Chapter XVII: Preface (15)

In the character of this great and good man we find no corruption to condemn, and many strong and brilliant traits to admire. As a revolutionary patriot he stood on a lofty eminence; as a statesman he rendered many and important services; as a lawyer he enjoyed a high reputation; as a judge, his talents and legal acquirements were of the most exalted character. All the charges against his judicial career, and the result of their investigation, have been faithfully laid before the reader, who is left to examine impartially, and I hope, to judge correctly. I find no evidence of guile in his heart; he expressed his opinions freely, he felt them strongly, and was evidently sincere in his conclusions.

Against his private character malice and slander never directed an arrow. He was in all respects above suspicion. He was a kind husband, an affectionate father, a warm friend, and an open, honourable, but scarifying enemy. From the constitution of his nature and the vehemence of his feelings, he was calculated to gain strong friends and create violent enemies. His independence and decision were admired, but often roused animosity in others. His political opponents he handled with great severity, which accounts for the mighty effort made to prostrate him.

He was a man of a noble and benevolent disposition—a friend to the poor and needy. A particular instance of his generosity was exhibited in 1783. Listening to the discussions of a debating club in Baltimore, he was forcibly struck with the talent exhibited by a youth, to him an utter stranger. On inquiry, he found that he was poor, and in the employment of an apothecary. He called upon him, advised him to study law; offered him a home at his house, the use of his library, and the aid of his instruction. His proposition was accepted; the youth arrived at manhood, rose to eminence, and became an ornament to America. This was the celebrated William Pinkney, who was minister to Russia, London, Naples, and attorney-general of the United States. He often recurred to his benefactor with feelings of the profoundest gratitude in after life.

Judge Chase was also a friend to education and religion. He was a member of St. Paul parish, and was active in promoting the best interests of practical piety, social order and purity of morals. His force, vigour, and decision of character and stern integrity, were admirably calculated for the period in which he lived; and if he sometimes offended by soaring above the non-committal system of technical politics, it must be attributed to the strong combination of conflicting circumstances that uniformly attend the period of a revolution, the formation of a new government, and the asperity of high-toned parties, operating as they did upon the sensitive feelings of an ardent, patriotic and independent mind.

WILLIAM HOOPER.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. This ancient apothegm can never be controverted by the ingenuity of sophistry; it is based upon reason, justice, and sound philosophy. Its solution is brief. To be wise is to be good—to be good is to be happy. To avoid all vice and practise only virtue, is the great desideratum of earthly bliss. Virtue carries with it its own reward. Vanity and vain glory may be richly laden with blossoms, but they bear no fruit. We must look to the great Author of all good for substantial enjoyment; we must fear to offend the majesty of his laws to be truly wise. The greatest men who have ever figured upon the stage of action, fully recognised the power of omnipotence, and feared to offend the great Jehovah. The sages of the American revolution were constantly under the influence of this salutary principle. This may be inferred from their writings, their examples, and the proceedings of the Continental Congress. Days of humiliation and prayer were frequently fixed and recommended by legislative proclamation, by the states and by the general government.

Among those of the signers who appears to have lived with the fear of God before his eyes, was WILLIAM HOOPER, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born on the 17th of June, 1742. He was the son of the Reverend William Hooper, who came from Kelso, in the south of Scotland, and was for many years the pastor of Trinity church in Boston. He was a man of high accomplishments, a good scholar, an able and eloquent preacher, and a devoted christian. He was useful in life and lived in the affections of his people.

William, being of a slender constitution, received the first rudiments of his education from his father under the parental roof. At the age of seven years he was placed under the care of Mr. Lovell, and at the age of fifteen he entered Harvard University. His talents were of a high order and his industry untiring. His mind was moulded in wisdom, and averse to trifling amusements and fleeting pleasures. During vacation he repaired to his father’s library and devoted himself to the acquisition of knowledge, instead of obtaining a relaxation from study by mingling in the convivial circle. He had a great taste for the classics and polite literature. He paid particular attention to composition and elocution. Refinement in every thing was his aim.

In 1760, he graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts, and commenced the study of law under James Otis, one of the most distinguished counsellors of that day. From the pious course of his life from his youth up, his father had indulged a hope that his inclination would have led him to the pulpit, but cheerfully submitted to the choice he had made. The same industry and correct deportment that carried him successfully through college, enabled him to master the intricate science of his election, and gain the esteem of all who knew him. After completing his course he was admitted to practice, richly stored with theory for future use.

Manhood had now spread its dignified mantle over him. He was of the middle height, slender and elegant in form, gentlemanly and engaging in his manners, with strangers rather reserve, with his friends frank and familiar, free from affectation, of a serious turn, and at all times honest and sincere. His countenance beamed with intelligence and benignity, his powers of conversation were pleasing and instructive, chaste and classical. His mind was investigating, deliberative, analyzing and firm. His habits were strictly moral; his disposition was benevolent, hospitable and kind. As a public speaker he was eloquent, persuasive, logical and sometimes sarcastic. With qualities like these, Mr. Hooper repaired to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1766, and commenced the practice of his profession. He was induced to locate there by several wealthy connexions residing in that place. He soon obtained a lucrative business; and to convince the people that he contemplated a permanent location among them, he married Miss Anna Clark, a lady of unusual accomplishments and strength of mind, and highly respectable in her character and connexions. She was the sister of General Thomas Clark.

