struggle was terrific, the lion was conquered—AMERICA WAS FREE!! During all the thrilling scenes that passed in Massachusetts previous to his election to Congress, Mr. Gerry was a leading member of the legislative body from its aurelia form to its more perfect growth. He was an active and efficient member of the two great committees that were for some time virtually the government—the committee of safety and that of supplies. In April, 1775, he narrowly escaped the grasp of his foes. The night previous to the battle of Lexington, Messrs. Gerry, Lee and Orne were at Cambridge, through which the British passed on their way to the opening scene of hostilities. When they arrived opposite the house where these gentlemen were in bed, a file of soldiers suddenly separated from the main body and approached it rapidly. The patriots barely escaped by the back way in their linen as the enemy entered, not having time to put on a single article of their over-dress. After the military passed on they returned for their wardrobe, and immediately rallied the people to prepare for resistance. The night previous to the fall of his intimate friend, the brave Warren, Mr. Gerry lodged in the same bed with him. The anxiety they felt for their country drove sleep from them, and their time was spent in concerting plans for future action. The lamented hero of Bunker Hill appears to have had a presentiment of his premature fate. The last words he uttered to Mr. Gerry as they parted were, “Dulce et decorum est, Pro patria mori.”[D] [D] It is sweet and glorious to die for one’s country. In the month of July, 1775, the government of Massachusetts assumed a systematic form. A legislature was chosen and organized, and in a few months a judiciary was established upon the basis of the new arrangement. Mr. Gerry was immediately appointed to the responsible post of judge of the admiralty court, but declined serving, preferring more active and exciting duties. He desired to be where he could render the most important services. On the 18th of January, 1776, he was elected to the Continental Congress, a situation he was well calculated to fill. Bold and fearless, yet cautious and prudent, he was admirably adapted to meet the awful crisis of that eventful era. His public reputation already established on a lofty eminence, he was placed upon the most important committees, and among others upon the one sent to head-quarters to consult with Washington and mature plans of supplies for the army and for its augmentation. To the speculating sutlers and to peculating contractors, he was a terror during the war. He introduced in Congress many salutary guards against dishonest men, who, during a war more especially, always hang about every department of government like vultures. Even now, in a time of profound peace, they occasionally tap the jugular vein of our republic, and produce a laxity of the sinews of power.