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On the 17th of April, 1790, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, he expired in the city of Philadelphia; encountering this last solemn conflict, with the same philosophical tranquility and pious resignation to the will of Heaven, which had distinguished him through all the various events of his life.

He was interred, on the 21st of April, and congress ordered a general mourning for him throughout America, of one month. In France, the expression of public grief, was scarcely less enthusiastic. There the event was solemnized, under the direction of the municipality of Paris, by funeral orations; and the national assembly, his death being announced in a very eloquent and pathetic discourse, decreed that each of the members should wear mourning for three days, "in commemoration of the event;" and that a letter of condolence, for the irreparable loss they had sustained, should be directed to the American congress. Honours extremely glorious to his memory, and such, it has been remarked, as were never before paid by any public body of one nation, to the citizen of another.

He lies buried in the north-west corner of Christ churchyard; distinguished from the surrounding dead, by the humility of his sepulchre. He is covered by a small marble slab, on a level with the surface of the earth; and bearing in the single inscription of his name, with that of his wife. A monument sufficiently corresponding to the plainness of his manners, little suitable to the splendor of his virtues.

He had two children, a son and a daughter, and several grand-children who survived him. The son, who had been governor of New-Jersey, under the British government, adhered, during the revolution, to the royal party, and spent the remainder of his life in England. The daughter married Mr. Bache, of Philadelphia, whose descendants yet reside in that city.

Franklin enjoyed, during the greater part of his life, a healthy constitution, and excelled in exercises of strength and activity. In stature he was above the middle size; manly, athletic, and well proportioned. His countenance, as it is represented in his portrait, is distinguished by an air of serenity and satisfaction; the natural consequences of a vigorous temperament, of strength of mind, and conscious integrity: It is also marked, in visible characters, by deep thought and inflexible resolution.

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, and his friends, and was extremely beneficent. In society he was sententious, but not

fluent; a listner rather than a talker; an informing rather than a pleasing companion: impatient of interruption, he often mentioned the custom of the Indians, who always remain silent some time before they give an answer to 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 experiments always 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.

The following epitaph was written by Dr. Franklin, for himself, when he was only twenty three years of age, as appears by the original (with various corrections) found among his papers, and from which this is a faithful copy.

"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 :

But the work shall not be lost,

For it will (as he believed) appear once more,
In a new, and more elegant edition,

Revised and corrected

by

THE AUTHOR."

FORREST, URIAH, a brave and intrepid officer in the revolutionary war, was born in St. Mary's county, in the state of Maryland, in the year seventeen hundred and fifty-six. At the commencement of the revolutionary war, between Great Britain and her then colonies, when quite a youth, full of ardor and courage, he early joined the standard of his country, and commenced his military career with zeal and patriotism. He entered the army as a lieutenant in one of the Maryland regiments, and such was his zeal, good conduct, and intrepidity, that he was, during the war, promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the continental army.At the battle of Germantown. high in the confidence of his officers and men, he distinguished himself by his bravery, and in the heat of the action lost a leg. An amputation above the knee, was deemed necessary. This wound rendered him for the remainder of the war, incapacitated for active military command. He invigorated by his precepts, dispelled despondency by his example, and encouraged his

men to submit to their many privations, by the cheerfulness with which he participated in their wants. He imparted the energy of his mind to all associated with him, and infused a high toned spirit wherever he was.

Upon his restoration to health and usefulness, he was appointed auditor of his native state; and after the close of the war, he was selected as a member of congress, under the old confederation. Immediately after the adoption of the presentconstitution of the United States, he was again elected a member of congress. He was also. at various periods, chosen by his fellow citizens, a member of the senate and house of delegates of the state of Maryland.

He was happy in penetrating into the secret designs of others, never disclosing more of his own inclinations than was necessary for the purpose at hand. His carriage was generally uniform, and unaffectedly affable; his conversation enlivened by his vivacity; his knowledge and understanding strikingly quick, and his talents to gain popularity, were almost absolute. He possessed great penetration and discernment, with a sagacity not easily imposed on; with an industry and vigilance indefatigable; rather an easy debater, with a great command of his passions and affections, raising him superior to more improved minds.

Some time previous to his death, he was appointed major general in the militia of the state of Maryland. He was a man of a liberal and strong mind, and from his talents became distinguished in every situation in which he was placed.

GADSDEN, CHRISTOPHER, lieutenant governor of South Carolina, and a distinguished friend of his country, was born about the year 1724. So high was his reputation in the colony in which he lived, that he was appointed one of the delegates to the congress, which met at New York, in October, 1765, to petition against the stamp-act.

