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LIFE

JAMES SULLIYAN:

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BY
THOMAS C. AMORY.

•VOLTTI^E I.

BOSTON:
PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY,
13 WlNTSB SiBEZX.
1859.

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Entered fuxording to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
THOMAS C. AMOEY, Je.,
lo the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

CLbS ^^^<>

8teT«at7pfld hj
HOBABT ft BOBBINS,
Hew England Tjpo and Bteno^e FoundaT*
BOSTON.

PEEFACE,

It is now fifty years since the subject of the following memoir
closed his eyes upon the world. Most of his cotemporaries
have disappeared from among the living ; and other genera
tions, with new objects of interest, have taken their place.
Should any one be disposed to ask, why remove the veil which
time had been silently weaving, let him be patient and see if
the narrative does not furnish its, own justification.
The circumstances which led to its preparation were some
what accidental ; and, when the author commenced the collec
tion of his materials, they were designed for a less ambitious
purpose than the present publication. It is well known to
many persons that there is in New England one who has
devoted a large portion of his life to exploring and illus
trating its ancient cemeteries. While pursuing his vocation
among the tombs of the Granary Burial-ground, in Boston, his
attention was attracted to a marble monument bearing two
inscriptions ; one that of Eichard Bellingham, the other of
James Sullivan, who, at the interval of a century and a half,
had died chief magistrates of Massachusetts. Desirous of
learning more of the latter than could be found in biographical
dictionaries, he was directed to me as a descendant. The en
deavor to meet his wishes involved a more arduous task than '
was anticipated, but which, if laborious, has had its pleasures.

IV PREFACE.
In following the busy footsteps of one whose memory I had
been early taught to venerate, and who, at a period unusually
eventful, had been incessantly engaged in important public
employments, materials rapidly accumulated ; and, what was
originally intended as a brief sketch for family use, imper
ceptibly extended itself over these pages. Friends who are
acquainted with our early annals as a state, encourage the
persuasion that they may find favor with a wider circle of
readers, and not be unacceptable to that steadily increas
ing class among us, who kindly welcome all contributions to
American Biography.
These contributions, it is true, have of late been numerous.
But the history of our country cannot be made too familiar ;
and its study, from different points of view, serves to fix in the
memory its leading incidents, and corrects erroneous impres
sions. With the development and extension of republican
institutions, our revolutionary epoch increases in importance.
Ages far removed will derive from its teachings their best
lessons of political wisdom, and kindle at its sacred altars
a more zealous devotion to the principles of civil liberty,
which were hallowed by the exertions and sacrifices of its
patriots. The biographies of such as, in field or council,
contributed to its successful issue, must ever prove its best
illustration ; and, fortunately for the country, those whose vir
tues and services are justly entitled to be thus commemorated
were neither few in number nor confined to any particular
locality. With the lapse of time, as we become more intimately
blended into one people, their fame will be our common inher
itance, and their example and precepts, if carefully cherished,
strengthen the general attachment of all to that constitutional
freedom which they nobly achieved and wisely established.
The part which James Sullivan took in the heroic struggle

PREFACE. V
has been mainly developed from official records, and the reader
can judge for himself as to the character of his public services.
While every caution has been used not to give him credit with
out good authority, justice to his memory demanded that no
unseasonable reserve should withhold expressions of praise
where they were honestly due. It was, however, with no view
of asserting or vindicating for his memory a place in the
grateful estimation of his countrymen, that this work has
been pursued ; but from the conviction that his career,
connected as it was with momentous events and impor
tant enterprises and negotiations, ought to be better known,
and that a faithful narrative of its more prominent incidents
would preserve, for future historians, many valuable facts which
might otherwise escape their attention.
Long in the enjoyment of the most extensive practice at the
bar of the commonwealth, for six years on its supreme bench,
and for seventeen at a later period its attorney-general, his
professional life embraced a wide range of experience. The
memory of much of this has perished forever ; but, from the
recollections of members of the legal brotherhood, who were
entering upon practice as he was leaving it, some few anec
dotes and entertaining particulars have been gleaned, while sev
eral more have been transmitted in his own family, or through
other channels. It may be regretted that no earlier efibrts
were made to collect these traditions, as much curious knowl
edge of the professional habits and customs of former days
might thus have been saved. The bar abounded in men of
(ability, profound learning, and distinguished eloquence. Their
names are still familiar as household words ; but both their
public and forensic achievements are settling fast into oblivion.
It is a truth of general recognition that the most transcendent
abilities in the practice of the law, however highly they may
A*

VI PREFACE.
be appreciated in the day of their exercise, are quickly for
gotten when the voice of the orator is silent in the tomb.
Books of reports may exhibit some faint trace of his labors,
and occasionally an address to a county bar pay tribute to his
hard-earned laurels ; and where professional merit is stamped
with the seal of high judicial dignity, or crowned with the
distinctions of political life, he may be longer remembered ;
but the greater number die and leave behind them little
mark of their existence. Mr. Knapp, in his sketches, has
preserved many interesting reminiscences of these ancient wor
thies, which, but for his timely efibrts, must have been irrevo
cably lost. His notice of Sullivan contains various facts and
instructive views, which we could not hope to present so
happily embodied in our own narrative as in their original form ;
and, his book being out of print, his memoir is appended to our
own, to give a more complete and faithful representation of
our subject.
But, responsible and unremitting as were Sullivan's toils at
the bar, of which he was long an acknowledged leader, it is
rather his politica^ than professional life which is best entitled
to be remembered. Prom early manhood, for the space of
forty years, embracing the whole period of the Eevolution,
and closing amidst the gloomy agitations of the Embargo, he
was engaged in the discharge of various public duties. He
took a prominent part in the deliberations, and in many of the
most hnportant measures, of those troubled times ; contribut
ing, by his speeches and writings, to the successful establish
ment of our national liberties, and to the organization of both
state and federal governments upon secure foundations.
At the head of one of the two great parties into which the
people of the state were for many years nearly equally divided,
and the chief executive at a crisis threatening the stability of

PREFACE. VII
our institutions, his history is, in some respects, coincident with
that of Massachusetts. To all who would seek, by the aid of
past experience, to be prepared for similar conjunctures when
they come, — as come they doubtless will in our future prog
ress, — the history of the state cannot be too frequently made
a subject of investigation. The view of our early political con
troversies, most generally presented by historical writers, has
been from the side of the federalists. Without meaning to
impeach the fairness of their intentions, it is obvious that, to
arrive at just conclusions, we must divest ourselves of all par
tisan prejudices, and examine with equal candor the profes
sions, policy and measures, of both parties. Sullivan was a
consistent republican, and, if his writings and opinions are
a correct expression of their sentiments, the republicans were
as reasonable, just and patriotic, as their opponents.
James Sullivan was an indefatigable writer. Besides his
professional, historical and political publications, his contribu
tions to the public press on a great variety of subjects are
numerous, evincing the greatest activity of mind and the
most untiring industry. They continue in an almost uninter
rupted series throughout his public life, afibrding not only a
most complete exposition of the growth and development of
his own political sentiments, but likewise a faithful record of
the great questions and events which successively interested
or agitated public opinion. Many of these have been intro
duced into the following pages, while others, with a selection
from the great variety of his state papers on the files of the
government, are reserved for a future publication.
The recent measures adopted by the Legislature of Massa
chusetts to preserve, arrange and render accessible, its valua
ble archives in the state department and other public offices,
are worthy of all praise. It has been hitherto impossible to
ascertain many important particulars of our early history, as

VIII PREFACE.
the original documents, in which alone they were recorded, to
save room needed for other purposes, had beeh boxed up and
deposited, quite out of reach, in damp and murky corners of
the state-house. In the enlargement of the building, space
has been found for their orderly arrangement in fire-proof
apartments. Copious tables of contents, explanatory of each
paper, with good general indexes, place within the reach of the
inquirer these rich stores of historical material, of constantly
increasing value, a considerable portion of which have been
only recently, for the first time since they were originally filed
away, brought to the light.
To the gentlemen who have charge of these valuable collec
tions, and to many others who have supplied materials, or en
couraged by their advice and good wishes the prosecution of
my work, this occasion is gladly embraced for grateful ac
knowledgment. Should it prove fortunate in imparting informa
tion to the reader, or in contributing to his entertainment, a
principal source of satisfaction will be in the reflection that
this assistance has not been uselessly bestowed.
It is not from any wish to disparage his own labors, and
certainly not with any design of disarming criticism by timely
admission, that the writer is obliged to confess he has had no
experience and can boast of no skill in authorship. Had the
many imperfections, which are sufficiently glaring on the
printed page, been equally obvious in manuscript, he would
have long hesitated before subjecting them to the ordeal of an
enlightened community. But it is now too late for repent
ance ; and the faith that his volumes contain some important
historical particulars not generally known, conquering that
natural timidity which ever haunts the threshold of first efforts,
he submits them, with confidence and without reserve, to the
generous candor of the public.
December 10, 1858.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PARENTAGE.
Stdlivans in Ireland — Daniel O'Sullivan Prince of Bearchaven^ — Major Phillip
O'Sullivan — John Sullivan, of Berwick, Maine  1
CHAPTER II,
YOUTH AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES.
1744—1767.
Birth of James Sullivan — Berwick — Accidents of childhood — General Sulli
van — Law studies at Durham — Betrothal,  17
CHAPTER III.
PROVINCIAL CONGRESS.
1767—1775.
Besidence at Georgetown — Marriage — Settles at Biddefbrd — Limerick —
Early practice — Opening of the revolution — Member of General Court —
Provincial Congress — Address to inhabitants — On committee of public
safety — Commissioner to Lake Champlain  29
CHAPTER IV.
PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY.
1775—1776.
Dr. Church — Burning of Falmouth — Judge of admiralty — Harangues the
soldiers — Mutiny in camp — Commissary at Falmouth — Address to Wash
ington ^r Letter to John Adams, recommendiug Declaration of Indepen
dence,  55

X TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
ON THE BENCH.
1776—1778.
Judge of Supreme Court — Capture of General SuUivan — Eben at the Cedara
 Address to the people — Character of Hawley — Confiscations — General
Sullivan in the Jerseys,  78
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE BENCH.
1778—1782.
Bemoval to Groton — Small-pox — State constitution — Contributions to the
press — Slave case — Depreciations — Capture and death of Daniel Sul
livan  *  103
CHAPTER VII.
REMOVAL TO BOSTON.
1784—1785.
Commissioner for revising the laws — Resignation of seat on the bench —
Chosen to Congress — Temple controversy- Case of Brattle — Peace —
GeueralCourt— Fourth of July  124
CHAPTER VIII.
WESTERN LANDS.
Origin of controversy — Plymouth Company — Pilgrims — Cape Ann — Mas
sachusetts charter — Other patents — New Netherlands — Virginia cession
Sullivan's report — Sale to Gorham and Phelps,  149
CHAPTER IX.
THE REBELLION.
1785—1788.
Death of Mrs. Sullivan — Case of John Murray — General distress — Honestua
against the lawyers — Armed mob at Northampton — Address to people —
Letter to Samuel Adams — James goes to Groton — Scattering at Petersham
— Defence of prisoners — Argument in council for pardon — Laco and
Junius — Death of son  176

TABLE OP CONTENTS, XI
CHAPTER X,
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
1787—1788.
First American constitution — Articles of confederation — General convention —
Amendments — Suability of states — Observations on United States Govern
ment — Ford's reply  212
CHAPTER XI.
JUDGE OP PROBATE.
1788—1790.
Commissioner for publishing laws — Parties — Captaincy of the Castle — Stone
House club — Visit to the south — Character of Bowdoin — Second marriage
— Washington's visit to Boston — Federal expenditures and powers, . . 238
CHAPTER XII.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
1790—1793.
Appointed attorney-general — Life on the circuit — Municipal reform — Hawley-
street — Theatre — French revolution — Jacobin club,  259
CHAPTER XIII.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
1793—1796.
Death and Character of Hancock — French revolution — Genet and Duplaine —
Carrying trade — Embargo — Public improvements — Controversy with Dr.
Osgood — Treatyriot,  276

CHAPTER XIV.
ST. CROIX.
Appointed agent — Origin of dispute — Visit to Halifax and Passamaquoddy —
Account of proceedings — Letter to Parsons — Final result  305

XII TABLE OP CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
PRIVATE LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS.
Early impressions — Brattle-street — Settlement of Buokminster — Religious
tenets — Character — Social and domestic habits — Family affictions, . 334
CHAPTER XVI.
PUBLIC ENTERPRISE.
Academy of Arts and Sciences — Massachusetts Historical Society — Massachu
setts Congregational Charitable Society — Humane Society — Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel among the Indians — Middlesex Canal — Boston
Aqueduct  365
CHAPTER XVII.
AUTHORSHIP.
Revolutionary Addresses — Reply to Thaeher — Observations on United States
Government — Path to Riches — History of Maine — Altar of Baal — Free
dom of the Press — Land Titles — Criminal Law — Correspondence —
Obituaries — History of the Penobscots — Political Essays,  377
APPENDIX A,  405
B,  414

CHAPTER I.

PARENTAGE.

The Sullivans were for many centuries a numerous and
powerful sept settled in the southerly part of Ireland, and
are now extensively multiplied on both sides of the Atlan
tic. In common with the other Milesian families, they
traced their origin to a very early period of history. The
preservation of their national annals, as also those of each
particular sept, was made the especial duty of the bards
and chieftains of the ancient Irish, from the organization
of the government under the sons of Heber down to the
times when the country was thrown into anarchy and con
fusion by the progress of English invasion. It is an inter
esting and well-authenticated fact, connected with the
history of Ireland, that, nnder Queen Elizabeth, one meas
ure adopted for its more perfect subjugation was an order
to collect from the national and private repositories these
records, that by gradually weakening, through their destruc
tion, the spirit of clanship, the land might become an easier
prey to the spoiler. This order was only partially obeyed ;
and in many of these ancient chronicles, or psalters as they
were called, which have been preserved, frequent mention
is made of the O'Sullivans and their chieftains. Many of
the name gained glory by their exploits in the field, or
were otherwise honorably remembered, and their race, to
nse the words of Sir William Betham,* a standard author-
* Baronetage, v., 556.

2 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ity on such subjects, in point of antiquity and early pre
eminence, can vie with the most distinguished in Europe.
For many centuries prior to 1170, when the Enghsh first
arrived in hostile array upon its shores, Ireland had been
as highly civilized as any part of Western Europe ; and
its schools and colleges, in the days of Charlemagne and
for a long time afterwards, were the resort of priest and
noble from England and from many of the continental
nations. During this period, and down to a comparatively
recent era, the O'Sullivans possessed extensive territories
in the Province or Kingdom of Munster ; and along the
shores of the Bay of Bantry, the banks of the Kenmare, and
up through the superb passes and defiles of the Lakes of
Killarney, celebrated as among the most beautiful scenery
in Europe,* their chieftains exercised an independent sov
ereignty. The mouldering ruins of the Castles of Ardea,
Dunkerron, and Dunboy, still remain the mournful monu
ments of their former prosperity; while more enduring
testimonials of their virtues, valor, and love of country, fill
some of the brightest pages of their ancient annals. No
one can read the history of the English conquest, slowly
extending through so many centuries its steady and desolat
ing progress, and contemplate without sensations of horror
the ruthless barbarity that marked its bloody footprints,
or without mingled emotions of admiration and sadness
the gallant and long-protracted struggles of the people, and
their final unhappy destiny. In their social system, which
was rather patriarchal than feudal, and better suited to pro
mote the welfare of an agricultural community beyond the
reach of foreign war, than one placed so near a powerful and
warlike nation like the English, there were inherent defects
which rendered impracticable any combined resistance to
foreign aggression. Could they have been united, and loyal
to one common sentiment of nationality, Ireland eventually,
*See Macaulay, History of England, vol. iii., p. 128.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 3
from her inferior power and resources, might have become
a dependency of Great Britain; but the properties and
liberties of its people would have been respected, and they
would have been spared that terrible destitution and serv
itude which have driven so many of them into exile.
The comparative power of the conquerors increased
with each successive century ; and the native races, alien
ated and divided by feuds and jealousies fostered by
English policy, all industry being discouraged by the pres
ence of hostile armies, fell ofi" more and more from their
earlier grade of civilization ; while their enemies, absorb
ing Jheir substance and gaining vigor from their decline,
secured their conquests by keeping the remnant of the
inhabitants in poverty and ignorance. If, under these
discouragements, there was no progress in the arts of life,
and little instruction among the. people, this applied with
less force to the more afiluent; and their chieftains, edu
cated on the continent, compared favorably in accomplish
ments and all the higher sentiments and graces of civiliza
tion with any similar class in Europe. Surrounded at
home by the vicissitudes of deadly warfare, the uncertain-
tie^ of life increased their sensibility to religious influences,
and they wore as devoted to their church as tenacious of
their national independence. The English rule, long con
fined to what was called the pale, the country immediately
surrounding the capital, gained gradually in its sweep
over the island, until it extended to the sea. The contest
assumed the character of civil war, and those reduced to
submission were retained in subjection by confiscations
and proscriptions. Often, that a better pretext might be
found for stripping them of their inheritance, the native
chieftains were instigated, by their rapacious and wily
adversaries, to acts of resistance. Religious persecution,
an admirable invention of the spirit of evil, came in
ready aid to accomplish the same objects ; and thus the
soil in time became vested in the Saxon and Protestant.

4 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Remote from the English pale, and their country pro
tected by its natural defences, the O'Sullivans for numerous
generations retained their territory unmolested. In the
fifteenth century, indeed, for a short period it fell into the
possession of the stranger; but, recovered by force of
arms, remained for the most part in their quiet, undis
turbed enjoyment down to the latter days of Queen Eliza
beth. During the long-protracted struggle of Ireland for
nearlv five hundred years for national existence, they were
ever among the most stanch and self-sacrificing of its
defenders. Other families were their superiors in wealth,
and in the number of their adherents, and perhaps more
frequently mentioned with distinguished encomium; but
few were more efiicient in service, or less selfish in their
patriotic devotion to their country.
A long succession of O'Sullivans, hereditary princes of
Beare and Bantry, whose names are recorded in the gene
alogical works of Ireland, and mentioned honorably in its
annals, were for centuries independent chieftains of the
southerly portions of Munster. Their rule extended over
hundreds of square miles of territory, and was recognized
by thousands of attached adherents and followers. Bor
dering on the sea, and deeply-recessed bays which indent
the south-westerly shore of the island, like their Iberian pro
genitors they were much devoted to maritime adventure,
and had constant intercourse with Prance and Spain. The
English forces made occasional forays into the province,
but only in the seventeenth century reduced it to complete
subjection ; and this after the destruction of a large por
tion of its inhabitants, and by reducing it to a desolate
wilderness. Before the middle of the sixteenth century
the princes of Beare acknowledged no allegiance to the
English monarchs; and in 1531 the commander of an
English vessel, who had ventured to capture a Spanish
fishing-smack in the Bay of Bantry, was hung by order of
the chieftain.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 5
In the earlier years of Queen Ehzabeth, Daniel, head of
the sept, dying, leaving as his heir a son in infancy, his
brother Sir Owen, the next in succession of full age com
petent to rule according to the Brehon laAv, succeeded as
Tanist. Sir Owen, in 1570, recognized the supremacy of
the English crown, and, surrendering the territories to the
Queen, received back a grant of them by patent. When
his nephew, Daniel, came of age, he was acknowledged
chief of the sept; and upon his petition, in 1593, to be
reinstated in his rightful inheritance, it was decreed by
the Queen's deputy that Sir Owen should surrender to
Daniel the Castle of Beare, its haven ^nd demesnes ; deliver
up to his younger brother. Sir Philip, the Castle of Ardea
and the lands adjacent ; retaining for himself the Castle of
Bantry and its dependencies. This was agreeable to the
then existing policy. The native princes, weakened by
this subdivision of their territories, and by the jealousy
naturally engendered by the infraction of rules of tenure
so long established, were rendered too feeble and too much
divided among themselves to be formidable to the govern
ment. Many, provoked into hostility, were driven into
exile, while others were allured by grant of titles, or
intimidated by fear of confiscation, into submission.
Zealously attached to their ancient faith, and with no
respect for the new opinions, the nobles of the south of
Ireland, when they perceived it to be the determination
of Elizabeth to eradicate Romanism, formed, in 1588, for
mutual protection, what was designated the Catholic League
of Munster. They were soon involved in a war, which
was waged with various fortune for fifteen years. After
the defection of McCarthy More, 'Daniel O'Sullivan, Lord
of Bearehaven, at the head of the confederacy, was left to
bear the chief weight of English resentment. His clan
rallied with their accustomed loyalty to his banners, and
for a time he maintained, with some promise of success,
a hopeless struggle with overpowering numbers. The
1*

6 LIFE AND WRITINGS
long and gallant defence of his Castle of Dunboy, by a
garrison of one hundred and forty-nine men against five
thousand Enghsh armed with artillery, is one of the most
heroic on record. Left to cope with forces superior in
number, arms and discipline, he led his remaining followers
through a country filled with the enemy, and, transporting
them in boats, made of the skins of their horses, across the
Shannon into Connaught, gained the advantage in several
engagements by skill and bravery. Disappointed in the hope
of finding sufficient force in Connaught to continue the con
test with any chance of success, alone exempted from par
don, with Ellen, his wife, daughter of Owen O'Sullivan More,
seventh Lord of Dunkerran, he went into. Spain, where his
son, for eminent services, was created Count of Bearehaven.
Several legends and ballads are still familiar to the peo
ple of Munster, founded on incidents in the romantic career
of Daniel O'Sullivan Beare. One, it may possibly be inter
esting to mention, illustrating the devotion of a faithful
adherent left in charge of the wife and child of his chief
while they were in concealment among the mountains of
Beare. Watching daily the movements of a large eagle
procuring fish for its young from the neighboring waters,
this faithful guardian climbed to its mountain nest, and
brought down what was needed for the sustenance of the
objects confided to his care.
Philip, a near kinsman of Daniel, who went also into
Spain, wrote, among other works, an interesting history of
Ireland in Latin ; and others of the family have occupied
distinguished positions in the Irish brigades in the French
service, and in the modern history of Europe.
After the fifteen years' war under Elizabeth, from 1588
to 1602, the family of Beare and Bantry were deprived
of a large portion of their territories, and, by successive
confiscations under the Stuarts, that of Dunkerran became
impoverished. In the year 1652, in the days of Cromwell,
Daniel O'SulHvan More and his son John were slain in the

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 7
defence of their Castle of Dromanagh against the English
forces, and by the end of that century both branches of the
sept, the O'Sullivans More and the O'Sullivans Beare, who
generally sided with the Catholics against the Prince of
Orange, were divested of their remaining possessions.
By this reference to well-established facts in the history
of Ireland we do not fear being charged with any disposi
tion to keep alive painful memories, or to perpetuate the
animosities of race. The sin and the shame of these
ancient wrongs sleep with the centuries that are gone.
Whatever principles of state policy, fortuitous or providen
tial complication of causes, lent their aid in reducing Ireland
to an English province, the course adopted was in accord
ance with the then generally admitted principles of con
quest, and the same pursued by the vanquished, when
themselves the invaders, towards their predecessors.
Resentment is no longer rational, for, as respects the
present, it has neither cause nor purpose. Just laws, and
their well-regulated administration, have long since made
Ireland an integral part of the British realm ; and her people,
now that for successive generations their blood has been
mingled in marriage and shed to their common glory on
innumerable battle-fields, have become one Avith the people
of England. With the progress of enhghtenment, charac
ter, industry and education, there, as elsewhere, are recog
nized as the essential forces controlling political power and
social condition ; and violence, though it may disturb the
repose, can no longer afiect the stability of its government.
Here, in the New World, under the influences of education
and more favorable opportunities of development, Celt and
Saxon are gradually blending with the other elements of
population, and distinctions of race rapidly merging in one
general nationality.
John Sullivan, of Berwick, in Maine, father of General
John SuUivan, of the Revolution, and of James, the subject
of this memoir, was born in the city of Limerick, in Ireland,

8 LIFE AND WRITINGS
in the early part of the year 1692. His father. Major Philip
O'Sullivan, of Ardea, a lineal descendant in the fourth* gen
eration from Daniel O'Sullivan Beare, was an officer in
the CathoHo army, and there is reason to beheve one of
those who, after the surrender of Limerick to William of
Orange, preferring exile to submission to a government
not of their choice, under the articles of the surrender,
dated October, 1691, concluded to go with Sarsfield into
Prance. Some months elapsed before vessels could be
procured for their conveyance, and in this interval of
delay John was born. Major Philip died soon afterwards,
in Prance, of a wound received in a duel with a French
officer. His widow, belonging to a wealthy and powerful
family, which, through their chief, McCarthy More, had
become reconciled to the government, resided in Ireland.
The, schools and colleges at home being closed to Catholics,
her sons were, no doubt, educated on the continent, where
there were several scholarships founded at different semi
naries of learning, for the benefit of persons of the name.
After the death of William of Orange, the solemn cove
nants and conditions of the surrender of Limerick were
violated by the Protestants without hesitation and without
compunction. Irish Catholics, stripped of their remaining
estates, or holding them at the mercy of their conquerors,
their religious rites proscribed, the professions closed
against them, were subjected to restraints, indignities, and
the utmost ingenuity of persecution. Such was the con
dition of affairs in Ireland when young Sullivan, after the
completion of his education, returned from the continent.
Hopeless of change, and conscious of the futility of resent
ment, his early manhood glided away in sadness and
humiliation. The sister of Mrs. Sullivan had married Dermod, eldest
son of Daniel O'SuUivan More, Lord of Dunkerran. The
eon of this marriage, educated also on the continent, con-
* See Appendix.

OF JAMBS SULLIVAN. 9
tinned loyal to the Stuarts, and is believed to have been
the companion of Charles Edward, in 1745, at CuUoden,
and in his subsequent wanderings.* A tradition exists
among the descendants of John of Berwick, that, while a
young man residing at home with his mother, he was the
friend and correspondent of this cousin ; and that an inter
view between the relatives, on board a French vessel of
war off the Irish coast, exciting the suspicion of the Eng
lish authorities, John was obliged to leave Ireland.
But the reason for his leaving home, according to the
more usual and best authenticated tradition which has been
transmitted in his family, was the course his mother saw
fit to adopt in opposing his union with a young lady, of
beauty and accomplishment, but one of a famUy not equal
to his own in respectability and wealth ; and whom she, a
proud and high-spirited woman upon whom he seems to
have been dependent, considered no suitable match for her
son. She warned him that, should he disregard her wishes
in this particular, he should derive no further aid from her;
and finally concluded by peremptorily forbidding the mar
riage. He desired her to take a week for reflection before
confirming her resolution, and told her that, should she
persist in her opposition to his union with the lady of his
choice, he woxild leave home and go where she would
never see or hear from him again. When the specified
period had passed without her showing any disposition to
relent, he carried his threat into execution, and became an
exile from his home and his country. The strength of his
* This rests upon Master SuUivan's own family statement, to be found in the
first Appendix. It is with him somewhat matter of conjecture. Colonel
O'Sullivan joined the Prince soon after his arrival at Jloidart ; and was his
quarter-master and adjutani^general, and military adviser before the Scotch
leaders took exclusive control of his counsels. After the unfortunate battle of
CuUoden, he accompanied the Prince in his flight and concealment, and only
left him, at his request, when the number of his followers rendered more pre
carious the Prince's chances of escape. This was shortly before the romantic
adventure with Flora McDonald..

10 LIFE AND WRITINGS
attachment to the object of his early love was never over
come, and when he was more than sixty years of age it is
related that at the mention of her name he lost aU control
of his feelings. That his mother never actuaUy heard of
him after hjs departure, is abundantly proved by a letter
from .a relative in Ireland, written from Kerry, by a curi
ous coincidence, on the same day that her son died at
Berwick, and addressed to General Sullivan, whose revo
lutionary services had attracted attention to the existence
of the father.
John Sullivan sailed from Limerick in 1723, and the
vessel is believed to have been driven by stress of weather
into York, in the District of Maine. On the voyage out
his attention was attracted to a pretty child, then only
nine years of age, named Margery Brown, who afterwards,
when she had grown into womanhood, became his wife.
Leaving home under circumstances to make him naturally
careless of his future, he was obliged, upon his arrival in
this country, to enter into an agreement with Mr. Nowell,
the master of the vessel, to earn the money for his passage.
Unaccustomed to labor, and finding the life irksome, he
applied to Dr. Moody, of York, a clergyman celebrated for
his benevolence, whose acquaintance he had made soon
after his arrival, by a letter written, in order to prove his
qualifications, in several, tradition says seven, difi'erent
languages, soliciting his assistance in procuring more con
genial employment. This application resulted in a loan
sufficient in amount to cancel his obligations to Mr. Now
ell, and enable him to open a school at Berwick. His
young friend on the voyage, little Margery, probably
indentured, as was usual among the poor in colonial days,
he is said also to have redeemed from her indentures.
Under what circumstances Margery came to America is
not known. Her parents may have died on the passage,
or may have been too poor to provide for her when they
arrived in this country. It is difficult to account other-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 11
•wise for her redemption by Mr. SuUivan. He appears to
have adopted her and brought her up as his own child.
When she had reached the period of maidenhood she is
said to have been unusually attractive ; and one day,
while drawing water at the well, a young man, better clad
than the generality of the neighbors, came by, and engaged
her in conversation. Fascinated by her charms, he on the
spot proposed marriage, and doubtless, as she had been
instructed in the event of such a contingency, she referred
him to her father. The lover stated his case to Mr. Sulli
van ; but when, upon consulting Margery, it was ascertained
that no such impression had been made upon her heart
as would warrant consent to the proposal, Mr. Sullivan
bade the over-eager suitor good-da}', and, displeased with
so much fervor without encouragement, with a gentle
intimation that the further prosecution of his unwelcome
addresses would be resented. These particulars were
related not long since to the writer and a great-grandson
of General Sullivan, by an aged lady, in her parlor at
Berwick. In that same apartment, some sixty years before,
she had received them from the lips of Master Sullivan
himself, in the presence of his wife. The ancient couple
had been to a funeral, and, making her a visit on their
return, were detained there by a heavy shower.
Enlightened by this incident as to the nature of his own
sentiments towards Margery, and discovering that he had
himself already gained her afi"ections,he made her, soon after,
his wife. The disparity of age, for she was some twenty
years younger than her husband, did not lessen their happi
ness ; indeed, her greater dependence upon his superior
experience served only to increase their mutual attach
ment. Although she did not at all times take kindly to his
efforts to inspire her with a taste for knowledge, she was
bright and sensible, and proved doubtless a better help
mate in the wilderness than if more highly educated. He
was occasionally provoked by her violent ebullitions of

12 LIFE AND WRITINGS
temper, but she seems to have yielded ready obedience to
his authority whenever he saw fit to exert it. Like all men
possessed by any secret subject of sorrowful reflection, he
shrunk from contention, and probably lived in his own
recollections a life quite apart from his daily duties and
employments, sharing but few of his deeper feelings even
with his wife, who, from her own very different experi
ences in early days, could have had little power of under
standing them.
They were married, to judge from the ages of their chil
dren, about 1735; and, soon after, he purchased seventy-
seven acres of land in Berwick, bounded north-westerly
by Salmon Falls River, where he resided during more than
sixty years, up to the period of his death in 1796. The
inducement to settle at Berwick being employment as a
teacher, Mr. SuUivan zealously devoted himself to his
duties, having at the same time two public schools, one for
boys and one for girls, under his charge. These schools
were open but a part of the year, and the instruction con
sisted of the ordinary branches necessary for the conduct
of the common affairs of life. One of his pupils, Mr. Lord,
recently deceased at the advanced age of ninety, and who
for many years was his neighbor, spoke, shortly before his
death, of his old master in terms of great respect and affec
tion. He said that, if there were any disputes or misunder.
standings among the neighbors, they were referred to Mr.
Sullivan. He was called upon to draw all the wiUs, deeds,
and other legal papers, needed in the simple rural commu
nity about him, and was their confidant and counsellor in
all cases of trouble and difficulty. Mr. Lord described him
as a tall, slender, but athletic man, six feet in height, with
dark hair, black eyes, and florid complexion, very erect, of
fine figure, and weU proportioned. One stiU living speaks
of him as a marked man in his personal appearance, of
great natural abilities and mental cultivation. He was
more fond of his books than of farm labor, and left his

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 13
studies with great reluctance, at the solicitation of his
wife, to attend to his stock or his harvest.
In 1765, when already past the usual limit of existence,
he made a lease of his farm to his son John, on condition that
John should educate his brothers for professional life, and
provide for Mrs. Sullivan, should she survive her husband.
But he lived on, in the full possession of his faculties and
of his physical strength to a remarkable degree, till he had
reached his hundred and fifth year. He had been always
sufficiently familiar with Latin to read and speak it fluently ;
and, when over eighty, wishing to renew his acquaintance
with French, "he sent to his son. General Sullivan, at
Durham, for a grammar, dictionary, and other books in
that language, and four months after wrote him a letter in
French, containing ingenious commentaries on the authors
he had read." Dr. Eliot says that he spoke and wrote both
French and Latin fluently when over a hundred. At this
advanced period of life he planted an orchard, cut his own
wood, and often drove his oxen to the blacksmith's, a mile
distant from his home, yoking and unyoking them without
assistance, and rode frequently on horseback to Durham, to
dine with his son. General Sullivan, and back the same
afternoon, the distance both ways being nearly thirty miles
as the roads then were.
He was very temperate in his habits, never drinking
ardent spirits. Honorable, friendly, and generally beloved,
he passed on the quiet tenor of his way, and probably
would have been soon forgotten, save by his descendants,
had not the prominent part taken by his sons, in achieving
the independence of the country, brought him into notice.
As the instructor of many successive generations of his
neighbors in the useful mysteries of reading, writing, and
arithmetic, he acquired much influence over them as they
grew into manhood. His means were, of course, extremely
limited ; but those about him were occupied in busy labor,
and less importance was attached to differences of condi-
2

14 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tion, and more, perhaps, to character, than in the present
days of affluence.
His wife had come when a chUd to America. She had
great natural strength of mind and energy of character;
but living in seclusion, she was quite uncultivated, and her
ways and manners those of the frontier settlement. Her
peculiarities of temper are still remembered ; but all speak
with respect of her devotion to her family, and constant
acts of kindness to her neighbors. If they were ill, she
watched by their bedsides ; and if in sorrow, was ever
ready with kind words of consolation. '"She was some
what below the middle height, remarkable in her younger
days for beauty and vanity ; at all periods of her life for
her talents and energy ; and, if tradition speak true, also
for the violence of her temper." While her husband was
engaged with his schools she superintended the farm as
well as the household ; and in aU her various ditties was
excellent as a wife and a mother. Her sons, very proba
bly, inherited largely from her the ambition and industry
that made them useful and distinguished.
From his not attending the religious services of the
neighborhood, it has been conjectured Master SuUivan
kept steadfast to the faith of his childhood. A lady, who
visited him within a few years of his death, says she found
him reading his Bible. There was, upon the table at which
he was seated, a copy of Hervey's Meditations among the
Tombs. He recommended it to her perusal, and engaged
her in a conversation, interesting and instructive, which left
a very vivid impression on the mind of his visitor. His hair
at that period was of silvery whiteness, parted on his fore
head, worn long and flowing over his shoulders ; and, as
she described him, attired in the long robe of dark flannel,
which the aged were then accustomed to wear in such
remote places, with a smaU, close-fitting cap or band on
his head, with his appearance of high health, and that
peculiar beauty which sometimes makes old age so attrac-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 15
tive, the impression made by his good sense and cultiva
tion was much enhanced by his outward appearance. It is
a subject of regret that no portrait was taken of him at this
period. Major Thomas Brattle, an intimate friend of Gov
ernor Sullivan, sent him, about the year 1800, an oil paint
ing, called the Man of Ross, which was said to bear much
resemblance to John of Berwick at an earlier period of
life. John Sullivan lived long enough to see his sons John
and James distinguished by the grateful respect of their
countrymen, and the country itself prosperous and happy
under its new government. His son. General Sullivan,
died in January, 1795, at Durham, and he, fifteen months
later, ended his long life at Berwick, in May, 1796, having
reached his hundred and fifth year. He was buried, ac
cording to the custom of that part of the country, on the
farm where he had so long resided. His widow died in
1801, at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried by the
side of her husband. Their son James erected over their
remains a tablet to their memory; and, about 1850, Gov
ernor WeUs, and others of their descendants, enclosed the
spot with an iron fence.
There is much which strongly appeals to the admiration
and sympathy of his descendants in the character and
career of this venerable patriarch of his family in the New
World. Arriving penniless on that then wUd shore, with
out kindred, or any one to love but the pretty child whose
pleasant ways had beguiled the sadness of his weary
voyage into exile ; with indolent habits, and unskilled to
labor, yet courageously grappling with the necessities of
his condition, and earning his own passage-money, and
then that of his future wife, whom, as she bloomed into
womanhood, he thus made more particularly his own ;
redeeming his farm from the forest, with his rifle ever at
hand, and his ear on the quick to catch among the mys
terious voices of the solitary woods the stealthy footfall

16 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLIVAN,
or the savage warwhoop of the wily and merciless foe ;
teaching the rudiments to successive generations of the
little community around him, who grew up to give him his
recompense in their honor and love ; instructing his sons
out of the stores of his own mind and memory, for he
could have had but few books in the wilderness, in the
principles of right and wisdom which were to guide them
through the perUous conflict, and render them of such
distinguished service to their native land, — one of them
a leader in the flrst overt act of the Revolution, and all
instrumental in requiting to England the wrongs inflicted
on his ancient home beyond the sea, — not that he was
vindictive, but that his sense of justice was satisfied; of
scanty means, and toiling hard for subsistence, yet living
on cheerful and contented; just and reasonable enough in
his own dealings to be the chosen umpire of his neighbor
hood ; ever sagacious in counsel, judicious and sympathetic
in consolation, and generous to aid ; his long life extending
over a century, and into the dawn of a new nation, with
its fair promise of renown in story ; this ancient man, with
his tall, slender frame, and fine old features, reading his
Bible in his lonely dwelling, is an interesting example of
the ancient fathers of New England, whose memories are the
most precious heir-looms possessed by their descendants.

CHAPTER II.
YOUTH AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES.
James, the fourth son of Master Sullivan, was born on
the farm at Berwick on the twenty-second of April, A. D.
1744. The cellar of the house occupied by his parents is
easily distinguished by some portions of its walls still
remaining in a field near Salmon Falls River, and within
half a mile of the Great FaUs village. The barn, which
served to store away their harvests for the long winters of
our New England climate, has only quite recently been
destroyed by fire. Near by, but separated from the site
of the old dwelling by a public road, laid out in compara
tively modern times across the farm, is the ancient cemetery,
where Master Sullivan and Margery his wife, when their
long-protracted lives were over, were laid to their last re
pose, amid the scenes of their humble labors, and of the pleas
ures and various vicissitudes of more than half a century.
Few country places in New England possess greater
variety of agreeable rural scenery than old Berwick; and
the narrow, rocky, defile, through which rushes the impetu
ous stream constituting its western boundary, and here
separating the States of Maine and New Hampshire, has
long been celebrated for its wild and picturesque beauty-
Within a limit of four miles the Salmon Falls River, caUed
by the Indians the Quampegan, wearing its way through
walls of granite, which rise on either side in precipices or
steep slopes clothed with vegetation, descends in rapid
2*

18 LIFE AND WRITINGS
or cataract more than two hundred feet, before, making its
last plunge at the village of South Berwick, it moves on,
but with more quiet flow, towards the ocean. The vigor
ous rush of its waters has been long since brought into
subjection by human power and contrivance, and applied
to the purposes of utility ; but a century ago, when the
subject of our narrative wandered yet a lad about its
shores, the stream poured through the dark primeval
forest, undisturbed except by an occasional saw-mill, which,
to his youthful taste, lent but another charm to the scene.
Berwick was then a frontier settlement ; and not long
before, one of its inhabitants, speaking of his dwelling, says
there was no other house occupied by any white man
between his own and Canada. The population, however,
was gradually increasing, and the exasperation of the
Indian tribes, as they marked the steady encroachment of
the stranger on their hunting-grounds and most favored
fisheries, was often manifested in stealthy attacks on some
unguarded settlement, and by midnight massacre. Occar
sional retaliation served but to deepen further the spirit of
resentment, and the annals of the period abound in revolt
ing details of savage barbarity. Many a hearth was
rendered desolate by the mysterious disappearance of
child or parent, carried away by Indian war-parties to their
distant villages. The inventive cruelty of our New Eng
land races quite equalled that recorded of any other people,
and the captive rarely survived the agonies they took
pleasure in inflicting amidst the brutalities of their fiendish
festivals. The Ossipees and other tribes, making their homes among
the lakes and mountains of New Hampshire, had at times
visited with hostile purpose the settlement at Berwick;
and, for the better protection of the inhabitants from, these
incursions, numerous block-houses were erected at suitable
places, to which they might retreat upon alarm. Master
SuUivan and his sons were occasionally called upon to take

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 19
part in their defence ; and James, in his History of Maine,
makes mention of having been himself in garrison at Ger-
rish's fort, west of Salmon Falls Brook. All the houses in
the place were built of hewn logs sufficiently thick to
resist musket-balls. The people went armed to the place
of public worship, and watch was constantly kept from the
steeple, three musket-shots fired in quick succession being
the concerted signal of approaching danger. The inhabit
ants were generally engaged in agricultural pursuits ; and
the procurement of food, fuel and raiment, and security
for themselves and their stock from the stealthy inroads
of the savages and beasts of the forest, were the chief
objects of their care and employment. Besides their mili
tary duties, — and the people, having been well represented
in the attack on Louisburg and in the French war, were
partial to warlike exercises, — they found ample occupation
for their leisure in the sports of hunting and fishing, the
woods swarming with moose and deer, and the streams
with trout and salmon. The scenes and circumstances of
early life have much to do with the development of charac
ter ; and this slight sketch of the place where Avere passed
his boyhood, and indeed the greater part of his first twenty
years, will not be considered inappropriate in connection
with our subject.
Belonging to a family which had been for many centu
ries engaged in military service, and this hereditary taste
probably having the greater influence upon him from the
stirring incidents of the wars so long waged during the
middle of the last century between the French and English
for supremacy on the American continent. Master Sullivan
had secured for his eldest son, Benjamin, a post in the navy,
and originally intended James for the career of a soldier.
These views entertained for the welfare of his children
were not destined, however, to be realized altogether in
accordance with his expectations ; but he had every reason
to be satisfied with their subsequent career. The vessel.

20 LIFE AND WRITINGS
indeed, to which Benjamin was attached, was lost at sea,
before the Revolution, and all on board perished. But
John, as one of the principal leaders of the American
struggle for independence, wUl, in future times, there is
reason to beheve, be more highly estimated for his charac
ter and services, than heretofore by writers of its history,
Daniel and Eben, his other sons, in a lower sphere of action
gained distinction by their bravery, and were useful offi
cers. James alone, for reasons shortly to be mentioned,
was shut out from military employments ; but, as wiU be
seen in the sequel, he displayed in trying emergencies much
abUity and high military aptitudes.
With this plan for his future, James Sullivan pursued
his studies under his father's direction. What constituted
the family library, no means remain for ascertaining ; but
few books could have been accessible in a place so se
cluded. His education was, doubtless, more thorough in the
branches attempted, than varied in character. As he grew
older, the duties of the farm and the forest, and the con
stant watchfulness in which all participated to guard against
the predatory forays of the Indians, afforded full occupa
tion for his thoughts, and the best of discipline for his
intellectual and physical faculties. His father was rather
averse to labor in aught else but his literary pursuits ; but
Mrs. Sullivan was a woman of restless energy and strong
good sense, and too ambitious for the welfare of her chil
dren to suffer her sons to be idle.
Few luxuries, or even what was indispensable to com
fortable subsistence, could be procured without much toil,
and, indeed, all were ever willingly at work. In the inter
vals of study, when his services were not required in farm-
labor at home, James employed himself in boating on the
Piscataqua, a broad river or arm of the sea, with the tide
ebbing and flowing, and into which emptied Lamprey, Oys
ter Bay, and Salmon FaUs Rivers. Lumber and other prod
uce from the interior were floated down its tide to Ports-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 21
mouth, in gondolas, long flat-bottomed boats, which could
not, without both strength and much good management,
be safely steered amidst its shoals and dangerous eddies.
James soon became an accomplished boatman ; and this
life of hardship and exposure developed his muscles, and
invigorated his character.
Two circumstances, at this period, exerting an important
influence over James' future life, have been somewhat var
riously related. One warm day in summer, wearied with
work, he had been sleeping on the grass, when, suddenly
aroused, he beheld a large rattlesnake, coiled, erecting
its head over him. Horror at the awful fate that impended,
one famUiar to our settlers in those days in the wilderness,
gave a powerful shock to his system, and he fainted. The
swoon probably saved his life ; since, according to popu
lar belief, the rattlesnake never strikes the sleeping, or
those seemingly lifeless. He was ever after this subject to
attacks of epilepsy, sometimes lasting for several hours,
occurring often when on his circuits, and occasionally in
court. The other incident alluded to was the complicated frac
ture of one of his hmbs while felling a small tree. His foot,
while pressed upon a branch to secure better play for his
axe, accidentally slipping, the bent tree sprang into place.
James was thrown down, and his leg, caught in the cleft,
was badly broken. The usual version of the story adds
that, while thus prostrate, he cut his limb free with his
axe, and, dragging himself along the ground to the stone-
drag, contrived to work his way on to it, and drive the
oxen home, the distance of a mile, to hjs father's house.
This accident led to a long illness, and the consequence
was lameness for life.
For two years he remained confined to the rural home
stead. His medical attendant, of little experience or knowl
edge, managed to splinter the broken limb so unskilfully,
that the cure, at last very imperfect, was greatly pro-

22 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tracted. This confinement was not without its advan
tages ; for, to beguUe the tedious hours, his active mind
became thoroughly acquainted with all the books he could
procure. He devoted himself with great assiduity to the
study of the Latin language, committing much of its gram
mar to memory, and reading with care the principal clas
sics. This subsequently proved of essential benefit to him
in his professional studies and literary labors. There was
little to divert him from his pursuits. His elder brothers,
as has ever been the case in New England, upon approach
ing manhood had quitted home to seek their fortunes else
where. Eben was a lad full of mischievous devices, and
Mary, the only sister, was but a year older than Eben. One
condition of the lease, already referred to, of the farm at
Berwick, was that, as soon as James should be able to walk
or ride, his brother John should take him home, " find him
in food, washing, lodging and apparel, and instruct him in
the art and science of the law." When qualified to take
his oaths of admission to the bar, John was, furthermore,
to supply him with the necessary books of forms and plead
ings. The same instrument further stipulated that John
should take charge also of Eben, and, when sufficiently
advanced, provide for his education as a physician.
It is not intended to embrace in this memoir of James
Sullivan the numerous interesting anecdotes of his elder
brother, the revolutionary General, which, unrecorded in
print, still float about New Hampshire. But, where the
leading events of John's career have a direct bearing on
the fortunes of James, some brief mention will be indis
pensable. Persevering in his sports, energetic in labor,
ambitious and untiring in his studies, John had displayed
from early youth much vigor of character. In a spirit of
adventure he took, when a lad, to the sea ; and, returning
at the age of seventeen, determined, in all probabUity at
the suggestion of his father, to devote himself to the law.
There were but few lawyers then in the province, and

OF JAMES SULLIVAN, 23
these were looked upon as a superior order of society. It in
dicated much confldence in his power to command success,
for a young man, without influential friends or collegiate
advantages, to think of entering the lists. Still, he was not
discouraged, and presented himself before Mr. Livermore,
an eminent counsellor of Portsmouth, modestly preferring
his request that he might be received as a student in his
office, promising, as some return for the privilege, his
services when required in labor on the farm or garden.
Pleased with the good sense and appearance of his young
visitor, Mr. Livermore yielded a ready assent to his
proposal. Improving every means for gaining knowledge and
experience, John rapidly progressed ; and his master,
appreciating his talents, generously lent his aid to their
development. On one occasion the lawyer was away from
home when a client called for him to assume the defence,
before a neighboring justice, of a cause which involved
character and feeling, if no great amount of money. Dis
appointed at his absence, the client entreated John to
undertake the case, who, as any delay would be fatal, con
sented with some reluctance. '
At nightfall, Mr. Livermore returned home, and, learn
ing how his pupil was employed, led by some curiosity to
know how he would acquit himself, went to the trial.
Wrapped in his cloak, and with his hat lowered over his
face for concealment, he quietly observed, through an open
door, the proceedings from an apartment adjoining the
court-room. Great was his surprise. His student man
aged his witnesses with a shrewdness and good judgment
that would have done honor to the most experienced prac
titioner ; and, when his turn came to address the court, ex
hibited information, eloquence, and argumentative powers,
auspicious not merely of future success, but distinction.
Livermore did not choose to interrupt the joys of this first
forensic victory ; but the next morning expressed his

24 LIFE AND WRITINGS
gratification in no measured terms, assuring John that he
should consider him thereafter as one of his own family,
and gladly embrace every opportunity to find him employ
ment and advance him in his profession.
Fired by this early triumph, and encouraged by this
friendly sympathy, John Sullivan prosecuted his studies
with renewed ardor. At the age of twenty he felt war
ranted to marry ; and soon became widely known in New
Hampshire as equal in talents and eloquence to any lawyer
of its bar. He was endowed by nature with many requi
sites for professional superiority. According to his biog
rapher, his person, though not tall, was well-proportioned
and commanding. His complexion was dark, with a ruddy
glow of health ; his features handsome, with an expression
dignified and full of animation. His eye was black and
penetrating, his voice deep but melodious, and both
promptly responsive alike to stern and gentle emotions.
Reasoning faculties of a high order, perceptions rapid and
distinct, and a ready imagination, with his warmth of tem.
perament and quick sensibility, eminently qualified him for
a popular orator. John Adams speaks at a later day of his
fluency and wit when a member of the Continental Con
gress. Easily provoked, he was as easily appeased ; and if
his frankness and unreserve made him a few inveterate
enemies, his general amiability of disposition and readiness
to oblige secured him numerous friends, who were faithful
throughout fife. Lavish and open-handed by nature, the
habits of country life admitted no expense, and his fees
prudently invested made him rich. "The friend of Gov
ernor Wentworth, who then held his court with some state
at Portsmouth, the correspondent of Hutchinson, John
SuUivan always took the liberal side in politics, and, by
his able pen, and persuasive oratory, wherever men con
gregated to discuss affairs of state, did his best to induce
resistance to parliamentary encroachments. Such was the
teacher and guide of James SuUivan during those early

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 25
years when his professional and political character was
forming; when the heart is as wax to receive generous
impressions, adamant to preserve them in their purity and
strength. About the period James entered his office as a student,
John had removed from Newmarket to Durham, and,
towards the close of the year 1764, purchased the hand
some mansion erected by Dr. Samuel Adams, an eminent
physician of the place, then recently deceased ; and this
continued to be his residence during the remainder of his
life. The house still remains in good condition, and at the
date of its erection must have been a more costly dwelling
than was then usually to be found in country villages.
The farm is beautifully situated, extending some distance
along the shore of Oyster River, and in one corner of it,
according to a custom then very general in that part of
the country, upon an eminence of gentle elevation, com
manding a most agreeable rural prospect, is a small private
burial-place. Here, with his own family and those of his
sister Mrs. Hardy and of his friend William Odiorne, all
attached and intimate while living. General Sullivan was
buried. At the time of John's first settlement at Durham, a town
rich in fertile farms, its inhabitants were devoted to the
peaceable pursuits of rural life, and there prevailed among
them a strong prejudice against lawyers. It was believed
that they were a class not wanted in the community ; that
they fomented litigation for their own purposes, and
craftily devoured the substance of their neighbors. Re
solved, if possible, to secure their viUage from the presence
of all such promoters of discord, some energetic young
men gave the newly-settled counsellor notice to quit Dur
ham, threatening personal coercion if this peremptory
order were not speedily obeyed. Nothing daunted by this
open and decided show of hostility, John Sullivan informed
them that he should not think of it ; and, if they cared to
3

26 LIFE AND WRITINGS
resort to force, they would always find him ready. The
people of the town became greatly excited, and took differ
ent sides in the quarrel ; coUisions occurred between the
parties, and, in the progress of the dispute, one of the
assaUants was severely though not dangerously wounded
by an over-zealous adherent of Mr. Sullivan. The affair
already wore a serious aspect, when a truce was caUed,
and it was finally determined to settle the question by a
personal confiict with any combatant the assailants should
select. Their chosen champion not being considered a
fair match for the elder brother, who possessed great
physical strength, James, at his own request, was substi
tuted to do battle for the law. The encounter took place
at the time appointed, and James came off the victor. The
people, acquiescing in the result of this ordeal, ever after
placed the greatest confidence in John Sullivan ; and he
soon became, and continued through life, their most be
loved and popular citizen.
James applied himself, under his brother's guidance,
with great zeal to the study of the law. If, from the lim
ited advantages he had enjoyed at Berwick, his early
education had been in some respects defective, his intel
lectual faculties had been well developed by the careful
training of his father. He was endowed by nature with
great vigor of mind, quickness of intelligence, and the
power of steady application ; and, with much to stimulate
his ambition, and little to divert his attention in the cir
cumstances around him, he made rapid progress.
The elementary course, from which the student of
that period was compeUed to procure his professional
knowledge, was Uttle more than Wood's Institutes and
Coke on Littleton. Blackstone's Commentaries, dating a
new era in legal learning, were published in London in
1765, but were not in general use on this side of the
Atlantic until some years later. The limited number of
books to be read was not unattended with advantage ; for,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 27
with the powers concentrated on fewer subjects and
authors, the mind of the student more easily possessed
itself of what then constituted the whole science of
the law. As both the elementary works and reports of
cases in the colonies were from the old country, where
the social condition, laws and usages, materially differed
from those existing here, more thought was requisite in
ascertaining distinctly the established principles from the
precedents, and adjusting their application to questions
arising in American practice. The mind of our student
was admirably suited for his task. It was logical and
philosophic ; and he possessed that calm yet earnest intel
lectual disposition peculiarly adapted to grapple and fuUy
comprehend the subtleties of his profession. His brother
was already, fortunately for him, engaged in extensive
practice ; and this, whether in the simple disputes before
the village tribunals, or in cases of greater magnitude
before the county courts, was a better school for discipline
than any reading however extensive or profound.
The period of his professional studies was likewise that
of the Stamp Act excitement ; and the gazettes of Boston
and Portsmouth brought to the people of the interior full
information of the state of feeling in the larger toWns on
the seaboard. The general discussion everywhere of the
great principles of government, of our civil rights and
obligations, was now preparing the public mind for "the
subsequent struggle. It can be easily imagined that these
important lessons were not thrown away upon a young
man of generous and ardent aspirations, possessing an
hereditary detestation of arbitrary power, transmitted in
his veins from progenitors who for centuries had battled
against it in Ireland.
While at Durham he was a frequent visitor at the house
of WiUiam Odiorne, which stood, and still remains, near
that of General SuUivan. Mr. Odiorne, a ship-builder, and
also a commissioner, under the royal government, for the

28 LIFE AND WRITINGS OP JAMES SULLIVAN.
preservation of the forests in New Hampshire, was the son
of Jotham Odiorne, born in 1675, and who died in 1748, one
of the Judges of the Superior Court of the colony. Mrs.
WiUiam Odiorne was Avis, daughter of Dr. Hugh Adams,*
a celebrated and very eccentric clergyman, long settled at
Durham over the Oyster Bay Parish, and a brother of
Matthew Adams, the early friend of Dr. Franklin. In the
New Hampshire Historical Collections may be found many
amusing particulars of Dr. Hugh Adams, who possessed
great wit and learning, but often provoked the animadver
sions of his brother clergymen, as also of some of the
graver and more simple members of his parish, by an inde
pendence of opinion which occasionally somewhat scandal
ized their orthodoxy. He continued his pastoral charge
of the parish at Durham from the year 1718 to 1739, and
died there in 1750, at the age of seventy-four. He was a
graduate of Harvard, of the class of 1697.
The famUy of Mr. Odiorne was numerous, and consisted
in part of daughters just on the verge of womanhood. One
of them, named Hetty, was peculiarly pleasing in the eyes
of James SuUivan. He wooed and won, and soon became
her accepted lover ; although, from prudential considerar
tions, their marriage was deferred for a year or two, until
his success at the bar should justify their union. Born June
26, 1748, she was four years younger than her betrothed.
* It is recorded, and may be interesting to some of her numerous descendants
to know, that the maiden name of the wife of Dr. Hugh Adama was Susanna
Winborn.

CHAPTER III,

PROVINCIAL CONGRESS,

When Sullivan's regular course of legal studies was com
pleted, and the oaths required by existing forms had been
duly administered for his admission to the bar, some suita
ble place was to be selected, offering a reasonable promise
of professional employment.
The province of Massachusetts, of comparatively limited
dimensions within its own borders, although by its charter
bounding west on the Pacific, included at this period with
in its territory the District of Maine. Excepting, however,
a few scattered settlements fringing its shore, the district
was still an unbroken wilderness of wood from the ocean
to that imaginary range of highlands later to be definitely
established as its northern boundary. At the mouth of the
Kennebec, Arrowsick Island and a small tract of land on
the main then constituted what was called Georgetown.
The place is memorable as the seat of the earliest colony
in New England — Bonham and Raleigh Gilbert, with their
party, having passed there the winter of 1606-7. But the
ravages of disease and the death of their leader discour
aging those who survived the rigors of the climate, it was
soon abandoned. In the first volume of the Collections of
the Massachusetts Historical Society is an interesting
account of the early history of Georgetown, contributed
by James Sullivan, then their president.
This spot, selected for the commencement of his life as
3*

30 LIFE AND WRITINGS
a lawyer, was sufficiently unpromising. It was wild and
desolate, and with but few inhabitants. When, at a later
period, some brother in the law inquired, " What on earth
could have induced you to settle in such an out of the way
place ? " he answered, with characteristic quickness, that,
wishing to break into the world somewhere, he had con
cluded to assail it at its weakest point.
Not far above, on the bank of the river in Dresden, then
Pownalborough, is stUl standing an ancient buUding, long
since used for other purposes, which was then the court
house for the County of Lincoln. It had been erected
some years earlier by the Plymouth Company, the proprie
tors of a vast region on the Kennebec, at the suggestion
and under the supervision of their energetic president. Dr.
Sylvester Gardiner, an eminent physician of Boston. The
structure is still in a good state of preservation, and is
of a higher order than public buildings usually are in a
new and scantily peopled country. Here SuUivan is said
to have argued his first case, and James Otis, John Adams,
the Quincys and Sewalls, often eloquently pleaded the
causes of their clients.
He did not, however, long reside at Georgetown. His
early success in procuring practice gave him sufficient
assurance of his future to warrant his marriage. On the
twenty-second day of February, 1768, when in his twenty-
fourth year, he was united, at Durham, to Miss Hetty
Odiorne, then nineteen, by the Reverend John Adams,
nephew of Dr. Hugh Adams, already mentioned as the
bride's grandfather.
Biddeford, on the Saco, now busy with the hum of manu
facturing industry, was then growing in business and
importance ; and here, purchasing a small one-story house,
containing only two rooms, the youthful couple commenced
housekeeping on a scale sufficiently moderate. A few
years later, when professional employment had increased
his substance, this house was replaced by a large and

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 31
handsome two-story edifice, which is still standing, and
weU known to the antiquarians of Biddeford. His law-
office stood near the dwelling, in one corner of the garden.
No, regular attorney had previously settled on the Saco.
The litigated business had been wholly managed by law
yers from the capital and larger towns of the province,
who were in the habit of riding the circuits of the courts,
quite as much to obtain practice as to attend to that
already in their charge. Applying himself with great assi
duity to the business of his profession, and in its many
intervals engaged industriously in the various occupations
of rural life, he became known, and secured the respect of
his neighbors. Blest with a happy temperament, and with
manners and temper peculiarly genial, respect soon ripened
into sentiments of personal regard, and he became a gen
eral favorite. " His accommodating disposition," says a
cotemporary resident of the town, " made him much be
loved. Necessity in early life had brought him acquainted
with labor of almost every kind. The axe, the saw, the
shovel and the plough, he handled equaUy with any one,
and superior to most men, and with such willing resolution
that none went before him. He would fell a tree equal to
any, and lift as much."
The town of Limerick, in which he had a share, was
settled in 1772, and the proprietors honored him with the
selection of its name. His father having been born in the
city of Limerick, in Ireland, this circumstance decided his
choice. " In 1774, in consequence of the general opposi
tion throughout the colonies to the measures of the mother
country, litigation had ceased, the courts were suspended,
and his condition with most men would have been gloomy
in the extreme. Not so with him however. He took his
axe, week's provision, and, in his blanket frock and trousers,
went to Limerick with the other settlers, most of whom
were from Saco, and commenced felling trees, to reduce
his lands to a state of cultivation for the support of him-

32 LIFE AND WRITINGS
self and his family. On Saturday he returned, the distance
of thirty miles, as black and cheerful as the natives when
they return from a successful hunt."
He was far removed from any great city, and had started
with no adventitious advantages ; but his patience of
labor, and superior abilities, soon made him widely known
in the surrounding country. His successful arguments on
the circuits secured him extensive employment, and he
rose rapidly into distinction. He was advanced to the
rank of barrister, and appointed King's Counsel for the
County of York ; and, before he had attained the age of
thirty, was among the most respected and influential men
in the District of Maine.
His professional employments called him frequently from
home. On one of his excursions he was so fortunate as to
hear the celebrated preacher Whitefield, who died at New-
buryport in 1770. He was much impressed with his elo
quence, and wonderful power over the crowds who gathered
everywhere to hear -him. On this particular occasion,
Whitefield, before commencing his discourse, looked down
for some moments over his pulpit-cushion at the multitude
assembled beneath, and then broke out, in a tone well suited
to produce a profound consternation, with the words sev
eral times repeated, and each more emphatic than the last,
" You don't know yourselves ! " and before he had con
cluded his sermon it was manifest, from their rapt attention,
tears and ejaculations, that he had succeeded in convinc
ing them that they were much greater sinners than they
thought. As the courts of the district were attended by lawyers
from other parts of the province, he had abundant oppor
tunity of forming their acquaintance, and securing the
friendship of many among the most eminent. His brother
John, with Livermore and Parker, of New Hampshire, were
also frequently present. Of those from Massachusetts,
Daniel Farnham, John LoweU, Jonathan SewaU, James

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 33
Otis, and John Adams, are recorded as annually riding the
eastern circuit. The latter mentions in his Diary, under
the date of July, 1770, a visit made to the house of Mr.
Sullivan. He was in company with Farnham, Winthrop,
and David SewaU ; the latter afterwards an associate with
Sullivan on the supreme bench. Farnham and SewaU
started somewhat earlier than their companions, that they
might order dinner at Allen's Tavern, at the Biddeford
Bridge ; and towards noon Adams and Winthrop joined
them at the dwelling of James SuUivan. After refreshing
themselves with punch, then the usual beverage, they all
adjourned to the tavern to dine ; and, when they had fin
ished their repast, Sullivan proposed to the party a visit
to an ancient crone in the neighborhood, who, from her
great age and accurate memory of things long past, was
one of the wonders of that part of the country. She was
one hundred and fifteen years of age, having been born in
1655, near Derry, in Ireland. She remembered events in
the reign of Charles the Second, having lived under seven
English monarchs. She told her visitors she was glad to
see them, for she hoped they would pray for her. She had
had faith that her prayers would be answered; but she
had long earnestly prayed, without avail, to be released
from the earth.*
*In a letter to his wife, dated York, 29th June, 1774, Mr. Adams makes
further mention of both John and James Sullivan :
" There is very little business here, and David Sewall, David Wyer, John
Sullivan and James SuUivan, and TheophUus Bradbury, are the lawyers who
attend the inferior courts, and, consequently, conduct the causes at the superior.
" I find that the country is the situation to make estates by the law. John
Sullivan, who is placed at Durham, in New Hampshire, is younger, both in
years and practice, than I am. He began with nothing, but is now said to be
worth ten thousand pounds, lawful money ; his brother James • allows five or
six, or perhaps seven, thousand pounds, consisting in houses and lands, notes
and mortgages. He has a fine stream of water, with an excellent corn-mill,
saw-mill, fulling-mill, scythe-mill, and others, in all, six mills, which are both
his delight and his profit. As he has earned cash in his business at the bar,
he has taken opportunities to purchase farms Of his neighbors, who wanted to

34 LIFE AND WRITINGS
A year later Mr. Adams was again at Biddeford, at the
sitting of the court, and, the tavern being full, says that
on Saturday evening Jonathan Sewall and John Lowell
went to stay at James Sullivan's, where, it seems reasona
ble to presume, they passed the Sabbath. SuUivan con
tinued on intimate terms with Lowell for the rest of his
life. Six years later, when Lowell came to the General
Court, at Watertown, with what was called the Newbury-
port memorial, Sullivan was appointed on the committee
to receive him. They were joint commissioners for set
tling the New York controversy, and were associated also
in various other ways.
At this period there were but five lawyers, besides Sul
livan, in the District of Maine : William Gushing, of Pow
nalborough, and David Sewall, of York, both of whom were
subsequently his companions on the bench ; Caleb Emery,
of Kittery, and Theophilus Bradbury and David Wyer, of
Falmouth. " The latter was a high-minded, sterling feUow,
of strong talents, an able and eloquent advocate, and
sell and move out further into the woods, at an advantageous rate, and in this
way has been growing rich. Under the smiles and auspices of Governor Went
worth, he has been promoted in the civil and military way, so that he is treated
with great respect in this neighborhood.
" James Sullivan, brother of the other, who studied law under him, without
any academical education (and John was in the same case), is fixed at Saoo,
alias Biddeford, in our province. He began with neither learning, books,
estate, nor anything but his head and hands, and is now a very popular law
yer, and growing rich very fast, purchasing great farms, and is a justice of
the peace and a member of the General Court."
A few days later he says : " I dined with Mr. Collector Francis Waldo, Esq.,
in company with Mr. Winthrop, the two Quincys, and the two Sullivans, all
very social and cheerful — full of politics. S. Quincy's tongue ran as fast as
anybody's. He was clear in it that the House of Commons had no right to
take money out of our pockets more than any foreign state ; repeated large
paragraphs from a publication of Mr. Burke's in 1766, and large paragraphs
from Junius Americanus." As Junius and Americanus were frequent signar
tures aflBxed by Mr. Sullivan to his contributions to the press for the rest of his
life, this conversation may not have been without some influence over their
selection.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 35
extremely independent in his opinions and character. He
was full of wit and vivacity, and added much to the enjoy
ment of professional intercourse. Unfortunately he took
the wrong side in the Revolution, and became a refugee."
If justice were not administered with as exact conform
ity to rule and precedent as now, more form and ceremo
nial were thought indispensable to maintain the majesty of
the law. The judges of the Supreme Court at this period,
though not, of course, all on the bench together, Avere
Oliver, Trowbridge, Foster, Hutchinson, Ropes. Gushing,
and Browne. As from time out of mind customary in the
mother country, they appeared in court in judicial dress.
This in summer, and on less formal occasions, consisted of
a black silk gown, with white bands, and a silk bag for the
hair. During the winter, and in capital cases, the judges
wore scarlet robes, with facings and collars of black vel
vet, and cuffs to the wide sleeves of the same material.*
There seems reason to believe that the lawyers, when they
had attained the rank of barrister, also attended in gowns.
The court opened with the discharge of cannon from the
fort, and a prayer as at present, and the first day of the
term the judges, bar and ministers, dined in company.
Professional habits were decidedly convivial, and gen
tlemen thrown together for several weeks, often under the
same roof, were quite disposed to be amused. The man
ners of the judges were not only decorous but dignified,
and the members of the bar were courteous and well-bred ;
but in their familiar intercourse there was Ijttle formality
or restraint, and their festivities were seasons of wit and
frolic, and often sufficiently uproarious. When the business
of the term was nearly completed it was customary for
both bench and bar to assemble at the tavern for a social
meeting. On these occasions they constituted a court
* In a portrait of Judge Sullivan, taken a few years later, he is presented in
crimson robes, and in what seems a wig, with his hands resting on the third
volume of Burrows.

36 LIFE AND WRITINGS
among themselves, appointing one of their number chief
justice, for the trial of aU breaches of good fellowship
during the term.
Judge SewaU describes one of these meetings at Bid
deford, when the inferior court was sitting at Ladd's
Tavern, there being no court-house in the place. John
Lowell had arrived, late on Monday evening, to attend its
sessions, and, finding the inn fuU, sought lodgings else
where, probably at his friend SuUivan's, where he was
always a welcome guest. He left his horse tied to the
post at the inn door, expecting it would be properly cared
for ; but the landlord liever gave it a thought. When, on
Friday evening, a court was held for the hearing of all
omissions and commissions which had occurred during the
week, Ladd was called upon to answer for leaving the
horse unattended to, and defended himself on the plea that
he had received no orders to put him up. The case was
tried with becoming gravity, and the judge, upon the evi
dence, sentenced Ladd to pay a single bowl of good punch
for his neglect, and Lowell twice as much for not taking
better care of his own steed. Both John and James SuUi
van were social, and had a keen relish for enjoyment, and
no doubt contributed, within the limits of becoming mirth,
their full share to the general entertainment. This asso
ciation with the most cultivated men of the province, when
refinement and courtesy were made essential elements of
education, had no doubt its due effect upon men brought
up, as they had been, in comparative seclusion.
Upon the approach of the revolutionary struggle, great
unanimity prevailed both in Pepperellborough and Bid
deford, adjacent towns only separated by the river, and,'
indeed, throughout the colony, on the subject of the differ
ences with the mother country. A distinguishing feature of
New England life, and one which greatly contributed to the
power of resisting authority as it grew despotic, was the
excellent town organization everywhere prevailing. For

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 37
all purposes within their control these towns were small
republics, and in their meetings, which, comprising all the
male inhabitants of age, were not so numerous as to pre
vent perfect freedom of discussion, every man had his
vote and right to be heard. Sensible and inteUigent, and
too busily occupied with their own concerns to indulge in
factious dispute, when any subject of general interest came
home to their sympathies they were all united, and prompt
to act with vigor and efficiency for the common cause.
Indignation at the claim of Great Britain to govern the
colonies through a Parliament in which they were not
represented, spread rapidly throughout the villages and
towns of the interior ; and their committees of safety, an
organization which had been everywhere adopted, at the
suggestion of Samuel Adams, corresponding with each
other, and with that for the province in the metropolis,
responded faithfully and fearlessly to every measure of
resistance advised by their patriot leaders. This town
organization was then, as now, the basis of our democratic
system, and must be an important one everywhere for the
development of free institutions.
The relation of counsel and client, more particularly in
country villages, is very sure to create mutual friendship
and confidence ; and, where the legal adviser is by nature
generous and social, there is no limit to the influence he
may exercise over those who employ him. All the profes
sions contributed their share in making America an inde
pendent nation, but none more efficiently than the law.
Compared with the long roll of the profession at the pres
ent day, there were then few lawyers in practice. " Of
these," says Mrs. Warren, not quite accurately, in mention
ing Sullivan, in her History of the Revolution, " James
Otis, Josiah Quincy, Francis Dana, John Adams, Joseph
Hawley, and Judge Paine, were aU, besides James Sulli
van, who, in 1774, embraced the popular side." It has
been frequently remarked, and with great justice, that the
4

38 LIFE AND WRITINGS
patriot lawyers deserved distinguished praise for their dis
interestedness ; with everything to expect, if loyal to the
government, from its patronage, and with every hazard,
if they were not, of being selected as the victims of its
vengeance, should the popular movement be crushed by
the superior force of Great Britain. No such considera
tions had any influence with Mr. SuUivan, or with many
others, the noblest patriots history has to honor, and he did
not hesitate to pledge life, and all chances of professional
and political preferment, in the service of his country.
He was among the most active and early in Maine to
commit himself unequivocally in open opposition to the
aggressions of Parliament. His patriotic views, ably and
eloquently expressed in the town-meetings, and wherever
the people gathered to deliberate upon the troubled state
of the province, materially assisted in promoting harmony
and concert of action throughout the neighborhood. His
efforts were untiring to secure a zealous support of the
war, from its germination in protests and resolutions of
remonstrance, till the country was plunged, beyond return,
into hostilities. " His clergyman, Dr. Morrill, with whom
he had been, from his settlement at Biddeford, intimately
associated, was a man of superior endowments and culti
vation as a scholar, a divine, and a statesman. From his
amiable character and generous sentiments, he possessed
unbounded influence over his parishioners, and was of incal
culable service in sustaining the spirits of the people. To
his long residence there, and the confidence reposed in his
wisdom, it was in a great measure owing that the princi
ples of independence were so early discussed, and so gen
erally embraced. A remarkabty close and friendly inter
course subsisted between him and Mr. Sullivan ; and their
united exertions bore down all opposition."
James Sullivan was sent, in the spring of 1774, to the
General Court, as the representative of Biddeford. On
the first of June the Boston Port BiU went into operation.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 39
This tyrannical act, plainly manifesting a settled policy to
crush the spirit and destroy the liberties of America, cast
a profound gloom over the province, and at the same time
aroused in all classes a general and determined spirit of
resistance. The court convened at Salem. Upon the committee
appointed on the state of the province, to which was
usuaUy confided the charge of directing the action of the
house, there were four members whom there was reason to
distrust. In order, therefoi'e, that the friends of liberty
might be able to arrange some plan of proceeding, without
fear of being betrayed, Samuel Adams and James Warren,
leaders of the patriots, selected from the house a few
chosen spirits, upon whom they could depend, to take
counsel together as to the proper measures to be pursued.
They met at night in secret conference. One of those
most earnest and zealous in advocating and promoting the
measure of a general congress for the continent, to meet
the following September, at Philadelphia, was James Sulli
van. By the third evening the plan was matured, the dele
gates sel&cted, the funds provided, and letters prepared to
the other colonies, requesting cooperation. Their report
to the house was accepted with closed doors, Samuel
Adams having put the key in his pocket, while the messen
ger of Governor Gage, who had received some intimation
of what was going on from one of the suspected commit
tee-men, was reading outside, on the staircase, the procla
mation dissolving the court.
Carrying home to Biddeford the solemn league and
covenant of non-intercourse agreed upon in Boston, Mr.
Sullivan found his constituents prepared to embrace to
the fullest extent the measures recommended. At a town-,
meeting, on the thirtieth of July, spirited resolutions, doubt
lessly prepared by himself, were adopted, expressing the
temper of the times, and showing that no sacrifices, how-

40 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ever great, could discourage the inhabitants from taking
their part in the unequal struggle.
Governor Gage on the first of September issued his
precept for the General Court again to meet at Salem on
the fifth of October. Finding the spirit of resistance not
confined to the metropolis, but pervading the country,
before the opening of the chamber he concluded it best to
postpone it indefinitely ; and, on the twenty-eighth day of
September, only two days before the time appointed for
the meeting, made his proclamation accordingly. The del
egates, however, many of whom, from the distance of their
homes, had no knowledge of the proclamation, and others,
in the belief that such a step was but another proof of an
intention to substitute an arbitrary government in the place
of the representative system guaranteed by the charter,
came together. They waited a day for the governor to
make his appearance, which he did not see fit to do. They
then resolved themselves into a Provincial Congress, choos
ing John Hancock for their president, and Benjamin Lin
coln, afterwards distinguished at Saratoga, and as the
general-in-chief of the Southern Department, as their clerk.
During their first session, which lasted to the tenth of
December, they sat at Salem, Concord, and Cambridge.
The second Congress convened at Cambridge, on the first
of February, 1775, and sat there and at Watertown to the
twenty-ninth of May ; and the third, at the latter place
from the thirty-first of May to its dissolution on the nine
teenth of July. After this period the representative body,
by the advice of the Continental Congress, was chosen and
organized under the province charter of 1692, that the
claim might be kept good, whatever the issue of the con
test, to the rights and liberties conceded under that ancient
instrument. Of the many volumes printed in later days, by order of
the commonwealth, few possess more claims to public
attention than the journal of the Provincial Congress. It

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 41
was carefully prepared in 1838, under the supervision of
William Lincoln, from the original files, or what remained
of them. The Congress consisted of between two and
three hundred delegates, the most respectable men for
character and abiUty in the province. It numbered among
its members many who, by generous devotion to their
country in its hour of peril, and efficient services, earned
imperishable renown, in the subsequent contest, as states
men or military leaders. Samuel and John Adams, the
Warrens, General Ward, General Heath, and General Lin
coln, Colonel Prescott, Major Hawley, and Judge Paine,
were among the names to remain forever familiar to com
ing generations. John Hancock, its first president, was
soon called to preside over the general Congress at Phila
delphia. 'Joseph Warren, who succeeded him, purchased
by his death at Charlestown immortal glory ; and James
Warren, who followed, by his genuine patriotism, widely
extended influence, and sagacious counsels, occupied a
leading position in the great drama, of which his wife, the
sister of James Otis, was one of the earliest historians.
Upon the Congress devolved the responsibility of direct
ing the energies of their countrymen, wrought up to the
highest pitch of indignant resentment by the injustice of
the king and commons of Great Britain, their natural
protectors. The lives and liberties, the future welfare
of their country, depended upon their vigilance, upon the
prudence and wisdom of their counsels. It Avas alike their
duty to moderate the excessive ardor of the impetuous,
who would have precipitated the conflict, and to stimulate
and encourage the over-timid and cautious, who naturally
shrunk from the inevitable consequences of unsuccessful
rebellion. During the first year of the war its operations
were confined to the neighborhood of Boston; and the
resistance to the British troops at Lexington, and the mid
night march to the heights of Charlestown, which led to
the first great battle of the Revolution on Bunker's Hill,
4*

42 LIFE AND WRITINGS
were under the sanction of the Congress and its Commit
tee of Safety. The pages of its journal, as indeed also
that of the committee, glow with the noblest sentiments
of patriotism, and evince an elevation of character, an
intellectual abUity and training, equal to the importance
of the occasion. It is not easy to identify the authorship
of the numerous reports, resolutions, and other eloquent
papers, that fill its records with " thoughts that breathe,
and words that burn." Indeed, many of them were the
joint productions of two or more members of the respec
tive committees appointed to prepare them. But they will
remain, as long as republican institutions shall be valued,
as proof alike of the good sense and wisdom, — of the
generosity, self-sacrifice, and stanch heroism, — of the men
of Massachusetts.
Mr. Sullivan was constantly, and always when his duties
to his clients permitted, in attendance on the Congress.
The frequent recurrence of his name, often in several
instances on the same day, affords some clue to the part
which he took in its deliberations. No report has come
down to us of its debates. It seems reasonable to infer,
from the great number of those committees on which he
was appointed, — ¦ of many of which, and especially where
legal papers or reports were to be drafted, he was the
chairman, — that he must have taken a prominent part in
its discussions, and possessed great influence over its mem
bers. During the first Congress he was appointed, in November,
on a committee to express the thanks of Congress to the
other colonies for their generous donations to Boston in
her distress, from the interruption of her trade consequent
on the acts of the British Parliament, and also to solicit
from the other towns in the province further contributions
for her suffering inhabitants and those of Charlestown.
In December he was selected, with others, to prepare an
address to the clergy, urging them to influence their pec-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 43
pie to zealous effort for the cause ; and his name will be
found on many other committees equaUy important.
A few days after the dissolution of the first Congress, on
the tenth of December, 1774, occurred the first overt act
of hostUity of the Revolution, in the seizure of Fort William
and Mary, in Portsmouth harbor. Parties were organized
at Portsmouth and Durham, at the suggestion and under
the lead of John SuUivan, then lately returned from the
Continental Congress at Philadelphia, aided by John Lang-
don, of Portsmouth, the future brother-in-law of James,
both of whom were afterwards chief magistrates of New
Hampshire. His brother, Eben Sullivan, took part in the
affair ; and very possibly, as he was then on his journey
homewards, James might have been also present. They
carried off a hundred barrels of powder, which, concealed
under the pulpit of the Durham meeting-house, close by
the residence of General Sullivan, and in a building on his
farm, were taken by him to the army at Cambridge, in
May, on his return to the Congress, and used in the battle
of Bunker's HiU.
On the twenty-second of December James Sullivan was
moderator of the town-meeting at Biddeford, and chosen
on the Committee of Safety and Inspection, and empowered
to correspond with the neighboring towns. He was also
chosen a committee to purchase powder, lead and flints,
for the trainbands. In the following March it was ordered
that the militia of the district should be divided into four
squadrons, to exercise half a day once in each week, for
three months, under a teacher of the military art, to be
paid out of the district treasury. From his lameness, James
Sullivan could not, with his brothers, three of whom were
engaged in the revolutionary campaigns, take much part
in the military resistance of the country; but from the
outset he fearlessly braved the pains and penalties of
treason, in arousing and directing, by his persuasions and
counsel, the martial energies of his feUow-citizens,

44 LIFE AND WRITINGS
The second Congress convened on Wednesday, the first
of February, at the meeting-house in Cambridge, and sat
there to the sixteenth, when it adjourned to meet at Con
cord on Tuesday, the twenty-second of March. It is
worthy of note that, though the season was unusually cold,
there was no fire in the building where they met, and a
resolve was passed authorizing the members to wear their
hats. On the fourth of February Mr. SuUivan was added
to the committee to publish in a pamphlet the doings of
the late Congress, and to prepare an address to the inhabit
ants. This was twice committed, and Warren and Church
added to polish and prune. They corrected, and may have
altered, but did not redraft; and, as it is believed to
have been substantially Sullivan's, it is here introduced as
presenting a view of the temper of the times.
" Friends and Fellow-supferers : When a people, en
titled to that freedom which your ancestors have nobly
preserved as the richest inheritance of their children, are
invaded by the hand of oppression, and trampled on by the
merciless feet of tyranny, resistance is so far from being
criminal that it becomes the Christian and social duty of
each individual.
" While you see the lives of your fellow-men, in other
nations, sported with and destroyed, and their estates con
fiscated by their prince, only to gratify the caprice, ambi
tion, or avarice, of a tyrant, you ought to entertain and
cultivate in your minds the highest gratitude to the Su
preme Being for his having placed you under such a form
of government as, when duly administered, gives the
meanest peasant the same security in his life and property
as his sovereign has in his crown.
" This constitution of government secures to each one
subject thereto such an entire property in his inheritance
and the fruit of his industry, that they cannot be taken
from him without his personal or representative consent;
and, as the evidence of entire property arises from the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 45
uncontrollable power of disposing, when your estates shall
be brought into such a situation, or under such a form of
government, as that they can be disposed of or granted by
persons who are by no means accountable to you therefor,
you cease to have anything more than a licensed and pre
carious property in them.
" Notwithstanding these principles have been warmly
contended for, and nobly defended, at the expense of much
blood and treasure, by your British ancestors, who have
ever been seriously alarmed at the least infringement on
this branch of their happy privileges, the House of Com
mons there, over whom you have not the least control, and
in whose election you have no voice, have claimed and
exercised the power of granting your money without your
consent ; and what renders the same more aggravated is,
that the money extorted from you is applied to the vile
purpose of maintaining a set of men, who, through deprav
ity of mind and cruelty of disposition, have been, and stUl
are, endeavoring to enforce certain acts of Parliament,
made with express purpose to take from you your charter-
rights, and reduce you to a state of misery equal to that
ever attendant on those whose prince has the sole disposal
of their lives and properties.
" Fleets, troops, and every implement of war, are sent
into the province, with apparent design to wrest from you
that freedom which it is your duty, even at the risk of
your lives, to hand inviolate to posterity.
" These strides of tyranny have fixed the united atten
tion of aU America; and, being greatly and justly alarmed,
the wisdom of the whole continent has been collected in
that Congress whose salutary resohitions have pointed
you to effectual means of redress, and the execution of the
plan projected by that honorable assembly has been
warmly recommended to you by your former Provincial
Congress. " The transactions of your former Congress, with regard

