JOHN BROOKS.

GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1816-1823.*

JOHN BROOKS, son of Capt. Caleb Brooks, "a respectable independent farmer," was born in Medford, Mass., in 1752, died there March 1, 1825.

His early years were spent in the occupations of the farm, and study at the town school. At the age of fourteen he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. Tufts, of Medford, to whom he was apprenticed by a written indenture for seven years. For military exercises he displayed a taste and aptitude. He entered upon the practice of medicine in the town of Reading, and there commanded a company of minute-men. He engaged in different battles in the War of the Revolution, held the rank of Major, and of Lieutenant-Colonel, and after the war resumed his profession in the town of Medford. He served in the Massachusetts Senate, and was Governor of the State from 1816 to 1823.

The following is an extract from a proclamation by Governor Brooks, for a day of public thanksgiving and praise, on November 28, 1816.

"And while with one voice we reverently offer to the God of our fathers and the fountain of all good, the sacrifice of thanks giving, may we be suitably affected with a consciousness of our own demerit; and to an ingenuous confession of ingratitude to our Heavenly Benefactor, of listlessness to our duty, and frequent violations of it, let us add fervent and sincere, as well as united supplications to the Throne of Grace, for the remission of all our transgressions, upon the terms of the Gospel, as revealed and

1825.

Thacher's "Medical Biography;" Lanman; Columbian Sentinel, Boston,

...

offered to us by Jesus Christ, who hath once appeared to put away sin by one offering, the sacrifice of himself. . . . That God will have mercy upon the poor and supply them with bread, giving them withal patience and resignation under the Divine allotments: That he will inspire the affluent with sentiments of benevolence and liberality: That he will grant to the Christian Church a succession of able and faithful teachers . . . . That he will bless the President of the United States, guide the deliberations of the National and State Legislatures, and continue peace in our borders: . . . . That he will smile upon and render eminently useful our University and Colleges, bless our schools, and guide with tokens of his parental kindness, the rising generation.” In the course of the last sickness of Mr. Brooks, on a Sabbath evening, he requested the attendance of his pastor, who records as follows:

....

"The faculties of his mind were in full exercise. In reply to the satisfaction I expressed on seeing him, he said: 'I see nothing terrible in death. . . . I know in whom I have believed. ... I look back upon my past life with humility. I am sensible of many imperfections. I know that the present is neither the season nor the place in which to begin preparation for death. . . My own time of life is almost spent. What I have done is done. God has seen all and known all. To him I can appeal, that it has been my humble endeavor to serve him in sincerity, and wherein I have failed in duty, I trust to his grace to forgive. I now rest my soul on the mercy of my adorable Creator, through the only mediation of his Son our Lord. What a ground of hope in that saying of an Apostle, "God in Christ, reconciling a guilty world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." After an interval, he continued: 'I know what it is to leave this world. How many have been the blessings I have enjoyed. What friends have I had, and what comforts in their friendship! Yet all have I resigned. I now look only to the world before me, and soon I shall be there.'

Mr. Brooks, as a physician, ranked in the first class of practitioners, and in the duties of his office, was kind, patient and attentive. He was President of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

JAMES BROOKS.

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1849-1853, 1865-1873.*

*

MR. BROOKS was born in Portland, Maine, November 10, 1810, died in Washington, April 30, 1873.

His father, a sea captain, was lost at sea while James was yet a child, and the family were left without means. At eleven years of age he became a clerk in Lewiston, and his employer, noticing his abilities, offered to assist him in a course of study. He helped himself to some extent by teaching school, and graduated at Waterville College in 1831. He traveled South and wrote letters to the Northern journals; also visited England, "traveled on foot over Great Britain and the continent," and wrote letters for the press descriptive of his travels. In 1836 he located in the city of New York, and established a daily edition of the New York Express.

In 1847 he served as Representative in the New York Legislature; was Representative in Congress from 1849 to 1853; was elected to Congress again in 1865, and by repeated reëlections served till 1873.

Once more he engaged in foreign travel, and contributed letters to the Express, which he afterwards published in book form.

He reveals his religious position in the following, which he writes concerning President Chaplin. "Dr. Chaplin was President of Waterville College when I was a student there. . . . It was impossible to hear him Sabbath after Sabbath, and not to have every irreligious or infidel suspicion driven from the mind. His discourses were as clear, as cogent, as irresistibly convincing, as problems in Euclid. He indulged in little or no

Appleton's "Cyclopædia of American Biography;" Sprague's "Annals of the American Pulpit."

ornament, but pursued one train of thought without deviation, to the end. I attribute to him more than to any one else the fixture in my own mind of religious truths, which no subsequent reading has ever been able to shake, and which have principally influenced my pen in treating of all political, legal, or moral subjects, the basis of which was in the principles of the Bible."

Mr. Brooks married in 1841 Mrs. Mary Randolph, of Richmond, Va. Her three or four slaves he required her to manumit before the wedding.

His brother Erastus joined with him in ownership and care of the Express, and acted as Washington correspondent of that paper during sixteen successive sessions of Congress.

NICHOLAS BROWN.

REPRESENTATIVE IN RHODE ISLAND LEGISLATURE.*

NICHOLAS BROWN, father of Nicholas, "was an eminent merchant of Providence, and a truly wise, benevolent, and pious. man." He united with his brothers in founding Rhode Island College, since named Brown University.

Nicholas Brown of the present sketch, was born in Providence, R. I., in 1769, died there in 1841.

He graduated at Rhode Island College, at the age of seven

teen.

At twenty-two, having inherited from his father's estate, he entered into partnership with Thomas P. Ives, who had married his only sister, and embarked heavily in foreign trade, continuing his commercial operations for more than forty years.

"For many successive sessions, he occupied a seat in the legislative councils of Rhode Island."

"His charities were liberal. In behalf of Brown University, he erected at his own expense, Hope College, and Manning Hall, gave $5,000 for the establishment of a professorship, and $10,000 towards the erection of Rhode Island Hall. And his gold was freely bestowed to aid the spread of the Gospel in heathen lands."

Says the Providence Journal of Mr. Brown: "It is somewhat remarkable that he never made any public profession of that faith in Christ, which from the tenor of his life, was seen to be the animating motive of his conduct."

Says President Wayland: "He was in early life deeply im

* Hunt's "Lives of American Merchants"; Wayland's "Life and Character of Nicholas Brown."