that several gentlemen were then present who never subscribed their names. The record was therefore taken as a general guide; and with regard to all the most important characters represented in the painting, there was, and (begging my sagacious friend's pardon) there is no doubt. In 1789 Mr T. arrived in this town from Europe, and passed the winter bere, Congress being then in session. Here the portraits of Richard Henry Lee, Roger Sherman, Lewis Morris, Fraucis Lewis, &c. &c. were painted, and at this time he was informed that George Clinton, then governor, had been a member present in Congress on the 4th of July, although his name was not among those subscribed to the instrument. He therefore waited on governor Clinton to ascertain the fact, and was by him assured that he was present on that memorable occasion. The governor consented with pleasure to sit for his portrait— and on this testimony the portrait was painted. This session of Congress was peculiarly important, and had collected in this city many eminent men; military as well as civil; and Mr. T. thus had a fair opportunity not only of advancing the picture in question, but of collecting the materials for other subjects. He was of course well known to president Washington, and to all the distinguished characters of the day. He made it his duty, and his business, to ask the advice and criticism of all those who did him the honour to sit for their portraits; and not only the Declaration of Independence, but the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and the surrender of Yorktown, were very much advanced under the eye, with the criticism, and with the approbation, of the men who had been the great actors in the several scenes. In May, 1790, Mr. T. went to Philadelphia, where, during three months, he added considerably to his stock of materials.-Here he was informed that Mr. Thomas Willing was a member present in Congress on the 4th of July, although his name was not on the list of signatures. On application to Mr. Willing, he assured Mr. T. that he was present but opposed to the measure, and therefore had not signed.-Mr. T. did not feel it to be his duty to record only those who had been supporters of the measure, and therefore requested Mr. W. to sit, which he did. In November of the same year, Mr. T. went to Boston and NewHampshire, and obtained portraits from the life of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, R. T. Paine, Josiah Bartlett, and many others. In February 1791, he went to Charleston, S. C. and obtained from the life, portraits of Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward-and copies of pictures of Thomas Lynch, and Arthur Middleton, who were dead--as well as many heads of men eminent in other scenes, military as well as civil, which entered into his plan. On his return, he went to Yorktown, in Virginia, and made a correct drawing of the scene of lord Cornwallis's surrender at Williamsburg, obtained a portrait from the life of George Wythe, &c. &c. Mr. T. afterwards made two visits to the east, went to Saratoga, and passed the winters of 1792 and 3 in Philadelphia, where congress then sat-always endeavouring to obtain correct information; and when men whose memory it was desirable to preserve, were dead, using all the means in his power, to obtain from their surviving friends whatever memorial existed. During this period Mr. T. had, and solicited, no other patronage or assistance in his arduous undertaking than subscriptions for those prints which have been long since published from his pictures of the death of Warren and Montgomery. He was known, during these four years to be employed in this pursuit. He enjoyed the friendship and ad vice of the most eminent men in the country, and he was not idle. The . men of those days are now almost all gone to their reward; and but for the indefatigable perseverance of Mr. T. in a pursuit which his friends often smiled at as visionary, it would at this moment be impossible to obtain even such imperfect pictures as "Detector" considers this to be. One word more to this most estimable, kind and impartial critic. Two years ago Mr. T. was advised to submit the small picture of this subject (to which all that has been said refers) to the view of the government, in the expectation that it might attract their attention. In consequence, the Declaration of Independence, the surrender of lord Cornwallis, the battle of Trenton, and that of Princeton, were taken to Washington, and, by permission of the Speaker, hung up in the Hall of the Representatives, where they remained subject to criticism for several days-and there is no doubt that the honourable testimony borne to their authenticity and correctness by many cotemporaries in both houses of Congress, as well as by Mr. Madison, then president, and Mr. Monroe, then secretary of state, was the cause of that employment which is the source of undissembled satisfaction to Mr. T. and which, he proudly trusts, gives him a title to be remembered hereafter with the events which it has been the occupation, and is now the delight, of his life to have so commemorated. Mr. T. still solicits candid and liberal criticism, and will thank any person who will point out an error in his work, and kindly supply him with the means of information by which he may correct it. But he holds malignity and envy in profound contempt. New-York, 19th Oct. 1818. Col. Trumbull's painting of the Declaration of American Independence, was exhibited in New-York one day for the benefit of the Deaf and Dumb Institution lately established there-The receipts were 350 dollars, from 1328 persons. In our number for Sept. 1817, the reader will find a very interesting letter from the late governor M Kean respecting the names of the persons who signed the Declaration of Independence. Reports from Washington mention a very civil and elegant letter from the Prince Regent of Great Britain, to the hon. J. Q. Adams, requesting him at the christening of the last child of the British minister, Mr. Bagot, to become the proxy of his royal highness, as godfather to the infant. It is mentioned in a letter from Louisville in Kentucky, dated the 26th of October, that there are 25 Steam Boats now plying between that place and New-Orleans-and that seventeen more are on the stocks, of which one is of seven hundred, and several from three to five-hundred tons. The fare for passengers down from Louisville to New-Orleans, a distance of sixteenhundred miles, is seventy-five dollars, and the fare for the same distance up is an hundred and twenty-five dollars. Children from two to ten years old, half price; those under two years, one fourth; servants half price; way passengers twelve cents per mile. A boy asked Dr. Burgess, the preacher, if he would have a light?' 