Chapter XIX: ――biographical Sketches (3)

KING, RUFUS, an eminent statesman, was born in Scarborough, in the state of Maine, in the year 1755. He was graduated at Harvard college in 1777, immediately entered as a student at law in the office of the celebrated Theophilus Parsons, at Newburyport, and was admitted to the bar in 1780. In 1784, he was chosen to represent Newburyport in the state legislature, and in the same year was elected a delegate to the old congress. In 1787, he was appointed a delegate to the general convention assembled at Philadelphia, and in 1788 removed from Massachusetts to the city of New York. In 1796, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to the court of Great Britain, and remained there for seven years with equal honor to his country and himself. In 1813, he was chosen by the legislature of New York a senator of the United States, and being re-elected in 1820, he continued till the expiration of the term in 1825. Upon his retirement from the senate, he accepted from president Adams an invitation again to represent the United States at the court of Great Britain. During the voyage to England his health was seriously impaired, and his illness induced him to return in about a twelvemonth to his native land. He died in April, 1827.

KNOX, HENRY, a revolutionary general, was born in Boston, in 1750, and after receiving a common school education, commenced business as a bookseller, in his native town. Before the commencement of hostilities, he discovered an uncommon zeal in the cause of liberty. When the corps of artillery, in 1776, was increased to three regiments, the command was given to Knox, with the rank of brigadier-general. He distinguished himself by his courage at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Germantown, and Monmouth, and contributed greatly to the capture of Cornwallis. Immediately after this event he received from congress the commission of major-general. In 1785, he succeeded general Lincoln in the office of secretary of war, and having filled this department for eleven years, he obtained a reluctant permission to retire into private life. In 1798, when our relations with France were assuming a cloudy aspect, he was called upon to take a command in the army, but the peaceful arrangement of affairs soon permitted him to return into his retirement. He died at Thomaston, Maine, in 1806. In private life he was amiable, in his public character persevering, and of unsurpassed courage.

LAURENS, HENRY, a patriot and statesman, was born at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1724. After receiving a good school education, he engaged in commerce, and soon amassed an ample fortune. At the breaking out of the revolution he was in London, but he immediately returned to his native country, and in 1776, was elected a delegate to the general congress. He was soon chosen president of this body, and remained so till the close of the year 1778. In 1779, he received the appointment of minister plenipotentiary to Holland, but on his way thither was captured by the British, and committed to the Tower, where he was in confinement fourteen months. He was one of the commissioners for negotiating a peace with Great Britain, and in 1782, he signed with Jay and Franklin the preliminaries of the treaty. His health, however, was much impaired and he soon returned home, and passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. He died in 1792.

LAURENS, JOHN, lieutenant-colonel, son of the preceding, was liberally educated in England, and having returned to his native country, joined the American army in 1777. He displayed prodigies of valor at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Savannah and Charleston, and was killed at the very close of the war by carelessly exposing himself in a trifling skirmish. In 1780, he was sent as a special minister to France, to negotiate a loan; and after being subjected to a vexatious delay, he determined to present a memorial to the king in person at the levee. This purpose he carried into effect, the memorial was graciously received, and the object of negotiation satisfactorily arranged.

LAWRENCE, JAMES, a distinguished naval officer, was born in New Jersey, in 1781, and became a midshipman in 1798. In 1803, he was sent to the Mediterranean, as first lieutenant to the schooner Enterprise, and while there distinguished himself by his activity and valor. He remained on this station for three years, and then returned to the United States, having been transferred to the frigate John Adams. In February, 1813, he was in command of the Hornet, and took the fine British brig Peacock, after an action of fifteen minutes. On his return to the United States he was transferred to the frigate Chesapeake, and in June of the same year, while engaged in battle with the frigate Shannon, he received a mortal wound. His last exclamation, as they were carrying him below, was――‘Don’t give up the ship.’ He lingered in great pain for four days, when he died. His remains are interred at New York.

LEDYARD, JOHN, an adventurous traveller, was born at Groton, in Connecticut, and was educated at Dartmouth college, in New Hampshire. After having lived for some time among the Indians, he came to England, and sailed with Cook, on his second voyage, as a marine. On his return, he resolved to penetrate on foot across Northern Asia, and proceed to the opposite coast of America. He was, however, seized at Yakutz, and sent out of the Russian dominions. He was next employed by the African association to explore the interior of Africa; but he died at Cairo, in 1789.

LEE, ARTHUR, was born in Virginia, in 1740, and received his education in England, taking his degree of M.D. at the university of Edinburgh. He then returned to his native state, and for some years practised physic at Williamsburg; but political affairs were then assuming so interesting an aspect, that he again went to England and entered on the study of law in the Temple. In 1770, he visited London, and became a member of the famous society of the supporters of the bill of rights. His political publications at this period, under the signature of Junius Americanus, were numerous, and procured for him the acquaintance of the leaders of the popular party. In 1776, he was appointed minister to France, in conjunction with Dr. Franklin and Mr. Deane, and assisted in negotiating the treaty with that nation. In 1779, in consequence of the false accusations of Mr. Deane, complaints of his political conduct were freely circulated at home, and in the following year, he resigned his appointments and returned. In 1781, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia, and by this body returned to congress, where he continued to represent the state till 1785. In 1784, he was employed to arrange a treaty with the six Indian nations. He was next called to the board of treasury, where he continued till 1789, when he went into retirement. He died in 1792.

