Biographical, Literary, and Political Anecdotes of Several of the Most Eminent Persons of the Present Age.  Never Before Printed.  With an Appendix; Consisting of Original, Explanatory, and Scarce Papers.  By the Author of Anecdotes of the Late Earl of Chatham.  In Three Volumes.  Volume II.  London: Printed for T. N. Longman, and L. B. Seeley.  In Pater-Noster-Row.  1797. 

Chapter XXI.

William Knox, Esq.  Advocate for the American War.  Secretary to Lord George Germaine.  His State of the Nation; assisted by Mr. Grenville.  Other Publications.

This gentleman was another of Mr. Grenville's friends; and was a very strenuous and persevering advocate of the British measures against America.  He was agent for Georgia; and Under Secretary of State to Lord Hillsborough, and to Lord George Germaine, during the American war.  To his zeal and suggestions, many of the unfortunate measures against America were ascribed, and he sustained much of the hatred of the Americans on that account.  He was the author of several tracts on American subjects, the principal of which was,

"The Controversy between Great Britain and her Colonies reviewed."  It is obviously a work of much labour and contains extracts from many papers.  The writer's view is to support the right of Great Britain to tax America.

He was also the writer of a tract intitled "The Present State of the Nation; particularly with respect to its Trade, Finances, &c."  This pamphlet was, at first, ascribed to Mr. Grenville; and Mr. Burke, by his pamphlet intitled "Observations upon it," gave a temporary currency to that opinion.  Mr. Grenville undoubtedly assisted the writer with materials and arguments, but the compositions belong to Mr. Knox.  It consists principally of a defence of Mr. Grenville's ministry and measures, and a condemnation of the Rockingham ministry, and their measures.

Mr. Knox has also published two small volumes, called "Extra-official State Papers;" which contain many useful hints. 

The two following Letters are not unworthy of the reader's notice:

5th March 1783.

"Sir,

"Letters having been written to the Secretary of the late Board of Trade, and to my colleague, for the last six months, as Under Secretary of State in the American department, and to all the clerks who have been deprived of their situations in those offices by their suppression, acquainting them, that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury had made them all allowances in compensation of the incomes they had been deprived of; and no such letter having come to me, I am constrained to give you the trouble of this letter, to request the favour of you to move their Lordships to permit you to inform me of what account it is that I, who had served as Under Secretary to every Secretary of State that has filled the American department, from its institution to its suppression, and even attended the Earl of Shelburne when that department was absorbed in the domestic, until his Lordship was more ably served, should be the only person passed over upon this occasion without compensation, and even without notice.

"I am, Sir, &c. William Knox."

"Geo. Rose, Esq."

Copy of Mr. Rose's Answer, dated 17th of March 1783.

"Sir,

"Upon reading to my Lords Commissioners of the Treasury your letter, dated the 5th instant, respecting a compensation for your office of Under Secretary of State for the American department, I am directed to acquaint you, that my Lords are of opinion that you have no claim whatever to a compensation for the loss of your office, you already having a pension of six hundred pounds a-year for yourself, and the like sum for Mrs. Knox.

"I am, Sir, &c. Geo. Rose."  

Preface to the English Edition.

From the part Mr. Burke took in the American Revolution, it was natural that I should consider him a friend to mankind; and as our acquaintance commenced on that ground, it would have been more agreeable to me to have had cause to continue in that opinion, than to change it.

At that time Mr. Burke made his violent speech last winter in the English Parliament against the French Revolution and the National Assembly, I was in Paris, and had written him, but a short time before, to inform him how prosperously matters were going on.  Soon after this, I saw his advertisement of the Pamphlet he intended to publish: As the attack was to be made in a language he little studied, and less understood, in France, and as every thing suffers by translation, I promised some of the friends of the Revolution in that country, that whenever Mr. Burke's Pamphlet came forth, I would answer it.  This appeared to m the more necessary to be done, when I saw the flagrant misrepresentations which Mr. Burke's Pamphlet contains; and that while it is an outrageous abuse on the French Revolution, and the principles of Liberty, it is an imposition on the rest of the world.

I am the more astonished and disappointed at this conduct of Mr. Burke, as (from the circumstance I am going to mention), I had formed other expectations.

I had seen enough of the miseries of war, to wish it might never more have existence in the world, and that some other mode might be found out to settle the differences that should occasionally arise in the neighborhood of nations.  This certainly might be done if Courts were disposed to set honestly about it, or if countries were enlightened enough to not be made the dupes of Courts.  The people of America had been bred up in the same prejudices against France, which at that time characterized the people of England; but experience and an acquaintance with the French Nation have most effectually shown to the Americans the falsehood of those prejudices; and I do not believe that a more cordial and confidential intercourse exists between any two countries than between America and France. 

When I came to France in the Spring of 1787, the Archbishop of Thoulouse was then Minister, and at that time highly esteemed.  I became much acquainted with the private Secretary of that Minister, a man of an enlarged and benevolent heart; and found, that his sentiments and my own perfectly agreed with respect to the madness of war, and the wretched impolicy of two nations, like England and France, continually worrying each other, to no other end than that of a mutual increase of burdens and taxes.  That I might be assured I had not misunderstood him, nor he me, I put the substance of our opinions into writing, and sent it to him; subjoining a request, that if I should see among the people of England, any disposition to cultivate a better understanding between the two nations than had hitherto prevailed, how far I might be authorized to say that the same disposition prevailed on the part of France?  He answered me by letter in the most unreserved manner, and that not for himself only, but for the Minister, with whose knowledge the letter was declared to be written.

I put this letter into the hands of Mr. Burke almost three years ago, and left it with him, where it still remains; hoping, and at the same time naturally expecting, from the opinion I had conceived of him, that he would find some opportunity of making good use of it, for the purpose of removing those errors and prejudices, which two neighboring nations, from the want of knowing each other, had entertained, to the injury of both.

When the French Revolution broke out, it certainly afforded to Mr. Burke an opportunity of doing some good, had he been disposed to it; instead of which, no sooner did he see the old prejudices wearing away, than he immediately began sowing the seeds of a new inveteracy, as if he were afraid that England and France would cease to be enemies.  That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrel of Nations, is as shocking as it is true; but when those who are concerned in the government of a country, make it their study to sow discord, and cultivate prejudices between Nations, it becomes more unpardonable.

With respect to a paragraph in this Work alluding to Mr. Burke's having a pension, the report has been some time in circulation, at least two months; and as a person is often the last to hear what concerns him the most to know, I have mentioned it, that Mr. Burke may have an opportunity of contradicting the rumour, if he thinks proper.

THOMAS PAINE.

PREFACE.

IN the progress of the French Revolution, candid men find much to praise, and much to censure. It is a novel event in the history of nations, and furnishes new subjects of reflection. The end in view is noble; but whether the spirit of party and faction, which divided the National Assembly, sacrificed one part, and gave to the other the sovereign power over the nation, will not deprive the present generations of the blessings of freedom and good government, the objects contended for, is a very interesting question. Equally interesting is it to enquire what will be the effects of the revolution on the agriculture, commerce, and moral character of the French nation. The field of spectulation is new, and the subject curious.