46 LIFE AND WRITINGS
to placing the militia on such a footing as may serve to
defend you from each act of hostUity that may be offered,
have been carefully transmitted to you, and we rejoice
to hear that you have cheerfully paid the strictest atten
tion to them, and ardently wish that the same martial spirit,
which so remarkably prevaUs among you, may be encour
aged and increased.
" Though we deprecate a rupture with the mother state,
yet we must still urge you to every preparation for your
necessary defence ; for, unless you exhibit to your enemies
such a firmness as shall convince them that you are worthy
of that freedom your ancestors fled here to enjoy, you have
nothing to expect but the vilest and most abject slavery.
" The foregoing sheets contain the resolutions of your
former Congress respecting the improvement of your pub
lic moneys at this critical juncture of your public affairs.
Such is the alarming state of the province that the neces
sity of punctually complying with these resolves can, by
no means, need any further argument to stimulate thereto
than what naturally arises from facts under your constant
observation ; but, as necessary preparations for your de
fence require immediate supplies of money, duty and faith
fulness to you compel us to take leave to hint that, should
you be so unhappy as to be driven to unsheathe the sword
in defence of your lives and properties, the having proper
magazines duly prepared may give that success which can
not be expected without them.
" Subjects generally pay obedience to the laws of the
land to avoid the penalty that accrues on breach of them ;
and, on the same principles, we are assured that, as you
hitherto have, you will continue still strictly to adhere to
the resolutions of your several Congresses ; for we can
conceive of no greater punishment for the breach of human
laws than the misery that must inevitably foUow your
disregarding the plans that have, by your authority, with
that of the whole continent, been projected.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 47
" Your conduct hitherto, under the severest trials, has
been worthy of you as men and Christians, and, notwith
standing the pains that have been taken by your enemies
to inculcate the doctrines of non-resistance and passive
obedience, and, by every art, to delude and terrify you,
the whole continent of America has, this day, cause to
rejoice in your firmness. We trust you will still continue
steadfast, and having regard to the dignity of your charac
ters as freemen, and those generous sentiments resulting
from your natural and political connections, you will never
submit your necks to the galling yoke of despotism pre
pared for you ; but, with a jDroper sense of your depend
ence on God, nobly defend those rights which Heaven
gave, and no man ought to take from us."
On the sixth of February Sullivan was chairman of a
committee, upon the petition of Sawyer, of Rowley, to raise
a troop of horse ; and, on the ninth, to authorize the Com
mittee of Safety to take into their possession all warlike
stores, the property of the province, and to report resolves
for the expenses of the delegates to Philadelphia. On the
tenth he was ordered to revise the commissions of the
Committees of Safety and Supplies, and empower them
to make necessary provisions for the defence of the prov
ince. On the thirteenth he was appointed to bring in a
resolve for inquiring into the state of the militia, their
numbers and equipments ; and to recommend selectmen
to make return of their ammunition and warlike stores.
The Congress assembled at Concord, according to ad
journment, on the twenty-second of March. Sullivan does
not appear to have been present before the battle of Lex
ington, on Wednesday, the nineteenth of April. Upon that
event the Congress immediately adjourned, to meet at
Watertown the Saturday foUowing. He was there, and
appointed chairman of a committee to procure from the
selectmen liberty for the Congress to use the meeting
house ; and, on another, to take depositions in perpetuam

48 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of the transactions of the troops under General Gage, on
their route to and from Concord, to be sent by the first
ship to England. On the following day, which was Sun
day, he was chosen on the Committee of Safety, and also
appointed to wait on the New Hampshire Congress,' to
meet on the seventeenth of May, at Exeter, to request their
cooperation. Resolves were passed for the protection of
the eastern towns, in consequence of his efforts, and, on the
twelfth of May, he was appointed to take into consideration
the expediency of raising a company or two of Indians. A
few days afterwards he reported the foUowing letter to the
eastern tribes :
" Friends and good Brothers : We, the delegates of
the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, being come together
in congress to consider what may be best for you and our
selves to do to get rid of the slavery designed to be
brought upon us, have thought it our duty to write you
the foUowing letter :
" Brothers : The great wickedness of such as should he
our friends, but are our enemies, we mean the ministry of
Great Britain, has laid deep plots to take away our liberty
and your liberty. They want to get all our money ; make
us pay it to them, when they never earned it ; to make you
and us their servants ; and let us have nothing to eat,
drink, or wear, but what they say we shaU ; and prevent
us from having guns and powder to use, and kiU our deer,
and wolves, and other game, or to send to you for you to
kill your game with, and to get skins and fur to trade with
us for what you want ; but we hope soon to be able to
supply you with both guns and powder of our own
making. " We have petitioned to England for you and us, and
told them plainly we want nothing but our own, and do
not want to hurt them ; but they wiU not hear us, and have
sent over great ships, and their men, with guns, to make us
give up, and kUl us, and have kiUed some of our men ; but

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 49
we have driven them back and beat them, and kiUed a
great many of their men.
" The Englishmen of all the colonies, from Nova Scotia
to Georgia, have firmly resolved to stand together and
oppose them. Our liberty and your liberty is the same ;
we are brothers, and what is for our good is for your good ;
and we, by standing together, shall make those wicked
men afraid, and overcome them, and all be free men. Cap
tain Goldthwait has given up Fort Pownall into the hands
of our enemies ; we are angry at it, and we hear you are
angry with him, and we do not wonder at it. We want to
know what you, our good brothers, want from us of cloth
ing, or warlike stores, and we will supply you as fast as we
can. We will do all for you we can, and fight to save you,
any time, and hope that none of your men, or the Indians
in Canada, will join with our enemies. You may have a
great deal of influence over them. Our good brothers, the
Indians at Stockbridge, all join with us, and some of their
men have enlisted as soldiers, and we have given them that
enlisted, each one, a blanket and a ribbon, and they will be
paid when they are from home in the service ; and, if any
of you are willing to enlist, we will do the same for you.
" Brothers : We beseech that God who lives above, and
that does what is right here below, to be your friend and
bless you, and to prevent the designs of those wicked
men from hurting you or us."
On the twelfth he was added to the committee employed
to revise the commissions of the Committees of Safety and
Supplies, and also placed on that to present an application
to the general Congress, at Philadelphia, to obtain their
recommendation for the colony to take up and exercise
civil government. On the seventeenth he was appointed,
with Colonel Foster and Dr. Holton, to introduce to the
house Colonel Easton, who had come with tidings of the
taking of Ticonderoga. On the nineteenth he reported
the commission of General Ward, as commander-in-chief
5

50 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of the forces raised by the Congress for the defence of
this and the other American colonies. Various other im
portant matters were confided to his care, which it would
occupy too much space to present in detaU. There is
good ground to believe that a large portion of the reports
on these subjects were of his drafting ; but it is not
possible to authenticate them with sufficient accuracy, as
the other members no doubt shared in their composition.
The third and last Provincial Congress assembled at the
meeting-house at Watertown, on Wednesday, the thirty-
first of May, and continued its session to the nineteenth of
July. This period embraced the preparation for the first
important armed resistance to parliamentary aggression at
Bunker's Hill on the seventeenth of June, and the reor
ganization of the forces under General Washington and
the continental generals, who arrived in camp early in
July. On the fifth of June James Sullivan was chairman of a
committee to confer with the general officers of the Amer
ican army upon the health of the soldiers ; and of another,
on the following day, to provide some means for the
more regular distribution of the necessaries provided for
them by the colony. On the seventh he is first named
on a committee to wait on General Ward, to procure a
return of the number of men in camp. He was appointed
on the twelfth, with Major Hawley and Colonel Warren, to
prepare instructions for delegates to repair to the fortress
of Ticonderoga, to examine into the state of that fortress,
and of affairs generally in that quarter ; and, on the same
day, was chosen, by ballot, with Walter Spooner, of
Dartmouth, and Jedediah Foster, of Brooljfield, commis
sioner for the expedition.
They were instructed to proceed to the posts of Ticon
deroga and Crown Point by the road through the new
settlements caUed the New Hampshire grants, and to judge
of the feasibleness of transporting provisions by said road

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 51
to the waters of Lake Champlain ; and they were to in
form themselves fvtUy how Colonel Benedict Arnold, who
had been appointed by the Congress to the command of
the Massachusetts troops, had executed his instructions.
They were also to give Arnold such directions as they
should consider most conducive to the public service, for
his further government, and, if in their judgment he were
unfitted for his post, to discharge him, and select some
other officer in his place. They were to provide for the
organization of a force of four hundred men, in the pay of
Massachusetts, to keep possession of the fortresses, and to
arrange for necessary supplies of powder and provisions.
They were, moreover, directed to make a careful survey of
the. ordnance stores, and report the same to Congress ; and
were generally empowered to use their discretion in doing
¦whatever they judged necessary for the effectual security
and maintenance of these important posts. They were to
advise the general Congress, the Convention of New York,
and the Governor of Connecticut, of the opinions they
should form as to the further measures to be taken. Four
hundred pounds were to be entrusted to their charge, to
pay as an advance to the soldiers they should retain or
enlist in the service of the colony. It may have been
either out of consideration for his lameness, or that he was
less able than the others, in consequence of his greater dis
tance from home, to provide himself, that it was further
resolved that Sullivan should use for his journey a horse
which had been confiscated to the state, and was then at
pasture in a neighboring field.
It had been early perceived how important would be the
possession .of the fortresses on the lakes to prevent the
British penetrating into the western part of our settle
ments, and also for engaging the Canadians in support of
the liberties for which the other colonies were contending.
Soon after the battle of Lexington, Ethan Allen, with two
hundred Green Mountain Boys, joined by Arnold, at Castle-

52 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ton, had, on the tenth of May, gallantly captured Ticon
deroga, summoning the garrison to surrender " in the name
of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." On
the same day, he obtained possession of Crown Point, and,
not long after, the command of the whole lake. Many res
olute men had joined his standard from the western conn-
ties of Massachusetts, and from Connecticut, under Easton
and Brown, both of whom were also present at the sur
render. Arnold, who had been appointed early in May by
the Congress of Massachusetts to the command of their
troops at Lake Champlain, was a brave and accomplished
officer, but of violent passions, and unwilling to submit to
the command of others. He assumed to. himself the right
to command the whole forces ; but neither Easton nor
Allen felt disposed, to yield to his pretensions ; and when
the commissioners arrived at the lake, they found Colonel
Hinman, of Connecticut, also there, with one thousand
men stationed at different posts.
Arnold, having discovered the approach of the commis
sioners, but not aware of the nature of their powers,
dispatched a force to waylay them in the woods, and to
compel them to pay over to him the money with which
they had been entrusted for the payment of the soldiers.
This they refused; but, taking a strong position against
a rock, presented their pistols, and, using other modes of
persuasion, soon convinced their assailants that they were
not to be intimidated or coerced into deviation from
their instructions. Upon their arrival at the head-quar
ters of Arnold, upon a small vessel at anchor on the lake,
near St. Johns, he ordered them into custody, and detained
them as prisoners in the cabin. Watching his opportunity,
when Arnold was away, SuUivan sprang on deck, and, ad
dressing the men, defended the propriety of their course
with so much effect that the commissioners were set at
liberty. When Arnold returned, and read the instructions
of the Congress, and realized the extent of the powers

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 53
lodged with the commissioners, he was much disconcerted;
and, on the twenty-fourth of June, gave in his resignation,
and disbanded his troops. Some of the men, at his insti
gation, broke out into open mutiny, which th|e commission
ers were enabled to quell, after some difficulty, by the aid
of the other officers, and of Judge Duer, who chanced to
be present. They remained several days at the lake,
inspecting the fortresses, and organizing a force of four
hundred men, whom they placed under the command of
Colonel Hinman. They paid over the money according to
the directions of the Congress, and appointed agents to
supply the troops with provisions, and such military stores
as could be procured in the neighborhood ; providing also
for reenforcements'from Berkshire, to keep good the con
tingent at the number fixed by the Congress.
When prepared to return, Arnold, provoked at their
exercise of an authority which had stripped him of his
command and covered him with humiliation, contrived to
have them set ashore on the west side of the lake, whence
they were compelled to find their way, with great toil and
difficulty, to Albany, through the wUderness. The expos
ure on this comfortless journey brought on Mr. Sullivan
an attack of fever and ague, from which he long suffered.
The circumstances implicating Arnold were r.epresented,
on their return, to the Committee of Safety, and to Wash
ington. But it was thought, on consultation, that Arnold
was too valuable an officer to disaffect, and no notice was
taken of his misconduct. His mihtary services must ever
be mentioned with respect. But, though daring in enter
prise and valiant in the field, Arnold possessed few other
requisites for such a struggle as ours. He was unprinci
pled and insubordinate, and the many evUs which resulted
from his misuse of authority were hardly compensated by
his distinguished success. His expedition to Canada, and
attack on Quebec, justly gained him glory; and the capture
of Burgoyne's army is ascribed to his prowess. It was
5*

54 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLIVAN.
probably fortunate that the former proved a failure ; since
our field of operations was quite wide enough for our
resources when concentrated upon objects more important.
But Arnold, by his unjustified depredations at Montreal, so
far disaffected the Canadians as to aUenate them from the
other colonies, and add them to the number of our enemies.
Our informant heard Sullivan narrate the particulars of
the encounter with the soldiers, many years after their
occurrence, at his own table, before a large party of gen
tlemen, among whom was his companion on the expedition,
Walter Spooner. Spooner was a man of remarkably vener
able appearance, and had been, at one period during the
war, president of the Council. In relating the attack upon
them in the woods, SuUivan directed the attention of the
company to his ancient associate, and begged them to con
template that grave and dignified presence, to recaU what
a rigid observer they had always found him of what was
proper and decorous, and then realize, as they best could,
that, during aU this encounter, he was swearing like a
trooper. The letters of the committee to the Continental Con
gress, written at Ticonderoga on the twenty-third of June,
and those to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, and to
the Convention of New York, from Springfield, on the
third of July, as also the report of their doings, dated at
Cambridge, the sixth of July, the day of their return, are to
be found in the Appendix to the Journal of the Provincial
Congress. On the day of their arrival at Cambridge, a vote of
thanks for their services, prepared by Major Hawley, was
passed by the Congress.

CHAPTEE IV.

PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY.

After his return from Ticonderoga, the name of Mr.
SuUivan appears but rarely on the journal of the Congress,
which, indeed, was brought to a close two weeks later.
He was placed occasionally on committees, but indisposi
tion, induced by exposure on the lakes and in the journey
home through the forests, soon compeUed him to absent
himself for the few remaining days of the session. He
repaired to his home at Biddeford, and there remained
until the latter part of September.
In accordance with the advice of the Continental Con
gress, at Philadelphia, the representative body was now
reorganized, and met, on the nineteenth of July, as a Pro
vincial Assembly, under the provisions of the charter of
1692. James Sullivan was returned as the delegate from
Biddeford. In the absence of any governor duly appointed,
whom they could reasonably be called upon to recognize,
the Council was clothed, under the charter, with executive
functions. Towards the end of the summer his health was suffi
ciently recruited to admit of his taking his seat. He
found, upon his return, the aspect of afiairs in the neigh
borhood of Boston materially changed. The British
troops in the occupation of the town had been strongly
reenforced. Washington was in command of the American
army, with its main body at Cambridge, and either wing on

56 LIFE AND WRITINGS
the heights extending on the right into Roxbury, and
on the left into Charlestown. Ward, Lee, and Putnam,
commanded the different divisions, and under them were
Greene and seven other brigadiers, appointed in -June, at
Philadelphia, on the continental establishment. Among
these last was John Sullivan, who, after honorable service
in the general Congress as delegate from New Hampshire,
now, at the age of thirty-five, commanded a brigade, under
Lee, at Winter Hill ; Greene commanding the other in the
same division. General Sullivan had long been familiar
with military science, and could accurately describe all the
great battles in history, these having been from childhood
his favorite study. He had held, since 1772, a commission
under the crown as major. But when the dispute with
the government assumed the character of armed resistance,
with other officers of his neighborhood, he burnt his com
mission on the green, which lay near by his own residence
and the old meeting-house in Durham. Between him and
James existed the greatest unanimity of feeling, and the
closest relations of friendship ; and this intimate connection
of the two brothers, one of them standing high in the
confidence of Washington, and the other very generally
known and esteemed among the members of the General
Court of the province, enlarged for both the sphere of
their usefulness.
Immediately after his appearance in the house his legal
knowledge and experience were put in requisition. His
name is to be found on various committees, and especially
whenever resolves were to be drafted, or legal questions
were involved.
Among thq matters entrusted to his charge was the case
of Dr. Benjamin Church, a member of the house from Bos
ton, and now surgeon-general in the army. Church had long
been regarded as ardently devoted to the cause of liberty,
and respected as one of the leading members of the house.
He possessed much abUity, and wrote weU in prose and

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 5(
verse. Convivial in his habits, fond of amusement and his
ease, he was generally popular, being one of those smooth
and, oleaginous natures who, in a bad sense, would be all
things to all men. He was alike the friend of Governor
Gage and of Samuel Adams. The songs he wrote for the
whigs he parodied for the tories. WhUe he was making
a parade of the blood with which he professed to have
been spattered when engaged in urging on the American
patriots at Lexington, his pockets were filled with the
gold given him by Gage for betraying their secrets.
Shortly before, he had been reproached with being too
constant a guest at the tables of the British officers, and
he excused himself on the plea that l^e kept their company
to find out their plans.
He stood high in the confidence of the principal patriots,
and, from the first a member of the Committee of Safety, was
admitted to their most intimate counsels. It is related by
Colonel Paul Revere, that, in the winter of 1774-5, he was
one of thirty organized into a committee for the purpose
of watching the British soldiers, and gaining early intelli
gence of their intended movements. When they met, each
member swore on the Bible not to reveal any of their
transactions but to Hancock, Adams, Warren, Church, and
one or two more. Yet, as early as November, it was well
known among them that they had been betrayed ; and a
friend, having connections with the tory part}"-, warned
Colonel Revere of this fact, and in proof mentioned the
identical words that had been spoken among them the night
before. They removed from the celebrated Green Dragon
Tavern, situated in Hanover-street, where they had pre
viously met; but still found all their arrangements and
doings were communicated, as before, to the officers of the
government. It was then a common opinion among the
Americans that there was a traitor in the Provincial Con
gress, and that Gage, by this means, possessed himself of
all their secrets.

58 LIFE AND WRITINGS
In December, Church was detected in criminal corre
spondence, in cipher, with an English officer in Boston.
The messenger he employed was an old woman, who, mis
taking her instructions, delivered the letter to a stanch pa
triot, who transmitted it by General Greene to Washington.
General Putnam, to whom she was brought, had the old lady
slung on his horse behind him, and carried her to head
quarters. Washington was much amused at the grotesque
appearance of the gallant general, who had no care for
appearances when he thought they interfered with his
duty ; but was also sadly grieved at this first instance of
American treachery. He ordered Church to be impris
oned, and on the third of October to be tried before a
court of inquiry composed of all the general officers. The
members of the court were severally interrogated, and
each expressed in turn an opinion of the prisoner's guilt.
As he was a member of the Assembly, it was concluded to
leave the further investigation of the affair, and the disposal
of the criminal, should he be found guilty, to their judgment.
Mr. Sullivan was charged, with others, with the prehmi-
nary arrangements for his trial, and, with Major Bliss,
appointed by the Assembly to wait on General Washing
ton, and request him to communicate the cause of the
detention and imprisonment of Dr. Church, one of its
members. It was decided that the culprit should be
brought to the bar of the house. He was examined
on the twenty-seventh of October. The intercepted
letter, which had been, deciphered by Dr. West, of Dart
mouth, was deemed evidence sufficient of his criminal
conduct ; and his ingenious and earnest, but crafty, attempt
at justification only deepened the impression against him.
He had been on friendly terms with many members of the
court ; his earlier and more flagrant acts of treachery had
not then transpired ; and in the belief that he was a leaky
vessel, erring rather from weakness than deliberation, and
that, known, he was no longer dangerous, his punishment

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 59
was sufficiently moderate. He was expelled from the
house, and kept for a time in confinement, but soon
released, joined the enemy at Newport, and thence went
to some part of the West Indies.
On the sixteenth of October Mr. Sullivan was appointed,
with others, to make suitable provision and entertainment
for a delegation from the general Congress, consisting of
Dr. Franklin, Thomas Lynch, of South Carolina, and Colonel
Harrison, of Virginia, together with Governor TrumbuU,
of Connecticut, Governor Cooke, of Rhode Island, Meshech
Weare, president of the New Hampshire Congress, and
also for the council, speaker, and such gentlemen visitors
as they should see fit to invite.
The commissioners from Congress were to confer with
General Washington, and with the local governments of
the New England colonies, on the most effectual method
of continuing, supporting and regulating, a continental
army. They arrived at Cambridge on the eighteenth of
October, and remained till the twenty-fourth. As part of
their plan they adopted enlistments for the term of a single
year. In that stage of the contest many were ready to
engage for that brief period, whose duties to their families
and other obligations would have dissuaded them from
taking part, had the enlistment been for several years, or
for the war.
During the summer an expedition had been fitted out at
Georgetown to take possession of the vessels and military
stores at Falmouth, now Portland. They succeeded in
capturing Captain Mowatt, the commander of a sloop-of-
war under Admiral Greaves, who chanced to be in the
town ; but, the British ships in the port threatening to fire
on the place, upon the interference of the principal citi
zens, Mowatt was set at liberty. Irritated at the indigni
ties to which he had been subjected during his detention,
and at the opposition manifested later by the inhabitants
to a proposed supply of spars and other materials for the

60 LIFE AND WRITINGS
fleet, under the sanction of the admiral, on the sixteenth
of October, he bombarded and destroyed Falmouth. When
the inteUigence reached Watertown Mr. Sullivan was
busily engaged in the house. Alarmed for the safety of
his family at Biddeford, — a village too near the sea to be
secure from similar outrage, which, indeed, was threatened
by Mowatt to every town on the coast eastward of Bos
ton, — he hastened to their protection.
He found the people in Biddeford and along the river in
the greatest state of alarm and perturbation. They were
hourly expecting an attack by the British, attended with
like horrors to those inflicted upon Falmouth. This was
sufficiently terrifying; and, in the midst of the gloomy
anxieties, occurred an incident which, to excited imagina
tions, seemed a fearful portent of approaching calamity.
The Saco suddenly became swollen to twice its usual vol
ume, and rolled down from the mountains with its waters,
generally limpid, now red and disturbed, as if polluted by
the crimson stains of carnage from the battle-field. A smaU
stream among the White Hills, in consequence of the
autumn freshets, had burst from its ancient channel, and,
changing its course, poured into the Saco a current col
ored by the beds of iron which abound in that region.
The more sensible and judicious among them, well know
ing employment to be the best remedy for panic, devised
projects of defence to occupy their minds and bring into
play all their energies. Sullivan, having had advantages
in the camp for learning the science of fortification, came
opportunely to their aid. He was generally known, and a
favorite, and his counsels were readily followed. He not
only directed their efforts, but worked himself dihgently
in throwing up the entrenchments. On the fourth of
November, at a meeting of gentlemen from the several
towns at the house of Colonel Tyng, in Falmouth, he was
chosen commander-in-chief over the mUitia and the other
companies in the pay of the province ; and Colonel Mitch-

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 61
ell, Colonel Fogg, Deacon Titcomb, and Major Noyes,
were appointed to assist him. Committees were raised to
supply the soldiers and the people, and to collect baUs.
His letters, written at this time to the CouncU, are char
acteristic, if not also historically valuable. They are too
long for insertion. One, however, is introduced below, and
others will be found in the sequel. They relate to the
future defence of unhappy Falmouth, which, recently a
flourishing town, full of comfortable dwellings, was now,
not for any object of policy, but to glut the diabolical
resentment of Mowatt, reduced to a heap of ashes. Partly
by the aid of allowances to the sufferers from the court
and private contributions, but principally through the elas
tic energies of its own people, the place was soon rebuilt
and restored to its former consequence. It has since
developed into the elegant and populous city of Portland.
He writes from Biddeford on the second of November :
" The distressing circumstances and dangerous situation
of the County of Cumberland, and the eastern part of the
County of York, will, I hope, sufficiently apologize for my
laying their condition before your honors.
" The metropolis of this eastern part of the colony is
now in ashes, and the same fate seems pending over the
whole territory. An armed vessel lies near where Fal
mouth lately stood, demanding free egress and regress on
the land, and the surrender of all weapons of war, with
apparent design of possessing themselves of that advanta
geous post, where they can securely lay, and, by degrees,
subject and destroy the country round. No leader appears
to whom the people pay the least regard. An army to
defend us at the public expense would, I fear, defeat its
very end ; and no method can be suggested to save us
but the organization of the militia, who, notwithstanding
their recent and free choice of officers, are not under the
least control. Nor do I conceive it possible to have a
mUitia that may be depended on, while they have the elec-
6

02 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tion of their officers ; for, such is the state of human nature,
that people wiU not be obedient to power derived imme
diately from themselves ; and, as aU power is, or ought to
be, derived from the people, it would always be weU to
have a certain depositum, where it shall be lodged by the
people, and from whence it may be taken by their officers.
Where it should be lodged in this colony is obvious.
However this may be, it is a melancholy and incontestable
fact that there can be no attack to good purpose made on
disciplined troops by our militia in their present disordered
situation. Of this the battle of Lexington is a proof. I
therefore humbly move your honors that, as you regard ,
our lives, and wish not our utter destruction, you would
immediately commission our militia on the old, if there is
no new, establishment ; and would also beg leave to sug
gest the necessity and importance of appointing a general
officer in each quarter of the province ; for, unless this is
done, there can be no head, and the forces wiU be a multi
tude, and not an army."
Upon his return he was appointed by the house, with
Mr. Elbridge Gerry, a committee to draft an act for
fitting out armed vessels to protect the sea-coast, author
izing the issue of letters of marque and reprisal, and
erecting courts for the condemnation of prizes. In the
small lobby under the belfry of the Watertown meeting
house, the building in which the Assembly held its sessions,
Mr. Gerry drew the preamble, and Mr. SuUivan the body
of the act. It passed on the eleventh of November ; and,
as the first actual avowal by any deliberative body in
America of intended offensive hostilities to be found in the
annals of the Revolution, John Adams mentions it, under
date of twelfth of AprU, 1810, to Mr. Gerry, as one of the
most important documents in history.
Under its authority Captain Manly, of Marblehead, in a
vessel caUed the Lee, captured, soon after, three valuable
prizes, bound to Boston, freighted with cargoes for the use

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 63
of the British forces. One of them, sent in on the seventh
of December to Cape Ann, was the brig Nancy, fi-om
Woolwich, laden with valuable military stores and ord
nance, among which was found the celebrated mortar. Con
gress, mounted by Putnam at Cobble Hill, and used with
much effect against the British, till it unfortunately, burst
in the month of February. Many other important prizes
were taken. Our seafaring people along shore, who were
mainly idle from the interruption of trade and of the fish
eries, fitted out numberless cruisers, which, swarming over
the neighboring waters, inflicted irreparable injury on the
enemy. Constant success on this element, with which we
were most familiar, kept the country zealous in the strug
gle, and provided our army engaged in the siege of Boston
with supplies indispensable to its continued efficiency.
Three admiralty judges were appointed under this act,
by the Council : Nathan Cushing for the southern, Timothy
Pickering for the central, and Mr. Sullivan for the eastern
district. In a letter, of December twenty-fifth, 1779, to
Elbridge Gerry, then a member of the Continental Con
gress, Mr. Sullivan, at the time one of the judges of
the Supreme Court, alludes to their cooperation, three
years before, in framing this act at Watertown, and sug
gests the propriety of establishing courts of admiralty
for the continent upon a plan and upon principles very
similar to those now long since adopted in the organization
of the admiralty jurisdiction of the federal courts.
It would be useless to enumerate all the various matters
upon which he was placed in committee. On many of
these he was caUed upon, as chairman, to make reports ;
on others, to prepare biUs, resolves, letters to the Council,
and instructions to different individuals in the civU or mili
tary service of the government. His activity, industry
and promptness, and his cheerful alacrity to undergo
fatigue, or meet responsibility, doubtless furnish an expla
nation of his continual employment whenever in attend-

64 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ance. No member of the house appears to have been
more constantly or arduously occupied ; and his frequent
nomination on committees entrusted with the preparation
of important communications to the public for the expres
sion of sentiment to induce increased ardor in the cause
of liberty, or to infiuence opinion, prove the estimation
entertained by the other members of his skill in composi
tion. Experience shows that it has been, at aU times, the
custom of deliberative and legislative bodies to impose
upon young lawyers a full share of the duties to be
performed. Among the important affairs thus devolved upon him
were the drafting the laws for the regulation of the
militia, for the commencement and prosecution of civil
actions, for the confiscation of the estates of refugees and
others inimical to their country. He was called upon to
provide military stores, erect powder-miUs, procure wood
and hay for the army, correspond with various persons
to encourage enlistments, and for other objects. He was
the first named on a committee, with such as the Council
should join, for the drafting of a proclamation, to be read
at the opening of the several county sessions, for the pur
pose of inculcating a general obedience of the people to
the several magistrates appointed under the government
of this colony. This noble and eloquent exposition of the
principles of the Revolution, and spirited appeal to the
generous sentiments of his countrymen, reported on the
nineteenth of January, 1776, was the composition of John
Adams, then for a short time member of the Council.
In connection with the case of Dr. Church, on important
questions concerning the army, and for other purposes, Mr.
Sullivan had many official interviews wit.h Washington at
head-quarters, at the Cragie House in Cambridge, and also
with his brother. General SuUivan, at Winter Hill John
SuUivan was not only diUgent in the cultivation of the
science of his profession as a soldier, but an ardent patriot;

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 65
as indefatigable in his country's service in the employment
of his pen as in the discharge of his military duties. He
had been occupied during the summer in forming entrench
ments at Medford for the protection of the left wing of
our army, our lines approaching more nearly to the enemy,
then in the possession of Bunker's Hill and Charlestown
Neck, at that point than at any other. He had been dis
patched by Washington, in October, to the defence of
Portsmouth, threatened by Mowatt, and, after his return, had
been busily occupied in urgent appeals to the committees
of safety at Exeter and Portsmouth, and to numerous
friends, to hurry forward the contingents to the army.
Amid the snows of a winter camp he found time for a long
and able letter to Colonel Wentworth, dated on Winter
HiU, the fifth of December, setting forth his views on the
proposed reorganization of government in New Hampshire.
It had much influence over the formation of the constitu
tion adopted the foUowing month in that colony, the earli
est to establish a new frame of government. It contains
many original suggestions ; such, for instance, as a regis
tered list of voters, now well approved by experience, and
others showing a remarkable degree of political sagacity in
a young man of thirty-five. Displaying the conscientious,
patriotic and elevated motives that characterized our Revo
lution, it has especial claim to be remembered ; and the
wise and moderate views it presents come with peculiar
force from a mUitary leader, armed to establish the gener
ous principles of political freedom upon the secure foun
dations of reason and justice.
The Assembly adjourned on the eleventh of November,
to meet again on the twenty-ninth. On the second of
December Charles Chauncey brought down from the Coun
cil the letter from Mr. Sullivan, giving an account of the
works of defence in the town of Falmouth, and represent
ing the necessity of further provision for the safety of that
town, enclosing a copy of the proceedings of the conven-
6*

66 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tion in the County of Cumberland. Massachusetts having
agreed to pay her soldiers by lunar, and the other colonies
theirs by calendar months, this led to discontent. The fol
lowing letter, dated the sixth, from James, at Watertown,
to General SuUivan, on this subject, is not without interest :
"I this evening," he says, "received your letter by Major
ScammeU, and have just returned from an important con
ference with General Washington, on the subject-matter of
it. As to our paying our troops to the first of August,
by lunar months, it was our engagement with them when
we enlisted them, and we can by no means go from it.
But I believe we shall be content to make it a provincial
charge, rather than have any disagreement with the other
colonies. " I grieve at the backwardness of our men to engage in
the ensuing campaign. There will be nothing left undone
that our court has it in its power to do to facilitate the
raising a new army. I have been this evening drawing a
plan to lay before the court in the morning. It is yet
incorrect, but you have here a copy :
" ' The prevailing uneasiness in the army seems to arise
more from a disposition in the soldiers to rule, and an
opinion of their own consequence, than in any injustice in
their pay or treatment. This, if long subsisting, will daily
obtain greater control over their minds, and have the most
probable tendency to break up the army, and, therefore,
should be rooted out as soon as possible. But, as some
of the persons who now command as subalterns were
lately neighbors to and on a level with the privates they
command, and as the soldiery in this country are by no
means dependent on the army for a living, this must be
done with the greatest delicacy.
" ' The payment of our soldiers by lunar months, or giving
them a bounty, wiU so much enhance the expenses of the
war, that the southern colonies, who bear a great part of
the expense and share none of the profits of the campaign,

OF JAMES SULLITAIJI. 67
may prove discontented, and that union, which now so
happily subsists, be destroyed. If this colony should pay
the extraordinary expense of lunar months out of its own
treasury, and should add a bounty, the troops of the New
England colonies would, as they are in the same service,
expect the same advantage, and leave the service unless
they have it.
" ' If all the New England governments should bid a
bounty, or pay the eS:traordinary charge of lunar months
out of their own treasuries, the soldiers, by gaining this
demand, would soon make another ; and, from this conde
scension of government, have such evidence of their own
importance as would induce them to suppose that all their
demands must be immediately complied with.
" ' If, therefore, some measure can be hit upon to con
vince the soldiers now in the camp that an army can be
raised without them, they will readily enlist for the ensu
ing campaign.
" ' The colony of the Massachusetts Bay is to raise sixteen
regiments. To have so many of the inhabitants of the
colony on good wages, in the present state of our affairs, is
a great privilege. It should be so held up to the people,
as an inducement for them to engage. It might be expe
dient, therefore, for the General Court to apportion, accord
ing to the tax-bill of the present year, the number of
privates each town is entitled to have on pay in the army.
And these each town should be ordered to furnish at the
lines on or before the first day of January next, enlisted
' according to the continental establishment of the army ;
preference being given by each town to such of their
inhabitants as have been in the camp this year, provided
they are enlisted upon the twentieth day of December,
instant.' " If any part or all of this plan is wrong, you will give
me your opinion thereon as soon as may be, that it may be
altered."

68 LIFE AND WRITINGS
As the season advanced, the British troops in possession
of Boston, in sufficient force to be free from any apprehen
sion of attack, remained quietly in their quarters. The
investing army, varying from day to day, and rarely supe
rior to the enemy in effective numbers, occupied the range
of high ground surrounding the basin of which the three-
hilled peninsula formed the centre, and fired with reluctance
on dwellings, the property, and still partiaUy in the occu
pation, of their own people. It was a critical moment. A
false move, resulting in defeat, would have involved pro
scription and an ignominious death for all the leaders who
should chance to escape the battle-field. This, to the
honor of the American cause, was by the patriots entirely
disregarded. The consideration, which to them was para
mount to all fear of personal consequences, was, that any
serious reverse would subject their countrymen to the
scourge of parliamentary resentment, and, for a long period
to come, deprive them of rights and liberties esteemed of
greater value than life itself.
Every, nerve was strained, and no reasonable expedient
unimproved, to keep up the strength of the army, and thus
avert so fatal a calamit}^. This, however, was not easily
accomplished. After the first bloodshed, at Lexington and
Charlestown, the men of the interior had hastened from their
farms and villages to the camp at Cambridge, zealous and
earnest in the cause ; but as the summer wore away, and
the autumn set in cold and cheerless, being without proper
clothing or shelter, and with but scanty supplies of food,
fuel and ammunition, many became dispirited, and eager to
return to their homes. Washington, realizing how much
depended upon presenting an imposing front' to the enemy,
in the hope that the discontented might be persuaded to
remain with the army, requested some of the members of
the house, at Watertown, to address the soldiers whenever
suitable occasion offered. James SuUivan was happily
constituted for this task. NaturaUy of an ardent tempera-,

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 69
ment, quick sensibilities, and a warm and fertfle imagination,
he had lived aU his life in the country, and understood
thoroughly the character of his auditors. His manner
was graceful, his voice persuasive, and he possessed be
sides the best elements of an effective oratory, in his fuU
conviction of the righteousness of the contest, and his
fearless consecration of himself to what he considered his
duty. John SuUivan, as also the younger brother, Eben,
in the foUowing summer a prisoner at the Cedars, pos
sessed the same happy faculty of stirring the hearts and
arousing the nobler sentiments of their countrymen ; and
Washington was accustomed to say that he had but to send
to his soldiers, when restless and discouraged, one of the
eloquent Sullivans, and they were easily induced to perse
vere in the contest. As short enlistments were the great
embarrassment of the war, these efforts were often of great
service. One morning, while Sullivan was closeted with Washing
ton at head-quarters, on some mission from the house,
Colonel Glover, of the Marblehead regiment, which was
encamped in an enclosed pasture north of the colleges,
came in to announce that his men were in a state of mutiny.
Washington instantly strode to his horse, kept always in
readiness at the door, leaped into the saddle, and, followed
by Mr. Sullivan and Colonel Glover, rode at full gallop to
the camp. His servant, Pompey, sent in advance to let
down the bars, had just dismounted for that purpose, when
Washington, coming up, leaped over Pompey, bars and all,
and dashed into the midst of the mutineers. It was on the
occasion of the well-known contest between the fishermen
of Marblehead and the Virginia riflemen, under Morgan ;
the latter of whom, in half-Indian equipments of fringed
and ruffled hunting-shirts, provoked the merriment of the
northern troops. From words they proceeded to blows,
and soon at least a thousand combatants, armed for the
most part only with snow-balls, were engaged in conflict.

70 LIFE AND WRITINGS
" The general threw the bridle of his horse into his ser
vant's hands, and, rushing into the thickest of the fight,
seized two tall, brawny riflemen by the throat, keeping
them at arm's length, talking to, and shaking them." His
impetuous yet dignified bearing, and overpowering energy,
instantly quelled the disturbance ; and, caUing around him
the officers, and ascertaining the grounds of the quarrel,
he took effectual measures to prevent the recurrence of
similar outbreaks in the futiire. Mr. Sullivan, who wit
nessed the scene, often said, while narrating its incidents,
that, from the moment he saw Washington leap the bars at
Cambridge, and realized his personal ascendency over the
turbulent tempers of his men in their moments of wildest
excitement, he never faltered in the faith that we had the
right man to lead the cause of American liberty.
The destruction of Falmouth had excited, in the seaports
along shore, apprehension of similar attacks ; and, on the
twenty-third of December, Mr. Sullivan was ordered to
draft a resolve for the adoption of proper measures for
their security. On the twenty-eighth he reported what
was called the searcoast establishment, for the organization
of a force of twelve hundred men, to be distributed among
the ports along the coast. In aU probability with a view
of being nearer his family, and that he might earn by
his professional labors means for their subsistence, he
accepted, on the first of January, 1776, the appointment
of commissary to the four hundred men to be stationed,
under the command of Colonel Frye, at Falmouth. He,
however, remained until the end of the month in the
house, busily occupied on a great variety of subjects,
among which the mUitia and refugee biUs were the most
prominent. His duties as admiralty judge for the eastern district,
and as commissary for the troops at Falmouth, at last call
ing him into Maine, soon after the twentieth of January he
left Watertown. WhUe at Falmouth he employed himself

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 71
industriously, with Colonel Frye, in throwing up entrench
ments for its protection. In the course of February an
English frigate appeared in the offing, and approached the
town with hostile menace. Frye chanced to be absent.
SuUivan, rallying the men, and disposing them in strong
positions, planted some old pieces of ordnance, which in
reahty were quite unserviceable, in a conspicuous position,
and brought them to bear on the vessel. This had the
intended effect, and the frigate sailed away. On the
thirty-first of January he writes from Falmouth to Samuel
Freeman, at Watertown :
" Since I wrote you last I have received a resolve of
court, wherein I find I am directed to assist in raising two
hundred and thirty-eight men in the County of York. I
shall obey the orders, and do my best ; and make no doubt
but the men may be had, which will leave the sea-coast of
this county entirely unarmed. Our arms were taken from
our people, on the last of December, by the order of Con
gress. An enlistment for Cambridge will strip us of men
for this winter ; and, if our guns are again stopped, we
shall be in the spring without fire-arms. I venture to
affirm as a fact that more than half the men of Biddeford
and Pepperellborough are now in the camp at Cambridge.
The four hundred men for Falmouth can never be raised :
every one who can leave home is gone or going to Cam
bridge. The officers appointed here have no commissions,
nor has General Frye any orders or instructions. I hope
you will send them by the first conveyance. If the General
Court should order another reenforcement,' they must draw
upon this part of the province for women, instead of men,
and for knives and forks, instead of arms ; otherwise they
cannot be obeyed."
When tidings reached Falmouth of the armed occupation
of Dorchester Heights, he hastened back to the scene of
operations, and was in attendance on the house when the
British evacuated Boston. On the nineteenth he was

72 LIFE AND WRITINGS
chairman of a committee to consider the state of the prov
ince, and report what should be done for its immediate
defence and government ; and, on the next day, the first
named, with Colonel Orne, of the house, and WiUiam Sever
and Thomas Cushing, of the councU, to prepare an address
to Washington. As there is sufficient ground to believe that
this eloquent address was drafted principaUy by Sullivan, it
is given below. He was on the committee, with Colonel
Orne, Major Hawley, and Thomas Cushing, to present it.
" To His Excellency George Washington, Esq. : —
When the liberties of America were attacked by the
violent hand of oppression ;. when troops hostile to the
rights of humanity invaded this colony, seized our capital,
and spread havoc and destruction around it ; when our
virtuous sons were murdered, and our houses destroyed
by the troops of Britain, the inhabitants of this and the
other American colonies, impelled by self-preservation and
the love of freedom, forgetting their domestic concerns,
determined resolutely and unitedly to oppose the sons of
tyranny. " Convinced of the vast importance of having a gentle
man of great military accomplishments to discipline, lead
and conduct, the forces of the colonies, it gave us the
greatest satisfaction to hear that the honorable Congress
of the United Colonies had made choice of a gentleman
thus qualified, who, leaving the pleasures of domestic and
rural life, was ready to undertake the arduous task.
" And your nobly declining to accept the pecuniary
emoluments annexed to this high office fully evidenced to
us that a warm regard to the sacred rights of humanity,
and sincere love to your country, solely influenced you in
the acceptance of this important trust.
"From your acknowledged abUities as a soldier, and
your virtues in public and private life, we had the most
pleasing hopes ; but the fortitude and equanimity so con
spicuous in your conduct, the wisdom of your councils,

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 73
the mild yet strict goTernment of the army, your atten
tion to the civil constitution of this colony, the regard you
have at all times shown for the lives and health of those
under your command, the fatigues you have with cheerful
ness endured, the regard you have shown for the preser
vation of our metropolis, and the great address with which
our military operations have been conducted, have exceeded
our most sanguine expectations, and demand the warmest
returns of gratitude.
" The Supreme Ruler of the universe having smiled on
our arms, and crowned your labors with remarkable suc
cess, we are now, without that effusion of blood we so
much wished to avoid, again in the quiet possession of our
capital. The wisdom and prudence of those movements
which have obliged the enemy to abandon our metropolis
wiU ever be remembered by the inhabitants of this colony.
" May you still go on approved by Heaven, revered by
all good men, and dreaded by those tyrants who claim their
feUow-men as their property ; may the United Colonies be
defended from slavery by your virtuous arm ; may they
still see their enemies flying before you ; and, the deliver
ance of your country being effected, may you, in retire
ment, enjoy that peace and satisfaction of mind which
always attend the good and great. And may future gen
erations, in the peaceful enjoyment of that freedom, the
exercise of which your sword shall have established, raise
the highest and most lasting monuments to the name of
Washington." On the preceding day James Sullivan had resigned his
office as commissary, and likewise that of judge in admi
ralty, and accepted the appointment of judge of the Supe
rior Court, then lately reorganized. The wishes of the
people of Maine, that he might be appointed commander-
in-chief of all forces raised in that part of the province,
said to have been expressed in a petition to the court,
numerously signed by their military officers, were frus-
7

74 LIFE AND WRITINGS
trated by this acceptance of a seat on the supreme bench.
He did not immediately enter upon his new duties, but
continued in the Assembly up to the period of its dissolu
tion, on the tenth of May. On the twenty-ninth of March
he was appointed to wait on Washington for a map of the
New England colonies. He was soon after charged with
drawing up a plan of -works for the defence of Boston, and
his report recommended the completion of the forti
fications on Fort HiU and Dorchester Heights, and the
erection of new- works on Noddle's Island ; and, on the
third of April, he was the first named by the house on
the joint committee employed to carry the plan into exe
cution. He was also chairman of a committee to take into
consideration a motion to erect a monument to General
Joseph Warren ; and, on the third of April, reported that
the place where the body had been buried, on Bunker's
HiU, had been discovered, and that the lodge, of which
Warren had been grand master, was desirous of perform
ing the funeral solemnities upon the reinterment of his
remains. The report recommended that leave should be
granted to the lodge to carry out their intentions, but in
such a manner that the government might thereafter have
an opportunity of " erecting a monument to that worthy,
valiant, and patriotic gentleman."
The subject of confiscations, amendments to the admir
alty bill, alterations of writs, the supply of the treasury
with fifty thousand pounds, the Essex memorial, the sur
vey of Fryeburg, the resolutions for providing the several
towns of the colony with entrenching tools, and the dispo
sition of the newly-raised regiments, were some of the
numberless matters confided to his charge. On the third
of May he was first named in the house on a joint commit
tee to communicate to Congress, Washington, and the gov
ernments of the New England colonies, inteUigence that
Lord Howe, with a fleet of sixty transports, having on
board twelve thoiisand Hessians, had been spoken at sea,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 75
bound to Boston ; and that General Burgoyne, with four
thousand Hanoverians, was going to Quebec. On the last
day of the session he was appointed on the committee of
war, vested, until the next General Court, with fuU powers
for the fortification of Boston.
It was said, by John Adams, that the Revolution was
accomplished before the first bloodshed at Lexington. If
so, it required eight years of sanguinary conflict to con
vince our unnatural enemies of this truth. During this
long struggle, one fortunate element of success was the
intimate relation subsisting between the Congress and the
provincial legislatures. Organized under an old established
system, these bodies retained, with the ancient forms, fast
hold on the respect of the people. Their members, the most
influential men in their respective communities, kept alive
the general ardor, and induced enlistments ; while the sol
diers, assured of their constant care and watchfulness,
fought in the vindication of their common liberties, not as
rebels against duly constituted authority, but under the
aegis of law and constitution.
The auspicious termination of the siege of Boston nat-
uraUy encouraged the hope of a favorable issue to the
contest. In the faith that reconciliation was now impossi
ble, public sentiment throughout the country entertained,
without further reluctance, the idea of independence. On
the ninth of May Sullivan wrote to John Adams the fol
lowing letter, which must have reached Philadelphia when
the subject was under discussion :
" To intrude on one who, in the greatest political tem
pest, is tied to the helm of the mighty vessel of empire,
wrecked and tossed by the whirling blasts of despotism,
must give disagreeable sensations to one, if there is such,
of less sensibility than myself. But, as the greatest events
are swiftly impeUing each other upon us, and each moment
in the present being worth an age in any other time, I

76 LIFE AND WRITINGS
dare not oppose the violent propensity which urges me to
address you.
"Taking it for granted, such is the celerity of the
American world to independence, and so obvious the
decrees qf Heaven for that grand event, that the sluggish
motions of the irresolute, and the weak and scandalous
efforts of the tyrant, are alike unable to prevent it; the
important question is, what shall be done by this colony ?
Shall we urge you to an acceleration of the wheels of
fate, and force you to translate us into an independent
world immediately ? Or shall we only assure you that we
are ripe for the measure, and are in danger of being rotten
before the proprietary governments are ripe ? There are
many among us who dread the change, as good men do
their natural dissolution ; perfectly pleased with the idea
of an hereafter, ' but stand trembling on the brink, and fear
to launch away.' But none are there who do not heartily
engage to support the measure, if the Congress should
pursue it.
" A bUl is passed by this court for a more equal repre
sentation. I sent it to Mr. Gerry, who will show it to you.
This unwieldy Assembly will undoubtedly settle a consti
tution, and provide a less numerous Assembly than them
selves. " We are daily altering our old, unmeaning form of gov
ernment, as you may learn by the Stile Bill, a history of
which I sent Mr. Gerry ; and I hope we shall attend to it,
when the defence of our country calls not our attention
another way, until it is made a basis of liberty, and not a
path to vassalage and lawless domination. Some are for
writing to the Congress for leave to assume a new form of
government ; but my mind is otherwise. I think it would
be attended with the greatest anarchy, as it would leave the
people for a time without any rulers ; and, to be free on the
subject, I have many doubts whether the Congress has, or
ought to have, power to regulate the internal police of

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 77
the different colonies ; their business being, in my opinion,
only to regulate the matters between government and gov
ernment, for which particular assemblies are incompetent.
I am, therefore, for attending to this matter ourselves, and
for altering our constitution, piece by piece, in a manner
the least alarming to our sister colonies, until we shaU
reduce it to true republican principles.
" But, dear sir, I am obliged to tell you that public vir
tue is almost swallowed up in a desire of possessing paper
currency ; and parsimony, in the modest and charming
dress of frugality, together with covetousness, in the shin
ing robes of private justice, does us much injury. The
solemnity of a senate has left us, and such a levelling spirit
prevails, even in men called the first among mighty, that I
fear we shall be obliged to call in a military force to do
that which civil government was originally designed for.
" The idea that the representatives are the servants of
the people, — that they create the CouncU, who are the
creators of all civil executive officers, — never ought to be
lost. But the idea that he who is set up by the whole
people is greater than any individual, is equally important ;
and I am sorry to say that the latter is lean, pinched, and
scarcely allowed an existence among us.
" Here are the quicksands which I dread ; and wish that
you would, in your letters to those who have the honor
and happiness of your correspondence, deal largely on this
subject, and endeavor to pilot us over these shoals,"
7*

CHAPTER V.
ON THE BENCH.
Notwithstanding his repeated absence on public affairs,
in New Hampshire, at the lakes, and at Falmouth, and his
detention at home for many weeks, by the severe attack
of iUness consequent on the expedition to Ticonderoga,
James SuUivan had accomplished, since first returned as
delegate to the Provincial Congress eighteen months be
fore, a large amount of legislative labor. Many of the laws
enacted were of his drafting, and he had served on more
than one hundred committees ; a number not probably
exceeded in any other instance on the journals, and most
of them charged with important subjects of consideration.
The patriotic zeal and professional ability exhibited in
the performance of these various duties had recommended
him as a suitable candidate for a seat on the bench of the
Superior Court of Judicature. On the records of the
Council, then clothed, among its executive functions, with
the power of appointment, is his letter of acceptance of
this office. It is dated March 27, 1776, the day before
the presentation of the congratulatory address to Wash
ington on the evacuation of Boston, and is as follows:
" I am informed by the secretary that the honorable Coun
cil have appointed me a justice of the Supreme Court,
and that they request my answer thereto. Since the
appointment forbids my saying that I am entirely incapable
of transacting the business incident to that office, I beg

life and writings op JAMES SULLIVAN. 79
leave to acquaint you that I shall cheerfully accept of, and
studiously endeavor to qualify myself for, the honorable
and important seat assigned me. The present relaxations
of government, and the many difficulties in straightening
the reins thereof at this criticaUjuncture, would be very
discouraging, were it not for the great abilities of the hon
orable gentlemen I am to sit with. This appointment is
the reason of my begging to resign the office of judge of
the maritime court for the eastern district of this colony,
to which some time ago I had the honor of being ap
pointed." He had not yet completed his thirty-second year, and this
was certainly a flattering distinction, but one which seems
to have been justified by his acquirements, and by the good
sense and probity which constituted prominent elements in
his character. John Adams and James Warren had been also
selected for the same bench by the Council ; but Mr. Adams
had proved himself too valuable a member of the Conti
nental Congress to be spared from that more important
theatre of action, and General Warren presided over the
Assembly. The judges who formed the court with Mr.
Sullivan, were William Cushing, one of the earliest after
wards appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States
under the federal constitution, Jedediah Foster, his asso
ciate commissioner to the lakes, and Nathaniel Peaslee
Sargent, who succeeded Judge Cushing as chief justice
in 1790, when the latter was removed to the federal
court. David Sewall was added to their number in the
year 1777.
The office, if one of honor, was not unattended with
danger to the incumbent, and it was well said, at the time,
that the judges sat with halters round their necks. Had
the struggle for independence ended in disaster, and the
government, pursuing the same vindictive policy that had
marked every similar conjuncture, selected examples as a
terror to disobedient subjects, they would have been among

80 life and writings
the first to mount the scaffold. But other anxieties were
of more moment to them. They were caUed upon, in the
discharge of their judicial functions, to carry out, without
fear or favor, the stern dictates of the law ; and these often
pressed with the greatest severity upon the patriots who
had made the most generous sacrifices in the cause of lib
erty. The interruption of business, and universal distress
under the heavy taxes and high prices incident to war, had
produced embarrassment in all classes, and a general reluct
ance, and in most instances a positive inability, to meet
their obhgations. A long period had elapsed since resort
could be had to the legal tribunals, and a vast accumulation
of broken contracts and debts unpaid aggravated the
feverish disturbance of society, already sufficiently de
pressed and discouraged under its perUs and privations.
For its restoration to a more healthy condition much liti
gation was demanded, and the courts were soon actively
engaged in this task. For the satisfactory solution of the
various novel questions of grave importance growing out
of the new and perplexed condition of affairs, there was
needed, not only wisdom and experience, but much learn
ing; and it was not easy to procure even the common
books of reports and reference. Had not the Assembly
permitted the judges to purchase the few law-books be
longing to the confiscated estates of the refugee lawyers,
they would have been often compelled to rely upon
their memories, or to have created, out of their own sense
of reason and justice, the law, as they wanted it, for
the decision of their causes. If they were ever at fault,
no reports remain to betray it ; and they enjoyed the repu
tation of being able, learned and correct, in their conclu
sions. Sullivan was young, and sufficiently diffident of his
qualifications for so responsible a post to be ambitious to
improve ; and he doubtless gained, from his long associa
tion on the bench with a jurist of the great learning and
experience of Cushing, much that contributed to make his
future life eminent and honorable.

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 81
Prior to the adoption of the state constitution, in 1780,
the judges were not disqualified as members of the
General Court, or Council. Judge SuUiTan was again
returned from Biddeford, for the year 1776-7, to the
Assembly, which met at the end of May. In the recess,
when not occupied on the bench, he was busily engaged
on the Committee of War, under General Lincoln, providing
for the defence of Boston. The works at Fort HiU, on
Dorchester Heights, and Noddle's Island, were completed,
and hulks sunk in the channel to prevent ingress to the
harbor. He writes, on the seventeenth of May, 1776, to John
Adams : " By this conveyance you will have the news of
the capture of the ship Hope, with seventy-five tons of pow
der, and one thousand small arms. This is a grand acquisi
tion. We now expect to be weU provided with powder.
Nine tons were purchased last week, by this colony, at six
shillings a pound. We have one powder-miU, which makes
a thousand pounds weekly, well grained and very good.
Our works are very extensive round Boston, and a great
many men must be employed to support them. The forti
fications go on brisldy. A great deal is done ; and there is
a great deal more necessary to be done, in order to defend
this colony. But, unless Congress will now repay the
powder we lent the army, we can by no means equip our
militia, on whom it seems we have chiefly to depend.
We have received your late resolve making us a present
of the cannon left by the enemy; but, as nothing is said
about the shot, shells and carriages, General Ward is at a
loss about letting us have them. An explanation of the
resolve in this respect would do us much service.
" I should be very glad that you. would return, if the
-business of Congress wiU admit of it, by the third Tuesday
of June, as the Council has ordered the court to sit at that
time in Essex. We have met and appointed a clerk ; but,
as Judge Cushing has promised to write you on the sub-

82 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ject, I need say no more. J. Winthrop, Esq., is appointed
clerk." MeanwhUe, his brother John, after superintending the
embarcation of the continental army for New York, had
been ordered with reenforcements to the Northern Depart
ment ; and, early in June, by the death of General Thomas,
became commander-in-chief in that quarter. The large
accessions, however, under Burgoyne, to the British troops
on the St. Lawrence, discouraged on our part any further
offensive operations, and destroyed all hope, for the time,
of Canadian cooperation in the struggle for liberty. Gen
eral SuUivan gained the esteem of his subordinate officers,
many of whom were afterwards among the most distin
guished generals of the war, by his energy and good
conduct under circumstances peculiarly trying ; and their
address, upon his departure to join the central army,
expressed for him the most profound sentiments of affec
tion and respect. In August he was at the battle of Long
Island, and, after fighting for nearly three hours with a
handful of men against vastly superior numbers under
De Heister and Clinton, was slightly wounded and taken
prisoner. He was sent by Lord Howe with proposals
of concUiation to the Congress at Philadelphia, with
out other result than an ineffectual conference ; and was
soon after exchanged for General Prescott, an English
general taken in Canada.
On the twenty-second of September Judge Sullivan
writes Mr. Adams :
" You have, doubtless, had the inteUigence of our send
ing one fifth part of our militia, under the command of
General Lincoln, to reenforce General Washington. I wish
they may not be too late. We have been a long time lulled
with the story of a conference ; but are now awakened by
the loss of New York, which we apprehend to be a most
alarming stroke. It is said that the enemy may send their
largest ships up the North River, near sixty mUes ; that

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 83
General Washington has nothing to build barracks with,
and many reports of that kind ; and, what is worse than
all, that our army retired from New York in the greatest
confusion, some throM'ing away their arms. Surely, sir, if
this is the state of their minds, we have but little to hope,
and our enemies but little to fear.
" The capture of General Sullivan is the most disagreea
ble circumstance I have met with in my whole life. I am
extremely anxious about him. Had he died in battle, then
I should have done with him. The idea of his capture has
ever been disagreeable to me ; and, since I have been here,
it is reported that, though he has been to the Congress with
proposals of exchange, he is not in any probable way to be
released. Pray rob the world of one moment, and write
me plainly on this matter ; and, either by confirming or
dispelling my fears, give me a moment's rest.
" The court sat at Braintree on the second Tuesday of
September, and had the honor of dining with your lady.
At this court the privateer company of Philadelphia,
Moore, Mercer and others, had a prize tried. The opinion
of the court was for discharging a part of her ; but the
jury did not agree, and the cause is continued. I under
stand that the captors are much dissatisfied with the court.
It seems that the vessel was taken on the twelfth of May,
brought in the sixteenth of June, and libelled the twenty-sec
ond, part British, part West India, and part Spanish prop
erty; the Spanish property in money. The captors urged
that, on the day of Lexington battle, there was a war begun
between Britain and America, and that each individual in
either state had a light from that time to seize the property
of any individual of, or subject to, the other state, whereby
the property of the West Indian became liable to seizure
by Americans; that the resolve of the twenty -fourth of July,
for extending that of the twenty-fourth of April to cap
tures of West Indian property, had a retrospect, and that it
justified the taking this ship on the twelfth of May. The

84 LIFE AND WRITINGS
court were not of that opinion. Why the captors did not
withdraw their libel and make a new seizure, and declare
de novo on that, I cannot teU ; but that might have healed
the difficulty at once. I trouble you with this that the Con
gress and the Pennsylvanians may not suppose that Massa
chusetts is unwUUng to condemn prizes. But I should
wish the world to know that we wiU not pervert justice
on any account."
Eben, the younger brother of James, now twenty-three
years of age, as captain of a company raised in Berwick,
of which Nathan Lord was lieutenant, had been present at
the battle of Bunker HiU, and afterwards went with the
expedition into Canada. In May he was sent by General
Arnold from Montreal, with Major Sherburne, who had
under his command one hundred and forty men, to relieve
Major Butterfield, who, with a force of four hundred, was
in garrison at the Cedars, a small fort forty-five miles to
the south-west. The route was difficult ; and, though they
left the camp on the sixteenth, four days later they were
still nine mUes from their destination. Not learning that
Major Butterfield had surrendered the day before. Major
Sherburne started at noon on the twentieth with one hun
dred men, the rest having been left on the way ; and, after
marching five miles through the woods, they were attacked,
in open ground, without shelter, by one hundred Canadians
and four hundred Indians. After an unequal contest of
one hour and forty minutes, in which they contrived to kiU
twenty-two of the enemy, of whom one was a principal
chief of the Senecas, with the loss of twenty-eight of their
own number, they were surrounded and overpowered,
the savages running in and disarming them. They were
stripped, some of the party slain in cold blood, and the
others driven to the fort, which was now in command of a
British officer. Captain Foster. Major Sherburne and the
officers were sent to Connesedago, near the Lake of the
Two Mountains ; the privates taken to an island, where they

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 85
were kept for eight days without clothing, and exposed to
the weather. General Arnold entered into an agreement
with Foster for an equal exchange of prisoners within
two months ; and Captains SuUivan and Bliss, of Sher
burne's party, and Captains Stephens and Green, of But-
terfield's, volunteered as hostages for the faithful perform
ance of the conditions.
Eben was carried into the forests by the Indians, and
remained some time their prisoner. On one occasion,
while he was seated with them round the fire, over which
was suspended a caldron containing their dinner, one of
the Indians grossly insulted him ; whereupon, being of
quick temper, and heedless of consequences, he seized the
ladle and flung some of the hot broth over his assailant.
The savages immediately seized and pinioned him, and,
tying him to a stake, pUed about it fagots, which they were
in the act of kindling to roast him alive, when, fortunately
for their intended victim, an English officer entered their
camp. His earnest expostulations arrested their proceed
ings, and Eben was spared, as he had reason to suppose,
for an equaUy cruel death at a future day. Many weeks
passed on, during which he was subjected to various tor
tures, ingeniously devised to shake his firmness, and led
again to the stake, with the professed design, not, however,
put in execution, of giving him to the flames. Knowing
enough of Indian character and habits to realize that his
safety depended in submitting without fear or flinching to
these trials of his endurance, he bore them aU with heroic
fortitude. The compact of Foster and Arnold was not carried
out, and remained long a subject of controversy, the Eng
lish general refusing to sanction the terms agreed upon.
When Captain Sullivan obtained knowledge of this refusal
to comply with the stipulations for which he had made
himself a hostage, feeling that the conduct of the savages
towards him had been contrary to aU rules of civUized
8

86 LIFE AND WRITINGS
warfare, he concluded he was under no further obUga-
tion to remain. Watching his opportunity, , when the
Indians, on some festive occasion, after their games,
dances and carouse, had sunk at night into profound
slumber, and the two sentinels, cheated out of their vigi
lance by his pretended sleep, were taking their repose, he
glided sUently out of the camp, and made for the bank of
a neighboring river, in order to swim across to a Dutch se1>
tlement which he knew to be on the opposite shore. The
shout of his pursuers was heard as he entered the water,
and, when near the middle of the stream, the plash of their
dog, a large and ferocious animal, as it entered the river.
He turned, and, as the dog approached, managed with one
hand, while he supported himself with the other, to press
its head beneath the surface, and, having drowned it, to
efi'ect his escape. Some days later, fearing that, having
volunteered as a hostage, his honor might be implicated
by his flight, he surrendered himself to a British officer,
and was taken to Montreal. It was many months before
his exchange could be effected, so as to admit of his
resuming active service, much to his chagtia, as shown
by various letters of his in print. We find him, however,
in 1778, aid of his brother, the general, in the Rhode Island
campaign. No apology seems needed for this long digression from
our immediate subject. Judge SuUivan was affectionately
attached to his brothers, and his solicitude that they should
acquit themselves honorably in the contest, and his lively
interest in the various vicissitudes which befell them in
its course, is abundantly manifest by what little remains of
his correspondence at this period. Their services and suf
ferings undoubtedly served in some measure to increase
his own hold upon the esteem and affection of his country
men. When the house met, on the nineteenth of July, the
first time for two years, at Boston, he was appointed to

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 87
prepare rules and orders for its goTernment, and also to
report what standing committees it was advisable to nom
inate. He was not long in attendance before his other
duties called him elsewhere. He was present again in the
autumn, and was caUed upon in committee to deliberate
upon the condition of the state, and of its treasury.
On the fifth of September it was ordered that Sullivan,
Hawley, Palmer, Jackson and Angier, should be a commit
tee to prepare an address to the honorable Continental
Congress, signifying the approbation of this colony of their
declaring the colonies independent states, and the readi
ness of this colony to support them therein; and to request
them to form a confederation, and to delineate the powers
necessary to be held by that honorable assembly. Sulli
van was further called upon to draft an address to the
people upon the true state of affairs, and another to the
officers and soldiers of Massachusetts in the army, that
they might become more contented and zealous in the ser
vice. He was also charged with the supervision of our
maritime laws, the preparation of a bill for the punishment
of traitors, and in November was on a committee to pro
cure reenforcements for the army.
His selection to draft four important papers for general
perusal, within as many weeks, is a flattering proof of the
estimate entertained of his success in this species of com
position. The warmth and force of his expressions were
well suited to the crisis. No response has been found to
the Declaration of Independence. It may have been con
cluded unadvisable or superfluous; or, possibly, when it
was known none were intended by other states, thought
best to be omitted. The address to the soldiers in the
army, and that to the people, to be read at stated times
from the pulpits of Massachusetts, were prepared. The
latter, adopted by the General Court the twenty-sixth of
January, 1777, is given below as a specimen of one method
to which resort was then had to preserve the public

88 LIFE AND WRITINGS
pulse at the right beat. It is taken from his own draft,
which was amended in some few expressions, though not,
with aU deference to the fathers of the republic, in aU
instances improved. These addresses, when reported to
the Assembly, were subjected to rigid criticism, and the
corrections., being made at the suggestion of various minds,
did not always harmonize with the original text. The
address to the army is equally spirited, and will be found
in another place.
"Friends and Countrymen: When a people, within
reach of the highest temporal happiness of which human
nature is capable, are in danger of having it wrested from
them by an enemy whose paths are marked with blood ;
and an insupportable load of misery, which succeeding
generations must bear through painful centuries of time, is
offered instead of it ; to rouse the brave, incite the gener
ous, quicken the slow, and awaken all to a sense of their
danger, is a measure as friendly as it is important.
" The danger of having your towns, your families, your
fruitful fields, and all the riches and blessings derived from
the industry and wisdom of your venerable ancestors, who
may justly be ranked among the most virtuous and brave
men that the world ever produced, ravished from you, and
possessed by a banditti whom no laws can control, and
whose aim is to trample upon all the rights of humanity,
would be sufficient to give the coward courage, and ani
mate to the greatest feats in arms the most supine and
indolent. Surely, then, while America, the asylum of hap
piness and freedom, is infested with a foe whose sole aim
is to rifle her sons of every enjoyment that can render life
desirable, you will be ready in arms to defend your coun
try, your liberty, your wives, your chUdren and posses
sions, from rapine, abuse, and destruction.
" For this grand and noble purpose, so worthy of the
virtuous and brave, and we humbly trust so pleasing to
Almighty God, you have by your delegates assembled in

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 89
council for several years past ; for this, in April, 1775, you
arrayed yourselves in arms, defeated and put to flight that
band of Britons, who, uninjured and unoffended, like rob
bers and murderers, dared to assault your peaceful man
sions ; and for this we trust you wUl be at aU times ready
to spend your blood and treasure.
" In addressing you upon the important subject of your
own defence, should we attempt a narration of the causes
of your danger, the many petitions you have presented,
praying but for peace, liberty and safety, and to avoid the
necessity of shedding the blood of your fellow-men, and
the unexampled indignity and contempt with which those
petitions were treated, it would be undeservedly to im
peach you of inattention to your own safety.
"Let it suffice, then, to say that, when every other
method taken by you was productive of nothing but
insults ; and that flames in your houses, murders on your
persons, and robberies upon your property, were returned
in answer to your peaceable, humble and dutiful petitions ;
when the force of Britain, with that of her allies, was col
lected and drawn into exertion, to reduce you from ease
and affluence to slavery. and vassalage; the Congress of
the United States, despairing otherwise to establish your
safety upon principles which would render it durable,
made that Declaration by which you become independent
of Great Britain, and in which character alone you can be
secure and happy.
" But, as the increasing power and opulence of the
United States are now the dread and envy of those whose
avaricious and ambitious minds had laid a plan for the
monopoly and enjoyment of them, a large army is necessary
for your defence ; and the Congress have therefore deter
mined upon eighty-eight battalions, of which fifteen are to
be raised by this state. The militia, who have been
marched to aid the army under the conduct of that man
whose fortitude, virtue and patience, is perhaps without
8*

90 LIFE AND WRITINGS
example, and who hourly, without any reward but the
approbation of his own mind, is risking his aU in your
cause, will soon be on their return. The enemy, angry at
the chastisement justly given them for their unprovoked
cruelties to our brethren in the Jerseys, are watching an
opportunity to return the blow.
" A further draft from the militia would so much burden
the people of this state, that this court cannot think of it
without pain and anxiety. We have, therefore, being sen
sible that you need no other stimulus to your duty than
having the line of it drawn for you, directed that a number
of men, amounting to one seventh part of all the male
persons of sixteen and upwards, should be immediately
engaged in the continental army, upon the encouragement
given by government. This encouragement we conceive
-to be greater than any ever yet given, even to the greatest
mercenaries. Surely, then, a people caUed to fight, not
to support crowns and principalities, but for their own
freedom and happiness, will readily engage.
" That the encouragement given might fully answer the
designs of government, and the expectation of the soldiery,
this court have settled the price of every necessary and
convenient article of life produced in this country, and
also the price of foreign goods in a just proportion to their
price in the place from which they are imported, consider
ing the risk of importation. And nothing is now wanting,
to give value to the soldiers' wages and stability to our
currency, but the vigorous and punctual execution and
observance of that act, which we hope to see speedily
effected by the pubUc virtue and zeal of this people in the
cause of their country.
" But, lest some of you should be deceived by the mis
representations of designing men, we must remind you
that all the pretensions to peace and reconcUiation, so
pompously dealt out in the insidious proclamations of the
commissioners of the king of Great Britain, amount to

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 91
nothing more than an invitation to give up your country,
and submit unconditionally to the government of the Brit
ish Parliament. They tell you that their king is graciously
disposed to revise all acts which he shall deem incompati
ble with your safety. But your good sense will lead you
to determine, that, if he is a prince worthy to reign over a
free people, and a friend to the rights of mankind, he
would long ago have determined as to the justice of those
acts, and must have seen them founded on despotism, and
replete with slavery. But they do not tell you that their
sovereign has the least intention to repeal any one of those
acts. Surely, then, a revision of them can never restore
your freedom, or in the least alleviate your burdens.
" But these commissioners, although they offer them
selves as the ambassadors of peace, and invite you to what
they call the mild and. gentle government of Britain, mark
their footsteps with blood, rapine, and the most unexampled
barbarities, distributing their dreadful and savage severity
as well to the submissive as the obstinate ; while neither
rank, sex or age exempts any from the effects of their
brutal passions.
" Should America be overcome by, or submit to, Britain,
the needy and almost perishing tenant in Ireland, disarmed
and having but little property in the production of his toil
and labor, selling the bread for which his tender infants are
suffering, to pay the haughty landlord's rent or insulting
collector's tax, would be but a faint resemblance of your
calamity. " Society, where no man is bound by other laws than
those to which he gives his own consent, is the greatest
ornament, and tends most of all things to the felicity of
human nature, and is a privilege which can never be
given up by a people, without their being exceedingly
guilty before Him, who is the bestower of every good and
perfect gift.
"We,therefore,for the sake of that reUgion, for the enjoy-

92 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ment whereof your ancestors fled to this country, for the
sake of your laws and future felicity, entreat and urge you
to act vigorously and firmly in this critical situation of
your country. And we doubt not but that your noble
exertions, under the smiles of Heaven, wiU insure you
that success and freedom due to the wise man and the
patriot. " Above aU, we earnestly exhort you to contribute aU
within your power to the encouragement of those virtues
for which the Supreme Being has declared that he wiU
bestow his blessings upon a nation ; and to the discourage
ment of those vices for which he overturns kingdoms in
his wrath ; and that, at all proper times and seasons, you
seek to him by prayer and supplication for deliverance
from the calamities of war, duly considering that, with
out his powerful aid and gracious interposition, all your
endeavors must prove abortive and vain."
His most usual associate in the preparation of these
papers was Major Hawley, who had early appreciated the
character of Sullivan, and received him into his confidence.
Belonging to the same profession, they were constantly
together on committees, and in consulta,tion where changes
were to be made in our system of jurisprudence. Twenty
years his senior, the earnest enthusiasm and devotional
spirit of the veteran patriot exerted a powerful influence
over the opinions and sentiments of his more youthful com
panion. Few names connected with the Revolution stand
out in bolder or brighter relief than that of Joseph Hawley.
From the commencement of the disputes, in 1763, he was
the leading representative in the Legislature from the west
ern part of the province ; and, by the animation and sound
sense of his writings, and profound acquaintance, not only
with the learning of his own profession, but with the stand
ard authors on government and political ethics, took a
prominent position in the noble phalanx engaged in support.
of colonial rights. But the great element of his strength

OF JAMES SULLITAN, 93
was in his genius as an orator. Not even the fiery ardor
of James Otis, nor the clear but fervid reasoning of Samuel
Adams, had more general sway over the Assembly. Grave
even to sadness by nature as well as from a consciousness
of the coming conflict, which his penetration was the earli
est to foresee, his uncompromising feariessness and un
daunted bearing inspired courage in the rest. For his
bold vindication of popular rights his name was struck
from the rolls of his profession; but this, which was
designed to intimidate, merely served to render more in
tense his detestation of arbitrary power. His stern denun
ciations of the measures of the Parliament, in language
which, though unstudied, had all the effect of the loftiest
eloquence, aroused, even in the bosoms of the cold and the
calculating, a determination to sacriflce every feeling of
self upon the altar of liberty.
If Patrick Henry was an illustrious example of the
generous and chivalric spirit of Virginia, Hawley no less
embodied in his character, as an orator, all that was noble
and elevated in that of the Puritans. His religious senti
ments had been formed under the pastoral guidance of his
relative, Jonathan Edwards, the popular saint of New Eng
land, who united the greatest intellectual vigor of his own
age, or perhaps of any other, in his particular walk, with
the devotional fervor and self-humiliation of the most faith
ful follower of Christianity. Profoundly imbued with the
austere tenets of Calvinism, a deep sense of religious
responsibility followed Hawley into the discharge of his
public duties, and impressed upon his eloquence a charac
ter of subdued earnestness somewhat akin to that of the
ancient Covenanters, and which was well calculated to
find ready access to the hearts and judgments of his coun
trymen. While living up to the requirements of the faith he pro
fessed, he was contented to adopt the severity of its exac
tions as a standard for his own conduct. To others he

94 LIFE AND WRITINGS
was generous and indulgent. Frugal even to asceticism
in his personal habits, he was social, charitable, and given
to hospitality. In circumstances exceedingly moderate,
he wished not for wealth ; and the most able advocate of
the western counties, and constantly engaged in impor
tant causes, he was often reproached by his professional
brethren for his reluctance to be recompensed, and for the
inadequate price he placed upon his labors.- When the
great object for which he had contended appeared in the
full tide of success, he turned away from the worldly honors
he was entitled to share, and devoted the rest of his days
to religious duties and preparation for another world. The
natural depression of his spirits deepened at times into a
gloomy melancholy ; but, if this clouded the cheerfulness
of his existence here, it perhaps the better fitted him for
that beyond the tomb.*
Whenever Sullivan attended the courts at Northampton
he was the guest of Hawley. And it seems reasonable t6
believe that for much of the profound religious sentiment
which characterized him through life he may have been
indebted to the example and influence of a friend whom he
so greatly revered and loved. The foUowing letter, which
he wrote from Boston on the nineteenth of February, 1777,
* Stoddard, the grandfather and predecessor of Edwards, at Northampton,
had encouraged all his parishioners, whether serious and consistent believers
of Christianity or not, to partake of the communion. By his influence this,
though strenuously opposed by Increase Mather and others, was adopted very
generally among the churches in Hampshire, and in other parts of New Eng
land. Edwards disapproved of this doctrine, and thought that only real Chris
tians should go to the altar. This created a ferment in the parish, whose
friendly feelings he had already alienated by his earnest efforts to correct their
irregularities. After he had been twenty-four years settled as their minister,
he was removed by council. Hawley took an active part in ilie removal, but
ever after felt compunction for his conduct ; and, ten years later, in his letter
of May 9th, 1760, to Rev. Mr. Hall, of Sutton, expressed his profound grief for
the wrong he had inflicted on one who had been friendly to him from child
hood, and to whose instructions he was indebted for so much that was excel
lent in his own character.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 95
to his friend, then at his home at Northampton, remains
among the Hawley papers :
" It gives me the greatest uneasiness to hear that your
old disorder has so far returned, as to prevent your giving
assistance to your country at this critical moment. As the
ensuing summer wiU open with the full-blown blossoms of
American freedom, and, perhaps, by autumn these blooms
will be ripened into delicious and permanent fruit, I should
think it but just that you should enjoy among your old
friends a full share of its flavor, and, therefore, hope soon
to see you with your usual flow of spirits.
" The state of our affairs is at present promising, not so
much from our late successes in the Jerseys as from ap
pearances in Europe. Dr. Franklin has arrived out safely.
A war with France is inevitable. Tufton, in the Tyranni
cide, has arrived, and I have this day seen him. He took
a brig, the captain of which left London on the fourth
of November. He says the court of Britain ordered their
minister at the court of France to demand the dismissal of
Mr. Deane, and, if France refused, then to take his leave
without the usual ceremonies. The court of France abso
lutely refused to dismiss Deane, and the British ambassa
dor had come off. The king's speech, you will see, indicates
a war, and the tories as well as whigs expect it. The
American cruisers carry their prizes into any part of the
dominions of Prance, and sell them there.
" We have procured, and this day received in town, a
return of the enemy in Howe's army. There are but thir
teen thousand men. The people appear to be everywhere
in fine spirits, and I think our affairs never looked so prom
ising before. Judge Tudor writes that General Heath
has leave to return. I have nothing more to communicate
but my ardent wish that you would come down where you
might have the benefit of the sea-air, and the cheerful con
verse of your friends."
The claims of his judicial duties upon his time increasing.

96 LIFE AND WRITINGS
SuUivan did not suffer himself to be returned to the Legis
lature for the year 1777-8. In June that body appointed
a joint committee of the house and council to prepare a
constitution, which was reported in January, 1778 ; but,
when submitted to the people, it was rejected by a large
vote. It contained the objectionable feature, which he dis
approved, a property qualification for electors, as did also
that adopted two years later. The restrictions upon the per
fect equality of the elective franchise were abandoned only
in 1820. On the twenty-fourth of March, 1777, he writes
from Biddeford to James Warren, speaker of the house :
" I am very uneasy since I heard that you were upon a
plan of a new constitution. I dread the controversy about
the qualifications of electors, and am apprehensive that,
whenever it is determined, let it be in favor of the men of
estate, or to give all an equal vote, one party or the other
wiU be disaffected, if not lost. And this is surely no time
to make divisions among ourselves."
In the same letter he says : " I enclose you an act relat
ing to tory estates, that was committed to me. I have
many objections to the plan of it. I see no provision that
the rents and profits of such estates shall be to the use of
the public ; and the whole seems rather a provision to take
care of the estates for other persons, and not for the gov
ernment. I also enclose you a paper containing a rough
draft that I apprehended to be in some sort better. If the
house, upon considering it, should adopt a plan of that kind,
it would be, of good service. I have made no provision
for famiUes left, and am at a loss to know why the personal
estate should be more exempt from paying the debt now
than if the absconder were at home. However, a provision
of that kind may be drawn."
The preparation of the various biUs/or proscribing refu
gees, and others inimical to the cause of liberty, as likewise
for the sequestration of their estates, had, from the com
mencement of the struggle, been devolved upon him by

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 97
the Legislature. On all suitable occasions he advocated the
payment of the debts of the refugees out of the confiscated
property. The impartial application of these statutes to
all who came within their provisions, and his fearless dis
regard of the resentment of the powerful, who would have
shielded their relatives and friends from the equal opera
tion of the law, are entitled to high commendation. '
The right of confiscating property for political opinions,
an arbitrary power only to be justified in extreme cases,
and upon the principle of self-preservation, was exercised
by the people of Massachusetts during the Revolution with
great moderation. While necessity required that the loy
alists, engaged in subverting the established and generally
recognized government, should be treated as traitors, and
deprived of the means and power of being dangerous,
there was a generous toleration of all who kept neutral,
and gave no aid or encouragement to the enemy. The
refugees and tories were among the wealthiest men in the
province. Their property consisted largely of lands and
estates in the more densely peopled districts, which could
have been easily appropriated to the necessities of the gov
ernment, and commanded even in times of embarrassment a
ready sale. The number of these estates restored to pro
prietors, who returned during the war, or afterwards, and
took the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth, and the
small amount, less than one hundred and twenty thousand
pounds, which formed the total of credits, down to 1795,
passed to this account in the great ledger of the state,
should ever be remembered to the praise of the patriot
leaders, who never permitted their resentment to impair
their sense of justice. Out of this amount, smaU as it is,
large deductions of nearly one half are to be made, inas
much as the debts of the refugees were paid out of the
proceeds of their property. Had the contest resulted in
favor of Great Britain, and her poUcy been as unforgiving
and relentless as at previous periods of her history, a much
9

98 LIFE AND WRITINGS
less merciful spirit would have been manifested to her
rebeUious subjects. Indeed, it was at one time proposed
in her Pariiament that the war should be made to sup
port itself by forced contributions whenever opportunity
offered. There was no reason whatever to beheve that, in
case the rebeUion should be put down by superior force,
the moi-e prominent actors in the drama, if spared the
extreme penalty of the law, would have escaped the confis
cation of their property.
In an estimate of the character of the leaders of the
Revolution, every candid mind is forced to the faith that
neither selfish greed nor personal ambition mingled to any
extent with the purity of their patriotism. No one, under
the infiuence of ungenerous motives, would have embraced
a cause where defeat was proscription and death, and where
all the rewards to be anticipated from victory could be but
the gratification of beholding his country happy in the
possession of her rights, and the grateful sense of having
been useful in her hour of need. The chances were greatly
against success; and, during the earlier periods of the strug
gle, there was much reason to believe that, even though
the contest might end eventually in independence, that
great object could never be achieved without years of
bloodshed and impoverishment. This was sufficiently dis
heartening. In the troop of calamities that desolate a
country under the scourge of civil war, few are so for
tunate as to escape participation. We will not speak of
the soldier without his pay, barefooted, and in rags,
exposed to the scorching sun, or to intense suffering from
starvation and the winter's cold, nor dwell upon the afflic
tions brought home to every household by frequent deaths
in battle or disease. These are- inseparable concomitants
of war. But, among its many minor evUs, sensibly felt in
our Revolution, were others less appalling, which still
pressed with great severity upon aU classes of our pa
triots. Heavy taxes were constantly assessed, levies and

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 99
distraints disturbed the tranquillity of nearly every house
hold. Privations were easily borne ; frugality, when habit
ual, has little hardship ; but the long separation of the
husband and father from his home, the apprehensions and
anxieties for the safety of wife and children exposed to
injury and aggression, must have mingled largely in their
trials. The members of the Congress, and of the various
assemblies, which were together the greater part of the
year, the officers and soldiers in the army, and many of the
leaders in diplomatic service abroad, were necessarily com
pelled to forego the pleasures of domestic life, and make
their duties to their families secondary to their obligations
to the state.
Fully alive to the importance of the crisis. Judge Sulli
van permitted no private considerations to interfere with
the claims of his country. For two years h$ had been
almost incessantly engaged away from home, and it was
naturally a source of great satisfaction for one affectionate
in disposition, and warmly attached to his family, to be
with them again in 1777, though but at short intervals.
There was everything to make that home a happy one.
His wife was a woman of great amiability of character, and
superior intelligence ; and he had now four children, be
tween the ages of eight and infancy, requiring his care.
His house was beautifully situated near the falls of the
Saco, and there was much in its neighborhood to interest
one so devoted to the pleasures of the country. He had
been always fond of sporting ; and a gentleman still sur
vives at Biddeford, who remembers having been, that sum
mer, now more than eighty years ago, his companion on a
fishing excursion, when they brought back at night a full
basket of trout.
He was much beloved by the people of the place, who
again chose him one of their Committee of Safety; and,
he, in return, was energetic in keeping alive their patriotic
spirit. Much of the ready zeal they manifested was due to

100 LIFE AND WRITINGS
his exertions, and the great influence he exercised. "A
large proportion of the inhabitants," says the historian of
Saco and Biddeford, " were occasionally in the service of
the country during the war. Demands of men and pro
visions were constantly occurring ; and it is believed that
no town in that section of the commonwealth contributed
more liberally to the wants of the army in both particu
lars. A profound respect was ever entertained there for
the character and talents of James Sullivan, from the
period of his first settlement among them as a young
attorney. He was himself ready to acknowledge, at a
later date, when holding a high and enviable rank among
his cotemporaries, the obligations which their favors had
imposed upon him. ' I have a grateful remembrance,' he
says, in a letter to his friend. Colonel Tristram Jordan, ' of
the marks of confidence, and the acts of kindness done
me by the people on your river ; and, whenever I can
reciprocate their kindness, I shall cheerfully do so.' "
He was again in Boston in September, and writes to his
brother John: "I have just heard of your descent on
Staten Island, and am glad to hear you have returned in
safety. Your good lady and family are weU. I have heard
transiently that you are in an iU state of health ; but that,
by a strict regimen, you are mending.
" I enclose you two or three papers. There is not much
in them, but they may serve as a moment's amusement.
A ship arrived yesterday with twelve thousand and nine
hundred bushels of salt, and other goods, taken by the
Tyrannicide, a Massachusetts brig. Several of our pubHc
vessels have arrived, within this day or two, from France and
Spain, with clothing, tents and arms; one with ten thousand
pounds sterling in value of Dutch cordage. The stores
imported by the Massachusetts board of war are immense.
The ship, first mentioned, had papers as late as the sixth of
June. They are now before me, but not within my power
to send. Lord North assured the house that the army in

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 101
America had succeeded well, several provinces being re
duced to their allegiance, and many others ready to submit.
These falsehoods, written home by officers and tories, are
really surprising. They have not the least doubt that we are
already conquered. The Earl of Chatham, on the twenty-
ninth of May, made a motion for a petition to his majesty
to settle the American dispute ; but it was made in such
a manner that unless we would accede to their proposals
they were ruined. This was rejected by a large majority.
" The enclosed strictures were written before St. Clair
was arrested, and were intended for the press ; but, upon
the determination to try the officers, the matter has sub
sided. You will take them as they are, and I wish there
was no foundation for them. We are at a loss to know or
determine what is truth respecting Ticonderoga. Schuy
ler's letter to the New York Convention says that St. Clair
had five thousand men, in health, well armed and clothed,
and with plenty of provisions. To Congress he writes
that the army was naked and unarmed. Officers differ in
their accounts, and all is doubt and uncertainty.
" You know, when you armed the New Hampshire troops,
that four thousand stand of arms complete went from Massa
chusetts, with clothing, frocks and other necessaries. Our
Council are preparing a state of our supplies to lay before
Congress, whereby it will appear to demonstration that
the northern generals have much abused us."
This was an eventful year to General Sullivan. After
the capture of General Lee, in the preceding autumn, he
had led the troops, which had been under Lee's command,
to join General Washington, and, on Christmas night,
passed with him the Delaware, and in command of the
right wing fought the battle of Trenton. He distinguished
himself at Princeton, and, during the remainder of the
winter, had been constantly on the move in advance of
the entrenchments at Morristown, preventing the marauds
of the enemy, and keeping them, though ten times his num-
9*

102 LIFE AND WRITINGS OP JAMES SULLIVAN.
ber, within their lines. He subsequently made a descent
on Staten Island, with quite success enough to justify his
having undertaken it, and commanded the right wing
at the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown, having
been in both battles in the position of greatest responsi
bility. The two brothers, no doubt, constantly corre
sponded, but very few of their letters remain. This is
much to be regretted ; for, from the confidential character
of their communications, much interesting historical infor
mation might have been gleaned.

