other was requisite. Having then made some inquiries relative to Mr. Sherman's situation and prospects in life, he advised him to devote his attention to the study of the law. But his circumstances and duties did not permit him at once to follow this counsel. The numerous family, which the recent death of his father had made, in a considerable degree, dependent on him for support and education, required his constant exertions in other employments. But the intimation which he there received, that his mind was fitted for higher pursuits, no doubt induced him at that early period of life to devote his leisure moments to those studies which led him to honor and distinguished usefulness. At the age of twenty-eight years he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hartwell, of Stoughton, Massachusetts, by whom he had seven children. She died in October, 1760. Two of his children died in Milford, and two after his removal to New Haven. In 1763 he was married to Miss Rebecca Prescott, of Danvers, Mass., by whom he had eight children. In May, 1759, he was appointed one of the justices of the court of common pleas for the county. He was for many years the treasurer of Yale College. From that institution he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts. After success in some measure had crowned his efforts, he still continued to apply himself to his studies with the most unremitted diligence. Encouragement, instead of elating him, only prompted him to greater effort. In the profession which he had chosen, perhaps more than any other, men are compelled to rely on their own resources. Such is the competition, so constant is the collision of various minds, that ignorance and incompetency will surely be detected and exposed. In 1766 he was appointed a judge of the superior court of Connecticut. In the same year he was chosen an assistant or member of the upper house of the legislature. The first office he sustained for twenty-three years, the last for nineteen years; after which a law was enacted rendering the two offices incompatible, and he chose to continue in the office of judge. It is uniformily acknowledged by those who witnessed his conduct and abilities on the bench, that he discovered in the application of the principles of law and the rules of evidence to the cases before him, the same sagacity that distinguished him as a legislator. His legal opinions were received with great deference by the profession, and their correctness was almost universally acknowledged. During the last four years in which he was judge, the late Chief-Justice Ellsworth was an associate judge of the same court; and from the period of his appointment, in 1785, until the death of Mr. Sherman, a close intimacy subsisted between them. The elder President Adams remarks that, "It is praise enough to say that Mr. Ellsworth told me that he had made Mr. Sherman his model in his youth. Indeed, I never knew two men more alike, except that the chief-justice had the advantage of a liberal education and somewhat more extensive reading." The period of our Revolutionary struggle now drew near. Roger Sherman, as it might have been expected, was one of the few who, from the commencement of hostilities, foresaw what would be the probable issue. He engaged in the defence of our liberties with the deliberate firmness of an experienced statesman, conscious of the magnitude of the undertaking, and sagacious in devising the means for successful opposition. In August, 1774, Mr. Sherman, in conjunction with Joseph Trumbull, Eliphalet Dyer and Silas Deane, was nominated delegate to the general congress of the colonies. He was present at the opening of the first congress. He continued a member of this body for the long period of nineteen years, till his death, in 1793, whenever the law requiring a rotation in office admitted it. In his new post of duty he soon acquired distinguished reputation. Others were more admired for popular eloquence, but in that assembly of great men there was no one whose judgment was more respected, or whose opinions were more influential. His venerable appearance, his republican simplicity, the inflexibility of his principles, and the decisive weight of his character, commanded universal homage. In the fatiguing and arduous business of committees he was indefatigable. He was always thorough in his investigations, and all his proceedings were marked by system. Among the principal committees of which Mr. Sherman was a member, were those to prepare instructions for the army in Canada; to establish regulations in regard to the trade of the United Colonies; to regulate the currency of the country; to furnish supplies for the army; to devise ways and means for providing ten millions of dollars for the expenses of the current year; to concert a plan of military operations for the campaign of 1776; to prepare and digest a form of confederation; and to repair to head-quarters at New York, and examine in the state of the army. On the 11th of June, 1776, in conjunction with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Robert R. Livingston, Mr. Sherman was appointed on the committee to prepare the Declaration of Independence. The committee was elected by ballot. The Declaration, as it is well known, was written by Jefferson. What amount of influence was exerted by Sherman, in carrying the measure through the congress, is not certainly known. The records of the proceedings of that illustrious assembly are very imperfect. John Adams says of him, that he was "one of the soundest and strongest pillars of the Revolution." While he was performing the most indefatigable labors, he devoted unremitting attention to duties at home. During the war he was a member of the governor's council of safety. In 1784 he was elected mayor of New Haven, an office which he continued to hold during the remainder of his life. In 1791 a vacancy having occurred in the Senate of the United States, he was elected to fill that elevated station. On the 23d of July, 1793, this great and excellent man was gathered to his fathers