Paul Revere

James Otis

Marquis de Lafayette

Marquis de Lafayette was born on September 6, 1757. His given name was Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Mothier. His father died when he was 2 years old, and when his mother and grandfather died 11 year later, he inherited a large fortune. Lafayette, who came from a long line of solders, studied at the Military Academy in Versailles and became a captain in the French cavalry at age 16.

In 1777 he purchase a ship, and with a crew of adventurers set sail for America to fight in America's Revolution against the British. He was made a major general and assigned to the staff of George Washington. Lafayette served with distinction, leading America forces to several victories. On a return visit to France in 1779 he persuaded the French government to send aid to the Americans. After the British surrender at Yorktown, Lafayette returned home to Paris. He had become a hero to the new nation. At home he cooperated closely with Ambassadors Benjamin Franklin, and then Thomas Jefferson in behalf of American interests.

After 1782 Lafayette became absorbed with questions of reform in France. He was one of the first to advocate a National Assembly, and worked toward the establishment of a constitutional monarchy during the years leading up to the French Revolution of 1791. These efforts cost him much of his support from the French nobility. As commander of the French National Guard Lafayette was forced to use force to put down crowd violence. By the 1791 he had lost most of his popularity with the people.

In 1792 he tried unsuccessfully to curb radicalism against the monarchy. The King and Queen would not accept his assistance, and the troops he tried to turn on the Paris mob would not follow his orders. He was denounced as a traitor and fled the country. Lafayette returned to France in 1800 and found his personal fortune had been confiscated. In 1815 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. As one of its vice presidents, he worked for Napoleon's abdication after the Battle of Waterloo.

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry embodied the spirit of American courage and patriotism. He is recognized today, as he was among his contemporaries, as the "Orator of Liberty". His compelling speeches kindled the fires of the Revolution and fueled the effort to secure freedom.

During his early life, Patrick Henry made several unsuccessful attempts to find the career that would best utilize his unique talents. He was unsuccessful in the mercantile business before taking up the study of law.

At the age of 27, his genius as an orator burst forward in a brilliant display of eloquence in the case of the Parson's Cause (below). In this case, he was fighting against taxation without representation in which the parsons of the Church of England tried to tax colonists who believed in other religions. Although many doubted his ability to succeed at law, he stunned the spectators and jury by the fire and eloquence of his words. The people carried him out of the courtroom in triumph. Following this case, he rose to the head of his profession.

Henry's was the first voice raised against England in her attempt to raise taxation without representation. He rose to his full stature in attacking the infamous Stamp Act, which was hotly debated at the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg in 1765. The other delegates quailed when Henry hurled defiance at George III with the challenge, "If this be treason, make the most of it."

During the Second Virginia Convention, his most famous speech was delivered on March 23, 1775 at St. John's Church in Richmond. His words became the clarion call that led the colonies into Revolution. With courage and eloquence, he cried, "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.".

Henry's leadership did not end once the revolution was won. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the nation was in working toward the adoption of the Bill of Rights. While desiring a more effective government, he was adamant in demanding protection of basic civil liberties.

The first governor of Virginia, Henry served five exhausting terms. In 1794, he retired to Red Hill and resumed his private legal practice.

While living at Red Hill he was among the 100 wealthiest landowners in Virginia. Henry first purchased 700 acres at Red Hill; additional acquisitions brought the total acreage of the plantation to 2920. Tobacco was the chief crop at Red Hill, and corn and wheat were also grown. He owned 66 plantation slaves, 21 horses, 167 cattle, 155 hogs, and 60 sheep.

Patrick Henry was a family man, having 17 children in all. Two of these children were born at Red Hill. At least six sons attended Hampden-Sydney College near Farmville, Virginia.

Patrick Henry continued his successful law practice while at Red Hill. Traveling to courthouses such as Prince Edward, Charlotte, and New London, he tried both civil and criminal cases.

George Washington persuaded Patrick Henry to become a candidate for the state legislature in 1799. The foundations of the young republic were endangered by the rumblings of men who argued that any state has the power to nullify acts of the Federal Government. Bowed with age and his health deteriorating, Henry delivered his last public oration. It was an inspirational, non-partisan, patriotic appeal for unity to preserve the nation. Historian Henry Adams declared that nothing in Henry's life was more noble than his last public act.

John Hancock

The events leading to the declaration of independence, which have been rapidly passed in review, in the preceding pages, have brought us to the more particular notice of those distinguished men, who signed their names to that instrument, and thus identified themselves with the glory of this American republic.

If the world has seldom witnessed a train of events of a more novel and interesting character, than those which led to the declaration of American independence, it has, perhaps, never seen a body of men, placed in a more difficult and responsible situation, than were the signers of that instrument. And certainly, the world has never witnessed a more brilliant exhibition of political wisdom, or a brighter example of firmness and courage.

The first instant the American colonies gave promise of future importance and respectability, the jealousy of Great Britain was excited, and the counsels of her statesmen were employed to keep them in humble subjection. This was the object, when royalty grasped at their charters; when restrictions were laid upon their commerce and manufactures; when, by taxation, their resources were attempted to be withdrawn, and the doctrine inculcated, that it was rebellion for them to think and act for themselves.

It was fortunate for the Americans, that they understood their own rights, and had the courage to assert them. But even at the time of the declaration of independence, just ash was the cause of the colonies, it was doubtful how the contests would terminate. The chance of eventual success was against them. Less than three millions of people constituted their population, and these were scattered over a widely extended territory. They were divided into colonies, which had no political character, and no other bond of union than common sufferings, common danger, and common necessities. They had no veteran army, no navy, no arsenals filled with the munitions of war, and no fortifications on their extended coast. They had no overflowing treasuries; but in the outset, were to depend upon loans, taxation, and voluntary contributions.

Thus circumstances, could success in such a contest be reasonably anticipated? Could they hope to compete with the parent country, whose strength was consolidated by the lapse of centuries, and to whose wealth and power so many millions contributed? That country directed, in a great measure, the destinies of Europe: her influence extended to every quarter of the world. Her armies were trained to the art of war; her navy rode in triumph on every sea; her statesmen were subtle and sagacious; her generals skilful and practiced. And more than all, her pride was aroused by the fact, that all Europe was an interested spectator of the scene, and was urging her forward to vindicate the policy she had adopted, and the principles which she had advanced.

But what will not union and firmness, valor and patriotism, accomplish? What will not faith accomplish? The colonies were, indeed, aware of the crisis at which they had arrived. They saw the precipice upon which they stood. National existence was at stake. Life, and liberty, and peace, were at hazard; not only of this generation which then existed, but of the unnumbered millions which were yet to be born. To heaven they could, with pious confidence, make their solemn appeal. They trusted in the arm of HIM, who had planted their fathers in this distant land, and besought HIM to guide the men, who in his providence were called to preside over their public councils.

It was fortunate for them, and equally fortunate for the cause of rational liberty, that the delegates to the congress of 1776, were adequate to the great work which devolved upon them. They were not popular favorites, brought into notice during a season of tumult and violence; nor men chosen in times of tranquillity, when nothing is to be apprehended from a mistaken selection. "But they were men to whom others might cling in times of peril, and look up to in the revolution of empires; men whose countenances in marble, as on canvass, may be dwelt upon by after ages, as the history of the times. "They were legislators and senators by birth, raised up by heaven for the accomplishment of a special and important object; to rescue a people groaning under oppression; and with the aid of their illustrious compeers, destined to establish rational liberty on a new basis, in an American republic.

They, too, well knew the responsibility of their station, and the fate which awaited themselves, if not their country, should their experiment fail. They came, therefore, to the question of a declaration of independence, like men who had counted the cost; prepared to rejoice, without any unholy triumph, should God smile upon the transaction; prepared also, if defeat should follow, to lead in the way to martyrdom.

A signature to the declaration of independence, without reference to general views, was, to each individual, a personal consideration of the most momentous import. It would be regarded in England as treason, and expose any man to the halter or the block. The only signature, which exhibits indications of a trembling hand, is that of Stephen Hopkins, who had been afflicted with the palsy. In this work of treason, John Hancock led the way, as president of the congress, and by the force with which he wrote, he seems to have determined that his name should never be erased.

This gentleman, who, from his conspicuous station in the continental congress of 1776, claims our first notice, was born in the town of Quincy, in the state of Massachusetts, in the year 1737. Both his father and grandfather were clergy-men, distinguished for great devotion to the duties of their profession, and for the happy influence which they exercised over those to whom they ministered. Of his father it is recorded, that he evinced no common devotion to learning, to which cause he rendered essential service, by the patronage that he gave to the literary institutions of his native state.