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE BENCH.

With the hope of being enabled, in the intervals of his
judicial duties, to be more with his family if in a central
position, and in the belief that they would be in greater
security, during his absence, further from the seaboard, in
February, 1778, Judge Sullivan sold his house at Biddeford
to Joseph Morrill, and removed in the spring to Groton, in
the county of Middlesex. He purchased the farm, in that
town, well known as the Lewis Place. It was pleasantly
situated, and the house, which still remains, stands on an
elevation commanding the view of a most agreeable variety
of fertile fields and sunny slopes. He was now much more
frequently at home, endeavoring, whenever his engage
ments permitted, to pass the Sundays with his family. By
nature cheerful and affectionate, his visits were seasons
of great satisfaction to his children, who long remembered,
and often spoke of, the enjoyments he contrived for them.
His friends among the distinguished men of the day, his
associates on the bench or in other branches of the public
service, were often his companions in these periods of
relaxation. The towns of Biddeford and PeppereUborough, flow
Saco, were not prevented, by this change of abode, from
returning him as their delegate to the Assembly for the
year 1778-9. In June he was appointed, with Colonel
Prescott, to consider what public business the house should

104 life and writings
act upon during its session. He was chairman of a com
mittee to report as to the proper disposition of prisoners
detained in the jaU at Northampton on the charge of high
treason; and upon others, for raising eighteen hundred
men, for clothing the regiments, on absentee estates, upon
a resolution of Congress for the granting of pardons, and
for the latter purpose was employed to draft the biU,
In August he was with his brother, then commanding on
Rhode Island, and exposed to the heavy storm which so
greatly interfered with their operations, and which con
tributed, with the untimely departure of the French fleet,
to the disappointment of the expectation generally indulged
that the British would be driven from Newport and the
island. In consequence of this exposure he was attacked
with an inflammation of the lungs, which for a time threat
ened to undermine his constitution.
About this same period, while in attendance on the Gen
eral Court, he was seized with that dangerous and very
disagreeable disorder, the small-pox. Among the different
problems science fails to explain to us are the laws which
govern the pestilence. Both the animal and vegetable
kingdoms are subject to peculiar diseases, which come no
one can tell why, and disappear apparently with as little
reason. The plague, the cholera, and other kindred dis
tempers, at different periods, and in various climes, have
swept from the earth miUions of human victims, and, after
running their course, have become much mitigated in their
virulence, or for the most part disappeared. It is impossi
ble for us, protected as we are now by vaccination, to
realize how much preceding generations were caUed upon
to suffer from that most destructive of maladies with which
SuUivan was now afflicted. Certainly no one can under
stand the history of our revolutionary period without
taking this into the account. The evil was lessened by
inoculation; but at Chamblee, in 1776, and at Valley
Forge, in 1779, whole regiments were utterly prostrated

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 105
beneath this frightful malady. It was not confined to the
camp, but the towns and viUages throughout the country
were visited, and often desolated, by this scourge.
The Legislature of Massachusetts at times adjourned,
and at others removed, at its approach. Upon his seizure
Judge Sullivan was kindly cared for by the Rev. Mr. Cooke,
of West Cambridge. This good clergyman took him home
to his house, near Menotomy pond, and, under good nurs
ing, the disease was finaUy conquered. This generous act
of kindness resulted in a most friendly intimacy, and, when
Mr. Cooke died. Judge Sullivan administered upon his
estate, and through life watched over the welfare of his
family. A maiden daughter lived to an advanced age in
the house at Menotomy ; and here, for half a century after
wards, the descendants of James Sullivan, and many other
families of Boston, were accustomed to resort in sickness
or sorrow, to be under the ministrations of this excellent
woman, widely known as Aunt Cooke. Her quiet, unob
trusive virtues and active benevolence have left many a
grateful memory in the minds of persons still living, and
earned an approval in heaven more valuable than any
earthly commemoration.
In January, 1779, he was again in attendance on the
Assembly; and the constant recurrence of his name on the
journal for the two months following would render tedious
any attempt to follow the course of his labors. It may be
permitted to enumerate some of the more interesting sub
jects confided to his care. He was charged with the
preparation of bills for the punishment of traitors, for the
suppression of gambling and theatres, to prevent forestall
ing, and to protect ship-timber. He was appointed to pro
cure Governor Hutchinson's letters and papers, and deposit
them in the office of the secretary ; and also the books and
papers belonging to the probate-office for Suffolk, which
Foster Hutchinson, late judge of that court, had carried
away to Halifax. He was employed, with WiUiam Sever,

106 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Artemas Ward, Robert T. Paine, John Lowell, and Nathan
iel Gorham, on a committee upon the petition of De Val-
nais, and to address a letter to the Continental Congress
upon that subject; and also, with Judge Dawes, to confer
with General Gates, then commanding at Boston, on the
proposed expedition to Canada.
During the autumn. Judge SuUivan was called upon to
take part in a new sphere of action, having been chosen by
the town of Groton its representative in the convention
for framing a state constitution.
The nations of the Old World rarely had any voice in
the formation of their respective frames of government.
Their organic laws, where recognized, had been the growth
of time and circumstance, owing their chief sanction to
prescription and immemorial submission. Chartered rights
were but little known, and had either been conceded by
the good sense and clemency of monarchs, or wrung from
their tyranny by subjects when endurance ceased to be
possible. Here in America, in casting off allegiance to the
mother country, the people, in the broadest sense of the
term, for the first time were called upon to reorganize
society from its original elements, and fortunately were
most favorably circumstanced for the wise exercise of this
privilege. New Hampshire and South Carolina had already changed
their forms of government, when, upon the recommenda
tion of the Congress at Philadelphia, in May, 1776, that
" the exercise of every kind of authority under the crown
should be suppressed," all the other states but Massachu
setts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, adopted new consti
tutions. In Massachusetts, the General Court of 1777 —
notice having been given at a previous session that suita
ble persons for the purpose should be returned — had
framed a constitution ; but this, as already stated, when
submitted to the popular vote, met but Httle favor ; five

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 107
sixths of the twelve thousand votes cast being thrown
against its adoption.
Still, constantly realizing the inadequacy of the old char
ter system, especially now that it was bereft of its chief
magistrate, to the exigencies of the times, the Legislature,
not discouraged by its previous unsuccessful effort, after
being first duly empowered by their constituents, called a
convention, to meet at Cambridge on the first day of Sep
tember. The convention chose James Bowdoin for their
president; and the courts being adjourned, in order to
permit the attendance of the members of the bench and
bar who were delegates, Judge SuUivan was constantly
present, and took a prominent part in the proceedings.
He was one of the committee of five charged with the
preparation of the rules for the government of the conven
tion ; and also one of the principal committee to draft the
bill of rights and constitution. In order that sufficient
time might be given to the great committee to prepare
their report, after a few days devoted to organization and
preliminary discussions, the convention adjourned to the
twenty-eighth of October. The committee met at Boston,
and appointed James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, and John
Adams, as the sub-committee to draw up the plan of a
constitution, and afterwards John Adams alone to prepare
a bill of rights.
Mr. Adams, who had returned from Europe shortly be
fore the meeting of the convention, and who sailed again
on his return thither, as minister to France, on the thir
teenth of November, prepared the first draft of both instru
ments. More than any other man in America he had
devoted himself to the study of the different theories of
government. His early writings had done much to shape
public opinion ; and he was naturally regarded as the most
safe and efficient leader in this important labor. While
always loyal to Hberty, and never hesitating in his faith in
republican government as the best, though that best must

108 LIFE AND WRITINGS
in some respects be imperfect, his principal aim was to
constitute a government of laws, not of men ; and, making
the duly expressed popular wiU the rule of what should be
deemed wise or expedient, various checks and restraints
were introduced into his plan to guard against the natural
infirmities to which that wiU is subject in its periods of
excitement. As nine of the other states had already anticipated us,
and, after much deliberation, framed their constitutions,
our convention had the benefit of their experience ; and
certainly not one of these has better stood the test of
experiment than that of Massachusetts. The original drafts
of Mr. Adams were amended, both in the committee and
convention, and several amendments have been since made
by the people ; but still, in all its leading features and
principles, the constitution is substantially the same, after
fourscore years, as when originally planned ; and two con
ventions, called for the purpose at different periods, have
endeavored in vain to materially improve it. It served
later as a guide and model in the construction of that great
instrument on which the liberties of the world for many
future centuries must be so greatly dependent, our federal
constitution. What share the different members of the committee, or
of the convention, had in making the changes adopted,
cannot be accurately known. Judge Sullivan was on vari
ous committees to which portions of the instrument were
submitted for amendment. He M^as on that charged with
organizing the CouncU ; alone upon that providing for the
fiUing of vacancies ; on another upon the qualifications of
citizens ; chairman of those upon the appointment of officers
in the mUitia, and to prepare an address to the people,
which address was the joint work of himself and Samuel
Adams. He was also called upon to draw several resolves
connected with the business of the convention; was on
other important committees, and on that entrusted with

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 109
the final revision and arrangement. The constitution was
adopted, and went into operation in October, 1780 ; John
Hancock having been chosen the first governor, and
Thomas Cushing, James Bowdoin having declined, the
first lieutenant-governor.
In the same year the Academy of Arts and Sciences,
which had been suggested by John Adams a few years ear
lier, was, through the great influence and active exertions
of Mr. Bowdoin, who was its first president, organized and
incorporated. It consisted of about fifty members, se
lected from those in the commonwealth most distinguished
for literature and science ; and Mr. Sullivan had the honor
of being among the number mentioned in the act of incor
poration. He had little time for scientific research, but,
during his connection with the society, which continued
during a period of twenty-eight years, up to the time of
his decease, he was repeatedly enabled to render valuable
aid to its objects.
Soon after Hancock assumed the reins of government
General SuUivan, who had been long on terms of friendly
intercourse with him, wrote from Philadelphia his congrat
ulations upon the result of the election. In the frankness
of familiar correspondence, he expressed some surprise that
the rival candidate, Mr. Bowdoin, who had been apparently
lukewarm during the most critical period of the contest,
should have received so large a vote. As frequently hap
pened in the then disturbed state of the country, the mail
was captured and carried into New York. To sow dissen
sion among the rebels, Rivington published the letter in
his Gazette, and, through the instrumentality of a friend of
Mr. Bowdoin, it was republished in a Boston paper, and
led to a warm controversy. Judge Sullivan, over the sig
nature of " Theodorus," while utterly discountenancing his
brother's imputation upon Bowdoin, as advanced upon
imperfect knowledge, defended the propriety of the ex
pressions used, maintaining that they gave no just grounds
10

110 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of offence, and were fully justified by the freedom permit
ted in what was intended to be strictly private. He was
somewhat severe upon the Ul-nature of " Aristides," who
had given the letter unnecessary currency.
A coolness had long existed between Hancock and
Adams, the latter of whom was now, in 1781, chosen presi
dent of the Senate. Mr. Adams entertained ideas some
what Utopian upon the purity of life and simplicity of
manners becoming a young republic ; and a series of arti
cles, in which were inculcated his favorite virtues, and
signed " Consistent Republican," was attributed to his
pen. One of them reflected upon the lavish hospitality and
profuse expenditure of Hancock; and in others he was
reproached with distributing commissions of the peace
too freely, in order to gain popularity. Judge Sullivan, as
" Honest Republican," and over other signatures, defended
the governor, on the ground that social entertainments
were praiseworthy where consistent with the means of
the host, and at that time, when people were anxious and
depressed, important to the public cheerfulness. Strangers
were constantly in town, to whom it was appropriate
that civUities should be extended ; and among these often
were French officers, who, as aUies engaged in fighting
our battles, had especial claim to the courtesies of the
chief magistrate. He even ventured the opinion that
dancing, within reasonable limits, was an innocent diver
sion, and not to be discouraged. He expressed great
regret that any estrangement had grown up between the
two patriots. And as a few months later they were par
tially if not completely reconcUed, and cooperating for
public objects with himself, under the designation, apphed
to them by their opponents, of the triumvirate, it is not
improbable that SuUivan may have contributed to bring
about a renewal of their ancient friendship. His rela
tions with both became exceedingly intimate and confi
dential, and continued uninterrupted while they hved.

OF JAMES SULLITAN. Ill
Their political views were alike democratic far beyond
what was considered judicious and safe by the more con
servative, who generally raUied round Mr. Bowdoin. There
seems room for conjecture that the subsequent party lines
in the state owed their direction in some measure to par
tialities and jealousies, not so much of the chiefs as of their
respective friends, growing out of the controversies of
this early period.
Judge Sullivan was too earnestly interested in the work
ing of our new institutions not to take an active part in
the political movements of the day, and his pen was kept
busily employed in contributing to the public prints.
From periods long antecedent to the Revolution, if not
from its earliest establishment in America, and on far into
the present centurj^, the newspaper press owed its chief
support to volunteers. Like knights at ancient tourna
ments, contributors adopted devices by which they could
be readily recognized by friends, but not by their foes or
the public. When disguise or deception was desirable
these designations, often a motto or a title, generally a
signature, were occasionally assumed by different writers ;
but, according to the customary rules of courtesy, who
ever first appropriated a signature was considered exclu
sively entitled, and his right respected. Our early gazettes
were issued once a week ; and, from the first disputes,
contributors of marked ability continued the discussion of
interesting questions from one number to another, and
often pursued through several their connected argument.
Among a people so argumentative as our fathers, discus
sion almost invariably led to controversy ; and these marks
of individuality enabled combatants to keep each other in
view amidst the eager throng of writers ever ready for
inky contention. As in the hsts his form and bearing
betrayed the cavalier, so, by their peculiarities of style,
temper and sentiment, these warriors of the quiU, though
often able to escape detection for the moment by the

112 LIFE AND WRITINGS
adoption of new signatures, became in time easily recog
nized, in spite of their studious efforts at concealment.
Many of the more constant writers had a variety of these
noTns deplume, which they used according to their pleasure
or their subject. In one instance, to a well-known states
man, who for half a century wielded a powerful sway over
public opinion, more than twenty are attributed, which
can be safely depended upon as indicating his authorship.
If parliamentary aggressions on chartered rights instan
taneously provoked in every American bosom determina
tion to resist, that resistance would have been impotent
and inconclusive had it not been concentrated, controUed
and directed, by the press. Those who led in the popular
cause could anonymously advance in its columns opinions
it would have been imprudent for them more openly to
avow. The gazettes circulated widely throughout the
interior of this and the other colonies ; and the sons of
liberty, as the patriots were called, readily recognized the
source from which emanated these eloquent appeals, and
gradually, by their teachings, trained for the conflict, were
prepared to act with promptness and vigor when it came.
Much as was effected in the cause by the Assembly, the
caucus and the pulpit, it was the freedom of the press
which, more than either, established and secured our na
tional liberties. Resort was had to arbitrary measures in
other colonies to place editors under some restraint ; but
in Massachusetts, while men of character for reason and
moderation, hke Otis, Quincy and Hawley, Thaeher and
Cooper, John and Samuel Adams, and the Warrens, and
many more, were its supporters, government wisely con
cluded it was too powerful to disturb.
Both John, and James SuUivan were zealous contributors
from long before the first outbreak of hostiUties. John
wrote over the signature of " Watchman," and others not
so weU identified, and is reputed to have exerted in this
way much influence in New Hampshire. We find allusion

OF JAMES SULLITAN, 113
made to James as a constant writer for the papers before
the war ; but, concealment then being aU-important, it is
not easy to decide what were his precise contributions.
Throughout the struggle he industriously improved his
moments of relief from judicial duties in aiding by this
means to keep public spirit in the right glow for the crisis.
Articles, signed " Plain Truth," " Ameridanus," " Zenas,"
" Honest Republican," " Independent Freeholder," and
many more, followed in quick succession from his pen.
Besides topics more immediately connected with the oper
ations in the field, questions of finance and taxation, of
government and constitution, controversies with Gordon,
Samuel Adams, and Temple, occupied his attention ; and
his numerous communications evince his industry, ability,
and ardent patriotism, while their chivalric tone and gen
erous forbearance prove that it was not easy to ruffle his
temper, or make him forgetful of what was due to a just
sense of self-respect.
Visiting annually all parts of the commonwealth, his
essays were not confined to the papers of the capital.
While residing at Groton they appear frequently in the
Worcester Spy, now the patriarch among the public prints
in Massachusetts, with whose first editor, Isaiah Thomas,
he was long on terms of friendly intimacy. But the most
constant traces of hiS' indefatigable pen are found in the
Gazette, Independent Ledger, Continental Journal, Evening
Post, and other papers of Boston, and this long before he
made that place his abode. The Independent Chronicle was
established in 1767, and was generally republican in creed.
In this are found, with little interruption for nearly forty
years, articles attributed to him upon religion, state and
federal politics, jurisprudence, national and commercial law,
municipal reform, the habits, manners and morals, of the
people, obituaries of eminent statesmen and theologians,
reviews of books, and upon many other topics. Reference
will be made to some of the more important and the best
10*

114 LIFE AND WRITINGS
authenticated in the course of our narrative ; but it would
be impossible to enumerate them aU, and, where doubt
exists as to their authorship, it would not be prudent to
advance pretensions without better proof than can be
given. We have little means of knowing, beyond the record and
the dockets, what were the decisions of the Supreme Court
while SuUivan was on its bench. Some few might be
gleaned from a careful examination of Dane's Abridg
ment ; but the search would be tedious. One of those
which has been mentioned to his praise is too interesting
in this epoch of slaver}^ agitation to be omitted. Our
account is taken mainly from a very able communication
upon the subject, made in April, 1857, by Governor Wash
burn, the judicial historian of provincial days, to the Massa
chusetts Historical Society. It is too long to be introduced
entire, and, besides, was intended more particularly in ex
planation of the brief, which fortunately has been pre
served, of Levi Lincoln, one of the counsel. This decision
was that by which, in three cases, involving the same points
between the same parties, under verdict of jury, with the
approbation of the highest court, slavery was first declared
no longer to exist in Massachusetts.
' When Governor Winthrop arrived in Boston harbor, in
1630, he found Maverick, the first well-authenticated slave
holder of Massachusetts, in a strong fort on Noddle's Island.
The indignity offered by him, in 1639, to his slave, who had
been a queen in her own country, in seeking to force her
into unwilling wedlock, is well known. From that day
down to the revolutionary period, the institution, though
contrary to the general tenor of public sentiment, the spirit
of the laws, and the wants of industrial economy, existed,
and was regularly recognized. Men and women were
bought and sold in the market, made subject for taxation,
inventoried as property in probate. The English crown,
by the marriage of Charles the Second with Catherine of

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 115
Braganza, became interested in the asiento, an interna
tional compact for carrying on the trafflc; and though there
is abundant evidence that slavery was in no way congenial
to the feelings and opinions of the Puritans, the control of
the mother country was too absolute to permit them to
follow their own inclinations in its abolition. By province
laws the owner was prohibited from manumitting his slaves
without first giving security to the town that they should
not become chargeable as paupers; and, towards the middle
of the last century, of six thousand colored people in the
province, a large proportion are believed to have been in
bondage. From the dawn of our political emancipation, in the
repeal of the Stamp Act, vigorous efforts were made to
divest ourselves of participation in what was so glaringly
inconsistent with our pretensions to equality and freedom.
In 1767 a bill for suppressing the slave-trade passed the
lower branch of the Legislature, but was so far curtailed
of its original fair proportions by amendments as to be
abandoned by its advocates. It was well known that, had
it passed in any form whatever, it would have been nega
tived by Governor Bernard. In 1774 another, which
passed the court, on the eighth of March was laid before
Governor Hutchinson; but both he and his successor, Gov
ernor Gage, under instructions from the home government,
openly refused to sign any such bills. In 1769, two years
before the famous case of Somerset was decided by Lord
MansfieM, in that of James vs. Lechmere, when Attorney-
General Sewall argued that the royal charter expressly
declared all persons born or residing in the province to
be as free as the king's subjects in Great Britain, that by
the laws of England no man could be deprived of his lib
erty but by the judgment of his pfeers, and that the laws
of the province to mitigate or regulate an existing evil
did not authorize it, the court decided in favor of the
liberty of the negro. A black man was one of the

116 LIFE AND WRITINGS
victims of the massacre in King-street, in 1770 ; and the
shot, which kiUed Major Pitcairn at Bunker's HUl, is said to
have been fired by one of that color. The incompatibility
of servitude with the national struggle was discussed in
the Boston papers in the faU of 1776, and public attention
was again directed to the subject in 1778, when the court
ordered a number of slaves taken on board an English
prize ship, brought into Salem, to be set at liberty. The
first article of the bill of rights, attached to the constitu
tion of 1780, declares " all men born free and equal," and
was introduced, at the suggestion of John Lowell, with
direct reference to a general emancipation. This declara
tion established no new principle, but simply recognized
an existing right to freedom as an inherent condition of
human nature.
Such was the state of the law and public opinion, when
circumstances occurred from which originated the decision
we have under consideration. Nathaniel Jennison married
Miss Caldwell, who had for dowry a slave called Quork
Walker. Her relatives, John and Seth Caldwell, induced
Quork to leave the family of Jennison, who, regaining pos
session, on the thirtieth of April, 1781, beat him with the
handle of a whip, and sued the Caldwells for enticing him
away, laying his damages at one thousand pounds. Jenni
son in turn was sued by Quork, and also prosecuted crim
inally for the assault. The civil actions were entered in
the Common Pleas for Worcester in June, 1781. In the
suit for the whipping, the jury before the inferior court
decided Quork to be a freeman and no slave, assessing
the damages at sixty pounds, against Jennison, who carried
the case up, but failed to prosecute his appeal, after the
decision by the supreme bench, in the case against the
CaldweUs for the enticing away, had been given against
him. In that suit he had recovered against them, in the
Common Pleas, twenty-five pounds ; but upon trial before

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 117
the Supreme Court, in September, 1781, the Terdict went
the other way.
The counsel for the Caldwells, in this last case, were
Levi Lincoln and Caleb Strong, alike distinguished in pro
fessional and political life ; 'for Jennison, Judge Sprague and
Mr. Stearns, both sensible men and good lawyers. William
Cushing, the chief justice, was not present ; and the court
consisted of N. P. Sargent, of Haverhill, successor of Cush
ing, removed in 1789 to the federal bench, David Sewall,
of York, afterwards United States District Judge for Maine,
and James SuUivan.
" The latter," says Governor Washburn, " was the strong
man of the court. A self-made man, he had risen to the first
rank of his profession, been actively engaged in the events
of the Revolution, and took a. prominent part in the forma
tion of the constitution. No further evidence of his elo
quence or power, as an advocate and a statesman, need be
given than the rank he held among such names as Dana,
Lowell, Parsons, Gore, and Dexter.
" It will be perceived that those who took part in the
decision of this question were among the leading minds of
the commonwealth ; and it was determined, not so much
by any positive language in the constitution, as by that
aU-pervading sense of the community that the time had
come when that slavery, against which they had been so
long struggling, was incompatible with their character as
a free and independent state, and ought to be suppressed."
Were it more pertinent to our subject, we should be
glad to present in full the able argument of Governor Lin
coln ; but we will merely state its more prominent points.
To the argument for the owner, that his right to the slave
depended upon consent, it was simply replied that, if so, the
slave might surely run away ; to the scriptural authority
from Exodus, that a man's servant is his money, that the
Jewish law was no longer in force, and had only recognized
the right to enslave the heathen. How could we, he

118 LIFE AND WRITINGS
asked, expect to triumph in our struggle with Great Brit
ain, and become free ourselves, if, like Pharaoh and the
Egyptians, we refused freedom to the slave ? It had been
urged that children were at birth under the power of
their parents ; but this applied equally to both black and
white. The main defence for slavery was immemorial
usage ; but, inasmuch as it led to kidnapping, it was an
immoral one ; separating parent and child, husband and wife,
it was unnatural; interfering with white labor, without
advantage ; and it wanted other essentials of a good gen
eral rule, as it always had been disapproved of by many,
and its reason and justice disputed. In closing, he says,
" Are not all mankind born in the same way ? Are not their
bodies clothed with the same kind of flesh ? Was not the
same breath of life breathed into all? We are under the
same gospel dispensation, have one common Saviour, in
habit the same globe, die in the same manner ; and though
the white man may have his body wrapped in fine linen,
and his attire may be a little more decorated, there aU dis
tinctions of man's making end. We all sleep on the same
level in the dust. We shall all be raised by the sound of
one common trumpet, calling to all that are in their graves,
without distinction, to rise ; shall be arraigned at one com
mon bar ; shall have one common Judge, be tried by one
common jury, and condemned or acquitted by one com
mon law, — the gospel, — the perfect law of liberty. This
cause wUl then be tried, and your verdict again consid
ered. Therefore, gentlemen of the jury, let me conjure
you to give such a verdict now as wiU stand the test, and
be approved by your minds in the last moment of your
existence, and by your Judge at the last day. It wiU then
be tried by the laws of reason and revelation. Is it not a
law of nature that all men are equal and free ? Is not the
law of nature the law of God ? Is not the law of God,
then, against slavery ? If there is no law of man establish
ing it, there is no difficulty. If there is, then the great dif-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 119
ficulty is to determine which law you ought to obey ; and,
if you shall have the same ideas as I have of present, of
future things, you will obey the former. The worst, then,
that can happen to you for disobeying the former, is the
destruction of your body ; for the last, that of your soul."
It will be abundantly shown, in the sequel, that Judge
Sullivan improved every opportunity to put an end to the
traffic in slaves as far as it came within the legitimate
action of the state. His eloquent denunciations of its
barbarities in the case of Gordon vs. Gardner, in 1792, and
in another case the same year at Portland, wUl be hereafter
referred to. In his day, sentiments of justice and human
ity with regard to the whole system were not confined to
the free states. In the letter of Professor Tucker, of Wil
liam and Mary's College, in Virginia, to Dr. Belknap, Jan
uary twenty-fourth, 1795, asking for information as to its
abandonment in Massachusetts, he says : " The introduc
tion of slavery into this country is, at this day, considered
among its greatest misfortunes by a very great majority of
those who are reproached for an evil which the present
generation could have no more avoided than an hereditary
gout or leprosy. The malady has proceeded so far as to
render it doubtful whether any specific can be found to
eradicate or even to palliate the disease. Having observed,
with much pleasure, that slavery has been wholly extermin
ated from the Massachusetts, and, being impressed with the
idea that it once had existence there, I have cherished a
hope that we may, from the example of our sister states,
learn what methods are most likely to succeed in removing
the same evils among ourselves." Washington and Jeffer
son are iUustrious instances of opinions upon this subject
then common to all intelligent men both north and south
of 36° 40'. When the federal constitution was under con
sideration, SuUivan foresaw the contentions destined to
grow out of this vexatious question, and has himself
defined his position too distinctly to require much addi-

120 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tional comment. He predicted it would give the south a
control over the affairs of the country far beyond its just
pretensions as measured by its population ; and used what
little influence he possessed . to prevent what would be a
disadvantage to all. Respect for state rights he consid
ered the best safeguard against encroachments on either
side ; and his efforts to strengthen this security were in
some respects successful. In his view the states were
distinct nations as to all matters not delegated to the gen
eral government ; and he would as soon have thought of
interfering with Mahometanism at Mecca, or despotism in
Russia, as of meddling with the private legislation of the
sister sovereignties where it did not clash with the rights
of Massachusetts.
He confided too implicitly in the benign operations of
Providence to expect perfection, or be impatient for re
sults. He knew no higher law than the Christian precepts
not to judge our brothers, or devote that science and care
to the removal of their motes which should be bestowed
upon beams of our own. Such, indeed, has been gener
ally northern sentiment. The south imprisons our colored
stewards on plea of self-preservation; the north discour
ages the recapture of runaways, lest its cities be drenched
in blood. Both violate the constitution ; and one wrong
does not justify the other. When by illegal devices the
south would propagate the system, to maintain an unfair
ascendency in the Union, that northernfer must be craven
or corrupt who does not resist by every means justified by
honor. Yet, no disposition has ever existed to interfere
with slavery in the states ; and none but enthusiasts can
see in immediate emancipation, south of the Virginia line,
aught but ruin both to white and black. Their honest zeal
has frustrated their phUanthropic purposes, in diverting
southern individuals and legislatures from their obligations
to civihze, educate and improve, the condition of their
slaves. A few years wiU give the north a decided prepon-

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 121
derance, and this Texed question will be sent home where
it belongs, no longer to disturb our national feUowship ;
probably making way for some other quarrel which wiU, at
least, have the merit of freshness.
A difficult duty devolving on the judges of the Supreme
Court, of which,from the minutes and reports remaining, it
would appear SuUivan bore his full, if not the principal,
share, was regulating the rates of depreciation for paper
money. The whole amount of continental currency issued
from June twenty-second, 1775, to November, 1779, was
$241,552,780. For one dollar in gold or silver in January,
1777, $1.05 in paper of the United States was to be re
ceived ; in January, 1778, $3.25 ; in January, 1779, $7.45 ;
in January, 1780, $29.34 ; in February, 1781, $75.00. The
state currency was equally depreciated. In 1780, what
was known as the new emission was made by Massachu
setts ; but this rapidly fell in value, and no computation
could keep pace with its decline. A bushel of wheat was
worth, at one period, seventy-five dollars ; coffee, four dol
lars a pound ; sugar, three doUars. The paper continued at
an enormous discount, till the funding system, of Hamilton
was adopted by Congress in 1792; and much of the state
currency was still unredeemed in 1808.
Before closing this account of the period Judge SuUi
van passed upon the bench, it may not be uninteresting to
record some incidents in the life of his elder brother, Daniel,
who fell at this time a victim to the barbarous cruelties, the
privations, famine and disease, of the British prison-ships
at New York, called the Jersey hulks. He had established
himself, about 1765, on the upper end of Frenchman's Bay,
at a place now flourishing as the town of Sullivan, and,
engaging in the manufacture of lumber, erected two saw
mills. When the revolutionary war broke out the machin
ery was removed, and the buUdings burnt; a visit from the
enemy being apprehended, as Daniel, in common with his
other brothers, sided warmly with the patriots. He held
11

122 LIFE AND WRITINGS
a commission as a captain of minute-men, and was present
with his company at the siege of Castine, in 1779, in which
the militia of the neighborhood acted in concert with the
troops under Solomon LoveU, and the fleet commanded by
Richard SaltonstaU. The attempt on Castine not proving
successful. Captain SuUivan returned home with his men,
keeping them always in readiness for action. His zeal and
activity made him a marked man to the English and the
tories of the vicinity, who had several times ineffectually
endeavored to capture him. These attempts had failed, in
consequence of the vigilance observed by the patriots,
till one fatal night in February, 1781, when there was
reason to suppose, from the severity of the weather, that
no one would venture abroad, an English ship, the Alle
giance, anchored below the town, and landed a large force
of sailors and marines. ' The house was silently invested,
and Captain Sullivan, aroused from his slumbers, found his
bed surrounded by armed men. He was hurried to the
boat, and his dwelling fired so suddenly that the children
were with difficulty saved by their mother and the hired
man living in the family. Taken to Castine, his liberty and
further protection from harm were tendered him on condi
tion he took the oath of allegiance to the king. Rejecting
these proposals, he was carried prisoner to New York,
and confined in that dreadful hulk, the Jersey prison-ship.
Here the pestilence, engendered by confinement and starv
ation, and the tender mercies of Provost Cunningham, did
their work, and he died in AprU, 1782.
General SuUivan, after his successful expedition into the
western country, in the summer of 1779, had found his
health so far impaired by the exposures and hardships of
five years, incessant military service, as to feel compeUed
to retire from the army. He received, upon retiring, the
thanks of Congress, and the most generous testimonials of
affection and esteem from General Washington. He was,
immediately after his resignation, sent to Congress from

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 123
New Hampshire, His constant employment upon the most
delicate and responsible duties, as shown by its journal,
eTinces the respect of that body for his character, abiUty
and public services. He was for the rest of his life, with
but slight intervals, in distinguished positions of public
duty in New Hampshire. At the commencement of the
university at Cambridge following his withdrawal from the
army, honorary degrees were bestowed both on him and
his brother James.

CHAPTER YII.

REMOVAL TO BOSTON,

Upon the organization of the government under the state
constitution, in the fall of 1780, Governor Hancock issued
his proclamation from the ancient Province House, then
still remaining the head-quarters of the executive, that aU
persons holding commissions under the authorities super
seded should continue in the exercise of their respective
functions ; and this was further provided for by statutes.
It became necessary, by the adoption of the new system,
to revise the laws in use in the commonwealth ; " to select,
abridge, alter and digest them, so that they should be
accommodated to the new government." The Supreme
Court, then consisting of Cushing, Sargent, Sewall and
Sullivan, in connection with Robert T. Paine, the attorney-
general, James Bowdoin and John Pickering, were ap
pointed upon a commission for this purpose. They were
also requested to prepare bills for the due observation of
the Sabbath, and for the prevention of drunkenness and
profanity. What portions of this task were allotted to
Sullivan is not particularly known. In a letter of Novem
ber twenty-sixth, 1781, Judge David SewaU writes Theoph
ilus Parsons : " There has been some talk in the committee
of revision respecting a court-merchant, or some speedy
mode for foreigners that may trade hither to recover their
demands; perhaps a recognizance before some respecta
ble person or persons in the seaports; and, on faUure

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMBS SULLITAN, 125
of paying the money at the day, execution to issue in
nature of a distress. But this is in Judge Sullivan's de
partment." From time to time the commissioners reported to the
General Court a great number of bills, which, after debate
and some amendments in the different houses, were enacted.
In February, 1782, Judge Sullivan is mentioned in the
Senate journal as reporting to that body several bills, the
result of their labors. Some of them were held long
under advisement in the Legislature ; and many of the
statutes passed in succeeding years, reorganizing our
whole system of jurisprudence, were prepared while he
was a member of this commission.
Among the earliest subjects taken into consideration
were the necessary changes in the legal tribunals. Bills
defining, and in some particulars enlarging, the powers of
the Supreme Judicial Court, and creating Courts of Com
mon Pleas and County Sessions, were passed in July, 1782.
The judges had good reason to consider their services,
which were very arduous, inadequately recompensed, three
hundred pounds annually being all that was allowed them.
The general impoverishment of the country, exhausted by
war and long shut out from its ancient pursuits of trade
and industry, and the large amounts required by the gen
eral Congress to meet its burthens and sustain the public
credit, rendered aU-important the most rigid economy in
state expenditures. There was, consequently, but little
ground for hope that any considerable addition would be
made to the judicial salaries. These were paid, moreover,
in depreciated paper, which, under the heavy issues and
diminishing prospects of redemption, was ceasing to be
current, and rapidly becoming worthless. The judges
could not, without encroaching largely on their private
resources, provide for the subsistence of their famiUes, or
meet unavoidable expenses attendant on the performance
of their duties. These expenses were the more considerar
11*

126 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ble from the constant journeys they were compeUed to
make in order to hold their courts in the different counties,
both bench and bar travelling in the saddle or their own
private vehicles, there being at that period no pubHc con
veyances. In February, 1782, the judges addressed a memo
rial to the General Court, representing the insufficiency
of the existing aUowances, and praying that some addi
tional provision might be made for their support. Resolves
were passed authorizing the treasurer to issue notes on
interest, agreeably to an act passed in the May preceding,
to make good any deficiency growing out of the interme
diate depreciation; and a committee appointed to take
into consideration the salaries established by law for the
justices, and report whether, considering the high prices
of the necessaries of life and the expenses of travelling,
they were such as the constitution required, and, if not,
what proper measures were to be taken. From the feeling
prevailing throughout the country that the officers of gov
ernment should bear their share of the general distress, it
soon appeared that no adequate addition would be made
to the compensation of the judges ; and Judge Sullivan,
finding the amount decided upon altogether unequal to the
increasing demands upon him, sent his resignation to the
governor, and Increase Sumner was shortly afterwards
appointed in his place. His letter of resignation to Gov
ernor Hancock is as follows :
" When it became necessary for the people of America
to take arms against Great Britain, the exercise of civU
government was held an indispensable requisite, both to
control and supply the military power. I then had the
honor of being appointed one of the judges of the Supe
rior Court. The idea of danger, at that time, was so
strongly associated with the office that it could not faU of
rendering it highly honorable.
"When the new form of government took place, I was
reappointed by your exceUency ; and, by being one of the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 127
first judges of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachu
setts, I was loaded with all the honors that my utmost
ambition could wish. How well I have executed the trust
my countrymen must determine ; I have only to say, that
I acknowledge, with gratitude to Him, in whose hands are
the hearts of all men, that it hath been owing to His good
ness alone that I have been so far preserved from partiality
and corruption in my office, that a review of my past con
duct as a judge gives me infinitely more happiness than
honors and emoluments can do ; and what still sweetens
the reflection is that *******
**** *******
I have fuUy paid in proportion to what Heaven hath
bestowed upon me. Nor have I ever withheld my prop
erty from the calls of public distress.
" I rejoice to see my country now nearly encircled in
the arms of safety ; and am very sure that my going into
private life, in the present state of affairs, can never be con
strued into a disregard to the common cause. Duty hath
hitherto kept me in office, and a sense of duty to myself
and family, by no means inconsistent with what I owe to
the public, as strongly urges me to private life.
" Wherefore, I do now hereby resign to your excellency
all the powers and authorities which I hold as a judge of
the Supreme Judicial Court of the commonwealth, and
beg leave only to add, that I am, with great veneration to
your person and devotedness to my country, your excel
lency's most obedient, humble servant."
On the fifth of April he writes to a friend : " I yester
day received your favor of the eighteenth of March,
and am much obliged by your favorable opinion of my
past public services. I find full evidence, in the obvious
sincerity of your letter, of that friendship which has given
me great happiness since the commencement of the present
troubles. There is no person in the state who can be more
uneasy at my resigning the place I. lately held than myself

128 LIFE AND WRITINGS
I love public hfe. There is a certain activity and strong
impulse to business in my natural make that prompts me
to it. An idle hour is a great burden ; and, if I could form
a character, which I most freely own I ardently wish to do,
there is no place where I could, as far as I can judge for
myself, do it so well as on the bench. But, my dear sir, I
begin now to be advanced in age. I have not such a
quantity of property as the business I have done, in private
or public life, might entitle me to. These times have
worn hard upon the little I possessed before the war. UntU
the last year I have not, since the year 1776, had as much
of the government as would pay my traveUing expenses,
including horse-hire, and for those articles which were un
necessary at home, but absolutely indispensable while going
the circuit. This has involved me in a debt that cannot
be paid with three hundred a year, for I find that the three
hundred is not quite equal to two. Those whom I thought
to be the active and leading members of the Assembly prom
ised to do us justice, or I should have quitted years before.
But when the matter was thrown upon paper, the bugbear
of ill-precedents prevented anything from being done.
Thus circumstanced, with a great and increasing family, I
thought it became my duty to take care of myself, and feel
great gratitude to Heaven to find it within my power. I
have, however, suffered some mortification from the change
of situation. But where duty leads, I am determined to
follow. As to going to Congress, could I conceive it to
be my duty to go, I should be very fond of it. Please to
give my compliments to youi* lady. My best wishes are
attending your family. My duty and love to the Reverend
Mr. WiUiams. Should I never eat another clam with him,
I shall ever esteem him as the first of his cloth."
In a letter to his son, written a quarter of a century
later, in condolence upon some then recent affliction, he
explains, as foUows, the motives which led him to this step:
" I was, at a very early stage of my life, elevated to the

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 129
first councils of my country, and exalted to the first seat
of justice. The paper-money system reduced me to the
necessity of abandoning the idea of giving you and your
brothers an education which would bring you into the
world under the first advantages, or to descend from the
bench to the bar, enduring again the toils of a professional
life. There was not one moment's hesitation in choosing
the latter. How could I hesitate when I glanced my eye
upon my beloved famUy ? "
What little accumulation his earlier practice had per
mitted had been well-nigh exhausted in the public service.
He considered it due to his family, while still in the vigor
of manhood, and he had not as yet reached his thirty-eighth
year, to devote his energies to provide for their comforta
ble maintenance, and to secure to his children what he the
more valued, perhaps, from not having himself enjoyed it,
the benefit of a liberal education. With this view he
determined to resume the practice of his profession, and
establish himself in the capital. He opened an office in
Boston in the spring; but, not immediately finding a suita
ble residence in town, he removed his family, now increased
by Richard and Bant, born in Groton, to its neighborhood,
in that part of West Cambridge called Menotomy. They
occupied, for the summer, a long white house on the west
side of the road leading to Lexington. It lay on the line
of the British retreat from that place eight years before,
and the shutters of nearly every window in the building
were still perforated with holes made by the bullets of the
retreating troops, or their assailants.
One afternoon, in the course of the summer, a well-worn
phaeton, drawn by a pair of sturdy horses, was seen moving
slowly along the road. The occupant, in half-military attire
and three-cornered hat, appeared earnestly gazing at the
house as he passed, as if in search of some one to direct
his way. James SuUivan, observing the traveller from his
window, recognized his brother John, and, rushing out,

130 LIFE AND WRITINGS
affectionately embraced him. They spent a few days
together in brotherly intercourse, when the general pro
ceeded on his journey to PhUadelphia. After leaving the
army, he had been for a year or two in Congress, as dele
gate from New Hampshire, and, resuming his practice at the
bar, had become sufficiently distinguished to be employed
not only in his own state, but to argue causes in other parts
of the country. He soon after was appointed attorney-
general of New Hampshire ; an office held for more than
twenty years by his son George, and at the present time
by his grandson.
The month following the resignation of his seat on the
bench, Judge Sullivan was elected, with John LoweU, a
delegate to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. Well
knowing there were many, equally competent to do good
service, who were more eager for the honor, and better able
to bear the expense, he declined. Soon after his return the
foUowing year to the General Court, he was again elected,
with Gerry, Dalton, Partridge and Danielson, by a vote of
one hundred and thirteen out of one hundred and fifty-three.
The same motives which had induced his leaving the bench
were still equally conclusive against congressional life ; and
the pressure of professional engagements rendering inex
pedient any protracted absence from the state, he turned a
deaf ear to the call of ambition, and continued resolute in
the path he conceived marked out by his duty. Eight
months after his election he sent in his resignation, and
Francis Dana, afterwards chief justice, was elected in his
stead. Towards the end of 1784 he was present for a few weeks
at the Congress, then sitting at Trenton, as commissioner
for prosecuting the claim of Massachusetts to the western
lands. Elkanah Watson says that on the third of Decem
ber he embarked on board a sloop packet for New York,
with him, Elbridge Gerry and Rufus King, on their way to
Congress. "I record the fact," he says, "to exhibit a

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 131
striking illustration of the mode and facilities of travelling
existing at that period upon sO important an avenue as the
direct route between Boston and New York. We were
driven through Long Island Sound by a furious gale ; the
shores on both sides appeared in an advanced stage of
improvement, mingled with tracts of unreclaimed forest-
land. We passed Hurl Gate with considerable exposure,
A short canal on Long Island, with a lock, would readily
obviate this dangerous navigation."
On the fourth of July, 1782, Samuel Adams, Nathaniel
Gorham, WiUiam Phillips, James Sullivan, George Cabot,
Stephen Higginson and Leonard Jarvis, were appointed,
by resolve, to consider "what measures were to be taken to
reduce the expenses of government, show the best method
of supplying the public treasury, and reforming the state
of the finances." They were requested to sit when they
could conveniently, and report at the next sitting of the
General Court. Their report, made in October, is at great
length, and enters fully into the financial condition of the
state. A copy exists among the papers of Samuel Adams,
who, as chairman of the committee, was, no doubt, the
principal draftsman. But as Judge Sullivan, in the course
of his correspondence with Mr. Temple, ascribes his delay
in responding to his having been engaged in its prepara
tion, in this labor, as in many others, he appears to have
cooperated with the veteran patriot. It recommends the
establishment of customs and imposts as the sole resource
remaining for sustaining public credit and meeting the
public obligations.
No longer in official employment, Sullivan fielt at liberty
to follow the general example in efforts to cripple the Brit
ish trade along the coast, and engaged in the war on his
own account. Not possessing any efficient fleet, the only
mode in which the Americans could annoy their adversa
ries upon the ocean was by privateering. Numberless ves
sels, fitted out from Boston, Salem, and other New England

132 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sea-ports, intercepted transports carrying supplies to New
York, or, venturing further from home, brought back as
prizes English merchantmen. There being no immediate
prospect of pacification, on the fourth of July, 1782, Judge
SuUivan and Perez Morton procured a letter of marque for
the sloop "Fair Trader," Captain Geyer, with four guns and
fourteen men, to cruise against the enemy. What success
attended their enterprise does not appear ; but, six months
later, the arrival of inteUigence that preliminaries of peace
had been signed at Paris brought it to a premature ter
mination. A subject of much controversy, originating somewhat
earlier, and only subsiding in the year that followed, from
the widely extended interest in the questions involved,
attracted at this period the public attention. It was much
discussed in the public prints, and made the frequent topic
of communication from the executive, and of debate in the
Legislature. It reflects no reproach upon any one ; and
whUe, from the distinguished position of the parties, aU of
whom appear to have been actuated by just and honorable
motives, and the character of the allegations, it forms a
part of the history of the times, it is too closely connected
with the subject of this memoir to be wholly passed over
in silence.
Judge SuUivan, from the commencement of the war, had
been constantly called upon, in all the legislatures of which
he was a member, to frame the acts passed from time to
time against refugees and tories. AU who had taken an
active lead in the direction of the Revolution were espe-
ciaUy interested in its success both on public and private
considerations. In adopting the Declaration of Independ
ence, the people, as weU as those who represented them in
affixing their signatures to that memorable instrument, felt
that they had pledged to each other their lives, their for
tunes and their sacred honor, for its support. Not only those
in official station, but aU possessed of influence, considered

OF JAMES SULLIVAN, 133
themselves under obligation to prevent reaction, and to
counteract the untiring efforts of its secret enemies. The
citizens were frequently called upon to be watchful, and to
denounce all such persons as there was reason to believe
entertained projects inimical to American independence.
Before the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in Octo
ber, 1781, there had been little ground to hope we could
compel Great Britain, without much greater efforts than
any we were making, to abandon her claim to sovereignty
over the colonies. The southern campaign had been a
series of disasters, and the heroic efforts and able general
ship of Greene, Sumpter and Marion, had proved long
unavailing against the superior discipline and numbers of
the enemy. Even after Yorktown, no disposition was man
ifested by the mother country to give up the contest ; and,
as late as the autumn of 1782, the arrivals from Europe
brought tidings of her intention to make the most vigorous
preparations for the ensuing campaign. There was much
in our condition for her encouragement. Congress was
paral}'zed in its energies by sectional and party dissensions,
and the country exhausted both in resources and credit by
the immense exertions already made.
While the war lasted, and we continued exposed to its
vicissitudes, prudence counselled the utmost vigilance to
prevent any one reasonably to be suspected of loyalty to
Great Britain from being harbored within our limits. There
was a strong feeling abroad among the people, if the press of
the time correctly reflects the public sentiment, that the laws
in this particular should be rigidly enforced. Many persons
were anxious to return, who had never taken part or shown
the slightest sympathy with the enemy; but, on the ground
that they had absented themselves during the earlier part
of the Revolution, their names were continued on the list of
the proscribed, and their estates sequestered. Had excep
tions been made in favor of individuals possessing power
ful and influential friends, so wide a departure from the
12

134 LIFE AND WRITINGS
great principle of equahty before the law for which we
were contending would have justly created discontent.
Any reasonable expectation of success, moreover, mainly
depended upon our aUiance with France ; and our good
understanding with that power would have been endan
gered had she ground to suspect secret negotiations on
our part with the enemy, or the toleration among us of
persons supposed to enjoy the confldence of the British
ministry. Mr. John Temple, the friend of Franklin, Samuel Adams,
and other distinguished patriots, had been regarded, from
the commencement of the disputes, sincerely attached to
the cause of the colonies. He had held, before the Rev
olution, a very lucrative office, of which he had been
deprived by the government on the ground of supposed
disaffection. For half a century his family had been
established in America, and he had married the daughter
of James Bowdoin, one of the stanchest and most influen
tial of the patriots. Mr. Bowdoin had been very constantly
in the Council or other branches of the public service ; had
presided over the convention for forming the state consti
tution ; had been elected lieutenant-governor, an office he
had declined ; and, from his cultivation and love of science,
had been chosen president of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences. Mr. Temple was connected with some
of the most wealthy and powerful families in England, and
Was the somewhat remote but still possible heir of an
ancient baronetcy, to which, in fact, he succeeded a few
years afterwards. He left this country long before the
war, and, returning in the fall of 1778, passed the winter in
America, associating with the leading patriots on terms of
the most intimate friendship and confidence. He sailed
the following spring for Europe, and, after remaining more
than two years in England, arrived, in the month of Octo
ber, 1781, again in Boston. This long residence in the
country of the enemy of itself would have reasonably

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 135
warranted some distrust of the probable influence he might
exert OTer the minds of his friends ; but there were, more
over, passages in his correspondence which led to strong
doubts whether, indignant as he might have been origin
ally at the arbitrary measures of Parliament, he had ever
been disposed to renounce his allegiance to the British
crown. It was also currently reported that he came
clothed with power to enter into secret negotiations with
individuals, the ministry not yet recognizing Congress as a
government. His appearance in Boston, under these circumstances,
could not fail to excite suspicion and much displeasure.
The government summoned him before the Council, and
was not satisfied with his disclaimers. Judge Sullivan,
then at Groton, on the twenty-fourth of October wrote
Mr. Hancock a letter, which, under advice of Council, the
governor sent with a message to the General Court, as he
did likewise another, from the president of the Congress,
on the same subject, written some months later. The
friends of Mr. Temple, numerous and powerful, in the
faith that his sentiments and intentions were misrepre
sented, naturally rallied to his defence. The question as
to his loyalty, and the proper measures to be taken by the
government, continued for a long period under considera
tion in the Council, was discussed with much warmth and
temper in both branches of the Legislature, and fills a large
space on their journals. It occasionally occupied the de
bates for successive days, and, having aroused a spirit of
contention, survived the war. Judge Sullivan, having
made the allegations, was regarded virtually as the prose
cutor ; and, although the impeachment was on public
grounds, and there could be no doubt of the perfect
uprightness of his motives, the friends of Mr. Temple used
all their influence, and every honorable expedient of polit
ical warfare, to defeat the prosecution. Various plans
were suggested for the disposal of the question. It was

136 LIFE AND WRITINGS
proposed to submit it to the judges ; it was referred to the
attorney-general ; and a project for the hearing of the par
ties before both branches received a large vote. Mr.
Temple was placed under heavy bonds not to convey intel
ligence to the enemy, or do or say anything prejudicial to
the American cause.
WhUe the issues for which we were struggling could be
jeoparded by the presence among us of one reasonably
suspected to be a secret representative of the British cab
inet. Judge SuUivan, careless of reproach and indifferent to
hostility, fearlessly persevered in the course the public in
terest demanded. Angry denunciations on the part of his
assailants provoked neither retaliation nor resentment;
and, confident that he was right, and was sustained by pub
lic sentiment, his resolution to accomplish an important
national object never degenerated into personal bitterness.
Governor Hancock had from the first taken the ground that
Mr. Temple, merely as a subject of Great Britain, — and
there was certainly as much reason so to consider him as
in the case of many other loyalists still in exile, — ought
not to remain here while we were at war with his country ;
and the votes, where recorded, show that the opinions of
the court coincided with the views of the governor.
This claim of Mr. Temple to the rights and privileges
of an American patriot called into exercise many able pens.
The numerous friends of his father-in-law, Mr. Bowdoin,
were zealous in his behalf, and among them Dr. Gordon,
of Roxbury, the historian of the war. Articles, signed .
" Recollection," " Massachusettensis," " Sully Americanus,"
appeared with great frequency for many months, vehement
in invective, unsparing in abuse. As neither in the char
acter nor conduct of Judge SuUivan could there be found
much to defame, these attacks, apart from the strong epi
thets in which his enemies in the warmth of controversy
permitted themselves to indulge, had little to disturb. He
had powerful coadjutors, who generously rallied to his

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 137
defence ; nor was he of a nature to be passive himself
under reproach. The following selection from the num
berless columns occupied with this war of words, which
was either written by himself or by one of his friends, is
taken from the Evening Post of the twenty-eighth of Sep
tember, 1782 :
" A writer in your last paper calls on James Sullivan to
know what he has not gained by the war. That gentleman
does not complain that he has lost anything. He never
had an office under the crown, and therefore could not lose
one ; nor, indeed, does he wish to have an office anywhere,
as he can supply his wants without it. But he has gained
what is very dear to him by the war. He has been faith
ful to his country's councils, has risked his life in defence
of her liberties, has held important offices in the day of her
distress and danger, and, by acting boldly and faithfully in
them, has gained that esteem and confidence of a numerous
people that cannot be shaken by the scribblings of ' Recol
lection.' He has gained still more by the war; he has
gained the glorious character of an independent freeman,
entitled to all the blessings of a constitution which he had
a very considerable share in forming."
Upon the recognition of independence, cause for jeal
ousy being removed, with it disappeared, on both sides,
all feeling of animosity, and the disposition to conciliate
seems to have been mutual. When recurring to the affair
some few years afterwards, Judge Sullivan says, in a letter
to a friend : " When I wrote you on the subject of Mr.
Temple, I had not seen, and did not expect to see, in the
Gazette a particular account of his admission and recog
nition as consul-general of Great Britain. I have since
seen it, and it was quite agreeable to my mind. 1 am so far
from keeping up any unpleasant feeling with him or his
relatives, although I entirely approve my first conduct,
that I am on the best terms with Governor Bowdoin. He
12*

138 LIFE AND WRITINGS
has done me the honor to dine with me, and I have fre
quently dined with him." It is a curious circumstance
connected with this affair that the descendants of a mar
riage between the youngest son of Judge SuUivan and a
granddaughter of Mr. Temple inherit both sides of the
quarrel. The question, all-important while it lasted, after the
peace soon subsided, and is here mentioned only as an
iUustration of Judge Sullivan's readiness to hazard popu
larity in following the dictates of public duty. If not
influencing the subsequent party divisions between the
respective friends of the two great rivals for the executive
chair of Massachusetts, Hancock and Bowdoin, it may
serve to explain the warmth of feeling which colored the
contest. Though lenity to tories, who preferred colonial subjection
to independence, while they were capable of working harm
to the cause, was considered disloyalty to liberty, stiU, when
the contest was over, and no further mischief was to be
feared from their influence, men of just and moderate sen
timents were- easily persuaded to forgive. Judge Sullivan
was often actively engaged in restoring worthy refugees to
citizenship ; and among others, for whom his efforts were
successful, were John Gardiner and Thomas Brattle.
William Brattle, the son of an eminent clergyman long
settled at Cambridge, and who died there in 1717, was a
divine, a lawyer, and a physician, and, at an early period of
the dispute, gained popularity by his zealous opposition to
the arbitrary measures of Parliament. Hutchinson and
SewaU, as weU as Trowbridge, long his rival at the bar,
weU understood his character, and succeeded in converting
him to their views. This apostasy to the cause of liberty
was rewarded by the commission of brigadier-general in
the militia, then, in time of peace, an anomalous rank cre
ated for this special purpose. His son. Major Thomas
Brattle, graduated at Cambridge in 1760-3, and, from his

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 139
cultiTation and loTe of learning, received later the degree
of Master of Arts at Yale and at Nassau. He entered
into commercial life in Boston, and, at the commence
ment of the war, preferring to remain neutral, went to
Europe, carrying with him, however, ample testimonials
of his patriotism from the committee of inspection and
correspondence. After travelling over Great Britain and
the continent he settled in London, and devoted himself
with great zeal to the relief of our prisoners taken at
sea, or sent over from America. His generous exertions
in their behalf attracted the attention of benevolent indi
viduals in England, and enlisted their sympathies also in
the same direction. When, in 1778, he returned to Amer
ica, he resided for a time in Rhode Island, and some signal
acts of courtesy and kindness rendered to the French
troops stationed in that colony were acknowledged by
King Louis in a letter written, through his order, by the
French minister to Mr. Brattle.
He was anxious to return to Boston; but his neutral
course was not acceptable to our people, who considered
all against them who did not support the Revolution ac
tively and without reserve. At the close of the war he
petitioned for permission to return ; but his efforts to over
come the prejudice created by his long absence and resi
dence in England were long without success. When
Judge Sullivan learned the merits of the case he entered
into it with his usual ardor, and presented to the house
Major Brattle's claims to their favorable consideration so
effectually that his name was taken from the list of the
proscribed, and his property restored. Shortly afterwards
Major Brattle, previously unknown to him, entered his
office, and, expressing his sense of obligation by the
warmest acknowledgments, begged leave to share with
him the estates which, through his means, had been saved
from conflscation. As the services rendered were on pub
Hc grounds, and in his capacity as member of the house,

140 LIFE AND WRITINGS
this was of course out of the question ; but their acquaint
ance, thus auspiciously commencing, ripened into the most
intimate friendship.
Major Brattle, in possession of an ample fortune, highly
educated, and member of many learned and charitable
societies, by his urbanity and generous hospitaUty, made
his home, near the site of what is now the Brattle House,
at Cambridge, an agreeable resort for friends and strangers.
He was a bachelor, and liberally devoted his ample means
to the public benefit. The pursuit of scientific horticul
ture occupied much of his attention; and his beautiful
grounds and gardens, stocked with the finest varieties of
fruits and fiowers, were open to all who would not abuse
his liberality. The roads, walks and public buUdings, in
his neighborhood, were greatly improved by his care ; and
one of his latest efforts was the erection of a bathing-house
on the Charles River for the benefit of the students, many
of whom had been victims of its rapid tide and dangerous
eddies. His humanity and charity gave employment to
labor, cordials to the sick, and relief to the distressed ; and
his whole life fully justified the favorable tribute paid him,
when he left London, by those who appreciated his noble
exertions for the American prisoners, in presenting him
with the portrait of the Man of Ross. Judge Sullivan was
a frequent visitor at this hospitable abode, and his family
ever remembered with much satisfaction the days they had
passed in the agreeable society of this warm-hearted old
bachelor. When he died, in 1801, Judge SuUivan con
tributed to the Columbian Centinel an obituary notice,
which will be found in the eighth volume of the Massa
chusetts Historical Collections, page eighty-four.
In the autumn, the house next east of the Coolidge
Block, on Bowdoin Square, having been purchased, the
family removed into Boston. At that period the square
was surrounded by gardens, or by open fields. Dr. Bui-
finch. Deacon Newell, long one of the selectmen of Bos-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 141
ton, Mr. AUeyne Otis, Mr. Carnes, and Mr. Frazier, occu
pied the houses. Fine trees and abundant vegetation made
the place cheerful, and few situations in the town were
more attractive. The neighborhood was social and given
to hospitality ; and the intercourse, if partaking somewhat
of the formal and ceremonious character of the day, was
refined and intellectual.
Early in 1783 the preliminaries of peace, agreed upon
towards the close of the preceding year, were publicly
announced. After the privations and anxieties of the war,
there was a general sense of relief at its termination ; and
sentiments of satisfaction and joy pervaded the community.
Our national independence, the grand object of eight years'
struggle, had been accomplished. The most extravagant
hopes were entertained, by the unreflecting, of the imme
diate and boundless prosperity to follow, in recompense
for so much cost and danger. The steady progress of
events lags far behind anticipation, and much disappoint
ment and distress, in various forms, were to be experienced
before these dreams were destined to be realized. Still,
for the moment, all was exultation, present happiness and
unquestioning faith in the future^ and the prudent cared
not to cloud the general enthusiasm by gloomy forebodings.
The experiment about to be tried was, indeed, to prove
successful ; and the numberless blessings flowing from our
free institutions have already more than justified the most
sanguine expectations. But our national existence, ger
minating with the landing of the pilgrims, and baptized in
all the blood from Lexington to Yorktown, was to be
gradual in its growth, and not to be measured by the
results at any one period. Proved and hardened by for
eign wars and internal contentions, centuries must roll on
to perfect its being and develop its greatness.
If not absolutely meeting the hopes and wishes of the
less reasonable, the prosperity consequent on peace soon
made itself distinctly perceptible. In the great towns

142 LIFE AND WRITINGS
along the seaboard the elastic energies of commerce rapidly
recovered from their long prostration, and wealth flowed
in through various channels, enriching the people. Wealth
brought with it a taste for luxury and conviviality, and
Boston, the commercial metropoUs of New England, was
soon famed for its gay and brilliant hospitalities. From
his long public services and judicial dignity, as also from
his genial disposition, ready wit and active S3'mpathies,
Judge SuUivan possessed a large and constantly increasing
circle of friends and intimates, and was received with the
greatest kindness and cordiality in his adopted home. He
was too fully alive, however, to the importance of his
labors to the future welfare of his family to allow any
pleasures to divert him from his principal object ; and, with
determined resolution and singleness of purpose, he de
voted all his energies to deserve and secure professional
success and employment.
His laudable efforts were not without fruit. Clients
¦poured in, and his rapidly increasing practice speedily
removed every anxiety as to the future. His popularity
kept pace with his professional success, and testimonials
were not wanting to show the place that he occupied in
the esteem of his fellow-citizens. In December, a town-
meeting having been called in Faneuil Hall to concert
measures for testifying the respect of the citizens to Baron
Viosmenil, a French general then in Boston, Judge Sulli
van was appointed, with Samuel Barrell, to deliver that
officer an address expressive of our gratitude to his coun
try for the aid generously extended to America during the
war. Both the address and reply are to be found in the
journals of the day.
In laying aside the robes of office, not then as concerned
the judges a figurative expression, he could not as easily
divest himself of the feeling that his first obligation was to
his country, and that whatever powers he possessed for
promoting the pubHc welfare should be consecrated to her

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 143
service. The general debt of the continent, growing out
of the contest with Great Britain, which, when reduced to
the adopted standard, still exceeded forty-two millions of
dollars, as compared with the wealth and population of the
country was immense, and every effort was made in Mas
sachusetts to meet its share of the amount called for by
Congress. The people could not well endure any further
direct taxation than had been already imposed, but our
foreign trade was increasing and returning large profits.
Persuasion was necessary to reconcile the people to this
mode of raising a revenue, inseparably associated in the
public mind with the tyrannical measures of Parliament
leading to separation, and Judge Sullivan used his infiuence
with effect for this object.
But, while very willing that the state should levy im
posts, by its own officers, for the general benefit, he realized
the full danger of conceding to Congress, informally or by
implication, powers which might be abused, or serve as a
precedent for their arbitrary extension. In a long and able
article upon the subject, signed " Grotius," and published in
February in theBostonGazette,hepresented his views to the
public ; and, while demonstrating the propriety and impor
tance of the state legislatures, laying a reasonable impost on
commerce, he deprecated any participation of the federal
government in the actual levy. In the June following, in
a long series of letters, addressed to a gentleman in Phila
delphia, and signed " Honest Republican," he endeavored
to show that the tax proposed would yield far more than
was anticipated, and urged that the rate should be lowered,
and the period fixed at fifteen instead of twenty-five years.
Commissioners of the New England states and from New
York met at Hartford shortly afterwards to fix the rates,
and acts were passed to carry the plan into execution.
When the spring elections came on. Judge Sullivan was,
chosen moderator of the town-meeting, and returned to
the house as one of its representatives. The preceding

144 LIFE AND WRITINGS
spring he had opened his offlce in Boston, and, although
he had not actually established his family in town before
the faU, he had considered himself as one of its citizens.
The constitution required that no one should be eligible as
a member of the house who had not been an inhabitant of
the place represented for the year preceding his election.
But, as intention had ever been regarded the most decisive
test of domicile, he had no scruple about taking his seat.
Soon after the opening of the Court, in June, his right was
challenged by Mr. Clarke, of Roxbury; but the house, con
stitutionally the judge of the qualification of its members,
decided in his favor, and he remained in the Assembly.
This step was censured by the opposition, and was some
what discussed in the public prints. It was not, perhaps,
his own best policy, as it somewhat hazarded his populari
ty; but there were many important public reasons why he
should continue a member, and justice to his constituents
demanded that he should abide by the decision of the prop
erly constituted tribunal.
His election to Congress, in 1783, did not vacate his
seat in the Assembly, and his labors in the house for the
year were constant and varied. Of the greater part of the
numerous committees, more than forty in aU, and these
among the most important, of which he was a member,
he acted as chairman. On the first of July he was the
first named on that to prepare an address to Congress
on the commutation of the half-pay which had been prom
ised to the officers of the revolutionary army, and which,
from an apprehension that it might create a privUeged
class possessing undue influence in the community, it was
thought best to compromise for a larger payment for a
shorter period. The opening message of the governor
had communicated official tidings of peace, and Mr. SuUi
van moved that a committee should be appointed to report
"whether the Legislature should meet at some place of
public worship on the fourth of July, to offer up thanks to

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 145
the Ruler of all OTcnts for his goodness in establishing
the independence of the United States and blessing them
with peace, and also to report any other measure they
should think proper for celebrating the anniTcrsary of
American Independence." The committee, consisting of
himself. Judge Dawes and Mr. Phillips, reported, Tcrbally,
that Dr. Cooper would officiate at the Brattle-street meet
ing-house. The celebration of the fourth of July, as our great
national festiTal, did not originate here in Massachusetts,
howcTcr, with that vote. After the Boston massacre, in
1770, it had been usual to observe the fifth of March
by an oration and other appropriate solemnities, quite as
much for the purpose of keeping alive the feeling of resent
ment against the British government as to pay tribute to
the memory of the victims. On the last preceding occasion
of its occurrence, at a meeting of the citizens at Faneuil
Hall to hear the appointed address of Dr. Welsh, it was
concluded that the reason for commemorating the day
then had ceased, and proposed that for the future the
date of the Declaration of Independence should be cele
brated as our great anniversary. James Otis — his last
public appearance, for he was killed by lightning in the
following May — presided over this meeting. At another,
at the same place, to make arrangements for the July cele
bration, Samuel Adams was moderator ; and when the day,
ever afterwards to be kept sacred, came, the citizens assem
bled again at the Cradle of Liberty, and James SuUivan,
caUed upon to preside, announced, as the report of the
committee of arrangements, that Dr. John Warren would
deliver an oration at the Brattle-street church as soon as
the General Court had ended its morning session.
Prom his appointment on the finance committee, in the
summer of 1782, he had been unremitting in his efforts,
through the public prints and in debate, to advocate the
supply of the treasury for the payment of the continental
13

146 LIFE AND WRITINGS
and state debt by excise duties on imports. A biU for
this purpose was passed in July ; but, the system being a
new one, the law was found in some respects inadequate
to the object, and gave much dissatisfaction. Another in
addition" to the original act was prepared, and, after long
debate and various proposed amendments, one of which
was that the act should not take effect before a like system
was adopted by all the other states, and another that no
portion of the amount reaUzed should be appropriated
to the army, was passed through the strenuous exertions
of Mr. SuUivan, but by a small vote.
With Theodore Sedgwick and Nathan Dane he drafted
the bankruptcy bill, and that for regulating weights and
measures, and was chairman of this and other committees
for the revision of the laws for the sale of the estates of
infants and persons non compos, and also for the disposi
tion of the property of persons dying intestate. The pub
lic mind was still much exercised on the subject of refugees
seeking to return, and he was appointed to define the rights
of citizenship, and consider what privileges should be
allowed to resident aliens. He was on a committee for
impeaching two justices for admitting tories to reside in
the state contrary to law ; but was one of the protesters
who secured the right of trial by jury to persons whose
citizenship was put in question. The statement of our
claim to lands west of the Hudson, and the preparation of
a resolve for ceding that portion between the present west
ern boundary of New York and the Southern or Pacific
Ocean to the United States, were under his consideration
as chairman. The preservation of the public lands a,nd pine
timber at the eastward, the statement of the funds of Har
vard CoUege, the suitable establishment of the officers of
government, the ways and means, the disturbances at Phil
adelphia, and the charter of the Massachusetts Bank, the
first bank in the commonwealth, and the second state bank
on the continent, were aU under his charge as chairman.

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 147
The treaty of peace provided for the restoration of estates
sequestered, but not sold, and for the payment of debts to
British subjects ; and he was on a joint committee of ten,
of which Mr. Samuel Adams was chairman, to devise neces
sary measures for the first object, and, with Judge Dawes
and Thomas Clarke, to revise the laws and make them
conformable to the treaty in all other respects.
In May, Sullivan was again elected by the citizens of
Boston to represent them in the state Legislature, and
placed on a committee, consisting of Samuel Adams, Joseph
Barrell, Stephen Higginson, Charles Jarvis, WUliam Tudor,
Robert Treat Paine, Perez Morton, Samuel Breck, Benja
min Hitchbourne, Thomas Dawes, Caleb Davis and Edward
Paine, to consider the expediency of procuring a city char
ter for the town. The measure was debated, but found at
the time little favor.
He was appointed chairman in the house to report rules
and orders for its government, and to prepare the answer
to the address of the governor, a ceremonial borrowed
from the usages of the English Parliament, which was not
abandoned in Massachusetts before the year 1825. He was
appointed to prepare the act passed this session for the
relief of persons insolvent, and, with General Heath and
John Brooks, afterwards governor, to revise the militia
laws. He was also upon other committees charged with
obtaining and preparing the valuation of the lands and
buildings of the commonwealth to be returned to Con
gress for the apportionment of a direct tax, and to address
a letter to our delegates in that body to ascertain the salar
ries and all other expenses of the continental establishment.
The subject of new trials and reviews in civil causes, the
coUection of debts under the treaty, and the proper pro
visions for bringing constables and those having public
money to account, were committed to his care. He was
on various other committees, generally as chairman, for
settling the line between us and the state of New York ;

148 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLITAN.
on the proper salaries to be granted the officers of the col
lege ; upon the British encroachments on our eastern fron
tier ; to prepare some new provisions for the management
of sequestered estates, rendered necessary by the treaty
stipulations; upon the additional impost biU of the last Leg
islature, which was passed early by this, and upon a pro-
pose,d measure for the reUef of widows and orphans of
deceased clergymen. Many other matters, both of a pub
lic and private nature, were under his charge in commit
tee. No reports of the debates have come down to us ;
but it is reasonable to infer, from his frequent nomination
on committees, that he took a prominent part in the
deliberations. The Massachusetts claim to lands west of the Hudson,
long a subject of controversy between this commonwealth
and the state of New York, frequently occupied the de
bates of the General Court during this and the preceding
years. As it engrossed much of the attention of Judge
Sullivan for the three or four years following, its consider
ation wUl be postponed to another chapter.
In February, 1785, Governor Hancock, suffering from
enfeebled health, gave in his resignation ; and Thomas
Cushing, to adorn whose brows with a diadem Dr. Johnson
said was one object of the American Revolution, occupied
his place during the remainder of his term. The next
annual election was warmly contested between James
Bowdoin and Cushing. In behalf of the latter the friends
of Hancock, and among them Sullivan, made the most
strenuous exertions. Bowdoin was, however, elected,
though not by the people. Hancock was returned in May
as representative from Boston, and, chosen delegate to the
Continental Congress, again became its president. Judge
Sullivan, whose duties as commissioner were, perhaps,
incompatible with attendance on legislative duties, or else,
as subsequently stated in the Gazette, retiring in order
to make room for Hancock on the Boston seat, was not
reelected.

CHAPTER VIII.

WESTERN LANDS.

