Many men, like apes, are mere imitative beings in their manner of action. They forsake the path designed for them by their Creator, and strive to assimilate their mechanical movements to some noble personage of a higher order by nature than themselves, and thus ape their way through the world. I refer particularly to public speakers. Some young men of respectable native talent and good acquirements, when they mount the rostrum, instead of acting perfectly natural, endeavour to imitate some orator of notoriety, and thereby render themselves ridiculous. Originality is the beauty of forensic or any other kind of eloquence. Like a piece of marble under the hands of the statuary, a more systematic form may be imparted by art, but its original composition, like that, is most beautiful unpainted. Originality must form the base, or the superstructure can never be truly beautiful. No human ingenuity can remould the work of nature and retain the strength of the grand original. We should imitate the virtues and wisdom of great and good men—our manner should be peculiarly our own—and still further—our language and style of writing should be original to render it forcible and interesting. Affectation in any thing is disgusting to sensible men, and a discerning man readily detects a counterfeit.

A fine picture of originality and pleasing eccentricity was exhibited by James Smith, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was a native of Ireland and came to this country with his father when quite young. The precise time of his birth is not known. According to the only record known of his age—the inscription on his tomb, he was born in 1713. His father was a respectable farmer and settled on the west side of the Susquehanna river nearly opposite to Columbia. James was educated under Dr. Allison. He acquired a good classical education, and retained a peculiar taste for authors of antiquity through life. He was very partial to mathematics, and became an expert surveyor. After finishing his course under Dr. Allison he commenced the study of law in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, some say with Thomas Cookson, but more probably with his elder brother who was then practising at that town. When admitted to the bar he located himself on the frontiers of civilization near the present site of Shippensburg, in Cumberland county, blending the practice of law and surveying. In that section of the country the two professions were then very properly and profitably united. Large tracts of valuable land were held under hasty and inaccurate surveys, and many others were only located by mere chamber calculations upon paper. Litigation was the natural consequence, and no witnesses told the truth more accurately than the compass of Mr. Smith and the demonstration of his protractor. Possessed of a penetrating mind, he looked into future prospects and secured much valuable land and had full employment in his professional business. He soon found himself on the flood tide of prosperity. Not willing to sail alone, he took for his mate, Miss Eleanor Armor, of Newcastle, who superintended his cabin stores with great skill and prudence. In every thing he was purely original. With a strong mind, an open and honest heart, a benevolent and manly disposition, he united great conviviality and amusing drollery, yet so discreet as not to offend the most modest ear. He delighted in seeing the contortions of the risible muscles, which were uniformly in motion in all proper circles when James Smith was present. Whenever he came in contact with a pedant he would propound some ridiculous question with the utmost gravity, such as the following, “Don’t you remember that terrible bloody battle which Alexander the Great fought with the Russians near the straits of Babelmandel? I think you will find the account in Thucydides or Herodotus.”

His memory was retentive and stored with numerous anecdotes, which he used in court either to annoy his opponent and help his case, or in company to amuse his friends. No one could tell a story with more effect than Mr. Smith. His manner was original and beyond imitation. With all his wit and humour, he held religion in the greatest reverence, and was a communicant of the church. No one that knew him dare utter a word against it in his presence, knowing that the lash of the keenest ridicule would at once be applied by him. Such a mixture of qualities are rarely blended in one man. From the deep toned logic and the profoundest thought up to the eccentric ridiculous, all balanced by the happy equilibrium of discretion, his mind ranged with the rapidity of lightning, using each at the most appropriate time and place. His manner, his style, and his every thing, from the most trivial circumstance to the momentous concerns of the nation in which he participated, were purely original.

Of the affairs of his country Mr. Smith was not an idle spectator. No man delights in liberty and independence more than an Irishman, and no nation is more sensitive of its rights than “sweet Ireland.” When British oppression showed its hydra head to the colonists, although advanced in age, James Smith took a terrible dislike to the beast and was for making fight unless it withdrew its visible deformity forthwith. His heart beat high for his adopted country, and he at once came boldly forward in its defence. At that time he was a resident of York and extensively engaged in iron works as well as in professional business, having become a very distinguished lawyer. He had never consented to fill public stations, and nothing but the purest patriotism and the importance of the threatened crisis, could have induced him to enter the public arena. In the language of Josiah Quincy, he had become convinced that—“We must be grossly ignorant of the importance and value of the prize for which we contend—we must be equally ignorant of the power of those who have combined against us—we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy and insatiable revenge, which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in our bosoms, to hope that we shall end this controversy without the sharpest—sharpest conflicts; to flatter ourselves that popular resolves, popular harangues, popular acclamations and popular vapour will vanquish our foes. Let us consider the issue—let us look to the end.”

