Mr. AMES proceeded to say that the paper was a copy of the same instrument that was doubtless circulated in print among the legal voters of every town, parish, and hamlet of the State of Massachusetts, for those who should see fit to subscribe, so that their representatives in the General Court and in the Continental Congress might know upon what to depend as public opinion, and that the representatives might conform to the wish of their constituents.

To a great extent the legislation of the country, at the commencement of and during the Revolutionary War, was carried on under instructions from the legal voters, expressed in one form or another, with little or no debate. Thus every town in Massachusetts, as their records show, in or about May, 1776, unanimously or by overwhelming majorities (except, perhaps, the town of Hadley), directed their representatives to vote for the Declaration of Independence; so that the Declaration of Independence in Congress was merely an act of the people through their representatives; and, if any member of the Continental Congress from Massachusetts had refused to sign that declaration, he would never have dared to return home, and would have found safety only by fleeing to the British flcet or army.

Like other towns in Massachusetts, one-seventh part of the male population of that parish were in the field, which accounts in some degree for no other subscribers. There were in February, 1774, one hundred and thirteen legal voters in that parish, now town.

The first signature upon this instrument is that of Oakes Angier, Esq., son of Rev. John Angier, H. C. 1720, the first minister of the east parish of Bridgewater, and grandson of Rev. Samuel Angier, H. C. 1673, minister of Rehoboth, and afterwards of Watertown. Oakes Angier was a great-grandson of the Rev. Urian Oakes, President of Harvard College, and also a great-grandson of Governor Hinckley. He graduated at Harvard College in 1764, studied law with the elder President Adams, was a man of great force of character, and arrived at eminence in his profession. He represented Bridgewater in the General Court of Massachusetts during the political years 1776-77, 1777-78, 1778-79, and 1779-80.

The next signer to that instrument was Dr. Richard Perkins, son of the Rev. Daniel Perkins, hereinafter named. Dr. Richard Perkins graduated at Harvard College in 1748, was a physician, and was a surgeon and physician in the Provincial Army in the time of the French war, and was once taken prisoner by the French. His wife was a sister of Governor

John Hancock, and he was a representative of Bridgewater in the first and second of the Provincial Congresses, so called.

John Ames, the thirteenth signer, and father of the late Oliver Ames, Esq., of Easton, was a gunmaker, and made guns for the town's supply during the war of the Revolution.

Solomon Ripley, the ninth signer, was the great-uncle of Major-General Eleazer W. Ripley, who figured in the war of 1812, and was Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives during the January session of 1812.

John Willis, the sixteenth siguer, was justice of the peace from 1762 to his decease. He died July 17th, 1776, less than two months after he signed, aged seventy-five years.

Daniel Lothrop, Jr., was a captain in the Revolutionary War; and Isaac Hartwell, the next signer, was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary army.

Nathan Howard was a justice of the peace from August 5, 1767, to the time of his death in 1800.

Simeon Dunbar was a graduate of Harvard College, 1774, and a physician, and had a son George, who was with Perry's fleet at the naval battle on Lake Erie.

Daniel Perkins graduated at Harvard College in 1717, and was the second minister of West Bridgewater, and preached there sixty-two years, until he died in 1783.

Josiah Williams was the great-uncle of the late Hon. Reuel Williams, of Augusta, Maine, and of Mr. Daniel Williams, the father of the late Major-General Seth Williams, the adjutantgeneral of the army of the Potomac.

Seth Howard was the grandfather of the late Seth Howard, Esq., of Leeds, Maine, who represented that town in our General Court for the political year 1803-7, and who was the grandfather of General Oliver O. Howard.

Abiel Howard graduated at Harvard College in 1729, was a physician and poet, and the great-grandfather of William Cullen Bryant, Esq., from whom Mr. Bryant claims to have inherited his gift of poetry.

D. Howard, 2d, was many years the representative of Bridgewater, and many years Senator of Plymouth County, a member of the Massachusetts Convention which adopted the Constitution of the United States, a member of the Convention of 1820 for revising the Constitution of Massachusetts, and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas; and is the same person mentioned on page 496 of our Proceedings for 1869-70.

Adams Bailey soon after was a captain in the Continental army, and was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Shepard Fiske was a graduate of Harvard College, 1721,

studied medicine, and practised as a physician a short time at Killingly, Connecticut. He was a half-brother of the Hon. John Quincy, many years Speaker of our House of Representatives, -a man of great distinction, who died in 1767, and was the great-grandfather of President John Quincy Adams, from whom he was named.

The second Rev. Thomas Shepard had a daughter who married Daniel Quincy, and the Hon. John Quincy was their son. Daniel Quincy died young, and his widow married the Rev. Moses Fiske, of Braintree, and Shepard Fiske was their son. Shepard Fiske moved to Bridgewater, and was many years one of the selectmen of the town. He married Alice Alger (the aunt of Abiezer Alger, the fifty-fifth signer to the instrument), and carried on the business of an iron-founder; which business, after the death of Mr. Fiske without children, June 14, 1779, was followed by said Abiezer Alger, and afterwards by his son, the late Cyrus Alger, Esq., of South Boston.

