the Bible." His personal appearance was peculiar, "tall, lean, stooping, and long-limbed, with large features and light eyes," says Kettell, to which description Allen supplies a corresponding anecdote, connected with his medical practice." As a physician, he was remarkable for his unceasing attentions to his patients, sometimes devoting to one patient whole days and nights. Once, on being called to a child sick with the scarlet fever in a family to which he was a stranger, he entered the room without saying a word, and, seeing the child loaded with bed-clothes in a heated room, he seized the child in his arms, and rushed out of the house, followed with cries and broomsticks, for his appearance was uncouth and ugly. But resting in a cool shade, he called for wine, and had the pleasure of seeing the child restored to health." There has been no separate collection of Dr. Hopkins's poetry. A PLEA FOR UNION AND THE CONSTITUTION.—FROM THE Ye sires of nations, call'd in high debate, To bliss unbounded stretch their ardent eyes, Fade like the fleeting visions of the morn? Go search the field of death, where heroes, lost His snow-white bosom heaves with writhing pain, VOL. I.-21 For see, proud faction waves her flaming brand, And discord riots o'er the ungrateful land; Lo, to the north a wild adventurous crew In desperate mobs the savage state renew; Each felon chief his maddening thousands draws, And claims bold license from the bond of laws; In other states the chosen sires of shame, Stamp their vile knaveries with a legal name; In honor's seat the sons of meanness swarm, And senates base, the work of mobs perform, To wealth, to power the sons of union rise, While foes deride you and while friends despise Stand forth, ye traitors, at your country's bar, What countless mischiefs from their labors rise! Yes, there are men, who, touch'd with heavenly fire, Yet what the hope? the dreams of congress fade, Long on the lap of fostering luxury nursed, Go view the lands to lawless power a prey, Tis theirs to riot on all nature's spoils, For them with pangs unblest the peasant toils, Behold, where Venice rears her sea-girt towers, Nor fame nor wealth nor power nor system draws, Th' extremes of license and th' extremes of power. In this weak realm can countless kingdoms start, What then remains? must pilgrim freedom fly The finance regulate, the trade control, Ere death invades, and night's deep curtain falls, Through ruin'd realms the voice of Union calls, Loud as the trump of heaven through darkness roars, When gyral gusts entomb Caribbean towers, THE HYPOCRITE'S HOPE. Blest is the man, who from the womb And when too soon his child shall come, When next in Broad Church-alley he And consequential grace; He stands in half-way-covenant sure; The other out of door. Then riper grown in gifts and grace. He tones like Pharisee sublime, Each Sunday perch'd on bench of pew, With awful look then rises slow, And prayerful visage sour, And when the priest holds forth address, With holy pride and wrinkled face, Good works he careth nought about, The knaveries of the week. He makes the poor his daily prayer, There shall he all church honors have, JAMES MADISON. THE name of Madison is identified with the political literature of the country, beyond the share which his official state papers must claim, by his defence of the Constitution in the Federalist, and his faithful history of the Debates in the great Assembly which gave bounds and authority to our national government. In these he will be remembered by the political student in the li reporter, full and accurate reports of all its debates. These he prepared for publication, and left as a legacy to his family and his country. In the preface, which he himself wrote to the manuscript, he gives this noble motive for the vast labor encountered in the work:-"The curi brary, when the eye is withdrawn from the pub-osity I had felt during my researches into the lic acts of his administration. Jumu Madison He was born March 5 (Old Style), 1751, at the house of his maternal grandmother, on the Rappahannock river, in King George county, Virginia. His home, and the residence of his parents, was at Montpellier, in Orange county, in the neighborhood of Monticello. His early studies were under the charge of a Scottish teacher, Donald Robinson, and of the Episcopal minister of the parish, the Rev. Thomas Martin. A residence at the College of William and Mary being considered unhealthy for a mountaineer, he was sent to Princeton, where he took his degree in 1772, and so secured the respect of its president, Dr. Witherspoon, that he subsequently remarked to Jefferson, that in his whole career at the college he had never known him say or do an indiscreet thing.* Thus early were the prudence and purity of his character established. He remained with Witherspoon, continuing his course of reading under his direction beyond the college term. The two men understood each other's high qualities. Madison's studies at Princeton injured his health for some years. He allowed at times but three hours out of the twenty-four to sleep, the rest was given to his books. On his return to Virginia he gave some attention to law. Political life, however, was his vocation. He gave the first proof of his advocacy of liberty in his efforts in behalf of the Baptist clergy, who fell under the penalties of the existing laws against the preaching of dissenters from the established Episcopal Church. In 1776 he was a member of the Convention which formed the first constitution of Virginia; then in the State Legislature, and member of the Council of State, assisting Henry and Jefferson, who were then Governors of Virginia; in the Revolutionary Congress, in 1780, writing the state papers to Jay in Spain, of instructions as to the Right on the Mississippi, to the states on the payment due the army. Again, from 1784-6, in his State Legislature, distinguishing himself by the liberality and integrity of his views. 