putation and popular influence were the great objects of his ambition.

His private morals were pure, his manners grave and austere, and his conversation, which generally turned on public characters and events, bold, decided, and sometimes coarse. Besides the occurrences of the passing day, he is said to have had three topics of conversation on which he delighted to expatiate, and to have always dwelt upon with great earnestness; British oppression, the manners, laws, and customs of New England, and the importance to every republican government, of public schools for the instruction of the whole population of the state.

The person of Samuel Adams was of the middle size. His countenance was a true index of his mind, and possessed those lofty and elevated characteristics, which are always found to accompany true greatness.

He was a steady professor of the Christian religion, and uniformly attended public worship. His family devotions were regularly performed, and his morality was never impeached.

In his manners and deportment, he was sincere and unaffected in conversation, pleasing and instructive; and in his friendships, steadfast and affectionate.

His revolutionary labours were not surpassed by those of any individual. From the commencement of the dispute with Great Britain, he was incessantly employed in public service; opposing at one time, the supremacy of "parliament in all cases" taking the lead in questions of controverted policy with the royal governors; writing state papers from 1765 to 1774: in planning and organizing clubs and committees; haranguing in town meetings, or filling the columns of public prints adapted to the spirit and temper of the times. In addition to these occupations, he maintained an extensive and laborious correspondence with the friends of American freedom in Great Britain and in the provinces.

His private habits, which were simple, frugal, and unostentatious, led him to despise the luxury and parade affected by the crown officers; and his detestation of royalty, and privileged classes, which no man could have felt more deeply, stimulated him, to persevere in a course, which he conscientiously believed to be his duty to pursue, for the welfare of his country.

The motives by which he was actuated, were not a sudden ebullition of temper, nor a transient impulse of resentment, but they were deliberate, methodical and unyielding. There was no pause, no hesitation, no despondency; every day and every hour, was employed in some contribution towards the

main design, if not in action, in writing; if not with the peu, in conversation; if not in talking, in meditation. The means he advised were persuasion, petition, remonstrance, resolutions, and when all failed, defiance and extermination sooner than submission. With this unrelenting and austere spirit, there was nothing ferocious, or gloomy, or arrogant in his demeanor. His aspect was mild, dignified and gentlemanly. In his own state, or in the congress of the union, he was always the advocate of the strongest measures, and in the darkest hour he never wavered nor desponded.

No man was more intrepid and dauntless, when encompassed by dangers, or more calm and unmoved amid public disasters and adverse fortune. His bold and daring conduct and language, subjected him to great personal hazards. Had any fatal event occurred to our country, by which she had fallen in her struggle for liberty, Samuel Adams would have been the first victim of ministerial vengeance. His blood would have been first shed as a sacrifice on the altar of tyranny, for the noble magnanimity and independence, with which he defended the cause of freedom. But such was his firmness, that he would have met death with as much composure, as he regarded it with unconcern.

His writings were numerous, and much distinguished for their elegance and fervour; but unfortunately the greater part of them have been lost, or so distributed, as to render their collection impossible.

He was the author of a letter to the earl of Hillsborough ; of many political essays directed against the administration of governor Shirley; of a letter in answer of Thomas Paine, in defence of Christianity, and of an oration published in the year 1776. Four letters of his correspondence on government, are extant, and were published in a pamphlet form in 1800.

Mr. Adams's eloquence was of a peculiar character. His language was pure, concise, and impressive. He was more logical than figurative. His arguments were addressed rather to the understanding, than to the feelings; yet he always engaged the deepest attention of his audience. On ordinary occasions, there was nothing remarkable in his speeches; but, on great questions, when his own feelings were interested, he would combine every thing great in oratory. In the language of an elegant writer, the great qualities of his mind were fully displayed, in proportion as the field for their exertion was extended; and the energy of his language was not inferior to the depth of his mind. It was an eloquence admirably adapted to the age in which he flourished, and exactly calculated to attain the object of his pursuit. It may well be described in the language of the poet, "thoughts which breathe,

and words which burn." An eloquence, not consisting of theatrical gesture, or with the sublime enthusiasm and ardour of patriotism: an eloquence, to which his fellow-citizens listened with applause and rapture; and little inferior to the best models of antiquity for simplicity, majesty, and persuasion. The consideration of the character of Samuel Adams, when taken in connexion with the uncommon degree of popularity which his name had obtained in this country, may suggest an important moral lesson to those of our youth, whom a gener ous ambition incites to seek the temple of glory through the thorny paths of political strife. Let them compare him with men confessedly very far his superiors in every gift of intellect, of education, and of fortune: with those who have gov erned empires, and swayed the fate of nations; and then let them consider how poor and how limited is their fame, when placed in competition with that of this humble patriot. The memory of those men. tarnished as it is by the history of their profligacy, their corruption, and their crimes; is preserved only among the advocates and slaves of legitimacy, while the name of Samuel Adams is enrolled among the benefactors of his country, and repeated with respect and gratitude by the lowest citizens of a free state.

