VERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES MEMOIRS OF THE RHODE-ISLAND BAR BY WILKINS UPDIKE, ESQ. BOSTON: THOMAS H. WEBB & CO. 1842. -T H \ N >* v : . v '. .. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by THOMAS H. WEBB & CO. in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. Knowles & Vose, Printers, Providence, R. I. F7S ERRATA. Page 54, line 2 from top, for " 1748 " read 1741. " 99, " 3 bottom, for "Styles" read Stiks. " 136, " 14 " " for " mata " read mater. " 149, " 11 " for " Lippett " read Lippitt. " 165, " 8 " " insert wrote after Howell. "210, "11 " top, for " collection " read collocation. " 211, " 10 " bottom, for " domit" read docutt. "215, " 6 " top, for "without" read with. " 217, " 1 " '< for " capitolenum " read capitolium. '< 220, " 2 " bottom, for " Centre " read Senter. " 228, " 5 " top, for " Montesqueiu " read Montesquieu. " 237, " 4 " bottom, for " amazing " read amusing. "243, " 6 " top, for"of"readawd. " 243, "20 " " for " Mantimomah " read Myantmomy. " 248, 12 " " for " Styles " read Stiles. The careful reader will detect several other errors, mostly in orthography and punctuation, but none, we believe, which will subvert or materially afiect the meaning of the context. The publishers do not feel responsible for any imperfections in the work, as it did not come under their supervision whilst passing through the press. /' 0- <-,* CONTENTS. Page PREFACE, ..... 9 INTRODUCTION, .... 13 HENRY BULL, ..... 23 JAMES HONYMAN, .... 27 DANIEL UPDIKE, . ... 34 AUGUSTUS JOHNSON, .... 65 OLIVER ARNOLD, .... 70 HENRY MARCH ANT, .... 82 WILLIAM CHANNING, ... 90 HENRY GOODWIN, .... 94 ROUSE J. HELME, . . w . . 110 JOHN COLE, ... . 122 ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, . . . 131 JACOB CAMPBELL, . . ', . ., 134 JAMES M. VARNUM, . . . . 145 MATTHEW ROBINSON, . . . 234 ROBERT LIGHTFOOT, .... 246 1* DEDICATION. TO ALBERT C. GREENE, ESQ. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF RHODE-ISLAND. DEAR SIR, Most of the persons whose Me- moirs are contained in the present volume, were your predecessors in office. That fact alone would indicate the propriety of its dedication to you. But that is not my only reason for inscribing it with your name ; I do it also as a testimony of warm personal regard ; and am happy that this opportunity is afforded me of paying, at the same time, a tribute to official worth and private friend- ship, W, UPDIKE. PREFACE, HAVING recently devoted some of my leisure hours to procuring materials for the Memoirs of the early members of the Rhode-Island Bar, and knowing that some of the profession have felt a deep so- licitude in rescuing from oblivion the few incidents that remain of them, I have concluded to yield to their solicitations, and submit Jo the public those collected in this volume, as imperfect as I am ap- prehensive they must be. The occasional inquiry, of the younger members of the profession, respecting the characters and times of its early Advocates, has been an additional inducement for me to collect such facts and materials, as yet exist, of their history ; hoping that the time is not far distant, when some mind more competent to the work, will improve upon the hints I have given, and do ample justice to their memories. The wholesome truth should be impressed upon all, that the citizen, and especially the public man, or the scholar, who is defectively informed upon the history or biography of his own country, is constantly liable to mortification and disability, however perfect may be his knowledge of other states and times. In pursuing this biographical investigation, I have labored under serious and perplexing embarrassments, owing to the deficiency of the materials, to do justice to their characters. It must be observed, that in the life of a lawyer., there are scarcely any events that are X PREFACE. very impressive or imposing. If any were so, in the histories of those portrayed, time has destroyed all evidences of them. What- ever was brilliant or splendid, passed off with the occasion that pro- duced it. If they were eminent in their profession, others have since existed, who to observers were probably as eminent if not more so. Speeches, at that period, (with a single exception,) were not reported ; and nothing verbatim can now be procured. This redu- ces their histories to short memoirs only. Still it seems incumbent on us, as members of the same profession, to preserve the few inci- dents and reminiscences of them, that now exist, and to transmit to the next generation, the characters they sustained, for integrity, vir- tue and talent. Natural geniuses existed then, as well as now ; and like brilliant meteors they dazzled, delighted and died. Probably more native talent went into the profession, at that early period, than now, in proportion to numbers ; for native power and strength of intellect were then more necessary to sustain the advocate. HQ was not assisted by other sciences, as the profession is at this period ; nor could he be supported or helped along by reports and authori- ties, as lawyers are at the .present time. It must be apparent, that much which was then unknown to the student, can now be gleaned from reported arguments, and from the opinions of learned Courts ; besides the vast number of elementary writings, and other produc- tions, mooting and discussing all questions, and collating all author- ities, which are poured upon the profession, through the cheapness of the press. The labor of thinking, and of mental origination, is greatly diminished by the rich productions emanating from learned brethren, emulous of fame. Before the revolution, " Coke upon Lit- tleton," " Doctor and Student," " Bacon and Sheppard's grand abridgment," "Croke," "Vaug," "Salkeld," "Hardwick" and V "Strange's" reports, and "Cowell's" and "Jacobs'" law dictiona- ries, were the principal authorities that were used. The lawyers' library, like Petrarch's, could be transported in his saddle-bags. The PREFACE. XI most eminent and successful in the profession, relied more upon intense mental application, than upon books and precedents. They habituated themselves to the most rigid study, and thought deep and long upon particular cases. Those who were gifted with strong native intellects, with nerve and constitution enough to bear up against such labor, succeeded; and those who were deficient in these sturdy attributes, flagged on the course. Like the competitors in the Olympic games, those who were victorious in the race, bore off the laurel ; and the feeble or unfortunate fell in the trial, and were heard of no more. The mode of arguing causes then, partook much more of the narrative character, than at the present day. The advocate before a jury, gave minutely the history of the case, and the character of the parties, and freely used familiar anecdote and popular illustra- tion. Appeals to the passions of the triors, were the most powerful engines of .success. When satire or anger was kindled against an adversary, it was a consuming fire. If a client had been unfortunate, or oppressed, the chord of sympathy was touched to tears. The principal business of the Court was to see fair play between the legal gladiators; and the judges, who sat to listen, rather than direct, esteemed themselves fortunate, if, by their silence, they escaped un- wounded in the conflict. But it must be borne in mind, at the same time, that except in cases when circumstances called out such sturdy efforts, the manners of the bar, of that day, were highly dignified and courteous. In the progress of judicial history, and particularly, within a few years past, the pungent severity of the ancient practice has undergone a commendable relaxation. This ameliorating pro- gress is onward ; and the epoch is speedily approaching when the cause and its merits, and not the character of the parties, will be the only legitimate subjects of trial. Xll PREFACE. If the following short memoirs of some of the ancient members of the profession, possess sufficient worth to merit the approbation of those gentlemen who have encouraged the publication, and the members of the Bar generally, I shall esteem it an adequate recom- pense for all the time and labor that has been bestowed upon thenu THE AUTHOR. KINGSTON, May, 1842. INTRODUCTION. UPON the first settlement of Rhode-Island, the inhabitants were governed by voluntary articles of association. Roger Williams obtained the first Charter for the Colony in 1643-4; but owing to the conflicting claims of jurisdiction, interposed by Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut, the people were obstructed in erecting a government under it, until 1647. In May, of that year, the in- habitants assembled at Portsmouth, and organized a government, under the provisions of the Charter, and elected a President of the Colony, and four assistants, one for each of the towns of Newport, Portsmouth, Providence and Warwick ; and formed a body of laws. In May, 1650, the Legislature, by the following act, first created the offices of Attorney and Solici- tor General of the Colony, viz. : " It is ordered that this court appoint one Attor- ney General for the Colony, as also a Solicitor, 14 INTRODUCTION. That the Attorney General shall have full power to implead any transgression of the State, in any Court in the State, but especially, to bring all such matters of penal Laws, to the trial of the General Court of trials, as also for the trial of the officers of the State, at the General Assemblies ; and to implead in full power and authority of the free people of this State, their prerogatives and liberties: and because envy, the cut-throat of all prosperity, will not fail to gallop with its full career, let the said Attorney be faithfully engaged and authorized and encouraged ; engaged for the people, by or in the people's name, and with their full authority assisted ; authorized that upon information of trans- gressions and transgressors of the laws, prerogatives and liberties of the people, and their penal laws, he shall under hand and seal, take forth summons from the President or general assistant, to command any delinquent, or vehemently suspected of delinquency, in what kind soever, according to the premises, to appear at the General Court, if it be thereunto belonging, or to the General Assembly, in those matters proper thereunto, and if any refuse to ap- pear at that mandamus, in the State of England's name, and the people of this State, he shall be INTRODUCTION 15 judged guilty, and so proceeded against by fine and penalty." " It is ordered, that in case of prohibitions, (any concerning guns, powder, lead, tfec. it being provid- ed that such and such, or any one had a gun, &c.) or the Solicitor, bonajide in his own knowledge, do know or can swear, da From 1732. ) T T 1^/11 i James Honyman. Jun. do. to 1741, ) This year, the act appointing one Attorney General for the Colony was repealed, and an act passed, appointing Attornies for Counties. INTRODUCTION. 21 f James Honyman, Jun., Attorney for the county of Newport. 1741 -J William Walton, Attorney for the county of Providence. Daniel Updike, Attorney for Kings, now Washington county. f James Honyman, Jun., Attorney for the county of Newport. 1742 J Jh n Andrews, Attorney for the county of " 1 Providence. Daniel Updike, Attorney for the county [ of Kings. This year, the act of 1741 was repealed, and the act appointing one Attorney General for the colo- ny, revived. From May, 1743, ) Daniel Updike, Attorney Gen- to June, 1757, $ eral. From June, 1757, ) Augustus Johnson, Attorney to May, 1766, $ General. From May, 1766, ) Oliver Arnold, Attorney Gen- to Sept. 1770, J eral. From Oct. 1770, ) Henry Marchant, Attorney to May, 1777, ] General. From May, 1777, ) William Channing, Attorney to May, 1787, ] General. From May, 1787, ) Henry Goodwin, Attorney Gen- to May, 1789, $ eral. 1789. David Howell, Attorney General. 1790. Daniel Updike, do, 22 INTRODUCTION. From May, 1791, ^ William Charming, Attorney to Sept. 1793, From Oct. 1793, to May, 1798, From May, 1798, to 1813, From 1813 ) Samuel W. Bridgham, Attorney Gen- eral. General. Ray Green, Attorney General. James Burrill, Jun., Attorney General. Henry Bowen, Attorney General. Dutee J. Pearce, Attorney General. Albert C. Greene, Attorney General. to 1817, From 1817 to 1819, From 1819 to 1825, From 1825 to the present time, Up to the period when Mr. Bull was elected At- torney General, no materials or reminiscenses for biographies of the Lawyers, who held those ap- pointments, can now be obtained by the most dil- igent enquiries. The memoirs of the Attorney Generals, commencing with Mr Bull, are given in consecutive order, up to the time of Mr. Howell, who has but recently deceased. Those who have succeeded him, are now living, with the exception of Mr. Burrill and Mr. Bridgham. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. HENRY BULL. THE only history that is to be obtained of Mr. Bull, is extracted from a communication from Major Henry Bull, of Newport, recently deceased; a de- scendant of the subject of this memoir. Henry Bull, Esquire, one of the ancient Attorney Generals of this State, " was the son of Henry, who was the son of the Henry Bull who was one of the first pur- chasers of Rhode-Island proper. His father lived in South-Kingstown, but whether he was born there, or at Newport, cannot now be ascertained. He lost his father when he was about six years old, and his mother, sisters and brothers, within a few years after. He was, by his grandfather, committed to the care of his daughter Mary, widow of James Coggeshall. Soon after, his grandfather died, and his aunt Coggeshall brought him up. He was put to the carpenter's trade, at which he worked a few years after he came of age; during which time, he built the house where I now live. This house con- 2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. tinued to be his residence, as long as he lived. The land on which it stands, he inherited from his grandfather, and from whom the estate has regu- larly descended to me. He owned the Dumplin farm, in Jamestown, and a farm in Narragansett, besides a considerable landed estate in Newport." "He married Martha Odlin; by whom he had four sons and three daughters. His second wife, was Phebe Coggeshall ; by whom he had seven sons and three daughters. His personal appear- ance was prepossessing he was nearly six feet high light complexion and blue eyes was well proportioned and handsome; and in his manners he was graceful. He was much celebrated for his talents and wit. He had a good common educa- tion, for those days. I have heard," says Major Bull, the aged, who had been acquainted with him, relate what he had told them about his law educa- tion. " When he made up his mind to practice law, he went into the garden, to exercise his talents in addressing the court and jury. He then selected five cabbages in one row, for Judges, and twelve in another row, for Jurors after trying his hand there awhile, he went boldly into court, and took upon himself the duties of an advocate, and a little ob- servation and experience there, convinced him, that the same cabbages were in the court house, which BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 25 lie thought he had left in the garden ; five in one row, and twelve in another." " But by whatever means, he acquired a knowl- edge of the law, he certainly rose to the height of his profession, as a practitioner in the courts of law and admiralty, as the profession stood in his day. He was one of that kind of men, whose on-dits were never forgotten, as long as the generation lasted, which was on the stage of life with him." " He was occasionally a member of the House of Representatives, from Newport : elected Attorney General in 1721, re-elected in 1722, and declined serving. Daniel Updike was elected to fill the vacancy. He was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 1728-9 was one of the com- mittee to revise the colony laws in 1728 was one of the committee to conduct and manage the con- troversy, between the colonies of Rhode-Island and Massachusetts, respecting the eastern boundary. He was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, at its first establishment, in 1749." " He partook liberally of the enjoyments of life- was of an amiable and engaging disposition; and lived to a great age : having been born November 23d, 1687, and dying December 24th, 1771, aged 84." 3 26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. It is in tradition from his associates in the pro- fession, that Mr. Bull was very able in debate, and possessed strong native and intellectual energy was quick to perceive, and ready to apply every incident, to the advantage of his cause. United with this native power, was the happy talent of amplification. Upon the whole, what resemblance existed, between the ancestor and his descendant, lately deceased, is left for others to determine. JAMES HONYMAN WAS the son of the Reverend James Honyman r (Rector of Trinity Church, Newport, and Missiona- ry from the society for the propagation of the Gos- pel in Foreign Parts, who entered upon the duties- of his office in 1704, and died in 1750.) What were his literary attainments, and under whom, he was educated, cannot now be ascertained ; but it is to be inferred from the respectable standing,, and the clerical acquirements of his father, that the subject of this memoir, was as highly instructed as; the circumstances of the times would admit. Un- der whom he studied law, or at what period he was admitted to the bar, is equally uncertain ; but his elevated standing in the profession, and his early promotion to the highest official stations in the Colony, warrant the conclusion that his legal edu- cation was regular and thorough. In May, 1732, Mr. Honyman was elected Attor- ney General of the Colony, in the place of Daniel Updike, who in the political canvass of that year, declined a re-election, and stood as candidate for Governor. He was annually re-elected to the same office, until May, 1741, when the law appointing 28 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. one Attorney General for the Colony, was repealed, and the act appointing County Attornies, was sub- stituted. Under the last mentioned act, Mr. Hony- man was elected King's Attorney, for the County of Newport, for the years 1741-2, when the act was repealed, and the former one, appointing one Attor- ney General for the Colony, was revived. Mr. Honyman, was one of the committee on the Eastern boundary controversy, between Massachu- setts and Rhode-Island; and one of the counsel, who argued the cause in behalf of Rhode-Island, before the commissioners appointed by the King, at Providence, in June, 1741 : tradition speaks in the most respectful terms, of his forensick efforts, on that occasion. He was also one of the commit- tee, appointed by the Legislature, to appeal from the judgment of the commissioners, and to prepare the documents, and draw up a history of the cause, to be laid before the King in council. In 1756, Mr. Honyman was elected first Senator, in the Legislature of the Colony, and was success- ively ..re-elected to the same office, until May, 1764. In the January Session preceding, the General Assembly remonstrated in a decisive tone, against the increased rigors of the sugar act. The irrita- tions of this and the other Colonies augmenting at the other acts and measures of the British Parlia- ment; and Mr. Honyman feeling himself strongly BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. attached to and favoring the views of the ministe- rial party, withdrew as a candidate for Senator, at the annual canvass in May ; and Mr. Peleg Thurs- ton was elected as his successor. In 1755, Governor Hopkins, Mr. Honyman, and George Brown, were appointed by the General Assembly, commissioners to attend the Congress of Governors and Commissioners of the Northern Colonies, called by Lord Loudoun, to be holden at Boston, to concert measures to defeat the enemy. Shortly after Mr. Honyman resigned his seat in the Senate, he was appointed by the Crown, Advocate General of the Court of Vice Admiralty in the Colony ; which he continued to hold, dis- charging its duties to public satisfaction, until the Revolution. In February, 1776, the General As- sembly passed a Vice Admiralty law ; and ap- pointed the officers under it. Hostilities having already commenced between the colonies and the Mother Country, and the public mind at this peri- od, being highly excited, Mr. Honyman, at the June session following, appeared before the Le- gislature, and in the most respectful terms, repre- sented the circumstances under which he held His Majesty's commission of Advocate General of the Court of Vice Admiralty. In a nervous and feel- ing address, he deplored the unhappy controversies 3* 30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. that were tearing the two countries asunder, and expressed his desire to deliver up his commission, if the Assembly requested it. The Legislature, therefore, passed the following resolve: "That, James Honyman, Esquire, Advocate General in the Court of Vice Admiralty in this Colony, under the Crown of Great Britian, having appeared be- fore, and informed this Assembly that if his hold- ing said office be disagreeable to the Colony, he would deliver up his commission. It is voted and resolved, that his holding the same is disagreeable to this Colony, and that the sheriff of the county of Newport call upon the said James Honyman, to receive said commission, and that he deliver it to his Honor the Governor, to be lodged in the Sec- retary's office." The deportment of Mr. Hony- man in this instance, feeling himself bound as he did, by his oath of allegiance, to the Crown, on the one hand, and conscientiously refusing to offend the feelings of his native state, on the other, re- flects a rich lustre on the character of the Chris- tian, the gentleman, and the devoted lover of his country. In December, 1776, the British took possession of the Island of Rhode-Island. On the 15th of January, 1778, while Newport was in their posses- ion, Mr. Honyman died, aged sixty seven years. He was interred in Trinity church on the side of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 31 the entrance by the north gate. The following in- scription is on the stone which covers the grave. SACRED TO THE MEMORY Of JAMES HONYMAN, Esquire. Eminent in his profession, as an Attorney at Law, and many years employed in the most important offices OP GOVERNMENT. He died February 15th, 1778, AGED 67 YEARS. As a speaker, Mr. Honyman was elaborate, but his industry, talents and faithfulness, com- manded an extensive and profitable practice, at Newport, and on the circuits. In deportment he was dignified always dressed in the best fashions of the times scrupulously formal in manners domestic, yet social, in his habits. In person, he was tall, broad-shouldered and muscular, but not fleshy. He was severely afflicted and somewhat disfigured by a large wen, pendent from his jaw bone, " too large for extirpation." Mr. Honyman married Elizabeth, the daughter of George Golding, a merchant of Newport; and left two sons and six daughters. His sons, George and John, died in early manhood. Mary, his eld- 32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. est daughter was married to Mr. Brown ; Eliza- beth, to William Wanton, , to Joseph Wanton, Jr., sons of Governor Wanton ; Catharine, to Mr. Tweedy; Susannah, to Abra- ham Redwood, Jun.; and Penelope, to the Rev. George Bisset, rector of Trinity Church. Most of his daughters and grand-daughters, having mar- ried British officers, or Americans adhering to the cause of the Crown, departed with the enemy, when the British evacuated Newport; and the estates devised to them by Mr. Honyman, were confiscated. After the Revolution, they petitioned to the Legislature for restoration. Upon the application, in behalf of the children, of Joseph Wanton, Jun., in 1784, the committee reported, " that from the documents to us pro- duced, it appears, that the estate was confiscated as the estate of Joseph Wanton, Jun., Esquire, but that the said Joseph Wanton, Jun., never had the fee of said estate, either in deed or possession ; but that the same belonged unto James Honyman, who by his last will and testament, bearing date the 15th day of January, 1778, gave and devised the same unto his three grandchildren, daughters of the said Joseph Wanton, Jun., viz : Mary, Eliza- beth and Ruth, who all married British officers ; and who are subjects of his Britanic Majesty, and this State can have no claim on the same by way BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 33 of confiscation, it being in the heirs and devisees of the said James Honyman, who can hold the same," and the estate was accordingly surren- dered and restored. At the October session of the General Assembly following, Mrs. Catherine Tweedy, and Mr. Abraham Redwood and wife, peti- tioned, with a like prayer, for restoration ; stating, that the judgments by which said estates were con- fiscated, was rendered after the signature of the preliminaries of peace. At the succeding session the committee to whom said petition was referred, reported to the Legislature: " That the Superior Court of Judicature was held on the third day of March, 1783, the day on which hostilities ceased in America ; and that the confiscation of said es- tate was made on the 7th of March ;" and the es- tate was restored to the petitioners. These are instances of hair breadth escapes from the penalties of the law, which no patriotic heart can regret. It may here be remarked, that every Rhode-Isl- ander feels a pride in the reflection, that in no in- stance, after the revolutionary conflict was decid- ed, did the Legislature refuse, upon application, to restore confiscated property, in their possession. Of Mr. Honyman's family, no lineal descendants are remaining in this country; and the estate ac- quired by his frugality and toil, has been alieniated long ago. DANIEL UPDIKE. His ancestors, were among the first settlers in Rhode-Island. One of them, by the maternal side, was " Richard Smith, Sen'r. who for his conscience to God, left fair possessions in Gloucestershire, in England, and adventured with his relations and es- tate to New-England, and was a most acceptable inhabitant and prime leading man in Taunton, Plymouth Colony. For his conscience sake, (many difficulties arising,) he left Taunton and came to the Narragansett country, where by God's mercy, and the favor of the Narragansett Sachems, he broke the ice, (at his great charge and hazard,) and put up in the thickest of the barbarians, the first En- glish house among them." * In 1664, when New Amsterdam, now New York, surrendered to the English, under Colonel Nichols, Gilbert Updike, a German physician of considera- ble celebrity, and his three brothers, Richard, Dan- iel and James emigrated to the Colony of Rhode- Island. Gilbert married the daughter of Richard Smith, and settled on his estate. In the great Ce- dar Swamp battle with the Indians in 1675, Rich- *See Roger Williams' letter, Appendix, No. 1. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 35 ard was killed, and Daniel and James dangerously wounded.* James afterwards died of apoplexy. Daniel, on a voyage to Europe, was captured by the Algerines,t and ransomed by Major Richard * Captains Johnson, Danforth, Gardner, Marshall and Seely, and Mr. Richard Updike, were among the slain, in the battle of 1675, and with the forty, were buried in one grave, in the south-east part of the garden of the Smith house, near Wickford. A tree, known as the " Grave Ap- ple Tree," grew upon the grave, and was broken off in the September gale of 1815, But the stump now remains, which will designate the place. " State munificence has left uncovered, the remains of those devoted and conquer- ing FORTY, who spilt their life blood, in the great battle, for the salvation of the whites, against the tomahawk and scalping knife of the native Narragansetts. ************* pass not on Ere thou hast bless'd their memory, and paid Those hallowed tears which soothe the virtuous dead : O ! Stranger I Stay thee, and the scene around Contemplate well ; and if perchance thy home Salute thee with a father's honor'd name Go call thy sons instruct them what a debt They owe their ancestry, and make them swear To pay it." ******* f Letter from William Harris to his wife, dated " Al- giers, April 6th, 1680. ******* Taken in a ship from Boston, bound to England, on the 24th of January, and they were all sold, in the Market on the 23d and 24th of February, and shut up till the last of March. John Chap- man of Boston, promises 1200 dollars, William Harris, 36 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Smith, Jr., with fifteen hundred gun locks. He afterwards died in England. Between the years 1665 and 1670, Mr. Richard Smith, sen'r. died, and devised to his son, Major'Richard Smith, who had been a Major in Cromwell's service, and contribu- ted to establish him as Protector, the greater part of his estate, and Major Smith dying in 1692 with- out issue, devised it mostly to his sister Updike. The sons of Gilbert were Lodowick, Daniel and James. Lodowick only, survived his father, mar- ried Catharine, the daughter of Thomas Newton, and died in 1737, leaving Daniel and five daugh- ters. (Richard, the eldest, having died before his 800 dollars and expenses to make out 1200. Mr. Leget's ransom cost him 5,000 dollars." In this letter he says, " since I came, I saw Daniel Updike, and he says he had a plague-sore, and that the said sickness is here every sum- mer, and begins in May, and that the last summer here died 9 or 10 of the English captives, but some say not so many. Speak to Mr. Smith to redeem him and tell Lod- owick, his brother, Mr. Smith, Mr. Brindley and others." In another letter from William Harris to Mr. Brindley at Newport, dated April 4th, 1680, he says "pray tell Mr. Smith, Daniel Updike is well He may do well to redeem him." *************** From a copy of an incorrect manuscript in the posses- f ion of the late Moses Brown. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 37 father, leaving two sons, Richard and the late John Updike of Providence.) Esther married Dr. Fos- dick of New London. Sarah married Dr. Giles Goddard,* the father of the late William, and grand- father of the professor William G. Goddard. Abi- gail married Matthew Cooper, and Martha and Catharine died single at advanced ages. Daniel was educated in his father's house, by an able French instructor, in the Greek, Latin and French languages, and his sisters, in the Latin and French. After Daniel's education was completed, he visited Barbadoes, in the company of a friend of his father's ; and was admitted to the first circles of society on the Island. His intercourse with the English res- idents was highly beneficial, in improving his mind, and polishing his manners. Upon his return, he immediately applied himself to the study of the law. After his admission he opened an office in Newport ; married Sarah, the daughter of Governor Benedict Arnold, and she dying without issue, he married for his second wife, Anstis Jenkins, the grand-daugh- ter of Mr. Wilkins, whose wife was a Polish lady, who by her intermarriage with Mr. Wilkins, below her degree, lost the favor of her family and emigra- ted^with him to America. By this connexion, Mr. * See Appendix, No. 2. 4 38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Updike became possessed of a considerable prop- erty, in addition to his patrimonial estate. Mr. Updike continued in profitable practice, at Newport. From his popularity of manner and prompt discharge of official duty, he soon rose into public favor. In 1722, Henry Bull, Esq. having been elected Attorney General and declining the office, Mr. Updike was elected to fill the vacancy. He was annually re-elected by the suffrages of the people, until May, 1732, when he declined, having been nominated for Governor of the Colony, in op- position to Governor William Wanton. From Mr. Updike's general popularity, his success was ex- pected ; but during the canvass, an impression was industriously made, that if he succeeded, the titles to the estates by Fone's records, (then safely nailed up in a chest, by order of the Legislature of the Colony, and deposited in the Secretary's office,) in which he was a large claimant, would be re-opened, and the titles subsequently granted by the Legisla- ture, of the same lands, jeoparded ; he was con- sequently defeated. In 1723, he was appointed, by the General As- sembly, as State's counsel to attend the trial of the thirty-six pirates, captured by Capt. Solgar, com- mander of his Majesty's ship Greyhound, twenty- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 39 six of whom were executed at Newport in July of that year.* An angry controversy had subsisted between the Colonies of Connecticut and Rhode-Island, respect- ing the boundary line between them. For the purpose of an amicable termination of it, in 1724, the Legislature of Rhode Island appointed a board of commissioners, of which Mr. Updike was one, to meet the commissioners of Connecticut, to effect an adjustment of this irritating subject. All efforts to procure a settlement, proved fruitless. It con- tinued an open controversy until 1726, when it was finally decided by the King in Council. The Eastern Indians were exasperated by the en- croachments upon their territories, by the whites of Massachusetts, and were instigated to commence depredations, by the French missionaries from Can- ada. In 1724, the Colony of Massachusetts sent an expedition to subdue them, and demanded as- sistance from Connecticut and Rhode Island, effect- ually to prosecute the war. The General Assem- bly of Rhode-Island appointed a committee, to an- swer the letter of the Governor of Massachusetts, upon their demand ; and to send an agent from * Those who may be desirous to peruse this interesting and curious trial, see Appendix, No. 3. 40 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. tliis Colony to Canada. The following is the an- swer, as drafted by Mr. Updike, one of the Com- mittee. "The General Assembly, having inspected into, and considered the nature of the unhappy war be- tween the Massachusetts Government and the Indi- an enemy, with its rise and progress, as also the various circumstances, that attend the same; do, upon the whole of what has been laid before them, conclude; that, although the said Indian rebels deserve nothing but a total extirpation for their continued and repeated rebellions, hostilities and perfidiousness, yet, it would be by no means jus- tifiable in the Colony of Rhode-Island, to join with the Province of Massachusetts, in the prosecution of war, as things are at present circumstanced, and that for the following reasons." " 1st. The Colony of Rhode-Island, although small, is far extended upon the sea coast, and has a fron- tier to defend, and ward off the strokes of cruel and insulting enemies by sea, from the colonies of Mas- ^achusetts and Connecticut, which (considering the smallness of the colony, compared with those two ^reat governments,) will be thought a due propor- ion of the general calamity of the Country, of this lature, were they exempted from contributing to defend against the enemy by land : For it is certain, "hat the people of the Colony of Rhode-Island are BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 41 upon such occasions frequently alarmed, and have been exposed to very considerable charge, in fitting out vessels, in times of war and peace; the good effects whereof, the neighboring governments were made partakers. And therefore, it cannot be thought incumbent on this government, or for the good of the governments in general, that such a small colo- ny, and so great a frontier, should be weakened by uniting with Massachusetts, in carrying on said war, in an offensive manner, so foreign from their borders ; and especially, when this colony, at this juncture, is carrying on, at its own charge, for* the defence of the country, on said frontier, a fortifica- tion, the accomplishment whereof, will exceed ten. thousand pounds." " 2d. The Indian enemies were subjects of our sov- ereign lord, King George, and under his immedi- ate protection, and in particular, under his govern- ment and dominion of Massachusetts. Wherefore, this government think, it would be unadvised in them, to join in the prosecution of said war, until his Majesty's pleasure was known upon the application, already made \ pon him : For this being an intestine war, happening in Massachusetts only, and a con- troversy of the King's subjects only, and that about property, who knows but that his Majesty, in his great wisdom, may find out and prescribe ways, to make those wild and inaccessible subjects of his, 4* 42 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. come in and tamely submit to his Government, with- out the melancholy prospect, we now have, of shedding much blood distressing and impoverish- ing the whole land." "3d. The Colony of Rhode-Island was never ad- vised with, by the Province of Massachusetts, before they involved themselves in this inextricable diffi- culty ; nor did said Province ever concert measures with this Colony, either in proclaiming war against said Indians, or in any of their treaties they former- ly had with them; then they generally took care to restrict the trade with them to their own Prov- ince, if not to particular men. And shall this Col- ony, without the conjunction and united force of the neighboring governments, on the continent, buy for Massachusetts, this privilege, with the blood of the young and strong ? " "Notwithstanding, the Colony of Rhode-Island has a more tender regard for his Majesty's subjects of the neighbouring governments, and more sincere affection for his Majesty's interest, than to see his subjects slaughtered and destroyed, his territories depopulated and laid waste; and be guilty of su- pine slothfulness, rejecting any reasonable applica- tion to them for succor and relief; for in case the said war had been carried on in the defensive manner, this Colony would, (if need had been,) have lent all due assistance, until his Majesty's BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 43 pleasure had been known; but cannot think it jus- tifiable in them to join in said war [since made of- fensive] until then." " As respecting the proposition, of sending a man to Canada, from this Government, it is the opin- ion of the General Assembly, that the same would create unnecessary charges. But they order and direct a letter be sent them from this government, by the messenger sent by Massachusetts, directed to Monsieur Voudriel, Governor thereof, to de- ter him and all those under the French government, from affording succor or encouragement to the In- dian enemy ; or for sheltering them after they have committed their depredations on the subjects of his British Majesty ; and excite him to exert him- self for the procuring an honorable peace with said Indians, for the ease and benefit of the English settlements; lest, by his Majesty's favor and per- mission, all the English governments on this conti- nent of America unite their forces in ridding the whole land of this restless and lurking enemy, and all their abettors and encouragers. Signed in behalf, and by order of the Assembly, RICHARD WARD, Recorder. At the August session of the Legislature, 1727, Mr. Updike was appointed one of the committe to draught an address, in behalf of the General As- 44 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. sembly, to be transmitted to George II. on his ac- cession to the throne. \y- ; In 1729, Mr. Updike, William Jencks and Dan- iel Abbott, were appointed a committee to run the eastern line of Rhode-Island Colony with Massa- chusetts, according to the Charter; and as Attor- ney General, Mr. Updike was ordered to commence actions of ejectment against those claiming under Massachusetts, in order to try their titles. It was enacted by the General Assemby, in 1731, that if Massachusetts appointed commissioners to settle the eastern line, the Rhode-Island commis- sioners were to meet them for that purpose; and if they should not agree, Richard Ward and Daniel Updike were appointed to draw a report of the case, and to represent the same to his Majesty for his de- cision thereon. In the autumn, of the same year, Rhode-Island proposed a reference for the purpose of settling the exciting controversy. If it should not be accepted, Mr. Updike and Mr. Martin were directed to prepare a full statement of the facts in dispute, for our agent in London, who was re- quested to lay the same before his Majesty, In May succeeding, Massachusetts accepted of the reference proposed by this Colony; but intending not to compromit their claims, selected Roger Wol- cot, Ozias Pitkin and Joseph Fowler, of Connecti- cut, as their commissioners; and Rhode-Island, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 45 fearing that their recent controversy with Connec- ticut might have left unfavorable impressions on the minds of the commissioners thus selected, and apprehending that Connecticut was not the colony, from mutual antipathies, long entertained, from which commissioners ought to be chosen to adjudi- cate upon their rights ; and intending not to be de- feated in this particular, Rhode-Island appointed William Willet, Isaac Hix and James Jackson, of New- York, commissioners to meet those selected by Massachusetts, to determine this prolix contro- versy. Netv London was appointed as the place of meeting. The Rhode-Island commissioners and their counsel attended; but those appointed by Massachusetts neglected, and no proceedings were had. At the autumn session of the Legislature, Rhode-Island appealed to his Majesty for the final determination of the question. In reward for the attendance of the commissioners, chosen by Rhode- Island, in endeavoring to bring this perplexing sub- ject to an issue, the Legislature voted a pres- ent to each of them, of a silver tankard, of fifty pounds value. In pursuance of the resolve of the Legislature, Governor Wanton, in behalf of the colony, in April, 1734, petitioned the King, to have this long contro- versy with Massachusetts, respecting the eastern line, settled. A committee of his Majesty's coun- cil, (May 10, 1738) reported, that such a case be 46 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. left, by royal designation, to commissioners from out of the neighboring colonies. June 6th, 1739, Peter Bours, Daniel Updike, Godfrey Malbone and James Martin, addressed a communication to Mas- sachusetts, mentioning that their agent in London had sent information of the King's pleasure, that commissioners should decide the question. It fur- ther proposed, as a means of preventing greater cost and altercation, that Rhode-Island and Massa- chusetts should each choose an equal number of plenipotentiaries to close the matter. By letter, under date of July 7th, 1739, Governor J. Belcher commissioned William Dudley, Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Nathaniel Hubbard, Samuel Wells and Thom- as Graves, Esqrs., Thomas Gushing, Gentleman, and John Chandler, Esq., as the commissioners to settle the boundary question with Rhode-Island- The three first were of the Council ; and the four last of the House. The commission provided, that if the parties could not agree, they should elect seven other commissioners, to make a final settlement, which was to be in writing, and handed to the com- missioners of Rhode-Island and Massachusetts, be- fore the 20th of November next. September 28th, 1739, the same commissioners, except J. Chandler, were appointed to inform their agent, Francis Wilks, in London, of what had passed at the inter- view of commissioners, of both Provinces, at Bris- tol. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 47 The same seven commissioners as the first, on the 9th of October, 1739, were deputed to meet the Rhode-Island commissioners, and in case they should disagree, each body should select three re- ferees from the adjacent governments. Rhode-Island, at their December session of the Legislature, 1740, appointed Henry Bull, Daniel Updike, James Honyman, Jr., Peter Bours, Thom- as Ward and Stephen Hopkins, to superintend and manage the affairs of the colony before the com- missioners, appointed by the King, to hear and de- termine matters concerning the eastern boundary between Rhode-Island and Massachusetts; and prepare the necessary documents and papers ; and also, to procure houses for the reception and enter- tainment of the commissioners. At the succeeding January session, the Governor and Council were requested to send a suitable vessel to Annapolis, to convey to Providence the commissioners appoint- ed to sit on the trial, in such manner as should best comport with the dignity of the commissioners. The Massachusetts legislature, in January, 1741, elected William Dudley, Samuel Wells, Benjamin Lynde, Jr. and Nathaniel Hubbard, of the Council, and Major Brown, Mr. Thomas Gushing, Colonel Chandler, Doctor Haile and Captain Watts, of the House, to lay their demands before his Majesty's commissioners, appointed to hear and decide upon 48 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the aforesaid controversy, to whom, in the month of March following, John Read and William Shir- ley, (afterwards Gov. Shirley) and in April, Job Almy were added.* In June, 1741, the King's commissioners met at Providence, to hear and determine the cause. Cadwallader Golden, of New-York, was President of the Board. To Rhode-Island the issue was eventful. Her existence, as a colony, depended on the decision. If Massachusetts could establish her claim to the Narragansett Bay, on the south-west, the exclusive political jurisdiction of Rhode-Island over the Narragansett waters would be lost forev- er; but if Rhode-Island could establish her juris- diction over the territory described in her Charter, she would hold, within her control, the great naval and commercial key of New-England. The land was not a feather in the balance. Both parties were confident; and both were arrayed, with their best talents, for the conflict. Plymouth had be- come' incorporated with Massachusetts, under the corporate name of Massachusetts Bay, by which she expected to succeed to every right and immu- nity, attached to Plymouth, before the act of incor- poration. Each party thought they understood * The proceedings of the Massachusetts legislature are extracted from a communication from the Rev. Mr. Felt. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 49 their case ; they were ready for the trial ; neither asked for postponement or delay. Mr. Shirley, or Bollan, and Auchmuty, distinguished advocates in Boston, argued the cause in behalf of Massachu- setts, and Messrs. Honyman and Updike in behalf of Rhode-Island. Judge Lightfoot, who heard the trial, spoke of it as one of the most anxious exhibi- tions that he ever witnessed, and that the argu- ment of Mr. Updike, in the close, was a masterly effort. As Rhode-Island was the claimant, she was entitled to open the cause, and establish her claim. 1st. Her council exhibited the Royal Charter of 1663, to Rhode-Island, and claimed a line from the mouth of Seconk river, to extend three English miles, beyond the ebbing and flowing of the tide up Taunton river, as constituting the head waters of the Narragansett Bay ; and that this construc- tion was warranted by the following words in the Charter : " Extending towards the east and east- wardly, three English miles, to the east and north- east of the most eastern or north-eastern parts of the aforesaid Narragansett Bay, as the said Bay lyeth and extendeth itself, from the ocean on the south or southwesterly, into the mouth of the river, which runneth towards the town of Providence, aud from thence, along the easterly side or bank of the said river, (higher called by the name of the 5 50 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Seconk river) up to the falls, called Pawtucket falls, being the most northwesterly line of Ply- mouth Colony ; and so from the said falls, in a straight line, due north, until it meets with the afore- said line of the Massachusetts Colony." Which construction, if adopted, would have carried the eastern bounds of Rhode-Island to near where the town of Taunton now stands, and would have ex- cluded Massachusetts from any portion of the Nar- ragansett Bay. 2d. That neither the letters patent to the Coun- cil of Plymouth, nor any authenticated copy of it, was produced ; and that the recital of said deed, in the patent to Bradford and his associates, was not sufficient or legal evidence against the King's royal Charter to Rhode-Island. 3d. That the Plymouth letters patent contain- ed no power to confer political jurisdiction, but only delegated power to grant property ; and never hav- ing had any royal Charter conferring political ju- risdiction, none was acquired over the territory de- signated in it. That the royal Charter to Rhode- Island gave political jurisdiction only, but not the right to meddle with property. Massachusetts, in answer to these objections, " professed that she had no apprehensions the controversy would turn, in the judgment of the commissioners, upon a point never BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 51 before relied on, viz : That the colony of New Ply- mouth, having no charter from the Crown, the Rhode-Island charter must be the sole rule of de- termining the boundary, although the patent from the council of Plymouth, to Bradford and his as- sociates, was prior to it. The colony of New Ply- mouth was a government de facto, and so consid- ered by King Charles, in his letters and orders to them, before and after the grant of the Rhode-Isl- and charter ; and when the incorporation was made of New Plymouth with Massachusetts, * " May 2d, 1730, Daniel Updike, Attorney General of the colony, and Lieutenant Colonel of the militia of the islands in said colony, was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Mc- Sparran, by immersion, (in Petiquamscut river) in pres- ence of Mr. McSparran, Hannah McSparran, his wife, and Josiah Arnold, Church Warden, as his witnesses." McSparraris Church Records. AUGUSTUS JOHNSON. MR. JOHNSON was born at Arnboy, in New Jer- sey, about the year 1730. His mother was the daughter of Mr. Lucas, a French Huguenot. He was quite a child when his father died, and was entrusted to the care of an elder sister. He re- ceived a liberal, though not a collegiate education, in the state of New York. He came to Rhode-Is- land, when quite young, studied law with Matthew Robinson, Esq., who was his step-father, and set- tled in Newport. After a few years practice, he was considered one of the best lawyers in the state. But little positive information can now be obtained of his professional career. Time has thrown the veil of oblivion upon the causes in which he was engaged ; and thus, for the most part, obscured the talent employed in them. Tradition speaks of him as a man of extraordinary powers in his particular calling, yet cannot point to the prominent cases in which his reputation was acquired. He had an un- limited confidence in his own ability, and would acknowledge no superior. He was equally ready in the office, or before the court. With an acute and penetrating mind, he could unravel the most 6* 66 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. intricate cases with apparent ease ; but his great forte was in sifting and reconciling discordant testimony. No matter how numerous the witnes- ses, or how misty their statements; no matter how much time or space the scene covered; he would divest the case of all extraneous circum- stances, with such readiness, and present the prom- inent and material points with such clearness and force, that the jury was impressed strongly in his favor. His great confidence in his own powers was often mistaken, by the triors, for confidence in the cause in which he was engaged. Mr. Updike died in May, 1757, about a week af- ter his twenty-sixth election to the office of Attor- ney General. At the succeeding session, the Gen- eral Assembly appointed Mr. Johnson to supply the vacancy occasioned by his decease. Mr. John- son, by successive re-elections, held the office for the term of nine years. He was then, on account of his strong adherence to the Crown, dropped by the party which had formerly supported him. ! ..-,'..' ?,-.. . ; -' ..,),, --. . ' _ , Mr. Johnson was a man of singular firmness, and was but little affected by the opinions of others. The more sternly he was opposed by his political enemies, the more firmly did he cling to his politi- cal opinions. He had ever been a zealous royalist. He considered it his duty to be so. He saw public opinion changing, but his views were unaltered. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 67 He soon found himself in a minority; but it only made him the more zealous. He saw his best friends deserting him ; but he seemed to feel a pride in stemming the torrent of public opinion ; yet he expressed great regard for the state and people of Rhode-Island. In the year 1765, in the height of popular ex- citement, he accepted the office of Stamp-master. His friends, who were yet left, endeavored to per- suade him to resign it; others threatened him with violence, if he should dare to exercise its func- tions ; but threats and persuasions were, by him, alike unheeded. He was constantly hissed at, and insulted in the streets ; but it had little or no effect on his determinations. Some time in the autumn of 1765, his house was surrounded by an infuriated collection of men, who by their unusual tumult and rage, first led him to feel that his person was in danger. He retreated to his cellar, and was there secreted, until the mob had dispersed, and then left it in disguise. He was afterwards seized, and after suffering many indignities, a promise was ex- torted from him, to resign the office, with which he reluctantly complied. In 1766, the stamp act was repealed. As soon as the news was received, the people of Newport erected a gallows, near the State House, and had the effigies of Mr. Johnson, Martin Howard, Jun., 68 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, and Doctor Moflat, the Stamp-masters, conveyed through the streets, in a cart, with halters about their necks. They were carried to the gallows and hanged ; and shortly after cut down and burned, amid the shouts and acclamations of the assembly. The popular indignation made it necessary for Mr. Johnson to seek protection on board of a Brit- ish armed vessel, then lying in the harbor. During the occupation of Newport, by the Brit* ish, he held several civil appointments under the crown; and on the evacuation, at the close of the year 1779, he accompanied the enemy's forces to New York. His property, in Newport, was confiscated ; and as a remuneration for his persecutions, he received a pension from the British government as long as he lived; and after him the same was continued to his widow, who survived hinxmany years. He left one son and three daughters ; one of the latter is now living. His son, the late Major Matthew Rob* inson Johnson, served in the British army until the peace of 1800, when he disposed of his commis- sion, and returned to his native country, and died a few years since. His widow now lives in the town of Johnson, which town, in 1759, was divided from Providence, and in compliment to the Attorney General, was named after him. At the time of his death he held the office of Judge of Vice-Admi- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 69 ralty, for the southern district of North Amer- ica. There are some men justly celebrated in their own day, who, on account of their peculiar sphere of action, lose that celebrity when their cotempo- raries pass away. Thus it was with Augustus Johnson. Had his powers of intellect been turned to something, on which posterity could have fixed their attention, his name would now have been fa- miliar to every son of Rhode-Island. But such were his employments, that nothing can now be learned of his character, but from tradition. Alas, for the reputation of that man, whose traditionary character is handed down by political opponents. He was an officer under the British Crown ; he was opposed to the revolution; what then can we ex- pect would be his reputation, if seen only through the medium of strong political excitement? OLIVER ARNOLD, WAS the son of Israel, and the grandson of John Arnold, a descendant of Richard, who was one of the Council of Sir Edrnond Andros, in 1685; and a near relative of Benedict Arnold, President of the colony of Rhode-Island, prior to the appoint- ment of Coddington, the first Governor. In boy- hood he evinced a strong propensity for study, and an ardent thirst for knowledge. To gratify this ruling inclination, his father placed him with Dr. Webb, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, a presbyteriari clergyman of reputation and talent. Under his instruction and direction, he increased those habits of study and application, which were so eminently serviceable to him in after life. The father of Oliver was a wealthy landholder, and was much engaged in public business. With whom Oliver studied his profession, or in what year he was ad- mitted to the bar, is not known. That he possess- ed a strong, elastic mind, with much early profes- sional talent, is shown by the anecdote related by the late Levi Lincoln, to the late Dr. Willard, of Uxbridge. " When at the bar," observed Lincoln, "a cause of considerable interest was entrusted to me; and on retainer, I was informed, by my client, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. /I that I should be opposed only by a young man, by the name of Arnold, from Glocester, Rhode-Island. Not expecting much display of talent from any one in that region, I was slovenly prepared for arguing the case; nor was my caution increased by the appearance of my antagonist a tall, green-look- ing youth, who awkwardly seating himself at the bar, impressed me that I had nothing but a strip- ling to contend with. I made my speech with very little expectation of being answered; and conduct- ed my argument throughout, with less skill and ar- rangement than usual, and awaited the reply of my youthful opponent. But what was my amaze- ment," he continued, " to see him rise with the most perfect self-possession, and state his defence, and argue his cause, with an ability that would have done honor to Temple bar. He went on calm- ly, leading the reason of the jury and audience captive, and leaving myself in the back ground, as far as I confidently expected to have left him."- This trial spread the reputation of Mr. Arnold, as an advocate, far and wide. And from steady ap- plication and diligence, he soon rose to distinction in his profession, as a faithful and popular lawyer. Mr. Arnold was born in Glocester, in 1726 In 1754 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Dan- iel Brown, of Sandisfield, Massachusetts, the sis- ter of the late Col. John Brown, who commanded a regiment under Gen. Benedict Arnold, at the 72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. siege of Quebec assisted in the capture of Ticon- deroga and in the successful battle on lake Cham- plain. He fell on Palatine plain, in defending Al- bany against a party of Canadians and Indians. For the greater convenience of practice, Mr. Ar- nold, in 1762, moved from Glocester to Providence, and purchased an estate on North-main street, op- posite the residence of the late Gen. Bridgham, and continued constantly and indefatigably, en- gaged in his profession, in and out of the state. Previous to his removal, he found time for the cultivation of his talent for music. His hours of relaxation were devoted to practice on the violin, on which he was a tasteful performer. Tradition still speaks of him, in the vicinity of his former res- idence, as a promoter of innocent festivity ; often carrying his violin, on his rural visits, for the en- couragement of youthful recreation. From the in- creased professional demands upon his time, he was obliged, on his removal, to dispense with this somewhat peculiar gratification. Still his taste for music and dancing continued, and so desirous was he to have his daughters excel in this elegant and fascinating amusement, that he engaged an Italian performer to instruct them regularly at his own house. In May, 1766, Mr. Arnold was elected Attorney BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 73 General of the colony, as the successor of Augus- tus Johnson, who resigned in consequence of the agitations respecting the stamp act ; under which he was one of the commissioners appointed by the Crown. Mr. Arnold was continued in the office by successive re-elections, by the people, until his death. During his practice, an unfortunate and acrimonious professional controversy arose between himself and John Aplin, Esq., a lawyer, in the same county. During its continuance, Mr. Aplin was prosecuted for official malpractice, and Mr. Arnold was employed to conduct the cause. In the ruin that was overwhelming his persecutor, Mr. Arnold anticipated more than a just retribution for any injuries done to himself; and it was then, for the first time, that he felt he could forgive him. He felt a strong antipathy to Mr. Aplin, knowing him to be his enemy. Personal feeling and re- sentment might, unknown to himself, mingle with his zeal in the course of justice. He made an in- effectual attempt to avoid the prosecution, and en- deavoured to escape the necessity of a discharge of the duty which official obligation imposed upon him ; but personal solicitation was urgent, and he was made to believe, that refusal was dereliction of the obligations officially enjoined upon him. It is to be regretted, that under these circumstances, he yielded to the demands of pretended profession- al duty, however zealously or speciously urged. 7 74 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. After hearing the testimony, and the defence by Mr. Aplin himself, which, according to tradition, was the most able and eloquent he ever made, Arnold summed up in reply. It was a maxim of his to perform, whatever he undertook, thoroughly. He did not shrink when actually engaged. The ability and power displayed by the Attorney Gen- eral, on that occasion, was long remembered by one of the most attentive and crowded audiences ever collected in the court room. This trial resulted in a verdict against Aplin; and he immediately fled from the state, and, subsequently, was expelled from the bar. The merits of this case are stated, at large, in the memoirs of Aplin, and are therefore omitted here. It is sufficient to state, that this ac- rimonious controversy, and its consequences, em- bittered the remaining days of both parties. Ar- nold's opponent was crushed, and completely so ; and it was his hand that dealt the annihilating blow, and drove his competitor a " houseless wan- derer" from his family and his country, to seek an asylum in another clime. But the painful appre- hension of Arnold, that under the circumstances, he might have done more than his duty, stung his conscience, and preyed upon his feelings for the rest of his life. It is due to truth to state, that be- tween their immediate families, a subsequent inti- macy existed until the grave closed over them. Mr. Arnold was engaged in two important state BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 75 trials, during the period of his Attorney General- ship. In addition to the feeling created by the homicide involved in it, the trial of Carless and others, excited an intense interest growing out of the exasperated state of animosity existing be- tween this country and Great Britain, respecting the Stamp act. It arose from an affray which took place on the third of May, 1768, in Newport, between some of the citizens and Charles Carless and others, officers of the Senegal, man-of-war, then lying in the harbor. Carless, in his defence, thrust his sword into fhe breast of one Henry Sparker, which caused immediate death. Carless and his associates were arrested, and tried at a court, specially convened, in June, for that purpose, and after a full trial, they were acquitted ; as was also one Inman, for the supposed murder of Foster .; and others, arrested for crimes of less mag- nitude. These trials were conducted with a credit- able ability by the Attorney General. His civil duties on the various committees, rais- ed by the Legislature, on which the government Attornies were usually appointed, and especially on the one to compile the digest of 1787, were per- formed with ability. The manner of Mr. Arnold was graceful and easy. His countenance, when in a state of repose, indicated nothing striking; but when excited by 76 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. argument, or when his feelings were aroused, he possessed uncommon attraction. He was a severe student; and was master of the few books that constituted a lawyer's library at that period. He was remarkable for the great retentiveness of his memory. What he once learned, he is said never to have forgotten ; and could repeat his authori- ties verbatim. He once repeated several passages, to fortify the position he had assumed, in the argu- ment of a cause, the correctness of which was stren- uously denied, and as positively reasserted. The eourt, for the due settlement of the controverted question, desired that the authorities might be pro- duced. The demand was acceded to, and the quo- tation proved to be correct, to the letter. So ef- fectually could he abstract his mind, that he could study " Coke upon Lyttleton" by the family fire- side, or amid the discursive argumentations of a tavern bar-room, with perfect composure. The character of Mr. Arnold has been handed down to us, as a lawyer of candor, probity and great uprightness; rejecting those mean and pal- try cases which so often disgrace those who espouse them. But when engaged in a cause which his conscience approved, nothing could turn him in his course, or stay his exertion. The general impres- sion of the probity of his character obtained for him, with court and jury, an influence, which every honest lawyer ought to possess. Loud and angry BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 77 retort, or bitter sarcasm, were unknown to him. This, in no small degree, contributed to that pro- fessional respect of which he was so eminently de- serving. Mr. Arnold took a warm and active interest in the advancement of general education ; and was a devoted patron of literary institutions. He was one of the council, before the legislature, to obtain the charter of Rhode-Island college, now Brown University ; and contributed to its funds with a lib- erality commensurate with his circumstances; and ardently interested himself in promoting its pros- perity. Of the personal friends of Mr. Arnold, Mr. Alex- ander Campbell, of East Greenwich, was one to whom he was intimately attached. His death, which occurred suddenly, in 1769, the year before that of Mr. Arnold, deeply and seriously affected his feelings. Judge Bowler, Gov. Bradford, Mat- thew Robinson and Henry Marchant, were his warm friends and intimate associates, though some of them were his seniors in the profession. Short, though flattering, was the career Mr. Ar- nold was destined to run. At the age of thirty-five in the midst of his days and usefulness death suddenly summoned him away. He died while at- 7* 78 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. tending court in Washington county, at its Octo-^ ber term, 1779, after a few days illness. Rejecting the services of the less informed physicians, in the neighborhood, Dr. Hunter, of Newport was called, who unfortunately mistook his case, which if not the immediate cause, materially hastened his disso- lution. The court, then sittingj suspended business; and a general gloom was spread over the village, where he was well known and greatly respected. Most of the citizens joined in the procession, to render their last honors, and to mingle their re- grets with the mournful cavalcade assembled to convey his remains to Providence, where he was interred, with the respect due to his talents, his services to the state, and above all, to his unsullied reputation. % Mrs. Arnold survived her husband twenty-nine years, and departed this life in 1799. Of the three children, Waity, Alfred and Mary the latter is still living. Alfred left three children at his de- cease. Mrs. Catharine R. Williams, the author- ess, is the only surviving grandchild. But little is known respecting the religious state of Mr. Arnold's mind. Among his papers were found these words : " A Christian may triumph in the death of Christ." It is inscribed on the slab BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 79 that is erected to his memory, in the north burial ground, in Providence. " O ! death where is thy sting? " O ! grave where is thy victory ? O ! Hell where is thy terror ? " O ! world where is thy malice ? O ! sin where is thy strength ? " Oh, my soul ! where are thine accusers ? " Riches are but dust. Honors are shadows. " Pleasures are bubbles, and man a lump of vanity, " Compounded of sin and misery." OF OLIVER ARNOLD, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THIS COLONY. A gentleman descended from an ancient and honorable family. But his principal renown was the fruit of his Genius and indefatigable industry. His abilities and accomplishments were equal to any station and character in life. LIVING, He fully acquired the love of his country ; and dying, she dropped the unavailing tear. HE DIED ON THE 9TH OF OCTOBER, 1770. in the 35th year of his age. The following lines, "on the death of Oliver Arnold, Attorney General of the Colony, and Bar- rister at Law," were inserted in the Providence Gazette. Hail man beloved ! O worthy Arnold hail, Forgive the tears, that loss of thee bewail, Ah ! peaceful thought, that thou shall bless no more 80 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, Those thou didst bless, 'and greatly bless before. But now the scene is changed and the short span Oi life is closed, the fleeting life of man, The seraph genius, the exalted mind Has fled to seats of happiness divine. The angel, scattering death through all the host, Hath snatched away our friend, our pride, our boast, Arnold hath lived, but now his life is done, So good, and yet, alas ! so short 'tis spun, With virtue, learning, wit and worth combined, Benev'lence warmed his breast and fired his mind : Unmoved by prejudice, unbribed by gold ; Justice he sought, in conscious virtue bold; Still friendly to the good, his opening door Revived, supplied, and e'er relieved the poor. And while around his benefits he spread, Vice he restrained, and for the needy plead : Through science's flowery paths, with ease he went, And liberal knowledge ope'd his stores and lent Of that blest treasure, that exalts the mind, Rendering it lofty, noble and refined. Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease, Intent to reason and polite to please, Persuasive eloquence sat upon his tongue, While he " the right approved, condemned the wrong." Through all the varied scenes of life approved, He as a father, friend and Husband loved. But now no more, his soul has winged its way Up to the regions of Eternal day. Prom the same paper the following is extracted: October 13th, 1770. Died, Oliver Arnold, at South Kingtown, aged 34, Attorney General native of Glocester descended from Gov. Benedict Arnold admitted to the bar at the age of 25 elected Attorney General at the age of 28. His genius was lively and active his ideas exten- sive and beautifully arranged his conceptions were quick, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 81 clear, and radiant his judgment sound. In his writings, his style was manly, pure and correct. In his pleadings at the bar, his language was nervous and expressive, his elocution, harmonious, graceful, pathetic; and in the course of his extensive business, he fully sustained the best of characters, that of an honest man. In him, the rights and liberties of America, lost a steady and firm friend the colony a faithful officer the town of Provi- dence one of her most useful and worthy citizens. HENRY MARCHANT, WAS born at Martha's Vineyard, in the colony of Massachusetts, in April, 1741. His father, Hex- ford Marchant, was a captain in the merchant's service ; his wife was a Butler. She died when the subject of this memoir was four y^ars old, and a short time after the removal of the family to New- port. Captain Marchant married, for his second wife, the daughter of the first, and sister of the second Gov. Ward. At the age of eight years, Henry had the misfortune to lose his father, who died in the West Indies, in the employment of Hen- ry Collins, then one of the most enterprising mer- chants in the colony. The connection which the father had formed with the Ward family, had a happy effect upon the future destiny of the son. His mother-in-law and her family friends, regardless of expense, bestowed great attention to his early ed- ucation, which was the best that this country could, at that early period, afford. After completing his primary education, at the best schools at Newport, he was sent to the academy, at Philadelphia, which was reputed to be the best institution, of the kind, in the colonies. It was afterwards the University of Pennsylvania. When he had completed his course BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 83 of studies there, he entered the office of Judge Tro w- bridge, of Cambridge, who was justly esteemed the most profound jurist of his day. Mr. Marchant remained in the office of Judge Trowbridge five years; and was said to be an attentive and severe student. At the termination of his studies, he came to Newport, and commenced practice, under some discouraging circumstances, and others of a more favorable aspect. He was the only dissent- ing, or liberty lawyer, in the colony. His brethren of the high church, then identified with the minis- terial party, viewed him either with contempt, trusting to their power and influence to bear him down; or, with jealousy of his attainments, were indisposed to show him any favor, or to aid his pro- gress. On the other hand, his religious predilec- tions, and his whig principles, obtained for him all the patronage and favor of the friends of freedom. His acquirements, his industry, and forensic talent, soon raised him to the head of his profession. In 1766, Mr. Marchant wrote the deed, from William Read to William Ellery, John Collins, Robert Cooke, and Samuel Fowler, of " Liberty Tree lot," (a large Buttonwood tree standing at the north end of Thames street, Newport,) said lot and tree there- on, were conveyed to the grantees, " in trust, and forever thereafter to be known by the name, of the TREE OP LIBERTY; to be set apart to, and for the use of, the sons of liberty; and that the same 84 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. stand as a monument of the spirited and noble op- position made to the STAMP ACT, in the year 1765, by the sons of liberty, in Newport, and throughout the continent of North America ; and to be con- sidered as emblematical of public liberty ; of tak- ing deep root in English America, of her strength and spreading protection ; of her benign influences, refreshing her sons in all their just struggles, against the attempts of tyranny and oppression. And furthermore, the said tree of liberty is destin- ed and set apart, for exposing to public ignominy and reproach, all offenders against the liberties of the country, and the abettors and approvers of such as would enslave her. And that the same may be repaired to upon all rejoicings, on account of the rescue and deliverance of liberty, from any dan- gers she may have been in, of being subverted or overthrown. And furthermore, that the said tree of liberty stand as a memorial of the firm and un- shaken loyalty of the American sons of liberty, to his Majesty, King George III., and of their inviola- ble attachment to the happy establishment of the Protestant succession, in the illustrious House of Hanover. And in general, said TREE is hereby set apart, for such other purposes, as they, the true born sons of liberty shall, from time to time, from age to age, and in all times and ages hereafter, ap- prehend, judge and resolve, may subserve the glo- rious cause of PUBLIC LIBERTY." The deed is wit- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 8 nessed by thirty-one of the most respectable and influential wliigs in Newport. When the Island was afterwards possessed by the enemy, this tree, so dedicated, was destroyed; but after the evacua- tion it was replaced by another which is still stand- ing. Mr. Marchant was appointed by the legislature to aid in almost all colony prosecutions; and was an efficient member on committees of that body, although not a representative. In early professional life, Mr. Marchant was elected, under the Ward in- fluence, Attorney General of the colony, at the Oc- tober session, 1770, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Oliver Arnold. Such was the le- gal ability with which his official duties were dis- charged, that though opposed, at the next election, by a candidate from the majority party, he was elected, over his opponent, by an overwhelming majority. He continued to sustain the office, through all the vicissitudes of party, until May, 1777. Being engaged in various appeals to the King in Council, and charged by the colony with the re- sponsibility of aiding Mr. Joseph Sherwood, their resident agent, in London, in the adjustment of claims on the British government; and also to ef- fect a final disposition of the controversy with 8 86 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Massachusetts ; and endeavor to procure the ap- pointment of commissioners, by the King in Coun- cil, to settle the boundary line between the colo- nies, Mr. Marchant, in 1771, departed for England. He carried with him, to the mother country, recom- mendations from gentlemen of the first respecta- bility, in this colony and Massachusetts, to many of the first literary and political characters of Great Britain, particularly of the whig party, to which he had become attached, upon the first division of the country, upon the oppressive exactions of Parlia- ment. With many of the first friends of American liberty, in England and Scotland, he had formed the most intimate acquaintance; which, in some in- stances, were ripened into friendships, which were continued, by correspondence, for many years after he returned to his native country. Dr. Franklin, whom he had known in Philadelphia, then in Lon- don, bestowed on him flattering marks of esteem, and was highly serviceable, in extending his liter- ary and political connexions. He attended the celebrated trial of Summerset, before Lord Mans- field, which deeply impressed the principles of civil liberty on his mind. In a journal he kept dur- ing his residence abroad, he minuted his own re- flections on this important cause. In the latter part of the year 1772, he embark- ed for America. At that period, the difficulties between Great Britain and this country, had as- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 87 sumed a threatening aspect. And though the min- isterial party, in the colony, were wealthy and strong in numbers, Mr. Marchant continued true to the principles he had early espoused, and he hesita- ted not. to take an early and decided stand in favor of liberty. He was considered one of the active leaders of the whig party, and one of the most ob- noxious individuals to the ministerialists. So much so, that when Walace, with his squadron, lay be- fore Newport, he threatened, if he could catch him, to hang him at the yard-arm. He even searched the boats for this object of his hate and vengeance, who in order to attend the circuits of Washington and Kent counties, was under the necessity of pass- ing round through Providence. Immediately after the battle of Lexington, Mr. Marchant perceiving that the British would occupy Newport, as an important point, purchased an es- tate in Narragansett, [where his son, the Hon. Wil- liam Marchant, now resides,] and removed, with his family, where they remained through the war. During this period, he continued his professional du- ties, and was engaged in the important causes that arose until the year 1777, when he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was re- elected in 1778 and 1789. He was one of the sign- ers of the articles of confederation, and while signing, he said, the guns of the battle of Brandy- wine were roaring in his ears. After that battle, 38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Congress left Philadelphia, and retired to York- town. During the session of the confederated Congress, Mr. Marchant delivered several speech- es, which gained him considerable reputation. He was an efficient member on various important com- mittees, and gained considerable notoriety, in a controversy with the distinguished Judge Chase, of Maryland. / No delegate >could be elected to Congress for more than three years, or one term in succession. After the second term, Mr. Marchant was, in 1784, re-elected ; but owing to professional engagements, he declined. The General Assembly, at their May session, passed a vote of thanks to Messrs. William Ellery and Henry Marchant, for the eminent services they had rendered the state in the confederated Con- gress. In the spring of 1784, Mr. Marchant returned from his residence in Narragansett, to Newport, and was immediately elected a Representative for that town, to the General Assembly. He contin- ued one of the most active and influential members of that bodyj until the adoption of the Federal constitution. He was elected a member of the con- vention for the adoption of that instrument, and made some impressive speeches in its favor. felOGRAPHlCAL SKETCHES. 