1787 he was a delegate to the Convention which formed the Constitution, in which he bore so active a part in counsel and deliberation. He was unwearied in his attendance on this body: and fully conscious of the vast importance of all its counsels, kept with the diligence of a hired In John Quincy Adams's Discourse on the Life of Madison. The writer of a Memoir in the Democratic Review, probably its Editor, S. D. Langtree, the publisher of the Madison Papers, draws this noticeable lesson from the early and protracted ill-health, with the long life of Madison. We learn,' he says, "from good authority, that for more than sixty years he suffered from organic bodily irregularity, which is mentioned only for the purpose of the encouraging reflection, how long, how cheerful, and how useful life may be, with tolerable health, and how much enjoyment may be had, notwithstanding bodily misfortunes, which are a constant source of uneasiness " history of the most distinguished confederacies, particularly those of antiquity, and the deficiency I found in the means of satisfying it, more especially in what related to the process, the principles, the reasons, and the anticipations which prevailed in the formation of thein, determined me to preserve, as far as I could, an exact account of what might pass in the Convention whilst executing its trust, with the magnitude of which I was duly impressed, as I was by the gratification promised to future curiosity by an authentic exhibition of the objects, the opinions, and the reasonings from which the new system of government was to receive its peculiar structure and organization. Nor was I unaware of the value of such a contribution to the fund of materials for the history of a Constitution on which would be staked the happiness of a people, great even in its infancy, and possibly the cause of liberty throughout the world." A half century afterwards, in 1840, these Debates, with portions of his Correspondence, were published by order of Congress, at the instigation of a message from General Jackson; thirty thousand dollars being paid by Government to Mrs. Madison for the work. When the result of the debates was brought before the country for adoption, he urged their acceptance by a powerful chain of argument, in clear succinct phrase, in conjunction with Hamilton, in the Federalist, the labors of the two being sometimes united in the same article. The papers which Madison wrote, and in which he bore a part, twenty-nine in number, discuss the tendencies of associated governments to anarchy rather than despotism, the powers proposed to be vested in the Union, the relations of the general with the state authorities, and the separation and mutual dependence of the forces of the central authority. He secured the Constitution which he thus urged upon the people, by his personal exertions in the convention of his own state for its adoption. When his friend Jefferson became Secretary of State, he looked to Madison for counsel when Hamilton attacked his views in his papers of Pacificus on Neutrality with France, securing the pen of Madison in reply, in the letters of Helvidius. Becoming President, Madison filled the Secretaryship during his administration, succeeding to the Presidency itself in 1809. On the completion of his second term he withdrew to his home in Virginia, where, with the exception of a couple of months while he was engaged in the revision of the state constitution at Richmond, and his visits to the University at Charlottesville, where he succeeded Jefferson as Rector, he never afterwards went beyond the limits of his county. He passed his time in the retirement of his family, in the pursuits of literature and the study of natural history; his native mildness of character tempered by his chronic illness, till he expired calmly, June 28, 1836, at the advanced age, for a lifelong invalid, of eighty-five. Shortly before his death, as if to gather up the great constitutional lessons of his life, he penned these sentences of advice to his countrymen:-" The advice nearest to my heart and dearest to my convictions is, that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated. Let the avowed enemy to it be regarded as a Pandora with her box opened, and the disguised one as the serpent, creeping with deadly wiles into Paradise."*" JOHN LEDYARD. JOHN LEDYARD, one of the most distinguished of travellers, was born within a few hundred yards of Fort Griswold, at Groton, Connecticut, in 1751. He was the eldest son of a sea-captain, who died at the age of thirty-five, leaving a widow and four children. Soon after the father's death, the deed of the small family estate at Groton disappeared, and the property reverted to the former owner, the father of the deceased. In consequence of this, the widow repaired with her children to her father's residence at Southold, where she married a few years after, Dr. Moore of that place. John was removed, after this event, to Hartford, where he became an inmate of his grandfather's family. He attended school, and at first studied law; but abandoning that profession, at the age of nineteen accepted the invitation of Dr. Wheelock, an intimate friend of his grandfather, who died shortly before this time, to enter Dartmouth College, and determined to fit himself for a missionary life among the Indians. The college had been established but two years before at Hanover-a place yet surrounded by the "forest primæval." Ledyard brought with him a quantity of calico and other articles designed for use in theatrical representations, to which he seems to have been very partial. A stage was fitted up, on which he performed Syphax in the