Chapter XII: Preface (10)

The portals of military fame were now opened to Mr. Lee. The enemy, defeated in the north, made a rush upon the southern states. He was appointed to the command of the militia of his native county, and proved as competent to wield the sword and lead his men to the field of epic glory, as he was to command the admiration of his audience by his eloquence. He annoyed the operations of the enemy in his vicinity whenever they approached, and made admirable arrangements for the defence of the country under his charge. In 1780–1–2, he served in the legislature of Virginia. The propositions of making paper money a legal tender, of paying debts due to the mother country, and of raising a tax to support the clergy, or a general assessment to support the christian religion, were then before the house and excited great interest. Mr. Lee advocated them, Mr. Henry opposed them. Upon the sacredness of contracts he based his arguments in support of the two first; from the principles of ethics he drew conclusions in favour of the last. He considered good faith in the former necessary to secure peace and respect, and an adherence to the latter necessary to correct vice and purge the body politic from moral corruptions, the bane of any government. He remarked, “Refiners may weave reason into as fine a web as they please, but the experience of all times shows religion to be the guardian of morals.” He contended that the declaration of rights was aimed against restrictions in the _form_ and _mode_ of worship, and not against the legal compulsory support of it.

In 1784, Mr. Lee was again elected to Congress and chosen president of that body. At the close of the session he received a vote of thanks for the faithful and able performance of his duty, and retired to the bosom of his family to rest from his long and arduous public toils. Under the federal constitution he was elected to the first senate of the United States, and fully sustained the high reputation he had before acquired. Infirmity at length compelled him to bid a final farewell to the public arena, and, with the honours of a most flattering resolution of thanks for his many valuable services, passed by the Virginia legislature on the 22nd of October, 1792, he retired to the peaceful shades of Chantilly, in his native county, covered with laurels of lasting fame. There he lived esteemed, beloved, respected and admired, until the 19th of June, 1794, when the angel of death liberated his immortal spirit from its prison of clay, and seraphs from heaven wafted his soul to realms of bliss beyond the skies, there to enjoy the rich reward of a life well spent.

Mr. Lee was a rare model of human excellence and refinement. He was a polished gentleman, an accomplished scholar, orator and statesman. In exploring the vast fields of science he gathered from them the choicest flowers and the most substantial fruits. The classics, belles lettres, the elements of civil, municipal, national and common law, and the principles of every kind of government, were all familiar to his mind. He was ardently patriotic, pure and firm in his purposes, honest and sincere in his motives, liberal and republican in his general principles, frank and open in his designs, and highly honourable in his course. As an orator the modulation of his voice, manner of action, and mode of reasoning, were a fac simile of his great prototype, Cicero, as described by Rollin.

His private character was above reproach. He possessed and exercised all those amiable qualities calculated to impart substantial happiness to those around him. To crown with enduring splendour all his rich and varied talents, he was a christian and an honest man. Whilst his dust reposes in peace let his examples deeply impress our minds and excite us to imitation.

STEPHEN HOPKINS.

Party spirit when based on selfishness, unhallowed ambition and venal corruption, is a gangrene in the body politic. Its history is red with blood—blackened by the darkest crimes, its career has been marked with all the terrific horrors that demons could plan and wicked men execute. It rides upon the whirlwind of faction; it is wafted on the tornado of fanaticism; it is fanned by fell revenge and delights in human gore. It has been the mighty conqueror of nations; its burning lava has consumed kingdoms and empires; the fairest portions of creation have been blighted by its rankling poison; countless millions have fallen by its murderous hand; and, fearful thought! its end has not yet come.

A few rare instances are recorded where parties have arrayed themselves against power, prompted alone by pure motives and elevated patriotism, guided by reason and sound policy. To be successful and not violate the laws of wisdom and justice, the leaders of a party must be men who are influenced alone by a desire to promote the general good, aiming at holy ends to be accomplished by righteous means. The brightest example of this kind spread upon the pages of history was exhibited by the sages of the American revolution. No convention of men ever assembled to consult upon a nation’s rights and a nation’s wrongs, graced with as much splendour of talent, sterling integrity, self-devotion and disinterested patriotism, as that of the Continental Congress of America.

Among them, the patriarch, STEPHEN HOPKINS, took a conspicuous place. He was a native of Scituate, Rhode Island, and born on the 7th of March, 1707. He was the son of William Hopkins, a respectable farmer, whose father, Thomas Hopkins, was one of the earliest settlers of that province. The juvenile education of the subject of this biographette was limited to the elementary English branches, then but superficially taught in the common schools. From that embryo beginning, he reared, from the force of his own exertions, a towering and beautiful superstructure. Remarkably attached to books, he spent all his leisure hours in the acquisition of knowledge. A farmer in easy circumstances, he devoted a portion of the day and his quiet evenings to the improvement of his mind.

No profession not literary, affords so good a chance for mental exercise and reflection as that of agriculture. It is their own fault if the independent tillers of the soil are not enlightened and intelligent. The time was when ignorance was winked at. That dark age has passed away, and now common sense and reason command all to drink at the scholastic fountain.

