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this country will produce poets who may tower into the sublimest paths of tragedy, and lightly tread along the smiling, flowery road of chaste comedy. But if in sullen silence the door is to be forever kept shut, and this Gothic statute is to remain unrepealed, our genius will be stifled, and our ears will continue to be harassed with nothing better than the untuned screechings of the dull votaries of old Sternhold and Hopkins!" In the same year he published A Dissertation on the Ancient Poetry of the Romans, in which he said, when contrasting the Roman church with the English Established church: "The first of their thirty-nine articles is superstitious, contradictory, and unintelligible for, if the first part of that article be true, to a plain, honest mind, the latter part thereof cannot, in my opinion, be also true; and if the latter part be true, it is a direct contradiction of the first part, for the second person there mentioned had parts and passions. Their dignified clergy claim an heavenly, or divine, hereditary succession, and to have a certain spiritual something bottled in their carcasses, which they can communicate to whom they please, and which none but themselves, and those whom they touch for that purpose, can possess or enjoy. They deny transubstantiation, and yet they cherish consubstantiation, which differs only in the name. In short, they are in a very small degree removed from the Mother of Harlots." The opinions of John Gardiner, barrister, are wide apart from John Sylvester John, his son, the divine, who published a very learned discourse, entitled "A Preservative against Unitarianism," at Boston, in 1810, wherein he thus contemptuously lashes the Unitarians: "No faction was ever more active in spreading its tenets than the Unitarians. In England they have long conducted the most popular magazines and reviews, and here they are eager to seize on every avenue to the public eye and ear. From the slight opposition which they have encountered, they really seem to imagine that they are the only wise, and that all learning and genius are confined to themselves. But if there be a man of supereminent talents among them, let him be pointed out. I know him not. The pert conceit, the supercilious sneer, the claim to infallibility, the declamation against bigotry and superstition, by which they mean belief in the essential doctrines of Christianity, may excite admiration among the thoughtless and superficial, but will gain them little credit with the sensible and reflecting. The Unitarians are forever harping upon candor and liberality, which they display by ineffable contempt for all sects but their own. The candor of a Unitarian

resembles the humanity of a revolutionary Frenchman. It is entirely confined to words; and I will venture to affirm that no greater outrages against good manners can be found than in the writings of their leaders, Wakefield, Belsham, and Priestley. But let them measure their own moderate stature with the gigantic dimensions of a Bacon, a Milton, and a Johnson, and perhaps they will be candid enough to allow that all genius and knowledge are not confined to Unitarians, and that a man may be a Trinitarian without being necessarily either a blockhead or a hypocrite."

In 1785, John Gardiner took an active part in the alteration of the Liturgy in the Common Prayer, being on a committee, with Perez Morton and others, of King's Chapel church, striking out the doctrine of the Trinity. Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, long a warden of King's Chapel, was the father of the subject of this article, of whom John Adams said, that "he had a thin, grasshopper voice, and an affected squeak; a meagre visage, and an awkward, unnatural complaisance." Barrister Gardiner was a ripe scholar, a rare wit, and the most vigorous writer of his day; but highly sarcastic and vituperative toward his opponents. He was a zealous politician, learned in his profession, of tenacious memory, and of nervous eloquence.

When on his passage to the General Court of Massachusetts, in the packet Londoner, wrecked off Cape Ann in a storm, he was drowned, October, 1793, where his chest of clothing floated ashore.

JONATHAN LORING AUSTIN.

JULY 4, 1786. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES.

IN the smooth and animated oration of Mr. Austin, glowing with patriotic fervor, it is said: "What country, my friends, can produce so many events, in the course of a few years, as must ever distinguish the American page, a young continent, contending with a nation whose establishment had been for ages, and whose armies had conquered the powers of the world? What spirit, short of an heavenly enthusiasm, could have animated these infant colonies, boldly to

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renounce the arbitrary mandates of a British Parliament, and, instead of fawning like suppliants, to arm themselves for their common defence? You dared to appeal to that God who first planted the principles of natural freedom in the human breast,-principles repeatedly impressed on our infant minds by our great and glorious ancestors; and may yonder sun be shorn of its beams, ere their descendants forget the heavenly admonitions !

"When I behold so many worthy patriots, who, during the late glorious struggle, have shone conspicuous in the cabinet and in the field, - when I read in each smiling face and placid eye the happy occasion for joy and gratulation,—the transporting subject fires my bosom, and, with emotions of pleasure, I congratulate my country on the return of this anniversary. Hail, auspicious day! an era in the American annals to be ever remembered with joy, while, as a sovereign and independent nation, these United States can maintain with honor and applause the character they have so gloriously acquired! How shall we maintain, as a nation, our respectability, should be the grand subject of inquiry. This is the object to which we must attend; for the moment America sullies her name, by forfeiting her honor, the fame she has acquired from the heroism of her sons, and the virtues she has displayed in the midst of her distress, will only serve, like a train of mourners, to attend the funeral of her glory. But, by a due cultivation of manners, a firm adherence to the faith we have pledged, an union in council, a refinement in sentiment, a liberality and benevolence of conduct, we shall render ourselves happy at home and respectable abroad; our constellation will brighten in the political hemisphere, and the radiance of our stars sparkle with increasing lustre."

