the conclusion of the war, he was among the first who engaged in the East India and China trade. He was, also, the first who made an attempt to effect what is termed an out of season passage to China. In his latter days, Mr. Morris embarked in vast land speculations, which proved fatal to his fortune. The man who had so immensely contributed to our national existence and independence, passed the closing years of his life in a prison; a beautiful commentary upon those laws which make no distinction between guilt and misfortune, and condemn the honest debtor to the punishment of the convicted felon! He died on the 8th of May, 1806, in the seventy-third year of his age. Until the period of his impoverishment, the house of Mr. Morris was a scene of the most lavish hospitality. It was open, for nearly half a century, to all the respectable strangers who visited Philadelphia. He was active in the acquisition of money, but no one more freely parted with his gains. No one pursued a more enlightened policy, or manifested through life a greater degree of humanity, virtue, energy, and gentlemanly spirit, than Robert Morris. JOHN MORTON. JOHN MORTON was born in the county of Chester, (now Delaware,) in Pennsylvania. His ancestors were of Swedish extraction; and his father died a few months previous to his birth. About the year 1764, Mr. Morton was sent as a delegate to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, of which he continued for several years an active and distinguished member. He was also appointed to attend the General Congress at New York. In 1766, he was made sheriff of the county in which he resided, and, shortly after, was elevated to a seat on the bench, in the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. He was deputed to the Congress of 1774; and continued to represent Pennsylvania in that assembly through the memorable session of 1776. On the question of declaring independence, in the latter year, the delegation from Pennsylvania being divided, Mr. Morton gave his casting vote in the affirmative. This was an act of great intrepidity, under all the circumstances of the case; and placed upon him a fearful load of responsibility. But he did not hesitate to assume it. The enemies of the measure were exasperated at his conduct; but on his death-bed, he desired his attendants to tell his revilers, that the hour would come, when it would be acknowledged, that his vote in favor of American Independence was the most illustrious act of his life. It is needless to observe how fully and comprehensively bis prophetic annunciation has been fulfilled. In 1777, Mr. Morton assisted in organizing a system of confederation for the colonies, and was chairman of the committee of the whole, at the time when it was agreed to. During the same year, he was seized with an inflammatory fever, and died on the 15th of November, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He left behind a character for piety, liberality, and patriotism, which his actions are sufficient to substantiate. THOMAS NELSON, JUN. THOMAS NELSON was born at York, in Virginia, on the 26th of Decem ber, 1738. At the age of fourteen, he was sent to England, and placed at a private school in the neighborhood of London. He was afterwards removed to the University of Cambridge, where he enjoyed the instruction of the eminent Doctor Porteus, subsequently Bishop of London. About the close of 1761, he returned to his native country, and, in the following year, married the daughter of Philip Grymes, Esq., of Brandon. His ample fortune enabled him to indulge his spirit of hospitality to its fullest extent, and to live in a style of unusual elegance. It is not determined with certainty at what period the political career of Mr. Nelson commenced. He was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1774, and during the same year was deputed to the first general Convention of the province which met at Williamsburg on the 1st of August. The next year he was again returned a member to the General Convention, and introduced a resolution for organizing a military force in the province. In July, 1775, Mr. Nelson was appointed a delegate from Virginia to the General Congress about to assemble at Philadelphia. He retained his seat in this body until 1777. In May of that year, he was obliged to resign all serious occupation, in consequence of a disease in the head. When relieved from this malady, his energies were again called into action, and he was appointed Brigadier General and Commander in chief of the forces of the commonwealth. In this office, he rendered the most important service to his country, and in times of emergency often advanced money, to carry forward the military operations. In 1779, he was again chosen to Congress; but a close application to business produced a recurrence of his former complaint, and he was again compelled to return home. Soon after his recovery, General Nelson entered with animation into several military expeditions against the British, who, at that time, were making the southern States the chief theatre of war. It was owing to his measures that the army was kept together, until the capture of Yorktown terminated the war. For this service, Governor Nelson had the pleasure of receiving the acknowledgments of Washington, who, in his general orders of the 20th of October, 1781, thus spoke of him: "The General would be guilty of the highest ingratitude, a crime of which he hopes he shall never be accused, if he forgot to return his sincere acknowledgments to his Excellency Governor Nelson, for the succors which he received from him, and the militia under his command, to whose activity, emulation, and bravery, the highest praises are due." A month subsequent to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, Governor Nelson resigned his station in consequence of ill health, and immediately afterwards was accused, by his enemies, of having transcended his powers acting without the consent of his council; but he was honorably acquitted by the Legislature, before whom the charge was preferred. He died on the 4th of January, 1789, just after he had completed his fiftieth year. WILLIAM PACA. WILLIAM PACA was born on the 31st of October, 1740. He was the second son of John Paca, a gentleman of large estate, who resided in Hartford county, Maryland. After receiving his degree of bachelor of arts at the College of Philadelphia, in 1759, he studied law, and, when admitted to the bar, established himself at Annapolis. In 1771, Mr. Paca was chosen a representative of the county in the Legislature. At this time much contention existed between the proprietary government of Maryland, and the people. Mr. Paca, who represented the people in this body, proved himself a staunch