Blessed with strong intellectual powers, Mr. Hopkins acquired a thorough knowledge of mathematics at an early period and became an expert surveyor. At the age of nineteen he married Sarah Scott, whose paternal great grandfather was the first Quaker who settled in Providence. After becoming the mother of seven children she died, and in 1755, Mr. Hopkins married the widow Anna Smith, a pious member of the society of Friends.

In 1731, he was appointed town-clerk, soon after which he was appointed clerk of the court and of the proprietors of the county. The ensuing year he was elected to the general assembly, and was continued for six successive years. In 1735, he was elected to the town council, and for six years was president of that body. The next year he was appointed a justice of the peace and a judge of the common plea court, and in 1739 was elevated to the seat of chief justice of that branch of the judiciary. During the intervals of these public duties he spent much of his time at surveying. The streets of his native town and of Providence were regulated by him, and a projected map made of each. The next year he was appointed proprietary surveyor for the county of Providence, and prepared a laborious index of returns of all the lands west of the seven mile line, then laid out, which still continues a document of useful reference. Beauty and precision marked all his draughts and calculations. In 1741, he was again elected to the assembly. The next year he removed to Providence, and was elected, soon after his arrival, to the same public body, and was chosen speaker of the house. In 1744, the same honour was conferred upon him, as also that of justice of the peace for Providence. In 1751, he was appointed chief justice of the superior court, and elected for the fourteenth time to the general assembly. In 1754, he was a delegate to the colonial Congress held at Albany, for the purpose of effecting a treaty with the five nations of Indians in order to gain their aid, or at least their neutrality in the French war. A system of union similar to the confederation subsequently entered into by the Continental Congress, was recommended and submitted at that time, but was vetoed by England and not adopted by the colonies.

In 1755, when the triumphant victories of the French and their savage allies spread consternation over the frontier settlements, a requisition for troops was made by the earl of Loudoun, then commander of the king’s forces. The quota from Rhode Island was four hundred and fifty, and no one was more active than Mr. Hopkins in raising them. The next year he was elected chief magistrate of the colony. In 1757, the fall of fort William Henry and the sad reverses of the English army, made it necessary that the colonists should raise an efficient force for self-protection. A company of volunteers, composed of the most respectable gentlemen of Providence, was organized and Mr. Hopkins appointed to command it. The timely arrival of troops from the mother country dispensed with the necessity of their services. The ensuing year, this useful man was again elected chief magistrate, and served as such seven out of the eleven following years.

In 1767, party spirit was rolling its mountain waves over Rhode Island so fearfully, that it threatened the prostration of social order and civil law. Anxious for the welfare of the colony, this patriotic Roman put forth his noblest efforts to check its bold career. In his message to the assembly he expressed his deep solicitude for the restoration of harmony, and offered to retire at once from the public arena, if, in the opinion of that body, it would contribute in the slightest degree to heal the political breach. To show his sincerity he soon after retired from the public service, contrary to the wishes of his friends. His picture of that era so much resembles the political drama of the present time, in some sections of our republic at least, that I cannot forbear presenting it to the reader.

“When we draw aside the veil of words and professions, when we attend to what is _done_ and not to what is _said_, we shall find in the present age of our country, that liberty is only a cant term of faction, and freedom of speaking and acting, used only to serve the private interests of a party. What else can be the cause of our unhappy disputes? What other reason for the continual struggle for superiority and office? What other motive for the flood of calumny and reproach cast on each other? Behold the leading men meeting in cabals, and from thence dispersing themselves to the several quarters, to delude and deceive the people. The people are called together in tippling houses, their business neglected, their morals corrupted, themselves deluded; some promised offices for which they are unfit, and those who have disputes with their neighbours are assured of their causes whether they be right or wrong. Those with whom these arts will not prevail, are tempted with the wages of unrighteousness, and are offered a bribe to falsify their oath and betray their country. By these scandalous practices, elections are carried and officers appointed. It makes little difference whether the officer, who in this manner obtains his place, is otherwise a good man or not; for, put in by a _party_, he must do what _they_ order, without being permitted to examine the rectitude even of his _own_ actions. The unhappy malady runs through the whole body politic; men in authority are not revered, and therefore lose all power to do good; the courts of judicature catch the infection and the sacred balance of justice does not hang even. All complain of the present administration, all cry out the times are hard and wish they might grow better. But complaints are weak, wishes are idle, cries are vain, even _prayers_ will be ineffectual, if we do not universally amend. Will no friend, no patriot, step in and save the commonwealth from ruin? Will no good Samaritan come by and pour in the wine and oil into the bleeding wounds of his country?” Again, from his essay on the duties of freemen: “Permit me, therefore, to remind my countrymen of the blood, the sufferings, the hardships and labour of their ancestors in purchasing the liberty and privileges they might peaceably enjoy. How can they answer it to fame, to honour, to honesty, to posterity, if _they_ do not possess those inestimable blessings with grateful hearts, with purity of morals, and transmit them with safety to the next generation? Nothing is desired but that every man in the community may act up to the dignity of his own proper character. Let every freeman carefully consider the particular duty allotted to him as such by the constitution; let him give his suffrage with candour for the person he sincerely thinks _best_ qualified; let him shun the man who speaks to him to persuade him _how_ to vote; let him despise the man who offers him an office, and spurn the sordid wretch that would give him a bribe; let him think it his duty to give his vote according to his conscience, and not depend on others to do his duty for him. Let him know that as duty is not local, so neither is capacity or fitness for office confined to this or that town or place. Officers and magistrates I would humbly entreat to consider, that their turn has arrived to serve the _commonwealth_ and not themselves; that their own discreet and exemplary behaviour is their chiefest and best authority to do good in their offices; that it is vain to command others to practise what we ourselves omit, or to abstain from what they see us do; that where moderation and example are insufficient to suppress vice, power ought to be used, even to its utmost severity, if necessary; and, above all, that justice should be, in all cases and under all circumstances, equally, impartially and expeditiously administered.”

