77 – An intelligent friend, who has just visited the Petersburg

and Roanoke rail-road, writes us as follows:――

‘The locomotive engines travel at the rate of twenty

miles the hour, with ease, and with a train of from ten

to twenty cars, all loaded――some with passengers, and

others with produce of every description. The whole line

of the Petersburg road presents a scene of cheerfulness

and industry, not to be seen on any other road in Virginia.

Plantations that have been abandoned are now re-settling;

houses repairing, and fences, of the best kind, erecting.

In the bodies of wood through which the road passes, workmen

are employed, some getting staves, some sawing, and others

clearing, and, in fact, on the whole line, there is a spirit

and animation that is delightful to behold.’――_Fredericksburg

Arena._

78 – Aggregate length of the canals, including

eight miles of navigable feeders 492 miles

Aggregate cost $10,946,443.68

Aggregate tolls in 1830 1,056,799.67

Aggregate tolls in 1831 1,222,801.90

The canal tolls received in the month of July, 1833,

amounted to the sum of one hundred and forty-seven thousand,

eight hundred and ninety-nine dollars; exceeding, by

forty-two thousand, two hundred and eighty-two dollars, and

two cents, the sum collected in the corresponding month the

preceding year. The following is a comparison of the tolls

for July on all the canals of the state, for 1832 and 1833,

to wit:

Increase

Canal 1833 1832 since 1832

Erie $125,488.04 $91,747.57 $33,740.47

Champlain 17,293.94 11,112.23 6,181.71

Cayuga and

Seneca 2,084.63 1,890.03 194.60

Oswego 3,032.72 1,867.48 2,165.24

――――――――――― ――――――――――― ――――――――――

$147,899.33 $106,617.31 $42,282.02

The receipts for tolls to the close of July, are greater by

_one hundred thousand, five hundred and twenty-two dollars,

and ninety-eight cents_, than they were for the same period

last year. Some estimate of the great increase of business

upon the canals may be formed from the fact, that the

diminution in the rates of toll, operating upon the articles

which were transported upon the canals in 1832, would

probably diminish the aggregate amount of tolls one hundred

and fifty thousand dollars for the whole season. At the

diminished rates of toll, such has been the increase of

articles transported, that in three months and eight days,

the aggregate amount exceeds that of the corresponding

months of 1832, by the sum of more than _one hundred

thousand dollars_.

79 – The following canals are projected or in progress, the first

two by the state, the remainder by private corporations.

_Chenango_ canal, to extend from the Erie canal, in Oneida

county, to Binghampton, in Broome county, on Susquehannah

river. Length, ninety-two and three-fourths miles.

Elevation from the Erie canal to the

summit level 706 feet

Descent from thence to the Susquehannah

river 303 feet

Total lockage 1,009 feet

Estimated cost $944,775.36

_Black River_ canal, to extend from Rome to the High falls

on the Black river, thirty-six miles, with a navigable

feeder of nine miles at Boonville, and the improvement

of forty miles’ river navigation from the High falls to

Carthage.

Length of canal and river navigation 76 miles

Rise and fall from Rome to the Black river 1,078 feet

Estimated cost $602,544

_Chittenango_ canal. Company incorporated in 1818. Length

one and a half mile. Extends from Chittenango mill to the

Erie canal, with four locks.

_Sodus_ canal. Company incorporated in 1829. Capital, two

hundred thousand dollars. Canal to extend from Seneca river

to Great Sodus bay, on lake Ontario.

The following canal companies have been incorporated, which

have not yet commenced operations. Harlem river, Owasco

and Erie, Auburn and Owasco, New York and Sharon, Niagara,

Jefferson county, Oswego, Greenville, Black river, and Long

Island.

80 – This clause is annulled. See amendments, Art. 12.

81 – Pitkin’s Civil History.

82 – Pitkin’s Civil History.

83 – Mansfield’s Political Grammar.

84 – This article has been furnished by the intelligent writer to

whom we have been indebted for a portion of the chapter on

the Indians.

85 – The learned writer is at fault here. We have seen similar

beads dug from another mound. They were made of some shell,

which is a more durable material than the human bone. In

point of finish, and the labor and ingenuity required to

make them, they were much inferior to the wampum beads which

the Indians were wont to make of marine shells.

86 – As our limits allow nothing but a brief notice of the

different denominations of Christians in this country, we

refer those of our readers who wish for fuller information

on this subject to “THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE;”

a beautiful royal octavo volume of 1250 pages, with maps

and engravings; which ought to have a place in every family

library. It is strictly impartial, the account of each

denomination being written by some leading man _belonging

to it_. It is designed for a complete book of _reference_

on _all_ religious subjects.

87 – There are several small sects denominated _Baptists_, but

differing from the main body which is known under that

designation. Among them are _Seventh Day Baptists_, or

_Sabbatarians_, observing the seventh day of the week as

the Sabbath; _Open Communion Baptists_, only differing from

the main body in uniting with Pedobaptists at the sacrament

of the Lord’s supper; _Free-Will Baptists_; _Tunkers_

or _Dunkers_, who believe in universal salvation, and

are a very singular sect; _Mennonites_, &c. &c. See the

_Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge_ above referred to.

88 – On the demoralizing effects of infidelity, and to show what

would be the result of throwing off the salutary restraints

of religion in this country, we quote a few paragraphs from

‘Dick on the Improvement of Society,’ a cheap and valuable

work, worthy of universal perusal. Without revealed religion

‘the present world would be considered as the only scene

of action and enjoyment; the hope of immortality, which

supports and gladdens the pious mind, would be exterminated,

and every thing beyond the shadow of death involved in gloom

and uncertainty. The only true principles of moral action,

which revealed religion inculcates, being overlooked or

discarded, every one would consider himself as at liberty to

act according as his humor and passions might dictate; and

in such a case, a scene of selfishness, rapacity, and horror

would quickly ensue, which would sap the foundations of

social order, and banish happiness from the abodes of men.

‘That these are not imaginary forebodings might be

illustrated from the scenes which were lately exhibited in

a neighboring nation. The first revolution in France, in

1789 was a revolution not merely in politics and government,

but in religion, in manners, in moral principle, and in the

common feelings of human nature. Revelation was not only

impugned, but entirely set aside; the Deity was banished

from the universe, and an imaginary phantom, under the name

of the Goddess of Reason, substituted in his place. Every

thing was reduced to a system of pure materialism; the

celestial spark of intelligence within us was assimilated

to a piece of rude matter, and the fair prospects of

immortality which Christianity presents transformed into the

gloom of an eternal night. Every previous standard of morals

was discarded; every one was left to act as selfishness,

avarice, and revenge might dictate; religion of every

description fled from the torch of the prevailing philosophy;

while “justice and morality” were proclaimed as “the order

of the day,” every moral principle and every humane feeling

was trampled under foot. It is stated on good authority,

that a little before the revolution, a numerous assembly

of French _literati_, being asked, in turn, at one of their

meetings, by the president, “whether there was any such

thing as moral obligation,” answered, in every instance,

that _there was not_. Soon after that revolution, the great

body of French infidels, who then ruled the nation, not only

denied all the obligations which bind us to truth, justice,

and kindness, but pitied and despised, as a contemptible

wretch, the man who believed in their existence. Atheism

was _publicly_ preached, and its monstrous doctrines

disseminated among the mass of the people, an occurrence

altogether novel in the history of man. A professor was even

named by Chaumette, to instruct the children of the state

in the mysteries of atheism. De la Metherie, the author

of a philosophical journal, when discussing the doctrine

of crystallization, made the wild and hideous assertion,

“that the highest and most perfect form of crystallization

_is that which is vulgarly called God_.” In the national

convention, Gobet, archbishop of Paris, the rector Vangirard,

and several other priests, abjured the Christian religion;

and for this abjuration _they received applauses and the

fraternal kiss_. A priest from Melun stated, that there

is no true religion but that of nature, and that all the

mummery with which they had hitherto been amused is only old

wives’ fables; _and he was heard with loud applause_. The

convention decreed, that “all the churches and temples of

religious worship known to be in Paris should be instantly

shut up, and that every person requiring the opening of a

church or temple should be put under arrest, as a suspected

person, and an enemy to the state.” The carved work of all

religious belief and moral practice was boldly cut down by

Carnot, Robespierre, and their atheistical associates, and

the following inscription was ordered to be displayed in

all the public burying-grounds――“_Death is only an eternal

sleep_;” so that the dying need no longer be afraid to step

out of existence. Nature was investigated by these pretended

philosophers only with a view to darken the mind, to prevent

mankind from considering any thing as real but what the hand

could grasp or the corporeal eye perceive, and to subvert

the established order of society.

‘The consequence of the operation of such principles were

such as might have been expected. They are written in

characters of blood, and in crimes almost unparalleled in

the history of nations. A scene of inhumanity, cruelty,

cold-blooded malignity, daring impiety, and insatiable

rapacity was presented to the world, which excited in the

mind of every virtuous spectator amazement and horror.

Savage atrocities were perpetrated which would have been

shocking in the most barbarous and unenlightened age;

and, perhaps, at no era has there been more wretchedness

occasioned by licentious principles and moral degeneracy.

The ties of friendship were cut asunder, the claims of

consanguinity disregarded, and a cold-blooded selfishness

pervaded the great mass of society. “The kingdom appeared to

be changed into one great prison, the inhabitants converted

into felons, and the common doom of man commuted for the

violence of the sword, and the bayonet, and the stroke of

the guillotine.” Such was the rapidity with which the work

of destruction was carried on, that within the short space

of ten years, not less than three millions of human beings

(one-half more than the whole population of Scotland) are

supposed to have perished in that country alone, chiefly

through the influence of immoral principles, and the

seductions of a false philosophy. The following is a brief

sketch of some of the scenes to which we allude, drawn

by one who was an eye-witness of the whole, and an actor

in several parts of that horrid drama. “There were,” says

the writer, “multiplied cases of suicide; prisons crowded

with innocent persons; permanent guillotines; perjuries of

all classes; parental authority set at naught; debauchery

encouraged by an allowance to those called unmarried mothers;

nearly six thousand divorces in the city of Paris within

a little more than two years; in a word, whatever is most

obscene in vice and most dreadful in ferocity.”