Judge Johnson, in his life of general Greene, says, "There was at least one man in South Carolina, who, as early as 1762, foresaid and foretold the views of the British government, and explicitly urged his adherents to the resolution to resist even to death. General Gadsden, it is well known, and there are still living witnesses to prove it, always favoured the most decisive and energetic measures. He thought it a folly to temporise, and insisted that cordial reconciliation on honourable terms, was impossible. When the news of the repeal of the stamp-act arrived, and the whole community was in extacy at the event, he, on the contrary, received it with indignation, and privately convening a party of his friends beneath the celebrated Liberty-Tree, he there harangued them at considerable length on the folly of relaxing their

opposition and vigilance, or indulging the fallacious hope, that Great Britain would relinquish her designs or pretensions. He drew their attention to the preamble of the act, and forcibly pressed upon them the absurdity of rejoicing at an act that still asserted and maintained the absolute dominion over them. And then reviewing all the chances of succeeding in a struggle to break the fetters whenever again imposed on them, he pressed them to prepare their minds for the event. The address was received with silent but profound devotion, and with linked hands, the whole party pledged themselves to resist; a pledge that was faithfully redeemed when the hour of trial arrived. It was from this event that the Liberty-Tree took its name. The first convention of South Carolina held their meeting under it."

He was also chosen a member of the congress which met in 1774; and on his return early in 1776, received the thanks of the provincial assembly for his services. He was among the first who advocated republican principles, and wished to make his country independent of the monarchical government of Great Britain.

During the siege of Charleston, in 1780, he remained within the lines with five of the council, while governor Rutledge, with the other three, left the city, at the earnest request of general Lincoln. Several months after the capitulation, he was taken out of his bed on the 27th of August, and, with most of the civil and military officers, transported in a guard-ship to St. Augustine. This was done by the order of lord Cornwallis. and it was in violation of the rights of prisoners on parole. Guards were left at their houses, and the private papers of some of them were examined. A parole was offered at St. Augustine, but such was the indignation of lieutenant govern or Gadsden, at the ungenerous treatment which he had receiv ed, that he refused to accept it, and bore a close confinement in the castle for forty-two weeks, with the greatest fortitude.

Garden, in his anecdotes of the revolutionary war, gives the following interesting particulars: "The conduct of the British commanders towards this venerable patriot, in the strongest manner evinced their determination rather to crush the spirit of opposition, than by conciliation to subdue it. The man did not exist to whose delicate sense of honour, even a shadow of duplicity would have appeared more abhorrent than general Gadsden. Transported by an arbitrary decree, with many of the most resolute and influential citizens of the republic, to St. Augustine, attendance on parade was peremptorily demanded: when a British officer stepping forward, said. Expediency, and a series of political occurrences, have rendered it necessary to remove you from Charleston to this

place; but, gentlemen, we have no wish to increase your sufferings; to all, therefore, who are willing to give their paroles, not to go beyond the limits prescribed to them, the liberty of the town will be allowed; a dungeon will be the destiny of such as refuse to accept the indulgence." The proposition was generally acceded to. But when general Gadsden was called to give this new pledge of faith, he indignantly exclaimed, With men who have once deceived me, I can enter into no new contract. Had the British commanders regarded the terms of the capitulation of Charleston, I might now, although a prisoner, under my own roof, have enjoyed the smiles and consolations of my surrounding family; but even without a shadow of accusation proffered against me, for any act inconsistent with my plighted faith, I am torn from them, and here, in a distant land, invited to enter into new engagements. I will give no parole.' Think better of it, sir,' said the officer, a second refusal of it will fix your destiny: a dungeon will be your future habitation.' Prepare it, then,' said the inflexible patriot, I will give no parole, so help me God.'

"When first shut up in the castle of St. Augustine, the comfort of a light was denied him by the commandant of the fortress. A generous subaltern offered to supply him with a candle, but he declined it, least the officer should expose himself to the censure of his superior.

"After Andre's arrest, colonel Glazier, the governor of the castle, sent to advise general Gadsden to prepare himself for the worst: intimating, that as general Washington had been assured of retaliation, if Andre was executed, it was not unlikely that general Gadsden would be the person selected. To this message he replied, That he was always prepared to die for his country; and though he knew it was impossible for Washington to yield the right of an independent state by the law of war, to fear or affection, yet he would not shrink from the sacrifice, and would rather ascend the scaffold than purchase with his life the dishonor of his country."

In 1782, when it became necessary, by the rotation estab lished, to choose a new governor, he was elected to this office: but he declined it in a short speech to the following effect. "I have served my country in a variety of stations for thirty years, and I would now cheerfully make one of a forlorn hope in an assault on the lines of Charleston, if it was probable, that, with the loss of life, you, my friends, would be reinstat ed in the possession of your capital. What I can do for my country I am willing to do. My sentiments in favor of the American cause, from the stamp act downwards, have never changed. I am still of opinion, that it is the cause of liberty

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