His legal fame rose rapidly and was built upon a substantial basis. About the year 1768, he was employed to conduct several important public trials, which he managed with such skill and address, as to place him among the ablest advocates of the province. He was treated with marked attention by Governors Tryon and Martin, and by chief justice Howard.

These attentions from the king’s officers arose, in a measure, from the superior talents and merit of Mr. Hooper, but had also an ulterior object—that of gaining his influence in favour of the designs of their royal master. This could not be accomplished. He had received his legal education in Boston, where the designs of ministers had been probed for years. He had imbibed liberal principles and was a friend to equal rights. Upon the firm basis of eternal justice he had planted himself, from which flattery could not decoy him nor threatening dangers drive him.

One peculiar circumstance may have caused a particular attachment for him on the part of the officers of government, that of having taken a bold stand against a class of desperadoes called _regulators_, who formed a dangerous association as early as 1766, in the interior of the province. They were composed principally of men who were ignorant, poor and savage, collected and led by men of more intelligence but of baser minds, who incited them to open rebellion by complaints against the civil authorities, and the promise of reward. They drove the judges from the bench and committed many personal outrages. They even set the military at defiance, and threatened to assume the entire rule. At that alarming crisis, Mr. Hooper was one who came forward and dared to advise decisive measures. The number of the regulators had accumulated to three thousand. The plan of Mr. Hooper was carried into execution; a military force was raised, a severe battle ensued and the insurgents were dispersed. This occurred in 1770.

In 1773, Mr. Hooper was elected a member of the assembly of North Carolina, and discharged his duties so much to the satisfaction of his constituents, that they returned him the ensuing year. It was then that the creatures of the crown attempted to throw a ministerial coil of oppression around the people, and it was then that they found a bold, fearless, eloquent and uncompromising opponent in William Hooper. He not only met them in the legislative hall with incontrovertible arguments, but he spread their designs before the public far and wide, by a series of essays over the signature of Hampden. His course was in favour of liberal principles, but ruinous to his purse. The question before the assembly was the re-organization of the judiciary, which had become defunct by the expiration of the statute that created it. An attempt was made to model it in such a manner as to meet the designs of the British cabinet. So powerful was the influence of Mr. Hooper, that he kept his opponents at bay, and the province was a year without any courts.

He was now fairly before the people, a champion for liberty. On the 25th of August, 1774, he was appointed a delegate to the Congress of Philadelphia. In that body he was placed on the important committee that prepared a statement of the rights of the colonies, the manner these rights had been infringed, and the most probable means of affecting their restoration. He was also one of the committee that reported the statutes that affected the trade and manufactures of the colonies. Upon the report of these two committees all the conclusive proceedings of that Congress were based, from which we may infer that the ablest and most active men were placed upon them. The ensuing year he was re-elected to the national assembly, and soon after he took his seat, he was appointed chairman of a committee to prepare an address to the people of Jamaica relative to British oppression. It was written by him, and is in a style bold, vigorous and classical. The following extract is a fair sample. Speaking of the plan of action laid and pursued by the British ministry, he writes: “That our petitions have been treated with disdain, is now become the smallest part of our complaint. Ministerial insolence is lost in ministerial barbarity. It has, by an exertion peculiarly ingenious, procured those very measures which it laid us under the hard necessity of pursuing, to be stigmatised in parliament as rebellious. It has plunged us in all the horrors and calamities of civil war. It has caused the treasures and blood of Britain, formerly exhausted and shed for far other ends, to be spilt and wasted in the execrable design of spreading slavery over British America. It will not, however, accomplished its aim; in the worst contingency a choice will still be left which it can never prevent us from taking.”

On the 12th of June, Mr. Hooper offered the following resolution in Congress, which demonstrates the position taken in the exordium of this sketch.

“It is at all times an indispensable duty devoutly to acknowledge the superintending providence of the great governor of the world, especially in times of impending danger and public calamity—to reverence and adore his immutable justice as well as to implore his merciful interposition for our deliverance; therefore,

“Resolved, that it is recommended by Congress that the people of the American colonies observe the twentieth day of July next as a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer.”

The zeal and exertions of this patriot were of the most vigorous character. He served on numerous committees and was highly esteemed by all the members. His constituents were so well satisfied with his course that he was returned a third time to the honourable post he had so ably filled. In the spring of 1776, he was a member of the conventions that convened at Hillsborough and Halifax, and was one of the leading and most eloquent speakers. He also prepared an address to the people of the British empire that was written with much nerve and energy. He then repaired to his place in Congress, and boldly supported the declaration of rights. He had long been convinced of its propriety, and when the thrilling moment arrived for the final decision he sanctioned it by his vote and signature. He was an unwavering friend to the cause he had espoused; patient, cheerful, persevering, prudent and firm under all circumstances.

