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Race above 4th Street.

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PORTEAIT GALLERY

DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS.

condccted by

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

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

VOLUME I

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

PHILADELPHIA, HENRY PERKINS, 159 CHESTNUT STREET.
NEW YORK, MONSON BANCROFT, 389 BROADW.\Y.
LONDON, O. RICH, 12 RED LION SQUARE.
1834.

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Entered according to the act of congress, in the year 1833, by James Herring, in
the clerk's ofEce of the district court of the southern district of New York.

ADDRESS,

The first volume of the National Portrait Gallery of Distin
guished Americans is now presented to that pubhc, whose annals
it is designed to illustrate, and whose favour its conductors have the
proud satisfaction to know they have not erringly anticipated.
It is, therefore, with no ordinary feelings they meet their friends
and patrons on this occasion, and tender their grateful acknowledge
ments of the cordial and cheering support their enterprise has re
ceived from their countrymen.
The fate of some earlier attempts of a kindred character, cast a
shadow upon the first annunciation of their purpose with a disheart
ening admonition; but, with the advancement of art, a more aus
picious era has dawned, and the American people now display a
becoming solicitude for the preservation of the relics of their own
glory. The enterprise presents the loftiest appeal to national honour and
self respect, as an effort at once to preserve the features, and to res
cue, from the wasting hand of time, the memory of those whose
noble deeds, exalted fame, or eminent virtues, have shed a lustre
upon their age. The value of such a collection of portraits has
been well expressed by a writer of the last century,* who says,
" In every age and nation distinguished for arts and learning, the
inclination of transmitting the memory and even the features of
illustrious persons to posterity, has uniformly prevailed. The great
est poets, orators and historians, were contemporaries with the most
celebrated painters, statuaries, and engravers of gems and medals ;
and the desire to be acquainted with a man's aspect, has ever risen in
proportion to the known excellence of his character, and the admi
ration of his writings."
With regard to the execution of their undertaking, the conductors
of the National Portrait Gallery are happily spared the necessity of
* Granger.

ADDRESS.
commenting upon their own labours, by the prevailing sentiments of
approbation which it has elicited ; and when it is remembered, by
how severe a test the infant arts of our country are tried, from the
general circulation among us of the chef d^ ceuvres of European art,
developed in the maturity of strength in similar departments, it is
difficult to repress the glow of exultation which is warranted by a
successful essay.
So far, however, as exertion to deserve the praise awarded them
is concerned, the conductors of the work can assure their friends it
has not been cheaply earned. At the outset, difficulties were
anticipated, yet not equal to those which have been met. The great
extent of our territory, with the migratory habits of our people, has
scattered far and wide the materials requisite for the work, both pic
torial and literary — and it is often that only by patient and persever
ing effort, they can be obtained, or rendered available. Impedi
ments, of nearly equal magnitude, have been encountered in the
manufacture of the work, for which no similar undertaking had pre
pared the way ; and whatever confidence the projectors of this may
have had in the efficiency of their own arrangements, the history of
other failures was too generally known, and too freshly remembered
by the people, to whom their appeal was necessarily made, to prevent
their early professions from being received without distrust, which
could only be removed by the accomplishment of their promises.
What they have been able to achieve thus far, is now before the
public, on whose candid estimate they confidently rest their claims
for continued and increased support towards the future portions of the
¦work.

To the numerous contributors to the literary portion of this work,
from Maine to Kentucky, we are bound to render our acknowledge
ments of gratitude ; and for the ready permission to use their pictures,
granted by the corporations of the cities of New York and Boston ;
of Yale College ; the New York Lyceum ; the Massachusetts His
torical Society ; — to Mr Peale, the liberal proprietor of the Dela-
plaii|je collection; — to Colonel Trumbull, Mr Sully, Mr Harding, Mr
Leslie, Miss Goodrich, Mr Ingham, and, indeed, to all the painters,
whose aid has been cheerfully lent to us during the past year, we
tender our warmest thanks.
JAMES B. LONGACRE.
JAMES HERRING.

CONTENTS.

Pages.
George Washington, 1st President U. S. . ... 24
Martha Washington,  10
Charles Carroll of Carrollton,  6
Major-General Nathanael Greene,  10
Major-General Anthony Wayne,  8
Major-General William Moultrie,  8
Major-General Israel Putnam,  8
Colonel Timothy Pickering,  8
Governor Isaac Shelby, ,  12
Governor Aaron Ogden,  8
John Marshall, LL.D., Chief Justice U. S  18
Edward Shippen, LL.D., Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, ... 4
Brigadier-General Jonathan Williams,  8
Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice President U. S.  8
Hon. Henry Clay, U. S. Senate,  8
Major-General Andrew Jackson, President U. S. .... 8
Hon. Daniel Webster, U. S. Senate, ....... 8
Hon. William Wirt,  6
Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretaiy of War,  8
Commodore Thomas Macdonough, U. S. Navy,  6
Major -General Alexander Macomb,  6
Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, LL.D  10
Hon. Josiah S. Johnston, U. S. Senate,  10
Hon. Edward Livingston,  10
Hon. Louis M'Lane, Secretary of State,  10
Right Rev. William White, D.D., Bishop of Pennsylvania, . . 8
Rev. Timothy Dwight, S.T.D. LL.D.  6
Hon. Joel Barlow,  6
Colonel John Trumbull,  8
Gilbert Charles Stuart, Esq.  8
Samuel Latham Mitchill, M.D. LL.D  8
Theodoric Romeyn Beck, M.D  4
Washington Irving, Esq  10
Catharine M. Sedgwick  8
James Penimore Cooper, Esq  4

I • V I*

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CHARLES CARROLL OF CAUBOLLTQN.

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AMCS HEllUINO- N>:W"YnRK, L.SITl'.UKn AGCUILDING ¦I'U 'YWV. ACT Ot" OOtJUH

CHARLES CARROLL
OF CARROLLTON.

It has been asserted that the American colonies, now the United
States, began seriously to entertain the design of throwing oflf their
allegiance to the British king, soon after the conquest of Canada by
the arms of the British and provincial forces. There is, however,
no evidence to sustain that assertion ; and the probability is, that the
colonies, although they each had cause for discontent, had never
been united in their complaints until the British parhament united
them by a series of general grievances. The charters granted to the
various colonies had been uniformly violated as soon as they began
to thrive ; and they, in their weakness and sincere attachment to " the
mother country," had patiently submitted. Yet it is evident that they
retained from generation to generation a lively sense of their natural
and chartered rights. The descendants of those who had braved the
dangers and hardships of the wilderness for the sake of civil and
religious liberty, inherited the spirit of their fathers; — what the
fathers had gained by patient toil, unbending fortitude, or by charter
from the king, their children claimed as their birthright.
In 1764, parliament, for the first time, attempted to raise a revenue
in the colonies without their consent. This led to a discussion of the
right in the provincial assemblies and among the people; and the
general sentiment appears to have been, that "taxation and repre
sentation were inseparable." In 1765, the famous Stamp Act was
passed; and the policy of the British government being unveiled,
a universal expression of indignation and opposition was echoed
through the colonies. In addition to these general causes for
complaint, each colony remembered its own individual grievances.
It is only our purpose, on this occasion, to trace the causes of
discontent in Maryland ; and to show, that when her sons embarked

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
their " lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor," in their country's
cause, they had reason and justice on their side.
The charter of Maryland was obtained by Lord Baltimore, from
Charles I., in June, 1632. By the charter it was declared, that the
grantee was actuated by a laudable zeal for extending the Christian
religion and the territories of the empire. Lord Baltimore was a
Roman CathoUc ; and his avowed intention was to erect an asylum
in America for the Catholic faith. In honor of the queen the
province was named, and its endowment was accompanied with
immunities more ample than any other of the colonies. Lord
Baltimore was created the absolute proprietary, saving the allegiance
due to the crown ; license was given to all British subjects to
transport themselves thither, and they and their posterity were
declared entitled to the liberties of Englishmen, as if they had been
born within the kingdom — with powers to make laws for the province,
" not repugnant to the jurisprudence of England ;" power was given
to the proprietary, with assent of the people, to impose all just and
proper subsidies, which were granted to him for ever ; and it was
covenanted on a part of the king, that neither he nor his successors
should at any time impose, or cause to be imposed, any tollages on
the colonists, or their goods and tenements, or on their commodities,
to be laden within the province. The proprietary was also
authorized to appoint officers, repel invasions, and suppress rebellions.
The charter contained no special reservation of royal prerogative to
interfere in the government of the province. Thus was laid the
foundation of a popular government not likely to be willingly
renounced when once possessed.
No efibrts were spared by Lord Baltimore to facilitate the
population and happiness of the colony; and in five years it had
increased to such an extent that a code of laws became necessary.
Lord Baltimore composed and submitted a body of laws to the
colonists for their assent ; but they, not approving of them, prepared a
code for themselves. At a very early period the proprietary had
declared in favor of religious toleration; in 1649, the assembly
adopted that principle by declaring, " that no persons professing to
believe in Jesus Christ should be molested in respect to their
religion, or in the free exercise thereof;" thus meriting the dis
tinguished praise of being the first of the American states in which
religious toleration was estabhshed by law. In 1654, Cromwell sent
commissioners to reduce the colony to his subjection, who, although
they met with no opposition in Maryland, abolished its institutions,

CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON.
and introduced religious discord. They inflamed the Protestants
against the Catholics, until, exasperated to extremity, the parties met
in an engagement, when the partisans of the proprietary government
were defeated, the governor deposed, and a new assembly formed, by
which a law was passed depriving the Cathohcs of the protection of
law in the community. With the restoration of Charles IL, in 1661,
tranquillity was restored to the province; but in a few years that
tranquillity was again disturbed by a series of petty vexations,
originating in the strife and jealousy of the ruling party in Britain,
on account of religion. The king's ministers commanded that all
the offices of the provincial government should in future be committed
exclusively to Protestants; and not only in this was the charter
violated, but also by the appointment of revenue officers and the
exacting of imposts. In 1686, James II. determined to overthrow
the proprietary governments of the colonies, but the more important
afiairs in which he was engaged at home, during his short reign,
prevented the consummation of his threat.* On the accession of
William III. a Protestant association was formed, which, under the
authority and approbation of the king, usurped the direction of the
affairs of the province, keeping up the farce of a papist plot as an
excuse for their conduct. Lord Baltimore was deprived, by an act of
the privy council, of the political administration ; ' although they
could find no fault in him, except that he was of the Catholic faith.
With the proprietary's government the liberal principles of his
administration were subverted. The Church of England was
estabhshed, and a tax levied to support it.
Sanctioned by the authority and instructed by the example of the
British government, the newly modelled legislature of Maryland
proceeded to enact a series of laws which completely disfranchised
the Catholics, by depriving them of all political and religious
privileges, and of the ordinary means of education. By an act,
passed in 1704, and renewed in 1715, it was ordained that the
celebration of mass, or the education of youth by a papist, should be
punished by transportation to England. These acts were afterwards
modified ; but the evils infficted on the colony by the violations of
the charter, were not removed until the connection with Great Britain
was dissolved by the revolution. In 1702, in the midst of this state
of affairs, Charles Carroll, the father of Charles Carroll of

• About this time Charles Carroll (the son of Daniel Carroll, of Kings county, Ire
land, and grandfather of Charles Carroll of Carrollton) came into the colony.
3

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Carrollton, was born. We may readily suppose with what attach
ment to the royal cause he arrived at manhood. We are informed
that "he took an active part in the affairs of the provincial government;
and in the religious disputes of the times stood prominent as one of
the leading and most infiuential members of the Catholic party." On
the 8th of September, 1737, O. S., his son, Charles Carroll,
surnamed of Carrollton, was born at Annapolis ; and at eight years
old was taken to France to be educated. He remained there until
1757, when he visited London, and commenced the study of law. In
1764, he returned to Maryland a finished scholar and an accomplished
gentleman. About this period the respective rights of the colonies
and of the king's government began to be discussed; religious
disputes subsided and were forgotten, in the new and interesting
topics of the time. The celebrated Stamp Act, in 1765, produced a
universal excitement, and elicited, from men of the highest character
and talents in the country, the most energetic and decisive expressions
of opinion. Among those who came boldly forward in vindication
of the colonists was Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
The Stamp Act was repealed, and the excitement ceased ; but in
the colonies the principle of parliamentary taxation was a settled
question. In June, 1768, Mr. Carroll married.
In 1771-2, Mr. Carroll's talents as an advocate of populai' rights
were again brought into requisition. The house of delegates, after
an investigation, framed and passed a law regulating the fees of the
civil ofiicers of the colonial government ; but the upper house refused
to concur in it. After adjournment of the assembly, the governor
issued a proclamation commanding and enjoining all ofiicers not to
take other or greater fees than those therein mentioned. The people
viewed this measure as an attempt to fix a tax upon them by
proclamation, and in that light considered it as an unjust and
arbitrary exercise of official authority. A newspaper contest ensued
between numerous advocates of the people and of the governor. At
length the parties stood in silence, watching the progress of a single
combat between the champion of the people, Mr. Carroll, and his
antagonist, the provincial secretary. In this controversy, Mr.
Carroll's talents and principles were brought fully before the
public, and received the applause of the prominent men of the day.
His antagonist was silenced, and the governor's proclamation was
suspended on a gallows and burnt by the common hangman. The
above controversy was conducted by the parties under fictitious

CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON.
signatures ; and before it was known who had been the writer to
whom the laurel was awarded, the citizens of Annapolis instructed
their representatives to address a letter of thanks, through the
newspaper, to the "distinguished advocate of the rights of his
country ;" but when it was generally known that " the distinguished
advocate," was Charles Carroll, "the people of Annapolis, not
satisfied with the letter of their delegates, came in a body to thank him
for his exertions in defence of their rights." Mr. Carroll had
evidendy made up his mind to abide the issue of the contest, which he
foresaw had only been commenced with the pen to be terminated with
the bayonet ; and he took repeated occasions so to express his con
victions to friends and foes. As the great drama of the revolution
advanced, Mr. Carroll's popularity evidently became more extensive,
and his advice and influence were more frequently sought. After the
delegates in 1774 had prohibited the importation of tea, a brig arrived
at Annapolis with a quantity on board ; it was court time, and a great
number of people were assembled from the neighboring counties, and
so irritated were they, that personal violence was threatened to the
captain and consignees of the vessel, and destruction to the cargo.
Application was made to Mr. Carroll for advice and protection, by
the owner of the vessel. He advised him to burn the vessel and
the tea it contained to the water's edge, as the most effectual means of
allaying the popular excitement. His counsel was followed, the
sails were set, the colors displayed, and the brig burnt amidst the
acclamations of the multitude.
In February, 1776, Mr. Carroll, then a member of the Maryland
convention, was appointed by the continental congress on a com
mission to visit Canada, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin, Samuel
Chase, and the Rev. John Carroll, the object of which was to induce
the Canadians to unite their efforts with the United Provinces in the
struggle for liberty; but the defeat of Montgomery's army, the
contributions levied on the inhabitants, and the invincible opposition
of the priests, rendered their mission abortive. Mr. Carroll
returned to Philadelphia just as the subject of independence was
under discussion: he was decidedly in favor of it, but was not a
member of congress; and the delegates from Maryland had been
instructed to refuse their assent to it. He proceeded to Annapolis
with all speed, and in his place in the convention advocated the cause
of independence with such eflTect, that on the 28th of June, new
instructions were given in the place of the old ones, and on the 4th

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of July, 1776, the votes of the Maryland delegation were giveii for
the declaration of independence.
On the same day, Mr. Carroll was appointed a delegate to
congress, and took his seat as a member, for the first time, on the 18th.
On the next day a secret resolution was adopted, directing the decla
ration to be engrossed on parchment, and signed by all the members,
which was accordingly done on the 2d of August. As Mr. Carroll
had not given a vote on the adoption of that instrument, he was asked
by the president if he would sign it ; " most willingly," he replied,
and immediately affixed his name to that " record of glory," which
has endeared him to his country, and rendered his name immortal.
By those who have the curiosity to compare that signature with the
autograph accompanying our portrait, it will be perceived that the
first was traced by a firm and manly hand, the latter after the lapse of
more than half a century, and at an age when " the keepers of the
house tremble." Both fac-similes are correct.
Mr. Carroll assisted in the formation of the constitution of
Maryland, in 1776, and continued in congress until 1778.
He served in the senate of the state for several years, was a
member of the United States senate from 1788 to 1791 ; from which
time until 1801 he was an active member of the senate of his native
state. For the next thirty years he dwelt in the retirement of private life,
in the enjoyment of tranquillity, health, fortune, and the richest
reward of his patriotic labors, the veneration and gratitude of his
coimtry. After the death of Je rson and Adams, in 1826, he was
the sole survivor of the immortal band who, regardless of the peril,
pledged " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors," for the
liberties of their country ; and tlie sole inheritor of the rich legacy
of glory which they have left. But, on the 14th of November,
1832, the mandate which all must obey, summoned to the tomb the
last of the signers of the Declaration of Independenc ; that deed of
noble daring which gave his country " a place among nations," and
opened an asylum for the oppressed of all. To it all eyes are
turned for instruction and example, and it is evident that the pohtical
institutions of the old world are gradually conforming to its model, to
which they must very nearly approach, before the people, for whose
happiness governments are framed, will be content.
' J. H.

E-ngraved by J B Forrest Jroni llur ongmal ly J.W. Jarvis "by pf rn J ""orpoTBiian cl N Y

TTTOMAS IVLVCDONOUGH. U.S.N.

Euiered according to aot cf Congress m tlie year 1833 ty Jaiues Hamn.g- ia Lhe clerks o£i3cQ cf the'
I ijitriti Court c£ the. Scuthecn Disiriot of Ne-w "iSrlc

THOMAS MACDONOUGH.

This gallant officer was born in the county of Newcastle, in the state
of Delaware, in December, 1783. His father was a physician, but
inspired with a love of liberty, he entered the army of the revolution
as a major; he did not, however, remain long in the service, but
returned to private life and his professional pursuits, until the
close of the war, when he was made a judge; in which office
he remained until his death, which happened in 1795. He
left three sons. His eldest son, James, was a midshipman with
Conamodore Truxton when he took the Insurgent. In that
battle he was so severely wounded, that there was a necessity of
amputating his leg. He soon afterwards left the navy, with the
reputation of a brave officer. In 1798, the subject of this memoir
obtained a warrant as a midshipman, and commenced his career as
a naval officer. Those who were acquainted with his early life,
spoke of Midshipman Macdonough as a young officer of great pro
mise ; but he had no opportunity of being made known to the pubhc
until the country had the misfortune of losing the frigate Philadelphia.
When the gallant Decatur proposed to burn her, as she lay in
possession of the enemy, he selected Macdonough as one of the
young officers to accompany him on that hazardous expedition ;
and he reaped an early harvest of honor in that daring exploit, with
his leader and others. The Mediterranean has been the birth-place
of more naval reputations than all the waters of the world beside, and
it was there, too, that our infant navy displayed some of those acts of
valor and good conduct which were of importance in themselves, and
were hailed as presages of future glories for our country. When
Macdonough was first lieutenant of the Syren, under command of
Captain Smith, a circumstance occurred in the harbor of Gibraltar
sufficiently indicative of the firmness and decision of his character.
An American merchant brig came to anchor near the United
States' vessel. Macdonough, in the absence of Captain Smith,
who had gone on shore, saw a boat from a British frigate board the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
brig and take from her a man ; he instantly manned and armed his
gig, and pursued the British boat, which he overtook just as it
reached the frigate, and without ceremony took the impressed man
into his own boat. The frigate's boat was twice the force of his own ;
but the act was so bold as to astound the lieutenant who commanded
the press-gang, and no resistance was offered. When the afiTair was
made known to the British captain, he came on board of the Syren in
a great rage, and inquired how he dared to take a man from his boat.
Macdonough replied that the man was an American seaman, and
was under the protection of the flag of the United States, and that it
was his duty to protect him. The captain, with a volley of oaths,
swore he would bring his frigate alongside the Syren and sink her.
" This you may do," said Macdonough ; " but while she swims the
man you will not have." The English captain told Macdonough
that he was a young hair-brained fellow, and would repent of his
rashness. " Supposing, sir," said he, " I had been in that boat, would
you have dared to have committed such an act ?" " I should have
made the attempt, sir, at all hazards," was the reply. " What, sir !"
said the English captain, " would you venture to interfere if I were
to impress men from that brig?" "You have only to try it, sir," was
the pithy answer. The English officer returned to his ship, manned
his boat, and made his way towards the brig ; Macdonough did the
same ; but there the aflfair ended, — the English boat took a circuitous
route and returned to the ship. There was such a calnmess in the
conduct of Lieutenant Macdonough, such a solemnity in his lan
guage, such a politeness in his marmer, that the British officer saw
that he had to deal with no ordinary man, and that it was not
prudent to put him on his metal.
In that garden of the world, the shores of the Mediterranean,
where nations have grown up and decayed, and others have taken
their places, — where every thing is marked with age, luxury, crime,
and temptation, and where many a fine young officer has made ship
wreck of his morals and his health, — Macdonough exhibited the
Spartan firnmess with the Christian virtues. His bravery was never
for a moment doubted, but he was so reserved, temperate, and cir
cumspect, that the envious sometimes strove to bring him to their
level, and often were snares set for him ; but he was never caught.
His character was fair and bright as the surface of a steel mirror,
before it was brought to reflect any ray of glory upon himself and his
country. There is a good share of sagacity in the common sailor ; he sees

THOMAS MACDONOUGH.
through a character much clearer than we generally think he does ;
before Macdonough had been promoted to a lieutenancy, he had
the heart of every sailor who knew him. There are few so igno
rant that they cannot discover moral worth, when connected with
professional ability ; and none so bad, as not to approve of it.
It has often been stated, and never questioned, that while in Syra
cuse, he was one night attacked by three assassins, with their
daggers. He drew his sword, and wounded two of them so severely
as to fear nothing further from them : the other fled ; but he
pursued him to the roof of a building, and chmbing it after the
assassin, would have caught him, if he had not thrown himself from
it, with the loss of his existence. In the latter part of his life, Mac
donough suffered much from ill health ; but at this time he was one
of the most active and athletic officers of the navy, and was dexterous
in the use of his sword.
Not many of the ships of the American navy were in commission
from the close of the Tripolitan war until the war of 1812. Those
few which visited the maritime places in Europe, South America, or
the West Indies, were viewed with no ordinary curiosity, and even
thought, by some, to have a respectable appearance ; but there was
not the slightest suspicion that we were so soon to take rank among
those nations who boast of naval exploits. But after the declaration
of war with England, our navy was put into requisition, and every
officer panted for distinction. The elder officers were mostly
sent on the ocean; some of the high-spirited juniors to the lakes, —
among the latter, Lieutenant Macdonough was ordered to Lake
Champlain. This was an important station, for through this lake a
communication could most readily be had with the most powerful
portion of the Canadas. The main armies of the British were
always to be near Montreal and duebec ; but for the first two years
of the war, both sides were busy in another direction, particularly on
the Lakes Ontario and Erie. The contending powers watched each
other's movements, and kept nearly pari passu in the augmentation
of their naval forces; the English always in the advance, having
in many respects greater facilities — if not in ship buUding, certainly in
procuring munitions of war, sails, rigging, &c.
Towards the close of the summer of 1814, the warlike preparations
on Lake Champlain, and its vicinity, seemed to portend some power
ful shock. Large bodies of troops, the veterans of Wellington's army,
to the amount, it was said, of sixteen thousand, had arrived in
Canada, and were preparing to strike a severe blow on the frontiers,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
one that would be felt to the very vitals of the nation. Izard received
orders to assist Brown, and Macomb was left with a handful of
troops at Plattsburg. He put himself into the best attitude of defence
a brave and intelligent officer could, and called on the neighboring
militia to come to his aid ; meanwhile the fieet under Macdonough
was put in readiness for an attack. He had only four ships, such as
they were : the Saratoga, twenty-six guns ; the Eagle, twenty guns ;
the Ticonderoga, seventeen guns, the Preble, seven guns ; and ten
gallies, carrying sixteen — in the whole, eighty-six guns. The British
force was larger : the frigate Confiance, thirty-nine guns ; the Linnet,
sixteen guns ; the Chubb, eleven guns ; the Finch, eleven guns ; and
thirteen gallies, carrying eighteen guns — making a total of ninety-
five guns ; a superiority over the American fieet of nine guns : their
complement of men was much greater. That the American fieet
was commanded by a young officer who ranked only a lieutenant,
and the British by an experienced one. Captain Downie, gave Sir
George Prevost no doubt of the issue of his naval operations. On the
land, too, with his veterans and other troops, he was quite certain of a
signal victory.
On the afternoon of the 10th of September, it was evident that the
assault on the lake and on the land was to be made the next day, and
Macdonough deemed it best to await the attack at anchor. At eight
o'clock, on the morning of the 11th, the British fleet was seen
approaching, and in an hour the battle became general. The most
accurate description of it must be from his own pen.
"At nine," says the captain, "the enemy anchored in a line
ahead, at about three hundred yards distant from my line ; his ship
opposed to the Saratoga ; his brig to the Eagle, Captain Robert Henley ;
his gallies, thirteen in number, to the schooner, sloop, and a division
of our gallies ; one of his sloops assisting their ship and brig ; the
other assisting their gallies: our remaining gallies were with the
Saratoga and Eagle,
" In this situation, the whole force on both sides became engaged ;
the Saratoga suffered much from the heavy fire of the Confiance. I
could perceive at the same time, however, that our fire was very
destructive to her. The Ticonderoga, Lieutenant Commandant
Cassin, gallantly sustained her full share of the action. At half past
ten, the Eagle, not being able to bring her guns to bear, cut her cable,
and anchored in a more eligible position, between my ship and the
Ticonderoga, where she very much annoyed the enemy, but unfortu
nately leaving me much exposed to a gd.ling fire from the enemy's brjg.

THOMAS MACDONOUGH.
" Our guns on the starboard side being nearly all dismounted or
unmanageable, a stern anchor was let go, the lower cable cut, and
the ship winded with a fresh broadside on the enemy's ship, which
soon after surrendered. Our broadside was then sprung to bear on
the brig, which surrendered about fifteen minutes afterwards. The
sloop which was opposed to the Eagle, had struck some time before,
and drifted down the hne. The sloop that was with their gallies had
also struck. Three of their gallies are said to be sunk ; the others
pulled oS. Our gallies were about obeying with alacrity the signal
to follow them, when all the vessels were reported to me to be in a
sinking state. It then became necessary to annul the signal to the
galhes, and order their men to the pumps. I could only look at the
enemy's gallies going off in a shattered condition ; for there was not a
mast in either squadron that could stand to make sail on. The
lower rigging, being nearly shot away, hung down as though it had
just been placed over the mast-heads.
" The Saratoga had fifty-five round shot in her hull ; the Confiance,
one hundred and five. The enemy's shot passed principally just
over our heads, as there were not twenty whole hammocks in the
nettings, at the close of the action, which lasted without mtermission
two hours and twenty minutes.
" The absence and sickness of Lieutenant Raymond Perry, left me
without the assistance of that excellent officer. Much ought fairly to
be attributed to him for his great care and attention in disciplining
the ship's crew, as her first lieutenant. His place was filled by a
gallant young officer. Lieutenant Peter Gamble; who, I regret to
inform you, was killed early in the action."
The Saratoga was twice set on fire during the action, by hot shot
from the Confiance ; but the fiames were promptly extinguished.
At the same time the land forces were engaged ; both armies look
ing on the sea-fight, as in a measure the turning point with them.
The loss of the Americans was fifty-two killed, and fifty-eight
wounded ; that of the British, eighty-four killed, and one hundred and
ten wounded. The prisoners taken exceeded the whole number of
Americans in the action. Sir George and his army were the next day
on the retreat. This victory was hailed by the whole nation with great
joy. The state of New York, in justice and gratitude, gave the gallant
commodore a thousand acres of land, of no small value ; and the state
of Vermont made a grant of two hundred acres, within a short
distance of the battle-ground : this is a delightful spot, and may be
seen from the distant hills very distinctly ; and from the manor you have

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
a fine view of the lake, particularly that part of it where the Ameri
can fleet was anchored. While rambling over these grounds, one
cannot help thinking of the lines of the bard of Newstead Abbey :
~ " The mountains look on Marathon,
And Marathon looks on the sea."
Both scenes awaken visions of national glory ; but our view, as yet,
affords no painful contrasts, except when we ask where is he who
fought and conquered here? The city of New York gave Mac
donough a valuable lot of land, and the city of Albany followed the
example. Festive honors were oflfered him in all places he chanced
to pass through, but they were not often accepted. He loved fame,
but not her obstreperous notes. For this victory he was promoted to
the rank of post captain.
From the close of the war to the time of his decease, he shared the
honors of the home and foreign service with his compeers. He was
an excellent member of courts-martial ; for he brought to those tribu
nals a candid mind, ever ready to find matters that made in favor of
the accused as well as against him. We have an opportunity of
speaking from an intimate acquaintance with the fact, that on several
courts-martial, the accused have congratulated themselves, that all
that was brought against them was to be considered by such a mind
as Macdonough's ; at the same time, they were not wanting in justice
to other honorable members.
For several years before his death he made his home in Middletown,
Connecticut, where he had married Miss Shaler, a lady of a highly
respectable family in that place. He died of a consumption, on the-
10th day of November, 1825. His wife had paid the debt of nature
a few months before him.
In person, Macdonough was tall, dignified, and commanding.
His features were pleasing ; his complexion, hair, and eyes were light ;
but there was such a firmness and steadfastness in his look, as to take
away all appearance of the want of masculine energy, which is often
attached to the idea of a delicate complexion. The great charm of his
character was the refinement of his taste, the purity of his principles,
and the sincerity of his religion ; these give a perfiame to his name,
which the page of history seldom can retain for departed warriors,
however brilliant their deeds.
" S. L. K.

¦d "by Gmiberit: Dick "by PenmssLon of tlie NYlIywoin from a Rxuinug TiyH rn-ma-n

SAMUEL. L.MITCmLL. M.D. L.L.D.

Zniered according to act of Congress m lUe year 1832 "by James Hemjig m the derts office of flie
Distnct Court of the Southern District of NewYfirk

SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL, M.D. LL.D.

" Omnium soientiarura circulis mire se implicantem." BRnCKBR.

The medical profession, distinguished, as it has been in all ages, by
the learning and talents of its members, is destined, we trust, to
receive new honors in this free republic of the United States. Less
conspicuous in the public eye than the jurisconsult, less imposing in
private life than the teacher of religion, the physician has yet risen,
in the enlightened nations of England and France, to a parity at
least with his rival brethren; though these last have been largely
supported by fiscal patronage, and strengthened by governmental
authority. In bringing about this revolution, much is due to the
great events which have signalized the history of the present gene
ration — still more to the enlightened spirit of the age. It was the
boast of the late illustrious emperor of France, that during his
administration of its government, the road to public honors and
rewards was equally open to every member of the state. By this
liberal policy, not only each individual assumed his natural rank, but
ee^ch class of society rose to its natural importance. The perfect
liberality of our institutions, both national and social, and the free
dom of access to every situation in life to the humblest individual,
have produced among us a universal spirit of ambition, which brings
forward the talents of all to the public service. The distinguished
character, whose life and services these pages are designed briefly to
sketch, is a striking instance of the truth of these remarks. Under
an absolute government, he had been only an eminent physician ;
under our more liberal system, he was besides an important actor in
its national concerns.
S.iMUEL Latham Mitchill was born in North Hempstead,
(Plandome,) Q.ueens county, Long Island, N. Y., on the 20th of Au
gust, 1764. In this village his father, Robert Mitchill, of Enghsh
descent, was an industrious farmer of the society of Friends. He died
in 1789, leaving behind him six sons and two daughters, most of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
whom he lived to see reputably settled in life. Agricultural pursuits
became for the most part their occupation, and industry and economy
were the characteristics common to them all. In the subject of this
memoir, who was the third son, were early remarkable those habits
of observation and reflection, which were destined to elevate him to
an enviable distinction among his contemporaries. Fortunately for
mankind, his talents and laudable ambition met a discerning and
liberal patron in his maternal ' uncle, Dr. Samuel Latham, a skilful
and intelligent medical practitioner in his native village. The
resources of this gentleman happily enabled him to enter upon and
complete that system of education, which the limited income and
numerous family of his parents of necessity denied. Of this uncle
he always spoke with becoming gratitude and ardent aflfection. At
an early age he was placed under the direction of Dr. Leonard Cut
ting, a graduated scholar of the university of Cambridge, England ;
whom an attachment to the principles of liberty had induced to visit
our shores, and in whom the polished habits of the gentleman were
happily blended with a profound and extensive erudition. With this
excellent instructer he continued for several years, and with him
acquired an intimate acquaintance with classical literature, which
constituted one of the favorite amusements of his leisure hours
throughout his subsequent life. It is due to this kind preceptor to
state, that he early predicted the future eminence of his pupil, and
contributed by his praise and direction to its fulfilment. After
acquiring a partial knowledge of the elementary principles of medi
cine with Dr. Latham, he removed to the city of New York in 1780,
and became a pupil of Dr. Samuel Bard, with whom he continued
about three years. The condition of New York was at this period
little favorable to intellectual cultivation. The humble institutions
which the pious and enlightened liberality of our fathers had erected
to letters were appropriated to arms, scholastic exercises suspended,
and their professors dispersed. The state had been long struggling
with its unnatural parent, and the efforts of patriotism for a time
superseded the pursuits of science and literature. King's, now
Columbia college, had become a military hospital, its chambers
occupied by the sick and wounded soldiers of the British army ; and
the New York hospital converted into a barrack by the enemy, who
then held possession of the city. Notwithstanding these unpropitious
circumstances, he continued his medical studies, and had free access
to the circles who visited the house of his medical preceptor.
In the twentieth year of his age, Mr. Mitchill was happily

SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL.
enabled to avail himself of the advantages held out by the university
of Edinburgh, at that time adorned by the talents of CuUen, Black,
and Monro. Here students from all parts of the civilized world
repaired, as to the most able seat of medical learning then in Europe ;
and of nearly a thousand youths, many of whom have risen to the
first distinctions in science and letters, the talents and diligence of
Mitchill acquired for him general applause, and an undivided
esteem and regard. The late Sir James Mackintosh and Thomas
Addis Emmet, who have since acquired such eminence in other
pursuits, were among his friends and compeers; and we have the
testimony of the last named excellent individual, that no student of
the university exhibited greater tokens of promise. After a residence
of about four years, at the end of which, in 1786, he received the
honors of the profession, he made a short excursion into England
and France, and returned to his native country, then rapidly recover
ing from the disastrous effects of the revolutionary contest.
On his return to his native state, Dr. Mitchill, with a consequent
interruption to his medical studies, devoted a portion of his time to
acquire a Imowledge of the laws and constitution of his country,
under the direction of Robert Yates, at that time chief justice of the
state of New York. The result was a fixed and unalterable attach
ment in him to those principles which, triumphantly asserted at
Saratoga and Yorktown, and since embodied in the constitution of
the United States, became the corner stone of new institutions, sacred
to the rights and best interests of mankind. By the infiuence of the
chief justice, he was employed in the commission for holding a
treaty with the Iroquois Indians, and was present at the adjustment
made at Fort Stanwix, 1788, in which the right to a large portion of
the western district was purchased for the benefit of the government.
During this period he extensively explored the frontiers of New
York and Canada, and seems also to have been engaged in various
matters of a pohtical character. His experiments on the mineral
waters of Saratoga, which he subsequently reinvestigated, appear to
have contributed to the extensive celebrity which those waters have
since obtained.
His appointment to the chair of chemistry and agriculture in
Columbia college, marks the confidence of his friends in his abilities ;
and from this school he first made known to his countrymen the
new theory of chemistry recently matured by the genius of Lavoisier
and his associates. The admirable nomenclature, the scientific
arrangement of this system, together with its brilliant results, form

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
an era ui chemical philosophy, and an important chapter hi the
history of the human mind. The doctor was wont to repeat with
much complacency this happy commencement of his professorial
career. He was, however, far from adopting all the principles of
Lavoisier ; and in a memoir published shortly after, he presented a
modified system, which involved him in a controversy with the
celebrated Priestley, then recently arrived on our shores. It is to the
honor of these distinguished individuals, that the disputation was
conducted with mutual courtesy, and ended in a personal friendship,
which termdnated only with the hfe of the great founder of pneumatic
chemistry. From his connection with many of the chief officers of the state
government, and particularly with Chancellor Livingston and Simeon
De Witt, originated the Society for the Promotion of Agriculture,
Manufactures, and the Useful Arts. Before this body he delivered
their first public address, which made its appearance in the first
volume of their Transactions. This society, which consisted of the
members of both houses of the legislature, and of such other indi
viduals as interested themselves in agricultural pursuits, was incor
porated at his instance, and has proved by its various publications a
valuable aid in unfolding the native resources of the commonwealth.
His mineralogical survey of the state of New York, undertaken in
1796, under the direction of this institution, forms a memorable event
in his career, and first laid the basis of his reputation with the
philosophers of Europe, which continued from this time henceforth
to increase. This report was probably the first attempt in mineralo
gical study in America, and led the way to the more ample investi
gations of Maclure, Godon, Cleaveland, Dana, Van Rensselaer, and
others. It has often been referred to with approbation by the savans
of Europe.* He contributed at times local sketches of a like character
of different parts of the country to various scientific journals ; and it
has furnished occasion of regret that so competent an observer had not
more fully prosecuted these meritorious researches. Throughout his
hfe he was a persistent believer in the Wernerian hypothesis, and
contended that the most luminous evidences of its truth were found
in the formations of the western hemisphere.
The New- York Medical Repository originated in 1797, under the
editorial career of Samuel L. Mitchill, in connection with Dr.

* See Volney's View of the United States.
i

SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL.
Edward Miller and Elihu H. Smith. Of this journal he was the
chief editor for more than sixteen years, during the greater part of
which period it was the general vehicle of science in the new
world. It was enriched from time to time with the ample treasures
of his knowledge, and with ingenious speculations in almost every
branch of philosophy. The critical department was for the most
part conducted with urbanity and good feeling. Few writers, whose
works were subjected to its critical ordeal, could fairly complain of its
decisions ; and though a strenuous advocate for certain theories, and
firm in gladiatorial controversy, its pages were seldom marked by want
of candor or undeserved censure. It was the first periodical work of
a scientific description that appeared in the United States.
In 1807, the act of the legislature empowering the regents of the
university to establish a college of physicians and surgeons in the
city of New York took effect; and upon the organization of this
school, Dr. Mitchill was appointed the professor of chemistry,
which, however, his public duties obliged him to resign. In the
following year, he was elected to the chair of natural history, in the
same institution. In this science, so congenial to his taste and
habits, and in which, he was acknowledged to be without a rival
among his countrymen, he delivered courses of instruction for twelve
successive years, with eminent success. Of these lectures, which
embraced the extensive regions of mineralogical, botanical, and
zoological inquiry, he published an outline, which exhibited a com
pass of thought, and a capacity for generalization, for which he was
little accredited by the censorious.
The reorganization of the college in 1820, occasioned a new dispo
sition of professorships, when Dr. Mitchill was commissioned by
the regents as professor of materia medica and botany. In this
capacity he continued his professorial labors until 1826, when, with
his colleagues, he resigned all connection with an institution, the
interests of which he had promoted nearly twenty years. The
gradual and steady success of this school of medicine, in opposition
to a powerful rival, is an honorable evidence of the talents and well-
directed efforts of its teachers. It may be sufficient to observe, that
it opened in 1807, with fifty-three students ; that for a while there
existed in the city two other institutions, which at length yielded to
its superiority; and that for several years it was attended by two
hundred students. Difficulties having at length arisen between the
trustees and the professors, the latter withdrew in a body from an
institution, which, under their exertions, had been elevated to rival-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ship with the oldest medical schools in the country. In common
with his colleagues, he received, upon his resignation, the thanks of
the regents of the university, for the faithful and able manner in
which he had discharged his duties as instructer and lecturer in the
college. In the new college, which was immediately thereafter
formed, under the name of Rutgers Medical College, Dr. Mitchill
was appointed to the office of vice-president.
The political career of Dr. Mitchill, which began as early as
1790, as a representative in the state legislature from his native
county of Q,ueens, was scarcely less brilliant or less beneficial to his
fellow-citizens than his services in the cause of science and philo
sophy ; and his name, as a member of the legislature, and represent
ative and senator in the national congress, is honorably associated
with many of the most conspicuous and important public transac
tions. Adopting the views of those who construe most strictly the
powers conferred upon the general government by the constitution, he
for the most part acted with those who were designated by the name
of the republican, in opposition to the federal party. His courtesy
and amenity of manners were always conspicuous ; and though a
leading member at a period of exasperated political feeling, he ab
stained from every species of intolerance towards his political oppo
nents, without forfeiting his popularity with his political friends. It
is with pleasure we record the name of Dr. Mitchill among those
who first gave impulse and activity to that splendid system of inter
nal improvement, which has given renown to New York, and ren
dered her a brilliant example to her sister states. We refer to the
statute of her legislature, in 1797, which conferred on Chancellor
Livingston the exclusive right to navigate by steam the waters
of New York. This bill owed much to the zeal and assiduity of Dr.
Mitchill, arrayed against a host of scoffing and sneering oppo
nents. The projected attempt was at this time unsuccessful, but, by
the united exertions of Livingston and Fulton, eventuated in those
magnificent efforts in steam navigation, which have changed the
internal commerce of nations.
In the congress of the United States, both as representative and
senator, the bills for reducing the required term of residence for
foreigners from fourteen to five years, on modified quarantine and
health laws, on salt duties, were a few among the many subjects
which called forth a happy display of his varied information and
persuasive elocution. His knowledge of the political relations of the
American confederation, and familiarity with its statistics, rendered

SAMUEL LATHAM MITCHILL.
him at all times a most useful member, both in the house and in
committee ; those who expected to see in him the mere abstract phi
losopher, were delighted to find in him the highest social qualities, and
a research which scarcely any subject of human inquiry had eluded.
In 1799, Dr. Mitchill was united in matrimony to the daughter
of Samuel Akerly, Mrs. Catharine Cock, his amiable partner- and
lamenting survivor. In the domestic relations of life, as husband,
brother, and friend, his zeal and affection were exemplary and dis
interested. Dr. Mitchill derived from nature a hardy and robust constitu
tion, but occasionally labored under a bronchial affection, to which
he acquired a predisposition, from an attack of inflammation in early
hfe. He died after a short but severe illness, in the 67th year of his
age, on the 7th of September, 1831, at his residence in the city of
New York. His funeral was honored by the attendance of a large
and respectable body of his fellow-citizens.
Dr. Mitchill was member of innumerable scientific societies. Of
the Lyceum of Natural History of New York he was the founder,
and for many years its president. He enriched its annals with many
contributions, and still further displayed his zeal in behalf of his
favorite pursuit, by a donation to them of a large portion of his
valuable cabinet.
Of his numerous writings, a large part relate to subjects of
transient interest, or of technical science. These we shall neither
attempt to enumerate nor to characterize. Among his most elabo
rate productions are his Addresses before the State Agricultural So
ciety ; his Correspondence with Priestley ; his Chart of Chemical No
menclature; his Introduction to Darwin's Zoonomia; his paper on
the alkaline properties of the water of the ocean, in the American
Philosophical Transactions ; his Discourse before the New- York
Historical Society on the Botanical History of North and South
America ; a paper on the fishes that inhabit the waters of New York,
in the Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New
York ; his Appendix to Cuvier's Theory of the Earth ; his Biographi
cal Discourses on Dr. Bard and on Thomas A. Emmet.
As a lecturer, simple, plain, and didactic, he arrested the attention
of his auditors by his ample and ready knowledge of his subject, and
by a fund of apt and characteristic anecdotes. In his excursions
through different sections of the United States, and during his
residence at Washington, he had become intimately acquainted with
many of the more interesting portions of our country, and with th©

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
various characters of our countrymen; and no small part of the
interest of his lectures consisted in reminiscences connected with these
circumstances of his life.
Reference has been already made to his early attainments in the
literature of Greece and Rome : evidence, indeed, of classical taste
were to be found in almost all his compositions, both written and
oral ; and he had been known and acknowledged as one of our most
eminent writers, had he not become still more conspicuous as an
adept in natural curiosities. That vivacious and fertile imagination,
which was usefully occupied with the bones of the mastodon and the
Wernerian formation, might have illustrated and illuminated the
paths of literature. We refer, for the evidences of this opinion, to his
admirable discourse before the New- York Horticultural Society,
which the scholar may consult for the beauty of its style, and the
agriculturist for the useful lessons it imparts.
For about twenty years. Dr. Mitchill acted as one of the physi
cians of the New- York Hospital ; and his diligence and attention to
the duties this office imposed, when not called from the city by other
obligations, were marked and exemplary. Nor was, he deficient,
notwithstanding his multifarious pursuits, in the practical knowledge
of disease. Those who were accustomed to regard him as a mere
theorist, by personal intercourse perceived in him the acute. clinical
observer of the different phases of disease. Like Darwin and Cullen,
he judiciously, when at the bed-side, rejected speculations, and
trusted to observation and experience as the only safe guides.
In assigning to Dr. Mitchill an eminent rank among the culti
vators of natural science, we are fully warranted by the authority of
those who have preeminently excelled in this branch of knowledge.
The illustrious Cuvier, both in his lectures and in his printed writings,
referred to him in terms of signal approbation. More recently, the
ornithologist, Audubon, has bestowed on him the tribute of his ap
plause. Let it be recollected, that his knowledge was acquired not
among the facilities of a royal or imperial cabinet; but amid the
fatigues of travel, and while resident among a population little disposed
to speculative investigation, or to regard his pursuits with favor or
reward. Though justly deemed the Nestor of American science, he
bore the honors which thickened around him meekly, if not unobtru
sively, and ever showed himself ready to aid the diligent inquirer by
counsel and encouragement. It has happened to few men to pass
through life with less of censure, or with a more fixed and unchanged
approbation. J, W. F.

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ISRAEL PUTNAM

There are some names connected with the history of our country
which associate themselves with the recollections of our juvenile
partialities. Such is that of the intrepid man whose memoir we are
about to sketch. His adventures, often bordering on the marvellous,
have excited the admiration of our youth ; and his daring, prompt,
and skilful military manoeuvres, through several years of the revo
lutionary war, are still dwelt on with pleasure by the remnant of our
time-worn veterans. Endowed by nature with a powerful frame, a
vigorous intellect, undaunted courage, and a spirit of enterprise, he
was peculiarly fitted to encounter the perils and hardships of the
time that " tried men's souls." To an early education he was but
little indebted ; but his own observation, his intercourse with men,
and his experience during a service of several years with the British
and provincial forces engaged in the conquest of Canada, enabled
him to perform the duties of his high military rank with honor to
himself and usefulness to his country. In his disposition he was
sincere, gentle, generous, and noble; his uprightness commanded
confidence, and " his word (like Petrarch's) was sufficient."
Major General Israel Putnam descended from one of the ear
liest settlers of Salem, Massachusetts, in which town he was born,
on the 7th of January, 1718. In his youth he excelled in athletic
exercises. He married at an early age, and removed to Pomfret, in
Connecticut, where for several years he cultivated an extensive tract
of land. Here he first exhibited the daring of his character in the
destruction of a she-wolf, which, after a long pursuit, had taken
refuge in a dark and narrow den, about forty feet from the entrance
In 1755, when the war between England and France was prosecuted
in America, he was appointed a captain of rangers in the provincial
regiment under Colonel Lyman. He afterwards served under Gene
rals Abercrombie and Amherst, on the frontiers and ni Canada, and
rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During that period, being
frequently in situations which required not only courage but unwea-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ried watchfulness and presence of mind, he gained the esteem and
confidence of the army.
Of his numerous adventures by flood and field during this period,
the following will serve as examples, characteristic of the man and
of the service in which he was engaged.
When stationed at Fort Miller, by his personal exertions a maga
zine, containing three hundred barrels of powder, was saved from
destruction by a fire which consumed the barracks and burned
through the outside planks of the magazine.
Being on the eastern shore of the Hudson, near the rapids in the
vicinity of Fort Miller, with a batteau and five men, he received a
signal from the opposite bank that a large body of savages were in
his rear. To stay and be sacrificed, to attempt crossing and be shot,
or to go down the falls, were the sole alternatives that presented
themselves to his choice. So insta.ntaneously was the latter adopted,
that one man was of necessity left, and fell a victim to savage bar
barity. The Indians fired on the batteau before it could be got
under way ; and no sooner had it escaped by the rapidity of the cur
rent beyond the reach of musket-shot, than destruction seemed only
to have been avoided in one form to be encountered in another.
Prominent rocks, latent shelves, absorbing eddies, and abrupt descents
for a quarter of a mile, afforded scarcely the smallest chance of
escaping. Putnam placed himself sedately at the helm ; his com
panions saw him with astonishment avoiding the rocks and yawning
gulfs which threatened instant destruction, and safely shooting
through the only passage, they at last viewed the batteau gliding on
the smooth surface of the stream below.
While engaged against the French and Indians near Lake George,
Major Putnam was ambuscaded and attacked by a superior force.
His officers and men, animated by his example, behaved with great
bravery ; but after several discharges his fusee missed fire. A large
and well-proportioned Indian, with a tremendous war-whoop, in
stantly sprang forward with his lifted hatchet and compelled him to
surrender, and having disarmed and bound him to a tree, returned to
the battle. The Indians having changed their position, he was
directly between the fires of the two parties, the balls fiying inces
santly from each side. Many struck the tree, and several passed
through his coat. In this state of jeopardy he remained more than
an hour. The enemy having again recovered the ground, a young
savage amused himself by hurling his tomahawk to see how near he
could throw it without striking his head. The weapon struck in the

ISRAEL PUTNAM.
tree a number of times at a hair's breadth from the mark. After the
Indian had finished his amusement, a French officer approached and
levelled his fusee within a foot of his breast ; but fortunately it missed
fire. Besides many base outrages upon this defenceless prisoner,
they infficted a deep wound with a tomahawk upon his left cheek,
and this mark remained during life. The enemy were at length
driven from the field ; Putnam was untied by the Indian who had
made him prisoner, and was stripped of his coat, vest, stockings, and
shoes, strongly pinioned, and loaded with packs. On the march
through the wilderness. Major Putnam became so exhausted, that
he preferred death to a longer continuance in distress. A French
officer now interposed, and the Indian who captured him gave him
a pair of moccasons. The savages being determined to roast him
alive, stripped him naked, bound him to a tree, piled combustibles
in a circle round him, and, with horrid screams and yells, set the
pile on fire. He soon began to feel the scorching heat, and as he
shrunk from its approach by shifting sides, his inhuman tormentors
demonstrated their joy by yells and dances. " When the bitterness
of death was in a manner past, and nature, with a feeble struggle,
was quitting its last hold on sublunary things," a French officer
rushed through the crowd, scattered the burning brands, and un
bound the victim. The next day Major Putnam was obliged to
march, but was excused from carrying any burden. After having
been examined by the Marquis de Montcalm, he was conducted to
Montreal by a French officer, and treated with great humanity. At
that place, among other prisoners, was Colonel Peter Schuyler, a
provincial officer, by whose assistance he was soon after exchanged.
At the expiration of ten years from his first receiving a com
mission, after having seen as much service, endured as many
hardships, encountered as many dangers, and acquired as many
laurels, as any officer of his rank, he with great satisfaction laid
aside his uniform, and returned to his plough. No character
stood fairer in the public estimation for integrity, bravery, and pa
triotism. It was proverbially said, as well by British as provincial
officers, that, in a service of great peril and hardship, "he dared to
lead where any dared to followP
At the commencement of the struggle between the American colo
nies and the mother country, while many citizens who had ¦wit
nessed the power of the British nation, stood aloof, Putnam was
among the first and most conspicuous who engaged in the glo
rious cause. At Boston he took frequent opportunities of con-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
versing on the subject with General Gage, Lord Percy, Major Small,
and other officers with whom he had formerly served. Bemg
questioned, in case the dispute should proceed to hostihties, what
part he would really take, he answered, "with his country; and
that, whatever might happen, he was prepared to abide the con
sequence." On hearing of the battle at Lexington, Colonel Putnam left his
plough in the middle of the field, and, without changing his clothes,
repaired to Cambridge, riding in a single day one hundred miles.
He was soon appointed a major general in the provincial army, then
to be raised, and, returning to Connecticut, he made no delay in
bringing on a body of troops. Not long after his appointment, Gene
ral Gage, unwilling that so valuable an officer should act in opposi
tion, privately conveyed to him a proposal, that if he would quit the
rebel party, he might rely on being made a major general in the
British establishment, and receiving an ample pecuniary compensa
tion for his services ; but he spurned the offer. On the 16th of June,
1775, it was determined in a council of war, at which General Put
nam assisted, that a fortified post should be established at, or near
Bunker Hill. General Putnam marched with the first detachment,
and commenced the work ; he was the principal engineer who traced
the lines of the redoubt on Breed's Hill, and he continued most of the
night with the workmen. At sunrise on the morning of the 17th,
he had taken his station ; and he participated in the danger as well
as the glory of that day. He was, it is believed, considered as having
the general superintendence of the expedition. As the enemy ad
vanced, General Putnam rode through the line of his own troops,
and ordered that no one should fire till they arrived within eight
rods, nor any one until commanded. Powder was scarce, and must
not be wasted. They should not fire at the enemy till they could see
the white of their eyes, and then fire low, and take aim at their waist
bands. " You are all marksmen," he added, " and can kill a squirrel
at a hundred yards ; reserve your fire, and the enemy will be de
stroyed." During the heat of the battle, Putnam was seen riding
from front to rear, and from place to place, where his presence was
most needed, animating both officers and men, his sword wavino- in
the air, threatening to cut down the first who should disobey orders,
or act a cowardly part. At one time the gallant Major Small was
left standing alone, every one shot do-wn about him. The never
erring muskets were levelled at him, and a soldier's fate was his
inevitable destiny, had not Putnam at the instant appeared. Each

ISRAEL PUTNAM.
recognised in the other an old friend and fellow-soldier — the tie was
sacred — Putnam threw up the deadly muskets with his sword, and
arrested his fate. He begged his men to spare that officer, as dear
to him as a brother. The general's humane and chivalrous gene
rosity excited admiration, and his friend retired unhurt.
Both the poet and the painter have placed Putnam in the rear of
the retreating troops. " There strides bold Putnam, and from all the plains
Calls the tired host, the tardy rear sustains,
And, mid the whizzing deaths that fiU the air
Waves back his sword, and dares the foUowing war."
Barlow's Vision of Columbus, and
Tkumbull's Battle of Bunker Hill.
In connection with this part of our subject, we cannot avoid adding the
following letter from Colonel John Trumbull, an officer in the revolu
tionary war, and now the president of the American Academy of the
Fine Arts, to Daniel Putnam, esq., dated "New York, March 30, 1818."
"In the summer of 1786, I became acquainted in London with
Colonel John Small, of the British army, who had served in Ame
rica many years, and had known General Putnam intimately during
the war of Canada, from 1756 to 1763. From him I had the
following anecdote respecting the battle of Bunker Hill. I shall
nearly repeat his words. Looking at the picture, which I had then
almost completed, he said, ' I do n't like the situation in which you
have placed my old friend Putnam — you have not done him
justice. I wish you to alter that part of your picture, and introduce
a circumstance which actually happened, and which I can nevei
forget. When the British troops advanced the second time to the
attack of the redoubt, I, with other officers, was in front of the hne
to encourage the men. We had advanced very near the works
undisturbed, when an irregular fire, like a feu de joie, was poured in
on us — it was cruelly fatal. The troops fell back; and when I
looked to the right and left, I saw not one officer standing. I
glanced my eye to the enemy, and saw several young men levelling
their pieces at me — I knew their excellence as marksmen, and
considered myself gone. At this moment my old friend Putnam
rushed forward, and striking up the muzzles of their pieces with his
sword, cried out, ' For God's sake, my lads, do n't fire at that man —
I love him as I do my brother.' We were so near each other, that I
heard his words distinctly. He was obeyed— I bowed, thanked him,
and walked away unmolested.' "

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
When, in July 1775, General Washington arrived at Cambridge
he found General Putnam industriously engaged in accelerating the
construction of the necessary defences. His great acti-vity and per
sonal industry, the undisguised frankness of his disposition, and the
peculiar interest which he discovered in every thing pertaining to
the army, soon attracted the attention of the commander in chief; a
firm friendship was cemented between these two generals, which
continued undiminished till separated by death. Washington having
divided the army into three grand divisions, consisting of about
twelve regiments each, he appointed Major General Ward to com
mand the right wing. Major General Lee the left wing, and Major
General Putnam the reserve.
Immediately after the British army evacuated Boston, on the 17th
of March, 1776, General Washington ordered the greater part of his
army to New York, in order to secure that city from an attack ; and
detached General Putnam, with instructions to " make the best
despatch in getting to New York, to assume the command, and
immediately proceed in continuing to execute the plan proposed by
Major General Lee, for fortifying that city, and securing the passes
of the East and North rivers." On his arrival, he issued his orders,
enjoining on the soldiers the strictest observance of order, and
prohibiting the inhabitants from all intercourse with the British
fleet. The consequence was, that in a short time all the British
armed vessels sailed out of the harbor. The commander in chief
arrived in New York about the middle of April, and in his first
public orders returned thanks to the officers who had successively
commanded at New York, for the many works of defence which had
been so expeditiously erected.
General Washington being required by congress to visit Philadel
phia, General Putnam was the commander of the army during his
absence, from the 21st of May to the 6th of June. The most
important duties devolved upon him, which were executed in a
manner the most effectual and satisfactory.
It was but two days previous to the battle on Long Island, that
General Putnam was ordered to the command of that post ; and he
assisted in the arduous and complicated difficulties of that masterly
retreat. In the memorable and distressing ffight of the American
army through New Jersey, in 1776, he was always near, always the
friend, the supporter, and confidant of his chief. After reaching the
western bank of the Delaware with the rear of the army, he was
ordered to Philadelphia, to fortify and defend that city against a
meditated attack. When in the summer of 1777, Fort Montgomery

ISRAEL PUTNAM.
was captured by the enemy, and it was determined to erect another
fortification on the banks of the Hudson for the defence of that river,
the commander in chief left it wholly to the judgment of General
Putnam to fix on the spot, who decided in favor of West Point.
In the battle of Princeton, Captain M'Pherson, of the 17th British
regiment, was desperately wounded and left with the dead. General
Putnam found him languishing in extreme distress, without a
surgeon, without accommodation, and without a friend. He imme
diately caused every possible comfort to be administered to him.
" While the recovery of Captain M'Pherson was doubtful, he desired
that General Putnam would permit a friend in the British army at
Brunswick to come and assist him in malting his will. General
Putnam, who had then only fifty men in his whole command, was
sadly embarrassed by the proposition. He was not willing that a
British officer should spy out the weakness of his post; and it was
not in his nature to refuse complying with a dictate of humanity.
He luckily bethought himself of an expedient, which he hastened to
put in practice. A flag was despatched with Captain M'Pherson's
request, but under an injunction not to return with his friend until
night. In the evening, lights were placed in all the rooms of the
college, (at Princeton,) and in every apartment of the vacant houses
throughout the town. During the whole night, the fifty men, some
times altogether and sometimes in small detachments, were marched
from different quarters by the house in which M'Pherson lay.
Afterwards it was known that the officer, on his return, reported that
General Putnam's army, upon the most moderate calculation, could
not consist of less than four or five thousand men."
While General Putnam was posted at Peekskill, a person by the
name of Palmer, who was a lieutenant in the tory levies, was
detected in his camp. Governor Tryon reclaimed him as a British
officer, and threatened vengeance in case he should be executed.
General Putnam wrote the following pithy reply.
" Sir, — Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your king's service, was
taken in my camp as a spy — he was tried as a spy — he was con
demned as a spy — and you may rest assured, sir, he shall be hanged
as a spy. " I have the honor to be, fcc,
"Israel Putnam.
"His Excellency Governor Tryon.
" P. S. Afternoon. He is hanged." 7 L

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
In the winter of 1778, the Connecticut troops, "who had been
badly fed, badly clothed, and worse paid, formed the design of
marching to Hartford, where the general assembly was then in
session, and demanding redress. General Putnam, hearing that the
second brigade was under arms for this purpose, mounted his horse,
galloped to the cantonment, and addressed them. After the several
regiments had received the general as he rode along the line, with
drums beating and presented arms, the sergeants who had then the
command brought the men to an order, in which position they
continued while he was speaking. He then directed them to shoul-'
der, march to their regimental parades, and lodge arms ; all which
they executed with apparent good humor."
About the middle of the winter of 1778, while General Putnam
was on a visit to his outpost at Horseneck, he found Governor
Tryon advancing upon him with a corps of fifteen hundred men.
To oppose these, General Putnam had only a picquet of one
hundred and fifty men, and two iron field-pieces without horses or
drag-ropes. He, however, planted his cannon on the high ground,
and retarded their approach by firing several times, until, perceiving
the horse (supported by the infantry) about to charge, he ordered the
picquet to provide for their safety by retiring to a swamp inaccessible
to horse, and secured his o-wn by riding down the steep declivity at
the church upon a full trot. This hill was so steep where he
descended, as to have seventy stone steps, for the accommodation of
foot passengers. Here the dragoons, who were but a sword's length
from him, stopped short and fired at him ; and before they could
gain the valley, by going round the hill, he was far beyond their
reach. Without any other injury than a bullet-hole in his beaver,
he continued his route unmolested to Stamford, where he collected
some militia, and in turn pursued Governor Tryon and his party.
In December, 1779, while on his return from Coimecticut to head
quarters, this venerable man was attacked by a paralytic affection,
under which he languished till the 29th of May, 1790, when his
honorable and useful life was brought to a final close, at Brooklyn,
Connecticut.

Diovm frcnn life, nnd Eii(ini.vci3 bv J.

.dp.vci3 bv J.B-Lon.^ac

l'UI-'.SIl)l'',NT Cli-' Till-; UNITV;!) S'l\\'n>'S

ANDREW JACKSON.

Andrew Jackson was born on the 15th March, 1767, in Waxsaw,
South Carolina, a settlement whither his family had emigrated
from Ireland two years previous. His father dying soon after the
birth of this, his third son, Andrew was left in the care of a faithful
mother, who determined to afford him such a rudimental education, as
would be of service to him in case her fond desire should be reahzed
by his choosing the clerical profession. He had scarcely time to enter
upon the study of the languages, when the revolutionary struggle
involved his native spot in the commotion, and at the age of fourteen
he abandoned school for the colonial camp. In consequence of the
smallness of their number, the body of troops to which he was
attached, were obliged to withdraw to North Carolina, but soon
returned to their own settlement, where a party of forty were sur
prised by a large detachment of the enemy, and compelled to surren
der. Jackson and his brother eluded the fate of their companions,
but were taken the next day, and kept in strict confinement, until
they were exchanged after the battle of Camden. His eldest brother
had previously perished in the service of the colony ; his only sur
viving brother, the companion of his imprisonment, died in conse
quence of a wound infficted by the officer of the British detachment,
for refusing to perform menial services, and his mother sur-vived him
but a few weeks, a victim to anxiety and fatigue. Andrew escaped
with his life from the rage of the same officer, excited by the same
cause, only by his dexterity in recei-\dng on his hand the stroke of the
sword which was aimed with fury at his head.
Having thus become heir to the whole of the moderate estate left
by his father, he prosecuted his education. In 1784, he commenced
the study of the law in Salisbury, North Carolina; was admitted
to practice in 1786, and removed in 1788 to Nashville, to make
an enterprising experiment in that newly peopled district of Ten
nessee. Professional success immediately attended him, in conse
quence of the singular condition of the affairs of the settlers. Many

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of the young adventurers, who had traded on credit with the mer
chants of the town, were unable, or indisposed to fulfil their engage
ments, and had retained the only practitioner of the law then in
Nashville, as their counsellor. The creditors had consequently no
means of prosecuting their claims ; but the moment of Jackson's
arrival they availed themselves of his aid, and on the very next day
he commenced seventy suits. This auspicious opening introduced
him to a respectable business. He was soon after appointed attorney
general of the district. The depredations of the Indians upon the
new country frequently called him into active military service with
his fellow citizens ; among whom he was distmguished by his energy
and valor. Thus conspicuous, he was selected, in 1796, as a dele
gate to the convention for forming a constitution for the state ; and
was in the same year elected to the lower house of congress. In the
year following, he was delegated to the national senate, in which he
took his seat, but resigned at the close of the session, alleging his
distaste for the intrigues of pohtics. Within that period he was
chosen major general of the Tennessee militia, and held the office
until called to the same rank in the United States' service, in 1814.
Upon his retirement from the national legislature. General Jackson
was appointed to the bench of the supreme court of the state, an ofiice
which he accepted -with diffidence and reluctance, and soon resigned,
retiring from public life to his farm on the Cumberland river, near
Nashville. Here he passed several years in the pursuits of agricul
ture, until summoned by the second war with Great Britain to take
an active part in the defence of the country. He proceeded in the
winter of 1812, at the head of twenty-five hundred volunteers, to the
duty assigned him by the general government, of defending the lower
states, and descended the Ohio and Mississippi to Natchez, where he
had been instructed to await further orders. The danger of the anti
cipated invasion being dispelled, Jackson was directed by the secre
tary of war to disband his troops on the spot. But a large number
of his men being then sick, and destitute of the means of returning
home, he felt bound by obligations to them and their families to
lead them back, and to disregard an order made without the know
ledge of his peculiar circumstances. This purpose he effected,
sharing with his men in all the hardships of the return. His
subsequent representations to the cabinet were accepted, and his
course sanctioned.
The Creek Indians having become allies of the British, and per
petrated several massacres, the legislature of Tennessee placed a

ANDREW JACKSON.
force of thirty-five hundred of their militia under the command of
Jackson to proceed against them. The first attack upon the savages
was made at Talladega, on the river Coosa, where a band of a thou
sand Creeks were routed and dispersed. In the beguming of 1814.
another party was defeated at Emuckfaw, and in March, the general
proceeded to the village of Tohopeka, or Horse-shoe, on the Talla
poosa, where a long and desperate battle was waged. The Indians
screened themselves behind a long rampart of timbers and trunks ot
trees, directing their unerring fire from a double row of port-holes.
The contest was prolonged from the morning to midnight of the 27th,
when they were driven from the entrenchment, leaving upwards of
five hundred of their warriors on the field. Jackson determined to
proceed next to Hoithlewalee, a Creek town near the junction of the
Coosa and Tallapoosa ; but the swelling of the streams by recent
rains so much impeded his progress, that the enemy had time to
escape. At the Hickory Ground, however, near the villages, the
principal chiefs sued for peace, which was granted them on condition
of their withdrawing to the neighborhood of fort Williams. Hostility
being checked in this quarter, the troops took up their march home
ward on the 21st April, terminating a most severe service ; during
which, the promptness and decision of the commander maintained
the order and efficiency of the troops, (although menaced by mutiny
and scarcity of pro-visions,) and by his celerity defeating the strata
gems even of Indian warfare. " Within a few days," he observed to
his army at the close of the war, " you have annihilated the power
of a nation, that for twenty years has been the disturber of your
peace." His services in the campaign attracted the notice of government,
and he was commissioned a major general, May, 1814. Li the same
year he was named a commissioner with Colonel Hawkins, to form a
treaty with the subdued tribes, the principal object of which was to
prevent any intercourse between them and the British and Spanish
agents in the Floridas. This was accomplished at Alabama in
August, and the right secured to the United States of establishing
military posts in their territory.
While engaged in this employment, he discovered that the Indians
were still encouraged and supported by the Spaniards in Florida, and
that a British officer was permitted to organize and drill a body of
British soldiers and fugitive Creeks in Pensacola. The remonstrances
which Jackson addressed to the Spanish governor were contemned.
He anticipated a movement against New Orleans, and announced the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
impending danger to the neighboring states, urging them to imme
diate and vigorous preparation. He drew a supply of volunteers
from Tennessee, and proceeded in person to Mobile to make the
defence of that point. An attack was soon commenced upon fori
Bowyer, which commands the bay of Mobile, by a squadron with a
force under Colonel Nicholls, who was repulsed with loss by the
Americans under Major Lawrence. The British retired into Pensa
cola to refit, and Jackson,' who had in vain requested permission
from the president to attack that town, so openly departing from its
neutrality, determined to advance against it upon his own respon
sibility, throw a force into fort Barrancas, and expect the result.
Accordingly, he took possession of the town with an army of three
thousand, in the beginning of November, driving the Spaniards before
him after a short but unavailing resistance. Fort Barrancas was
blown up by the enemy after the surrender of the town, and that
fortress being the main object of capture, in order to secure the com
mand of Pensacola, Jackson did not think it necessary to retain
possession of the town, and returned to fort Montgomery.
The anxieties of the general were now directed to New Orleans,
as the most probable point for the next attempt of the hovering enemy,
and he reached that city on the first of December, 1814. The popu
lation of this denizen territory were not easily excited to the degree
of alacrity required by the exigence, and the principal dependence of
Jackson to meet a large body of well-disciplined English troops, was
upon the volunteers of Tennessee and Kentucky, whom he had sum
moned to his aid. He at once fortified the approaches to the city,
with the cooperation of Commodore Patterson, who commanded a
small naval force. Early on the morning of the 14th December, the
enemy, in number about twelve hundred, approached in forty-three
barges, and commenced an attack on the American flotilla lying in
lake Borgne, consisting of five gun boats, and one hundred and
eighty-two men. A brave defence was made by the gallant little
squadron for about an hour, when the superior number of the enemy
triumphed, and the Americans were carried prisoners to Cat island.
Jackson now prepared for a more formidable attempt, and troops
and arms were gradually arriving to nis assistance. At this mo
mentous juncture, he discovered that the safety of the country was
exposed to the treachery of a number of disaffected inhabitants of
New Orleans ; and that the suspected might be put under proper
restraint, he urged upon the legislature of Louisiana the necessity of
suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. While the

ANDREW JACKSON.
measure was in the slow process of deliberation, Jackson proclaimed
the city to be under martial law, superseding all civil authority by a
rigid military police.
On the 22d, the British secretly effected a landing, and reached the
banks of the Mississippi, within seven miles of the city. As soon as
this was kno-wn, he called upon Generals Coffee and Carroll to join
him, and proceeded to meet the invaders. The hostile armies came
in sight of each other near the close of the day. The number of the
enemy was upwards of three thousand, the American force did not
exceed two thousand ; the latter, however, commenced the charge,
and a severe conffict lasted until the darkness of the night confused
the combatants. The British were driven before our army for nearly
a mile, from several successive intrenchments. By continual acces
sions during the battle, the British force was estimated to have
increased to the number of six thousand ; the American commander
deeming it rash to pursue his success at such a hazard, proceeded to
prepare for defence by throwing up a breastwork in front of his
army. On the 28th, these works were attacked by the enemy under
their commander-in-chief, Sir Edward Packenham, and were forced
to retire. Frequent skirmishes occurred between detached parties
for several days, while the enemy were preparing for a grand assault.
On the first of January, 1815, they opened a tremendous discharge
from their batteries upon our lines, but the fire was returned with
such success, that by three o'clock they were silenced.
On the fourth, a timely reinforcement from Kentucky added
twenty-five hundred men to the American army. On the eighth,
the enemy advanced in two divisions under Sir Edward Packenham,
and owing to a fog, approached within a short distance of the
intrenchments before they were discovered. A terrible and unceasing
volley kept them back, and Packenham fell, fatally wounded. The
British columns, sixty or seventy deep, were successively led on to
the charge and broken by the dreadful havoc of the American fire,
until they betook, themselves to fiight. Jackson was obliged to
submit to the mortification of withholding his men from pursuit, for
a large portion of them were without arms, and to venture with so
inferior a force to a battle on the open field would have been an unjus
tifiable risk. He was compelled, therefore, to remain in his post.
The force of the British in this memorable engagement was at least
nine thousand ; the efficient American troops amounted to thirty-seven
hiindred. The enemy's loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, is
estimated at three thousand, while that of the victors was but thirteen
5 V

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
For several days after the battle, the British camp was harassed by a
continual discharge from the batteries, which compelled the army to
withdraw secretly to their ships on the night of the 18th, and they
soon left the coast. The general entered New Orleans with his victo
rious troops on the 20th, where he was received with boundless
enthusiasm, and solemn thanksgiving to Providence was offered in
public services at the Cathedral. Insidious attempts were now made
in New Orleans to destroy the strength of the army by encouraging
mutiny and desertion. The city being still under martial law, Jack
son caused to be arrested a member of the legislature who had fur
nished the newspapers with articles of a pernicious tendency. Appli
cation was made to the district judge for a writ of habeas corpus, to
be served on the general, which he granted in opposition to the
positive injunctions of Jackson, who promptly ordered the judge also
to be arrested and sent from the city. Two days afterwards, official
intelligence was received of the conclusion of a treaty of peace
between the belligerent countries. The judge had no sooner resumed
his office, than Jackson was summoned to answer for his contempt
of court in disregarding the writ, and in arresting the judicial officer.
The general appeared and vindicated his course, through his counsel,
but was fined in the sum of one thousand dollars. This sentence
excited universal indignation, and the amount of the amercement
was quickly contributed by the people ; but the general had already
discharged it from his own funds, and requested that the other sum
should be distributed among the relatives of those, who had fallen in
the battle.
The command being committed to General Gaines, Jackson re
turned to his farm, where he remained until the end of 181 7, when he
was directed to proceed against the Seminole Indians, who, emerging
from the Spanish territory, had committed repeated massacres of the
Americans on the frontiers. At the head of the Tennessee volun
teers, who were afterwards joined by the Georgia militia, he pene
trated into Florida, destroyed the retreats of the skulking savages
and fugitive slaves who had banded with them, and burned their
villages. Two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and Ambrister, were arrested
by his order, charged with exciting and leading on the insurgents.
They were tried by a court of thirteen officers, found guilty, and in
pursuance of their sentence, the former was hung and the other shot.
After placing a garrison in St. Marks, the general was about returning
to Tennessee, when he learned that the dispersed bands were com
bining west of the Appalachicola, under the countenance and pro-

ANDREW JACKSON.
tection of the governor of Pensacola. During May, he, with a force
of twelve hundred, ranged the suspected district, and marched into
Pensacola, of which he took possession ; the governor flying to fort
Barrancas, which was also yielded on the 28th. Two detachments
were then sent to clear the country of the fugitives, which being
accomplished, Jackson returned home in June, 1818. The house
of representatives, in the next session of congress, justified his course
in taking temporary possession of the Spanish fortresses, and in execu
ting the two British ringleaders. Soon after these events he visited
the northern cities, where he was enthusiastically received with
public and private honors.
When the Floridas were ceded by Spain to the United States, the
president appointed General Jackson a commissioner to receive the
cession, and act as governor of the territory. This important annex
ation was officially announced by him at Pensacola in July, 1821,
when he commenced his administration. Having organized his
new government, he resigned his office, and returned to his farm in
Tennessee. In the month of August, 1822, the legislature of Tennessee nomi
nated General Jackson as the successor of Mr. Monroe in the
presidency of the United States, the proposition was favorably
received in many parts of the union. He declined an appointment
as minister to Mexico, and in 1823 was elected to the senate of the
United States ; but having now become a prominent candidate for
the chief magistracy, he resigned his seat in the second session. The
result of the popular elections of 1824 for president, gave General
Jackson a plurality, but not a majority of votes. The house of
representatives were required, by the constitutional provision, to
make a selection from the three who received the greatest number of
votes, and the suffrages of the states gave the majority to Mr. Adams.
General Jackson was at once nominated to succeed Mr. Adams at
the close of his term of service, and the elections of the colleges
were reported to Congress on February 11, 1829, as giving to General
Jackson, one hundred and seventy-eight votes, and to Mr. Adams,
his only competitor, eighty-three.
The past four years of his administration have not been barren of
important incidents. The interests of agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures — foreign treaties, internal improvements, and the
removal of the Cherokee Indians — the United States' Bank, the
South Carolina Ordinance, and the Proclamation of the 10th De
cember, 1832, have been among the subjects which have been
7

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
agitated and discussed in congress and in the state legislatures, — in
popular assemblies, and the pubhc press, with a zeal and earnestness,
we had almost said, unparalleled in the history of our country ; but
when we look back to former administrations, we find that in all of
them, there has been something which has been made the rallying
point of party ; something to attach one portion of our citizens to the
measures of government and to give discontent to others. By the
constitution, it is made the duty of the president to recommend to
congress such measures as he may judge necessary and expedient,
and for such measures he is of course responsible to his country ; but
any member of congress may also introduce such as he may think
necessary and expedient, — and if he can carry them through the le
gislative branch of the government, the executive must either approve,
or disapprove of them, and thus be made responsible in one way or
the other for the effect. As it is impossible for any measure of the
government to be equally advantageous to every citizen, nor can all
citizens possess precisely the same views, on subjects in which they
have no immediate interest ; there will and must be parties in the
country : and whoever is, or may be president, there will be some to
approve and praise, and others to censure and condemn him.
President Jackson has now entered upon his second term of office,
having been reelected by an increased majority of the electoral votes.
He commences this term under circumstances entirely different from
the former, and the measures of the administration will be adapted
accordingly. One of the most striking peculiarities in the present
state of our country is, that it presents to the world the joyous spec
tacle of A FIRM REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT, WITHOUT A NATIONAL
DEBT. The person of Jackson is tall and thin, and indicates a life of
arduous toil. His countenance, though affected by the same cause,
is animated and striking. In his manners, he is as though he had
never dwelt in camps, nor been removed from scenes of gentlest
courtesy. His name will go down to posterity as the hero of new
ORLEANS, whose military ability covered with glory our citizen
soldiers : and his presidential career will afford to the future historian
and the political economist many important incidents and lessons of
wisdom.