‘Notwithstanding the incessant shouts of “Liberty and

equality,” and the boasted illuminations of philosophy, the

most barbarous persecutions were carried on against those

whose religious opinions differed from the system adopted

by the state. While infidelity was enthroned in power, it

wielded the sword of power with infernal ferocity against

the priests of the Romish church, who were butchered

wherever found, hunted as wild beasts, frequently roasted

alive, or drowned in hundreds together, without either

accusation or trial. At Nantes, no less than three hundred

and sixty priests were shot, and four hundred and sixty

drowned. In one night, fifty-eight were shut up in a barge,

and drowned in the Loire. Two hundred and ninety-two priests

were massacred during the bloody scenes of the 10th of

August and 2d September, 1792; and eleven hundred and

thirty-five were guillotined under the government of the

national convention, from the month of September, 1792,

till the end of 1795, besides vast numbers, hunted by the

infidel republicans, like owls and partridges, who perished

in different ways, throughout the provinces of France.

‘Such were some of the dismal effects which flowed from the

attempt to banish religion from science, from government,

and from the intercourses and employments of society. Were

such principles universally to prevail, the world would

soon become one vast theatre of mischief and of misery――an

immense den of thieves and robbers,――a sink of moral

pollution――a scene of impiety, injustice, rapine, and

devastation; a Golgotha, strewed with carcasses and

“dead men’s bones.” All confidence and friendship between

intelligent beings would be destroyed; the dearest and

most venerable relations would be violated by incestuous

pollutions; appetite would change every man into a swine,

and passion into a tiger; jealousy, distrust, revenge,

murder, war, and rapine would overspread the earth, and a

picture of hell would be presented wherever the eye roamed

over the haunts of men.’

89 – That there is reason for alarm is evident to all who have

paid particular attention to the subject. It has lately been

proved, that there exists in _Austria_ an organized society

sustained by all the wealth and influence of that popish

empire, and seconded by the whole popish influence of Europe,

whose object is the conversion of this nation to popery, and

the consequent overthrow of our free institutions. We quote

the following from the _New York Observer_, of Jan. 1835. It

contains a statement of facts which exhibit with clearness

the nature of popery, its tendency to subvert our political

institutions, and _to transfer the power delegated to

magistrates for the preservation of order in the community

to Romish priests_, WHO OWE ALLEGIANCE TO A FOREIGN PRINCE.

Facts,――things already done and threatened――proclaim

the existence of a power in this country hostile to its

liberties and the dearest rights of the people.

POPISH POWER AND THREATS.――Last summer, our readers will

recollect, there were dreadful riots and murders among

the Irish laborers on a rail-road in Maryland. The _civil_

authority endeavored to put a stop to them, but in vain.

A considerable military force was then sent from Baltimore,

and succeeded, while they were actually present, in

restoring peace and order; but the moment their backs

were turned, the rioters renewed their outrages, and

the military companies were compelled to return, and

that repeatedly, until, at length, wearied with the

harassing duty, a _popish priest_ was called upon to

visit the contending parties, and through his influence

a reconciliation was effected and peace restored. The

editors of some of our daily papers were full of thanks

and expressions of obligation to this priest; but we

confess that we had no heart for any thing but mourning

for the humiliation of our country. We ask ourselves, Is

it indeed so? Has it come to this? Is the _government_ of

this country already surrendered into the hands of popish

priests? Are the civil and military authorities under our

free institutions incapable of preserving public order,

and must we beg the interference of _ecclesiastics_,

and especially of ecclesiastics under the control of a

_foreign_ head, and that head the mere tool of the Holy

Alliance!

This case might have passed without remark, if it had been

a solitary one: but, soon after, at the burning of the

convent in Charlestown, the Boston editors, without one

sigh for the virtual extinction of _popular_ government,

announced, in terms of unmingled commendation, that bishop

Fenwick and a popish priest in Charlestown had promised

to use their influence to restrain the Irish, and that,

_therefore_, no retaliation need be apprehended! It was

stated, too, in one of our daily papers, some time since,

that it was seriously contemplated, during the election

riots in this city, to call in the aid of the _Catholic

priests_ to restore order.

Here are three distinct cases, all occurring within a

few months, in three different sections of our country,

in which our editors admit that there is a class of

our population which cannot be governed by the laws and

institutions under which the rest of our people have lived

so happily for more than two centuries. It is admitted

that this population can be governed only as the Europeans

govern it, by calling in the aid of a standing army,

or by going on, as we have begun, taking off our hats

to popish priests, and saying to these minions of his

holiness, ‘Please, gentlemen, do not let your people cut

our throats.’ We confess that our American blood boils at

the thought of such humiliation.

And who are these miserable creatures, that set our laws

at defiance, and how came they here? They are the most

ignorant and turbulent people of Europe, whom we have

imported to dig our canals and make our rail-roads, to hew

our wood and to draw our water. They have nearly all come

over within the last twenty years. In 1775 there were but

five Catholic families in Boston. In New York, within the

memory of men now living, all the male heads of Catholic

families were collected at one time in one small parlor;

and in Philadelphia, at no remote period, their number,

we presume, was equally small. They began to come over in

large numbers in 1817, and since that time the torrent has

been continually swelling, until now it is pouring in upon

us at the rate of from seventy to one hundred thousand

annually. Already they constitute nearly one-fourth part

of the population of our five largest cities, and they

are scattering themselves in immense numbers over all our

interior.

We shall soon have more papists in the north than they

have slaves in the south. And who would not prefer two

million of slaves, under the control of two million

of masters, owners of the soil, and prompted by every

consideration of duty and interest to promote the peace

and prosperity of our country, to two million of papists,

under the control of two thousand priests, educated

in the schools of Austria and Ireland――two thousand

_bachelors_, bound to the country by no tie of interest or

affection――two thousand emissaries of a _foreign prince_,

whose supremacy they acknowledge, and who is our natural

_enemy_, became our prosperity is working the ruin of his

despotism? Is it probable that we shall long continue to

enjoy tranquillity with such a population remaining among

us in all the ignorance to which their masters would doom

them? Will the Holy Alliance of despotic sovereigns in

Europe consent that the examples of peace and prosperity

in this free republic should continually endanger the

stability of their thrones, when one word from the pope

would give them security, by carrying riot and uproar

through all our borders?

We are happy to find that the friends of liberty in all

parts of the north and west are opening their eyes to the

dangers that menace us from the progress of popery. The

following remarks of the Boston Recorder on the threat of

the superior of the convent at Charlestown, in relation to

the ten thousand Irishmen, are very pointed and forcible.

THE ‘BISHOP OF BOSTON.’――‘Mr. Cutter told me he was afraid

the mob would destroy the convent, and then I told him

that if they did, “the right reverend bishop’s influence

over ten thousand brave Irishmen might lead to the

destruction of his (Mr. Cutter’s) property, and that of

others also.”’

Such is the testimony, given under oath, in open court, by

Mary Anne Ursula Moffat, _alias_ Mary Edmond St. George,

superior of the Ursuline community at Charlestown. In

all important particulars it agrees with Mr. Cutter’s

statements. It fully sustains the most important

points――the bishop’s influence over the ‘ten thousand

brave Irishmen,’ and the reasonableness of expecting that

he will use that influence in a certain way. She adds,

‘I said this without much thought.’ It was no story,

deliberately made up for the occasion, for the purpose

of frightening Mr. Cutter with imaginary dangers. It was

the real truth, well known to her, and uttered without

premeditation. It is true, he did not wield this power for

the destruction of Mr. Cutter’s property. He told his ‘ten

thousand brave Irishmen’ to keep still, and they obeyed

him; and he and they were praised for it.

Here we have a _government_, wielding a physical force

according to its pleasure, for the protection of its

subjects. The superior wished Mr. Cutter to be in fear

of it. She placed some reliance on in existence, and

on the terror it might inspire, for her own safety, and

the safety of her community. It is a government which

may operate for the defence of its subjects, or for the

punishment of those who injure them by the destruction of

the property of our citizens. The officer who wields this

power is not known to our constitution. He is not elected

by our freemen. He is not officially responsible to the

United States, or to the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

He is not even elected by those whom he governs. He is

appointed by a foreign state, to which he still retains

his allegiance, and by which he is liable to be removed

from office, whenever his official acts shall not be

such as the rulers of that state approve. One of his

predecessors has been removed from this office to another

by that foreign power. His conduct had pleased his

superiors, and he was promoted. Bishop Fenwick is equally

liable to be promoted, if his conduct pleases, or deposed,

if it displeases. We invite attention to the fact, that

_we have among us a body of ‘ten thousand brave Irishmen,’

ready to destroy our property at the bidding of an officer

who holds his office at the will of a foreign government_.

On the destruction of the convent, many of them came

together to receive his orders. He told them not to

destroy the property of our citizens, and they obeyed.

But whether this was any thing more than an adjournment of

vengeance, is doubtful. The superior who has better means

of knowing the bishop’s intentions than any Protestant,

‘cannot answer’ that Mr. Cutter’s property is _yet_ safe

from those under the ‘right reverend bishop’s influence.’

It does not become us to be confident while she is in

doubt.

In reference to the testimony quoted above, and to

documents which have been published in the Boston papers,

the Recorder remarks:

What, then, is the amount of her testimony? We think it

establishes the following points: viz.

1. That there is, within the limits of bishop Fenwick’s

diocese, a large Roman Catholic force which he can command.

2. That, if he signifies his pleasure, this Roman Catholic

force will destroy the property of our citizens.

3. That he may be expected to use this Roman Catholic

force in this manner, whenever it shall seem expedient,

for the protection of Roman Catholic interests.

4. That some well-informed Roman Catholics do rely upon

him to protect them and theirs in that way. And,

5. That the danger of a Roman Catholic mob, which shall

destroy the property of Protestants, at the bishop’s

bidding, in ‘retaliation’ for the burning of the convent,

is not yet over. The superior, _at the date of her letter_

published last week, ‘could not answer, that Mr. Cutter’s

property would not be destroyed.’

That the things are so, is proved, be it remembered, by

the testimony of the superior, who from her situation must

be presumed to know.

Now, if there is a power established among us, having

its regular government, to which government its subjects

look for protection of personal property, and which may be

expected to issue orders for their protection by physical

force, which orders will be obeyed,――if this be a fact,

does it not deserve the attention of all our citizens?