In February, 1777, he obtained leave of absence from Congress and returned to his family. When the news of the defeat of Washington at Germantown reached him at Wilmington, he was surrounded by a circle of his friends, who seemed dismayed at the intelligence. He rose calmly from his seat and remarked, with great animation and cheerfulness, “We have been disappointed!—but no matter—now that we have become the assailants there can be no doubt of the issue.”

Before his return his property had suffered from royal vengeance; his personal safety now became endangered and he was compelled to fly into the interior for safety. His family had removed several times. He made arrangements, in the event of the subjugation of the colonies by the British, to remove to one of the French West India Islands, where, it is said, all the signers, with the French minister, would have went, had not the independence of the states been sustained. He did not return to Wilmington until it was evacuated in 1781, during which time his family was there, exposed to the insults of the enemy. He appears not to have returned to Congress again, but mingled with the people, rousing them to a sense of their duty, and was an active member of the state councils. In 1782 he removed to Hillsborough, and endeavoured to restore his long neglected private affairs to order. In 1786, he was appointed by Congress a judge of the court organized to settle the controversy between New York and Massachusetts relative to disputed territory, a delicate and important duty, from which he was relieved by an amicable settlement by the litigants before the court proceeded to act in the premises.

Mr. Hooper continued to take a conspicuous part in the legislation of North Carolina, and also pursued the practice of his profession until 1787, when his health began to decline and he retired from public life and from the bar, to enjoy that repose in domestic felicity which had always been more congenial to his mind than public stations, however lofty. In his retirement he carried with him the esteem of his fellow citizens and the gratitude of a nation of freemen. Not a blemish could be found to tarnish the fair fame of his public career or private reputation. He had served his country faithfully and discharged the duties of friend, citizen, lawyer, patriot, husband and father, with fidelity. From the elevated eminence of conscious integrity he looked back upon his past life—with the eyes of faith he looked forward to a crown of unfading glory, and in October 1790, closed his eyes in death and resigned his soul to that God whom to fear is the beginning of wisdom.

THOMAS NELSON.

Honesty is a virtue that commands universal respect. This term, like many others, has lost much of its original force and is too promiscuously used. When Pope proclaimed an honest man the noblest work of God, he included purpose, word and action in all things, under all circumstances and at all times. He alluded to a man whose purity of heart placed him above every temptation to violate the original laws of integrity which emanated from the High Chancery of Heaven. His imagination pictured a man whose every action through his whole life should pass the moral scrutiny of omniscience unscathed, and stand approved at the dread tribunal of the great Jehovah. Such a man is a noble work indeed, worthy of the highest admiration and closest imitation.

The signers of the declaration of independence were remarkable for integrity, and none of them more so than THOMAS NELSON, who was born at York, Virginia, on the 26th of December, 1738. He was the son of William Nelson, whose father was a native of England and settled in York at an early period. The father of Thomas was an enterprising and successful merchant, and eventually became also a wealthy planter. He filled many public stations with great ability, and during the interval between the administration of Lord Bottetourt and Lord Dunmore, presided over the colony _ex officio_, being then president of the executive council.

At the age of fourteen years Thomas Nelson was placed under the instruction of Mr. Newcomb, whose school was near Hackney, England. When his preparatory studies were completed he was placed at Cambridge and entered of Trinity College, under the tuition of Dr. Beilby Porteus, who was one of the brightest literary ornaments of his age and ultimately became the bishop of London. Guided by the master-hand of this finished scholar, accomplished gentleman and pious man, Mr. Nelson traced the fair lines of science and explored the avenues of literature. The principles of virtue and integrity were also deeply impressed upon his mind and governed his actions through life. After spending eight years at the classic fountain in England, he returned to Virginia, highly polished in mind and person. He entered into the enjoyment of a large landed estate, and over one hundred and thirty thousand dollars in cash. In August, 1762, he led to the hymeneal altar Miss Lucy, daughter of Philip Grymes, of Brandon, and settled permanently at his native place. His house became the seat of hospitality and domestic felicity. He assimilated his style of life, in some respects, to that of an English nobleman when at his country seat. He rode almost daily to his plantation, a few miles from York, and amused himself with his gun. He also kept a pack of hounds and in the winter often joined in the thrilling and blood-stirring sport of the fox-chase. No respectable stranger could visit the town without receiving an urgent invitation to partake of his hospitality. In this manner his time passed smoothly along until the public demanded his services.

For a long time a particular intimacy existed between the leading men of Virginia and those of England. This arose from consanguinity and wealth and was kept alive for a century by an interchange of good feelings and offices. The sons of the wealthy men of the Old Dominion were uniformly educated in Great Britain, and imbibed the same feelings of independence manifested by the noblemen of the mother country, and felt themselves, very properly, entitled to as much confidence from the king as a native and resident of Albion. Hence, when the car of oppression was mounted by the British ministry, the noblest sons of Virginia were the most vigorous opposers of royal power. They at once acted in concert with the patriots of New England and treated the insults offered at Boston as though they had been personally directed to them. The very fact of former intimacy made this opposition more bitter and pointed.