Eng.li7 ABJhimni

CATHABI-NS M. SB.DGWTCK

¦2f::^:p¦z^tu^^^,^^^^.:^^^

ilnisred according !.'¦ ncl cf Congress in Oie yoaj-lSaE by Janies Hemug m the clerk's oOJce of -Lhe
----"¦ ¦ .,/ llLsinct'- CnuTt of Gic [icrtiihcra Ih^ti-Jcr of ^cw \-\^f. '. - " "¦""¦"" ¦"- -¦'¦-.-

MISS SEDGWICK.

The subject of the present sketch, as appears by Farmer's Register
of the New England settlers, is descended, on her father's side, from
Robert Sedgwick, a major general in Cromwell's service, who died in
the great expedition against the Spanish West-Indies.
Her father was the Honorable Theodore Sedgwick of Stockbridge,
Massachusetts, who served his country with distinguished reputation
in various stations, and particularly as Speaker of the House of Repre
sentatives, and as Senator in Congress ; and who, at the time of his
death, was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of his state.
Her grandfather by the mother's side was Joseph Dwight, a briga
dier general of the Massachusetts Provincial forces, and actively
engaged in the old French war of 1756.
Miss Sedgwick was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in that
beautiful district of country, where the mountains present every va
riety of beauty, and seem from their nearness to possess and to attract
a sort of familiarity not usual in scenery of so much boldiiess — and
where the Housatonic, with its alternately rapid, and scarcely moving,
current, winds its way through choked and rocky passages, and
beautiful intervals of meadow. Those who have visited these scenes,
will, if they have an eye for such things, discern many of the traces of
beauty which must have made a deep impression upon Miss Sedg
wick's mind, and have constituted an important part of its education.
If the traveller should have the good fortune to meet with a guide
as intelligent as he, who pointed out to us the paths which our
curiosity might otherwise have sought in vain, he may ascend the
very rock, carpeted with fresh moss, from which Crazy Bet poured
forth her wild snatches of eloquence, half frenzy and half inspfration.
He may view "the sacrifice rock," where the noble, the sublime,
Magawisca rushed between the descending hatchet of her father
and the neck of Everell— of Everell, for whom she felt a sentiment
higher and purer than that of love, if such there may be ; for we
suppose that the thought of being his wife never visited her maiden

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
dreams, and that she was not even conscious of wishing to be
beloved by him.
The sequestered places to which we have referred, possess a pecu
liar and touching beauty even without the aid of those associations
with which the genius of Miss Sedgwick has enriched them ; but
they receive a still higher interest than any which they could borrow
from fiction, when they are regarded as having ministered, at a very
early period, to that pure enthusiasm and love of nature which her
works so often manifest.
We have often thought, when we have seen young ladies at board
ing schools, overlaid with accomplishments, and crammed with the
lessons of a dozen masters, how much better it would have been if
their hearts and minds had been opened almost at their very dawn
ing, to the silent teachings of nature amidst her majestic woods and
hills, and the unnumbered beauties of the garden and of the field.
The sentiment which is thus inspired has no sickliness. It cannot
be acquired during one or two excursions for pleasure — like its kin
dred native products, it must take root and spring up under the open
sky, and in the pure breath of heaven.
We know scarcely any writer, certainly not any American writer,
who has read with a quicker and more discerning eye, with a better
taste, or with a purer devotion, than Miss Sedgwick, "those sermons
in stones and books in the running brooks," whose wisdom and beauty
she has so happily transferred to her own pages. This is a topic
upon which, if time were allowed us, we should be glad to expatiate,
for we are strongly inclined to think that the artificial character of
society is unfriendly to a heartfelt love of natural beauty — and that
in this age of printing, when the press is prolific beyond all example,
the incessant inquiry for new books threatens with neglect the great
volume of nature.
Our readers must be aware that the license which is allowed us in
the sketch of a lady, precludes us from borrowing from memory or
asking from friends, any of those details without which that strong
individuality which is, or might be, engraven on our own minds,
could not be transferred to others. Were it no trespass, we should,
to the best of our ability, present those charms of conversation and
those traits of moral excellence which render Miss Sedg-wick's society
and character the objects of admiration, and of the most partial attach
ment to all who enjoy her acquaintance and friendship.
But doubting our license on these points, we must leave those who
have never enjoyed this happiness, to form what conjectures they

MISS SEDGWICK.
may, in these respects, from her writings, and from the engraving
which precedes these pages ; a copy from a very fine picture by
Ingham, taken, as we are informed, some few years since.
We may be permitted, nevertheless, to speak as we think, of her
writings. The first published of her works was the New England
Tale. There is a circumstance relating to this work, which, if we
have been correctly informed, shows that the public are indebted, not
so much to love of literature or distinction, as to accident, for her
writings as a novelist. It is quite proverbial that many important
events which affect the fortunes of our race, are often independent of
any human design, but we are not aware that the annals of literature
are often signalized by such occurrences. Be this as it may, the New
England Tale, (the fact is vouched by the preface of that charming
work,) was originally intended for publication as a religious tract. But
it gradually grew beyond the necessary hmits of such a design. It
was thus extended without any intention of publication, and finished
solely to amuse the writer. Such was her distrust of her abihties,
and so great her reluctance to appear before the public in a work of
this magnitude, that her consent to its publication was finally extorted,
rather than given.
The portraiture of religious hypocrisy which that work contained,
and which we could wish were less true, brought upon its author the
charge of sectarianism. It is altogether probable that in a work ori
ginally intended for the class to which that belongs. Miss Sedgwick
would never have allowed the general design and interest to be so
much interwoven with topics of a debateable character. The plan
of the New England Tale did not admit of the variety, the extent, or
power of delineation, which her subsequent writings have exhibited ;
but it contains passages of deep tenderness — descriptions of nature,
for example, in the scenery of "the Mountain Caves" — and notes of
eloquence in the wild songs or rhapsodies of Crazy Bet, which the
author has seldom, if ever, surpassed. She seems to have led us to
her favorite resorts on the banks of the Housatonic, or the mountain's
side — to those haunts which her youthful steps have traced; in those
bright days, ere a single shadow has been thrown upon the prospect
of life, except to enhance its beauty. And as to the inspirations of poor
Crazy Bet, we confess that, like the communings of Madge Wildfire
with " the lovely Lady Moon," their united grace and pathos have
occasionally affected us quite as much as was becoming the gravity
of our years, or the sternness of our sex.
After the New England Tale, to use a homely phrase, the ice was

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
broken, and it was not long before Redwood was given to the public.
The popularity of this work has not been rivalled by any of the
author's productions, unless Hope Leslie be an exception.
The nature of this notice forbids any thing like a critique upon any
of the works under consideration. But we must be permitted to say,
that we consider Miss Debby Lennox one of the most original and
best delineations throughout, with which we are acquainted. It is
perhaps impossible to explain the secrets of that wonderful combina
tion by which a writer of genius brings before us the creatures of his
imagination, in juch a way that we feel them to be as real existences
as any persons in history, or among our acquaintances. Analysis
may show us what are the component parts of the character, but it
scarcely serves to explain the mystery of its influence upon us, better
than a dissection can exhibit the living functions of the human frame,
or the secret of its life. There are but very few instances in the
whole range of fiction, or at least in so far as we are acquainted with it,
in which the character throughout, if we may so say, speaks for him
self, and not the author, for him ; or, in other words, in which every
expression and motion seem to be those of a real person. Such a
character is not a picture, nor a statue, nor an admirable automaton,
nor a personification of any nameable qualities; but an independent,
self-existent being, a fellow-creature. Such beings come to be of the
number of our associates or friends. The power of such a creation
is among the rarest gifts, if not the very highest endowments of
genius. And whatever may be the station of Deborah Lennox in
this society, she appears to us to be one of its members, as decidedly
as Old Mause, or Cuddy Headrigg, or even .Teanie Deans herself. So
absolute is her identity to our minds, that we think we should recog
nise her famous "lutestring changeable," even if it were to walk
forth without its proprietor.
Redwood was admired abroad, nearly as much as in this country.
It was published in England and translated into French, the transla
tion bearing on its title page a claim to favor, which, perhaps, no
other American name could have conferred, being announced as "par
M. Cooper, auteur d'une histoire de la nouvelle Angleterre," <fcc. &c.
The same work soon after appeared in an Italian costume.
We have expressed a doubt whether any other work of Miss Sedg
wick ever acquired so much popularity as Redwood. We do not
profess, however, to be so good judges as the booksellers, on that
point. But we may be permitted to declare the judgment of the
select few, to which class the polite reader will, of course, understand

MISS SEDGWICK.
that we, and all the critics, belong. With all that select corps, we
believe, and with ourselves we are sure, Hope Leslie stands first, we
might almost say, stands alone. We have always imagined, with
what truth those who know the author better, will judge, that the
fine spirit, the delicacy, the purity, the impulsiveness, the generosity,
tenderness, piety, and, if we may be permitted to add, weaknesses, or
rather womanishnesses of the heroine of the work, were, for the most
part a transcript of the character of the author. If this were not true,
we should admire Hope Leslie more than any other creation of the
author, but not doubting it, we certainly admire and love her more
than any of her sisters, if this relationship may be imputed to all
the female descendants of a common parent by literary genealogy.
But even Hope Leslie is not without a rival. Magawisca inspires
a loftier sentiment. She is full of moral grandeur ; but there is a
feeling of loneliness accompanying and inseparable, from the eleva
tion of her character, which, while it renders it impossible that any
one should be the sharer and arbiter of her fortunes, excludes her,
perhaps, in some measure, from the fulness of our sympathy. And
it must be acknowledged that the author has rendered herself obnox
ious to the charge of having transcended all the limits of probability
in the extreme refinement, and we may add, polish of character,
which she has given to this representative of an injured race ; unless,
indeed, the ancient canon of criticism, upon this point, may be con
sidered as abolished by the example of the great magician, in the
" unimitated and inimitable" Rebecca.
We have not left ourselves room for any particular remarks upon
the residue of Miss Sedgwick's works. Clarence, the last of her
larger productions, is the only one which, as far as we have heard,
ever reached a second edition in England, where they have all been
republished, and where, as well as we can learn by our countrymen,
who have had an opportunity of judging, they have been very justly
appreciated. Le Bossu, which has recently appeared, is greatly and justly
admired, and fully sustains the reputation of its author. This is the
best of her smaller works, and perhaps the most finished of them all.
This tale properly belongs to the class of historical romances. The
author has taken the liberty in one or two instances, of which she was
doubtless well aware, to transpose the order of events. While we
leave to others the vindication of the rights of criticism upon this
point, we must be permitted to express our satisfaction and delight at
the fidelity with which she has transferred to her pages ilie true

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
impress and spirit of the times of Charlemagne. This tale is equally
remarkable for its finished portraiture of individual character, for the
grouping of the dramatis personas, for the skill and contrivance of
the incidents, for the grace of its decorations, and for its constant and
spirit-stirring action.
If we might be permitted to advise her upon the subject of literary
partnerships, hke that of Glauber Spa, we would counsel her never
to engage in another. Not that we have any objections to this asso
ciation in particular — but we prefer Miss Sedgwick by herself.
And moreover, we think such associations dangerous for a lady.
Not that she would be in any sense responsible for any latitudina-
rianism, either in morals or taste, which such a work might contain
— but nevertheless, in case of such delinquency, she would be asso
ciated with it, in the public mind, to a certain extent. While we
are talking of this beautiful tale, we may be permitted to say that a
collection of Miss Sedgwick's contributions to the Souvenirs, would
form two delightful, and we doubt not, popular volumes.
But we have left ourselves little room to speak of the general cha
racter of Miss Sedgwick's writings, or of the place which they occupy
in American literature. A discussion of this last topic may be well
spared in this notice, but we would not entirely pass by the first,
because we regard these writings as affording, in an eminent degree,
an index of the heart, as well as of the mind, of the writer.
It is evident that Miss Sedgwick's mind inclines towards cheerful
views of life. There seems to be implanted in her heart a love of
goodness, and of the beautiful, which turns as naturally towards sere
nity and joy, as flowers lean towards the sun. It is manifest that
though possessing great refinement herself, her sympathies are not
confined to a coterie or a class, but that they are called forth by every
manifestation of virtue, even in the most humble circumstances, and
that she looks with kind regard upon those gleams of a better nature
which occasionally break forth amid prevailing clouds and darkness.
She affects no indifference to the accidental advantages of condi
tion. It would be impossible to diminish her interest in the powers
and fascinations of genius and imagination, and she thinks it no duty
to attempt it. But her highest favor and affection are reserved for
that enduring virtue, which is perfected through much trial and tri
bulation, and which needs no earthly witness, or outward reward.
She delights to see the " signet of hope upon the brow of infancy ;"
but she remembers with more satisfaction the last smile of unfaltering
faith and love, which even death itself spares for a season.

MISS SEDGWTCK.
It is impossible to speak of her works without a particular regard
to their moral and religious character. We know no writer of the
class to which she belongs, who has done more to inculcate just reli
gious sentiments. They are never obtruded, nor are they ever sup
pressed. It is not the religion of observances, nor of professions, nor
of articles of faith, but of the heart and life. It always comes forth.
not as something said or done from a sense of necessity or duty, but as
part of the character and inseparable from its strength, as well as from
its grace and beauty. It is a union of that faith which works by
love, with that charity which never faileth.
There is another characteristic of Miss Sedgwick's writings
which should not be overlooked. We allude to their great good sense,
and practical discretion, the notableness which they evince, and
recommend. This is so true, that we recollect having heard a
zealous utilitarian declare, after reading one of her works, that politi
cal economy might be taught to the greatest advantage through the
medium of romances.
We cannot omit a passing remark upon Miss Sedgwick's style.
We have often thought, that in the hands of a master, the subject of
style would afford an admirable opportunity for establishing a new
school of philosophy. It is very certain that style affords a truer
index of the mind, than the theory of physiognomy, even in the
hands of the philosophical Lavater ; or that of craniology, in those
of Gall and Spurzheim. He who shall set up for the leader of a
sect upon this subject, must be able to furnish us with an experi-
mentum crucis, by which we can separate what is adventitious from
what is natural ; that which is derived from fashion and imitation,
however unconsciously, from that embodying of the thoughts, which
is, perhaps, not less characteristic than themselves.
Whatever our readers may think of the depths of this philosophy^
we are sure that they will agree with us, that there is a peculiar
grace, fitness, and beauty, in Miss Sedgwick's style : it is entirely
devoid of mannerism, and we like it a thousand times better on that
account. The drapery of her thoughts is negligee, gay, rich, grave,
or solemn, as becomes them. There is one particular in which we
especially admire her costume : there is no variety of it which ever
exhibits a single blue thread, in a certain quarter where that color
is but too apt to attract attention. She always leads us to regard
her rather as an accomplished lady, than as a brilliant author. Her
style is never marked by pedantry, and is equally free from stiffness
and negligence — it is more distinguished by delicacy and grace

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
than strength. The purity of her English may afford a model to
some of our learned scholars ; and -with that of Miss Edgeworth
it furnishes for their consideration the very interesting problem how
far a knowledge of the learned languages is essential to an English
writer in the use of his vernacular tongue.
Our limits will not permit us to speak of Miss Sedgwick's powers
of invention, and imagination, nor of her great truth and skill in
the delineation of character. We cannot, however, wholly omit to
notice that power, which speaks from heart to heart. In matters
of taste, we may adopt the opinions of others, but we must feel for
ourselves. On this subject we know not what may be the experience
of others, but for ourselves, we hardly know more beautiful specimens
of the pathetic, than are to be found in the works of Miss Sedgwick.
It takes you by surprise, and finds its way, before you are aware of
it, to the fountain of tears, like the heart-broken voice of a child.
She never attempts to convulse our hearts with hopeless and unpro
fitable agonies — and if there be anything painful in the emotions
which she calls forth, it is more than compensated by the healing
infiuence which they possess — the kindly sympathies they elicit, or
the sense of justice which they satisfy — and this, we think, is the
limit beyond which fictitious misery should never pass.

.g-. "by AH.IkixfJiS

JOHN marshal:. LL.D.

Entprecl jux^oidmg' to lie ac-L of Congress in ihe year 1333 by Daanes Hnnmfl; m the derk's oTfme o£ the DistiicL
Court of tho SLfutberii ilistcicl of llew"K>rlt

JOHN MARSHALL, LL.D,

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES.

John Marshall (the present Chief Justice of the United States,)
was born in Fauquier county, in the state of Virginia, on the
24th of September, 1755. His father was Thomas Marshall of
the same state, who served with great distinction in the revo
lutionary war, as a colonel in the line of the continental army.
Colonel Marshall was a planter of a very small fortune, and had
received but a narrow education. These deficiencies, however, were
amply supplied by the gifts of nature. His talents were of a high
order, and he cultivated them with great diligence and perseverance,
so that he maintained throughout his whole life, among asso
ciates of no mean character, the reputation of being a man of
extraordinary ability. No better proof need be adduced to justify
this opinion, than the fact that he possessed the unbounded
confidence, admiration, and reverence of all his children, at the period
of life when they were fully able to appreciate his vrorth and
compare him with other men of known eminence. There are those
yet living, who have often listened with delight to the praises
-bestowed on him by filial affection ; and have heard the declaration
emphatically repeated from the lips of one of his most gifted sons, that
his father was an abler man than any of his children. Such praise
from such a source is beyond measure precious. It warms while it
elevates. It is a tribute of gratitude to the memory of a parent after
death has put the last seal upon his character, and at a distance of
time, when sorrow has ceased its utterance, and left behind it the
power calmly to contemplate his excellence.
Colonel Marshall had fifteen children, seven of whom are now
li-vlng ; and it has long been a matter of public fame, that all the
children, females as well as males, possessed superior intellectual
endowments. John was the eldest child; and was of course the
first to engage the solicitude of his father. In the local position of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the family, at that time almost upon the frontier settlements of the
country, (for Fauquier was a frontier county,) it was of course, that
the early education of all the children should devolve upon its head.
Colonel Marshall superintended the studies of his eldest son, and gave
him a decided taste for English literature, and especially for history
and poetry. At the age of twelve he had transcribed Pope's Essay
on Man, and also some of his moral essays. The love of poetry, thus
awakened in his warm and vigorous mind, never ceased to exert a
commanding influence over it. He became enamored of the
classical writers of the old school, and was instructed by their solid
sense, and their beautiful imagery. In the enthusiasm of youth, he
often indulged himself in poetical compositions, and freely gave up
his hours of leisure to those delicious dreamings of the muse, which
(say what we may) constitute some of the purest sources of pleasure
in the gay scenes of hfe, and some of the sweetest consolations in
adversity and affliction, throughout every subsequent period of it. It
is well known, that he has continued to cultivate this favorite study,
and to read with intense interest the gay as well as the loftier
productions of the divine art. One of the best recommendations of the
taste for poetry in early life is, that it does not die with youth ; but
affords to maturer years an invigorating energy, and to old age a
serene and welcome employment, always within reach, and always
coming with a fresh charm. Its gentle influence is then hke that
so happily treated by Gray. The lover of the muses may truly say,
I feel the gales that round ye blow
A momentary bliss bestow,
As, waving fresh their gladsome wing.
My weary soul they seem to soothe.
And redolent of joy and youth
To breathe a second spring.
The contrast, indeed, is somewhat striking between that close
reasoning, which almost rejects the aid of ornament, in the juridical
labors of the Chief Justice, and that generous taste, which devotes
itself with equal delight to the works of fiction and song. Yet the
union has been far less uncommon than slight observers are apt to
imagine. Lord Hardwicke and Lord Mansfield had an ardent
thirst for general hterature, and each of them was a cultivator, if
not a devotee, of the hghter productions of the imagination.
There being at that time no grammar school in the part of the
country where Colonel Marshall resided, his son was sent, at the age
of fourteen, about a hundred miles from home, and placed under the

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
tuition of a Mr. Campbell, a clergyman of great respectability. He
remained with him a year, and then returned home, and was put
under the care of a Scotch gentleman, -who was just introduced into
the parish as pastor ; and resided in his father's family. He pursued
his classical studies under this gentleman's direction, while he
remained in the family, which was about a year ; and at the
termination of it, he had commenced reading Horace and Livy. His
subsequent mastery of the classics was the result of his own efforts,
without any other aid than his grammar and dictionary. He never
had the benefit of an education at any college, and his attainments in
learning have been nursed by the solitary -vigils of his own genius.
His father, however, continued to superintend his English education,
to cherish his love of knowledge, to give a solid cast to his acquire
ments, and to store his mind with the most valuable materials. He
was not merely a watchful parent, but an instructive and affectionate
friend, and soon became the most constant, as he was at the time
almost the only intelligent, companion of his son. The time not
devoted to his society was passed in hardy athletic exercises, and
probably to this circumstance is owing that robust constitution, which
yet seems fresh and firm in a green old age.
About the time when young Marshall entered his eighteenth
year, the controversy between Great Britain and her American
colonies began to assume a portentous aspect, and engaged, and
indeed absorbed, the attention of all the colonists, whether they were
young, or old, in private and secluded life, or in political and pubhc
bodies. He entered into it with aU the zeal and enthusiasm of a youth,
full of love for his country and liberty, and deeply sensible of its
rights and its wrongs. He devoted much time to acquiring the first
rudiments of mihtary exercise in a voluntary independent company,
composed of gentlemen of the county ; to training a militia company
in the neighborhood, and to reading the political essays of the day.
For these animating pursuits, the preludes of pubhc resistance, he
was quite content to relinquish the classics, and the less inviting, but
with reference to his future destiny, the more profitable Commen
taries of Sir WiUiam Blackstone.
In the summer of 1775, he received an appointment as first
heutenant in a company of minute-men enrolled for actual service,
who were assembled in battalion on the first of the ensuing September.
In a few days they were ordered to march into the lower country,
for the purpose of defending it against a small regular and predatory
force commanded by Lord Dunmore. They constituted part of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
troops destined for the relief of Norfolk ; and Lieutenant Marshall
was engaged in the battle of the Great Bridge, where the British
troops, under Lord Dunmore, were repulsed with great gallantry.
The way being thus opened by the retreat of the British, he
marched with the provincials to Norfolk, and was present when
that city was set on fire by a detachment from the British ships then
lying in the river.
In July, 1776, he was appointed first lieutenant in the eleventh
Virginia regiment on the continental establishment; and in the course
of the succeeding winter, he marched to the north, where, in May,
1777, he was promoted to the rank of captain. He was subsequently
engaged in the skirmish at Iron Hill with the light infantry, and
fought in the memorable battles of Brandywine, Germanto-wn, and
Monmouth. That part of the Virginia line, which was not ordered to Charleston
(S. C.,) being in effect dissolved by the expiration of the term of
enlistment of the soldiers, the officers (among whom was Captain
Marshall) were, in the winter of 1779-80, directed to return home, in
order to take charge of such men as the state legislature should raise
for them. It was during this season of inaction that he availed
himself of the opportunity of attending a course of law lectures given
by Mr. Wythe, afterwards chancellor of the state ; and a course of
lectures on natural philosophy, given by Mr. Madison, president of
William and Mary College in Virginia. He left this college in the
summer vacation of 1780, and obtained a license to practice law. In
October he returned to the army, and continued in service until the
termination of Arnold's invasion. After this period, and before the
invasion of Phillips, in February, 1781, there being a redundancy of
officers in the Virginia hne, he resigned his commission.
During the invasion of Virginia, the courts of law were suspended,
and were not reopened until after the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis.
Immediately after that event Mr. Marshall cornmenced the practice
of law, and soon rose into distinction at the bar.
In the spring of 1782, he was elected a member of the state
legislature, and in the autumn of the same year a member of
the executive council. In January, 1783, he married Miss Ambler,
the daughter of a gentleman who was then treasurer of the
state, and to whom he had become attached before he left the army.
This lady lived for nearly fifty years after her marriage, to partake
and to enjoy the distinguished honors of her husband. In 1784, he
resigned his seat at the council board, in order to return to the bar ;

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
and he was immediately afterwards again elected a member of the
legislature for the county of Fauquier, of which he was then only
nominally an inhabitant, his actual residence being at Richmond.
In 1787 he was elected a member from the county of Henrico ; and
though at that time earnestly engaged in the duties of his profession,
he embarked largely in the political questions which then agitated
the state, and indeed the whole confederacy.
Every person at all read in our domestic history must recollect the
dangers and difficuhies of those days. The termination of the
revolutionary war left the country impoverished and exhausted by its
expenditures, and the national finances at a low state of depression.
The powers of congress under the confederation, which, even during
the war, were often prostrated by the neglect of a single state to
enforce them, became in the ensuing peace utterly relaxed and
inefficient. Credit, private as well as public, was destroyed. Agriculture and
commerce were crippled. The dehcate relation of debtor and creditor
became daily more and more embarrassed and embarrassing ; and, as
is usual upon such occasions, every sort of expedient was resorted to
by popular leaders, as well as by men of desperate fortunes, to
inflame the public mind, and to bring into odium those who labored
to preserve the public faith, and to establish a more energetic govern
ment. The whole country was soon divided 'into two great parties,
the one of which endeavored to put an end to the public evils by the
establishment of a government over the Union, which should be
adequate to all its exigencies, and act directly on the people ; the
other was devoted to state authority, jealous of all federal influence,
and determined at every hazard to resist its increase.
It is almost unnecessary to say, that Mr. Marshall could not
remain an idle or indifferent spectator of such scenes. As little
doubt could there be of the part he would take in such a contest.
He was at once arrayed on the side of Washington and Madison.
In Virginia, as every where else, the principal topics of the day were
paper money, the collection of taxes, the preservation of public faith,
and the administration of civil justice. The parties were nearly
equally divided upon all these topics ; and the contest concerning
them was continually renewed. In such a state of things, every
victory was but a temporary and questionable triumph, and every
defeat still left enough of hope to excite to new and strenuous
exertions. The affairs, too, of the confederacy were then at a crisis.
The question of the continuance of the Union, or a separation of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
states, was freely discussed; and, what is almost startling now to
repeat, either side of it was maintained without reproach. Mr.
Madison was at this time, and had been for two or three years, a
member of the house of delegates, and was in fact the author of the
resolution for the general convention at Philadelphia to revise the
confederation. He was at all times the enlightened advocate of
union, and of an efficient federal government, and he received on all
occasions the steady support of Mr. Marshall. Many have
witnessed, with no ordinary emotions, the pleasure with which both
of these gentlemen look back upon their cooperation at that period,
and the sentiments of profound respect with which they habitually
regard each other.
Both of them were members of the convention subsequently
called in Virginia for the ratification of the federal constitution.
This instrument, ha-ping come forth under the auspices of General
Washington and other distinguished patriots of the Revolution, was
at first favorably received in Virginia, but it soon encountered
decided hostility. Its defence was uniformly and most powerfully
maintained there by Mr. Marshall.
The debates of the Virginia convention are in print. But we
have been assured by the highest authority, that the printed volume
affords but a very feeble and faint sketch of the actual debates on
that occasion, or of the vigor with which every attack was urged,
and every onset repelled, against the constitution. The best talents
of the state were engaged in the controversy. The principal debates
were conducted by Patrick Henry and James Madison, as leaders.
But on three great occasions, namely, the debates on the power of
taxation, the power over the militia, and the power of the judiciary,
Mr. Marshall gave free scope to his genius, and argued with a most
commanding ability.
It is very difiicult for the present generation to conceive the
magnitude of the dangers to which we were then exposed, or to
realize the extent of the obstacles which were opposed to the
adoption of the constitution. Notwithstanding all the sufferings of
the people, the acknowledged imbecility of the government, and the
almost desperate state of our public affairs, there were men of high
character, and patriots too, who clung to the old confederation with
an enthusiastic attachment, and saw in the grant of any new powers,
indeed of any powers, to a national government, nothing but
oppression and tyranny, — slavery of the people and destruction of
the state governments on the one hand, and universal despotism

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
and overwhelming taxation on the other. Time, the great umpire
and final judge of these questions, has indeed now abundantly shown
how vain were the fears, and how unsound the principles of the
opponents of the constitution. The prophecies of its friends have
been abundantly fulfilled in the gro-wth and solid prosperity of their
country ; far, indeed, beyond their most sanguine expectations. But
our gratitude can never be too warm to those eminent men who
stemmed the torrent of public prejudice, and with a wisdom and
prudence, almost surpassing human power, laid the foundations
of that government, which saved us at the hour when we were
ready to perish. After twenty-five days of ardent and eloquent
discussion, to which justice never has been, and never can now be
done, (during which nine states adopted the constitution,) the question
was carried in its favor in the convention of Virginia by a majority
of ten votes only.
The adoption of the constitution of the United States having been
thus secured, Mr. Marshall immediately formed the determination
to relinquish public life, and to devote himself to the arduous duties
of his profession.
A man of his eminence could, however, with very great difficulty
adhere rigidly to his original resolve. The state legislature ha-dngj
in December, 1788, passed an act allcwing a representative to the city
of Richmond, Mr. Marshall was almost mianimously in-vited to
become a candidate. With considerable reluctance he yielded to the
public wishes, being principally infiuenced in his acceptance of the
station, by the increasing hostility manifested in the state against the
national government, and his own anxious desire to give the latter his
decided and public support. He continued in the legislature, as a
representative of Richmond, for the years 1789, 1790, and 1791.
During this period every important measure of the national
government was discussed in the state legislature with great freedom,
and no inconsiderable acrimony. On these occasions Mr. Marshall
vindicated the national government with a manly and zealous
independence. After the termination of the session of the legislature, in 1791,
Mr. Marshall voluntarily retired. But the events which soon
afterwards occurred in Europe, and extended a most awakening
influence to America, did not long permit him to devote himself to
professional pursuits. The French revolution, in its early da-wn,
was hailed with universal enthusiasm in America. In its progress
for a considerable period, it continued to maintain among us an

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
almost unanimous approbation. Many causes conduced to this
result. Our partiaUty for France, from a grateful recollection of her
services in our own revolutionary contest, was ardent and undisguised.
It was heightened by the consideration, that she was herself now-
engaged in a struggle for liberty, and was endeavoring to shake off
oppressions under which she had been groaning for centuries. The
monarchs in Europe were combined in a mighty league for the
suppression of this new and alarming insurrection against the claims
of legitimacy. It was not difficult to foresee, that if, they were
successful in this enterprise, we ourselves had but a questionable
security for our own independence. It would be natural for them,
after having completed their European conquests, to cast their eyes
to the origin of the e-vil, and to feel that their dynasties were not quite
safe, (even though the Atlantic rolled between us and them,) while a
living example of liberty, so seductive and so striking, remained in
the western hemisphere.
It may be truly said, that our government partook largely of the
general interest, and did not hesitate to express it in a manner not
incompatible with the strict performance of the duties of neutrality.
Mr. Marshall was as warmly attached to the cause of France as
any of his considerate countrymen.
After the death of Louis XVI., feelings of a different sort began
to mix themselves, not only in the public councils, but in private
life. Those, whose reflections reached beyond the events of the
day, began to entertain fears, lest, in our enthusiasm for the cause of
France, we might be plunged into war, 'and thus jeopard our o-wn
vital interests. The task of preserving neutrality was of itself
sufficiently difficult when the mass of the people was put in motion
by the cheering sounds of liberty and equality, which were wafted
on every breeze across the Atlantic. The duty, however, was
imperative ; and the administration determined to perform it with
the most guarded good faith.
The decided part taken by Mr. Marshall could not long remain
unnoticed. He was attacked with great asperity in the newspapers
and pamphlets of the day, and designated, by way of significant
reproach, as the coadjutor and friend of Alexander Hamilton.
Against these attacks he defended himself with a zeal and ability
proportioned to his own sincere devotion to the cause which he
espoused. At the spring election for the state legislature in the year 1795, Mr.
Marshall was not a candidate; but he was nevertheless chosen

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
under somewhat peculiar circumstances. From the time of his
withdrawing from the legislature, two opposing candidates had
divided the city of Richmond ; the one, his intimate friend, and
holding the same political sentiments with himself; the other, a most
zealous partisan of the opposition. Each election between these
gentlemen, who were both popular, had been decided by a small
majority, and the approaching contest was entirely doubtfril. Mr.
Marshall attended the polls at an early hour, and gave his vote for
his friend. While at the polls, a gentleman demanded that a poll
should be opened for Mr. Marshall. The latter was greatly
surprised at the proposal, and unhesitatingly expressed his dissent;
at the same time, he announced his willingness to become a
candidate the next year. He retired from the polls, and immediately
gave his attendance to the business of one of the courts, which was
then in session. A poll was, however, opened for him in his absence
by the gentleman who first suggested it, notwithstanding his positive
refusal. The election was suspended for a few minutes ; a
consultation took place among the freeholders ; they determiaed to
support him ; and in the evening he received the information of his
election. A more honorable tribute to his merits could not have been
paid ; and his election was a most important and timely measure in
favor of the administration.
It will be recollected, that the treaty with Great Britain, negotiated
by Mr. Jay in 1794, was the subject of universal discussion at this
period. No sooner was its ratification advised by the senate, than
public meetings were called in all our principal cities, for the purpose
of inducing the president to withhold his ratification, and if this object
were not attained, then to prevent in congress the passage of the
appropriations necessary to carry it into effect. The topics of
animadversion were not confined to the expediency of the treaty in
its principal provisions, but the bolder ground was assumed, that
the negotiation of a commercial treaty by the executive was an
unconstitutional act, and an infringement of the power given to
congress to regulate commerce. Mr. Marshall took an active part
in the discussions upon the treaty. Feeling, that the ratification of it
was indispensable to the preservation of peace, that its main
- provisions were essentially beneficial to the United States, and
comported with its true dignity and interests ; he addressed himself
with the most diligent attention to an examination of the nature and
extent of all its provisions, and of all the objections urged against it.
No state in the Union exhibited a more intense hostility to it than

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Virginia, upon the points both of expediency and constitutionality ;
and in no state were the objections urged with more impassioned
and unsparing earnestness. The task, therefore, of meeting and
overthro-wing them was of no ordinary magnitude, and required all
the resources of the ablest mind. Mr. Marshall came to the task
with a thorough mastery of every topic connected -with it. At a public
meeting of the citizens of Richmond he carried a series of resolutions,
approving the conduct of the executive.
But a more difficult and delicate duty remained to be performed.
It was easy to foresee that the controversy would soon find its way
from the public forum into the legislative bodies ; and would be there
renewed -with the bitter animosity of party spirit. Indeed, so
unpopular was the treaty in Virginia, that Mr. Marshall's friends
were exceedingly sohcitous that he should avoid engaging in any
debate in the legislature on the subject, as it would be a sacrifice of
the remains of his well deserved popularity ; and it might be even
questioned if he could there deliver his sentiments -without exposure
to some rude attacks. His answer to all such suggestions was
uniform ; that he should not move any measure to excite a debate ;
but if the subject were brought forward by others, he should, at every
hazard, vindicate the administration, and assert his own opinions.
He was incapable of shrinking from a just expression of his own
independence. The subject was soon introduced by his political
opponents, and the constitutional objections were urged with
trium_phant confidence. That, particularly, which denied the
constitutional right of the executive to conclude a commercial
treaty, was selected and insisted on as a favorite and unanswerable
position. The speech of Mr. Marshall on this occasion has been
always represented as one of the noblest efforts of his genius. His
vast powers of reasoning were employed with the most gratifying
success. He demonstrated, not only from the words of the
constitution, and the universal practice of nations, that a commercial
treaty was within the constitutional powers of the executive, but
that this opinion had been maintained and sanctioned by Mr.
Jefferson, by the whole delegation of Virginia in congress, and by
the leading members in the convention on both sides. His argument
was decisive ; the constitutional ground was abandoned ; and the
resolutions of the assembly were confined to a simple disapprobation
of the treaty in point of expediency.
The constitutional objections were again urged in congress in the
celebrated debate on the British treaty, in the spring of 1796 ; and

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
there finally assumed the mitigated shape of a right claimed on the
part of congress to grant or -withhold appropriations to carry treaties
into effect. The higher ground, that commercial treaties were not,
when ratified, the supreme law of the land, was abandoned ; and the
subsequent practice of the government has, without question, under
every administration, conformed to the construction vindicated by
Mr. Marshall. The fame of this admirable argument spread
through the Union. Even with his political enemies, it enhanced the
elevation of his character ; and it brought him at once to the notice
of some of the most eminent statesmen who then graced our public
councils. After this period. President Washington in-vited Mr. Marshall to
accept the office of attorney general ; but he declined it, upon the
ground of its interference with his lucrative practice in Virginia.
He continued in the state legislature; but did not, from his other
engagements, take an active part in the ordinary business. He
confined his attention principally to those questions which involved
the main interests of the country, and brought into discussion the
policy and the principles of the national parties.
Upon the recall of Mr. Monroe as minister, from France, President
Washington solicited Mr. Marshall to accept the appointment as
his successor ; but he respectfully declined, and General Pinckney,
of South Carohna, was appointed in his stead.
Mr. Marshall was not, however, long permitted to act upon his
own judgment and choice. The French government refused to
receive General Pinclmey, as minister from the United States ; and
the administration, being sincerely anxious to exhaust every measure
of conciliation, not incompatible with the national dignity, for the
preservation of peace, resorted to the extraordinary measure of
sending a commission of three envoys. Within a year from the
time of the first offer, Mr. Adams having succeeded to the presidency,
appointed Mr. Marshall one of these envoys, in conjunction with
General Pinckney and Mr. Gerry.
After some hesitation, Mr. Marshall accepted the appointment,
and soon afterward embarked for Amsterdam. On his arrival at the
Hague he met General Pinckney, and having received passports they
proceeded to Paris. The mission was unsuccessful; the envoys
were never accredited by the French government, and Mr. Marshall
returned to America in the summer of 1798. Upon him principally
devolved the duty of preparing the official despatches. They have
been universally attributed to his pen, and are models of skilful
II ft

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
reasoning, forcible illustration, accurate detail, and urbane and
dignified moderation. In the annals of our diplomacy there are no
papers upon which an American can look back with more unmixed
pride and pleasure.
Mr. Marshall, on his return home, found that he had sustained
no loss by a diminution of professional business, and looked
forward to a resumption of his labors with high hopes. He peremp
torily refused for a considerable time to become a candidate for
congress, and avowed his determination to remain at the bar. At
this juncture he was invited by General Washington to pass a few
days at Mount Vernon ; and having accepted the invitation, he went
there in company with Mr. Justice Washington, the nephew of General
Washington, and a highly distinguished judge of the supreme court
of the United States, whose death the public have recently had occa
sion to lament.
What took place upon that occasion we happen to have the good
fortune to know from an authentic source. General Washington did
not for a moment disguise the object of his invitation ; it was to urge
upon Mr. Marshall and Mr. Washington the propriety of their
becoming candidates for congress. Mr. Washington yielded to the
wishes of his uncle without a struggle. But Mr. Marshall resisted
on the ground of his situation, and the necessity of attending to his
private affairs. The reply of General Washington to these
suggestions will never be forgotten by those who heard it. It
breathed the spirit of the loftiest virtue and patriotism. He said,
that there were crises in national affairs which made it the duty of a
citizen to forego his private for the public interest. He considered
the country to be then in one of these. He detailed his opinions
freely on the nature of the controversy with France, and expressed
his conviction, that the best interests of America depended upon the
character of the ensuing congress. The conversation was long,
animated, and impressive ; full of the deepest interest, and the most
unreserved confidence. The exhortation of General Washington
had its effect. Mr. Marshall yielded to his representations, and
became a candidate, and was, after an ardent contest, elected, and
took his seat in congress in December, 1799. While he was yet a
candidate, he was offered a seat on the bench of the supreme court
then vacant by the death of Mr. Justice Iredell. Upon his declining
it. President Adams appointed Mr. Justice Washington, who was thus
prevented from becoming a member of congress.
The session of congress in the winter of 1799-1800 will for ever
12

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
be memorable in the annals of America. Men of the highest talents
and most commanding infiuence in the Union were there assembled
and arrayed with all the hostility of party spirit, and all the zeal of
conscious responsibility, against each other. Every important
measure of the administration was subjected to the most scrutinizing
criticism ; and was vindicated with a warmth proportionate to the
ability of the attack. Mr. Marshall took an active part in the
debates, and distinguished himself in a manner which will not
easily be forgotten.
In May, 1800, Mr. Marshall was, -without the slightest personal
communication, nominated by the president to the office of secretary
of war, upon the dismissal of Mr. M' Henry. We believe that the
first information received of it by Mr. Marshall was at the
department itself, where he went to transact some business previous
to his return to Virginia. He immediately wrote a letter, requesting
the nomination to be withdrawn by the president. It was not ; and
his appointment was confirmed by the senate. The rupture between
the president and Colonel Pickering, who was then secretary of
state, soon afterwards occurred, and Mr. Marshall was appointed
his successor. This was indeed an appointment in every view most
honorable to his merits, and for which he was in the highest degree
qualified. On the 31st day of January, 1801, he became chief justice of the
United States, and has continued ever since that period to fill the
office with increasing reputation and unsullied dignity.
Splendid, indeed, as has been the judicial career of this eminent
man, it is scarcely possible that the extent of his labors, the vigor of
his intellect, or the untiring accuracy of his learning, should be duly
estimated, except by the profession of which he is so great an
ornament. Questions of law rarely assume a cast which introduces
them to extensive pubhc notice; and those, which require the
highest faculties of mind to master and expound, are commonly so
intricate and remote from the ordinary pursuits of hfe, that the
generality of readers do not bring to the examination of them the
knowledge necessary to comprehend them, or the curiosity which
imparts a rehsh and flavor to them. For the most part, therefore, the
reputation of judges is confined to the narrow limits which embrace
the votaries of jurisprudence ; and many of those exquisite
judgments, which have cost days and nights of the most elaborate
study, and for power of thought, beauty of illustration, variety of
learning, and elegant demonstration, are justly numbered among the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
highest reaches of the human mind, find no admiration beyond the
ranks of lawyers, and live only in the dusty repositories of their
oracles. The fame of the warrior is for ever imbodied in the history
of his country, and is colored with the warm lights refiected back by
the praise of many a distant age. The orator and the statesman live
not merely in the recollections of their powerful eloquence, or the
deep impressions made by them on the character of the generation
in which they lived, but are brought forth for public approbation in
political debates, in splendid volumes, in collegiate declamations,
in the Avorks of rhetoricians, in the school-books of boys, and in the
elegant extracts of maturer life.
This is not the place to enter upon a minute survey of the official
labors of Mr. Chief Justice Marshall. However instructive or
interesting such a course might be to the profession, the considerations
already adverted to, sufficiently admonish us that it would not be very
welcome to the mass of other readers. But there is one class of
cases which ought not to be overlooked, because it comes home to
the business and bosom of every citizen of this country, and is felt in
every gradation of life, from the chief magistrate down to the inmate
of the cottage. We allude to the grave discussions of constitutional
law, which during his time have attracted so much of the talents of
the bar in the supreme court, and sometimes agitated the whole
nation. If all others of the Chief Justice's juridical arguments had
perished, his luminous judgments on these occasions would have
given an enviable immortality to his name.
There is in the discharge of this delicate and important duty,
which is peculiar to our institutions, a moral grandeur and interest,
which it is not easy to over-estimate either in a political or civil view.
In no other country on earth are the acts of the legislature liable to
be called in question, and even set aside, if they do not conform to
the standard of the constitution. Even in England, where the
principles of civil liberty are cherished with uncommon ardor, and
private justice is administered -with a pure and elevated independence,
the acts of parliament are, by the very theory of the government, in
a legal sense, omnipotent. They cannot be gainsaid or overruled-
They form the law of the land, which controls the prerogative and
even the descent of the crown itself, and may take away the life and
property of the subject without trial and without appeal. The only
security is in the moderation of parliament itself and representative
responsibility. The case is far otherwise in America. The state
and national constitutions form the supreme law of the land, and

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
the judges are sworn to maintain these charters of liberty, or rather
these special delegations of power by the people, (who in our
governments are alone the depositories of supreme authority and
sovereignty,) in their original vigor and true intendment. It matters
not how popular a statute may be, or how commanding the majority
by which it has been enacted; it must stand the test of the
constitution, or it falls. The humblest citizen may question its
constitutionahty ; and its final fate must be settled upon grave
argument and debate by the judges of the land.
This topic is so copious, and of such everlasting consequence to
the well-being of this repubhc, that it furnishes matter for volumes;
but we must escape from it with the brief hints already suggested,
and resume our previous subject.
Nor is this the mere theory of the constitution. It is a function
which has been often performed ; and not a few acts of state as weU
as of national legislation, have been brought to this severe scrutiny ;
and after the fullest consideration, some have been pronounced to be
void, because they were unconstitutional. And these judgments
have been acquiesced in, and obeyed, even when they were highly
offensive to the pride and sovereignty of the state itself, or affected
private and public interests to an incalculable extent. Such, in
America, is the majesty of the law. Such is the homage of a free
people to the institutions created by themselves.
It is impossible even to look forward to the period, when,
according to the course of human events, the grave must close upon
his labors, without a profound melancholy. Such men as he are not
the ornaments of every and any age; they arise only at distant
intervals to enlighten and elevate the human race. They are beings
of a superior order, belonging only to centuries, and designed by the
beneficence of Providence to work d'ieply and powerfully upon
human affairs. As the American nation advances in its general
population and wealth, the constitution is arriving at more and more
critical periods of the trial of its principles. The warmest patriota
begin to hesitate in their confidence whether a system of government
so free, and so beneficent, so just to popular rights, and so true toward
natural interests, can and will be enduring. The boldest and most
sanguine admirers of republics are pausing, as upon the eve of
new events, and new inquiries. They perceive, that it is more than
possible, that prosperity may corrupt or enervate us, as it has done
all former republics. That there are elements of change and
perturbations, which have not hitherto been subjected to rigid

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
calculation, which may endanger, nay, which may perhaps over
throw, the system of movements, so beautifully put together, and bring
on a common ruin as fearful and as desolating, as any which the old
world has exhibited. In the contemplation of such a state of things,
who would not lament the extinction of such a mind as that of the
Chief Justice ? Who would not earnestly implore the continuance
of that influence, which has hitherto, through aU the mutations of
party, borne him along with the public favor, as at once the
wisest of guides and the truest of friends. When can we expect to
be permitted to behold again so much moderation united with so
much firmness, so much sagacity with so much modesty, so much
learning with so much experience, so much solid -wisdom -with
so much purity, so much of every thing to love and admire, with
nothing, absolutely nothing, to regret ? What, indeed, strikes us as
the most remarkable in his whole character, even more than his
splendid talents, is the entire consistency of his pubhc life and
principles. There is nothing in either which calls for apology or
concealment. Ambition has never seduced him from his principles,
nor popular clamor deterred him from the strict performance of duty.
Amid the extravagances of party spirit, he has stood with a calm
and steady inflexibility; neither bending to the pressure of adversity,
nor bounding with the elasticity of success. He has lived as such a
man should live, (and yet how few deserve the commendation,) by and
with his principles. Whatever changes of opinion have occurred in
the course of his long life, have been gradual and slow ; the results of
genius acting upon larger materials, and of judgment matured by the
lessons of experience. If we were tempted to say in one word what
it was in which he chiefly excelled other men, we should say in
wisdom ; in the union of that virtue, which has ripened under the
hardy discipline of principles, with that knowledge, which has
constantly sifted and refined its old treasures, and as constantly
gathered new. The constitution, since its adoption, owes more to him
than to any other single mind, for its true interpretation and
¦vindication. Whether it lives or perishes, his exposition of its
principles will be an enduring monument to his fame, as long as
solid reasoning, profound analysis, and sober "views of government,
shall invite the leisure, or command the attention of statesmen and
jurists. But interesting as it is, to contemplate such a man in his pubUc
character and official functions, there are those who dwell with far
more delight upon his private and domestic qualities. There are few

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
great men to whom one is brought near, however dazzling may be
their talents or actions, who are not thereby painfully diminished in
the estimate of those who approach them. The mist of distance
sometimes gives a looming size to their character ; but more often
conceals its defects. To be amiable, as well as great, to be kind,
gentle, simple, modest, and social ; and at the same time to possess the
rarest endo-wments of mind, and the warmest affections, is a union of
qualities which the fancy may fondly portray, but the sober realities
of life rarely establish. Yet it may be affirmed by those who have
had the privileges of intimacy with Mr. Chief Justice Marshall,
that he rises, rather than falls, with the nearest surveys ; and that in
the domestic circle he is exactly what a wife, a child, a brother, and
a friend would most desire. In that magical circle, admiration of his
talents is forgotten in the indulgence of those affections and sensibili
ties, which are awakened only to be gratified. More might be said
with truth, if we were not admonished that he is yet living, and his
delicacy might be wounded by any attempt to fill up the outline of his
more private life. Besides his judicial labors, the Chief Justice has
contributed a valuable addition to the historical and biographical
literature of the country. He is the author of the Life of Washington,
and of the History of the American Colonies, originally prefixed to
the former work; but in the second edition, with great propriety,
detached from it. Each of these works has been so long and so
favorably known to the public, that it is wholly unnecessary to enter
upon a critical examination of them in this place. They have all the
leading features which ought to distinguish historical compositions ;
fidelity, accuracy, impartiality, dignity of narrative, and simplicity
and purity of style. The Life of Washington is indeed entitled to a
very high rank, as it was prepared from a diligent perusal of the
original papers of that great man, which were submitted to the liberal
use of his biographer. Probably no person could have brought to so
difficult a task more various and apt quahfications. The Chief
Justice had served through a great part of the revolutionary war, and
was familiar with most of the scenes of Washington's exploits. He
had also long enjoyed his personal confidence and felt the strongest
admiration of his talents and -virtues. He was also an early actor in
the great political controversies, which after the revolutionary war
agitated the whole country, and ended in the establishment of the
national constitution. He was a decided supporter of the adminis
tration of Washington, and a leader among his able advocates. The
principles and the measures of that administration had his unqualified

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
approbation ; and he has at all tunes since maintained them in his
public life with a sobriety and uniformity, which mark him out as the
fittest example of the excellence of that school of patriots and states
men. If to these circumstances are added his own peculiar cast of
mind, his deep sagacity, his laborious diligence, his native candor,
and lofty sense of duty, it could scarcely be doubted, that his Life of
Washinffton would be invaluable for the truth of its facts and the
accuracy and completeness of its narrative. And such has hitherto
been, and such ought for ever to continue to be its reputation. It
does not affect to deal with mere private and personal anecdotes, to
amuse the idle or the vicious. Its object is to expound the character
and public services of Washington, and to give a faithful outline of his
principles and measures. To a statesman, in an especial manner,
the concluding volume is of the highest importance. He may
there find traced out with a masterly hand, and with a sedulous
impartiality, the origin and progress of the parties, which since the
adoption of the constitution, have divided the United States. It will
enable him to treasure up the fundamentals of constitutional law ;
and to purify himself from those generalities, which are so apt to
render politics, as a science, impracticable, and government, as a
system, unsteady and visionary. Every departure from the great
principles and policy laid down by Washington, will be found to
weaken the bonds of union, to jeopard the interests, and to shake
the solid foundations of the liberties of the repubhc.
In concluding this sketch we may well apply to the Chief Justice
what Cicero has so gracefully said of an ancient orator : "Nihil acute
inveniri potuit in eis causis, quas scripsit, nihil (ut ita dicam,) subdole,
nihil versute, quod ille non viderit ; nihil subtihter dici, nihil presse,
nihil enucleate, quo fieri possit limatius."

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aii'wi£§ (S^s

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LEWIS CASS.

In presenting to the public a series of portraits and memoirs of men
distinguished in public life, it is scarcely to be hoped that our selec
tions should always meet with uniform approval. The strong bias
of party spirit, of sectional interest, or of professional collision, may
sometimes award us but faint praise. We shall, however, endeavor
to pursue our course with strict impartiality. Public men, who
maintain an elevated rank in popular favor, in a country where their
opinions and acts are open to certain scrutiny and free remark, must
be possessed of more than ordinary merit. And we believe that we
shall have public opinion decidedly with us, when we say, that it has
fallen to the lot of few to occupy as various and important stations
in the republic with so large a share of approbation, as the subject of
the present sketch.
Lewis Cass, the present Secretary of War, was born in Exeter,
New Hampshire, October 9th, 1782. His ancestors were among the
first settlers of that part of the country, and his father bore a commis
sion in the revolutionary army, which he joined the day after the
battle of Lexington, and in which he continued until the close of the
war, having participated in the memorable battles of Bunker Hill,
Saratoga, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, and Germantown. He
was afterwards a major in Wayne's army. In 1799 he moved with
his family to Marietta, but eventually settled at Wackalomoka. in the
vicinity of Zanesville, in Ohio, where, after a life of honorable
usefulness, he died in August, 1830.
His son, Lewis Cass, was educated at the academy of Exeter,
and studied law at Marietta, under the late Governor Meigs. He was
admitted to the bar in 1802, and pursued the practice of his profes
sion successfully during several years.
In 1806 he was elected a member of the Ohio legislature. When
the enterprise of Colonel Burr began to agitate the country, he was
appointed on the committee to which the subject was referred, and
drafted the law which enabled the local authorities to arrest the men

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and boats on their passage down the Ohio. This law, interposing
the arm of the state, baffled a project which was generally believed
to have been of a revolutionary character, and intended to di"vide the
west from the east. The same pen drafted the address to Mr. Jeffer
son, which unfolded the views of the Ohio legislature on this
momentous subject.
In 1807, Mr. Cass was appointed marshal of the state, which office
he resigned in 1813. In 1812, he volunteered his services in the
force which was called out to join the army under General William
Hull, and marched to Dayton, where he was elected colonel of the 3d
regiment of Ohio volunteers. Having to break through an almost
trackless wilderness, the army suffered much on its route to Detroit,
and it was necessary that the officers of the volunteers should be
exemplars in fatigue and privations, lest the men, unused to military
discipline, should turn back in discouragement. Colonel Cass was
among the most urgent for an invasion of the Canadian province
immediately after the army arrived at Detroit ; but General Hull did
not cross the river until after the lapse of several days, and thereby
lost all the advantages of a prompt and decisive movement. The
advanced detachment was commanded by Colonel Cass, and he was
the first man who landed, in arms, on the enemy's shore after the
declaration of war. On entering Canada, General Hull distributed a
proclamation among the inhabitants, which, at the time, had much
notoriety, and was generally ascribed to Colonel Cass : it is now
known that he wrote it. Whatever opinions may have been enter
tained of the inglorious descent from promise to fulfilment, it was
generally regarded as a high spirited and eloquent document. Colonel
Cass soon dislodged the British posted at the bridge over the Canards.
There he maintained his ground, in expectation that the army would
advance and follow up the success, by striking at Maiden ; but he
was disappointed by the indecision of the general, who ordered the
detachment to return.
In all the timorous and inefficient measures which followed,
Colonel Cass had no responsible participation. His known disap
probation of the course pursued, made him an unwelcome counsellor
at head quarters. When the army capitulated he was not present ;
but the detachment with which he was serving, under Colonel
M' Arthur, was included, and being unable to retreat by the imprac
ticable route behind it, submitted, and was embarked for Ohio.
Colonel Cass immediately repaired to Washington, and made a report
to government. In the following spring he was exchanged and

LEWIS CASS.
appointed colonel of the 27th regiment of infantry, and soon after
was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He joined General
Harrison at Seneca, and crossing Lake Erie with him, after Perry's
victory, was present in the pursuit of Proctor, and participated in the
triumph at the Moravian to-wns. The north-western campaign being
happily terminated. General Cass was left in command of Michigan
and the upper province of Canada. His head quarters were at Detroit,
and he thus became the military guardian of a people over whom he
was soon (October 9, 1813,) called to preside as civil governor. In July,
1814, he was associated with General Harrison in a commission to
treat (at Greenville, Ohio,) with the Indians, who had taken part
against the United States during the war. A treaty of pacification
was formed, — comparative tranquillity was restored to the frontiers,
and a large body of Indians accompanied Governor Cass to Detroit,
as auxiliaries. At one period, Michigan was left with only one com
pany of regular soldiers for its defence, and that at the time consisted
of twenty-seven men. With this inadequate force, and the local
militia, the governor was, for a time, left to defend the territory against
the hostile Indians, who were constantly hovering around Detroit.
In 1815, after the termination of the war. Governor Cass moved
his family to Detroit. Michigan had suffered greatly during the war ;
Detroit exhibited a scene of devastation. Scarcely a family, when it
resumed its domestic establishment, found more than the remnants
of former wealth and comforts. Laws had become silent, and morals
had suffered in the general wreck, and it required great prudence
and an uncommon share of practical wisdom to lead back a people
thus disorganised, to habits of industry and order. The civil govern
ment was established, and such laws enacted as could be most easily
carried into effect. The legislative power being placed in the hands
of the governor and judges, rendered it a delicate task to aid in the
enactment of laws which were to be enforced by the same will; but it
was performed with decision and enlightened discrimination.
The Indian relations were likewise to be readjusted throughout the
western frontier." War had ruptured, or weakened every tie which
had previously connected the tribes with our government. By deci
sive, but kind measures, the hollow truce which alone existed, was
converted into a permanent peace, and they returned, by degrees, to
their hunting grounds and usual places of resort, with a general
disposition to live in amity and quiet.
During the same year. Governor Cass was associated -with General
M'Artbur to treat with the Indians at Fort Meigs. The north-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
western part of Ohio was acquired at this time. The following year
he was engaged in the same duty at St. Mary's, to carry into effect,
with certain modifications, the treaty of Fort Meigs, and for the
acquisition of land in Indiana. In 1 819 he assisted in the treaty held
at Sagano, by which large relinquishments were obtained from the
Indians in Michigan. In all these negotiations. Governor Cass
acted on the principle of frankness and fair reciprocity.
Two events occurred this year in Michigan, which gave a new
aspect to her hopes and promises of prosperity. One was the pri"vi-
lege of electing a delegate to congress; the other was the sale of
public lands within the territory. No one exerted himself with
more zeal to effect these improvements than the governor, as he was
convinced that the introduction of the elective franchise among the
people, would elevate their political character ; and that by the sale
of the public land the population and prosperity of the country would
be rapidly advanced.
In 1820, an expedition was planned by Governor Cass, under the
sanction of Mr. Calhoun, then secretary of war, the object of which
was to pass through Lake Superior, cross the country to the Missis
sippi, explore the sources of that river, and establish an intercourse
with the Indians, on that extensive route. The party combined per
sons of science, who were capable of ascertaining the physical
character of the country, and of making an instructive report, among
whom were Mr. Schoolcraft, and Captain Douglass of the corps of
engineers. A preliminary object was, to inform the Indians at the
Sault de St. Marie of the intention of government to estabhsh a military
post at that point, and to determine the site. On his arrival there.
Governor Cass assembled the Indians and made known the object in
view. Being under the influence of a chief who was notoriously
disaffected towards the United States, they heard the proposition with
evident ill will, and broke up the council with every appearance of
hostile intentions. They returned to their encampment, immediately
transported their women and children over the river, and raised a
British fiag, as if in token of defiance. Governor Cass at once adopted
the only course suited to the emergency. Taking only an interpreter
with him, he advanced to the Indian encampment and pulled down,
with his o-wn hands, the anglo-savage flag, directing the interpreter
to inform the Indians that they were within the jurisdiction of the
United States, and that no other flag than theirs must be allowed to
wave over it. Having given this bold and practical rebuke, he
returned to his party, taking with him the flag, and leaving the

LEWIS CASS.
Indians to further reflection. The moral influence of this opportune
and seemingly perilous step, was immediately seen ; new overtures
were made by the Indians, which led to an amicable and satisfactory
adjustment. The course of the expedition, and most of its scientific
results, have been published in Mr. Schoolcraft's interesting journal.
In 1821, the services of Governor Cass were again brought into
requisition by the government, to assist in another treaty, to be nego
tiated at Chicago. He embarked at Detroit, in a birch canoe,
ascended the Maumee, crossed into the Wabash, descended that river
to the Ohio, went down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and ascended
that and the Illinois to Chicago. By the treaty formed there, all the
country in Michigan, not before ceded, south of Grand river, was
acquired. In 1823, Governor Cass concluded an arrangement with the Dela
ware Indians, by which they ceded some valuable tracts on the
Muskingum, in Ohio.
In 1825, he proceeded to Prairie du Chien, where, in conjunction
with General Clark, a treaty of general pacification was concluded
among the north-westerly tribes. In his tour of 1820, Governor
Cass had observed that one abundant source of contention among
the Indians arose from uncertain or undefined boundaries. In order
to remove this cause, as many as practicable of the tribes were col
lected at this time, in order to ascertain, by tradition and custom,
and establish by general consent, the limits of each dominion. Much
difficulty attended this negotiation, as each tribe apprehended a dimi
nution of its own power, and an increase of its neighbor's. But the
objects of the treaty, were, in part, attained. A common acceptance
of certain geographical or other known boundaries, was obtained.
The beneficial effects of this important treaty will be accruing
with each coming year. Although many may dissent from the terms
of the treaty, for a time, yet lines of separation, defined with
so much solemnity, and by such general consent, "will at last
be appealed to as decisive, and become unalterably fixed. War
will still prevail, but border contests, the most inveterate and
sanguinary, may be appeased. The following year he again
traversed the great lake to fulfil the benevolent purposes of govern
ment. A treaty was held, at Fond du Lac, with those tribes who
were too remote from Prairie du Chien, to have met there. The
great object of these treaties was to remove the causes of contention
between the tribes, by inducing them to accept of certain geographi
cal or other known boundaries, as the limits of each dominion. Colonel
6

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
M'Kenney, who was associated with Governor Cass on this occasion,
has given a lively and picturesque account of the excursion. Another
treaty was made on the Wabash, on their return from Lake Superior,
by which the Indians ceded a large tract of land in Indiana.
In 1827, treaties were negotiated at Green, Bay and at St. Joseph's;
Governor Cass was an agent in both. On his arrival at Green Bay,
instead of finding the Winnebagoes, who were to have been parties
in the negotiation, he learned that they were collecting in hostile
bodies, for the purpose of waging war against the whites. With his
usual promptitude he adapted his course to the emergency. Embark
ing in a birch canoe he ascended the Fox river, crossed the Portage,
and had partly descended the Ouisconsin, when he perceived an
encampment of Winnebagoes on its bank. To show his confidence
in them, he landed alone, and approached the wigwams ; but the
Indians refused to hold any communication with him. After much
fruitless endeavor to conciliate, he returned towards his canoe, when
a young Indian snapped his rifle at his back. Whether the piece
was loaded and missed fire ; or the act was an empty, but significant
token of enmity, is not known.
Pursuing his course down the river, he reached Prairie du Chien,
and found the settlement there in a state of extreme alarm. A large
boat on the Mississippi had been attacked by a numerous band, and
escaped capture only by a gallant but bloody defence ; and a whole
family had been murdered and scalped on the skirts of the village.
Having organised the inhabitants in the best manner, for their own
defence, there being no garrison there at the time, he descended the
Mississippi to St. Louis, where the means of defence were to be
obtained, and at his suggestion a large detachment of United States
troops was moved up the river, in time to prevent further bloodshed.
In the mean time Governor Cass returned to the bay, in the same
canoe, by the way of the Illinois and Lake Michigan, having made a
circuit of about eighteen hundred miles, with unprecedented rapidity.
His celerity of movement, and the alacrity with which the United
States troops seconded his call, probably averted a war that might
have embraced the whole north-west frontier. A negotiation followed,
which restored tranquillity. The apparent violence offered to him by
the Indian on the Ouisconsin, is the only instance of that nature
which had occurred during his long and intimate intercourse with
the Indians.
In 1828 another treaty was held by him at Green Bay; and
another at St. Joseph's, by which a cession was procured for Indiana.

LEWIS CASS.
In these various treaties, Governor Cass had been instrumental in
acquiring for the United States, and rescuing from the wilderness,
for the great agricultural purposes of the country, many milhons of
acres of land ; and in a manner which ought to leave no consciousness
on his mind, that he has aggravated the lot of a single tribe of Indians.
The first council of Michigan met in 1822. This body relieved the
governor and judges of their legislative duties, and gave the govern
ment of the territory a more republican form. Governor Cass's
messages to the several councils, convened under his administration,
were always written in a chaste and dignified style ; indeed, all the
public documents that came from his pen, while governor of the
territory, may be regarded as good models of executive composition,
and exhibit a highly cultivated literary taste. But his literary repu
tation rests on a broader and more appropriate basis than his guber
natorial writings.
Sometime in the year 1825, John Dunn Hunter's narrative
appeared, which, at the time, attracted much attention. Governor
Cass, in the course of his tours through the west, had satisfied him
self that this work was an imposture. In determining to expose it to
the world, his mind was led to dwell on the ample subject of Indian
character, language, and condition, and he wrote the article which
appeared in the fiftieth number of the North American Re"view. The
subject was full of interest, and was written in a style uncommonly
earnest and eloquent, and the public was gratified to find that a theme
so interesting and important, had engaged the attention of so culti
vated and liberal a mind. Another article of his, presenting the
aborigines under new aspects, appeared in the fifty-fifth number of the
same periodical. This article, which was altogether of an historical
and statistical character, attracted equal attention with its precursor.
Sometime in 1828, a historical society was formed in Michigan,
of which Governor Cass was elected the president. He delivered the
first address before it in 1829. This address, embodying the early
history of Michigan, brings it down to the period when the United
States came into possession of it. Its publication excited a spirit of
research and inquiry, which has already produced the most benefi
cial results.
In 1830, Governor Cass was invited by the alumni of Hamilton
college. New York, to deliver an address at their anniversary meeting
He accepted the invitation, and in the address which he delivered,
displayed an affluence of reading and refiection which proved his
habitual acquaintance with most of the departments of human know

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ledge. From that college he subsequently received the honorary
degree of L L. D. He had previously been admitted an honorary
member of the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia ; of
the New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Indiana Historical Societies ;
of the American Antiquarian Society; and of the Columbian Institute.
In July, 1831, ha-ving been appointed secretary of war by Presi
dent Jackson, Governor Cass resigned his office as governor of the
territory, after having administered it for eighteen years. When he
began his administration, he found the country small in population,
without resources, and almost sunk under the devastations of war.
He left it with a wide spread population, and thriving with unprece
dented prosperity. This auspicious condition may not all be attributed
to executive instrumentality. But an administration, impartial, vigi
lant, pervading, and intelligent, may be fairly supposed to have shed
a happy influence on all around. It will long be remembered in
Michigan, where its termination is universally regretted. In the
important station which he now holds, his sphere of usefulness is
enlarged, and none of his predecessors ever enjoyed a greater share
of public confidence.
" Strict and punctual in his business habits, plain and affable in
his manners, with powers of mind which grasp, as it were, by
intuition, every subject to which they are applied — united to various
and extensive acquirements ; we feel that we hazard nothing in the
declaration that the measure of his fame is not yet full."

WILLIAM WIRT

It is a particular felicity of our republican institutions, that they
throw no impediment in the career of merit, but the competition of
rival abilities. Into this career, it may enter without encountering
the repulses of artificial rank, or winning its patronage by unworthy
compliances. As the father of an American family divides his favor
and his fortune alike among his children, so, the repubhc gives the
same impulse to all her sons, and receives in return a larger contri
bution of their talents and services. There are many, no doubt, who
have overcome much greater embarrassments than the subject of this
memoir : nevertheless, he is one of the many examples of this sort,
pleasing in themselves, especially when considered as characteristic
of the country.
William Wirt, the late attorney general of the United States, is
a native of Bladensburg, in Maryland ; was born on the 18th of
November, 1772, and lost his parents at a very early age. This
event placed him under the guardianship of his paternal uncle,
Jasper Wirt, also a resident of the same village, in the neighborhood
of which William received the rudiments of his education. In his
seventh year he was removed to a school in Georgetown, District
of Columbia, and thence to another, at New Port Church, Charles
county, Maryland ; but the chief part of his education was received
at the school of the Reverend James Hunt, in Montgomery county,
at which he was placed in his eleventh year, and continued till
he was fifteen. Under the instruction of this gentleman, he went
through the usual course of the grammar schools of those days, being
initiated in the Latin and Greek classics, and in some of the branches
of the mathematics, to which his teacher added some instruction in
natural philosophy. Here, too, he had the advantage of a good
miscellaneous library, cultivated his taste for polite literature, and
became a confirmed student and author when about thirteen years of
age. As Montgomery court-house was at no great distance, the boys
were allowed to visit it occasionally on court days, and in imitation
of what they saw and heard there, they formed a court of their own.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Wirt draughted the constitution and laws, which he reported with
an apologetic letter prefixed. On the school being broken up, in
1787, Mr. Benjamin Edwards, the father of one of his schoolfellows,
(Ninian Edwards, the late governor of Illinois,) having seen the juve
nile essay and letter alluded to, was induced to invite their author
under his roof, where he accordingly remained in the capacity of
teacher about a year and a half This was a fortunate event to a
young man whose patrimony was inadequate to support him at
college, or in the acquirement of a profession ; and Mr. Wirt has
often been heard to express his conviction, that to Mr. Edwards'
peculiar and happy cast of character, he owed most of what may be
praiseworthy in his own.
From this residence, and these occupations, he was forced by some
symptoms of bad health, and went, for the benefit of the chmate, to
Augusta, in Georgia. On his return in the succeeding spring, he
began the study of law at Montgomery court-house, with Mr. William
P. Hunt, the son of his former preceptor. He was afterward a student
at Leesburg, Virginia, under Mr. Thomas Swann ; was licensed for '
practice in the autumn of 1792, and removed to Culpepper Court
house, in Virginia, where he the same year began the professional
career, in which he has attained such eminent renown.
He at this time possessed a vigorous constitution, with a prepos
sessing mien and manners ; these, combined with great felicity of
conversation, and a lively, fertile wit, are described by one who knew
him a short time after this date, to have been attractive in a very
uncommon degree, and to have made his society eagerly sought,
especially by the gay and young. His first essay at the bar was
fortunate, and gained him friends, as well as subsequent success.
He married, in 1795, Mildred, the eldest daughter of Doctor George
Gilmer, of Pen Park, near Charlottesville. Residing, after his mar
riage, in the family of his father-in-law, who was an accomphshed
scholar and wit, as well as an eminent physician, and the intimate
associate of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Monroe, he found
in these celebrated men, and in others, who were attracted by the
benevolent character and hospitality of Doctor Gilmer, very cordial
as well as desirable friendb ; while in the elegant hbrary of the latter,
he cultivated his mind by the study of the elder philosophical writers,
or employed himself assiduously in composition.
The death of his wife, an accomplished and amiable woman, in
1799, interrupted this happy and profitable course of life, and sus
pended, for a while, his professional pursuits. For change of scene,

WILLIAM WIRT.
he was persuaded to go to Richmond, his friends procuring his
election to the clerkship of the house of delegates, which post he held
during three sessions of the assembly. Not having entirely relin
quished the practice of law, he volunteered, in 1800, in the well-known
trial of Callender ; and in the same year he was selected to pronounce
the anniversary oration on the fourth of July.
The charm of his conversation and manners, which had won him
distinguished esteem in the elevated and intellectual circle of Pen
Park and Monticello, followed him into the associations, which, as
clerk of the house of delegates, he was thrown into, with the members
of the legislature. That body gave him a signal mark of its consi
deration, by appointing him, in 1802, the chancellor of the eastern
chancery district of Virginia.
In the autumn of the same year he married the daughter of the
late Colonel Gamble, of Richmond, and finding the salary of the
chancellorship unequal to the support of a family, he resigned it, and
resumed the practice of law. It was just before he removed to Nor
folk, in the winter of 1803-4, that he wrote the essays under the
name of " The British Spy." They were published originally in the
Richmond Argus, and were hastily composed, under some uneasiness.
which he hoped to divert, arising from the ill-health of his wife.
Some of the sketches in these essays had a wide popularity, and that
of the "Blind Preacher" penetrated, we believe, into every hamlet of
the country.
At Norfolk, he practised with increasing success till 1806, when,
at the solicitation of his friends, he removed to Richmond, as a wider
professional theatre, then adorned by men of the first legal talents
and learning. In this city, and often, likewise, in distant parts of the
state, he pursued his profession for eleven years, with still extending
reputation, which enlarged into celebrity by the trial of Aaron Burr,
against whom, under the direction of President Jefferson, he was
employed as prosecuting counsel.
This trial took place in 1807, soon after Mr. Wirt's removal to
Richmond, and created, it is well known, an earnest interest in all
classes of people. Great learning and abilities were exhibited at once
in the prosecution and defence; public passion augmented the
intrinsic importance of the affair ; and the whole theatre was well
adapted, to call out the talents of the actors on either side. The re
port of the trial has made his speeches familiar to la-wyers ; and some
passages of them are still more so, as popular specimens of eloquence.
In the following winter he sat for the only time in a legislative

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
body, being elected without canvass, a delegate to the assembly from
Richmond. As a member of a committee, he brought in a report
and resolutions, respecting the aggressions of France and Great
Britain on our commerce, and in support of the consequent measures
of Mr. Jefferson's administration. He wrote in the same year, some
essays in the Richmond Enquirer, signed "One of the People,"
addressed to the members of congress, who had united in a protest
against the nomination of Mr. Madison for president, and exhibiting
the character and services of that illustrious citizen. He published,
about the same time, an address to the people of Virginia, in recom
mendation of domestic manufactures, and some essays signed the
"Sentinel," investigating and approving some financial and other
views of Mr. Jefferson.
The appointment of Mr. Wirt by Mr. Monroe, to the attorney-
generalsliip of the United States, (which had been preceded by his
receiving from Mr. Madison the post of United States' attorney for
the district of Virginia,) caused him to remove to Washington in the
winter of 1817-18, and brought him into the arena of the supreme
court ; than which, no forensic theatre, perhaps, ever presented more
accomplished and powerful antagonists. Mr. Wirt's practice soon
became extensive, and his celebrity kept pace with it, as an eloquent
advocate and learned jurist. The attorney-generalship he held
through three presidential terms, longer by many years than any of
his predecessors ; and his labors in this arduous post, seem to have
surpassed theirs in the same proportion, being the first of those officers
that sat in the cabinet, and the only one that left any official opinions
or precedents, to guide his successors. He resigned his place at the
end of Mr. Adams' administration, and removed to Baltimore, where
he now resides.
Before he left Washington, he had pronounced, at the request of
the citizens of that place, an eulogy on the two patriots, who by so
singular a coincidence, ended their lives on the same anniversary of
the national independence. This composition contains some pas
sages of finished oratory, and has more especiaUy infused into it the
classic tincture of his reading In 1830, he made at Rutgers college
a discourse of a more didactic nature, in which we discern that love
of virtue and decorum, which breathes in all his writings. He was
selected the same year to deliver the address at the celebration of the
French revolution of July, by the citizens of Baltimore; and about the
same time, he received a nomination among the candidates for the
presidency of the United States.

