Thus acted the patriots of the American Revolution with whom Thomas Heyward was associated during that eventful period. He was the eldest son of Col. Daniel Heyward a wealthy and respectable planter and was born in the parish of St. Luke, S. C. in 1746. His opportunities for obtaining a liberal education were freely afforded by the father and faithfully improved by the son. He became ardently attached to the Greek and Roman classics and was enraptured with the history of old Republican Freedom with all its corruptions clustering around it. The principles of rational Liberty became deeply rooted in his mind at an early age. As manhood dawned upon him they were thoroughly matured. On completing his collegiate education he commenced the study of law under Mr. Parsons. His proficiency in that intricate branch of science was rapid--substantial. He possessed an analyzing mind and never passed over a subject superficially. He was a close student--explored the vast fields of civil and common law with a zeal and rapidity as rare as it is necessary and commendable. When he became familiar with the principles laid down by Blackstone and understood fully the rights secured to persons and property by Magna Charta and the British Constitution and compared them with the iron rod of restriction held over the Colonies by the mother country--he was roused to a just indignation--more than _prima facie_ evidence of a clear head and sound common sense. After completing his course with Mr. Parsons he went to England and entered the Middle Temple where he became a finished lawyer--a polished gentleman. Although amply supplied with money he was not led astray by the fascinating allurements of pleasures that flatter to seduce--then ruin and destroy. To enrich his mind with science, legal lore and useful knowledge, was the _ultimatum_ of his soul. He mingled with what was termed _refined_ society in London which formed a striking contrast with the republican simplicity of the same grade in his own country. The fastidious hauteur of English etiquette was far from being congenial to his mind and did not accord with his ideas of social life. He there met claims of superiority over native Americans that he knew were based alone on vain pride or wilful ignorance. His feelings were often wounded by indignities cast upon his countrymen. This riveted his affections more strongly upon his native land. They served as fuel to replenish the glowing fire of patriotism already burning in his bosom. The pomp of royalty and the empty splendor of the court had no charms for him. The awful distance between the haughty monarch and the honest peasant--the towering throne and the worthy yeomanry, operated on his mind like a talisman and gave his soul a fresh impetus towards the goal of Liberty. The more he saw of practical monarchy, the more he became opposed to its iron sway. The more he saw of the action of ministers the more he was