89 Upon the organization of the government, under the constitution, he was nominated by Gen. Wash- ington, then President of the United States, Judge of the District Court for Rhode-Island, and his nomination was unanimously confirmed. The duties of this office, were discharged with distinguished ability and reputation, until his death. He died August 30th, 1796. His remains were interred in the north burial ground, in Newport, near the Per- ry monument. A handsome stone is erected to his memory, on which is sculptured a bust, which is said to be a good resemblance of the deceased, with the following inscription : THE HON. HENRY MARCHANT, MEMBER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CONGRESS, AND UNITED STATES' JUDGE FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE-ISLAND. DIED AUGUST 30, 1796, ^ETATE 56. HENRY GOODWIN. OF Mr. Goodwin, but few incidents have been ob- tained. When the paper money party triumphed, in the political struggle of 1786, they retained some of their opponents in office. But their influence was actively exerted to defeat the operation of the paper money tender laws, the favorite measure of the administration. The dominant party, in 1787, doubting the poli- cy of keeping their political enemies longer in of- fice, made a " clean sweep." Mr. Goodwin was elected Attorney General, in the place of Mr. Chan- ning, and re-elected the succeeding year. But hes- itating to applaud all the measures of the party, and condemning some, they withheld their support. Mr. Goodwin was a man whose genius was bril- liant, but erratic. His eloquence at times, was overpowering; his rhapsodies of expression over- flowing. He wrote some fine poetry, and a number of tragedies. It is reported that some of the scenes were admirably wrought, and the descriptions touching and beautiful. Dr. Manning, President of Providence College, now Brown University, ob- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 91 -served of him, " that such a rare genius was not born once in a century." He was a warm-hearted and high-minded man. The splendor of his eloquence, and the brilliancy of his wit, captivated the public mind ; but there was no equality in the ingredients of his character. His error was^ that he overdid every thing. He was subject to no restraint. He knew no bounds. His temper was excitable ; his passions violent and unmanageable; his invectives so intolerable to- wards those whom he fancied were obnoxious to him, that he speedily lost public favor. In fact, he unquestionably labored under a partial intellectual derangement. Unfortunately the treatment of this mental disease was but imperfectly understood at that period, even by physicians. After he had been confined to his room, and general admission had been refused, Dr. Senter, the most eminent of the profession, remarked that, " nothing was the mat- ter with him, only he had jibed all standing." Had the " science of mind" been as well understood by the medical faculty then, as now, probably this splendid and eloquent man might have been restor- ed to public usefulness. Mr. Blake, an attorney at law, in Bristol, at which place Mr. Goodwin married and died, upon diligent enquiry, writes : 92 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. "BRISTOL, MARCH 4, 1841. Dear Sir I am sorry, that after all this delay, I can tell you so little of Mr. Goodwin. But every fact I can obtain, I give you below. Yours, &c. JOS. M. BLAKE." "Henry Goodwin was born in Boston, [it is be- lieved.] His father was Benjamin Goodwin, who married Hannah Le Baron, of Plymouth. Mr. Henry Goodwin, in 1782, married Mary Bradford, the daughter of Gov. Bradford, of Bristol. He commenced the practice of law in Taunton, and from thence removed to Newport, where he practi- ced until his death. He died at Bristol, while on a visit at Gov. Bradford's, the 31st of May, 1789." " He left four children, one son and three daugh- ters. The son is dead. The three daughters are now living." In addition to which, the Hon. Asher Robbins, late Senator in Congress, in a communication, da- ted Newport, March 21, 1841, observes, " I was not much acquainted with Mr. Goodwin personally ; he died before my leaving my place in Providence college, and coming to Newport to read law with Mr. Channing; though I had seen him occasionally at Providence, while he was attending the General Assembly and courts there; and had BIOGRAPHIC At, SKETCHES. 93 .some slight acquaintance with him; and I had an -opportunity to hear him speak on several occasions. He was very fluent, and his eloquence was very fine ; he had a fine voice, and his delivery was very fine; he had brilliant talents, but his learning, I was told, was not profound. He had a great deal of wit, but it was of the keen, sarcastic kind, rather than of the good-natured and pleasant In person he was rather above the middle stature, and well proportioned; his countenance rather se- vere and determined, though with regular, anima- ted features; and according to my recollection, a little pitted with the small pox. His dress was at the top of the mode, rich and showy. It was an object of particular attention with him. Not one of the bar vied with him in this particular. He was educated, I understood, a t Cambridge. He was patronised by the paper money party, and they made him Attorney General of the state; but he would not go aH lengths with them, and they withdrew their patronage. In a fit of sickness he became partially derang- ed; but was convalescent in both body and mind, when the unfortunate accident took place which terminated in his death. He died young, but at -what age I do not know!" WILLIAM CHANNING. IT would be deemed an assumption of vanity for another hand to attempt a sketch of the life and character of William Channing, one of the early Attorney Generals of Rhode-Island, while his sons, the Rev. William E. Channing, of Boston, and Dr. E. T. Channing, professor in Harvard University. are living, and so eminently qualified to perform this delicate task. The author has therefore avail- ed himself of the liberal aid of those distinguished gentlemen, in giving to this, otherwise imperfect memoir, an interest far beyond the slight details of the public services of its subject which were within his reach ; and he could not yield to the suggestion in the letter of the Rev. Dr. Channing, to suppress any portion of so interesting a tribute of filial af- fection. William Channing, in early life, sustained many honorable offices by legislative appointment, and at the annual state election, in 1777, he was, by his fellow citizens, elected Attorney General with- out opposition ; his predecessor, Mr. Marchant, having been, at the same period, chosen delegate to the confederated Congress. He was annually re- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 95 elected to the same office, until 1787, when with the Governor, Senate, and House of Representatives, he was swept away by the paper money tornado of 1785, the emission of which, by the dominant party in the legislature, he conscientiously and un- flinchingly opposed. When the ebullitions of the political caldron had subsided, and the public mind had returned to its sober judgment, the freemen doubly honored him by re-electing him in 1791, to the same honorable station, from which he had been ejected by the paper money party, in addi- tion to the office of District Attorney of the United States for the district of Rhode-Island, both of which he conjunctively held until his death. The sovereign position the state had assumed after the Declaration of Independence, and the variety of laws enacted, growing out of the revolu- tion, embracing the confiscation and maratime acts, imposed on the Attorney General, new, arduous and responsible duties, which by the concurrent tes- timony of the Hon. Judge Bourne, the Hon. Elisha R. Potter, and the Hon. William Hunter, were by Mr. Channing discharged with eminent ability, en- ergy and devotion. The letter of Dr. Channing, in answer to one so- liciting his aid in this contemplated memoir, with the enclosure from his brother, and the obituary by the late Hon. William Ellery, are as follows : 96 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. " CAMBRIDGE, Nov. 12, 1840. I give you all I know relating to the subject of Mr. Updike's letter. William Channing was the second son of John Channing, of Newport, Rhode- Island, merchant. He was grandson of John Channing, of Dorset- shire, England ; the first of the name who came to America, and who arrived in Boston about 1715. He was born in Newport, May 31, 1751, and was educated at Nashua Hall, (Princeton College,) where he graduated in 1769. In May, 1773, he was married to Lucy Ellery, daughter of William Ellery, of Newport, [one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence,] by whom he had eleven children, nine of whom were living at his death. He died at Newport, Sept. 21, 1793, after ah ill- ness of three months. Grandfather Ellery wrote a character of him immediately after his death, which was intended for the papers, but never pub- lished. He gave me the manuscript. The sketch is striking, and perhaps would be useful for Mr. Updike's purposes. If, on seeing it, you should think so, I will copy it for him. I have heard testimonies from many, to the great sweetness of his spirit, and of his entire trust-wor- thiness in his many and important vocations. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 97 I remember as long ago as 1813 hearing, from Judge Dawes, an account of his appearance in court. The Judge met him frequently at Taunton. He described his style of speaking as remarkable for its sweet fluency. He called it ' mellifluous.' I know how difficult it is at this time of day to present any image of such a character to the pub- lic, which will give an adequate idea of him. Still I hope you may be able to do something; and cer- tainly the attempt is so modest which Mr. Updike is making, that even a little, if but true, will be no injustice to the memory of our father, and may be of service to others. Yours truly, E. T. CHANNING. To Dr. W. E. CHANNING." "BOSTON. DEC. 18, 1841. My Dear Sir, I received, with great pleasure, your letter of last month, in which you inform me that you are preparing " the biography of the Rhode-Island Bar," and request me to furnish any materials in my power for a memoir of my father. My recollections of my father are imperfect, as he died when I was thirteen years of age, and I had been sent from home before that event. But the many testimonies which I have received to his em- inence, as a lawyer, as well as to his private virtues, make me desirous that there should be some me- 9 98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. morial of him. My brother, Professor E. T. Chan- ning, who is the antiquary of the family, has sent me, in a letter, which I enclose, such facts as he has been able to gather; and has also furnished me with a sketch of my father's character, prepared by my venerable grandfather, William Ellery. This, as you will see, is a tribute of affection ; but my grandfather was remarkable for his honesty, which almost amounted to bluntness; and I am confident that his language, however strong, did not go beyond his convictions. I cheerfully add my own reminiscences, and a few facts. " My father retained much attachment to Prince- ton college, where he was educated, so that he thought of sending me there. He was the class- mate and friend of Samuel S. Smith, afterwards distinguished as a theologian, and as the President of that institution. In the last part of his collegi- ate days he enjoyed the instructions of the celebra- ted Dr. Witherspoon. ."His early marriage, and the rapid increase of his family, obliged him to confine himself rigidly to his profession. He was too busy to give much time to general reading, or even to his family. Still I have distinct impressions of his excellence in his social relations. He was the delight of the circle in which he moved. His mother, brothers and sisters leaned on him as on no other. I well BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 99 remember the benignity of his countenance and voice. At the same time he was a strict discipli- narian at home, and according to the mistaken no- tions of that time, kept me at too great a distance from him. In truth, the prevalent notions of edu- cation were much more imperfect than in our day. "I often went into courts, but was too young to understand my father's merits in the profession ; but I had always heard of him as standing at its head. My brother says, that Judge Dawes used to speak of his style and manner as 'mellifluous,' but at times he was vehement; for I well recollect, that I left the court house in fear, at hearing him indignantly reply to, what seemed to him, unwor- thy language in the opposite counsel. " His parents were religious, and the impressions made on his young mind were never lost. He was the main pillar of the religious society to which he belonged. The house of worship had suffered much from the occupation of Newport by the Brit- ish army, so as to be unfit for use; and I recollect few things in my childhood more distinctly than his zeal in restoring it to its destination, and in set- ling a minister. I cannot doubt that his religious character received important aid from the ministry and friendship of Dr. Styles, who was as eminent for piety as learning, arid under whose teachings he grew up. He had a deep, I may say peculiar, 100 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. abhorrence of the vice of profaneness; and such was his influence, that his large family of sons es- caped this taint to a remarkable degree, though brought up in the midst of it. I recollect, with gratitude, the strong impression which he made on my own mind. I owed it to him that, though liv- ing in the atmosphere of this vice, no profane word ever passed my lips. " On one subject I think of his state of mind with sorrow. His father, like most respectable mer- chants of that place, possessed slaves imported from Africa. They were the domestics of the fam- ily ; and my father had no sensibility to the evil. I remember, however, with pleasure, the affection- ate relation which subsisted between him and the Africans, [most of them aged,] who continued to live with my grandfather. These were liberated after the revolution ; but nothing could remove them from their old home, where they rather ruled than served. One of the females used to speak of herself as the daughter of an African prince ; and she certainly had much of the bearing of royalty. The dignity of her aspect and manner bespoke an uncommon woman. She was called Duchess, pro- bably on account of the rank she had held in her own country. I knew her only after she was free, and had an establishment of her own. Now and then she invited all the children of the various families, to which she was connected, to a party; and we BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 101 were liberally feasted under her hospitable roof. My father won the hearts of all his domestics. One of the sincerest mourners at his death, was an excellent woman, who had long lived with us, and whom he honored for her piety. " I recollect, distinctly, the great interest he took in the political questions which agitated the coun- try. Though but eight or nine years of age, I was present when the Rhode-Island convention adopt- ed the Federal constitution ; and the enthusiasm of that moment, I can never forget. My father en- tered with his whole heart into that unbounded ex- ultation. He was one of the most devoted mem- bers of the Federal party. At the beginning of the French revolution, he shared in the universal hope and joy which it inspired ; but I well recollect the sadness with which he talked to us one Sunday af- ternoon, of the execution of Louis XVI. ; and from that moment his hopes died. " You speak of the testimony borne to him, by the late Elisha R. Potter, Esq. My father was among the first to discover the abilities of that remarka- ble man ; and I remember the kindness with which he used to receive him. His spirit was, in truth, the kindest. He was ever ready to see and appre- ciate superior talents, and to attach himself to worth. His friendship seemed to me, singularly 9* 102 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. strong for a man so immersed in business. Among his friends, were George Champlin, Esq., a politi- cian of singular sagacity, and who was said to have ruled the state for years, without forfeiting his in- tegrity; Dr. Isaac Senter, a physician of exten- sive practice, who was thought to unite, with great experience, a rare genius in his profession, and whose commanding figure rises before me, at the distance of forty-five years, as a specimen of manly beauty, worthy the chisel of a Grecian sculptor ; and the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, of Providence, a man of great sweetness of temper, and who deserves the grateful remembrance of that city for his zealous efforts in the cause of public education. My father took a great pleasure in the society of ministers; and always welcomed them to his hospitable dwell- ing. ; 'V !: -- : 'y ;- ' "p ' < " I remember his tastes with pleasure. He had two gardens, one of them quite large, and as he sought to have every thing which he cultivated of the best kind, our table, otherwise simple, was, in this respect, luxurious. He was not satisfied with what contented his neighbors, but introduced new varieties of vegetables into the town. He also took great interest in sacred music. On Sunday even- ings the choir of the congregation, which included most of the younger members, and other amateurs, met in his office for practice in singing. The apart- ment, somewhat spacious, was filled ; and the ani- 6IOGRAPH1CAL SKETCHES. 103 mation of the meeting, to which his zeal contribu- ted not a little, made the occasion one of my weekly pleasures. " As far as I can trust my recollections of my father's person, it must have been very prepossess- ing; but to me, his appearance, at the time, was more venerable than beautiful. His head was bald ; and his cocked hat, and the other parts of his dress, which according to the fashions of the day, differed much from the costume of the young, made him seem from the first, an old man. " He prospered in life, but without being able to leave a competence for his large family. His la- bors were great, but I have no recollection of see- ing him depressed. I should place him among the happy. He was taken away in the midst of useful- ness and hope. The disease of which he died, was not understood. I remember that he used to com- plain of feelings which we now should consider as dyspepsy ; but that disease was little thought of then, and the name never heard. "These are very scanty reminiscences; but as I hardly saw my father after reaching my twelfth year, and as nearly fifty years have passed since that time, it is not to be wondered at that I can re- call no more of his calm, uniform life. The career of a professional man, occupied with the support 104 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. of a large family, offers no great events. But yoil may select a few hints from what I have now writ- ten, and I beg you to suppress every thing which may seem to you unimportant. I little thought, when I began, of writing so much ; but the pleas- ure which all men take in the virtues of parents; has led me on insensibly. " My father died before I could requite him for his toils for my support, and his interest in my moral well-being ; and I feel as if, in this present instance, I was discharging some part, though a very small one, of my great debt. I owed him much, and it is not my smallest obligation that his character enables me to join affectionate esteem and reverence with my instinctive gratitude. Very truly, yours, W. E. CHANNING." Subsequent to the communication of the Rev, Dr. Channing, the Hon. Asher Robbing, late a member of the Senate of the United States, in a letter dated Newport, March 21, 1841, furnished the following facts within his recollection. "William Channing s Esq., was educated at Princeton, New Jersey, and was cotemporary with Judge Patterson, one of the associate Justices of the U. S. Supreme Court; he read law with Oliver Arnold, at Providence- a self-made man, but a BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 105 good lawyer. Mr. Arnold was Attorney General of the state; and according to my information, died, while in that office, at Kingston, having gone there to attend a court. " Mr. Channing was very well read in the law, especially in the forms of pleading; law cases were his favorite reading, even for amusement. He had a large library, and one very well selected. "He interested himself much in state politics, and his office was the central point of rendezvous, where the leading men congregated for their con- sultations. " He was very popular in the state; was Attor- ney General and District Attorney at the same time; and held both offices at the time of his death. " His manner of speaking at the bar, was rapid, vehement, and impressive ; never studied, nor ex- actly methodical in his pleadings; but he always came well prepared as to matter and authority. He had an extensive practice, attended all the courts of the state regularly, and was considered, for several years before his death, as the leading counsel of the state. He died, I think, at about forty ; and after a short illness. " In person he was of the middle stature, well made, erect, and of an open countenance; he was 106 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. lively and pleasant in bis conversation, and much disposed to social intercourse ; he was hospitable, and kind-hearted. His agreeable manners was one great source of his general popularity. " In dress he was not remarkable for any partic- ular ; his was always proper and becoming, though not an object of much attention with him ; the color was commonly black; indeed I do riot recol- lect ever to have seen him in any other. " His temper was remarkably good, as was his manners; mild, liberal, generous; his habits were all correct ; temperate, industrious, mindful, and observant of all the duties and proprieties of life." The following sketch of the character of William Channing was written by his father-in-law, Wil- liam Ellery, during the week of Mr. Channing's death. It is copied from the manuscript. OBITUARY. WILLIAM CHANNING, ESQ., OF NEWPORT. Early in life he entered upon the stage of action, and performed his part with such diligence, pro- priety, and integrity, as procured him not only the affection of his fellow citizens, and the esteem of the state at large, but the notice of the President of the United States. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 107 The law was his profession, and by the study and practice of it, he rose to distinguished emi- nence. In the year 1771, he began the practice of the law, and in 1778 [1777] he was appointed Attor- ney General of the state, and upon the adoption of the Federal constitution, without any solicita- tion on his part, he was appointed to the office of District Attorney for the district of Rhode-Island, and continued in the faithful and skilful dis- charge of the duties of these offices, and in the unremitted pursuit of his profession as long as his health would permit, which suffered but little in- terruption until his last sickness, which confined him to his house about three months, and in the forty-third year of his age put an end to his useful- ness. He repeatedly served as a Deputy for his native town, and such was his regard for its interests, that he did not decline that service until by the extensiveness of his practice, and the increase of his family, he was compelled to give to them his whole attention. He early became the head of a family. He married in the twenty-third year of his age, and performed the offices and charties of a husband and father, with strict, constant, and tender atten- tion, and was beloved and respected. 