This plain but lucid exposition of the duties of freemen, merits the highest consideration of the private citizen, the able statesman, and the profound judge. It is the effusion of a clear head, a good heart, and a noble mind. It exhibits briefly and fully, in language of unvarnished but sublime simplicity, the only sure foundation of a republican government. It strikes at the very root of alarming evils, that at this moment hang over our beloved country like an incubus. It is naked truth plainly told, and by us should be strongly felt and implicitly obeyed.

Owing to the great reputation of Mr. Hopkins as a mathematician, he was called in June, 1769, to aid in taking observations upon the transit of Venus over the disk of the sun. So highly prized were his services on that occasion, that the pamphlet published upon the subject was dedicated to him. This rare phenomenon occurred in 1739–61–69, and will occur again in 1874 and 1996, if the planetary system is not before dissolved, or changed in its primitive revolving course.

Governor Hopkins had incurred the displeasure of the British ministry previous to the revolution, by licensing vessels from Rhode Island to trade with the French and Spanish colonies. So long as it did not violate any act of parliament he continued to exercise the privilege, and disregarded the authority assumed but not delegated, of directing the local concerns of the colony. He had long been convinced that the mother country cared more for the fleece than the flock she claimed in America, which had often been left to contend alone against a merciless foe. With convictions like these upon his mind, a republican to the core, and valuing liberty above life, he was fully prepared to resist the first scintillations of the unconstitutional claims made by corrupt and corrupting ministers. When the stamp act was passed, his voice and his pen were arrayed against it. He showed clearly, that this and other acts of parliament had no foundation in justice, and were contrary to the spirit of the constitution of Great Britain. In 1772, the mountain torrent of local party spirit having subsided in the colony, and its effervescence submerged in the more absorbing question of British oppression, Mr. Hopkins again took his seat in the assembly and continued a member for the three succeeding years. In 1774, this patriarch statesman was elected to the national Congress, and entered with a calm but determined zeal upon the responsible duties of that august convention. The same year he proposed and obtained the passage of a bill by the assembly of Rhode Island, entirely prohibiting the slave trade in that colony; and, to show that he strongly felt what he earnestly advocated, he emancipated all his negroes, some of the descendants of whom still reside in Providence. He had incorporated their freedom in his will dated some time previous.

In 1775, he was appointed chief justice of the colony, was a member of the assembly and member of Congress; holding, simultaneously, a trio of offices. The ensuing year he was one of the immortalized fifty-six by whose exertions a nation was born in a day, and who signed, scaled, and delivered the certificate of legitimacy to their grateful country. The same year he was president of the board of commissioners of the New England states that convened at Providence to consult and devise plans for the promotion of the glorious cause of freedom. The next year he presided over a similar board at Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1778, he was a member of Congress for the last time, and the next year closed his long, useful and arduous public career in the assembly of his native state, and retired covered with the rich foliage of unfading honours, the growth of nearly half a century. The proud escutcheon of his public fame and private worth was without a spot to obscure its brilliant lustre. As a municipal officer, as a judge on the bench, as a legislator in the assembly, as the chief magistrate of the colony and as a member of the Continental Congress, he discharged all his duties ably, honestly, faithfully and with a single eye to the glory of his country.

As a public speaker he made no pretensions to elocution, but was listened to with profound attention. His reasoning was strong, always to the point in question, and his speeches short. His was a vigorous, clear, inquiring, analyzing mind, that surmounted every barrier with the same fortitude, energy and determined resolution that carried Bonaparte over the Alps, Sherman to the pinnacle of fame, and Franklin to the summit of science.

He was a laborious and extensive reader and a friend to education. He was one of the principal founders of the Providence Library in 1750, and when it was destroyed by fire ten years after, he contributed largely to a new supply of books. He also framed and obtained the passage of an act to establish free schools, and did all in his power to promote the cause of literature.

