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 determined 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 oceasion, 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.

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 foc. 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.

BRYAN, GEORGE, was a native of the city of Dublin, ir Ireland; the eldest son of an ancient and respectable family He received a classical and liberal education, and very early imbibed the principles of liberty. Even before he had closed his studies, he entered with an ardent zeal the ranks of opposition to the tyrannic acts of Great Britain, against that much abused country. When arrived at the age of twenty-one, his father gave him his portion, being a sufficiency for a handsome establishment, in the wholesale mercantile business. He immediately embarked for Philadelphia, where he remained until his death. Although by profession a merchant, Mr. Bryan's active. patriotic, and highly improved mind, led him to a close observation of, and inquiry into, every thing in his adopted country; its government, laws, and resources for improve

ment.

After several years of extensive business, it pleased the wise disposer of events to defeat the plans of Mr. Bryan, and he was, by the occurrences of severe losses, reduced to comparative poverty. But he was rich in intellectual resources. In them he had a friend, valuable to himself and family, but much more so, as the history of his life shews, to his country. His education fitted him for any thing that extensive knowledge could accomplish.

Previous to the revolution, Mr. Bryan was introduced into various public employments. He was a delegate to the congress of 1775, for the purpose of petitioning and remonstrating against the arbitrary measures of Great Britain. After the declaration of independence, he was vice president of the state of Pennsylvania, and upon the death of president Wharton, in May, 1778, he was placed at the head of the government.

In 1779, Mr. Bryan was elected a member of the legislature, of which he was one of the most intelligent, active and efficient. Here, amidst the tumult of war and invasion; surrounded with the tory and disaffected, when every one was trembling for himself, his mind was occupied by the claims of humanity and charity. He, at this time, planned and completed an act for the gradual abolition of slavery, which will remain an imperishable monument to his memory. These were the days "that tried men's souls;" and it was in those days that the patriotism, wisdom and firmness, of Mr. Bryan, were conspicuously efficient and useful. He furnished evidence, that in opposing the exactions of foreign power, he was opposing tyranny, and was really attached to the cause of liberty. After this period, Mr. Bryan was a judge of the Supreme Court, in which station he continued until his death. In 1784, he was elected one of the council of censors, and was one of its most active members.

Besides the offices mentioned, judge Bryan filled a num ber of public, titulary, and charitable employments. Formed for a close application to study, animated with an ardent thirst for knowledge, and blessed with a memory of wonderful tenacity, and a clear, penetrating, and decisive judgment, he availed himself of the labours and acquisitions of others, and brought honour to the stations which he occupied. To his other attainments, he added the virtues of the christian. He was distinguished by benevolence and sympathy with the distressed; by an unaffected humility and modesty; by his readiness to forgive injuries, and by his inflexible integrity. He was superior to the powers and blandishments of the world. Thus eminently qualified for the various public offices in which he was placed, he was humble and faithful in discharging their duties, and he filled them with dignity and reputation in the worst of times, and in the midst of a torrent of unmerited obloquy, abuse and opposition. When, on a certain occasion, some of his intimate friends desired him to permit them to answer a particular charge made against him, he replied, "no, my friends, such things rankle not in my breast; my character must stand on my general conduct." Such was his disinterestedness and his zeal for the public cause, and for the good of others, that his own interest seemed to have been wholly overlooked. In the administration of justice he was impartial and incorruptible. He was an ornament to the profession of christianity, which he made the delight of his connexions, and a public blessing to the state. By his death, religion lost an amiable example, and science a steady friend.

BURD, BENJAMIN, joined the standard of his country at an early age. In July, 1775, (in his twenty-first year,) he joined colonel Thompson's regiment of riflemen, as a volunteer, and arrived at Boston about the 1st of August following. In the month of October, he was appointed a lieutenant, in which command he was in various skirmishes with the British near Boston. From thence he was ordered to New York, and was immediately afterwards in the battle of Long Island. In 1777, he was appointed a captain in the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment, in which he was in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Afterwards he commanded the left platoon of General Wayne's division at the battle of Brandywine. He was also at the Paoli, and in the battle of Germantown, he acted as Major. After the battle of Monmouth, in which he was also conspicuously engaged, he was ordered to join the detachment which marched against the Indians, and burnt their towns up the North River, in 1779. In all these various services and engagements. he was distinguished for his activity, bravery, and enterprise. At the close of the war he settled down upon his paternal farm