The writer of the following remarks came into society, during the late war with Great-Britain; his heart was very early warmed with a love of liberty; his pen has often advocated her cause. When the revolution in France was announced in America, his heart exulted with joy; he felt nearly the same interest in its success, as he did in the establishement of American Independence. This joy has been much allayed by the sanguinary procedings of the Jacobins, thier atheistical attacks on christianity, and their despicable attention to trifles. He is however candid enough to believe much of the violence of their measures may be attributed to the combination of powers, formed for the most unwarrantable purpose of dictating to an independent nation its form of government. Perhaps other circumstances, not known in this country, may serve to palliate the apparent cruelty of the ruling faction. But there are some proceedings of the present convention, which admit of no excuse but a political insanity; a wild enthusiasm, violent and irregular, which magnifies a mole-hill into a mountain; and mistakes a shadow for a giant.

A just estimate of things, their causes and effects, is always desireable; and it is of infinite consequence to this country, to ascertain the point where our admiration of the French measures should end, and our censure, begin; the point, beyond which an introduction of their principles and practice into this country, will prove dangerous to government, religion and morals.

With this view the following strictures are offered to the American Public. Freedom of discussion is a privilege enjoyed by every citizen; and it is presumed that some degree of severity will be pardoned, when it has truth for its support, and public utility for its object.

Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fourth Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies Established in different Parts of the United States, Assembled at Philadelphia, on the Third Day of May, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety-Seven, and Continued, By Adjournments, Until the Ninth Day of the Same Month, Inclusive.  Philadelphia: Printed by Zachariah Poulson, Junior, Number Eighty, Chesnutt-Street. 1797. 

May fifth, 1797. 

The committee appointed at the last meeting to take into consideration the reports from the different Abolition Societies, and to report to the Convention the measures necessary to be taken in consequence of those communications, as well as the objects proper for the attention of the Convention, and the most suitable means for their attainment, report,

I. That they have carefully attended to the communications, from several Societies, made to the Convention for the past and present years, and compared with them the recommendations and requirements of the Convention of 1796.  By the annexed table, the Convention will perceive what these requisitions and recommendations were, and how far each society has complied therewith.

II. The committee recommend it to the Convention, to address a letter or memorial to the Secretary of State of the United States, recapitulating the evidence which the records of the District Court of the United States, for the Pennsylvania District afford, of attempts made by citizens of the United States, to evade the law prohibiting our citizens from supplying foreign countries with slaves, by clandestinely using the Danish flag and registers, and praying such aid and interference of the government of the United States, with the court of Denmark, or with other governments under whose authority such practices now obtain, as may consist with propriety, for the prevention of the use of their flag or registers, by the citizens of the United States, under any pretence whatever, for the purpose of pursuing the trade in men. 

III. It appearing from the report of the Alexandria Society, that the law of the United States, entitled, "An act to prohibit the carrying of the slave-trade from the United States to any foreign place or country," is defective, in that it does not prevent the shipment of slaves (for sale in the West Indies and elsewhere) on board vessels, not specially fitted out for that purpose--an act being thereby evaded.

The committee recommend it to the Convention, to present a memorial or petition to Congress, praying such an ammendment of the act above referred to, as may oblige the master or owner of any vessel or vessels before clearing out, to declare on oath or affirmation, that no slaves are received or taken on board said vessel or vessels, for sale in any foreign port; and as may further oblige him to enter into a recognizance or bond, with a sufficient penalty to be put in suit, and the penalty recovered, in case a sale of any slave so put on board should take place. 

IV. It appears from the papers from North Carolina, that, by a law of that state, passed in 1777, certain negroes and others, who had been previously emancipated by their proprietors, citizens of that state, were taken up, and again reduced to slavery; and this, not only where the persons so emancipated had continued in the state, but also where the emancipation had been effected in other states, and the freed-man had returned into North Carolina, to reside there: in both cases, tin direct violation of the constitution of the state.  But the committee would recommend it to the Convention to obtain the opinion of the most eminent counsel in this city, whether an action for damages, by a person emancipated in another state before the passing of the act in 1777, and who was again reduced to slavery on returning to North Carolina, could not be maintained against the purchaser or holder of such person in the Courts of the United States; or whether any, and what legal remedy may be had for persons under these circumstances, and where they were made slaves, without having quitted the state.

DEDICATION,

TO THE

CITIZENS

OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

I FEEL the greatest pleasure in presenting the following work to your consideration and use, from the hope I entertain, that amongst others it may contribute to advance our national interests; --from a reflection on that uncommon degree of patronage it has obtained, amongst the most respectable and patriotic characters; --as it furnishes an opportunity of thus testifying my gratitude for the participation with you, in the benefits derived from a just administration of wise and equal laws; --and from a sense of that encouragement which our happy mode of government presents to industry, skill and virtue.

To this cause must we attribute the attainment of that conspicuous situation America now holds in the commercial system, and her elevated rank among the nations.

The respect which commerce commands, is infinitely preferable to that which conquest excites: --those with whom we negociate, naturally become our friends, --those we conquer, as natually become our enemies: --the first address us with an open, bounteous benevolence, --the last approach us with tardy steps, and yield their compulsive tribute with a retracting hand.

While commerce enriches individuals with all that is comprized in the epithet of wealth--it enriches a nation with a fixed and lasting reputation; but conquest, merely amuses with an imaginary, impermanent, inglorius fame, --leaving its security ever quesionable, and obnoxious to those open or secret attacks, which a just resentment of injuries invariably inspires.

No position can be more evident, than, that war is destructive of commerce, and ruinous to the prosperity of a country, --therefore, a nation or state, the professed objects of whose aim are, prosperity and happiness, must avoid war, --encourage industry, -- cultivate virtue, --and preserve good order at home.

Until the European nations shall imitate the United States, in the adoption of the same means, they will have no legitimate hope of obtaining the same end, in the participation of those substantial blessings, which form her distinguishing characteristics, and constitute her true honor, happiness and glory.

May the universal co-operation of individual virtue, secure and perpetuate these blessings, until her illustrious example shall have taught all nations duly to appreciate their value, that they may participate the possession; and with her to unite in transmitting them, by such individual virtue, to all succeeding generations.

The Works of Benjamin Franklin; Containing Several Political and Historical Tracts Not Included in Any Former Edition, And Many Letters Official and Private Not Hitherto Published; with Notes and A Life of the Author.  By Jared Sparks.  Volume II [of 9].  Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company. 

On The Slave Trade.

To the Editor of the Federal Gazette. 

March 23rd, 1790.

Sir,

Reading last night in your excellent paper the speech of Mr. Jackson in Congress against their meddling with the affair of slavery, or attempting to mend the condition of the slaves, it put me in mind of a similar one made about one hundred years since by Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim, a member of the Divan of Algiers, which may be seen in Martin's Account of his Consulship, anno 1687.  It was against granting the petition of the sect called Erika, or Purists, who prayed for the abolition of piracy and slavery as being unjust.  Mr. Jackson does not quote it; perhaps he has not seen it.  If, therefore, some of its reasonings are to be found in his eloquent speech, it may only show that men's interests and intellects operate and are operated on with surprising similarity in all countries and climates, whenever they are under similar circumstances.  The African's speech, as translated, is as follows.

"Allah Bismallah, &c.  God is great, and Mahomet is his Prophet.