in the seventy-third year of his age. He died in the full possession of all his powers, both of mind and body. The most interesting lesson which the life of Mr. Sherman teaches us, is the paramount importance of religious principle. His undeviating political integrity was not the result of mere patriotism or philanthropy. He revolved in a higher orbit. The volume which he consulted more than any other was the Bible. It was his custom to purchase a copy of the scriptures at the commencement of every session of Congress, to peruse it daily, and to present it to one of his children on his return. To his familiar acquaintance with this blessed book, much of that extraordinary sagacity which he uniformly exhibited, is to be attributed. The second President Edwards used to call him his "great and good friend, Senator Sherman," and acknowledged that, in the general course of a long and intimate acquaintance, he was materially assisted by his observation on the principal subjects of doctrinal and practical divinity. "He was not ashamed," says Dr. Edwards, "to befriend religion, to appear openly on the Lord's side, or to avow and defend the peculiar doctrines of grace. He was exemplary in attending all the institutions of the gospel, in the practice of virtue in general, and in showing himself friendly to all good men. With all his elevation and all his honors, he was not at all lifted up, but appeared perfectly unmoved. "That he was generous and ready to communicate, I can testify from my own experience. He was ready to bear his part of the expense of those designs, public and private, which he esteemed useful; and he was given to hospitality." What an example is here presented for the youthful lawyer and statesman! Would he rise to the most distinguished usefulness, would he bequeath a character and an influence to posterity "above all Greek or Roman fame," let him, like Roger Sherman, lay the foundations in the fear of God, and in obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another most important practical lesson which we derive from the life of Mr. Sherman, is the value of habits of study and meditation. He was not only distinguished for integrity, but for accurate knowledge of history and of human nature-the combined fruit of reading and reflection. "He was capable of deep and long investigation. While others, weary of a short attention to business, were relaxing themselves in thoughtless inattention or dissipation, he was employed in prosecuting the same business, either by revolving it in his mind and ripening his own thoughts upon it, or in conferring with others." While laboriously engaged in the public duties of his station, he had, every day, a season for private study and meditation. The legacy which Mr. Sherman has bequeathed to his countrymen is indeed invaluable. The Romans never ceased to mention with inexpressible gratitude the heroism, magnanimity, contentment, disinterestedness, and noble public services of him who was called from the plough to the dictator's chair. His example was a light to all the subsequent ages. So among the galaxy of great men who shine along the tracts of our past history, we can scarcely refer to one, save Washington, whose glory will be more steady and unfading than that of Roger Sherman. ONE BY ONE. ONE by one the sands are flowing, One by one thy duties wait thee, Let no future dreams elate thee, Learn thou first what these can teach. One by one (bright gifts from heaven) Take them readily when given, One by one thy griefs shall meet thee, Do not look at life's long sorrow, See how small each moment's pain; Every hour that fleets so slowly Do not linger with regretting, Hours are golden links, God's token, THE FORTUNATE KISS. THE following little story by Miss Bremer, is taken from Sartain's Magazine. For its truth and reality she says she will be responsible: In the University of Upsala, in Sweden, lived a young student, a lonely youth, with a great love for studies, but without means for pursuing them. He was poor and without connections. Still he studied, living in great poverty, but keeping a cheerful heart, and trying not to look at the future, which looked so grimly at him. His good humor and good qualities made him beloved by his young comrades. Once he was standing with some of them in the great square of Upsala, chatting away an hour of leisure, when the attention of the young man became arrested by a very young, elegant lady who was at the side of an elderly one, walking slowly over the place. It was the daughter of the Governor of Upland, living in the city, and the lady with her was the governess. She was generally known for her goodness and gentleness of character, and looked upon with admiration by the students. As the young men now stood gazing at her as she passed on like a graceful vision, one of them exclaimed "Well, it would be worth something to have a kiss from such a mouth." The poor student, the hero of our story, who was looking intently on that pure and angelic face, exclaimed, as if by inspiration, "Well, I think I could have it." "What!" cried his friends in a chorus, "are you crazy? Do you know her?" "Not at all," he answered: "but I think she would kiss me now, if I asked her.” "What, in this place, before all our eyes?" "In this place, before your eyes." "Freely?" "Freely." "Well, if she will give you a kiss in that manner I will give you a thousand dollars," exclaimed one of the party. "And I!" "And I!" cried three or four others; for it so happened that several rich young men were in the group, and bets ran high on so improbable an event; and the challenge was made and received in less time than we take to relate it. Our hero (my authority tells not whether he was handsome or plain; I have my peculiar ideas for believing that he was rather plain but singularly good-looking at the same time)-our hero immediately walked off to the young lady and said, "My fortune is in your hand.' hand." She looked at him in astonishment but arrested her steps. He proceeded to state his name and condition, his as |