promoted to be Aid-de-camp to the commander in chief, with the rank of Colonel. In the family of General Washington he continued till the end of the war; and after the resignation of his commission by the General, accompanied him to Virginia.' Col. Humphreys signalized himself at the siege of York, as appears by the following Resolve of Congress : By the United States in Congress assembled, RESOLVED, That an elegant sword be presented, in the name of the United Staes in Congress assembled, to Colonel Humphreys, Aid-de-Camp to General Washington, to whose care the standards taken under the capitulation of York, were committed, as a testimony of their opinion of his fidelity and ability; and that the Board of War take order therein. Charles Thomson, Sec'ry. On the appointment of Mr. Jefferson to succeed Dr. Franklin as ambassador to France, Col Humphreys was nominated as Secretary to the Legation; and he left his native country for the first time, and sailed for Europe, in company with his friend the celebrated and unfortunate Kosciusko, in the summer of 1784. This he pleasingly mentions in his epistle to Dr. Dwight, written on board of the Courier de l'Europe, the ship in which he left America. "Him first, whom once you knew in war so well, Our Polish friend, whose name still sounds so hard, To make it rhyme would puzzle any bard; That youth whom bays and laurels early crowned, In virtue, science, arts and arms renowned." . Col. Humphreys returned from Europe in 1786, and wàs almost immediately elected a representative from his native town to the Connecticut Legislature; a situation to which he was re-elected the following year, and in which he honourably acquitted himself. At this time Congress resolved on the levy of some additional regiments for the western service, and Col. Humphreys was appointed to the command of that which was raised in New-England. This appointment furnished him with employment till some time in 1788; when the occasion for which the levy had been made no longer existing, the corps was reduced, and his commission terminated. But during this command, his time was principally spent at Hartford, in company with Mr. Trumbull, Barlow, Hopkins, and others of his friends; poetry and politicks divided their attention; and the purposes of both were united and pursued in the publication of the Anarchiad, and the various pieces of wit and satire which distinguished that period. After the reduction of his corps, Colonel Humphreys made a visit to his illustrious friend at Mount Vernon. There, honoured with the confidence of its possessor, he remained till the orgaization of the new government, and election of Mr. Washington to the Presidency. He then accompanied the President to NewYork, and was a member of his family till his publick appointment to Portugal in 1790." Col. Humphreys was afterwards appointed Minister Plenipotentiary at Madrid; and resided in Europe till about the year 1802, when he returned to America, and took up his residence in Boston. For reasons' not at present known, he disposed of his house and furniture last summer, and is now on a visit to Europe. As a poet and a man of letters, if estimated by that ideal standard of excellence which every critick forms in his own mind, and which is lofty in proportion as his own conceptions are elevated and magnificent, Col. Humphreys will not occupy a station in the first rank; but, if in judging of his literary character, we compare him with the mass of his cotemporaries, and consider the difficulties with which American genius had then, and even still has to struggle, we shall not hesitate to assign him a respectable place among the poets of the present day. What first drew the attention of his countrymen towards Col. Humphreys, as a poet, was his "Address to the Armies," at a time when, like Camden, "One hand the sword, and one the pen employed.". Few publica tions, whatever may have been their subject or their merits, haye gained for their author a more sudden and surprising reputation; and the popularity with which it was attended in America followed it to Europe. The Marquis de Chastellux honoured it by performing the office of its translator into French; and the English Journals boldly challenge the author as a native of Britain.' The poetical works of Colonel Humphreys consist of 1. An Address to the Armies of the United States. 2. A Poem on the Happiness of America. 3. A Poem on the Future Glory of the United States. 4. A Poem on the Industry of the United States. 5. A Poem on the Love of Country. 6. A Poem on the Death of General Washington. 7. Occasional Poems, Epistles, Elegies, &c. 8. The Widow of Malabar, a Tragedy, translated from the French-first played at the Philadelphia theatre in May, and published in August, 1790. Beside these he is the author of an Essay on the Life of General Putnam, several Political Tracts, and an Oration delivered before the Cincinnati of Connecticut, at the dissolution of their Society. All the above-mentioned works, except The Widow of Malabar and the Oration, were collected and published in an octavo volume, by T. & J. Swords, New-York, 1804. FOR THE POLYANTHOS. ANALECTA....No. IV. Undique collatis membris." SATIRISTS. THE author of the Pursuits of Literature, speaking of the chief Satirists of ancient and modern fame, says, I may be singular per haps; but if I except Lucilius, (who is known to us only by detached lines and short passages) in my opinion, the fulness of that glory never shone BUT ON SIX POETS. "Quos orbe sub omni Jam vix septenâ numerat sapientia famà.” HORACE, In the politest age, under the despotism of Augustus, insinuated himself into the graces of the emperour: yet he was peculiarly studious to mark the obnoxious, foolish, or wicked char acters of his age. He was careful not to be misunderstood. He noted the name, the profession and the rank of those whom he devoted |