He was a friend to unshackled religion, breathing charity for all whose deportment gave the impress of divine grace—the only genuine touchstone of true piety. He admired most the creed of the society of Friends, which frequently held meetings at his house. All gospel ministers were made welcome to his hospitable mansion, which was not unaptly called by some “the ministers’ tavern.” He was plain in all things and opposed to pomp and show.

In addition to his multifarious public duties, he was extensively engaged in commerce, manufactures and agriculture. He was a systematic, thorough business man, scrupulously honest, honourable and liberal. He never became wealthy, but enjoyed a competence through life. He was often placed in the crucible of domestic affliction. Of the seven children by his first wife, not one survived him. One son was murdered by the Indians, another died in Spain, and the youngest, who was the fourth sea captain of the family, was lost at sea as was supposed, his vessel having never been heard from after leaving the port of Providence.

In the relations of husband, father, kinsman, friend, gentleman, benefactor, philanthropist, Christian, neighbour and citizen, this public spirited man and pure patriot was a model of human excellence.

His eventful career was closed on the 13th of July, 1785, after enduring the course of a slow and lingering fever with the same calm fortitude that had marked his whole life. He had lived respected and esteemed; he died peaceful and happy. To the last moments of his earthly pilgrimage he retained full possession of his mental powers, and approached the confines of eternity with a seraphic smile that augured heaven. He had long laboured under physical infirmities of a nervous nature; for many years it had been difficult for him to write his name. He was interred at Providence two days after his decease.

His demise produced a mournful sensation throughout the country, and many from an unusual distance joined the numerous procession that followed his remains to the silent tomb. Let us all imitate his bright examples, that we may be useful in life, triumphant in death, and exalted beyond the grave.

ROBERT TREAT PAINE.

The love of liberty and the oppressions of those in power, first induced the pilgrim fathers to plant their standard on the granite shores of New England. They were not a band of visionary unprincipled speculators, but a band of intelligent, virtuous, pious, patriotic and enterprising citizens, who were, from the commencement, willing to risk their lives and fortunes in the cause of human rights. The early forms of government adopted by many of those infant settlements, were remarkably similar to those now in operation. The principles that actuated the patriots of the revolution were recognised and taught by many of the earliest immigrants. Although, in consequence of the charters emanating from the king, an allegiance was recognised, yet the people never intended to have those chains riveted upon them from which they had fled, nor surrender tamely the rights and privileges given them by the God of nature, and rendered more dear by years of toil and fountains of blood. To understand, appreciate, and guard these blessings, they correctly deemed _intelligence_ the first grand requisite. Upon this principle they started, upon this principle they lived, and their happy example soon spread its benign influence far and wide. Hence, we find more intelligent, wise, reflecting, consistent, cool and deliberate men embarked in the cause of the American revolution than in any other recorded on the pages of history.

Holding a conspicuous place among them, was ROBERT TREAT PAINE, a native of Boston, born in 1731, of highly respectable and religious parents. His father performed the duties of a clergyman until his health became impaired, when he embarked in the mercantile business. His mother was the daughter of an eminent divine, the Rev. Mr. Treat, of Eastham. From these pious parents he received those principles of virtue that enabled him to be useful through future life. Were there no other blessings flowing from religion than its salutary influence upon the order and harmony of society, mankind would be richly paid for adhering to its principles. This consideration alone should close the _mouth_ of every infidel opposer, whatever may be the conclusions of his _mind_ with reference to its origin and reality.

At an early age, Mr. Paine was placed under Mr. Lovell, a classical teacher in Boston, where his embryo talents rapidly expanded into a rich and luxuriant growth. At fourteen he became a student at Harvard College. After closing his studies at this ancient seat of learning, his parents, not only unable to aid him in business, required his assistance to render them comfortable. He, therefore, before commencing the study of a profession, employed his time for some months in teaching a public school, a business as honourable as it is useful, and which in point of dignity and compensation is now far inferior to the days of Greece and Rome. Isocrates, for a single course of lectures on rhetoric, received from one hundred of the Athenian scholars, fourteen thousand eight hundred dollars. No wonder the ablest talents were employed in advancing literature in classic Greece.

Mr. Paine continued this business at intervals, which enabled him to contribute to the support of his worthy parents and a maiden sister, whose healths were impaired, and also to pursue the studies of his profession. He commenced the study of theology, but ultimately read and entered upon the practice of law. He first appeared at the Boston bar, and from there removed to Taunton, in the county of Bristol. He there acquired a firm and substantial eminence as an acute, sound and discreet lawyer and able advocate. He enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his numerous acquaintances. He was among the earliest patriots who opposed the innovations of the crown and boldly advanced liberal principles. He was a member of the conventions of 1768, called by the citizens of Boston, to take measures for the preservation of their sacred rights, and which Governor Bernard vainly attempted to disperse before they completed their deliberations.