108 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The law of kindness and benevolence was in his heart, and on his tongue. The persons employed by him as domestics, and in other services, he treated with great humanity, and rewarded with a liberal punctuality. He was an obedient and re- spectful son, and a most affectionate brother and friend. To the poor he was compassionate. The needy never went away from his house empty. His table and his purse were always open to their wants, and his munificence was ever accompanied with a sweetness in the manner, which doubled the obligations of gratitude. His religious sentiments were liberal. He was particularly attached to the Congregational denom- ination of Christians, but he treated all good men of all denominations with kindness and respect. He generously contributed to the support of Christian worship in the society to which he belonged, and countenanced and encouraged it by a constant and reverential attendance, and the ministers of religion experienced his hospitality. . * N ~ ~J His political sentiments were displayed in , a warm attachment to the rights of mankind, chas- tened by a love of peace and order; and his ardent wish was that that species of government might take place in the several societies of men, which would be productive of the greatest happiness. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 109 His countenance and deportment expressed the amiableness and benevolence of his disposition ; and his morals corresponded with his manners. He was temperate and honest; he was courteous and respect- ful. As he keenly felt the distresses of mankind, so he was as strongly disposed to relieve their sufferings. He looked down with such pity on the poor and af- flicted, as encouraged them to look up to him for suc- cour, and like a brother, he wiped away their tears. Such was the character whose influence and usefulness are for the wisest and most gracious pur- poses withdrawn from us ; but while the widow and fatherless children, all his relations and connec- tions, this town, and this state, and all who knew him, express the deepest regret at their loss, this consolation remains to soothe their grief, that "their loss is his gain." The following obituary notice is extracted from the Newport Mercury, of September 20, 1793. Died, at Newport, (Sept. 17, 1793,) in the forty-second year of his age, William Channing, Esq., Attorney Gene- ral of this State, and Attorney for the U. States for the Dis- trict of Rhode-Island, an eminent practitioner of the law. An eulogium upon his merits, in private life, would be in- teresting only to those who are already too deeply wounded at his loss. The approving and unanimous voice of his fellow-citizens, in the various and important offices he has sustained, has rendered his character too conspicuous to be diminished by envy or heightened by praise, 10 ROUSE J. HELME, DESCENDED from a family of great respectability and influence in this state. Mr. James Helme, his father, sustained the honorable appointments of Judge of the Common Pleas, and of the Supreme court previous to the revolution, the duties of which were discharged with reputation, Rouse J. Helme was respectably educated under the instructions of a private tutor, as but few at that period could obtain a liberal education. The agitations of the colonial controversy necessarily attracted public attention to other and more vital subjects; and during the convulsion, our colleges and our churches were, from necessity, converted into bar- racks, to shelter the war-wearied soldier, or hospi- tals for the reception of the sick and wounded. Well instructed foreigners, who were unable to re- turn to the mother country, or chose to remain under our institutions, were the principal instruct- ors in the higher branches of education, and such were principally engaged by the families of the opulent. Mr. Helme was well instructed in math- ematics, surveying, geography, astronomy, and in latin rather an advanced education for that pe- riod by a preceptor of the description mentioned. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Ill Predilection for the study of the law early dis- played itself, and to promote his views, his father placed him under the instruction of Matthew Rob- inson, Esq., who was justly estimated one of the most learned lawyers and able special pleaders of the times ; to which may be added, that he possess- ed one of the best selected libraries extant. He continued in the office of Mr. Robinson three years, and commenced practice in South Kingstown, his native town. He soon acquired, by his attentive habits and courteous manners, a large share of bus- iness. He early embarked in colonial politics, and becoming a favorite of his party, was soon elevated to offices of trust and confidence, and held various appointments indicative of activity and talent. In Oct. 1776, He was elected Deputy Secretary to the General Assembly, and was successively re-elected un til May, 1778. Feb'y. 1777, He was elected clerk of the council of war, which office he held until the passage of the act re-organ- izing that body in May, 1778. Sept. 1777, He was elected one of the committee with Gov. Bradford, Henry Ward, William Channing, and Jonathan Arnold, to form a plan of govern- 112 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ment, and lay the same before the legislature. Oct. 1777, He was appointed clerk of the com- mittee, raised by the General As- sembly, to enquire into the rea- sons of the failure of Gen. Spen- cer's expedition. Dec. 1777, He was appointed one of the com- mittee to draught a bill for con- fiscating and selling the estates of disaffected persons. Feb'y 1778, He was one of the committee to prepare a bill prescribing and establishing an oath of fidelity and allegiance to the state. May, 1778, He was elected a representative to the General Assembly, to which office he was successively re- elected for eight years. He was appointed, with Theodore Foster, a committee to draught a bill, in pursuance to the resolve of Congress, for granting pardons. Also elected a member of the coun- cil of war for Kings county. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 113 May, 1771, He was appointed by the General Assembly to assist the Attorney General in the trial of certain offenders in the county of Kent, charged with supplying the ene- my. Oct. 1779, Gen. Varnum and Mr. Helme were appointed a committee to draught a bill, laying an embargo upon all goods whatever in this state. July, 1780, John I. Clark, William Channing, R. J. Helme, M. Bowler and Ben- jamin Bourne, Esq'rs, were ap- pointed, by the General Assem- bly, a committee to draught ad- dresses, in behalf of the legisla- ture, to the officers of the French fleet, who reported the following, to the Hon. Gen. le Compte de Rochambeau, and Le Chevalier de Ternay : "The representatives of the state of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, in General Assembly convened, with the most pleasing satisfaction, take the earliest opportunity of congratulating Compte de Rochambeau, Lieutenant General of the army of his most Christian Majesty, upon his safe arrival 10* 114 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. within the United States. Upon this occasion we cannot be too expressive of the grateful sense we entertain for the generous and magnanimous aid afforded to the United States by their illustrious friend and ally. Sufficient has been the proofs of his zeal and friendship. The present instance must constrain even envious disappointed Britons, to venerate the wisdom of his councils, and the sincerity of his noble mind. We look forward with the most pleasing expectation to the end of a cam- paign in which the allied force of France and these United States, under the smiles of Providence, may be productive of peace and happiness to the contending powers and mankind in general. We assure you, sir, our expectations are enlarged, when we consider the wisdom of his most Christian maj- esty in your appointment, as the commander of his army destined to our assistance. Be assured, sir, of every exertion in the power of this state to afford the necessary refreshments to the army un- der your command, and to render the service to all ranks as agreeable and happy, as it is honorable. We are, in behalf of the General Assembly, the General's most obedient, and most devoted humble servants. Lieut. Gen. Compte de Rochambeau." " The representatives of the state of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, in General Assembly convened, with the most pleasirig&dftHsfaction, take BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 115 this, the earliest opportunity, of testifying the senti- ments, that are impressed upon them by the great attention which his most Christian majesty has in- variably manifested to the United States. The formidable armament heretofore sent to our aid, have essentially promoted our happiness and inde- pendence ; but at a time when Europe is involved in the calamities of war, by the ambitious views of the British court, we cannot express the gratitude we feel upon your arrival, with the fleet under your command, destined by our illustrious friend and ally to the assistance of the United States. We entreat you, on this occasion, to accept the warm- est congratulations of the General Assembly of the state of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations. And be assured, sir, of every exertion in their power to afford the necessary refreshments to the fleet, and to render the service as agreeable and happy as it is honorable. We are, in behalf of the General Assembly, the Admiral's most obedient and most humble servants. Le Chevelier de Ternay." Jan. 1781. Mr. Helme was elected clerk of the Assembly, and re-elected in May, 1781. June, 1782. Gen. Varnum and Mr. Helme were appointed a committee, to pre- pare a bill, pursuant to a resolve 116 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. of Congress, relative to the in- fractions of the LAW OF NATIONS also, an act prescribing a more speedy method of administering justice between citizens of the United States and France, our ally. Also, concerning shipwreck- ed property. Dec. 1783. Archibald Crary, R. J. Helme and Gen. Varnum, were appointed a committee to draught an address in the name of the legislature, to the Hon. Major General Nathan- iel Greene, on his return to this state ; which was reported as fol- lows : " Sir, The Governor and company, in General Assembly convened, present to you their sincerest congratulations, upon your happy return to this state. When they appointed you to the most hon- orable office in the service of your country, they anticipated the great events which have more than justified their expectations. Your military conduct and achievements, so brilliant through the whole revolution, have excit- ed an unabated affection in the breasts of those who are friendly to the rights of mankind. The BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 117 citizens of this state, in particular, will hold you dear, while the tribute of praise is rendered only to the claims of virtue. May the same divine be- neficence which has secured to this state the bless- ings of peace and independence, continue to you every felicity that worthy actions estimated by gratitude and affection deserve. Your obedient and humble servants." GENERAL GREENE'S ANSWER. " To the Governor and company in General Assembly . My bosom is warm with gratitude from your kind and affectionate address. As it has ever been my pride to deserve your good opinion, so it is my highest pride to meet your approbation. I feel myself wedded to the interest and happiness of this state from my earliest attachments. It gives me the most pleasing satisfaction to promote its interest and welfare. Permit me to return my most respectful acknow- ledgments for the honor you have done me, and for the interest you take in my present and future happiness. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, with all pos- sible respect, your most obedient servant, NATHANIEL GREENE." May, 1784. Mr. Helme was appointed one of the committee to take into considera- 118 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. tion the petition of the artificers of Newport. June, 1785, He was appointed one of the com- mittee, with Gen. Varnum and Oliver Davis, to meet a commit- tee appointed by the legislature of Connecticut, to regulate the fisheries in Pawcatuck river. Oct. 1785, He was appointed on the committee to draught an act for manning Fort Washington. Feb. 1786, He was appointed a committee, with Col. Jeremiah Olney, to report monthly, the allowances to the invalid soldiers. The paper money party, in May, 1786, elected Gov. Collins over Gov. Greene. In this election no less than thirty-eight representatives were re- moved ; among the number, was Mr. Helme. The paper money party, though conscientiously opposed on principles of rectitude, now triumphed, and consequences the most disastrous to public faith and morals, upon the reckless emission of irre- deemable paper, by the legislature, ensued. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 119 On the trial of the Judges of the Supreme Court before the General Assembly, at their October session, 1786, for adjudging in the case of Trevett vs. Weeden, the paper money tender laws, " uncon- stitutional and void," a motion was made by a member, and agreed to, " that the opinion of the Attorney General, [William Channing, Esq.,] be taken, and the sentiments of other professional gentlemen requested, whether constitutionally and agreeable to law, the General Assembly can sus- pend or remove from office the Judges of the Su- preme Court, without a previous charge and state- ment of criminality, due process, trial and convic- tion thereon." After the Attorney General and the Hon. Mr. Bradford had addressed the House, Mr. Helme rose and made the following pertinent and sound re- marks. He said, "the subject was new to him, and he was not fully prepared to give an opinion. But, at present, he was inclined to think, that there was no constitutional law by which the question could be solved ; that therefore it must be in the breast of the General Assembly to point out the mode of trial, by an act for that purpose, should a trial be thought necessary. If they proceed to try the Judges, either by themselves, or a court to be ap- pointed specially for that purpose, they must cause them first to be impeached, and state the facts particularly upon which the impeachment is 120 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. founded; the common law will direct in the man- ner of process, and should they be found guilty, they cannot be removed from their offices but by bill in the nature of a bill of ATTAINDER, which must pass both Houses and be enacted into a law." Mr. Helme being an able lawyer, and a skilful draughtman, his services were found to be so high- ly requisite in conducting the business of the legis- lature, that the dominant party, though politically opposed to him, at the May session, 1787, elected him clerk of the House of Representatives, and testified their approbation of his ability by repeat- ed re-elections. Being unable to break through the strength of the paper money influence in South Kingstown, Mr. Helme, in May, 1788, was returned a represen- tative to the legislature from New Shoreham, un- der the act, passed during the revolution, permit- ting that town, (being an island) to elect members from the main. In May, 1789, he was again returned a member from New Shoreham, and continued their represen- tative until his death, on the 13th of October follow- ing. His remains were interred in the Presbyte- rian burial ground, on Tower hill, in South Kings- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 121 town, where his ancestors repose. Suitable grave- stones were erected to his memory, with the follow- ing inscription : IN MEMORY OF ROUSE J. HELME, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE OCT. 13, 1789, IN THE 46th YEAR OF HIS AGE. " And the servant said, Lord it is done aa tbou has commanded, and yet there is room. ' 11 JOHN COLE WAS the son of Elisha Cole, of North Kings- town, in the county of Kings, now Washington, in this state, who was for many years a member of the state Senate, and estimated as one of the larg- est landholders in the county. John obtained an early, reputable education in the English branches; and was well instructed under a foreign instructor in the Latin and Greek languages. He studied law in the office of Daniel Updike, Esq., then At- torney General of the Colony, married his daugh- ter Mary, and commenced practice in Providence, under his patronage. Mr. Cole's attention to bu- siness soon obtained for him a good share of prac- tice in the county, and a considerable on the cir- cuits. In 1763, he was elected an associate Justice of the Supreme court of the colony ; and at the Jan- uary session of the General Assembly, 1764, he was promoted to the chair of Chief Justice, in the place of John Bannister, who resigned. At the succeeding annual election in May, he was re- elected to the same honorable office. At this period the agitations in the colonies, respecting the stamp act, arose. Lord Grenville, the prime minister, in the winter of 1764, announced to the agents of the colonies, his intention of drawing a revenue from America. The existing sugar act was en- forced by new provisions, at the session of the par- liament in April, and the Stamp act, although in- troduced, was postponed to the next session. All breaches of the first mentioned act, were to be prosecuted in the Vice Admiralty courts, indepen- dent of colonial legislation. To further the tyran- nical project, naval commanders were constituted revenue officers, and the colonists were greatly harrassed and distressed by seizures under them. These ministerial and parliamentary measures were promptly communicated to the colonies by their respective agents in England. The states at once took the alarm, particularly at the contem- plated Stamp act. The people of Boston, at their town meeting, in May, 1764, instructed their rep- resentatives at the General Court, in the most de- cisive manner; and at their ensuing October ses- sion, the General Court remonstrated in a firm and expressive tone against the exactions of the home government. The people of the colonies were not only address- ed by their respective legislatures, and through the press, but in spirited pamphlets, by the ablest hands. Those by Otis and Thatcher were partic- ularly distinguished. Among the patriotic cham- 124 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. pions of American liberty, at this excited crisis, appeared Gov. Hopkins, in a pamphlet, entitled " The rights of the colonies examined." It was presented to the legislature in manuscript. At their November session, 1764, the General Assem- bly requested the author to finish and transmit it to our agent in London, for publication and distri- bution. This work is represented to have been executed with great ability and talent, and it is to- be regretted that a copy cannot now be found. The people of Rhode-Island, as resolute as any of her sister colonies in resistance to the unconsti- tutional requisitions of the British government, felt a lively indignation, that their previous remonstran- ces had proved unavailing. Conscious that their rights had been insultingly neglected, the General Assembly, in July, of the same year, appointed a committee to confer with the committees of the other colonies, respecting the sugar act, and to re- monstrate against the intended Stamp act. The legislature of Massachusetts having issued a spir- ited address, the legislature of this state, at their October session, in 1764, appointed Mr. Cole a committee to repair to Boston, and obtain a copy for their use, and adjourned to November. At the last mentioned session, the General Assembly pass- ed strong and energetic resolutions, in unison with the other colonies, which were transmitted to our BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES* 125 agent in London; and appointed a committee, of which Mr. Cole was one, to act and correspond during the recess, with the committees of the leg- islatures of the other colonies, and to remonstrate against the present burthens, and especially against the Stamp act. Judge Cole was an active and in- fluential member of the various committees. But the home government, regardless of colonial re* monstrances, and deaf to the entreaties of our agent, passed the Stamp act " bill in the House of Commons, by a vote of 250 to 50. It was adopt- ed in the House of Lords with great unanimity, and on the 22d of March received the royal sanc^ tion." This flagrant act of oppression created a violent excitement in the colonies. Massachusetts appoint- ed commissioners to meet such commissioners as should be appointed by the other colonies, at New- York, in October, 1765, to consult together, and address the King and Parliament for relief. Mr. Cole's strong whig principles, popularity and uncompromising opposition to the taxation of the colonies, brought him into the legislature, [having resigned the office of Chief Justice,] as a represen- tative from Providence. " The people of Rhode-Island were among the 11* 126 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. first to appoint commissioners to meet at New- York, and the most determined in their opposition to the acts imposing taxes upon them. The inhab- itants of Providence, on the seventh of August, in town meeting, resolved, ' to give instructions ta their representatives in General Assembly, con- cerning the Stamp act, and other matters ;' and ap- pointed Stephen Hopkins, John Cole, Nicholas Cooke, Samuel Nightingale, James Angell, John Brown, and Silas Downer, a committee to draw up such instructions. The committee reported, that their representatives be instructed to procure the adoption of the whole of the resolutions which had been published, as the acts of the Virginia as- sembly, with the exception of the last. The re- port was unanimously adopted by the inhabitants of the town. They not only declared that the Stamp act was 'unconstitutional, and had a mani- fest tendency to destroy British as well as Ameri- can liberty,' but that his Majesty's liege people, the inhabitants of the colony, were not bound to yield to any law or ordinance, designed to impose any internal taxation whatever upon them, other than the laws and ordinances of this General As- sembly." " They also instructed their representatives to procure an act to be passed, declaring that the courts of common law alone, and not courts of Ad- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 127 miralty, have, and ought to have jurisdiction in all cases growing or arising in this colony, on account of levying or collecting any internal taxes, or of any matter relating thereto; and that such pro- cess, or way of trial, shall hereafter be had and used in such matters as have been usual and ac- customed, time out of mind ; and further, that no decree of any court of Admiralty respecting these matters, shall be executed in this colony." The General Assembly adopted the resolutions recommended by the citizens of Providence, with an additional one more energetic and unwavering in determination than any other colony at this ear- ly period of resistance. The General Assembly directed, " all officers to proceed in the execution of their respective offices, in the same manner as usual, and that the Assembly would indemnify and save harmless all said officers on account of their conduct agreeable to this resolution" Judge Cole was elected a representative from Providence through the stormy period of 1766, and at the May session, 1767, was promoted to the chair of Speaker of the House, and in August de- clined a re-election. In 1770, and for several years preceding, great complaints had existed against the gross inequality and injustice of the general estimate of taxation, 128 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. and its disproportionate operation upon the respec- tive towns. South Kingstown warmly protested against its oppression. s In a state tax of 12000, South Kingstown was assessed 1009, Providence, 766, and others in a similar ratio. This injustice was so apparent, and the complaints so loud, that the legislature, in May, appointed Mr. Cole and others, a committee to enquire into their grievan- ces, but no relief was granted or remedy proposed. The representatives from the towns which had in- creased ifi corporate wealth, since the previous es- timate, governed by the interests of their constitu- ents, uniting with those who did not anticipate any Col. Edward Cole was the brother of John. He was Colonel of a regiment under Gen. Wolf, at the seige of Quebec, in 1759. He also commanded a regiment at the capture of Havana, under the Earl of Albemarle. He was afterwards commissioned by Sir William Johnson, superintendent of Indian affairs, under the Crown, to treat with the Indians in the west, and was conducted by In- dian guides through the forests of the now State of Ohio. On this mission he encountered great perils, and endured severe sufferings. Upon his return, he settled at Newport. At the commencement of the Revolution, in opposition to his brother, he adhered to the cause of the Crown. He was insulted his house entered and his furniture and pictures much mutilated. He fled to the British ; was a Colonel in the King's service ; and after the war he set- tled in Nova Scotia, and was allowed a pension of 150 per annum, during life ; he died at an advanced age. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 129 benefit from the change, continued to refuse re- dress. This irritating inequality and manifest op- pression, continued to exist until the appearance in the legislature of the Hon. Elisha R. Potter, in the year 1793. Through his talents and influence the estimate of 1795, was effected. This Hercu- lean triumph, against the efforts of the Providence delegation, secured to Mr. Potter the zealous sup- port of the minority towns, and South Kingstown in particular, through life. In February, 1775, the General Assembly con- stituted a Maritime or Vice-Admiralty court for this state. John Foster was appointed Judge, and Mr. Cole, Advocate General, which office he sus- tained during his life. Mr. Cole, for many years, sustained the office of President of the town council of the town of Prov- idence, by successive elections, and discharged the duties with reputation. Professionally, it is enough to state, that General Varnum uniformly spoke of Mr. Cole as an advo- cate of respectable talents. He was a handsome speaker, reputed a sound Lawyer and sustained a fair and honorable character. He was large in person, six feet in height, corpulent, and severely afflicted with the gout. In advanced life he was 130 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. induced to enter a small pox hospital for inocula- tion, to avoid the infection which was prevalent during the revolution. Being gross, aged, and his constitution being otherwise impaired, the disease proved fatal, and he died in the hospital, October, 1777, and was buried in the hospital grounds. