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launched, proved to be the fastest sailing merchantman of the day. Captain Macalester accomplished his first voyage in her, from Philadelphia to Cowes in the Isle of Wight, in seventeen days, a rapidity of passage of which there was no previous record. He took with him, as passengers on that occasion, the wealthy and distinguished merchant of Philadelphia and Senator of the United States, Mr. William Bingham, with his beautiful and accomplished wife. It is probable that this incident was the foundation of a particularly friendly intercourse, which, from his correspondence, appears to have existed between him and Mr. Alexander Baring (afterwards the distinguished Lord Ashburton), who was the sonin-law of Mr. and Mrs. Bingham. He also commenced, at that time, relations of business with the house of Sir Francis Baring & Co., which continued long afterwards.

In London, he engaged to make a voyage in the Fanny to Batavia and back. What was the surprise of the consignees of his vessel in London when he presented himself in their counting-house, having accomplished the entire voyage in seven months and twenty days, a speed, at that time, without any parallel. It was in the course of this voyage that he was chased by a British frigate, which fell in with him at daylight in the morning, but could not overtake him until ten o'clock at night. When the British boarding-officer stepped upon his deck, he said to Captain Macalester, "Sir, you have a very fast ship." "I thought so, until to-day," was the reply. "Our frigate," answered the officer, "is reputed to be the fastest in our navy, and we never before have had such a chase."

In the year 1804, Captain Macalester relinquished his voyages to sea, and for the succeeding twenty-one years, was engaged in mercantile pursuits in the city of Philadelphia. He still, however, preferred the occupations connected with navigation. Sometimes in connection with other merchants, sometimes altogether on his own account, he built several of the finest vessels which sailed from the port. Their voyages appear to have been made most frequently to China, India, and the Dutch Islands in the East, and in Europe to London and Amsterdam. In Amsterdam his correspondents were the houses of Hope & Co. and Insinger & Co.; with the latter of whom especially his letters show that he enjoyed particular inti

macy.

At the age of sixty, in the year 1825, having realized a considerable fortune, and all his children being successfully settled in life, he determined to retire from active pursuits. This, however, he was not permitted altogether to do by a portion of his fellow-citizens, who knew the energy of his character as a man of business. The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, in the vicissitudes of commercial events, had encountered serious losses, and the energies of a skilful and resolute man placed at its head appeared to be necessary to save it from further disasters. On the 14th of February, 1825, Captain Macalester was elected the President of the Company. In two years he succeeded in redeeming its fortunes, and, in 1827, he received from the stockholders a service of plate, as a testimonial of their grateful sense of the manner in which he had discharged the task he had undertaken in their behalf. He continued to be the President of the Company until his death.

Throughout his life he had been, at all times, a generous and liberal participator in the various plans of benevolence and charity for which Philadelphia is distinguished. The strong sense of religious obligation which he had imbibed in his boyhood, among the sturdy Presbyterians of Argyleshire, remained with him unimpaired as long as he lived, and soothed and comforted his declining years. Volumes of sermons of the ablest Scottish divines still exist, which contain a record of the latitude and longitude, at which the various discourses were read, during his long and numerous voyages. He was a faithful and devoted observer of the usages of his own Church, though his nature was so kind that his own predilections were never tinctured with the slightest intolerance in regard to the religious opinions of others. He was the Treasurer of the Marine Bible Society of Philadelphia. He was among the most active of the benevolent citizens who established the Mariners' Church, with a view to allure the seamen wandering on the docks to a spot where they might hear, without formalities unfamiliar to them, the lessons of Divine Truth. He was the Vice-President of the St. Andrew's Society, an institution having for its object the benevolent care of his Scottish countrymen. He was one of the Directors of the Bank of North America, the most venerable of similar institutions in Philadelphia. He preserved through his life, notwithstanding its

various changes and occupations, the love of reading which he had acquired in his early Scottish school; and a small but well-selected library was a necessary part of the furniture of his cabin on all his voyages.

He died at Willow Grove, near Philadelphia, at the age of sixtyseven, on the 29th of August, 1832. He was buried in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church in Arch Street in Philadelphia.

His widow survived him for several years. He left eight children. His sons, who still live, are Charles Macalester, now a resident of Philadelphia, and Edward Macalester, of Lexington, Kentucky.

