MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

GENERAL HENRY KNÓX.

A Memoir read before the Maine Historical Society, November 16, 1881.

BY JOSEPH WILLIAMSON.

I HOLD in my hand for presentation. to the Society, a timestained pamphlet, entitled "A Catalogue of Books, Imported and to be Sold by Henry Knox, at the London Book-Store, a little Southward of the Town-House, in Cornhill, Boston, 1772." The pamphlet is interesting, not only as showing the literature of that period, but as almost the earliest introduction to the public of a young man, then unknown to fame, but who was destined to be connected with many important events in the history of our country; who devoted the best years of his life to the establishment of independence, liberty and social order; who was honest, generous and self-sacrificing, and who, as the intimate friend and companion of Washington, strengthened the hand and encouraged the heart of the great Commander through all the trying scenes of the Revolution.

The recent visit of our Society to the home of Knox in Maine, and the more recent commemoration of the siege, in which he was so prominent an actor, renders a brief review of his life. and character not inappropriate to the present occasion.

Knox was born in Boston, on the twenty-fifth day of July, 1750. The place of his birth, an obscure house in Sea street, is still standing. His paternal ancestors were of the sturdy ScotchIrish stock, which, mingling with that of Saxon origin, has diffused itself with a vigorous growth throughout the whole country. It was the race to which John Stark, Robert Fulton, Calhoun, Houston, Andrew Jackson, Horace Greely, and a host of men, alike famous in the field and in the forum, have boasted with pride that they belonged.

William Knox, his father, was a shipmaster, and died abroad. The care of a widowed mother and of an infant brother thus devolved on young Knox, at the age of twelve years, just as he had completed his grammar-school course. From the recollection of his attentive and affectionate solicitude for these relatives he derived the highest satisfaction in after life. Upon the death of his father he obtained employment with the principal booksellers of the town. Their store was frequented by British officers, with whom he became on friendly terms. From their acquaintance and conversation he acquired a taste for military science, which was improved by reading. Possessing an inquisitive mind and a desire for knowledge he availed himself of the advantages around him, and soon became conversant not only with general literature, but with the French language, in which so many standard works upon the art of war have been written. He was also fond of studying the illustrious examples of antiquity in the Lives of Plutarch, and of other writers whose pages are equally rich with the spoils of time. His course gave early presage of eminence. Before reaching majority he was chosen an officer of the grenadiers, a company distinguished for its martial appearance and the precision of its evolutions. His proficiency in the theory and practice of the military art gave him a commanding position among the young men of Boston. When the Boston Massacre took place Knox was early at the scene. His account of it appears in the published report of the trial. He endeavored to keep the crowd away, and remonstrated with Captain Preston for allowing the soldiers to fire upon unarmed citizens.

Soon after Knox became established in business on his own account, the low mutterings of the thunder which preceded the storm of the Revolution began to be heard. The burning words of Otis, that "great incendiary of New England," as he was called, against writs of assistance and other manifestations of British aggression, had already inspired the souls of his hearers in Faneuil Hall, and were re-echoed by Patrick Henry in Virginia, by his defiant resolutions against the Stamp Act, and his startling cry of "Give me Liberty or give me Death!" At this early period, notwithstanding his associations, the heart of Knox was deeply engaged in the cause of his country. He felt the

cause of the colonies to be a righteous one, and to its vindication he yielded every consideration. When hostilities became imminent he hesitated not a moment what course to pursue. The fair prospect of increasing wealth, and even the endearing claims of family and friends had no power to divert the determined purpose of his mind. Ere long the Boston Port Bill put an end to the prosperity of the town, and with it the prosperity of the young bookseller. "At that time," says a contemporary, "Knox's bookstore was a great resort for British officers and Tory ladies, and it was long remembered as one of great display and attraction for young and old, and as a fashionable morning lounging-place." Behind its counter Knox first met Nathaniel Greene, afterward his compatriot during the Revolution. Behind its counter, too, his fine person, engaging manners, and rare intelligence, first attracted the attention of Lucy Fluker, a young lady of high intellectual endowments, fond of books, and especially the books sold by Knox, to whose shelves she had frequent recourse. Their acquaintance, thus formed, soon ripened into mutual love, and resulted in a happy union.

Miss Fluker was the grand-daughter of General Samuel Waldo, whose name is inseparably connected with the history of eastern Maine. Her father, "a high-toned loyalist, of great family pretensions," and royal secretary of the Province, opposed the engagement, as indeed did all the young lady's connections, who were tories, and had for her more advantageous matrimonial prospects. They regarded her as ruined in future social esteem and personal happiness, by wedding one who had espoused the cause of rebellion. The consequences were depicted to her in lively colors. She was told that while the other members of her family were in the enjoyment of luxury, she would be eating the bread of poverty and dependence; that there could be but one issue to the conflict; and that the power of Great Britain, exerted against the feeble colonists, would be overwhelming. Disregarding all these warnings, Miss Fluker, who had fully adopted the views of her future husband, resolved to follow the fortunes of him to whom her heart had been given. When the great political change took place, many of her family and relatives were in exile and obscurity, while she, the wife of the humble bookseller, was the center of the first social circle in