Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution Part 26

Ill.u.s.trious in all their actions the signers of the Declaration of Independence were pre-eminently so--when, a.s.suming their native dignity, they rose in all the majesty of greatness--bursting their servile chains--cutting asunder the cords of forfeited allegiance--sublimely pa.s.sing the grand Rubicon and in the eyes of an approving G.o.d and an admiring world--declared their country FREE AND INDEPENDENT. The era was one of refulgent glory, sacred to the cause of human rights--enduring as genuine patriotism--cheering as the oasis of the desert.

No member of the Continental Congress had studied more closely and understood more clearly political economy and finance than Mr. Sherman.

His mind was moulded in system. He was a practical man and conversant with every department of government. He was an efficient member of the board of war, ordnance and the treasury. He served on important committees during the whole time of the Revolution. His plans for replenis.h.i.+ng the public funds, regulating expenditures and disbursing moneys, were based on rules of frugality and economy corresponding with the embarra.s.sments of that trying period. Fraudulent contractors quailed before his scrutiny--speculations and peculations on government were often paralyzed by his torpedo touch. He guarded, with an Argus eye and parental care the interests of the young Republic.

In the estimation of his colleagues and of our nation, Roger Sherman was second to no one in that bright constellation of sages for sterling integrity and substantial usefulness. At that time honesty and modesty were attributes of merit. It required no stump speeches or bar-room harangues to gain popular favor. Foaming bragadocia--bullying gasconade--personal crimination and a violation of the sanct.i.ty of the domestic circle were not then current coin. No bogus politicians were found among the patriots of the Revolution. _Principles_--not _men_ were the political landmarks--not the seven principles of five loaves and two fishes but the heaven-born principles of eternal justice, truth, honesty, equality, freedom, love of country, patriotism, humanity, universal charity and pure benevolence--all harmoniously growing in rich cl.u.s.ters upon the tree of LIBERTY.

That was also a time of labor. Inglorious ease was not known to legislators. Long written speeches were not read to the speaker and the walls to be printed for party effect among const.i.tuents. Turmoil and billingsgate slang were unknown in the halls of legislation. The business of the nation was performed promptly, faithfully and effectually. Posts of honor were then posts of duty--not of profit. No demagogue bipeds were permitted to fatten at the public crib--no droning sinecures were lounging under the mantle of government. How changed the scene--how fearful the contrast at the present writing! Awake! patriots of my beloved country to a sense of our true interests. Throw off the incubus of ultra party spirit--think, know and act for yourselves--avoid the paralyzing touch of reckless demagogues and purge our land from political corruption.

By his fellow citizens at home Mr. Sherman was held in high esteem. He was continued in the Council during the Revolution. When the city of New Haven was chartered in 1784 he was elected the first mayor--filling the office with great dignity to the close of his life.

When peace was restored Judges Sherman and Law were appointed to revise the judicial code of Connecticut which duty they performed with great ability and satisfaction to all concerned. Mr. Sherman was a member of the convention that framed the Federal Const.i.tution. From a ma.n.u.script found among his papers it appears that this instrument received many of its bright features from him. To his conceptive mind and practical wisdom we are much indebted for the towering greatness and unparalleled prosperity we so eminently enjoy and which will increase and endure so long as the people protect their own interests and are true to themselves. Intimately acquainted with all the local conflicting interests of the Colonies, he was enabled to exercise a salutary influence among the members in reconciling differences between them, which, for a time, threatened to hurl back the elements of government into original chaos and prostrate the fair fabric of Liberty. By examining the earnest discussions, the variety of opinions, the multifarious interests, the intense anxiety, the agony of soul and sacrifice of private views that characterized the formation of the Federal Const.i.tution--we discover wisdom, discretion, charity and patriotism of the loftiest kind s.h.i.+ning in all the grandeur of self sacrifice. Based upon the Declaration of Rights--it forms a superstructure, towering in sublimity above all others--radiating its heart cheering influence over our increasing millions of freemen--revered by all patriots at home--respected abroad--unrivalled in the annals of legislation.