He was employed, at the instance of Samuel Adams, by the people of Boston to conduct the prosecution against Captain Preston, for ordering his men to fire upon the populace on the 5th of March, 1770, which duty he discharged with great zeal and ability. During the gathering storm of the revolution, Mr. Paine was uniformly upon the important committees of the people, and many of the boldest resolutions that were adopted at the meetings and conventions of that trying period were from his pen. In 1773, he was chosen a representative to the general assembly, and was one of the members who conducted the impeachment of Peter Oliver, chief justice of the province, who was accused of acting under the direct influence of the crown instead of the assembly. In this trial, Mr. Paine manifested strong talent, and showed himself master of his profession.

In 1774, he was again elected to the assembly, and boldly warned the people against the dangers to be apprehended from the appointment of Governor Gage to succeed Governor Hutchinson. It was plainly seen that the designs of the British ministry were to be enforced at the point of the bayonet. An awful, an alarming crisis was approaching. A committee, larger than at any previous time, was convened at Boston, which advised and proposed the plan of a General Congress. Governor Gage sent a messenger with an order for them to disperse, to whom they refused admittance until they finished their deliberations, which resulted in the appointment of five delegates, one of which was Mr. Paine, to meet those from the other colonies at Philadelphia. This measure originated in Massachusetts, and had been proposed as early as 1765, and was strongly urged in a circular three years after. The set time had now arrived—the galling yoke had become painful—and the colonies generally acceded to the proposal. The ostensible object in convening this Congress was, not to effect a separation, but to obtain a relaxation of the severities imposed by the crown. It is believed a large majority of the members when they assembled had never contemplated a declaration of independence; but among them were bold and ardent spirits, noble and patriotic hearts. As one of those, Mr. Paine stood conspicuous. Their language continued to be respectful to the crown, but their chartered rights they were determined to defend and protect. They did not attribute their sufferings to a bad heart in their king, but to the ambitious avarice of a corrupt ministry. Their proceedings were calm as a summer morning, but firm as the rock of ages. They appealed to their sovereign, to the British nation, to the American people, and to a gazing world for the justice of their claims and the equity of their demands. But to Britain they appealed in vain. The cords of coercion were drawn with a stronger hand—their remonstrances and petitions were answered by legions of foreign soldiers in all the panoply of war—and servile submission or open resistance were the only alternatives left. Mr. Paine was also a member of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, convened at Concord, in October, 1774, and was the principal in preparing a spirited address to the people of England, which did much to open the eyes of many in the mother country, and rouse the colonists to a just sense of the injuries of the British parliament.

The following year he was again elected a member of the Continental Congress, and was placed upon many important committees. He was as indefatigable in his labours as he was zealous in the cause of human rights. He was chairman of the committee for the encouragement of the manufacture of arms and for furnishing the army. He used to say, “I fear we shall become slaves, because we are not industrious enough to be free.”

Mr. Paine was appointed on the committee to prepare a constitution for Massachusetts, and has the credit of framing that instrument. He was again elected to Congress, and in April, 1776, was appointed on a committee with Messrs. Jefferson and Rutledge to report rules to govern Congress in their deliberations, and upon the committee to inquire into the causes of the disasters of the campaign in Canada.—When the glorious 4th of July, 1776, dawned upon Columbia’s sons like smiling heaven, and the eagle of LIBERTY soared in peerless majesty over their blood-stained soil, Mr. Paine was at his post. With a buoyant heart and a firm hand he affixed his name to that matchless instrument which is a terror to tyrants and the pride of freemen. He did much to rouse his friends to action by his letters, which he poured upon them in the most happy style. In his native state he stood on the pinnacle of fame—in the national legislature he was universally esteemed. He was still continued a member of Congress, and, when he could be spared, took a part in the legislative proceedings of Massachusetts. In 1777, he was speaker of the House of Representatives, and the same year was appointed attorney-general, by the unanimous vote of both branches of the legislature. He was a prominent member of the committee who formed the “regulating act” reducing the price of labour, goods, &c. to a standard of equality. In 1779, he was elected a member of the executive council, which, in conjunction with his other appointments, imposed upon him constant and arduous duties. At the adoption of the constitution, he was re-appointed attorney-general of his native state, and continued in that office until 1790, when he declined, in order to pursue some more lucrative business that he might provide for the wants of a large and destitute family. He had been a faithful public servant and had expended all but a bare and scanty support in the cause of his country.

He was then appointed a judge of the superior court, which situation he held until 1804, when his health compelled him to resign. He discharged the duties of this office with great justice and ability, and did much to advance the interests of religion, social order and a sound state of society. On his resignation, he was elected a counsellor of the commonwealth, and continued to impart his salutary advice and influence to his fellow-citizens until death closed his career on the 11th of May, 1814, when, calm and resigned, he fell asleep in the arms of his glorious Redeemer, reposing full confidence in His merits, and possessing a full assurance of a welcome entrance into realms of transcendent bliss beyond the skies, there to enjoy the rich reward of a crown of unfading glory through the rolling ages of eternity.

