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 PORTRAIT GALLERY 
 
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 Illustrated by One Hundred and Sixty Fine Steel Engravings. 
 
 FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC PORTRAITS. 
 
 COMPLETE IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 RICE, R UTTER & CO., 
 
 No. 525 MINOR S T R E E T. 
 1865. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, First President of the United States. 
 
 MARTHA WASI 1 1 N( iTON, consort of George Washington. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, Tliird President of the United States. 
 
 JOHN HANCOCK, President of the Continental Congress, etc. 
 
 CHARLES CARROLL, of Carrollton. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Sixteenth President of the United States. 
 
 WINFIELD SCOTT, Lieutenant-General United States Army. 
 
 ANTHONY WAYNE, Major-General in the Continental Army. 
 
 THOMAS MACDONOUGH, Commodore United States Navy. 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., Author. 
 
 WILLIAM WHITE, D.D., Bishop of Pennsylvania, etc. 
 
 JOHN MARSHALL, Chief Justice United States. 
 
 LEWIS CASS, Secretary of War, Senator from Michigan, etc. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, Seventh President of the United States. 
 
 JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, Esq., Author. 
 
 PATRICK HENRY, First Republican Governor of Virginia. 
 
 JOHN C. CALHOUN, Vice-President of U. S., Senator from S. C., eto. 
 
 WILLIAM MOULTRIE, Major-General in the Continental Army. 
 
 HENRY CLAY, Secretary of State, Senator from Kentucky, etc. 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State, Senator from Mass., etc. 
 
 WILLIAM WIRT, Attorney General United States. 
 
 TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D.D., President of Yale College, etc. 
 
 JOEL BARLOW, Minister to France, etc. 
 
 JOHN TRUMBULL, President of the American Academy of Fine 
 Arts. 
 
 JOHN JAY, Minister to England and Spain, etc. 
 
 JOHN E. HOWARD, Colonel in the Continental Army, Senator 
 from Maryland. 
 
 GILBERT CHARLES STUART, Esq., Painter. 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM, Major-General in the Continental Army. 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Secretary of the Treasury, etc. 
 
 OLIVER H. PERRY, Commodore United States Navy. 
 
 EDWARD SHIPPEN, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. 
 
 THEODRIC R. BECK, M.D., Author of "Medical Jurispru 
 dence," etc, 
 
 OTHO H. WILLIAMS, Adjutant-General of Continental Army, etc. 
 
 JOSEPH HABERSHAM, Postmaster-General, etc. 
 
 ABRAHAM BALDWIN, Senator United States from Georgia. 
 
 ELIAS BOUDINOT, President of Congress, etc. 
 
 JACOB BROWN, Major-General United States Army. 
 
 ABBOTT LAWRENCE, Minister to England. 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 OUR commonwealth possesses no richer treasure than the fair fame of 
 her children. In the revolutions of empires, the present institutions 
 of our land may perish, and new ones, perhaps more perfect, may 
 arise ; but the glory of our national existence cannot pass away, so 
 long as the names of those who, in it, enlarged the boundaries of 
 knowledge, gave tone to its morals, framed its laws, or fought its 
 battles, are remembered with gratitude. The men who stamp the 
 impressions of their genius or their virtues on their own times, 
 influence also those which follow, and they become the benefactors 
 of after ages and of remote nations. Of such the memorials should 
 be carefully collected and preserved; and Americans, above all 
 others, owe it to their country and to the world to perpetuate such 
 records, while it is possible to separate truth from fiction, in all that 
 relates to those who laid the foundation of the republic who have 
 sustained it by their wisdom, or adorned it by their talents. It 
 should be constantly borne in mind that our country stands conspi 
 cuous among nations, as a fair daughter amidst a family of elder 
 sons ; that as a nation it has passed through no age of fabulous 
 obscurity, nor useless years of feeble infancy, but stepped forth at 
 maturity, in the panoply of war, like Minerva from the brain of 
 Jove. In its history there is no blank ; it is full of striking inci 
 dents, of original theories, and of bold experiments. In its govern 
 ment it has exhibited, and is still demonstrating to the world, under 
 new and peculiar aspects, the ability of men to rule themselves, and 
 to protect their own rights without injury to the rights of others. 
 The men whose names are inscribed with honor on the pages of 
 American history, were fitted to the times and the occasions which 
 called them forth ; they were men of iron nerves and fearless hearts, 
 of devoted action and incorruptible integrity, of splendid talents and 
 practical common sense ; who lived for the glory of their country 
 and the happiness of their race. Of these, there is one " first in the 
 hearts of his countrymen ;" as 
 
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 The first 
 
 In every public duty 
 
 Conspicuous like an oak of healthiest bough, 
 
 Deep rooted in his country s love he stood." POLLOK. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON was born at Bridge s Creek, Westmoreland 
 county, Virginia, on the 22d of February, 1732. Before he was 
 ten years old, he was deprived of the guidance and example of an 
 excellent father ; but the judicious economy and prudent affection of 
 his remaining parent provided for him instruction in the useful 
 branches of knowledge, and above all, she trained him to a love of 
 truth, and successfully cultivated that high moral sense which cha 
 racterized his actions from his youth. There is no doubt that to the 
 careful culture bestowed by his affectionate mother, the goodness 
 and greatness of WASHINGTON are to be ascribed. And we will here 
 call the attention of the reader to the fact, which bears honorable 
 testimony to the female character, that a large proportion of the dis 
 tinguished men whose names adorn the history of our country, were 
 left to the care of their widowed mothers at a very early age. 
 
 " This tells to mothers what a holy charge 
 Is theirs, with what a kingly power their love 
 Might rule the fountain of the new born mind 
 Warn? them to wake at early dawn, and sow 
 Good seed before the world doth sow its tares." MRS. SIGOURXEY. 
 
 At the age of fifteen WASHINGTON received the appointment of 
 midshipman in the British navy, but surrendered it at the earnest 
 desire of his mother. He afterwards practised the profession of a 
 surveyor, and when nineteen, he held, for a short time, the appoint 
 ment of adjutant general, with the rank of major, in the forces of 
 the colony. 
 
 In 1753 the French began to execute a project they had some 
 time meditated, which was, to connect their Canadian possessions 
 with Louisiana, by a line of posts from the lakes to the mouth of 
 the Ohio. They marched a force into the country, and erected a 
 fort on the Alleghany river ; but these measures being regarded as 
 encroachments on the rights of Great Britain, the lieutenant gover 
 nor of Virginia, Dinwiddie, determined to require their withdrawal, 
 and selected WASHINGTON for the performance of the hazardous 
 enterprise of traversing the wilderness and making the demand. 
 This journey was performed in the depth of winter. On his route 
 he examined the country, noted the strongest military positions, 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 secured the friendship of the Indian tribes, and made himself 
 acquainted with the force and designs of the French. On his return 
 he presented a journal of his progress and observations as part of his 
 report, which, being published and extensively circulated, was read 
 with interest in all the colonies, and gave him a prominent place in 
 the regard of the public. 
 
 As the French were determined to hold the country west of the 
 mountains, the legislature of Virginia began to take measures for the 
 maintenance of the British claim. They accordingly raised a regi 
 ment, arid appointed WASHINGTON lieutenant colonel. Early in the 
 spring, he marched with two companies in advance to the Great 
 Meadows, where he learned from some friendly Indians, that the 
 French had attacked and dispersed a party of workmen who were 
 erecting a fort on the south eastern branch of the Ohio, and were 
 themselves building a fortification at the confluence of the Alleghany 
 and Monongahela, and that a detachment were on their march to 
 wards him, apparently with hostile intentions ; these he surrounded 
 in their encampment at night, and at break of day, his troops, after 
 delivering one fire, which killed the French commander, captured 
 the whole party, except one man. Being joined soon after by the 
 residue of the regiment, and a few other troops, making an aggre 
 gate of somewhat less than four hundred men, they erected a small 
 stockade fort ; here he was attacked by twelve hundred French and 
 Indians, and after a brave resistance from ten in the morning until 
 night, he capitulated. The assembly of Virginia voted their thanks 
 for the gallantry and good conduct displayed on this occasion. 
 
 In the winter of 1754, orders were received from England, that 
 officers of the royal troops should take rank over provincial officers 
 of the same grade, without regard to seniority ; on this, WASHINGTON 
 resigned his commission with indignation, and withdrew to Mount 
 Vernon. From this retirement he was tempted by an invitation 
 from General Braddock, to serve as a volunteer aid-de-camp in the 
 campaign of 1755. The experience and advice of WASHINGTON 
 might have been peculiarly valuable to the general, had he known 
 its worth ; but that officer, unused to the march of an army through 
 ihe wilderness, refused to dispense with a cumbrous attirail, or to 
 adapt his mode of warfare to the state of the country ; the conse 
 quence was, his army was defeated, and he lost his life. Notwith 
 standing the unfortunate result of the expedition, the bravery and 
 admirable conduct of WASHINGTON, in covering the retreat of the 
 army, received the commendation of the wounded general, and led 
 
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 to his appointment as commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces. 
 Nearly three years, with less than one thousand provincial troops, 
 aided occasionally by militia, he was expected to protect a frontier 
 of near four hundred miles in extent ; but his force was inadequate 
 to the duty required, and the distressed inhabitants of the frontiers 
 either fled or fell before the savage foe, until the Blue ridge became 
 the boundary of settlement. In the expedition against Fort du 
 Gluesne, in 1758, he served underGeneral Forbes; and after a succes 
 sion of arduous duties, when the country was relieved from imme 
 diate danger, he resigned his commission, to the great regret of the 
 officers of the army, both British and provincial. They who had 
 seen service with him in the wilderness, knew the value of his ex 
 perience and prudent counsels, and although it had been too humili 
 ating to the pride of those who had gathered laurels in the fields of 
 Europe to follow the advice of a provincial officer, yet in the judge 
 ment of his countrymen, he retired with an increased military 
 reputation. 
 
 From the fields of his early fame, he turned his attention to the 
 peaceful pursuits of agriculture, and the enjoyment of domestic life. 
 Having inherited from his brother the Mount Vernon estate, he 
 took possession of it, and married a lady of whom we shall hereafter 
 speak more particularly. The ensuing fifteen years were chiefly 
 passed on the banks of the Potomac, in the improving of his 
 estate, occasionally exercising the functions of a justice of the peace, 
 or of a representative in the provincial legislature, until the general 
 congress first assembled in Philadelphia. Like the years of early 
 life, we must pass too hastily forward to more momentous scenes 
 to note the progress of this period more particularly. 
 
 Although Virginia had had her share of vexations, which had, at 
 intervals, agitated the colony nearly a century, all had been forgot 
 ten on the approach of hostile feet ; British and provincial blood had 
 flowed together on the same field in the common cause, and by the 
 union of American and British valor, over the whole country, from 
 the ocean to the northern lakes, the union flag of Britain waved trium 
 phantly. Peace and security brought joy and harmony to the peo 
 ple ; and had the authority of the mother country received a liberal 
 construction from its rulers, it is probable that the love and allegiance 
 of the colonists might have been confirmed : but a spirit of domina 
 tion prevailed, and was resisted ; power was applied to enforce 
 obedience, but it only aggravated the evil by imbittering the spirits 
 of a people, who felt themselves to be no longer children, and that 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 as such they were not regarded. The principle contended for by 
 the parliament was, the absolute " power and right of Great Britain 
 to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." Virginia was not less 
 ready than the other colonies to contest that right, and the house of 
 burgesses declared, that " no power on earth has a right to impose 
 taxes on the people, or take the smallest portion of their property, 
 without their consent, given by their representatives in parliament." 
 The parties were thus at issue, and the most zealous exertions were 
 made to defend "THE AMERICAN CAUSE." 
 
 When the first intelligence of " the Boston port bill" was received in 
 Virginia, the legislature, which was then in session, entered a solemn 
 protest against it on their journal, and appointed the first of June, 
 
 1774, the day on which it was to go into operation, as a day of fast 
 ing and prayer. That day, indeed, throughout the country, was a 
 day of humiliation and mourning. Whilst engaged in these pro 
 ceedings, they were hastily summoned by the governor to the coun 
 cil chamber, and suddenly dissolved. The next day, the 28th of 
 May. 1774, the members met, and recommended the appointing of 
 deputies from the several colonies to meet in congress to deliberate 
 on the measures which the general interests required. Deputies 
 were accordingly appointed, and congress assembled in Philadelphia 
 on the ensuing 4th of September. One of these deputies was 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. The conspicuous part he had borne in 
 the late wars, had indicated him as the most competent person to be 
 placed at the head of the independent companies formed in Virginia, 
 and when he took his seat in the general congress he was regarded 
 as the soldier of America. He was appointed on all committees in 
 which military knowledge was requisite, and when it was determined 
 to appoint a commander-in-chief, he was unanimously chosen. He 
 accepted the appointment with great diffidence, and declined all 
 compensation beyond the payment of his expenses. 
 
 He proceeded to Cambridge, near Boston, without delay, and 
 entered on the arduous duties of his station about the 1st of July, 
 
 1775. At this time the British army, under General Howe, was 
 entrenched in two divisions, at Roxbury Neck and Bunker Hill: 
 the Americans were encamped on the numerous hills around Bos 
 ton, their right extending towards Dorchester, their left covered by 
 the Medford river. The commander-in-chief found himself at the 
 head of about fourteen thousand five hundred men, variously armed, 
 without cannon, with few bayonets, and but a small supply of pow 
 der ; the officers, with few exceptions, without experience, and the 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 soldiers without discipline. All these defects were to be remedied 
 before offensive operations could commence. The emergency re 
 quired all the firmness, industry, and perseverance of WASHINGTON; 
 and although- he was indefatigable in his exertions, the organization 
 of the army and the collecting of munitions occupied the remainder 
 of the summer and the following autumn. 
 
 In the mean time the British army was closely blockaded in Bos 
 ton, and although it suffered much for supplies, remained inactive. 
 Towards the close of the year a new subject of anxiety arose ; the 
 time of service of the troops would expire with the year, and the 
 army was to be replaced by another, in the presence of a disciplined 
 enemy. To raise another army, even for one year s service, was 
 attended with many difficulties. -The enthusiastic ardor which had 
 brought the first force into the field had abated; the recollections 
 of home had revived sweet visions of domestic comfort, and the 
 wish to revisit relatives and friends often prevailed over a sense of 
 duty. As the year declined the army gradually melted away, and 
 at the beginning of 1776 the new enlistments scarcely equalled the 
 number of the British troops in Boston. Still, the public, them 
 selves deceived as well as the enemy by the exaggerated representa 
 tions of WASHINGTON S offensive means, were impatiently looking for 
 active measures. The commander was not insensible to the effects 
 of his apparent inactivity on the public mind, but it world have 
 been ruin to have explained the cause. He was determined to expel 
 the enemy from Boston as soon as a favorable opportunity should 
 present, and his views being known to congress, that body author 
 ized him to make an attack " in any way he might think expedient, 
 notwithstanding the town and property in it might be thereby 
 destroyed." The general assured congress that an attempt would be 
 made the first moment he should perceive a probability of success, 
 and prayed them to believe that circumstances, not inclination on 
 his part, occasioned the delay. "It is not," said he, "in the pages 
 of history to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post within 
 musket shot of the enemy for six months together without ammuni 
 tion ; and at the same time, to disband one army and recruit another 
 within that distance of twenty odd British regiments, is more than, 
 probably, was ever attempted. But if we succeed as well in the lat 
 ter, as we have hitherto done in the former, I shall think it the most 
 fortunate event in my whole life." About the middle of February 
 the general summoned a council, and submitted the subject of attack 
 ing the enemy in Boston by marching over the ice, which was then 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 firm enough to bear the troops, but they gave, with regret, nearly 
 an unanimous opinion against it. At length, after having received 
 a small additional supply of powder, he determined to fortify Dor 
 chester heights, which would compel the enemy to fight or abandon 
 the town. He detached a sufficient force in the night of the 4th of 
 March to take possession ; before morning the breastwork was 
 formed and the cannon mounted. When the morning light revealed 
 the new entrenchment to the British, they opened a fire upon it, 
 which was promptly returned ; Lord Percy was then ordered, with 
 about three thousand men, to dislodge the Americans ; but they were 
 delayed by a storm until the works were so strengthened that it was 
 deemed advisable to let them alone. General Howe then prepared to 
 evacuate Boston ; and WASHINGTON, confidently believing that New 
 York would be the next point of attack, detached a part of the army 
 towards that place, whilst he continued to make approaches towards 
 Boston with the remaining troops. The British evacuated the 
 town on the 17th of March, and in a few days left the harbor. 
 WASHINGTON, with the main body of his army, arrived in New 
 York on the 14th of April, and pressed forward the defences of the 
 city. Many of the inhabitants of New York were disaifected to the 
 American cause, and to add to the embarrassments the commander 
 already experienced, a part of his own guard was seduced to seize 
 his person and deliver him to the enemy, but the plot being disco 
 vered, some of the conspirators were executed. 
 
 Early in July the British army landed on Staten Island, eight 
 miles below the city of New York, where they remained about three 
 weeks, and received large reinforcements of German troops. They 
 then passed over the Narrows to Long Island, and pushed their 
 detachments across the country through Flatlands towards the sound. 
 These being opposed by a division under Generals Sullivan and Lord 
 Stirling, a severe contest ensued, but the British right having out 
 flanked the left of the Americans, the latter suffered a total defeat, 
 and took shelter within the lines at Brooklyn, which the enemy 
 immediately invested and prepared to assault, believing them to be 
 more formidable than they really were. WASHINGTON had seen the 
 latter part of this battle, and unwilling to hazard the loss of that 
 whole division, he determined to withdraw it. This he effected in 
 the night after the battle with such secrecy and despatch, that the 
 enemy were first aware of their retreat, when they perceived the 
 rear guard crossing the East river in the morning. From the com 
 mencement of the action on the 27th. until the last boat left Brook- 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 lyn on the morning of the 29th, WASHINGTON was without rest or 
 sleep ; and was most of the time on horseback. The British army 
 were within musket shot of the lines, yet such was the silence and 
 order preserved, that nine thousand men, with their arms and ammu 
 nition, and most of the provisions and cannon, were conveyed across 
 a river half a mile broad, without confusion or interruption. The 
 skilful execution of this masterly retreat has been extolled by all 
 writers on the subject. It now became necessary to evacuate New 
 York ; and after a short stand at Kingsbridge, the American army 
 took a position at Whiteplains. Here a battle was fought which was 
 not decisive j and while General Howe was waiting for a reinforce 
 ment, WASHINGTON took another position, which the British com 
 mander considered too strong to be attempted, and, after endeavoring 
 in vain to draw on an engagement on more favorable terms, he 
 changed his plan of operations, marched down the Hudson, and cap 
 tured fort Washington, on York island, making about two thousand 
 prisoners. This was a serious blow to the American cause, and 
 rendered an immediate retreat across the river imperative. Lord 
 Cornwallis, with a large force, followed so close in the rear of the 
 feeble remnant of an army which accompanied WASHINGTON into 
 New Jersey, that Fort Lee, on that side of the river, was hastily 
 abandoned, and with it nearly all the artillery and baggage. 
 
 It was now late in November; most of the New England militia 
 had returned home, their term of service having expired ; on the 
 1st of December the Maryland and Jersey levies availed themselves 
 of the same right at Brunswick, even while the enemy were in 
 sight ; the loss of their baggage, sickness, and fatigue, rendered them 
 impatient, and for a time overcame every other consideration. The 
 continental troops, wasted daily by disease and desertion, until the 
 grand army, on which hung the destinies of this continent, was 
 reduced to three thousand men, without tents or camp equipage, 
 half naked and bare-footed, disheartened by misfortunes, and even 
 hope afar off. The spirit of the commander, sustained by the reso 
 lution and firmness of his officers, carried him through this scene of 
 suffering with a countenance of calm self-possession, which saved 
 the army from immediate dissolution. On the 8th of December he 
 crossed the Delaware, and secured all the boats to prevent the pas 
 sage of the enemy. The British army entered Trenton as the last 
 boat of the Americans left it. There General Howe abandoned the 
 pursuit until the ice should bridge the river ; meanwhile he can 
 toned his army in detachments in the towns along the left bank of 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 the Delaware, and at Trenton and New Brunswick. WASHINGTON, 
 whilst gathering strength by calling in the distant divisions and 
 volunteers, with secret exultation watched the detached corps of the 
 British and Hessians, and he concerted with Gefierals Cadwallader 
 and Irving, a simultaneous attack on three of them. That which 
 was conducted by the commander-in-chief, was alone successful. 
 His troops began to cross the Delaware a few miles above Trenton, 
 about dusk on the 25th of December, when it was believed the enemy 
 would be enjoying the festive anniversary in confidence of safety. 
 The night was dark and very cold, and the passage was so retarded 
 by a high wind, a swift current and masses of floating ice, that it 
 was four o clock in the morning before they could be formed on the 
 Jersey shore. The attack was made in two columns about day 
 break ; a violent snow storm driving directly in the faces of the 
 assailants at the time. The enemy made a momentary show of 
 resistance by a wild and ill-directed fire from their quarters, and 
 attempted to form on the main street, which was prevented by the 
 fire of six pieces of artillery. " When Forrest s battery was opened," 
 says General Wilkinson, -the general kept on the left, and advanc 
 ing with it, giving objects of direction to his fire ; his position was 
 an exposed one, and he was frequently entreated to fall back, of 
 which he took no notice ; he had turned the guns on the retreating 
 enemy, when to an order for the discharge of cannister, Captain 
 Forrest observed Sir, they have struck. Struck! replied the 
 general. Yes, said Forrest, their colors are down. So they are, 
 observed the chief, and galloped towards them." A troop of British 
 dragoons, and about five hundred infantry, fled down the river. 
 The main body, after endeavoring to escape by the right towards 
 Princeton, surrendered on a summons from the general. The killed 
 and wounded of the Americans amounted to only ten. The Hessian 
 colonel, Rahl, with six other officers and about forty men, were 
 killed, and twenty-three officers and nearly one thousand men, 
 made prisoners, with their arms and accoutrements, cannon, &c., 
 all which were safely conveyed across the Delaware. 
 
 This achievement changed the aspect of the war, raised the de 
 sponding spirits of the people, and inspired the army with renewed 
 zeal. The prisoners having been disposed of, WASHINGTON returned 
 to Trenton. Cornwallis, with an army whose strength gave him a 
 confidence of victory, approached on the afternoon of the 2d of Jan 
 uary, 1777, and was met with firmness by detachments of Americans 
 who disputed his approach with great gallantry, but whose only object 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 was to wear away the day without the risk of a general engagement 
 Night at length suspended the fight, while the hostile armies were 
 separated only by the narrow stream over which the last detachment 
 of Americans had been forced. The watch fires were lighted, guards 
 doubled, a fatigue party set to work on an entrenchment within 
 hearing of the enemy s sentinels, and every appearance kept up of a 
 determination to abide the result of a battle on the morrow : but at 
 midnight, WASHINGTON moved his little army, by an indirect routa 
 towards Princeton, where was posted a large detachment of British 
 troops. This manoeuvre was not discovered by the enemy until 
 morning, when the firing at Princeton announced that the American 
 army was nine miles in their rear, and their magazines at Brunswick 
 in danger of destruction. Early on the morning of the 3d, the 
 advance of the American army encountered the seventeenth British 
 regiment near Princeton, and after a short action, gave way ; WASH 
 INGTON now formed his troops into a close column, and placing 
 himself at their head, he led them into action. The struggle was 
 short, but fierce and obstinate. The seventeenth regiment was 
 nearly annihilated ; two other British regiments threw themselves 
 into the college, which they soon abandoned, and made a precipitate 
 retreat towards Brunswick with very little loss. They were followed 
 as far as Kingston, and it was the desire of every officer to strike at 
 the enemy s post, at New Brunswick ; but the men were too much 
 exhausted by hunger, cold, and fatigue, to warrant the attempt; 
 besides which, the enemy from Trenton were exchanging shot with 
 the rear guard. The army was, therefore, conducted by the way of 
 Rocky Hill and Somerville, to Morristown, where they went into 
 winter quarters. Here, with never more, but often less than one 
 thousand regulars, and about two thousand militia, WASHINGTON 
 kept the enemy in check, although they occupied their line of posts 
 from Brunswick to New York with twenty-five thousand men. 
 
 But the spirit of the citizens of New Jersey was now roused to 
 exertion, not only by the successes of their countrymen, but also oy 
 the insults, injuries, and cruelty of the foe, particularly the Hessian 
 troops, who had overrun the middle counties of that state. Taught 
 by the bitter experience of the " protection" afforded by that licentious 
 soldiery, the militia of New Jersey watched every opportunity to 
 strike the enemy wherever their foraging or reconnoitering parties 
 appeared, and their frequent success greatly relieved the commander- 
 in-chief, who again had to encounter the evils arising from short 
 enlistments. He had often remonstrated with congress against the 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 practice of engaging men for a single year, but the prejudices of the 
 country against a standing army were difficult to overcome. Rely 
 ing, however, on the integrity and wisdom of the commander, he 
 was, two days after the battle of Trenton, invested with full powers 
 to raise sixteen battalions of infantry, three thousand cavalry, three 
 regiments of artillery, and a corps of engineers; to establish their pay. 
 form magazines, appoint and displace officers, under the rank of 
 brigadier-generals, at his pleasure ; and to take whatever he might 
 want, wherever he might be, for the use of the army ; in short, so 
 far as the army was concerned, his powers were almost dictatorial 
 for the period of six months. 
 
 After the British forces had obtained possession of New York, 
 their next object had been Philadelphia ; in this they had been 
 hitherto effectually baffled. In the spring of 1777 the attempt was 
 renewed, but all their manoeuvres to draw the American army from 
 their advantageous position in the hills were ineffectual, and after 
 some trials of skill between the hostile commanders, the British 
 resorted to their ships. They embarked from New York in July, 
 and entering the Chesapeake, landed at the head of Elk on the 25th 
 of August, and marched towards Philadelphia. At the Brandy wine, 
 WASHINGTON opposed their progress on the 10th of September, but 
 was compelled to retire with considerable loss. On the sixteenth, he 
 once more determined to risk an engagement to save Philadelphia, 
 but a storm of unusual violence obliged him to retire, as is stated in 
 our sketch of the life of General Wayne, who commanded the 
 attack. On the twenty-fifth of the same month, the British general 
 took possession of Philadelphia, and soon after formed an encamp 
 ment at Germantown. For the particulars of the battle which was 
 fought there, we refer (for the sake of avoiding unnecessary repeti 
 tion) to the life of Colonel Howard. The British forces being con 
 centrated in Philadelphia, and their ships, after some gallant resist 
 ance, having obtained command of the Delaware, WASHINGTON 
 took a strong position at White Marsh. Sir William Howe, although 
 in command of a vastly superior force, found himself so much 
 restricted by the proximity of the American army, which shut him 
 oat from a rich, and, to him, necessary country for supplies, that he 
 marched out to attack it, hoping to take it by surprise, but he was 
 foiled in his attempt, and returned to Philadelphia. Determined to 
 defend the country from depredation, WASHINGTON selected Valley 
 Forge for winter quarters. Here, while the foe were luxuriating 
 in the comfortable quarters of a populous and wealthy city, the 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Americans were sheltered in huts of their own fabrication, and fre 
 quently suffered the extremity of want. The commissary s depart 
 mentimperfectly organized for want of experience had given 
 cause for frequent complaints j congress, by endeavoring to apply a 
 remedy, increased the distress of the troops, so that very frequently 
 their movements were prevented, and the plans of the commander 
 consequently embarrassed. He frequently and earnestly remon 
 strated ; but the evil was not, and, indeed, could not be immediately 
 obviated, without causing much distress in other quarters. Congress 
 authorized the seizure of provisions within seventy miles of head 
 quarters, and although WASHINGTON was compelled by the necessi 
 ties of his army to avail himself of the authority, he exercised it 
 with so much reluctance and forbearance, that the wants of the 
 troops were scarcely satisfied, and congress appeared as much dissa 
 tisfied with his lenity to the people, as the inhabitants were by what 
 they considered a rigorous exercise of power. At this time a party 
 was formed in congress to remove the commander-in-chief ; a few 
 officers of the army encouraged the discontents, by comparing the 
 services of WASHINGTON with those of General Gates, forgetting, 
 in their zeal, the fact, that the one had repeatedly fought a superior 
 force, and that the other, though a conqueror, had gained his laurels 
 with an army, regulars and militia, of nearly three times the nume 
 rical strength of his opponents. The legislature of Pennsylvania, 
 too, added their voice to the dissention, by remonstrating against the 
 army removing into winter quarters. But the machinations of fac 
 tion were vain. The commander possessed the confidence of the 
 country, and was beloved by the army ; and even the troops who had 
 served under General Gates, expressed their indignation at the idea 
 of a change. The only effect produced in the country, was a uni 
 versal excitement of resentment against those who were believed to 
 be inimical to the chief. Whilst these combinations of intrigue and 
 ambition were progressing, the sufferings of the army were not 
 ameliorated, and they at length drew from the commander a com 
 munication to congress of unprecedented plainness and energy. He 
 stated his conviction that unless some great change took place in the 
 commissary s department, the army would inevitably be reduced to 
 starvation or dissolution that there was not in the camp a single 
 head of cattle to be slaughtered, and not more than twenty-five 
 barrels of flour, nor could the commissary tell when any might be 
 expected ; and, that three or four days of bad weather would prove 
 their destruction that there were near three thousand men in camp 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 unfit for duty, because they were barefooted and otherwise naked, 
 besides those confined in the hospitals and in farm houses on the 
 same account. He charged it home to those who had remonstrated 
 against his going into winter quarters, that they knew the nakedness 
 of the troops from ocular demonstration. " I can assure those gen 
 tlemen," said he, " that it is much easier and less distressing to draw 
 remonstrances in a comfortable room, by a good fireside, than to 
 occupy a cold bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow without 
 clothes or blankets ; however, although they seem to have little feel 
 ing for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel superabundantly for 
 them, and from my soul pity those miseries which it is not in my 
 power either to relieve or prevent." 
 
 The exertions which were made by congress and the state govern 
 ments, at length afforded relief, but in the mean time the army was 
 supported only by the impressments of its detachments. 
 
 As the spring approached, unwearied diligence was used to pre 
 pare for the ensuing campaign. The troops received instruction 
 from the Baron Steuben, a Prussian officer of great merit, and every 
 possible effort was made to establish order, regularity, and discipline. 
 Early in May, 177.8, the intelligence was received, that France had 
 recognised the independence of the United States by treaty, and the 
 additional information, that although war between France and 
 Great Britain had not been formally declared, it had commenced in 
 fact. It was soon after known that a naval force, which had been 
 preparing in the French ports in anticipation of this event, was to 
 act on the American waters. This rendered Philadelphia an unsafe 
 position to the British army, and Sir Henry Clinton, who about, this 
 time assumed the command, made immediate preparation to eva 
 cuate it. 
 
 He crossed the Delaware on the 18th of June, and slowly retired 
 through New Jersey. WASHINGTON put his army in motion, and 
 crossed the river a few miles above, and advanced on a line parallel 
 to his adversary, with whom he was earnestly desirous to close, but 
 in this he was opposed by the advice of his general officers ; when, 
 however, the enemy reached Monmouth court house, the spirit of 
 enterprise, which had been so long restrained, determined him not to 
 let the opportunity pass of once more striking at the foe. He ac 
 cordingly took measures to draw on an engagement, and the battle 
 of Monmouth was fought on the 28th of June. After a keenly con 
 tested action, both armies, overpowered by fatigue and the excessive 
 heat of the day, suspended the combat on the approach of evening. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 as by mutual consent. WASHINGTON, wrapped in his cloak, lay 
 that night on the field in the midst of his soldiers, ready to renew 
 the battle in the morning ; but the enemy, under cover of the night, 
 retired in silence, leaving two hundred and forty-nine of their dead 
 on the field. The British army embarked at Sandy Hook, and 
 sailed to New York, and the Americans once more took a position 
 on the banks of the Hudson. 
 
 From this period until the summer of 1780, WASHINGTON was 
 not present at any of the active operations of the war these being 
 chiefly conducted in the states south of the Chesapeake ; in the mean 
 time, " the wretched policy of short enlistments" laid him under the 
 disadvantage of raising a new army every year, under circumstances 
 of difficulty constantly increasing, until it had become almost impos 
 sible to raise one at all. The alliance with France had induced the 
 pleasing delusion in the public mind, that the war was in a measure 
 over ; that as the independence of the United States had been recog 
 nised by that nation, it must soon cease to be disputed by Great 
 Britain. The enthusiasm of the people had subsided they no 
 longer viewed the cause as one in which each individual had to act 
 a part in person, but as a common cause which all were to pay for : 
 besides which, " the pernicious divisions and factions in congress" 
 were fomented and increased until the prospect of a happy issue 
 appeared to the chief more gloomy than at any former period. " I 
 have seen without despondence," said he in private letter, " even for 
 a moment, the hours which America has styled her gloomy ones ; 
 but I have beheld no day since the commencement of hostilities, 
 when I have thought her liberties in such danger as at present. 
 Friends and foes seem now to combine to pull down the goodly 
 fabric we have hitherto been raising at the expense of so much time, 
 blood, and treasure ; and unless the bodies politic will exert them 
 selves to bring things, back to first principles, correct abuses, and 
 punish our internal foes, inevitable ruin must follow. Indeed, we 
 seem to be verging so fast to destruction, that I am filled with sensa 
 tions, to which I have been a stranger until these three months. Our 
 enemies behold with exultation and joy, how effectually we labor 
 for their benefit ; and from being in a state of absolute despair, and 
 on the point of evacuating America, are now on tiptoe. Nothing, 
 therefore, in my judgment, can save us but a total reformation in our 
 own conduct, or some decisive turn of affairs in Europe. The 
 former, alas ! to our shame be it spoken, is less likely to happen than 
 the latter, as it is now consistent with the views of the speculators, 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 various tribes of money makers, and stock jobbers of all denomina 
 tions, to continue the war for their own private emolument, without 
 considering that this avarice and thirst for gain must plunge every 
 thing, including themselves, in one common ruin." These causes 
 certainly protracted the war, and encouraged the enemy to persevere. 
 They determined to turn their force against the less populous states 
 of the south, where their friends and foes were more equally balanced, 
 and where opposition from the eastern states must be brought at 
 great expense and loss of time. 
 
 But early in May, 1780, a change came over the aspect of affairs, 
 which revived the latent energies and hopes of the country. Lafay 
 ette, after serving in the army with WASHINGTON from the battle 
 of Brandy wine to that of Monmouth, had returned to France, where 
 he had made such a representation of American transactions, as had 
 inspired his countrymen with his own generous sentiments now 
 presented himself in the American camp, with the promise from the 
 king of speedy assistance by land and sea. In July, a French 
 squadron under M. de Ternay, with between five and six thousand 
 troops under the Count de Rochambeau, arrived at Newport. That 
 no difficulties might arise between the allied forces, WASHINGTON 
 had been invested with the chief command of his most Christian 
 majesty s troops in America. Whilst the French ships lay at New 
 port, waiting the arrival of a reinforcement, several British ships of the 
 line joined the fleet at New York, and gave it such a decided supe 
 riority, that the admiral sailed to Rhode Island to attack Ternay, 
 and Sir Henry Clinton, with a great number of troops, proceeded 
 some distance up the sound to cooperate by land. WASHINGTON 
 immediately put his army in motion, and rapidly advanced towards 
 Kingsbridge, but the sudden return of the British troops disappointed 
 the hopes which had been formed of seizing New York in their 
 absence. To recover that city, however, was a measure still con 
 templated by the commander-in-chief, and he took possession of the 
 ground and threw up some works at Dobbs ferry, ten miles above 
 Kingsbridge ; but the French squadron continuing to be blockaded 
 in Newport by a superior force, prevented that concert of action which 
 had been arranged with Rochambeau, and the season for active 
 operations passed away without any important result. The army 
 kept the field until December, when it retired to winter quarters. 
 But winter quarters to the American soldiers, gave but a change of 
 toils and an increase of suffering. The present season, like those 
 which had preceded it, found them deficient of supplies often 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 entirely without food, exposed to the rigors of winter without suita 
 ble clothing, and without pay for the services of the year. The long 
 suffering patience of the army was at length exhausted, discontent 
 spread through the ranks, venting itself in murmurs and complaints, 
 and finally in an extensive revolt. This is not the place to recount 
 the scenes which followed in consequence of the short sighted policy 
 of the government, and the tardy movements of the states. We 
 would not divert a line of our brief space from the direct purpose in 
 hand, but so intimately blended is the life of WASHINGTON with 
 the history of his time, that one cannot be entirely separated from 
 the other ; besides which, it is due to the character of the army of 
 the revolution that the record should here be made, and our sympa 
 thy for other nations should never efface the transcript from our 
 hearts that for manly bearing and patient endurance, under trials 
 and sufferings of every possible variety, in the main body and its 
 divisions whether in long and painful marches, in hunger, naked 
 ness, poverty, or disease, in hospitals or in prison ships, in battle 
 with the enemy, or in winter quarters, apparently neglected by their 
 countrymen that army has never been surpassed. 
 
 France, South America, Greece, Poland and Hungary, have since 
 excited our sensibilities by their struggles for liberty, and the silent 
 aspirations of our hearts, and the open actions of our hands, have 
 borne testimony to our deep-felt interest in their success ; but there 
 is a duty which we owe at home akin to filial gratitude to treat 
 the few survivors of our revolutionary soldiery with profound vene 
 ration, and to lengthen the evening of their days by a kind attention 
 to their wants. 
 
 In every situation in which WASHINGTON was placed during the 
 momentous conflict, he adapted his means to the proposed end with 
 equal firmness and judgment, and the winter of 1780-81 as fully 
 tested his qualities as a military commander, under circumstances 
 of peculiar hazard, as any other period of his command. With his 
 army in the condition we have stated, (one half of which dissolved 
 as usual on the first of January,) the main body of the British army 
 in New York, with the Hudson open to their ships, he yet managed 
 to suppress a mutiny ; to keep his army in force ; to check the ope 
 rations of the enemy ; to carry on an extensive correspondence with 
 his detached officers, numerous influential individuals, and the state 
 governments, by which he obtained funds to pay his soldiers in 
 part ; and, in addition, he made time to impress on the court of Ver 
 sailles his own views of the present and future capabilities of the 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 country, and particularly pressing the importance of an immediate 
 and ample supply of money, and the maintenance of a naval supe 
 riority on the American waters. 
 
 As the spring advanced, WASHINGTON S plans were still directed 
 against New York, that being the stronghold of the enemy s power 
 in the northern states ; and he confidently believed, if that could be 
 reduced, the war would speedily terminate. For several months a 
 predatory war had been carried on in the lower counties of Virginia 
 by divisions of the British arrny, under Arnold and Phillips. When 
 Cornwallis advanced from Carolina and took command there about 
 the middle of May, he continued to carry on his operations with 
 vigor, and although he gained no permanent advantage, he destroy 
 ed an immense amount of property. About the 1st of June, the 
 campaign opened on the Hudson ; the French auxiliaries advanced 
 and formed a junction with the Americans, preparatory to a grand 
 attack on New York. At this time, Sir Henry Clinton, being alarm 
 ed at the serious danger which menaced his position, recalled a part 
 of his troops from Virginia ; on this, Cornwallis retired to Ports 
 mouth, but a reinforcement of near three thousand European troops 
 arriving at New York, Clinton countermanded his orders, and 
 directed Cornwallis to take a position on the Chesapeake and be 
 ready to act on the neighboring states. A variety of circumstances, 
 beyond the control of the commander-in-chief, rendering the project 
 ed enterprise against New York of doubtful expedience, his attention 
 was turned towards the south, and when he learnt that de Grasse, 
 with a large French fleet with three thousand soldiers on board, was 
 to sail from Cape Francois to the Chesapeake, the naval superiority 
 which would be thus obtained decided him in favor of southern 
 operations. He directed Lafayette so to dispose of the forces in 
 Virginia, that Cornwallis could not escape to Charleston, should he 
 make the attempt ; but the British commander, looking towards the 
 sea-board for relief, as well as in compliance with his orders, collected 
 his whole force, and entrenched himself at Yorktown. 
 
 WASHINGTON, after providing for the defence of the posts on the 
 Hudson, led his army down the west side of that river, so as to mask 
 his intention by exciting apprehensions for Staten Island, and it was 
 not until he had passed the Delaware, that his real object was sus 
 pected by the British commander. When the allied army reached 
 the Chesapeake, the French fleet had already arrived there, and the 
 necessary preparations for the investment of Yorktown being: complet 
 ed in a few days, on the night of the 6th of October, the first parallel 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 was commenced within six hundred yards of the British lines, and 
 the siege was pressed with such effective vigor, that on the 17th, 
 Cornwallis, finding his position no longer tenable, beat a parley ; and 
 on the 19th, surrendered. The army, amounting to seven thousand 
 men, with their arms, military chest, and public stores, were surren 
 dered to WASHINGTON ; the ships and seamen to the Count de Grasse. 
 This was the last military achievement in which the commander- in- 
 chief was personally engaged. 
 
 Happily for the United States, the people of Great Britain, weary 
 of the protracted and unsuccessful conflict, now became clamorous 
 for peace ; the determination of the king and his ministers at length 
 o*ave way to the popular will ; and negotiations were commenced 
 on the basis of the independence of the thirteen provinces. The 
 overruling care of a beneficent providence had been manifested in 
 numerous events of the war, but in none more plainly than in this, 
 that when the means of maintaining an organized resistance failed, 
 they ceased to be necessary. But the prospect of p^ace and inde 
 pendence was dimmed by the abject poverty of the country, and by 
 the gloomy fears of the course the army might adopt when its re 
 duction should be ordered. For a long time it had been sustained 
 oy temporary expedients, and through 1782 almost the whole 
 receipts of the treasury had been devoted to its subsistence alone. 
 To pay the troops was impossible, and yet the public faith had 
 been pledged, not only for their pay, but for half pay for life to the 
 officers. This pledge had retained them in the field to the ruin of 
 their private affairs ; but it appeared certain that when they should 
 be disbanded, the funds for that purpose would never be supplied 
 as the requisite number of " the sovereign states" had not concurred 
 in the measure. 
 
 As the negotiations for peace advanced, the irritation of the army 
 increased. WASHINGTON saw the gathering storm, and determined 
 to remain with the troops and give the weight of his influence to 
 preserve the tranquillity of the country, although his presence in the 
 camp had otherwise ceased to be necessary. In a private letter to 
 the secretary of war, after expressing his conviction that the officers 
 would return to private life with alacrity, could they be placed in 
 suitable circumstances, he adds, "when I see such a number of 
 men, goaded by a thousand stings of reflection on the past, and anti 
 cipation of the future, about to be turned into the world, soured by 
 penury, and what they call the ingratitude of the public j involved 
 in debt, without one farthing of money to carry them home, after 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 having spent the flower of their days, and many of them their pa 
 trimonies, in establishing the freedom and independence of their 
 country ; and having suffered every thing which human nature is 
 capable of enduring on this side of death. I repeat it, when I reflect 
 on these irritating circumstances, unattended by one thing to sooth 
 their feelings, or brighten the gloomy prospect, I cannot avoid ap 
 prehending that a train of evils will follow of a very serious nature." 
 
 In December, 1782, when the army was settled in winter quarters 
 near the Hudson, the important crisis approached. A general 
 opinion prevailed that congress possessed neither the power nor 
 the inclination to comply with its engagements to the army, and the 
 officers, with a desire of removing the obnoxious features of the half 
 pay establishment without foregoing their own rights, solicited from 
 congress the payment of the money actually due them, and a com 
 mutation of the half pay for a sum in gross. Three months passed 
 away without any prospect of relief; in the mean time the intelli 
 gence of peace was received. The irritable temper of the army now 
 seemed to require but a slight impulse to impel it to a haughty de 
 mand of justice from th? constituted authorities, or to assume the 
 power of redressing their own grievances by some desperate effort. 
 A meeting of the officers was called by an anonymous notice, and an 
 address to the army was privately circulated, which was well calcu 
 lated to inflame their passions and determine them to immediate 
 action, " courting the auspices and inviting the direction of their 
 illustrious leader." Fortunately the patriotism of " their illustrious 
 leader" was far above the comprehension of that ambition which 
 might have influenced a less noble spirit to " pass the Rubicon." At 
 that moment the destinies of his country were undoubtedly in his 
 keeping, and wisely great in resolution as in action, he turned the 
 threatened evil to the glory of his country. The storm was still 
 ed ; the army was disbanded ; and on the 4th of December, the 
 chief bid adieu to his officers in New York. Endeared to each 
 other by years of affectionate intercourse in peril and in triumph, the 
 hour of their separation was solemn and affecting ; the thoughts and 
 feelings of the party too intense for utterance were expressed only 
 by the silent tear, the warm grasp of the hand, and the quick pulsa 
 tion of heart pressed to heart. 
 
 Every duty of the station to which he had been appointed, being 
 now fulfilled, WASHINGTON hastened to Annapolis, where congress 
 was then in session, and on the 23d, at an audience appointed for 
 the purpose, he returned his commission to the hands from which 
 
 19 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 he had received it. Thus displaying the sublime spectacle of a tri 
 umphant warrior in the fulness of his fame, divesting himself of 
 power, and dedicating the laurels he had won, upon the altar of his 
 country. By his skill, firmness, perseverance, and industry ; and by 
 the happy union of prudence with courage, and a correct judgment 
 with a spirit of enterprise, he had given liberty, peace, and a name 
 among nations to his country ; but by this last act of public virtue, 
 he consummated his own glory, and "changed mankind s idea of 
 political greatness." Every age has had its hero, but as a perfect 
 pattern of pure, disinterested patriotism, WASHINGTON, as yet, re 
 mains without a parallel in the annals of the world. To call him 
 great, would be to class him with the Alexanders, the Cassars, and 
 the Fredericks of other nations, he is therefore more justly, appropri 
 ately, and affectionately designated as " the father of his country." 
 
 WASHINGTON, having retired to Mount Yernon, he devoted his 
 attention to the improvement of his plantation, with a resolution 
 never again to appear in public life. " The scene is at length closed," 
 said he, three days after his arrival there, " I feel myself eased of a 
 load of public care, and hope to spend the remainder of my days in 
 cultivating the affections of good men, and the practice of the domes 
 tic virtues." With a mind capable of the most enlarged views, he 
 traced the broad map of his country, and pointed out its capabilities 
 and future greatness. In a letter to the earl of Buchan, written 
 while engaged in promoting some works of immediate utility, he 
 said, " if left undisturbed, we shall open a communication by water 
 with all the lakes northward and westward of us, with which we 
 have territorial connexions ; and an inland in a few years more from 
 Rhode Island to Georgia ;" at the same time he regarded with atten 
 tion every improvement in the economy of the farmer. 
 
 But the country was not at rest, and WASHINGTON had been too 
 deeply interested in all that concerned it, to be allowed to withdraw 
 his attention entirely from public affairs ; indeed, the embarrassments 
 of the government gave him great anxiety. While the general go 
 vernment was dependent on the separate action of thirteen indepen 
 dent state sovereignties, it struggled with difficulties which could not 
 be removed, and it was soon discovered that the whole fabric must 
 fall to ruin, or a new system be adopted. On this subject there ex 
 isted a diversity of opinions in the country, which rendered the result 
 for a long time doubtful. Tumults, insurrections, and commotions 
 agitated all reflecting men. At length a convention was held at 
 Philadelphia by the representatives of twelve states ; WASHINGTON 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 was unanimously chosen president, and after a session of about four 
 months, the present national constitution was framed, which being 
 afterwards approved by tli3 people of eleven states, became the su 
 preme law. 
 
 No sooner were the public in possession of this instrument, than 
 their attention was directed to WASHINGTON as the only man to be 
 placed at the head of the nation. His consent was hard to win ; but 
 overcome by the entreaties of personal friends, and in obedience to 
 the voice of the people, he once more gave himself to their service, 
 and was unanimously elected the first president of the United States. 
 " I wish," said he, when his election was announced, " that there 
 may not be reason for regretting the choice, for indeed all I can 
 promise, is to accomplish that which can be done by an honest zeal." 
 Two days after, he " bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and 
 domestic felicity," and proceeded to the seat of government. 
 
 His progress from Alexandria to New York was marked by demon 
 strations of veneration and affection : the manner of his reception at 
 Trenton, was so truly appropriate and affecting, that it deserves 
 especial notice. In addition to the usual military compliments, the 
 bridge over the creek running through the town was covered by a 
 triumphal arch supported by thirteen pillars, entwined and orna 
 mented with flowers and laurel, and bearing on the front in large 
 gilt letters, 
 
 THE DEFENDER OP THE MOTHERS 
 
 WILL BE THE 
 
 PROTECTOR OF THE DAUGHTERS. 
 
 Here were assembled the mothers and daughters, dressed in white, 
 each bearing a basket of flowers, which were strown before the chief, 
 while they sang in chorus, 
 
 Welcome, mighty chief, once more 
 Welcome to this grateful shore ; 
 Now no mercenary foe 
 Aims again the fatal blow, 
 Aims at thee the fatal blow. 
 
 Virgins fair and matrons grave, 
 Those thy conquering arms did save, 
 Build for thee triumphal bowers ; 
 Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers, 
 Strew your hero s way with flowers. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1789, WASHINGTON arrived at New York, 
 and on the 30th was inaugurated in the presence of an immense con 
 course of citizens, who rent the air with joyous acclamations. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 His administration of the new government commenced under the 
 pressure of numerous embarrassments ; an empty treasury, millions 
 of debt, domestic agitation, and foreign intrigue. The president 
 filled the departments with able men, solely selected with a reference 
 to justice and public good, and gave that cast to the administration 
 of national affairs, which all his successors however most of them 
 may have differed from him in abstract opinions have found it 
 necessary to adopt and practice on great and important occasions. 
 
 In the fall of that year WASHINGTON visited the New England 
 states, and experienced great satisfaction in witnessing the prosper 
 ous and happy condition of the people; in this tour he omitted 
 Rhode Island, as that state had not then adopted the federal consti 
 tution, but he visited it in the following year ; after which he retired 
 to Mount Yernon, as the great change in his habits of life, and his 
 close application to the duties of his station, had so much impaired 
 his health, that a respite from official cares was not to be deferred. 
 In 1791, he passed through the southern states, executing on his 
 route the power invested in him of selecting the place for the future 
 capital of the nation. 
 
 Although the constitution had been adopted by a majority of the 
 people in all the states, there yet remained a strong party in most of 
 them, jealous of the power of the government of the union, and zeal 
 ous in their attachments to state sovereignty ; men of the highest 
 talents and purest integrity were divided in their opinions on this 
 fundamental principle, which all the improvement in the condition 
 of the country could not reconcile. Domestic prosperity and a few 
 years of tranquillity might have allayed the violence of party excite 
 ment, but the turn of European affairs gave it a new impulse and a 
 wider range. 
 
 When the French revolution began, it was hailed in America as 
 the dawn of liberty in Europe ; and as there were parts of the Bri 
 tish treaty of peace which had not been promptly executed by that 
 power, there existed a strong inclination to favor France. WASH 
 INGTON decided on a neutral course, and the friends of the adminis 
 tration on this point, and the opposition, very generally became 
 identified with the federal and anti-federal parties. The firmness 
 and prudence of the president, aided by his weight of character, 
 preserved the country from being precipitated into a war, but it was 
 for a long time doubtful whether he would be able to withstand the 
 tide of popular inclination. 
 
 22 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 The time for a new election having 1 arrived. WASHINGTON was 
 
 O 
 
 again unanimously chosen president. 
 
 We cannot enter upon the political history of this period, without 
 stepping beyond the limits of our plan, and at last falling short of a 
 satisfactory narrative. Of the sincerity of his opinions, the fact is 
 sufficient that at the call of his country, he surrendered his choice 
 of life, and risking his popularity and influence, as in the revolution 
 he had risked his life and fortune, when all might be lost and, per 
 sonally, nothing to be gained; of the wisdom of his measures, every 
 succeeding year has borne ample testimony ; of the deep, unwaver 
 ing love he bore his country, his whole life gave evidence. He 
 sought to execute the trust reposed in him by the people, honestly ; 
 to give a regular operation to the political machine, without violence 
 and without intrigue. No machiavelian policy, no state trickery 
 was practised ; his friends and his foes always knew where to find 
 him, and foreign powers learned to rely as much on his integrity as 
 his own constituents. He had no local partialities to gratify, no 
 local interests to subserve : he thought and acted for the welfare of 
 
 / O 
 
 the whole, as a nation, which was about to take its rank in the scale 
 of empires, and on whose future character and destinies, his admi 
 nistration must have an enduring influence. 
 
 When the second term of office was about to expire, WASHINGTON 
 declined a reelection ; and, with an anxiety worthy of his character, 
 to render a lasting benefit to his country, he published a valedictory 
 address, in which he warned, admonished, and advised, with the af 
 fectionate earnestness of a father and the sagacity of a sage, to guard 
 against foreign influence, to avoid all interference with European 
 politics, and the baneful violence of party spirit and sectional 
 jealousy ; above all, he urged the importance of " cherishing a cor 
 dial, habitual, and immovable attachment to the UNION, as the main 
 pillar in the edifice of independence, the support of tranquillity at 
 home and peace abroad ; of safety, prosperity, and liberty." 
 
 After witnessing the inauguration of Mr. Adams as his successor 
 in office, WASHINGTON hastened to seek at Mount Vernon that calm 
 felicity, that happy retirement, which he had long fondly anticipated; 
 but the din of war soon broke in upon the tranquil shades of his retreat. 
 The spirit of the veteran soldier was roused by the insults offered to 
 his country by France, and laying aside all considerations of age or 
 ease, he accepted the chief command of the army of the United 
 States, on condition that he should not be called into the field until 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 his presence became indispensable ; that necessity never occurred, but 
 before peace was restored, WASHINGTON was no more. 
 
 On the night of the 13th of December, 1799, (having been exposed 
 to a shower in the morning,) he was attacked by an inflammatory 
 affection of the throat, and in twenty-four hours after, the first lumi 
 nary of America was removed to a higher, brighter, happier sphere. 
 
 The shock of this event fell upon the country with the unexpected 
 suddenness of an earthquake ; dismay and affliction suspended all 
 business ; all ages and classes united in sorrow, and in demonstrations 
 of veneration and love. 
 
 On the 18th the remains of Washington were deposited in the 
 family vault at Mount Vernon, a spot now held sacred by the whole 
 civilized world. Men high in rank, from every quarter of the globe, 
 continue to visit his tomb, there to weep over the truth, that even the 
 most eminent of the human race are mortal. A grateful country will 
 take care that the grave of Washington shall never be neglected. 
 
 Having thus sketched the chief events in the life of this extraordinary 
 man, very little more seems to be required : the value, the importance, 
 the results of that life, are before the world. Instead of thirteen scat 
 tered, oppressed, and degraded colonies, struggling in poverty, and 
 united only by the resolution to be free we have a glorious land, 
 stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, presenting already more 
 than thirty free, rich, and independent states, and the prospect of 
 attaining population, intelligence and wealth, far beyond what the 
 world has ever yet seen. 
 
 We close in the language applied to Washington, used by Marshall 
 and Adams: "Favored of heaven, he departed without exhibiting the 
 weakness of humanity ; magnanimous in death, the darkness of the 
 grave could not obscure his brightness." " For himself, he had lived 
 long enough to life and to glory ; for his fellow citizens, if their prayers 
 could have been answered, he would have been immortal." 
 
 24 
 

MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON. 
 
 DESCENDED from an ancient family, which first migrated to the 
 colony of Virginia, in the person of the Reverend Orlando Jones, a 
 clergyman of Wales : MARTHA DANDRIDGE was born in the county 
 of New Kent, colony of Virginia, in May, 1732. The education of 
 females, in the early days of the colonial settlements, was almost 
 exclusively of a domestic character, and by instructors who were 
 entertained in the principal families, that were too few and too " far 
 between" to admit of the establishment of public schools. Of the 
 early life of Miss DANDRIDGE, we are only able to record, that the 
 young lady excelled in personal charms, which, with pleasing man 
 ners, and a general amiability of demeanor, caused her to be distin 
 guished amid the fair ones who usually assembled at the court of 
 Williamsburg, then held by the royal governors of Virginia. 
 
 At seventeen years of age, or in 1749, Miss DANDRIDGE was 
 married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of the White House, county 
 of New Kent. This was a match of affection. The father of the 
 bridegroom, the Honorable John Custis, of Arlington, a king s coun 
 sellor, had matrimonial views of a more ambitious character for his 
 only son and heir, and was desirous of a connection with the Byrd 
 family, of Westover, Colonel Byrd being, at that time, from his 
 influence and vast possessions, almost a count palatine of Virginia. 
 The counsellor having at length given his consent, the newly mar 
 ried pair settled at the White House, on the banks of the Pamunkey 
 river, where Colonel Custis became an eminently successful planter. 
 The fruits of this marriage were, a girl, who died in infancy, and 
 Daniel, Martha, and John. Daniel was a child of much promise, 
 and it was generally believed, that his untimely death hastened his 
 father to the grave. Martha arrived at womanhood, and died at 
 Mount Vernon in 1770, and John, the father of the biographer,* 
 
 *GEORGE W. P. CUSTIS, Esq., of Arlington, D. C. 
 i 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 perished while in the service of his country, and the suite of the 
 commander-in-chief, at the siege of Yorktown, 1781, aged twenty- 
 seven. 
 
 On the decease of her husband, which happened at about middle 
 age, MRS. CUSTIS found herself at once a very young, and among 
 the very wealthiest widows in the colony. Independently of exten 
 sive and valuable landed estates, the colonel left thirty thousand 
 pounds sterling in money, with half that amount to his only daughter, 
 Martha. It is related of this amiable gentleman, that, when on his 
 death bed, he sent for a tenant, to whom, in settling an account, he 
 was due one shilling. The tenant begged that the colonel, who had 
 ever been most kind to his tenantry, would not trouble himself at all 
 about such a trifle, as he, the tenant, had forgotten it long ago. "But 
 I have not," rejoined the just and conscientious landlord, and bidding 
 his creditor take up the coin, which had been purposely placed on 
 his pillow, exclaimed, " Now my accounts are all closed with this 
 world:" and shortly after expired. MRS. CUSTIS, as sole executrix, 
 managed the extensive landed and pecuniary concerns of the estates 
 with surprising ability, making loans, on mortgage, of moneys, and, 
 through her stewards and agents, conducting the sales or exporta 
 tion of the crops, to the best possible advantage. 
 
 While on the subject of the moneyed concerns of seventy years ago, 
 we hope to be pardoned for a brief digression. The orchard of line 
 apple trees is yet standing near Bladensburg, that was presented to 
 a Mr. Ross, by the father of the late venerated Charles Carroll of 
 Carrollton, as a recompense for Mr. Ross s having introduced to Mr. 
 Carroll a good borrower of his money. A Colonel T., one of the 
 ancient dons of Maryland, being observed riding over the race course 
 of Annapolis in a very disturbed and anxious manner, was accosted 
 by his friends, with a " What s the matter, colonel ? Are you alarmed 
 for the success of your filly, about to start ?" " Oh no," replied T., 
 "but I have a thousand pounds by me, to loan, and here have I been 
 riding about the course the whole morning, and not a single bor 
 rower can I get for my money." We opine, that the same anxieties 
 would not be long suffered now. 
 
 It was in 1758, that an officer, attired in a military undress, and 
 attended by a body servant, tall and militaire as his chief, crossed 
 the ferry called Williams , over the Pamunkey, a branch of the York 
 iver. On the boat touching the southern, or New Kent side, the 
 soldiers progress was arrested by one of those personages, who give 
 the beau ideal of the Virginia gentleman of the old regime, the very 
 
MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON. 
 
 soul of kindliness and hospitality. It was in vain the soldier urged 
 his business at Williamsburg, important communications to the 
 governor, &c. Mr. Chamberlayne, on whose domain the militaire 
 had just landed, would hear of no excuse. Colonel Washington 
 was a name and character so dear to all the Virginians, that his 
 passing by one of the old castles of Virginia, without calling and 
 partaking of the hospitalities of the host, was entirely out of the 
 question. The colonel, however, did not surrender at discretion, 
 but stoutly maintained his ground, till Chamberlayne bringing up 
 his reserve, in the intimation that he would introduce his friend to 
 a young and charming widow, then beneath his roof, the soldier 
 capitulated, on condition that he should dine, only dine, and then, 
 by pressing his charger and borrowing of the night, he would reach 
 Williamsburg before his excellency could shake off his morning 
 slumbers. Orders were accordingly issued to Bishop, the colonel s 
 body servant and faithful follower, who, together with the fine 
 English charger, had been bequeathed by the dying Braddock to 
 Major Washington, on the famed and fatal field of the Monongahela. 
 Bishop, bred in the school of European discipline, raised his hand to 
 his cap, as much as to say, "Your honor s orders shall be obeyed/ 
 
 The colonel now proceeded to the mansion, and was introduced 
 to various guests, (for when was a Virginian domicil of the olden 
 time without guests ?) and above all, to the charming widow. Tra 
 dition relates that they were mutually pleased on this their first 
 interview, nor is it remarkable ; they were of an age when impressions 
 are strongest. The lady was fair to behold, of fascinating manners, 
 and splendidly endowed with worldly benefits. The hero, fresh from 
 his early fields, redolent of fame, and with a form on which "every 
 god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man." 
 
 The morning passed pleasantly away, evening came, with Bishop, 
 true to his orders and firm at his post, holding the favorite charger with 
 the one hand, while the other was waiting to offer the ready stirrup. 
 The sun sank in the horizon, and yet the colonel appeared not. And 
 then the old soldier marvelled at his chief s delay. " T was strange, 
 twas passing strange" surely he was not wont to be a single 
 moment behind his appointments, for he was the most punctual of 
 all punctual men. Meantime, the host enjoyed the scene of the 
 veteran on duty at the gate, while the colonel was so agreeably 
 employed in the parlor ; and proclaiming that no guest ever left his 
 house after sunset, his military visitor was, without much difficulty, 
 persuaded to order Bishop to put up the horses for the night. The 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 sun rode high in the heavens the ensuing day, when the enamored 
 soldier pressed with his spur his charger s side, and speeded on his 
 way to the seat of government, where, having despatched his public 
 business, he retraced his steps, and, at the White House, the engage 
 ment took place, with preparations for the marriage. 
 
 And much hath the biographer heard of that marriage, from gray- 
 haired domestics, who waited at the board where love made the 
 feast and Washington was the guest. And rare arid high was the 
 revelry, at that palmy period of Virginia s festal age ; for many were 
 gathered to that marriage, of the good, the great, the gifted, and the 
 gay, while Virginia, with joyous acclamation, hailed in her youthful 
 hero a prosperous and happy bridegroom. 
 
 " And so you remember when Colonel Washington came a courting 
 of your mistress?" said the biographer to old Cully, in his hundredth 
 year. " Aye, master, that I do," replied this ancient family servant, 
 who had lived to see five generations ; " great times, sir, great times ! 
 Shall never see the like again !" " And Washington looked some 
 thing like a man, a proper man; hey, Cully?" " Never seed the like, 
 sir ; never the likes of him, tho I have seen many in my day : so 
 tall, so straight ! and then he sat a horse and rode with such an air ! 
 
 / o 
 
 Ah, sir ; he was like no one else ! Many of the grandest gentlemen, 
 in their gold lace, were at the wedding, but none looked like the 
 man himself!" Strong, indeed, must have been the impressions 
 which the person and manner of Washington made upon the rude, 
 " untutor d mind" of this poor negro, since the lapse of three quarters 
 of a century had not sufficed to efface them. 
 
 The precise date of the marriage, the biographer has been unable 
 to discover, having in vain searched among the records of the vestry 
 of St. Peter s church, New Kent, of which the Reverend Mr. Mossom, 
 a Cambridge scholar, was the rector, and performed the ceremony, 
 it is believed, about 1759. A short time after their marriage, Colonel 
 and MRS. WASHINGTON removed to Mount Vernon on the Potomac, 
 and permanently settled there. 
 
 The mansion of Mount Vernon, more than seventy years ago, 
 was a very small building, compared with its present extent, and the 
 numerous out buildings attached to it. The mansion house consisted 
 of four rooms on a floor, forming the centre of the present building, 
 and remained pretty much in that state up to 1774, when Colonel 
 Washington repaired to the first congress in Philadelphia, and from 
 thence to the command-in-chief of the armies of his country, assembled 
 before Cambridge, July, 1775. The commander-in-chief returned 
 
MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON. 
 
 no more to reside at Mount Vernon till after the peace of 1783. 
 MRS. or LADY WASHINGTON, as we shall now call her, such being 
 the appellation she always bore in the army, accompanied the gene 
 ral to the lines before Boston, and witnessed its siege and evacuation. 
 She then returned to Virginia, the subsequent campaigns being of too 
 momentous a character to allow of her accompanying the army. 
 
 At the close of each campaign an aid-de-camp repaired to Mount 
 Vernon, to escort the lady to the head-quarters. The arrival of 
 LADY WASHINGTON at camp was an event much anticipated, and 
 was always the signal for the ladies of the general officers to repair 
 to the bosoms of their lords. The arrival of the aid-de-camp, 
 escorting the plain chariot, with the neat postillions in their scarlet 
 and white liveries, was deemed an epoch in the army, and served to 
 diffuse a cheering influence amid the gloom which hung over our 
 destinies at Valley Forge, Morristown, and West Point. LADY 
 WASHINGTON always remained at the head-quarters till the opening 
 of the campaign, and often remarked, in after life, that it had been 
 her fortune to hear the first cannon at the opening, and the last at 
 the closing, of all the campaigns of the revolutionary war. During 
 the whole of that mighty period when we struggled for independence. 
 LADY WASHINGTON preserved her equanimity, together with a de 
 gree of cheerfulness that inspired all around her with the brightest 
 hopes for our ultimate success. To her alone a heavy cloud of 
 sorrow hung over the conclusion of the glorious campaign of 1781. 
 Her only child, while attending to his duties as aid-de-camp to the 
 general-in-chief, during the siege of Yorktown, was seized with an 
 attack of the camp fever, then raging to a frightful extent within the 
 enemy s intrenchments. Ardently attached to the cause of his 
 country, having witnessed many of the most important events of the 
 revolutionary contest, from the siege of Boston, in 1775, to the virtual 
 termination of the war in 1781, the sufferer beheld the surrender of 
 the British army on the memorable 19th of October, and was thence 
 removed to Eltham, in New Kent, where he was attended by Dr. 
 Craik, chief of the medical staff. Washington, learning the extreme 
 danger of his step-son, to whom he was greatly attached, privately 
 left the camp before Yorktown, while yet it rang with the shouts of 
 victory, and, attended by a single officer, rode with all speed to 
 Eltham. It was just day dawn when the commander-in-chief sprung 
 from his panting charger, and summoning Dr. Craik to his presence, 
 inquired if there was any hope. Craik shook his head, when the 
 chief, being shown into a private room, threw himself on a bed 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 absorbed in grief. The poor sufferer, being in his last agonies, 
 soon after expired. The general remained for some time closeted 
 with his lady, then remounted and returned to the camp. 
 
 It was after the peace of 1783, that General Washington set in 
 earnest about the improvements in building and laying off the gar 
 dens and grounds that now adorn Mount Vernon. He continued in 
 these gratifying employments, occasionally diversified by the plea 
 sures of the chase, till 1787, when he was called to preside in the 
 convention that formed the present constitution, and in 1789, left his 
 beloved retirement to assume the chief magistracy of the union. 
 During the residence of General and MRS. WASHINGTON at Mount 
 Vernon, after the peace of 1783, the ancient mansion, always the 
 seat of hospitality, was crowded with guests. The officers of the 
 French and American armies, with many strangers of distinction, 
 hastened to pay their respects to the victorious general, now merged 
 into the illustrious farmer of Mount Yernon. During these stirring 
 times MRS. WASHINGTON performed the duties of a Virginia house 
 wife, and presided at her well -spread board, with that ease and 
 elegance of manners which always distinguished her. At length 
 the period arrived when General and MRS. WASHINGTON were to 
 leave the delights of retirement, and to enter upon new and elevated 
 scenes of life. The unanimous voice of his country hailed the hero 
 who had so lately led her armies to victory, as the chief magistrate 
 of the young empire about to dawn upon the world. 
 
 The president and his lady bid adieu with extreme regret, to the 
 tranquil and happy shades where a few years of repose had, in 
 great measure, effaced the effects of the toils and anxieties of war ; 
 where a little Eden had bloomed and flourished under their fostering 
 
 o 
 
 hands ; and where a numerous circle of friends and relatives would 
 sensibly feel the privation of their departure. They departed, and 
 hastened to where duty called the man of his country. 
 
 The journey to New York, in 1789, was a continued triumph. 
 The august spectacle at the bridge of Trenton brought tears to the 
 eyes of the chief, and forms one of the most brilliant recollections ot 
 the age of Washington. 
 
 Arrived at the seat of the federal government, the president and 
 MRS. WASHINGTON formed their establishment upon a scale that, 
 while it partook of all the attributes of our republican institutions, 
 possessed at the same time that degree of dignity and regard foi 
 appearances, so necessary to give to our infant republic respect in 
 the eyes of the world. The house was handsomely furnished ; the 
 
MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON. 
 
 equipages neat, with horses of the first order; the servants wore the 
 family liveries; and, with the exception of a steward and housekeeper, 
 the whole establishment differed but little from that of a private 
 gentleman. On Tuesdays, from three to four o clock, the president 
 received the foreign ambassadors and strangers who wished to be 
 introduced to him. On these occasions, and when opening the 
 sessions of congress, the president wore a dress sword. His personal 
 apparel was always remarkable for its being old fashioned, and 
 exceedingly plain and neat. On Thursdays were the congressional 
 dinners, and on Friday nights, MRS. WASHINGTON S drawing room. 
 The company usually assembled about seven, and rarely staid 
 exceeding ten o clock. The ladies were seated, and the president 
 passed around the circle, paying his compliments to each. At the 
 drawing rooms, Mrs. Morris always sat at the right of the lady presi 
 dent, and at all the dinners, public or private, at which Robert 
 Morris was a guest, that venerable man was placed at the right of 
 MRS. WASHINGTON. When ladies called at the president s mansion, 
 the habit was for the secretaries and gentlemen of the president s 
 household to hand them to and from their carriages ; but when the 
 honored relicts of Greene and Montgomery came to the presidoliad. 
 the president himself performed these complimentary duties. 
 
 On the great national festivals of the fourth of July and twenty- 
 second of February, the sages of the revolutionary congress and the 
 officers of the revolutionary army renewed their acquaintance with 
 MRS. WASHINGTON ; many and kindly greetings took place, with 
 many a recollection of the days of trial. The Cincinnati, after paying 
 their respects to their chief, were seen to file off toward the parlor, 
 where LADY WASHINGTON was in waiting to receive them, and 
 where Wayne, and Mifflin, and Dickenson, and Stewart, and Moy- 
 lan, and Hartley, and a host of veterans, were cordially welcomed 
 as old friends, and where many an interesting reminiscence was 
 called up, of the head -quarters and the " times of the revolution." 
 
 On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe, the 
 president and MRS. WASHINGTON attended divine service at Christ 
 church ; and m the evenings, the president read to MRS. WASHING 
 TON, in her chamber, a sermon, or some portion from the sacred 
 writings. No visiters, with the exception of Mr. Speaker Trumbull, 
 were admitted to the presidoliad on Sundays. 
 
 There was one description of visiters, however, to be found about 
 the first president s mansion on all days, The old soldiers repaired, 
 as they said, to head-quarters, just to inquire after the health of his 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 excellency and LADY WASHINGTON. They knew his excellency 
 was of course much engaged ; but they would like to see the good 
 lady. One had been a soldier of the life guard ; another had been on 
 duty when the British threatened to surprise the head-quarters ; a 
 third had witnessed that terrible fellow, Cornwallis, surrender his 
 sword : each one had some touching appeal, with which to introduce 
 himself to the peaceful head-quarters of the presidoliad. All were 
 " kindly bid to stay," were conducted to the steward s apartments, 
 and refreshments set before them ; and, after receiving some little 
 token from the lady, with her best wishes for the health and happi 
 ness of an old soldier, they went their ways, while blessings upon 
 their revered commander and the good LADY WASHINGTON, were 
 uttered by many a war-worn veteran of the revolution. 
 
 In the spring of 1797, General and MRS. WASHINGTON, bidding 
 adieu to public life, took their leave of the seat of government and 
 journeyed to the south, prepared in good earnest to spend the rem 
 nant of their days in their beloved retirement of Mount Vernon. The 
 general reassumed with delight his agricultural employments, while 
 the lady bustled again amid her domestic concerns, showing that 
 neither time nor her late elevated station had in any wise impaired 
 her qualifications for a Virginia housewife, and she was now verging 
 upon threescore and ten. 
 
 But for Washington to be retired at Mount Vernon or any where 
 else, was out of the question. Crowds which had hailed the vic 
 torious general as the deliverer of his country, and called him with 
 acclamation to the chief magistracy of the infant empire, now pressed 
 to his retirement, to offer their love and admiration to the illustrious 
 farmer of Mount Vernon. 
 
 MRS. WASHINGTON was an uncommonly early riser, leaving her 
 pillow at day dawn at all seasons of the year, and becoming at once 
 actively engaged in her household duties. After breakfast she 
 retired for an hour to her chamber, which hour was spent in prayer 
 and reading the Holy Scriptures, a practice that she never omitted 
 during half a century of her varied life. 
 
 Two years had passed happily at Mount Vernon; for although the 
 general, yielding to the claims of his country, had again accepted the 
 command-in-chief of her armies, yet he had stipulated with govern 
 ment that he should not leave his retirement, unless upon the actual 
 invasion of an enemy. It was while engaged in projecting new and 
 ornamental improvements in his grounds, that the fiat of the Almighty 
 went forth, calling the being, the measure of whose earthly fame was 
 
MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON. 
 
 filled to overflowing, to his great reward in higher and better worlds. 
 The illness was short and severe. MRS. WASHINGTON left not the 
 chamber of the sufferer, but was seen kneeling at the bedside, her 
 head resting upon her Bible, which had been her solace in the many 
 and heavy afflictions she had undergone. Dr. Craik, the early friend 
 and companion in arms of the chief, replaced the hand, which was 
 almost pulseless, upon the pillow, while he turned away to conceal 
 the tears that fast chased each other down his furrowed cheeks. 
 The last effort of the expiring Washington was worthy of the 
 Roman fame of his life and character. He raised himself up, and 
 casting a look of benignity on all around him, as if to thank them 
 for their kindly attentions, he composed his limbs, closed his eyes, 
 and folding his arms upon his bosom, the father of his country 
 expired, gently as though an infant died ! 
 
 The afflicted relict could with difficulty be removed from the 
 chamber of death, to which she returned no more, but occupied 
 other apartments for the residue of her days. 
 
 By an arrangement with government, MRS. WASHINGTON yielded 
 the remains of the chief to the prayer of the nation, as expressed 
 through its representatives in congress, conditioning that at her 
 decease, her own remains should accompany those of her husband 
 to the capital. 
 
 When the burst of grief which followed the death of the pater 
 patriae had a little subsided, visits of condolence to the bereaved 
 lady were made by the first personages of the land. The president 
 of the United States, with many other distinguished individuals, 
 repaired to Mount Vernon, while letters, addresses, funeral orations, 
 and all the tokens of sorrow and respect, loaded the mails from 
 every quarter of the country, offering the sublime tribute of a nation s 
 mourning for a nation s benefactor. 
 
 Although the great sun of attraction had sunk in the west, still 
 the radiance shed by his illustrious life and actions drew crowds of 
 pilgrims to his tomb. The establishment of Mount Yernon was 
 kept up to its former standard, and the lady presided with her wonted 
 ease and dignity of manner at her hospitable board ; she relaxed not 
 in her attentions to her domestic concerns, performing the arduous 
 duties of the mistress of so extensive an establishment, although in 
 the sixty-ninth year of her age, and evidently suffering in her spirits, 
 from the heavy bereavement she had so lately sustained. 
 
 In little more than two years from the demise of the chief, MRS. 
 WASHINGTON became alarmingly ill from an attack of bilious fever 
 
 9 Cl 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 From her advanced age, the sorrow that had preyed upon hei spirits, 
 and the severity of the attack, the family physician gave but little 
 hope of a favorable issue. The lady herself was perfectly aware 
 that her hour was nigh ; she assembled her grand-children at her 
 bedside, discoursed to them on their respective duties through life, 
 spoke of the happy influences of religion upon the affairs of this 
 world, of the consolations they had afforded her in many and trying 
 afflictions, and of the hopes they held out of a blessed immortality; 
 aid then, surrounded by her weeping relatives, friends, and domestics, 
 the venerable relict of Washington resigned her life into the hands 
 of her Creator, in the seventy-first year of her age. 
 
 Agreeably to her direction, her remains were placed in a leaden 
 coffin, and entombed by the side of those of the chief, to await the 
 pleasure of the government. 
 
 In person, MRS. WASHINGTON was well formed, and somewhat 
 below the middle size. To judge from her portrait at Arlington 
 House, done by Woolaston, when she was in the bloom of life, she 
 must at that period have been eminently handsome. In her dress, 
 though plain, she was so scrupulously neat, that ladies have often 
 wondered how MRS. WASHINGTON could wear a gown for a week, 
 go through her kitchen and laundries, and all the varieties of places 
 in the routine of domestic management, and yet the gown retain its 
 snow-like whiteness, unsullied by even a single speck. In her con 
 duct to her servants, her discipline was prompt, yet humane, and her 
 household was remarkable for the excellence of its domestics. 
 
 Our filial task is done. Few females have ever figured in the 
 great drama of life, amid scenes so varied and imposing, with so 
 few faults and so many virtues as the subject of this brief memoir. 
 Identified with the father of his country in the great events which 
 led to the establishment of a nation s independence, MRS. WASH 
 INGTON necessarily partook much of his thoughts, his councils, and 
 his views. Often at his side in that awful period that " tried men s 
 souls," her cheerfulness soothed his anxieties, her firmness inspired 
 confidence, while her devotional piety toward the Supreme Being 
 enabled her to discern a ray of hope, amid the darkness of an horizon 
 clouded by despair. 
 
 After a long life abounding in vicissitudes, having a full measure 
 of sorrows but with many and high enjoyments, the venerable 
 MARTHA WASHINGTON descended to the grave, cheered by the 
 prospect of a blessed immortality, and mourned by the millions of a 
 mighty empire. 
 
