SIXTH GENERATION 8 5 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     common powers with which he was gifted. His talents for debate would have 
     
     won him no mean rank, even in the highest deliberative body in our country. 
     
     The tricks of oratory, the artificial embellishments of rhetoric, he seemed to 
     
     scorn ; but if his aim was either to support or defeat a measure, no man was a 
     
     more skilful master of the language, and of the style of argument required for 
     
     his purpose. No man more clearly comprehended, and at times more ably de- 
     
     fended, the true merits ofa public question. No man, too, it should be added, 
     
     better knew how to perplex his adversaries by subtle objections, or to wither 
     
     them by caustic sarcasm. Mr. Hazard was fond of reading. In my last interview 
     
     with him, not many months before his death, he spoke, with great animation and 
     
     emphasis, of his relish for Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, and Dean Swift. His 
     
     predilection for the latter will not surprise those who recall to memory the celeb— 
     
     rity of Swift as a politician, and the wonderful influence which, by the peculiar 
     
     character and direction of his intellect, he obtained over the popular mind. Mr. 
     
     Hazard could boast a true Rhode Island lineage, and he was in spirit a genuine 
     
     Rhode Island man, attached to the old Charter, and to all the institutions which 
     
     grew up under it. The Report on the Extension of Suffrage, made in the year 
     
     1829, is characterized by unusual ability. It is among the very few productions 
     
     of his pen to which he attached his name, and in style and argument may per— 
     
     haps be deemed one of the best specimens of his peculiar powers.” ‘ 
     
    

    
     It was thus that men and the world saw Mr. Hazard, but in his own home, he 
     
     is best remembered by his tenderness to his wife and children, his courtly manner 
     
     to the “ some—time guest ” ; his perfect unselfishness. A little—golden haired niece, 
     
     whom he loved for her sweet voice in singing, remembers “ Uncle Hazard’s visits 
     
     to her father's house; when she was taken on his knee and asked to sing, over 
     
     and over again, “ Oft in the stilly night,” and promised a guitar, when the little 
     
     fingers should be strong enough to draw music from its strings. Though silver 
     
     is now plentifully mingled with the gold of her hair, she still associates the sweet 
     
     old song with the memory of “ Uncle Hazard.” 
     
    

    
     A plain block of granite, symbolical of the man, and beautiful for its strength 
     
     and enduring qualities, marks his grave. 
     
    

    
     Benjamin Hazard married, October 28, I 807, Harriet Lyman, daughter of Major 
     
     Daniel Lyman and his wife Mary Wanton, the beautiful daughter of John Wan- 
     
     ton. He lived in the Wanton House on Broad Street, now Broadway, and died 
     
     there, March IO, 1841, aged 67 years. 
     
    

    
     CHILDREN 
     
    

    
     74.6. EMILY LYMAN HAZARD, born Oct. 16, 1808; unmarried. 
     
    

    
     74.7. PEYTON RANDOLPH HAZARD, born April 9, 1810; died in St. Louis, July 2, 1849. 
     
    

    
     748. HARRIET HAZARD, born March 26, 1812; married, Oct. 18, 1837, Rev. Cbarler T. Bran/h. 
     
     749. MARY HAZARD, born Dec. 14, 1813; died April 2, 1814.. 
     
    
   
   
    
     750. MARY HAZARD, born March 5, 1815. 
     
    
   
   
    
     751. MARGARET LYMAN HAZARD, born April 8, 1817; married, Sept. 8, 184.1, Gen. Iran: Iflgall: 
     
     Star/em. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ Writings of W. G. Goddard, vol. i, p. 1 3 5. 
     
     75 2.