Judge Sherman did much to remove the objections made to this important doc.u.ment by the people of his own and adjoining States. He demonstrated to them clearly and convinced them fully--that to effect and perpetuate the UNION, private feeling and interest must yield to public necessity to procure public good and that each State should strive to produce an equilibrium of the general government, forming a grand centre towards which it should ever tend with harmonious and fraternal gravitation--immovable as the perpetual hills.

Judge Sherman was elected a member of the first Congress under the new Const.i.tution and resigned his judicial station which he had so long adorned with the ermine of impartiality and equal justice. His influence was beneficially felt in the national legislature. He used his n.o.blest exertions to promote the wide spread interests of the new-fledged Republic. Traces of his magnanimous propositions and prophetic policy are upon the journals and many of them incorporated in the Acts of that period. When members differed and exhibited the least acrimony, they were sure to find the peaceful wand of Judge Sherman fanning their heated feelings into a healthful coolness.

At the expiration of his representative term he was elected to the United States Senate of which he was a member when he closed his useful career--bade a long adieu--a final farewell to earth and its toils. He died on the 23d of July 1793 in the full enjoyment of that religion he had honored and practised and which had been a consolation and support amidst the changing scenes of his eventful pilgrimage. He had lived the life of a good man--he died calm, serene and happy. Through faith he triumphed over death and the grave and pressed upward to receive the enduring prize of unfading glory. He could approach the dread tribunal of the great Jehovah--smiling and smiled upon and enter into all the realities of heavenly bliss--enduring as the rolling ages of eternity.

Thus lived and thus died Roger Sherman.

He had been a faithful public servant nearly forty years. He had partic.i.p.ated in all the trying scenes of the Revolution--he had seen his country burst the fetters of tyranny and become a nation of freemen. He had aided in the consolidation of the general government--she was prosperous and happy. In all the important measures of the state of his adoption and of the American nation, he had acted an important part from the commencement of the French war to the time of his departure to "that country from whose bourne no traveller returns."

As a Christian he was esteemed by all denominations for his consistent piety and expansive charity. With him sectarianism was not religion--for him it had no charms. His philanthropy was broad as the human family--it reached from earth to heaven. He was familiar with the abstruse branches of theology and corresponded with several eminent divines. The Bible was his creed--not the dogmas of men.

In the history of Roger Sherman we have one of nature's sheets of purest white covered with all the sublime delineations that dignify a man and a.s.similate him to his Creator. His life was crowned with unfading evergreen produced by the rich soil of genuine worth and substantial merit. No ephemeral roses decked his venerable brow. A chaplet of amaranthine flowers surmounts his well earned fame. The mementos of his examples are a rich boon to posterity through all time. Whilst patriotism, religion and social order survive--the virtues of this great and good man will s.h.i.+ne in all the majesty of light. His private character was as pure as his public career was ill.u.s.trious.

Roger Sherman clearly demonstrated that man is the architect of his own fortune. By industry and perseverance in the use of books--now accessible to all, apprentices and mechanics may surmount every barrier and reach the summit of science and take their stations, with superior advantage, by the side of those who have been enervated within the walls of a college. No one in our land of intelligence is excusable for remaining under the dark mantle of ignorance. The sun of science has risen--all who will can be warmed by its genial rays. The means of acquiring knowledge are far superior to those enjoyed by Sherman and Franklin. Let their brilliant examples be imitated by Columbia's sons--our far famed Republic will then be as enduring as time. Let ignorance, corruption, ultra party spirit and fanaticism predominate--then the fair fabric of our FREEDOM, reared by the valor and cemented by the blood of the Revolutionary patriots--will tremble, totter and fall. Chaos will mount the car of discord--sound the dread clarion of the dissolution of our UNION and LIBERTY will expire amidst the smoking ruins of her own citadel. Forbid it patriotism--forbid it philanthropy--forbid it Almighty G.o.d! O! my country men! remember that with us is deposited the rich behest of LIBERTY--let us guard it with G.o.d-like care and transmit it to our posterity in all the loveliness of native purity.