7 ,nLgra.ved-5y HP) HalLfrom an original Tortrait jjy j G-. Stus 
 
 nimiS 
 
THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON was born on the 2d day of April, 1743, at Shad- 
 well, in Albemarle county, Virginia. His ancestors had emigrated tc 
 that province at an early period; their standing in 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 affair?. 
 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 
 loft him the sole guardian of two infant daughters, to whose educa- 
 
 1 B2 
 
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 
 king, "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 kitroduce 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 church 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 remodelling 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 re elected 
 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 with a prudence and energy, the more to be appreciated and 
 honored, from the unpropitious circumstances under which they were 
 displayed. The legislature, alter the expiration of his term, passed a 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS 
 
 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, 1784, congress decided that a minister plenipo 
 tentiary should be appointed, in addition to Mr. Adams and Dr. 
 Franklin, for the purpose of negotiating treatfes 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 
 fading patriots of the national assembly, arid 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 
 )f 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 unifcr m system of currency, weights, 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 and measures. His report abounds with the most enligntened views 
 of this important practical subject, and it is only to be regretted tha 
 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 Liancouft, 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 
 r or 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 regi Parity 
 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 kind 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 a^e. To be chosen as their 
 
 ^^3 
 
 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, 
 and the former vice-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, ar.d the opponents of Mr. JEFFERSON. 
 taking advantage of the occurre ftce, 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 federa. 
 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 
 o 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 
 Drotection 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 rev: lution 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 nave 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 vctes to one hundred and 
 
 9 VOL. 2. C 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 forty-eight. In his inaugural address, delivered 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 unequivoca 
 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 Dnited States, however, at this period 
 assumed an importance exceeding all domestic affairs. Nearly the 
 whole of their revenue depended on commerce; this, in the wai 
 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, 
 Irut 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 01 
 every other alternative before that was adopted. An embargo pre 
 sented itself as a measure, if not decisive, at least preparatory ; and 01? 
 
 ]0 
 
THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 
 (lie 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 me 
 
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 Virginiaj 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 ol 
 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 tc 
 embrace the various branches of learning which a citizen may requir**, 
 in his intercourse between man and man, in the improvement of 
 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 leally 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 tlje 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 "mine 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 inches 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. OR 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 wa\let, 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 benev lent dispositions of the neighborhood 
 
THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 
 to supply their wants, obtain provisions, and secure tneir 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. 
 
 In his temper he displayed the greatest equanimity: his oldest 
 friends have remarked that they never beheld him give way to passion ; 
 arid 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, witn 
 unstudied and fearless confidence, all that he thought and felt ; he 
 entertained no ungenerous caution or distrust, and he had his reward 
 in that firm 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 labeled and 
 
 15 
 
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 sc 
 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. 
 
 We cannot better close our memoir of JEFFERSON than in the closing 
 language of Mr. Webster s eloquent eulogium of the illustrious states 
 man in connection with John Adams : "Fellow citizens, I will detain 
 you no longer by this joint and feeble tribute to the memory of the 
 illustrious dead. Even in other hands adequate justice could not be 
 performed, within the limits of this occasion. Their highest, their 
 best praise is your deep conviction of their merits, your affectionate 
 gratitude for their labors and services. It is not my voice, it is this 
 cessation of ordinary pursuits, this arresting of all attention, these 
 solemn ceremonies, and this crowded house, which speak their eulogy. 
 Their fame indeed is safe. That is now treasured up, beyond the 
 reach of accident. Although no sculptured marble should rise to their 
 memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their 
 remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored. Marble columns 
 may indeed moulder into dust ; time may erase all impressions from the 
 crumbling stone ; but their fame remains ; for with AMERICAN LIBERTY 
 it rose, and with AMERICAN LIBERTY" ONLY can it perish. It was the 
 last swelling peal of yonder choir, THEIR BODIES ARE BURIED IN PEACEJ 
 
 BUT THEIR NAME LIVETH EVERMORE. I Catch that Solemn S0n . I 
 
 O 
 
 echo that lofty strain of funeral triumph, e THEIR NAME LIVETH EVER 
 MORE. " 
 
 16 
 
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 to^ r n of Quincy, a place which has had the honor of fur 
 nishing, not only two of the illustrious presidents of the Union, but 
 no small number also of other remarkable men, well and favorably 
 distinguished in the history of their native land. Quincy 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 Quincy ;) and hence the apparent inconsis 
 tency 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 Lossing, in his " Field Book of the 
 Revolution," tells us, yet stands the old Buckman Tavern, which 
 exhibits many scars made by the bullets discharged at our militia men, 
 from the guns of the advancing enemy, on the morning of the 
 skirmish. 
 
 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 description, 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 
 
 j C2 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 eminent merchant in the northern stales. 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 in the land 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, arid 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 mmself ; 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, 
 olended 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 diiferent periods, and although his popularity with 
 even the mass of his fellow citizens was occasionally, in times ot 
 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 Gushing, 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 difler 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 
 ^0 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 riot only to ward off some of the encroachments of ty 
 ranny, but to awaken the attention of the American people to a 
 iiscussion 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, in 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 
 .hat 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 rathei 
 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 
 p<tr 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 Gushing, 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 g~eat 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 
 n 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 Q,uincy, 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. Yisiters 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 too 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." li 
 was no doubt a political allusion. 
 
 VOL. 2. D 
 
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. 
 
 Never, we will say in conclusion, never did any man manifest more 
 patriotic courage than JOHN HANCOCK ; nor are there preserved of any 
 one a more precious memory, or more pleasant reminiscences. W T hen 
 General Gage issued a proclamation, pronouncing those in arms and 
 their abettors, "rebels" and "parricides of the Constitution," he 
 offered a free pardon to all who would forthwith return to their allegi 
 ance, except JOHN HANCOCK and Samuel Adams, who" were outlawed, 
 and for whose apprehension as traitors a reward was offered. This 
 proclamation, so arrogant and insulting, exasperated the people, and 
 only extorted a smile from HANCOCK, now chairman of the People s 
 Committee of Safety. He had his revenge ; for when he placed his 
 bold signature to the Declaration of Independence in the following 
 year, he remarked, " There ! John Bull can read that name without 
 spectacles. Now let him double his reward !" 
 
 Hancock House, on Beacon Hill, Boston, is now occupied by John 
 Hancock, Esq., nephew of the patriot, and who breathes no small por 
 tion of his spirit. He possesses many mementoes of his eminent kinsman, 
 and among them a beautifully executed miniature of him painted in 
 London, in 1761, while he was there at the Coronation of George III.; 
 he also owns an original portrait of HANCOCK, which Lossing has 
 copied in his "Field Book of the Revolution." HANCOCK S name too 
 is given to one of the cannons placed in the top of the monument on 
 Breed s Hill, by order of the Congress in 1788. 
 
 10 
 
CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROILTON. 
 
 J 
 
CHARLES CARROLL 
 
 OF CARROLLTON. 
 
 IT has been asserted that the American colonies, now the United 
 States, began seriously to entertain the design of throwing off their 
 allegiance to the British king, soon after the conquest of Canada by 
 the arms of the British and provincial forces. There is. however, 
 no evidence to sustain that assertion ; and the probability is, that the 
 colonies, although they each had ca,use for discontent, had never 
 been united in their complaints until the British parliament united 
 them by a series of general grievances. The charters granted to the 
 various colonies had been uniformly violated so soon as they began 
 to thrive ; and they, in their weakness and sincere attachment to " the 
 mother country," had patiently submitted. Yet it is evident that they 
 retained, from generation to generation, a lively sense of their natural 
 and chartered rights. The descendants of those who had braved the 
 dangers and hardships of the wilderness for the sake of civil and 
 religious liberty, inherited the spirit of their fathers ; what the 
 fathers had gained by patient toil, unbending fortitude, or by charter 
 from the king, their children claimed as their birthright. 
 
 In 1764, parliament, for the first time, attempted to raise a revenue 
 in the colonies without their consent. This led to a discussion of the 
 right in the provincial assemblies and among the people, and the 
 general sentiment appears to have been, that " taxation and repre 
 sentation were inseparable." In 1765 the famous Stamp Act was 
 passed ; and the policy of the British government being unveiled, an 
 universal expression of indignation and opposition was echoed 
 through the colonies. In addition to these general causes for 
 complaint, each colony remembered its own individual grievances. 
 It is only our purpose, on this occasion, to trace the causes of 
 discontent in Maryland ; and to show, that tvhen her sons embarked 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Lieir " lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor," in their country s 
 cause, they had reason and justice on their side. 
 
 The charter of Maryland was obtained by Lord Baltimore, from 
 Charles I., in June, 1632. By the charter it was declared, that the 
 grantee was actuated by a laudable zeal for extending the Christian 
 religion and the territories of the empire. Lord Baltimore was a 
 Roman Catholic ; and his avowed intention was, to erect ail asylum 
 in America for the Catholic faith. In honor of the queen the 
 province was named, and its endowment was accompanied with 
 immunities more ample than any other of the colonies. Lord 
 Baltimore was created the absolute proprietary, saving the allegiance 
 due to the crown license was given to all British subjects to 
 transport themselves thither, and they and their posterity were 
 declared entitled to the liberties of Englishmen, as if they had been 
 born within the kingdom ; with powers to make laws for the pro mice, 
 " not repugnant to the jurisprudence of England," power was given 
 to the proprietary, with assent of the people, to impose all just and 
 proper subsidies, which were granted to him for ev er; and it was 
 covenanted on the part of the king, that neither he nor his successors 
 should at any time impose, or cause to be imposed, any toll ages on 
 the colonists, or their goods and tenements, or on their commodities, 
 to be laden within the province. The proprietary was also 
 authorized to appoint officers, repel invasions, and suppress rebellions. 
 The charter contained no special reservation of royal prerogative to 
 interfere in the government of the province. Thus was laid the 
 foundation of a popular government not likely to be willingly 
 renounced when once possessed. 
 
 No efforts were spared by Lord Baltimore to facilitate the 
 population and happiness of the colony ; and in five years it had 
 increased to such an extent that a code of laws became necessary. 
 Lord Baltimore composed and submitted a body of laws to the 
 colonists for their assent, but they not approving of them, prepared a 
 code for themselves. At a very early period the proprietary had 
 declared in favor of religious toleration ; in 1649 the assembly 
 adopted that principle by declaring, " that no persons professing to 
 believe in JESUS CHRIST should be molested in respect to their 
 religion, or in the free exercise thereof;" thus placing themselves 
 among the first of the American States in which differences as to 
 religious opinions were tolerated by law. In 1654 Cromwell sent 
 commissioners to reduce the colony to his subjection, who, although 
 they met with no opposition in Maryland, abolished its institutions 
 
CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTOiN. 
 
 arid introduced religious discord. They inflamed the Protestants 
 against the Catholics, until, exasperated to extremity, the parties met 
 in an engagement, when the partizans of the proprietary government 
 were defeated, the governor deposed, and a new assembly formed, by 
 which a law was passed depriving the Catholics of the protection of 
 law in the community. With the restoration of Charles II., in 1661, 
 tranquillity was restored to the province; but in a few years that 
 tranquillity was again disturbed by a series of petty vexations, 
 originating in the strife and jealousy of the ruling party in Britain, 
 on account of religion. The king s ministers commanded that all 
 the offices of the provincial government should in future be committed 
 exclusively to Protestants, and not only in this was the charter 
 violated, but also by the appointment of revenue officers and the 
 exacting of imposts. In 1686 James II. determined to overthrow 
 the proprietary governments of the colonies, but the more important 
 affairs in which he was engaged at home, during his short reign, 
 prevented the consummation of his threat.* On the accession of 
 William III. a Protestant association was formed, which, under the 
 authority and approbation of the king, usurped the direction of the 
 affairs of the province, keeping up the farce of a Papist plot as an 
 excuse for their conduct. Lord Baltimore was deprived, by an act of 
 the privy council, of the political administration, although they 
 could find no fault in him, except that he was of the Catholic faith. 
 With the proprietary^ government the liberal principles of his 
 administration were subverted. The Church of England was 
 established, and a tax levied to support it. 
 
 Sanctioned by the authority and instructed by the example of the 
 British government, the newly modelled legislature of Maryland 
 proceeded to enact a series of laws which completely disfranchised 
 the Catholics, by depriving them of all political and religious 
 privileges, and of the ordinary means of education. By an act, 
 passed in 1704 and renewed in 1715, it was ordained that the 
 celebration of Mass, or the education of youth by a Papist, should be 
 punished by transportation to England. These acts were afterwards 
 modified ; but the evils inflicted on the colony by the violations of 
 the charter, were not removed until the connection with Great Britain 
 was dissolved by the Revolution. In 1702 in the midst of this state 
 of affairs, Charles Carroll, the father of CHARLES CARROLL OF 
 
 * About this time Charles Carroll (the son of Daniel Carroll, of Kings county, Ireland, 
 grandfather of CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON,) came into the colony. 
 
 3 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 CARROLLTON, was born. We may readily suppose with what attach 
 ment to the royal cause he arrived at manhood. We are informed 
 that "ne took an active part in the affairs of the provincial government; 
 and in the religious disputes of the times stood prominent as one of 
 the leading and most influential members of the Catholic party." On 
 the eighth of September, 1737, O. S., his son, CHARLES CARROLL, 
 surnamed OF CARROLLTON, was born at Annapolis; and at eight years 
 old was taken to France to be educated. He remained there until 
 1757, when he visited London and commenced the study of law. In 
 1764, he returned to Maryland a finished scholar and an accomplished 
 gentleman. About this period the respective rights of the colonies 
 and of the king s government began to be discussed ; religious 
 disputes subsided and were forgotten, in the new and interesting 
 topics of the time. The celebrated Stamp Act, in 1765, produced an 
 universal excitement, and elicited, from men of the highest character 
 and talents in the country, the most energetic and decisive expressions 
 of opinion. Among those who came boldly forward in vindication 
 of the colonists was CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON. 
 
 The Stamp Act was repealed and the excitement ceased ; but in 
 the colonies the principle of parliamentary taxation was a settled 
 question. 
 
 In June, 1768, Mr. CARROLL married. 
 
 In 1771-2, Mr. CARROLL S talents as an advocate of popular rights, 
 were again brought into requisition. The house of delegates, after 
 an investigation, framed and passed a law regulating the fees of the 
 civil officers of the colonial government, but the upper house refused 
 to concur in it. After the adjournment of the assembly, the governor 
 issued a proclamation commanding and enjoining all officers not to 
 take other or greater fees than those therein mentioned. The people 
 viewed this measure as an attempt to fix a tax upon them by 
 proclamation, and in that light considered it as an unjust and 
 arbitrary exercise of official authority. A newspaper contest ensued 
 between numerous advocates of the people and of the governor. At 
 length the parties stood in silence watching the progress of a single 
 combat between the champion of the people, Mr. CARROLL, and his 
 antagonist, the provincial secretary. In this controversy, Mr. 
 CARROLL S talents and principles were brought fully before the 
 public, and received the applause of the prominent men of the 
 day. His antagonist was silenced, and the governor s proclamation 
 suspended on, a gallows and burnt by the common hangman. The 
 ?tbove controversy was conducted by the parties under fic* tious 
 
CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON. 
 
 signatures, and before it was known who had been the writer to 
 whom the laurel was awarded, the citizens of Annapolis instructed 
 their representatives to address a letter of thanks, through the 
 newspaper, to the "distinguished advocate of t ie rights of his 
 country;" but when it was generally known that "the distinguished 
 advocate," was CHARLES CARROLL, "the people of Annapolis, not 
 satisfied with the letter of the delegates, came in a body to thank him 
 for his exertions in defence of their rights." Mr. CARROLL had 
 evidently made up his mind to abide the issue of the contest, which he 
 foresaw had only been commenced with the pen to be terminated with 
 the bayonet ; and he took repeated occasions so to express his con 
 victions to friends and foes. As the great drama of the Revolution 
 advanced, Mr. CARROLL S popularity evidently became more exten 
 sive, and his advice and influence more frequently sought. After the 
 delegates in 1774 had prohibited the importation of tea, a brig arrived 
 at Annapolis with a quantity on board ; it was court time, and a great 
 number of people were assembled from the neighboring counties, and 
 so irritated were they, that personal violence was threatened to the 
 captain and consignees of the vessel and destruction to the cargo. 
 Application was made to Mr. CARROLL for advice and protection, by 
 the owner of the vessel. He advised him to burn the vessel and 
 the tea it contained to the water s edge, as the most effectual means of 
 allaying the popular excitement. His counsel was followed, the 
 sails were set, the colors displayed, and the brig burnt amidst the 
 acclamations of the multitude. 
 
 In February, 1776, Mr. CARROLL, then a member of the Maryland 
 convention, was appointed by the continental congress on a com 
 mission to visit Canada, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin, Samuel 
 Chase, and the Rev. John Carroll, the object of which was to induce 
 the Canadians to unite their efforts with the United Provinces in the 
 struggle for liberty; but the defeat of Montgomery s army, the 
 contributions levied on the inhabitants, and the invincible opposition 
 of the priests, rendered their mission abortive. Mr. CARROLL 
 returned to Philadelphia just as the subject of independence was 
 under discussion ; he was decidedly in favor of it, but was not a 
 member of congress ; and the delegates from Maryland had been 
 instructed to refuse their assent to it. He proceeded to Annapolis 
 with all speed, and in his place in the convention advocated the cause 
 of independence with such effect, that on the 28th of June new 
 instructions were given in the place of the old ones, and on the 4th 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 of July, 1776, the votes of the Maryland delegation were given for 
 independence. 
 
 On the same day, Mr. CARROLL was appointed a delegate to 
 congress, and took his seat as a member, for the first time, on the 18th. 
 On the next day a secret resolution was adopted, directing the Decla 
 ration to be engrossed on parchment, and signed by all the members, 
 which was accordingly done on the 2d of August. As Mr. CARROLL 
 had not given a vote on the adoption of that instrument, he was asked 
 by the President if he would sign it ; " most willingly," he replied, 
 and immediately affixed his name to that " record of glory," which 
 has endeared him to his country, and rendered his name immortal. 
 By those who have the curiosity to compare that signature with the 
 autograph accompanying our portrait, it will be perceived that the 
 first was traced by a firm and manly hand, the latter after a lapse of 
 more than half a century, and at an age when " the keepers of the 
 house tremble." Both fac similes are correct. 
 
 Mr. CARROLL assisted in the formation of the constitution of 
 Maryland in 1776, and continued in congress until 1778. 
 
 He served in the senate of the state for several years, was a 
 member of the United States senate, from 1788 to 1791, from which 
 time until 1801 he was an active member of the senate of his native 
 state. 
 
 For the next thirty years he dwelt in the retirement of private life, 
 in the enjoyment of tranquillity, health, fortune, and the richest 
 reward of his patriotic labors ; the veneration and gratitude of his 
 country. After the death of Jefferson and Adams, in 1826, he was 
 the sole survivor of the immortal band whose talents and inflexible 
 virtues, in the midst of peril, pledged for their country all that men 
 esteem of value; life, fortune, honor: and the sole inheritor of the rich 
 legacy of glory which they had left. But, on the 14th of November, 
 1832, the mandate which all must obey, summoned to the tomb the 
 last of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; that deed of 
 noble daring which gave his country "a place among nations," and 
 opened an asylum for the oppressed of all. To it the eyes of all 
 nations are turned for instruction and example, and it is evident that 
 die political institutions of the old world are gradually conforming to 
 its model, to which they must very nearly approach, before the people 
 / br whose happiness governments are framed, will be content. 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 THE American Republic, in passing through a period of civil 
 war, has given to History a new group of immortal names. The 
 men and events of this era are illumined with a perennial light, 
 and will stand out in heroic proportions for all time. They will 
 have in the future a classic grandeur, which will make all con 
 temporary biographies and histories appear tame and unworthy. 
 Oar eyes are too near the great picture, and we take in at one 
 gaze too limited a portion of the whole, to be impressed with 
 its full effect. We lose its proper inspiration while too intently 
 fixing our view on disconnected parts. Yet we must, as con 
 temporaries with no vantage-ground of distance, study the great 
 subject in its details, preparing the way for a broader and truer 
 appreciation. Clearly, the central figure of all, and that on 
 which all other agents and their acts to a certain extent depend, 
 is to be found in the person of him who was at the head of our 
 national affairs from the actual outbreak of the great rebellion 
 until its substantial suppression. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born on the 12th day of February, 
 1809. His birth-place is in Larue county, in the State of Ken 
 tucky, near the town of Hodgenville, on N olin creek, a tributary 
 of Green river. His grandfather, after whom he was named, 
 emigrated to Kentucky, then a part of the State of Virginia, 
 from the county of Roekingham, in the Shenandoah valley, 
 afterwards to become so noted as the scene of battles and 
 strategy. He was a contemporary with Boone, Harrod, and 
 Kenton, having entered five hundred acres of land on Licking 
 creek, in 1782, adjoining lands of the hardy pioneer first named. 
 A year or two later, while at work on his new possession, the 
 ancestral Abraham Lincoln was murdered by an Indian, who 
 had stealthily come upon him when unsuspecting of danger. 
 Was it not a strange foreshadow on the dial of time? Of the 
 group of young children thus suddenly made fatherless, three 
 were sons, of whom the youngest was Thomas, a lad but six 
 
 1 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 years old. The widowed mother, struggling on as best she 
 might in that wild and lonesome world, raised them all to 
 maturity. Better days no doubt came, before the hardy boy 
 passed through the period of youth and assumed the responsi 
 bilities of manhood, yet he was trained in the school of trials 
 of books knowing but little, and learning to write only his own 
 name, in a mechanical way. 
 
 Thomas Lincoln reached the age of twenty-eight years before 
 his marriage, which took place in 1806. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Nancy Hanks, was a native of Virginia, like 
 himself, who had removed from the Shenandoah valley in early 
 childhood, with his father. Of her parents nothing is known ; 
 but they appear never to have visited Kentucky she having 
 probably gone thither with a brother or sister. On his marriage, 
 Thomas Lincoln settled on a farm near what was then plain 
 Hodgen s Mills, on Nolin creek, seven or eight miles from 
 Elizabethtown. His oldest child was a daughter, who arrived 
 at mature years, but died soon after her marriage, leaving no 
 descendant. ABRAHAM LINCOLN was two years younger, born 
 on the day .already mentioned. The youngest and only other 
 child was a son who died in early childhood. Thus ABRAHAM 
 became ere long the sole representative of his family. His 
 uncles, Mordecai and Josiah, early settled in Indiana, the one 
 in Harrison, the other in Hancock county, where it is not known 
 that they left any descendants. Thomas Lincoln, thriving but 
 indifferently in his first location, took another farm in the same 
 county, where fortune proved still unpropitious. The family 
 had a good repute for native ability, but made small advance, 
 as yet, in worldly prosperity. 
 
 In the autumn of 1816, when ABRAHAM LINCOLN was a lad of 
 only seven years, his father determined on another remove 
 this time into the new territory of Indiana, of which his older 
 brothers had no doubt given a good report. He chose a locality 
 by himself, however, in what was then Perry county, not far 
 from Gentryville, on the west side of Anderson creek, soon 
 after falling within the new county of Spencer. His farm was 
 not remote from the Ohio river, fast becoming a great thorough 
 fare, with its own peculiar world, at first of flat-boats, holding- 
 correspondence with the Mississippi river and New Orleans 
 afterwards to be outrun or displaced by more elaborate and 
 stately craft. Here the lad remained with his father passing 
 
 2 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 through the period of early youth during the next thirteen 
 years. In 1818 his mother died, when he was hut nine years 
 old, a loss whieh gave deeper sadness to a boyhood on which 
 there had never rested too gladsome a light. He was beginning 
 to take part in the serious labor of the farm, and during the 
 succeeding years passed in Indiana, he learned the use of the 
 axe, in clearing the forests for the new home was in a heavily 
 wooded region, not on the prairie and became accustomed to 
 hold the plough, or to drive the team of oxen on its various 
 errands. His schooling had not been altogether neglected, 
 even before the removal from Kentucky. lie received further 
 rudimentary instruction from two or three different teachers in 
 Indiana. As there were then no public schools in either State, 
 private schoolmasters were necessarily employed for a family 
 or a neighborhood, for such period as the means or inclination 
 of parents permitted. ABRAHAM LINCOLN was probably quite 
 as highly favored in this respect as was usual with those about 
 him, having received in all, perhaps, the amount of one year s 
 tuition. In addition, he was studious at home, acquiring an 
 earnest love for reading, restricted in its indulgence only by 
 the limited number of books at his command. He was early 
 interested in a collection of JEsop s Fables, illustrated by plain 
 wood-cuts, from which book he derived many lessons of prac 
 tical wisdom, and a fondness for the enforcement of a principle 
 or the intimation of an opinion, by some quaint or humorous 
 incident lessons and a taste which he retained through life. 
 Another book which he read during these years, the Life of 
 Washington, made a lasting impression on his mind, giving it 
 an early bent which perhaps determined his future course, if it 
 did not awaken aspirations for public honors. The intensity 
 and permanence of the effect of books upon a really eager, 
 youthful reader, are ordinarily increased in proportion to the 
 limitation of their number. In this instance the range was 
 very small. 
 
 The community around Hodgenville had early had an organ 
 ized Baptist church, though, prior to 1816, no place of worship 
 had been built. The same denomination had a rude church 
 edifice not far from the new home selected by Mr. LINCOLN S 
 father in Indiana. In both States, the family worshipped with 
 this sect, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN S early religious training, like 
 that of Henry Clay, was under its influences. The Bible was 
 
 3 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 a book which he constantly read, at the earlier no less than the 
 later periods of his life. 
 
 From a desire to see more of the world, perhaps stimulated 
 by stories of adventure related by boatmen whom he casually 
 met, in his visits to the Ohio river at Troy, the nearest landing 
 to his home, he made a trip to New Orleans and back, when at 
 the age of nineteen, by the slow conveyance of an ordinary 
 flat-boat, on which he "worked his passage." It was a long 
 voyage, full of novelties, if not of exciting incidents, and his 
 first acquaintance with the Father of Waters and with the great 
 mart of the Southwest, afforded new and valuable lessons to 
 his impressible mind. 
 
 In 1830, being now of age, ABRAHAM LINCOLN removed with 
 his father to Illinois, and aided him in enclosing part of a new 
 farm, on the Sangamon river, w r ith rail fence, giving rise to the 
 popular notion concerning his special exploits as a rail-splitter. 
 The farm was occupied by his father but for a year, when they 
 both turned in new directions the father making his last 
 settlement in Coles county, farther eastward, while the son 
 undertook a second flat-boating expedition, by the Sangamon 
 and Illinois rivers to the Mississippi, and thence to ~New Orleans. 
 After his return, he was employed for a time in a country store 
 at New Salem, in Menard county, where he was appointed 
 Postmaster, under the administration of President Jackson, 
 though known to be a political supporter of Henry Clay. It 
 was after remaining a year or more in this position, that he 
 enlisted in a company raised in 1832 for service in what is 
 known as the Black Hawk war. He was chosen captain of the 
 company, by a very flattering vote an honor which he highly 
 appreciated. lie was out for about three months, without hap 
 pening, however, to be in any actual engagement. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln s first experience as a candidate for a political 
 office was at the State election in Illinois, in August, 1832, 
 when twenty-three years of age, and just after his return from 
 the Black Hawk war. He had as yet become but little known 
 beyond the immediate vicinity of his residence, which gave 
 him a nearly unanimous vote for Representative in the State 
 Legislature. In other parts of the district, however, his name 
 was scarcely at all presented, and he was not elected a fact 
 which did not detract from the gratifying result in his own 
 township, where the partisan majority was decidedly against 
 
 4 
 
ABRAHAM LITOOLK 
 
 him. He received two hundred and seventy-seven out of the 
 entire two hundred and eighty-four votes cast, while Jackson, 
 a little later in the same year, received a majority of more than, 
 one hundred and fifty over Clay. Two years afterwards, Mr. 
 LINCOLN was chosen Representative, receiving about two hun 
 dred more votes than any of his associates on the same general 
 ticket. He was re-elected in 1836 the term being two years 
 and during the sessions of that and the following year, he came 
 to be regarded as a leader on the Whig side of the House, then 
 decidedly in the minority. In 1838 he was again re-elected; 
 and the House was now more equally divided, between the 
 two parties. Mr. LINCOLN was selected by the Whigs as their 
 candidate for Speaker, and was beaten by his Democratic com 
 petitor on the fourth ballot, who received one majority. 
 
 During these years of service in the Legislature, Mr. LIN 
 COLN had been engaged, first as a surveyor, at the same time 
 pursuing the study of law, and afterwards, having been duly 
 admitted to the bar, in the practice of the legal profession. In 
 the Spring of 1837 he removed to Springfield, to which place 
 the State Capital, by an act of the Legislature already passed, 
 was to be transferred two or three years later. For the fourth 
 time he was elected to the Legislature, in which, as before, he 
 was the acknowledged leader on the Whig side, and the party 
 candidate for Speaker of the House. This was in 1840, and 
 the last election he was willing to accept as a member of the 
 State Legislature. Daring the comparatively long period of 
 his continuance in that body, he effectively aided in shaping a 
 liberal policy of internal improvements for his State, and in 
 furthering the development of its ample resources. 
 
 The discussions which had arisen in the North on the subject 
 of Slavery, and the violent attempts to suppress this agitation, 
 which had resulted in the death of Lovejoy at Alton, Illinois, 
 began to cast a shadow over the general politics of that State, 
 before the close of Mr. LINCOLN S legislative service. In 1837 
 the dominant party in the Legislature passed resolutions on 
 this subject, of a radical Southern character, and the effort was 
 made to affix the odium of " Abolitionism " on all who refused 
 to sustain this ultra Pro-Slavery action. Mr. LINCOLN, one 
 other representative from Sangamon county joining him, on 
 the 3d of March, 1837, caused a protest against these resolutions 
 to be entered on the journal of the House, in the course of 
 
 5 
 
NATIONAL POKTRAITS. 
 
 which they said : " They helieve that the institution of slavery 
 is founded on both injustice and bad policy; but that the pro 
 mulgation of Abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than 
 abate its evils. They believe that the Congress of the United 
 States has no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with 
 the institution of slavery in the different States. They believe 
 that the Congress of the United States has the power, under 
 the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia; 
 but that the power ought not to be exercised, unless at the 
 request of the people of said District." At that day, Mr. LIN 
 COLN can have little imagined how prominent and controlling a 
 question this was to be in our subsequent political history, and 
 least of all the leading part he was to take, as an instrument 
 in the removal of the great evil then so firmly seated in the 
 country. 
 
 For the twelve years succeeding his admission to the bar in 
 1836, his attention was engrossingly devoted to his chosen pro 
 fession of the law. By gradual but sure advancement, he was 
 making his way, during this period, to the highest rank among 
 the counsellors and advocates of the West. He had a clear, 
 logical mind, quick to apprehend the cardinal points of his 
 case, tenacious of the facts and principles on which the issue 
 turned, eminently fair and honorable in dealing with his oppo 
 nents, and assiduous in doing his whole duty to whatever client 
 he attempted to serve. He had great influence over the minds 
 of jurors, by the perspicuity and vigor of his statements, the 
 candid and earnest manner of his arguments, and the native 
 humor and simplicity of his illustrations. Before the higher 
 courts, his power was scarcely less manifest in the treatment of 
 purely legal questions, his propositions and his mode of ex 
 pounding them having a convincing weight and force with the 
 more enlightened judges. He was a man of diligent and 
 thorough research in the matters pertaining to his profession, 
 and he derived illustrations for his work, as well as a breadth 
 of view, a maturity of judgment, and a general cultivation, no 
 less in extended and various reading, than in his close observa 
 tion of men and life. He was a favorite among his associates 
 at the bar, towards whom his deportment was uniformly kind 
 and courteous, and to whom his presence was always an inex 
 haustible source of social pleasure and good feeling. His 
 arrival at any county-seat, in court time, came to be a marked 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 
 
 event, and his coming was always cordially welcomed. lie had 
 a rare success in winning the affections of those with whom he 
 came in contact, even his warmest political adversaries mani 
 festing a sincere appreciation of the high capacity of his mind 
 and of the great excellence of his heart. Had he never been 
 known outside of his character of advocate and jurist, he would 
 have attained to a lasting fame among the greatest men of the 
 Northwest. 
 
 His public connection with politics, during these years, was 
 limited to a few brief episodes, until, in the natural course of 
 events, he was chosen to represent his district in the Congress 
 of the United States. In 1844, after the nomination of Henry 
 Clay by acclamation, at Baltimore, as the Whig candidate for 
 the Presidency, Mr. LINCOLN accepted a nomination for Presi 
 dential Elector, involving, according to custom in the West, an 
 active canvass in behalf of his candidate. Ever more ready 
 to labor for others than careful to study his own immediate 
 interests, and earnestly devoted as he had been all his lifetime 
 to the personal fortunes and political maxims of Clay, Mr. 
 LINCOLN willingly gave up a season s labor to the cause. After 
 numerous public addresses to large audiences in different parts 
 of his own State, he accepted an invitation to cross the Wabash 
 and to make a series of speeches in the more hopeful arena of 
 Indiana, where his successful services were long gratefully 
 remembered. A dark foreshadowing of evil from the election 
 of Mr. Polk, the annexation of Texas, and the direct conse 
 quences, strongly impressed his far-reaching and prescient 
 mind. Almost unconsciously, still, as when his modest protest 
 was entered on the Journal of the Illinois House of Representa 
 tives, and in spite of his conservative tendencies, slavery seemed 
 to be more and more intertwining itself with his own and his 
 country s destiny. He dreaded a multiplication of the dark 
 threads in the fateful web, while deprecating any attempts vio 
 lently to tear out those already interwoven. But his efforts 
 were baffled. The result of the election for a time seemed 
 closely balanced, not without the hope of a final inclination to 
 the side of his anticipations. At last, came the decisive news. 
 Clay was beaten. It was a painful disappointment. To him, 
 it was not a personal but a national misfortune. Without 
 despondency, however, he continued his proper professional 
 work, assiduously and steadfastly, as before. 
 
POETRAIT3 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN was married on the 4th of ~No member, 1842, to 
 Miss Mary Todd, one of four daughters of the Hon. Robert S. 
 Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, the eldest of whom had pre 
 viously married and settled in Springfield. The two younger 
 sisters, subsequently married, became residents of the same 
 place. Mr. LINCOLN had ever the warmest attachment for his 
 family and home. His wife, in turn, by her constant sympathy 
 and counsel, and perhaps by words of hopeful aspiration, aided 
 his advancement while ministering to the happiness of the 
 domestic circle. Of the four sons born to them, it may be 
 mentioned here, only the oldest and the youngest survive 
 Robert T., bearing the name of his maternal grandfather, and 
 Thomas (familiarly called u Tad"), named after his paternal 
 grandfather. 
 
 In 1846, Mr. LINCOLN was chosen as a Representative in Con 
 gress. The district in which he resided had given Mr. Clay 
 less than 1,000 majority in 1844. Two years later, it gave Mr.. 
 LINCOLN over 1,500 majority for Member of Congress. A com 
 parison of this vote with any other cast in the district, before 
 or since, while comprising the same territory, will conclusively 
 prove his personal popularity. It was an eventful period of 
 national history. Texas had been annexed. The war with 
 Mexico was going on. The decided Democratic majority in 
 both Houses of Congress, at the opening of Mr. Folk s Admin 
 istration, had now to give place to an opposition (Whig) majo 
 rity in the House of Representatives, with a Senate no longer 
 able to command a partisan two-thirds vote for the Administra 
 tion. Among the more distinguished members of this House 
 were, John Quincy Adams (who died during its first session), 
 Jacob Collamer and George P. Marsh, of Vermont, Joseph 
 R. Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, Samuel F. Vinton of Ohio, Caleb 
 B. Smith of Indiana, John M. Botts of Virginia, A. H. Stephens 
 and Robert Toombs of Georgia, and M. P. Gentry of Tennes 
 see, on the Whig side ; and David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, R. 
 B. Rhett of South Carolina, Howell Cobb of Georgia, Linn 
 Boyd of Kentucky, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, James 
 McDowell of Virginia, and Jacob Thompson of Mississippi. 
 In the Senate were such statesmen as Daniel Webster, John C. 
 Calhoun, Thomas H. Benton, John M. Clayton, John Bell, 
 Hannibal Hamlin, William L. Dayton, S. S. Phelps, Thomas 
 Corwin, William R. King, and John M. Berrien. For some 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 time previously Stephen A. Douglas who had gone to Illinois 
 (from Vermont), a year or two later than Mr. LINCOLN, and who 
 was elected to the Illinois Legislature, for the first and only 
 time, when Mr. LINCOLN received his second election had 
 been a member of the lower branch of Congress. He now first 
 took his seat in the Senate. The one had come to be the recog 
 nized leader of the Whig party in Illinois, before the other 
 had gained the like position in the Democratic party. Mr. 
 LINCOLN was in his thirty-ninth year when, on the 6th of De 
 cember, 1847, he first took his seat in the National House of 
 Representatives. 
 
 While disapproving many of the acts of the Administration 
 in regard to the Mexican war, and particularly as to the mode 
 of its inception, Mr. LINCOLN gave a hearty support to all 
 essential war measures sometimes breaking away from the 
 majority of his own party, in his independent action on this 
 question. This was true with regard to a resolution, intro 
 duced on the 3d of January, 1848, instructing the Committee 
 on Military Affairs to inquire into the expediency of " requesting 
 the President of the United States to withdraw to the east bank 
 of the Rio Grande our armies now in Mexico^ and to propose 
 to the Mexican government a treaty of peace," on certain speci 
 fied terms, nearly equivalent to an admission of the injustice 
 of the Avar. Mr. LINCOLN voted with the minority in favor of 
 laying the resolution on the table, and against the resolution on 
 a direct vote. He also unhesitatingly voted for the supplies 
 called for by the War Department to sustain our armies, and 
 for expressions of thanks to our officers and men for their gal 
 lant services rendered in Mexico. His first speech in Congress 
 was made on the 12th of January, 1848, in opposition to Presi 
 dent Polk s views, as presented in his annual message, regarding 
 the origin of the war. After referring to certain questions 
 before proposed with regard to the jurisdiction within which 
 our forces were at the commencement of hostilities, Mr. LIN 
 COLN proceeded: "Let him answer, fully, fairly, candidly. Let 
 him answer with facts and not with arguments. Let him 
 remember he sits where Washington sat; and, so remembering, 
 let him answer as Washington would answer. As a nation 
 should not, and the Almighty will not, be evaded, so let him 
 attempt no evasion, no equivocation. And if, so answering, he 
 can show that the soil was ours where the first I lood of the 
 
 9 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 war was shed that it was not within an inhabited country, or, 
 if within such, that the inhabitants had submitted themselves 
 to the civil authority of Texas, or of the United States, and 
 that the same is true of the site of Fort Brown then I am 
 with him for his justification." 
 
 In the Legislature of Illinois, and in his addresses to the 
 people, Mr. LINCOLN had been an earnest advocate for a liberal 
 system of internal improvements in the State, by the con 
 struction or encouragement of important public works, and in 
 the nation, by facilitating navigation on the great rivers of the 
 country, and by giving increased value to the harbors on our 
 coast. On the 20th of June, 1848, he made an extended speech 
 on this subject, in Congress, in review of a message of President 
 Polk, vetoing a bill making appropriations for certain improve 
 ments. The objections raised, including the constitutional 
 question, were fairly met with clear argument, his speech being 
 rather marked by its candor of statement and force of logic, 
 than by eloquence or graces of style. " That the subject is a 
 difficult one," he said, near the close of his remarks, " cannot 
 be denied. Still, it is no more difficult in Congress than in the 
 State Legislatures, in the counties, or in the smallest municipal 
 districts which everywhere exist. All can recur to instances of 
 this difficulty in the case of county roads, bridges, and the like. 
 One man is offended because a road passes over his land; and 
 another is offended because it does not pass over his ; one is 
 dissatisfied because the bridge, for which he is taxed, crosses 
 the river on a different road from that which leads from his 
 house to town ; another cannot bear that the county should get 
 in debt for these same roads and bridges; while not a few 
 struggle hard to have roads located over their lands, and then 
 stoutly refuse to let them be opened, until they are first paid 
 the damages. Even between the different wards and streets of 
 towns and cities, we find this same wrangling and difficulty. 
 Now, these are no other than the very difficulties against which, 
 and out of which, the President constructs his objections of 
 * inequality, speculation, and * crushing the Treasury. There 
 is but a single alternative about them they are sufficient, or 
 they are not. If sufficient, they are sufficient out of Congress 
 as well as in it, and there is the end. We must reject them as 
 insufficient, or lie down and do nothing by any authority. 
 Then, difficulty though there be, let us meet and overcome it. 
 
 10 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt; 
 Nothing so hard, but search will find it out. 
 
 Determine that the thing can be done, and then we shall find 
 the way." 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN delivered another speech in the House of Repre 
 sentatives, on the 27th of July, 1848 the session having been 
 prolonged until the 14th of August, long after the presidential 
 nominations of that year had been made his subject on this 
 occasion being the main issues of the canvass, and the relative 
 merits of the candidates, Gen. Taylor and Mr. Cass. On the 
 constantly recurring question concerning the restriction of 
 slavery on which a third party had this year been organized 
 at Buffalo, with Martin Van Buren for its presidential candi 
 date Mr. LINCOLN spoke as follows: "I am a Northern man, 
 or, rather, a "Western Free-State man, with a constituency I 
 believe to be, and with personal feelings I know to be, against 
 the extension of slavery. As such, and with what information 
 I have, I hope and believe, Gen. Taylor, if elected, would not 
 veto the [Wilmot] proviso ; but I do not know it. Yet, if I 
 knew he would, I still would vote for him. I should do so, 
 because, in my judgment, his election alone can defeat Gen. 
 Cass; and because, should slavery thereby go into the territory 
 we now have, just so much will certainly happen by the election 
 of Cass ; and, in addition, a course of policy leading to new 
 wars, new acquisitions of territory, and still further extensions 
 of slavery." To the charge that the Whig party had "always 
 opposed" the war with Mexico, he replied, after re-affirming 
 the opinion that it was "unnecessarily and unconstitutionally" 
 begun by President Polk : " But if, when the war had begun, 
 and had become the cause of the country, the giving of our 
 money and our blood, in common with yours, was support of 
 the war, then it is not true that we have always opposed the 
 war. With few individual exceptions, you have constantly had 
 our votes here for all the necessary supplies. And, more than 
 this, you have had the services, the blood, and the lives of our 
 political brethren in every trial, and on every field. The 
 beardless boy and the mature man, the humble and the distin 
 guished you have had them. Through suffering and death, 
 by disease and in battle, they have endured, and fought, and 
 fallen with you. Clay and Webster each gave a son, never to 
 be returned. From the State of rny own residence, besides 
 
 11 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 other wot thy but Cess known Whig names, we sent Marshall, 
 Morrison, Baker, and Ilardin ; the} all fought, and one fell, 
 and in the fall of that one, we lost our best Whig man. Nor 
 were the Whigs few in number, or laggard in the day of 
 danger. In that fearful, bloody, breathless struggle at Buena 
 Vista, where each man s hard task was to beat back five foes, 
 or die himself, of the five high officers who perished, four were 
 Whigs." 
 
 After the adjournment of Congress, Mr. LINCOLN took an 
 active part in the presidential canvass, first visiting New Eng 
 land, on invitation, but giving most of his time to the North 
 west, where Mr. Cass was especially strong. The result partly 
 compensated for the disappointment experienced four years 
 before. Mr. LINCOLN himself had declined a re-election to Con 
 gress, but his district gave to Gen. Taylor nearly the same 
 majority (over 1500) that the former had received two years 
 earlier. The short session of the following winter is chiefly 
 memorable for the attempts made, on the one hand, to suppress 
 the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, and for the sugges 
 tion (by Mr. Lincoln himself) of a plan of gradual emancipation 
 in the District, with the consent of its citizens ; and, on the 
 other hand, to secure some legislation " more effectually to 
 enable owners to recover their slaves escaping from one State 
 into another." Thus two of the questions which were promi 
 nently to enter into the discussions of the next succeeding 
 Congress, and become elements of the compromise measures 
 of 1850, were already engrossing attention. Mr. LINCOLN S 
 action in regard to them was accordant with his anti-slavery 
 convictions, though not favorable to violent and immediate 
 change. He retired again to private life, with a reputation 
 perhaps rarely attained by any man, in a service in Congress 
 limited to one term; and the more striking from the number 
 of -distinguished political leaders who were his associates in the 
 House. 
 
 The five years following his retirement from Congress were 
 years of professional activity and success, little interrupted by 
 participation in the excited political affairs of that period. 
 Already the country was entering within the penumbra of that 
 great eclipse of the national peace and harmony which was to 
 culminate ten years later. The agitation resulting from the 
 attempt to enlarge the area of slavery, and from the persistent 
 
 li 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLX. 
 
 rppos tion to the admission of California into the Union, with 
 the free constitution of her choice, had finally been composed, 
 for the time, by the series of compromise measures passed in 
 1850. Both the great political parties had accepted those mea 
 sures as a final settlement in the presidential canvass of 1852 ; 
 and the third party, which had supported Mr. Van Buren four 
 years previously, was dwarfed to unimportant dimensions. The 
 almost unanimous voice of the people, North and South, seemed 
 to be for peace, and for the avoidance of any further excite 
 ment on the question of slavery. This superficial adjustment, 
 however, as the event showed, had brought no permanent 
 healing to the nation. The "era of good feeling" was rather 
 apparent than real, and unexpectedly brief in its duration. 
 The Kansas-Nebraska bill, reported by Mr. Douglas in the 
 Senate, in 1854, was the disturbing cause which re-opened the 
 strife that had been only smothered, not quenched. That bill, 
 which abrogated the pledge made to the North, on the admis 
 sion of Missouri as a Slave State, 1hat slavery should never be 
 permitted within any portion of the territories of the United 
 States north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
 minutes north latitude, passed the Senate on the 26th of May, 
 1854, and at once aroused intense indignation everywhere 
 throughout the North. By dint of party discipline and the exe 
 cutive influence of President Pierce, combined with the general 
 recusancy of southern Whigs, insuring a " united South," this 
 act of bad faith and worse expediency was consummated by 
 the concurrence of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN could not remain indifferent at such an hour as 
 this. The Whig party, to which he had been so long attached, 
 was broken up by the conduct of its southern leaders. The 
 Democratic party was rent in twain. Mr. Douglas, returning 
 to his home after the close of the session, met a tempest of 
 disapprobation, and was unable, on his first attempt, even to 
 gain a hearing in Chicago, where he had so lately been the 
 popular favorite. A similar feeling existed in a great portion 
 of the State, though not manifesting itself elsewhere in a 
 refusal to hear his speeches designed to allay the general hosti 
 lity, and to bring back his old friends to his support. Mr. 
 LINCOLN met him in debate on the repeal of the Missouri Com 
 promise, in October, at Springfield, and again at Peoria, on 
 which latter occasion, especially, he made an argument and 
 
 " 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 appeal of great pOAver, and roused the hearts of the people to 
 a truer set timent on the great question now unavoidably be- 
 comino- uppermost in the affairs of the nation. As Mr. LINCOLN, 
 from this time onward, rose rapidly into the position of a 
 national leader in the cause thus earnestly espoused, some 
 brief passages from his Peoria speech, showing its spirit, are 
 here cited : 
 
 "Thus, with the author of the Declaration of Independence, the policy of 
 prohibiting shivery in new territory originated. Thus, away back of the Con 
 stitution, in the pure, fresh, free breath of the Revolution, the State of Virginia 
 and the National Congress put that policy in practice. Thus, through more 
 than sixty of the best years of the Republic, did that policy steadily work to 
 its great and beneficent end. And thus, in those five States, and five millions 
 of free, enterprising people, we have before us the rich fruits of this policy. 
 But now, new light breaks upon us. Now, Congress declares this ought never 
 to have been, and the like of it must never be again. The sacred right of self- 
 government is grossly violated by it. We even find some men, who drew their 
 first breath, and every other breath of their lives, under this very restriction, 
 now live in dread of absolute suffocation, if they should be restricted in the 
 sacred right of taking slaves to Nebraska. That perfect liberty they sigh 
 for the liberty of making slaves of other people Jefferson never thought 
 of; their own fathers never thought of; they never thought of themselves, a 
 year ago. How fortunate for them they did not sooner become sensible of 
 their great misery ! Oh, how difficult it is to treat with respect such assaults 
 upon all we have ever really held sacred." 
 
 Of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, Mr. LINCOLN 
 said : 
 
 " I think, and shall try to show, that it is wrong ; wrong in its direct effect, 
 letting slavery into Kansas and Nebraska, and wrong in its prospective prin 
 ciple, allowing it to spread to every other part of the wide world, where men 
 can be found inclined to take it. This declared indifference, but, as I must 
 think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate. I hate it 
 because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world; 
 enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us as hypo 
 crites; causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity; and especially 
 because it forces so many good men among ourselves into an open war with the 
 very fundamental principles of civil liberty, criticising the Declaration of 
 Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self- 
 interest." "The law which forbids the bringing of slaves from Africa, and 
 that which has so long forbidden the taking of them into Nebraska, can hardly 
 be distinguished on any moral principle ; and the repeal of the former could 
 find quite as plausible excuses as that of the latter." " After an angry and 
 dangerous controversy, the parties made friends by dividing the bone of con 
 tention. The one party firet appropriates his own share, beyond all power to 
 be disturbed in the possession of it, and then seizes the share of the other 
 party. It is as if two starving men had divided their only loaf; the one had 
 
 14 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 hastily swallow eu his half, and then grubbed the other s half jast as he was 
 putting it to his mouth." "Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man s 
 nature opposition to it, in his love of justice. These principles are in an 
 eternal antagonism ; and when brought into collision so fiercely as slavery 
 extension brings them, shocks, and throes, and convulsions, must ceaselessly 
 follow. Repeal the Missouri Compromise repeal all compromise repeal 
 the Declaration of Independence repeal all past history you still cannot 
 repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man s heart that 
 slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart his mouth 
 will continue to speak." "But Nebraska is urged as a great Union-saving 
 measure. Well, I too go for saving the Union. Much as I hate slavery, I 
 would consent to the extension of it rather than see the Union dissolved, just 
 as I would consent to any great evil to avoid a greater one. But when I go to 
 Union-saving, I must believe, at least, that the means I employ have some 
 adaptation to the end. To my mind, Nebraska has no such adaptation. 
 
 It hath no relish of salvation in it. 
 
 It is an aggravation, rather, of the only one thing which ever endangers the 
 Union. When it came upon us, all was peace and quiet. ... It could 
 not but be expected by its author, that it would be looked upon as a measure 
 for the extension of slavery, aggravated by a gross breach of faith." 
 
 In October, 1854, a new party organization (afterwards taking 
 the name of Republican), was formed in Illinois, as had pre 
 viously occurred in other States, comprising most of the old 
 Whig party, the Democrats opposed to the repeal of the Mis 
 souri Compromise, and the Free-Soil party, united on the basis 
 of opposition to any further extension of slavery. Though 
 late in the field, this party gained a substantial triumph in the 
 autumn elections, carrying five out of the nine Congressional 
 districts, and choosing forty members of the lower branch of 
 the State Legislature, to thirty-five Democrats. The State 
 Senate was not gained; but the Democratic strength was so 
 reduced that there was a majority of two, on joint ballot, 
 against the Nebraska Democrats. This result was important 
 from the fact that the Legislature was to elect a United States 
 Senator for the term commencing on the 4th of March, 1855, 
 in place of Ja.mes Shields. The Anti-Nebraska party generally 
 favored the election of Mr. LINCOLN to the Senatorship. It 
 required, however, the votes of certain Democratic Senators, 
 chosen two years earlier, who were reluctant to break away 
 altogether from the party that elected them, though opposed to 
 any candidate favoring the policy of Mr. Douglas. On the 
 first ballot (in February, 1855), Mr. LINCOLN led his Democratic 
 opponent, Gen. Shields, four votes. After several ballots, Mr 
 
 15 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 LINCOLN generously withdrew his name, rather than further 
 hazard the result, and his friends gave their votes to Judge 
 Trumbull, an Anti-Nebraska Democrat, who was elected on 
 the tenth ballot. The sacrifice of the hopes entertained of the 
 elevation of Mr. LINCOLN to the position they deemed him so 
 eminently fitted to fill, was a sore personal disappointment to 
 his friends, but it abated nothing from his and their devotion 
 to the cause in which he was still the acknowledged leader. 
 
 In 1856 the Republican party was fully organized, and in the 
 presidential canvass of that year, Mr. LINCOLN took an active 
 part. His own State elected Col. Bissell, the candidate of both 
 the Republicans and "Americans," to the Governorship ; but 
 through a division of the strength of these two parties between 
 "Fremont and Fillmore, the electoral vote was given, by a small 
 plurality, to Buchanan. 
 
 The quiet which was for a time anticipated, following the 
 election of Mr. Buchanan, was again disturbed by the same 
 aggressive power which had forced the repeal of the Missouri 
 Compromise. The territory of Kansas had been made a de 
 batable ground between freedom and slavery by that repeal, 
 and the struggle had been protracted and violent. At length, 
 it became manifest that the Free-State men were in a decided 
 majority, and that an anti-slavery constitution was demanded 
 by the people of Kansas. Under these circumstances, unscru 
 pulous pro-slavery leaders determined on a scheme of force and 
 fraud, to defeat the very "popular sovereignty" to which they 
 had professedly appealed. They were backed by nearly every 
 Southern Senator and Representative in Congress, and by the 
 active influence of Mr. Buchanan s Administration. A pro- 
 slavery constitution was promulgated at Lecompton, the terri 
 torial capital, which became a by-word of political chicanery 
 and falsehood. No well-informed man doubted the honest 
 sentiment of the actual residents of the territory to be largely 
 preponderant on the side of a free constitution. So palpably 
 unjust and absurd was the attempt to force a recognition of the 
 Lecompton Constitution, in spite of the known facts of the 
 case, that Mr. Douglas himself, and a large number of Demo 
 crats with him, broke with the Administration on this issue. 
 
 While this question was as yet undisposed of in Congress 
 on the 21st of April, 1858 the friends of Mr. Douglas, secur 
 ing the control of the party machinery in spite of hostile Ad- 
 
 10 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ministration influences, nominated a State ticket at Springfield, 
 and endorsed the action of Douglas and his Anti-Lecompton 
 associates. The great stake in the approaching State canvass 
 was the senatorship for six years, to be determined by the 
 Legislature to be chosen in November. Mr. Douglas, with the 
 now powerful Republican organization against him, and the 
 influence of Buchanan s Administration adverse to his re-elec 
 tion, boldly entered the arena, when others would have 
 despaired. On the other hand, the Republicans were now 
 hopeful of securing a Senator of their own faith in his place ; 
 and in their State Convention, held on the 16th of June, they 
 unanimously declared Mr. LINCOLN to be their "first and only 
 choice" for that place. In a speech made on that occasion, 
 Mr. LINCOLN sounded the key-note of the canvass in these ever 
 memorable words : 
 
 "We are now far on into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated with the 
 avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. 
 Under the operation of that policy, that agitation was not only not ceased, but 
 has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis 
 shall have been reached and passed. * A house divided against itself cannot 
 stand/ I believe this Government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and 
 half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the 
 house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all 
 one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the 
 further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief 
 that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it 
 forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new 
 North as well as South." 
 
 The long canvass which followed attracted the attention of 
 the whole country, the speeches 011 each side being published 
 at length in the newspapers, and the contest rose into national 
 importance. Collected in a volume, these speeches and debates 
 of Mr. LINCOLN and Mr. Douglas, reported by their respective 
 friends and revised by each, have been widely read, finding 
 special favor with the adherents of the former, who were con 
 tent to leave both disputants to be judged by their own words. 
 From the close of this canvass, in November, Mr. LINCOLN had 
 a national reputation, as one of the chief men of his party. 
 Beaten by a small majority of the legislative vote, through the 
 peculiarities of the representative apportionment, he had a 
 clear majority of the popular vote in Illinois. Mr. Douglas 
 was re-elected, but at the expense of such concessions to the 
 
 17 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Hentiments of his opponent and of the people of his State, as 
 lost him forever the compact Democratic strength of the South, 
 in support of his aspirations to the Presidency. The persistent 
 demand of the Northern Democracy for his nomination at 
 Charleston, broke that party in twain, and left a comparatively 
 easy victory to the Republicans. 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN, who had now a profitable practice at the bar, 
 not seriously interrupted by these occasional episodes in poli 
 tics, made two able speeches in Ohio, in September, 1859, and 
 another at Cooper Institute in New York City, on the 27th of 
 February, 1860 one of the ablest of all his public addresses. 
 At the Republican National Convention, which assembled in 
 Chicago, on ttie 16th of May following, he proved to be the 
 favorite candidate of the people for the Presidency, receiving 
 the votes of a majority of the delegates on the third ballot. 
 The Democratic party in the North chiefly supported Mr. 
 Douglas in the South, Mr. Breckinridge. The canvass was 
 still further complicated, by an "American" nominee, in the 
 person of Mr. Bell of Tennessee. The Southern leaders began 
 now openly to avow their Disunion purposes, in the event of a 
 Republican triumph on the very issues which they themselves 
 had forced and all the more earnestly was this determination 
 proclaimed as the election of Mr. LINCOLN became more cer 
 tain. This insurrectionary policy, under the guise of Seces 
 sion supposed to have a greater plausibility than a confessedly 
 cftrect revolt had long been maturing. For thirty years, it 
 had been carefully nursed in South Carolina especially, and in 
 1850 had found an open advocate in Jefferson Davis, then a 
 candidate for Governor of Mississippi. On his State he had 
 already entailed lasting disgrace, by drawing her people into 
 the criminal dishonesty of repudiating her solemn pecuniary 
 obligations. This agitator, in origin as humble as ABRAHAM 
 LINCOLN, had come to be the most prominent champion of the 
 aristocratic slaveholding interest, which affected to sneer at the 
 "poor white" of the South, whom the people now raised to 
 the highest political power. 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN received the electoral vote of every Free State 
 save New Jersey, which gave him four votes and Mr. Douglas 
 three. Mr. Breckinridge had the electoral vote of every Slave- 
 holding State except Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, which 
 gave majorities for Mr. Bell, and Missouri, which voted for Mr. 
 
 18 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Douglas. The aggregate electoral vote for ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 was 180 ; for John C. Breckinridge, 72 ; for John Bell, 39 ; and 
 for Stephen A. Douglas, 12. Every State had participated in 
 the election, and was honorably, no less than legally, bound to 
 abide the result. But many weeks before the electoral votes 
 were officially canvassed, the pretended work of Secession had 
 commenced, and the final organization of a complete revolt of 
 the slaveholding States was pressed to a conclusion. Mr. Bu 
 chanan, while denying the Constitutional right of Secession, 
 had proclaimed, in his December message, his concession that 
 he could do nothing to prevent its consummation. The zeal 
 for involving every Southern State in the rebellion was conse 
 quently quickened, that the three months of his Administration 
 remaining might find this audacious attempt fully recognized. 
 
 South Carolina, the mother of this heinous plot, led off with 
 an "ordinance of Secession" on the 20th of December, 1860. 
 On the 9th of January, 1861, Mississippi, obedient to the 
 prompting of Jefferson Davis, responded by a similar act. 
 Alabama, Florida and Georgia followed the example in quick 
 succession. Louisiana, by dint of falsehood and fraud, was 
 made to utter a similar voice on the 28th of January. The 
 State of Texas, at last breaking over the wholesome restraints 
 imposed by Gov. Houston, was added to the roll of Secession 
 on the 1st of February. One after another, in haughty gran 
 deur, the delegations from these several States withdrew from 
 Congress. The rebellion had thus spread through seven States, 
 which, by representatives assembled at Montgomery, Alabama, 
 on the 6th of February, organized a "Southern Confederacy," 
 under a temporary constitution, Negro slavery being its chief 
 corner-stone, with Jefferson Davis for President, and Alexander 
 H. Stephens for Vice President. The spread of the revolt was 
 now apparently arrested for a time, the Confederacy receiving 
 no new accessions from the eight remaining slaveholding 
 States in which, however, emissaries and agitators were 
 busily at work during the next two months. 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN was duly inaugurated as President of the United 
 States, on the 4th of March, 1861. His inaugural address a 
 production of rare ability and of ever increasing historic value 
 breathes, while not wanting in manly firmness, the tenderest 
 spirit of peace, persuasion, entreaty. While calmly stating the 
 obligations he has assumed in taking his official oath, he pro- 
 
 19 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 poses the utmost possible concessions within the limits permitted 
 him, and declares that " there need be no bloodshed or violence, 
 and there shall be none, unless it is forced upon the national 
 authority." He argues for peace with impassioned earnest 
 ness : " Physically speaking, we cannot separate ; we cannot 
 remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an 
 impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be 
 divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of 
 each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do 
 this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse, 
 either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it 
 possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or 
 more satisfactory after separation than before? Can aliens 
 make treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties 
 be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can 
 among friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight 
 always ; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain 
 on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to terms 
 of intercourse are again upon you." 
 
 Words were vain to stay the hot madness of the revolt. Fu 
 tile were the concessions proposed by the Peace Conference, 
 and by the Corwin Amendment to the Constitution, forever 
 prohibiting any interference with slavery in the States. Even 
 the Crittenden Compromise, practically surrendering all oppo 
 sition to the extension of slavery, was spurned. Nothing but 
 the impossible concession of Disunion would be listened to by 
 the rebel leaders. Their chief anxiety now was to draw the 
 other slaveholding States into the vortex of their crime. For 
 this end, Fort Sumter was attacked on the 12th of April, and 
 its slender but gallant garrison of United States troops under 
 Anderson was forced, by armed traitors one hundred times 
 greater in number, and by a series of surrounding batteries, to 
 surrender on the 14th. This deed, inaugurating civil war, was 
 less potent in the South than was at first hoped, but it gained 
 four more of the slaveholding States to the Secession cause 
 Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. This was 
 the utmost accession which the Rebellion was to gain. Mary 
 land, Delaware, Kentucky and Missouri could neither be per 
 suaded nor forced into the fatal alliance of crime. This rebel 
 act of war was still more effective in harmonizing the North, 
 which was, for the time, a unit in the support of the Govern- 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 merit, sinking all party ties in loyal devotion to the flag of the 
 Union. 
 
 President LINCOLN at once called into the field, by his procla 
 mation of April 15, 1861, an army of 75,000 volunteers. The 
 response was prompt and hearty. Nearly as many more of 
 volunteers and regulars combined were called out on the 3d 
 of May. Men were offered in such numbers, that many regi 
 ments were declined. Congress w r as assembled in extra session, 
 on the 4th of July, and provided for calling out 500,000 volun 
 teers. A rebel force was meanwhile pushed forward to occupy 
 Manassas Junction, controlling the communications from Wash 
 ington towards Richmond, Lynchburg and the Shenandoah 
 Valley, and menacing the Capital. Alexandria and Arlington 
 Heights were occupied by Government forces on the 24th of 
 May ; an advance was made into Western Virginia from Ohio, 
 on the 26th ; Cairo, Illinois, was garrisoned somewhat earlier ; 
 and about the 1st of June, a loyal army, under Gen. Lyon, was 
 put in the field in Missouri. Thus the long line of operations, 
 stretching from the Potomac to the farther side of the Missis 
 sippi, and the fields of action, during a destructive war no 
 longer avoidable, were indicated in outline. 
 
 To follow these events will be the work of the historian for 
 ages to come. Even a brief summary would require a volume. 
 Never was war conducted on a grander scale, or in a nobler 
 cause than that in which Mr. LINCOLN, as the chosen ruler of 
 the people, successively sent forth his hundreds of thousands 
 to battle for the nation s life and for the rights of humanity. 
 The disaster at Bull Run, on the 21st of July, 1861, was fol 
 lowed by the fruitless campaign on the Peninsula and before 
 Richmond, in 1862. Successes in West Virginia, Missouri, and 
 Tennessee, and the capture of New Orleans, partly relieved the 
 depressing effect of these misfortunes in Eastern Virginia, 
 where the main rebel army, under Lee, was encountered. 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN S mind was early directed to the consideration 
 of the relations of slavery to the war, not only as its funda 
 mental cause, but also as one of the chief elements of strength or 
 weakness to the rebels, as his own treatment of it should deter 
 mine. Besides, he was by no means indifferent as seen in 
 what has already been quoted from his utterances of years 
 before to that impulse of justice which demands that the 
 oppressed shall be relieved of their burdens, and their wrongs 
 
NATIONAL PORTBAITS. 
 
 redressed by the strong hand of power. "If slavery is not 
 wrong, nothing is wrong," had been his earnest conviction 
 from his earliest recollection. Assurances and concessions 
 made to a defiant oligarchy, as an inducement for them to 
 cease agitation and remain good citizens, were no longer just 
 restraints on his actions, when all such proffers had been con 
 temptuously scouted, and every right and privilege under the 
 Constitution forfeited by overt acts of treason. In the exercise 
 of his legitimate authority as commander-in-chief of the army 
 and navy, he at length determined to strike a fatal blow at the 
 very root of the insurrection slavery itself at once gaining 
 a high military advantage, and improving the opportunity to 
 rid the nation forever of an institution incompatible with its 
 harmonious existence. He issued his PROCLAMATION OF EMAN 
 CIPATION, on the 22d day of September, 1862, which was put in 
 full force on the 1st day of January, 1863. From this act dates 
 the downfall of slavery in the United States. Its anticipated 
 effect was not over-estimated. It was the one thing that needed 
 to be done. It accomplished its ends. 
 
 The year 1863 beheld the Mississippi river regained, by the 
 decisive victories at Yicksburg and Port Hudson; the army 
 of Lee hurled back defeated and dispirited from Gettysburg ; 
 and East Tennessee occupied by our forces. Half the rebel 
 territory was already reclaimed ; but the formidable armies of 
 Lee, at Orange Court-House, Virginia, and of Johnston, at 
 Dalton, Georgia, were still confronting the armies of Meade, in 
 the East, and of Grant, in the West, as they went into winter 
 quarters at the close of the year. The navy, meanwhile, had 
 successfully maintained the blockade proclaimed by President 
 LINCOLN, along the entire coast, with only such occasional 
 evasions, on the part of English-built vessels, chiefly, as were 
 to be expected. Foreign complications, which Davis had 
 eagerly desired, and his numerous emissaries labored for, were 
 skilfully avoided. The popular elections, which had gone 
 adversely in many States in 1862, after a season of military 
 failures, had now been favorable to the Administration, return 
 ing a Congress which supported Mr. LINCOLN S policy con 
 trary to the example of the previous twenty years, in the choice 
 of a Congress for the last half of a Presidential term. 
 
 The military preparations on both sides were energetic and 
 earnest, and the resumption of active operations in the Spring 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 of 1864 was looked forward to with an anxious interest, in tho 
 hope that the season would not pass without decisive results. 
 Congress had revived the office of Lieutenant-General, and the 
 President had, early in March, appointed Gen. Ulysses S. Grant 
 to that position, with the chief military command. Leaving 
 the Western forces to the direction of Gen. Sherman, the Lieu 
 tenant-General gave his immediate personal attention to affairs 
 in Virginia. The main object to be gained was the envelop 
 ment and crushing of the principal army, under Lee, while 
 Sherman penetrated the interior of the States of Georgia and 
 the Carolinas. From the Rapidan to the Appomattox, many a 
 sanguinary conflict attested the determination of the loyal 
 forces, and the desperation of their foe. The Wilderness, 
 Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, are fields saturated with blood ; 
 and they will be ever memorable for the unyielding tenacity 
 and valor with which Meade and his men, obedient to the will 
 of the Lieutenant-General, steadily pushed forward in the 
 great closing work of the war. At Petersburg, Lee was closely 
 occupied only sending out an invading expedition into the 
 Shenandoah Valley to be utterly discomfited by Sheridan 
 while Sherman fought his way to Atlanta, driving Johnston 
 before him, and made his grand march to the sea at Savannah, 
 and thence through the Carolinas. Then came, after quick, 
 sharp battle, under Grant and Meade, the capture of Peters 
 burg, the fall of Richmond, the flight of Davis, the surrender 
 of Lee, and the capitulation of all the lesser rebel generals and 
 armies. Valuable aids brilliant services were not wanting 
 in other quarters. Rosecrans and Pleasanton brought Price s 
 invasion of Missouri to an inglorious end. Thomas and Scho- 
 field sent the remnant of Hood s routed legions flying from 
 Tennessee. The naval squadron under Porter and the military 
 contingent under Terry gained a brilliant victory at Fort 
 Fisher, followed by the occupation of Wilmington, and an end 
 of blockade-running. Admiral Farragut gained brilliant vic 
 tories at Mobile. Charleston, the mother city of the confede 
 rate usurpation, now little else than a desolation, succumbed to 
 the arms of the Government it had defied and provoked by the 
 assault on Fort Sumter. The closing events moved in rapid 
 and orderly succession, until the last rebel was disarmed. 
 
 Necessarily, the all-engrossing business of Mr. LINCOLN S Ad 
 ministration, during this entire period, was the dread work of 
 
RATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 war, and his chief public acts and utterances had a relation 
 thereto. It was a time of domestic insurrection and public 
 danger, such as called for the suspension of the writ of habeas 
 corpus, as expressly provided in the Constitution, and compelled 
 a resort to martial law, in many cases, and to military arrests. 
 Mr. LINCOLN was denounced for these procedures in which, 
 if he erred, it was perhaps in too great moderation by 
 many who wished the rebellion to succeed, or who desired 
 impunity in obstructing the Government in its legitimate work. 
 A portion of those who originally constituted the Republican 
 party complained that he did not go faster and farther in the 
 punishment of treason and in dealing with slavery. He had 
 his own views of the mode in which his work should be done, 
 and steadily followed such indications of duty as he clearly 
 saw. His public papers, his letters, and his occasional addresses, 
 always showed how intimate were his sympathies with the 
 people, and how unreservedly he was willing to confide all his 
 public actions, and even opinions, to their judgment. He 
 rejoiced in the practical advancement of emancipation, by which 
 Missouri, West Virginia, and Maryland became Free States, 
 while the leaven was steadily working in Tennessee, Louisiana, 
 Arkansas, and elsewhere. He gladly signed the joint resolu 
 tion of Congress, providing for a constitutional amendment 
 forever prohibiting slavery in every part of the United States 
 and throughout its jurisdiction. He early recognized the man 
 hood of the Regro by putting arms in his hand. He initiated 
 a policy for restoring the Rebel States to nominal relations 
 with the Government, and proclaimed a liberal amnesty to 
 those with excepted classes who had incurred the penalties 
 of treason. He approved a confiscation act, after its original 
 terms had been somewhat softened by Congress, intended to 
 exact from the authors of the war some partial compensation, 
 at least, for the pecuniary effects of their crimes. 
 
 In the choice of his Cabinet, Mr. LINCOLN aimed to secure a 
 fair representation from among the most eminent party leaders. 
 Hon. W. II. Seward, of New York, was made Secretary of 
 State; Hon. S. P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; 
 Hon. S. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; and 
 Hon. E. Bates, of Missouri, Attorney-General. Each of these 
 distinguished gentlemen had been prominently named as a can 
 didate for the Presidency. Hon. G. Welles, of Connecticut, was 
 
 24 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 appointed Secretary of the Navy; Hon. C. B. Smith, of Indiana, 
 Secretary of the Interior; and Hon. Montgomery Blair, of 
 Maryland, Postmaster-General. Mr. Cameron resigned and was 
 succeeded by lion. E. M. Stanton, of Pennsylvania, on the llth 
 of January, 1862. Mr. Chase resigned in June, 1864, and was 
 succeeded by Hon. W. P. Fessenden, of Maine, who returned 
 to the Senate on the 4th of March, 1865, Hon. Hugh McCulloch 
 of Indiana, being appointed in his stead. Mr. Smith was suc 
 ceeded, in January, 1863, by Hon. J. P. Usher, of Indiana, 
 whom Hon. James Harlan, of Iowa, was appointed to succeed, 
 after Secretary McCulloch entered the Cabinet. Hon. William 
 Dennison, of Ohio, succeeded Mr. Blair in the autumn of 1864. 
 Hon. James Speed, of Kentucky, was appointed Attorney-Gen 
 eral, on the resignation of Judge Bates on the 1st of December, 
 1864. Mr. Chase was appointed Chief-Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, in place of Judge Taney, who died 
 in November, 1864. 
 
 In June, 1864, Mr. LINCOLN received from the Republican 
 Union party a unanimous nomination for re-election, with Gov. 
 Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, as the candidate for Yice-Presi- 
 dent. The opposing candidates were Gen. George B. McClellan 
 and the Hon. George II. Pendleton. The judgment of the 
 people was fairly taken on Mr. LINCOLN S official acts, and the 
 result was a most gratifying approval. Since the re-election, of 
 Jackson, in 1832, no President had been re-elected. It had 
 never before happened to a President from the Free States to 
 be chosen for a second term. The official canvass, on the 8th 
 of February, 1865, showed that Mr. LINCOLN had received 212 
 electoral votes, and Gen. McClellan but 21. Thus emphatically 
 did the people ratify his past administration, and extend him 
 their confidence for the future. 
 
 Space has been wanting for any extended quotations from 
 the public papers of President LINCOLN. His brief address, on 
 the 19th of November, 1863, at the consecration of a National 
 Cemetery for the heroes fallen at Gettysburg, must not be 
 omitted here. It is in these words : 
 
 " Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this conti 
 nent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that 
 all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing 
 whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long endure. 
 We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are met to dedicate a por- 
 
 25 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 tion of it as a final resting-place of those who here gave their lives that that 
 nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 
 
 " But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot 
 hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, 
 have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will 
 little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what 
 they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the 
 unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for 
 us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these 
 honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they here gave 
 the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that the dead 
 ehall not have died in vain that the nation shall, under God, have a new 
 birth of freedom, and that the Government of the people, by the people, and 
 for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 7 
 
 Mr. LINCOLN S appreciation of the services of the men who 
 bravely exposed their lives in the field to sustain the Govern 
 ment and to uphold the great principles of republican liberty, 
 was always grateful and profound. On almost every public 
 occasion he acknowledged these services, and often in the ten- 
 derest terms. He grudged no General his fame, and took care 
 that no one should be robbed of his just due through any credit 
 given to himself. And above all human instrumentalities, he 
 recognized the overruling hand of Providence. He had a firm 
 faith in the righteousness of his cause, and in a God of justice 
 and benevolence, whose designs for humanity would not permit 
 the overthrow of the American Republic. 
 
 On taking his oath of office for the second time, on the 4th 
 of March, 1865, a devout tone of reverence and trust, hardly 
 paralleled in any other public utterances of any ruler, pervaded 
 his brief inaugural address. Spoken in the assured confidence 
 of a speedy end of the military power of the rebellion, it mani 
 fested a calm, generous, forgiving temper, and an exalted 
 grandeur of Christian character, worthy of the martyr who 
 was about to lay down his life as a crowning sacrifice on the 
 altar of his country. 
 
 " The progress of our arms," he said, " upon which all else chiefly depends, 
 is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satis 
 factory and encouraging. With high hope for the future, no prediction in 
 regard to it is ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, 
 all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded 
 it all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered 
 from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent 
 agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war seeking to dissolve 
 the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war ; but 
 
 26 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 
 
 one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive ; and the other 
 would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came. Both read the 
 same Bible, and pray to the same God ; and each invokes His aid against the 
 other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God s 
 assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men s faces ; but 
 let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be 
 answered that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His 
 own purposes. Woe unto the world because of offences ! for it needs be that 
 offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh. 
 
 "If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offences which, 
 in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued 
 through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to 
 both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the 
 offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attri 
 butes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? 
 
 " Fondly do we hope fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of 
 war may soon pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the 
 wealth piled by the bondman s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil 
 shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid 
 with another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so 
 still it must be said, The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous 
 altogether/ 
 
 "With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the 
 right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we 
 are in ; to bind up the nation s wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne 
 the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan to do all which may achieve 
 and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." 
 
 Under the brightest auspices, he entered upon his second 
 term. Joyful days of victory and assured peace soon followed. 
 He lived to see the recovery of the last of the fortresses that 
 had been wrested from his rightful possession by traitorous 
 hands, and to witness the overflowing of popular joy at the 
 taking of Richmond and the surrender of Lee. On the 14th 
 of April, the same flag, now doubly glorified, was raised over 
 Fort Sumter by the loyal hand which had four years before 
 been compelled by treason to pull it down. The circle of the 
 war was complete. The Union was saved. Universal freedom 
 was secured. The Great Republic stood forth fairer and 
 stronger than ever, as a light of salvation to the nations of the 
 whole world. In the midst of this triumph, at the summit of 
 his fame, ABRAHAM LINCOLN was basely slain by an impious 
 assassin. Sitting in a private box at a theatre, with his wife 
 and friends past the hour of ten o clock on the night of the 
 14th of April the stealthy step behind him was unheeded, 
 until the fatal pistol-shot was fired, and the bullet lodged deeply 
 
 27 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 in his brain. He died on the following morning, amid universal 
 lamentations. The unfeigned grief of the people, the unparal 
 leled manifestations of their sorrow, followed him to his grave 
 near his former home. The world abroad was profoundly 
 moved at his death, and joined in universal eulogiums upon 
 the Departed, whose worth they had finally learned to value. 
 
 In was the peculiar fortune of Mr. LINCOLN that, born in a 
 Slave State, and entertaining no more radical views on the sub 
 ject of slavery than did the earlier Southern statesmen them 
 selves, his whole political career should be prominently identified 
 with anti-slavery movements, and the most memorable act of 
 his life, the Proclamation which gave the extinguishing blow 
 to slavery itself. He had a high moral nature, combining spot 
 less purity of life with the clearest sense of right and a universal 
 sympathy with all his fellow-men. Because the Negro was 
 inferior, was not to him any warrant for refusing respect to his 
 rights as a man. The colored race had come to look upon him 
 as their special champion and protector. But he never made 
 any ostentatious exhibition of zeal in their cause. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN was, of all American Presidents, the 
 truest representative of his nation the growth of its varied 
 elements of life, and the embodiment of its ideas. He was 
 lofty in stature, sinewy and strong in body, clear, vigorous, 
 self-reliant in mind ; melancholy in expression of countenance, 
 plaintive in tone of voice, yet full of humor and ready to over 
 flow with genuine laughter ; simple, yet hearty and winning in 
 his manners, abounding in kindness, forgiving in temper; 
 honest in all things, affectionate toward all men, and devoutly 
 trustful in God. He seemed surprisingly near to those who 
 approached him, and cared for nothing so much, in his worldly 
 life, as to be in accord with the people. From a station almost 
 the humblest, he rose to a summit of power the very highest 
 in the nation, and grandly sustained himself there at a period 1 
 the most eventful the republic has ever seen, or perhaps will 
 ever see. He made his way upward by no arts or intrigue, by 
 no demagogism or deceit. Always estimated below rather 
 than above his true worth, at each stage of his career, his 
 advancement was fairly earned and solid. The superficial 
 judgment which pronounces him good but not great, will 
 hardly gain even temporary currency, and will be lost from 
 remembrance in the admiring reverence of coming ages. 
 
 28 
 
i/ 
 
WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 THE grandfather of WINFIELD SCOTT was a Scotchman, and took part 
 in the rebellion of 1745, fighting against the king ; this compelled 
 him to flee from his country and settle in Virginia, where he became a 
 lawyer. William Scott, the father of our hero, was a farmer, and 
 married Ann Mason, a lady of excellent sense and great virtue. 
 William died young, leaving his wife the sole guardian of five children, 
 with a small property, which only a rigid economy could render ade 
 quate for their support and education. WINFIELD was born near 
 Petersburg, Virginia, June 13, 1786. It will be seen that he was a 
 hardy child of difficulty and fortitude, and no nursling of ease and 
 indulgence. But he was always disposed to exertion, and therefore 
 obtained a good education, chose the law as a profession, attended a 
 course of law lectures at William and Mary college, entered a lawyer s 
 office, and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty, in 1806. 
 