WILLIAM WIRT.
As Mr. Wirt has been long conversant with the first minds of the
age, as well as in an avocation which presents life in many aspects,
his conversation abounds with characteristic anecdotes, to which his
knowledge gives grace ; and his disposition to view mankind on their
better side, a touch of good nature. His wit is tinged with the same
good feeling, and though it can be roused into sarcasm, is playful
and gentle. Few men, in so extensive and successful a career, have
excited so little enmity, or been the object of as general and durable
regard. As a writer, Mr. Wirt is chiefiy known by productions, which
were the work, or rather the amusement, of a very small portion of
leisure. The essays of the "Spy," and the "Old Bachelor," which
were never anticipated to live beyond the date of the journals they
appeared in, were composed under the double haste of daily business
and the prompting of the occasion. Under such circumstances, we
may wonder, that a lawyer devoted with especial sedulousness to his
pursuits, who at no time languished in want of practice, and who,
when the last of them appeared, had reached high emolument and
honor, should have had the time, the taste, and the affection for
letters, to send forth two series of essays, which were received with
uncommon pleasure by the public. Indeed they have obtained what
may be considered a permanent popularity; the "Old Bachelor,''
having gone through three editions, and the " British Spy" through
nine. Their tone is elevated, the thoughts for the most part elegant
and natural, and in sketches of character and manner, the author has
been particularly happy.
In the " Life of Patrick Henry," as being the work of more mature
age, we might expect the ornamental declamation, sometimes objected
to his writings, to be much abated. But though this biography was
designed by the author for many years, it eventually passed from his
hands under the same circumstances of haste, as his other productions.
He had also for a subject a very extraordinary man, of whom it was
difficult to speak in the terms employed by the witnesses of his
displays, without being thought to surcharge the picture ; and who,
while he commanded the unlimited admiration of his contemporaries,
especially in his native state, may be said to have left scarcely " the
foot of Hercules," by which posterity might compute the proportions
of the whole heroic image.
The oratorical diction of Mr. Wirt is correct and elegant, various
as well as rich, and remarkably perspicuous. As to the personal
qualifications for his art, his figure has been said by an eloquent

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
panegyrist of him, to be "dignified and commanding; his counte
nance open, manly, and playful ; his voice clear and musical ; his
whole appearance truly oratorical." His aspect expresses both
benignity and intelligence. His enunciation is distinct ; and it merits
perhaps to be mentioned, both as an encouragement to such as labor
under a hke embarrassment, and an example of what may be accom
plished by care, under the guidance of a good taste and a fine ear,
that this was by no means the case at an earlier period. On the
contrary, it was then somewhat hurried and harsh, and sometinies
inarticulate. His action is unstudied, and perhaps less energetic than
graceful. The qualities of Mr. Wirt in private intercourse have been already
slightly spoken of, and more might be added, if such a topic could be
properly enlarged on. It is of that general cast which may be
gathered from his writings, and thus far, therefore, may be adverted
to without flattery. " Bonum virum facile crederes, magnum liben
ter." As he has lived much and familiarly with the first men of the
country, and has strong powers of observation and memory, -with
equal felicity of anecdote, it is a natural wish, that he may find leisure
to record his recollections, if not for the amusement of the present
age, at least for the instruction of a succeeding one.

DA.\1K]. I). TOMriCTN'S.

DANIEL D. TOMPKINS.

It is a pleasing task to sketch the life of such a man as Daniel D.
Tompkins, and a proud one to a citizen of the great state which
had the honor of giving him birth. It may be compared to a land
scape, such as the eye delights to rest upon ; not one of abrupt
transitions from mountain to ravine, from " antres vast" to " deserts
idle," but an open, expanded, and unbroken scene of refreshing and
unfading verdure. And if the pleasure of contemplating it be not
unmingled, it is because the sombre clouds of adversity began at
length to hover round and darken its brilliant horizon.
Governor Tompkins seemed to imbody within liimself the peculiar
characteristics of the citizens of his native state — activity, energy,
and perseverance ; and his talents, as constantly and variously as
they were tried, were always found equal to any emergency. At the
bar in the city of New York, during the early period of his life, he
sustained an honorable rank ; on the bench of the supreme court of
the state, amid the bright constellation of judicial talent, learning,
and eloquence, which then adorned it, he was conspicuously distui-
guished, while yet in comparative youth ; and we venture to say^
that no judge, since the formation of our government, ever presided
at nisi prius, or travelled the circuit with more popularity. Dignified
in his person, graceful and conciliating in his address, and thoroughly
amiable in his character, he won the respect and confidence of the
bar, and the admiration of the public. He was not one of those — for
such have been — who " bullied at the bar, and dogmatized on the
bench ;" he was a man of warm and kindly feelings, and disdained
to avail himself of the accident of official station, to browbeat or insult
his inferiors.
The distinction which he gained in his judicial capacity, soon
elevated him to a different theatre of action, the gubernatorial chair
of his native state. He was put forward as a candidate by the most
infiuential of the republicans of that day ; and in the mode in which
he administered the government, he did not disappoint their choice.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Those were turbulent times in politics ; but, like a skilful pilot, he
safely and triumphantly weathered the storm — not only that which
was raging within our own bounds and among ourselves, but a more
fearful one which was pourmg in upon us from a foreign foe. By
his unwearied efforts, in repeatedly pressing the subject upon the
attention of the legislature, slavery was finally abolished in the state
of New York. In a message addressed to the legislature in 1812, he
saysj " The revision of our code of laws will furnish you with oppor
tunities of making many beneficial improvements, — to de"vise the
means for the gradual and ultimate extermination from among us
of slavery, that reproach of a free people, is a work worthy of the
representatives of a polished and enlightened nation ;" and in 1817,
he again submitted to the legislature, " whether the dictates of hu
manity, the reputation of the state, and a just sense of gratitude to
THE Almighty for the many favors he has conferred on us as a
nation, do not demand that the reproach of slavery be expunged
from our statute-book."
The subject of public education and morals was always near his
heart ; and thus he invites to it the attention of the legislature, in one
of his messages : " As the guardians of the prosperity, liberty, and
morals of the state, we are bound by every injunction of patriotism
and wisdom, to endow to the utmost of our resources, schools and
seminaries of learning, to patronise public improvements, and to
cherish all institutions for the diffusion of religious knowledge, and
for the promotion of virtue and piety." How noble are such
sentiments, and how different from the maxims of despots, who
for the most part govern the world! Here is not recommended
endowments for splendid seats of learning, for the instruction of a
privileged class ; to propagate and maintain an exclusive creed, or to
uphold some corrupt establishment to make the rich richer and more
powerful, and the poor poorer and more debased ; to use the mind,
the immortal part of our nature, as an instrument to be moulded
and fashioned so as to subserve the selfish purposes of a lordly
few ; but, with a philanthropy without limit, it is pressed upon the
legislature to cherish and promote all institutions for the difftision
of knowledge, virtue, and piety. When a chief magistrate speaks
thus to his people, be they his masters or his servants, we may con
sider that governments are not always given to us as a " curse for
our vices."
The benevolent feelings of Governor Tompkins prompted him to
call the attention of the legislature, on repeated occasions, to the

DANIEL D. TOMPKINS.
abolition of corporeal and capital punishments ; and he at length
happily effected that of the former : the latter still remain.
So early as 1811, we find him raising his voice in favor of the
encouragement of manufactures. " Let us extend to them," he says,
"the utmost encouragement and protection which our finances will
admit, and we shall soon convince the belligerents of Europe, to whom
we have been extensive and profitable customers, that their mad and
unjust policy towards us will ultimately recoil upon themselves, by
giving to our industry, our resources, and our policy a new direction,
calculated to render us really independent." He makes the question
one of love of country and honorable pride, and does not even hint
at any sordid calculation of profit. If he erred as a political econo
mist, and in this respect there are those who will doubt, he at least
manifested the generous purpose of a patriot.
In this brief sketch, it is not to be expected that even all the most
prominent measures of Governor Tompkins' administration can be
noticed ; but there is one which must not be passed over in silence —
we mean his prorogation of the senate and assembly of the state in
1812, and in reference we will briefiy remark, in the language of
another, " The legislature had lent a favorable ear to the petitions
of various banking companies for incorporation ; and a system had
been projected and fostered by bribery and corruption, which threat
ened irreparable evils to the community. In his communication to
the legislature, the governor dwelt upon this subject with peculiar
force, and clearly and ably pointed out the inexpediency and dan
ger of multiplying banking institutions ; but such had been the
gigantic strides of corruption, that the pernicious law would have
been enacted, had not the governor exerted his constitutional privi
lege of proroguing the legislature."
The anathemas of party animosity came thick and heavy upon
him, in conseqijence of this measure, which, although strictly consti
tutional, was stigmatized as arbitrary and despotic ; but he breasted
himself to the shock, and triumphed in the support of pubhc opinion.
Here he displayed, in a conspicuous manner, that moral energy of
character which we have attributed to him, and crushed the hydra
of corruption, which was beginning to rear itself in the sacred halls
of legislation. " The measure," says the writer above quoted, " excited
the astonishment and admiration of the whole United States."
We come now to the part which he bore in our late war with
Great Britain, which embraces a most interesting period of his hfe.
Whenever the history of that war shall be written for posterity, his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
name will fill an ample space in it. As governor of the state of New
York, he had the direction of all her energies ; and many and ardu
ous were the duties which he was called upon to perform. But those
who were conversemt with the scenes of that period, will recollect
the universal confidence which he inspired in every lover of his
country. The following letter, dated a few days after the declaration of war,
will show the perilous situation of the state of New York at that
time, the condition of the army, and the responsibility he assumed to
meet the exigency. "Albany, June 28, 1812.
" To Major General Dearborn,
" Sir, — Your letter of the 23d inst. has been received. I had
anticipated your request, by ordering the detachments from Washing
ton, Essex, Clinton, and Franklin counties into service, and have fixed
the days and places of their rendezvous. Upon application to the
quEirter-master general, I find there are but 139 tents and 60 camp-
kettles at this place, and even those I take by a kind of stealth. The
deputy quarter-master general declines giving an order for their
delivery, until he shall have a written order from the quarter-master
general, and the latter is willing I shall take them, but will not give
the deputy a written order for that purpose. Under such circum
stances, I shall then avail myself of the rule of possession, and by
virtue of the eleven points of the law, send them off to-morrow
morning, without a written order from any one. You inay remem
ber, that when you were secretary of the war departnient, I invited
you to forward and deposit in our frontier arsenals, arms, ammuni
tion, and camp equipage, free of expense, to be ready for defence in
case of war ; and the same invitation to the war department has been
repeated four times since. The United States have now from five to
six hundred regular troops at Plattsburgh, Rome, Canandaigua, «fec.,
where those arsenals are ; and yet those recruits are now, and must
be for weeks to come, unarmed, and in every respect unequipped,
although within musket shot of arsenals. The recruits at Platts
burgh are within fifty miles of two tribes of Canadian Indians. In
case of an attack upon the frontiers, that portion of the United States
army would be as inefficient, and as unable to defend the inhabitants,
or themselves even, as so many women. As to cannon, muskets,
and ammunition, I can find no one here who will exercise any
authority over them, or deliver a single article upon my requisition.

DANIEL D. TOMPKINS.
Neither can I find any officer of the army who feels himself author
ized to exercise any authority, or do any act which will aid me in
the all-important object of protecting the inhabitants of our extended
frontier, exposed to the cruelties of savages and the depredation of
the enemy. If I must rely upon the militia solely for such protec
tion, I entreat you to give orders to your officers here to furnish upon
my order, for the use of the militia detachments, all needful weapons
and articles with which the United States are furnished, and of which
we are destitute.
" You may rely upon all the assistance which my talents, infiuence,
and authority can furnish, in the active prosecution of the just and
necessary war which has been declared by the constituted authority
of our beloved country."
From the day of the declaration of war, the governor entered heart
and soul into the prosecution of it, and so continued until its close.
Most of the frontier troops, the first campaign, were militia, and
many of them were marched several hundred miles. The quarter
master general of that day refused to make any advances to them.
The governor was therefore placed in the dilemma of providing as
well as he could for their expenses of every kind, or of permitting
them to return home for the want of accommodation, disgusted
both with the war and the government. He issued orders for
raising a brigade of volunteers upon his own responsibility, which
greatly distinguished itself on our Niagara frontier, and particu
larly at the memorable sortie from Fort Erie. The officers were
all selected by Governor Tompkins, and their gallant conduct in
the field showed his admirable discrimination in this respect. He
had previously recommended to the legislature to raise volunteer
regiments for the defence of our frontiers and the city of New York,
but by a perversity which seems strange to us at the present day,
his patriotic recommendation was rejected. A man of less firmness
than Governor Tompkins would have quafled beneath the storm
which was raised against him in Albany in the winter of 1813-14;
and the consequence would probably have been, that the state
would have been overrun by the foe. Not only was the whole
western frontier in danger of invasion, but Sackett's Harbor, Platts
burgh, and the city of New York. But, regardless of censure or
disapprobation, he called into the field large bodies of militia, and
organized a corps of sea fencibles for the protection of the city of
New York, consisting of 1000 men. In September, 1814, the militia

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
in service for the defence of the city amounted to 17,500 men. He
was even ready to despatch a force, under the lamented Decatur, for
the assistance of Baltimore, which was then menaced with an attack,
and had not the news of the enemy's retreat been received, the suc
cor would have been upon their march to the relief of a sister state.
In 1814, from information received, and corroborated by the move
ments of the enemy, there are sufficient grounds of belief that one
great object of his campaign was to penetrate with his northern army
by the waters of Lake Champlain and the Hudson, and by a simulta
neous attack with his maritime forces on New York, to form a junc
tion which should sever the communication of the states. The
exigency of the time, while it subjected the executive to great respon
sibility, admitted of no delay. To defeat this arrogant design, and
save the state from inroad, it was necessary immediately to exercise
fuller powers and more ample resources than had been placed in his
hands by the legislature. He proceeded, therefore, to make such
dispositions as were deemed indispensable to secure the exposed
points against menaced invasion. To effect these objects, he found it
necessary to transcend the authority and means vested in him by
law, perfectly satisfied that the legislature w:ould approve and sanc
tion what he had done.
In October of this year, Governor Tompkins was appointed by the
president to the command of the third military district. He ac
quitted himself of the command with great abihty, and, on the
disbanding of the troops, he received from every quarter letters of
compliment and gratitude ; and this was the only recompense for his
services in this command which he ever obtained.
During the fall of this year, the general government was desirous
of fitting out an expedition to dislodge the enemy from Castine, in the
then province of Maine. They had apphed to the governor of Mas
sachusetts to raise the necessary funds for this purpose, but without
effect. In this dilemma, the situation of the general government
was hinted to Governor Tompkins, who, with his individual credit,
and upon his own responsibility, immediately raised the sum of three
hundred thousand dollars, which he placed at the orders of General
Dearborn, then commanding in Massachusetts. This noble act of
patriotism speaks for itself, and comment would be superfiuous.
In looking over his mflitary correspondence, it is surprising to see
how watchful he was to foster a delicate and punctilious regard to
the relative rank of the officers of the mflitia, so as to preclude every
cause of jealousy or complaint. The officers were appointed by the

DANIEL D. TOMPKINS.
council of appointment, which in the winter of 1813-14 was,
together with one branch of the legislature, opposed to the adminis
tration of the general government and to the prosecution of the war ;
and it is evident, from his correspondence at this period, that attempts
were constantly made to create discontents, by the recommending of
persons for promotion over the heads of those who were entitled to
it by their previous military rank; and in turning back to his
private correspondence from 1808 to 1811, we are struck with the
continual annoyance experienced by him from the intrigues and
slanders of political opponents, and at the same time with the inde
fatigable industry and noble frankness with which he counteracted
and exposed them.
In the fall of 1814, Mr. Monroe having just been appointed secre
tary of war. President Madison requested permission to name Gover
nor Tompkins to the senate as his successor. This offer of what
is considered the highest office in the gift of the president of the
United States, was declined.
In the spring of 1815, after peace had been proclaimed, he resigned
the command of the third military district ; and the president ad
dressed to him a letter of thanks, for his "patriotic, active, and able
support given to the government during the war."
In February 1817, having received official information of his elec
tion to the office of vice president of the United States, he surrendered
that of chief magistrate of the state of New York.
Daniel D. Tompkins was born on the 21st of June, 1774, at
Scarsdale, (Fox Meadows,) in the county of Westchester, N. Y.
He was the seventh son of Jonathan G. Tompkins, one of the only
three individuals of the town who advocated the cause of their coun
try during the revolution. His ancestors had emigrated originally
from the north of England during the time of religious persecution
in that country, and landed at Plymouth, in the then colony of Mas
sachusetts. After remaining there a short time, they purchased a
tract of land in Westchester county, where they permanently settled.
The father of the governor was a member of the state convention
which adopted the declaration of independence and the first con
stitution of the state. He was a member of the legislature during
the whole period of the revolution, also for many years first judge of
the court of common pleas for the county ; and on the institution of
the university of the state, was appointed one of the regents, which
situation he held until his resignation of it in 1808. He died after
seeing his son elevated to the second office in the gift of his country.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Governor Tompkins was educated at Columbia college, in the city
of New York, and received the first honors of his class. He was
admitted to the bar in 1797 ; in 1801 was elected a representative of
the city in the convention to revise the constitution of the state ; in
1802 was chosen to the state legislature ; and in 1804 was appointed
a judge in the supreme court of the state, to supply the vacancy
occasioned by the election of Chief Justice Lewis to the gubernatorial
chair. In the same year he was elected a member of congress for
the city, as a colleague of the late learned Dr. Mitchill. In 1807,
when not thirty-three years of age, he was elevated to the chief
magistracy of the state. He was also chancellor of the university ;
and in June 1820 was elected grand master of masons in the state
of New York.
In 1821, he was chosen a delegate from the county of Richmond
to the convention for framing a new constitution for the state ; and
he was afterwards appointed president of this body. This was the
last public situation which he held.
We stfll fondly turn our recollections towards him, as one of the
most amiable, benevolent, and true-hearted men that ever lived. He
bore the stamp of this feeling of kindliness towards his fellow-men
in his open and frank countenance, in his easy and unaffected
address, in the very tones of his voice in his every-day intercourse
with society. Upon every subject that comes home to "men's
business and bosoms," his opinions were liberal and expanded ;
exclusiveness or dogmatism formed no part of his moral creed.
He found, as all have found or will find who aspire to raise them
selves above the level of their fellow-men, that envy tracked his
footsteps, and calumny was always at hand to endeavor to throw a
shade over his fame ; and we regret to say that, during the close of
his career, he suffered from pecuniary embarrassments, resulting
from his multifarious services and expenditures, and assumed respon
sibilities^ during the war, and from — what must not be disguised —
the tardy justice of the government. He came out of this ordeal,
however, completely triumphant ; but our limits forbid our entering
into details.
We merely add the date of his decease, which melancholy event
happened on the 11th of June, 1825, on Staten Island; but his
remains are interred in the family vault, at St. Mark's church, in the
city of New York. '

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HENRY CLAY.

" If all this be as is now represented, he has acquired fame enough."
Daniel Webster.

In every country, an active politician must occupy a conspicuous
place in the public eye. In every country, and in our own, espe
cially, the more conspicuous he is rendered by his talents, energy,
decision of character, or peculiar principles, the more will he become
the favorite of some, and the object of reproach to others. Where
men and principles must be tried at the bar of public opinion, as in
our country, or in Great Britain, and we may now add, in France, it
is impossible to prevent this result. Nor, is it desirable that it
should be otherwise, saving, the bitterness and coarseness of invective,
with which political opponents are too often assafled, in the eager
strife of parties. To such an extent does this prevafl in our land of
free presses, that it is to moderate politicians often a subject of deep
mortification and regret. To most of those who have been the
prominent men of our country these remarks are applicable, and yet,
no sooner are they removed from the stage of action, than their
country remembers their services with a just regard. Is it right
that public men should struggle through a life of anxious toil and
unfaltering patriotism, with only the hope of posthumous justice to
their integrity and their talents ? Certainly not ; — we shall therefore
make our selections, alike from the distinguished living and the
illustrious dead.
Among the names which belong to, and are interwoven with, the
history of the United States, that of Henry Clay stands in bold
relief Like many others in our country, he has been the builder of
his own fortunes ; having risen from poverty and obscurity to pro
fessional eminence and political dignity, by the energetic and
assiduous exercise of his intellectual powers.
Henry Clay was born on the 12th of AprU, 1777, in Hanover
county, Virginia. His father, who was a respectable clergyman,
died while Henry was quite young ; in consequence of which, he

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
received no other education, than could be acquired at a common
school. He was placed at an early age in the office of Mr. Tinsley,
clerk of the high court of chancery, at Richmond, where his talents
and amiable deportment won for him, the friendship of some of the
most respectable and influential gentlemen in the state. At nineteen,
he commenced the study of the law, and was admitted to practice
when twenty years of age. He soon after removed to Lexington,
Kentucky, and continued his studies there about a year longer;
during which time he practised public speaking in a debating
society. In his first attempt he was much embarrassed, and saluted
the president of the society with the technical phrase, gentlemen of
the jury ; but gaining confidence as he proceeded, he burst the
trammels of his youthful diffidence, and clothing his thoughts in
appropriate language, gave utterance to an animated and eloquent
address. He soon obtained an extensive and lucrative practice ; and
the reputation which the superiority of his genius acquired, was
maintained by his legal knowledge and practical accuracy.
Mr. Clay's political and professional career began nearly at the
same time ; but as we cannot give the details of his varied and busy
life within the limits of this sketch, we shall only mark the most
prominent points, particularly, where he has taken a stand in
support of his favorite principles and measures.
In 1798, when the people of Kentucky were preparing to frame a
constitution for the state, a plan was proposed for the gradual
emancipation of slaves. Mr. Clay zealously exerted his talents in
favor of it ; he wrote for the journals, and declaimed at the public
meetings, but his efforts failed of success.
The next great question of a public character in which he took a
part, found him arrayed with the popular party, in vindicating the
freedom of the press, and in opposition to the sedition law, which
was viewed by one political party, as an attempt to control it. His
speeches on the subject are said to have exhibited much of that
energy of character and power of eloquence, which have since
distinguished him on aU great public occasions.
In 1803, he was elected a member of the legislature, and soon took
rank among the ablest men of the state.
In 1806, General Adair resigned his seat in the senate of the
United States, and Mr. Clay was elected to fill the vacancy for one
year. He made his debut, in a speech in favor of the erection of a
bridge over the Potomac at Georgetown, which is said to have
decided the question in favor of the measure, and is the first of his

HENRY CLAY.
efforts in support of his favorite principle of internal improvement.
On his return to Kentucky, he was reelected to the state legislature,
and at the next session was chosen speaker, by a large majority.
He held that station for several years, during which he frequently
took a part in the debates. He particularly distinguished himself
at the first session after his return from congress, by a powerful
speech in defence of the common law. A resolution had been
introduced to forbid the reading of any British decision, or elemen
tary work on law, in the Kentucky courts. The prejudices of the
people, and of a majority of the assembly, were believed to be in
favor of the motion ; Mr. Clay moved an amendment, the effect of
which was, to exclude those British decisions only, which are of a
subsequent date to the declaration of independence. The prejudices
against which he contended, were removed by his masterly exposition
of the subject. The common law, which viewed in the darkness of
ignorance, appeared mysterious and inexplicable ; locked up, as was
supposed, in a thousand musty volumes ; was shown to be simple and
easy of comprehension, by the application of a few plain principles.
On this occasion, by one of the most extraordinary efforts of his
genius, and a brilliant exhibition of his legal knowledge and orato
rical powers, Mr. Clay succeeded in carrying his amendment, by
an almost unanimous vote.
In 1809, Mr. Clay was again elected to the United States' senate
for two years, in the place of Mr. Thurston. At this time, the
country had arrived at one of those periods, when the strength of its
institutions was to be tried, by the menaces and impositions of foreign
powers. The policy of the United States has ever been, a non
interference in the affairs of Europe ; but notwithstanding the
neutrality of the government, to such a height had the animosity of
the belligerent European powers arrived, that each strove to injure
the other, even at the expense of justice, and by a violation of our
neutral rights. Several expedients had been resorted to, by which it
was hoped an appeal to arms might be averted, our commercial
rights respected, and our national honor remain untarnished ; but
at the same time a just apprehension was felt, that after all, our
pacific measures might prove abortive, and that it was necessary to
prepare for war. To this end, a bill was brought into the senate, to
appropriate a sum of money for the purchase of cordage, sail cloth,
and other articles ; to which an amendment was offered giving the
preference to American productions and manufactures. It was on
this occasion Mr. Clay first publicly appeared as the advocate of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
domestic manufactures, and of the protective policy which has since
been called " the American system." Mr. Clay also participated in
other important questions before the senate, and amongst them, that
respecting the title of the United States to Florida, which he sustained
with his usual ability.
His term of service in the senate having expired, he was elected a
member of the house of representatives, and in the winter of 1811
took his seat in that body, of which he was chosen speaker, by a vote
that left no doubt of the extent of his influence, or of the degree of
respect entertained for his abilities. This station he continued to
hold until 1814. Previous to the time when the preparations for
war, before alluded to, became a subject of interest, Mr. Clay had
been rather a participator in the discussion of affairs, than a leader,
or originator of any great measures, such as have since characterized
the national policy ; but from that period, he is to be held responsible
as a principal, for the impulse which he has given to such of them, as
will probably be left to the calm judgment of posterity. As early as
1811, we find him in his place advocating the raising of a respectable
mflitary force. War he conceived inevitable, — that in fact, England
had begun it already ; and the only question was, he said, whether it
was to be " a war of vigor, or a war of languor and imbecility."
" He was in favor of the display of an energy correspondent to the
feelings and spirit of the country." Shortly afterward, with equal
fervor, he recommended the gradual increase of the navy ; a course
of national policy, which has fortunately retained its popularity, and
still remains unchanged.
In 1814, Mr. Clay was appointed one of the commissioners, who
negotiated the treaty of Ghent. When he resigned the speaker's
chair on the eve of his departure to Europe, he addressed the house
in a speech, " which touched every heart in the assembly, and unsealed
many a fountain of tears" ; to which the house responded by passing
a resolution, almost unanimously, thanking him for the impartiality,
with which he had administered the arduous duties of his office. In
the spring, after the termination of the negotiations at Ghent, he
went to London with two of his former colleagues, Messrs. Adams
and GaUatin ; and there entered upon a highly important negotiation,
which resulted in the commercial convention, which has been made the
basis of most of our subsequent commercial arremgements with foreign
powers. On his return to his own country, he was every where
greeted with applause, and was again elected to the house of repre
sentatives in congress, of which he continued to be a member until

HENRY CLAY.
1825, when he accepted the appointment of secretary of state under
President Adams.
One of the great results of our foreign pohcy, after the war, was the
recognition of the independence of the Spanish colonies. On this
subject, Mr. Clay entered with all his heart and soul, and mind and
strength, — he saw "the glorious spectacle of eighteen millions of
people struggling to burst their chains and to be free" ; and he called
to mind the language of the venerated father of his country: "Born
in a land of liberty, my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings,
and my best wishes, are irresistibly excited, whensoever, in my
country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom."
We regret that we cannot enter into the details of his efforts in that
cause ; it must suffice to notice, that at first they were not successful,
yet he was not discouraged, but renewed them the following year,
when he carried the measure through the house of representatives.
The president immediately thereafter, appointed five ministers pleni
potentiary to the principal Spanish American states. While on this
subject, we must not permit the occasion to pass without remarking ;
that much as we admire those British statesmen, who are bending the
powers of their noble minds and splendid talents, to the great cause of
human liberty and human happiness, we cannot allow them, nor one
of them, to appropriate to himself the honor of having " called a new
world into existence." That honor belongs not to George Canning,
as a reference to dates will show. If there be glory due to any one
mortal man more than to others, for rousing the sympathies of free
men for a people struggling to be free, that glory is due to Henry
Clay ; although he has never had the vanity to say so himself His
exertions won the consent of the American people, to sustain the
president in the decisive stand which he took, when the great
European powers contemplated an intervention on behalf of /Spain;
and it was that which decided Great Britain, in the course which
she pursued. The Spanish American states have acknowledged
their gratitude to Mr. Clay by public acts ; his speeches have been
read at the head of their armies ; and his name will find as durable
a place in the history of the South American republics, as in the
records of his native land.
In the domestic policy of the government, there have been two
points, to which Mr. Clay's attention has been particularly directed,
since the late war ; both of them, in some degree, resting their claims
on the country, from circumstances developed by that war. We are
not about to discuss them, but merely to indicate them as his favorite

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
principles, to support which his splendid talents have been directed.
These are internal improvements, and the protection of domestic
manufactures by means of an adequate tariff. With regard to these
measures, the statesmen, and the people of the country, have been
much divided, — sometimes, there has been a difference of opinion as
to the expediency of them, and sometimes, constitutional objections
have been advanced. He has been, however, their steadfast cham
pion, and has been supposed to have connected them, with the settled
policy of the country. How far this may prove true, time only can
decide. The right, claimed by South Carolina, to nulUfy an act of Congress,
the warlike preparations made by that state to resist compulsion, and
the excitement throughout the country, occasioned by the confhct of
interests and opinions, and the hopes and fears of the community,
¦will never be forgotten by the present generation. A civil war and
the dissolution of the union, or the destruction of the manufacturing
interests, which had grown up to an immense value under the pro
tective system ; for a time seemed the only alternatives. During the
short session of congress in 1832-3, various propositions were made
to remove the threatened evils, by a readjustment of the tariff; but the
time passed on in high debate, and the country looked on in anxious
hope, that some measure would be devised, by which harmony and
security might be restored. Two weeks only remained to the end
of the session, and nothing had been effected ; when Mr. Clay, " the
father of the American system," himself brought in the olive branch.
On the 12th of February, he arose in his place in the senate, and
asked leave to introduce a bill, to modify the various acts, imposing
duties on imports ; he at the same time addressed the senate in expla
nation of his course, and of the bill proposed. " The basis," Mr. Clay
said, " on which I wish to found this modification, is one of time ;
and the several parts of the bill to which I am about to call the
attention of the senate, are founded on this beisis. I propose to give
protection to our manufactured articles, adequate protection, for a
length of time, which, compared with the length of human life, is
very long, but which is short, in proportion to the legitimate discre
tion of every wise and parental system of government — securing the
stability of legislation, and allowing time for a gradual reduction, on
one side ; and on the other, proposing to reduce the rate of duties to
that revenue standard for which the opponents of the system have so
long contended."
The bill was read, referred to a committee, reported on, and

HENRY CLAY.
brought to its final passage in the senate within a few days. In the
mean time, it had been made the substitute for a bill under discussion,
in the house of representatives, and was adopted in that body by a
large majority and sent to the senate, where it had its final reading
on the 26th, and when approved by the president became a law.
We should not, in this place, have alluded to the course pursued
by one of the states, to effect a modification of the tariff, had it not
been so inseparably connected with, what we doubt not, wiU be
hereafter considered one of the most important acts of Mr. Clay's
public life. " He expressly declared that he thought the protective
system in extreme danger ; and that it would be far better for the
manufacturers, for whose interests he felt the greatest solicitude, to
secure themselves by the biU, than take the chances of the next
session of congress, when, from the constitution of both houses, it
was probable a worse one would be passed." On the other hand, he
urged the proposition "as a measure of mutual concession, — of
peace, of harmony. He wanted to see no civil war ; no sacked
cities ; no embattled armies ; no streams of American blood shed by
American arms." We trust, that the crisis is passed, and that we
shall continue for ever a united, prosperous, and happy people.
The tariff has had its effect so far, that a new era has commenced,
and it is very probable, that the revenue of the country will finally
be settled down to a standard, only sufficient, to meet the expenses
of the government. In connection with this subject, we wish to
preserve the following extract from the speech of Mr. Verplanck,
in January, 1833, in support of a bill to reduce the tariff, reported
by him to congress :
" The last war left the nation laboring under a weight of public
debt. The payment of that war debt was one of the great objects of
the arrangement of our revenue system at the peace, and it was never
lost sight of in any subsequent arrangement of our tariff system.
Since 1815, we have annually derived a revenue from several sources,
but by far the largest part from duties on imports, of sometimes
twenty, sometimes twenty-five, and recently thirty-two and thirty-
three millions of dollars a year.
" Of this sum, ten millions always, but of late a much larger pro
portion, has been devoted to the pajmaent of the interest and principal
of the public debt. At last that debt has been extinguished. The
manner in which those burthens were distributed under former laws,
has been, heretofore, a subject of complaint and remonstrance. I
do not propose to inquire into the wisdom or justice of those

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
laws. The debt has been extinguished by them — let us be grateful
for the past."
Many other interesting incidents are presented in the public life of
Mr. Clay, to which we shall only advert ; such, as the part he took
in the Missouri question ; in the election of Mr. Adams ; on the subject
of sending a commissioner to Greece ; on the colonization of the
negroes ; and more recently, his labors in favor of rechartering the
United States Bank, and for the distribution of the proceeds of the
public lands for the purposes of internal improvement, education, &c.
Mr. Clay received from Mr. Madison the successive offers of a
mission to Russia, and a place in the cabinet ; and from Mr. Monroe
a situation in his cabinet, and the mission to England ; all of whicht
he declined.
On the great Cumberland road, there has been erected a large and
beautiful monument, surmounted by a figure of Liberty, and inscribed
" Henry Clay." These are evidences of the estimation in which
Mr. Clay has been held by his contemporaries ; others might be
adduced, but they would be superfiuous.
Twice he has been nominated for the presidency, but without
success. We trust that he is too firm in his republican principles to
murmur, and that his friends will in some measure be consoled, by
reflections similar to that, which we have adopted as a motto to this
article.

major general wh.mam moui.trik

liiili.-r(?d .1.-. ¦

¦ li'i-c-to Act or CongT.3ls indie Ye-.ir t83.^LviameEHemns;;.iLnbo i_-|Lil;i 'J't l> a'
tt,. D,,;U.|rf Court of llie Soiilli..itiDi*iot orNvw York.

WILLIAM MOULTRIE.

This patriotic citizen has contributed towards the history of the
United States, two volumes of " Memoirs of the American Revolu
tion." As these relate principally to events which occurred in South
Carolina within his own knowledge, they are invaluable as authentic
records. On their authority, we shall briefly describe the situation
of South Carolina at the commencement of the revolution, and the
measures adopted by her patriotic citizens of those days, when they
made common cause with the other colonists in defence of their
violated rights.
Settled at a much later period than the eastern colonies, the greatest
evils Carolina had endured, originated from the anomalous characters
of the first settlers ; English puritans and cavaliers, French huguenots,
and others ; which led to constant disputes amongst themselves ; and
from the unjust and arbitrary manner in which the government was
administered by the proprietaries. Whflst the colonists of New
England clung to their charters, as the palladium of their liberties,
those of South Carolina sought relief by an appeal to the throne ; — •
by renouncing the proprietary government ; and by establishing one
of their own in the name of the king. This took place in 1719, and
from that time until the revolution, the government was administered
by a royal governor, and their laws enacted by a provincial assembly.
The proprietary government had been not only unjust, but impolitic ;
it left the colonists to contend against the Indians and the Spaniards
at their own expense, which discouraged emigration, and impover
ished the country, by continually draining it of its resources ; at the
same time, it exercised a most arbitrary and illegal power, by repealing
the laws which the general assembly of the colony had thought
necessary for its preservation and defence. The consequence was,
that more than fifty years after its first settlement, the whole white
population of South Carolina did not exceed fifty thousand ; and " the
face of the country appeared like a desert, with little spots here and
there cleared, scarcely discernible amidst the immense forest." But

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
under the royal government, the population rapidly increased, the
country was explored and cultivated, and wealth, and a comparative
degree of ease and freedom, were enjoyed.
South Carolina did not then, become a party in the great contest,
so much from any local grievance or special cause of complaint, as
from a high, chivalrous impulse, and a firm conviction of the correct
ness of the principle, " that the colonies were entitled to the sole and
exclusive privilege of giving and granting their own money."
The first advance towards a continental union was made by Mas
sachusetts, in 1765, it was seconded by South Carolina, and in
October of that year, delegates from nine of the provinces assembled
in New York, and agreed to a declaration of rights, and a statement
of grievances.
After the passage of the celebrated bill for shutting up the port of
Boston, the inhabitants of that town appealed to the " sister colonies."
The appeal was promptly answered by South Carolina, and delegates
were appointed to the congress which assembled in Philadelphia on
the fifth of September, 1774. When the delegates had returned to
Charleston, and reported the serious character of the dispute with
Great Britain, the general committee determined to call a provincial
congress. In every parish and district, representatives were elected
to meet in Charleston on the eleventh of January, 1775. In a few
days, they approved the bfll of rights, as declared by the continental
congress, — agreed to the American association, and recommended
the inhabitants to be dUigent in learning the use of arms. Amongst
many other decisive and patriotic measures, they resolved unani
mously, that any person who should take, or act under any commis
sion in any wise derived from the act of parhament, changing the
form of government, and violating the charter of the provinces of
Massachusetts Bay, ought to be held in detestation and abhorrence
by all good men, and considered as the wicked tools of that despotism,
which was preparing to destroy those rights, which God, nature, and
compact, had given to America. Still, hopes of a reconciUation were
entertained, until the news of the battle of Lexington was received •
from that moment there was no hesitation as to the course to be
pursued. The provincial congress was again called together on the
first of June. " At this summons," says General Moultrie, " the
people were greatly alarmed, and their minds much agitated ; they
saw that war was inevitable ; and that it was to be with that country
which first planted them in America, and raised them to maturity ;
a country with which they were connected by consanguinity, by

WILLIAM MOULTRIE.
custom, and by manners ; by religion, by laws, and by language ; a
country that they had always been taught to respect, and to consider
as amongst the first in the world. A rich and powerful nation, with
immense fleets, and experienced admirals, sailing triumphantly over
the ocean ; with large armies and able generals in many parts of the
globe : this great nation we dared to oppose, without money, without
arms, without ammunition ; no generals, no armies, no admirals, and
no fleets ; this was our situation when the contest began." On the
first day of the meeting of the provincial congress, " they determined
upon a defensive war; and the fourth day it was i resolved to raise
two regiments of five hundred men each." Of the second of these
regiments, William Moultrie was appointed colonel, on the 17th
of June, 1775 ; (the same day on which was fought the battle of
Bunker Hill,) and from that time he was constantly engaged in the
discharge of a succession of active and arduous duties. In Sep
tember, a detachment from this regiment took possession of Fort
Johnson, and the council of safety ordered him to have a flag made,
(" as there was no national or state flag at that time,") upon which,
as the state troops were clothed in blue, and wore a silver crescent
in front of their caps, he had a large blue flag made, with a crescent
in the dexter corner, and " that was the first American fiag displayed
in South Carolina."
There was at the time a sloop of war laying off Charleston, which
excited constant vigilance and uneasiness, lest the town or the fort
should be attacked. General Moultrie in his memoirs, frequently
notices how highly they were impressed with the mighty power of a
British man-of-war. When, therefore, the flag was hoisted on the
fort, it alarmed the timid. " They said it had the appearance of a
declaration of war, and the captain of the Tamer would look upon it
as an insult and a flag of defiance ; but he knew his own force and
kept his station." The Cherokee sloop of war soon afterwards joined
the Tamer, and blockaded the harbor of Charleston, and annoyed the
provincials exceedingly by enticing the negroes to run away and
form a camp on Sullivan's Island. On the 19th of December, on a
very dark and cold night. Colonel Moultrie, with a number of
gentlemen, and two hundred soldiers, embarked from Charleston to
erect a battery at Haddrell's Point, so as to drive off the men-of-war ; —
by day-light they were well covered, and in a few hours laid their
platforms, mounted some guns, and opened their embrasures. The
men-of-war immediately moved further off, and left the cove and
SuUivan's Island under the command of the American batteries.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Early in March, 1776, Colonel Moultrie was ordered to take post
on Sullivan's Island, where a fort was building large enough to
contain one thousand men. At this time, certain intelligence had
been received that an expedition was preparing in New York against
Charleston, and as Colonel Moultrie rendered a good account of it,
when it arrived within reach of his guns, we shall give his own plain
narrative of one of the most brilliant actions of the revolutionary
war. " At this time it was the general opinion, especially among
the saflors, that two frigates would be a sufficient force to knock
the town about our ears, notwithstanding our number of batteries
with heavy cannon ; but in a few weeks, experience taught us that
frigates could make no impression on our palmetto batteries."
" May 31, a large fleet of British vessels were seen about twenty
miles to the windward of the bar ; and on the first of June, they
displayed about fifty sail before the town, on the outside of the bar.
The sight of these vessels alarmed us very much ; all was hurry and
confusion : the president with his council, busy in sending expresses
to every part of the country, to hasten down the militia; men
running about the town looking for horses, carriages, and boats, to
send their families into the country ; and as they were going through
the town gates into the country, they met the militia from the
country marching into town : traverses were made in the principal
streets ; fleches thro-wn up at every place where troops could land,
military works going on every where, the lead taken from the win
dows of the churches and dwelling houses, to cast into musket balls,
and every preparation to receive an attack, which was expected in a
few days. June 4th, General Lee arrived from the northward, and
took command of the troops. When he came to Sullivan's Island,
he did not like that post at all ; he said there was no way to retreat,
that the garrison would be sacrificed ; nay, he called it a ' slaughter
pen,' and wished to withdraw the garrison and give up the post, but
President Rutledge insisted that it should not be given up : — for my
part, I never was uneasy on not having a retreat, because I never
imagined the enemy could force me to that necessity. Captain
Lamperer, a brave and experienced seaman, who had been master of
a man-of-war, visited me at the fort after the British ships came over
the bar ; while we, were walking on the platform, looking at the fleet,
he said to me: 'Well, colonel ; what do you think of it now?' I
replied, that ' we should beat them.' ' Sir,' said he ; ' when those
ships come to lay along side of your fort, they will knock it down in
half an hour,' (and that was the opinion of all the sailors,) then I

WILLIAM MOULTRIE.
said, ' we will lay behind the ruins, and prevent their men from
landing.' Our fort at this time was not nearly finished; the
mechanics and negro laborers were taken from all the works about
the town, and sent down to the island to complete our fort ; we
worked very hard, but could not get it nearly finished before the
action. On the morning of the 28th of June, I paid a visit to our
advance-guard ; while I was there, I saw a number of the enemy's
boats in motion at the back of Long Island, as if they intended a
descent ; at the same time, I saw the men-of-war loose their topsails.
I hurried back to the fort as fast as possible ; when I got there, the
ships were already under sail ; I immediately ordered the long roll
to beat, and officers and men to their posts. We had scarcely
manned our guns when the following ships of war came saihng up,
as if in confidence of victory ; as soon as they came within reach of
our guns, we began to fire; — they were soon abreast of our little
fort, — let go their anchors with springs upon their cables, and began
their attack most furiously about ten o'clock, A.M., and continued a
brisk fire till about eight o'clock, P.M.
" The ships were the Bristol, of fifty guns. Commodore Sir Peter
Parker : the captain had his arm shot off, forty-four men killed, and
thirty wounded. The Experiment, fifty guns : the captain lost his
arm, fifty-seven killed and thirty wounded. The Active, twenty-
eight guns: one lieutenant killed, and one man wounded. The
Sole-Bay, twenty-eight guns : two killed, three or four wounded.
The Syren, twenty-eight guns. The Acteon, twenty-eight guns :
burnt ; one lieutenant killed. The Sphinx, twenty-eight guns : lost
her bowsprit. The Friendship, twenty-six guns ; an armed vessel
taken into service.
" The Thunder-Bomb had the beds of her mortar soon disabled ;
she threw her shells in a very good direction ; most of them fell
within the fort ; but we had a morass in the middle, that swallowed
them up instantly. At one time, the commodore's ship s-wung round
with her stern to the fort, which drew the fire of all the guns that
could bear upon her. The words that passed along the platform
by officers and men were, ' mind the commodore — mind the two fifty-
gun ships' ; most of our attention was paid to the two fifty-gun ships,
especially the commodore, who, I dare say, was not at all obliged to
us for our particular attention to him. During the action, thousands
of our fellow-citizens were looking on with anxious hopes and fears,
some of whom had their fathers, brothers, and husbands in the battle;
whose hearts must have been pierced at every broadside. After some

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
time, our flag was shot away ; their hopes were then gone, and they
gave up all for lost ! supposing that we had struck our flag and given
up the fort. Sergeant Jasper, perceiving that the flag was shot away,
and had fallen without the fort, jumped from one of the embrasures,
and brought it up through a heavy fire, fixed it upon a spunge staff,
and planted it upon the ramparts again. Our flag once more waving
in the air, revived the drooping spirits of our friends, and they
continued looking on till night had closed the scene, and hid us from
their view. At length, the British gave up the conflict ; the ships
slipped their cables, and dropped do-wn -with the tide and out of the
reach of our guns. When the firing had ceased, our friends for a
time were again in an unhappy suspense, not knowing our fate ; till
they received an account by a despatch boat which I sent up to town
to acquaint them that the British ships had retired, and that we were
victorious."* A few days after this battle, the lady of Major Elliott presented an
elegant pair of colors to Colonel Moultrie and Lieutenant Colonel
Motte, of the gallant second regiment. These colors were honorably
supported ; they v/ere planted on the British lines at Savannah, where
one of them was lost ; the other was saved by the brave Sergeant
Jasper, who was mortally wounded in the act ; but it was afterwards
taken at the fall of Charleston.
" As soon as the British had retreated after the battle of Sullivan's
Island, the state was left tranquil and free from any apprehension of
another attack." General Moultrie was sent with an expedition to
Georgia ; when he arrived at Savannah, preparations were made for
an attack on St. Augustine, where his brother was governor ; but
part of the troops being recaUed, the project was abandoned. Shortly
after this, the colonial troops were put on the continental establish
ment, and Colonel Moultrie came into the line of the army, as a
brigadier general, his commission being dated September 16, 1776.
When General Lincoln took command of the southern department.
General Moultrie was ordered to join the army with his brigade at
Purisburgh. In February, 1779, with a detachment, consisting of
only a few hundred mUitia, and nine continental troops, he defeated
a superior force of the enemy near Beaufort. General Lincoln soon
after marched into Georgia, and left General Moultrie with about
twelve hundred militia and a few continentals, to watch the motions

* The fort on Sullivan's Island was, by the legislature, afterwards named Fort Moultrie.

WILLIAM MOULTRIE.
of the British, who were by this time collecting a force for the pur
pose of striking at some important point. In the beginning of May,
they advanced towards Charleston, with nearly four thousand men
under the command of General Provost. Moultrie retired before
them, destroying the bridges on the route, and impeding them as
opportunities offered; he at the same time kept the governor in
Charleston, and General Lincoln, informed of the enemy's advance.
In a few days he reached Charleston, but with only six hundred
men ; the rest had deserted by the way. General Provost appeared
before the town ; but a few cannon shot stopped his progress. The
governor and his council were so much alarmed at the prospect of a
siege, that they requested a parley. General Provost offered pro
tection to such of the inhabitants as would accept of it, and to receive
the rest as prisoners of war. This proposal was rejected, and a
proposition of neutrality during the war was sent. The military
were so decidedly opposed to. such a spiritless submission, that it was
with difficulty an officer could be prevailed on to bear the message.
When it was at last delivered, General Provost replied that he had
nothing to do with the governor, his business was with General
Moultrie. "Upon this," says the general, "the governor and
council looked very grave and steadfastly on each other and on me,
not knowing what I wOuld say. After a little pause, I said, ' Gentle
men, you see how the matter stands, — the point is this: am I to
deliver you up prisoners of war, or not V Some replied ' Yes.' I
then said, ' I am determined not to deliver you up prisoners of war.
We will fight it out.' I immediately ordered a flag to be waved from
the gate, which was the signal agreed upon, should the conference
be at an end." But all were disappointed in the result ; for the next
morning, at daylight, it was discovered, that the enemy had decamped.
They had intercepted a letter from General Lincoln, who was in their
rear with four thousand men. In the spring of 1780, General
Moultrie again distinguished himself at the siege of Charleston ;
which, after holding out upwards of a month, capitulated, and he
remained a prisoner of war until February, 1782, when he was
exchanged for General Burgoyne. He was promoted by congress to
the rank of major general, but was not afterwards engaged in mili
tary operations, as at that period the British held no strong post
in South Carolina, except Charleston, and that they evacuated in
December of the same year.
Whfle he was a prisoner on parole, a proposition was made to him
by Lord Charles Montague, under the guise of private friendship, to

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
leave the service, accept a British commission, and save his reputa
tion by quitting the country ; to which he replied in a dignified and
becoming manner, in a letter, from which, the folio-wing is extracted :
" When I entered into this contest, I did it with the most mature
deliberation, and with a determined resolution to risk my life and
fortune in the cause. The hardships I have gone through I look
back upon with the greatest pleasure : I shall continue to go on as I
have begun, that my example may encourage the youths of America
to stand forth in defence of their rights and liberties. You call upon
me now, and tell me I have a fair opening of quitting that service
with honor and reputation to myself by going to Jamaica. Good
God ! Is it possible that such an idea could arise in the breast of a
man of honor ! I am sorry you should imagine I have so little
regard for my own reputation as to listen to such dishonorable pro
posals ; would you wish to have that man whom you have honored
with your friendship, play the traitor ? Surely not. You say, by
quitting this country for a short time, I might avoid disagreeable
conversations, and might return at my own leisure, and take posses
sion of my estates for myself and family ; but you have forgot to tell
me how I am to get rid of the feelings of an injured honest heart, and
where to hide myself from myself; — could I be guUty of so much
baseness I should hate myself and shun mankind. This would be a
fatal exchange from my present situation, with an easy and approved
conscience of having done my duty, and conducted myself as a man
of honor."
The only authentic information we have been able to obtain of the
life of General Moultrie before, or subsequent to the revolution is,
that he entered the field of Mars as the captam of a light infantry
company in a provincial regiment, and was engaged in ah expedition
against the Cherokee Indians in 1761. He was governor of South
Carolina, in 1785-6, and again in 1794-5. He died September
27th, 1805, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

En^aveiby J B Longacre &om npftintingby T.SuJt^

MAJOR GENERAL U S.A.

ALEXANDER MACOMB,

" For what of thrilling sympathy,
Did e'er in human bosom vie,
Wilh that which stirs the soldier's breast,
When, high in god-like worth confest,
Some noble leader gives command,
To combat for his native land ?
No ; friendship's freely flowing tide,
The soul expanding ; filial pride,
That hears with craving, fond desire.
The bearings of a gallant sire ;
The yearnings of domestic bliss, —
E'en love itself, will yield to this.''

Joanna Baillie.

Major General Alexander Macomb, now at the head of the
army of the United States, is one of those men whom his country
delights to honor ; for he has served faithfully, and risen gradually
in the army, and of course, is thoroughly acquainted with his duties.
He, perhaps, more than any other man in our army, may be consi
dered as having been a soldier from the cradle. He was born at
Detroit, April 3d, 1782. The city of Detroit, at that time, was a
garrison town, and among the first images that struck his eyes were
those of the circumstances of war. These early impressions often
fix the character of the man.
The father of the subject of this sketch was a fur merchant, respect
ably descended and connected. He removed to the city of New York
while Alexander was yet an infant. When he was eight years
of age, he placed him at school at Newark, in New Jersey, under the
charge of the Reverend Doctor Ogden, who was a man of mind, be
longing to a family distinguished for talents. This was a time of high
excitement, the French revolution was raging with great fury, and
our countrymen took sides. In every enhghtened nation, boys are
among the first to take impressions, and these are often lasting. It
is not a little singular that the present major general of the army of
the United States, and the present secretary of war. Governor Cass,
were, during the French revolution,, officers of Lilliputian bands at

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the seminaries in which they were educated : the one at Newark in
New Jersey, and the other at Exeter academy in New Hampshire.
It is not only that military fire is kindled in the hearts of youth, at
such an age, but in such associations they learn much of that part of
the art of war which depends upon ardor, quickness, and imitative
power, rather than upon deep reasoning. Being acquainted with all
possible forms in which men can be placed, and the time required
for each movement ; the officer in battle having all this elementary
and practical knowledge at once in his mind, can compare, com
bine, and decide without hesitation. The deep interest boys take
in these military exercises is beautifully described in an unpublished
poem, found among the remains of that elegant classical scholar and
poet, the late Nathaniel H. Carter, Esq., who was a member of the
mflitary corps at Exeter about eight or ten years after the present
secretary of war had left the institution.
" And now the labors of the studious day,
Conclude, and give the evening hours to play,
At beat of drum with sword and armor sheen,
The mimic train-band form upon the green.
With snowy frock and trowsers fringed with red,
And blood-tipt feather nodding on his head,
The youthful soldier struts, and slaps with pride,
The jetty box, suspended at his side ;
While o'er him waves the motto'd flag of stars,
Which join in friendship Mercury and Mars.
Meantime the captain, of his station proud,
Unsheaths his sword, and gives the word aloud ;
Along the line with gait majestic walks,
And much of discipline, and order talks ;
Observes the rogue, and sternly reprimands,
Who turns his head, or disobeys commands ;
Then calls subalterns to the grave debate,
And tells of tactics, us'd in ev'ry state.
Explains what code the English corps adopts,
And which the mighty power of Gallia props.
Proud was this Chief of Boys, and happier far,
Than Europe's scourge, and thunder-bolt of war,
Who terror struck to prostrate prince and throne,
In every clime from Wolga to tho Rhone,
Reign'd haughtiest monarch of the world a while,
Then sunk the tenant of a little isle."
In 1798, whfle Macomb was quite a youth, he was elected into a
select company, which was caUed " The New York Rangers." The
name was taken from that Spartan band of rangers, selected from
the provincials, who from 1755 to 1763, were the elite of every

ALEXANDER MACOMB.
British commander on lake George, and the borders of Canada. At
the time he entered the corps of New York Rangers, congress had
passed a law receiving volunteers for the defence of the country, as
invasion by a French army was soon expected. This patriotic band
volunteered their services to government, which were accepted, but
he soon left this corps, and obtained a cornetcy at the close of the
year 1798, and was commissioned in January, 1799. General
North, then adjutant general of the northern army, soon saw the
merits of the youthful soldier, and took him into his staff, as deputy
adjutant general. Under such a master as the intelligent and accom
plished North, Macomb made great progress in his profession, and
in the affections of his brother officers of the army. The young offi
cer that Hamilton noticed, and North instructed, would not fail to be
ambitious of distinction. He visited Montreal, in order to observe
the discipline and tactics of the veteran corps kept at that important
military post, and did not neglect his opportunities.
The thick and dark cloud that hung over the country, passed
away, — a great part of the troops were disbanded, and most of the
officers and men returned to private life ; a few only were retained ;
among them was Macomb, who was commissioned as a second lieu
tenant of dragoons, and sent forthwith on the recruiting service, but,
it was not then necessary to push the business, and as he was sta
tioned in Philadelphia, he had fine opportunities to associate -with
the best informed men of the city, and found easy access to the
Franklin and other extensive libraries, of which advantages he did
not fail to improve.
When his body of recruits was formed, he marched with it to the
western frontiers to join General Wilkinson, an officer who had
been left in service from the revolutionary war. In the company of
Wilkinson (a man of talents and fascinating manners, notwithstand
ing his vanity,) and of Colonel Williams, the engineer, he must have
gathered a mass of materials for future use. With him he went into
the Cherokee country to aid in making a treaty with that nation.
He was on this mission nearly a year, and kept a journal of every
thing he saw or heard. This was a good school for one whose duty
it might hereafter be to fight these very aborigines, and, in fact,
these lessons of the wilderness are not lost on any one of mind and
observation. The corps to which he belonged was disbanded, and
a corps of engineers formed ; to this he was attached as first lieu
tenant. He was now sent to West Point, where he was by the code
there established, a pupil as well as an officer. Being examined and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
declared competent, he was appointed an adjutant of the corps at
that post, and discharged his duty with so much spirit and intelli
gence, that when the first court-martial, after his examination, was
convened, he was appointed judge advocate. This court was
ordered for the trial of a distinguished officer for disobeying an
arbitrary order for cutting off the hair. Peter the Great could not
carry such an order into execution, but our republican country did ;
and the veteran. Colonel Butler, was reprimanded for not throwing
his white locks to the -wind, when ordered so to do by his superior.
The talents and arguments exhibited by Macomb, as judge advocate
on this court-martial, brought him into very great notice as a man
of exalted intellect, as well as a fine soldier. He was now called
upon to compile a treatise upon martial law, and the practice of
courts-martial, which in a future day of leisure he effected, and his
book is now the standard work upon courts-martial, for the army of
the United States. In 1805, Macomb was promoted to the rank of
captain in the corps of engineers, and sent to the sea-board to super
intend the fortifications which had been ordered by an act of con
gress. By this service he became known to the first men in the
country, and his merits were duly appreciated from New Hampshire
to the Floridas.
In 1808, he was promoted to the rank of major, and acted as
superintendent of fortifications, until just before the war, when he
was advanced to a lieutenant colonelcy. He was again detailed to
act as judge advocate on a court-martial for the trial of General Wil
kinson, who had called the court on Colonel Butler. He added to
his reputation in this case. Willdnson was his friend, but Macomb
discharged his duty with military exactness.
At the breaking out of the war of 1812, he left the seat of govern
ment, where he had discharged an arduous duty, in assisting to give
form and regularity to the army, then just raised by order of con
gress. All sorts of confusion had prevailed, from the want of a
uniform system of military tactics : he was fortunate in his exertions.
When there was honorable war, he could not be satisfied to remain,
as it were, a cabinet officer, and wear a sword only to advise what
should be done, which seemed to be the regulations of the army in
respect to engineers ; he therefore solicited a command in the corps
of artfllery that was to be raised, and was gratified by a commission
as colonel of the third regiment, dated July 6, 1812. The regiment
was to consist of twenty companies of one hundred and eighteen
each. It was, in fact, the command of a division, except in rank.

ALEXANDER MACOMB.
His reputation assisted in raising this body of men, and in Novem
ber of that year he marched to the frontiers with his command.
Macomb and his troops spent the winter at Sackett's harbor. He
contemplated an attack upon Kingston, but was defeated in his plan
by the fears of some, and the jealousies of others ; — but he soon
distinguished himself at Niagara and fort George: at the same time
Commodore Chauncey was endeavoring to bring the enemy's fleet
to battle on lake Ontario. The next service performed by Colonel
Macomb was under General Wilkinson, and if the campaign was
not successful, Macomb was not chargeable with any portion of the
failure. In January, 1814, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier
general ; and was appointed to a command on the east side of lake
Champlain. Nothing of importance in the history of General
Macomb transpired, although he was constantly on the alert in the
discharge of his duties, until the coronal of his fame was won at the
defence of Plattsburgh. This defence our limits will not permit us
to describe with any minuteness, but suffice it to say, that in the
summer of 1814, Sir George Prevost, governor general of the
Canadas, had received a great augmentation of his regular forces, by
detachments from the army which had fought in Spain and Portugal,
under the Duke of Wellington. These were among the best troops
in the world, and he now determined to strike a blow upon our fron
tiers that should be decisive of the war, and bring our nation to terms
at once. His fleet, on lake Champlain, was considered superior to
that of ours, and he was well informed that we had not there any
army of consequence. Early in September he pushed on towards
Plattsburgh, and met, for several days, with little opposition. His
error was delay ; but he wished to move safely, and saw nothing to
prevent his progress. Previous to the 11th, there had been some
smart skirmishing, in which the British found more courage and
efficiency than they expected, from troops so hastily called out.
Early on the 11th, the British gave battle by land and water — fifteen
hundred of the regular army, and uncertain bodies of militia, made
up Macomb's army. The enemy was fourteen thousand strong.
The battle was a decisive victory on the part of the American forces ;
Macdonough captured the British fieet, and Sir George returned to
Canada the next night. The victory was as brifliant as unexpected.
Honors were voted Macomb in every part of the country. New
York and Vermont were foremost in their tributes of respect. The
president promoted him to the rank of major general, dating his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
commission on the day of his victory. The event had a happy effect
on the negotiations then going on at Ghent, and unquestionably
paved the way for a treaty of peace. Whoever wishes to see a detail
of this battle, should turn to the pages of an excellent memoir of
the general from the pen of " George H. Richards, Esq., a captain
in Macomb's artillery, in the late war ;" but who has since left
the service. This work comes warm from the bosom of friendship,
but contains much beauty and accuracy of detail. We have read,
we believe, all that has been written of the general ; but acknowledge
ourselves indebted to that memoir for many of the incidents in this
life of General Macomb.
After the close of the war he commanded at Detroit, his birth
place. He was received at this military post with distinguished
honors ; many remembered his person, and all had kept his reputa
tion in view as reflecting honor upon the territory in which he was
born. He continued at that post attentive to his duty, and devising
liberal things for the people of that region, without confining his
exertions to any particular portion of territory, untfl in 1821 he was
called to Washington to take the office of chief of the engineer depart
ment. On the receipt of this information, he was addressed by all
classes of the people of Detroit, in the most exalted language of
friendship and regard. On repairing to Washington, he assumed
the duties of the bureau he was caUed to, and discharged them to the
satisfaction of the government, and the army. On the death of
General Brown, commander-in-chief of the army. General Macomb
was nominated to that station. This nomination was confirmed by
the senate, and although there were some difficulties in the way,
about relative rank. General Macomb was supported in his office not
only by the president and the senate, but by the almost entire voice
of the people. All matters, which at one time threatened discord and
confusion, were happfly surmounted, and harmony restored. He
has remembered the advantages he received at West Point, and has
constantly been the friend of that institution ever since. May he
long live to be one of its guardians. Great commanders may arise
in the exigencies of a nation, from the bosom of private life ; but the
regular hopes of the people for military men, must be founded on the
pro-vision made to educate youth in the art and science of war ; and
we must be prepared for war untfl the time arrives when the sword
shall be beaten into a plough-share, and the spear into a pruning
hook.

Drawn from life and Engraved byJ B Lon^ac

cSJOSIL m.o IFOHSrSIS'Jf'Ti'o

jf.A^^^^^^

JOEL R. POINSETT.

The distinguished subject of this memoir was born on the second of
March, 1779. Immediately after the close of the revolutionary war,
he was taken to England by his parents, and brought back to
Charleston in 1788. He received the rudiments of his classical
education in that city under Mr. Thomson, who was an excellent
teacher. In 1793, he was sent by his father to be placed under the
care and tuition of Dr. Dwight, and he remained at Greenfield Hifl,
in Connecticut, with this celebrated man for nearly two years,
when the state of his health obliged his father to recall him to the
milder climate of South Carolina. The year after, he was sent to
England, where he remained at school at Wandsworth, near London,
under the tuition of Mr. Roberts, brother of the principal of St. Paul's
school. In all these different seminaries, he took an eminent station.
At the age of eighteen, he left Mr. Roberts, the best classical scholar in
the institution. Thence he proceeded to Edinburgh. In compliance
with the wishes of his father, he matriculated in the college of that
city, and attended the medical lectures. In this institution, under
the most celebrated masters of the time in Europe, he laid the foun
dation of that general knowledge of the sciences, which he has pur
sued throughout life. He was interrupted in this course of study by
indisposition ; and by the advice of Dr. Gregory, who had manifested
the kindest interest in him during his residence in Edinburgh, he
went to Lisbon for the recovery of his health. He embarked in the
stormy winter of 1798, and had a long and boisterous passage, being
detained by contrary winds in the Bay of Biscay for four weeks.
Such, however, was the beneficial effect of the sea air upon his con
stitution, that although, when he left Edinburgh, his friend and
physician, Dr. Gregory, considered his case very doubtful, he entirely
recovered his health before he landed in Lisbon. He remained the
rest of that winter in Lisbon, and in the spring, went to Oporto,
whence he embarked for England. Being convinced that his heeilth
would not permit him to follow any sedentary pursuit, he resolved
1

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
to direct his attention to the study of military tactics, with a view of
engaging in the active life of a soldier. For this purpose, he placed
himself under the tuition of Marquois, who had been a teacher in
the military academy at Woolwich. Under this teacher, he studied
the higher branches of mathematics, fortification, and gunnery ; but
in the following winter, his constitution again gave way under great
application, in the rigorous climate of London, and he was
obliged to seek a milder region. In the spring of 1800, he returned
to Charleston ; and a second time proved the })eneficial effect of the
sea air upon his constitution : — before he reached home, he was
perfectly restored to health.
Finijing his father extremely averse to his entering the army in
time of peace, he entered the office of Mr. De Saussure, now chan
cellor of South Carolina, and began the study of law. Being
desirous of completing his education by making the tour of Europe,
he obtained the consent of his father to another voyage. In 1801,
he embarked at Baltimore for Havre. He sojourned at Paris in the
winter of 1801-2. In the summer he visited Switzerland ; he made
the tour of the Cantons on foot ; and was present during the struggle
which took place to reestablish the old government of the Helvetic
Confederacy, after the French troops were withdrawn, according to
the stipulations of the peace of Amiens. When that struggle was
terminated by the interference of France, he passed the Alps, and
visited the principal cities of Italy. He made the tour of Sicfly,
visited Malta, and returned again through Italy to France. He
remained a short time in Geneva, and passing again through Switzer
land, took the road to Vienna by Bavaria. He passed some months
at the Austrian court; but receiving while here the melancholy
intelligence of the death of his father, he set out in the depth of
winter, and travelled day and night to Rotterdam, whence he
returned to the United States.
When he arrived in Charleston, he found his sister suffering under
an incipient phthisis, and proceeded with her to New York, in the
hope that the change of air might prove beneficial to her health.
He was disappointed in this hope : — after lingering a few months,
she expired in his arms. This melancholy bereavement, by which
he lost his last surviving near relation, had a great effect upon the des
tinies and character of Mr. Poinsett. He soon after returned to Eu
rope, and proceeded to visit the northern portions of that continent. At
St. Petersburg he was received in the most distinguished manner by
the Emperor Alexander, with whom he enjoyed frequent intercourse.

