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Rh was twelve and a half cents and to Washington twenty-five cents. Mr. Spooner, believing; that the IL S. government had no constitutional right to a monopoly of the mails, established an inde- pendent service from Boston to New York, carry- ing letters at the uniform rate of five cents. His business grew rapidly, but the government soon overwhelmed him with prosecutions, so that he was compelled to retire from the undertaking, but not until he had shown the possibility of supporting the post-office department by a lower rate of post- age. His efforts resulted in an act of congress that reduced the rates, followed in 1851 and subsequent years by still further reductions. Mr. Spooner was an active Abolitionist, and contributed largely to the literature of the subject, notably by his" Uncon- stitutionality of Slavery " (1845), the tenets of which were supported by Gerrit Smith. Elizur Wright, and others of the Liberty party, but we(e opposed by the Garrisonians. He defended Thomas Drew, who in 1870 declined to take his oath as a witness before a legislative committee on the ground that in the matter it was investigating it had no au- thority to compel him to testify. The case was adversely decided on the ground of precedent, but the principles of Mr. Spooner's argument were after- ward sustained by the U. S. supreme court. His writings include "A Deistic Reply to the Alleged Supernatural Evidences of Christianity " and " The Deistic Immortality, and an Essay on Man's Ac- countability for his Belief " (1836) ; " Credit, Cur- rency, and' Banking" (1843): " Poverty, ' Causes ami 'Cure" (1846); "A Defence for Fugitive Slaves" (1856); "A New System of Paper Cur- rency" (1861); "Our Financiers" (1877): "The Law' of Prices " (1877) ; " Gold and Silver as Stand- ards of Value" (1878); and "Letter to Grover Cleveland on his False Inaugural Address " (1886).

SPOONER, Shearjashuk, author, b. in Bran- don, Vt., in 1809 ; d. in Plainfield, N. J., in March, 1859. He was graduated at Middlebury in 1830, and at the College of physicians and surgeons. New York city, in 1835, and became a dentist in New York, attaining eminence in his profession. In 1858 he retired from business. Dr. Spooner was the author of " Guide to Sound Teeth " (New York, 1836) ; "Art of Manufacturing Mineral Teeth " (1837); a "Treatise on Surgical and Mechanical Dentistry " (1838); "Anecdotes of Painters, En- gravers, ' Sculptors, and Architects, and Curiosi- ties of Art " (3 vols., 1853) ; and " Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors, and Architects" (1853; new ed., 2 vols., 1865). He purchased, restored, and reissued the plates of John Boydell's "Shakespeare Gallery," and bought those of the " Musee Francaise," but, as the government refused to remit the heavy im- port duty, they were returned to France.

SPOTSWOOD, Alexander, governor of Virginia, b. in Tangier. Africa, in 1676 ; d. in Annapolis, Md.. 7 June, 1740. He was bred to arms from an early age, served under the Duke of Marlborough, was dangerously wounded at Blenheim, and became deputy quartermaster-general. He was then appointed governor of Virginia and arrived there in June, 1710, bringing with him as a peace offering the writ of habeas corpus, which hitherto had been withheld from the province. The satisfaction with which this was received by the people and the evident necessity of such a protection turned his attention to the condition of their laws, and he introduced reforms in the constitution, in the general administration of justice, and in the character of the revenue laws and the collection of taxes, receiving the co-operation of the assembly and the approval of the people, while the burgess- es voted 2,000 to build him " palace." In the M-cond year of his administration the house of bur- gesses refused to provide the means that he asked for repelling the invasion of the French from Canada, and he therefore requested the home government for as- sistance. Virginia also refused to con- cur with his propo- sals for the dis- charge of the pub- lic debt, but, not- withstanding these differences, his pop- ularity was undi- minished for years. He exerted himself in behalf of Will- iam and Mary col- lege, assisted in raising a large fund for its support and in restoring the building that had been burned sever- al years before his arrival, established a school for the education of In- dian children, insisted on rigid economy in the offi- ces under his control, and supported every measure that was conducive to the general prosperity. He was the first to explore the Appalachian mountains. His expedition, which lasted from 17 Aug. till 20 Sept., 1716, consisted of a company of his friends, well mounted and armed, and also rangers, Indian guides, and servants, leading horses laden with provisions. No savage dared attack so well-ap- pointed a party, and there was no lack of merry- making, as they hunted by day or cooked the spoils by their camp-fires and drank of " white and red wine, usquebaugh, brandy shrub, two kinds of rum, champagne, canary, cherry punch, and cider," which were among their stores. The most ele- vated summits they named Mount George, for the king, and Mount Spotswood or Mount Alexander, in honor of the governor. He also took measures to mark the valley of Virginia for the English king, and John Fontaine, who was one of the party, says in his journal : " The governor had graving irons, but could not grave anything, the stones were so hard. The governor buried a bottle with a paper enclosed, on which he writ that he took pos- session of the place, and in the name of and for King George the First of England." They re- turned to Williamsburg, preceded by trumpeters, and, to commemorate the event, Gov. Spotswood instituted the order of Tramontane to encourage future expeditions. He gave to each of his com- panions a small golden horseshoe, to be worn as a badge, and the members of the expedition were known afterward as the " Knights of the golden horseshoe." As early as 1710 he sought to extend the line of the Virginia settlements to interrupt the chain of communication between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico, and favored the incorporation of a Virginia Indian company, which, from the emoluments of a monopoly of the traffic, should sustain forts in the western country; but this act was repealed. He secured a treaty with the Six Nations in 1722, who bound themselves to aban- don the region east of the Blue Ridge and south of the Potomac, prevented the tributary Indians from joining the Tuscaroras in their forays in Carolina, and sought to renew an alliance with this tribe, which he succeeded in dividing. He