The late Judge Nahum Mitchell, many years a member of this Society, and formerly a member of Congress, informed me, in 1846, that upon going into the House of Representatives . at Washington a few days before, and taking the seat assigned for former members, President John Quincy Adams came up to him in his seat, and there spoke of this Shepard Fiske, his relative, whom he said he well knew in his youth.

Eliakim Howard, the last signer, was for forty-three years town-clerk of Bridgewater, and was a brother of the Rev. Simeon Howard, Harvard College, 1758, many years minister of the West Church in Boston.

Mr. Ames well remembered ten of the signers of that instrument. The survivor of all was Jonathan Copeland, 3d, who died in the year 1839, in the eighty-fifth year of his age.

Mr. APPLETON made the following remarks relative to the Albemarle portrait of Washington, a copy of which had recently been received by the Society:

As soon as the copy of the portrait of Washington at Quidenham Park arrived, I felt sure something could be learned about it, and I have not been disappointed. Here is a French engraving, differing from our picture only in the most trifling particulars. It is entitled "Washington (Georges), Président de la République des Etats-unis d'Amérique du Nord, 1799. Tableau du temps - Gravé par Wolf-Dessiné par Girardet -Diagraphe et Pantographe-Gavard-Gal.rie hist.que de Versailles-S.ie, Son 6." It is engraved from a repetition of our

portrait, No. 4560 of the catalogue of the Gallery of Versailles. This unfortunately gives no clue to the artist. An engraving of Washington, which somewhat resembles this, and is the only other one (so far as I know) with the ribbon of the Commander-in-chief, is in a volume entitled "AN IMPARTIAL HISTORY OF THE WAR IN AMERICA," &c., London, 1780. The biography accompanying it is perhaps the most erroneous ever written of Washington. I have here another engraving of Washington, which at first seemed to promise some clue to the artist of the portrait at Quidenham. It is entitled "LE GÉNÉRAL WASHINGTON-Ne Quid Detrimenti capiat Res publica. - Gravé d'après le Tableau Original appartenant à M. Marquis de la Fayette. - Peint par L. le Peon Peintre de Bataille de S. A. S. M." le Prince de Condé. Gravé par N. le Mire des Academies Imperiales et Royales et de celle des Siences et Arts de Rouen.' It represents Washington standing before his tent, near which are his horse and a black groom; at the right is a camp, and beyond is a city so nearly surrounded by water as to be perhaps intended for New York.

On turning to Irving's "Life of Washington," in the Appendix by Henry T. Tuckerman on the Portraits, I found exactly the information sought for. The second portrait by Charles Wilson Peale marks the vicissitudes of the Revolutionary struggle; commenced in the gloomy winter and half-famished encampment at Valley Forge, in 1778, the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth intervened before its completion. At the last place, Washington suggested that the view from the window of the farm-house opposite to which he was sitting would form a desirable background. Peale adopted the idea, and represented Monmouth Court House, and a party of Hessians under guard marching out of it. The picture was finished at Princeton, and Nassau Hall is a prominent object in the background.

Lafayette desired a copy for the king of France; and Peale executed one in 1779, which was sent to Paris; but the misfortunes of the royal family occasioned its sale, and it became the property of the Count de Menou, who brought it again to this country and presented it to the National Institute, where it is now preserved." A note to this reads, " PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 4.His Excellency General Washington set off from this city to join the army in New Jersey. During the course of his

Notice du Musée Impérial de Versailles par Eud. Sculié. 2e Ed. At page 399 of the third volume, we read, “4580, Washington (Georges), président de la république des Etats-Unis. Peinture du xviiie siècle. - H. 2, 34. — L. 1, 52. —

Il est représenté en pied, appuyé sur un canon; derrière lui, un soldat tenant son cheval, et dans le fond, des troupes en marche."

short stay, the only relief he has enjoyed from service since he first entered it, he has been honored with every mark of esteem, &c. The Council of this State being desirous of having his picture in full length, requested his sitting for that purpose, which he politely complied with, and a striking likeness was taken by Mr. Peale, of this city. The portrait is to be placed in the council chamber. Don Juan Marrailes, the Minister of France, has ordered five copies, four of which, we hear, are to be sent abroad. Penn. Packet, Feb. 11, 1779."

It is evident that we have here the essential facts relating to the portrait at Quidenham; viz., that it was painted by C. W. Peale, and that there were several repetitions of it. The number painted explains some inconsistencies in Mr. Tuckerman's account, as Monmouth Court House probably appears in some of the pictures, and Nassau Hall, at Princeton, in others: this is exactly the difference between our copy of the Quidenham picture and my engraving from the one at Versailles.

[After the preceding paragraphs were printed, a letter was received from Professor Henry, of Washington, giving some facts in relation to the portrait now in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institute, being the one mentioned by Tuckerman as in the National Institute, which no longer exists. The picture. at Washington has been abroad, but there are two conflicting accounts of the circumstances. Professor Henry's letter enables us to account for four specimens of this portrait, belonging respectively to the United States Government, France, the College of New Jersey, and the Earl of Albemarle.]

Mr. WATERSTON communicated several interesting letters of Dr. Priestley and of Dr. Price, which he submitted to the Committee on the Publication of the Proceedings.*

These letters are reserved by the Committee for future publication in connection with a larger number of letters of Dr. Priestley.-EDS.

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