JOEL R. POINSETT.
The emperor delighted to inform himself on the repubhcan institu
tions of our country. On one occasion, when Mr. P. was speaking
of the advantages enjoyed by the citizens of the United States,
Alexander exclaimed, "Sir, you are right; and if I were not an
emperor, I certainly would be a repubhcan." He offered to retain
Mr. P. in his service, and afforded him every facility in his tour
through the European and Asiatic possessions of his vast empire.
Mr. Poinsett, in consequence, visited Moscow and Kasan, and
thence descended the Volga to Astrachan, where he was so much
interested by the assemblage of people from every part of Asia, that
he remained there three weeks, although the plague raged violently
at the time in that place. He was compelled to perform, for several
days, a quarantine on the opposite shore of the Volga; but the
plague breaking out in the quarantine ground, he was permitted by
the governor of Astrachan to proceed on his journey. Before he left
this region, he visited the camps of the Calmuc Tartars, in the
steppes, and passed some days in the tent of one of the priests, where
he had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the worship of
the Dalai Lama ; as he had previously with that of Bramah, while
in Astrachan, by passing a night in the quarter occupied by the
natives of India. From Astrachan he proceeded along the shores of
the Caspian Sea to Terki, the capital of the Lesghian Tartars. Here
the Lehemkall, or chief, informed him, that the escort with which he
had been furnished on leaving the Russian frontier (three hundred
Cossacks) was not sufficient to protect him in his passage through
that country : the chief advised him, besides, to return, or send away
the escort, which was calculated to provoke hostility, and to confide
in his hospitality, offering to convey him in safety to Derbent. He
accepted this generous offer, and put himself under the protection of
the Lehemkall. This enabled him to see and observe the manners
and customs of this singular people. He arrived in safety at Der
bent, the Portas Caspise, and after a short stay there, proceeded with
an escort on the road to Baku, in Persia. On this journey he was
attacked, and he extricated his little party with some difficulty,
retreating to the Cuban, in the Caucasian mountains, where he was
kindly received by the khan, under whose protection he reached
Baku in safety. In this neighborhood he visited the temple of fire,
and saw the Guebres, from the banks of the Ganges, who come as
pilgrims to this spot. From Baku he went to Schirvan, and after
passing through Gangea, arrived at Teflis, in Georgia. Thence he
went into Armenia, and was present at the unsuccessful siege of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Erivan by the Russian army. He returned to Teflis when the
Russians withdrew from this place. Passing through the centre of
the isthmus, between the Caspian and Black Sea, he returned to St.
Petersburg, along the line of the Cuban to the Crimea, and thence
through the Ukraine to Moscow and St. Petersburg. This route
was through a sickly tract. Of the party of nine that accompanied
Mr. P. from Moscow, only three survived ; and he himself was so
much affected by the climate, that he was compelled to go to Toep-
litz for his health. In the course of his journey thither, he passed
through Konigsburg, where the Prussian court resided, and Berlin,
which was at that time occupied by the French troops. He stopped
a few days at Dresden, and visited the beautiful country called Saxon
Switzerland. At Toeplitz, he met the celebrated Prince de Ligne,
whom he had formerly known at Vienna. Having made a short
stay here, he went to Carlsbad, and proceeded slowly on to Paris,
where he resided some months. After the insult offered to our fiag
by the attack on the Chesapeake frigate, he considered a war between
the United States and Great Britain to be inevitable, and thought it
to be his duty to return home to offer his services to his country.
He did so, and Mr. Madison expressed a desire to make him quarter
master general of the army — a branch of the service very defective
at that time in the United States, and to which Mr. P. had paid par
ticular attention ; — to this, Mr. Eustis, who was at that time secretary
of war, objected. Mr. P. thought he perceived on the part of the
secretary an indisposition to receive him into the service, and he
therefore agreed without hesitation to a proposal made to him from
Mr. Madison, through Mr. Gallatin, to repair to South America, and
ascertain the real condition of the South American people, and their
prospects of success in the revolution just commenced. Accordingly
he proceeded to Rio Janeiro, and thence to Buenos Ayres, where he
was received by the governing junta with great distinction. After
establishing friendly and commercial relations with Buenos Ayres,
he crossed the continent to Chile. This became the theatre of the
piost extraordinary actions of his life, of which it would require
more space than is allotted to these memoirs to give even a brief
notice. He found the government in the hands of the Carreras, who.
gave him a most flattering welcome, and who, shortly after his
arrival, declared Chile independent of Spain.
When the war with Great Britain broke out, he was anxious to
return home ; but no opportunity of doing so presented itself; and,
subsequently, the British cruisers declared their intention to capture

JOEL R. POINSETT.
him if they could. Captain Hiflyer, of the Phcebe, refused him
permission to return in the cartel, which was asked by Captain
Porter, declaring, that he would not permit the arch-enemy of Great
Britain, as he was pleased to term him, peaceably to return to the
seat of the war.
While he was detained in Chile, the subject of declaring war
against the United States was discussed in secret session of the Cortes
in Spain, and the Spanish authorities in Peru proceeded to act as if
war had taken place between the two countries. They captured
and condemned several American vessels, and upon their invading
Chfle, they seized ten American whale ships in the port of Talca-
huano. At the same time, Mr. Poinsett obtained the perusal of an
intercepted letter from the governor of San Carlos de Chiloe, inform
ing the viceroy of Lima, that an American vessel had put into that
port for supplies ; that he had seized it, and should send it on to
Callao, as soon as a set of irons was completed, which was to secure
the crew. Mr. Poinsett, indignant at the commission of these acts
of hostility on the part of the Spanish authorities, accepted the
command of a small force, which was offered to him by the govern
ment of Chile ; with this he retook Talcahuano, and liberated the
vessels detained there. The exploit was noticed in the Nantucket
papers, and the National Intelligencer.
When the Essex, Captain Porter, arrived in Valparaiso, Mr. P.
was frequently on board ; and on one occasion, when she left the
port in the expectation of encountering a British frigate, he sailed in
her. The vessel they went out to meet proved to be a Portuguese
frigate. The Essex returned into port, and Mr. P. had only an
opportunity of seeing all the preparations for a naval combat. He
was on board the Essex when the Phoebe and Cherub came into
Valparaiso Bay, and had subsequently the melancholy satisfaction
to witness the gallant defence made by Captain Porter, and his brave
officers and crew, against a very superior force, under the most disad
vantageous and discouraging circumstances.
After the capture of the Essex, Mr. Poinsett returned across the
continent to Buenos Ayres, whence he sailed for Bahia, in a Portu
guese brig, having escaped the British squadron by dropping down
the river of Plate in an open boat. From Bahia he embarked in a
fast sailing schooner for Madeira, where he heard of the peace with
Great Britain ; and after a short residence in this island, he returned
to Charleston. Soon he was elected a member of the legislature of
South Carohna ; and having originated there a system of internal

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
improvement, in the execution of which he wished to cooperate, he
refused to accept the appointment of commissioner to South America,
tendered him by Mr. Monroe. While President of the South Carolina
Board of Public Works, he superintended, along with Colonel
Blanding, the construction of a road over the Saluda mountain, a
spur of the blue ridge. This is generally admitted to be one of the
best, if not the best mountain road in the United States, and is an
enduring monument of Mr. Poinsett's public spirit and usefulness.
In 1821, he was elected member of congress for Charleston district,
and had an important share in the debate on the recognition of the
independence of Spanish America. In 1822, he was invited by the
president to go to Mexico, in order to examine into the state of that
country, and to report upon the expediency of instituting diplomatic
relations with the Emperor Iturbide. He executed this delicate com
mission, and advised, for obvious reasons, that no relations should
be formed with the Mexican imperial government, foretelling, with
great accuracy, the period of its dissolution, and the overthrow of
Iturbide. He was twice reelected to congress, and took a very ser
viceable part in all the most important measures discussed in the
house of representatives during that period.
When it was known in the United States that Iturbide had returned
to Mexico, Mr. Monroe offered to Mr. Poinsett the mission to
Mexico, urging his acceptance of it. From the peculiar relations in
which Mr. Poinsett stood at that time with his party in Charleston,
he was compelled to decline this appointment. Mr. Monroe after
wards renewed this offer ; but Mr. Poinsett had defended Mr. Mon
roe's character when attacked in the house of representatives, and
therefore refused to receive any appointment at his hands.
Although he had participated in the election contest in which Mr.
John duincy Adams succeeded, and had voted in favor of General
Jackson, Mr. Adams proffered him the appointment of envoy extraor
dinary and minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, which he at length ac
cepted. Shortly before he set out for his destination, the degree of
doctor of laws was conferred upon him by Columbia college in New
York ; together with Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Elliott, of South Carolina.
His conduct while in Mexico in the discharge of his official duties
there, has been a subject of much discussion and criticism ; and it is
to be regretted, that the brief nature of this memoir will not permit
us to place it before the public in its true light. He never did inter
fere with the internal concerns of that country, except to prevent
civil war ; and that in one instance only, and with the knowledge

JOEL R. POINSETT.
and consent of the government. His friends were chosen among
the popular, or democratic party— the party now in power; the
aristocracy and hierarchy attributed entirely to him the loss of their
influence over the people, — which was the effect of the adoption
of republican institutions, and a representative form of government.
They hated him accordingly ; believing that if they could get rid
of him, they would recover the standing they had lost. The events
subsequent to Mr. Poinsett's departure must have convinced them
of their error, as they show conclusively, that the tranquiUity of the
country, and the contests between the patriots, were not affected by
his presence. He was accused of being inimical to the views of the
European Spaniards, whereas he constantly exerted himself to
protect them from persecution, although he condemned their frequent
interference in the politics of the republic. They never could be
reconciled to the dominion of the Creoles.
We cannot refrain from introducing a remarkable incident which
Mr. Poinsett narrated in his speech to the people of Charleston, to
exemplify the power which our Union has to protect its citizens abroad.
The election of Gomez Pedraza to the presidentship of Mexico,
was not acquiesced in by the people ; and from discontent and mur
murs they soon proceeded to open revolt. At night, they took pos
session of the artillery barracks, a large building, commonly called
the Accordada, which is so situated at the termination of the main
street, that a battery erected opposite to it commanded the palace.
Near the Accordada is the Alameda, a public walk about three-
quarters of a mile in circumference, and ornamented with noble
trees. The action commenced here, after a vain attempt on the part
of the government to negotiate with the people. The government
forces were driven out of the Alameda, and batteries established
higher up the street. The second day, the troops of the Accordada,
commanded by Zavala and Lobato, advanced towards tbe centre
of the city, in two columns — one by the main street, and the other
by a street running parallel to it, on which Mr. Poinsett's house
was situated. In order to check the advance of these columns, the
government troops were posted in the towers and steeples of the
convents and churches, and traverses mounted with cannon were
constructed across the streets. One of these works was situated about
three hundred yards from Mr. Poinsett's house, and immediately
under the tower of a convent on which men were stationed. After
several ineffectual attempts had been made to carry this work by an
attack of infantry in front, suddenly a squadron of cavalry, that had

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
succeeded in turning the flank of the battery, which was unprotected,
came thundering upon the artillery and sabred the men at their guns.
The soldiers on the tower, who for a time were afraid to use their
arms, lest they should kill their comrades, at length poured down an
effective fire upon the cavalry. Several fell ; some dashed down the
street, and others threw themselves off their horses and took refuge
under the eaves of the very tower whence this destructive fire had
proceeded. The horses, whose riders had been killed, ran about
wild with terror ; but those of the dismounted cavaliers instinctively
leant up against the wall of the tower as closely as their riders did,
and both escaped the shots from above. When the cannon of this
battery was silenced, the troops were soon driven from the convent.
The convent of Saint Augustine, situated in the rear of Mr. Poin
sett's house, was the last to yield to the besiegers. While the firing
was going on at this post, Madame Yturrigaray, widow of the former
viceroy of Mexico, who lived in the adjoining house, rushed into her
balcony, almost frantic with fear, and implored Mr. Poinsett to
protect her house. While he was giving her assurances of pro
tection, and trying to calm her fears, a shot was fired at him from
the roof of the convent opposite his house. The ball passed through
his cloak and buried itself in the shutter of the balcony window. He
retired within the house, and shortly after the besiegers were heard
advancing. They were composed of the common people of the city,
and the peasants of the neighboring villages, mingled with the civic
guard of Mexico, and deserters from different regiments. The tramp
of armed men and the hum of voices alone indicated their approach ;
but when they reached the house, there arose one wfld shout, and a
desperate rush was made to burst open the door. The massive gates
resisted the utmost efforts of the crowd. A cry arose to fire into the
windows, to bring up cannon, to drive in the door ; and bitter impre
cations were uttered against the owner of the house for sheltering
their enemies, the European Spaniards, many of whom had sought
an asylum in Mr. Poinsett's house. At this moment, Mr. Poin
sett directed Mr. Mason, the secretary of the American legation, to
throw out the flag of the United States. This was gaUantly done,
and they both stood on the balcony beneath its waving folds. The
shouts were hushed ; the soldiers slowly dropped the muzzles of their
guns, which were levelled at the balcony and windows.
" Mr. Poinsett seized this opportunity to tell them who he was,
and what flag waved over him, and to claim security for all who
were under its protection. Perceiving that the crowd was awed and

JOEL R. POINSETT.
began to consult together, he retired from the balcony to despatch
his servant with a note to the commander of the besieging army.
The servant returned, and reported that the press was so great that
the porter was afraid to open the door lest the crowd should rush in.
Mr. Poinsett instantly resolved to go down himself and have the
door opened. As he descended the stairs he was joined by Mr. Mason.
They proceeded together across the court yard to the door which the
porter was ordered to open. As they stepped over the threshold, the
dense crowd which fiUed the street, rolled back like a wave of the
ocean. The servant, who was a Mexican, mingled with them, and
before the people recovered from their astonishment the two gentle
men returned into the court yard and the door was closed by the
porter. Before they reached the front of the house, they heard the
rapid advance of a body of cavalry. It was commanded by a friend
of the legation. The gates were thrown open, the horsemen rode
into the court yard, their commander stationed sentinels before the
door, and Mr. Poinsett had the satisfaction to redeem his promise of
protection to Madam Yturrigaray. Her house was respected amidst
the wildest disorder, and those who had sought an asylum under the
flag of the United States, remained in perfect safety until tranquillity
was restored. The house was a quadrangle, and the court yard
shut in by a parte cochere. The people before the door were, many
of them, loaded with plunder from the houses and shops into which
they had broken.
Mr. Poinsett was accused of originating masonry in Mexico : —
its rites existed there long before his visits. All that he did, was to
send for charters from the grand lodge of New York, at the request
of the officers of the five lodges which existed in the capital ; a
request urged by several of the highest functionaries of the govern
ment. He explained all these circumstances to the public, in his
able reply to the accusations made against him by the legislatures of
Vera Cruz and Mexico ; and, subsequently, in answer to a British
pamphlet, published in London. These answers were generally
considered as a triumphant refutation of all the charges preferred
against him.
After undergoing in Mexico a persecution of eighteen months,
during which period his life was considered in danger, he was
recalled by General Jackson, who, in his next annual message, men
tioned him in a complimentary manner. During his residence in
Mexico, he negotiated a treaty of limits, and one of commerce,
which, from a prejudice that existed in the bosoms of some of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
senators against him, were not ratified, until some time after his
departure. Those Americans who belonged to the legation at
Mexico, or who resided there with different objects, understood his
position and conduct, and vindicated and admired his course.
So prominent a politician and zealous a patriot as Mr. Poinsett,
could not fafl to exert and distinguish hunself in the important
public questions which were raised in South Carolina since his
return. He sided with the Union party, as opposed to the advocates
of nullification. It is not within our province or design to pronounce
judgment upon the merits of parties, or the comparative soundness
of their opinions and measures ; but we may say of Mr. Poinsett,
what we presume his political adversaries wiU admit, — that he was
an honorable, as well as an able and intrepid leader — that he is
firmly attached to the constitution of the United States, and would
have sacrificed his life in its defence. His efforts to organize the
Union party ; the speeches which he delivered ; the addresses and
essays which he wrote, in furtherance of its objects ; and the deter
mination which he manifested for himself, and fostered in others,
will render his name most creditably conspicuous in the annals of a
memorable contest.
The proficiency of Mr. Poinsett in scientific and literary studies
is considerable. When abroad, he constantly gave attention to
objects of natural history, and made collections with which he
enriched our principal cities, especially Philadelphia, New York, and
Charleston. His published volume of Notes on Mexico ; his excel
lent articles in duarterly Reviews ; his printed essays and memoirs
as a geographer and traveller ; his various replies to calumnies and
misapprehensions of his conduct; have acquired for him a well-
merited literary reputation. As a legislator, he was truly substantive
and exemplary, from the extent and variety of his practiced informa
tion and talents ; his superior aptitude and habits as a man of
business ; and his instructive, compendious sense, and gentlemanly
discipline in debate. He is a clear, concise, energetic public speaker.
Few men of his age have seen more of the world, and with so much
intellectual profit: few have displayed equal enterprise, courage,
equanimity, and perseverance. The regulation of his temper, and
the simplicity of his courteous manners, correspond to the strength
and culture of his reason. His country, which he passionately
loves, may yet gain much from the activity of his zeal, and the
uncommon diversity of his powers, attainments, and experience.

¦*^r.,-;.

JOEL BAJILOW.

s^^r^Zi-

JOEL BARLOW.

This distinguished poet, philosopher, and politician, was born in the
village of Reading, in Connecticut, about the year 1765. At an
early age, he had the misfortune to lose his father, a respectable
farmer, in moderate circumstances, who left a family of ten child
ren, with only a slender patrimony for their support. But the
education of young Barlow was not neglected on this account,
and after going through his preparatory studies, he was placed by
his guardians at Dartmouth college. New Hampshire, where he
remained a short time, when he was transferred to Yale college.
New Haven. He here displayed a talent for poetical composition,
which attracted the notice of Dr. Dwight, then a tutor in the coUege,
and perhaps, the flattering encouragement he received from this
distinguished man, fixed the character of his future life, over which,
through all its vicissitudes, a devotion to the muses predominated.
At this period, the revolutionary war was raging, and young
Barlow, impelled by patriotism, and that enthusiasm which formed
a marked trait in his character, took up arms in the service of his
country, entering as a volunteer in the militia ranks of his native
state. He, however, still continued a member of the coflege, and
only sallied into the field during the vacations. He was engaged in
various encounters with the enemy, and is said to have borne a part
in the warmly contested battle of White Plains.
In 1778, he received the degree of bachelor of arts, and on that
occasion, pironounced an original poem, which was afterwards pub
lished. On leaving college, he made choice of the profession of the
law, and entered zealously upon its studies, but relinquished them in
a few months, on being strongly urged by his friends to qualify
himself for the Christian ministry, with a view to enter the army as
a chaplain ; and after only six weeks preparation, he was licensed,
and immediately repaired to the camp to commence upon his new
duties ; in the performance of which, he gave general satisfaction,
and was much respected as a preacher. He, however, did not neglect

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the muse, but employed his leisure in composing the "Vision of
Columbus," which afterwards formed the basis of his great epic
poem, " the Columbiad ;" and occasionally wrote patriotic songs and
addresses, in conjunction with Dr. Dwight, also a chaplain in the
army, and Colonel Humphreys, which are supposed to have had a
considerable infiuence in exciting and keeping alive the enthusiasm
of the soldiery.
On taking the degree of master of arts, in 1781, he recited another
original poem, entitled the " Prospect of Peace," which he afterwards
incorporated in the Vision of Columbus, and which appears with
some alterations in the Columbiad. About this period, he married
Miss Baldwin, a daughter of the Honorable Abraham Baldwin, then
of New Haven, and subsequently of Georgia, which state he repre
sented for many years in the senate of the United States.
Barlow remained with the army until the acknowledgment of our
independence in 1783, when he abandoned the clerical profession,
and reverted to his original plan of pursuing that of the law ; with
which view he removed to the city of Hartford, where he settled
himself, as he probably imagined, for life. In addition to his legal
pursuits, and for the purpose of immediate support, he .established
a weekly paper, and gained considerable reputation by various
original articles upon the subject of politics, which were novelties
at that day.
About the same period, he was employed by an association of the
clergy of Connecticut, to revise Dr. Watts' version of the Psalms, so
as to adapt them to the new order of things in our country ; which
service he performed to the satisfaction of the churches ; and he also
added some original h5nnns of his own composition, besides versi
fying some Psalms which had been omitted by Dr. Watts. A distin
guished critic* has said of one of these — the hundred and thirty-
seventh Psalm, — that it possesses "all the elegance and polish of
language of the most highly finished modern poetry." The volume
was published in 1786, and was used for many years as the author
ized version of the Congregational Churches of New England. In
the following year, the " Vision of Columbus" was published, with a
dedication to Louis XVL, and, in a few months afterwards, it
was reprinted both in London and Paris. He now relinquished
his newspaper, and opened a bookstore, principally for the purpose

* See " Biography of JoEi Barlow," published in the Analectic Magazine, in 1814.

JOEL BARLOW.
of disposing of his own productions. This object being accom
plished, he again resumed the practice of the law ; but his success
in this arduous profession was not very flattering ; he was deficient
in forensic abilities, and his previous desultory studies and varied
pursuits were certainly not friendly to the acquisition of profound
legal knowledge. He soon abandoned the bar, and engaged in other
scenes, which led him from his native country, and at length to
fortune, and a wider fame.
In 1788, he embarked for Europe, charged with an important land
agency, and after passing a short time in England, he crossed over
to France, where he concluded his agency to the satisfaction of his
employers, but without much pecuniary advantage to himself The
revolution was then in progress ; and embued as he was with repub
lican principles, and enthusiastic by character, he was induced to
remain in that country, in order to watch the development of the
grand drama, which, we doubt not, he sincerely believed would result
in the happiness of the people, by the overthrow of corrupt and
despotic power.
In 1791, he returned to England, where he remained a year or
more, and published the first part of a pohtical work entitled " Advice
to the Privileged Orders," which, with the addition of a second part,
has since been several times reprinted. This publication attracted
the notice of the celebrated Mr. Fox, who pronounced a formal eulogy
upon it in the house of commons. In 1792, he pubhshed a short
poem entitled " Conspiracy of Kings," which was suggested by the
coalition of the European sovereigns against republican France. In
the same year he addressed a letter to the national convention, in
which he criticises their first constitution, and recommends the abo-
Ution of the royal power, and the severance of church and state.
Towards the close of the same year, the London constitutional
society, of which he was a member, voted an address to the national
convention, and deputed Mr. Barlow and another member to present
it. He was received in France with great respect, and complimented
with the rights of citizeijship, an honor which had been conferred
upon General Washington and General Hamilton.
From this period. Barlow, for a time, fixed his residence in
France, fearing, as is supposed, to return to England, in conse
quence of the resentment of the government being pointed against
him, on account of his political writings and connections in that
country. He afterwards accompanied a deputation of the conven
tion to the newly acquired territory of Savoy, to organize it as a

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
department of the republic. He spent the winter at Chamberry,
where, at the request of his friends of the convention, he wrote an
address to the people of Piedmont, recommending them to throw off
their aUegiance to " the man of Turin, who called himself their king."
During this winter he wrote the poem, entitled, " Hasty Pudding ;"'
which is one of the happiest of his productions, and shews, that
wherever he was a wanderer, and in whatever scenes he was
engaged, there existed in his mind endearing recollections of child
hood and of home. This poem, by an excess of eulogy, perhaps,
has been compared to Goldsmith's " Deserted Village."
From Savoy he returned to Paris, where he continued to reside
for three years, and, with the exception of a translation of Volney's
Ruins, forebore all literary occupation. He, however, engaged in
various commercial speculations, by which he reahzed a handsome
fortune. About the year 1795, he was sent as an agent on private
business to the north of Europe, and soon after his return, he received
from President Washington the appointment of consul to Algiers,
with powers to negotiate a treaty of peace with the dey, and to
ransom all American citizens held in slavery on the coast of Barbary.
He immediately proceeded on his mission, crossing through Spain,
over to Algiers. He concluded treaties with the dey, and with Tunis
and Tripoli, and redeemed and sent home all the American captives
whom he could discover, amounting to about one hundred.
In 1797, he resigned his consulship, and returned to Paris, where
he again entered into successful commercial speculations, devoting
his leisure to political writings, and in 1805, after an absence of
nearly seventeen years, he returned to his native country, with the
determination of fixing his residence in it for the rest of his life.
With this view, he chose a beautiful situation within the District
of Columbia, and reared upon it a mansion, which he dignified with
the name of Kalorama ; here he lived in an elegant and hospitable
manner, associating on terms of intimacy and friendship, with our
most distinguished citizens. But the native energies of his character
would not permit him to remain idle, and he immediately engaged
with great zeal in sundry efforts for the advancement of science and
the arts among his countrymen. One of his schemes was the estab
lishment of a national academy, to be under the patronage of the
general government, and similar to the National Institute of France.
This had been a favorite project with Washington, and also received
the approbation of President Jefferson; but on being laid before
congress, it failed to receive their sanction. Defeated in this effort.

JOEL BARLOW.
he now turned his attention to the revision and publication of his
great epic, and in 1808, the Columbiad made its appearance in a
splendid volume, embellished with several fine engravings, which
were executed in London by the first artists. It was dedicated to
Robert Fulton, with whom Barlow was on terms of great intimacy,
being accustomed to regard him, indeed, as his adopted son. This
dedication was alike honorable to both, and showed a better taste
than the courtly dedication of the " Vision of Columbus" to one of
the monarchs of Europe.
After the publication of the Columbiad, Barlow employed himself
in making a collection of historical documents, with a view of writing
a general history of the United States ; but in 1811, while occupied
in these quiet hterary labors, he was unexpectedly nominated by
President Madison, minister plenipotentiary to the court of France.
He accepted the mission, and as is well known, made every effort to
negotiate with the Emperor Napoleon, a treaty of commerce, and
of indemnification for form'er spoliations, but without effect ; being
perpetually baffled by -the intrigues of the French diplomatists.*
At length, "in October, in 1812, he was invited by the Duke de
Bassano to a personal conference with the emperor at Wilna, in
Poland. He immediately started on this journey, travelling night
and day in a most inclement season of the year, and through coun
tries wasted by war, and which could scarcely afford him a com
fortable meal. The consequence was, that from his privations, and
exposure to the severities of the weather, he was attacked with an
inflammation of the lungs, from which he never recovered. He died
on the twenty-second of December, 1812, at Zarnavica, an obscure
village in Poland, near Cracow. He had not reached his destination,
and consequently did not effect the object of his mission, but he is
entitled to much credit for the energy and perseverance which he
manifested not to lose the opportunity of an interview with the
emperor, which he was induced to think would result favorably to
the interests of his country.

* The writer of this sketch has been told by an American gentleman, who was in Paris at the
time, and intimate with the minister of foreign atfairs, the Duke of Bassano; that the wily diplomatist
questioned hira about the peculiar traits of Mr. Barlow's character. The gendeman, who personally
knew Mr. Barlow, candidly replied that he believed the American minister possessed the ordinary
vanity of men in' general, and besides, being an author and a poet, he doubtless had his share of the
professional egotism of his class. The duke, it is said, immediately procured one of the splendid
copies of the Columbiad, and caused it to be placed in a conspicuous part of his library, where it
could not fail to attract the notice of the autlior on his interviews.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
In Paris, every honor was paid to his memory as a man of letters,
and a distinguished public functionary. The celebrated Helen Maria
Williams wrote his epitaph, and an eulogy was read before the
society for the encouragement of national industry, by Dupont de
Nemours. In the following year, an account of his life and writings,
in quarto, was published in Paris, accompanied by an extract from
the Columbiad, translated into French heroic verse.
Mr. Barlow is described as having been an amiable man in private
life, of domestic habits, and of grave and dignified, but not courtly
manners. He was reserved in mixed company, having little spright-
liness or facility of general conversation ; but upon subjects which
excited him, or formed the theme of his studies, he conversed with
animation and interest. His mind was of a phflosophical cast, and
better fitted for the examination of matters requiring patient and
profound thought, than to " wander in fancy's fairy fields."
Barlow's prose style has been correctly described as perspicuous
and forcible, as bearing the stamp of an active, acute, and powerful
mind, confident of its own strength, but without native grace, and
with little elaborate elegance ; while much of his poetry is highly
polished, and sometimes magnificent, although it may seem to lack
somewhat of the divine inspiration of the muse. It was judiciously
modelled after the poetry of Pope and of Goldsmith, and is always
correct in its versification. Although Barlow may not rank among
the few distinguished epic poets who have appeared in the world at
rare intervals, stfll, in the opinion of many, he is to be classed, if not
as the best poet, at least among the best, which our country has pro
duced. How many of the modern English poets, who have attempted
to write an epic, are his superiors, we leave the critics to judge.
Upon the whole, from his superior natural genius, which was early
noted and acknowledged, his expanded knowledge of the world, his
moral, philosophical, and political disquisitions, the public stations
which he held, his pure and ardent patriotism, developed in the
revolution, and sustained throughout his life ; his staunch, orthodox,
and unbending republican principles; his poetic talents, and polished
productions ; the amiability and benevolence of his private character,
and purity of his public life : Joel Barlow well deserves, and wfll
maintain, an elevated rank among the distinguished men of our
country.

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1HI'!1(V'' U!K,rf',' .\S',IMI(5;>'!|- WAY»K.

ANTHONY WAYNE.

If decision, promptness, and energy of character, combined with a
sound judgment, correct principles, an ardent patriotism, and faithful
service, merit distinction and a grateful record, no one is more entitled
to them than the gallant Wayne.
There is, indeed, something in the name of Wayne, which
immediately presents to the mind of every American, weU read
in the history of his country, the image of a bold, enterprising,
and active officer, of a ready will and prompt execution ; always
ready to attack his enemy sword in hand, but impatient of restraint.
This is the trait of his character, which particularly distinguishes him
from those with whom he acted in the revolution, but, which peculiarly
fitted him for the services on which his military reputation is esta
blished. It has been said of him, by one who knew him well, that
he had " a constitutional attachment to the decision of the sword,"
and that " the general and his soldiers were singularly fitted for close
and stubborn action, hand to hand, in the centre of the army." This
may be accounted for on very probable grounds : his grandfather had
been a commander of dragoons at the battle of the Boyne, and his
father had distinguished himself in frequent conflicts with the Indians ;
young Wayne had consequently "heard of battles, and he long'd

To follow to the field some warlike chief."
Even at school, his studies were neglected for military amusements,
and it was only by the dread of being compeUed to labor on his
father's farm, that his attention was diverted to his proper duties.
The subject of this sketch was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania,
on the first of January, 1745. Notwithstanding his distaste for his
early studies, he left the Philadelphia academy, at the age of eighteen,
a good mathematician, and commenced the business of a surveyor,
which he pursued with success for some years, during which time,
he turned his attention to engineering and astronomy, and has left
some valuable manuscripts on those subjects. He took a deep interest

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
in the controversy with Great Britain, and was actively engaged in
the measures, which were adopted preparatory to the great struggle,
in which he performed so conspicuous a part.
In 1774, he was appointed one of the deputies to take into consi
deration the state of affairs between Great Britain and the colonies ;
was a member of the Pennsylvania convention, and a representative
in the provincial legislature. The prospect of approaching war
brought him, at length, into possession of his wishes — a military
command. He retired from civil employment in the fall of 1775, and
raised a regiment of volunteers, of which he was elected colonel ; he
afterwards received the appointment of colonel from the continental
congress, and at the head of a regiment of Pennsylvanians, marched
to Canada. He served under General Thompson, at the battle of the
Three Rivers, where he was wounded ; yet he distinguished himself
by his courage and skill in bringing off the troops, after his com
mander was defeated and taken prisoner. He was promoted by
congress to the rank of brigadier general, February 21, 1777, being
at that time in command at Ticonderoga. In May following, he
joined the commander-in-chief, in New Jersey.
At the battle of Brandywine, on the 11th of September, he was
opposed to Knyphausen, and- steadfly maintained the contest, until
after Cornwallis had turned the right of the American army. On
the 16th, the two armies again met, to try the issue of another battle,
in which, Philadelphia was to be the prize of the victor. Wayne,
who commanded the advance, commenced the action with spirit ; but
a violent storm, with a deluge of rain, prevented a general engagement,
and so damaged the ammunition of the Americans, that they were
obliged to retire until it could be replenished, and the British army
took possession of Philadelphia on the 26th.
In the mean time, Wayne had suffered an unfortunate surprise.
He had moved into the rear of the British left wing, and taken a
position at about three miles distance, near the Paoli tavern, intending
to fall on them when they decamped. The usual precautions were
taken ; but accurate information of his position and force had been
conveyed to the British, and they effected a surprise at night, which
compelled him in haste to retreat, with serious loss. The affair was
made the subject of military investigation, and he was acquitted with
honor, " as having done every thing that could be expected, from an
active, vigilant, and brave officer, under the orders which he then
had." A monument has been erected on the spot, to the memory of
the brave men who fell there.

ANTHONY WAYNE.
At Germantown, he signalized himself by his bravery in action,
and prudence in retreat ; he was twice slightly wounded, and had
his horse shot under him, within a few yards of the enemy's front.
While the army lay, in the winter of 1777-8, at Valley Forge,
Wayne was detached into New Jersey, with a body of troops, to
collect cattle and destroy the forage, Avhich would be likely to fall
into the hands of the enemy. He succeeded, even in the face of the
foe, in sending into camp several hundred head of cattle, and a
number of fine horses, and forage. It was in consequence of this
success, that Major Andre wrote a song, to the tune of "Yankee
Doodle," of which the concluding stanza runs thus :
" But now I end my lyric strain—
I tremble while I show it !
Lest this same warrio-drover, Wayne,
Should ever catch the poet."
The unfortunate poet's fate has changed his mock-heroic to a tragic
strain ; for when taken, he was delivered to Wayne, at Tappan.
The British army evacuated Philadelphia, in June, 1778, and
pursued the direct route to New York ; and Washington's force, which
was about equal to it, immediately was put in motion, and crossed
into Jersey. A council was held, to deliberate on the proper course
to be pursued. Wayne and Cadwallader were for battle ; but all the
foreign officers, and a large majority of the whole board, were
decidedly against it. As the army drew near the enemy, in the
vicinity of Monmouth, Wayne again advocated an attack ; and in
the battle which ensued, he added to his reputation, and won the
commendation of the commander-in-chief, who particularly mentioned
him in his official report.
The occasion on which Wayne next distinguished himself, was
the attack of Stony Point. This is a considerable height, situated
on the Hudson, the greater part of whose base is washed by the river,
and the remainder is covered by a morass, through which there is
but one crossing-place. On the summit of the hill was a fort, mounted
with heavy cannon ; breast- works were advanced in front of the
principal work ; half way down, there was a double row of abattis ;
and in addition, there were several vessels of war in the river, whose
guns commanded the ground at the foot of the hill.
Stony Point had been taken, not long before, by Sir Henry Clinton,
and the works had been greatly strengthened by his orders. General
Washington thought its recovery of great moment, and planned an

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
expedition against it, the command of which he entrusted to Wayne.
On the 15th of July, 1779, the troops left Sandy Beach, at noon, and
arrived in the vicinity of the fort, at eight o'clock, in the evening.
The measures of the Americans had been so well taken, that every
person had been secured, who could give information of their move
ments to the fort. The hour of midnight was fixed on for the assault.
At half past eleven, the Americans advanced in two columns, with
unloaded muskets, and fixed bayonets. A forlorn hope, of twenty
men, preceded each of them, to remove the abattis and other obstruc
tions. The marsh was reached undiscovered, and twenty minutes
before twelve, the troops rushed to the charge, amid a tremendous
fire of musketry and grape shot, and overcoming every obstacle, they
took possession of the fort without firing a gun.
Sixty-three of the garrison were killed in the assault, and five
hundred and forty-three made prisoners. In the attack, Wayne
was wounded by a musket ball, which grazed the skull : he fell, but
instantly rising on one knee, he exclaimed, "Forward, my brave
fellows, forward !" Bat supposing himself to be mortally wounded,
he requested his aids to assist him, that he might die in the fort.
For this exploit, he received the thanks of congress, and a gold
medal. On the first of January, 1781, the Pennsylvania troops, in the
vicinity of Morristown, revolted, and determined to present their
grievances to congress in a body. They paraded under arms without
officers, supplied themselves with ammunition and provisions, seized
six pieces of artillery, and took the horses from the generals' stable.
Wayne, in vain, endeavored to bring them to their duty by expostu
lation : he cocked his pistol, and they presented their bayonets to his
breast, saying, " we respect and love you ; you have often led us into
the field of battle ; but we are no longer under your command ; if
you fire your pistols, or attempt to enforce your commands, we shall
instantly pat you to death." They assured him, that they were still
attached to the cause they had embraced, and would not abandon it ;
and that if the enemy should dare to come out of New York, they
would, under his orders, face them in the field. The grievances of
these men were of a serious character ; but as it is not to our purpose
to detail them, it will be sufficient to notice, that the majority of the
Pennsylvania line were discharged from further service.
Wayne was then sent to Virginia, where he served with La
Fayette ; and was present at the siege of Yorktown, and contributed
to the happy termination of the campaign. He was then despatched

ANTHONY WAYNE.
into Georgia, to protect the country from the incursions of the garrison
of Savannah ; and, if he found a suitable opportunity, to carry that
post by a nocturnal assault. On his approach, the country was laid
waste with fire by the enemy ; but he drew his supplies from South
Carolina, and at the head of a force equal only to half that opposed
to him, he pursued his operations with vigor. He defeated Colonel
Brown, who had been sent out to protect a party of Indians, on their
way to Savannah, for the purposes of trade. About a month after
the defeat of Brown, the party it had been his object to protect,
reached the neighborhood of Wayne unperceived, and their leader,
Guristersigo, a chief of renown, had obtained information of the station
of an American picket, directly on his route to Savannah : through
this picket he determined to force his way ; but when he made the
attempt, he found the main body, with the General, at the post : and,
although he succeeded in silently killing the sentinel, and falling
upon the rear by surprise, about two hours before day, he was killed
in the conffict, and his party scattered in every direction. The pro
tection afforded by the force under General Wayne, enabled the
governor and council again to establish civil authority in Georgia ;
and, in a short time, Savannah, the last hold of the British power in
that state, was evacuated. At this time. General Greene was
approaching Charleston, and Way'ne proceeded to join him ; and
when the British force retired, he entered the town, at the head of the
light troops.
On the return of peace, he retired to private life. In 1789, he was
a member of the Pennsylvania convention, and was an advocate for
the present constitution of the United States.
In 1792, he was appointed to the command of the army engaged
against the Indians, on the north-western frontier.
The Indians, on that border, excited by the tories and British agents,
resident among them, had for a long time evinced their hostility to
the American government. To repress and punish these hostflities,
several expeditions had been made into their country ; but these
had failed ; and from their failure, the Indians derived new strength
and confidence. Harmar had retreated from their country beaten,
and with disgrace ; and St. Clair had been routed with terrific
slaughter. Success, of course, gave new hope and boldness to the
savages ; and, it was feared, that it would excite other tribes to join
their alliance, and produce a general confederation among them.
They had rejected, with disdain, every overture to accommodation ;
and two brave and meritorious officers. Colonel Harden and Major

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Freeman, whilst bearing a scheme of pacification to them, had been
barbarously murdered. Under these circumstances, when the com
mand of the army destined for the new expedition was of such
importance, General Washington evinced his confidence in Wayne,
by nominating him to it. The service was accounted so dangerous,
and there was so httle inducement to enhst, that the recruiting of
troops proceeded but slowly. Under these circumstances, it was
thought that the meditated expedition could not prudently be under
taken in the course of that year. The Indians, too, evinced a greater
willingness to treat ; and, through the intervention of the Six Nations,
the savages of the Miami and the Wabash, consented to hold a
conference with the American commissioners in the ensuing spring,
that of 1793. In the mean time, the preparations for war went on :
the army was cantoned on the Ohio for the winter ; the new levies
were disciplined, and the recruiting continually urged. In the spring,
the American commissioners proceeded to Niagara ; but the Indians
did not meet them until July. Their demands were then so exorbi
tant, as to be utterly inadmissible by the United States. The nego
tiations had, however, been protracted until September ; and when
the savages announced their rejection of the terms proposed by the
commissioners, the season was too far advanced to make any decisive
movements. Wayne deferred all hostile operations until the ensuing
spring, but he advanced, and took possession of the ground on which
the Americans had been defeated in 1791, and built a fort there, which
he called Fort Recovery. By taking this position he was enabled to
protect, more effectually, the frontiers of the union, while the army
remained within striking distance of the principal settlements of the
enemy. In the next year, active preparations were made for bringing the
war to a conclusion ; but the difficulty of procuring supplies retarded
the opening of the campaign until near midsummer ; and it was not
until the 8th of August that the army arrived at the junction of the
river Au Glaize with the Miami of the Lakes. Here, Wayne halted
a few days, for the purpose of throwing up some works for the pro
tection of his baggage. About forty miles distant, the British occupied
a post ; and it was in the vicinity of this post that the hostile Indians
were assembled. According to information on which he relied,
Wayne calculated their numbers to amount to about two thousand
men. To this, his own force was superior ; the continental legion
alone being nearly equal in numbers to the Indians : besides which,
he had under his command about eleven hundred Kentucky militia.

ANTHONY WAYNE.
Though confident of victory, with a humane and generous policy,
he determined to make one more effort to obtain peace without the
effusion of blood. He invited the Indians to appoint deputies to meet
him on his march, in order to negotiate a treaty : he exhorted them
to be no longer deceived by the counsel of those who had neither
power nor inclination to protect them ; and he urged them to accede
to his present proposition, as the only means of preserving themselves
and their families from famine.
On the 15th, the army advanced, by slow and cautious marches,
down the Miami : one brigade of mounted volunteers, commanded
by Brigadier General Todd, on the left ; the other, by Brigadier
General Barber, in the rear. A select battalion of mounted volunteers,
commanded by Major Price, moved in front of the legion, to prevent
surprise, the Indians having returned an evasive answer to the
proposition of a treaty, and General Wayne not knowing which to
expect, peace or war. After advancing about five mfles, the corps
under Major Price received a heavy fire from the enemy, concealed
among the woods and high grass, and fell back upon the main body.
The Indians had chosen a position very favorable to their mode
of warfare. A great quantity of fallen timber, which seemed to have
been blown down by a tornado, rendered the wood in front of the
British fort almost inaccessible to cavalry ; and, in this wood, they
had formed their army in three lines, according to their custom, with
a very extended front, stretching nearly two mfles at right angles
with the river. Judging from the extent of their lines, and the
heaviness of their fire, that the enemy was in full force in front, and
endeavoring to turn his left flank, Wayne ordered the second line to
advance to the support of the first, at the same time the first line was
ordered to advance and charge, and " to rouse the Indians at the point
of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well directed fire
upon their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them
time to load again, nor to form their lines."
Colonel Campbell, with the legionary cavalry, was also ordered to
turn their left flank, next to the river, where the ground was more
favorable for horse to act on ; and General Scott, with the mounted
volunteers, was directed to perform the same service on their right.
These orders were obeyed with spirit and promptness. " But such,"
says the General, in his despatch, " was the intrepidity of the charge
by the first line of infantry, that the Indians, and Canadian mihtia,
and volunteers, were driven from all their coverts in so short a time,
that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Wood, and Barber,
of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper positions, but part of
each could get up in time to participate in the action, the enemy
being driven in the course of one hour more than two miles, through
the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one half of their
number." The troops actually engaged on the part of the Americans,
did not amount to nine hundred men. The Americans, in this action,
lost thirty-three men kflled, and one hundred wounded. The loss
of the enemy could not be exactly ascertained. Wayne remained
for three days on the banks of the Miami, during which time all the
houses and corn-fields, for a considerable distance, above and below
the field of battle, were destroyed : among them, were the property
and stores of M'Kee, the British Indian agent, and a principal insti
gator of the war. During these operations, a correspondence took
place between General Wayne, and Colonel Campbell, the com
mander of the British garrison ; and the latter prevented hostilities
only by permitting the destruction of property within reach of the
guns of the fort. On the 27th, the army returned to head quarters.
The hostilities of the Indians still continuing, forts were established
in the midst of their settlements, to prevent their return. These
measures proved successful. The hopes of the savages were crushed
their resources exhausted, and their brethren, who had shown symp
toms of a dangerous temper, prevented from taking part with them.
On the 3d of August, 1795, a definitive treaty, on terms satisfactory
to the American government, was concluded with them, by General
Wayne. The next year saw the termination of his useful and
honorable life. He died in December, 1796, in a hut at Presque Isle,
while engaged in the service of his country. His remains were
buried upon the shores of Lake Erie ; but, in 1809, they were
removed to his native county, by his son, Isaac Wayne, Esq.
General Wayne was possessed of a commanding presence, pleasing
address, and daring bravery. He was excellent in discipline, unri
valled in enterprise, and was always held in high respect by his
companions in arms.
The state of Georgia testified their gratitude to him by the present
of an estate, immediately in the neighborhood of one given to his
friend General Greene. The Cincinnati society have erected a
monument to his memory, in the cemetery of St. David's church,
near the place of his birth.

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EDWARD LIVINGSTON,

Nothing is more becoming to a country, or affords better proof of
the excellent spirit of its people, than to find the reward of popular
praise and popular honors bestowed upon those, whose labors have
been guided by a wise philanthropy, and whose objects have been
the welfare and improvement of mankind. It is, therefore, a matter
of just pride, that the subject of the present notice should be receiving
from his countrymen, as age steals upon his active career of useful
ness, fresh proofs of their confidence and respect.
Edward Livingston was born in the year 1764, at Clermont,
(Livingston's manor,) Columbia county. New York. His education
was commenced at Albany, and continued afterwards at a grammar
school at Esopus, in Ulster county, which, on the destruction of that
vfllage in the year 1777, was removed to the neighboring viUage of
Hurley. At this school he was prepared for the junior class of
Princeton college, which he entered in 1779, and took his degrees
two years afterwards. The period was the most unfortunate for the
attainment of a classical or scientific education. Frequent incursions
of the enemy drove the professors from their chairs. The spirit-
stirring incidents of the time made the students more anxious to join
the bands hastily summoned for defence, than to seek for the more
modest honors of literature ; and when, as happened on more than
one occasion, they were permitted by their teachers to embody them
selves in a little company, and march to meet the enemy, they
returned with feelings little suited to the calm pursuits of a college.
Their number rapidly became very small ; the library was scattered ;
the philosophical apparatus was destroyed ; and the college building
itself was shared with a detachment of troops quartered in the town.
Yet under all these disadvantages, some, at that period, laid the
foundation of future celebrity. The class which graduated in the
year 1781, consisted but of four young men, yet of these, three
met twelve or thirteen years after, as members of the house of repre
sentatives of the United States ; they were Mr. Livingston, Wil-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
liam B. Giles, the late governor of Virginia, and Abraham Venables,
who perished in the dreadful conflagration at Richmond. The
former on leaving college, commenced the study of the law at
Albany, under the direction of the late Chancellor Lansing, and
was admitted to the bar in the year 1785.
From this period until 1794, Mr. Livingston was employed assi
duously in the practice of the law. When, however, the constitution
framed by the national convention was submitted to the people, he
took a warm part in the question of its establishment, which was
more zealously opposed in New York than in any other state. This
circumstance, joined with his success at the bar, led to his election,
in the year last mentioned, to represent the city of New York, and
the counties of Queens and Richmond, in the fourth congress.
The whole representation of the state consisted at that time of ten
members. The pubhc career of Mr. Livingston during the succeeding six
'Vears, is embraced in the political history of his country. He was a
distinguished and leading member of the republican party, main
taining an elevated position in congress, not less from his talents than
from the liberal and candid spirit, the industry, zeal, and philan
thropy which he displayed. A few days after he had taken his seat,
he called the attention of the house to the existing provisions of the
criminal code of the United States, and endeavored, though at that
time without effect, to reform their sanguinary character, and adapt
them more justly to the nature and quality of offences. He intro
duced, and after repeated efforts, carried, several laws for the protection
and relief of American seamen left by accident or misfortune on
foreign shores. He ardently promoted the establishment and gradual
increase of the navy, and he supported the existing government,
though opposed to its general policy, in every measure which was
necessary to sustain the honor, or protect the rights of the country.
It was at the commencement of one of the sessions, during which
Mr. Livingston sat in the house of representatives, that General
Washington, in a speech to congress, referred to the occasion as the
last on which he should meet them, and the address which it was
proposed to make him in reply, contained some remarks, in allusion
to this circumstance, which led to an animated debate. The vote of
Mr. Livingston, on that occasion, was afterwards represented as
evidence of hostility to General Washington; but he fortunately
survived to refute the unworthy charge on the floor of the senate of
the United States, with an eloquence worthy of the occasion, and

EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
with a feeling natural to one who had grown up in admiration of
that great man, and who had seen him in his hours of perfl and
triumph, with a heart fUled with sentiments of sincere veneration.
It was indeed shortly after this, whfle his votes, speeches, and conduct,
were fresh in the recollection of his constituents, that his term of
service expired, and he was reelected by an increased majority. A
man, entertaining the sentiments towards Washington, that were
ascribed to him, would not have received the votes of a city, where
his name was adored. If further evidence were necessary, it is found
in what occurred a few years since. Mr. Livingston was selected,
by the veteran relics of the revolutionary war, the chosen compa
nions in arms of their venerated commander, the New- York Society
of Cincinnati, as one of the very few honorary members on whom
the distinction has been bestowed. The venerable remnant of the
friends and companions of Washington, associated under his auspices
for the purpose of cherishing the friendships contracted during the
contest he so gloriously conducted, and watching over his fame, so
inseparably connected with their own, would not have conferred that
distinction on one, who had, at any period of his life, shown himself
his enemy or detractor.
After the close of the session of Congress, m tne spring of 1801,
Mr. Livingston declined a reelection, determined to devote himself
exclusively to the practice of his profession, in the city of New York.
He had not, however, long retired from public life, when he was
appointed by the president to the honorable post of attorney of the
United States for New York, and he was elected about the same time
mayor of the city. This office, which he held upwards of two years,
then required high judicial as well as executive talents. He devoted
himself to its duties with the industry and zeal which have always
marked his character, and he was called upon to add to these, the
active exercise of those benevolent feelings by which he has ever been
equally distinguished. In 1803, the city was afflicted by a desolating
pestilence ; many of the inhabitants fled in dismay, and death fright
fully extended its ravages among those who remained. Mr. Living
ston never for a moment deserted his post, but he sacrificed his own
comforts, and fearlessly endangered his own life, in his unremitted
cares to lessen the calamity that had befallen his fellow-citizens. He
was at last attacked himself by the pestUence, and reduced to the
point of death. On recovering from his illness, and resuming, as
soon as he was able, that attention to his private concerns which he
had been obliged to neglect, he found them greatly deranged ; he

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
had been unable, particularly, to give the strict attention necessary
to a proper scrutiny into the conduct of persons whom he had
intrusted with the collection of debts, due to the United States, and
he found himself suddenly and unjustly subjected to heavy respon
sibilities. Under these circumstances, he did not hesitate as to the
course he was to pursue. He immediately resigned the offices which
he held. He determined to remove to Louisiana, and there, suc
ceeding in the great object for which he did so, he was, as he expected,
enabled, by the arduous pursuit of his profession, to discharge the
debt in which he had been involved, with interest to the last farthing.
As soon as his difficulties and embarrassments became known to his
fellow-citizens, and his intention to leave New York was declared, he
received renewed testimonials of public respect. The venerable
George Clinton, then governor of the state, addressed him a compli
mentary letter, expressing his regret ; and the common council of
New York unanimously presented him an address, which describes,
in the most warm and affectionate language, their sense of his
services and devotion, their high estimate of his abilities and integrity,
their deep regret at his departure from among them, and their prayers
for his prosperity and happiness.
In February, 1804, Mr. Livingston arrived at New Orleans,
Louisiana, having then been lately transferred to the United States
pursuant to the treaty negotiated by his brother. Chancellor Living
ston. Soon after his arrival, he was called on by some of the
principal inhabitants to prepare a memorial to congress, stating their
dissatisfaction at being kept in what they considered a state of
vassalage, under the first degree of territorial government, instead of
being admitted into the union, as the treaty provided they should be,
on the footing of an independent state. This paper attracted much
attention at the time, though it did not produce the effect which was
desired. After Mr. Livingston had resided some years at New
Orleans, his fortune was injured by a controversy, which has become
well known, from the important principles it involved, and the ability
with which they were discussed. Mr. Jefferson, then president of
the United States, deceived by misrepresentations of fact, and enter
taining a most erroneous opinion of his official powers, committed a
violent invasion on the private property of Mr. Livingston, which
produced the Batture question, the controversy alluded to. This
deprived him of an immense property, the result of his professional
labors, and involved him for many years in most expensive litigation.
The merits of the subject have been long before the public, in a pam-

EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
plilet of Mr. Jefferson, and the answer of Mr. Livingston, which last
was truly termed an answer to which no reply could be made. None
was made. The legal decision was in his favor, and the controversy
ended honorably to both parties;— to Mr. Livingston, in his for
giveness of the injury ; to his distinguished adversary, ui the more
difficult, and more meritorious task, if the maxim be true, of forgiving
the man he had injured.
Mr. Livingston pursued his professional duties without inter
ruption, until the invasion of Louisiana by the British. As soon as
he learned that General Jackson was appointed to the military
command of the district, he wrote to him and offered his services as
an aid, or in any other capacity in which they might be considered
useful. His offer was accepted, and as soon as the general arrived
at New Orleans, he joined his family, and continued with him during
the short but glorious campaign. During this eventful period, he
was employed on several important missions, and enjoyed the confi
dence of the general. At the close of the war he received from him
the most flattering testimonials of that regard which has since been
more signally evinced. When, shortly afterwards, the well known
arrest of General Jackson occurred, and he appeared before the court
to account, or atone for breaches of the municipal laws, which, neces
sity had obliged him to commit, for the preservation of the country ;
his written defence, remarkable for the eloquence and simplicity of
its style, and for the clear and vigorous view of the circumstances
and the law which it presents, was prepared and submitted by Mr.
Livingston, who acted as his counsel on the occasion.
But the services of Mr. Livingston to his adopted state were
destined to be of a character even more important and enduring, than
a participation in the gallant military exploits by which she was
defended and saved. When he first arrived there, he had found the
jurisprudence of the province in a state of extreme confusion. Judges
from the United States, were appointed to administer laws written in
a language they did not understand, and according to forms of which
they were entirely ignorant. The legislative power was incompe
tent to provide a remedy, and even had it been, it was entrusted to
men, who, though highly respectable, were unused to such duties.
It soon became essential, therefore, that, although the body of laws
could not be at once changed, a mode of procedure under them should
be established. Mr. Livingston, and Mr. James Brown, since well
known as a senator from Louisiana, and an able representative of
the United States to France, were requested to perform this duty.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Discarding alike the fictions and technicalities of the common law,
and the prolixity of the Spanish code, they prepared a simple, cheap,
expeditious, and intelligible mode of conducting suits. An attempt
was made to defeat it, which was chiefly sustained by those members
of the bar, who had become accustomed to the modes of legal prac
tice in other states. They endeavored, by taking advantage of an
equivocal expression in the ordinance, organizing the government of
the new territory, to establish the system prescribed by the English
common law. Their attempt was successfully resisted by Mr. Li
vingston and Mr. Brown, though manifestly against their own
interest. They saw that the tranquillity of the country would have
been endangered, by imposing on the people, a law at once so complex
and so different from that under which they had lived. The legis
lative council adopted their views, their system of procedure was
introduced, and it has ever since stood the test of experience.
The system of municipal law which had continued in use, since
the cession of the province, consisted for the most part, of a digest
chiefly compiled from the Napoleon code, but it was found to want
so much amendment, that in the year 1820 the legislature determined
on its complete revision, and appointed Mr. Livingston, and Mr.
Derbigny, and Mr. Moreau, a commission to execute it. This was
a laborious task, and too little time was allowed for its execution. It
was, however, completed in 1823, and submitted to the legislature,
by whom it was adopted, with the exception of the commercial code,
to some of the provisions of which, opposition was made. In this
arduous duty, the well known industry of Mr. Livingston gives
assurance that he took his full share, and the whole title of " obliga
tions" is said to be exclusively his. He was, however, at the same
period, engaged in a work of at least equal importance, with which
he was solely charged. Having, a few years before, introduced into
the state legislature, of which he was a member, a bill for preparing
a system of penal law for the state, he was himself elected by that
body, in 1821, to perform this arduous and responsible duty. The
following year he presented a report, containing a plan of a penal
code, and specimens of its execution. These were unanimously
approved, and he was earnestly requested to finish it. Thus encou
raged, he devoted himself to the task, and as early as the autumn of
1824, notwithstanding his very extensive professional engagements,
and the share he took in the labor of preparing the civil code, he had
ready for the press, the whole system of penal law. It consisted of
a code of crimes and punishments, a code of criminal procedure, a

EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
code of evidence, a code of reform and prison discipline, and a book
of definitions, together with introductory reports to each, pointing
out the changes made in existing laws, the new enactments proposed,
and the principles and reasons on which they were founded. Having
received authority to print it, for submission to the legislature, he
had caused a fair copy to be made. Before it was delivered to the
printer, anxious that no errors might remain in it, he passed a great
part of the night, in comparing it himself with the original draught.
He went to bed at a late hour, with the pleasing reflection of having
finished a most laborious task. Not long afterwards he was awa
kened by a cry of fire, which was found to proceed from the room
where his papers had been left. They were all consumed. Not a
note or memorandum was saved. Though stunned at first by the
sudden misfortune, his equanimity and industry soon led him to
repair it. Before the close of the same day, he quietly commenced
the task of re-composition ; and, in two years afterwards, he presented
his work to the legislature of Louisiana, in a shape more perfect than
that in which it originally was. It has not yet been acted upon by
that body, but the philanthropist and the jurist must look with equal
anxiety and interest to its adoption. The beauty of its arrangement,
the wisdom of its provisions, the simplicity of its forms, and the
clearness of its language, equal, but do not surpass, the philanthropy,
the wise views of human character, the knowledge of social inter
course, and the insight into the sources of happiness and misery, by
all of which it is distinguished, far beyond any similar system of
criminal law, that has emanated from the jurists of any age or
country. To those who have made penal jurisprudence their study,
and who have examined and refiected on, not merely the codes, but
the admirable introductory reports by which they are preceded, this
praise will not appear exaggerated. Whatever may be the fame of
Mr. Livingston, as a statesman or an advocate, whatever reputation
his patriotic and his professional exertions may gain for him, among
his own countrymen, this great work will secure to him enduring
honor, wherever the cause of philanthropy is cherished, and wher
ever men exist who love and admire just and simple laws.
More than twenty years had now elapsed since Mr. Livingston
had deserted the scenes of political life. He had arrived at an age
when most men are desirous to leave it altogether ; but being chosen
by the people of Louisiana to represent them in congress, he again
took his seat in that body in the month of December, 1823. He
no longer desired to assume the active position he had formerly held.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
He was a less frequent speaker ; but he nevertheless originated
several important measures, and engaged in the debates on many
that were brought forward by others.
In 1829, he was elected by the legislature of Louisiana to represent
the state in the senate of the United States, and he there introduced
and carried several measures of extensive and permanent benefit to his
country. On all questions of general policy ; on all such as related
to the exercise of constitutional powers, or to the development of
great principles of legislation, he was listened to with the confidence
and respect which were yielded, not less to his well established abfli-
ties and extensive knowledge, than to the simplicity, the dignity, and
the patriotism that marked his character and actions. His speech
on the celebrated resolution of Mr. Foote, relative to the public
lands, is certainly among the most eloquent and able that were
delivered on that occasion ; and it is peculiarly interesting, from the
view it presents of the principles on which the great party distinc
tions of the people of the United States were originally founded ; of
the comparative powers and duties of the different branches of the
government ; and especially of the relations, which, by the constitu
tion, ought to exist between the government and the states. The
views he adopted were shown to be those, which, from the earliest
periods of the government, had been acted upon and supported by
his political friends.
In the spring of 1831, Mr. Livingston was called by the president
to fill the honorable post of secretary of state. His course there is
of too recent a date, and his duties were necessarily of a character
too confidential, to be perfectly known, or to be publicly discussed if
they were known. We believe, however, that it may be said, with
propriety and truth, that the offer of the first place in his cabinet,
when made by General Jackson to Mr. Livingston, was as unex
pected as it was unsolicited ; and that he hesitated for some time
before he accepted it. With the modesty and unaffected diffidence
which are striking traits of his character, he distrusted his ability to
perform the duties of the office, and in comparing his own talents
with those of some of the distinguished men who had preceded him,
in the same station, he was for a while inclined to doubt the wisdom
of embarking in the same career. Such, however, was not the senti
ment of his fellow-citizens. Their anticipations of his course were
the reverse of his own, and they proved to be more just. No act of
the president was hailed with more satisfaction by the country, none
has been attended with more advantage to its prosperity, its interests,

EDWARD LIVINGSTON.
and its fame. All the pubhc documents from the pen of Mr. Living
ston, having reference to the foreign relations of the United States,
present a clear view of those interesting concerns. The instructions
under which the treaty with Naples was formed, have been already
published by order of congress, and in their energetic tenor and
unanswerable reasoning are found prominent causes for the success
of the negotiations with that government, and for the conclusion of
the treaty by which the claims of our merchants were so amply
recognized. While he remained in the department of state, instruc
tions were given to our ministers at London, Paris, St. Petersburg,
Lisbon, the Hague, Mexico, and the South American states, on all
the important points of discussion between those governments and our
own ; and when these documents shall be made public, it will no
doubt be found, that in clear language, in political wisdom, and in
enlightened spirit, they will redound as much to the honor of the
administration to which they belong, as any of the various state papers
of which the American people are so justly proud. Just before Mr.
Livingston left the department, he negotiated and signed a treaty
with the minister of Belgium, and he exchanged with the minister
of Russia, the ratification of another previously made, under his
instructions, at St. Petersburg. In all these negotiations, he is under
stood to have been particularly anxious to introduce stipulations which
will ameliorate the intercourse between nations, in a degree corres
ponding with the improvement of the times ; to extend, advan
tageously, our commerce with remote nations; and to obtain new
fields for American enterprise, the results of which wiU be found
highly beneficial when they are more fully developed and known.
In the same spirit which governed him in these negotiations, were
his reports made to congress on our diplomatic establishments, and
on the regulation of our consulates abroad ; all containing recom
mendations eminently deserving attentive consideration, and calcu
lated to contribute not less to our interests, than our national honor.
In those measures of the government, which belonged less to a
particular department, than to the general policy of the administra
tion, the abilities and experience of Mr. Livingston could not fail to
render him an able counsellor, and secure for him unlimited respect
and confidence. When the president adopted the resolute and
patriotic course of issuing his proclamation relative to the proceechngs
of South Carolina, it is well understood that he met with the undi
vided assent of his cabinet ; if, therefore, public opinion has assigned
to Mr. Livingston, more than his share in that measure, it has

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
probably been guided by the similarity of the views, taken on this
occasion, with those declared by him in his remarks in the senate,
on the resolution of Mr. Foote, to which we have already referred ;
or perhaps to the well known fact, that his sentiments coincide
entirely with the doctrines so admirably expressed in that celebrated
instrument. On the reelection of General Jackson, in 1833, Mr. Livingston
retired from the department of state, and accepted the honorable but
less laborious office, which was tendered to him by the president, of
minister to France — an office in which his brother, Chancellor Li
vingston, had previously acquired a distinguished reputation ; and
which he probably accepted with more gratification from this
circumstance, as well as from having unexpectedly received about
the same time, the highest testimonials of respect and honor, from
the most distinguished literary and scientific institutions of that
country. On the private character of Mr. Livingston, we have not space
to dwell. The nature of his public course evinces its benevolence
and modesty ; nor do his writings display in their admirable simpli
city, in the beauty of their language, and in their classical taste,
more of the accomplishments of a scholar, than, in the purity of
their precepts and their anxious search for truth, they exhibit a heart
filled with the best emotions, and animated with strong desires for
the happiness and improvement of mankind.

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JOHN TRUMBULL

Op the ease and ability with which our countrymen adapt their
talents to a variety of pursuits, we have already given some examples ;
the present subject affords another illustration of that peculiar trait of
American character.
John Trumbull was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on the 6th
of June, 1756. He was the youngest son of the first Governor
Trumbull ; his mother's maiden name was Faith Robinson, the fifth
in descent from the Reverend John Robinson, often called the father
of the pilgrims, whose son came into the country in the year 1621.
The carelessness or ignorance of the family physician had nearly
consigned our infant genius to a hfe of idiocy, or an early grave;
after being afflicted with convulsions nine months, it was discovered
that the bones of his skull had been allowed to remain lapped over
each other from his birth, but by skilful applications, and maternal
care, they were adjusted, and, as we have heard him express it with
fflial veneration, " he owed his life a second time to his mother."
At Lebanon, he vrent to school to Nathan Tisdale. He received,
under the tuition of this gentleman, an excellent education, and
entered the junior class at Harvard college, in January, 1772, and
graduated in 1773. Finding himself to be a better scholar than
those with whom he was associated, he was not a very diligent
student, and to amuse himself, he frequently visited a respectable
French family in the neighborhood, and learned to read and write
their language. He searched the coUege library for books on the
arts, and amongst them found Brook Taylor's " Jesuites' Perspective
Made Easy" ; this work he studied thoroughly, and copied all the
diagrams. He in the same period copied several pictures which the
college possessed : among others, an irruption of Mount Vesuvius,
and a copy by Smybert, of Van Dyck's Head of Cardinal Bentivoglio.
He had, before he went to college, somewhere picked up the title
page of a book called " The Handmaid to the Arts," and had obtained
a copy of the work from London, so that we may suppose his early

NATIONAL PORTRAITS,
paintings were not the rude daubs of an ignorant boy. At this time
Copley was in Boston, and Trumbull's first visit to that distin
guished artist happened to be made at a time, when he was enter
taining his friends shortly after his marriage : he was dressed on the
occasion, in a suit of crimson velvet with gold buttons, and the
elegance of his style and his high repute, impressed the future artist
with grand ideas of a painter's life. After leaving college, he painted
his first original picture, the Battle of CannEe, and soon after, the
Judgment of Brutus. But at this time, the stirring incidents of the
controversy with Great Britain, attracted the attention of all ages
and all ranks, and Trumbull abandoned the palette and became an
active politician. His father wished him to become a clergyman,
but the son not liking the profession, gave the reins to his patriotic
zeal, and was made adjutant in the first Connecticut regiment, which
was stationed at Roxbury. Here his drawing became of service.
Washington was desirous to obtain a draft of the enemy's works,
and hearing of the young adjutant's ability, he requested him to
attempt it. By cautious approaches, he had succeeded in obtaining
a knowledge of the position of every gun, and had proceeded in his
drawing, when a deserter came into the camp and communicated all
that was necessary to be known and a slight sketch of the works,
which confirmed Trumbull's, so far as he had gone. In August,
1775, he was appointed aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, and
after some two or three months, major of brigade. In that situation,
he became more particularly known to the adjutant-general, Gates, by
the careful accuracy of his returns ; and in the following year that
officer having been appointed to the command of the northern depart
ment, he was induced to offer Trumbull the office of adjutant-general.
He accompanied the army to New York, and on the 28th of June,
1776, departed with General Gates ; at which date his rank as colonel
and adjutant-general commenced. Shortly after their arrival at Ti
conderoga, he reconnoitered Mount Independence, which had not at
that time been explored ; and he again more fully examined it as a
military position, in company with General Wayne, which led to its
occupation. While here, he was impressed with the behef that the
whole position was commanded by Mount Defiance, (Sugar-loaf Hfll,)
a height situated nearly at an equal distance from Mount Indepen
dence and Ticonderoga, and he took an occasion to mention his
opinion ; but his suggestion was not acted upon, and the next cam
paign. General St. Clair was left to defend the original lines with
three thousand men. The British took possession of Mount De-

JOHN TRUMBULL.
fiance, from which, according to their own account, they could
observe every movement of the Americans within their lines. The
abandonment of the entire position became immediately necessary,
and St. Clair deserved great praise for his well-conducted retreat, by
which the army was saved from capture, and became the nucleus of
that force, which afterwards prostrated the British power in the
northern department. In the mean time, the adjutant-general had
remained without a commission : this rendered his situation pecu-
harly painful, and what rendered it more so was, that other and
inferior officers did receive commissions, giving them rank equal to
his own. After the termination of the campaign of 1776, General
Gates received orders from the commander-in-chief to join him with
all his disposable force behind the Delaware, which he did, a few
days before the battle of Trenton. News was at that time received,
that the British had landed at Newport, Rhode Island, with consider
able force. General Arnold was ordered to proceed to Rhode Island
to assume the command of the militia and oppose the enemy, and
Trumbull was ordered to accompany him as adjutant-general.
The head quarters were established at Providence for the winter,
and there, in the month of March, he received his commission as
adjutant-general, with the rank of colonel, but dated in September,
instead of the previous June. Whatever was the cause of this is
unknown ; but it added to the chagrin and vexation of the officer
commissioned, and within an hour he returned it, under cover, to
the president of congress, accompanied with a letter, perhaps too
concise and laconic, stating the impossibility of serving, unless the
date was altered to correspond with the date of his actual service.
A correspondence of some length ensued, when his resignation was
accepted, and thus terminated his military career.
After a short visit to Lebanon, he went to Boston, to profit by the
study of the works of Copley and others. Here he became acquainted
with Mr. John Temple, afterwards, the first consul-general of Great
Britain to the United States ; through him he ascertained the possi-
bihty of his going in safety to London, to study under Mr. West. In
May, 1780, he embarked for France, and after a short stay at Paris,
reached London in August. He was kindly received by Mr. West,
under whose liberal instruction, he pursued his studies without inter
ruption until about the middle of November ; at that time, the news
of the death of Major Andre was received, and occasioned a violent
irritation in the public mind. It was his misfortune to lodge in the
same house with another American, who had been an officer, against

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
whom a warrant had been issued to apprehend him for high treason ;
instructions had been given to arrest, (ad interim,) the painter, and
secure his papers. The following day, he was examined before the
principal magistrates of the police, and was committed to prison.
On hearing this, the apprehensions of Mr. West were aroused, for he
well knew that he had enemies about the person of the king ; he,
therefore, hastened to the palace and asked an audience, which was
granted, and he proceeded to state to the king his personal knowledge
of the conduct of Trumbull while in London. After listening to
him patiently, the king replied; "West, I have known you long, and
I dont know that I have ever received any incorrect information from
you on any subject, I, therefore, fully believe all that you have said
on the present occasion. I sincerely regret the situation of the young
man, but I cannot do any thing to assist him, — he is in the power of
the law, and I cannot interfere. Are his parents living ?" To which
Mr. West answered that his father was. " Then I most sincerely
pity him," said the king. After a moment's pause he continued,
" Go immediately to Mr. Trumbull, and give him my royal assur
ance, that in the worst possible event of the law, his life will be safe."
This assurance of course, softened in a great degree, the rigors of a
winter's confinement, and enabled him to proceed with his studies.
He copied, during the period, the St. Jerome of Correggio, which is
now in the collection at Yale college. At length a turn took place
in the affairs of the two countries, and the British government began
to relax their severity. Trumbull, after about eight months deten
tion, was admitted to bail by a special order of the king in council,
on condition of quitting the kingdom within thirty days. His secu
rities were West and Copie}''. He crossed over to Ostend, thence
proceeded to Amsterdam, and embarked for Philadelphia in the
South Carolina frigate ; but the ship falling short of water and provi
sions, they put into Corunna, in Spain. There he left that ship, and
took passage to Bilboa, whence he returned home in January, 1782.
Fatigue, vexation, and disappointment, brought on a fit of illness,
which confined him at his father's the principal part of the ensuing
summer ; after which, he again visited the army, then at Verplank's
Point, and entered into an arrangement with his brother and others,
for the supply of the army.
In the spring of 1783 the news arrived of the preliminaries of
peace having been arranged. He was then at Lebanon, and his
father took the occasion to urge him to pursue the profession of the
law. He represented it as the leading profession in a republic, and

JOHN TRUMBULL.
above all others likely to reward industry and gratify ambition. To
which his son replied ; that so far as he understood the law, it was
rendered necessary by the vices of manldnd ; that a lawyer must be
able, not only to defend the right, but must be equally distinguished
for his acuteness and skill in extricating rogues from the conse
quences of their villainy ; and as he viewed the hfe of a lawyer, it
must be passed in the midst of all the wickednesses and meannesses
of the baser part of mankind : he then went on to give his ideas of
an artist's life — referred to Copley and West as living examples,
and enlarged on the honors and rewards bestowed on artists by the
ancients, particularly at Athens. " My son," replied the governor,
" you have made an excellent argument, but its operation is against
yourself: it serves to satisfy me, that in the profession of the law
you might take a respectable stand, but in your case you have
omitted one point, as the lawyers express it." What is that, sir? —
" That Connecticut is not Athens." He then bowed, left the room,
and never afterwards interfered in the choice of a profession.
In November, 1783, Colonel Trumbull again embarked for
England, where he pursued his studies indefatigably under Mr.
West ; and in 1785, had made such progress, as to copy for him his
celebrated picture of the battle of La Hogue. Trumbull composed
and painted immediately afterwards, " Priam bearing back to his
palace the body of Hector :" the success of which induced him to
commence a project which had long been fioating in his mind, of
painting a series of pictures of the principal scenes of the revolution.
He began with " The Battle of Bunker HiU," which was composed
and finished in the early part of 1786, and " The Death of Montgo
mery before Gluebec" immediately afterward. These pictures met
with general approbation not only in London, but in Paris, Berlin,
Dresden, and other parts of the continent, and as soon as possible
they were placed in the hands of eminent engravers. To Mr.
Adams in London, and Mr. Jefferson in Paris, while painting their
portraits, the artist communicated his project of painting a series of
national pictures, which they highly approved, and by their concur
rence the subjects were chosen, several of which have since been
executed. Finding the painting of Bunlcer HUl had given offence to
some in London, and being desirous to conciliate, he determined to
paint one subject from British history, and selected " The sortie of
the garrison of Gibraltar." Of this subject, the first study was
made in oU, twelve by sixteen inches; this was presented to Mr.
West as an acknowledgment for his kindness ; then a second,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
twenty by thirty inches was carefully and laboriously finished, with
the intention of having it engraved :* being tenacious of rendering
the composition as perfect as in his power, he rejected that picture,
and began another six feet by nine. This occupied the greater part
of the year 1788, and in the spring of '89, it was exhibited by itself
in Spring Garden, London, and received great applause. It was en
graved by Sharp, the first engraver of the age ; and has since been
purchased by the Atheneum at Boston.
In the mean time, the present constitution of the United States had
been framed, and the first session of congress was appointed to be
held in New York, in December, 1789 ; the time had arrived, there
fore, for proceeding with the American pictures. He arrived in New
York in November of that year, and painted as many of the heads
of the signers of the declaration of independence, as were present.
Washington sat for his portrait at Trenton^nd Princeton, and in the
summer of 1790, Trumbull painted a full length portrait of him
for the city of New York. Two years after, he painted another full
length of Washington, for the city of Charleston, South Carolina,
and a third was purchased by the Connecticut Society of the Cin
cinnati, and presented to the college at New Haven. This latter
picture is regarded by the artist, as the finest portrait of General
Washington, in existence. It represents him at the most critical
moment of his life — on the evening before the battle of Princeton,
meditating his retreat from a superior enemy. A few other portraits
were painted about this time, but the years 1791-2-3 were principally
spent in painting original portraits for the historical pictures. In the
accomplishment of his great design, he travelled from New Hamp
shire to Charleston, South Carolina. The heads in the small set of
pictures, now at New Haven, were all painted at this period from the
living men. Having accomplished his object of obtaining authentic
portraits of all the subjects required, he again left his native land, in
the capacity of private secretary to Mr. Jay, the envoy extraordinary
to Great Britain, in 1794.
Difficulties had existed between the United States and Great
Britain, ever since the war, of the most embarrassing character.

* This picture was sold to Sir Francis Baring, for five hundred guineas, who contracted
for the purchase of a series of pictures of American subjects, at the same price ; subject
to the contingency of the approbation of the higher powers. He found that the posses
sion of the proposed pictures would give offence in a very high quarter, and he, therefore,
retracted.

JOHN TRUMBULL.
The negotiations ended in a treaty, signed November, 1794. The
manner in which Mr. Jay conducted those negotiations, rendered the
duties of the secretary merely nominal, and he had leisure to attend
to the engraving of his three large copper plates, at that time in
progress in London, and at Stutgard, in Germany, at an expense of
upwards of three thousand guineas. After the treaty was signed,
Trumbull went to Paris, and he soon saw from the condition of the
continent that all hope of profit from the sale of engravings was at an
end ; in consequence of which, he gave up his professional pursuits,
and embarked in commerce, until August, 1796, when he returned to
England, and on the twenty-fifth of that month, he was appointed
the fifth commissioner for the execution of the seventh article of
Mr. Jay's treaty. This placed him in a new and difficult situation :
the British commissioners. Sir John Nicholl and John Anstey, Esq.,
and the two Americans, Mr. Gore and Mr. Pinckney, were all dis
tinguished lawyers. It was easy to foresee, that these gentlemen
would frequently differ with respect to the rights of their respective
countries ; and it would remain with the fifth commissioner to decide ;
an arduous duty for one who had not been educated for the legal
profession, and it placed him under the necessity of going through
a course of reading, on the law of nations and maritime law.
Multitudes of complaints were made by the subjects of both
nations, and were carefully examined and decisions made on each
separate case, on its own merits. The commission was not con
cluded until the beginning of the year 1804. The number of cases
examined amounted to between three and four hundred ; and the
amount awarded to be paid by the British government exceeded ten
millions of dollars, which were punctually paid : the awards against
the United States amounted to about half a million. In all cases of
importance, written opinions were recorded ; one copy of which is
in the hands of Colonel Trumbull. The principles laid down and
acted upon in those cases, will hereafter form an important part of
the maritime law of nations, and have already been of value to
many individuals, in the settlement of claims against the Russian
and other governments. The important station of the fifth commis
sioner, who was the umpire between parties differing on almost every
point, required all his skill to harmonize them, and it may, from the
nature of the case, be concluded, that to his prudence and firmness
the favorable results are to be mainly attributed.
In June, 1804, Colonel Trumbull returned to the United States,
and resumed his pencil in New York. After a residence of about

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
four years, the embarrassment of commerce affected his profession
so deeply, that he determined to seek employment abroad. He
accordingly went to London, where he painted a number of pictures,
with the hope of attracting some attention, but so unpopular was
every thing American, that he failed completely. At the close of the
war, he returned for the last time to New York, and in 1816 he was
engaged by the government to paint the four large pictures now in
the rotunda of the capitol at Washington, on which he was occupied
seven years. Since which he has been principally employed in
finishing his former sketches, and in painting copies of his national
pictures, on a uniform scale of six feet by nine.
Finding the government not likely to order the complete series,
nor any individual desirous to possess them, he has within the last
year given the entire set of the original paintings to Yale college,
and a buUding has been erected by " the President and Fellows" of
that institution for their preservation.
He was elected President of the American Academy of the Fine
Arts, in 1817, and has been annually reelected to the same office.
The numerous incidents of Colonel Trumbull's life, have brought
us to the boundary of our allotted space ; but we should be held un
pardonable by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, were
we entirely to omit every mark of our high respect, beside that of
placing his venerable head in our work. He indeed deserves more,
much more than we can say in this place, for he is a living model of
a by-gone generation, and is a fine example of the gentlemen of the
old school ; with a great degree of dignity and courtesy in his man
ners, he is strictly honorable, rigidly abstemious, frank in his address,
and proud of his profession. From early youth to an advanced age,
he has blended himself with the history of his country. We should
say, that his name belongs equally to the past, the present, and the
future, but, that we believe the future will give him a higher rank
than either the present or the past. The sword, the pen, and the
pencil, he has by turns drawn for his country — the sword and the
pen were wielded in company with others, but as a painter of Ame
rican history, he stands, even at the present day, almost alone, and
however many, his equals, may arise, he will stand to all future
time the first among them.

