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the constitution of the United States was planned, and the Massachusetts convention met to consider whether it should be adopted,Mr. Bowdoin was at the head of the Boston delegation, all of whom voted in favour of it. He made a very handsome speech upon the occasion, which may be read in the volume of their debates. From this time he changed the tumult of public scenes, for domestic peace, and the satisfaction of study.

He was an excellent scholar at college, and afterwards pursued philosophical studies. When the American academy of arts and sciences was instituted, he was appointed the first president, and contributed several papers which were printed in the first volume of their transactions. He also pronounced an oration "upon the benefits of Philosophy," which was printed in a pamphlet, and also in the volume, with the proceedings of the society. His literary reputation was not confined to his own country. He was a member of several foreign societies for the promotion of agriculture, arts, and commerce. He was also fellow of the royal society, London.

In other walks of life, Mr. Bowdoin was conspicuous and useful. When the humane society was instituted he was chosen the first president. He was always ready to promote every literary, benevolent and religious institution. He exhibited the virtues of social life in all their engaging lustre, and he also breathed a christian spirit.

His mind was imbued with religious sentiments by his education, and formed to the love of goodness: he was fond of theological inquiries amidst the course of his other studies. Few men, who are not of the profession, had studied divinity with more earnestness, or greater desire to obtain a knowledge of the scriptures. He early in life became a communicant at the church in Brattle-street.

He died in Boston, after a distressing illness of three months, November 6, 1790, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.

BRADFORD, WILLIAM, a lawyer of great eminence, was born in Philadelphia, September 14th, 1755, and was placed early under the particular care of a very repectable and worthy clergyman, a few miles from that city, from whom he received the rudiments of an education, which was afterwards improved to the greatest advantage, and under the tuition of this excellent preceptor he remained, with little interruption, until he was fit to enter college. It was at this time that his father had formed a plan of keeping him at home, and of bringing him up in the insurance office, which he then conducted; but so strong was the love of learning

implanted in the young mind of his son, that neither persua sion, nor offers of a pecuniary advantage, could prevail with him to abandon the hopes of a liberal education, and he voluntarily offered to resign every expectation of the former from his father, to attain the advantages of the latter, by a regular course of studies. Accordingly in the spring of 1769, he was sent to Princeton, and entered the college of Nassau Hall, then under the direction of the late learned and pious Dr. John Witherspoon, where he continued with great benefit to himself till the fall of 1772, when he received the honours of the college by a degree of bachelor of arts, and in 1775, that of A. M. During his residence at this seminary, he was greatly beloved by his fellow students, while he confirmed the expectations of his friends and the faculty of the college, by giving repeated evidence of genius and taste, and at the public commencement, had one of the highest honours of the class conferred upon him.

He continued at Princeton till the year following, during which time an opportunity was afforded him of attending Dr. Witherspoon's excellent lectures on theology, and from this useful teacher he received much information and general knowledge; after which he returned to the scenes of his youth, and spent several months under the instruction of his first reverend preceptor, who strove to prepare him for future usefulness, by his piety, experience, and knowledge of the world.

Thus fitted for active life, after consulting his own inclinations, and the advice of his friends, he fixed on the study of the law, which he commenced under the late Edward Shippen, Esq. then one of the council of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and late chief justice of that state, where he prosecuted his studies with his usual diligence and unwearied application.

In the spring of 1776, he was called upon, by the peculiar circumstances of the times, to exert himself in defence of the dearest rights of human nature, and to join the standard of his country, in opposition to the oppressive exactions of Great Britain. When the militia were called out to form the flying camp, he was chosen major of brigade to general Roberdeau, and on the expiration of his term, accepted a company in colonel Hampton's regular troops, where he was soon promoted to the station of deputy paymaster general, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, in which oflice he continued about two years, till his want of health, being of a delicate constitution, obliged him to resign his commission and return home. He now recommenced the study of the law, and in 1779, was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, where

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his rising character soon introduced him into an unusual share of business; and, in August, 1780, only one year after he was licensed, by the recommendations of the bar, and the particular attention of the late Joseph Reed, Esq. then president of the state, he was appointed attorney general of the state of Pennsylvania.

In 1784, he married the daughter of Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey, counsellor at law, with whom he lived till his death, in the exercise of every domestic virtue that could adorn human nature. On the reformation of the courts of justice under the new constitution of Pennsylvania, he was solicited to accept the honourable office of one of the judges of the supreme court, which, with much hesitation, he accepted, and was commissioned by governor Mifflin, August 22, 1791. His indefatigable industry, unshaken integrity, and correct judgment, enabled him to give general satisfaction in this office, as well to the suitors as at the bar. Here he had deter mined to spend a considerable part of his life; but on the attorney general of the United States being promoted to the office of secretary of state, Mr. Bradford was urged, by various public considerations, to yield to the pressure of the occasion, and accept of that office. He accordingly resigned his judge's commission, and was appointed attorney general of the United States on the 28th day of January, 1794. This office he held till his death, when he was found at his post, in the midst of great usefulness, possessing, in a high degree, the confidence of the country.

