spring of 18X5 Mr. Dexter was requested by President Madison to accept an extraordinary mission to the court of Spain ; but from a reluctance to go abroad he declined the appointment. During the last winter Mr. Dexter was for a few days aillictcd with the epidemic prevailing at Wash- ington ; and was once compelled from indisposition to 13 stop in the argument of a cause. He had however entirely recovered, and never seemed in better health. On his return from Washington he v^ent with his fam- ily to Athens, in the state of New York, to assist in the celebration of the nuptials of his son. He arrived there on Tuesday the 30th of April, somewhat un- well, but no serious alarm for his safety existed, until the day previous to his death. Finding his dissolu- tion approaching, he gave the proper directions re- specting his affairs, and prepared to meet his fate with the calmness of a christian philosopher. He could look back on a life devoted to virtuous pursuits with-, out reproach, and his regrets could only be for hi ^ family and his country. About midnight on Friday, the 3d of May, he lost his senses, and in three hours afterwards he expired in the arms of his family with- out a struggle or a groan. Such was the life and such the death of Mr. Dexter. I forbear to give a minute account of the lit- erary honours, w^hich he received, and of the public institutions, of which he was a member. I am aware how little I am qualified for the office of his biogra- pher ; but I have this consolation, that he needs no other panegyric, than truth. I will close these hasty sketches with a few remarks on his person, charac- ter, manners and acquirements. In his person Mr. Dexter was tall and well form- ed, of strong well defined features, and bold muscular proportions. His manners were at a first interview reserved and retiring ; and this was sometimes mista- ken by a careless observer for austerity or pride. But this impression vanished on a farther acquaint- ance : and it was goon perceived, that though he made 3 14 no eftort to court popularity, he was Irauk, manly, and accessible ; and at the bar conciliatory and respectful. His countenance was uncommonly striking ; and yet perhaps scarcely gave at once the character of Lis mind. Unless awakened by strong interests his fea- tures relaxed into a repose, which betrayed little of his intellectual grandeur. In such situations his eyes had a tranquil mildness, which seemed better suited to an habitual indolence of temperament, than to fer- vid thoughts. Yet a curious observer might read in his face the traces of a contemplative mind, sometimes lost in reveries, and sometimes devoted to the most in- diuse abstractions of metaphysics. When roused in- Li) action, his features assumed a new aspect. A stea- dy stream of light emanated from his eyes, the muscles of his face swelled with emotion, and a slight flush chafed his pallid cheeks. His enunciation was re- markably slow, distinct, and musical ; though the intonations of his voice were sometimes too monoto- nous. His language was plain, but pure and well selected ; and, though his mind was stored with poet- ic images, he rarely indulged himself in ornaments of any kind. If a rhetorical illustration, or striking metaphor, sometimes adorned his speeches, they seem- ed the spontaneous burst of his genius, produced with- out effort, and dismissed without regret. They might indeed be compared to those spots of beautiful ver- dure, which are scattered here and there in Alpine regions amidst the dazzling whiteness of surrounding snows. In the exordiums of his speeches he wag rarely happy. It seemed tlie first exercise of a mind struggling to break its slumbers, or to control the tor- rent of its thoughts. As he advanced, he became col- 15 lected, forcible and argumentative ; and his perora- tions were uniformly grand and impressive. They were often felt^ when they could not be followed. Such was the general character of his delivery. But it would be a great mistake to suppose, because his principal favorite was ratiocination,, that his deliv- ery was cold, tame^ or uninteresting. I am persuaded^ that nature had given him uncommon strength of pas- sions. The natural characteristics of his mind were fervour and force; aad, left to the mere workings of his own genius, he would have been impetuous and vehe- ment. But he seemed early to have assumed the maste- ry of his mind ; to have checked its vivid movements hy habitual discipline ; and bound his passions in the adamantine chains of logic and reasoning. The dis^ missal of the graces of fancy and of picturesque de- scription, were with him a matter of choice, and not of necessity. He resigned them, as Hercules resigned pleasure, not because he was insensible of its charms^ but because he was more enamoured of wisdom. Yet, as if to show his native powers^ he has sometimes let loose the enthusiasm of his genius, and touched with a master's hand every chord of the passions, and al- ternately astonished, deliglited, and melted his hear- ers. Something of the same effect has been produc- ed, by, what may be fitly termed, the moral sublimity of his reasoning. He opened his arguments in a pro- gressive order, erecting each successive position upon some other, whose solid mass he had already estab- lished on an immoveable foundation, till at last the superstructure seemed, by its height and ponderous proportions, to bid defiance to the assaults of human ingenuity, I am aware that these expressions may i6 be deemed the exa2;gerations of fancy, but I only de- scribe, what I have felt on my own mind ; and I gath- er from others, that I have not been singular in my feelings. It would be invidious to compare Mr. Dexter with other illustrious men of our country, either living or dead. In general acquirements he was un- questionably inferior to many : and even in profes- sional science he could scarcely be considered, as very profound, or very learned. He had a disinclination to the pages of black lettered law, which he some- times censured as the scholastic refinements of monk- ish ages ; and even for the common branches of techni- cal science, the doctrines of special pleading, and the niceties of feudal tenures, he professed to feel little of love or reverence. His delight was to expatiate in the elements of jurisprudence, and to analyze and combine the great principles of equity and reason, which distinguish the branches of maritime law. In