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DANIEL WEBSTER

Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, at the head of the
Merrimack river, in the state of New Hampshire, on the 18th of
January, 1782. His father, always a farmer, but at one period an
officer in the war of the revolution, and for many years judge of the
court of common pleas , was a man of a strongly marked character,
full of decision, integrity, firmness, and good sense. He died in 1806,
having lived, to see the spot where he had, with great difficulty,
estabhshed himself, changed from being the frontier of civilization,
to be the centre of a happy population, abounding in prosperity and
resources. The early youth of Mr. Webster was passed in the midst of the
forest, where the means for forming the character we now witness
in him, seemed absolutely wanting ; and but for the characteristic
policy of New England, which carries its free schools even into the
wilderness, he would have passed the " mute inglorious" life, which
is entailed upon the peasantry of less favored countries. But the first
upward aspiration, notwithstanding the unfavorable circumstances
in which he was placed, was early given ; and the impulse thus
imparted to his young mind was never lost. Struggling always with
difficulties, and not without great sacrifices on the part of his family,
he was prepared for a higher course of education ; and, at last, was
graduated, in 1801, at Dartmouth college, having already developed
faculties, which, so far as his academic career was concerned, left all
rivalship far behind him.
His professional studies in the law were begun in his native town,
under Mr. Thompson, soon afterwards a member of congress, and
completed in Boston, under Mr. Gore, afterwards governor of Massa
chusetts, and one of its senators in congress, whose whole character,
private, political, and professional, from its elevation, purity, and
dignity, was singularly fitted to influence a young man of quick and
generous feelings, who already perceived within himself the impulse
of talents and the stirring of an ambition, whose direction was yet to

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
be determined. It was in Boston, that Mr. Webster was admitted
to the bar, in 1805 ; and it is a fact worth remembering, that, when
Mr. Gore presented him to the court, he ventured to make a prediction
respecting his pupil's future eminence, which all his present fame
has not more than fulfilled.
Mr. Webster began the practice of his profession at Boscawen, a
small village near the place of his nativity ; but, in 1807, removed
to Portsmouth, the commercial capital of New Hampshire. There
he at once rose to the rank of the most prominent in his profession ;
and under the influence of such intercourse as that with Mr. Smith,
then chief justice of New Hampshire, and Mr. Mason, the leading
counsel in the state, and of the first order of minds any where, he
went through a stern intellectual training, and acquired that un
sparing logic, which now renders him in his turn so formidable an
adversary. His first entrance on public life, was in 1812, soon after the decla
ration of war, when, at the early age of thirty, he was chosen one
of the representatives of his native state to the thirteenth congress.
His position there was a difficult one, and he felt it to be so. He
was opposed to the policy of the war ; the state he represented was
earnestly opposed to it ; and he had always, especially in the eloquent
and powerful memorial from the great popular meeting in Rocking
ham, expressed himself frankly on the whole subject. But he was
now called into the councils of the government, which was carrying
on the war itself He felt it to be his duty, therefore, to make no
opposition for opposition's sake ; though, at the same time, he felt it
to be no less his duty, to take heed that, neither the constitution, nor
the interests of the nation, were endangered or sacrificed. When,
therefore, Mr. Monroe's bill, for a sort of conscription, was introduced,
he joined with Mr. Eppes, and other friends of the administration,
and defeated a project, which, except in a moment of great anxiety
and excitement, would probably never have been proposed. But
when, on the other hand, the bill, "for encouraging enlistments,"
was before the house, he made a speech, in January, 1814, in favor
of adequate naval defence, and a perfect military protection of the
northern frontier, which, now the passions of that stormy period are
hushed, will find an echo in the heart of every lover of his country.
On the subject of a national bank, he took the same mdependent
and patriotic ground, and maintained it with equal vigor and firmness.
The administration, having found a bank indispensable, applied to
congress for one, with fifty miUions of capital, five only of which

DANIEL WEBSTER.
were to be in specie, and the rest in the depreciated government
securities of the period, with an obligation to lend the treasury thirty
millions ; but relieved from the necessity of paying its own notes in
gold and silver. The project of such a bank, having passed the
senate, came to the house, and was there discussed, December, 1814,
and January, 1815. Mr. Webster opposed it, on the ground, that
it would only increase the embarrassments in the fiscal operations
of the nation, and the pecuniary transactions of individuals, which
were already in confusion, by the refusal of all the state banks south
of New England, to pay in specie. He was, no doubt, right ; and,
probably, nobody now, on reviewing the discussion of the whole
subject, would doubt it. But he carried his point, and defeated the
bill, only by the casting vote of the speaker, Mr. Cheves.
Mr. Webster's opposition to the bank, however, had not been
factious ; and, therefore, the very next day, he took the initiative
steps for bringing the whole subject immediately before the house
again ; and a sound, specie-paying bank, was almost as immediately
agreed to ; Mr. Webster, and most of his friends, voting for it.
The bill, however, to establish it, was rejected by the president, on
the ground, that it was not sufficient to meet the exigencies of the
case ; which, indeed, we now know no bank would have been able
to meet ; and thus the question was again brought into a severe and
protracted discussion, which was ended only by the unexpected news
of the peace, January 17, 1815.
But the peace brought with it other confficts and trials of the
same nature. When the bill for the present bank of the United
States was introduced, Mr. Webster opposed it, on the ground, that
the capital proposed was too large, and that it contained a provision
to authorize a suspension of specie payments. On both points, his
opposition, with that of his friends, was successful ; but stiU, he was
not satisfied with the bfll ; and the suggestions he made, predicting
enormous subscriptions to the stock for purposes of speculation
merely, and out of aU proportion to the real ability of the subscribers,
showed the statesman-like forecast, which has marked his whole
political course; and were sadly justified by the difficulties that
occurred in the early history of the bank itself
Still less, however, was he satisfied with the condition of the
circulating medium of the country, which was then fit neither for
the safe management of the concerns of the government, nor for the
security of private property. A large part of it consisted in the
depreciated notes of the state banks, south of New England, in which

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
even the revenue of the government was receivable, at the different
custom houses ; so that there was a difference, he declared, of at
least twenty-five per cent, in the rates of duties collected in different
parts of the country, according to the value of the paper medium in
which they were paid. The vast mischief which would follow this
state of things were at once foreseen by Mr. Webster; and he
introduced a resolution, requiring the revenue of the United States
to be collected only in the legal currency of the United States, or in
bills equal to that currency in value. The passage of this resolution,
the defeat of the paper- currency bank proposed in 1814, and the
establishment of the present specie-paying bank, have saved us from
confusion and disasters, which Mr. Webster so clearly foresaw,
and on which, now we understand more of their nature and extent,
it is hardly possible to look back with composure.
The same principles and doctrines were again maintained by him,
with equal steadiness, when the question of re-chartering the bank
came up, in 1832. The objection of too large a capital was then
removed, as he conceived, by the increased population, wealth, and
wants of the country ; and the objection to indiscriminate subscription
could not recur, if the charter were renewed. Mr. Webster,
therefore, sustained it ; and when the president had placed his veto
upon it, rejoined, not on the ground sometimes taken, that the
president had exceeded his authority ; but, on the ground that he
had exercised it to the injury of the country, and that the reasons he
had given for it were untenable.
In 1816, Mr. Webster determined to retire, at least for a time,
from public life, and to change his residence. He had then lived in
Portsmouth nine years, and they had been to him years of great
happiness in his private relations, and, in his relations to the country,
years of remarkable advancement and honor. But, in the disastrous
fire, which, in 1813, destroyed a large part of that devoted town, he
had sustained a heavy pecuniary loss, which the opportunities offered
by his profession in New Hampshire were not likely to repair. He
determined, therefore, to establish himself in a larger capital ; and,
in the summer of 1816, removed to Boston, where he has ever since
resided. His object was now professional occupation ; and he devoted him
self to it, for six or eight years, with unremitting assiduity ; refusing
to accept office, or to mingle in political discussion. His success was
correspondent to his exertions. He Avas already known as a distin
guished lawyer in his native state, and beginning to be knoTvn as

DANIEL WEBSTER.
such in Massachusetts. The Dartmouth college cause, which he
argued, in March, 1818, in the supreme court of the United States,
placed him in the first rank of American jurists, at the early age of
thirty-six ; and from that time his attendance on this great tribunal
has been constantly secured by retainers in the most important
causes ; and the circle of his professional business, which has been
regularly enlarging, has not been exceeded, if it has been equalled,
by that of any other lawyer, who has ever appeared in the national
forum. Few of his arguments, however, are reported, and even
those few are exhibited only in a dry and technical outline. Among
them, the most remarkable are, the case of Gibbons vs. Ogden, in
1824, involving the question of the steam-boat monopoly ; and the
case of Ogden vs. Saunders, 1827, involving the question of state
insolvent laws, when they purport to absolve the party from the
obligation of the contract. In these, and in all his other forensic
efforts, we see what is most characteristic of Mr. Webster's mind
as a lawyer : his clearness and downright simplicity in stating facts ;
his acute analysis of difficulties ; his earnest pursuit of truth for
truth's sake, and of the principles of law for the sake of right and
justice ; and his desire to attain them all by the most direct and
simple means. It is this plainness, this simplicity, in fact, that makes
him so prevalent with the jury ; and not only with the jury in court,
but with the great jury of the whole people.
But, during the years just passed over, Mr. Webster's success
was not confined to the bar. In the year 1820-21, he was a member
of a convention of delegates, assembled in Boston, to revise the con
stitution of Massachusetts, and exercised a preponderating infiuence
in an assembly of greater dignity and talent than was ever before
collected in that ancient commonwealth. On the 22d of December,
1820, the day when the two hundredth year from the first landing
of the forefathers, at Plymouth, was completed, Mr. Webster, by
the sure indication of the public will, was summoned to that conse
crated spot, and, in an address, which is the gravest of his published
works, so spoke of the centuries past, that the centuries yet to come
shall receive and remember his words. Again, in 1825, fifty years
from the day when the solemn drama of the American revolution
was opened, on Bunker's hill, Mr. Webster stood there, and inter
preted to assembled thousands the feelings with which that great
event will for ever be regarded. Again, too, in the summer of 1826,
he was called upon to commemorate the services which Adams and
Jefferson had rendered, when they caiTied through 'he declaration

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of independence ; and which they so mysteriously sealed, by their
common death, exactly half a century afterwards. And finally, on
the 22d of February, 1832, at the completion of a century from the
birth of Washington, and in the city which bears his name, Mr.
Webster exhibited him to the country as standing at the head alike
of a new world, and of a new era, in the history of man. These
four occasions were all memorable ; as memorable, perhaps, as any
that have occurred to Americans in our time ; and the genius of Mr.
Webster has sent them down, marked with its impress, to posterity.
But, during a part of the period over which we have slightly
passed, he was again in pubhc life. From 1823 to 1827, he was a
member of the house of representatives, from the city of Boston, in
the seventeenth and eighteenth congresses. His fii'st distinguished
effort, on this second appearance in the national councils, was his
"Greek speech," in which, with the forecast of a statesman, he
showed, as plainly as events have since proved it, that the principles
laid down by the great powers in Europe from the congress of Paris,
in 1814, to that of Laybach, in 1821, as the basis on which to main
tain the peace of the world, mistook the spirit of the age, and would
speedily be overturned by the irresistible power of popular opinion.
In 1824, he entered fully into the great discussions about the tariff ;
and examined the doctrines of exchange, and the balance of trade,
with an ability which has prevented them from being since, what
they had so often been before, subjects of crude and unsatisfactory
controversy in both houses of congress. In 1 825, he prepared and
carried through the crimes act, which, as a just tribute to his address
and exertions, his great wisdom and patient labor, already bears his
name ; and, in the same session of congress, he defended, as he had
defended them in 1816, the principles involved in the exercise of the
power of internal improvements by the general government. These,
with the discussions respecting the bill for enlarging the number of
judges of the supreme court of the United States, and respecting the
Panama mission, were the more prominent subjects on which Mr.
Webster exhibited his remarkable powers during the four sessions
in which he represented the city of Boston in the house of
representatives. In 1826, he was reelected, almost unanimously, to represent the
same district yet a third time ; but, before he had taken his seat, a
vacancy having occurred in the senate, he was chosen, without any
regular opposition, to fill it ; an honor, which was again conferred
upon him in 1833, by a sort of general consent and acclamation.

DANIEL WEBSTER.
How he has borne himself as a senator, is known to the whole
country. No man has been found able to intercept from hun the
constant regard of the nation ; so that, whatever he has said, has
been watched and understood throughout the borders of the land,
almost as familiarly and thoroughly as it has been at Washington.
The speeches he has made on the great questions of the tariff, and
of internal improvements ; his beautiful defence of the bill for the
relief of the surviving officers of the revolution ; his report on the
apportionment of representatives ; and his statesman-like discussions
respecting a national bank ; are known to all who know any thing
about the affairs of the country. But, though the eyes of all have
thus been fastened on him, in such a way, that nothing relating to
him, can have escaped their notice, there are two occasions, where
he has attracted a kind and degree of attention, which, as it is rarely
given to any man in any country, is so much the more honorable
whenever it is obtained. We refer now, of course, to the two great
debates of 1830 and 1833, when he overthrew the doctrine of
nullification. An attempt to put a construction upon the constitution, which has
resulted in these doctrines, can be traced back as far as to May, 1828,
when two or more meetings, of the South Carolina delegates, were
held at General Hayne's lodgings, in Washington; and to the
assembling of the legislature of South Carolina, in the autumn of the
same year, when, on the 19th of December, a document, called, " An
Exposition and Protest," prepared, as is understood, by Mr. Calhoun,
then vice president of the United States, was produced, in order to
exhibit and enforce those doctrines, on which that state relied for
success in the contest into which she was then entering. In January,
1830, in the confident hope of obtaining further sanction to them,
they were brought forward in the senate of the United States, by
General Hayne ; though the resolution, under color of which they
were thus produced, had nothing to do with them. Mr. Webster
was, therefore, in a measure, taken by surprise ; but his whole life
had been a preparation for an encounter with any man, who should
assail the great principles of the federal constitution ; and his speeches,
on this occasion, in reply to General Hayne, though called from him
almost without premeditation, are the result of principles which had
grown up with him from his youth, and were now developed with
all the matured power of his mind and strength.
The same consequences, or consequences even more honorable,
to Mr. Webster, foUowed the attempt made in the winter of 1833,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
to enforce in the senate the same unsound doctrines ; and the tumul
tuous and unparliamentary shout of applause that followed his great
speech, in reply to Mr. Calhoun, which' burst involuntarily from the
hearts of the multitude, that listened to him, has since been echoed
from all the borders of the land.
These, indeed, are the triumphs peculiarly adapted to Mr. Web
ster's extraordinary powers. He is eminently and entirely the child
of our free institutions. None ether could have educated or reared
him ; in none other could his talents find their most appropriate and
lofty exercise. From the days when, amidst the fastnesses of nature,
his young feet with difficulty sought the rude school house, where
his earliest aspirations were nurtured, up to the moment when he
came forth from the senate chamber, conscious that he had overthrown
the doctrine of nullification, and contended successfully for the union
of the states, it is plain that he has constantly depended for the
highest development and the proudest exercise of his imposing talents,
on the free institutions of our free government ; so that, whatever
may be his future destiny, his hopes and his fortunes can be advanced
only by the continued stability and progress of what is essentially
characteristic of us as a free and an united people.

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WILLIAM WHITE, D.D.

It is given to few men, to found a name more venerable, than that
of the subject of this memoir. Born at Philadelphia, in the year
1747, (March 24th old style, but April 4th, by the change of style,)
he yet lives, in a good old age, the Presiding Bishop of the Pro
testant Episcopal Church, walking in the footsteps of his Divine
Master, "in favor with God and man."
His parents were distinguished by the most estimable qualities.
His father Col. Thos. White, a native of London, who came to
Maryland in early youth, and there engaged in successful practice as
a lawyer, was a man of sound judgment, and sterling integrity
through life. Col. White was twice married. His second wife, a
woman of sound understanding and sincere piety, was the widow of
Mr. John Newman, of New- Jersey; and their only children were
Mary, who was married to the celebrated statesman and financier
Robert Morris, and William, now Bishop of Pennsylvania. To
the pious character of his mother, the Bishop bears his grateful testi
mony, and says, " My earliest impressions of religion were the fruit
of her instructions." His father, Col. White, having removed to
Pennsylvania, and being there well known as a friend of learning,
was chosen a Trustee of the newly endowed college of Philadelphia ;
and in this institution the son commenced and completed his aca
demical career.
At the age of seven years, he was transferred from the school of a
mistress to the English school of the new college, under Mr. Ebene
zer Kinnersley, a friend of the philosopher Dr. Franklin. When ten
years old, he was advanced into the Latin school, under Mr. Paul
Jackson, a man of genius and classical attainments; and at the age
of fourteen, he was matriculated.
At this early period of life, his thoughts were directed to the
Christian ministry.
Under his own hand, in a private letter now before the author of
this sketch, he furnishes a satisfactory and pleasing record of this

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
incident. "It may be recorded with truth," says he, "but let it be
with humility and with sorrow for innumerable failures, and for
having fallen far short of what was due to the advantages of early
years, that there is not recollected any portion of my life, during
which I was altogether regardless of the obligations of religion or
neglected prayer. But in about the middle of my sixteenth year,
there occurred some circumstances, particularly the decease of an
amiable young lady, of my OAvn age, but in whom I had not felt
any further interest than as an acquaintance of my sister. This
event gave my mind a tendency to religious exercises and inqui
ries, which were promoted by its being understood that a visit
was expected from the Rev. George Whitfield. His coming caused
religion to be more than commonly a subject of conversation ; and
this added to the existing tendency of my mind." Whitfield, at this
period, (1763,) had long been in the wane of his popularity, — his
health much impaired, his naturally slender person grown to corpu
lence, and his rare powers of utterance affected by these causes ; yet
even under such great disadvantages, "his force of emphasis and
the melodies of his tones and cadences," says the Bishop, "exceeded
what I had ever witnessed in any other person." Our youthful
hearer was not among the field-preacher's devotees : the glow
of eloquence, however, with which Whitfield, in "thoughts that
breathe," gave life to sacred subjects, and, beside this, the earnest
religious conversations of the day, must have produced powerful
effects upon a mind then roused to serious thoughts upon religion.
But with a calmness amid the prevailing agitations, that was remark
able in a boy of only sixteen years, he did not find himself disposed
to be " a convert." He states, that he could not reconcile to his
mind the vows and the doings of Whitfield, as a clergyman of the
Established Church, — "his obligations, and his utter disregard of
them." This aspect of things, new and strange to an ingenuous
young man, most happily led him to deliberate investigation, and
thus were at last fixed in his mind those principles of apostolic order,
on which he was destined, in the course of Providence, to lay the
foundation of the now fiorishing American Episcopal Church.
Having spent three years in college, he graduated at the age of
eighteen, in the year 1765, and soon began the study of Theology.
Five years after he left college, he embarked for Europe, in Octo
ber 1770, with the usual letters to Dr. Terrick, then Bishop of
London ; for before the declaration of our civil independence, the
Bishop of London had charge of the Episcopal churches in America.

WILLIAM WHITE.
The candidate was examined by the Bishop's chaplain, and, with
many others, was ordained a deacon, under letters demissory, by the
Bishop of Norwich, Dr. Young, in the Royal Chapel, of which the
Bishop of London was the dean.
For eighteen months after this time, he tarried in England, where
it was his privilege, in the society of some valued relatives at Twick
enham, or in occasional journeys, to improve himself in useful learn
ing, to lay up rich materials for reflection, and to cultivate the
acquaintance of the wise and good. Alluding to his rambles at that
time, he speaks particularly of his visits to Lancashire and Derby
shire, of his tour to Bath, and to the University of Oxford ; — of his
interview with Dr. Kennicott, from whose hands he received a copy
of his Hebrew coUations ; — of the preaching of Dr. Robert Lowth,
afterward the Lord Bishop of London ; — of his conversing with
Dr. Oliver Goldsmith, on the state of the peasantry depicted in the
Deserted Village ; — and of his introduction by letter to Dr. Samuel
Johnson, with whom he had occasional conversations, and whom
he saw occupied in preparing his great work for a new edition.
In April 1772, he was admitted to Priests' Orders. He embarked
for America in June, and in September he arrived at Philadelphia,
where he was soon settled as an assistant minister in the parish of
Christ Church and St. Peter's.
During the long term of sixty-one years, he has labored in the
cause of piety and learning, not only in the institutions peculiar to
the Church, but in all the prominent institutions of Philadelphia, —
for sixty years a Trustee of the University ; the President of the
Bible Society of Philadelphia, which was the first established in the
U. S. ; the President of the Dispensary, since its origin in 1784,
of the Prison Society, from its origin about forty years ago, of the
Society for the Deaf and Dumb, and of the Society for the Blind.
He has been variously connected also with many other institutions, as
a manager or member, and before the birth of most of his coadjutors
in these public charities, he laid the corner-stones of their edifices,
and established the principles of their perpetuity and their success.
Well read in the history of England, and adopting those princi
ples which entered into its constitution from the Saxon times, he
thought and felt and acted with our revolutionary patriots, very
many of whom were his associates and friends. " When my coun
trymen," says he, " had chosen the dreadful measure of resistance,
it was also the dictate of my conscience, to take what seemed the
right side." He entered fully into the subject, as a decided Christian

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
patriot. His brethren in the assistant ministry of the parish,
preached animating sermons before battalions of the soldiery ; but
this he refused to do, alleging that he did not think it right to make
his ministry " instrumental to the war," or, as he says, " to beat the
ecclesiastical drum." With all the other clergy of the Church of
England, he used the prayer for the king, until the Sunday foUowing
the Declaration of Independence. Soon after that time, he took the
oath of allegiance to the United States.
The disquietudes occasioned by the war induced him, in Septem
ber 1777, to leave Philadelphia, then occupied by British troops, and
to repair with his family to the house of a near relative in Maryland.
While there, he received official notice, that Congress, who had fled
to York-town, had chosen him one of their chaplains. Consistent
in his principles, he at once accepted the appointment, and performed
the stated duties of the chaplaincy.
A dark cloud hung over the church of England in America, at
this crisis. In Pennsylvania, the settled clergy of the province,
exclusive of the city, had at no time exceeded six in number, and
the chief rehance of all these for their support was on stipends
received from England. The war led some of them to take leave of
the country, some died, and the subject of our memoir was soon left
the only Episcopal clergyman in the whole state.
The rectorship of the parish of Christ Church and St. Peter's,
after a time, was declared by the vestry to be vacant ; and they at
once unanimously elected to the office the Rev. William White.
In the spring of the year 1783, he received the degree of D. D.
from the university of Pennsylvania, and was, it appears, the first
person on whom the university conferred that honor.
Not long before the peace of '83, despairing of a prompt acknow
ledgment of our independence, and perceiving the Episcopal ministry
approaching to annihilation. Dr. 'White wrote and published a
small pamphlet, caUed " The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the
U. S. considered." This pamphlet was issued without the author's
name. But its pure spirit and its noble bearing proved it the pro
duction of a superior mind. With a faithful pencil, it depicted the
entire desolation that awaited a rapidly declining church. It pressed
the obligation of adopting speedy and decisive measures, to per
petuate her ministry and worship. With this view, it proposed the
estabhshment of an Episcopal Church in the U. S., to be divided into
districts, each district to have not only clerical but lay delegates,
and all the districts to be represented in a continental convention of

WILLIAM WHITE.
the church. The proposed districts being thus constituted, " they
should elect a clergyman their permanent President, who, in con
junction with other clergymen to be appointed by the body, might
exercise such powers as are purely spiritual, particularly that of ad
mitting to the ministry." The convention was, however, to declare
in favor of Episcopacy, and profess a determination to procure the
apostolical succession, as soon as it could conveniently be had.
This measure of a deviation from the ancient apostolic practice,
was startling to all those who held, that the office of bishops was
essential to the existence of the Church. But when numerous Epis
copal congregations were scattered, "having no shepherd," — when
many of their churches had been closed for years, when the war
rendered the supply of vacancies impracticable, when these vacan
cies were daily multiplying by deaths and by removals, and when
there were but few Episcopal pulpits in the whole country from
which the Gospel sound was heard, — it was indeed a time of pecu
liar emergency. The prospects of Churchmen in America were
veiled in the deepest gloom. It was the summer of the year 1783.
Our national independence, the mother country had not yet recog
nised. It was the opinion of judicious persons, that she might
perhaps lay down her weapons, but not yield her claims. And in
this exigency of the case, the author of the pamphlet made an appeal
to the high authority of Hooker, Hoadly, Usher, and Cranmer, and
suggested, rather than abandon every ordinance of positive and
divine appointment, to yield to a temporary deviation from the ancient
practice. He argued against any union of Church and state. And
although James I. might teach, in England, "No bishop, no king;
and no king, no bishop ;" in the United States, just rising in
the freshness and the vigor of her independence. Episcopacy by no
means seemed to depend upon the will, no, not on the existence of a
monarch, but might, as has actually proved to be the case, florish
as well at least without, as with, the patronage of government.
The whole subject, however, in a few months assumed a form,
that met the hopes, and responded to the prayers of many. Our
independence was acknowledged by Great Britain, in the fall of the
year 1783. The organizing of the Church very soon commenced.
The first step made in it was an invitation from the Vestry of Christ
Church and St. Peter's, Nov., 1783, to the Vestry of St. Paul's.
Deputies met at the house of Dr. White, Mar. 29, 1784. They
invited a convention of delegates from all the churches in the state,
who met in Christ Church, PhUadelphia, May 24. Their pro-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
ceedings, in a few days, were laid before a meeting in New- Jersey,
which was followed by a meeting in New- York ; and thence resulted
the call of the first General Convention, at Philadelphia, in Sept.
and Oct., 1785.
At this first General Convention, Dr. White presided. A com
mittee was appointed, to draft and report a constitution, and Dr.
White was a member of this committee. The instrument was
written by his hand. And his thorough knowledge of his subject
enabled him to meet the views and wishes of all parties. The Con
stitution was adopted ; and during the lapse of almost fifty years, it
has united in a holy bond the once scattered members of the Epis
copal Communion. Certain alterations were now made in the Book
of Common Prayer ; and it was resolved, to address the archbishops
and bishops of England, asking for the consecration of bishops elect
from America.
The clergy of Connecticut, acting apart, had already (1785) suc
ceeded in obtaining a Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury, —
consecrated, however, not by English bishops, but by bishops of the
Episcopal Church in Scotland. Yet this did not meet the existing
want ; and there was a general and decided wish, that the proposed
bishops should be, by all means, consecrated in England. There
were also, both here and abroad, not a few, who doubted whether
this consecration by the Scotch bishops was valid. Among these
was the celebrated Granville Sharp, the grandson of Archbishop
Sharp, whose deep interest in the American Episcopacy appears
from his letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dr. Franklin.
The Address of the General Convention of '85 was handed to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, by our foreign minister Mr. John Adams,
who used his influence on many occasions, to facilitate the measure
proposed. The history of the times exhibits numerous and afflictive embar
rassments, arising from the want of resident bishops. Applications
from America were made again and again; and in England the
measure found warm advocates in many, especially in Archbishop
Seeker. But jealousy on the part of the colonies, in regard not only
to the office but the name of bishop, and prudential considerations on
the part of the British crovra, presented for a long time insuperable
barriers. The only dependance for a supply of clergy, was on emi
gration, or on candidates sent to the Bishop of London for their
Orders. The revolution of the colonies created disabflities even on
his part. And after our civfl independence had been recognised.

WILLIAM WHITE.
new difficulties were suggested; so that when certain candidates
applied soon after the peace of '83, they could not, as citizens of a
free country, assume the oaths of allegiance required at ordination.
The candidates turned their thoughts to the Episcopal Church of
Denmark, and soon received, through our minister, Mr. Adams, fa
vorable answers to inquiries which he had proposed in their behalf
Mr. Adams had conferred on the subject with M. de St. Saphorin, the
Danish minister, who wrote to the king's foreign secretary, the Count
de Rosencrone ; and the result was an official communication to our
government, transmitted to the president of congress. But an act of
parliament, passed in 1786, and the proceedings of Churchmen in
America, especially their Address, soon rendered unnecessary an
acceptance of the offer, so very promptly and so liberally made by
the theological faculty and the government of Denmark.
In the spring of 1786, a favorable reply to the Address was received
from England, signed by the two archbishops and eighteen of the
twenty-four bishops of the Established Church. General Conven
tions on the subject met in June and October. The Rev. Dr. Pro-
voosT, of N. Y., Dr. White, of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Griffith,
of Virginia, were declared duly chosen by their respective conven
tions to proceed to England for the Episcopate. The two former
soon embarked ; the third, from some domestic cause, was unable to
proceed. In eighteen days, they stepped on shore at Falmouth.
They were presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury, by Mr.
Adams. On the 4th of February, 1787, they were consecrated, in
the chapel of the archiepiscopal palace at Lambeth, by the Most Rev.
John Moore, jirchbishop of Canterbury, assisted by Dr. Markham,
Archbishop of York, and by Bishops Moss and Hinchliffe. On
Easter-day, Apr. 7, 1787, they were again in the U. S., and they
soon entered on the active duties of their office. In the year 1790,
Dr. Madison, of Virginia, was also consecrated at Lambeth.
Episcopacy was now established in the U. S., under the most
advantageous circumstances. It attracted the attention of all other
communions, and, in a more especial manner, conciliated the regard
of certain members of the Methodist Society. One of their spiritual
fathers, the Rev. Dr. Coke, whom, to use his own words, Mr. Wes
ley invested " as far as he had a right to do, with Episcopal
authority," was not satisfied with his wide deviation from apostolic
practice, and wrote explicitly to Bishop White, proposing to the
American bishops to re-ordain all the preachers of the Methodist
Society, to admit Mr. Asbury and himself to the episcopate, and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
virtually to effect a re-union of Methodists and Episcopalians. Bishop
White, from the beginning, saw that the measure, as proposed,
must fail ; but Bishop Madison was very favorable to the scheme.
At a meeting of the General Convention in 1792, he introduced a
motion on the subject into the House of Bishops, and led them to
bring it before the clerical and lay deputies. But the whole project
was there set aside, and has never since been seriously agitated.
The limits prescribed to this sketch, will not admit of our alluding
to the friends of Bp. White, particularly the late lamented Bp.
Hobart, nor to his Episcopal and parochial labors, nor to his endear
ing attributes of private life, nor to the various particulars, deeply
interesting to Episcopalians, with which the name of their senior
Bishop is associated. He has vsrritten " Memoirs of the Prot. Episc.
Church," in 1 vol. oct. ; and his opinions on the leading truths of
Christianity may be found in his " Comparative Views of the Contro
versy between the Calvinists and Arminians," 2 vols, oct., in his
" Lectures on the Catechism," 1 vol. oct., in his " Commentaries on
the Ordination Services," 1 vol. oct., and in his numerous occasional
Sermons, Charges, Addresses, Essays, and contributions to periodi
cals, forming a rich treasury of information on every important point
of doctrine and discipline.
The founder and chief ornament of the Prot. Episc. Church, his
character and writings will be a precious legacy to future generations.
Excepting only Dr. Clagget, who received the episcopate from Bp.
Provoost, all the twenty-five bishops, from the commencement of the
Church, have been consecrated by the hands of Bp. White. His
first associates in his high office, without one exception, and many
others since, amounting to fourteen in number, have gone hence
from his side. Yet he lives. He has been present at every General
Convention of the Church since its origin ; and he now declares to
his spiritual children "the noble works of the Lord" done "in the
old time before them." In the forty-seventh year of his episcopate,
the sixty -third of his ministry, and the eighty-sixth of his good old
age, tall and erect in stature, with his flowing white locks and his
marked features of benevolence, his mental faculties yet undecayed,
and his soul calm in that peace which passeth understanding, we
see in him a picture of the true sublime of our nature, — a holy man,
full of years and full of honors, in the serene evening of a long life
well spent in the immediate service of the Lord, about to compose
himself to sleep in Jesus, in the certain hope of a blessed immortality.

Engta-vnd by.E WbUnui™ fromaRimDTtJl^- G Sirmirt

EDWARD SHIPPEN,

In presenting the portrait of the late Chief Justice Shippen, we are
sure that we shall gratify, not only his numerous friends, by whom
his memory is affectionately cherished, but the pubhc, who are
indebted to him for many and important services. He was, in every
sense, a son of Pennsylvania, born and educated in the city of
Philadelphia, and to his native state he devoted his labors and talents
during a long and useful hfe. He was born on the sixteenth day
of February, 1729. His grandfather, William Shippen, was a gen
tleman of fortune and family, in the county of York, England ; and
his father, Edward Shippen, emigrated to America about the year
1675. He first settled in Boston, but removed to Philadelphia about
the year 1700, where his character and acquirements soon obtained
for him the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and led him
to various offices of honor and emolument. He became a member
of the governor's council, a commissioner of the board of property, a
judge of the general court, and was the first mayor of the city.
Edward Shippen, the subject of this memoir, foUowed the
honorable course of his father, and fully sustained the reputation
derived from him. Having completed his elementary education
with distinguished diligence and success, he commenced the study
of the law under the direction of Finch Francis, Esquire, then the
attorney-general of Pennsylvania. In 1748, Mr. Shippen, having
prosecuted his legal studies for about two years, went to London to
complete them in the Temple. In our day, this is no longer neces
sary ; nor indeed are our American youth required to go abroad for
instruction, in any of the learned professions more than in the
mechanic arts. After spending two years in London, not in frivolous
dissipated pursuits, but in the acquirement of the knowledge of his
profession and the general cultivation of his mind, Mr. Shippen was
admitted a barrister of the Middle Temple ; and he returned to PhUa
delphia, to commence his career of life, and enter upon the duties of
a lawyer and a citizen. He was so occupied, when the war of our

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
revolution interrupted the civil pursuits of our citizens, and sus
pended, more or less, their private business.
On the happy conclusion of this momentous struggle, the depart
ments of government, as well as the occupations of the people,
returned to their regular action and course. To furnish the judiciary
with men of suitable qualifications, as to character and knowledge,
was obviously an object of primary importance. Professional learn
ing and moral integrity in the administration of the laws, were indis
pensable to secure the public confidence for the courts of justice ; and
in seaching for them, Mr. Shippen could not be overlooked. He
was accordingly appointed president of the court of common pleas
of the county of PhUadelphia, a place of high trust ; and was also
the presiding judge of the court of quarter sessions for the city and
county. These appointments were made under the constitution of
the state, adopted in 1776. A more perfect organization of the
judiciary was made by the constitution of 1790.
In 1791, Mr. Shippen was appointed one of the judges of the
supreme court, whose jurisdiction extended over the whole state,
and whose duties and powers called for the highest grade of profes
sional learning and talents, as well as of personal character and
public confidence. On the election of Chief Justice M'Kean to the
executive chair of the commonwealth in 1799, Judge Shippen
succeeded him on the bench, and was appointed Chief Justice by
Governor M'Kean, who was perfectly well acquainted with the quali
fications the office demanded, and with the fitness of the person he
selected for it. Chief Justice Shippen continued to perform the
duties of his exalted station with undiminished ability, and unim
paired confidence and respect, until the close of the year 1805, when
the infirmities of age, he being then nearly seventy-seven years old,
admonished him to retire to repose. A few months after his resig
nation of office, on the sixteenth day of April, 1806, he found his
final resting place, placidly leaving the world, in which, from his
earliest youth, he had been conspicuous for his virtues and useful
ness. The volumes of our judicial reports are enriched with many
of his opinions, of great importance; and these are now received
with the same respect they commanded, when they were sustained
by his personal and official influence and authority. Much of our
law which is now weU settled, was, at the period of his judicial
administration, in a state of uncertainty, long usages sometimes
interfering with positive legislative enactments. Principles were to
be established suitable to our system of jurisprudence, and con-

EDWARD SHIPPEN.
structions to be given to doubtful laws. His sound mind, his excel
lent legal education and great experience, his cool temper and
discriminating sagacity, were all admirably calculated for the per
formance of such functions ; and he did perform them ui a manner
to satisfy his contemporaries, and to be approved and unshaken to
this day. Judicial qualifications and services are not of a character
to catch the multitude, or to be the subjects of popular applause ; but
there is no officer concerned in the administration of the affairs of
a people, whose duties are more anxious and arduous to himself, or
more important to the community, than those of the judge. The
preparatory education and long study; the painful and attentive
experience, which are indispensable for the attainment of the quali
fications befitting the bench ; the habits of close and careful investi
gation; the faculty of discoveruig the true ground of controversy,
of distinguishing between real and apparent resemblances, between
sound reasoning and ingenious sophism ; the firmness never to yield
principles to expediency, nor to sacrifice or disturb the great system
of jurisprudence for particular cases ; and withal, to hold a perfect
command over every feeling that might irritate the temper or mislead
the judgment, present to our contemplation a combination of rare
and valuable quahties, deserving our highest consideration and
respect. The laws must be sustained with independence and intelli
gence, or it is in vain that they are wise and salutary ; justice must
be rendered faithfiilly to the parties who appeal for it to the judicial
tribunals, or it is a mockery to promise them protection and redress.
The active, efficient, vital operations of the government are performed
by the courts. No man is so high or so humble as to be beyond their
reach ; they bring the laws into every man's house, to punish or to
protect them. Such are the responsibUities of a judge. It was on
the judgment seat of the law, that the high qualities of Chief Justice
Shippen were brought into their best exercise and use. He seemed
by nature as well as education to have been especiaUy prepared for
this station. Patient, learned, discriminating and just, no passion or
private interest, no selfish or unworthy feeling of favor or resentment
ever held the slightest influence over his conduct or decisions.
Few situations expose the temper to more irritating trials than that
of a judge. He must occasionally encounter ignorance, imperti
nence, stupidity, obstinacy, and chicanery, and he must take care
that they do not move him from his line of duty. The bland
and equal temper of Chief Justice Shippen never forsook him
amidst such trials, but, on the contrary, threw a charm over his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
manner of repelling or submitting to them. The young and the
timid advocate was encouraged by his kindness, and flattered by his
attention. He knew and practiced the lesson of Lord Bacon, that
"patience is one of the first duties of a judge;" and he felt that he was
bound to hear every party and every advocate, before he decided his
cause. A suitor might go from his court disappointed by the judg
ment, but he could not be dissatisfied with the judge.
Of the private character and deportment of Chief Justice Shippen,
it may be truly said that he has left few imitators of his manners.
His politeness was of the kind that has its foundations in a well
regulated temper and the best feelings of a benevolent heart, polished
by a familiar intercourse, from his birth, with refined society. He
combined, in a remarkable degree, benignity with dignity, conciliating
the affections while he commanded a perfect respect; and, as a valua
ble citizen, and an accomplished lawyer and judge, remarkable for
the great extent and minute accuracy of his knowledge, he must ever
be conspicuous, among those worthies who have won, by their virtues
and their talents, an imperishable name.

Enjivcd byTB Welch ftom a dnwingljj].BJ.oTiJpre Jwi GStuul

'H'HMtfffi'ffmir iPiKDHsumnsr^o

^^//'^/2,,.^^^^'r7^ ,

TIMOTHY PICKERING.

It has often been remarked that great occasions are required to
produce great men, — it would, perhaps, be more precisely accurate
to say, that great men can only be brought into striking positions,
and presented conspicuously to view, on great occasions. There is,
it is probable, nearly an equal proportion of intellectual and moral
energy diffused throughout each generation, and existing at every
period. In seasons of tranquillity and repose, there is but little to
distinguish one individual from another beyond the range of private
observation ; but when circumstances of an agitating nature are in
operation, each individual catches a portion of the general excite
ment, and distinct direction is given to the development of his
character. We find, accordingly, that the eventful era of the American revo
lution was fruitful in great men. They sprang up in every quarter ;
and presented in the qualities of their minds and the circumstances
of their lives, a spectacle of infinite variety. In this numerous and
interesting assemblage, there was none whose history and character
were more marked by strong, impressive, and distinguishing traits,
than the subject of this memoir.
TimothyTickering was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on the
17th July, 1745. The family had emigrated from England at a very
early period, and maintained from the beginning, as it does to this
hour, a high degree of respectabihty and influence. The name of
Pickering was distinguished in the field as well as in the senate,
throughout the contests for liberty in the mother country, which
resulted in the establishment of the commonwealth ; and its repre
sentatives in America have always been found among the most
resolute and unwavering advocates of the same cause, from the
earliest settlement of the colony of Massachusetts, untfl its triumph
was secured by the successful issue of the revolution.
At the age of fourteen, he became a member of Harvard university
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received the honors of the college

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
in 1763. Upon leaving the university, and entering the scenes of
active life, he found himself in the midst of influences, which
attracted his attention to the great subjects of the rights of the people
and the powers of the government. The controversy between Great
Britain and her colonies was then beginning to awaken a lively and
universal interest, and his ardent and energetic mind became deeply
engaged in its progress, and intensely alive to the momentous import
ance of its issue.
The same fervent zeal for liberty and truth, which led him to
enter with such spirit into the political questions of the day, seemed
to actuate him on all occasions, during the whole course of his hfe.
In the political movements of the times, he was engaged in the
various committees and meetings of the whigs in Salem and its
vicinity ; and his powerful pen was employed in drawing up their
correspondence, memorials, remonstrances, and resolutions. His
productions of this kind, are among the best specimens of the poli
tical literature of the period.
Before the war broke out, he was elected register of deeds by the
citizens of the county of Essex ; and was appointed by the provisional
government of Massachusetts, a judge of the court of common pleas.
He was also appointed sole judge of the admiralty court, established
in pursuance of an act of the general congress, for the district in
which he resided, until after the commencement of hostilities ; when
he resigned it for the more urgent and perilous duties of the camp.
His clear and sagacious mind foresaw that the controversy would
soon and inevitably reach that point, when it would be necessary to
put it to the issue of the bayonet, and he exerted himself to prepare
his countrymen for the emergency.
As colonel of the Essex militia, he devoted himself to the acquisi
tion of a thorough knowledge of military tactics, and labored to
diffuse it among his subaltern officers, and throughout his command.
He published a work on the subject ; and in a spirit in harmony with
that of his valiant and pious puritan ancestors, and congenial with
the whole history of his own life, he went at regular and frequent
intervals for a long period, (and of course at a great expense of time
and money,) to Marblehead, a distance of five miles, for the double
purpose of disciplining and drilling the inhabitants in the art of war,
to defend their country from its enemies ; and of instructing them in
sacred music, in the exercises of which he took unabated delight to
the day of his death ; that in their religious assemblies they might
offer a more acceptable and effectual woi-ship to Him who is the God

TIMOTHY PICKERING.
of Battles, and in whose arm they were to put their trust, in the
unequal and awful conffict then impending. In the year 1774, the
" Boston Port Bill" was passed by the British parliament ; and at the
same time, the seat of the colonial government was removed to
Salem. The inhabitants of the latter place, having reason to suspect
that the government relied upon securing their support by thus trans
ferring to them the advantages of being the metropolis, and the great
commercial emporium of the province; thought it their duty to
undeceive them on this point, as soon as possible. A town meeting
was called, and an address voted to General Gage, expressive of the
noble and disinterested sentiments of the people, and concluding with
the following words : " By shutting up the port of Boston, some
imagine that the course of trade might be turned hither, and to our
benefit; but nature, in the formation of our harbor, forbid our
becoming rivals in commerce with that convenient mart ; and were
it otherwise, we must be dead to every idea of justice, lost to
all feelings of humanity, could we indulge one thought to seize
on wealth, and raise our fortunes on the ruins of our suffering
neighbors'." This address was written by Colonel Pickering, and he was
instructed by his fellow-citizens to deliver it in person to the governor.
The memorable distinction of conducting the first resistance in
arms to the power of the mother country, fell to the lot of Colonel
Pickering. On Sunday, the 26th February, 1775, while the inha
bitants of Salem were assembled in their usual places of worship, an
express from Marblehead brought intelligence, that a regiment of
British troops were landing from a transport ship, and preparing to
march through Salem, to take possession of some military stores,
deposited in the interior of the county. The people were instantly
dismissed from their churches, and assembled on the drawbridge,
with such means of resistance as were at hand, where they awaited
the approach of Colonel Leslie and his regiment. On their arrival
at the bridge the draw was raised. Colonel Pickering presented
himself on the opposite side, at the head of the multitude, and a
small body of minute-men, drawn up in battle array. He informed
Colonel Leslie that the military stores he had come to seize, were the
property of the people, and that they would not be surrendered with
out a struggle. Colonel Leslie then ordered his men to get into a
large gondola, attached to the wharf, and in that way secure a
passage over the narrow stream. In a moment, Joseph Sprague,
Esq., the owner of the boat, and at that time, the major of the Essex

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
regiment, sprang on board, beat a hole through her side, and sunk
her to the bottom. While effecting his purpose he was wounded by
the bayonets of the enemy, thus shedding the first blood of the revo
lution. While these events were taking place, the parties were fast
reaching such a degree of exasperation, as would have brought on a
general and sanguinary conflict. At this juncture, the Reverend Mr.
Barnard interposed, and by his judicious persuasions prevented the
approaching catastrophe. He represented to Colonel Leslie that the
day was so far spent, that he would not be able to reach the place
were the stores were deposited, before night, even if the draw were
then let down, and that such was the determined spirit of the mflitia
and people in general, that a passage could not be forced without
great carnage on both sides. Colonel Leslie at last concluded to send
a message to Colonel Pickering, pledging his honor, that if he
would let him pass the bridge, so that it might appear a voluntary
act on his part, he would abandon the attempt to seize the stores, and
immediately after passing the bridge, turn back again towards Mar
blehead. Colonel Pickering ordered his armed men, and the
assembled multitude, to arrange themselves on both sides of the road,
facing inwards, the draw was let down, the British regiment marched
through the silent ranks of the patriots, advanced a few rods beyond
the bridge, countermarched, returned with a quick step to Marble
head, reembarked, and set sail from the harbor that night.
On the 19th of April, of the same year, the war began at Lexington
and Concord. While transacting business in his office as register of
deeds. Colonel Pickering received information through a militia
officer of Danvers, the town adjacent to Salem on the road to Lex
ington, of the passage of the British troops towards Concord. He
instantly despatched an order to the Danvers company to march
towards the scene of the expected conffict; and called together as
many of the inhabitants of Salem, as he could collect in the streets.
They were of opinion, that as the day was then so far advanced, and
the distance so great, it would not be possible for them to render any
essential service on the occasion. It was, however, concluded, that
it would be best to commence the march, if for no other reason, at
least to give evidence of their disposition to encourage, and if possible,
aid their brethren who were nearer the scene of action, in defending
their property from violence and their soil from invasion. Colonel
Pickering accordingly led them on, and, after a rapid and fatiguing
march of more than twenty mfles, arrived at the close of the day,
just in time to witness the retreat of the British through Charleston.

TIMOTHY PICKERING.
In the year 1776, five thousand men were caUed for from Massa
chusetts, to recruit the army, of which number seven hundred was
the portion allotted to Essex county. Colonel Pickering assembled
his regiment within the walls of the First Church in Salem, made
known the dangers and the wants of the country, exhorted his men
to offer their services to the common cause, and at the close of his
address, stepped forward as a volunteer. His example was quickly
followed, and he soon appeared at the head of a regiment, at the
quarters of the commander-in-chief, in New Jersey, who, with his
usual discernment, selected him for the office of adjutant general ;
and he continued in this and other stations, closely attached to the
person of Washington, and in the full enjoyment of his confidence,
through all the perils and vicissitudes of the war, and the equally
trying scenes of his administration of the government to the very
close of his public life. Colonel Pickering was elected by congress
a member of the " Continental Board of War ;" and when General
Greene resigned the highly important post of quarter-master general,
he was appointed his successor, at the suggestion of Roger Sherman.
At the end of the war, he fixed his residence in Philadelphia, and
was soon after deputed by the government of Pennsylvania, to visit
their remote interior settlements, for the purpose of adjusting a violent
and dangerous controversy, occasioned by the claims of certain
emigrants from Connecticut. This commission called for all his
courage and resolution, and he discharged his duty with great firm
ness and success. As illustrative of the angry and lawless passions
to which he was exposed, the following facts deserve to be related:
his residence was at this time in the celebrated " Vale of Wyoming,"
near what is now Wilkesbarre. In the month of June, 1788, a gang
of ruffians, dressed in disguise, with their faces painted black, tore
him from his bed at midnight, pinioned his arms, and conveyed him
into the depths of the forest ; there they subjected him to privation
and ill treatment in a great variety of forms, fastened heavy chains
upon his limbs, and repeatedly threatened to take his life. After
exhausting all their arts and efforts, in a vain attempt to extort
promises, in opposition to what he deemed his duty in the discharge
of the trust reposed in him, they concluded not to dip their hands in
his blood, and released him from his confinement. At the end of
twenty days from his sudden abduction, he reappeared in the midst
of his family, who had given up aU expectation of ever again seeing
him alive. So much was he altered by the sufferings and hardships
he had endured, that his children fled from his presence, affrighted

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
by his haggard, unshaven appearance, and his wife looked upon him
with consternation, as upon an apparition.
Colonel Pickering was a member of the convention called in
1790, to revise the constitution of the state of Pennsylvania, and
maintained a highly respectable standing in that distinguished body.
He was particularly active in promoting the cause of education, and
procured the insertion of the following article : " The legislature
shall, as soon as conveniently may be, provide by law for the estab
lishment of schools throughout the state, in such manner that the
poor may be taught gratis."
In 1791, President Washington appointed him postmaster general,
which office he held until the close of the year 1794. About this
time, he was charged with several very important negotiations with
the Indians, and was sole agent to treat with those tribes, collectively
known as the " Six Nations." On the resignation of General Knox,
in 1794, he was made secretary of war, and in 1795, he was appointed
by Washington his secretary of state ; this office he continued to
hold until the month of May, 1800, when he was removed by Presi
dent John Adams.
Upon leaving the department of state, he returned to his farm in
Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, then near the borders of settlement,
and devoted himself to the toilsome labors of felling the forest, and
cultivating the untilled soil. From this humble seclusion, he was
allured by his friends in Massachusetts, who prevailed upon him to
return to his native state. By their spontaneous liberality, he was
enabled to discharge a considerable debt that had accumulated while
he was engaged in the service of his country ; and to purchase a
small farm in the county of Essex, which he continued to cultivate
and superintend to the time of his death. He was elected to the
senate of the United States by the legislature of Massachusetts in
1803, and again in 1805. At the expiration of his second term in
1811, he turned his attention exclusively to agriculture. Soon after,
he was again drawn into public life, as a member of the " Executive
CouncU ;" and also, as a member of the Board of War, appointed in
Massachusetts, to protect the state from invasion. In 1814, he was
elected to the house of representatives of the United States from the
district in which he resided, and finally retired from public office in
1817. He died in Salem, the place of his residence, on the 29th of
January, 1829. Agricultural pursuits, an extensive literary and
pohtical correspondence, the conversation and company of his friends
the affairs and interests of his immediate neighborhood, and such

TIMOTHY PICKERING.
objects of a more general nature, as would be likely to engage the
attention of a liberal and active mind, and a generous and philan
thropic heart, gave employment and vivacity to his last years. His
old age, spent in the tranquil and undisturbed society of his famUy
and relatives, was such as might well be desired by the patriot and
Christian. He buried his wife not long before his own departure.
She united all that is lovely, with all that is venerable, and was every
way worthy of being the companion of his life, and the sharer of his
trials and his honors. His printed writings on agricultural, political,
and miscellaneous subjects, are numerous ; and at the time of his
death, he was thoroughly preparing himself, to give to the public, a
biography of his friend, Alexander Hamilton ; a task undertaken at
the request of the family of that great man.
Colonel Pickering inherited from his ancestors a sound and
vigorous constitution, and enjoyed through life an uncommon degree
of health and strength. His frame was large and athletic, and his
figure, countenance, and manners, combined in suggesting the noble
energy and Roman fortitude of his character to every beholder. His
death, which occurred after a brief illness, was occasioned by a
disease in the larger blood vessels near the heart ; and although then
in his eighty-fourth year, he had experienced none of the infirmities,
either physical or mental, usually attendant upon old age.
The qualities of his mind corresponded with those of his body.
To whatever subject his thoughts were turned, the most striking
views of which it was susceptible were instantly presented. Both
in speaking and writing, his style was unrivalled for the simplicity,
closeness, and strength of its structure, and the purity and correct
ness of its language. But it was in his conversational powers that
he particularly excelled his contemporaries. It was the enviable
privilege of his friends, to contemplate in his admirable descriptions
of men, manners, and transactions, a representation of the scenes and
circumstances of his long and eventful life, almost as vivid and
distinct, as they could have been to an actual, original observer.
The integrity of his heart and life were acknowledged and admired,
even by his opponents. From childhood to old age, temperance,
industry, sincerity, benevolence, honor, and truth, guided his conduct.
Although he had been to a very great extent exposed to the allure
ment of camps and courts, neither a stain nor a shadow was ever
cast upon the purity of his heart, the innocence of his life, or the
simplicity of his manners. Well did he deserve the tribute which
was drawn from the late John Randolph on the fioor of congress :

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
" No man in the United States," said that extraordinary individual,
" has been more misunderstood, no man more reviled, than Alexander
HamUton, unless, perhaps, the venerable member from Massachu
setts, who generally sits in that seat, and whom, whatever may
be said of him, aU wiU allow to be an honest man. The other
day, when on the compensation question, he was speaking of his
own situation; when his voice faltered and his eyes filled at the
mention of his poverty ; I thought I would have given the riches of
Dives himself for his feelings at the moment — for his poverty was
not the consequence of idleness, or extravagance, or luxury, nor of
the gambling spirit of speculation : it was an honorable poverty after
a life spent in laborious service, and in the highest offices of trust
under government, during the war of independence, as well as under
the present constitution."
Colonel Pickering was a sincere, thorough, and consistent repub
lican, in his principles, habits, feelings, and manners. He appre
ciated the value of his own rights, and was ever as ready to protect
the rights of others as his own. Reason and revelation both taught
him, that we are all of one blood, brethren and equals. The Bible
was the object of his habitual study and meditation, and the religion
which he had examined and professed in his early manhood, received
his obedience and support through a long life, and was found an all-
sufficient source of comfort, resignation, peace, and satisfaction, on
the bed of death. The memory and example of such a man are among
the most precious possessions of his countrymen. His name will be
more and more honored, as the lapse of time removes him from the
shadow of those clouds of error, prejudice, and passion, which always
encompass the passing generation. Even now, the youthful scholar,
as he gazes on the noble features of Timothy Pickering, while
exploring the history of the American revolution, proudly acknow
ledges and ardently admires an assemblage of private and civic
virtues, which Plutarch would have rejoiced to commemorate. As
he thinks of the venerable patriot bending over his plough, and
literally earning his bread by the sweat of his face ; the image of
Cincinnatus, the great Roman, rises before him ; and when he con
siders his unsullied and unassailable integrity, truth, and justice,
Aristides, the good Athenian, seems to be in his presence. But when
he contemplates in his single character, their virtues combined, and
the whole adorned, illuminated, and hallowed, by the bright and
heavenly radiance of the Gospel, he exclaims, " Cedite Romani******
Cedite Graii."

En^o^-edbjR.V- UodEon from alitmtiiij^bj-T Sully

(li-fiiS'if'ssLMij s'®srA,B'ist*s3sr ¦N^iiaaaixjssiySo

JONATHAN WILLIAMS,

It is an agreeable task to commemorate a virtuous and useful life.
If it be a worldly favor to the hand that presents the sword of honor
to the victor, or the decoration to successfiil merit, it is a quiet, but
not less grateful privilege, to be, to the deserving, the channel of their
remembrance and praise.
Jonathan Williams, the father of the subject of this memoir, was
a merchant in Boston, much respected and largely engaged there in
commercial affairs. He was among the patriots of Massachusetts
who took part in the struggle of the colonists against Great Britain ;
and in 1774 was chairman of the memorable meeting at Faneuil
Hall in Boston, where it was voted "that the tea should not be
landed ; that no duty should be paid on it ; and that it should be
sent back to England in the ships which had conveyed it to this
country." This may show that he was an approved whig, and an
influential citizen. A further allusion to this incident may be given
more appropriately hereafter.
Jonathan Williams, his son, was born in Boston, in the year
1750, and received from his childhood, the best English education
which the opportunities of that place then afforded. Intended for
the profession of his father, he was taken from school before his
studies were completed, and placed in a counting-house. Anxious
to improve himself, he devoted his evenings and other leisure
moments to the acquirement of knowledge ; in this manner he gained
considerable proficiency in the classics, and a ready and familiar
acquaintance with the French language, both in speaking and
writing it. In the course of his commercial pursuits, he made many
voyages, in which he visited most of the West-India Islands, as well
as various parts of Europe. His letters from these places, upon
business and of general reflection, display much maturity of observa
tion and judgment. In the year 1770, he first went to England with
his brother, and an uncle, Mr. John Williams, who had been a local
commissioner under the British government. On his arrival in

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
London, he was received with the greatest kindness by Dr. Franklin,
(who was his grand-uncle,) and taken by him to his house, which
he insisted should be his residence during his stay in England.
Having remained about a year in that country, and travelled during
that time through a considerable part of it, Mr. Williams returned
to America. In 1773, he again went to England. In consequence
of his connection with Dr. Franklin, he was intrusted, on his various
commercial voyages to and from his country, with letters and com
munications, on the then engrossing subject of the political relations
between England and America ; by this means he became acquainted
with the prominent men of that day, and though then very young,
in mental cultivation and resources, he was their fit companion.
In a letter written about the year 1774, and addressed to his father,
he says, " After seeing my merchants, I went to see the doctor, (Frank
lin,) whom I found in exceeding good health and spirits ; and was
welcomed by him with a degree of joy and affection, which surpassed
even the expectations I had formed from the former proofs I received
of extensive goodness and friendship. I waited on my uncle, but he
was not at home, — went then to Lord Dartmouth's, (colonial secre
tary,) at whose levee I met my uncle. After sending my name and
business, I was immediately admitted to his lordship, who received
me with great politeness. When he had read the letters, he asked
me many questions, which I answered as well as I was able. I told
him of the opinion of the people, their firmness, their determination,
and their intention of a junction of the colonies ; which I delivered,
perhaps not in polite, but in American language. I left out nothing
which I thought would give his lordship a true idea of the impor
tance and virtue of the Americans ; and having the strictest truth
for my guide, I was not in the least confused nor abashed, but spoke
as I would to any other man. He heard me with great politeness ;
and although I frequently discovered a sense of the impropriety of
the administration, he seemed pleased. He then asked me my private
opinion. 'Mr. Williams,' said he, 'I wish to come at truth; and
as a man alone, shall be glad of your sentiments with regard to the
disposition of the Americans. I ask it as a private gentleman ; this
conversation is confidential ; and, you may depend, I shall make no
public use of what you may tell me.' I made some little apology for
ray inferiority in point of abilities, but said, that as he had assured
me we were private gentlemen, I would relate to him all I knew; but
being unused to elegant addresses, I should presume on his indul
gence, and dehver my sentiments in my own unadorned way, and

JONATHAN WILLIAMS.
endeavor to utter simple truths, without confounding the matter, by
seeking to embellish the manner. I then told him that the Ame
ricans never would submit ; that they would not be surprised when
the other acts should arrive ; that they expected the worst, and were
accordingly prepared ; that I believed the junction would take place ;
and that they thought now or never was the time, that they supposed
by submission they would make themselves the most abject slaves on
earth ; and that by opposition they could not be worse ; that parlia
ment had no right to tax them ; that they would die by this opinion ;
and that a universal non-exportation agreement would be attended
with salutary effects. His lordship, after some time, asked me if 1
knew ' Mr. Williams, who appears as moderator of that assembly,'
(the meeting at Faneuil Hall.) 'He is my father, my lord.' 'And
is your father a principal in those disturbances ! Mr. Williams,
how comes that, sir V ' My father, my lord, is an honest man, and
one who seeks not fame. He was in that meeting as any other
man might be, and when chosen, was much surprised ; he excused
himself as being unacquainted with the office ; and on the motion
being put, and passed in the negative, he therefore officiated. My
father, my lord, has been so little, heretofore, engaged in political dis
putes, that I was as much surprised as I should be, had your lordship
been in the desk. But, my lord, I am only relating facts : it is not
for me to dispute on the merit or demerit of my father's conduct, but
I am sure he acted according to the dictates of his conscience, and
upon honest principle ; and thus acting, I hope your lordship wUl
not think him wrong, though you may not agree in sentiment.' He
smiled, and after paying me a compliment for my plainness and
freedom, said, laughingly, ' So, then, your father may say with Fal-
staff, ' some men are in pursuit of honors, but others have honors in
pursuit of them.' "
Again, in a letter written in September, 1774, he says, "With
regard to politics, nothing has occurred ; nor do I think any thing
will happen till the parliament sits, when I dare say there will be
warm work, and I have great hope that American affairs will wear
a better aspect ; for the ministry, I have reason to think, will find a
greater opposition than they expect. Unanimity and firmness must
gain the point. I can't help repeating it, though I believe I have
written it twenty times before. The newspapers, which used to
be the vehicles of all kinds of abuse on the poor Bostonians, are
now full of pieces in our favor. Here and there an impertinent
scribbler, like an expiring candle flashing from the socket, shows,
3

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
by his scurrility, the weakness of his cause, and the corruptness
of his heart."
In the following year he made a short visit to Prance, of which,
in one of his letters, dated London, May 5, 1775, he thus speaks. It
is deemed proper to extract from it ; for it contains a forecast of
events which history soon after proved literally true. He says, " I
have passed two months in the most agreeable manner possible,
except with regard to my reflections relative to my unhappy country,
which always attend me wherever I go. I found throughout France,
a general attention to our disputes with Britain, and to a man, all
that country are in our favor. They suppose England to have
arrived at its pinnacle of glory, and that the empire of America will
rise on the ruins of this kingdom ; and I really believe, that when
we shall be involved in civil war, they will gladly embrace the first
opportunity of renewing their attacks on an old enemy, who they
imagine will be so weakened by its internal broils, as to become an
easy conquest. Although I profess myself an American, I am still
an Englishman ; I only wish the titles to be sjmonymous ; and there
fore do not hope for the destruction of this country ; I only wish the
prosperity of my own ; and that its rights and privileges may ever
remain inviolate ; -to secure which, no sacrifice should be thought
too dear : so I do not give the French so much credit for their par
tiality, for I believe it to proceed in general more from a hatred to
England, than a love to us ; though in some particulars, I believe
the natural rights of humanity are the basis of their opinions."
With the hope peculiar to the buoyant spirit of youth, that the
differences between the two countries would still be justly settled,
and that the firmness of his country would produce its desired effect
upon the British government and people, Mr. Williams had nearly
completed a mercantile connection with a West-India house of large
capital and extensive trade, when the political separation of the two
countries induced him to quit England and reside in France. His
determination and views are expressed in a letter from Nantes, in
1777. "When I wrote to you from England, I, was in the expecta
tion of taking up my residence in that country. The scene is now
changed ; and since it became a question, which of the two countries
I would prefer in a separate state, I did not hesitate to quit all my
lucrative views, and to come hither, to do all the service I can,
without expectation of further emolument than a subsistence. It
is not improbable, that I shall engage in the American trade in
some part of France, or return to some part of America, charged

JONATHAN WILLIAMS.
with the management of commercial matters. Whatever I do in
this way will be upon a large scale, and whilst I am doing essential
service to my country, I may advance my own fortune. In this,
however, I make a distinction ; whatever I am capable of doing for
the benefit of the cause, I will undertake with pleasure, gratis ; but
otherwise, in all commercial engagements with individuals of ano
ther nation." Let it be added, that at this time he numbered
Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania, among his American correspond
ents, and that his letters to that eminent man are ffiled with similar
good sense and love of country, to those already given.
The early destiny of Mr. Williams separated him from the land,
whose struggle for freedom deeply and constantly interested him —
from the country to which he afterwards lived to devote years of
usefulness and good example; but the resolve, contained in the
letter last quoted, of help, however humble, to that country, is most
honorable to him. It is known that the young American merchant
strictly fulffiled it. About this period, he was appointed commercial
agent of the United States, and resided principally at Nantes. In
September, 1779, he was married to Mariamne, the daughter of Wil
liam Alexander, formerly of Edinburgh, at the hotel of the Dutch
ambassador at Paris ; Dr. Franklin, then minister from the United
States, being present at the ceremony. In 1783, he received a com
mission from the Farmers General of Prance, to supply them with
tobacco, which was then, as it now is, a government monopoly.
After this appointment, he removed to St. Germain's, where he
resided until 1785, when he returned with Dr. Franklin to the
United States. He remained in this country about four years,
arranging his mercantile affairs ; a task which, in consequence of the
uncertain state of the commercial world, was attended with diffi
culties and pecuniary sacrifices. He sailed for England for the last
time in 1798, for the purpose of bringing his family to Philadelphia,
which he had selected as the place of his future residence. This
determination was induced by his desire to be near his earliest, best,
and kindest friend. Dr. Franklin : but he was met on his return in
1790, with the melancholy news of the death of that eminent man,
which had taken place a short time before. He purchased a country
seat on the banks of the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia, where he
lived in the enjoyment of every social and domestic tie ; diversifying
his employments, in the duties of a usefiil citizen, and in the pursuit
of those studies congenial to his naind. Mathematical investigation,
botany, medicine, — the law itself, — were all included in his quiet but

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
vigorous habits of research ; and he acquired enough of the last
mentioned science, to be, for several years, an inteUigent and valuable
judge of the court of common pleas in PhUadelphia.
In 1794, he accompanied the forces sent to quell the western
insurrection in Pennsylvania.
The talent for investigation possessed by Mr. Williams has been
alluded to ; let an instance be given, where this habit resulted in
good to the public. In consequence of his connection with the Ame
rican post-office. Dr. Franklin had occasion to notice the fact, that
the English packets were generally two weeks longer in crossing the
Atlantic than the American vessels. An old sea-captain explained
this to him, by observing that the commanders of the former were
entirely ignorant of the limits, and almost of the existence, of the
gulf-stream, and had therefore to overcome a strong current, which
was carefully avoided by our countrymen: he mentioned at the
same time, that the current might always be discovered by the
warmth of the water, which was much greater than that of the
surrounding ocean. This suggestion Dr. Franklin carefully remem
bered ; and in his several voyages across the Atlantic, made regu
lar experiments with the thermometer, to ascertain the width and
direction of the gulf-stream, which were afterwards communicated
to the American Philosophical Society. [Am. Phil. Trans., Vol. IL,
p. 314.] Mr. Williams, who had accompanied him on one of his
voyages, and assisted him in his experiments, determined to repeat
these experiments in his future voyages. He did so, and found that
the water, out of soundings, was about ten degrees warmer than that
on the coast ; and it at once occurred to him that the thermometer
might become a useful nautical instrument, for purposes far more
important than the discovery of currents. He repeated these experi
ments, until he ascertained beyond all doubt the accuracy of his first
supposition ; and the result wais laid before the American Philoso
phical Society, in the year 1790. [Am. Phil. Trans., Vol. III., p. 82.]
He there shows most clearly, that the water over banks is colder
than that of the main ocean, in the inverse ratio of its depth ; and
that by the simple use of the thermometer, vessels may guard against
unseen dangers, and approach a coast with a security previously
unknown. The importance of this discovery is at present beyond
controversy; and every navigator is now furnished with marine
thermometers, as an indispensable part of his equipment.
In the year 1800, Mr. Williams was appointed a major in the
U. S. Artillery ; and soon after, a colonel in the corps of Engineers,

JONATHAN WILLIAMS.
and chief of the MUitary Academy at West Point. He devoted
himself to the discharge of the duties of his appointment ; the fortress
at New York, which bears his name, as well as most of the forts
of our country, constructed whilst he was in the Engineer depart
ment, were sketched and completed by him, and by the officers under
his direction.
It is, however, as the head of the Military Academy, that he pro
bably rendered his most direct and continued service to his country.
This institution, first suggested by Washington, and estabhshed by
Jefferson, proved to Colonel Williams a fit theatre for the employ
ment of his talents. With a mind stored with much scientific and
general information, with great decision of character, and extensive
knowledge of the world, he was, from the first of his command at
West Point, a pledge of its purpose and success. As an officer, he
furnished by his industry, exactness, and patience, an accomplished
example to those whose military education he superintended. Under
his direction, the institution steadily advanced in character ; and all
who were acquainted with its regulations and discipline, acknow
ledged its advantages. But it was not until the close of the war of
1812, that its influence was seen and felt by the country at large. It
was not until the heroic deeds of M'Rae, Gibson, Wood, and Ma
comb, and other gallant young men, had so largely contributed to
an honorable peace, that the military school became a source of
interest and pride with the nation. Those accomplished and intrepid
officers were first taught to be thorough soldiers by Colonel Wil
liams. Some of these died on the field of battle, with a glory which
he was instrumental in giving them the ambition and power to
achieve. Others, high in rank and honor, live to remember the
value of his former instructions. We have just alluded to the de
parted brave; let us go back for a moment, and appropriately
remember another gallant youth whom he educated at West Point,
and who was bound to him by the two-fold tie of pupilage and ffiial
love. Captain Alexander J. WiUiams thed on his country's ramparts,
in the mithiight carnage at Fort Erie. His veteran father read his
loss on the page of history ; but on the same page he might also read,
that the commanding general, when recording that bloody battle,
paused in the very fiush of triumph, to teU the valor and deplore the
death of his " favorite."*

* See official letter of Major General Gaines, August 15, 1814.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Prevented by his peculiar station from sharing the immediate
duties of the field, Colonel Williams had obtained a promise, that in
case of attack, the fortifications he constructed in the harbor of New
York should be placed under his command. At the near prospect
that the enemy would invade that city, he claimed the fulfilment
of that promise. He received a refusal ; grounded, it is believed, on
the consideration that officers of the engineer corps had no right to
a command over troops of the line. The soldier's feeling, in that
which concerns his reputation and just pride, is seldom subject to
general rule ; and, in the ardent belief that both of these were in
volved in the defence of the post alluded to, Colonel Williams,
in the year 1812, after a protracted correspondence upon the subject
with the war department, resigned his commission in the army of
the United States.
Inunediately after his resignation, he received an appointment from
the governor of New York, of brigadier-general in her forces. It
was an uncommon tribute to a citizen of another state, and was
conferred in testimony of his worth and character. He returned to
his residence near Philadelphia; but he was soon caUed from his
chosen retirement by the committee of safety, to superintend the
erecting of fortifications in his neighborhood, on the west bank of the
Schuylkill, which was faithfuUy executed.
In the autumn of 1814, he was elected a member of congress
from the city of Philadelphia. He lived not to requite, by his expe
rience and abilities, the confidence of his fellow citizens.
On the 20th of May, 1815, his dUigent and honorable life was
calmly terminated. He had yet attained only his sixty-fifth year.
His mind had lost none of its peculiar endowments ; nor had his
body yielded to the decrepitude of age. In the highest council of
our country, he might have added to his honors, and won a states
man's fame. But the hand of the Unseen, who disposes all things,
now closed the career, and by his touch consecrated the memory of
the useful citizen, the firm patriot, and the accomplished soldier.

lairrtBi ~bj Oai. J. Uruiatroll,

T^TLgrn-yei "by J. B.Eoireat.

MAJ©ffi. G-EiramAIL "M.MEEIANIIEI1 [KJR]E]Eimo

lin-toied a.ceortLiii.g to JliM. oE CoaKrBi'Bin-'Lhe .1 <.r Ic ¦;* by lu.H,~iHeroxig iiLiiLe ClttttB OfOca of
the DiiJOic-.t C'uiirt of tha '."¦.i,iiLhi_ni I'jiMrn 1 ,,t'>[ew 1 .'

NATHANAEL GREENE.

The important influence of the example- of the American Revolution
on the rights of man and the liberties of nations, is, as yet, but par
tially estimated. It is not, however, too much to say, that the
working of our political institutions, after the trial of half a century ;
the happy operation of religious freedom ; the liberty of the press ;
the general diffusion of education; the skiU and bravery of our
chivalry on the field, and on the ocean ; but above all, perhaps, the
prosperity and happuiess of our country, are now winning the admi
ration of the world. On the continent of Europe we have always
been regarded with respect ; but the unhappy consequences of the
French revolution have retarded the onward march of liberty, which
must eventually triumph. Time, and that not far distant, will there
unfold a series of revolutions, " a war of opinions," based on that
which was fought and won for us at Bunker Hill, Yorktown, and
the Eutaw Springs. A love of liberty is implanted in the bosom of
man, and it will be seen, that, with feeble means, the will to attain it
will prevail. For us it has been attained ; and we shall now address
ourselves to the task of sketching out the character and services of
one of those, by whom the glorious work was accomplished. In
the midst of prosperity, nations, like individuals, are apt to forget
their benefactors ; and republics have been proverbially ungrateful.
It is incumbent on us to remove the stain.
Nathanael Greene, the fourth in descent from one of the early
English settlers of New England, was born on the 27th of May, 1 742,
in Warwick, Rhode Island. His family were very respectable
members of the society of Friends, among whom his father was a
preacher. In the peaceful principles of that sect, Nathanael was
instructed. His early years were passed in the attainment of. the
mere rudiments of an English education, and succeeded by variations
of labor in the field, the mill, or at the anvil, as his age and strength
increased. In his youth, he excelled most of his companions in
strength and agility ; and it is evident from what has been written

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of him, that he enjoyed, with great delight, the amusements and
pleasures of his companions. At the age of fourteen, he became
acquainted with a lad from the university of Rhode Island, who
opened to his view new objects of attention. From that time, books
were eagerly sought for, and their contents devoured in the intervals
of his work. The desire to obtain books stimulated him to extra
ordinary exertions at the forge, where the work was so heavy, as to
produce a permanent lameness in one of his feet ; but his ohject could
be accomplished in no other way. Geography, travels, and history,
were his delight ; he made himself master of Euclid, and acquired a
knowledge of Latin. When about seventeen, he attracted the notice
of President Styles, of Yale college, at that time a resident of Newport,
and formed an intimate acquaintance with Lindley Murray, who
was also there on a visit. From those gentlemen he derived much
valuable information, as to the choice of books and a proper course
of study. When twenty years of age, he commenced the study of
the law ; not with an intention, like young Murray, of making it a
profession, but to acquire a knowledge of the principles of jurispru
dence. When the celebrated stamp act began to agitate the country,
the ardent mind of Greene was immediately interested in the subject;
and, after deliberate reflection on the principle involved, he came to
the firm resolution of supporting the cause of his country, if necessary,
by an open resistance.
In the year 1770, he was elected a member of the legislature of
his native state, to which, from that time, until he was called to the
command of the southern army, he was uniformly reelected. There,
the mass of information which he had accumulated by many years
of study, gave him an influence, and he became a leading and popular
member. When the states, in 1773, began to organize their mflitia,
his attention was, as in former instances, turned to the subject, and
he began a new and corresponding course of studies. Mflitary books
now engrossed his attention, until he had studied the histories of all
the ancient and modern wars within his reach. For this, he was
dismissed from the society of Friends ; yet, he ever after regarded
the sect with deep respect. In July, 1774, he married Catharine
Littlefield, an intelligent and engaging lady ; but his public duties
left him little time for the enjoyment of domestic bliss. He had now
laid aside the plain dress of his early associates, and had become a
member of the " Kentish Guards," a mUitary company, composed
of the most respectable young men of the county. In the ranks of
this corps he continued, until after the battle of Lexington ; when the

NATHANAEL GREENE.
state of Rhode Island embodied three regiments of militia, and placed
them under the conunand of Brigadier General Nathanael
Greene, who conducted them to Cambridge. Here he gained the
confidence and friendship of Washington, which he retained through
life. He was commissioned as a brigadier general in the continental
army on the 22d June, 1775, and, as a major general, on the 9th
August, 1776. He accompanied the army to New York, and had
command of the troops on Long Island ; but when the disastrous
battle was fought at Flatbush, the army was deprived of his services,
by a sickness, which reduced him nearly to the grave. When the
commander-in-chief found himself obliged to retreat across New
Jersey, General Greene was his constant and firm supporter. At
that period of the war, a train of misfortunes had spread despondency
and gloom over the country ; yet the confidence and cheerfulness of
General Greene never forsook him, and the spirits of the troops were
cheered by his example, though in want of almost every necessary.
On the night of the 25th December, 1776, General Greene crossed
the Delaware, in command of the left wing of the army, which, in
the surprise of Trenton, seized the artillery of the enemy, and cut off
their retreat to Princeton. He was constantly with the army, during
that trying winter, and shared its hardships and its glories. He was
present at the battles of Brandywine, in August, and of Germantown,
in October, 1777. Such was the distressed situation of the American
army through the winter of that year, that Weishington was doubtful
of his ability to take the field the ensuing season. Every exertion
was made to put the army in a condition for the campaign, and
General Greene was pressed to accept the appointment of quarter
master-general. The office was accepted with great reluctance, for
his inclination was, to serve in the line ; and the charge and distri
bution of the pubhc money was of all things disagreeable. The
necessities of the army, however, and the strong expression of Wash
ington, that " some one must make the sacrifice," at last induced him
to consent ; but not until the condition was acceded, that, he should
not lose his right to command in action. Of this he availed himself
at the battle of Monmouth, and on the retreat from Rhode Island.
The duties of his new station were arduous and embarrassing, but
were rendered more so, by the unhappy factions which divided the
councils of the country. Notwithstanding the distress and poverty
which threatened ruin to the cause, intrigue and slander were in
active operation, to undermine the reputation and character of the
men, who were devoting themselves to accomplish the almost hopeless

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
work. Washington himself was assailed ; and Greene, who was
supposed to have been his favorite officer and confidential adviser,
was made an object of suspicion. It appears strange to us, at this
time, that calumny could have had the effect of injuring the reputa
tion of such a man, under the circumstances in which he was placed.
Constantly with the army, and under the eye of the commander-in-
chief; often without a dollar at command, and made desperate by
witnessing the distresses of the brave men who had been his compa
nions in arms through years of toil and suffering. " Hard is the lot
of a man in public life, where the expenditure of money constitutes a
part of his duty." The purity and integrity of General Greene's
character bore him above the storm, congress did him justice, and
his personal friends never faltered in the discharge of their duty
towards him. In August, 1780, he resigned the office, a poorer man
than when he entered upon it.
After the fall of Charleston and the captivity of General Lincoln,
the war in that quarter required the presence of a commander, on
whose talents the army and the inhabitants might rely. The high
reputation which General Gates had acquired by the capture of
Burgoyne's army, obtained for him the command of the southern
department. His arrival in North Carolina revived the hopes of the
patriots, and he very soon collected an army of about four thousand
men. He at once prepared to drive the British force from their line
of posts across the state of South Carohna, and to carry the war to
the gates of Charleston. But near Camden he was met by an army
under Lord Cornwallis, and suffered an overwhelming defeat. The
consequences were awful. Lord Cornwallis considered himself a
conqueror in full possession, and adopted a course of prescriptive
measures, which finally recoiled upon himself He hung several
respectable men at Camden, and he seized a number of the most
influential and patriotic of the prisoners on parole, whom he trans
ported to St. Augustine : he then prepared to overrun that part of
Carolina which had not been devastated; and his progress was
marked by rapine, conflagrations, arjd blood. The lion-hearted
patriots of Carolina were again roused to the defence of their lives,
their famflies, and their homes. From that time, there was no
neutrality ; and the horrors of a regular warfare were heightened, by
all the ruthless accompaniments of party fury, malignity, and
revenge. General Greene was appointed to supersede Gates, on
the 14th of October, 1780 ; and four days after, he sat out from West
Point for his command.

