Bachelors in September, 1775, the year before the declaration of independence. At that time he delivered them a "Valedictory Address," every where sparkling indeed with brilliant imagery, but every where fraught also with strong thoughts and noble conceptions. In two points of view it deserves notice: It unfolds to his pupils the duty of fixing on a very high standard of character as intelligent and as moral beings, in a manner which proves at once that this was literally the rule which governed his own conduct, and that he was admirably qualified to influence others to adopt it; it also communicates to them views of the growth and ultimate importance of this country, which were at once new, noble, and prophetic.

In March, 1777, he was married to Miss Mary Woolsey, the daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, Esquire, of Long-Island, the class-mate, room-mate, and intimate friend of his father. They had eight sons, of whom six survive their father. Mrs. Dwight is still living.

In May of the same year, College was broken up. The students left New-Haven at the commencement of the vacation, and pursued their studies during the summer under their respective tutors, in places less exposed to the sudden incursions of the enemy. Mr. Dwight retired with his class to Weathersfield, and remained with them till September. Early in June he was licensed as a preacher, by a committee of the Northern Association, in his native county of Hampshire, in the state of Massachusetts. Beside instructing his class during the summer, he preached on the Sabbath at Kensington, a parish in Weathersfield.

The following fact is a striking proof of the respect and affection with which he was regarded by the students. It being well ascertained that the existing head of the College would relinquish his connexion with it, the students, as a body, drew up and signed a petition to the Corporation, that he might be elected to the Presidency. It was owing to his own interference, that the application was not formally made.

He left College early in September, and soon after was appointed Chaplain to General Parsons' brigade, which was a part of the division of General Putnam, in the army of the United States. In the British army and navy, this office is too often filled by men who are distinguished only for their ignorance and profligacy. We are also compelled to admit, that, during our late war, this was most extensively true of those who held the same stations among our own forces. But in our war of the revolution the very contrary was the fact. The generous enthusiasm which then pervaded the country, not only prompted our young men of honour in civil life to take the field, but induced many of our clergy, of the first reputation for piety and talents, to attach themselves to the staff. The soldier of the revolution need not be told how animating were their sermons and their prayers, nor how correct and exemplary were their lives.

Mr. Dwight joined the army at West Point in October, 1777. Although the scene was entirely new to him, he was not idle nor inattentive to the business which now devolved upon him. He performed the appropriate duties of his office with strict punctuality, and with uncommon reputation. The troops who composed the brigade were, principally, Connecticut farmers; men who had been soberly educated, and who were willing to listen to the truths of the Gospel, even in a camp. On the Sabbath, they heard him with profound attention. During the week, they beheld him exerting himself, as far as lay in his power, to instruct them in morals and religion. Several of his discourses delivered to the whole army, owing partly to their intrinsic merit, and partly to the feelings of the times, gained him high reputation with the American public. He also wrote several patriotic songs, which were universally popular. They were favourite songs with the soldiers, and contributed not a little to kindle their enthusiasm in the cause of freedom. One of them, his "Columbia," will not soon be forgotten: it opened the eyes of his countrymen on a prospect new, brilliant, and delightful; and exhibited in distinct vision the rising glories of our infant empire. His connexion with the army enabled him to form an extensive acquaintance with many officers of distinction; and among them he had the satisfaction to rank the commander in chief. That great man honoured him with flattering attentions. Mr. Dwight ever remembered his kindness with lively gratitude, and entertained for his character and services, military and civil, the highest respect and veneration.

He remained in the army a little more than a year, when the news of his father's death, which reached him near the close of October, 1778, rendered it necessary for him to resign his office, in order to console his mother under that severe affliction, and to assist her in the support and education of her numerous family. On leaving the army, he received from his brother officers, particularly from Generals Putnam and Parsons, as well as from the soldiers of the brigade, the most grateful testimonies of respect and kindness.

His father, in the midst of health and usefulness, had gone the summer of 1776 to the Mississippi, for the purpose of providing a settlement in that country for two of his sons, by whom he was accompanied. Himself, with his brother-in-law, General Lyman, had grants from the crown of a large tract of land, in the southwest angle of what is now the state of Mississippi, comprising the present township of Natchez, and a considerable extent of adjacent country. Here he commenced a settlement under prosperous circumstances; but, near the close of the following year, fell a victim to the disease of the climate. He died at Natchez. His two sons, in company with the other adventurers, crossed the country through the wilderness in the dead of winter; and, after innumerable dangers and hardships, reached the sea-coast

of Georgia in safety. An account of this expedition will be found in the Travels of President Dwight. Rarely have we met with a more interesting or melancholy story. The original papers containing the grant were unhappily lost; and the family have never been able to substantiate their title to the land. Mr. Dwight's personal grant was a considerable part of the township of Natchez. He left a widow and thirteen children, ten of whom were under twenty-one years of age. The subject of this memoir was the eldest, and on him devolved the care of the family, at a period when the situation and circumstances of the country rendered the task peculiarly difficult and laborious. From the time of his entering on the Bachelor's degree at College, to his leaving the army, he had subjected his father to no expense for his own support. The intelligence of his death, in consequence of the peculiar circumstances of the country, did not reach the family until near a twelve-month after the event had happened. Upon receiving the information, he, with as little delay as possible, removed his own family to Northampton, and undertook the performance of the new duties which providentially had devolved upon him, with the greatest promptitude and cheerfulness. In this situation he passed five years of the most interesting period of his life; performing in an exemplary manner the offices of a son and a brother, and of a guardian to the younger children. Here, he was emphatically the staff and stay of the family. The government and education of the children, as well as the daily provisions for their wants, depended almost exclusively on his exertions. The elder as well as the younger were committed to his care, and loved and obeyed him as their father. The filial affection and dutiful respect and obedience which he exhibited towards his mother, and the more than fraternal kindness with which he watched over the well-being of his brothers and sisters, deserve the most honourable remembrance. To accomplish this object, he postponed his own establishment for life, and a provision for his family. To accomplish it, though destitute of property, he relinquished in their favour his own proportion of the family estate; laboured constantly for five years with a diligence and alacrity rarely exampled; and continued his paternal care and exertions and liberality long after his removal from Northampton. Often have we heard his mother, who died only ten years since, acknowledge, in language of eloquent affection and gratitude, his kindness and faithfulness, and honourable generosity to her and to her children. The respect which she felt and manifested towards him, though perhaps not his inferior in native powers of mind, resembled the affection of a dutiful child towards her father, rather than the feelings of a mother for her son. During this period, he laboured through the week upon the farm, and preached on the Sabbath to different vacant congregations in the neighbouring towns. He also established a school at Northampton, for the instruction of youth of