Does it deserve attention any the less because that power

pretends to be spiritual? If it really exists as a civil

government for the protection of the persons and property

of its subjects, armed, or able to arm itself at will,

with a military force, whether in the shape of a militia

or a mob, do its spiritual claims render it an affair

of no consequence? And if it is known to avow, us a

fundamental principle of its existence, a spiritual

allegiance to a foreign power, which foreign power is

known to be civil and military as well as spiritual, does

not this fact also deserve notice?

90 – Mr. Hamilton observes――I passed an hour or two very

agreeably at one of a series of meetings, which are called

‘Wistar parties,’ from the name of the gentleman at whose

house they were first held. Their effect and influence on

society must be very salutary. These parties bring together

men of different classes and pursuits, and promote the free

interchange of opinion, always useful for the correction of

prejudice. Such intercourse, too, prevents the narrowness

of thought, and exaggerated estimate of the value of our

own peculiar acquirements, which devotion to one exclusive

object is apt to engender in those who do not mix freely

with the world.

These meetings are held by rotation at the houses of the

different members. The conversation is generally literary

or scientific, and as the party is usually very large, it

can be varied at pleasure. Philosophers eat like other men,

and the precaution of an excellent supper is by no means

found to be superfluous. It acts, too, as a gentle emollient

on the acrimony of debate. No man can say a harsh thing

with his mouth full of turkey, and disputants forget their

differences in unity of enjoyment.

At these parties, I met several ingenious men, of a

class something below that of the ordinary members. When

an operative mechanic attracts notice by his zeal for

improvement in any branch of science, he is almost uniformly

invited to the Wistar meetings. The advantage of this policy

is obviously very great. A modest and deserving man is

brought into notice. His errors are corrected, his ardor

is stimulated, his taste improved. A healthy connection is

kept up between the different classes of society, and the

feeling of mutual sympathy is duly cherished. During my stay

in Philadelphia, I was present at several of these Wistar

meetings, and always returned from them with increased

conviction of their beneficial tendency.

91 – For interesting sketches of western manners and customs, see

the Transatlantic Sketches, by Alexander, and the valuable

works of Mr. Flint.

92 – For a full description, see Captain Franklin’s Narrative.

93 – At the period when the prison was erected, the legislature

of the state, and the public, had become so dissatisfied

with the mode of penitentiary punishment, without solitary

confinement, then existing, which seemed rather to harden

than to have a tendency to reform the delinquents, that it

was generally believed, that, unless a severe system was

adopted, the old sanguinary criminal code must be restored.

The legislature of New York state, therefore, in the year

1821, directed a selection of the oldest and most heinous

offenders to be made, who should be confined constantly in

solitary cells. Eighty convicts were accordingly put into

solitary cells, on the twenty-fifth of December, 1821. Five

of those convicts died during the year preceding January,

1823, while only five died out of one hundred and forty

convicts confined at the same time in prison, but who were

kept to labor. The health of the solitary convicts was very

soon seriously impaired. Some of them became insane; and the

effect of this constant imprisonment was not more favorable

to reformation than to mental and bodily health.

Before the end of 1823, exclusive solitary confinement was

entirely discontinued, and the present successful system,

combining solitude and silence with labor, introduced;

a majority of the commissioners, who examined the prison,

having reported, that they were entirely averse to solitary

confinement without labor, on the grounds of its being

injurious to health, expensive, affording no means of

reformation, and unnecessarily severe. La Fayette, when he

was lately in the United States, and heard of the experiment

of exclusive solitary confinement, said it was just a

revival of the practice in the Bastile, which had so

dreadful an effect on the poor prisoners. ‘I repaired,’

he said, ‘to the scene on the second day of the demolition,

and found that all the prisoners had been deranged by their

solitary confinement, except one; he had been a prisoner

twenty-five years, and was led forth during the height of

the tumultuous riot of the people, whilst engaged in tearing

down the building. He looked around with amazement, for he

had seen nobody for that space of time; and, before night,

he was so much affected, that he became a confirmed maniac,

from which situation he never recovered.’

94 – The following judicious remarks are from the excellent work

of Mr. Stuart, and indicate the estimation in which our

penitentiary system is held by intelligent foreigners.

No attempt to regulate any of the prisons in this country

according to the Auburn plan has, so far as I have learned,

been made. This appears the more extraordinary, because it

is stated, in the printed report of the agent of the Auburn

prison for 1827, that the British minister at Washington,

Mr. Vaughan, after a critical examination of the institution,

declared in ardent language, that he hoped in God it would

be made the model of imitation, not only for this country,

but for all Europe. And Mr. Vaughan would, of course, not

fail to make his opinion, and the results on which it was

founded, known in the proper quarter. Great Britain ought,

of all countries on the face of the earth, to be the most

grateful to the state of New York, for having set such an

example before her; for in what country are there so many

convicts in reference to the population?――where are they

maintained at so great expense to the state?――and where has

so little yet been done towards accomplishing the great end

of punishment,――the diminution of offences by the terror

of punishment?――or in promoting the reformation of the

offenders?

The Auburn system embraces all the objects which Howard, and

the philanthropists of this and the last century, have been

endeavoring to attain. In the Maison de Force, at Ghent,

which both Howard and Buxton visited, at different periods,

thirty-four years apart, and which both of them eulogize,

the same management in respect to solitary cells, silence,

and labor, prevailed as at Auburn, and was attended with

excellent effects; but the convicts were allowed a certain

portion of their earnings, and the system was not adhered

to with the exactness, precision, and regularity, which

are indispensably necessary, so that at one period, the

earnings of the prisoners were much reduced in amount,

and there was great laxity of discipline. Mr. Western, one

of the magistrates of the county of Essex, and one of the

representatives of that county in parliament, a gentleman

whose benevolent and patriotic views are well known, has,

in a pamphlet on prison discipline, which he published a

few years ago, suggested the following plan, the details of

which he has well explained:――‘Solitary confinement, marching

and remarching to the cells, as practised at Auburn; hard

labor for eight instead of eleven hours, as at Auburn, but

without restriction as to conversation, and with liberty for

airing and exercise for three hours.’ And he asks, ‘if each

successive day was spent in this manner, can it be doubted

that the frequent commission of crime would be checked,

and more done to deter, correct, and reform, than could

be accomplished by any other punishment? A period of such

discipline, longer or shorter, according to the nature of

the offence, would surely be sufficient for any violation

of the law short of murder, or that description of outrage

which is likely to lead to the perpetration of it. This sort

of treatment is not to be overcome: it cannot be braved, or

laughed at, or disregarded by any force of animal spirits,

however strong or vigorous of mind or body the individual

may be. The dull, unvarying course of hard labor, with hard

fare and seclusion, must in time become so painfully irksome,

and so wear and distress him, that he will, inevitably,

in the end, be subdued.’ If Mr. Western’s plan would

be attended with the effects he describes, ‘to deter,

correct, and reform,’ how much more certainly would those

consequences attend that followed at Auburn, where the

offenders suffer the penalty of total exclusion from society,

deprived of all knowledge of their friends and relations,

and of their associates, even if confined in the same prison

with them; are doomed to constant hard labor, their earnings

altogether applied for the benefit of the state; subjected

to stripes, inflicted summarily and instantly, by any one

of the keepers, for every infraction of the prison rules,

even for the slightest attempt to break silence, or for

inattention to work, or not working constantly and well.

The punishment of stripes has been found fault with; but

both at Ghent and Auburn, the keepers have given it as their

opinion, that constant labor, and the maintenance of the

very strict discipline enjoined, cannot be enforced without

their having the power to inflict this summary punishment.

It is only permitted to be inflicted on the back of the

convict, in such manner as to produce personal suffering,

without danger to the health or any vital part. In point of

fact, however, the certainty of punishment following every

offence is so thoroughly understood, that the power is, as

already noticed, seldom exercised.

95 – _Education in Maine._――A writer in the Saco Republican

furnishes some details respecting the public provision for

education in the state of Maine. After its separation from

Massachusetts, a law was passed, requiring every town to

raise annually, for the support of schools, a sum equal to

forty cents for each person in such town, to be distributed

among the school districts, in proportion to the number

of inhabitants in each. In 1825, the number of districts,

as appears from the reports made to the legislature, was

two thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine; the number

of children, between the ages of four and twenty-one,

one hundred and thirty-seven thousand, nine hundred and

thirty-one; the number who usually attend schools, one

hundred and one thousand, three hundred and twenty-five, and

the total annual expenditure, one hundred and thirty-seven

thousand, eight hundred and seventy-eight dollars, and

fifty-seven cents. The present number of scholars is

estimated by this writer at one hundred and forty thousand.

The schools kept by male teachers are open, on the average,

two months in the year, and those kept by female teachers,

about two weeks longer. The writer suggests, that if the

sum of one dollar and six cents, instead of forty cents,

for every inhabitant, were required to be raised, that the

schools might be kept open during the year, and believes

that the additional tax would not be regarded as a burden.

96 – The following observations are from the pen of a writer,

who has done as much for the really useful literature of the

country as any other man. We refer to Mr. Flint, of whose

valuable writings we have so often taken the liberty to

avail ourselves.

I. Our national and state governments do little or nothing

for literature, by furnishing example, premiums, excitement,

money. They have taken no pains to inspire a taste for it,

or to cause it to become part and parcel of the national

glory. To produce a rail-road, a canal, a joint stock

company, is felt to confer more national renown, as well

as advantage, than to rear a Milton, Burke, or Walter Scott.

We hardly retain our West Point. Beside our solemn farce

of sending among the few respectable examiners, a large

proportion of ignorant and incompetent men to examine

the pupils, legislators have not been found wanting, who,

availing themselves of the miserable appeal of demagogues,

to the sordid appetite, miscalled economy, have wished

to put forth their unhallowed hands to demolish this only

vestige of national show of a disposition to foster the

sciences. Profound respect for our country interdicts the

thoughts that arise in our mind upon this head. Literature,

science, what are they at Washington, more than they

would have been in the day of Attila? The members of the

legislature have more than they can do to write letters

to their constituents, and secure the means of a future

election, and to make excuses for refusing their names

to the thousand applicants for patronage to new books and

periodicals.