In 1774, Mr. Nelson was elected to the house of burgesses and took a bold stand in favour of liberal principles. He was one of the eighty-nine members who assembled at a tavern the day after Lord Dunmore dissolved the house and formed themselves into an association of non-intercourse with Great Britain. At the next election he was again returned to the house of burgesses. He was a member of the convention, held on the first of August of that year, to elect delegates to Congress, and of the one convened in March, 1775, for this and other purposes. He supported the boldest measures that were proposed by the daring Patrick Henry, from which many of the patriots at first recoiled with amazement. He had no ear for the syren song of peace when the shores of his country were darkened by foreign fleets and armies. From the following resolutions introduced in the last named convention by Patrick Henry, the reader can form an idea of the feelings that pervaded the minds of the leading patriots at that early period. One of the germs of our militia system will also be perceived.

“Resolved, that a well regulated militia, composed of gentlemen and yeomen, is the natural strength and only security of a free government; that such a militia in this colony would for ever render it unnecessary for the mother country to keep among us, for the purpose of our defence, any standing army of mercenary soldiers, always subversive of the quiet and dangerous to the liberties of the people, and would obviate the pretext of taxing for their support.

“That the establishment of such a militia is, at this time, peculiarly necessary by the state of our laws, some of which have already expired and others will shortly be so—and that the known remissness of government in calling us together in legislative capacity renders it too insecure, in this time of danger and distress, to rely that opportunity will be given of renewing them in general assembly, or making any provision to secure our inestimable rights and liberties from those further violations with which they are threatened.

“Resolved, therefore, that this colony be immediately put in a state of defence, and that —— be a committee to prepare a plan for embodying, arming and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that purpose.”

These resolutions were warmly supported by Mr. Nelson, whose property was exposed to the utmost danger in case of an open rupture with the royal authorities. The measure proposed was carried into effect, and from that time opposition to the pretensions of the crown assumed a bold front in Virginia. This convention assembled again in July, and divided the colony into sixteen military districts, the eastern district to raise forthwith a regiment of six hundred and eighty men, rank and file, and each of the others to raise a battalion of five hundred, to be at once armed and held in readiness to march at any moment. The convention also directed the raising of two regiments of regulars of one thousand and twenty privates, and appointed Patrick Henry to command the first and Mr. Nelson to command the second. Thus Virginia assumed a determined and systematic attitude of defence at an early period.

On the 11th of August this convention met again and elected Mr. Nelson a delegate to the Continental Congress, in which he took his seat on the 13th of September following. Possessed of a strong mind and sound judgment, he became a useful member of committees, but seldom took part in debate. By the following letter from him to Governor Page, it seems he was one of those who agitated the question of independence as early as the 22nd of January, 1776. “I wish I knew the sentiments of our people upon the grand points of confederation and foreign alliance, or, in other words, of independence—for we cannot expect to form a connexion with any foreign power as long as we have a womanish hankering after Great Britain—and, to be sure, there is not in nature a greater absurdity than to suppose we can have any affection for a people who are carrying on the most savage war against us.” On the 13th of February, he writes to the same gentleman again, as follows: “Independence, confederation and foreign alliance are as formidable to some members of Congress, I fear a majority, as an apparition to a weak enervated woman. Would you think we have some among us who still expect honourable proposals from the administration! By heavens—I am an infidel in politics, for I do not believe were you to bid a thousand pounds per scruple for honour at the court of Great Britain, that you would get as many as would amount to an ounce. We are now carrying on a war and no war. They seize our property wherever they find it, either by land or sea, and we hesitate to retaliate because we have a few friends in England who have ships. Away with such squeamishness, say I.”

By this language we can judge of the ardent feelings that actuated this friend of equal rights. It was the pure fire of patriotism, fanned by a just indignation against a tyrannical and insolent foe. It was a fire that reflected a powerful heat upon those around it, and gathered fresh vigour daily. Like separate parcels of metal in a crucible, one member after another yielded to its power, until all were united in one liquid mass, and, on the fourth of July, 1776, the mould of liberty was filled, which, when opened to the gaze of the world, presented a new and purely original table of law and government, enriched by the embossment of freedom and equal rights. On this fair tablet, more beautiful than mosaic-work, Mr. Nelson engraved his name in bold relievo. Here we might leave him, with glory enough for one man. But he had then just entered the portico of his useful career. He embarked heart and soul in the cause, and became one of the most industrious members of various committees that was in Congress. In forming the articles of confederation he was particularly active. The ensuing year he again took his seat in the national assembly, but was compelled to retire in May, soon after the commencement of the session, in consequence of a severe attack of disease in his head, which, for a time, threatened to impair his mental powers. He was obliged to return home, and for a short period refrain from business. His place was supplied by Mr. Mason.