LEE, CHARLES, a major-general in the army of the revolution, was born in North Wales, and entered the army while very young. He served at an early age in America, and afterwards distinguished himself under general Burgoyne, in Portugal. He subsequently entered the Polish service, wandered all over Europe, killed an Italian officer in a duel, and in 1773, sailed for New York. Espousing the cause of the colonies, he received a commission from congress in 1775, with the rank of major-general. In 1776, he was invested with the command at New York, and afterwards with the chief command in the southern department. In December, 1776, he was made prisoner by the English, as he lay carelessly guarded at a considerable distance from the main body of the army in New Jersey. He was kept prisoner till the surrender of Burgoyne, in 1777, and treated in a manner unworthy of a generous enemy. In 1778, he was arraigned before a court martial, in consequence of his misconduct at the battle of Monmouth, and was suspended from any commission in the army of the United States for one year. He retired to a hovel in Virginia, living in entire seclusion, surrounded by his books and his dogs. In 1782, he went to reside at Philadelphia, where he died in obscurity, in October of the same year. He was a man of much energy and courage, with considerable literary attainments, but morose and avaricious. He published essays on military, literary, and political subjects, which, with his extensive correspondence, were collected in a volume, in 1792. The authorship of the Letters of Junius has been ascribed to him.

LEE, HENRY, a distinguished officer in the revolutionary army, was born in Virginia, in 1756, and was graduated at the college in Princeton. In 1776, he was a captain of one of the six companies of cavalry, raised by Virginia, and afterwards incorporated into one regiment, and in 1777, added to the main body of the provincials. At the battle of Germantown, Lee was selected with his company to attend Washington as his bodyguard. In 1780, being raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, he was sent with his legion to the army of the south, under general Greene, and continued with it till the end of the war. He distinguished himself at the battle of Eutaw springs, and in the ensuing October was sent on a special commission to the commander-in-chief, then employed in the siege of Yorktown. In 1786, he was appointed a delegate to congress, from the state of Virginia, and remained in that body till the adoption of the present constitution. He was a member of the state convention which ratified that instrument, and in 1792, he was raised to the chair of governor of Virginia. In 1799, he was again a member of congress, and while there selected to pronounce a funeral oration on the death of Washington. The latter years of his life were embarrassed by want, and it was while confined for debt in the limits of Spottsylvania county, that he prepared for publication his excellent Memoirs of the Southern Campaign. He was severely wounded during the riot in Baltimore, in 1814, and his health rapidly declined. He died on Cumberland island, Georgia, in 1818.

LEE, FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT, a signer of the declaration of independence, was born in Virginia, in 1734. He inherited a large fortune, and in 1765, became a member of the house of burgesses of his native state, and continued in that body till 1775, when he was chosen a member of the continental congress. He remained in this assembly till 1779, when he entered the legislature of his native state. He died in 1797.

LEE, RICHARD HENRY, an eminent patriot, and signer of the declaration of independence, was born in Virginia, in 1732, and received his education in England. He returned to his native country when in his nineteenth year, and devoted himself to the general study of history, politics, law, and polite literature, without engaging in any particular profession. In his twenty-fifth year, he was chosen a delegate to the house of burgesses, where he soon distinguished himself by his powers in debate. In 1764, he was appointed to draught an address to the king, and a memorial to the house of lords, which are among the best state papers of the period. His efforts in resisting the various encroachments of the British government were indefatigable, and in 1774, he attended the first general congress at Philadelphia, as a delegate from Virginia. He was a member of most of the important committees of this body, and labored with unceasing vigilance and energy. The memorial of congress to the people of British America, and the second address of congress to the people of Great Britain, were both from his pen. In June, 1776, he introduced the measure that declared the colonies free and independent states, and supported it by a speech of the most brilliant eloquence. He continued to hold a seat in congress till June, 1777, when he solicited leave of absence, on account of the delicate state of his health. In August of the next year, he was again elected to congress, and continued in that body till 1780, when he declined a re-election till 1784. In that year he was chosen president of congress, but retired at the close of it, and in 1786, was again chosen a member of the Virginia assembly. He was a member of the convention which adopted the present constitution of the United States, and one of the first senators under it. In 1792, he again retired from public life, and died in 1794.

LEWIS, MERIWETHER, a celebrated explorer, was born in Virginia, in 1774, and, after receiving a good school education, engaged in agriculture. When general Washington called out a body of militia in consequence of the discontent produced by the excise taxes, young Lewis entered as a volunteer, and from that situation was removed to the regular service. In 1803, he was sent by president Jefferson on an exploring expedition to the north-western part of our continent; and of this expedition, which was completed in about three years, and in which he was accompanied by Mr. Clarke, a highly interesting account was afterwards published. Lewis was subsequently appointed governor of the Louisiana territory. He put an end to his own life in 1809. He was a man of energy, perseverance, and of a sound understanding.

