been a Man of great Parts and Ability, and every Way equal to the Emploiments which he bore. Mr. THOMAS RANDOLPH, the poet, was great Uncle to Sir JOHN. An immature Death put a Stop to his rising Genius and Fame; but he had gained such a Reputation among the Wits of his age, that he was exceedingly lamented; and Ben Johnson always expressed his Love and Esteem for him, calling him by no other Title, but that of Son. The Family were high Loialists. in the Civil Wars, and being entirely broken and dispersed, Sir JOHN's father resolved (as many other Cavaliers did) to take his Fortune in this Part of the World.

By his Mother's Side, he was related to the ISHAMS of Northamptonshire, an ancient and eminent Family of that County.

Sir JOHN discovered, from his earliest Childhood, a great Propensity to Letters. To improve which, he was first put under the Care of a Protestant Clergyman, who came over among the French Refugees. But afterwards he received a fuller and more complete Education in William and Mary College; for which Place (with a Gratitude usual to Persons, who make a proper Uuse of the Advantages, to be reaped in such Seminaries) he always expressed the greatest Love and Respect, not only in Words, but by doing real and substantial Services. He finished his Studies, in the Law, in Gray's-Inn, and the Temple; and having put on his Barrister's-Gown, returned to his Native Country; where from his very first Appearance at the Bar, he was ranked among the Practitioners of the first Figure and Distinction.

His Parts were bright and strong; his Learning extensive and useful. If he was liable to any Censure in this Respect, it was for too great a Luxuriancy and Abundance; and what Quinctilian says of Ovid, may, with great Pro

priety, be applied to him: Quantum vir ille præstare potuerit, fi ingenio suo temperare quam indulgere maluisset?

In the several Relations of a Husband, a Father, a Friend, he was a most extraordinary Example; being a kind and affectionate Husband, without Fondness or Ostentation; a tender and indulgent Parent, without Weakness or Folly; a sincere and hearty Friend, without Profession or Flattery. Sincerity indeed, ran through the whole Course of his Life, with an even and uninterrupted Current; and added no small Beauty and Lustre to his Character, both in Private and Publick.

As he recived a noble Income, for Services in his Profession and Emploiments, so he, in some Measure, made a Return, by a most generous, open, and elegant Table. But the Plenty, Conduct, and Hospitality, which appeared there, reflect an equal Praise on himself and his Lady.

Altho' he was an excellent Father of a Family, and careful enough of his own private Concerns, yet he was even more attentive to what regarded the Interest of the Publick. His Sufficiency and Integrity, his strict Justice and Impartiality, in the Discharge of his Offices, are above Commendation, and beyond all reasonable Contradiction. Many of us may deplore a private Friend; but what I think all ought to lament, is the Loss of a publick Friend; an Assertor of the just Rights and natural Liberties of Mankind; an Enemy to Oppression; a Support to the Distressed; and a Protector of the Poor and indigent, whose Causes he willingly undertook, and whose Fees he constantly remitted, when he thought the Paiment of them would be grievous to themselves or Families. In short, he always pursued the Public Good, as far as his Judgment would carry him; which, as it was not infallible, so it may, without Disparagement to any, be placed among the best, that

have ever been concerned in the Administration of the Affairs of this Colony.

The following Particular may perhaps be thought trifling. However, I cannot help observing, that all these Accomplishments received an additional Grace and Ornament from his Person; which was of the finest Turn imaginable. He had, in an eminent Degree, that ingenua totius corporis pulchritudo & quidam senatorius decor, which Pliny mentions, and which is somewhere not unhappily translated, The Air of a Man of Quality. For there was something very Great and Noble in his Presence and Deportment, which at first Sight bespoke and highly became, that Dignity and Eminence, which his Merit had obtained him in this Country.

THE EARL OF ORKNEY.

[We copy the following obituary notice of this nobleman, who was for many years the royal Governor of Virginia at home, with Nott, Spotswood, Drysdale and Gooch, successively acting as Lieutenant Governors under him, residing here; from the Virginia Gazette of April 22, 1737, where it is quoted from a prior London paper, under date of Feb. 1, of that year: it contains the only account of this personage that we have seen; and we record it of course in our pages.]