In August following, the appearance of a British fleet that entered the capes caused a general rally of the military force of Virginia. Mr. Nelson, who had regained his health, was commissioned by the governor and council brigadier-general and commander-in-chief of the military forces of the state. The appointment was popular—the incumbent was competent. His appearance among them inspired confidence in the people. The troops rallied around him like affectionate children around a fond parent. The fleet, however, did not deign to give them a call at that time, and the soldiers again became citizens.

In October, General Nelson took his seat in the legislature of his state, and acted a conspicuous part in its deliberations. During the session a bill was brought before the house sequestrating British property, and authorizing those of the colonists who were indebted to subjects of Great Britain to pay the amount into the public treasury; and if the wives and children of such subjects remained in the state, portions of the said money, under the direction of the governor and council, were to be appropriated to their support. With all the ardour and vehemence of feeling that pervaded the bosom of Mr. Nelson against the mother country, his honesty and justice impelled him to oppose this bill as violating the sacredness of individual contracts. He became roused, and made an able and eloquent address against the proposed measure, and closed in the following emphatic language:—“For these reasons I hope the bill will be rejected; but whatever be its fate, so help me God, I will pay _my_ debts like an honest man.”

On the second of March, 1778, Congress made an appeal to the patriotism of the wealthy young men of the several colonies, urging them to raise a troop of light cavalry at their own expense. Nor was the appeal in vain. As soon as the proposed plan of Congress was received in Virginia, General Nelson sent a circular to all the young gentlemen of fortune in the state, recommending them not only to come to the rescue themselves, but to open their purses to other high minded and respectable young men, whose hearts were noble but whose means were limited. A company of seventy was speedily raised in Virginia, and elected general Nelson their commander. He proceeded with his new charge to Baltimore and reported his youthful band to the brave Pulaski, who received this accession of volunteers with delight and admiration. From that place the company proceeded to Philadelphia, where the general and his men received the praise and thanks of Congress; and as their services were not wanted at that time, they were permitted to return to their homes. The expenses of the company during their absence were principally borne by General Nelson without any subsequent remuneration; and for his own services in the field during the war he refused to receive any pay; and, in addition to this, he expended a great portion of his fortune in the cause of his country.

On the 18th of February, 1779, General Nelson again took his seat in Congress, and was immediately placed on several important committees. His severe labour caused a second attack similar to the former, and in April he was compelled to return home.

It was in May of that year that the British made a descent upon Virginia, and spread destruction far and wide. Exercise soon restored the health of General Nelson and he at once took the field. He assembled a body of troops near Yorktown, but the enemy chose not to interfere with him at that time. During that short campaign he took a parental care of the soldiers by providing for their wants from his own funds. He distributed his labourers and servants among the poor families of the militia from his neighbourhood to labour during the absence of the men. He was as benevolent as he was patriotic and brave.

In June, 1780, the general assembly of Virginia passed a resolution to borrow two millions of dollars for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the war. General Nelson entered into the collection of this money with great zeal. Public credit was prostrated and government paper was no longer considered security. Like Robert Morris, he at once pledged his own fortune and raised large sums upon his own credit, for which he was but in part remunerated by government.

In the spring of 1781, Virginia was again the scene of murder, rapine, and wide spread ruin. Judas, alias Arnold, and Lord Cornwallis were sweeping over the land like a tornado. General Nelson was constantly in the field, doing all in his power to arrest the bold and savage career of the invading foe. He became the hero of the Old Dominion. In June he was elected governor of the state. He immediately entered upon the discharge of this dignified station, and bent his whole energies in raising troops to resist the enemy.

About that time Lafayette arrived with a body of regulars. Governor Nelson joined him in the field, and, yielding his rank, placed himself and the militia under the command of the marquis. Every thing within his power he grasped to aid his bleeding country. He placed even his draught horses and negroes in the public service.

In the midst of these distresses a circumstance occurred that was exceedingly trying to his mind. By the constitution, the governor acted only in concert with the council. Two of that body had fallen into the hands of Tarleton, and two had resigned. It was impossible to raise a quorum for business. The awful crisis demanded immediate and decisive action. In this dilemma he transcended the existing law, and proceeded to act as though the council was with him.

At a subsequent period this was made the foundation of a complaint against him, after he retired to private life and was sinking under disease, which was forever put at rest by the legislature, by the passage of laws sanctioning his every public act during that campaign. Ingratitude is the prime minister of hell, and revenge its secretary.

At length Lord Cornwallis found himself snugly ensconced in Yorktown. A dark cloud gathered over his military fame. Awful forebodings haunted his blood-stained soul. Retributive justice pierced his conscience with a thousand stings. The cries of widows and orphans, the curling flames of hospitable mansions, the sweeping destruction of villages and towns, and the dying groans of innocent victims, the bitter fruits of his tyranny, preyed upon his imagination like a promethean vulture. The die was cast. The siege was commenced. At the head of the Virginia troops was General Nelson—cool, brave, fearless and vigorous. His native town, his own domicile and property, were now to be razed. At first he observed that the American batteries carefully avoided the direction of his house. The principal British officers, anticipating this, had made it their rendezvous. On hearing that it was out of respect to him, he directed the gunners to point their guns at once at his mansion. The first discharge sent a shot through it and killed two of the officers, a number of whom were enjoying the comforts of a good dinner. They soon left this retreat for safer quarters.