JAMES SMITH.

Men sometimes forsake the path designed for them by their Creator in their manner of speaking, acting and writing. They vainly strive to imitate some n.o.ble personage of a higher order by nature and cultivation than themselves and become poor specimens of the Ape. Some young men of respectable talents and acquirements--when they mount the rostrum, endeavor to imitate some orator of notoriety instead of acting out free and unvarnished nature. Originality alone gives beauty and force to eloquence in all its varied forms. Like a piece of marble under the skill of the statuary--a more systematic form may be produced by art but the native material cannot be improved in beauty by the finest art--the brightest paint. Originality must form the base or the richness is lost.

No ingenuity can remould the work of nature and retain the full strength of the grand original. We should profit by the wisdom and virtues of great and good men--improve by their precepts and examples--our _manner_ in public speaking, our _language_, our _style_ of writing--all _must_ be original to render them forcible and interesting. Affectation in anything is disgusting to sensible men. It is a coin that cannot be palmed upon the discerning for genuine. Of all counterfeits this is the most readily detected. Away with this worthless trash. If you have not gold, use silver--if neither, use copper--if you have only _bra.s.s_ you need no urging to use that.

James Smith was a fine specimen of originality and pleasing eccentricity. He was born in Ireland in 1713. His father came to this country when James was a boy and settled on the west side of the Susquehanna river nearly opposite Columbia in Pennsylvania. James acquired a good cla.s.sical education under Dr. Allison and retained a great partiality for authors of antiquity to the end of his life. He delighted in mathematics and became an expert surveyor. After finis.h.i.+ng his course of study with Dr. Allison he read law in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, probably with an elder brother in that town and with Mr.

Cookson. When admitted to the bar he located in the then far west near the present site of s.h.i.+ppensburg in c.u.mberland County of that state. He blended law and surveying in accordance with the desire and wants of the frontier settlers. Large tracts of valuable land were held under hasty and imperfect surveys and others were located by chamber surveys.

Litigation was the natural consequence. No witness could tell more truth than the compa.s.s and protractor of Mr. Smith which were free from prejudice and partiality. Possessed of a penetrating mind he scanned future prospects and secured much valuable land. In his compound profession he had full employment. He was on the flood-tide of prosperity. Not willing to sail alone he took for his mate Eleanor Armor of Newcastle who superintended his freight and cabin stores with great skill and prudence.

Mr. Smith was original in everything. With a strong mind, an open and honest heart, a benevolent and manly disposition--he united great conviviality and amusing drollery--yet so discreet and chaste as not to offend the most modest ear. He delighted in seeing the contortions of the risible muscles which were uniformly on duty in all proper circles when James Smith was present. Whenever he came in contact with a pedant he would propound some ludicrous question to him with the utmost gravity--such as this--"Don't you remember that terrible b.l.o.o.d.y battle which Alexander fought with the Russians near the straits of Babelmandel? I think you will find the account in Thucydides or Herodotus." His memory was retentive and stored with numerous anecdotes which he sometimes related in court and often in company to amuse his friends. His manner was original beyond imitation. With all his wit and humor he held religion in great veneration and was a communicant of the church. No one that knew him dare utter one word against it in his presence, knowing that his cutting lash of keen ridicule would at once be applied. Such a mixture of qualities are rarely blended in one man.

His mind ranged with the quickness of lightning from the deep-toned logic and the profoundest thought to the eccentric ludicrous--all balanced by the equilibrium of discretion and each used at the appropriate time and place. His manner, language, style--everything which he said or did from the most trivial circ.u.mstance to the momentous concerns of the nation was purely original.

