Humphreys

knew him at this time: ". . . in a blue coat with
large gold . . . buttons, a buff vest, and lace
ruffles around his wrists and in his bosom. His
complexion was soft and blooming like that of a
child, and his gray hair, swept back from the
forehead, was gathered in a cue behind and tied
with a black or red ribbon. His white and plump
hands I recollect well, for whenever he met me
they were sure to ruffle up my curls, and some-
times my temper" (F. L. Humphreys, pp. 428-29).
To the very last, Humphreys rendered char-
acteristic services to state and church, to the his-
torical society and the farmer of New England,
to the President of his country, and to the work-
man of his factory, always with the same tireless,
somewhat impersonal benevolence.

This mood of grandiose altruism is still more
apparent in a lesser but quite as interesting side
of his nature, active throughout this career of
public service. Humphreys was a poet; he has
a place in the history of American literature. It
was like him that he classed in his matter-of-fact
way the art of writing with that of saving nations
or raising sheep. His prose, such as the letters,
the biography of Putnam, and his various speech-
es, is the natural expression of a mind in which
fancy, humor, and the higher qualities of the im-
agination are conspicuously absent. His poetry,
which he composed with the same calm assurance
in his own ability, makes us feel less the influ-
ence of Pope, of whom he was a disciple, than
the temper of his age, which could believe the
raising of sheep a delightful subject for the Muse.
In the writing of verse he was a persistent jour-
neyman ; he wrote it out with the same order and
urbanity with which he carved the chicken for
Washington's family at Mount Vernon. His in-
terest in poetry had begun in college, and in 1779
he wrote his stiff and sanguinary "Elegy on the
Burning of Fairfield in Connecticut." His first
serious effort, however, was A Poem Addressed
to the Armies of the United States of America
(1780), a compound of patriotism and doggerel,
and an unconscious parody on Addison and Pope.
The year 1786 brought forth A Poem on the Hap-
piness of America: Addressed to the Citizens of
the United States of America, This poem begins
with an invocation to the "Genius of Culture,"
calls on Congress to encourage labor, exhorts
Washington to protect manufacture, and invites
all American ladies to set examples of home
manufacture:

"First let the loom each lib'ral thought engage
Its labours growing with the growing age . . .
Then rous'd from lethargies—up I men! increase,
In every vale, on every hill, the fleece I"

The 1804 edition of The Miscellaneous Works of

Humphreys

Col Humphreys includes his "Poem on the Fu-
ture Glory of the United States."

Most of Humphreys' poetry is worthless, and
innumerable examples might be cited of his fool-
ish rhymes, pompous diction, and ridiculous sub-
jects ; yet he had a certain fluency and at times
wit, as is shown by his participation in the fa-
mous satire, "The Anarchiad" (The New Haven
Gazette and the Connecticut Magazine, October
1786-September 1787), as well as by certain
clever bagatelles, such as "The Monkey." It is
unlikely that Humphreys took himself very seri-
ously as a poet, and he would probably be sur-
prised to find himself included in anthologies of
American poetry. In literature he is linked with
our first literary coterie, with his friends Barlow
and Trumbull and Dwight, and he is not wholly
unworthy of the distinction. The explanation of
his interest in poetry is connected with his ideals
for his country and himself: a gentleman, a Fed-
eralist, a patriot who knew the pen as well as the
sword.

[The chief printed source of information concerning
David Humphreys is F. L. Humphreys, Life and Times
of David Humphreys (2 vols., 1917). This contains a
vast number of letters to and from Humphreys, but is
uncritical. Moreover, there are many other uncollected
letters of Humphreys, particularly in the N. Y. Hist.
Soc., the Dept. of State, and the Mass. Hist. Soc. A
very brief but excellent summary of Humphreys' re-
lation to the literature of his time occurs in The Con-
necticut Wits (1926), by V. L. Parrington. This vol-
ume contains the best of Humphreys' poetry. Other
accounts are: H. A. Beers, The Connecticut Wits
(1920) ; W. B. King, "First American Satirists," in
Connecticut Magazine, July-Sept. 1906; A. R. Marble,
"David Humphreys: His Services to American Free-
dom and Industry," New England Mag., Feb. 1904; A.
R. Marble, Heralds of American Literature (1007) ;
Lindsay Swift, "Our Literary Diplomats/' Book Buyert
June 1900; S. T. Williams, "The Literature of Con-
necticut," in Vol. II of Hist, of Conn. (1925), ed- by
N. G. Osborn. See also Frederick Humphreys, The
Humphreys Family in America (1883) ; F. B. Heitman,
Hist. Reg. of the Officers of the Continental Army
(1893) ; F. B. Dexter, Biog. Sketches Grads. Yale Coll.,
1763-1778 (1903) ; R. W. Irwin, The Diplomatic Re-
lations of the U. S. with the Baroary Powers, 1776-18x6
(1930.3 S.T.W.

HUMPHREYS, JAMES (Jan. 15, i748-Feb.
2, 1810), Loyalist printer and publisher, was
born in Philadelphia, the son of James and Su-
sanna (Assheton) Humphreys. His father was
a conveyancer who served as clerk of the orphans
court and as justice of the peace in Philadelphia.
Young Humphreys entered the College of Phila-
delphia in 1763, but did not graduate, and was
subsequently placed under the care of an uncle
to study medicine. Disliking the profession of
physic, however, he was apprenticed by his fa-
ther to William Bradford the younger [?.r.] to
learn the printer's trade. He became his own
master in 1770. In 1773 he printed Wettenhall's
Creek Grammar, corrected for the use of the

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