county of Westchester. He had married Miss Hannah Barton, April 10, 1768, one of the numerous descendants of a Protestant family of that name, which emigrated from France upon the revocation of the edict of Nantz, and settled in that county. Though no man was more attached to the family circle, he did not live retired when driven from his professional employment, but served in the commissary department during a part of the war, never receiving or claiming any thing it is said for his services while in that capacity. His family were often hurried from their lodgings under discouraging circumstances, with the repeated loss of household effects, by the unexpected incursions of the enemy.. About the time of the battle at White Plains, he was pursued himself by a party of British lighthorsemen, fired upon, wounded in his arm, and narrowly escaped, his horse being captured. Being compelled again to seek another place more free from alarm, he made Danbury his residence, where, with the interval of a short period or the return of peace, he spent the remaining part of his life. In the winter of 1780, Providence separated Mrs. Tucker from him by her death-an event as mournful as it is to those of decided fortitude, called forth the liveliest sensibilities of his nature-which were met and controlled on the other hand by a humble submission to the Divine will.

Upon the dawn of peace he returned to his native place, again to engage in trade. The British had not then evacuated the city. During the interval between peace and the period of the eyacuation, they became guardians of the safety of the city, with power to preserve or destroy private property-and could naturally feel but little apprehensions for a place they were soon to leave in disgrace. Marks of civility and attention frequently passed between the citizens and British officers; but it was not without many suggestions on the part of the occupant soldiery, and strong fears entertained by various citizens, that a designed conflagration would happen on the evening preceding the evacuation. Mr. Tucker personally went to the British commandant, and obtained the countersign, and leave for the inhabitants to form themselves in patroles on the night of the 24th November, to co-operate with the British guards for the protection of the city. A circular was issued for this purpose, requesting among other things that all the citizens would keep awake. On that night a fire did occur, and the anticipated effect resulted, that no alarm was made by the guard stationed in the neighbourhood of the scene. Fortunately it was extinguished by the efforts of the people; the guard replying, when questioned to explain bis conduct, that the matter was of small importance, and no concern of his or his comrades.

On the next day, Tuesday, 25th Nov. 1783, at one o'clock, P. M. the British left the city; and the troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Knox took possession on the same day. As soon as this was performed, their Excellencies, Gen. Washing

ton and Gov. Clinton, were met at the Bull's Head in the Bowery by the citizens and military, and were escorted, together with the Lieut. Governor and members of the council for the temporary government of the southern parts of the state, through different streets, to a public house in Broadway, then known by the name of Cape's Tavern. A committee, of whom Mr. Tucker was one, had been appointed to conduct the proceedings on the part of the grateful and joyful inhabitants, and he was the person selected by the committee to prepare and present addresses to those distinguished generals. The procession halted for this purpose at Cape's Tavern, when the following addresses were pronounced, followed by separate replies, which were preserved by Mr. Tucker, and are now before the writer under the proper signatures of their Excellencies.

"To His Excellency George Washington, Esq. General and Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United States of America. "The Address of the citizens of New-York, who have returned from exile, in behalf of themselves and their suffering brethren.

SIR, "At a moment when the arm of tyranny is yielding up its fondest usurpations, we hope the salutations of long suffering exiles, but now happy freemen, will not be deemed an unworthy tribute. In this place, and at this moment of exultation and triumph, while the ensigns of slavery still linger in our sight, we look up to you, our deliverer, with unusual transports of gratitude and joy. Permit us to welcome you to this city, long torn from us by the hard hand of oppression, but now, by your wisdom and energy, under the guidance of Providence, once more the seat of peace and freedom. We forbear to speak our gratitude or your praise: we should but echo the voice of applauding millions. But the citizens of New-York are eminently indebted to your virtues, and we who have now the honour to address your Excellency, have been often companions of your sufferings and witnesses of your exertions. Permit us therefore to approach your Excellency with the dignity and sincerity of freemen, and to assure you that we shall preserve with our latest breath our gratitude for your services and veneration for your character; and accept of our sincere and earnest wishes, that you may long enjoy that calm domestic felicity which you have so generously sacrificed; that the cries of injured liberty may never more interrupt your repose, and that your happiness may be equal to your virtue.

Signed at request of the meeting.

Thomas Randall, Daniel Phenix, Samuel Broome, Thomas Tucker, Henry Kipp, Pat. Dennis, William Gilbert, Sen. William Gilbert, Jun. Francis Van Dyke, Jeremiah Wool, George Janeway, Abraham P. Lott, Ephraim Brashier."

The answer of General Washington was as follows: "To the citizens of New-York who have returned from exile. GENTLEMEN,

"I thank you sincerely for your affectionate address, and entreat you to be persuaded that nothing could be more agreeable to me than your polite congratulations. Permit me in turn to felicitate you on the happy re-possession of your city.

Great as your joy must be on this pleasing occasion, it can scarcely exceed that which I feel at seeing you, gentlemen, who from the noblest motives have suffered a voluntary exile of many years, return again in peace and triumph to enjoy the fruits of your virtuous conduct.

The fortitude and perseverance which you and your suffering brethren have exhibited in the course of the war, have not only endeared you to your countrymen, but will be remembered with admiration and applause to the latest posterity.

May the tranquillity of your city be perpetual-May the ruins soon be repaired, commerce flourish, science be fostered, and all the civil and social virtues be cherished in the same illustrious manner which formerly reflected so much credit on the inhabitants of New-York. In fine, may every species of felicity attend you, gentlemen, and your worthy fellow citizens.

