erroneous expressed opinions of others. On this point the Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution were examples worthy of imitation. Each one held most sacred the reputation of his co-workers. The few violations of this principle were frowned upon with an indignity that gave the recusants the Belshazzar trembles. Among them no one was more tender of character than Francis Lightfoot Lee. He was the son of Thomas Lee--born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, on the 14th of October 1734. He was the brother of Richard Henry Lee whose eloquence rose higher but whose reflections were no deeper than those of Francis. In childhood he was admired for his docility and amiable deportment--in youth he was the pride of every circle in which he moved and when manhood dawned upon him he exhibited a dignity of mind and maturity of judgment that all delighted to honor. He was educated by the Rev. Mr. Craig a Scotch clergyman of high literary attainment and profound erudition. Under his tuition the germs of knowledge took deep root in the prolific mental soil of young Lee and produced plants of rapid and luxuriant growth. The Scotch _literati_ are remarkable for deep investigation, thorough analyzation and lucid demonstration. I have never met one who was a pedant, a vain pretender or a superficial scholar. Under such an instructor the intellectual powers of Francis assumed a vigorous and healthful tone that placed him upon the substantial basis of useful knowledge and enduring fame. He was delighted with the solid sciences and spent less time in the bowers of Belles Lettres than his Ciceronean brother. The history of classic Greece and Republican Rome enraptured his mind with the love of liberty and liberal principles. He read closely, thought deeply and investigated thoroughly. He prosecuted his studies with untiring industry and became an excellent scholar without the advantages of European seminaries to which most of the sons of wealthy men were then sent to complete their education. Imitating the examples of his elder brothers who had received the highest polish of English gentilesse and French etiquette he became a polished gentleman in his manners. Raised in the midst of affluence, actuated by the purest ethics, free from a desire to participate in the follies of the world, living in the peaceful enjoyment of those refined pleasures that promote felicity without enervating the body or corrupting the heart, the favorite of his numerous acquaintances--his earthly happiness was of the purest kind. His mind richly stored with scientific theory and with correct moral and religious principles, he entered the school of experience and became emphatically a practical man. Possessed of an ample fortune he could devote his time to what he deemed most useful. Having early imbibed a love for rational liberty and having fully canvassed the conduct of the British ministry towards the American Colonies, Mr. Lee resolved to oppose the encroachments of the