"Have these Erika considered the consequences of granting this petition?  If we cease our cruises against the Christians, how shall we be furnished with the commodities their countries produce, and which are so necessary for us?  If we forbear to make slaves of their people, who in this hot climate are to cultivate our lands?  Who are to perform the common labors of our city, and in our families?  Must we not then be our own slaves?  And is there not more compassion and more favor due to us as Mussulmen, than to these Christian dogs?  We have now above fifty thousand slaves in and near Algiers.  This number, if not kept up by fresh supplies, will soon diminish, and be gradually annihilated.  If we then cease taking and plundering the infidel ships, and making slaves of the seamen and passengers, our lands will become of no value for want of cultivation; the rents of houses in the city will sink one half; and the revenue of government arising from its share of prizes be totally destroyed!  And for what?  To gratify the whims of a whimsical sect, who would have us, not only forbear making more slaves, but even manumit those we have. 

"But who is to indemnify their masters for the loss?  Will the state do it?  Is our treasury sufficient?  Will the Erika do it?  Can they do it?  Or would they, to do what they think justice to the slaves, do a greater injustice to the owners?  And if we set our slaves free, what is to be done with them?  Few of them will return to their countries; they know too well the greater hardships they must there be subject to; they will not embrace our holy religion; they will not adopt our manners; our people will not pollute themselves by intermarrying with them.  Must we maintain them as beggars in our streets, or suffer our properties to be the prey of their pillage?  For men accustomed to slavery will not work for a livelihood when not compelled.  And what is there so pitiable in their present condition?  Were they not slaves in their own countries?

"Are not Spain, Portugal, France, and the Italian states governed by despots, who hold all their subjects in slavery, without exception?  Even England treats its sailors as slaves; for they are, whenever the government pleases, seized, and confined in ships of war, condemned not only to work, but to fight, for small wages, or a mere subsistence, not better than our slaves are allowed by us.  Is their condition then made worse by their falling into our hands?  No; they have only exchanged one slavery for another, and I may say a better; for here they are brought into a land where the sun of Islamism gives forth its light, and shines in full splendor, and they have an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the true doctrine, and thereby saving their immortal souls.  Those who remain at home have not that happiness.  Sending the slaves home then would be sending them out of the light and into darkness.

"I repeat the question, What is to be done with them?  I have heard it suggested, that they may be planted in the wilderness, where there is plenty of land for them to subsist on, and where they may flourish as a free state; but they are, I doubt, too little disposed to labor without compulsion, as well as too ignorant to establish a good government, and the wild Arabs would soon molest and destroy or again enslave them.  While serving us, we take care to provide them with every thing, and they are treated with humanity.  The laborers in their own country are, as I am well informed, worse fed, lodged, and clothed.  The condition of most of them is therefore already mended, and requires no further improvement.  Here their lives are in safety.  They are not liable to be impressed for soldiers, and forced to cut one another's Christian throats, as in the wars of their own countries.  If some of the religious mad bigots, who now tease us with their silly petitions, have in a fit of blind zeal freed their slaves, it was not generosity, it was not humanity, that moved them to the action; it was from the conscious burden of a load of sins, and a hope, from the supposed merits of so good a work, to be excused from damnation.

"How grossly are they mistaken to suppose slavery to be disallowed by the Alcoran!  Are not the two precepts, to quote no more, 'Masters, treat your slaves with kindness; Slaves, serve your masters with cheerfulness and fidelity,' clear proofs to the contrary?  Nor can the plundering of infidels be in that sacred book forbidden, since it is well known from it, that God has given the world, and all it contains, to his faithful Mussulmen, who are to enjoy it of right as fast as they conquer it.  Let us then hear not more of this detestable proposition, the manumission of Christian slaves, the adoption of which would, by depreciating our lands and houses, and thereby depriving so many good citizens of their properties, create universal discontent, and provoke insurrections, to the endangering of government and producing general confusion.  I have therefore no doubt, but this wise council will prefer the comfort and happiness of a whole nation of true believers to the whim of a few Erika, and dismiss their petition."      

The result was, as Martin tells us, that the Divan came to the resolution; "The doctrine, that plundering and enslaving the Christians is unjust, is as best problematical; but that it is in the interest of this state to continue the practice, is clear; therefore let the petition be rejected."

And it was rejected accordingly.

And since like motives are apt to produce in the minds of men like opinions and resolutions, may we not, Mr. Brown, venture to predict, from this account, that the petitions to the Parliament of England for abolishing the slave-trade, to say nothing of other legislatures, and the debates upon them, will have a similar conclusion?  I am, Sir, your constant reader and humble servant,

HISTORICUS.

A Sketch of the Finances of the United States.  By Albert Gallatin.  New York: Printed by William A. David, No. 438 Pearl Street.  1796.

[...]  The tax upon snuff manufactured within the United States, was first laid on the quantity manufactured, at the rate of eight cents per pound, and during the six months ending on the last day of March 1795, while it remained in that shape, is stated to have yielded only 2,400 dollars; in which account, however, are not included the returns of the first survey of Pennsylvania, and for the state of Delaware, which pay about one half of the duty.  From the first of April 1795, the tax has been laid on the mills employed in the manufacture, as is stated for the six following months, to have produced 7,112 dollars, but on account of deficient statements, may be estimated for one year at about 20,000 dollars.  But, during the same period, the drawbacks allowed, at the rate of six cents per pound, seem to have excluded the amount of gross revenue.  From the first of April 1795, to the 23rd of February 1796, there were exported, from the port of Philadelphia alone, 237,000 lb. and, from the shipments then going on, there is little doubt that the quantity exported from that port, for the whole year ending on the first of April 1796, amounted to 350,000 lb; the drawbacks whereon would form a sum of 21,000 dollars.  The quantity exported was even increasing; for, of the above 237,000 lb, only 75,000 were exported during the sixth [sic] first months, and 162,000 during the five last.  In fact snuff was amnufactured for exportation, for the sake of the drawback which operated as a bounty.  An alteration in a revenue law, which thus drained the treasury, instead of yielding a revenue, became necessary.  The difficulty of rendering the duty equal, on account of the great difference in the relative situation and powers of the mills, the consequent complaints of the small manufacturers, the necessity of allowing a drawback upon the exportation of an article both of the growth and of the manufacture of the United States; the impossibility of fixing a drawback on the quantity of the article, proportionate to the duty laid on the machinery employed in manufacturing that article, together with the evasions stated to have taken place, by hand-mills employed in vaults, where the noise could not be heard, determined Congress, during last session, to suspend the law for one year.  As the suspension may continue, and as, unless an entirely new plan is proposed and adopted, this duty cannot yield any thing, it cannot at present be counted amongst the productive branches of revenue.   

A Commentary Illustrating the Poetic of Aristotle, By Examples Taken Chiefly from the Modern Poets.  To Which is Prefixed, A new and corrected edition of the Translation of the Poetic.  By Henry James Pye, Esq.  London: Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly.  M.DCC.XCII.

COMMENTARY.  Chap. I. Note I.

The Epopee and Tragedy, as also comedy and dithyrambics, and the greater part of those compositions which are set to the flute and the lyre, all agree in the general character of being imitations. 

