1830, Mayor Bigelow gave the forthcoming sentiment: "The two most celebrated cradles in history,—the cradle of Hercules, and this old Cradle of Liberty: Both memorable for the energy of their infant occupants in resisting the emissaries of oppression." Edward, a brother beloved, who died in 1838; Francis, a merchant of Boston; and two daughters, one of whom married Henry Stevens, Esq., a merchant of New York. Hon. Timothy Bigelow died in Medford, May 18, 1821.

JOHN DAVIS.

FEB. 19, 1800. EULOGY ON WASHINGTON. FOR THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

WAS born at Plymouth, Jan. 25, 1761. Graduated at Harvard College in 1781; and when he took his degree, his theme was a poem on "Commencement." He became teacher in the family of Gen. Joseph Otis, a brother of the patriot. He prepared for the bar under the direction of Benjamin, a son of General Benjamin Lincoln, and completed under Oakes Angier, Esq., of Bridgewater. He married Ellen Watson, June 7, 1786, and was elected as a delegate to the convention on the adoption of the federal constitution in 1788, and last of the survivors. Was a senator for Plymouth county in 1795, and a Comptroller of the United States Treasury in 1795. Was appointed by Washington U. S. District Attorney for Massachusetts. In 1801 he was appointed by President Adams a judge of the U. S. District Court for this State. Was counsellor of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and member of that institution, and of the Massachusetts Historical Society, from their foundation. Judge Davis was treasurer of Harvard University, member of the corporation and board of overseers of that college, and member of the N. E. Genealogical Historical Society. He was also a delegate to the Massachusetts convention on revising the State constitution, in 1820. He devised the city seal, with this inscription, adopted by Boston on its incorporation, Feb. 23, 1822: "As with our fathers, so may God be with us." Judge Davis resigned his station as district judge of U. S. Court,

July, 1841, on which occasion he said to the court, "It is painful to employ the solemn word dissolved. Our official connection will cease; but reciprocal esteem and good-will will, I trust, remain in continued exercise." Judge Davis was present at the festival in Faneuil Hall on the centennial celebration of the settlement of Boston, on which occasion he advanced the following sentiment, "History and poetry,— Blackstone's spring and the Pierian spring: 'To keep the Pilgrims' memory green,' Boston is satisfied." This occurred after the delivery of the oration by Quincy, and the poem by Sprague.

Judge Davis was one of the most profound antiquarians in New England. His learned notes to Morton's New England Memorial have done more to incite research into the history of the Pilgrim Fathers than any other work. It created a new era in antiquarian lore; and, had he possessed the active vigor of Camden of Old England, he would have been his rival in New England.

On the occasion of a dinner party, at which Judge Story and others eminent in the legal profession were present, the conversation turned upon the comparative advantages of the different periods of life. Some preferred for enjoyment youth and manhood; others ascribed more satisfactions to old age. When the opinion of Judge Davis was asked, he said, with his usual calm simplicity of manner, "In the warm season of the year, it is my delight to be in the country; and, every pleasant evening while I am there, I love to sit at the window, and look upon some beautiful trees which grow near my house. The murmuring of the wind through the branches, the gentle play of the leaves, and the flickering of light upon them when the moon is up, fill me with indescribable pleasure. As the autumn comes on, I feel very sad to see these leaves falling, one by one; but when they are all gone, I find that they were only a screen before my eyes; for I experience a new and higher satisfaction, as I gaze through the naked branches at the glorious stars beyond."

The following version of Judge Davis' sentiment on the autumn of life, is from the hand of Allen C. Spooner, Esq.:

"Before my door,,in summer's heat,

Proudly the elms their branches spread;
Cool verdure sprang beneath my feet,
And shadows played around my head ;

Joyful I passed the sultry hours,
And mocked the sun's meridian power.

"But when, with withering hand, the frost
Shrivelled the leaves, and, gaunt and bare,
Their naked arms the elm-trees tossed,

While autumn tempests rent the air,
I mourned the summer's glories fled,
And copious tears of sadness shed.
"When winter came, and, cold and still,
The ice-king forged his frozen chain,
And over snow-clad vale and hill

Midnight assumed her solemn reign,
-Forth-looking from my window-bars,
Through the stripped limbs I saw the stars.

"Thus earthly loves, like summer leaves,
Gladden, but intercept our view;
But when bereft, the spirit grieves,

And hopes are crushed, and comforts few.
Lo! in the depth of sorrow's night

Beams forth from far celestial light."