 In the summer of 1807 occurred the wanton attack of the British 
 frigate Leopard on the Chesapeake, and the imprisonment of several of 
 her crew on the allegation that they were British subjects. Young 
 SCOTT ardently shared in the indignation of his countrymen, and joined 
 a volunteer corps in Petersburgh, and marched with them down to 
 Lynnhaven Bay. But this little cloud soon blew over, the volun 
 teers were called home, and SCOTT returned to the practice of his pro 
 fession ; soon, however, to leave it forever, Providence having marked 
 out for him a wide and glorious career. A war was inevitable ; Con 
 gress passed a bill to raise an army, and in 1808 SCOTT received from 
 President Jefferson a commission as captain of artillery. In 1809 he 
 was ordered to Louisiana, and placed under the command of General 
 Wilkinson, for which officer he had no respect. SCOTT, himself filled 
 with patriotic ardor and honor, believed Wilkinson to be implicated in 
 Burr s conspiracy, and of this conviction he made no secret ; the result 
 was that Wilkinson preferred charges against him, which resulted in 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 his suspension from the service for a year. In this punishment he had 
 the sympathy of his brother officers, who, on the occasion of his sen 
 tence, complimented him with a public dinner. The interval of suspension 
 was passed by SCOTT in a thorough systematic study of the science of 
 military tactics,, so that he re-appeared in service with superior fitness 
 for the great duties now about to devolve upon him. 
 
 On the 18th of June, 1812, war was declared, when it was found 
 that the military preparations of the country had been utterly inade 
 quate to the necessities of the crisis. An expedition was planned to 
 seize on Upper Canada, and the execution entrusted to General Hull; 
 who, however, ingloriously surrendered to General Brock, the British 
 commander, without striking a blow. SCOTT felt, with the whole 
 country, the dishonor of the General, and longed to avenge our disas 
 ters on the very spot where they had been suffered, a result which ne 
 soon after gloriously accomplished. 
 
 Receiving the commission of lieutenant-colonel from President 
 Madison, SCOTT repaired to the Niagara frontier, and took up his 
 position at Black Rock. In October he undertook, in conjunction with 
 Lieutenant Elliott of the navy, the capture of two British armed brigs, 
 the "Adams" and "Caledonia," then lying moored under the guns 
 of the British Fort Erie, nearly opposite. The attempt was gal 
 lant and successful. Here was the commencement of that succession of 
 victories which soon crowned our arms with glory on the lakes and 
 in Canada. 
 
 The American troops had now received a new impulse, and began 
 to recover from their dispirited feelings, arising from Hull s inglorious 
 surrender. A body of them lay below Lewiston, under the command 
 of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, and demanded to be led into Canada, 
 though no sufficient preparations had been made for such a step. SCOTT 
 became eager to join the expedition, and by a forced march hastened 
 through mud and rain to the scene of action. The arrangements of 
 the embarkation, however, were such as to preclude him from joining 
 the columns of the invading force. He accordingly took up a position, 
 with his artillery, where he could best cover the landing of our troops, 
 and opened an effective fire on the enemy. The divisions under 
 Colonels Solomon Van Rensselaer and Chrystie behaved nobly ; anc 1 
 on the arrival of General Brock, the governor of Upper Canada, who 
 headed a charge against our troops, they mortally wounded Brock, 
 and his secretary, but they themselves had lost Colonel Chrystie, and 
 other noble spirits. At this moment SCOTT arrived on the ground, and 
 the entire command of the corps, now about six hundred, was committed 
 
WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 to him. General Wadsworth acted second in command, and his 
 attachment to his youthful leader often induced him to interpose his 
 own person to shield SCOTT from the bullets of the Indian rifles, which 
 were aimed against his commanding person. The position of SCOTT 
 and his army was now truly perilous ; the British garrison at Fort 
 George had poured forth its men, who, with five hundred Indians, 
 advanced upon them, and successive reinforcements continued to arrive 
 until their number was not less than thirteen hundred men, while the 
 Americans had been reduced to less than three hundred. No succor 
 was to be expected, for our troops on the American shore had refused 
 to come to the aid of their comrades. Retreat was hopeless. SCOTT, 
 by no means daunted by the imminent peril of his position, mounted a 
 fallen tree of the forest, and calling around him his now diminished 
 band, uttered these thrilling words : " The enemy s balls have thinned 
 our ranks. His numbers are overwhelming. Directly the shock must 
 come, and there is no retreat. We are in the beginning of a national 
 war. Hull s ignominious surrender must be retrieved. Let us die 
 
 o 
 
 then, arms in hand ! Our country demands the sacrifice. The example 
 will not be lost. The blood of the slain will make heroes of the living. 
 Who is ready for the sacrifice ?" An enthusiastic cry answered this 
 eloquent appeal. "We are ALL ready!" was the reply. Though 
 sorely pressed, the Americans maintained their ground, until finding 
 themselves utterly surrounded and overwhelmed by superior numbers, 
 they finally gave way and surrendered to the inevitable necessity of 
 the occasion. Their heroic resistance, however, redeemed the honor 
 of our arms, and proved by defeat itself that victory was close at hand. 
 SCOTT, by this calamity, became better known for gallantry : for he 
 was always in battle in full dress uniform, and his tall stature of full 
 six feet five inches made him a conspicuous mark, especially to the 
 Indians. When he was urged, on one very perilous occasion, on this 
 account to change his dress, he replied, " No, I will die in my robes." 
 At that moment Captain Lawrence fell at his side by a shot from the 
 enemy. 
 
 After the surrender, while SCOTT was a prisoner in the village of 
 Niagara, an attack was made on his life by two Indians ; but he 
 would have cloven both to the earth with a sword, which he had sud 
 denly laid hold of, had it not been for a British officer, who, alarmed 
 by the noise, interposed and saved their lives. About the same time, 
 when the British officers w r ere selecting from the American prisoners 
 the Irishmen, whom they intended to send home to grace the gallows, 
 our hero denounced their proceedings, and threatened a like retaliation 
 
 3 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 upon British prisoners if they dared to execute a single man among his 
 comrades. SCOTT commanded his men not to speak, so that no more 
 Irishmen could be recognized ; twenty-three, however, were sent home, 
 but in the end returned; as SCOTT was soon exchanged, and gave 
 proof that he had the power as well as the disposition to retaliate on 
 the English. Singularly enough, on the very day of the landing of 
 these twenty-three returned comrades at New York, SCOTT, still suf 
 fering from wounds he had in the meantime received, passed along the 
 quay on foot ; he was instantly recognized by the now liberated prison 
 ers, and knowing of all he had accomplished in their behalf, they 
 rushed upon him with cheers, expressing a fervor of affectionate grati 
 tude and delight which it is impossible to describe. 
 
 Shortly after his release, SCOTT rejoined the army, as adjutant-general, 
 at Fort Niagara, and was allowed, at his own request, to command his 
 own regiment on all occasions of peril and hardship. Not long after 
 he was in great danger ; Dearborn, who was anxiously watching the 
 movements of the troops, seeing with his glass his favorite leader fall, 
 burst into tears, exclaiming, " He is lost ! He is killed !" But our 
 hero was neither killed nor vanquished. He recovered himself, and 
 rallying his men again, eagerly rushed forward, sword in hand, upon 
 the enemy. A furious fight ensued, but at the end of twenty minutes 
 the foe gave ground, and fled in dismay before the resistless valor of 
 our young leader. He assaulted the Fort, forced the gates, and was 
 the first to enter. 
 
 Here may be the proper place to give an anecdote illustrative alike 
 of the honor and good feeling of our soldier. After his capture, the 
 year before, he was supping with General Sheafe, and a number of 
 British officers, when one of them, a colonel, asked SCOTT if he had 
 ever seen the neighboring Falls ; SCOTT replied, " yes, from the 
 American side." To this the other sarcastically replied, " you must 
 have the glory of a successful fight before you can view the cataract 
 in all its grandeur." SCOTT rejoined, " If it be your intention to insult 
 me, sir, honor should have first prompted you to return me my sword !" 
 General Sheafe promptly rebuked the British colonel, and the matter 
 was dropped. This same colonel, the following year, was taken 
 prisoner by SCOTT at Fort George, and treated with great kindness 
 and consideration. This treatment extorted the following remark from 
 the prisoner to his captor : " I have long owed you an apology, sir. 
 You have overwhelmed me with kindnesses. You can now view the 
 Falls in all their grandeur, at your leisure." 
 
 In July of 1813, Colonel SCOTT was appointed to the command of a 
 
WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 double regiment, and withdrew from his post of adjutant-general. In 
 September an expedition against Burlington Heights was planned, and 
 its execution entrusted to SCOTT; from hence he removed to York, 
 where he found large depots of clothing, provisions, and other military 
 stores, together with several pieces of cannon and eleven armed boats ; 
 all these were captured, and their barracks and public store-houses 
 destroyed. With the close of the campaign, a new and important 
 sphere of duty opened upon Colonel SCOTT. He was now to be called 
 on to awake a new army into being, whose deeds should efface the 
 remembrance of the campaign of that year, and whose prowess should 
 extort the plaudits of admiring millions. After making preparations 
 at Albany and Buffalo for future proceedings, on the 9th of March, 
 1814, he was appointed brigadier-general by president Madison, at the 
 early age of twenty-seven, and at once entered on his duties. We had 
 heretofore used the Prussian system of tactics ; SCOTT now introduced 
 the far more perfect modern French system, the one which we still 
 employ. The new recruits were immediately put under efficient drill ; 
 the army was converted into a vast military school ; and was kept 
 incessantly employed till it was thoroughly trained; and the raw 
 militia in three months proved itself able to conquer the renowned 
 veterans of Wellington himself. 
 
 It is, however, impossible in a work like this, to describe the half 
 of what was done by our illustrious soldier, whose prowess and fame 
 were every day increasing. He led the van when Fort Erie surrendered 
 at discretion ; at Chippewa, where he had to contend with opposing 
 troops, the very flower of the British army, and had a much smaller 
 number of men, who had never seen service, he obtained a decided 
 conquest ; at Lundy s Lane, one of the most memorable battles we 
 ever fought, and where our victory was one of the dearest we ever 
 won, conquest also awaited our hero. This victory was indeed ob 
 tained at a high cost. In addition to our other great losses, SCOTT 
 himself was dangerously wounded. His shoulder was shattered, and 
 a bullet entered his side, so that for a month he lay in a most critical 
 state, and in great suffering. After enduring much pain for a long 
 season, he slowly journeyed towards Philadelphia, to which city he re 
 paired for further surgical aid. Every where, as he passed, he was 
 greeted by all the public honors and private attentions he could bear 
 Princeton and Philadelphia, and afterwards Baltimore and Washington, 
 were most conspicuous in these expressions of regard. 
 
 Peace having been obtained, there were no farther labors for SCOTT 
 in the field ; he was, however, raised to the rank of major-general, and 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 President Madison, when our hero was but twenty-eight, offered him 
 the post of secretary of war ; this, however, he declined. The en 
 feebled state of his health, and the desire of still further professional 
 improvement, suggested the desirableness of a voyage to Europe : and 
 the government gave him a double commission ; first, to examine the 
 improvements of military science, and second, to conduct certain secret 
 negotiations in regard to the independence of South America, and the 
 supposed designs of England upon Cuba. He acquitted himself in 
 these matters entirely to the satisfaction of his government. On his 
 return home, he was placed in command of the eastern division of the 
 army, with New York for his head quarters. In 1817 he married Miss 
 Mayo, of Richmond, previously to which Congress had passed a vote 
 of thanks to him for the eminent services he had rendered to his country, 
 and voted him a large gold medal, inscribed with the names of " Chip- 
 pewa" and " Niagara," and bearing his likeness. The states of New 
 York and Virginia likewise bestowed similar compliments. Each of 
 these states presented him with a sword of the richest workmanship. 
 General Tompkins, of New York, made a public presentation of the 
 sword given by that state, and in his address observed that it was 
 presented to him by the state in token of its admiration of " a military 
 career replete with splendid events." A singular incident is connected 
 with the gold medal presented to General SCOTT by congress. It was 
 at one time deposited for safe-keeping in the vault of the City Bank of 
 New York. A noted robber broke into the safe, and carried off from 
 thence everything else that was valuable ; but spared this token of public 
 honor, in evident respect for the brave soldier s only wealth. The case ol 
 the medal was found open, but retaining its precious contents untouched. 
 Nor was this the only instance in which respect has been shown to 
 true nobility of soul. Long after the event we have just narrated, 
 General SCOTT, in traveling by steamboat from Albany to New York, 
 had his pocket picked of a purse containing eight hundred dollars in 
 gold. On arriving at New York, the General advertised his loss. His 
 money was sent back to him by the head thief of the city, with a 
 respectful assurance that none of his people would have touched the 
 General s purse if they had known his person. 
 
 Although General SCOTT now retired for a while from active service 
 into private life, he was by no means unemployed. He now commenced 
 author, and in 1821 embodied his military system in a volume entitled 
 " General Regulations for the Army" This was followed in 1825, 
 in 1826, and in 1835 by other works of a similar character : in the last 
 instance the work was published by order of Congress. We owe much 
 
WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 it has been well said, to West Point, but West Point owes much to 
 Gen. SCOTT. He contributed more than any other man to give the 
 United States army its leading characteristics of high spirit, lofty tone, 
 gentlemanly bearing, extreme efficiency, and love of duty. Withal he 
 had a deep desire to see it always prompted and guided by a spirit of 
 humanity ; so that he may well be called the Father of the American 
 army. 
 
 In improving the discipline of the army, General SCOTT met with 
 much difficulty from the prevalence of intemperance, and placed himself 
 among the very earliest pioneers of the temperance reform. As long 
 ago as 1821, he published, first in the National Gazette, of Philadelphia, 
 and afterwards, in the form of a pamphlet, a plan to discourage the use 
 of intoxicating liquors in the United States. This paper was written 
 with great ability, and furnished the matter for thousands of temperance 
 addresses since delivered. Indeed, in all his private and social relations 
 he was one whom the youth of the country would do well to follow as 
 a model. His moral character gives lustre to his historical celebrity. 
 Personally he was without reproach and above suspicion. 
 
 Animated by the high spirit of a soldier, General SCOTT took a lively 
 interest in the struggles of the South American republics to secure their 
 independence. Among the acts which illustrated his interest in Jiieir 
 behalf, were his successful endeavors to give a military education to 
 three sons of General Paez, of Colombia. They were, by his exertions, 
 placed at the Military Academy at West Point, in 1823, under the 
 auspices of the President of the United States, where they were edu 
 cated, and afterwards sent back to fight for the liberties of their native 
 land. 
 
 In 1829 our hero again visited Europe on a professional tour of ob 
 servation ; and on his return, after an absence of several months, a 
 war with the Indians on the Upper Mississippi, under the celebrated 
 " Black Hawk," having assumed a formidable aspect, he was ordered 
 by the War Department, in June 1832, to the scene of conflict, to 
 take command of the forces sent to subdue the savages. He embarked 
 at Buffalo, with about one thousand men, on board four steamers bound 
 for the theatre of war. On the passage from Buffalo to Chicago, the 
 Asiatic Cholera, which then for the first time visited this country, 
 broke out on board the steamers conveying the troops, in the most 
 frightful form. On board the General s own boat, out of two hundred 
 and twenty persons, no less than fifty-two died, and eighty others were 
 committed to the hospital w r ithin the short term of six days. The great 
 fatality of this disease spread indescribable terror among the troops, 
 
 7 VOL. 4.-U 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 and among the population whither they were carried. Such was the 
 effect produced that in the course of a very few days, sickness, death 
 and desertion, had reduced the number of our troops from nine hundred 
 and fifty to four hundred. Amid this terrible scene, instead of con 
 tenting himself with merely ordering the medical men to take all 
 necessary measures for the relief of the sick, he attended them in per 
 son, and performed for his humblest comrade every disagreeable and 
 dangerous office with a brother s care. Meantime the Indians were 
 subdued by the Illinois militia and the troops under General Atkinson, 
 and Black Hawk was captured. SCOTT subsequently proceeded to the 
 place of his destination, negotiated important treaties with the Sacs and 
 Foxes, and the Winnebagoes, composed the difficulties on that frontier, 
 and discharged all the duties of his mission in a manner which led Mr. 
 Cass, then Secretary of War, to say to him, "Allow me to congratulate 
 you, sir, upon this fortunate consummation of your arduous duties, and 
 to express my entire approbation of the whole course of your proceed 
 ings, during a series of difficulties requiring higher moral courage than 
 the operations of an active campaign under ordinary circumstances." 
 
 Were we writing an extended biography of General SCOTT, we 
 should here have much to say on the circumstances and the manner 
 in which he executed his mission to South Carolina. A convention 
 of that state had passed its ordinance declaring that the United States 
 revenue laws should not be enforced in South Carolina, and its legis 
 lature and executive were making preparations for an armed resistance. 
 His work demanded a firm but conciliatory spirit, and great energy in 
 action. That he should have been able, in face of impending hos 
 tilities, to associate and even hold friendly relations with the leading 
 nullifiers, seems almost incredible, yet so it was. He withdrew from 
 the scene with the reflection, that his course had been the chief means 
 of saving his country from the horrors of internal strife, and of giving 
 full satisfaction to all parties. In 1835 an Indian war raged in Florida, 
 and the General was ordered there, but the campaign ended without 
 any important results. Some complaints were made because he did 
 not find and capture the hidden Seminoles. But an inquiry, which 
 was instituted at Washington into that campaign, proved him entirely 
 free from blame, and resulted in the unanimous approval of the con 
 duct of the brave commander by the court. He was invited by his 
 friends to public dinners at New York, Richmond, Va., and Elizabeth- 
 town, N. J., but declined them all, on account of the then commercial 
 difficulties of the country. Nor less characteristic were his efforts in 
 controlling and subduing the spirit which, on our Canadian frontier, 
 
WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 almost drove us into war with England. Here, as usual, he was 
 successful ; as he was also in his labors with the fifteen thousand of 
 the Cherokee Indians who refused to emigrate, according to treaty, 
 west of the Mississippi. His success in that case called forth the 
 eloquent testimony of Dr. Channing : " In the whole history of the 
 intercourse of civilized with barbarous or half-civilized communities, 
 we doubt whether a brighter page can be found than that which 
 records General SCOTT S agency in the removal of the Cherokees. As 
 far as the wrongs done to this race can be atoned for, General SCOTT 
 has made the expiation. It would not be easy to find among us a 
 man who has won a purer fame." Equally honorable was his conduct 
 in 1839, in settling the difficulties connected with the north-eastern 
 boundary. Here he reaped new laurels, and earned a new claim to 
 the title of the Great Pacificator. But we must hasten on to scenes 
 which, more than any we have yet recorded, have brought him pro 
 minently before the world. 
 
 The death of Major-General Macomb having taken place June 25, 
 1841, SCOTT was called to the command of the entire army ; and in 
 the discharge of its regular duties he remained almost uninterruptedly 
 for several years. He took part, however, in the discussion of several 
 public topics which arose during this period, and was in 1844, as he 
 had been in 1839, a prominent candidate for the presidency. He was, 
 however, on the eve of still greater honors. 
 
 The peace of the country, after having been long menaced by the 
 state of our relations with Mexico, was at length broken by an unex 
 pected collision, and we found ourselves plunged into open war with 
 that country. In May, 1846, the Mexican forces were suddenly pre 
 cipitated in large numbers upon the little army of General Taylor, 
 who had command of our forces on the Rio Grande. That distinguished 
 veteran astonished and electrified the country by the indomitable valor 
 he displayed in repulsing the enemy, and in winning, in swift succes 
 sion, the two battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. On the 
 24th of November, in that year, General SCOTT set out from Wash 
 ington for the theatre of hostilities, charged with the command of our 
 arms in that quarter. He reached the Rio Grande January 1st, 1847. 
 Santa Anna, the commander of the Mexican army, lay at San Luis 
 Potosi, midway between the Rio Grande and the city of Mexico, at 
 the head of twenty-two thousand men. General Taylor had now 
 crossed the river and advanced to Saltillo, about one hundred and fifty 
 miles towards San Luis Potosi. He had under his command a force 
 of eighteen thousand troops, which occupied the line connecting his 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 advanced position at Saltillo with the Rio Grande at Camargo. SCOTT 
 divided this force, leaving ten thousand men under General Taylor, and 
 taking the remainder with him by sea to Vera Cruz, where four thou 
 sand other troops had concentrated. The whole force was combined 
 at the island of Lobos, and from that point the squadron, having on 
 board twelve thousand men, set sail ; General SCOTT, in the steamship 
 Massachusetts, leading the van. As his steamer passed through the 
 fleet, his tall form, conspicuous above every other, attracted the eyes 
 of soldiers and sailors, who gave vent to their emotions of admiration 
 and enthusiasm in one spontaneous cheer, which burst simultaneously 
 from every vessel, and echoed and rang along the whole line. The fleet 
 having arrived before Vera Cruz, and all preparations being completed, 
 a little before sunset on the 9th of March the landing of this armament, 
 destined for the reduction of one of the most formidable defences in the 
 world, commenced, and before ten o clock at night the troops had all 
 been landed in perfect safety, with all their arms and accoutrements, 
 without the slightest accident, or the loss of a single life an achieve 
 ment almost unparalleled in a military operation of such magnitude. 
 In three days the army and the fleet had taken up their positions, and 
 invested both the city and the castle, preparatory to their bombard 
 ment and siege. Our lines of circumvallation were five miles in length, 
 and surrounded the city. By the 22d all was ready, and General 
 SCOTT, having offered a free conduct out of the city of all non-com 
 batants, sent his summons to the Governor of Vera Cruz to surrender. 
 The Governor refused, and the batteries opened their destructive fire 
 upon the devoted city, while the ships commenced their fearful broad 
 sides upon the castle. During three days and nights an incessant 
 discharge from the brazen mouths of mortars and cannon was kept up 
 with unflagging zeal and irresistible power. On the 25th an appli 
 cation for a truce was made by the enemy, which was refused, and a 
 .surrender demanded. Accordingly, on the following morning, over 
 tures for a surrender were made, and the city and fortress fell into our 
 hands. Among the fruits of this victory were five thousand prisoners, 
 and five hundred pieces of artillery. Our loss was but six killed and 
 sixty wounded. 
 
 General SCOTT now proposed to advance upon the city of Mexico, 
 but on the way had to grapple with enemies, and to accomplish mighty 
 triumphs. Santa Anna, who had just returned from the field of Buena 
 Vista, had collected all his forces, and was posted on the heights of 
 Serro Gordo. Here the Mexican general was entrenched at the head 
 of fifteen thousand troops ; and here an attack was made by SCOTT 
 
 10 
 
WINF1ELD SCOTT. 
 
 with the most consummate skill. In this action, one of the most 
 remarkable of the war, he captured three thousand prisoners, four 
 thousand stand of arms, forty pieces of artillery, and a large quantity 
 of ammunition. A large sum of specie also fell into the hands of the 
 victors. Continuing his rapid march with his small but victorious 
 army, the cities of Jalapa, Perote, and Puebla, were successively 
 taken, with much treasure in them. At the latter plare the General 
 met with Mr. Trist, who had arrived from Washington with power to 
 negotiate with the enemy for peace. All his efforts, however, failed ; 
 and SCOTT, who had improved the interval of hostilities in acquiring 
 information, determined at once to advance on the city of Mexico, a 
 distance of ninety miles. His whole army amounted to ten thousand 
 seven hundred men, who had to meet Santa Anna, at the head of a 
 well-appointed army, thirty thousand in number. To detail the battles 
 of Contreras, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey, would be far too much 
 ror our limits ; this reason also prevents us from describing the forbear 
 ance he displayed in granting an armistice on the very eve of certain con 
 quest shamefully abused, however, by Santa Anna. Suffice it to say, 
 in the language of General Cass, when eulogizing SCOTT in the Senate 
 of the United States, " The movement of our army from Puebla was 
 one of the most romantic and remarkable events which has ever occurred 
 in the military annals of our country. Our troops voluntarily cut off 
 all communication with their own country, and advanced with stout 
 hearts, but feeble numbers, into the midst of a hostile people. The 
 eyes of twenty millions of our countrymen were fixed upon this devoted 
 band. They were lost to us for fifty days. But the cloud that hid 
 them from our view at length broke, and disclosed to us our glorious 
 flag waving in the breezes that drifted over the valley of the city of 
 Mexico." 
 
 In a few days after the American flag was hoisted on the National 
 Palace, the quiet of the city was restored, and all classes resumed their 
 usual avocations, reposing the fullest confidence in the security afforded 
 by our troops under their humane and Christian commander. SCOTT was 
 now virtually the governor of Mexico. The manner in which he per 
 formed the responsible duties which devolved upon him for five months 
 after his entrance into the city, exhibited him as a man amply qualified 
 for the highest duties of statesmanship. It would be difficult to award 
 any one higher praise than he received from all parties for his manage 
 ment of Mexican affairs after the termination of his military campaign. 
 
 On the 2d of February 1848, a treaty of peace was signed at Gua- 
 dalope-Hidalgo by the Mexican and American commissioners ; and on 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 the 22d of the following May he arrived at his home in Elizabeth- 
 town, New Jersey. Here he was met by a committee from the civil 
 authorities of the city of New York, and invited to a public dinner 
 in that metropolis. He accepted the invitation, and escorted by a 
 vast and imposing cavalcade, amid the roar of cannon and the wav 
 ing of flags, surrounded by dense and enthusiastic masses of his 
 fellow-citizens, entered the city and partook of its highest honors. 
 For a while he remained at his head quarters in New York, but in 
 1850 was transferred to Washington, and took his place at the 
 head of the army bureau, there to discharge its duties with as 
 much industry and constancy as any clerk in the departmant. 
 
 The name of WINFIELD SCOTT was upon every breeze during 
 the summer of 1852, for he was the Whig candidate for the 
 Presidency. In recording his defeat, he writes, "Virginia, his 
 dear Mother State, utterly repudiated him, her wiseacres pre 
 ferring a succession or two more of pliant administrations to 
 pave the way for rebellion and ruin." An essay upon "the 
 grade of Lieutenant-General" might be an interesting piece of 
 history, and one of its liveliest sections would be on the confer 
 ring of that title upon SCOTT. It was bestowed by a contentious 
 Congress at the close of 1852, but when Jefferson Davis became 
 Secretarj 7 of War everything was done to render it an empty 
 distinction. Congress, however, did not allow justice to be 
 thwarted. At the request of the Lieutenant-General, his head 
 quarters were transferred to New York. 
 
 For several years SCOTT took little active part in public affairs, 
 not even being assigned, in 1856, to the appropriate duty of 
 quelling the "War in Kansas." The British bullet, still lurk 
 ing in his system, did not permit him to forget that he was a 
 veteran warrior, and the high compliments he received were 
 proofs of the people s gratitude and appreciation. Columbia 
 College, New York, conferred upon him the honorary degree 
 of LL.D., and Harvard University has since repeated the honor. 
 He was generous toward his enemies and hospitable toward his 
 friends. In society he was conspicuous for his urbanity and his 
 elevation of thought. Rich in anecdote, affluent in language, 
 accurate in statement, and suggestive even in his ordinary con 
 versation, his company was sought as a privilege to his acquaint 
 ances. With one of the finest physical organizations ever given 
 to man, as shown in the portrait, which was taken in the very 
 prime of his life, he could not walk the streets without causing 
 
 \2 
 
WINFEELD SCOTT. 
 
 strangers to inquire who he was. He was justly regarded as an 
 ornament to his country, an example of the highest and most 
 genial qualities of manhood, embellished by the blandishments 
 of a gentlemanly demeanor, and dignified by a lofty tone of 
 morals and an uprightness of personal character and habits 
 which not even the tongue of calumny has ever dared to assail. 
 
 The time was coming when a threatened government would 
 need his patriotic services, and a divided Cabinet would have 
 the opportunity to accept or reject them. In the Presidential 
 canvass of 1860 it was evident that the Union was in danger of 
 being rent by the factious leaders of the Southern people. 
 General SCOTT was deeply impressed with the danger. He at 
 once addressed a kindly written memorial to President Bu 
 chanan, calling attention to the necessity of placing strong gar 
 risons in all the forts which were likely to be seized by those 
 who threatened Secession. This was in October. Rising from 
 a bed of illness he went from New York to Washington, and 
 personally urged the administration to allow him to put the 
 country in a state of defence. But the warnings and entreaties 
 of the loyal chieftain were of no avail with such a Cabinet. In 
 evidence of what would have resulted from SCOTT S proposals, it 
 is sufficient to quote the words of an enemy, who exulted over 
 his defeat. They are from the Richmond Examiner, on the 
 occasion of Secretary Floyd s arrival in that city, he having 
 gained his object in the Cabinet at Washington. They were 
 intended as an eulogy upon Floyd for his service to the South 
 in preventing General SCOTT S plan from being adopted, but they 
 are really an eulogy upon the venerable chieftain : 
 
 "The plan invented by General SCOTT to stop secession was, 
 like all campaigns devised by him, very able in its details, and 
 nearly certain of general success. The Southern States are full 
 of arsenals and forts, commanding their rivers and strategic 
 points. General SCOTT desired to transfer the Army of the 
 United States to these forts as speedily and as quietly as possi 
 ble. The Southern States could not cut off communications 
 between the Government and the fortresses without a great 
 fleet, which they cannot build for years or take them by land 
 without 100,000 men, and many hundred millions of dollars, 
 several campaigns, and many a bloody siege. Had SCOTT been 
 able to have got these forts in the condition he desired them ~o 
 be, the Southern Confederacy would not now exist." 
 
 13 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 If the Lieutenant-General was not permitted to defend the 
 whole country, he was still determined to save Washington from 
 capture, and to see that Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as 
 the constitutionally elected President. Though he had not 
 voted for him, yet he would defend him to the last. In his 
 Autobiography he says that this inauguration was "the most 
 critical and hazardous event" with which he had ever beeut 
 connected. He had received more than fifty letters from various 
 points dissuading him from being present, or threatening him 
 with assassination if he dared to protect the ceremony by a mili 
 tary force. This only braced him up for his loyal duty, and 
 Washington was put in defence, so that "happily the Govern 
 ment was saved." He never had rendered his country a service 
 of which he was so justly proud, nor for which he is more enti 
 tled to the lasting gratitude of the people. 
 
 He wrote of his later services, "A cripple, unable to walk 
 without assistance for three years ; on retiring from all military 
 duty, October 31, 1861 being broken down by recent official 
 labors of from nine to seventeen hours a day, with a decided 
 tendency to vertigo and dropsy I had the honor to be waited 
 on by President Lincoln, at the head of his Cabinet, who, in a 
 neat and affecting address, took leave of the worn-out soldier." 
 
 Prompted by his just and generous nature, the President, in 
 his first Annual Message to Congress, said: "Since your last 
 adjournment, Lieutenant-General SCOTT has retired from the 
 head of the Army. During his long life the nation has not been 
 unmindful of his merits ; yet in calling to mind how faithfully 
 and ably and brilliantly he has served his country, from a time 
 far back in our history, when few now living had been born, 
 and thenceforward continually I cannot but think we are still 
 his debtors." 
 
 General SCOTT continued to throw the weight of his solid 
 reputation upon the side of the Union, and he lived to rejoice 
 in the victory which restored peace to the whole country. He 
 died on the twenty-ninth of May, 1866, at West Point, where 
 he was buried with distinguished honors. The whole country 
 joined in paying unusual respect to the memory of a chieftain 
 whose long life is a record of patriotic devotion and unblem 
 ished integrity. 
 
 14 
 
:B:RIG* 
 
ANTHONY WAYNE. 
 
 IP decision, promptness, and energy of character, combined with a 
 sound judgment, correct principles, an ardent patriotism, and faithful 
 service, merit distinction and a grateful record, no one is more entitled 
 to them than the gallant WAYNE. 
 
 There is, indeed, something in the name of WAYNE, which 
 immediately presents to the mind of every American, well read 
 in the history of his country, the image of a bold, enterprising, 
 and active officer, of a ready will and prompt execution ; always 
 ready to attack his enemy sword in hand, but impatient of restraint. 
 This is the trait of his character, which particularly distinguishes him 
 from those with whom he acted in the revolution, but, which peculiarly 
 fitted him for the services on which his military reputation is esta 
 blished. It has been said of him, by one who knew him well, that 
 he had " a constitutional attachment to the decision of the sword," 
 and that " the general and his soldiers were singularly fitted for close 
 and stubborn action, hand to hand, in the centre of the army." This 
 may be accounted for on very probable grounds : his grandfather had 
 been a commander of dragoons at the battle of the Boyne, and his 
 father had distinguished himself in frequent conflicts with the Indians; 
 young WAYNE had consequently 
 
 "heard of battles, and he long d 
 
 To follow to the field some warlike chief." 
 
 Even at school, his studies were neglected for military amusements, 
 and it was only by the dread of being compelled to labor on his 
 father s farm, that his attention was diverted to his proper duties. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
 on the first of January, 1745. Notwithstanding his distaste for his 
 early studies, he left the Philadelphia academy, at the age of eighteen, 
 a good mathematician, and commenced the business of a surveyor, 
 which he pursued with success for some years, during which time, 
 he turned his attention to engineering and astronomy, and has left 
 some valuable manuscripts on those subjects. He took a deep interest 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 in the controversy with Great Britain, and was actively engaged in 
 the measures, which were adopted preparatory to the great struggle, 
 in which he performed so conspicuous a part. 
 
 In 1774, he was appointed one of the deputies to take into consi 
 deration the state of affairs between Great Britain and the colonies ; 
 was a member of the Pennsylvania convention, and a representative 
 in the provincial legislature. The prospect of approaching war 
 brought him, at length, into possession of his wishes a military 
 command. He retired from civil employment in the fall of 1775, and 
 raised a regiment of volunteers, of which he was elected colonel ; he 
 afterwards received the appointment of colonel from the continental 
 congress, and at the head of a regiment of Pennsylvanians, marched 
 to Canada. He served under General Thompson, at the battle of the 
 Three Rivers, where he was wounded ; yet he distinguished himself 
 by his courage and skill in bringing off the troops, after his com 
 mander was defeated and taken prisoner. He was promoted by 
 congress to the rank of brigadier general, February 21, 1777, being 
 at that time in command at Ticonderoga. In May following, he 
 joined the commander-in-chief, in New Jersey. 
 
 At the battle of Brandy wine, on the llth of September, he was 
 opposed to Knyphausen, and steadily maintained the contest, until 
 after Cornwallis had turned the right of the American army. On 
 the 16th, the two armies again met, to try the issue of another battle, 
 in which, Philadelphia was to be the prize of the victor. WAYNE, 
 who commanded the advance, commenced the action with spirit ; but 
 a violent storm, with a deluge of rain, prevented a general engagement, 
 and so damaged the ammunition of the Americans, that they were 
 obliged to retire until it could be replenished, and the British army 
 took possession of Philadelphia on the 26th. 
 
 In the mean time, WAYNE had suffered an unfortunate surprise. 
 He had moved into the rear of the British left wing, and taken a 
 position at about three miles distance, near the Paoli tavern, intending 
 to fall on them when they decamped. The usual precautions were 
 taken ; but accurate information of his position and force had been 
 conveyed to the British, and they effected a surprise at, night, which 
 compelled him in haste to retreat, with serious loss. The affair was- 
 made the subject of military investigation, and he was acquitted with 
 honor, "as having done every thing that could be expected, from an 
 active, vigilant, and brave officer, under the orders which he then 
 had." A monument has been erected on the spot, to the memory ol 
 the brave men who fell there. 
 
ANTHONY WAYNE. 
 
 At Germantown, he signalized himself by his bravery in action, 
 and prudence in retreat ; he was twice slightly wounded, and had 
 Ills horse shot under him, within a few yards of the enemy s front. 
 
 While the army lay, in the winter of 1777-8, at Valley Forge, 
 WAYNE was detached into New Jersey, with a body of troops, to 
 collect cattle and destroy the forage, which would be likely to fall 
 into the hands of the enemy. He succeeded, even in the face of the 
 foe, in sending into camp several hundred head of cattle, and a 
 number of fine horses, and forage. It was in consequence of this 
 success, that Major Andre wrote a song, to the tune of "Yankee 
 Doodle," of which the concluding stanza runs thus : 
 
 "But now I end my lyric strain 
 
 I tremble while I show it ! 
 Lest this same warrio-drover, WAYNE, 
 Should ever catch the poet." 
 
 The unfortunate poet s fate soon changed his mock-heroic to a tragic 
 strain ; for when taken, he was delivered to WAYNE, at Tappan. 
 
 The British army evacuated Philadelphia, in June, 1778, and 
 pursued the direct route to New York ; and Washington s force, which 
 was about equal to it, immediately was put in motion, and crossed 
 into Jersey. A council was held, to deliberate on the proper course 
 to be pursued. WAYNE and Cadwallader were for battle ; but all the 
 foreign officers, and a large majority of the whole board, were 
 decidedly against it. As the army drew near the enemy, in the 
 vicinity of Monmouth, WAYNE again advocated an attack ; and in 
 the battle which ensued, he added to his reputation, and won the 
 commendation of the commander-in-chief, who particularly mentioned 
 iim in his official report. 
 
 The occasion on which WAYNE next distinguished himself, was 
 the attack of Stony Point. This is a considerable height, situated 
 on the Hudson, the greater part of whose base is washed by the river, 
 and the remainder is covered by a morass, through which there is 
 but one crossing-place. On the summit of the hill was a fort, mounted 
 with heavy cannon ; breast- works were advanced in front of the 
 principal work ; half way down, there was a double row of abattis ; 
 and in addition, there were several vessels of war in the river, whose 
 guns commanded the giound at the foot of the hill. 
 
 Stony Point had been taken, not long before, by Sir Henry Clinton, 
 and the works had been greatly strengthened by his orders. General 
 Washington thought its recovery of great moment, and planned an 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 expedition against it, the command of which he entrusted to WAYNE. 
 On the 15th of July, 1779, the troops left Sandy Beach, at noon, and 
 arrived in the vicinity of the fort, at eight o clock, in the evening. 
 The measures of the Americans had been so well taken, that every 
 person had been secured, who could give information of their move 
 ments to the fort. The hour of midnight was fixed on for the assault. 
 At half past eleven, the Americans advanced in two columns, with 
 unloaded muskets, and fixed bayonets. A forlorn hope, of twenty 
 men, preceded each of them, to remove the abattis and other obstruc 
 tions. The marsh was reached undiscovered, and twenty minutes 
 before twelve, the troops rushed to the charge, amid a tremendous 
 fire of musketry and grape shot, and overcoming every obstacle, they 
 took possession of the fort without firing a gun. 
 
 Sixty-three of the garrison were killed in the assault, and five 
 hundred and forty-three made prisoners. In the attack, WAYNE 
 was wounded by a musket ball, which grazed the skull : he fell, but 
 instantly rising on one knee, he exclaimed, "Forward, my brave 
 fellows, forward !" But supposing himself to be mortally wounded, 
 he requested his aids to assist him, that he might die in the fort. 
 For this exploit, he received the thanks of congress, and a gold 
 medal. 
 
 On the first of January, 1781, the Pennsylvania troops, in the 
 vicinity of Morristown, revolted, and determined to present their 
 grievances to congress in a body. They paraded under arms without 
 officers, supplied themselves with ammunition and provisions, seized 
 six pieces of artillery, and took the horses from the generals stable. 
 WAYNE, in vain, endeavored to bring them to their duty by expostu 
 lation : he cocked his pistol, and they presented their bayonets to his 
 breast, saying, " we respect and love you ; you have often led us into 
 the field of battle ; but we are no longer under your command ; if 
 you fire your pistols, or attempt to enforce your commands, we shall 
 instantly put you to death." They assured him, that they were still 
 attached to the cause they had embraced, and would not abandon it ; 
 and that if the enemy should dare to come out of New York, the} 
 would, under his orders, face them in the field. The grievances ol 
 these men were of a serious character ; but as it is not to our purpose 
 to detail them, it will be sufficient to notice, that the majority of the 
 Pennsylvania line were discharged from further service. 
 
 WAYNE was then sent to Virginia, where he served with La 
 Fayette ; and was present at the siege of Yorktown, and contributed 
 to the happy termination of the campaign. He was then despatched 
 
ANTHONY WAYNE. 
 
 into Georgia, to protect the country from the incursions of the garrison 
 of Savannah ; and, if he found a suitable opportunity, to carry that 
 post by a nocturnal assault. On his approach, the country was laid 
 waste with fire by the enemy ; but he drew his supplies from South 
 Carolina, and at the head of a force equal only to half that opposed 
 to him, he pursued his operations with vigor. He defeated Colonel 
 Brown, who had been sent out to protect a party of Indians, on their 
 way to Savannah, for the purposes of trade. About a month aftei 
 the defeat of Brown, the party it had been his object to protect, 
 reached the neighborhood of WAYNE unperceived, and their leader, 
 Guristersigo, a chief of renown, had obtained information of the station 
 of an American picket, directly on his route to Savannah : through 
 this picket he determined to force his way ; but when he made the 
 attempt, he found the main body, with the General, at the post : and, 
 although he succeeded in silently killing the sentinel, and falling 
 upon the rear by surprise, about two hours before day, he was killed 
 in the conflict, and his party scattered in every direction. The pro 
 tection afforded by the force under General WAYNE, enabled the 
 governor and council again to establish civil authority in Georgia ; 
 and, in a short time, Savannah, the last hold of the British power in 
 that state, was evacuated. At this time, General Greene was 
 approaching Charleston, and WAYNE proceeded to join him; and 
 when the British force retired, he entered the town, at the head of the 
 light troops. 
 
 On the return of peace, he retired to private life. In 1789, he was 
 a member of the Pennsylvania convention, and was an advocate for 
 the present constitution of the United States. 
 
 In 1792, he was appointed to the command of the army engaged 
 against the Indians, on the north-western frontier. 
 
 The Indians, on that border, excited by the tories and British agents, 
 resident among them, had for a long time evinced their hostility to 
 the American government. To repress and punish these hostilities, 
 several expeditions had been made into their country ; but these 
 had failed ; and from their failure, the Indians derived new strength 
 and confidence. Harmar had retreated from their country beaten, 
 and with disgrace ; and St. Clair had been routed with terrific 
 slaughter. Success, of course, gave new hope and boldness to the 
 savages ; and, it was feared, that it would excite other tribes to join 
 their alliance, and produce a general confederation among them. 
 They had rejected, with disdain, every overture to accommodation ; 
 and two brave and meritorious officers, Colonel Harden and Major 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Freeman, whilst bearing a scheme of pacification to them, had been 
 barbarously murdered. Under these circumstances, when the com 
 mand of the army destined for the new expedition was of such 
 importance, General Washington evinced his confidence in WAYNE, 
 by nominating him to it. The service was accounted so dangerous, 
 and there was so little inducement to enlist, that the recruiting of 
 troops proceeded but slowly. Under these circumstances, it was 
 thought that the meditated expedition could not prudently be under 
 taken in the course of that year. The Indians, too, evinced a greater 
 willingness to treat ; and, through the intervention of the Six Nations, 
 the savages of the Miami and the Wabash, consented to hold a 
 conference with the American commissioners in the ensuing spring, 
 that of 1793. In the mean time, the preparations for war went on : 
 the army was cantoned on the Ohio for the winter ; the new levies 
 were disciplined, and the recruiting continually urged. In the spring, 
 the American commissioners proceeded to Niagara ; but the Indians 
 did not meet them until July. Their demands were then so exorbi 
 tant, as to be utterly inadmissible by the United States. The nego 
 tiations had, however, been protracted until September ; and when 
 the savages announced their rejection of the terms proposed by the 
 commissioners, the season was too far advanced to make any decisive 
 movements. WAYNE deferred all hostile operations until the ensuing 
 spring, but he advanced, and took possession of the ground on which 
 the Americans had been defeated in 1791, and built a fort there, which 
 he called Fort Recovery. By taking this position he was enabled to 
 protect, more effectually, the frontiers of the union, while the army 
 remained within striking distance of the principal settlements of the 
 enemy. 
 
 In the next year, active preparations were made for bringing the 
 war to a conclusion ; but the difficulty of procuring supplies retarded 
 the opening of the campaign until near midsummer ; and it was not 
 until the 8th of August that the army arrived at the junction of the 
 river Au Glaize with the Miami of the Lakes. Here, WAYNE halted 
 a few days, for the purpose of throwing up some works for the pro 
 tection of his baggage. About forty miles distant, the British occupied 
 a post ; and it was in the vicinity of this post that the hostile Indians 
 were assembled. According to information on which he relied. 
 WAYNE calculated their numbers to amount to about two thousand 
 men. To this, his own force was superior ; the continental legion 
 alone being nearly equal in numbers to the Indians : besides which, 
 lie had under his command about eleven hundred Kentucky militia. 
 
ANTHONY WAYNE. 
 
 Though confident of victory, with a humane and generous policy, 
 ne determined to make one more effort to obtain peace without the 
 effusion of blood. He invited the Indians to appoint deputies to meet 
 him on his march, in order to negotiate a treaty : he exhorted them 
 to be no longer deceived by the counsel of those who had neither 
 power nor inclination to protect them ; and he urged them to accede 
 to his present proposition, as the only means of preserving themselves 
 and their families from famine. 
 
 On the 15th, the army advanced, by slow and cautious marches, 
 down the Miami : one brigade of mounted volunteers, commanded 
 by Brigadier General Todd, on the left ; the other, by Brigadier 
 General Barber, in the rear. A select battalion of mounted volunteers, 
 commanded by Major Price, moved in front of the legion, to prevent 
 surprise, the Indians having returned an evasive answer to the 
 proposition of a treaty, and General WAYNE not knowing which to 
 expect, peace or war. After advancing about five miles, the corps 
 under Major Price received a heavy fire from the enemy, concealed 
 among the woods and high grass, and fell back upon the main body. 
 
 The Indians had chosen a position very favorable to their mode 
 of warfare. A great quantity of fallen timber, which seemed to have 
 been blown down by a tornado, rendered the wood in front of the 
 British fort almost inaccessible to cavalry ; and, in this wood, they 
 had formed their army in three lines, according to their custom, with 
 a very extended front, stretching nearly two miles at right angles 
 with the river. Judging from the extent of their lines, and the 
 heaviness of their fire, that the enemy was in full force in front, and 
 endeavoring to turn his left flank, WAYNE ordered the second line to 
 advance to the support of the first, at the same time the first line was 
 ordered to advance and charge, and " to rouse the Indians at the point 
 of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well directed fire 
 upon their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them 
 time to load again, nor to form their lines." 
 
 Colonel Campbell, with the legionary cavalry, was also ordered tc 
 turn their left flank, next to the river, where the ground was more 
 favorable for horse to act on ; and General Scott, with the mounted 
 volunteers, was directed to perform the same service on their right 
 These orders were obeyed with spirit and promptness. " But such," 
 says the General, in his despatch, " was the intrepidity of the charge 
 by the first line of infantry, that the Indians, and Canadian militia, 
 and volunteers, were driven from all their coverts in so short a time, 
 that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the 
 
 7 Vol. I.-E 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Wood, and Barber, 
 of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper positions, but part of 
 each could get up in time to participate in the action, the enemy 
 being driven in the course of one hour more than two miles, through 
 the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one half of their 
 number." The troops actually engaged on the part of the Americans, 
 did not amount to nine hundred men. The Americans, in this action, 
 lost thirty-three men killed, and one hundred wounded. The loss 
 of the enemy could not be exactly ascertained. WAYNE remained 
 for three days on the banks of the Miami, during which time all the 
 houses and corn-fields, for a considerable distance, above and below 
 the field of battle, were destroyed : among them, were the property 
 and stores of M Kee, the British Indian agent, and a principal insti 
 gator of the war. During these operations, a correspondence took 
 place between General WAYNE, and Colonel Campbell, the com 
 mander of the British garrison ; and the latter prevented hostilities 
 only by permitting the destruction of property within reach of the 
 guns of the fort. On the 27th, the army returned to head quarters. 
 
 The hostilities of the Indians still continuing, forts were established 
 in the midst of their settlements, to prevent their return. These 
 measures proved successful. The hopes of the savages were crushed 
 their resources exhausted, and their brethren, who had shown symp 
 toms of a dangerous temper, prevented from taking part with them. 
 On the 3d of August, 1795, a definitive treaty, on terms satisfactory 
 to the American government, was concluded with them, by General 
 WAYNE. The next year saw the termination of his useful and 
 honorable life. He died in December, 1796, in a hut at Presque Isle, 
 while engaged in the service of his country. His remains were 
 buried upon the shores of Lake Erie ; but, in 1809, they were 
 removed to his native county, by his son, Isaac Wayne, Esq. 
 
 General WAYNE was possessed of a commanding presence, pleasing 
 address, and daring bravery. He was excellent in discipline, unri 
 valled in enterprise, and was always held in high respect by his 
 companions in arms. 
 
 The state of Georgia testified their gratitude to him by the present 
 of an estate, immediately in the neighborhood of one given to his 
 friend General Greene. The Cincinnati society have erected a 
 monument to his memory, in the cemetery of St. David s church, 
 near t*ie place of his birth. 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH. 
 
 THIS gallant officer was born in the county of Newcastle, in the state 
 of Delaware, in December, 1783. His father was a physician, but 
 inspired with a love of liberty, he entered the army of the revolution 
 as a major ; he did not, however, remain long in the service, but 
 returned to private life and his professional pursuits, until the 
 close of the war, when he was made a judge ; in which office 
 he remained until his death, which happened in 1795. He 
 left three sons His eldest son, James, was a midshipman with 
 Commodore Truxton when he took the Insurgent. In that 
 battle he was so severely wounded, that there was a necessity of 
 amputating his leg. He soon afterwards left the navy, with the 
 reputation of a brave officer. In 1798, the subject of this memoir 
 obtained a warrant as a midshipman, and commenced his career as 
 a naval officer. Those who were acquainted with his early life, 
 spoke of Midshipman MACDONOUGH as a young officer of great pro 
 mise, but he had no opportunity of being made known to the public 
 until the country had the misfortune of losing the frigate Philadelphia. 
 When the gallant Decatur proposed to bum her, as she lay in 
 possession of the enemy, he selected MACDONOUGH as one of the 
 young officers to accompany him on that hazardous expedition; 
 and he reaped an early harvest of honor in that daring exploit, with 
 his leader and others. The Mediterranean has been the birth place 
 of more naval reputations than all the waters of the world beside, and 
 it was there, too, that our infant navy displayed some of those acts of 
 valor and good conduct which were of importance in themselves, and 
 were hailed as presages of future glories for our country. When 
 MACDONOUGH was first lieutenant of the Siren, under command of 
 Captain Smith, a circumstance occurred in the harbor of Gibralter 
 sufficiently indicative of the firmness and decision of his character. 
 An American merchant brig came to anchor near the United 
 States vessel. MACDONOUGH, in the absence of Captain Smith, 
 who had gone oil shore, saw a boat from a British frigate board the 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 brig and take from her a man ; he instantly manned and armed his 
 gig, and pursued the British boat, which he overtook, just as it 
 reached the frigate, and without ceremony took the impressed man 
 into his own boat. The frigate s boat was twice the force of his own; 
 but the act was so bold as to astound the lieutenant who commanded 
 the press-gang, and no resistance was offered. When the affair was 
 made known to the British captain he came on board of the Siren in 
 a great rage, and inquired how he dared to take a man from his boat. 
 MACDONOUGH replied that the man was an American seaman, and 
 was under the protection of the flag of the United States, and that it 
 was his duty to protect him. The captain, with a volley of oaths, 
 swore he would bring his frigate along side the Siren and sink her. 
 "This you may do," said MACDONOUGH ; - but while she swims the 
 man you will not have/ The English captain told MACDONOUGH 
 that he was a young hair-brained fellow, and would repent of his 
 rashness. " Supposing, sir," said he, " I had been in that boat, would 
 you have dared to have committed such an act?" "I should have 
 made the attempt, sir, at all hazards," was the reply. " What, sir!" 
 said the English captain, " would you venture to interfere if I were 
 to impress men from that brig?" "You have only to try it, sir," was 
 the pithy answer. The English officer returned to his ship, manned 
 his boat and made his way towards the brig; MACDONOUGH did the 
 same; but there the affair ended, the English boat took a circuitous 
 route and returned to the ship. There was such a calmness in the 
 conduct of Lieutenant MACDONOUGH, such a solemnity in his lan 
 guage, such a politeness in his manner, that the British officer saw 
 that he had to deal with no ordinary man and that it was not 
 prudent to put him on his mettle. 
 
 In that garden of the world, the shores of the Mediterranean 
 where nations have grown up and decayed, and others have taken 
 their places ; where every thing is marked with age. luxury, crime, 
 and temptation, and where many a fine young 1 officer has made ship 
 wreck of his morals and his health ; MACDONOUGH exhibited the 
 Spartan firmness with the Christian virtues. His bravery was never 
 for a moment doubted, but he was so reserved, temperate, and cir- 
 cumspect ; that the envious, sometimes, strove to bring him to their 
 level, and often were snares set for him ; but he was never caught 
 His character was fair and bright as the surface of a steel mirror, 
 before it was brought to reflect any ray of glory upon himself and 
 
 his country. 
 
 There is a good share of sagacity in the common sailor ; he sees 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH. 
 
 through a character much clearer than we generally think he dons ; 
 before MACDONOUGH had been promoted to a lieutenancy, he had the 
 heart of every sailor who knew him. There are few so ignorant that 
 they cannot discover moral worth, when connected with professional 
 ability ; and none so bad, as not to approve of it. 
 
 It has often been stated, and never questioned, that while in Syra 
 cuse, MACDONOUGH was one night attacked by three assassins, with 
 daggers. He drew his sword, and wounded two of them so severely 
 as to fear nothing further from them, the other fled, but he 
 pursued him to the roof of a building, and climbing it after the 
 assassin, would have caught him, if he had not thrown himself from 
 it, with the loss of his existence. In the latter part of his life, MAC 
 DONOUGH suffered much from ill-health ; but at this time he was one 
 of the most active and athletic officers of the navy, and was dexterous 
 in the use of his sword. 
 
 Not many of the ships of the American navy were in commission 
 from the close of the Tripolitan war, until the war of 1812. Those 
 few which visited the maritime places in Europe, South America, or 
 the West Indies, were viewed with no ordinary curiosity, and even 
 thought, by some, to have a respectable appearance ; but there was 
 not the slightest suspicion that we were so soon to take rank among 
 those nations who boast of naval exploits. But after the declaration 
 of war with England, our navy was put into requisition, and every 
 officer panted for distinction. The elder officers were mostly 
 sent on the ocean ; some of the high spirited juniors to the lakes, 
 among the latter, Lieutenant MACDONOUGH was ordered to Lake 
 Champlain. This was an important station, for through this lake a 
 communication could most readily be had with the most powerful 
 portion of the Canadas. The main armies of the British were 
 always to be near Montreal and Quebec, but for the first two years 
 of the war, both sides were busy in another direction, particularly on 
 the Lakes Ontario and Erie. The contending powers watched 
 each other s movements and kept nearly pari passu in the augmentation 
 of their naval forces; the English always in the advance, having 
 in many respects, greater facilities; if not in shipbuilding, certainly in 
 procuring munitions of war, sails, rigging, &c. 
 
 Towards the close of the summer of 1814, the warlike preparations 
 on Lake Champlain, and its vicinity, seemed to portend some power 
 ful shock. Large bodies of troops, the veterans of Wellington s army, 
 lo the amount, it was said, of sixteen thousand, had arrived ; n 
 Canada, and were preparing to strike a severe blow on the frontiers 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 one thai would be felt to the very vitals of the nation. Izard received 
 orders to assist Brown, and Macomb was left with a handful of 
 troops at Plattsbnrgh. He put himself into the best attitude of defence 
 a brave and intelligent officer could, and called on the neighboring 
 militia to come to his aid ; meanwhile the fleet under MACDONOUGH 
 was put in readiness for an attack. He had only four ships, such as 
 they were; the Saratoga, twenty-six guns; the Eagle, twenty guns; 
 the Ticonderoga, seventeen guns, the Preble, seven guns ; and ten 
 gallies, carrying sixteen in the whole eighty-six guns. The British 
 force was larger : the frigate Confiance, thirty-nine guns ; the Linnet, 
 sixteen guns ; the Chubb, eleven guns ; the Finch, eleven guns ; and 
 thirteen gallies, carrying eighteen guns making a total of ninety- 
 five guns ; a superiority over the American fleet of nine guns ; their 
 complement of men was much greater. That the American fleet 
 was commanded by a young officer who ranked only as lieutenant, 
 and the British by an experienced one, Captain Downie, gave Sir 
 George Prevost no doubt of the issue of his naval operations. On the 
 land, too, with his veterans and other troops, he was quite certain of a 
 signal victory. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 10th of September, it was evident that the 
 assault on the lake and on the land was to be made the next day, and 
 MACDONOUGH deemed it best to await the attack at anchor. At eight 
 o clock, on the morning of the llth, the British fleet was seen 
 approaching, and in an hour the battle became general. The most 
 accurate description of it must be from his own pen. 
 
 "At nine," says the captain, "the enemy anchored in a line 
 ahead, at about three hundred yards distant from my line ; his ship 
 opposed to the Saratoga; his brig to the Eagle, Captain Robert Henley; 
 his gallies, thirteen in number, to the schooner, sloop, and a division 
 of our gallies ; one of his sloops assisting their ship and brig ; the 
 other assisting their gallies : our remaining gailies were with the 
 Saratoga and Eagle. 
 
 "In this situation, the whole force on both sides became engaged; 
 the Saratoga suffering much from the heavy fire of the Confiance. I 
 could perceive at the same time, however, that our fire was very 
 destructive to her. The Ticonderoga, Lieutenant Commandant 
 Cassin, gallantly sustained her full share of the action. At half past 
 ten, the Eagle, not being able to bring her guns to bear, cut her cable, 
 and anchored in a more eligible position, between my ship and the 
 Ticonderoga, where she very much annoyed the enemy, but unfortu 
 aately leaving me much exposed to a galling fire from the enemy s brio. 
 
THOMAS MACDONOUGH. 
 
 "Our guns on the starboard side being nearly all dismounted, or 
 unmanageable, a stern anchor was let go, the lower cable cut, and 
 the ship winded with a fresh broadside on the enemy s ship, which 
 soon after surrendered. Our broadside, was then sprung to bear on 
 the brig, which surrendered about fifteen minutes afterwards. The 
 sloop which was opposed to the Eagle, had struck some time before, 
 and drifted down the line. The sloop that was with their gallies had 
 also struck. Three of their gallies are said to be sunk ; the others 
 pulled off. Our gallies were about obeying with alacrity the signal 
 to follow them, when all the vessels were reported to me to be in a 
 sinking state. It then became necessary to annul the signal to the 
 gallies, and order their men to the pumps. I could only look at the 
 enemy s gallies going off in a shattered condition, for there was not a 
 mast in either squadron that could stand to make sail on. The 
 lower rigging being nearly shot away, hung 1 down as though it had 
 just been placed over the mast heads. 
 
 "The Saratoga had fifty-five round shot in her hull ; the Confiance 
 one hundred and five. The enemy s shot passed principally just 
 over our heads, as there were not twenty whole hammocks in the 
 nettings, at the close of the action, which lasted without intermission 
 two hours and twenty minutes. 
 
 " The absence and sickness of Lieutenant Raymond Perry left me 
 without the assistance of that excellent officer. Much ought fairly to 
 be attributed to him for his great care and attention in disciplining 
 the ship s crew, as her first lieutenant. His place was filled by a 
 gallant young officer, Lieutenant Peter Gamble ; who, I regret to 
 inform you, was killed early in the action." 
 
 The Saratoga was twice set on fire during the action, by hot shot 
 from the Confiance ; but the flames were promptly extinguished. 
 
 At the same time the land forces were engaged ; both armies look 
 ing on the sea-fight as in a measure the turning point with them. 
 The loss of f he Americans was fifty-two killed, and fifty-eight 
 wounded, that of the British, eighty-four killed, and one hundred and 
 ten wounded. The prisoners taken exceeded the whole number of 
 Americans in the action. Sir George and his army were the next day 
 on the retreat. This victory was hailed by the whole nation with great 
 joy. The state of New York, in justice and gratitude, gave the gallant 
 commodore a thousand acres of land, of no small value, and the state 
 of Vermont made a grant of two hundred acres, within a short 
 distance of the battle ground ; this is a delightful spot, and may be 
 seen from the distant hills very distinctly, and from the manor you have 
 
 5 Nl 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 a tine view of the lake, particularly that part of it where ihe Ameri 
 can fleet was anchored. While rambling over these grounds one 
 cannot help thinking of the lines of the bard of Newstead Abbey, 
 
 " The mountains look on Marathon, 
 And Marathon looks on the sea." 
 
 Both scenes awaken visions of national glory; hut our view, as yet. 
 affords no painful contrasts, except, when we ask where is he who 
 fought and conquered here? The city of New York gave MAO 
 DONOUGH a valuable lot of land, and the city of Albany followed the 
 example. Festive honors were offered him in all places he chanced 
 to pass through, but they were not often accepted. He loved fame, 
 but not her obstreperous notes. For this victory he was promoted 
 to the rank of post captain. 
 
 From the close of the war to the time of his decease, he shared the 
 honors of the home and foreign service with his compeers. He was 
 an excellent member of courts-martial, for he brought to those tribu 
 nals a candid mind, ever ready to find matters that made in favor of 
 the accused as well as against him. We have an opportunity of 
 speaking from an intimate acquaintance with the fact, that on several 
 courts-martial, the accused have congratulated themselves, that all 
 that was brought against them was to be considered by such a mind 
 as MACDONOUGH S ; at the same time, they were not wanting injustice 
 r.o other honorable members. 
 
 For several years before his death he made his home in Middletown, 
 Connecticut, where he had married Miss Shaler, a lady of a highly 
 respectable family in that place. He died of a consumption, on the 
 tenth day of November, 1825. His wife had paid the debt of nature 
 a few months before him. 
 
 In person, MACDONOUGH was tall, dignified, and commanding. 
 His features were pleasing ; his complexion, hair, and eyes were light ; 
 but there was such a firmness and steadfastness in his look as to take 
 away all appearance of the want of masculine energy, which is often 
 attached to the idea of a delicate complexion. The great charm of his 
 character was the refinement of his taste, the purity of his principles, 
 and the sincerity of his religion ; these give a perfume to his name, 
 which the partial page of history seldom can retain for departed 
 warriors, however brilliant their deeds. 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 THE subject of the present memoir was the youngest son of a gentle 
 man of Scottish origin, who long ago settled in the city of New York, 
 where he engaged in the duties of a merchant, and enjoyed the high 
 esteem of his contemporaries for unblemished integrity and unassuming 
 moral worth. WASHINGTON was born April 3, 1783, and in very early 
 life the powers of mind, for which he has since been so eminently dis 
 tinguished, began to develope themselves. Some of his brothers had 
 already become eminent among their friends for their literary taste and 
 ability as writers, while their younger brother was yet a child. In 
 their society he began the practice of composition, and may be almost 
 said to have commenced his education where others are accustomed to 
 finish it. We have been informed, that he manifested in his youth a 
 meditative and almost melancholy disposition; not, however, without 
 occasional and brilliant flashes of the humor that is the distinctive 
 character of his most successful compositions. This disposition did not 
 prevent him from entering with spirit into many of the pranks of his 
 comrades, or even from becoming the plotter and ringleader in many a 
 scheme of merry mischief. 
 
 The youth of the city of New York were then a happy race. Their 
 place of residence had not yet assumed its metropolitan character, and 
 the freedom and ease of almost rural life, were blended with the grow 
 ing refinements of an increasing population. The advantageous position 
 of its port made wealth flow rapidly into its merchants coffers, and the 
 natives of other parts of our country had not yet begun to colonize it, 
 and compete for a share of its growing riches. The elder members of 
 the community, seeing their property increasing almost without know 
 ing why, had not yet perceived the necessity of drilling their children 
 to habits of early labor and premature prudence. The gambling spirit 
 that characterized one era of the commercial history of New York, had 
 not yet made its appearance ; nor had that ardent competition, that 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 steels the heart against all but selfish feelings, been awakened. ,That 
 system of instruction, which confines children for six hours a day in 
 almost listless inactivity in a school room, and then dismisses them, 
 to pursue their labors unassisted for even a longer time, was not yet 
 invented. Schoolmasters yet thought it their duty to instruct ; and 
 when their unruly subjects were emancipated from direct control, they 
 had no other thought but to spend the rest of the day in active sport, 
 and the night in slumbers, undisturbed by the dread of the morrow s 
 task. 
 
 For the enjoyment of these vacant hours, the vicinity of New York 
 then offered the most inviting opportunities. A few minutes walk 
 brought the youth of the city into open and extensive pastures, diver 
 sified by wood and sheets of transparent water ; on either hand flowed 
 noble rivers, whose quiet waters invited even the most timid to acquire 
 "the noblest exercise of strength;" when winter made such recreations 
 impracticable, sheets of smooth and glittering ice spread themselves 
 out to tempt the skater, and the youth of the Manhattoes rivalled, if 
 not excelled, the glories of their Dutch father-land, in the speed and 
 activity with which they glided over the glassy surface. 
 
 It may be the partial recollection of our infancy, but it is not less 
 the firm conviction of our minds, that in all our wanderings, we have 
 seen no city, with the exception of the " Queen of the North," whose 
 environs possessed natural beauties equal to those of New York. 
 These beauties have now vanished paved streets and piles of tasteless 
 brick have covered the grassy slopes and verdant meadows ; the lofty 
 hills have been applied to the ignoble purpose of filling up the neigh 
 boring lakes. Nor should we complain of these changes, but consider 
 the prosperity, of which they are an evidence, as more than equivalent 
 to the destruction of wild and rural beauty, in those places where a 
 crowded population has actually found its abode ; but we cannot 
 tolerate that barbarism which makes beauty consist in straight lines 
 and right angles, cuts our whole island into oblong squares, and con 
 siders, that to convert the fertile surface into a barren and sandy waste, 
 is the only fit preparation for an increasing city. The blossomed 
 orchards of Bayard and Delancey have given place to snug brick 
 houses, the sylvan deities have fled the groves of Peter s field and 
 Rose hill, and we can rejoice ; but why should the flowery vales of 
 Bloomendahl be cut up bystreets and avenues? Nor has the spirit 
 of devastation stopped here, but has invaded the whole neighborhood, 
 until the antres and cliffs of Hoboken have given place to a rail 
 ed. 
 
 2 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 The early fancies of Mr. IRVING were deeply impressed with the 
 beauty of the natural scenery of the island of Manhattan. These im 
 pressions have given birth to many and choice passages in his various 
 works. But, aware that such romantic fancies might come with an 
 ill grace from one hackneyed in the ways of our commercial and 
 prosaic city, he has given being to a personage, in whose mouth they 
 become the utterance of patriotic virtue. 
 
 New York, at that time, presented the singular spectacle of races 
 distinct in origin, character and temper, struggling, as it were, for 
 ascendancy ; and although the struggle finally terminated happily, in 
 the utter confusion of all such distinctions, and the formation of a 
 single civic character, it was not the less apparent. Wasted, too, as 
 was the anger and anxiety the struggle occasioned upon the most 
 petty objects, it presented, to a mind highly sensible to the ludicrous, 
 most amusing matter of contemplation. First and most marked, were 
 to be seen the descendants of the original settlers from Holland, retain 
 ing, in their own separate intercourse, the language and habits of 
 their ancestors, indulging the hereditary grudge of a conquered people 
 to its subduers, although moderated and tempered by native kindness 
 and good nature. Next was -to be remarked the New Englander, dis 
 tinguished by his intelligence and activity, and just beginning to entei 
 into that rivalry w T ith the Bavarian, that has ended in a disappearance, 
 almost total, of patronymic names of the latter from the streets in 
 which business is transacted. Before the superior energy and restless 
 enterprise of this race, the Dutch \vere beginning to quail, and retali 
 ated for the loss of business, to which they were exposed, by outward 
 expressions of contempt, and inward feelings of dread and apprehension. 
 Last, and least numerous, but at the time most distinguished for wealth 
 and mercantile influence, was to be seen a clan of Scots. These were 
 shrewd, calculating, and enterprising; but mixed with their habits of 
 business and economy much hospitality, and unchecked, but harm 
 less convivialitv. Accustomed from his infancy to the contemplation 
 of the character of this race in his father and his associates, its peculi 
 arities have not struck him as an object for delineation, or filial 
 reverence has forbidden him to attempt it. Its habits and manners 
 have, however, evidently served to bring out in higher relief the 
 peculiarities of the other races. 
 
 Mr. IRVING had hardly reached the age of manhood when he ap 
 peared to be threatened with a pulmonary affection, as a preventive 
 of which, it was considered expedient that he should visit the south 
 
 of Europe. He therefore, in May, 1804, embarked for Bordeaux, 
 
 3 TI 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 where he landed in the following month. Here, however, he was not 
 inclined to continue, but traveled through the south of France to Nice, 
 and coasted on a felucca to Genoa ; thence he went by sea to Messina 
 in Sicily, on an American ship, which was boarded and partially 
 plundered by pirates off the island of Elba. From Messina he sailed 
 on the United States schooner of war Nautilus, to Syracuse, passing 
 through the Straits at the same time with Admiral Lord Nelson s fleet, 
 then in quest of the French fleet, which had escaped from Toulon. 
 Still intent on moving, he traveled by land to Catania, visited Mount 
 Etna, crossed Sicily by the valley Juna to Palermo, passed over, on 
 an orange boat, to Naples. From hence he traveled to Rome, across 
 the Appenines to Loretto, thence to Bologna, Milan, and across St. 
 Gothard into Switzerland. He then traversed the Lake of the free 
 Cantons, and visited Lucerne, Basle, &c. on his way to Paris. After 
 the sojourn of a few months in that city, he proceeded through Bel 
 gium to Holland, and sailed from Rotterdam to London, and passed 
 several months in England, returning home in the spring of 1806, 
 after an absence of two years, with his health very happily renovated. 
 
 This voyage, undertaken with far different views from those which 
 now usually direct the travels of young Americans, was also wholly 
 different in its course, and in the impressions it was likely to produce, 
 Instead of a gradual preparation for the views of the old world, by a 
 passage through countries connected by ties of blood and language, or 
 familiar to him in consequence of an active and frequent commerce, he 
 was transported, as if in a moment, to lands where, in direct contrast to 
 the continual strides his own country is making, every thing is torpid, 
 and even retrograde ; lands in which the objects of interest are rather 
 the glories of by-gone ages, than any thing that the present era can 
 exhibit. No change of scene more abrupt can well be imagined, and 
 none more likely to excite the mind of youthful genius. For the 
 guide books and tours of modern travelers, that are the usual manuals 
 of a tourist, it became necessary to substitute the writings of the an 
 cients. These would be most favorably studied upon the very spots 
 where they- were written, or of which they treat, and even when con 
 sulted in a mere translation, cannot fail to improve and refine the taste. 
 In the fine scenery of Calabria, he recognized the studies of Salvator 
 Rosa, and in his progress through Italy, luxuriated in the treasures 
 of ancient and modern art, then almost a sealed book to his country 
 men. 
 
 Before his departure for Europe he had made his first literary 
 essays, in a newspaper of which his brother, Dr. P. Irving, was editor. 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 There is little doubt that these were not few in number, but none <;an 
 now be identified, except the series of letters under the signature of 
 Jonathan Oldstyle. These were collected, as a matter of bookselling 
 speculation, after the literary reputation of their author was established, 
 arid published, although without his sanction. His return was speedily 
 followed by the appearance of the first number of Salmagundi. Those 
 who recur to this sprightly work at the present day, cannot enter into 
 the feelings with which it was received at the epoch at which it was 
 published. They will, indeed, see that it is not unworthy of the 
 reputation afterwards attained by those, who have admitted themselves 
 to have been its authors. But the exact and skillful adaptation of its 
 delicate and witty allusions to the peculiar circumstances of the times, 
 the rich humor with which prevailing follies were held up to ridicule, 
 and, above all, the exquisite good nature of the satire, that made it 
 almost an honor to have been its object, rendered Salmagundi the 
 most popular work that had ever issued from the American press. 
 Until it made its appearance, our literary efforts had been almost 
 wholly confined to serious discussions upon general and local politics; 
 if a few works of fancy had been produced, the age was not ripe for 
 their reception, and, as in the case of Brown, they procured for their 
 authors no more than a posthumous fame. The well founded belief, 
 that Mr. IRVING had been the principal writer in Salmagundi, placed 
 him, at once, first in the list of the living authors of America. His 
 next literary production was "The History of New York, by Diedrich 
 Knickerbocker." The idea of this humorous work appears to have 
 been suggested to him by the establishment of a historical society in 
 New York, and the announcement, that one of its members was about 
 to compile from its collections a history of the early periods of our 
 colonial existence. Identifying himself, in imagination, with a de 
 scendant of the original Dutch settlers, he adopted, in his fictitious 
 character, all the feelings and prejudices that might well be supposed 
 to be inherent in that race, with an air of gravity and verisimilitude 
 that is well calculated to mislead a reader not previously aware of the 
 deception. The public was prepared for the reception of the work by 
 advertisements, ingeniously planned and worded, in which the sup 
 posed landlord of the imaginary author expressed his anxiety for the 
 safety of his guest, until it might fairly have been believed that the 
 veracious historian had actually disappeared from his lodgings. So 
 perfect was the deception, that many commenced the work in full 
 belief of its being serious, and gravely toiled through many of its pages 
 before the wit, and an interest too intense to be created by so trivial a 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 subject as the annals of a little Dutch borough, undeceived them. 
 
 The author often used to tell of an aged and most respectable 
 
 clergyman, who taking up the work, without referring to its title 
 page or introduction, read many of its chapters in the full belief that it 
 was the production of a clerical brother, who had promised a history 
 of the same period, and was only gradually aroused to a suspicion of his 
 mistake, by the continued variation of the style from grave and solemn 
 irony, through lively wit and poignant humor, until it fairly bordered 
 on the ludicrous. Such is the character of this veracious history ; the 
 mask is worn at first with the greatest gravity, yet in such a manner 
 as to give effect to the keenest and most poignant satire, while as 
 soon as it becomes impossible for the reader to credit that it is other 
 than a work of fancy, the author gives full play to his imagination, 
 and riots in an excess of delicate wit and playful humor. Yet are not 
 these the sole merits of the work : it is occasionally tender, and even 
 pathetic ; often replete with lively pictures, wwthy, when of character 
 and costume, of the pencil of a Teniers ; when of scenery, of that of 
 Claude. In addition, tLurrtyle is the purest idiomatic English that had 
 been written for many a year, and carries us back to the glories of an 
 Augustan age. It is in marked contrast, not only with the barbarisms 
 of the American newspaper writers of his day, but with the corruptions 
 of the pure fount that their English critics are themselves guilty of. 
 This grace and purity of style is also to be remarked in all his subse 
 quent writings ; but his Knickerbocker possesses, in addition, more of 
 nerve and force than they in general do. Its language is either that 
 in which his thoughts spontaneously flowed, or, if elaborated, exhibits 
 that perfection of art which hides the means by which the effect is 
 produced. His other works do not always conceal the labor by which 
 the polish has been attained, and the very grace and smoothness of 
 the periods, sometimes seems to call for a relief to the ear, like that 
 which skillful musicians sometimes apply, in the form of an occasional 
 discord. 
 
 Were we, however, to be asked where we are to find the prose 
 language of England in its highest degree of perfection, we think we 
 might safely point to the works of Mr. IRVING ; these are composed in 
 a style more correct than that of Addison, more forcible than that of 
 Goldsmith, more idiomatic than that of the writers of the Scottish 
 school; and, while it takes advantage of the engraftation of words of 
 Latin and Grecian origin upon the Anglo-Saxon, it is far removed from 
 the learned affectation of Johnson. 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 The hours in which the papers of Salmagundi were composed, and 
 the History of the New Netherlands compiled, were stolen from the 
 dry study of the law. To this, Mr. IRVING seemed for a time to be 
 condemned, and in spite of the gravity with which, as in the case of 
 Murray, the heads of judges were shaken at him as a wit, he persevered 
 in it, and obtained his license to practice. It is even said, that he 
 opened an office, and that his name was seen painted on a sign, with 
 the adjunct, " Attorney at Law." But it was not predestined that 
 Mr. IRVING should merge these grave doubts in the honors of the 
 woolsack. A client was indeed found hardy enough to trust his cause 
 to the young barrister, but an oppressive feeling of diffidence caused 
 him to shrink from trying it, and it was gladly abandoned to a brother 
 lawyer of far less talent, but who possessed a more happy degree of 
 confidence in his own forensic abilities. This diffidence, literary success 
 afterwards converted into an innate and unaffected modesty, which 
 added not a little to Mr. IRVINE S agreeable qualities, and which is 
 rare in a person possessed of so high a reputation as he enjoyed. 
 
 The literary pursuits of Mr. IRVING were interrupted for several 
 years after the publication of Knickerbocker. During this interval, he 
 was admitted by his brothers into a commercial establishment, that 
 they were then successfully carrying on, and in which, it appeared, he 
 might be more profitably engaged than as an author. The business of 
 this mercantile house being interrupted by the war with Great Britain, 
 Mr. IRVING was left free to share in the general military spirit that the 
 capture of Washington, and the threatenings of the enemy to attack 
 New York, awakened in all classes of the community. His services 
 were tendered to Governor Tompkins, then commanding the district 
 of New York, and he was received into his staff as an aid-de-camp. 
 In this employment he was long engaged, and performed its duties 
 with great zeal, not only in the immediate vicinity of his native city, 
 but in several missions of importance to the interior of the state. The 
 peace put an end to this occupation, and he returned to his commercial 
 pursuits, in the furtherance of which, he visited England in the spring 
 of 18 15. 
 
 His previous visit to England had been made in winter, and he had 
 made no other excursion but in the mail from London to Bath, at a 
 season when the shortness of the day gave but little opportunity to view 
 the country. The peculiar beauties of English scenery, therefore, 
 broke upon him with unexpected brilliancy. Warwickshire, in which 
 he first sojourned, is a district of no little rural beauty ; in it are to be 
 found some of the sites that recall the most exciting passages of English 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 history, or awaken the most pleasing literary recollections. Kenilworth 
 and Warwick exhibit, the one the most splendid remains of baronial 
 grandeur, the other the only perfect specimen of the feudal castle; 
 Stratford on the Avon still possesses the house in which Shakspeare 
 drew his first breath, and the picturesque Gothic church, in which his 
 remains repose safely, under the protection of his poetic malediction ; 
 the Lucies still inhabit the manor house, from whose park the deer was 
 stolen that fixed the course of the great dramatist s existence. In 
 more than one direction, episcopal cities raise high the turrets of their 
 venerable minsters, and spread abroad their shadowy cloisters, while 
 hedge row, and mead, and cultured field, tell of the successful toils 
 of a rural life, more inviting, perhaps, to the romantic fancy, than 
 agreeable to those who are compelled to pursue them. To one who 
 had already celebrated the restless enterprise of the swarms of the 
 New England hive, who spread like locusts over the wilderness, de 
 stroying every tree, and laying waste every germ of natural beauty, 
 the calm contrast afforded by the farmers of England, generations of 
 whom are born in the same cottage, and entombed beneath the same 
 yews, was a subject of agreeable study. 
 