Of so judicious a counselor, young Hancock was deprived, while yet a child, but happily he was adopted by a paternal uncle, Thomas Hancock, the most opulent merchant in Boston, and the most enterprising in New-England. Mr. Thomas Hancock was a man of enlarged views; and was distinguished by his liberality to several institutions, especially to Harvard college, in which he founded a professorship, and in whose library his name is still conspicuous as a principal benefactor.

Under the patronage of the uncle, the he received a liberal education in the above university, where he was graduated in 1754. During his collegiate course, though respectable as a scholar, he was in no wise distinguished, and at that time, gave little promise of the eminence to which he afterwards arrived.

On leaving college, he was entered as a clerk in the counting house of his uncle, where he continued till 1760; at which time he visited England, both for the purposes of acquiring information, and of becoming personally acquainted with the l distinguished correspondents of his patron. In 1764, he returned to America; shortly after which his uncle died, leaving to his nephew his extensive mercantile concerns, and his princely fortune, then the largest estate in the province. To a young man, only twenty-seven, this sudden possession of wealth was full of danger; and to not a few would have proved their ruin. But Hancock became neither giddy, arrogant, nor profligate; and he continued his former course of regularity, industry, and moderation. Many depended upon him, as they had done upon his uncle, for employment. To these he was kind and liberal; while in his more extended and complicated commercial transactions, he maintained a high reputation for honor and integrity.

The possession of wealth, added to the upright and honorable character which he sustained, naturally gave him influence in the community, and rendered him even popular. In the legislature of Massachusetts, and this event seems to have given a direction to his future career.

He thus became associated with such individuals as Otis, Cushing, and Samuel Adams, men of great political distinction, acute discrimination, and patriotic feeling. In such an atmosphere, the genius of Hancock brightened rapidly, and he soon became conspicuous among his distinguished colleagues. It has, indeed, been asserted, that in force of genius, he was inferior to many of his contemporaries; but honorable testimony was given, both to the purity of his principles, and the excellence of his abilities, by his frequent nomination to committees, whose deliberations deeply involved the welfare of the community.

The arrival of a vessel belonging to Mr. Hancock, in the year 1768, which was said to be loaded contrary to the revenue laws, has already been noticed in our introduction. This vessel was seized by the custom-house officers, and placed under the guns of the Romney, at that time in the harbor, for security. The seizure of this vessel greatly exasperated the people, and in their excitement, they assaulted the revenue officers with violence, and compelled them to seek their safety on board the armed vessel, or in a neighboring castle. The boat of the collector was destroyed, and several houses belonging to his partisans were razed to their foundation.

In these proceedings, Mr. Hancock himself was in no wise engaged; and he probably condemned them as rash and unwarrantable. But the transaction contributed greatly to bring him into notice, and to increase his popularity. This, and several similar occurrences, served as a pretext to the governor to introduce into Boston, not long after, several regiments of British troops; a measure which was fitted more than all others to irritate the inhabitants. Frequent collisions, as might be expected, soon happened between the soldiers and the citizens, the former of whom were insolent, and the latter independent. These contentions not long after broke out into acts of violence. An unhappy instance of this violence occurred on the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, at which time, a small party of British soldiers was assailed by several of the citizens, with balls of snow, and other weapons. The citizens were fired upon by order of the commanding officer: a few were killed, and several others were wounded.

Although the provocation was given by the citizens, the whole town was simultaneously aroused to seek redress. At the instigation of Samuel Adams, and Mr. Hancock, an assembly of the citizens was convened the following day, and these two gentlemen, with some others, were appointed a committee to demand of the governor the removal of the troops. Of this committees Mr. Hancock was the chairman.

A few days after the above affray, which is usually termed " the Boston massacre," the bodies of the slain were buried with suitable demonstrations of public grief In commemoration of the event, Mr. Hancock was appointed to deliver as address. After speaking of his attachment to a righteous government, and of his enmity to tyranny, he proceeded in the following animated strain: "The town of Boston, ever faithful to the British crown, has been invested by a British fleet; the troops of George the third have crossed the Atlantic, not to engage an enemy, but to assist a band of traitors in trampling on the rights and liberties of his most loyal subjects; those rights and liberties, which, as a father, he ought ever to regard, and as a king, he is bound in honor to defend from violation, even at the risk of his own life.

These troops, upon their first arrival, took possession of our senate house, pointed their cannon against the judgment hall, and even continued them there, whilst the supreme court of the province was actually sitting to decide upon the lives and fortunes of the king's subjects. Our streets nightly resounded with the noise of their riot and debauchery; our peaceful citizens were hourly exposed to shameful insults, and often felt the effects of their violence and outrage. But this was not all; as though they thought it not enough to violate our civil rights, they endeavored to deprive us of the enjoyment of our religious privileges; to vitiate our morals, and thereby render us deserving of destruction. Hence the rude din of arms, which broke in upon your solemn devotions in your temples, on that day hallowed by heaven, and set apart by God himself for his peculiar worship. Hence, impious oaths and blasphemies, so often tortured your unaccustomed ear. Hence, all the arts which idleness and luxury could invent, were used to betray our youth of one sex into extravagance and effeminacy, and of the other to infamy and ruin; and have they not succeeded but too well? Has not a reverence for religion sensibly decayed? Have not our infants almost learned to lisp curses, before they knew their horrid import? Have not our youth forgotten they were Americans, and regardless of the admonitions of the wise and aged, copied, with a servile imitation, the frivolity and vices of their tyrants? And must I be compelled to acknowledge, that even the noblest, fairest part of all creation, have not entirely escaped their cruel snares? -- or why have I seen an honest father clothed with shame; why a virtuous mother drowned in tears?

"But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of that dismal night, when in such quick succession we felt the extremes of grief, astonishment, and rage; when heaven in anger, for a dreadful moment suffered hell to take the reins when Satan, with his chosen band, opened the sluices of New-England's blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our land with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons.

"Let this sad tale of death never be told, without a tear; let not the heaving bosom cease to burn with a manly indignation at the relation of it, through the long tracks of future time; let every parent tell the shameful story to his listening children, till tears of pity glisten in their eyes, or boiling passion shakes their tender frames.

"Dark and designing knaves, murderers, parricides! How dare you tread upon the earth, which has drunk the blood or slaughtered innocence shed by your hands? How dare you breathe that air, which wafted to the ear of heaven the groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition? -- But if the laboring earth doth not expand her jaws; if the air you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of death; yet, hear it, and tremble! The eye of heaven penetrates the darkest chambers of the soul; and you, though screened from human observation, must be arraigned, must lift your hands, red with the blood of those whose death you have procured, at the tremendous bar of God.

"But I gladly quit this theme of death -- I would not dwell too long upon the horrid effects, which have already followed, from quartering regular troops in this town; let our misfortunes instruct posterity to guard against these evils. Standing armies are sometimes, (I would by no means say generally, much less universally,) composed of persons who have rendered themselves unfit to live in civil society; who are equally indifferent to the glory of a George, or a Louis; who for the addition of one penny a day to their wages, would desert from the Christian cross, and fight under the crescent of the Turkish sultan; from such men as these what has not a state to fear? With such as these, usurping Caesar passed the Rubicon; with such as these he humbled mighty Rome, and forced the mistress of the world to own a master in a traitor. These are the men whom sceptred robbers now employ to frustrate the designs of God, and render vain the bounties which his gracious hand pours indiscriminately upon his creatures."

Previously to this address, doubts had been entertained by some, as to the perfect patriotism of Mr. Hancock. It was said that the governor of the province had, either by studied civilities, or by direct overtures, endeavored to attach him to the royal cause. For a time insinuations of this derogatory character were circulated abroad, highly detrimental to his name. The manners and habits of Mr. Hancock had, not a little, contributed to countenance the malicious imputations. His fortune was princely. His mansion displayed the magnificence of a courtier, rather than the simplicity of a republican. Gold and silver embroidery adorned his garments and on public occasions, his carriage and horses, and servants. Livery, emulated the splendor of the English nobility. The eye of envy saw not this magnificence with indifference; nor was it strange that reports unfriendly to his patriotic integrity should have been circulated abroad; especially as from his wealth and fashionable intercourse, he had more connection with the governor and his party than many others.

The sentiments, however, expressed by Hancock in the above address, were so explicit and so patriotic, as to convince the most incredulous; and a renovation of his popularity was the consequence.

Hancock, from this time, became as odious to the royal governor as his adherents, as he was dear to the republican party. It now became an object of some importance to the royal governor, to get possession of the persons of Mr. Hancock and Samuel Adams; and this is said to have been intended in the expedition to Concord, which led to the memorable battle of Lexington, the opening scene of the revolutionary war. Notwithstanding the secrecy with which that expedition was planned, these patriots, who were at the time members of the provincial congress at Concord, fortunately made their escape; but it was only at the moment the British troops entered the house where they lodged. Following this battle, Governor Gage issued his proclamation, offering a general pardon to all who should manifest a proper penitence for their opposition to the royal authority, excepting the above two gentlemen, whose guilt placed them beyond the reach of the royal clemency.