commercial causes, therefore, he shone with pecu- liar advantage. His comprehensive mind was famil- iar with all the leading distinctions of this portion of law ; and lie marked out with wonderful sagacity and promptitude, the almost evanescent boundaries, which sometimes st^paratc its principles. Indeed it may be truly said of him, that he could walk a narrow isthmus between opposing doctrines, when no man dared to follow liim. The law of prize and of nations were also adapted to Ids faculties ; and no one who heard him upon these topics, but was compelled to confess, that if he was not always convincing, he was always ingenious ; and that when he attempted to shake a set- tled rule, though he might be wrong upon authority ir auil practice, he was rarely wrong upon the princi- ples of international justice. In short, there have been men more thoroughly imbued with all the fine tinctures of classic taste ; men of more playful and cultivated imaginations ; of more deep and accurate research, and of more vari- ous and finished learning. But if the capacity to ex- amine a question by the most comprehensive analysis ; to subject all its relations to the test of the most sub- tle logic ; and to exhibit them in perfect transparen- cy to the minds of others : — If the capacity to detect, with an unerring judgment, the weak points of an ar- gument, and to strip off every veil from sophistry op error : — If the capacity to seize, as it were by intui- tion, the learning and arguments of others, and inst^- taneously to fashion them to his own purposes : — If, I say, these constitute some of the highest preroga- tives of genius, it will be difficult to find many rivals, or superiors to Mr. Dexter. In the sifting and com- parison of evidence, and in moulding its heterogene- ous materials into one consistent mass, the bar and the bench have pronounced him almost inimitable. His eloquence was altogether of an original cast. It had not the magnificent colouring of Burke, or the impetuous flow of Chatham. It moved along in ma- jestic simplicity, like a mighty stream, quickening and fertilizing every thing in its course. He persuaded without seeming to use the arts of persuasion ; and convinced without condescending to solicit conviction. No man was ever more exempt from finesse or cun^ ning in addressing a jury. He disdained the little arts of sophistry or popular appeal. It was in hia judgment something more degrading than the sight of 18 Achilles playing with a lady's distaff. It was sur- renderins; the integrity, as well as honour of the har. His conduct afforded, in these particulars, an excel- lent example for young counsellors, which it would be well for them to imitate, even though they should follow in his path with unequal footsteps. His studies were not altogether of a professional nature. He devoted much time to the evidences and doctrines of Christianity ; and his faith in its truths was fixed after the most elaborate inquiries. That he was most catholic and liberal in his views, is known to us all ; but, except to his intimate friends, it is lit- tle known, how solicitous he was to sustain the credi- bility of the christian system ; and how ingenuous and able were his expositions of its doctrines. As a statesman, it is impossible to regard his en- lightened policy and principles without reverence. He had no foreign partialities, or prejudices to indulge, or gratify. All his affections centered in his coun- try ; all his wishes were for its glory, independence and prosperity. The steady friend of the constitu- tion of the United States, he was, in the purest and most appropriate sense of the terms, a patriot and a republican. He considered the union of the States as the pole-star of our liberties ; and whatever might be his opinion of any measures, he never breathed a doubt to shake public or private confidence in the ex- cellence of the constitution itself. When others sunk into despondency at the gloomy aspect of public af- fairs, and seemed almost ready to resign their belief in republican institutions, he remained their infiexible advocate. He was neither dismayed by the intemper- ence of parties, nor by the indiscretion of rulers. He 19 believed in the redeeming power of a free eonstitui tion ; and that, though the people might sometimes be deceived, to their intelligence and virtue we might safely trust to equalize all the eccentricities and pur- turbations of the political system. He had the singu- lar fortune, at different times, to be the favorite of dif- ferent parties, occupying in each the same elevation. It is not my purpose to examine, or vindicate his con- duct in either of these situations. I feel indeed, that I am already treading upon ashes thinly strewed over living embers. The present is not the time for an im- partial estimate of his political conduct. That duty belongs, and may be safely left, to posterity. With- out pretending to anticipate their award, we may with some confidence affirm, that the fame of Mr. Dexter has little to fear from the most rigid scrutiny. While he lived, he might be claimed with pride by any par- ty ; but now that he is dead^ he belongs to his coun- try. To conclude, — Mr. Dexter was a man of such rare endowments, that in whatever age or nation he had lived, he would have been in the first rank of profes- sional eminence. It is unfortunate, that he has left no written record of himself. The only monument of his fame rests in the frail recollections of memory, and can reach future ages (mly through the indistinctness of tradition or history. His glowing thoughts, his brilliant periods, and his profound reasonings, have perished forever. They have passed away like the dream of a shadow. He is gathered to his fathers ; and his lips are closed in the silence of death. I rejoice to have lived in the same age with him : and to have been permitted to hear his eloquencpy. and so to be instructed by bis wisdom. I mourn^ that tny country has lost a patriot, without fear or reproach. The glory that has settled on his tomb will not be easily obscured ; and if it shall grow dim in the lapse of time, I trust that some faithful historian will preserve the character of his mind i*} pages, that can perish only with the language, in which it is written. *■ .'♦•. c. aO^ .ill.'* ^ *^ ♦; . .^^\ ' /..V,.K. X/ /Jfe'^ %/ '^': %/ • » ^ .' *<> •^.^ o ^'^^. ^v" "•>.. • . ^^ % IK ^V. • « < r> 4 V .. ^ "^ A^ <^. *».o ^.'••. • •« vnw