'No, child' said the doctor, 'I am one of the lights of the world.' 'I wish then,' replied the boy, you were hung up at the end of our alley, for it is a devilish dark one!' The lodgings of a Dandy were lately robbed of a pair of stays, a smelling bottle, two pair of artificial eye brows, and a white surtout, in a pocket of which there were three love letters, written to himself, in his own hand writing. THE PORT FOLIO, FOR FEBRUARY, 1819. Embellished with the Portraits of ROB Roy and LEBEID. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY HARRISON HALL, 209, CHESNUT STREET: AND IN LONDON, BY JOHN MILLER, J. Maxweil, Printer. SOME additions and corrections to the valuable paper of Professor Jameson, at page 73 of our last number, have been supplied by the same eminent naturalist, which we request our readers to introduce. Under Quadrupeds and Birds, at the end of line 6, for out read in; and after the next paragraph, insert the following: "Eggs.-Collections of eggs of birds form a very interesting and beautiful department of a museum. The fresh eggs should be blown, and carefully packed in cotton, or tow, or moss. Before blowing, it is advisable to make drawings of the eggs, as the abstraction of their contents frequently occasions a considerable change in their colour, delineation of colour, and lustre of the sheli. "Nests. All the remarkable nests of the larger birds ought to be collected, and in every instance those of the smaller species." Under molluscous animals, add the following paragraph: "As many of the molluscous animals rapidly change, even when put into spirits, it is advisable to make models and drawings of them before immersion." Under Crustaceous animals, p. 76, 1. 5, the first word should be mouth, instead of what is there inserted. To section 3, on Minerals, p. 77, after "wrapping-paper," add, "when the crystals are very delicate, then the specimen must be glewed to the bottom of a box, and fastened with strings." Under section 7, after" blow-pipe,” 1. 9, insert, "and bottle with muriatic acid." When the statements which we published last year under the express authority of General Dearborn, were contradicted, we should have vindicated his veracity and the character of our journal, if he had furnished proper evidence. But he changed the scene of the controversy; he left Col. Putnam without reply, and our editorial reputation to the kind construction of our readers. With them, we flatter ourselves, we stand fully acquitted. The question has long since been settled; and the General must therefore excuse us from republishing five columns of certificates from the Boston Patriot of 13th June, 1818. In the "Night Thoughts," p. 81, of our last number, 1. 13, for care read wo; l. 15, for untir'd read untired; 1. 18, for heart read breast. The article from Botta, and the review of Thompson's Chemistry, have not yet been received. "An Old Fellow" complains of the dresses of the ladies: but fair play would require an inquisitorial investigation of the sins on the other side. A full length portrait of A CHESNUT STREET DANDY would furnish our country readers with food for a month's merriment. There is nothing in the costume of our ladies, howsoever ridiculous, that has not been surpassed by the present race of unidea'd Dandies. How then can we, who are sedulous to please the fair, indulge in such vituperation? To quote the retort of an old writer, To the parting of theyr heare, And showing of the same, In combing of theyr berdes In strokyng them full ofte, In wassyng them with wassyng balles In lookyng all alofte, In plaitting of them divers wayes, In bynding the in bandes, Wherein their hole delyght Always consystes and standes, &c.' THE PORT FOLIO. FOURTH SERIES. VOL. VII. CONDUCTED BY OLIVER OLDSCHOOL, ESQ. Various; that the mind Of desultory man, studious of change And pleased with novelty, may be indulged.-CowPER. FEBRUARY, 1819. FOR THE PORT FOLIO.-ON CHINA. No. II. THE following letter from a gentleman of this city, now abroad, is the result of careful observation, during a long residence among the people whom it professes to describe. The author does not bewilder himself and his readers in dissertations on absurd ceremonies and ridiculous rites, nor does he appear to think it worth the trouble even to name the wretched drama of this country. He confines himself to those subjects, which, after all, are found to embrace the most interesting portion of the traveller's page, and we flatter ourselves that the lineaments of this picture will be perused by our readers with no ordinary curiosity. But while this passion is gratified, the view of barbarous manners and imbecile policy which it discloses, must exercise a lively compassion and awaken reflection on the miseries which the human race is doomed to suffer from ignorance and superstition. IN China, the rich and poor, the high and low, the emperor or the boatman perform the same rites, and ceremonies, their customs, habits, manners, &c. corresponding in every particular, excepting only that difference which arises from the possession of wealth, or an exalted station. Almost every one, excepting those of the very lowest class, and even many of that description, can write and read. Education to a certain degree, amongst the poor, is more common than in other countries; but I would not have you imagine, that it is of that kind which much enlightens the possessor. The Chinese language is said to consist of one hun |