In order clearly to understand the points in dispute be
tween New York and Massachusetts, which were brought to
an amicable settlement in December, 1786, it is important to
bear in mind the chain of title out of which the controversy
originated. One principle deeply implanted in our nature
is a disposition to possess property in severalty, and another
to organize government for the greater security of its en
joyment. Under their united operation the earth was par-
ceUed out among individuals, and divided among nations.
As these nations multiplied and outgrew their limits, the
more warlike and rapacious, becoming restless and discon
tented, encroached upon their weaker neighbors. The
right of conquest, opposed to the plainest dictates of con
science and every standard of honesty, came soon to be
considered as a natural consequence of power ; and the
successful conqueror, instead of provoking the reproach
and abhorrence of the world, secured its admiration.
With advancing civilization, communities, through their
rulers, like individuals, combined for mutual security ; and
as national law expanded under more enlightened principles
of justice, feeble nations were protected against the aggres
sions of the powerful. But these conservative tendencies
were of slow growth, and when Columbus, in 1492, dis
covered America, they had reached but a very partial
development, 13*

150 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Another principle of international comity, if not of pub
lic law, became in time to be generally recognized, that all
lands in the possession of the heathen belonged to the
first discoverer. No respect was entertained by Christian
monarchs for the rights of savage tribes ; and, under the
sanction of the great vicegerent of the church, the Amer
ican Indians, unless willing to be converted, were regarded
as entitled to little more consideration than the beasts
of their forests, and their territories were unceremoniously
appropriated. In 1497, John Cabot, and Sebastian, his son,
under a commission of discovery from Henry the Seventh,
saUed along our shore, and, upcn the pretension of being
its earliest European visitors, were thereby considered to
have secured to that monarch and his successors the exclu
sive dominion and property of all the American continent
north of the Spanish possessions. In the succeeding cen
tury various explorations were made at different points
on the coast, but no settlements permanently established.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 1578, through the influence of
his half-brother. Sir Walter Raleigh, procured from Queen
Elizabeth a patent to found a colony, but was lost at sea
upon an expedition for the purpose. In 1584, Raleigh
obtained another charter, in his own name, virtually a
reversal of Sir Humphrey's, under which several efforts,
among others that at Roanoke, were made, but without
any permanent success. During this same century the
Spaniards, more energetic, under De Soto and others, pen
etrated far into the vaUey of the Mississippi, and, later,
founded St. Augustine, in Florida ; whUe the French, send
ing out expeditions to explore and convert, under Verri-
zani and Cartier, and, later, under Champlain and De Mont,
engaged largely in the fisheries, and established for a time
colonies at St. Croix, Port Royal, and on the St. Lawrence.
In the month of April, 1606, after Raleigh's attainder,
a charter was granted by James the First constituting two
companies to plant colonies on the American coast between

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 151
the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude.
The first, called the London Company, was empowered to
establish settlements between the thirty-fourth and forty-
first parallels, or between Cape Fear and the east end of
Long Island. The other, consisting chiefly of merchants
and adventurers in the west of England, about Plymouth
and Bristol, was entitled the Plymouth Company, and had
the same privileges between the thirty-eighth and forty-
fifth, or between Delaware Bay and Halifax. Neither
company was to commence a settlement within one hun
dred miles of any previously established by the other ; and
the extent of each colony was to be limited to fifty miles
along the shore on either side of the point first occupied,
and to one hundred miles in depth inland or seaward,
including all islands within that distance.
Under the charter of the London Company an expedi
tion, under Newport, was fitted out in December, 1606,
and founded the following spring the colony at Jamestown,
in Virginia. Two months later another, under the auspices
of George Popham, as president of the Council, and Raleigh
(jrilbert, nephew of Sir Walter Raleigh, as admiral, planted
themselves on a peninsula at Georgetown, in Maine, at the
mouth of the Sagadahoc, or Kennebec, where they built a
fort called St. George, and also a small vessel called the
Virginia. The severity of the ensuing winter, the death
of Popham, and the tidings of the decease of Sir John
Gilbert, making it important for his brother Raleigh, who
was his heir, to return to England, broke up the settlement.
On the third of November, 1620, upon their own appli
cation. King James superseded the Plymouth Company by
a new charter, known as the " Great Patent," by which the
whole of North America between the fortieth and forty-
eighth degrees of north latitude, excepting places actually
occupied by any other Christian prince or people, and
extending from sea to sea, was granted to forty noble,
wealthy and influential persons, in full property, with exclu-

152 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sive rights of jurisdiction, settlement and traffic. They
were incorporated as the Council established at Plymouth,
in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering
and governing, New England, in America. The commons
were greatly displeased at this unreasonable exercise of
power, and passed a resolve, the foUowing year, pronounc
ing the charter a great grievance and void. But no right
being recognized in Parliament to control the royal prerog
ative in this particular, it was, notwithstanding, considered
valid. The Council of Plymouth proceeded to parcel out the
territories, so liberally granted them, chiefly among their
own members ; but, owing to their imperfect acquaint
ance with the geographical features of the country, their
patents often overlapped or interfered. It is not essential
to our present object to offer a complete history of their
grants ; nor, indeed, would it be possible, for their records
are not known to have been preserved. Yet, as most of
these patents have some bearing upon the question in
controversy, at the hazard of being tedious, the more
important will be mentioned. In a map of the celebrated
navigator. Captain Smith, in Purchas, published in 1624, the
names of the proprietors, then reduced to twenty in num
ber, are set down in order, indicating a division ; but sev
eral even of these appear to have attached little value to
their rights, and the final conveyances by the Council were,
in some instances, to other persons. Of these names, many
of which are familiar to those acquainted with the history
of that day. Lord Sheffleld alone has any immediate con
nection with our subject. The patentees, on the third of
February, 1624-5, in the presence of King James, "had
their portion assigned unto them by lot, with his high
ness' approbation, upon the sea-coast, from east to west,
some eighty and one hundred leagues long." Thus, by
royal sanction, each became vested of his portion in sev
eralty, with all the powers of government granted in the

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 153
great patent. The Council had previously published their
proposed " Platform of the government and division of
the territories in general;" from which some approach
to the feudal system of Europe seems to have been in
contemplation ; each proprietor being permitted to sub
divide his tract into manors and lordships. Insufficient
data remain for tracing the various chains of title from
these original proprietors to the grantees who actually
received deeds from the Council. But yet enough have
been preserved for our present purpose.
The Pilgrims who founded New Plymouth had negotiated
with the Virginia Company for permission to found a set
tlement within their limits, and intended to establish them
selves near the Hudson. But the Dutch West India
Company had already taken possession of that river, and
are said to have influenced their captain, before he left
Leyden, to carry them further to the north. They received,
shortly after their arrival at Plymouth in December,
1620, a conveyance from the Council, in trust to Pierce,
for their benefit, procured by the efforts of Gorges.
Pierce, in 1622, April twentieth, took a conveyance to
himself, and released, upon the eighteenth of May, 1623,
to the adventurers, for five hundred pounds. It "was not
till January, 1629, that the Council made the patent
direct to William Bradford and his associates, by defined
limits. It was of all that tract in New England between a
rivulet called Cohasset at the north, and the river Narra-
ganset towards the south, and the great Western Ocean
towards the east, and between and within a straight line
directly extending up into the main land towards the west,
from the mouth of the said river Narraganset to the utmost
limits and bounds of a place or country in New England
commonly called Pokanacut, alias Sowamset, westward.
Another tract for a fishery, extending from Cobisecontee
towards the Western Ocean, to a place caUed the Falls
of Neguamkike, with fifteen mUes in breadth, on either

154 LIFE AND WRITINGS
side of the Kennebec, granted in 1627, was also embraced
in this confirmation. This, sold for five hundred pounds,
by the Plymouth colony, in 1655, to Tyng, Brattle, Boies
and Winslow, has been known in modern days as the
Plymouth Company.
The residue of what now constitutes the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, and which was esteemed by many of its
early visitors the paradise of New England, feU, in the
general division, to the share of Lord Sheffield. In Sep
tember, 1623, the Plymouth colony sent Edward Winslow
to England to report their progress and procure suppHes.
While there, with Robert Cushman for his associate, he
procured from Sheffield a patent, to remain valid for seven
years, of Cape Ann, with full powers to colonize and gov
ern. Upon his return the following spring to Plymouth,
his vessel, the ship Charity, after discharging her cargo,
was despatched to the cape with planters. A frame house
was erected, and some fishing-stages ; but the loss of their
buildings, by fire and other disasters, 'disheartened them,
and all, except the more resolute, deserted.
Meanwhile, the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, in the
belief that it would be both of spiritual and worldly advan
tage to the numerous fishermen frequenting its waters that
some permanent settlement should be established, per
suaded several of his friends among the merchants engaged
in these fisheries to unite for the purpose. Three thousand
pounds were subscribed, and the adventurers, under the
name of the Dorchester Company, having made the neces
sary arrangements with the Pilgrims at Plymouth, sent
husbandmen to the cape, who selected for their home the
present site of Gloucester. Roger Conant,who had been at
Nantasket, was soon after appointed their governor, and
administered the affairs of the infant plantation with great
prudence and discretion. Many of the colonists, ill-suited
to cope with the unavoidable hardships and restraints of
their condition, early embraced the offer made them by the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 155
adventurers in England of a passage home. Conant, zeal
ous for the honor of the colony, remained for a time at
Cape Ann, and then, with Woodbury, Balch and Palfrey,
removed to Naumkeag, or Salem ; but, before his removal,
wrote to obtain a grant from the Council for his new
settlement. Mr. White, often caUed the father of New England, dis
posed to meet his wishes, used every exertion to procure
a patent and recruits. At his instigation several of the
former associates, who felt still disposed to persevere,
joined with themselves some honest and religious men of
London, possessed of wealth and influence, and application
was made for a grant of territory. Their request was com
plied with, and, on the nineteenth day of March, 1627, Sir
Henry Roswell, Sir John Young, Thomas Southcoat, John
Humphrey, John Endicott and Simon Whetcomb, received
a patent " of all that part of New England lying be
tween the river Merrimac and another river called the
Charles, being the bottom of Massachusetts Bay, and to a
line three miles to the north of the said Merrimac, or to
the northward of any and every part thereof; and all the
lands lying within the limits aforesaid, north and south, in
latitude and breadth, and in length and longitude, and
throughout the main lands there, from the Atlantic and
Western Sea and Ocean on the east part, to the South Sea
on the west part."
About this same time an association of pious, educated
and wealthy individuals, of Boston and other parts of Lin
colnshire, dissatisfied with the spirit of intolerance experi
enced at home, were making up their minds to seek in
the western wilderness undisturbed enjoyment for their
religious rights. They opened a correspondence with the
new patentees, and, uniting with them as the New England
Company, bought out all ' the property of the Dorchester
adventurers. By what means they extinguished the para
mount title of Lord Sheffield does not appear, but, it is

156 LIFE AND WRITINGS
reasonable to conjecture, by purchase. Their patent was
confirmed by charter, under the royal seal, issued the fourth
of March, in 1628-9, creating the associates a body politic,
as the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay
in New England. Endicott had already Sailed, in the Abi-
gaU, on the twentieth of June, 1628 ; but the charter fol
lowed him to Salem, and the duplicate, now in the state-
house, was brought over by Winthrop, in the ArbeUa, in
June, 1630.
But the grant under the division to Sheffield was not
the only conflicting title from the Council of the territory
embraced in the Roswell patent. As early as 1621 they
had granted to John Mason a tract between Salem and
Merrimac rivers, called Mariana; another, about Weymouth,
to Weston; and one, in December, 1623, to Robert, son of
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in recompense for his father's ser
vices. This last was bounded ten miles along the north
east shore of Massachusetts Bay, extended inland thirty
miles, and embraced all islands, not previously granted,
within three miles of the main land. Gorges succeeded
Weston at Weymouth, but only for a short season ; and it
is sometimes supposed that Blackstone of Boston, Mav
erick settled at Noddle's Island, Thompson at Thompson's
Island, and Welford, the smith, at Charlestown, were rem
nants of his company.
If, in some instances, evidence of the fact has perished,
there is reason to believe that the usual forms of the Eng
lish law were generally complied with in the transfer of
possession. Upon the Plymouth charter, livery of seizin,
made by the attorney of the grantors, was regularly
endorsed. The deposition of Breckenbury, taken in 1680,
proves that this ceremonial was not neglected in the sur
render, by Governor Conant, of possession, under the
Sheffield patent, to Endicott, as representative of the
grantees under that to Roswell. Although superseded, in
utter disregard of the conditions upon which he had con-

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 157
sented to remain, Conant relinquished the control of
affairs without a murmur, and passed the rest of his days
in comparative obscurity. The grant to Robert Gorges
was at the time vested in Oldham, and Endicott had been
instructed to make the best arrangements he could with
the old planters. Fifty years later we learn, from the
deposition of Breckenbury above-mentioned, that claim
had then been lately made by the heirs of Mason under
the old grant of Mariana.
Other patents from the Grand Council bear upon the
boundaries of Massachusetts, as connected with our con
troversy. On the tenth of August, 1622, a grant was made
to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, between the
Merrimac and the Kennebec, extending back to the river in
Canada, of a tract called Laconia. In 1629 they divided.
Mason procuring from the Council a patent of his share
between the Merrimac and Piscataqua, extending sixty miles
inland, which he called New Hampshire ; Gorges received
a confirmation of the easterly portion, under the designation
of New Somersetshire, between the Piscataqua and Ken
nebec ; and in 1639, four years after the surrender of the
charter of the company, another, from King Charles, of the
same territory, now limited to one hundred and twenty miles
from the sea, and called Maine. In May, 1667, his grand
son sold this for twelve hundred and fifty pounds to Massa
chusetts, much to the annoyance of King Charles, who
wished to purchase it for his brother, the Duke of York.
The Earl of Warwick received from the Council, for his
share of New England, the tract bounding east on the
Narraganset, north on the grant to Massachusetts, south
one hundred and twenty miles on the sea, and extending
west, as it is said, for the patent is not known to have
existed, to the Pacific. WarAvick conveyed, March nine
teenth, 1632, to Lord Say and Sole, and Lord Brooke
and nine others, their associates ; and upon this grant were
founded the settlements incorporated later into the colony
14

158 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of Connecticut. Rhode Island obtained her first charter
from the crown in 1641, and her second from Charles the
Second in 1663. In 1635 the Grand Council of Plymouth,
dividing their territories into twelve principalities among
eight associates, surrendered their charter to the king.*
The north and south boundaries of the grant to Massa
chusetts, as defined in the patent, were not easily deter
mined. That to the south, settled as regards Connecticut
in 1826, remained until quite recently in controversy on the
Rhode Island line. In 1652 the General Court ordered that
the north line should be considered as passing through a
point three miles to the north of every part of the Merri
mac, and thence upon a straight line east and west to each
sea. Upon an observation made that year upon the head of
the river, as it issues from the Winnipiseogee Lake, it was
found to be in latitude 43° 40' 12", corresponding with that
of Split Rock, on Clapboard Island, in Casco Bay. This
*To encourage settlements the patentees procured confirmations from the
Council of portions of their grants. Of these, one, in 1624, was that of Aga-
menticus, of twenty-four thousand acres on York River, made to Sir Ferdi
nando Gorges ; two, in February, 1630, on Saco Eiver, eight miles by four,
one of them to Thomas Lewis and Richard Boynton, now Saco, the other to
John Oldham and Richard Vines, the site of what was formerly Biddeford ;
others at the request of Mason, in March, 1630, for two companies on the
Piscataqua, one at Dover, to Hilton, for the upper country, the other at Ports
mouth, for the lower plantations ; one, March second, 1630, to John Beau-
champ, of London, and Thomas Leverett, of Boston, thirty miles square, west
of Penobscot Bay, called the Muscongus or Waldo patent ; another, the same
year, to John Dy and others.forty miles square, near Casco Bay, called Lygo-
nia, or the Plough patent ; one, February twentieth, 1681, of twelve thousand
acres, called the Drowne or Pemaquid patent, between Muscongus and Dama-
riscotta, to Aldworth and Eldridge ; one to Sir Thomas Cammock, nephew
of the Earl of Warwick, of fifteen hundred acres, at Scarborough ; and one,
December first, 1631, to Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyear, of land east
of the preceding. Several other deeds were made by the Council in confirma
tion of those already mentioned ; the last known, dated February third, 1635,
immediately before the surrender of their charter, being to Edward Lord
Gorges, of Rhode Island and a part of Massachusetts. The members present
at this meeting were Hamilton, Arundel and Surrey, Carlisle, Sterling, Sir F.
Gorges, and Mason.

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 159
Hue was Tariously modified at different periods, and at
length decided, in 1740, by the king in council, to run as
at present three miles north of the river, about forty-four
miles, to a point three miles north of its southernmost
bend, and thence on a due west course to the Connecticut.
It was not marked out with care in the subsequent survey,
and up to 1826 stUl continued a fruitful subject of liti
gation. In the summer of 1609, Hendrick Hudson, an English
man in the service of the East India Company of Holland,
while searching, in his vessel called the Half-moon, for a
north-west passage to India, had visited our shores. He
entered the Chesapeake, where he found the infant colony-
planted three years before by the English, and afterwards
sailed up the river now bearing his name. The States
General, in 1614, granted the monopoly of the trade on the
river to a company, who established a fort at Albany ; and
the following year, to protect their settlement from the
attacks of the Virginians, who had previously, under Argal,
extorted from them tribute and an acknowledgment of
allegiance, another on the south-west point of Long Island.
Subsequently two more were erected, one called the Fort
of Good Hope, on the Connecticut, upon the present site
of Hartford, and the other at Nassau, on the Delaware.
In 1620 the States of Holland created the West India Com
pany, to whom was entrusted the government of their
colony. No record remains of any defined limits to the New
Netherlands ; and, although some Dutch writers claimed
as a part of its territory all the area between Canada and
Virginia, no official documents are to be found asserting
any such pretensions. Their encroachments towards the
east were successfully resisted both by Massachusetts and
Connecticut, and a line twenty miles east of the Hudson
recognized as the boundary of the former. After the
restoration of Charles the Second, their possessions, occu-

160 LIFE AND WRITINGS
pied by about six thousand inhabitants, were seized by the
English, and granted to the Duke of York by his royal
brother, by charter, bounding east by the Connecticut, and
west by the Delaware. The Dutch settlement had been
principally along the Hudson, and extended but a short dis
tance from its banks. The forests beyond were occupied
by the Iroquois, or five nations : the Mohawks, Senecas,
Oneidas, Cayugas, and Onondagas, joined later, in 1712, by
the Tuscaroras, from Carolina. They were inteUigent and
warUke; and no European settlement was gained before
the eighteenth century within their limits by adverse
possession against the original grantees of the British
crown. In 1684, under James the Second, the colony charter of
Massachusetts was annulled on quo warranto for misuser ;
and, on the seventh of October, 1691, the provincial char
ter of William and Mary incorporated the colony of Massa
chusetts Bay, the colony of New Plymouth, the province of
Maine, the territory called Acadia, Nova Scotia, and ail-
that tract of land called Sagadahoc, lying between the said
territory of Nova Scotia and the said province of Maine,
as the province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England.
It was to extend west towards the South Sea as far as the
colonies of Rhode Island, Connecticut and the Narrangan-
set country. This restriction might affect the right of
jurisdiction, but could not legally divest Massachusetts of
its full extent to the Pacific, as they had received it under
the patent from the Plymouth CouncU. The new ar
rangement equally displeased Plymouth, which colony
would more gladly have remained by herself, and New
Hampshire, which, notwithstanding her petition to con
tinue under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, as she long
had been, through the influence of AUen, a London mer
chant, grantee of the heirs of Mason, was excluded and
created a separate province, of which AUen was made first
governor. Under the grant to the Duke of York, that

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 161.
colony claimed for its eastern boundary the Connecticut,
The lands west of New Hampshire remained in contro-
Tersy, causing bloodshed even after the Revolution ; the
question being finally settled in 1790, by erecting the tract
into the state of Vermont.
After the Declaration of Independence, in 1776, the
great inequality among the different states as to their ter
ritorial limits threatened to prove an insuperable obstacle
to any plan of federal union upon an enduring basis. At
the suggestion of Virginia, Congress passed a resolve in
October, 1780, inviting states, possessing claims to the
country west of their settlements, to cede such parts as
they should see fit to the federal government for the gen
eral benefit. In creating another important and common
interest to protect, and by thus providing means for event
ually meeting the expenses of the war, it was reasonable
to anticipate that good feUowship among the states would
be promoted, as also the probabUity of that perpetual
union contemplated by the articles of confederation, which
at that time still remained without the full assent of all the
states. Virginia, throughout the struggle patriotic, ener
getic and disinterested, set the example of generosity in
yielding up all the boundless range of wilderness to the
north-west of the Ohio which she had received in her
patent from the London Company, or under her royal char
ters, but still on conditions somewhat onerous. Seven of
the eight proprietors of Carolina had released their right
of extending westward to the South Sea to the croAvn, and
the eighth taken his portion in North Carolina. Georgia
had some slight claim westward, under the proclamation of
1763, which she long refused to relinquish. Connecticut,
whose original patent had been lost, was the only other
state having rights to surrender ; and although her claim
was not recognized on trial by the federal court, in making
her cession she reserved a tract in Pennsylvania, which
for many years remained a subject of contention.
14*

162 LIFE AND WRITINGS
The claim of Massachusetts to bound west on the Pacific
had never been abandoned. So lately as 1773, in negotiat
ing the easterly Hne of New York under Governor Hutch
inson, it had been asserted and reserved. Her ancient
charter of 1628-9 had been annulled by the Privy Council
in 1684 ; but this could not divest her people of the right
to the soil, nor could the restriction in her charter of 1791,
to extend to the west line of Connecticut, have that oper
ation. On the other hand, the conquestof the New Neth
erlands, in 1664, and the treaty of Paris, in 1763, recog
nizing the English rights west to the Mississippi by the
principles of public law, the jus post limini, enured to
their benefit as assigns of the Grand Council of Plymouth,
grantees in 1620 of the British crown.
Early after the peace of 1783 the subject attracted the
attention of our General Court, and James Bowdoin, Sam
uel Adams and John Lowell, were appointed, in July of
that year, to report the state of our claim to the next ses
sion. In October, Sullivan was appointed chairman of a
committee to determine upon the suitable measures to
secure its recognition ; and, in the following May, upon
another to prepare a statement of the claim to lay before
Congress. He was also appointed, the following month,
to consider what portion of the western lands should be
ceded to the United States ; and, in October, reported an
act, passed the thirteenth of November, 1784, authorizing
the state delegates in Congress, or any three of them, to
cede to the United States, to be disposed of for their gen
eral benefit, such part of the land belonging to Massachu
setts, between the Hudson and the Mississippi, as they
should think proper. In June of the same year he was
chosen, with John Lowell and Francis Dana, the latter of
whom declined the appointment, commissioner to prose
cute the claim to the western lands. In January, 1785,
thirty pounds were appropriated for books and ascertain
ing the latitudes, and four thousand five hundred pounds

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 163
for the compensation and expenses of the commissioners ;
and in March an act was passed empowering Sullivan and
LoweU, with the delegates in Congress, to prosecute the
claim before that body.
Between the line of cession to the United States, which
was a meridian about twenty miles west of Niagara, and
the line established in 1763 as the westerly bound of the
charter to the Duke of York, were about thirteen millions
of acres, to which New York had no other pretension than
an Indian acknowledgment of sovereignty. In the ninth
article of confederation provision was made for the adjudi
cation of conflicting titles to territory between the several
states. Upon petition of any state, making such claim
against another. Congress was to appoint a day for their
respective agents to appear and choose commissioners. In
case the parties disagreed, three persons for each of the
United States were to be selected ; and from that list the
parties, beginning with the petitioners, wer'e to strike off
alternately until the number was reduced to thirteen.
From these not less than seven, nor more than nine, were
to be selected by lot. If either party refused to appear,
the secretary of Congress was to act in their behalf in
striking from the list till the organization of the tribu
nal, whose decree was to be conclusive, should be made
complete. On the eighth of December, Lowell and Sullivan appeared
at Trenton, where Congress was sitting, and, with Gerry,
King, Holten and Partridge, the Massachusetts delegates,
agreed on the twenty-fourth with James Duane, R. R. Liv
ingston, Walter Livingston and Egbert Benson, the agents
of New York, upon the following commissioners: Harrison
and Johnson of Maryland, Rutledge of South Carolina,
Wythe, Grayson and Monroe, of Virginia, Reed of Dela
ware, and Smith and Patterson of New York. In June
Rutledge, Harrison and Grayson, declining, Johnson and
Sitgreaves of North Carolina, and Henry of Virginia,

164 LIFE AND WRITINGS
were substituted, and Williamsburg, Va., and the third
Tuesday of November, were the place and time fixed for
the hearing. The substitutes do not appear to have
accepted, and on the twenty-third of April, 1786, notwith
standing the unremitting efibrts of the Massachusetts com
missioners, to whom Rufus King and Theophilus Parsons
had now been added, no court had been organized. On the
twenty-fifth of April, 1786, the Legislature of New York
authorized its agents, James Duane, R. R. Livingston,
Egbert Benson, J. Herring, Melancthon Smith, Robert
Yates and John Lansing, to settle the controversy other
wise than by a federal court; and that of Massachusetts,
on the fifth of July, gave like power to her commissioners.
On the thirtieth of November, 1786, a meeting was held at
Hartford, Conn., and on the sixteenth of December the
instrument signed, settling the controversy. By this the
land was very nearly equaUy divided, the jurisdiction of
the whole being left to New York. To a call of a com
mittee of the General Court, the nineteenth of February,
1787, for an account of the negotiation, Sullivan rendered
the following report :
" Agreeably to your request I have thrown upon paper
some remarks explanatory of the covenants entered into
by the two states above-mentioned. I am very sorry that
the absence of the other commissioners prevents these
remarks from being as full and perfect as you might expect,
or I could wish them to have been.
" After a variety of expensive attempts to obtain the
session of a federal court in Virginia, to decide upon the
claim of this commonwealth to lands on the westward of
the Hudson, there appeared but little probabUity of procur
ing one. It so happened, however, that New York, desir
ous of putting an end to the controversy, empowered
her agents to compromise the same without a judicial
decision ; and similar powers being, by the Legislature of
this commonwealth, vested in its commissioners, a meet-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 165
ing was held at Hartford, in the state of Connecticut, on
the thirtieth day of November last. A negotiation, being
then opened, was continued to the date of the instrument
laid before the General Court, and which contains the
covenants by which the controversy was closed.
" The land therein ceded to the commonwealth is about
six millions of acres, bounded as follows : beginning on the
line of the state of Pennsylvania, eighty-two miles west of
the north-east corner of that state, and running north into
Lake Ontario, till it comes to the line dividing the dominions
of the King of Great Britain from the territory of the Uni
ted States ; then, on the same line westerly, till a meridian
line falling from that line will intersect the southern bank
of the lake at one mile's distance from the mouth of the
straits of Niagara ; then on a line parallel to said straits, and
one mile distant therefrom, to Lake Erie ; then in the mid
dle of that lake to a point whence a meridian line will
intersect the westernmost corner of Pennsylvania; and
thence along the Pennsylvania line to the beginning. This
line last-mentioned is one hundred and sixty-eight miles in
length. Between the land ceded to the commonwealth
and a line of property settled in the year 1768 by the King
of Great Britain as the line of the then province of New
York, and described on the plan exhibited with the indented
parchment as irregularly extending from the north-east
corner of Pennsylvania northward, there is a tract of
land ceded to the state of New York, to which their title,
claimed under the grant of the Duke of York, was ever
denied by this state.
" Various considerations induced the commissioners on
the part of the commonwealth to agree to this session.
The charter, which passed the official seals March fourth,
1628, granted to Sir Henry Roswell and others the land
lying three miles to the southward of Charles River, and
three miles to the northward of Merrimac River, and in that
breadth, extending from the Atlantic to the South Sea,

166 LIFE AND WRITINGS
excepting such parts as were inhabited by any Christian
prince or people. The Dutch then had a settlement on the
Hudson, and the charter of Connecticut having the same
description in longitude as that of the Massachusetts, they
soon had a controversy with the Dutch settlers ; and the
colony of New Haven, in the year 1650, settled a boundary
with the Dutch ten mUes east of the Hudson.
" In the year 1688 the charter of Massachusetts was
vacated by a process in chancery, on a writ of quo war
ranto; and in the year 1691 a new charter was granted
by the crown, and accepted by the people, giving the
colony its former width in latitude, but describing its
extent in longitude from the Atlantic Ocean on the east,
toward the South Sea on the west, as far as the colonies of
Rhode Island and Connecticut, and the Narraganset country.
In a controversy with New Hampshire, in the year 1737,
it was determined that the line of the Massachusetts should
extend westward till it met the line of New York.
" The arguments on the part of the commonwealth, that
the process on quo luarranto in chancery could not take
back a title to the soil which had vested by a prior grant,
as well as the illegality of that process, were well under
stood by the agents ; but, inasmuch as the colony's accept
ing a new charter, with other bounds and other descriptions
than the former one, might influence a federal court to
determine that neither New York nor Massachusetts were
the legal proprietors of the soil between the line of prop
erty settled for New York, in 1768, and Lake Erie, there
could not but be a risk in a judicial decision of the ques
tion. In a federal court holden at Trenton, in New Jersey,
upon a suit of Connecticut against Pennsylvania, it was
determined that the claim of the former, for extending
their charter, which was similar to our first, to the South
Sea, could not be supported.
" Another question could not but arise on the breadth
of the charter. The old and the new charter extended

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 167
three miles north of the riTcr Merrimac. How far from
the sea the waters which flow from Winnipiseogee pond
to the ocean have justly the name of Merrimac, is matter
of old controversy. The Massachusetts have always con
tended for a branch called Pemigewasset, but the decision
of the king and councU, on a controversy with New Hamp
shire, fixed it at Pawtucket Falls. If the branch above-
mentioned is the true boundary, then the upper or northern
parallel of this state, being extended, will fall into Lake
Ontario a little to the southward of the centre of those
waters. But if the boundary, as settled in 1737-40, is
right, then the upper parallel falls many miles to the south
wards of that lake, and passes through the straits of
Niagara. Both which lines are marked on the plan. On
the one side, it is urged by New York that the breadth of
the charter, being once settled by a competent and allowed
jurisdiction, can never be again controverted. On the part
of the commonwealth, it is said that even if the decision
was had in a court of acknowledged jurisdiction, yet, as
New York was no party to the controversy, or known in
the process, they cannot avail themselves of the judgment.
What weight either argument would have in a federal
court can never be ascertained without a trial. But if the
line had been established according to the judgment between
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, all the land within our
parallels, between the Hne of property settled for New
York in 1768, and the waters of Lake Erie and Niagara,
would be but little if any more than there is in the tract
ceded to Massachusetts, including ten townships, of six
miles square each, lying between the rivers Tioga and
Chenango, and which are reserved to this state.
" Had the jurisdiction of the tract been ceded to the
commonwealth, the expense of representation, and of sup
porting courts of justice there, would have been excessive,
and, perhaps, would have swallowed up any expected
benefit arising from the property of the soil. Besides, the

168 LIFE AND WRITINGS
distance and extent of the territory, which is larger than
the whole state of Connecticut, would have very soon
prompted the people inhabiting it to revolt, which measure
could not but be countenanced by the people of New
York, as weU on a principle of revenge for the countenance
this state has afforded Vermont, as with a view to detach
them from our interest. It may be further observed that
holding the sovereignty of that territory to the common
wealth would have given us an extensive and dangerous
frontier, in an inland country, at too great a distance to be
defended. Under the present confederation the local
extension of states, all having an equal voice, is not of
much consequence ; and, should a new one be agreed upon,
or a national government ever be introduced, it will be of
less importance.
" But a sovereign state cannot with propriety hold a ter
ritory within the absolute sovereignty of another state.
Therefore it became necessary to allow the state of New
York a qualified jurisdiction only, while the property
remained in this state. Accordingly it was agreed, as
appears by the covenants in the indented parchment, that
the state of New York should lay no tax on the soil while
it remains the property of the commonwealth, nor on
their grantees until fifteen years after the grant; that
the commonwealth should march and keep forces on the
territory for the defence and security of the same against
the Indians, in the same manner as if we retained the
sovereignty ; and that the principles applying to sovereign
ties only, as expressed in the English law, nullum tempus
occurrit regi, should be preserved ; and, therefore, that
no length of possession should disseize the commonwealth.
" The covenant that no purchase of the preemption of
the soU from the native Indians should be made but by
the commonwealth, or by a disinterested superintendent
appointed for that purpose, is of great consequence to
both states, and ought to have a very particular attention.

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 169
New York has a great interest in this article, because,
should the commonwealth indulge private and interested
men in such purchases, such frauds would probably be
transacted as might involve the state of New York in a
war with the natives. The commonwealth, also, is greatly
interested, because, while this article is attended to, the
grants of the state will be conducted in a regular, system
atical manner, and, in a great measure, be guarded against
frauds and impositions ; and, what must still be a greater
motive with government, the purchases from the Indians
will be founded in the principles of justice and equity,
and the character of the state in these transactions be
saved from the disagreeable imputations which may other
wise rest against it, I would, therefore, wish that the
idea of appointing a man, or men, to manage and dispose
of this property, who shall give sufficient bonds never to
be, directly or indirectly, interested in any purchases or
grants, may be suggested ; for the territor}^ assured to
the state cannot but be considered as a great and valua
ble property.
" The provision of recording the deeds and grants in the
secretary's office of the commonwealth is in pursuance
of the idea of reserving to this state so much of the
sovereignty as may render the property valuable, and
secure the proper disposal of it. That copies of those
grants and purchases should be known to New York is
necessary, in order that its government may be ready to
answer any complaints made by the Indians against intrud
ers, or private purchasers, and that justice may be more
readily done, in their courts of justice, among the grantees
of the commonwealth.
" The tract ceded to New York adjoining upon the strait
of Niagara, parallel thereto and extending one mile there
from, contains the place where the British garrison now
stands, and will probably be a place of consequence, as it
is the most convenient pass between the dominions of
15

170 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Great Britain and the territory under consideration. It
forms an important frontier to New York ; wUl probably
be a place of trade, and consequently of great value to
that state, but perhaps of not so much to this. Be that as
it may, the cession of it became necessary as a compro
mise. The land on the west side of Niagara, and between
the lakes Erie and Ontario, is within the British dominions.
" The cession of this state to the United States is to the
westward of a meridian line falling from a point in Lake
Ontario, twenty miles west of the strait of Niagara, down
to Pennsylvania line. This will give the United States a
small piece of land between the westerly part of Pennsyl
vania and Lake Erie. The cession of New York is to the
westward of a meridian line faUing through the west cor
ner of Pennsylvania. Perhaps the reason of the difference
of these cessions was the want of a proper knowledge
of the geography of the country. Both cessions were,
undoubtedly, intended to be the same. If we consider the
tract ceded as derived from New York, the piece of land
mentioned wiU be iucontrovertibly the property of the
commonwealth. But, as it was not within the intendment
of the cession, the United States will never claim it. Be
that as it may, it is not of consequence enough to deserve
much attention.
" The plan referred to above is not altogether taken
from actual surveys. The north line of Pennsylvania has
been measured about twelvfe mUes from the north-east cor
ner of Niagara, and the greater part of the south shore of
Lake Ontario has been surveyed by a British geographer,
and the Susquehannah and some of the internal part of
the country by one who attended General SuUivan on his
expedition. The banks of Lake Erie having never been
surveyed, the tract of land ceded to this state wiU be
either more or less, according as the shore of that lake
shaU be found ; but it may be depended upon that, exclu
sive of the ten townships between the rivers Tioga and

OP JAMES SULLIVAN, 171
Chenango, it will contain six millions of acres. The ten
townships were earnestly contended for, because the com
missioners were informed, though not officially, that a con
tract had been made by the government, with Mr. Brown
and others, for them, and the honor of the commonwealth
was concerned in their retention ; and they, among other
things, were mentioned as an equivalent for the jurisdic
tion. " Almost the whole of the territory divided between the
state of New York and the commonwealth is possessed by
tribes of Indians. The Senecas and the Cayugas are there,
and perhaps some part of another nation. It is said that
the country holds more than four hundred fighting men ;
but the nations are fast decaying, and wish to emigrate
and incorporate themselves with the savages beyond the
lakes, before mentioned.
" Gentlemen, I am sorry that the absence of the other
commissioners prevents your having more full, precise
and satisfactory, information ; but, in compliance with your
request, I have thrown these hints upon paper. Any
other information I can give upon this subject is at your
command." For many months after the settlement of the controversy
the rebellion occupied public attention to the exclusion of
other subjects. When this was finally set at rest various
projects were agitated for the disposal of this western ter
ritory. As the right of Massachusetts was but that of
preemption from the Indians, their title was to be extin
guished before any benefit could be realized. New York
had prohibited purchases by private individuals from the
Six Nations. Yet, in total disregard of this law, two com
panics had been organized for the purpose, one caUed the
Genesee Land Company, composed of about eighty rich
and influential residents on or about the Hudson, repre
sented by Dr. Caleb Barton, John Livingston and Jared
Coffin ; and the other the Niagara Genesee Land Com-

172 LIFE AND WRITINGS
pany, consisting of Colonel John Butler and his associates,
chiefly Canadians. Through their influence over the Indian
chiefs, one of whom was the celebrated Brandt, they pro
cured a lease of aU the lands of the Iroquois, subject to
reservations and rights of fishing and hunting, for nine
hundred and ninety-nine years ; for which they agreed
to pay annually two thousand miUed dollars, and twenty
thousand more as a bonus.
Governor CHnton, of New York, pronounced by procla
mation this lease a nullity, and proceeded to procure
grants to his state of the lands faUing within her portion
from the Onondagas, Oneidas and Cayugas. Various com
plications, growing out of the interference of the lessees,
the state of feeling among the Indians, as also the con
dition of the state treasury and public debt, counselled
Massachusetts against delay ; and these and other reasons
assigned by SuUivan, in his report, influenced public senti
ment and the Legislature in favor of an early sale. This
appeared the more important as Livingston, in behalf of
the lessees, was an applicant for the purchase ; and it was
thought, were his proposals rejected, from the confidence
reposed in some of his associates by the chiefs, he would
have it in his power to thwart any efforts upon the part of
others to negotiate successfully with the Indian tribes. It
seemed, moreover, of doubtful expediency to retain a ter
ritory so circumstanced that it might easily become among
ourselves a cause of dissension or corruption. Whether it
would have been more judicious, or not, to retain it, the
suggestion that there was any undue infiuence brought to
bear upon the General Court seems utterly without found
ation. The well recognized wisdom, integrity and public
spirit, of those then directing the government, repels such
a supposition. Oliver Phelps, of Suffield, who enjoyed great popular
ity in Massachusetts, organized a company in the spring of
1788 (of which Judge SuUivan was a member, though with

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 173
only a small share), and made application to the Legislature
for leave to purchase one million of acres. Many other
influential individuals came forward with similar proposals ;
among them Nathaniel Gorham, one of the most distin
guished citizens of the state, and who had been president
of the Continental Congress. A compromise between the
several parties was finally effected, by which Gorham and
Phelps became the chief purchasers, and the rest were
admitted to take such interest in the enterprise as they felt
disposed. The sale was made on behalf of the state by a
legislative committee of great respectability, and the price
fixed at three hundred thousand pounds, to be paid in one,
two, and three years, in consolidated state securities, then
at considerable discount. The resolve authorizing the sale
was dated April first, 1788, and the Rev. Mr. Kirkland was
appointed to represent the commonwealth in the negotia
tions with the Indians, as provided by the deed of cession.
The grantees were more fortunate than they had reason
to anticipate in their dealings with the Senecas, whose ter
ritories covered the cession to Massachusetts. Phelps,
soon after his purchase, entered into negotiations with the
lessees ; but, after a bargain had been closed, finding no
likelihood of fulfilment on their part, in consequence of a
misunderstanding between the companies, proceeded to
Niagara, and there, through the influence of Colonel But
ler and Brandt, obtained a council with the Indians, at which
Red Jacket was present. A purchase was made, with
some reservations, of all the tract west of the preemption
line of Massachusetts, as it was called, and east of a line,
which, beginning on the Pennsylvania border, ran north to
the confluence of the Genesee River and the Canascraga
Creek, thence along the river to a point two miles north
of Canawagus Village, thence due west twelve miles, and
thence north again, keeping that distance from the Gen
esee, to Lake Ontario. The area covered about two mil
lion two hundred thousand acres, rather more than one
15*

174 LIFE AND WRITINGS
third of the cession to Massachusetts. The price was to
be five thousand dollars in money, and five hundred dollars
as a perpetual annuity.
When the first instalment of one hundred thousand
pounds fell due from the purchasers, on the first of AprU,
1789, in consequence of the great enhancement in value
of the state securities, from the establishment of the fed
eral government, and probable adoption of some effective
funding system, Gorham and Phelps were unable to make
good its payment. Suit was brought by Paine, the attor
ney-general, and the grantees petitioned the Legislature for
relief A compromise was made by a joint committee.
Gorham and Phelps reconveyed to Massachusetts aU the
territory not covered by their treaty with the Indians, two
thirds of their original grant, and were released from two
of their bonds. They sold half of their reserved third to
different individuals, and finally their residue, about one
million acres, to Robert Morris, for thirty thousand pounds.
New York currency. Through his agent in London, a
grandson of Dr. Franklin, Morris disposed of his purchase,
for thirty-five thousand pounds sterling, to Sir William
Pulteney, John Hornby and Patrick Colquhon, wealthy
English capitalists.
The portion surrendered by the grantees to Massachu
setts was soon after again sold to Mr. Morris. Five
hundred thousand acres, a belt twelve miles wide, next
west of what had been reserved by Gorham and Phelps,
and extending from the Pennsylvania line to Lake Ontario,
were conveyed to Mr. Morris himself, and known as the
Morris Reserve. The residue was conveyed in trust for
certain rich capitalists of Amsterdam, who had supplied
the funds for the purchase, in four separate conveyances,
three of sixteen mUes each in width, extending across the
breadth of the state, and the fourth of what remained being
the extreme westerly part of New York. These proprie
tors were called the Holland Company, and, by their liberal

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 175
sales and judicious management, appear to Have given sat
isfaction to settlers upon their territory.
This relation may seem tedious. The claim required
much thought and study upon the part of the commission
ers, and occupied the attention of Judge Sullivan, who had
the principal charge of preparing the evidence and argu
ments, many months. The amounts realized by Massachu
setts for this territory, worth now hundreds of miUions of
dollars, were certainly inadequate to its value. The leaders
of the day, who controlled the General Court, influenced
by the pressure of the war debt and heavy taxes, con
cluded it the best policy for the state to sell ; and in the
propriety of this course, with our imperfect knowledge
of their reasons, it is presumed we are bound to acquiesce.
Had it been retained till the resources of the country had
been better developed, it might have proved of more sub
stantial benefit to the state. Still, its early settlers were
generally her own people, who found there a profitable
field for their labor ; and she may have in this way derived
as much advantage as if more of its value had passed
through the public coffers.
Upon the principles recognized by the federal govern
ment, in receiving from Massachusetts the cession of the
tract between the Pennsylvania line and the Mississippi,
the claim of the commonwealth would still seem to be sub
sisting between that river and the Pacific. It will not
probably be ever asserted. But if, in their growing pre
ponderance, the large states should ever be disposed to
encroach upon the reserved rights of the smaller to sove
reignty and federal equality under the constitution, the
remembrance of the ready relinquishment by Massachu
setts of this extensive domain for the general benefit may
induce a spirit of forbearance.

CHAPTER IX.
THE REBELLION.
Were we permitted, now that so long a period has
elapsed, to Hft the veil from the sanctities of domestic life
and social intercourse, many pleasant pictures might be
presented of Boston ,and its people when SuUivan first
made it his abode. The dress and manners of former gen
erations are ever an interesting subject for study, and we
would gladly learn in what their habits, tastes and senti
ments, differed from our own. It would be agreeable to re-
people for a while the streets and houses with the voices
and animated presence of ancient worthies, whose names
we often hear, but with whom we have few well-defined
associations. From the fragmentary records that remain it would be
comparatively easy to weave anew much of the varied web
of their existence, and, by comprehending in a single
glance its pleasures, trials and employments, their various
objects of ambition and of effort, we might derive not only
entertainment, but profitable instruction. In most instances
this temptation • might be indulged without any possibUity
of evil ; but the rules of social decorum forbid liberties
with the memory of the dead, Avho still live in their
descendants with increased sensitiveness to praise and
blame. Yet, as the circumstances and incidents of private
life have often an important bearing on character and con
duct, no sketch of one who has taken an active part, how-

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLITAN, 177
OTer subordinate, in public affairs, can be complete without
some aUusion to the events of his household.
When Judge Sullivan established his famUy in Bowdoin
Square, it consisted of his wife and six children, of whom
the second was a daughter. James, the eldest, a lad of
brilliant talents and unusual promise, at the age of fourteen,
had lately entered Harvard College. The other boys, all
under twelve, were sent to different schools, where they
made many friends, and were favorably placed for enjoying
their hours of recreation.
Immediately opposite their new residence. Beacon Hill,
taking its name from the ancient beacon which formerly
crowned its summit, and which was used to give signal of
approaching danger to the neighboring towns, rose to
nearly double its present elevation. Its steep slopes were
covered in summer with rich verdure, and occupied by cat
tle grazing; and in the colder season it afforded an inex
haustible supply of amusement to youth in the petty ponds
for skating, and deep snow-banks. From the foot of the hill
towards the north, where is now a crowded quarter of the
city, fields and marshes extended as far as Barton's Point.
These were partiaUy occupied by long, low buildings,
used for the manufacture of rope and cordage ; at intervals,
where the nature of the ground permitted, there were
clusters of humble cottages ; and towards the water stood
the powder-house and pest-house, both regarded with great
awe by imaginative urchins. Scattered about the declivity
of the hill, the shores of the river and the point, were many
lines of defences, ramparts, ditches and countervallations,
the remains, still in a tolerable degree of preservation, of
works thrown up by the British during their armed occu
pation of the place, or which had been subsequently erected
as security against their return. Upon the opposite slope
of the hiU, towards the south, protected by its crest from
the north winds, were the spacious mansions of Hancock
and Bowdoin, the two first governors, surrounded by gar-

178 LIFE AND WRITINGS
dens and extensive enclosures, and commanding views
of the harbor, sea and country, of great variety and
beauty. This westerly part of the town bounded on the Back
Bay, which spread out in a broader expanse than at present
towards Brookline, Cambridge and the mouth of the Charles
River ; and, no bridge as yet obstructing its communication
with the harbor, numerous vessels and sail-boats gave Hfe
and animation to its waters. Not far from the square,
towards the north, lay the Mill Pond, kept nearly at the
level of the tide, now long since fiUed up and covered with
buildings, but then, with its grist-mill and well-filled ware
houses, a busy centre of trade and industry. To boys
fresh from the quiet pursuits of country life, the streets,
with their long lines of substantial edifices, and picturesque
costumes of much greater variety than is ever exhibited in
the sober colors and plain forms of modern fashion, afforded
constant entertainment; and, brought up as they had been
far from the shore, the harbor and the sea opened to their
excitable fancies a new world of wonder and delight.
With all his professional and public occupations, their
father never forgot that his most sacred duty was the
proper training of his children ; and, taking part in their
pleasures and pursuits, he watched over both their studies
and diversions with affectionate solicitude.
In February, 1783, George, the youngest son, was born;
and, a year later, Nancy, the youngest child, who Hved but
fifteea months. On the twenty -sixth day of January, 1786,
Mrs. Sullivan, who in the morning had presided at the
breakfast-table, surrounded by her bright and happy group
of children, was taken suddenly iU, and died at eight o'clock
the same evening. To a man of keen and ardent feelings,
who fondly loved the partner of aU his joys and sorrows
since early manhood, her loss, when they were both but at
the middle stage of Hfe, was a heavy shock. In a letter
written to his friend, Rufus King, from beside her coffin.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 179
he says: " On Thursday morning last I felt myself as happy
as I wished. I breakfasted with a lady whom you know I
adored. She was cheerful and gay, but before eight
o'clock in the evening she was a breathless corpse. For
the space of nine hours' illness, the skill of physicians was
exhausted in vain attempts to save a life dear to many, but
infinitely so to me and her seven children. She now lies
by me while I write ; but her lips are forever sealed, nor
do her frozen eyelids permit those charms which so con
stantly have beamed pleasure on my soul. I cannot, nor
ought I, to write to communicate to you the feelings of
my heart. 0, my friend I you will pity me. A life of
gloominess and anxiety awaits, and, had I not now the
double charge of these orphans, my earnest prayer would
be to go down with her to the silent tomb."
Again, some three months later, whUe still under the
poignancy of recent bereavement, he writes to the same
friend : " Your letter is kindly addressed to a heart suffer
ing in all the severity of grief. I thank you for your care
of my health, in the expressing of which you so intimately
enter into my feelings. My dear cliildren demand much
from me, and deserve everything. I am obliged to appeal*
quite otherwise than I am, to keep up their spirits ; and I
give you the pleasure of knowing that my health is better
than it has been for a long time past. My dear King, I
have now nothing left for me but a fearful anxiety, and a
dull, heavy, downward road of life. She for whom alone T
lived, she who wished to live for me, is now no more.
Religion points her out to me in the company of angels ;
but that form, in which she blessed me with every domestic
happiness for eighteen years, is now mouldering in the
tomb. 0, could I, were any such thing possible, see her
happy shade, I would lay me down night after night in the
gloomy church-yard to enjoy the sight ! I see I am wild.
There is a luxury in grief some men have not the capacity
to enjoy. May God long preserve you, my dear friend.

180 LIFE AND WRITINGS
from that kind of sorrow which, to a man of your generous
sensibility, would be like the arrows of death indeed.
" I can write to my brother with composure ; but I know
not how it is, that, when I address you, the tears are spon
taneous, and flow with pleasure. I rejoice that you are
joined to a lady in the way which makes friendship cer
tain. I am rich in your happiness, because I hear that it is
founded on the connection of virtue and amiability. Enjoy
each moment ; they look big with pleasure as they advance,
but, when they are passed, they are annihilated. How many
moments have passed unheeded which I might have filled
with love and joy ! But they will no more return. Nor
can I now grasp one sprig of happiness on this side of the
grave. My dear King, pardon this effusion. It may bear
the candid eye of a friend like you, but would blush at
other eyes.
" I cannot refrain from telling you that the more you rise
in the world, the more you will augment my pleasure ; for I
do assure you, with the greatest sincerity, that the prosper
ity of no man on earth, my brother not excepted, ever gave
me more satisfaction than your own. Will you oblige me
by begging your lady, in my name, to accept the tender of
friendship from a man who once enjoyed a felicity like
yours, and whose sole object was to makp an amiable
woman happy as you will make her?" >
Fortunately his days were too busily occupied for the .
indulgence of grief Besides the unremitting attention
demanded by his principal charge, the state claim to the
lands west of the Hudson, his private practice was rapidly
increasing. He was always diligent in the preparation of
his causes ; and for some of them researches were to be
made far removed from the usual field of professional
labor. But no efforts were too arduous for one of his
indomitable energy of character; and his habits of industry
and devotion to his legal pursuits and kindred subjects, at
this time, have been especially remembered

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 181
One of his earliest important cases after leaving the
bench, of which we find any particular notice, was that of
the Rev. John Murray, generally called the father of Uni-
versalism in America, against the parish of Gloucester, for
his salary. Murray had been earlier a disciple of White-
field, in London ; and, through the infiuence of Relly and
his own careful study of the Scriptures, while still retain
ing the doctrines of the trinity, had become converted to
a faith in the universal salvation of mankind by restitution
through the Saviour. His views were somewhat modified
by a further examination ; but he never professed any
belief in that intermediate state of limited punishments
which has been a favorite tenet with many of his sect,
considering sin sufficiently punished in this world.
In consequence of his new views Murray was expelled
from the tabernacle ; and, grievously afflicted by the loss
of his wife and son, came to America, in 1770, intending
to pass the rest of his days in seclusion. Upon landing in
New Jersey, he was easily persuaded to reascend the pul
pit ; and the fame of his eloquence, and of opinions boldly
asserted, which fiattered their pride and quieted their anx
ieties, attracted crowds of listeners in New York, Phila
delphia and Newport. In the autumn of 1773 he made
his first visit to Boston, and, at the solicitation of his
friend, Thomas H. Peck, preached at intervals in the fac
tory at the corner of what is now Hamilton Place, at
Faneuil Hall, and Croswell's meeting-house, till about the
time of the battle of Lexington, when he was violently
assailed at the latter place by a mob, who broke the win
dows of the building — one of the stones, and that a heavy
one, striking his pulpit. " During the siege, he was ap
pointed by Washington, upon the request of Generals
Greene and Varnum, and against the remonstrances of the
other chaplains of the army, preacher to the three Rhode
Island regiments. The exemplary performance of his
duties inspired respect both in officers and men, which
16

182 LIFE AND WRITINGS
was shared by the commander-in-chief " Every morning
at seven he met the several regiments on parade. Grad'
ually the habits and the rough manners of the soldiery
yielded to his christianized eloquence ; and his success in
the army was indeed wonderful." His own practice did
credit to his precepts ; and many instances are recorded
of his zealous benevolence in aid of the sick and the
feeble- Want of health soon compelled his resignation; and,being
established at Gloucester, several distinguished converts,
in 1780, built for him a church. The Calvinists, regarding
his denial of eternal damnation as striking at the very
foundation of Christianity, excommunicated in form his
followers from the orthodox fold, while disputing their
right to appropriate their assessments for public worship
to the support of their own society. The third article of
the bill of rights provided that individuals might pay their
taxes for the maintenance of any public Protestant teacher
of piety, religion and morality, of their own sect, provided
there was one in the town on whose instructions they
attended ; otherwise they were to be paid to the established
preacher of the parish or precinct in which they resided.
In order to bring the controversy to an issue, suit was
brought in the name of Mr. Murray ; and the question,
involving the religious rights of the Episcopalians, Baptists,
Presbyterians, Sandemanians and Quakers, denominations
which were then called sectaries in Massachusetts, being
now for the first time agitated under the constitution,
attracted general attention. It was repeatedly on trial
in the inferior and supreme courts, upon appeal, new
trial and review, at Salem and Ipswich, in 1783 and the
three foUowing years. Rufus King, who had been at first
retained, and had argued the case with an oratory described
as " persuading, commanding, and, like an irresistible tor-
rept, bearing down every obstacle," removing to New
York, Judge S^Uivan was engaged in his place. In his

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 183
letter to Mr. King, of the twenty-fifth of June, 1785, he
gives the following account of the first trial :
" On Wednesday last was tried the case of John Murray
against the inhabitants of the first parish of Gloucester.
The cause was opened by Mr. Tudor, and closed by me,
Mr. Bradbury and Parsons for the parish. Many exce^
tions were taken to the form of the action ; but the three
judges present, SewaU, Dana and Sumner, agreed the
action to be well brought. On our part, we proved that
the society under the teaching of Murray were a s6ct
different from [Calvinists], by denying the external rite
of baptism. We rested it there. The court thought we
ought to prove him to be a teacher of piety, religion and
morality, to entitle him to the action. To this we agreed,
and therefore produced evidence that he professed to
teach the Christian religion, which we thought to be a
moral system, and that the persons whose taxes were in
consideration attended upon him as a teacher of morality,
and were content to submit the cause. Upon the other
side they moved to prove that his doctrines were opposed
to morality because he denied punishment in another
world. To this we objected that, although we were
obliged to prove him a teacher of moralit}'', yet they would
not go so far as to bring before a civil tribunal the ques
tion whether- the motives of rewards and punishments in
another world were such as would induce piety ; for,
should we once launch into that inquiry, there would be
no end to it. For, suppose the clergyman in suit was an
Episcopalian, one of the thirty-nine articles might be pro
duced against him, which, perhaps, he had sworn to, holding
up the idea of election and reprobation, which would be
deemed by those who dissented from the doctrine to be
opposed to every incentive to virtue or determent from
vice. All Calvinists were involved in the same observa
tion ; the Hopkintonians worse, still worse ; and it might
even be said of the Arminians that their distinction be-

184 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tween foreknowledge and predestination was derogatory
to the perfection of the Deity; and so no end could be had
to the disquisition. The court were, however, against us,
and, in summing up, or rather arguing the cause, gave it as
their full opinion that no teacher but one who was elected
by a corporate society could recover money paid by his
hearers to the teacher of the parish. This excludes, you
wiU observe, the Episcopalians, Baptists, Quakers, Presby
terians and Sandemanians, from all benefit arising from the
third article. The jury thought otherwise, and gave us a
verdict. John Tracy, foreman."
It wUl be observed that upon this trial he obtained the
verdict of the jury in direct opposition to the instruction
of the judges. When the cause was heard upon review,
a year after, the bench had changed in opinion. Murray
was in Cumberland at the time of the last trial, and the
following account of it was sent him by a friend :
" Last Tuesday our party, with their cloud of witnesses,
were present, and called out at the bar of the Supreme Judi
cial Court. The cause was opened by Mr. Bradbury, and
replied to by Mr. Hitchborn ; and then the court adjourned
to the succeeding morning. I arrived just in season to hear
it taken up by Mr. Parsons, and closed by Mr. SuUivan. I
wish for an opportunity to render my acknowledgments to
this gentleman. He displayed upon this day an eloquence
not less than Roman. The judges summed up the whole.
The first was ambiguous; the second was so trammelled, and
so inarticulate, as to be scarcely understood; but the remain
ing three have acquired a glory which will be as lasting as
time. The conduct of Judge Dana attracted particular no
tice. You remember that he heretofore labored against us.
There appeared a disposition to traverse our counsel. In
his comments on the constitution, those parts which made
for us he turned against us ; he asserted that the tax was
not persecuting, but legal ; religious societies were bodies
corporate, or meant to be so ; sect and denomination were

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 185
promiscuously used and synonymous ; and thq whole was
delivered with a sententious gravity, the result of faculties
laboriously cultivated by experience and study. But a
revolution had now passed in his mind, and when he noticed
that article in the constitution which directs moneys to be
applied to the teachers of his own religious sect, he said
the whole cause depended upon the construction of that
clause. He had theretofore been of opinion that it meant
teachers of bodies corporate ; he then thought otherwise.
As the constitution was meant for a liberal purpose, its
construction should be of a most liberal kind. It meant,
in this instance, teachers of any persuasion whatever, Jew
or Mahometan. It would be for the jury to determine if
Mr. Murray was a teacher of piety, religion and morality ;
and that matter, he said, had in his opinion been fully
proved. The only question, therefore, before them was, if
Mr. Murray came within the description of the constitu
tion, and had a right to require the money. 'It is my
opinion,' he decidedly declared, 'that Mr. Murray comes
within the description of the constitution, and has a right
to require the money.' The jury received the cause, and
departed the court at half past three. In the evening they
returned, Avith a declaration that they could not agree. The
chief judge ordered them to take the papers and go out
again. They continued in deliberation the whole night.
Thursday morning they came in again, declaring their
unanimous agreement that the judgment obtained the pre
ceding year was in nothing erroneous. Thus have we
gained our cause, after trials of such expectation and
severity. We rejoice greatly, 'It is the Lord's doings,
and marvellous in our eyes.' "
This was one of a series of causes in which Sullivan
defended the important principles of religious liberty.
Evidence exists of his previous attention to the subject of
controversial divinity. The studies required for prepara
tion in this case were frequently called into use for other
16*

186 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ecclesiastical causes, which were of frequent occurrence
while he was at the bar. It seems probable the investi
gations they involved of scriptural authority may have
brought about that modification of his early religious ten
ets to be particularly mentioned hereafter.
A storm was now brooding over New England, which
was to awaken in aU the profoundest anxiety for the future
welfare of our infant republics. War had broken up, or
greatly interrupted, most of its business occupations.
Great Britain, closing her ports by navigation laws and
prohibitory duties to American productions, crowded our
markets with her own fabrics, and, thus turning against us
the balance of trade, gradually drained the country of its
substantial currency. Industry was deprived of employ
ment, and property depreciated. The war debt of Massa
chusetts, when reduced to legal standards, still amounted
to five millions, and her proportion of the forty-two mil
lions due on continental loans to as much more. Public
faith demanded heavy taxation, which the people, in their
impoverished condition, were unable to meet without ruin
ous sacrifices. Private debts, both to the foreign and
domestic creditor, which had been suspended during the
war, were now put in suit ; and processes, far more strin
gent and oppressive than anything we know, filled the jails,
and reduced multitudes to beggary and want. In the
county of Worcester, then containing a population of less
than fifty thousand souls, there were two thousand actions
at one time on the dockets of its Common Pleas; a number
not perhaps surprising for a commercial centre, but which
in a rural district indicated the utmost embarrassment and
destitution. Soldiers, returning from their campaigns with expensive
habits and shattered constitutions, their early aptitudes for
labor lost in the desultory occupations of the camp, felt
that their toils and dangers deserved from their country,
from fortune, or from Providence, some better requital

OF JAMES SULLITAN, 187
than a life of hardship and privation. Some among the less
reasonable, ever disposed, when the world went wrong
with them, to hold everything and everybody but them
selves accountable, considered the courts and lawyers the
main cause of all the public calamity. Others thought the
system of government itself at fault, and the time already
ripe for another revolution. Patriots, who had lately led
the way to independence, had deservedly won the univer
sal respect and gratitude of their countrymen ; nor were
there wanting many who, from exceUent motives, but from
an utter misconception of the case, were quite inclined to
emulate their example. No one could remember under
the king any similar complication of distress. If former
times demanded change, how much more the present, when
there was no bread for the hungry, when the family farm
was under the hammer, and the prisons crowded with
officers and soldiers, who, in the late contest, had freely
shed their blood for their country? The growing discon
tents, first expressed in moderated murmurs through the
press, gained strength from the slightest opposition, and,
spreading rapidly throughout society, especially in the
northern and western counties, more than one third of the
whole population became in time disaffected towards the
government, and ready to break out into open rebeUion.
Such was the troubled state of public feeling in Massa
chusetts at the opening of the year 1786. Controversies,
often flaming into angry altercation, upon the necessity and
proper methods of sustaining the public credit, and upon
different theories of government, with a view of devising
some more efficient substitute for the articles of confeder
ation, fiUed the journals. In certain essays upon the lat
ter topic, entitled The Free Republican, first published in
the Boston Magazine, commending the checks and balances
of the English system, their author spoke of lawyers as a
necessary order of society. Irritated by incessant litiga
tions, and the exhaustion of their substance in fees and

188 LIFE AND WRITINGS
costs, whUe this class alone were growing rich, the suffer
ers were quite disposed to question whether the profes
sion were actuaUy even a necessary evil, and not rather
an antiquated instrument of oppression, which ought to be
aboHshed. Many able writers, in the capital and other
parts of the state, encouraged this sentiment ; and among
them, with good intentions, doubtless, but from a serious
mistake as to the tendency of such opinions, CounseUor
Gardiner, whose prejudices against his legal brotherhood
had been formed while a practitioner in England, and who
since his arrival here had broached projects of reform not
relished by his new associates. With him was connected
in this warfare Benjamin Austin, junior, who, at his imputed
instigation, now, over the signature of Honestus, inveighed
in forcible language both against the bar and the legal
tribunals. Mr. Austin, by his essays on trade, signed Friend to
Commerce, and by his diatribes, as Brutus, against the
tories, had already become well known as a writer. His
family was distinguished in revolutionary annals. His
father had been an influential member of the Council when
clothed with executive powers before the adoption of the
state constitution, and his brother had been sent to Europe
with the tidings of Burgoyne's surrender, which led to the
French aUiance. From his freedom and fearlessness in
assaiUng whatever was opposed to his particular views of
public policy, he often provoked a disposition to retaliate ;
and abuse long continued, even where whoUy unmerited,
affects reputation. But no one can read his many able and
eloquent essays, signed Examiner, and Old South, or those
over his more familiar pseudonym of Honestus, without
giving him credit for sincere patriotism.
At this particular conjuncture, however, little being
needed to kindle the country, in its feverish condition, into
a rebeUion, these essays of Honestus were exceedingly
iU-timed. Had his aim been confined to reform in points

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 189
deservedly open to censure, there could have been no rea
sonable ground of objection to his course. But his sweep
ing denunciations of a class embracing among its ranks
some of the most honorable, patriotic and useful, members
of society, were calculated to injure, not the profession
alone, but the public. Among others who resented this
unmerited reproach upon the fraternity were several of the
more eminent of their number, who ably defended, over
the signatures of Lawyer, Lselius, Twig of the Branch,
and Democraticus, the existing system. From a natural
esprit de corps, Judge Sullivan took part in the discussion,
and wrote, in reply to Honestus, a series of three articles,
signed Zenas ; a signature he had frequently assumed
during the war, and one by which he was well known.
He reviewed the history of the legal profession in other
times and countries, and vindicated the importance of the
institution to the maintenance of social order and the secu
rity of private right. He betrayed some asperity towards
his antagonists, but evidently from an impression that their
sentiments were not only irrational, but, at that particular
conjuncture, also fraught with danger to the public peace.
These he followed up, the following year, by others on the
same subject, signed TuUy.
However much these clever productions of Honestus
may have contributed to aggravate the general discontent,
they were probably instrumental, in connection with the
untiring efforts of Mr. Gardiner, in introducing simple and
economical methods of procedure into the practice of law
in Massachusetts, which have served for an example to
other states and to some European nations. The previous
year the legislature had authorized any one to argue his
own cause, at the same time providing that no person
should be admitted an attorney unless properly qualified.
Great efforts were now made to have that law further
modified, so that aU who felt inclined should be permitted
to practise, and to have what was called the bar-call utterly

190 LIFE AND WRITINGS
done away. The fee-bUl was reduced, but the movement
was m other respects successfully resisted tiU the spring
of 1790, when it was further enacted that parties might
empower, under seal, whom they chose to manage their
causes, whether regular attorneys or not.
As Zenas was easily identified, and the other cham
pions for the profession could only be conjectured, he was
singled out by its assailants for more than his share of
abuse. Their supposed leader, who had returned to Bos
ton since the peace, and engaged in practice, from his
superior advantages of education at Glasgow and in the
courts at Westminster, was somewhat dictatorial; and Judge
Sullivan, not one who would meekly admit the pretensions
of a comparative stranger to control, became an object of
his dislike. He had further offended him by opposing the
immediate admission of his son, or himself, to full feUowship
with the elder members, without compliance with the rules,
as would appear by the following lines from a satirical
poem of the day, defending Zenas from his attacks :
" Has Zenas dared to contradict thy will.
Or check the torrent of thy seven-mouthed quill ?
Has he opposed thy proud attempts to join
The long-robed gentry formed in legal line ?
Say, did his arm the dreadful barrier frame,
To bound thy hopes of more than deathless fame? "
HostUity on one side provoked retaliation on the other ;
and a long epistle in verse to Zenas was published at the
time, which has much merit. It was attributed to the
younger Gardiner, supposed to be referred to in the above
verses, and who afterwards became a distinguished divine.
Allusion is made without scruple to these ancient quarrels,
since, measured by then existing standards, and explained
by the provocations out of which they grew, while reflect
ing little reproach upon the parties, they serve to throw
light upon subsequent events. ¦
MeanwhUe, in the interior counties, disaffection was

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 191
rapidly spreading. County meetings were^ called, and nu
merously attended. Their list of grievances was long, and
not very reasonable. They complained of the great amount
of the impost and supplementary taxes granted to the gen
eral government, and this before our claims in offset had
been allowed ; of our enormous state expenditures and
heavy salaries, of British influence, of increasing tenden
cies to aristocracy, of the senate and the courts, of costs
and lawyers, of Boston as the capital, of the great want of
a circulating medium., of the non-redemption of the depre
ciated paper, and of the impaired state of the public credit.
Many of these were undoubtedly great evUs, but they were
for the most part not within the reach of legislation.
The first appearance of armed rebellion was in August,
at Northampton, when fifteen hundred men took posses
sion of the court-house, and the sessions of the courts in
several other of the counties were prevented by large
numbers of men in arms. In Worcester, Artemas Ward,
who had been general-in-chief of our army at Boston
before Washington, appointed on the continental establish
ment, superseded him, was the chief justice of the Com
mon Pleas, and by his gallant and dauntless bearing, and
the eloquence of his appeal to the better feelings of the
mob, was enabled to prevent immediate acts of violence,
if not successful in persuading it to disperse. At the
same period, in the neighboring state of New Hampshire,
the spirit of disorder, if not as intense as in Massachusetts,
was widely extended. Instead of being directed against
the courts, an attempt was made to coerce the legislature.
Some hundreds of men, armed and organized, surrounded
the meeting-house at Exeter, where the legislature was
sitting in convention, and having first sent in petitions
demanding remission of taxes, the issue of a paper cur
rency, and relief for their various discomforts, crowded
into the building. General SuUivan, the president of the
state, who was presiding over the convention, addressed

192 LIFE AND WRITINGS
that body, stating the reasons why these petitions should
not be entertained, and showing their unreasonableness
and inconsistency. He declared that no demands, accom
panied by threats of violence, ought ever to be comphed
with, and that no considerations of personal hazard should
render the legislature forgetful of its public duty. His
speech was cool and deliberate, but only served further to
exasperate the insurgents, who, as soon as it was concluded,
retired from the haU. They surrounded the building with
sentinels, and the members were assured that they should
not be permitted to retire until all demands were com
plied with. The convention adjourned at the usual hour,
and when General Sullivan attempted to leave the house,
his progress was barred by the bayonets of a close column
of the rioters. A cry was raised to fire upon him ; but he
composedly told them he had had too much experience of
powder to be afraid of theirs. In a speech of some length
he expostulated upon the madness and folly of their conduct,
telling them that it could only bring ruin upon themselves,
without tending in the slightest degree to accomplish their
objects, and that they would be resisted by the whole force
of the government while he continued at its head. At this
moment a cry was raised, by some of the citizens of Exe
ter, that a body of artillery were approaching, and the
rioters retreated. The legislature resumed its session,
and, under its authority, the president collected in the
course of the night several hundred men, who, attacking
the insurgents, secured forty of them prisoners, and put
the rest to flight. Pardons were granted to all who were
taken, and the insurrection was suppressed without blood
shed or injury to any one.
Judge SuUivan had frequent opportunities, in his profes
sional practice, to watch the growing storm, and to realize
the danger that impended, and he was not backward in
lending aU his influence and efforts in support of the legally
constituted authorities. When the first tidings of the out-

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 193
break reached the capital, they created profound conster
nation. A day or two after appeared in the Centinel the
following sensible views from his pen on the subject of
the discontents :
" Hints addressed to the serious Consideration of the
People op the Counties op Bristol and Middlesex. —
The good people of this state are groaning, as they im
agine, under innumerable burdens, which they impute to
the mal-administration of government. Their complaints,
I doubt not, are some few of them well-founded. But
before they proceed to extremities in demanding redress,
let them carefully discriminate between those evUs which
exist in reality and such as are only imaginary. Let them
first investigate the true cause of their troubles, and impar
tially examine whether the chief sources do not centre in
themselves. The fact is, luxury and extravagance have
long since been tamely suffered to banish industry and
frugality from their peaceful seats, and reign with un
bounded sway.
" The fair daughters of America, who were once con
tented to sit down and sing aU day to their spinning-wheels,
who were proud of their ability to appear in the modest
apparel wrought with their own hands, are now ambitious
only to be flaunting in their lutestrings and brocades ; and
Columbia's hardy sons, who knew not the source of corrup
tion, but boasted of their independence in being able to
feed and clothe themselves with the fruit of their own soil
and the labor of their own hands, are ignobly sunk into
venality and idleness. It is true we are burdened, but
mostly by our own laziness and extravagance.
. " There seems at present to be a general dissatisfaction
throughout the state. Whether it is with or without cause,
let us not rashly apply a remedy that may prove more fatal
than the disease. If we are in pain, let us not trust in our
own skiU, but rather apply to the power which we think
17

194 LIFE AND WRITINGS
has inflicted the wound, and which we Mow is best able to
give rehef Then let economy and application to business
resume their seats, and all will be well again.
" How much soever we may be oppressed, we cannot be
oppressed by justice. Why, then, should we wish to stop
its execution ? If we have honestly involved ourselves
either in public or private debts, let us as- honestly dis
charge the obligations we have voluntarily contracted.
We have nobly bled for our liberty, and finally obtained
the victory ; but, at the rate we are abo.ut to use it, God
knows it cannot be much preferable to slavery. Liberty
is in itself a most valuable blessing ; but there is as wide
difference betwixt liberty and licentiousness as there is
betwixt liberty and the most abject slavery. The free-
born sons of America begin to confound these in practice,
if they do not in idea. They seem to think that to enjoy
liberty is to live independently of all laws, both divine and
human ; that each one should have a code of laws written
in his own breast, and adapted to his own convenience.
But, friends ! correct your error before the tyrant's herald
shall proclaim it too late. Be assured that by your turbu
lence and sedition you are preparing a yoke for your own
necks, and heaping miUions of burdens upon those which
you now think too grievous to be borne.
" Whoever lives to see but a few years more, must either
see liberty used in a more rational manner, or expiring in
the hands of a tyrannical master. Where, then, will be
your much-boasted independence ? Alas ! it will have fled
for refuge to a more secure asylum. Then wiU you learn
the value of your liberty by its loss. Then, instead of
going out at your pleasure, and returning in safety, you
wiU have it said, ' Hitherto shalt thou go, and no further.'
Thus much shalt thou possess, and no more.
" Whilst we now have it in our power to show ourselves
worthy of the name and privUeges of Americans, let us not
become a prey to lawless ambition, or the sport of contend-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 195
ing powers. Whilst we maintain inviolate our rights and
privileges, let us not give our Hberty wings to fly away.
That freedom which was purchased at the price of the blood
of millions of our friends and countrymen, is too dear to
be abused, and is most certainly worthy of our careful
preservation. My Countrymen ! be not only free, but be
wise and virtuous. Then will you enjoy the fruits of your
native soil in peace and quietness. Then wUl you rejoice
in the name of Americans, and not until then will you be
happy." On the same day a meeting was called at Faneuil Hall,
over which Samuel Adams presided, and a committee ap
pointed, to which the moderator was added as chairman, to
draw up an address to the governor, and a circular letter
to the other towns of the state, to report on the foUowing
Monday. Judge Sullivan was the first named on this com
mittee, and, as the latter paper in the city archives is in
his handwriting, it was probably principaUy or wholly pre
pared by him. It is calm and dispassionate, appealing to
the better judgments of the insurgents, and well calculated
to allay their feelings of irritation. It is too long for inser
tion, but will find a place in another volume.
In a letter from Dr. Thaeher, dated the fifteenth, to
Lieutenant-Governor Cushing, then a delegate to the con
vention at Annapolis, giving a full and interesting account
of the disturbances, after praising the course taken by Mr.
Adams, he says : " The lawyers hang aloof, except Sullivan,
who has done well, and appear to be waiting for an oppor
tunity to secure themselves, or to unite in the dissolution
of the government." To set an example to others. Judge
SuUivan shouldered a musket and joined a volunteer com
pany, and would have proceeded with it to the field of
operations, had men been wanting for the purpose. Dur
ing the autumn he was engaged with the western land
claim, and in November was obHged to pass through the
disaffected country on his way to meet the other commis-

196 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sioners at Hartford. When the controversy with New
York was happily brought to a termination in the middle
of December, with LoweU, King and Parsons, he again
slowly traversed the state from the Connecticut to the
capital. To a people accustomed to excitements there was some
thing fascinating and infectious in the general turmoil. As
the season advanced, and the crops were harvested, multi
tudes, mounting the sprig of evergreen, the badge of rebel
lion, collected together in tumultuary assemblages around
their adopted standard, — a pine tree cut for the purpose, —
and, by exaggerated details of the real or imaginary griev
ances of themselves or their neighbors, added fresh fuel to
the discontents. Among them were many revolutionary
officers, who were called upon to form the masses into
companies, and instruct them in military science. In De
cember more than a thousand were collected at Worcester,
well armed and disciplined, under Captain Daniel Shays,
formerly an officer in the continental establishment, as
their commander ; and several hundred more, further west,
under Luke Day and EH Parsons.
Upon the earliest inteUigence of the disturbances. Gov
ernor Bowdoin caUed an extra session of the legislature,
to meet in September. With a wish to give time for reflec
tion, and spare, if possible, the effusion of blood, concilia
tory measures were adopted: the costs of law-suits were
diminished, a tender act passed, and taxes authorized to be
paid in produce or other property, upon appraisement.
The court, with great reluctance, and after long debate,
suspended the act of habeas corpus ; at the same time
promising pardon to aU who should, within a given period,
signify their intention to obey the laws.
Samuel Adams, then president of the senate, having
asked Judge Sullivan's advice as to the proper measures
to be pursued, he addressed to him, on the twelfth of Oc
tober, 1786, the foUowing letter : "My interest in the state.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 197
independent of any use I may have been of in the late
revolution, may apologize for my intruding my senti
ments upon you in this day of public distress. I do not
conceive that the Court of Common Pleas is a grievance,
or even an inconvenience sufficient to raise the present
commotions. There can be no substitute that can give
satisfaction ; and an attempt to find one yields to the insur
gents, and overturns the government. Nor do I consider
the suppression of the habeas corpus, on the other hand,
to be of importance. , Let me, to save your time from
being wasted by me, only say that it is my opinion that
an act ought to be reported and passed for the following
purposes : 1. For pardoning all, or nearly all, the late
insurgents. 2. Declaring such insurrections, in future,
high treason. 3. Providing a trial for such offences in
such counties as the General Court shall order. Let this
be accompanied with a resolution, separate from the act,
declaring such commotions rebellion, and requesting the
governor to call out the force of the state to quell them in
future ; and let an act be reported providing a system of
law-martial, not to control the persons or property of the
citizens, and only to be exercised on the militia when
called out by the governor. Let this be accompanied by
another resolution, declaring that the General Court will
attend to the petitions of the people in their several towns,
and redress all grievances which the powers of govern
ment can redress. I could wish that the idea of a county
convention being a legal body could be exploded. I will
only add, that I believe such decisive measures will save
our freedom ; while, on the other hand, temporizing will
inevitably overthrow the constitution."
Upon reference to the statutes and resolves which soon
after passed the Court, it will be found that many of these
recommendations coincided with the views of other men
of influence, and, adopted, contributed to allay the angry
17*

198 LIFE AND WRITINGS
feelings which, at the time, were threatening to drown in
blood our infant liberties.
James, the eldest son of Judge Sullivan, had graduated
with credit at Cambridge the preceding summer, taking
for his commencement theme the proposed federal consti
tution. Upon the outbreak of the disturbances he had
joined a company of light-infantry, raised to act against
the insurgents, of which Harrison Gray Otis was com
mander, and Thomas Russell and John Gray lieutenants.
Being the taUest man in the company, though only seven
teen years of age, he was appointed first sergeant. When,
towards the end of November, it was rumored that the rebels
intended to obstruct the sitting of the court at Cambridge,
the cadets and light-infantry were stationed at the Charles
River Bridge, prepared for action. Soon after. Colonel
Hitchbourn raised a company of cavalry of one hundred
men to go into the county of Middlesex to seize Job
Shattuck and other ringleaders ; and James, who was an
excellent horseman, and familiar with the country, volun
teered as one of them.
This expedition was completely successful. After a
long and disagreeable march, a great part of the way in the
night and during a heavy snow-storm, they reached Groton,
where Shattuck resided. A troop of horse, under Colonel
Wood, of Pepperell, had already captured Parker and Page,
but Shattuck had escaped into the woods. He was, after
some search, discovered, pursued and apprehended, though
not without a sharp conflict with one of the troop, in which
much personal bravery was displayed; Shattuck having
been badly wounded in the knee, and the other receiving a
slight cut in the face. Groton being forty-three mUes
from Boston, with their direct course and the chase for
Shattuck the company rode nearly one hundred mUes
between Wednesday morning and Thursday evening ; and
some of them were nine hours on horseback " without
Bcarcely dismounting."

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 199
Wlien the January session found the rebels only the more
insolent in their demands, from the lenity of the goTernment
and their own fancied security, a force of four thousand
four hundred men, by the aid of liberal contributions from
patriotic citizens of Boston, was organized and placed under
the command of General Lincoln. The army left Roxbury
on the twenty-first of January, and, after relieving General
Shepherd, who was stationed to protect the arsenal at
Springfield, threatened with attack by a force under the
rebel leader. Day, pursued the retreating insurgents up the
Connecticut. On the third day of February, Lincoln, hear
ing that Shays had marched to Petersham, left Hadley at
eight o'clock in the evening, and, after a night-march of
thirteen hours, part of the Avay over high hills and in a
violent snow-storm, reached that place, over thirty miles
distant, at nine o'clock the next morning. Manj^ of his
men were frost-bitten, and all exhausted by this long march.
But the rebels, panic-stricken at their unexpected appear
ance, dispersed without a shot. One hundred and fifty
were taken prisoner^ ; and the general, foUowing up his
advantage by vigorous measures, in a few months entirely
quelled the rebellion.
After the scattering at Petersham, commissioners were
appointed to go into the disaffected counties and receive
the submission of those who had been in arms. Many of
them, conscious that their guilt deserved no mercy, and fear
ing the vengeance they had justly provoked, fled from the
state. Nearly eight hundred acknowledged their error,
and, promising good behavior for the future, swore to
obey the laws and support the constitution. A few of
those who had been arrested were released, as being too
feeble to be dangerous. The ringleaders were put to their
trial. Fourteen were convicted of treason, and many more
of sedition. In order to induce those who- still continued
refractory, and, along the New York and Vermont borders,
improved every opportunity of committing acts of vio-

200 LIFE AND WRITINGS
lence within our limits, to come in, and, upon submission,
receive their pardon, that they might save their friends
from the scaffold, the fate of the condemned was kept
long in suspense. From the evidence offered at the trials,
the merits of each case were familiar to the public, and
the subject of constant discussion. They were repeatedly
under consideration in the CouncU, and carefully examined.
Day after day was appointed for the hangman to do his ,
duty ; but the executive clemency as often interposed, and '
reprieves were granted on the eve of execution, or at the
foot of the gallows. When at last it became apparent that
the crisis had past, and that no good end could be answered
by further severities, some were pardoned, and the sentences
of the others commuted, bonds, generally in the sum of
two hundred pounds, being taken for future good behavior,
where there appeared particular reason for distrust.
Thus the government, by its wise and moderate meas
ures, aided by the support of an enlightened community,
was enabled to crush a dangerous rebellion, and to reclaim
its disaffected citizens, without recourse to capital punish
ment. We had learned at little cost the important lesson
not to look to any system of laws short of the divine provi
dence for immunity from social evil, and to rest contented
with such approach to perfection as had been vouchsafed
in our institutions as they already were. The opinion has
been frequently expressed that secret influences planned,
sustained and directed, the measures of the ostensible lead
ers ; and that the insurrection, instead of being the mere
expression of a discontented people, laboring under insup
portable burdens, was the work of unhaUowed ambition,
concealed studiously from view, and aiming, through the
instrumentality of humbler agents, at the overthrow of the
government, in order to rise to, power upon its ruins. Had
this been so, suspicion long since would have assumed a
shape more definite, and time, the touchstone of truth,
laid bare the machinations of these secret Catilines. Shays,

OP JAMES SULLITAN.

201

braTO but unstable, prancing on his white horse, with his
aids and his music, at Worcester and at Rutland, had no
other pretension as a leader than his own unlimited van
ity.* Job Shattuck, the Jack Cade of the insurgents, if
he did not equal his prototype in wit, far surpassed him in
vulgarity ; and his utter want of honesty disgusted even
his own followers. In one of his declamations he proposed
that debt should be abolished, and they should all begin
anew. But this sentiment found little favor, when some
one exclaimed that it would answer nicely for Job, who
had lately bought two farms on credit, and had not paid a
farthing for either, but be far less pleasant to the man who
had sold them. The disorders of the time can be so easily
traced to obvious causes upon the surface, that there is
little reason to suppose that any less creditable existed
underneath. The annual elections were approaching. Hancock had
returned from Congress in the summer of 1786, and was
now put in nomination for the chief magistracy, in opposi
tion to his ancient rival. Bowdoin, by his prudent and
vigorous measures in quelling the rebeUion, had won and
deserved all praise. But those interested in the fate of
the captive insurgents thought their chances of pardon
would be increased were Hancock in the chair. His elec
tion was zealously promoted by Judge SuUivan, whose
* Shays, brought up on a farm, and uneducated, gained some reputation by
his intrepidity at Bunker's Hill, at Saratoga and Stony Point ; and when on
recruiting service, having induced men to enlist on condition that they should
be permitted to serve under himself, he had procured, in 1779, a^commission as
captain, dated back to January 1, 1777, but was discharged from the regiment
of Colonel Rufus Putnam in 1780. Upon the first discouragement of the rebels
he made overtures to the government to abandon his comrades to their fate,
upon assurance of personal safety ; and, when he supposed his propositions
were rejected, persuaded his followers to refuse the proffered mercy, and con
tinue in a useless struggle, to purchase, by their sacrifice, security for himself.
Shays was pardoned, and removed to Sparta, New York, where, after a life of
extreme poverty, he died September twenty-ninth, 1825, at the age of seventy-
eight.

202 LIFE AND WRITINGS
professional exertions for the prisoners had made him a
favorite with their friends, and his support was said to have
influenced a large proportion of the eighteen thousand
votes thrown for the successful candidate. The canvass
was warm, and the newspapers particularly bitter. Cush
ing, Samuel Adams and General Lincoln, were all in nomi
nation for the second post ; and Mr. Adams, who advocated
the claims of Bowdoin as governor, used his influence to
effect the reelection of Cushing. Another supporter of
Governor Bowdoin was the celebrated Laco, whose first
appearance in the Centinel, in this canvass, was on the
same day with that of Junius, a signature now adopted by
Judge Sullivan.
When the prisoners were arraigned, the courts had
assigned them such counsel as they chose to select; and
Judge SuUivan, although declining to defend Shattuck,
undertook, with Levi Lincoln, the defence of Gale and
Chamberlain, who were convicted of the charge of treason ;
and, with Judge Dawes, that of Livermore, who was ac
quitted. Numerous petitions to the executive for pardon
were made by the condemned, and their counsel were, it is
probable, employed to draft them.
In a letter to Rufus King Judge SuUivan says : " At
Concord brother Parsons, who loves Governor Bowdoin,
and hates his successor, raised a party, and made a plan
for the then Governor Bowdoin to leave the unhappy con
victs in the hands of Hancock ; and this was done to throw
the odium of their execution upon him. The arguments
used by the government to the Council were that reprieves
had been refused, and that, by the twenty-first of June, the
condemned would be better prepared, by the operations
of divine grace, for their doom. Tfiey now petition, and
say that the work is only partiaUy accompHshed ; but, from
their own tardiness, or some other cause, they want three
weeks more. Parsons says, unless the prisoners are now ex
ecuted speedily, the commonwealth is undone ; and brother

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 205
Sedgwick, that the state must be saved by their fall, or fall
by their liberation. Yet he petitioned and wrote, with
Bacon and others, to the late governor in their favor, and
absolutely declared, in his letters and petitions, that it will
be for the public good to pardon Wilcox and Austin. The
supreme executive has not yet considered the matter; but
my private opinion is that all the convicts will be paraded
at the gallows, McCuUock and Austin pardoned, and the
others reprieved for the present. The General Court, last
evening, passed an act granting an amnesty to all uncon
victed insurgents, excepting nine, and ordered eight hun
dred troops to be raised. Should these measures reclaim
all but the nine, they may be pardoned; otherwise they
may suffer. I believe that the government wUl be sup
ported, but all appears to me in vain, unless you make the
united states a nation."
The position of Sullivan, who had been chosen one of
the Council, gave him abundant opportunity to befriend
these misguided men, for whose unhappy condition he nat
urally felt the greater sympathy from having been employed
in their defence. It was made a subject of reproach to him,
by his political enemies, that he had endeavored to procure
the signatures of influential individuals to Shattuck's peti
tion for pardon; and his opinion given in Council upon the
case of Parmenter, who, at the time of his capture, had kiUed
Walker, near Bernardston, was published in the Chronicle.
It shows him to have been consistent in advocating clem
ency ; and the speedy restoration of the state to tranquU-
Hty conclusively proves this to have been the true policy.
It was as foUows :
" This question is one of grave importance, not simply as
involving the life of this individual citizen, but because, if
a pardon be granted, the reasons upon which it is issued
may demand a similar decision in favor of three other per
sons, all under sentence for the same crime, and whose
cases have been also moved for consideration.

204 LIFE AND WRITINGS
" Parmenter has been convicted of treason. His indict
ment is in the form commonly used in such offences ; but it
has been suggested abroad that he has also been guilty of
murder. There is nothing in the record of the process
which intimates this. Every indictment found against per
sons for the late rebeUion was in the same form with that
against him. I have examined the evidence as far as I
have been able, and believe that, had he been tried for
murder, without any idea of his having been engaged in
rebeUion, the kiUing of Wajker would have been found but
manslaughter at most, as it was a rencontre between the
parties, begun by Walker, who discharged his fire-arm at
the same moment, or rather before, Parmenter discharged
his. But, even if he has been guilty of murder, the pardon
for the offence for which he is now under sentence would
be no pardon for that crime.
" For all measures intended to make a deep impression on
the public mind there is a critical moment. If that be not
improved, the desired effect can never be produced at any
subsequent period. To suppose that his excellency the
late governor, and the honorable gentlemen of the board,
postponed the execution of these sentences that others
might finish what they had begun, or to throw a disagreea
ble task upon their successors in office which they wished
themselves to avoid, or that an odium might rest upon the
man or men who should complete by public executions a
system they had raised but had not firmness to support,
would be an inaputation on their characters. That the
postponement was from any doubt of the legality of the
trials, was not by them suggested. If they were actuated
by the last mentioned reason, it stUl remains in force. That
it was because reprieves in such cases are usual, cannot be
pretended, since this is the first conviction for high treason
in the country, and to obtain it the court were carried up
in a difficult and inclement season for the avowed purpose
of making immediate examples.

OF JAMES SULLITAN, 205
" The benefit of the act of indemnity is extended to all
except nine of those not yet brought to trial. Amongst
them are many more atrociously guilty than those who are
condemned. It is true that the latter haTe been appre
hended and brought to trial ; but this adds nothing to their
guilt. A provision is made in the act that the indemnity
shall not be construed to extend to persons convicted of
crimes. And, indeed, no act of that nature could be so
extended, since the power of pardoning, after conviction,
is by the constitution lodged with your excellency and
honors. " These measures having be^n adopted by the legislature,
and it appearing the wish of many thousands of the people
that these unhappy commotions should be settled withbut
further loss of life ; when, upon resort to the example of the
best governments, it was found that other states, and even
Britain, whose sanguinary disposition daily gluts the grave
with legal consignments, furnished examples of clemency
in cases such as this, your excellency, with advice of Coun
cil, respited the execution to the twentieth of this month.
But even this measure was adopted in a way effectually to
test the strength of government. Every preparation was
made, in the county of Hampshire at least, for a serious
execution ; yet this parade of death was so far from excit
ing opposition to legal authority, that a gloomy silence
and solemn awe at the power of the government were
universally exhibited.
" I do not mean to suggest that the Council were unani
mous. Some gentlemen, who advised the late governor to
postponement, have, it is said, uniformly urged your excel
lency against a pardon. Yet those who were then in favor
of deferring execution of the sentences cannot but consider
themselves now under the most solemn obligations to
counsel clemency ; since it was a sort of compact, if not
on the part of government, at least binding on councillors
who advised to the measure, that, should it appear by the
18

206 LIFE AND WRITINGS
subsequent conduct of the insurgents that peace and tran-
quiUity could be restored without sanguinary examples, a
pardon should be granted.
" The act of indemnity was limited to those alone who
should take the oath of aUegiance upon or before the twelfth
of September, 1787. We are weU assured that aU who
were the objects of the act have complied with this requi
sition. The wish for an issue of paper money, or for the
demolition of the courts of justice, is so far from being any
longer entertained by the people, that the idea is univer
sally execrated. Order is so far restored that the troops
have been disbanded.
" The late unhappy commotions do not fix the character
of the people as ungovernable. They arose from an unfor
tunate concurrence of circumstances, with which all coun
tries in their turns have been afflicted, .but which, under
free institutions, are attended by consequences peculiarly
dangerous and disagreeable. It must be remembered that
we had lately been in resistance to a government long
established. Taxes of previous years, not heavy when they
were granted, upon the sudden contraction of the currency
became intolerable. Whilst specie was abundant people
were prodigal of credit ; but when it became scarce the
property for which they had become indebted would not
pay one half of the stipulated purchase-money. Law-suits
multiplied, and legal bills of cost, augmented by delays at
the request of the debtors, became oppressive. Add to
this that there ever stand ready, at such a crisis, number
less sharpers, who improve the moment of keen distress
to extort, by excessive usury, from the wretched what lit
tle remains of their substance.
" The pUe thus prepared was easily kindled into a flame
by gazette writers, who mistook those burdens which were
the necessary price of our independence, and the security of
our future freedom, for grievances which demanded redress.
Under our present prospects, and in our present situation.

