"CHANTILLY, 5th November, 1792.

SIR-I have received the letter you did me the honour to write to me, on the twenty-third of October, with the resolve enclosed therein. Be so good, sir, as to present my duty to the Senate, and assure that honourable body that I feel, as I ought to do, the highest sense of obligation, for the honour conferred upon me, by the manner in which they have been pleased to express their sense of my services, and for the obliging wish, they have expressed, for the future happiness of my life. I wish it may be the good fortune of those who follow me, to serve masters willing to crown their labours, by bestowing upon them a reward so respectable as I have been favoured with.

I thank you, sir, for the kind manner of conveying to me the sense of the Senate; and I remain, with the highest respect, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant,

RICHARD HENRY LEE.

Honourable the Speaker of the Senate."

Mr. Lee now finally retired from all public employ

ments.

Having thus presented to view the public life and character of Mr. Lee, it remains for his biographer to relate such traits of his private life as may show, that he was justly entitled to that esteem and affection of his fellow citizens, of his family and friends, which accompanied him to his latest hour.

His early days were spent in a truly Spartan style. His mother, who was one of the high-toned aristocracy of the day, confined all her care and attention to her daughters and her eldest son, who was to be the head of the family, and gave up her younger sons, when boys, to be fed, in a great measure, by their own enterprise and exertions, without which, they might often have wanted the necessaries of life. To this circumstance may be attributed, in a great measure, that vigour of mind and body which they afterwards enjoyed.

Having finished his academical course of studies at Wakefield, in England, Mr. Lee travelled through that country, visited its great metropolis, and brought with him, to his native home, that refinement of manners which graced both the forum and the fireside.

Soon after his first marriage, (to gratify the wishes of his eldest brother, who was so fond of him that he would not consent that he should live far from him,) he was induced to reside in the county of Westmoreland; the situation was unhealthy, and the soil not rich; but being on a river, it possessed some compensating advantages. Here, by that active, intelligent, and persevering industry, for which he was so much distinguished, he was enabled to live in a style of comfort and independence equal to that of his more wealthy friends.*

His house was always filled with guests, whom the suavity of his manners, his frank and generous hospitality, his strong and instructive conversation, at once invited and pleased. To the neighbouring poor he was a friend, an instructor, their physician, and the arbiter of their differences. He imported, annually, a quantity of the best medicines, from the "Apothecary's Hall," in London, when he could do so, for their use; and administered it to them, with kindness and effect. It was, indeed, pleasing to witness, the affection and veneration with which they always approached him. A strong proof of the regard his neighbours and fellow citizens bore him, was shown by the fact, that he never lost an election in his native county. Hence he, at all times, triumphed with ease over every effort of calumny and envy to injure him; for, unfortunately for man, the purest virtue, and the greatest merit, never escape the attacks of bad men, governed by such passions. It may be remarked, too,

* He was very fond of the society of learned medical gentlemen, and his intercourse and correspondence with them, were not confined to his own country. Dr. Fothergill and others were his correspondents. See his letter, in the body of correspondence, to Dr. Blane, of England, thanking him for the present of his "Treatise on the Diseases of Seamen."

that he enjoyed, throughout a period of more than thirty years, the confidence and honours of his state.

But it was in the domestic circle, that the evenness and amiableness of his temper, his good sense, and industry, were most conspicuous. At an early period of their marriage, he lost his wife, who left him four young and infant children. The busy scenes of public life, in which he was then engaged, and the young and helpless state of his children, soon forced him to think of a second marriage. He succeeded in securing a partner for his after life, every way worthy of him. Although his patrimony was not great, and his public engagements were numerous, constant, and onerous, yet such were the ardent exertions of his ever-active mind, that he found means to send his two oldest sons to England, and to France, for their education, and supported his children who remained at home, with such equal and impartialfondness, as drew them together, by those strong cords of mutual affection, which never permitted them to feel the difference of parentage.