LINCOLN, BENJAMIN, a major-general in the revolutionary army, was born in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1733, and until the age of forty years was engaged in the pursuits of agriculture. At the commencement of the revolution, he was elected a member of the provincial congress, in 1776, received the commission of major-general, and employed himself vigorously to improve the discipline of the militia. He was second in command in the army which compelled the surrender of Burgoyne. On the day after the battle of Stillwater, he received a dangerous wound in his leg, and was confined for several months by its effects. In the following year, he was appointed to the command of the southern department, and while in this post he attempted the defence of Charleston, but was compelled to capitulate in May, 1780. He was exchanged in November, and in the spring following joined the army on the North river. At the siege of Yorktown he commanded a central division, and shared largely in the dangers and honors of the day. In 1781, he was appointed secretary of the war department, and afterwards on several occasions commissioner to treat with the Indians. On the establishment of peace, he returned to his native state, and in 1787, was appointed to command the troops employed in the suppression of the insurgents in Massachusetts. In 1788, he was chosen lieutenant governor, and in the following year he was a member of the convention which ratified the constitution of the United States. He died in 1810. He was the author of several published letters and essays; a member of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences; and president of the society of Cincinnati of Massachusetts.

LIVINGSTON, ROBERT R., a celebrated statesman and lawyer, was born in New York, and was educated at King’s college. He engaged in the profession of the law, and was elected to the first general congress of the colonies, where he was one of the committee appointed to prepare the declaration of independence. In 1780, he was appointed secretary of foreign affairs, and at the adoption of the constitution at New York, chancellor of that state. This last office he held till 1801, when he was sent minister plenipotentiary to France. It was in Paris that he formed a personal friendship with Robert Fulton, whom he materially assisted. In 1805, he returned to the United States, and devoted the remainder of his life to the promotion of agriculture and the arts. He died in 1813.

LOWELL, JOHN, an eminent lawyer, was born at Newbury, in 1744, and was educated at Harvard college. He studied law, and rising to reputation, in 1761, he removed to Boston, and soon distinguished himself by his political knowledge and eloquence. In 1781, he was elected a member of congress, and on the establishment of the federal government, was appointed a judge of the circuit court of the United States. In these situations he was much respected for his legal knowledge and dignity. He died in 1802.

LOWNDES, WILLIAM, a celebrated statesman, was a native of South Carolina, and was for many years a distinguished member of congress. His mind was vigorous, comprehensive, and logical; and his disposition eminently kind, frank, and generous. He was in a high degree ardent and patriotic. He entered congress in 1812, and retained his seat for about ten years, when ill health compelled him to resign. In 1818, he was chairman of the committee of ways and means. He died at sea, in October, 1822, at the age of forty-two. It was said of him in the house, by Mr. Taylor of New York, that ‘the highest and best hopes of the country looked to William Lowndes for their fulfilment. The most honorable office in the civilized world, the chief magistracy of this free people, would have been illustrated by his virtues and talents.’

M’KEAN, THOMAS, an eminent judge, and a signer of the declaration of independence, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1734, and, after a course of academic and professional studies, was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one years. His political career commenced in 1762, when he was returned a member of the assembly from the county of Newcastle. He was a member of the congress which assembled in New York, in 1765, to obtain relief of the British government for the grievances under which the colonies were suffering. In this body he behaved with much decision and energy. In 1774, he was appointed to the general congress, a delegate from the lower counties in Delaware, and was the only man who, without intermission, was a member during the whole period. Of this body he was president in 1781. In 1777, he was appointed chief justice of Pennsylvania, and discharged the duties of this office with impartiality and dignity, for twenty-two years. In 1799, he was elected governor of the state of Pennsylvania, and his administration continued for nine years. In 1808, he retired from public life, and died, much respected and honored, in 1817.

MARION, FRANCIS, a distinguished officer of the revolutionary army, was born in South Carolina, in 1732, and first served in 1761, as a lieutenant against the Cherokees. Soon after the commencement of the revolution, he received a major’s commission, and in 1780, he obtained that of brigadier-general. He continually surprised and captured parties of the British and the royalists, by the secrecy and rapidity of his movements. On the evacuation of Charleston, he retired to his plantation, where he died in 1795. He was bold, generous, and severe in his discipline.

MASON, GEORGE, a statesman, was a member of the general convention, which, in 1787, framed the constitution of the United States, but refused to sign his name as one of that body to the instrument which they had produced. In the following year, he was a member of the Virginia convention, to consider the proposed plan of federal government. In union with Henry, he opposed its adoption with great energy, and is the author of one of the articles inserted among the amendments of that instrument. So averse was he to the section which allowed the slave-trade for twenty years, that he declared his vote should be cast against the admission of the southern states into the Union, unless they would agree to discontinue the traffic. He died at his seat in Virginia, in the autumn of 1792, at the age of sixty-seven.

MASON, JOHN MITCHELL, a divine and pulpit orator, was born in the city of New York, in 1770, and after graduating at Columbia college, prepared himself for the sacred ministry. His theological studies were completed in Europe. In 1792, he returned to New York, and was established in the ministry at that place till 1811, when he accepted the appointment of provost in Columbia college. This situation his ill health obliged him to resign, and he visited Europe to repair his constitution. On his return, in 1817, he again resumed his labors in preaching, and in 1821, undertook the charge of Dickinson college, in Pennsylvania. In 1824, he returned to New York, and died in 1829. He was the author of Letters on Frequent Communion; A Plea for Sacramental Communion on Catholic Principles; and a number of essays, reviews, orations, and sermons, published at different times.