Mr. Smith was a man that looked at both the beginning and the end. He was a man who examined closely causes, effects, and results. He also understood human nature and knew well the disposition of the colonists. He was convinced the bone and sinew of the land would never yield to the tyranny of mother Britain without a “sharp conflict.” For that conflict he was prepared.

The first step taken in Pennsylvania relative to the existing oppressions, was the assembling of a convention of delegates from each county, in order to ascertain the feelings of the people generally relative to the course proposed by the patriots of New England, where the revolutionary storm had already commenced its precursory droppings. Of this convention Mr. Smith was a delegate, and was one of the committee that prepared the instructions to the members of the next general assembly of the province, recommending, among other things, the appointment of delegates to the general Congress to be convened at Philadelphia, with instructions from which the following is an extract, sufficient to inform the reader of the grievances most particularly complained of at that early period.

“We desire of you therefore—that the deputies you appoint may be instructed by you strenuously to exert themselves at the ensuing Congress to obtain a renunciation on the part of Great Britain of all the powers under the statute of the 35th of Henry the Eighth, ch. 2nd—of all powers of internal legislation—of imposing taxes or duties internal or external and of regulating trade, except with respect to any new articles of commerce which the colonies may hereafter raise, as silk, wine, &c., reserving a right to carry them from one colony to another—a repeal of all statutes for quartering troops in the colonies or subjecting them to any expense on account of such troops—of all statutes imposing duties to be paid in the colonies, that were passed at the accession of his present majesty, or before this time, which ever period shall be judged most advisable—of the statutes giving the courts of admiralty in the colonies greater power than the courts of admiralty have in England—of the statutes of the 5th of George the Second, ch. 22nd, and of the 23d of George the Second, ch. 29th—of the statute for shutting up the port of Boston—and of every other statute particularly affecting the province of Massachusetts bay, passed in the last session of parliament. If all the terms above mentioned cannot be obtained, it is our opinion that the measures adopted by the Congress for our relief, should never be relinquished or intermitted, until those relating to the troops—internal legislation—imposition of taxes or duties hereafter—the 35th of Henry the Eighth, ch. 2nd,—the extension of admiralty courts—the port of Boston and the province of Massachusetts bay are obtained. Every modification, or qualification of these points, in our judgment should be inadmissible.”

By the statute of the 35th of Henry the Eighth, ch. 2nd, a citizen of America was liable to be arrested and carried to England to be tried, when accused of high crimes. By the 5th of George the Second, ch. 23d, the colonists were prohibited from exporting hats, and hatters were even limited as to the number of apprentices they should keep to learn this trade; in order, as the statute declares, “that hatting may be better encouraged in Great Britain.” The other acts referred to infringements of sundry local arrangements of the colonies equally obnoxious with the above; and when the final list of grievances was completed at a subsequent time, many statutes under George the Third were complained of as violating the constitution of England and the charters predicated upon it, which had grown sacred by long and acknowledged usage, by learned and legal construction, and by numerous declaratory acts of the British parliament, passed when sitting under the mantle of reason, equity, justice and sound policy.

By these instructions, directly from the people, we can judge of the feeling that pervaded the great mass of the yeomanry at that time; and by referring to the instructions given to the delegates appointed by the assembly of the province to Congress, it will be seen that royal influence still pervaded that body, as they contain scarcely a definite feature or point similar to those from the primary convention of the people.E

So fully convinced was Mr. Smith of the issue between the colonies and mother Britain, that on his return home he immediately raised a company of volunteers, and was elected its captain by acclamation. This was the pioneer company of Pennsylvania, raised for the purpose of resisting tyranny. This company was organized about nine months before the bloody affair at Lexington; showing deep penetration and sagacious foresight in its original. He introduced thorough discipline in the corps, and imparted to its members the same holy fire of patriotism that was illuminating his own soul. Around this military nucleus accumulating force continued to increase, until it formed a regiment. Mr. Smith accepted the honorary title of its colonel, but imposed the actual commanding duties upon a younger man. He had given a momentum to the ball, and was gratified to see it rolling onward towards the temple of liberty with an increased impetus.

