that it should receive the least tarnishment, and these twelve unhappy heroes were treated by their Countrymen with infamy for deserting their posts in the Cause of their Country.

Numberless instances might be produced of the valor of this nation, similar to this in every material circumstance, and not only of this nation but of many others. I shall mention but one, whose circumstances & situation were more nearly alike to ours at present than any perhaps that can be found in the history of mankind.

The united provinces of the Netherlands I mean. They were formerly subject to the Crown of Spain; and might have been so always if they had been treated as they deserved. But an aspiring, arbitrary, & ambitious monarch, confirmed in his notions by a set of ministers of like dispositions, conceived the design of arbitrarily imposing taxes upon the inhabitants of his colonies, and sent an army among them for the avowed purpose of puting this infernal plan into execution. The inhabitants were harrassed for a long time, and bore it with as much patience as could be expected but at length, when they began to hang up a few of the popular leaders the people were roused. They saw the precipice upon which they stood & the endeavor of their enemies to hurry them headlong into the gulf of slavery and recollected themselves. They formed a union which has continued ever since & is become formidable, a plan which was universally adopted, measures which were carried into execution, & which preserved their country from impending ruin. They shook off the Spanish yoke & resolved to be free. And it is well known that at this day they outvie every nation in Europe in wealth & commerce, and that it is entirely owing to their success in withstanding the encroachments of arbitrary power, to which if they had tamely submitted, they would now have been but a few petty provinces, half starved and groaning under the shackles of tyranny.

It may be said that the greatest hardships were endured and the greatest calamities were suffered by this people, thus strugling for their liberties, that can be found in the history of mankind, or that the most fertile imagination can paint, hardships that we are unable to endure, and calamities worse than death. But, gentlemen, they were but the price they paid for their liberties, and they were not dear bought neither. By purchasing them at such a rate, they were taught to value them. I think that the Americans are as able to bear hardships as the Europeans are, or ever were. We are descended from ancestors who have endured as many hardships as it is at all probable we ever shall supposing we should be obliged to oppose the combined force of half Europe. Ancestors, who were contented to oppose a formidable army of savages, to undergo all the calamities that heat & cold, hunger & thirst could bring upon the human frame, if they could but enjoy what we are now contending for, liberty. They bore all with chearfullness and were glad to purchase it at so easy a rate. Some of you, gentlemen, are the descendants of men whose virtue & valor was such as deserve a character to be transmitted to posterity, not unworthy the greatest heroes of antiquity now upon record. But I have no inclination to raise your vanity as if men inherited all the good qualities of their progenitors; or as if valor was hereditary. You will show by your future conduct whether you are worthy to be called the offspring of such worthy men. I would not insinuate by any means that at present you are not, but on the contrary you have given fresh testimonials that you are and I cannot think that you will disgrace yourselves hereafter by a reverse of conduct. Gentlemen, you are sensible that matters are become serious, that we are no longer to be entertained with nothing but mere speculation and conjecture. Some of us must take up arms & defend our country; and as that is generally attended with the greatest hardships & fatigue, those that are young, most coura

geous, robust & active who are the best able to endure them must compose our armies. Upon you, Gentlemen, this lot falls, as those qualities are most likely to unite in you. You have been chosen by your fellow countrymen for that purpose, to you they have committed the keeping of their liberties, and you must be answerable to God & man if you betray them. You are to form a character & a rank that is to be estimated in the eyes of the world, according to your behavior therein. If you exert yourselves with valor, in preserving the expiring liberties of your country you will be esteemed by all mankind, and even adored by your fellow countrymen, but if you meanly desert the cause, and shamefully give up those liberties that your countrymen entrusted you with, you may expect to be treated by them like the Swiss runaways before mentioned, and by the rest of mankind with contumely.

In order, gentlemen, to discharge this important trust committed to your care it is necessary to be perfectly skilled in the military art.

