(Lord Buchan adds) "as he lived, with fortitude and resignation to the will of the Almighty, and in the belief of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. Not a syllable of impatience or discontent was uttered in his greatest distress. Yet he had naturally a violent temper, which the spirit of that gospel, which had subdued it, enabled him to render subservient to great actions during the whole of the seven years war, and of his whole public administration. To draw his people to agricultural and industrious habits, and to a sinplicity of manners, and a good education of youth, seemed to be the leading principle of his political system; and the maxim he unfolded in his valedic tory oration to the Senate, when he voluntarily declined the continuation of supreme power, deserves to be recorded on tables of adamant.-"The foundations (said he) of national policy must be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous people, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and happiness. Since we ought to be no less persuaded, that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation, that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."-"In his stature," (adds the Earl), 'he was tall and firm; in his countenance grave and thoughtful; in his manners easy and polite; in his family and society correct in all his relations; în his commerce with mankind scrupulously just and correct, a most affectionate husband, kind relation, and humane master to his slaves and servants. The liberation of his slaves, if so they could be denominated, under his government, he left to his excellent widow, Mrs. Washington, whom he appointed the chief executrix of his will, as well as his immediate heir in the greatest part of his property during her life. But she died soon after him of heart-break for her irreparable loss."

The character of this truly great man," says another eminent writer, "will ever be revered by the admirers of genius, integrity, and genuine patriotism; for al

though his exertions prevailed in depriving Great Britain of one of her most important possessions, the whole tenor of his conduct sufficiently proved, that he acted from the most thorough conviction, and from the purest principles. He fought and bled, not to degrade and enslave, but to render free and happy, his native land; and having done every thing that his country could expect or true patriotism could accomplish, like another honest Cincinnatus, he resigned his well, merited power into the same hands from which he received it, and withdrew into the tranquil bosom of honorable retirement; leaving to the state which he had contributed to establish, the fruits of his wisdom and the example of his virtues."

DR. FRANKLIN.

(Jones's Biographical Dictionary.)

DOCTOR BENJAMIN FRANKLIN born at Boston in America 1706, was placed at a very early age under one of his brothers, who was a printer, where he made a rapid progress in that art so useful to mankind, and contracted an attachment for the press which continued as long as he lived.-Scarcely emerged from infancy, Franklin was a philosopher without being conscious of it, and by the continual exercise of his genius prepared himself for those great discoveries in science which have since associated his name with that of Newton, and for those political reflections which have placed him by the side of a Solon and a Lycurgus.— Soon after his removal from Boston to Philadelphia, Franklin, in concert with some other young men, established a small club; where every member, after his work was over, and on holidays, brought his stock of ideas, which were submitted to discussion. This society of which the young printer was the soul, has been the source of every useful establishment in that province calculated to promote the progress of science, the mechanical arts, and particularly the improvement of the human understanding.—Higher employments, how

* See also page 73 this volume.

ever, at length called him from his country, which he was destined to serve more effectually as its agent in England, whither he was sent in 1757.-The stamp act, by which the British minister wished to familarize the Americans to pay taxes to the mother-country, revived that love of liberty which had led their forefathers to a country at that time a desert; and the colonies formed a congress, the first idea of which had been communicated to them by Franklin, at the conferences at Albany in 1754. The war that was just terminated, and the exertions made by them to support it, had given them a conviction of their strength; they opposed this measure, and the minister gave way, but reserved the means of renewing his attempts. Once cautioned, however, they remained on their guard; liberty, cherished by their alarms, took deep root; and the rapid circulation of ideas by means of newspapers, for the introduction of which they were indebted to the printer of Philadelphia, united them together to resist every fresh enterprise. In the year 1766, this printer, called to the bar of the house of commons, underwent that famous interrogatory, which placed the name of Franklin as high in politics, as it was before in natural philosophy. From that time he defended the cause of America with a firmness and moderation becoming a great man, pointing out to the ministry all the errors they had committed, and the consequences they would induce, till the period when, the tax on tea meeting the same opposition as the stamp act had done, England blindly fancied herself capable of subjecting by force 3,000,000 of men determined to be free, at a distance of 2000 leagues.-Every man is acquainted with the particulars of that war; but every man has not equally reflected on the bold attempt of Franklin as as a legislator. Having asserted their independence, and placed themselves in the rank of nations, the different colonies, now the United States of America, adopted each its own form of government; and, retaining almost universally their admiration for the British constitution, framed them from the same principles variously modelled. Franklin alone, disengaging the political machine from those multiplied movements and

admired counterpoises that render it so complicated, proposed the reducing it to the simplicity of a single legislative body. This grand idea startled the legislators of Pennsylvania; but the philosopher removed the fears of a considerable number, and at length determined them to the adoption of his principle. Having given laws to his country, Franklin undertook again to serve it in Europe, not by representations to the metropolis, or answers at the bar of the house of commons; but by treaties with France, and successively with other powers. From France he returned to America in 1785, and lived five years after this period: for three years he was president of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania; he was a member of the convention that established the new form of federal government; and his last public act was a grand example for those who are employed in the legislation of their country. In this convention he had differed in some points from the majority; but when the articles were ultimated decreed, he said to his colleagues, "We ought to have but one opinion; the good of our country requires that the resolution be unanimous ;" and he signed. He died April 17. 1790.-As an author, he never wrote a work of any length. His political works consist of letters or short tracts; but all of them, even those of humour, bear the marks of his observing genius and mild philosophy. He wrote many for that rank of people who have no opportunity for study, and whom it is yet of so much consequence to instruct: and he was well skilled in reducing useful truths to maxims easily retained, and sometimes to proverbs, or little tales, the simple and natural graces of which acquire a new value when associated with the name of their author. In short, the whole life of Franklin, his meditations, and his labours, have all been directed to public utility; but the grand object that he had always in view did not shut his heart against private friendship: he loved his family, his friends, and was extremely beneficent. In society he was sententious, but not fluent; a listener rather than a talker; an informing rather than a pleasing companion: impatient of interruption, he often mentioned the custom of the Indians, who always re

main silent some time before they give an answer to a a question which they have heard attentively; unlike some of the politest societies in Europe, where a sentence can scarcely be finished without interruption. In the midst of his greatest occupations for the liberty of his country, he had some physical experiment near him in his closet; and the sciences, which he had rather discovered than studied, afforded him a continual source of pleasure. He made various bequests and donations to cities, public bodies, and individuals; and requested that the following epitaph, which he had composed for himself some years before, might be inscribed on his tombstone;

"The body of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer
(like the cover of an old book,
its contents torn out,

and stript of its lettering and gilding)
lies here food for worms;

yet the work itself shall not be lost,
but (as he believed*) appear once more
in a new

and more beautiful edition,
corrected and amended

by

THE AUTHOR."

PATRICK HENRY.

(From the Monthly Magazine, 1818.) PATRICK HENRY, was born on the 29th of May, 1736, at Studley, in Virginia. His father, Col. John Henry, was a native of Aberdeen, in Scotland.

Under the direction of his father, who had opened a grammar-school in his own house, he acquired a superficial knowledge of the Latin language; and learned to read the character, but never to translate Greek. At the same time, he made a considerable proficiency in the mathematics.

* Franklin at one period of his life was a Sceptic, but died convinced of the truth of the Scriptures.-See Hulbert's Biographical Sketches.