566 JOHN DICKINSON [1786. 



MARY DICKINSON TO H. MARSHALL. 



Respected Friend Humphry Marshall : 



A relation of mine in England, who is wife to Dayid Barclay, 

 has requested me to send her some seeds of the most curious natu- 

 ral productions of America. I thought I would take the freedom 

 to ask thy assistance, knowing how very curious tjiee is in this way. 

 If thee can oblige me, I shall esteem it a particular favour. 



We are agreeably settled in Wilmington ; and it will give us 

 pleasure to see thee here. 



I am, with respect, thy friend, 



Mary Dickinson. 



June 12th, 1786. 



JOHN DICKINSON* TO H. MARSHALL. 



My esteemed Friend : 



Dr. Daniel Bancroft having a demand, from Europe, for some 

 samples in Natural History, described in thy book, wishes thy ac- 

 quaintance. 



* John Dickinson, an eminent political writer, statesman, and patriot, was 

 born in Maryland, in December, 1732, and educated in Delaware, to which pro- 

 vince his parents removed soon after his birth. He read law in Philadelphia, and 

 resided three years in the Temple, London. After his return to America, he 

 practised law with success in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Pennsylva- 

 nia Assembly in 1764 ; and of the general Congress held at New York, in 1765. 

 The attempts of the mother country upon the liberties of the Colonies, early 

 awakened his attention. In 1767, he began the publication of his celebrated 

 Farmer's Letters, which had a great influence in enlightening the American people 

 on the subject of their rights, and preparing them for resistance. 



He was a member of the first Revolutionary Congress in 1774, and also in sub- 

 sequent years. While in Congress, he prepared a number of petitions, addresses, 

 and resolutions, all among the ablest state papers of the time. As an orator, he 

 had few superiors in that body. He penned the famous Declaration of the United 

 Colonies of North America (July 6, 1775) ; but he opposed the Declaration of In- 

 dependence, believing that compromise was still practicable, and that his coun- 

 trymen were not yet ripe for a complete separation from Great Britain. This 

 rendered him for a time so unpopular, that he withdrew from the public councils, 

 and did not recover his seat in Congress until about two years afterwards. He 

 then returned, earnest in the cause of Independence. His zeal was shown in the 

 ardent Address of Congress to the several States, of May, 1779, which he wrote 

 and reported. He was afterwards President of the State of Pennsylvania, from 



