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468 ment for three years, when other engagements compelled him to relinquish it. His family con- nections, both through his marriage and on the maternal and paternal sides, brought him in con- tact with some of the most prominent men of the day. In 1684 he was chosen an assistant, serving for two years. In 1688 he made a voyage to Eng- land, and remained abroad a year in the transac- tion of business, visiting various points of inter- est. In 1692 he became a member of the council and judge of the probate court. Judge Sewall ap- peared prominently in judging the witches during the time of the Salem witchcraft. His character was shown more clearly at that time and immedi- ately afterward than at any other time during his long life. He was extremely conscientious in the fulfilment of duty, and yet, when he found he wa- in error, was not too proud to acknowledge it. Of all the judges that took part in that his- toric action, he was the only one that publicly confessed his error. The memory of it haunted him for years, until in January, 1697, he confessi-.l in a "bill." which was read before the congrega- tion of the Old South church in Boston by the minister. During its reading, Sewall remained standing in his place. The action was indicative of the man. During the remaining thirty-one years of his life he spent one day annually in fasting and meditation and prayer, to keep in mind a sense of the enormity of his offence. In 1699 he was appointed a commissioner for the English Society for the propagation of the gos- pel in New England. Soon afterward he was appointed their secretary and treasurer. His tract, entitled "The Selling of Joseph." in which he advocated the rights of the slaves, was pub- lished in 1700. He was very benevolent and charitable, and his sympathies were always with the down-trodden races of humanity. In 1718 he was appointed chief justice, and served till 1728, when he retired on account of the increasing in- firmities of old age. He also published "The Ac- complishment of Prophecies " (1713) : " A Memorial Relating to the Kennebec Indians" (1721); "A Description of the New Heaven " (1727). The Massachusetts historical society have published his diary, which covers the larger portion of nis life, in their "His- torical Collec- tions," and it has also published his letter-book, in which he kept copies of his im- portant letters. Thesethrowlight upon the civil and social life of the day in a marked degree, and strengthen the opinion that he was a man of eminent ability and of sterling character. In addition to his diary, he kept a "commonplace book," in which he recorded quotations from various authors wln>-r works he had read. At the time of his death he had also filled twelve manuscript volumes with ab- stracts of sermons and addresses that he had heard at various times. His funeral sermon, by the Rev. Thomas Prince, was highly eulogistic, but evi- dently a just tribute to one of the most remarkable men of his age. His son, Joseph, b. in Boston, Mass., 26 Aug., 1688; d. there. 27 June, 17!i, wa-; graduated at Harvard in 1707, studied the<iloi;y. and was ordained on 16 Sept., 1713, as Ebenezer Pem- berton's colleague in the pastorate of the Old South church, Boston. He was elected president of Harvard in 1724. but declined. He was one of the commission- ers appointed by the London corporation for propagating the gospel in New England, and a corresponding member of the Scottish society for promoting Christian knowl- edge. The Uni- versity of Glas- gow gave him the degree of D. D. in 1731. He was a rigid Calvinist and a foe to free discussion and novel opinions, but gave his support and approval to Whitefield's revival in 1740. He contributed to the support of indigent students, and gave many books to replenish Harvard college library when it was burned in 1764. His benevolence gained him the familiar epithet of " the good," while his religious fervor caused him to be sometimes called "the weeping prophet." Many of his sermons were published. Samuel's nephew, Stephen, jurist, b. in Salem, Mass., 18 Dec., 1704; d. 10 Sept., 1760, was graduated at Harvard in 1721, and was librarian of the college in 1726-'8. and then a tutor till 1739. when he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts. In 1T.V3 he was made chief justice, and he served in that capacity, and also as a member of the council, till the close of his life. He expressed doubt of the legality of general writs of assistance, which were demanded by the customs authorities for the purpose of suppressing illicit trade, yet before he could finally pass judgment upon the question he died, to the general regret of the patriot party. Samuel's grandnephew. Samuel, engineer, b. in York, Me., in 1724 ; d. there, 28 July, 1815, was the inventor of various useful improvements. He is said to have been the first to drive piles as a foundation for bridges, introducing this device at York in 1761. In 1786 he erected the Charlestown bridge on this plan. Stephen's nephew, Jonathan, lawyer, b. in Boston, Mass., 24 Aug., 1728; d. in St. John, New Brunswick, 26 Sept., 1796, was graduated at Harvard in 1748, taught in Salem till 1756, studied law, and began practice in Charlestown in 1758. He inclined to the patriotic side of the disputes with Great Britain until he was chagrined by the refusal of the legislature to pay the debts left by his uncle and by the op]in-i-tion of James Otis and his father to his petition. He was rewarded for his subsequent adhesion to the cause of the crown with the posts of solicitor-general, attorney-general (which appointment he received in 1767), advocate-general, and judge of admiralty, his rmnluments amounting to 6.000 a year. He was offered the appointment of judge of admiralty at Halifax in 1768, but declined. No lawyer in Massachusetts surpassed him in elo-