By imitation, Aristotle does not mean merely description, but a lively representation of human actions, passions, and manners.  It would be superfluous to say much on a subject which has been so amply and clearly treated by Mr. Twining, in his 'Dissertation on Poetry considered as an imitative art,' and to which I refer such of my readers as desire full and satisfactory information on this subject.  Aristotle, undoubtedly, places that species of imitation in the first class, which is performed by persons acting, as in the drama, and, for the most part, in the epopees of Homer.  This appears from what he says of the epopee, in the twenty-fourth chapter.  'The poet (he observes) should appear himself as little as possible, for whenever he speaks in his own person he ceases to be an imitator;' seeming even to contradict what he had before allowed in the third chapter, 'that the poet might imitate, either like Homer, sometimes by simple narration, and sometimes by assuming a different character; or entirely by narration, without assuming any character.'  It may perhaps be impossible strictly to reconcile this difference of opinion, but it obviously shews the great preference he gave personal imitation to any other, from which arose his strong predilection for tragedy; and I think we may fairly deduce from it, that even the poet whose imitation is solely narrative, must paint in strong colours the effects of action, passions and manners, and not merely relate a fable though fictitious, like an historian, for the purpose of drawing moral reflections from it.

Those passages, nevertheless, of an epic poem, where the poet speaks in his own person, have great beauty from their contrast with the impassioned parts, and the relief they give the mind, provided they are neither too frequent nor too long, and the rule laid down by Aristotle, in his twenty-fourth chapter, concerning the elegance of the versification be carefully observed.  Mr. Twining quotes a beautiful example from the first Aeneid.

‘Urbs antique fuit, (Tyrii tenuêre coloni,)

Carthago, Italiam contra Tiberinaque longe

Ostia—.’

Innumerable instances may be produced from Milton; as the description of evening and of paradise, in the fourth book of Paradise Lost; in this he is superior to any poet ancient or modern, though there are many striking passages of the same kind in the Odyssey.

The modern invention of reciting a tale, by means of an epistolary correspondence between the persons concerned, is a very happy mode of imitation, uniting in some measure the different advantages of epopee and the drama.  Perhaps a work of this nature, where the character and style of all the persons corresponding, is nicely discriminated and rigidly observed, is yet a desideratum in imitative composition.    

See earlier post here.

Chap. XX.

The Motives, Progress, and Effects of the Conversion of Constantine.--Legal Establishment and Constitution of the Christian or Catholic Church.

The public establishment of Christianity may be considered as one of those important and domestic revolutions which excite the most curiosity, and afford the most valuable instruction.  The victories of the civil policy of Constantine no longer influence the state of Europe; but a considerable portion of the globe still retains the impression which it received from the conversion of that monarch; and the ecclesiastical institutions of his reign are still connected, by an indissoluble chain, with the opinions, the passions, and the interests of the present generation.

In the consideration of a subject which may be viewed with indifference, but cannot be viewed with indifference, a difficulty immediately arises of a very unexpected nature; that of ascertaining the real and precise date of the conversion of Constantine.  The eloquent Lactantius, in the midst of his court seems impatient to proclaim the world the glorious example of the sovereign of Gaul; who, in the first moments of his reign, acknowledged and adored the majesty of the true and only God.  The learned Eusebius has ascribed the faith of Constantine to the miraculous sign which was displayed in the heavens whilest he meditated and prepared the Italian expedition.  The historian Zosimus maliciously asserts that the emperor had embrued his hands in the blood of his eledest son, before he publicly renounced the gods of Rome and of his ancestors.  The perplexity produced from these discordant authorities, is derived from the behavior of Constantine himself.  According to the strictness of ecclesiastical language, the first of the Christian emperors was unworthy of that name, till the moment of his death; since it was only during his last illness that he received, as a catechumen, the imposition of hands, and was afterwards admitted, by the initiatory rites of baptism, into the number of the faithful.  The Christianity of Constantine must be allowed in a much more vague and qualified sense; and the nicest accuracy is required in tracing the slow and almost imperceptible gradations by which the monarch declared himself the protector, and at length the proselyte, of the church.  It was an arduous task to eradicate the habits and prejudices of his education, to acknowledge the divine power of Christ, and to understand that the truth of his revelation was incompatible with the worship of the gods.  The obstacles which he had probably experienced in his own mind, instructed him to proceed with caution in the momentous change of a national religion; and he insensibly discovered his new opinions, as far as he could enforce them with safety and with effect.  During the whole course of his reign, the stream of Christianity flowed with a gentle, though accelerated motion: but its general direction was sometimes checked, sometimes diverted, by the accidental circumstances of the times, and by the prudence, or possibly the caprice, of the monarch.  His ministers were permitted to signify the intentions of their master in the various language which was best adapted to their respective principles; and he artfully balanced the hopes and fears of his subjects, by publishing in the same year two edicts; the first of which enjoined the solemn observance of Sunday, and the second directed the regular consultation of the Aruspices.  While this important revolution yet remained in suspense, the Christians and the Pagans watched the conduct of their sovereign with the same anxiety, but with very opposite sentiments.  The former were prompted by every motive of zeal, as well as vanity, to exaggerate the marks of his favour, and the evidences of his faith.  The latter, till their just apprehensions were changed into despair, and resentment, attempted to conceal from the world, and from themselves, that the gods of Rome could no longer reckon the emperor in the number of their votaries.  The same passions and prejudices have engaged the partial writers of the times to connect the public profession of Christianity with the most glorious or the most ignominious aera of the reign of Constantine.   

PREFACE.

THE arts and sciences in general, during the three or four last centuries, have had a regular course of progressive improvement. The inventions in mechanic arts, the discoveries in natural philosophy, navigation, and commerce, and the advancement of civilization and humanity, have occasioned changes in the condition of the world, and have the human character, which would have astonished the most refined nations of antiquity. A continuation of similar exertions is every day rendering Europe more and more like one community, or single family. Even in the theory and practice of government, in all the simple monarchies, considerable improvements have been made. The checks and balances of republican governments have been in some degree adopted by the courts of princes. By the erection of various tribunals to register laws and exercise the judicial power--by indulging the petitions and remonstrances of subjects, until by habit they are regarded as rights--a controul [sic] has been established over ministers of state and the royal councils, which approaches, in some degree, to the spirit of republics. Property is generally secure, and personal liberty seldom invaded. The press has great influence, even where it is not expressly tolerated; and the public opinion must be respected by a minister, or his place becomes insecure. Commerce begins to thrive, and if religious toleration were established, and personal liberty a little more protected, by giving an absolute right to demand a public trial in a certain reasonable time--and the states invested with a few more privileges, or rather restored to some that have been taken away--these governments would be brought to as great a degree of perfection, they would approach as near to the character of governments of laws and not of men, as their nature will probably admit of. In so general a refinement, or more properly reformatin of manners and improvement in knowledge, is it not unaccountable that the knowledge of the principles and construciton of free governments, in which the happiness of life, and even the further progress of improvement in education and society, in knowledge and virtue, are so deeply interested, should have remained at a full stand for two or three thousand years? ---According to a story in Herodotus, the nature of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, and the advances and inconveniencies of each, were as well understood at the time of the neighing of the horse of Darius as they are at this hour. A variety of mixtures of these simple species were conceived and attmepted, with different success, by the Greeks and Romans. Representations, instead of collections, of the people--a total separation of the executive from the legislative power, and of the judicial from both--and a balance in the legislature by three independent equal branches--are perhaps the three only discoveries in the constitution of a free government, since the institution of Lycurgus. Even these have been so unfortunate, that they have never spread: the first has been given up by all the nations, excepting one, who had once adopted it; and the other two, reduced to practice, if not invented, by the English nation, have never been imitated by any other except their own descendants in America. While it would be rash to say, that nothing further can be done to bring a free government, in all its parts, still nearer to perfection--the represenations of the people are most obviously susceptible of improvement. The end to be aimed at, in the formation of a representative assembly, seems to be the sense of the people, the public voice: the perfection of the portrait consists in its likeness. Numbers, or property, or both, should be the rule; and the proportions of electors and members an affair of calculation. The duration should not be so long that the deputy should have time to forget the opinions of his constituents. Corruption in elections is the great enemy of freedom. Among the prvisions to prevent it, more frequent elections, and a more general privilege of voting, are not all that might be devised. Dividing the districts, diminishing the distance of travel, and confining the choice to residents, would be great advances towards the annihilation of corruption . . .