both sexes, which was almost immediately resorted to by such a number of pupils, that he was under the necessity of employing two assistants. At the same time, owing to the dispersed condition of the College at New-Haven, and to his established character as an instructer, a part of one of the classes in that seminary repaired to Northampton, and placed themselves under his care as their preceptor. To them he devoted his own immediate attention, until they had completed their regular course of collegiate studies. The school was continued during his residence there, and uniformly maintained an extensive and distinguished reputation. At the same time, he preached almost without intermission upon the Sabbath, with increasing popularity. For about one year, commencing with the winter of 1778-1779, he supplied the vacant congregation of Westfield; the year following, that of Muddy-Brook, a parish of Deerfield; and the year after, that of South Hadley. He often mentioned it to the honour of the people of Muddy-Brook, that they paid him for preaching, not in the depreciated currency of the country, but in specie, or wheat at the specie price, at his election. The compensation which he received for preaching, as well as the profits of his school, were all expended in the support of the common family.

ous.

A strong disposition was manifested, from time to time, by the inhabitants of Northampton, to employ him in civil life. In the county conventions of Hampshire he repeatedly represented the town; and, in connexion with a few individuals, met and resisted that spirit of disorganization and licentiousness which was then unhappily prevalent in many parts of the county, and which had too visible an influence in an assembly often fluctuating and tumultuIt was owing eminently to his exertions, and those of his colleague, the Hon. Joseph Hawley, in opposition to the current of popular feeling, and to no small weight of talents and influence, that the new constitution of Massachusetts was adopted by the convention of the most important county in the state. Twice he consented to serve the town as their representative in the state legislature. This was in the years 1781 and 1782, just before the close of the war of independence; when subjects of an interesting and perplexing nature, growing out of the great controversy in which the country had so long been engaged, extensively agitated the public mind, and engrossed legislative attention. Every thing was then, in a sense, unsettled. That war had sundered not only the cords which fastened the colonies to the mother country, but those, also, which bound them to each other. The old foundations were, in a sense, destroyed; and new ones were to be established. Many of the old laws and regulations were to be altered; and others, accommodated to the state of freedom and independence, were to be devised and instituted. A sense of subordination and obedience to law, was, also, to be cherished, instead of a spirit of licentiousness then widely prevalent. In this

situation, inexperienced as he was in the business of a politician, or a legislator, he at once became one of the most industrious and influential members of that body, and was greatly admired and distinguished for his talents and eloquence. All his exertions were on the side of good order and good morals; and indicated a steady attachment to the principles of rational liberty, and decided hostility to licentiousness. On one occasion he was enabled to prove his devotion to the interests of learning. A petition for a grant in favour of Harvard College was before the legislature. At that time such grants were unpopular. That spirit of honourable liberality, which now happily characterizes the legislature and people of that commonwealth, was then far from being universally operative, During his occasional absence from the house, the petition had been called up; and, after finding but few, and those not very warm advocates, had been generally negatived. On taking his seat, Mr. Dwight, learning what had occurred, moved a reconsideration of the vote. In a speech of about one hour in length, fraught with wit, with argument, and with eloquence, and received with marked applause on the spot, from the members and the spectators, he effectually changed the feelings of the house, and procured nearly a unanimous vote in favour of the grant. It gave him high pleasure thus to confer an obligation on that respectable seminary an obligation which was gratefully acknowledged by its principal officers, as well as by many others of its friends.

At this period, he was earnestly solicited by his friends to quit the profession in which he had engaged, and devote himself to public life. In the winter of 1782-1783, a committee from the delegation of Hampshire, waited upon him with assurances from that delegation, that, if he would consent, their influence should be exerted to secure his election to the continental Congress a place in the gift of the legislature. The late Governor Phillips, of Andover, who was his friend and fellow-lodger, though a man of distinguished piety, gave it as his own unqualified opinion, that he ought to listen to these proposals and remain in civil life; assuring him, also, with several of the most influential members of both houses, of their cordial support. But he had become so thoroughly weaned from his first intention of practising law, and was so much attached to the clerical profession, and so convinced of its superior usefulness, that nothing could change his resolution to devote his life to the latter. Having preached occasionally while attending the legislature, in Boston, and the neighbourhood, he received invitations, accompanied with flattering offers, as it regarded compensation, to settle as a minister, in Beverly and Charlestown; both of which, however, he declined. In the month of May, 1783, he was invited, by an unanimous vote of the church and congregation of Greenfield, a parish in the town of Fairfield, in Connecticut, to settle as their minister. This invitation he accepted, on the 20th of July, in the same year. On the 5th of November follow