MATHER, INCREASE, a learned divine, was born at Dorchester, in 1639, was educated to the ministry, and was settled in the North church, Boston, in 1664. He continued there for sixty-two years, discharging the duties of his sacred office with zeal and ability. In 1685, he was appointed to the presidency of Harvard college, which he resigned in 1701. He died in 1723. He was an indefatigable student, and published a variety of works on religion, politics, history, and philosophy.

MATHER, COTTON, a celebrated divine, son of the preceding, was born in February, 1663, and was educated for the profession of theology. In 1684, he was ordained minister of the North church in Boston, as colleague with his father. He died in 1728. His learning was marvellous, but his taste was eccentric, and he was very pedantic and credulous. His publications are 382 in number; the most celebrated of which is Magnalia Christi Americani.

M’DONOUGH, THOMAS, a distinguished naval officer, was born in Newcastle county, Delaware, and after his father’s death in 1796, he obtained a midshipman’s warrant, and went out with our fleet to the Mediterranean. In 1812, at the age of twenty-seven, he commanded the American forces on lake Champlain. In the battle of September 11, 1814, after an action of two hours and twenty minutes, he obtained a complete victory, which he announced to the war department in the following terms:――‘The Almighty has been pleased to grant us a signal victory on lake Champlain, in the capture of one frigate, one brig, and two sloops of war of the enemy.’ The state of New York gave him a thousand acres of land on the bay in which the battle was fought. He died in November, 1825, at about the age of thirty-nine years.

MIDDLETON, ARTHUR, a signer of the declaration of independence, was born in South Carolina, in 1743, and received his education in Europe. Soon after his return home, he began to take an active part in the revolutionary movements, and in 1776, was chosen one of the delegates from his native state to the American congress. At the close of the year 1777, he resigned his seat, leaving behind a character for the purest patriotism and unwavering resolution. In the year 1779, many of the southern plantations were ravaged, and that of Mr. Middleton did not escape. On the surrender of Charleston, he was taken prisoner, and kept in confinement for nearly a year. In 1781, he was appointed a representative to congress, and again in 1782. In the latter year he went into retirement, and died in 1787.

MONROE, JAMES, was born in Virginia, in 1759, and was educated in William and Mary college. He entered the revolutionary war, in 1776, as a cadet, was at the battles of Haerlem Heights and White Plains, and in the attack on Trenton, and rose through the rank of lieutenant to that of captain. He was present at the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, as aid to lord Sterling. Resuming the study of the law, he entered the office of Mr. Jefferson, and after being a member of the assembly of Virginia and the council, he was elected, in 1783, a member of the old congress. In 1790, he was elected a member of the senate of the United States, in 1794, went as minister plenipotentiary to France, and in 1799, was appointed governor of Virginia. In 1803, he was appointed minister extraordinary to France, in the same year minister to London, and in the next minister to Spain. In 1806, he was again appointed, in conjunction with Mr. William Pinkney, minister to London. He was subsequently governor of Virginia; in 1811, was appointed secretary of state, and continued to exercise the duties of this department, and for some time those of the department of war till 1817. In that year he was chosen president of the Union, and in 1821, was re-elected by a vote unanimous, with the single exception of one vote in New Hampshire. He died in New York, on the fourth of July, 1831.

MONTGOMERY, RICHARD, a major-general in the army of the revolution, was born in Ireland, in 1737. He entered the British army, and fought with Wolfe at the siege of Quebec, in 1759. He subsequently left the army and settled in New York. Joining the cause of the colonies, he was appointed a general in the northern army, and fell at the assault on Quebec, in 1775. By a vote of congress, a monument of white marble, with emblematical devices, was executed by Mr. Cassiers, at Paris, and is erected to his memory in front of St. Paul’s church, New York. His remains, in pursuance of a resolve of the New York legislature, were disinterred by his nephew, colonel Livingston, in June, 1818, the place of their burial having been pointed out by an old soldier, who attended their burial forty-two years before. They were removed to New York, and again interred in St. Paul’s church, with the highest civil and military honors. His widow was then living.

MORGAN, DANIEL, a distinguished officer in the army of the American revolution, was born in New Jersey, and removed to Virginia in 1755. He enlisted in Braddock’s expedition as a private soldier, and on the defeat of that general, returned to his occupation as a farmer. At the commencement of the revolution he was appointed to the command of a troop of horse, and joined the army under Washington, then in the neighborhood of Boston. He distinguished himself very much in the expedition against Quebec, where he fell into the hands of the enemy. On the exchange of prisoners, he rejoined the American army, was appointed to the command of a select rifle corps, and detached to assist general Gates on the northern frontier, where he contributed materially to the capture of general Burgoyne. After a short retirement from service, on account of ill health, he was appointed brigadier-general by brevet, and commanded the force by which colonel Tarleton was routed at the battle of Cowpens. He soon after resigned his commission. In 1794, he commanded the militia of Virginia called out to suppress the insurrection in Pennsylvania, and continued in the service till 1795. He afterwards was elected to a seat in congress. He died in 1799.

