who knew him. The carelessness which made him write his sermons upon mere scraps of paper, in an almost illegible hand, and the physical indolence which made him neglect to transcribe or arrange them, might excite a smile, rather than provoke a frown; and it has been well said of Dr. Kirkland, that his sermons were full of intellectual wealth and practical wisdom, with sometimes a quaintness that bordered on humor, yet had never been inspired by the peculiar genius of pulpit eloquence. He was president of the Anthology Club. His biography of Fisher Ames is one of the most classic productions of an American mind. After having visited Europe, Egypt, and Palestine, he died at Boston, of an inveterate disease that had long afflicted him, April 26, 1840.

His successor, President Quincy, remarks of him: "Possessing talents of a high order, which he had diligently cultivated, enjoying the friendship and confidence of many of the most influential and eminent men among his contemporaries, combining great sagacity with great knowledge of human nature, he conducted this seminary for a succession of years prosperously and with great popularity. Under his auspices, the standard necessary for obtaining admission to its privileges was raised, its literary character elevated, the general sphere of its usefulness extended, and great improvements effected;" and Dr. Young, his successor in the pastoral care of the New South Church. says of him, in his highly graphic biography, of which a divine of another sect said he did not see how it could be better written, "What style shall I set forth of this excellent man, to whom I never came but I grew stronger in moral virtue, from whom I never went but I parted better instructed? If I speak much, it were not to be marvelled; if I speak frankly, it is not to be blamed; and though I speak partially, it were to be pardoned."

The preaching of Kirkland was of the same character with his conversation, says Young. It was sententious, and full of apothegins. There was not much visible logic or induction in his discourses. The description which he gives of Fisher Ames' writings is strikingly applicable to his own. When the result of his researches was exhibited in discourse, the steps of a logical process were in some measure concealed by the coloring of rhetoric. It was the prerogative of his mind to discern by a glance, so rapid as to seem intuition, those truths which common capacities struggle hard to comprehend. His style is conspicuous for sententious brevity, for antithesis and point. Single ideas appear with so much lustre and prominence, that

the connection of the several parts of his discourse is not always obvious to the common mind, and the aggregate impression of the composition is not always completely obtained. His learning seldom appeared as such, but was interwoven with his thoughts, and became his own.

There was little apparent method, arrangement or connection, in Dr. Kirkland's preaching; so that it was not uncommon for him to bring into the pulpit half a dozen sermons or more, and, on the instant, construct a new sermon as he went along, turning the leaves backwards and forwards, and connecting them together by the thread of his extemporaneous discourse. These scattered leaves resembled those of the Sybil, not only in their confusion, causing many to marvel how he could marshal and manage them so adroitly, but also in their hidden wisdom, and in the fact that when two-thirds of what he had thus brought into the pulpit was omitted, thrown by, as unworthy of delivery, the remaining third, which he uttered, was more precious than the entire pile of manuscript, containing, as it did, the spirit and essence, the condensed and concentrated wisdom, of the whole.

Condensation, indeed, continues Dr. Young, was his crowning faculty. It was here, especially, that he manifested the supremacy of his intellect. He always spoke from a crowded and overflowing mind. Although he said so much, you felt that there was much more behind unsaid. He poured himself forth into a full stream of thought, which evidently flowed from a living and inexhaustible fountain. Chief Justice Parsons used to say that Dr. Kirkland put more thought into one sermon than other ministers did into five. And how much weight and wisdom were there even in single sentences of his writings, as when, in his Life of Fisher Ames, he says, "He did not need the smart of guilt to make him virtuous, nor the regret of folly to make him wise;" and when, in the same work, he says, "The admission of danger implies duty; and many refuse to be alarmed, because they wish to be at ease." Such was his wonderful and accurate knowledge of human nature, and his clear insight into the springs of human action, that sometimes, when I have heard Kirkland preach, it seemed to me that he had actually got his hand into my bosom, and that I could feel him moving it about, and inserting his fingers into all the interstices and crevices of my heart. According to Dr. Palfrey, there were twelve hundred graduates of Harvard College who enjoyed his care, having been, at the period of his decease, nearly one quarter part of the whole that had been educated at that institution.

FISHER AMES.

FEB. 8, 1800. STATE EULOGY ON WASHINGTON.

IN the speech of Hon. Fisher Ames, on Jay's treaty, April 28, 1796, delivered on the floor of Congress, he says: "We are either to execute this treaty, or break our faith. To expatiate on the value of public faith, may pass with some men for declamation. To such men I have nothing to say. To others, I will urge, can any circumstance mark upon a people more turpitude and debasement? Can anything tend more to make men think themselves mean, or degrade to a lower point their estimation of virtue, and their standard of action? It would not merely demoralize mankind; it tends to break all the ligaments of society, to dissolve that mysterious charm which attracts individuals to the nation, and to inspire in its stead a repulsive sense of shame and disgust.