Of the affairs of his country James Smith was not an idle spectator. No man delights in liberty and independence more than an Irishman. Nor have the Irish people a warm affection for mother Britain. As oppressed as she is, no nation is more sensitive of her rights than "sweet Ireland."

When British oppression showed its hydra head in the American Colonies Mr. Smith took a terrible dislike to the _baste_ and declared he would make fight, unless it withdrew its visible deformity at once. His heart beat high for his adopted country--he came promptly to the rescue. At that time he resided at York and was extensively engaged in iron works and pressed with professional business. He had never consented to fill public stations. Nothing but the importance of the crisis could have induced him to enter the public arena. He reasoned as did Josiah Quincy that--"We must be grossly ignorant of the importance and value of the prize for which we contend--we must be equally ignorant of the power of those who have combined against us--we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy and insatiable revenge which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in our midst--to hope we shall end this controversy without the sharpest--sharpest conflicts--to flatter ourselves that popular resolves, popular harangues, popular acclamations and popular vapor will vanquish our foes. Let us consider the issue--let us look to the end."

Mr. Smith was a man who looked at the beginning and ending. He examined closely causes, effects and results. He understood human nature and knew well the pulsations of the colonists. He believed the bone and sinew of the land would never yield to the tyranny of mother Britain without a "sharp conflict." For that conflict he was prepared. He well knew that there was but little sinecure mushroom dandy stock on-hand--that the great ma.s.s was bone and sinew of the first water. He was for prompt action. A convention of delegates from each county in the state was convened to consider the course proposed by the patriots of New England when the Revolutionary storm had commenced its precursory droppings. Of this convention Mr. Smith was a prominent member and one of the committee that prepared an address to the members of the general a.s.sembly recommending them to appoint delegates to the proposed general Congress with the following instructions which specify the grievances complained of.

"We desire you therefore--that the deputies you appoint may be instructed by you strenuously to exert themselves at the ensuing Congress to obtain a renunciation on the part of Great Britain of all the powers under the statute of 35th Henry VIII. ch 2d--of all the powers of internal legislation--of imposing duties or taxes internal or external and of regulating trade except with respect to any new articles of commerce which the Colonies may hereafter raise--as silk, wine, &c.

reserving a right to carry them from one colony to another--a repeal of all statutes for quartering troops in the colonies or subjecting them to any expense on account of such troops--of all statutes imposing duties to be paid in the colonies that were pa.s.sed at the accession of his present majesty or before this time, whichever period shall be judged most advisable--of the statutes giving the Courts of Admiralty in the Colonies greater power than the Courts of Admiralty in England--of the statutes of 5th George II. ch. 22d and of the 23d of George II. ch.

29th--of the statute for shutting up the Port of Boston and of every other statute particularly affecting the province of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay pa.s.sed in the last session of Parliament. If all the terms abovementioned cannot be obtained, it is our opinion that the measures adopted by the Congress for our relief should never be relinquished or intermitted until those relating to the troops--internal legislation--imposition of taxes or duties hereafter--the 35th of Henry VIII. ch. 2d--the extension of Admiralty Courts--the Port of Boston and the Province of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay are obtained. Every modification or qualification of these points in our judgment should be inadmissible."

By these instructions, directly from the people, we can judge of the feeling that pervaded the great ma.s.s of the yeomanry at that time. By referring to the instructions given to the delegates to Congress by the general a.s.sembly, it will be seen that royal influence pervaded that body as they contain scarcely a feature or point similar to those from the primary convention of the people. See them in the life of Ross. That the reader may more fully understand the points referred to in the instructions above copied I will explain the statutes alluded to in their order.

By the statute of 35th Henry VIII. ch. 2d a citizen of America was liable to be arrested and taken to England to be tried for high crimes.

By the 5th of George II. ch. 23d the colonists were prohibited from exporting hats and hatters were limited to a specific number of apprentices--"that hatting may be better encouraged in Great Britain."

