SULLIVAN HOUSE, AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 21
"What can you do for me if I take you?" asked the judge, when the boy told his errand.
" Oh, I can split the wood, take care of the horses, do your gardening, and perhaps find time to read a little, if I can have the privilege."
As John Sullivan appeared to be a promising youth, Mr. Livermore received him into his household, where he did duty in various ways. Evincing a rare intelligence, and a laudable desire of increasing his knowledge, he was allowed the use of the library. The young student employed every leisure hour, and soon had the contents of his master's library stored away in his capacious brain.
His rapid advance was unsuspected by the judge, but the knowledge was brought home to him one day in a surprising manner. Sullivan had ler him- self to plead for a client arrested for battery, and while arguing the case with a degree of native talent and a knowledge of law that was surprising. Judge Livermore entered the room. Unobserved by the young lawyer he listened to his plea. Sullivan, much to his surprise, was successful, cleared his chent, and earned his first court fee. The next morning the judge called him into his library, and thus addressed him : —
j" John, my kitchen is no place for you; follow on in your studies, give them your undivided attention, and you shall receive that assistance from me that you need, until you are in condition to repay it."
In due time he was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Dur- ham. His energy and industry gained him a good practice and many friends. He made an excellent matrimonial alliance, marrying, in 1766, Miss Lydia Wooster of Salmon Falls. He was the father of two sons, George and John Sullivan, a man of substance, and one of the leading lawyers of the state when the Revolution broke out.
Sullivan was an ardent patriot from the instinct of race. The prejudices of the Irishman made him a good American citizen. The city in which his father was born could tell a tale of English duplicity and persecution, and the thousand examples which the history of Ireland presented to his view warned him against putting any faith in English protestations. The arrogant encroach- ments of Great Britain he felt were not to be endured. While others dreamed .of peace, he dreamed of war. He even determined to initiate belicose proceedings, to set the ball a rolling himself, and actually force the war. And he did it, too.
In December, 1774, the people of Portsmouth received by express a copy of the recent order of the king, in council, prohibiting the exportation of mili- tary stores to the colonies. The people were at that moment expecting the arrival of vessels of war from Boston, which were to bring reenforcements of troops and ammunition to Fort William and Mary, then the name of the fortress at the entrance of the harbor. The garrison at that time consisted of only five men, and they had under their charge a hundred guns and a large quantity of powder and balls, the possession of which was deemed important to the patriot cause. John Sullivan was a member of the Provincial Congress that year, and had just arrived in Portsmouth from Philadelphia. War had not been declared, but there was no telling when the flames of dissension would burst forth. When the conflict did come there would be need of arms and ammunition. When the British troops arrived, — and they were momenta- rily expected, — the fort would be in their hands, and it would be too late to capture it. Sullivan proposed the immediate capture of the place, and offered to lead the men to the attack. A military force was accordingly summoned as secretly as possible from the neighborhood. Sullivan and John Langdon took the command, and the march was commenced toward the
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