MORRIS, GOUVERNEUR, an eminent statesman and orator, was born at Morrisania, near the city of New York, in 1752, was graduated at King’s college in 1768, and licensed to practice law in 1771. In 1775, he was a member of the provincial congress of New York, and was one of the committee which drafted a constitution for the state of New York. In 1777, he was chosen a delegate to the continental congress, and in the following year wrote the celebrated Observations on the American Revolution. In 1781, he accepted the post of assistant superintendent of finance, as colleague of Robert Morris; and in 1787, was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the United States. In 1792, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France, and held this station till his recall by the request of the French government, in 1794. In 1800, he was elected a senator in congress from the state of New York, and in this body was very conspicuous for his political information and his brilliant eloquence. Many of his speeches in congress and orations have been published; and a selection from his correspondence and other valuable papers, with a biographical sketch, by Mr. Jared Sparks, was issued in 1832.

MORRIS, LEWIS, a signer of the declaration of independence, was born at the manor of Morrisania, near the city of New York, in 1726. He was educated at Yale college, and took an early part in the cause of the colonies. In 1775, he was elected a delegate to the continental congress, and while in this body served on several of the most important committees. His rich estates were laid waste by the British army in 1776. He left congress in 1777, and died in 1798. Three of his sons served with distinction in the revolutionary army.

MORRIS, ROBERT, a celebrated financier, was a native of England, removed with his father to America, at an early age, and subsequently established himself as a merchant in Philadelphia. In 1775, he was appointed a delegate to congress, and signed the declaration of independence in the following year. In 1781, he was appointed superintendent of finance, and rendered incalculable service by his wealth and credit during the exhausted state of our public funds. It has been said, and with much truth, that ‘the Americans owed, and still owe, as much acknowledgment to the financial operations of Robert Morris, as to the negotiations of Benjamin Franklin, or even to the arms of George Washington.’ He was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the United States in 1787, and afterwards a senator in congress. In his old age he lost his ample fortune, by unfortunate land speculations, and passed the last years of his life confined in prison for debt. He died in 1806.

MOULTRIE, WILLIAM, a major-general in the army of the revolution, was born in England, but emigrated to South Carolina at an early age. He served with distinction in the Cherokee war, in 1760, and in its last campaign commanded a company. At the commencement of the revolution, he was a member of the provincial congress, and a colonel of the second regiment of South Carolina. For his brave defence of Sullivan’s island, in 1776, he received the thanks of congress, and the fort was afterwards called by his name. In 1779, he gained a victory over the British at Beaufort. He afterwards received the commission of major-general, and was second in command to general Lincoln at the siege of Charleston. After the close of the war, he was repeatedly elected governor of South Carolina. He published Memoirs of the Revolution in the Carolinas and Georgia, consisting chiefly of official letters. He died at Charleston, in 1805.

MURRAY, ALEXANDER, a distinguished naval officer, was born in Maryland, in 1755. He went early to sea, and being appointed a lieutenant in the navy, obtained a correspondent rank in the army, and distinguished himself at the battles of White Plains, Flatbush, and New York. Being promoted to a captaincy, he served with gallantry to the close of the campaign of 1777. During the war he was engaged in thirteen battles by sea and land, and was once taken prisoner. On the organization of the new government, he was one of the first officers recalled into service, and was engaged for a while to defend the American trade in the Mediterranean. His last appointment was that of commander of the navy-yard in Philadelphia, a post which he held till the time of his death, in 1821. He was a brave officer and much respected.

MURRAY, WILLIAM VANS, an American statesman, was born in Maryland, in 1761, and received his legal education in London. On returning to his native state, he engaged in the practice of law, and in 1791 was elected to a seat in congress, where he distinguished himself by his ability and eloquence. He was appointed by Washington minister to the republic of Batavia, and discharged the duties of the office with much ability. He was subsequently envoy extraordinary to the French republic, and assisted in making the convention which was signed at Paris in 1800, between France and the United States. Returning to his station at the Hague, he embarked in 1801 for his native country, where he died in 1803.

OTIS, JAMES, a distinguished statesman, was born at West Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1725, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1743. He pursued the profession of the law, and establishing himself in Boston, soon rose to eminence. His public career may be said to have opened with his celebrated speech against writs of assistance. At the next election he was chosen a representative to the legislature, and soon became the leader of the popular party. In 1765, he was a member of the congress which assembled at New York. In 1769, he was severely wounded in an assault committed upon him by some British officers; from one of whom he recovered large damages, which he remitted on receiving a written apology. In 1772, he retired from public life, and in May of the following year was killed by a stroke of lightning. He was a good scholar, a learned and able lawyer, a bold and commanding orator, and possessed infinite powers of humor and wit.

PAINE, ROBERT TREAT, an eminent lawyer, and a signer of the declaration of American independence, was born at Boston, in 1731, and was graduated at Harvard college in 1749. After a visit to Europe of some years, he commenced the study of the law, and about 1759, settled in its practice in Taunton. He took an early and active interest in public affairs, and in 1774, was appointed a delegate from Massachusetts to the general congress. He was a member of the committee of the convention that drafted the constitution of his native state. Under the government that was organized he was appointed attorney-general, and held this office till 1790, when he was appointed a judge of the supreme court. He remained on the bench till 1804. He died at Boston, in 1814. His legal attainments and his general acquirements were extensive, and he was a man of much brilliancy of wit.