The statute 23d George II. ch. 29th imposed similar but more numerous restrictions--the whole and the other particulars named in the instructions being in violation of the const.i.tution of England and of the charters predicated upon it. Const.i.tutional and charter privileges had grown sacred by long and acknowledged usage, by learned and legal construction and by numerous declaratory Acts of the British Parliament pa.s.sed when sitting under the mantle of reason, justice and sound policy. So fully convinced was Mr. Smith of the true issue between the Colonies and mother Britain that on his return home he raised a company of volunteers and was elected captain by acclamation. This was the pioneer company of Pennsylvania raised for the purpose of confronting the ugly _baste_--tyranny. It was nine months before the b.l.o.o.d.y affair at Lexington, showing that Mr. Smith had arrived at a correct conclusion as to the true issue. He introduced thorough discipline in his new corps and imparted to every member the same patriotic fire that illuminated his own n.o.ble soul. Around this military nucleus the bone and sinew continued to rally until a regiment was raised. Mr. Smith accepted the honorary t.i.tle of Colonel but imposed the active commanding duties upon a younger man. He had put the ball in motion and was gratified to see it rolling onward with increasing momentum towards the goal of LIBERTY.

When the time arrived for action this regiment did honor to all concerned.

Mr. Smith was a member of the next people's convention which convened at Philadelphia in January 1775. He was one of the foremost to oppose force to force and peril life for freedom. He was called an _ultra_ whig and accused of treating the government of his most Christian majesty indecorously. His patriotism had carried him six months in advance of most of the leading men. No one could outstrip him in zeal in the cause of equal rights. His course was onward--right onward to action. For this the time soon arrived. In the spring of 1776 he was on a committee with Dr. Rush and Col. Bayard to organize a camp of 4500 troops to be raised in Pennsylvania. No man was better calculated to render efficient service in this important branch of business. The committee immediately prepared an appeal to the yeoman military which was approved by Congress and widely circulated. It was written in bold and forcible language pointing to the Independence of the Colonies as the great incentive to action. It had a powerful and salutary effect and met with a response from the people that, caused the hirelings of the crown to fly from the province like chaff before the wind. The complement of men was promptly raised.

Almost simultaneous with the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence by Congress a convention of delegates convened for the purpose of raising the arch of a republican const.i.tution and government over the Keystone State. Of this convention Mr. Smith was a prominent member and one of the committee that prepared the Declaration of Rights.

For this the committee had the guidance of a polar star that had been brought to light by the ill.u.s.trious Jefferson and placed in the cerulean canopy of Liberty by the Sages of Congress a few days previous. The _ultraism_ of Mr. Smith had become an admired quality and was surnamed _patriotism_ by the very persons who had misconceived it a few months previous. His zeal and worth were then properly appreciated. On the 20th of July he was elected to the Continental Congress without an intimation to him of the intended honor until he was officially notified of the fact. Being at the State convention in Philadelphia he immediately took his seat--enrolled his name with the apostles of Liberty upon the chart of freedom and then returned to the convention and essentially aided in completing the new government of the State.

Early in October he fully a.s.sumed his congressional duties. The instructions to the congressional delegates had become reversed in two short years. The first clause is worthy of special notice and should be printed in bold _relievo_ and placed over both chairs in Congress--there to remain through all congressional time. Read and ponder it well ye public men who think more of your personal concerns than the business of your const.i.tuents.

"The immense and irreparable injury which a free country may sustain _by_ and the great inconveniences which always arise _from_ a delay of its councils, induce us in the first place strictly to enjoin and require you to give not only a _constant_ but a _punctual_ attendance in Congress."