ALLEN, ETHAN, a brigadier general in the revolutionary war, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut. While he was young, his parents emigrated to Vermont. At the commencement of the disturbances in this territory, about the year 1770, he took a bold and active part in favor of the Green Mountain Boys, as the settlers were then called, in opposition to the claims of the government of the state of New York. So obnoxious had he rendered himself, that an act of outlawry against him was passed by the government of that colony, and five hundred guineas were offered for his apprehension; but his party was too numerous and too faithful, to permit him to be disturbed by any apprehensions for his safety. During the period that this subject was agitated, in all the struggles which it occasioned, and in which he took a part, he was uniformly successful. He not only proved a valuable friend to those, whose cause he had espoused, but he was humane and generous towards those with whom he had to contend. When called to take the field, he showed himself an able leader and an intrepid soldier.

The history of this celebrated controversy, between Vermont and New York, is fully explained in the Vermont State Papers, lately compiled and published by William Slade, Jun. Esq. from which we select the following brief view of the dispute:

"It will be recollected that the whole property of the set

tlers, on the New-Hampshire grants, had been long put at hazard by the claims of New-York. In face of the royal prohibition of the 24th of July, 1767, the government of that Province had proceeded to convey the lands, occupied under grants from the same royal authority. The Courts at Albany had, uniformly, decided in favor of the New-York grantees. Writs of possession had been issued; the execution of which was regarded by the settlers as nothing less than legalized robbery. They therefore resisted; and, for uniting in this resistance, had been indicted as rioters, and subjected to heavy penalties. Notwithstanding the attempt which had been made to arrest the progress of the controversy, it does not appear that the government of New-York had, at any time, taken measures to restrain the location and settlement of lands under New-York titles. The bone of contention, therefore, still remained; and the failure of an attempted reconciliation had served to embitter the resentment of the contending parties, and produce a state of hostility, more decided and alarming.

"The mass of the settlers, on the New Hampshire grants, consisted of a brave, hardy race of men. Their minds, naturally strong and active, had been roused to the exercise of their highest energies, in a controversy, involving every thing that was dear to them. Though unskilled in the rules of logic, they, nevertheless, reasoned conclusively; and having once come to a decision, they wanted not the courage or conduct necessary to carry it into execution.

"Foremost among them, stood ETHAN ALLEN. Bold, ardent, and unyielding; possessing a vigorous intellect, and an uncommon share of self-confidence, he was peculiarly fitted to become a successful leader of the opposition. In the progress of this controversy, several pamphlets were written by him, exhibiting. in a manner peculiar to himself, and well suited to the state of public feeling, the injustice of the New York claims. These pamphlets were extensively circulated, and contributed much to inform the minds, arouse the zeal, and unite the efforts, of the settlers."

"Enjoying, as we now do, the protection of just and equal laws, it is difficult to form a proper estimate of the measures we are reviewing. We shall be less inclined to censure them as unnecessarily severe, if we reflect, that there was no choice left to the New-Hampshire grantees, between an entire surrender of their farms, rescued from the wildness of nature, and made valuable, by their industry; and a determined and persevering resistance by force. Necessity drove them to resistance, and sound policy dictated that it should be of a character to inspire a full belief that it would be made effectual."

"It is difficult to conjecture what would have been the issue of this controversy, had not its progress been suddenly arrested by the commencement of the revolutionary war. The events of the memorable 19th of April, 1775, produced a shock, which was felt to every extremity of the colonies: and "local and provincial contests were, at once, swallowed up by the novelty, the grandeur, and the importance of the contest thus opened between Great Britain and America."

The news of the battle of Lexington determined colonel Allen to engage on the side of his country, and inspired him with the desire of demonstrating his attachment to liberty by some bold exploit. While his mind was in this state, a plan for taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point by surprise, which was formed by several gentlemen in Connecticut, was communicated to him, and he readily engaged in the project. Receiving directions from the general assembly of Connecticut, to raise the green mountain boys, and conduct the enterprise, he collected two hundred of the hardy settlers, and proceeded to Castleton. Here he was unexpectedly joined by colonel Arnold, who had been commissioned by the Massachusetts' committee to raise four hundred men and effect the same object, which was now about to be accomplished. As he had not raised the men, he was admitted to act as assistant to colonel Allen. They reached the lake opposite Ticonderoga on the evening of the 9th of May, 1775. With the utmost difficulty, boats were procured, and eighty-three men were landed near the garrison. The approach of day rendering it dangerous to wait for the rear, it was determined immediately to proceed. The commander in chief now addressed his men, representing that they had been, for a number of years, a scourge to arbitrary power, and famed for their valor; and concluded with saying, "I now propose to advance before you, and in person conduct you through the wicket gate, and you that will go with me voluntarily in this desperate attempt, poise your firelocks." At the head of the centre file he marched instantly to the gate, where a sentry snapped his gun at him, and retreated through the covered way; he pressed forward into the fort, and formed his men on the parade in such a manner as to face two opposite barracks. Three huzzas awakened the garrison. A sentry, who asked quarter, pointed out the apartments of the commanding officer; and Allen, with a drawn sword over the head of captain De la Place, who was undressed, demanded the surrender of the fort. "By what authority do you demand it?" inquired the astonished commander. "I demand it," said Allen, "in the name of the great Jehovah and of the continental congress." The summons could not be disobeyed, and the fort with its very valuable