In the life of Judge Paine, we have a picture which the christian, the patriot, the legislator, and the statesman, may contemplate with pleasure and delight. From the stations he occupied as the prosecutor for the commonwealth, and as the administrator of its laws, he obtained the reputation amongst some of being harsh, but no one dared to accuse him of injustice. His integrity was above the reach of slander. From his solicitude to confine a wayward son in the paths of rectitude, he was accused of being unkind to his family, an accusation as false as the heart was base that originated it. To his family he was all kindness and affection. No stronger proof need be adduced than his extreme anxiety for their welfare and usefulness. He was a friend to literature, and the founder of the American Academy of Massachusetts in 1780. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the Cambridge University. He was a striking example of the happy results of perseverance and industry, having acquired his fame without the aid of patronage in early life, rising by his own exertions, unaided by any, and administering to the comfort of his aged and destitute parents. His career in public and private life was marked with the purest integrity, the strictest morality, the utmost consistency and the noblest patriotism. His life was a continued round of usefulness; his labours were a blessing to mankind; his death was surrounded by a sacred purity that reached from earth to heaven—his examples will be held in veneration by the great and good to the remotest period of truth-telling time.

GEORGE TAYLOR.

A purely confederate republican government to answer fully its beautiful theory, must be healthful and sound in all its parts, and be wielded by enlightened rulers whose hearts are free from all guile, whose judgments are strong and matured, whose characters are in all respects irreproachable, whose conduct is in all things consistent, whose patriotism and virtue extinguishes self and soar above all temptation to digress from the most exalted honesty and rigid moral rectitude, whose minds are stored with useful knowledge and large experience, and whose souls are imbued with wisdom from above.

In such a condition and in such hands this kind of government is calculated to elevate the mental powers of man, to spread before the mind correct and liberal principles, and to promote social order and general happiness by extending its radiant light, its genial rays and its benign influence to the remotest bounds of the inhabited globe. In such a condition and in such hands it would become the solar fountain of intellectual improvement, the polar star of expanding science, and a shining light to the human family. Its refulgent beams would enrapture the ignorant, the oppressed, and the forlorn—its harmonious links would form a golden chain that would reach the confines of earth. It would be a messenger of peace, pointing and inviting the weary pilgrims of bondage in every clime to a reposing asylum of peaceful and quiescent rest. This is the kind of government intended by the sages of the American revolution—this is the kind of government they desired to form and perpetuate.

Among those who laid the foundation and commenced the superstructure of our admired and expanding republic was GEORGE TAYLOR, a native of Ireland, born in 1716. His father was a clergyman and bestowed upon him a good education. He then placed him with a physician, under whose direction he commenced the study of medicine. Not fancying the idea of becoming a son of Æsculapius he flew the course, and finding a vessel bound for Philadelphia and ready to sail, without consulting his friends and without money, he entered on board as a redemptioner. Soon after he arrived in this country his passage was paid by Mr. Savage, of Durham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, a few miles below Easton, for which he bound himself as a common labourer for a term of years. This gentleman was the owner of iron works where he lived, and assigned to his new servant the station of _filler_, his business being to throw coal into the furnace when in blast. He soon found this work to differ widely from that of handling books and the pen. His hands became cruelly blistered, but being resolute and ambitious to gain the approbation of all around him, he persevered without a complaint. The workmen, observing his condition, named the circumstance to Mr. Savage, whose humanity induced him to provide some less laborious employment for the young foreigner. On conversing with him he discovered his intelligence, education and talents, and immediately promoted him to clerk in the counting room of the establishment. He proved fully competent to his new situation, and gained the friendship and esteem of all around him. Nor did he neglect the improvement of his mind. He applied to practical use the theories he had acquired at school. His reflecting and reasoning powers became developed. He made himself familiar with the formula of the business, the customs and the government of his adopted country. He became esteemed for his correct deportment, and admired for his clearness of perception and soundness of judgment. To add to his importance in society, the wife of Mr. Savage became a widow and was subsequently married by Mr. Taylor, by which he became sole proprietor of a large property and the husband of a worthy and influential woman. By persevering industry and good management he continued to add to the estate constantly, and in a few years purchased a tract of land on the bank of the Lehigh, in Northampton county, upon which he built a splendid mansion and iron works, and made it his place of residence. He was not prospered in business at his new location, and at a subsequent period removed back to Durham. During his residence in Northampton county he became extensively and favourably known, and in 1764, was elected to the provincial assembly at Philadelphia, and took a prominent part in its deliberations.

He had not been an idle spectator or careless observer of passing events or of subjects discussed. He had examined the principles upon which various governments were predicated, and became enraptured with the federal republican system. He had watched, with a freeman’s eye, the increasing advances of British oppression. He was too patriotic and too bold to tamely submit to the yoke of bondage. So well was he then known as a discerning and discreet man, that he was placed upon the important committee of grievances. He also took a bold stand against the corruptions of the proprietary government, and advocated strongly an alteration of the charter, so that peculation should be diminished and abuses corrected.