In reply to all this, we are sometimes asked, what a

government, with the genius and limitations of ours,

could do to foster literature? Every one must be aware,

that if the constituent parts that compose the government

felt keenly and saw clearly, that advances in science and

literature constituted the true interest and glory of the

country, they would be at no loss to apply the adequate

excitement. Had they the strong impulse, the inward

perception, the munificent and fostering spirit, we should

discover what they could do. The feeling, the will, and not

the means, are wanting. The single solitary expedition of

Lewis and Clarke twinkles, as a kind of evening star above

the western mountains, in the midst of the darkness of our

efforts for science and letters. That single mission gained

the administration of Jefferson more true glory abroad

and at home, than any single act of that or any subsequent

administration; and every village orator annually announces,

that Athens, of amaranthine and imperishable memory, was

less extensive and less populous than one of our states of

the second class, and assigns as the cause of this freshness

and perpetuity of her fame, nothing but intellectual

pre-eminence. But the people and the rulers have alike

waxed too gross and sordid, too blind and hardened to every

impulse but personal aggrandizement and the love of money,

to perceive or regard what constitutes national glory.

II. We have no literary metropolis, no central point, from

which information, excitement and emulation might radiate

in every direction, so as to fill the whole circumference of

our land. The interests and tastes of our numerous literary

capitals not only have no decided concurrence, but clash and

oppose each other. The favorite author, poet, editor of one

capital, glides in the steamboat, and whirls on the railway,

in a few hours, out of the orbit of his own little universe,

and is surprised to find himself in a new planet, as little

known as the man in the moon. There is no common point of

union for literary men, where they may meet and replenish

their oil from each other’s lamps, guide and encourage each

other, review and pass upon the books and literary efforts

of the past year, and impart counsels touching their own

embryo projects for the coming one. A censurate, thus

constituted, would be able to do much toward breaking

down sectional, and building up in its stead a national,

literature. Hundreds of trumpery books, on which so much

paper and ink are wasted, would, in this case, hereafter

cease to see the light――and much talent, that is now as

an unwrought gem in the mines; would be brought to view.

We shall be told, that there would be infinite jealousy,

rivalry, clanship, envy, intrigue. Perhaps there might.

But political associations are not abandoned, because

the same evil attaches to them. Such meetings have long

been practised in Germany, and have proved remarkable for

their amenity, courtesy, and good fruits. Men, especially

intellectual men, when brought together, mutually catch the

spirit of their station. Envy and jealousy are the natural

heritage of ignorance. Intellectual men, if proverbially

irritable, have been in all countries and all times

proverbially generous, kind-hearted, beneficent. Such men

would feel themselves impelled to act according to their

station and responsibility, and would have a noble disdain

at the idea of bringing a stain upon their escutcheon.

These men, being charged that the republic of letters should

receive no detriment, would scorn prejudiced, narrow, and

illiberal views, and would promulgate generous thoughts and

broad principles. The books which they patronized would be

received by the public with confidence, while those to which

they affixed their veto would cease to circulate; and thus

transfer more than half the patronage of literature, which

is now thrown away upon worthless books and periodicals, to

such as are important and useful.

III. The remaining slavery of our colonial literary

dependence upon Great Britain. It is humiliating to

reflect, that a great nation, sometimes not a little

tempted to bluster about its greatness and independence,

notwithstanding all the taunts and reproaches we have

received from the writers of that nation for our servility

and imbecile dependence upon it for our literary opinions,

as well as our books, should still look beyond the seas for

literary fame. But every one knows, that an American writer

must delve on, uncheered and unblest, until he has contrived

to get an echo of his name from beyond the Atlantic. What

efforts, what arts, what servility to obtain it? This is

not all. In the greedy competition of the press, the books

of that country, the great estimated mart of fame, can be

republished here without copy-right. On this head, there

is no need, as we have no space, to enlarge. Every one can

see that American writers have no adequate incitement to put

forth their powers, while obliged to work up against such a

wind and tide opposed to them.

97 – For this succinct, able, and interesting account of the

banking system of the United States, we have been indebted

to the Annual Register for 1831–2, published by Fessenden

& Co.

98 – ‘It would perhaps be difficult to find any individual who

experienced more gallant adventures, and daring enterprises,

of a highly romantic character, in various countries, than

captain Smith. His life, without any fictitious additions,

might easily be taken for a mere romance. He appears to have

possessed many great qualities, and to have been deficient

in nothing but that mean cunning and sordid spirit, by the

aid of which inferior men were able to thwart his views, and

deprive him of those stations and rewards which his services

amply merited. He was one of the earliest and most ardent of

those who undertook the settlement of Virginia; his bravery

and capacity more than once saved that infant colony from

destruction, and kept the enterprise from being abandoned

for several years, though the absurdity of the schemes,

and the profligacy, folly, and dishonesty of those who

were to execute them, exposed the colony for many years

to every calamity, and often brought it to the brink of

ruin.’――_North Am. Review._

99 – ‘In the morning, a considerable number of Miantonimoh’s men

came on and joined the English. This encouraged many of the

Nihanticks also to join them. They soon formed a circle,

and made protestations how gallantly they would fight, and

what numbers they would kill. When the army marched the

next morning, the captain had with him nearly five hundred

Indians. He marched twelve miles, to the ford in Pawcatuck

river. The day was very hot, and the men, through the great

heat, and a scarcity of provision, began to faint. The

army, therefore, made a considerable halt, and refreshed

themselves. Here the Narraganset Indians began to manifest

their dread of the Pequods, and to inquire of captain

Mason, with great anxiety, what were his real intentions. He

assured them, that it was his design to attack the Pequods

in their forts. At this they appeared to be panic struck,

and filled with amazement. Many of them drew off, and

returned to Narraganset. The army marched on about three

miles, and came to Indian corn-fields; and the captain,

imagining that he drew near the enemy, made a halt; he

called his guides and council, and demanded of the Indians

how far it was to the forts. They represented that it was

twelve miles to Sassacus’ fort, and that both forts were in

a manner impregnable. Wequash, a Pequod captain, or petty

sachem, who had revolted from Sassacus to the Narragansets,

was the principal guide, and he proved faithful. He gave

such information respecting the distance of the forts from

each other, and the distance which they were then at from

the chief sachem’s, as determined him and his officers

to alter the resolution which they had before adopted, of

attacking them both at once, and to make a united attack

upon that at Mystic. He found his men so fatigued in

marching through a pathless wilderness with their provisions,

arms, and ammunition, and so affected with the heat, that

this resolution appeared to be absolutely necessary. One of

captain Underhill’s men became lame at the same time, and

began to fail. The army, therefore, proceeded directly to

Mystic, and continuing their march, came to a small swamp

between two hills just at the disappearing of the daylight.

The officers supposing that they were now near the fort,

pitched their little camp between or near two large rocks,

in Groton, since called Porter’s rocks. The men were faint

and weary, and though the rocks were their pillows, their

rest was sweet. The guards and sentinels were considerably

advanced in front of the army, and heard the enemy singing

at the fort, who continued their rejoicings even until

midnight. They had seen the vessels pass the harbor some

days before, and had concluded that the English were afraid,

and had no courage to attack them. They were therefore

rejoicing, singing, dancing, insulting them, and wearying

themselves, on this account. The night was serene, and,

towards morning, the moon shone clear. The important crisis

was now come, when the very existence of Connecticut, under

Providence, was to be determined by the sword in a single

action, and to be decided by the good conduct of less than

eighty brave men. The Indians who remained were now sorely

dismayed, and though at first they had led the van, and

boasted of great feats, yet were now all fallen back in the

rear. About two hours before day, the men were roused with

all expedition, and, briefly commending themselves and their

cause to God, advanced immediately towards the fort. After

a march of about two miles, they came to the foot of a large

hill, where a fine country opened before them. The captain,

supposing that the fort could not be far distant, sent for

the Indians in the rear to come up. Uncas and Wequash at

length appeared. He demanded of them where the fort was.

They answered, on the top of the hill. He demanded of them

where were the other Indians. They answered, that they were

much afraid. The captain sent to them not to fly, but to

surround the fort at any distance they pleased, and see

whether Englishmen would fight. The day was nearly dawning,

and no time was now to be lost. The men pressed on in two

divisions, captain Mason to the north-eastern, and captain

Underhill to the western entrance. As the object which

they had been so long seeking came into view, and while

they reflected they were to fight not only for themselves,

but their parents, wives, children, and the whole colony,

the martial spirit kindled in their bosoms, and they

were wonderfully animated and assisted. As captain Mason

advanced within a rod or two of the fort a dog barked, and

an Indian roared out, “Owanux! Owanux!” That is, Englishmen!

Englishmen! The troops pressed on, and, as the Indians were

rallying, poured in upon them, through the palisadoes, a

general discharge of their muskets, and then wheeling off

to the principal entrance, entered the fort sword in hand.

Notwithstanding the suddenness of the attack, and the

blaze and thunder of the arms, the enemy made a manly and

desperate resistance. Captain Mason and his party drove the

Indians in the main street towards the west part of the fort,

where some bold men, who had forced their way, met them,

and made such a slaughter among them, that the street was

soon clear of the enemy. They secreted themselves in and

behind their wigwams, and taking advantage of every covert,

maintained an obstinate defence. The captain and his men

entered the wigwams, where they were beset with many Indians,

who took every advantage to shoot them, and lay hands upon

them, so that it was with great difficulty that they could

defend themselves with their swords. After a severe conflict,

in which many of the Indians were slain, some of the English

killed, and others sorely wounded, the victory still hung

in suspense. The captain, finding himself much exhausted,

and out of breath, as well as his men, by the extraordinary

exertions which they had made in this critical state of

action, had recourse to a successful expedient. He cries out

to his men, “We must burn them.” He immediately, entering

a wigwam, took fire and put it to the mats with which the

wigwams were covered. The fire instantly kindling, spread

with such violence, that all the Indian houses were soon

wrapped in one general flame. As the fire increased, the

English retired without the fort, and compassed it on every

side. Uncas and his Indians, with such of the Narragansets

as yet remained, took courage, from the example of the

English, and formed another circle in the rear of them. The

enemy were now seized with astonishment; and, forced by the

flames from their lurking places into open light, became

a fair mark for the English soldiers. Some climbed the

palisadoes, and were instantly brought down by the fire

of the English muskets. Others, desperately sallying forth

from their burning cells, were shot, or cut in pieces with

the sword. Such terror fell upon them, that they would run

back from the English into the very flames. Great numbers

perished in the conflagration. The greatness and violence

of the fire, the reflection of the light, the flashing and

roar of the arms, the shrieks and yellings of the men, women,

and children, in the fort, and the shoutings of the Indians

without, just at the dawning of the morning, exhibited a

grand and awful scene. In little more than an hour, this

whole work of destruction was finished. Seventy wigwams were

burnt, and five or six hundred Indians perished, either by

the sword, or in the flames. A hundred and fifty warriors

had been sent on the evening before, who, that very morning,

were to have gone forth against the English. Of these,

and all who belonged to the fort, seven only escaped, and

seven were made prisoners. It had been previously concluded

not to burn the fort, but to destroy the enemy, and take

the plunder; but the captain afterwards found it the only

expedient to obtain the victory, and save his men. Thus

parents and children, the sannup and squaw, the old man

and the babe, perished in promiscuous ruin.’――_Trumbull’s

History of Connecticut._

100 – Smith’s History of New York, p. 207.