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL. " A COLONY of Scotch emigrants, embracing the Campbells, Stewarts, Kennedys, Wylies, and Hunt- ers, with others, settled in Voluntown, in Connec- cut, about one hundred and fifty years ago. The object of leaving their native land, was the better enjoyment of religious liberty. They were gener- ally well informed, and pious ; they soon establish- a church upon the congregational plan ; it is still in a flourishing condition. They possessed consid- erable property ; were industrious and friendly. Hundreds of their posterity have emigrated to New York and Ohio and are noted for being friendly to religion and education."* The subject of this memoir migrated from Vol- untown, and settled at East Greenwich, in Rhode- Island, about the year 1750, and commenced the practice of the law in Kent county, but with what reputation cannot now be ascertained. Whether Mr. Campbell was liberally educated, or regularly studied the profession, is not known. He continued * Extract from a letter of D. Campbell, of Voluntown. 132 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. in his profession, at East Greenwich, until his death, and obtained a large share of practice in the county, and considerable on the circuits. From the distinction of his ancestry, it would be conjectured that he was learned in the general sciences, and well instructed in the law; and we are induced to believe, from general reputation, that his profes- sional acquirements were highly respectable. He was popular, and greatly esteemed by the public generally, for probity of character. The town of East Greenwich, in 1768, elected him their repre- sentative to the General Assembly of the colony. Mr. Campbell was an efficient member of the leg- islature, and was appointed on various important committees; one to draw up an act of Bankruptcy for the colony, and was chairman of the committee of which Mr. George Jackson, and the Attorney General, Oliver Arnold, were associates, to draught an act to limit and restrain the issuing of Writs of Error to carry cases to England for trial a imn- portant movement of the colonial legislature, to arrest the supervising power of the mother coun- try showing that the body politic followed the impulse of the people, in steadily marching up to the great epoch of '76. Mr. Campbell's being placed at the head of this committee, is a sufficient guaranty that he was an unwavering supporter of colonial liberty ; and one, in whose integrity, its friends could confide. He was re-elected to the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 133 same honorable office as long as his health would permit. His constituents were shortly deprived of the benefits of his talents and usefulness ; he died in the succeeding year. " Mr. Campbell was a gen- tleman of handsome address, reputed an excellent man, a good counsellor, plain speaker, but not an eloquent advocate." His stature was of the com- mon height, and in person slender. He left one son, named Jacob, and three daughters. In the Baptist burial ground, in East Greenwich, a handsome grave stone is erected to his memory. More information is transmitted to us respecting him, from the following inscription upon it, than from any other source now extant. IN MEMORY OF ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, EsaumE, SON OF ARCHIBALD, AND GRANDSON OF THE REV'D DANIEL CAMPBELL, AND NEPHEW OF THE REV'D JOHN CAMPBELL, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF GLASGOW, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE, OCT. 16, 1769. IN THE 41st YEAR OF HIS AGE. Viator ecce patria columen Juris pressicum benignum genitorem Et indulgentissmus maritum. Englished thus: Traveller, behold the patriot, the lawyer, The kind father, and the moat indulgent husband. 12 WAS the only son of Archibald Campbell, Esq., was born in East Greenwich, in 1760, and grad- uated from Rhode-Island College in September, 1783, with the reputation of a fine scholar. After he left college he was preceptor of a classical school in East Greenwich for a short time, and then entered the office of Gen. Varnum as a stu- dent at law. Daniel Updike, William Greene, Ray Greene, John Bowman, and George Tillinghast, were students in the same office. Campbell was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in East Greenwich, and did some business in his profession. His talents and acquirements entitled him to a full share of practice, but Gen. Varnum residing in the same place, much could not have been anticipated, for he overshadowed all. During his leisure hours he devoted his mind to classic literature and poetry. The natural temperament of Campbell was un- fortunate. His disposition was jaundiced he was proud spirited, and occasionally dejected was early and deeply imbued with jealousy. With a mind sensitive and nervous, he was borne down BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 135 with fancied suspicions of intended injury and ne- glect. The ostentatious manner of Mr. Ray Greene filled him with an unbearable antipathy. If Mr. Greene entered the social circle where he was, any asylum would be peace to his sensitive genius. The legislature, after the peace of 1783, order- ed the sheriffs to read the definitive treaty of peace, and the proclamation of Congress, announcing its consummation, at the Court houses of their respec- tive counties. Upon this joyful termination of the national struggle, Mr. Campbell, by request, deliv- ered to the freemen of East Greenwich, the follow- ing address. " Animated with the liveliest sensibility on the happiness of my country, and pi ased with the op- portunity of attempting to afford a momentary sat- isfaction, permit me, gentlemen, to address you. : From merit, rank, or experience, I claim no title to be heard. Let the pleasing influence of tho oc- casion, and the desire to gratify my friends be my only apology. The period hath at length arrived, which we have long anticipated, and hitherto wish- ed for without success. It comes fraught with the last of blessings, the definitive treaty, which is to complete our felicity as a nation, and secure free- dom and independence to unborn millions. We have convened ; we have heard the enrapturing sound the voice of peace. She has hushed the 136 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. savage yell of war, and stayed the ruthless hand of desolation she hath rewarded our toils and perils she hath given us liberty. Under her influence our country will wear a lovelier aspect our har- vests will increase our fields will be clothed with richer verdure, and commerce waft our products to remoter shores. Religion will enjoy a more tran- quil state, and justice assume a milder form. Oh ! Liberty, thou offspring of Heaven, thou dearest friend of man. Under thy prolific rays the human heart expands to all the social virtues; under thy protection the useful arts are cultivated, and the mind assumes it native dignity, and in unrestrain- ed vigor it launches forth and opens fields of sci- ence hitherto unexplored. O! Liberty, thou nurse of humanity thou alma mata of arts and scien- ces may America ever share thy smiles; may this be thy favorite land. Having reached the haven of security, it may not be unpleasing, per- haps to review the perils, the fatigues and the anxi- eties we have passed. This will afford us the sat- isfaction of contrasted enjoyment this will learn us to prize our present felicity. Great Britain, deaf to the voice of justice, and the cry of injured innocence, and determined at every hazard to en- force her oppressive system, transported her con- quering veterans veterans, who had acquired glory on the plains of Abraham. Yet far from being intimidated by the fame of her achievements, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 137 with an invincible love of freedom, undisciplined and unprovided, you cheerfully left your habita- tions, your friends and valuable endearments ; left them not wishing to return, until you might enjoy them unmolested, 'till you should extirpate the foe or perish in the attempt. Under the auspices of your illustrious chief, you have suffered the vicissi- tudes of war, borne its fatigues, braved its dangers, have fought, bled and conquered. Through every stage of its progress, East Greenwich hath stood unrivalled. When we consider the early and de- cisive part she took, the unanimity and exertions of her inhabitants, the number and ability of her officers, we shall conceive her entitled to a splendid page in the annals of the revolution; and should she now pursue her advantages in commerce with that spirit and perseverance with which she hath followed freedom, her eminence in retirement would equal her glory in the field. Since we have, with difficulty, obtained the object of our pursuit since we have risen to empire, with advantages of which no nation anterior to us could boast, let us endeav- or to establish our government on the firmest basis, and never tarnish our glory by wielding the rod of oppression. Let our country be renowned for hu- manity, and afford an asylum to the oppressed of the earth. Then will the nations bless us then will our felicity equal our power. The savage tones which our minds had acquired by being familiar- 12* 138 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ized to scenes of barbarity are at length relaxed, and a passage opened for the finer feelings of the soul. Let us, therefore, with hearts replete with grati- tude to the Supreme Disposer of events, retire and give scope to those effusions of joy, which the hor- rors of past distress, or the uncertainty of future events have till now suppressed." Mr. Campbell having had but little practice in his profession, indulged his native propensity and taste for the muses. He published a small volume entitled, " Poetical Essays." To what extent, and with what success this talent was cultivated, the following pieces, which found a place in a well known school book. " The Speaker," will demon- strate. ON AUTUMN. Now Sol to southern climes retiring slow Pursues his annual course, while his Oblique beams shed but a feeble heat On this our distant world, and nature all Around puts on a shady hue. Far o'er The dusky mountains east, in sober mantle Clad, see Autumn comes ; smiling she trips Along, prompt to dispense her bounteous Gifts, and glads the peasant's heart. The yellow Fields with waving grain mature, invite the Sturdy swains ; anon with rustic song and Soul elate, they ply the cheerful work, soon BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 139 As the dawn appears, ere yet the sun has Gilt the eastern hills ; 'till he the horizon Quits, and evening shades prevail. When home Returned, the spacious ring is formed, and Each recounts in conversation free, the Labors of the day, no recreation Else, till harvest in. Then pleasure toil Succeeds, and joy and mirth abound. The jocund Hours glide unperceived away. The village Filled with every rural sport, contention, Dire and pinching want no more are heard, But peace and plenty smile around the land. LIBERTY. Sweet Liberty ! descend thou Heaven born fair, And make Columbia thy distinguish'd care ; On her brave sons thy genial influence shed, Who fired by thee have nobly fought and bled Have traversed wilds to distant climes afar, And felt the horrors of oppressive war. Who first have taught Britannia's troops to yield, And snatched their standards from the crimsoned field. Bright Goddess leave thy native skies once more, And fix thy dwelling on this western shore ; A calm assylum here's prepared for Ihee, Secured from tyrants, undisturbed and free ; By thine assistance we've expell'd thy foes, Whose grasping power annoyed thy sweet repose* Lo, see her quit the blissful realms above, Mark on her face the cheering smile of love ; See as she bends her winged course this way A beauteous sight her snowy robes display ; In her right hand a sceptered wand she rearsj And in her left a cone-like mitre bears. Now let us shout through this exulting band, And hail her welcome to our joyful land. Let the glad tidings through our coasts resound, From rocks and mountains let the echo bound, 140 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, Let hills and vallies loud responses raise, Let woods and forests ring in loftier praise, Fair Freedom we with joy confess thy sway, Thy milder laws with pleasure we obey. To this she listened with attentive ear, Then spake in accents soft as vernal air : " I 've discord seen thy country long embroil, Thy virtuous struggles and laborious toil ; Thy valor now I amply will repay With brighter sunshine and serener day The richest blessings which you here can know, I now on thee and thine unborn bestow. In future days thy sons shall read thy fame, Applaud thy conduct and extol thy name, Throughout the world, in every foreign clime, Thy deeds shall live down to remotest time 'Till stars dissolve, and sun and moon expire, 'Till systems burst and nature sink in fire, My empire here 'till then shall fix'd remain, 'Till then America shall own my reign." Commerce again now rules the swelling deep, Her num'rous fleets the surging billows sweep ; Those stately oaks which lately graced the plain, In lofty ships now skim the liquid main. On ev'ry sea, near every kingdom coast, And bring from thence what they peculiar boast. Along the strand where flowing tides arise. See tow'ring cities fix the astonish'd eyes. Religion here in milder forms array' d, There Victress Science haunts the laurel shade Here culture o'er the fertile earth prevails, There joy unrivall'd every heart regales. While this blest region free from dire alarms, Invites the stranger to her peaceful arms. With willing hand, she opes her plenteous store, Relieves his wants, and lets him want no more, Grants him a refuge from the despot's chain, Affords him life, and bids him live again. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 141 Besides the small volume of " Poetical Essays," Mr. Campbell was the author of a number of es- says in prose, and some letters which were in ex- istence a few years since, in the hands of a rela- tive. Upon enquiry, he stated that upon his fre- quent removals, these, with other papers, were so troublesome, that to relieve himself of the burthen, he had burnt them. " In person," says a corres- pondent, " he was tall, slender and genteel, had a beautiful head of hair, and reputed one of the hand- somest men of the day." Elegies were written upon the death of Campbell and of Miss Russell, they shared the fate of " the other papers." When disenthralled from the influence of melan- choly, Campbell enraptured every circle with the sprightliness of his fancy, and the fascination of his genius. His conversation was rich, his language vivid, style lofty, accompanied by a captivating sweetness that went directly to the heart; but when mentally depressed, he was silent and retiring, and disposed to pour into the bosom of some inti- mate friend the murmurings of his fancied griefs. During his residence in college, he became at- tached to Miss Eliza Russell, daughter of Joseph Russell. Their attachment, growing out of a long friendship, was mutual. He had but a slender and feeble constitution, and was consumptively inclined. 142 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. During his lingering confinement, she was constant- ly with him, and with her own hand ministered to the object of her plighted love, and her delicate at- tentions and watchfulness were unceasing. His sickness was dubious and nattering for a long pe- riod ; and she continued her affectionate efforts for his restoration with unremitted devotion, some- times buoyed up with the anticipations of a speedy recovery, at others despairing of a hopeful termi- nation. If she could not arrest disease, she could assuage its pains, and with a holy affection smooth the pillow of death, pluck out its thorns, and pour upon his soul the healing consolations of the gospel. After his decease and funeral, she re- tired to her room and darkened it to her feelings, ad- mitting only a few select friends, and particularly those who could discourse of him, and like her of old, refused to be comforted ; she remained there until her death. A lady of East Greenwich, now living, who had been intimate with them both, called to see her, and was admitted to her cham- ber with scarcely light enough to distinguish an object. Her whole conversation was of the sick- ness, suffering and death of Campbell. She was awaiting with a patient resignation the arrival of the wished for hour when she should be summoned from earth to join him in Heaven. She caused handsome tombstones', as the last tribute of affection, to be erected at his grave, in BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 143 the Baptist burial ground, in East Greenwich, next to his father's, with this inscription : IN MEMORY OF JACOB CAMPBELL, SON OF ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, ATTORNEY AT LAW, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE MARCH 5TH, 1788, IN THE 28TH YEAR OF HIS AGE. "Oh faithful Memory may thy lamp illume The sacred sepulchre with radiance clear, Soft plighted love ehall rest upon his tomb, And friendship o'er it shed the fragrant tear." The suicidal course adopted by this unfortunate young lady, upon this eventful occasion, should not be allowed to pass without reproof. The dis- pensations of Heaven, however severe, are to be met and borne with Christian resignation. The in- fliction of self injury or immolation, proceeds upon a principal of retaliation or revenge, utterly at va- riance with every feature of the Christian charac- ter ; and must impress the conviction that its doc- trines must have been defectively inculcated, or grossly misunderstood. That she should have wept, and bitterly have wept to be bereaved of the object of her tenderest affections ; that her wound- ed heart should have heaved with the deepest emotions upon their earthly separation, is what all 144 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. would expect, and in which all would sympathize. But to incarcerate her person, and prematurely terminate her existence, that Providence, in its visitations, had disappointed her hopes, all must equally condemn. JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM. Two brothers, of the name of Varnum, emigrat- ed from Wales to Boston, just prior to the year 1660, and from thence to Ipswich, where one died without issue. Samuel, the survivor, purchased a large tract of land of the Indians, in the town of Dracut, county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, and settled on it in 1664. He had issue, five sons, John, Thomas and Joseph, and two who were shot in a boat while crossing the Merrimuck with their fath- er. The descendants of John and Thomas reside in Dracut and elsewhere. Joseph was colonel of the militia, and was wounded in the Indian war of 1676. He erected a garrison house, which is still standing as the family mansion, in a good state of preservation. Joseph Varnurn left two sons, Jo- seph and Samuel, who inherited a large estate from their father. Joseph had issue, arid several fami- lies have descended from him. Samuel had four sons, Samuel, James Mitchell, Joseph Bradley and Daniel Varnum. Samuel died in Maine about twenty years since. Joseph B. in 1821, and Daniel in 1822, on the patrimonial estate, which has re- mained in the family since the first purchase from 13 146 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the natives. Most of the brothers held prominent official stations in Massachusetts. Joseph B. was elected a member of Congress from his native dis- trict in 1795, and successively re-elected till 1811, and then elected Senator one term, making his whole service in Congress twenty-two years. From 1807 to 1811, comprising two congressional terms, he was elected Speaker of the House of Represen- tatives. The subject of this memoir, James Mitchell Var- num, was born in Dracut, the residence of his an- cestors, in 1749. He entered Rhode-Island Col- lege, now Brown University, then established in Warren, and was in the first class that graduated from that institution, in 1769, at the age of twenty. He received the first honors of his class, and in a forensic discussion vindicated the rights of the col- onies in their resistance to British taxation, with signal ability. He kept a classical school for a short period after he graduated, and always spoke highly of its benefits to a student, to plant deeply on the mind those elements acquired in the college hall; and his whole life demonstrated that he had profited by it. He was deeply attached to mathe- matical science, and delighted in its pursuit; his whole life was an evidence that he was naturally a mathematician his habits were those of intense study and boisterous relaxation. " He was fond of BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. , 147 exhibiting his skill in gymnastics, and ever ready to exercise in that ancient art with any one who would engage with him, noble or ignoble. Strong and active in frame, and ardently attached to such exercises, he gave his inclination for such sports the fullest range to a late period of his life." Soon after his college course, he entered the of- fice of Oliver Arnold, in Providence, then Attorney General of the colony. William Channing, Thom- as Arnold, John S. Dexter, and himself, were stu- dents together at the time of Mr. Arnold's death. in 1770, and in the succeeding year Varnum was admitted to the bar. He settled at East Green- wich, where his talents acquired for him an exten- sive practice; and he travelled the circuits of the state reaping the honors and rewards of his profes- sion. Mr. Varnum had a great taste for military life, and early joined the " Kentish Guards," and was appointed commander of that company in 1774 a company, which from their acquirements in mili- tary tactics, became the nursery of so many distin- guished officers during the revolutionary war. Gen. Greene, Gen. Varnum, Col. Greene, Col. Crary, Major Whitmarsh, and others, making thirty-two in all, who entered the revolutionary army, as com- missioned officers, from this company alone. The 148 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. prominent part Mr. Varnumhad taken in the colo- nial controversy, inspired an ambition to enter the military service 'of his country. The venerable John Rowland, Presidentof the Historical Society of this state, in a communication, states, that " when the news of the Lexington battle reached East Greenwich, Varnum's company mustered and marched to Providence, on their way to the scene of action. I recollect seeing them on their arrival. Nathaniel Greene, of Coventry, afterwards the General, was a private with a musket on his shoul- der, and Christopher Greene, afterwards Colonel Greene, who defended Red Bank, was also there, a private in the same company. They marched be- yond Pawtucket, and hearing that the enemy had retired to Boston, they returned. The next week the General Assembly convened, and resolved to raise three regiments of infantry and a company of artillery. Mr. Nathaniel Greene, then a mem- ber of the House of Representatives, was appoint- ed Brigadier General, and Varnum, Colonel of the regiment to be raised in the counties of Kent and Kings. Daniel Hitchcock to be Colonel of the reg- iment to be raised in Providence, and Church to be Colonel of the regiment to be raised in the coun- ties of Newport and Bristol. Varnum took rank over Hitchcock and Church, from having com- manded in the ' Kentish Guards,' with the rank of Colonel. The time for which these troops were BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 149 called out expired December 31, 1775. The state raised two regiments for the year 1776. Varnum commanded the first, and Hitchcock the second. The officers of these troops afterwards received commissions from the President of Congress, when Washington was appointed commander- in-rchief. They were then styled continental troops. In January, 1776, the state raised a regi- ment called state troops, to be stationed in New- port. They remained there until the disastrous battle on Long Island. This regiment command- ed by Col. Lippitt, was taken into the continental service, and ordered to join Gen. Washington at New York ; they arrived at Haerlem after the evac- uation of the city. This regiment composed part of the brigade commanded by Gen. John Nixon, which consisted of five regiments, commanded by Col's. Nixon and Little, of Massachusetts, Varnum, Hitchcock and Lippett, of Rhode-Island. Towards the close of the year, Gen. Nixon was dispatched by the commander-in-chief, on furlough, to Massa- chusetts, to urge the raising of new recruits for the army to supply the place of those whose term of service would expire on the 31st of December, as without reinforcements Gen. Washington would be left without an army at the commencement of the succeeding year. Gen. Varnum then succeed- ed to the command of the brigade. But the neces- sity of the case, and the perilous situation of the 13* 150 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, country induced Gen. Washington soon after to send Gen. Varnuin to the Assembly of Rhode-Is- land for the same purpose. Selecting for this all important mission these officers for their known in- fluence with their respective legislatures. The command of this brigade of five regiments then de- volved on Colonel Hitchcock, as the senior officer. And he commanded it at a period the most impor- tant in our revolutionary history, and led his brig- ade with courage and ability in the memorable battles of Trenton and Princetovvn, and for his sig- nal gallantry received the special thanks of Gen. Washington, in front of the college at Princeton, and which he was requested to present to the brig* ade he had so ably commanded. " You may ask," continues Mr. Rowland, " why I have recited this long piece of old history, when the subject on which I am engaged is merely a notice of Varnum, as a Rhode-Island lawyer, to which I reply, that his military history is so intimately connected with his civil pursuits, that they cannot be properly sepa- rated. And in this detail, Varnum and Hitchcock, as two Rhode-Island lawyers, reflect no small honor on the Rhode-Island bar.' : In February, 1777, Col. Varnuin was promoted by Congress to the rank of Brigadier General. The appointment was announced to him by Gen. Washington by letter under date of March 3d, of that year, which contains ample evidence that his mili- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 151 tary bearing had met the full approbation of the commander-in-chief. The General Assembly of this state, at their December session, 1776, having appointed General Varnum commander of the state forces, at their March session, 1777, entered the following honorable testimonial of approbation on their legislative journal : " Whereas the appoint- ment and commission of Brigadier General James M. Varnum in the service of this state has been suspended by his being appointed by the Hon. Con- tinental Congress to the same rank in the conti- nental army, this Assembly do therefore, in grate- ful remembrance of his services, vote and resolve, that he is dismissed from his said appointment, and that he be paid to the time his pay commenced in the continental service." "Under the latter ap- pointment," continues Mr. Rowland, " Gen. Var- num commanded all that body of troops on the Jersey side of the Delaware, when the British and Hessians took possession of Philadelphia. General Washington's purpose was to prevent the passage of the enemy's shipping up the river, and for this purpose a strong fort was erected on Red Bank, and a battery on Mud Island. The two Rhode-Is- land regiments were stationed at Red Bank, and a regiment of Marylanders on Mud Island. Colonel Christopher Greene commanded the two Rhode- Island regiments, Lieut. Col. Samuel Smith on Mud Island, and Varnum the whole line of the 152 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. coast in New Jersey. In October the enemy made a determined attack, but the battery and fort were so valiantly defended, that the invaders were de- feated and compelled to withdraw, and temporarily to abandon the enterprize. The gallant defence of fort Mifflin, or Mud Island, and the defeat of the Hessians at fort Mercer, or Red Bank, drew from Congress, then sitting at Yorktown, a resolution of thanks, and votes of elegant swords to Col. Greene, Lieut. Col. Smith and Commodore Hazlewood, for their intrepid defence of these two forts.