London, Feb. 1. Last Saturday died, in the 71 Year of his Age, at his House in Albemarle-street, the Right Hon. George Hamilton, Earl of Orkeney, one of the Sixteen Peers for Scotland, Governor of Virginia, Constable, Governor, and Captain of Edinburgh Castle, Knight of the most Antient and most Honourable Order of the Thistle, one of the Field Marshals of all and singular his Majesty's

Forces, as well Horse as Foot, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot. This Noble Lord was younger Brother to James, late Duke of Hamilton, and Brandon. and to the present Earl of Selkirk, and Uncle to the present Duke of Hamil ton, and elder Brother to Lord Archibald Hamilton, one of the Lords of the Admiralty. His Lordship took very early to Arms, was made a Colonel, March 1, 1689-90, and Jan. 10, 1695-6, was created Earl of Orkney, on Account of his personal Merit and Bravery, &c. He was in the Battles of Boyne, Athlone, Limerick, Achrim, Steinkirk, Lauden, Namure, and Blenheim; and was'a great Favorite with that immortal Prince King William III. In the first Year of Queen Anne, he was made a Major-General, and Jan. 1703-4, Lieutenant General, and the February following, made a Knight of the Thistle, and serv'd with great Reputation in all the Wars in her Reign, and has serv'd as one of the Sixteen Peers, in most of the Parliaments since the Union; and by the late King was made one of the Lords of the Bed-chamber, which Place he held some Time, and Governor of Virginia. He married 1695, Elizabeth, Daughter to Sir Edward Villiers, Knt. (Maid of Honour to Queen Mary,) Sister to Edward, Earl of Jersey, by whom he had Three Daughters, Lady Anne, married to the present Earl of Inchequin; Lady Frances, married to Sir Thomas Sanderson, Knight of the Bath, Knight of the Shire of Lincoln, and Brother to the Earl of Scarborough; and Lady Harriot, married to the present Earl of Orrery; she died at Cork, August 1732.

By his Lordship's Death the Title is extinct; but a very large Fortune descends to his Co-heirs, and their Issue. We hear that the Right Hon. the Lord Delawar, will be appointed Governor of Virginia, in the Room of the late Earl of Orkeney.

MORTON'S DIARY.

MR. EDITOR,-The following fragment of a diary I copied not long since from the original found in a small account-book, which appears to have belonged to Thomas Morton. It is preserved among his descendants of the same name, and I am indebted to one of them for the opportunity of making the following extract from it. The diary, of which Thomas Morton was probably the author,* was written in the first leaves, part of which have been apparently torn out and lost. The book some years after the diary was written in it, came to be used as the day-book of an ordinary" or tavern kept by the said Thomas Morton in the county of New Kent. The diary contains no date of the year, but it relates, I take it, to the unsuccessful expedition made early in the spring of 1756, against the Shawnees, which Washington writing from Winchester April 7th of that year notices as follows:

I doubt not but your honor has had a particular account of Major Lewis's unsuccessful attempt to get to the Shawanese Town. It was an expedition from which on account of the length of the march, I always had little hope, and often expressed my uneasy apprehensions on that head. But since they are returned with the Indians that accompanied them, I think it would be a very happy step to prevail upon the latter to proceed as far as Fort Cumberland. It is in their power to be of infinite use to us; and wihout Indians we shall never be able to cope with those cruel foes to our country. I would beg leave therefore to recommend in a very earnest manner, that your Honor would send an express to them immediately for this desirable end. I should have done it myself, but was uncertain whether it might prove agreeable or not. I also hope you will order Major Lewis to secure his guides, as I understand he attributes all his misfortunes to their misconduct. Such offences should meet with adequate punishment, or else we may ever be misled by designing villains." 2 Wash. Writings, pp. 136-7. The following is a note to page 136. Major Lewis's party suffered greatly on this expedition. The rivers were so much swoln by the rains and melting snow, that they were unable to reach the Shawanese Town; and after being six weeks in the woods, having lost several Canoes with provisions and ammunition, they were reduced nearly to a state of starvation, and obliged to kill their horses for food."

66

The officers mentioned in the diary, are Major Lewis, Capts.

*In 1758 Thomas Morton of New Kent county was allowed £7 in compensation for an horse lost in the Shawnese expedition.-7 Hen. Statutes, p. 228.