 In the summer which followed his arrival, Mr. IRVING joined a friend in 
 a tour through the valley of the Severn, in Gloucestershire, and Wales. 
 The letters addressed by him at this period to his American friends 
 would, if published, form the most interesting portions of his works, 
 and exhibit, with greater freshness, descriptions of scenery and charac 
 ter, like the rich pictures that he afterwards embodied in the " Sketch 
 Bock" and " Bracebridge Hall." 
 
 Mr. IRVING S literary career might have now been considered at an 
 end ; his commercial connections appeared to promise him wealth, 
 more than commensurate with his wishes. But the unhappy revolu 
 tion in the business of New York, that followed the unexampled profits 
 with which the first importations were attended, prostrated the mer 
 cantile house with which he was connected, along with many of the 
 most respectable, and even opulent merchants of the United States. 
 This blow, however painful at the time, had the happy effect of 
 restoring him to the world of literature. He prepared his " Sketch 
 Book," and took measures to have it simultaneously published in 
 London and America. Its success was complete, His own countrymen 
 hailed with joy, the renewal of the exertions in which they had before 
 delighted, and the English nation joined to applaud the author, who, 
 without abandoning his just national pride, was yet sensible to those 
 feelings in which Englishmen glory, and exhibited the honest exulta- 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 tion of a descendant, in the honors of the mighty names which have 
 embellished the literary annals of Great Britain. 
 
 The " Sketch Book" was admired, and its author sought for ; the 
 aristocratic circles of the British metropolis received with open arms 
 the transatlantic writer ; and names of no small note in modern litera 
 ture did not disdain to be ranked on the list of his imitators. He may 
 justly pride himself on having pointed out a new track to a host of 
 aspirants, and to have, himself, surpassed all who followed him in it. 
 Works upon a similar plan w r ere eagerly asked from him ; their appear 
 ance, at no distant intervals, increased his fame, and soon left him no 
 cause to regret the prostration of his commercial hopes. 
 
 The honors of Mr. IRVING were not limited to the climes, extensive 
 though they be, in which the English tongue is spoken. Translations 
 were made of his tales into most of the languages of the continent, and 
 when he subsequently visited France, Germany, and Spain, he found 
 himself received with the honors due to a national favorite. In the 
 last named kingdom, he undertook the task of giving to his country and 
 to Europe, the history of the life of that hero, who, in the words of 
 his epitaph, gave a new world to Castile and Leon, but who may be 
 said, with more justice, to have opened to the oppressed of every clime 
 a secure and safe refuge, a field, in which the principles of freedom 
 might be safely cultivated. This enterprise was not wanting in bold 
 ness, as it placed him in immediate comparison with one of the most 
 celebrated among British historians; but it was eminently successful, 
 as was its interesting abridgment. These are destined, the one to be 
 the first in every collection of American history, the other to be the 
 earliest study of American youth. His tour in Spain led him to the 
 halls of the Alhambra, where he was delayed by the exciting visions 
 they called up, of the chivalrous times when the haughty Castilian, 
 and the gallant Arab, held their last contest for the possession of the 
 fair realm of Grenada. Such associations have given birth to two 
 successful works. These were succeeded by the Adventures of the 
 Companions of Columbus, the brave partners of his perilous enterprise, 
 we wish we could add, his imitators in humanity and benevolence. 
 
 On the return of Mr. IRVING to his native country, he was greeted 
 with a degree of warmth rarely equalled. To many, he was endeared 
 by the recollection of intimate and affectionate intercourse, while a 
 new generation, that had sprung up in his absence, crowded with zeal 
 to see and honor the pride of the literature of America the author, 
 who had first and successfully answered the reproachful question, 
 " Who reads an American book ?" Had he felt inclined to encourage 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 the public enthusiasm, his tour throughout the United States 
 might have been one continued ovation. 
 
 Soon after his return to his native land, Mr. IRVING travelled to 
 a considerable extent, especially with a view of ascertaining the 
 chief places of residence of the Aborigines of our country, of be 
 coming acquainted with their customs and manners, and of exam 
 ining the influence which neighboring civilization had exerted 
 upon them. His subsequent works have been thus greatly en 
 riched, and the pleasure and profit of his thousands of readers 
 have been increased. He now sat down in earnest to his literary 
 engagements, and in 1835 published his " Tour on the Prairies," 
 " Legends of the Conquest of Spain," and " Abbotsford and New- 
 stead Abbey." While these books considerably vary in subject 
 and character, a very cursory examination will show the extreme 
 care, the ceaseless industry, and the fine taste of the author. In 
 the year following was published "Astoria," a work less known 
 than some others of Mr. LIVING S productions, but fall of deep 
 and thrilling interest, and disclosing facts of which no man 
 ought to be ignorant. In 1847 followed "Bonneville s Adven 
 tures in the Rocky Mountains," which we have read with great 
 pleasure. And in 1839 appeared his tender and beautiful 
 "Biography of Margaret Davidson." 
 
 IRVING had now become the "Washington of American litera 
 ture, and his powers were to culminate in setting forth, promi 
 nently, the achievements and excellencies of the Father of his 
 Country. Ever since 1825 his thoughts had been bending 
 toward a Life of Washington. In 1829 he was about to begin 
 the work, saying, " I shall take my own time to execute it, and 
 will spare no pains. It must be my great and crowning labor." 
 Still it was delayed, for, like the century-plant, its own time 
 must come. In 1841 he actually commenced it, and made fair 
 headway, when he was interrupted by an honor totally unsought 
 and unexpected. Daniel Webster, the distinguished Secretary 
 of State at Washington, counting the hours required for his 
 letter to reach its destination, said one day, " WASHINGTON 
 IRVING is now the most astonished man in the City of New 
 York." The statesman was smiling in one city, the scholar was 
 pacing his room in another, surprised that his country should 
 need his services, and appoint him its minister at the Court of 
 Spain. Now he was impressed with the honor conferred upon 
 one who had never solicited a favor from the country which he 
 had unconsciously ennobled; again he was keenly alive to the 
 
 10 
 
WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 pain of an exile from the quiet enjoyments of Sunnyside. He 
 accepted the appointment, " with no common feelings of pride 
 and gratitude," from motives of duty, and under the conviction 
 that it would not interfere with his new literary task. It has 
 always been of great advantage to our nationality when such 
 literary gentlemen have been our representatives at foreign 
 capitals ; bat the value of Mr. IRVING S shining talents, com 
 mand of European languages, elegant taste, and historical 
 knowledge, is beyond estimate in the sphere of foreign diplo 
 macy, lie was a model of ministerial accomplishments, whom 
 the National Government should ever keep before its eyes. 
 After four years of conscientious diplomacy, and of constant 
 sighing for his retreat on the Hudson, he thus drew, for an Eng 
 lish eye, the picture of his hope and his home : ""When relieved 
 from the duties and restraints of office, I shall make farewell 
 visits to my friends in England and elsewhere ; then ship my 
 self for America, and hasten back to my cottage, where every 
 thing is ready for my reception, and where I have but to walk 
 in, hang up my hat, kiss my nieces, and take my seat in m^ 
 elbow-chair for the remainder of my life." 
 
 On his return he confessed himself "too ready to do airy- 
 thing else rather than write." His friends urged him to prepare 
 a revised and uniform edition of his works, to push forward the 
 Life of Washington, and then "take his ease forever after." 
 Again were his mind and pen actively engaged ; but he was 
 led into the episode of preparing his enchanting volume of 
 " Goldsmith," and his vivid history of " Mahomet and his Suc 
 cessors." These being launched upon their bright career, his 
 most earnest desire was to begin anew and zealously the great 
 work which the entire Anglo-Saxon world was expecting from 
 his hands. "All I fear," said he, in his sixty-sixth year, "is to 
 fail in health, and to fail in completing this work at the same 
 time. If I can only live to finish it, I would be willing to die 
 the next moment. I think I can make it a most interesting 
 book can give interest and strength to many points without 
 any prostration of historic dignity. If I had only ten years 
 more of life ! I never felt more able to write." 
 
 Four years later the first volume was issued, IRVING declaring 
 that it " had long been announced as forthcoming, to the great 
 annoyance of the author." Still later, when the last volume 
 was progressing, he said to a friend, as he referred to his 
 
 11 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 failing health and his departure into the region of eternal 
 morning, " I am getting ready to go ; I am shutting up my 
 doors and windows." He lived to give his "crowning work" 
 the last touches of genius and of elegance. Thousands count 
 it a most thankworthy privilege to themselves and their chil 
 dren to have the names of Washington and of IRVING thus 
 united in the final labors of the most distinguished writer which 
 our country has produced. 
 
 "With all his love for the shade, Mr. IRVING was no recluse. 
 The man was as genial and captivating as his writings, a per 
 fection not always found in authors. He preferred to " be liked 
 rather than admired." In social life he dispensed and won both 
 sympathy and admiration. While giving brilliancy to ever) 
 circle of friendship, he never assumed that he was the chief 
 star, nor compelled others to suspect their inferiority. Hence 
 their cheerful tribute to his greatness on all occasions. Justly 
 has it been said, " Few men are so identified personally with 
 their literary productions, or have combined with admiration 
 of their genius such a cordial, home-like welcome in the purest 
 affections of their readers. We never become weary with the 
 repetition of his familiar name ; no caprice of fashion tempts us 
 to enthrone a new idol in place of the ancient favorite ; and 
 even intellectual jealousies shrink back before the soft brilliancy 
 of his reputation." 
 
 It will be seen that the portrait of Mr. IRVING, which embel 
 lishes the " Gallery," was taken in the prime of life, blending 
 his dignity of intellect with his cheerfulness of nature. The 
 qualities of mind and heart met upon his face, not for battle, 
 but for blessing; hence his countenance always presented a 
 harvest of generous wishes and goodwill to men. His literary 
 success contributed to preserve the goodness of his face in old 
 age. At his death the press had returned to him more than 
 two hundred thousand dollars, along with an imperishable 
 renown. More than all this to him were the supports and hap 
 piness of Christianity. He died November 28, 1859, at the age 
 of seventy-six, entering upon his eternal career, according to 
 his own pathetic aspiration, "with all sail set." His was one of 
 the great funerals of the country. The first December day 
 gave place to the Indian Summer, which his pen had so often 
 painted, a touching symbol of the man, his writings, and the 
 calm glory of his cloudless fame. 
 
 12 
 
BISHOP OF THK PROTKSTAHT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THK COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 9 S .7 
 
WILLIAM WHITE, D. D. 
 
 [T is given to few men to leave behind them a reputation more honor 
 able than that of the subject of this memoir. 
 
 His father, Col. Thomas White, a native of London, who came to 
 Maryland in early youth and there engaged in successful practice as a 
 lawyer, was a man of sound judgment and sterling integrity. He was 
 twice married, first to a daughter of Colonel Edward Hall, of Baltimore 
 county, and secondly to Mrs. Esther Newman, a lady born in New 
 Jersey, and whose maiden name was Hewlings. By this lady, whom 
 Col. White married shortly after his removal to Philadelphia, he had 
 two children ; Mary, who married Robert Morris, the American financier, 
 and WILLIAM, the subject of this memoir, who was born at Philadelphia 
 on the 24th of March, 1747, O. S., answering to April 4th, 1748, N. S. 
 To the pious character of his mother, the Bishop bears his grateful 
 testimony, and says, " My earliest impressions of religion were the fruit 
 of her instruction." 
 
 At the age of seven years he was transferred from the school of a 
 mistress toi the English school of the new college, of which his father 
 had been a trustee from its origin. Mr. Ebenezer Kinnersley, who had 
 aided his friend Dr. Franklin, in his electrical experiments, was the head 
 master of this school. When ten years old he was advanced to the 
 Latin school, under Mr. Paul Jackson, a man of genius and classical 
 attainments ; and at the age of fourteen, he entered the collegiate 
 department. 
 
 At this early period of his life, his thoughts were directed to the 
 Christian ministry. In one of his private letters he says, "It may be 
 recorded with truth, but let it be with humility and sorrow for innu 
 merable failures, and for having fallen far short of what was due to the 
 advantages of early years, that there is not recollected any portion of 
 my life, during which I was altogether regardless of the obligations of 
 religion, or neglected prayer. But in the middle of my sixteenth year, 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 there occurred some circumstances, particularly the decease of an amia 
 ble young lady, of my own age, but in whom I had not felt any farther 
 interest than as an acquaintance of my sister. This event gave my 
 mind a tendency to religious exercises and inquiries, which were pro 
 moted by its being understood that a visit was expected from the Rev 
 George Whitefield. His coming caused religion to be more than com 
 monly a subject of conversation; and this added to the existing 
 tendency of my mind." Whitefield, at this period (1763) was in im 
 paired health, his naturally slender person had become corpulent, and 
 his rare powers of utterance were affected by these causes ; yet even 
 under such great disadvantages " his force of emphasis and the melodies 
 of his tones and cadences," says the Bishop, " exceeded what I had ever 
 witnessed in any other person." Our youthful hearer was not among 
 the field preacher s devotees, yet, the glow of eloquence with which 
 Whitefield in "thoughts that breathe" gave life to sacred subjects, and, 
 besides this, the earnest religious conversations of the day, must have 
 produced powerful effects upon a mind then roused to serious thoughts 
 upon religion. But with a calmness amid the prevailing agitations 
 that was remarkable in a boy of only sixteen years, he did not find 
 himself disposed to be a " convert." He states that he could not 
 reconcile to his mind the vows and doings of Whitefield, as a clergy 
 man of the established church " his obligations, and his utter disre 
 gard of them." This aspect of things, new and strange to an ingenuous 
 young man, most happily led him to deliberate investigation, and thus 
 those principles of apostolic order were fixed in his mind on which he 
 was destined, in the course of Providence, to lay the foundation of the 
 now flourishing American Episcopal Church. 
 
 Having spent three years in college, he graduated, in 1765, at the 
 age of eighteen, and soon began the study of theology. 
 
 In October, 1770, he embarked for Europe, w r ith the usual letters to 
 Dr. Terrick, then Bishop of London, in which diocese the Protestant 
 Episcopal churches of British America w r ere considered to be, before 
 the Revolution. The candidate was examined by the Bishop s chap 
 lain, and, with many others, was ordained a deacon, under letters 
 demissory, by Dr. Young, the Bishop of Norwich, in the Royal 
 chapel, of which the Bishop of London was the Dean. 
 
 After this he remained eighteen months in England, where, in the 
 society of some valued relatives at Twickenham, and in occasional 
 journeys, he im >roved himself in useful learning, laid up rich materials 
 for reflection, and cultivated the acquaintance of the wise and good. 
 Alluding to these journeys, he speaks particularly of his visit to Lan 
 
WILLIAM WHITE. 
 
 . /hire and Derbyshire, of his tour to Bath and to the University of 
 Oxford ; of his interview with Dr. Kennicott, from whom he received 
 a copy of his Hebrew collations ; of the preaching of Dr. Robert Lowth, 
 afterwards Bishop of London ; of his conversing with Goldsmith on the 
 rtate of the peasantry depicted in the Deserted Village ; and of his 
 introduction to Dr. Samuel Johnson, with whom he had occasional 
 conversations, and whom he saw occupied in preparing a new edition 
 of his Dictionary. In April, 1772, he was admitted to priest s orders; 
 m June, he embarked for America ; and in September, arrived at 
 Philadelphia, where he was soon settled as an assistant minister in the 
 parish of Christ Church and St. Peter s. 
 
 During the long period of sixty-four years, he labored in the cause 
 of piety and learning, not only in the institutions peculiar to his church, 
 but in all the prominent institutions of Philadelphia for sixty-three 
 years a Trustee of the University; the President of the Bible Society 
 of Philadelphia, the first established in the United States ; the President 
 of the Dispensary, from its origin in 1784 ; of the Prison Society from 
 Us revival in 1787 ; of the Society for the Deaf and Dumb, and of the 
 Society for the Blind. With many other institutions he was connected 
 as manager or member ; and before the birth of most of his later coadju 
 tors in these public charities, he laid the corner stones of their edifices, 
 and established the principles of their perpetuity and success. 
 
 Well read in the history of England, and adopting those principles 
 which entered into its constitution from the Saxon times, he thought, 
 felt and acted with our revolutionary patriots, very many of whom 
 were his associates and friends. " When my countrymen," said he, 
 " had chosen the dreadful measure of resistance, it was also the dictate 
 of my conscience to take what seemed the right side." He entered 
 fully into the subject as a decided Christian patriot. His brethren in 
 the assistant ministry of the parish preached animating sermons before 
 battalions of soldiery ; but this he refused to do, alleging that he did 
 not think it right to make his ministry " instrumental to the war," or, 
 as he said, " to beat the ecclesiastical drum." With all the other clergy 
 of the Church of England, he used the prayer for the king, until the 
 Sunday following the Declaration of Independence, soon after which he 
 took the oath of allegiance to the United States. 
 
 The disquietudes occasioned by the war induced him, in September, 
 1777, to leave Philadelphia, then occupied by British troops, and to 
 repair with his family to the house of Mr. Aquila Hall, in Harfortf 
 county, Maryland, who had married his half-sister. While there, he 
 received official notice that congress, who had fled to York in Pennsyl 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 vania, had chosen him one of their chaplains. Consistent in his principles, 
 he at once accepted the appointment and performed the stated duties of 
 the chaplaincy. He continued to act as chaplain to congress until the 
 removal of the seat of the general government to New York. When 
 congress returned to Philadelphia, after the adoption of the present 
 constitution, he was again chosen one of the chaplains, and continued as 
 such until 1801, when the government was removed to Washington 
 City. 
 
 A dark cloud hung over the Church of England in America at this 
 crisis. In Pennsylvania, the settled clergy of the province, exclusive 
 of the city, had at no time exceeded six in number, and all these re 
 lied chiefly for their support on stipends received from England. The 
 war led some of them to leave the country, some died, and Mr. WHITE 
 was soon left the only Episcopal clergyman in the state. 
 
 The rectorship of the parish of Christ Church and St. Peter s, after 
 a time, was declared by the vestry to be vacant ; and they at once 
 unanimously elected Mr. W T HITE to the office. In the spring of 1783, he 
 received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Penn 
 sylvania, being the first to receive the honor from that body. 
 
 In August 1782, Mr. WHITE despairing of a prompt acknowledgment 
 of our independence, and seeing the Episcopal ministry nearly extinct, 
 had written and published a small pamphlet, called " The case of the 
 Episcopal Churches in the United States considered." It was issued 
 without the author s name ; but its pure spirit and its noble bearing 
 proved it the production of a superior mind. It depicted with a faith 
 ful pencil the entire desolation which awaited a rapidly declining church, 
 and pressed the obligation of adopting speedy and decisive measures, 
 to perpetuate her ministry and worship. With this view, it proposed 
 the establishment of an Episcopal Church in the United States, to be 
 divided into districts, each district to have not only clerical but LAY 
 delegates, and all the districts to be represented in a continental con 
 vention of the church. The proposed districts being thus constituted, 
 "they should elect a clergyman their permanent president, who, in 
 conjunction with other clergymen to be appointed by the body, might 
 exercise such powers as are purely spiritual, particularly that of ad 
 mitting to the ministry." The convention was, however, to declare 
 in favor of Episcopacy, and profess a determination to procure the 
 apostolical succession as soon as it could conveniently be had. 
 
 This proposed deviation from the ancient apostolic practice, was 
 startling to all those who held that the office of bishops was essential 
 to the existence of the church. But when numerous Episcopal con- 
 
WILLIAM WHITE. 
 
 gregations were scattered, " having no shepherd," when many of the 
 churches had been closed for years, when the war prevented the filling 
 of vacancies, when these vacancies were daily multiplying by deaths or 
 by removal, and when there were but few Episcopal pulpits in the 
 whole country from which the gospel sound was heard, it was indeed 
 a time of peculiar emergency. The prospects of churchmen in America 
 were veiled in the deepest gloom. It was the summer of the year 1783. 
 The mother country had not yet recognized our national independence. 
 It was the opinion of judicious persons that she might perhaps lay 
 down her weapons, but not yield her claims. And in this exigency of 
 the case, the author of the pamphlet appealed to the high authority of 
 Hooker, Hoadly, Usher and Cranmer ; and suggested yielding to a 
 temporary deviation from the ancient practice rather than the abandon 
 ment of every ordinance of positive and divine appointment. He argued 
 against any union of church and state. And although James I. might 
 teach IN ENGLAND, " No bishop, no king ; and no king, no bishop," 
 IN THE UNITED STATES, just rising in the freshness and vigor of their 
 independence, Episcopacy by no means seemed to depend upon the 
 will, no, nor on the existence of a monarch, but might, as has actually 
 proved to be the case, flourish at least as well without as with the 
 patronage of government. 
 
 The whole subject, however, in a few months assumed a form thai 
 met the hopes, and responded to the prayers of many. Our independ 
 ence was acknowledged by Great Britain in September, 1783. The 
 organization of the church very soon commenced. The first step taken 
 was an invitation from the vestry of Christ Church and St. Peter s, 
 in November, 1783, to the vestry of St. Paul s. Deputies met on the 
 29th of March, 1784, at Dr. WHITE S house, who invited a convention 
 of delegates from all the churches in the state, which met on the 24th 
 of the following May, at Christ Church, Philadelphia. In a few days 
 their proceedings were laid before a meeting in New Jersey, which was 
 followed .by a meeting in New York ; and thence resulted the call of the 
 first General Convention, which was held at Philadelphia in September 
 and October, 1785. 
 
 At this first General Convention, Dr. WHITE presided. A committee 
 was appointed to draft and report a constitution, of which committee 
 he was a member. The instrument was written by his hand. His 
 thorough knowledge of his subject enabled him to meet the views and 
 wishes of all parties. The constitution was adopted, and during the 
 lapse of nearly seventy years it has united in a holy bond the once 
 scattered members of the Episcopal communion. Certain alteration? 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 were made in the Book of Common Prayer, and it was resolved to 
 address the Archbishops and Bishops of England, asking for the conse 
 cration of Bishops elect from America. 
 
 The clergy of Connecticut, acting apart, had already (1785) succeeded 
 in obtaining a bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury; consecrated, 
 however, not by English bishops, but by the bishops of the Episcopal 
 Church in Scotland. Yet this did not meet the existing want ; and 
 there was a general and decided wish that the proposed bishops should, 
 by all means, be consecrated in ENGLAND. There w T ere also, both at home 
 and abroad, Lot a few who doubted whether this consecration by the 
 Scotch bishops was valid. Among these was the celebrated Granville 
 Sharp, the grandson of Archbishop Sharp, whose deep interest in the 
 American Episcopacy appears from his letter to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury and Dr. Franklin. 
 
 The address of the General Convention of 1785, was handed to the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury by our foreign minister, John Adams, who 
 used his influence, on many occasions, to facilitate the measure proposed. 
 
 The history of the times exhibits numerous and afflictive embarrass 
 ments arising from the want of resident bishops. Applications from 
 America were made again and again ; and in England the measure found 
 warm advocates in many, especially in Archbishop Seeker. But jealousy 
 on the part of the colonies, in regard not only to the office but the name 
 of bishop, and prudential considerations on the part of the British 
 crown, presented for a long time insuperable barriers. The only depend 
 ence for a supply of clergy was on emigration, or on candidates sent to 
 the Bishop of London for their orders. The revolution in the colonies 
 created disabilities even on his part. And after our civil independence 
 had been recognized, new difficulties were suggested ; so that when 
 certain candidates applied soon after the peace of 1783, they could not, 
 as citizens of a free country, take the oaths of allegiance required at 
 ordination. The candidates turned their thoughts to the Episcopal 
 Church of Denmark, and soon received through our minister, Mr. 
 Adams, favorable answers to inquiries which he had proposed on 
 their behalf. Mr. Adams had conferred on the subject with M. de St. 
 Saphorin, the Danish minister, who wrote to the King s foreign secre 
 tary, the Count de Rosencrone ; and the result was an official commu 
 nication to our government, transmitted to the president of Congress. 
 But an act of Parliament, passed in 1786, and the proceedings of 
 Churchmen in America, especially their address, soon rendered it un 
 necessary to accept the offer, so very promptly and liberally made by 
 the Iheological faculty and the government of Denmark. 
 
WILLIAM WHITE. 
 
 In the spring of 1786, a favorable reply to the address was received 
 from England, signed by the two Archbishops and eighteen of the 
 twenty-four bishops of the established church. General Conventions 
 on the subject met in June and October. The Rev. Dr. Provost of 
 New York, Dr. WHITE of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Griffith of Virginia, 
 were duly chosen by their respective conventions to proceed to Eng 
 land for the Episcopate. The latter, from some domestic cause, was 
 unable to proceed. The others soon embarked, and in eighteen days 
 landed at Falmouth. Mr. Adams presented them to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, the Most Rev. John Moore, by whom, assisted by Dr. 
 Markham, Archbishop of York, and Bishops Moss and Hinchliffe, 
 they were consecrated on the 4th of February, 1787, in the chapel of 
 the archiepiscopal palace at Lambeth. On Easter-day, April 7th, 
 1787, they were again in the United States, and soon entered on the 
 active duties of their office. In the year 1790, Dr. Madison of Vir 
 ginia, was also consecrated at Lambeth. During his life, nearly all 
 the succeeding bishops of the United States were consecrated by Bishop 
 WHITE. 
 
 Episcopacy was now established in the United States under the 
 most advantageous circumstances. It attracted the attention of all 
 other communions, and especially conciliated the regards of certain 
 members of the Methodist society. One of their spiritual fathers, the 
 Rev. Dr. Coke, whom Mr. Wesley, to use his own words, invested, 
 " as far as he had a right to do, with Episcopal authority," was not 
 satisfied with this wide deviation from apostolic practice, and wrote to 
 Bishop WHITE, explicitly proposing that the American bishops should 
 re-ordain all the preachers of the Methodist society, admit Mr. Asbury 
 and himself to the Episcopate, and virtually effect a re-union of 
 Methodists and Episcopalians. Bishop WHITE, from the beginning, 
 saw that the measure, as proposed, must fail ; but Bishop Madison 
 was very favorable to the scheme. At a meeting of the General Con 
 vention in 1792, he introduced a motion upon the subject, into the 
 House of Bishops, and led them to bring it before the house of Cleri 
 cal and Lay delegates. But the whole project was then laid aside 
 and has never since been seriously agitated. 
 
 The advanced age of Bishop WHITE and the increasing labors of his 
 office in a diocese so extensive as Pennsylvania, led him in the year 
 1826, to propose, at a special convention of the diocese, the election 
 of an assistant bishop. At that convention no election was held ; 
 the vote of the clergy being equally divided between the two candi 
 dates presented. At the annual convention in 1827, held at Harnsburg, 
 
 7 VOL. 1. R 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 the Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk, of the diocese of New York, was 
 chosen to the office, which he filled during the remainder of Bishop 
 WHITE S life and then succeeded him in the Episcopate. 
 
 In 1832 Bishop WHITE published, over the signature of " A citizen 
 of Philadelphia," an address to the councils of Philadelphia upon the 
 subject of the college for which Mr. Girard had made provision in his 
 will. According to that instrument the clergy of all denominations 
 were excluded from the institution, and were prohibited from entering 
 its enclosure. The Bishop, in common with other good men of differ 
 ent denominations, feared that all religious instruction would likewise 
 be excluded, and therefore urged the city authorities to refuse the 
 acceptance of the legacy. Experience has shown that his fears were 
 groundless, though the injurious prohibition, so awfully indicative of 
 persecution, is still in force. 
 
 In the spring of 183o, missionaries were sent to China by the Epis 
 copal Church, and the task of preparing instructions for their guidance in 
 that country was entrusted to Bishop WHITE. It was well discharged, 
 and the admirable paper prepared by him showed that the vigor of his 
 mind was entirely unimpaired at the age of eighty-eight. 
 
 The close of his useful life was now at hand. Blessed with an 
 unusually vigorous constitution, he had enjoyed a degree of health 
 seldom equalled. In the month of June, 1836, he experienced a 
 severe attack of illness, but had recovered sufficiently to preach on the 
 last Sunday of that month at St. Peter s Church, what proved to be 
 his last sermon. The energy with which he delivered it, and the 
 strength of his voice, were remarked at the time. On the second of 
 July, on rising from his bed in the night, he had a severe fall, owing 
 to no cause that could be ascertained other than weakness. A gradual 
 decay of his bodily powers followed, and on the 17th of July, 1836, he 
 closed his useful life, without pain, and in perfect consciousness that the 
 time of his departure had come. He had witnessed the establishment 
 of his church as a distinct branch of the church universal, had seen its 
 growth from small and feeble beginnings, and left it peaceful and 
 prosperous. Twenty-four bishops of that communion had received 
 their consecration at his hands. He died on the eve of the consecra 
 tion of the Rev. Mr. McCroskey, as Bishop of Michigan, at which it had 
 been proposed that Bishop WHITE was to preach and to preside. The 
 prejudice, which had at first checked the establishment of the Protest 
 ant Episcopal Church, he lived to see nearly extinct, and it must be 
 said in his praise that this happy state of feeling was greatly owing to 
 his moderation, to his excellence in every duty, public and private, and 
 
WILLIAM WHITE. 
 
 to his benevolent and truly catholic spirit. He died without an enemy, 
 and the large train of mourners, including the clergy and laymen of 
 all denominations, which accompanied his remains to the tomb, testified 
 how greatly his loss was felt. His body was interred in the family 
 vault adjoining Christ Church, on the 20th of July, 1836. Bishop H. 
 U. Onderdonk, his successor, preached an appropriate sermon upon 
 the occasion. 
 
 All the amiable virtues which can adorn the character of a Christian, 
 and especially a Christian minister, shone brightly in his character. 
 Firm in the maintenance of what he held to be the truth, he offended 
 no one by violence, or want of charity in the expression of his opinions. 
 Courteous and affable, he was always accessible to the young, in 
 whose society he took great pleasure. No clergyman in Philadelphia 
 has, probably, united more couples in marriage than Bishop WHITE 
 To be married by him was always considered an honor. Of some 
 families, he saw five generations in the church. 
 
 His conduct as a husband, father and friend was all that could be 
 desired. As a citizen, he took a lively interest in the welfare of his 
 country. His course during the Revolution has been already detailed. 
 He felt the exercise of the right of suffrage to be a duty, and never 
 omitted giving his vote when not prevented by ill health or absence. 
 
 His writings were numerous. The catalogue of them in the memoir 
 of his life, prepared by the Rev. Dr. Bird Wilson, occupies eleven 
 octavo pages. The most prominent are the "Memoirs of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church," in one octavo volume ; the " Comparative Views 
 of the Controversy between the Calvinists and the Arminians," in 
 two octavo volumes ; the " Lectures on the Catechism/ * and the 
 " Commentaries on the Ordination Services," each in a single octavo 
 volume. The style of his writings was plain and clear, without use 
 less ornament, and based upon that of the writers of the days of Queen 
 Anrie. 
 
 The accompanying portrait presents a faithful likeness of the good 
 Bishop in his latter years. He never appeared in the streets without 
 attracting attention and respect. Tall, and slightly bent by the ad 
 vance of years, with flowing white locks and countenance full of 
 benevolence, he walked among us, connecting us with the era of the 
 Revolution, one of the last of the men of that day. At the age of 
 eighty-nine he " was gathered with his fathers," and finished a course 
 not more remarkable for its length than for the virtues and Christian 
 graces which adorned it. 
 
 Such a man as Bishop WHITE never really di-es. His memory is 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 yet precious in the hearts of thousands ; not a few of whom in the 
 Prayer Book Society and the Parish Libraries of the United States, 
 and in the Episcopal Floating Church of his native city, have done very 
 much to perpetuate his name ; while by those institutions, though " being 
 dead he yet speaketh." His spirit still acts in the hearts of multitudes, 
 who heard from his lips the glad sound of salvation, or in their child 
 ren, to whom they have transmitted the knowledge of it. The ramifica 
 tions of the influence of such a man are almost infinite, as they, 
 assuredly, are eternal. His religion had great power, which not only 
 made him a blessing while on earth, but constitutes the blessings diffused 
 by him immortal. Monuments of his worth and labors cover our coun 
 try ; nay, they are to be seen in far-off landsj and from other nations, as 
 well as our own, shall praises long ascend to Heaven that God qualified 
 him and sent him forth to labor in his vineyard ; while in Heaven itself 
 shall he hear the songs of immortality presented to the Holy Spirit, who 
 crowned those labors with abundant success ; and while he feels the 
 high honor thus conferred on him, he shall humbly cast his crown at the 
 
 feet of his adorable Lord. 
 
 10 
 
JOHN MARSHALL, LL.D. 
 
 JOHN MARSHALL, the sketch of whose life now claims our attention, 
 was born in Fauquier county, in the state of Virginia, on the 
 24th of September, 1755. His father was Thomas Marshall of 
 the same state, who served with great distinction in the revo 
 lutionary war, as a colonel in the line of the continental army. 
 Colonel Marshall was a planter of a very small fortune, and had 
 received but a narrow education. These deficiencies, however, were 
 amply supplied by the gifts of nature. His talents were of a high 
 order, and he cultivated them with great diligence and perseverance, 
 so that he maintained throughout his whole life, among asso 
 ciates of no mean character, the reputation of being a man of 
 extraordinary ability. No better proof need be adduced to justify 
 this opinion, than the fact that he possessed the unbounded 
 confidence, admiration, and reverence of all his children, at the period 
 of life when they were fully able to appreciate his worth and 
 compare him with other men of known eminence. There are those 
 yet living, who have often listened with delight to the praises 
 bestowed on him by filial affection ; and have heard the declaration 
 emphatically repeated from the lips of one of his most gifted sons, that 
 his father was an abler man than any of his children. Such praise 
 from such a source is beyond measure precious. It warms while it 
 elevates. It is a tribute of gratitude to the memory of a parent after 
 death has put the last seal upon his character, and at a distance of 
 time, when sorrow has ceased its utterance, and left behind it the 
 power calmly to contemplate his excellence. 
 
 Colonel Marshall had fifteen children, some of whom are now 
 living ; and it has long been a matter of public fame, that all the 
 children, females as well as males, possessed superior intellectual 
 endowments. JOHN was the eldest child ; and was of course the 
 first to engage the solicitude of his father. In the local position of 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 the family, at that time almost upon the frontier settlements of the. 
 country, (for Fauquier was a frontier county,) it was of course, that 
 the early education of all the children should devolve upon its head. 
 Colonel Marshall superintended the studies of his eldest son, and gave 
 him a decided taste for English literature, and especially for history 
 and poetry. At the age of twelve he had transcribed Pope s Essay 
 on Man, and also some of his moral essays. The love of poetry, thus 
 awakened in his warm and vigorous mind, never ceased to exert n 
 commanding influence over it. He became enamored of the 
 classical writers of the old school, and was instructed by their solid 
 sense, and their beautiful imagery. In the enthusiasm of youth, he 
 often indulged himself in poetical compositions, and freely gave up 
 his hours of leisure to those delicious dreamings of the muse, which 
 (say what we may) constitute some of the purest sources of pleasure 
 in the gay scenes of life, and some of the sweetest consolations in 
 adversity and affliction, throughout every subsequent period of it. It 
 is well known, that he continued to cultivate this his favorite study, 
 and to read with intense interest the gay as well as the loftier 
 productions of the divine art. One of the best recommendations of the 
 taste for poetry in early life is, that it does not die with youth ; but 
 affords to maturer years an invigorating energy, and to old age a 
 serene and welcome employment, always within reach, and always 
 coming with a fresh charm. Its gentle influence is then like that 
 so happily treated by Gray. The lover of the muses may truly say, 
 
 I feel the gales that round ye blow 
 
 A momentary bliss bestow, 
 
 As, waving fresh their gladsome wing, 
 
 My weary soul they seem to soothe, 
 
 And redolent of joy and youth 
 
 To breathe a second spring. 
 
 The contrast, was always somewhat striking between that close 
 reasoning, which almost rejected the aid of ornament, in the juridical 
 labors of the Chief Justice, and that generous taste, which devoted 
 itself with equal delight to the works of fiction and song. Yet the 
 union has been far less uncommon than slight observers are apt to 
 imagine. Lord Hardwicke and Lord Mansfield had an ardent 
 thirst for general literature, and each of them was a cultivator, if 
 not a devotee, of the lighter productions of the imagination. 
 
 There being at that time no grammar school in the part of the 
 country where Colonel Marshall resided, his son was sent, at the a^e 
 ot fourteen, about a hundred miles from home, and placed under thr 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 tuition of a Mr. Campbell, a clergyman of great respectability. H 
 remained with him -a year, and then returned home, and was put 
 under the care of a Scotch gentleman, who was just introduced into 
 the parish as pastor ; and resided in his father s family. He pursued 
 his classical studies under this gentleman s direction, while he 
 remained in the family, which was about a year ; and at the 
 termination of it, he had commenced reading Horace and Livy. His 
 subsequent mastery of the classics was the result of his own efforts, 
 without any other aid than his grammar and dictionary. He never 
 had the benefit of an education at any college, and his attainments in 
 learning were cherished by the solitary vigils of his own genius. 
 His father, however, continued to superintend his English education, 
 to cherish his love of knowledge, to give a solid cast to his acquire 
 ments, and to store his mind with the most valuable materials. He 
 was not merely a watchful parent, but an instructive and affectionate 
 friend, and soon became the most constant, as he was at the time 
 almost the only intelligent, companion of his son. The time not 
 devoted to his society was passed in hardy athletic exercises, and 
 probably to this circumstance was owing that robust constitution which 
 
 seemed fresh and firm in old age. 
 
 o 
 
 About the time when young MARSHALL entered his eighteenth 
 year, the controversy between Great Britain and her American 
 colonies began to assume a portentous aspect, and engaged, and 
 indeed absorbed, the attention of all the colonists, whether they were 
 young, or old, in private and secluded life, or in political and public 
 bodies. He entered into it with all the zeal and enthusiasm of a youth, 
 full of love for his country and liberty, and deeply sensible of its 
 rights and its wrongs. He devoted much time to acquiring the first 
 rudiments of military exercise in a voluntary independent company, 
 composed of gentlemen of the county ; to training a militia company 
 in the neighborhood, and to reading the political essays of the day. 
 For these animating pursuits, the preludes of public resistance, he 
 was quite content to relinquish the classics, and the less inviting, but 
 with reference to his future destiny, the more profitable Commen 
 taries of Sir William Blackstone. 
 
 In the summer of 1775, he received an appointment as first 
 lieutenant in a company of minute-men enrolled for actual service 
 who were assembled in battalion on the first of the ensuing September 
 In a few days they were ordered to march into the lower country, 
 for the purpose of defending it against a small regular and predatory 
 force commanded by Lord Dunmore. They constituted part of tin- 
 
 Gl 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 troops destined for the relief of Norfolk ; and Lieutenant MARSHALL 
 was engaged in the battle of the Great Bridge, where the British 
 troops, under Lord Dunmore, were repulsed with great gallantry 
 The way being thus opened by the retreat of the British, he 
 marched with the provincials to Norfolk, and was present when 
 that city was set on fire by a detachment from the British ships then 
 lying in the river. 
 
 In July, 1776, he was appointed first lieutenant in the eleventh 
 Virginia regiment on the continental establishment ; and in the course 
 of the succeeding winter, he marched to the north, where, in May, 
 1777, he was promoted to the rank of captain. He was subsequently 
 engaged in the skirmish at Iron Hill with the light infantry, and 
 fought in the memorable battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and 
 Monmouth. 
 
 That part of the Virginia line, which was not ordered to Charleston 
 (S. C.,) being in effect dissolved by the expiration of the term of 
 enlistment of the soldiers, the officers (among whom was Captain 
 MARSHALL) were, in the winter of 1779-80, directed to return home, in 
 order to take charge of such men as the state legislature should raise 
 for them. It was during this season of inaction that he availed 
 himself of the opportunity of attending a course of law lectures given 
 by Mr. Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the state ; and a course of 
 lectures on natural philosophy, given by Mr. Madison, president of 
 William and Mary College in Virginia. He left this college in the 
 summer vacation of 1780. and obtained a license to practice law. In 
 October he returned to the army, and continued in service until the 
 termination of Arnold s invasion. After this period, and before the 
 invasion of Phillips, in February, 1781, there being a redundancy of 
 officers in the Virginia line, he resigned his commission. 
 
 During the invasion of Virginia, the courts of law were suspended, 
 and were not reopened until after the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis 
 Immediately after that event Mr. MARSHALL commenced the practice 
 of law, and soon rose into distinction at the bar. 
 
 In the spring of 1782, he was elected a member of the state 
 legislature, and in the autumn of the same year a member of 
 the executive council. In January, 1783, he married Miss Ambler, 
 the daughter of a gentleman who was then treasurer of the 
 state, and to whom he had become attached before he left the army 
 This lady lived for nearly fifty years after her marriage, to partake 
 and to enjoy the distinguished honors of her husband. In 1784, he 
 -esigned his seat at the council board, in order to return to the bar ; 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 and he was immediately afterwards again elected a member of the 
 legislature for the county of Fauquier. of which he was then only 
 nominally an inhabitant, his actual residence being at Richmond. 
 In 1787 he was elected a member from the county of Henrico ; and 
 though at that time earnestly engaged in the duties of his profession, 
 he embarked largely in the political questions which then agitated 
 he state, and indeed the whole confederacy. 
 
 Every person at all read in our domestic history must recollect the 
 dangers and difficulties of those days. The termination of the 
 revolutionary war left the country impoverished and exhausted by its 
 expenditures, and the national finances at a low state of depression. 
 The powers of congress under the confederation, which, even during 
 the war, were often prostrated by the neglect of a single state to 
 enforce them, became in the ensuing peace utterly relaxed and 
 inefficient. 
 
 Credit, private as well as public, was destroyed. Agriculture and 
 commerce were crippled. The delicate relation of debtor and creditor 
 became daily more and more embarrassed and embarrassing ; and, as 
 is usual upon such occasions, every sort of expedient was resorted to 
 by popular leaders, as well as by men of desperate fortunes, to 
 inflame the public mind, and to bring into odium those who labored 
 to preserve the public faith, and to establish a more energetic govern 
 ment. The whole country was soon divided into two great parties, 
 the one of which endeavored to put an end to the public evils by the 
 establishment of a government over the Union, which should be 
 adequate to all its exigencies, and act directly on the people ; the 
 other was devoted to state authority, jealous of all federal influence, 
 and determined at every hazard to resist its increase. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to say, that Mr. MARSHALL could not 
 remain an idle or indifferent spectator of such scenes. As little 
 doubt could there be of the part he would take in such a contest. 
 He was at once arrayed on the side of Washington and Madison 
 In Virginia, as every where else, the principal topics of the day were 
 paper money, the collection of taxes, the preservation of public faith, 
 and the administration of civil justice. The parties were nearly 
 equally divided upon all these topics ; and the contest concerning 
 them was continually renewed. In such a state of things, every 
 victory was but a temporary and questionable triumph, and every 
 defeat still left enough of hope to excite to new and strenuous 
 exertions. The affairs, too, of the confederacy were then at a crisis. 
 The question of the continuance of the Union, or a separation of the 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 states, was freely discussed ; and, what is almost startling now to 
 repeat, either side of it was maintained without reproach. Mr. 
 Madison was at this time, and had been for two or three years, a 
 member of the house of delegates, and was in fact the author of the 
 resolution for the general convention at Philadelphia to ^revise the 
 confederation. He was at all times the enlightened advocate of 
 union, and of an efficient federal government, and he received on all 
 occasions the steady support of Mr. MARSHALL. Many have 
 witnessed, with no ordinary emotions, the pleasure with which both 
 of these gentlemen looked back upon their cooperation at that period, 
 and the sentiments of profound respect with which they habitually 
 regarded each other. 
 
 Both of them were members of the convention subsequently 
 called in Virginia for the ratification of the federal constitution. 
 This instrument, having come forth under the auspices of General 
 Washington and other distinguished patriots of the Revolution, was 
 at first favorably received in Virginia, but it soon encountered 
 decided hostility. Its defence was uniformly and most powerfully 
 maintained there by Mr. MARSHALL. 
 
 The debates of the Virginia convention are in print. But we 
 have been assured by the highest authority, that the printed volume 
 affords but a very feeble and faint sketch of the actual debates on 
 fiat occasion, or of the vigor with which every attack was urged, 
 and every onset repelled, against the constitution. The best talents 
 of the state were engaged in the controversy. The principal debates 
 were conducted by Patrick Henry and James Madison, as leaders. 
 But on three great occasions, namely, the debates on the power of 
 taxation, the power over the militia, and the power of the judiciary, 
 Mr. MARSHALL gave free scope to his genius, and argued with a most 
 commanding ability. 
 
 It is very difficult for the present generation to conceive the 
 magnitude of the dangers to which we were then exposed, or to 
 realize the extent of the obstacles which were opposed to the 
 adoption of the constitution. Notwithstanding all the sufferings of 
 the people, the acknowledged imbecility of the government, and the 
 almost desperate state of our public affairs, there were men of high 
 character, and patriots too, who clung to the old confederation with 
 an enthusiastic attachment, and saw in the grant of any new powers, 
 indeed of any powers, to a national government, nothing but 
 oppression and tyranny, slavery of the people and destruction of 
 the state governments on the one hand, and universal despotism 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 and overwhelming taxation on the other. Time, the great umpire 
 and final judge of these questions, has indeed now abundantly shown 
 how vain were the fears, and how unsound the principles of the 
 opponents of the constitution. The prophecies of its friends have 
 been abundantly fulfilled in the growth and solid prosperity of their 
 country ; far, indeed, beyond their most sanguine expectations. But 
 our gratitude can never be too warm to those eminent men who 
 stemmed the torrent of public prejudice, and with a wisdom and 
 prudence, almost surpassing human power, laid the foundations 
 of that government, which saved us at the hour when we were 
 ready to perish. After twenty-five days of ardent and eloquent 
 discussion, to which justice never has been, and never can now be 
 done, (during which nine states adopted the constitution,) the question 
 was carried in its favor in the convention of Virginia by a majority 
 of ten votes only. 
 
 The adoption of the constitution of the United States having been 
 thus secured, Mr. MARSHALL immediately formed the determination 
 to relinquish public life, and to devote himself to the arduous duties 
 of his profession. 
 
 A man of his eminence could, however, with very great difficulty 
 adhere rigidly to his original resolve. The state legislature having, 
 in December, 1788, passed an act allowing a representative to the city 
 of Richmond, Mr. MARSHALL was almost unanimously invited to 
 become a candidate. With considerable reluctance he yielded to the 
 public wishes, being principally influenced in his acceptance of the 
 station, by the increasing hostility manifested in the state against the 
 national government, and his own anxious desire to give the latter his 
 decided and public support. He continued in the legislature, as a 
 representative of Richmond, for the years 1789, 1790, and 1791. 
 During this period every important measure of the national 
 government was discussed in the state legislature with great freedom, 
 and no inconsiderable acrimony. On these occasions Mr. MARSHALL 
 vindicated the national government with a manly and zealous 
 independence. 
 
 After the termination of the session of the legislature, in 179J, 
 Mr. MARSHALL voluntarily retired. But the events which soon 
 afterwards occurred in Europe, and extended a most awaKening 
 influence to America, did not long permit him to devote himself to 
 piofessional pursuits. The French revolution, in its early dawu. 
 wa? hailed with universal enthusiasm in America. In its progress 
 for a considerable period, it continued to maintain among us an 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 almost unanimous approbation. Many causes conduced to this 
 result. Our partiality for France, from *\ grateful recollection of her 
 services in our own revolutionary contest, was ardent and undisguised. 
 It was heightened by the consideration, that she was herself now 
 engaged in a struggle for liberty, and was endeavoring to shake off 
 oppressions under which she had been groaning for centuries. The 
 monarchs in Europe were combined in a mighty league for the 
 suppression of this new and alarming insurrection against the claims 
 of legitimacy. It was not difficult to foresee, that if they were 
 successful in this enterprise, we ourselves had but a questionable 
 security for our own independence. It would be natural for them, 
 after having completed their European conquests, to cast their eyes 
 to the origin of the evil, and to feel that their dynasties were not quite 
 safe, (even though the Atlantic rolled between us and them,) while a 
 living example of liberty, so seductive and so striking, remained in 
 the western hemisphere. 
 
 It may be truly said, that our government partook largely of the 
 general interest, and did not hesitate to express it in a manner not 
 incompatible with the strict performance of the duties of neutrality. 
 Mr. MARSHALL was as warmly attached to the cause of France as 
 any of his considerate countrymen. 
 
 After the death of Louis XYL, feelings of a diiferent sort began 
 to mix themselves, not only in the public councils, but in private 
 life. Those, whose reflections reached beyond the events of the 
 day, began to entertain fears, lest, in our enthusiasm for the cause of 
 France, we might be plunged into war, and thus jeopard our own 
 vital interests. The task of preserving neutrality was of itself 
 sufficiently difficult when the mass of the people was put in motion 
 by the cheering sounds of liberty and equality, which were wafted 
 on every breeze across the Atlantic. The duty, however, was 
 imperative ; and the administration determined to perform it with 
 the most guarded good faith. 
 
 The decided part taken by Mr. MARSHALL could not long remain 
 unnoticed. He was attacked with great asperity in the newspapers 
 and pamphlets of the day, and designated, by way of significant 
 reproach, as the coadjutor and friend of Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 Against these attacks he defended himself with a zeal and ability 
 proportioned to his own sincere devotion to the cause which he 
 espoused. 
 
 At the spring election for the state legislature in the year 1795, Mr 
 MARSHALL was not a candidate; but he was nevertheless chosen 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 under somewhat peculiar circumstances. From the time of his 
 withdrawing from the legislature, two opposing candidates had 
 divided the city of Richmond ; the one, his intimate friend, and 
 holding the same political sentiments with himself; the other, a most 
 zealous partisan of the opposition. Each election between these 
 gentlemen, who were both popular, had been decided by a small 
 majority, and the approaching contest was entirely doubtful. Mr. 
 MARSHALL attended the polls at an early hour, and gave his vote for 
 his friend. While at the polls, a gentleman demanded that a poll 
 should be opened for Mr. MARSHALL. The latter was greatly 
 surprised at the proposal, and unhesitatingly expressed his dissent ; 
 at the same time, he announced his willingness to become a 
 candidate the next year. He retired from the polls, and immediately 
 gave his attendance to the business of one of the courts, which was 
 then in session. A poll was, however, opened for him in his absence 
 by the gentleman who first suggested it, notwithstanding his positive 
 refusal. The election was suspended for a few minutes ; a 
 consultation took place among the freeholders ; they determined to 
 support him ; and in the evening he received the information of his 
 election. A more honorable tribute to his merits could not have been 
 paid ; and his election was a most important and timely measure in 
 favor of the administration. 
 
 It will be recollected, that the treaty with Great Britain, negotiated 
 by Mr. Jay in 1794, was the subject of universal discussion at this 
 period. No sooner was its ratification advised by the senate, than 
 public meetings were called in all our principal cities, for the purpose 
 of inducing the president to withhold his ratification, and if this object 
 were not attained, then to prevent in congress the passage of the 
 appropriations necessary to carry it into effect. The topics of 
 animadversion were not confined to the expediency of the treaty in 
 its principal provisions, but the bolder ground was assumed, that 
 the negotiation of a commercial treaty by the executive was an 
 unconstitutional act, and an infringement of the power given to 
 congress to regulate commerce. Mr. MARSHALL took an active part 
 in the discussions upon the treaty. Feeling, that the ratification of it 
 was indispensable to the preservation of peace, that its main 
 provisions were essentially beneficial to the United States, and 
 comported with its true dignity and interests ; he addressed himself 
 with the most diligent attention to an examination of the nature and 
 extent of all its provisions, and of all the objections urged against it. 
 No state in the Union exhibited a more intense hostility to it than 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Virginia, upon the points both of expediency and constitutionality , 
 and in no state were the objections urged with more impassioned 
 and unsparing earnestness. The task, therefore, of meeting and 
 overthrowing them was of no ordinary magnitude, and required all 
 the resources of the ablest mind. Mr. MARSHALL came to the task 
 with a thorough mastery of every topic connected with it. At a public 
 meeting of the citizens of Richmond he carried a series of resolutions, 
 approving the conduct of the executive. 
 
 But a more difficult and delicate duty remained to be performed. 
 It was easy to foresee that the controversy would soon find its way 
 from the public forum into the legislative bodies ; and would be there 
 renewed with the bitter animosity of party spirit. Indeed, so 
 unpopular was the treaty in Virginia, that Mr. MARSHALL S friends 
 were exceedingly solicitous that he should avoid engaging in any 
 debate in the legislature on the subject, as it would be a sacrifice of 
 the remains of his well deserved popularity ; and it might be even 
 questioned if he could there deliver his sentiments without exposure 
 to some rude attacks. His answer to all such suggestions was 
 uniform ; that he should not move any measure to excite a debate ; 
 but if the subject were brought forward by others, he should, at every 
 hazard, vindicate the administration, and assert his own opinions. 
 He was incapable of shrinking from a just expression of his own 
 independence. The subject was soon introduced by his political 
 opponents, and the constitutional objections were urged with 
 triumphant confidence. That, particularly, which denied the 
 constitutional right of the executive to conclude a commercied 
 treaty, was selected and insisted on as a favorite and unanswerable 
 position. The speech of Mr. MARSHALL on this occasion has been 
 always represented as one of the noblest efforts of his genius. His 
 vast powers of reasoning were employed with the most gratifying 
 success. He demonstrated, not only from the words of the 
 constitution, and the universal practice of nations, that a commercial 
 treaty was within the constitutional powers of the executive, but 
 that this opinion had been maintained and sanctioned by Mr. 
 Jefferson, by the whole delegation of Virginia in congress, and by 
 the leading members in the convention on both sides. His argument 
 was decisive ; the constitutional ground was abandoned ; and the 
 resolutions of the assembly were confined to a simple disapprobation 
 of the treaty in point of expediency. 
 
 The constitutional objections were again urged in congress in the 
 celebrated debate on the British treaty, in the spring of 1796 ; and 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE xMARSHALL. 
 
 there finally assumed the mitigated shape of a right claimed on the 
 part of congress to grant or withhold appropriations to carry treaties 
 into effect. The higher ground, that commercial treaties were not, 
 when ratified, the supreme law of the land, was abandoned ; and the 
 subsequent practice of the government has, without question, under 
 every administration, conformed to the construction vindicated by 
 Mr. MARSHALL. The fame of this admirable argument spread 
 through the Union. Even with his political enemies, it enhanced the 
 elevation of his character ; and it brought him at once to the notice 
 of some of the most eminent statesmen who then graced our public 
 councils 
 
 After thjs period, President Washington invited Mr. MARSHALL to 
 accept the office of attorney general ; but he declined it, upon the 
 ground of its interference with his lucrative practice in Virginia. 
 He continued in the state legislature ; but did not, from his other 
 engagements, take an active part in the ordinary business. He 
 confined his attention principally to those questions which involved 
 the main interests of the country, and brought into discussion the 
 policy and the principles of the national parties. 
 
 Upon the recall of Mr. Monroe as minister, from Prance, President 
 Washington solicited Mr. MARSHALL to accept the appointment as 
 his successor ; but he respectfully declined, and General Pinckney, 
 of South Carolina, was appointed in his stead. 
 
 Mr. MARSHALL was not, however, long permitted to act upon his 
 own judgment and choice. The French government refused to 
 receive General Pinckney, as minister from the United States ; and 
 the administration, being sincerely anxious to exhaust every measure 
 of conciliation, not incompatible with the national dignity, for the 
 preservation of peace, resorted to the extraordinary measure of 
 sending a commission of three envoys. Within a year from the 
 time of the first offer, Mr. Adams having succeeded to the presidency, 
 appointed Mr. MARSHALL one of these envoys, in conjunction with 
 General Pinckney and Mr. Gerry. 
 
 After some hesitation, Mr. MARSHALL accepted the appointment, 
 and soon afterward embarked for Amsterdam. On his arrival at the 
 Hague he met General Pinckney, and having received passports they 
 proceeded to Paris. The mission was unsuccessful ; the envoys 
 were never accredited by the French government, and Mr. MARSHAI L 
 returned to America in the summer of 1798. Upon him principally 
 devolved the duty of preparing the official despatches. They have 
 been universally attributed to his pen, nnd are models of skilfu 
 
 11 YOL.1. H 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 reasoning, forcible illustration, accurate detail, and urbane and 
 dignified moderation. In the annals of our diplomacy there are no 
 papers upon which an American can look back with more unmixed 
 pride and pleasure. 
 
 Mr. MARSHALL, on his return home, found that he had sustained 
 no loss by a diminution of professional business, and looked 
 forward to a resumption of his labors with high hopes. He peremp 
 torily refused for a considerable time to become a candidate for 
 congress, and avowed his determination to remain at the bar. At 
 this juncture he was invited by General Washington to pass a few 
 days at Mount Vernon ; and having accepted the invitation, he went 
 there in company with Mr. Justice Washington, the nephew of General 
 Washington, and a highly distinguished judge of the supreme court 
 of the United States, whose death the public had afterwards sad occa 
 sion to lament. 
 
 What took place upon that occasion we happen to have the good 
 fortune to know from an authentic source. General Washington did 
 not for a moment disguise the object of his invitation ; it was to urge 
 upon Mr. MARSHALL and Mr. Washington the propriety of their 
 becoming candidates for congress. Mr. Washington yielded to the 
 wishes of his uncle without a struggle. But Mr. MARSHALL resisted 
 on the ground of his situation, and the necessity of attending to his 
 private affairs. The reply of General Washington to these 
 suggestions will never be forgotten by those who heard it. It 
 breathed the spirit of the loftiest virtue and patriotism. He said, 
 that there were crises in national affairs which made it the duty of a 
 citizen to forego his private for the public interest. He considered 
 the country to be then in one of these. He detailed his opinions 
 freely on the nature of the controversy with France, and expressed 
 his conviction, that the best interests of America depended upon the 
 character of the ensuing congress. The conversation was long, 
 animated, and impressive ; full of the deepest interest, and the most 
 unreserved confidence. The exhortation of General Washington 
 
 O 
 
 had its effect. Mr. MARSHALL yielded to his representations, and 
 became a candidate, and was, after an ardent contest, elected, and 
 took his seat in congress in December, 1799. While he was yet a 
 candidate, he was offered a seat on the bench of the supreme court, 
 then vacant by the death of Mr. Justice Iredell. Upon his declining 
 it, President Adams appointed Mr. Justice Washington, who was thus 
 nrevented from becoming a member of congress. 
 
 The session of congress in the winter of 1799-1800 will for ever 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 be memorable in the annals of America. Men of the highest talents 
 and most commanding influence in the Union were there assembled, 
 and arrayed with all the hostility of party spirit, and all the zeal of 
 conscious responsibility, against each other. Every important 
 measure of the administration was subjected to the most scrutinizing 
 criticism ; and was vindicated with a warmth proportionate to the 
 ability of the attack. Mr. MARSHALL took an active part in the 
 debates, and distinguished himself in a manner which will not 
 easily be forgotten. 
 
 In May, 1800, Mr. MARSHALL was, without the slightest personal 
 communication, nominated by the president to the office of secretary 
 of war, upon the dismissal of Mr. M Henry. We believe that the 
 first information received of it by Mr. MARSHALL was at the 
 department itself, where he went to transact some business previous 
 to his return to Virginia. He immediately wrote a letter, requesting 
 the nomination to be withdrawn by the president. It was not ; and 
 his appointment was confirmed by the senate. The rupture between 
 the president and Colonel Pickering, who was then secretary of 
 state, soon afterwards occurred, and Mr. MARSHALL was appointed 
 his successor. This was indeed an appointment in every view most 
 honorable to his merits, and for which he was in the highest degree 
 qualified. 
 
 On the 31st day of January, 1801, he became chief justice of the 
 United States, and, as all know, till his death, continued to fill the 
 office with increasing reputation and unsullied dignity. 
 
 Splendid, indeed, as was the judicial career of this eminent man, 
 it is scarcely possible that the extent of his labors, the vigor of his 
 intellect, or the untiring accuracy of his learning, should be duly 
 estimated, except by the profession of which he was so great an 
 ornament. Questions of law rarely assume a cast which introduces 
 them to extensive public notice ; and those, which require the 
 highest faculties of mind to master and expound, are commonly so 
 intricate and remote from the ordinary pursuits of life, that the 
 generality of readers do not bring to the examination of them the 
 knowledge necessary to comprehend them, or the curiosity which 
 imparts a relish and flavor to them. For the most part, therefore, the 
 reputation of judges is confined to the narrow limits which embrace 
 the votaries of jurisprudence ; and many of those exquisite judg- 
 
 ents, which have cost days and nights of the most elaborate 
 study, and for power of thought, beauty of illustration, variety of 
 learning, and elegant demonstration, are justly numbered among the 
 
 13 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 highest reaches of the human mind, find no admiration beyond the 
 ranks of lawyers, and live only in the dusty repositories of their 
 oracles. The fame of the warrior is for ever imbodied in the history 
 of his country, and is colored with the warm lights reflected back by 
 the praise of many a distant age. The orator and the statesman live 
 not merely in the recollections of their powerful eloquence, or the 
 deep impressions made by them on the character of the generation 
 in which they lived, but are brought forth for public approbation in 
 political debates, in splendid volumes, in collegiate declamations, 
 in the works of rhetoricians, in the school-books of boys, arid in the 
 elegant extracts of maturer life. 
 
 This is not the place to enter upon a minute survey of the official 
 labors of Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. However instructive or 
 interesting such a course might be to the profession, the considerations 
 already adverted to, sufficiently admonish us that it would not be very 
 welcome to the mass of other readers. But there is one class of 
 cases which ought not to be overlooked, because it comes home to 
 the business and bosom of every citizen of this country, and is felt in 
 every gradation of life, from the chief magistrate down to the inmate 
 of the cottage. We allude to the grave discussions of constitutional 
 law, which during his life-time attracted so much of the talents of 
 the bar in the supreme court, and sometimes agitated the whole 
 nation. If all others of the Chief Justice s juridical arguments had 
 perished, his luminous judgments on these occasions would have 
 given an enviable immortality to his name. 
 
 There is in the discharge of this delicate and important duty, 
 which is peculiar to our institutions, a moral grandeur and interest, 
 which it is not easy to over-estimate either in a political or civil view. 
 In no other country on earth are the acts of the legislature liable to 
 be called in question, and even set aside, if they do not conform to 
 the standard of the constitution. Even in England, where the 
 principles of civil liberty are cherished with uncommon ardor, and 
 private justice is administered with a pure and elevated independence, 
 the acts of parliament are, by the very theory of the government, in 
 a legal sense, omnipotent. They cannot be gainsaid or overruled- 
 They form the law of the -land, which controls the prerogative and 
 even the descent of the crown itself, and may take away the life and 
 property of the subject without trial and without appeal. The only 
 security is in the moderation of parliament itself and representative 
 responsibility. The case is far otherwise in America. The state 
 and national constitutions form the supreme law of the land, and 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 (he judges are sworn to maintain these charters of liberty, or rather 
 these special delegations of power by the people, (who in our govern 
 ments are alone the depositaries of supreme authority and sovereignty,) 
 in their original vigor and true intendment. It matters not how popu 
 lar a statute may be, or how commanding the majority by which it 
 has been enacted ; it must stand the test of the constitution, or it falls. 
 The humblest citizen may question its constitutionality ; and its final 
 fate must be settled upon grave argument and debate by the judges 
 of the land. 
 
 This topic is so copious, and of such everlasting consequence to the 
 well-being of this republic, that it furnishes matter for volumes ; but 
 we must escape from it with the brief hints already suggested, and 
 lesume our previous subject. 
 
 Nor is this the mere theory of the constitution. It is a function 
 which has been often performed ; and not a few acts of state as well 
 as of national legislation, have been brought to this severe scrutiny J 
 and after the fullest consideration, some have been pronounced to be 
 void, because they were unconstitutional. And these judgments have 
 been acquiesced in, and obeyed, even when they were highly offensive 
 to the pride and sovereignty of the state itself, or affected piivate and 
 public interests to an incalculable extent. Such, in America, is the 
 majesty of the law. Such is the homage of a free people to the insti 
 tutions created by themselves. 
 
 The mightiest efforts of men have their limits, and the most useful 
 life must come to a close. About the commencement of the year 1835, 
 the health of Judge MARSHALL began to fail, nor can this be a matter 
 of surprise when it is remembered that the labors of his life had brought 
 him into the eightieth year of his age. He removed from Richmond 
 to Philadelphia, in order to obtain the best medical aid ; this, however, 
 failed to accomplish his purpose, and on the sixth of July in that year 
 he died, surrounded by three of his children. To the last moment he 
 retained the faculties of his mind, and met his end with the fortitude 
 of a philosopher and the resignation of a Christian. It is painful to 
 add here that his eldest son, a gentleman distinguished as a scholar, 
 a lawyer, and a member of the Virginia legislature, and who was 
 highly esteemed for his talents, his virtues, and his usefulness was 
 killed, by the fall of a chimney, at Baltimore, on his way to attend the 
 death-bed of his father. 
 
 Judge MARSHALL was the object of universal respect and confidence, 
 on account of his extraordinary talents, his unsuspected integrity, his 
 exemplary private virtues, and his important public services, which 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 last were deemed by many of his countrymen as second only to those 
 of Washington. As a judge, he was the most illustrious of his day in 
 our country. Few men have ever held so important a judicial office 
 as long ; and no one, perhaps, ever more effectually stamped the de 
 cisions of his court with the impress of his own powerful mind. He 
 was remarkable for the simplicity of his manners, for the plainness of 
 his dress, and for the kindness of his heart, as well as for the strength 
 of his mind. No man ever bore public honors more meekly. He 
 mingled with his neighbors and society as an ordinary citizen. He 
 took a lively interest in objects of benevolence and human improve 
 ment ; was a firm believer in the Christian religion, a regular attendant 
 at the Episcopal church, one of the vice-presidents of the American 
 Bible Society, and the president of the Colonization Society. " Such 
 indeed," says one of his friends, "were the purity, integrity, and 
 benevolence of his character, the soundness of his judgment, and the 
 simplicity and kindness of his manners, that, though always on the 
 unpopular side of party politics, yet he was the most beloved and 
 esteemed of all men in Virginia." 
 
 It has been well said, in connection with Judge MARSHALL, that, 
 interesting as it is to contemplate such a man in his public character, 
 and official functions, there are those who dwell with far more delight 
 upon his private and domestic qualities. There are few great men 
 whom one is brought near, however dazzling may be their talents or 
 actions, who are not thereby painfully diminished in the estimate of 
 those who approach them. The mist of distance sometimes gives a 
 looming size to their character ; but more often conceals its defects. 
 To be amiable, as well as great ; to be kind, gentle, simple, modest, 
 and social, and at the same time to possess the rarest endowments of 
 mind, and the warmest affections, is a union of qualities which the 
 fancy may fondly portray, but the sober realities of life rarely establish. 
 Yet it may be affirmed by those who had the privilege of intimacy 
 with Mr. Chief Justice MARSHALL, that he rose, rather than fell, with 
 the nearest surveys ; and that in the domestic circle he was exactly 
 what a wife, a child, a brother, and a friend would most desire. In 
 that magical circle, admiration of his talents was forgotten in the in 
 dulgence of those affections and sensibilities which are awakened only 
 to be gratified. 
 
 This may be a proper place to narrate an interesting circumstance 
 as strikingly illustrative of the character and manners of the Judge ; 
 which, however well known, is worthy of a still wider circulation 
 ana of permanent record. 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 A gentleman traveling in Virginia, about the close of the day 
 stopped at a tavern to obtain refreshments and spend the night. He 
 had been there but a short time, before an old man alighted from his 
 carriage, with the apparent intention of becoming also a guest at the 
 same house. As the old gentleman drove up, it was observed that 
 both the shafts of his gig were broken, and that they were held 
 together by withes formed from the bark of a hickory sapling. He 
 was very plainly clothed, his knee-buckles were loosened, and negli 
 gence generally pervaded his dress. About the same time, an addition 
 of three or four young gentlemen was made to their number, most, if 
 not all of them, of the legal profession. As soon as they became con 
 veniently accommodated, the conversation was turned by one of the 
 young gentlemen upon an eloquent address which had that day been 
 delivered at the bar. It was replied, by another of them, that he had 
 also that day listened to eloquence, no doubt equal, from the pulpit. 
 Something like a sarcastic rejoinder was made to the eloquence of the 
 pulpit, and a warm and able altercation ensued, in which the merits 
 of Christianity became the subject of discussion. From six o clock 
 until eleven, the young champions wielded the sword of argument, 
 adducing with ingenuity and ability everything which could be said 
 for and against it. During this protracted period, the old gentleman 
 listened with all the meekness and modesty of a child, as if he was 
 adding new information to the stores of his mind ; or he might be 
 measuring their minds and observing the extent of their energies, 
 or looking forward to the state of the country, should it be governed 
 by the principles of infidelity ; or, still more likely, he was collecting 
 an argument which, characteristic of himself, no art would be able to 
 elude, and no force resist. At last, one of the young men, remarking, 
 that it was impossible to combat with long and established prejudices, 
 whirled round, and with some familiarity, exclaimed, " Well, my old 
 gentleman, what think you of these things?" If a streak of vivid 
 lightning had at that moment crossed the room, their amazement could 
 not have been greater than it was with what followed. 
 
 The old gentleman began to speak, and the most eloquent and un 
 answerable appeal was made, for nearly an hour, that they had ever 
 heard or read. So perfect was his recollection, that every argument 
 urged against Christianity, was met in the order in which it was 
 advanced. Hume s sophistry on the subject of Miracles, was, if possi 
 ble, more completely answered than it had already been done by Dr. 
 Campbell; and withal, there was so much simplicity and energy, 
 pathos and sublimity, that no one could utter a word in reolv. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 An attempt to describe the result, would be to try to paint the sun 
 beams. It was now a matter of inquiry and curiosity, who the old 
 gentleman was. One or two supposed it was the eloquent preacher 
 of whom they had heard, but no, it was JOHN MARSHALL, the 
 Chief Justice of the United States. 
 
 Besides his judicial labors, Judge MARSHALL contributed valuable 
 additions to the historical and biographical literature of the country. 
 He was author of the " Life of Washington," of which the first edi 
 tion was published in 1805, in five large volumes; and the second, 
 greatly improved and compressed into two volumes, in 1832. " The 
 History of the American Colonies," which originally constituted an 
 introductory part, was published in a separate form in 1824. These 
 works have been so long and so favorably known to the public, that it is 
 wholly unnecessary to enter upon a critical examination of them in 
 this place. They have all the leading features which ought to dis 
 tinguish historical compositions ; fidelity, accuracy, impartiality, 
 dignity of narrative, and simplicity and purity of style. " The Life 
 of Washington" is indeed entitled to a very high rank, as it was 
 prepared from a diligent perusal of the original papers of that great 
 man, which were submitted to the liberal use of his biographer. 
 Probably no person could have brought to so difficult a task more 
 various and apt qualifications. The Chief Justice had served through 
 a great part of the Revolutionary war, and was familiar with most of 
 the scenes of Washington s exploits. He had long enjoyed his per 
 sonal confidence, and felt the strongest admiration of his talents and 
 virtues. He was also an early actor in the great political controversies, 
 which after the Revolutionary war agitated the whole country, and 
 ended in the establishment of the national constitution. He was a 
 decided supporter of the administration of Washington, and a leader 
 among his able advocates. The principles and the measures of that 
 administration had his unqualified approbation; and he at all times 
 maintained them in his public life with a sobriety and uniformity, 
 which marked him out as the fittest example of the excellence of that 
 school of patriots and statesmen. If to these circumstances are added 
 his own peculiar cast of mind, his deep sagacity, his laborious diligence> 
 his native candor, and lofty sense of duty, it could scarcely be doubted, 
 that his "Life of Washington" would be invaluable for the truth of 
 its facts and the accuracy and completeness of its narrative. And such 
 has been, and will continue to be its reputation. 
 
 18 
 
LEWIS CASS. 
 
 IN presenting to the public a series of portraits and memoirs of men 
 distinguished in public life, it is scarcely to be hoped that our selec 
 tions should always meet with uniform approval. The strong bias 
 of party spirit, of sectional interest, or of professional collision, may 
 sometimes award us but faint praise. We shall, however, endeavor 
 to pursue our course with strict impartiality. Public men, who 
 maintain an elevated rank in popular favor, in a country where their 
 opinions and acts are open to certain scrutiny and free remark, must 
 be possessed of more than ordinary merit. And we believe that we 
 shall have public opinion decidedly with us, when we say, that it has 
 fallen to the lot of few to occupy as various and important stations 
 in the republic with so large a share of approbation, as the subject of 
 the present sketch. 
 
 LEWIS CASS, an eminent democratic leader, was born in Exeter, 
 New Hampshire, October 9th, 1782. His ancestors were among the 
 first settlers of that part of the country, and his father bore a commis 
 sion in the revolutionary army, which he joined the day after the 
 battle of Lexington, and in which he continued until the close of the 
 war, having participated in the memorable battles of Bunker Hill, 
 Saratoga, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, and German town. He 
 was afterwards a major in Wayne s army. In 1799 he moved with 
 his family to Marietta, but eventually settled at Wackalomoka. in the 
 vicinity of Zanesville, in Ohio, where, after a life of honorable 
 usefulness, he died in August, 1830. 
 
 His son, LEWIS CASS, was educated at the academy of Exeter, 
 and studied law at Marietta, under the late Governor Meigs. He was 
 admitted to the bar in 1802, and pursued the practice of his profes 
 sion successfully during several years. 
 
 In 1806 he was elected a member of the Ohio legislature. When 
 the enterprise of Colonel Burr began to agitate the country, he was 
 appointed on the committee to which the subject was referred, and 
 drafted the law which enabled the local authorities to arrest the men 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 and boats on their passage down the Ohio. This law, interposing 
 the arm of the state, baffled a project which was generally believed 
 to have been of a revolutionary character, and intended to divide the 
 west from the east. The same pen drafted the address to Mr. Jeffer 
 son, which unfolded the views of the Ohio legislature on this 
 momentous subject. 
 
 In 1807, Mr. CASS was appointed marshal of the state, which office 
 he resigned in 1813. In 1812, he volunteered his services in the 
 force which was called out to join the army under General William 
 Hull, and marched to Dayton, where he was elected colonel of the 3d 
 regiment of Ohio volunteers. Having to break through an almost 
 trackless wilderness, the army suffered much on its route to Detroit, 
 ind it was necessary that the officers of the volunteers should be 
 exemplars in fatigue and privations, lest the men, unused to military 
 discipline, should turn back in discouragement. Colonel CASS was 
 among the most urgent for an invasion of the Canadian province 
 Immediately after the army arrived at Detroit ; but General Hull did 
 not cross the river until after the lapse of several days, and thereby 
 lost all the advantages of a prompt and decisive movement. The 
 advanced detachment was commanded by Colonel CASS, and he was 
 the first man who landed, in arms, on the enemy s shore after the 
 declaration of war. On entering Canada, General Hull distributed a 
 proclamation among the inhabitants, which, at the time, had much 
 notoriety, and was generally ascribed to Colonel CASS : it is now 
 known that he wrote it. Whatever opinions may have been enter 
 tained of the inglorious descent from promise to fulfilment, it was 
 generally regarded as a high spirited and eloquent document. Colonel 
 CASS soon dislodged the British posted at the bridge over the Canards. 
 There he maintained his ground, in expectation that the army would 
 advance and follow up the success, by striking at Maiden ; but he 
 vvas disappointed by the indecision of the general, who ordered the 
 detachment to return. 
 
 In all the timorous and inefficient measures which followed, 
 Colonel CASS had no responsible participation. His known disap 
 probation of the course pursued, made him an unwelcome counsellor 
 at head quarters. When the army capitulated he was not present ; 
 but the detachment with which he was serving, under Colonel 
 M Arthur, was included, and being unable to retreat by the imprac 
 ticable route behind it, submitted, and was embarked for Ohio. 
 Colonel CASS immediately repaired to Washington, and made a report 
 In the following spring he was exchanged and 
 
LEWIS CASS. 
 
 appointed colonel of the 27th regiment of infantry, and soon aftei 
 was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He joined General 
 Harrison at Seneca, and crossing Lake Erie with him, after Perry s 
 victory, was present in the pursuit of Proctor, and participated in the 
 triumph at the Moravian towns. The north-western campaign being 
 happily terminated, General CASS was left in command of Michigan 
 arid the upper province of Canada. His head quarters were at Detroit, 
 and he thus became the military guardian of a people over whom he 
 was soon (October 9, 1813,) called to preside as civil governor. In July. 
 1814. he was associated with General Harrison in a commission to 
 treat (at Greenville, Ohio,) with the Indians, who had taken part 
 against the United States during the war. A treaty of pacification 
 was formed, comparative tranquillity was restored to the frontiers, 
 and a large body of Indians accompanied Governor CASS to Detroit, 
 as auxiliaries. At one period, Michigan was left with only one com 
 pany of regular soldiers for its defence, and that at the time consisted 
 of twenty-seven men. With this inadequate force, and the local 
 militia, the governor was, for a time, left to defend the territory against 
 the hostile Indians, who were constantly hovering around Detroit. 
 
 In 1815, after the termination of the war, Governor CASS moved 
 his family to Detroit. Michigan had suffered greatly during the war; 
 Detroit exhibited a scene of devastation. Scarcely a family, when it 
 resumed its domestic establishment, found more than the remnants 
 of former wealth and comforts. Laws had become silent, and morals 
 had suffered in the general wreck, and it required great prudence 
 and an uncommon share of practical wisdom to lead back a people 
 thus disorganised, to habits of industry and order. The civil govern 
 ment was established, and such laws enacted as could be most easily 
 carried into effect. The legislative power being placed in the hands 
 of the governor and judges, rendered it a delicate task to aid in the 
 enactment of laws which were to be enforced by the same will; but it 
 was performed with decision and enlightened discrimination. 
 
 The Indian relations were likewise to be readjusted throughout the 
 western frontier. War had ruptured, or weakened every tie which 
 had previously connected the tribes with our government. By deci 
 sive, but kind measures, the hollow truce which alone existerl, was 
 converted into a permanent peace, and they returned, by degrees, to 
 their hunting grounds and usual places of resort, with a general 
 disposition to live in amity and quiet. 
 
 During the same year, Governor CASS was associated with General 
 M Arthur to treat with the Indians at Fort Meigs. The north- 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 western part of Ohio was acquired at this time. The following yeai 
 he was engaged in the same duty at St. Mary s, to carry into effect, 
 with certain modifications, the treaty of Fort Meigs, and for the 
 acquisition of land in Indiana. In 1 819 he assisted in the treaty held 
 at Sagano, by which large relinquishments were obtained from the 
 Indians in Michigan. In all these negotiations, Governor CASS 
 acted on the principle of frankness and fair reciprocity. 
 
 Two events occurred this year in Michigan, which gave a new 
 aspect to her hopes and promises of prosperity. One was the privi 
 lege of electing a delegate to congress ; the other was the sale of 
 public lands within the territory. No one exerted himself with 
 more zeal to effect these improvements than the governor, as he was 
 convinced that the introduction of the elective franchise among the 
 people, would elevate their political character ; and that by the sale 
 of the public land the population and prosperity of the country would 
 be rapidly advanced. 
 