NATHANAEL GREENE.
On arriving at Charlotte, on the second of December, he found
the southern army a mere skeleton, without artillery, baggage, or
stores. In a letter to La Fayette, he says, " Were you to arrive, you
would find a few ragged, half starved troops in the wilderness, desti
tute of every thing necessary for the comfort or convenience of
soldiers." In his front was an enemy, fiushed with victory and well
provided ; around him, an exhausted country ; and the inhabitants
divided into hostile parties, " plundering each other with little less
than savage fury." Money, he had none ; for he had been furnished
with only sufficient to defray the expenses of his journey. But he
had around him a number of active, spirited, and devoted officers, on
whose exertions he could depend, and the promise of reinforcements
from the states through which he had passed on his route.
Cautiously he adapted his operations to his means. The prudent
policy of Washington, and the precipitate imprudence of Gates, were
both before him. His first care was to remove to a place, where
subsistence and the means of transportation could be obtained.
Cornwallis was at Winnsborough, and Leslie was advancing with a
powerful reinforcement towards Camden. The only mode of car
rying on the war was, to cut up these forces in detail, by sudden
assaults on their detachments ; by enticing them into the interior ;
and by striking at the posts, and keeping up an alarm on every side,
until the American commander should find himself in sufficient force
to face his antagonist. General Greene, with the main body,
marched to the Cheraw hills on the Pee Dee ; and detached General
Morgan to the west of the Catawba, to act on the left of Cornwallis,
to collect provisions and forage, and annoy the enemy as circum
stances would permit. This movement alarmed the British com
mander for some of his posts, and he despatched Colonel Tarleton,
with a force, to destroy him, which was, itself, annihilated at the
Cowpens. Galled at this unexpected result, Cornwallis hastened to
cut off Morgan's retreat with his prisoners, and to prevent him uniting
with the main body. Foiled in the attempt, he vigorously pursued
Greene, who was moving in a direction to unite with Morgan.
This is the commencement of the celebrated retreat from South
Carolina, across the state of North Carolina, into Virginia, which has
won for the American commander a high rank, in the estimation of
military men. With the force of Morgan united to his own, he was
unable to meet the foe. Cornwallis sought to force him to an action,
and he was as resolutely determined to avoid one. Having taken
the precaution to secure the passage of the Dan, the American army

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
crossed that river in safety, and were secure. Here General Greene
had expected to find reinforcements, and to have been able to turn
on his pursuers ; but not a man was there.
Cornwallis saw the dangers of his situation ; so sure had he been
of crushing the Americans, that he had destroyed his baggage
to accelerate his movements ; his force was diminishing by death
and desertion, while that of his wary adversary he knew must
increase, for the states of North Carolina and Virginia were collecting
recruits, and the cry "to arms" was universal. He accordingly
retired to HiUsborough, to collect the royalists in that vicinity, by
liberal offers of gold and land; in this he succeeded for some time,
but suddenly they began to diminish. The partisan whigs were
hovering around iri force, cutting off the advancing parties ; and the
rapid concentration of volunteers, had enabled Greene to resume
offensive operations, and throw himself between Cornwallis and the
upper country. The noble earl now found himself surrounded by
timid friends and inveterate enemies ; his stores decreasing, and the
country wasted by the loyal followers of his army; and it was
evident, that whenever his adversary pleased, there must be a trial
at arms. The activity and vigilance of Greene's light troops kept
him constantly informed of every movement of the British forces,
and enabled him to rest and refresh his troops against the day of
action, which he determined to draw on whenever his reinforcements
should arrive, being confident, that if he could not ruin his adver
sary, he could at least cripple him severely. According to this
determination, the battle of Guilford Court-house was fought on the
15th March, 1781. The result of that engagement was, that the
British remained masters of the field, but with the loss of six hundred
men. Victory at such a price was defeat to Cornwallis, who retreated,
and left his wounded to the benevolence of his enemy. In a few
days. General Greene found himself in a condition to pursue ; he
left the wounded of both armies behind, in the care of a congregation
of Friends, and followed with great vigor, until finding it impossible
to overtake the foe, he halted at Ramsay's Mill to refresh his troops,
and Cornwallis pushed forward towards Wilmington. When
Greene was satisfied of the onward course of the British army, he
took the resolution to march directly into South Carolina, to revive
the spirit of the people, to destroy the line of posts between Charleston
and Camden, to live on the spoils of the enemy, and, if possible,
induce Lord Cornwallis to return for their protection. But that com
mander, after a fruitless endeavor to divert Greene's attention, took

NATHANAEL GREENE.
a contrary course to Petersburg ; Colonel Lee, with his legion, and a
small corps of infantry, were detached to form a junction with Marion,
on the Santee ; while Greene, with the main body, moved off to
Camden, and, on the 20th of AprU, took post at Hobkirk's HiU, about
a mile and a half from the British redoubts. On the morning of the
25th, whilst the American soldiers were preparing their breakfast.
Lord Rawdon attempted a surprise, by passing through a swamp to
the left of the encampment. But in this he was disappointed. The
pickets received him promptly, and retired deliberately and in good
order, disputing the ground bravely. In the mean time, the American
army was formed in order of battle, and every disposition was made
before the enemy appeared. The battle commenced with vigor, and a
sanguinary conffict ensued. But the Americans were obliged to aban
don the field, and Rawdon immediately returned to Camden, which he
soon after evacuated, and retired to Charleston. Orangeburgh, Fort
Motte, Granby, and several other posts, were captured by American
detachments ; whilst the commander carried on the siege of Ninety-
Six, a strongly fortified post. But before it could be reduced, Rawdon
had received reinforcements, which enabled him to raise the siege,
and Greene was compelled to fall back on North Carolina, with the
enemy in full pursuit. It was discouraging to be thus made the
sport of fortune, but the firmness and decision of the general's cha
racter sustained him through the trial ; for being at this time advised
to abandon South Carolina, he replied, " I will recover the country,
or perish in the attempt." Lord Rawdon soon perceived that pursuit
was vain ; that while he was removing from all support, Greene
was falling back on his magazines and reinforcements, and leading
him towards the very route, over which he had before led Cornwallis ;
and, being already short of provisions, he returned to Ninety-Six, and
from thence to Charleston, taking with him all the loyalist families in
that district of country. General Greene then retired to the high
hills of Santee, to indulge his army in a short repose during the heat
of the summer.
Near the end of August, he again sought the enemy, and met him
in battle, at the Eutaw Springs, on the 8th of September. This battle
was described by the American commander, as the most obstinate and
bloody he had ever seen. The militia, with a firmness "which
would have graced the veterans of the great king of Prussia," advanced
with shouts into the hottest of the enemy's fire ; but one part of the
line faltering for a moment, the British, elated at the prospect, sprang
forward to improve that moment, but at the same time deranged

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
their own line. General Greene, who was watching for such an
incident, " ordered the second line to advance, and sweep the field
with their bayonets." The order was promptly obeyed, and the
enemy were driven from the ground, through their camp in the rear.
But their pursuers were diverted by the spoils of the tents, and became
irretrievably confused ; in the mean time, the enemy rallied, and
under cover of the fire from a large party who had taken possession
of a brick house, recovered their camp. Had it not been for the
temptation, so unexpectedly thrown open, the British forces must
have surrendered ; as it was, their power in South Carohna was
prostrated, for in this action they lost upwards of one thousand men.
This was the last of General Greene's battles. The enemy aban
doned the whole of South Carolina, except Charleston and its vicinity,
and the American army retired to their former encampment, until
after the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The soldiers, left for
a time to repose, the mind of the commander was meditating on the
future. He had been induced to expect, that the French fleet, with
a part of the land forces on board, would pass from the Chesapeake
to Charleston, to cooperate with him in the recovery of the three
most southern states. Disappointed in that aid, he still was bent
on the expulsion of the foe from North Carolina and Georgia ; if not
from their strong hold in Charleston. Although the spirit of enter
prise was high in the American army, there were presented few
opportunities for adventure. We cannot recount the minor affairs,
but will pass to events of another character, and view the conduct of
General Greene under other circumstances. It was discovered,
that a part of his army had entered into correspondence with the
British, and had agreed to deliver him up ; but the ringleader was
detected, convicted, and shot, and twelve of his associates deserted.
Had their plan succeeded, the southern army would have been
dissolved; for it was the commander's personal influence alone
which held it together : he was the idol and pride of his soldiers; and
it is to their honor, that amongst the conspirators, not one native
American was implicated. Much as the army had suffered, their
commander had felt no loss ; and the only instance we have found
in all his correspondence is about this time, when he had to witness
the sufferings of his soldiers, without the power to relieve them.
While engaged in the duties of the field, the southern army had
endured privations and hardships almost beyond belief; but we have
it from undoubted authority, that a large proportion of that army, at
times, were literaUy " as naked as they were born" ; that the loins of

NATHANAEL GREENE.
many of the brave men who carried death into the enemy's ranks at
the Eutaw, were galled by their cartouch boxes ; and that their
shoulders were protected from chaffing, only by a piece of rag or a
tuft of moss. Can we be surprised then, that, when left to repose, they
should think over their sufferings, and expect, at least, to be noticed
by the country they had saved ? Yet, so it was, they for a time
appeared to be forgotten, and they murmured ; and the mind of the
commander was burdened by the most painful anxieties. Symptoms
of mutiny made their appearance in the Maryland line, but they
were preceded by a pathetic address to their general. They asked his
attention to their thinned ranks, reduced from a brigade to the number
of two hundred ; but he had not the means to relieve them. His
army at this time had received no pay in two years ; was nearly
naked ; often short of meat and bread ; and the sick and wounded
perishing for want of medicines and proper food.
When discontent existed among the officers of the legion, on the
appointment of Colonel Laurens, and they all tendered their resigna
tions, complaining of partiality and injustice, he reminded them of
their right to appeal to congress, but their reply was petulant and
haughty ; and the general, after giving them a private hint of his
intention, accepted their commissions. This was unexpected ; they
found that their attachment to him was such, that they could not
leave him in the face of the enemy ; and they availed themselves of
his suggestion, to refer their complaint to congress, and returned
quietly to their posts. Thus the general had not only conquered
the enemy, but had overcome the demon of discord in his own army.
Except for the purpose of procuring provisions from the sur
rounding country, the enemy lay inactive in Charleston. With all
their force, they had been unable to keep possession of the country ;
and with their diminished means it would have been folly to renew
the strife. They therefore prepared to evacuate the city, having agreed
with the American commander to leave it uninjured, and to be per
mitted to depart unmolested. Accordingly, on the 14th December,
1782, the American army entered the city as the British rear departed
from it. To the citizens of Charleston, it was a day of joy and con
gratulation. Upwards of two years, they had been under the arbitrary
restrictions of an enemy's garrison ; cut off from all intercourse with
their friends, and ignorant of their fate; now they beheld them
returning, the liberators of their country. Solemn thanks were
offered to the Almighty in places of public worship, and the
whole city presented a scene of festivity. The object of regard to

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
every eye, and of praise from every tongue, from the governor of the
state to the humblest citizen, Greene alone appeared to be uncon
scious of having himself merited distinction, while he deeply felt
the attentions, which were liberally bestowed on his gallant army.
The difficulty of supplying rations for the army after this period,
for a time, threatened serious consequences, but by the commander
becoming responsible himself, as an endorser for the contractor, the
evil was removed ; but the transaction was the cause of much subse
quent embarrassment to himself, and to his family after his decease.
Peace was at length restored, — the army was disbanded, and
General Greene returned to his native state.
In every place, through which he passed on his journey home, he
was received with enthusiasm and expressions of gratitude and admi
ration. On his arrival at Princeton, where the congress was then in
session, that body resolved to present him with two pieces of ord
nance, taken from the British army, " as a public testimony of the
wisdom, fortitude, and military skiU, which distinguished his com
mand in the southern department." They had previously voted him
a British standard and a gold medal, commemorative of the battle of
Eutaw. The state of Georgia presented him with a beautiful and
highly improved plantation, a few miles from Savannah ; and South
Carolina conveyed to him a valuable body of land. This he was
obliged to part with, to free himself from the pecuniary obligations
before referred to ; and to the former he removed with his family in
the fall of 1785, when he commenced the cultivation of his land, and
the education of his children. But this period of repose and domestic
pleasure was brief; for being attacked by inflammation of the brain
on the 12th, his mortal career was closed on the 19th of June, 1786.
Thus have we sketched the life of one of the most conspicuous
men of the American revolution ; and whether we view it, as illus
trative of what may be accomplished by the native energy of genius,
or as an example of deep, pure, devoted, patriotism, it is equaUy
entitled to our regard. Through it, we can trace the same invincible
spirit, in the humble, industrious, youthful Quaker, as in the heroic
firmness of the illustrious warrior. In the former, it was incited by a
thirst for knowledge, which never abated ; and in the latter, by a
determination to deliver his country when overrun by hostile armies.
The influence of his early moral discipline should not be overlooked
for it gave a pecuhar hue of modesty and virtue, patience and bene
volence, to his subsequent actions ; which, like the pearly tints of a
picture, at once harmonize and beautify the whole.

Engraved by A.B. Durajid from, .¦m T.nj:inf>l -miniature ty Saj-ih. GooirjcK

GlLBEftT CHARLES STUART.

EnteiMd. accoidrng to the act of Congreas in the year 1833 by Jamos Jierriiig in. the clerks office o£ the District
Court oftlLC PomKL-m District aENcwYork.

GILBERT CHARLES STUART.

In this biographical sketch of the life and character of Gilbert
C. Stuart, we shall avail ourselves of the very valuable information
afforded us by the venerable Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, of Cam
bridge, the companion of his childhood and his youth, and the
undeviating friend of his manhood and age; and of such other
sources of information as are offered to us. Although our greatest
portrait painter is but recently dead, already the place of his nativity
is disputed, and contending towns claim the honor of producing this
extraordinary genius ; to Dr. Waterhouse we owe certainty on this
head ; and even the time of his birth would not have been accu
rately determined, but that the painter has inscribed " G. Stuart,
Pictor, se ipso pinxit, A. D. 1778, iEtatis sua 24," on a portrait
painted by himself and presented to his friend, which remains a
monument of his early skill, and is the more precious as it is the
only portrait he ever painted of himself This, of course, gives us
the year of his birth, 1754.
Between the years 1746 and 1750, there came over fi-om Great
Britain to these English colonies a number of Scotch gentlemen,
who had not the appearance of what is generally understood by the
term emigrants, nor yet merchants or gentlemen of fortune. They
came not in companies, but dropped in quietly, one after another.
Their unassuming appearance and retired habits, bordering on the
reserve, seemed to place them above the common class of British
travellers. Their mode of life was snug, discreet, and respectable,
yet clannish. Some settled in PhUadelphia, some in Perth Amboy,
some in New York ; but a greater proportion sat down at that plea
sant and healthy spot, Rhode Island, called by its first historiographer,
Callender, " the Garden of America." Several of the emigrants were
professional men ; among these was Dr. Thomas Moffat, a learned
physician of the Boerhaavean school ; but, however learned, his
dress and manners were so ill suited to the plainness of the inha
bitants of Rhode Island, who were principally Quakers, that he

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
could not make his way among them as a practitioner, and there
fore he looked round for some other mode of genteel subsist-ence ;
and he hit upon that of cultivating tobacco and making snuff, to
supply the place of the great quantity that was every year imported
from Glasgow ; but he could find no man in the country who he
thought was able to make him a snuff mill. He therefore wrote to
Scotland, and obtained a competent mill-wright, by the name of
Gilbert Stuart.
Dr. Moffat selected for his mill seat a proper stream in that part of
the colony of Rhode Island and Providence plantations which bore
and still bears the Indian name of Narraganset, once occupied by
the warlike tribe of the Pequot Indians, made familiar to us by
the intensely interesting romance of our novelist, James Penimore
Cooper, under the title of the " Last of the Mohicans."
There, Gilbert Stuart, the father of the great painter, erected the
first snuff mill in New England, and there he manufactured that
strange article of luxury. He soon after built a house, and married
a very handsome woman, daughter of a Mr. Anthony, a substantial
farmer ; and of this happy couple, at Narraganset, was born Gil
bert Charles Stuart ; so christened, but the middle name, which
betokens the Jacobite principles of his father, was early dropped by
the son, and never used in his days of notoriety ; indeed, but for the
signatures of letters addressed to his friend Waterhouse in youth,
we should have no evidence that he ever bore more than the famous
name of Gilbert Stuart.
He is described to us by one of his school fellows as " a very
capable, self-willed boy ; handsome, forward, an only son, and
habituated at home to have his own way in every thing, with little
or no control of the easy, good natured father." He was about
thirteen years old when he began to copy pictures, and at length
attempted likenesses in black lead. There came to Newport about
the year 1772, a Scotch gentleman named Cosmo Alexander ; he
was between fifty and sixty years of age, of delicate health, and
prepossessing manners, apparently independent of the profession of
painting, which ostensibly was his occupation, though it is believed
that he, and several other gentlemen of leisure and observation from
Britain, were traveUing in this country for pohtical purposes. From
Mr. Alexander, young Stuart first received lessons in the grammar
of the art of painting, and after the summer spent in Rhode Island,
he accompanied him to the South, and afterwards to Scotland. Mr.
Alexander died not long after his arrival in Edinburgh, leaving his

GILBERT CHARLES STUART.
pupil to the care of Sir George Chambers, who did not long survive
him. Into whose hands our young artist fell after these disappoint
ments, we know not, nor is it to be regretted, for the treatment he
received was harsh, such as neither Gilbert Stuart or his father
ever mentioned. The young man returned to Newport, and after a
time resumed his pencil.
Mr. Joseph Anthony, of Philadelphia, visited his sister, the mother
of the painter, soon after Gilbert's return, and on going into his
painting room, was surprised to find a striking likeness of his mother,
Mrs. Anthony, the grandmother of the paniter, who, although he
had not seen her since he was twelve years of age, for he was no
older at the time of her death, had, by the power of recollection, aided
by kindred attachment, produced the likeness which now attracted
the attention and gained the favor of his uncle. This faculty of
preserving the images of those once known was one of the charac
teristics of Stuart's genius.
Mr. Anthony, his family, and friends, sat for portraits to the young
artist, who was now in the full tide of prosperity. About this time,
the winter of 1773-4, he and his friend W"aterhouse were fellow
students in an academy for drawing, of their own formation. They
hired a strong-muscled journeyman blacksmith, as their academy
figure, at half a dollar the evening ; and thus, probably, anticipated
any other academical study from the naked figure in their country
by many years.
Ardent as Stuart's love of painting was, we have Dr. Water-
house's authority for saying, that music divided his affections so
equally with her sister, that it was difficult to say which was " the
ruling passion." In the beginning of March, 1775, Stuart's friend,
Waterhouse, embarked for London, with the intention of pursuing
his medical studies in the schools of Europe, and the young painter,
probably finding his business interrupted by the approach of war,
found means to foUow, relying, as it would seem, upon the resources
of his friend, for an introduction to the treasures of the British
metropolis. He arrived in London in the latter end of November,
when he found that Waterhouse had gone to Edinburgh, and he
had not one acquaintance in this strange world, and no resource but
his pencil and a letter to a Scotch gentleman, who received him
kindly, and employed him to paint a picture for him, which, when
his friend Waterhouse returned to London, in the summer of 1776,
he found stiU unfinished on his easel.
During this period, when his father's business was broke up by

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
the events of the war in America, and the young painter was left to
shift for himself, without experience or prudence, his skiU in music,
both practical and theoretical, stood him in stead, and gave him the
means of subsistence in a manner as extraordinary as his character
and actions were eccentric. While he was in this state of extreme
poverty, without employment or the means of subsistence, walking
the streets without any definite purpose, he passed by a church in
Foster Lane, saw the door open, and several persons going in. He
was attracted by the sound of the organ — he inquired at the door
what was going on within, and was told, the vestry were making
trial of several candidates for the situation of organist, the last incum
bent having recently died. Stuart entered the church, and encou
raged, as he said, by a look of good nature in the countenance of one
of the vestrymen, addressed him, and asked if a stranger might try
his skill and become a candidate for the vacant place. His request
was granted, and he had the pleasure to find that the time he had
employed in making himself a musician, had not been thrown away.
His playing was preferred to that of his rivals, and he was engaged
at a salary which relieved present necessities, and enabled him to
return to his studies as a painter. " When," says Mr. Charles Fraser,
"Mr. Stuart related this anecdote to me, he was sitting in his
parlor, and to prove that he did not neglect the talent that had been
so friendly to him in his yonth, and in the days of his adversity, he
took his seat at a small organ in the room, and played several tunes
with much feeling and execution."
On the return of his friend from Edinburgh, to pursue his studies
by " walking the hospitals" in London, he had the pleasure of pro
curing several sitters for the young painter ; but he could with
difficulty keep him in that straight course which is so necessary to
permanent prosperity.
Strange as it may appear, Stuart was a long time in London
without seeing, or being introduced to his great countryman. West.
There appears to be no reason for this omission, and for not gaining
access, for at least two years, to that source of instruction which was
ever open to ,those who thirsted for knowledge, and more especially
to Americans. At length. Dr. Waterhouse says, " After I had ex
hausted aU my means of helping forward my ingenious friend and
countryman, I caUed upon Mr. West, and laid open to him his
situation." The consequence was, an invitation from Mr. West, and
his continued friendship, support, and instruction.
Soon after this, Stuart's friend, Waterhouse, went to Leyden, to

GILBERT CHARLES STUART.
ffiiish his studies, and they did not meet again until the painter
removed from Washington to Boston ; for the intermediate time, we
have to look to other authorities, and one of the first is Colonel
Trumbull, who on being introduced to Mr. West, in August, 1780,
found Stuart as his pupil. Mr. Stuart uniformly said, that on
application to Mr. West he was received with great benevolence ;
that nothing could exceed the attention of that distinguished artist
to him, and when he saw that he was fitted for the field, — armed to
contend with the best and the highest, — he advised him to com
mence his career professionally. While under Mr. West's roof, he
became known to celebrated artists, and to the lords of the land.
Dance admired and encouraged him, and presented his palette to
him. His full length of Mr. Grant, skating, attracted great applause,
and he, soon after taking rooms and setting up an independent easel,
had his full share of the best business in London as a portrait
painter ; and as Colonel Trumbull has said, had prices equal to any,
except Sir Joshua Reynolds and Gainsborough. It is the opinion of
Stuart's contemporaries in London, that with common prudence
he might have been the successor of Reynolds. He was not prudent ;
and found it convenient to visit Dublin, where he was received with
Hibernian hospitality ; delighting as much by his wit and convi
viality as by his pencil.
In 1793 he returned to America. He embarked from Dublin, and
arrived in New York, where he set up his easel, and was thronged
with admirers and sitters. To gratify his desire to paint Wash
ington, a desire which, he has said, brought him from the scene of
his European success, he visited Philadelphia, and having been fiiUy
successful in his mission, he fixed his residence in that city and
neighborhood for some years.
An eminent artist has said of Stuart's Washington : " And weU
is his ambition justified in the sublime head he has left us : a nobler
personification of wisdom and goodness, reposing in the majesty of
a serene conscience, is not to be found on canvass.''
The writer of this necessarily short and imperfect sketch, who
knew Washington, both as general and president, perfectly coincides
with the above tribute of praise from a brother artist. When artists
speak of Stuart's Washington, let it be remembered, that they
mean the original picture, refiised by the government of the United
States, and purchased as an inestimable gem by the Athenaeum, of
Boston. The copies generally circulated, and the prints from Heath's
workshop, in London, are libels equally on the painter and the hero.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Mr. Stuart always considered the publication of this print, not
only as injurious to his reputation, but as a piracy upon his property.
When he saw the print exhibited for sale in Philadelphia, he could
not restrain his just indignation.
While Mr. Stuart was prosperously exercising his profession in
Pennsylvania, we are informed that he purchased a farm at Potts-
Grove, as a resting place for his family, but that the plan was not car
ried through with the prudence which conceived it. He removed to
Washington, and was there as elsewhere, gladly welcomed. In 1805,
he finaUy fixed himself at Boston, where he, with undiminished
talents, exercised his profession until the day of his death. The por
trait of John Adams, painted after the venerable patriot and president
was upwards of eighty, has been the admiration of all who have seen
it ; and the painter's last work, the head of an intended full length
of the ex-president, John duincy Adams, is equal to any of the great
painter's works, when he was in the prime of hfe and vigor of health.
The colloquial talents of Gilbert Stuart were exerted as aux-
fliaries to his pencil. He had a fund of wit inexhaustible, and of
anecdote, or historical knowledge, his reading and his memory
furnished him with an everlasting store. His early friend. Dr.
Waterhouse, has thus characterized and described that power and
art with which he fascinated his sitters, making them forget the
confinement of the " painter's chair," and drawing forth the inmost
soul upon the surface of the countenance, while he fixed it on his
canvass by the magic of his colors. " In conversation and confabu
lation, he was inferior to no man. He always made it a point to
keep those talking who were sitting to him for their portraits, each
in their own way, free and easy. This called up all his resources
of judgment. To mUitary men, he spoke of battles by sea and land.
With the statesman, on Hume's and Gibbon's History — with the
lawyer, in his way — the merchant in his way, and with the ladies,
in all ways. When putting the rich farmer on the canvass, he
would go along with him from seed time to harvest time — then he
would descant on the nice points of a fine horse, ox, cow, sheep, or
pig, and surprise him with his just remarks on the progress ot
making cheese and butter, and astonish him with his profound
knowledge of manures, or the food of plants. As to national cha
racter and individual character, few men could say more to the
purpose, as far as history and acute personal observation would
carry him. He had wit at will, always ample, sometimes redundant,
remarkably so, after his long sojourn in Ireland."

GILBERT CHARLES STUART.
His friend, Waterhouse, was disposed to attribute Stuart's undue
attachment to the pleasures of the table and convivial society, to his
residence on the Emerald Isle ; but he carried all his propensities
and resources for smoothing the road to ruin with him, from the
centre of all dissipation, as well as all rational enjoyment, London.
Of Stuart, as of some others, it may be said in the common phrase
ology of mankind, " he had every kind of sense but common sense."
He had knowledge enough to have guided an empire, and did not
pilot his own frail vessel into port, even when wind and tide were
with him.
Nature had bestowed on Gilbert Stuart her choicest gifts.
His mind and body were of the most powerful, and the best endowed,
for active exertion or ponderous labor — for grasping the minute or
the vast — for relishing the beauties of art or diving into the profun
dities of science. These gifts, when used, lead to fortune, fame, and
happiness ; and their possessor is blessed with equanimity and cheer
fulness — when abused, the result is disappointment, poverty, disease,
self-reproach, and occasional misanthropy. It is a vulgar error, that
genius and imprudence have a natural alliance. The contrary
is the fact. Eminent genius may be, has been, misled; but the
most eminent are bright proofs that genius and virtue are by
nature allied, and that the imprudent man of great talents is the
exception to the rule.
Certain it is, that Gilbert Stuart did not watch and properly
turn to his advantage that " tide in the affairs of men, which taken
at the flood, leads on to fortune," and it is equally certain, that the
neglect involved him in the " shoals and shallows" which the great
philosophic poet tells us, is the inevitable consequence. He returned
to New England, (after shining with the splendor of a sun and the
irregularity of a meteor, in England, Ireland, and the central portions
of the United States,) to finish his eccentric career, without that
brilliancy which fortune bestows, but with undiminished fame and
unrivalled excellence as an artist, to the last days of his existence ;
dying at the advanced age of seventy-four, in the month of July,
1828, regretted by all who knew him, and leaving, " a void" " in
the world of art," " which will not soon be filled."
We cannot conclude this brief memoir better than in the words of an
eminent artist, whose language bears the impress of truth, judgment,
and feeling. The "glimpses of character" which Stuart elicited
from his sitters by his colloquial powers, " mixed as they are in all
men with so much that belongs to their age and associates, would

NATIONAL PORTRAITS,
have been of little use to an ordinary observer ; for the faculty of
distinguishing between the accidental and the permanent, in other
words, between the conventional expression which arises from man
ners, and that more subtle indication of the individual mind, is indeed
no common one : and by no one with whom we are acquainted, was
their faculty possessed in so remarkable a degree. It was this which
enabled him to animate his canvass — not with the appearance of
mere general life, but with that peculiar distinctive life, which sepa
rates the humblest individual from his kind. He seemed to dive
into the thoughts of men — for they were made to rise and speak on
the surface." " In his happier efforts, no one ever surpassed him in
embodying (if we may so speak,) those transient apparitions of the
soul. Of this, not the least admirable instance is his portrait, painted
within the last four years, (when the painter was upwards of seventy,)
of the late President Adams ; whose then bodily tenement seemed
rather to present the image of some dilapidated castle, than that of
the habitation of the ' unbroken mind ;' but not such is the picture ;
called forth as from its crumbling recesses, the living tenant is there —
still ennobling the ruin, and upholding it, as it were, by the strength
of his own life. In this venerable ruin, will the unbending patriot
and the gifted artist speak to posterity of the first glorious century
of our republic."
In a word, Gilbert Stuart was, in its widest sense, a philo
sopher in his art : he thoroughly understood its principles, as his
works bear witness, whether as to the harmony of colors or of lines,
or of light and shadow — showing that exquisite sense of a whole,
which only a man of genius can realize and embody.
We cannot close this brief notice without a passing record of his
generous bearing towards his professional brethren. He never suf
fered the manliness of his nature to darken with the least shadow of
jealousy ; but where praise was due, he gave it freely, and gave it,
too, with a grace which showed that, loving excellence for its own
sake, he had a pleasure in praising. To the younger artists, he was
uniformly kind and indulgent, and most liberal of his advice ; which
no one ever properly asked but he received, and in a manner no less
courteous than impressive. Well may his country say, " a great man
has passed from amongst us ;" but Gilbert Stuart has bequeathed
her what is paramount to power — since no power can command it —
the rich inheritance of his fame.

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ISAAC SHELBY.

General Evan Shelby, the father of the late Governor Shelby,
when a smaU lad, emigrated from Wales with his father, and settled
in the then province of Maryland, near the North mountain, about a
century ago. He possessed a strong mind and an iron constitution
of body, with great perseverance and unshaken courage. His skill
as a hunter and woodsman induced his appointment as captain of a
company of rangers, in the French and Indian war, which com
menced in 1754 ; during which year he made several successful
expeditions into the Alleghany mountains. He was afterwards
appointed a captain in the provincial army destined for the reduction
of Fort Du Q,uesne, now Pittsburg. He fought many severe battles
in what is called Braddock's war. He laid out the old Pennsylvania
road across the Alleghany mountain, and led the advance of the
army under General Forbes, which took possession of Fort Du
Q,uesne in 1758. His gallantry was particularly noticed in the
battle fought at Loyal Hanning, now Bedford, Pennsylvania. In
1772 he removed to the Western Waters, and commanded a company
in 1774 in the campaign, under Lewis and Dunmore, against the
Indians on the Scioto river. He was in the sanguinary battle of
10th October, 1774, at the mouth of the Kenhawa, and near the
close of the action was the commanding officer. Colonels Lewis,
Fleming, and Field, being killed or disabled. The result gave
peace to the frontier at the critical period of the colonies venturing
into the eventful contest of the revolution, and deterred the Indians
from unithig.with the British until 1776 — in that year he was ap
pointed by Governor Henry, of Virginia, a major in the army com
manded by Colonel Christian against the Cherokees, which destroyed
their towns and crops. In 1777 he was appointed colonel of sundry
garrisons posted on the frontier of Yirginia, and a commissioner,
with Colonels Preston and Christian, to hold a treaty with this tribe
at the Long Island of the Holston. In 1779 he led a strong expedition
against the Chicamauga Indians, on the Tennessee river which

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
resulted in the destruction of their towns and provisions ; and which,
occurring at the precise period when General George Rogers Clark
captured Governor Hamilton at Tincennes, secured a temporary peace
toTennessee and Kentucky, afforded time for the introduction of popu
lation and the opening of land offices, and gave a permanence to the
settiements of Kentucky and Cumberland, that never could be broken
up by British influence, aided by savage intrigue. By the extension
of the boundary line between "Virginia and North Carolina in 1779,
he was included in the latter state, and was appointed by the
governor a brigadier general, the first officer of that grade on the
Western Waters.
Isaac Shelby, the subject of this memoir, was born on the ele
venth day of December, 1750, near to the North mountain, in the
province of Maryland, where his father and grandfather settled after
their arrival in America from Wales. In that early settlement of the
country, which was annoyed during the period of his youth by Indian
wars, he obtained only the elements of a plain English education ;
but, like his father, born with a strong constitution, capable of bearing
great privations and fatigue, he was brought up to the use of arms
and the pursuit of game.
At the age of twenty-one, he took up his residence in Western
Virginia, beyond the Alleghany mountains, and was engaged in the
business of feeding and attending to herds of cattle in the extensive
natural range which distinguished that section of country. He was
a lieutenant in the company of his father in the memorable battle
fought 10th October, 1774, at the mouth of the Kenhawa, already
mentioned, and, at the close of that campaign, was appointed by Lord
Dunmore to be second in command of a garrison, ordered to be
erected on the ground where this battle was fought. This was,
probably, the most severely contested conffict ever maintained with
the north-western Indians ; the action continued from sunrise to
sunsetting, and the ground, for half a mile along the bank of the
Ohio, was alternately occupied by each of the parties in the course
of the day. So sanguinary was the contest, that blood was found
on each of the trees behind which the parties were posted. The
Indians, under the celebrated chief. Cornstalk, abandoned the ground
under cover of the night.
Lieutenant Shelby continued in this garrison until it was dis
banded, in July, 1775, by order of Governor Dunmore, who was
apprehensive it might be held for the benefit of the rebel authorities.
He proceeded immediately to Kentucky, and was employed as a

ISAAC SHELBY.
surveyor under Henderson &, Co., who styled themselves proprietors
of the country, and who had established a regular land office under
their purchase from the Cherokees. He resided in the then wilder
ness of Kentucky for nearly twelve months, when, from continued
exposure to the inclemency of the weather, and being without bread
or salt, his health was impaired, and he returned home.
In July, 1776, during his absence from home, he was appointed
captain of a minute company by the committee of safety in Vir
ginia. In the year 1777, he was appointed, by Governor Henry, a
commissary of supplies for an extensive body of mUitia, posted at
different garrisons to guard the frontier settlements, and for a treaty
to be held at the Long Island of Holston river, with the Cherokee
tribe of Indians. These supplies could not have been obtained
nearer than Staunton, Va., a distance of three hundred miles ; but
by the most indefatigable perseverance, (one of the most conspicuous
traits of his character,) he accomplished it to the satisfaction of his
country. In 1778, he was engaged in the commissary department, providing
supplies for the continental army, and for an expedition, by the way
of Pittsburg, against the north-western Indians. In the early part
of 1779, he was appointed by Governor Henry to furnish supplies
for the campaign against the Chicamauga Indians, which he effected
upon his own individual credit. In the spring of that year, he was
elected a member of the Virginia legislature from Washington county,
and in the fall of that year, was commissioned a major, by Governor
Jefferson, in the escort of guards to the commissioners for extending
the boundary line between that state and the state of North Carolina.
By the extension of that line, his residence was found to be within
the limits of the latter state, and shortly afterwards, he was appointed
by Governor Caswell a colonel of the new county of SuUivan, esta
blished in consequence of the additional territory acquired by the
running of that line.
In the summer of 1780, Colonel Shelby was in Kentucky, locating
and securing those lands which he had five years previously marked
out and improved for himself, when the intelligence of the surrender
of Charleston, and the loss of the army, reached that country. He
returned home in July of that year, determined to enter the service
of his country, and remain in it until her independence should be
secured. He could not continue to be a cool spectator of a contest in
which the dearest rights and interests of his country were involved.
On his arrival in Sullivan, he found a requisition from General

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Charles M'Dowell, requesting him to furnish aU the aid in his power
to check the enemy, who had overrun the two Southern states, and
were on the borders of North Carolina. Colonel Shelby assembled
the mUitia of his county, called upon them to volunteer their services
for a short time on that interesting occasion, and marched, in a few
days, with three hundred mounted riflemen, across the Alleghany
mountains. In a short time after his arrival at M'Dowell's camp, near the
Cherokee ford of Broad river. Colonel Shelby, Lieutenant-colonels
Sevier and Clarke, the latter a refugee officer from Georgia, were
detached with six hundred men to surprise a post of the enemy in
front, on the waters of t?ie Pacolet river. It was a strong fort, sur
rounded by abattis, built in the Cherokee war, and commanded
by that distinguished loyalist. Captain Patrick Moore. On the
second summons to surrender, after the Americans had surrounded
the post within musket shot, Captain Moore surrendered the garrison
with one British sergeant major, ninety-three loyalists, and two hun
dred and fifty stand of arms, loaded with ball and buck-shot, and so
arranged at the port-holes as to have repulsed double the number of
the American detachment. Shortly after this affair, Colonels Shelby
and Clarke were detached, with six hundred mounted men, to watch
the movements of the enemy, and, if possible, cut up his foraging
parties. Ferguson, who commanded the enemy, about twenty-five
hundred strong, composed of British and tories, with a small squad
ron of British horse, was an officer of great enterprise, and although
only a major in the British line, was a brigadier general in the royal
militia establishment, made by the enemy after he had overrun South
Carohna, and was esteemed the most distinguished partisan officer
in the British army. He made several attempts to surprise Colonel
Shelby, but his designs were baffled. On the first of August, how
ever, his advance, about six or seven hundred strong, came up with
the American commander at a place he had chosen for battle, called
Cedar Spring, where a sharp conffict ensued for half an hour, when
Ferguson approached with his whole force. The Americans then
retreated, carrying off the field fifty prisoners, mostly British, inclu
ding two officers. The enemy made great efforts, for five mUes, to
regain the prisoners ; but the American commander, by forming
frequently on the most advantageous ground to give battle, so
retarded the pursuit, that the prisoners were placed beyond their
reach. The American loss was ten or twelve killed and wounded.
It was in the severest part of this action, that Colonel Shelby's

ISAAC SHELBY.
attention was arrested by the heroic conduct of Colonel Clarke. He
often mentioned the circumstance of his ceasing in the midst of the
battle, to look with astonishment and admiration at Clarke fighting.
General M'Dowell having received information that five or six
hundred tories were encamped at Musgrove's Mill, on the south side
of the Enoree, about forty miles distant, again detached Colonels
Shelby, Clarke, and WUliams of South Carolina, with about seven
hundred horsemen, to surprise and disperse them. Major Ferguson,
with his whole force, occupied a position immediately on the route.
The American commanders took up their line of march from Smith's
ford of Broad river, just before sundown, on the evening of the 18th
of August, 1780, continued through the woods until dark, and then
pursued a road, leaving Ferguson's camp about three miles to the
left. They rode very hard all night, frequently on a gallop, and just
at the dawn of day, about a half a mile from the enemy's camp, met
a strong patrol party. A short skirmish ensued, and several of them
were killed. At that juncture, a countryman, living just at hand,
came up and informed that the enemy had been reinforced the
evening before with six hundred regular troops, (the Gtueen's Ameri
can regiment, from New York,) under Colonel Innes, destined to
reinforce Ferguson's army. The circumstances attending the infor
mation were so minute, that no doubt was entertained of its truth.
To march on and attack the enemy then seemed to be improper ;
fatigued and exhausted as were the Americans and their horses, to
attempt an escape was impossible. They instantly determined to
form a breastwork of old logs and brush, and make the best defence
in their power. Captain Inman was sent out with twenty-five men
to meet the enemy, and skirmish with them as soon as they crossed
the Enoree river. The sound of their drums and bugle horns soon
announced their movements. Captain Inman was ordered to fire
upon them and retreat, according to his own discretion. This stra
tagem (which was the suggestion of the captain himself) drew the
enemy out in disorder, supposing they had forced the whole party ;
and when they came up within seventy yards, a most destructive
fire commenced from the American riflemen, who were concealed
behind the breastwork of logs. It was an hour before the enemy
could force the riflemen from their slender breastwork ; and just as
they began to give way in some parts, Colonel Innes was wounded,
and all the British officers, except a subaltern, being previously kflled
or wounded, and Captain Hawsey, a noted leader among the tories,
being shot down, the whole of the enemy's line commenced a retreat.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
The Americans pursued them closely, and beat them across the river.
In this pursuit, Captain Inman was kiUed, bravely fighting the
enemy hand to hand. Colonel Shelby commanded the right wing.
Colonel Clarke the left, and Colonel Williams the centre. According
to M'Call's History of Georgia, the only work in which this battle is
noticed, the British loss is stated to be sixty-three killed and one hun
dred and sixty wounded and taken — the American loss to be four
killed and nine wounded. Amongst the former Captain Inman, and
amongst the latter, Colonel Clarke and Captain Clarke.
The Americans returned to their horses, and mounted with a
determination to be before night at Ninety-Six, at that time a weak
British post, distant only thirty miles. At that moment, an express
from General M'Dowell came up in great haste, with a short letter
in his hand from Governor Caswell, dated on the battle ground,
apprizing M'Dowell of the defeat of the American grand army under
General Gates, on the 16th, near Camden, and advising him to get
out of the way, as the enemy would, no doubt, endeavor to improve
their victory to the greatest advantage, by destroying all the small
corps of the American army. It was a fortunate circumstance that
Colonel Shelby knew Governor Caswell's handwriting, and what
reliance to place upon it ; but it was a difficult task to avoid the
enemy in his rear, his troops and their horses being fatigued, and
encumbered with a large number of British prisoners. These, how
ever, were immediately distributed amongst the companies, so as to
make one to every three men, who carried them alternately on horse
back, directly towards the mountains. The Americans continued
their march all that day and night, and the next day until late in
the evening, without even halting to refresh. This long and rapid
march saved them ; as they were pursued, until late in the afternoon
of the second day after the action, by a strong detachment from Fer
guson's army. Colonel Shelby, after seeing the party and prisoners
out of danger, retreated to the Western Waters with his followers,
and left the prisoners in charge of Colonels Clarke and Williams, to
convey them to some point of security in Virginia ; for at that
moment there was not the appearance of a corps of Americans south
of that state. The panic which followed the defeat of Gates and
of Sumpter, induced the corps of M'Dowell's army to disperse, some
to the west and some to the north. The brflliancy of this affair was
obscured, as indeed were all the noinor incidents of the previous war,
by the deep gloom which overspread the pubhc mind after the disas
trous defeat of General Gates.

ISAAC SHELBY.
Ferguson was so solicitous to recapture the prisoners, and to check
these daring adventures of the mountaineers, that he made a stre
nuous effort with his main body to intercept them ; but failing of his
object, he took post at a place called Gilbert town, from whence he
sent the most threatening messages by paroled prisoners to the officers
west of the mountains, proclaiming devastation to their country if
they did not cease their opposition to the British government.
This was the most disastrous and critical period of the revolution
ary war, to the South — no one could see whence a force could be
raised to check the enemy in their progress to subjugate this portion
of the continent. Cornwallis, with the main army, was posted at
Charlotte town, in North Carolina, and Ferguson, with three thou
sand, at Gilbert town, while many of the best friends of the American
government, despairing of the freedorn and independence of Ame
rica, took protection under the British standard. At this gloomy
moment. Colonel Shelby proposed to Colonels Sevier and Campbell,
to raise a force from their several counties, march hastily through
the mountains, and attack and surprise Ferguson in the night.
Accordingly, they collected with their followers, about one thousand
strong, on Doe Run, in the spurs of the Alleghany, on the 25th of
September, 1780, and the next day commenced their march, when
it was discovered that three of Colonel Sevier's men had deserted to
the enemy. This disconcerted their first design ; and induced them
to turn to the left, gain his front, and act as events might suggest.
They travelled through mountains almost inaccessible to horsemen.
As soon as they entered the level country, they met with Colonel
Cleveland with three hundred men, and with Colonels WUliams,
Lacy, and other refugee officers, who had heard of Cleveland's
advance, by which three hundred more were added to the force of
the mountaineers. They now considered themselves to be suffi
ciently strong to encounter Ferguson ; but being rather a confused
mass, without any head, it was proposed by Colonel Shelby, in a
council of officers, and agreed to, that Colonel CampbeU, of the Vir
ginia regiment, an officer of enterprise, patriotism, and good sense,
should be appointed to the command; and having determined to
pursue Ferguson with all practicable dispatch, two nights before the
action they selected the best horses and rifies, and at the dawn of day
commenced their march with nine hundred and ten expert marks
men. As Ferguson was their object, they would not be diverted
from the main point by any collection of tories in the vicinity of their
route. They pursued him for the last thirty-six hours without

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
alighting from their horses to refresh but once, at the Cowpens for
an hour, although the day of the action was so extremely wet, that
the men could only keep their guns dry by wrapping their bags,
blankets, and hunting shirts around the locks, which exposed their
bodies to a heavy and incessant rain during the pursuit.
By the order of march and of battle. Colonel Campbell's regiment
formed the right, and Colonel Shelby's regiment the left colunm
in the centre : the right wing was composed of Sevier's regiment,
Major Winston's and M'Dowell's battalions, commanded by Sevier
himself — the left wing was composed of Colonel Cleveland's regi
ment, the followers of Colonels Williams, Lacy, Hawthorn, and
Hill, headed by Colonel Cleveland in person. In this order the
mountaineers pursued until they found Ferguson, securely en
camped on King's mountain, which was about half a mile long,
and from which he declared the evening before, that " God
Almighty could not drive him." On approaching the moun
tain, the two centre columns displayed to the right and left, formed
a front, and attacked the enemy, while the right and left wings were
marching to surround him. In a few minutes the action became
general and severe ; continuing furiously for three fourths of an
hour, when the enemy being driven from the east to the west end of
the mountain, surrendered at discretion. Ferguson was killed, with
three hundred and seventy-five of his officers and men, and seven
hundred and thirty captured. The Americans had sixty killed and
wounded ; of the former. Colonel Williams.
This glorious achievement occurred at the most gloomy period of
the revolution, and was the first link in the great chain of events to
the South, which established the independence of the United States.
History has heretofore, though improperly, ascribed this merit to the
battle of the Cowpens, in January, 1781 ; but it belongs, justly, to
the victory on King's mountain, which turned the tide of war to the
South, as the victory of Trenton, under Washington, and of Ben
nington, under Stark, did to the North. It was achieved by raw,
undisciplined riflemen, without any authority from the government
under which they lived, without pay, rations, ammunition, or even
the expectance of reward, other than that which results from the
noble ambition of advancing the liberty and welfare of their beloved
country. It completely dispirited the tories, and so alarmed Corn
wallis, who then lay only thirty miles north of King's mountain with
the main British army, that on receiving information of Ferguson's
total defeat and overthrow by the riflemen from the West, under

ISAAC SHELBY.
Colonels Campbell, Shelby, Cleveland, and Sevier, and that they
were bearing down upon him, he ordered an immediate retreat,
marched all night in the utmost confusion, and retrogaded as far
back as Winnsborough, sixty or eighty miles, whence he did not
attempt to advance until reinforced three months after by General
Leslie, with two thousand men from the Chesapeake. In the mean
time, the militia of North Carolina assembled in considerable force at
New Providence, on the border of South Carolina, under General
Davidson — General Smallwood, with Morgan's light corps, and the
Maryland line, advanced to the same point. General Gates, with
the shattered remains of his army, collected at Hillsborough, also
came up, as well as the new levies from Virginia, of one thousand
men, under General Stevens; — this force enabled General Greene,
who assumed the command early in December, to hold CornwaUis
in check.
The legislature of North Carolina passed a vote of thanks to
Colonel Shelby and several other officers, and directed each to be
presented with an elegant sword, for his patriotic conduct in the
attack and defeat of the enemy on King's mountain, on the memo
rable 7th October, 1780. This resolution was carried into effect, as
to Colonel Shelby, in the summer of 1813, just at the moment when,
in the language of Secretary Monroe, " disclaiming all metaphysical
distinctions tending to enfeeble the government," he was about to
lead his troops far beyond the limits of the state of which he was
governor. The presentation at that particular time afforded a pre
sage of the new glory he was to acquire for himself and country in
that eventful campaign.
If any were entitled to special commendation in this band of heroic
spirits on Bang's mountain, the claim of Colonel Shelby would be
well founded. He originated the expedition, and his valor and un
shaken resolution contributed to rally the right wing when driven
down the mountain by a tremendous charge from the enemy, at the
onset of the battle. Nor have the histories of the war at the South
done justice to the sagacity and judgment of Colonel Shelby upon
another interesting occasion, just following the affair on King's moun
tain. As soon as he had placed the prisoners beyond the reach of
the enemy, he repaired to the head quarters of General Gates, and
suggested to him the plan of detaching General Morgan towards the
mountains. The details of this arrangement were submitted by him
and approved by Gates, and Greene had the good sense to adopt
them, after he assumed the command. The result of his advice was

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
exhibited in the splendid affair at the Cowpens, which added fresh
laurels to the veteran brows of Morgan, Howard, and Washington.
In the campaign of the fall of 1781, Colonel Shelby served under
General Marion, a distinguished partisan officer, of the boldest enter
prise. He was called down by General Greene to that lower country,
with five hundred mounted rifiemen fi-om the Western Waters, in
September, 1781, to aid the General in intercepting Cornwallis, at
that time blockaded by the French fleet in the Chesapeake, and who,
it was suspected, would endeavor to make good his retreat through
North Carolina to Charleston ; but upon his lordship's surrender in
Virginia, Colonel Shelby was attached to General Marion's com
mand below, on the Santee, and was second in command of a strong
detachment of dragoons, under Colonel Mayhem, ordered to carry a
British post at Fairlawn, near Monk's Corner, eight or ten miles
below the enemy's main army, under General Stuart. Information
had been received by General Marion, that five hundred Hessians at
that post were in a state of mutiny, and would surrender to any
considerable force that might appear before it. But the officer com
manding the post having some apprehensions of their fidelity, had
marched them off to Charleston, the day before Colonel Mayhem
appeared before it. The post, however, was surrendered, with
one hundred and fifty British prisoners. The British general at
Ferguson's Swamp, nine miles in the rear, made great, though una-
vaUing efforts to intercept Mayhem's party on their return with the
prisoners to General Marion's encampment. Immediately after this
excursion, the British commander retreated with his whole force to
Charleston. As the period for which the mounted volunteers had engaged to
serve was about to expire, and no farther active operations being
contemplated, after the retreat of the enemy towards Charleston,
Colonel Shelby obtained leave of absence from General Marion, to
attend the assembly of North Carolina, of which he was a member,
which would sit two hundred miles distant, about the first of De
cember. Marion addressed a letter on the subject to General Greene,
which Colonel Shelby was permitted to see, speaking in high terms
of the conduct of the mountaineers, and assigning particular credit
to Colonel Shelby for his conduct in the capture of the British post,
as it surrendered to him after an ineffectual attempt by an officer
of dragoons.
In 1782, Colonel Shelby was elected a member of the North
Carolina assembly, and was appointed one of the commissioners to

ISAAC SHELBY
settle the preemption claims upon the Cumberland river, and to lay
off the lands allotted to the officers and soldiers of the North Carolina
line, south of where NashviUe now stands. He performed this
service in the winter of 1782-3, and returned to Boonsborough,
Kentucky, in April following, where he married Susanna, second
daughter of Captain Nathaniel Hart, one of the first settlers of Ken
tucky, and one of the proprietors styled Henderson & Co., by their
purchase of the country from the Cherokees. He established himself
on the first settlement and preemption granted in Kentucky, for the
purpose of pursuing his favorite occupation, the cultivation of the
soil ; and it is a remarkable fact, pregnant with many curious re-
fiections, that at the period of his death, forty-three years after, he
was the only individual in the state residing upon his own settle
ment and preemption.
He was a member of the early conventions held at Danville for
the purpose of obtaining a separation from the state of Virginia ; and
was a member of that convention which formed the first constitution
of Kentucky, in April, 1792. In May, following, he was elected the
first chief magistrate, and discharged its arduous duties with signal
advantage to the state. The history of his administration of an
infant republic in the remote wilderness would fill a volume with
deeply interesting incidents, exhibiting him advantageously in the
character of a soldier, of a lawgiver, and of a diplomatist ; but the
limits prescribed to this sketch will not permit a detail of them. At
the expiration of four years he retired to private life, being the first
period of a general peace with the savages he had ever experienced
from his childhood.
He was occasionally chosen as an elector of president ; and when
another war with Great Britain was expected in 1812, he was again
elected to ffil the highest executive office. His second administration
commenced, also, at an interesting period. The whole western
frontier was menaced by a savage foe, aided and supported by
British intrigue ; our first army captured, and the Michigan territory
in possession of the enemy. It was a crisis requiring a display of all
the energies of his character, and, at the request of the legislature, he
organized a body of four thousand volunteers, which he led in person,
at the age of sixty-three, under General Harrison, into Canada, in
the fall of 1813. He was the rallying point of patriotism in the
state, and but for the unauthorized though judicious step, which he
assumed upon his own responsibility, of calling out mounted volun
teers, the favorable moment for operation at the crisis of the campaign

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
would have been lost, and the nation deprived of the important
results of the memorable victory on the Thames. His gaUantry
and patriotism on that interesting occasion were acknowledged by
the commanding general, and by President Madison ; and in resolu
tions by the legislature of Kentucky, which recognised " his plans
and the execution of them as splendid realities, which exact our
gratitude and that of his country, and justly entitle him to the
applause of posterity." His conduct was approved, also, by a vote
of thanks from the congress of the United States, awarding a gold
medal as a testimony of its sense of his illustrious services.
In March, 1817, he was selected by President Monroe to fill the
department of war ; but his advanced age, the details of the office,
and his desire, in a period of peace, to remain in private life, induced
him to decline an acceptance of it. In 1818, he was commissioned
by the president to act in conjunction with General Jackson in
holding a treaty with the Chickasaw tribe of Indians, for the pur
chase of their lands west of the Tennessee river, within the limits of
Kentucky and Tennessee, and they obtained a cession of the terri
tory to the United States, which unites the western population, and
adds greatly to the defence of the country, in the event of future
wars with the savages, or with any European power. This was his
last public act.
In February, 1820, he was attacked with a paralytic affection,
which disabled his right arm, and which was the occasion of his
walking lame on the right leg. His mind continued unimpaired
until his death, by apoplexy, on the 18th July, 1826, in the seventy-
sixth year of his age. It was a consolation to his afflicted family,
to cherish the hope that he was prepared for this event. In the
vigor of life, he professed it to be his duty to dedicate himself to
God, and to seek an interest in the merits of the Redeemer. He
had been for many years a member of the Presbyterian Church, and
in his latter days, he was the chief instrument in erecting a house
of worship upon his own land.
The vigor of his constitution fitted him to endure active and severe
bodily exercise, and the energetic symmetry of his person, united
with a peculiar suavity of manner, rendered his deportment im
pressively dignified ; his strong natural sense was aided by close
observation on men and things ; and the valuable qualities of method
and perseverance, imparted success to all his efforts.

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WASHINGTON IRVING.

The subject of our memoir was the youngest son of a gentleman of
Scottish birth, who was long settled in the city of New York, where
he exercised the profession of a merchant, and enjoyed the respect
and esteem of his contemporaries for his unblemished integrity and
unassuming worth. Losing his father at an early age, the care of
his education devolved upon his mother and his elder brothers.
Some of the latter had already distinguished themselves for their
literary taste and ability as writers, while their younger brother was
yet a child. In their society he began, at an early period, the
practice of composition, and may be almost said to have commenced
his education where others are accustomed to finish it. We have
been informed, that he manifested in his youth a meditative and
almost melancholy disposition ; not, however, without occasional
and brilliant flashes of the humor that is the distinctive character of
his most successful compositions. This disposition did not prevent
him from entering with spirit into many of the pranks of his comrades,
or even from becoming the plotter and ringleader in many a scheme
of merry mischief
The youth of the city of New York were then a happy race.
Their place of residence had not yet assumed its metropolitan cha
racter, and the freedom and ease of almost rural life, were blended
with the grpwing reiinements of an increasing population. The
advantageous position of its port made wealth flow rapidly into its
merchants' coffers, and the natives of other parts of our country had
not yet begun to colonize it, and compete for a share of its growing
riches. The elder members of the community, seeing their property
increasing almost without knowing why, had not yet perceived the
necessity of drilling their children to habits of early labor and prema
ture prudence. The gambling spirit that characterized one era of
the commercial history of New York, had not yet made its appear
ance ; nor had that ardent competition, that steels the heart against
all but selfish feelings, been awakened. That system of instruction.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
which confines children for six hours a day in almost listless inactivity
in a school room, and then dismisses them, to pursue their labors
unassisted for even a longer time, was not yet invented. School
masters yet thought it their duty to instruct; and when their unruly
subjects were emancipated from direct control, they had no other
thought but to spend the rest of the day in active sport, and the night
in slumbers, undisturbed by the dread of the morrow's task.
For the enjoyment of these vacant hours, the vicinity of New
York then offered the most inviting opportunities. A few minutes'
walk brought the youth of the city into open and extensive pastures,
diversified by wood and sheets of transparent water ; on either hand
fiowed noble rivers, whose quiet waters invited even the most timid
to acquire " the noblest exercise of strength ;" when winter made such
recreations impracticable, sheets of smooth and glittering ice spread
themselves out to tempt the skater, and the youth of the Manhattoes
rivalled, if not excelled, the glories of their Dutch father-land, in the
speed and activity with which they glided over the glassy surface.
It may be the partial recollection of our infancy, but it is not less
the firm conviction of our minds, that in all our wanderings, we
have seen no city, with the exception of the " Q,ueen of the North,"
whose environs possessed natural beauties equal to those of New
York. These beauties have now vanished — paved streets and piles
of tasteless brick have covered the grassy slopes and verdant mea
dows ; the lofty hills have been applied to the ignoble purpose of
filling up the neighboring lakes. Nor should we complain of these
changes, but consider the prosperity, of which they are an evidence,
as more than equivalent to the destruction of wild and rural beauty,
in those places where a crowded population has actually found its
abode ; but we cannot tolerate that barbarism that makes beauty
consist in straight lines and right angles, cuts our whole island into
oblong squares, and considers, that to convert the fertile surface into
a barren and sandy waste, is the only fit preparation for an increasing
city. The blossomed orchards of Bayard and Delancey have given
place to snug brick houses, the sylvan deities have fled the groves
of Peters' field and Rose hill, and we can rejoice ; but why should
the flowery vales of Bloomendahl be cut up by streets and avenues ?
Nor has the spirit of devastation stopped here, but has invaded the
whole neighborhood, until the antres and cliffs of Hoboken have
given place to a rail-road.
The early fancies of Mr. Irving were deeply impressed with the
beauty of the natural scenery of the island of Manhattan. These

WASHINGTON IRVING
impressions have given birth to many and choice passages in his
various works. But, aware that such romantic fancies might come
with an ill grace from one hackneyed in the ways of our commercial
and prosaic city, he has given being to a personage, in whose mouth
they become the utterance of patriotic virtue.
New York, at that time, presented the singular spectacle of races
distinct in origin, character, and temper, struggling, as it were, for
ascendency ; and although the struggle finally terminated happily,
in the utter confusion of all such distinctions, and the formation of a
single civic character, it was not the less apparent. Wasted, too, as
was the anger and anxiety the struggle occasioned upon the most
petty objects, it presented, to a mind highly sensible to the ludicrous,
most amusing matter of contemplation. First and most marked,
were to be seen the descendants of the original settlers from Holland,
retaining, in their own separate intercourse, the language and habits
of their ancestors, indulging the hereditary grudge of a conquered
people to its subduers, although moderated and tempered by native
kindness and good nature. Next was to be remarked the New
Englander, distinguished by his intelligence and activity, and just
beginning to enter into that rivalry with the Batavian, that has ended
in a disappearance, almost total, of patronymic names of the latter
from the streets in which business is transacted. Before the superior
energy and restless enterprise of this race, the Dutch were beginning
to quail, and retaliated for the loss of business, to which they were
exposed, by outward expressions of contempt, and inward feelings of
dread and apprehension. Last, and least numerous, but at the time
most distinguished for wealth and mercantile infiuence, was to be
seen a clan of Scots. These were shrewd, calculating, and enter
prising ; but mixed with their habits of business and economy much
hospitality, and unchecked, but harmless conviviality. Accustomed
from his infancy to the contemplation of the character of this race in
his father and his associates, its peculiarities have not struck him as
an object for delineation, or filial reverence has forbidden him to
attempt it. Its habits and manners have, however, evidently served
to bring out in higher relief the peculiarities of the other races.
Mr. Irving had hardly reached the age of manhood when he
appeared to be threatened with a pulmonary affection, as a preventive
of which, it was considered expedient that he should visit the south
of Europe. He therefore embarked in a vessel bound for the Medi
terranean, and was landed on the southern coast of Sicily. Hence
he crossed that island to Palermo, whence he proceeded to Naples,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and after making a journey through Italy and Prance, reached
England. This voyage, undertaken with far different views than
those which now usually direct the travels of young Americans, was
also wholly different in its course, and in the impressions it was
likely to produce. Instead of a gradual preparation for the views of
the old world, by a passage through countries connected by ties of
blood and language, or familiar to him in consequence of an active
and frequent commerce, he was transported, as if in a moment, to
lands where, in direct contrast to the continual strides his own
country is making, every thing is torpid, and even retrograde ; lands
in which the objects of interest are rather the glories of by -gone
ages, than any thing that the present era can exhibit. His first
views of Europe exhibited the gigantic ruins of Agrigentum, the
remains of a polished, wealthy, and numerous people, buried in a
desert waste, and surrounded only by comparative barbarism and
poverty. No change of scene more abrupt can well be imagined,
and none more likely to excite the mind of youthful genius. For
the guide books and tours of modern travellers, that are the usual
manuals of a tourist, it became necessary to substitute the writings
of the ancients. These would be most favorably studied upon the
very spots where they were written, or of which they treat, and even
when consulted in a mere translation, cannot fail to improve and
refine the taste. In the fine scenery of Calabria, he recognised the
studies of Salvator Rosa, and in his progress through Italy, luxu
riated in the treasures of ancient and modern art, then almost a
sealed book to his countrymen.
Before his departure for Europe he had made his first literary
essays, in a newspaper of which his brother, Dr. P. Irving, was
editor. There is little doubt that these were not few in number, but
none can now be identified, except the series of letters under the
signature of Jonathan Oldstyle. These were collected, as a matter
of bookseUing speculation, after the literary reputation of their author
was established, and published, although without his sanction. His
return was speedily followed by the appearance of the first number
of Salmagundi. Those who recur to this sprightly work at the
present day, cannot enter into the feelings with which it was received
at the epoch at which it was published. They will, indeed, see that
it is not unworthy of the reputation afterwards attained by those,
who have admitted themselves to have been its authors. But the
exact and skilful adaptation of its delicate and witty allusions to the
peculiar circumstances of the times, the rich humor with which

WASHINGTON IRVING.
prevailing follies were held up to ridicule, and, above all, the exquisite
good nature of the satire, that made it almost an honor to have
been its object, rendered Salmagundi the most popular work that
had ever issued from the American press. Until it made its appear
ance, our literary efforts had been almost wholly confined to serious
discussions upon general and local politics ; if a few works of
fancy had been produced, the age was not ripe for their reception,
and, as in the case of Brown, they procured for their authors no
more than a posthumous fame. The well founded belief, that Mr.
Irving had been the principal writer in Salmagundi, placed him, at
once, first in the list of the living authors of America. His next
literary production was, " The History of New York, by Diedrich
Knickerbocker." The idea of this humorous work appears to have
been suggested to him by the establishment of a historical society in
New York, and the announcement, that one of its members was
about to compile from its collections a history of the early periods of
our colonial existence. Identifying himself, in imagination, with a
descendant of the original Dutch settlers, he adopted, in his fictitious
character, all the feelings and prejudices that might well be supposed
to be inherent in that race, with an air of gravity and verisimilitude
that is well calculated to mislead a reader not previously aware of
the deception. The public was prepared for the reception of the
work by advertisements, ingeniously planned and worded, in which
the supposed landlord of the imaginary author expressed his anxiety
for the safety of his guest, until it might fairly have been believed
that the veracious historian had actually disappeared from his
lodgings. So perfect was the deception, that many commenced the
work in full belief of its being serious, and gravely toiled through
many of its pages before the wit, and an interest too intense to be
created by so trivial a subject as the annals of a little Dutch borough,
undeceived them. The author frequently dehghted himself, and we
are sure must still recur with pleasure, to the anecdote of an aged
and most respectable clergyman, who, taking up the work, without
referring to its title page or introduction, read many of its chapters
in the full belief that it was the production of a clerical brother, who
had promised a history of the same period, and was only gradually
aroused to a suspicion of his mistake, by the continued variation of
the style from grave and solemn irony, through lively wit and poig
nant humor, until it fairly bordered on the ludicrous. Such is the
character of this veracious history, the mask is worn at first with the
greatest gravity, yet in such a manner as to give effect to the keenest

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and most poignant satire, while as soon as it becomes impossible for
the reader to credit that it is other than a work of fancy, the author
gives full play to his imagination, and riots in an excess of delicate
wit and playful humor. Yet are not these the sole merits of the
work : it is occasionally tender, and even pathetic ; often replete with
lively pictures, worthy, when of character and costume, of the pencil
of a Teniers ; when of scenery, of that of Claude. In addition, the
style is the purest idiomatic Enghsh that had been written for many
a year, and carries us back to the glories of an Augustan age. It is
in marked contrast, not only with the barbarisms of the American
newspaper writers of his day, but with the corruptions of the pure
fount that their English critics are themselves guilty of This grace
and purity of style is also to be remarked in all his subsequent
writings ; but his Knickerbocker possesses, in addition, more of nerve
and force than they in general do. Its language is either that in
which his thoughts spontaneously flowed, or, if elaborated, exhibits
that perfection of art which hides the means by which the effect is
produced. His other works do not always conceal the labor by
which the polish has been attained, and the very grace and smooth
ness of the periods, sometimes seems to call for a relief to the ear,
like that which skilful musicians sometimes apply, in the form of an
occasional discord
Were we, however, to be asked where we are to find the prose
language of England in its highest degree of perfection, we think
we might safely point to the works of Mr. Irving ; these are com
posed in a style more correct than that of Addison, more forcible
than that of Goldsmith, more idiomatic than that of the writers of
the Scottish school ; and, while it takes advantage of the engraftation
of words of Latin and Grecian origin upon the Anglo-Saxon, it is
far removed from the learned affectation of Johnson.
The hours in which the papers of Salmagundi were composed,
and the History of the New Netherlands compiled, were stolen from
the dry study of the law. To this, Mr. Irving seemed for a time
to be condemned, and in spite of the gravity with which, as in the
case of Murray, the heads of judges were shaken at him as a wit, he
persevered in it, and obtained his license to practice. It is even said,
that he opened an office, and that his name was seen painted on a
sign, with the adjunct, " Attorney at Law." But it was not predes
tined that Mr. Irving should merge these grave doubts in the honors
of the woolsack. A client was indeed found hardy enough to trust
his cause to the young barrister, but an oppressive feeling of diffi-

WASHINGTON IRVING.
dence caused him to shrink from trying it, and it was gladly aban
doned to a brother lawyer of far less talent, but who possessed a
more happy degree of confidence in his own forensic abilities. This
diffidence, literary success has converted into an innate and unaffected
modesty, that adds not a little to Mr. Irving's agreeable qualities,
and which is rare in a person possessed of so high a reputation as
he enjoys.
The literary pursuits of Mr. Irving were interrupted for several
years after the publication of Knickerbocker. During this interval,
he was admitted by his brothers into a commercial establishment,
that they were then successfully carrying on, and in which, it
appeared, he might be more profitably engaged than as an author.
The business of this mercantile house being interrupted by the war
with Great Britain, Mr. Irving was left free to share in the general
mUitary spirit that the capture of Washington, and the threatenings
of the enemy to attack New York, awakened in all classes of the
community. His services were tendered to Governor Tompkins,
then commanding the district of New York, and he was received
into his staff as an aid-de-camp. In this employment he was long
engaged, and performed its duties with great zeal, not only in the
immediate vicinity of his native city, but in several missions of
importance to the interior of the state. The peace put an end to
this occupation, and he returned to his commercial pursuits, in the
fiirtherance of which, he visited England in the spring of 1815,
taking up his abode at Birmingham.
His previous visit to England had been made in winter, and he
had made no other excursion but in the mail from London to Bath,
at a season when the shortness of the day gave but little opportunity
to view the country. The peculiar beauties of English scenery.
therefore, broke upon him with unexpected brilliancy. Birmingham.
if it have in itself little to interest, except its rich and prosperous
manufactures, is situated in a district of no little rural beauty ; and
within a few hours ride, are to be found some of the sites that recall
the most exciting passages of English history, or awaken the most
pleasing literary recollections. Kenilworth and Warwick exhibit,
the one the most splendid remains of baronial grandeur, the other
the only perfect specimen of the feudal castle ; Stratford on the Avon
StUl possesses the house in which Shakspeare drew his first breath,
and the picturesque Gothic church, in which his remains repose
safely, under the protection of his poetic malediction ; the Lucies still
inhabit the manor house, from whose park the deer was stolen that

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
fixed the course of the great dramatist's existence. In every direction,
episcopal cities raised high the turrets of their venerable minsters,
and spread abroad their shadowy cloisters, while hedge row, and
mead, and cultured field, spoke of the successful toUs of a rural life,
more inviting, perhaps, to the romantic fancy, than agreeable to those
who are compelled to pursue them. To one who had already cele
brated the restless enterprise of the swarms of the New England
hive, who spread like locusts over the wilderness, destroying every
tree, and laying waste every germ of natural beauty, the calm con
trast afforded by the farmers of England, generations of whom are
born in the same cottage, and entombed beneath the same yews,
was a subject of agreeable study.
The neighborhood of Birmingham did not long delay him, but
served to excite his desire to see more of England. He, therefore,
in the summer that followed his arrival, joined a friend in a tour
through the valley of the Severn, Gloucestershire, and Wales. The
letters addressed by him at this period to his American friends,
would, if published, form the most interesting portions of his works,
and exhibit, with greater freshness, descriptions of scenery and cha
racter, like the rich pictures that he afterwards embodied in the
Sketch Book and Bracebridge Hall.
Mr. Irving's literary career might have now been considered at
an end ; his commercial connections appeared to promise him wealth,
more than commensurate with his wishes. But the unhappy revo
lution in the business of New York, that followed the unexampled
profits with which the first importations were attended, prostrated
the mercantile house with which he was connected, along with
many of the most respectable, and even opulent merchants of the
United States. This blow, however painfiil at the time, had the
happy effect of restoring him to the world of literature. He prepared
his Sketch Book, and took measures to have it simultaneously
published in London and America. Its success was complete. His
own countrymen hailed with joy, the renewal of the exertions in
which they had before delighted, and the English nation joined to
applaud the author, who, without abandoning his just national
pride, was yet sensible to those feelings in which Englishmen glory,
and exhibited the honest exultation of a descendant, in the honors
of the mighty names that have embeUished the literary annals of
Great Britain.
The Sketch Book was admired, and its author sought for ; the
aristocratic circles of the British metropolis received with open arms

WASHINGTON IRVING.
the transatlantic writer ; and names of no small note in modern
literature, did not disdain to be ranked on the list of his imitators.
He may justly pride himself on having pointed out a new track to a
host of aspirants, and to have, himself, surpassed all who followed
him in it. Works upon a similar plan were eagerly asked from
him ; their appearance, at no distant intervals, increased his fame,
and soon left him no cause to regret the prostration of his com
mercial hopes.
The honors of Mr. Irving were not limited to the climes, extensive
though they be, in which the English tongue is spoken. Transla
tions were made of his tales into most of the languages of the conti
nent, and when he subsequently visited France, Germany, and
Spain, he found himself received Avith the honors due to a national
favorite. In the last named kingdom, he undertook the task of
giving to his country and to Europe, the history of the life of that
hero, who, in the words of his epitaph, gave a new world to Castile
and Leon, but who may be said, with more justice, to have opened
to the oppressed of every clime a secure and safe refuge, a field, in
which the principles of freedom might be safely cultivated. This
enterprise was not wanting in boldness, as it placed him in imme
diate comparison with one of the most celebrated among British
historians ; but it was eminently successful, as was its interesting
abridgment. These are destined, the one to be the first in every
collection of American history, the other to be the earliest study of
American youth. His tour in Spain led him to the halls of the
Alhambra, where he was delayed by the exciting visions they called
up, of the chivalrous times when the haughty Castilian, and the
gallant Arab, held their last contest for the possession of the fair
realm of Grenada. Such associations have given birth to two suc
cessful works. These were succeeded by the Adventures of the Com
panions of Columbus, the brave partners of his perilous enterprise,
we wish we could add, his imitators in humanity and benevolence.
On the return of Mr. Irving to his native country, he was greeted
with a degree of warmth rarely equalled. To many, he was en
deared by the recollection of intimate and affectionate intercourse,
while a new generation, that had sprung up in his absence, crowded
with zeal to see and honor, the pride of the literature of America — ¦
the author, who had first and successfully answered the reproachful
question, " Who reads an American book ?" Had he felt inclined to
have encouraged the public enthusiasm, his tour throughout the
United States might have been one continued ovation.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
He has, since his arrival, made an expedition to view the abori
gines of our country in their native seats, and where their character
is uncontaminated with those of European descent. The literary
world has already received a foretaste of the pleasure it is likely to
derive, from the new views that this Western tour has opened.
We have not heard that Mr. Irving is, at present, engaged in any
literary enterprise. We have, however, a pledge in the fertUity of
invention he has hitherto shown, that he is not idle, nor is his task
accomplished ; still, it remains that he should pursue the career he
has opened to himself in the annals of this continent. The downfall
of the empires of the Aztecs and Incas, asks for a worthy historian ;
the generous advocate of Philip of Pokanoket, may yet find an ample
field in the early adventures of the British colonists, and in their
struggles with that warlike race, which, for a time, bravely withstood
their superior civUization and intelligence ; finally, his native Hudson
claims of him that he, who in his youth first made its banks vocal
to the strains of satire, shall, in his mature age, make them renowned,
as the habitation of the Historian of the Western continent.

