invites us to cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant which first sprung up and grew in England, but is now withered by the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may revive and flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and interminable shade, all the unfortunate of the human race. If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American legislators of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of Theseus, Lycurgus, and Romulus, of the three Williams of Nassau, and of all those whose memory has been, and ever will be, dear to virtuous men and good citizens."

The debate on the above motion of Mr. Lee, was protracted until the tenth of June, when Congress resolved: "that the consideration of the resolution respecting Independence, be postponed till the first Monday in July next; and in the meanwhile, that no time may be lost, in case the Congress agree thereto, that a committee be appointed to pre pare a declaration to the effect of the said resolution."

As the mover of the original resolution for Independence, it would, according to parliamentary usage, have devolved upon Mr. Lee to have been appointed chairman of the Committee selected to prepare a declaration, and, as chairman, to have furnished that important document. But on the day on which the resolution was taken, Mr. Lee was unexpectedly summoned to attend upon his family in Virginia, some of the members of which were dangerously ill; and Mr. Jefferson was appointed chair man in his place.

Mr. Lee 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, believing that he would be more useful to his native State by holding a seat in her Assembly. In 1784, however, he again accepted an appointment as representative to Congress, of which body he was unanimously elected President In this exalted station, he presided with great ability; and on his retirement, received the acknowledgments of Congress.

Mr. Lee was opposed to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, without amendment. Its tendency, he believed, was to consolidation. To guard against this, it was his wish that the respective States should impart to the Federal Head only so much power as was necessary for mutual safety and happiness. He was appointed a Senator from Virginia, under the new Constitution.

About the year 1792, Mr. Lee was compelled, by his bodily debility and infirmities, to retire wholly from public business. Not long after, he had the pleasure of receiving from the Legislature of his native State, an unanimous vote of thanks for his public services, and of sympathy for the impaired condition of his health. He died on the 19th of June, 1794, at the age of sixty-three years.

In private life, Mr. Lee was the delight of all who knew him. He had a numerous family of children, the offspring of two marriages, who were tenderly devoted to their father. As an orator, he exercised an uncommon sway over the minds of men. His gesture was graceful and highly finished, and his language perfectly chaste. He reasoned well.

and declaimed freely and splendidly; and such was his promptitude, that he required no preparation for debate. He was well acquainted with classical literature, and possessed a rich store of political knowledge. Few men have passed through life in a more honorable and brilliant manner, or left behind them a more desirable reputation, than Richard Henry Lee.

FRANCIS LEWIS.

FRANCIS LEWIS was a native of Landaff, in South Wales, where he was born in the year 1713. Being left an orphan at the age of four or five years, the care of him devolved upon a maiden aunt, who took singular pains to instruct him in the native language of his country. He was afterwards sent to Scotland, where, in the family of a relation, he acquired a knowledge of the Gaelic. From this he was transferred to the school of Westminster, where he completed his education; and enjoyed the reputation of being a good classical scholar.

Having determined on the pursuit of commerce, he entered the counting-room of a London merchant, and in few years acquired a competent knowledge of his profession. On attaining the age of twenty one years, he converted the whole of his property into merchandise, and sailed for New York, where he arrived in the spring of 1735. Leaving a part of his goods to be disposed of by Mr. Edward Annesly, with whom he had formed a commercial connexion, he transported the remainder to Philadelphia. After a residence of two years in the latter city, he returned to New York, and there became extensively engaged in navigation and foreign trade. He married the sister of his partner, by whom he had several children.

Mr. Lewis acquired the character of an active and enterprising mer chant. In the course of his commercial transactions, he visited several of the sea-ports of Russia, the Orkney and Shetland islands, and was twice shipwrecked on the Irish coast.

During the French or Canadian war, he was agent for supplying the British troops, and was present, in 1756, at the surrender of Fort Oswego to the French general, de Montcalm. He exhibited great firmness and ability on the occasion; and his services were held in such consideration by the British Government, that at the close of the war he received a grant of five thousand acres of land.

The conditions upon which the garrison at Fort Oswego surrendered, were shamefully violated by de Montcalm. He allowed the chief warrior of the Indians, who assisted in taking the fort, to select about thirty of the prisoners, and do with them as he pleased. Of this number Mr. Lewis was one. Thus placed at the disposal of sevage power, a speedy death was one of the least evils to be expected. It has been asserted, however, that Mr. Lewis discovered that he was able to converse with the Indians, by reason of the similarity of the ancient language of

Wales, which he understood, to their dialect.* His ability to communicate by words with the Chief, so pleased the latter, that he treated him kindly, and on arriving at Montreal, requested the French Governor to allow him to return to his family without ransom. The request, however, was not granted, and Mr. Lewis was sent as a prisoner to France, from which country, being some time after exchanged, he returned to America.

Although Mr. Lewis was not a native of America, yet his attachment to the country was early and devoted. He vigorously opposed the oppressive measures of Great Britain, and esteemed liberty the choicest blessing that a nation can enjoy. His intellectual powers, and uniform nobility of sentiment, commanded the respect of the people; and in 1775, he was unanimously elected a delegate to Congress. He remained a member of that body through the following year, 1776, and was among the number who signed the Declaration of Independence. For several subsequent years, he was appointed to represent New York in the National Assembly; and performed various secret and important services, with great fidelity and prudence.