PAINE, ROBERT TREAT, a poet, son of the preceding, was born at Taunton, in 1773, and graduated at Harvard college in 1792. On leaving college he was placed in a counting-house, but soon turned his attention to literature and theatricals, and published several orations and poems. His poems were very popular and profitable, and by the sale of the song of Adams and Liberty, he received the sum of seven hundred and fifty dollars. In 1800, he began the practice of law, but failed of success from the want of industry, and passed the close of his life in poverty. He died in 1811. His works have been collected and published in one volume 8vo, prefaced by a biographical sketch.

PARKER, ISAAC, an eminent lawyer, was born in Boston, and graduated at Harvard college in 1786. He studied law in the office of judge Tudor, and commenced practice at Castine, in Maine, then an integral part of Massachusetts. Removing to Portland, he was sent for one term to congress as a representative from Cumberland county. He also held for a short time the office of United States’ marshal for that district. In 1806, he was appointed by governor Strong associate judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts, and soon after took up his residence at Boston. In 1814, he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court, and held that office till his sudden death, in July, 1830, at the age of sixty-three years. He was distinguished for urbanity, and his legal opinions are very highly respected.

PARSONS, THEOPHILUS, a distinguished lawyer, was born at Byefield, Massachusetts, in 1750, and graduated at Harvard college, in 1769. He studied, and pursued the practice of the law, for some years, in Falmouth now Portland; but when that town was destroyed by the British, he retired to the house of his father in Newbury. About a year afterwards he opened an office in Newburyport. He soon rose to the highest rank in his profession, and made immense acquisitions in legal knowledge. His professional services were sought for in all directions, and after thirty-five years of extensive practice, he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of Massachusetts. In 1780, he was a member of the convention which formed the constitution of the state, and of the convention which accepted the federal constitution. He was a powerful speaker, without a rival in knowledge of law, and surpassed by few in his acquaintance with science and classical literature. He continued in the seat of chief justice till his death, in 1813.

PENN, WILLIAM, the founder and legislator of Pennsylvania, whom Montesquieu denominates the modern Lycurgus, was the son of admiral Penn; was born, in 1644, in London; and was educated at Christ church, Oxford. At college he imbibed the principles of Quakerism, which, a few years afterwards he publicly professed. He was, in consequence, twice turned out of doors by his father. In 1668, he began to preach in public, and to write in defence of the doctrines which he had embraced. For this he was thrice imprisoned, and once brought to trial. It was during his first imprisonment that he wrote No Cross, No Crown. In 1677, he visited Holland and Germany, to propagate Quakerism. In March, 1680–81, he obtained from Charles II. a grant of that territory which now bears the name of Pennsylvania; in 1682, he embarked for his new colony; and in the following year he founded Philadelphia. He returned to England in 1684. So much was he in favor with James II., that, after the revolution, he was more than once arrested on suspicion of plotting to restore the exiled monarch; but he at length succeeded in establishing his innocence. The rest of his life was passed in tranquillity. He died July 30, 1718. His works have been collected in two folio volumes.

PERRY, OLIVER HAZARD, a naval officer of distinction, was born at Kingston, Rhode Island, in August, 1785. He entered the navy of the United States as a midshipman, and in 1812, was advanced to the office of master commandant. In the following year he was appointed to the command of the squadron on lake Erie. On the tenth of September, he achieved a complete victory over the enemy under commodore Barclay, after an action of three hours, and captured the whole squadron. He commanded the Java in the expedition to the Mediterranean, under commodore Decatur. He died in the West Indies, in 1820.

PETERS, RICHARD, an eminent judge, was born in June, 1744, and received his education in the city of Philadelphia. He adopted the profession of the law, and soon obtained an extensive practice. At the commencement of hostilities with the mother country, Mr. Peters joined the side of the colonies, and in 1776, was appointed by congress secretary of the board of war. His exertions in this department were highly meritorious and useful, and on resigning the post, in 1781, he was elected a member of congress, and assisted in closing the business of the war. On the organization of the new government, Mr. Peters was appointed judge of the district court of Pennsylvania, and performed the duties of this office for thirty-six years. During this time he was engaged in several objects of public improvement, and issued several valuable publications in relation to agriculture. As a judge, he possessed powers of a high order, and his decisions on admiralty law form the ground work of this branch of our jurisprudence. Their principles were not only sanctioned by our own courts, but were simultaneously adopted by lord Stowell, the distinguished maritime judge of Great Britain. Judge Peters died in August, 1828.

PICKERING, TIMOTHY, a statesman, was born in Salem, in 1746, and was graduated at Harvard college, in 1763. He took an active part in the popular cause, and, in organizing the provisional government of Massachusetts, in 1775, was appointed a judge of the court of common pleas for Essex, and sole judge of the maritime court for the middle district. During the war, he was appointed adjutant-general, and subsequently a member of the board of war. From 1790 to 1798, at different intervals, he was employed on various negotiations with the Indians. He was successively postmaster-general, secretary of war, and secretary of state. From the last office he was removed by president Adams, in 1800. From 1803 to 1811, he was a senator in congress from his native state, and from 1814 to 1817, a representative in that body. In public life he was distinguished for firmness, energy, activity and disinterestedness. He died in Salem, in 1829.

