first concerned in it I forget) and upon a Special Verdict the Case was thus. A. seised in Fee by Deed, gave the Land in Question to B. his Daughter for Life and after her Death to her Heirs for ever; she sold to the Def't. and after her Death the Pl't. B.'s Heir claiming as a Purchaser in Remainder brought this Action to recover. When I saw this, I told the Pl't. who was my Client, I could not say one word for him; not knowing a more certain Rule of Law than this: That where by Will or Conveyance any Estate of Freehold is given to the Ancestor and by the same Writing an Estate is limited to his Heirs, that makes a Fee [Heirs] being there a word of Limitation and not of Purchase. Yet the Deft. by this Eminent Lawyer's Advice gave up without Argument, upon the Pl'ts. allowing him to remain in Possession some short Time longer : when if the matter had been brought to a Hearing, I would not have said one word.

the Land

However his Reputation was such, that he was universally courted, and most People thought themselves obliged to him, if he would engage of their Side upon any Terms; and he really thought so himself. This gave him great Opportunities of exacting excessive Fees, which I have heard he always did, where the Value of the thing in Question would allow it: and covered great Blemishes in one Part of his private Life, besides many Imperfections of his Mind, which any Body might observe who knew any thing of him. He was of a haughty, insolent, nature; passionate and peevish to the last Degree. He had a Stiffness in his Carriage which was ridiculous and often offensive; and was an utter Stranger to Hospitality. He was sincere in his Friendship where he professed any, but not constant, apt to change upon small provocations, and to contract new Friendship upon very slight Grounds, in which he would be very warm and ready to do all good offices. One of his greatest Defects was that he would always bring his Opinion and Friendship to agree. But what he wanted in Virtue and Learning to recommend him was abundantly supplied by fortunate Accidents. He was 14 years Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and 11 years

Public Treasurer. But in those he acted with little Applause and less Abilities, though he was three times chosen and once unanimously. His management of the Treasury contributed to his Ruin, and brought him to the Grave with much Disgrace. I was always his Friend, and had a great Deal of Reason to believe him mine. Yet it was impossible to be blind to some Imperfections. He died little lamented in the 69th year of his age.

In a few Daies afterwards in London died William Hopkins Esq'r. who had practiced in this Court about 12 years, and in that Time by hard Study, and Observation he made a surprizing Progress; became a very ingenious Lawyer and a good Pleader, tho' at his first coming he was raw and much despised. But he had a Carelessness in his Nature, which preserved him from being discouraged, and carried him on till he came to be admired. He had a good Foundation in School Learning, understood Latin and French well, had a strong Memory, a good Judgment; a Quickness that was very visible; and a handsome Person, all mighty Advantages. But his manner was awkward, his Temper Sower, if it was to be judged by the Action of his Muscles; and was given, was too much given, to laugh at his own Discourses. When he had brought himself into good Business, he almost totally neglected it, which I believe was owing to a Desire of Dipping into all Kinds of Knowledge, wherein he had a great Deal of Vanity, and prevented his Digesting what he had, so well as he would have done otherwise. He had many good Qualities in his Practice; was moderate in his Fees; Ingenious and Earnest, never disputed plain Points, but was a candid fair Arguer. Yet he had a failing which brought him to a Quarrel with me. It was an odd Sort of Pride that would not suffer him to keep an Equilibrium in his own Conceits. He could not see himself admired, without thinking it an Injury to him to stand upon a Level with any other. And therefore tho' I was always his Friend, had done him many Kindnesses, and he himself thought himself obliged to me, He came into so ill a Temper, as

not to allow me either Learning or Honesty; which broke our acquaintance, and after that I thought I discovered some Seeds of Malice in him. He died in the Flower of his Age, and may be justly reckoned a Loss to this poor Country, which is not like to abound (at present at least) in Great Geniuses.

THE DEATH OF LORD CHATHAM.