GEORGE WASHINGTON." Perhaps from the elegance of Gov. Clinton's reply, the other papers will not be less interesting than the former. "To His Excellency George Clinton, Esq. Governor of the State of New-York, Commander-in-Chief of the militia, and Admiral of the navy of the same.

"The address of the citizens of New-York, who have returned from exile, in behalf of themselves and their suffering brethren.

SIR, "When we consider your faithful labours at the head of the government of this state, devoid as we conceive every free people ought to be of flattery, we think we should not be wanting in gratitude to your vigilant and assiduous services in the civil line.

The state, sir, is highly indebted to you in your military capacity -a sense of your real merit will secure to you that reputation, which a brave man, exposing himself in defence of his country, will ever deserve.

We most sincerely congratulate you on your happy arrival at the capital of the state. Your Excellency hath borne a part with us in the general distress, and was ever ready to alleviate the calamities you could not effectually remove-Your example taught us to suffer with dignity.

We beg leave to assure your Excellency, that as prudent citizens and faithful subjects to the people of the state of New-York,

we will do every thing in our power to enable you to support order and good government in the community over which you have, by the suffrages of a free and discerning people, been elected to preside.

Signed at request of the meeting." (As before.)

To which the Governor thus replied:

GENTLEMEN,

"Accept my most sincere thanks for your very affectionate and respectful address. Citizens who, like you, to vindicate the sacred cause of freedom, quitted their native city, their fortunes and professions, and sustained with manly fortitude the rigors of a long and painful exile, superadded to the grievous calamities of a vengeful war, merit, in an eminent degree, the title of patriots and the esteem of mankind, and your confidence and approbation are honours which cannot be received without the utmost sensibility, or contemplated without gratitude and satisfaction.

To your sufferings and to the invincible spirit with which they were surmounted, I have been witness; and while I sympathized in your distresses, I have deeply lamented that I had not means to alleviate them equal to my inclinations.

The assurances of your firm support in the administration of government, give me singular pleasure. A reverence for the laws is peculiarly essential to public safety and prosperity under our free constitution: should we suffer the authority of the magistrate to be violated for the sake of private vengeance, we should be unworthy of the numberless blessings which an indulgent Providence hath placed within our reach. I shall endeavour steadily to discharge my duty, and I flatter myself that this state will become no less distinguished for justice and public tranquillity in peace, than it has hitherto been marked in war for rigor, fortitude and perseverance.

Gentlemen-Your kind congratulations on my arrival at this metropolis, after so long an absence, are highly acceptable; and I most cordially felicitate you on the joyful events which have restored us to the free and uncontrollable enjoyment of our rights. While we regard with inviolable gratitude and affection all who have aided us by their counsel or their arms, let us not be unmindful of that Almighty Being, whose gracious Providence has been manifestly interposed for our deliverance and protection; and let us show by our virtues, that we deserve to partake of the freedom, sovereignty, and independence, which are so happily established throughout these United States.

GEORGE CLINTON."

All the papers bear date on the 26th Nov. and were probably exchanged on the day succeeding the day they were delivered. Afterwards, in the year 1784, a decision was made in the Mayor's court in New-York, in a case between Rutgers and Wadding

ton, which excited considerable interest, and afforded an opportunity for Mr. Tucker's friends to discover in him the strong and unalterable attachment to Whiggism, which he espoused at first. The cause involved the constitutionality of a state law which authorized actions of trespass against such as did not join the enemy, but who injured or destroyed property situate within the enemy's power. The court adjudged the statute to be unconstitutional, and Mr. Tucker was one of the committee who signed a public address to the people of the state, protesting against the arbitrary authority which the court assumed, and the refined distinctions which they made.

Soon after this, Mr. Tucker returned to Danbury to spend the remainder of his days in a country village, where he might enjoy that peace of mind, which the world can neither give nor take

away.

His ancestors and connexions were attached to the Church of England, and he was bred to the same persuasion: yet early in life he refused an appointment to the vestry of St. George's Church, in Beekman-street, in consequence of the change of sentiment which he experienced under the powerful preaching of that Calvinistic Methodist, the Rev. George Whitefield. It is well known that when Mr. Whitefield preached in the province of New-York, crowds attended to witness his eloquence; numbers of whom date the commencement of their scriptural lives at this period. With others Mr. Tucker followed the orator from New-York to different places, and especially into New-Jersey, and became deeply penetrated with a sense of the universality of sin, the necessity of faith and repentance. These impressions never left him. He often said to his pious friends, that if ever he experienced that grace which is offered to all, it was during the time that he enjoyed the privilege of listening to the sermons and prayers of Whitefield.

It was not till the year 1787, that he made a public profession of religion. Then he united himself to the church in Danbury, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Langdon. Never before, and not till long after this period, has this town ever experienced any signal revival, but distracted with sectarian jealousy and the innovation of * Sandemanism, the little flock was cheered not by large additions, but by the accession of individuals only. Mr. Tucker lamented the want of Christian animation in the church he was acutely sensible of the nature of his profession, and of the manner in which the duties of it should be discharged. He lamented his own evil propensities when he counselled his friends, and never pressed the subject of religion when repulsive to the hearer. On this subject he believed much to depend on

* Mr. Robert Sandeman died in this town. On his monument it is recorded that he died in the faith of continued opposition to all sorts of men-that he contended that the bare work of Jesus Christ, without a deed or thought on the part of man, is sufficient to present the chief of sinners spotless before God.