The following extract from the general orders of the illustrious Washington, of the 20th of October, 1781, will best inform the reader how highly the services of Governor Nelson were prized at that memorable siege that crushed the power of Great Britain in America.

“The general would be guilty of the highest ingratitude, a crime of which he hopes he shall never be accused, if he forgot to return his sincere acknowledgements to his excellency Governor Nelson for the succours which he received from him and the militia under his command, to whose activity, emulation and bravery, the highest praises are due. The magnitude of the acquisition will be ample compensation for the difficulties and dangers which they met with so much firmness and patriotism.”

The fatigues of this campaign and his arduous gubernatorial duties proved too much for the physical powers of Governor Nelson. He again sunk under disease, and on the 20th of November, 1781, he resigned his station and retired to private life. He spent the remainder of his days principally on a small estate he had saved from the wreck of his large fortune, situated at Offly, in the county of Hanover. His health continued to decline, and on the fourth of January, 1789, he was numbered with the dead.

His obituary, written by his bosom friend, Colonel Innes, fully portrays the character of this devoted patriot and deserves a place in this memoir.

The illustrious general THOMAS NELSON, is no more! He paid the last debt to nature on Sunday, the fourth of the present month, at his estate in Hanover. He who undertakes barely to recite the exalted virtues which adorned the life of this great and good man, will unavoidably pronounce a panegyric upon human nature. As a man, a citizen, a legislator and a patriot, he exhibited a conduct untarnished and undebased by sordid or selfish interests, and strongly marked with the genuine characteristics of true religion, sound benevolence and liberal policy. Entertaining the most ardent love for civil and religious liberty, he was among the first of that glorious band of patriots whose exertions dashed and defeated the machinations of British tyranny and gave to United America freedom and independent empire. At a most important crisis during the late struggle for American liberty, when this state appeared to be designated as the theatre of action for the contending armies, he was selected by the unanimous suffrage of the legislature to command the virtuous yeomanry of his country. In this honourable employment he remained until the end of the war. As a soldier, he was indefatigably active and coolly intrepid. Resolute and undejected in misfortunes, he towered above distress and struggled with the manifold difficulties to which his situation exposed him with constancy and courage. In the memorable year of 1781, when the whole force of the southern British army was directed to the immediate subjugation of this state, he was called to the helm of government. This was a juncture which indeed “tried men’s souls.” He did not avail himself of this opportunity to retire in the rear of danger, but, on the contrary, took the field at the head of his countrymen, and, at the hazard of his life, his fame and individual fortune, by his decision and magnanimity, he saved not only his country, but all America from disgrace, if not from total ruin. Of this truly patriotic and heroic conduct, the renowned commander-in-chief, with all the gallant officers of the combined armies employed at the siege of York, will bear ample testimony. This part of his conduct even contemporary jealousy, envy and malignity were forced to approve—and this, more impartial posterity, if it can believe, will almost adore. If, after contemplating the splendid and heroic parts of his character, we shall inquire for the milder virtues of humanity and seek for the man, we shall find the refined, beneficent and social qualities of private life, through all its forms and combinations, so happily modified and united in him, that in the words of the darling poet of nature, it may be said,

“His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him, that nature might stand up
And say to all the world—THIS IS A MAN.”

JAMES SMITH.

Many men, like apes, are mere imitative beings in their manner of action. They forsake the path designed for them by their Creator, and strive to assimilate their mechanical movements to some noble personage of a higher order by nature than themselves, and thus _ape_ their way through the world. I refer particularly to public speakers. Some young men of respectable native talent and good acquirements, when they mount the rostrum, instead of acting perfectly natural, endeavour to imitate some orator of notoriety, and thereby render themselves ridiculous. Originality is the beauty of forensic or any other kind of eloquence. Like a piece of marble under the hands of the statuary, a more systematic form may be imparted by art, but its original composition, like that, is most beautiful unpainted. Originality must form the base, or the superstructure can never be truly beautiful. No human ingenuity can remould the work of nature and retain the strength of the grand original. We should imitate the virtues and wisdom of great and good men—our _manner_ should be peculiarly our own—and still further—our language and style of writing should be original to render it forcible and interesting. Affectation in any thing is disgusting to sensible men, and a discerning man readily detects a counterfeit.