* But the British resolved on the capture of these posts, so important in their position, renewed the attack in November. They brought up their shipping the Somersett, of sixty-four guns, and a number of floating batteries to break up the clievaux de fnse which extended across the river, and our forts opened their fire to prevent it." Colonel Smith was wounded on the llth of November, and the command devolved upon Lieut. Col. Russell, of the Connecticut line, who exhausted by fatigue and destitute of health, requested to be recalled. The moment was critical. The commander-in-chief, Gen. Washington, had no idea of defending the place through the campaign, but wished to retard the op- erations of the enemy, until the main army should be reinforced by the Massachusetts brigade marching *See Appendix, No. 5. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 153 from the conquest at Saratoga, when he would be in sufficient force to cover the country or meet the enemies whole force in the field. Upon the 12th, he signified his wish to Gen. Varnum to defend the island as long as possible, without sacrificing the garrison. General Varnum con- sidering the imminent danger of the po^t, immedi- ately convened the field officers of Red Bank fort, with a request that one of them would volunteer, as Gen. Washington desired the Island to be de- fended as long as possible, and take command of it in lieu of Smith, who had left. At this momen- tous crisis, Major Simeon Thayer immediately of- fered himself, to the inexpressible satisfaction of Gen. Varnum. In the defence, to an officer know- ing all the circumstances, nothing presented itself but death, or an improbable escape, without the possibility of contending on even terms. But Ma- jor Thayer gallantly defended it day and night from the 12th to 12 o'clock on the night of the 16th of November, when the breastworks were beaten down, and no cover was left for his men, when the General ordered him to abandon it. By those un- acquainted with the transaction, all the glory has been ascribed to Col. Smith. If heroic valor was to be rewarded, who should have had a sword ? When the swords, which were wrought in France, arrived, and were to be presented, Gen. Varnum published a letter, dated at East Greenwich, Au- 154 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. gust 3d, 1786,* narrating all the circumstances at- tending the heroic defence of Mud Island by Major Thayer. It is written in a natural and straight- forward style, and injustice to the memory of this intrepid soldier of Rhode-Island, and of his country, ought to be preserved in some durable form. General Varnum continued in active service du- ring the year 1778, and commanded a brigade in Sullivan's expedition on Rhode-Island. In 1779, he resigned his commission in the army, there be- ing, at that time, more general officers in the ser- vice than were' needful in proportion to the men, and his talents too being more congenial with po- litical life than the duties of the camp, although he was respected and esteemed as a good and gallant officer. The Legislature of this state, in consideration of Gen. Varnurn's national services, and effectually to secure them in defence of the state, in May, 1779, elected him Major General of the militia of the state, to which office he was unanimously re- elected during the remainder of his life. In April, 1780, the people of the state, in grateful recollec- tion of his eminent services in the cause of public liberty, and desirous to throw into the national councils those distinguished talents which could be * See Appendix, No. 6. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 155 spared from the field, elected him their delegate to the confederated Congress of that year. As that body sat with closed doors, his voice could not be heard by the public, but his name appears oftener on the published journals than many others of that body. The following letter from Gen. Varnum to John Innis Clarke, of Providence, gives a faithful and vivid picture of the situation and condition of the United States and its finances, the inefficiency of the confederation, the necessity of an energetic constitution; a well formed National bank, and the deplorable evils resulting from the paper money system, with a bird's eye view of the tardy move- ments of the magnates of the great Council house of the union. PHILADELPHIA, Feb'y 3d, 1781. Sir, This evening gives me leisure to write to you freely, and as far as I am able to judge, fully, of the important concerns of the United States. As many are of opinion that my predecessor was too communicative, my letters to the Governor have been dictated by caution, though containing general truths. I lament with the most serious inquietude, the contents of this letter, but as they are dictated by the clearest conviction, you have my cordial ap- 156 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. probation in making them known either to a select circle, or the legislature, as your discretion may di- rect. From the first period of the depreciation of the continental currency, the cords of government were relaxed ; and with the rapidity of the former the latter has kept pace. All expedients, such as fixing prices, making tender laws, and laying em- bargoes, instead of alleviating, materially increas- ed the evil. Congress in order to make one great effort towards reducing the public debt, and restor- ing public credit, on the 18th March last made the resolve of sinking the old, and emitting new bills. Their intentions, I mean the intentions of the ma- jority, were undoubtedly good, but if a plan can be judged of by its effects, they could not have adopt- ed one more fatal to the great objects they had in contemplation. Its operations have been various in the different states. Some accepted it readily; some with delay, and others not at all. The con- sequences were, there was no money in the treasu- ry. Creditors grew uneasy ; credit was stretched upon vague promises, without a possibility of per- formance ; the army unpaid as it had been for more than a year unclothed and unfed, and there- fore mutinous. The requisitions upon the states for specific supplies were owing to the want of money, and these supplies have been as uncertain as the measure was impolitic and unjust, as it BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 157 would necessarily make some states lenders to oth- ers without the consent of the former. Indeed, sir. we have neither money to pay the interest of our debt, nor credit enough to contract new ones. We are destitute of every requisite for the ensuing campaign, and have it not in our power to extri- cate ourselves from such an alarming situation, while we know from the surest information that Great Britain is exerting every nerve to make the most decisive operations. Notwithstanding these really distressing circumstances, the country abounds with resources. Every article of provision is in the greatest plenty ; dry goods are by no means scarce, and West India produce is very cheap. Pennsylvania alone has more grain and flour this moment, exclusive of what would suffice the in- habitants, than is sufficient for an army of fifty thousand men, for the term of a year. Money is by no means scarce. It is true, the fluctuating cir- cumstances of the paper currency may have made its circulation unequal, but still it is in the country, and if there is not specie, there is plate enough to make up every deficiency. Our perplexities do not arise from poverty, or the want of men, but from the absolute want of government. It is a fact as demonstrable as any proposition in Euclid, that when a number of sovereign, independent states are mutually engaged in war, neither of them is adequate to any of its conclusive purposes. Hence 14 158 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. the necessity of a federal union, by which the wis- dom, the virtue, the strength and resources of the whole may be conjointly centered and exerted. In this fundamental principle, however, we fail. For it is notorious that Congress have not the power of calling forth the resources of the country. It is probable, I confess, that the confederation will be concluded ; but then we shall be just where we are now, in a perfect state of imbecility. By the act of confederation Congress is not vested with powers requisite in the time of war. They are au- thorized to make war or peace, but they are not competent to the means of supporting either. Sup- /jse they call upon the states for money or sup- plies, and some of them neglect or refuse, as they invariably do, where is the power of compulsion'? And without that it is evident the best measures may be frustrated. We have stumbled upon ex- pedients too long ; we have too long trifled with ob- jects of the greatest magnitude ; we have trusted to Heaven for success to our arms, while we have neglected to improve the means with which the God of nature has blessed us. Among confederated states there must be a supreme control, equally ef- fective upon all. I am confident from observation, history and reflection, that the present war will never be carried on with success 'till Congress or -some other body are invested by the States with all the power necessary to command the resources BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 159 of the country. Trade and commerce, those great sources of national wealth, should undoubtedly be subject to exact regulation ; but if each state should undertake the matter separately, every gentleman of common understanding will readily perceive the confusion and innumerable frauds, relatively to each other and to individuals, that must result. Congress, therefore, should be intrusted with the power of laying duties, by which the United States would derive a considerable revenue. If they could once command a certain permanent revenue, national credit would be restored, and large sums could be borrowed on the faith of a bank which might easily be established. Those modes only of drawing money into the national treasury, which are least felt, and of consequence the most satis- factory to the people at large, should be adopted. Industry is the most obvious source of wealth, and indeed without its being generally encouraged, commerce itself must cease ; taxes must cease, and war must cease by terminating in conquest. The fewer the embarrassments therefore which are thrown on the people the better ; they should al- ways have a sure market for their labor, and cer- tain pay. To this end embargoes should never be tolerated but upon the most pressing occasion, such as the investiture of a place, where the siege may probably be turned into a blockade. Of the neces- sity of which the general Congress or the com- 160 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. mander-in-chief, on the spot, should be the judge in time of war. In peace, perhaps, the case might be different. Hence expectations of every kind, excepting articles where there is a real scarcity, should be encouraged. From policy like this we should find all discontents removed. The citizens would feel reiterated spirit and vigour; wealth would be diffused in abundance, and the means of government rendered familiar, and by no means burthensome. I will suppose, for a moment, that the expenses for the current year will amount to twenty millions of dollars, including the arrearages of the army's pay; the interest upon loan office certificates and foreign debts, exclusive of the ex- penses of each particular state for supporting its own internal police, where is the sum to come from ? The new money, supposing it to be produc- tive, which I don't believe but in part, is equal to only half its nominal value in specie. The conti- nent therefore would gain only five millions of dol- lars ; little is to be expected from requisitions upon the states, for some collect their taxes slowly, and some not at all. If we rely upon a loan from France we shall be deceived, for the minister of France will reason in this way. France and the United States are conjointly engaged in a war with Great Briain ; it is necessary for the good of both the allies that as great a force as possible should be exerted against the common enemy, but the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 161 quantity of this force depends on the ways and means of both countries, and the manner in which they are applied. Now it is evident that with the same sum of money, France can exert treble the force that America can under the present impolitic systems. Therefore, the minister will very ration- ally conclude that to lend the United States money will equally injure them and France. From whence then are we to obtain the fifteen millions'? I ac- knowledge that such an immense sum cannot be collected in the course of a year ; no country is able to carry on war with taxation, or any other mode of collecting money from individuals in an equal ratio. But there is an easy way of making six millions represent twenty, which turns ultimate- ly into an internal debt, that is where a bank is well formed, notes may issue to a large amount, and when the holders find that they can receive their real money by applying to the bank, they will soon give over the trouble of exchanging, as they become fully confident in the security, and find pa- per of a light carriage. Whenever paper repre- sents money, it is valued nearly in proportion to the substance, but the misfortune of our paper has been that it represents real estate, and all the ar- ticles of living, without being funded upon any thing substantial. It is well known that the real cash of Great Britain amounts to no more than 14* 162 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. eight millions sterling, yet their circulating medi urn in notes, inland bills, &c. is immense. The same takes place in France, Holland and all the trading nations. We certainly can effect the same, but different councils will always produce different systems, and these systems will, of course, destroy each other. Therefore the powers of rev- enue must be in one body throughout the union. I hope Congress will send to the states, in a very short time, some plan by which they may be invest- ed with proper authority. But in this idea I am exceedingly mortified, and indeed vexed to the last degree. A plan of revenue has been before them, and dwelt upon nearly three weeks, and upon my honor they have made no greater progress than a man of sense would have done in three hours ; but, you will say, the delays of deliberative councils are a natural sacrifice that civil society must make to obtain an excellent political form of government. True, but our delays are infinitely greater than they need be. There are a certain number of members who have been in Congress a long time, and think themselves possessed of all knowledge. A question cannot be started, however trivial, but they make formal speeches, for fear the young members should misconceive the subject, and if the matter, as that just mentioned, should be of amaz- ing consequence, much more time is thought neces- sary to properly enforce it. But if it requires im- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 163 mediate dispatch, then great deliberation is essen- tially requisite. There are some who make their ideas the standards of all judgments ; and if a par- ticular word in a report should not exactly suit their mechanical geniuses a long debate ensues. I assure you sir, they often make me think of Neal's history of the Puritans, in which the speeches made in the long Parliament are recorded at length. And I have not failed to tell them upon the floor that their fate will be similar to that of the former, unless they pursue different modes and means. In matters of this consequence, I mean when the re- venue is in serious question, the Duke de Tully tells us every moment taken up in debate is lost, and probably may never be recalled. A Titus could weep that he had lost a day, but we, I am al- most constrained to say it, have lost years. I now come to the conclusion ; if Congress is not speedily vested with adequate powers for commanding the means for carrying on the war with energy, and if they do not exert those properly, a few months will put an end to their existence. What kind of administration will succeed God only knows. I have one consolation however, that we shall not be conquered by Great Britain ; the people will not suffer it, but our calamities may be inexpressibly augmented by such a change. While I continue here, I shall spare no pains of body or mind to serve my country, but I am determined to acquit myself 164 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. in the eyes of God and man of any fatal conse- quences that may attend our public measures. I might write Governor Bowen and several other gentlemen, but I can say no more than this letter contains, and I believe you will be sufficiently fa- tigued in reading it. My best respects to all friends. I am Sir, with every sentiment of esteem, your obedient, and most humble servant, J. M. VARNUM. MR. CLARKE. Mr. Rowland continues to observe, " The old Congress under the confederation had no power to raise money to carry on the war, either by taxes or imposts, and the states had enough to do to fur- nish their own treasuries. Congress, on the third of February, 1781, requested the several states to grant them power to levy an impost at five per cent, ad valorem on all imported goods and all prizes and prize goods, to be appropriated to the discharge of the principal and interest of the debts contracted, or to be contracted on the faith of the United States, for the supporting of the war. This was thought necessary for the salvation of the country, and to maintain our independence. The granting of this power to Congress to raise a re- venue was a new question, and divided the politi- cians in its discussion. To place the case in its BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 165 urgent necessity before the respective legislatures of the states, several of the best speakers in Con- gress were requested, or thought proper to return home and persuade the people to granC; the power. Rufus King advocated it in Massachusetts, Dayton left his seat to advance the cause in New Jersey, and Varnum came to Rhode-Island for the same purpose. The states which had little or no mari- time commerce, readily granted the power. This question brought a new man into the field in Rhode- Island. David Howell, knowing the importers would generally oppose the power, and that the people at large would unwillingly be deprived of a rich source of state revenue, at a crisis so distress- ing, came out in the Providence Gazette, and in all public places, with violent declamation against the " FIVE PER CENT.," as it was called. He argued if you once grant them FIVE they will soon take TEN, then TWENTY, &c. General Varnum vindicated the grant, in the same paper, over the signature of " CITIZEN." Howell over that of " FARMER," know- ing the majority of every state were farmers. At length the question came before the General As- sembly. Varnum's speech occupied (he forenoon, and in strength of argument and eloquence had not been equalled since the settlement of the state. Howell occupied the afternoon; the question was then taken, and decided in the negative. It was 166 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. afterwards ascertained that a majority had prede- termined and agreed not to grant the power."* " Under the confederation, no state could be rep- resented by less than two, nor more than seven representatives in Congress, and as they voted by states and not by numbers, Rhode-Island sent but two, as each state had to pay its own members. Howell was elected in the place of Varnum, and Jonathan Arnold, [the father of Gov. Lemuel H. Arnold,] in the place of Ellery. Eleven of the states granted the "Jive per cent" New York, headed by George Clinton, never decided one way or the other, and Rhode-Island refused." So Con- gress were defeated in the necessary source of re- venue, all the states not concurring in the measure. After the war Gen. Varnum recommenced the practice of law at East Greenwich, with increased reputation, and was promptly engaged in all the important causes in the state. At that period great and important cases arose growing out of the new position in which the state and nation were placed. * This controversy between Varnum and Howell after- wards assumed a personal character. Varnum published a parody on Howell, who in return published a soliloquy on Varnum. They afterwards became reconciled, and were friends. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 167 The great case of Trevett vs. Weeden was one which stirred the community to its very foundation. Upon its issue was involved the destiny of thou- sands. Public feeling and anxiety were intense upon its result. The period succeeding the revo- lution was the most eventful in our history. The crisis arose, and the experiment was on trial, whether the people were capable of self govern- ment; and upon its issue depended the fate of the nation. The country was exhausted by a protract- ed contest, and disappointed in the expectation of sufficient national resources to meet the embarrass- ments produced by it, insubordination and misrule showed themselves every where. The army return- ed unpaid and discontented, with certificates upon a bankrupt treasury, instead of money, amidst a state population as impoverished as themselves. The state itself was insolvent and wholly unable to pay the bills of credit against it. The stock of the far- mer was selling at the auction posts for the payment of taxes. The old Congress was as embarrassed as the states for pecuniary means to discharge their engagements. They made requisitions in conform- ity to the powers delegated to them under the arti- cles of confederation. Owing to inability the states rejected them. The bills which Congress had ne- gociated in Holland for the payment of the army were unpaid at maturity, and returned protested. The damages alone amounting to the startling sum 168 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. of six hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars. At this act of sovereign dishonor and disgrace of the new republic, our ambassadors, Franklin, Jay and Adams were in despair. Prompted by exorbitant profit, the merchants shipped to Europe all the re- maining specie that could be obtained, to supply the country with fabrics which the war had ex- hausted. Massachusetts alone exported three mil- lions of specie from the commencement of peace to July, 1785, and we can only judge, by estimation, of the vast amount exported from other seaports for the like purposes. So that in a short period all the gold brought by the French, and the silver im- ported from the Spanish West Indies, was drained from the country. The avaricious course pursued by the merchants compelled the borrower to pay twenty per cent, per annum, and some four per cent, per month. Such was the posture of affairs at this momentuous crisis. The confederation was powerless. The veteran soldiery who had expos- ed themselves to tempests and battles through the whole contest, and whom peace had dismissed with laurels, returned to their families penniless and clamorous. The community was in a thraldom. Necessity and distress showed themselves by in- surrections and commotions in every quarter. If Shays had possessed courage equal to his address and ability, he might have marched in triumph through the nation, gathering to his standard dis- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 169 affected spirits enough to have insured him vic- tory such was the perilous condition of the repub- lic. The mercantile mania for exporting the pre- cious metals from the country, united the farmer, the tax-payer, the debtor and the borrower with remorseless acrimony against them, as the authors of their sufferings. Spirits enough are always con- jured up at such a crisis, who are ready to gratify their ambition and other still more sinister motives. The state threw itself upon its reserved rights. And the demagogues who could best live and flour- ish in turbulent political waters, seizing upon the agitated occasion, with Jonathan J. Hazard at their head, roused the distressed of every class into a phrenzy, and made them believe that, Midas like, they could touch paper and convert it to gold. They were thus goaded into this false, this fatal step. The paper money party obtained an over- whelming majority, and expressly instructed their representatives for the purpose. With a " paper money" Senate, and Gov. Collins at its head, the General Assembly, in May, 1786, emitted the enor- mous sum of 100,000 in paper bills. Committees were elected to sign and distribute them