The death of Lord Chatham-recalled as it has recently been to our remembrance by the somewhat similar departure of an illustrious statesman of our own country-has always been considered as one of the most striking exits on record. It was an event, indeed, which caused a great and deep emotion at the time of its occurrence, not only in Great Britain, and throughout Europe; but in our own country, and more particularly perhaps in our own Virginia, where that eminent and exalted man had long been regarded with the most lively admiration, as the matchless Secretary, and incomparable manager of the war against France, with all its train of splendid victories, and that crowning triumph of Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham, which had so gloriously liberated us from the hostilities of our French and Indian enemies on our borders, and left us free to enjoy the renown of our mother country, felt as our own, in honorable peace. Then, indeed, was the time when, as Cowper sings,

Time was when it was praise and boast enough
In every clime, and travel where we might,
That we were born her children, praise enough
To fill th' ambition of a private man,

That Chatham's language was his mother tongue,
And Wolfe's great name compatriot with his own.

-though we should rather say "Pitt's language," as the great

Commoner had not yet been created a peer, to the injury of his passing popularity, and perhaps also a little somewhat to the damage of his more enduring fame.

That time had passed away, but the services which this great orator had continued to render to the cause of British liberty (always dear to us,) and to the cause of our country, by his mem orable speech against the Stamp Act, and by his subsequent fulminations against the British Ministry for all their rash and reckless measures against us, had kept his character and merits alive in all our hearts; and though his acceptance of a peerage, as we have just hinted, had caused a temporary eclipse of his radiance on both sides of the Atlantic, his orb still shone out upon us, with superior splendor, and was still beheld with admiration and delight. It may be easily conceived, then, with what vivid emotions our fathers-in the midst of all that yet doubtful struggle with the parent power, and grappling with her gigantic force, must have heard of the death of their great advocate-the unrivalled champion of their cause-and how fondly they would gather up all the circumstances of the event, at once to heighten and to soothe their regret for his loss. Those circumstances, indeed, were all striking, and such as hardly ever united to crown so splendid a life with so brilliant a close. We have all read the accounts that have been given of the last scene especially, in the House of Lords, when "the old man eloquent" raised his now faltering voice for the last time, to protest in the most solemn manner against the dismemberment of the ancient and noble monarchy of Britain by the acknowledgment of our independence; but at the same time to urge upon that infatuated and "confounded ministry" the duty and necessity of making the most ample concession to our country, in order to secure its allegiance to the crown. We have read these accounts, however, for the most part, in histories which could not conveniently or properly enter into all the details that we desired. They filled our imaginations; but did not satisfy our hearts; and we have sometimes wished that we could take a look into some of those pri

vate letters which must have been written on the occasion, from some of our friends on that side of the water, to one or more of our patriots on this. Nor can we quite relinquish the hope, even now, that we may yet recover some of these memorials, as we have lately done those relating to the Portrait of this great man, which we published in our last number. In the mean time, we have been highly gratified to come across a letter written by the celebrated Lord Camden, who had been so honorably associated with Lord Chatham, in some of the most important public acts of his life, which gives us a more familiar and graphic account of his last appearance to which we have alluded, than we have yet seen. We find it in "Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England, Second Series," lately published, and hasten to lay it before our readers as follows:

"MY DEAR LORD,-I cannot help considering the little illness which prevented your Grace from attending the House of Lords last Tuesday to have been a piece of good fortune, as it kept you back from a scene that would have overwhelmed you with grief and melancholy, as it did me and many others that were present; I mean Lord Chatham's fit, that seized him as he was attempting to rise and reply to the Duke of Richmond; he fell back upon his seat, and was to all appearance in the agonies of death. This threw the whole House into confusion; every person was upon his legs in a moment, hurrying from one place to another, some sending for assistance, others producing salts, and others reviving spirits. Many crowding about the Earl to observe his countenance-all affected most part really concerned; and even those who might have felt a secret pleasure at the accident, yet put on the appearance of distress, except only the Earl of M., who sat still, almost as much unmoved as the senseless body itself. Dr Brocklesby was the first physician that came; but Dr. Addington in about an hour was brought to him. He was carried into the Prince's chamber, and laid upon the table supported by pillows. The first motion of life that appeared was an endeavor to vomit, and after he had discharged the load from hi stomach that probably brought on the seizure, he