101 – The following account of the origin of the name Pennsylvania,

given by its founder, in a letter dated January 5, 1681, is

curious and interesting. ‘This day,’ says Penn, ‘after many

waitings, watchings, solicitings, and disputes, in council,

my country was confirmed to me under the great seal of

England, with large powers and privileges, by the name of

Pennsylvania; a name the king would give it in honor of my

father. I chose New Wales, being a hilly country; and when

the secretary, a Welshman, refused to call it New Wales, I

proposed Sylvania, and they added Penn to it; though I much

opposed it, and went to the king to have it struck out. He

said ’twas past, and he would take it upon him; nor could

twenty guineas move the under-secretary to vary the name;

for I feared it should be looked on us a vanity in me, and

not as a respect in the king to my father, as it really

was. Thou mayest communicate my grant to friends, and expect

shortly my proposals. ’Tis a dear and just thing, and my

God, that has given it me through many difficulties, will,

I believe, bless and make it the seed of a nation. I shall

have a tender care to the government, that it be well laid

at first.’

102 – On receiving his mortal wound, Wolfe was conveyed into the

rear, where, careless about himself, he discovered, in the

agonies of death, the most anxious solicitude concerning

the fate of the day. From extreme faintness, he had reclined

his head on the arm of an officer, but was soon aroused by

the cry of ‘They fly, they fly!’ ‘Who fly?’ exclaimed the

dying hero. ‘The French,’ answered his attendant. ‘Then,’

said he, ‘I die contented,’ and immediately expired. A death

more full of military glory has seldom been recorded by

the pen of the historian, or celebrated by the pencil of

the painter. General Wolfe was only thirty-three years of

age. He possessed those military talents, which, with the

advantage of years and opportunity of action, ‘to moderate

his ardor, expand his faculties, and give to his intuitive

perception and scientific knowledge the correctness of

judgment perfected by experience,’ would have ‘placed him

on a level with the most celebrated generals of any age or

nation.’――Montcalm was every way worthy to be a competitor

of Wolfe. He had the truest military genius of any officer

whom the French had ever employed in America. After he had

received his mortal wound, he was carried into the city; and

when informed that it was mortal, his reply was, ‘I am glad

of it.’ On being told that he could survive but a few hours,

‘So much the better,’ he replied; ‘I shall not then live to

see the surrender of Quebec.’

103 – Pitkin, vol. i. p. 157.

104 – Tudor’s Life of Otis, p. 61.

105 – Hutchinson’s History of Massachusetts from 1749 to 1774.

106 – ‘Declaiming, us usual, one evening on American affairs,

he addressed himself particularly to the ministers. “You

are cowards,” he said; “you are afraid of the Americans;

you dare not tax America.” This he repeated in different

language. Upon this Townshend took fire, immediately rose

and said, “Fear! fear! cowards dare not tax America! I dare

tax America.” Grenville stood silent for a moment, and then

said, “Dare you tax America? I wish to God I could see it.”

Townshend replied, “I will, I will.”’――_Manuscript papers

of Dr. William S. Johnson_, then in England as agent for

Connecticut, quoted in Pitkin’s History, vol. i. p. 217.

107 – Bradford’s History of Massachusetts, p. 205.

108 – Hutchinson, p. 270.

109 – Wirt’s Life of Henry, p. 105, 106.

110 – Lord Chatham had shown this bill to Dr. Franklin before he

submitted it to the house of lords, but the latter had not

an opportunity of proposing certain alterations which he

had sketched. Dr. Franklin, however, at the special request

of lord Chatham, was present at the debates upon it. Lord

Dartmouth was at first disposed to have the bill lie upon

the table; but lord Sandwich opposed its being received,

and moved that it be immediately ‘rejected with the contempt

it deserved. He could never believe,’ he said, ‘that it was

the production of a British peer; it appeared to him rather

the work of some American.’ Turning his face towards Dr.

Franklin, then standing at the bar, ‘He fancied,’ he said,

‘he had in his eye the person who drew it up, one of the

bitterest and most mischievous enemies this country had ever

known.’ To this part of the speech of lord Sandwich, the

great Chatham replied, by saying ‘that it was entirely his

own. This declaration,’ he said, ‘he thought himself the

more obliged to make, as many of their lordships appeared to

have so mean an opinion of it; for if it was so weak or so

bad a thing, it was proper in him to take care that no other

person should unjustly share in the censure it deserved.

It had been heretofore reckoned his vice not to be apt to

take advice; but he made no scruple to declare, that if he

were the first minister of this country, and had the care of

settling this momentous business, he should not be ashamed

of publicly calling to his assistance a person so perfectly

acquainted with the whole of American affairs as the

gentleman alluded to, and so injuriously reflected on; one

whom all Europe held in estimation for his knowledge and

wisdom, and ranked with our Boyles and Newtons; who was

an honor, not to the English nation only, but to human

nature.’――_Franklin’s Works_, vol. i. p. 322, 323. _Pitkin_,

vol. i. p. 312. Among the papers which had been laid before

the house by lord Dartmouth, was the petition of the congress

to the king, in behalf of which the American agents, Dr.

Franklin, Mr. Bollan, and Mr. Lee, petitioned to be heard

at the bar of the house. But this privilege was refused

to them by the ministers, on the ground that the congress

was an illegal body, and their petition was rejected by an

unusually large majority.

111 – In Montgomery the Americans lost one of the bravest and most

accomplished generals that ever led an army to the field.

But he was not more illustrious for his skill and courage as

an officer, than he was estimable for his private virtues.

All enmity to him on the part of the British ceased with his

life, and respect to his private character prevailed over

all other considerations. His body was taken up the next day,

and he was decently interred.――Montgomery was a gentleman

of good family in Ireland, who, having married a lady and

purchased an estate in New York, considered himself as an

American, and had served with reputation in the late French

war. Congress directed a monument to be erected to his

memory, with an inscription expressive of their veneration

for his character, and of their deep sense of his ‘many

signal and important services; and to transmit to future

ages, as examples truly worthy of imitation, his patriotism,

conduct, boldness of enterprise, insuperable perseverance,

and contempt of danger and death.’ A monument of white

marble, with emblematic devices, has accordingly been

erected to his memory, in front of St. Paul’s church in New

York.

112 – Not long after his appointment, Dr. Church was detected in a

traitorous correspondence with the British in Boston. He had

sustained a high reputation as a patriot, and was at this

time a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives.

He was tried, convicted, and expelled from the house of

representatives; and congress afterwards resolved, that

he be closely confined in some secure gaol in Connecticut,

without the use of pen, ink, or paper; and that no person

be allowed to converse with him, except in the presence and

hearing of a magistrate, or the sheriff of the county.

113 – On the 1st of January, 1776, the town of Norfolk, in

Virginia, was set on fire by the British, under the

direction of lord Dunmore, and reduced to ashes. On the

arrival of the Liverpool man-of-war from England, a flag was

sent on shore to put the question, whether the provincials

would supply his majesty’s ship with provisions, and a

negative answer being returned, it was determined to destroy

the town. The whole loss was estimated at three hundred

thousand pounds sterling. The provincials themselves

destroyed the houses and plantations near the water, to

deprive the ships of every resource of supply.

114 – The chief justice of South Carolina, William Henry Drayton,

appointed under the new form of government just adopted, in

his charge to the grand jurors, in April, after justifying

the proceedings of that colony in forming a new government,

on the principles of the revolution in England in 1688, thus

concludes: ‘The Almighty created America to be independent

of Great Britain: let us beware of the impiety of being

backward to act as instruments in the Almighty hand, now

extended to accomplish his purpose; and by the completion

of which alone, America, in the nature of human affairs, can

be secure against the crafty and insidious designs of her

enemies, who think her power and prosperity already by far

too great. In a word, our piety and political safety are

so blended, that to refuse our labors in this divine work,

is to refuse to be a great, a free, a pious, and a happy

people.’――_Pitkin_, vol. i. p. 359.

115 – Pitkin’s Political and Civil History, vol. i. p. 361.

116 – ‘This measure was followed by the most lively demonstrations

of joy. The spirit of the times is interestingly manifested

by the following paragraph from Purdie’s paper of the 17th

of May, which immediately succeeds the annunciation of the

resolutions:――“In consequence of the above resolutions,

universally regarded as the only door which will lead

to safety and prosperity, some gentlemen made a handsome

collection for the purpose of treating the soldiery,

who next day were paraded in Waller’s grove, before

brigadier-general Lewis, attended by the gentlemen of the

committee of safety, the members of the general convention,

the inhabitants of this city, &c. The resolutions being read

aloud to the army, the following toasts were given, each of

them accompanied by a discharge of the artillery and small

arms, and the acclamations of all present:――1. The American

Independent States.――2. The grand congress of the United

States, and their respective legislatures.――3. General

Washington, and victory to the American arms.――The union

flag of the American states waved upon the capitol during

the whole of this ceremony; which being ended, the soldiers

partook of the refreshments prepared for them by the

affection of their countrymen, and the evening concluded

with illuminations and other demonstrations of joy; every

one seeming pleased that the domination of Great Britain was

now at an end, so wickedly and tyrannically exercised for

these twelve or thirteen years past, notwithstanding our

repeated prayers and remonstrances for redress.”’――_Wirt’s

Life of Henry_, p. 195.

117 – These melancholy facts were thus narrated by general

Washington, in his letter to congress:――‘Our situation is

truly distressing. The check our detachment sustained on the

27th ultimo, has dispirited too great a proportion of our

troops, and filled their minds with apprehension and despair.

The militia, instead of calling forth their utmost efforts

to a brave and manly opposition, in order to repair our

losses, are dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return.