The troops we have to oppose are all well disciplined & the greatest care taken to keep them so. They are & will be it is probable commanded by officers of the greatest abilities that can be procured for the purpose. And to oppose them it is necessary that we should have troops equally well disciplined and officers of equal abilities & experiAnd that such can be procured, I think is not impossible. The good behaviour of the soldiers will give consideration to the officers, and enable them to plan & execute with deliberation & vigor.

ence.

In the course of last war we were not without officers of shining characters and distinguished abilities; of tryed courage and acknowledged experience. The climate of America, if the talents of men depend upon that, for aught appears, will produce as great geniuses in the military art as that of Europe; other circumstances are more favorable.

But, gentlemen, much depends upon the temper & disposition of ourselves; if we grow fearful, timid and faint-hearted; or if we become dissolute, refractory, & disdain subordination to our officers, it will discourage the most courageous & warlike; deter them from taking the most effectual measures for opposition, baffle all attempts to proceed; render our good cause desperate; and give matter of triumph to our enemies.

There is nothing at present that need make us timorous; everything bears the most favourable aspect; the people are united throughout all America. They are firm and determined to be free. They are united like a band of brothers resolute to maintain their freedom and independency, or die in the common cause together. They consider the case of this province as a common cause; they have declared that they will all support us in our opposition till our grievances are removed.

Let me pause, Gentlemen, for a moment & ask seriously what we want more. We cannot ask our common Father to bestow a greater blessing upon us under such circumstances unless it be to incline the heart of our king & his parliament to remove those grievances which he has in the course of his providence suffered them to bring upon us. This province then must be wanting to herself, the people of this county & this town must be wanting to themselves, if, when they have such assurances from the other colonies, whose fidelity we have no reason to distrust, of their resolutions and determinations to assist us to the last extremity, they don't exert themselves with tenfold alacrity. And you, Gentlemen, what excuse will you have, if you don't endeavor to attain to a degree of perfection in the military art, whereby you may be superior to troops of other colonies in proportion as the distress into which we are thrown is greater than that of theirs.

A good militia, Gentlemen, is the strength & sinews of a state; it exalteth a nation: but a standing army forbodes the destruction of a state, and is a reproach to any people. A good soldier of the militia is a good character, & in time of danger courted because from him they expect safety.

In order to form good soldiers Strict discipline is necessary, and the soldiers must submit to it either willingly or by force. Those that submit from force will make good soldiers; but those who submit without, better.

Subordination is the soul of an army; without it there can be no discipline; and without that nothing can be executed. This I think you cannot but be sensible of; to say otherwise would be charging you with insensibility. I hope you are so impressed with a sense of its reasonableness that you will readily come into it. It is no sign of a mean low spirit to submit to good discipline but on the contrary it is a sure sign of a coward to refuse it. You have officers, Gentlemen, that I dare say will endeavor to be masters of their profession, and adorn it by a proper behavior to their soldiers.

They are Gentlemen who have embarked in the common cause, who are determined to act in that station of their profession in which Providence has placed them, at the hazard of their lives and fortunes. They are not men who have received commissions for their own private profit, to make gain; but they are men who have been called to these offices which they now sustain by your united voice.

They entered upon them at your instance and request, unasked. These are the men you are to submit to, and if you will not obey these whom you have chosen for that purpose, whom will you obey? As they were chosen by so great a majority, you may depend upon it that they will act with fidelity, they think it incumbent upon them. They will not deceive you by a slighty & faint discharge of their offices. You may depend upon their readiness & punctuality to assist you at all proper times. And they will have nothing more at heart than the good order, discipline & happiness of those under their command. As harmony & a good understanding ought to subsist between military officers & their soldiers; I dare pledge my life & fortune that your officers will not be wanting in their endeavors to promote & maintain it. An accident lately happened in this town, you are all sensible, that caused much uneasiness among many very sensible persons, and seemed to threaten the very being of yr Company. But I hope it is likely to subside & that we shall ere long return, to use the words of a noble historian 'to our old good humor & good nature.'