Enj^avpdbyJBXon^rortomaPainUnfjbyC.EKin^

JOSIAH S. JOHNSTON.

Josiah Stoddard Johnston, for many years the representative
of the state of Louisiana in the senate of the United States, was a
native of Connecticut. He was born on the 25th of November, 1784,
at Salisbury, a town in the north-western corner of the state, plea
santly situated among the declivities of the Green mountains, and
near the falls of the Housatonic river. He was the eldest son of Dr.
John Johnston, a physician of eminence, who had married Miss
Mary Stoddard, a young lady connected with the highly respectable
famfly of the same name, long settled in that part of New England.
When his son was about six years old. Dr. Johnston removed with
his family to Kentucky, at that time not yet admitted into the Union,
and still exposed to the hardships of a newly settled country, and
the warlike incursions of the Indians. He selected as his place of
residence the county of Mason, then just laid out, on the banks of
the Ohio river, and at a plantation near the town of Washington, on
which he first settled, he continued to live untfl his death, in 1831.
His son was sent back to Connecticut when about twelve years of
age, and remained there, at school, for some time. He acquired an
excellent education, the evidence of which appears in the strength,
clearness, and simphcity of his style, as a writer and public speaker,
and was displayed through life in his conversation, and in his fond
ness for literary pursuits. After his return to Kentucky, he was
graduated at Transylvania university, then lately founded at Lex
ington, and soon after commenced the study of the law with Mr.
Nicholas, a leading member of the bar. He entered on the practice
of the law in Mason county, but after a short time passed there, he
resolved to try his fortunes on the new and wide theatre which was
opening for ambition and enterprise, in the south-western portion
of the Union.
In the early part of the year 1805, Mr. Johnston repaired to
Natchez, and remained a short time, with a view to select that spot
which should appear most desirable as his fiiture residence. Lou-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
isiana, lately obtained from the French, was stfll under a territorial
government, and except along the borders of the Mississippi, but very
thinly inhabited and very little known. In the interior, a few forts
originally established by the French colonists on the principal
streams, had led to the rise of small villages ; but these were remote
from each other, and the intermediate country was in the possession
of the Indians, or the first settlers, who had here and there taken
possession of spots which seemed to promise more than usual advan
tage, either from their situation or the excellence of the soil. He
chose the country through which the Red river passes, one that he
foresaw was destined to increase rapidly in population and wealth;
and, after a short visit to Natchitoches, ultimately fixed himself at
Alexandria, a town in the parish Rapides, the site of an old Indian
village. This continued to be the place of his permanent residence
until his death, a period of nearly thirty years.
When Mr. Johnston arrived at Alexandria, he found himself in
the midst of a country, rich indeed in all that nature could bestow
of fertility of soil and resources for prosperity and wealth, but thinly
inhabited, far from the comforts and advantages of regions longer
known, with few of the useful restraints which laws and population
impose, and peopled by men who sought rapidly to increase their
fortunes, or who preferred the life of adventure held out to them, to
the less exciting pursuits they had left. The rural occupiers of the
territory had acquired very much the manners and habits of life that
were displayed by the hunters ; and a large portion of the French
and Spanish colonists had grown up in those rude and lawless habits,
which are natural on a frontier constantly liable to invasion hy the
savages. Under the former government they were far removed,
not only from the restraints, but the protection of the laws, and they
had become accustomed to maintain their social relations by reliance
on their individual prowess, rather than by appeal or submission to
the laws. The territorial government of the United States could
have possessed but small authority in that remote and thinly peopled
region, even had it been completely organized, and in peaceable
progress ; but instead of this, it had to encounter the insurrectionary
movements which were made at that time in the VaUey of the Missis
sippi ; and it was, besides, in a state of very imperfect and inefficient
organization. Among a population thus constituted, Mr. Johnston,
at the age of twenty-one, commenced the career of active life. He
was the daily witness of aflfrays and personal contests — of the ebul
litions of a rude and violent people ; he was himself a man of much

JOSIAH S. JOHNSTON.
personal courage, as well as of a manly and resolute spirit ; yet he
soon acquired among his neighbors a popularity and influence which
he never lost. His firmness, discretion, and strict sense of justice
preserved him, in those troublesome times, from unfortunate collisions
which few escaped ; and they afforded him a still more gratifying
source of pleasure and pride, by making him, on innumerable occa
sions, the successful umpire and mediator in occurrences, which, with
out such friendly aid, might have led to unfortunate and fatal results.
Self-dependant, full of patriotic spirit, devoted to his profession,
desirous of an independence, the result of his own exertions, and
ambitious of an honorable fame, he devoted himself, with indefa
tigable industry, to his business as a lawyer, extending his range of
practice far into the adjoining districts, and subjecting himself without
hesitation to every personal inconvenience. When the first terri
torial legislature assembled at New Orleans, he was elected a dele
gate from the parish where he lived, and he continued to hold his
seat there, until the admission of Louisiana into the Union, in the
year 1812. During this period, he was regarded as one of the
leading members of the assembly, useful from his industry and prac
tical knowledge, and obtaining general confidence from his candid
and honorable character.
As soon as the new government went into operation, he was
appointed a judge of the district in which he resided, embracing the
parish of Rapides, and several others adjoining it. When, however,
Louisiana was invaded by the British, at the close of the war, he
employed himself with his neighbors in raising a regiment of volun
teers ; he purchased with his own money a large quantity of arms
and ammunition ; and, being himself placed in command, hastened
to New Orleans. The decisive and gallant victory of the 8th of
January, 1815, had, however, occurred in the mean time, so that he
was unable to participate in the glories of that action ; but he was
directed by General Jackson to superintend the removal of the
wounded prisoners to the hospitals, a duty congenial to his kind
disposition, which he performed with great promptness and skill.
Shortly afterwards he returned to Alexandria, to resume his judicial
fiinctions, and these he continued to exercise until the year 1821,
with increased respect and confidence on the part of his fellow citi
zens. At the close of the war he married a highly accomplished
and amiable lady of Louisiana, since eminently distinguished in
all the various scenes in which she has been placed, throughout her
husband's long and successful public career. She was the daughter

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
of Dr. John Sibley, of Natchitoches, a gentleman for many years
resident in that remote country, from whose observations upon it
much useful scientific information has been derived, and who has
represented its interests in several important situations with great
ability. In the year 1821, Mr. Johnston was called upon to serve his
fellow citizens on a broader field, by being elected a representative
in the seventeenth congress of the United States. From that period
until his death, his name is connected with the principal political
events of the times, always preserving the same character of public
usefulness and private excellence. He soon showed himself too able
a supporter of the interests of his constituents, and too intelhgent a
statesman, to be overlooked by those whom he served. After his
term as a representative expired, in the year 1823, he was elected to
the senate of the United States, to supply the vacancy occasioned by
the appointment of his friend, Mr. Brown, as minister to France.
That term expiring, he was reelected to the same place in the year
1825, and again in the year 1831, on the latter occasion being chosen
by a legislature in which the majority were of a party opposed to
himself, but among whom the integrity, ability, and patriotism for
which he was distinguished, outweighed all political predilections.
It is well known, that twice during this period it was the wish of
his friends to offer him the nomination of governor of Louisiana, an
office to which he might reasonably have aspired, with every chance
of success ; but he believed that his services could be more usefully
rendered in the place he held, and where such was the case, no
motive of personal ambition could have induced him voluntarily to
change it.
While Mr. Johnston was in congress, he took part in most of the
important topics that occupied the attention of that body. For
several years, he fflled with great ability the place of chairman of
the committee on commerce, and, as such, made a report on the
state of our trade with the British colonies, abounding with very
valuable information, and containing many important suggestions
in regard to that interesting dispute. These he sustained in a speech,
which, whatever opinion may be entertained of the general policy
on this question contended for by himself and his political friends,
must be admitted to present the subject in a striking point of view,
and to embrace a statement of the historical facts connected with it,
remarkably comprehensive and clear. To commercial subjects,
indeed, he devoted much of his attention; his inquiries' among

JOSIAH S. JOHNSTON.
practical men were constant, and the results of them were daily
noticed in the performance of his pubhc duties. . He extended them
even beyond the ordinary topics which were brought to the consi
deration of the senate, and constantly occupied himself in investi
gations and reflections in regard to them, which, when occasion
served, he endeavored to apply to purposes of practical utility. He
cherished strongly the desire, also entertained by many of our states
men, of introducing into the intercourse between nations, those rules
which should protect the merchant amid the dangers of war, and
preserve the social intercourse of mankind, and the peaceful and
beneficial arts, from those dangers which should of right be attendant
only on the designs and the contests of the hostile. " With regard,"
he remarks, in one of his speeches, " to the policy of mitigating the
practice and laws of nations, in maritime war, and of establishing
the same rules that have obtained in other wars — to except non-
combatants and private property from its operations — there can be
but one opinion here. Such a modification of the public law on the
ocean, would deprive war of most of its destructive and unhappy
consequences; would cause that, now permitted against regular
commerce and private rights — producing disorders, violence, and
crimes, ruinous to one class by making them a prey to the needy
and desperate adventurers who rob and plunder by commission, and
demoralizing in its influence on all — to cease to disgrace the code
of civilized nations ; and this object is worthy the profound attention
of this government, and of the enlightened age in which we live."
In pursuance of these just and benevolent views, he strongly urged
the adoption of two principles, whenever it could be effected in our
arrangements with foreign nations — that neutral vessels should
protect the goods on board, to whomsoever they might belong, and
that the articles not to be furnished by neutrals to the contending
parties, should be limited to the smallest possible number of such as
are of direct use, and essential in their operations. To effect these
results, may be regarded as just objects of ambition to every Ame
rican statesman.
Nearly allied with the subject of commerce, is that of finance; and
to this the mind of Mr. Johnston was admirably adapted. Perhaps
to no branch of public affairs did he give so much of his attention,
and whenever any subject connected with it came under the consi
deration of the senate, he brought to bear the resources of a memory
remarkably well stored with facts, and a mind of great precision and
clearness. He was for many years a member of the committee of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
finance in the senate, and his sentiments and views on these subjects
were always listened to with more than usual respect, even by those
who entertained different opinions in regard to the constitutionality
and expediency of some measures which he strenuously advocated.
The question of the tariff, of course, occupied much of his atten
tion, not merely as a representative of Louisiana, deeply interested
in a question essentially affecting her interests, but as an American
statesman, always regarding anxiously those measures which had a
direct or remote bearing on the vital principles of the government of
his country. Representing in the senate a state whose interests in
relation to protecting duties are more doubtful and more nicely
balanced than those of any other in the Union, it was always his
anxious wish, as he declared, to preserve the rights of one part
without sacrificing those of the other. He strenuously maintained
the right of congress to lay duties for revenue, for the protection
of domestic industry, and as a measure of counteraction against
foreign countries. He also repeatedly advocated the policy of
extending the aid of the government to sustain our own establish
ments, until they acquired strength to stand without competition.
He admitted the difficulty of compromising and reconciling, by
legislation, all the confiicting interests of a nation, so extensive, so
diversified in soil, climate, and productions, but held it, as he said,
" to be the duty of a statesman, upon great questions of policy, to
cast his feelings into the common stock ^ — to look to his country, her
constitution, her capacities, her wants, her interests — to act for all,
as far as is compatible with the rights and interests peculiarly
intrusted to his charge." Engaged himself entirely in the cultivation
of cotton, this testimony in favor of a fair protection of Americeui
manufactures is more than usually strong, and its force is not a
little increased by the liberality and entire freedom from every selfish
motive, which distinguished him throughout his public career. But
this was not the only result of his situation as a planter. His own
experience enabled him to trace to its true cause the depression in
the culture of cotton, which was attributed, by several of the Southern
states, to the legislative measures he advocated. He has pointed out,
with singular felicity and force, the inevitable effects of bringing into
a market formerly supplied entirely by themselves, the abundant
productions of a new soil, and an extensive territory, peculiarly well
fitted for their growth and increase. Though not himself interested
in the cultivation of sugar, he devoted to a subject extremely impor
tant to his state, constant research, attention, and study. He applied

JOSIAH S. JOHNSTON.
himself to every source whence useful information could be obtained,
and communicated it to his constituents at home. He watched
faithfully in congress every suggestion or measure that could affect
its prosperity, and his sentiments on this subject agreeing with his
general theory of protection, he opposed, with zeal and skill, every
measure likely to interfere with it. He has shown, with unusual
ability, how closely it is connected with nearly every branch of
domestic industry; and his speeches in congress, and occasional
essays on this subject, are among the most successful works of
the kind that have appeared, during a period fertile in such pro
ductions. Entertaining these opinions in regard to protective policy, and
maintaining as he always did, with unshaken firnmess, the great
principles of the constitution, it may be supposed he viewed with no
favorable eye the novel doctrine of nullification, which, unfortunately,
found advocates among some of the ablest statesmen of the South.
Had he been convinced of the existence of the evil, he would stUl
have indignantly opposed the measures resorted to for its remedy.
No one had studied with more care the theory of the constitution,
or watched more acutely the actual results, the practical interpreta
tion, which had grown out of the experience of forty years. The
political and constitutional history of America was his favorite study,
and he delighted to trace back to their springs the various views
developed in it, and the peculiarities of a system over whose preser
vation he anxiously watched. In a speech delivered by him on the
celebrated resolution of Mr. Foote, he has introduced with great
effect the results of his researches and refiections on this interesting
topic. He has proved that the doctrine now promulgated has never
met the approbation of any state of the Union, even in times of
high excitement ; and he has shown, that every precedent, cited or
assumed, is wanting in those very points which have been relied on
to sustain a theory fatal to our government, if' its existence is to
continue such as it was, when framed and handed down to us by
our forefathers.
But the legislative services of Mr. Johnston were not confined to
questions of this general and absorbing nature. In the practical
character of his mind, and in his personal activity, his constituents
and the whole country had a guaranty never deceptive, that all
measures of importance, public or private, were attentively watched
and considered. The debates of the senate, during the whole period
he was seated there, as well as the numerous useful measures, the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
adoption of which he urged, facilitated, and not unfrequently secured,
give ample evidence of this.
Unfortunately, however, for his country, not less than his friends,
this life of beneficial service was destined to be abruptly terminated.
He was in the habit of returning to Louisiana, after the close of the
sessions of congress, and in the spring of 1833, made that journey,
accompanied by his only child, a young man of seventeen. He was
received at home with the welcome that always awaited him there ;
and public dinners were offered to him by his constituents and friends.
Having occasion, however, to visit his plantation on the Red river,
he first determined to seize the opportunity to proceed as far as
Natchitoches, the residence of his father-in-law. For this purpose,
he embarked on board of the Lioness, a small steamboat navigating
the upper waters of the state. On the evening of the 18th of May,
1833, he and his son left the village of Alexandria. The captain of
the vessel, with inexcusable negligence, had a considerable quantity
of gunpowder in the hold, unknown to the passengers. About
daylight the following morning, as the steamboat was passing the
Rigolet Bon Dieu, an explosion took place, occasioned, as is supposed,
by a candle taken by one of the sailors into the hold, where the
gunpowder was. Three successive explosions, following each other
with great rapidity, were heard at a considerable distance, and such
was their force, that the fore cabin, the deck above the boiler, (which
in the western steamboats is placed on the main deck forward,
towards the bow of the vessel,) and the hold under the boiler, were
all scattered in fragments over the water. Some of the passengers
who were thrown out, saved themselves by seizing these fragments
In about two minutes after the catastrophe, the huU of the boat sunk,
leaving the ladies' cabin fioating on the surface ; and from this portion
of the wreck several persons were rescued. Mr. Johnston, who
was lying in a lower berth, sunk with the boat ; but his son, who
was in the upper range, was thrown into the water at a considerable
distance, and was ultimately rescued by the exertions of some persons,
who, seeing him floating on the current, came in a boat from the
shore. He was found to be much wounded and burned, but after a
confinement of several weeks, regained his health, free from any
permanent injury. The body of Mr. Johnston, recovered from the
waves, was interred at the cemetery opposite to the village of Alex
andria, among the tears of those who regarded him as much with
the warm attachment of private friends, as with the respect due to.
his public services and worth. The sudden termination of a valuable

JOSIAH S. JOHNSTON.
life, attended with incidents so shocking, must, under any circum
stances, have created no common sympathy. But it may be said
with truth, that this feeling was displayed in a degree more than
usual, in the present instance. Not merely among those who were
united with the deceased by a community of political sentiment or
personal relations — but among those who differed from him in the
former, and who knew him only as a public man — were readily
and warmly expressed sincere regrets at the loss which all had
experienced. In the usual organs of public sentiment, this was
strongly exhibited, and afforded a gratifying proof of the high place
in general esteem which may be secured by a life of so much
industry and purity.
The character of Mr. Johnston, as a public man, may be gathered
from the previous sketch of his life. It was that of one eminently
practical, well-informed, usefiil, and straight-forward. He spared
himself no personal or mental labor, in thoroughly understanding
the subjects that came under his notice. He was industrious in
attending to the various duties that were intrusted to him, and his
fidelity to his constituents is best proved by his continued popularity
amid the various changes of party. On the topics which more
especially affected the prosperity and interests of the community he
represented, his information was complete, and his opinions derived
all the weight to which this circumstance entitled them. To ensure
its accuracy, he omitted no pains. To promote what he believed a
true policy, he spared no exertions. On the floor of the senate, and
in the chambers of its committees, he was prompt, efficient, and
attentive. He suffered no occasion to be lost, when his individual
aid could promote the cause he desired to advocate. He took his
stand decidedly in the pohtical contests of the day, and on the
exertions and steadiness of no one could his friends more firmly
rely. But he did it with no selfish views. He was always free
from the suspicion of private ends. However firm, he was not less
disinterested ; and he never sought; directly or indirectly, those objects
of personal ambition, which it is hard for any one, moving in the
scenes and contests of political life, not to desire. His principles
were the result of his deliberate reflections, and throughout hfe were
manfully avowed and consistently maintained. He did not aspire
to the character of an orator, but what he said was never heard
without attention, and always bore strong marks of the clearness
and simplicity of his mind. If he had, in his active career, some
what neglected those studies merely literary, in which, when young.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
he had indulged himself, and to which, in moments of leisure, he
always gladly returned, yet his speeches evince an excellent and
cultivated taste, and his style is that of a well educated and well
read man. To these qualities as a politician, should be added yet
another — the kindness of his disposition and the mildness of his
demeanor, which, while not interfering with his firmness and
consistency, yet gave him an influence and personal consideration
that he never lost, amid all the warm and exciting scenes in which
he was called on to engage.
In his person, Mr. Johnston was rather below the usual height,
but his figure was graceful, and his countenance strikingly indica
tive of his calm and intelligent character. In his habits, he was
social ; fond of the amusements of society, and deriving constant
enjoyment from an agreeable intercourse with the world. His
manners were easy, prepossessing, and unaffected ; his conversation,
various and gay. There was a warmth and a singleness of purpose
in what he said and did, which won the regards of all around. As
a friend, they to whom he was attached will bear testimony, that no
human being ever more faithfully cherished and performed the duties
of that relation — no sacrifice of his time, of his active exertions, or
of his fortune, was spared — and those who had a right to regard
him as such, knew, absent or present, that he was never found
wanting in readiness, fidelity, and zeal. With such dispositions it
is hardly necessary to add, that in discharging his domestic duties,
he was unsurpassed in excellence and purity. As a husband, a
father, a brother, and a son, each successive year, and every situation
of his life, seemed to afford him new occasions of displaying instances
of exemplary conduct. What wonder, then, if a fate so sudden
should be more than commonly deplored — if private sorrow should
be deeply blended with the regret which was widely spread, where
he was only known for his public services and worth. If there has
lived a man to whom could be truly applied the eloquent and affec
tionate tribute, inscribed by the poet on the monument of his friend,
it is the subject of this notice.
Statesman, yet friend to truth ! of soul sincere,
In action faithful, and in honor clear !
Who broke no promise, served no private end,
Who sought no title, and who lost no friend ;
Ennobled by himself, by all approved.
Praised, wept, and honored, by the friends he loved.

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THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK, M.D.

It is not always the men who shine with the most brilliancy before
the world, and occasionally astonish our senses with their exploits,
who are really the most useful, or the most worthy.
The life of a professional man, unlike that of the statesman or
the warrior, affords but few incidents calculated to excite interest, or
allure attention. It is not on that account, however, less worthy of
record, or barren of utUity.
The subject of the present memoir, as one of the most successful
of American medical authors, seems justly entitled to a place, in a
work designed to perpetuate the names of those who have distin
guished themselves, by their talents or their erudition.
Theodric Romeyn Beck was born of highly respectable parents,
on the eleventh of August, 1791, at Schenectady, in the state of New
York. His grandfather was the Reverend Theodric Romeyn, D. D.,
one of the professors of theology in the Reformed Dutch Church,
and one of its most distinguished ornaments. The rudiments of
Doctor Beck's education were received at the grammar school in
his native place ; and, in 1803, he entered Union college, an insti
tution which had been established a few years previously, principally
through the agency and active exertions of his grandfather. In
1807 he was graduated, and commenced the study of medicine under
the late Doctors M'Clelland and Low, of Albany. His medical edu
cation was afterwards completed under the care of Doctor David
Hosack, of New York, in which place he attended the lectures of
the college of Physicians and Surgeons, and obtained from that
institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1811; on which
occasion he wrote and published an inaugural dissertation on
"Insanity." Immediately on his graduation, he commenced the
practice of his profession in the city of Albany.
In 1815, he was appointed Professor of the Institutes of Medicine
and Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence, in the college of Physicians

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
and Surgeons of the western district of the state of New York, a
station which he has held ever since. As this appointment did not
require his absence from Albany during any very considerable
portion of the year, he still continued to practice medicine in that
place. This, however, did not long continue ; and in a short time,
owing to an apprehension that his health was inadequate to the
arduous duties of practice, and perhaps, also, to a superior and
. growing fondness for literary pursuits, he abandoned completely the
practical exercise of his profession, and in 1817, accepted the situa
tion of principal of the Albany Academy.
This institution, in every thing but the name, is on an equality
with many of the colleges of our country. With a building distin
guished for its architectural beauty, erected by the public' authorities
of the city, and aided by able professors in various departments,
under the superintendence of Doctor Beck it has attained a high
and deserved rank among the literary institutions of our country.
It is as an author, however, that the subject of this memoir is
mainly distinguished. In 1813, he delivered the annual address
before the Society of Arts, of Albany, On the Mineralogical Re
sources of the United States. This we believe was the earliest
systematic account of the mineral wealth of our country, and the
production, which was published, received from various quarters the
most respectful notice.
In 1823, Doctor Beck published his work entitled " Elements of
Medical Jurisprudence," in two volumes, octavo ; which, at the time,
attracted great attention, and has since continued a standard work
on the subject of which it treats. The science of medical jurispru
dence is one of great interest and importance. It treats of all those
questions in which the testimony of a medical man may be required
before courts of justice, and from the nature of many of the questions,
it is obvious that their discussion requires the widest range of medical
and scientific knowledge. Although deeply studied in Italy, France,
and Germany, this science had scarcely attracted any attention, either
in this country or in England, previously to the -publication of the
work of Doctor Beck. To him is certainly due the high credit, not
merely of rousing public attention to an important and neglected
subject, but also of presenting a work upon it which probably will
never be entirely superseded. In foreign countries, its merits have
been duly appreciated and magnanimously acknowledged. The
Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal says of it —
"Under the unassuming title of Elements of Medical Jurispru-

THEODRIC ROMEYN BECK.
dence, Doctor Beck has presented us with a comprehensive system,
which embraces almost every valuable fact or doctrine relating to it.
Each of its diversified departments has been investigated so minutely,
that few cases can occur in practice, on which it will be necessary
to seek elsewhere for farther information. At the same time, by
studying succinctness, and shunning those verbose oratorical details
with which other writers, and particularly those of Prance, abound,
he has succeeded in rendering his treatise comprehensive within a
singularly moderate compass. We may securely assert, that a work
on the subject is not to be found in any language, which displays so
much patient and discriminating research, with so little of the mere
ostentation of learning. The opinions expressed both on general
principles and on the particular questions which have occurred in
courts of law, are given clearly and judiciously. There are few
occasions, even where the points at issue are difficult and obscure,
on which persons of skill and experience wUl be disposed to differ
materially with him."
In the various medical colleges of Great Britain there has been,
we believe, no text book on medical jurisprudence positively adopted ;
but we have been informed that Doctor Beck's work has been for
years recommended to students by professors.
In 1828, it was translated into German at Weimar, and has been
favorably received in various parts of the continent of Europe.
It is not alone the physician and the jurist who are indebted to
Doctor Beck for this essential work ; but it has proved to the general
reader, we believe invariably, a fund of interesting information ;
and we will venture to say, that no one has ever risen from its
perusal without experiencing an agreeable surprise, that a subject so
uninviting in its title, should afford so much amusement. The
remarks of a writer in Blackwood's Magazine agree so well with our
own experience, that we cannot do better than adopt them. "The
ignorant state in which jurymen continually come to the consider
ation of points of medical evidence on criminal trials, is lamentable.
In regard to men of any habits of reading, it is really sinful; and
certainly not the less so, because the works which they ought to
read and master, happen to be about the most interesting and
amusing books in the world."
Doctor Beck is one of the founders and active supporters of the
Albany institute, a scientific and literary association, which has
already published the first volume of its Transactions, highly cre
ditable to itself and to its members.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Of the personal qualities of the subject of this memoir, it is perhaps
hardly fit to speak. Suffice it to say, he is universally respected and
esteemed. Unpretending ui his manners and studious in his habits,
the voice of praise has not rendered him arrogant or indolent, and
the science of his country has much yet to hope from his labors and
learning.

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LOUIS McLANE.

Honor and fame are the legitimate reward of virtue and talent.
Like wealth, they may be sometimes unworthily and sometimes un
wisely bestowed ; but when yielded to merit or won by industry,
they hang like a graceful robe on their wearer, imparting dignity
and commanding respect. Beneficently placed within the reach of
all, they appear like trophies to be won and worn by those who
successfully contend against indolence and vice ; and it is of rare
occurrence in the history of any country, that superior mental
attainments, in alliance with moral worth, judiciously directed and
actively employed, have failed in their attainment. A new attesta
tion of this universal truth will be found in this memoir.
Louis McLane is a son of the late Allan McLane, a gallant and
distinguished officer in the revolutionary war. He was born May
28th, 1786, at the viUage of Smyrna, Kent county, Delaware. In
heriting his father's enterprise and patriotic spirit, his attachment to
the military profession exhibited itself at a very early period. In
1798, at the age of twelve years, he obtained a midshipman's war
rant, and was ordered to the frigate Philadelphia, about to sail on
her first cruise, under the command of Stephen Decatur, the father
of the renowned and lamented commodore of that name. During
this cruise, which continued nearly twelve months, he is said to
have displayed courage and enterprise beyond his years : but the
anticipation of a brilliant career in the service was disappointed by
his resignation, on his return to the United States, in 1801, in
consequence of the earnest entreaties of his mother that he would
select another profession. From the moment when his mind
received this new direction, he apphed himself indefatigably to the
acquisition of knowledge ; and having completed his education at
the college of Newark, in the state of Delaware, he commenced the
study of the law in 1804, in the office of the late James A. Bayard.
The regard and confidence of that eminent jurist and statesman
were gradually won and cemented by the talents and assiduity of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
his pupil, and a friendship was formed which terminated only with
the life of the instructer. Mr. McLane was admitted to the bar of
Newcastle in November, 1807. Here his knowledge and capacity
as a counsellor, and his eloquence and fidelity as an advocate, at
once rendered him conspicuous ; and the consequent influx of
extensive engagements in the most important causes, soon elevated
him to the first eminence in his profession; — a profession at that time
embracing such men as Bayard, Rodney, Read, Vandyke, and others
of a high order of intellect.
The capacity of Mr. McLane as a public speaker, the quickness
and perspicuity of his mind, his accurate and comprehensive per
ceptions, and his great power of argument, combined with that
honorable and elevated cast of character for which he has been
uniformly distinguished, enabled him not only to reach, but perma
nently to maintain, the highest rank at the bar of his natiTC state,
and to secure to himself, in an eminent degree, the respect and con
fidence of his colleagues and fellow citizens throughout the state.
His personal happiness received a great addition about this period,
by his intermarriage, in the year 1812, with the eldest daughter of
the late Robert Milligan.
Mr. McLane was brought up in the political school of Washing
ton, and commenced his career as a member of the party of which
that great man was the head, and from which the temptations of
ambition have never induced him to separate. Though he may
have embraced the principles of that school under the influence of
early associations — his gallant father and his enlightened ipstructer
being among its members — he adhered to them under the conscien
tious conviction that they were identified with the best interests of
the people. He was a patriot, and not a partisan — looking to the
aggregate of measures, or to motives and results of the whole, rather
than of a part.
The last war found him in full professional practice ; and although
his political friends had opposed the war as premature, yet, no sooner
had it been declared, than he cordially joined in its support, and at
a great sacrifice of his private interests, embarked in the contest
personally, and without emolument. Fortifications being considered
necessary for the defence of his town, he contributed his own manual
labor to their erection ; and yielding offices to those who preferred
their tranquil and lucrative enjoyment to the sure perfl and doubtful
glory of conflict, he literally shouldered his musket, and went into
the ranks as a private. As a member of a volunteer company, com-

LOUIS McLANE.
manded by the late Cassar A. Rodney, (attorney general of the United
States under Mr. Jefferson's administration,) he marched with his
comrades when they tendered their services for the defence of Balti
more, until they were checked in their progress at Elkton, by the
information that their aid was not desired. The example and exer
tions of Mr. McLane on this occasion had an important influence
in reconciling party opposition, and producing, among all classes of
his fellow citizens, union and energy in the prosecution of the war,
and in support of the government. In July, 1813, he was selected to
deliver an oration to his company, in the presence of a numerous and
judicious auditory, and the chivalrous and patriotic spirit which
breathed throughout the whole of this production, established his
reputation as a sound orator and a good citizen.
Mr. McLane was elected, in 1816, to represent the people of the
state of Delaware in the congress of the United States. This high
tribute to his merits, so gratifying to its object, and so honorable to
the discrimination of those who conferred it, placed him at once in
a station in which his labors were to assume a more national cha
racter, his intellectual powers to range through a wider expanse, and
his purposes and his fame to be developed for other times. He was
now called to contend in that more spacious and splendid field, in
the confficts of which the interests of millions are involved, and where
the decisions of an individual may become the edicts of a country,
and fix the destiny of a generation.
On the 1st of December, 1817, being the commencement of the
first session of the fifteenth congress, Mr. McLane took his seat in the
house of representatives, of which body he continued to be a mem
ber until the termination of the nineteenth congress, in the spring of
1827. His course as a legislator was manly, hberal, and patriotic.
As an expositor of the constitution, his constructions were the result
of a close examination of the views of its framers, and of those who
were contemporary with the period of its adoption, and a comparison
of those views with the impressions of his own mind and the deduc
tions of his own judgment. In the practical application of its doc
trines, he sought for the rule of his decision in that nice adjustment
of legislative action to the wants of the people which would produce
the greatest possible result of general prosperity. Against all propo
sitions involving unnecessary or exorbitant expenditures, his vote
stands on record in the journals of the house. When he entered
congress, the heavy debt which had been contracted during the war
absorbed a great portion of the public revenue, and he was one of

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
those who sedulously labored for the diminution of this burden upon
the resources of his country. But the policy of preparation in peace
for the contingency of war, which he considered scarcely of less im
portance than the discharge of the public debt with as much rapidity
as the depression of the national energies would permit, led him at
the same time to promote all those objects which looked to the more
effectual security of the country against future aggression. The last
few years had been fruitful in bitter experience. He had seen the
public coffers exhausted and the various sources of revenue drained,
in consequence of the absence of those facilities of transportation,
which, by a wise and timely system of precaution, might be provided,
against any recurrence of events inauspicious to the public tran
quillity ; and he became the advocate of such measures as would put
the country in that attitude which would hereafter render defence
less costly and more effectual. To this cause may be ascribed his
support of those measures of internal improvement which contem
plated a channel of intercourse between the north and the south,
through the interior of the country, by which men and the muni
tions of war could be conveyed to any important point of operations,
without the danger of hostile interruption. Looking to the same
objects he also sustained, on the floor of congress as well as in the
committee room, that more expensive and yet more necessary
branch of the great scheme of national defence, which embraced the
erection of fortresses at those points where the principal rivers dis
charge themselves into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The
records of the parliamentary eloquence of that period amply deve
lop Mr. McLane's views on these interesting subjects, and testify the
soundness of his constitutional constructions, the sincerity of his
patriotism, the breadth of his political forecast, the boldness of his
conceptions, and the loftiness of his elocution. While it is due to
Mr. McLane to exhibit him in his legislative career as the steady
advocate of the policy of internal improvement, so far as it was con
nected with the scheme of public defence, it is equally just to his
discrimination that he should not be confounded with the supporters
of every project, local in its advantages and limited in its extent.
Between the high purposes of public defence and national security,
and the interested projects of individuals for sectional objects, he
boldly planted his foot ; and resisted every application to congress to
dispense the public funds for the advancement of personal, corporate,
and local views, while any portion of the public debt remained un
satisfied.

LOUIS McLANE.
The pendency of the celebrated Missouri question, and the legis
lation in reference to the admission of that state into the union,
invested the proceedings of the sixteenth congress with an extraor
dinary interest. The discussion of the restriction of the new state
on the subject of slavery shook the walls of the capitol, and agi
tated the whole circle of the union. In a crisis of such difficulty
and perfl, Mr. McLane selected a course which attested the vigorous
and manly structure of his mind. On the one hand he was strongly
assailed by the prejudices of his constituents, prejudices deeply
rooted and sincere, and consequently deserving and demanding the
utmost respect and consideration. The convictions of his own
mind, on the other hand, impelled him to yield obedience to the pro
visions of the constitution as paramount to all other authorities, and
to adopt the guidance of his own conscience in their apphcation.
His difficulties were at this moment increased, by instructions from
the legislature of his state to vote in favor of restricting the new
state from permitting the existence of slavery within its limits. To
vote against restriction, therefore, was to place himself in opposition
to the opinions of those who had elected him ; a position not to be
taken Avithout a solemn conviction that it was required by a higher
obligation than that of obedience to the constituent authority. The
oath which he had taken to support the constitution, according to
his reading of the fundamental charter, prescribed a course contrary
to that which was marked out by the legislature. Thus, submission
to his instructions involved a violation of his oath, while the man
date of his oath prohibited a compliance with his instructions. As
the most imperative of the conflicting obligations, he yielded to his
oath ; and on the issue which he thus made up with his constituents,
staked his immediate popularity and his future fortunes. That in
this decision he exhibited as much sagacity as firmness was proved
by the fact, that he was elected to the succeeding congress, and that
his reputation as a statesman acquired a new impulse, and established
itself more firmly in the public confidence, and in that of his own
state. On a subsequent occasion of great public excitement, he again
found himself thrown into opposition to the views both of a consi
derable portion of his own state, and of a numerous and powerful
party throughout the union. The people having failed to elect a
president at the electoral election in 1824, it became the duty of the
house, under the constitution, to make a selection from the three
candidates having the highest number of votes. A committee was

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
appointed to prepare rules to be observed during the proceeding, and
the report of this committee being under consideration, an important
discussion arose, going wholly beyond the question as to the rules of
proceeding, and embracing high constitutional points, hitherto un
touched. It was maintained by Mr. McLane, that, in giving his
vote for president under the constitutional provision which devolved
the election upon the house of representatives, it was the right and
the duty of a member to vote according to his own judgment, with
out being bound either by any instructions from his immediate con
stituents, or by any popular preference inferrible from one of the
candidate's having received a plurality of the electoral votes. Mr.
McLane enforced his views with great ability ; his speech on that
occasion is considered as one of his most successful efforts ; and if a
like crisis should again occur, will be referred to as a text book for
those who assert their right to a free choice.
Standing in connection with the enlightened minority who sus
tained the claims of Mr. Crawford to the presidency, he acted in
conformity with the principles he had so ably expounded, and gave
his vote, as all admitted, conscientiously ; though to the candidate
having the smallest number of votes. Even among the opponents
of Mr. Crawford were to be found adversaries capable of appreciat
ing and admiring the courage and devotion which prompted so
honorable and chivalrous an adherence to his principles, under cir
cumstances the most discouraging, and in disregard of the censure
he was sure to encounter. His course, however, was marked by that
intrepidity and decision, without which, even great talents fail, in
trying emergencies, to secure general confidence and command per
manent admiration.
The necessity of a policy which would cherish and sustain a
system of domestic industry, by which the great variety of the pro
ductions of our soil might be fabricated without a resort to foreign
looms, was early recognised by the state of Delaware. On this
point Mr. McLane participated in the feelings of his constituents.
He had seen, during the last war, the extent of the evils which had
resulted from an entire dependance on foreign supplies for articles
indispensable to the comfort of civilized society ; and, admonished
by the past, he was anxious to provide nearer and more certain
sources of supply for the future. In reference, also, to the creation
of a revenue, he was impressed with the importance of imposing
such duties on articles of foreign manufacture which could be
Avrought out of our own materiel, by our own industry and genius,

LOUIS McLANE.
as would afford to the citizens of the United States who should turn
their thoughts and their toil into that direction, a fair competition in
our own markets with foreign capital and industry. Influenced by
these views Mr. McLane became an advocate of the tariff policy,
both as a source of revenue and as a measure of protection to the
domestic manufacturer, which would enable him to supply the
wants of the country. His speeches on this question contain a mass
of powerful argument in favor of the constitutional power of con
gress to impose duties for protection, combined with a variety of
enlightened views as to the expediency of exercising that power in
relation to the objects which were in the contemplation of its advo
cates. The limits allowed to this sketch do not permit a detailed review
of Mr. McLane's congressional career. He has borne a prominent
part in all the most important measures of congress, either in the
house or in the senate, from 1817 to 1829. In the house he was
first appointed a member of the committee on commerce. He was
subsequently appointed chairman of the naval committee ; and,
while holding that post, he reported a bill for the re-organization of
the navy, containing a plan well calculated to add to the efficiency
of that essential means of national defence, and to excite the patriotic
ambition of its gallant officers. He Avas also a member, with Mr.
Lowndes and others, of the special committee appointed in 1819 to
investigate the affairs of the bank of the United States. In 1822 he
was appointed chairman of the committee of ways and means, in
which station he continued until he was elected to the senate.
At the head of that committee, the most important in the house,
the duty of sustaining the executive government by the needfiil
appropriations was principally devolved upon Mr. McLane, whose
skill in financial arrangement, comprehensive knowledge of the
wants of the government, vigilance in detecting and defeating un
reasonable and extravagant demands, and constant regard to an
economical disbursement of the public money, speedily won the
confidence of the committee and of the house. The fidelity and
talent with which he carried through the measures intrusted to
his charge, established his merits as a financial minister, and his
tact and industry as a legislator.
On an examination of Mr. McLane's congressional career it may
be safely asserted, that no member ever acquired, in a higher degree,
the confidence of the house. A body comprising so much virtue and
talent could not fail to render that justice to his purity of purpose,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
elevation of sentiment, enlargement of views, and profoundness of
reflection, displayed and recommended as they were, by great abflity
as a parliamentary speaker.
In December, 1827, at the commencement of the twentieth con
gress, Mr. McLane took his seat in the senate of the United States,
having been elected, by the legislature of Delaware, a senator for the
term of six years from the 4th of March preceding. In this body he
had occasion to sustain and enforce the opinions he had expressed
in the other branch, on the subject of the protecting duties, and the
limitation of the public contributions, for the purposes of internal
improvements, to such objects as should be deemed of national
importance. The legislative services of Mr. McLane closed with the termina
tion of the second session. His talents and services had been too
conspicuous to escape the notice of General Jackson ; and one of the
earliest testimonies of executive favor was given to Mr. McLane.
In May, 1829, without solicitation on his part, he was selected by
General Jackson to fill the important station of minister of the United
States in Great Britain; and, after devoting a short time to the
arrangement of his personal concerns, he embarked for London,
where he early applied himself to the grave and arduous duties
which his government had committed to his charge.
To a mind liberally endowed with natural gifts, and highly
improved by long and skilful cultivation, Mr. McLane unites that
blandness, courtesy, and grace of demeanor, so admirably adapted to
harmonize with the manners of European courts. By this happy
combination of diplomatic qualities, he was enabled to make those
impressions in the outset, the favorable influence of which was de
monstrated, in the ready ear which was always given by the British
cabinet to his propositions, and the constant disposition to concede to
an urbane and amiable deportment, points which might have been
sturdily maintained against less favorable qualities. The adroitness
and manliness with which he conducted the negotiation concerning
the delicate and embarrassing question of the exclusive commercial
rights of Great Britain in her own colonies, has placed Mr. McLane
on an elevated point in the scale of diplomatic character.
After residing in London about two years, Mr. McLane returned,
and was called to take charge of the treasury department in 1831,
in the second cabinet of General Jackson. His expositions of the
state of the finances while in this situation, are distinguished by
succinctness, and his suggestions exhibit much depth of reflection

LOUIS McLANE.
and accuracy of judgment. Treating with deference and respect
the sentiments of those with whom he has been connected in the ad
ministration of the government, whenever they came in conflict with
his own, he has so well succeeded in fortifying and defending his
opinions, as to demonstrate that they also have possessed the
strongest claims to consideration, and that he has taken no single
position, on questions of a high national character, without a calm
and deliberate conference with his own judgment, assisted by all
the lights which he could obtain from examination, reflection, and
experience. It was during Mr. McLane's financial administration that the
discontents which a portion of our southern brethren entertained in
respect to the policy of fostering domestic manufactures, assumed a
character so serious as to produce general apprehension for the public
tranquiUity. All the precautionary measures which the occasion re
quired of him were promptly taken, and so judicious were they, that
they did not tend in any degree to exasperate the local excitement.
He afterwards contributed, by his firm but concUiatory counsels, to
the spirit of mutual concession, which resulted in those measures
which have happily restored harmony to the country.
That Mr. McLane has been enunently successful in retaining the
confidence and esteem of the chief magistrate by whom he was
called to office, and of the members of the cabinet with whom he
has been associated, may be inferred from the fact, that during the
year 1833 he was called to the superintendence of the department
of state.
In the honorable and responsible station which he now fills, Mr.
McLane merits all that consideration from his country which he
has bought, at the costly price of nearly twenty years of devotion to
the public interests.
At an early period of his life he brought his household gods and
laid them on the altar of his country ; an offering which was yielded
to the dictates of a patriotic spirit, in opposition to the less noble
suggestions of that cold prudence which holds up a selfish enjoy
ment as the highest of human duties and aims. His wealth consists
in a mind constant, elevated, and active in the promotion of human
prosperity, and a reputation free from stain, which will descend to
his children, an inheritance which neither gold can purchase, nor
envy diminish, nor the pernicious blight of time destroy.
"Though scarcely arrived at the prime of life, Mr. McLane has
already reached an official eminence inferior only to those of presi-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
dent and vice president. He has passed legitimately to the high
place of secretary of state, through all the intermediate trusts of
representative of the people, senator, minister to London, and secre
tary of the treasury : — proving in all his knowledge of public affairs,
and fitting himself for still higher service. As he is not a party
man, but prefers on all occasions the course pointed out by his own
conscientious convictions of right, his success is not the result of
party influence. He owes it to the esteem in which his fellow citi
zens hold his integrity, his patriotism, and his talents. With his
qualifications for public service, and with the high public confidence
which he enjoys, a long career of usefulness and honor lies before
him.

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1. 1 )!.•,! t(. I iloiirl i>r ih. .s*..i(lTinii 1 iiMi .1 ol y- V. York,

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.

" For him there 's a story in every breeze.
And a picture in every wave." Moore.
James Penimore Cooper was born at Bordentown, in the state
of New Jersey, September 15th, 1789. His famUy is one of the
most ancient in our country, and can be traced back distinctly to
the early part of the seventeenth century. By the maternal side his
American pedigree is equally ancient, springing from a Swedish
stock, which dates from the first settlement of Delaware. A very
large estate is still owned, and has been occupied by the family, in
New Jersey, ever since that state was settled.
These facts, although of little consequence in a country where
every individual is the " faber tuse fortunas," the founder of his own
family — are alluded to in this place, to refute the assertions made in.
several foreign magazines by writers, who, in their zeal for monopo
lizing all excellence, have claimed Mr. Cooper as an Englishman.
We have reason to believe that the subject of this sketch is proud of
his old American blood, less from personal considerations than from
those ardent feelings of nationality which form so prominent a fea
ture in his character. We are old fashioned enough to like him the
better for it ; and we cannot comprehend why the same glowing de
votion to one's OAvn country, which is admired in Scott, Beranger,
or Moore, should not be appreciated • in the writings of Cooper. It
is no small evidence that we are not yet entirely disinthralled from
our mental dependance upon Europe, when we can applaud the
narrow selfishness of a Scotch freebooter, or an Irish rapparee, and
yet " hesitate dislike" when a manly and rational love of country is
inculcated by one of our distinguished citizens.
The early education of young Cooper commenced at Bordentown,
but upon the removal of his father. Judge Cooper, to Cooperstown, in
the state of New York, where he had purchased a large estate, the
subject of our memoir was placed, in the year 1799, under the care
of the Rev. Mr. Ellison, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Albany. After
a residence of some years in one of our colleges, he Avas permitted

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
to enter the navy, for which he had shewn an early predilection.
During a service of several years on the lakes and the ocean, he
gave brilliant promise of future excellence by his activity, gallantry,
and unremitted attention to the duties of his arduous profession.
This Avould have been speedily foUoAved by promotion, but he relin
quished it for other and more pleasing engagements. He married,
and for several years gave himself up to all the luxurious ease of a
country gentleman.
During this period, he appears to have accumulated those rich
stores of intellectual Avealth which were afterwards to be poured
forth to gratify and delight his countrymen. It is certain, at least,
that to his residence at Cooperstown we can trace the origin of
those beautiful delineations of frontier manners and scenery which
characterize the " Pioneers," while the singularly bold and striking
incidents of the " Spy" may be safely attributed to the legends and
traditions of his neighbors during his residence on the "Neutral
Ground." It is not knoAvn at what period his thoughts were turned towards
embodying, in a work of imagination, his views of society, charac
ter, and manners, although we are aware that many essays, distin
guished alike for vigor of thought and manly expression, which
appeared in the Literary and Philosophical Repository for 1822-3,
were generally attributed to the pen of Mr. Cooper.
Apparently acquainted with the prevailing tastes of his country
men, he made his first formal essay as a novelist under a foreign
disguise. " Precaution" was given to the world. The scene was
laid in England, and it contained a due proportion of noble lords
and titled dames to render it palatable to his readers. As an Eng
lish novel, it was at first favorably received, but as it contained no
fashionable slang, misplaced sentimentality, incoherent rhapsodies,
nor libels upon distinguished characters, having been noticed in no
English revicAv, and worse than all, the secret of its authorship
having transpired ; it narrowly escaped oblivion, when his subse
quent works, the " Spy," " Pilot," " Pioneers," <fcc., Avhich appeared
in rapid succession, placed our author in high favor with the public.
In a biographical sketch of a living writer, propriety appears to
indicate that a critical analysis of his Avritings Avould be totally mis
placed. This more properly belongs to the province of the revieAver,
but we may be permitted to allude to a few particulars in which he
is confessedly without a rival.
His ocean pictures and delineations of the nautical character in all

JAMES PENIMORE COOPER.
its phases, from the thoughtless tar before the mast, to the grave and
dignified commander, " Who treads the monarch of the peopled deck,"
are acknowledged to be as far superior to the sketches of SmoUet, as
Smollet himself stands before the Halls and Marryats of the present
day. Nor has he been less successful in delineating the "rainbow
glories" of our forest scenery, and in depicting the moody, taciturn,
and sententious red man of the forest.
For several years past, Mr. Cooper has resided in various parts
of Europe, with the view of giving to his numerous famUy the ad
vantages of a highly finished education. He had been compliment
ed with the title of American consul at Lyons — ^an empty honor,
which our author seems to have estimated at its just value, for we
believe that he never visited the scene of his official functions.
During this period, the pen of Mr. Cooper has been frequently
exercised, and although it has been made a subject of reproach, that
in his late Avritings he has introduced political allusions into pro-
, fessed works of imagination, yet the charge comes with an ill grace
from his countrymen.
During the residence of Mr. Cooper in Paris, the eventful revolu
tion of July took place, and stirred up all the parties and factions
which had been torpid under the leaden sceptres of Louis and
Charles. The struggle between the absolutists, republicans, and
constitutionalists, became exceedingly severe ; and our author found
himself suddenly placed in a position from which one of a less
ardent disposition would have shrunk. One of the weapons wielded
by the French republican party, was the comparative cheapness of
that form of government ; and to a nation like Prance, which had
suffered so much from the lavish prodigality of its kings, it was a
powerful argument. It is, we believe, generally conceded, that our
own Lafayette, although a republican himself, saw with his charac
teristic sagacity, the entire unfitness of such a form of government
to modern France, and was rather considered as the leader of the
constitutional party. However this may be, the discussion assumed
an animated character, the expenses of our own institutions were
criticaUy canvassed, and it was roundly asserted by the absolutists,
that the people of these United States paid more direct and indirect
taxes for the support of government than the French. This roused
the honest old patriot, Lafayette, who, in the absence of sufficient sta-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
tistical information, applied to Mr. Cooper to furnish him with such
data as would drive the libellers from their false position. With this
request he cheerfully complied — and shame light upon the American
who in. such a cause would haA^e acted otherwise. It would be
foreign to these pages to pursue the history of this discussion farther
than to observe, that in doing this, Mr. Cooper appears to have acted
under a stern sense of duty towards his native land, regardless of
personal considerations, regardless of its effect upon his European
popularity, and, as we learn from one of his published letters, at no
inconsiderable pecuniary sacrifice. For such services he looked for
no reward beyond the consciousness of having defended the institu
tions of his beloved country, and doubtless he anticipated the hearty
approval of his countrymen. In this latter particular, we regret to
add that our author has been disappointed. He has been coolly
" damned Avith faint applause" by some, while others have reproached
him with having "flouted his Americanism throughout Europe."
All, however, have not taken this vicAV of the subject.
It will stand an everlasting stigma upon the reputation of one
of the master spirits of the age, upon Goethe, the father — we had
almost said the founder — of German literature, that in all his volu
minous and multifarious Avritings, not a line can be found calculated
to awaken the dormant patriotism of his countrymen, to arouse them
to a sense of their duties as citizens or of their rights as freemen.
Par different is the case with our esteemed author, who, during his
residence abroad, has effected more in defence of our political insti
tutions, more in vindication of our national character from the open
and covert attacks of foreign libellers, than any or all of the Ameri
can writers who have selected Europe as their residence.
We conclude, with transferring to our pages the following tribute
from one of our highly gifted bards.
" Cooper, whose name is with his country's woven.
First in her fields, her pioneer of mind,
A wanderer now in other climes has proven
His love for the young land he left behind,
" And Ihron'd her in the senate hall of nations,
Robed like the deluge rainbow, heaven wrought ;
Magnificent as his own mind's creations,
And beautiful as her green world of thought." Halleck.

Aixmcroiar _- (© ©muKr.

^^^^

J^jjlered AccoE&^lnthEactgEGangressmlhejreaTlSS^Tjy J,«Tc-'; J Ilij-V.^^^ i-G.i3ie clfc.rj^^ ;i£fice of tke T)]sltHct
Court aEthe Saiiliii?ni. District of 'i ¦ --

AARON OGDEN.

The subject of this memoir is one of the small band of ancient
worthies, who, having devoted the prime of life to the service of
their country, yet live to witness and enjoy its prosperity and
happiness. In the following sketch of the life of Governor Ogden it wUl be
noticed, that the narrative of some of the most important scenes in
the revolutionary war, vary from the accounts which have heretofore
been generally received. Where this is the case, the present record
rests on the authority of Colonel Ogden himself, who, as will be
seen, was not one of those who could
" Behold unmoved the boundless slaughter spread,
Himself stand idle and his country bleed."
Aaron Ogden was born on the 3d of December, 1756, at Eliza
beth town, Ncav Jersey — graduated at Princeton college in Septem
ber, 1773 — is now one of the trustees of that celebrated seat of sci
ence, and the first vice-president of the alumni of Nassau Hall, of
whom the president is James Madison.
Having been nurtured in Avhig principles, Mr. Ogden very early
enrolled himself in their defence, in the militia of his native state.
In the Avinter of 1775-6, a detachment from the first New Jersey
regiment, together with a corps of volunteers from Elizabethtown,
embarked in a small coasting vessel for the purpose of capturing a
ship lying off Sandy Hook, while the Asia, a British ship of the line,
and a large tender, Avere lying in the bay of New York. The expe
dition put to sea at night, under a strong north wind, and soon after
sun rising, they descried the ship they were in quest of; they bore
doAvn, laid themselves alongside, and captured her by boarding.
One of these boarders was Mr. Ogden. The ship proved to be the
" Blue Mountain Valley," of three hundred tons, loaded with coal,
porter, and live stock for the British troops at Boston. In the after
noon the Avind came in from the southward, and the prize was safely
brought in and secured at Elizabethtown point.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
In the spring of 1777 Mr. Ogden received an appointment in the
first New Jersey regiment, in the line of the continental army : he
continued in the service until the termination of the war, in the
various grades of captain, major of brigade, brigade-major and
inspector, and aid-de-camp.
On the 11th of September, 1777, the American army, consisting
of about eighteen thousand men, was posted near Chad's ford, on the
Brandywine, with that river and a strong abattis in its front; and the
enemy, Avith as large a number, Avas advancing from the head of Elk,
apparently with an intent to cross the Brandywine at this ford, and
attack General Washington in his then position ; but he, foreseeing
that Sir William Howe might turn the right of the American army
by crossing a bridge higher up the river, near Birmingham meeting
house, Avas determined in this event to pass his army over the Bran
dywine at Chad's ford, attack the troops, the heavy artUlery, and
baggage of the enemy, Avhich might be left behind, and take post in
the neighboring high hills of Maryland. The first New Jersey regi
ment, to which Mr. Ogden belonged, Avas posted in advance, pre
pared to cross the river and commence the attack, in case the enemy
should make the expected movement. Colonel Matthias Ogden, who
commanded this regiment, despatched his brother, the subject of this
memoir, to the commander-in-chief, to inform him that every thing
was ready and Availing for the order to advance across the river.
Washington was attended by his aids, and informed the bearer of
this message, that he was distracted by contrary intelligence, and
he did not send the expected order.
It seems that Colonel Hamilton, who was one of Washington's
aids, had reconnoitred the enemy, and had informed the General
that they were in fiill march up the river, on the other side of
it, towards his right : at the same time an express arrived from
Major General Sullivan, Avho had been placed on the right for the
express purpose of observing the movement of the enemy, that there
were none on this road.
Colonel Lewis Morris, one of the aids of General Sullivan, Avithin
a few years past, informed Mr. Ogden, that the videts sent out by
General Sullivan, had spent their time in drinking at a tavern, and
on their return, reported that the enemy were not on that route, upon
which he wrote on a drum head his despatch to General Washing
ton, containing this contradictory intelligence. Sir WUliam Howe
turned the right of the American army, and compeUed Washington
to change his front ; and thus this battle was won and lost.

AARON OGDEN.
At the battle of Monmouth, on the 28th of June, 1778, Major
Ogden Avas brigade-major to the Jersey brigade, Avhich composed
a part of the advance of the army under the command of Gene
ral Lee. This advanced corps marched in two columns, with the
proper interval for forming a line of battle, but on approaching the
enemy, each column halted and retired simultaneously, without any
disposition for making or receiving an attack. They retired, how
ever, in perfect order, and when met by the commander-in-chief,
were directed by him to fall into the rear of the main body of his
army. At this time Major-General Lord Sterling, to whom Major
Ogden was well known, took him as an assistant aid-de-camp, and
he as such continued with his lordship during the residue of the
day and the succeeding night, in the line of the main body, during
which time he was near the person, both of Lord Sterling and of
the commander-in-chief, and was the bearer of important orders from
each of them. The enemy advanced to a ravine lying in front of
the line of the American army, when there ensued a heavy and
destructive cannonade from each side for a long time. The enemy
at length advanced over the ravine to the attack of our batteries in
the line — on perceiving this, Washington inquired of Major Ogden
whether his horse still held out, (for the day was intensely hot,)
and on being answered in the affirmative, he ordered him to re
connoitre a wood, which lay at some distance to the left, with as
much speed as possible ; this was done accordingly, and upon
his reporting that the enemy had lately been in the occupation of
that wood, but had retired, leaving many dead, and many dying Avith
heat ; the commander-in-chief immediately said in a loud voice, " we
will advance in our turn." He gave his orders accordingly, and the
British soldiers were driven back by the points of American bayo
nets, which turned the fate of the day : the firing from each side
soon after ceased, and both armies lay near each other on the
ground they had respectively occupied.
In the winter of 1778-9, the Jersey brigade was cantoned at Eli
zabethtown, in the immediate vicinity of the British army. An
attempt to surprise this brigade was made by an expedition from
Long Island, under General Grey, called "no flint Grey," on account
of his having, on a former occasion, surprised and put to the bayonet
a part of General Wayne's brigade at the Paoli, near Philadelphia.
Major Ogden was sleeping in the same room with General Max
well, who commanded the brigade, when the fleld officer of the day
rode np to the general's quarters and informed him that one of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
pickets had heard the roAving of many boats round Bergen point,
up NeAvark bay. Major Ogden, knoAving that there was no picket
on the road leading from the salt meadoAVS lying on this bay, volun
teered his service, to reconnoitre that road. On approaching the
house next to the meadoAvs, he observed in it a light, and slackened
the pace of his horse — the night Avas remarkably dark, and suddenly
he found himself among British soldiers, and Avithin the reach of a
British sentinel, Avho directed him to dismount. Major Ogden,
determined at all hazards to attempt to alarm the garrison, immedi
ately Avheeled and put spurs to his horse, expecting a shot, but in
stead of a shot he received from another sentinel a thrust Avith a
bayonet below the short ribs — he had strength nevertheless to reach
the garrison, about tAvo miles distant, and give the alarm. On his
return. General MaxAvell observed that " the pitcher that often goes
down the Avell, avUI come up broken at last." He, hoAvever, recovered
from his Avound, but it had Avell nigh proved fatal to him.
In the campaign of 1779 Major Ogden served as aid-de-camp to
General MaxAvell in the successful expedition of Major General Sul
livan against the hostile Indians.
Early in the year 1780, an expedition from Ncav York, consisting
of eight thousand British and Hessian troops, under the Hessian
General, Knyphausen, passed into Ncav Jersey, Avith a design to
attack Washington in his Avinter quarters at Morristown, with an
army consisting then of not more than six thousand effective men.
At this time the Jersey brigade, consisting of about one thousand
men, under the command of General MaxAvell, to Avhom the subject
of this memoir Avas aid-de-camp, Avas stationed on the lines.
The enemy landed, at midnight, at Elizabethtown point, about
eighteen miles from MorristoAvn, and advanced unobserved till they
fell in Avith a picket guard, by Avhose fire, the thigh of General Ster
ling, of the British army, who led the advance, was broken, which
delayed the further advance of this expedition for a very considera
ble time.
At sun rise they were seen in full march, about four miles from
Elizabeth to Avn, on the road to Morris, but their further advance was
then checked by the Jersey brigade, in a sharp action of more than
an hour, and until its left was turned by the enemy on another road
Avhen it retired to Springfield, a distance of about three miles, in
perfect order, and without the least precipitation.
The brigade was then posted behind the river near Springfield,
having left standing the bridge over Avhich it had passed. The

AARON OGDEN.
enemy advanced as far as the river and bridge, but no farther on
that day.
By this time the inhabitants had received the alarm ; the militia,
in small bodies, were beginning to join the brigade, and the special
direction of them was committed to Major Ogden, who, by his con
duct during the day, had acquired the confidence of his general, by
having twice saved his brigade from defeat and ruin.
Major Ogden induced the first small body of militia whja had
come in, to cross the bridge, conceal themselves among the willow
bushes growing by the river, and there to remain until they
should be able to give one shot at least, and to return back over the
bridge. This was done accordingly, and every man returned safe.
It was less difficult to induce the next small party to do the same,
and this example was followed, as a matter of course, by every suc-
cessiA^e body of militia ; each man, thus acting for himself, in defence
of his home, his wife, and his children, did yeoman service ; so that
the whole line of the British army before night became engaged in
this irregular fight, and at night retreated, taking off with them their
dead and wounded, which amounted to a very considerable number.
This instance may be cited as a fair proof that militia always
should be used as irregular, and not as regidar troops.
In about ten days afterwards the enemy again marched out, and
burnt Springfield, in presence of greater numbers of regular troops,
and three thousand militia, who were organized on that day in
regular order. On the retreat of the enemy they Avere followed by
irregular bodies of militia, horse and foot, to hasten their march, and
prevent plundering ; in this service Major Ogden's horse was shot
under him through the body.
After the resignation of General Maxwell, Captain Ogden, com
manding a company in the light infantry, under Major General the
Marquis Lafayette, received an order from the commander-in-chief
to attend at head quarters, the next morning, at eight o'clock pre
cisely, when he was met by Washington alone at his tent door, who
put into his hands a packet addressed to his excellency Sir Henry
Clinton, commander, etc., of the British forces at New York, and at
the same time directed him to carry it, Avith a fiag of truce, under
an escort of twenty-five dragoons, to the nearest post of the enemy,
and deliver it into the hands of the commanding officer there ; and
that he should get for himself the best horse he could obtain, and
call on the Marquis Lafayette for special instructions. Major
Andre, of the British army, who was known to be the particular

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
friend and favorite of Sir Henry Clinton, had been taken, tried, and
condemned to death by a general court-martial of American officers,
and was then under sentence to be hanged as a spy.
General Lafayette's instructions to Captain Ogden were, that he
should, if possible, get within the British post, at Powles Hook,
and continue there during the night, and that he should privately
assure the comm.anding officer there, without taking him aside for
the purpose, that he, Captain Ogden, was instructed to say, that if
Sir Henry Clinton would, in any way whatever, suffer Washington
to get General Arnold within his power, that Major Andre should
be imm,ediately released.
Captain Ogden so managed as to get into the post, where he was
politely offered accommodations for the night. No opportunity pre
sented itself until supper, when he was seated next the commanding
officer there, into whose ear the communication was whispered ; on
receiving which he immediately rose from the table, and returned in
about tAVO hours from the city of New York, the head quarters of
Sir Henry Clinton, with a laconic answer from him, which was
communicated in the same private manner, that a deserter was
never given up, and then added aloud — "Captain Ogden, your
horse will be ready for your departure early in the morning." Thus
this benevolent experiment of Washington, in favor of the unfortunate
Andre, failed, and this accomplished scholar and gentleman suffered
an ignominious death, while the infamous Arnold was receiving the
reward of his treachery to his general and his treason to his country.
The subject of this memoir was a captain of a company of the
light infantry of general, the Marquis Lafayette, in his memorable
campaign in Virginia, in 1781.
Early in this campaign General Lafayette formed a legionary
corps of horse and foot, to be commanded by Major M'Pherson ; the
foot was composed of one company, selected from each of his three
regiments of light infantry — these were all picked men, and always
lay between the two armies, and particularly exposed to surprise —
which, although frequently attempted, was never effected — and to
guard against which required the greatest vigilance ; these three
companies of infantry were commanded by Captain Ogden, being
the eldest captain.
During this campaign, and before the arrival of Washington,
Lord CornAvallis made an attempt " to catch the boy," as he used to
call Lafayette, by inducing him to believe that he was crossing his
whole army from the north to the south side of James river; and

AARON OGDEN.
made a demonstration accordingly. General Lafayette discovered
this feint, but just in time to save himself, after marching to attack
the rear of the enemy, as he supposed ; he, however, ordered an
attack on the left of the front of the enemy ; and Captain Ogden
was ordered with the infantry of this legionary corps, and a body of
militia, to march to the left and cover the retreat of the main body,
which retreat at the same time was ordered by the general.
After marching some distance as directed. Captain Ogden dis
covered the right wing of the British army advancing rapidly to turn
the left of our army, when, in order to conceal the comparative small
ness of his force, he threw his men into a neighboring wood, and
posted them behind a surrounding fence ; this caused the enemy to
halt and reconnoitre, and form their line of attack, which marched
up to charge into the woods. In this, however, they were checked
by a galling fire from the men behind the fence; by which means the
right wing of the enemy was retarded until the firing on the left
had entirely ceased — when Captain Ogden drew off his men and
fell into the rear of the main body, and so covered its retreat.
At the siege of Yorktown, Captain Ogden, at the head of his
company, gallantly stormed the left redoubt of the enemy, " and was
honored," says Lafayette in an autograph letter before us, " with the
peculiar approbation of Washington."
After the termination of the war he applied himself to the study
of the law, and was admitted by the supreme court of New Jersey,
to the degrees successively of an attorney, a counsellor, and sergeant
at-laAv, and by the corporation of Nassau Hall, at Princeton, to the
degree of Doctor of Laws.
In the year 1799, and when in full practice at the bar, he was
appointed to the command of the eleventh regiment of the army of
the United States, and a deputy quarter-master-general, in which
grades he served until the army was disbanded.
In the year 1800 he was appointed, by the legislature of New
Jersey, to be one of the electors of the president and vice-president
of the United States, and afterwards one of the commissioners on
the part of New Jersey for definitely settling the disputed boundary
between that state and the state of NeAV York. The commissioners
reported to the legislatures of their respective states, the arguments
on both sides, for and against the position, that the middle of the
intermediate water was the true boundary line ; but the controversy
between the states remained unsettled until lately, when that line

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Avas adopted with some special exceptions as to jurisdiction, which
were supposed to be mutually advantageous.
In the year 1801 he was appointed one of the senators of the state
of New Jersey in the congress of the United States, and served as
such until 1803 ; after which he resumed and continued in an
extensive practice of the law, until the year 1812, when he was
elected Governor of New Jersey, and the commander-in-chief of
its militia. During this period he was appointed a major-general
in the army of the United States, then at war with Great Britain,
which last appointment he did not accept, on the sole ground that
he thought he could be of more use in the command of the militia
of New Jersey, then threatened with an invasion, than he probably
could be in the regular army. Governor Ogden appeared before
the legislature of the state of New York, about the year 1815, and
personally, in an argument before committees of the whole of both
houses, made the first attempt to prove that the statute of New York,
granting to Mr. Pulton a monopoly of steam boat navigation on all
the waters Avithin the jurisdiction of the state, was unconstitutional.
This argument was had in support of a petition from him to repeal
the law of the state of Ncav York, on the ground that it was con
trary to the constitution of the United States. In this argument he
was opposed by highly eminent counsel. The bill offered by him
passed the house of assembly by a large majority, but was lost ih
the senate by one vote. Although this bill was lost, it may be
ascribed to this first effort ever made against that monopoly, that it
was finally crushed by a judgment of the supreme court of the United
States, on the ground advocated by Governor Ogden at Albany.
Governor Ogden is now president-general of the general society
of Cincinnati,* in which high rank his predecessors Avere Generals
Washington, Hamilton, and Pinkney ; he has also been, for many
years, president of the New Jersey state society of that order.

* This society was instituted in 1783, on the disbanding of the army. When the
officers were about to become private citizens, they resolved to associate themselves into
a Society of Friends, to endure as long as they shall endure, or any of their male
posterity. The principles on which the society is based, are " an incessant attention to
preserve inviolate those e.f alted rights and liberties of human nature, for which they
have fought and bled, and without which, the high rank of a rational being is a curse,
instead of a blessing." " An unalterable determination to promote and ctierish between
the respective states tJiat union and national honor so essentially necessary to their happi
ness, and the future dignity of the American empire ; and to render permanent the
cordial aflfection subsisting among the officers of the allied forces."

raintDdly CoLJ-TtimibulL.

Engraped hy J.B.Fotcest.

IIS IKVI" TllMO T HIT OWMIIHI T , S=T,0,-in. I*M.

TIMOTHY DWIGHT.