Great numbers of them have gone off; in some instances

almost by whole regiments, half ones, and by companies

at a time. This circumstance of itself, independent of

others, when fronted by a well-appointed enemy, superior in

number to our whole collected force, would be sufficiently

disagreeable; but when their example has infected another

part of the army,――when their want of discipline, and

refusal of almost every kind of restraint and government,

have produced a like conduct, but too common to the whole,

and an entire disregard of that order and subordination

necessary to the well doing of an army, and which had been

inculcated before as well as the nature of our military

establishment would admit of,――our condition is still more

alarming; and with the deepest concern I am obliged to

confess my want of confidence in the generality of the

troops.’

118 – ‘On the 17th of December, our army marched from Brunswick

at four o’clock in the morning, and about the same hour

in the afternoon arrived at Princeton. This place general

Washington, in person, with Stirling’s brigade, left not one

hour before the British arrived. At Princeton the British

general waited seventeen hours, marched at nine o’clock

in the morning of the 8th, and arrived at Trenton at

four o’clock in the afternoon, just when the last boat of

general Washington’s embarkation crossed the river, as if

he had calculated, it was observed, with great accuracy,

the exact time necessary for his enemy to make his

escape.’――_Steadman’s History of the American War_,

vol. i. p. 220.

119 – General Lee had been a British officer, and had engaged

in the American service before the acceptance of the

resignation of his commission. Sir William Howe for

this reason pretended to view him as a traitor, and at

first refused to admit him to his parole, or to consider

him as a subject of exchange. Congress directed the

commander-in-chief to propose to Sir William Howe to

exchange six field-officers for general Lee. In case

the proposal was rejected, that body resolved, that these

officers should be closely confined, and in every respect

receive the treatment that general Lee did. The proposition

not being acceded to, the resolution of congress was carried

into effect, by the executives of the states in whose

custody the selected field-officers were, with a degree of

severity which perhaps even the treatment of general Lee

hardly warranted.

120 – Thacher’s Military Journal, p. 107.

121 – It has ever been a source of reproach against the British,

that they employed the sanguinary Indians as their allies.

The atrocities they committed might be somewhat exaggerated

by general Gates and others; but that instances did occur,

to the disgrace of their civilized associates, cannot be

denied. The melancholy case of Miss M’Rea will long be

remembered. Captain Jones, her lover, an officer in the

British army, anxious on her account, engaged some Indians

of two different tribes to convey her away from among the

Americans for the purpose of security; fearing for her,

probably, on account of her father’s being interested in

the royal cause, and of her attachment to himself. Having

promised to reward the person who should bring her safe to

him with a barrel of rum, the two Indians, who had already

conveyed her to some distance, disputed which of them

should present to captain Jones the object of his affections.

Each was anxious for the reward; and that the other might

not receive it, one of them killed her with a blow of his

tomahawk. Upon the first intelligence of what had happened,

Burgoyne obliged the Indians to deliver up the murderer,

and threatened to put him to death. Many thought the threat

would have been executed; but he was pardoned upon the

Indians agreeing to terms enjoined them by Burgoyne, which

the general thought would be more efficacious than an

execution to prevent similar mischiefs.――_Gordon_, vol. ii.

p. 544.

122 – ‘The colonel was furnished with the following curious

instructions, which fell into the hands of general

Stark:――“To proceed to New Hampshire grants, cross the

mountains, scour the country, with Peter’s corps (tories)

and the Indians, from Rockingham to Otter creek, to

get horses, carriages, and cattle, and mount Reidesel’s

regiment of dragoons; to go down Connecticut river as far

as Brattleborough, and return by the great road to Albany,

there to meet general Burgoyne; to endeavor to make the

country believe it was the advanced body of the general’s

army, who was to cross Connecticut river and proceed to

Boston, and that at Springfield they were to be joined

by the troops from Rhode island. All officers, civil

and military, acting under the congress, were to be

made prisoners. To tax the towns where they halted with

such articles as they wanted, and take hostages for the

performance, &c. You are to bring all horses fit to mount

the dragoons or to serve as battalion horses for the troops,

with as many saddles and bridles as can be found. The number

of horses requisite, besides those for the dragoons, ought

to be thirteen hundred; if you can bring more, so much the

better. The horses must be tied in strings of ten each, in

order that one man may lead ten horses.” This redoubtable

commander surely must be one of the happiest men of the

age, to imagine that such prodigious achievements were at

his command,――that such invaluable resources were within

his grasp. But, alas! the wisest of men are liable to

disappointment in their sanguine calculations, and to

have their favorite projects frustrated by the casualties

of war. This is remarkably verified in the present

instance.’――_Thacher’s Military Journal_, p. 109.

123 – The committee consisted of Mr. Harrison, Dr. Franklin,

Mr. Johnson, Mr. Dickinson, and Mr. Jay.

124 – ‘He was to appear in the character of a merchant, and

was directed, among other things, immediately after his

arrival at Paris, to solicit an interview with the count

de Vergennes, the French minister, and to inform him, that

congress, being unable to obtain for America the quantity

of arms and ammunition necessary for its defence, had

despatched him to apply to some of the European powers

for a supply. That he was instructed to make his first

application to France, from an opinion that, in case of a

total separation of America from Great Britain, which every

circumstance seemed to indicate, it would be most proper

to obtain and cultivate her friendship. That in such case

the commercial advantages formerly enjoyed by Great Britain

would be transferred to France. That the Americans were

in want of clothing and arms for twenty-five thousand

men, with a suitable quantity of ammunition, and a hundred

field-pieces. Mr. Deane was also directed to sound the

French minister with regard to forming an alliance with

the colonies, in case they should be forced to declare

themselves independent.’――_Pitkin_, vol. i. p. 387. The

instructions will be found at length in the Diplomatic

Correspondence of the American Revolution, edited by

J. Sparkes, vol. i. p. 5–9.

125 – This important committee consisted of Mr. Dickinson,

Dr. Franklin, John Adams, Mr. Harrison, and Robert Morris.

126 – Mr. Jefferson, on account of the situation of his family,

being unable to accept the appointment, Arthur Lee, then in

London, was substituted.

127 – ‘To induce Franco to embark in the war, the American envoys

were authorized to stipulate, that all the trade between

the United States and the West India islands, should be

carried on either in French or American vessels; and were

specially instructed to assure the French king, that if,

by their joint efforts, the British should be excluded from

any share in the cod-fishery of America, by the reduction

of the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton, and ships of

war should be furnished, at the expense of the United States,

to reduce Nova Scotia, that the fishery should be enjoyed

equally between them, to the exclusion of all other nations;

and that one-half of Newfoundland should belong to France,

and the other half, with Cape Breton and Nova Scotia, to

the United States. Should these proposals be insufficient

to induce France to join in the war, and the commissioners

were convinced that the open co-operation of France could

not otherwise be obtained, they were directed to assure his

most Christian majesty, that such of the West India islands

as might, in the course of the war, be reduced, should be

yielded to him in absolute property.’――_Pitkin_, vol. i.

p. 392.

128 – William Lee was appointed commissioner to the courts of

Vienna and Berlin, Ralph Izard to the duke of Tuscany, and

Dr. Franklin to Spain. Arthur Lee was afterwards appointed,

in the room of Dr. Franklin, to the Spanish court. While Mr.

Lee was at Berlin, his papers were stolen from his lodgings

in a most extraordinary manner and the British envoy at the

Prussian court was implicated in this transaction.

129 – The letter communicating the refusal was signed by the

president; and it illustrates the character of congress,

and the history of this year. ‘I have received the letter

from your excellencies, dated the 9th instant, with the

inclosures, and laid them before congress. Nothing but

an earnest desire to spare the further effusion of human

blood could have induced them to read a paper containing

expressions so disrespectful to his most Christian majesty,

the good and great ally of these states, or to consider

propositions so derogatory to the honor of an independent

nation. The acts of the British parliament, the commission

from your sovereign, and your letter, suppose the people

of these states to be subjects of the crown of Great

Britain, and are founded on the idea of dependence, which

is utterly inadmissible. I am further directed to inform

your excellencies, that congress are inclined to peace,

notwithstanding the unjust claims from which this war

originated, and the savage manner in which it hath been

conducted. They will therefore be ready to enter upon

the consideration of a treaty of peace and commerce, not

inconsistent with treaties already subsisting, when the king

of Great Britain shall demonstrate a sincere disposition

for that purpose. The only solid proof of this disposition

will be an explicit acknowledgment of these states, or the

withdrawing his fleets and armies.’――_Journals of Congress_,

vol. iv. p. 353.

130 – Lee, irritable and proud, could not forget the manner in

which Washington had addressed him, and in two passionate

letters demanded reparation. A court-martial was instituted;

he was found guilty of misconduct on the day of battle, and

of disrespect to the commander-in-chief, and was suspended

from command for one year. He never afterwards joined the

army, but died in seclusion just before the close of the war.

131 – In consequence of heat and fatigue, fifty-nine British

soldiers perished without a wound; and several of the

American soldiers died through the same cause.

132 – The loss of the Americans in this battle was eight officers

and sixty-one privates killed, and about a hundred and

sixty wounded. Among the slain, and much regretted, were

lieutenant-colonel Bonner, of Pennsylvania, and major

Dickenson, of Virginia. The loss of the British army, in

killed, wounded, and missing, is stated to have been three

hundred and fifty-eight men, including officers. Among their

slain was lieutenant-colonel Monckton, who was greatly and

deservedly lamented. About a hundred were taken prisoners;

and nearly a thousand soldiers, principally foreigners, many

of whom had married in Philadelphia, deserted the British

standard during the march.

133 – We insert the following as an antidote to the feelings with

which the ‘glory’ of war is apt to inspire the breasts even

of the generous and noble:――‘A short distance below the

battle ground there is a large island in the river, called

Monockonock island. Several of the settlers, while the

battle and pursuit continued, succeeded in swimming to this

island, where they concealed themselves among the logs and

brushwood upon it. Their arms had been thrown away in their

flight, previous to their entering the river, so that they

were in a manner defenceless. Two of them in particular

were concealed near and in sight of each other. While in

this situation, they observed several of the enemy, who had

pursued and fired at them while they were swimming the river,

preparing to follow them to the island with their guns. On

reaching the island they immediately wiped their guns and

loaded them. One of them with his loaded gun soon passed

close by one of these men, who lay concealed from his view,

and was immediately recognized by him to be the brother

of his companion who was concealed near him, but who,

being a tory, had joined the enemy. He passed slowly along,

carefully examining every covert, and directly perceived

his brother in his place of concealment. He suddenly stopped

and said, “So it is you, is it?” His brother, finding that

he was discovered, immediately came forward a few steps,

and, falling on his knees, begged him to spare his life,

promising to live with him and serve him, and even to be

his slave as long as he lived, if he would only spare his

life. “All this is mighty good,” replied the savage-hearted

brother of the supplicating man; “but you are a d――――d rebel;”

and, deliberately presenting his rifle, shot him dead upon

the spot. The other settler made his escape from the island,

and having related this fact, the tory brother thought it

prudent to accompany the British troops on their return to

Canada.’――_History of Wyoming_, p. 127.