PIKE, ZEBULON MONTGOMERY, brigadier-general, was born at Lamberton, New Jersey, on the fifth of January, 1779. After the purchase of Louisiana, he was appointed by Mr. Jefferson, in 1805, to explore the sources of the Mississippi. On his return, he was sent on a similar expedition to the interior of Louisiana, and on the Rio del Norte was seized by a Spanish force, and deprived of his papers. He returned in 1807. During the late war, he was made brigadier-general, and commanded the land forces in the attack upon York, in Upper Canada, on the twenty-seventh of April, 1813. In the explosion of the British magazine, he was struck by a large stone, and died in a few hours. When the British standard was brought to him, he caused it to be placed under his head, and thus died at the age of thirty-four.

PINCKNEY, CHARLES COTESWORTH, a distinguished officer of the revolutionary army, was born in South Carolina, received his education in England, and studied law in the Temple. On returning to his native province, in 1769, he devoted himself to the successful practice of his profession. On the commencement of hostilities, he renounced law for the study of military tactics, and was soon promoted to the command of the first regiment of Carolina infantry. He was subsequently aid-de-camp to Washington, and in this capacity at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. On the surrender of Charleston, he was taken prisoner, and remained so till all opportunity of gaining fresh reputation in the field had passed. He was a member of the convention which formed the federal constitution, and in 1796 was appointed minister to France. When preparations were making for war on account of the expected French invasion, Mr. Pinckney was nominated a major-general, but he soon had an opportunity of retiring to the quiet of private life. He was afterwards president of the Cincinnati society of the United States. He died in 1825.

PINKNEY, WILLIAM, an eloquent lawyer and statesman, was born in Maryland, in 1764, and prepared himself for the bar, under the instruction of judge Chase. He was admitted to practice in 1786, and soon gave indications of possessing superior powers. He was a member of the convention of Maryland, which ratified the federal constitution. In 1796 he was appointed one of the commissioners under the British treaty. The state of Maryland also employed him to procure a settlement of its claims on the bank of England, and he recovered for it the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars. This detained him in England till the year 1804, when he returned and resumed his professional labors. In 1806, he was sent as envoy extraordinary to London, and in 1808, received the authority of minister plenipotentiary. He returned to the United States in 1811, and soon after was appointed attorney-general. This office he held till 1814. During the incursion of the British into Maryland, he commanded a battalion, and was wounded in the battle of Bladensburgh, in August, 1814. He was afterwards representative in congress, minister plenipotentiary to Russia, envoy to Naples, and in 1819, senator in congress. In the last office he continued till his death, in 1822.

PINKNEY, EDWARD COATE, son of the foregoing, was born in London, in 1802, passed his infancy in England, and was placed as a student in Baltimore college at the age of ten or eleven. He entered the navy as a midshipman, and continued in the service for several years. On the death of his father, he quitted the navy and devoted himself to the practice of the law. He published, in 1825, a volume of poems, which possess much beauty. He died in 1828.

PREBLE, EDWARD, a distinguished naval officer, was born at Falmouth, in Maine, in 1761, and entered the navy as a midshipman, in 1779. He soon rose to the rank of lieutenant, and during the revolutionary war distinguished himself by capturing a British vessel at Penobscot. In 1798, he was appointed to the command of the brig Pickering, and soon after to the Essex. He commanded, in 1803, a fleet sent against the Barbary powers, and repeatedly attacked Tripoli with considerable success. In 1804, he returned to the United States, and died in 1807.

PUTNAM, ISRAEL, an officer in the army of the revolution, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, 1718. He received but a meagre education, and removing to Connecticut, engaged in agriculture. In the French war he commanded a company, and was engaged in several contests with the enemy. In 1756, he fell into an ambuscade of savages, and was exposed to the most cruel tortures. He obtained his release in 1759, and returned to his farm. Soon after the battle of Lexington he joined the army at Cambridge, was appointed major-general, and distinguished himself at Bunker’s hill. In 1776, he was sent to complete the fortifications at New York, and afterwards to fortify Philadelphia. In the winter of 1777, he was stationed with a small body at Princeton, and in the spring appointed to a command in the Highlands, where he remained most of the time till the close of 1779, when he was disabled by an attack of paralysis. He died in 1790. He was brave, energetic, and one of the most efficient officers of the revolution.

QUINCY, JOSIAH, a distinguished lawyer and patriot, was born in Boston, in 1743, and was graduated at Harvard college. He soon became eminent in the practice of law, and distinguished by his active exertions in the popular cause. His powers of eloquence were of a very high order. In 1774, he took a voyage to Europe for the benefit of his health, and to advance the interests of the colonies. He died on his return, on the 25th of April, 1775, the day the vessel reached the harbor of cape Ann.