(See also posting from March 22, 2007)

. . . Courage is an essential requisite in the soldier's character. By all means the soldier should have it. Without it, a person is not worthy of the name of soldier. Should persons have all other martial qualifications, yet want this, they would be unfit for service.

"True valor is distinguishing excellence in a military character, without it, the soldier is one of the worst poltrons, he must unavoidably dishonor the arms he bears, and the profession he assumes. It is true valor we speak of; not a savage ferocity, not a brutal rage, not an insatiable cruelty---But a manly greatness, a sedate firmenss and resolution in the midst of danger, whereby a man is not insensible to danger, yet above the fear of it, not so confounded by the most threatening approach of it, as to lose the possession of himself and the command of his understanding, but is capable of recollection, of judging what becomes a person in his station to do, and has the presence of mind to exert all his abilities in doing whatsoever can justly be expected from him."

Courage is not equally imparted to all, by the author of our beings. To some he gives a greater share of it, than to others. The natural make of some is bold and daring, they are never more in their element than when passing through great dangers. Such persons are some times raised up, and used as instruments of bringing to pass some great things in the world, which infinite wisdom determines should take place. Others, again, whose natural courage is not so great, may by reason's aid, surmount unmanly fears, and by being accustomed to dangers, may acquire such measures of fortitude as to act their part well, in hazardous daring enterprizes, and be blessings to their country. The soldier's calling, for instance, is a hazardous one, and they who enter upon it, are to resolve to venture their lives for the defence and preservation of their country, their friends, their relatives, their liberties, &c. Therefore, they are never to forget this, but stand prepared to obey the call of GOD and their country, whether it be to life or death. "The soldier's life is unfit for one that dare not die. A coward is one of the most pernicious murderers: he verifies Christ's saying in another sense---He that saveth his life shall lose it. While men undauntedly stand in their lot, it is usually but few that die, because they quickly daunt the enemy and keep him on the defensive part; but when once they rout and run away, they are slain on heaps and fall like leaves in windy autumn. Every coward who pursueth them, is imboldened by their fear, and dares to run them through or shoot them behind, who durst not so near have looked them in the face, and maketh it his sport to kill a fugitive, or one who layeth down his weapons, who would fly himself from a daring presence. Cowardly fear betrayeth the cause of your country, it betraeth the lives of your fellow-soldiers; the running of a few affrighted dastards, lets in ruin upon all the rest---it casteth away your own lives which you think to save. If you will be soldiers, resolve to conquer or die. It is not so much skill or strength that conquereth, as boldness. It is fear that loseth the day, and fearlessness that winneth it. The army which standeth to it, getteth the victory, who they fight never so weakly, for if you will not run, the enemy will. And if the lives of a few be lost by courage, it usually saveth the lives of many. If the cause be not worth your lives, you should not meddle with it. If it is, you should chuse rather to sacrifice the, than your country." The man of good courage, is prepared to bear up against all the hardships of the warmest service with an unbroken erect mind, when the casue of GOD and his people, shall press him into their service. The intrepid spirit, rested on the brave Nehmiah, when he exclaimed---Should such a man as I, flee? This spirit, inspired that brave commander, who, when deserted by his army in the heat of battle, cried out to them saying: "Go tell the living, that I die fighting, while I go and tell the dead, that you live flying." Are the preceeding observations just? We hence learn that courage is necessary in men of military character. No wonder then, that Israel's brave commander, thus said to his army. "Be of good courage." And no wonder that he further said, let us play the men. Q.D. Let us do that on this great, trying occasion, which MEN, reasonable creatures ought to do. In these words, there is an implication, that he himself was resolved to do that, which he called them to do---either enter into battle, or so post himself, as to direct and guide them to victory. We have no reason to suspect, but that he would readily have done the former, if the case had required it. Every good general chuses rather to sacrifice his life in battle, than his country and honor. When existing circumstances, call to a most dangerous post, he readily exposes his own person. And so will all other good military characters in places below him, when called to dangerous posts.

In these words, let us play the men, we discern civility and decency. Though the army were under this general's absolute command, yet he addressed them not as a pack of slaves and poltrons, nor in profane language, as too many have, to the shame of humanity; but as men, his fellow creatures, whom he respected, and who had a right to civil, human treatment. Such treatment conciliates esteem, and leads to obedience from a principle of love, which is a nobler incentive to action, than fear. Playing the men, imports doing bravely and valiantly. The sacred historian, in another place narrating this speech, thus varies the phraseology, let us behave ourselves valiantly. Playing the men, and behaving valiantly, are nearly, or quite synonymous terms. To play the men in battle, none can, unless they behave valiantly. ---I proceed, . . .

Full title:

A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis; Containing a Detail of the Various Crimes and Misdemeanors By Which Public and Private Property and Security are, at present, injured and endangered: and Suggesting Remedies for their Prevention.  The Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged.  By a Magistrat, Acting for the Counties of Middlesex, Surry, Kent, and Essex.--For the City and Liberty of Westminster--and for the Liberty of the Tower of London.  London:  Printed for H. Fry, Finsbury-Place, For C. Dilly, Poultry. MDCCXCVII.

[Beginning from page 98]:

Night-Coaches also promote, in an eminent degree, the perpetuation of burglaries and other felonies: Bribed by a high reward, many hackney-coachmen eagerly enter into the pay of nocturnal depredators, and wait in the neighbourhood until the robbery be completed, and then draw up, at the moment the watchmen are going their rounds, or off their stands, for the purpose of conveying the plunder to the house of the Receiver, who is generally waiting the issue of the enterprise.

It being certain that a vast deal of mischief is done which could not be effected, were it not for the assistance which night-coaches afford to Thieves of every description, it would seem, upon the whole, advantageous to the Public, that they should not be permitted to take fares after twelve o'clock at night; or, if this is impracticable, that the coach-hire for night service should be advanced, on condition that all coachmen going upon the stands after twelve o'clock, should be licensed by the Magistrates of the division.  By this means the night coachmen, by being more select, would not be so open to improper influence; and they might even become useful to Public Justice in giving informations, and also in detecting Burglars and other Thieves.

Watchmen and Patroles, instead of being, as now, comparatively of little use, from their age, infirmity, inability, inattention, or corrupt practices, might, almost at the present expense, by a proper selection, and a more correct mode of discipline, by means of superintendents appointed by the Magistrates of each ditrict to regulate their conduct, and keep them to their duty, be rendered of great utility in preventing Crimes, and in detecting Offenders. 

At present the System of the nightly watch is without energy, disjointed, and governed by almost as many Acts of Parliament, as there are Parishes, Hamlets, Liberties, and Precincts within the Bills of Mortality; and where the payment is as various, running from 8-1/2 d. up to 2 s. a night.