134 – Count Pulaski was mortally wounded in this assault; and

congress resolved that a monument should be erected to his

memory. He was a Polander of high birth, who with a few

men had carried off king Stanislaus from the middle of his

capital. The king, after being some time a prisoner, made

his escape, and soon after declared Pulaski an outlaw.

Thus proscribed, he came to America, and offered his

service to congress, which honored him with the rank of

brigadier-general.

135 – By the articles of capitulation, the garrison were to march

out of the town and to deposit their arms in front of the

works; but the drums were not to beat a British march, nor

the colors to be uncased. The continental troops and seamen

were to keep their baggage, and remain prisoners of war

until exchanged. The militia were to be permitted to return

home as prisoners on parole; and, while they should adhere

to their parole, were not to be molested by the British

troops in person or property. The inhabitants of all

conditions were to be considered as prisoners on parole, and

to hold their property on the same terms with the militia.

136 – General Arnold early and warmly embraced the American cause.

His enterprising spirit, his invincible fortitude, his

heroic and persevering ardor in battle, had exalted his

military character in his own country and in Europe. Being

incapacitated for the duties of the field by the wounds he

received before Quebec and at Saratoga, he was appointed

commandant in Philadelphia when the British evacuated that

city. In this flattering command, he adopted a style of

living above his means, and soon found himself loaded with

debt. To relieve himself he entered into various schemes of

speculation, and was unsuccessful in all. Hollow at heart,

he had recourse to fraud and peculation. These practices

rendered him odious to the citizens, and gave offence to

government. At length formal complaints were lodged against

him, and congress ordered his trial by a court-martial.

By this court he was found guilty, and sentenced to be

reprimanded by the commander-in-chief. The sentence was

approved by congress, and carried into execution by general

Washington. In the gold that was to reward his treason,

Arnold expected relief from his pecuniary embarrassments;

and his implacable spirit sought its revenge of his country

by betraying into the hand of her enemy the Gibraltar of

America. Upon his establishment in the army of Great Britain,

he found it necessary to make some exertions to secure the

attachment of his new friends. With the hope of alluring

many of the discontented to his standard, he published

an address to the inhabitants of America, in which he

endeavored to justify his conduct. This was followed by

a proclamation addressed ‘to the officers and soldiers of

the continental army, who have the real interest of their

country at heart, and who are determined to be no longer

the tools and dupes of congress and of France.’ These

proclamations did not produce the effect designed. And in

all the hardships, sufferings, and irritations of the war,

Arnold remains the solitary instance of an American officer

who abandoned the side first embraced in the contest, and

turned his sword upon his former companions in arms. He

survived the war but to drag on, in perpetual banishment

from his native country, a dishonorable life. He transmitted

to his children a name of hateful celebrity. He obtained

only a part of the debasing stipend of an abortive treason,

and his complaints soon caused it to be known, that all the

promises by which he had been inveigled were not fulfilled.

He enjoyed, however, the rank of brigadier-general, but the

officers of the British army manifested a strong repugnance

to serve with him. He possessed their esteem while he fought

against them; they loaded him with contempt when treason

brought him over to their side. He resided principally in

England after the conclusion of the war, and died on the

14th of June, 1801.

137 – The general officers who reported his case lamented the

necessity they were under to advise that as a spy he should

be hung, and the heart of general Washington was wrung with

anguish when he signed his death warrant. But the fatal

wound that would have been inflicted on the country had

Arnold’s treason succeeded, made the sacrifice necessary

for the public safety. The American officers universally

discovered a sympathy for the unfortunate sufferer, and

the sensibility of the public was greatly excited on the

occasion. His character is thus beautifully painted by

the late general Hamilton, who without envy might have

contemplated his eminent qualities, for they were not equal

to his own. ‘There was something singularly interesting

in the character of André. To an excellent understanding,

well improved by education and travel he united a peculiar

elegance of mind and manners, and the advantages of a

pleasing person. It is said that he possessed a pretty taste

for the fine arts, and had himself attained some proficiency

in poetry, music, and painting. His knowledge appeared

without ostentation, and embellished by a diffidence that

rarely accompanies so many talents and accomplishments,

which left you to suppose more than appeared. His sentiments

were elevated, and inspired esteem; they had a softness

that conciliated affection. His elocution was handsome, his

address easy, polite, and insinuating. By his merit he had

acquired the unlimited confidence of his general, and was

making rapid progress in military rank and reputation. But

in the height of his career, flushed with new hopes from the

execution of a project the most beneficial to his party that

could be devised, he is at once precipitated from the summit

of prosperity, sees all the expectations of his ambition

blasted, and himself ruined.’ A handsome monument is erected

to his memory in Westminster abbey.

138 – The following instance will illustrate the horrible spirit

of these times:――‘In the hour of festivity, one Brown had

indulged himself in indiscreet censure of the revolutionary

party. He had done worse,――he had committed a fault less

easily forgiven,――he had ridiculed them. Being apprized that

their resentment was excited, he attempted to escape; but he

was closely pursued, brought back to Augusta, tried before

a committee of surveillance, and sentenced to be tarred and

feathered and carted, unless he recanted and took the oath

of allegiance prescribed by the administration of Georgia.

Brown was a firm man, and resisted with a pertinacity that

should have commanded the respect of his persecutors. But

the motions of a mob are too precipitate to admit of the

intrusion of generous feeling. After undergoing the painful

and mortifying penance prescribed by the committee without

yielding, it is too true that he was doomed to have his

naked feet exposed to a large fire, to subdue his stubborn

spirit; but in vain; and he was at length turned loose by a

group of men, who never once dreamed that the simple Indian

trader would soon reappear an armed and implacable enemy.

He first visited the loyalists of Ninety Six, concerted

his measures with them, then made his way to St. Augustine,

received a colonel’s commission, placed himself at the head

of a band of desperate refugees, and accompanied Provost in

his irruption into Georgia. His thirst for revenge appeared

afterward insatiable, and besides wantonly hanging many of

his prisoners, he subjected the families of the whigs who

were out in service to accumulated sufferings and distress.

It was not long after he was left in command at Augusta by

the British general, that colonel Clarke, with a determined

party of the militia, whose families he had persecuted,

aimed a well-directed blow at his post. But Brown proved

himself a man of bravery and conduct, and he well knew that

at all times he was fighting for his life. After a severe

and partially successful contest, the approach of a party

of Indians obliged Clarke to retreat, and leave his wounded

behind him, with a letter addressed to Brown, requesting

that he would parole them to their plantations. But Brown’s

thirst for revenge knew no bounds. It had been irritated in

this instance by a wound which confined him to his bed. The

unhappy prisoners, twenty-eight in number, were all hung;

thirteen of them were suspended to the railing of the

staircase, that he might feast his eyes with their dying

agonies.’――_Johnson’s Life of General Green._

139 – Upwards of three hundred of the British were killed

or wounded, and above five hundred taken prisoners;

eight hundred muskets, two field-pieces, two standards,

thirty-five baggage wagons, and one hundred dragoon horses,

fell into the hands of the conquerors. Of the Americans,

twelve men only were killed, and sixty wounded. Congress, in

honor of the good conduct of general Morgan, presented him

a gold medal; to lieutenant-colonels Washington and Howard,

medals of silver; and to colonel Pickens, a sword.

140 – Marshall’s Life of Washington, b. iv. chap. 8.

141 – Among the papers of Dr. Franklin was found the following

memorandum: ‘Immediately after the death of lord Rockingham,

the king said to lord Shelburne, “I will be plain with

you; the point next my heart, and which I am determined,

be the consequence what it may, never to relinquish but

with my crown and life, is, to prevent a total unequivocal

recognition of the independence of America. Promise to

support me on this ground, and I will leave you unmolested

on every other ground, and with full power as the

prime minister of this kingdom.” The bargain was

struck.’――_Franklin’s Works_, vol. v. p. 326.

142 – The following eulogium from the lips of an eloquent living

statesman, when pleading for the relief of the illustrious

survivors, conveys a just idea of the honorable conduct of

this band of patriots:――‘The army was to be disbanded; but

it was unpaid. It was to lay down its own power; but there

was no government with adequate power to perform what had

been promised to it. In this critical moment what is its

conduct? Does it disgrace its high character? Is temptation

able to seduce it? Does it speak of righting itself? Does

it undertake to redress its own wrongs by its own sword?

Does it lose its patriotism in its deep sense of injury and

injustice? Does military ambition cause its integrity to

swerve? Far, far otherwise. It had faithfully served and

saved the country, and to that country it now referred, with

unhesitating confidence, its claim and its complaints. It

laid down its arms with alacrity; it mingled itself with the

mass of the community; and it waited till, in better times,

and under a new government, its services might be rewarded,

and the promises made to it fulfilled. We can hardly recur

to this example too often, or dwell on it too much, for the

honor of our country, and of its defenders.’――_The Speeches

and Forensic Arguments of Daniel Webster_, p. 356, 357.

143 – At the head of the department of state he placed Mr.

Jefferson; at the head of the treasury, colonel Hamilton;

at the head of the war department, general Knox; in the

office of attorney-general, Edmund Randolph; at the head

of the judicial department, Mr. Jay. The associate justices

were John Rutledge, of South Carolina, James Wilson, of

Pennsylvania, William Cushing, of Massachusetts, Robert

Harrison, of Maryland and John Blair, of Virginia.

144 – Goldsborough’s Naval Chronicle.

145 – Memoirs and Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson, vol. iv.

p. 34.

