and thirteen days on the passage from Philadelphia to the capes! This, which was extraordinary even in those days, it may be supposed he found sufficiently irksome. "Never," said he, in the letter alluded to, and which was addressed to one of his sisters, "did I listen with more attention to wornout metaphors and proverbs than now. I presently caught myself comparing our situation to that of a bird in a cage, a person chained in a dungeon, mouse-trap, matrimony, and a hundred other ancient sayings that I now felt the propriety of. In this delay we passed away the time in reading, writing, and sailing about the fleet to see our friends-friends, alas! only by similarity of misfortune."

In New York, Mr. Rawle commenced the study of the law, under the direction of Mr. Kempe, who I believe had held the office of attorney-general, and of whom he thus speaks in one of his letters. "I have begun to read law with Mr. Kempe-a man whom I admire more and more every day. Understanding, learning, generosity, sensibility, and courage, distinguish him. He is the tenderest of brothers, the most affectionate husband and father. As a lawyer, distinguished equally for skill and integrity; as a gentleman, remarkable for his politeness; as a friend, beloved for his sincerity; and my heartiest wish for my own peculiar interest is, that I may become like him." If the description of the teacher was accurate, certainly the wish of the pupil was realized; for the portrait here drawn might in all its features be taken for one of Mr. Rawle.

New York, however, in its then condition, did not afford sufficient opportunities and inducements for the study of a peaceful science: "There is something," he says in another letter, "in the air of a military government, extremely disagreeable to those who have experienced another; though, perhaps, this is one of the best administered. It makes people in civil life feel interrupted in business, and cramped in pleasures. In short, with all its advantages of strict subordination and sudden obedience, none but those who are paid

for liking it, can cheerfully endure it."..... "In the profession which I have chosen, it is impossible to obtain even a slender knowledge of essentials in the situation of things here. This every body agrees to; and the reason is, the military government which prevails; in consequence of which the still, small voice of the law is seldom heard and never attended to."

Under these circumstances, and being precluded from returning to his native city at that time by the political outlawry of his parents, Mr. Rawle determined to visit England, and pursue the study of the common law at its ancient fountain. "The pursuit of pleasure," he remarked in the letter from which the last extract was taken, "is the farthest thing from my thoughts in going to England. But the pursuit of knowledge I am ardent in. Two or three years' study in the Temple, will qualify me for the bar; and if at the expiration of that time, things should not be settled in America, (which, however, is an improbable thought,) I can then by engaging a little in practice, prevent myself from forgetting what I have already acquired, and perhaps obtain a moderate income during the time I should stay. This it would be impossible to do here, where I can neither learn, nor derive advantage from what I have learned." Having obtained the consent of his mother, he embarked on the 13th of June, 1781, on board one of the vessels of a numerous British fleet, destined in the first instance to Ireland, and arrived at Cork on the 18th of July, after a short and agreeable passage. From Cork he proceeded to Dublin, over the same road that had been travelled by his father twenty-five years before. A narrative of his voyage and tour in Ireland, written for his mother, is in my possession. The commencement exhibits a prevailing feature of his character, to which I have already adverted. "I have endeavoured," he begins, "to recollect a few circumstances of my journey from Cork to Dublin last summer, in order to obey a request of my mother's, though I am afraid she will meet with little satisfaction in them, farther than that they were written by one who thinks his highest praise to be the title of an

affectionate son." The journal fills a volume of a hundred and twenty-five pages, written in an easy colloquial style, which is often more agreeable than elaborated composition; and contains good descriptions of external nature, and well told anecdotes of the people. I should be glad to make some extracts from it, did I not fear that this memoir would be enlarged beyond the usual dimensions.

Mr. Rawle arrived in London in August, 1781, and immediately entered himself a student in the Middle Temple; to which he was recommended by Mr. Eden, who had been in America, as one of the commissioners in the abortive attempt to bring about a settlement of the dispute between the two countries. I have before me the certificate which he received on his admission to the temple, and which runs thus:

"Die 17 Augusti, 1781.

Mar Gulielmus Rawle ffilius unitus ffrancisci Rawle nuper de civitate Philadelphiæ in America mercatoris, defuncti, admissus est in societatem Medij Templi Londini, specialiter.

It appears from this document that the initiation fees into the society, in those days, were equal to about $50 of our money. I find also that his "rooms" cost him £30 sterling

per annum.

It is to be regretted that Mr. Rawle's journals of his residence and studies in England, have not been preserved. Judging from what I have read of his letters and narratives on other occasions, I have no doubt that they contained a great

deal of what would be read now with pleasure and advantage. From his letters to his mother and sisters written during that period, I may be allowed to make a few extracts, illustrative of his pursuits and opinions, or interesting from the persons to whom they relate.

"Mankind in England," he says in one letter, "differs very little from mankind in America;-a few external circumstances may, indeed, give a different colour and appearance to their actions for a while; but familiarized to those circumstances, we discover that the same passions and motives universally influence in the same manner.-London is indeed a vast collection of people; but these people are much like those I have left behind;-virtue is honoured and vice despised, much the same in both countries; and whatever satirists may say to the contrary, I am convinced that the world ever applauds virtue as it deserves. In defence of herself, vice throws out a variety of allurements, which make but a faint and transient impression-so soon as we recollect that they are but the allurements of vice: contrary to Pope's lines on the subject, I am of opinion that they are the most forcible at first sight, and that it is only in consequence of contemplating them seriously, that we discover and abhor their internal deformity. In that pursuit of happiness to which the mind is naturally disposed, a very little reflection will induce us to leave vice behind, and to follow the footsteps of virtue, from whom alone we may expect those lasting hours of waking bliss,' that durable felicity with which she always rewards her votaries; and without any common-placing on the subject, I am so seriously convinced of this argument, that I should always lament the first step to vice as the first step to misery."

"I was very early gratified," he says in another letter, "with the sight of the king, which most strangers are desirous of. He is tall and well made; and were it not for his white eyebrows and gray eyes, would be a very handsome man. He talked and laughed incessantly during the whole play, with some of the lords in waiting; contemplated every part of

the house with his opera glass, and behaved more like a young man of abundant gaiety, than what I had always conceived to be a style of royalty. The queen, who is by no means handsome, but much resembles the picture governor Franklin had of her at Burlington, was received at entering the house with the loudest applause; she paid her respects, both in coming in and going out, with great affability, and behaved during the whole time with a modest dignity truly attractive. The Prince of Wales resembles neither his father nor mother; he has dark hair and eyes, and looks something like lord Cathcart; though a very large man, he is exceedingly graceful and genteel, and appeared infinitely more serious than his father. The play was such as one would suppose, none but a depraved taste would have thought of, and a vitiated age received. The beggars' opera was performed in reversed characters. The women acting the men's parts, and the men the women's; yet the royal family appeared perfectly pleased with it; and it has been performed eighteen times with infinite applause. When the parliament meets, and the courts of justice are opened, I expect to have full employment for myself. At present having few people to visit, and unwilling to exhaust at once that great fund of entertainment London affords, which, if properly managed, would prove a banquet for a year; I sit a good deal at home particularly of mornings. I am engaged in reperusing Hume's History of England, which Mr. Dunning warmly recommended as a preliminary study to which the utmost attention should be paid."

"The Londoners," he says in another passage, "are so accustomed to speak of their favourite city in panegyric strains, that I fancy to confirm their observation, one must be very willing to be astonished. I must confess that on my arrival, the town fell far short of my expectations: whether it was that the descriptions I had heard had been too highly exaggerated, or that passing through Dublin, which resembles it so nearly, had prepared my mind for populous and magnificent cities, it struck me with very little surprise. But a