Although one of the kindest and fondest of parents, doing every thing to please and divert his children, yet he was ever rigid in exacting their performance of moral duties; and such was the power of his rebuke, and the influence of his parental authority and affection, that they never stood in need of bodily correction, to be made to feel their errors, and avoid them.*

The great esteem and affection with which he was

* The author has heard an anecdote related by a son of Mr. Lee, which will illustrate his character in this respect. He had entrusted one of his sons with a key, to give to a servant something that was wanted; he happened to be passing by the door of the room to which he had sent his son, and saw the servant coming out of it, with that, which he had not desired his son to let him have. He called his son to him, and in a mild, but serious manner, told him of the impropriety, on any occasion, of breaking the trust reposed in him; and impressed upon him, the consequences which would follow, from allowing himself to do So, upon any account. The boy went into the house crying, and when asked by his mother, "what was the matter," he replied, my father has been talking to me about consequences.”

66

regarded by his brothers, were shown by two of them, who died, without children, bequeathing to his sons, their large estates, almost entire.

A long and laborious course of public life, had gradually enfeebled a vigorous constitution; and the gout, which he alone, of all his family, was subject to, by making its most violent attacks on the abdominal viscera, extremely debilitated his body; yet his mind never lost its vigour. For at least ten years labouring under its pernicious effects, he continued his public services, and his private exertions. It was a peculiar trait of his character, that when once his mind sought information upon any subject, he never relinquished the pursuit, until he had perfectly satisfied his mind respecting it. Guided by these principles, he read and studied every medical author, who treated of the disease with which he was afflicted, and discovered a remedy, that, for many years preserved his own life, and has been the means, under God, of relieving others. But human efforts must have their termination. The dire disease, against which he had so long and skilfully contended, was destined to put an end to his virtuous and useful life.

He had retired from public service, with the thanks and applause of his fellow citizens, and for two years, passed his time in the bosom of his family, by whom he was almost idolized. Although no longer engaged in her service, his mind always dwelt on the freedom, the honour, and happiness of his beloved country. The events of the French revolution, and the principles of its leaders, had become subjects of anxious consideration to his mind. The dawn of that revolution he had heartily

*The late General Henry Lee, who was a member, with him, when Congress sat in New York, related an anecdote of a gentleman of that state, who came to the city, for relief against chronic diarrhoea General Lee saw him about to leave the city, in despair -all medical aid had failed. He advised him to see, and introduced him to Mr Lee, who gave him his recipe. In a short time after, General Lee saw the gentleman on his way home, quite well, who ascribed his recovery entirely to Mr. Lee's advice.

cheered; but its day had become, to his vision, overcast with portentous clouds. What his prophetic mind then foretold, history can now prove true; and often was he heard to mourn, lest the phrenzy of France, which seemed ready to overturn all the fixed principles of liberty, religion, and virtue, might, in a fatal degree, reach his native land, where he had trusted these salutary principles were destined to be permanent.

For six months before his death, Mr. Lee was almost entirely confined to his house. He saw his end approaching, and through faith in the merits of the Redeemer, viewed it with tranquil firmness. He had well fulfilled all the duties of life. As a patriot, as a friend to the liberty of mankind, as a parent, friend, and neighbour, he, like the younger Cato, whose character he much resembled, could say, "let guilt or fear disturb man's conscience, Cato knows neither of them;" and that "nature, worn out with care, sunk down to rest." It was the rest, prepared for those, whose virtues the great Parent of good, has approved; and which will be enjoyed by all, who devote their lives to the happiness of their fellow men, and to the duties they owe to their saving God.

Mr. Lee had early studied the evidences of the Christian religion, and had, through life, avowed his belief in its divine origin. He admired the perfection of its morality, and the sublimity of its peculiar theology. He was a member of the Episcopal Church; and although a hearty friend to all who professed the Gospel, he was strongly attached to the Church to which he belonged. The author found amongst his manuscripts, two votes passed by the two first meetings of the general convention of that Church, in the United States, in which their thanks are returned to Mr. Lee, for the interest he had taken in its prosperity.

Let not the infidel say, that Mr. Lee's assent to the truths of Christianity, was given in the twilight of his reason, and proclaimed at the approach of death. In the vigour of his mind, amid the honours of the world