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 207
to recall to public Tiew either the ideas of injury to private
individuals, indignity to the government, or reproach to
our country, would be neither wise nor prudent. I have
no fear of new commotions from the execution of these
sentences. People might murmur at the unnecessary
parade of death at this late hour ; but, if I thought there
would be any kind of opposition, I should be for trying the
experiment. As I do not, and see no necessity of, nor
public advantage from, the execution of these people, after
all this suffering, and now that the state has sunk into the
arms of peace and tranquillity, I am clearly of opinion we
should advise his excellency to grant a full pardon to Jason
Parmenter." The Bowdoin party had been greatly disappointed at the
result of the election, which they naturally considered
gross injustice, after the able and patriotic course of the
late administration. They were assailing their successful
rivals with great vehemence, when a circumstance occurred
which added fresh fuel to their resentments. In August
appeared in the Gazette a letter from the supposed author of
Laco, who had been one of the late confidential advisers
of Governor Bowdoin, written to General Lincoln whil&
on his march into the western counties. It was not in
itself particularly objectionable, yet its expressions, if
sufflciently decorous in the unreserved freedom of friendly
correspondence, were not so well suited for publication at
that particular crisis. So favorable an opportunity to make
political capital was naturally improved^ by the pa;rtisans
of Hancock. A communication, signed A Real Republi
can, commenting freely on what was deservedly open to
censure, was attributed to Judge SuUivan, and provoked
retaliation. Upon this he followed up the war, borrowing
for the occasion one of Laco's own well-known signatures,
that of Oracle ; who, not to be outdone, returned the fire
under cover of Plain Truth, one of Sullivan's. Others took
part in the conflict, and party zeal, as was often the case in

208 LIFE AND WRITINGS
those days of poHtical ardor, inflamed into personaHties
and recrimination difficult to explain without taking into
view the particular provocation.
With the view of lessening his influence with Hancock, by
sowing the seeds of jealousy between them. Judge Sullivan
was reproached with having defended the prisoners in order
to obtain the chief magistracy for himself As a requital
for his criticism on the Laco letter, various fictitious corre
spondence between the rebel chiefs appeared in the journals
advocating his election as governor as favorable to their
projects. A letter in the Centinel presents a clue to these
various expedients of party warfare to diminish his popu
larity, and would be inserted, to show how unrelenting
was the hostility with which he had to contend, did our
space permit. These imputations were sufficiently unrea
sonable. He had taken an active and prominent part
against the insurrection; and the office of governor, had he
been ambitious or selfish, was of too uncertain a tenure to
be, in his peculiar circumstances, an object of desire. He
had no accumulation of property, and his very lucrative
practice, upon which his family depended for subsistence,
would have been lost by the elevation. Moreover, nothing
in his pastiife justified the suspicion of disloyalty to any
one ; and least of all was he likely to be untrue to so
stanch a friend as Hancock.
The privilege of choosing our own magistrates was com
paratively a recent acquisition, and the more valued for its
novelty. Few scruples were entertained in political war
fare, and the freedom of the press often degenerated into
licentiousness. Gross epithets and scurrilous abuse were
freely interchanged ; and many clever writers appeared to
possess no other conception of honesty, justice and truth,
than as convenient virtues to find wanting in adversaries they
wished to defame. The principal leaders of either party,
owing their position to character and merit, kept strictly
within the limits of propriety. But their foUowers, to accom-

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 209
plish their objects, under shelter of signatures which were
rarely a disguise, were quite unrestrained by any respect
for facts, or regard to decorum. From his course in the
affair of Mr. Temple, and the belief that his influence had
been exerted to replace Hancock in the executive chair,
and, what was more vexatious, had contributed to his retain
ing it, Judge Sullivan was a frequent subject of obloquy.
Indeed, it was to be his fate, at many periods of his politi
cal life, to be well abused. If not always agreeable, this did
him no harm. Virtue depends somewhat upon habit ; and
persons held under strict responsibility to public opinion, and
conscious that their opponents are on the watch to improve
to their disadvantage even the appearance of evil, become
sufficiently circumspect. He was himself a constant con
tributor to the pubHc prints ; and, much reviled as he was,
it has been remarked of him that he never condescended
to personalities. He wrote with spirit and vigor, keeping
to his subject; was too honest to misrepresent, and the
imputation of unworthy or ungenerous motives was wholly
inconsistent with his taste.
The incidents of this trying period in Massachusetts are
familiar to the reader. The story has been already, in
many forms, fully and eloquently told, and especially by
Judge Minot in his history of the rebeUion, and .more
recently by Mr. Barry in his history of the state. We
have endeavored to avoid details not bearing upon our
particular subject; but some of the more prominent seemed
indispensable to make it understood. One other event
connected with the insurrection remains to be mentioned,
which was a source of great affliction to Judge Sullivan.
It will be remembered that his son James was one of the
troop who made the foray into Middlesex, and captured
Shattuck. Whether he was on the expedition to Spring
field in January, with General Lincoln, and shared in the
fatigues and exposures of the night-march to Petersham,
cannot be ascertained. But he did not spare himself; and
18*

210 LIFE AND WRITINGS
early in the spring was attacked with pleurisy, and sent,
that he might be away from the east wind, into the coun
try, to the house of the Rev. Mr. Whitney, at Shirley,
where he died on Tuesday, the nineteenth day of June.
Chief Justice Parker often mentioned a clever wiU, in
verse, which James composed at Shirley, during his last ill-
ness, in which he made witty mention of all his friends and
classmates. Unfortunately, it being de bonis non, to use
the phrase not in its technical sense, the instrument is no
longer extant. James possessed remarkable talents and
gifts of oratory ; and it has been remembered that, while a
lad at Groton, he frequently harangued the laborers of the
farm and rustic neighbors, on the exciting topics of the
times, to their great admiration of his eloquence. His
father had corresponded with a female relative in Ireland,
Miss Nannette O'Sullivan, for whom his youngest daughter
had been named, and who had proposed to adopt James.
It had been arranged that, after taking his degree, he
should make this lady a visit. He was much beloved, and
often, in times long after, mentioned by his friends, class
mates and family, in the warmest terms of affection. His
most intimate companion, Thomas Greaves RusseU, son
of the Hon. Thomas Russell, held a commission in the light-
infantry. RusseU had become interested in Hetty, the
sister of his friend, and, a few months later, with the appro
bation of her father, was engaged to her. But his con
stitution had been also undermined by the severity of the
weather upon the winter campaign. He fell into a decline,
and died in England, at the house of his uncle, Mr. James
Russell, a loyalist, who adopted that country for his home.
Soon after Judge Sullivan took up his abode in Boston,
probably at the period of the death of his infant daughter,
the selectmen had presented or conveyed to him a tomb in
the Granary burial-ground, on Tremont-street, not far from
the windows of the Athenaeum. In it had been formerly
deposited the remains of Richard BeUingham, governor of

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 211
the colony in 1641, and for the eight years from 1665 to
1673. Those remains had long since mouldered, and the
family of Bellingham become extinct in America. The
tomb, no longer of service for its original purpose, either
as a sepulchre or monument, had become dilapidated, and
in the winter season filled with water. Judge Sullivan re
paired it, and, in the brief course of two years, his wife
and his eldest and youngest child were deposited within its
waUs. These repeated a/fflictions were sensibly felt by him.
A miniature, taken at this period, exhibits deep traces of
sadness in his countenance, then wearing an expression far
different from the cheerful animation of earlier days, or the
tranquil urbanity and kindness presented in the portrait by
Stuart, which was taken in his later years, when governor
of the state.

CHAPTER X.
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
When the Mayflower reached the shores of New Eng
land, and anchored off Cape Cod, her pilgrim passengers,
devoutly on their knees, " blessed the Lord God, who had
brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and deliv
ered them from its perils and miseries, to set their feet
once again upon the firm and stable earth, their natural
element." Before leaving the vessel to take possession of
their land of promise, they gathered together in her cabin,*
and, with full conviction of its importance to their future
tranquillity, a brief but solemn instrument in writing was
prepared and executed, by which they created themselves
into a civil body politic for their future government. Fore
most in the honored group, on this ever-memorable occa
sion, were AUerton and Warren, Captain Standish and
Elder Brewster, Carver, Bradford and Winslow, successive
governors, all grave and decorous men, who loved not con
tention, and who well knew that both in public and private
affairs written compacts are the best of peace-makers. This
was the fountain-head of what especially distinguishes the
New World from the Old, constitutional liberty ; and ever
since, frames of government just and equal, inteUigible and
well-defined, have been necessities of American poHtical
existence. * November 11, 1620.

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLITAN, 213
Some nine years later, Winthrop brought to Boston the
Massachusetts charter, signed by King Charles, that unfor
tunate monarch, who, believing in divine right, and placing
prerogative above law, expiated his error with his life.
Other charters from the crown, or under the grand patent,
granting land and delegating powers of government, had
preceded the arrival of the ArbeUa; and many more came
after, crowding along the shore and extending irregularly
inland, guaranteeing to the colonists within their territo
rial borders certain rights and privileges. Occasionally
subject to misconstruction, these ancient instruments, on
which depended the political well-being of each individual,
were carefully studied, and, with each succeeding genera
tion, more thoroughly understood.
Great Britain, after the peace of Fontainebleau, decided
to raise a revenue from her American colonies ; and her
object being to pay for a war, which, greatly through their
efforts, had added the Canadas to her dominions, a sense
of injustice universally prevailed at this encroachment on
their charter-rights. What these rights in reality were,
with the whole theory of government, and the fundamental
principles on which it rests, were ably discussed in the
assemblies and public prints, in private correspondence and
over the social hearth ; and became familiar, not only to
men liberally educated and in professional life, but to all
the various classes of society, who were alike to share in
the dangers and hardships of the coming conflict.
History had already taught them that in confederacies
of small states, like those of Greece, the Swiss cantons and
the Dutch republics, political liberty had been more abid
ing than in larger communities. Moreover, differences of
institution and of habit among the colonies, growing out of
their several charters, prohibited all idea of consolidation ;
and when their delegates in Congress declared them inde
pendent, it was as separate sovereign states. Their change
of condition requiring new organizations, the deliberations

214 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of the conventions forming their constitutions served stiU
further to raise in public estimation the value of well-
defined and written forms of government, and to famUiarize
the public mind with political science.
Ideas of joint nationality, of unity for defence, and in
all concerns with other states and nations, everywhere co
existed with the earliest views of independence. This is
distinctly traceable throughout the published writings of
the period ; but that great problem by which these hetero
geneous materials, uniting in chemical affinity a portion
of their essential elements, were to become one compound,
and yet in substance each preserve unchanged its separate
individuality, required both time and thought for success
ful elaboration.
To meet the exigences of war and public obligations,
the states, between November, 1777 and 1781, entered
into articles of confederation and perpetual union, which,
resting on good faith without powers of coercion, were of
little efficiency while the war lasted, and of less when its
dangers had passed. But the feuds and contentions among
the delegates, their sectional jealousies and partisan dis
putes, gradually diminished confidence in the efficiency of
the confederation, and strengthened the general attachment
to state rights. When proposed, in 1783, to empower Con
gress to levy an impost, SuUivan was among the earliest
to take alarm, and protest against the danger of enlarging
the federal powers indirectly and by implication, instead of
by first amending the articles. As, however, the war debt
was on the increase from arrearages of interest, and now
amounted to nearly fifty millions of doUars, twelve of which
were due to foreign governments, pubHc credit demanded
for its support every reasonable sacrifice of opinion. It
being found that other states were not to be induced to
contribute their quotas to the common burthens in any
form but this, he advocated the passage of an impost act by
Massachusetts, leaving with the General Court the appoint-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 215
ment of coUectors, but granting Congress the authority to
remove them. He took especial care, however, to provide
that the money raised should be appropriated to the pay
ment of the national debt, and that the powers granted
should not be used to the prejudice of individual right or
public liberty.
The cessions by Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts,
of western territory, for the general benefit of the whole
confederacy, had devolved on Congress a trust it had no
legitimate power to execute. The vexatious commercial
restrictions of Great Britain, by which two thirds of
our productions found their way to market in her bot
toms, and one third of their value was appropriated to
her profit, demanded the adoption of sbmo national system
on our part to counteract. Difference of regulatiop, affect
ing the tenure of property and collection of debts, as to
prices, exchanges and currency between the states, created
confusion and distress, and awakened a general feeling that
the time had come to make some change for a remedy.
Governor Bowdoin in his first message suggested that im
mediate steps should be taken for a revision of the articles
of confederation ; and a few months later Judge Sullivan
expressed himself as follows, upon the same subject, in the
Centinel :
" It is a matter of the utmost surprise to all people of
understanding, and every real friend to America, that the
Americans, who are in general the most enlightened in the
principles of government of any nation perhaps in the
world, should institute a Congress to superintend their
political interests, — by whom alone those interests can at •
present be' promoted, and in whom only they have any
pretensions to an union, — and yet deny or neglect to give
them the powers necessary to answer the purposes of their
institution. The reason of this preposterous conduct can
not, perhaps, be readily given or explained ; but one of the
most popular objections I have heard is that the ambition

216 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of men in power is unbounded; so that, should Congress
have a liberal grant, there would be danger, in time, of their
assuming powers incompatible with the pubHc liberties.
But, surely, a wise people, a people who are in every sense
free and unembarrassed, could so frame a constitution, and
establish a government, as effectuaUy to guard against
despotism, and, at the same time, answer aU its most essen
tial purposes.
" This objection, if it be the true reason for not granting
Congress sufficient powers, appears to be extremely weak,
and the effect of a most unreasonable jealousy. Should
some foreigner come into this country, claiming regal and
despotic powers, there would be good sense in opposing
his ambitious views"; or were the appointment of members
of Congress for life, or made hereditary, there would be
just occasion for watching their steps with a jealous eye.
But, so long as we maintain that fundamental part of our
excellent constitution, that great palladium of civil liberty,
annual elections, no nation has less to fear from ambitious
views or despotic measures ; for, every year, those who fill
the most important stations, and by whom alone the people
can be injured in their civil rights, may be divested of
every mark of distinction, and return to the rank of com
mon citizenship, and become equal sharers with their coun
trymen in the consequences of public measures.
" The liberty of the people does not consist in, or depend
on, the withholding power where power ought to be given ;
but principally in the establishment of a government on a
good foundation, on a constitution which shall provide for
all possible cases of public necessity, close up all the ave
nues to corruption and mal-administration, and clearly define
and recognize both the liberties of the people and the pre
rogative of government. When a government is thus set
tled, -every man in power knows the length of his tether, and
every citizen knows the extent of his liberties, and of what
they consist. This gives security and creates confidence ;

OP JAMES SULLITAN, "217
and such a goTernment a wise and brave people can always
guard and defend. But when a national administration is de
pendent on occasional circumstances, on the caprice of men
in power, and on the ambition of men of opulence, there can
be neither stability, security, nor confidence. If our politi
cal interests, if an efficient national government, are mat
ters of indifference, nothing need be said or done about it ;
but if the very existence of a nation ultimately depends
upon the establishment of a sovereign power, then surely
the reasons for the United States investing in somebody
powers coextensive with national concerns, must appear
to be powerful and conclusive. And, as we have adopted
the plan of conducting our political affairs by a Congress
annually elected by the several states, it is but right, it is
but what sound policy would dictate, to grant to that body
full and ample powers, constitutionally settled, to conduct
the public concerns of the nation without impediment. If
there be reason for distrust in doing this, I cannot conceive
it possible to establish any political or civil institution
wherein full confidence can be placed.
" If we view the measures of Congress retrospectively,
from its first institution to the present day, we may dis
cover several marks of wisdom, fortitude, integrity and
zeal, such as one would imagine were sufficient to inspire
the people with a good degree of confidence. Why we
should give unlimited powers to our respective assemblies
in matters of national policy, wherein we can have no
expectation of an unanimity, and withhold them from that
body in whom alone we can hope for a union, is a solecism
in politics. But, if the states are determined to proceed
as they have begun, reserve to themselves their absolute
sovereignty, and grant Congress only occasional, tempo
rary and interfering powers, we have nothing to expect
but that train of ruinous consequences which naturally
and unavoidably proceeds from imbecihty and disorder."
This was followed up by himself and various other writ-
19

218 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ers ; and the following year delegates met at Annapolis to
endeavor to devise some commercial system for the gen
eral benefit. They were unable to agree except in recom
mending a general revision of the articles of confederation.
In the mean time the rebellion in Massachusetts and New
Hampshire had generated much distrust in the stability
of our state institutions, and induced a sense of the impor
tance of strengthening government, that it might better
withstand such shocks for the future. This sentiment was
not confined to Massachusetts, but extended throughout
the confederacy ; and many sincere patriots became pain
fully alive to the conviction that we might as well have
worn meekly the shackles of despotism as be subjected to
the mercy of ignorant prejudice or popular commotion. It
was at that epoch that Virginia took the initiative ; and,
at her suggestion. Congress, in 1787, resolved that it was
expedient the states should send delegates to a convention
at Philadelphia, to meet on the second Wednesday of May
following, and revise the articles of confederation. These
delegates were to be chosen by the state legislatures. On
the twenty-fifth of February, Judge SuUivan writes his
friend, Rufus King: "The senate, on Friday last, sent
down a resolve, that the choice of delegates to the pro
posed convention might be originated in either house, and
be concurred in by the other. In this the house non-con
curred ; and the point is yet in litigation. Five are to be
chosen. Who they wiU be is very uncertain. Dana and
Gerry are on nearly all the lists ; you are on many ; Hig
ginson and LoweU on some, and also Gorham. He objects
to aU lawyers ; others to members of Congress. The mer
chants say it is all a matter of commerce, and that merchants
are the men. I have the honor to be mentioned, but shaU
not be chosen, and should not go if I were. The choice
wUl be this week." The delegates from Massachusetts
elected were Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gor
ham, Caleb Strong, and Rufus King.

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 219
Apart from the claims of his clients on his time, his son
James was sinking away rapidly under the fatal disease
contracted in his late military service ; and he had himself
lately married a second wife, which would have made an
absence from home of many months' duration disagreeable.
He was chosen, in June, one of the Council of Governor
Hancock ; and with many more, who realized how much de
pen'ded upon their labors, watched the proceedings of the
convention, as far as they were divulged, with lively interest.
The convention, numbering fifty-five members, with
Washington at its head, and Franklin, Hamilton, Madi
son, Wilson, King, Pinckney and Mason, among its lead
ing minds, was judiciously selected for the task, and fully
realized the importance of its accomplishment. All sec
tions of the country and all shades of political opinion
were represented. There were those who advocated state
rights ; those who favored consolidation ; some, who jeal
ously regarded every delegation of power as the first step
towards an hereditary monarchy ; others, who, if not pre
pared to give in their allegiance to the Duke of Osnaburg,
quite as much dreaded the dangers of an unbridled democ
racy, and had but a qualified faith in the success of popular
institutions. Fortunately they were men of moderation
and wisdom, and sufficiently generous to make every
reasonable sacrifice of private opinion and sectional jeal
ousy on the altar of patriotism. The instrument which
resulted from their labors was a compromise. The reason
able claims of the larger states were reconciled with the
adequate security of the smaller. The commerce and nav
igation of the north, and the planting interests of the south,
were conciliated by mutual concessions. Checks were
devised to secure the action of the new government g,like
from the influence of popular caprice and from the insid
ious designs of crafty demagogues; and, while its conserv
ative elements invested it with dignity and strength, the
general and final control was confided to the sober second

220 LIFE AND WRITINGS
thought of the people. Originating under circumstances so
unfavorable to perfection, it seems indeed marveUous that
the constitution should so weU have answered its purpose.
And we are tempted to beheve it rather the work of a
divine agency than of any mere human invention.
The convention was expeditious in concluding its labors.
In September the proposed constitution was reported to
Congress at New York, and the same month referred by
that body to the states for ratification. On the twenty-fifth
of that month Judge Sullivan wrote Rufus King : " I have
this day seen the report of the convention, and cannot
express the heartfelt satisfaction I have from it. I am
more than pleased, having only one doubt, which is,
whether the objects of the judicial power are weU defined.
I wish you to attend to this ; for I consider it the main
spring of the whole machinery. Our people expect so
much happiness from the doings of the convention, that
they stand ready to adopt anything which may be offered.
But this is, I think, so very unexceptionable, that I flatter
myself it will meet with no opposition in this state. Some
persons, to support party prejudices, have charged upon
others a combination to oppose everything federal If
this scandal has reached you, you may consider it without
foundation. Our parties here, or rather the opposers of
the present government, are so inveterate, that falsehoods
come from places where least to be expected. But our
government is in peace, and I believe will remain so."
Several of the states met with promptitude the recom
mendations of Congress. By the commencement of the
ensuing year, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia
and Connecticut, had already submitted the subject to the
consideration of conventions, and adopted the constitution;
three of them unanimously, the others, Pennsylvania and
Connecticut, by two thirds majority.
In order to insure more entire harmony in the Boston
delegation to the state convention, which was to meet in

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 221
January, it was decided to select candidates equally from
both parties ; and, in the list first nominated, the name of
Judge SuUiTan stood fourth in order ; those of Hancock,
Bowdoin and Samuel Adams, preceding, and that of Stephen
Higginson, whose implacable hostility haunted his foot
steps, immediately following his own. Before the day of
election both the last were dropped, and others, more influ
ential perhaps, substituted in their place. Though not
chosen a member, it is believed that the opinions of Judge
Sullivan, expressed in conversation and in his contribu
tions to the public press, were not without weight. He
was often afterwards charged as having been an opponent
of the constitution ; and he no doubt was opposed to its
adoption without important modifications. He was espe
cially dissatisfied with the too liberal concession to the
south of slave representation, anticipating as its conse
quence the unfortunate dissensions so constantly since
disturbing the harmony and good-fellowship of our people,
and threatening the permanency of their institutions. In
his opinion, besides, trial by jury was not sufficiently
secured ; and, brought up to attach a sacred obligation to
constitutional compacts, he considered the substitution of
a new system for the articles of confederation, without first
complying with the forms provided in that instrument for
its amendment, an illegal violation of the rights of the
minority, one equaUy impolitic and unjust ; for it was
probable that, with a little delay, the general assent could
be obtained. The creation of a frame of government for
an empire to endure for ages, appeared, moreover, a mat
ter of sufficient moment for full and candid consideration,
and not to be hurried through under feverish excitements.
Such were his sentiments, as frequently expressed in
friendly confidence and in his writings. In the extreme
sensitiveness generally prevailing, however, every objec
tion urged against particular provisions of the constitution
was argued to denote an anti-federal feeling; and long
19*

222 LIFE AND WRITINGS
after, many of its most ardent and consistent Supporters
were branded in opprobrium as anti-federalists, for having
been bold enough to question its absolute perfection.
Some of the more zealous advocates of the instrument,
believing it as perfect as could be wishedj thought their
chance of securing its ratification greater by discouraging
discussion, and by carrying it through with a high hand.
But the friends of the state administration were not gen
erally of this mind, nor pleased that their suggestion of
defects to be corrected should be met, not with candid
attention, but with reproach and the imputation of dis
creditable motives. Before the close of the year it was
evident that the opposition was increasing, and that suc
cess would be doubtful unless some compromise could be
effected. In his sketch of Hancock, published at the
period of his death. Judge Sullivan says : " When the plain
was offered to the public for consideration, it was realized
that the part which Governor Hancock should take would
decide the fate of the important business as to this state.
He had objections to the system, for he did not suppose it
perfect, or free from errors ; but he considered a general
government to be the salvation of his country, and believed
whatever might be found necessary to amend the system
would be effected by the good sense and wisdom of the peo
ple ; therefore, before the convention was assembled, he pre
pared his proposals for amendments, and resolved to give
the constitution his decided support. He was chosen presi
dent of the convention, and, as soon as he was able to attend
bis duty, acted pursuant to the resolution he had formed."
As one of his CouncU and most intimate friends and
advisers, as also the friend of King, Gorham, Parsons, and
other leading members of the convention, Sullivan's views
were no doubt respected in framing the amendments. The
object was not so much to devise what could be desired,
as what would be generally acceptable ; and the sentiments
of the other parts of the country were to be considered

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 223
as well as those preTailing in Massachusetts. Many others
than those accepted were no doubt suggested, but failed to
secure a support sufficiently general to be included among
those adopted. Theophilus Parsons, afterwards the distin
guished chief justice, is believed to have drafted them, that
is to say, to have put them into form ; for, according to
tradition, the amendments themselves were suggested by
those who thought the instrument defective, which he
did not. The copy which Hancock used in the convention
was said by Mr. Benjamin Russell to have been in the hand
writing of SuUivan.
A statesman of the period, who had abundant opportu
nity of knowing the truth, says : " It is well known that
the amendments, not as the condition of acceptance, but to
accompany the ratification, was not a new idea, for it had
been resorted to, on the acceptance of the old articles of
confederation, by many states in the Union, and was sug
gested in convention, and before, by the friends of the
governor ; and it had been by none more warmly supported
than by the late worthy lieutenant-governor, Thomas
Cushing. It is well known, by many irreproachable char
acters of all professions, that this was the theme of con
versation, as well with his excellency as with other per
sons ; and, if any man besides his excellency deserves
the credit of applying this happy expedient on this occa
sion, perhaps he was the person. It was certainly not the
scheme of the high-flying federalists ; though I believe
many deserve not that honorable appellation, as they are
not the friends of a federal government, but of an actual
consolidation of the Union itself It was in consequence
of mature and early deliberations with the friends of peace
and good government, with the real federalists and with
the friends of republicanism, that his excellency made his
celebrated proposition ; and as to the circumstance of the
clerkship, it was certainly very immaterial in whose hand
writing it appeared, as long as it corresponded with his

224 LIFE AND WRITINGS
own favorite opinions, as it certainly did ; as it had in view
the two great objects of amending the constitution, at the
same time that it had a direct tendency to allay the zeal
of opposition. For this act alone is his excellency deserv
ing the thanks of every true friend of the peace and union
of America. And, although no one man deserves the pre
eminent distinction of being considered as the savior of
his country, yet in this point he is entitled to our full appro
bation, and our warmest and most grateful sensations."
The charge, preferred against those of the Hancock
party who would not consent to ratification without the
proposal for amendments, that they were opposed to a cen
tral government for fear it would diminish their conse
quence within their several states, has the less probability
from the fact that the leading republicans had as good rea
son to expect at that period to enjoy their share of'its offi
cial honors as their opponents, and probably would have,
had not these opponents the policy to avail themselves
of the cry of anti-federalism to secure their exclusion.
Another charge thrown out for political capital, under high
party excitement, that Hancock was induced to give the
constitution his support from a promise, on the part of the
federalists, to give him their votes at the coming election,
has as little ground to rest upon. His popularity was
beyond their power to subvert, and such an overture was
neither consistent with his character nor theirs.
These proposed amendments were nine in number. The
first reserved to the states all powers not expressly dele
gated; the second provided for the gradual increase in
the number of representatives to two hundred ; the third,
that Congress should not regulate elections of senators and
representatives, except where a state neglected, or her
regulations were subversive of the right of the people to
free and equal representation ; the fourth, that Congress
should not lay any direct tax, whUe the impost and excise
were adequate, nor then unless a state neglected to pay its

OF JAMES SULLITAN, 225
proportion, according to census, of the sum required ; the
fifth, that Congress should erect no company of merchants
with exclusiTO advantages of commerce ; the sixth, that no
person should be tried for crime, unless by indictment of
Grand Jury, except in cases within the army and navy
regulations; the seventh, that, in suits between citizens
of different states, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
should be limited to cases where the amount at issue was
over three thousand dollars, and that of the other federal
courts to amounts over fifteen hundred doUars ; the eighth,
that all issues of fact should be tried by jury, if either party
requested ; the ninth, that Congress should have no power
to permit any person holding an office of trust or profit under
the United States, to accept a title of nobility, or any other
title or office, from any king, prince, or sovereign state.
When circumstances seemed propitious, and a sufficient
number of the opposition appeared persuaded that the
public welfare demanded the adoption of the instrument as
all that could be hoped for. Governor Hancock, a martyr
to the gout, was carried from his sick chamber, wi^pped
in flannel, to his seat in the convention, then sitting in
the meeting-house in Long-lane, ever after this occasion
called Federal-street, and proposed his articles of ratifica
tion. They were debated and committed, and a motion
of Samuel Adams to add to the first article that Congress
should not infringe the liberty of the press, the rights of
conscience, of keeping arms, or of petition, nor maintain a
standing army but for defence, nor authorize unreasonable
seizures or searches of persons, papers or possessions, was
rejected. The final vote resulted in a majority of nineteen
out of three hundred and fifty-five votes cast. The ratifi
cation was absolute, and the amendments recommended to
Congress for submission to the states under the fifth arti
cle of the constitution.*
*The month after adopting the constitution, Massachusetts passed a rigid
law against the slave-trade, an(i another prohibiting, under heavy pains and

226 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Maryland, the seventh state, ratified the twenty-eighth
of AprU ; and North Carolina, the eighth, the twenty-third
of May. Many delegates to the New Hampshire conven
tion, of which General SuUivan, the president of the state,
was president, had been instructed by their constituents
to vote against the constitution; and that body, organized
in February, adjourned to June, that time might be given
the people for reflection. Greatly through the influence
of General SuUivan, aided by John Langdon, when reassem
bled they voted to adopt, recommending substantiaUy the
nine Massachusetts amendments, with a slight alteration in
the seventh, and adding three others. The tenth prohib
ited Congress from maintamiog standing armies, except
where sanctioned by a vote of three. fourths in each branch,
and from quartering soldiers in private houses without
consent; the eleventh forbade Congress passing laws touch
ing rehgion, or infringing the right of conscience ; and the
last secured tlie right to the people to keep arms, unless
where they were or had been in actual rebellion. It being
provided by the constitution, that, upon its adoption by
nine states, it should go into operation, the New Hamp
shire vote decided the question. Arrangements had been
made between General Sullivan, General Knox and Alex
ander Hamilton, for transmitting the intelligence by express
to Poughkeepsie and Richmond, where the CDnventions of
New York and Virginia were respectively sitting. The
penalties, any African or negro, not a citizen, from making his abode within her
limits. This last enactment was said to have been the work of her leading
lawyers, who were sufficiently sagacious to foresee the dangerous consequences
of that constitutional provision, which, in restoring fugitives from labor, not
only threatened to disturb the public peace, but the stability of the system.
It provided that any such person, not a citizen of another state, evidenced
by a certificate of the secretary of the state of which he was a citizen, who should
tarry in the commonwealth for more than sixty days, upon complainfto a justice
of the pea.3e, should be ordered to depart within ten days; and, neglecting,
should be committed to hard labor in the house of correction. If, upon trial
^7 jiry, ii next court of sessions, the complaint should be proved, he should
be whipped with not more than ten stripes, and ordered to depart within ten
days, and, disobeying, toties quoties.

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 227
latter before its arrival voted to adopt, reserving right to
resume .powers granted if perverted to her injury or op
pression, and expressing the hope that amendments would
be made. New York ratified a month later. North Caro
lina in November, 1789, and Rhode Island, the last of the
original thirteen, came into the Union in May, 1790, mod
estly requesting that twenty-one changes might be made.
Congress in its first session selected, from those which
had been proposed, twelve articles of amendment for sub
mission to the states. Of these, ten were eventually ac
cepted, which guaranteed the liberty of conscience, of the
press, of assembling and petition, the right to keep arms,
security against billeting of soldiers and against unreason
able searches and seizures, trial by jury, exemption from
excessive bail and unusual punishments ; the last declared
all powers, not delegated by the constitution, nor prohib
ited by it, reserved to the states respectively, or the people.
It may be thought that we have dwelt too long upon
the formation of the federal government in connection with
our subject. It constitutes an important link in the chain
of events with which he was in various ways connected,
all essentially important to illustrate his public career; and,
from his intimate connection with Hancock, he undoubt
edly participated in the measures which secured the adop
tion of the constitution by Massachusetts. Had this state
rejected, it was the general opinion that the requisite num
ber of states would not have ratified ; and, but for the
opportunity offered to those who felt that the interests of
the country demanded its adoption to quiet their scruples
through the proposed amendments, she would probably have
cast her vote against it. Judge Sullivan is said to have writ
ten much upon the subject of the constitution for the press,*
* A series signed Republican Federalist in the Centinel, and another signed
Cassius in the Massachusetts Gazette, were ascribed to him; but the former
are stated, with an air of authority, to have come from the pen of a gentleman
of Plymouth. In the libraries of the Massachusetts Historical Society in
Boston, Antiquarian Society at Worcester, and the Athenaeum at Salem, are

228 LIFE AND WRITINGS
and, perhaps, among the numerous series of articles which
filled the columns of the papers, many were attributed to
him without ground. From the beginning he expressed
his approbation of the plan ; and, though using every effort
to have it promptly amended, he never faltered in the faith
that it was the true policy of the country to adopt it.
A few years later he thus expresses his sentiments upon
the subject : " When the United States assumed their inde
pendence, they offered themselves to the world as free,
separate, sovereign powers. The league, called the con
federation, by which they attempted to act as a nation for
certain purposes, very soon lost its efficiency, and became
a dead letter. Various were the schemes for a permanent
union at that important crisis, filled with anxiety and
alarms, and many were the speculations offered to the
public eye. A mere confederation; without energy or
power, was one extreme ; while a consolidation of all the
states to one complete, entire sovereignty, was the other.
In the first were contained those seeds of discord and dis
union, which would, in full growth, have rendered us the
sport of the European powers, and have fixed us in a war
among ourselves. In the other, the increase of our peo
ple, the extent of our country, and the pride of power in
the hands of a few, exhibited all the terrors of an hered
itary monarchy, upheld of necessity by an hereditary
aristocracy ; for the tall cedar cannot stand alone ; the
large trees of the forest must encircle and shield it, or its
fall is certain and inevitable.
" When the public mind was agitated by these specula
tions, Virginia, the oldest sister of the Union, issued a
proposition for a national convention to be held on this
interesting subject. The fortunate event is known, under
stood, enjoyed. A national constitution was produced,
examined, amended and established. By this system the
imperfect files of the Massachusetts Gazette, and it was necessary to examine
them all to procure a complete set of the Cassius articles.

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 229
people withdrew a portion of the soTereignty which had
been devolved on the governments of the states sepa
rately, and vested it in the national government, to be exer
cised on men and things according to the forms of the
constitution ; so that we now behold two sovereign powers
acting upon the same subject at the same time. This nov
elty in the exercise of power is in the hand of experiment;
and were we at this moment to form an opinion, without
further process, we should pronounce without hesitation
in its favor. We should vouch peace and prosperity ; we
should call up increase of wealth and population ; we
should exhibit health and happiness, public and private
felicity, to maintain our assertion.
" Could we understand our present political situation as
a nation and separate states ; could we carefully and impar-
tiaUy examine it in aU its nice and regular forms ; could we
see the beautiful connection of all its healthy and vigorous
parts, which compose the unprecedented and glorious sys
tem of government which Heaven has seen fit to bestow
upon us; we should view the man who would dare- predict
a change of it, as to its essential principles, as our most
inveterate enemy. We should hold him as the common
enemy of mankind ; because, unless the enlightened people
of the United States can support the dignity of freedom,
and enjoy the blessings of free government, there is no
hope left for the human race." *
On the twenty-third of July, 1789, he writes to John
Adams : " I have to acknowledge the honor of receiving
your letter dated the fourteenth of July. As to any opposi
tion to the constitution of the United States, there are, no
doubt, men in every society whose desperate fortunes
render them aHke enemies to all government ; but the peo
ple, with very few exceptions, and these by no means impor
tant, consider the government of the United States as the
palladium of their liberty, and a system which is, at all
*0b8. U.S. Gov., pp. 13, 14.
20

230 LIFE AND WRITINGS
events, to be supported. THere are in it imperfections,
which we aU wish to have cured, and hope that wisdom
and experience wiU point us to the remedy. That matter
of trial by juries, I must always repeat, is a matter of con
sequence with me ; but, should the executive, legislative
and judicial powers be properly balanced, the security of
trial by jury would grow out of that balance naturally. If
there is an objection against this balance of power in the
minds of the people of this country, it has arisen from the
exorbitant power of the crown while we were a part of the
British empire. Perhaps, as we had no representative in
ParHament, the reasoning is wrong to conclude that an
executive power here, possessing the same prerogatives as
a king there did, would be dangerous to us. But wiU not
time and reasoning bring all right ?
" We are a young nation ; and I conceive the several
separate powers will gain strength from time to time, as
the limbs in an animal gain strength and proportion by
age; and that there wUl be a period when the constitution
of the TJnited States wUl arrive at complete perfection,
and, after that, in time, like those of other countries, wiU
decline ; but, in the mean time, every aid will be given by
the patriots which can be applied without convulsing the
whole frame. Perhaps in this moment, when such an entire
confidence is placed by the people in the men at the head
of government, many masterly and efficacious strokes may
be given to insert in some measure the equilibrium want
ing. We have nothing new here. All is peace, quietness
and patient expectation for blessings that no form of gov
ernment can bestow."
But the most important service rendered by Judge Sul
livan, connected with the constitution, and which will be
considered sufficient explanation of our entering so fuUy
into its history, was his effort to secure the adoption of
the eleventh article of amendment. This provides that
"the judicial power of the United States shaU not be

OF JAMES SULLITAN, 231
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity com
menced or prosecuted against' one of the United States by
citizens of another state, or by aliens or subjects of any
foreign state," He had able coadjutors, Hancock, Adams
and Dr. Jarvis, who contributed to success ; but his own
share in this work was sufficiently prominent and influen
tial to be entitled to notice.
When the objection to state liability to suit by private
individuals first took definite form, cannot now be accu
rately ascertained. The inconsistency of a sovereign state
being liable to answer to the demands of citizens of other
states, or subjects of foreign nations, at an early period
presented itself forcibly to the minds of Richard Henry
Lee, Samuel Adams, and other advocates of state rights.
When, soon after the federal government was organized,
Nicholas Van Staphorst brought suit against the state of
Maryland, in the federal court, at its February term of
1791, the important consequences which must inevitably
result from permitting such an encroachment upon state
sovereignty were- more generally recognized. . In that
same year Judge Sullivan prepared and published his
" Observations upon the Government of the United States
of America," to prove the necessity of amending the
constitution in this particular.
His argument on his main topic, the suability of the
states by individuals, occupies but a small portion of its
pages ; while the rest contains an able exposition of the
principles on which the government had been founded, and
their practical operation when carried out. Among the
numerous sensible and eloquent productions of the period,
upon the constitution, it passed into forgetfulness with the
occasion and generation for which it was prepared. But
its genuine repubhcan sentiments and patriotic glow must
still commend it to the perusal of all wishing to realize the
existing state of public opinion and feeling, out of which
our incomparable constitution was created. As the treatise

232 LIFE AND WRITINGS
wiU be found at length in another part of these volumes, it
is not intended here to attempt any analysis. We feel as
sured that if his views, as displayed in his " Observations,"
his " Land Titles," and others of his works, constituted
what was understood in former days as anti-federalism,
the verdict of posterity will be unqualified respect for
the justice, good sense and patriotism, that marked its
principles. An elaborate treatise, in reply to the " Observations," de
fending the constitutional provision as originally drafted,
was prepared and published at Charleston, S. C, in AprU,
1792, by Timothy Ford,* an able writer, well known as
Hortentius. It is curious to observe how much opin
ions are liable to be affected by circumstances. If these
works be assumed respectively as the exposition of south
ern and northern sentiment as then existing upon this
point, the present extreme state-right doctrines of South
Carolina show a wide departure from her earlier creed.
And Massachusetts, the flrst to testify by the proposed
amendment its sense of the importance of preserving to
each state its prerogatives of sovereignty, has at times
since, by its disposition to enlarge the field of federal
action, changed as much the other way.
The foUowing detached points, selected at large from
Judge SuUivan's argument, afford some inadequate idea of
its general tenor ; but recourse must be had to the book
itself for its thorough explanation :
" The convention did not propose anything more than a
cession of a part of that sovereign power which the people
had given to the several states ; nor did they propose that
the general government should accept this of the states,
* Mr Ford was born at Morristown, N. J. , and belonged to a family who owned
at the time of the Revolution the handsome and historical mansion used by
Washington as his head-quarters, and of which they still are the proprietors.
He was a student in Princeton College when New Jersey was overrun by Brit
ish troops, and was twice wounded in battle.

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 233
but that the people should be represented in conventions,
in their natural capacity, where there could be no magis*
tracy, rank, or preeminence, and there recall a part of the
sovereign power they had vested in their several govern
ments, and, by the voluntary consent of a majority of indi
viduals in all the states, vest those sovereign powers, so
withdrawn, in one government over all the people in
America, for certain particular purposes.
" The system proposed contained the natural division of
legislative, executive and judicial powers. The judicial
power in all governments is the one brought most nearly
to the people ; and while in this situation all wished for a
union, and no one pretended to be in favor of a consolida
tion, there were great difflculties in the minds of many
respecting the construction of the judiciary powers con
tained in the system then offered to the public. It seemed,
however, generally agreed that the states, as states, were
not liable to the civil process of the supreme judicial power
of the Union ; and no one pretended to say that, if the
states were so liable, there was not a consolidation of all
the governments into one.
" There can be no suit against a nation by any practice
yet known, or by any principles yet acknowledged in the
world. A national debt lies forever without power of
collection until provision is voluntarily made for its pay
ment. Perhaps some may wish that nations might be com
pelled to do justice as well as individuals ; and many may
wish the course of nature and her established laws might
be altered in other matters ; but this is to no purpose ;
for the leading principles of all governments are firmly
fixed by the laws of nature ; and, though there appear a
variety of forms in the world, yet they all arise from dif
ferent modes in the application of the same principle. We
may as well attempt to erect a temple beneath its own
foundations as to attempt to erect a government with co
ercive power over itself.
20*

234 LIFE AND WRITINGS
" Any one having a demand against a government, which
is unHquidated and unfunded, may petition, and must wait
with patience for the efflcacy of that policy and justice
which ought to urge every government to do right ; for
no sovereign can consent to become a party before a for
eign tribunal ; and, when wronged, his remedy lies in the
strength and power of his own nation. He demands jus
tice, and, if it is denied him, he appeals to the sword, and
makes reprisals.
" There is no principle in civil government which wiU
admit of a judicial without a legislative power ; and there
can be no extension of a judicial power to persons or
things, without a legislative authority to support, direct
and limit it. If this position is just, it will clearly follow
that, if the judicial authority of the Union can extend to
the several states as states, the several states as states are
under its legislative authority. And if the several states
are under its legislative and judicial, they must be under
its executive authority also. If its authority extends to
the governments of the particular states, then the republi
can form of government guaranteed to them by the consti
tution means nothing more than a form of police for a
corporation ; and the appellation of legislative and execu
tive powers of the several states, nothing more than the
power of making and executing by-laws, provided they are
neither made nor executed against the sovereign pleasure
of the government of the United States.
" That this is clearly our situation, provided the judicial
power of the United States extends to the several states
as states, I beheve will not be seriously contested. If this
is our situation under the general government, then there
is not, as the convention expresses it, a consolidation of
our union, but a consolidation of our governments, and
one great and general system of government embracing all
the territory from the south line of Georgia to the north
line of Massachusetts, considering and holding those which

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 235
were lately sovereign states as districts under the national
subordination of, and amenable to, that government.
" But if the government of the United States has the
superintendence of all the states, legislative, judicial and
executive, there is not energy enough for this in a
republican government ; the territory is too large ; and
the people are already, with their different modes of educa
tion, their various habits of life, and multifarious tenures
of property, too numerous to form one republic. And if
the officers, who are to execute the constitution and the
laws made under it, are to have all this authority committed
to them, their offices will be too important to bear an elec
tion. Controversies and bloodshed will probably soon
take place, and there will be at first a necessity of having
the elections less frequent, and then of leaving the offices
hereditary." Other suits of the same nature of that above-mentioned
were entertained in the federal courts, and in the spring
of 1793 Judge WiUiam Cushing pronounced the opinion
df the supreme court that they were constitutional. In
July of that year, three months before the death of Gov
ernor Hancock, a bill in equity was filed in the federal
court against the state of Massachusetts by William Vas-
saU, a refugee loyalist, whose estate had been confiscated
during the war, process being served on the governor
%nd attorney-general. The governor thereupon convened
the legislature, to meet in September, and his last address,
prepared by the attorney-general, as usual then and after
wards in cases involving questions of law or government,
where the chief magistrate had not been educated to the
bar, was upon this subject. It was read to the General
Court by the secretary of state. Governor Hancock being
present, but too feeble in health to deliver it himself
After full deliberation upon the subject the General
Court passed the following resolve on the twenty-seventh
of September, 1793 :

236 LIFE AND WRITINGS
" Whereas, a decision has been had in the Supreme Judi
cial Court of the United States, that a state may be sued
in the said court by a citizen of another state; which
decision appears to have been grounded on the second
section of the third article in the constitution of the United
States :
" Resolved, that a power claimed, or which may be
claimed, of compelling a state to be made defendant in any
court of the United States, at the suit of an individual, or
individuals, is, in the opinion of this legislature, unneces
sary and inexpedient, and in its exercise dangerous to the
peace, safety and independence, of the several states, and
repugnant to the first principles of a federal government.
Therefore, " Resolved, that the senators from this state in Congress
be, and they hereby are, instructed, and the representa
tives requested, to adopt the most speedy and effectual
measures in their power to obtain such amendments in the
constitution of the United States as will remove any clause
or article of the said constitution, which may be construed
to imply or justify a decision that a state is compellable to
answer in any suit, by an individual or individuals, in any
court of the United States. And his excellency the gov
ernor is hereby requested to communicate the foregoing
resolves to the supreme executive of the several states, to
be submitted to the consideration of the respective legis-*
latures." But, however solicitous Judge Sullivan may have been
to preserve inviolate the sovereignty of the states, his
views as to the wisdom of extending the exercise of such
powers as had been clearly delegated to the general gov
ernment, where they could be made conducive to the gen
eral benefit, were sufficiently liberal.
In the general observations at the close of his work on
" Land Titles," which wiU be found reprinted in another
volume of the present pubHcation, are views, that may be

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 237
useful, upon the seTeral powers delegated by the constitu
tion, which haTe not hitherto been exercised. In his judg
ment " there ought to be one uniform rule throughout the
nation on bills of exchange, promissory notes, policies and
aU personal contracts. These all arising from commerce,
the regulation of them he considered the regulation of
commerce itself" The federal statutes he thought should,
from time to time, be systematized ; and not only should
the laws be uniform, but also all forms of procedure.
Where Congress had made no provision by statute, and
the common law provided a remedy, without resort to
which the government could not effectually exercise the
powers with which it was expressly clothed by the consti
tution, he conceived it competent for the court to sanction
its application.
The following sentiments, from its concluding para
graph, show the sense he entertained of the importance
of sustaining the central powers, while restrained within
their legitimate field of operation, in full vigor and effi
ciency : " On the constitutional respectability of the gen
eral or national government, the harmony, the union, and
even the existence, of the state governments depend. He
must be very blind indeed who cannot see, and very unfair
if he does see and will not acknowledge, that in this system
the several governments revolve round the federal gov
ernment as their centre, and that, when the force of that
shaU not be sufficient to preserve them in their several
orbits, they must fall into confusion ; they must rush on
each other with destructive velocity, and fall into one com
mon mass. Nothing then but one general despotism can
preserve them from that ruin and misery which result from
the petty, distressing wars of small independent states."

CHAPTER XI.
JUDGE OF PROBATE.
The Council records furnish few interesting particulars,
other than those already mentioned in connection with the
rebellion, while Sullivan was a member of the board. Mas
sachusetts had become weary of paper currency and its
limitless depreciations ; and, not having as yet delegated to
the general government the power of coining money, she
had estabhshed a mint of her own. Sullivan was appointed
upon a committee to provide for its proper managemert,
and to supervise its operations. The state agent for car
rying out a treaty made by the commonwealth with the
Penobscot Indians, having been faithless to his trust, and
consequently removed from his office. Dr. Little was ap
pointed in his stead. Sullivan was selected, with Judge
Dawes, to prepare his instructions, which are entered at
length upon the journal. He was at this time chosen by
the legislature a commissioner, with Judge LoweU, to
superintend the publication of the laws.
He was appointed, in March, 1788, judge of probate for
Suffolk, which county then embraced the towns now con
stituting the county of Norfolk. His judicial duties,
although responsible, occupied but a smaU portion of his
time. The routine of the office was less formal than at
present, and he found abundant opportunity to be useful,
by his ready sympathy with distress, and his cheerful wil
lingness gratuitously to reheve the perplexities of suitors.

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 239
often their own lawyers, and quite inexperienced in the
business to be transacted. By the existing regulations the
probate judges were permitted to practise at the bar before
other tribunals than their own ; and among the cases men
tioned in the public prints as adding to his professional
reputation was the impeachment of the sheriff of Worces
ter before the senate. This high court of impeachments,
as it was termed, was held at Faneuil Hall, and proceedings
of the kind being unusual, and the public mind much oc
cupied at the time with the trial of Warren Hastings, in
England, it attracted considerable attention; the more that
Fisher Ames and Theophilus Parsons were employed for
the prosecution.
He did not permit his practice, however engrossing, to
interfere with his contributions to the press ; and the fol
lowing article is selected as a proof that whatever might
have been, during the war, his sentiments of hostility towards
the mother country, no such prejudice continued to rankle
in his breast. While she chose to pursue an exclusively
selfish policy in the regulation of her trade and navigation,
and seemed studiously unmindful of American interests, he
had advocated retaliatory measures. One principal argu
ment urged in favor of the new federal government had
been that it would lead to an adjustment of trade with her
upon principles of reciprocity mutually beneficial ; and,
now that there was a reasonable prospect of this object
being accomplished, he was ever ready to discourage any
lingering animosity which would tend to defeat it. He
thus writes to the editor of the Herald of Freedom :
" I confess to you that I have been pleased with the
sprightly observations of your letter-writer, Francois de la
E  e, and more especially with his just description of
the affable and hospitable manners of the citizens of this
metropolis, to the truth of which every stranger of senti
ment and philosophy will most readily accede. But why,
in the name of phUanthropy, 'would it be happy for

240 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Americans if they possessed an antipathy for everything
British ' ? This sentiment savors too strongly of local
prejudices. Surely there are many things of British ori
gin estimable in themselves, and worthy of our adoption
and imitation ; to say nothing of the necessity and impor
tance to us of many articles of their manufactures, and
which, for a variety of reasons, it is fortunate that we
can procure upon the terms on which they are attainable.
If we are wise as a people, the investigations of their phi
losophers, the labors of their artists, and the inventions of
their men of genius, which have for centuries been matur
ing to their present state of perfection, may turn to our
advantage. Manufactures upon certain principles may,
doubtless, be prosecuted with success in this rising em
pire ; but it is curious to hear many persons clamoring
against dry taxes, as they are called, and, at the same
time, exerting themselves to interdict that trade and com
merce on which a substituted revenue can alone be raised.
But a non-importation scheme is to prevent the specie
from leaving the country. Supposing all the money made
in Mexico and Peru could be collected and retained in the
United States, what would it be worth ? The value of
money is, perhaps, principally derived, not from its being
stationary in one particular place or country, but from the
universality of its ideal worth. The encouragement and
success of our manufactures depend on the prosperity of
our commerce, and vice versa. Under the auspices of our
new government we may safely anticipate their reception
upon reciprocal terms in Britain and aU other parts of
Europe ; and, wherever we can pursue a commercial advan
tage, we shaU, I trust, be too wise not to avaU ourselves
of it. It is high time for us to forego the delusion of
names and artificial distinctions. ' The world is all before
us.' Our country wiU become a mart for aU nations ;
and that extravagance, which is so loudly complained
of, and which every free and independent country wiU

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 241
always run into in proportion to its abilities, has, in
itself, the principles of its own dissolution. Already do
we see a reformation. Experience is teaching us wisdom
with rapidity ; trade and commerce are regulating them-
soItcs infinitely better than all the short-sighted schemes
of moonshine politicians could ever do ; and it is very
generally supposed that our exports overbalance our im
ports at the present day. The wisdom of our country
will be strikingly displayed in making the best of our sit
uation ; availing ourselves of the natural resources that
Heaven has given us, and nurturing and cherishing the
meek-eyed goddess of peace and tranquUlity at home and
abroad. These wiU lead us to greatness, and perpetuate
our glory upon a plan that shaU mock the vicissitudes of
time." The earnest debates and close vote upon the federal
constitution, in the Massachusetts convention of ratifica
tion, indicated much variance of opinion upon that subject ;
but the distinction beginning to be made between federal
ists and anti-federalists signified but little the points at
issue between contending parties. The ancient heats and
animosities, which two years before had kindled into the
flames of civil war, were stiU smouldering in their ashes.
Refugees, who had returned, were covertly seeking to
regain their sequestered estates, while the patriots, who
had purchased them, were trembling for their titles. Much
hostility existed, especially in the capital, between the
respective partisans of Hancock and Bowdoin, rival com
petitors for the chief magistracy. Violent antagonisms,
growing out of these contentions and clashing interests,
continued to swell the angry surge of political discord
long after the original causes of disturbance had ceased
to exist. Party spirit was unusuaUy fervid, and partook
largely of the rancor and virulence marking all our early
struggles for power, and which has only now of late
assumed a mUder type, that we have grown older and
21

242 LIFE AND WRITINGS
wiser. Indeed, in contemplating the political condition of
Massachusetts at this particular epoch, we are at times
reminded of the stormy annals of the ancient republics
of Greece and Rome, and the Italian cities of the mid
dle ages. If, as under Sylla or the thirty tyrants, or as
between Guelf and Ghibbelline, exUe, proscription and
death, formed no part of the modern strife, much of this
forbearance is to be attributed to a greater diffusion of
intelligence, and to a higher grade of civilization ; but yet
more to the spirit of true liberty, to the legal restraints
of power, and to the freedom of the press, which, if it
inflamed the passion of party, also served as a vent to its
fury. Under the influence of so many exciting elements every
one was, more or less, a politician. The battle was fought,
not only in the caucuses and in the General Court, but
skirmished about the places of business and by the domes
tic fireside. It raged with especial intensity in the pubHc
prints, whose columns, like the town-meetings, were then
open indiscriminately to all parties. , The leading papers
of Boston were the Centinel, edited by Benjamin RusseU,
and the Chronicle, by Nathaniel Adams ; but the Boston
and Massachusetts Gazettes, and the Herald of Free
dom, also, were ably supported. Most men of influence
were constant contributors ; and various series of essays,
carefully prepared by such statesmen and poHticians as
Ames, Heath, Gore, John Quincy Adams, Gardiner, Austin
and Higginson, must continue to be of great value for the
Hght they shed upon cotemporary history. Some of them,
written in controversy upon different sides of interesting
questions, are fuU of force and animation. Temper was
frequently lost in the heat of discussion, and they became
intense and personal; and, as their signatures were sel
dom a disguise, they afforded much amusement as well as
instruction for the pubHc by their bloodless contentions.
In the spring of 1788, Thomas Cushing, who had been

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 243
lieutenant-governor since the organization of the state gov
ernment, died, and Avas buried with appropriate solem
nities. SuUivan, with Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, Dr. War
ren, Judge Dawes and Mr. ScoUay, were his pall-bearers.
Cushing had constantly held the appointment of captain of
the Castle, in Boston Harbor, with its annual emoluments,
which had of late amounted to four hundred and fifty
pounds. No duties being assigned to the office in time of
peace, it was a sinecure. Low salaries and state expendi
tures within the strictest limits of economy were leading
principles of the party which had placed Hancock in the
chair ; and a few days after the death of Cushing, and
before any successor had been selected, the governor had
openly declared his intention to make no future appoint
ment to that office, but to leave it to the General Court to
provide such other compensation for the lieutenant-gov
ernor as they should see fit. Indeed, when Samuel Adams
was named as a candidate, he expressed to him this inten
tion, and the veteran patriot nobly replied that he would not
receive wages for a sinecure. As a member of the Council,
the lieutenant-governor received the usual fees ; but, as he
had no other official functions, except in the event of the va
cancy of the chief office, when he succeeded to its salary as
well as to its duties, any provision equivalent to a support
seemed inappropriate where no corresponding services
were to be rendered. When, however, Benjamin Lincoln,
one of the most distinguished generals of the Revolution,
and who had lately done the state good service in quelling
the rebellion, was chosen in opposition to Adams as suc
cessor to Cushing, the determination of Hancock not to
appoint him captain of the Castle provoked very general
clamor. SuUivan, regarding sinecures as much as monop
olies repugnant to republican principles, and arguing that
official salaries should be fixed by law, not rest on custom,
contended vigorously that Hancock was in the right.
The annual elections of 1789 were attended with in-

244 LIFE AND WRITINGS
creased animosity. An able writer, under the famous sig
nature of Laco, by .disparaging the patriotic services of
Hancock, sought to sh-ake his hold upon the affections of
the pubHc. AU his endeavors were, however, unavailing;
and not only Hancock was rechosen, but Samuel Adams
elected lieutenant-governor, in the place of Lincoln. Sulli
van, the friend and legal as weU as political adviser of
Hancock, was his constant defender against the newspaper
peUets of his adversaries; and, consequently, provoking
their resentment, often became himself a mark for their
abuse. Many severe attacks were made upon him under
the designation of Grotius, Zenas, Judge Junius, and Quon
dam; the latter referring to his former judgeship on the
supreme bench, the others to signatures under which he
had written for the public prints. His articles, in reply,
were forcible and dignified, and effectually thwarted every
effort to create prejudice against the two great patriots,
whose names, honorably associated by the British gov
ernor in their exemption from pardon during the Revolu
tion, were too inseparably associated with its most cher
ished recoUections for the task to be very arduous.
The authorship of Laco is believed to be still an open
question. These essays have been recently republished.
We are tempted to select the following from Judge Sullivan's
numerous articles in reply, as affording some notion of his
style in political controversy. It must not be forgotten that
stronger expressions were then generally used than at pres
ent by all parties.
" There is no character, however immaculate, but what
may be wounded by the base assertions of an anonymous
writer, who, in a cowardly manner, like an assassin in the
dark, will skulk behind a printing-press, and shoot the
arrows of envy, malevolence and falsehood, without bring.
ing evidence, or referring to any notorious facts whereon
he may pretend to support his charges. Lest I should be
accused of thus treating any one, I have mentioned no one

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 245
»
fact but what may be proTod, if true, by the records of the
General Court and proTincial Congress. Let them be
examined. " In the first number of these papers there are but two
charges which can deserve any kind of attention. The
first is that Mr. Hancock had for the motive of his political
conduct the love of popularity. The second is that he
was a tool of Hutchinson and Gage. The obvious incon
sistency of these charges renders them very contemptible.
That a man should be quite swallowed up in the love of
popularity, and yet be the tool of the very men against
whom the people were infinitely enraged, is a tale that may
sound well in the ears of a certain junto composed of old
tories and aristocratic whigs. But the sober, honest peo
ple, who love the interest and happiness of their country,
wUl despise a slander as fraught with malice as it is with
inconsistency. But why does not Laco point the public
to instances, or mention the facts, times and places, in
which Mr. Hancock was subservient to the interest of these
governors ?
" The first charge is that he acted from a love of popu
larity. If there is anything criminal in this, let Mr. Han
cock suffer ; for he will not, if called upon, deny the charge.
Let him be brought forth and slain ; he will die the death
of ancient and numerous patriots, and his country's tears
will often be shed upon his grave. Laco has yet to learn
the meaning of the word popularity ; and when he shaU
be instructed that it means, in all modes of expression, the
love of the people, though it may appear a crime in his
eye to possess it, yet he will recollect that it has been con
sidered in all ages as worthy of the ambition of the great
and the good amongst mankind. But when the great
object is obtained, it may be prostituted to base purposes,
and be made subservient to domination and lawless power.
Whether Mr. Hancock has thus used his uncommon share
of popularity, his countrymen will judge. Let them inquire
21*

246 LIFE AND WRITINGS
whom he has oppressed, or whom he has injured or de
frauded, with the powers the people have delegated to
him. If he still continues his thirst for popularity, he can
never be dangerous to the people, because he can never
possess more power than he has had for many years ; and
his wish to obtain the love of his countrymen will bind
him still to their interest. But there are men who, like
Laco and his friends, wish to establish wrong principles in
government, and to support the mischief arising from them
by the force of standing armies, and then to compel the
people to suffer accumulated miseries, to which they would
never otherwise submit themselves. These men are as far
from wishing to deserve as they are from securing the love
of their countrymen. But the true patriot, the man who
can never be happy while his country is miserable, endeav
ors in all his measures to place a lasting confidence in the
hearts of the people, whereby he can lead them, as with
the cords of love, to freedom, peace and happiness. This is
the temper of Mr. Hancock ; and for this alone he has
become the object of the malice of those men who consider
government not made for the people, but the people as
made for the government.
" To charge a man with criminality because he seeks the
love of the people, carries with it a charge of an infamous
nature against the people themselves, because it supposes
that their good will can be obtained only by actions wrong
and unworthy. But if Mr. Hancock has been guilty of fraud
or deceit in his pursuit after popularity, let Laco point the
pubHc to the instance, and exhibit his proof, and the idea
shall be fairly tried by the august tribunal of the public.
This writer has yet to learn that the mere assertion of an
anonymous gazetteer, fiUed with invective, is no evidence
to a sensible, inteUigent people.
" The second charge is but a naked averment, without
any kind of evidence, and happens to be in direct opposi
tion to the knowledge, sense and understanding, of the

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 247
whole people of the United States, and is, in itself, a charge
against the understanding and integrity of the whole peo
ple who placed Mr. Hancock at the head of several of the
great bodies which effected the Revolution.
" He offers no evidence to prove that the man who was
president of the provincial Congress of Massachusetts in
the years 1774 and 1775, and soon after unanimously
chosen president of the Congress of the United States,
was the tool of the British governors and generals, but
impudently refers the public to the knowledge of Mr. Sam
uel Adams ; thus insidiously to draw that great compatriot
into a pubHcation, or to lead the people to conclude by his
silence that the fact is proved. In this way all the great
characters in the country may be forced into a quarrel ;
even the great Washington himself entangled in a news
paper controversy. Here the plan of iniquity begins to
open; the writer and his party dread the union and har
mony of the revolutionists, who know the value of liberty
by the price they have paid for it, and who feel themselves
most sacredly obliged to defend the people against the
arts of wicked and base men, too idle to obtain bread by
industry, and who wish an unmerited support from the
hard earnings of the people.
" Has not Mr. Hancock been in public life from the year
1772 to this day ? A member of the General Court, elected
repeatedly by the town of Boston ; a member of that Gen
eral Court, which, when dissolved by General Gage, began
first to act independent of Great Britain; that body which
raised and equipped an army to oppose the troops sent to
America to force the people into submission ? Was he not
president of that very Congress ? Was he not at the head
of the delegation from this state to the general Congress
in the years 1775 and 1776? And was he. not president
of that Congress ? Now I reason, and the body of the
people reason in the same manner, that this man was true
to the interest of his country, or the people throughout

248 LIFE AND WRITINGS
the continent were duped and deceived. These facts ap
pear upon record, and are too well known to be denied.
And what is very extraordinary, according to the assertions
of this writer. General Gage was also deceived ; for, by
his proclamation of AprU, 1775, he excluded Mr. Hancock
with Mr. Samuel Adams from a pardon, because their crimes
were too atrocious and flagrant to be forgiven. Surely
here was no room for duplicity ; for we aU know that when
public assemblies are acting in violation of the laws and
committing treason, their heads and leaders are to lead the
way in exemplary punishment. When Mr. Hancock was
chosen president of Congress, was it not done with an
express intention to show the British ministry that Con
gress was so far from receding, or being intimidated, that
they had chosen one of the two men who had rendered
themselves most obnoxious to the king ?
" Whence then is it that a writer will dare to treat the
public with falsehoods, which are as plainly so as the united
testimony of all the people, and the records of the United
States and of this commonwealth, flatly contradicting them,
can expose them to be ? It is clearly because this writer,
who calls himself Laco, has no character ^to lose, and it
would gratify his malevolence and the hatred of his party
to injure those of a Washington, a Hancock, an Adams, or
any of the leaders of the Revolution. He would answer
to them a most valuable purpose."
Among the friends and most cherished associates of
Hancock were many other eminent patriots. To their
counsels he listened with respect, and they in return were
his most zealous supporters. They became naturally a sub
ject of abuse to his opponents, and frequent reference is
made to them as the club of the Stone House, Hancock's resi
dence. The governor himself was styled the great man
who was to be the new vice-president; and other aspira
tions were attributed to his confederates. To the change-
Hng, Mr. Adams, was assigned a seat in the senate ; to the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 249
trimmer a foreign mission; Quondam and Zanga were to
be federal judges; Jerry Dupe collector; Jemmy Black-
baU tide-waiter. Who were precisely intended by these
several designations is pure matter of conjecture ; but, if
Mr. Hancock be estimated by the attachment and character
of his known friends, those thus supposed to share his
confidence could not be easily injured in public opinion
by this covert abuse of their enemies.
Towards the close of 1788, or early in 1789, Judge Sul
livan visited the south. One motive of his journey was,
probably, to rally the friends of Hancock, and secure his
selection as the second candidate on the presidential ticket.
Those who preferred John Adams were, however, in the
ascendant. An incident, occurring a little later, deserves
to be remembered. Upon the organization of the govern
ment, persons from all sections of the country repaired to
New York to advance their pretensions to a share in the
distribution of federal patronage. With those from Massa
chusetts came Jonathan Jackson, long distinguished in
public life, and who had recently published a work on the
new constitution. His object was to be appointed to the
Boston coUectorship ; and he came furnished with creden
tials from his Essex friends, insuring a certainty of success.
Meeting at the tavern with General Lincoln, the- latter, not
aware that Mr. Jackson had aspirations for that office or any
other, frankly stated his own hopes of obtaining the coUec
torship. Well appreciating Lincoln's revolutionary services,
and also knowing that his means were more straitened than
his own, Mr. Jackson went at once to the president, with
whom an interview had been appointed, and urged so
effectuaUy the claims of his friend, that Washington prom
ised to bestow the office upon General Lincoln, who, in
deed, held it for nearly twenty years. The generosity of
Mr. Jackson went not without its reward. His self-sacri
fice became known to the president, who appointed him
marshal of the Massachusetts district, a post alike honor-

250 LIFE AND WRITINGS
able and lucrative. It is probably unnecessary, for most
of our readers, to add that this excellent- man was the
father of the noble triumvirate so generally familiar as
taking the first rank in their several vocations; one in
law, one in medicine, and the third a master spirit in
that gigantic system of manufacturing enterprise in New
England, to which so much of her present wealth and pros
perity are to be attributed.
Many leading republicans felt aggrieved that their oppo
nents, with no better claims than their own, should be pre
ferred for the federal offices. Those selected from Massa
chusetts were, it is true, well fitted for their posts; but
they were all federalists ; and this exclusive policy pro
duced among the party dominant in the state a sense of
injustice, which, at times, degenerated into very unreason
able jealousies of the administration. Animosities, that
might have been appeased by a more impartial distribution
of power, renewed their venom, and for many years kept
society in a turmoU. This injustice, and the resentments
it provoked, were alike to be deplored. Yet it was for
tunate that, while our institutions were assuming form, there
should have existed somewhere a resisting force ; and
especially that this should have consisted of a powerful
array of patriotic and experienced statesmen, quick to
detect errors in their adversaries, and to discourage every
departure from established principle. Sullivan witnessed
with displeasure this proscription of his friends, and coop
erated in their efforts to hold in check any undue ascend
ency of the federalists in the national councils.
After Bowdoin withdrew from the canvass, in 1789, Han
cock was rechosen governor of Massachusetts, without
opposition, each successive year, tUl his death. From the
prominent position he had occupied, he had been more
identified with the glories of the Revolution than his rival;
and his generous consecration of his property to pubHc
objects, and his general affabiHty and kindliness of manner

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 251
made him the greater favorite. Yet no name among the
many distinguished in our state annals is more justly illus
trious than that of James Bowdoin. Inheriting from Hu
guenot ancestors a profound sense of rehgious duty, and
of the relation of man to the Eternal; possessed of all the
principles and graces of Christianity, without bigotry or
intolerance, he was charitable to the poor, and active to
aid in every generous and useful enterprise. Of high
honor and sterling integrity, superior to pride, and un
tainted by meanness, unassuming and without ambition, his
clear intelligence, sound judgment, and extensive cultiva
tion in art, literature and science, his experience and
sagacity as well in all questions of finance and government
as in the various concerns and interests of social and busi
ness life, secured him the respect and affection of every one
able to appreciate a character of such noble proportions.
When called upon to crush a formidable conspiracy against
the government, his good sense and energy, tempered with
moderation, saved the state from anarchy ; and when his
fellow-citizens, disregarding his just claims to their grate
ful support, chose another ruler, he returned to a private
station without resentment. When he died he was univer
sally lamented; and his memory, the inheritance of a people
disposed to cherish its transmitted examples of private
worth and public virtue, will shine, as time advances, with
increasing lustre.
General Sullivan had been for two years president of
New Hampshire, when, in 1788, by a similar change of
opinion to that which the preceding year had defeated
Bowdoin in Massachusetts, he lost his election. His energy
had crushed in the bud the insurrection of 1786, and his
influence and persuasion secured, in 1788, the adoption by
his state of the federal constitution. The ingratitude of
republics has passed into a proverb, and these two instances
are striking illustrations of its truth. John Langdon, the
friend of General SuUivan in the first Continental Congress

252 LIFE AND WRITINGS
at PhUadelphia, and his associate in the first overt act of
the Revolution in the attack upon Fort WiUiam and Mary,
in Portsmouth harbor, in December, 1774, was now his
successful rival. An eminent and wealthy merchant of
Portsmouth, Langdon had occupied a distinguished posi
tion in the Congress; and, in 1776, had been appointed navy
agent. He was able, generous and patriotic, and in the
summer of 1777, by the appropriation of all his money,
plate and merchandise, furnished the means of outfit for
the army under General Stark, which, by its victory at
Bennington, greatly contributed to the surrender of Bur
goyne at Saratoga. Langdon had himself taken an active
part in the campaign, serving with distinction. In 1785 he
was president of New Hampshire, and again in 1788. He
was sent delegate to the federal convention ; upon the adop
tion of the constitution chosen senator, and, as president
pro tem. of the senate, organized the federal government in
the spring of 1789, prior to the arrival of Washington. In
1801, President Jefferson solicited him in vain to accept the
post of secretary of the navy at Washington. From 1805
to 1809 he was governor of New Hampshire, the title of its
chief magistrate being thus established under the consti
tution of 1792. He was again chosen in 1810 and 1811.
Langdon was patriotic, efficient and judicious, in public life,
and amiable, generous and upright, in all his private relations.
In poHtics he acted with Mr. Jefferson and his associates,
but he was honored and trusted by all parties, possessing
great influence throughout the Union. He died at the age
of eighty, September eighteenth, 1819. Judge Woodbury
Langdon, brother of John, occupied also a distinguished
position in New Hampshire, and the names of both brothers
are repeatedly found upon the same committees and dele
gations. If, between their respective partisans, political
opposition degenerated often into personal acrimony, such
feelings disturbed but Httle the harmony between the lead
ers, and the friendship of Langdon and SulHvan remained

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 253
long unimpaired by the jealousies of party warfare. One
bond of good fellowship was the connection in marriage
of James Sullivan with Martha, the sister of the Langdons.
Often occupied for weeks away from Boston, and when
at home much engrossed by public affairs. Judge SuUivan,
soon after the loss of his wife, felt sensitively the impor
tance of having some head to his household. With every
reason to repose entire confidence in the prudence and
good management of his daughter Hetty, the care of
five boys was a heavy responsibUity for a girl of fifteen.
Hetty, while on a visit to Portsmouth, had made the
acquaintance of her future step-mother. This lady, the
widow of a purser in the navy, was cultivated and
accomplished, of polished manners, dignified bearing, and
possessed of much personal beauty. Judge Sullivan
secured her good opinion, and on the last day of 1786
was married to her at Portsmouth by the Rev. Mr.
Buokminster. Fond of society, and possessing a delicate
sense of the graceful and becoming in social life, she
made her home a pleasant one for her husband and the
family placed under her care. The boys occasionally com
plained that she was unnecessarily rigid in her ideas of
etiquette, but aU of them were willing, at a later day, to
admit that her influences were beneficial both over their
manners and character. The parents of her husband were
then still living at Berwick, at a very advanced period of Hfe.
Mrs. SulHvan was careful of their well-being, and unweary
ing in her efforts, to surround their declining years with
whatever she thought would contribute to their comfort.
But it was not easy to alter the simple mode of existence to
which they had been long accustomed, and her mother-in-
law, the ancient Margery, was much too decided in character
to be easily turned aside from the frugal habits of rural life.
Washington, the year of his first inauguration, visited the
eastern states, and the citizens of Boston were seasonably
summoned to council to make preparations for his irecep
22

254 LIFE AND WRITINGS
tion. SuUivan, in his speech at the meeting, recommended
that a triumphal arch of stone, in commemoration of the
event, should be erected by subscription at the entrance
of the town from Roxbury. His name stands at the head
of the list of thirteen citizens, among whom were Paul
Revere, Mr. Higginson and Judge Tudor, who, with the
selectmen, were to do the honors of the reception; but, for
reasons not explained, he declined. His daughter was one
of the four young ladies appointed to open the ball given in
honor of the president; a part of the ceremonial to which
much importance was attached in former days, and which
on this occasion secured them the especial notice of the
chief, who excelled in the graceful courtesies of society as
in the performance of other duties. The universal feeling
of affectionate respect and admiration for Washington sur
passed in intensity, as in the elevation of its actuating
motives, the loyalty of the most devoted subjects to the
best beloved of monarchs. The magnitude and disinter
estedness of his public services, his abilities and wisdom
as a statesman and general, his purity of character, integ
rity and private virtues, kindled in all hearts an enthusiastic
glow of personal attachment, not the less earnest that it
was somewhat checked in expression by the dignity and
refinement of his own manners and bearing. When Con
gress was deliberating by what title of honor the head of
the nation should be addressed, Sullivan suggested, not of
course in sober seriousness, for he disapproved of aU titles,
that of " His Most Patriotic Majesty." As appHed to the
savior of his country, for whose virtues the most sincere
republican must feel a veneration not to be accorded to
any other earthly grandeur, this designation would not
have been altogether inappropriate.
But, notwithstanding their unwavering faith in the at
tachment of Washington to free institutions, apprehensions
disturbed many among the patriots that the new govern
ment would gradually degenerate into the similitude of

CP JAMES SULLITAN. 255
those of Europe. It was feared that in process of time
the simplicity and economy which should characterize a
republic would be abandoned, and the trappings and ex-
traTagance, the faToritism and corruption, of monarchical
establishments adopted in their place. With our present
deep-seated convictions, generally prevailing throughout
the land, of the entire success of our system of govern
ment, it is not always easy to realize the solicitude that
disturbed its advocates when it was first launched on the
tide of experiment. Distrust mingled with hope in many
sensible minds among its most sanguine supporters ; while
there were large classes who would have welcomed the
introduction of aristocratic forms and social distinctions,
and have gladly seen the suprenie power established upon
hereditary sanctions beyond the control of popular opin
ion or caprice. To counteract the influence of such
heretical views, and to resist the incipient tendency of
every departure from republican sentiments, was the con
stant aim of Samuel Adams, Judge Sullivan, and other
statesmen of the day. Their political writings were stead
fastly directed to keep in full purity and strength the faith
of their countrymen in the essential principles of well-
organized liberty. We hope hereafter to present a selec
tion of the numerous disquisitions of Sullivan, which will
more fully illustrate the importance he attached to correct
ideas upon these interesting topics. His unremitted zeal
in preserving unimpaired our dearly-bought political rights,
when assailed at critical conjunctures by open or secret
enemies, is certainly entitled to credit. The following
essay from his pen at this period shows how great was his
anxiety that the revolutionary struggle for constitutional
freedom should not have proved in vain :
" The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state, it
ought not, therefore, to be restrained in this commonwealth." — Massachu
setts Bill of Rights.
"When a nation, or people,are in danger of losing their lib-

256 LIFE AND WRITINGS
erties, they are, at aU times, reluctant to opening a contest
with government. Men of prudence and wisdom, who pos
sess the confidence of the body of the people, are very un-
wUling to urge them to open and forcible acts of resistance ;
because no foreknowledge or experience in human affairs
can ascertain how wide the torrent may spread, or where
and to what purpose the dangerous conflict will end. The
people, too, are generally prone to hope for the best, and
to give, without reasoning upon the subject, full confidence
to every change of constitution and measures, until their
burdens become insupportable, and, too often, untU their
calamity extends itself beyond the reach of remedy.
" The body of the people, in all countries, are violent in
their personal attachments to men who have served them
well, and merited their love and confidence. Hence it is
that those who have saved their country from a foreign
foe very frequently are the means of its own ruin them
selves. Not that they fail in their virtue or patriotism, but
by receiving honors and authorities, which the people have
the highest assurance of their improving properly, they
establish the power of a successor, to the destruction of
their country. Cato might have said of Csesar, if he had
been an exalted patriot, instead of an ambitious tyrant,
' Curse on his virtues ; they have ruined his country.'
In this country we are all fond of heaping honors upon
and vesting our president with powers. He deserves aU
the confidence we can place in him ; and, were we assured
of his immortality, I think we might trust his goodness
and wisdom with unlimited power. But it is our misfor
tune to be assured that he will, in a few years, resign him
self to the universal conqueror, and join the congregation
of the dead. Who wUl succeed him we cannot tell. We
ought, therefore, to wish him no other title, nor vest him
with any other powers, than we shaU be willing to give to
even the worst of men — for such may sticceed.
" The people, sometimes, when their difficulties become

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 257
accumulated, and their public distresses are multiplied, are
too apt to be discouraged, and to despond. Thus, when
Sylla usurped the government of Rome by the sword, and
destroyed in the circus five thousand of her host citizens,
among whom were forty senators, in one day, the people
submitted, because they thought the corruption of their
morals was too great to be remedied. So, when a nation
happens to be involved in debt, as we now are, and a pop
ular government grows careless of the public faith and
honor, the people are too ready, instead of associating to
change the public measures, to despond, and wish for a
change of government, and generally, in such a case, cry
out for a master, who, by the lictors and axes, will compel
them to do their duty. I am sorry to say that this is too
much the case with my countrymen at this day. They
seem to be petitioning, like the Hebrews, for a King, to
scourge them to their duty, and compel them to put on the
form of virtue because they have lost the substance.
" It is this temper and disposition which have led to the
monarchical powers bestowed by Congress on the presi
dent, in the late session of that body. They have given
him the complete control of the treasury, by authorizing
him to remove the officers of that important department
when he pleases. They have made him a dictator pro
tempore, with all the authority which the Romans annexed
to that office, by giTing him power to call out the militia,
when and how he shall please, for a certain time.
" The constitution provides that he shall have the com
mand of the militia when they shall be drawn out in actual
service, and that Congress shall provide for caUing them
out. But, by the act referred to. Congress, by giving the
president this power, has given him completely the author
ity over them before they are called out. We are aU,
therefore, old and young, within the trainband and alarm
list, under the dictatorial power of the president.
" The same spirit urges so many foolish and unthinking
22*

258 LIFE and WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLITAN.
men to wish the president may have the style and title of
a monarch, as well as the authority ; and they therefore
caU him 'His Highness,' and ' His Majesty.' But he is a
citizen, amenable to the laws, which the men who bear
these titles in Europe are not ; and we must, if we make
him wear these gaudy titles, make his offlce perpetual, and
his person sacred, or become the laugh of the world, and
as contemptible as we are proud.
" The revolution of the states from the parent country
was wonderful ; but the political revolution, in the minds
of Americans, is more, infinitely more astonishing. God
only knows where these things will end. To Him I leave
the event."
Note. — In the year 1789 appeared Gordon's work on the war. Historical
critics are believed now to coincide with Sullivan as to its merits. He was a
cotemporary, and, from his position in public life, as it were a witness of the
events it professes to describe ; and the following view of what has been con
sidered a leading authority deserves attention :
" In a country young and rising, like America, every patriot will encourage
literature, and cheerfully subscribe for those productions which increase the
general love for knowledge, correct the style of the age, and do honor to the
national character. But when there exists a, proneness to subscribe for the
writings of every mercenary scribbler who makes books with no other view than
to gain a few pence, it levels all ranks of literary distinction, and buries works
of value to society in the same pile of rubbish with the insignificant wares of
the ballad-monger. I am led to these observations by reading Doctor Gordon's
History of the Revolution. The author, disappointed in his views in America,
where he never obtained any political confidence with the people, took himself
to hjs native country to exhibit to the world his ill-nature and revenge. In
every part of his history there is a very remarkable want of truth and integrity;
but the arrows of his envy and malevolence are so blunted by the indiscretion
of his attacks, and the want of decency in his manner, that they do no injury,
either to the charasters they assail, or to the country he would wound. While
here, he labored much in the gazettes to disafiect the people of Massachusetts
from their happy constitution ; but his writings had no other consequence
than to deprive him of their respect. In his production, which he alone calls
the History of the Revolution, there are very few facts truly stated, and these
are badly arranged, while the efiects for which he assigns causes are generally
as much estranged to what he supposes they flow from, as his is from a pure
historical style."

CHAPTER XII,

ATTORNEY-GENERAL.