RAMSAY, DAVID, an historian, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1749, was educated at Princeton college, and commenced the study of medicine. After practising a short time in Maryland, he removed to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1773, and soon rose to an extensive practice. He took an active and early part in the cause of the colonies, and was for some time a surgeon in the revolutionary army. In 1782, he was chosen to a seat in congress. He wrote a History of the Revolution in South Carolina; a History of the American Revolution; a Life of Washington; a History of South Carolina; and a History of the United States. He died in 1815.

RANDOLPH, EDMUND, governor of Virginia, was educated to the law. After seeing a little military service in the suite of Washington, he applied himself to his professional pursuits. He succeeded Patrick Henry to the gubernatorial chair of Virginia, and occupied it from 1786 to 1788. In 1790, he received from Washington the appointment of attorney-general of the United States; and in 1794, he succeeded Mr. Jefferson as secretary of state. In consequence of some difficulties with the administration, he resigned in August, 1795. He died in Frederic county, Virginia, in September, 1813.

REED, JOSEPH, a patriot of the revolution, was graduated at the college in New Jersey, in 1757. While a member of congress, in 1778, the British commissioner endeavored to procure his influence to bring about a reconciliation between the colonies and the mother country; he rejected their offers with the reply,――‘That he was not worth purchasing; but such as he was, the king of Great Britain was not rich enough to buy him.’ In 1778, he was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and retained that office till his death, in 1781.

REEVE, TAPPING, an eminent lawyer, was born at Brook-Haven, in 1744, and was graduated at Princeton college. He established himself as a lawyer in Litchfield, Connecticut, where he founded the law school, of which, for nearly thirty years, he was the principal instructer. He was for many years judge of the supreme court of that state, and some time chief justice. His legal attainments were of a high order, and as a man he possessed the esteem and respect of the community.

RITTENHOUSE, DAVID, a celebrated mathematician, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1732. During his early life he was employed in agriculture, but as his constitution was feeble, he became a clock and mathematical instrument maker. In 1770, he removed to Philadelphia, and practised his trade. He was elected a member, and for some time president of the Philosophical society, and one of the commissioners employed to determine the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia, and between New York and Massachusetts. He was treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789, and from 1792 to 1795, director of the United States mint. His death took place in 1796. His mathematical talents were of the highest order.

RUSH, BENJAMIN, an eminent physician, was born, in 1745, at Bristol, in Pennsylvania; was educated at Princeton college, and took his degree at Edinburgh, was chosen, in 1776, a member of congress, and signed the declaration of independence; was professor of medicine and clinical practice at the Pennsylvanian university; and died in 1813. He was one of the greatest and best men who have adorned his country. Among his works are Essays, literary, moral, and philosophical; Medical Inquiries and Observations; and a History of the Yellow Fever.

RUTLEDGE, EDWARD, an eminent lawyer, and a signer of the declaration of independence, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1749. His legal education was completed in England, and in 1773 he returned to his native country, and entered upon the duties of his profession. In 1774, he was appointed a delegate to the congress at Philadelphia, and took an active part in the discussions of the day. After a successful practice of his profession for seventeen years, in 1798 he relinquished his station at the bar, and was elected chief magistrate of South Carolina. He died in 1800.

SAINT CLAIR, ARTHUR, born at Edinburgh, was a lieutenant under general Wolfe, and afterwards settled in Pennsylvania, and became a naturalized citizen. On the commencement of the revolution, he embraced the cause of the American army, and in February, 1777, was appointed major-general. He served with distinction, and in 1783, was elected president of the Cincinnati society of his adopted state. In 1785, he was elected a delegate to congress, and in 1787, was chosen president of that body. He was afterwards governor of the North-west territory, and in 1790, commanded an army against the Miami Indians. He resigned his commission of major-general in 1792. His latter years were passed in poverty. He died in 1818.

SANDS, ROBERT C., a man of letters, was born in the city of New York, on the eleventh of May, 1799. He was graduated at Columbia college, in 1815, and soon after commenced the study of law, in the office of David B. Ogden, a distinguished advocate of New York. In 1817, he published the Bridal of Vaumond, an irregular metrical romance, after the fashion which Scott had made so popular. Subsequently, in conjunction with his friend the Rev. J. W. Eastburn, he wrote the poem Yamoyden, which appeared in New York in 1820, and acquired for the authors a high reputation. In the same year he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in the city of New York. In 1822 and 1823, he wrote many articles for the Literary Review, a monthly periodical, then published in New York, which received great increase of reputation from his contributions. Shortly after this he was engaged in a burlesque publication, entitled the St. Tammany Magazine. In May, 1824, the Atlantic Magazine was established in New York, and placed under his care; at the end of six months he gave up this work, but subsequently resumed its charge, when it changed its name and character, and appeared as the New York Review. During the same period, he assisted in editing various compilations on legal subjects. Having now become an author by profession, and looking to his pen for support, he became the assistant editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, and remained in this situation to the close of his life. While engaged in the laborious and incessant duties of a daily journal, Mr. Sands prosecuted various other literary undertakings with much success. He was one of the chief contributors to the Talisman, in which he was assisted by his friends Bryant and Verplanck. He edited a new Life of Paul Jones, and wrote two stories in the Tales of Glauber Spa. His death occurred suddenly, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. His collected works have been recently published, in two volumes octavo.