tragedy of Cato. College life, however, even with the aid of these amusements, proved too monotonous for his taste; and at the expiration of four months he disappeared, and wandered among the Indians, visiting the Six Nations, to the borders of Canada. During his absence of three and a half months, he acquired a familiarity with the language and habits of this people which were of great service to him in his future travels. He returned to college and quietly resumed his studies; in the depth of the following winter he led a party of his fellow students through an untracked route to the summit of a neighboring mountain, where they passed the night, returning next day. He seems to have gradually abandoned a missionary life; and after passing a few months more at college, determined to depart. With the aid of some of his friends, he cut down a large tree, from which they fashioned a canoe three feet wide and fifty long. On its completion, it was launched in the Connecticut; and Ledyard, having equipped himself with a bearskin and provisions, started to descend a river, of which he knew little or nothing beyond its general course. He floated along with the stream, stopping only at night, and was busily engaged in reading one Art. Madison. Enc. Amer. Art. Madison and the Madison Papers. Dem. Review, March, 1889. Benton's Thirty Years in U. S. Senate, 1. 678. of the two books, the Greek Testament and Ovid, he had provided himself with, when he was aronsed by the sound of the rushing water at Bellows' Falls. He narrowly escaped destruction, but succeeded in pushing his canoe to the shore, where it was drawn round to the stream below by the oxen of the neighbors, who naturally took an interest in his adventurous course. He soon after astonished his friends by appearing at Hartford, having accomplished his dangerous voyage in safety. A correspondence followed with Dr. Wheelock, who was justly displeased with his pupil's vagaries. Ledyard adhered to his intention of studying theology; and after a consultation with the neighboring clergy, went to East Hampton, where he passed a month "with intense application to study" under the care of the Rev. Dr. Buell, a clergyman in high repute as a scholar and orator; and afterwards travelled through Long Island. He finally presented himself as a candidate for ordination, and was rejected. He was disheartened for a short time, but soon after entered on a career for which he was much better fitted by nature, embarking as a sailor at New London in a vessel bound to Gibraltar. He was missed on arriving at that port, and on inquiry being made, found in full uniform in the ranks of the British garrison. On being remonstrated with, he consented to return if his release could be procured. This was granted by the commanding officer, and Ledyard rejoined his ship. The vessel touched at Barbary for a cargo of mules, and returned home by way of the West Indies about a year after her departure. His next enterprise was to visit England in quest of certain wealthy relatives. He found the family name on a carriage, and made his way to its owner's residence. He was received by a son of this gentleman with some distrust, as the latter had never heard of any American kinsmen. Ledyard's pride was hurt, and though afterwards invited by the father, he would not avail himself of any proffered kindness. Again disappointed, he looked about him for employment; and joined the expedition which was fitting out by Captain Cook, for his third voyage. He entered the marine service, and was appointed by Cook a corporal. In this humble situation he accompanied the celebrated expedition, whose movements are well known from the widespread popularity of the "Voyages" which bear the name of its commander. Ledyard passed two years in England after the return of the expedition, and then returned in a British man-of-war to Huntington Bay, Long Island Sound. He obtained seven days' leave of absence, and proceeded to Southold, where he met his mother. "She kept," says his biographer, Sparks, "a boarding-house, which was at that time occupied chiefly by British officers. He rode up to the door, alighted, went in, and asked if he could be accommodated in her house as a lodger. She replied that he could, and showed him a room into which his baggage was conveyed. After having adjusted his dress, he came out and took a seat by the fire, in company with several other officers. * Letter by Ledyard, quoted by Sparks, Life, p. 24. without making himself known to his mother, or entering into conversation with any person. She frequently passed and repassed through the room, and her eye was observed to be attracted towards him with more than usual attention. He still remained silent. At last, after looking at him steadily for some minutes, she deliberately put on her spectacles, approached nearer to him, begging his pardon for her rudeness, and telling him that he so much resembled a son of hers, who had been absent eight years, that she could not resist her inclination to view him more closely. The scene that followed may be imagined but not described; for Ledyard had a tender heart, and affection for his mother was among its deepest and most constant emotions." From Southold he removed to his old residence with his uncle at Hartford, having taken an unceremonious leave of the royal navy. Here he prepared for the press his narrative of Cook's Third Voyage,* availing himself freely of the brief official account which had appeared in England, in advance of the full reports. Here He soon after visited Philadelphia, where he endeavored to set on foot a trading expedition to the North Pacific coast of America. He had touched at this region in his late expedition, and become convinced of its advantages. His plan was listened to with favor by Robert Morris, and a