recollection at such a solemn moment, he concludes with these words:

"I pray heaven to receive my parting spirit.

(Signed)

'JONATHAN GOODHUE.'

"In a postscript is appended the following pregnant afterthought:

"I add, as a most happy reflection, that I am not conscious that I have ever brought evil on a single human being.""

JOSEPH PEABODY.

THE example of the wise and good has ever exercised a favorable influence upon civilized man, and will never cease to be a valuable item in the wealth of nations. In all ages have historians considered it a grateful duty to trace the course of their philosophers, explain the policy of their statesmen, and emblazon the renown of their heroes. For this they have been welcomed to the republic of letters, and we see no reason why a similar greeting should not be extended to such as endeavor to portray the less striking, although oftentimes more useful examples of enterprise and moral worth.

Among our eminent merchants (during the European wars which gave us the carrying trade of the world), none exerted a wider influence for good, or were more conspicuous for probity and honor, than William Gray, Archibald Gracie,* and the respected individual whose name is

This distinguished merchant and estimable man was born at Dumfries, in Scotland, in 1756. He received a mercantile education of high order, in a counting-house at Liverpool. Among his fellow-clerks were three other eminent merchants-the late Mr. Ewart, of the latter place; Mr. Reid, of Reid, Irving & Co., London; and Mr. Caton, of Baltimore, who married a daughter of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton.

Mr. Gracie came to the United States soon after the peace which confirmed their independence, and married Miss Rogers, a sister of the late Moses Rogers, Esq., of New York. He established himself first in Virginia; where, in the year 1796, he was ranked among our first merchants for credit and capital.

The geographical position of New York did not escape his foresight; for he early pronounced its destiny to be the commercial emporium of the Western World, and selected that port for the home of his mercantile operations, as well as permanently made it his residence. Here riches flowed in, and honor and usefulness were his rewards for a long term of years. Endowed with rare sagacity and sound sense, to which he added great experience, his commercial enter

at the head of this article. Their credit, at times, surpassed that of government itself, and their operations were more varied and extensive than any ever conducted by individual enterprise in our country.

prises were laid with judgment, and executed with zeal. His signal-flag was known in most of the ports of the Mediterranean and the Baltic seas, of the Peninsula, in Great Britain and China, and his name was synonymous with credit, probity, and honor. Even the Spanish government (not usually overconfiding in foreigners) intrusted to him at one time their bills of exchange, drawn on Vera Cruz, to the extent of ten millions of dollars. These bills were brought in a French frigate to New York, in 1806, and Isaac Bell, Esq., who had charge of them, was upset in a boat, and a reward of two hundred dollars was offered to the finder of the trunk which contained them. It was picked up a fortnight after, at Deal Beach, near Long Branch. The bills were dried, and collected in specie by Mr. Gracie and two other distinguished merchants-Mr. Oliver, of Baltimore, and Mr. Craig, of Philadelphia. It is needless to add, that the proceeds were remitted with scrupulous exactness and promptitude.

Mr. Gracie's opinion on mercantile subjects was sought after by those of less knowledge and experience, and it was his happiness to impart information with candor and disinterestedness. He particularly favored deserving young men, who not only had his advice, but friendship, and substantial patronage.

But a season came when a command went forth against the merchant city. Crippled by the unhappy expedient of our restrictive system; embarrassed by the capture of ships and cargoes, and by the failure of foreign correspondents and domestic debtors-disaster upon disaster-when all were cut down, his mass of wealth, accumulated by a long life of enterprise and industry, was entirely swept away in the common ruin-a sad verification of the proverb, “ Riches take to themselves wings, and fly away." But he never boasted of them, or trusted in their continuance.

Public confidence had often been manifested toward him by appointments to places of trust; and now his friends, whose esteem he never lost or forfeited, sought to secure a continuance of his usefulness, and an asylum for his declining years, in the presidency of an insurance company, created for these purposes. But the effect of the blast which had prostrated him was not yet over; for here again adversity crossed his path, and the hazards of the ocean proved ruinous to its affairs.

It were a libel upon the community of which he had been so active and useful a member, upon the friends whom he had cherished, to doubt that to the last such a man received every token of courteous deference, and solid affection and esteem; and yet, alas! too often have we to regret, when too late, that we have regarded with cold indifference, in their adversity, such as have faithfully served us under more favorable auspices, and which too often has numbed their faculties and paralyzed their efforts. The fortitude of the best and bravest may be

The biography of such men must necessarily afford interesting instruction to a mercantile community, from its bearing upon our commercial history; while, at the same time, it gives an opportunity of paying a becoming tribute of respect to uncommon worth, as well as tends to relieve the ennui produced by the succession of political, juridical, and heroic sketches, which are constantly pressed upon the public eye.

The immediate subject of this memoir, when but a youth, took arms in his country's cause, performed in early manhood a naval exploit of thrilling interest during our revolu tionary struggle, and exhibited great energy, perseverance, and foresight in a long-continued series of mercantile. enterprises, embracing the entire period of our national existence; and we hope that by recounting some of the incidents of his life, we shall inspire patriotism, and stimulate laudable ambition in those to whom is destined the political sway, or guidance of the future commerce of our country.

Joseph Peabody was born at Middleton, on the 9th of December, 1757. His father was a deacon of the church, and descended from Francis Peabody, who came from St. Alban's, Hertfordshire, England, in 1635, and was one of the first settlers of Topsfield-a part of which, together with portions of the adjacent towns, was incorporated in 1728, by the name of Middleton. These towns had previously

shaken by sorrow and by age; but this surely ought to be, as much as possible, compensated by increased efforts on the part of friends to administer comfort and consolation.

Benevolence and beneficence were the shining characteristics of Mr. Gracie; and they were never dimmed by sunshine nor obscured by clouds. His dwelling was long the mansion of elegant, unostentatious hospitality, and his door never closed against the poor. It is no mean testimonial to his standing and worth, that he reciprocated honor in a long and confidential intimacy with Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris. Mr. Gracie died on the 12th of April, 1829, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.

been set off from Salem, the most ancient township of the colony of Massachusetts Bay in New England.

This ancestor, with his associates of indomitable courage and untiring perseverance, under prospects the most adverse and discouraging, still felt themselves gainers in the exchange of "a paradise of plenty" in the Old World for "a wilderness of want" in the New; where, although surrounded by hostile bands of savages, they could worship the God of their fathers according to the dictates of their consciences. This Puritanic family continued through several successive generations in the peaceful rank of agricul turists, in which were passed also the first eighteen years of him some traces of whose life it is our present purpose to record; and he would probably have remained contented in it, free from internal restlessness, and ignorant of the energetic qualities he after displayed, but for the desire for freedom which now pervaded the continent.

The Rev. Elias Smith, pastor at Middleton, in common with the New England clergy generally, guided the people of his charge, not only in the precepts of religion, but enlightened them also on the political events of the day, seeking by constant efforts to imbue them with the true spirit of liberty and resistance. And probably no circumstance contributed more to the successful termination of the Revolution than the zeal of the clergy in diffusing from the pulpit the true principles on which that great event was founded, and lending to their appeals the sacred influence of their office. A war was now to be waged in behalf of civil liberty; the pride, valor, ambition, and self-love of our youth were aroused; the forms of departed heroes flit ted before them, and many were dazzled by their exploits, and panted for an opportunity to inscribe their names upon the escutcheon of a rising empire.

Aware that persecution had driven his forefathers from their native land, and that Andros had failed in his attempt