In October, 1774, Hancock was unanimously elected to the presidential chair of the provincial congress of Massachusetts. The following year, the still higher honor of the presidency of the continental congress was conferred upon him. In this body, were men of superior genius, and of still greater experience than Hancock. There were Franklin, and Jefferson, and Dickinson, and many others, men of pre-eminent abilities and superior political sagacity; but the recent proclamation of Governor Gage, proscribing Hancock and Adams, had given those gentlemen great popularity, and presented a sufficient reason to the continental congress, to express their respect for them, by the election of the former to the presidential chair.

In this distinguished station Hancock continued till October 1777; at which time, in consequence of infirm health, induced by an unmerited application to business, he resigned his office, and, with a popularity seldom enjoyed by any individual, retired to his native province.

Of the convention, which, about this time, was appointed to frame a constitution for the state of Massachusetts, Hancock was a member. Under this constitution, in 1780, he was the first governor of the commonwealth, to which office he was annually elected, until the year 1785, when he resigned. After an interval of two years, he was re-elected to the same office, in which he was continued to the time of his death, which took place on the 8th of October, 1793, and in the 55th year of his age.

Of the character of Mr. Hancock, the limits which we have prescribed to ourselves, will permit us to say but little more. It was an honorable trait in that character, that while possessed a superfluity of wealth, to the unrestrained enjoyment of which he came at an unguarded period of life, he avoided excessive indulgence and dissipation. His habits, through life, were uniformly on the side of virtue. In his disposition and manners, he was kind and courteous. He claimed no superiority from his advantages, and manifested no arrogance on account of his wealth. His enemies accused him of an excessive fondness for popularity; to which fondness, envy and malice were not backward in ascribing his liberality on various occasions. Whatever may have been the justice of such an imputations many examples of the generosity of his character are recorded. Hundreds of families, it is said, in times of distress, were daily fed from his munificence. In promoting the liberties of his country, no one, perhaps, actually expended more wealth, or was willing to make greater sacrifices. An instance of his public spirit, in 1775, is recorded, much to his praise. At that time, the American army was besieging Boston, to expel the British, who held possession of the town. To accomplish this object, the entire destruction of the city was proposed by the American officers. By the execution of such a plan, the whole fortune of Mr. Hancock would have been sacrificed. Yet he immediately acceded to the measure, declaring his readiness to surrender his all, whenever the liberties of his country should require it.

George Walton

George Walton, the last of the Georgia delegation, who signed the declaration of independence, and with an  account of whom we shall conclude these biographical notices, was born in the county of Frederick, Virginia, about the year 1740. He was early apprenticed to a carpenter, who being a man of selfish and contracted views, not only kept him closely at labor during the day, but refused him the privilege of a candle, by which to read at night.

      Young Walton possessed a mind by nature strong in its powers, and though uncultivated, not having enjoyed even the advantages of a good scholastic education, he was ardently bent on the acquisition of knowledge; so bent, that during the day, at his leisure moments, he would collect light wood, which served him at night instead of a candle. His application was close and indefatigable; his acquisitions rapid and valuable.

     At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he removed to the province of Georgia, and entered the office of a Mr. Young, with whom he pursued the preparatory studies of the profession of law, and in 1774, he entered upon its duties.

     At this time the British government was in the exercise of full power in Georgia. Both the governor and his council were firm supporters of the British ministry. It was at this period that George Walton, and other kindred spirits, assembled a meeting of the friends of liberty, at the liberty pole, at Tondee's tavern in Savannah, to take into consideration the means of preserving the constitutional rights and liberties of the people of Georgia, which were endangered by the then recent acts of the British parliament.

     At this meeting, Mr. Walton took a distinguished part. Others, also, entered with great warmth and animation into the debate. It was, at length, determined, to invite the different parishes of the province, to come into a general union and co-operation with the other provinces of America to secure their constitutional rights and liberties.

     In opposition to this plan, the royal governor and his council immediately and strongly enlisted themselves, and so far succeeded by their influence, as to induce another meeting, which was held in January, 1775, to content itself with preparing a petition to be presented to the king. Of the committee appointed for this purpose, Mr. Walton was a member. The petition, however, shared the fate of its numerous predecessors.

     In February, 1775, the committee of safety met at Savannah. But notwithstanding that several of the members advocated strong and decisive measures, a majority were for, pursuing, for the present, a temporizing policy. Accordingly, the committee adjourned without concerting any plan for the appointment of delegates to the continental congress. This induced the people of the parish of St. John, as noticed in the preceding memoir, to separate, in a degree, from the provincial government, and to appoint Mr. Hall a delegate to represent them in the national legislature.

     In the month of July, 1775, the convention of Georgia acceded to the general confederacy, and five delegates, Lyman Hall, Archibald Bullock, John Houston, John J. Zubly, and Noble W. Jones, were elected to represent the state in congress.

     In the month of February, 1776, Mr. Walton was elected, to the same honorable station, and in the following month of October, was re-elected. From this time, until October, 1781, he continued to represent the state of Georgia at the seat of government, where he displayed much zeal and intelligence, in the discharge of the various duties which were assigned him. He was particularly useful on a committee, of which Robert Morris and George Clymer were his associates, appointed to transact important continental business in Philadelphia, during the time that congress was obliged to retire from that city.

     In December, 1778, Mr. Walton received a colonel's commission in the militia, and was present at the surrender of Savannah to the British arms. During the obstinate defense of that place, Colonel Walton was wounded in the thigh, in consequence of which he fell from his horse, and was made a prisoner by the British troops. A brigadier-general was demanded in exchange for him; but in September, 1779, he was exchange for a captain of the nave.

     In the following month, Colonel Walton was appointed governor of the state; and in the succeeding January, was elected a member of congress for two years.

     The subsequent life of Mr. Walton was filled up in the discharge of the most respectable offices within the gift of the state. In what manner he was appreciated by the people of Georgia, may be learnt from the fact that he was at six different times elected a representative to congress; twice appointed governor of the state; once a senator of the United States; and at four different periods a judge of the superior courts, which last office he held for fifteen years, and until the time of his death.

     It may be gathered from the preceding pages, respecting Mr. Walton, that he was no ordinary man. He role into distinction by the force of his native powers. In his temperament he was ardent, and by means of his enthusiasm in the great cause of liberty, rose to higher eminence, and secured a greater share of public favor and confidence, than he would otherwise have done.

     Mr. Walton was not without his faults and weaknesses. He was accused of a degree of pedantry, and sometimes indulged his satirical powers beyond the strict rules of propriety. He was perhaps, also, too contemptuous of public opinion, especially when that opinion varied from his own.

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Rush was born on the 24th of December, 1745, 0. S. in the township of Byberry, twelve or fourteen miles northeast of Philadelphia. His ancestors emigrated front England to Pennsylvania, about the year 1683.

     The father of young Rush died when he was six years of age. The care of his education therefore devolved upon his mother, who well understood the importance of knowledge, and early took measures to give her son a liberal education. Young Rush was sent to the academy at Nottingham, in Maryland, about sixty miles southeast from Philadelphia. This academy had long been conducted, with great reputation, by the Reverend Dr. Finley, afterwards president of Princeton college, in New-Jersey.

     Under the care of this excellent man, and among the people of Nottingham, who were remarkable for their simplicity, industry, morality, and religion, Rush spent five years, in acquiring a knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages. In this retired spot, and at this early age, he is said to have been deeply impressed with a reverence for religion, with the importance of a regular life, and of diligence, industry, and a punctual attention to business; and in general, of such steady habits, as stamped a value on his character through life. The solid foundation which was thus laid for correct principles and an upright conduct, was chiefly the work of the learned and pious Dr. Finley. He was an accomplished instructor of youth. He trained his pupils for both worlds, having respect in all his intercourse with them, to their future, as well as present state of existence.

     After finishing his preparatory studies at Nottingham, he was entered in 1759, a student in the college of Princeton, then under the superintendence of President Davies. Such had been his progress in his classical studies at Nottingham, that he obtained the degree of bachelor of arts in 1760, and before he had completed his fifteenth year.

     On leaving college, he commenced the study of medicine, under the direction of the eminent Dr. Redman, of Philadelphia. He was also one of Dr. Shippen's ten pupils, who attended the first course of anatomical lectures given in this country. In 1766, he went to Edinburgh, where he spent two years at the university in that city, and from which he received the degree of M. D. in 1768.