In 1775, Mr. Lewis removed his family, and effects, to a country-seat which he owned on Long Island. This proved an unfortunate step. In the autumn of the following year, his house was plundered by a party of British light-horse. His extensive library and valuable papers were wantonly destroyed. His wife fell into the power of the enemy, and was retained a prisoner for several months. During her captivity, she experienced the most atrocious treatment, being closely confined, and deprived of a bed and sufficient clothing. By the influence of Washington, she was at length released; but her constitution had been so impaired by her sufferings, that in a year or two, she sank into the grave. The latter days of Mr. Lewis were spent in comparative poverty. He died on the 30th day of December, 1803, in the ninetieth year of his age.

PHILIP LIVINGSTON.

PHILIP LIVINGSTON, was born at Albany, on the 15th of January, 1716. He was the fourth son of Gilbert Livingston, and his ancestors were highly respectable, holding a distinguished rank in New York, and pos sessing a beautiful tract of land on the banks of the Hudson. This tract, since known as the Manor of Livingston, has belonged to the family from that time to the present.

Philip Livingston received his education at Yale College, where he was graduated in 1737. He soon after engaged extensively in commerce in

*It is almost needless to remark, that such an occurrence is, to say the best of it, extremely improbable. There exists no affinity between the ancient language of Waies and that of any of the Indian tribes known in North America.

the city of New York, and was very successful in his transactions. In 1754, he was elected an Alderman, and continued in the office for nine successive years. In 1759, he was returned a member to the General Assembly of the colony, where his talents and influence were most use fully employed. His views were liberal and enlightened, and he did much to improve the commercial and agricultural facilities of the country.

Previous to the revolution, it was usual for the respective colonies to have an agent in England, to manage their individual concerns with the British Government. This agent was appointed by the popular branch of the Assembly. In 1770, the agent of the colony of New York dying, the celebrated Edmund Burke was chosen in his stead, and received for the office a salary of five hundred pounds. Between this gentleman and a committee of the Colonial Assembly, a correspondence was maintained; and upon their representations, the agent depended for a knowledge of the state of the colony. Of this committee, Mr. Livingston was a member. From his communications and those of his colleagues, Mr. Burke doubtless obtained that information of the state of the colonies, which he sometimes brought forward to the perfect surprise of the House of Commons, and upon which he often founded arguments, and proposed measures, which were not to be resisted.

Mr. Livingston regarded with patriotic indignation, the measures by which the British ministry thought to humble the spirit of the colonies. His avowed sentiments, and the prominent part he had always taken in favor of the rights of the colonies, caused him to be elected, in 1774, a Delegate to the Continental Congress. He was also a member of the distinguished Congress of 1776, and was among those whose names are enduringly recorded on the great charter of their country's freedom and national existence. He was re-elected to the same Assembly the following year, and was also chosen a Senator to the State Legislature, after the adoption of a new Constitution. He again took his seat in Congress, in May, 1778; but his health was shockingly impaired, and such was the nature of his disease, which was a dropsy in the chest, that no rational prospect existed of his recovery. Before his departure from Albany, he took a final farewell of his family and friends, and expressed his conviction that he should not live to see them again. His anticipations proved true. From the period of his return to Congress, his decline was rapid; and he closed his valuable life on the 12th of June, 1778. Suitable demonstrations of respect to his memory were paid by Congress; and his funeral was publicly attended.

Mr. Livingston married the daughter of Colonel Dirck Ten Broeck, by whom he had several children. His family has furnished many distinguished characters. Mr. Livingston was amiable in his disposition, and a firm believer in the great truths of Christianity. He died respected and esteemed by all who knew him.

THOMAS LYNCH.

THOMAS LYNCH was born on the 5th of August, 1749, at Prince George's Parish, in South Carolina.

He left

Before he had reached the age of thirteen years, young Lynch was sent to England for his education. Having passed some time at the institution of Eaton, he was entered a member of the University of Cainbridge, the degrees of which college he received in due course. Cambridge with a high reputation for classical attainments, and virtues of character; and entered his name at the Temple, with a view to the profession of law. After applying himself assiduously to the study of jurisprudence, and enriching himself both in mind and manners, with the numberless accomplishments of a gentleman, he returned to South Carolina, after an absence of eight or nine years.

In 1775, on the raising of the first South Carolina regiment of provincial regulars, Mr. Lynch was appointed to the command of a company. Unfortunately, on his march to Charleston, at the head of his men, he was attacked by a violent fever, which greatly injured his constitution, and from the effects of which, he never afterwards wholly recovered. He joined his regiment, but the enfeebled state of his health prevented him from performing the exertions, which he considered incumbent upon him. Added to this, he received afflicting intelligence of the illness of his father, at Philadelphia, and resolved to make arrangements to depart for that city. Upon applying for a furlough, however, he was denied by the commanding officer, Colonel Gadsden. But being opportunely elected to Congress, as the successor of his father, he was repaid for his disappointment, and lost no time in hastening to Philadelphia.

The health of the younger Mr. Lynch, soon after joining Congress, began to decline with the most alarming rapidity. He continued, howHe then set out ever, his attendance upon that body, until the Declaran of Independence had been voted, and his signature affixed to it for Carolina in company with his father; but the fe of the latter was terminated at Annapolis, by a second paralytic tack.

Soon after this afflicting event, a change of climate was recommended to Mr. Lynch, as presenting the only chance of his recovery. He embarked with his wife, on board a vessel proceeding to St. Eustatia, designing to proceed by a circuitous route to the south of France. From the time of their sailing, nothing more has been known of their fate! Various rumors for a time were in circulation, which served to keep their friends in painful suspense; but the conclusion finally adopted was, that the vessel must have foundered at sea, and the faithful pair been consigned to a watery grave.