"What is patriotism? Is it a narrow affection for the spot where a man was born? Are the very clods where we tread entitled to this ardent preference, because they are greener? No, sir; this is not the character of the virtue, and it soars higher for its object. It is an extended self-love, mingling with all the enjoyments of life, and twisting itself with the minutest filaments of the heart. It is thus we obey the laws of society, because they are the laws of virtue. In their authority we see, not the array of force and terror, but the venerable image of our country's honor. Every good citizen makes that honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious, but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defence, and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it. For what rights of a citizen will be deemed inviolable, when a State renounces the principles that constitute their security? Or, if his life should not be invaded, what would its enjoyment be, in a country odious in the eyes of strangers, and dishonored in his own? Could he look with affection and veneration to such a country as his parent? The sense of having one would die within him. He would blush for his patriotism, if he retained any; and justly, for it would be a vice. He would be a banished man in his native land.

"I see no exception to the respect that is paid among nations to the law of good faith. If there are cases in this enlightened period when

it is violated, there are none when it is denied. It is the philosophy of politics, the religion of governments. It is observed by barbarians. A whiff of tobacco-smoke, or a string of beads, gives not merely binding force, but sanctity, to treaties. Even in Algiers, a truce may be bought for money; but, when ratified, even Algiers is too wise or too just to disown and annul its obligation. Thus, we see, neither the ignorance of savages, nor the principles of an association for piracy and rapine, permit a nation to despise its engagements. If, sir, there could be a resurrection from the foot of the gallows,- if the victims of justice could live again, collect together, and form a society, they would, however loath, soon find themselves obliged to make justice — that justice under which they fell the fundamental law of their state. They would perceive it was their interest to make others respect, and they would therefore soon pay some respect themselves, to the obligations of good faith."

Fisher Ames was born at Dedham, April 9, 1758, and was the youngest son of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, who was for forty years a noted author of almanacs; of whom it is related, having accidentally entered in one of them the prediction of snow in June, and a snow-storm occurring on the day named, it caused a rapid sale of his almanacs. It is related in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, that Dr. Nathaniel Ames, whose son Nathaniel was a surgeon in the army of the Revolution, had two wives, Mary and Deborah, successively of the name of Fisher. The first dying young, but not until after his mother, and her estate having vested in him, gave rise to the famous lawsuit, in which it was first determined that real estate ascended, contrary to the English rule, to the father, as next of kin, by the province law. Dr. Ames was a public taverner at Dedham; and there is a tradition that, after this case was decided, a sign-board was suspended over his door, with the painted figure of the judges, in full-bottomed wigs and robes, among whom were caricatured the two who were of adverse opinion. This being viewed as a contempt of court, it was shortly after taken down. Dr. Ames died at Dedham in 1764, aged fifty-seven years. His son Fisher was born in the Woodward mansion, on the north side of the court-house, opposite the monumental stone, surmounted by a pillar and a bust, erected in honor of William Pitt, for his services to the colonies. He graduated at Harvard College in 1774; studied law under Judge Tudor, and became a counsellor-atlaw. In 1788 he was a representative in the State Legislature; and

was elected to Congress for Suffolk county, December 18th of the same year, in opposition to Samuel Adams, and was probably the junior member of the house. He was also a delegate to the State convention on the federal constitution, in 1788; and was of the State Executive Council, in 1800. Mr. Ames married Frances, daughter of John Worthington, Esq., July 15, 1792. He continued in Congress during a period of eight years, where he displayed irresistible eloquence; and, after his memorable speech in favor of the treaty with Great Britain, from which a passage is presented at the head of this article, a member, opposed to Ames, objected to taking a vote at that time, as they had been overwhelmed by his eloquence. One day, when in the bookstore of Manning & Loring, in Boston, on observing their new edition of Perry's Dictionary, which was on the counter, in which words are accented,"Here is a book," said Ames, "showing us how to pronounce words." After a moment's reflection, he continued, "But we are told that the best standard of pronunciation is the imitation of the best speakers." The residence of Fisher Ames was in the dwelling now occupied by John Gardner, Esq. He died at Dedham, July 4, 1808. The stanzas herewith added were sung in King's Chapel, July 6, 1808, after the delivery of the eulogy of Samuel Dexter over the remains of Fisher Ames, and are ascribed to Rev. Dr. Gardiner :