     The next winter after his graduation he spent in London; and the following spring having visited France, in the autumn of the same year he returned to Philadelphia, and commenced the practice of medicine.

     In 1769, he was elected professor of chemistry in the college of Philadelphia. This addition to Drs. Shippen, Morgan, Kuhn, and Bond, who had begun to lecture a few years before, completed the various departments, and fully organized this first medical school in America. By a subsequent arrangement in 1791, the college was merged in a university, and Dr. Rush was appointed professor of the institutes and practice of medicine, and of clinical practice, in the university of Pennsylvania.

     As a lecturer on chemistry, and a practitioner, Dr. Rush became deservedly popular. During his residence abroad, his professional attainments were much enlarged, and he was successful in introducing several, valuable improvements. He was particularly attached to the system of depletion, and resorted to bleeding in many new cases. Next to the lancet, he used cathartics; and upon these two remedies he chiefly depended for the cure of diseases. About the year 1790, twenty years after Dr. Rush had been a practitioner, and professor of medicine, he began to publish his new principles of medicine. These were more or less developed by him in his successive annual course of lectures, for the subsequent twenty-three years of his life.

     It is not our province to settle the merits of that system. which Dr. Rush adopted. He applied his principles of medicine to the cure of consumption, dropsies, hydrocephalus, apoplexy gout, and other diseases of the body, and also to madness, and the diseases of the mind. He depended chiefly upon the lancet, and strongly urged the use of calomel, to which he gave the name of "the Sampson of the Materia Medica."

     It was not to be expected that a system, in many respects so novel, should be adopted by every one. It had its strong opposers, and these opposers exist at the present day. They objected to the system of depletion, but agreed with Doctor Rush, that calomel was well entitled to the name of "Sampson," not for the reason which he assigned, but "because," said they, "it has slain its thousands."

     In the year 1793, Dr. Rush had an opportunity of applying his principles, in the treatment of yellow fever. In that year, Philadelphia was desolated by that tremendous scourge, after an interval of thirty-one years. The disease baffled the, skill of the oldest and most judicious physicians; and they differed about the nature, and the treatment of it. "This general calamity lasted for about one hundred days, extending from July till November. The deaths in the whole of this distressing period, were four thousand and forty-four, or something more than thirty-eight each day, on an average. Whole families were confined by it. There was a great deficiency of nurses for the sick. There was likewise a great deficiency of physicians, from the desertion of some, and the sickness and death of others. At one time, there were but three physicians, who were able to do business out of their houses, and at this time there were probably not less than six thousand persons ill with the fever."

     "A cheerful countenance was scarcely to be seen for six weeks. The streets every where discovered marks of the distress that pervaded the city. In walking for many hundred yards, few persons were met, except such as were in quest of a physician, a nurse, a bleeder, or the men who buried the dead. The hearse alone kept up the remembrance of the noise of carriages, or carts, in the streets. A black man leading or driving a horse, with a corpse, on a pair of chair wheels, met the eye in most of the streets of the city, at every hour of the day; while the noise of the same wheels passing slowly over the pavement kept alive anguish and fear in the sick and well, every hour of the night."

     For some time after the commencement of the disease, all the physicians were nearly alike unsuccessful in the management of it. At this time, Dr. Rush resorted to gentle evacuants as had been used in the yellow fever of 1762 ; but finding these unavailing, he applied himself to an investigation if the disease, by means of the authors who had written on the subject. He ransacked his library, and pored over every book which treated of the yellow fever. At length he took up a manuscript, which contained an account of the disease, as it prevailed in Virginia, in 1741, and which was given to him by Dr. Franklin, and had been written by Dr. Mitchell of Virginia. In this manuscript the propriety and necessity of powerful evacuants were stated and urged, even in cases of' extreme debility.

     These ideas led Dr. Rush to an alteration in his practice. He adopted the plan of Dr. Mitchell. He administered calomel and jalap combined, and had the happiness of curing four of the first five patients to whom he administered this medicine, notwithstanding some of them were advanced several days in the disease.

     "After such a pledge of the safety and success of this new medicine," says Dr. Thatcher, in his biographical sketch of Dr. Rush, "he communicated the prescription to such of the practitioners as he met in the streets. Some of them, he found, had been in the use of calomel for several days; but as they had given it in single doses only, and had followed it by large doses of bark, wine, and laudanum, they had done little or no good with it. He imparted the prescription to the college of physicians, on the third of September, and endeavored to remove the fears of his fellow citizens, by assuring them that the disease was no longer incurable. The credit his prescription acquired, brought him an immense accession of business. It continued to be almost uniformly effectual, in nearly all those cases which he was able to attend, either in person, or by his pupils. But he did not rely upon purges alone to cure the disease. The theory which he had adopted led him to use other remedies, to abstract excess of stimulus from the system. These were blood letting, cool air, cold drinks, low diet, and application of cold water to the body. He began by drawing a small quantity of blood at a time. The appearance of it when drawn, and its effects upon the system, satisfied him of its safety and efficacy, and encouraged him to proceed. Never did he experience such sublime joy as he now felt, in contemplating the success of his remedies. It repaid him for all the toils and studies of his life. The conquest of this formidable disease was not the effect of accident, nor of the application of a single remedy ; but it was the triumph of a principle in medicine. In this joyful state of mind, he entered in his -note book, dated the 10th of September, 'Thank God, out of one hundred patients whom I have visited or prescribed for this day, I have lost none.'

     "Being unable to comply with the numerous demands which were made upon him, for the purging powders, notwithstanding he had employed three persons to assist his pupils in putting them up, and finding himself unable to attend all the persons who sent for him, he furnished the apothecaries with the receipt for the mercurial purges, together with printed directions for giving them, and for the treatment of the disease. Had he consulted his own interest, he would silently have pursued his own plans of cure, with his old patients, who still. confided in him and his new remedies; but he felt, at this season of universal distress, his professional obligations to all the citizens of Philadelphia, to be superior to private and personal considerations; and therefore determined, at, every hazards to do every thing in his power to save their lives. Under the influence of this disposition, he addressed a letter to the college of physicians, in which he stated his objections to Dr. Stevens's remedies, and defended those he had recommended. He likewise defended them in the public papers, against the attacks that were made upon them by several of the physicians of the city, and occasionally addressed such advice to the citizens as experience had suggested to be useful to prevent the disease. In none of the recommendations of his remedies did he claim the credit of their discovery. On the contrary, he constantly endeavored to enforce their adoption by mentioning precedents in favor of their efficacy, from the highest authorities in medicine. This controversy was encouraged merely to prevent the greater evil of the depopulation of Philadelphia, by the use of remedies which had been prescribed by himself as well as others, not only without effect, but with evident injury to the sick. The repeated and numerous instances of their inefficacy, and the almost uniform success of the depleting remedies, after a while procured submission to the latter, from nearly all the persons who were affected by the fever.

     "Many whole families, consisting of five, six, and, in three instances, of nine members, were recovered by plentiful purging and bleeding. These remedies were prescribed with great advantage by several of the physicians of the city. But the use of them was not restricted to the physicians alone; the clergy, the apothecaries, many private citizens, several intelligent women, and two black men, prescribed them with great success. Nay, more, many persons prescribed them to themselves. It was owing to the almost universal use of these remedies, that the mortality of the disease diminished in proportion as the number of persons who were affected by it increased. It is probable that not less than six thousand of the inhabitants of Philadelphia were saved from death by bleeding and purging; during the autumn of 1793.

     The credit which this new mode of treating the disease acquired in all parts of the city, produced an immense influx of patients to Dr. Rush. His pupils were constantly employed at first in putting up purging powders, but after a while only in bleeding and visiting the sick.

     Between the 8th and 15th of September, Dr. Rush visited and prescribed for a hundred and a hundred and twenty patients a day. In the short intervals of business, which he spent at his meals, his house was filled with patients, chiefly the poor, waiting for advice. For many weeks he seldom ate without prescribing for numbers as he sat at table. To assist him, three of his pupils, Mr. Stall, Mr. Fisher, and Mr. Cox, accepted of rooms in his house, and became members of his family. Their labors now had no remission. He employed every moment in the interval of his visits to the sick, in prescribing in his house for the poor, or in sending answers to messages from his patients. Unable to comply with the numerous applications that were made to him, he was obliged to refuse many every day. His sister counted forty-seven applicants for medical aid turned off in one forenoon, before eleven o'clock. In riding through the streets, he was often forced to resist the entreaties of parents, imploring a visit to their children, or of children to their parents. He was sometimes obliged to tear himself from persons who attempted to stop him, and to urge his way by driving his chair as speedily as possible beyond the reach of their cries. While he was thus overwhelmed with business, and his own life endangered, without being able to answer the numerous calls made on him, he received letters from his friends in the country, pressing him, in the strongest terms, to leave the city. To one of these letters he replied, "that he had resolved to stick to his principles, his practice, and his patients, to the last extremity."