 In 1820, an expedition was planned by Governor CASS, under the 
 sanction of Mr. Calhoun, then secretary of war, the object of which 
 was to pass through Lake Superior, cross the country to the Missis 
 sippi, explore the sources of that river, and establish an intercourse 
 with the Indians, on that extensive route. The party combined per 
 sons of science, who were capable of ascertaining the physical 
 character of the country, and of making an instructive report, among 
 whom were Mr. Schoolcraft, and Captain Douglass of the corps of 
 engineers. A preliminary object was, to inform the Indians at the 
 Sault de St. Marie of the intention of government to establish a military 
 post at that point, and to determine the site. On his arrival there, 
 Governor CASS assembled the Indians and made known the object in 
 view. Being under the influence of a chief who was notoriously 
 disaffected towards the United States, they heard the proposition with 
 evident ill will, and broke up the council with every appearance of 
 hostile intentions. They returned to their encampment, immediately 
 transported their women and children over the river, and raised a 
 British flag, as if in token of defiance. Governor CASS at once adopted 
 the only course suited to the emergency. Taking only an interpreter 
 with him, he advanced to the Indian encampment and pulled down, 
 with his own hands, the anglo-savage flag, directing the interpreter 
 to inform the Indians that they were within the jurisdiction of the 
 United States, and that no other flag than theirs must be allowed to 
 wave over it. Having given this bold and practical rebuke, he 
 returned to his party, taking with him the flag, and leaving the 
 
LEWIS CASS. 
 
 Indians to further reflection. The moral influence of this opportune 
 and seemingly perilous step, was immediately seen ; new overtures 
 were made by the Indians, which led to an amicable and satisfactory 
 adjustment. The course of the expedition, and most of its scientific 
 results, have been published in Mr. Schoolcraft s interesting journal. 
 
 In 1821, the services of Governor CASS were again brought into 
 requisition by the government, to assist in another treaty, to be nego 
 tiated at Chicago. He embarked at Detroit, in a birch canoe, 
 ascended the Maumee, crossed into the Wabash, descended that river 
 to the Ohio, went down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and ascended 
 that and the Illinois to Chicago. By the treaty formed there, all the 
 country in Michigan, not before ceded, south of Grand river, was 
 acquired. 
 
 In 1823, Governor CASS concluded an arrangement \vith the Dela 
 ware Indians, by which they ceded some valuable tracts on the 
 Muskingum, in Ohio. 
 
 In 1825, he proceeded to Prairie du Chien, where, in conjunction 
 with General Clark, a treaty of general pacification was concluded 
 among the north-westerly tribes. In his tour of 1820, Governor 
 CASS had observed that one abundant source of contention among 
 the Indians arose from uncertain or undefined boundaries. In order 
 to remove this cause, as many as practicable of the tribes were col 
 lected at this time, in order to ascertain, by tradition and custom, 
 and establish by general consent, the limits of each dominion. Much 
 difficulty attended this negotiation, as each tribe apprehended a dimi 
 nution of its own power, and an increase of its neighbor s. But the 
 objects of the treaty, were, in part, attained. A common acceptance 
 of certain geographical or other known boundaries, was obtained. 
 The beneficial effects of this important treaty will be accruing 
 with each coming year. Although many may dissent from the terms 
 of the treaty, for a time, yet lines of separation, defined with 
 so much solemnity, and by such general consent, will at last 
 be appealed to as decisive, and become unalterably fixed. War 
 will still prevail, but border contests, the most inveterate and 
 sanguinary, may be appeased. The following year he again 
 traversed the great lake to fulfil the benevolent purposes of govern 
 ment. A treaty was held, at Fond du Lac, with those tribes who 
 were too remote from Prairie du Chien, to have met there. The 
 great object of these treaties was to remove the causes of contention 
 between the tribes, by inducing them to accept of certain geographi 
 cal or other known boundaries, as the limits of each dominion. Colonei 
 
 5 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 M Kenney, who was associated with Governor CASS on this occasion, 
 has given a lively and picturesque account of the excursion. Another 
 treaty was made on the Wabash, on their return from Lake Superior, 
 by which the Indians ceded a large tract of land in Indiana. 
 
 In 1827, treaties were negotiated at Green Bay and at St. Joseph s: 
 Governor CASS was an agent in both. On his arrival at Gr,een Bay, 
 instead of finding the Winnebagoes, who were to have been parties 
 in the negotiation, he learned that they were collecting in hostile 
 bodies, for the purpose of waging war against the whites. With his 
 usual promptitude he adapted his course to the emergency. Embark 
 ing in a birch canoe he ascended the Fox river, crossed the Portage, 
 and had partly descended the Ouisconsin, when he perceived an 
 encampment of Winnebagoes on its bank. To show his confidence 
 in them, he landed alone, and approached the wigwams ; but the 
 Indians refused to hold any communication with him. After much 
 fruitless endeavor to conciliate, he returned towards his canoe, when 
 a young Indian snapped his rifle at his back. Whether the piece 
 was loaded and missed fire ; or the act was an empty, but significant 
 token of enmity, is not known. 
 
 Pursuing his course down the river, he reached Prairie du Chien, 
 and found the settlement there in a state of extreme alarm. A large 
 boat on the Mississippi had been attacked by a numerous band, and 
 escaped capture only by a gallant but bloody defence ; and a whole 
 family had been murdered and scalped on the skirts of the village. 
 Having organised the inhabitants in the best manner, for their own 
 defence, there being no garrison there at the time, he descended the 
 Mississippi to St. Louis, where the means of defence were to be 
 obtained, and at his suggestion a large detachment of United States 
 troops was moved up the river, in time to prevent further bloodshed. 
 In the mean time Governor CASS returned to the bay, in the same 
 canoe, by the way of the Illinois and Lake Michigan, having made a 
 circuit of about eighteen hundred miles, with unprecedented rapidity. 
 His celerity of movement, and the alacrity with which the United 
 States troops seconded his call, probably averted a war that might 
 have embraced the whole north-west frontier. A negotiation followed. 
 \vhich restored tranquillity. The apparent violence offered to him by 
 the Indian on the Ouisconsin, is the only instance of that nature 
 which had occurred during his long and intimate intercourse with 
 he Indians. 
 
 In 1828 another treaty was held by him at Green Bay; and 
 another at St. Joseph s, by which a cession was procured for Indiana. 
 
LEWIS CASS. 
 
 In these various treaties, Governor CASS had been instrumental in 
 acquiring for the United States, and rescuing from the wilderness, 
 for the great agricultural purposes of the country, many millions of 
 acres of land ; and in a manner which ought to leave no consciousness 
 on his mind, that he has aggravated the lot of a single tribe of Indians. 
 
 The first council of Michigan met in 1822. This body relieved the 
 governor and judges of their legislative duties, and gave the govern 
 ment of the territory a more republican form. Governor C ASS S 
 messages to the several councils, convened under his administration, 
 were always written in a chaste and dignified style ; indeed, all the 
 public documents that came from his pen, while governor of the 
 territory, may be regarded as good models of executive composition, 
 and exhibit a highly cultivated literary taste. But his literary repu 
 tation rests on a broader and more appropriate basis than his guber 
 natorial writings. 
 
 Sometime in the year 1825, John Dunn Hunter s narrative 
 appeared, which, at the time, attracted much attention. Governor 
 CASS, in the course of his tours through the west, had satisfied him 
 self that this work was an imposture. In determining to expose it to 
 the world, his mind was led to dwell on the ample subject of Indian 
 character, language, and condition, and he wrote the article which 
 appeared in the fiftieth number of the North American Review. The 
 subject was full of interest, and was written in a style uncommonly 
 earnest and eloquent, and the public was gratified to find that a theme 
 so interesting and important, had engaged the attention of so culti 
 vated and liberal a mind. Another article of his, presenting the 
 aborigines under new aspects, appeared in the fifty-fifth number of the 
 same periodical. This article, which was altogether of an historical 
 and statistical character, attracted equal attention with its precursor. 
 
 Sometime in 1828, a historical society was formed in Michigan, 
 of which Governor CASS was elected the president. He delivered the 
 first address before it in 1829. This address, embodying the early 
 history of Michigan, bVings it down to the period when the United 
 States came into possession of it. Its publication excited a spirit of 
 research and inquiry, which has already produced the most benefi 
 cial results. 
 
 In 1830, Governor CASS was invited by the alumni of Hamilton 
 college, New York, to deliver an address at their anniversary meeting 
 He accepted the invitation, and in the address which he delivered, 
 displayed an affluence of reading and reflection which proved his 
 nabitual acquaintance with most of the departments of human know 
 
 1 VOL. 1. N 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS 
 
 ledge. From that college he subsequently received the honorary de 
 gree of LL. D. He had previously been admitted an honorary member 
 of the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia ; of the New 
 Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Indiana Historical Societies; of the 
 American Antiquarian Society ; and of the Columbian Institute. 
 
 In July, 1831, having been appointed secretary of war by President 
 Jackson, Governor CASS resigned his office as governor of the terri 
 tory, after having administered it for eighteen years. When he began 
 his administration, he found the country small in population, without 
 resources, and almost sunk under the devastations of war. He left it 
 with a wide-spread population, and thriving with unprecedented pros 
 perity. This auspicious condition may not all be attributed to executive 
 Instrumentality. But an administration, impartial, vigilant, pervading, 
 and intelligent, may be fairly supposed to have shed a happy influence 
 on all around. It will be long remembered in Michigan, where its 
 termination was universally regretted. 
 
 The duties of the war department were discharged by General CASS, 
 at two of the most critical periods of our history, with consummate skill 
 and tact. During the state-rights issue in South Carolina, he was the 
 chief person engaged in sending a deputation from the old dominion to 
 mediate between the state and the general government ; while his 
 instructions to General Scott, who had been sent down to South Caro 
 lina by General Jackson, expressly prohibited all interference with the 
 civil institutions of the state. He exhibited the same high regard for 
 the rights of the states in the contest between the general government 
 and Governor Gayle, of Alabama, on the subject of the intrusion on the 
 Indians. His orders were again given to the commanding officer to 
 obey the civil authorities in all respects, and to admit any state officer 
 with process into his fort, to execute the law. Indeed the testimony 
 may be borne to General CASS, that, contrary to military leaders in 
 general, he has always placed the civil authority above the military. 
 
 In October, 1836, General CASS was appointed minister from our 
 government to France, an important post, which he filled till Decem 
 ber, 1842. Perhaps no minister, since the time of Doctor Franklin, 
 enjoyed the respect and confidence of the government and people of 
 France to as high a degree as the General ; none could be more uni 
 versally admired for his love of freedom ; and none therefore could be 
 better enabled to render essential services to his own country. He 
 was consulted on every important question of state, and his opinions 
 regarded with the highest deference. Thus he was enabled by the 
 force of argument, and the weight of his high character, to break down 
 
LEWIS CASS. 
 
 the quintuple treaty, a.ready concluded and partially signed by the 
 five great powers of Europe England, France, Russia, Austria and 
 Prussia which would have constituted England permanent mistress 
 of the sea, by giving her the control over the police of the ocean. 
 General CASS caused this treaty for the Right of Search, and the 
 impunity of insulting our flag on the high waters, to be annulled, and 
 another treaty to be substituted for it, in virtue of which our own ships 
 of war were charged with the execution of our own laws. 
 
 On his return to the United States, General CASS was nominated for 
 the presidency, and received one hundred and twenty-five votes at the 
 Baltimore convention in 1844; but Mr. Polk received the final nomi 
 nation, and General CASS at once came forward in support of the 
 nominee, addressing the people at the west in his behalf. In the same 
 year he was elected a United States Senator from Michigan, and took 
 his seat in 1845, with Mr. Polk for president. In the session of 1845- 
 46, he rendered most important services on the Oregon question, and 
 adhered to the last to his firm conviction that the United States were 
 lawfully entitled to the whole territory up to latitude fifty-four degrees 
 and forty minutes. The probability is that England would never have 
 conceded the boundary of forty-nine, which was finally agreed on, but 
 for his firmness. During the Mexican war, the General supported Mr. 
 Polk s administration, being chairman of the military committee of the 
 senate. 
 
 In 1848 General CASS was nominated for the presidency against 
 General Taylor, then fresh from the battle-fields of Mexico, and sup 
 ported, in some states, as a democratic candidate for that high office. 
 He received the electoral votes of half the states of the Union, 
 even though a portion of the Democracy organized on a sectional issue, 
 and voted for an independent candidate- In 1852, he was again before 
 the Baltimore Convention, and received a larger number of votes than 
 any other man, but the choice ultimately fell on General Pierce. But his 
 greatest triumph was achieved during the session of congress immedi 
 ately following the election of General Taylor ; when pending the 
 agitation of the slavery question, which threatened our domestic peace 
 and the perpetuity of the Union, he led on to victory by inducing the 
 legislature to adopt the platform on which he had stood on the Presi 
 dential canvass. He was also the first statesman of the North who 
 declared what was called the Wilmot Proviso unconstitutional ; his 
 speech was unanswerable, and tended greatly to restore the threatened 
 peace of the country. In voting against the Wilmot Proviso, he acted 
 in opposition to the instructions from his state to vote for it ; but he 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 was fully prepared to resign his seat in the senate and return to 
 private life, rather than to act so as, in his judgment, would do 
 violence to the Constitution, and injure the rights of his Southern 
 brethren. His arguments, however, convinced the people of his 
 state that they had been in the wrong, and .the legislature of 
 Michigan repealed the instructions before the vote on the meas 
 ure of adjustment was finally taken in the United States Seriate. 
 
 General CASS was re-elected in 1851 to the United States 
 Senate, where the position was again honored by his faithful 
 ness in statesmanship. In 1857 he received from President 
 Buchanan the appointment of Secretary of State. For almost 
 four years he discharged the duties of a most responsible office 
 in a manner worthy of his distinguished abilities. No act of 
 his long life will be regarded by a loyal people as more to his 
 honor than his resignation, prompted, as it was, by integrity 
 and patriotism. It occurred December 14, 1860, after a long 
 and excited session of the Cabinet, for the reason that the 
 President declined to send men and provisions to sustain Major- 
 General Anderson and his little force, then holding the forts in 
 Charleston harbor. Secretary CASS made no secret of his con 
 victions, that this refusal was unjust to those noble defenders, 
 and would prove a fatal mistake, fraught with the woes of war. 
 For this denial of timely help he would not be responsible ; in 
 it he would not be implicated; and his resignation was his 
 emphatic protest against the decision of the Cabinet. His con 
 science and his country have sustained him in his course. 
 
 In a quiet way he retired to his home in Detroit. At an 
 advanced age he retained a remarkable capacity for labor, fond 
 ness for study, and love for hospitality. He had confirmed his 
 health by the same total abstinence from all that intoxicates, 
 which he recommended to the Indians when he was the Governor 
 of Michigan, and which he sought to introduce in the army 
 when he was Secretary of War. 
 
 The Honorable LEWIS CASS died at his residence in Detroit. 
 June 17, 1866, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, beloved 
 in his large circle of friends, revered as a man of Christian prin 
 ciples, and honored throughout the land as a venerable states 
 man, almost the last of those who belonged to the past politi 
 cal history of the country. 
 
 10 
 
Drawn from life and Engraved In- J.B.Lcm<ac 
 
ANDREW JACKSON 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON was born on the 15th March, 17G7, in Waxsaw, 
 South Carolina, a settlement whither his family had emigrated 
 from Ireland two years previous. His father dying soon after the 
 birth of this, his third son, ANDREW was left in the care of a faithful 
 mother, who determined to afford him such a rudimental education, as 
 would be of service to him in case her fond desire should be realized 
 by his choosing the clerical profession. He had scarcely time to enter 
 upon the study of the languages, when the revolutionary struggle 
 involved his native spot in the commotion, ai.d at the age of fourteen 
 he abandoned school for the colonial camp. In consequence of the 
 small ness of their number, the body of troops to which he was 
 attached, were obliged to withdraw to North Carolina, but soon 
 returned to their own settlement, where a party of forty were sur 
 prised by a large detachment of the enemy, and compelled to surren 
 der. JACKSON and his brother eluded the fate of their companions, 
 but were taken the next day, and kept in strict confinement, until 
 they were exchanged after the battle of Camden. His eldest brother 
 had previously perished in the service of the colony ; his only sur 
 viving brother, the companion of his imprisonment, died in conse 
 quence of a wound inflicted by the officer of the British detachmeric, 
 for refusing to perform menial services, and his mother survived him 
 but a few weeks, a victim to anxiety and fatigue. ANDREW escaped 
 with his life from the rage of the same officer, excited by the same 
 cause, only by his dexterity in receiving on his hand the stroke of the 
 sword which was aimed with fury at his head. 
 
 Having thus become heir to the whole of the moderate estate left 
 by his father, he prosecuted his education. In 1784, he commenced 
 the study of the law in Salisbury, North Carolina; was admitted 
 to practice in 1786, and removed in 1788 to Nashville, to make 
 an enterprising experiment in that newly peopled district of Ten 
 nessee. Professional success immediately attended him, in conse 
 quence of the singular condition of the affairs of the settlers. Many 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 of the young adventurers, who had traded on credit with the mer 
 chants of the town, were unable, or indisposed to fulfil their engage 
 ments, and had retained the only practitioner of the law then in 
 Nashville, as their counsellor. The creditors had consequently no 
 means of prosecuting their claims; but the moment of JACKSON S 
 arrival they availed themselves of his aid, and on the very next day 
 t he commenced seventy suits. This auspicious opening introduced 
 him to a respectable business. He was soon after appointed attorney 
 general of the district. The depredations of the Indians upon the 
 new country frequently called him into active military service with 
 his fellow citizens ; among whom he was distinguished by his energy 
 and vaior. Thus conspicuous, he was selected, in 1796, as a dele 
 gate to the convention for forming a constitution for the state ; and 
 was in the same year elected to the lower house of congress. In the 
 year following, he was delegated to the national senate, in which he 
 took his seat, but resigned at the close of the session, alleging his 
 distaste for the intrigues of politics. Within that period he was 
 chosen major general of the Tennessee militia, and held the office 
 until called to the same rank in the United States service, in 1814. 
 
 Upon his retirement from the national legislature, General JACKSON 
 was appointed to the bench of the supreme court of the state, an office 
 which he accepted with diffidence and reluctance, and soon resigned, 
 retiring from public life to his farm on the Cumberland river, near 
 Nashville. Here he passed several years in the pursuits of agricul 
 ture, until summoned by the second war with Great Britain to take 
 an active part in the defence of the country. He proceeded in the 
 winter of 1812, at the head of twenty-five hundred volunteers, to the 
 duty assigned him by the general government, of defending the lower 
 states, and descended the Ohio arid Mississippi to Natchez, where he 
 had been instructed to await further orders. The danger of the anti 
 cipated invasion being dispelled, JACKSON was directed by the secre 
 tary of war to disband his troops on the spot. But a large number 
 of his men being then sick, and destitute of the means of returning 
 home, he felt bound by obligations to them and their families to 
 lead them back, and to disregard an order made without the know 
 ledge of his peculiar circumstances. This purpose he effected, 
 sharing with his men in all the hardships of the return. His 
 subsequent representations to the cabinet were accepted, and his 
 course sanctioned. 
 
 The Creek Indians having become allies of the British, and per- 
 petrated several massacres, the legislature of Tennessee placed a 
 
ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 force of thirty-five hundred of their militia under the command of 
 JACKSON to proceed against them. The first attack upon the savages 
 was made at Tallad-ega, on the river Coosa, where a hand of a thou 
 sand Creeks were routed and dispersed. In the beginning of 1814. 
 another party was defeated at Emuckfaw, and in March, the general 
 proceeded to the village of Tohopeka, or Horse -shoe, on the Talla- 
 poosa, where a long and desperate battle was waged. The Indians 
 screened themselves behind a long rampart of timbers and trunks ot 
 trees, directing their unerring fire from a double row of port-holes. 
 The contest was prolonged from the morning to midnight of the 27th, 
 when they were driven from the entrenchment, leaving upwards of 
 five hundred of their warriors on the field. JACKSON determined to 
 proceed next to Hoithlewalec, a Creek town near the junction of the 
 Coosa and Tallapoosa ; but the swelling of the streams by recent 
 rains so much impeded his progress, that the enemy had time to 
 escape. At the Hickory Ground, however, near the villages, the 
 principal chiefs sued for peace, which was granted them on condition 
 of their withdrawing to the neighborhood of fort Williams. Hostility 
 being checked in this quarter, the troops took up their march home 
 ward on the 2 1st April, terminating a most severe service; during 
 which, the promptness and decision of the commander maintained 
 the order and efficiency of the troops, (although menaced by mutiny 
 and scarcity of provisions,) and by his celerity defeating the strata 
 gems even of Indian warfare. " Within a few days," he observed to 
 his army at the close of the war, "you have annihilated the power 
 of a nation, that for twenty years has been the disturber of your 
 peace." 
 
 His services in the campaign attracted the notice of government, 
 and he was commissioned a major general, May, 1814. In the same 
 year he was named a commissioner with Colonel Hawkins, to form a 
 treaty with the subdued tribes, the principal object of which was to 
 prevent any intercourse between them and the British and Spanish 
 agents in the Floridas. This was accomplished at Alabama in 
 August, and the right secured to the United States of establishing 
 military posts in their territory. 
 
 While engaged in this employment, he discovered that the Indians 
 were still encouraged and supported by the Spaniards in Florida, and 
 that a British officer was permitted to organize and drill a body ol 
 British soldiers and fugitive Creeks in Pensacola. The remonstrances 
 which JACKSON addressed to the Spanish governor were contemned. 
 He anticipated a movement against New Orleans, and announced the 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 impending danger to the neighboring states, urging them to imme 
 diate and vigorous preparation. He drew a supply of volunteers 
 from Tennessee, and proceeded in person to Mobile to make the 
 defence of that point. An attack was soon commenced upon fort 
 Bowyer, which commands the bay of Mobile, by a squadron with a 
 force under Colonel Nicholls, who was repulsed with loss by the 
 Americans under Major Lawrence. The British retired into Pensa- 
 cola to refit, and JACKSON, who had in vain requested permission 
 from the president to attack that town, so openly departing from its 
 neutrality, determined to advance against it upon his own respon 
 sibility, throw a force into fort Barrancas, and expect the result. 
 Accordingly, he took possession of the town with an army of three 
 thousand, in the beginning of November, driving the Spaniards before 
 him after a short but unavailing resistance. Fort Barrancas was 
 blown up by the enemy after the surrender of the town, and that 
 fortress being the main object of capture, in order to secure the com 
 mand of Pensacola, JACKSON did not think it necessary to retain 
 Dossession of the town, and returned to fort Montgomery. 
 
 The anxieties of the general were now directed to New Orleans, 
 as the most probable point, for the next attempt of the hovering enemy, 
 and he reached that city on the first of December, 1814. The popu- 
 ..atlon of this denizen territory were not easily excited to the decree 
 of alacrity required by the exigence, and the principal dependence of 
 JACKSON to meet a large body of well-disciplined English troops, was 
 upon the volunteers of Tennessee and Kentucky, whom he had sum 
 moned to his aid. He at once fortified the approaches to the city, 
 with the cooperation of Commodore Patterson, who commanded a 
 small naval force. Early on the morning of the 14th December, the 
 enemy, in number about twelve hundred, approached in forty-three 
 barges, and commenced an attack on the American flotilla lying in 
 lake Borgne, consisting of five gun boats, and one hundred and 
 eighty-two men. A brave defence was made by the gallant, little 
 squadron for about an hour, when the superior number of the enemy 
 triumphed, and the Americans were carried prisoners to Cat island. 
 
 JACKSON now prepared for a more formidable attempt, and troops 
 arid arms were gradually arriving to his assistance. At this mo 
 mentous juncture, he discovered that the safety of the country was 
 exposed to the treachery of a number of disaffected inhabitants of 
 New Orleans ; and that the suspected might be put under proper 
 lestraint. he urged upon the legislature of Louisiana the necessity of 
 suspending the privilege oi the writ of hal eas corpus. While the 
 
ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 measure was in the slow process of deliberation, JACKSON proclaimed 
 the city to be under martial law, superseding all civil authority by a 
 rigid military police. 
 
 On the 22d, the British secretly effected a landing, and reached the 
 banks of the Mississippi, within seven miles of the city. As soon as 
 this was known, he called upon Generals Coffee and Carroll to join 
 him, and proceeded to meet the invaders. The hostile armies came 
 in sight of each other near the close of the day. The number of the 
 enemy was upwards of three thousand, the American force did not 
 exceed two thousand ; the latter, however, commenced the charge, 
 and a severe conflict lasted until the darkness of the night confused 
 the combatants. The British were driven before our army for nearly 
 a mile, from several successive intrenchments. By continual acces 
 sions during the battle, the British force was estimated to have 
 increased to the number of six thousand ; the American commander 
 deeming it rash to pursue his success at such a hazard, proceeded to 
 prepare for defence by throwing up a breastwork in front of his 
 army. On the 28th, these works were attacked by the enemy under 
 their commander-in-chief. Sir Edward Packenham, and were forced 
 to retire. Frequent skirmishes occurred between detached parties 
 for several days, while the enemy were preparing for a grand assault. 
 On the first of January, 1815, they opened a tremendous discharge 
 from their batteries upon our lines, but the fire was returned with 
 such success, that by three o clock they were silenced. 
 
 On the fourth, a timely reinforcement from Kentucky added 
 twenty-five hundred men to the American army. On the eighth, 
 the enemy advanced in two divisions under Sir Edward Packenham, 
 and owing to a fog, approached within a short distance of the 
 intrenchments before they were discovered. A terrible and unceasing 
 volley kept them back, and Packenham fell, fatally wounded. The 
 British columns, sixty or seventy deep, were successively led on to 
 the charge and broken by the dreadful havoc of the American fire, 
 until they betook themselves to flight. JACKSON was obliged to 
 submit to the mortification of withholding his men from pursuit, for 
 a large portion of them were without arms, and to venture with so 
 inferior a force to a battle on the open field would have been an unjus 
 tifiable risk. He was compelled, therefore, to remain in his post. 
 The force of the British in this memorable engagement was at least 
 nine thousand ; the efficient American troops amounted to thirty-seven 
 hundred. The enemy s loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, is 
 
 estimated at three thousand, while that of the victors was but thirteen 
 VOL. i. 11 5 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 For several days after the battle, the British camp was harassed by a 
 continual discharge from the batteries, which compelled the army to 
 withdraw secretly to their ships on the night of the 18th, and they 
 soon left the coast. The general entered New Orleans with his victo 
 rious troops on the 20th, where he was received with boundless 
 enthusiasm, and solemn thanksgiving to Providence was offered in 
 public services at the Cathedral. Insidious attempts were now made 
 in New Orleans to destroy the strength of the army by encouraging 
 mutiny and desertion. The city being still under martial law, JACK 
 SON caused to be arrested a member of the legislature who had fur 
 nished the newspapers with articles of a pernicious tendency. Appli 
 cation was made to the district judge for a writ of habeas corpus, to 
 be served on the general, which he granted in opposition to the 
 positive injunctions of JACKSON, who promptly ordered the judge also 
 to be arrested and sent from the city. Two days afterwards, official 
 intelligence was received of the conclusion of a treaty of peace 
 between the belligerent countries. The judge had no sooner resumed 
 his office, than JACKSON was summoned to answer for his contempt 
 of court in disregarding the writ, and in arresting the judicial officer. 
 The general appeared and vindicated his course, through his counsel, 
 but was fined in the sum of one thousand dollars. This sentence 
 excited universal indignation, and the amount of the amercement 
 was quickly contributed by the people ; but the general had already 
 discharged it from his own funds, and requested that the other sum 
 should be distributed among the relatives of those, who had fallen in 
 the battle. 
 
 The command being committed to General Gaines, JACKSON re 
 turned to his farm, where he remained until the end of 1817, when he 
 was directed to proceed against the Seminole Indians, who, emerging 
 from the Spanish territory, had committed repeated massacres of the 
 Americans on the frontiers. At the head of the Tennessee volun 
 teers, who were afterwards joined by the Georgia militia, he pene 
 trated into Florida, destroyed the retreats of the skulking savages 
 and fugitive slaves who had banded with them, and burned their 
 villages. Two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and Ambrister, were arrested 
 by his order, charged with exciting and leading on the insurgents. 
 They were tried by a court of thirteen officers, found guilty, and in 
 pursuance of their sentence, the former was hung and the other shot. 
 After placing a garrison in St. Marks, the general was about returning 
 to Tennessee, when he learned that the dispersed bands were corn- 
 Sin ing west of the Appalachicola, under the countenance and pro- 
 
 G 
 
ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 tection of the governor of Pensacola. During May, he, with a force 
 of twelve hundred, ranged the suspected district, and marched into 
 Pensacola, of which he took possession ; the governor flying to fort 
 Barrancas, which was also yielded on the 28th. Two detachments 
 were then sent to clear the country of the fugitives, which being 
 accomplished, JACKSON returned home in June, 1818. The house 
 of representatives, in the next session of congress, justified his course 
 in taking temporary possession of the Spanish fortresses, and in execu 
 ting the two British ringleaders. Soon after these events he visited 
 the northern cities, where he was enthusiastically received with 
 public and private honors. 
 
 When the Floridas were ceded by Spain to the United States, the 
 president appointed General JACKSON a commissioner to receive the 
 cession, and act as governor of the territory. This important annex 
 ation was officially announced by him at Pensacola in July, 1821, 
 when he commenced his administration. Having organized his 
 new government, he resigned his office, and returned to his farm in 
 Tennessee. 
 
 In the month of August, 1822, the legislature of Tennessee nomi 
 nated General JACKSON as the successor of Mr. Monroe in the 
 presidency of the United States, the proposition was favorably 
 received in many parts of the union. He declined an appointment 
 as minister to Mexico, and in 1823 was elected to the senate of the 
 United States ; but having now become a prominent candidate for 
 the chief magistracy, he resigned his seat in the second session. The 
 result of the popular elections of 1824 for president, gave General 
 JACKSON a plurality, but not a majority of votes. The house of 
 representatives were required, by the constitutional provision, to 
 make a selection from the three who received the greatest number of 
 votes, and the suffrages of the states gave the majority to Mr. Adams. 
 General JACKSON was at once nominated to succeed Mr. Adams at 
 the close of his term of service, and the elections of the colleges 
 were reported to Congress on February 11, 1829, as giving to General 
 JACKSON, one hundred and seventy-eight votes, and to Mr. Adams, 
 his only competitor, eighty-three. 
 
 The four years of his first administration did not prove barren of 
 important incidents. The interests of agriculture, commerce, and 
 manufactures foreign treaties, internal improvements, and the remo 
 val of the Cherokee Indians the United States Bank, the South 
 Carolina Ordinance, and the Proclamation of the 10th December, 
 1832, were among the subjects which were earnestly agitated and 
 
 7 VOL. 1. K 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 discussed in congress and in the state legislatures, in popular assem 
 blies, and the public press, with a zeal and earnestness, we had almost 
 said, unparalleled in the history of our country ; but when we look 
 back to former administrations, we find that in all of them, there has 
 been something which has been made the rallying point of party; 
 something to attach one portion of our citizens to the measures of 
 government and to give discontent to others. By the constitution, it 
 is made the duty of the president to recommend to congress such 
 measures as he may judge necessary and expedient, and for such 
 measures he is of course responsible to his country ; but any member 
 of congress may also introduce such as he, may think necessary and 
 expedient, and if he can carry them through the legislative branch 
 of the government, the executive must either approve, or disapprove 
 of them, and thus be made responsible in one way or the other for the 
 effect. As it is impossible for any measure of the government to be 
 equally advantageous to every citizen, nor can all citizens possess pre 
 cisely the same views, on subjects in which they have no immediate 
 interest ; there will and must be parties in the country : and whoever 
 is, or may be president, there will be some to approve and praise, and 
 others to censure and condemn him. 
 
 In the year 1832, General JACKSON was again nominated for the 
 presidency, in connexion with Martin Van Bureri as the candidate for 
 vice-president. The incidents of this important election, will not be 
 forgotten while any man lives who took part in it. The sudden con 
 tractions and expansions of the currency, produced by the bank, were 
 severely felt. The moneyed interests of the country were temporarily 
 deranged. The storm was a severe one. No public man of his day, 
 except ANDREW JACKSON, possessed the fearlessness necessary to 
 encounter it. No man but himself, had the deep and abiding hold on 
 the sympathies and affections of the people of America, without which 
 he would inevitably have been crushed. Nothing but his commanding 
 influence and wide spread popularity, connected with the unflinching 
 determination of his character, enabled him, like the well-rooted, proud 
 oak, to set the whirlwind at defiance. Henry Clay, William Wirt, 
 and John Floyd, were the presidental opponents ; but JACKSON was 
 elected by an overwhelming majority, showing his extraordinary 
 popularity and influence. The conduct of a party called Nullifiers, 
 the passage of the Compromise Act, the removal of the deposits from 
 the bank, and the firmness of the President in reference to the refusal 
 of France to pay the instalment required by the convention of 1831, 
 are matters of history, rather than of biography, and may therefore 
 
ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 be dismissed from our notice. Nothing of unusual interest occurred 
 during the administration of General JACKSON, after the amicable 
 settlement of the difficulty with France. The severe panic which fol 
 lowed the derangement of the currency, consequent upon the efforts of 
 the Bank to procure a renewal of its charter, was followed by a season 
 of unexampled prosperity. In 1835, the public debt was entirely liqui 
 dated; and on the final retirement of General JACKSON to private life, 
 in the spring of 1837, he issued a farewell address to the people, 
 setting forth the principles on which he had conducted the government, 
 and congratulating them on the peace and happiness which they 
 enjoyed. 
 
 As the now ex-president prepared to take his final leave of Wash 
 ington, the mass of the population of the city, and the masses which 
 had gathered from around, followed his carriage in crowds. All in 
 silence stood near him to wish him adieu ; and as the cars started, and 
 he displayed his grey hairs, as he lifted his hat in token of farewell, 
 they stood around with heads uncovered, too full of emotion to speak, 
 in solemn silence gazing on him as he departed, never more to be seen 
 in their midst. 
 
 "Behold," says Bancroft, in his admirable eulogy, delivered in the 
 City of Washington, " Behold the warrior and statesman, his w r ork 
 w r ell done, retired to the Hermitage, to hold converse with his forests, 
 to cultivate his farm, to gather around him hospitably his friends! 
 Who was like HIM? He was still the loadstar of the American 
 people. His fervid thoughts, frankly uttered, still spread the flame of 
 patriotism through the American breast ; his counsels were still lis 
 tened to with reverence ; and, almost alone among statesmen, he in 
 his retirement was in harmony with every onward movement of his 
 time. His prevailing influence assisted to sway a neighboring nation 
 to desire to share our institutions ; his ear heard the footsteps of the 
 coming millions that are to gladden our western shores ; and his eye 
 discerned in the dim distance the whitening sails that are to enliven 
 the waters of the Pacific with the social sounds of our successful 
 commerce. 
 
 " Age had whitened his locks and dimmed his eye, and spread 
 around him the infirmities and venerable emblems of many years of 
 toilsome service : but his heart beat as warmly as in his youth, and his 
 courage was as firm as it had ever been in the day of battle. But while 
 his affections were still for his friends and his country, his thoughts 
 were already in a better world. That exalted mind, which in active 
 life had always had unity of perception and will, which in action had 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 never faltered from doubt, and which in council had always reverted 
 to first principles and general laws, now gave itself up to communing 
 with the Infinite. He was a believer ; from feeling, from experience, 
 from conviction. Not a shadow of scepticism ever dimmed the lustre 
 of his mind. Proud philosopher ! will you smile to know that ANDREW 
 JACKSON perused reverently his Psalter and Prayer Book, and Bible ? 
 Know that ANDREW JACKSON had faith in the eternity of truth, in 
 the imperishable power of popular freedom, in the destinies of human 
 ity, in the virtues and capacity of the people, in his country s institu 
 tions, in the being and overruling providence of a merciful and ever- 
 living God." 
 
 He had now reached the seventy-ninth year of his age, when on 
 June 8th, 1845, the Sabbath of the Lord, death found him in the full 
 possession of his faculties, and prepared for the great change, which 
 took place on that day. When he first felt the hand of death upon 
 him, he cried, " May my enemies find peace ; may the liberties of my 
 country endure forever." 
 
 We again quote from Bancroft. "When his exhausted system, 
 under the excess of pain, sunk, for a moment, from debility, Do not 
 weep, said he, to his adopted daughter; my sufferings are less than 
 those of Christ upon the cross ; for he, too, as a disciple of the 
 cross, could have devoted himself in sorrow, for mankind. Feeling 
 his end near, he would see all his family once more ; and he 
 spoke to them, one by one, in words of tenderness and affection. His 
 two little grandchildren, were absent at Sunday school. He asked for 
 them ; and as they came, he prayed for them, and kissed them, and 
 blessed them. His servants were then admitted ; they gathered, some 
 in his room, and some on the outside of the house, clinging to the 
 windows, that they might gaze and hear. And that dying man, thus 
 surrounded, in a gush of fervid eloquence, spoke with inspiration of 
 God, of the Redeemer, of salvation through the atonement, of immor 
 tality, of heaven. For he ever thought that pure and undefiled 
 religion, was the foundation of private happiness, and the bulwark of 
 republican institutions. Having spoken of immortality in perfect con 
 sciousness of his own approaching end, he bade them all farewell. Dear 
 children, such were his final words, dear children, servants, and 
 friends, I trust to meet you all in heaven, both white and black. And 
 having borne his testimony to immortality, he bowed his mighty head, 
 and without a groan, the spirit of the greatest man of his age escaped 
 to the bosom of his God." 
 
 If General JACKSON was great in the field, and in the presidential 
 
 10 
 
ANDREA JACKSON. 
 
 chair, he was assuredly as great, though in a different way, in private 
 life. He who had conquered the wilderness, subdued the savage, and 
 brought the enemies of his country to a state of submission, with equal 
 ease attracted every neighbor, and friend, and every member of his 
 household to himself, and excited emulation as to who should show 
 him the highest marks of their regard. He had a heart full of sympa 
 thy, so that the anguish of the wife he cordially loved, and of the 
 orphans whom he had adopted, would melt him into tears, and make 
 him weep and sob like a child. When he retired from public life to 
 his home, he had no friendships to repair, for the flame had continued 
 during his absence to burn high and bright. He who on the battle 
 field of Tohopeka had saved an infant which clung to the breast 
 of its dying mother, and who at a most important moment in the 
 stormiest season of his presidency, paused on his way to give good 
 counsel to a poor suppliant, who had appealed to him for help, could 
 not be otherwise than tender and kind when in the bosom of a lovely 
 family. We feel no surprise at the testimony borne by his friend, the 
 Hon. Levi Woodbury, in his able eulogy at Portsmouth, N. H. " His 
 wife, when dead, as well as living, he regarded almost as a guardian 
 angel. Her miniature was worn near his heart in health, and reposed 
 with his bible by his sick couch. Well do I remember, while walking 
 with him once among the tombs of the distinguished dead in the congres 
 sional burying-ground, whither we had gone to pay the last obsequies 
 to another of their number, he said, One solemn request I now urge 
 on you : should I die in this city, remove my ashes to Tennessee, arid 
 let me sleep beside my beloved wife. Thank God ! his fond wishes 
 on this subject have been realized ; and they do sleep together under 
 the shades of the Hermitage, as they hope to rise together at the 
 resurrection of the just." Yes, " his body," to use the words of 
 Bancroft, "has its fit resting place in the great central valley of the 
 Mississippi, his spirit rests upon our whole territory ; it hovers over the 
 vales of Oregon, and guards, in advance, the frontier of the Del Norte. 
 The fires of party spirit are quenched at his grave. His faults and 
 frailties have perished. Whatever of good he has done, lives, and will 
 live forever." " Long," says Woodbury, " will the memory of such 
 a man be cherished by an admiring world ; and long, very long, may 
 it live in the hearts of his countrymen, and shed a genial influence 
 over their character and institutions. Age and youth, in grateful 
 crowds, till the evening of time, will gather around his tomb, recount 
 his patriotism and glories with tearful eyes, venerate his virtues, and 
 grow wiser and better by the salutary lessons his life inculcates." 
 
 11 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 It will be readily believed that such a man as the one we have 
 described would have correct views of the duty of every class of men, 
 and would be competent to give suitable advice. A preacher in the 
 West applied to President JACKSON for an office. At that time the 
 president was not aware of his being a minister, and politely told him 
 that he would examine and weigh his claims. A few days after, the 
 gentleman waited upon the president for an answer ; who having pre 
 viously ascertained the facts of the case, asked him, if he were not a 
 Christian minister, and was answered in the affirmative. " Well," 
 said the General, " if you discharge the duties of that office, which is 
 better than any I can confer, you will have no time for any other. I 
 advise you to return home, and attend to that, without seeking any 
 addition to your responsibility, that you may be enabled hereafter to 
 give a good account of your stewardship." 
 
 Nor was his view of the extent of religious freedom less correct. 
 While yet connected with the army, one evening an officer presented 
 himself, and complained that some of the soldiers had got together in 
 a tent, and were making a great noise. "What are they doing? 7 
 asked the General with some feeling. " They are praying now, but 
 they have been singing/ " And is that a crime." " The articles of 
 war order punishment for any unusual noise." " God forbid," said 
 the old General " that praying should be an unusual noise in any 
 camp." 
 
 We cannot close this brief sketch of a great man without presenting to 
 the imagination of the reader a view of the person of our hero. That 
 person was tall and thin, and presented the very embodiment of cou 
 rage and determination. He could not be seen without feeling, that his 
 friends were right when they called him " the man of the iron will. 91 
 Age, combined with arduous toil, planted furrows on his cheek, but to 
 the very last you felt that he had determination to do whatever he 
 deemed to be right. We can almost hear him say, " The Union: it 
 must be preserved." But his animated and striking countenance also 
 indicated courtesy and benevolence ; his brilliant eye showed cheerful 
 ness and calm deliberation in connexion with promptitude of action. 
 His name will go down to posterity as being the representative of 
 what was great and good ; and we devoutly pray that thousands may 
 imitate his great example, and, like him, scatter blessings over our 
 country for all time to come. 
 
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 
 
 THE family of this distinguished author is one of the oldest in the 
 United States. William Cooper arrived in this country in 1679, and 
 settled at Burlington, New Jersey. He immediately took an active 
 part in public affairs, as his name appears in the list of members of the 
 colonial legislature for 1681. In 1687 he obtained a grant of land 
 opposite the then new city of Philadelphia, extending several miles 
 along the margin of the Delaware, and the tributary stream which has 
 ever since borne the name of Cooper s Creek. The branch of the 
 family to which the novelist belonged removed, more than a century 
 since, into Pennsylvania, where his father was born. That gentleman 
 married, rarly in life, a lady of a family which emigrated from Sweden 
 at the first settlement of Delaware. He established himself in a ham 
 let of Burlington county, which continues to be called by his name, 
 and afterwards in the city of Burlington. Having obtained extensive 
 tracts of land on the border of Otsego Lake, in central New York, he 
 commenced the settlement of his estate there in 1785, and in the fol 
 lowing spring erected the first house in Cooperstown. From this time 
 until 1790, Judge Cooper resided alternately at Cooperstown and 
 Burlington, maintaining an establishment at each place. 
 
 JAMES FENIMORE was born at Burlington, Sept. 15, 1789, and in 
 the following year was removed to the new home of his family in New 
 York, of which he afterwards became the proprietor, and where he 
 died. His father being a member of the congress, which then held its 
 sessions in Philadelphia, the family spent much time at Burlington, 
 where our author, when but six years of age, commenced, under a 
 private tutor of some eminence, his classical education. When eleven 
 years old, he became an inmate of the family of the Rev. Thomas 
 Ellison, Rector of St. Peter s, in Albany, who had prepared three of 
 his elder brothers for the University ; and on the death of that accom 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 plished teacher, JAMES was sent to New Haven, where he completed his 
 preparatory studies. At the beginning of the second term of 1802 he 
 entered Yale College ; here he had among his classmates John A. 
 Collier, Judge Cushman, Justice Sutherland, Judge Bissel, Colonel 
 James Gadsden, and several others, who afterwards became eminent 
 in various professions. In 1805 he left the college, where he had 
 maintained a highly respectable position ; in the ancient languages, 
 particularly, he had no superior in his class. 
 
 Having obtained a midshipman s warrant, COOPER, at sixteen, 
 entered the navy. His noble, frank and generous disposition, here 
 made him a favorite, and admirably fitted him for the service, in which 
 unquestionably he would have obtained the highest honors, had he not 
 finally made choice of the easy and quiet life of a country gentleman. 
 After six years not unprofitably spent on the ocean, as they gave him 
 that knowledge of maritime affairs which enabled him subsequently 
 almost without an effort, to place himself at the head of all writers on 
 the sea, he resigned his office. On January 1, 1811, he was married 
 to Miss De Lancey, sister to the bishop of Western New York of that 
 name, and a member of one of the oldest and most influential families 
 in the United States. 
 
 Not long after this, he began to exercise his talents in the way of 
 literary productions, n only in the lighter department of novels, but 
 in essays on philosophical subjects, and if in them the imagination was 
 less shown, they certainly indicated quite as much of vigorous thought 
 and manly style as anything which afterwards appeared from his pen. 
 His first popular work was published with the title of " Precaution;" 
 it was commenced under circumstances purely accidental, and issued 
 under great disadvantages. Apparently expecting that prejudices 
 might exist against such a work, he assumed a foreign guise, and laid 
 its scene in England ; it contained a full proportion of noble lords and 
 titled dames, and was highly palatable to its readers, who began, 
 however, to suspect from its intimate acquaintance with that country, 
 whether its alleged author could have written it. It was republished 
 in London, and passed for an English novel ; its author deriving 
 from it more credit for European knowledge, than he afterwards 
 did for his work on England, written after many years residence 
 in Europe. But inasmuch as it contained no fashionable slang, 
 misplaced sentimentality, incoherent rhapsodies, nor libels on dis 
 tinguished persons, as it was noticed in no English Review, and 
 the secret of its authorship having transpired, it was descending 
 to oblivion, when his " Spy" "Pioneers" "Pilot" &c., appeared 
 
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 
 
 in rapid succession, and placed our author universally high in pub 
 lic esteem. 
 
 The limits necessarily assigned to this article, preclude the possibility 
 of an extended notice of the almost innumerable works which pro 
 ceeded from Mr. COOPER S pen, all of which, however, varied in their 
 character, and greatly differing in degrees of excellence, received great 
 attention ; and though neglected in some high quarters, they were trans 
 lated into most of the European languages, and gave instruction and 
 amusement to millions. Nor would it be less pleasing, as far as it might 
 be possible, to sketch the little incidents connected with the origin of his 
 works. An able writer in " The International Magazine" who has 
 given, as we know, from high authority, the most correct sketch of 
 COOPER hitherto published, and to whom we acknowledge ourselves 
 indebted, gives this anecdote as to the origin of the " The Pilot." 
 " The Pirate," by Sir Walter Scott, had been published a short time, 
 when in conversation with Charles Wiikes, of New York, a gentleman 
 of fine taste and judgment, COOPER heard extolled the universal 
 knowledge of Scott, and the sea-portions of the Pirate were referred 
 to as proof. He laughed at the idea, as most seamen would, and the 
 discussion ended by his promising to write a sea story which could be 
 read by landsmen, while seamen should feel its truth. " The Pilot" 
 was the fruit of that conversation. It is one of the most remarkable 
 novels of the time, and everywhere obtained immediate and high 
 applause. 
 
 About the year 1827, after the publication of " The Last of the 
 Mohicans" Mr COOPER went to Europe, chiefly with the view of 
 giving to his numerous and highly interesting family the advantages of 
 a completely finished education. He had been complimented with the 
 title of American Consul at Lyons, an empty honor, which he so little 
 valued, that we have no evidence that he even once visited the scene 
 of his official functions. Of all Americans who ever visited Europe, Mr. 
 COOPER contributed most to the reputation of our country. His high 
 character made him everywhere welcome ; there was no circle, how 
 ever aristocratical or distinguished, in which, if he appeared, he was 
 not the observed of all observers ; and he had the somewhat singular 
 merit of never forgetting that he was an American. After being in 
 Europe about two years, he published his " Notions of the Americans" 
 in which he successfully "endeavored to repel some of the hostij 
 opinions of the other hemisphere, and to turn the tables on those who 
 at that time, most derided and calumniated us." This eloquent vindi 
 cation of our institutions, manners and history, shows hov warm was 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 his patriotism; how fondly, while receiving from strangers an homage 
 withheld from him at home, he remembered the scene of his birth, ami 
 his first trials and triumphs, and how ready he was to sacrifice per 
 sonal popularity and profit in defence of his country. 
 
 Nor was the publication of this work the only evidence he gave of 
 his interest in " home." So well was he known, and so highly was his 
 knowledge appreciated, that when, following the three days of July, 
 1830. a fierce contest took place between the absolutists, the republicans, 
 and the constitutionalists, as to the comparative cheapness of our system 
 of government, Lafayette appealed to Mr. COOPER, who entered the 
 arena ; and though, from his peculiar position, at a heavy pecuniary 
 loss, and the danger of incurring yet greater misfortunes, by a masterly 
 expose silenced at once the popular falsehoods, which had gone to 
 assert that the people of the United States paid more direct and indi 
 rect taxes for the support of government than the French. So in all 
 places, circumstances and times, Mr. COOPER was the " American in 
 Europe," as jealous of his country s reputation as of his own. 
 
 The first work which Mr. COOPER published after his return to the 
 United States was " Ji Letter to his Countrymen" They had yielded 
 him but a hesitating applause until his praise come back from Europe; 
 and when the tone of foreign criticism was changed by opinions and 
 actions of his which should have united the whole American press in 
 his defence, he was assailed in articles which either echoed the tone, 
 or were translations of attacks made upon him by foreigners. The 
 custom peculiar to this country of "quoting the opinions of foreign 
 nations by way of helping to make up its own estimate of the degree 
 of merit which belongs to its public men," is treated in this letter with 
 caustic and just severity, and shown to be " destructive of those senti 
 ments of self-respect and of that manliness of thought, that are 
 necessary to render a people great, or a nation respectable." Satires, 
 sketches of foreign lands, novels, history of the navy of the United 
 States, dramas, &c., followed each other in rapid succession, and pro 
 duced no small discussion. All these works which possess permanent 
 interest are gradually re-appearing before the public, in the handsome 
 style adopted by Putnam, of New York ; and as they will most 
 assuredly be almost universally read, it is unnecessary in this brief 
 sketch fully to characterize each individual production. There is now 
 living no writer whose fame is so universal. 
 
 "It is well known," says Dr. Francis, in his interesting Remini 
 scences, " that for a long period Mr. COOPER, at occcasional times 
 only, visited New York city. His residence for many years was an 
 
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 
 
 elegant and quiet mansion on the southern borders of Otsego Luke, 
 Here, in his beautiful retreat, embellished by the substantial fruits of 
 his labors, and displaying everywhere his exquisite taste, his mind, 
 ever intent on congenial tasks, which, alas, are left unfinished, 
 surrounded by a devoted and highly cultivated family, and maintaining 
 the same clearness of perception, serene firmness, and integrity of tone 
 which distinguished him in the meridian of his life, were his mental 
 employments prosecuted. He lived chiefly in rural seclusion, and 
 with habits of methodical industry. When visiting the city he mingled 
 cordially with his old friends ; and it was on the last occasion of this 
 kind at the beginning of April, [1851] that he consulted me with some 
 earnestness in regard to his health. He complained of the impaired 
 tone of the digestive organs, great torpor of the liver, weakness of 
 muscular activity, and feebleness in walking. Such suggestions were 
 offered for his relief as the indications of disease warranted. He left 
 the city for his country residence, and I was gratified shortly after to 
 learn from him of his better condition." Alas, that all this improve 
 ment was transient. In August the Doctor was summoned to the 
 dwelling of his friend, to witness symtoms which all his skill could not 
 remove. The friend and the author peacefully died amidst the tears 
 of his family, Sept. 14, 1851, in the sixty-second year of his age. 
 When describing the state of his mind during his last illness, the Doc 
 tor says, " The great characteristics of his intellect \vere now even 
 more conspicuous than before. Not a rnurmer escaped his lips ; 
 conviction of his extreme illness wrought no alteration of features ; he 
 gave no expression of despondency ; his tone and his manners w y ere 
 equally dignified, cordial, and natural. It was his happiness to be 
 blessed with a family around him w r hose greatest gratification was to 
 supply his every want, and a daughter, [the accomplished authoress 
 of ( Rural Hours, ] for a companion in his pursuits, who was his in 
 defatigable amanuensis and correspondent as well as indefatigable 
 nurse." The Doctor afterwards adds, " A life of such uniform and 
 unparalleled excellence and service, a career so brilliant and honorable, 
 closed in a befitting manner, and was crowned by a death of quiet 
 resignation. Conscious of his approaching dissolution, his intelligence 
 seemed to glow with increased fulness as his prostrated frame yielded 
 by degrees to the last summons. It is familiarly known to his most 
 intimate friends, that for some considerable period prior to his fatal 
 illness, he appropriated liberal portions of his time to the investigation 
 of scriptural truths, and that his convictions were ripe in Christian 
 doctrines. With assurances of happiness in the future he yielded Mp 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 his spirit to the disposal of its Creator. His death, which must thus 
 have been the beginning of a serene and more blessed life to him, is 
 universally regarded as a national loss." 
 
 The personal appearance of Mr. COOPER was very commanding. 
 His manly figure, high prominent forehead, clear and fine gray eyes, 
 arid royal bearing, showed the man of intelligence and determination. 
 His literary industry and decision were truly remarkable, and their 
 results are seen in the nearly innumerable editions of his works, in our 
 own country, and their circulation abroad by translations into almost 
 innumerable languages. By common consent he long occupied the 
 highest rank in American literature, and did more to make known to 
 the transatlantic world his country in her scenery, her aboriginal 
 inhabitants, her history, and her characteristics, than all preceding 
 writers. All his delineations of character are as distinct and actual as 
 the personages who stand before us on the stage of history. 
 
 In private life, Mr. COOPER was distinguished for great benevolence, 
 affability, and captivating powers of conversation. He has detected 
 the thief pilfering apples from his garden, and censured him for not 
 coming through the front gate to take what he wanted, inasmuch as 
 secrecy might induce persons to think he was a miserly niggard, who 
 refused to accommodate his neighbors; and was always ready to 
 relieve the distresses of humanity and genius. He was a keen observer 
 of men and things, and frank and emphatic in the expression of his 
 views. Alas, that he was unwilling that any biographical memorial of 
 him should be constructed, and that surviving friends and future gene 
 rations must be content with the collection of the few facts concerning 
 him which float on the surface of society. His friends, however, will 
 take care that he shall not be forgotten. A meeting to testify regard 
 to his name and character, which was intensely interesting in all its 
 associations, was held in New York, Feb. 27, 1852. Daniel Webster 
 occupied the chair, William Cullen Bryant delivered an eloquent and 
 affecting commemorative address, and a large number of eminent 
 literary gentlemen were in attendance to witness the tears of genius 
 over one of her most favorite sons. 
 
 I 
 

 f John S.Flmimg Esif of Mrs 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 
 
 PATRICK HP.NR^ 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, 
 tendered 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 life, 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 ot 
 his profession. The cause in which he first made his appearance 
 before a court and jury, was familiarly 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. HENR\ 
 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 the 
 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, ai 
 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. H KNRY 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 Williamsbiirg. 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 reC-lect 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. "YVirt, " 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, Avas 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 stru<r^le 
 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 him 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 in the subsequent fall, he possessed in the assembly the confidence 
 and popularity which had so long clung to him. He succeeded in 
 procuring 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 constitution, 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 t he usually uninteresting details of complicated law points. 
 His success in the practice of the law was eminently distinguished, 
 arid 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 life, 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 
 
 7 E2 
 
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- 
 patriotic, and irresistible eloquence of PATRICK HENRY. 
 

 (G "1LIL SAMS;-" 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, the late distinguished orator of the 
 South, was born March 18th, 1782, in Abbeville district, Soutn 
 Carolina His grandfather, James Calhoun, emigrated with his 
 family from Ireland, and settled, in 17^3, 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. 
 Thestiuggle 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. 1 
 
 In 1770, Patrick Calhoun was married to Martha Cu Id well, of 
 Charlotte county, Virginia, niece of the Rev. James Ca Id well, of 
 New Jersey, a presbyterian divine, who stood prominent m 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 CALHOUN. 
 
 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 continred a member for 
 thirty years without intermission, except for a single term, until his 
 death, in 1796. He was a zealous whiff, 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 lie is said to have read, in the course 
 of fourteen weeks, Rolhn 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 counting 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 yrars 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 mouths under the Judges 
 Reeve and Gould, he made great advancement. The morning was 
 devoted to law, the rest of the day to general literature aud 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 ^reat 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, arid 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 eifort 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 t :e most sagacious opponents and power 
 ful ordtors, which this or any country ever boasted. Public excite 
 ment was strong, the house crowded, arid 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 "youn^ 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. 
 
 paratlons they had recommended. Thus, by circumstances, as wel) 
 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 a 
 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. 
 
 ihg 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 
 eulogiurn 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 T 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 : hi r.on 
 
 7 LI 
 
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 
 irorn 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 lound upwards of forty millions 
 of dollars 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 fiity-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 ol 
 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 sur- 
 
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. CALIIOUN 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 decided 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, without 
 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. 
 
 In a work like that before the reader, it is neither desira 
 ble or 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 
 gave 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 
 l 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 re 
 formation of the government and restoration of the constitution to its 
 primitive principles, which he deemed necessary to the preservation 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 re 
 served 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 recognizes 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 nullification, is maintained to be clearly 
 contained in the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, and is more fully 
 stated and carried out in the discussions to which it gave rise in the con 
 troversy between South Carolina and the general government. In 
 these discussions the papers prepared 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 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. CALHOUN, contain 
 ing his opinion on the relations between the state and the general 
 government, in deference to public opinion, w r hich 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 hirr 
 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. CALHOUN 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 cri: is 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 declared 
 unconstitutional and therefore void, and no law. At the call of his 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 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 circumstances, with all the disad 
 vantage 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. 
 
 In this trying juncture he acquitted himself so well, that the ti;le 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 argu 
 ments, 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 riot 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. Mr. CALHOUN S 
 conduct gave entire satisfaction to his constituents, and paved the way 
 for the eventual success of the principles of free trade. 
 
 It is not possible that we can here fully describe the labors or the 
 speeches of Mr. CALHOUN on the subjects of the bank, the repeal of 
 the force bill, the reception of petitions on the abolition of slavery, the 
 public lands, the treasury law, the tariff, the Ashburton treaty, and 
 many other subjects, up to the time of the resignation of his seat in the 
 senate, in 1843. Neither can we discuss his conduct in reference to 
 the annexation of Texas, after he had been called by President Tyler 
 to the high office of secretary of state, made vacant by the calamitous 
 death of Mr. Upshur. Nor does it comport with our plan to expatiate 
 on his resignation of that office, his declinature of a mission to England, 
 or his return to the senate as the result of the earnest desires of the 
 whole South. These, and his final labors on the subject of slavery, 
 are all too well known to need that another line should be added to 
 this sketch of his leading actions as a politician. It has been well said 
 that his public acts need not be detailed, for they will be woven into the 
 history of the nation ; nor need we enumerate his orations, for they 
 have become a portion of American literature. 
 
 A life of vigorous and incessant labor might well bring Mr. CALHOUN 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 at sixty-height into a state of rapid decay. The slavery question was 
 the last subject which occupied his public life, and his last attempt 
 was made in seeking an alteration of the constitution on this subject. 
 He had an unconquerable dread that the South would be driven to 
 secede from the Union. He was compelled to retire from the senate 
 hall to die. His friends visited him to see how intense and earnest 
 thought had brought down the frail body to ruin and death. 
 
 Dr. John B. Calhoun, who is an eminent physician, was in constant 
 attendance on his honored father for several weeks previous to his death, 
 and was kindly aided by the almost filial friendship of many of the most 
 eminent members of the profession. On the 30th of March, 1850, it 
 could no longer be doubted that the hours of the great statesman were 
 numbered ; but though more restless and weak than he had ever before 
 been, he sat up about two hours during the day, and talked on the 
 topic which absorbed his mind. Soon after midnight, his breath be 
 came so heavy as to alarm his son, and his pulse was very low, but he 
 refused to take any more stimulants ; at about two o clock, he called 
 his son, to whom he held out his arm, and remarked that there was no 
 pulsation at the wrist. He gave several directions as to his watch and 
 papers, and in reply to an inquiry, said, " I am perfectly comfortable." 
 These were his last words. Shortly before six o clock on the morning 
 of the 3 1st, he made a sign to his son to approach his bed; and ex 
 tending his hand, he grasped that of his son, looked him intently in the 
 face, and moved his lips, but was unable to articulate. Other friends 
 were summoned to his bed-side, who saw him perfectly conscious of 
 his condition, his eyes retained their brightness, and his countenance 
 its natural expression. Thus he drew a deep inspiration, his eyes 
 closed, arid his spirit passed calmly to its home. 
 
 Judge Butler, his friend and colleague, impressively announced his 
 death in the senate ; and affecting addresses were also made by his 
 great rivals in talents and fame, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster. 
 On the 3d of April, the funeral ceremonies were performed ; and his 
 remains, accompanied by a committee of the senate, were conveyed to 
 Charleston, where a whole people met them in tears. His body was 
 committed to the dust, but the creations of his mighty rnind yet live 
 to bless his country, and to call forth its gratitude. 
 
 Mr. CALHOUN was married in May, 1811, to a cousin, Miss Florida 
 Calhoun, the daughter of John Ewing Calhoun, formerly a senator in 
 congress, from South Carolina. They had a numerous family. Mrs. 
 Calhoun survived her husband, and was much admired for the quiet, 
 unassuming, but dignified ease of her manners, and is remembered with 
 
 13 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 affection and regret, by the private circles of Washington, once 
 adorned by her presence, but from which she also has been forever 
 withdrawn by the hand of death. 
 
 As a man, Mr. CALHOUN presented a tall and commanding person, 
 slender but firm; his features were singularly harsh and angular, so that 
 Harriet Martineau described him as the cast iron man, "who looked 
 as if he had never been born;" his forehead was broad, tolerably high 
 and compact, denoting the mass of brain behind it ; and his eyes, 
 which presented the most striking peculiarity about him, were large, 
 brilliant, and dark blue in color. When in repose beseemed unfeeling, 
 or at least lost in abstraction ; but when excited, the fire of genius 
 blazed from his eye, and every feature showed thought and character 
 strongly defined. He had none of the cautious reserve and mystery 
 of common politicians ; but was accessible, instructive and eloquent 
 in his conversation. Until he had passed his grand climacteric, he 
 wore his hair tolerably short, and brushed it back so that it stood 
 erect on the top of his head, as in our portrait, but towards the close 
 of his life he allowed it to grow long, and to fall in heavy masses over 
 his temples. 
 
 " His character," says Mr. Jenkins, his biographer, " was marked 
 and decided, not prematurely exhibiting its peculiarities, yet formed 
 and perfected at an early age. He was firm and prompt, manly and 
 independent. His sentiments were noble and elevated, and everything 
 mean or groveling was foreign to his nature. He was easy in his 
 manners, and affable and dignified. His attachments were warm and 
 enduring ; he did not manifest his affection with enthusiastic fervor, 
 but with deep earnestness and sincerity. He was kind, generous and 
 charitable ; honest and frank ; faithful to his friends, but somewhat 
 inclined to be unforgiving to his enemies. He was attached to his 
 principles and prejudices with equal tenacity ; and when he had 
 adopted an opinion, so strong was his reliance upon the correctness of 
 his own judgment, that he often doubted the wisdom and sincerity of 
 those who disagreed with him. He never shrunk from the performance 
 of any duty, however painful it might be, that it was a duty, was 
 sufficient for him. He possessed pride of character in no ordinary de 
 gree, and, withal not a little vanity, which is said always to accompany 
 true genius. His devotion to the South was not sectional, so much as 
 it was the natural consequence of his views with reference to the theory 
 of the government ; and his patriotism, like his fame, was coextensive 
 with the Union." 
 
 In all his domestic relations the life of Mr. CALHOUN was without a 
 
 14 
 
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 
 
 blemish. His habits, like those of most truly great men, were all 
 simple. When at home, he was an early riser, and, if the weather 
 allowed, took a walk over his farm. He breakfasted at half past 
 seven, and then retired to his study, and wrote till three. After din 
 ner he read or conversed with his family till sunset, then he took 
 another walk till eight o clock, when he took tea, and passed the time 
 in conversation or reading, and at ten, retired to rest. His social 
 qualities were endearing and highly fascinating, especially to young 
 people. 
 
 As an orator, he stood in the first rank of parliamentary speakers. 
 On first rising in debate, he seemed to feel the anxiety of diffidence 
 which is almost always the companion of genius. He usually began 
 m a manner calm and impressive, but was soon roused, and became 
 energetic, stern, erect, and loud, showing the power of a giant. His 
 voice was shrill, and his eyes glistened like coals of fire. A steady 
 flow of words came from his lips, and intense earnestness marked his 
 delivery. In listening to him, every one felt that he was sincere, so 
 that it was impossible to hear him without being moved. His mind 
 was amply stored with the fruits of learning, but still more with those 
 of observation and reflection; hence originality, depth, and power 
 characterized all his efforts. 
 
 As a statesman, in the most enlarged and elevated sense of the term, 
 he had no superior. His course was independent and high minded. 
 Principles were regarded by him as practical things ; he was firm in 
 adhering to them, and fearless in attacking error. He was no mere 
 theorist, but clearly foresaw results ; not given to change, nor fond of 
 startling novelties. To the highest intellectual powers, he united 
 those elevated moral qualities which are as important as talent itself 
 to complete the character of a statesman inflexible integrity, honor 
 without a stain, disinterestedness, temperance and industry. He had 
 a firmness of purpose which disdained to calculate the consequences of 
 doing his duty. " I never know," he would say, " what South Caro 
 lina thinks of a measure. I never consult her. If she approves, well 
 and good. If she does not, or wishes any one else to take my place, 
 I am ready to vacate. We are even." In a word, Mr. CALHOUN always 
 showed prudence and energy in action, devotion to his country, and an 
 inextinguishable love of liberty and justice. 
 
 A writer in the " Gallery of Illustrious Americans" says, " Three 
 obstacles have lain between this great man and the presidency. The 
 first has been the earnest and unconquerable independence of his charac 
 ter, which has left him without a national party. The second, has 
 
 i* VoL.1. M 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 been the incorruptible integrity of his heart, which left him without in 
 trigue or policy. The last, has been an obstacle still more formidable 
 in this disturbed and feverish age the philosphical sublimity of his 
 genius. He was not made to sway masses, but mind. He could not 
 carry the hearts of the multitude by storm, but he electrified the souls 
 of the few." To this Mr. Jenkins replies, " that the first two contri 
 buted to this result is highly probable, but if by that other quality is 
 meant an elevation of his genius entirely above the comprehension of 
 the multitude, it is unjust to his character. He possessed no such 
 transcendental faculty or attribute. Truth, in its simplicity and beauty, 
 as Mr. CALHOUN presented it, goes home to every heart. He was 
 understood and appreciated by the masses. He was popular with the 
 people, but not with the politicians." 
 
 It is pleasant to add to this memoir, that attachment on the part of 
 the constituents of Mr. CALHOUN never lessened. South Carolina wished 
 not to change her senator for a younger man ; but felt that his matured 
 experience, his ripened wisdom, and a soul which no age could chill 
 sustained his patriotism, and gave weight to his counsels. May her 
 
 conduct ever be imitated by our countrymen at large. 
 
 it* 
 
Engraved ty Edw" Sc 
 
WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 
 
 THIS patriotic citizen has contributed towards the history of the 
 United States, two volumes 01 " Memoirs of the American Revolu 
 tion." As these relate principally to events which occurred in South 
 Carolina within his own knowledge, they are invaluable as authentic 
 records. On their authority, we shall briefly describe the situation 
 of South Carolina at the commencement of the revolution, and the 
 measures adopted by her patriotic citizens of those days, when they 
 made common cause with the other colonists in defence of their 
 violated rights. 
 
 Settled at a much later period than the eastern colonies, the greatest 
 evils Carolina had endured, originated from the anomalous characters 
 of the first settlers ; English puritans and cavaliers, French huguenots, 
 and others ; which led to constant disputes amongst themselves ; and 
 from the unjust and arbitrary manner in which the government was 
 administered by the proprietaries. Whilst the colonists of New 
 England clung to their charters, as the palladium of their liberties, 
 those of South Carolina sought relief by an appeal to the throne ; 
 by renouncing the proprietary government ; and by establishing one 
 of their own in the name of the king. This took place in 1719, and 
 from that time until the revolution, the government was administered 
 by a royal governor, and their laws enacted by a provincial assembly. 
 The proprietary government had been not only unjust, but impolitic ; 
 it left the colonists to contend against the Indians and the Spaniards 
 at their own expense, which discouraged emigration, and impover 
 ished the country, by continually draining it of its resources ; at the 
 same time, it exercised a most arbitrary and illegal power, by repealing 
 the laws which the general assembly of the colony had thought 
 necessary for its preservation and defence. The consequence was, 
 that more than fifty years after its first settlement, the whole white 
 population of South Carolina did not exceed fifty thousand ; and * the 
 face of the country appeared like a desert, with little spots here and 
 there cleared, scarcely discernible amidst the immense forest." But 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 under the royal government, the population rapidly increased, tne 
 country was explored and cultivated, and wealth, and a comparative 
 degree of ease and freedom, were enjoyed. 
 
 South Carolina did not then, become a party in the great contest, 
 so much from any local grievance or special cause of complaint, as 
 from a high, chivalrous impulse, and a firm conviction of the correct 
 ness of the principle, " that the colonies were entitled to the sole and 
 exclusive privilege of giving and granting their own money." 
 
 The first advance towards a continental union was made by Mas 
 sachusetts, in 1765, it was seconded, by South Carolina, and in 
 October of that year, delegates from nine of the provinces assembled 
 in New-York, and agreed to a declaration of rights, and a statement 
 of grievances. 
 
 After the passage of the celebrated bill for shutting up the port of 
 Boston, the inhabitants of that town appealed to the " sister colonies. 
 The appeal was promptly answered by South Carolina, and delegates 
 were appointed to the congress which assembled in Philadelphia on 
 the fifth of September, 1774. When the delegates had returned to 
 Charleston, and reported the serious character of the dispute with 
 Great Britain, the general committee determined to call a provincial 
 congress. In every parish and district, representatives were elected 
 to meet in Charleston on the eleventh of January, 1775. In a few 
 days, they approved the bill of rights, as declared by the continental 
 2ongress, agreed to the American association, and recommended 
 the inhabitants to be diligent in learning the use of arms. Amongst 
 many other decisive and patriotic measures, they resolved unani 
 mously, that any person who should take, or act under any commis 
 sion in any wise derived from the act of parliament, changing the 
 form of government, and violating the charter of the provinces of 
 Massachusetts Bay, ought to be held in detestation and abhorrence 
 by all good men, and considered as the wicked tools of that despotism 
 which was preparing to destroy those rights, which God, nature, and 
 compact, had given to America. Still, hopes of a reconciliation were 
 entertained, until the news of the battle of Lexington was received ; 
 from that moment there was no hesitation as to the course to be 
 pursued. The provincial congress was again called together on the 
 first of June. " At this summons," says General MOULTRIE, " the 
 people were greatly alarmed, and their minds much agitated , they 
 saw that war was inevitable ; and that it was to be with that country 
 vA r hich first planted them in America, and raised them to maturity , 
 ,i country with which they were connected by consanguinity, by 
 
WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 
 
 custom, and by manners ; by religion, by laws, and by language ; a 
 country that they had always been taught to respect, and to considei 
 as amongst the first in the world. A rich and powerful nation, with 
 immense fleets, and experienced admirals, sailing triumphantly ovei 
 the ocean ; with large armies and able generals in many parts of the 
 globe : this great nation we dared to oppose, without money, without 
 arms, without ammunition ; no generals, no armies, no admirals, and 
 no fleets ; this was our situation when the contest began." On the 
 first day of the meeting of the provincial congress, " they determined 
 upon a defensive war ; and the fourth day it was resolved to raise 
 two regiments of five hundred men each." Of the second of these 
 regiments, WILLIAM MOULTRIE was appointed colonel, on the 17th 
 of June, 1775; (the same day on which was fought the battle of 
 Bunker Hill,) and from that time he was constantly engaged in the 
 discharge of a succession of active and arduous duties. In Sep 
 tember, a detachment from this regiment took possession of Fort 
 Johnson, and the council of safety ordered him to have a flag made, 
 (" as there was no national or state flag at that time,") upon which, 
 as the state troops were clothed in blue, and wore a silver crescent 
 in front of their caps, he had a large blue flag made, with a crescent 
 in the dexter corner, and " that was the first American flag displayed 
 in South Carolina." 
 
 There was at the time a sloop of war laying off Charleston, which 
 excited constant vigilance and uneasiness, lest the town or the fort 
 should be attacked. General MOULTRIE in his memoirs, frequently 
 notices how highly they were impressed with the mighty power of a 
 British man-of-war. When, therefore, the flag was hoisted on the 
 fort, it alarmed the timid. " They said it had the appearance of a 
 declaration of war, and the captain of the Tamer would look upon it 
 as an insult and a flag of defiance ; but he knew his own force and 
 kept his station." The Cherokee sloop of war soon afterwards joined 
 the Tamer, and blockaded the harbor of Charleston, and annoyed the 
 provincials exceedingly by enticing the negroes to run away and 
 form a camp on Sullivan s Island. On the 19th of December, on a 
 very dark and cold night, Colonel MOULTRIE, with a number of gentle- 
 men, and two hundred s6ldiers, embarked from Charleston to erect 
 a battery at HaddrelPs Point, so as to drive off the men-of-war; 
 by daylight they were well covered, and in a few hours laid theii 
 platforms, mounted some guns, and opened their embrasures. The 
 men-of-war immediately moved further off, and left the cove and 
 Sullivan s Island under the command of the American batteries. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Karly in March, 1776, Colonel MOULTRIE was ordered to take post 
 on Sullivan s Island, where a fort was building large enough to 
 contain one thousand men. At this time, certain intelligence had 
 been received that an expedition was preparing in New-York against 
 Charleston, and as Colonel MOULTRIE rendered a good account of it, 
 when it arrived within reach of his guns, we shall give his own plain 
 narrative of one of the most brilliant actions of the revolutionary 
 war. " At this time it was the general opinion, especially among 
 the sailors, that two frigates would be a sufficient force to knock 
 the town about our ears, notwithstanding our number of batteries 
 with heavy cannon ; but in a few weeks, experience taught us that 
 frigates could make no impression on our palmetto batteries." 
 
 "May 31, a large fleet of British vessels were seen about twenty 
 miles to the windward of the bar ; and on the first of June, they 
 displayed about fifty sail before the town, on the outside of the bar. 
 The sight of these vessels alarmed us very much ; all was hurry and 
 confusion : the president with his council, busy in sending expresses 
 to every part of the country, to hasten down the militia ; men 
 running about the town looking for horses, carriages, and boats, to 
 send their families into the country ; and as they were going through 
 the town gates into the country, they met the militia from the 
 country marching into town ; traverses were made in the principal 
 streets ; fleches thrown up at every place where troops could land, 
 military works going on every where, the lead taken from the win 
 dows of the churches and dwelling houses, to cast into musket balls, 
 and every preparation to receive an attack, which was expected in a 
 few days. June 4th, General Lee arrived from the northward, and 
 took command of the troops. When he came to Sullivan s Island, 
 he did not like that post at all ; he said there was no way to retreat, 
 that the garrison would be sacrificed ; nay, he called it a slaughter 
 pen, and wished to withdraw the garrison and give up the post, but 
 President Rutledge insisted that it should not be given up : for my 
 part, I never was uneasy on not having a retreat, because I never 
 imagined the enemy could force me to that necessity. Captain 
 Lamperer, a brave and experienced seaman, who had been master of 
 a man-of-war, visited me at the fort after the British ships came ovei 
 the bar ; while we were walking on the platform, looking at the fleet 
 he said to me : Well, colonel ; what do you think of it now ? ] 
 replied, that * we should beat them. Sir, said he ; when those 
 ships come to lay along side of your fort, they will knock it down in 
 half an hour, (and that was the opinion of all the sailors,) then I 
 
WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 
 
 said, * we will lay behind the ruins, and prevent their men from 
 landing. Our fort at this time was not nearly finished ; the 
 mechanics and negro laborers were taken from all the works about 
 the town, and sent down to the island to complete our fort; we 
 worked very hard, but could not get it nearly finished before the 
 action. On the morning of the 28th of June, I paid a visit to our 
 advance-guard ; while 1 was there, I saw a number of the enemy s 
 boats in motion at the back of Long Island, as if they intended a 
 descent ; at the same time, I saw the men-of-war loose their topsails. 
 I hurried back to the fort as fast as possible ; when I got there, the 
 ships were already under sail ; I immediately ordered the long roll 
 to beat, and officers and men to their posts. We had scarcely 
 manned our guns when the following ships of war came sailing up, 
 as if in confidence of victory ; as soon as they came within reach of 
 our guns, we began to fire; they were soon abreast of our little 
 fort, let go their anchors with springs upon their cables, and began 
 their attack most furiously about ten o clock, A.M., and continued a 
 brisk fire till about eight o clock, P.M. 
 
 " The ships were the Bristol, of fifty guns, Commodore Sir Peter 
 Parker : the captain had his arm shot off, forty-four men killed, and 
 thirty wounded. The Experiment, fifty guns : the captain lost his 
 arm, fifty-seven killed, and thirty wounded. The Active, twenty- 
 eight guns : one lieutenant killed, and one man wounded. The 
 Sole-Bay, twenty-eight guns : two killed, three or four wounded. 
 The Syren, twenty-eight guns. The Acteon, twenty-eight guns : 
 burnt ; one lieutenant killed. The Sphinx, twenty-eight guns : lost 
 her bowsprit. The Friendship, twenty-six guns : an armed vessel 
 taken into service. 
 
 " The Thunder-Bomb had the beds of her mortar soon disabled ; 
 she threw her shells in a very good direction ; most of them fell 
 within the fort ; but we had a morass in the middle, that swallowed 
 them up instantly. At one time, the commodore s ship swung round 
 with her stern to the fort, which drew the fire of all the guns that 
 could bear upon her. The words that passed along the platform by 
 officers and men were, mind the commodore mind the two fifty 
 gun ships ; most of our attention was paid to the two fifty-gun ships, 
 especially the commodore, who, I dare say, was not at all obliged to 
 us for our particular attention to him. During the action, thousands 
 of our fellow-citizens were looking on with anxious hopes and fears, 
 some of whom had their fathers, brothers, and husbands in the battle ; 
 whose hearts must have been pierced at every broadside. After some 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 time, our flag was shot away ; their hopes were then gone, and they 
 gave up all lor lost ! supposing that we had struck our flag and given 
 up the fort. Sergeant Jasper, perceiving that the flag was shot away, 
 and had fallen without the fort, jumped from one of the. embrasures, 
 and brought it up through a heavy fire, fixed it upon a spunge staff, 
 and planted it upon the ramparts again. Our flag once more waving 
 in the air, revived the drooping spirits of our friends, and they 
 continued looking on till night had closed the scene, and hid us from 
 their view. At length, the British gave up the conflict ; the ships 
 slipped their cables, and dropped down with the tide and out of the 
 reach of our guns. When the firing had ceased, our friends for a 
 time were again in an unhappy suspense, not knowing our fate ; till 
 they received an account by a dispatch boat which I sent up to town 
 to acquaint them that the British ships had retired, and that we were 
 victorious."* 
 
 A few days after this battle, the lady of Major Elliott presented an 
 elegant pair of colors to Colonel MOULTRIE and Lieutenant Colonel 
 Motte, of the gallant second regiment. These colors were honorably 
 supported ; they were planted on the British lines at Savannah, where 
 one of them was lost ; the other was saved by the brave Sergeant 
 Jasper, who was mortally wounded in the act ; but it was afterwards 
 taken at the fall of Charleston. 
 
