taught the rudiments of the learned languages. From this school he was removed to New London, in the same province, and placed under the care of the Reverend Doctor Allison, a man eminently qualified for the arduous task of imparting instruction to youth. Deeply versed in the learned languages, his mind was free from the alloy too often mingled with the pure gold of classic lore; he explored the mazes of science in solitary study, without being ignorant of the world; without despising the beauties of elegant literature, and without neglecting the decencies of society. His knowledge of human nature enabled him quickly to discern the bent of a pupil's genius, his master vice, and dominant foible.

Among the fellow-pupils of Mr. Read, were Charles Thompson, secretary of Congress, Hugh Williamson, a member of that body from North Carolina, and Doctor Ewing, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, eminent as a mathematician and astronomer. The meeting of the first three of these distinguished men must, under any circumstances, have been pleasing; but to meet, as it occurred in the present instance, in the first Congress of America, a body endued with Roman spirit, and Roman virtue,-in that illustrious assembly, surrounded by the guardians of the rights of three

millions of their fellow men,-must have been to them a source of deep-felt gratification.

Mr. Read diligently pursued his studies under the care of Dr. Allison, until his seventeenth year, at which early age he was removed from school, and commenced the study of the law with John Moland, Esq. an eminent lawyer in the city of Philadelphia. An education terminated at so early period of life must necessarily have been incomplete; but the disadvantage of being forced into the world with a scanty stock of knowledge, was common to his contemporaries. Mr. Read actively applied himself to the study of his profession. It required more intense application at that period than at present, to qualify a young man for admission at the bar. The student was not then assisted by digests, abridgements, and excellent elementary treatises on every ramification of the law. The excessive toil which, at that day, was requisite for the attainment of legal knowledge, was best calculated to form habits on which were founded the most certain presages of eminence at the bar, and erudition on the bench. Hence Mr. Read was conspicuous in after-life for research and accuracy, and the margins of almost every book in the extensive law library which he possessed, whilst living, are covered with his notes; so true is it, that the foundation of

industrious habits is always laid in early life. The confidence reposed by Mr. Moland in the abilities of his young student was so great, that long before the term of his studies had expired, he entrusted him with his docket, and confided to him all his attorney's business. Indeed, the talents, industry, and zeal, of Mr. Read, while in the office of Mr. Moland, generated an attachment towards his pupil, stronger and more permanent than the relation of lawyer and student usually produces.

In the year 1753, Mr. Read was admitted to the bar, at the early age of nineteen years. By the then existing laws of Maryland, and the three lower counties on Delaware, he was, as eldest son, entitled to two shares of his father's property. His first act, after his admission to the bar, was to relinquish by deed all claim upon his father's estate, generously assigning as the reason for this relinquishment, that he had received his full portion in the expenses incurred by his education, and that it would be a fraud upon his brothers not to renounce his legal right.

In the year 1754, he settled in Newcastle, and commenced the practice of the law, in the then three lower counties on Delaware, and the adjacent ones of Maryland. He found himself in the midst of powerful competitors,-men of great talents, and

consummate lawyers;-among whom were John Ross, then attorney general, Benjamin Chew, George Ross, John Dickinson, and Thomas M'Kean. To have rapidly obtained full practice among such competitors, is, of itself, sufficient praise. On the thirtieth of April, 1763, he succeeded John Ross as attorney general for the three lower counties on Delaware. He was the first attorney general expressly appointed for these counties; as, before this period, the attorney general of Pennsylvania was the prosecuting officer in Delaware. Mr. Read held this office until he was elected a delegate to the congress of 1775; he then resigned it, declaring that he would not enter upon the arduous duties of a representative in that august body, trammelled with an office held from his Britannic Majesty.

Mr. Read was particularly eminent as a deep read lawyer; and he was powerfully versed in special pleading, the logic of the law. His elocution was neither flowery nor rapid; on the contrary, he was somewhat slow in his speech, and negligent in his manner; but his profound legal knowledge, his solidity of judgment, and his habits of close and clear reasoning, gave him an influence with juries and judges, which the graces of the most finished oratory would have failed to impart. His conclusions were always founded on calm and cautious

VOL. IV.-E

deliberation, which seldom led him into error. His legal knowledge and judgment were so conspicuous, that his opinions were held in high and general estimation.

In the year 1763, Mr. Read married a daughter of the Reverend George Ross, who had been, during fifty years, pastor of Immanuel Church, in the town of Newcastle. It was one of his favourite maxims, that men ambitious of arriving at the acme of their professions, should never marry; but his good sense taught him that the sacrifice of domestic enjoyment would be inadequately compensated by the highest honours. The understanding of Mrs. Read, naturally strong, was carefully cultivated by her father, who bestowed more attention upon her instruction than it was the common lot of females, at that period, to receive. Her person was beautiful, her manners elegant, and her piety exemplary. During the revolutionary struggle, her trials were many and severe. The enemy, constantly on the maritime border of Delaware, kept the state in perpetual alarm by predatory incursions: the British army, at different periods, occupied parts of her territory, or marched through it. Frequent change of habitation was not one of the least evils which accompanied the war of the revolution. Mrs. Read was almost always separated from her husband,