     The incessant labors of Dr. Rush, both of body and mind, during this awful visitation, nearly overpowered his health, and for a time his useful life was despaired of. By a timely application of remedies, however, he was restored, and able to return to the duties of his profession. But ill health was not the only evil he suffered, as the consequence of his activity, during the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia. His mode of treatment was called in question by many of his contemporaries, notwithstanding the great success which attended it. At length the prejudices against him infected not only physicians, but a considerable part of the community. The public journals were enlisted against him and in numerous pamphlets his system was attacked with great severity. He was even called a murderer, and was at length threatened to be prosecuted and expelled the city.

     The benefactors of mankind have not infrequently been treated in a similar manner. They suffer for a time; but justice is at length done them. Dr. Harvey, as a consequence of publishing his account of the circulation of the blood, lost his practice; and the great Dr. Sydenham suffered in a similar manner, for introducing depleting medicine in cases of inflammatory fevers. On the termination of the fever in Philadelphia, a motion was made in a public meeting of the citizens in that city, to thank the physicians for their services during the prevalence of the fever, but no one would second it. This was high ingratitude, and especially when it is considered that eight out of thirty-five of the physicians, who continued in the city, died; and of those who remained, but three escaped the fever.

     Notwithstanding the great labors of Dr. Rush as a lecturer and practitioner, he was a voluminous writer. His printed works consisted of seven volumes, six of which treat of medical subjects. One is a collection of essays, literary, moral, and philosophical. It is a matter of wonder how a physician, who had so many patients to attend -- a professor, who had so many pupils to instruct -- could find leisure to write so much, and at the same time so well. Our wonder will cease, when it is known that he suffered no fragments of time to be wasted, and that be improved every opportunity of acquiring knowledge, and used all practicable means for retaining and digesting what he had acquired. In his early youth he had the best instructors, and in every period of his life, great opportunities for mental improvement. He was gifted from heaven with a lively imagination, a retentive memory, a discriminating judgment, and be made the most of all these advantages. From boyhood till his last sickness, he was a constant and an indefatigable student. He read much, but thought more. His mind was constantly engrossed with at least one literary inquiry, to which, for the time, he devoted his undivided attention. To make himself master of that subject, he read, he meditated, he conversed. It was less his custom to read a book through, than to read as much of all the authors within his reach as bore on the subject of his present inquiry. His active mind brooded over the materials thus collected, compared his ideas, and traced their relations to each other, and from the whole drew his own conclusions. In these, and similar mental exercises, be was habitually and almost constantly employed, and daily aggregated and multiplied his intellectual stores. In this manner his sound judgment was I to form those new combinations, which constitute principles in science. He formed acquaintances with his literary fellow-citizens, and all well informed strangers, who visited Philadelphia; and drew from them every atom of information he could obtain, by conversing on the subjects with which they were best acquainted. He extracted so largely from the magazine of knowledge deposited in the expanded mind of Dr. Franklin, that he once mentioned to a friend, his intention to write a book with the title of Frankliniana, in which he proposed to collect the fragments of wisdom, which he had treasured in his memory as they fell in conversation from the lips of this great original genius. To Dr. Rush, every place was a school, every one with whom he conversed was a tutor. He was never without a book, for, when he had no other, the book of nature was before him, and engaged his attention. In his lectures to his pupils, he advised them, 'to lay every person they met with, whether in a packet boat, a stage wagon, or a public road, under contribution for facts on physical subjects.' What the professor recommended to them, he practiced himself. His eyes and ears were open to see, hear, and profit by every occurrence. The facts he received from persons of all capacities he improved to some valuable purpose. He illustrates one of his medical theories by a fact communicated by a butcher; another from an observation made by a madman, in the Pennsylvania Hospital. In his scientific work on the diseases of the mind, he refers frequently to poets, and particularly to Shakespeare, to the history of madness, and apologizes for it in the following words. 'They (poets) view the human mind in all its operations, whether natural or morbid, with a microscopic eye, and hence many things arrest their attention, which escape the notice of physicians.' It may be useful to students to be informed, that Dr. Rush constantly kept by him a note book, consisting of two parts, in one of which he entered facts as they occurred; in the other, ideas and observations, as they arose in his own mind, or were suggested by others in conversation. His mind was under such complete discipline, that he could read or write with perfect composure, in the midst of the noise of his children, the conversation of his family, and the common interrogatories of his visiting patients. A very moderate proportion of his time was devoted to sleep, and much less to the pleasures of the table. In the latter case, sittings were never prolonged, but in conversation on useful subjects, and for purposes totally distinct from the gratification's of appetite. In the course of nearly seventy years spent in this manner, he acquired a sum of useful practical knowledge that has rarely been attained by one man, in any age or country."

     Medical inquiries were the primary objects of Dr. Rush's attention; yet he by no means neglected other branches of knowledge. In the earlier part of his life, he paid great attention to politics. The subjects of a political character, which chiefly engrossed his mind, were the independence of his country, the establishment of wise constitutions for the states generally, and for his own state particularly, and the diffusion of knowledge among the American people. On these subjects he usefully employed his pen in numerous essays, which were published under a variety of names.

     This political knowledge, and political integrity, were so well appreciated, that sundry offices were conferred upon him. He was a member of the celebrated congress of 1776, which declared these states free and independent. This event Dr. Rush perceived to be the harbinger of important blessings to the American people. He was not one of those, who thought so much of commerce, of the, influx of riches, or high rank among the nations. These, indeed, he well knew were consequences which would result from the declaration of independence. But these he viewed as a minor consideration, compared with the increase of talents and knowledge. The progress of eloquence, of science, and of mind, in all its various pursuits, was considered by him as the necessary effect of republican constitutions, and in the prospect of them he rejoiced. Nor was he disappointed for in a lecture, delivered in November, 1799, he observes "from a strict attention to the state of mind in this country, before the year 1774, and at the present time, I am satisfied the ratio of intellect is as twenty are to one, and of knowledge as a hundred are to one, in these states, compared with what they were before the American revolution." In 1777, lie was appointed physician general of the military hospital in the middle department, sometime after which he published his observations on our hospitals, army diseases, and the effects of the revolution on the army and people.

     In 1787, he became a member of the convention of Pennsylvania for the adoption of the federal constitution. This constitution received his warmest approbation. He pronounced the federal government a masterpiece of human wisdom. From it he anticipated a degree of felicity to the American people which they have not, and probably never will, experience.

     For the last fourteen years of his life, he was treasurer for the United States mint, by appointment of President Adams; an office which was conferred upon him, as a homage to his talents and learning, and by means of which something was added to his revenue.

     Dr. Rush took a deep interest in the many private associations, for the advancement of human, happiness, with which Pennsylvania abounds. In the establishment of the Philadelphia Dispensary, the first institution of the kind in the United States, he led the way. He was the principal agent in founding Dickinson College, in Carlisle; and through his influence, the Rev. Dr. Nisbet, of Montrose, in Scotland, was induced to remove to America to take charge of it. For some years, he was president of the society for the abolition of slavery, and, also, of the Philadelphia Medical Society. He was a founder of the Philadelphia Bible Society, and one of its vice presidents, and a vice president of the American Philosophical Society. He was an honorary member of many of the literary institutions, both of this country and of Europe. In 1805, he was honored by the King of Prussia, with a medal, for his replies to certain questions on the yellow fever. On a similar account, he was presented with a gold medal in 1807, from the Queen of Etruria; and in 1811, the Emperor of Russia sent him a diamond ring, as a testimony of his respect for his medical character.

     Dr. Rush was a public writer for forty-nine years, and from the nineteenth to the sixty-eighth year of his age. His works, which were quite numerous, show much reading, deep investigation, and tried experience. He seems to have combined the most useful in physical science, with the most elegant in literature. Instead of being a mere collator of the, opinions of others, he was constantly making discoveries and improvements of his own; and from the result of his individual experience and observation, established more principles, and added more facts to the science o medicine, than all who had preceded him in his native country. The tendency of all his writings was decidedly good.

     He powerfully, and to some extent successfully, employed his pen against some of the habits and vices of mankind. His "Inquiry into the effects of ardent spirits upon the human body and mind," has been more read than any of his works. All the medical philosophy that was pertinent to the subject, was incorporated with it. Striking descriptions of the personal and family distress occasioned by that vice, and of its havoc on the minds, bodies and estates of its unhappy votaries, were given, and the means of prevention and cure pointed out. The whole was illustrated by a scale, graduated like a thermometer, showing at one view the effects of certain enumerated liquors on the body, the mind, and the condition in society of those who are addicted to them. In the last year of Dr. Rush's life, he presented to the general assembly of the Presbyterian church in the United States, one thousand copies of this popular pamphlet, to be given away among the people of their respective congregations. About the same time, that numerous and respectable body passed a resolution, enjoining on their members to exert themselves in counteracting this ruinous vice.

