THE MONTHLY ANTHOLOGY, AND BOSTON REVIEW. CONTAINING SKETCHES AND REPORTS OF PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, HISTORY, EDITED BY A SOCIETY OF GENTLEMEN. Omnes undique flosculos carpam atque delibem. VOL. IX. BOSTON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY T. B. WAIT AND CO. Proprietors.....Court Street. 1810. THE MONTHLY ANTHOLOGY, FOR JULY, 1810. FOR THE ANTHOLOGY. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF THE LATE HON. SAMUEL DEXTER. THE decease of the honourable SAMUEL DEXTER has been recently announced to the publick. The worth of this patriarchal sage ought not to be forgotten, for wisdom and virtue are most successfully taught by example. That of Mr. Dexter deserves a more durable record: he was truly one of the memorable men of our country. When a youth, it was the intention of his father, who was a respectable clergyman, to educate him for his own profession. This was the natural effect of discovering in his child uncommon powers of mind and contemplative habits. The reverend gentleman was able to instruct, and he faithfully qualified his son for admission into Harvard College. But about the time when he was to have entered the university, he manifested a strong disinclination for the profession his father had chosen. In consequence of this the plan of his education was changed, and he became an apprentice to a merchant in this town. It is not easy to account for this event, as he had no avarice in his nature, and still retained a strong taste for literature, which he carried with him through life. He was at this time advanced a little beyond the age at which students usually enter college, with a mind more mature than ordinary, and naturally investigating and confiding in its own strength. It is known that soon after this period he applied himself to examining with assiduity the foundation on which the advocates |