Hopkinson

satirized the character of John Bull; in An
Answer to General Burgoyne's Proclamation
(1777) he ridiculed the address of the General
to the American people; in A Letter to Joseph
Galloway (1778) he drew an unflattering por-
trait of an eminent Loyalist; in an Advertise-
ment (1781) he announced the retirement from
business of James Rivington, King's Printer,
for New York; and in numerous other letters
and essays he encouraged the Americans, derided
the British, and excoriated the Tories. Some of
his most effective Revolutionary writings are in
verse. "The Battle of the Kegs" (1778), which
celebrates the first attempt to employ mines in
warfare, is the best known of all his works. Al-
most as good is "Date Obolum Bellesario"
(1778), a political allegory, in which England
in the guise of a beggar enumerates the woes
brought upon her by George, her worthless
youngest son. Hopkinson's collected works con-
tain half a dozen of these "political ballads," as
he calls them, and the Hopkinson manuscript,
owned by the Henry E. Huntington Library,
several more. In December 1781 Hopkinson cel-
ebrated the alliance between France and Amer-
ica in The Temple of Minerva, which he calls
an "oratorical entertainment," but which O. G.
T. Sonneck calls a "dramatic allegorical can-
tata." Hopkinson composed music for the can-
tata and directed the performance, which was at-
tended by General Washington, the French
minister, and other notables.

Hopkinson had natural artistic ability and
while in England probably received some train-
ing from Benjamin West. He made crayon pic-
tures, particularly portraits, the best of which
are two of himself copied from an oil portrait by
Robert Edge Pine. Frequently his artistic tal-
ents were employed in making heraldic devices.
In 1770 he served on a committee that designed
the seal of the American Philosophical Society;
in 1776 he designed or helped to design the
Great Seal of New Jersey; and in 1782 he pre-
pared a seal for the University of the State of
Pennsylvania. After the Declaration of Inde-
pendence he designed state papers and seals for
various departments of the new government. In
1777 he designed the American flag,

Hopkinson held the position of judge of ad-
miralty until 1789, when the Admiralty Court
was abolished and he was appointed by Wash-
ington judge of the United States court of the
eastern district of Pennsylvania. This position
he held until the end of his life. His work was
congenial, and light enough to allow him time
for his various avocations. He corresponded
with Franklin, Washington, and particularly

Hopkinson

with Jefferson, who during his mission to France
kept him informed of the progress of science and
letters in Europe. He was an active churchman
and in 1789 served as secretary of the conven-
tion that organized the Protestant Episcopal
Church. He kept up his interest in art, music,
and literature; he read papers before the Amer-
ican Philosophical Society; and he invented use-
ful articles, among which were a ship's log, a
shaded candlestick, and an improved "quill" or
pick for the harpsichord. His later political
writings are numerous, but most of them deal
with subjects of local and temporary interest.
In the days of the Constitutional Convention he
supported the Federalists so effectively that he
was made director of the "Grand Federal Pro-
cession/' which celebrated the ratification of the
Constitution by Pennsylvania. Of his Federal-
ist writings the most notable is "The New Roof,"
published in the Pennsylvania Packet, Dec. 29,
1787. During his latter years he produced some
of his best literary essays. "Modern Learning
Exemplified" (1784) ridicules faddish methods
in education; "A Plan for the Improvement of
the Art of Paper War" (1786) is one of several
satires on newspaper quarrels; and "A Letter
from a Gentleman in America on White-wash-
ing" (1785) and "Nitidia's Answer" (1787) are
amusing examples of social satire. After 1786
two new magazines, the Columbian Magazine
and the American Museum vied with each other
not only in publishing everything he wrote for
them but in republishing most of his earlier
works. In November 1788, he published a vol-
ume entitled Seven Songs, which contains his
best lyrical poetry. He claimed for it the dis-
tinction of being the first book of music published
by an American composer.

On May 9, 1791, Hopkinson died suddenly of
apoplexy. Before his death he had prepared for
publication a collection of his works, which in
1792 was published under the title The Miscel-
laneous Essays and Occasional Writings of
Francis Ho'pkinson. Though he was not pre-
eminent in any one field the bulk of his attain-
ments is sufficient to make his place in American
history secure.

[The material for this sketch was taken from Geo. E.
Hastings' The Life and Works of Francis Hopkinson
(1926), which is provided with a bibliography. Hop-
kinson's works in manuscript are owned by the Henry
E. Huntington Lib,; Edward Hopkinson, Esq.; the
Am. Phil. Soc.; the Hist. Soc. of Pa.; the Lib. of
Cong.; and the Mass. Hist. Soc. Of these collections
the first three are much the most important Of the
many short biographical sketches of Hopkinson three
are noteworthy: Chas. R. Hildeburn, "Francis Hopkin-
son," the Pa. Mag. of Hist, and Biog., vol. II, no. 3
(1878); Moses Coit Tyler, The Lit. Hist, of the Aw.
Revolution (copyright 1897) ; and Annie Russell Mar-
ble, Heralds of Am. Lit. (1907). The final authority

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