he was their physician, their counsellor, and the arbiter of their differences; the medicines which he imported were carefully and judiciously dispensed, and the equity of his decisions were never controverted by a court of law. Enough has been said to show the extent of his acquirements and the refinement of his taste, the solidity of his judgment and the vividness of his imagination, but the personal appearance of such a man may be an object of curiosity to posterity. His person was tall and well proportioned; his face was on the Roman model; his nose Cæsarean; the port and carriage of his head leaning persuasively forward; and the whole contour noble and fine. The eye which shed intelligence over such features had softness and composure as its prevailing characteristic, till it glowed in debate or radiated in conversation. His voice was clear and melodious, and was modulated by the feeling which swayed his bosom. The progress of time was insensible to those who listened to his conversation, and he entwined himself around the mind of his hearers, fixing his memory on their hearts. In the vigour of his mind, amid the honours of the world and its enjoyments, he had declared his belief in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men. The following sketch may gratify the reader, although it can only serve to bring the defects of the present undertaking into stronger and more immediThe writer cannot, however, refrain from ornamenting his work with it, even while the ate contrast. poet's warning is fully before him. "Mr. Lee had studied the classics in the true spirit of criticism. His taste had that delicate touch which seized with intuitive certainty every beauty of an author, and his genius that native affinity which combined them without an effort. Into every walk of literature and science he had carried his mind of exquisite selection, and brought it back to the business of life, crowned with every light of learning, and decked with every wreath that all the muses and all the graces could entwine. Nor did these light decorations constitute the whole value of its freight. He possessed a rich store of political knowledge, with an activity of observation and a certainty of judgment, which turned that knowledge to the very best account. He was not a lawyer by profession, but he understood thoroughly the constitution both of the mother country and of her colonies, and the elements also of the civil and municipal law. Thus, while his eloquence was free from those stiff and technical restraints, which the habit of forensic speaking are so apt to generate, he had all the legal learning which is necessary to a He reasoned well and declaimed freely and splendidly. The note of his voice was deep and melodious. It was the canorous voice of Cicero. He had lost the use of one of his hands, which he kept constantly covered with a black silk bandage, neatly fitted to the palm of his hand, but leaving his thumb free; yet, notwithstanding this disadvantage, his gesture was so graceful and highly finished, that statesman. it was said he had acquired it by practising before a mirror. Such was his promptitude, that he required no preparation for debate. He was ready for any subject as soon as it was announced, and his speech was so copious, so rich, so mellifluous, set off with such bewitching cadence of voice, and such captivating grace of action, that while you listened to him you desired to hear nothing superior; and indeed, thought him perfect. He had quick sensibility and a fervid imagination." Mr. Lee breathed his last on the nineteenth of June, 1794, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, at Chantilly, Westmoreland county, Virginia, a few weeks before the celebration of the day on which his eloquent tongue and intrepid mind, had given birth to the independence of his country. |