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WILLIAM AUSTIN.
THE AUTHOR of Peter Rugg was born in Charlestown, Mass., March 2, 1778. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1798. In 1801 he delivered at Charlestown, an oration on the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker's Hill, which was printed. He passed two or three years abroad, and published in 1804 his Letters from London. "The letters are written with ease and elegance, and show a sprightly inquisitive mind, with a strong flavor of what was called in that day 'Jacobinism,' in its judgments of affairs of church and state."
In 1805, in consequence of a misunderstanding growing out of a political contest, Austin engaged in a duel with James H. Elliott and was slightly wounded. The affair took place in Rhode Island, and Austin's second was Charles Pinckney Sumner, father of Charles Sumner.
In 1807, he published a volume in the Unitarian interest, entitled, An Essay on the Human Character of Jesus Christ. A Democrat in politics, it is somewhat remarkable that he should have identified himself with the religion of the other party. Some years later he contributed to the first number of the New England Magazine a paper entitled, The Late Joseph Natterstrom. These productions exhibit his varied talents and fine qualities as a writer.