The ensuing year he was again elected to the assembly, and was one of the committee that prepared the instructions of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Congress that convened in New York in 1765, to adopt measures for the restoration and preservation of colonial rights. This document combined caution and respect with firmness of purpose and deliberation of action. It instructed the delegates to move within the orbit of constitutional and chartered privileges, and to respectfully but clearly admonish the king and his advisers not to transcend the limits of the same circle.

The stamp act was repealed shortly after, and Mr. Taylor was one of the committee that prepared a congratulatory address to the king on the happy event. So ably did he discharge his public duties that his name was uniformly placed upon several of the standing committees of the highest importance, assigning to him an onerous burden of legislative service. Upon the committee of grievances, assessment of taxes, the judiciary, loans on bills of credit, navigation, to choose a printer of the public laws, and others of importance the name of George Taylor was generally found and often the first. For six successive years he was constantly a member of the assembly. In 1768, he was upon a committee appointed by that body to prepare an address to the governor censuring him for a remissness in duty, in not having brought to condign punishment certain offenders who had openly and barbarously murdered several Indians, thereby provoking retaliation. It was respectful and manly, but keen and cutting as a damask blade. It was a lucid exposition of political policy, sound law, and public duty.

In October, 1775, Mr. Taylor was again returned to the assembly and added fresh laurels to his legislative fame. In addition to others he was placed upon the committee of safety, then virtually the organ of government. An awful crisis had arrived, the dread clarion of war had been sounded, American blood was crying for vengeance, the revolutionary storm had commenced, and the mountain waves of British wrath were rolling over the colonies. Firmness, sound discretion and bold measures were required. Mr. Taylor possessed the former and promoted the latter. He stood forth a faithful sentinel in the cause of freedom, not a blazing luminary, but as solid as the granite rock. He was in favour of prudence in all things, but was not affected by the temporizing mania that at first paralyzed the action of many who desired liberty but dreaded penalties. He continued to exercise a powerful and salutary influence in the assembly of Pennsylvania until the summer of 1776, when he became a member of the Continental Congress, and sanctioned with his signature to the declaration of rights, the principles of liberty he had boldly advocated. Although Mr. Taylor did not tempt the giddy height of refined rhetoric, he knew where and when to speak, what to say and how to vote—the highest qualifications of a legislator.

In the spring of 1777, he retired from Congress and from public life, covered with the honours of a devoted and ardent patriot, an industrious and useful legislator, an enlightened and valuable citizen, a worthy and honest man. On the 23d of February, 1781, he closed his eyes upon terrestrial things, bid a final adieu to earth and its toys, and bowed submissively to the king of terrors. He died at Easton, to which place he had recently removed. From the character of Mr. Taylor the reader may learn, that without the luminous talents of a Jefferson, a Lee, or a Franklin, a man may be substantially useful and render valuable and highly important services to his country and to the world.

FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE.

Virtue affords the only foundation for a peaceful and happy government. When the wicked rule, the nation mourns. Not that rulers must necessarily profess religion by being attached to some visible church—but they must venerate it, and be men of the highest moral and political honesty. Disease and corruption affect the body politic and produce dissolution with the same certainty that they prostrate the physical powers of man. If the head is disordered, the whole heart is sick. If the political fountain becomes polluted, its dark and murky waters will eventually impregnate every branch with their contagious miasma. The history of the past proves the truth of these assertions; the passing events of the present day afford too frequent demonstration of the baneful effects of intrigue and peculation. Without virtue our union will become a mere rope of sand, the victim of knaves and the sport of kings. Self-government will become an enigma with monarchs, rational liberty a paradox, and a republic, the scoff of tyrants. Let every freeman look to this matter in time. Let him look back to the sages who wisely conceived, nobly planned, and boldly laid the foundations of the freedom we now enjoy, but which cannot, will not be perpetuated unless we imitate their examples and obey their precepts. They were virtuous, many of them devotedly pious, and all of them politically honest.

Among their number the name and character of FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE claims our present attention. He was the son of Thomas Lee, and born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, on the 14th of October, 1734. He was the brother of Richard Henry Lee, whose eloquence rose higher but whose reflections were no deeper than those of Francis. In childhood he was admired for his docility and amiable deportment, in youth he was the pride of every circle in which he moved, and when manhood dawned upon him he exhibited a dignity of mind and maturity of judgment that his fellow citizens highly appreciated and delighted to honour.

