John Hodgkinson was born in Manchester, England, in 1767, died in Washington, D. C., December 12, 1805. His real name was Meadowcraft. His first successes were on the Bath stage. He came to America with the company of Hallam & Henry, and made his début at the John Street Theatre in 1793. He bought out Henry's interest, and continued one of the managers until 1798. He went to Charleston, S. C., in 1803, but became a victim of yellow fever while travelling, and died near Washington, D. C.

The Man of Fortitude; or, The Knight's Adventure. A Drama in Three Acts. New York, 1807. 16mo, pp. 32.
Played at the John Street Theatre, New York, June 7, 1797.
Dunlap says that this play was rewritten in prose upon the text of a manuscript in blank verse in one act called The Knight's Adventure, which Dunlap had submitted to Hodgkinson some years previously, and declares that the latter seemed unconscious of any wrong-doing.

Robin Hood; or, Sherwood Forest. A Comic Opera in Two Acts, by Leonard Macnally, Esq. From Hodgkinson's Prompt-Book. New York, 1808. 16mo, pp. 68.

HOPKINSON, FRANCIS

Francis Hopkinson, born in Philadelphia, Pa., September 21, 1737, died there May 9, 1791, was the son of Thomas Hopkinson. Francis was educated at the College of Philadelphia, studied law under Benjamin Chew, and was admitted to the bar in 1761. His career belongs to the public history of the making of the United States. To enumerate his works and honors would transcend the scope of this book. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1776, signed the Declaration of Independence, and was the first head of the treasury department of the new government. The first powerful satire of the British in Revolution, The Battle of the Kegs, was from his pen. A ripe scholar and a prolific writer of prose and verse in both humorous and earnest methods, skilled in music and in polite conversation, he was one of the most brilliant of the group of early jurists and writers of our country. He was United States District Judge of Pennsylvania at the time of his death. The authorship of the two anonymous college dialogues cited below is positively given to him in the Brinley Catalogue (New York, March, 1880), in view of which, and of the not less important fact that Thomas Hopkinson died in 1751, I think, notwithstanding the statement made by a contemporary newspaper, that the Dialogue of the 1776 commencement was his work. Of that occasion Sanderson's Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence says in the memoir of Francis Hopkinson: "Among the records of a public commencement of that institution [the College of Philadelphia], held on the twentieth of May, 1766, the board of trustees, comprising the governor, chief justice and most distinguished men of the province, passed the following resolution: 'After the business of the commencement was finished, it was resolved that as Francis Hopkinson (who was the first scholar entered in this seminary at its opening and likewise one of the first who received a degree in it) was about to embark for England and has always done honor to the place of his education by his abilities and good morals, as well as rendered it many substantial services on all public occasions, the thanks of this institution ought to be delivered to him in the most affectionate manner.'"

An Exercise Containing a Dialogue and Ode Sacred to the Memory of His Late Gracious Majesty, George II. Performed at the Public Commencement in the College of Philadelphia, May 23, 1761. The Ode Written and set to music by Francis Hopkinson. Philadelphia: W. Dunlap, 1761. 4to, pp. 8.

An Exercise, Containing a Dialogue and Ode on the Accession of His Present Gracious Majesty, George III. Performed at the Public Commencement in the College of Philadelphia, May 18th, 1762. Philadelphia: Printed by W. Dunlap, 1762. 4to, pp. 8.

Dialogue [in verse] for the Commencement in the College of Philadelphia, May 30th, 1765. 8vo, pp. 4.

HOPKINSON, THOMAS

Thomas Hopkinson, born in London, England, April 6, 1709, died in Philadelphia, Pa., November 5, 1751, was son of a London merchant. In 1731, having been admitted to the bar, he settled in Philadelphia, where he became a deputy, and finally principal clerk of the Orphan's Court. For many years he was a member of the council of the province and a judge of court. Always interested in letters and science, he became the intimate friend of Franklin, to whom he suggested the use of metal points for the purpose of obtaining electric sparks. The Library Company, the College of Philadelphia, and the Philosophical Society named him among their incorporators and earliest officers. Perhaps his greatest distinction now is that he was the father of Francis Hopkinson, who may have caused the under-mentioned dialogue to be produced "for remembrance."