to the towns in proportion to their population. It was further enacted that said bills, when emitted, should be " a good and lawful tender for the complete pay- ment and final discharge of all fines, forfeitures, 15 170 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. judgments, and executions that had become due and recovered of every kind and nature whatso- ever." And it then further provided the mode of making said tender effectual in law. It will be ob- served, that there was no time fixed when said bills were to be redeemed, nor was their ultimate pay- ment charged upon any fund ; nor was it designated how they were to be paid. But on the contrary they were to be loaned for fourteen years upon mortgage pro rata, to all the people, at four per cert, interest for the first seven years, and to be repaid in the next seven years by the mortgagees in seven equal installments, without interest ; and th'jn they were " to be consumed by fire." Thus in- tending to annihilate the merchants, their fancied opponents, at a blow. But as it might have been expected, these bills fell into immediate discredit. Those who had property chose rather to retain than exchange it. The paper money party, (for the whig and tory of the revolution were at this period commuted into the hard and paper money parties,) were exas- perated at defeat, and indignant at the rejection of their promised specific. Their leaders, at the June session succeeding, thundered another legislative anathema against their hard money opponents, by an additional enactment, stating in the preamble, " that it was of the greatest moment that the afore- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 171 said emission of 100,000, which had the greatest tendency of any thing within the wisdom of the legislature, to quiet the minds and alleviate the dis- tressed situation and circumstances of the good citizens of this state, should be kept in good credit, and that the same should be a currency equal in value to coined gold and silver. And whereas va- rious attempts have been made by A CERTAIN CLASS OF MEN, who from mistaken principles suppose the said currency to be injurious to their interests, and from an inclination to render invalid such laws and regulations, of this Assembly as might not graduate with their interests, judgment and opinion of things, and for many other causes, which if permitted to exist, will support a power in this state counter to the authority chosen and appointed by the free suf- frages of the people thereof, and subversive of the laws and principles upon which the happiness, wel- fare and safety of the people depend," enacted that any person who should refuse to take these bills of credit in exchange for any articles which he may have for sale, according to the amount ex- pressed on the face of said bills, or make any dif- ference in the prices between silver and paper money in any sale or exchange, or direct the same to be done ; or in any manner whatever tend or at- tempt to depreciate or discourage the passing of said bills, of the price of the face thereof, or do any act to invalidate or weaken the said act emit- 172 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. ting said bills, for the first offence shall forfeit and pay the sum of 100, and be rendered incapable of being elected to any office of honor, trust or profit within this state." This additional act, tyrannical and arbitrary as it was in its provisions, failed in effecting the con- templated remedy. The farmers however were so ignorant of political economy, and so far influenced by demagogues as to believe that legislative enact- ments could transmute paper into gold, and that pub- lic confidence could be created in currency by po- litical power, without the immediate certainty that such currency could be converted into the metal it was intended to represent. Further, they meant to wreak their vengeance on the opponents of their system, and to force by further penalties the recep- tion of their favorite measure of general relief, as equivalent to gold. Not intending that their politi- cal hobby should long stand still, or that the public mind should have time enough to become quiet or composed, these agitators called a special session of the legislature in August, of the same year, making three sessions in four months, mostly spent upon the Quixotic experiment of transforming paper into gold by legislative alchymy. The preamble to the act passed at this last ses- sion displays the whole spirit of the paper money party of that day. It states, " that it is an estab- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 173 lished maxim of legislation, and ought to be strictly and punctually adhered to in all wise governments, that process upon the breach of penal laws should be immediate, and the penalty inflicted or exacted directly consequent upon conviction. And that the usual and stated times of holding courts within this state, are impracticable, inconvenient and inappli- cable to the true intent and meaning of said act ; and altogether insufficient to carry into effect the < ' *> good purposes of this legislature, touching the same." And it was enacted that if any person refused to receive said bills as coin, as was before enacted, the complainant should apply to either of the Judges of the Supreme or Common Pleas courts, and citation should be issued to the refusing party to appear before a special court within three days and there stand his trial, unthout a jury, according to the laws of the land, before said court. And the judgment of said court, upon the conviction of the accused, was to be forthwith executed, and the offender immediately to pay said penalty, or stand committed to jail until sentence should be perform- ed ; which said judgment was to be final and con- clusive, and without appeal. No delay, protection, privilege or injunction should, in any case, be pray- ed for, allowed or granted. They were not satisfied with the despotism of the last act, although in the language of Rums King 15* 174 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. upon a different occasion, " its red was as red as blood, and its black as black as Tartarus." Fear- ing the failure of its expected efficacy, at the same August extra session, a bill passed the House of Representatives, entitled " an act to stimulate and give efficacy to the paper bills issued by the state in May last." This bill was sent out and submit- ted to the consideration of the freemen at large, in order that they might make known their senti- ments respecting the same, at the respective town meetings to be holden in that month, by instruct- ing their representatives elected for the next Octo- ber session. This bill contained a criminal pro- vision for refusing to take these bills at par with silver and gold. The delinquent was to be ineli- gible to any post of honor or profit within this state, or to exercise the functions of any civil or military office therein or to give his vote or suf- frage for electing any officer or representative in this state. This amounted at once to a disfran- chisement and proscription of all those who differ- ed in opinion from the majority, upon what civil consideration they should part with their private property. And in conclusion, it enacted a test whereby all the freemen of the state, and others, were required to sicear or affirm that they would use their endeavors to give the paper money, (of this state,) a currency equal to gold and silver, and that they would sell their vendible articles for the BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 175 same prices for the one as the other." And in the case of failure " were to be punished as for wilful and corrupt perjury."* These last acts are with- out a parallel in the annals of civilization. But all these measures proved as fruitless as the pre- ceding ones in producing the desired results. These deluded and deluding men held in their hands the fancied cornucopia of wealth and happiness, and wielded at pleasure its promised benefits, and at- tempted to annihilate by penal legislation all those whom they supposed could wrest it from their grasp. They impressed upon their adherents that they had borne the goadings of want, that they had suffered under the tortures of penury, and in their new discovered solvent of transmuting paper into gold, they were rioting in all the luxuries of antici- * Upon the publication of this intended bill, the citizens of Providence called a town meeting to take the contents into consideration. The Hon. Jabez Bowen, Nicholas Brown, Welcome Arnold, John I. Clark and Theodore Foster, were appointed a committee to draught instruc- tions to their representatives in the General Assembly. Their report is an able document, and worthy of the best days of the republic. They unanimously voted, that John Jenckes, John Brown, Charles Keene, and Benja- min Bourne, Esq'rs., their representatives, be instructed to vote and use all their influence against said projected bill. The report undoubtedly had great influence on the public mind. 176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. pated plenty. They had created their own bank, and could issue their money in countless thousands ; they had made laws compelling their bills to be taken as equivalent to gold and silver ; they had elected a partizan judicature to carry their laws into execution ; they had deprived their opponents of the sacred palladium of Britons, the trial by jury, and the freemen who opposed them, of elegi- bility to office. They had enacted the payment of ruinous penalties, and prescribed an immediate in- carceration upon the instant of non-compliance with the judgment of the court. These swollen dictators, and their supporters, were in the full frui- tion of all their visions, but the catastrophe was at hand; equity, justice, and the constitution, was on the one side, and power and misrule on the other. Upon the issue of the conflict, the fate of the paper money system, and its partizans, were to stand or fall forever in Rhode-Island. This paper money narrative may be instructive and novel to some, arid a tedious " thrice told tale" to others. Its history is given as far as it is neces- sarily connected with the trial to be mentioned, in order to bring Gen. Varnum in his strength and eloquence before you, for this was his giant effort. In September, 1786, the case of Trevett against Weeden arose. John Trevett, of Newport, bought BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 177 meat of John Weeden, a butcher, in the market, and tendered to him bills of the emission of May preceding, in payment, which Weeden refused. A complaint was made and filed in accordance with the acts of the General Assembly, before Paul Mumford, chief justice of the Supreme Court, at his chambers, who caused a special court to be convened, but as the information was filed during the term, it was referred to the regular sittings of the court for determination under the provisions of the paper money laws. The defendant pleaded, " that it appears by the act of the General Assembly, wherein said infor- mation was founded, that the act had expired, and hath no force. Also, for that by said act the mat- ters of complaint are made triable before special courts uncontrolable by the supreme judiciary court of the state. Also, for that the said court is not, by said act, authorized and empowered to em~ pannel a jury to try the facts charged in the infor- mation, and so the same is unconstitutional and void." The Court consisted of PAUL MUMFORD, Chief Justice. JOSEPH HAZARD, ) THOMAS TILLINGHAST, \ Associates. DAVID HOWELL, 3 178 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The decisive hour had now arrived. If the com- plaint was sustained by the judgment of the court, the creditor, merchant, farmer, and every vendor was prostrated in utter ruin. In fact, all the com- merce and business of the state would be effectu- ally destroyed, and all previous obligations cancel- ed by this irredeemable trash. The whole public was under a feverish excitement ; the merchant closed his store, the farmers and tenants who de- pended on sales, left their fields, and the mechanic his workshop, and all congregated at the court house to await the eventful issue. The paper money politicians and their partizans, not to be behind their opponents, were there in full force and numbers to cheer their friends, and to en- courage or overawe their partizan created court. Supported by the influence and array of embar- rassed debtors, harrassed by creditors without a currency to pay them, the impoverished landholder distressed by an excessive taxation his property distrained by the officers of the law. And last, but not least, the state debtors who had just mort- gaged their estates for bills under the new emission act. Under all these circumstances, the friends of the complaint were confident of success, and elated with the prospect of a speedy victory. In this arena, and amid all the impressive cir- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 179 cumstances, Gen. Varnum rose to advocate the cause of the defendant. In his opening, he tri- umphantly lifted himself above his professional vo- cation. " I do not appear," he said, " may it please the honorable court, on the present occasion, so much in the line of my profession, as in the char- acter- of the citizen deeply interested in the consti- tutional laws of a free sovereign and independent state. And indeed, whenever the rights of all the citizens appear to be essentially connected with a controverted question, conscious of the dignity of our profession, we exercise our professional talents only as a means conducive to the great ends of po- litical society and general happiness. In this ardu- ous, though pleasing pursuit, should my efforts ap- pear too feeble to support the attempt, I shall derive a consolation in reflectng that the learned and hon- orable gentleman at my right, [Henry Marchant, Esq.,] is associated with me in the defence." That there reigned the deepest silence through the multitude during this exordium, we are assur- ed from the following sentence. " Well may a pro- found silence mark the attention of this numerous and respectable assembly ! Well may anxiety be displayed in every countenance ! Well may the dignity of the bench condescend to our solicitude for a most candid and serious attention, seeing that from the first settlement of this country until the 180 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. present moment, a question of such magnitude as that upon which the judgment of the court is now prayed, hath not been judicially agitated." The exordium was both appropriate and beauti- ful, and well befitting the great occasion upon which the court were to act so high and responsi- ble a part. We may feel from it, that the orator soared above the lawyer. The keen attention ex- hibited by the crowded audience, the anxious coun- tenances, the courteous dignity of the bench, in a moment impress us, that it was the member of Congress, the General who had bared his bosom for his country, that now addressed them ; lifting his arm and raising his voice to save that country in the forum as he had in the field. The lawyer was forgotten in the statesman, pleading not the case of the forlorn Weeden, but the cause of a torn and distracted state. He happily elevated the court above the tram- mels of party, and made them feel conscious of the high responsibility of their situation, and compel- led them to feel that they were no longer " paper money" tools, mechanically to perform the works of a junto ; but robed as judges expounding the law and the constitution. He continues " It is extremely to be regretted that this court BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 181 is not as independent in the tenure by which the judges hold their commissions, as they are in the exercise of their judicial proceedings. The fre- quent changes that arise from annual appoint- ments, may have an influence upon legal decisions, and so destroy that uniformity which is requisite to the security of individuals. But from these consid- erations we have nothing to fear upon the present occasion, for the knowledge, integrity and firmness of the bench, will rise superior to every obstacle, and the dignity of their determination will display a lustre awful even to tyranny itself." The art of the orator to raise the sympathy of his auditors for his cause, and to excite their indig- nation against these obnoxious acts had undoubt- edly a happy effect in propitiating their favor. " The parties," he continues, <{ named in the pro- cess are of no further consequence than as the one represents the almost forlorn hopes of a disappoint- ed circle; the other as a victim the first destined to the fury of their intemperate zeal and political phrenzy. Why should the abettors of this saluta- ry act as many are pleased to call it, retire behind the curtain on the day of trial, unless something within declares that all is not right? Dare they not appear in the character of informers? Why 16 182 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. should their artillery be leveled against an unfor- tunate man, who not three weeks since was an object of charity in the streets of Newport, and now a 'poor pensioner on the bounties of an hour,' called upon to answer criminally for refusing beef at four pence the pound, when it cost him six pence on the hoof, although purchased of some of the most influential promoters of the present meas- ures 1 Were they dubious of the events, or did they feel a reluctance in attacking gentlemen of business, character and fortune, who daily and openly trample upon their favorite idol 1 Were they not acquainted with a Gibbs, and were they not intimately connected with a Cooke ?" " Incomparable was the sentiment of a fine wri- ter, c that in a democratical government, the cus- toms and manners control the laws,' and whenever an attempt is made to force upon the people a sys- tem repugnant to their principles, and at which every sentiment of integrity must reluct, the au- thors themselves, however sanguine in their hopes r will even betray an instability in the execution that generally forbodes chagrin and disappointment." Speaking of the act itself, he continues, " the whole frame of it is so replete with blunders, con- tradictions and absurdities, that not a trace of law learning can be discovered in it. And to the honor BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 183 of the professional gentlemen, who prefer the good of their country to the paltry gains of business, they had nothing to do with it." In portraying the effect of (jui-tam complaints upon public morals, he says, " What is the conse- quence? every evil-minded person in the state is invited to turn informer, [a most despicable office,] and more than five hundred prosecutions would take place jn the course of a week ! Horrid reflec- tion ! The idle, profligate and abandoned of every character, would appear in the group of prosecu- tors or witnesses, urged and pushed on by petty conventions and designing juntos, till perjury would run down our streets like a stream, and violence like a mighty river." After bringing himself before the court and the* country, not like a lawyer mechanically discharg- ing a legal obligation to a client, but as the repre- sentative of an oppressed people at an ominous crisis; and fully possessing the favor of the court and audience, he proceeds to lay down his premises. The arguments to enforce them, were then, are now, and ever will be, as sound in doctrine as they are eloquent in expression. For instance, speak- ing of the special trial instituted by this law, un- appealable to, and incontrollable by the Supreme Court, lie says, " There are in all free governments 184 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. three distinct sources of power, the legislative, ju- diciary and executive. The judiciary power is more or less perfect, as the formation of the courts of law tend to produce a certainty and uniformity in legal determinations. And indeed without certain- ty and uniformity in judicial tribunals, the best possible system of laws will prove utterly inade- quate to the security of the people. For law itself is but a rule of action, and consequently its very existence is destroyed when contrary decisions are admitted upon the same points. From hence may clearly be inferred the necessity of a Supreme Ju- dicial court, to whose judgment, as the only con- clusive evidence in law questions, all subordinate jurisdictions must conform." It is to be regretted, that these sentiments could not have been indelibly imprinted upon the minds of every Rhode-Islander at that day. If they had been, we should not have been destitute of this great egis of protection, until 1833. The solution of the mysterious delay in erecting this necessary attribute of state sovereignty is, that the best of- fices were worth nothing, and were mere worthless bones for worthless dogs to contend for. It was all party party who can most avail us? Has he wealth or connections'? How many votes can he bring to the polls ? And was he honest was he ca- pablewas he faithful to the constitution ? were re- quisites not called for. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 185 The argument that it was unconstitutional to make any law, depriving the people of the trial by jury, is without exaggeration, one of the most able ever delivered in this country. He proceeds to show the feudal origin of this kind of trial, that it was instituted in England by the Saxons ; that it was secured by MAGNA CARTA; that it was the una- lienable birthright of every Britain ; that the emi- grants to America brought it with them. He con- tinues, "The settlers in this country, from whom we are descended, were Englishmen ; they gloried in their rights as such ; but being persecuted in matters of religion, over which no earthly tribunal can have the control, they bravely determined to quit their native soil to bid a final adieu to the alluring charms of their situation, and commit their future existence to that ALMIGHTY POWER, whose authority they dared not to infringe, and in whose protection they could safely confide. They tempted the foaming billows; they braved, they conquered the boisterous Atlantic, and rested in the howling wilderness amidst the horrid caverns of untamed beasts, and the more dangerous haunts of savage men. They retained their virtue, their religion, and their inviolable attachments to the constitutional rights of their country." " The laws of the realm, being the birtli right of all their subjects, followed the pious adventurers 16* 186 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. to their new habitations," " and in the charter granted to this state the same rights are secured to us, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever, as if born in the realm of England. * * * * The attempts of the British parliament to deprive us of this mode of trial were among the principal causes that united the colonies in a de- fensive war, and finally effected the glorious revo- lution. This is evident from the declaration of rights made by the first Congress, the fifth of which is, 'that the respective colonies are entitled to the common law of England, and more especially to the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers * * * according to the course of law.' " * * * "If the first act of the British parliament now upon record, containing the great charter of the privileges of the subject -if the exercise of their privileges for ages if the first settlement of a new world to preserve them if the first solemn com- pact of the people of this state if the sacred de- clarations of the Legislature, at different periods, and upon the most important occasions if the sol- emn appeal to heaven of the United States in short, if the torrents of blood that have been shed in defence of our invaded rights, are proofs ? Then have we triumphed in the cause of humanity then have we shown that the trial by jury is the birth- right of the people." BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 187 Upon the same subject of depriving the citizen of the trial by jury, as secured by our constitution, he proceeds, " have the citizens of this state ever intrusted the legislature with the power of altering their constitution ? If they have, when and where was the solemn meeting of the people for that pur- pose? by what public instrument have they de- clared it, or in what part of their conduct have they betrayed such extravagance and folly ? For what have we contended, through a long, painful and bloody war, but to secure inviolate, and trans- mit unsullied to posterity, the inestimable privi- leges they received from their forefathers? Will they suffer the glorious price of their toils to be wrested from them, and lost forever, by men of their own creating ? They have snatched their lib" erty from the jaws of the British lion amidst the thunder of contending nations, and will they base- ly surrender it to the administration of a year?" " Constitution have we none : who dares say that? None but a British emissary, or a traitor to his country. Are there any such among us ? the language has been heard, and God forbid that they should continue !" " If we have not a constitution, by what author- ity do our General Assembly convene to make laws and levy taxes ? Their appointment by the 188 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, freemen of the towns, excluding the idea of a pre- existing social compact, cannot separately give them power to make laws compulsory upon other towns. They could only meet, in that case, to form a social compact between the people of the towns. But they do meet by the appointment of their respective towns, at such times and places, and in such numbers as they have been accustom- ed to do from the beginning. When met they make laws; consequently they meet, deliberate and en- act by virtue of a constitution, which if they at- tempt to destroy, or in any manner whatever in- fringe, they violate the trust reposed in them, and so their acts are not to be considered as laws, or binding on the people." Commenting on the latter clause of the act, " without a jury, and according to the laws of the land," he continues : " Astounded I am, may it please the honorable court, that a doubt should have arisen respecting the construction of our magnet carta, our declar- ation of rights. Some of our warmest politicians whose heads are undoubtedly wrong, and it is greatly to be feared their hearts are not right, have boldly asserted that the clause which declares that no freeman,