with the forage which had been collected for the supply of the army at New-York. These brigs and sloops, twelve in num. ber, were set on fire and entirely consumed. Six of the enemy were killed and ninety of them taken prisoners; a very few escaped under cover of the night. Colonel Meigs returned to Guilford with his prisoners; having thus completely effected the object of the expedition, without the loss of a single man, and having moved with such uncommon celerity, as to have transported his men by land and water ninety miles in twenty-five hours.

"As a mark of their approbation of his conduct, congress directed a sword to be presented to him, and passed a resolution expressive of their high sense entertained of his merit, and of the prudence, activity and valour, displayed by himself and his party, in this expedition.

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In 1779, colonel Meigs commanded one of the regiments which stormed and carried Stony Point, under general Wayne.

He was one of the first settlers of the wilderness, which has since become the state of Ohio; having landed at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, with the earliest emigrants. A government for the north western territory had been prepared, by an ordinance of the Congress of 1787. Governor St. Clair, and the judges of the territory had not arrived. The emigrants were without civil laws or civil authority. Colonel Meigs drew up a concise system of regulations, which were agreed to by the emigrants, as the rule of conduct and preservation, until the proper authorities should arrive. To give these regulations publicity, a large oak, standing near the confluence of the rivers, was selected, from which the bark was cut off, of sufficient space to attach the sheet, on which the regulations were written; and they were beneficially adhered to until the civil authorities arrived. This venerable oak was, to the emigrants, more useful, and as frequently consulted, as the oracle of ancient Delphos, by its votaries.

During a long life of activity and usefulness, no man ever sustained a character more irreproachable than colonel Meigs. He was a pattern of excellence as a patriot, a philanthropist, and a Christian. In all the vicissitudes of fortune, the duties of religion were strictly observed, and its precepts strikingly exemplified. The latter part of his life was devoted to the amelioration of the condition of the aborigines of the country, for which purpose he accepted the agency of the Cherokee station; and in the discharge of his duties he inspired the highest degree of confidence in that nation, by whom he was emphatically denominated "THE WHITE PATH." In all cases

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MIFFLIN MILLER.

they revered him as their father, and obeyed his counsel as an unerring guide.

His death is a loss to the country, and especially to that station. His remains were interred with the honours of war, amidst a concourse of sincere friends, and in the anguish of undissembled sorrow. His death was serenely happy in the assurance of Christian hope. He died on the 28th of January, 1823, at the Cherokee Agency.

MIFFLIN, THOMAS, a major general in the American army during the revolutionary war, and governor of Pennsylvania, was born in the year 1744, of parents who were quakers.His education was intrusted to the care of the reverend Dr. Smith, with whom he was connected in habits of cordial intimacy and friendship, for more than forty years. Active and zealous, he engaged early in opposition to the measures of the British parliament. He was a member of the first congress in 1774. He took arms, and was among the first officers commissioned on the organization of the continental army, being appointed quarter-master-general in August, 1775. For this offence he was read out of the society of Quakers. In 1777, he was very useful in animating the militia, and enkindling the spirit, which seemed to have been damped. His sanguine disposition and his activity rendered him insensible to the value of that coolness and caution, which were essential to the preservation of such an army, as was then under the command of general Washington. In 1787, he was a member of the convention, which framed the constitution of the United States, and his signature is affixed to that instrument. In October, 1788, he succeeded Franklin as president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, in which station he continued till October, 1790. In September a constitution for this state was formed by a convention, in which he presided, and he was chosen the first governor. In 1794, during the insurrection in Pennsylvania, he employed, to the advantage of his country, the extraordinary powers of elocution, with which he was endowed. The imperfection of the militia laws was compensated by his eloquence. He made a circuit through the lower counties, and, at different places, publicly addressed the militia on the crisis in the affairs of their country, and through his animating exortations, the state furnished the quota required. He was succeeded in the office of governor by Mr. M'Kean, at the close of the year 1799. He died at Lancaster, January 20, 1800, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He was an active and zealous patriot, who had devoted much of his life to the public service.

MILLER, HENRY, was a brave and useful soldier of the revolutionary war. He served in the successive rank of lieu

tenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel. In the retreat across the state of New-Jersey, he performed important services in embarrassing the retreat of the enemy. In the battle of Monmouth, he had two horses killed under him. He was in many battles during the war. In the Western expedition, he was quarter-master general. He commanded a brigade of militia for the defence of Baltimore, in the late war. He had likewise, during his life, filled, with great respect, many civil offices, amongst which was that of superintendant of the revenue for the district of Pennsylvania, to which office he was appointed by president Adams.

He died on the 5th of April, 1824, at Carlisle, Pennsyl

vania.