 "As soon as the British had retreated after the battle of Sullivan s 
 Island, the state was left tranquil and free from any apprehension of 
 another attack." General MOULTRIE was sent with an expedition to 
 Georgia ; when he arrived at Savannah, preparations were made for 
 an attack on St. Augustine, where his brother was governor; but 
 part of the troops being recalled, the project was abandoned. Shortly 
 after this, the colonial troops were put on the continental establish 
 ment, and Colonel MOULTRIE came into the line of the army, as a 
 brigadier general, his commission being dated September 16, 1776. 
 
 When General Lincoln took command of the southern department, 
 General MOULTRIE was ordered to join the army with his brigade at 
 Purisburgh. In February, 1779, with a detachment consisting of 
 only a few hundred militia, and nine continental troops, he defeated a 
 superior force of the enemy near Beaufort. General Lincoln soon 
 after marched into Georgia, and left General MOULTRIE with about 
 twelve hundred militia and a few continentals, to watch the motions 
 
 The fort on Sullivan s Island was, by the legislature, afterwards named Fort MouJ ..ne. 
 
 6 
 
WILLIAM MOULTRIE. 
 
 of the British, who were by this time collecting a force for the pur 
 pose of striking at some important point. In the beginning of May 
 they advanced towards Charleston, with nearly four thousand men 
 under the command of General Provost. MOULTRIE retired before 
 them, destroying the bridges on the route, and impeding them as 
 opportunities offered ; he at the same time kept the governor in 
 Charleston, and General Lincoln, informed of the enemy s advance. 
 In a few days he reached Charleston, but with only six hundred 
 men ; the rest had deserted by the way. General Provost appeared 
 before the town ; but a few cannon shot stopped his progress. The 
 governor and his council were so much alarmed at the prospect of a 
 siege, that they requested a parley. General Provost offered pro 
 tection to such of the inhabitants as would accept of it, and to receive 
 the rest as prisoners of war. This proposal was rejected, and a 
 proposition of neutrality during the war was sent. The military 
 were so decidedly opposed to such a spiritless submission, that it was 
 with difficulty an officer could be prevailed on to bear the message. 
 When it was at last delivered, General Provost replied that he had 
 nothing to do with the governor, his business was with General 
 MOULTRIE. "Upon this," says the general, "the governor and 
 council looked very grave and steadfastly on each other and on me. 
 not knowing what I would say. After a little pause, I said, Gentle 
 men, you see how the matter stands, the point is this : am I to 
 deliver you up prisoners of war, or not ? Some replied Yes. I 
 then said, I am determined not to deliver you up prisoners of war. 
 We will fight it out. I immediately ordered a flag to be waved from 
 the gate, which was the signal agreed upon, should the conference 
 be at an end." But all were disappointed in the result ; for the next 
 morning, at daylight, it was discovered that the enemy had decamped. 
 They had intercepted a letter from General Lincoln, who was in their 
 rear with four thousand men. In the spring of 1780, General 
 MOULTRIE again distinguished himself at the siege of Charleston ; 
 which, after holding out upwards of a month, capitulated, and he 
 remained a prisoner of war until February, 1782, when he was 
 exchanged for General Burgoyne. He was promoted by congress to 
 the rank of major-general, but was not afterwards engaged in mili 
 tary operations, as at that period the British held no strong post 
 in South Carolina, except Charleston, and that they evacuated in 
 December of the same year. 
 
 While he was a prisoner on parole, a proposition was made to him 
 by Lord Charles Montague, under the guise of private friendship, to 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 leave the service, accept a British commission, and save his reputa 
 tion by quitting the country ; to which he replied in a dignified and 
 becoming manner, in a letter, from which, the following is extracted : 
 
 " When I entered into this contest, I did it with the most mature 
 deliberation, and with a determined resolution to risk my life and 
 fortune in the cause. The hardships I have gone through I look 
 back upon with the greatest pleasure : I shall continue to go on as I 
 have begun, that my example may encourage the youths of America 
 to stand forth in defence of their rights and liberties. You call upon 
 me now, and tell me I have a fair opening of quitting that service 
 with honor and reputation to myself by going to Jamaica. Good 
 GOD ! Is it possible that such an idea could arise in the breast of a 
 man of honor ! I am sorry you should imagine I have so little 
 regard for my own reputation as to listen to such dishonorable pro 
 posals ; would you wish to have that man whom you have honored 
 with your friendship, play the traitor ? Surely not. You say, by 
 quitting this country for a short time, I might avoid disagreeable 
 conversations, and might return at my own leisure, and take posses 
 sion of my estates for myself and family ; but you have forgot to tell 
 me how I am to get rid of the feelings of an injured honest heart, and 
 where to hide myself from myself; could I be guilty of so much 
 baseness I should hate myself and shun mankind. This would be a 
 fatal exchange from my present situation, with an easy and approved 
 conscience of having done my duty, and conducted myself as a man 
 of honor." 
 
 The only authentic information we have been able to obtain of the 
 life of General MOULTRIE before, or subsequent to the revolution is, 
 that he entered the field of Mars as the captain of a light infantry 
 company in a provincial regiment, and was engaged in an expedition 
 against the Cherokee Indians in 1761. He was governor of South 
 Carolina, in 1785-6, and again in 1794-5. He died September 
 27th, 1805, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. 
 
^ 
 
HENRY CLAY. 
 
 " If all this be as is now represented, he has acquired fame enough." 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 [N every country, an active politician must occupy a conspicuous 
 place in the public eye. In every country, and in our own, espe 
 cially, the more conspicuous he is rendered by his talents, energy, 
 decision of character, or peculiar principles, the more will he become 
 the favorite of some, and the object of reproach to others. Where 
 men and principles must be tried at the bar of public opinion, as in 
 our country, or in Great Britain, and we may now add, in France, it 
 is impossible to prevent this result. Nor, is it desirable that it 
 should be otherwise, saving, the bitterness and coarseness of invective, 
 with which political opponents are too often assailed, in the eager 
 strife of parties. To such an extent does this prevail in our land of 
 free presses, that it is to moderate politicians often a subject of deep 
 mortification and regret. To most of those who have been the 
 prominent men of our country these remarks are applicable, and yet, 
 no sooner are they removed from the stage of action, than their 
 country remembers their services with a just regard. Is it right 
 that public men should struggle through a life of anxious toil and 
 unfaltering patriotism, with only the hope of posthumous justice to 
 their integrity and their talents ? Certainly not ; we shall therefore 
 make our selections, alike from the distinguished living and the 
 illustrious dead. 
 
 Among the names which belong to, and are interwoven with, the 
 history of the United States, that of HENRY CLAY stands in bold 
 relief. Like many others in our country, he has been the builder of 
 his own fortunes ; having risen from poverty and obscurity to pro 
 fessional eminence and political dignity, by the energetic and 
 assiduous exercise of his intellectual powers. 
 
 HENRY CLAY was born on the 12th of April, 1777, in Hanover 
 county, Virginia. His father, who was a respectable clergyman, 
 died while HENRY was quite young ; in consequence of which, he 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 received no other education, than could be acquired at a common 
 school. He was placed at an early age in the office of Mr. Tinsley, 
 clerk of the high court of chancery, at Richmond, where his talents 
 and amiable deportment won for him, the friendship of some of the 
 most respectable and influential gentlemen in the state. At nineteen, 
 he commenced the study of the law, and was admitted to practice 
 when twenty years of age. He soon after removed to Lexington, 
 Kentucky, and continued his studies there about a year longer; 
 during which time he practised public speaking in a debating 
 society. In his first attempt he was much embarrassed, and saluted 
 the president of the society with the technical phrase, gentlemen of 
 the jury ; but gaining confidence as he proceeded, he burst the 
 trammels of his youthful diffidence, and clothing his thoughts in 
 appropriate language, gave utterance to an animated and eloquent 
 address. He soon obtained an extensive and lucrative practice ; and 
 the reputation which the superiority of his genius acquired, was 
 maintained by his legal knowledge and practical accuracy. 
 
 Mr. CLAY S political and professional career began nearly at the 
 same time ; but as we cannot give the details of his varied and busy 
 life within the limits of this sketch, we shall only mark the most 
 prominent points, particularly, where he has taken a stand in 
 support of his favorite principles and measures. 
 
 In 1798, when the people of Kentucky were preparing to frame a 
 constitution for the state, a plan was proposed for the gradual 
 emancipation of slaves. Mr. CLAY zealously exerted his talents in 
 favor of it ; he wrote for the journals, and declaimed at the public 
 meetings, but his efforts failed of success. 
 
 The next great question of a public character in which he took a 
 part, found him arrayed with the popular party, in vindicating the 
 freedom of the press, and in opposition to the sedition law, which 
 was viewed by one political party, as an attempt to control it. His 
 speeches on the subject are said to have exhibited much of that 
 energy of character and power of eloquence, which have since 
 distinguished him on all great public occasions. 
 
 In 1803, he was elected a member of the legislature, and soon took 
 rank among the ablest men of the state. 
 
 In 1806, General Adair resigned his seat in the senate of the 
 United States, and Mr. CLAY was elected to fill the vacancy for one 
 year. He made his debut, in a speech in favor of the erection of a 
 bridge over the Potomac at Georgetown, which is said to have 
 decided the question in favor of the measure, and is the first of his 
 
HENRY CLAY. 
 
 efforts in support of his favorite principle of internal improvement. 
 On his return to Kentucky, he was re elected to the state legislature, 
 arid at the next session was chosen speaker, by a large majority. 
 He held that station for several years, during which he frequently 
 took a part in the debates. He particularly distinguished himself 
 at the first session after his return from congress, by a powerful 
 speech in defence of the common law. A resolution had been 
 introduced to forbid the reading of any British decision, or elemen 
 tary work on law, in the Kentucky courts. The prejudices of the 
 people, and of a majority of the assembly, were believed to be in 
 favor of the motion ; Mr. CLAY moved an amendment, the effect of 
 which was, to exclude those British decisions only, which are of a 
 subsequent date to the declaration of independence. The prejudices 
 against which he contended, were removed by his masterly exposition 
 of the subject. The common law, which viewed in the darkness of 
 ignorance, appeared mysterious and inexplicable ; locked up, as was 
 supposed, in a thousand musty volumes ; was shown to be simple and 
 easy of comprehension, by the application of a few plain principles. 
 On this occasion, by one of the most extraordinary efforts of his 
 genius, and a brilliant exhibition of his legal knowledge and orato 
 rical powers, Mr. CLAY succeeded in carrying his amendment, by 
 an almost unanimous vote. 
 
 In 1809, Mr. CLAY was again elected to the United States senate 
 for two years, in the place of Mr. Thurston. At this time, the 
 country had arrived at one of those periods, when the strength of its 
 institutions was to be tried, by the menaces and impositions of foreign 
 powers. The policy of the United States has ever been, a non 
 interference in the affairs of Europe ; but notwithstanding the 
 neutrality of the government, to such a height had the animosity of 
 the belligerent European powers arrived, that each strove to injure 
 the other, even at the expense of justice, and by a violation of our 
 neutral rights. Several expedients had been resorted to, by which it 
 was hoped an appeal to arms might be averted, our commercial 
 rights respected, and our national honor remain untarnished ; but 
 at the same time a just apprehension was felt, that after all, our 
 pacific measures might prove abortive, and that it was necessary to 
 prepare for war. To this end, a bill was brought into the senate, to 
 appropriate a sum of money for the purchase of cordage, sail cloth, 
 and other articles ; to which an amendment was offered giving the 
 preference to American productions and manufactures. It was on 
 this occasion Mr. CLAY first publicly appeared as the advocate of 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 domestic manufactures, and of the protective policy which has since 
 been called " the American system" Mr. CLAY also participated in 
 other important questions before the senate, and amongst them, that 
 respecting the title of the United States to Florida, which he sustained 
 with his usual ability. 
 
 His term of service in the senate having expired, he was elected a 
 member of the house of representatives, and in the winter of 1811 
 took his seat in that body, of which he was chosen speaker, by a vote 
 that left no doubt of the extent of his influence, or of the degree of 
 respect entertained for his abilities. This station he continued to 
 hold until -1814. Previous to the time when the preparations for 
 war, before alluded to, became a subject of interest, Mr. CLAY had 
 been rather a participator in the discussion of affairs, than a leader, 
 or originator of any great measures, such as have since characterized 
 the national policy ; but from that period, he is to be held responsible 
 as a principal, for the impulse which he has given to such of them, as 
 will probably be left to the calm judgment of posterity. As early as 
 1811, we find him in his place advocating the raising of a respectable 
 military force. War he conceived inevitable, that in fact, England 
 had begun it already ; and the only question was. he said, whether it 
 was to be " a war of vigor, or a war of languor and imbecility." 
 " He was in favor of the display of an energy correspondent to the 
 feelings and spirit of the country." Shortly afterward, with equal 
 fervor, he recommended the gradual increase of the navy ; a course 
 of national policy, which has fortunately retained its popularity, and 
 still remains unchanged. 
 
 In 1814, Mr. CLAY was appointed one of the commissioners, who 
 negotiated the treaty of Ghent. When he resigned the speaker s 
 chair on the eve of his departure to Europe, he addressed the house 
 in a speech, " which touched every heart in the assembly, and unsealed 
 many a fountain of tears" ; to which the house responded by passing 
 a resolution, almost unanimously, thanking him for the impartiality, 
 with which he had administered the arduous duties of his office. In 
 the spring, after the termination of the negotiations at Ghent, he 
 went to London with two of his former colleagues, Messrs. Adams 
 and Gallatin ; and there entered upon a highly important negotiation, 
 which resulted in the commercial convention, which has been made the 
 basis of most of our subsequent commercial arrangements with foreign 
 powers. On his return to his own country, he was every where 
 greeted with applause, and was again elected to the house of repre 
 sentatives in congress, of which he continued to be a member until 
 
HENRY CLAY. 
 
 1825, when he accepted the appointment of secretary of state under 
 President Adams. 
 
 One of the great results of our foreign policy, after the war, was the 
 recognition of the independence of the Spanish colonies. On this 
 subject, Mr. CLAY entered with all his heart and soul, and mind and 
 strength, he saw "the glorious spectacle of eighteen millions of 
 people struggling to burst their chains and to be free" ; and he called 
 to mind the language of the venerated father of his country: "Born 
 in a land of liberty, my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, 
 and my best wishes, are irresistibly excited, whensoever, in my 
 country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom." 
 We regret that we cannot enter into the details of his eiforts in that 
 cause ; it must suffice to notice, that at first they were not successful, 
 yet he was not discouraged, but renewed them the following year, 
 when he carried the measure through the house of representatives. 
 The president immediately thereafter, appointed five ministers pleni 
 potentiary to the principal Spanish American states. While on this 
 subject, we must not permit the occasion to pass without remarking ; 
 that much as we admire those British statesmen, who are bending the 
 powers of their noble minds and splendid talents, to the great cause of 
 human liberty and human happiness, we cannot allow them, nor one 
 of them, to appropriate to himself the honor of having " called a new- 
 world into existence." That honor belongs not to George Canning, 
 as a reference to dates will show. If there be glory due to any one 
 mortal man more than to others, for rousing the sympathies of free 
 men for a people struggling to be free, that glory is due to HENRY 
 CLAY ; although he has never had the vanity to say so himself. His 
 exertions won the consent of the American people, to sustain the 
 president in the decisive stand which HE took, when the great 
 European powers contemplated an intervention on behalf of Spain ; 
 and it was THAT which decided Great Britain, in the course which 
 she pursued. The Spanish American states have acknowledged 
 their gratitude to Mr. CLAY by public acts ; his speeches have been 
 read at the head of their armies ; and his name will find as durable 
 a place in the history of the South American republics, as in tho 
 records of his native land. 
 
 In the domestic policy of the government, there have been two 
 points, to which Mr. CLAY S attention has been particularly directed, 
 since the late war ; both of them, in some degree, resting their claims 
 on the country, from circumstances developed by that war. We are 
 not about to discuss them, but merely to indicate them as his favorite 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 principles, to support which his splendid talents have been directed. 
 These are internal improvements, and the protection of domestic 
 manufactures by means of an adequate tariff. With regard to these 
 measures, the statesmen, and the people of the country, have been 
 much divided, sometimes, the^e has been a difference of opinion as 
 to the expediency of them, and sometimes, constitutional objections 
 have been advanced. He has been, however, their steadfast cham 
 pion, and has been supposed to have connected them, with the settled 
 policy of the country. How far this may prove true, time only can 
 decide. 
 
 The right, claimed by South Carolina, to nullify an act of Congress, 
 the warlike preparations made by that state to resist compulsion, and 
 the excitement throughout the country, occasioned by the conflict of 
 interests and opinions, and the hopes and fears of the community, 
 will never be forgotten by the present generation. A civil war and 
 the dissolution of the union, or the destruction of the manufacturing 
 interests, which had grown up to an immense value under the pro 
 tective system ; for a time seemed the only alternatives. During the 
 short session of congress in 1832-3, various propositions were made 
 to remove the threatened evils, by a readjustment of the tariff; but the 
 time passed on in high debate, and the country looked on in anxious 
 hope, that some measure would be devised, by which harmony and 
 security might be restored. Two weeks only remained to the end 
 of the session, and nothing had been effected ; when Mr. CLAY, " the 
 father of the American system," himself brought in the olive branch. 
 On the 12th of February, he arose in his place in the senate, and 
 asked leave to introduce a bill, to modify the various acts, imposing 
 duties on imports ; he at the same time addressed the senate in expla 
 nation of his course, and of the bill proposed. " The basis," Mr. CLAY 
 said, " on which I wish to found this modification, is one of time ; 
 and the several parts of the bill to which I am about to call the 
 attention of the senate, are founded on this basis. I propose to give 
 protection to our manufactured articles, adequate protection, for a 
 length of time, which, compared with the length of human life, is 
 very long, but which is short, in proportion to the legitimate discre 
 tion of every wise and parental system of government securing the 
 stability of legislation, and allowing time for a gradual reduction, on 
 one side ; and on the other, proposing to reduce the rate of duties to 
 that revenue standard for which the opponents of the system have so 
 long contended." 
 
 The bill was read, referred to a committee, reported on, and 
 
HENRY CLAY. 
 
 brought to its final passage in the senate within a few days. In the 
 mean time, it had been made the substitute for a bill under discussion, 
 in the house of representatives, and was adopted in that body by a 
 large majority and sent to the senate, where it had its final reading 
 on the 26th, and when approved by the president became a law. 
 
 We should not, in this place, have alluded to the course pursued 
 by one of the states, to effect a modification of the tariff, had it not 
 been so inseparably Connected with, what we doubt not, will be 
 hereafter considered one of the most important acts of Mr. CLAY S 
 public life. "He expressly declared that he thought the protective 
 system in extreme danger ; and that it would be far better for the 
 manufacturers, for whose interests he felt the greatest solicitude, to 
 secure themselves by the bill, than take the chances of the next 
 session of congress, when, from the constitution of both houses, it 
 was probable a worse one would be passed." On the other hand, he 
 urged the proposition "as a measure of mutual concession, of 
 peace, of harmony. He wanted to see no civil war ; no sacked 
 cities ; no embattled armies ; no streams of American blood shed by 
 American arms." We trust, that the crisis is passed, and that we 
 shall continue for ever a united, prosperous, and happy people. 
 
 The tariff has had its effect so far, that a new era has commenced, 
 and it is very probable, that the revenue of the country will finally 
 be settled down to a standard, only sufficient, to meet the expenses 
 of the government. In connection with this subject, we wish to 
 preserve the following extract from the speech of Mr. Verplanck, 
 in January, 1833, in support of a bill to reduce the tariff, reported 
 by him to congress : 
 
 " The last war left the nation laboring under a weight of public 
 debt. The payment of that war debt was one of the great objects of 
 the arrangement of our revenue system at the peace, and it was never 
 lost sight of in any subsequent arrangement of our tariff system. 
 Since 1815, we have annually derived a revenue from several sources, 
 but by far the largest part from duties on imports, of sometimes 
 twenty, sometimes twenty-five, and recently thirty-two and thirty 
 three millions of dollars a year. 
 
 " Of this sum, ten millions always, but of late a much larger pro 
 portion, has been devoted to the payment of the interest and principal 
 of the public debt. At last that debt has been extinguished. The 
 manner in which those burthens were distributed under former laws, 
 has been, heretofore, a subject of complaint and remonstrance. I 
 do not propose to inquire into the wisdom or justice of those 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 laws. The debt has been extinguished by them let us be grateful 
 for the past." 
 
 Many other interesting incidents are presented in the public life of 
 Mr. CLAY, to which we shall only advert ; such, as the part he took 
 in the Missouri question ; in the election of Mr. Adams ; on the subject 
 of sending a commissioner to Greece ; on the colonization of the 
 negroes ; and more recently, his labors in favor of rechartering the 
 United States Bank, and for the distribution of the proceeds of the 
 public lands for the purposes of internal improvement, education, &c. 
 
 Mr. CLAY received from Mr. Madison the successive offers of a 
 mission to Russia, and a place in the cabinet ; and from Mr. Monroe 
 a situation in his cabinet, and the mission to England ; all of which 
 he declined. 
 
 On the great Cumberland road, there has been erected a large and 
 beautiful monument, surmounted by a figure of Liberty, and inscribed 
 " HENRY CLAY." These are evidences of the estimation in which 
 Mr. CLAY has been held by his contemporaries ; others might be 
 adduced, but they would be superfluous. 
 
 Twice he has been nominated for the presidency, but without 
 success. We trust that he is too firm in his republican principles to 
 murmur, and that his friends will in some measure be consoled, by 
 reflections similar to that, which we have adopted as a motto to this 
 article. 
 
Drawn from life ,and .Engraved iv- James S>. Long; 
 
 - ::EH 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER was born in Salisbury, at the head of the 
 Merrimack river, in the state of New Hampshire, on the 18th of 
 January, 1782. His father, always a farmer, but at one period an 
 officer in the war of the revolution, and for many years judge of the 
 court of common pleas , was a man of a strongly marked character, 
 full of decision, integrity, firmness, and good sense. He died in 1806. 
 having lived, to see the spot where he had, with great difficulty, 
 established himself, changed from being the frontier of civilization, 
 to be the centre of a happy population, abounding in prosperity and 
 resources. 
 
 The early youth of Mr. WEBSTER was passed in the midst of the 
 forest, where the means for forming the character we now witness 
 in him, seemed absolutely wanting ; and but for the characteristic 
 policy of New England, which carries its free schools even into the 
 wilderness, he would have passed the "mute inglorious" life, which 
 is entailed upon the peasantry of less favored countries. But the first 
 upward aspiration, notwithstanding the unfavorable circumstances 
 in which he was placed, was early given ; and the impulse thus 
 imparted to his young mind was never lost. Struggling always with 
 difficulties, and not without great sacrifices on the part of his family, 
 he was prepared for a higher course of education ; and. at last, was 
 graduated, in 1801, at Dartmouth college, having already developed 
 faculties, which, so far as his academic career was concerned, left all 
 rivalship far behind him. 
 
 His professional studies in the law were begun in his native town, 
 under Mr. Thompson, soon afterwards a member of congress, and 
 completed in Boston, under Mr. Gore, afterwards governor of Massa 
 chusetts, and one of its senators in congress, whose whole character, 
 private, political, and professional, from its elevation, purity, and 
 dignity, was singularly fitted to influence a young man of quick and 
 generous feelings, who already perceived within himself the impulse 
 of talents and the stirring of an ambition, whose direction was yet to 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 De determined. It was in Boston, that Mr. WEBSTER was admitted 
 to the bar, in 1805 ; and it is a fact worth remembering, that, when 
 Mr. Gore presented him to the court, he ventured to make a prediction 
 respecting his pupil s future eminence, which all his present fame 
 has not more than fulfilled. 
 
 Mr. WEBSTER began the practice of his profession at Boscawen, a 
 small village near the place of his nativity; but, in 1807 ? removed 
 to Portsmouth, the commercial capital of New Hampshire There 
 he at once rose to the rank of the most prominent in his profession ; 
 and under the influence of such intercourse as that with Mr. Smith, 
 then chief justice of New Hampshire, and Mr. Mason, the leading 
 counsel in the state, and of the first order of minds any where, he 
 went through a stern intellectual training, and acquired that un 
 sparing logic, which rendered him in his turn so formidable an 
 adversary. 
 
 His first entrance on public life, was in 1812, soon after the decla 
 ration of war, when, at the early age of thirty, he was chosen one 
 of the representatives of his native state to the thirteenth congress. 
 His position there was a difficult one, and he felt it to be so. He 
 was opposed to the policy of the war ; the state he represented was 
 earnestly opposed to it ; and he had always, especially in the eloquent 
 and powerful memorial from the great popular meeting in Rocking- 
 ham, expressed himself frankly on the whole subject. But he was 
 now called into the councils of the government, which was carrying 
 on the war itself. He felt it to be his duty, therefore, to make no 
 opposition for opposition s sake ; though, at tl e same time, he felt it 
 to be no less his duty, to take heed that, neither the constitution, nor 
 the interests of the nation, were endangered or sacrificed. When, 
 therefore, Mr. Monroe s bill, for a sort of conscription, was introduced, 
 he joined with Mr. Eppes, and other friends of the administration, 
 and defeated a project, which, except in a moment of great anxiety 
 and excitement, would probably never have been proposed. But 
 when, on the other hand, the bill, "for encouraging enlistments," 
 was before the house, he made a speech, in January, 1814, in favor 
 of adequate naval defence, and a perfect military protection of the 
 northern frontier, which, now the passions of that stormy period are 
 hushed, will find an echo in the heart of every lover of his country. 
 
 On the subject of a national bank, he took the same independent 
 and patriotic ground, and maintained it with equal vigor and firmness. 
 The administration, having found a bank indispensable, applied to 
 congress for one, with fifty rn.llions of capital, five only of which 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 were to be in specie, and the rest in the depreciated government 
 securities of the period, with an obligation to lend the treasury thirty 
 millions; but relieved from the necessity of paying its own notes in 
 gold and silver. The project of such a bank, having passed the 
 senate, came to the house, and was there discussed, December, 1814, 
 and January, 1815. Mr. WEBSTER opposed it, on the ground, that 
 it would only increase the embarrassments in the fiscal operations 
 of the nation, and the pecuniary transactions of individuals, which 
 were already in confusion, by the refusal of all the state banks south 
 of New England, to pay in specie. He was, no doubt, right ; and. 
 probably, nobody now, on reviewing the discussion of the whole 
 subject, would doubt it. But he carried his point, and defeated the 
 bill, only by the casting vote of the speaker, Mr. Cheves. 
 
 Mr. WEBSTER S opposition to the bank, however, had not been 
 factious; and, therefore, the very next day, he took the initiative 
 steps for bringing the whole subject immediately before the house 
 again ; and a sound, specie-paying bank, was almost as immediately 
 agreed to ; Mr. WEBSTER, and most of his friends, voting for it. 
 The bill, however, to establish it, was rejected by the president, on 
 the ground, that it was not sufficient to meet the exigencies of the 
 case ; which, indeed, we now know no bank would have been able 
 to meet ; and thus the question was again brought into a severe and 
 protracted discussion, which was ended only by the unexpected news 
 of the peace, January 17, 1815. 
 
 But the peace brought with it other conflicts of a similar nature. 
 When the bill to establish the late bank of the United States was 
 introduced, Mr WEBSTER opposed it, on the ground, that the capital 
 proposed was too large, and that it contained a provision to authorize 
 a suspension of specie payments. On both points, his opposition, with 
 that of his friends, was successful ; but still, he was not satisfied with 
 the bill ; and the suggestions he made, predicting enormous subscrip 
 tions to the stock for purposes of speculation merely, and out of all 
 proportion to the real ability of the subscribers, showed the statesman 
 like forecast, which marked his whole political course and were 
 sadly justified by the difficulties that occurred in the history of the 
 bank itself. 
 
 Still less, however, was he satisfied with the condition of the 
 circulating medium of the country, which was then fit neither for the 
 safe management of the concerns of the government, nor for the 
 security of private property. A large part of it consisted in the 
 
 depreciated notes of the state banks, south of New England, in which 
 
 3 KI 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 even the revenue of the government was receivable, at the different 
 custom houses ; so that there was a difference, he declared, of at 
 least twenty-five per cent, in the rates of duties collected in different 
 parts of the country, according to the value of the paper medium in 
 which they were paid. The vast mischief which would follow this 
 state of things was at once foreseen by Mr. WEBSTER ; and he 
 introduced a resolution, requiring the revenue of the United States 
 to be collected only in the legal currency of the United States, or in 
 bills equal to that currency in value. The passage of this resolution, 
 the defeat of the paper-currency bank proposed in 1814, and the 
 establishment of the present specie-paying bank, have saved us from 
 confusion and disasters, which Mr. WEBSTER so clearly foresaw, 
 and on which, now we understand more of their nature and extent, 
 it is hardly possible to look back with composure. 
 
 The same principles and doctrines were again maintained by him, 
 with equal steadiness, when the question of re-chartering the bank 
 came up, in 1832. The objection of too large a capital was then 
 removed, as he conceived, by the increased population, wealth, and 
 wants of the country ; and the objection to indiscriminate subscription 
 could not recur, if the charter were renewed. Mr. WEBSTER. 
 therefore, sustained it ; and when the president had placed Ins veto 
 upon it, rejoined, not on the ground sometimes taken, that the 
 president had exceeded his authority ; but, on the ground that he 
 had exercised it to the injury of the country, and that the reasons he 
 had given for it were untenable. 
 
 In 1816, Mr. WEBSTER determined to retire, at least for a time, 
 from public life, and to change his residence. He had then lived in 
 Portsmouth nine years, and they had been to him years of great 
 happiness in his private relations, and, in his relations to the country, 
 years of remarkable advancement and honor. But, in the disastrous 
 fire, which, in 1813, destroyed a large part of that devoted town, he 
 had sustained a heavy pecuniary loss, which the opportunities offered 
 by his profession in New Hampshire were not likely to repair. He 
 determined, therefore, to establish himself in a larger capital ; and, 
 in the summer of 1816, removed to Boston, in the neighborhood of 
 which he resided till his death. 
 
 His object was now professional occupation ; and he devoted him 
 self to it, for six or eight years, with unremitting assiduity; refusing 
 to accept office, or to mingle in political discussion. His success was 
 correspondent to his exertions. He was already known as a distin 
 guished lawyer in his native state, and beginning to be known as 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 such in Massachusetts. The Dartmouth college cause which he 
 argued, in March, 1818, in the supreme court of the United States, 
 placed him in the first rank of American jurists, at the early age of 
 thirty-six ; and from that time his attendance on this great tribunal 
 was constantly secured by retainers in the most important causes ; 
 and the circle of his professional business, which continued regu 
 larly to enlarge, has not been exceeded, if it has been equalled, by 
 that of any other lawyer, who has ever appeared in the national 
 forum. Few of his arguments, however, are reported, and even 
 those few are exhibited only in a dry and technical outline. Among 
 them, the most remarkable are, the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden, in 
 1824, involving the question of the steam-boat monopoly ; and the 
 case of Ogden vs. Saunders, 1827, involving the question of state 
 insolvent laws, when they purport to absolve the party from the 
 obligation of the contract. In these, and in all his other forensic 
 efforts, we see what was most characteristic of Mr. WEBSTER S mind 
 as a lawyer : his clearness and downright simplicity in stating facts ; 
 his acute analysis of difficulties ; his earnest pursuit of truth for 
 truth s sake, and of the principles of law for the sake of right and 
 justice ; and his desire to attain them all by the most direct and 
 simple means. It was this plainness, this simplicity, in fact, that made 
 him so prevalent with the jury ; and not only with the jury in court, 
 but with the great jury of the whole people. 
 
 But, during the years just passed over, Mr. WEBSTER S success 
 was not confined to the bar. In the year 1820-21, he was a member 
 of a convention of delegates, assembled in Boston, to revise the con 
 stitution of Massachusetts, and exercised a preponderating influence 
 in an assembly of greater dignity and talent than was ever before 
 collected in that ancient commonwealth. On the 22d of December, 
 1820, the day when the two hundredth year from the first landing 
 of the forefathers, at Plymouth, was completed, Mr. WEBSTER, by 
 the sure indication of the public will, was summoned to that conse 
 crated spot, and, in an address, which is the gravest of his published 
 works, so spoke of the centuries past, that the centuries yet to come 
 shall receive and remember his words. Again, in 1825, fifty years 
 from the day when the solemn drama of the American revolution 
 was opened, on Bunker s hill, Mr. WEBSTER stood there, and inter 
 preted to assembled thousands the feelings with which that great 
 event will forever be regarded. Again, too, in the summer of 1826, 
 he was called upon to commemorate the services which Adams and, 
 Jefferson had rendered, when they carried through the declaration. 
 
 VOL. I. 15 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 of independence ; and which they so mysteriously sealed, by their 
 common death, exactly half a century afterwards. And finally, on 
 the 22d of February, 1832, at the completion of a century from the 
 birth of Washington, and in the city which bears his name, Mr. 
 WEBSTER exhibited him to the country as standing at the head alike 
 of a new world, and of a new era, in the history of man. These 
 four occasions were all memorable ; as memorable, perhaps, as any 
 that have occurred to Americans in our time ; and the genius of Mr. 
 WEBSTER has sent them down, marked with its impress, to posterity. 
 
 But, during a part of the period over which we have slightly 
 passed, he was again in public life. From 1823 to 1827, he was a 
 member of the house of representatives, from the city of Boston, in 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth congresses. His first distinguished 
 effort, on this second appearance in the national councils, was his 
 "Greek speech," in which, with the forecast of a statesman, he 
 showed, as plainly as events have since proved it, that the principles 
 laid down by the great powers in Europe from the congress of Paris, 
 in 1814, to that of Laybach, in 1821, as the basis on which to main 
 tain the peace of the world, mistook the spirit of the age, and would 
 speedily be overturned by the irresistible power of popular opinion. 
 In 1824, he entered fully into the great discussions about the tariff; 
 and examined the doctrines of exchange, and the balance of trade, 
 with an ability which has prevented them from being since, what 
 they had so often been before, subjects of crude and unsatisfactory 
 controversy in both houses of congress. In 1 825, he prepared and 
 carried through the crimes act, which, as a just tribute to his address 
 and exertions, his great wisdom and patient labor, already bears his 
 name ; and, in the same session of congress, he defended, as he had 
 defended them in 1816, the principles involved in the exercise of the 
 power of internal improvements by the general government. These, 
 with the discussions respecting the bill for enlarging the number of 
 judges of the supreme court of the United States, and respecting the 
 Panama mission, were the more prominent subjects on which Mr. 
 WEBSTER exhibited his remarkable powers during the four sessions 
 in which he represented the city of Boston in the house of 
 representatives. 
 
 In 1826, he was reflected, almost unanimously, to represent the 
 same district yet a third time ; but, before he had taken his seat, a 
 vacancy having occurred in the senate, he was chosen, without any 
 regular opposition, to fill it ; an honor, which was again conferred 
 upon him in 1833, by a sort of general consent and acclamation. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 How he sustained himself as a senator, is known to the whole 
 country. No man was ever found able to intercept from him the 
 constant regard of the nation; so that, whatever he said, was watched 
 and understood throughout the borders of the land, almost as familiarly 
 and thoroughly as it always was at Washington. The speeches he 
 delivered on the great questions of the tariff, and of internal improve 
 ments ; his admirable defence of the bill for the relief of the surviving 
 officers of the revolution ; his report on the apportionment of repre 
 sentatives; and his statesman-like discussions respecting a national 
 bank ; are known to all who know anything about the affairs of the 
 country. But, though the eyes of all were always thus fastened 
 on him, in such a way, that nothing relating to him, can have escaped 
 their notice, there were two occasions, when he attracted a kind and 
 degree of attention, which, as it is rarely given to any man in any 
 country, is so much the more honorable whenever it is obtained. We 
 refer now, of course, to the two great debates of 1830 and 1833, when 
 he overthrew the doctrine of nullification. 
 
 An attempt to put a construction upon the constitution, which has 
 resulted in these doctrines, can be traced back as far as to May, 1828, 
 when two or more meetings, of the South Carolina delegates, were 
 held at General Hayne s lodgings, in Washington; and to the 
 assembling of the legislature of South Carolina, in the autumn of the 
 same year, when, on the 19th of December, a document, called " An 
 Exposition and Protest," prepared, as is understood, by Mr. Calhoun, 
 then vice-president of the United States, was produced, in order to 
 exhibit and enforce those doctrines, on which that state relied for suc 
 cess in the contest into which she was then entering. In January, 
 1830, in the confident hope of obtaining further sanction to them, they 
 were brought forward in the senate of the United States, by General 
 Hayne; though the resolution, under color of which they were thus 
 produced, had nothing to do with them. Mr. WEBSTER was, there 
 fore, in a measure, taken by surprise ; but his whole life had been a 
 preparation for an encounter with any man, who should assail the great 
 principles of the federal constitution ; and his speeches, on this occasion, 
 in reply to General Hayne, though called from him almost without 
 premeditation, are the result of principles which had almost grown up 
 with him from his youth, and were now developed with all the matured 
 power of his mind and strength. 
 
 The same consequences, or consequences even more honorable 
 to Mr. WEBSTER, followed the attempt made in the winter of 1833, 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 to enforce in the senate the same unsound doctrines ; and the tumul 
 tuous and unparliamentary shout of applause that followed his great 
 speech, in reply to Mr. Calhoun, which burst involuntarily from the 
 hearts of the multitude, that listened to him, was afterwards echoed 
 from all the borders of the land. 
 
 The remaining part of Mr. WEBSTER S history is little more than 
 that of successive triumphs in the senate and at the bar, by the power of 
 his arguments and the force of his eloquence, and of his constant en 
 lightenment of the public mind, leading many thousands to conclusions 
 which but for him they would never have reached. Fully to detail 
 these triumphs would fill volumes, instead of the very few pages to 
 which our biographies must be confined. 
 
 In the recess of congress, in the year 1833, Mr. WEBSTER made a 
 short journey to the Middle States and the West. He was everywhere 
 the object of the most distinguished and respectful attentions. Public 
 receptions took place at Buffalo and Pittsburg, where, under the 
 auspices of committees of the highest respectability, he addressed im 
 mense assemblages convened without distinction of party. Invitations 
 to similar meetings reached him from many quarters, which he was 
 obliged by want of leisure to decline. 
 
 The period from the elevation of General Jackson to the time of 
 General Harrison, was filled with incidents of great importance in 
 various departments of the government ; often of a startling character 
 at the time, and not less frequently exerting a permanent influence on 
 the condition of the country. It may be stated as the general charac 
 teristic of the political tendencies of this period that there was a de 
 cided weakening of respect for constitutional restraint. Vague ideas of 
 executive discretion prevailed on the one hand in the interpretation of 
 the constitution, and of popular sovereignty on the other, as represented 
 by a president elevated to office by overwhelming majorities of the 
 people. In the midst of all, Mr. WEBSTER remained calm, firm and 
 powerful ; and contributed perhaps more than any other man, to con 
 duct the vessel of the state into a peaceful haven. 
 
 In the spring of 1839, Mr. WEBSTER, for the first time in his life, 
 crossed the Atlantic, making a hasty tour through England, Scotland 
 and France. His attention was particularly drawn to the agriculture 
 of England and Scotland ; to the great subjects of currency and ex 
 change ; and to the practical effects on the politics of Europe of the 
 system of the continental alliance. No traveler from this country has 
 ever been received with equal attention by private circles, or in the 
 very highest classes of English society. Courtesies usually paid only 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 to ambassadors and foreign ministers were extended to him. His table 
 was covered with invitations to the seats of the nobility and gentry ; 
 and his company was eagerly sought at the public entertainments 
 which took place while he was in the country. Among the distinguished 
 persons with whom he contracted intimate friendship, the late Lord 
 Ashburton may be particularly mentioned. A mutual regard of more 
 than usual warmth arose between them. This circumstance was well 
 understood in the higher circles of English society, and when, two 
 years later, a change of administration in both countries brought the 
 parties to which they were respectively attached into power, the 
 friendly relations well known to exist between them, were, no doubt, 
 among the motives which led to the appointment of Lord Ashburton 
 as special minister to the United States to settle a long existing and 
 very difficult question. 
 
 Mr. WEBSTER remained in the department of state but little more 
 than two years. His last act was the preparation of the instructions 
 of Mr. Gushing who had been appointed commissioner to China. Some 
 of the members of the cabinet had resigned some months preceding, 
 but in the judgment of the secretary of state, the public welfare claimed 
 his services till the period when he resigned his office into the hands 
 of President Tyler, and retired to private life. In 1845 he was elected 
 to resume his seat in the senate, where he remained till called by 
 President Fillmore again to occupy the department of state. 
 
 In the spring of 1850, the decease of Mr. Calhoun took place at 
 Washington, and Mr. WEBSTER, when speaking in the senate on the 
 mournful event, bore testimony, in cordial and affecting terms, to the 
 uninterrupted friendly relations in which they had always stood. He 
 regarded Mr. Calhoun as decidedly the ablest of the public men to 
 whom he had been opposed in the course of his political life. These 
 kindly feelings were known to be fully reciprocated by Mr. Calhoun. 
 He declared on his death-bed, that of all the public men of the day, 
 there was no one whose political course had been more strongly 
 marked by a strict regard to truth and honor than Mr. WEBSTER S. 
 Indeed of all the highly eminent public men of the day, these gentle 
 men made the least use of the favorite weapon of ordinary politicians, 
 personality towards opponents. 
 
 If it were allowable to specify one speech rather than another which 
 has shown the high powers of mind, and the clear views of Mr. WEB 
 STER on moral questions, we would refer to his mighty effort in the 
 supreme court at Washington, in 1844, on the Girard bequest. This 
 gentleman bequeathed the greater part of his estate to the city of 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Philadelphia for the foundation of a college for orphans, and the case 
 was argued by Mr. WEBSTER for the heirs at law. One of the grounds 
 on which the bequest was impeached by them was the exclusion by 
 the will of all ecclesiastics, missionaries, or ministers, of whatever sect, 
 from all offices in the college, and even from admission within the 
 premises as visitors. So impressive was Mr. WEBSTER S argument 
 upon the importance of making provision for religious instruction in all 
 institutions for education, that a meeting of the citizens of Washington 
 belonging to different religious denominations was held, at which a 
 resolution was passed, expressing the opinion entertained by the meet 
 ing of the great value of Mr. WEBSTER S argument, " in demonstrating 
 the vital importance of Christianity to the success of our free institu 
 tions, and that the general diffusion of that argument among the 
 people of the United States is a matter of deep public interest." Many 
 thousand copies of this masterly argument have since been circulated. 
 
 It has been well remarked by a recent biographer of Mr. WEBSTER, 
 that "the key to his whole political course is the belief that when the 
 Union is dissolved, the internal peace, the vigorous growth, and the 
 prosperity of the states, and the welfare of their inhabitants, are 
 blighted forever ; and that, while the Union endures, all else of trial 
 and calamity which can befal a nation may be remedied or borne. So 
 believing, he has pursued a course which has earned for him an honored 
 name among those who have discharged the duty of good citizens with 
 the most distinguished ability, zeal and benefit to the country. In the 
 relations of civilized life, there is no higher service which man can 
 render to man, than thus to preserve a wise constitution of government 
 in healthful action." 
 
 No man can fairly review the history of DANIEL WEBSTER without 
 admiring the character of our free institutions, and exulting in their 
 tendency. In other lands, and under any other government, his 
 extraordinary powers could not have been so fully developed. We 
 are aware that this might be said in connection with the majority of 
 our eminent men ; but no man illustrates the fact more clearly than 
 Mr. WEBSTER. From the days when, amidst the fastnesses of nature, 
 his young feet trod with difficulty the path to the common school 
 house, where his earliest aspirations were nurtured, and he was first 
 blest with a glimpse of the wisdom by which his course should be 
 directed, to the moment when he came forth from the senate chamber, 
 conscious that he had overthrown the doctrine of nullification, and 
 contended successfully for the union of the states ; or rather to a still 
 later period when the danger of the dissolution of the Union was even 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 greater, and when for its preservation he risked the esteem of many of 
 his friends, it is clear that he rested on his own distinct views of right 
 for success. And it is equally clear, that in all he ever did, he acted on 
 his full conviction of the wisdom of our constitution, and has shown 
 the highest development and proudest exercise of his mighty talents to 
 maintain our Union unbroken and cordial. 
 
 In the midst of his usefulness, and at the period when the continuance 
 of his services to the country seemed most desirable, Mr. WEBSTER 
 was overtaken with his last sickness. During the autumns of many 
 years he had suffered from chronic disease, and being in his seventy- 
 first year, apprehensions might well have been entertained of the 
 result, when in September of 1852, his appearance indicated languor 
 and suffering. As long as he could, he remained in his office at 
 Washington, and then retired to Marshfield, fully expecting that a 
 few weeks rest would enable him to return with renewed energy to 
 labor ; indeed not a few of his friends were disposed to nominate him 
 for the next presidency ; but all hopes were soon disappointed, and it 
 was announced to an anxious nation that they must prepare to lose an 
 illustrious favorite. 
 
 On the evening of Saturday, October 23, his physicians deemed it 
 their duty to inform him that his last hour was fast approaching; he 
 received the intelligence with composure, and then requested that the 
 female members of his family should be called into his room ; and calling 
 each by name, he gave them characteristic words of counsel and con 
 solation, and took a solemn and affectionate farewell. He then 
 requested the presence of the male members of his family, and of his 
 personal friends who were in his house, and addressing each of them 
 also by name, he referred to his past relations with them respectively, 
 and one by one bade them an affectionate adieu. After they left the 
 room, he expressed a desire that they should all remain near his 
 chamber, and recalling Mr. Peter Harvey, he addressed him as he 
 approached the bedside "Harvey, I am not so sick but that I know 
 you ; I am well enough to love you, and well enough to call down the 
 richest of Heaven s blessings upon you and yours. Harvey, don t 
 leave me till I am dead don t leave Marshfield till I am a dead man." 
 Then, as if speaking to himself, he said, " On the twenty-fourth of 
 October, all that is mortal of DANIEL WEBSTER will be no more." 
 
 Very shortly after this he engaged in fervent prayer, in a voice per 
 fectly natural, and scarcely less strong and full than when in health, 
 concluding by a solemn utterance of the words, "Heavenly Father, 
 forgive my sins, and receive me to thyself, through Christ Jesus." He 
 
 11 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 then turned to his medical attendants, and inquired at what hour or 
 moment he might expect his dissolution. He was informed that nothing 
 more could be done for him than occasionally administering to him 
 sedatives, and that death might ensue in two or three hours, but that 
 the time could not be definitely calculated. "Then," he replied, "I 
 suppose I must lie here quietly until it comes. May it come soon." 
 
 During the evening Dr. Jeffries offered him something, expressing 
 the hope that it might give him ease. "Something more, doctor," 
 said he, "more, I want restoration." At ten o clock he was sensibly 
 weaker, but perfectly conscious. Soon after, he repeated somewhat 
 indistinctly the words, " Poet, poetry, Gray, Gray." Mr. Fletcher 
 Webster, his only surviving son, repeated the first line of the eligy, 
 " The curfew tolls the knell of parting day." " That s it, that s it," 
 said Mr. WEBSTER, and the book was found and some stanzas read 
 which seemed to give him much pleasure. 
 
 From twelve o clock till two, there was much restlessness, but his 
 physicians were confident that there was no actual pain. A faintness 
 occurred, which led him to think that death was upon him, and he 
 expressed the hope that his mind would remain unclouded to the last. 
 He spoke of the difficulty of the process of dying, when Dr. Jeffries 
 repeated the verse, " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
 of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy 
 staff, they comfort me." " Yes," said he, quickly, " the fact, the fact. 
 That is what I want thy rod, thy rod thy staff, thy staff." At 
 twenty-two minutes before three o clock, on the morning of Sunday, 
 October 24, 1852, DANIEL WEBSTER expired. To the last moment 
 his intellect was vigorous, his mind clear, and his will strong. The 
 inward man triumphed to the last over the outward. 
 
 It will be long before we shall look upon his equal. Warriors have 
 led armies to victory ; but Mr. WEBSTER led this Union into an equality 
 of moral power and influence with the proudest nations of the earth. 
 He has shown us that perseverance in the maintenance of all that is 
 peculiar to us as a nation can alone give us a continually rising rank 
 among the governments of the world. His career was one of constant 
 patriotism, and his country, in life and death, showed him every 
 possible mark of respect. His memory shall always be precious, for he 
 
 merited all the honors he received. 
 
 12 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 
 
 IT is a peculiar felicity of our republican institutions, that they tnrow 
 no impediment in the career of merit, but the competition of rival 
 abilities. Into this career, it may enter without encountering the 
 repulses of artificial rank, or winning its patronage by unworthy com 
 pliances. As the father of an American family divides his favor and 
 his fortune alike among his children, so, the republic gives the same 
 impulse to all her sons, and receives in return a larger contribution of 
 their talents and services. There are many, no doubt, who have 
 overcome much greater embarrassments than the subject of this 
 memoir : nevertheless, he was one of the many examples of this sort, 
 pleasing in themselves, especially when considered as characteristic of 
 the country. 
 
 WILLIAM WIRT, late attorney general of the United States, was a 
 native of Bladensburg, Maryland ; he was born on the 13th of 
 November, 1772, and lost his parents at a very early age. This 
 event placed him under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, Jasper 
 Wirt, also a resident of the same village, in the neighborhood of which 
 WILLIAM received the rudiments of his education. In his seventh 
 year he was removed to a school in Georgetown, District of Colum 
 bia, and thence to another, at New Port Church, Charles county, 
 Maryland ; but the chief part of his education was received at the 
 school of the Reverend James Hunt, in Montgomery county, at which 
 he was placed in his eleventh year, and continued till he was fifteen. 
 Under the instruction of this gentleman, he went through the usual 
 course of the grammar schools of those days, being initiated in the 
 Latin and Greek classics, and in some of the branches of the mathe 
 matics, to which his teacher added some instruction in natural 
 philosophy. Here, too, he had the advantage of a good miscellaneous 
 library, cultivated his taste for polite literature, and became a confirmed 
 student and author when about thirteen years of age. As Montgomery 
 Court-house was at no great distance, the boys were allowed to visit 
 it occasionally on court days, and in imitation of what they saw and 
 
NATIOJSAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 heard there, they formed a court of their own. WIRT draughted the 
 constitution and laws, which he reported with an apologetic letter 
 prefixed. On the school being broken up, in 1787, Mr. Benjamin 
 Edwards, the father of one of his schoolfellows, (Ninian Edwards, 
 afterwards governor of Illinois,) having seen the juvenile essay and 
 letter alluded to, was induced to invite their author under his roof, 
 where he accordingly remained in the capacity of teacher about a year 
 and a half. This was a fortunate event to a young man whose patri 
 mony was inadequate to support him at college, or in the acquirement 
 of a profession ; and Mr. WIRT was frequently heard to express his con 
 viction, that to Mr. Edwards peculiar and happy cast of character, he 
 owed most of what might be praiseworthy in his own. 
 
 From this residence, and these occupations, he was forced by some 
 symptoms of bad health, and went, for the benefit of the climate, to 
 Augusta, in Georgia. On his return in the succeeding spring, he 
 began the study of law at Montgomery Court-house, with Mr. William 
 P. Hunt, the son of his former precepter. He was afterwards a student 
 at Leesburg, Virginia, under Thomas Swann ; was licensed for practice 
 in the autumn of 1792, and removed to Culpepper Court-house, in 
 Virginia, w r here he the same year began the professional career, in 
 which he attained such eminent renown. 
 
 He at this time possessed a vigorous constitution, with a prepossess 
 ing mien and manners ; these, combined with great felicity of conversa 
 tion, and a lively, fertile wit, are described by one who knew him a 
 short time after this date, to have been attractive in a very uncommon 
 degree, and to have made his society eagerly sought, especially by 
 the gay and young. His first essay at the bar was fortunate, and 
 gained him friends, as well as subsequent success. He married, in 
 1795, Mildred, the eldest daughter of Doctor George Gilmer, of Pen 
 Park, near Charlottesville. Residing, after his marriage, in the 
 family of his father-in-law, who was an accomplished scholar and wit, 
 as well as an eminent physician, and the intimate associate of Mr. 
 Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe, he found in these celebrated 
 men, and in others, who were attracted by the benevolent character 
 and hospitality of Doctor Gilmer, very cordial as well as desirable 
 friends ; while in the elegant library of the latter, he cultivated his 
 mind by the study of the elder philosophical writers, or employed 
 himself assiduously in composition. 
 
 The death of his wife, an accomplished and amiable woman, in 
 1799, interrupted this happy and profitable course of life, and sus 
 pended, for a while, his professional pursuits. For change of scene, 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 
 
 he was persuaded to go to Richmond, his friends procuring his election 
 to the clerkship of the house of delegates, which post he held during 
 three sessions of the assembly. Not having entirely relinquished the 
 practice of law, he volunteered, in 1800, in the well-known trial of 
 Callender; and in the same year he was selected to pronounce the 
 anniversary oration on the fourth of July. 
 
 The charm of his conversation and manners, which had won him 
 distinguished esteem in the elevated and intellectual circle of Pen Park 
 and Monticello, followed him into the associations, which, as clerk of 
 the house of delegates, he was thrown into, with the members of the 
 legislature. That body gave him a signal mark of its consideration, 
 by appointing him, in 1802, the chancellor of the eastern chancery 
 district of Virginia. 
 
 In the autumn of the same year he married the daughter of the late 
 Colonel Gamble, of Richmond, and finding the salary of the chancellor 
 ship unequal to the support of a family, he resigned it, and resumed 
 the practice of law. It was just before he removed to Norfolk, in the 
 winter of 1803-4, that he wrote the essays under the name of "The 
 British Spy." They were published originally in the Richmond 
 Argus, and were hastily composed, under some uneasiness, which he 
 hoped to divert, arising from the ill-health of his wife. Some of the 
 sketches in these essays had a wide popularity, and that of the "Blind 
 Preacher" penetrated, we believe, into every hamlet of the country, 
 and was well known in Europe. 
 
 At Norfolk he practised with increasing success till 1806, when, at 
 the solicitation of his friends, he removed to Richmond, as a wider 
 professional theatre, then adorned by men of the first legal talents and 
 learning. In this city, and often, likewise, in distant parts of the 
 state, he pursued his profession for eleven years, with still extending 
 reputation, which enlarged into celebrity by the trial of Aaron Burr, 
 against whom, under the direction of President Jefferson, he was 
 employed as prosecuting counsel. 
 
 This trial took place in 1807, soon after Mr. WIRT S removal to 
 Richmond, and created, it is well known, an earnest interest in all 
 classes of people. Great learning and abilities were exhibited at once 
 in the prosecution and defence ; public passion augmented the intrinsic 
 importance of the affair ; and the whole theatre was well adapted, to 
 call out the talents of the actors on either side. The report of the 
 trial has made his speeches familiar to lawyers ; and some passages of 
 them are still more so, as popular specimens of eloquence, 
 
 In the following winter he sat for the only time in a legislative 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 body, being elected without canvass, a delegate to the assembly from 
 Richmond. As a member of a committee, he brought in a report and 
 resolutions, respecting the aggressions of France and Great Britain on 
 our commerce, and in support of the consequent measures of Mr. 
 Jefferson s administration. He wrote in the same year, some essays 
 in the Richmond Enquirer, signed " One of the People," addressed to 
 the members of congress, who had united in a protest against the 
 nomination of Mr. Madison for president, and exhibiting the character 
 and services of that illustrious citizen. He published, about the same 
 time, an address to the people of Virginia, in recommendation of 
 domestic manufactures, and some essays signed the "Sentinel," in 
 vestigating and approving some financial and other views of Mr. 
 Jefferson. 
 
 The appointment of Mr. WIRT by Mr. Monroe, to the attorney- 
 generalship of the United States, (which had been preceded by his 
 receiving from Mr. Madison the post of United States attorney for 
 the district of Virginia,) caused him to remove to Washington in the 
 winter of 1817-18, and brought him into the arena of the supreme 
 court ; than which, no forensic theatre, perhaps, ever presented more 
 accomplished and powerful antagonists. Mr WIRT S practice soon 
 became extensive, and his celebrity kept pace with it, as an eloquent 
 advocate and learned jurist. The attorney-generalship he held through 
 three presidential terms, longer by many years than any of his prede 
 cessors ; and his labors in this arduous post, seem to have surpassed 
 theirs in the same proportion, being the first of those officers that sat 
 in the cabinet, and the only one that left any official opinions or prece 
 dents, to guide his successors. He resigned his place at the end of 
 Mr. Adams administration, and removed to Baltimore, where he 
 resided till near his death. 
 
 Before he left Washington, he had pronounced, at the request of 
 the citizens of that place, an eulogy on the two patriots, who by so 
 singular a coincidence, ended their lives on the same anniversary of the 
 national independence. This composition contains some passages of 
 finished oratory, and has more especially infused into it the classic 
 tincture of his reading. In 1830, he made at Rutgers college, a dis 
 course of a more didactic nature, in which we discern that love of virtue 
 and decorum, which breathes in all his writings. He was selected the 
 same year to deliver the address at the celebration of the French 
 revolution of July, by the citizens of Baltimore ; which he accomplished 
 to the full satisfaction of all who heard him, who presented him their 
 cordial thanks. 
 
 4 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 
 
 In September, 1831, the first National Convention of the Anti- 
 Masonic party assembled in Baltimore to nominate candidates for the 
 presidency and vice-presidency of the United States. This party arose 
 from the abduction and supposed murder of William Morgan, a resident 
 of the western part of New York, where he had published a book 
 professing to reveal the secrets of Freemasonry. The excitement 
 spread from that state into others, and the party to which it gave 
 birth was swelled in some of the states, particularly in Pennsylvania, 
 by persons who were dissatisfied with the administration of President 
 Jackson, and yet were unwilling to join the party, professedly opposed 
 to him, the National Republicans whose candidate it was generally 
 expected, would be Henry Clay. In some of the states the new party 
 held the balance of power and in all the northern parts of the Union it 
 was rapidly growing, and led by active and energetic men. 
 
 Mr. WIRT had been selected to represent Baltimore in the National 
 Convention of the National Republican party ; he was ardently devoted 
 to Mr. Clay and prepared to support him for the presidency. It was, 
 therefore, to his great surprise, that he received a notification from the 
 Anti-Masonic Convention that he had been selected as their candidate 
 for the presidency, accompanied by the request of an immediate 
 answer. 
 
 Mr. WIRT accepted the nomination in a letter in which he informed 
 the convention that he had in early life joined the Freemasons, but had 
 not been in a lodge for many years ; but that he could not believe that 
 the proceedings against Morgan had met with the sanction of the order. 
 He thought some of the oaths exacted of members were improper, and 
 came in conflict with their duties as citizens, and taking into considera 
 tion that the maintenance of " the supremacy of the laws" was the 
 basis upon which the new party proposed to act, he concluded by 
 consenting to be their candidate. 
 
 At the election in the Autumn of 1832, the state of Vermont was 
 the only one in which the Anti-Masons gave the largest vote and Mr. 
 WIRT received the seven electoral votes of that state for the presi 
 dency. 
 
 In the two succeeding years, 1833 and 1834, Mr WIRT was con 
 cerned in founding a colony of Germans in Florida, which was placed 
 under the control of one of his sons-in-law, Mr. Goldsborough, of the 
 navy. He seemed to have looked forward to joining his two daughters 
 who were settled in that territory and spending the remainder of his 
 life with them. The colony proved a failure ; some of the settlers 
 violated their engagements and ran away, and experience seems to 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 have been all that the proprietors derived from it. Writing of the 
 failure of the colony to a friend, Mr. WIRT very pleasantly says, " As 
 to the Germans I am now prepared to write a treatise De moribus 
 Ger manor um . " 
 
 In January, 1834, Mr. WIRT attended the sitting of the supreme 
 court of the United States at Washington. His health was feeble and 
 he had just received the afflicting news of the death of his eldest 
 daughter, Mrs. Randall, in Florida. In February, whilst he was in 
 some degree recovering from this afflicting blow, he took cold on 
 returning from the capitol, whither he had been to attend divine ser 
 vice. He was not considered seriously ill until Thursday, when he became 
 much worse, and on Tuesday, February 18th he expired. As might 
 have been expected, the highest encomiums were pronounced on him 
 by members of the bar, who at once assembled to do him honor ; and 
 both houses of congress adjourned to enable their members to attend 
 his funeral ; a mark of respect never before shown to any who were 
 not members of one or the other house. In the procession were seen 
 the president of the United States, the vice-president, the heads of 
 departments, the diplomatic corps, the bench and bar of the supreme 
 court, the members of the two houses of congress, officers of the army 
 and navy, and a large concourse of private citizens. 
 
 Mr. Wirt was not more eminent as a jurist and public man than he 
 was affectionate and devoted as a friend and relative, and delightful 
 as a companion. His life had been more varied than that of most 
 professional men and his conversation abounded with anecdote. His 
 wit was playful and gentle, and he was disposed to look at men and 
 things upon the bright side. A strong religious feeling was conspicu 
 ous in his character ; in the latter part of his life he united himself as 
 a communicant with the Presbyterian Church, to which denomination 
 his parents had belonged. 
 
 As life advanced, his excellent biographer, the Hon. J. P. Kennedy, 
 informs us, his convictions of the truth and value of the Christian 
 revelation, and of the duties it imposed upon him, became more earnest 
 and profound. He devoted a portion of his time, every day, to the 
 reading of the scriptures ; engaged in a comprehensive study of 
 theology ; cultivated habits of prayer and meditation, which he pro 
 moted and encouraged throughout his family ; and frequently employed 
 his leisure in the composition of religious essays and records of private 
 devotion. He took great interest in the promotion of moral and 
 religious institutions, in the missionary labors of the churches, in the 
 extension of Sunday schools, in the success of bible societies, and 
 
WILLIAM WIRT. 
 
 was, at the time of his death, the president of the State Bible Society 
 of Maryland. He was a most effective friend of the cause of temper 
 ance, and often sought opportunity to testify to the great importance 
 which he attached to the labors of the societies connected with it. "I 
 have been for more than forty years," he remarks in a letter which 
 has been frequently published, " a close observer of life and manners 
 in various parts of the United States, and I know not the evil that 
 will bear a moment s comparison with intemperance." In short, the 
 latter years, especially, of Mr. WIRT S life furnish us the spectacle of a 
 highly gifted, thoughtful, and accomplished mind stimulated by a sin 
 cere and fervent piety, and employed in the promotion of every good 
 work suggested by enlightened benevolence or Christian duty. His 
 theological studies were systematically pursued through many years, 
 in whatever leisure his profession allowed him. His favorite authors 
 were Hooker, Baxter, Watts, Faber, Flavel, Robert Hall, Doddridge, 
 and Jay ; Massillon and Bourdaloue were frequently in his hands. Of 
 Baxter, he says, in a letter to his daughter " I took up The Saint s 
 Rest lately, and found it like an old sandal-wood box, as fresh and 
 fragrant as if it had been just made, although it has been exhaling its 
 odor for a hundred and eighty years." 
 
 As a writer, Mr. WIRT was chiefly known by productions which 
 were the work, or rather the amusement of the limited leisure which he 
 could snatch from other labors. " The Spy" and " The Old Bachelor," 
 of the last of which he wrote the greater part, were essays, composed 
 under the double haste of daily business and the promptings of the 
 occasion. Under such circumstances we may wonder that a lawyer, 
 devoted to his profession, who at no time languished in want of prac 
 tice, and who when the last of them had appeared, had reached high 
 emolument and honor, should have had the time, the taste, and the 
 affection for letters, to send forth two series of essays, which were re 
 ceived with uncommon pleasure by the public. Indeed they have 
 obtained what may be considered a permanent popularity ; " The Old 
 Bachelor" having gone through three editions, and " The British Spy" 
 through nine. Their tone is elevated, the thought, for the most part, 
 elegant and natural, and in sketches of character and manner the 
 author has been particularly happy. 
 
 In " The Life of Patrick Henry," as being the work of more mature 
 age, we might have expected an abatement of the ornamental decla 
 mation, sometimes objected to in his writings. But though this 
 biography was designed by the author for many years, it finally passed 
 from his hands under the same circumstances of haste as his other pro- 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 ductions. His subject, also, was an extraordinary man, of whom i* 
 was difficult to speak in the terms employed by the witnesses of his 
 displays, without being thought to surcharge the picture ; and who, 
 while he commanded the unlimited admiration of his contemporaries^ 
 especially in his native state, may be said to have left scarcely " the 
 foot of Hercules" by which posterity might imagine the proportions of 
 the whole heroic image. 
 
 It appears from several of Mr. WIRT S letters, published in the 
 excellent biography written by the Hon. John P. Kennedy, to have 
 been his desire to retire from the bar and devote himself to literature. 
 The claims of a large family prevented his carrying out this intention. 
 The friends of American literature must regret that this was the case. 
 
 As an orator, Mr. WIRT was correct and elegant, various as well as 
 rich, and remarkably perspicuous. As to his personal qualifications for 
 his art, his figure was pronounced by an eloquent panegyrist to be 
 " dignified and commanding ; his countenance open, manly and play 
 ful ; his voice clear and musical ; his whole appearance truly oratorical." 
 His countenance expressed both benignity and intelligence. His 
 enunciation was distinct ; and it may be mentioned, both as an en 
 couragement to such as labor under a like embarrassment, and as an 
 example of what may be accomplished by care, under the guidance of 
 good taste and a fine ear, that this was by no means the case at an earlier 
 period. On the contrary, it was then somewhat hurried and harsh, 
 and sometimes inarticulate. His action was unstudied and rather 
 graceful than energetic. 
 
Painted bv ( ol..r.Tniinli 
 
 ill KVi" T, I ALUM 1 1:1 r D) W.l (3 1J .! ., iS.T.lVL L.IJ. 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D.D. 
 
 THIS eminent divine was born of reputable parents, in Northamp 
 ton, Massachusetts, in the year 1752. His mother was a daughter 
 of the celebrated metaphysician and theologian, President Edwards, 
 and is said to have inherited much of the uncommon powers of her 
 father. She early perceived the promise of superior genius in her 
 son, and cherished its progressive developments with all a mother s 
 fondness. His advancement in learning, while almost in his in 
 fancy, was wonderfully rapid ; and we are told by his biographers, 
 that at the age of six years he studied through Lilly s Latin gram 
 mar twice, without the knowledge of his father. When he had just 
 passed his thirteenth year, he was admitted a member of Yale 
 college, and he went through his collegiate course with great credit. 
 Immediately after graduating, he opened a grammar school in New 
 Haven, which he continued for two years, when he was chosen a 
 tutor in the college. During the period he was occupied with his 
 school, he made a regular division of his time, devoting six hours of 
 the day to his pupils, and eight hours to his private studies. He 
 was for six years a tutor in the college, and was a laborious and 
 successful teacher. So popular was he with the students, that on 
 his resignation, and when only twenty-five years of age, a petition 
 was presented by them to the corporation of the college, soliciting 
 his appointment to the presidency. In directing his private studies 
 at this time, he turned his attention more particularly to rhetoric 
 and belles lettres, which had been but little cultivated in our semi 
 naries previous to the revolution, and his early productions in prose 
 and verse, in conjunction with those of Trumbull, Humphreys, and 
 Barlow, formed an era in American literature. 
 
 In 1771 he commenced writing the "Conquest of Canaan," a 
 regular epic poem, which employed his leisure hours until 1774, 
 when it was completed. On receiving the degree of Master of Arts, 
 in 1772, he pronounced an oration on the history, eloquence, and 
 poetry of the Bible, which was published in this country and in 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 England. In order to economize his time at this period, iind to 
 avoid the necessity of exercise, he restricted himself to certair. abste 
 mious rules in diet, which, in the end, greatly impaired his health, 
 and he was at length reluctantly compelled to lay aside his books. 
 His physician recommended the daily use of severe bodily exercise, 
 which he had endeavored to forego, and it is said, that during a 
 twelvemonth he walked and rode upwards of five thousand miles, 
 besides resuming, no doubt, that good old system of living to which 
 he had been accustomed. The result, in a short time, was the com 
 plete restoration of his health, which continued good for the ensuing 
 forty years of his life, and until he was attacked by his last illness. 
 
 In 1777 the different classes in the college were separated on 
 account of the war, and he repaired, with his class, to Weathers- 
 field, in Connecticut, where he remained from May to September. 
 During this summer he was licensed to preach as a Congregational 
 minister. In September he was nominated a chaplain in the army, 
 and immediately joined the brigade of General Parsons, in the Mas 
 sachusetts line. While in the army he wrote several patriotic 
 songs, which were much admired and widely circulated. 
 
 In 1778 he received the melancholy tidings of the death of his 
 father, upon which he resigned his situation in the army, and 
 returned to Northampton, to assist his widowed mother in the edu 
 cation and support of her family. Here he remained about five 
 years, laboring on the farm during the week, and preaching every 
 Sabbath in one of the neighboring towns, besides establishing a 
 school, which was largely patronized. During this period he was 
 twice elected a member of the legislature of Massachusetts. 
 
 In 1783 he was ordained a minister in the parish of Greenfield, 
 in Connecticut. Besides attending to his parochial duties, he also 
 opened an academy here, which soon acquired a reputation then 
 unequalled in our country ; and in the course of twelve years, he 
 taught more than one thousand scholars in the various branches of 
 English and classical literature. During his residence at Greenfield 
 he published the " Conquest of Canaan," for which, at the close 01 
 the war, he had obtained a list of three thousand subscribers. He 
 however withheld its publication at that time, and now printed it 
 at his own expense. It was shortly afterwards republished in Eng 
 land, and received the approbation of Darwin and Cowper, the 
 former, particularly, commending the smoothness and melody of the 
 versification. There are many splendid passages in this poem, and 
 if it was not popular with all classes of readers, something may, 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 
 
 doubtless, be attributed to the theme; and although me author himseh 
 declared in after life that " it was too great an undertaking for inex 
 perienced years," still, it must be considered an extraordinary pro 
 duction for a youth of twenty-two. 
 
 In 1794 he published his poem entitled " Greenfield Hill," named 
 after the beautiful spot where he resided. 
 
 In 1795 he was elected president of Yale college, on the death of 
 President Styles. On his accession to this office, he found the col 
 lege in a depressed state, owing to the want of funds and othei 
 causes ; but his distinguished reputation as an instructor brought to 
 it a great increase of students, and he soon succeeded in establishing 
 two new professorships, and in greatly extending the library and 
 philosophical apparatus. He not only enlarged the sphere of in 
 struction, but changed the whole system of government of the 
 college, while he reformed the modes and elevated the tone of 
 education, directing the students to a loftier aim in literary and 
 moral improvement. The effects were soon abundantly visible, and 
 Yale college has ever since ranked with the first institutions of 
 learning in our country. During the twenty-one years he presided 
 over it, a greater number of students were educated there than in 
 any other similar institution. 
 
 In 1796 he commenced a regular course of travelling through 
 New England and the state of New York, which he continued dur 
 ing the spring and fall vacations in each succeeding year, until a 
 short time before his death. In these excursions, undertaken prin 
 cipally for the purposes of health, and of relaxation from his sedentary 
 duties in the college, he was in the habit of making brief notes, upon 
 the spot, of every thing interesting which he saw or heard, for the 
 immediate gratification of his family ; and these notes were after 
 wards written out by him, or to his dictation, by an amanuensis, 
 and have been published since his death, under the title of u Travels 
 in New England and New York," in four volumes octavo. This 
 work contains a mass of useful and interesting information upon a 
 great variety of topics, with amusing anecdotes and graphic sketches 
 of scenery and character. A most valuable portion of it is its histo 
 rical notices of the origin and customs of the aborigines of our 
 country. He also left behind him, ready for the press, a complete 
 system of divinity, contained in one hundred and seventy-three 
 discourses or lectures, which formed his course in the college as 
 professor of theology, and which have been published, both in Eng 
 land and this country, under the title of " Theology Explained and 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Defended." He continued the active performance of his duties 
 until near the close of his life, and heard the recitation of a theolo 
 gical class a week before his death. During his illness, which con 
 tinued about two years, he occasionally occupied himself in poetical 
 composition, to divert his mind from his painful sufferings. Four 
 days previous to his death, he performed the last of his literary and 
 earthly labors ; and as he laid his manuscript aside, which was a 
 theological dissertation, he said to his family, " I have now finished." 
 He died at his residence in New Haven, January llth, 1817, after 
 severe and repeated attacks of his disease, the character of which, it 
 is said, was not well understood. 
 
 In this brief sketch, it is not to be expected that full justice can be 
 done to the character of President DWIGHT. We shall endeavor, 
 however, to present our own views of it, derived from personal 
 knowledge, arid the observations of others, who have written his 
 biography. As poetry did not form the business of his life, but was 
 written merely as a mode of literary relaxation, there have been 
 those among us who surpassed him in this department of literature, 
 and as a poet, therefore, we do not ask for him the highest meed of 
 praise. His mind, perhaps, was too logical and argumentative, his 
 train of thought too methodical, and his memory too retentive of 
 facts and details, and too much engrossed with them, to leave room 
 for the display of that brilliant fancy which the highest flights of 
 poetry require. His stronger mental powers he had subjected to a 
 severe discipline from early youth, and we suspect that the philoso 
 phy of Bacon and Locke had always more charms for him than the 
 music of the Doric reed. Still, some of his smaller poetical pieces 
 are extremely beautiful. 
 
 But the fame of Dr. DWIGHT was not built upon his poetry, and 
 does not rest upon it. As an instructor, he stood pre-eminent among 
 his contemporaries, from the opening of his grammar school in New 
 Haven, while a mere youth, to the close of his career as president of 
 Yale college. He early made innovations upon previous methods 
 of instruction, which were dictated by his powerful and original 
 genius, and they were attended with signal success, as many who 
 now occupy high places amongst us can bear witness. The art of 
 the pedagogue, under his hands, expanded into a noble vocation, 
 which commanded respect and veneration, and elevated science and 
 literature in our country to a rank which, before his time, they 
 nad not attained. Over his pupils he exercised an unbounded in 
 fluence which was cemented in affection ; and his unwearied efforts 
 
TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 
 
 at all times were, to pour into their minds that ripe knowledge, 
 which it had been the whole business of his life to treasure up from 
 study, meditation, and a familiar intercourse with the world. He 
 was versed in almost every subject of science and art, and besides 
 his own peculiar and professional studies, he had acquired inex 
 haustible treasures in natural philosophy, chemistry, history, geo 
 graphy, statistics, philology, husbandry, and domestic economy ; 
 and which were so methodically arranged in his mind, as to be 
 always at command, and when he became animated in discourse, 
 were poured forth from his lips in a perpetual stream of knowledge 
 and wisdom. 
 
 Dr. D WIGHT S colloquial powers were very great, and no one who 
 had the pleasure of listening to his conversation ever failed to be 
 impressed with a high opinion of his great attainments, and a pro 
 found respect for his character, which was heightened by his polish 
 ed and courteous address. To strangers he was urbane and affable, 
 and among the friends of his fireside, he intermingled, in his social 
 converse, flashes of wit with practical wisdom, the utile cum dulci, 
 *n the most fascinating degree. His temper was ardent, but his heart 
 was full of kindness, and probably no husband, father, or friend, 
 was ever more beloved than he was by those to whom he stood in 
 these relations. To them his loss was irreparable, and a whole 
 community sympathized in their sorrows. His memory was a store 
 house of anecdotes upon all subjects, which he had been indus 
 triously collecting from books, and a long and attentive observation of 
 mankind ; and little of what he had once learned was afterwards 
 forgotten. Hence his society was greatly courted, and the atten 
 tions which he uniformly received from all classes of his fellow 
 citizens, were richly repaid by the instruction and pleasure which 
 his conversation afforded. 
 
 As a theologian he stood at the head of his profession, at the time 
 of his death, and was inferior in learning to none of his predecessors, 
 if we except, perhaps, his maternal grandfather, President Edwards. 
 As a proof of the correctness of this high praise, we confidently refer 
 to his voluminous theological works, and the criticisms which have 
 been pronounced upon them, both at home and abroad. He was an 
 eloquent preacher, and although his discourses were addressed to 
 the understanding rather than the passions of his hearers, who were 
 statedly the members of the college, yet, when the subject admitted 
 of oratorical display, he showed himself equal to the highest efforts 
 of the art. His sublime conceptions of the Deity, especially of the 
 
 5 Rl 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 divine attributes of love and mercy, on which he delighted to dwell, 
 when embodied in his powerful and impressive language, were only 
 second to those of the great English epic poet ; while in touches of 
 pathos, particularly in his funeral discourses, or over the premature 
 grave of youthful genius, he opened a direct and easy avenue to the 
 stoutest heart, and his appeals were irresistible. His voice was clear, 
 distinct, and loud, and its inflections, although few, were musical and 
 agreeable ; the only defect in his elocution was, too marked and fre 
 quent an emphasis, and too little variety in his tones ; but his manner was 
 dignified, earnest, and impressive, evincing sincere and ardent piety, 
 and a feeling heart. The effect of his eloquence was enhanced by his 
 fine personal appearance, graceful gestures, and an eye of fire. 
 
 In his intercourse with his fellow men and his " walk with God," 
 he was everything which the most devout Christian or rigid moralist 
 could desire ; and when he expired, our country was bereaved of a 
 great and good man, and learning and religion sustained a loss not 
 easily supplied. Nor can the influence of such a man ever die. His 
 own family, and many other eminent men, whom he prepared for use 
 fulness, yet diffuse blessings around them, and will continue to act on 
 the world till time shall end. The works of the amiable and eloquent 
 divine are yet teaching our ministers, and his name and memory in 
 Yale College are still held in grateful remembrance. May our young 
 men imitate his example, diffuse their usefulness, and find that 
 
 The sweet remembrance of the just. 
 
 Like a green root, revives, and bears 
 
 A train of blessings for his heirs, 
 When dying nature sleeps in dust. 
 
,IOKI, 1 5. MvLOVV 
 
JOEL BARLOW. 
 
 THIS distinguished poet, philosopher, and politician, was bom in the 
 village of Reading, in Connecticut, about the year 1755. At an 
 early age, he had the misfortune to lose his father, a respectable 
 farmer, in moderate circumstances, who left a family of ten child 
 ren, with only a slender patrimony for their support. But the 
 education of young BARLOW was not neglected on this account, 
 and after going through his preparatory studies, he was placed by 
 his guardians at Dartmouth college, New Hampshire, where he 
 remained a short time, when he was transferred to Yale college, 
 New Haven. He here displayed a talent for poetical composition, 
 which attracted the notice of Dr. Dwight, then a tutor in the college, 
 and perhaps,, the flattering encouragement he received from this 
 distinguished man, fixed the character of his future life, over which, 
 through all its vicissitudes, a devotion to the muses predominated. 
 