 Found In: Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful Knowledge. Vol. III> Philadelphia: Printed and sold by Robert Aitken & Son, No. 22, Market Street, M.DCC.XCIII. [1793]

 [pp. 348-350]

THE construction of Hospitals is in general objectionable, either because many of the wards do not admit of perfect ventilation, or because the air passes from one patient over another, by which means contagious diseases are often spread.

To avoid these inconveniences, a large Hospital should consist of distinct and separate buildings, each forming one ward, erected upon arches or columns, at a considerable height from the ground, and ranged at a distance from each other, like the tents of an encampment.

The cieling [sic] or roof of each ward should be formed into a number of spherical arches according to  its size, the crown of each arch being in the middle of the breadth of the ward, and opening into a funnel like a common chimney, which should be supplied with a vane, (resembling that we call a cow) so that it may always open to leeward.

In each floor, midway as to breadth, should be a row of holes at suitable distances from each other, to admit air from below, so constructed that the quantitiy of it may be regulated at pleasure.

In consequence of this structure there must be a constant change of air, for that which is in the lower part of the ward, being warmed by the patients and nurses, and the necessary fires, will ascend, and in consequence of the spherical construction of the roof, will be directed to the openings in it, and flow through them, while the holes in the floor will afford a constant supply of fresh air, which will move rapidly as it enters the from so low.

A number of arches with openings is preferable to a single arch in the center, because the air is passing from the extremeities of the room to the center flows, from one patient over another--and a plan or flat cieling [sic], even with apertures, is improper, because the upper air at a distance from the apertures cannot move to them.

The rooms may be warmed by placing grates or stoves over these holes in the floor, and no bad effect can be produced by t he fire as the air and vapours will ascend from it and go off by the holes in the cieling -- If it be necessary to quicken the circulation of air, either on account of the sluggishness of the atmosphere, or of the contagious nature of any diseases in the ward, small fires may be fixed ingrates or stoves near the openings in the cieling, to increase the motion of the air.

To prevent the spreading of contagion, as well as to keep the sick from beholding the sufferings of each other, a screenof suitable height should be placed between each bed.

For contagious disorders and surgical cases, there should be a number of wards, at a distance from the Hospital, and to leeward of it with respect to prevailing winds. . . .

Travels in Kamtschatka, During the Years 1787 and 1788.  Translated from the French of M. De Lesseps, Consul of France, and Interpreter to the Count de la Perouse, Now Engaged in a Voyage Round the World, By Command of His Most Christian Majesty.  In Two Volumes.  Volume I.  London: Printed For J. Johnson, St. Paul's Church-Yard.  1790.

Travels in Kamtschatka, &c.

I have scarcely completed my twenty-fifth year, and am arrived at the most memorable era of my life.  However long, or however happy may be my future career, I doubt whether it will ever be my fate to be employed in so glorious an expedition as that in which two French frigates, the Boussole, and the Astrolabe, are at this moment engaged; the first commanded by count de Perouse, chief of the expedition, and the second by viscount de Langle.

The report of this voyage round the world, created too general and lively an interest, for direct news of these illustrious navigators, reclaimed by their country and by all Europe from the seas they traverse, not to be expected with as much impatience as curiosity.

How flattering is it to my heart, after having obtained from count de la Perouse the advantage of accompanying him for more than two years, to be farther indebted to him for the honour of conveying his dispatches over land into France!  The more I reflect upon this additional proof of his confidence, the more I feel what such an embassy requires, and how far I am deficient; and I can only attribute his preference, to the necessity of choosing for this journey, a person who had resided in Russia, and could speak its language.

On the 6 September 1787, the king's frigates entered the port of Avatscha, or Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at the southern extremity of the peninsula of Kamtschatka.  The 29, I was ordered to quit the Astrolabe; and the same day count de la Perouse gave me his dispatches and instructions.  His regard for me would not permit him to confine his cares to the most satisfactory arrangements for the safety and convenience of my journey; he went further, and gave me the affectionate counsels of a father, which will never be obliterated from my heart.  Viscount de Langle had the goodness to join his also, which proved equally beneficial to me.   

Let me permitted in this place to pay my just tribute of gratitude to the faithful companion of the dangers and the glory of count de la Perouse, and his rival in every other court, as well as that of France, for having acted towards me, upon all occasions, as a counsellor, a friend, and a father. 

In the evening I was to take my leave of the commander and his worthy colleague.  Judge what I suffered, when I conducted them back to the boats that waited for them.  I was incapable of speaking, or of quitting them; they embraced me in turns, and my tears too plainly told them the situation of my mind.  The officers who were on shore, received also my adieux: they were affected, offered prayers to heaven for my safety, and gave me every consolation and succour that their friendship could dictate.  My regret at leaving them cannot be described; I was torn from their arms, and found myself in those of colonel Kasloff-Ougrenin, governor general of Okotsk and Kamtschatka, to whom count de la Perouse had recommended me, more as his son, than an officer charged with his dispatches. 

At this moment commenced my obligations to the Russian governor.  I knew not then all the sweetness of his character, incessantly disposed to acts of kindness, and which I have since had so many reasons to admire.  He treated my feelings with the utmost address.  I saw the tear of sympathy in his eye upon the departure of the boats, which we followed as far out as our sight would permit; and in conducting me to his house, he spared no pains to divert me from my melancholy reflections.  To conceive the frightful void which my mind experienced at this moment, it is necessary to be in my situation, and left alone in these scarcely discovered regions, four thousand leagues from my native land: without calculating this enormous distance, the dreary aspect of the country sufficiently prognositicated what I should have to suffer during my long and perilous route; but the reception which I met with from the inhabitants, and the civilities of M. Kasloff and the other Russian officers, made me by degrees less sensible to the departure of my countrymen. 

PREFACE.

THE heart is deceitful above all things; who can know it? As far as I know my own, it feels an anxious desire to serve my fellow-creatures, during the short period of my continuance among them, by stopping the effusion of human blood, by diminishing or softening the miseries which man creates for himself, by promoting peace and by endeavoring to secure and extend civil liberty.

I attribute war, and most of the artificial evils of life, to the Spirit of Despotism, a rank poisonous weed, which grows and flourishes even in the soil of liberty, when over-run with corruption. I have attempted to eradicate it, that the salutary and pleasant plants may have room to strike root and expand their foliage.

There is one circumstance which induces me to think that, in this instance, my heart does not deceive me. I am certain, that in attempting to promote the general happiness of man, without serving any party, or paying court to any individual, I am not studying my own interest. On the contrary, I am well aware that my very subject must give offence [sic] to those who are possessed of power and patronage. I have no personal enmities, and therefore am truly concerned that I could not treat the Spirit of Despotism, without advancing opinions that must displease the nominal great. I certainly sacrifice all view of personal advance to what appears to me the public good, and flatter myself that this alone evinces the purity of my motive.

Men of feeling and good minds, whose hearts, as the phrase is, lie in the right place, will, I think, agree with me in most points; especially when a little time, and the events, now taking place, shall have dissipated the mist of passion and prejudice. Hard-hearted, proud wordlings, who love themselves only, and know no good but money and pageantry, will scarcely agree with me in any. They will be angry; but, consistently with their general haughtiness, affect contempt to hide their choler.