     In his "Observations upon the influence of the habitual use of tobacco upon health, morals, and property," Dr. Rush employed his eloquent pen in dissuading from practices, which insensibly grow into habits productive of many unforeseen evils.

     Dr. Rush was a great practical physician. In the treatment of diseases he was eminently successful. and in describing their symptoms and explaining their causes, he was uncommonly accurate. Nor is this matter of wonder, for he was minutely acquainted with the histories of diseases of all ages, countries, and occupations. The annals of medicine cannot produce an account of any great epidemic disease, that has visited our earth, in any age, or country, which is more minute, accurate, and completely satisfactory, than Dr. Rush's description of the yellow fever of 1793, in Philadelphia. Had he never written another line, this alone would have immortalized his name. He was a physician of no common cast. His prescriptions were not confined to doses of medicine, but to the regulation of the diet, air, dress, exercise, and mental actions of his patients, so as to prevent disease, and to make healthy men and women from invalids. His pre-eminence as a physician, over so many of his contemporaries, arose from the following circumstances:

     He carefully studied the climate in which he lived, and the symptoms of acute and chronic diseases therein prevalent; the different habits and constitutions of his patients, and varied his prescriptions with their strength, age, and sex.

     He marked the influence of different seasons, upon the same disease; and varied his practice accordingly. He observed and recorded the influence of successive epidemic diseases upon each other, and take hurtful as well as salutary effects of his remedies, and thereby acquired a knowledge of the character of the reigning disease in every successive season. His notes and records of the diseases, which have taken place in Philadelphia for the last forty-four years, must be of incalculable value to such as may have access to them. In attendance upon patients, Dr. Rush's manner was so gentle and sympathizing that pain and distress were less poignant in his presence. On all occasions he exhibited the manners of a gentleman, and his conversation was sprightly, pleasant, and instructive. His letters were peculiarly excellent; for they were dictated by a feeling heart, and adorned with the effusions of a brilliant imagination. His correspondence was extensive, and his letters numerous ; but every one of them, as far as can be known to an individual, contained something original, pleasant, and sprightly. I can truly say, remarks Dr. Ramsay, that in the course of thirty-five years correspondence and friendly intercourse, I never received a letter from him without being delighted and improved; nor left his company without learning something. His observations were often original, and when otherwise, far from insipid: for he had an uncommon way of expressing common thoughts. He possessed in a high degree those talents which engage the heart. He took so lively an interest in every thing that concerned his pupils, that each of them believed himself a favorite, while his kind offices to all proved that he was the common friend and father of them all.

     In lecturing to his class, Dr. Rush mingled the most abstruse investigation with the most agreeable eloquence; the, sprightliest sallies of imagination, with the most profound disquisition; and the whole was enlivened with anecdotes, both pleasant and instructive. His language was simple and always intelligible, and his method so judicious, that a consistent view of the subject was communicated, and the recollection of the whole rendered easy. His lectures were originally written on leaves alternately blank. On the blank side he entered from time to time, every new fact, idea, anecdote, or illustration, that he became possessed of, from any source whatever. In the course of about four years, the blank was generally so far filled up, that he found it expedient to make a new set of lectures. In this way he not only enlightened the various subjects, on which it was his province to instruct his class; but the light which he cast on them, for forty-four successive years, was continually brightening. The instructions he gave to his pupils by lectures, though highly valuable, were less so than the habits of thinking and observation he, in some degree, forced upon them. His constant aim was to rouse their minds from a passive to an active state, so as to enable them to instruct themselves. Since the first institution of the medical school in Pennsylvania, its capital, Philadelphia, has been the very atmosphere of medicine, and that atmosphere has been constantly clearing from the fogs of error, and becoming more luminous from the successive and increasing diffusion of the light of truth. A portion of knowledge floated about that hallowed spot, which was imbibed by every student, without his being conscious of it, and had an influence in giving to his mind a medical texture. To this happy state of things all the professors contributed. Drs. Wistar, Barton, Physick, Dorsey, Coxe, and James, the survivors of that illustrious and meritorious body, will acknowledge that their colleague, Professor Rush, was not deficient in his quota.

     We have hitherto viewed Dr. Rush as an author, a physician, a professor, and a philosopher; let us now view him as a man. From him we may learn to be good, as well as great. Such was the force of pious example and religious education in the first fifteen years of his life, that though he spent the ensuing nine in Philadelphia, Edinburgh, London, and Paris, exposed to the manifold temptations which are inseparable from great cities, yet he returned, at the age of twenty-four, to his native country, with unsullied purity of morals. The sneers of infidels, and the fascinations of pleasure, had no power to divert him from the correct principles and virtuous habits which had been engrafted on his mind in early youth. He came home from his travels with no excessive attachment but to his books; no other ambition than that of being a great scholar; and without any desire of making a stepping-stone of his talents and education, to procure for him the means of settling down in inglorious ease, without the farther cultivation and exertion of his talents. In a conversation which he held with Dr. Ramsay, thirty-five years ago, Dr. Rush observed, that as he stepped from the ship that brought him home from Europe, he resolved that " no circumstances of personal charms, fortune, or connections, should tempt him to perpetrate matrimony, (his own phrase,) till he had extended his studies so far that a family would be no impediment to his farther progress." To this resolution of sacrificing every gratification to his love for learning, and his desire of making a distinguished figure in the republic of letters, he steadily adhered. For this he trimmed the midnight lamp; for this, though young, gay, elegant in person and manners, and possessed of the most insinuating address, he kept aloof from all scenes of dissipation, enervating pleasure, and unprofitable company, however fashionable ; and devoted himself exclusively to the cultivation of those powers which God had given him.

     Piety to God was an eminent trait in the character of Dr. Rush. In all his printed works, and in all his private transactions, he expressed the most profound respect and veneration for the great Eternal. At the close of his excellent observations on the pulmonary consumption, he observes, "I cannot conclude this inquiry without adding, that the author of it derived from his paternal ancestors a predisposition to pulmonary consumption; and that, between the eighteenth and forty-third year of his age, he has occasionally been afflicted with many of the symptoms of that disease which he has described. By the constant and faithful use of many of the remedies which be has now recommended, be now, in the sixty-first year of his age, enjoys nearly an uninterrupted exemption from pulmonary complaints. In humble gratitude, therefore, to that Being who condescends to be called the 'preserver of men,' he thus publicly devotes the result of his experience and inquiries to the benefit of such of his fellow creatures as may be afflicted with the same disease, sincerely wishing that they may be as useful to them as they have been to the author."

     It was not only by words, but in deeds, that he expressed his reverence for the Divine character. It was his usual practice to close the day by reading to his collected family a chapter in the Bible, and afterwards by addressing his Maker in prayer, devoutly acknowledging his goodness for favors received, and humbly imploring his continued protection and blessing. His respect for Jehovah, led him to respect his ministers, who acted consistently with their high calling. He considered their office of the greatest importance to society, both in this world and that which is to come. He strengthened their hands, and was always ready and willing to promote and encourage arrangements for their comfortable support, and for building churches, and for propagating the gospel. In an address to ministers of every denomination, on subjects interesting to morals, he remarks, "If there were no hereafter, individuals and societies would be great gainers by attending public worship every Sunday. Rest from labor in the house of God winds up the machine of both soul and body better than any thing else, and thereby invigorates it for the labors and duties of the ensuing week." Dr. Rush made his first essay as an author, when an apprentice to Dr. Redman, by writing an eulogy on the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, who had been the friend and fellow Laborer of the celebrated George Whitfield, and an active, useful, animated preacher of the gospel, from 1725 till 1764. On the 27th of May, 1809, he wrote to his cousin, Dr. Finley, to this effect: "The general assembly of the Presbyterian church is now in session in Philadelphia. It is composed of many excellent men, some of whom are highly distinguished by talents and learning, as well as piety. I have had some pleasant visits from a number of them, and have been amply rewarded for my civilities to them, by their agreeable and edifying conversation. They remind me of the happy times when their places in the church were filled by your venerable father, and his illustrious contemporaries and friends, Messrs. Tennent, Blair, Davies, and Rodgers."