146 – The capture of this ill-fated ship by the English frigate

Shannon was mainly owing to a bugleman’s desertion of his

quarters. Notwithstanding the fall of captain Lawrence and

the principal officers of the Chesapeake early in the action,

had the bugleman whose duty it was to call the boarders

sounded his horn when ordered, the crew would have promptly

repaired to the deck, and the issue of the engagement been,

in all probability, different. As it was, the usual signal

was not sounded that the enemy were boarding, and when some

midshipmen ran below to pass the word, the seamen knew not

what was meant, were thrown into confusion, and abandoned

their quarters.

Previous to the two ships falling foul of each other, the

fire of the Chesapeake made unexampled destruction on board

the Shannon. All the damage that the enemy received was

before they boarded. In the short space of eight minutes,

the Shannon was so cut in her hull by the Chesapeake’s

broadsides that it was with difficulty she could be kept

afloat during that night, and she had eighty-eight of

her crew killed and wounded, while the Chesapeake was

comparatively uninjured.

The Chesapeake was rated as a thirty-six gun frigate but

mounted forty-nine; the Shannon mounted fifty-two carriage

guns and had a picked crew of four hundred men. The seamen

of the Chesapeake were fresh recruits, and little or no

opportunity had been afforded to exercise and discipline

them.

It was on the morning of the first of June that the Shannon

appeared off our harbor and tauntingly displayed her colors.

The Chesapeake was lying at anchor below fort Independence.

As soon as the enemy’s flag was seen, she fired a gun and

ran up the American flag. Preparation was at once made for

sailing, and when the tide served, she got under way. The

Shannon stood immediately down the bay, followed by the

Chesapeake under a press of sail.

Every elevated spot in Boston which commanded a view of

the sea was crowded with anxious spectators. But the ship

proceeded so far to the eastward that the conflict could not

be seen. A large number of boats sailed out to witness the

result, and brought back the melancholy tidings, that when

the smoke of the cannonade had dispersed, the English colors

were seen flying on board the Chesapeake, and soon after

both vessels standing towards Halifax. The suspense that

ensued for more than a fortnight was painful in the extreme.

The fate of no one was known, though it was generally

anticipated from the intrepid character of captain Lawrence

that he had fallen a martyr to his country.

Captain Lawrence was first wounded in the leg, but he

refused to be carried below until he was mortally wounded

by a grape-shot. He continued, however, to issue his orders

from the cockpit; ‘Fight her till she sinks――keep the guns

going;’ and when told that the enemy had carried the upper

deck, he sent that emphatic and memorable message, ‘Don’t

give up the ship.’ When apprized of the unhappy issue, he

exclaimed, ‘The Shannon was whipped when I left.’

Captain Broke, of the Shannon, was dangerously wounded at

the close of the action by the stroke of a sabre. He was

delirious for a long period, but recovered and went to

England. He lived long enough to be made an admiral, but

within a year or two has deceased. He was a generous as well

as brave officer, and never would have allowed the carnage

to take place which was committed on board the Chesapeake,

after her surrender, had he been aware of it. If it be true,

as there is good reason to believe, that he was wounded

while stooping to save the life of one of the Chesapeake’s

crew whom one of his men was mangling, his memory

deserves to be embalmed, as well by Americans as by his

countrymen.――_Boston Atlas._

147 – Historical Memoir of the War in Louisiana, by Major A. L.

Latour, Engineer in the United States Army. Philadelphia,

1816.

148 – By the first article of this treaty it was agreed that there

shall be a firm and universal peace between his Britannic

majesty and the United States, and between their respective

countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, of every

degree, without exception of places or persons; and that all

hostilities, both by sea and land, shall cease as soon as

this treaty shall have been ratified by both parties. By the

third article, all prisoners of war taken on either side,

as well by land as by sea, shall be restored as soon as

practicable after the ratifications of this treaty. By the

fourth article, the decision of the conflicting claims of

the United States and of Great Britain to several islands in

the bay of Passamaquoddy was referred to two commissioners,

one to be appointed by his Britannic majesty, and one by the

president of the United States, with the advice and consent

of the senate; and it was agreed, in the event of the two

commissioners differing upon all or any of the matters

referred to them, or of their not acting, they shall make

report or reports to their respective governments, which

report or reports they agreed to refer to some friendly

sovereign or state, to be then named for that purpose, and

engaged to consider such decision to be final and conclusive.

By the ninth article, the United States engaged to put

an end, immediately after the ratification of the present

treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes or nations of

Indians with whom they may be at war at the time of such

ratification, provided they shall agree to desist from all

hostilities against the United States; and his Britannic

majesty, on his part, entered into a correspondent

engagement on the like condition of their desisting from all

hostilities against him and his subjects. The tenth article

has respect to the abolition of the slave-trade; ‘Whereas

the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the principles

of humanity and justice; and whereas both his majesty and

the United States are desirous of continuing their efforts

to promote its entire abolition; it is hereby agreed that

both the contracting parties shall use their best endeavors

to accomplish so desirable an object.’

149 – Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 347.

150 – Annual Register.

Transcriber’s Notes.

The following corrections have been made in the text:

Page 26:

Sentence starting: 6. Moosehillock Mt.,...

– ‘Mooshillock’ replaced with ‘Moosehillock’

(Moosehillock Mt., Grafton County, New Hampshire)

Page 65:

Sentence starting: It appeared to me....

– text missing from imprint

(appeared to me to owe)

Page 75:

Sentence starting: It abounds in fish,...

– ‘In’ replaced with ‘It’

(It abounds in fish,)

Page 143:

Sentence starting: The climate of Massachusetts....

– ‘Masachusetts’ replaced with ‘Massachusetts’

(climate of Massachusetts is)

Page 145:

Sentence starting: The northern parts, however,...

– ‘agreable’ replaced with ‘agreeable’

(more agreeable and healthy)

Page 149:

Sentence starting: The peninsula is visited....

– ‘peninsular’ replaced with ‘peninsula’

(The peninsula is visited)

Page 150:

Sentence starting: A series of thermometrical observations....

– ‘themometrical’ replaced with ‘thermometrical’

(A series of thermometrical observations)

Page 173:

Sentence starting: The chase is commenced....

– ‘chace’ replaced with ‘chase’

(The chase is commenced)

Page 190:

Sentence starting: ‘When it plunges into....

– ‘disapppear’ replaced with ‘disappear’

(to disappear for an instant.)

Page 201:

Sentence starting: The general color of this....

– ‘siaty’ replaced with ‘slaty’

(a dark slaty ash,)

Page 208:

Sentence starting: He is extremely fond of....

– ‘His’ replaced with ‘He’

(He is extremely fond of)

Page 247:

Sentence starting: The common kinds of water-plants....

– ‘mashy’ replaced with ‘marshy’

(found in the marshy grounds)

Page 327:

Sentence starting: The fur-trade, the lead mines,...

– ‘Misissippi’ replaced with ‘Mississippi’

(on the upper Mississippi)

Page 333:

Sentence starting: It is divided into three distinct....

– ‘Pensylvania’ replaced with ‘Pennsylvania’

(and the Pennsylvania avenue.)

Page 347:

Sentence starting: There are at present....

– ‘tobaccco’ replaced with ‘tobacco’

(two sorts of tobacco raised)

Page 355:

Sentence starting: It has been, within a few....

– ‘iritating’ replaced with ‘irritating’

(not in the irritating measures)

Page 379:

Sentence starting: The number of its locks....

– ‘it’ replaced with ‘is’

(The number of its locks is twenty-six.)

Page 398:

Sentence starting: The present constitution....

– ‘182’ replaced with ‘1822’

(was formed in 1822.)

Page 405:

Sentence starting: The convention proposed....

– ‘Virgina’ replaced with ‘Virginia’

(proposed by Virginia,)

Page 409:

Sentence starting: _Mr. President_――The....

– ‘mperfection’ replaced with ‘imperfection’

(the imperfection of the human understanding.)

Page 414:

Sentence starting: ‘When you become men,’....

– ‘cuning’ replaced with ‘cunning’

(and cunning in war,)

Page 432:

Sentence starting: ....

– ‘probally’ replaced with ‘probably’

(will probably ere long)

Page 523:

Sentence starting: On the downfall of....

– ‘downfal’ replaced with ‘downfall’

(On the downfall of the)

Page 527:

Sentence starting: Between 1777 and 1779,....

– ‘1799’ replaced with ‘1779’

(Between 1777 and 1779,)

Page 572:

Sentence starting: This confederacy, which was....

– duplicated word removed ‘to’

(declared to be perpetual,)

Page 608

Sentence starting: The young men, burning....

– ‘neigboring’ replaced with ‘neighboring’

(and the neighboring plantations;)

Page 613:

Sentence starting: This letter perplexed and....

– ‘delieving’ replaced with ‘believing’

(and others believing it to contain)

Page 615:

Sentence starting: As soon, however, as....

– ‘be’ replaced with ‘by’

(to be secured by a distribution)

Page 722:

Sentence starting: New York was evacuated....

– ‘Yew’ replaced with ‘New’

(New York was evacuated)

Page 764:

Sentence starting: It is instructive to observe....

– ‘goverment’ replaced with ‘government’

(the internal government of)

Page 770:

Sentence starting: It is submitted to the wisdom....

– ‘transanctions’ replaced with ‘transactions’

(which these transactions may produce.’)

Page 823:

Sentence starting: The explosion was followed,...

– ‘wo’ replaced with ‘woe’

(by shrieks of woe which)

Page 830:

Sentence starting: In order to [give] a ....

– word omitted from text ‘[give]’

(In order to [give] a fair)

Page 834:

Sentence starting: Attempts at compromise had....

– ‘begining’ replaced with ‘beginning’

(was beginning to be felt)

Page 849 Appendix:

Sentence starting: Western and Atlantic,...

– ‘Wetsern’ replaced with ‘Western’

(Western and Atlantic,)

Page 849 Appendix:

Sentence starting: Selma and Cahawba,...

– ‘Cawhaba’ replaced with ‘Cahawba’

(Selma and Cahawba,)

Footnote 23:

Sentence starting: There is now, indeed,...

– duplicated word removed ‘of’

(and more of city-like amusements)

Footnote 60:

Sentence starting: The Washington Monument is built....

– Footnote was not marked in the text. Footnote anchor placed

by transcriber.

Footnote 96:

Sentence starting: It is humiliating to reflect,...

– ‘dependdence’ replaced with ‘dependence’

(imbecile dependence upon it)

Footnote 146:

Sentence starting: Notwithstanding the fall....

– ‘Nothwithstanding’ replaced with ‘Notwithstanding’

(Notwithstanding the fall of)