mission, until 1767; discharging its duties in an efficient and highly satisfactory manner. He resolutely espoused the cause of the colonies, and in a pamphlet entitled, "The rights of colonies examined," proved the injustice of the Stamp Act, and other measures of the British ministry. In 1774, Mr. Hopkins received the appointment of Delegate from Rhode Island to the Continental Congress. In this assembly he took his seat on the first day of the session, and became one of the mos. zealous advocates of the measures adopted by that illustrious body of In the year 1775 and 1776, he again represented Rhode Island in Congress. In this latter year, he affixed his name to the Declaration of Independence. His signature was the only one upon the roll, which gave indications of a trembling hand; but it was not the tremulousness of fear. Mr. Hopkins had for some time been afflicted with a paralytic affection, which compelled him, when he wrote, to guide his right hand with his left.

men.

In 1778, Mr. Hopkins was a Delegate to Congress for the last time: but for several years afterwards, he was a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island. He closed his useful and honorable life on the 13th of July, 1785, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. Mr. Hopkins was enabled by the vigor of his understanding to surmount his early deficiencies, and rise to the most distinguished offices in the gift of his fellow citizens. He possessed considerable fondness for literature, and greatly excelled as a mathematician. He was an unshaken friend of his country, and an enemy to civil and religious intolerance, distinguished for his liberality, and for the correct and honorable discharge of his various duties.

FRANCIS HOPKINSON.

FRANCIS HOPKINSON was born in Philadelphia, in the year 1737. His father was an Englishman, who, a short time previous to his emigration to America, married a niece of the Bishop of Worcester. He was a man of a cultivated mind and considerable literary accomplishments; and became intimate with Benjamin Franklin, by whom he was held in high estimation. Upon the death of Mr. Hopkinson, which occurred while he was in the prime of life, the care of his family devolved upon his widow, who was eminently qualified for the task. She was a woman of a superior mind; and discovering early indications of talent in her son, she resolved to make every sacrifice, to furnish him with a good education. She placed him at the college of Philadelphia, and lived to see him graduate with reputation, and attain a high eminence at the bar.

In 1766, Francis Hopkinson embarked for England, and received, upon the occasion, a public expression of respect and affection from the Board of Trustees of the College of Philadelphia. After a residence of more than two years in the land of his forefathers, he returned to Ameri

ca.

He soon after married Miss Borden, of Bordentown, in New Jersey, where he took up his residence, and was appointed collector of the customs and executive counsellor. These offices he did not long enjoy, having sacrificed them to his attachment to the liberties of his country. He enlisted himself warmly in the cause of the people, and in 1776 was appointed a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress. He voted for the Declaration of Independence, and affixed his signature to the engrossed copy of that instrument. In 1779, he was appointed Judge of the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania, and for ten years continued to discharge with fidelity the duties of that office.

Soon after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, Mr. Hopkinson received from Washington the appointment of Judge of the United States for the district of Pennsylvania. In this station, he conscientiously avoided mingling in party politics. His life was suddenly terminated, while in the midst of his usefulness, on the 8th of May, 1791. He died of an apoplectic fit, which, in two hours after the attack, put a period to his existence.

Mr. Hopkinson was endued with considerable powers of humor and satire, which he employed effectually in rousing the feelings of the people, during the war of the Revolution. He was the author of several fugitive pieces, which were very popular in their day. His well known ballad, called "The Battle of the Kegs," gives evidence of a rich and exhaustless fund of humor, and will probably last the wear of centuries. He excelled in music, and had some knowledge of painting. His library was extensive, and his stock of knowledge constantly accumulating. In stature, Mr. Hopkinson was below the common size. His countenance was animated, his speech fluent; and his motions were unusually rapid. Few men were kinder in their dispositions, or more benevolent in their lives. He left, at his decease, a widow and five children. The eldest of these, Joseph Hopkinson, occupies an eminent rank among the advo cates of the American bar.

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON.

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON was born in Windham, Connecticut, on the 2d of July, 1732. Being the eldest son, his father required his assistance on the farm, and his opportunities for study were accordingly brief and extremely rare. He possessed, however, a vigorous understanding, and supplied his deficiencies of instruction by an assiduous and a persevering devotion to the acquisition of knowledge. At the age of twenty-one years, he was probably equal, in point of literary attainments, to most of those who had received a collegiate education.

Conceiving a fondness for legal pursuits, he abandoned his occupation of husbandry, and resolved to enter alone and unaided upon the study of the law. He soon obtained a competent knowledge of the principles of the profession, to commence the practice of an attorney in his native town:

but in 1760, he removed to Norwich, where a wider field presented itself for the exercise of his talents. Here he soon became distinguished for his ability, his integrity, and his strict attention to business. In 1764, Mr. Huntington represented the town of Norwich in the General Assembly; and the following year was appointed to the office of King's Attor ney. In 1774, he became an Associate Judge in the Superior Court, and soon after an assistant in the Council of Connecticut.