William Hooper

Richard Stockton

The first of the New-Jersey delegation, who signed the Declaration of Independence, was Richard Stockton. He was born near Princeton, on the 1st day of October, 1730. His family was ancient and respectable. His great grandfather, who bore the same name, came from England, about the year 1670, and after residing a few years on Long Island, removed with a number of associates to an extensive tract of land, of which the present village of Princeton is nearly the center. This tract consisted of six thousand and four hundred acres. This gentleman died in the year 1705, leaving handsome legacies to his several children; but the chief portion of his landed estate to his son, Richard. The death of Richard followed in 1720. He was succeeded in the family seat by his youngest son, John; a man distinguished for his moral and religious character, for his liberality to the college of New-Jersey, and for great fidelity in the discharge of the duties of public and private life.

Richard Stockton, the subject of the present memoir, was the eldest son of the last mentioned gentleman. His early education was highly respectable, being superintended by that accomplished scholar, Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, in a celebrated academy at West-Nottingham. His preliminary studies being finished, he entered the college of New-Jersey, whose honors he received in 1748. He was even at this time greatly distinguished for intellectual superiority; giving promise of future eminence in any profession he might choose.

On leaving college, he commenced the study of law with the honorable David Ogden, of Newark, at that time at the head of the legal profession in the province. At length, Mr. Stockton was admitted to the bar, and soon rose, as had been anticipated, to great distinction, both as a counselor and an advocate. He was an able reasoner, and equally distinguished for an easy, and, at the same time, impressive eloquence.

In 1766 and 1767, he relinquished his professional business, for the purpose of visiting England, Scotland, and Ireland. During his tour through those countries, he was received with that attention to which he was eminently entitled, by the estimable character which he had sustained at home, and his high professional reputation. He was presented at court, by administer of the king, and had the honor of being consulted on American affairs, by the Marquis of Rockingham, by the Earl of Chatham, and many other distinguished personages.

On visiting Edinburgh, he was received with still greater attention. He was complimented with a public dinner, by the authorities of that city, the freedom of which was unanimously conferred upon him, as a testimony of respect for his distinguished character.

A short time previous, the presidency of New-Jersey college had been conferred upon the Reverend Dr. Witherspoon, a distinguished divine, of the town of Paisley, in the vicinity of Glasgow. This appointment Dr. Witherspoon had been induced to decline, by reason of the reluctance of the female members of his family to emigrate to America. At the request of the trustees of the College, Mr. Stockton visited Dr. Witherspoon, and was so fortunate in removing objections, that not long after the latter gentleman accepted the appointment, and removed to America, where he became a distinguished supporter of the college over which he presided, a friend to religion and science in the country, and one of the strong pillars in the temple of American freedom.

The following instances in which Mr. Stockton narrowly escaped death,. during his absence, deserve notice. While he was in the city of Edinburgh, he was waylaid one night by a furious robber. He defended himself, however, by means of a small sword, and even succeeded in wounding the desperado. He was not materially injured himself, but was not so fortunate as to prevent the escape of his assailant. In the other case, he was designing to cross the Irish channel, and had actually engaged a passage in a packet for that purpose. The unseasonable arrival of his baggage, however, detained him, and fortunate it was that he was thus detained, for the packet, on her voyage, was shipwrecked during a storm, and both passengers and crew found a watery grave.

The following year he was appointed one of the royal .In judges of the province, and a member of the executive council. At that time he was high in the royal favor, and his domestic felicity seemed without alloy. He possessed an ample fortune, was surrounded by a family whom he greatly loved, and held a high and honorable station under the king of Great Britain.

But the time at length arrived, when the question arose, whether he should renounce his allegiance to his sovereign, and encounter the sacrifices which such a step must bring upon him, or continue that allegiance, and forfeit his character as a friend to his country.

Situated as was Mr. Stockton, the above question could not long remain unsettled; nor was it for any length of time doubtful into which scale he would throw the weight of his influence and character. The sacrifices which he was called upon to make, were cheerfully endured. He separated himself from the, royal council, of which be was a member in New-Jersey, and joyfully concurred in all those measures of the day, which had for their object the establishment of American rights, in opposition to the arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British ministry.

On the twenty-first of June, 1776, he was elected by the provincial congress of New-Jersey a delegate to the general congress, then sitting in the city of Philadelphia. On the occurrence of the question relating to a declaration of independence, it is understood that he had some doubts as to the expediency of the measure. These doubts, however, were soon dissipated by the powerful and impressive eloquence of John Adams, the great Colossus on this subject on the floor of congress. Mr. Stockton was not only convinced of the importance of the measure, but even addressed the house in its behalf, before the close of the debate. It is needless to detain the reader by a particular mention of the many important services which Mr. Stockton rendered his country, while a member of congress. In all the duties assigned to him, which were numerous and often arduous, he acted with an energy and fidelity alike honorable to him as a man and a patriot.

On the thirtieth of November he was unfortunately taken prisoner by a party of refugee royalists. He was dragged from his bed by night, and carried to New-York. During his removal to the latter place he was treated with great indignity, and in New-York he was placed in the common prison, where he was in want of even the necessaries of life. The news of his capture and sufferings being made known to congress, that body unanimously passed the following resolution:

"Whereas congress hath received information that the Honorable Richard Stockton, of New-Jersey, and a member of this congress, hath been made a prisoner by the enemy, and that he hath been ignominiously thrown into a common goal, and there detained-Resolved, that General Washington be directed to make immediate inquiry into the truth of this report, and if he finds reason to believe it well founded, that he send a flag to General Howe, remonstrating against this departure from that humane procedure which has marked the conduct of these states to prisoners who have fallen into their hands; and to know of General Howe whether he chooses this shall be the future rule for treating all such, on both sides, as the fortune of war may place in the hands of either party."

Mr. Stockton was at length released; but his confinement had been so strict, and his sufferings so severe, that his constitution could never after recover the shock. Besides this, his fortune, which had been ample, was now greatly reduced. His lands were devastated; his papers and library were burnt; his implements of husbandry destroyed; and his stock seized and driven away. He was now obliged to depend, for a season, upon the assistance of friends, for even the necessaries of life. From the time of his imprisonment his health began to fail him; nor was it particularly benefited by his release, and a restoration to the society of his friends. He continued to languish for several years, and at length died at his residence, at Princeton, on the 28th of February, 1781, in the fifty-third year of his age.

His death made a wide chasm among the circle of his friends and acquaintance. He was, in every respect, a distinguished man ; an honor to his country, and a friend to the cause of science, freedom, and religion, throughout the world. The following extract from the discourse delivered on the occasion of his interment, by the Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Smith, will convey to the reader a just account of this distinguished man:

"Behold, my brethren, before your eyes, a most sensible and affecting picture of the transitory nature of mortal things, in the remains of a man who hath been long among the foremost of his country for power, for wisdom, and for fortune; whose eloquence only wanted a theatre like Athens, to have rivaled the Greek and the Roman fame; and who, if what honors this young country can bestow, if many and great personal talents, could save man from the grave, would not thus have been lamented here by you. Behold there 'the end of all perfection.'

"Young gentlemen, (the students of the college,) another of the fathers of learning and eloquence is gone. He went before in the same path in which you are now treading, and hath since long presided over, and helped to confirm the footsteps of those who were here laboring up the hill of science and virtue. While you feel and deplore his loss as a guardian of your studies, and as a model upon which you might form yourselves for public life, let the memory of what he was excite you to emulate his fame; let the sight of what he is, teach you that every thing human is marked with imperfection.

"At the bar he practiced for many years with unrivalled reputation and success. Strictly upright in his profession, be scorned to defend a cause that he knew to be unjust. A friend to peace and to the happiness of mankind, be has often with great pains and attention reconciled contending parties, while he might fairly, by the rules of his profession, have drawn from their litigation no inconsiderable profit to himself. Compassionate to the injured and distressed, he hath often protected the poor and helpless widow unrighteously robbed of her dower, hath heard her with patience, when many wealthier clients were waiting, and hath zealously promoted her interest, without the prospect of reward, unless he could prevail to have right done to her, and to provide her an easy competence for the rest of her days.

"Early in his life, his merits recommended him to his prince and to his country, under the late constitution, who called him to the first honors and trusts of the government. In council be was wise and firm, but always prudent and moderate. Of this be gave a public and conspicuous instance, almost under your own observation, when a dangerous insurrection in a neighboring county had driven the attorneys from the bar, and seemed to set the laws at defiance. Whilst all men were divided betwixt rash and timid counsels, he only, with wisdom and firmness, seized the prudent mean, appeased the rioters, punished the ringleaders, and restored the laws to their regular course.

"The office of a judge of the province, was never filled with more integrity and learning than it was by him, for several years before the revolution. Since that period, he hath represented New-Jersey in the congress of the United States. But a declining health, and a constitution worn out with application and with service, obliged him, shortly after, to retire from the line of public duty, and hath at length dismissed him from the world.