He was educated by the Rev. Mr. Craig, a Scotch clergyman, of high literary attainments and profound erudition. Under his tuition the germs of knowledge took deep root in the prolific mental soil of young Francis, and produced plants of a rapid and luxuriant growth. The Scotch literati are remarkable for deep investigation, thorough analyzation, and lucid demonstration. I have never met one who was a pedant, a vain pretender, or a superficial scholar. Under such an instructor the intellectual powers of Francis assumed a vigorous and solid tone that placed him upon the substantial basis of useful knowledge and enduring fame. He became delighted with the solid sciences, and spent less time in the bowers of belles lettres than his Ciceronean brother. The history of classic Greece and republican Rome enraptured his mind with the love of liberty and liberal principles. He read closely, thought deeply, and investigated fully. He prosecuted his studies with untiring industry and became an excellent scholar, without the advantages of European seminaries, to which most of the young sons of wealthy men were then sent to complete their education. Imitating the examples of his elder brothers, whose manners had received the highest polish of English gentilesse and French etiquette he became an accomplished gentleman. Raised in the midst of affluence, actuated by moral rectitude, free from a desire to participate in the follies of the world, living in the enjoyment of the refined pleasures that promote felicity without enervating the body or vitiating the heart, and a favourite among all his numerous acquaintances, his earthly happiness was of the purest kind. With a mind richly stored with scientific theory, with ethics and correct religious principles, he entered the school of experience and became emphatically a practical man. Possessed of an ample fortune he could devote his time to such objects as he deemed most useful. Having early imbibed the love of rational liberty, and having fully canvassed the conduct of the British ministry towards the American colonies, Mr. Lee resolved to oppose the encroachments of the king upon rights and privileges clearly guarantied by the constitution of the mother country. He could not consent that the trappings of the crown, the pomp of the court, the extravagance of the ministry, and the expenses of the parliament of Great Britain should be borne by the yeomanry of America, eloigned as they were from the protection and good feeling of that power—deprived as they were from being properly represented in legislation—subject as they were to the caprice of every new cabinet created by the king—threatened as they were to be dragged from their native soil to be tried by a foreign jury—oppressed as they were by the insolence of hireling officers—and driven as they were from under the mantle of constitutional rights.

In 1765, he was elected a member of the house of burgesses to represent Loudoun county, where his estate was situated. He became an important advocate of equal rights and took a bold stand in favour of natural and chartered privileges. Blessed with a strong and investigating mind, a deep and penetrating judgment, a clear and acute perception, a pure and patriotic heart and a bold and fearless disposition, he became one of the most efficient advisers in the house. He continued to represent Loudoun until 1772, when he married the highly accomplished and amiable Rebecca, daughter of Colonel Tayloe, of the county of Richmond, where Mr. Lee then permanently located. The same year he was elected to the house of burgesses from his new district, and continued to render valuable services and exercise a salutary influence in that body until he was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress. Amidst the gathering storm of the revolution and the trying scenes that accumulated thick and fast around him, he stood undaunted, unmoved, and undismayed. He advocated every measure calculated to promote the independence of his country, and was prolific in plans for the accomplishment of the desired object. As a member of committees he had no superior. An extensive reader, he had made himself acquainted with the principles of every form of government, and understood well the minutiæ of magna charta and the British constitution. He was prepared to act advisedly and safely, and determined to resist, even unto blood, all the illegal advances of a base, designing and avaricious ministry. He made no pretensions to oratory, seldom spoke in public, but when so highly excited as to rise, he poured upon his opponents a flood of keen and withering logic that often made them quail beneath its force.

On the 15th of August, 1775, Mr. Lee was elected a member of the Continental Congress. A more expansive field was then opened before him. To do or die, to live in chains or peril every thing for liberty had become the dilemma. Columbia’s soil had been stained with the blood and serum of Americans, shed by the very men who had been cherished by their bounty and fed by the labour of their hands. The dim flickerings of the hope of redress and conciliation were fast expiring in the socket of forbearance. The great seal of the social compact had been broken by the British ministry, the last petitions, remonstrances and addresses to the king were to be prepared, and the final course to be pursued by the colonies, determined. Inglorious peace or honourable war were the two propositions. In favour of the last Mr. Lee put forth the strong energies of his mind. Eternal separation from England and independence for America could only satisfy and meet his views. Being appointed upon many important committees, his exertions to obtain this desideratum were unremitting, and his influence was strongly felt. So highly were his talents appreciated that he was often chairman of the committee of the whole. So convinced were his constituents of his ability to promote the best interests of the glorious cause of freedom, that they continued him in Congress until his retirement from the public arena in 1779 to scenes more congenial to _his_ mind, but less beneficial to the deliberations of the august body he had so much benefitted.

When the proposition of final separation was submitted to Congress by his brother, his soul was animated to the zenith of patriotic feeling, and when the declaration of rights was adopted, his mind was in an ecstacy of delight. His influence, his vote and his signature, told how strong and pure were his desires in its favour. On that sacred instrument, the chart of freemen and an eye-sore to kings, the name of Francis Lightfoot Lee stands recorded—a lasting monument of his civic fame.

He rendered essential aid in framing the articles of confederation that carried the colonies through the revolution. This was a work of great labour, and underwent, besides the time bestowed upon it by the committee, thirty-nine distinct discussions in the house. He contended ardently that the rights of contiguous fisheries and the free navigation of the Mississippi river should be incorporated in the claims of the United States upon Great Britain in all propositions of peace. The wisdom and sagacity of his position is now fully demonstrated although it then met with opposition by some, and was considered as a matter of secondary importance by others.