"But when, with withering hand, the frost While autumn tempests rent the air, "When winter came, and, cold and still, Midnight assumed her solemn reign, "Thus earthly loves, like summer leaves, And hopes are crushed, and comforts few. 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 majorum 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, 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. Bishop Cheverus, afterwards a cardinal, in the rapture of his admiration, threw his arms around Otis, and while tears were streaming down his cheeks, exclaimed, "Future generations, young man, will rise up and call thee blessed!" Dr. Charles Jarvis was one of the greatest orators that ever controlled the people in Faneuil Hall. He was both vehement and ardent; and when he went over to the Jacobin party, the Boston political poet thus apostrophized, in the Federal Orrery of 1795, edited by Paine: The candidate for Congress, in opposition to Fisher Ames, besides Samuel Adams, was Charles Jarvis, who, it is said, forsook the old Federal party, and became a leader of the Jefferson party,—an orator of tall, fine person, expression and voice; fluent, accurate and graceful, in oratory; with a head bald, and face rather large, beautifully shaped, an aquiline nose, small, piercing eyes, and remarkably expressive countenance. He was characterized by Gardiner as the Bald Eagle of the Boston seat. It Dr. Jarvis was accustomed to pause in his eloquence, when he had said something which he thought impressive, and to look round upon his audience for the effect; and he never seemed to fail of success. is said that, in early life, he was one of a party given to fox-hunting and cock-fighting; and, meeting a friend shortly previous to an evening lecture, who inquired if he should attend there, Jarvis replied that he did not know that he should be ready in season. On this, a game-cock, which he had concealed under his cloak, most lustily crowed, to the surprise of his friend, who was satisfied that his mind was unfitted for devotion at that time. He was born in Boston in 1748, and married the sister of Sir William Pepperell; was appointed by Jefferson surgeon to the Marine Hospital at Charlestown; in 1788 was a delegate to the Massachusetts convention, and was of the State Legislature until 1796. Dr. Jarvis was elected president of the Society of Republican Citizens, gathered at the Statehouse July 4, 1803, on which occasion he gave this sentiment: "May the light of Heaven disappear, before the people of this country shall cease to be free." This was probably the first democratic society in Massachusetts. He was of ready conception and acute penetration, highly popular, until his opinions on Jay's Treaty and the French Revolution left him in the minority. Dr. Jarvis, in the last days of his existence, when he had given up all hopes of life, remarked, with composure, that he should not die like a certain French philosopher, who boasted that he died without hope and without fear; for, though he should die without fear, he should not die without hope. Benjamin Austin said of Charles Jarvis, that he was a Demosthenes in eloquence, a Cato in integrity, a Howard in philanthropy, and a Sidney in patriotism. It is said of Jarvis in the poem "The Demos in Council": "A fairer intellect, more active mind, Warped not from truth and government; For his tongue dropt manna, and could sometimes CHARLES PAINE. JULY 4, 1801. FOR THE TOWN AUTHORITIES. CHARLES PAINE was a son of Hon. Robert Treat Paine, and born at Taunton, Aug. 30, 1776; entered the Boston Latin School in 1782; graduated at Harvard College in 1793, when he engaged in a conference on the comparative advantages which have resulted to mankind from the mariner's compass, gunpowder, and the art of printing; was a counsellor-at-law, a partner of Harrison Gray Otis, and married Sarah, a daughter of Brig. Gen. Charles Cushing, clerk of the Suffolk |