_By_ JOHN BARROW, Esq., F.R.S., _Author of the “Eventful History of the
Mutiny of the Bounty.” With Portrait._
The author of this Biographical Memoir has arranged the scattered
fragments of Histories, Lives, Anecdotes, and Notices, manuscript or
print, of one of the most extraordinary characters that ever appeared
in the world, in any age or country;--being full of contradictions, yet
consistent; a promoter of literature, arts, and sciences, yet without
education; “he gave a polish,” says Voltaire, “to his nation, and was
himself a savage;” he taught his people the art of war, of which he was
himself ignorant; from the first glance of a cock-boat, five hundred
miles from the sea, he became an expert ship-builder, created a fleet,
partly constructed with his own hands, made himself an expert sailor, a
skilful pilot, a great captain: in short, he changed the manners, the
habits, the laws of the people, and the very face of the country.