 At this period, the revolutionary war was raging, and young 
 BARLOW, impelled by patriotism, and that enthusiasm which formed 
 a marked trait in his character, took up arms in the service of his 
 country, entering as a volunteer in the militia ranks of his native 
 state. He, however, still continued a member of the college, and 
 only sallied into the field during the vacations, He was engaged in 
 various encounters with the enemy, and is said to have borne a part 
 in the warmly contested battle of White Plains. 
 
 In 1778, he received the degree of bachelor of arts, and on that 
 occasion, pronounced an original poem, which was afterwards pub 
 lished. On leaving college, he made choice of the profession of the 
 law, and entered zealously upon its studies, but relinquished them in 
 a few months, on being strongly urged by his friends to qualify 
 himself for the Christian ministry, with a view to enter the army as 
 a chaplain ; and after only six weeks preparation, he was licensed, 
 and immediately repaired to the camp to commence upon his new 
 duties ; in the performance of which, he gave general satisfaction, 
 and was much respected as a preacher. He, however, did not neglect 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 the muse, but employed his leisure in composing the "Vision of 
 Columbus," which afterwards formed the basis of his great epic 
 poem, " the Columbiad ;" and occasionally wrote patriotic songs and 
 addresses, in conjunction with Dr. Dwight, also a chaplain in the 
 army, and Colonel Humphreys, which are supposed to have had a 
 considerable influence in exciting and keeping alive the enthusiasm 
 of the soldiery. 
 
 On taking the degree of master of arts, in 1781, he recited another 
 original poem, entitled the " Prospect of Peace," which he afterwards 
 incorporated in the Vision of Columbus, and which appears with 
 some alterations in the Columbiad. About this period, he married 
 Miss Baldwin, a daughter of the Honorable Abraham Baldwin, ther? 
 of New Haven, and subsequently of Georgia, which state he repre 
 sented for many years in the senate of the United States. 
 
 BARLOW remained with the army until the acknowledgment of oui 
 independence in 1783, when he abandoned the clerical profession 
 and reverted to his original plan of pursuing that of the law ; with 
 which view he removed to the city of Hartford, where he settled 
 himself, as he probably imagined, for life. In addition to his legal 
 pursuits, and for the purpose of immediate support, he established 
 a weekly paper, and gained considerable reputation by various 
 original articles upon the subject of politics, which were novelties 
 at that day. 
 
 About the same period, he was employed by an association of the 
 clergy of Connecticut, to revise Dr. Watts version of the Psalms, so 
 as to adapt them to the new order of things in our country ; which 
 service he performed to the satisfaction of the churches ; and he also 
 added some original hymns of his own composition, besides versi 
 fying some Psalms which had been omitted by Dr. Watts. A distin 
 guished critic* has said of one of these the hundred and thirty- 
 seventh Psalm, that it possesses "all the elegance and polish of 
 language of the most highly finished modern poetry." The volume 
 was published in 1786, and was used for many years as the author 
 ized version of the Congregational Churches of New England. In 
 the following year, the " Vision of Columbus" was published,gpth a 
 dedication to Louis XVI., and, in a few months afterwards, it 
 was reprinted both in London and Paris. He now relinquished 
 his newspaper, and opened a bookstore, principally for the purpose 
 
 See " Biograj- hy of JOEL BARLOW," published in the Analectic Magazine, in 1814. 
 
JOEL BARLOW. 
 
 of disposing of his own productions. This object being accom 
 plished, he again resumed the practice of the law ; but his success 
 in this arduous profession was not very flattering ; he was deficient 
 in forensic abilities, and his previous desultory studies and varied 
 pursuits were certainly not friendly to the acquisition of profound 
 legal knowledge. He soon abandoned the bar, and engaged in other 
 scenes, which led him from his native country, and at length to 
 fortune, and a wider fame. 
 
 In 1788, he embarked for Europe, charged with an important land 
 agency, and after passing a short time in England, he crossed over 
 to France, where he concluded his agency to the satisfaction of his 
 employers, but without much pecuniary advantage to himself. The 
 revolution was then in progress; and embued as he was with repub 
 lican principles, and enthusiastic by character, he was induced to 
 remain in that country, in order to watch the development of the 
 grand drama, which, we doubt not, he sincerely believed would result 
 in the happiness of the people, by the overthrow of corrupt and 
 despotic power. 
 
 In 1791, he returned to England, where he remained a year or 
 more, and published the first part of a political work entitled " Advice 
 to the Privileged Orders," which, with the addition of a second part, 
 has since been several times reprinted. This publication attracted 
 the notice of the celebrated Mr. Fox, who pronounced a formal eulogy 
 upon it in the house of commons. In 1792, he published a short 
 poem entitled " Conspiracy of Kings," which was suggested by the 
 coalition of the European sovereigns against republican France. In 
 the same year he addressed a letter to the national convention, in 
 which he criticises their first constitution, and recommends the abo 
 lition of the royal power, and the severance of church and state. 
 Towards the close of the same year, the London constitutional 
 society, of which he was a member, voted an address to the national 
 convention, and deputed Mr. BARLOW and another member to present 
 it. He was received in France with great respect, and complimented 
 with the rights of citizenship, an honor which had been conferred 
 upon General Washington and General Hamilton. 
 
 From this period, BARLOW, for a time, fixed his residence in 
 France, fearing, as is supposed, to return to England, in conse 
 quence of the resentment of the government being pointed against 
 him, on account of his political writings and connections in that 
 country. He afterwards accompanied a deputation of the conven 
 tion to the newly acquired territory of Savoy, to organize it as a 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 department of the republic. He spent the winter at Chamberry, 
 where, at the request of his friends of the convention, he write an 
 address to the people of Piedmont, recommending them to throw off 
 their allegiance to " the man of Turin, who called himself their king." 
 During this winter he wrote the poem, entitled, " Hasty Pudding ; 
 which is one of the happiest of his productions, and shews, that 
 wherever he was a wanderer, and in whatever scenes he was 
 engaged, there existed in his mind endearing recollections of child 
 hood and of home. This poem, by an excess of eulogy, perhaps, 
 has; been compared to Goldsmith s " Deserted Village." 
 
 From Savoy he returned to Paris, where he continued to reside 
 for three years, and, with the exception of a translation of Volney s 
 Ruins, forebore all literary occupation. He, however, engaged in 
 various commercial speculations, by which he realized a handsome 
 fortune. About the year 1 795, he was sent as an agent on private 
 business to the north of Europe, and soon after his retuin, he received 
 from President Washington the appointment of consul to Algiers, 
 with powers to negotiate a treaty of peace with the dey, and to 
 ransom all American citizens held in slavery on the coast of Barbary. 
 He immediately proceeded on his mission, crossing through Spain, 
 over to Algiers. He concluded treaties with the dey, and with Tunis 
 and Tripoli, and redeemed and sent home all the American captives 
 whom he could discover, amounting to about one hundred. 
 
 In 1797, he resigned his consulship, and returned to Paris, where 
 he again entered into successful commercial speculations, devoting 
 his leisure to political writings, and in 1805, after an absence of 
 nearly seventeen years, he returned to his native country, with the 
 determination of fixing his residence in it for the rest of his life. 
 
 With this view, he chose a beautiful situation within the District 
 of Columbia, and reared upon it a mansion, which he dignified with 
 the name of Kalorama ; here he lived in an elegant and hospitable 
 manner, associating on terms of intimacy and friendship; with our 
 most distinguished citizens. But the native energies of his character 
 would not permit him to remain idle, and he immediately engaged 
 with great zeal in sundry efforts for the advancement of science and 
 the arts among his countrymen. One of his schemes was the estab 
 lishment of a national academy, to be under the patronage of the 
 general government, and similar to the National Institute of France. 
 This had been a favorite project with Washington, and also received 
 -he approbation of President Jefferson ; but on being laid before 
 congress, it failed to receive their sanction. Defeated in this effort; 
 
JOEL BARLOW. 
 
 he now turned his attention to the revision and put ication of his 
 great epic, and in 1808, the Columbiad made its appearance in a 
 splendid volume, embellished with several fine engravings, which 
 were executed in London by the first artists. It was dedicated to 
 Robert Fulton, with whom BARLOW was on terms of great intimacy, 
 being accustomed to regard him, indeed, as his adopted son. This 
 dedication was alike honorable to both, and showed a better taste 
 than the courtly dedication of the " Vision of Columbus" to one of 
 the monarchs of Europe. 
 
 After the publication of the Columbiad, BARLOW employed himself 
 in making a collection of historical documents, with a view of writing 
 a general history of the United States ; but in 1811, while occupied 
 in these quiet literary labors, he was unexpectedly nominated by 
 President Madison, minister plenipotentiary to the court of France. 
 He accepted the mission, and as is well known, made every effort to 
 negotiate with the Emperor Napoleon, a treaty of commerce, and 
 of indemnification for former spoliations, but without effect; being 
 perpetually baffled by the intrigues of.the French diplomatists.* 
 
 At length, in October, in 1812, he was invited by the Duke de 
 Bassano to a personal conference with the emperor at Wilna, in 
 Poland. He immediately started on this journey, travelling night 
 and day in a most inclement season of the year, and through coun 
 tries wasted by war, and which could scarcely afford him a com 
 fortable meal. The consequence was, that from his privations, and 
 exposure to the severities of the weather, he was attacked with an 
 inflammation of the lungs, from which he never recovered. He died 
 on the twenty-second of December, 1812, at Zarnavica, an obscure 
 village in Poland, near Cracow. He had not reached his destination, 
 and consequently did not effect the object of his mission, but he is 
 entitled to much credit for the energy and perseverance which he 
 manifested not to lose the opportunity of an interview with the 
 emperor, which he was induced to think would result favorably to 
 the interests of his country. 
 
 * The writer of this sketch has been told by an American gentleman, who was in Paris at the 
 time, and intimate with the minister of foreign affairs, the Duke of Bassano; that the wi. y diplomatist 
 questioned him about the peculiar traits of Mr. BARLOW S character. The gentleman, who personally 
 knew Mr. BARLOW, candidly replied that he believed the American minister possessed the ordinary 
 vanity of men in general, and besides, being an author and a poet, he doubtless had his share oi the 
 professional egotism of his class. The duke, it is said, immediately procured one of the splendid 
 copies of the Columbiad, and caused it to be placed in a conspicuous part of his library, fiere it 
 
 could not fail Jo aUract the notice of the author on his interviews. 
 
 5 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 In Paris, every honor was paid to his memory as a man of letters, 
 and a distinguished public functionary. The celebrated Helen Maria 
 Williams wrote his epitaph, and an eulogy was read before the 
 society for the encouragement of national industry, by Dupont de 
 Nemours. In the following year, an account of his life and writings, 
 in quarto, was published in Paris, accompanied by an extract from 
 the Columbiad, translated into French heroic verse. 
 
 Mr. BARLOW is described as having been an amiable man in private 
 life, of domestic habits, and of grave and dignified, but not courtly 
 manners. He was reserved in mixed company, having little spright- 
 liness or facility of general conversation ; but upon subjects which 
 excited him, or formed the theme of his studies, he conversed with 
 animation and interest. His rnind was of a philosophical cast, and 
 better fitted for the examination of matters requiring patient and 
 profound thought, than to " wander in fancy s fairy fields." 
 
 BARLOW S prose style has been correctly described as perspicuous 
 and forcible, as bearing the stamp of an active, acute, and powerful 
 mind, confident of its own strength, but without native grace, and 
 with little elaborate elegance ; while much of his poetry is highly 
 polished, and sometimes magnificent, although it may seem to lack 
 somewhat of the divine inspiration of the muse. It was judiciously 
 modelled after the poetry of Pope and of Goldsmith, and is always 
 correct in its versification. Although BARLOW may not rank among 
 the few distinguished epic poets who have appeared in the world at 
 rare intervals, still, in the opinion of many, he is to be classed, if not 
 as the best poet, at least among the best, which our country has pro 
 duced. How many of the modern English poets, who have attempted 
 to write an epic, are his superiors, we leave the critics to judge. 
 
 Upon the whole, from his superior natural genius, which was early 
 noted and acknowledged, his expanded knowledge of the world, his 
 moral,- philosophical, and political disquisitions, the public stations 
 which he held, his pure and ardent patriotism, developed in the 
 revolution, and sustained throughout his life ; his staunch, orthodox, 
 and unbending republican principles ; his poetic talents, arid polished 
 productions ; the amiability and benevolence of his private character, 
 and purity of his public life : JOEL BARLOW well deserves, and will 
 maintain, an elevated rank among the distinguished men of our 
 country. 
 
Painted by Waldo ScJewett. for riio Tiiunbull GaJleiy.Yale College, Hew Haven. riigiavsa "by A.B .Tjurand 
 
JOHN TRUMBULL. 
 
 OP the ease and ability with which our countrymen adapt their 
 talents to a variety of pursuits, we have already given some examples : 
 the present subject affords another illustration of that peculiar trait of 
 American character. 
 
 JOHN TRUMBULL was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on the 6th 
 of June, 1756. He was the youngest son of the first Governor 
 Trumbull ; his mother s maiden name was Faith Robinson, the fifth 
 in descent from the Reverend John Robinson, often called the father 
 of the pilgrims, whose son came into the country in the year 1621. 
 The carelessness or ignorance of the family physician had nearly 
 consigned our infant genius to a life of idiocy, or an early grave; 
 after being afiiicted with convulsions nine months, it was discovered 
 that the bones of his skull had been allowed to remain lapped over 
 each other from his birth, but by skilful applications, and maternal 
 care, they were adjusted, and, as we have heard him express it with 
 filial veneration, " he owed his life a second time to his mother." 
 At Lebanon, he went to school to Nathan Tisdale. He received, 
 under the tuition of this gentleman, an excellent education, and 
 entered the junior class at Harvard college, in January, 1772, and 
 graduated in 1773. Finding himself to be a better scholar than 
 those with whom he was associated, he was not a very diligent 
 student, and to amuse himself, he frequently visited a respectable 
 French family in the neighborhood, and learned to read and write 
 their language. He searched the college library for books on the 
 aits, and amongst them found Brook Taylor s " Jesuites Perspective 
 Made Easy" ; this work he studied thoroughly, and copied all the 
 diagrams. He in the same period copied several pictures which the 
 college possessed : among others, an irruption of Mount Vesuvius, 
 and a copy by Smybert, of Van Dyck s Head of Cardinal Bentivoglio. 
 He had, before he went to college, somewhere picked up the title 
 page of a book called " The Handmaid to the Arts," and had obtained 
 a copy of the work from London, so that we may suppose his earlv 
 
 VOL. 1. g 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS 
 
 paintings were not the rude daubs of an ignorant boy. At this time 
 Copley was in Boston, and TRUMBULL S first visit to that distin 
 guished artist happened to be made at a time, when he was enter 
 taining his friends shortly after his marriage : he was dressed on the 
 occasion, in a suit of crimson velvet with gold buttons, and the 
 elegance of his style and his high repute, impressed the future artist 
 with grand ideas of a painter s life. After leaving college, he painted 
 his first original picture, the Battle of Cannae, and soon after, the 
 Judgment of Brutus. But at this time, the stirring incidents of the 
 controversy with Great Britain, attracted the attention of all ages 
 and all ranks, and TRUMBULL abandoned the palette and became an 
 active politician. His father wished him to become a clergyman, 
 but the son not liking the profession, gave the reins to his patriotic 
 zeal, and was made adjutant in the first Connecticut regiment, which 
 was stationed at Roxbury. Here his drawing became of service. 
 Washington was desirous to obtain a draft of the enemy s works, 
 and hearing of the young adjutant s ability, he requested him to 
 attempt it. By cautious approaches, he had succeeded in obtaining 
 a knowledge of the position of every gun, and had proceeded in his 
 drawing, when a deserter came into the camp and communicated all 
 that was necessary to be known and a slight sketch of the works, 
 which confirmed TRUMBULL S, so far as he had gone. In August, 
 
 1775, he was appointed aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, and 
 after some two or three months, major of brigade. In that situation, 
 he became more particularly known to the adjutant-general, Gates, by 
 the careful accuracy of his returns ; and in the following year that 
 officer having been appointed to the command of the northern depart 
 ment, he was induced to offer TRUMBULL the office of adjutant-general. 
 He accompanied the army to New York, and on the 28th of June, 
 
 1776, departed with General Gates; at which date his rank as colonel 
 and adjutant-general commenced. Shortly after their arrival at Ti- 
 conderoga, he reconnoitered Mount Independence, which had not at 
 that time been explored ; and he again more fully examined it as a 
 military position, in company with General Wayne, which led to its 
 occupation. While here, he was impressed with the belief that the 
 whole position was commanded by Mount Defiance, (Sugar-loaf Hill,) 
 a height situated nearly at an equal distance from Mount Indepen 
 dence and Ticonderoga, and he took an occasion to mention his 
 opinion ; but his suggestion was not acted upon, and the next cam 
 paign, General St. Clair was left to defend the original lines with 
 three thousand men. The British took possession of Mount De- 
 
JOHN TRUMBULL. 
 
 liance, from which, according to their own account, they could 
 observe every movement of the Americans within their lines. The 
 abandonment of the entire position became immediately necessary, 
 and St. Glair deserved great praise for his well-conducted retreat, by 
 which the army was saved from capture, and became the nucleus of 
 that force, which afterwards prostrated the British power in the 
 northern department. In the mean time, the adjutant-general had 
 remained without a commission : this rendered his situation pecu 
 liarly painful, and what rendered it more so was, that other and 
 inferior officers did receive commissions, giving them rank equal to 
 his own. After the termination of the campaign of 1776, General 
 Gates received orders from the commander-in-chief to join him with 
 all his disposable force behind the Delaware, which he did, a few 
 days before the battle of Trenton. News was at that time received, 
 that the British had landed at Newport, Rhode Island, with consider 
 able force. General Arnold was ordered to proceed to Rhode Island 
 to assume the command of the militia and oppose the enemy, and 
 TRUMBULL was ordered to accompany him as adjutant-general. 
 The head quarters were established at Providence for the winter, 
 and there, in the month of March, he received his commission as 
 adjutant-general, with the rank of colonel, but dated in September, 
 instead of the previous June. Whatever was the cause of this is 
 unknown ; but it added to the chagrin and vexation of the officer 
 commissioned, and within an hour he returned it, under cover, to 
 the president of congress, accompanied with a letter, perhaps too 
 concise and laconic, stating the impossibility of serving, unless the 
 date was altered to correspond with the date of his actual service. 
 A correspondence of some length ensued, when his resignation was 
 accepted, and thus terminated his military career. 
 
 After a short visit to Lebanon, he went to Boston, to profit by the 
 study of the works of Copley and others. Here he became acquainted 
 with Mr. John Temple, afterwards, the first consul-general of Great 
 Britain to the United States ; through him he ascertained the possi 
 bility of his going in safety to London, to study under Mr. West. In 
 May, 1780, he embarked for Prance, and after a short stay at Paris, 
 reached London in August. He was kindly received by Mr. West, 
 under whose liberal instruction, he pursued his studies without inter 
 ruption until about the middle of November ; at that time, the news 
 of the death of Major Andre was received, and occasioned a violent 
 irritation in the public mind. It was his misfortune to lodge in the 
 same house with another American, who had been an officer, against 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 whom a warrant had been issued to apprehend him for high treason ; 
 instructions had been given to arrest, (ad interim,) the painter, and 
 secure his papers. The following day, he was examined before the 
 principal magistrates of the police, and was committed to prison. 
 On hearing this, the apprehensions of Mr. West were aroused, for he 
 well knew that he had enemies about the person of the king ; he, 
 therefore, hastened to the palace and asked an audience, which was 
 granted, and he proceeded to state to the king his personal knowledge 
 of the conduct of TRUMBULL while in London. After listening to 
 him patiently, the king replied ; " West, I have known you long, and 
 I dont know that I have ever received any incorrect information from 
 you on any subject, I, therefore, fully believe all that you have said 
 on the present occasion. I sincerely regret the situation of the young 
 man, but I cannot do any thing to assist him, he is in the power of 
 the law, and I cannot interfere. Are his parents living?" To which 
 Mr. West answered that his father was. " Then I most sincerely 
 pity him," said the king. After a moment s pause he continued, 
 " Go immediately to Mr. TRUMBULL, and give him my royal assur 
 ance, that in the worst possible event of the law, his life will be safe." 
 This assurance of course, softened in a great degree, the rigors of a 
 winters confinement, and enabled him to proceed with his studies. 
 He copied, during the period, the St. Jerome of Correggio, which is 
 now in the collection at Yale college. At length a turn took place 
 in the affairs of the two countries, and the British government began 
 to relax their severity. TRUMBULL, after about eight months deten 
 tion, was admitted to bail by a special order of the king in council, 
 on condition of quitting the kingdom within thirty days. His secu 
 rities were West and Copley. He crossed over to Ostend, thence 
 proceeded to Amsterdam, and embarked for Philadelphia in the 
 South Carolina frigate ; but the ship falling short of water and provi 
 sions, they put into Corunna, in Spain. There he left that ship, and 
 took passage to Bilboa, whence he returned home in January, 1782. 
 Fatigue, vexation, and disappointment, brought on a fit of illness, 
 which confined him at his father s the principal part of the ensuing 
 summer ; after which, he again visited the army, then at Verplank s 
 Point, and entered into an arrangement with his brother and others, 
 for the supply of the army. 
 
 In the spring of 1783 the news arrived of the preliminaries of 
 peace having been arranged. He was then at Lebanon, and his 
 father took the occasion to urge him to pursue the profession of the 
 law. Hfc represented it as the leading profession in a republic, and 
 
JOHN TRUMBULL. 
 
 above all others likely to reward industry and gratify ambition. To 
 which his son replied ; that so far as he understood the law, it was 
 rendered necessary by the vices of mankind ; that a lawyer must be 
 able, not only to defend the right, but must be equally distinguished 
 for his acuteness and skill in extricating rogues from the conse 
 quences of their villainy; and as he viewed the life of a lawyer, it 
 must be passed in the midst of all the wickednesses and meannesses 
 of the baser part of mankind : he then went on to give his ideas of 
 an artist s life referred to Copley and West as living examples, 
 and enlarged on the honors and rewards bestowed on artists by the 
 ancients, particularly at Athens. " My son," replied the governor, 
 " you have made an excellent argument, but its operation is against 
 yourself : it serves to satisfy me, that in the profession of the law 
 you might take a respectable stand, but in your case you have 
 omitted one point, as the lawyers express it." What is that, sir I 
 " That Connecticut is not Athens." He then bowed, left the room, 
 and never afterwards interfered in the choice of a profession. 
 
 In November, 1783, Colonel TRUMBULL again embarked for 
 England, where he pursued his studies indefatigably under Mr. 
 West ; and in 1785, had made such progress, as to copy for him his 
 celebrated picture of the battle of La Hogue. TRUMBULL composed 
 and painted immediately afterwards, " Priam bearing back to his 
 palace the body of Hector :" the success of which induced him to 
 commence a project which had long been floating in his mind, of 
 painting a series of pictures of the principal scenes of the revolution. 
 He began with " The Battle of Bunker Hill," which was composed 
 and finished in the early part of 1786, and " The Death of Montgo 
 mery before Quebec" immediately afterward. These pictures met 
 with general approbation not only in London, but in Paris, Berlin, 
 Dresden, and other parts of the continent, and as soon as possible 
 they were placed in the hands of eminent engravers. To Mr. 
 Adams in London, and Mr. Jefferson in Paris, while painting their 
 portraits, the artist communicated his project of painting a series of 
 national pictures, which they highly approved, and by their concur 
 rence the subjects were chosen, several of which have since been 
 executed. Finding the painting of Bunker Hill had given offence to 
 some in London, and being desirous to conciliate, he determined to 
 paint one subject from British history, and selected " The sortie of 
 the garrison of Gibraltar." Of this subject, the first study was 
 made in oil, twelve by sixteen inches; this was presented to Mr 
 West as an acknowledgment for his kindness ; then a second 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 twenty by thirty inches was carefully and laboriously finished, with 
 the intention of having it engraved :* being tenacious of rendering 
 the composition as perfect as in his power, he rejected that picture, 
 and began another six feet by nine. This occupied the greater part 
 of the year 1788, and in the spring of 89, it was exhibited by itself 
 in Spring Garden, London, and received great applause. It was en 
 graved by Sharp, the first engraver of the age ; and has since been 
 purchased by the Atheneum at Boston. 
 
 In the mean time, the present constitution of the United States had 
 been framed, and the first session of congress was appointed to be 
 held in New York, in December, 1789; the time had arrived, there 
 fore, for proceeding with the American pictures. He arrived in New 
 York in November of that year, and painted as many of the heads 
 of the signers of the declaration of independence, as were present. 
 Washington sat for his portrait at Trenton and Princeton, and in the 
 summer of 1790, TRUMBULL painted a full length portrait of him 
 for the city of New York. Two years after, he painted another full 
 length of Washington, for the city of Charleston, South Carolina, 
 and a third was purchased by the Connecticut Society of the Cin 
 cinnati, and presented to the college at New Haven. This latter 
 picture was regarded by the artist, the finest portrait of General 
 Washington, in existence. It represents him at the most critical 
 moment of his life on the evening before the battle of Princeton, 
 meditating his retreat from a superior enemy. A few other portraits 
 were painted about this time, but the years 1791-2-3 were principally 
 spent in painting original portraits for the historical pictures. In the 
 accomplishment of his great design, he travelled from New Hamp 
 shire to Charleston, South Carolina. The heads in the small set of 
 pictures, now at New Haven, were all painted at this period from the 
 living men. Having accomplished his object of obtaining authentic 
 portraits of all the subjects required, he again left his native land, in 
 the capacity of private secretary to Mr. Jay, the envoy extraordinary 
 to Great Britain, in 1794. 
 
 Difficulties had existed between the United States and Great 
 Britain, ever since the war, of the most embarrassing character. 
 
 * This picture was sold to Sir Francis Baring, for five hundred guineas, who contracted 
 for the purchase of a series of pictures of American subjects, at the same price ; subject 
 to the contingent :y of the approbation of the higher powers. He found that the posses 
 sion of the proposed pictures would give offence in a very high quarter, and he, therefore 
 retracted. 
 
JOHN TRUMBULL. 
 
 The negotiations ended in a treaty, signed November. 1794. The 
 manner in which Mr. Jay conducted those negotiations, rendered the 
 duties of the secretary merely nominal, and he had leisure to attend 
 to the engraving of his three large copper plates, at that time in 
 progress in London, and at Stutgard, in Germany, at an expense of 
 upwards of three thousand guineas. After the treaty was signed, 
 TRUMBULL went to Paris, and he soon saw from the condition of the 
 continent that all hope of profit from the sale of engravings was at an 
 end ; in consequence of which, he gave up his professional pursuits, 
 and emharked in commerce, until August, 1796, when he returned to 
 England, and on the twenty-fifth of that month, he was appointed 
 the fifth commissioner for the execution of the seventh article oJ 
 Mr. Jay s treaty. This placed him in a new and difficult situation : 
 the British commissioners. Sir John Nicholl and John Anstey, Esq., 
 and the two Americans, Mr. Gore and Mr. Pinckney, were all dis 
 tinguished lawyers. It was easy to foresee, that these gentlemen 
 would frequently differ with respect to the rights of their respective 
 countries; and it would remain with the fifth commissioner to decide; 
 an arduous duty for one who had not been educated for the legal 
 profession, and it placed him under the necessity of going through 
 a course of reading, on the law of nations and maritime law. 
 
 Multitudes of complaints were made by the subjects of both 
 nations, and were carefully examined and decisions made on each 
 separate case, on its own merits. The commission was not con 
 cluded until the beginning of the year 1804. The number of canes 
 examined amounted to between three and four hundred ; and the 
 amount awarded to be paid by the British government exceeded ten 
 millions of dollars, which were punctually paid: the awards against 
 the United States amounted to about half a million. In all cases of 
 importance, written opinions were recorded ; one copy of which is 
 in the hands of Colonel TRUMBULL. The principles laid down and 
 acted upon in those cases, will hereafter form an important part of 
 the maritime law of nations, and have already been of value to 
 many individuals, in the settlement of claims against the Russian 
 and other governments. The important station of the fifth commis 
 sioner, who was the umpire between parties differing on almost every 
 point, required all his skill to harmonize them, and it may, from the 
 nature of the case, be concluded, that to his prudence and firmness 
 the favorable results are to be mainly attributed. 
 
 In June, 1804, Colonel TRUMBULL returned to the United States, 
 and resumed his pencil in New York. After a residence of about 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 * 
 
 four years, the embarrassment of commerce affected his profession so 
 deeply, that he determined to seek employment abroad. He accord 
 ingly went to London, where he painted a number of pictures, with 
 the hope of attracting some attention, but so unpopular was everything 
 American, that he failed completely. At the close of the war, he 
 returned for the last time to New York, and in 1816 he was engaged 
 by the government to paint the four large pictures now in the rotunda 
 of the capitol at Washington, on which he was occupied seven years : 
 after which he was principally employed in finishing his former 
 sketches, and in painting copies of his national pictures, on a uniform 
 scale of six feet by nine. 
 
 Finding the government not likely to order the complete series, nor 
 any individual desirous to possess them, he presented the entire set of 
 the original paintings to Yale College, and a building has been erected 
 by " the President and Fellows" of that institution for their preserva 
 tion. 
 
 He was first chosen President of the American Academy of the Arts, 
 in 1817, and continued to be annually reflected to that office. He 
 died in the city of New York, November 10, 1843, in the eighty- 
 eighth year of his age. 
 
 The high character of Colonel TRUMBULL claims more than we can 
 here say of him. He was one of the last models of a by-gone genera 
 tion, a fine example of the gentlemen of the old school. With much 
 of dignity and courtesy in his manners, he was strictly honorable, 
 rigidly abstemious, frank in his address, and proud of his profession. 
 From early youth to his last days he blended himself with the history 
 of his country. He drew for that country, by turns, the sword, the 
 pen, and the pencil. The sword and the pen were wielded in company 
 with others, but as a painter of American history, he stood almost 
 alone, and even though many may rise who shall prove his equals, he 
 inust stand to all time as the first among them. 
 
</ 
 
 4^ 
 
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, 1 775, 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 commissltm&4gr 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. 
 
 5 
 
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 Poin-t. 
 
 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, kepi 
 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 Yermont, 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 on 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 niy front door." 
 
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 no! 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, bat 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 llth of 
 April, and on the 15th, formally ratified the treaty. In September, 
 the definitive treaties between the belligerent powers were signed at 
 Paris, and the American definitive treaty was ratified by congress 
 on the 14th of January, 1784. 
 
 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 th<e 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 arid 
 placed themselves under the command of Colonel Hamilton, to pre 
 vent the outrage. This party was attacke d 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 thi 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 
 tinder 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 j 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 
 
 14 
 
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 long 
 since been published in two volumes, which we hope will find a place 
 in the library of every American, who designs to set before his child 
 ren a bright example of public and private virtue. 
 
 " It would be difficult," says a good writer, " to point out a cha 
 racter in modern times more nearly allied to the Aristides drawn by 
 Plutarch, 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- 
 
 VOL.2.-E 
 
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. 
 
 It has been well said by an able writer in the North American 
 Review, " Little need be said of the public character of a man, who 
 possessed the unlimited confidence of Washington, and of whom John 
 Adams said, when my confidence in Mr. JAY shall cease, I must give 
 up the cause of confidence and renounce it with all men. He must 
 have been no common man, who, at the early age of thirty, could take 
 his station by the side of a band of patriots and statesman, inferior in 
 foresight, prudence, wisdom, and practical ability, to none in any for 
 mer age, and establish at once a reputation, which went on increasing 
 as he advanced in years. There is a prevailing impression, that the 
 habits of investigation, acquired in the practice of the law, are apt to 
 disqualify the greatest minds for the comprehensive views which are 
 essential in those who administer the government of nations. Such 
 certainly was not the case with Mr. JAY, and as little could it be 
 affirmed of those with whom he was associated. Into all the stations 
 he was called upon to fill, he carried with him those excellent moral 
 qualities, which gave dignity and influence to his private character, 
 and these, united as they were with exalted intellectual gifts, made 
 him as much respected as he was eminent in all." 
 
 16 
 
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 Brandy wine, 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 
 -eview the controversy, even if sufficient materials were at hand, 
 
 2 
 
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 the 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 
 llth 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 nisfht march to attack the British 
 
 o o 
 
 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 been 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- 
 iett 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 oreat dis- 
 
 ^ 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 order in their ranks. While in this confusion I 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 ; arid 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. 
 
 army, that enterprising general resumed offensive operations, and 
 marched into Carolina to tight 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. 
 u Tlie 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 oflicers, 
 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 Smallwood, 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, arid 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 
 L2th, without a struggle or a gro-an. 
 
 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. 
 
GILBERT CHARLES STUART. 
 
 IN this biographical sketch of the life and character of GILBERT C. 
 STUART, we shnll avail ourselves of the very valuable information 
 afforded us by the late venerable Dr. Benj. Waterhouse, of Cam 
 bridge, the companion of his childhood and his youth, and the 
 undeviating friend of his manhood and age ; and of such other 
 sources of information as are offered to us. Although our greatest 
 portrait painter died but in 1828, already the place of his nativity 
 is disputed, and contending towns claim the honor of producing this 
 extraordinary genius; to Dr. Waterhouse we owe certainty on this 
 head ; and even the time of his birth would not have been accu 
 rately determined, but that the painter has inscribed " G. Stuart, 
 Pictor, se ipso pinxit, A. D. 1778, J^tatis sua 24," on a portrait 
 painted by himself and presented to his friend, which remains a 
 monument of his early skill, and is the more precious as it is the 
 only portrait he ever painted of himself. This, of course, gives us 
 the year of his birth, 1754. 
 
 Between the years 1746 and 1750, there came over from Great 
 Britain to these English colonies a number of Scotch gentlemen, 
 who had not the appearance of what is generally understood by the 
 term emigrants, nor yet merchants or gentlemen of fortune. They 
 came not in companies, but dropped in quietly, one after another. 
 Their unassuming appearance and retired habits, bordering on the 
 reserve, seemed to place them above the common class of British 
 travellers. Their mode of life was snug, discreet, and respectable, 
 yet clannish. Some settled in Philadelphia, some in Perth Amboy, 
 some in New York ; but a greater proportion sat down at that plea 
 sant and healthy spot, Rhode Island, called by its first historiographer, 
 Callender, " the Garden of America." Several of the emigrants were 
 professional men ; among these was Dr. Thomas Moffat, a learned 
 physician of the Boerhaavean school ; but, however learned, his 
 dress and manners were so ill suited to the plainness of the inha 
 bitants of Rhode Island, who were principally Quakers, that he 
 
 s i 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 could not make his way among them as a practitioner, and there 
 fore he looked round for some other mode of genteel subsistence; 
 and he hit upon that of cultivating tobacco and making snuff, to 
 supply the place of the great quantity that was every year imported 
 from Glasgow ; but he could find no man in the country who he 
 thought was able to make him a snuff mill. He therefore wrote to 
 Scotland, and obtained a competent mill-wright, by the name of 
 Gilbert Stuart. 
 
 Dr. Moffat selected for his mill seat a proper stream in that part of 
 the colony of Rhode Island and Providence plantations which bore 
 and still bears the Indian name of Narraganset, once occupied by 
 the warlike tribe of the Pequot Indians, made familiar to us by 
 the intensely interesting romance of our novelist, James Fenimore 
 Cooper, under the title of the " Last of the Mohicans." 
 
 There, Gilbert Stuart, the father of the great painter, erected the 
 first snuff mill in New England, and there he manufactured that 
 strange article of luxury. He soon after built a house, and married 
 a very handsome woman, daughter of a Mr. Anthony, a substantial 
 farmer ; and of this happy couple, at Narraganset, was born GIL 
 BERT CHARLES STUART ; so christened, but the middle name, which 
 betokens the Jacobite principles of his father, was early dropped by 
 the son, and never used in his days of notoriety ; indeed, but for the 
 signatures of letters addressed to his friend Waterhouse in youth, 
 we should have no evidence that he ever bore more than the famous 
 name of GILBERT STUART. 
 
 He is described to us by one of his school fellows as " a very 
 capable, self-willed boy ; handsome, forward, an only son, and 
 habituated at home to have his own way in every thing, with little 
 or no control of the easy, good natured father." He was about 
 thirteen years old when he began to copy pictures, and at length 
 attempted likenesses in black lead. There came to Newport about 
 the year 1772, a Scotch gentleman named Cosmo Alexander ; he 
 was between fifty and sixty years of age, of delicate health, and 
 prepossessing manners, apparently independent of the profession of 
 painting, which ostensibly was his occupation, though it is believed 
 that he, and several other gentlemen of leisure and observation from 
 Britain, were travelling in this country for political purposes. From 
 Mr. Alexander, young STUART first received lessons in the grammar 
 of the art of painting, and after the summer spent in Rhode Island, 
 lie accompanied him to the South, and afterwards to Scotland. Mr 
 Alexander died not long after his arrival in Edinburgh, leaving his 
 
GILBERT CHARLES STUART. 
 
 pupil to the care of Sir George Chambers, who did not long survive 
 him. Into whose hands our young artist fell after these disappoint 
 ments, we know not, nor is it to be regretted, for the treatment he 
 received was harsh, such as ne ther GILBERT STUART or his father 
 ever mentioned. The young man returned to Newport, arid after a 
 time resumed his pencil. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Anthony, of Philadelphia, visited his sister, the mother 
 of the painter, soon after GILBERT S return, and on going into his 
 painting room, was surprised to find a striking likeness of his mother, 
 Mrs. Anthony, the grandmother of the painter, who, although he 
 had not seen her since he was twelve years of age, for he was no 
 .:lder at the time of her death, had, by the power of recollection, aided 
 jy kindred attachment, produced the likeness which now attracted 
 the attention and gained the favor of his uncle. This faculty of 
 preserving the images of those once known was one of the charac 
 teristics of STUART S genius. 
 
 Mr. Anthony, his family, and friends, sat for portraits to the young 
 artist, who was now in the full tide of prosperity. About this time, 
 i,he winter of 1773-4, he and his friend Waterhouse were fellow 
 students in an academy for drawing, of their own formation. They 
 hired a strong-muscled journeyman blacksmith, as their academy 
 figure, at half a dollar the evening; and thus, probably, anticipated 
 any other academical study from the naked figure in their country 
 by many years. 
 
 Ardent as STUART S love of painting was, we have Dr. Water- 
 house s authority for saying, that music divided his affections so 
 equally with her sister, that it was difficult to say which was " the 
 ruling passion." In the beginning of March, 1775, STUART S friend, 
 Waterhouse, embarked for London, with the intention of pursuing 
 his medical studies in the schools of Europe, and the young painter, 
 probably finding his business interrupted by the approach of war, 
 found means to follow, relying, as it would seem, upon the resources 
 of his friend, for an introduction to the treasures of the British 
 metropolis. He arrived in London in the latter end of November, 
 when he found that Waterhouse had gone to Edinburgh, and he 
 had not one acquaintance in this strange world, and no resource but 
 his pencil and a letter to a Scotch gentleman, who received him 
 kindly, and employed him to paint a picture for him, which, when 
 his friend Waterhouse returned to London, in the summer of 1776) 
 he found still unfinished on his easel. 
 
 During this period, when his father s business was broke up by 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 the events of the war in America, and the young painter was left to 
 shift for himself, without experience or prudence, his skill in music, 
 both practical and theoretical, stood him in stead, and gave him the 
 means of subsistence in a manner as extraordinary as his character 
 and actions were eccentric. While he was in this state of extreme 
 poverty, without employment or the means of subsistence, walking 
 the streets without any definite purpose, he passed by a church in 
 Foster Lane, saw the door open, and several persons going in. He 
 was attracted by the sound of the organ he inquired at the door 
 what was going on within, and was told, the vestry were making 
 trial of several candidates for the situation of organist, the last incum 
 bent having recently died. STUART entered the church, and encou 
 raged, as he said, by a look of good nature in the countenance of one 
 of the vestrymen, addressed him, and asked if a stranger might try 
 his skill and become a candidate for the vacant place. His request 
 was granted, and he had the pleasure to find that the time he had 
 employed in making himself a musician, had not been thrown away. 
 His playing was preferred to that of his rivals, and he was engaged 
 at a salary which relieved present necessities, and enabled him to 
 return to his studies as a painter. " When," says Mr. Charles Fraser, 
 "Mr. STUART related this anecdote to me, he was sitting in his 
 parlor, and to prove that he did not neglect the talent that had beei; 
 so friendly to him in his youth, and in the days of his adversity, he 
 took his seat at a small organ in the room, and played several tunes 
 with much feeling and execution." 
 
 On the return of his friend from Edinburgh, to pursue his studies 
 by " walking the hospitals" in London, he had the pleasure of pro 
 curing several sitters for the young painter ; but he could with 
 difficulty keep him in that straight course which is so necessary tc 
 permanent prosperity. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, STUART was a long time in Louder, 
 without seeing, or being introduced to his great countryman, West. 
 There appears to be no reason for this omission, and for not gaining 
 access, for at least two years, to that source of instruction which was 
 ever open to ,those who thirsted for knowledge, and more especially 
 to Americans. At length, Dr. Waterhouse says, " After I had ex 
 hausted all my means of helping forward my ingenious friend and 
 Countryman, I called upon Mr. West, and laid open to him his 
 situation." The consequence was, an invitation from Mr. West, and 
 his continued friendship, support, and instruction. 
 
 Soon after this, STUART S friend, Waterhouse, went to Leyden, to 
 
GILBERT CHARLES STUART. 
 
 finish his studies, and they did not meet again until the paintei 
 removed from Washington to Boston ; for the intermediate time, we 
 have to look to other authorities, arid one of the first is Colonel 
 Trumbull, who on being introduced to Mr. West, in August, 1780, 
 found STUART as his pupil. Mr. STUART uniformly said, that on 
 application to Mr. West he was received with great benevolence ; 
 that nothing could exceed the attention of that distinguished artist 
 to him, and when he saw that he was fitted for the field, armed to 
 contend with the best and the highest, he advised him to com 
 mence his career professionally. While under Mr. West s roof, he 
 became known to celebrated artists, and to the lords of the kind. 
 Dance admired and encouraged him, and presented his palette to 
 him. His full length of Mr. Grant, skating, attracted great applause., 
 and he, soon after taking rooms and setting up an independent easel, 
 had his full share of the best business in London as a portrait 
 painter ; and as Colonel Trumbull has said, had prices equal to any, 
 except Sir Joshua Reynolds and Gainsborough. It is the opinion of 
 STUART S contemporaries in London, that with common prudence 
 he might have been the successor of Reynolds. He was not prudent ; 
 and found it convenient to visit Dublin, where he was received with 
 Hibernian hospitality ; delighting as much by his wit and convi 
 viality as by his pencil. 
 
 In 1793 he returned to America. He embarked from Dublin, and 
 arrived in New York, where he set up his easel, and was thronged 
 with admirers and sitters. To gratify his desire to paint Wash 
 ington, a desire which, he has said, brought him from the scene of 
 his European success, he visited Philadelphia, and having been fully 
 successful in his mission, he fixed his residence in that city and 
 neighborhood for some years. 
 
 An eminent artist has said of STUART S Washington: "And well 
 is his ambition justified in the sublime head he has left us : a nobler 
 personification of wisdom and goodness, reposing in the majesty of 
 a serene conscience, is not to be found on canvass." 
 
 The writer of this necessarily short and imperfect sketch, who 
 knew Washington, both as general and president, perfectly coincides 
 with the above tribute of praise from a brother artist. When artists 
 speak of STUART S Washington, let it be remembered, that they 
 mean the original picture, refused by the State of Massachu 
 setts, arid purchased as an inestimable gem by the Athenaeum, of 
 Boston. The copies generally circulated, and the prints from Heath s 
 workshop, in London, are libels equally on the painter and the hero. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Mr. STUART always considered the publication of this print, not 
 only as injurious to his reputation, but as a piracy upon his property 
 When he saw the print exhibited for sale in Philadelphia, he could 
 not restrain his just indignation. 
 
 While Mr. STUART was prosperously exercising his profession in 
 Pennsylvania, we are informed that he purchased a farm at Potts- 
 Grove, as a resting place for his family, but that the plan was not car 
 ried through with the prudence which conceived it. He removed to 
 Washington, and was there as elsewhere, gladly welcomed. In 1805, 
 he finally fixed himself at Boston, where he, with undiminished 
 talents, exercised his profession until the day of his death. The por 
 trait of John Adams, painted after the venerable patriot and president 
 was upwards of eighty, has been the admiration of all who have seen 
 it ; and the painter s last work, the head of an intended full length 
 of the ex-president, John Q,uincy Adams, is equal to any of the great 
 painter s works, when he was in the prime of life and vigor of health. 
 
 The colloquial talents of GILBERT STUART were exerted as aux 
 iliaries to his pencil. He had a fund of wit inexhaustible, and of 
 anecdote, or historical knowledge, his reading and his memory 
 furnished him with an everlasting store. His early friend, Dr. 
 Waterhouse, has thus characterized and described that power and 
 art with which he fascinated his sitters, making them forget the 
 confinement of the " painter s chair," and drawing forth the inmost 
 soul upon the surface of the countenance, while he fixed it on his 
 canvass by the magic of his colors. " In conversation and confabu 
 lation, he was inferior to no man. He always made it a point to 
 keep those talking who were sitting to him for their portraits, each 
 in their own way, free and easy. This called up all his resources 
 of judgment. To military men, he spoke of battles by sea and land. 
 With the statesman, on Hume s and Gibbon s History with the 
 lawyer, in his way the merchant in his way, and with the ladies^ 
 in all ways. When putting the rich farmer on the canvass, he 
 would go along with him from seed time to harvest time then he 
 would descant on the nice points of a fine horse, ox, cow, sheep, or 
 pig, and surprise him with his just remarks on the progress ot 
 making cheese and butter, and astonish him with his profound 
 knowledge of manures, or the food of plants. As to national cha 
 racter and individual character, few men could say more to the 
 purpose, as far as history and acute personal observation would 
 carry him. He had wit at will, always ample, sometimes redundant, 
 remarkably so, after his long sojourn in Ireland." 
 
GILBERT CHARLES STUART. 
 
 His friend, Waterhouse, was disposed to attribute STUART S undue 
 attachment to the pleasures of the table and convivial society, to his 
 residence on the Emerald Isle ; but he carried all his propensities 
 and resources for smoothing the road to ruin with him, from the 
 centre of all dissipation, as well as all rational enjoyment, London. 
 Of STUART, as of some others, it may be said in the common phrase 
 ology of mankind, " he had every kind of sense but common sense." 
 He had knowledge enough to have guided an empire, and did not 
 pilot his own frail vessel into port, even when wind and tide were 
 with him. 
 
 Nature had bestowed on GILBERT STUART her choicest gifts. 
 His mind and body were of the most powerful, and the best endowed, 
 for active exertion or ponderous labor for grasping the minute or 
 the vast for relishing the beauties of art or diving into the profun 
 dities of science. These gifts, when used, lead to fortune, fame, and 
 happiness ; and their possessor is blessed with equanimity and cheer 
 fulness when abused, the result is disappointment, poverty, disease, 
 self-reproach, and occasional misanthropy. It is a vulgar error, that 
 genius and imprudence have a natural alliance. The contrary 
 is the fact. Eminent genius may be, has been, misled; but the 
 most eminent are bright proofs that genius and virtue are by 
 nature allied, and that the imprudent man of great talents is the 
 exception to the rule. 
 
 Certain it is, that GILBERT STUART did not watch and properly 
 turn to his advantage that "tide in the affairs of men, which taken 
 at the flood, leads on to fortune," and it is equally certain, that the 
 neglect involved him in the " shoals and shallows" which the great 
 philosophic poet tells us, is the inevitable consequence. He returned 
 to New England, (after shining with the splendor of a sun and the 
 irregularity of a meteor, in England, Ireland, and the central portions 
 of the United States,) to finish his eccentric career, without that 
 brilliancy which fortune bestows, but with undiminished fame and 
 unrivalled excellence as an artist, to the last days of his existence ; 
 dying at the advanced age of seventy-four, in the month of July, 
 1828, regretted by all who knew him, and leaving, "a void" "in 
 the world of art," "which will not soon be filled." 
 
 We cordially adopt into our memoir words written in 1828 by an 
 eminent artist, whose language bears the impress of truth, judgment, 
 and feeling. The "glimpses of character" which STUART elicited 
 from his sitters by his colloquial powers, " mixed as they are in all 
 men with so much that belongs to their age and associates, would 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 nave been of little use to an ordinary observer ; for the faculty of 
 distinguishing between the accidental and the permanent, in other 
 words, between the conventional expression which arises from man 
 ner s, and that more subtle indication of the individual mind, is indeed 
 no common one : and by no one with whom we are acquainted, was 
 their faculty possessed in so remarkable a degree. It was this which 
 enabled him to animate his canvass not with the appearance of 
 mere general life, but with that peculiar distinctive life, which sepa 
 rates the humblest individual from his kind. He seemed to dive 
 into the thoughts of men for they were made to rise and speak on 
 the surface." "In his happier efforts, no one ever surpassed him in 
 embodying (if we may so speak,) those transient apparitions of the 
 soul. Of this, not the least admirable instance is his portrait, painted 
 within the last four years, (when the painter was upwards of seventy,) 
 of the late President Adams ; whose then bodily tenement seemed 
 rather to present the image of some dilapidated castle, than that of 
 the habitation of the unbroken mind ; but not such is the picture : 
 called forth as from its crumbling recesses, the living tenant is there 
 still ennobling the ruin, and upholding it, as it were, by the strength 
 of his own life. In this venerable ruin, will the unbending patriot 
 and the gifted artist speak to posterity of the first glorious century 
 of our republic." 
 
 In a word, GILBERT STUART was, in its widest sense, a philo 
 sopher in his art : he thoroughly understood its principles, as his 
 works bear witness, whether as to the harmony of colors or of lines, 
 or of light and shadow showing that exquisite sense of a whole, 
 which only a man of genius can realize and embody. 
 
 We cannot close this brief notice without a passing record of his 
 generous bearing towards his professional brethren. He never suf 
 fered the manliness of his nature to darken with the least shadow of 
 jealousy ; but where praise was due, he gave it freely, and gave it, 
 too, with a grace which showed that, loving excellence for its own 
 sake, he had a pleasure in praising. To the younger artists, he was 
 uniformly kind and indulgent, and most liberal of his advice; which 
 no one ever properly asked but he received, and in a manner no less 
 courteous than impressive. Well may his country say, " a great man 
 has passed from amongst us ;" but GILBERT STUART has bequeatheq 
 her what is paramount to power since no power can command it 
 the rich inheritance of his fame. 
 
 The appearance of STUART as a painter of portraits has been regarded 
 as a memorable era in the history of American arts ; and inasmuch as 
 
GILBERT CHARLES STUART. 
 
 he has yet had no rival, it would be wrong to dismiss this memoir of 
 him, drawn up, some years since, by one who well understood his 
 subject, without a few lines relative to the magnificent engraving of 
 Washington from the most striking likeness ever taken. This is from 
 the portrait already referred to, which the artist would never part with 
 during his lifetime, but which was purchased from his widow, and 
 placed in the AthenaBum of Boston, as the painter s most distinguished 
 effort. 
 
 A few additional facts connected with the portrait itself cannot be 
 unacceptable, especially as they tend more fully to illustrate the cha 
 racter and taste of STUART. It has been already said that the main 
 reason why the artist left Europe, with all the fame and large income 
 he had secured there, was to paint " the father of his country." He 
 was of opinion that he had failed in his first attempt, and he destroyed 
 the portrait ; the second trial was eminently successful ; so that Leslie 
 said, " How fortunate it was that a painter existed in the time of 
 Washington, who could hand him down to us looking like a gentleman." 
 Congress, when Vanderlyn was employed to paint a full-length 
 portrait of the hero for the nation, stipulated that he should copy his 
 countenance from this picture. Every one who knew the original, and 
 who has seen the portrait, bears testimony that more of the mind of 
 Washington appears in it than in any other picture. 
 
 An authentic account of the numerous " portraits of Washington," 
 would be in itself an acquisition to the history of art in the United 
 States. Savage, Pine, Madame de Briehan, Robertson who painted 
 a portrait expressly for the Earl of Buchan and other artists, op 
 pressed the General with applications to sit to them, till he complained 
 that he was heartily tired of the tax upon his patience and time, and 
 declined to do so in aid of what he deemed was intended also to be 
 a " tax on individuals" for the benefit of the artists by whom he was 
 besieged. 
 
 STUART, as has already been stated, was indignant at the treatment 
 he received from Heath, whose conduct, in engraving the full-length 
 portrait painted for Lord Lansdowne, and spreading what he termed 
 " a libel" upon himself and Washington throughout the country, he 
 reprobated as a piracy. He asserted, indeed, that he himself had 
 never been able to make a copy of the "Athenaeum portrait" to 
 satisfy himself; and he denied that any engraver had ever produced, 
 from any other source, the features which he alone has left us in such 
 perfection. The excellent and faithful engraving of it by Durand, 
 prefixed to the second volume of Sparks s Writings of Washington 
 
 q VOL. 1. T 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 appeared in 1834, after the death of STUART, and was. we believe, 
 the first ever made. Very recently Mr. T. B. Welch, of Charleston, 
 South Carolina, now resident in Philadelphia, an eminent engraver of 
 portraits, has engraved it with perfect success, and a copy which 
 exhibits the full character of the original is no longer a desideratum 
 the progress of American skill has amply vindicated the genius and 
 spread the fame of STUART. 
 
MA.IOU CKXKIiAI. ISIIAKI. IM TXAM. 
 
ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 THERE are some names connected with the history of our country 
 which associate themselves with the recollections of our juvenile 
 partialities. Such is that of the intrepid man whose memoir we are 
 about to sketch. His adventures, often bordering on the marvellous, 
 have excited the admiration of our youth ; and his daring, prompt, 
 and skilful military manoeuvres, through several years of the revo 
 lutionary war, are still dwelt on with pleasure by the remnant of our 
 time-worn veterans. Endowed by nature with a powerful frame, a 
 vigorous intellect, undaunted courage, and a spirit of enterprise, he 
 was peculiarly fitted to encounter the perils and hardships of the 
 time that " tried men r s souls." To an early education he was but 
 little indebted ; but his own observation, his intercourse with men, 
 and his experience during a service of several years with the British 
 and provincial forces engaged in the conquest of Canada, enabled 
 him to perform the duties of his high military rank with honor to 
 himself and usefulness to his country. In his disposition he was 
 sincere, gentle, generous, and noble ; his uprightness commanded 
 confidence, and " his word (like Petrarch s) was sufficient." 
 
 Major General ISRAEL PUTNAM descended from one of the ear 
 liest settlers of Salem, Massachusetts, in which town he was born, 
 on the 7th of January, 1718. In his youth he excelled in athletic 
 exercises. He married at an early age, and removed to Pomfret, in 
 Connecticut, where for several years he cultivated an extensive tract 
 of land. Here he first exhibited the daring of his character in the 
 destruction of a she-wolf, which, after a long pursuit, had taken 
 refuge in a dark and narrow den, about forty feet from the entrance 
 In 1755, when the war between England and France was prosecuted 
 in America, he was appointed a captain of rangers in the provincial 
 regiment under Colonel Lyman. He afterwards served under Gene 
 rals Abercrombie and Amherst, on the frontiers and in Canada, and 
 rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During that period, beinsf 
 frequently in situations which required not only courage but unwea 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 ried watchfulness and presence of mind, he gained the esteem and 
 confidence of the army. 
 
 Of his numerous adventures by flood and field during this period, 
 the following will serve as examples, characteristic of the man and 
 of the service in which he was engaged. 
 
 When stationed at Fort Miller, by his personal exertions a maga 
 zine, containing three hundred barrels of powder, was saved from 
 destruction by a fire which consumed the barracks and burned 
 through the outside planks of the magazine. 
 
 Being on the eastern shore of the Hudson, near the rapids in the 
 vicinity of Fort Miller, with a batteau and five men, he received a 
 signal from the opposite bank that a large body of savages were in 
 his rear. To stay and be sacrificed, to attempt crossing and be shot, 
 or to go down the fails, were the sole alternatives that presented 
 themselves to his choice. So instantaneously was the latter adopted, 
 that one man was of necessity left, and fell a victim to savage bar 
 barity. The Indians fired on the batteau before it could be got 
 under way ; and no sooner had it escaped by the rapidity of the cur 
 rent beyond the reach of musket-shot, than destruction seemed only 
 to have been avoided in one form to be encountered in another. 
 Prominent rocks, latent shelves, absorbing eddies, and abrupt descents 
 for a quarter of a mile, afforded scarcely the smallest chance of 
 escaping. PUTNAM placed himself sedately at the helm ; his com 
 panions saw him with astonishment avoiding the rocks and yawning 
 gulfs which threatened instant destruction, and safely shooting 
 through the only passage, they at last viewed the batteau gliding on 
 the smooth surface of the stream below. 
 
 While engaged against the French and Indians near Lake George. 
 Major PUTNAM was ambuscaded and attacked by a superior foice. 
 His officers and men, animated by his example, behaved with great 
 bravery ; but after several discharges his fusee missed fire. A large 
 and well-proportioned Indian, with a tremendous war-whoop, in 
 stantly sprang forward with his lifted hatchet and compelled him to 
 surrender, and having disarmed and bound him to a tree, returned to 
 the battle. The Indians having changed their position, he was 
 directly between the fires of the two parties, the balls flying inces 
 santly from each side. Many struck the tree, and several passed 
 through his coat. In this state of jeopardy he remained more than 
 an hour. The enemy having again recovered the ground, a young 
 savage amused himself by hurling his tomahawk to see how near he 
 could throw it without striking his head. The weapon struck in the 
 
ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 tree a number of times at a hair s breadth from the mark. After the 
 Indian had finished his amusement, a French officer approached and 
 levelled his fusee within a foot of his breast ; but fortunately it missed 
 fire. Besides many base outrages upon this defenceless prisoner, 
 they inflicted a deep wound with a tomahawk upon his left cheek, 
 and this mark remained during life. The enemy were at length 
 driven from the field ; PUTNAM was untied by the Indian who had 
 made him prisoner, and was stripped of his coat, vest, stockings, and 
 shoes, strongly pinioned, and loaded with packs. On the march 
 through the wilderness, Major PUTNAM became so exhausted, that 
 he preferred death to a longer continuance in distress. A French 
 officer now interposed, and the Indian who captured him gave him 
 a pair of moccasons. The savages being determined to roast him 
 alive, stripped him naked, bound him to a tree, piled combustibles 
 in a circle round him, and, with horrid screams and yells, set the 
 pile on fire. He soon began to feel the scorching heat, and as he 
 shrunk from its approach by shifting sides, his inhuman tormentors 
 demonstrated their joy by yells and dances. " When the bitterness 
 of death was in a manner past, and nature, with a feeble struggle, 
 was quitting its last hold on sublunary things," a French officer 
 rushed through the crowd, scattered the burning brands, and un 
 bound the victim. The next day Major PUTNAM was obliged to 
 march, but was excused from carrying any burden. After having 
 been examined by the Marquis de Montcalm, he was conducted to 
 Montreal by a French officer, and treated with great humanity. At 
 that place, among other prisoners, was Colonel Peter Schuyler, a 
 provincial officer, by whose assistance he was soon after exchanged. 
 
 At the expiration of ten years from his first receiving a com 
 mission, after having seen as much service, endured as many 
 hardships, encountered as many dangers, and acquired as many 
 laurels, as any officer of his rank, he with great satisfaction laid 
 aside his uniform, and returned to his plough. No character 
 stood fairer in the public estimation for integrity, bravery, and pa 
 triotism. It was proveibially said, as well by British as provincial 
 officers, that, in a service of great peril and hardship, " he dared to 
 lead, where any dared to follow" 
 
 At the commencement of the struggle between the American colo 
 nies and the mother country, while many citizens who had wit 
 nessed the power of the British nation, stood aloof, PUTNAM was 
 among the first and most conspicuous who engaged in the glo 
 rious cause. At Boston he took frequent opportunities of con- 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 versing on the subject with General Gage, Lord Percy, Major Small, 
 and other officers with whom he had formerly served. Being 
 questioned, in case the dispute should proceed to hostilities, what 
 part he would really take, he answered, "with his country; and 
 that, whatever might happen, he was prepared to abide the con - 
 sequence." 
 
 On hearing of the battle at Lexington, Colonel PUTNAM left his 
 plough in the middle of the field, and, without changing his clothes, 
 repaired to Cambridge, riding in a single day one hundred miles. 
 He was soon appointed a major general in the provincial army, then 
 to be raised, and, returning to Connecticut, he made no delay in 
 bringing on a body of troops. Not long after his appointment, Gene 
 ral Gage, unwilling that so valuable an officer should act in opposi 
 tion, privately conveyed to him a proposal, that if he would quit the 
 rebel party, he might rely on being made a major general in the 
 British establishment, and receiving an ample pecuniary compensa 
 tion for his services ; but he spurned the offer. On the 16th of June, 
 1775, it was determined in a council of war, at which General PUT 
 NAM assisted, that a fortified post should be established at, or near 
 Bunker Hill. General PUTNAM marched with the first detachment, 
 and commenced the work ; he was the principal engineer who traced 
 the lines of the redoubt on Breed s Hill, and he continued most of the 
 night with the workmen. At sunrise on the morning of the 17th, 
 he had taken his station ; and he participated in the danger as well 
 as the glory of that day. He was, it is believed, considered as having 
 the general superintendence of the expedition. As the enemy ad 
 vanced, General PUTNAM rode through the line of his own troops, 
 and ordered that no one should fire till they arrived within eight 
 rods, nor any one until commanded. Powder was scarce, and must 
 not be wasted. They should not fire at the enemy till they could see 
 the white of their eyes, and then fire low, and take aim at their waist 
 bands. " You are all marksmen," he added, " and can kill a squirrel 
 at a hundred yards ; reserve your fire, and the enemy will be de 
 stroyed." During the heat of the battle, PUTNAM was seen riding 
 from front to rear, and from place to place, where his presence was 
 most needed, animating both officers and men, his sword waving in 
 the air, threatening to cut down the first who should disobey orders, 
 or act a cowardly part. At one time the gallant Major Small was 
 left standing alone, every one shot down about him. The never 
 erring muskets were levelled at him, and a soldier s fate was his 
 inevitable destiny, had not PUTNAM at the instant appeared. Each 
 
ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 recognised in the other an old friend and fellow-soldier the tie was 
 sacred PUTNAM threw up the deadly muskets with his sword, and 
 arrested his fate. He begged his men to spare that officer, as dear 
 to him as a brother. The general s humane and chivalrous gene 
 rosity excited admiration, and his friend retired unhurt. 
 
 Both the poet and the painter have placed PUTNAM in the rear of 
 the retreating troops. 
 
 " There strides bold PUTNAM, and from all the plains 
 Calls the tired host, the tardy rear sustains, 
 And, mid the whizzing deaths that fill the air 
 Waves back his sword, and dares the following war." 
 
 BARLOW S VISION OF COLUMBUS, and 
 
 TRUMBULL S BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 
 
 in connection with this part of our subject, we cannot avoid adding the 
 following letter from Colonel John Trumbull, an officer in the revolu 
 tionary war, afterward the president of the American Academy of the 
 Fine Arts, to Daniel Putnam, esq., dated "New York, March 30, 1818." 
 "In the summer of 1786, I became acquainted in London with 
 Colonel John Small, of the British army, who had served in Ame 
 rica many years, and had known General PUTNAM intimately during 
 the war of Canada, from 1756 to 1763. From him I had the 
 following anecdote respecting the battle of Bunker Hill. I shall 
 nearly repeat his words. Looking at the picture, which I had then 
 almost completed, he said, 1 1 do n t like the situation in which you 
 have placed rny old friend PUTNAM you have not done him 
 justice. I wish you to alter that part of your picture, and introduce 
 a circumstance which actually happened, and which I can nevei 
 forget. When the British troops advanced the second time to the 
 attack of the redoubt, I, with other officers, was in front of the line 
 to encourage the men. We had advanced very near the works 
 undisturbed, when an irregular fire, like a feu de joie, was poured in 
 on us it was cruelly fatal. The troops fell back; and when I 
 looked to the right and left, I saw not one officer standing. 1 
 glanced my eye to the enemy, and saw several young men levelling 
 thuir pieces at me I knew their excellence as marksmen, and 
 con sidered myself gone. At this moment my old friend PUTNAM 
 rushed forward, and striking up the muzzles of their pieces with his 
 sword, cried out, For God s sake, my lads, don t fire at that man 
 I love him as I do my brother. We were so near each other, that 1 
 heard his words distinctly. He was obeyed I bowed, thanked him. 
 and walked away unmolested. " 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 When, in July 1775, General Washington arrived at Cambridge 
 he found General PUTNAM industriously engaged in accelerating the 
 construction of the necessary defences. His great activity and per 
 sonal industry, the undisguised frankness of his disposition, and the 
 peculiar interest which he discovered in every thing pe-rtaining to 
 the army, soon attracted the attention of the commander in chief; a 
 firm friendship was cemented between these two generals, which 
 continued undiminished till separated by death. Washington having 
 divided the army into three grand divisions, consisting of about 
 twelve regiments each, he appointed Major General Ward to com 
 mand the right wing, Major General Lee the left wing, and Major 
 General PUTNAM the reserve. 
 
 Immediately after the British army evacuated Boston, on the 17th 
 of March, 1776, General Washington ordered the greater part of his 
 army to New York, in order to secure that city from an attack ; and 
 detached General PUTNAM, with instructions to "make the best 
 despatch in getting to New York, to assume the command, and 
 immediately proceed in continuing to execute the plan proposed by 
 Major General Lee, for fortifying that city, and securing the passes 
 of the East and North rivers." On his arrival, he issued his orders, 
 enjoining on the soldiers the strictest observance of order, and 
 prohibiting the inhabitants from all intercourse with the British 
 fleet. The consequence was, that in a short time all the British 
 armed vessels sailed out of the harbor. The commander in chief 
 arrived in New York about the middle of April, and in his first 
 public orders returned thanks to the officers who had successively 
 commanded at New York, for the many works of defence which had 
 been so expeditiously erected. 
 
 General Washington being required by congress to visit Philadel 
 phia, General PUTNAM was the commander of the army during his 
 absence, from the 21st of May to the 6th of June. The most 
 important duties devolved upon him, which were executed in a 
 manner the most effectual and satisfactory. 
 
 It was but two days previous to the battle on Long Island, that 
 General PUTNAM was ordered to the command of that post ; and he 
 assisted in the arduous and complicated difficulties of that masterly 
 retreat. In the memorable and distressing flight of the American 
 army through New Jersey, in 1776, he was always near, always the 
 friend, the supporter, and confidant of his chief. After reaching the 
 western bank of the Delaware with the rear of the army, tie was 
 ordered to Philadelphia, to fortify and defend that city against a 
 meditated attack. When in the summer of 1 777, Fort Montgomery 
 
ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 was captured by the enemy, and it was determined t: erect another 
 fortification on the banks of the Hudson for the defence of that river, 
 the commander in chief left it wholly to the judgment of General 
 PUTNAM to fix on the spot, who decided in favor of West Point. 
 
 In the battle of Princeton, Captain M Pherson, of the 17th British 
 regiment, was desperately wounded and left with the dead. General 
 PUTNAM found him languishing in extreme distress, without a 
 surgeon, without accommodation, and without a friend. He imme 
 diately caused every possible comfort to be administered to him. 
 "While the recovery of Captain M Pherson was doubtful, he desired 
 that General PUTNAM would permit a friend in the British army at 
 Brunswick to come and assist him in making his will. General 
 PUTNAM, who had then only fifty men in his whole command, was 
 sadly embarrassed by the proposition. He was not willing that a 
 British officer should spy out the weakness of his post; and it was 
 not in his nature to refuse complying with a dictate of humanity. 
 He luckily bethought himself of an expedient, which he hastened to 
 put in practice. A flag was despatched with Captain M Pherson s 
 request, but under an injunction not to return with his friend until 
 night. In the evening, lights were placed in all the rooms of the 
 college, (at Princeton,) and in every apartment of the vacant houses 
 throughout the town. During the whole night, the fifty men, some 
 times altogether and sometimes in small detachments, were marched 
 from different quarters by the house in which M Pherson lay. 
 Afterwards it was known that the officer, on his return, reported that 
 General PUTNAM S army, upon the most moderate calculation, could 
 not consist of less than four or five thousand men." 
 
 While General PUTNAM was posted at Peekskill, a person by the 
 name of Palmer, who was a lieutenant in the tory levies, was 
 detected in his camp. Governor Tryon reclaimed him as a British 
 officer, and threatened vengeance in case he should be executed. 
 General PUTNAM wrote the following pithy reply. 
 
 "Sir, Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your king s service, was 
 taken in my camp as a spy he was tried as a spy he was con 
 demned as a spy and yon may rest assured, sir, he shall be hanged 
 a* a spy. " I have the honor to be, &c., 
 
 " ISRAEL PUTNAM 
 
 "His Excellency Governor Tryon. 
 
 P. S. Aftf moon. He is hanged." 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 In the winter of 1778, the Connecticut troops, " who had been 
 badly fed, badly clothed, and worse paid, formed the design of 
 marching to Hartford, where the general assembly was then in 
 session, and demanding redress. General PUTNAM, hearing that the 
 second brigade was under arms for this purpose, mounted his horse, 
 galloped to the cantonment, and addressed them. After the several 
 regiments had received the general as he rode along the line, with 
 drums beating and presented arms, the sergeants who had then the 
 command brought the men to an order, in which position they 
 continued while he was speaking. He then directed them to shoul 
 der, march to their regimental parades, and lodge arms ; all which 
 they executed with apparent good humor." 
 
 About the middle of the winter of 1778, while General PUTNAM 
 was on a visit to his outpost at Horseneck, he found Governor 
 Try on advancing upon him with a corps of fifteen hundred men. 
 To oppose these, General PUTNAM had only a picquet of one 
 hundred and fifty men, and two iron field-pieces without horses or 
 drag-ropes. He, however, planted his cannon on the high ground, 
 and retarded their approach by firing several times, until, perceiving 
 the horse (supported by the infantry) about to charge, he ordered the 
 picquet to provide for their safety by retiring to a swamp inaccessible 
 to horse, and secured his own by riding down the steep declivity at 
 the church upon a full trot. This hill was so steep where he 
 descended, as to have seventy stone steps, for the accommodation of 
 foot passengers. Here the dragoons, who were but a sword s length 
 from him, stopped short and fired at him ; and before they could 
 gain the valley, by going round the hill, he was far beyond their 
 reach. Without any other injury than a bullet-hole in his beaver, 
 he continued his route unmolested to Stamford, where he collected 
 some militia, and in turn pursued Governor Tryon arid his party. 
 
 In December, 1779, while on his return from Connecticut to head 
 quarters, this venerable man was attacked by a paralytic affection, 
 under which he languished till the 29th of May, 1790, when his 
 honorable and useful life was brought to a final close, at Brooklyn, 
 Connecticut. 
 
. E.Prad-hamme from tte Original Miruature by Arch. Robert 
 
 1 
 
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 llth, 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 
 fidelity, 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 charactei, 
 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 February, 1781, and during that long and eventful period 
 of the war, he was, in the language of Washington himself, " his 
 principal and rost conhdential 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 
 oecame 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 
 1778, 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 wortnlessness, had prostrated public credit. The government ano 
 the armvwere 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 trios* 1 
 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 f twenty-three. 
 
 In October 1780, HAMILTON earnestly recommended to General 
 
 * H2 
 
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- 
 s^eness, 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 
 Continent alist, 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 vigorrus 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 
 
 *The illustrious HAMILTON was described by Talleyrand, who asserted that the greatest 
 sight he had ever beheld in this country was seeing HAMILTON, with his pile of books 
 under his amis, proceeding to the court room in the Old City Hall of New York, in order 
 to obtain a livelihood, by expounding the law, and vindicating the rights of his clients 
 Let the ignorant and vain say what they please, here is true greatness! 
 
 7 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 necessity of complying- with the requisitions of congress, for raising 
 specified sums of money towards sustaining the expenses of govern 
 ment, and paying a year s interest on the domestic debt. On the llth 
 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 ocal 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 
 yeur 1^83 ; but his zeal for the establishment of a national government 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 competent to preserve us from insult abroad and degradatioi and 
 dissension at home, and fitted to restore credit, to protect liberty and 
 to cherish and display our resources, kept increasing in inteisity. 
 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 prescriptive 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 beha)f 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 anc 
 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 fa,bric 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 hoiizon 
 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 \vas 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 triennially. 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 
 priricipbs, and clothed with the powers, of the one presented to the 
 public, were topics discussed with a talent, force, information, skill. 
 
 10 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 and eloquence, to which we had not been accustomed. Mr. H AMI I/TON 
 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, anil had signed the instrument before them, he felt and nobh 
 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, mads 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 *o 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 j 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 knowledge 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 bean 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 ManliuSj 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, arid received the prompt and hearty sanc 
 tion of the nation. At the earnest recommendation of General Wash- 
 is VOL. 2 I 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 ington, HAM/LTON 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 devoted ness 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 fedeial 
 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 ri^ht 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. 
 
 A simple fact is often highly illustrative of character. When Hopkins, 
 the publisher of " The Federalist," proposed to republish the papers 
 he had written in it, saying "They are demanded by the spirit of the 
 times and the desire of the people," HAMILTON replied, " Do you 
 really think, Mr. Hopkins, that those fugitive essays will be read if 
 reprinted ? Well, give me a few days to consider." " Will not this 
 be a good opportunity, General HAMILTON," rejoined Hopkins, " to 
 revise them, and if so, to make, perhaps alterations, in some parts, if 
 necessary ?" " No, sir, if reprinted, they must stand exactly as at first, 
 not a word of alteration. A comma may be inserted or left out, but 
 the work must undergo no change whatever." 
 
 A few days had elapsed, when, on the next interview, General 
 HAMILTON agreed to the reprint, with the express condition that he 
 himself must inspect the revised proofs. Not a word was ever altered. 
 " You think something of the papers?" said HAMILTON to the printer. 
 "Mr. Hopkins, let them be issued. Heretofore, sir, I have given the 
 people common milk ; hereafter, shortly, sir, I shall give them strong 
 meat." Alas, that death prevented the execution of his purpose ! 
 
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 uot 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 dull and inactive, and did not afford any chance ol 
 gaining distinction, or of improvement in naval tactics. Every 
 sailor underbills 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 z6al, 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 II. PERRY. 
 
 force was superior in men and metal, being six vessels, cairying 
 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 
 
 O 
 
 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: (he 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 country 
 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 
 arho had opposed the war now united with the friends of it in 
 Tvreathing 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 
 cur 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 " The 
 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, arid 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 
 he most horrid character. The utmost vigilance and energy were 
 ^cessary, 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, eveiy 
 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 memory, and 
 this has been done. But the works of such men immortalize them, or 
 even if for awhile their names are forgotten, the results they produce 
 tell on the prosperity of their country from age to age. Dreadful 
 might the results "have been, if in our early history, heroes on the 
 land and the sea had not impressed the world with the fact that while 
 we desire no more, we will be content with no less than our own. 
 
Engraved Lr.IvVfellmore i"ior.xa.RiinmJtv G.i 
 
 LED SIEIIIPIPIlMoIL )L ffi)c 
 
EDWARD SHIPP EN. 
 
 IN presenting the portrait of the late Chief Justice SHIPPEN, we are 
 sure that we shall gratify, not only his numerous friends, by whom 
 tiis memory is affectionately cherished, but the public, who are 
 indebted to him for many and important services. He was, in every 
 sense, a son of Pennsylvania, born and educated in the city of 
 Philadelphia, and to his native state he devoted his labors and talents 
 during a long and useful life. He was born on the sixteenth day 
 of February, 1729. His grandfather, William Shippea, was a gen 
 tleman of fortune and family, in the county of York, England ; and 
 his father, Edward Shippen, emigrated to America about the yeai 
 1675. He first settled in Boston, but removed to Philadelphia about 
 the year 1700, where his character and acquirements soon obtained 
 for him the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and led him 
 to various offices of honor and emolument. He became a member 
 of the governor s council, a commissioner of the board of property, a 
 judge of the general court, and was the first mayor of the city. 
 
 EDWARD SHIPPEN, the subject of this memoir, followed the 
 honorable course of his father, and fully sustained the reputation 
 derived from him. Having completed his elementary education 
 with distinguished diligence and success, he commenced the study 
 of the law under the direction of Tench Francis, Esquire, then the 
 attorney-general of Pennsylvania. In 1748, Mr. SHIPPEN, having 
 prosecuted his legal studies for about two years, went to London to 
 complete them in the Temple. In our day, this is no longer neces 
 sary ; nor indeed are our American youth required to go abroad for 
 instruction, in any of the learned professions more than in the 
 mechanic arts. After spending two years in London, not in frivolous 
 dissipated pursuits, but in the acquirement of the knowledge of his 
 profession and the general cultivation of his mind, Mr. SHIPPEN was 
 admitted a barrister of the Middle Temple ; and he returned to Phila 
 delphia, to commence his career of life, and enter upon the duties of 
 
 a lawyer and a citizen. He was so occupied, when the war of our 
 
 in 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 revolution interrupted the civil pursuits of our citizens, and sus 
 pended, more or less, their private business. 
 
 On the happy conclusion of this momentous struggle, the depart 
 ments of government, as well as the occupations of the people, 
 returned to their regular action and course. To furnish the judiciary 
 with men of suitable qualifications, as to character and knowledge, 
 was obviously an object of primary importance. Professional learn 
 ing and moral integrity in the administration of the laws, were indis 
 pensable to secure the public confidence for the courts of justice ; and 
 in seaching for them, Mr. SHIPPEN could not be overlooked. He 
 was accordingly appointed president of the court of common pleas 
 of the county of Philadelphia, a place of high trust ; and was also 
 the presiding judge of the court of quarter sessions for the city and 
 county. These appointments were made under the constitution of 
 the state, adopted in 1776. A more perfect organization of the 
 judiciary was made by the constitution of 1790. 
 
