FLOYD.

Ir is a reflection equally humiliating to the pride of man, and depressing to the hopes of the philanthropist, that among the numerous revolutions of states and empires recorded by history, few can be found which have been productive of any signal and permanent benefit to mankind. Despotisms the most intolerant, have given way to usurpations not less odious, and every effort at amelioration has yielded to that invincible propensity which leads to the veneration of abuses consecrated by time, and which embraces the errors of our ancestors as a valuable inheritance.

The light of political science has occasionally penetrated the gloom of ignorance and absurdity, but the feeble glimmerings have been insufficient to dissolve the bonds of oppression, and mankind has remained, through a long succession of ages, enslaved under the dominion of error, and enchained in

the fetters of inveterate custom. Little has been added to the stock of rational liberty, and small has been the advancement in the paths of political knowledge.

From contemplations so painful, we revert with strong emotions of pleasure, to an event pregnant with hope and promise, and eminently propitious to the best interests of man. The American revolution forms a proud contrast to all those which have preceded it, and exhibits to the world the first bold stand in defence of abstract principles, which it has ever beheld.

It is an inquiry as philosophical as it is interesting, and one which merits more attention than it has hitherto received, how far the establishment of a free government in America, was owing to the particular state of the world at that period, and to the general diffusion of intelligence, which was greater then than in any former age. Such an investigation, it is believed, would lead us to regard it rather as a step in the natural history of man, than as the result of adventitious circumstances: and, when taken in connexion with subsequent events, would induce a persuasion, that similar modifications of political institutions must eventually be coextensive with the causes from which it originated. If these inferences are correct, they afford a solid founda

tion for the most pleasing anticipations of the extension of political science, and the improvement of the condition of man.

But whether it be ascribed to the advance of knowledge, which, since the invention of printing, has been steadily and uninterruptedly maintained, or to the peculiar situation, and moral constitution, of the American colonies, it must, nevertheless, be regarded as the first impulse given to the propagation of free principles; and, although the silent march of intellect must and will eventually be irresistible, the example of America has unquestionably had an extensive influence in arousing the civilized world, at an earlier period, from the lethargic insensibility in which it has reposed for so many ages.

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As this influence becomes more extensively dif fused, and the consequences which flow from it gradually develop themselves, the event which gave them birth naturally swells with increasing interest, and a laudable and rational curiosity is excited, to analyze, in the language of science, the intelligence which opened the path to the accomplishment of this glorious achievement. It is by these means that we are enabled to devest this great political revolution of its dependence upon fortuitous circumstances, and, by tracing its source

to principles which never change, and causes which always exist, to render it a proud trophy to the triumph of reason.

The wisdom, the patriotism, and the devotion to the common cause, which characterized the American congress, have already excited the applause of the historian, and the admiration of mankind. It is only, however, by considering them individually, in their private relations and circumstances, that these qualities can be appreciated to their full extent. The subject of the following notice was a member of that body during the greater part of the revolutionary war, and participated deeply with those with whom he was associated, in an ardent and resolute attachment to the liberty of his country.

WILLIAM FLOYD was the son of an opulent and respectable landholder in the county of Suffolk, upon Long Island, who left him, at an early age, the principal inheritor of his estate. His grandfather, Richard Floyd, emigrated from Wales about the year 1680, and settled at Setauket upon Long Island, where he engaged in agriculture, and soon acquired considerable distinction from his wealth and public spirit. His second son Nicoll, was a man of domestic habits, who confined himself chief ly to the occupations of private life, and died at an

early age, with the reputation of a respectable farmer. His eldest son, the subject of this memoir, was born on the seventeenth of December, 1734. His education, although liberal for the times, was chiefly confined to the useful branches of knowledge, and was hardly completed, when he was called, by the death of his father, to assume the management of his patrimonial estate. His early life was principally spent in the circle of an extensive family connexion, which comprised the most respectable families in the county. The country in which he lived, at that time abounded with game of every variety, and, having little to occupy his attention, much of his time was devoted to hunting, an amusement to which he was passionately addicted. His hospitality corresponded with his means of indulging in it, and his house became the perpetual resort of an extensive acquaintance, and the frequent scene of social festivity.

As a leading member of the society in which he lived, he was often called in his turn, to the discharge of local offices incident to municipal regulations, in which his conduct was marked with attention and fidelity. Other offices of greater consequence, and more extensive in their relations, were also sustained by him, in a manner which met the approbation of his fellow citizens, and procur