A fine picture of originality and pleasing eccentricity was exhibited by JAMES SMITH, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was a native of Ireland and came to this country with his father when quite young. The precise time of his birth is not known. According to the only record known of his age—the inscription on his tomb, he was born in 1713. His father was a respectable farmer and settled on the west side of the Susquehanna river nearly opposite to Columbia. James was educated under Dr. Allison. He acquired a good classical education, and retained a peculiar taste for authors of antiquity through life. He was very partial to mathematics, and became an expert surveyor. After finishing his course under Dr. Allison he commenced the study of law in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, some say with Thomas Cookson, but more probably with his elder brother who was then practising at that town. When admitted to the bar he located himself on the frontiers of civilization near the present site of Shippensburg, in Cumberland county, blending the practice of law and surveying. In that section of the country the two professions were then very properly and profitably united. Large tracts of valuable land were held under hasty and inaccurate surveys, and many others were only located by mere chamber calculations upon paper. Litigation was the natural consequence, and no witnesses told the truth more accurately than the compass of Mr. Smith and the demonstration of his protractor. Possessed of a penetrating mind, he looked into future prospects and secured much valuable land and had full employment in his professional business. He soon found himself on the flood tide of prosperity. Not willing to sail alone, he took for his mate, Miss Eleanor Armor, of Newcastle, who superintended his cabin stores with great skill and prudence. In every thing he was purely original. With a strong mind, an open and honest heart, a benevolent and manly disposition, he united great conviviality and amusing drollery, yet so discreet as not to offend the most modest ear. He delighted in seeing the contortions of the risible muscles, which were uniformly in motion in all proper circles when James Smith was present. Whenever he came in contact with a pedant he would propound some ridiculous question with the utmost gravity, such as the following, “Don’t you remember that terrible bloody battle which Alexander the Great fought with the Russians near the straits of Babelmandel? I think you will find the account in Thucydides or Herodotus.”

His memory was retentive and stored with numerous anecdotes, which he used in court either to annoy his opponent and help his case, or in company to amuse his friends. No one could tell a story with more effect than Mr. Smith. His manner was original and beyond imitation. With all his wit and humour, he held religion in the greatest reverence, and was a communicant of the church. No one that knew him dare utter a word against it in his presence, knowing that the lash of the keenest ridicule would at once be applied by him. Such a mixture of qualities are rarely blended in one man. From the deep toned logic and the profoundest thought up to the eccentric ridiculous, all balanced by the happy equilibrium of discretion, his mind ranged with the rapidity of lightning, using each at the most appropriate time and place. His manner, his style, and his every thing, from the most trivial circumstance to the momentous concerns of the nation in which he participated, were purely original.

Of the affairs of his country Mr. Smith was not an idle spectator. No man delights in liberty and independence more than an Irishman, and no nation is more sensitive of its rights than “sweet Ireland.” When British oppression showed its hydra head to the colonists, although advanced in age, James Smith took a terrible dislike to the beast and was for making fight unless it withdrew its visible deformity forthwith. His heart beat high for his adopted country, and he at once came boldly forward in its defence. At that time he was a resident of York and extensively engaged in iron works as well as in professional business, having become a very distinguished lawyer. He had never consented to fill public stations, and nothing but the purest patriotism and the importance of the threatened crisis, could have induced him to enter the public arena. In the language of Josiah Quincy, he had become convinced that—“We must be grossly ignorant of the importance and value of the prize for which we contend—we must be equally ignorant of the power of those who have combined against us—we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy and insatiable revenge, which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in our bosoms, to hope that we shall end this controversy without the sharpest—sharpest conflicts; to flatter ourselves that popular resolves, popular harangues, popular acclamations and popular vapour will vanquish our foes. Let us consider the issue—let us look to the end.”

Mr. Smith was a man that looked at both the beginning and the end. He was a man who examined closely causes, effects, and results. He also understood human nature and knew well the disposition of the colonists. He was convinced the bone and sinew of the land would never yield to the tyranny of mother Britain without a “sharp conflict.” For that conflict he was prepared.

The first step taken in Pennsylvania relative to the existing oppressions, was the assembling of a convention of delegates from each county, in order to ascertain the feelings of the people generally relative to the course proposed by the patriots of New England, where the revolutionary storm had already commenced its precursory droppings. Of this convention Mr. Smith was a delegate, and was one of the committee that prepared the instructions to the members of the next general assembly of the province, recommending, among other things, the appointment of delegates to the general Congress to be convened at Philadelphia, with instructions from which the following is an extract, sufficient to inform the reader of the grievances most particularly complained of at that early period.

“We desire of you therefore—that the deputies you appoint may be instructed by you strenuously to exert themselves at the ensuing Congress to obtain a renunciation on the part of Great Britain of all the powers under the statute of the 35th of Henry the Eighth, ch. 2nd—of all powers of internal legislation—of imposing taxes or duties internal or external and of regulating trade, except with respect to any new articles of commerce which the colonies may hereafter raise, as silk, wine, &c., reserving a right to carry them from one colony to another—a repeal of all statutes for quartering troops in the colonies or subjecting them to any expense on account of such troops—of all statutes imposing duties to be paid in the colonies, that were passed at the accession of his present majesty, or before this time, which ever period shall be judged most advisable—of the statutes giving the courts of admiralty in the colonies greater power than the courts of admiralty have in England—of the statutes of the 5th of George the Second, ch. 22nd, and of the 23d of George the Second, ch. 29th—of the statute for shutting up the port of Boston—and of every other statute particularly affecting the province of Massachusetts bay, passed in the last session of parliament. If all the terms above mentioned cannot be obtained, it is our opinion that the measures adopted by the Congress for our relief, should never be relinquished or intermitted, until those relating to the troops—internal legislation—imposition of taxes or duties hereafter—the 35th of Henry the Eighth, ch. 2nd,—the extension of admiralty courts—the port of Boston and the province of Massachusetts bay are obtained. Every modification, or qualification of these points, in our judgment should be inadmissible.”