 In 1791, Mr. SHIPPEN was appointed one of the judges of the 
 supreme court, whose jurisdiction extended over trie whole state, 
 and whose duties and powers called for the highest grade of profes 
 sional learning and talents, as well as of personal character and 
 public confidence. On the election of Chief Justice M Kean to the 
 executive chair of the commonwealth in 1799, Judge SHIPPEN 
 succeeded him on the bench, and was appointed Chief Justice by 
 Governor M Kean, who was perfectly well acquainted with the quali 
 fications the office demanded, and with the fitness of the person he 
 selected for it. Chief Justice SHIPPEN continued to perform the 
 duties of his exalted station with undiminished ability, and unim 
 paired confidence and respect, until the close of the year 1805, when 
 the infirmities of age, he being then nearly seventy-seven years old, 
 admonished him to retire to repose. A few months after his resig 
 nation of office, on the sixteenth day of April, 1806, he found his 
 final resting place, placidly leaving the world, in which, from his 
 earliest youth, he had been conspicuous for his virtues and useful 
 ness. The volumes of our judicial reports are enriched with many 
 of his opinions, of great importance; and these are now received 
 with the same respect they commanded, when they were sustained 
 by his personal and official influence and authority. Much of our 
 law which is now well settled, was, at the period of his judicial 
 administration, in a state of uncertainty, long usages sometimes 
 interfering with positive legislative enactments. Principles were to 
 be established suitable to our system of jurisprudence, and con- 
 
EDWARD SHIPPEN. 
 
 structions to be given to doubtful laws. His sound mind, his excel 
 lent legal education and great experience, his cool temper and 
 discriminating sagacity, were all admirably calculated for the per 
 formance of such functions ; and he did perform them in a manner 
 to satisfy his contemporaries, and to be approved and unshaken to 
 this day. Judicial qualifications and services are not of a character 
 to catch the multitude, or to be the subjects of popular applause ; but 
 there is no officer concerned in the administration of the affairs ot 
 a people, whose duties are more anxious and arduous to himself, or 
 more important to the community, than those of the judge. The 
 preparatory education and long study; the painful and attentive 
 experience, which are indispensable for the attainment of the quali 
 fications befitting the bench ; the habits of close and careful investi 
 gation; the faculty of discovering the true ground of controversy, 
 of distinguishing between real and apparent resemblances, between 
 sound reasoning and ingenious sophism ; the firmness never to yield 
 principles to expediency, nor to sacrifice or disturb the great system 
 of jurisprudence for particular cases ; and withal, to hold a perfect 
 command over every feeling that might irritate the temper or mislead 
 the judgment, present to our contemplation a combination of rare 
 and valuable qualities, deserving our highest consideration and 
 respect. The laws must be sustained with independence and intelli 
 gence, or it is in vain that they are wise and salutary ; justice must 
 be rendered faithfully to the parties who appeal for it to the judicial 
 tribunals, or it is a mockery to promise them protection and redress. 
 The active, efficient, vital operations of the government are performed 
 by the courts. No man is so high or so humble as to be beyond their 
 reach ; they bring the laws into every man s house, to punish or to 
 protect them. Such are the responsibilities of a judge. It was on 
 the judgment seat of the law, that the high qualities of Chief Justice 
 SHIPPEN were brought into their best exercise and use. He seemed 
 by nature as well as education to have been especially prepared for 
 this station. Patient, learned, discriminating and just, no passion or 
 private interest, no selfish or unworthy feeling of favor or resentment 
 ever held the slightest influence over his conduct or decisions. 
 
 Few situations expose the temper to more irritating trials than that 
 of a judge. He must occasionally encounter ignorance, imperti 
 nence, stupidity, obstinacy, and chicanery, and he must take care 
 that they do not move him from his line of duty. The bland 
 and equal temper of Chief Justice SHIPPEN never forsook him 
 amidst such trials, but, on the contrary, threw a charm over his 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 manner of repelling or submitting to them. The young and the 
 timid advocate was encouraged by his kindness, and flattered by his 
 attention. He knew and practiced the lesson of Lord Bacon, that 
 "patience is one of the first duties of a judge;" and he felt that he was 
 bound to hear every party and every advocate, before he decided his 
 cause. A suitor might go from his court disappointed by the judg 
 ment, but he could not be dissatisfied with the judge. 
 
 Of the private character and deportment of Chief Justice SHIPPEN, 
 it may be truly said that he has left few imitators of his manners. 
 His politeness was of the kind that has its foundations in a well 
 regulated temper and the best feelings of a benevolent heart, polished 
 by a familiar intercourse, from his birth, with refined society. He 
 combined, in a remarkable degree, benignity with dignity, conciliating 
 the affections while he commanded a perfect respect; and, as a valua 
 ble citizen, and an accomplished lawyer and judge, remarkable for 
 the great extent and minute accuracy of his knowledge, he must ever 
 be conspicuous, among those worthies who have won, by their virtues 
 and their talents, an imperishable name. 
 

THEODR1C ROMEYN BECK, M.D. 
 
 [T is not always the men who shine with the most brilliancy before 
 the world, and occasionally astonish our senses with their exploits, 
 who are really the most useful, or the most worthy. 
 
 The life of a professional man, unlike that of the statesman OT 
 the warrior, affords but few incidents calculated to excite interest, 01 
 allure attention. It is not on that account, however, less worthy of 
 record, or barren of utility. 
 
 The subject of the present memoir, as one of the most successful 
 of American medical authors, seems justly entitled to a place, in a 
 work designed to perpetuate the names of those who have distin 
 guished themselves, by their talents or their erudition. 
 
 THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK was born of highly respectable parents, 
 on the eleventh of August, 1791, at Schenectady, in the state of New 
 York. His grandfather was the Reverend Theodric Romeyn, D.D., 
 one of the professors of theology in the Reformed Dutch Church, 
 and one of its most distinguished ornaments. The rudiments of 
 Doctor BECK S education were received at the grammar school in 
 his native place ; and, in 1803, he entered Union college, an insti 
 tution which had been established a few years previously, principally 
 through the agency and active exertions of his grandfather. In 
 1807 he was graduated, and commenced the study of medicine under 
 the late Doctors M Clelland and Low, of Albany. His medical edu 
 cation was afterwards completed under the care of Doctor David 
 Hosack, of New York, in which place he attended the lectures of 
 the college of Physicians and Surgeons, and obtained from that 
 institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1811; on which 
 occasion he wrote and published an inaugural dissertation on 
 "Insanity." Immediately on his graduation, he commenced the 
 practice of his profession in the city of Albany. 
 
 In 1815, he was appointed Professor of the Institutes of Medicine 
 and Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence, in the college of Physicians 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 and Surgeons of the western district of the state of New York, a 
 station which he has held ever since. As this appointment did not 
 require his absence from Albany during any very considerable 
 portion of the year, he still continued to practice medicine in that 
 place. This, however, did not long continue ; and in a short time, 
 owing to an apprehension that his health was inadequate to the 
 arduous duties of practice, and perhaps, also, to a superior and 
 growing fondness for literary pursuits, he abandoned completely the 
 practical exercise of his profession, and in 1817, accepted the situa 
 tion of principal of the Albany Academy. 
 
 This institution, in every thing but the name, is on an equality 
 with many of the colleges of our country. With a building distin 
 guished for its architectural beauty, erected by the public authorities 
 of the city, and aided by able professors in various departments, 
 under the superintendence of Doctor BECK it has attained a high 
 and deserved rank among the literary institutions of our country. 
 
 It is as an author, however, that the subject of this memoir is 
 mainly distinguished. In 1813, he delivered the annual address 
 before the Society of Arts, of Albany, On the Mineralogical Re 
 sources of the United States. This we believe was the earliest 
 systematic account of the mineral wealth of our country, and the 
 production, which was published, received from various quarters the 
 most respectful notice. 
 
 In 1823, Doctor BECK published his work entitled " Elements of 
 Medical Jurisprudence," in two volumes, octavo ; which, at the time, 
 attracted great attention, and has since continued a standard work 
 on the subject of which it treats. The science of medical jurispru 
 dence is one of great interest and importance. It treats of all those 
 questions in which the testimony of a medical man may be required 
 before courts of justice, and from the nature of many of the questions, 
 it is obvious that their discussion requires the widest range of medical 
 and scientific knowledge. Although deeply studied in Italy, France, 
 and Germany, this science had scarcely attracted any attention, either 
 in this country or in England, previously to the publication of the 
 work of Doctor BECK. To him is certainly due the high credit, not 
 merely of rousing public attention to an important and neglected 
 subject, but also of presenting a work upon it which probably will 
 never be entirely superseded. In foreign countries, its merits have 
 been duly appreciated and magnanimously acknowledged. The 
 Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal says of it 
 
 "Under the unassuming title of Elements of Medical Jurispru- 
 
THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK. 
 
 dence, Doctor BECK has presented us with a comprehensive system, 
 which embraces almost every valuable fact or doctrine relating to it. 
 Each of its diversified departments has been investigated so minutely, 
 that few cases can occur in practice, on which it will be necessary 
 to seek elsewhere for farther information. At the same time, by 
 studying succinctness, and shunning those verbose oratorical details 
 with which other writers, and particularly those of France, abound, 
 he has succeeded in rendering his treatise comprehensive within a 
 singularly moderate compass. We may securely assert, that a work 
 on the subject is not to be found in any language, which displays so 
 much patient and discriminating research, with so little of the mere 
 ostentation of learning. The opinions expressed both on general 
 principles and on the particular questions which have occurred in 
 courts of law, are given clearly arid judiciously. There are few 
 occasions, even where the points at issue are difficult and obscure, 
 on which persons of skill and experience will be disposed to differ 
 materially with him." 
 
 In the various medical colleges of Great Britain there has been, 
 we believe, no text book on medical jurisprudence positively adopted ; 
 but we have been informed that Doctor BECK S work has been for 
 years recommended to students by professors. 
 
 In 1828, it was translated into German at Weimar, and has been 
 favorably received in various parts of the continent of Europe. 
 
 It is not alone the physician and the jurist who are indebted to 
 Doctor BECK for this essential work ; but it has proved to the general 
 reader, we believe invariably, a fund of interesting information ; 
 and we will venture to say, that no one has ever risen from its 
 perusal without experiencing an agreeable surprise, that a subject so 
 uninviting in its title, should afford so much amusement. The 
 remarks of a writer in Black wood s Magazine agree so well with our 
 own experience, that we cannot do better than adopt them. " The 
 ignorant state in which jurymen continually come to the consider 
 ation of points of medical evidence on criminal trials, is lamentable. 
 In regard to men of any habits of reading, it is really sinful ; and 
 certainly not the less so, because the works which they ought to 
 read and master, happen to be about the most interesting and 
 amusing books in the world." 
 
 Doctor BECK is one of the founders and active supporters of the 
 Albany institute, a scientific and literary association, which has 
 already published the first volume of its Transactions, highly cre 
 ditable to itself and to its members. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Of the personal qualities of the subject of this memoir, it is perhaps 
 hardly fit to speak. Suffice it to say, he is universally respected and 
 esteemed. Unpretending in his manners and studious in his habits, 
 the voice of praise has not rendered him arrogant or indolent, and the 
 science of his country has much yet to hope from his labors and learn 
 ing. 
 
 So far as relates to the prominent incidents in the life of this dis 
 tinguished individual, the brief memoir already given is sufficiently 
 copious and faithful. His career in the march of science and philoso 
 phy has, up to the present hour, remained unchanged by misfortune 
 or reverse. Devoted with a peculiar love to the study of Juridical 
 science his great work on Medical Jurisprudence, has, by successive 
 editions, became a vast repository of precious truths, indispensably ne 
 cessary to every sound lawyer, to every medical man who would give 
 proper and safe testimony in criminal cases before courts, as well as to 
 the enlightened citizen desirous of the promulgation of wholesome 
 doctrines on hygiene and public health. Nor is this estimate of 
 Dr. BECK S work on Forensic medicine limited to the opinion of his 
 own countrymen: European science and its cultivators have favored 
 its wide diffusion as among the surest guides of knowledge as a text 
 book for colleges and universities of the highest renown in the Old 
 World. 
 
 The long association of Dr. BECK with academic education has 
 recently identified him still more closely with the interests of popular 
 instruction in the great state of New York. Thoroughly conversant 
 with the various measures which from time to time have been adopted 
 by the regents of the University in the distribution of funds and in the 
 maintenance of public schools, he has lately been selected as the sec 
 retary of the board in the place of that venerable citizen and excellent 
 man Gideon Hawley. The Public or State Library of Albany has 
 also long enjoyed the suggestions of his wisdom in its government. 
 It remains only to add that upon the organization of the new Medical 
 College at Albany, and his secession from the College of Physicians 
 and Surgeons of western New York, (now an extinct institution,) Dr. 
 BECK has been appointed by the Regents to the chair of Materia 
 Medica. Lately Professor BECK has most meritoriously been created 
 LL. D. by the faculty of Union College. 
 
Engraved by J.B.Lc>T>,;;acre irora al viimin^iy C.^V.Pealc. 
 
 WHILILnj 
 
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. 
 
 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. 
 
HUF 
 
JOSEPH H A B E R S H A M 
 
 COLONEL JOSKFH HAREKSHAM was horn at Savannah, in Georgia, on 
 the 28th of July, 1751. His father, James Hubersham, was a native 
 of Yorkshire, England, and accompanied his friend, the Rev. George 
 Whitetield, to Georgia in the year 1738. There he soon became the 
 President of the Orphan House, or Bethesda College, established by 
 the exertions of Mr. Wliitetield; for which cfiarge he was well quali 
 fied, by his literary, as well as moral and religious character and 
 habits. He was afterwards appointed one of the Kind s Council in 
 the Colony, and subsequently its President and acting Governor, in 
 the absence of Sir James Wright, m which situation lie remained 
 until his death, a few months before the expulsion of the Royal au 
 thority from Georgia, in the year 1776. Although foreign to our 
 subject, it is but justice to the memory of President Habersham to re 
 mark, that, while in office, his letters pointed out to the ministry the 
 grievances under which the Co ony was laboring from the pernicious 
 and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, the growing spirit of 
 liberty among the people, and warned them of the consequences of 
 perseverance in oppression. Faithful to his duties, but independent 
 in their exercise, after a life devoted to the service and improvement 
 of his adopted country, he was saved, by death, from seeing that 
 country "made a desolation," his fair possessions wasted, and his 
 sons denounced as traitors. Of these sons there were three, James, 
 JOSEPH, and John, who all engaged with zeal in the Revolution ; and, 
 regardless of consequences, rejecting and despising all otters of Royal 
 clemency, continued to the end the unflinching friends and active 
 supporters of the republican cause. 
 
 JOSKFH, the second son, and subject of this notice, was educated at 
 Princeton College, in New Jersey. Of quick and ardent temper, brave 
 and chivalrous almost to excess, a pupil of Witherspoon, and wirh the 
 independent spirit which he had inherited from his father, it seems to 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 have been almost a matter of course that he should have taken an 
 early, active, and decided part in the excited feelings and deeply in 
 teresting movements of the times. Accordingly, on the 27th July, 1 774, 
 at the age of twenty-three, we find him a member of the first commit 
 tee appointed by the friends of liberty in Georgia ; which, in defiance 
 of the proclamation of Governor Wright, continued to co-operate with 
 similar committees in the northern Provinces, and to excite the people to 
 resistance. When we recollect, in connexion with this fact, that his father 
 was, at that moment, the second officer of the King in the Province, and 
 high in favor, the prominent part which Colonel HABERSHAM took in 
 these proceedings exhibits a deep devotion to the cause of his country, 
 which no influence of others, or considerations of a personal nature, 
 could restrain. In the following year, and while his father was still 
 alive and in office, we again find his name recorded among those of a 
 small party of the Republicans, who broke open the magazine, took 
 out the powder, and sent a large portion of it to Beaufort, in South 
 Carolina, for the use of the patriots. In the month of June of the 
 same year he was appointed one of the council of safety ; and in July, 
 commanded a party of volunteers which went down the river in 
 boats, captured a government ship which had just arrived with mu 
 nitions of war for the royal troops, and took out the cargo, includ 
 ing 15,000 pounds of powder, a portion of which was afterwards 
 sent to the north and used by the American army before Boston. 
 On the 18th day of January of the ever-memorable year 1776, Colo 
 nel HABERSHAM, who was at that time a member of the assembly, 
 raised a party of volunteers, took Governor Wright prisoner, and con- 
 fined him to his house under a guard. The Governor effected his 
 escape, however, from this prison in a few weeks, took refuge on 
 board of a British vessel of war then in the river, and never after 
 wards landed in Georgia. 
 
 Active hostilities were now fairly commenced in the province. By 
 a resolution of the General Assembly the first battalion of Georgia 
 Continental troops was raised ; and on the 4th of February, 1776, 
 Colonel, then Mr. HABERSHAM, was appointed Major of that battalion.. 
 In this command he did not remain idle ; for, early in March, the 
 British armed squadron came up the river Savannah to recover pos 
 session of the town, which attempt failed. In the defence, Colonel HA 
 BERSHAM, at the head of a company of riflemen, bore a distinguished 
 part. In fact, he appears at this time to have been prominently en 
 gaged on every occasion in which danger was to be encountered, or 
 the royal authority resisted. 
 
JOSEPH HABERSHAM. 
 
 After the expulsion of Governor Wright, and of the British forces 
 from Georgia, that Province enjoyed a few months of comparative 
 quiet; during which, on the 19th of May, 1770, Colonel HABERSHAM 
 married Isabella Rae, the daughter of Rohert Rae, and sister-in-law of 
 General Samuel Elbert. Upon the taking of Savannah, in the winter oi 
 1778, and the re-establishment of the Royal Government in Georgia, 
 Colonel HABERSHAM removed his family to Virginia for safety; but 
 his zeal in the cause of his country did not permit him to retire from 
 its service, and accordingly, upon the landing of Count De Estaing 
 in Georgia, to co-operate with General Lincoln in the reduction of 
 Savannah, he was selected as the officer to guide the French army 
 from the sea-board, and was engaged in the combined attack upon 
 his native city, so disastrous in its results. After the failure of this 
 attack, and the retreat of the American and French armies from the 
 State, Savannah, and nearly the whole of Georgia, remained in pos 
 session of the British, and so continued to the end of the war. 
 
 At the close of the Revo utiori, Colonel HABERSHAM returned to 
 private life with a broken fortune, but rich in the respect and affection of 
 a free and independent peop e. In the ever-memorable contest which 
 had just closed, it would be invidious to claim for Colonel HABER 
 SHAM either a peculiar strength of patriotism or of devotion to the 
 cause of the Revolution ; thousands, like him, had perilled life and 
 fortune in that Revolution ; but when we reflect that his father was 
 high in office, and in the confidence of the King; that he himself, 
 if the Royal authority was preserved, had every prospect of enjoying 
 like confidence and distinction ; that the very weakness of the Pro 
 vince gave, in the beginning, but little hope of effectual resistance; 
 and that, in the event of failure, he would, from these very circum 
 stances, become a marked object of Royal vengeance; surely we may 
 be entitled to claim for him more than a common share of devoted 
 patriotism and such w;is the portion awarded to him by his native 
 State. In the year 1785 he was elected Speaker of the General As 
 sernbly; and in 1790 was again honored with the same distinction. 
 
 In the year 1795 Colonel HABERSHAM was called, by Washington, 
 to the distinguished station of Post-Master-General of the United 
 
 ?5 
 
 States ; and we require no better proof of the able and faithful manner 
 in which he discharged his duties, than the fact that he retained that 
 office, not only to the close of the administration of Washington, but 
 throughout that of the elder Adams, At a period when so many, 
 from great and devoted service to the country, had claims to office , 
 and these claims, well-known and appreciated ; and when the s 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 tion was made by Washington, this appointment was the best evidence 
 of his great merit, and the general estimation in which he was held. 
 In this orfice, as has been already stated, he continued until the ac 
 cession of Mr. Jefferson to the presidency ; but he retained the office 
 so long, by no cringing or truckling to the higher authorities ; for the 
 president, Mr. Adams, having told him that the post-office department 
 was an Augean stable, and must be cleansed meaning that the post 
 masters who were of the opposite party must be removed ; Colonel 
 HARKRSHAM replied, that these officers had discharged their duty 
 faithfully, and that, therefore, he would not remove them, but that 
 the president could remove the post-master-general. This, however, 
 Mr. Adams, it seems, did not think proper to do. 
 
 The principle, however, which Colonel HABERSHAM refused to 
 act upon was soon after made to act upon him. When Mr. Jefferson 
 became the president, a polite note was addressed to Colonel HABER 
 SHAM, tendering to him the office of Treasurer of the United States. 
 This offer was received as, no doubt, it was intended to be, an inti 
 mation to him to resign the office of post-master-general, which he 
 immediately did, and returned to Georgia. 
 
 Upon the establishment of a branch of the old Bank of the United 
 States in Savannah, Colonel HABERSHAM was appointed the President, 
 which office he continued to hold until the expiration of the charter. 
 The few remaining years of his life were devoted to honorable efforts 
 fo repair the ruins of that fortune which had been broken by the 
 Revolution, and in preparation for the close of that life, the greater 
 portion of which had been devoted to the service of his country. His 
 death occurred in his native city, on the 17th day of November in 
 the year 1815, and in the sixty-fifth year of his age. 
 
 We have said that Colonel HABERSHAM was quick and ardent in 
 temper ; but, although quick to take offence, he was ready and anxious 
 to make atonement for the slightest wrong kind and indulgent to 
 his slaves, humane and liberal to the poor, strict in the performance 
 of all his contracts ; tenacious of his own, as he had been of the rights 
 of his country. Allowing to others the same independent and frank 
 expression of opinion which he always exercised for himself, he may 
 with truth be pronounced to have been a fair specimen of that noble, 
 generous, and chivalric race who achieved the liberty and indepen 
 dence of our happy country. 
 
ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 
 
 IT was justly remarked, by one* well qualified to form a correct 
 estimate of the character he described, when speaking of the subject 
 of this notice, that " the annals of our country have rarely been 
 adorned with a character more venerable, or a life more useful than 
 that of ABRAHAM BALDWIN. War brings its animation, and creates 
 its own heroes ; it often rears them up to fame with as little assist 
 ance from native genius as from study, or from moral and political 
 virtue. It is in times of peace that an illustrious name is hardest 
 earned, and most difficult to be secured, especially among enlight 
 ened republicans, where an equality of right and rank leaves nothing 
 to the caprice of chance ; where every action is weighed in its 
 proper balance, and every man compared not only with his neigh 
 bor, but with himself; his motives being tested by the uniform 
 tendency of his measures." 
 
 ABRAHAM BALDWIN was born in Connecticut, in November, 
 1754, and received his education, very early, at the university at 
 New Haven. He was one of the best classical and mathematical 
 scholars of the age in which he lived. He was employed as one 
 of the professors in this college during the greater part of the Ame 
 rican war ; at the close of which he began the practice of law, and 
 went to establish himself in the state of Georgia. He arrived at 
 Savannah in the beginning of 1784 ; he was immediately admitted 
 a counsellor at the Georgia bar, and in three months after he was 
 elected a member of the state legislature. During the first session 
 of that body after his election, he performed a service for the people 
 of that state, for which their posterity will bless his memory. In 
 deed, if he had done nothing for them since, this action alone would 
 have immortalized him there. He originated the plan of the Uni 
 versity of Georgia, drew up the charter, and with infinite labor and 
 
 Joel Barlow, 
 i 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 patience, in vanquishing all sorts^of prejudices and removing every 
 obstruction, he persuaded the assembly to adopt it. This instrument 
 endowed the university with forty thousand acres of excellent land, 
 required it to establish one central seat for the higher branches of 
 education, and a secondary college in every county in the state; 
 all dependant on the principal seminary. 
 
 These lands were then uncultivated ; the state itself was new. 
 Within a few years, however, the rents of the university lands ena 
 bled the trustees to erect the buildings and organize the institution, 
 Its principal seat was established at Athens, on the Oconee river, 
 and its first president was Josiah Meigs, a man equally eminent for 
 mathematical and chemical science, and legal and classical erudition. 
 
 John Milledge, governor of the state, and afterward the colleague 
 of Mr. BALDWIN in the senate of the United States, was associated 
 with him in the labor of bringing forward this establishment : and 
 the trustees caused to be erected and placed within the walls of the 
 first college, a marble monument to Baldwin as founder of the insti 
 tution, and to Milledge, his associate. Nor is this the only instance 
 in which we find their names connected by monumental acts of 
 public authority. Milledgeville is the shire town of Baldwin 
 county, and the seat of the state government. 
 
 Mr. BALDWIN had not been two years in Georgia when he was 
 elected member of congress. This was in 1785, to take his seat in 
 1786; from that time till the day of his death, he was, without a 
 moment s intermission, a member of congress from that state, either 
 as delegate under the old constitution, until the year 17S9; repre 
 sentative under the new, until the year 1799; and senator from that 
 time till his death. And the term for which he was last elected had 
 still four years to run from the 4th of March, 1807, the day of his 
 decease. 
 
 There had probably been no other instance of such a long and 
 uninterrupted series of confidence and service among the members 
 of the American congress. And what is more remarkable, on the 
 first day that he was confined to his house in his last illness, only 
 eight days before his death, he told his friends that during his 
 twenty-two years of public service, that day, according to his best 
 recollection, was the first that he had been absent from his public 
 duties. 
 
 Mr. BALDWIN was a member of the convention that framed the 
 present constitution of the United States. This he always considered 
 *is the greatest service that he ever performed for his country ; and 
 
ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 
 
 his estimate is doubtless just. He was an active member of trat 
 most illustrious and meritorious body. Their deliberations were ii< 
 secret ; but we have good authority for saying, that some of the 
 essential clauses of the invaluable, and we hope everlasting, com 
 pact, which they presented to their country, owe their origin and 
 insertion to ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 
 
 His manner of conducting public business was worthy of the 
 highest commendation; he may have wanted ambition to make 
 himself brilliant, but he never wanted industry to render himself 
 useful. His oratory was simple, forcible, convincing. His maxim 
 of never asserting any thing but what he believed to be true, could 
 not fail to be useful in carrying conviction to others. Patient of 
 contradiction, and tolerant to the wildest opinions, he could be as 
 indulgent to the errors of judgment in other men, as if he had stood 
 the most in need of such indulgence for himself. 
 
 During the violent agitation of parties, he was always moderate, 
 but firm; relaxing nothing in his republican principles, but retaining 
 all possible charity for his former friends, who might be supposed 
 to have abandoned theirs. He lived without reproach, and proba 
 bly died without an enemy. 
 
 The state of society would be rendered much better than it is, if 
 the private lives of virtuous men could be as well known as their 
 public lives; that they might be kept clearly in view as objects of 
 imitation. We are creatures of habit, and our habits are formed as 
 much by repeating after others as after ourselves. Men, therefore, 
 mistake a plain moral principle when they suppose it meritorious 
 to conceal their good actions from the eye of the world. On the 
 contrary, it is a part of their duty to let such actions be known ; 
 that they may extend their benefits by a sort of reproduction, and 
 be multiplied by imitation. 
 
 Mr. BALDWIN S private life was full of beneficent and charitable 
 deeds, which he was too studious to conceal from public notice. 
 Having never been married, he had no family of his own ; and his 
 constant habits of economy and temperance, left him the means of 
 assisting many young men in their education and their establishment 
 in business. Besides which, his father s family presented an ample 
 field for his benevolence. Six orphans, his half-brothers and sisters, 
 were left to his care by the father s death in the year 1787; and 
 the estate that was to support them proved insolvent. He paid the 
 debts of the estate, quit-claimed his proportion to these children, 
 and educated them all in a great measure at his own expense. 
 
 3 VOL. 4. M 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 Mr. BALDWIN was less distinguished by the brilliancy of his 
 talents, or acuteness of reasoning, than by his strength of mind and 
 soundness of judgment; slow and deliberate in making up his 
 conclusions, he examined thoroughly every subject on which he 
 acted, but when he became satisfied as to the correct course, no 
 one followed it in a more undeviating line. He measured every 
 question, whether of principle or policy, by what he deemed to be 
 established rules in the organization and administration of govern 
 ment, as developed in the political history of the mother country, 
 the colonies, and states, and embodied in their several constitutions. 
 
 Having served in the revolutionary war as a chaplain in the 
 Connecticut brigade, he acquired a practical knowledge of the 
 radical defects of the old confederation, in the conduct of onr mili 
 tary operations : his subsequent experience in civil life, convinced 
 him of the imperious necessity of avoiding the imminent danger of 
 a dissolution of the confederacy, by the establishment of a new 
 system of government on the authority of the people of the states, 
 instead of that of state legislatures. Hence, he was the zealous 
 advocate in congress for a National Convention to frame the con 
 stitution of a federal government, and as a member of that conven 
 tion, active in its deliberations, laborious in effecting that important 
 result, and afterwards in procuring its adoption by the people. 
 Fully satisfied that in the institution of "one new government out 
 of thirteen old ones," with such powers over each, and all, as were 
 indispensable for federal purposes, enabling it not only to make, but 
 execute its own laws on the enumerated subjects which had been 
 confided to its jurisdiction, the greatest possible good had been 
 effected for the country. Mr. BALDWIN constantly acted on this 
 conviction. Looking to the constitution as the bond of union, 
 which united the states by a law which the people of each had 
 declared to be supreme throughout the land, he was in the constitu 
 tional sense of the term, a federalist ; as one of its framers, he ap 
 proved of the federative principles of the constitution, whereby a 
 government was instituted neither consolidated nor popular, but 
 federal in its origin, organization, administration, and action. After 
 its adoption by the people, he took it as a fundamental law, the 
 written text, declaring the will of the supreme power, which was 
 competent and had ordained it as the standard rule of action by 
 which to measure the powers of the federal government, and its 
 respective departments, as well as those reserved to the several 
 states. Whatever may have been his individual opinion as to any 
 
ABRAHAM BALDWIN. 
 
 detailed provisions, while the convention were deliberating upon 
 them, he never suffered them to bias his construction ; nor with all 
 his veneration of his illustrious associates, did he regard the sense 
 of that body "as the oracular guide in expounding the constitution." 
 He followed a safer guide, he saw and read what the convention 
 proposed, and the people adopted ; regarding as of little importance 
 the discussions which led to the great results, whether in the 
 meetings of the people, in party writings, or the reasoning of the 
 members of the general or state conventions. A constitution was 
 adopted, a constitution was to be construed, as a written declaration 
 of the will of sovereign power. Mr. BALDWIN took it as he found 
 it ? made it his rule of action; following and obeying it as a disciple, 
 he neither sought to enlarge or narrow its provisions by any theory 
 or doctrine not declared in terms, or by necessary consequence 
 therefrom. 
 
 Acting under the influence of these principles throughout a long 
 course of public service, he never lost sight of the " balance of the 
 federal constitution;" he found this balance by viewing all its parts, 
 reconciling each with the others, with a steady determination " to 
 give the greatest effect to them all," according to the plain import 
 and knowledge of the words and terms. 
 
 But although Mr. BALDWIN was in these respects a federalist, he 
 was in the political sense of the term a democrat; his principles of 
 government and policy, were those which had denoted the line 
 between the two great parties into which the country was divided 
 as they were developed at the organization of the government, 
 whether on questions of power or policy. Considering the constitu 
 tion as a direct grant by the people of the several states, in their 
 sovereign capacity as each an independent state, he gave it full effect 
 in all things to which its provisions extended, according to their 
 received acceptation. In assigning a meaning to any word or 
 phrase of doubtful import, he took it in connexion with the whole 
 instrument, its bearing on other parts, considering words and 
 phrases as borrowed from former use, and used in the same sense 
 in which they had always been taken. Though he was from his 
 youth devoted to the principles of the revolution, yet his patriotism 
 was not of that morbid and sensitive nature, as to prevent him from 
 resorting to English books and laws to ascertain the definition of 
 terms which were found in the constitution, as the understood sense 
 in which they had been adopted and used by those who framed 
 and ratified that instrument; justly thinking that it could not hav* 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 been intended to give to old words or terms a new meaning, with 
 out some declaration to that effect. But while he conceded to the 
 federal government the exercise of its enumerated powers to the full 
 extent of the grant, by a liberal rather than a contracted construction 
 of its provisions, he steadily refused his assent to any measures, 
 which, in principle or operation, tended to impair the reserved 
 powers or rights of the states or people, by any train of refined or 
 ingenious reasoning, or reference to doubtful authority. Whenever 
 a question arose, involving any collision between the relative powers 
 of the executive and legislative departments of the government, he 
 uniformly asserted the rights of the latter, adopting this as a political 
 maxim, that "every particle of law-making power in the constitu 
 tion granted, was vested in congress ;" he opposed its exercise by 
 any other department, in any mode which partook of the character, 
 or by any act which could have the effect of legislation. Fully 
 convinced that the " balance of the constitution 7 consisted in the 
 steadfast adherence to these principles, they were his guide amidst 
 all the conflicts of party, and the exciting questions which continued 
 from the organization of the government to agitate the country. In 
 following them he acquired and retained till his death, the confi 
 dence of the party to which he was attached, the respect of that 
 which he opposed, the approbation of the people and state he repre 
 sented, and died with the consciousness of having faithfully and 
 fearlessly filled the measure of his public duties. 
 
 His last illness was so short, and his death so unexpected, that 
 none of his relatives, except his brother-in-law, were able to be 
 present at his funeral. But it seemed as if the public in general 
 were his near relatives. There have been rarely witnessed more 
 general and genuine marks of regret, at the loss of any of the great 
 benefactors of our country, particularly among the members of 
 congress from Georgia. In that state his loss was most deeply felt, 
 though very sensibly perceived in the councils of the union. 
 Though his funeral was two days after congress dissolved, many 
 members stayed expressly to attend it. His remains were deposited 
 by the side of his old friend, General James Jackson, his former 
 colleague, whom he had followed to the grave just one year before. 
 
iki ,; 
 
ELIAS BOUDINOT. 
 
 As the most tranquil and prosperous periods of a nation afford but 
 scanty materials for the historian, so it frequently happens that men 
 eminent for their morality and virtue, and whose lives have been past 
 in continual acts of beneficence, leave only meagre details for the 
 instruction and example of others. The progress of professional or 
 literary talent contains little of interest, except it is traced by the hand 
 of one who can follow all its windings, and give us feelings as well as 
 facts, and the deeds of goodness which endear a man to society are 
 done in secret, or known but to few, so that he whose death leaves 
 the greatest void in hisf immediate circle is often the most speedily 
 forgotten. 
 
 ELIAS BOUDINOT was born in Philadelphia, in the year 1740. His 
 family was of French extraction, his great grandfather being one of the 
 many protestants compelled to leave their country on the revocation 
 of the edict of Nantes. His father s name was likewise Elias ; his 
 mother, Catharine Williams, was of Welsh descent. Young BOUDINOT 
 received a classical education, such as was at that time common in the 
 colonies, after which he pursued the study of the law under Richard 
 Stockton. At the termination of his studies, entering upon the practice 
 of his profession in New Jersey, he soon became distinguished. At 
 the commencement of the difficulties between the colonies and the 
 mother country, he advocated the cause of the Americans, and when 
 hostilities had actually commenced took a decided part in favor of the 
 colonists. In 1777, congress appointed him commissary general of 
 prisoners, and in the same year he was elected a member of that 
 body. In November, 1782, he was elected president of congress, and 
 in that capacity signed the treaty of peace which was soon afterwards 
 concluded. He now resumed the practice of the law, but in 1789, on 
 the adoption of the Federal Constitution he was again elected a member 
 of congress, and occupied his seat by successive reflections for six 
 years. In 1796, he was appointed by Washington to succeed Ritten 
 house as director of the mint; in this office he continued until 1805, 
 when resigning all public employment he retired to Burlington, N T. 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 The remainder of his life BOUDINOT passed in attending to the affairs 
 of his estate, in the study of biblical literature, which was always one 
 of his favorite pursuits, and in the exercise of a munificent charity, 
 both private and public. He was a trustee of Princeton college, and 
 in 1805, founded in it a cabinet of natural history at the cost of three 
 thousand dollars. In 1812, he was elected a member of the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, to which he presented a 
 donation of one hundred pounds sterling. He was active in promoting 
 the formation of the American Bible Society, and in 1816, being 
 elected its first president, he made it the munificent donation of ten 
 thousand dollars. After a long life of usefulness Mr. BOUDINOT died 
 on the twenty-fourth of October, 1821, in the eighty-second year of 
 his age ; a sincere and devout Christian, his death bed was cheered by 
 that religion which had guided him through life. He knew that his 
 end approached, but he was prepared and ready to meet it, and his last 
 prayer was, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. " 
 
 Mr. BOUDINOT married in early life the sister of his preceptor, 
 Richard Stockton ; by whom he had an omV daughter, who survives 
 him. Mrs. Boudinot died in 1808. 
 
 In his last will, after having suitably provided for his daughter, 
 BOUDINOT bequeathed the bulk of his large property for the furtherance 
 of those objects which he had so steadily pursued through life : the dif 
 fusion of religion, the promotion of literature, and the alleviation of the 
 distresses of the poor. Four thousand acres of land were left to the 
 Society for the Benefit of the Jews; five thousand dollars to the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church ; four thousand and eighty acres 
 for theological students at Princeton ; four thousand acres to the 
 college of New Jersey for the establishment of fellowships ; three 
 thousand two hundred and seventy acres to the Hospital of Philadel 
 phia ; thirteen thousand acres to the mayor and corporation of Phila 
 delphia for the supply of the poor with wood on low terms ; besides, 
 numerous other bequests for religious and charitable purposes. 
 
 Mr. BOUDINOT is the author of several publications, the principal of 
 which is the " Star in the West, or an attempt to discover the long lost 
 tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city of 
 Jerusalem," 8vo., 1816 ; in which he endeavors to prove that the Ame 
 rican Indians are the lost tribes. The work exhibits great benevolence 
 of feeling towards the Indians, extensive research, and considerable 
 icuteness, yet it is to be regretted that his time and talents were 
 wasted upon a subject so ill calculated to reward his labor. 
 
Painted ~b\ 
 
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 
 manly 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 oity 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 duly 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, tho 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. Amons; the slain was the brave and chivalrous Backus, whc- 
 
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 Q,ueenston, 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 thi 
 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 Chippcwa. 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 nevei 
 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 unlocked 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 28M, 1828. $ 
 
 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 -<hort of the tribute 
 due to his character. Uniting with the most unaffected simplicity, 
 the highest degree of personal valor, and of intellectual energy, he 
 
 7 VOL. 2. O 
 
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 oeuil, 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 setting 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. 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 [N the following pages we shall endeavor to present a sketch of the 
 life and character of ABBOTT LAWRENCE, now that the grave has 
 closed over him, and while his virtues are yet fresh in the memory 
 of his countrymen. 
 
 The name of Lawrence is one of the earliest to be found among 
 the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts. John Lawrence, the first emi 
 grant of the name, was established in Watertown as early as 1635, 
 and may have come over at the same time with Governor Winthrop. 
 He afterwards removed, with his wife, to Groton, where he lived to a 
 good old age, leaving at his death a numerous family of sons and daugh 
 ters. From one of the former was descended the subject of the pre 
 sent memoir. His father, Samuel Lawrence, was a soldier of the 
 Revolution. On the breaking out of the war with the mother country, 
 he was among the first to bear arms, and was one of the little band 
 of heroes who accompanied Colonel Prescott and fought by his side at 
 the battle of Bunker s Hill. His regiment was accordingly in the 
 hottest of the action, being stationed at the redoubt, the principal 
 point of attack. It had nearly proved a fatal day to the young sol 
 dier, who, besides a wound in the arm, had his hat pierced by a musket- 
 ball, which grazed his temples and carried off part of the hair. He 
 remained in the army till 1778, filling the post of adjutant under 
 General Sullivan at Rhode Island. He was a man of much firmness 
 of character, of unblemished integrity, and of .such frank and open 
 manners as made him popular with his townsmen. He lived till 
 1827, long enough to receive the best reward of a parent, in witness 
 ing the complete success of his children. 
 
 His widow survived him eighteen years, and many may recall her 
 venerable form as seen by them during her occasional visits to her 
 sons in Boston. As a mother, she had probably greater influence 
 than her husband in forming their characters. She had strict notions 
 
 VOL.1.-X 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 of obedience, with deeply-seated religious principles, which she suc 
 ceeded in communicating to her children. " Her form," to quote the 
 language of a descendant, " bending over the bed of her children in 
 silent prayer, when she was about leaving them for the night, is still 
 among the earliest of their recollections." 
 
 ABBOTT, the fourth son, was born in Groton, on the 16th of De 
 cember, 1792. His education, begun at the district school, was com 
 pleted at the Groton Academy, of which his father had been a trustee 
 for more than thirty years, and which now, in grateful commemoration 
 of the endowments it has received from the members of that family, 
 bears the name of the Lawrence Academy. 
 
 We have few accounts of Mr. LAWRENCE S earlier days. In a pass 
 ing notice of them in a letter of his brother Amos, written many 
 years after, the writer says, " I well remember him as the guiding 
 spirit of the boys of our neighborhood in breaking through the deep 
 snow-drifts which often blocked up the roads in winter." The fear 
 lessness and buoyant disposition thus noticed in the boy were the cha 
 racteristics of the man in later life. 
 
 In 1808 it was resolved to send him to Boston and place him in the 
 store of his elder brother, Mr. Amos Lawrence, who had been for 
 some years established there in business as an importer of English 
 goods. There could have been no better mentor to watch over the 
 warm-hearted and inexperienced youth, thus drawn from his village 
 obscurity to be thrown upon the trials and temptations of the world. 
 It is unnecessary to speak of the character of this brother, now so 
 widely known from a biography which may claim to be one of the 
 most graceful tributes ever paid by filial piety to the memory of a 
 parent. 
 
 ABBOTT was cordially welcomed by his brother, who from that hour 
 watched over his steps in earlier days with a father s solicitude, and 
 who followed his career in later life with feelings of pride and generous 
 sympathy. "My brother came to me as my apprentice," says Mr. 
 Amos Lawrence, in his Diary, " bringing his bundle under his arm, 
 with less than three dollars in his pocket, (and this was his fortune.) 
 A first-rate business lad he was, but, like other bright lads, needed the 
 careful eye of a senior to guard him from the pitfalls he was exposed 
 to." The following year their brother William came to Boston also, 
 to seek his fortune in the capital of New England. Their father, on 
 this occasion, impressed on his three sons the importance of unity, 
 quoting the pertinent language of Scripture, "a threefold cord is not 
 quickly broken;" a precept which they religiously observed, living 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 always together in that beautiful harmony which proved one great 
 source of their prosperity. 
 
 After somewhat more than five years had elapsed, Mr. Amos Law 
 rence was so well satisfied with the sobriety and diligence of ABBOTT, 
 and with his capacity for business, that he proposed to take him into 
 partnership. He furnished the whole capital, amounting to fifty 
 thousand dollars the fruits of his judicious management since his 
 establishment in Boston. The times were by no means encouraging ; 
 for we were then in the midst of our war with England. But every 
 thing seemed to prosper under the prudent direction of Mr. Lawrence. 
 Scarcely, however, had the articles of copartnership been signed than 
 the Bramble news created a panic that fearfully affected the prices of 
 goods. The stock of the firm depreciated to such an extent that 
 ABBOTT looked on himself as already a bankrupt. His brother, 
 touched with his distress, offered at once to cancel the copartnership 
 indentures, and to pay him, moreover, five thousand dollars at the end 
 of the year. But ABBOTT had a spirit equal to his own, and told 
 his brother that he had taken part with him for better or worse, 
 and that, come what might, he would not swerve from the contract. 
 The generosity and manly spirit shown by the two brothers on this 
 occasion gave augury of the complete success which crowned their 
 operations in after-life. But success was still deferred, as things wore 
 a gloomy aspect during the war. 
 
 Most of the younger men of the city at this time were enrolled in 
 the militia, which was constantly on duty, and liable at any moment 
 to be called into active service. Mr. ABBOTT LAWRENCE had joined 
 the independent company of the New England Guards ; a corps 
 remarked for its excellent appointments, and commanded by men 
 more than one of whom afterwards rose to eminence not, however, 
 in the military profession, but in the law. He was one of the few of 
 the company he had joined who remained long enough on duty to 
 entitle them to the bounty of land in the West offered by the general 
 government. The soldier s life had something in it captivating to the 
 imagination of an ardent, high-spirited youth ; and the profession of 
 arms, in the present condition of the country, offered a more splendid 
 career for enterprise than was to be found in commercial pursuits. 
 With his brother s consent, he proposed to enter the service, and 
 applied to the War Department at Washington to obtain a commis 
 sion. Happily, before receiving an answer, the news of peace arrived, 
 and all thoughts of a military life were abandoned. Mr. LAWRENCE 
 used to regard this almost in the light of a providential interposition 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 in his behalf. It was, indeed, the crisis of his fate. The long peace 
 which followed condemned the soldier to an inactivity that left him 
 no laurels to win, except, indeed, such as might be gathered from a 
 skirmish with the savages, or from the patient endurance of priva 
 tions on some distant frontier post. Mr. LAWRENCE was reserved 
 for a happier destiny. 
 
 On the return of peace, the two brothers saw at once the new 
 field that was opened for foreign importations; and the younger 
 partner, commissioned to purchase goods at Manchester, embarked in 
 the Milo the first vessel that, after the proclamation of the peace, 
 left Boston for England. The passage was a short one, but long 
 enough for Mr. LAWRENCE to ingratiate himself not only with the 
 officers, but with the crew, whose good-will he secured, as one of their 
 number lately informed the writer of this notice, by his liberal acts no 
 less than by the kindness of his manners. With characteristic ardor, 
 he was the first to leap on shore being thus, perhaps, the first Ame 
 rican who touched his fatherland after the war was ended. He met 
 with a cordial welcome from people who were glad to see their 
 commercial relations restored with the United States. Hastening to 
 Manchester, Mr. LAWRENCE speedily made his purchases, and returned 
 to Liverpool the evening only before the departure of the Milo on her 
 homeward voyage. He at once engaged a lighter to take him and his 
 merchandise to the vessel. When he came alongside, the mate plainly 
 told him there was no room for his goods ; the cargo was all on board, 
 and the hatches were battened down. But Mr. LAWRENCE would re 
 ceive no denial. This, he said, was his first voyage, and the result was 
 of the greatest importance to him. He pressed his suit with so much 
 earnestness, yet good- nature, that the mate, whose good-will he had 
 won on the passage, consented at last to receive the goods. Mr. LAW 
 RENCE lost no time in profiting by this indulgence, and joined his men 
 in pulling vigorously at the tackle, to hoist the bales on board. 
 Having safely lodged them on the deck, he made at once for the 
 shore, asking no questions how they were to be stored. The Milo had 
 a short passage back. In eighty-four days from the time when she 
 had left her port in the United States, the goods were landed in Bos 
 ton, and in less than a week were disposed of at an enormous profit. 
 His brother was delighted with the good judgment he had shown and 
 his extraordinary despatch. " You are as famous," he pleasantly 
 wrote to him, " among your acquaintances here, for the rapidity of 
 your movements, as Bonaparte." 
 
 This little anecdote is eminently characteristic of the man, showing. 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 as it does, the sanguine temper and energy of will wliicli, combined 
 with kindness of heart, gained him an influence over others and 
 formed the elements of his future success. 
 
 He remained some time longer in England, extending his acquaint 
 ance with men of business, but still living as an unknown individual in 
 the midst of the scenes which he was afterwards to revisit clothed 
 with an authority that placed him on a level with the proudest nobles 
 of the land. 
 
 Several times he repeated his voyage to England, and always with 
 the same good results. Under the judicious management and enter 
 prise of the house, its business became every day more widely extended, 
 and the fortunes of the brothers rapidly increased. 
 
 In June, 1819, an important event took place in Mr. ABBOTT LAW 
 RENCE S life. This was his marriage with Miss Katharine Bigelow, the 
 eldest daughter of the Hon. Timothy Bigelow, an eminent lawyer, who 
 filled for many years the office of Speaker of the House of Representa 
 tives of Massachusetts. He was a man of high legal attainments, and 
 singularly fitted for his political station by his ready apprehension, his 
 tenacious memory, and his familiarity with business. Mr. LAWRENCE S 
 acquaintance with his wife had begun in childhood ; for she was a 
 native of Groton, like himself, though, long before this period, her 
 father had transferred his residence to Medford, in the neighborhood 
 of Boston. It was a most happy union, continuing for more than 
 thirty-five years, until it was dissolved by death. In the partner of 
 his choice he found the qualities of a true and loving wife, ever ready 
 to share with him all his joys and sorrows ; for the lot of the most 
 fortunate has its sorrows, and sharp ones. These feelings he on his 
 part returned, from first to last, with the warmth and single-hearted 
 devotion which belonged to his noble nature. 
 
 During the last five years an important change had gradually taken 
 place in the internal relations of the country, owing to the system of 
 domestic protection which now began to be recognised as a leading 
 feature in the policy of the government. The sagacious minds of the 
 Lawrences were quick to perceive the influence this must exert on the 
 channels of trade, and the important bearing it must have, in par 
 ticular, on the people of New England, whose industry and ingenuity 
 so well fitted them for proficiency in the mechanical arts. They 
 leaned, too, with greater confidence than was justified by the event, on 
 the stability of the protective policy. The encouragement was espe 
 cially felt in the cotton and woollen manufactures, then almost exclu 
 sively confined to New England. With characteristic energy, the 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 brothers accordingly resolved to give up their business as importers, 
 and employ their capital henceforth in domestic manufactures. 
 Associating their names with those of the Lowells, the Jacksons, the 
 Appletons, and other sagacious men of the same way of thinking 
 with themselves, they devoted all their energies to foster this great 
 branch of the national industry. Under these auspices, towns and 
 villages grew up along the borders of the Merrimac and its numerous 
 tributaries ; and the spots which had once been little better than 
 barren wastes of sand, where the silence was broken only by the 
 moaning of the wind through the melancholy pines, became speedily 
 alive with the cheerful hum of labor. 
 
 Mr. LAWRENCE had too large a mind to embark in this new enter 
 prise with the feelings of a sordid speculator intent only on selfish 
 gains. He took a more expansive view, founded on just principles of 
 political economy. He saw the resources which this new field of 
 domestic industry would open to the country; the new markets it 
 would afford to the products of the farmer ; the independence it would 
 give the nation of foreign countries, on which it had hitherto relied 
 for those fabrics which were the necessaries of life ; the employment 
 it would give to thousands of operatives in the North, who would find 
 here a field for talents hitherto unknown to themselves; and the 
 benefits it would confer on the planters of the South, in raising, by 
 means of competition, the prices of the raw material they had to sell. 
 These views he exhibited in his private correspondence and his public 
 addresses. He unfolded them more at large in a well-known series 
 of printed letters addressed to the Hon. William C. Rives, of Virginia, 
 which appeared in 1846. In these he discusses the subject of a tariff 
 on the broadest grounds, enforcing his arguments, according to his 
 wont, by an array of statistical facts, some of them exceedingly 
 striking. Instead of limiting their application to his own part of the 
 country, he particularly directs it to Virginia, the impoverished con 
 dition of whose soil seemed to call for some extraordinary action to 
 restore the ancient prosperity of the State. Above all, he insists on 
 the necessity of the education of the poorer classes, as the only true 
 basis, whether in a moral or physical point of view, of the public 
 prosperity. On this last theme he was always eloquent, urging it in his 
 public addresses, abroad as well as at home, and with an effect which, 
 as we shall see hereafter, was acknowledged by those who witnessed 
 it to have been attended with the happiest results. 
 
 In 1827 was held the Harrisburg Convention a meeting, it is 
 hardly necessary to say, of delegates from different parts of the Union, 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 for the purpose of taking into consideration the best measures for pro 
 tecting the manufacturing interests of the country. Mr. LAWRENCE, 
 whose attention to the subject and the soundness of whose views upon 
 it were well known, was one of the seven delegates sent by Massa 
 chusetts. The large amount of practical information which he 
 brought with him proved of infinite service in the deliberations that 
 followed ; and there was probably no one of the body who was more 
 instrumental in procuring its sanction to the memorial which was laid 
 before Congress, and which had so great an influence in determining 
 the action of the government in respect to the tariff of 1828. 
 
 Notwithstanding the interest he took in public affairs, and the 
 capacity which he showed for the management of them, Mr. LAWRENCE 
 had evinced no desire to enter on the political arena, or to hold 
 office of any kind. In 1831 he was elected to the Common Council 
 of Boston : but at the end of his term declined a re-election. Nor did 
 he from that time ever accept any place either under the city govern 
 ment or that of the State. In 1834, however, he consented to stand as 
 a candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives at Washington. 
 
 On taking his place in that body, he was at once put on the Com 
 mittee of Ways and Means, showing that his reputation for financial 
 talent had already preceded him. During the two years that he 
 sat on the floor of that house, he rarely attempted any thing like a 
 set and elaborate speech. When he did speak, it was on topics with 
 which he was familiar ; and his wise and practical views, which he 
 enforced by arguments not local or sectional in their nature, but em 
 bracing the interests of the whole country, commanded the deepest 
 attention of his audience. His frank and cordial address, flowing less 
 from conventional courtesy than from the natural kindness of his 
 heart, conciliated his hearers; and that "inestimable temper" which 
 Gibbon commends so highly in the British minister, Lord North, dis 
 armed the severity of his opponents, and served, like oil upon the 
 waters, to calm the angry passions of debate. The same qualities 
 gave Mr. LAWRENCE, out of the walls of Congress, an influence which 
 proved of the highest service to the cause in which he was embarked. 
 When he returned home, at the expiration of his term, there was pro 
 bably no member of the body with which he had acted who possessed 
 a larger measure of their confidence or who was so universally 
 popular. 
 
 His constituents testified their sense of his services by inviting him, 
 on his return, to a public dinner. This he declined in a letter, in 
 which he touches briefly, but comprehensively, on the great questions 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 that agitated the public mind at that day, showing himself throughout 
 a staunch but liberal-minded Whig. Notwithstanding the importuni 
 ties of his friends, he declined a re-election to Congress ; nor could he 
 be induced to alter his purpose by the remarkable assurance given to 
 him by the members of the opposite party that, if he would consent 
 to stand, no candidate should be brought out against him. 
 
 Four years later, however, he consented to accept a second nomina 
 tion, and again took his seat in the House of Representatives at Wash 
 ington. It was a disastrous session to him ; for, shortly after his 
 arrival, he was attacked by typhus fever of so malignant a type that, 
 for some time, small hopes were entertained of his recovery. But he 
 had good advice ; and his fine constitution and the care of his devoted 
 wife enabled him, by the blfissing of Providence, to get the better of 
 his disorder. It left behind, however, the seeds of another malady, in 
 an enlargement of the liver, which caused him much suffering in after 
 life, and finally brought him to the grave. 
 
 Finding a southern climate unfavorable to his health, he resigned 
 his seat in Congress, and returned to Boston, where he at once 
 resumed his usual avocations. He was not long permitted to in 
 dulge in a state of political inaction. In 1842 the convention was 
 held for the settlement of the Northeastern boundary that vexed 
 question, which, after baffling all attempts at an adjustment, including 
 those by means of royal arbitration, had at length assumed a form 
 which menaced an open rupture between the United States and Eng 
 land. Mr. LAWRENCE was one of the commissioners who, at the wise 
 suggestion of Mr. Webster, were sent, by the States of Maine and 
 Massachusetts, to Washington, with full powers to arrange the matter 
 definitively with Lord Ashburton, who had come out invested with 
 similar powers on behalf of his own country. No man in our com 
 munity could have been better fitted for the place than Mr. LAW 
 RENCE ; for he had a good knowledge of the subject, was well 
 acquainted with the characters of the parties who were to discuss it, 
 and possessed, in a remarkable degree, the qualities for success 
 as a negotiator. " Mr. LAWRENCE," said a distinguished foreign 
 minister, who had personal knowledge of his abilities in this way, 
 " had so much frankness and cordiality in his address, and impressed 
 one so entirely with his own uprightness, that he could do much in the 
 way of negotiation that others could not." There was an ample field 
 for the exercise of these powers on the present occasion, when pre 
 judices of long standing were to be encountered, when pretensions of 
 the most opposite kind were to be reconciled, when the pertinacity 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 with which these pretensions had been maintained had infused tame- 
 thing like a spirit of acrimony into the breasts of the disputants. Yet 
 no acrimony could stand long against the genial temper of Mr. LAW 
 RENCE, or against that spirit of candor and reasonable concession 
 which called forth a reciprocity of sentiment in those he had to deal 
 with. The influence which he thus exerted over his colleagues con 
 tributed in no slight degree to a concert of action between them. 
 Indeed, without derogating from the merits of the other delegates, it 
 is not too much to say that, but for the influence exerted by Mr. LAW 
 RENCE on this occasion, the treaty, if it had been arranged at all, 
 would never have been brought into the shape which it now wears. 
 
 In the summer of the following year, Mr. LAWRENCE, whose health 
 still felt the effects of his illness at Washington, proposed to recruit 
 it by a voyage to England. He embarked with his family on board 
 the Columbia, the ill-fated steamer which was wrecked on Black 
 Ledge, near Seal Island, in Nova Scotia. All on board were fortunate 
 enough to escape to land. Five days they remained on that dreary 
 spot, exposed to wet, hunger, and miseries of every description. None 
 of that forlorn company will ever forget the disinterested kindness" 
 shown by Mr. LAWRENCE, and his courageous and cheerful spirit, 
 which infused life into the most desponding. They were at length 
 transported to Halifax, whence he proceeded on his voyage. In Eng 
 land he met with a hearty welcome from some who had shared his 
 hospitality in the United States, and many more who knew him only 
 by reputation, but who became his fast friends in after life. 
 
 On his return home he resumed his business, which pressed on him 
 the more heavily as it became more widely extended. During his 
 leisure he was not so much engrossed by politics as not to give atten 
 tion to a subject which he always had much at heart the cause of 
 education. Among his many charities, which seemed to be as neces 
 sary to satisfy the wants of his own nature as those of the subjects of 
 them, we find him constantly giving away money to assist in edu 
 cating poor young men of merit. He gave two thousand dollars 
 for prizes to the pupils of the Boston Latin and High Schools. He 
 now contemplated a donation, on a much larger scale, to Harvard 
 University. He was satisfied that, however liberal the endowments 
 of that institution for objects of literary culture, no adequate provision 
 had been made for instruction in science, more particularly in its ap 
 plication to the useful arts a deficiency which naturally came more 
 readily within the reach of his own observation. In a remarkable 
 letter addressed by him to Mr. Eliot, the treasurer of the college, ia 
 
 9 X2 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 June, 1847, he explains, with great beauty and propriety of language, 
 his views on the subject, and with no less precision points out the best 
 mode of carrying them into effect. He concludes by offering the sum 
 of fifty thousand dollars for the endowment of such a scientific school 
 as he had proposed. This sum he afterwards doubled by a provision 
 to that effect in his will, thus making the whole donation a hundred 
 thousand dollars. Large as was this sum, its value was greatly 
 enhanced by the wise arrangements made for its application. His 
 suggestions met with the approval of the corporation. He^ had the 
 satisfaction of seeing a building erected and an institution organized 
 on the principles he had recommended. Fortunately, the services were 
 obtained, at the outset, of an illustrious scholar, who, by the consent 
 of Europe, stood at the head of his department of science, and whose 
 salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum was wholly defrayed by 
 Mr. LAWRENCE, in addition to his other donations, so long as he lived. 
 A letter addressed to him by a distinguished professor of the school 
 gave him the sweet assurance, in his last illness, of the extraordinary 
 proficiency of the pupils in other words, of the complete success of 
 his benevolent enterprise ; and he might well be cheered by the reflec 
 tion that the Lawrence Scientific School would perpetuate his name 
 to future generations, who would cherish with gratitude the memory 
 of their benefactor. 
 
 Mr. LAWRENCE was a member of the convention which nominated 
 Mr. Clay for the Presidency. The interest he took in public affairs 
 led him to take an active part in promoting the success of the Whig 
 candidate, as he had before shown equal zeal in the canvass for Gene 
 ral Harrison, though as the country has good reason to remember 
 with very different results. In 1847, General Taylor was nominated 
 as the Whig candidate for President, and Mr. Fillmore for Vice-Presi- 
 dent. The history of the convention which made these nominations is 
 too familiar to be recapitulated here. It is enough to say that Mr. 
 LAWRENCE had received assurances, down to the very eve of the elec 
 tion, which gave him every reason to suppose that he was to be named 
 for the latter office. Whatever may have been his disappointment, he 
 did not betray it by a word. "Well, I am perfectly satisfied," was the 
 answer he made to the friend who was appointed to inform him of the 
 result : and, instead of looking for pretexts, as many, not to say most 
 men, would have done, for withdrawing from the canvass, or at least 
 for looking coldly upon it, he was among the first to join in a call for 
 a meeting of the Whigs in Faneuil Hall, and to address them, in the 
 warmest manner, in support of the regular ticket. In the same mag- 
 
 10 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 nanimous and patriotic spirit, he visited the principal towns in the 
 State, delivering addresses and using all his efforts to secure the 
 triumph of the good cause. 
 
 On the election of General Taylor to the chief magistracy of the 
 country, the confidence he reposed in Mr. LAWRENCE, and the promi 
 nent position occupied by the latter in the party, recommended him at 
 once to a .seat in the cabinet. The place of Secretary of the Navy was 
 accordingly offered to him, and afterwards that of Secretary of the 
 Interior. Both offices were declined by him ; and when, soon after, 
 he was nominated by the President to take the highest diplomatic post 
 in the gift of the government the mission to England he declined 
 that also. The large and important interests of which he had the 
 charge made him see only the difficulties of such a step. The place, 
 moreover, had been filled by distinguished statesmen, two of the most 
 recent of whom stood pre-eminent in the literature of the country ; 
 and Mr. LAWRENCE seems to have exaggerated the qualifications re 
 quired for the post, or, at any rate, to have distrusted his own. From 
 these various considerations, he had made up his mind to decline the 
 offer when pressed upon him a second time by General Taylor, and 
 announced his decision to his friends. But some of them, taking a 
 very different, and, as it proved, a more correct, view of the affair, per 
 suaded him to review and subsequently to reverse his decision. In 
 the month of September, 1849, he accordingly embarked, with his 
 wife and a part of his family, for England. 
 
 Mr. LAWRENCE S mission to the court of St. James was the most 
 brilliant part of his political career, and fully justified the sagacity of 
 those who advised him to undertake it. Taking all circumstances into 
 consideration, few men could have been so well fitted for the place. 
 If he had not the profound scholarship of his immediate predecessors, 
 he had, what was of great moment, a large practical acquaintance with 
 affairs ; a thorough knowledge of the resources of his own country and 
 of the country to which he was accredited ; a talent quite remarkable, 
 as we have seen, for negotiation ; a genial temper, well suited to thaw 
 out the chilling reserve of manner too apt to gather round the really 
 warm heart of the Englishman ; a generous spirit of hospitality, with 
 a fortune to support it, enabling him to collect round him persons of 
 most eminence in the society of the capital, and to bring them in con 
 tact with similar classes of his own countrymen, thus happily affording 
 opportunity for allaying ancient prejudices and fostering mutual sen 
 timents of respect and good-will. 
 
 A similar influence was exerted by the public addresses which, from 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 time to time, he was called on to make in different parts of the king 
 dom, at meetings held to promote the great interests of agriculture, 
 of manufactures, or of educational reform. Coming from a land where 
 the people had made such progress in the various departments of 
 labor and mechanical skill, and from a part of the country where 
 popular education had made most progress, he was naturally listened 
 to with much attention. The paramount importance of education for 
 the masses was the theme he constantly pressed home upon his hear 
 ers. Thus, at Manchester, we find him drawing a comparison between 
 the laboring classes in England and the United States in respect to 
 education, and plainly telling his audience that, "if England hoped to 
 keep her place in the van of civilization, it must be by educating the 
 humblest of her classes up to the highest point of other nations." " The 
 able as well as delicate manner," says an eminent British journal, 
 " in which Mr. LAWRENCE handled this subject, made a deep impres 
 sion on his auditory, and it had probably no inconsiderable influence 
 in stimulating that highly creditable educational movement of which 
 Manchester has since been the scene, and in which it has stood out in 
 strong contrast to the other great towns of the empire." 
 
 We find him speaking to the same purpose, in a striking passage 
 often quoted from the speech made by him at Mr. Peabody s dinner at 
 the close of the Great Exhibition in London. A broader field for these 
 popular addresses was offered by a visit which he made to Ireland in the 
 autumn of 1852. The welcome he received from the generous-hearted 
 people was altogether extraordinary. His reputation had prepared 
 the way for it ; and all were eager to see the representative of a land 
 to which their own countrymen were flocking as to a place of refuge 
 from the troubles of the Old World. Well might the Times say that 
 " the American Minister found himself received with almost the honors 
 of royalty; that railway directors gave him special trains, banquets, 
 and addresses, and every city prepared an ovation." 
 
 In the midst of this festal progress, Mr. LAWRENCE was closely ob 
 serving the condition of the country and its inhabitants, and drawing 
 materials for an elaborate report of it to the Department of State. The 
 despatch is of much length, embodying his views on the great ques 
 tions of interest touching the state of that unhappy country, the policy 
 of the English government towards it, and its probable future; the 
 whole accompanied by a mass of statistical information, which his 
 position gave him obvious advantages for collecting. This valuable 
 report forms one of numerous despatches of a similar nature which 
 occupied what was regarded as the American minister s leisure time 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 during his diplomatic residence. Many of the papers are of great 
 length, and must have been prepared with much care. Some few have 
 been printed by order of Congress. The rest are to be found on the 
 files of the Department of State at Washington. One has only to 
 specify the titles of some of these to show the variety of the topics to 
 which they relate. Thus, we find one containing curious estimates on 
 the comparative cost of building and manning merchant-ships in Eng 
 land and the United States ; another on the guard-ships for the sup 
 pression of the slave-trade ; another on the commerce carried on with 
 Africa; two or three on the postal relations of the country, with 
 reference to a reduction of the rate of ocean-postage ; another, the 
 result of much consideration, on the currency of both England and 
 our own country. Besides these communications on particular 
 topics, we find others, of a more general nature, containing a sur 
 vey of the actual condition of England, supported by abundant 
 statistical detail ; with ample discussion on its course of trade, on 
 the character of parties, and the policy of the government. The 
 opportunities of personal observation enjoyed by Mr. LAWRENCE 
 abroad served, it may be remarked, to strengthen the opinions he had 
 expressed at home of the necessity of a protective policy by our 
 own government if we would contend successfully against the cheaper 
 labor of Europe. In this survey of the national character and re 
 sources, the despatches of Mr. LAWRENCE remind one of the reports 
 relazioni, as they are called which were made, by order of their 
 government, by the Venetian ambassadors, and which, after being 
 read, on their return, before the Senate, were deposited in the public 
 archives, where they furnish some of the most authentic materials for 
 the historian. 
 
 Among the despatches are two particularly worthy of consideration, 
 as relating to negotiations that opened the way to important treaties. 
 The first of these relates to the fisheries. No sooner had Mr. LAW 
 RENCE become acquainted with the course pursued by the English 
 government in sending out a fleet of armed vessels to assert its mari 
 time rights on the coast of Nova Scotia, than, without waiting for 
 instructions, he at once opened the matter to Lord Malmesbury, then 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs, and urged the mischievous consequences 
 likely to result from an action so precipitate and so menacing in its 
 nature. His remonstrances were of sufficient weight to influence the 
 instructions afterwards issued by the government; and Mr. LAW 
 RENCE S negotiations, which received the approval of the President, 
 placed affairs on the quiet basis on which they continued till a treaty 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 was definitively settled. When we reflect on the irritation that would 
 have been produced in this country if the ill-considered measure of 
 the English government had been fully carried out, we cannot doubt 
 that the timely and temperate remonstrance of the American minister 
 did much to save his country from a rupture with Great Britain. 
 
 The other affair concerned Central America that uneasy question, 
 which, after having been formally disposed of by treaty, has again 
 risen, like a troubled spirit, to disturb the quiet of the world. The 
 American envoy, in obedience to instructions from Washington, 
 brought the subject before Lord Palmerston as early as November, 
 1849. He obtained from that minister an assurance that Great 
 Britain had no design to occupy or colonize any part of Central 
 America, and that she would willingly enter into a guarantee with the 
 United States for the neutrality of the proposed canal across the 
 Isthmus. But Mr. LAWRENCE was quick to perceive that these assu 
 rances would fail to answer the purpose, unless Great Britain would 
 consent to abandon her shadowy protectorate over the Mosquito In 
 dians. He accordingly made this the subject of a particular repre 
 sentation in more than one interview with the English minister ; and 
 he further urged the abandonment of the protectorate on the strongest 
 grounds of policy in a long and able communication to Lord Palmer 
 ston, dated December 14, 1849. To this letter he received no reply, 
 and, early in the following year, it being thought there were greater 
 facilities for conducting the negotiation in this country than in Eng 
 land, it was removed, for a final adjustment of the affair, to Washington. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. LAWRENCE had been diligently preparing a commu 
 nication for his own government since printed by order of the 
 Senate the object of which was to trace to its origin the British 
 claim to the exercise of a protectorate over the Mosquito territory. 
 In doing this, he travelled over a vast field of historical research, 
 showing the first occupation of the territory by the Spaniards, its 
 subsequent invasion by the English, and establishing, to the conviction 
 of every unprejudiced mind, that Great Britain never did possess any 
 legal right to the qualified dominion which she claimed as protector 
 of the Indians; and that, if she had possessed it, this would signify 
 nothing, since, by an express treaty with Spain, she had formally 
 renounced such right. By a singular coincidence, this remarkable 
 state-paper is dated on the 19th of April, 1850, being precisely the 
 same date with that of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. 
 
 This latter instrument, confining itself to the simple object of a 
 guarantee for a canal across the Isthmus, makes no provision for the 
 
 14 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 Mosquito question, though by an incidental allusion it appears to re 
 cognize the existence of a protectorate. Indeed, it seems to have done 
 nothing more than carry out the details of the arrangement to which 
 Lord Palmerston professed his readiness to accede in his first commu 
 nication to Mr. LAWRENCE. But, as the latter wisely foresaw, so im 
 portant an element in the discussion as the Mosquito protectorate 
 could not be winked out of sight ; and, as it now appears, the absence 
 of so material a link in the chain of negotiations has made the other 
 provisions of the treaty of little worth. 
 
 The pressing nature of Mr. LAWRENCE S private affairs made him 
 at length, after an absence of three years, desirous of returning home. 
 Indeed, he could not have postponed his return so long but for the 
 faithful and able manner in which his eldest son, to whom he had 
 committed the charge of his property, had executed that trust, thus 
 relieving his father, as the latter often remarked, of all anxiety in 
 regard to his own affairs, and enabling him to give undivided attention 
 to those of the public. Having obtained the President s consent, Mr. 
 LAWRENCE resigned his place as envoy from the United States on the 
 1st of October, 1852, and bade adieu to those shores where he had 
 landed almost a stranger, but where he now left a host of friends ; 
 where the kindness of his heart, the charm of his manners, and his 
 elegant hospitality, had made his mission as acceptable to the English 
 as the able and conscientious manner in which it was conducted ren 
 dered it honorable to himself and his country. 
 
 The citizens of Boston had made preparations for giving him such 
 a brilliant reception on landing as might show their sense of his ser 
 vices. Unhappily, the time of his return was also that of the death 
 of Mr. Webster. Mr. LAWRENCE proceeded to Marshfield the day 
 after his arrival ; and his first meeting with many of his friends and 
 townsmen was at the celebration of the funeral obsequies of the great 
 statesman. When a decent time had elapsed, his friends resumed their 
 purpose of a complimentary dinner. But Mr. LAWRENCE, with much 
 delicacy, declined their invitation, saying that " he should seem want 
 ing in respect for the dead, as well as consideration for the living, were 
 he to accept a festive entertainment at such a season of mourning." 
 
 He now resumed his former way of life, and was to be found at the 
 regular hours at his accustomed place of business. The complexion 
 of the times was most unfavorable to both the cotton and woollen 
 manufactures. Great advances were required to be made for the 
 completion of works in which Mr. LAWRENCE was largely interested. 
 It was difficult to obtain such advances in the depressed state of the 
 
 15 * 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 stocks. With his usual spirit, Mr. LAWRENCE came forward to the 
 rescue, and not only bore his own share of the subscription, but took 
 stock to the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars more, 
 though in doing so he sacrificed half that amount, the stock having 
 fallen fifty per cent, in the market. 
 
 But Mr. LAWRENCE, though he gave a general supervision to his 
 affairs, left the conduct of them to his younger partners, whose expe 
 rience well qualified them for the task. He did not possess, indeed, 
 the same strength of constitution and physical energy that he once 
 had. Perhaps for that reason, though he still maintained a warm 
 interest in public affairs, with the exception of his efforts in the can 
 vass for General Scott as President, he took no active part in politics. 
 He still showed the same zeal as ever in the cause of education, and 
 watched with the deepest interest over the rising fortunes of the 
 Scientific School which he had founded at Cambridge. His labors in 
 behalf of learning were fully appreciated by his countrymen, one 
 proof of which is afforded by the literary honors bestowed on him by 
 the principal academies and colleges throughout the State. 
 
 Thus loved and respected by the community in which he lived, with 
 a fortune that enabled him to gratify his munificent disposition, and a 
 heart fitted by nature for the pleasures of friendship, and above all 
 for the sweet intercourse of home, Mr. LAWRENCE might reasonably 
 promise himself that serene enjoyment for the evening of his days 
 which should wait upon the close of a well-spent life. Alas ! no such 
 happiness was in store for him. 
 
 In September, 1854, he was visited by a return of the malady the 
 seeds of which had lingered in his constitution ever since his illness at 
 Washington. A second attack, a few weeks later, while passing some 
 days on his family estate amidst the beautiful scenery of Groton, left 
 him in a precarious state of health, from which he did not entirely 
 rally till the winter was far advanced. Even then, although he re 
 covered the natural buoyancy of his spirits and again mingled in 
 society, the indications of suffering in his countenance, and the 
 loss of his accustomed vigor, were just causes of apprehension to his 
 friends. His physician advised change of climate, and recommended 
 to him a voyage to England, associated as it was in his mind with so 
 many pleasant recollections. Early in June, 1855, he accordingly 
 secured a passage for himself and Mrs. Lawrence in one of the 
 British steamers ; but, two days after, his malady returned, accom 
 panied with such intense pain that he took to his bed from which he 
 was never more to rise. 
 
 16 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 It would be painful to follow him through the long and wearisome 
 summer, during which he was sensibly losing ground day after day, 
 yet with occasional intervals of ease that seemed to give promise that 
 the disease was arrested. No one will forget the extraordinary interest 
 shown on that occasion by all classes, and the eagerness with which 
 they endeavored to draw ft om the physicians some encouragement for 
 their hopes. A more remarkable proof of the hold he had upon the 
 community was the daily announcement of the state of his health in 
 the public journals, a tribute the more touching that he held no offi 
 cial position to call it forth. It was the homage of the heart. 
 
 During the long period of his confinement, his sufferings served 
 only to show the sweetness of his disposition. The circumstances which 
 filled those around him with wretchedness and with apprehensions they 
 could ill disguise had no power to disturb his serenity. He loved life. 
 No man had greater reason to love it ; for he had all that makes life 
 valuable. But, as his hold loosened upon it, no murmur, no sigh of 
 regret, escaped his lips; while he bowed in perfect submission to 
 the will of that Almighty Father who had ever dealt with him so 
 kindly. As his strength of body diminished, that of his affections 
 seemed to increase. He appeared to be constantly occupied with 
 thoughts of others rather than of himself; and many a touching in 
 stance did he give of this though tfulness and of his tender recollection 
 of those who were dear to him. The desire of doing good, on the 
 broadest scale, clung to him to the last. Not two weeks before 
 his death, he was occupied with arranging the plan of the model- 
 houses for the poor, for which he made so noble a provision in his 
 will. His last hours were cheered by the assurance, as we have 
 elsewhere noticed, that his wise and generous provisions for promoting 
 a more scientific culture at Cambridge were crowned with entire suc 
 cess. He was dying with every thing around him to soften the bit 
 terness of death above all, with the sweet consciousness that he had 
 not lived in vain. On the 18th of August, 1855, a few months before 
 he had completed his sixty-third year, he expired, and that so gently 
 that those around could not be sure of the precise moment when his 
 spirit took its flight. 
 
 The tidings of Mr. LAWRENCE S death, though not unexpected, fell 
 like some startling calamity on the ears of the community. A meet 
 ing of the citizens was at once called to express their sense of this 
 great public bereavement. It assembled in Faneuil Hall that hall 
 where the manly tones of his own voice had been so often raised in 
 maintenance of the right, but which now echoed only to the sounds of 
 
 2 17 VOL. 1. Y 
 
NATIONAL PORTRAITS. 
 
 fomentation, as more than one giftrd orator poured forth an eloquent 
 au<l touching tribute to the virtues of the deceased. 
 
 The sympathies of the community were called forth still more 
 strongly on the day of the funeral, when the sad countenances and 
 moistened eyes of the vast multitude that attended the services showed 
 how truly they felt the death of Mr. LAYVRKNCE, not merely as a great 
 public calamity, but as something personal to themselves. Every 
 honor that could be paid to his memory was eagerly rendered by the 
 authorities of the city on this occasion. The day was celebrated as 
 a dav of public mourning. The bells tolled in the principal churches. 
 The flags of the shipping were at half-mast. Minute-guns were tired. 
 The places of business were closed in many parts of the town, and all 
 along the road which conducted to the cemetery of Mount Auburn. 
 As the spectator gazed on the long company of mourners taking their 
 way through files of the soldiery, who lined the streets as far as the 
 bridge which unites Boston to Cambridge, he might well have called 
 to mind the time when the abject of all this homage first came to 
 town, over this same avenue, a poor country-lad, with only a few 
 dollars in his pocket and but one friend in that strange capital to 
 welcome him. That friend was his brother, Amos Lawrence, who, only 
 three years since, had been borne to Mount Auburn, amidst the tears 
 and regrets of the whole community. Still another brother William, 
 of whom mention has been made in an early part of this memoir 
 had preceded them both on the same dark journey. Like them, 
 he had come to Boston to seek his fortune, which, when gained, 
 he employed, like them, in acts of beneficence and mercy. The 
 "threefold cord" to which their father had so wisely alluded was 
 indeed broken. But it was by the hand of Death. And in that 
 beautiful cemetery, where are gathered the ashes of so many of the 
 good and the great, the three brothers, who loved one another through 
 life so well, now sleep side by side and rest in peace from their 
 labors. 
 
 A notice of Mr. LAWRENCE would not be complete without some 
 mention of the legacies left by him for charitable purposes, so much 
 in harmony with the general course of his life. Besides doubling the 
 amount given in his lifetime to the Scientific School, he bequeathed the 
 sum of fifty thousand dollars for the erection of model lodging-houses 
 for the poor, providing with great minuteness and discretion such regu 
 lations as would accomplish the object he had in view. In addition to 
 these munificent bequests, he left ten thousand dollars to the Public 
 Library of the city of Boston, and smaller legacies to different institu- 
 
 18 
 
ABBOTT LAWRENCE. 
 
 tions, making the whole amount of one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars devised for public objects. These were the last acts of a life 
 of benevolence. 
 
 Such are the outlines of the history of a Boston merchant of one 
 who, by the energy of his character and the winning frankness of his 
 manners, acquired a remarkable ascendency over all with whom he 
 came in contact ; who supplied the deficiencies of early education by 
 an assiduous diligence that made him eminent in after-life both as a 
 public speaker and a political writer ; whose conduct was controlled 
 by settled religious principles, that made him proof alike against the 
 intrigues of party and the blandishments of a court ; who regarded 
 every subject with those large and enlightened views which gave 
 dignity to his profession and raised him to high consideration as a 
 diplomatist and a statesman ; who, blessed by nature with a sunny 
 temper and a truly loving heart, was the delight of his friends and an 
 object of little less than idolatry to his own family ; and who, holding 
 the large property he had acquired by his own efforts as a trust for 
 the good of his fellow-men, dispensed it in those noble charities which 
 have gained him a high place among the benefactors of mankind. 
 
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