ship engaged for the purpose, but obstacles intervened. Morris finally lost patience, and Ledyard went to Paris in the hope of there accomplishing his plans. He crossed to Cadiz and thence made his way to Brest, and by land to L'Orient, where he passed the winter, the merchants of the place promising to fit out an expedition in the spring. When the time came they failed to do so, and Ledyard went to Paris. he met Jefferson, who took a great interest in his project, foreseeing its ultimate importance to the United States. Paul Jones also favored the scheme, and a plan was arranged by which that gallant officer was to be placed in command of two vessels to proceed to the coast, which at that time had been visited only by Cook's expedition and by the Russians, who had established a few slight trading posts on the adjacent islands. The vessels were to collect furs, to be exchanged for silks and teas in China, and return home by the Cape of Good Hope, Ledyard being left on the Pacific to establish a trading depot, and eventually to return home across the continent. The plan was not attempted, and in pursuance of the same idea he projected an overland journey through the north of Europe and Asia to Behring's Straits.t Journal of Capt. Cook's last voyage, faithfully narrated from the original manuscript of Mr. John Ledyard. Hartford, 1788. In his autobiography, Jefferson speaks of Ledyard as "a man of genius, of some science, and of fearless courage and enterprise," and says that after his failure to carry through his scheme of a trading voyage to the North Pacific, he suggested to him an overland journey through Siberia to Behring's Straits, and thence across the continent to the United States. He gave Ledyard a letter of introduction to La Fayette, dated Paris, Feb. 9, 1786, in which he says: "He accompanied Captain Cook in his last voyage to the northwestern parts of America, and rendered himself useful to that officer on some occasions by a spirit of enterprise which has distinguished his whole life. He has genius and education better than the common, and a talent for useful and interesting observation. I believe him to be an honest man, and a man of truth. To all this he adds just as much singular. ity of character, and of that particular kind too, as was neces. After long and wearisome delays he was enabled by a subscription obtained in London by the aid of Sir Joseph Banks and other friends, to start on this journey. He crossed from London to Hamburgh in December, next visited Copenhagen, where he shared his remaining funds with a Major Langhorn, a countryman, whom he endeavoured to induce to join him in his Siberian tour. Disappointed in this, the Major remarking, "I esteem you, but I can travel in the way I do, with no man on earth,"* Ledyard started off alone, and made his way round the Gulf of Bothnia on foot, the state of the ice rendering it impossible to pass over in sledges or force a passage in a boat. He arrived at St. Petersburg seven weeks after leaving Stockholm. Here he waited for some time for a passport. The Einpress Catharine was absent on her magnificent progress through her dominions, and the traveller's petition seems never to have been presented to her by the French ambassador to whom it was intrusted. The document was finally obtained and Ledyard departed. He travelled to Moscow, and thence to Kazan, Tobolsk, and Barnaoul, a distance of three thousand miles, in company with a Scotch physician in the employ of the Empress. From thence he proceeded with the mail courier to Irkutsk. Here he embarked with a Swedish lieutenant on a voyage of fourteen hundred miles down the river Lena to Yakutsk, their boat being propelled by the current at the rate of eighty to a hundred miles a day. He arrived at Yakutsk on the 18th of September, where he endeavored to obtain permission to push forward to Okotsk, but this was refused on the plea that the season was too far advanced. His journal at this period contains the following passage: "What, alas, shall I do, for I am miserably prepared for this unlooked for delay. By remaining here through the winter, I cannot expect to resume my march until May, which will be eight months. My funds! I have but two long frozen stages more, and I shall be beyond the want, or aid of money, until, emerging from the deep deserts, I gain the American Atlantic States; and then, thy glowing climates, Africa, explored, I will lay me down, and claim my little portion of the globe I have viewed; may it not be before. How many of the nobleminded have been subsidiary to me, or to my enterprises; yet that meagre demon, Poverty, has travelled with me hand in hand over half the globe, and witnessed what-the tale I will not unfold! Ye children of wealth and idleness, what a profitable commerce might be made between us. A little of my toil might better brace your bodies, give spring to mind and zest to enjoyment; and a very little of that wealth, which you scatter around you, would put it beyond the power of anything but death to oppose my kindred greetings with all on earth, that bear the stamp of man. This is the third time, that I have been overtaken and arrested by winter; and sary to make him undertake the journey he proposes. Should he get safe through it, I think he will give an interesting account of what he shall have seen." *Langhorn seems to have had a passion for travelling in ont of the way parts of the world. After parting with Ledyard he wandered over Sweden, Norway, and Lapland. Acerbi, in 1799, found the following entry in the travellers' book at Tornea, which then contained but seven names-"Justice bids me record thy hospitable fame, and testify it by my name. W. Langhorn, United States, July 23, 1787." Acerbi says he travelled on foot from Norway to Archangel.-Sparks's Life of Ledyard, 183. |