This eminent divine was born of reputable parents, in Northamp
ton, Massachusetts, in the year 1752. His mother was a daughter
of the celebrated metaphysician and theologian. President Edwards,
and is said to have inherited much of the uncommon powers of her
father. She early perceived the promise of superior genius in her
son, and cherished its progressive developments with all a mother's
fondness. His advancement in learning, while almost in his in
fancy, was wonderfully rapid ; and we are told by his biographers,
that at the age of six years he studied through Lilly's Latin gram
mar twice, without the knowledge of his father. When he had just
passed his thirteenth year, he was admitted a member of Yale
college, and he went through his collegiate course with great credit.
Immediately after graduating, he opened a grammar school in New
Haven, Avhich he continued for two years, when he was chosen a
tutor in the college. During the period he was occupied with his
school, he made a regular division of his time, devoting six hours of
the day to his pupils, and eight hours to his private studies. He
was for six years a tutor in the college, and was a laborious and
successful teacher. So popular was he Avith the students, that on
his resignation, and when only twenty-five years of age, a petition
was presented by them to the corporation of the college, soliciting
his appointment to the presidency. In directing his private studies
at this time, he turned his attention more particularly to rhetoric
and belles lettres, which had been but little cultivated in our semi
naries previous to the revolution, and his early productions in prose
and verse, in conjunction with those of Trumbull, Humphreys, and
Barlow, formed an era in American literature.
In 1771 he commenced writing the "Conquest of Canaan," a
regular epic poem, which employed his leisure hours untU 1774,
when it was completed. On receiving the degree of Master of Arts,
in 1772, he pronounced an oration on the history, eloquence, and
poetry of the Bible, which was published in this country and in

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
England. In order to economize his time at this period, and to
avoid the necessity of exercise, he restricted himself to certain abste
mious rules in diet, which, in the end, greatly impaired his health,
and he was at length reluctantly compelled to lay a.side his books.
His physician recommended the daily use of severe bodily exercise,
which he had endeavored to forego, and it is said, that during a
twelvemonth he walked and rode upwards of five thousand miles,
besides resuming, no doubt, that good old system of living to which
he had been accustomed. The result, in a short time, was the com
plete restoration of his health, which continued good for the ensuing
forty years of his life, and until he Avas attacked by his last illness.
In 1777 the different classes in the coUege were separated on
account of the war, and he repaired, with his class, to Weathers-
field, in Connecticut, where he remained from May to September.
During this summer he Avas licensed to preach as a Congregational
minister. In September he was nominated a chaplain in the army,
and immediately joined the brigade of General Parsons, in the Mas
sachusetts line. While in the army he wrote several patriotic
songs, which were much admired and widely circulated.
In 1778 he received the melancholy tidings of the death of his
father, upon Avhich he resigned his situation in the army, and
returned to Northampton, to assist his widowed mother in the edu
cation and support of her family. Here he remained about five
years, laboring on the farm during the week, and preaching every
Sabbath in one of the neighboring towns, besides establishing a
school; which was largely patronized. During this period he was
twice elected a member of the legislature of Massachusetts.
In 1783 he was ordained a minister in the parish of Greenfield,
in Connecticut. Besides attending to his parochial duties, he also
opened an academy here, which soon acquired a reputation then
unequalled in our country ; and in the course of tAvelve years, he
taught more than one thousand scholars in the various branches of
English and classical literature. During his residence at Greenfield
he published the " Conquest of Canaan," for which, at the close of
the war, he had obtained a list of three thousand subscribers. He
however withheld its publication at that time, and now printed it
at his OAvn expense. It was shortly afterwards republished in Eng
land, and received the approbation of Darwin and CoAvper, the
former, particularly, commending the smoothness and melody of the
versification. There are many splendid passages hi this poem, and
if it was not popular with all classes of readers, something may,

TIMOTHY DWIGHT.
doubtless, be attributed to the theme ; and although the author himself
declared in after life that " it was too great an undertaking for inex
perienced years," still, it must be considered an extraordinary pro
duction for a youth of twenty-two.
In 1794 he published his poem entitled " Greenfield HUl," named
after the beautiful spot where he resided.
In 1795 he was elected president of Yale college, on the death of
President Styles. On his accession to this office, he found the col
lege in a depressed state, owing to the want of funds and other
causes ; but his distinguished reputation as an instructer brought to
it a great increase of students, and he soon succeeded in establishing
two new professorships, and in greatly extending the library and
philosophical apparatus. He not only enlarged the sphere of in
struction, but changed the whole system of government of the
college, while he reformed the modes and elevated the tone of
education, directing the students to a loftier aim in literary and
moral improvement. The effects were soon abundantly visible, and
Yale college has ever since ranked with the first institutions of
learning in our country. During the twenty-one years he presided
over it, a greater number of students were educated there than in
any other similar institution.
In 1796 he commenced a regular course of travelling through
New England and the state of New York, which he continued dur
ing the spring and fall vacations in each succeeding year, until a
short time before his death. In these excursions, undertaken prin
cipally for the purposes of health, and of relaxation from his sedentary
duties in the college, he was in the habit of making brief notes, upon
the spot, of every thing interesting Avhich he saAV or heard, for the
immediate gratification of his family ; and these notes were after
wards written out by him, or to his dictation, by an amanuensis,
and have been published since his death, under the title of " Travels
in New England and New York," in four volumes octavo. This
work contains a mass of useful and interesting information upon a
great variety of topics, with amusing anecdotes and graphic sketches
of scenery and character. A most valuable portion of it is its histo
rical notices of the origin and customs of the aborigines of our
country. He also left behind him, ready for the press, a complete
system of divinity, contained in one hundred and seventy-three
discourses or lectures, which formed his course in the college as
professor of theology, and which have been published, both in Eng
land and this country, under the title of " Theology Explained and

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Defended." He continued the active performance of his duties
untU near the close of his life, and heard the recitation of a theolo
gical class a week before his death. During his illness, which con
tinued about two years, he occasionally occupied himself in poetical
composition, to divert his mind from his painful sufferings. Pour
days previous to his death, he performed the last of his literary and
earthly labors ; and as he laid his manuscript aside, which was a
theological dissertation, he said to his family, " I have now finished."
He died at his residence in New Haven, January 11th, 1817, after
severe and repeated attacks of his disease, the character of which, it
is said, was not Avell understood.
In this brief sketch, it is not to be expected that full justice can be
done to the character of President Dwight. We shall endeavor,
however, to present our own views of it, derived from personal
knowledge, and the observations of others, who have written his
biography. As poetry did not form the business of his life, but was
written merely as a mode of literary relaxation, there have been
those among us who surpassed him in this department of literature,
and as a poet, therefore, we do not ask for him the highest meed of
praise. His mind, perhaps, was too logical and argumentative, his
train of thought too methodical, and his memory too retentive of
facts and details, and too much engrossed with them, to leave room
for the display of that brilliant fancy which the highest ffights of
poetry require. His stronger mental powers he had subjected to a
severe discipline from early youth, and we suspect that the philoso
phy of Bacon and Locke had always more charms for him than the
music of the Doric reed. Still, some of his smaller poetical pieces
are extremely beautiful.
But the fame of Dr. Dwight was not built upon his poetry, and
does not rest upon it. As an instructer, he stood pre-eminent among
his contemporaries, from the opening of his grammar school in New
Haven, while a mere youth, to the close of his career as president of
Yale college. He early made innovations upon previous methods
of instruction, which were dictated by his powerful and original
genius, and they were attended with signal success, as many who
now occupy high places amongst us can bear witness. The art of
the pedagogue, under his hands, expanded into a noble vocation,
which commanded respect and veneration, and elevated science and
literature in our country to a rank which, before his time, they
had not attained. Over his pupils he exercised an unbounded in
fluence, Avhich was cemented in affection ; and his unwearied efforts

TIMOTHY DWIGHT.
at all times were, to pour into their minds that ripe knowledge,
which it had been the whole business of his life to treasure up from
study, meditation, and a familiar intercourse with the Avorld. He
was versed in almost every subject of science and art, and besides
his own peculiar and professional studies, he had acquired inex
haustible treasures in natural philosophy, chemistry, history, geo
graphy, statistics, philology, husbandry, and domestic economy ;
and which were so methodically arranged in his mind, as to be
always at command, and when he became animated in discourse,
were poured forth from his lips in a perpetual stream of knowledge
and wisdom.
Dr. Davight's colloquial poAvers were very great, and no one who
had the pleasure of listening to his conversation ever failed to be
impressed with a high opinion of his great attainments, and a pro
found respect for his character, which was heightened by his polish
ed and courteous address. To strangers he was urbane and affable,
and among the friends of his fireside, he intermingled, in his social
converse, flashes of wit with practical wisdom, the utile cum dulci,
in the most fascinating degree. His temper was ardent, but his heart
was full of kindness, and probably no husband, father, or friend,
was ever more beloved than he was by those to whom he stood in
these relations. To them his loss was irreparable, and a Avhole
community sympathized in their sorrows. His memory was a store
house of anecdotes upon all subjects, which he had been indus
triously collecting from books, and a long and attentive observation of
mankind ; and little of Avhat he had once learned was afterwards
forgotten. Hence his society was greatly courted, and the atten
tions which he uniformly received from all classes of his fellow
citizens, were richly repaid by the instruction and pleasure which
his conversation afforded.
As a theologian he stood at the head of his profession, at the time
of his death, and was inferior in learning to none of his predecessors,
if we except, perhaps, his maternal grandfather, President Edwards.
As a proof of the correctness of this high praise, we confidently refer
to his voluminous theological works, and the criticisms which have
been pronounced upon them, both at home and abroad. He was an
eloquent preacher, and although his discourses Avere addressed to
the understanding rather than the passions of his hearers, who were
statedly the members of the college, yet, when the subject admitted
of oratorical display, he showed himself equal to the highest efforts
of the art. His sublime conceptions of the Deity, especially of the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
divine attributes of love and mercy, on which he delighted to dweU,
when embodied in his powerful and impressive language, were only
second to those of the great English epic poet ; while in touches of
pathos, particularly in his funeral discourses, or over the premature
grave of youthful genius, he opened a direct and easy avenue to the
stoutest heart, and his appeals were irresistible. His voice was
clear, distinct, and loud, and its inflections, although few, were
musical and agreeable ; the only defect in his elocution was, too
marked and frequent an emphasis, and too little variety in his tones ;
but his manner was dignified, earnest, and impressive, evincing
sincere and ardent piety, and a feeling heart. The effect of his
eloquence was enhanced by his fine personal appearance, graceful
gestures, and an eye of fire.
In his intercourse with his fellow men and his " walk with God,"
he was every thing which the most devout Christian or rigid moralist
could desire ; and when he expired, our country was bereaved of a
great and good man, and learning and religion sustained a loss not
easily to be supplied. ^

En;i^iivislby.i<;Ln>i^t'- rtnm apaxniin^by GSluar't

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Our commonwealth possesses no richer treasure than the fair fame of
her children. In the revolutions of empires, the present institutions
of our land may perish, and new ones, perhaps more perfect, may
arise ; but the glory of our national existence cannot pass away, so
long as the names of those who, in it, enlarged the boundaries of
knowledge, gave tone to its morals, framed its laws, or fought its
battles, are remembered with gratitude. The men who stamp the
impressions of their genius or their virtues on their own times,
influence also those Avhich follow, and they become the benefactors
of after ages and of remote nations. Of such the memorials should
be carefully collected and preserved ; and Americans, above all
others, owe it to their country and to the world to perpetuate such
records, while it is possible to separate truth from fiction, in all that
relates to those who laid the foundation of the republic — who have
sustained it by their wisdom, or adorned it by their talents. It
should be constantly borne in mind that our country stands conspi
cuous among nations, as a fair daughter amidst a family of elder
sons ; that as a nation it has passed through no age of fabulous
obscurity, nor useless years of feeble infancy, but stepped forth at
maturity, in the panoply of war, like Minerva from the brain of
Jove. In its history there is no blank ; it is full of striking inci
dents, of original theories, and of bold experiments. In its govern
ment it has exhibited, and is still demonstrating to the world, under
new and peculiar aspects, the ability of men to rule themselves, and
to protect their own rights without injury to the rights of others.
The men whose names are inscribed with honor on the pages of
American history, were fitted to the times and the occasions which
called them forth ; they were men of iron nerves and fearless hearts,
of devoted action and incorruptible integrity, of splendid talents and
practical common sense ; who lived for the glory of their country
and the happiness of their race. Of these, there is one " first in the
hearts of his countrymen ;" as

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
 " The first

In every public duty— 
Conspicuous like an oak of healthiest bough,
Deep rooted in his country's love he stood." Pollock.
George Washington was born at Bridge's Creek, Westmoreland
county, Virginia, on the 22d of February, 1732. Before he was
ten years old, he was deprived of the guidance and example of an
excellent father ; but the judicious economy and prudent affection of
his remaining parent provided for him instruction in the useful
branches of knoAvledge, and above all, she trained him to a love of
truth, and successfully cultivated that high moral sense which cha
racterized his actions from his youth. There is no doubt that to the
careful culture bestoAved by his affectionate mother, the goodness
and greatness of Washington are to be ascribed. And we will here
call the attention of the reader to the fact, which bears honorable
testimony to the female character, that a large proportion of the dis
tinguished men whose names adorn the history of our country, were
left to the care of their widowed mothers at a very early age.
" This tells to mothers what a holy charge
Is theirs, — with what a kingly power their love
Might rule the fountain of the new born mind —
Warns them to wake at early dawn, and sow
Good seed before the world doth sow its tares." Mrs. SiaonaNET.
At the age of fifteen Washington received the appointment of
midshipman in the British navy, but surrendered it at the earnest
desire of his mother. He afterwards practised the profession of a
surveyor, and when nineteen, he held, for a short time, the appoint
ment of adjutant general, with the rank of major, in the forces of
the colony.
In 1753 the French began to execute a project they had some
time meditated, which was, to connect their Canadian possessions
with Louisiana, by a line of posts from the lakes to the mouth of
the Ohio. They marched a force into the country, and erected a
fort on the Alleghany river ; but these measures being regarded as
encroachments on the rights of Great Britain, the lieutenant gover
nor of Virginia, Dinwiddle, determined to require their withdrawal,
and selected Washington for the performance of the hazardous
enterprise of traversing the wilderness and making the demand.
This journey was performed in the depth of winter. On his route
he examined the country, noted the strongest mihtary positions,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
secured the friendship of the Indian tribes, and made himself
acquainted with the force and designs of the French. On his return
he presented a journal of his progress and observations as part of his
report, which, being published and extensively circulated, was read
with interest in all the colonies, and gave him a prominent place in
the regard of the public.
As the French were determined to hold the country west of the
mountains, the legislature of Virginia began to take measures for the
maintenance of the British claim. They accordingly raised a regi
ment, and appointed Washington lieutenant colonel. Early in the
spring, he marched with two companies in advance to the Great
Meadows, where he learned from some friendly Indians, that the
French had attacked and dispersed a party of workmen who were
erecting a fort on the south eastern branch of the Ohio, and were
themselves buUding a fortification at the confluence of the AUeghany
and Monongahela, and that a detachment were on their march to
wards him, apparently Avith hostile intentions ; these he surrounded
in their encampment at night, and at break of day, his troops, after
delivering one fire, which killed the French commander, captured
the whole party, except one man. Being joined soon after by the
residue of the regiment, and «, few other troops, making an aggre
gate of somewhat less than four hundred men, they erected a small
stockade fort ; here he was attacked by tAvelve hundred French and
Indians, and after a brave resistance from ten in the morning untfl
night, he capitulated. The assembly of Virginia voted their thanks
for the gallantry and good conduct displayed on this occasion.
In the winter of 1754, orders were received from England, that
officers of the royal troops should take rank over provincial officers
of the same grade, without regard to seniority; on this, Washington
resigned his commission Avith indignation, and withdrew to Mount
Vernon. Prom this retirement he was tempted by an invitation
from General Braddock, to serve as a volunteer aid-de-camp in the
campaign of 1755. The experience and advice of Washington
might have been peculiarly valuable to the general, had he known
its worth ; but that officer, unused to the march of an army through
the wilderness, refused to dispense with a cumbrous attirail, or to
adapt his mode of warfare to the state of the country ; the conse
quence was, his army was defeated, and he lost his life. Notwith
standing the unfortunate result of the expedition, the bravery and
admirable conduct of Washington, in covering the retreat of the
army, received the commendation of the wounded general, and led

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
to his appointment as commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces.
Nearly three years, with less than one thousand provincial troops,
aided occasionally by militia, he was expected to protect a frontier
of near four hundred miles in extent ; but his force was inadequate
to the duty required, and the distressed inhabitants of the frontiers
either fled or fell before the savage foe, until the Blue ridge became
the boundary of settlement. In the expedition against Fort du
Cluesne, in 1758, he served underGeneral Forbes; and after a succes
sion of arduous duties, when the country was relieved from imme
diate danger, he resigned his commission, to the great regret of the
officers of the army, both British and provincial. They who had
seen service with him in the wilderness, knew the value of his ex
perience and prudent counsels, and although it had been too humili
ating to the pride of those who had gathered laurels in the fields of
Europe to follow the advice of a provincial officer, yet in the judge
ment of his countrymen, he retired with an increased military
reputation. Prom the fields of his early fame, he turned his attention to the
peaceful pursuits of agriculture, and the enjoyment of domestic life.
Having inherited from his brother the Mount Vernon estate, he
took possession of it, and married a lady of whom we shall hereafter
speak more particularly. The ensuing fifteen years were chiefly
passed on the banks of the Potomac, in the improving of his
estate, occasionally exercising the functions of a justice of the peace,
or of a representative in the provincial legislature, until the general
congress first assembled in Philadelphia. Like the years of early
life, we must pass too hastily forward to more momentous scenes
to note the progress of this period more particularly.
Although Virginia had had her share of vexations, which had, at
intervals, agitated the colony nearly a century, all had been forgot
ten on the approach of hostile feet ; British and provincial blood had
flowed together on the same field in the common cause, and by the
union of American and British valor, over the whole country, from
the ocean to the northern lakes, the union flag of Britain waved trium
phantly. Peace and security brought joy and harmony to the peo
ple ; and had the authority of the mother country received a liberal
construction from its rulers, it is probable that the love and allegiance
of the colonists might have been confirmed ; but a spirit of domina
tion prevailed, and was resisted ; power was applied to enforce
obedience, but it only aggravated the evU by imbittering the spirits
of a people, who felt themselves to be no longer children, and that

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
as such they were not regarded. The principle contended for by
the parliament was, the absolute " power and right of Great Britain
to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." Virginia was not less
ready than the other colonies to contest that right, and the house of
burgesses declared, that " no power on earth has a right to impose
taxes on the people, or take the smallest portion of their property,
without their consent, given by their representatives in parliament."
The parties were thus at issue, and the most zealous exertions Avere
made to defend "the American cause."
When the first intelligence of " the Boston port bill" was received in
Virginia, the legislature, which was then in session, entered a solemn
protest against it on their journal, and appointed the first of June,
1774, the day on which it was to go into operation, as a day of fast
ing and prayer. That day, indeed, throughout the country, was a
day of humiliation and mourning. Whilst engaged in these pro
ceedings, they were hastily summoned by the governor to the coun
cil chamber, and suddenly dissolved. The next day, the 28th of
May, 1774, the members met, and recommended the appointing of
deputies from the several colonies to meet in congress to deliberate
on the measures which the general interests required. Deputies
were accordingly appointed, and congress assembled in Philadelphia
on the ensuing 4th of September. One of these deputies was
George Washington. The conspicuous part he had borne in
the late wars, had indicated him as the most competent person to be
placed at the head of the independent companies formed in Virginia,
and when he took his seat in the general congress he was regarded
as the soldier of America. He was appointed on all committees in
which military knowledge was requisite, and when it was determined
to appoint a commander-in-chief, he was unanimously chosen. He
accepted the appointment with great diffidence, and declined all
compensation beyond the payment of his expenses.
He proceeded to Cambridge, near Boston, without delay, and
entered on the arduous duties of his station about the 1st of July,
1775. At this time the British army, under General Howe, was
entrenched in two divisions, at Roxbury Neck and Bunker HiU :
the Americans were encamped on the numerous hills around Bos
ton, their right extending towards Dorchester, their left covered by
the Medford river. The commander-in-chief found himself at the
head of about fourteen thousand five hundred men, variously armed,
without cannon, with few bayonets, and but a small supply of pow
der ; the officers, with few exceptions, without experience, and the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
soldiers without discipline. All these defects were to be remedied
before offensive operations could commence. The emergency re
quired all the firmness, industry, and perseverance of Washington;
and although he was indefatigable in his exertions, the organization
of the army and the collecting of munitions occupied the remainder
of the summer and the following autumn.
In the mean time the British army was closely blockaded in Bos
ton, and although it suffered much for supplies, remained inactive.
Towards the close of the year a new subject of anxiety arose ; the
time of service of the troops Avould expire with the year, and the
army Avas to be replaced by another, in the presence of a disciplined
enemy. To raise • another army, even for one year's service, was
attended with many difficulties. The enthusiastic ardor which had
brought the first force into the field had abated ; the recollections
of home had revived sweet visions of domestic comfort, and the
wish to revisit relatives and friends often prevailed over a sense of
duty. As the year declined the army gradually melted away, and
at the beginning of 1776 the new enlistments scarcely equalled the
number of the British troops in Boston. StiU, the public, them
selves deceived as well as the enemy by the exaggerated representa
tions of Washington's offensive means, were impatiently looking for
active measures. The commander was not insensible to the effects
of his apparent inactivity on the public mind, but it would have
been ruin to have explained the cause. He was determined to expel
the enemy from Boston as soon as a favorable opportunity should
present, and his views being knoAvn to congress, that body author
ized him to make an attack " in any way he might think expedient,
notwithstanding the town and property in it might be thereby
destroyed." The general assured congress that an attempt would be
made the first moment he should perceive a probability of success,
and prayed them to believe that circumstances, not inclination on
his part, occasioned the delay. " It is not," said he, " in the pages
of history to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post within
musket shot of the enemy for six months together without ammuni
tion ; and at the same time, to disband one army and recruit another
within that distance of twenty odd British regiments, is more than,
probably, was ever attempted. But if we succeed as well in the lat
ter, as we have hitherto done in the former, I shall think it the most
fortunate event in my Avhole life." About the middle of February
the general summoned a council, and submitted the subject of attack
ing the enemy in Boston by marching over the ice, which was then

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
firm enough to bear the troops, but they gave, with regret, nearly
an unanimous opinion against it. At length, after having received
a small additional supply of powder, he determined to fortify Dor
chester heights, which would compel the enemy to fight or abandon
the town. He detached a sufficient force in the night of the 4th of
March to take possession; before morning the breastwork was
formed and the cannon mounted. When the morning light revealed
the new entrenchment to the British, they opened a fire upon it,
which was promptly returned ; Lord Percy was then ordered, with
about three thousand men, to dislodge the Americans ; but they were
delayed by a storm until the works Avere so strengthened that it was
deemed advisable to let them alone. General Howe then prepared to
evacuate Boston ; and Washington, confidently believing that New
York would be the next point of attack, detached a part of the army
towards that place, whilst he continued to make approaches towards
Boston with the remaining troops. The British evacuated the
town on the 17th of March, and in a few days left the harbor.
Washington, with the main body of his army, arrived in New
York on the 14th of AprU, and pressed forward the defences of the
city. Many of the inhabitants of New York were disaffected to the
American cause, and to add to the embarrassments the commander
already experienced, a part of his OAvn guard was seduced to seize
his person and deliver him to the enemy, but the plot being disco
vered, some of the conspirators were executed.
Early in July the British army landed on Staten Island, eight
miles below the city of New York, where they remained about three
weeks, and received large reinforcements of German troops. They
then passed over the Narrows to Long Island, and pushed their
detachments across the country through Flatlands towards the sound.
These being opposed by a division under Generals Sullivan and Lord
Stirling, a severe contest ensued, but the British right having out
flanked the left of the Americans, the latter suffered a total defeat,
and took shelter within the lines at Brooklyn, which the enemy
immediately invested and prepared to assault, believing them to be
more formidable than they really were. Washington had seen the
latter part of this battle, and unwUhng to hazard the loss of that
whole division, he determined to withdraw it. This he effected in
the night after the battle with such secrecy and despatch, that the
enemy were first aware of their retreat, when they perceived the
rear guard crossing the East river in the morning. From the com
mencement of the action on the 27th, until the last boat left Brook-

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
.yn on the morning of the 29th, Washington was without rest or
sleep ; and was most of the time on horseback. The British army
were within musket shot of the lines, yet such was the silence and
order preserved, that nine thousand men, with their arms and ammu
nition, and most of the provisions and cannon, were conveyed across
a river half a mile broad, without confusion or interruption. The
skilful execution of this masterly retreat has been extolled by all
writers on the subject. It now became necessary to evacuate New
York ; and after a short stand at Kingsbridge, the American army
took a position at Whiteplains. Here a battle was fought which was
not decisive ; and while General Howe was waiting for a reinforce
ment, Washington took another position, which the British com
mander considered too strong to be attempted, and, after endeavoring
in vain to draw on an engagement on more favorable terms, he
changed his plan of operations, marched down the Hudson, and cap
tured fort Washington, on York island, making about two thousand
prisoners. This was a serious blow to the American cause, and
rendered an immediate retreat across the river imperative. Lord
Cornwallis, with a large force, followed so close in the rear of the
feeble remnant of an army which accompanied Washington into
New Jersey, that Port Lee, on that side of the river, was hastily
abandoned, and with it nearly all the artillery and baggage.
It was now late in November ; most of the New England militia
had returned home, their term of service having expired ; on the
1st of December the Maryland and Jersey levies availed themselves
of the same right at Brunswick, even while the enemy were in
sight ; the loss of their baggage, sickness, and fatigue, rendered them
impatient, and for a time overcame every other consideration. The
continental troops, wasted daily by disease and desertion, until the
grand army, on which hung the destinies of this continent, was
reduced to three thousand men, without tents or camp equipage,
half naked and bare-footed, disheartened by misfortunes, and even
hope afar off. The spirit of the commander, sustained by the reso
lution and firmness of his officers, carried him through this scene of
suffering with a countenance of calm self-possession, which saved
the army from immediate dissolution. On the 8th of December he
crossed the Delaware, and secured all the boats to prevent the pas
sage of the enemy. The British army entered Trenton as the last
boat of the Americans left it. There General Howe abandoned the
pursuit until the ice should bridge the river ; meanwhile he can
toned his army in detachments in the towns along the left bank of

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
the Delavirare, and at Trenton and New Brunswick. Washington,
whilst gathering strength by calling in the distant divisions and
volunteers, with secret exultation watched the detached corps of the
British and Hessians, and he concerted with Generals Cadwallader
and Irving, a simultaneous attack on three of them. That which
was conducted by the commander-in-chief, was alone successful.
His troops began to cross the Delaware a few miles above Trenton,
about dusk on the 25th of December, when it was believed the enemy
would be enjoying the festive anniversary in confidence of safety.
The night was dark and very cold, and the passage Avas so retarded
by a high wind, a swift current and masses of floating ice, that it
was four o'clock in the morning before they could be formed on the
Jersey shore. The attack was made in two columns about day
break ; a violent snow storm driving directly in the faces of the
assailants at the time. The enemy made a momentary show of
resistance by a wild and ill-directed fire from their quarters, and
attempted to form on the main street, which was prevented by the
fire of six pieces of artillery. " When Forrest's battery was opened,"
says General Wilkinson, " the general kept on the left, and advanc
ing with it, giving objects of direction to his fire ; his position was
an exposed one, and he was frequently entreated to fall back, of
which he took no notice ; he had turned the guns on the retreating
enemy, when to an order for the discharge of cannister, Captain
Forrest observed — 'Sir, they have struck.' 'Struck!' replied the
general. 'Yes,' said Forrest, 'their colors are down.' 'So they are,'
observed the chief, and gaUoped towards them." A troop of British
dragoons, and about five hundred infantry, fied down the river.
The main body, after endeavoring to escape by the right towards
Princeton, surrendered on a summons from the general. The killed
and wounded of the Americans amounted to only ten. The Hessian
colonel, Rahl, with six other officers and about forty men, were
killed, and twenty-three officers and nearly one thousand men,
made prisoners, with their arms and accoutrements, cannon, (fee,
all which were safely conveyed across the Delaware.
This achievement changed the aspect of the war, raised the de
sponding spirits of the people, and inspired the army with renewed
zeal. The prisoners having been disposed of, Washington returned
to Trenton. Cornwallis, with an army whose strength gave him a
confidence of victory, approached on the afternoon of the 2d of Jan
uary, 1777, and was met with firmness by dete.chments of Americans
who disputed his approach with great gallantry, but whose only object

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
was to wear away the day without the risk of a general engagement.
Night at length suspended the fight, while the hostile armies were
separated only by the narrow stream over which the last detachment
of Americans had been forced. The watch fires were lighted, guards
doubled, a fatigue party set to work on an entrenchment within
hearing of the enemy's sentinels, and every appearance kept up of a
determination to abide the result of a battle on the morrow : but at
midnight, Washington moved his little army, by an indirect route,
towards Princeton, where was posted a large detachment of British
troops. This mancEUArre was not discovered by the enemy untfl
morning, when the firing at Princeton announced that the American
army was nine miles in their rear, and their magazines at Brunswick
in danger of destruction. Early on the morning of the 3d, the
advance of the American army encountered the seventeenth British
regiment near Princeton, and after a short action, gave way ; Wash
ington now formed his troops into a close column, and placing
himself at their head, he led them into action. The struggle was
short, but fierce and obstinate. The seventeenth regiment was
nearly annihilated ; two other British regiments threw themselves
into the college, which they soon abandoned, and made a precipitate
retreat towards Brunswick with very little loss. They were followed
as far as Kingston, and it was the desire of every officer to strike at
the enemy's post, at New Brunswick ; but the men were too much
exhausted by hunger, cold, and fatigue, to warrant the attempt;
besides which, the enemy from Trenton were exchanging shot with
the rear guard. The army was, therefore, conducted by the way of
Rocky Hill and Somerville, to Morristown, where they went into
winter quarters. Here, with never more, but often less than one
thousand regulars, and about two thousand militia, Washington
kept the enemy in check, although they occupied their line of posts
from Brunswick to New York with twenty-five thousand men.
But the spirit of the citizens of New Jersey was now roused to
exertion, not only by the successes of their countrymen, but also by
the insults, injuries, and cruelty of the foe, particularly the Hessian
troops, Avho had overrun the middle counties of that state. Taught
by the bitter experience of the " protection" afforded by that licentious
soldiery, the militia of New Jersey watched CA'-ery opportunity to
strike the enemy wherever their foraging or reconnoitering parties
appeared, and their frequent success greatly relieved the commander-
in-chief, who again had to encounter the evils arising from short
enlistments. He had often remonstrated with congress against the

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
practice of engaging men for a single year, but the prejudices of the
country against a standing army were difficult to overcome. Rely
ing, however, on the integrity and wisdom of the commander, he
was, two days after the battle of Trenton, invested with full powers
to raise sixteen battalions of infantry, three thousand cavalry, three
regiments of artillery, and a corps of engineers ; to establish their pay,
form magazines, appoint and displace officers, under the rank of
brigadier-generals, at his pleasure ; and to take whatever he might
want, wherever he might be, for the use of the army ; in short, so
far as the army was concerned, his powers were almost dictatorial
for the period of six months.
After the British forces had obtained possession of New York,
their next object had been Philadelphia ; in this they had been
hitherto effectually baffled. In the spring of 1777 the attempt was
renewed, but all their manoeuvres to draw the American army from
their advantageous position in the hills were ineffectual, and after
some trials of skill between the hostile commanders, the British
resorted to their ships. They embarked from Ncav York in July,
and entering the Chesapeake, landed at the head of Elk on the 25th
of August; and marched towards Philadelphia. At the Brandywine,
Washington opposed their progress on the 10th of September, but
was compelled to retire with considerable loss. On the sixteenth, he
once more determined to risk an engagement to save Philadelphia,
but a storm of unusual violence obliged him to retire, as is stated in
our sketch of the life of General Wayne, who commanded the
attack. On the twenty-fifth of the same month, the British general
took possession of Philadelphia, and soon after formed an encamp
ment at Germantown. For the particulars of the battle which was
fought there, we refer (for the sake of avoiding unnecessary repeti
tion) to the life of Colonel Howard. The British forces being con
centrated in Philadelphia, and their ships, after some gallant resist
ance, having obtained command of the Delaware, Washington
took a strong position at White Marsh. Sir WiUiam Howe, although
in command of a vastly superior force, found himself so much
restricted by the proximity of the American army, which shut him
out from a rich, and, to him, necessary country for supplies, that he
marched out to attack it, hoping to take it by surprise, but he was
foiled in his attempt, and returned to Philadelphia. Determined to
defend the country from depredation, Washington selected Valley
Forge for winter quarters. Here, while the foe Avere luxuriating
in the comfortable quarters of a populous and wealthy city, the

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
Americans were sheltered in huts of their own fabrication, and fre
quently suffered the extremity of want. The commissary's depart
ment—imperfectly organized for want of e.xperience — had given
cause for frequent complaints ; congress, by endeavoring to apply a
remedy, increased the distress of the troops, so that very frequently
their movements were prevented, and the plans of the commander
consequently embarrassed. He frequently and earnestly remon
strated ; but the evil was not, and, indeed, could not be immediately
obviated, without causing much distress in other quarters. Congress
authorized the seizure of provisions within seventy miles of head
quarters, and although Washington was compeUed by the necessi
ties of his army to avail himself of the authority, he exercised it
with so much reluctance and forbearance, that the wants of the
troops were scarcely satisfied, and congress appeared as much dissa
tisfied Avith his lenity to the people, as the inhabitants were by what
they considered a rigorous exercise of power. At this time a party
was formed in congress to remove the commander-in-chief; a few
officers of the army encouraged the discontents, by comparing the
services of Washington with those of General Gates, — forgetting,
in their zeal, the fact, that the one had repeatedly fought a superior
force, and that the other, though a conqueror, had gained his laurels
with an army, regulars and militia, of nearly three times the nume
rical strength of his opponents. The legislature of Pennsylvania,
too, added their voice to the dissention, by remonstrating against the
army removing into winter quarters. But the machinations of fac
tion were vain. The commander possessed the confidence of the
country, and was beloved by the army ; and even the troops who had
served under General Gates, expressed their indignation at the idea
of a change. The only effect produced in the country, was a uni
versal excitement of resentment against those who were believed to
be inimical to the chief Whilst these combinations of intrigue and
ambition were progressing, the sufferings of the army were not
ameliorated, and they at length drew from the commander a com
munication to congress of unprecedented plainness and energy. He
stated his conviction that unless some great change took place in the
commissary's department, the army would inevitably be reduced to
starvation or dissolution — that there Avas not in the camp a single
head of cattle to be slaughtered, and not more than twenty-five
barrels of flour, nor could the commissary tell when any naight be
expected ; and, that three or four days of bad weather Avould prove
their destruction — that there were near three thousand men in camp

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
unfit for duty, because they were barefooted and otherwise naked,
besides those confined in the hospitals and in farm houses on the
same account. He charged it home to those Avho had remonstrated
against his going into winter quarters, that they knew the nakedness
of the troops from ocular demonstration. " I can assure those gen
tlemen," said he, " that it is much easier and less distressing to draw
remonstrances in a comfortable room, by a good fireside, than to
occupy a cold bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow without
clothes or blankets; however, although they seem to have little feel
ing for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel superabundantly for
them, and from my soul pity those miseries which it is not in my
power either to relieve or prevent."
The exertions which were made by congress and the state govern
ments, at length afforded relief, but in the mean time the army was
supported only by the impressments of its detachments.
As the spring approached, unwearied diligence was used to pre
pare for the ensuing campaign. The troops received instruction
from the Baron Steuben, a Prussian officer of great merit, and every
possible effort was made to establish order, regularity, and discipline.
Early in May, 1778, the intelligence was received, that France had
recognised the independence of the United States by treaty, and the
additional information, that although war between France and
Great Britain had not been formally declared, it had commenced in
fact. It was soon after known that a naval force, which had been
preparing in the French ports in anticipation of this event, was to
act on the American waters. This rendered PhUadelphia an unsafe
position to the British army, and Sir Henry Clinton, who about this
time assumed the command, made immediate preparation to eva
cuate it.
He crossed the Delaware on the 18th of June, and slowly retired
through New Jersey. Washington put his army in motion, and
crossed the river a few miles above, and advanced on a line parallel
to his adversary, with whom he was earnestly desirous to close, but
in this he was opposed by the advice of his general officers ; when,
however, the enemy reached Monmouth court house, the spirit of
enterprise, which had been so long restrained, determined him not to
let the opportunity pass of once more striking at the foe. He ac
cordingly took measures to draw on an engagement, and the battle
of Monmouth was fought on the 28th of June. After a keenly con
tested action, both armies, pverpowered by fatigue and the excessive
heat of the day, suspended the combat on the approach of evening,

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
as by mutual consent. Washington, wrapped in his cloak, lay
that night on the field in the midst of his soldiers, ready to renew
the battle in the morning ; but the enemy, under cover of the night,
retired in silence, leaving two hundred and forty-nine of their dead
on the field. The British army embarked at Sandy Hook, and
sailed to New York, and the Americans once more took a position
on the banks of the Hudson.
Prom this period until the summer of 1780, Washington was
not present at any of the active operations of the war^ — these being
chiefly conducted in the states south of the Chesapeake ; in the mean
time, " the wretched policy of short enlistments" laid him under the
disadvantage of raising a new army every year, under circumstances
of difficulty constantly increasing, until it had become almost impos
sible to raise one at all. The alliance with Prance had induced the
pleasing delusion in the public mind, that the war was in a measure
over ; that as the independence of the United States had been recog
nised by that nation, it must soon cease to be disputed by Great
Britain. The enthusiasm of the people had subsided — they no
longer viewed the cause as one in which each individual had to act
a part in person, but as a common cause which all were to pay for ;
besides Avhich, "'the pernicious divisions and factions in congress"
were fomented and increased until the prospect of a happy issue
appeared to the chief more gloomy than at any former period. " I
have seen without despondence," said he in private letter, " even for
a moment, the hours which America has styled her gloomy ones ;
but I have beheld no day since the commencement of hostilities,
when I have thought her liberties in such danger as at present.
Friends and foes seem now to combine to pull doAvn the goodly
fabric we have hitherto been raising at the expense of so much time,
blood, and treasure ; and unless the bodies politic will exert them
selves to bring things back to first principles, correct abuses, and
punish our internal foes, inevitable ruin must follow. Indeed, we
seem to be verging so fast to destruction, that I am filled with sensa
tions, to which I have been a stranger until these three months. Our
enemies behold with exultation and joy, how effectually we labor
for their benefit ; and from being in a state of absolute despair, and
on the point of evacuating America, are now on tiptoe. Nothing,
therefore, in my judgment, can save us but a total reformation in our
own conduct, or some decisive turn of affairs in Europe. The
former, alas ! to our shame be it spoken, is less likely to happen than
the latter, as it is now consistent with the views of the speculators.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
various tribes of money makers, and stock jobbers of all denomina
tions, to continue the war for their OAvn private emolument, without
considering that this avarice and thirst for gain must plunge every
thing, including themselves, in one common ruin." These causes
certainly protracted the war, and encouraged the enemy to persevere.
They determined to turn their force against the less populous states
of the south, where their friends and foes were more equally balanced,
and where opposition from the eastern states must be brought at
great expense and loss of time.
But early in May, 1780, a change came over the aspect of affairs,
which revived the latent energies and hopes of the country. Lafay
ette, after serving in the army with Washington from the battle
of Brandywine to that of Monmouth, had returned to France, where
he had made such a representation of American transactions, as had
inspired his countrymen Avith his OAvn generous sentiments — noAV
presented himself in the American camp, with the promise from the
king of speedy assistance by land and sea. In July, a French
squadron under M. de Ternay, with between five and six thousand
troops under the Count de Rochambeau, arrived at NcAvport. That
no difficulties might arise between the allied forces, Washington
had been invested with the chief command of his most Christian
majesty's troops in America. Whilst the French ships lay at Ncav-
port, waiting the arrival of a reinforcement, several British ships of the
line joined the fleet at New York, and gave it such a decided supe
riority, that the admiral sailed to Rhode Island to attack Ternay,
and Sir Henry Clinton, with a great number of troops, proceeded
some distance up the sound to cooperate by land. Washington
immediately put his army in motion, and rapidly advanced towards
Kingsbridge, but the sudden return of the British troops disappointed
the hopes which had been formed of seizing New York in their
absence. To recover that city, however, was a measure stiU con
templated by the commander-in-chief, and he took possession of the
ground and threw up some works at Dobbs' ferry, ten miles above
Kingsbridge ; but the French squadron continuing to be blockaded
in NcAvport by a superior force, prevented that concert of action which
had been arranged with Rochambeau, and the season for active
operations passed away without any important result. The army
kept the field until December, when it retired to winter quarters.
But winter quarters to the American soldiers, gave but a change of
toils and an increase of suffering. The present season, like those
which had preceded it, found them deficient of supplies — often

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
entirely without food, exposed to the rigors of \yinter without suita
ble clothing, and without pay for the services of the year. The long
suffering patience of the army was at length exhausted, discontent
spread through the ranks, venting itself in murmurs and complaints,
and finally in an extensive revolt. This is not the place to recount
the scenes which followed in consequence of the short sighted policy
of the government, and the tardy movements of the states. We
would not divert a line of our brief space from the direct purpose in
hand, but so intimately blended is the life of Washington with
the history of his time, that one cannot be entirely separated from
the other ; besides which, it is due to the character of the army of
the revolution that the record should here be made, and our sympa
thy for other nations should never efface the transcript from our
hearts — ^that for manly bearing and patient endurance, under trials
and sufferings of every possible variety, in the main body and its
divisions — whether in long and painful marches, in hunger, naked
ness, poverty, or disease, in hospitals or in prison ships, in battle
with the enemy, or in winter quarters, apparently neglected by their
countrymen — that army has never been surpassed.
France, South America, Greece, and Poland, have since excited
our national sensibilities by their struggles for liberty, and the silent
aspirations of our hearts, and the open actions of our hands, have
borne testimony to our deep-felt interest iri their success ; but there
is a duty which we owe at home akin to filial gratitude — to treat
the survivors of our OAvn revolutionary soldiery with profound vene
ration, and to lengthen the evening of their days by a kind attention
to their wants.
In every situation in which Washington was placed during the
momentous conffict, he adapted his means to the proposed end witli
equal firmness and judgment, and the Avinter of 1780-81 as fully
tested his qualities as a military commander, under circumstances
of peculiar hazard, as any other period of his command. With his
army in the condition we have stated, (one half of which dissolved
as usual on the first of January,) the main body of the British army
in New York, with the Hudson open to their ships, he yet managed
to suppress a mutiny ; to keep his army in force ; to check the ope
rations of the enemy ; to carry on an extensive correspondence with
his detached officers, numerous influential individuals, and the state
governments, by which he obtained funds to pay his soldiers in
part; and, in addition, he made time to impress on the court of Ver
sailles his own views of the present and future capabilities of the

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
country, and particularly pressing the importance of an immediate
and ample supply of money, and the maintenance of a naval supe
riority on the American Avaters.
As the spring advanced, Washington's plans were still directed
against New York, that being the stronghold of the enemy's power
in the northern states ; and he confidently believed, if that could be
reduced, the war would speedily terminate. For several months a
predatory war had been carried on in the lower counties of Virginia
by divisions of the British army, under Arnold and Phillips. When
Cornwallis advanced from Carolina and took command there about
the middle of May, he continued to carry on his operations with
vigor, and although he gained no permanent advantage, he destroy
ed an immense amount of property. About the 1st of June, the
campaign opened on the Hudson ; the French auxiliaries advanced
and formed a junction with the Americans, preparatory to a grand
attack on New York. At this time, Sir Henry Clinton, being alarm
ed at the serious danger which menaced his position, recalled a part
of his troops from Virginia ; on this, Cornwallis retired to Ports
mouth, but a reinforcement of near three thousand European troops
arriving at New York, Clinton countermanded his orders, and
directed Cornwallis to take a position on the Chesapeake and be
ready to act on the neighboring states. A variety of circumstances,
beyond the control of the commander-in-chief, rendering the project
ed enterprise against New York of doubtful expedience, his attention
was turned towards the south, and when he learnt that de Grasse,
with a large French fleet with three thousand soldiers on board, was
to sail from Cape Francois to the Chesapeake, the naval superiority
which would be thus obtained decided him in favor of southern
operations. He directed Lafayette so to dispose of the forces in
Virginia, that CornwaUis could not escape to Charleston, should he
make the attempt ; but the British commander, looking towards the
sea-board for relief, as well as in compliance with his orders, collected
his whole force, and entrenched himself at Yorktown.
Washington, after providing for the defence of the posts on the
Hudson, led his army down the west side of that river, so as to mask
his intention by exciting apprehensions for Staten Island, and it was
not until he had passed the Delaware, that his real object was sus
pected by the British commander. When the allied army reached
the Chesapeake, the French fleet had already arrived there, and the
necessary preparations for the investment of Yorktown being complet
ed in a few days, on the night of the 6th of October, the first parallel

NATIONAL PORTRAITS. '
Avas commenced within six hundred yards of the British lines, and
the siege was pressed with such effective vigor, that on the 1 7th,
Cornwallis, finding his position no longer tenable, beat a parley ; and
on the 19th, surrendered. The army, amounting to seven thousand
men, with their arms, military chest, and public stores, were surren
dered to Washington ; the ships and seamen to the Count de Grasse.
This was the last mUitary achievement in which the commander-in-
chief was personally engaged.
Happily for the United States, the people of Great Britain, weary
of the protracted and unsuccessful conffict, now became clamorous
for peace ; the determination of the king and his ministers at length
gave way to the popular will ; and negotiations were commenced
on the basis of the independence of the thirteen provinces. The
overruling care of a beneficent providence had been manifested in
numerous events of the war, but in none more plainly than in this,
that when the means of maintaining an organized resistance failed,
they ceased to be necessary. But the prospect of peace and inde
pendence was dimmed by the abject poverty of the country, and by
the gloom^ fears of the course the army might adopt when its re
duction should be ordered. For a long time it had been sustained
by temporary expedients, and through 1782 almost the whole
receipts of the treasury had been devoted to its subsistence alone.
To pay the troops was impossible, and yet the public faith had
been pledged, not only for their pay, but for half pay for life to the
officers. This pledge had retained them in the field to the ruin of
their private affairs ; but it appeared certain that when they should
be disbanded, the funds for that purpose would never be supplied,
as the requisite number of " the sovereign states" had not concurred
in the measure.
As the negotiations for peace advanced, the irritation of the army
increased. Washington saw the gathering storm, and determined
to remain with the troops and give the weight of his influence to
preserve the tranquillity of the country, although his presence in the
camp had otherwise ceased to be necessary. In a private letter to
the secretary of war, after expressing his conviction that the officers
would return to private life with alacrity, could they be placed in
suitable circumstances, he adds, " when I see such a number of
men, goaded by a thousand stings of reflection on the past, and anti
cipation of the future, about to be turned into the world, soured by
penury, and what they call the ingratitude of the public ; involved
in debt, Avithout one farthing of money to carry them home, after

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
having spent the flower of their days, and many of them their pa
trimonies, in establishing the freedom and independence of their
country ; and having suffered every thing Avhich human nature is
capable of enduring on this side of death. I repeat it, when I reflect
on these irritating circumstances, unattended by one thing to sooth
their feelings, or brighten the gloomy prospect, I cannot avoid ap
prehending that a train of evils will follow of a very serious nature."
In December, 1782, when the army was settled in winter quarters
near the Hudson, the important crisis approached. A general
opinion prevailed that congress possessed neither the power nor
the inclination to comply with its engagements to the army, and the
officers, with a desire of removing the obnoxious features of the half
pay establishment without foregoing their own rights, solicited from
congress the payment of the money actually due them, and a com
mutation of the half pay for a sum in gross. Three months passed
away without any prospect of relief; in the mean time the intelli
gence of peace was received. The irritable temper of the army now
seemed to require but a slight impulse to impel it to a haughty de
mand of justice from the constituted authorities, or to assume the
power of redressing their oavu grievances by some desperate effort.
A meeting of the officers was called by an anonymous notice, and an
address to the army was privately circulated, which was well calcu
lated to inflame their passions and determine them to immediate
action, " courting the auspices and inviting the direction of their
illustrious leader." Fortunately the patriotism of " their illustrious
leader" was far above the comprehension of that ambition which
might have influenced a less noble spirit to " pass the Rubicon." At
that moment the destinies of his country were undoubtedly in his
keeping, and Avisely great in resolution as in action, he turned the
threatened evil to the glory of his ^country. The storm was still
ed ; the army was disbanded ; and on the 4th of December, the
chief bid adieu to his officers in New York. Endeared to each
other by years of affectionate intercourse in peril and in triumph, the
hour of their separation was solemn and affecting ; the thoughts and
feelings of the party — too intense for utterance — were expressed only
by the silent tear, the warm grasp of the hand, and the quick pulsa
tion of heart pressed to heart.
Every duty of the station to Avhich he had been appointed, being
now fulfilled, Washington hastened to Annapolis, where congress
was then in session, and on the 23d, at an audience appointed for
the purpose, he returned his commission to the hands from which

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
he had received it. Thus displaying the sublime spectacle of a tri
umphant warrior in the fulness of his fame, divesting himself of
power, and dedicating the laurels he had won, upon the altar of his
country. By his skill, firmness, perseverance, and industry ; and by
the happy union of prudence with courage, and a correct judgment
with a spirit of enterprise, he had given liberty, peace, and a name
among nations to his country ; but by this last act of public virtue,
he consummated his own glory, and " changed mankind's idea of
political greatness." Every age has had its hero, but as a perfect
pattern of pure, disinterested patriotism, Washington, as yet, re
mains without a parallel in the annals of the world. To call him
great, would be to class , him with the Alexanders, the Caesars, and
the Fredericks of other nations, he is therefore more justly, appropri
ately, and affectionately designated as " the father of his country."
Washington, having retired to Mount Vernon, he devoted his
attention to the improvement of his plantation, Avith a resolution
never again to appear in public life. " The scene is at length closed,"
said he, three days after his arrival there, " I feel myself eased of a
load of public care, and hope to spend the remainder of my days in
cultivating the affections of good men, and the practice of the domes
tic virtues." With a mind capable of the most enlarged Ariews, he
traced the broad map of his country, and pointed out its capabilities
and future greatness. In a letter to the earl of Buchan, written
while engaged in promoting some works of immediate utility, he
said, " if left undisturbed, we shall open a communication by water
Avith all the lakes northward and westward of us, with which we
have territorial connexions ; and an inland in a few years more from
Rhode Island to Georgia ;" at the same time he regarded with atten
tion every improvement in the economy of the farmer.
But the country was not at rest, and Washington had been too
deeply interested in all that concerned it, to be allowed to withdraw
his attention entirely from public affairs ; indeed, the embarreissments
of the government gave him great anxiety. While the general go
vernment was dependent on the separate action of thirteen indepen
dent state sovereignties, it struggled with difficulties which could not
be removed, and it was soon discovered that the whole fabric must
fall to ruin, or a new system be adopted. On this subject there ex
isted a diversity of opinions in the country, which rendered the result
for a long time doubtful. Tumults, insurrections, and commotions
agitated all reflecting men. At length a convention was held at
Philadelphia by the representatives of twelve states ; Washington

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
was unanimously chosen president, and after a session of about four
months, the present national constitution was framed, which being
afterwards approved by the people of eleven states, became the su
preme law.
No sooner were the public in possession of this instrument, than
their attention was directed to Washington as the only man to be
placed at the head of the nation. His consent was hard to win ; but
overcome by the entreaties of personal friends, and in obedience to
the voice of the people, he once more gave himself to their service,
and was unanimously elected the first president of the United States.
" I wish," said he, when his election was announced, " that there
may not be reason for regretting the choice, for indeed all I can
promise, is to accomplish that which can be done by an honest zeal."
Two days after, he " bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and
domestic felicity," and proceeded to the seat of government.
His progress from Alexandria to New York was marked by demon
strations of veneration and affection : the manner of his reception at
Trenton, was so truly appropriate and affecting, that it deserves
especial notice. In addition to the usual military compliments, the
bridge over the creek running through the tOAvn was covered by a
triumphal arch supported by thirteen pillars, entwined and orna
mented with flowers and laurel, and bearing on the front in large
gilt letters,
the defender of the mothers
WILL BB THE
PROTECTOR OF THE DAUGHTERS.
Here were assembled the mothers and daughters, dressed in white,
each bearing a basket of flowers, which were stroAvn before the chief,
while they sang in chorus.
Welcome, mighty chief, once more
Welcome to this grateful shore ;
Now no mercenary foe
Aims again the fatal blow,
Aims at thee the fatal blow.
Virgins fair and matrons grave, .
Those thy conquering arms did save,
Build for thee triumphal bowers ;
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers,
Strew your hero's way with flowers.
On the 23d of April, 1789, Washington arrived at New York
and on the 30th was inaugurated in the presence of an immense con
course of citizens, Avho rent the air with joyous acclamations.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
His administration of the new government commenced under the
pressure of numerous embarrassments ; an empty treasury, nuUions
of debt, domestic agitation, and foreign intrigue. The president
filled the departments with able men, solely selected with a reference
to justice and public good, and gave that cast to the administration
of national affairs, which all his successors — however most of them
may have differed from him in abstract opinions — have found it
necessary to adopt and practice on great and important occasions.
In the fall of that year Washington visited the New England
states, and experienced great satisfaction in witnessing the prosper
ous and happy condition of the people ; in this tour he omitted
Rhode Island, as that state had not then adopted the federal consti
tution, but he visited it in the following year ; after which he retired
to Mount Vernon, as the great change in his habits of life, and his
close application to the duties of his station, had so much impaired
his health, that a respite from official cares was not to be deferred.
In 1791, he passed through the southern states, executing on his
route the power invested in him of selecting the place for the future
capital of the nation.
Although the constitution had been adopted by a majority of the
people in all the states, there yet remained a strong party in most of
them, jealous of the power of the government of the union, and zeal
ous in their attachments to state sovereignty ; men of the highest
talents and purest integrity were divided in their opinions on this
fundamental principle, which all the improvement in the condition
of the country could not reconcile. Domestic prosperity and a few
years of tranquillity might have allayed the violence of party excite
ment, but the turn of European affairs gave it a new impulse and a
wider range.
When the French revolution began, it Avas haUed in America as
the dawn of liberty in Europe ; and as there were parts of the Bri
tish treaty of peace which had not been promptly executed by that
power, there existed a strong inclination to favor France. Wash
ington decided on a neutral course, and the friends of the adminis
tration oh this point, and the opposition, very generally became
identified with the federal and anti-federal parties. The firmness
and prudence of the president, aided by his weight of character,
preserved the country from being precipitated into a war, but it was
for a long time doubtful whether he would be able to withstand the
tide of popular inclination.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
The time for a new election having arrived, Washington was
again unanimously chosen president.
We cannot enter upon the political history of this period, without
stepping beyond the limits of our plan, and at last falling short of a
satisfactory narrative. Of the sincerity of his opinions, the fact is
sufficient that at the call of his country, he surrendered his choice
of life, and risking his popularity and influence, as in the revolution
he had risked his life and fortune, when all might be lost and, per
sonally, nothing to be gained; of the Avisdom of his measures, every
succeeding year has borne ample testimony ; of the deep, unwaver
ing love he bore his country, his whole life gave evidence. He
sought to execute the trust reposed in him by the people, honestly ;
to give a regular operation to the political machine, without violence
and without intrigue. No machiavelian policy, no state trickery
was practised ; his friends and his foes always knew where to find
him, and foreign powers learned to rely as much on his integrity as
his own constituents. He had no local partialities to gratify, no
local interests to subserve ; he thought and acted for the welfare of
the whole, as a nation, which was about to take its rank in the scale
of empires, and on whose future character and destinies, his admi
nistration must have an enduring influence.
When the second term of office was about to expire, Washington
declined a reelection ; and, with an anxiety worthy of his character,
to render a lasting benefit to his country, he published a valedictory
address, in which he warned, admonished, and advised, with the af
fectionate earnestness of a father and the sagacity of a sage, to guard
against foreign infiuence, to avoid all interference with European
politics, and the baneful violence of party spirit and sectional
jealousy ; above all, he urged the importance of " cherishing a cor
dial, habitual, and immovable attachment to the Union, as the main
pillar in the edifice of independence, the support of tranquillity at
home and peace abroad ; of safety, prosperity, and liberty."
After witnessing the inauguration of Mr. Adams as his successor
in office, Washington hastened to seek at Mount Vernon that calm
felicity, that happy retirement, which he had long fondly anticipated ;
but the din of war soon broke in upon the tranquil shades of his retreat.
The spirit of the veteran soldier was roused by the insults offered to
his country by Prance, and laying aside all considerations of age or
ease, he accepted the chief command of the army of the United
States, on condition that he should not be called into the field until

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
his presence became indispensable; — that necessity never occurred,
but before peace was restored, Washington was no more.
On the night of the 13th of December, 1799, (having been exposed
to a shower in the morning,) he was attacked by an inflammatory
affection of the throat, and in twenty-four hours after, the first lumi
nary of America was removed to a higher, brighter, happier sphere.
The shock of this event fell upon the country with the unexpect
ed suddenness of an earthquake, dismay and affliction suspended all
business ; all ages and classes united in sorrow, and jn demonstrations
of veneration and affection.
On the 18th, his remains were deposited in the family vault at
Mount Vernon.
Having thus sketched the chief events in the life of Washington,
very little more seems to be required ; the value, the importance, the
results of that life are before the world. In the place of thirteen
scattered, oppressed, and degraded colonies struggling in poverty,
and united only by the resolution to be free — we have an empire,
rich, powerful, and independent ; to found which, he, more than any
other individual, contributed.
In life, malice never tarnished his honor, envy forbore to practice
her craft ; " favored of heaven, he departed without exhibiting the
weakness of humanity ; magnanimous in death, the darkness of the
grave could not obscure his brightness."* "For himself, he had lived
long enough to life and to glory ; for his fellow citizens, if their
prayers could have been answered, he would have been immortal."?

¦^ Marshall. t Adams.

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MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON.

Descended from an ancient family, which first migrated to the
colony of Virginia, in the person of the Reverend Orlando Jones, a
clergyman of Wales : Martha Dandridge was born in the county
of New Kent, colony of Virginia, in May, 1732. The education of
females, in the early days of the colonial settlements, was almost
exclusively of a domestic character, and by instructors who were
entertained in the principal families, that were too few and too " far
between" to admit of the establishment of pubhc schools. Of the
early life of Miss Dandridge, we are only able to record, that the
young lady excelled in personal charms, which, with pleasing man
ners, and a general amiability of demeanor, caused her to be distin
guished amid the fair ones who usually assembled at the court of
Williamsburg, then held by the royal governors of Virginia.
At seventeen years of age, or in 1749, Miss Dandridge was
married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of the White House, county
of New Kent. This was a match of affection. The father of the
bridegroom, the Honorable JohnCustis, of Arlington, a king's coun
sellor, had matrimonial views of a more ambitious character for his
only son and heir, and was desirous of a connection with the Byrd
family, of Westover, Colonel Byrd being, at that time, from his
influence and vast possessions, almost a count palatine of Virginia.
The counsellor having at length given his consent, the newly mar
ried pair settled at the White House, on the banks of the Pamunkey
river, where Colonel Custis became an eminently successful planter.
The fruits of this marriage were, a girl, who died in infancy, and
Daniel, Martha, and John. Daniel was a child of much promise,
and it was generally believed, that his untimely death hastened his
father to the grave. Martha arrived at womanhood, and died at
Mount Vernon in 1770, and John, the father of the biographer,*

•Qborge W. p. Custis, Esq., of Arlington, D. C.
1

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
perished while in the service of his country, and the suite of the
commander-in-chief, at the siege of Yorktown, 1781, aged twenty-
seven. On the decease of her husband, which happened at about middle
age, Mrs. Custis found herself at once a very young, and among
the very wealthiest widows in the colony. Independently of exten
sive and valuable landed estates, the colonel left thirty thousand
pounds sterling in money, with half that amount to his only daughter,
Martha. It is related of this amiable gentleman, that, when on his
death bed, he sent for a tenant, to whom, in settling an account, he
Avas due one shiUing. The tenant begged that the colonel, Avho had
ever been most kind to his tenantry, would not trouble himself at all
about such a trifle, as he, the tenant, had forgotten it long ago. "But
I have not," rejoined the just and conscientious landlord, and bidding
his creditor take up the coin, which had been purposely placed on
his pillow, exclaimed, " Now my accounts are all closed with this
world;" and shortly after expired. Mrs. Custis, as sole executrix,
managed the extensive landed and pecuniary concerns of the estates
with surprising ability, making loans, on mortgage, of moneys, and,
through her stewards and agents, conducting the sales or exporta
tion of the crops, to the best possible advantage.
While on the subject of the moneyed concerns of seventy years ago,
we hope to be pardoned for a brief digression. The orchard of fine
apple trees is yet standing near Bladensburg, that was presented to
a Mr. Ross, by the father of the late venerated Charles Carroll of
Carrollton, as a recompense for Mr. Ross's having introduced to Mr.
Carroll a good borrower of his money. A Colonel T., one of the
ancient dons of Maryland, being observed riding over the race course
of Annapolis in a very disturbed and anxious manner, was accosted
by his friends, with a " What 's the matter, colonel 1 Are you alarmed
for the success of your filly, about to start ?" " Oh no," replied T.,
"but I have a thousand pounds by me, to loan, and here have I been
riding about the course the whole morning, and not a single bor
rower can I get for my money." We opine, that the same anxieties
would not be long suffered in 1834.
It was in 1758, that an officer, attired in a military undress, and
attended by a body servant, tall and mUitaire as his chief, crossed
the ferry called WiUiams', over the Pamunkey, a branch of the York
river. On the boat touching the southern, or New Kent side, the
soldier's progress was arrested by one of those personages, who give
the beau ideal of the Virginia gentleman of the old regime, the very

MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON.
soul of kindliness and hospitality. It was in vain the soldier urged
his business at Williamsburg, important communications to the
governor, (fee. Mr. Chamberlayne, on whose domain the mUitaire
had just landed, would hear of no excuse. Colonel Washington
was a name and character so dear to all the Virginians, that his
passing by one of the old castles of Virginia, Avithout calling and
partaking of the hospitalities of the host, was entirely out of the
question. The colonel, however, did not surrender at discretion,
but stoutly maintained his ground, till Chamberlayne bringing up
his reserve, in the intimation that he Avould introduce his friend to
a young and charming widow, then beneath his roof, the soldier
capitulated, on condition that he should dine, only dine, and then,
by pressing his charger and borrowing of the night, he would reach
Williamsburg before his excellency could shake off his morning
slumbers. Orders were accordingly issued to Bishop, the colonel's
body servant and faithful follower, who, together with the fine
English charger, had been bequeathed by the dying Braddock to
Major Washington, on the famed and fatal field of the Monongahela.
Bishop, bred in the school of European discipline, raised his hand to
his cap, as much as to say, "Your honor's orders shall be obeyed."
The colonel now proceeded to the mansion, and was introduced
to various guests, (for when was a Virginian domicil of the olden
time without guests ?) and above all, to the charming widow. Tra
dition relates that they were mutually pleased on this their first
interview, nor is it remarkable ; they were of an age when impressions
are strongest. The lady was fair to behold, of fascinating manners,
and splendidly endowed with worldly benefits. The hero, fresh from
his early fields, redolent of fame, and with a form on which "every
god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance of a man."
. The morning passed pleasantly away, evening came, with Bishop,
true to his orders and firm at his post, holding the favorite charger Avith
the one hand, while the other was waiting to offer the ready stirrup.
The sun sank in the horizon, and yet the colonel appeared not. And
then the old soldier marvelled at his chief's delay. " 'T was strange,
'twas passing strange" — surely he was not wont to be a single
moment behind his appointments, for he was the most punctual of
all punctual men. Meantime, the host enjoyed the scene of the
veteran on duty at the gate, while the colonel was so agreeably
employed in the parlor ; and proclaiming that no guest ever left his
house after sunset, his military visiter was, without much difficulty,
persuaded to order Bishop to put up the horses for the night. The

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
sun rode high in the heavens the ensuing day, when the enamored
soldier pressed with his spur his charger's side, and speeded on his
way to the seat of government, where, having despatched his public
business, he retraced his steps, and, at the White House, the engage
ment took place, with preparations for the marriage.
And much hath the biographer heard of that marriage, from gray-
haired domestics, who waited at the board where love made the
feast and Washington was the guest. And rare and high was the
revelry, at that palmy period of Virginia's festal age ; for many were
gathered to that marriage, of the good, the great, the gifted, and the
gay, whUe Virginia, with joyous acclamation, hailed in her youthful
hero a prosperous and happy bridegroom.
" And so you remember when Colonel Washington came a courting
¦of your mistress?" said the biographer to old Cully, in his hundredth
year. " Aye, master, that I do," replied this ancient family servant,
who had lived to see five generations ; " great times, sir, great times !
Shall never see the like again !" " And Washington looked some
thing like a man, a proper man ; hey, Cully?" " Never seed the like,
sir ; never the likes of him, tho' I have seen many in my day : so
tall, so straight ! and then he sat a horse and rode with such an air !
Ah, sir ; he was like no one else ! Many of the grandest gentlemen,
in their gold lace, were at the wedding, but none looked like the
man himself!" Strong, indeed, must have been the impressions
which the person and manner of Washington made upon the rude,
" untutor'd mind" of this poor negro, since the lapse of three quarters
of a century had not sufficed to efface them.
The precise date of the marriage, the biographer has been unable
to discover, having in vain searched among the records of the vestry
of St. Peter's church. New Kent, of which the Reverend Mr. Mossom,
a Cambridge scholar, was the rector, and performed the ceremony,
it is believed, about 1759. A short time after their marriage. Colonel
and Mrs. Washington removed to Mount Vernon on the Potomac,
and permanently settled there.
The mansion of Mount Vernon, more than seventy years ago,
was a very small building, compared with its present extent, and the
numerous out buildings attached to it. The mansion house consisted
of four rooms on a floor, forming the centre of the present buflding,
and remained pretty much in that state up to 1774, when Colonel
Washington repaired to the first congress in Philadelphia, and from
thence to the command-in-chief of the armies of his country, assembled
before Cambridge, July, 1775. The commander-in-chief returned

MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON.
no more' to reside at Mount Vernon tfll after the peace of 1783.
Mrs. or Ladat Washington, as we shaU now caU her, such being
the appellation she always bore in the army, accompanied the gene
ral to the lines before Boston, and witnessed its siege and evacuation.
She then returned to Virginia, the subsequent campaigns being of too
momentous a character to allow of her accompanying the army.
At the close of each campaign an aid-de-camp repaired to Mount
Vernon, to escort the lady to the head-quarters. The arrival of
Lady Washington at camp was an event much anticipated, and
was always the signal for the ladies of the general officers to repair
to the bosoms of their lords. The arrival of the aid-de-camp,
escorting the plain chariot, with the neat postUlions in their scarlet
and white liveries, was deemed an epoch in the army, and served to
diffuse a cheering influence amid the gloom which hung over our
destinies at VaUey Forge, MorristoAvn, and West Point. Lady
Washington always remained at the head-quarters till the opening
of the campaign, and often remarked, in after life, that it had been
her fortune to hear the first cannon at the opening, and the last at
the closing, of all the campaigns of the revolutionary war. During
the whole of that mighty period when we struggled for independence.
Lady Washington preserved her equanimity, together with a de
gree of cheerfulness that inspired all around her with the brightest
hopes for our ultimate success. To her alone a heaAry cloud of
sorrow hung over the conclusion of the glorious campaign of 1781.
Her only child, while attending to his duties as aid-de-camp to the
general-in-chief, during the siege of Yorktown, was seized with an
attack of the camp fever, then raging to a frightful extent within the
enemy's intrenchments. Ardently attached to the cause of his
country, having witnessed many of the most important events of the
revolutionary contest, from the siege of Boston, in 1775, to the virtual
termination of the war in 1781, the sufferer beheld the surrender of
the British army on the memorable 19th of October, and was thence
removed to Eltham, in New Kent, where he was attended by Dr.
Craik, chief of the medical staff. Washington, learning the extreme
danger of his step-son, to whom he was greatly attached, privately
left the camp before Yorktown, while yet it rang Avith the shouts of
victory, and, attended by a single officer, rode with all speed to
Eltham. It was just day daAvn when the commander-in-chief sprung
from his panting charger, and summoning Dr. Craik to his presence,
inquired if there was any hope. Craik shook his head, when the
chief, being shoAvn into a private room, threw himself on a bed

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
absorbed in grief The poor sufferer, being in his last agonies,
soon after expired. The general remained for some time closeted
with his lady, then remounted and returned to the camp.
It was after the peace of 1783, that General Washington set in
earnest about the improvements in building and laying off the gar
dens and grounds that now adorn Mount Vernon. He continued in
these gratifying employments, occasionally diversified by the plea
sures of the chase, till 1787, when he was caUed to preside in the
convention that formed the present constitution, and in 1789, left his
beloved retirement to assume the chief magistracy of the union.
During the residence of General and Mrs. Washington at Mount
Vernon, after the peace of 1783, the ancient mansion, always the
seat of hospitality, was crowded with guests. The officers of the
French and American armies, with many strangers of distinction,
hastened to pay their respects to the victorious general, now merged
into the illustrious farmer of Mount Vernon. During these stirring
times Mrs. Washington performed the duties of a Virginia house-
Avife, and presided at her well-spread board, with that ease and
elegance of manners which always distinguished her. At length
the period arrived when General and Mrs. Washington were to
leave the delights of retirement, and to enter upon new and elevated
scenes of life. The unanimous voice of his country hailed the hero
who had so lately led her armies to victory, as the chief magistrate
of the young empire about to daAvn upon the world.
The president and his lady bid adieu with extreme regret, to the
tranquil and happy shades where a few years of repose had, in
great measure, effaced the effects of the toils and anxieties of war ;
where a little Eden had bloomed and flourished under their fostering
hands ; and where a numerous circle of friends and relatives would
sensibly feel the privation of their departure. They departed, and
hastened to where duty called the man of his country.
The journey to New York, in 1789, was a continued triumph.
The august spectacle at the bridge of Trenton brought tears to the
eyes of the chief, and forms one of the most brilliant recollections of
the age of Washington.
Arrived at the seat of the federal government, the president and
Mrs. Washington formed their establishment upon a scale that
while it partook of all the attributes of our republican institutions
possessed at the same time that degree of dignity and regard for
appearances, so necessary to give to our infant republic respect in
the eyes of the world. The house was handsomely furnished ; the

MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON.
equipages neat, with horses of the first order ; the servants wore the
family liveries ; and, with the exception of a steward and housekeeper,
the whole establishment differed but little from that of a private
gentleman. On Tuesdays, from three to four o'clock, the president
received the foreign ambassadors and strangers who wished to be
introduced to him. On these occasions, and when opening the
sessions of congress, the president wore a dress sword. His personal
apparel was always remarkable for its being old fashioned, and
exceedingly plain and neat. On Thursdays were the congressional
dinners, and on Friday nights, Mrs. Washington's drawing room.
The company usually assembled about seven, and rarely staid
exceeding ten o'clock. The ladies were seated, and the president
passed around the circle, paying his compliments to each. At the
drawing rooms, Mrs. Morris always sat at the right of the lady presi
dent, and at all the dinners, public or private, at which Robert
Morris was a guest, that venerable man was placed at the right of
Mrs. Washington. When ladies called at the president's mansion,
the habit was for the secretaries and gentlemen of the president's
household to hand them to and from their carriages ; but when the
honored relicts of Greene and Montgomery came to the presidoliad,
the president himself performed these complimentary duties.
On the great national festivals of the fourth of July and twenty-
second of February, the sages of the revolutionary congress and the
officers of the revolutionary army renewed their acquaintance with
Mrs. Washington ; many and kindly greetings took place, with
many a recollection of the days of trial. The Cincinnati, after paying
their respects to their chief, were seen to ffie off toward the parlor,
where Lady Washington was in waiting to receive them, and
where Wayne, and Mifflin, and Dickenson, and StcAvart, and Moy
lan, and Hartley, and a host of veterans, were cordially welcomed
as old friends, and where many an interesting reminiscence weis
called up, of the head-quarters and the " times of the revolution."
On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe, the
president and Mrs. Washington attended divine service at Christ
church ; and in the evenings, the president read to Mrs. Washing
ton, in her chamber, a sermon, or some portion from the sacred
writings. No visiters, with the exception of Mr. Speaker Trumbull,
were admitted to the presidoliad on Sundays.
There was one description of visiters, however, to be found about
the first president's mansion on all days. The old soldiers repaired,
as they said, to head-quarters, just to inquire after the health of his

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
excellency and Lady Washington. They knew his excellency
was of course much engaged ; but they would like to see the good
lady. One had been a soldier of the life guard ; another had been on
duty when the British threatened to surprise the head-quarters ; a
third had witnessed that terrible fellow, CornwaUis, surrender his
sword : each one had some touching appeal, with which to introduce
liimself to the peaceful head-quarters of the presidoliad. All were
" kindly bid to stay," were conducted to the steward's apartments,
and refreshments set before them ; and, after receiving some little
token from the lady, with her best wishes for the health and -happi
ness of an old soldier, they went their ways, while blessings upon
their revered commander and the good Lady Washington, were
uttered by many a war-worn veteran of the revolution.
In the spring of 1797, General and Mrs. Washington, bidding
adieu to public life, took their leave of the seat of government and
journeyed to the south, prepared in good earnest to spend the rem
nant of their days in their beloved retirenient of Mount Vernon. The
general reassumed with delight his agricultural employments, while
the lady bustled again amid her domestic concerns, showing that
neither time nor her late elevated station had in any wise impaired
her qualifications for a Virginia housewife, and she was now verging
upon threescore and ten.
But for Washington to be retired at Mount Vernon or any where
else, was out of the question. Crowds which had hailed the vic
torious general as the deliverer of his country, and called him with
acclamation to the chief magistracy of the infant empire, now pressed
to his retirement, to offer their love and admiration to the illustrious
farmer of Mount Vernon.
Mrs. Washington was an uncommonly early riser, leaving her
pillow at day dawn at all seasons of the year, and becoming at once
actively engaged in her household duties. After breakfast she
retired for an hour to her chamber, which hour was spent in prayer
and reading the Holy Scriptures, a practice that she never omitted
during half a century of her varied life.
Two years had passed happily at Mount Vernon ; for although the
general, yielding to the claims of his country, had again accepted the
command-in-chief of her armies, yet he had stipulated with govern
ment that he should not leave his retirement, unless upon the actual
invasion of an eriemy. It was while engaged in projecting new and
ornamental improvements in his grounds, that the fiat of the Almighty
went forth, caUing the being, the measure of whose earthly fame Avas

MRS. MARTHA WASHINGTON.
fflled to overflowing, to his great reward in higher and better worlds.
The illness was short and severe. Mrs. Washington left not the
chamber of the sufferer, but was seen kneeling at the bedside, her
head resting upon her Bible, which had been her solace in the many
and heavy afflictions she had undergone. Dr. Craik, the early friend
and companion in arms of the chief, replaced the hand, which was
almost pulseless, upon the pillow, while he turned away to conceal
the tears that fast chased each other down his furrowed cheeks.
The last effort of the expiring Washington was worthy of the
Roman fame of his life and character. He raised himself up, and
casting a look of benignity on all around him, as if to thank them
for their kindly attentions, he composed his limbs, closed his eyes,
and folding his arms upon his bosom, the father of his country
expired, gently as thougti an infant died !
The afflicted relict could with difficulty be removed from the
chamber of death, to which she returned no more, but occupied
other apartments for the residue of her days.
By an arrangement with government, Mrs. Washington yielded
the remains of the chief to the prayer of the nation, as expressed
through its representatives in congress, conditioning that at her
decease, her own remains should accompany those of her husband
to the capital.
When the burst of grief which followed the death of the pater
patriae had a little subsided, visits of condolence to the bereaved
lady were made by the first personages of the land. The president
of the United States, with many other distinguished individuals,
repaired to Mount Vernon, while letters, addresses, funeral orations,
and all the tokens of sorrow and respect, loaded the mails from
every quarter of the country, offering the sublime tribute of a nation's
mourning for a nation's benefactor.
Although the great sun of attraction had sunk in the west, still
the radiance shed by his Ulustrious life and actions drew crowds of
pilgrims to his tomb. The establishment of Mount Vernon was
kept up to its former standard, and the lady presided with her wonted
ease and dignity of manner at her hospitable board ; she relaxed not
in her attentions to her domestic concerns, performing the arduous
duties of the mistress of so extensive an establishment, although in
the sixty-ninth year of her age, and evidently suffering in her spirits,
from the heavy bereavement she had so lately sustained.
In little more than two years from the demise of the chief, Mrs.
Washington became alarmingly ill from an attack of bilious fever.

NATIONAL PORTRAITS.
From her advanced age, the sorroAv that had preyed upon her spirits,
and the severity of the attack, the family physician gave but little
hope of a favorable issue. The lady herself was perfectly aware
that her hour was nigh ; she assembled her grand-children at her
bedside, discoursed to them on their respective duties through life,
spoke of the happy infiuences of religion upon the affairs of this
world, of the consolations they had afforded her in many and trying
afflictions, and of the hopes they held out of a blessed immortality ;
and then, surrounded by her weeping relatives, friends, and domestics,
the venerable relict of Washington resigned her life into the hands
of her Creator, in the seventy-first year of her age.
Agreeably to her direction, her remains were placed in a leaden
coffin, and entombed by the side of those of the chief, to await the
pleasure of the government.
In person, Mrs. Washington was well formed, and somewhat
below the middle size. To judge from her portrait at Arlington
House, done by Woolaston, when she was in the bloom of life, she
must at that period have been eminently handsome. In her dress,
though plain, she was so scrupulously neat, that ladies have often
wondered how Mrs. Washington could wear a gOAvn for a week,
go through her kitchen and laundries, and all the varieties of places
in the routine of domestic management, and yet the goAvn retain its
snow-like whiteness, unsullied by even a single speck. In her con
duct to her servants, her discipline was prompt, yet humane, and her
household was remarkable for the excellence of its domestics.
Our filial task is done. Pew females have ever figured in the
great drama of life, amid scenes so varied and imposing, with so
fcAv faults and so many virtues as the subject of this brief memoir.
Identified with the father of his country in the great events which
led to the establishment of a nation's independence, Mrs. Wash
ington necessarily partook much of his thoughts, his councils, and
his views. Often at his side in that awful period that " tried men's
souls," her cheerfulness soothed his anxieties, her firmness inspired
confidence, while her devotional piety toward the Supreme Being
enabled her to discern a ray of hope, amid the darkness of an horizon
clouded by despair.
After a long life abounding in vicissitudes, having a full measure
of sorrows but with many and high enjoyments, the venerable
Martha Washington descended to the grave, cheered by the
prospect of a blessed immortality, and mourned by the millions of a
mighty empire.

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