Mr. Smith was a member of the next convention that convened in January, 1775, at Philadelphia. He was among the foremost to oppose force to force, and peril life for freedom. He was then called an ultra whig, and considered as treating the government of his majesty with disrespect. His patriotism had carried him six months in advance of most of the leading men, and no one could outstrip him in zeal for the cause of equal rights. His course was onward—right onward to action. For this the time soon arrived. During the year 1775 he took a conspicuous part in public measures, and in the spring of the ensuing year was appointed upon a committee, with Dr. Rush and Colonel Bayard, to organize a camp of four thousand five hundred troops, to be raised in Pennsylvania. No man was better calculated to render efficient aid in this important business. The committee immediately prepared, and, under the sanction of Congress, published an address to the volunteer and yeomen military of Pennsylvania, urging them to rally under the standard of liberty. In order that the reader may have a sample of every kind of proceeding and address that characterized the revolution that gave to us freedom, I insert an extract from this.

“We need not remind you that you are now furnished with new motives to animate and support your courage. You are not about to contend against the power of Great Britain in order to displace one set of villains to make room for another. Your arms will not be enervated in the day of battle with the reflection that you are to risk your lives or shed your blood for a British tyrant, or that your posterity will have your work to do over again. You are about to contend for permanent freedom, to be supported by a government which will be derived from yourselves, and which will have for its object, not the emolument of one man or class of men only, but the safety, liberty and happiness of every individual in the community. We call upon you, therefore, by the respect and obedience which are due to the authority of the UNITED COLONIES, to concur in this important measure. The present campaign will probably decide the fate of America. It is now in your power to immortalize your names by mingling your achievements with the events of the year 1776—a year which, we hope, will be famed in the annals of history to the end of time, for establishing, on a lasting foundation, the liberties of one quarter of the globe. Remember the honour of our colony is at stake. Should you desert the common cause at the present juncture, the glory you have acquired by your former exertions of strength and virtue will be tarnished; and our friends and brethren, who are now acquiring laurels in the most remote parts of America, will reproach us, and blush to own themselves natives or inhabitants of Pennsylvania. But there are other motives before you. Your houses, your fields, the legacies of your ancestors, or the dear bought fruits of your own industry and your liberty, now urge you to the field. These cannot plead with you in vain, or we might point out to you further—your wives, your children, your aged fathers and mothers, who now look up to you for aid, and hope for salvation in this day of calamity only from the instrumentality of your swords.”

This appeal had a most powerful and salutary effect, and met with a response from the people that drove the royal power from Pennsylvania like chaff before the wind. Simultaneous with the preparation of the declaration of independence in Congress, delegates were elected to raise the arch of a republican constitution and government over the keystone state. The members of the convention for this purpose convened on the 15th of July, and in the declaration of rights just promulged from Congress Hall, had a polar star to guide them—a master piece for a pattern to direct them.

In this convention Mr. Smith took his seat, and was immediately placed upon the committee appointed to prepare a declaration of rights. His ultraism had become an admired quality, and assumed the baptismal name of patriotism. His worth and zeal were now duly appreciated, and he became one of the most influential men in his state. On the 20th of July he was called to higher duties than those of the convention, by his appointment to the Continental Congress. This was as unexpected to him as it was pleasing to his friends. He immediately enrolled his name with the apostles of liberty upon the chart of freemen. Anxious to see the foundations of the new government firmly laid in Pennsylvania, he continued his services in the convention until the constitution assumed a visible form. He was one of the committee that remodelled the penal code. He was as humane in his feelings as he was ardent in the cause of his country. Justice and mercy were blended in his heart.

Early in October he assumed fully his congressional duties. The first part of the instructions to the delegation of the keystone state is worthy of particular notice; and if general obedience could be enforced, would be quite apropos at the present day. It is as follows:

“The immense and irreparable injury which a free country may sustain by, and the great inconveniences which always arise from a delay of its councils, induce us, in the first place, strictly to enjoin and require you to give not only a constant, but a punctual attendance in Congress.”