and determined assertor of their rights, which no one more clearly understood. He zealously opposed the avaricious proceedings of the Proprietor and his partizans; and manifested on all occasions a settled hostility to tyranny and oppression. Mr. Paca was a delegate from Maryland to the Continental Congress of 1774; and was re-appointed to the same station until the year 1778, at the close of which he retired. He was an open advocate for a Declaration of Independence, as were several of his colleagues. A majority of the people of Maryland, however, were not prepared for such a measure. A change was afterwards effected among the people in relation to this subject. The Convention of Maryland recalled their prohibitory instructions to their delegates; and Mr. Paca gladly received permission to vote according to the dictates of his own fearless and unshackled judg ment. In 1778, Mr. Paca was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maryland, an office which he continued to exercise with great ability until 1780, when he was made by Congress Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals in prize and admiralty cases. In 1782, he was elected Governor of his native State. He was distinguished for great correctness and integrity in the discharge of the duties of this station, and manifested a peculiar regard for the interests of religion and literature. At the close of the year he retired to private life. In 1786, he again accepted the executive chair, and continued in it for a year. On the organization of the Federal Government, in 1789, he received from Washington the appointment of Judge of the District Court of the United States for Maryland. This office he held until the year 1799, when he died in the sixtieth year of his age. ROBERT TREAT PAINE. ROBERT TREAT PAINE was born in Boston, in 1731. At the age of fourteen years, he became a member of Harvard college, and after leaving it, kept, for a period, a public school, the fortune of his father having been considerably reduced. With the view of obtaining more ample means for the maintenance of his parents, he also made a In 1770, Mr. Paine was engaged in the celebrated trial of Captain Preston, and his men, for the part which they acted in the well known Boston massacre. On this occasion, in the absence of the Attorney General, he conducted the prosecution on the part of the crown. He managed the case with great credit and ability, and received from it a considerable degree of distinction. In 1773, he was elected a Representative to the General Assembly from Taunton; and was afterwards chosen a member of the Continental Congress, which met at Philadel phia. The following year he was re-elected. Of the Congress of 1776, Mr. Paine was also a member; and to the Declaration of Independence, gave his vote and signed his name. In 1780, Mr. Paine was sent to the Convention which met to deliberate respecting a Constitution for the State of Massachusetts; and of the committee which framed the instrument he was a conspicuous member. Under the government organized, he was appointed Attorney General, an office which he held until 1790, when he was transferred to a seat on the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court. In this station, he continued till his seventy-third year. His legal attainments were extensive; and he discharged his judicial functions with the most rigid impartiality. Indeed, his strict fidelity sometimes gave him the reputation of unnecessary se verity; but the charge could only have proceeded from the lawless and licentious. His memory was uncommonly retentive; and his conversation was marked by great brilliancy of wit, and quickness of apprehension. If he sometimes indulged in raillery, he evinced no ill humor at being the subject of it in his turn. He was an excellent scholar; and to literary and religious institutions rendered important services. The death of Judge Paine occurred on the 11th of May, 1814; he having attained the age of eighty-four years. He was a founder of the American Academy, established in Massachusetts in 1780, and continued his services to it until his death. The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by Harvard College JOHN PENN. JOHN PENN was born in Caroline county, Virginia, on the 17th of May, 1741. His early education was greatly neglected; and at his father's death, in 1759, he became the sole manager of the fortune left him, which, though not large, was competent. At the age of twenty-one, he was licensed as a practitioner of law. He rose rapidly into notice; and was soon eminently distinguished as an advocate. In 1744, Mr. Penn moved to the province of North Carolina, where he attained as high a rank in his profession, as he had done in Virginia. The following year he was chosen a Delegate from North Carolina to the General Congress, in which body he took his seat on the 12th of October. He was successively re-elected to Congress, in the years 1777, 1778, and 1779, and was respected for his promptitude and fidelity in the discharge of the duties assigned him. He was seldom absent from his seat, and was a watchful guardian of the rights and liberties of his constituents. He was urgent in forwarding the measures which led to the total emancipation of the colonies. After the return of peace, Mr. Penn betook himself to private retirement. The even tenor of his way was marked by few prominent incidents after this period. He departed from this world, September, 1788, at the age of forty-six years. He had three children, two of whom died unmarried. GEORGE READ. GEORGE READ was born in Maryland, in the year 1734. Being designed by his parents for one of the learned professions, he was placed at a seminary at Chester, in Pennsylvania. Having there acquired the rudiments of the languages, he was transferred to the care of the accomplished Dr. Allison, with whom he remained until his seventeenth year. He was then placed in the office of John Morland, Esq., a lawyer in the city of Philadelphia, for the purpose of fitting himself for the legal profession. In 1753, at the age of nineteen years, Mr. Read was admitted to the bar. In the year following, he commenced the practice of the law, in the town of New-Castle. In 1763, he was appointed Attorney General of the three lower counties on the Delaware. In the year 1765, Mr. Read was elected a Representative from New-Castle county, to the General Assembly of Delaware, 1 post which he occupied for twelve years. On the first of August, 1774, Mr. Read was chosen a Delegate from Delaware to the Continental Congress. To this station he was annually re-elected, during the whole revolutionary war. Mr. Read did not vote for the Declaration of Independence. But when, at length, the measure |