Let us cherish and maintain a forgiving spirit toward all men, especially to those who have embarked in the common cause, and are determined to attend us, on every trying occasion, & in every danger. Let us unite in one indissoluble bond that shall give us consideration & importance & baffle all the attempts of designing men to break us that their keenest malice can suggest, or their disappointed ambition contrive.

The town have taken great pains, been at great expense, at least provided for it, to establish & compleat a minute company. And have in a great measure succeeded.

Endeavors were used to discourage its institution; and are now continually used to overthrow it; and you may depend upon it, that no stone will be left unturned for that purpose. The smallest division amongst you, however trifling it may seem, is converted by them into a happy omen of their future success. By widening the breach they hope in time to overthrow you with your own weapons.

Gentlemen, I beg of you to defeat their designs. among yourselves will be effectual for the purpose.

Nothing is more easy: an union
Maintain that & you will have

nothing to fear. You have had the voice of almost the whole town not merely approving of you, but they have voted you a reward for your services."

After the war began, and orders came for the enlistment of soldiers, Hawley used to appear with a short sword and address the soldiers in the most animated manner, telling them that they would be hewers of wood and drawers of water to British lords and bishops if the great cause did not succeed. Once, when no one would enlist, he turned out himself and followed the drummer; others presently followed his example.

In the first provincial congress which met at Salem, October 7, 1774, Northampton was represented by Seth Pomeroy and Major Hawley. In this and in the succeeding congresses Hawley's labors were unremitting.

He served on committees appointed "to consider the state of the province," "to prepare plans for disciplining the militia," "to correspond with Quebec," "to prepare a letter to congress about Bunker Hill," "to consider what steps are necessary for receiving General Washington with proper respect," "to prepare an address to General Washington," etc.

As vice-president he presided in the absence of the president, General Warren, and from Northampton wrote to Cushing to watch the courts at Boston. These must be embarrassed; for," wrote Hawley, "if they get. a grand jury they will probably obtain indictments of high treason, and indictments will not be procured without a view and respect to arrests and commitments, convictions, hangings, drawings, and quarterings. What your chance will be, I need not tell you." At one time when suffering from one of his attacks of melancholia, despairing of the success of the Revolution, he said to one of the other "river gods," Governor Caleb Strong, "We shall both be hung." "No, Major Hawley," replied Strong, "probably not more than forty will be hung; we shall escape." "I will have you to know," exclaimed Hawley, "that I am one of the first three."

He lived, however, to see his cause triumph. We find him in 1780 raising his voice in the first Massachusetts senate against the exaction of religious tests, and later, in 1782, with ability and tact persuading the rioters to disperse. Contented with his small fortune and frugal life, he passed his last years at Northampton. He died in March, 1788, leaving, among other legacies, a tract of land lying south of Pelham to his beloved town. So greatly was Major Hawley venerated at Northampton, that some one wittily said the people there taught their children to answer the catechism question, "Who made you?" "God and Major Hawley."

His integrity and piety were never questioned. In faith and in life he was a strict Puritan. He was once returning home after a long absence, and was within a few miles of it when the sun set and the Puritan sabbath

began. He stopped where he was and did not finish his journey until after sunset the next day. One Sunday a stranger preaching in the Old Church gave utterance to sentiments and doctrines that Hawley thought dangerous and unscriptural. He ordered the clergyman, therefore, to come down from the pulpit, and taking his place finished the services himself.

Hawley's disinterested course in public affairs silently rebukes the politicians of the present day, selfishly scrambling for place and power. Would that his life might be studied and his character imitated. His friend John Adams called him "one of the best men in the province," and the grandson of his friend, Charles Francis Adams, pays him the following higher tribute:

"Of this remarkable man it is regretted that so few traces remain. Even under the pen of an enemy like Hutchinson his character shines like burnished gold."

ASTORIA, NEW YORK.

Charles Lyman Shaw.