At the commencement of our free government, the will of the people was respected and obeyed. Their public servants were not then their political masters. Committee rooms were not then diverted from their proper use by partisan caucuses. The halls of legislation were not then the forum of personal recrimination and unparliamentary procedure. The mantle of infantile purity was then spread over those in high stations. Pro bono publico was the order of the day—pro libertate patriÆ was the motto of each freeman.

Mr. Smith obeyed his instructions to the letter. He entered heart and soul into the labours of the house and committee room. A dark gloom was at that time spread over the cause of liberty, and many of its warmest friends considered success a paradox. At such a time the sprightliness and drollery of Mr. Smith was a powerful antidote against despondency. Always cheerful and elastic, always seasoning his conversation and speeches in the forum with original wit and humour, he imparted convivial life to those around him. Amidst the waves of misfortune and the breakers of disappointment, he floated like a buoy on the ocean, above them all. The following letter written to his wife, when General Howe was bending his triumphant course towards Philadelphia, from which place Congress was soon after compelled to retreat before him, shows that no hyppish feelings pervaded his imagination.

“If Mr. Wilson should come through York, give him a flogging—he should have been here a week ago. I expect, however, to come home before election—my three months are nearly up. General left this on Thursday—I wrote to you by Colonel Kennedy.

“This morning I put on the red jacket under my shirt. Yesterday I dined at Mr. Morris’s, and got wet going home and my shoulder got troublesome—but by running a hot smoothing iron over it three times, it got better. This is a new and cheap cure. My respects to all friends and neighbours-my love to the children.

I am your loving husband, whilst
“James Smith.

“Congress Chamber, 11 o’clock.”

On the 23d of November, he was on the committee with Messrs. Clymer, Chase, and Stockton, appointed to devise means for reinforcing the American army, and for arresting the victorious and destructive career of General Howe. The powers of this committee were soon after very properly transferred to Washington. Mr. Smith was also on the committee that laid before Congress the testimony of the inhuman treatment of the British towards the American prisoners at New York.

Having suffered severe losses by being absent from his private business, he declined a re-election to Congress for the ensuing year, but was made to understand by his constituents that he was public property and must be used. He was continued at his post and abated none of his zeal. So devoted was he in the service of his country, that when Congress was compelled to fly to York, his place of residence, he closed his office against his clients and gave it up to the board of war. He sacrificed every private consideration that he believed would promote the public good.

In November, 1778, he resigned his seat in Congress, and once more enjoyed for a season the comforts of retirement. He deemed his advanced age an ample excuse, after he was convinced that the independence of his country was rendered doubly sure by the French alliance.

In 1780, Mr. Smith was induced to take a seat in the legislature of his state. He entered upon his duties with the same activity that had characterized his whole public career. After completing his term of service he retired finally from political life. He continued to pursue his professional business with great success and profit, until 1800, having been an active member of the bar for sixty years. His eccentricity, wit and humour, retained their originality to the last years of his existence. He was a great admirer of the illustrious Washington. A castigation from his ironical tongue, was the sure consequence to any one, at any time or place, who spoke against religion or Washington, two points upon which he was extremely sensitive. The former he adored, the latter he revered. He corresponded regularly with Franklin, Samuel Adams, and several others of the patriarch patriots, and had preserved a valuable cabinet of letters from those apostles of liberty, which was destroyed by fire, with his office and its contents, about a year before his death. Surrounded by an affectionate family and a large circle of ardent and admiring friends, this happy son of Erin glided smoothly down the stream of life until the eleventh day of July, 1806, when his frail bark was anchored in the bay of death, and his immortal spirit was transferred to the realms of glory.

In life he had lived usefully and esteemed; in his exit from earth he left a blank not readily filled. His public and private reputation were untarnished and unsullied. He had contributed much towards the freedom of his country; he was the life of every circle in which he moved. Ennui could not live in his presence. He was warm hearted, kind, and affectionate, and a friend to the poor. He never entertained malice, but used his enemies very much as a playful kitten does a mouse—teasing without a desire to hurt them—a propensity that rendered him more formidable than a knight of the sword and pistols. Such pure originals as James Smith are like the inimitable paintings of the ancient artists—few in market and difficult to be copied.