By the statute of the 35th of Henry the Eighth, ch. 2nd, a citizen of America was liable to be arrested and carried to England to be tried, when accused of high crimes. By the 5th of George the Second, ch. 23d, the colonists were prohibited from exporting hats, and hatters were even limited as to the number of apprentices they should keep to learn this trade; in order, as the statute declares, “that hatting may be better encouraged in Great Britain.” The other acts referred to infringements of sundry local arrangements of the colonies equally obnoxious with the above; and when the final list of grievances was completed at a subsequent time, many statutes under George the Third were complained of as violating the constitution of England and the charters predicated upon it, which had grown sacred by long and acknowledged usage, by learned and legal construction, and by numerous declaratory acts of the British parliament, passed when sitting under the mantle of reason, equity, justice and sound policy.

By these instructions, directly from the people, we can judge of the feeling that pervaded the great mass of the yeomanry at that time; and by referring to the instructions given to the delegates appointed by the assembly of the province to Congress, it will be seen that royal influence still pervaded that body, as they contain scarcely a definite feature or point similar to those from the primary convention of the people.[E]

[E] See them at large in the biography of George Ross.

So fully convinced was Mr. Smith of the issue between the colonies and mother Britain, that on his return home he immediately raised a company of volunteers, and was elected its captain by acclamation. This was the pioneer company of Pennsylvania, raised for the purpose of resisting tyranny. This company was organized about nine months before the bloody affair at Lexington; showing deep penetration and sagacious foresight in its original. He introduced thorough discipline in the corps, and imparted to its members the same holy fire of patriotism that was illuminating his own soul. Around this military nucleus accumulating force continued to increase, until it formed a regiment. Mr. Smith accepted the honorary title of its colonel, but imposed the actual commanding duties upon a younger man. He had given a momentum to the ball, and was gratified to see it rolling onward towards the temple of liberty with an increased impetus.

Mr. Smith was a member of the next convention that convened in January, 1775, at Philadelphia. He was among the foremost to oppose force to force, and peril life for freedom. He was then called an _ultra_ whig, and considered as treating the government of his majesty with disrespect. His patriotism had carried him six months in advance of most of the leading men, and no one could outstrip him in zeal for the cause of equal rights. His course was onward—right onward to action. For this the time soon arrived. During the year 1775 he took a conspicuous part in public measures, and in the spring of the ensuing year was appointed upon a committee, with Dr. Rush and Colonel Bayard, to organize a camp of four thousand five hundred troops, to be raised in Pennsylvania. No man was better calculated to render efficient aid in this important business. The committee immediately prepared, and, under the sanction of Congress, published an address to the volunteer and yeomen military of Pennsylvania, urging them to rally under the standard of liberty. In order that the reader may have a sample of every kind of proceeding and address that characterized the revolution that gave to us freedom, I insert an extract from this.

“We need not remind you that you are now furnished with new motives to animate and support your courage. You are not about to contend against the power of Great Britain in order to displace one set of villains to make room for another. Your arms will not be enervated in the day of battle with the reflection that you are to risk your lives or shed your blood for a British tyrant, or that your posterity will have your work to do over again. You are about to contend for permanent freedom, to be supported by a government which will be derived from yourselves, and which will have for its object, not the emolument of one man or class of men only, but the safety, liberty and happiness of every individual in the community. We call upon you, therefore, by the respect and obedience which are due to the authority of the UNITED COLONIES, to concur in this important measure. The present campaign will probably decide the fate of America. It is now in your power to immortalize your names by mingling your achievements with the events of the year 1776—a year which, we hope, will be famed in the annals of history to the end of time, for establishing, on a lasting foundation, the liberties of one quarter of the globe. Remember the honour of our colony is at stake. Should you desert the common cause at the present juncture, the glory you have acquired by your former exertions of strength and virtue will be tarnished; and our friends and brethren, who are now acquiring laurels in the most remote parts of America, will reproach us, and blush to own themselves natives or inhabitants of Pennsylvania. But there are other motives before you. Your houses, your fields, the legacies of your ancestors, or the dear bought fruits of your own industry and your liberty, now urge you to the field. These cannot plead with you in vain, or we might point out to you further—your wives, your children, your aged fathers and mothers, who now look up to you for aid, and hope for salvation in this day of calamity only from the instrumentality of your swords.”