When the federal government was organized, John Jay
was appointed head of the federal judiciary, and efforts
were made, " by those who agreed with Judge Sullivan in
the theory of free government, to place him on the supreme
bench as one of the associate judges. It was more a sub
ject of regret to them than to himself that another eminent
judicial character of Massachusetts, William Cushing, its
chief justice, was preferred." The governor offered Judge
Sullivan the vacancy created by the removal of Cushing.
But, had his health or means permitted, he was by nature
too active to bear patiently the restraints and sedentary
habits of judicial life. It was finaUy arranged that Robert
Treat Paine, who had been attorney-general since the early
days of the Revolution, and who was now disposed to
make the exchange, should be elevated to the bench, and
Sullivan, resigning his office of judge of probate, succeeded
him, in February, 1790, as attorney-generah
Not consenting to have his official emoluments depend
upon the number of prosecutions, he made it a condition,
before accepting the appointment, that a fixed salary should
be attached to the office. A statute was accordingly passed,
at his suggestion, that his compensation should be the same
as that of the judges. This was a pecuniary sacrifice, the
average fees, under the ancient system, yielding a much
larger income. His new duties were onerous and respon-

260 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sible. He was obliged to attend the supreme court upon
aU its circuits through the state, and, many offences now
cognizant by the inferior tribunals being then within its
jurisdiction, its criminal calendar demanded a considerable
portion of his time.
Having been previously retained in several suits against
the commonwealth, and an action being now pending
against Gorham and Phelps, for the purchase money of the
western lands, in which speculation he had a small interest,
Joseph Hall was appointed, by resolve, to the charge of
those causes. To aU other official duties he immediately
devoted his attention, and for the next seventeen years the
newspapers in different parts of the state furnish constant
proof of their variety and responsibUity. Numerous state
claims to land, especially in the district, were in litigation.
Their care devolved upon him ; and he was, besides, the
constitutional adviser of the governor and council. His
official distinction attracted private clients, and he was soon
in the enjoyment of the largest professional practice in
Massachusetts. The bar of Massachusetts then consisted of about one
hundred members, and its celebrities from all parts of the
state attended the circuits of the supreme court through
the different counties. Travelling generally together, the
arrival at the shire towns of their long line of vehicles,
preceded by those of the judges and of the attorney-gen
eral, whose horses were noted for their beauty and speed,
we are told by one who remembers this as among his youth
ful pleasures, created a sensation. Crowds gathered to
catch a glimpse of the great legal luminaries as they
passed, and fiUed the court-rooms, to watch their proceed
ings, and Hsten to eloquence whose fame was widely spread.
Parsons, Dexter, Sedgwick, Lincoln, Bigelow, and the
Strongs, were among the more distinguished usually pres
ent whUe Sullivan was attorney-general.
Life on the circuits was much as that already described

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 261
as prevaUing before the Revolution. The judges were still
grave and dignified, the lawyers courteous and polite.
Long residing under the same roofs, and partaking at the
same board, there was little formality; and, as fond of social
enjoyment as conscientious in the discharge of more seri
ous duties, they improved their hours of relaxation in
friendly intercourse. If the weather were cool they clus
tered at night around the broad hearths and ample fire
places, which were then customary in country inns ; and in
the summer evenings chatted late in the evening air,
which served as an agreeable refreshment after the warm
and crowded discomforts experienced during the day in
the court-room.
Chief Justice Sargeant, who succeeded WiUiam Cushing,
died in 1792. Francis Dana, his successor, and his asso
ciates. Increase Sumner, Robert Treat Paine and Nathan
Cushing, were all social and agreeable men, and Judge
Dawes famous for his joviality and fondness for frolic.
Many of his amusing drolleries are still freshly remembered
by his ancient intimates. He was of diminutive propor
tions, and had a slight lisp, which gave additional zest to
his pleasantries. In subsequent years, Bradbury, SewaU,
Strong, Thaeher and Sedgewick, were appointed to fill
vacancies as they occurred; and in 1806, TheophUus Par
sons succeeded Dana as chief justice, and Isaac Parker, his
successor, was the same year added to the bench.*
* The judges wore their robes till after the death of Gov. Hancock. At his
funeral, as usual on such occasions, they appeared in full dress. Judge Dawes
had then been recently raised to the bench, and, being under five feet in height,
the judicial costume, surmounted by u, three-cornered hat, looked a little
absurd. The chief justice had no respect for the qualifications of Judge
Dawes for his post, and had disapproved of his appointment. Though himself
of a dignified and impressive appearance, he was not tall, and, perceiving that,
at least in this instance, the majesty of the Jaw was not rendered more impos
ing by external trappings, when the court again met he came without his
robes. In the lobby, after their adjournment. Judge Sumner remonstrated in
vain against this innovation on ancient usage. The associate judges, compelled
to conform to their chief, laid aside their gowns and cassocks, which have never
since been resumed by the judges of the commonwealth.

262 LIFE AND WRITINGS
One who was occasionally present remembers well the
general tone of hilarity which enlivened professional inter
course on the circuits, the vast variety of anecdote and
story which formed its staple entertainment. Moments
more sedate were occupied with instructive discourse on
the leading political questions of the day, or other interest
ing topics. If due deference was paid to judicial dignity,
bar and bench associated without restraint ; and intimacy,
and often warm personal regard, resulted from constant
companionship. SulHvan, who had been himself on the
bench, was friendly with all, and promoted that mutual
feeling of respect and social equality, without which the
best of company is but a bed of thorns. However keen
the encounters of the forum, the lawyers filed away aU
altercations in their bags with their briefs, and the most
^orough good-humor marked the lions while at play. On
festive occasions the attorney-general was often master of
the revels ; and, with Judge Dawes, Daniel Davis, Mr.
Sedgewick, and others, distinguished for their convivial
qualities, contributed freely to the gayety which served to
relieve the more substantial elements of these inteUectual
repasts. The following incident, connected with circuit Hfe at
that period, is recorded in the state archives, and may be
entertaining to some of our readers. It is well known
that nowhere more strictly than in New England has the
Sabbath been consecrated to religious duties. This, partic
ularly true of colonial times, long afterwards continued
characteristic of its people. Blue laws, in Massachusetts
as in Connecticut, punished its desecration with heavy
penalties. From midnight to sunset, for the day was thus
mercifuUy somewhat shortened by law, no hackney-coach
was permitted to drive in or out of Boston, without war
rant from a magistrate ; no vehicle allowed to move, during
service, faster than a walk. Governor Hancock, on one
occasion, was fined for taking a turn in the mall on his way

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 263
home from church. By the statute of 1792, travelling or
other secular employments, unless for some purpose of
necessity or humanity, was prohibited on the Lord's day ;
and wardens, tithingmen and other functionaries, were
clothed with unusual powers to enforce its observance.
With Maine as part of Massachusetts, these regulations
to the judges were somewhat embarrassing. Their courts
were held nearly every week throughout the year, and it
would often have been quite impossible to keep their ap
pointed terms without encroaching upon the period set
apart for devotion. A few months after the law above
aUuded to, which had been drawn up by Paine, one of its
judges, went into operation, the supreme court, after having
,been engaged in the trial of important cases at Falmouth
late into Saturday evening, found themselves compelled to
be at Dresden early Tuesday morning, to hold their session
for the county of Lincoln. The roads were bad, and a
gathering storm threatened to delay their journey. After
reaching the Kennebec, at Bath, they were to make their
way up through the uncertain navigation of Merrymeeting
Bay in a sail-boat. That they might reach their destina
tion in season to open the court at the time appointed,
the judges, accompanied by the attorney-general, in their
several vehicles, made an early start on Sunday morning,
and were passing through the quiet country vUIage of
Preeport during the hours of morning service, when the
warden, on the alert to catch Sabbath-breakers, observed
the line of carriages slowly winding up the hill towards
the meeting-house. Zealous to do his duty, he pounced
upon the culprits, who, though they did not summarUy
resent this contempt of court, gave the warden but little
satisfaction, and drove on. The people of Freeport, indig
nant that those who administered the law to others with
severity, should feel themselves at liberty to disregard it
at discretion, were greatly scandalized. They presented
the case to the grand jury, who duly indicted the judges.

264 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Incensed at this outrage on their official dignity, the judges
petitioned the legislature to authorize a nol. pros.; and,
after much vexation for the dignified offenders, and much
amusement for the pubHc, the proceedings were stayed.
Judge Sullivan, soon after his appointment as attorney-
general,- busily occupied himself in preparing for the press
his Observations on the United States Government, pub
lished in 1791, and his treatise on Banking, which appeared
in 1792. Both of these productions are more particularly
mentioned in other chapters. His political opponents speak
of him at this same time as the most incessant writer for
the pubHc press ; and articles, easily identified as from his
pen, upon all the important questions of the day, appeared
with great frequency in the several gazettes of the capital.,
Besides those in which he defended the administration of
Hancock from the attacks of its enemies, he wrote much
upon the proper rules for funding the public debt ; upon
the importance of securing some principle of reciprocity
in our trade with England ; the necessity of a bankrupt
act ; the expediency of abolishing all laws of excise ; the
amelioration of the criminal law.
His name is found each year on the Boston records, as
being present and taking an active part in its municipal
meetings. In 1790 he moved the consideration of the sub
ject of excise, and was appointed chairman of a committee
to instruct the representatives to urge the repeal of aU
laws of this nature. He was chairman of another, the same
year, to examine into the state of the debt and finances
of the town, and to devise some plan for placing both
in a more satisfactory condition ; and, the foUowing year,
to prepare a remonstrance against the petitions offered to
the legislature for dividing the county of Suffolk. Many
of its inhabitants had to travel forty miles to attend the
courts, and had good ground to complain of this as a griev
ance. His report contains much interesting information,
but is too long for insertion. Towards the close of 1791

OP JAMES SULLIVAN, 265
be was appointed chairman of a committee, of which
the other members were Dr. Jarvis, Judge Dawes,
Edward Payne, Judge Tudor, Davis, Mason, Higginson,
Eustis, Gore, Little, J. Q. Adams, Edes, Lucas, TUeston,
Prince, Edwards, Revere, Tyler and Bulfinch, to consider
the existing state of the town, and report some plan for
a more efficient management of its affairs.
The year after SuUivan settled in Boston, it will be per
haps remembered that a project had been entertained for
changing the form of its municipal government. All affairs
of importance were considered and decided upon in town-
meetings at Faneuil Hall, where all had a right to be heard,
and where the most influential, and others fond of public
declamation, were in the habit of frequently taking part
in the discussions. The actual control of town affairs was
entrusted to the boards of selectmen, overseers of the
poor, firewards, and other functionaries, quite indepen
dent of each other, and responsible to the citizens in their
annual meetings. This system answered sufficiently well
for a smaU community, but was wholly inadequate to the
wants of a wealthy and populous metropolis. At that
time a committee had been appointed, of which Samuel
Adams was chairman, and Sullivan a member, to consider
the expediency of applying to the General Court for an act
to form the town into an incorporated city, and report a
plan of alterations in the town police. Upon investigation,
the citizens were found to be averse to change, attaching
great value to the old system, as having conduced to the
establishment of their liberties.
As the trade and population of the town increased, the
defects of the municipal organization became more glaring,
and a meeting was now called, of which SulHvan was the
moderator, to consider what alterations should be made to
correct the existing embarrassments. As chairman of the
committee, he reported a new form of government to a
subsequent meeting in January. It was determined, in
23

266 LIFE AND WRITINGS
order to conciliate the prejudice in favor of old associa
tions, to combine a city organization with the ancient title
of town. Nine wards were to be created, from each of
which two persons were to be delegated to a common
council. A police court and town attorney were part of
the plan.
Vigorous exertions were made to insure success to the
proposed system, and, when the subject came up for dis
cussion, SuUivan made a long and eloquent speech in its
elucidation. He was ably seconded by the most distin
guished orators of the town, Otis, Paine, Dr. Jarvis and
others, " who exhausted in its behalf every appeal that the
brilliancy of imagination could suggest " to the good sense
of the people. The opposition, headed by Austin, however,
after a debate of unusual ardor and asperity, succeeded in
defeating the project by a majority of three votes. An
effort made in the foUowing May met with like success, as
also others in 1797 and 1804, when Sullivan was again
appointed chairman of the committees ; no change in the
town organization being effected before 1822. At the
annual meeting in May, SuUivan's name is found upon a
committee appointed by the citizens to superintend the
erection of an alms-house for the poor.
The Historical Society, then lately organized, on Tuesday,
the twenty- third day of October, 1792, celebrated the third
centennial anniversary of the discovery of America by Co
lumbus on the twelfth of October, old style, 1492. Jeremy
Belknap delivered an address, of deep research, upon the
discovery, at Brattle-street church. Dr. Thaeher offering
the prayer, and the services concluding with an ode. Han
cock and Adams, the governor and lieutenantrgovernor,
with the council and the members of the society, dined with
SulHvan, its president, at his house in Bowdoin Square.
A few months later another occurrence, of much interest
to Sullivan, took place in the same dweUing. His daughter
was married to James Cutler, a merchant of Boston. In

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 267
honor of the eTent GoTernor Hancock gaTe a magnificent
ball in a spacious apartment, then forming a part of his
mansion on Beacon-street, for use on festive occasions.
This hall, some sixty feet in length, was decorated with the
portraits of many revolutionary celebrities, and possessed
many interesting historical associations. The building was
removed in 1818 to Allen-street, and is believed to be still
in existence.
To one with the taste and ideas of elegance of Mrs. Sul
livan, who had been brought up among the splendid man
sions of Portsmouth, the house on Bowdoin Square was
but poorly adapted, and, as the family grew into life, was
too small for their comfortable accommodation. Governor
Hancock had proposed to his friend to build a house upon
that portion of his estate now occupied by the state-house,
and an agreement was made for its purchase. But that
spot being intended by Hancock * as a gift to the common
wealth for public purposes, the idea was finaUy abandoned,
and Sullivan bought, in August, 1792, the estate, containing
about thirty thousand feet of land, on Summer-street, and
erected the house successively occupied by WiUiam Gray,
John P. Cushing and William Pratt, and which only re
cently has been removed to be replaced by the building
occupied by the Mercantile Library Association.
Between Judge Sullivan's estate and Trinity church
existed, at the time of his purchase, a small passage called
Bishop's alley. By a gift to the town, a few years later,
of two thousand feet of his land, this was enlarged into a
street, which he named after his old friend and brother
patriot. Major Hawley. The foUowing letter to the select
men, dated the ninth of December, 1799, is found on file
* Indeed, under his pillow, when he died, were minutes for his will. Among
the appropriations of his property was the gift of his estate on Beacon Hill to
the commonwealth, as a residence for its chief magistrate, and for other pur
poses of government. But he had not realized the rapid app,roach of dissolu
tion, and his patriotic intentions were not destined to be accomplished.

268 LIFE AND WRITINGS
in the city hall : " WhUe you are making daily improve
ments in the streets of the town, I take the liberty to men
tion that I have left out, adjoining to what has been caUed
Bishop's alley, a piece of land two hundred and thirty-
eight feet long, and eight feet and four inches wide. This
has given the aUey the appearance of a street, and has ren
dered it very useful to the pubHc. I am now willing to give
the land to the town, on a street being estabhshed there by
the name of Haioley-street."
On Board alley, the continuation of this passage towards
Milk-street, stood a buUding which had recently been fitted up
and consecrated to Thespis. Stage plays were performed ;
but, in order to evade the penalties of the law, and escape
the interference of all such as were obstinately prejudiced
against theatrical exhibitions, these performances were
advertised as moral lectures. We propose to reserve for
a subsequent chapter whatever relates to the professional
life of our subject ; but the origin of the drama in Massa
chusetts, with which his connection in the discharge of his
duty as public prosecutor has been somewhat misrepre
sented, is of sufficient general interest to form an exception.
Both our pilgrim and puritan progenitors came to the
wilderness that they might worship their Creator away
from the pomps and vanities of a wicked world, and were
too grave and earnest to wish to be amused. Life, to them
the threshold of death, and after that the judgment, was a
stern reality, and its precious moments were too sacred to
be wasted in frivolous entertainments. The preachers and
the elders exercised a predominating control over the peo
ple, and a pulpit indulging no cheerful views of religion
cast a depressing shadow over society. The interpretation
of the sacred writings was deemed sufficient refreshment
after toil, and the singing of psalms the divinely appointed'
expression of merriment. In England, reaction foUowed
the gloomy austerities of the protectorate; but the vices
and foUies of the restoration only served to deepen among

op' JAMES SULLITAN. 269
the puritans their abhorrence of worldly enjoyments; and
for more than a century later in Massachusetts the dance
and the theatre remained abominations. The devotional
spirit and stern virtues of the New England fathers com
mand our profound veneration. If bigoted and unduly
intolerant of rational amusements, they should be judged
by the laws of public opinion in their day, and not by the
more enlightened standards of our own! Probably under
no less rigid religious training could have been developed
the moral hardihood, self-sacrifice, clear perceptions of
right, and conscientious persistency in maintaining it, which
established our liberties. Among the earliest to resist par
liamentary encroachments upon colonial rights were May-
hew, Chauncey, Cooper, and other distinguished divines,
and many of the most efficient popular leaders, such as
Oxenbridge Thaeher, Hawley and Samuel Adams, were as
profoundly imbued with religious truths, and as obedient to
the requirements of church discipline, as their stanchest
puritan or pilgrim progenitor.
Before the middle of the last century no laws had been
passed against theatrical entertainments; for the reason,
probably, that there had been no disposition to introduce
them into the colony. English officers engaged in the
French wars brought over a taste for the drama, which the
provincial legislature sought to repress by the statute of
1742, and another in 1750. Occasionally, before the Revo
lution, the British, when in garrison, scandalized the public
prejudices by violations of this law ; and, during the siege,
when churches were desecrated into barracks and riding-
schools, Faneuil Hall, the Cradle of Liberty, was turned
into a play-house. American peculiarities were made sub
ject of ridicule, and Washington and the other patriot
leaders, represented upon the stage in caricature, held up
to the derision of the English soldiery.
In 1779, at the recommendation of Congress, the General
Court appointed Judge Sullivan, William Phillips and In-
23*

270 LIFE AND WRITINGS
crease Sumner, to bring in a biU " for suppressing theatrical
entertainments, horse-racing, gaming, and such other diver
sions as are productive of idleness, dissipation and a gen
eral depravity of manners." The report was duly made and
recommitted; but existing statutes were found sufficient
for the objects in view. In 1785, upon the general revision
of the provincial laws, after the adoption of the state con
stitution, the statute of 1750 was reenacted, to continue in
force till 1797. With the increase of wealth and luxury,
and more general intercourse with other nations, this prej
udice against the stage gradually wore away, and eight of
the other states sanctioned theatrical performances when
an effort was made to introduce them into Massachusetts.
Among the most prominent personages in public and
professional life, for the eight years foUomng the peace,
was John Gardiner, already mentioned in a former chapter
in connection with the attack on the bar rules. Mr. Gardi
ner, son of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, a wealthy refugee, was
born in Boston in 1731, and, educated in England, was bred
to the law, and entered of the Inner Temple. He early
took a distinguished rank at the English bar, and, in 1766,
was offered the post of chief justice of New York. This
he declined, but accepted, soon after, the appointment of
attorney-general at St. Kitts. In 1783, partially through
the instrumentality of SuUivan, he was permitted to return,
and, two years later, was chosen to deliver the oration, on
the fourth of July, in Boston. He removed soon after this
to Pownalborough, in Maine, whence he was sent a represent
ative to the General Court. He possessed great abihty and
eloquence, was an exceUent classical scholar, and weU read,
not only in his own profession, but in history, controver
sial divinity, and various other branches of learning. If
eccentric and impatient of control, he was a genuine repub
lican ; and his efforts to abolish entaUs and the remaining
rights of primogeniture, as also to simplify and economize
the practice of the law, by doing away with special plead-

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 271
ing and the somewhat exclusive restrictions upon the
admission of attorneys known as the bar-call, justly earned
him the title of law reformer. Counsellor Gardiner did
not confine his efforts as a reformer to his profession or to
the laws, but, as one of the most zealous and influential of
the early Unitarians, aided in the preparation of the King's
chapel liturgy, by adapting the book of common prayer of
the Episcopal church to meet the doctrinal views of that
persuasion. He was unfortunately lost at sea, in October,
1793 ; the packet Londoner, in which he was coming from
Maine to attend to his legislative duties, being wrecked
off' Cape Ann.
At a meeting caUed at Faneuil HaU, in October, 1791, at
the instigation of Gardiner and other friends of the drama,
the Boston members were instructed to procure, if possi
ble, the repeal of the law against theatres. When, in the
following January, the committee of the legislature re
ported adversely, Gardiner made an eloquent appeal in
behalf of the stage, giving a comprehensive sketch of its
history both in ancient and modern times. This speech
was printed at length in the newspapers of the day, — an
unusual distinction, — and, enriched with valuable notes, was
published separately. It failed, however, for the time, to
accomplish its object ; the report against the repeal being
accepted by ninety-nine out of one hundred and forty-
three. The next year a company of comedians, under the
direction of Charles Powell as their manager, arrived in
Boston, and, fitting up a stable in Board-alley as a theatre,
to avoid the letter of the law, had advertised their per
formances under the name of moral lectures. This open
violation of a statute, which the legislature had recently by
a large majority refused to repeal, was brought, in Septem
ber, to the notice of the Suffolk grand jury, Avho refused to
interfere. Several of the public functionaries considered
the theatre demoralizing, and all were greatly displeased
that strangers should thus insolently set their authority

272 LIFE AND WRITINGS
at defiance. Hancock, in his speech, in November, to the
General Court, which, as the smaU-pox prevaUed in Bos
ton, was convened at Concord, recommended that measures
should be taken to vindicate the majesty of the law, and
to bring the offenders to punishment.
Notwithstanding this speech of the governor, and the
response of the court that the law ought to be enforced,
the company persisted in their performances. Hancock
felt bound, while the law existed, to see it put in execu
tion. He issued his proclamation against the players, and
summoned the attorney-general to the Council, of which
Samuel Adams, as lieutenant-governor, was an influential
member, and " ordered him forthwith to prosecute and
bring to condign punishment any committing open and flar
grant breaches of the law tending to injure the morals of
the people, and to bring into contempt the government
thereof; particularly the audacious violators of an act
now in force entitled ' An act to prevent stage-plays and
other theatrical entertainments,' in order effectually to
prevent any breaches of said act in future." The grand
jury having refused to indict, and no informer appearing
to institute a qui tam for the penalty, as provided by the
statute, or even to swear to a complaint, Sullivan instituted
an information ex officio ; a mode of prosecution under the
English common law provided for cases of misdemeanors
where the public authorities were set at defiance.
On Wednesday, the third of December, Sheriff Allen,
under his directions, entered upon the stage with his offi
cers, during the performance of the School for Scandal,
and, taking possession of Harper, one of the actors, held
him to baU to appear next day before the justices, and
enter into recognizances to the next session of the su
preme court. The sheriff further expressed his deter
mination to arrest the whole company unless the perform
ances ceased. Much excitement ensued, and the portrait
of Hancock, hanging before the stage-box, was torn down

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 273
and trampled under foot. The audience, howcTer, soon
dispersed, and the theatre was closed till the legislature
repealed the law. Later the same CTening the governor
was seated in his parlor, surrounded by several gentlemen
engaged in discussing the subject of the arrest, when a
noise in the hall attracted their attention. Upon opening
the door, he found a crowd of persons, many of whom were
sailors, who, in reply to his inquiry as to the object of their
visit, said that they came to know if it was his honor's
wish that the play-house should be pulled down. He was
somewhat amused at the proposal, but told them, if they
attempted any such thing, it would be the duty of the
proper authorities to see them all lodged in prison ; and
upon this they retired, quite disappointed. Hancock re
quested one of the gentlemen present, who, from his office,
could interfere with propriety, to go down to the theatre,
and take the necessary precautions to prevent any disturb
ance. A sufficient force was collected to preserve order ;
and those inclined to mischief soon retired. Notwithstand
ing this, however, the governor was accused in the papers
of having instigated a mob to destroy the play-house.
In order to accommodate the public, very generally
interested in the issue, the examination of Harper before
the justices took place at Faneuil Hall. The attorney-gen
eral read a special order from the governor. Tudor and
Otis, counsel for Harper, objected to the legality of the
arrest, as contrary to the fourteenth article of the bill of
rights, which requires that all warrants shaU be supported
by oath or affirmation. Sullivan argued that this rule did
not apply to cases like the present, where offenders had
been taken in flagrante delictu, in actual violation of the
law, a proceeding of daily occurrence, and never consid
ered an infringement of constitutional privileges. Public
sentiment was in favor of the theatre ; and the judges, not
able to resist this appeal to popular rights, the defendant
was discharged amid loud applause.

274 LIFE AND WRITINGS
SuUivan simply performed his duty as attorney-general.
He had no personal prejudices against the theatre, but was
indignant that the laws should be contemned. To prevent
any unreasonable prejudice against the government, he
defended its course in the papers ; and, among other
articles of his, that in the Chronicle, signed A Friend to
Peace, presents a sufficient justification. His opponent,
under the signature of Menander, was, probably, Gardiner,
the champion of the stage. In March, a bill, repealing the
act of 1750, passed the legislature. It permitted Boston,
by a vote of a majority of its legal voters, to appoint
three persons to license a theatre for four months in the
year, the plays and performances to be approved by them ;
but prohibited the drama, under heavy penalties, in aU
other towns. This act provided that no theatres should
be erected, or any expenses connected with such enter
tainments be made, at the cost of the town treasury. The
statesmen of those days were well read in the history of
the ancient republics, and fully realized how much their
liberties and existence had been undermined by the serious
mistake of providing pawem et circeuses at the public charge
for the sake of popularity. The biU had been kiUed by
amendments. It certainly was open to many grave objec
tions ; and the governor, not caring to veto, yet still not
able to approve, permitted it tacitl)'' to become a law,
according to the then provision of the constitution, by
retaining it more than five days. Though enroUed as an
act, it was never printed. The Boston Theatre was erected,
and opened in February, 1794, and a statute regulating
theatres enacted in 1797.
The progress of the French revolution was watched by
Judge SuUivan with lively interest. Having been himself
actively engaged in our own struggle for independence, he
realized how much its favorable issue was to be attributed
to the assistance of France, and could not cease to hope
she would eventually succeed in securing free institutions

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 275
for herself The regeneration of a mighty empire was, of
course, not to be accomplished without violent convulsions,
and, in the upheaval of its ancient system, things vile and
detestable would be forced to the surface. Social distress,
financial embarrassments, torrents of bloodshed, however
much to be deplored, were, perhaps, inevitable as the
price of liberty. While a ray of hope remained that the
end was possible of attainment, even at this fearful cost,
the object seemed worth the sacrifice. On the 21st of Jan
uary, 1793, a grand civic feast was celebrated in State-
street, Lieutenant-governor Adams presiding. Subscrip
tions were raised for the release of debtors from prison,
and there was a general jubilee. Similar festivities took
place at Plymouth, and at other towns in the common
wealth. But when, in March, intelligence arrived of the
trial and execution of King Louis, that very week of the
festival, foUowed by tidings of increased horror with each
arrival from Europe, many regretted the excess of their
enthusiasm. La Tombe, the French consul, when he came
to America, had received from the unhappy king a present
of his portrait. He was an intimate friend of Sullivan,
and, fearing that the possession of this picture might
expose him to the fearful consequences of incivism, he
requested Sullivan to hang it up in his own house ; and it
was there in a vacant chamber at the time of the execution.
An association had been formed in Boston, among the
well-wishers of the French revolution, called the Consti
tutional Society, but stigmatized by their enemies as the
Club of the Jacobins. Perez Morton was at its head. It
was made the subject, somewhat later, of a witty poem,
called the Jacobiniad, written by Dr. J. S. J. Gardiner, the
son of the law reformer. Sullivan remained for a time a
member ; but, considering his official position inconsistent
with membership of a secret society, and finding reason to
disapprove of their extreme views, he took occasion pub
licly to erase his name from their books.

CHAPTER XIII.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
Governor Hancock, who had been for many years an
invahd, died on the eighth of October, 1793, a few weeks
after meeting the legislature for the purpose of recom
mending the constitutional amendment already referred
to. From the commencement of the Revolution a cordial
intimacy had existed between him and Sullivan. Han
cock was the elder by seven years ; but this difference
of age, by preventing rivalry, drew closer between them
the bonds of friendship. The great affliction of Hancock,
in the loss of his only child, in 1787, was followed within
a few months by a similar cause of sorrow to his friend, in
the death of his eldest son. From this period they were
in the habit of constant intercourse ; and, entertaining the
same religious and political sentiments, and agreeing on
many other points, there existed between them sufficient
difference of character for their association to prove mutu
ally pleasant and beneficial. Samuel Adams, though much
older than either, had renewed all the cordiality of his
earlier friendship for Hancock, and was also warmly at
tached to SuUivan.
A few days after the funeral, SulHvan published in the
Chronicle an obituary of Hancock, which was also printed
in a separate form. WUliam Tudor, in his Hfe of James
Otis, and John Adams, have both paid eloquent tribute to
his character ; and there are interesting memoirs of this

LIFE AND WRITINGS OP JAMES SULLITAN. 277
distinguished patriot in Sanderson's Lives of the Signers,
and in other publications. His papers have been unfortu
nately dispersed ; but sufficient material remains for a val
uable biography of one whose memory is rapidly fading
away into little else than the great shadow of a name. It
would be the height of presumption to attempt here any
additional commemoration ; but the public Hfe of Sullivan
was so intimately associated with that of Hancock, that, for
its better illustration, some mention of the prominent points
of his career, not familiar to all our readers, may, perhaps,
be pardoned.
Born in Braintree, of the most honored ancestry, — for
both his father and grandfather were pious and able minis
ters, — Hancock graduated at Cambridge in 1754, with suffi
cient credit for scholarship. His uncle, Thomas Hancock,
who erected in 1737, the year of the birth of his distin
guished nephew, the stone mansion on Beacon-street still
occupied by his family, is said to have laid the foundation
of his fortunes by the lucky purchase from a sailor of a
rough diamond, both parties being equally ignorant of its
great value. He engaged in commerce, and accumulated
the largest estate in the province, estimated to be worth
seventy thousand pounds. Having no children of his own,
he adopted his nephew, who had been early left an orphan,
and who, after leaving college, entered his counting-room.
Here Hancock learned the mysteries of commerce ; and,
gaining in the good opinion and favor of his relative, was
sent by him to Europe ; and, while in England, was present
at the funeral of George the Second, and the coronation
of his successor, from whose diadem he was destined to
aid in plucking its most precious jewels.
Returning home, he resumed the routine of business,
when, upon the sudden death of his uncle in 1764, he suc
ceeded to an ample inheritance. Prosperity produced little
change in his character; it made him neither proud nor
24

278 LIFE AND WRITINGS
elated ; and, while generous upon every fitting occasion, he
was never ostentatious nor extravagant.
Placed by affluence beyond the necessity of labor, fond
of society and of the pleasures and splendors of Hfe, gen
erous, noble-hearted and reliable, he took a prominent
position in the social, commercial and political circles of
the day, and became a general favorite. Thus popular and
influential, it was natural for the British ministry, while
seeking to fasten the fetters of an Asiatic despotism upon
three miUions of people, to strive to make him their own.
But Hancock was not to be corrupted ; and no rank or
distinction which Great Britain had to bestow could tempt
him to swerve from loyalty to his country, or from an un
hesitating devotion of all his energies and whatever he
possessed to the defence of her rights and liberties. He
was early chosen by the inhabitants of Boston a represent
ative to the General Court; and the remark of Samuel
Adams, upon the occasion, to his cousin John, the second
president, is well remembered ; that the citizens had that
day done wisely for their country in securing John Han
cock to her cause.
With such associates as these, and with Otis, Quincy and
the Warrens, Hancock matured into a patriot ; and, secur
ing the esteem and confldence of his countrymen, became
a leader, a ruler of the storm, in the momentous crisis
which was to sunder Great Britain and her colonies.
Throwing himself without reserve into the conflict, as just
and reasonable as he was patriotic and persevering, by his
ardor in debate and his prudence in conduct, encouraging
the timid and restraining the impetuous, he rapidly gained
an ascendency over public opinion, and formed a rallying
point amidst the growing disaffection. Inculcating the
great truth that obedience was due to the law, and not to the
monarch, and that when that monarch violated the rights
of the subject he forfeited his own, he carried along with
him the hearts and judgments of his countrymen, and the

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 279
determination to resist became uncompromising and uni
versal. If John Adams said truly that the Revolution was
accomplished before the first bloodshed at Lexington, to
Hancock is due a liberal share with the other leaders of
the glory of its achievement.
He was placed high in the provincial councils ; but when,
after his name had been repeatedly stricken from the list
by Governor Hutchinson, in order that his influence with
his party might be impaired, it was permitted to remain, he
indignantly refused his seat among the councillors ; and,
by his spirited and patriotic oration upon the anniversary
of the Boston massacre, removed every possibility of
doubt of his unequivocal devotion to the popular party.
As colonel of the cadets, the life-guard of the executive,
he was called upon to perform escort duty at the funeral
obsequies of Lieutenant-governor Oliver. When reproached
by his friend Mr. Adams for paying this tribute to one who
had lent himself a willing instrument for carrying out the
arbitrary measures of the government, his reply, " that the
honor was paid to the offlce, and not to the man," deserves
to be well remembered under our republican institutions.
Not finding him sufficiently subservient. Governor Gage
recalled his commission ; and his soldiers, incensed at this
insult to their beloved commander, sent to the British
satrap at Salem the standard which he had presented them,
and disbanded. When Great Britain, finding coercion and
intimidation alike unavailing, attempted to conciliate, a
general pardon was offered to all but Adams and Hancock.
He had been already, in 1774, president of the Provin
cial Congress; and, sent to Philadelphia, was chosen to
preside over that of the continent; an assemblage which for
private worth and public virtue, for ability, eloquence and
wisdom, for the dignity of its cause, and the grandeur of
itS' consequences, has no parallel in history. By his mag
nanimity and fearlessness, his intelligence, courtesy and
impartiality, in the discharge of the duties of that high

280 LIFE AND WRITINGS
office, he gained the respectful admiration, not only of the
Congress and America, but of the friends of freedom
throughout the world. From his official position, thfe
name of John Hancock stands the first upon the Dec
laration of Independence, that great instrument destined
to mark to distant ages a new era in the history of
humanity. After the first bloodshed at Lexington had aroused New
England, our gallant countrymen, flocking to the camp,
taught their invaders, at Bunker HiU, a lesson of caution.
During the following winter eleven thousand disciplined
veterans occupied the town, keeping carefully within their
entrenchments. The American army, rarely equal in effec
tive numbers, scantily clad, and poorly provided, occupied
the shores of the basin, of which the three-hilled peninsula
formed the centre, with little to keep them warm but a gen
erous glow of patriotic love for their country, and of indig
nant resentment towards her unnatural enemies. WhUe
waiting for the ice to form over the river, that they might
cross to the attack, it was proposed to bombard the place.
The property of Hancock would have been exposed to
certain destruction, and his wishes were consulted as to
the plan. His answer, worthy to be inscribed in letters of
gold, will never be forgotten : " Let no private interests
of mine, sir, interfere with the liberties of my country."
Thus ready to sacriflce his property to the cause, he was
also ready, like his friend, Joseph Warren, to share with
his countrymen the dangers of the battle-field, and, at
the head of the state contingent, took part in the siege of
Newport. When Massachusetts, parting the last ties that bound her
to colonial vassalage, shaped out of the largest liberty wise
laws for her future guidance, she selected Hancock for her
chief; and annually while he lived repeated this mark of
her confidence and grateful affection, except for a brief
period when, sent to the Congress, he was called upon

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 281
again to preside OTer its deliberations. The particulars
of his administration belong to the history of the state.
All must admit that it was able, consistent and patriotic.
As far as his power and influence extended he was indefati
gable in efforts to promote the best interests of the people.
His successful endeavors to restore tranquUlity, after a
dangerous insurrection, by a generous clemency ; to insure
economy and sustain the public credit ; his efforts to en
courage learning and morality, to prevent excessive usury,
to abolish lotteries, to mitigate the criminal code, and do
away with infamous punishments, such as branding, crop
ping, and the whipping-stool, are creditable proofs of a
good heart ; while his untiring exertions to save state sov
ereignty, the best palladium of our liberties, from the
dangerous vortex of consolidation, become daily a more
convincing proof of his great sagacity.
Familiar from early manhood Avith political questions, he
appreciated the defects in the federal constitution ; but no
pride of opinion or intolerance of imperfection prevented
his lending his whole influence to its support when he
found that no better could be obtained. His discourage
ment of the proposal for a second convention to amend the
instrument, from the apprehension that it might lead to the
abandonment of what had been already secured, shows his
foresight and appreciation of the great blessings which
promised to follow the establishment of a good general
government. We are apt to believe in the truth of impu
tations upon poHtical adversaries upon slight evidence ;
but the accusation that Hancock, from want of respect for
Washington, or from an overweening conceit of his own
consequence, was not at the Roxbury line to receive him
upon his visit to Boston, is opposed to all probability. If
his absence arosg from the reason sometimes assigned, a
conviction of the importance of preserving inviolate the
idea of state sovereignty, it does credit to his wisdom.
But the feeble state of his health, and inabUity to bear
24*

282 LIFE AND WRITINGS
exposure to the open air in a cool October day, is the more
reasonable explanation, as ft is the true one. Now that
no object is to be answered by disparaging the character
or political opinions of Hancock, it is time that candor
should divest itself of the remnants of a prejudice so
ungenerous. Not only had Hancock himself been a liberal benefactor
of the university, but the wealthy relative, whose fortune
he inherited, had, besides other munificent contributions to
its wants, endowed one of its professorships. In 1772
Hancock was created its treasurer. When he went to
Philadelphia, for their greater security, he took the papers
of the college with his own. His incessant duties as pres
ident of Congress did not admit of his return, and the pro
fessors, impatient for. the interest upon the bonds, in 1777
sent a special agent to receive them. They were deliv
ered, and Hancock generously defrayed the expenses of
the messenger. With less regard to the injury such a step
might do to the influence of Hancock, and likewise to the
state, in Congress, than to have the college bonds in the
custody of some one legally responsible, they immediately
chose Mr. Storer in his place. He was, no doubt, greatly
mortified ; but other sufficient reasons can be assigned for
his subsequent relations with the college than any feeUng
of resentment. There was a balance of some hundreds
of pounds in his keeping. The Revolution had swept
away all his ready means, involved him in great losses and
heavy expenses for the public service, and his large real
estate was quite unsalable. In the unsettled and greatly
depreciated state of the currency, no rule of settlement
would have satisfied both parties. When, in 1785, the
improved state of affairs admitted of an equitable standard
for adjusting the account, it was liquidated, and the bal
ance secured by mortgage. This backwardness to satisfy
a debt not in his power to pay without great sacrifice of
property, is the only blemish upon the character of John

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 283
Hancock. Those disposed to condemn him should remem
ber that he had contributed to the Revolution more than
one hundred thousand dollars, and, after its close, devoted
his means without reserve to every public object.
It has been charged against him that he was unduly fond
of popularity ; that he too sedulously courted its smiles,
was too easil}' elated by its pleasing intoxication. Yet no
instance can be fairly stated where any such weakness
warped his judgment, or made him faithless to duty. Hu
man virtue is a central point between extremes ; the per
fect path lies along an elevation inclining away on either
side into vice or folly. But even here there is a choice.
One slope is to the light, the other to the shadow. How
much more creditable to Hancock to have rejoiced in
the affectionate demonstrations of his countrymen, than if,
insensible to their applause, he had withdrawn without
response into himself, cold, proud and repulsive !
This is a brief and very imperfect outline of the public
career of John Hancock. We may have done injustice to
his memory by this feeble tribute ; but it cannot suffer at
our hands. It is a bright light upon the hill-top to cheer
and encourage the oppressed, struggling for freedom, here
and everywhere, now and to the latest generations. But,
if his fame require no especial commemoration; if, with
that of the heroes and sages raised up by Providence to
do homage to the natal star of a great national existence,
it is destined to survive both bronze and marble ; we owe
it to ourselves, and we owe it to our country, to pay to
disinterested public service its most valued recompense,
our grateful recollections.
Upon the decease of Mr. Hancock, "the old patriot,"
Samuel Adams, the lieutenant-governor, succeeded to the
chief magistracy; a post he was annually elected to fill, with
little opposition, for the next three years. In his messages
and addresses he aimed to inspire his fellow-citizens with
the same attachment which warmed his own breast for

284 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sound republican principles. He advocated, untiringly, the
diffusion of education, frugality of life and simpHcity of
manners. From his official position. Judge Sullivan had
abundant opportunity of keeping in full glow the cordiality
and good-fellowship which, since the close of the war, had
subsisted, without interruption, between himself and Mr.
Adams. This friendly tie was the stronger from their coin
cidence in opinion upon all points of pubHc poHcy, and
especially such as were connected with our relations to
France ; both, as stanch republicans, taking a lively interest
in the progress of events in that country.
Many of the questions at issue between the republicans
and federalists have been already mentioned. But the
great disturbing cause, destined for many years to agitate
the whole political world, was the French revolution. In
her generous exertions in aid of our struggle for inde
pendence, France had caught the infection of freedom;
but, not prepared for its healthy action, it destroyed
without regenerating. In breaking free from her ancient
despotism, unmindful of our example of moderation, and
with no organized system to direct her energies, she
wasted her strength in revenging the past, instead of
providing for the future. She murdered her king, and
slaughtered by hecatombs her priests and nobles. Mad
dened by blood, she iDecame furious and uncontrollable ;
and the futile attempts of the wicked and ignorant to seize
the reins of power only accelerated her headlong plunge
into chaos. Her brutal excesses and inhuman barbarities
revolted her most enthusiastic supporters ; and the spirit
of liberty turned sadly away from a nation unwilling to
receive her.
For her valuable aid to the cause of American freedom
she was entitled to our gratitude. That she had been
betrayed, by our example, into a condition so deplorable,
demanded our commiseration ; and, moreover, we were
bound to her by treaty obligations. In requital for the

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 285
past, and partially, doubtless, with the view of strengthen
ing our ability to resist future attacks, we had guaranteed
to France her West India possessions, and granted her the
privilege of sheltering her prizes in our ports; one we
agreed to withhold from her enemies. Many of our most in
fluential statesmen, from a conviction that she had been actu
ated to her exertions in our behalf by a wish to humiliate
her rival, and hopeless of any beneficial results from her
revolution, felt little inclination to make return beyond the
letter of the compact. Others, more sanguine, with the
hope that the existing anarchy would eventually settle
down into constitutional government, and too generous
to question motives for friendly service, would have ex
tended not only encouragement to the cause of liberty in
France, but active cooperation where consistent with our
own security. The people, following their respective lead
ers, and excited by the eventful tidings constantly arriving
from Europe, arrayed themselves on either side in nearly
equal numbers, the federalist battle-cry being England and
Neutrality, the republican, France and Universal Freedom.
The cabinet was divided. Washington alone, neither repub
lican nor federalist, rose high above all other considerations
than the national interests and the dictates of wisdom and
conscience. Mourning over unfortunate France returning
blindfold to her fetters, and justly indignant at the dictation
of England, then using her power for oppression, he guided
the popular impetuosity into safe channels, and, in this diffi
cult crisis, preserved our system from untimely dUapidation,
His policy, inclining to neutrality, was, doubtless, the most
judicious, and, under all circumstances, fully to be justi
fied, but yet one for the country more consistent with
prudence than with courage or generosity. Had we aU,
after Yorktown, for the benefits of peace or from dread of
England, too readily lost faith in the possible establishment
of constitutional liberty in France, it would have been a
blot upon American honor. With the decided ascendency

286 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of either party we should have been precipitated into hos
tiUties; to the great hazard of our independence and free
institutions. Providence, reserving us for a happier des
tiny, kindly sheltered us under its wing, and ever working
out its benevolent purposes by adequate causes, through
tHe instrumentality of our own dissensions and the wisdom
of Washington, saved us from entanglements imperilling
our existence.
Not realizing how far her frightful disorder and domi
neering policy towards this country had loosened her hold
upon the public sentiment, France sent over Genet as her
minister, with express but secret instructions to embroil
us in the war. Under his directions a force was raised in
Carolina to attack the Spanish posts in Florida, and priva
teers fitted out at Charleston, Boston and on the Delaware,
aided by two French frigates, 1' Ambuscade and Concorde,
captured fifty English vessels, many of which were brought
into our harbors to be disposed of One, the Little Sarah,
fitted out for a French privateer at Philadelphia, -was about
to sail in July. In an angry discussion, upon the subject
of the proposed detention, with Dallas, the secretary of
state for Pennsylvania, Genet used expressions which, re
peated successively to Governor Mifflin, Jefferson, Knox
and Hamilton, Jay and King, were, with some slight exag
geration, construed into a threat to appeal from the presi
dent to the people. This offence, with other official impro
prieties, induced Washington, under the advice of his cabi
net, to request the recall of the minister.
In August the Roland, another French privateer, saUed
from Boston, and soon after returned with the Greyhound,
an Enghsh vessel, as her prize. The agent of the Enghsh
owner attempted to replevy the vessel ; but at the request
of Duplaine, the vice-consul, who had succeeded La Tombe
at Boston, a force from the French frigate Concorde, then
in port, resisted the marshal in serving his process, and
placed the prize under the protection of the guns of the

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 287
frigate. When, a few da)'s later, the Concorde sailed, the
Greyhound was restored to her English owner. Duplaine
was thrown into prison ; but the federal grand jury three
several times refused to indict him. The government, pro
voked at this high-handed resistance to an officer of its court,
dismissed Duplaine, who, indeed, had been already super
seded by the appointment of Dannery to his consulate.
This interference of the French minister and the consular
agents in our party contentions, and their manifest desire
to foment a spirit of hostility towards England, demanded
some signal check ; and it cannot be disputed that the
administration was entirely justified in resorting to the most
extreme measures sanctioned by its constitutional power
to express its displeasure.
An incident about this same period served to exasperate
still further the leading federalists of !^oston, who were
not without great influence in the national councils, A
French vessel arrived in the harbor of the town, with a
large placard nailed to her mast, and on it an inscription
threatening death to the most respectable citizens among
the friends of neutrality, as aristocrats, setting forth their
names. The gentlemen, thus opprobriously marked out for
republican vengeance, went on board, and, tearing down the
offensive placard, called the attention of the commander to
the insult, who made most ample apology.
Sullivan saw with regret the current of public prejudice
setting against France ; and, from a belief that the liber
ties of Europe were involved in her revolution, deemed
it of vital importance that the weight of our influence
should continue to be directed to promote its success. It
was from no want of due veneration for the wisdom of the
president, or from any factious opposition to the measures
of his cabinet, that he took an active part in the contro
versy in defence of Genet. He considered the candid
discussion of public . policy an essential duty in a free
country ; but was cautiously guarded against any expres-

288 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sion reflecting reproach upon government. He argued,
and undoubtedly from an honest conviction, that the power
of dismissing a minister was incident to that of declaring
war, and that both, under the constitution, had been lodged
with Congress ; that, however safe such a prerogative might
be in the hands of a president like Washington, it was
liable to abuse when left with one less wise and scrupulous.
John Quincy Adams, whose intellect was uncloudedly
brilliant almost from the cradle to the grave, had graduated
with distinction at Cambridge some six years before ; and,
after completing his legal studies with Mr. Parsons at New-
buryport, was now engaged in the practice of his pro
fession at Boston. Over the signature of Publicola he had
already gained distinction as a writer for the press ; and
now, over that of Columbus, he published a series of able
articles in the Centinel in support of the administration,
and especially defended the propriety and constitutionality
of the dismissal of Duplaine. Sullivan, in the Chronicle,
over the signatures of Junius and Americanus, wrote in
opposition, and questioned the pr6priety and the legal jus
tification of the executive in dismissing a consul without
first giving him a chance to be heard in his defence. He
argued that the constitutional duty of the president to
receive the representatives of foreign nations did not con
vey with it the right to dismiss them ; that this power,
according to the received authorities on public law, being
also incidental to the war power, was, by the constitution,
delegated to Congress ; and that the clause extending the
judicial action to cases affecting " ambassadors, other pub
lic ministers and consuls," intended that their rights should
be established by law, and not left to executive discretion.
He argued, moreover, that inasmuch as by our treaty of
commerce we had granted to France the right of shelter
ing her privateers and prizes in our ports, Duplaine, if not
justified in having placed the Greyhound under the guns of
the frigate, had committed no offence deserving of disgrace.

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 289
Judge Lowell, the federal judge for the district, in his
decree in a case somewhat similar, at this same period,
admitted that he could not but say that if, under the treaty,
French prizes were brought into our port, and were about
to depart without unlading, it would be the duty of the
government and the courts to restrain any judicial inter
ference. As it does not appear that, at the time of the
proposed service on the Greyhound, any intention had been
manifested of disposing of her or of her cargo, if the view
taken by Lowell Was as correct as it certainly would seem
to have been, Duplaine was evidently not obnoxious to
any great degree of censure, even though the captors
might have had a better remedy by appealing to the federal
tribunals. After the appearance of the second number of America
nus, Mr. Adams, in order to place his adversary between
two fires, commenced another series of articles in the Chron
icle, under the signature of Barneveldt, and their respect
ive communications for many days appeared in the same
sheet, and generally on the same page, pouring into each
other vigorous broadsides of argument, often mingled with
personalities. For some time the identity of neither com
batant was known perhaps with certainty to the other,
although various conjectures were hazarded, and there
was considerable skirmishing outside the principal contest.
The construction of the constitution ever since has left the
entire control over both ministers and consuls with the
president, subject to treaty stipulations. But Washington,
in his message at the time, recommended to the considera
tion of Congress the expediency of providing for the gov
ernment of similar cases in the future.
Mr. Adams, a few months later, was appointed our minis
ter at the Hague, and this early distinction may be attrib
uted to the learning and ability he had exhibited in this
controversy. It produced no unfriendly feeling between
the antagonists ; on the contrary, Mr. Adams subsequently
25

290 LIFE AND WRITINGS
expressed his acknowledgments for various opportunities
afforded him by SuUivan of gaining distinction in his pro
fession, his departure for HoUand being deferred to the fol
lowing year.
Great Britain was naturally incensed at the extension of
privileges to France denied to her own subjects, and oper
ating greatly to the disadvantage of her commerce. In
retaliation she interfered, in direct violation of our neutral
rights under the law of nations, with our trade between
France and the French West India colonies, and stopped
our ships laden with breadstuffs for French ports, obliging
them to seek a market elsewhere. She impressed our sea
men, subjected our flag to frequent indignities, and our
vessels, seized by her cruisers upon frivolous pretexts,
were condemned by incompetent courts in her colonies.
Mr. Dexter having been unjustly reported to have under
estimated in a speech in Congress the value of the carrying
trade to the country, a public meeting was called by the
republicans at Boston to express the actual state of feeling
upon the subject. Sullivan took the lead in the debate, and
was one of the committee to draw the report and to pre
pare resolutions expressive of the great advantages of the
trade, and the importance of its being adequately protected.
The federalists, not disposed to yield any advantage to
their adversaries, made great efforts to defeat the move
ment. The adjourned meeting at the Old South was unu
sually stormy, and, after a very exciting debate, a motion
to adjourn indefinitely, carried at dusk by a small majority,
prevented the acceptance of the report. It was, neverthe
less, published in the Chronicle, and probably expressed
the sentiments of those who opposed it, many of whom
were engaged in commerce, and realizing large profits from
the trade, while others were great sufferers by the British
spoliations, against which the meeting was called to protest.
In the hope of inducing Great Britain, by depriving her
colonies of supplies upon which they mainly depended for

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 291
subsistence, to cease her depredations. Congress ordered
an embargo for sixty days. About the period of its ter
mination, towards the end of May, a meeting of the citizens
of Boston was called to testify their approbation of the
measure. Resolutions in favor of the expedient were
passed nearly unanimously; but there was some earnest
discussion between Sullivan, Jarvis and Austin, who advo
cated their adoption as prepared, and Jones, Higginson and
Otis, who, by a proposed amendment, would have qualified
the expression of a wish that the law should be continued.
The embargo was not of sufficient duration to accompHsh
its object, the English colonies having been subjected to
much less inconvenience than had been anticipated.
With a view to the same object Madison introduced into
Congress his celebrated resolutions, proposing restrictions
and discriminations in our trade with foreign nations. The
discussion of the proposition assumed a party character,
the federalists opposing and the republicans advocating
the measure. Among others, Sullivan entered the lists, in
defence of the resolutions, by contributions to the public
journals. These party heats and stirring incidents quickened the
social pulse into fever, which the enormous profits, occa
sionally contrasted by equally severe reverses, in commer
cial enterprise, tended still further to inflame. With the
development of trade, industry found ready employment,
and property was rapidly accumulated ; the war debt, which
ten years earlier seemed insupportable, with prosperity
and the judicious system of funding and finance matured
by the sagacity of Hamilton, ceased to be a burthen. Con
tinental paper and state scrip rose rapidly in value, and
those who, during its depreciation, had had the prudence to
preserve or to purchase, found themselves enriched. The
salary of the judges had been paid in Massachusetts cur
rency, and generally, to their prejudice, at a higher rate than
that of the market. SuUivan had wisely laid a portion of his

292 LIFE AND WRITINGS
own aside for better times, and now reaped the advantage
of his foresight. He had no taste for accumulation, and,
beyond a modest wish to be able to respond appropriately
to aU the reasonable demands of his family and of society
upon his purse, attached no undue importance to the pos
session of wealth. It was rather from a wish to meet the
exigences of his official position, and to afford suitable
accommodations for the meetings of the various associa
tions for charitable, literary and other public objects, of
which he was the head, than from any fondness of his own
for splendor, that, in the year 1793, he had erected the spa
cious mansion on Summer-street, which continued his abode
for the remainder of his life.
The expansion of commerce, far beyond the limits of any
previous experience, promoted litigation, and the lawyers
participated largely in the general prosperity. Upon his
circuits with the supreme court, whose sessions in the
different counties occupied a large portion of the j^ear,
Sullivan was retained upon many of the important causes
that came to triah He had, besides, a large practice in the
counties nearer home. Another interesting impeachment
trial took place in Faneuil Hall, in the spring of 1794, in
which Parsons and Otis were opposed to Sullivan as attor
ney-general. Frequent reference is made in the newspapers
to causes in which he acquitted himself with credit, and of
these the more remarkable will be mentioned elsewhere.
Pees flowed in freely, and gave him abundant means for
every desirable object of expenditure.
In the intervals of emplojnnent upon the eastern circuits
he occupied himself with collecting materials for his history
of Maine, which was published early in the following year.
He had been one of the early founders of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, originating in 1790, organized in 1791,
and which was now about to receive its charter. The
act of incorporation was prepared by him, and passed
through the legislature under his superintendence. He

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 293
was joined with others in applications to the General Court
in behalf of the Massachusetts Congregational Society,
and other charitable institutions, for grants of land in the
eastern country.
It was not from any love of speculation, nor to seek
profitable employment for his own means, as he had but
Httle to invest, but from a sincere desire to promote the
public benefit, that he projected and was at this time busily
engaged in carrying out many great public improvements.
In the summer of 1793 he had been occupied as principal
agent in connecting Cambridge and Boston by a bridge.
It was one of the longest structures of the kind, that, up
to that period, had been built anywhere ; the distance of
tide-waters to be crossed being nearly a mile.
In order to meet the urgent demands of our shipping in
Boston for additional supplies of pure water, he started an
enterprise, of which he was long the president and active
agent, for an aqueduct from Jamaica Pond. To facilitate
the transport of country produce and foreign merchandise
between the city and the interior, he had been long busily
occupied in providing capital, interesting the pubHc, and
procuring a charter for the Middlesex Canal, which he lived
to see accompHshed and in active operation. He was not
only its president, but purchased the land, examined the
titles, conducted the litigation, and was constantly in the
saddle along the line of the work in active superintendence.
It made a saving of nearly eighty miles of expensive trans
portation for freight between the upper country and Bos
ton, most of it having previously found its way by New-
buryport through the Merrimac ; a course involving much
delay, risk and needless expense.
These various projects and employments demanded much
time, thought and labor, and involved heavy responsibili
ties. Unusual activity for public objects often awakens
suspicions of ambitious or interested motive ; but the char
acter of Sullivan had been sufficiently marked by disinter-
25*

294 LIFE AND WRITINGS
estedness and readiness to sacrifice personal considerations
to the general welfare, to prevent the possibility of ungen
erous imputation. Holding the office in the state, and,
indeed, in the country, best suited to his wishes and con
dition, and one not dependent upon election, he was not
placed in competition with any rival. The majority of the
influential people in the community about him entertained
views opposed to his own upon many of the leading ques
tions ; but this impaired but little his personal popularity.
In August a conflagration, originating in the rope-walks
between what are now Pearl and Congress streets, in Bos
ton, extended over a large area in that portion of the town.
Delegates, generally the most distinguished and wealthy
citizens, were appointed from the different parishes to col
lect contributions for the relief of the sufferers. Sullivan,
one of the four from Brattle-street, had the honor to be
selected their chairman, to preside over their meetings
held in Faneuil Hall. To prevent any similar disaster the
rope-walks were removed to the marshes, now the public
garden, at the foot of the common.
His readiness to lend his aid to every benevolent object
is somewhat curiously Ulustrated by an instance at this time
in behalf of the brute creation. A truckman, irritated with
his horse, beat him till he died. The circumstance either
witnessed by Sullivan or coming to his knowledge, he
presented the facts to the grand jury of the supreme court,
which was then sitting in Boston, who found a biU. The
indictment, drawn by SulHvan, was printed in the papers,
and runs as follows : " The jurors for the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts on their oath present, that G. J., of said
Boston, truckman at Boston aforesaid, in the county afore
said, on the twenty-fourth day of August instant, being
a man of cruel and inhuman disposition, and not minding
and regarding the due and proper use of the animals,
which the great Creator of the universe has placed under
the dominion of man for the comfort and support of the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 295
human race; but indulging a cruel disposition of heart,
and in order to gratify the unlawful rage and cruel in
clination of his depraved mind, at Boston aforesaid, in
the county aforesaid, on the day last above-mentioned,
with force and arms, unnecessarUy, wantonly and without
any sufficient reason or provocation, did cruelly, inhumanly,
outrageously and excessively, beat, bruise, mangle and
torture, a certain horse of him the said G. J., then in use
and labor in the truck of him the said G. J. ; by means of
which unnecessary, wanton and cruel beating, bruising and
torturing, of the same horse, the said horse then and there
instantly died. By which same excessive cruelty of him
the said G. J., an evil example was set before others, who
wiU offend in like manner, and before the rising generation
of the same commonwealth, and the feehngs of the good
citizens thereof were hurt and injured ; all which is against
the peace of the same commonwealth, and the dignity of
the same."
He never permitted his other employments to interfere
with the conscientious discharge of his official duties ; and
what engrossed much of his attention at this period was
connected with his functions as the public prosecutor.
The object of criminal punishment is not so much vindic
tive, as, by a wholesome dread of consequences, to reform
offenders and prevent transgressions. Among civilized
nations ameliorations of their criminal codes have, at times,
occupied the attention of humane and able minds ; and
Beccaria, Bentham and Romilly, are honorably distin
guished by their philanthropic exertions in this direction.
Prosecuting officers have favorable opportunities of watch
ing the practical operation of the existing systems they aid
to administer, and their opinions are entitled to, and gen-
eraUy secure, the respect of those engaged in legislation.
From the character of Judge Sullivan it would be naturally
inferred that this would be for him an interesting field of in
quiry; and the statutes of his time and his published writings

296 LIFE AND WRITINGS
abundantly prove he did not neglect it. Additional evi
dence of this is to be found in the travels of Rochefou
cauld Liancourt, who visited America in 1795, 6, 7, and
who speaks of Sullivan as having much at heart the miti
gation of the criminal laws. He found him strongly pre
possessed in favor of the plan of criminal jurisprudence
recently introduced into Pennsylvania, and endeavoring to
procure its adoption by Massachusetts. Both Hancock
and Samuel Adams sympathized with these views of reform,
and lent their powerful influence in bringing them about.
Infamous punishments, such as cropping, branding, the pil
lory and ducking-stool, were in time abolished, and punish
ment shown to be more efficacious when less severe and
more certain. Nor was their aim limited to improvements
in legislation ; but, following the prisoner to his cell and
work-shop, such changes as rooted prejudices would admit
were instituted in the jails and prisons.
Others among the many travellers who came from Europe
to witness the scene of the American revolution, or who
sought an asylum here from the excesses of that of France,
published accounts of their experiences. A few years be
fore the visit of Liancourt, Brissot de Warville was in
this country, and made honorable mention of SulHvan in
connection with Sumner, Wendell and Lowell, as not only
eminent in professional Hfe, but, notwithstanding a widely
extended prejudice against lawyers, as generally popular.
Brissot returned to France to take an active part in her
revolution. He gave for a time his name to the Brissotins,
or Girondins, pure patriots, who were animated by an ele
vated love of liberty and of their country, but who could
make but an ineffectual struggle with the power And vio
lence of the Mountain. Brissot himself was denounced by
¦Robespierre for favoring a federative constitution with two
parHamentary chambers, and expiated this devotion to con
stitutional government, a victim of the guiUotine. Num
bers of his compatriots, appaUed by the horrors of the

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 297
reign of terror, took refuge from a like fate in America ;
and their presence contributed to keep in full glow the
sympathy of our people in the events of their revolution.
This sympathy pervaded the community, and all classes of
Americans participated, some with hope and some with
fearful forebodings, in the excitements and agitations which
were convulsing France.
In this feverish condition of public sentiment upon the
subject, it was not to be expected that even the sanctuary
should escape. Political animosities invaded the pulpit;
and clergymen, instead of preaching the gospel of peace
and good-will among men, by their party harangues fanned
into flame the elements of discord. In his sermons on the
days appointed by the state and federal government for
thanksgiving. Dr. Osgood, an able and influential divine,
of Medford, entertaining extreme views of federalism,
denounced the French revolution as leading only to evil,
and insisted that the overthrow of the monarchy had led
naturally to religious infidelity. He inveighed with bitter
ness against the constitutional societies existing in our
principal towns and cities; and their members, among whom
were many of the worthiest and most patriotic citizens,
because they chanced to differ from himself in politics, he
stigmatized as Jacobins. What was more objectionable,
after loading them with opprobrium, he charged Governor
Adams as being under their influence, and reproached him
with hostUity towards the general government.
These addresses, which hardly deserved the name of
sermons, were printed in several editions ; and, scattered
broadcast over the land, were calculated to lessen the great
popularity of Mr. Adams, and to create prejudice in the
public mind against the cause of constitutional liberty in
France. In order to counteract their poison, SulHvan pub-
Hshed, a few weeks later, a sermon entitled " The Altar of
Baal thrown down ; or the French Nation defended against
the Pulpft Slander of David Osgood. By Cftoyen de No-

298 LIFE AND WRITINGS
vion." It censured the unwarrantable interference of the
clergy in secular controversy, defended the governor from
the imputation of disloyalty to the federal government, and
justified the principles upon which the societies had been
organized ; claiming the privilege of association for lawful
purposes as essential under free institutions. He vindi
cated the right of the French people to accompHsh their
emancipation from their ancient thraldom as they best could
under the circumstances they had to contend with, and
argued that they were better judges of the necessities of
their position than we could be. He controverted the
position that the overthrow of the monarchy must lead to
indifference to religion ; and urged that, although the opin
ions of many might possibly become unsettled with the
overthrow of their ancient church, they would soon return
to the vital principles of Christianity, with their religious
institutions liberalized and better regulated. The produc
tion was thrown off for the occasion, without much atten
tion to its literary finish ; but, while written with much
animation and vigor, no expression could be fairly con
strued into a violation of the respect due to the sanctities
of religion or its ministers. Such, however, was the pre
vailing asperity of feeling, that there were many disposed
to condemn ; and, strange to say, under a republican sys
tem for which we had been greatly indebted to France, to
enter the Hsts in defence of her liberties required much
moral hardihood.
Much, indeed, as that cause was losing favor with many
among the most infiuential of his friends, this did not deter
him from manifesting, whenever opportunity offered, his
continued faith in its eventual success, or doing what little
was in his power, by his countenance and example, to
retain for it the sympathy of others. The close of the
foUowing letter to Governor Adams proves that his con
stancy to a cause he had once espoused was not easily to

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 299
be shaken. It is dated from Portsmouth, on the third of
April, 1795, and is taken from the valuable coUection of
Adams papers now in the possession of our most distin
guished American historian :
" I arrived here yesterday noon, and, it being the annual
fast day of the state, I attended pubHc worship with my
friends in the after part of the day. We were entertained
with a very serious discourse upon the national and pub
lic judgments with which nations are frequently visited
in consequence of their vices and wickedness. The
preacher very naturally let himself into the calamities
under which the Capet famUy is now suffering, and con
sidered the dispensation as obviously just, on account
of the massacres committed by it on the French protest-
ants. He also observed that hypocrisy is a sin very
aggravated in the sight of Heaven ; that the late king of
France, the nobles and dignified clergy, were deists, and
that they had supported the Catholic religion by art and
hypocrisy, as an engine of oppression upon the people, as
a system of corruption, and a measure to prevent that
light and information which have a tendency to rendei
mankind free and happy. He concluded that, as the Chris
tian religion is addressed to the interest and reason of
mankind, and the people of France are left to act freely
on this great concern, they will now become truly and
sincerely Christians ; but that, if they shall not improve
this unspeakable advantage, they must expect to be se
verely visited with judgments.
" The bells have this morning rung a merry peal of joy,
salutes have been fired from the artillery, and the gentle
men of the town are repairing to a civic feast, served up at
the town-haU, to celebrate the revolution in the Nether
lands, and the accession of an important republic to the true
interests of mankind. I shall partake of this feast among
my old friends and acquaintances, with a cheerful readiness,

300 LIFE AND WRITINGS
and leave you to conjecture the degree of happiness which
I shaU possess. I have only to add that the people are aU
united in this celebration, and that there is no party reluc
tant to it."
The president had sent Chief Justice Jay to London, to
negotiate a treaty, which, signed in November, arrived
here in the early part of 1795. Its provisions were proba
bly the most favorable to be obtained from a nation fiushed
with power, and reluctant to grant concessions to revelled
colonies, now its rivals on the ocean. The treaty was
received with a general feeling of disappointment, deep
ened into angry opposition on the part of the repubhcans
when the federalists, under the influence of Hamilton and
Ames, enlisted in its support. A meeting called at Boston
to pass judgment upon it, in which Judge SuUivan took an
active part, was unanimous to condemn, and was foUowed
up by disorderly demonstrations of popular discontent.
In June the schooner Speedwell, from Bermuda, sup
posed to have been engaged as a privateer iii spoliations
upon our commerce, was burnt at the Long wharf by a
band of lawless individuals. In order to testify further
their abhorrence of the treaty, for several nights in Sep
tember large parties of rioters, and among them many boys,
carrying on poles rinds of watermelons cut into the like
ness of the human countenance, hideously distorted, and
iUuminated by candles, kept the town in alarm and com
motion, breaking windows and threatening with personal
violence the leading federalists. In their attack upon
the house of Captain Wallack, the Jew, one person was
shot and badly wounded. Two hundred of the principal
citizens applied to Governor Adams for military interfer
ence to suppress the disorders; but he caUed it but a
watermelon frolic, and refused to interfere. When, instead
of subsiding, the turbulence of the rioters seriously endan
gered the safety of the town, SuUivan, as attorney-general,
and AUen, high sheriff for Suffolk, went down to Liberty

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 301
Square, where a vast multitude had assembled round a large
bonfire, bent upon mischief
Having read the riot act, Sullivan remonstrated with the
rioters upon the lawlessness and dangerous tendencies of
their proceedings, and with such effect that when he fin
ished his address they were persuaded by the more infiu
ential of their leaders to disperse. As he was moving
off, surrounded by the crowd, some of the more daring,
disposed to expend their resentment upon those who
had thwarted their mischievous projects, made a violent
' onset upon him and the sheriff, from which they contrived
with some difficulty to extricate themselves without serious
injury. The Centinel, in commenting upon the affair, thus
speaks of the existing state of excitement : " The laws
prostrate, the magistrates literally trodden under feet, the
peace of the town disturbed during the hours of the night,
women and children frightened, and bonfires made in the
centre of the town ; oaths and imprecations, united with
threats to tear the hearts of the magistrates from their
breasts, and roast them at the fire." The organization of
aU the more orderly citizens into an association, to act
under the authorities in suppressing tumults, in connection
with the decided stand taken by SuUivan and the sheriff
upon this occasion, are said to have put a speedy termina
tion to the disorder. What is entitled a brief history of
the disturbances and its causes, but which extended to a
series of articles of sufflcient length to fill a volume,
appeared several weeks later in the Centinel, and was
generally attributed to the author of Laco.
The country after a time quieted down into acquiescence
in the treaty, though, to judge from the clever writings of
Honestus Austin, in his Old South, pubHshed many years
after, it stiU even then remained a subject of contention
and recrimination between the parties. It is not to be
denied that there were very serious objections to the treaty.
It was particularly unseasonable ; for France had, by the
26

302 LIFE AND WRITINGS
overthrow of the Jacobins, and the adoption of a sensible
form of government, just started upon a new era in her
revolutionary history, which might have hardened into a
permanent condition, had the continued support of America
encouraged the friends of united liberty and law to perse
vere in their exertions. This treaty of amity with their
enemies provoked their resentment, and soon plunged the
two republics into actual hostilities. The treaty, moreover,
was considered very unequal as between the contracting
parties. It subjected our people to the payment of ancient
debts, cancelled by the revolution, without the equivalent
justice in return of restitution of our property carried off
after the peace. It granted no important benefit to our
trading interests, while, under the pretension of reciprocity,
England secured valuable concessions for her own. More
over, it left still at issue many important points of contro
versy, subjecting us for the next fifteen years to those in
sults and spoliations upon the ocean from English cruisers
which finaUy culminated in the war of 1812.
In consequence of his resolute conduct in suppressing
the September riots, one of the federalist papers intimated
that Judge Sullivan approved of the treaty. Not choosing
to be misrepresented, he addressed to the editor of the
Centinel the foUowing declaration of his views :
" In your paper of Saturday last you give your readers
an extract from a New York gazette, wherein I am vouched
as an authority that nine tenths of the people of this com
monwealth are not hostUe to the treaty proposed between
America and Great Britain. What right the editor of a
gazette has to use the name of a private citizen without
his consent, I must leave it to you to determine. If the
writer of that paragraph meant to represent me as say
ing that nine tenths of the people are pleased with the
treaty, he is mistaken, for I never have expressed such an
opinion. " In conversation with some gentlemen from the state

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 303
of New York, long since it was known that the president
had signed the treaty, I took the liberty to say that the
gazette scribblers, who are constantly misrepresenting the
federal government, as being in danger from combinations
formed against it, are mischievously wrong ; for that, not
withstanding any difference of sentiment respecting the
constitution before it was estabhshed, the people of this
state are firmly, heartily and universally, engaged in its
support ; that the people of this state are aU convinced
that the honor, the safety, the prosperity and happiness, of
United America, as a nation, depend upon the existence of
that government ; that they are wise enough to know
that they cannot be more free and secure in any political
situation than under a government which is established
by their own voluntary consent, and administered by a
legislature and executive of their own election ; that they
want no change in the principles of their government, but
dehght in a representative republic, and hold all claims of
authority by hereditary right, or in any way independent
of the people over whom it is to be exercised, in contempt
or abhorrence ; and that, whatever their opinion may be
in regard to the treaty with Great Britain, or upon any
other measure in the administration of the federal govern
ment, yet they are by no means hostile to that government,
nor would they consent to anything which would oppose
the execution of its authority, or injure the national charac-
¦ ter of the Union.
" It is very probable that I said that nine tenths of the
people of 'this commonwealth are of these sentiments; and
I am confident that they are universally so. But as to
their sentiments upon the merits of the treaty, I gave no
opinion. This, however, I am sure of, that the citizens of
this commonwealth are possessed of so much good sense
and patriotism, that they wiU never oppose the government
because they are not satisfied with the expediency or pro
priety of a measure, adopted in the administration of it.

304 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLIVAN,
I think that it is very unfair to use my name, on a subject
of warm public controversy, without my consent; and
should it be done again, I shall not consider myself as
obliged to take notice of it, unless the writer shaU sub
scribe his own name to his pubHcation. I am your humble
servant, "James Sullivan.
" Boston, December 21st, 1795."