At the commencement of our free government the will of the people was respected and obeyed. Their public servants were not then their political masters. Committee rooms were not then diverted from their legitimate use by partisan caucuses. The halls of legislation were not then the forum of chaos, personal crimination--recrimination and unparliamentary procedure. The mantle of infantile purity was then hanging from the shoulders of those in high stations in all the beauty of tasteful drapery. _Pro bono publico_ was the order of the day--_pro libertate patriae_ was the motto of each freeman. Mr. Smith obeyed his instructions to the letter. He entered with all his might upon the work set before him. A dark gloom hung over the cause of Liberty at that time. Many of its warmest friends considered success quite problematical. At such a time the sprightliness and proverbial drollery of Mr. Smith were a talismanic antidote against despondency. Always cheerful and elastic--spicing his conversations in private and his speeches in the forum with original wit and humor--he imparted convivial life to those around him. Amidst the waves of misfortune and the breakers of disappointment--like a buoy upon the ocean, he floated above them all and pointed the mariners of Liberty to the port of Freedom. The following extract of a letter written to his wife when Congress was on the point of retreating before Gen. Howe shows that no hyppish feelings cramped the elasticity of his mind.

"If Mr. Wilson comes through York give him a flogging--he should have been here a week ago. I expect to come home before election--my three months are nearly up. General left this on Thursday--I wrote to you by Col. Kennedy.

"This morning I put on the red jacket under my s.h.i.+rt. Yesterday I dined at Mr. Morris's and got wet coming home and my shoulder got troublesome, but by running a hot smoothing iron over it three times it got better. This is a new and cheap cure. My respects to all friends and neighbors--my love to the children.

"I am your loving husband whilst

"JAMES SMITH.

"Congress Chamber, 11 o'clock."

On the 23d of November 1776 Mr. Smith was placed on the committee to devise means for reinforcing the American army and for arresting the destructive career of Gen. Howe. The powers of this committee were very properly transferred to Was.h.i.+ngton soon after. He was on the committee that laid before Congress conclusive testimony of the inhuman treatment of the American prisoners at New York. The ensuing year he declined a re-election but his const.i.tuents informed him he was public property and must be used _nolens volens_. He obeyed their will and continued at his post with unabated zeal and industry. When Congress was compelled to retreat to York he closed his office against his clients and placed in it the Board of War. He sacrificed all private interests that would promote the glorious cause of Liberty. In November 1778 he resigned his seat in Congress and for a season enjoyed the comforts of domestic life.

Being advanced in years and having full confidence in the ability of the United States, aided by the French, to maintain Independence--formed his excuse for leaving the field of his arduous labors. In 1780 he consented to serve in the State legislature. He then retired finally from the public arena. He continued to pursue his professional business successfully and profitably up to 1800 having been a member of the bar for sixty years. His eccentricity, wit and humor retained all the freshness of originality to the end of his life. He was a great admirer of the ill.u.s.trious Was.h.i.+ngton. A castigation from his ironical tongue was the certain consequence to any one who spoke against religion or Was.h.i.+ngton in his presence at any time or place. Upon these two points he was very sensitive. The former he adored--the latter he revered. He corresponded regularly with Franklin and several others of the patriarch sages of '76. He had preserved a rich cabinet of letters, all of which were burnt with his office about a year before his death.

Surrounded by an affectionate family and a large circle of ardent friends--this happy son of Erin glided smoothly down the stream of time until the 11th day of July 1806 when his frail bark was anch.o.r.ed in the bay of death--his immortal spirit in the haven of bliss. In life he was useful--in death happy. In life he was loved and honored--in death his loss was deeply mourned. His exit from earth left a blank not readily filled. His public and private character were unsullied by a spot or wrinkle. When living he was the life of every circle in which he moved--no one who knew him could forget him when dead. Ennui could not live in his presence. He was warm hearted, kind, affectionate and a friend to the poor. He never entertained malice. He used his opponents much as a playful kitten does a mouse--teasing without a desire to hurt them--a propensity that rendered him more formidable than a knight of the sword and pistols. Such pure originals as James Smith are like the inimitable paintings of the ancient artists--few in market and hard to be copied.

JOHN STARK.