I pretend not to aspire at the honor of martyrdom; yet some inconveniences I am ready to bear patiently, in promoting a cause which deeply concerns the whole of the present race, and ages yet unborn. I am ready to bear patiently the proud man's contumely, the insult of rude ignorance, the sarcasm of malice, the hired censure of the sycophantic critic, (whose preferment depends on the prostitution both of knowledge and conscience,) and the virulence of the venal newspaper. It would be a disgrace to an honest man not to incur the abuse of those who have sold their integrity and abilities to the enemies of their country and the human race. Strike, but bear, said a noble ancient. Truth will ultimately prevail, even though he who uttered it should be destroyed. Columbus was despised, rejected, persecuted; but America was discovered. Men very inconsiderable in the eye of pride, have had the honor to discover, divulge, and disseminate doctrines that have promoted the liberty and happiness of the human race. All that was rich and great, in the common acceptation of that epithet, combined against Luther; yet when pontiffs, kings, and lords had displayed an impotent rage, and sunk into that oblivion which their personal insignificance naturally led to, Luther prevailed, and his glory is immortal. He broke the chain of superstition, and weakened the bonds of despotism.

I have frequently, and from the first commencement of our present unfortunate and disgraceful hostilities, lifted up my voice--a feeble one indeed--against war, that great promoter of despotism; and while I have liberty to write, I will write for liberty. I plead weakly, indeed, but sincerely, the cause of mankind; and on them, under God, I rely for protection against that merciless SPIRIT which I attempt to explode.

THE contoversy respecting the intellectual talents of women, as compared with those of men, is nearly brought to an issue, and greatly to the credit of the fair sex. The present age has produced a most brilliant constellation of female worthies, who have not only displayed eminent powers in works of fancy, but have greatly distinguished themselves in the higher branches of composition. Our own country has the honour of enrolling among its literary ornaments many females, to whom the interests of poetry, morality, and the sciences, are greatly indebted. Among celebrated living ladies may, with justice, be mentioned the names of Barbauld, Robinson, Cowley, Smith, Radcliffe, Farren, Piozzi, Seward, Lee, Hays, Inchbald, Cappe, Plumptree, Trimmer, Yearsley, Williams D'Arblay, Bennet, Linwood, Cosway, Kauffman, and Siddons.

The female who is the subject of the present notice is well known to the literary world, by several elegant, ingenious and useful publication. A few particulars respecting her, therefore, will not only be amusing to those who have read her works, but will also be instructive to young persons in the way of example.

Miss Hannah More is the youngest of four maiden sisters, the daughters of a clergyman, distinguished for his classical knowledge, and goodness of heart.

Hannah, who, at an early period of life, discovered a taste for literature, improved her mind during her leisure hours by reading; and soon perused not only the little paternal library, but all the books she could borrow from her friends, in the village of Hanham, near Bristol. The first which fell in her way was the Pamela of Richardson, the humble source of an innumerable offspring; and happy it would have been for the interests of virtue and literature, had the progeny been but as innocent as the parent.

The modesty and attainments of Hannah More, were spoken of with general respect in her native place, and at length acquired her the patronage of many respectable persons. In the mean time her sisters, who being also clever and amiable women, had conducted a little school with great success, were now enabled, in consequence of an encreasing [sic] reputation, to undertake the education of young persons above the situation of those to whose improvement their attention had hitherto been directed. So great, at length, was their celebrity, that several ladies of fortune and discernments prevailed upon them to remove to Bristol, about the year 1765, where they opened a boarding-school in Park-Street. This seminary, in a short time, became the most respectable of its kind in the West of England; and many females of rank received their education there.

Among others, who had the advantage of profiting by the instruction of the Miss Mores', was the celebrated Mrs. Robinson, well known for her various elegant publications in prose and verse.

Miss H. More, who had removed with the family, had the good fortune of having for a next-door neighbour the Reverend Dr. Stonehouse; who perceiving her merits, distinguished her by his friendship, which he manifested by his instructions and recommendations. Both of these were of the most essential service to her in the cultivation of her literary taste. The doctor was a man of extensive acquaintance, general knowledge, and elegant manners. He condescended not only to examine the occasional effusions of her pen, but also to correct them, and through his hands all her early efforts passed to the press. The first of these was entitled "The Search after Happiness, a Peom,." which was printed at Bristol under the doctor's eye; and on its publication in London was so favourably received, as to encourage the author to further exertions of her powers. She next published "Sir Eldred of the Bower, and the Bleeding Rock; a legendary Tale;" which style of writing was become fashionable, through the success of Dr. Goldsmith's sweet story of Edwin and Angelina.

Miss More now turned her attention to dramatic poetry, and produced a tragedy entitled FATAL FALSEHOOD; which was tolerably well received; but not so much as her PERCY, a tragedy, which met with universal applause. She also wrote another tragedy, called the INFLEXIBLE CAPTIVE; which fell short of the merit of her other dramatic pieces. The success she met with in this way was owing, in a great measure, to the immediate and commanding patronage of Garrick, who entered warmly into her interests through the recommendation of Dr. Stonehouse, with whom he was very intimate.

. . . Miss More has the credit of having drawn Mrs. Yearsley, the celebrated poetical milk-woman, from her obscurity into public notice and favour. When she had discovered this remarkable phenomenon, she immediately began to exert her benevolence, and by her unwearied assiduity procured a liberal subscription to the poems of this child of nature. She also drew up an interesting account of the milk-woman in a letter to Mrs. Montague; which letter, in order to enlarge the subscription, was published in the newspapers and magazines of the day. By the attentions of Miss More, a sum was raised sufficient to place the object of them in a situation more suitable to her genius. But we are sorry to be obliged to add, that a disagreement almost immediately followed the publication of the poems in question, between the author and her patroness; which is said to have been occasioned by the latter's taking the management of the subscription-money into the hands of herself and some select friends. The motive with which this was done, adds greatly to the credit of Miss More and her friends, as it was no other than a desire to provide permanently for Mrs. Yearsley and her young family. She, however, had a different opinion, and thought it was unjust in them to withhold from her the management of her own property. She went further, and endeavoured to represent her best friend as actuated by unworthy sentiments, the least of which was, that of envy. Some attacks were, in consequence, made upon Miss More in different publications; but, conscious of the purity of her own views, she passed over those invidious attempts to prejudice the public mind against her silence. . . .

N.S.

PREFACE

TO THE

FIRST EDITION.

THE object of the Work which is now submitted to the Public, is to exhibit, in the memoirs of the illustrious actors, the public and secret history of the present times. Respectable works, of a a similar description, have been published in various countries on the continent; none, however, have hitherto been attempted, upon the same plan, in this country.

BIOGRAPHY, in all its forms, is allowed to be the most fascinating and instructive species of literary composition. It not only possesses all the advantages of general history, the various excellencies of which may be judiciously interwoven with the lives of eminent personages, but it frequently discovers the minute and latent springs of great events, which, in the comprehensive range of History, would have escaped attention.

Many of the attractions of Biography in general, and some additional advantages, are possessed by contemporary Biography. The memoirs of men, who are the present actors on the great theatre of life, who acquire and demand public confidence, and from whom further results of action or meditation are to be expected, necessarily excite a higher degree of curiosity, than the lives of those who have made their exit from the stage, by some no future good or evil can be performed or perpetrated, and who, "dead, gone, and forgotten," are generally carried down the stream of oblivion, and swallowed up in the gulph of unregistered mortality.