CHAPTER XIV.
RIVER ST. CROIX,
During the siege of Boston, Washington had frequent
opportunities of witnessing the patriotic exertions of Sul
livan in the common cause. His indefatigable labors on
committees of the Assembly, then convened behind the
lines at Watertown, had been instrumental in sustaining
the tone of public sentiment, in procuring men, money,
and supplies of food, clothing and powder ; and, in the
performance of these multifarious duties, he had often
been closeted in consultation with the commander-in-chief
at Cambridge. When, in 1789, the president visited New
England, though declining, for reasons not known, to
serve as chairman of the committee of reception, he took
the lead in the preliminary meetings at Faneuil Hall, and,
during the presence of the chief in Boston, had enjoyed
the privilege of being constantly near him. His brother
John, as president of New Hampshire, paid the honors
of that state, at Portsmouth, to his revered commander,
who, undoubtedly, entertained for both brothers the most
friendly sentiments.
General Sullivan, whose constitution had been greatly
impaired by the hardships of his military campaigns, was
appointed to the only post under the general government of
which his health permitted the acceptance, that of federal
judge for his state. The friends of James had indulged
the hope that he would have been selected for the seat
26*

306 life and writings
upon the supreme bench of the United States, to which
WiUiam Cushing was raised through the influence of Mr.
Adams. If momentarily annoyed at this preference of
another to the place which he Avould himself have gladly
accepted, with his honorable position in Massachusetts, and
constant and lucrative practice at the bar, this soon ceased
to be a disappointment.
Upon republican principles no past services, however
preeminent, unless united with superior qualifications for
its particular duties, can create any title to office. But,
where character and abilities sanctioned the acknowledg
ment of such pretensions, his readiness to meet them was
one of the many excellences of Washington. In all like
lihood it was a source of gratification for him now to be
able, before his retirement to private life, to offer his old
compatriot of 1776 honorable employment under the Brit
ish treaty, which he could accept without sacrifice of
present office or professional prospect. Perhaps, too, if
the frank expression of sentiment in the address to the
public at the close of the last chapter had not escaped his
notice, this also may have had its weight in confirming
the selection.
On the thirty-first of May, 1796, Colonel Pickering, the
secretary of state, gave Judge Sullivan the following notice
of his appointment: "I have the honor to enclose your
commission as agent for the United States, to maintain
their interests before the Board of Commissioners, who are
to decide what river is the river St. Croix, according to
the fifth article of the treaty of amity, commerce and nav
igation, with Great Britain. I hope it will be agreeable to
you to accept of this important agency. Such instruc
tions as have in the first instance occurred, you wiU also
find enclosed. It has been suggested to me, by Mr. King,
that formerly some documents on the subject were trans
mitted from Massachusetts to the department of state, or
to the old Congress. I wiU search for them, and for what-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 307
ever other evidence this office can exhibit. Thomas Bar
clay, Esq., the commissioner on the part of Great Britain,
has lately been here, and I expected to have conversed
with him ; but he suddenly returned to New York. Mr.
Listen tells me, however, that Mr. Barclay will remain for
some time at New York ; for which reason I have sug
gested the propriety of a meeting between him and Mr.
Howell. Both have been written to accordingly. Perhaps
they may agree on the third commissioner, a secretary,
surveyors, &c., and fix the time of meeting at Halifax."
This letter was accompanied by the foUowing instruc
tions : " Your researches as the historian of the district of
Maine, your reputation as a lawyer, and your official em
ployment as the attorney-general of Massachusetts, the
state directly and most materially interested in the event,
have designated you as the agent of the United States to
manage their claim of boundary where their territory joins
that of his Britannic Majesty, in his province of New Bruns
wick, formerly a part of his province of Nova Scotia.
" You are apprized that the question to be examined
and decided is stated in the fifth article of the treaty
of amity, commerce and navigation, between the L^nited
States and his Britannic Majesty. The quantity of land, the
title of which depends on this decision, is an object so
interesting as to demand an accurate and thorough investi
gation of the claims of the two nations. It is supposed
that you are already possessed of important documents
concerning them ; but it is desirable that you should dili
gently inquire and search for any others which public
records or other repositories, public or private, may have
preserved. The pending decision is to be final. Great
industry, therefore, will be necessary to coUect, and much
diUgence and ability required to arrange and enforce, the
evidence in support of the claim of the United States.
Besides written documents, it is possible that living wit
nesses, if carefully sought for, may yet be found, whose

308 LIFE AND WRITINGS
testimony may throw much light on, if not positively estab
lish, our claim. To obtain these, if they exist, as well as
all written documents, the president relies on your dih-
gent research and inquiry ; and, in the application of them
to support the interests of the United States, he assures
himself of the utmost exertion of your ability. The dec
laration of the commissioners concerning their decision on
the question submitted to them, the statement of their
accounts, and the journal of their proceedings, they are to
deliver to you ; and you will be pleased to transmit the
same to this office as soon afterwards as a safe conveyance
shall present. The compensation for your services will be
at the rate of one thousand pounds sterling a year. The
enclosed estimate will show what expenses have been con
templated as likely to arise in the execution of this article
of the treaty."
Gratified by this mark of confidence from one for whose
exalted character he shared in the general veneration, Sul
Hvan gladly accepted the agency, and applied himself with
his accustomed assiduity to his appointed task. Upon his
application the General Court passed a resolve to furnish
him with all documents in the state archives bearing
upon the boundary ; and he visited the upper part of New
Hampshire to confer with persons whose evidence as to
the point in controversy might possibly prove of value.
His letters to Judge HoweU, of Providence, Rhode Island,
the American commissioner, with whom he had long been
intimate, and to Mr. Pickering, secretary of state, were con
stant ; and in this correspondence appropriate modes of
procedure were determined upon, and aU the preparatory
arrangements for procuring surveyors, books and instru
ments. The question, who should be the third commis
sioner, with HoweU and Colonel. Barclay, the latter
appointed by Great Britain, to constitute the tribunal to
decide, was' deferred till' their arrival, in August, at Hahfax,
the place selected for the first meeting, from its proximity

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 309
to the territory in dispute. Arrangements were made with
Mr. Webber, professor of astronomy at Cambridge, and
with Samuel Titcomb and John Harris, engaged as survey
ors, to accompany the party. The college loaned the nec
essary instruments, and the sloop Portland Packet was
chartered for the voyage. WhUe preparations are being
made for their departure, let us consider briefly what was
the question to be decided.
In the spring of 1779, England, unequal to the formidar
ble array of nations disposed to side with France in the
contest, endeavored to aUure her revolted colonies into a
separate peace. Informal propositions, sanctioned by Lord
North, were submitted through David Hartley to Dr. Frank-
Hn, our minister at Paris ; but, as they involved a breach
of compact with France, they were rejected without hesi
tation. In the autumn John Adams sailed for Holland, and
carried from Congress powers to negotiate, should more
acceptable overtures be made. In his instructions he was
directed to insist upon the St. John's as our eastern bound
ary, with permission, if this proved impracticable, to fall
back upon the St. Croix. The two following years, while
hostilities continued without cessation, European diplo
macy was occupied with offers of mediation by Russia
between England and France, with proposals for a con
gress at Yienna, and various other efforts at pacification ;
aU of which were without any practical result. The ac
cession of HoUand to the ranks of her enemies, the armed
neutrality of 1780 of the northern nations leagued to crip
ple her supremacy on the ocean, her exhausted finances,
and finally the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, forced
at last upon England the conviction that her colonies were
irrevocably lost, and counselled her to peace. Lord North,
who would have persisted in the war, was out-voted in
ParHament, and the Marquis of Rockingham, Lord Shel-
burne and Mr. Fox, who favored more pacific counsels,
were placed at the head of the government. Oswald was

310 LIFE AND WRITINGS
sent by Shelburne to Paris to confer with Dr. Franklin,
who was joined, in June,, by John Jay, and later by John
Adams and Henry Laurens. These gentlemen, with Jeffer
son, who remained in America, had been appointed by
Congress, in June, 1781, to treat for peace. On the ques
tion of boundaries they were to be governed by the in
structions to Mr. Adams, of August fourteenth, 1779, and
October eighteenth, 1780.
In their early conferences Franklin strove to persuade
Oswald, and afterwards Grenville, who came with general
powers to negotiate, that Canada and Nova Scotia could
prove but a burden and expense to Great Britain, and
ought to be yielded as a peace-offering to the United
States. From the encouragement given to these views
by the British envoys, the commissioners indulged san
guine expectations of these important territorial conces
sions ; but were prevailed upon by Mr. Grenville to defer
their discussion till towards the close of the negotiations.
The tidings of Lord Rodney's victory over De Grasse, in
the West Indies, reviving hopes in the king that he might
yet retain all his colonial possessions, led to a temporary
change of policy; and, upon the death of Rockingham,
Fox, who favored the immediate and unequivocal acknowl
edgment of American independence, left the cabinet.
The conferences, however, stiU went on ; and Shelburne,
as far as permitted by the king, continued disposed to con-
cUiate. Many weeks were consumed in consultation upon
various plans of adjustment. While Parliament was en
gaged in passing a bill enabling the crown to negotiate,
the other belligerents, who were to be united in the gen
eral pacification, were settling their preliminary arrange
ments. The first commission to Oswald, of the seventh of
August, 1782, not contenting Mr. Jay, on the ground that
it did not directly acknowledge the independence of the
states, another, obviating this objection, was issued on the
twenty-first of September. A month later Mr, Adams,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 311
after signing a treaty with HoUand, reached Paris, and
negotiations were commenced and prosecuted with vigor.
Mr. Strachey, private secretary of Shelburne, and Mr. Fitz-
herbert, who had been commissioned to treat with the
other powers, took part also in the dehberations.
Whatever might have been earlier the wiUingness of the
friends of America in England to enlarge our limits, by the
surrender of Canada and Nova Scotia, no such disposition
was now manifested by Lord Shelburne in the actual nego
tiations. Probably with a view of abating any such unrea
sonable expectations, when the subject of boundaries came
up for discussion, an ancient clerk appeared from the office
of trade and plantations, with documents to prove that
even Maine was no part of Massachusetts, and that our
proper frontier was the Piscataqua. Finding this position
utterly untenable, the British diplomatists contended, upon
the same plea, for the Kennebec, and then again for the
Penobscot. Ten years before, Adams had made an elabor
ate report to the provincial legislature of Massachusetts
upon the old charter titles in connection with the Hamp
shire grants, and had come to Europe armed with abundant
evidence to carry our territory as far east as Nova Scotia,
which the patent to Alexander bounded west on the St.
Croix. Upon the production of his proofs, the point was
finally yielded ; and, with Mitchell's map before them for
their guidance, on which a river of that name was plainly
defined as the largest stream between the Penobscot and
St. John's, and as entering Passamaquoddy Bay at its north
east corner, the St. Croix was established as the boundary.
Mr. Adams well knew, the question was still open what
particular stream was best entitled to this designation ;
but, persuaded it would be no difficult matter to ascertain
its identity, and, indeed, confident it would be found to be
the St. John's, was too well contented with the concession
of all that could be reasonably demanded, to embarrass

312 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ulterior negotiations by attaching unseasonable importance
to this point.
The fisheries and reparation to the loyalists being satis
factorily adjusted, the preliminaries of peace were signed
on the thirtieth of November, 1782, by Mr. Oswald for
Great Britain, and for the states by Franklin, Adams, Jay
and Laurens, the latter of whom arrived in Paris the day
before the signature. Unreasonably, as it subsequently
proved, distrusting the disposition of the French govern
ment to further their views to their full extent, the com
missioners omitted to consult Vergennes before signing
the articles, much to the displeasure of that minister and
his amiable monarch, and in direct violation of their own
express instructions from Congress. The terms of the
treaty gave more satisfaction here than in England ; and,
when in March it came up for consideration in Parliament,
the extremes of opposition. Lord North and Mr. Fox, aided
by Burke and Sheridan, attacked it with great vehemence,
and drove Lord Shelburne, though defended by Pitt with
all his hereditary eloquence, from the ministry.
The north-eastern portion of the boundary, as described
in these articles, and in the treaty of peace which was
signed the following September, commenced "at the north
west corner of Nova Scotia, namely, that angle formed by
a line drawn due north from the St. Croix river to the
highlands, which divide those rivers that empty themselves
into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the
Atlantic Ocean ; " and, after running along these highlands
and circling the states, closed with " east by a line drawn
along the middle of the river St. Croix, from its mouth in
the Bay of Pundy to its source ; and from its source
directly north to the aforesaid highlands."
Six days after signing the provisionary articles. Dr.
Franklin, at Passy, wrote Vergennes the foUowing note,
found by President Sparks, sixty years afterwards, in the
French archives : " I have the honor of returning here-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 313
with the map your excellency sent me yesterday. I have
marked with a strong red line, according to your desire,
the limits of the United States, as settled in the prelimina
ries between the British and American plenipotentiaries."
Pursuing further his researches, Mr. Sparks found, among
the sixty thousand maps in the geographical department
at Paris, a map of North America, by D'AnviUe, dated 1746,
in size about eighteen inches square, on which was drawn
a strong red line throughout the entire boundary of the
United States^ answering precisely to Franklin's descrip
tion. The St. Croix is marked upon this map as the bound
ary; but the north line, after departing from the source of
the St. Croix, instead of proceeding to Mars' HiU, stopped
far short of that point and turned west, so as to exclude
from Maine all the waters running into the St. John's.
Copies of these documents were submitted to the senate
in 1842, while deliberating upon the ratification of the Ash-
burton treaty; and, though there was no positive proof of
the identity of the map with that mentioned in the note to
Vergennes, there could be little reasonable doubt that it
was actually the one sent by Dr. Franklin. When the
investigation now under review was undertaken, owing
to the confused condition of affairs in France, any attempt
to procure this evidence would have been fruitless, even
had it been known to have existed. President Adams, in
reply to inquiries made by SuUivan, under the commission,
as to his recollections, said the only map used by the
envoys in the negotiation was that of Mitchell ; that the
river marked on that map as the St. Croix was the one
agreed upon as the boundary; and that no new boundary
was intended, but simply what was rightfully the eastern
limit of Massachusetts.
But all that region of Maine beyond the Penobscot, except
some small settlements along the coast, was still a wilder
ness, occupied by Indian tribes. What surveys had been
made were partial and inaccurate, and wide discrepancies
27

314 LIFE AND WRITINGS
existed between the actual course of the streams and their
map delineations. Other embarrassments still further per
plexed the question. While upon the several maps the
name of St. Croix was attached to different rivers, not one
of these in its neighborhood was familiarly known except
by its Indian title. Of the three which had been most gen
erally claimed as the boundary, neither emptied into the
Bay of Fundy, as described in the treaty, but all of them
into a smaller bay, called Passamaquoddy, the opening of
which was considered the mouth of the St. Croix by Dr.
Franklin and his associates in 1782. This bay, some twenty
miles wide at its mouth, from Quoddy Head to BeaVer
Harbor, and ten miles deep, lay at the south-west corner
of the Bay of Fundy, and into it fell the Magaguadavie
upon the north-east, a small stream called the Cobscook at
the south-west, and between them a much larger stream
than either, known as the Passamaquoddy or Schoodiac,
formed by the confluence, ten miles from its mouth, of two
branches. The westerly one of these flowed nearly east
through the Schoodiac lakes, its source being -within six
miles of the waters of the Penobscot, whilst the other,
called Cheputnaticook, and flnally decided by the commis
sion as the St. Croix, was the more important branch, and,
forming various broad sheets of water in its course, came
down from the north.
In default of other tests for the solution of these compli
cations, recourse was had to such record as remained of
the visit to Passamaquoddy by De Mont, with whom this
vexed question may be considered to have originated.
This gallant gentleman of the bed-chamber to Harry of
Navarre, received from that monarch a commission as lieu
tenant-general of all the territory of L'Acadie, from the
fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude, with
power to subdue the inhabitants, and convert them to the
Christian faith. On the seventh of March, 1604, having
equipped two vessels, he saUed, with Champlain for his

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 315
pUot, and Poutrincourt, the founder of Port Royal, now
Annapolis, and other gentlemen of station, for his com
panions, to take possession. SaUing up the Bay of Fundy,
after exploring for fifty leagues the St. John's, and being
extremely delighted with the vast quantity of grapes which
grew on its banks, they coasted along the north-west coast
of the bay twenty leagues, till they came to a " great river,
properly a spa, where they fortified themselves on a little
island, seated in the midst of this river, which Champlain
had been to discover and view ; and, seeing it strong by
nature, and of easy defence and keeping, besides that the
season began to slide away, and therefore it was behoove-
ful to provide for lodging, without running any further
they resolved to make their abode there." " This island
was in the mouth of a river formed, two leagues higher up,
by streams which came crosswise to fall within this large
branch of the sea; and from this circumstance De Mont
caUed it the Isle de St. Croix." It was half a league in
circuit, with a small islet severed from it toward the ocean
and the south, where he planted his cannon, and upon the
other side towards the north he built his fort, looking up
the river, which is described as thrice as broad as the Seine.
Want of wood and water, and constant vigilance against
attacks of the savages during the severities of a hard win
ter, were serious discomforts to courtiers studious of their
ease; but they managed to entertain themselves, and, among
other contrivances for the convenience of D'Orville, Cham
plain and Champdore, a gallery for exercise was erected.
In the spring, De Mont, leaving the bay in search of a
milder climate, coasted along the shore as far as Cape Cod,
and, returning to Port Royal, sailed in September, 1605,
for France, leaving his companions to complete the settle
ment. The narrative of L'Escarbot, the historian of this voyage,
from whom most of these particulars are taken, is so minute
as to the forms of the rivers, islands and neighboring moun-

316 LIFE AND WRITINGS *
tains, that the identity of the Isle de St. Croix with that in
the mouth of the Schoodiac, hardly admitted of a doubt.
But, even admitting the question settled as respected
the island, it was not a necessary consequence that the
Schoodiac, at the mouth of which it lay, was the veritable
St. Croix. Catholic devotion had planted the cross at
many points along the coast, and the Magaguadavie shown
to Mitchell by the Indians in 1764 for that river might
have derived its name from some tradition of this sort.
The early writers, Champlain, L'Escarbot and Purchas,
Charlevoix, Castle and Douglas, though minute in the de
scription of the island, furnished little that was conclusive
as to the river. The ancient maps, that of Captain Smith
in Purchas, 1625, Mordan's, made in the reign of Charles II.,
Thurstan's in that of WiUiam and Mary, gave this river as
the common boundary of New England and Acadie, but
were not sufficiently exact to throw much light upon the
controversy. On Mitchell's map, 1746, used by the com
missioners in 1782, the St. Croix is drawn as issuing from
Lake Keonaki, a name not then known in connection with
any sheet of water on the Schoodiac, and as running south,
without branches, into the bay ; whilst a smaller stream,
caUed the Passamaquoddy, enters further west. This map
was merely taken from that of Captain Cyprian Southac,
who was famUiar with the coast, and who gave the sound
ings of the Passamaquoddy as twenty fathoms, a depth
answering to that found in 1796, and those of the St. Croix
as nine fathoms, actuaUy that of the Magaguadavie.
Alexander sold his province in 1624 to the king of Prance,
and it was long afterwards known as Acadie. Captured
by the Enghsh in 1628, 1654 and 1689, ft was as often
restored by the treaties of St. Germain, 1632, of Breda,
1667, and at the peace of Ryswick in 1697. During the
French occupation continual efforts were made to extend
its limits towards the Penobscot, whUst the Enghsh would
have restricted them to the St. John's. After the treaty

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 317
of Breda, the English commander, when directed to yield
up the province, refused at first to surrender Pentagoet or
Penobscot, St. John's and Port Royal, as belonging to Mas
sachusetts. When again the two former were taken pos
session of by expeditions from Boston, upon the same pre
tension, in 1674 and 1680, it was only in pursuance of
orders from home that they were restored. At the peace
of Utrecht, in 1713, Acadie was ceded to Great Britain, and,
by that of Aix la Chapelle, Cape Breton given back to the
French. Under the latter treaty commissioners were en
gaged from 1750 to 1755 in settling, among other matters,
the limits of Acadie ; the English now in turn insisting upon
its extension to the Penobscot, and the French upon its
restriction to the peninsula now constituting the province
of Nova Scotia. This Gordian knot was destined to be
loosed by the sword ; and their negotiations, of which the
records fill four large quarto volumes, being abruptly ter
minated by a fresh war, the result was the final relinquish
ment, by the treaty of Paris, or Fontainebleau, of Canada
and the remaining French possessions, with slight excep
tion, to the British crown.
Various commissions of royal governors, proclamations
and statutes, had recognized the St. Croix to be the bound- ,
ary between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, as originally
established in the grant of King James to Alexander, in
1621. In his patent the western boundary of this province
is described as the St. Croix to its remotest source which
first from the west flowed into that river, and from this
source on a straight imaginary line towards the north to
the waters which fell into the river of Canada, or the St.
Lawrence. It was upon the strength of this description
that the English supported their claim to carry the source
of the St. Croix to the near neighborhood of the Penobscot.
Some additional confusion had been created, in 1764, by
an attempt of Sir Francis Bernard, governor of Massachu
setts, and Governor WiUicut of Nova Scotia, to settle the
27*

318 LIFE AND WRITINGS
doubt for themselves. The former sent down two survey
ors, Mitchell and Jones, to identify the river constituting
his eastern boundary. They coUected some forty Indians
on L/Atereel Island, in Passamaquoddy Bay, whose chief
deputed three of the number to show the strangers the
St. Croix; and they pointed out the Magaguadavie as that
river. Correspondence ensued between the governors,
and, perhaps in order to settle the controversy, Bernard
and others received from Governor WiUicut a grant of one
hundred acres, between the Passamaquoddy and Cobscook,
as part of Nova Scotia ; an admission, as far as it rested
with the provincial authorities, that the latter river, the
most westerly of the three contended for, was the St.
Croix. Immediately after the peace of 1783, grants were made
by the province of Nova Scotia, then comprising New
Brunswick (erected the next year into a separate prov
ince), of territories bounding west on the Schoodiac, to
the refugee loyalists. Pretensions were set up by the
provincial authorities as far west as the Cobscook, and
American settlers on Moose and other islands in the bay
summoned to do jury duty at the courts held at St. An
drews, a town built on the east bank of the Schoodiac, by
the loyalists. They were in some other respects treated
as British subjects by the officials of the province ; upon
which they made complaint to Governor Hancock. Gen
erals Lincoln and Knox, who owned large tracts of land in
that district, were sent down to the frontier to remonstrate,
and application was made to the general government that
redress might be sought through John Adams, our minister
in London. For the next eight years correspondence and
controversy were incessant, and not without frequent ap
proach among the borderers to serious collisions.
Vigorous efforts were instituted to ascertain the bound;
and, among others. General Rufus Putnam, who had re
cently made by authority surveys and investigations, was

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 319
consulted. He stated as his conclusion, upon view, that
the only consistent construction of the treaty was to
consider the opening of Passamaquoddy Bay as the true
mouth of the St. Croix ; that the line, starting from the
central point between its capes, would divide the islands
justly between the two countries, and harmonize with the
rest of the description ; and, moreover, that this construc
tion was confirmed by the fact that the bay, though set
down as Passamaquoddy on Mitchell's map, was not men
tioned in the treaty. As to the particular branch to be
considered the St. Croix, the Cheputnaticook, finally decided
upon, seemed best to meet the requisitions. He estimates
the territory between the two rivers, in straight lines from
their sources, as one hundred and twenty townships of six
miles square, or one million six hundred thousand acres.
The depositions of MitcheU, and Nathan and Israel Jones,
testified as to the survey of 1763, and the Indian state
ment in favor of the Magaguadavie.
From this controversy and other causes war appearing
imminent, Washington, in 1794, sent Jay to London upon
his mission of peace. For the adjustment of the boundary
question no one could have been more happily selected. A
negotiator of 1772, he had twice, as secretary of foreign
affairs, reported to Congress upon the appeal of Massachu
setts for protection against these encroachments. The fifth
article of his treaty, dated November, 1794, provided that,
" Whereas doubts have arisen as to what river was truty in
tended under the name of the river St. Croix, mentioned in
the treaty of peace, and forming a part of the boundary there
in described, that question shall be referred to the final deci
sion of commissioners, to be appointed in the following
manner : one commissioner shall be named by his majesty,
and one by the president of the United States, by and with
the advice and consent of the senate thereof; and the said
two commissioners shall agree upon the choice of a third ;
or, if they cannot so agree, they shall each propose one per-

320 LIFE AND WRITINGS
son, and, of the two names so proposed, one shall be drawn
by lot, in the presence of the two original commissioners ;
and the three commissioners so appointed shall be sworn
impartially to examine and decide the said question accord
ing to such evidence as shall respectively be laid before
them on the part of the British government and of the
LTnited States. The said commissioners shall meet at Hali
fax, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place
or places as they shall think fit. They shall have power
to appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors or
other persons as they shall judge necessary. The said
commissioners shall, by declaration under their hands and
seals, decide what river is the river St. Croix intesnded by
the treaty. The said declaration shall contain a descrip
tion of the said river, and shall particularize the latitude
and longitude of its mouth and of its source. Duplicates
of this declaration, and of the statement of their accounts,
and of the journal of their proceedings, shall be delivered
by them to the agent of his majesty, and to the agent of
the United States, who may be respectively appointed and
authorized to manage the business on behalf of their re
spective governments. And both parties agree to consider
such decision as final and conclusive, so as that the same shall
never thereafter be caUed in question, or made the subject
of dispute or difference between them."
Under this article a mixed question, partially geograph
ical, in part historical, was to be judicially determined.
Sullivan was of opinion, from the first, that in the obscur
ity of description and conflict of evidence, complicated as
it was by national feelings and private interests, the only
reasonable solution which was likely to prove satisfactory
to aU parties was through negotiations. But this having
been differently decided, he undertook his share of the task,
as appointed.
Placing on board the packet their books and instruments,
Judge HoweU and Professor Webber, Judge SuUivan and

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 321
his son, with Mr. Sanger of Baltimore, whose property,
captured by a British cruiser, was in litigation before
the admiralty court at Halifax, saUed on the eighteenth
of August, and arriTed in four days at their destination.
An American vessel, in consequence of the interruption of
trade, was so unusual an appearance in that fort, except as
a captive, that they were hailed from the port with the
inquiry to what ship they were prize. They were received
with great hospitahty and kindness ; and, the Duke of Kent
being present, sumptuous entertainments were made in
their honor, especially by the refugee loyalists. Colonel
Barclay and Ward Chipman, the English commissioner and
agent, soon agreed with the Americans, that Egbert Benson,
of the supreme bench of Ncav York, should be the umpire,
and a vessel was despatched to bring him to Passamaquoddy.
After having the satisfaction of hearing a decree in
favor of Mr. Sanger, their fellow-passenger, they left Hali
fax, and, encountering a heavy north-east gale, were driven
into Mount Desert harbor, where they met a variety of
entertaining adventures, and from thence proceeded to St.
Andrews. This was then a long, narrow village of one-
story houses ; and, making it their head-quarters, Howell
and SuUivan, by boat expeditions, explored the rivers
claimed as the St. Croix. They found the western river
large and navigable far up ; the eastern small, and after a
few miles interrupted by falls. Upon their invitation In
dian chiefs came down to the bay, and confirmed the infor
mation, obtained in 1764, as to the Magaguadavie. Their
testimony was so direct and positive that Sullivan felt
assured it was not susceptible of refutation. It was of
course his duty to sustain the view most to the advantage
of his clients ; but, inasmuch as the name given to a river
in its neighborhood best identifies it, this evidence of the
Indians gave him great confidence of success.
After the arrival of Judge Benson, on the twenty-fifth
of September, the whole party explored together, for ten

322 LIFE AND WRITINGS
days, the bay and rivers, and ordered surveys to be made.
In the river- Schoodiac, opposite to the north-east corner
of what is now caUed Robbinstown, they visited an island,
whose situation and aspect bore strong resemblance to the
description given by L'Escarbot, Charlevoix, and the other
French writers, of the island of St. Croix, where De Mont's
party passed the winter of 1604. Near the upper end of
it were the remains of a very ancient fortification, over
grown with large trees, where old bricks were found, and
where the foundation stones were traced to a considerable
extent. This strengthened much the pretension of the
British agent that the Schoodiac was the St. Croix, although
at the mouth of the Magaguadavie was another island cor
responding in some respects to the same description.
The passage homewards was extremely agreeable. Judge
Howell, who was celebrated in his day for wit and anec
dote, proving a most entertaining companion. A French
fleet of eleven sail of the line and eight frigates was hov
ering off the coast, threatening Halifax, but did not come
near them. They left the vessel at Portland, and con
tinued their way by land.
Again at home, Sullivan devoted much care to the prep
aration of his argument, collecting all the histories, travels,
maps and documents, which could contribute to establish
the Magaguadavie as the actual St. Croix, and that intended
by the treaty. He would have placed the mouth of the
river at the opening of the bay ; but, finding this would
hardly strengthen his position as to its continuation up by
the eastern stream, the smaller of the two principal tribu
taries of the bay, he abandoned this ground, and contended
for the Magaguadavie. Col. Pickering, whose correspond
ence fully justifies his high reputation as an able statesman,
procured for SuUivan many valuable books, and among
others, after sending for them without success to Europe,
borrowed from the library of Jefferson copies of Cham
plain and L'Escarbot. In the spring of 1797 Sullivan pub-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 323
Hshed in the Chronicle the following account of their
proceedings :
" In a matter wherein the interest of the state is much
concerned, our readers may wish to know its true situa
tion. In the month of August, 1796, the two original
commissioners, Mr. Howell and Mr. Barclay, met at Hali
fax, in pursuance of the fifth article of the treaty of amity,
commerce and navigation, with Great Britain. The two
commissioners, on the twenty-ninth of that month, ap
pointed by choice, not by lot, the Hon. Egbert Benson,
one of the judges of the Supreme Judicial Court of the
state of New York, the third commissioner. On the twen
ty-sixth of September Mr. Benson arrived from New York,
and met the other commissioners at St. Andrews, near the
mouth of the two rivers for which the parties contend as
the boundary. These rivers are four leagues apart at their
mouths where they empty their waters into the Bay of
Passamaquodd}'', near the Bay of Fundy, but they diverge
one to the west and the other to the north, so that their
heads or sources are at a great distance from each other.
" On the fifth of October the commissioners took the oath
as required by the treaty ; and appointed Edward Wins
low, Esq., of Frederickton, formerly of Plymouth, in Mas
sachusetts, secretary to the board, and the oath of fidelity
was administered to him. The board being thus formed,
the agent for the United States filed his memorial, request
ing that the easternmost of the two rivers, called by the
native Indians Magaguadavie, should be declared to be the
river St. Croix truly meant and intended under that name
as the boundary mentioned in the treaty of peace made in
1783, and proposing to offer evidence and argument to
support his memorial, if the agent of his Britannic Majesty
should deny that to be the river intended in the treaty of
peace as the river St. Croix.
" The agent for his said majesty being served with a copy
of that memorial, filed another on the behalf of his govern-

324 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ment, therein stating that the western of the two, by the
native Indians called Schoodiac, was the St. Croix truly
meant and intended under that name in the treaty of peace ;
and requesting that the board would declare that to be the
river so intended, and assigned divers reasons and argu
ments in favor of his memorial.
" The source of the river is very important in the busi
ness, because the lines, by the treaty to be drawn due
north from the sources of the two rivers above-mentioned,
will be about sixty miles from each other, and extend from
the sea nearly one hundred and forty miles.
" This distance of the two rivers is as they are severaUy
stated by the agents in their several claims. The British
agent claims the most western of the Schoodiac lakes,
which is near the river Penobscot, as the source of the
river Schoodiac ; and the agent for the states claims a
place on the Magaguadavie as the source of that river.
Which is right, or whether either is so, is to be determined
by the board. The commissioners are obliged to declare
which is the river truly intended as the St. Croix in the
treaty, and to determine the latitude and longitude of its
mouth and source. To this end surveys of both rivers
became necessary; and one surveyor from the United
States, and one from the British government, were ap
pointed to survey each river. These artists returned from
the business on the last of November, not having then
completed their work.
" The commissioners, after taking the testimony of some
Indians, produced by the agent of the United States as
witnesses, and after determining on the mode of admitting
evidence, establishing the rates of wages for the artists
and laborers employed, adjourned to meet in Boston on
the second Tuesday of August, 1797. It is agreed and
determined that the arguments shall be in writing, filed by
way of memorial before the board, stating the evidence;
and that the secretary shall prepare and deliver one copy

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 325
of the whole to the agent of each nation, to be by him
delivered to his government. The argument on the part
of the United States is directed to be forwarded to the
agent of his Britannic Majesty by the first day of February,
1797, that he may have time to prepare his reply. By this
mode of procedure the public will have on paper the pro
ceedings of a judiciary tribunal appointed to decide be
tween two sovereign and independent nations upon a
cause of magnitude and importance. Why shall not all
the nations on earth determine their disputes in this mode,
rather than choke the rivers with their carcasses, and stain
the soil of continents with their slain? The whole busi
ness has been proceeded upon with great ease, candor and
good-humor." In the early part of July a party of Passamaquoddy
chiefs were in Boston, probably in order to give their evi
dence. In August the commissioners met, and, lodgings
being procured for them by Judge Sullivan, according to
arrangements made the previous fall at St. Andrews, on
Water-street, near Fort HiU, they remained for some weeks
together, hearing the memorials, examining the evidence,
and adjusting preliminary points; but the surveys were not
sufficiently advanced to admit of a decision. They were
present at a dinner given to President Adams, at Faneuil
HaU, and soon after adjourned to meet at Providence the
foUowing June. It was agreed to recommend to their
respective governments an explanatory article to the
treaty, that the source of the St. Croix should be marked
by a monument, and not by its latitude and longitude.
Heavy snows in the woods, late in the spring of 1798,
retarding the surveys, the- meeting at Providence was
deferred till September, when the commissioners assem
bled and continued together many weeks. The last maps
and plans made their appearance about the middle of Octo
ber, from Israel Jones, one of the surveyors in 1764.
General Lincoln, who was a large proprietor on the Cobs-
28

326 LIFE AND WRITINGS
cook, accompanied Sullivan to the meeting. The foUow
ing letters convey full information of the proceedings and
the final result ; and, indeed, that which foUows, to Judge
Parsons, would have been in itself the best narrative of
the whole controversy, did it not omit some particulars
it was thought might be useful for its thorough under
standing. " On my arrival here, last evening, I received yours of
the thirteenth, and hold myself engaged for your friend
accordingly. I thank you for your good wishes on my
St. Croix agency. I am alone in my house this evening,
my family having all fled from the fever. This may apol
ogize for my troubling you with a few words on this
controversy. I now sketch and enclose you a view of the
claims. " The English government found their claim on ancient
history, and on acts of state, both of the English and
French governments. De Mont came into the Bay of
Passamaquoddy in August, 1604. Champlain was with
him. In his narrative of the voyage he says, from St.
John's, they came to the islands of Margos, now caUed the
Wolves (C & D). Here is a great river of the great nation
of the Etchemins. He says, further, there are here a great
number of islands, as in (a cul de sac) the bottom of a bay,
and a river wherein are two islands, where De Mont win
tered. The islands are in the Schoodiac, marked (00).
There is no doubt in the evidence but that De Mont win
tered on one of these islands. He describes the falls above,
marked in black ink ( = ), and says, this is the river of the
Etchemins, on which you may go to St. John's and Pe
nobscot. By this he means both branches, because the
north is the route to St. John's river, and the south to
Penobscot. In the next chapter, having never before
mentioned the river St. Croix (but having only said that
De Mont called the island where he wintered St. Croix),
he describes his voyage by sea west to Penobscot, and

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 327
says, leaTing the said riTor St. Croix, he passed by a great
number of islands, which we called Range Islands, and by
another which we called Mount Desert. These islands are
aU leagues west of Passamaquoddy Bay; so that, by his
expression, leaTing the said river St. Croix, he may mean
to describe the Bay of Passamaquoddy, with all or either
of the rivers connected with it, or the bay alone ; he had
mentioned no river before, excepting the river of the
Etchemins, and he seems to have included the bay in the
description. " L'Escarbot came there some years after, and published
his narrative before Champlain's came out. He does not
mention any river by the name of St. Croix, but describes
the islands in such a manner as shows them to be as above
marked, and says the islands were caUed St. Croix.
" The commissioners at Paris, in 1750, Shirley and others,
said that the name was communicated from the islands to
the river. There was no question before the commissioners
connected with this fact, and they had no means of infor
mation more than we now have. The acts of state do not
relate to the question of which is the river. The country
being ceded to the French crown in 1632, a great many
grants were made ; one to BaziUy, in 1635, which calls the
island mentioned in it (not the island where De Mont win
tered) the island in the entrance of the bay and river St.
Croix. There was a grant to Sir WiUiam Alexander, by
King James, in 1621,* of the province of Nova Scotia, the
western boundary whereof was from the Cape of St. Mary,
across the Bay of Fundy, to a river commonly caUed St.
Croix, et ad scaturiginem remotissimam sive fontem ex
occidentali parte ejusdem qui se primum immiscet. Taking
the Schoodiac as the St. Croix, the Enghsh agent claims
the pond near the Penobscot as the most remote spring
on the west, or the most remote western spring, which
comes into it. Our translations differ. We say it is not the
* Hazzard, vol. i.

328 LIFE AND WRITINGS
most western spring, but the most remote spring from the
sea which comes in from the west side of the river ; that
the treaty of peace does not regard the west or east
spring, but goes on the river St. Croix to its source, pre
eminently so caUed. Therefore, if the Schoodiac is the
St. Croix, the north branch, or Cheputnaticook, offers the
source intended. There are no acts of the Enghsh gov
ernment, excepting a commission to the governor of Hal
ifax, in 1763, bounding the province by the river St. Croix,
to its source, and then to Canada line, and an act of Par
Hament, in 1775, for restraining the trade of the New
England colonies. This act is not of any consequence.
" The map of MitcheU, as proved by Adams, Jay and
Franklin, was produced by the English commissioners, and
the Hues marked on that. There was but one river on it
marked St. Croix ; the Schoodiac is on that map called
Passamaquoddy river. The river St. Croix is east of it.
It is clear that nearly all the maps produced agree with
MitcheU. " Mr. Adams and Jay testify that they were governed
by Mitchell's map ; but add (strangely) that the bounds of
the charter of Massachusetts were intended, when in fact
the charter of 1692 was bounded on the gulf and river
St. Lawrence. All Nova Scotia was, by the charter of
William and Mary, a part of Massachusetts, and separated
from it after the treaty of Ryswick, in 1700, or about that
time.* The letters and papers were mentioned and pro
duced. There have great difficulties resulted from that
expression in these testimonies.
" All the Indians swear that it has been always reported
that De Mont wintered in the Schoodiac,but that he erected
a cross on the Magaguadavie, and that river alone has
always been caUed the St. Croix. The white people, who
went there first, say the Indians told them so then. This
case ought to have been settled by negotiations, under a
* See 2d Hutchinson.

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 329
supplemental article to the treaty of amity. I gave that
opinion very early to the secretary of state.
" The commissioners have adjourned to the fifteenth of
next month, to receive a plan they have directed to be
formed from the surveys, on which they will finally mark
the river St. Croix and its source. The arguments are
closed. " I am rather writing from habit than recollection, for I
am quite asleep ; but remain your humble servant, with
friendship and respect."
The final report, made October twenty-fifth, 1798, de
clared that the mouth of the river St. Croix is in Passama
quoddy Bay, at a projection of land, Ide's point, about
one mile northward from the northern part of St. Andrew's
island, and in the latitude 45° 5' 5" north, and in the longi
tude of 67° 12' 30" west from London, and 3° 54' 15" east
from Harvard College : and that the course of the said
river up from its mouth is northerly to a point of land
called the Devil's Head ; then turning by the point runs
westerly to where it divides into two streams, the one
coming from the westward, and the other coming from the
northward, having the Indian name of Cheputnaticook ;
and thence up the same to its source, which is at a stake
near a yellow birch tree, hooped with iron, and marked
S X T, and J X H, 1797, the initials of the surveyors' names.
Here was erected the monument.
SuUivan writes Mr. Pickering on the twenty-ninth of
September, 1798 : " Before I left Providence, I had the
honor to write you on the state of our controversy in
regard to the eastern boundary. The commissioners wiU
meet on the flfteenth of October, and wiU then probably
form their ultimate declaration ; and there is very little
probability of their being united. Judge HoweU wiU never
sign a result to aUow the English claim. The decision
rests with Judge Benson ; and I am apprehensive that he
wiU give them aU they ask, and carry them to the river
28*

330 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Penobscot. This I conclude from his uniform conduct from
the opening untU the close of the arguments. He seems
to be impressed with an idea that it is of no consequence
to the Unfted States how this line is settled. I wonder at
his embracing this opinion, because there is on the table a
file of papers, frequently referred to, consisting of the
zealous proceedings of Massachusetts, from the treaty of
peace to the treaty of amity, in order to 'remove the
Enghsh people from St. Andrews. Judge HoweU and my
self are clearly of opinion that the Magaguadavie is the
river truly intended ; and that, on a fair construction of aU
the evidence, that river ought now to be fixed as the
boundary. But, as the English government has granted
the lands as far west as the north branch of the Schoo
diac, as there are difficulties of a public nature in the
country, and our situation in regard to the English is crit
ical, I should not be uneasy at a unanimous result that the
Schoodiac is the St. Croix intended, and that the lake from
which the north branch issues is the source. The quantity
of land between the Magaguadavie and the Schoodiac
north branch is about two millions of acres, and has been
granted by the English government. The lakes from which
the Magaguadavie and Cheputnaticook issue respectively
are but nine miles apart. The strip of land between lines
drawn due north from these sources to the highlands is not
considerable ; but the territory between a north line from
the Schoodiac Lake, near Penobscot River, is very great ;
and three millions of acres have been granted by Massa
chusetts. Judge Benson says that he has been told, in
Boston, that the place of the line is of no moment. He
did not say who told him so ; but he appears to be too
deeply impressed with that idea. Judge HoweU had a long
conversation with him, after the arguments were over, and
expressed his opinion very fully to him. HoweU would
not have let me known his opinion before the final result,
had not circumstances taken place which rendered it expe-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 331
dient. He understands the controversy perfectly ; and will
not agree to sign a result merely because a majority of the
commissioners shaU agree to do it, nor to let the matter
pass in silence, without communicating his reasons for dis
senting, if he does not unite with the others. He is very
firm ; and I can assure you that, from all appearances, we
have nothing but that firmness to rely on, when we hope
that the other two will not, without him, sign a result aUow-
ing the whole of the English claim. Though this is a private
and confidential letter to a secretary of state, yet I suppose
that he will of course communicate it to the president."
On the third of the foUowing January Judge Howell
wrote thus to the secretary of state :
" Before the arguments were closed I had fixed on the
north branch of the Schoodiac as the St. Croix ; both the
other commissioners, I soon found, were as much fixed on
the western branch. Many days were occupied by us in
consideration and discussion of the subject.
" At length I was mortified to find myself alone, and
that the other two had prepared a final declaration in favor
of the western branch, which they showed to me, and said
they were ready to sign. To this I gave a decided nega
tive. I committed to writing my reasons of dissent, and
put the argument into their hands for deliberate perusal.
After perusal, they returned it to me. I told them it was
my request that it should be lodged on file with our secre
tary, and make part of our proceedings. This they utterly
refused. I then told them that I should think it my duty
to transmit it to the secretary of state, to be lodged in
Ms office with the papers in this case. To this they could
have no objection. Some altercation, rather unpleasant,
took place between my friend Benson and myself in pri
vate. Coh Barclay seemed to keep himself on the reserve,
and to push our friend Benson forward. I had labored
from the first of our discussions to prove that the source
of either branch must lie where it lodges itself in waters

332 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of a different denomination. In this opinion we all seemed
at length to agree ; they for the issuing of the waters of
the western branch out of the Lake Genegenasarumsis (if
I spell it rightly), and I for the issuing of the waters of
the north branch out of the first lake. While things were
in this posture, something Hke a negotiation, started by
Judge SuUivan, and, I believe, assented to by Mr. Liston,
•who was then in Providence, on his way westward, carried
them to the north branch, and induced me to agree with
them in our final result ; to induce me to which. Judge
Sullivan read to me your letters to him, in which you con
tended that the source of a river must be at the most
remote waters which flow in it.
" It must be allowed that there is room for debate and for
a diversity of opinion on this question, whether the source
of the north branch is at the first lake, or where we have
fixed it; and this, being matter of judgment, was a subject
of accommodation. I considered it as a fortunate circum
stance that all the claims of individuals are quieted ; and
the satisfaction expressed by both agents gave reason to
hope that the parties more immediately interested would
readily acquiesce in our result."
The region north of the Schoodiac waters was stiU a
wilderness ; and embarrassments in the way of explora
tion discouraged at that time any effort to ascertain the
highlands described in the treaty of peace as the northerly
bound of Maine. But it was regretted that no provision
had been made by Mr. Jay for settling the controversy
as to the islands in Passamaquoddy. Claimed and occupied
by both Americans and English, they continued for many
years longer a subject of contention. The fourth article
in the treaty of Ghent, December twenty-fourth, 1814, pro
vided that two commissioners should be appointed to de
termine the respective claims of the two nations, and, in
case of their disagreement, the question was to be sub
mitted to some friendly power. Thomas Barclay and John

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 333
Holmes, selected for the duty, decided that Moose, Dudley
and Frederick islands, in Passamaquoddy, belonged to the
United States ; all other islands in that bay, and the Great
Menan in the Bay of Fundy, to Great Britain.
The fourth article made similar provision for ascertaining
the highlands ; but the British commissioner insisting that
our north-easterly corner should be at Mars' HUl, one hun
dred miles south of the point finaUy established, the question
was referred to the king of the Netherlands for arbitration.
He recommended a compromise, by which one third of
seven million five hundred thousand acres in dispute should
be yielded to Great Britain ; the other two thirds to the
states. This award was rejected, and war seemed immi
nent, when Lord Ashburton and Mr. Webster closed the
controversy by the treaty of Washington. This gave
Maine half a million acres less than the award ; but com
pensation was made by a payment of three hundred thou
sand dollars from the federal treasury. The English gov
ernment were thus enabled to join Quebec and Halifax by
a military road through the Madawaska settlement, long
with them a desirable object ; and, on their part, relin
quished to the states a fort at Rouse's Point, which had
been erected, at the cost of a million of dollars, in the war
of 1812, north of the forty-fifth paraUel, there constituting
our boundary.

CHAPTER XV.
PRITATE LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS,
We have now reached the middle period of the busy
life under review ; the table land where the natural pow
ers, having attained their maturity, continued for a time in
fullest vigor before commencing upon their decline. The
season seems appropriate to pause for a moment in the
onward course of our narrative, and consider our subject
in his different relations as a lawyer, as an author, and
also in his various endeavors to be of use in his day and
generation. What claims, on either ground, he possessed
to be remembered, must remain for our readers to decide
from the proofs we are able to present. It is very far
from our intention to anticipate their judgment by any
extravagance of praise.
Where, as in our happy land, knowledge is as universally
diffused as the air we breathe, and no social inequalities
discourage effort, high intellectual gifts and distinguished
achievements adorn every theatre of action. The avenues
of fame are crowded with eager aspirants. The genera
tions, as they pass, cast the glow of their setting splen
dor over others that succeed; and the evening skies are
studded with crowded orbs and briUiant consteUations, aU,
save a few of the more fortunate, destined alike as they
recede to pale their lustre and pass away into oblivion.
WhUe all are willing enough to concede in the abstract
that the only reasonable motive for human effort should be

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 335
an honest wish to meet the divine purpose in our creation,
as revealed by conscience and religious faith, few men are
so pure as to be at all times exclusively under its control.
Other incentives form an important part of our nature,
moulding character and conduct, and entitled to very dif
ferent degrees of our respect. The desire to deserve the
good opinion of present or future generations, for exam
ple, is far more to be commended than any longing for
ease, for pleasure, or for power. To judge a man aright,
the secret recesses of his heart are to be explored, and his
ruHng principles of action and the general tenor of his life
subjected to rigid scrutiny. Should we find the induce
ments that usually influence him generous and elevated,
and his conduct consistent, he is entitled to our favorable
estimate. No biographical sketch, however unpretending,
can be complete where this duty is overlooked.
Abundant materials remain in the writings, and in what
is known of the public and private life of Sullivan, to ren
der this task comparatively easy. It is the more grateful
that few selfish or unamiable traits alloyed the generous
and manly qualities of his nature. No character, of course,
is perfect. The best has numberless defects. Man, capa
ble of. sin, and resisting, is more worthy of our esteem
than an angel of light, for whom temptation is impossible.
SuUivan was thoroughly human. All that was pleasant
commended itself to his keen relish for enjoyment. His
heart glowed with affectionate sympathies for his fellow-
creatures. He wished to contribute to their welfare ; he
ardently desired their approbation. He, moreover, longed
to leave behind him some mark by which he should be
remembered in future times. Yet he was never unmindful
of his relations to the unseen world ; he carefully heeded
the dictates of his conscience ; the influences of religion
were ever present to his mind ; and from early manhood to
his grave duty to God was his paramount consideration.
AU the traditions that have come down to us, and the

336 LIFE AND WRITINGS
constant recurrence of scriptural aUusions in his works and
arguments, confirm this view. Of an ardent and enthusiastic
temperament, and at the same time possessing an unusual
soHcitude as to the future, which. has been observed to be
characteristic of his lineage, Sullivan was weU constituted
by nature to take a profound interest in the mysteries of
revelation. The heavy responsibilities to which he was
early subjected made him thoughtful. He reahzed the
value of divine guidance and support, and assiduously
appHed himself to seek in the Scriptures that knowledge
he recognized as of aU the most important. Various cir
cumstances in his early life were propitious to his progress.
Connected by marriage with a family remarkably strict in
their observance of rehgious duties, his intimacy with
Morrill, his pastor, at Biddeford, strengthened the influ
ences of conjugal affection ; and his association with the
patriots, Adams and Hawley, somewhat later, added the
force of their example to the devotional habits he thus
formed. After a conscientious investigation of the tenets of
Christianity, and patient study of its solemn truths, he
joined the church at Biddeford. After this open acknowl
edgment of his faith, a profound sense of religious obliga
tion, and habits of public and private devotion, were
distinguishing features of his life. This was without big
otry or sanctimonious pretension. He realized the deep
significance of our mortal existence, its connection with
the infinite and eternal, and the importance of regulating
the heart and conduct in accordance with divine law, so as
to secure, if not immunity from sin, at least its pardon.
He took a lively interest in the religious controversies of
the period, and thoroughly understood the various views
of the Christian revelation. StiU, the points in which aU
sects coincided he conceived to be more essential than
those on which they disagreed, and he deemed it of less
moment that opinions should crystaUize into creeds, than

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 337
that they should enHghten the conscience and purify the
character. Before the ReTolution most of the Htc hundred churches
of Massachusetts were Congregational. Parochial affairs
and the selection of their ministers were left to the control
of the members of each parish, but the general organization
was in accordance with the Cambridge platform of 1648.
Originally the Congregational churches had adopted the
Westminster Catechism, and were strictly Calvinistic.
They believed in the trinity, in predestination, particular
redemption or election, total depravity, effectual grace,
and final perseverance. Before admission to the church
candidates were examined as to their faith, and a public
relation of their particular experiences was demanded. In
process of time both tenets and discipline were variously
modified in several of the churches, while others, abandon
ing the platform, organized into distinct sects, professing
views widely at variance with the original doctrines. The
church at Biddeford held fast to the ancient creed ; and,
church-membership implying acquiescence in the doctrine
of the trinity and the five essential points of Calvinism,
such would seem to have been the religious convictions of
our subject when he entered into its communion.
If the colonial epoch of American history is to be re
garded as a state of pupUage, gradually maturing the
people for the exercise of their political rights, the pubHo
mind was, during the same period, likewise learning to
value and enjoy the rights of conscience and religious tol
eration. The Revolution emancipated New England from
religious thraldom as well as from civil bondage. The
house of Brunswick and the British Parliament had not
been its only tyrants. The Cambridge platform ruled with
despotic sway over the land; and whoever ventured to
think for himself, and question the established tenets of
his church, was placed under its ban. Its pains and penal
ties were not the less intolerable that they assumed simply
29

338 LIFE AND WRITINGS
the form of opinion, and, excluding the offender from com
munion with his church, discredited him with his friends
and neighbors.
The puritan ministers were generally men of education
and good sense, and, if austere and exacting as regarded
others, were themselves blameless in Hfe and conversation.
Zealous for the spiritual salvation of their flocks, like good
shepherds they sympathized with their sorrows, and were
interested in their worldly prosperity. But that the arbi
trary power they shared with the leading elders could not
be safely lodged even with the wisest and best, the banish
ment of Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson, the hanging
of the Quakers and witches, are melancholy proofs. The
spirit of intolerance had somewhat abated, however, at
the close of the century stained by these persecutions,
when seceders from other congregations erected on Brat
tle Square, in Boston, what, from the circular distributed
upon its completion, was called the Manifesto Church.
Retaining the Westminster Catechism, they innovated upon
the established discipline by introducing into public wor
ship the reading of the Scriptures, and permitting the
baptism of chUdren whose parents were not themselves in
fuU communion, but who promised to educate their chUdren
in the church tenets. They dispensed with the relation
of experiences as a pre-requisite to church-membership,
and allowed all the parishioners, whether communicants or
not, to vote and act in the secular affairs of the parish.
Notwithstanding this wide departure from the platform
provoked much angry contention, manifested in pamphlets,
newspaper comment and parochial letters, the congrega
tion in Brattle-street stiU remained in feUowship with the
other churches; the different pastors continued their
exchanges, and took part in ordinations, councUs and
other friendly offices, as before.
^ Dr. Samuel Cooper, whose father had been long asso
ciated with Dr. Colman, its first pastor, had been for nearly

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 339
forty years settled over the Brattle-street parish when Sul
livan took up his residence in Boston. An ardent patriot,
and one of the stanchest sons of Hberty, Cooper had been
long on terms of great intimacy and friendship with SulH
van, and he was perhaps in some measure influenced by
this circumstance in, his selection of his place of worship.
His friend. Governor Hancock, was also a member of the
parish, and indeed many others of his acquaintances and
friends. He purchased the pew nearest the pulpit on the
left of the centre aisle, and was here a constant attendant
and communicant for the remainder of his days. He had
not been long established in the capital, however, when he
was called upon to pay a tribute to the memory of his
pastor, in an obituary, which wUl be found in another part
of these volumes, as also by a resolve he prepared for the
General Court, expressive of" their respect and regret for
Cooper, as their chaplain.
The Rev. Peter Thaeher, of Maiden, whose Observations
upon the State of the New England Clergy will be hereaf
ter mentioned, in connection with Sullivan's reply, was
selected as his successor, and for nearly twenty years, till
his decease in 1802, continued in the exercise of his sacred
functions as minister of the parish. It is a somewhat curi
ous fact, connected with his settlement, that three hundred
pounds were paid by the church in Brattle-street to the peo
ple of Maiden, to enable them to procure another preacher
in his place. This was probably a restoration of settlement
money, as it was then usual to term, the amount raised for
the outfit of a newly-settled minister. The controversy
above aUuded to did not disturb the friendly relations of
the pastor and his parishioner. On the contrary, they were
always particularly friendly and confidential, and their mu
tual regard for Hancock strengthened the ties that united
them. It is creditable to both minister and people that the
political rancor of the period crossed not the threshold of the
church. The rival competitors for the honors of the state.

340 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Bowdoin and Hancock, SuUivan and Strong, communed
together at its altar ; and Laco and Junius, bitter antago
nists in print, worked together in harmony in promoting
the secular prosperity of the parish, and in carrying out
the principles of Christian love by joint contributions to
its many charities.
From his earliest association with the parish, Sullivan's
name constantly recurs on its records. Upon the death
of Dr. Cooper, he-was on a committee, with Judges Wen
dell and LoweU, Dea. Storer, Nathan Appleton and Arnold
Welles, to select a volume of his sermons for publication.
A day of humiliation and prayer was appointed for guidance
in choosing a new pastor; and, with Stephen Higginson,
Dea. Newell, Peter Boyer and Nathan Balch, he was em
powered to write Mr. Thaeher, and make suitable arrange
ments with the North Parish of Maiden, over which he was
settled, to secure their assent to his removal. In July,
1785, Judge SulHvan was chosen one of the standing
committee having charge of all the secular affairs of the
parish ; was annually elected during' his life, and for
many years before his death was its chairman. When first
added to the committee his associates were Governors
Bowdoin and Hancock, Deacons Newell and Storer, Isaac
Smith, Judges WendeU and Lowell, Edward Payne' and
David Bell. Other gentlemen of the first respectability,
in subsequent years, were caUed upon to fiU vacancies
created by death or resignation; and when, in 1808, his
own term of service ended with his life, the other members
of the standing committee were Dea. Grant, Eben Han
cock, Arnold WeUes, Peter Thaeher, WiUiam Spooner, H.
G. Otis, Samuel Hammond, Judge Parker, Samuel Dexter,
Samuel Snelling and Dea. Andrews. It was long custom
ary to have their monthly meetings alternately at the
houses of the different members ; and, at the close of the
record of these occasions, we find ft generally stated that

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 341
the evening had been passed in great harmony and cheer
fulness. When Thaeher died, in 1802, SuUivan wrote his obitu
ary, and was chairman of the committee of the parish to
supply his place. It was principally through his influence
that Joseph S. Buokminster was selected. The father of
Buokminster, a rigid Calvinist, of superior gifts and attain
ments, of generous and manly character, and eminently
devout, had long been settled at Portsmouth. Mrs. Buok
minster, his first wife, the mother of Joseph, was the only
chUd of Dr. Stevens, the estimable minister at Kittery,
with whom Sullivan was no doubt very well acquainted,
Kittery being near Berwick, and on the route into Maine.
The Buckminsters were, moreover, intimate at Portsmouth
with the family of Governor Langdon, the brother of Mrs.
SuUivan ; and young Buokminster being a student at Har
vard, Judge Sullivan had had abundant opportunity to
watch the development of a mind and disposition pecu
liarly fitted for the sacred office. It was, perhaps, a haz
ardous experiment to place one so young and inexperi
enced, — for he was when settled only twenty years of
age, — as teacher of morals and divinity over a parish com
prising among its members many of the most intellectual
men of the day. But the distinguished success and use
fulness, in the discharge of his pastoral duties, of this
talented, pious, and pure-minded youth, and the universal
respect and affection felt for him by all who shared his
gentle ministrations, fully justified the choice. Investigat
ing at Cambridge and Andover the leading questions of
polemical divinity with anxious dUigence, his amiable spirit
rejected the stricter dogmas of Calvinism. He doubtless
regretted that his conclusions should be at variance with
those of his father, whom he greatly venerated, but was
stiU too conscientious to compromise with his convictions,
and accepted the doctrines of Christianity as presented to
his reason. His opinions were formed gradually, and after
29*

342 LIFE AND WRITINGS
much deliberation, and, it is believed, finally corresponded
with those of his friends Channing and Lowell, and were
the same now entertained by the great body of Unitarians
in this country.
To define what these were is the more difficult, that, in
dissenting from others, the Unitarians, or liberal Christians,
encouraging an unrestrained freedom of inquiry, adopted
no confession of their own. Their conclusions were, con
sequently, somewhat negative ; but among them, with some
modifications, were a belief in the miracles, in the inspira
tion and divine authority of the Scriptures, in the divinity
but not the deity of the Saviour, in his preexistence as
separate from and not coeternal with the Father, and
in his personal presence to the disciple and the church
through the Spirit. They believed in the death upon the
cross, not as a vicarious atonement for imputed sin, but
as a pledge and seal of the divine mercy fulfilling all sacri
ficial purposes ; and as the crowning act of disinterested
ness and perfect example of submission to God, even unto
death, working in the believer, through faith, penitence,
holiness and eventual redemption. It was a part of their
system to promote the religious training by the culture of
the taste, reason and all the nobler qualities of our nature.
In their view man was not by inheritance totally depraved,
but liable to sin, and needing regeneration from above ;
not containing in himself perfectibility, or ever in this life
actually perfect, but capable, through the aid of the Holy
Spirit, of an endless progress towards perfection. They
considered obedience to the divine precepts the best test
of correct opinions, holding the Christian responsible for
all deviations.
Such are believed to have been some of the prominent
opinions of Buokminster when settled in Brattle-street;
and such, it is reasonable to believe, were likewise the
opinions of Sullivan. By what successive steps the church
or the individual arrived at these conclusions, cannot be

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 343
ascertained. The process was doubtless very slow and
gradual These views did not originate in America. Em-
lyn. Price, Priestley and others in England, long before, had
given them to the world. Among the earliest in Boston,
Mayhew, of the West Church, questioned the trinity;
Chauncy and Murray gave up the doctrine of total deprav
ity, and believed in universal salvation. Dr. Freeman, in
1786, with Counsellor Gardiner, the law reformer, as his
associate, and ordained by a form suggested by Bowdoin,
remodeUed the Enghsh liturgy, at the Stone Chapel, to
meet the new views. For the next twenty years, charges
of Arianism, Socinianism, scepticism, infidelity and athe
ism, fill the newspapers and controversial writings. But
no positive separation took place between the different
sects. The Old South and Old North, the West Church
and First Church, Brattle-street and King's Chapel, contin
ued in fellowship; and Osgood,- Eckley, Freeman and
Thaeher, preached in each other's pulpits, offlciated together
at ordinations and councils, communed at the same altars.
It was not till long after the death of Buokminster that the
schism became decided, and the Orthodox and Unitarians
organized apart.
The religious sentiments of a layman are usually more
interesting to himself than the public. Circumstances
make this case, in some measure, exceptional. For many
years SuUivan occupied a prominent position as presiding
officer of several of the principal religious associations, at
a period when opinions were undergoing, in the minds of
many, an essential change. He took an active part in the
discussion of the great questions agitating the religious
world, not merely by the fireside, but in the public prints
and in separate publications ; and, before he died, the opin
ions he professed when he joined the church at Biddeford
had become essentially modified. It has been frequent
subject of remark that, in the progress of liberal Christian
ity, laymen led the way ; and few men were so situated as

344 LIFE AND WRITINGS
to possess a greater influence in advancing the cause than
SulHvan. If, at the time when our religious institutions
were forming after the Revolution, he aided to direct pub
lic opinion into safe channels, to secure religious liberty
without increasing infidelity, and to promote Christian
charity and toleration among the sects without producing
indifference, that influence was happily exerted.
Nor, as regarded his own conduct, were his views simply
speculative. All who knew him speak with respect of his
purity of character and his conscientious obedience to
divine law in his daUy life. Were this testimony wanting,
abundant other proof could be found in his letters, argu
ments and publications, all showing the constant ascendency
of religious sentiments over his mind. That they regu- "
lated his conduct, is made sufficiently manifest by the
fact that, when candidate for governor for five successive
years of the most embittered poHtical struggle ever known
in the state, no pains were spared, in the closest scrutiny of
his Hfe for forty years for charges to his discredit, to defeat
his election. Of the few coUected with any color of plau-
sibUity, not one, of the sHghtest significance, but was proved
to be wholly unfounded.
As a pubHc man, by his good temper and freedom from
vindicti-se spirit under unmerited contumely and reproach ;
by dignified cheerfulness when others, with less claim, were
preferred before him to office or honor ; by his continual
endeavors to benefit the public, to improve its jurispru
dence, to protect the general health, to preserve tranquillity
and order, to promote education and morality, to assuage
the virulence of party rancor, and to keep alive the
attachment of his countrymen to their free institutions,
that these might be transmitted inviolate the blessing of
future generations ; he proved his patriotism to have been
enhghtened by the noblest inspiration, that of Christianity.
As a husband, father and friend, he was amiable, consider
ate, self-denying, constantly seeking to contribute to the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 345
happiness and substantial welfare of those he loved. In
his business intercourse he was patient and forbearing, and
not only scrupulously just, but obedient to the dictates of
honor, without regard to consequences. To the afflicted
and impoverished he was judicious in administering conso
lation ; freely gave time and means without stint to alleviate
distress, and, by the exertion of his influence with indi
viduals, or with the public through the press, obtained
subscriptions of money, procured employment, defended
reputation, and accommodated disputes ; providing, accord
ing to the circumstances of each case, the appropriate
rehef After half a century, many of his acts of kindness,
charity and friendly service, are found still fresh in the
recollection of grateful hearts. He was ever ready, not
only to argue the causes of the poor without fee or reward,
but to listen patiently to the story of their wrongs, devot
ing to their affairs the same fidelity and zeal exhibited in
those of the more affluent. His strenuous endeavors to
discourage or conciliate litigation ; his never having been
himself a party to any legal controversy; his efforts to
reconcile the quarrels and animosities of his friends and
acquaintances, and his constant exertions to save the
country, could it be without the sacrifice of honor or
substantial interests, from the horrors of war, either with
France or with England, entitle him to the promised bless
ing as a peacemaker.
The whole tenor of his life appears to have been con
sistent. It is easy of proof that his ruling principle of
action was no longing for power, for place, or personal
popularity, neither a wish to secure the admiration or
even the esteem of his fellow-mortals. WhUe we bear in
mind how constantly and devoutly he communed through
prayer with his Creator, how assiduously he strove to
understand the divine precepts, and his steady self-disci
pline, and obedience, and submission ; when we consider
the' many severe trials and afflictions experienced at aU

346 LIFE AND WRITINGS
periods of his career, which naturally turned his heart for
solace and support to the unseen but ever-present Provi
dence, and observe his frequent and unreserved acknowl
edgments of faith and dependence, upon all suitable occa-
sions, it seems impossible to doubt that the only reasonable
explanation of his character and usefulness is, that he
believed his Bible, and, as closely as human frailty permit
ted, was a devout and humble follower of Jesus.
He took especial delight in the society of the clergy,
and those from the interior were constant guests at his
house. From his position, for nearly twenty years, as the
chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Charitable
Congregational Society, they were all well known to him.
At stated times they met around his table ; and, in his con
stant visits to every part of the state, he, in turn, often
partook of their hospitahties. With MorriU, his minister at
Biddeford, with Cooper and Thaeher, and the saint-like
Buokminster, successively his pastors in Brattle-street, and
of whom the latter preached his funeral sermon, one of
peculiar eloquence, he lived, as has been stated, on terms
of the most intimate confidence and friendship.
Family prayers were the usage of his household, and,
though never made a matter of compulsion, were faithfully
attended by all under his roof When he was at home, the
services were conducted by himself, and consisted of a
chapter of the Bible, judiciously selected, and a prayer,
fervent and adapted to meet the daily necessities and vary
ing circumstances of life. It is remembered that, in prayer,
he turned away from his fellow-worshippers, in whose
memory the spot which he occupied when engaged in these
sacred offices was particularly hallowed. His family devo
tions were not Hp-service, or mere matters of form, but his
whole attention was absorbed in this solemn exercise ; his
voice was earnest and devout, and his whole heart occupied
with the performance of the sacred duty.
By law, as also by the long-established usages of society

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 347
in New England, the Sabbath ended with the setting of the
Bun. The boys wistfully M'atched for its disappearance,
that they might again be free from the irksome restraints
puritan propriety imposed upon their restlessness. The
Sunday evenings were devoted to social meetings. The
clergymen received their parishioners, and the houses of
the principal citizens were open to their friends and ac
quaintances. When elections were approaching, this, also,
was the time selected for caucusses and political gather
ings at FaneuU Hall and Vila's. The receptions at Judge
Sullivan's are often mentioned, by those who were in the
habit of being present, as particularly agreeable and ani
mated. His family were always about him. Strangers
from the interior, or from distant parts of the country, the
consuls and other foreigners, were frequently added to the
circle, of which some of the most distinguished revolution
ary celebrities occasionally formed a conspicuous part.
During the quarter of a century in which Judge Sullivan
resided in Boston, the town enjoyed the reputation of being
eminently sociah He was himself fond of cheerful society,
and delighted to gather his friends about him. In a gener
ation particularly courteous and polite, he was somewhat
noted for the refinement and elegance of his manners. But
though dignified, he was never formal; and many yet
remember his hearty cordiality, his readiness to enter
into the tastes and feelings of others, and his willingness to
forego his own comfort and employments when theirs were
to be considered. Friendly and affable to all, he was par
ticularly sympathetic to the young ; and many then in boy
hood, or but just startiag upon Hfe, often speak now of his
pleasant smile and cheerful greeting, of his frank welcome,
and the ready alacrity with which he lent himself to their
entertainment. His hospitable board was constantly sur
rounded by men of different professions and various poHti
cal opinions, who, under his genial influence, found pleasant
recreation from their cares and labors in varied and bril-

348 LIFE AND WRITINGS
Hant conversation. He himself excelled in anecdote, was
always cheerful, and generally gay, and possessed the happy
faculty of making his guests easy and contented with them
selves and their neighbors.
He was, necessarily, often from home. With the increas
ing prosperity of the country, the roads were improved ;
coaches, somewhat slow, connected the principal towns,
and the country taverns began to assume a more comfort
able character. The ancient usage of the judges and the
bar, to travel in their own vehicles upon their circuits, long
continued. Sullivan journeyed in a phaeton, sometimes
driving himself, at others leaving the reins to an attendant.
One who constantly attended him upon these various ex
cursions still survives, after half a century, in full vigor of
mind and body. He frequently varied the monotony of the
road by taking with him one of his sons, or by selecting
from his professional associates an agreeable companion.
Sometimes he travelled in the saddle. He was fond of
fine horses, and, notwithstanding his lameness, was a con
stant and exceUent rider. When alone, the solitary roads .
afforded favorable opportunities for thought; and thus, and
by early hours, for he was generaUy at work long before
the dawn, in winter, preparing for the labors of the day,
he was enabled to accomplish a vast amount of Hterary
and professional labor.
His tasks performed, no one could have enjoyed more
keenly the relaxation he had earned. He delighted in aU
the pleasures and occupations of domestic life, was ever
mindful of his chUdren, and constantly endeavoring, rather
by quiet influences than by rebuke or severity, to form
their characters on principles conducive to their virtue
and happiness. One of his letters, on the subject of the
discipline of chUdhood, proves him to have been fuUy
alive to the importance of keeping children under con
trol, and bringing aU the experience of the parent to
bear on the regulation of their habits and dispositions.

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 349
Exacting implicit obedience, and inspiring his children with
a wholesome fear of offending him, he was ever gentle and
affectionate, sympathized with their pursuits and enjoy
ments, and admitted them to his confldence and companion
ship. It was no part of domestic government, in that day, to
spare the rod. Contributing freely to whatever could add
to their reasonable enjoyment, he was careful to inculcate
in his children rigid principles of honesty and justice.
When one of his sons, still too young to realize very dis
tinctly the difference between right and wrong, exchanged
a knife he had borrowed of a servant for a cake an itiner
ant dealer had tempted him to purchase, his father, learn
ing the circumstance upon his return from his office, inves
tigated the facts, and then bade the child follow him to the
stable. Selecting as he went a knotted stick, he flrst im
pressed upon the mind of the child a full sense of the
injustice and criminality of his conduct, and, that he might
not forget the admonition, administered a severe chastise
ment. When, at a later date, the boy had grown too old for
personal correction, and was not disposed to obey the
paternal mandates, he was checked by the simple reproof
that if he could do without his father, his father could do
without him.
With his professional brethren he was friendly and unre
served, equally disposed for jest or argument, and frequently
enlivened the monotony of the circuits and the corners
of the court-room with his amusing anecdotes and lively
wit. Having been on the bench himself, and occup)^ing an
office which made him necessarily familiar with the bar
throughout the commonwealth, his ¦ amiable qualities and
pleasing address won their regard and secured him consid
eration wherever he went. Blessed with a happy temper
ament, great animation and a ready flow of spirits, his
mind was always active, the exercise of his bodily powers
a constant delight to him, and he directed all his energies
30

350 LIFE AND WRITINGS
to whatever he undertook with remarkable zeal and ear
nestness. Notwithstanding one of his limbs had been badly
broken by the accident of his childhood, and the knee of
the other stiffened by disease, he moved about without
crutch or cane, not only with speed and briskness, but with
dignity and grace, and mounted his horse without assist
ance. With persons of that period mingling much in society
dress was made of more consequence than now. SulHvan
was of course much in court and in company, and, in ac
cordance with the prevailing fashion, dressed with great
care and elegance. His hair was daily powdered, and his
lace ruffies, silk stockings, polished shoes and buckles,
were always scrupulously neat. The materials used for
the garments of the affluent were rich and costly. For ordi
nary occasions, indeed, broadcloth was in use, but generally
of a light color and alike throughout. For gala purposes
the gentlemen wore velvet and brocade ; and a cocked hat,
crimson cloak and white-topped boots, in cold weather,
completed the costume for the streets. But although the
usages of society demanded an attention to elegance of
apparel and appearance, the energetic men of that day wore
their garments without pretension or consciousness. Sul
livan was never too busy to dress with care, but was
assisted by an instinctive delicacy of taste in meeting with
out much effort the social requirements of the day.
Mrs. Sullivan was admirably calculated to preside over
her husband's hospitalities. She had been much in the gay
world of Philadelphia with her brother. Governor Langdon,
and was well versed in the questions of public interest then
the frequent topics of discourse. She was above the mid
dle height, of an attractive personal appearance ; and her
manners, courtly and poHshed, were at the same time easy
and winning. She was fond, like her husband, of the pleas
ures of society, and was on terms of intimacy and friend
ship with the principal personages of the place. Mrs. Hay-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 351
ley, the sister of John Wilkes, Mrs. Morton, celebrated for
her literary taste and productions, Mrs. Swan, General
and Mrs. Knox, and Lady Temple, the widow of Sullivan's
ancient antagonist, and many others remembered with
respect, formed part of a social circle deservedly celebrated
for its character, cultivation and agreeable intercourse.
With many reasons to be contented with his lot, and a
philosophic disposition to take fortune's buffets and re
wards with equal thanks, life was not all sunshine. Sul
livan loved fondly the objects of his attachment, and was
profoundly afflicted at their loss. He was, moreover, too
thoughtful not to heed the lessons of mortality flitting
across his path and chastening his natural longing for
earthly happiness. In January, 1795, General Sullivan,
whose naturally strong constitution had been undermined
by the fatigues and exposures of his mUitary campaigns,
died at Durham, at the early age of fifty-four. When
Washington made his visit to New England, in the autumn
after his inauguration, it had been the good fortune of Gen
eral SulHvan, as president of New Hampshire, to receive
his beloved general and brother in arms at Portsmouth.
The president had appointed him judge of the federal
court, an office which he held till his death. His health
was at that time already much broken, and during the last
years of his life to a degree that interfered at times with
the performance of his judicial duties. When some one
suggested to the president the propriety of appointing his
successor, Washington, fully appreciating his generous
character and distinguished services, said he would more
wiUingly remove any other person in public offlce in the
country. The intercourse of the two brothers had been ever
remarkably friendly, and James throughout his early man
hood had been accustomed to look to John, four years his
senior, for counsel and guidance. Public cares had sepa
rated them, but they kept up a constant and confidential cor-

352 LIFE AND WRITINGS
respondence, and it is a subject of regret that but few of
those letters remain. Constantly moving about the coun
try in the discharge of their various duties, they had fre
quent opportunities of meeting, and the general occasion
ally made his appearance in Boston. He had been too
much engaged in political life to accumulate property, and
by his generous hospitality had expended the savings of
his professional emoluments. An arrangement was made,
however, by which his widow was enabled to retain the
homestead at Durham, where she resided till her death in
1820. Fifteen months after the decease of General SulHvan, his
father, who had retained his strength and faculties to a
remarkable degree, long after he had completed his century,
died at Berwick. His many noble qualities and affectionate
disposition had particularly endeared him to his chUdren,
whose education he had personally directed, and whose
characters had been formed under his guidance. Both
brothers had ever been thoughtful of their parents, and
contributed freely to their comfort and support. John
was the nearer neighbor, and saw them more constantly ;
but James, who had occasion to go frequently into Maine,
improved every opportunity to visit their cottage, and some
of the older inhabitants remember having seen him often
at the village church.
An anecdote, connected with one of these visits at some
what an earlier date, forcibly illustrates his affection and
respect for his father, and his sensibility to the just claims
of the parental relation. One of his own sons, when ap
proaching manhood, in the discussion of some interesting
question with his father, had manifested less deference
than was due to his superior judgment and authority.
There was reason for feeling offended ; but more in sorrow
than in anger, and rather by way of lesson than reproof, he
related to the young man the foUowing incident from his
own experience. WhUe stopping several years before at

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 353
Berwick for a few days, on one of his circuits, a simUarly
earnest conversation between himself and Master SuUivan
had warmed into an excited argument. Sullivan expressed
himself with more freedom than was becoming in a son
to his parent, and they parted in mutual irritation. He rode
away; but his self-reproach, increasing as he proceeded on
his journey, after a distance of twenty mUes had become
so intolerable that he turned his horse and went back to
express his regret and solicit pardon.
After the decease of the ancient patriarch, his aged
widow lived on for the five years following, taken the best
care of by her children, till her own death in 1801. James
continued his visits, and upon one of them, shortly after hav
ing been called upon, as attorney-general, to prosecute an
inhabitant of Berwick, one of her neighbors, for some
criminal offence, upon taking his departure he placed in
the hands of his mother his usual filial offering. She was
a woman of strong attachments and active benevolence,
and the families of the neighborhood were closely knit
together by long intimacy and mutual services. She knew
weU the family, who were suffering from the disgrace of the
recent conviction, and replaced in his hands, with a good
deal of feeling, what appeared to her to be the price of
their misery.
In May, 1799, he lost his son-in-law, Mr. Cutler; and the
same year his youngest brother, Eben, died in Carolina, of
consumption. When his mother died, in 1801, his sister,
Mrs. Hardy, grandmother of Governor Wells, of Maine,
was the only one besides himself remaining of his father's
family. In the year 1797, his second son, John, married the eld
est daughter of the Hon. Thomas Russell, distinguished in
revolutionary history and as a friend of Washington. Mr.
RusseU had recently died, the wealthiest person in New
England. The intimacy between the families had com
menced some ten years before in the coUege friendship of
30*

354 LIFE AND WRITINGS OP JAMES SULLIVAN.
James SuUivan and Thomas Graves Russell, Mr. Russell's
eldest son. Both died victims of Shays' rebeUion, but not
before young Russell had been, as has already been men
tioned, betrothed to Hetty Sullivan. The connection
between the famUies was destined, in time, to be still further
cemented by the marriage of Richard Sullivan to the
younger Miss Russell. The widow of Mr. Russell married
Sir Grenville Temple, and, by the subsequent marriage of
his niece. Miss Winthrop, to George SuUivap, the younger
son of Judge Sullivan, his blood became mingled with that
of Temple, the consul-general, one of his earliest and
most ruthless assailants. Others of his desendants became
united or closely allied in wedlock with those of the chief
of his ancient antagonists, among whom may be instanced
Higginson, Gardiner, Blake and Otis, as also with those of
Hamilton and Jefferson, in opposition to whose favorite
measures and policy he often felt caUed upon to use his
pen. His eldest son, William, married, in 1802, the daugh
ter of Colonel James Swan, one of the patriots, and
who, when a lad in a counting-house, took part, disguised
as an Indian, in throwing the tea overboard into Boston
harbor on the memorable night of the sixteenth of Decem
ber, 1773.
Were these family incidents of recent date we should
be inclined to omit their mention; but after three-score
years there can be Httle impropriety in recording what may
interest descendants, if not general readers.

CHAPTER XVI.

PUBLIC ENTERPRISE.

It is in no vain-glorious spirit, as one of its citizens, that
we venture to repeat the observation, frequently made by
enlightened foreigners, that no state of the Old World or
the New has been more distinguished for its works of
general utility, for literary, religious and charitable insti
tutions, than our own commonwealth; few cities more
widely known for public enterprise and private munifi
cence than Boston, its metropolis. Associations for vari
ous purposes existed among us prior to the Revolution ;
but the most important of those now extensively useful
have been organized under the auspices of popular sover
eignty. With no intention of claiming for our subject any
exclusive merit in their establishment, a brief sketch is
proposed of some of those in which he took a prominent
part. With the ardor and industrious zeal, said by his
cotemporaries to form conspicuous elements in his charac
ter, he applied his energies to advance their objects. He
devoted without reluctance his time and means, and im
proved with ready alacrity every opportunity that pre
sented to cooperate with his associates in their plans of
usefulness. The most ancient scientific or Hterary association in the
country, with one exception, that of the Philosophical
Society at PhUadelphia, created in 1769, is the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences. To Governor Bowdoin,

356 LIFE AND WRITINGS
its first president, is justly due the credit of its foundation,
though President Adams, at a college festival somewhat
eariier, appears to have suggested the idea. A member
from its commencement, in 1780, SuUivan continued through
life a frequent attendant upon its meetings. His name is
found upon several important committees ; and, among
others, upon one with Judges Dana and Paine, for revising
its charter; and as chairman of another, appointed to
ascertain and report the progress of manufactures and the
useful arts in the several counties. From his extensive
influence he had it often in his power to be of service to
the Academy in promoting its objects and general pros
perity. The roll of members, limited to sixty-two in
number, has comprised many of the most distinguished
men of Massachusetts ; and this society, according to Amer
ican standards already venerable, for the celebrity of its
associates and value of its memoirs has ever occupied a
front rank among learned associations, not of this country
alone, but of the scientific world.
The earliest suggestion of the Massachusetts Historical
Society was in 1790. To Dr. Belknap, who was settled in
Boston, in 1787, over the society in Channing-street, is
generaUy conceded the honor of its foundation. With him
cooperated Dr. Eliot of the North Church, Dr. Thaeher
of Brattle-street, William Tudor and James Winthrop.
These five gentlemen agreed each to select an associate ;
and in January, 1791, WilHam Baylies of Taunton, James
Freeman of the Stone Chapel, George R. Minot, Thomas
Walcutt and James SuUivan, joined them. The last was
chosen their first president, and continued in office till
1806, when Christopher Gore, his successor as governor
of the state, was elected in his place. He prepared the
act of incorporation, dated February nineteenth, 1794,
and secured its passage through the legislature. Upon
the completion of the third century from the discovery of
America by Columbus, October twenty-third, 1792, the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 357
society, with Governor Hancock, Samuel Adams, and the
Council, after listening to an address by Dr. Belknap, dined
with him in Bowdoin Square. The society met often at his
house, and at Judge Minot's, till they procured a small
attic in FaneuU Hall, and afterwards a room in the factory
building, then used by the Massachusetts Bank, on HamU-
ton-place. At the close of 1793 the apartment over the
arch in Franklin-place was offered them by WilHam ScoUay,
Charles Bulfinch and Charles Vaughan, representing the
proprietors of the Tontine Crescent; and their offer,
thankfully accepted, was thus responded to in the foUow
ing note from the president :
" Your obliging letter, of the thirty-first of December last,
offering to the Massachusetts Historical Society a room in
the centre building of the Crescent, I have communicated
to the society. That association had its origin in a sincere
wish to promote the honor and happiness of United Amer
ica ; and the labor of its members has been, and now is,
employed, with unremitting zeal and ind«ustry, in collecting
and preserving those materials which will give a founda
tion to a political, as weU as a natural, history of the coun
try. Our fellow-citizens, recognizing the utUity of our
plan, have been very liberal and assiduous in yielding us
assistance and support. By these means we have amassed
a great number of books, printed productions, ancient
manuscripts, and natural curiosities. The government of
this commonwealth has directed the secretary to deliver us
copies of public proceedings ; and we hope that the gen
eral and other governments will afford us aid and counte
nance in the same manner.
" Thus situated, and with these prospects, nothing could
be more congenial to our wishes, or acceptable to our
interest, than the generous offer you have made. We
derive no small degree of pleasure from the consideration
that the donation is made by gentlemen whose feelings for
the public interest and taste for architecture have orna-

358 LIFE AND WRITINGS
mented the capital with buildings so exceedingly elegant
as the Crescent.
" I am directed by the society, of which I have the honor
of being president, to present to you their most cordial
thanks for this mark of respect for their institution ; and
to assure you that a grateful sense of your generosity and
goodness shall be preserved untU the society shall cease to
exist." In this room they met for many years ; and, it not being
far from his residence on Summer-street, Sullivan had easy
access to their library. He added to it many valuable
works, and contributed to the funds, among other liberal
donations, what he realized from his History of Maine.
His Land Titles, of which he also gave the copyright to
the society, had, from its subject, but a limited circulation,
and only paid its expenses. He wrote many articles for
their collections, — the one of greatest length being the His
tory of the Penobscots, — and was unremitting in his efforts
to procure papers from others interested in historical
investigations. This society, the oldest of the kind in the
country, is also one of the most fiourishing. It has already
published thirty-four volumes of its collections ; and its
library, extensive and well selected, has been lately en
riched by the valuable collection of Mr. Dowse. Its resi
dent members are now limited in number to eighty, and its
roll of past and present associates includes nearly aU in
Massachusetts who have gained celebrity in historical
literature, many whose renown is coextensive with the
world of letters.
When Sullivan was in the legislature, in 1784, a memo
rial was presented, by several of the Congregational minis
ters, that provision should be made by law for the widows
and orphans of the clergy, and the subject referred to a
committee, of which he was chairman. Although opposed
by every conviction to any connection between church and
state, he zealously advocated the formation of a society

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 359
which was to assume the charge of collecting and appro
priating to these reasonable claimants upon public benefi
cence what was needed for their relief An act passed
March twenty-fourth, 1786, incorporated the Massachusetts
Congregational Charitable Society, and Joseph Willard,
president of the university, was chosen its first president,
and SuUivan its first vice-president ; offices which they
respectively held for the next eighteen years. The latter,
among other donations, presented the society with a large
and handsome volume, bound in Russia leather, stiU used
for its records. A liberal share of its executive duties
appears to have devolved upon him, and he made frequent
appeals, through the gazettes, to public sympathy, in order
to increase its resources. Its funds now exceed one hun
dred thousand dollars.
It was incumbent on the management, in connection with
a committee from the general convention of ministers, to
obtain exact information as to the condition of those enti
tled to its aid. Through this means, and from his annual
visits to every county in the state, SuUivan became well
acquainted with the whole body of Congregational clergy.
When in Boston they were constant visitors at his house,
and he, in turn, upon his circuits often partook of their
genial hospitalities. This intercourse with men of learn
ing and superior cultivation, most of whom were adorned
with a liberal share of the virtues and graces it was
their duty to inculcate, was a constant source of grat
ification. As a republican, his political opinions often dif
fered from theirs, which more generaUy coincided with the
federal creed, as more conservative. If a stanch advocate
of the right of private judgment in matters of religion,
they recognized in him a sincere believer in its essential
doctrines. With many of the most distinguished, who
were his associates in other societies, he remained through
life on terms of the most cordial intimacy.
This society has been eminently prosperous. Its funds

360 LIFE AND WRITINGS
have greatly increased from bequests and generous dona
tions, and it has afforded comfortable stipends to a class
having very high claims upon public support.
Among the institutions which enlisted his cordial sym
pathies and active exertions, was the Humane Society,
founded in 1785, Its particular sphere of usefulness is in
providing for shipwrecked mariners, along the extensive
coasts of the state, boats, shelter, fuel and comfortable.
garments. Wherever danger lurks beneath the sea, in ihe
form, of sunken rocks or shoals ; wherever sorrowful expe
rience indicates the possible recurrence of calamity, there
nestle amid the crags upon the shore hospitable homes*
for the unfortunate, with, all needful appliances for security
and comfort. Whenever deeds of unusual daring or noble
self-devotion in the cause of humanity claimed special recog
nition, medals, with appropriate inscriptions, gracefully
bestowed, give to modest merit its highest recompense,
that of generous appreciation, and, transmitted tt) descend
ants, become their proudest and most valued heir-loom.
The Society for Propagating the Gospel among the
Indians had been originally formed under the provincial
government, in 1762 ; but the charter procured for its
incorporation from the General Court, through the inter
position of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was negatived
by the king. Soon after our separation from Great Britain
efforts were made for its organization in connection with
a similar society in Scotland. The application for a charter
was again successful, and the society incorporated in 1787,
It has supported ministers among the Narragansets, for
the tribes of Marshpee, Martha's Vineyard and Stock
bridge, and at one period had five missions in Maine. Sul
livan, one of its earliest coadjutors, warmly sympathized
with its pious labors, and from 1800 to 1806 was its presi
dent. The Massachusetts Emigrant Society, formed in
* At this day about sixty in iiumhei\,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 361
179:5, fori furnishing adyice, information, and, where needed,
pecuniary aid for foreigners who came to make their homes
in America, he declined to join as a member ; but is honor
ably mentioned, with Dr. Morse, in furthering, during the
short period of its existence, for it was abandoned in 1801,
its laudable objects.
One principal labor of his life, and which for fifteen years
engaged his unremitting attention, was the Middlesex Canal.
He had able coadjutors in Colonel Loammi Baldwin, James
Winthrop, Joseph Coolidge, Dr. Dexter and Christopher
Gore ; but SuUivan is generally admitted to have been its
projector. Were our only criterion of its utility the amount
realized by its proprietors, it couldnot be claimed as a suc
cess ; but if measured by the public benefit, which undoubt
edly constituted the actuating motive of the enterprise, by
the increased facilities and economy of transportation it
afforded, by the quantities of timber and agricultural prod
uce suppHed to the metropolis, or by the enhanced value ,
of property, not on its banks merely, but over extensive
areas at a considerable distance on either side, due credit
must be given to the sagacity which planned, to the gener
ous appropriation of means, and unflinching perseverance,
which accomplished what, for the times, was a gigantic un-
dprtaking. Compared with more modern achievements of
the same nature, it may appear somewhat insignificant ; but
at the close of the last century, when little capital had been
£^ccumulated, and a rural population, thinly scattered over
the interior, derived a scanty subsistence from an ungrate
ful soil, the obstacles, to be surmounted were many^ and the
task discouraging.
Before the introduction of raUroads, our seaports chiefly
depended for their prosperity upon their facilities of inter
course by water with the country vUlages which relied
upon them for a market. Vast stores of agricultural wealth
were wafted down the Hudson to the great commercial
emporium, whicli, in return, through the same channel,
31

362 LIFE AND WRITINGS
furnished the rural districts with foreign products. The
rapid increase of its wealth and population, consequent
upon the opening of the Erie Canal, clearly demonstrated
what marvels can be wrought by an extended inland navi
gation. To the Mississippi, which, in defiance of sectional ¦
jealousies, will keep America long united as a nation. New
Orleans is indebted for a growth which has kept pace with
the development of the vast regions drained by its waters.
Boston found in her coasting trade, fisheries, and above
all in the enterprising spirit of her merchants, the essential
elements of her commercial importance, but was less fa
vorably situated than many other of her sister cities upon
the seaboard, as respected her connection with the inte
rior. When the patriots, whose exertions had created our
new empire, found it established upon firm foundations,
instead of contending among themselves for power and
place, they directed their efforts to develop its resources.
The year after the peace we find Washington, upon retir
ing to his beloved abode at Mount Vernon, employed in
plans for improving the navigation of the Potomac, and
General Greene at the same time occupied with similar
projects for the benefit of the southern country. General
Philip Schuyler, in 1790, explored, with Elkanah Watson, the
course of the Mohawk, with a view to a vast plan of internal
improvements, consummated thirty years afterwards by his
nephew. Governor De Witt Clinton, in the Erie Canal. In
1792, General Knox procured in Massachusetts a charter for
a canal, one hundred mUes in length, from Boston to the Con
necticut. This latter work was not destined to be accom
plished; but schemes for various improvements constantly
occupied his thoughts. Ten years later, in the GeueralCourt,
he endeavored to awaken public attention to the importance
of continuing to the upper waters of the Connecticut the
line of navigation then lately opened by the Middlesex
Canal to the Merrimac, and which was soon to be extended

OP JAMES SULLIVAN, 363
fifty miles further to Concord, the capital of New Hamp
shire, In aU communities are found individuals whose thoughts,
rising above the engrossing pursuits of self, are quick
to discern what promises to prove of pubHc advan
tage. The connection of Boston, by a line of navigable
waters, with New Hampshire and Vermont, perhaps with
Canada, became early for SulHvan a favorite subject of specu
lation. He consulted his friend. Colonel Baldwin, sheriff
of Middlesex, who possessed a natural taste for engineer
ing; and they together came to the conclusion that the
plan was perfectly feasible. The Merrimac, issuing from
the Winnipiseogee, the great central lake of New Hamp
shire, at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from
Boston, ran southerly within twenty-seven miles of that
capital ; when, turning abruptly to the north-east, it dis
charged itself, after an obstructed course of fifty miles,
into the sea, at Newburyport. Between Concord, N. H,
and Windsor, Vt., Lake Sunapee afforded facilities for
connecting the Connecticut and Merrimac, and the la1>
ter river could be made navigable by locks at a compara
tively inconsiderable expense. The descent from Lake Win
nipiseogee to the Merrimac, two hundred and thirty-one
feet in fifty miles, involved an outlay which, for the time,
excluded it from the plan. But between Concord and
Chelmsford, by canals and locks, which could be constructed
without much cost, the Merrimac might be made navigable
for boats. Should the undertaking succeed between Con
cord and Boston, a distance of eighty miles, the gradual
increase of population and traffic would in time warrant
its extension to the lakes of New Hampshire, with their
two hundred miles of shore, to the Connecticut, and per
haps to the St. Lawrence.
The first important step in the undertaking was a canal
between Boston and the southerly bend of the Merrimac,
at Chelmsford. Concord River, after draining, in a course

364 LIFE AND WRITINGS
of fifty miles, the greater part of the county of Middlesex,
crossed the proposed route of the canal in Billerica, about
five miles south of its northern terminus on the Merrimac,
and entered that river a few miles lower down. At its
point of crossing, the Concord River was one hundred
and two feet above tide water at Boston, twenty-seven
above the Merrimac, and, being at the actual summit
of the canal level, would supply a sufficiency of water
for every purpose in both directions. The natural course
of the proposed work, twenty-seven and one quarter
miles in length, was very free from inequalities of surface,
with few ledges of rock to be blasted, and few streams to
be crossed.
Among numerous other encouragements to the project
were the vast and hitherto comparatively undeveloped
resources of the upper country of New Hampshire. Its
forests abounded in white oak, pine, and other valuable
timber, which only required cheaper modes of transporta
tion to find its way to the seaboard. The annual consump
tion of fuel in Boston alone amounted to ninety thousand
cords of wood, a portion of which it was reasonable to
presume would come down the canal ; and all along the
route lay abundance of the best of buUding-stone, easy to be
wrought. When to these were added the vast quantities
of pot and pearl ashes, then an important staple of New
England, the products of farm, dairy and orchard, which
would increase in proportion to the facilities for a market,
there seemed little reason to doubt that the canal would
not merely prove of great public advantage, but earn an
interest upon its c6st. A horse could draw along its
waters twenty-five tons as easily as one upon the common
road; and merchandise could be carried with less injury
from jar, and better protection from the weather, in boats
than in wagons.
But, with these and many other encouragements to perse
vere, the projectors did not overlook the important consid-

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 365
eration that the habits of a people are not easily changed.
After his harvest toils were over, the farmer of Massachu
setts found little employment, except in teaming, either for
his cattle or himself Instead of reposing during the , in
clement weather upon his settle by the fire, he passed his
days early and late upon the road, in the transportation of
bis surplus produce to the towns and villages. When his
crops were ready for a market, the season for the canal
would be nearly at an end, and ice beginning to skim its
waters. For the winter months he would still be left to
pursue, without much fear of competition, the same course
along the road which his fathers had been accustomed to
travel. If, for a few weeks during the earlier autumn, the
canal might tempt by more moderate charges, the excite
ments of traffic, the incidents of the way and pleasant meet
ings with acquaintances, would not be readily relinquished ;
and the attraction of a social circle round blazing logs in a
tavern bar-room, when his cattle, after a day among the
snows, had been comfortably littered for the night, would
probably prove superior in his mind to any merely econom
ical considerations.
When, after maturely weighing both the chances of
success and disappointment, there seemed sufficient en
couragement to proceed, Sullivan, with Colonel Baldwin,
Messrs. Porter and Swan, and the HaU family of Medford,
petitioned the legislature for a charter, which, jifter some
hesitation, was granted, and received the signature of Gov
ernor Hancock on the twenty-second of June, 1793. Boston
capitalists thinking favorably of the project, subscribed wiU
ingly to its stock ; and RusseU, Gore, BarreU, Craigie and
Brooks, were among its earliest directors. Sullivan was
chosen president, and so continued to his death, in 1808.
Colonel Baldwin was the first vice-president, and Governor
Brooks the second. The summer of 1794 was occupied with
surveys, conducted by Samuel Weston, an eminent English
engineer, then employed in Pennsylvania on the Potomac
31*

366 LIFE AND WRITINGS
canals. In his opinion the work was not only practicable,
but to be accomplished at little expense, and, upon his
favorable report, was immediately commenced at Billerica
Mills, under the charge of Colonel Baldwin, who removed the
first turf on the tenth of September, 1794. The progress was
slow, and attended by many embarrassments which had not
been anticipated at the outset.
The president and an intelligent board of directors
gave their constant attention, and were most fortunate in
the genius and sagacity of their able engineer. Labor
was not easily procured, though the prices, about ten dol
lars a month and board, seem to have been sufficiently
moderate. The purchases of land from more than one hun
dred proprietors, whom it was all-important to conciliate,
demanded both tact and management. Many of the nego
tiations were made by the president, and the numerous
conveyances were all in his hand-writing. An order was
sent to England for a levelling instrument, one made by
S. & W. Jones, of London, and this was the only instrument
used for engineering purposes on the work after the first
survey by Weston. If stiU in existence, it would be an
interesting relic of a labor which, if of Httle account in
contrast with modern efforts, was considered Herculean at
the time.
Opinions varied as to what should be the route. Sulli
van, after careful examination, preferred, of the two most
ehgible, the eastern line, which, proceeding south from
Concord River, passed through the WUmington vaUey by
a gentle descent, without ledges, morasses, or deep cuttings,
through Medford Pond, and thence along the marsh to the
MiU Pond at Charlestown. Weston incHned to his view, but
thought weU of both. Colonel Baldwin favored the western,
and, a majority of the board concurring, it was adopted.
The eastern was forty years later selected for the LoweU
RaUroad, and some engineers have been of opinion that
this would have been likewise the most judicious for the

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 367
canal; that by this route it would have cost less, been
earlier completed, and much of the income sacrificed in
repairs been saved to the stockholders.
AU obstacles were finally surmounted. The canal, thirty
feet in width, with twenty locks, seven aqueducts, and
crossed by fifty bridges, was in 1802 sufficiently completed
for the admission of water, and the following year was
opened to public navigation from the Merrimac to the
Charles. Its cost, about five hundred thousand doUars,
of which one third at least was for land damages, was but
little more than the estimates. Commencing at Charles
town, it passed through Medford and Woburn nine miles to
Horn Pond. Running along the pond, it proceeded twelve
miles, through Woburn and Wilmington, across Shawshine
River, by an aqueduct of one hundred and thirty-seven
feet in length, into Billerica, and on to Bfllerica MiUs on
Concord River. This was accomplished upon three levels,
of six, two, and four miles respectively. From the Con
cord it descended twenty-seven feet in a course of six
miles through Chelmsford to the Merrimac.
One who for ten years gave the canal his exclusive atten
tion, describes the route reversed substantially as foUows :
Ascending from the Merrimac through three stone locks,
the canal extended, with a current slightly adverse, some
what more than five miles through two aqueducts over low
ground, and entered Concord River MUl Pond by an exca
vated stone guard-lock, and crossed it with a fioating tow-
path. Through another guard-lock, excavated in the rocky
shore, it left Concord River, and passed through a difficult
excavation, a quarter of a mUe in length, over ground low
and wet, where a canal could be easily made, but was liable
to lose its water. Had the eastern route been adopted, the
line would have here turned east, and crossed the Shaw
shine lower down; but, keeping on, high embankments
were requisite in the approach to the aqueduct carried
over that river, one hundred and thirty-seven feet, a wooden

368 LIFE AND WRITINGS
trunk of timber frame, which needed soon to be rebuilt.
Half a mUe further on, through a lock of wood, it crossed
a swamp, where it was said the embankments afterwards
settled some sixty feet; and, proceeding through deep
cuttings and with extensive embankments, passed through
another aqueduct at Woburn, and then along the road,
through a deep cutting of two miles of meadows and
elevated embankments, to a, point opposite the middle of
Horn Pond. Here descending through five locks, some
what apart, it continued over a mile of favorable ground
by a troublesome hill of sand to the head of Medford
River ; and thence, through two connected locks, passed by
an aqueduct, one hundred and eighty feet in length, across
the Abberjohnny, or Symmes River, which threaded the
proposed eastern route, by Wilmington valley. Here at
this point there was again a choice ; but the plan adopted
led through deep diggings and embankments across the
Brooks estate at Medford to Medford River by a lock;
thence by Charlestown level, and an aqueduct of one hun
dred feet on stone piers over Mystic River, and a high em
bankment, to Winter Hill. Turning round the north-east
foot of the hill, by a long rock excavation and curved em
bankment, it descended, by two connected locks and one
detached, to tide water in Charlestown Mill Pond, and
thence by a tide lock consummated its connection with
Charles River opposite Boston.
Thus much accomplished, efforts were made with gre^t
zeal, and among others by SulHvan, towards filling up the
Boston Mill Pond, on the Boston side of the Charles, and
opening a communication for canal-boats through this and
the Mill Creek, its outlet, across the town, to the markets
and wharves upon the harbor. After great exertions
against strenuous opposition, agreements were made for
the purpose with the town and private individuals. But
this work required many years for its completion, and the
proprietors of the canal finally established, at some disad-

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 369
vantage to themselves, a termination for their boats at
Charlestown Bridge. SuUivan next endeavored to procure
an act authorizing the construction of a towing-path across
the river ; and in connection with the Newburyport Turn
pike, Andrew Craigie, a proprietor at Lechmere Point,
and other petitioners, obtained a charter for a canal on
Cragie's Bridge between Lechmere and Barton's Points.
In consequence of a misunderstanding with Mr. Craigie,
who wished to build the bridge too far west for the uses
of the canal, this part of the project was not accomplished.
As early as 1806, the aggregate of rents and tolls, in a
single year, had nearly reached the handsome sum of six
teen thousand dollars; while the expenses, including two
hundred and forty-eight dollars for repairs, amounted to
only sixty-four hundred. When Sullivan died, in 1808, the
success already realized equalled the most sanguine expec
tations of its proprietors, though the income had fallen off
the preceding year in consequence of the embargo. The
gloomy depression and embarrassments during the non-
intercourse and war, and perhaps the death of the two
principal projectors, SulHvan and Baldwin, within a year of
each other, for a time somewhat paralyzed the enterprise.
Dr. Dexter, who succeeded as president, for the next fifteen
years did everything permitted by the discouragements
of the times, and the unexpected obstacles, to secure
successful progress.
Could the locks and canals on the Merrimac have been
constructed as early as the main work, and navigation
opened to Concord, the canal would have monopolized the
transportation from the whole upper country, and paid for
many years remunerating dividends. John L. Sullivan, son
of our subject, who, whUe for several years in Europe, had
studied the principal canals of France and England, and
accompHshed himself in civU engineering, was appointed
agent, and was untiring in his efforts to complete this part
of the plan. He examined the bed of the river, and

370 LIFE AND WRITINGS
planned locks and dams, to be of equal service in droughts
and freshets. At one time five hundred men were em
ployed ; and, the farmers and traders of the neighborhood
being secured as directors in the several companies, though
rocks had to be blasted under water and removed by com
pound levers, this labor was economically performed.
The Union Canal, so called from extending into both states,
was nine miles in length, and had five locks. At Amoskeag,
six locks, already commenced by Blodgett, were greatly
improved. Six mUes further up, at Hooksett Palls, were
built a dam and one lock, with a level of about an hundred
and eighty feet; and nine miles above, and three below
Concord, at Bow FaUs, a strong and high dam, to fiU a
canal, which, in. half a mile, comprehended rock excavation,
sea walls against freshets, and a deeply placed lower lock,
with three or four others. One of the last links in this .
chain of improvements was a lock at Wickasee, near
Chelmsford. The whole fall of the river, from Concord to
the head of the canal, was one hundred and twenty-three
feet; sixteen to Bow, ten between Bow and Hooksett,
fifty thence to Amoskeag, and twenty-one along the Union
Canal. The Middlesex Canal Corporation took a controlling
interest in the Merrimac canals. For many years its whole
income, not needed for its own repairs, was appropriated
to these works. The agent and other proprietors also
subscribed largely for stock. Lotteries were granted by
New Hampshire, and two townships of land by Massachu
setts; but it was not before 1815 that the river was made
navigable to Concord.*
Although the proprietors never entertained any hope of
successful competition with the country teams for short dis-
* In order better to accomplish their task, the proprietors procured several
additional acts from the Legislature of Massachusetts; viz., those of February
twenty-eighth, 1795; March second, 1803; June nineteenth, 1808 ; and Peb-
ruary twenty-sixth, 1813.