"In his private life, he was easy and graceful in his manners; in his conversation, affable and entertaining, and master of a smooth and elegant style even in his ordinary discourse. As a man of letters, be possessed a superior genius, highly cultivated by long and assiduous application. His researches into the principles of morals and religion were deep and accurate, and his knowledge of the laws of his country extensive and profound. He was well acquainted with all the branches of polite learning; but he was particularly admired for a flowing and persuasive eloquence, by which lie long governed in the courts of justice.

"As a Christian, you know that, many years a member of this church, he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Nor could the ridicule of licentious wits, nor the example of vice in power, tempt him to disguise the profession of it, or to decline from the practice of its virtues. He was, however, liberal in his religious principles. Sensible, as became a philosopher, of the rights of private judgment, and of the difference in opinion that must necessarily arise from the variety of human intellects; he was candid, as became a Christian, to those who differed from him, where he observed their practice marked with virtue and piety. But if we follow him to the last scene of his life, and consider him under that severe and tedious disorder which put a period to it, there the sincerity of his piety, and the force of religion to support the mind in the most terrible conflicts, was chiefly visible. For nearly two years be bore with the utmost constancy and patience, a disorder that makes us tremble only to think of it. With most exquisite pain it preyed upon him, until it reached the passages by which life is sustained: yet, in the midst of as much as human nature could endure, he always discovered a submission to the will of heaven, and a resignation to his fate, that could only flow from the expectation of a better life.

William Ellery

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William Ellery, the son of a gentleman of the same name, was born at Newport, on the 22d day of December, 1727. His ancestors were originally from Bristol, in England, whence they emigrated to America during the latter part of the seventeenth century, and took up their residence at Newport, in Rhode Island.

The early education of the subject of this memoir, was received almost exclusively from his father, who was a graduate of Harvard university; and who although extensively engaged in mercantile pursuits, found leisure personally to cultivate the mind of his son. At the age of sixteen, he was qualified for admission to the university, of which his father had been a member before him. In his twentieth year, he left the university, having sustained, during his collegiate course, the character of a faithful and devoted student. In a knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, he is said to have particularly excelled, and through the whole bustle of his active life, until the very hour of dissolution, he retained his fondness for them.

On his return to Newport, he commenced the study of the law, and after the usual preparatory course, he entered upon the practice, which for twenty years he pursued with great zeal. During this period, no other particulars have been recorded of him, than that he succeeded in acquiring a competent fortune, and receiving the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens.

At an early period of the controversy between Great Britain and the colonies, Rhode Island strongly enlisted herself in the patriotic cause. She was not backward in expressing her disapprobation of the arbitrary measures of the parent country. Indeed, it is doubtful whether Rhode Island is not equally entitled, with Virginia and Massachusetts, to the honor which they claim, of being earliest in the measures leading to the revolution. Among the great scenes which led the way to actual resistance, two occurred in Narraganset bay. The first of these was an attack by the people of Rhode Island, upon the armed revenue sloop, Liberty, in the harbor of Newport, June 17th, 1769. The second was the memorable affair of the Gaspee, June 9th, 1772, and in which it may be said, was shed the first blood in the revolution. This latter occurrence excited an unusual alarm among the royal party in the provinces, and gave occasion to Governor Hutchinson to address the following letter to Commodore Gambier: "Our last ships carried you the news of the burning of the Gaspee schooner, at Providence. I hope, if there should be another like attempt, some concerned in it may be taken prisoners, and carried directly to England. A few punished at execution dock, would be the only effectual preventive of any further attempts."

By other acts did the people of Rhode Island, at an early period, evince their opposition to the royal government. On the arrival in the year 1774 of the royal proclamation prohibiting the importation of fire arms from England, they dismantled the fort at Newport, and took possession of forty pieces of cannon. Again, on the occurrence of the battle of Lexington, they simultaneously roused to the defense of their fellow citizens, in the province of Massachusetts. Within three days after that memorable event, a large number of her militia were in the neighborhood of Boston, ready to cooperate in measures either of hostility or defense. In that same year she sent twelve hundred regular troops into the service, and afterwards furnished three state regiments to serve during the war.

No sooner was the formation of a continental congress suggested, than Rhode Island took measures to be represented in that body, and elected as delegates two of her most distinguished citizens, Governor Hopkins and Mr. Ward.

During these movements in Rhode Island, Mr. Ellery, the subject of this notice, was by no means an idle spectator. The particular history of the part which he took in these transactions is, indeed, not recorded; but the tradition is, that he was not behind his contemporaries either in spirit or action.

In the election for delegates to the congress of 1776, Mr. Ellery was a successful candidate, and in that body took his seat, on the seventeenth of May. Here, he soon became an active and influential member, and rendered important services to his country, by his indefatigable attention to duties assigned him, on several committees. During this session, he had the honor of affixing his name to the declaration of independence. Of this transaction he frequently spoke, and of the notice he took of the members of congress when they signed that instrument. He placed himself beside secretary Thompson, that he might see how they looked, as they put their names to their death warrant. But while all appeared to feel the solemnity of the occasion, and their countenances bespoke their awe, it was unmingled with fear. They recorded their names as patriots, who were ready, should occasion require, to lead the way to martyrdom.

In the year 1777, the marine committee of congress, of which Mr. Ellery was a member, recommended the plan, and it is supposed, at his suggestion, of preparing fire ships, and sending them out from the state of Rhode Island. Of this plan, the journals of congress speak in the following terms :

"If upon due consideration, jointly had by the navy board for the eastern department, and the governor and council of war for the state of Rhode Island, and for which purpose the said navy board are directed to attend upon the said governor and council of war, the preparing fire ships be judged practicable, expedient, and advisable, the said navy board immediately purchase, upon as reasonable terms as possible, six ships, or square-rigged vessels, at Providence, in the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the best calculated for fire ships, with all possible expedition; that the said navy board provide proper materials for the same, an employ a proper captain or commander, one lieutenant, and a suitable number of men for each of the said ships, or vessels, of approved courage and prudence; and that notice be given to all the commanders of the continental ships and vessels in the port of Providence, to be in readiness to sail at a moment's warning: that as soon as the said fire ships are well prepared, the first favorable wind be embraced to attack the British ships and navy in the rivers and bays of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: that the officers of the continental navy there, favor, as much as possible, the design, and use their utmost efforts to get out to sea, and proceed to such cruise, or to such ports, as the said navy board, or the marine committee, shall appoint or order."

During the year that the British army under General Piggot took possession of Newport, where they fortified themselves, and continued their head quarters for some time, the inhabitants sustained much injury in their property. Mr. Ellery shared in the common loss, his dwelling house being burned, and other destruction of property occasioned.

Mr. Ellery continued a member of congress until the year 1785, and indeed, through that year, when he retired to his native state. Soon after, however, he was elected by congress, a commissioner of the continental loan office, to which was subsequently added, by the citizens of Rhode Island, the office of chief justice of their superior court, a station which he did not continue to hold long. On the organization of the federal government, he received from General Washington the appointment of collector of the customs for the town of Newport, an office which he retained during the remainder of his life.

On the 15tb of February, 1820, this venerable man--venerable for his age, which had been prolonged to ninety-two years, and venerable for the services which he had tendered his country, was summoned to his account. His death was in unison with his life. He wasted gradually and almost imperceptibly, until the powers of nature were literally worn out by use. On the day on which his death occurred, he had risen, as usual, and rested in his old flag bottomed chair, the relict of half a century; he had employed himself in reading, Tully's offices in Latin.

While thus engaged, his family physician called to see him. On feeling his pulse, he found that it had ceased to beat. A draught of wine and water quickened it into life, however, again, and being placed and supported on the bed, he continued reading, until the lamp of life, in a moment of which his friends were ignorant, was extinguished.

In the character of Mr. Ellery there was much to admire. He was, indeed, thought by some to have been too tenacious of his opinion, and not always free from asperity to others. But years mellowed down these unpleasant traits of his character, and showed that he had exercised a watchfulness over himself, not entirely in vain. He manifested an uncommon disregard of the applause of men. It was often upon his lips: "humility rather than pride becomes such creatures as we are." He looked upon the world and its convulsions with religious serenity, and in times of public danger, and of public difficulty, be comforted himself and others, with the pious reflection of the psalmist, "The Lord reigneth."

Robert Treat Paine

ROBERT TREAT PAINE was a native of Boston, where he was born, in the year 1731. His parents were pious and respectable. His father was for some years the settled pastor of a church in Weymouth, in the vicinity of Boston. His health failing him, however, he removed with his family to the latter place; where he entered into mercantile pursuits. His mother was the grand-daughter of Governor Treat of Connecticut.