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Mr. Bradford's temper was mild and amiable; his manners were genteel, unassuming, modest, and conciliating. As a public speaker, his eloquence was soft, persuasive, nervous and convincing. He understood mankind well, and knew how to place his arguments and his reasonings in the most striking point of light. His language was pure, sententious, and pleasing; and he so managed most of his forensic disputes as scarcely ever to displease his opponents; while he gave the utmost satisfaction to his clients. His close application to the law, and the litigation of the bar, did not prevent him altogether from indulging now and then his fondness for poetry; his taste and talents for which were above the common standard, and several pieces of his composition have been published. In 1793, he published "an inquiry how far the punishment of death is necessary in Pennsylvania." This was written at the request of governor Mifflin, and intended for the use of the legislature, in the nature of a report; they having the subject at large under their consideration. This performance justly gained him great credit, and its happy effects are manifested wherever it has been read with attention,

especially in the reformation of the penal codes of several states in the union, where the interests of humanity have, at last, prevailed over ancient and inveterate prejudices.

He died on the 23d day of August, 1795, in the fortieth year of his age, and was, according to his express desire, buried by the side of his parents, in the burial ground belonging to the second Presbyterian church in Philadelphia.

BROAD, HEZEKIAH, was a patriot of the American revolution. He was a member of the provincial congress, at Concord, in 1774; afterwards held a commission in the provincial army, and a more decisive, inflexible, and courageous character, rarely met an invading foe. Possessing a most powerful and vigorous mind, every action of his life was balanced with a discriminating judgment, and tempered with discretion. If it could be said of a man that he possessed the integrity of major Broad, he needed no farther evidence to establish his moral rectitude. He despised vain, pompous show, and generally sought happiness in reading and meditating at his fire-side. He was a delegate to the convention, in Cambridge, in 1779, which formed the constitution of Massachusetts, and filled the various offices which his fellow townsmen could bestow by their suffrages, for a series of successive years, and managed its concerns with exactness.

He died in Natick, Massachusetts, the 17th of March, 1824, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

BROOKS, ELEAZAR, a brigadier general in the revolutionary war, was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1726. Without the advantages of education, he acquired a valuable fund of knowledge. It was his practice in early life to read the most approved books, and then to converse with the most intelligent men respecting them. In 1774, he was chosen a representative to the general court, and continued twenty-seven years in public life, being successively a representative, a member of the senate, and of the council. He took a decided part in the American revolution. At the head of a regiment he was engaged in the battle at White Plains, in 1776, and in the second action near Still Water, October 7, 1777, and distinguished himself by his cool determined bravery. From the year 1801, he secluded himself in the tranquil scenes of domestic life. He died at Lincoln, Massachusetts, November 9, 1806, aged eighty years.

General Brooks possessed an uncommonly strong and penetrating mind, and his judgment as a statesman was treated with respect. He was diligent and industrious, slow in concerting, but expeditious in performing his plans. He was a firm believer in the doctrines of christianity, and in his advanced years accepted the office of deacon in the church at Lin

coln. This office he ranked above all others, which he had sustained during life.

BROWN, MOSES, was a brave officer in the navy of the United States. During the last forty-eight years of his life he followed the profession of a mariner. In the revolutionary war, his reputation gained him the command of several of the largest private armed ships from New England. In these stations he was zealous, brave, and successful. He was engaged in several severe battles with the enemy, and distinguished himself particularly in one with a ship of superior force. When the small American navy was establishing, a number of years after the war, the merchants of Newburyport built a ship by subscription for the government, and obtained the command of her for captain Brown. His advanced age had not impaired his skill, nor deprived him of his zeal and activity. While he commanded the Merrimac he was as enterprising and successful as formerly; and he followed till his death his accustomed avocation. He died in December, 1803, aged sixty-two years.

BROWN, ROBERT, was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. At the commencement of the revolutionary war, he was appointed an officer in that corps of Pennsylvania troops, called the "flying camp," and was taken prisoner on Long Island. It has been frequently asserted, and with much confidence, that part of the time he was a prisoner, he worked at his trade, (a blacksmith) and the proceeds of his wages he distributed among his fellow prisoners. This was highly honorable and praiseworthy. He was a firm and inflexible patriot, and universally respected. The urbanity and republican plainness of his manners; the uprightness and probity of his character, secured him the esteem of all who knew him. He served his country in several civil stations, and was elevated to the rank of a brigadier general in the militia of Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Senate of Pennsylvania for some time; and also a member of the house of representatives of the congress of the United States, for sixteen or seventeen successive years. He was one of those members of the house of representatives, who, in 1812, voted for the declaration of war against Great Britain; and he lived long enough to see that war gloriously terminated, and its effects proved most salutary to the happiness and prosperity of the United States. Through all the vicissitudes of party, he remained a steadfast and ardent friend to the rights and liberties of his country, and firm and unwavering in his political opinions.

General Brown died at his residence, in Allen township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of February, 1823, in the seventy-ninth year of his age.

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