His talents and patriotism recommending him to public confidence, he was elected in 1775 a Delegate to the Continental Congress. In the subsequent July, he voted in favor of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Huntington continued a member of Congress until the year 1781, when ill health induced him to resign. On the departure of Mr. Jay as Minister to Spain, he had been appointed to the presidency of the Congress, and had served in that honorable station with distinguished ability and dignity. In testimony of their approbation of his conduct in the chair, and in the execution of public business, Congress, soon after his retirement, accorded to Mr. Huntington the expression of their public thanks. On his return to his native State, he resumed his judicial functions, and in 1782 was re-elected to Congress. He did not attend, however, until the following year, when he resumed his seat. He continued a conspicuous member, until November, at which time he finally retired from the National Assembly.

Soon after his return to Connecticut, he was placed at the head of the Superior Court, and the following year was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of the State. In 1786, he succeeded Governor Griswold in the office of Chief Magistrate, and was annually re-elected to that station during the remainder of his life. His death took place on the 5th of January, 1796, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. Mr. Huntington was a sincere Christian, and few men possessed a greater share of mildness and equanimity of temper. He rose from the humble situation of a ploughboy by his own industry and perseverance, and without the advantage of family patronage or influence. He married in the thirtieth year of his age; but having no children, he adopted a son and daughter of his brother, the Reverend Joseph Huntington.

FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE.

FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE was born in Virginia in 1734. He was the fourth son of Thomas Lee, who for several years held the office of President of the King's Council.

Francis Lightfoot did not receive the advantage enjoyed by his elder brothers, of an education at the English Universities. He was placed, however, under the care of an accomplished domestic tutor of the name of Craig, and acquired an early fondness for literature. He became well versed in the most important branches of science, and probably obtained as good an education as the country could then afford. The fortune

bequeathed him by his father rendered the study of a profession unnecessary, ard he accordingly surrendered himself, for several years, to the enjoyment of literary ease and social intercourse. He possessed, however an active mind, and warmly interested himself in the advancement of his country. In 1765, he was returned a member of the House of Burgesses from the county of Loudon, where his estate was situated. He was annually re-elected to this office until 1772, when, having married a lady of Richmond county, he removed thither, and was soon after chosen by the citizens of that place to the same station.

In 1775, Mr. Lee was appointed by the Virginia Convention a delegate to the Continental Congress. He took his seat in this assembly; and, though he seldom engaged in the public discussions, was surpassed by none in his zeal to forward the interests of the colonies. His brother, Richard Henry Lee, had the high honor of bringing forward the momentous question of independence, but no one was perhaps a warmer friend of the measure than Francis Lightfoot.

Mr. Lee retired from Congress in 1779. He was fondly attached to the pleasures of home, and eagerly sought an opportunity when his services were not essentially needed by his country, to resume the undisturbed quiet of his former life. He was not long permitted to enjoy his seclusion. He reluctantly obeyed the summons of his fellow citizens to represent them once more in the Legislature of Virginia. His duties were most faithfully discharged while a member of this body; but he soon became weary of the bustle and vexations of public life, and relinquished them for the pleasures of retirement. In the latter period of his life, he found an unfailing source of happiness to himself, in contributing largely to the enjoyment of others. His benevolence and the urbanity of his manners rendered him beloved by all. He was a practical friend to the poor, and a companion to the young or the aged, the lighthearted or the broken in spirit. Having no children, he devoted his time chiefly to reading, farming, and company. His death was occasioned by a pleurisy, which disease also terminated the life of his wife a few days after his own departure. He died in the consoling belief of the Gospel, and in peace with all mankind and his own conscience.

The brothers of Mr. Lee were all eminently distinguished for their talents and for their services to their country. Philip Ludwell, a member of the King's Council; Thomas Ludwell, a member of the Virginia. Assembly; Richard Henry, as the champion of American freedom; William, as a sheriff and alderman of London, and afterwards a Commissioner of the Continental Congress at the courts of Berlin and Vienna; and Arthur as a scholar, a politician, and diplomatist.

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RICHARD HENRY LEE.

RICHARD HENRY LEE, a brother of the foregoing, was born at Stratford, in Westmoreland county, Virginia, on the 20th of January, 1732. He received his education in England, where his acquisitions were considerable in scientific and classical knowledge. 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.

About the year 1757, he was chosen a Delegate to the House of Bur gesses, where a natural diffidence for some time prevented him from displaying the full extent of his powers and resources. This impediment, however, was gradually removed, and he rapidly rose into notice as a persuasive and eloquent speaker. 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. Some years afterwards, he brought forward his celebrated plan for the formation of a committee of correspondence, whose object was "to watch the conduct of the British Parliament; to spread more widely correct information on topics connected with the interests of the colonies, and to form a chosen union of the men of influence in each." This plan was originated about the same time in Massachusetts, by Samuel Adams.

The efforts of Mr. Lee 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. The following year, he was again deputed to represent Virginia in the same assembly, and his exertions were equally zealous and successful. Among other responsible duties, he was appointed, as chairman of a committee, to furnish General Washington, who had been summoned to the command of the American armies, with his commission and instructions.

On the 7th of June, 1776, Mr. Lee introduced the measure, which declared, "That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connexion between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." This important motion he supported by a speech of the most brilliant eloquence. "Why then, Sir," said he, in conclusion, "why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and to conquer, but to re-establish the reign of peace and of law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us; she demands of us a living example of freedom, that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum, where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repose. She