Academy of Sciences, and received diplomas from many other learned societies. Certain letters had been written by Governor Hutchinson, addressed to his friends in England, which reflected in the severest manner upon the people of America. These letters had fallen into the hands of Doctor Franklin, and by him had been transmitted to America, where they were at length inserted in the public journals. For a time, no one in England knew through what channel the letters had been conveyed to America. In 1773, Franklin publicly avowed himself to be the person who obtained the letters and transmitted them to America. This produced a violent clamor against him, and upon his attending before the privy council, in the following January, to present a petition from the colony of Massachusetts, for the dismissal of Governor Hutchinson, a most abusive invective was pronounced against him, by Mr. Weddeburne, afterwards Lord Loughborough. Among other epithets, the honorable member called Franklin a coward, a murderer, and a thief. During the whole of this insulting harangue, Franklin sat with a composed and unaverted aspect, "as if his countenance had been made of wood." Throughout this personal and public outrage, the whole assembly seemed greatly amused at Doctor Franklin's expense. The President even laughed aloud. There was a single person present, however, Lord North, who, to his honor be it recorded, expressed great disapprobation of the indecent conduct of the assembly. The intended insult, however, was entirely lost. The coolness and dignity of Franklin soon discomposed his enemies, who were compelled to feel the superiority of his character. Their animosity caused him to be removed from the office of postmaster general, interrupted the payment of his salary as agent for the colonies, and finally instituted against him a suit in chancery concerning the letters of Hutchinson. Despairing of restoring harmony between the colonies and mother. country, Doctor Franklin embarked for America, where he arrived in 1775. He was received with every mark of esteem and admiration. He was immediately elected a delegate to the general Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1776, he was deputed with others to proceed to Canada, to persuade the people of that province to throw off the British yoke; but the inhabitants of Canada nad been so much disgusted with the zeal of the people of New England, who had burnt some of their chapels, that they refused to listen to the proposals made to them by Franklin and his associates. In 1778, he was dispatched by Congress, as ambassador to France. The treaty of alliance with the French government, and the treaties of peace, in 1782 and 1783, as well as treaties with Sweden and Prussia, were signed by him. On his reaching Philadelphia, in September, 1785, his arrival was hailed by applauding thousands of his countrymen, who conducted him in triumph to his residence. This was a period of which he always spoke with peculiar pleasure. In 1788, he withdrew from public life, and on the 17th of April, 1790, he expired in the city of Philadelphia, in the eighty fourth year of his age. Congress directed a general mourning for him. throughout the United States; and the National Assembly of France decreed that each member should wear mourning for three days. Doctor Franklin lies buried in the north-west corner of Christ Church-yard, in Philadelphia. In his will he directed that no monumental ornaments should mark his grave. A small marble slab points out the spot where he lies. Doctor Franklin had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, under the British government, was appointed Governor of New Jersey. On the breaking out of the revolution, he took up his residence in England, where he spent the remainder of his days. The daughter was respectably married in Philadelphia, to Mr. William Bache, whose descendants still reside in that city. In stature, Dr. Franklin was above the middle size. He possessed a sound constitution, and his countenance indicated a placid state of mind, great depth of thought, and an inflexible resolution. In youth he took a sceptical turn with regard to religion, but his strength of mind led him to fortify himself against vice by such moral principles as directed him to the most valuable ends, by honorable means. According to the testimony of his most intimate friend, Doctor William Smith, he became in maturer years a believer in divine revelation. The following epitaph on himself was written by Doctor Franklin, many years previously to his death: ELBRIDGE GERRY was born at Marblehead, in the State of Massachusetts, July 17th, 1744. He became a member of Harvard college before his fourteenth year, and on leaving the university, engaged in commercial pursuits at Marblehead, under the direction of his father. His inclination would have led him to the study of medicine; but great success attended his mercantile enterprise, and, in a few years, he found himself in the enjoyment of a competent fortune. la May, 1772, Mr. Gerry was chosen a representative to the General Coart of Massachusetts, to which office he was re-elected the following year. During this year he was appointed one of the committee of correspondence and inquiry. In June, the celebrated letters of Governor Hutchinson to persons in England were laid before the House by Mr. Adams. In the debates on this disclosure, Mr. Gerry highly distinguished himself. He was also particularly active in the scenes of 1774. He was a member of the Provincial Congress which met at Concord, and powerfully contributed to the measures of opposition, which led to the Revolution. In 1775, the new Provincial Congress, of which he was one, assembled at Cambridge. In this body, he evinced a degree of patriotic intrepidity, which was surpassed by none. A committee of Congress, among whom were Mr. Gerry, Colonel Orne, and Colonel Hancock, had been in session in the village of Menotomy, then part of the township of Cambridge. The latter gentleman, after the close of the session, had gone to Lexington. Mr. Gerry and Mr. Orne remained at the village; the other members of the committee had dispersed. Some officers of the royal army had passed through the villages just before dusk, and the circumstance so far attracted the attention of Mr. Gerry, that he dispatched an express to Colonel Hancock, who, with Samuel Adams, was at Lexington. Mr. Gerry and Colonel Orne retired to rest, without taking the least precaution against personal exposure, and they remained quietly in their beds, until the British advance were within view of the dwelling-house. It was a beautiful night, and the polished arms of the soldiers glittered in the moon-beams, as they moved on in silence. The front passed on. When the centre were opposite the house, occupied by the committee, an officer and file of men were detached by signal, and marched towards it. The inmates, for whom they were in search, found means to escape, half dressed, into an adjoining cornfield, where they remained concealed until the troops were withdrawn. Every part of the house was searched "for the members of the rebel Congress;" even the beds in which they had lain were examined. But their property, and, among other things, a valuable watch of Mr. Gerry's, which was under his pillow, were undisturbed. On the 17th day of June, the memorable battle of Bunker Hill was fought. The Provincial Congress was at that time in session at Watertown. Before the battle, Doctor Joseph Warren, President of the Congress, who was the companion and room-mate of Mr. Gerry, communicated to him his intention of mingling in the approaching contest. The night preceding the Doctor's departure to the scene of battle, he is said to have lodged in the same bed with Mr. Gerry. In the morning, in reply to the admonitions of his friend, he uttered the well known words, "Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori."* The sweetness and the glory, he but too truly experienced, and died one of the earliest victims to the cause of his country's freedom. In 1775, Mr. Gerry proposed a law in the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, to encourage the fitting out of armed vessels, and to provide for the adjudication of prizes. This important measure was passed, and under its sanction, several of the enemy's vessels, with valuable cargoes, were captured. In 1776, Mr. Gerry was chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, in which body he shortly after took his seat. His services in this capacity were numerous and important. Having married *It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country. in New York, he returned to his native State, and fixed his residence at Cambridge, a few miles from Boston. In 1787, Mr. Gerry was chosen a delegate to the Convention which assembled at Philadelphia, to revise the articles of confederation. To him there appeared strong objections to the Federal Constitution, and he declined affixing his signature to the instrument. But when that Constitution had gone into effect, and he was chosen a representative to Congress, he cheerfully united in its support, since it had received the sanction of the country. In 1797, Mr. Gerry was appointed to accompany General Pinckney and Mr. Marshall on a special mission to France. On their arrival in Paris, the tools of the government made the extraordinary demand of a large sum of money, as the condition of any negociation. This being refused, the ridiculous attempt was made by the Directory, to excite their fears for themselves and their country. In the spring of 1798, two of the envoys, Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall, were ordered to quit the territories of France, while Mr. Gerry was invited to remain, and resume the negociation which had been suspended. He accepted the invitation to remain, but resolutely refused to resume the negociation. His object in remaining was to prevent an immediate rupture with France, which, it was feared, would result from his departure. His continuance seems to have eventuated in the good of his country. "He finally saved the peace of the nation," said the late President Adams, "for he alone discovered and furnished the evidence that X. Y. and Z. were employed by Talleyrand; and he alone brought home the direct, formal, and official assurances upon which the subsequent commission proceeded, and peace was made." Mr. Gerry returned to America in 1798, and in 1805 was elected by the republican party, Governor of Massachusetts. In the following year he retired, but in 1810 was again chosen Chief Magistrate of that commonwealth, which office he held for the two succeeding years. In 1812, he was elected Vice-President of the United States, into which office he was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1813. While attending to his duties at Washington, he was suddenly summoned from the scene of his earthly labors. A beautiful monument, erected at the national expense, bears the following inscription: THE TOMB OF ELBRIDGE GERRY, Vice-President of the United States, who died suddenly, in this city, on his way to the Aged 70. BUTTON GWINNETT. BUTTON GWINNETT was born in England, about the year 1732, and on coming of age became a merchant in the city of Bristol. Some time after his marriage in his native country, he removed to Charleston, South Carolina, and having continued there two years, he purchased a large tract of land in Georgia, where he became extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits. Mr. Gwinnett had long taken a deep interest in the welfare of the colonies; but he despaired of a successful resistance to Great Britain. His sentiments on this point, however, underwent a great change, and he became a warm advocate for opposing the unjust exactions of the mother country. In 1776, he was elected a representative of the province of Georgia, in Congress. He accordingly repaired to Philadelphia, and took his seat in the National Council, to which he was re-elected the ensuing year. He was afterwards a member of the Convention held at Savannah, to frame a Constitution for the State, and is said to have furnished the outlines of the Constitution, which was finally adopted. On the death of the President of the Provincial Council, Mr. Gwinnett was elected to the vacant station. In this situation he seems to have indulged in an unbecoming hostility towards an old political rival, Colonel M'Intosh; adopting several expedients to mortify his adversary, and never divesting himself of his embittered hatred towards him. In an expedition which he had projected against East Florida, Mr. Gwinnett designed to command the continental troops and militia of Georgia him self, thereby excluding Colonel M'Intosh from the command even of his own brigade. Just at this period, it became necessary to convene the Legislature, In consequence of his official duties, Mr. Gwinnett was prevented from proceeding on the expedition. He therefore appointed to the command a subordinate officer of M'Intosh's brigade. The expedition failed entirely, and contributed to defeat the election of Mr. Gwinnett as Governor of the State. This failure blasted his hopes, and brought his political career to a close. M'Intosh was foolish enough to exult in the mortification of his adversary. The consequence was, that Mr. Gwinnett presented him a challenge. They fought at the distance of only twelve feet. Both were severely wounded. The wound of Mr. Gwinnett proved fatal. He expired on the 27th of May, 1777, in the forty-fifth year of his age,-a melancholy instance of the misery produced by harboring in the heart the absorbing passion of rancorous envy. In person Mr. Gwinnett was tall, and of a noble appearance. In his temper he was irritable; but in his manners, courteous, graceful, and polite. |