There his progress was so rapid, as quickly to require tuition beyond the usual course, and the extraordinary trouble of the tutor, was rewarded by a double compensation.

At a very early age he expressed a strong inclination for the profession of the law, which though it received his father's sanction, was disapproved of by his mother, both of whom were members of the society of friends, and he continued on the farm assisting in the usual labours of agriculture, until his seventeenth year. It was probably about this time, that the following incident occurred, which he related to the writer of this memoir.

Having driven his father's wagon to the county-town, he found the court in session. Curiosity led him to enter the court room for the first time in his life, when he was so much captivated by the oratory of the lawyers, and the conduct of a trial, that the domestic who accompanied him, was unable to persuade him away. The latter was compelled to return with the wagon to the farm, leaving young Lewis on the spot, who remained till the court rose late in the evening. Early next morning he appeared at his father's house, to which he had returned on foot, with a stronger resolution than before to study the law, if the consent of his parents could be obtained. His mother having at length agreed, he was removed to the city, and placed under the tuition of Robert Proud, who then had the care of the Friends' public school, for the purpose of receiving instruction in the Latin language.

He continued about eighteen months with his venerable preceptor, whose cautious and correct history of Pennsylvania, forms the only literary attempt to do justice to a subject which ought long ere this to have more fully employed the philosopher and the historian. After leaving Proud, he went for a few months to a German school, in which language it is not recollected that he made much proficiency. At that time the proportion of persons in Pennsylvania, who made

use of that language alone, was much greater than at present, and an acquaintance with it was deemed very useful, by those who practised in the country courts, which the most eminent members of the Philadelphia bar were then in the habit of regularly attending. These quarterly journies generally extended as far as Easton to the northward, and York to the westward.

In the year 1770, Mr. Lewis had the gratification of commencing the study of the law under Nicholas Waln, Esquire, who, although still a youg man, had acquired a high degree of eminence at the bar.

Here Mr. Lewis's application was intense and unremitted, and assisted by a quick perception and tenacious memory, his qualifications for admission at the expiration of his time, were seldom surpassed. Before his noviciate expired, he had more than an usual share of the student's duties to perform. He had been in this office about a year when Mr. Waln, who had been one of the most gay and animated, as well as one of the most industrious members of the bar, was suddenly struck with serious religious impressions, which he publickly evinced by unexpectedly kneeling down in a public meeting of worship, and uttering a fervid and eloquent prayer.

After recovering from a fit of illness that ensued, he determined to relinquish the practice of the law. Mr. Lewis remained in the office. His attachment and fidelity to his friend and preceptor, the abilities he had already manifested, and his knowledge of the business under the care of Mr. Waln secured his confidence, and the clients to whose option it was left to employ other counsel and receive back their fees, or, (at least in those cases, where trials in court were not to take place) to leave the causes under Mr. Lewis's care, in many instances preferred the latter. He was admitted in the court of Common Pleas, on the motion of Miers Fisher, esquire, at December term, 1773, being then nearly twenty-two years of age.

The period was not unfavourable to a young beginner. Of the elder class, only Mr. Chew and John Ross continued in practice.

In the ensuing year, Mr. Chew was appointed chief justice; and the declining health of Mr. Ross, with some other causes, rendered him no formidable opponent. Mr. Joseph Reed, and Mr. Wilcocks had also attained great eminence, and possessed a considerable share of practice. Among his younger brethren, of whom the court dockets of that day exhibit many truly respectable names, Mr. Lewis had to work his way, and he worked it with success. The entries of the last term of the common pleas under the royal government, evince, that in the number of actions, he then led the bar.

This was the term of June 1776. On the fourth of July, the declaration of independence suspended, till a new organization, all the business of the courts. The first session of the common pleas at Philadelphia, when the stile of process was altered from the king to the commonwealth, was held in September 1777. Only six attornies were entered as admitted to practice, whose names are recorded in the following order: John Morris, John Haley, William Lewis, Andrew Robeson, Jacob Rush, and Jonathan D. Sergeant.

The British army was at that time on its march from the head of Elk to Philadelphia, and before the end of the month, the occupation of the city removed from it every vestige of the new form of government, and drove away every individual attached to it, who had the means of escape. Mr. Lewis's political opinions, were always in favor of his country's rights. In some of the subsequent agitations of party, he was not unfrequently charged with contrary sentiments; but his views were liberal, his spirit was independent, and he was sometimes calumniated, because he never gave way to popular delusion, or popular violence. When the British standard was hoisted in Philadelphia, he retired to his friends

in Chester county, with whom he continued, pursuing however his practice at those courts which were beyond the reach of the enemy's power, until the departure of the army restored to the city its republican character.

Mr. Lewis then resumed his station at the bar, which as well in its component members as its forensic character, soon exhibited material changes. Subjects of higher importance than those which commonly fall to the lot of provincial judicatures, were brought forward; motives competent to rouse all the latent energies of the mind, were constantly presenting themselves. The bar was chiefly composed of young men, possessing aspiring minds and industrious habits. Mr. Wilson, who had practised with great reputation at Carlisle; George Ross, from Lancaster; Edward Biddle, from Reading; Governeur Morris occasionally, and occasionally Joseph Reed, till he was chosen a member of the supreme executive council, in conjunction with Mr. Sergeant, who, in August 1777, was appointed attorney general, and Mr. Lewis formed an assemblage of powerful and splendid talents, which might have coped with an equal number of any other forum in America. The addition of Mr. Ingersoll, who returned from France in 1779, and of Mr. Bradford, who shortly afterwards removed from York, and on the resignation of Mr. Sergeant, was appointed attorney general in 1780, augmented its power and its celebrity. The whole faculties of the bar were soon put in requisition, by the prosecutions which were commenced against some of the adherents to the British cause. The popular excitement against them was high, and the defence appeared to many a service of danger, but the intrepidity of the bar did not allow them to shrink from the conflict. Among the defenders, Wilson and Ross took the lead. Mr. Lewis was, however, frequently employed, and always distinguished himself. In the defence of Chapman, he urged with force and success the right of an individual, on the commencement of a civil war, to choose his party. M'Kean, chief justice, was a zealous and steady republican, but independent in his principles and conduct, he discharged the duties of his office impartially and inflexibly; his decision in favor of Chapman, evinced the soundness of his judgment, and the disdain he felt for the popular clamour, excited by the occasion. From the performance of these duties, often as painful as they were honorable, we trace the progress of Mr. Lewis to one more delightful to humanity.

In the year 1779, the Pennsylvania legislature took the lead in a public declaration of the illegality of that odious and disgraceful subjugation of fellow creatures, which had so long stained the character of America. A provision, perhaps imperfect, but carried as far as then appeared practicable, was made in favor of the descendents of Africa; by which a chance of emancipation to those then living, and a certainty of it to their issue was secured.

In support of this legislative act, an association of private individuals was speedily formed, for the purpose of securing its benefits to those, who were unable from ignorance, poverty, and depression, to defend themselves.

Mr. Lewis became the champion of this order. With a voluntary dereliction of all professional emolument, he strenuously and boldly pursued oppression into its artful recesses, and succeeded in securing to the injured African, all the protection to be found in the text of the law. Hundreds of the present generation of coloured people are unconsciously indebted to him for his exertions, anxiety and exposure, before they were born.

This benevolent association, was subsequently incorporated by an act of the assembly.

Benjamin Franklin was the first president, and Mr. Lewis retained till his death the rank of first, and for a long time, the most efficient of its counsellors.

In the regular business of his profession, Mr. Lewis soon acquired that ascendency to which, by his talents and atten