Jonathan Loring, son of Hon. Benjamin Austin, was born at Boston, Jan. 2, 1748; entered the Latin School in 1755; graduated at Harvard College in 1766, on which occasion he delivered the first English oration ever assigned to a candidate for the bachelor's degree. The recent repeal of the Stamp Act had spread universal joy among the people, and naturally superseded all classical subjects for such an occasion. The boldness of some of the sentiments was not much approved by the faculty, and had well-nigh cost the candidate the honors of his class. Mr. Austin's father was of the Council, and a selectman in Boston in 1775, whose upright and venerable form, large, white wig, scarlet roquelot, and gold-headed cane, were the personification of the manners and dress of that period.

After leaving Cambridge, Mr. Austin commenced business as a merchant, in Portsmouth, N. H. He was appointed a major in a volunteer regiment, under the command of the late Gov. Langdon, raised for the protection of that place. On the commencement of hostilities, he became aid-de-camp to Gen. Sullivan; but being about that period appointed Secretary of the Board of War in Massachusetts, he directly accepted the latter situation, which he sustained until October, 1777. Mr. Austin married Miss Hannah Ivers.

When it became probable that Gen. Gates and the northern army would be able by their success to counterbalance the loss of Philadelphia and the gloomy character of the southern campaign, the executive Council of Massachusetts resolved to transmit the intelligence by a safe and early conveyance to the American Commissioners at Paris. For this purpose a vessel was chartered at Boston, and Mr. Austin was appointed a special messenger. As soon as the official despatches of the surrender of Gen. Burgoyne could be prepared, Mr. Austin sailed from Boston, October, 1777. It would seem that the feeble resources of the State were exhausted by the expense of the vessel. Their messenger was allowed to provide his cabin stores at his own charge, and to trust to the effect of his intelligence for the means of compensation. The pious habit of New England did not at that time permit a voyage to Europe, without proposing a note at church on the Sunday previous, for the prayers of the congregation. Such was accordingly offered at the Old Brick, where his father's family worshipped. The good Dr. Chauncy, though not gifted like Dr. Cooper in prayer, was on this occasion strongly excited. He thanked the Lord most fervently for the great and glorious event which required the departure of a special messenger. He prayed that it might pull down the haughty spirit of our enemies; that it might warm and inspirit our friends; that it might be the means of procuring peace, so anxiously desired by all good men; and he prayed that no delay might retard the arrival in Europe of the packet which conveyed this great news. He invoked a blessing, as desired, on the person who was about to expose himself to the dangers of the deep to carry this wonderful intelligence across the mighty waters; but, said he, good Lord, whatever, in thy wise providence, thou seest best to do with the young man, we beseech thee most fervently, at all events, to preserve the packet. The vessel arrived at Nantes, November, 1777.

The commissioners had assembled at Dr. Franklin's apartments, oD

the rumor that a special messenger had arrived, and were too impatient to suffer a moment's delay. They received him in the court-yard. Before he had time to alight, Dr. Franklin addressed him, — “Sir, is Philadelphia taken?" "Yes, sir!" The old gentleman clasped his hands, and went to the hotel. "But, sir, I have greater news than that; General Burgoyne and his whole army are prisoners of war!" The effect was electrical. The despatches were scarcely read before they were put under copy. Mr. Austin was himself impressed into the service of transcribing them. Communication was, without delay, made to the French ministry. Lord Stormont, the English ambassador, left Paris, and, on the 6th of December, official information was given to the American commissioners that the king recognized the independence of the United States. Treaties to that effect, and for commerce and alliance, were negotiated and signed in sixty days from that date; and the American commissioners, who before were obliged almost to keep themselves prisoners, were received into favor at court, and into unbounded popularity through all France.

Dr. Franklin transferred to Mr. Austin the affection of a father, as if he had been not merely the messenger, but the cause, of this glorious information. He took him directly into his family, constituted him an additional private secretary, and continued towards him the kindest regards during the whole period of his abode in France. Often, at breakfast or other occasions of their meeting, the old gentleman would break from one of those musings in which it was his habit to indulge, and, clasping his hands together, exclaim, "O! Mr. Austin, you brought glorious news!" He made it a matter of etiquette that Mr. Austin should accompany him wherever he was invited. He held him at his bedside during the intervals of the painful disease with which he was visited; taught him to play chess, that he might have some constant cause for the enjoyment of his society, to heap upon him every mark of personal attachment during the period of nearly two years of his residence in France.

Dr. Franklin was from that moment the object of unbounded curiosity and interest. The saloons of Paris were incomplete without his presence. There was an enthusiasm excited concerning him, which brought him into all the most beautiful society of that great metropolis, and in which his dress and simplicity of appearance formed a singular contrast to the rich and splendid attire of all others of the company. The young American, it may well be imagined, was delighted with the

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