M'KEAN, THOMAS, one of the signers of the declaration of independence, afterwards chief justice and governor of the state of Pennsylvania, was born on the 19th day of March, 1734, in Chester county, in the then province of Pennsylvania. His father, William M'Kean, was a native of Ireland, but married in this country. The subject of this notice, was at an early age placed under the tuition of the Rev. Francis Allison, D. D. a man of distinguished learning, and who conducted the most celebrated academy in the province. In that institution, Thomas M'Kean acquired a sound knowledge of the languages, and was instructed in the practical branches of the mathematics and moral philosophy. He proceeded to New Castle, Delaware, and read law in the office of David Kinney, Esquire. Having been admitted to the bar, he continued to reside at New Castle, where he soon acquired a solid reputation, and obtained full business. Extending his practice into Pennsylvania, he was, in the year 1757, admitted to the bar of the supreme court of that province. During the early part of his career, he was particularly remarkable for his attentive habits of business, and for his devotion to the acquisition of knowledge, and thus laid the foundation of his subsequent usefulness and distinction. In the year 1762, he was elected a member of assembly for New Castle county, and was annually returned for eleven successive years, until his removal to Philadelphia, as a place of residence; and even after that removal, so great was the confidence reposed in him by the freeholders of New Castle county, that they elected him annually for six years more, though he frequently communicated to them, through the newspapers, his desire to decline the honour. At the end of this period, after he had represented Delaware in congress, and become chief justice of Pennsylvania, an occurrence took place of so interesting a character, that we think it worthy of being related to our readers. On the day of the general election in

Delaware, in October, 1779, he waited on his constituents at New Castle, and after a long address on the situation and prospects of the United States, in which he displayed the wisdom of the statesman, and the energy of the patriot, he desired to be no longer considered one of the candidates for the state legislature, assigning reasons which were received as satisfactory. Soon after he had retired, a committee of the electors present waited on him, informed him that they would excuse him from serving in the assembly, but requested, in the name of the electors, that as the times were critical, and they could fully rely on his judgment, he would recommend seven persons in whom they might confide, as representatives. So singular a method of exhibiting their confidence in him, could not but excite his surprise; however, he instantly acknowledged the compliment, and desired the committee to acquaint his fellow citizens, that he thanked them for the honour intended him, but as he knew not only seven, but secenty of the gentlemen then attending the election, whom he believed to be worthy of their votes, he felt assured, they would not, on further reflection, subject him to the hazard of giving offence, by the preference he must show, if he complied with their request; and hoped to be excused. The committee having left him, soon returned, and stated, that the electors after hearing his reply, had unanimously reiterated their request, and declared, that a compliance by him would offend no one. He, thereupon, instantly, though reluctantly. wrote down seven names, and handed them to the committee, with the observation, that his conduct would at least evidence a reciprocity of confidence between them. The election proceeded harmoniously, and resulted in the choice of the seven gentlemen whom he had thus named. He was afterwards accustomed to speak of this transaction as one of the most gratifying circumstances of his life.

Upon the adoption of the first act of the British parliament, imposing "stamp duties" on the colonies, a congress of committees from different legislative assemblies, was, upon the suggestion of the assembly of Massachusetts Bay, convened at New York, in October, 1765. Of this congress, Mr. M'Kean was a representative from Delaware, and was the surviving member. He was one of the committee appointed to draft an address to the house of commons of Great Britain. At this early period, he displayed, in support of the rights of his country, that unbending firmness and energy, which illustrated his subsequent public conduct. On his return to New Castle, he, with his colleague, Mr. Rodney, received the unanimous thanks of the assembly of Delaware. He continued to be engaged in various public employments,

and, in 1765, was appointed a justice of the court of common pleas and quarter sessions, and of the orphans' court, for the county of New Castle. In November term, 1765, and in February term, 1766, he sat on the bench which ordered all the officers of the court to proceed in their several vocations, as usual, on unstamped paper. This was done accordingly, and it is believed this was the first court that made such an order, in any of the colonies.

In relation to all the public events which soon after followed, his opinions were firm and decided. He was uniform and energetic in resisting the usurpations of the British crown. Immediately after the second attempt of the mother country to raise a revenue from the colonies, without their consent, which was made by an act, imposing a duty on tea, &c. a correspondence took place among leading and influential characters, in most of the colonies, who concerted measures of opposition to this proceeding, and procured a meeting of delegates from their respective houses of assembly, at Philadel phia, in September, 1774. Mr. M'Kean took an active part in this affair, as he had done in 1765, and was appointed a representative of Delaware, though he had, a short time before, removed his residence to Philadelphia. At the opening of this congress, whose conduct proved it the most glorious assemblage which the world ever knew, Mr. M'Kean appeared as a representative from Delaware. He was annually returned as a member, until the independence of his country was formally acknowledged by the treaty of peace, in 1783.

Two circumstances are peculiar in his history, as connected with this period. He was the only man who was, without intermission of time, a member of the revolutionary congress, from the day of its opening, in 1774, till the preliminaries of the peace of 1783, were signed. The various public duties of different members, with other circumstances, concurred to produce this fact. Though he was also engaged in other important public affairs, yet his residence at Philadelphia induced his constituents to continue to return him. The other circumstance, to which we refer, is, that while he represented the state of Delaware in this congress, until 1783, and was in 1781, president of congress, as will be presently stated, yet from July, 1777, he held the appointment and executed the duties of chief justice of Pennsylvania. Each of these states claimed him as her own; and for each were his talents faithfully exerted.

He was particularly active and useful in procuring the declaration of independence, in 1776. Delaware was represented in congress by Cæsar Rodney, George Read, and Thomas M'Kean. Mr. Rodney was absent when the question was discussed in committee of the whole, and Mr. Read