Ingrat.i.tude is the extract of baseness, the essence of blackness, the ergot of meanness, a concentrated poison, the sp.a.w.n of a demon--the fuel of Pandemonium. Its breath is pestilence, its touch is palsy. Of all the vile acts of man towards man none throw such a freezing chill over the whole body and drive back the rus.h.i.+ng blood upon the aching heart like base and d.a.m.ning ingrat.i.tude. Indifference continued, coldness persevered in, favors forgotten, friends.h.i.+p unrequited and sometimes cruel abuse--from one who has been the willing recipient of our love, bounty and voluntary aid--brings a palsying horror over the soul that thickens the purple current in the veins making the head sick and the heart faint.

A nation may be ungrateful as well as an individual. Thus it was with England towards the American Colonies. In addition to contributing to the support of the home government of the mother country, much blood and treasure were expended by the Americans in conquering Canada for the special benefit of Great Britain. It was owned by the French who were long the common enemy of the English. Immediately after that conquest the most ungrateful and unjust oppression was commenced by the ministry of England upon her Colonies here. To cap the climax--the very Indians the Americans had conquered and made allegiant to the mother country--that cruel mother employed to murder and scalp those who had aided her. A premium was given for _scalps_--not for _prisoners_.

Among those who essentially aided in the conquest of the Canadas was John Stark, born in Londonderry, New Hamps.h.i.+re, on the 25th of August 1728 O. S. When John was but eight years of age his father removed to what is now called Manchester. Clearing land and an occasional hunting or fis.h.i.+ng excursion with his father was the business of John in early life. In this manner the tide of time carried him along until the 28th of April 1752 when he was taken prisoner by the St. Francois Indians. He left home with two others to visit their beaver traps and at the time of his capture was separated from them. The savages ordered him to lead them to his companions which he pretended to do but led them two miles in the opposite direction. Their position was discovered by the discharge of their guns to call Stark to them. The Indians proceeded below where their boat was moored and ordered Stark to hail them when they approached. He did so and told them to escape to the opposite sh.o.r.e. They attempted to do so--one of them was immediately shot and killed--the other Stark saved by s.n.a.t.c.hing the gun from the Indian who aimed at him for which he was most cruelly treated. His companion was then taken prisoner. In about six weeks they were ransomed and restored to their anxious friends. Thus ended his first lesson in the school of peril.

In the winter of 1753 the Court of New Hamps.h.i.+re sent an exploring expedition into Coos County and employed young Stark as pilot to the company. He performed his undertaking to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. In 1754 a party was sent to the upper part of this county to learn if the French were erecting a fortification--if so, the reason why. Stark was again employed as conductor and led the expedition upon the track he travelled when a prisoner. On the commencement of hostilities with the French and Indians in 1755 he was commissioned a Lieutenant under Captain Rodgers whose boldness and enterprise were in unison with those of Stark. They speedily raised a company of brave hardy men and were ordered to join the regiment at Fort Edward. They arrived shortly after Sir William Johnson was attacked by the French and Indians near b.l.o.o.d.y Pond. In the fall the troops returned to their homes. In the winter of 1756 a corps of rangers was raised to protect the frontier settlements. Rodgers and Stark were put in command and repaired to Fort Edward in April with their company. Nothing worthy of note occurred until the winter of 1757 when this company and two others were ordered to seize the supplies on the way from Crown Point to Ticonderoga. The Colonial troops had taken a few sleighs and were on their way to Fort George when they were furiously attacked by the combined force of the French and Indians. A desperate and b.l.o.o.d.y battle was fought--Captain Spickman was killed and Captain Rodgers severely wounded. The entire command then devolved upon Lieut. Stark. Being overpowered by numbers he ordered a retreat. With the coolness and skill of an experienced veteran he drew off his men keeping the enemy at a respectful distance by a well directed fire when too closely pressed. He brought away all his wounded men and had them conveyed in sleighs to Fort George. He was at once elected to fill the place of Captain Spickman. The next spring he was ordered to New York where he suffered severely from the small pox and was unfit for duty until the next autumn when he returned and wintered at Fort Edward.