WILLIAM MACPHERSON.

WILLIAM MACPHERSON was the son of Captain John Macpherson, a Scotch gentleman, who came to America about thirty years before the Declaration of Independence, and of Margaret Rodgers, the sister of the late Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, of New York. He was born in Philadelphia, in the year 1756, and there received the early part of his education, which was finished at Princeton, in New Jersey. At the age of thirteen he received the appointment of Cadet in the British Army; and, before the Declaration of Independence, his father having purchased for him a Lieutenant's commission, he was made Adjutant of the 16th Regiment. Mr. Macpherson was with his regiment at Pensacola at the commencement of the Revolutionary War, at which period he offered to resign his commission, but his resignation was not accepted. Several years afterwards, on the arrival of the 16th Regiment at New York, Sir Henry Clinton permitted Mr. Macpherson to resign his commission, in consequence of his declaring that he never would bear arms against his countrymen. He was not, however, allowed to sell his commission, for which his father had given a considerable sum of money. He joined the American Army on the river Hudson, above New York, about the end of the year 1779; and as General Washington had known him for many years, and under

stood the value of the sacrifice he had made for the good of his country, the appointment of Major by brevet in the American Army was conferred upon him.

Major Macpherson always retained the esteem and friendship of the Commander-in-chief, and his services during the Revolutionary War were rewarded by President Washington by the appointment of Surveyor of the Port of Philadelphia, by commission dated 19th September, 1789. On March 8th, 1792, a new commission was issued, appointing him Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Philadelphia; and, on the 28th November, 1793, he was appointed Naval Officer of the Port of Philadelphia, which office he held until his death, in 1813; being continued therein during the successive administrations of Presidents Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. In the year 1794, upon the manifestation of opposition in some of the western counties of Pennsylvania to the excise law enacted in the previous session of Congress, a large and respectable body of the citizens of Philadelphia formed themselves into several companies and invited Major Macpherson to place himself at their head. They were organized into a battalion, and, in compliment to him, they styled themselves "Macpherson's Blues." This fine corps formed a part of the army commanded by Governor Mifflin on the western expedition, and was universally respected for its patriotism and discipline. Before the return of the army to Philadelphia, Major Macpherson was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and subsequently was appointed by Governor Mifflin a BrigadierGeneral in the militia of Pennsylvania. On the occasion of war with France, in 1798, the Blues were reorganized, and, with the addition of several companies, consisting of cavalry, artillery, grenadiers, and riflemen, were formed into a legion, under the command of General Macpherson. On the 11th of March, 1799, General Macpherson was appointed by President Adams Brigadier-General of the Provisional Army, and was selected to command the troops sent into Northampton County to enforce obedience to the revenue laws. After the disbanding of the Provisional Army, General Macpherson retired from military life to his country-seat, near Philadelphia, where he resided until his death, which took place in November, 1813, in consequence of hemorrhage, caused by a schirrous tumor on his neck. He was respected for his integrity, honor, and patriotism.

PETER MARKOE.

PETER MARKOE, a poet, died at Philadelphia, in 1792. He published "Miscellaneous Poems," 1787; "The Times," a poem, 1788; "The Patriot Chief," a tragedy; "Reconciliation," opera; and was supposed to be the author of "The Algerine Spy."

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CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL.

CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL, the diarist, was one of the most respectable citizens of Philadelphia. Having accumulated a competency as a druggist, he had retired from business prior to the commencement of the Revolution, and having ample leisure, his attachment to the American cause brought him forward into various posts of honor and responsibility connected with the progress of the Revolution. It will be seen by this brief notice of him, that he was on friendly and confidential terms with many leading men in the Continental Congress and the new Government of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Marshall was cut off from the Society of Friends for the active part which he took on the Whig side in the contest with the mother country. This will account for the severity with which he noticed some of the actions of the members of that Society, who, in taking an active part on the side of Great Britain, departed, as he thought, as much from the doctrine and discipline of the Society as himself, his character for truth and honor having come down to us unsullied.

On the 17th March, 1775, he was elected a manager of a company "set on foot for making woollens, linen, and cotton." The election was held at Carpenters' Hall, city of Philadelphia.

He attended almost daily the meetings of the Continental Committee of Council and Safety, held at the Philosophical Hall, and

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