From the seminary, Mr. Clymer went into the counting-house of his uncle, and made himself acquainted with the mercantile business, in which he subsequently embarked. The precariousness and uncertainty of this calling rendered it unpleasant to him. He was opposed to sudden gains or losses, because the one was calculated to elate the mind too much, and the other to depress it too low, thus destroying the equilibrium calculated to impart the most happiness to a man and render him most useful to himself, to his family, and to the community. He contended that a virtuous equality in life is more conducive to the comfort and prosperity of a nation, than to have a majority of the wealth wielded by a favoured few. He was the friend of equal rights and free principles. He was a republican of the Roman school, a patriot of the highest order, a philanthropist of the noblest cast, and opposed to all monopolies. His genius was of that original order, that, like some comets, illuminate our world only at long intervals. It seemed to traverse the circuit of human nature, of metaphysics, of philosophy, and of general science, without an apparent effort, drawing from each conclusions peculiarly its own. He was a virtuoso, an amateur, and at the same time a deep logician and mathematician. A love of liberty and equal rights was with him an innate quality. His mind was richly stored with the history of other times and nations; he was well versed in the principles of law and government, and understood well the chartered rights of his country, and felt most keenly the increasing infringements upon them by the very power that was bound by the laws of nature, of man, and of God, to protect them. His course at the commencement of the revolution can readily be imagined. True, his entire property was vested in commercial business; Reese Meredith, his father-in-law, was his partner in trade, and for him to oppose the interests of the crown, seemed certain destruction to his own, so far as pecuniary matters were concerned. But his mind moved in an orbit limited only by the confines of freedom. He was among the first to resist the oppressors of his country and proclaim to his fellow citizens the principles of liberty. At the “_tea meeting_,” held by the citizens of Philadelphia on the 16th of October, 1773, his reasoning, sincerity, zeal and enthusiastic patriotism, commanded great attention and admiration. Free from pedantry and naturally retiring his powers of mind were known only to his friends. From that time they were claimed as public property. He was compelled to surrender possession to the rightful owners, without certiorari or appeal, and was engaged in all the important measures of the day. When the final crisis arrived for action; when forbearance had ceased to be a virtue; when the war-cry resounded from the heights of Lexington, Mr. Clymer took command of a company under General Cadwalader and repaired to the tented field.