Judge Davis once said: "In the happy country which we inhabit, we find from its earliest history principles of polity and rules of conduct have prevailed that give it an honorable rank among the nations, and to which our unexampled growth and prosperity must, in a degree, be ascribed. In its infant condition, a sober regard to the happiness of men, through the whole of their existence, distinguished its illustrious founders. Their scrupulous care to render satisfaction for a scanty portion of grain which the erratic savage had left buried in the sand manifests their delicate regard to justice. And when we follow a Winslow travelling through the wilderness to visit the sick sachem Masassoit, we behold an amiable example of that mercy which droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven. Faithful to ourselves,' said the revered Washington, we have violated no obligations to others."" In allusion to the spirit of American social polity, Judge Davis remarked, at another time, "Onward, ever onward, more marjorum in the march of improvement and advancement of human happiness.'

How inexpressibly beautiful was his own estimation of old age! Simplicity and truthfulness, says Dr. Francis, were essential elements of his whole being. No provocation could tempt him to be unjust to any person or subject. The evenness of his mind and the serenity of his spirit had a sedative effect on the ruffled feelings of others. The very atmosphere of his presence was a restraint on impetuosity. He died Jan. 14, 1847.

JOSEPH HALL.

JULY 4, 1800. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES.

JOSEPH HALL was born April 26, 1761, in Portland-street, Boston; graduated at Harvard College in 1781; student at law with Col. Benjamin Hichborn, and married Anna Adams in 1787; he married a second time, Sarah, a daughter of Ellis Gray. On the evening of the march of the British regulars upon Lexington and Concord, he was despatched by his father to Roxbury, in order to convey intelligence to General Warren of the intended attack. His father had learned at that early period the purpose for which the troops were mustering, through a domestic in the family, who was intimate with one of the nurses employed in the military hospital near the family residence, in Portland-street. In 1786 Mr. Hall was an aid to Major General Brooks, in Shays' Insurrection. In 1788 he was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. He was a Boston representative. In 1818 he was appointed High Sheriff of Suffolk. In 1825 he succeeded Judge Dawes as judge of Suffolk Probate, which station he resigned in 1836. Judge Hall died April 15, 1848.

A prominent feature in the character of Judge Hall was a manly and decided honesty, which was exhibited in a striking incident. The treaty with Great Britain, conducted by John Jay, was, like the Mexican treaty of 1847, surreptitiously disclosed previous to its confirmation in the Senate. This treaty was at first violently contested. In Boston opposition to it was decided. On the 10th of July, 1795, a town-meeting was held at Boston, and, amid universal enthusiasm, a vote was passed appointing a committee to report objections to the articles of the treaty, that the same may be returned to President Washington. This committee reported at an adjourned meeting, held July 13; and, according to the town records, this report was unanimously accepted. The record is not strictly correct. One person had the firmness to oppose their measures, and that man was Joseph Hall. The Rev. S. K. Lothrop, his last pastor, states that he received the facts from his own lips. Mr. Hall stood in the gallery at Faneuil Hall, and, before the question was put, addressed the audience. Being at this time a young man of popular character, and an energetic

speaker, he readily gained listening ears; but the moment it was perceived he intended to advocate the treaty, in opposition to their proposed measures, he was overwhelmed with groans and hisses. He persevered, however, in stating boldly his arguments for approving the treaty, and opposing the doings of the town. Mr. Hall concluded his speech by reprobating a proceeding which he said would have a tendency to unsenatorize the Senate. The citizens, excited already by the publication in the Chronicle, were frenzied by the inflammatory eloquence of Dr. Jarvis, the unrivalled declaimer of the day, who instantly caught the expression. "The gentleman," exclaimed he, "would not unsenatorize the Senate: I will never consent to unpopularize the people." Old Faneuil Hall rang with applauding shouts, and the measure was adopted with acclamation. The public excitement was so strong that mobs paraded the streets of Boston, and in one of which was a riotous procession of watermelon lanterns, with the intention of burning John Jay in effigy. Several of the boys engaged in it declared, when they were taken into custody, that Mr. Benjamin Austin, Jr., had given them one shilling and sixpence each to effect this design; and it was thus celebrated by a satirical poet:

"To acts of bribery it belongs the prize,

Let my bold fête of yesternight suffice,
When half the school-boys in the town I paid,
Our streets in mob-like phalanx to parade,
A melon lanthorn on a pole display,
And burn it for an effigy of Jay."

In less than one year from that time,- on the 27th of April, 1796, Mr. Hall had the satisfaction of witnessing another town-meeting, so densely crowded that it was necessary to adjourn from Faneuil Hall to the Old South Church, at which, chiefly through the influence of an eloquent speech delivered by Harrison Gray Otis, it was voted, almost unanimously, to address a memorial to Congress, urging that body to make the necessary appropriations to fulfil the stipulations of the treaty. The memorial was signed by thirteen hundred citizens of Boston. At this final meeting the rolling thunder of Jarvis was again heard; but a new and bright planet blazed through the darkness, and dispelled the clouds. Harrison Gray Otis for the first time came before the people on a political question; and they, to their admiration, discovered that the talent of popular eloquence was not a monopoly.