days, by a succession of disastrous events, the sport of the most cruel fortune.

Mr. Braxton was a man of mild and philanthropic disposition. He was attached to domestic life, and never so happy as when associated with his wife and children. As a husband, a father, a friend, and a neighbour, he was kind, affectionate, and obliging. His manners were entirely those of a polished gentleman, and in all his ordinary intercourse with society, he was amiable, and exemplary. His hospitality, whose character had been formed in the days of his prosperity, continued in adversity, to be liberal, and in a style peculiarly agreeable. His life was a lesson of the uncertainty of all earthly things, and he died the martyr of misfortune.

MORTON.

It is a matter of regret, that, even at this early day, the domestic remembrances, and the knowledge of the minor public services, of many of our distinguished political fathers, have been, in a great measure, swept away by the current of time. Their prominent political acts, the general and effectual efforts of their patriotism,-are, indeed, perpetuated in the records of history; but we seek in vain to watch the bursting of the buds, and enjoy the fragrance of the blossoms, which brought forth such perfect, and unrivalled fruit. It is a pleasing relief to retire with the statesman, or the warrior, from the perplexities of the senate, or the wild turmoil of battle, to the calm and quiet pleasures of domestic life. It affords a clearer insight into the character of man, to contemplate him in the unreservedness of retirement, devested of all worldly formality, and acting under the free impulse of na

tural feeling. The dangers of the state, and the intricacies of public affairs, often require the semblance of an insensibility, as foreign to the heart of the patriot, as it is painful to his feelings. The humane and benevolent chieftain weeps in secret over the inexorable and irrevocable decrees, which the stern duties of warfare have compelled him to pronounce. Thus, while we dwell with admiration on the eloquence and the energy of the patriot, and follow, with irresistible excitement, the footsteps of the warrior through the blood-stained fields of his glory, we love to see them seated in the close-knit circle of family love; to listen to conversation bril-, liantly enriched by learning and experience; to hear the frank and unfettered emanations of their minds; and when the necessary caution of the statesman, and the sword and buckler of the soldier, have been cast aside, to contemplate the character of the

man.

JOHN MORTON was one among those primitive labourers in the vineyard of independence, the fruits of whose toil are so gloriously ripening, but of whom few memorials have descended to our times. His ancestors were among the first Swedish emigrants who settled on the Delaware, between the Christiana and Wickeeoe, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The name of Morten Morten appears among those

of the first occupants and proprietors of the townships of Springfield and Ridley. He was born in the year 1724, in the township of Ridley, in the county of Chester, (now Delaware,) about four miles from Upland, (now Chester.) His father, John Morton, was united in marriage to Mary Richards. He died in his youth, previous to the birth of the son who was destined to render his name as imperishable as liberty. His widow was again married to an Englishman, named John Sketchley, who regarded the offspring of the former union with a care truly friendly and paternal. Being a skilful surveyor, he instructed his young step-son in that, and other, branches of the mathematics, and soon discovered, from the rapid proficiency which he acquired, that he was the tutor of no common scholar. The space of three months comprehended all the advantages that John Morton ever acquired from instruction in a public school. His education was superintended and directed, at home, by Mr. Sketchley, and what he acquired from that source, was improved and expanded, through the agency of talents which ranked among the first in the county. He was employed in surveying, and in farming the paternal estate, until public business engrossed his attention, and summoned him to the more conspicuous walks of life.

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