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 371
tances, there seemed reason to anticipate that for long routes
the canal would be preferred. Tliis proved to be the case •
and the income, which, in 1813, was less than seventeen
thousand dollars, in 1816 was over thirty-two thousand. In
1817 the Hon. Josiah Quincy, with Messrs HaU and Cool
idge, appointed to state the condition and prospects of
the canal, reported that the annual expenses of management
were about eight thousand doUars, and the average amount
of repairs would probably not exceed four thousand more,
and there was good ground to expect, for the future, hand
some and regular dividends. Mr. Sullivan, the agent, from
whose reports upon the canal many of the preceding stWe-
ments have been derived, made many judicious inventions
for the application of steam, not only to river, but as the
motive power of canal boats. The latter experiments,
from various serious obstacles, led to no practical results ;
and, in 1820, he resigned his agency, and, after engaging in
southern navigation, entered the service of the United
States, under General Bernard, the distinguished engineer.
About the same period, Chelmsford, where the canal
joins the Merrimac, under the name of LoweU, rose rapidly
into importance as a flourishing factory town, and the tolls
of the canal kept pace, for a time, with the progress of the
miUs. Richard and WiUiam Sullivan, sons of our subject,
established the Boston and Concord Boating Company in
1827, from which, after paying all expenses, they realized
about ninety thousand dollars in eighteen years.
Mr. Caleb Eddy, who, in 1825, succeeded Mr. James F.
Baldwin as superintendent, was indefatigable in his exer
tions to perfect the work, and to introduce into every de
partment of its management a judicious economy. During
the twenty years before its final abandonment, in 1846, that
he had the general charge, he expended two hundred and
fifty thousand doUars from the earnings, in renewing what
had decayed of the original structures, and was yet enabled
to declare considerable dividends. When the LoweU

372 LIFE AND WRITINGS
RaUroad was permitted to be buUt along its side, without
making compensation for the value it destroyed, the canal
attempted an ineffectual rivalry for the transportation of
heavy merchandise with its powerful competitor. To
secure for itself the monopoly, the railroad put its freight
at rates greatly prejudicial to itself and to all other roads
which adopted its tariff. The stock of the canal fell to
one hundred and fifty doUars a share, and, finally, the canal
was discontinued in 1846.
The superintendent endeavored to have it adopted as an
aqueduct for the supply of Boston and Charlestown with
water, at an estimated cost of one million of dollars. An
other plan, at an expense of six miUions of dollars, was
adopted, and now brings from Lake Cochituate a supply
more adequate to the wants of the inhabitants. Its original
vocation gone, and valueless for any other service, the
canal property was disposed of for about one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars. After the final dividend, little
more than the original assessments had been returned to
the stockholders.
Could it have been foreseen that railroads were within
the power of human ingenuity, the proprietors would have
been saved their outlay. But for this admirable contriv
ance the canal would have proved a most profitable invest
ment for the stockholders, as it undoubtedly was a great
public benefit to the community. During the war it sup
plied material to the navy-yard, and food and fuel to the
capital. In peace it diffused through a wide extent of
country the comforts of foreign commerce ; and it was said
by Daniel Webster to have added five miUions to the value
of the New Hampshire forests.
When it first went into operation this work was of
greater magnitude than any of the kind previously con
structed upon the American continent. The more expe
ditious modes of transportation to which it has given place
may, in turn, be superseded by others not yet to be con-

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 373
jectured. The progress of science is rapidly onward, nor
can we predict to what daring flights of invention future
generations may attain. If, as seems the present likelihood,
railroads, like the turnpikes and canals which preceded
them, are not destined to realize to their proprietors the
cost of their construction, they are no less an important
public beneflt, indispensable to present prosperity. What
ever may be their fortunes, we should cherish carefully the
history of past improvements as a guide in our future ad
vances. These details may have been tedious ; but, whether
considered as a failure or a triumph, the history of the canal
seemed to form an appropriate part of this notice of its
projector. Yet another public work, of some importance, at the
same time engaging his attention, was a project which he
started for the supply of Boston with pure water. Much
of the well-water of Boston, from proximity to the sea and
the nature of the soil and formation, was hard and brackish ;
and the rain collected in cisterns was often rendered un
palatable and unsuited to domestic uses, from smoke and
other impurities. The population was increasing, and the
area of the peninsula, originally but about one thousand
acres, was gradually encroaching on the harbor. Our foreign
commerce was in a rapid state of development, and it seemed
expedient to secure, in good season, from beyond the narrow
limits of the town, an abundant provision of the all-impor
tant element, as well for the shipping as for the other wants
of the inhabitants.
When, in the autumn of 1782, the French fleet, under
the Count de Grasse, was lying in the harbor of Boston,
the admiral and his principal officers were frequent visitors
of Mr. Durant, a gentleman originally from France, who
resided five miles from the town, in what is now called Lake-
ville House, on the borders of Jamaica Pond. Struck with
the purity of its waters, compared with that supplied from
the usual sources for the service of the fleet, the admiral
32

374 LIFE AND WRITINGS
ordered his butts to be sent to the pond to be fiUed. One
of the vessels shortly returning into France, some of the
water stiU remaining, for reasons not known, was subjected
to chemical tests, and found, upon analysis, to be unusually
pure. Out of compliment to Mr. Durant, to whose hospi
tality the French officers had been much indebted, a cer
tificate of the result of this examination, signed by the
expert employed, was sent back to America. When it was
proposed, a few years later, to construct an aqueduct for
the use of the capital, the pond, for this and other consider
ations, commended itself as the best and most convenient
source of supply.
Nearly a century before, in 1698, Joseph Belknap had
obtained from the citizens of Roxbury the privilege of
applying the natural overflow of the pond to the purposes
of a grist-miU, for their own benefit and that of the people
of Brookline. Twice, when the mill had been put to other
uses, in 1739 and 1783, the selectmen of Roxbury had
interfered. Whatever rights had vested in the owners of
the mill had been purchased of Marshall, its recent proprie
tor, by Fames, Bond and Page, when, at the close of 1794,
they petitioned the legislature for a charter to carry the
water through an aqueduct to Boston. The inhabitants of
Roxbury remonstrated, and the applicants, in January, 1795,
had leave to withdraw their petition. What connection, if
any, Sullivan had at this time with their plan, does not
appear from the documents ; but, according to tradition, he
was its original projector. Procuring a vote frsm Boston
approving the design, he set forth its advantages in a peti
tion ; and, notwithstanding the renewed opposition of Rox
bury and its most influential inhabitants, which he was able
to overcome, the following month he obtained leave to
bring in a biU, which was passed.
Dr. Dexter, eminent as a physician, and professor of
chemistry at the university, Judge Dawes, and other
gentlemen of capital and public spirit, joined readily in the

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 375
enterprise, at his soHcitation ; and the funds requisite for
the undertaking, amounting to one hundred thousand
dollars, were immediately subscribed. The work was
prosecuted with Tigor by Bond, its engineer, and under
the active superintendence of Sullivan, who, whUe he lived
continued its president. In the newspapers, and in the
city and state archives, are many letters, petitions, and
other documents prepared by him to further the work.
There were many difficulties encountered in its prosecu
tion, requiring both skUl and prudence to surmount. But,
not discouraged, they persevered, and before 1800 the pipes
were aU laid, reservoirs constructed, and the water intro
duced into Boston. At the outset it had many prejudices
to encounter ; and one objection, very seriously made by
not very notable housewives, was, that the water made too
much suds, the highest compliment that could possibly be
paid to its freedom from foreign ingredients. Another
more reasonable objection was the high temperature of the
water in summer, compared with that from the wells, ice
not being then generally in use, as at present. The liability
of the pipes to burst, in winter, from the water freezing,
and the consequent possibility of being deprived for weeks
of any supply, discouraged many from introducing it into
their houses.
It, notwithstanding, grew in public favor. The wooden
pipes originally laid, which were supposed to impart a taste
to the water, were replaced by iron, and the abundance
and cheapness of ice, and the introduction of various filter
ing contrivances, obviated several of the remaining objec
tions. As the population multiplied, it outgrew its other
sources of supply, and the aqueduct became universally
popular. Long before the Cochituate aqueduct, built by
the city at a cost of six mUlions of doUars, superseded it,
the quantity of water distributed daily amounted to one
hundred and fifty thousand gaUons. The annual receipts
of the corporation amounted to thirty thousand doUars, the

376 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF JAMES SULLIVAN.
expenses to ten thousand, leaving twenty thousand to be
distributed as income ; a handsome percentage on the orig
inal cost and all subsequent outlays. The rights of the
corporators were conveyed to the city of Boston for forty-
four thousand dollars, and are now the property of the city
of Roxbury.
The West Boston Bridge to Cambridge, one of the long
est structures of the kind which, at its completion, had
anywhere been accomplished, and which, in the summer of
1793, was built under Sullivan's superintendence ; a canal
projected across Cape Cod, between Buzzard's and Barn
stable Bays; the Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Com
pany ; a turnpike, two hundred miles long, to Montreal ;
for all which projects he appeared as the leading petitioner
for acts of incorporation, engaged much of his attention;
and, with the exception of the Cape canal, were destined
to prove of eminent utility. Probably, upon more careful
investigation, other enterprises of the same nature might
be discovered, to the successful accomplishment of which
he was instrumental. Many distinguished individuals among
his cotemporaries could be mentioned, equally patriotic and
active in promoting objects of general utility. To their
public spirit and laudable example, both Boston and Massa
chusetts owe a large share of the reputation they enjoy for
the variety and excellence of their numerous works of
general convenience, for their public and private charities,
for their religious, Hterary and scientific institutions.

CHAPTER XVII,
AUTHORSHIP.
Prom the argument of his earliest cause, in the ancient
court-house still standing on the Kennebec, down to the
close of his long and eventful career. Judge SulHvan was
laboriously occupied in professional, judicial, or official em
ployments. An active politician, and zealously devoted to
every object which promised to conduce to the public pros
perity, with a large family to maintain and educate, and min
gling necessarily from his position freely in society, his time
would seem to have been sufficiently engrossed. That,
amidst all these cares and perplexities, his various duties
and pleasures, he should have found leisure for elaborate
composition, was hardly to be expected. Yet his pubHshed
writings, many of them upon subjects requiring much
research and profound reflection, and far removed from the
range of his legal studies, are sufficiently numerous to be
deserving of mention. Including his different series of
essays upon political and professional topics, they would
fill several volumes. A selection of the more interesting
articles it has been our plan to present, in connection
with this memoir, that the reader might judge for him
self of their character and value.
The vocation of a lawyer is rather to speak than to
write. In his professional efforts there is rarely much
opportunity permitted for preparation, since to meet the
evidence and the positions of his antagonists he must trust
32*

378 LIJB AND WRITINGS
to the spur of the moment. His object being to persuade,
he aims not so much at logical accuracy or rhetorical
display, as to present his facts and arguments in such
connection as best to produce conviction. But the rules
of both reasoning and rhetoric are natural laws of the
human intellect, and whenever it is well regulated they
instinctively control its operations. The necessities of
rapid composition occasionally betrayed Sullivan into vio
lations of these laws ; but as a natural delicacy of taste
was constantly tending to make him more correct, most of
his later writings are free from such blemishes. The ardor
of forensic discussion is favorable to originality, and to the
suggestion of apt and forcible illustration ; and habits of
vigorous thought and expression, acquired in professional
duties, following him into the field of his literary labor, the.
practised advocate became an able writer.
It cannot be denied that the intellectual powers, how
ever vigorous or happily constituted, only reach their
highest degree of efficiency under careful culture. But
the theory of Locke, that the mind is a blank tUl supplied
with ideas from without, leads us far from the truth.
However much we may be baffled in our efforts to detect
in the convolutions of the human brain the mysterious
processes of thought, although metaphysical research more
often begets confusion than any very well defined ideas, we
are still compelled to believe that the natural organism of
the mind is as varied and complete as that of the body.
Its numerous faculties are quite independent of each other,
and, while in their healthy condition they harmoniously
combine for the great purposes of our creation as moral
and inteUectual beings, their several operations are proved,
upon reflection, to be as distinct, and may be made as
familiar, as digestion, respiration, or voluntary motion. If
this view be correct, and the analogy be extended, the
characteristic differences of mental power, observed among
men, result frpm original constitutional endowment, and are

OF JAMES SULLIVAN, 379
Httle affected by any modes of cultivation, however admi
rable. We are not disposed to underestimate the benefits of
education. In no branch of human progress has so much
already been effected, in none so much remains to be
accomplished, as in devising wise plans for the training of
the inteUectual faculties, for storing the memory with
useful knowledge, and for rendering that knowledge readily
available. We would only contend that education, should
it be extended through a life-time, does not essentially alter
the original qualities of the mind. The beauties of the
gem with the higher polish emit a richer effulgence, but its
substance remains unchanged. Within their natural limits
and degrees, nevertheless, both the mental and physical
powers depend for their best development upon use and
constant exercise. In professional, and especially in legal
pursuits, when the mind is kept in energetic action, it is
steadily acquiring fresh strength, and the ambition to meet
satisfactorily the exigencies of duty stimulates effort, and
amply compensates for the want of discipline in youth.
Many of the revolutionary leaders were well, if not
thoroughly educated. Hancock, Otis, Gerry, Paine and
the Adamses, among the more prominent in Massachusetts,
were graduates of the university, and had not neglected
their opportunities. The exigencies of the stamp-act
excitement, and subsequent disputes, prevented their minds
from growing rusty ; and their perilous position and heavy
responsibility, when engaged in rebellion, served to keep
their faculties in fullest vigor. In early life Sullivan, less
fortunate, had enjoyed fewer facilities for literary training.
What principles for the acquisition of learning, or its useful
application, had been implanted in his youthful mind by
his father, are not now to be ascertained. The parental
instructions, as far as they went, were doubtless both
zealous and judicious. But, soon after reaching manhood,
he entered upon the best school for the development of his

380 LIFE AND WRITINGS
natural powers in the varied business of public life, and at
a period when his country required, for the sacred cause
for which she was contending, all the talents and aU the
energies of her children.
His enthusiastic devotion to the cause, his eloquence in
debate, his manliness of character and sterling good sense,
marked him early as one well suited for the crisis. Brought
into intimate association with the leaders of the revolu
tionary movement, he shared in their counsels and co
operated in their labors ; and, when he was found to
possess good talents as a writer, his pen was put in constant
requisition. He participated in the preparation of the
many earnest appeals to his countrymen, and to the friends
of freedom in Europe, which will ever remain the noblest
and most enduring monuments of the American Revolution.
The just and honorable sentiments, the manly sincerity and
honesty of purpose, that breathe through their glowing
words and eloquent periods, gave dignity to the struggle
for national independence, secured for it the sympathy of
all generous minds, and, by inspiring a spirit of self-sacrifice
among the people, and confidence in eventual success,
insured for it a happy consummation.
When the Boston port bill went into operation, on the 1st
of June, 1774, Sullivan was one of the secret conclave
selected, with Hancock, Adams and Warren, from the
General Court, to prepare letters urging upon the other
colonies to send delegates to the first general Congress
in September. During the three following years, and
again in 1779, in his performance of legislative duties
in the Provincial Congress and Assembly, he was, it
is believed, more frequently called upon than any other
member, unless the exception be Major Hawley, to frame
acts and resolves, draw reports of committees, letters
of instruction and proclamations to the peoplel Among
his earlier tasks, we find a letter of thanks to the other
colonies for their liberal donations for the relief of Boston,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 381
then greatly distressed by the measures of ParHament
which had stopped her trade and greatly embarrassed her
industrial pursuits. For her further relief he prepared a
circular to the other towns of the province, soHciting addi
tional contributions. In December he was appointed, with
Winthrop, to draft an address to the clergy, urging them
to exhort their people to comply with the recommendations
of the Continental Congress not to import or consume
British goods. He was, in February, 1775, a prominent
member of a committee to publish in a pamphlet the doings
of the first Provincial Congress, with an address to the
inhabitants. Reports upon the militia, upon the state of
the province, and of its manufacturing industry, an answer
to an address of the Baptists, and documents upon numer
ous other important subjects, were tasks imposed upon him
whoUy or in part.
After the battle of Lexington, the first important con
flict of the war, it was deemed advisable to lay before the
public, not only here but in England, a true statement of
what had occurred, and Sullivan was ordered by the Con
gress, with others, to take depositions in perpetuam of the
affair ; and from the evidence thus collected to prepare a
statement, which was, with the depositions, despatched by
Captain Derby to Europe, to justify armed resistance to
colonial authority. He drew up, in May, the commission for
General Ward, the commander-in-chief of the army, and
in June redrafted that of the committee of safety, then
exercising the executive power. With others he was
selected to procure the sanction of the general Congress
for Massachusetts to take upon herself the reins of civil
government, and to draw up an address to the eastern tribes
of Indians, to secure their good will in the impending
contest. ' Among other duties devolving upon him, during
the nine months' existence of the Provincial Congress, was
another address to the people, to persuade them to take
the colonial bUls of credit at par, the drafting the com-

382 LIFE AND WRITINGS
missions for the various officers of the army, and instruc
tions for the commissioners to Ticonderoga ; and, as one of
those commissioners, a part of the correspondence with New
York, Connecticut, the Congress at Watertown, as also with
that sitting for the continent at Philadelphia, devolved upon
him. As a member of the Assembly which convened in
July, 1775, he was appointed to report upon the state of
the province, upon the militia, upon the course to be
adopted towards refugees and tories, and upon the sea^
coast estabhshment. With Hawley he drew the biU for
making the necessary changes in the prosecution of civU
actions, and with Gerry that organizing courts of admi
ralty, and for fitting out armed vessels. He was first
named in the house to prepare the proclamation to be read
by the judges on opening the courts ; but this eloquent
production was drawn up by John Adams. The address
of the General Court, congratulating Washington upon the
evacuation of Boston by General Howe and his army,
there is good reason to believe to be Sullivan's composition ;
and, upon the discovery of the remains of General Warren,
at Bunker HiU, he prepared the brief but expressive resolu
tions, arranging for his funeral obsequies, and also for
the erection of a monument to his memory, but now only
recently accomplished. Many of the above writings would
hardly seem to fall within the class of literary productions,
were it not that we were entering upon the responsibUities
of a civil war, of which the issue was not to be foreseen, and
it was deemed all-important to justify each successive step
to public opinion by assigning the reasons which induced
it. The rebeUion of the English colonies in America
had already attracted the attention of the world ; and
whether it ended in calamity, or were to be crowned with
success, these documents were to convince the judgment
of Europe and posterity that the motives of the patriots
could be reconciled with the dictates of good sense and
conscience. They were consequently prepared with care,

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 383
as far as the limited time and pressure of more active
duties permitted, and will be ever the best evidence that
the American Revolution is the event of all others in his
tory the most creditable to mankind.
Before the adoption of the state constitution, in 1780,
his office of judge, to which he had been appointed in
March, 1776, was not incompatible with his continuing a
member of the Assembly. Although necessarily less fre
quent in, attendance, many proofs are to be found of his
active participation in legislative duties. In July he
prepared the rules and orders for the government of the
Provincial Assembly ; and, in September, was appointed to
prepare the response of Massachusetts to the Declaration
of Independence. Various occasional addresses ; among
them was one to the inhabitants upon the state of the
treasury ; another to the officers and soldiers of the Massa
chusetts line, in the continental army, to reconcile them to
the privations and hardships of the service, and to encour
age them to persevere in the contest ; and another to be
read by the clergymen from their pulpits, and by the cap
tains of companies to their men, to promote the enlistment
of fifteen additional battalions, the portion assigned to
Massachusetts of eighty-eight ordered by Congress.
In the foUowing year he was not a member of the Assem
bly ; but in 1778-9, being again returned from Biddeford,
he took a prominent part in the business of legislation.
He framed a large proportion of all the laws and resolves
that were acted upon, drafted many reports upon vari
ous subjects, prepared letters of instruction to the dele
gates in Congress, and made himself generally useful ; but
no paper, of any length or general interest, has been found
in the archives, which claims notice here.
In the convention for framing the state constitution he
was busily engaged, and the first named upon the committee
to draft the address to the people. In its preparation
he was assisted by Samuel Adams, and one familiar with

384 LIFE AND WRITINGS
their respective styles of composition will be at little loss
to decide the passages which each contributed.
Many of these productions have been already mentioned.
in the course of our narrative, and some of them inserted
at length. It seemed worth while again to refer to them,
to present a more complete view of what remains of SuUi
van's literary labors. The precise portion of these inter
esting papers we can safely claim as his composition, is,
in many instances, to some degree, matter of conjecture.
We should be sorry to assume anything to be his upon
inadequate evidence, and have been reasonably careful to
express a doubt, where any exists. Much in his hand
writing was possibly the work of those joined with him in
committee ; and, perhaps, a larger portion, from his being
so frequently the first named for the allotted task, copied,
after correction by others, from his manuscript. He
wrote rapidly, and his hand-writing, graceful and vigorous,
was, upon aU important occasions, sufficiently clear and
distinct. Yet, when his original draft was defaced by
amendments and corrections, the fair copy would naturally
be often prepared by some other member of the committee.
Writing, besides, with great warmth and earnestness of feel
ing, from a full mind and teeming imagination, his style, in his
earlier efforts, was occasionally somewhat overcrowded
and figurative, and needed to be pruned and toned down,
by the judgment of his more sedate associates. Where we
still have the means of comparing the corrected copy with
the original, these alterations do not appear improvements.
What was gained in greater exactness and elegance, fre
quently impaired the strength of expression, all of which
was needed for its intended purpose of animating the peo
ple to noble sentiment and heroic deeds.
The many memorials, statements, articles in the public
prints, and correspondence on the question whether Mr.
Temple should be considered a representative of the
British cabinet or an American patriot, are, on both sides,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 385.
spirited and of much literary merit, and they occupy con
siderable space in the state archives. They are of too
great length, and, perhaps, of too little general interest at
this day, to be inserted in these volumes ; but, for a full
understanding of the period, they are deserving of perusal.
His earliest known separate publication was a pamphlet,
printed in Boston in 1784, treating of the existing condi
tion of the ministers of the Congregational churches, and is
interesting for the view it presents of the effect of free
institutions upon the pastoral relation. The preceding
year, Mr. Thaeher, then settled at Maiden, but who was
soon after called to succeed Dr. Cooper in Brattle-street,
had published his able Observations upon the State of the
Clergy in New England, with Strictures on the power of
dismissing them, usurped by some churches. He elo
quently urged their claims to public aclniowledgment, for
the efficient services they had rendered in the revolutionary
movement ; forcibly portrayed their actual poverty, priva
tions and self-denial, and imputed the backwardness of the
parishes, in providing for them an adequate support, to the
decline of religious feeling in the country. The uncertain
tenure by which they held their offices was a special cause
of complaint; and he considered it unjust that ministers,
after devoting the best part of their lives to the faithful
discharge of their duties, should, when old, be liable to be
dismissed at the discretion or caprice of their flocks. In
self-preservation he recommended to the clergy that
synods should be instituted, and a church establishment
organized. In reply to the Observations, SuUivan, while fully ac
knowledging the patriotic exertions of the clergy during
the Revolution, denied that their parishioners had been un
mindful of their just claims to consideration. He proved,
on the contrary, that the people, in their own extreme dis
tress, had contributed freely for the support of the churches,
to the utmost limit of their means. He professed to be as
33

386 LIFE AND WRITINGS
famUiar with the condition of the various parishes through
out New England as any one ; and he well knew that repeat
edly grants had been made to meet the losses which the
ministers, ifi common with others, had sustained from the
depreciated currency. In one solitary instance, and that
before the Revolution, a clergyman had been dismissed,
upon the charge of immorality ; and, in some more recent
cases, a few others had been obHged to leave their parishes
for poHtical opinion. The influence of a minister over his
flock was naturally great, and, whenever exerted in opposi
tion to the cause of Hberty, the public safety demanded his
removal. The ancient system of ecclesiastical law had
been founded in a mistaken view of human rights, and had
been gradually yielding to the increasing ascendency of
the enlightened principles of religious freedom and tolera
tion. The clergy, he insisted, were entitled to no greater
security in the enjoyment of their rights than other classes
of the community ; and the law had already reasonably •
provided for their protection. He deprecated any system
of synods or establishments, making the minister indepen
dent of his people, as tending to bring back the old eccle
siastical domination. Through his whole life Sullivan was
a sincere beHever in Christianity, a follower of its precepts.
No layman was more generally popular with the clergy, and
this notwithstanding the frank expression of his opinions,
often in direct opposition to their own. The author of
the Observations, Dr. Thaeher, who, a year or two after,
became his own pastor, was his most intimate friend. The
sentiments he expressed upon the subject under discussion,
grew out of his sense of the importance of saving the
country, at a time when our institutions were being re
organized upon the principles of civil and religious free
dom, from returning to the ancient thraldom which had
been of old, in the puritan churches, as rigid and severe as
any ever existing in the Catholic.
In 1791, appeared his Observations upon the United

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 387
States Government, which has 'been already fuUy consid
ered in connection with the adoption of the federal consti
tution. It is believed to be of value as an exposition of
the views of one who had carefully studied our new federal
system, and this when the public attention was very gener
ally directed to its consideration. As the welfare of this
great country, and, probably, the existence of its liberties,
depend upon the right understanding of the constitution,
his luminous explanation of its practical working, and
decided tribute to its merits, in this little work, may not
be without value. Its chief claim to attention, however,
is its able exposition of the importance of preserving invio
late the sovereignty of the several states.
It will be remembered that SulHvan was chairman of the
committee of the legislature to which was submitted the
charter of the Massachusetts Bank, the earliest banking
institution in the state. This institution was, for several
years, a monopoly, the second bank being created in 1791.
The stockholders made large profits ; and as they were com
posed, in a great measure, of the wealthier classes, who were
generaUy federalists, the banks became unpopular with the
repubhcans. The Bank of the United States, planned by
Alexander HamUton, was chartered in 1791, in opposition to
the opinions of two members of the cabinet. For the restora
tion of public credit, and to facilitate the financial opera
tions of the government, the measure was undoubtedly politic.
Tempting privileges were granted to induce prompt sub
scription, and the shares Avere taken with avidity. Its
beneficial effects were perceptible in the immediate relief
of existing embarrassments, in the enhancement of the
depreciated securities, in the stimulus it gave to trade, and
the confidence inspired in the future, which was itself
prosperity. But this grant of unusual advantages to the small class
fortunate enough to become proprietors of stock in bank
ing corporations, was considered by many as opposed to

388 LIFE AND WRITINGS
the principles of equahty on which we had organized the
government. Moreover, in the view of those who were
weU acquainted with the history of such institutions in
other countries, the system adopted, in sanctioning large
emissions of paper upon an inadequate specie basis, was
pregnant with serious danger to the community. In
this belief, Sullivan, a stanch republican, and determined to
exert his influence, upon every fitting occasion, to keep
the country true to' the creed established by the Revolution,
published, in 1792, his Path to Riches, " an inquiry into the
origin and use of money, and into the principles of stocks
and banks." In this treatise he sketches the history of
money and of banking institutions, and endeavors to awaken
the country to a sense of the various dangers and evUs
consequent on an inflated currency. He takes stronger
grounds against monopolies and special corporate privileges
than is consonant with the conclusions of the present day ;
and in other respects manifests a leaning to doctrines
usuaUy considered democratic. But his general views,
expressed with vigor and originality, are sensible and mod
erate, and must secure the acquiescence of all who have
paid due attention to the important subject under discus
sion. His History of Maine appeared in the early part of 1795.
He had been born in the district, had there enjoyed his
greatest happiness in domestic life, and gained his first
professional distinction. He was its frequent visitor in the
discharge of his official duties, and enjoyed great facilities
for collecting traditions and documents to illustrate its
early annals. His studies, in preparing the claim of Mas
sachusetts to the lands west of the Hudson, had made him
familiar with all the early historians of New England, and
his constant employment in real estate litigation, weU
acquainted with all the ancient charters and Indian deeds
under which the eastern country had been settled. His
efforts to procure information from the older inhabitants.

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 389
and aU the various persons who attended the courts, were
indefatigable. Some indulgence was allowed him as attor
ney-general, and it is said that, when he had exhausted the
evidence of witnesses bearing on his particular case, he
would frequently interrogate them as to the traditions of
their respective neighborhoods, noting down their replies ;
and thus was able to save much interesting historical
material, which, but for his timely labors, would have been
irretrievably lost. Much of his work has been embodied
in the more recent history of WiUiamson ; but there will
always be a large class of historical students glad to con
sult the original authorities ; and Sullivan's history must
remain of permanent, and, with the growth of the state, of
increasing value.
His Altar of Baal, in vindication of the French revolu
tion, appeared, as we have already mentioned, at the same
time as his history. It was written in reply to a thanks
giving sermon by the Rev. Mr. Osgood, which had been
preached at Medford the preceding November, and pub
lished and widely distributed for political purposes by the
federal party. Mr. Osgood had not only denounced the
principles of the French revolution, as leading necessarily
to religious infidelity, but our own constitutional societies,
and had rudely assailed the venerable patriot and father of
the Revolution, Samuel Adams, then governor of Massa
chusetts. Sullivan, as the personal friend and political
associate of Adams, was much incensed at this almost
sacrUegious attack upon one whom he considered entitled
to gratitude and veneration for his invaluable services to
the country. He was, besides, not yet disposed to relin
quish the hope that France would settle down at last under a
sensible plan of government, and he felt that violent abuse,
like that of Mr. Osgood, if made known to its people and
received as an expression of the prevailing sentiment here,
would create disgust with republican institutions, and pre
vent the efforts of her many sincere patriots to assimilate
33*

390 LIFE AND WRITINGS
her political system to our own. He had but two or three
weeks for preparation, and the style, occasionally, betrays
the hurry of its composition ; but it is sensible and spirited,
and, as far less has been said upon his side of the argument
than upon the other, it may still find readers. It purported
to be a sermon by " Citoyen de Novion ; " and when under
nomination for governor his opponents sometimes aUuded
to him as Jacques de Novion.
The treatise on the constitutional freedom of the press,
published in 1801, is an able production. It was prepared
at. a period of much excitement upon the subject of the
sedition law, then about expiring, and of which the renewal,
then under consideration in Congress, was soon after de
feated by the republicans. It questioned the constitution
ality of the act, as a direct violation of the prohibition to
Congress to make any law abridging the freedom of speech
or of the press ; and its expediency, inasmuch as the char
acters of the president and other public officers were already
sufficiently protected at common law or by state statutes.
The public acts of those in office, and the fitness of candi
dates for public employment, he thought proper subjects
for discussion, but not their private character or conduct,
except, where criminal, through the public tribunals. The
rule adopted in some of the states, that the truth may be
given ill evidence in justification on charges of libel, he
thought should be restricted to publications for which the
motive was free from malice and for the public benefit. In
asmuch as, for the peace of the community, both law and
public opinion prohibit private redress of injury, they are,
for this reason, under the greater obligation to protect
individuals from ill-natured detraction and scurrilous abuse.
Our state constitution declares that the end of government
is " to secure to the individuals who compose it the power
of enjoying in safety and tranquillity their natural rights
and the blessings of life ; " and the most valuable of them
all is aigood reputation. Public ridicule creates an unjust

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 391
and injurious prejudice ; but this, though contrary to law,
it is difficult to prevent or to remedy. In charges of a
more serious nature the maxim of the common law, that
the greater the truth the greater the libel, is more con
sonant with justice, since public opinion is open to bias,
and rarely can be a competent tribunal. While society has
its criminal process and other better modes of reaching and
punishing offenders, denunciations in the public prints only
tend to deprive them of a fair and impartial trial.
He concludes that the constitutional liberty of the press
is no sanction for attack on private reputation, which
should be guarded as our possession next valuable to life,
and equally precious to the public officer as to the private
individual. Candidates for elective office should be open
to scrutiny ; but false statements with regard to them, as
also concerning the public acts of the government, should
be punished as criminal, unless made from mistake. The
power, lodged by implication with the general government,
to punish libels intended to impair or subvert its authority,
should not be extended to cases of misrepresentation or
abuse of the president or other officers. He closes with
the opinion " that a reasonable constitutional restraint,
judiciously exercised, is the only way in which the freedom
of the press can be preserved as an invaluable privilege to
the nation."
The subject was one of great interest at the time of its
publication. All the more refined and intelligent in the
community deeply deplored the slander and scurrility daily
poured forth through the press. Its freedom had grown
rank, and degenerated into licentiousness. Its virulence
spared neither condition, character, nor the most meri
torious service ; and palpable falsehoods disgraced the
columns of what were considered respectable journals.
Other papers, making no pretension to decorum, and know
ing no shame, were edited by foreigners, such as Callender,
Cobbett and Paine, whose principal object was to secure

392 LIFE AND WRITINGS
the sale of their pubUcations by pandering to the general
taste for detraction. The reproach of encouraging the
abuse of their political opponents faUs equally upon both
parties ; the federalists, who were generally from the wealth
ier class, having the advantage in this ungenerous warfare,
from the larger number of newspapers under their control
In August of the same year he published his History
of Land Titles in Massachusetts. It was dedicated to Chief
Justice Dana and his associates on the supreme bench, and
he presented the copyright to the Historical Society. As
the earliest effort in this country to embody the existing
law in a special branch of jurisprudence, it deserves much
commendation. Its method is exceUent, its style simple
and clear, and the philosophic view he presents of his sub
ject interests while it instructs. From the constant legis
lative changes we have been making in this branch of the
law, as, indeed, in every other, no text-book on real titles
can long be of any value as an authority ; and this has
long since been superseded in this character by later works,
which, in their turn, have given place to others. Its
present claim to be included in a lawyer's library is for the
historical light which it sheds upon the ancient system of
real titles, and its gradual modifications ; a principal object
which the writer had in view in its publication.
In the prefatory address he pays due homage to the
common law of England. WhUe fully assenting to the pro
priety of its adoption as the basis of our own jurisprudence,
he calls attention to the fact that already we had a simUar
system of our own, consisting of many time-honored cus
toms, owing their sanction to general recognition. Having
no reports, it was the more important to embody, in a form
accessible to the student, those rules which depended upon
the memory of the judges and the older members of the
profession for transmission. The importance of cultivating
our own common law, as distinct from that we had inherited
from England, had been early perceived by him ; and many

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 393
years before an able argument of his on this subject, in a
case before the Supreme Court, had attracted notice and
commendation. He commences upon his main subject by stating the
right of the aborigines to the country, under the general
principles of public law as recognized by our own tribu
nals. A brief but lucid statement of the original European
claims, by virtue of prior discovery and settlement, is fol
lowed by an account of the different grants under the
Plymouth Company and Indian deeds. The body of the
work offers a full view of our common and statute law on
real titles and actions, with references to the leading cases
decided in Massachusetts. Our own arrangements for the
distribution and conveyance of real estate, and for secur
ing its enjoyment to its legal owner, differed essentially
from those of England. The great oracles. Coke and
Blackstone, permanent authorities in all points where the
two systems coincided, could not serve as guides for us
where we had introduced changes adapted to our very
different social condition. As SuUivan had been himself
extensively engaged in the organization of our new sys
tem, and his own extensive practice had acquainted him
thoroughly with its operation, he was well qualified for his
task. The conclusion of the work requires no particular
comment, as it will be found among the writings in this
publication. There is Httle reason to suppose the original
work wUl be again sufficiently in demand to be ever re
printed ; but its closing portion contains many interest
ing reflections upon our institutions, and suggestions of
alterations, which may possibly be deemed entitled to
consideration. Previous to the publication of the Land Titles, he had
already made considerable progress in another work, en
titled the History of the Criminal Law of Massachusetts.
The manuscript was completed, but the sale of the Land
Titles not reimbursing the expenses, he did not feel at lib-

394 LIFE AND WRITINGS
erty to print it; though, from his familiarity, as attorney.
general, with this branch of legal science, it seems reason
able to believe that such a volume would have been of
great value. The fate of the manuscript is not known;
but there is some ground for the belief that it is stiU
in existence.
In the national state department at Washington is a
large volume containing his memorials and arguments on
the eastern boundary controversy ; and in our own annals
are a great number of petitions and memorials on various
subjects. He was noted, as governor, for the frequency
of his addresses and messages ; and, from these and his
proclamations, a selection will be found among his writings.
His correspondence on the embargo, and with Sheriff
Lithgow and others, upon the disturbances in Maine during
his administration, have been separately published.
Of his correspondence very little remains. The letters
that have been preserved are full of life and animation ;
and, if we may judge by the vast number he wrote in
settling the question of the eastern boundary, he was,
undoubtedly, as industrious in this direction as in every
other. His own papers have long since been scattered
or destroyed ; and what it has been possible to collect
have been kindly communicated by the descendants of his
correspondents.* Sullivan was prompt in rendering tribute to the memory
of the revolutionary worthies, as they successively quitted
the scene their virtues had ennobled, to reap in eternity the
reward of their disinterested patriotism. His obituaries
of Hancock, Samuel Adams, Dr. Cooper, Dr. Thaeher, and
many more, some of which are known, and others surmised
upon very good grounds, to be his, are just and sensible,
and are especially characterized by religious fervor and
noble and generous sentiments. Thrown off in the first
* Should any one possessing any of his letters chance to read this volume,
he would confer a great obligation by transmitting copies to the editor.

OP JAMES SULLIVAN. 395
moments of regret at separation from his revered friends
and companions, who had shared with him in the perils and
perplexities of the war, as also in the subsequent joy and
triumph, they came warm from his heart. Little time was
aUowed for their preparation, as they were expected to
appear the day of the funeral, or immediately afterwards.
But, with due allowance for the disadvantages under
which they were composed, they are entitled to much
commendation. The presidency of the Massachusetts Historical Society
imposed the obligation of contributing to its collections.
In the belief that the traditionary lore of our early settle
ments, if preserved, must constantly become more valuable
with their increasing population and prosperity, he exerted
his influence to procure for the publications of the society
histories of the ancient towns of the commonwealth. By
way of example, he prepared for the first volume an account
of Georgetown, the earliest European settlement in New
England, and the spot which he had selected for his own
abode when he commenced his professional career ; and for
the fourth a sketch of Thomaston. Before the present
century we had no law reports in the country ; and, realiz
ing from his own experience their great value to the pro
fession, where points of importance had been decided, by
the way of inducing other members of the bar to cooper
ate, he gave brief statements of cases in his own recent
practice when questions of interest to the community were
involved. His contribution of greatest length to the collections
was a History of the Penobscots, the most considerable
tribe of Indians in the district of Maine. A smaU remnant
of this once numerous and powerful people is still to be
found at Oldtown, near the city of Bangor. From his
early residence in the district, and frequent official visits,
as also in collecting materials for its history, he had become
acquainted with their character and customs ; and, upon

396 LIFE AND WRITINGS
the commission to ascertain the St. Croix, under Jay's
treaty, had been compeUed to study their ancient tradi
tionary annals. His opportunities had, consequently, been
highly favorable for procuring accurate information of this
peculiar people, now rapidly disappearing, but who must
ever continue to be interesting to the European race,
who are turning their ancient hunting-grounds into fruitful
farms and busy villages.
Such frequent reference has been made throughout our
narrative to Sullivan as a contributor to the newspaper
press, that no other notice is necessary here but an enu
meration of the signatures over which he wrote. Of these
but a portion can now be ascertained. He often changed
them in order to express his opinions with greater free
dom, and, purposely concealing his authorship, in many
instances no indication remains to betray his secret. Pro-
ductipns, however, which may safely be pronounced his
composition, follow each other in rapid succession for
forty years in the different journals of New Hampshire
and Massachusetts.
From allusions made in the public prints when he was a
candidate for office, it would appear that he was well known
a gazette writer before the Revolution, as was also his
brother. General Sullivan. During the war, his essays were
numerous, and on a great variety of topics. Besides those
prepared with a view to keep alive the military ardor of
the people, and to direct opinion in proper channels, to
recruit the army, and reconcUe the pubHc to its burthens,
he wrote much upon government in connection with the
new state constitution, and upon the currency ; a subject
with which he was especially famihar, the supreme bench
by law being charged with regulating its depreciations.
He defended Hancock from the attacks of his assailants,
and engaged with Mr. Temple and Dr. Gordon, the histo
rian, in a warfare, which for two years occupied the col
umns of the Boston journals. Theodorus, Plain Truth,

OF JAMES SULLIVAN. 397
Honest Republican, Zenas, and Americanus, were some of
the signatures he employed at this period ; the last being
that by which he was most generaUy known, and one he
continued to use at intervals to the close of his Hfe.
After the peace, the people of Massachusetts, goaded by
heavy taxes, general indebtedness, and consequent impov
erishment, became restless. The scarcity of money, and
wish to avoid ruinous sacrifices of property in satisfaction
of debt, induced the adoption of a tender law. Persuaded
this was the only practicable relief in the disturbed state
of the currency for the intolerable distress which was
everywhere experienced, Sullivan justified in the journals
the propriety of such a law under existing circumstances ;
and it was made later subject of reproach to him that, but
for his influence, it would have been repealed. His sense
of the danger of informal grants of power to Congress
induced him to oppose, over the signature of Grotius, a
measure, proposed in 1782, for raising an impost by con
gressional officers ; and, when the public faith demanded
some sacriflce of extreme opinion, he wrote, in the sum
mer of 1783, as Honest Republican, to prove that the grant
of duties for fifteen years instead of twenty-five, the term
suggested, was more than sufficient to extinguish the
continental debt.
His pen was busily at work, in 1785, in urging the
revision of the articles of confederation, and the adoption
of some system of retaliation by which our manufactures
and navigation might be protected from the injurious com
petition of Great Britain. In the foUowing year, when
Benjamin Austin, as Honestus, attacked the lawyers, Sulli
van entered the lists in their defence as Zenas. In 1787
he resumed the subject, and published in the Chronicle
three articles, signed TuUy, in defence of the bar; and
again in 1790, over the signature of Junius, when Coun
seUor Gardiner endeavored to r/ form the profession by
legislation. 34

398 LIFE AND WRITINGS
When the federal constitution was under discussion in
the state convention, according to statements entitled to
confidence. Judge SuUivan wrote a series of articles upon
the subject, which were said to have been able and patri
otic. Papers, signed Repubhcan Federalist, in the Cen
tinel, set forth the objections ' against the constitution,
which, according to tradition, were with him frequent
topics of discourse. But these were attributed, seemingly
on good authority, to a gentleman of Plymouth. The
only other disquisitions which possess internal indications
of proceeding from his pen, and which coincide in opinion
with his cotemporary correspondence, are to be found in
the Massachusetts Gazette, and are signed Cassius. While
recognizing defects in the system it was desirable to cor
rect, they unhesitatingly advise its support as the best that
could be hoped for in the actual state of the country.
In the opening scenes of the French revolution, Judge
Sullivan expressed through the press his satisfaction at the
emancipation of that country from her ancient thraldom,
and was among the last to relinquish his faith in the event
ual establishment of her liberties. He defended Genet and
Duplaine, over the signatures of Junius and Americanus,
and, in 1794, engaged in a vigorous controversy in their
behalf, with John Q. Adams, who, as Columbus and Barne
veldt, sustained the course pursued by government for
their recall. He was said, at this period, to have been the
most constant contributor of the day to the gazettes.* If
true, he must have been a most prolific writer, for Ames
and Adams were then busily engaged in filling their col
umns. Some of his communications are easily identified ;
others it is more difficult to establish as coming from his
pen. Articles signed TuUy, Republican FederaUst, Aris-
* January 17, 1792. " If common fame whispers truly of a certain giant of
the law, there is no man scribbles more for the newspapers than this same
Zenas, sometimes on one side, again on the other, just as suits his convenience,
being determined to pick up the apples of state."

OP JAMES SULLITAN. 399
tobulus, Juridicus, and two able articles upon the union of
the states, were attributed to him, and very probably were
his composition.
In 1798 the entangled relations of the two governments
threatened to embroil us in hostilities with France. Dis
abused of the fond expectations he had cherished of her
future destiny as a peaceful, orderly and happy republic,
he still grieved to see America plunging into war with her
ancient aUy. In deprecation of so unfortunate a policy, he
wrote a long letter, addressed to Judge David Sewall, then
in Congress, signed Grotius, and contributed to the press
many other communications.
In all the spring campaigns for state elections he zeal
ously took part in support of the republican candidates ;
and, from their many allusions to historical facts but im
perfectly known, many of these productions are still of
value. During the presidential campaign of 1800, when
the hope of forming a new party, to be called the Constitu
tionalists, was abandoned, he urged the claims of Jefferson
to the presidency ; and when the election was decided, in
the spring of 1801, assailed the federalists and the Essex
Junto, in his Signs of the Times, signed Federalis, which
attracted much attention. When the midnight judiciary
bill was repealed, in 1802, a long communication of his,
signed Juridicus, was received with favor, as presenting an
able exposition of sound views upon the subject of judi
cial tenures.
In 1803, as is more particularly mentioned hereafter, his
son, WUliam Sullivan, having joined the federalists, was
appointed to deliver the Boston oration on the Fourth of
July. To prevent a misapprehension as to his own polit
ical sentiments. Judge SulHvan immediately commenced a
series of political essays, published in the Chronicle, en
titled Democracy. They set forth what he deemed the
true faith of an American patriot, and, with slight modifica
tions, correspond with what is now professed as democratic

400 LIFE AND WRITINGS
doctrine. They are signed Plain Truth, a nom de plume
he had adopted during the Revolution, and frequently at
subsequent periods affixed to his gazette articles. After
his nomination, the succeeding spring, as the repubhcan
candidate for the chief magistracy, it *is less easy to identify
his contributions ; but enough can be recognized to prove
his high estimate of the power of the press in rightfuUy
moulding public opinion.
In 1806, in the midst of this exciting canvass, Williams,
the editor of the Chronicle, the chief democratic organ
of the capital, not content with his compensation, re
signed his post. As he was a foreigner, and this circum
stance, in the actual state of public feehng, could be used
for reproach against the republicans by their opponents,
his defection was not very seriously regretted. It was at
this particular conjuncture, however, attended with some
inconvenience. To supply the gap till a successor could
be procured, Austin, Lincoln, Morton and Blake, made
frequent contributions to the paper; and if we may de
pend upon the conclusions of the opposite party, and the
style to the experienced readily betrays the authorship,
some of the more interesting at this period were Sullivan's
own. The various replies to his individual assailants, the
sketches of the federal and republican parties, the rights
of jurors, and the reflections upon the death of Charles
Austin, were all ascribed to his pen ; but, as any attempt
of the public prosecutor to influence opinion through the
press in a case he was to try would have been indecorous,
the latter probably were not his. Political essays from his
pen continued to appear throughout his administration, up
to the period of his death. Their authorship is clearly
proved by the replies of his antagonists, or cotemporary
comment. There are many more in the Centinel, Gazette
and Chronicle, and papers published in other parts of the
state, which contain much internal evidence of being his
composition. To claim these, on any questionable author-

OF JAMES SULLITAN. 401
ity, would justly impair confidence in his claims to what
are more fully authenticated. Various other communica
tions are found, either signed by him, or which, from their
subjects, he alone was sufficiently interested to have pre
pared, upon the constitution, the western lands, the east
ern boundary, the canal, the aqueduct, vaccination, and in
behalf of the various societies of which he was a member.
This is but an imperfect view of Sullivan's labors for the
daily press. Where, as in America, newspapers are read
with attention and inteUigence by all classes of citizens,
they mould public sentiment, and exercise no inconsider
able influence over public policy. This was particularly
true in the early periods of our state annals. The most
distinguished statesmen contributed to their columns ; and
their lucubrations, glowing with the ardent zeal and tem
per which then characterized political warfare, have pre
served in vivid colors the history of their times. From
being somewhat inaccessible, this branch of American
literature has attracted less attention than it deserves.
The essays of Franklin, John Adams, Hamilton, Fisher
Ames and Madison, have been collected in their works ;
those of Samuel Adams, Hawley, Otis, Dr. Cooper, of the
revolutionary period, of Levi Lincoln, General Heath, Ben
jamin Austin, Christopher Gore, Bradford, John LoweU,
John Quincy Adams, and a numerous host of able writers,
who later gave life and vigor to the press of Massachu
setts, are at this day but little known. They offer an in
exhaustible magazine of information to the student of
history, of poHtical wisdom to ^11 statesmen who would
take counsel of the past for their guidance aright through
a difficult and dangerous future.
Sullivan was familiar with the Latin classics, and his
knowledge of that language was exact and thorough.
When de la Tombe, the French consul, left Boston, he
presented Sullivan with an extensive collection of French
authors. These he carefully read and made his own. He
34*

402 . LIFE AND WRITINGS
was well acquainted with Shakspeare, and the standard
writers of English literature ; with ancient and modern
history, and with metaphysics, and had zealously studied
aU the different branches of political economy and con-,
troversial theology. He was a diligent student of the
Scriptures, had stored in his memory their most important
texts and most eloquent passages, and his ready and appro
priate use of them in his arguments and writings has been
frequent subject of comment.
His writings were intended rather to convey thought,
and influence public sentiment, than to build up a literary
reputation. He was of opinion, inculcated in the educa
tion of his own children, that weU deflned ideas in the
mind always suggest perspicuous expression; and this is a
characteristic merit of his various productions. His style
simple, and at the same time emphatic, his expressions well
chosen, and his argument flowing, full and clear, evince the
habits of a legal mind in its close connection. Never hav
ing enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, and
having had but few opportunities for study out of his pro
fession, it seems remarkable that his composition should have
been comparatively so free from faults ; and the more,
that he wrote much in court, with the hurry and bustle of
its business going on around him.
The subjects of most of his works were suggested by
the existing questions of the day ; yet, however dry and
abstruse might be his topics, he contrived, by his genial
glow of thought, and ready stores of illustration, to invest
them with charms still lingering about their pages. Many
of his literary efforts were, from the nature of their topics,
of transient interest. The place of others is occupied by
later writers ; but some wiU be found, it is believed, not
without value to the present generation, from their sound
views upon subjects of permanent and increasing impor
tance. As Americans we must ever cherish with grateful pride

OP JAMES SULLITAN, 403
the memory of those who achieved our independence,
established our liberties on sure foundations, and wisely
planned our admirable institutions. The area of rational
freedom and good government is rapidly extending over
the continent, and fts happy and inteUigent people, com
posed of the descendants of aU nations, wiU le^rn with
each successive generation to value more highly the bless
ings they enjoy. The fair fame of the patriot founders of
the repubHc wiU be then the common inheritance of aU ;
and it is fortunate that so many imperishable monuments
remain, in their writings, of their ability and wisdom,
Washington and Franklm, Adams and Jefferson, Jay, Ham
Uton and the Livingstons, are but a few of the many,
whose able and eloquent productions wiU transmit to
remote posterity the generous sentiments and wise states
manship that marked our heroic epoch. In the enumera
tion of Sullivan's publications we would not anticipate
the judgment of others upon their merit. Whatever be
their destiny, whether doomed to oblivion, or permitted to
descend to other generations, they must be acknowledged
to breathe the same ardent patriotism and sincere desire to
beneflt the community, which inspired his more distin
guished cotemporaries.
Note. — In the spring of 1809, not long after the death of Judge SuUivan,
it was proposed to publish his miscellaneous works, with a memoir, to be pre
pared by one of his literary friends. If the impression as to the person who
was to have performed this task be correct, his early departure on a foreign
mission prevented its accomplishment. In the advertisement enumerating
the pieces to be included in this publication, there is mentioned "An Address to
Young Men on the Dangers of a Vicious Life ; " but we have not been able to
find this discourse in any of the public libraries or in the newspapers.

APPENDIX A.

The following extracts from Betham and other authors may he inter
esting to antiquarians and genealogists, vrho, from kindred, curiosity or
other motive, wish more particular information as to the facts stated ia
the first chapter of this work.
" The truth of Dr. Johnson's observation, that ' Ireland was anciently
the school of the West, the quiet habitation of sanctity and learning,' ia
satisfactorily established by English historians, as well as by the best-
informed writers of the antiquities of that part of the United Kingdom.
If we may credit the testimony of the venerable Bede, who lived in the
same period in which Ireland was entitled to that enviable description,
the Saxons, Angles and Gauls, sent thither many of their princes and
nobles, to derive the benefit of pious and liberal education ; and the most
eminent teachers of northern and southern Britain had received their
instruction gratuitously in Irish seminaries. By these literary advan
tages, in ages when other European nations were immersed in compara
tive ignorance and barbarism, the task of preserving the histories and
genealogies of the Irish septs, which appears to have been from time to
time the peculiar care of their chiefs, was considerably facilitated ; and
the solemn examination to which similar records were triennially sub
jected at the assembly of Tarah, has rendered their authenticity less
questionable than that of records of the same nature in other countries.
Of these records, several inestimable fragments are still to be found in
public libraries ; but the greater number were destroyed by the Danes
and English. Their final destruction seems to have been intended in the
reign of Elizabeth ; when Sir George Carew, Lord President of Munster,
afterwards Earl of Totness, and the other English commanders in the
island, were charged to collect all the manuscripts they could, in order
the more efiectually to remove every vestige of antiquity and letters in
the kingdom. That the dissolution of these venerable ties which attached
particular tribes to their several chiefs was one of the primary objects of
this measure, is evinced by the great care which the lord president

406 APPENDIX.
appears to have taken to inform himself of the origin and descent of the
principal families. The original genealogies, compiled from the muni
ments BO collected, are preserved in the archbishop's library in Lambeth
Palace, MSS. XX., 635 ; and extracts by Vincent, and other antiqua
rians, remain in the College of Arms, London, as well as in the British
Museum and other public libraries."
Our account in the text may not be precisely accurate, as we have
not in this country either books or documents for full elucidation of
family history, and we therefore present some of the data from which we
have drawn our conclusions. These particulars appear sufficiently in
teresting to warrant their insertion, as well for the entertainment of the
general reader, as for the instruction of descendants, and the informa
tion of the vast multitudes of the name who are now established in
America. The descent given by Betham is very much as follows : " Olioll Olum,
king of Mtmster, whom the Irish chronicles deduce from Heber Pionn,
one of the sons of Milesius, was the common ancestor of all the septs of
distinction in Ireland. The period of his reign is fixed in the second
century of the Christian era. By his consort Sadhbh, daughter of
Conn of the hundred battles,, monarch of Ireland, he had three sons,
who left issue, hamely, Eogan, or Owen More ; Cormac Cas, from whom
descended the O'Briens, Mac Mahons, and Mao Namaras ; and Ciann,
the progenitor of the O'Oarrols and O'Haras. Prom Eogan More, who
was slain at the battle of Magh-Moohruine, near Galway, are derived the
illustrious septs of Mac Carthy More, and O'Sullivan, who had been in
the exercise of the supreme authorities in Desmond, or South Munster,
some centuries before the landing of Henry II., in 1172. The crown of
Munster was, by the will of Olioll, settled upon the male issue and pos
terity of his two eldest sons, — Owen, head of the Eugenian line, and
Cormac Cas, head of the Daloassian, — by a succession which should be
exactly and uninterruptedly alternate between both branches, with this
particular condition and law, that the eldest prince, if capable of gov
erning, should always succeed out of either branch. Desmond, or South
Munster, was the separate dominion of the Eugenians ; Thomond, or
North Munster, of the Dalcassians. "
In Anderson's royal genealogies are long lists of unpronounceable
names, with a few vowels to numberless consonants, designating from the
days of the Pharaohs, with whose daughters they appear to have inter
married, these ancient monarchs. During the dark ages, many English
writers describe their subjects in Spain and Ireland as immersed in bar
barism ; while others represent them as quite equal or superior in intel
ligence, enlightenment, government, commerce, and the arts of music
and architecture, to any people out of Italy. What remains of their

APPENDIX, 407
ancient habitations and religious edifices furnishes some confirmation of
the latter view.
The tribe of Eoganact Graffan, or O'Sullivan, being among those
descended from Olioll Olum, was considered a free state, and so exempted
from the payment of the annual fiscal tribute for the support of the
household of the king of Munster. Among the nobles slain at the battle
of Maigh Ailbe, 909, was O'Sullivan More, prince of Dunkerron ; and in
943, when the great chiefs of Munster defeated the Danes, the O'Sullivan
More was the general of the confederacy, and, in a personal conflict, slew
Moran, son of the king of Denmark. At the period of the English inva
sion, Dermot Mac Carthy More, who held the chieftainship of his sept, by
the title of king of Desmond, O'Sullivan More of Dunkerron, and O'Sulli
van Beare of Dunboy in Kerry, are mentioned as the great Irish chief
tains of South Munster.
Donell More, the eighth in descent from the first who assumed the name
of O'Sullivan, and who was a lineal descendant of Eogan More, son of
Olioll, was the ancestor of both branches of the O'Sullivans, the O'Sul
livan More and O'Sullivan Beare and Bantry. The pedigree of the latter
is derived from Philip, son of Donell More, and regularly continued in
the Carew collection, above referred to, dovrn to the reign of Queen Eliz
abeth. In 1549 Dermod O'Sullivan, lord of Beare and Bantry, then in
possession of the whole territory, was accidentally killed by an explosion
of gunpowder in his castle of Dunboy. He left three sons, namely, Donell,
who was slain in 1563, leaving a son Donell, or Daniel, in 1593 recog
nized as prince of Bearehaven, and mentioned in the text as head of the
Catholic League of Munster ; Sir Owen, who succeeded his brother
Donell as tanist, and who surrendered the country to Queen Elizabeth in
1572, and took back a grant of it by patent ; and Sir Philip of Ardea.
When Daniel came of age, he commenced a suit against Sir Owen for his
inheritance, which ended in a commission issued under the great seal,
the eighteenth of July, 1593, to divide the territory, as mentioned in the
text, between the three branches ; giving Daniel the castle of Beare, its
haven and demesnes ; Sir Owen the castle of Bantry and its depend
encies, and Sir Philip the castle of Ardea and the country round about.
After the defeat of the Catholic League, Daniel, in 1602, went into
Spain, where he was assassinated at Madrid in 1618 ; and one of his
descendants was there ennobled, for his distinguished services, by the title
of Count of Bearehaven.
In the recital of Donell's allegation in the deed of the above mentioned
partition, it is stated that Sir Owen had entered into possession of the
lands upon the death of Donell's father, his elder brother, and in that
usurpation had continued until, by the abetment of McCarthy More,
created Earl of Clancare by Elizabeth, he had made the surrender to the

408 APPENDIX.
queen. To this Sir Owen replied that possession of that country had
generally come collaterally to the uncles of the sons of the lineal line of
Donell as tanists, and affirmed in proof that there had been in possession
besides himself three that had been uncles to the children of the lineal
line. This Donell alleged to have been by force when the nephews of the
lineal line were within age, either by the support of the earls of Des
mond or of the McCarties of Carbrie. This custom of tanistry, according .
to Vallancey, was an ancient law of succession, whether to regal power
or to any princely dignity to which landed property was annexed ;
whereby the eldest male among the near kinsmen of the last ruling
prince legally succeeding, of the same name and stock, was constitu
tionally to succeed him, by the right of seniority, unless some natural
or accidental infirmity had rendered him manifestly incapable of gov
erning. Tanist was therefore the title of the senior and presumptive
successor in every princely family. Prom the exception made to the
rule in this particular case, it would seem the tanist only held the reins
of government while the heir was under age. Among a people so war
like, and constantly engaged in hostilities, it was of course all-important
that the chieftain should have both wisdom and experience to command
the respect and obedience of his people. The sept of O'Sullivan appears
to have been numerous ; for when, in 1600, a general amnesty being
offered to all the province of Munster, four thousand pardons were issued,
among those who received them were O'Sullivan Beare, with five hun
dred and twenty-eight of his principal followers ; O'Sullivan More, with
four hundred and eighty-one of his ; McCarthy Reagh, with two hundred
and ten.
When Sir Owen died, in 1613, his son Owen made claim, under the
patent of 1572, to the castle of Ardea, then in the possession of Daniel,
the son of Philip, who thereupon petitioned the lord deputy of Ireland
for an official copy of the partition, and this copy was, in August, 1802,
in the possession of Kerry O'Sullivan, his descendant, then living near
the ruins of Ardea castle.
For many centuries prior to 1192 the principal seat of the chieftains
of the sept was the castle of Knock Graffan,* in Tipperary, where
eighteen of the early monarchs of Ireland had been born and reared.
Their demesnes would seem to have then extended south to the sea.
Twenty years after the English invasion they were driven into the
mountainous region between and about the bays of Valentia and Ban-
try. The O'Sullivans More, princes of Dunkerron, resided two miles
from Kenmare, at the castles of Dunkerron and Cappanacus, and other
* Knock Graffan castle was rebuilt in 1108, and again later by the English, and
portions of its walls and moat are stiU preserved.

APPENDIX. 409
branches of their line at the castles of Dromanagh and Tomies. The
younger brother of their representative. Sir Richard Joseph Sullivan,
born in 1752, and distinguished as a writer and statesman, was created
an English baronet in 1804, and his son and successor was killed at the
sortie of Bayonne in 1814. The O'Sullivans Beare were settled about
the bay of Bantry and lakes of Killarney, and their castles of Dunboy,
Bantry and Ardea, were among their strongholds of which some vestiges
remain. The traditions difier as to the origin of the name. Two are here pre
sented, and the reader can take his choice. Mrs. Hall, in her charming
work on Ireland, gives the following account of one of these : " The hos
pitality of the MacSweeney and O'Leary is however eclipsed by that of
another Irish chieftain, the ancestor of the O'Sullivans, a race of whonr
the legend says, ' Nulla manus tam liberalis, atque generalis atque univer
salis, quam Sullivanus.' The name is said to have originated from the
following circumstances. There chanced to arrive in Ireland, from
Albany, a one-eyed Druid, who was also a bard, named Levawn. He
was hospitably received by Eochy, chief of his name and nation, who had
himself but one eye. When the Druid was departing from the castle he
refused all the rich gifts ofiered him, but demanded from his host a pres
ent of his only eye. Eochy, impelled by generosity, at once tore it from
the socket, and bestowed it upon his avaricious guest. There happened,
however, at the time to be a holy man residing with the outraged Eochy ;
and, he indignant at such ingratitude, prayed that the Druid's eye
might depart from its place, and together with his own become the prop
erty of Eochy. The prayer was heard, the chieftain became instantly
the possessor of two eyes, and the Druid left the castle forever blind.
Hence Eochy and his posterity obtained the name of Suil-Levawn-
Levawn's eye." This story may be thought fabulous by some persqna
of a sceptical turn ; but more truth is often conveyed in a fable than by
any statement of mere fact. It is certainly susceptible of many i^te^-
pretations. The other hypothesis is taken from a curious and interesting work of
Henry O'Brien, on the Round Towers, which, similar in form and
character to many still existing in Asia, are found in Spain and other
countries of southern Europe, and supposed to mark the progress of
one branch of the Caucasian race through Greece, Italy, and along the
shores of the Mediterranean, from their original dwelling-place in India.
Of these, eighty-three, in different states of preservation, some of them one
hundred and thirty feet in altitude, and varying in diameter from eight
to fifteen feet, still remain in Ireland. For what purpose they were
erected has not been ascertained. By some antiquarians they are con
jectured to have been sepulchral or watch towers ; by others, to have
35

410 APPENDIX.
been used by the Druids in their fire-worship and consecrated to Apollo
or the Sun ; a few writers consider them symbolical of other sacred
mysteries of paganism.
Mr. O'Brien says that " in the deserted village of Knockmoy in Galway
is the remnant of an ancient Tuath-de-danaan temple, vaulted with stone,
and transformed in after ages to a Christian abbey. Here will be found,
after a succession of at least three thousand years, this pathetic represent
ation of the youth Apollo slaying with his arrow the serpent Python ;
or, in other words, overthrowing by self-endurance the dominion of sin,
by immolation upon a tree, to which you see him pinioned ; establishing
ascendency over the serpent and his wUes and pointing out the road to
eternity beyond the grave. The Hindoo Puranas coi-roborate, to an iota,
this our Knockmoy crucifixion. Sulivahana is the name which they
give to the deity there represented. The meaning of the word is tree-
borne, or who suffered death upon a tree. He was otherwise called
Dhandandhara, that is, sacred almoner. And his fame, say the Puranas,
reached even to the Saxsred Island in the sea of milk, that is of Doghda,
which signifies milk, and which was the title of the tutelar goddess of
Ireland. The name of Sullivan, than which there is no one more com
mon, is unquestionably but the perpetuation of the above Sulivahana.
And I can give a proof of the fact, independently of its derivation.
It is that a particular branch of that family, called the O'Sullivans of
Tomies, have ever been looked upon with a feeling of reverence by the
natives, almost approaching to veneration. I have in vain strove to
ascertain from them the origin of this indefinable sense of sanctity. It
was like magic upon their minds ; they half- worshipped them, and knew
not why. There were but two individuals of this stock remaining, when
I was a schoolboy, a few years ago, at Killarney."
Which of these is the true theory is not for us to determine. It is to
be feared they are both equally mythical. Mrs. Hall seems to be some
what incredulous as to the last, but she was a Sassenach, and of course
not predisposed to put faith in Irish marvels. She tells us that the
O'Sullivan chieftains were among those privileged to possess a Banshee,
a familiar spirit or tutelary genius, whose prophetic voice warned them
of coming dissolution, and on some few other occasions was heard to
whisper on the wind some monitions equally important. Among other
supernatural endowments possessed by persons of the name, she mentions
" that in the barony of Duhallo resided one whose business was that of
a farrier, who had such an extraordinary power of subduing and control
ling the vices of the horse, that the account would be incredible if the
facts were not borne out by the testimony of many living witnesses. He
was known throughout the country by the sobriquet of the Whisperer,
the vulgar notion being that he whispered his commands into the ear of

APPENDIX. 411
the animal to be tamed. When sent for to exercise his skill, he usually
ordered the horse to be taken into the stable, and after carefully closing
the door remained with the animal about ten minutes. At the end of
that time, he led it forth ; generally placed his child upon its back, and
made him ride it about the stable-yard. No matter how untractable had
been the animal committed to his charge, its spirit was completely.
broken ; horses which the boldest riders were unable to mount, the brav
est smiths would not attempt to shoe, and which had been rendered com
pletely valueless by vice, were restored to their owners as gentle and
tractable as lambs. The effect was almost always lasting ; but if the
animal returned to its evil habits, a word, or a look from its controller
were alone necessary ; it knew and recognized the mysterious influence
that had been exercised over it, and trembled, as the horse is said to do,
when it encounters some preternatural object. Mr. Townsend relates an
instance of an experiment upon a troop-horse, so vicious as to be alto
gether worthless, and in reference to which regimental discipline had
totally failed, and the writer bears evidence to the. complete success of the
art from actual observation. I noted, he adds, that the animal appeared
terrified whenever Sullivan either spoke to or looked at him. Mr. Newen
ham, who delineated and published the picturesque Antiquities of Ire
land, informed us he had once a horse so vicious and untamable that,
although an exceedingly fine and handsome animal, he had offered it for
sale for four or five pounds. It had never been broke in ; no groom was
able to mount it, and to get it shod was impossible. Having accident
ally heard of Sullivan's skill, he sent for him, and having agreed to pay
him his usual fee of two guineas, in the event of success, the man and
beast were locked up in a stable. At the expiration of a quarter of an
hour, the latter was led out by the former, the nature of the animal
completely changed. Sullivan not only placed his little boy on its neck,
but actually under its feet ; made the horse lie down and rise up at his
command, enter the stable and come forth at his bidding ; and made it
manifest that, for the future, it might be consigned without danger to
the care of the most timid boy of his manage. Mr. Newenham kept the
horse in use for a year, rode it constantly himself, never found it in the
least degree unruly, and eventually disposed of it for fifty pounds. He
stated to us that when the animal was led out of the stable it was in a
high state of perspiration, as if it had been driven rapidly for an hour.;
that it was quivering in every muscle, and seemed to have undergone
some intense agony. Yet, neither in this instance nor in any other, was
there detected the slightest evidence that the animal had been subjected
to corporeal pain ; although the minutest scrutiny was of course fre
quently instituted. The means by which Sullivan obtained this extraor
dinary power he never divulged." The persevering efforts of the most

412 APPENDIX.
experienced to discover his secret were completely at fault ; and this won
derful gift was looked upon by the ignorant and superstitious as some
what uncanny. In our own day, however, the riddle has been solved,
and the sagacity of Mr. Rarey has saved the memory of Sullivan from
the imputation of having had any dealings with the evil one.
The passage cited in the text, from page 123 of the third volume of
Macaulay's History of England, presents in vivid coloring the picturesque
features of the ancient abode of the Sullivans : ' The south-western part
of Kerry is now well known as the most beautiful tract in the British
isles. The mountains, the glens, the capes stretching far into the Atlan
tic, the crags on which the eagles build, the rivulets brawling down rocky
passes, the lakes overhung by groves in which the wild deer find covert,
attract every summer crowds of wanderers sated with the business and
the pleasures of great cities. The beauties of that country are indeed
too often hidden in the mist and rain which the west wind brings up
from a boundless ocean. But, on the rare days when the sun shines out
in all his glory, the landscape has a freshness and a warmth of coloring
seldom found in our latitude. The myrtle loves the soU. The arbutus
thrives better than even oh the sunny shore of Calabria. The turf is of
livelier hue than elsewhere ; the hills glow with a richer purple ; the
varnish of the holly and ivy is more glossy ; and berries of a brighter red
peep through foliage of a brighter green. But during the greater part
of the seventeenth century this paradise was as little known to the civil
ized world as Spitzbergeu or Greenland.' ' It is impossible,' says Mrs
Hall, in speaking of the Bay of Bantry, ' to do justice to the exceeding
grandeur and surpassing loveliness of the scene ; and he must be indeed
dead to Nature, who in beholding it does not drink in as delicious a
draught as she, in the fulness of her beauty, ever presented.'
Master Sullivan of Berwick, father of James, when far advanced in
years, wrote out the following statement of his family and origin, at the
request of the wife of his son. General John Sullivan : " I am the son
of Major Philip O'Sullivan, of Ardea, in the county of Kerry. His
father was Owen O'Sullivan, original descendant from the second son
of Daniel O'Sullivan, called lord of Bearehaven. He married Mary,
daughter of Colonel Owen McSweeney of Musgrey, and sister to Captain
Edmond McSweeney, a noted man for anecdotes and witty sayings. I
have heard that my grandfather had four countesses for his mother and
grandmothers. How true it was, or who they were, I know not. My
father died of an ulcer raised in his breast, occasioned by a wound he
received in France, in a duel with a French officer. They were all a
short-lived family ; they either died in their bloom, or went out of the
country. I never heard that any of the men-kind arrived at sixty, and
do not remember but one alive when I left home. My mother's name

APPENDIX. 413
was Joan McCarthy, daughter of Dermod McCarthy, of Killoween. She
had three brothers and one sister. Her mother's name I forget, but that
she was daughter to McCarthy Reagh, of Carbery. Her oldest brother.
Col. Florence, alias McFinnin, and his two brothers. Captain Charles
and Captain Owen, went in the defence of the nation against Orange.
Owen was killed in the battle of Aughrim. Florence had a son, who
retains the title of McFinnin. Charles I just remember. He had a
charge of powder in his face at the siege of Cork. He left two sons,
Derby and Owen. Derby married with EUena Sullivan, of the Sullivans
of Bannane. His brother Owen married Honora Mahony, daughter of
Dennis Mahony, of Drommore, in the barony of Dunkerron, and also
died in the prime of life, much lamented. They were short-lived on both
sides ; but the brevity of their lives, to my great grief and sorrow, is
added to the length of mine. My mother's sister was married to Dermod,
eldest son of Daniel O'Sullivan, lord of Dunkerron. Her son Cornelius,
as I understand, was with the Pretender ia Scotland, in the year 1745.
This is all that I can say about my origin ; but shall conclude with a
Latin sentence : ' Si Adam sit pater ounctomm, mater et Eva ;
Cur non sunt homines nobilitate pares ?
Non pater aut mater dant nobis nobilitatem ;
Sed moribus et vita nobilitatur homo.' "J. S."
The following letter is that referred to in the text as vrritten in Ireland
the day Master Sullivan died at Berwick, in Maine : " A grand-uncle of
mine having gone to America about sixty years ago, his relations have
suffered greatly from being without the means of finding out his fate,
till now that by great good fortune I am informed you are a son of his.
If you find by the under account that I have not been misinformed, I
shall be glad to hear from you.
" I am, sir, yours respectfully, " Philip O'Sullfvan.
« Ar^fl, iWay 16<A, 1796."
"Mr. Owen O'Sullivan, son of Major Philip O'Sullivan, of Ardea,
county of Kerry, Ireland, by Joanna, the daughter of Derby McCarthy,
of Killoween, Esq., in said county. They were connected with the most
respectable families in the province of Munster, particularly the Count
of Bearehaven, McCarthy More, Earl of Clancare, Earl Barrymore, the
Earl of Thomond, the Earl of Clencarthy, McFinnin of Glanarough,
O'Donoughu of Ross, and O'Donoughu of Glynn, McCarthy of Carbery,
and O'Donovan, &o."
35*

414 APPENDIX.

APPENDIX B.
CELEBRATION OP THE DISCOVERT OP AMERICA.
Page 268.
Tuesday last, October 23, 1792, being the twelfth of the month, old
style, and the day on which the third century after the discovery of Amer
ica by Christopher Columbus was completed, that event was celebrated
by the Historical Society of this commonwealth in the following manner :
The members of the society having assembled at a quarterly meeting,
held at the house of the Rev. Dr. Thaeher, they proceeded from thence to
the meeting-house in Brattle Square. Dr. Thaeher opened the meeting
with a prayer peculiarly adapted to the occasion. A discourse was then
delivered by the Rev. Dr. Belknap, who had been appointed by the society
for that purpose. This was distinguished by a deep research into the
subject of the discovery of America, both as to the reasons which led
to it, and its consequences ; by an entertaining account of the character
and fortunes of the great discoverer ; and, above all, by a liberality of
sentiment in politics and religion, which do honor to the age. After the
discourse, a prayer, pertinent to the subject of the day, was made by the
Rev. Mr. Eliot, and the whole was concluded with an Ode, by Mr. Rea
and others, in concert with the organ.
His excellency the governor, his honor the lieutenant-governor, and
such of the honorable council as were in tovra, favored the society with
their attendance on this occasion ; and accompanied the members to
dine with the Hon. James Sullivan, the president, at his house, where
the memory of Columbus was toasted in convivial enjoyment, and the
warmest wishes were expressed, that the blessings now distinguishing the
United States might be extended to every part of the world he has dis
covered.

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