It must be admitted, taht the biographer of deceased persons is better enabled, by the independence of his situation, and a more extensive retrospect, to estimate the degree of virtue and vice, and to appreciate the sum total of merit and demeit with greater precision, than the contemporary biographer, who is restrained, by the extreme delicacy of his undertaking, from giving finishing stroke to his delineations of character, whose incomplete materials prevent him from deducing general and important conclusions in their proper latitude, and, in many cases, from discriminating between hypocrisy and sincerity. Still, however, a writer of this description is better able to collect facts, and may, in general, be more depended upon, as to the authenticity of his testimony, than he who writes the lives of deceased persons. Many eminent men, respecting whom posterity have cause to lament the deficiency of biographical information, have passed their early days in obscurity, and those who then knew them were either too ignorant, or too unobservant, to be able to make any communications respecting them. When death has once set his seal upon their labours, few or no opportunities offer of obtaining satisfactory and circumstantial information; their early contemporaries are, probably, also gone off the stage. From causes like these, how little is known of some of the most distinguished luminaries that have irradiated the political and literary hemispheres! Of many we know only that they filled elevated situations, that they composed splendid works, made important discoveries, died in a particular year, and were at length interred in some venerable repository of the dead.

An annual publication lie the present will best provide against a future deficiency of this kind, with respect to the distinguished personages who now fill up the drama of public life in the British empire. The Editors are not likely to commit themselves, and the reputation of their work, by inserting direct falsehoods, or partial misrepresentations: no character, of whom they now or may hereafter treat, can be thought insensible to the love of contemporary or posthumous fame; hence, should any undesigned error, or any inaccurate statement, inadvertently escape them, it may be rationally presumed, that the party affected, from a regard to his own reputation, will take the earliest opportunity to correct such mistatements [sic[]; or that some friend, intimately acquainted with the subject, in the candour and warmth of esteem, may be stimulated to write a more particular and accurate account, for a subsequent edition.

From these premises may it not be reasonably concluded, that this Work possesses a legitimate claim to public patronage, as well from its promised utility to future biographers and historians, as from its being an highly entertaining and useful assemblage of interesting and important facts and anecdotes?

In respect to the present volume, it is necessary to remark, that the articles are written by a number of gentlemen, whose adopted signatures are affixed to their respective communications. Such a multiplicity of facts, in so extensive and various a group of characters, could not have been supplied by any one or two individuals. Although a delicate task, the mode generally adopted in the composition of this Work, has been to apply to some friend of the party, whose intimate knowledge of the relative facts and circumstances qualified him to do ample justice to the character. This indispensible [sic] arrangement, requisite to produce the faithful execution of the volume, has, however, occasioned a variety in the style and manner of the several articles, which, at first sight, may give it a sort of heterogeneous appearance, but will not detract from its real merit in the estimation of the judicious reader . . .

The History of Massachusetts, From the First Settlement Thereof in 1628, Until the Year 1750.  By Thomas Hutchinson, Esq. In Two Volumes.  Vol. I.  The Third Edition.  With additional Notes and Corrections.  Printed at Salem, By Thomas C. Cushing, For Thomas and Andrews, No. 45, Newbury-Street, Boston.  1795.

Chap. I. From the first Settlement of the Colony, until the Year 1660.

The discovery of America by Columbus, and of the northern continent by the Cabots, in the fifteenth century, and the several voyages of English and French in the sixteenth, I pass over, and begin with the voyage made by Bartholomew Gosnold, an Englishman, in the year 1602, to that part of North America called New-England.  It is not certain that any European had been there before.  Hakluit mentions the landing of some of Sir H. Gilbert's men upon some part of the continent ; but it is probably that was farther eastward upon what is now called Nova-Scotia.  Gosnold landed first on the eastern coast, which he calls Mavoshen.  After some commerce with the natives, he sailed southward, and landed upon one of the islands called Elizabeth-Islands.  He gave them that name in honour of Queen Elizabeth, who was living when he left England ; and they retained it ever since.  He built a fort, and intended a settlement upon the island, or the continent near it ; but he could not persuade his people to remain there, and they all returned to England before winter.

In 1603, De Monts obtained a patent from Henry the Fourth of France, for all the country from the 40th to the 46th degree, by the name of Cadie, or Acadie.  In 1604, De Monts ranged along the coast from St. Lawrence to Cape Cod, and to the south of it.  He went far up the Kennebeck river, and into divers other rivers, bays and harbours. 

In 1606, King James the First granted all the continent from 34 to 45 degrees, which he divided into two colonies, viz. the Southern, or Virginia, to certain merchants of London ; the Northern, or New-England, to merchants of Plymouth. 

In 1607, some of the patentees of the Northern colony began a settlement at Sagadehoc.  They laid the plan of a great state.  The president died the first winter, which was extreme cold.  Sir John Popham, his brother, the great promoter of the design, and Sir John Gilbert, the admiral's brother, died the same year in Europe ; and the next year, 1608, the whole number which survived the winter returned to England.  Their design of a plantation was at an end.  Both English and French continued their voyages to the coast, some for fishing, and some for trade with the natives ; and some feeble attempts were made by the French towards plantations, but they were routed by the English in 1613.  There was no spirit in the people of either nation for colonizing.  Favourable accounts were published of the continent by Capt. Smith and others : But who would remove and settle in so remote and uncultivated a part of the globe, if he could live tolerably at home?   The country would afford no immediate subsistence, and therefore was not fit for indigient persons.  Particular persons or companies would have been discouraged from supporting a colony by the long continued expense and outlet, without any return.  No encouragement could be expected from the public.  The advantages of commerce from the colonies were not then foreseen, but have been since learned by experience.  Virginia in its infancy was struggling for life ; and what its fate would have been, if the fathers of it in England had not seen the rise and growth of other colonies near it, is uncertain.  God in his providence bringeth good out of evil.  Bigotry and blind zeal prevailed among christians of every sect or profession.  Each denied to the other, what all had a right to enjoy, liberty of conscience.  To this we must ascribe, if not the settlement, yet at least the present flourishing state, of North-America.  Persecution drove out Mr. Robinson and his church from England to Holland, about the year 1608.  They stayed about a year at Amsterdam, and then removed to Leyden. In 1617, they began to think of removing to America.  They laid great stress upon their particular tenets, but this, did not lessen their regard to morality.  The manners of the Dutch were too licentious for them.  Their children left them ; some became soldiers, and other sailors, in the Dutch service.  In a few years their posterity would have been Dutch, and their church extinct.  They were at a loss whether to remove to Guiana, or to Virginia ; but the majority were in favour of the latter.  The Dutch laboured to persuade them to go to Hudson's river, and settle under their West-India company ; but they had not lost their affection for the English, and chose to be under their government and protection [...]   

CHAPTER XVII.

Of the Docility of Animals.

OF all animals capable of culture, man is the most ductile. By instruction, imitation, and habit, his mind may be moulded into any form. It may be exalted by science and art to a degree of knowledge, if which the vulgar and uninformed have not the most distant conception. The reverse is melancholy. When the human mind is left to its own operations, and deprived of almost every opportunity of social information, it sinks so low, that it is nearly rivaled by the most sagacious brutes. The natural superiority of man over the other animals, as formerly remarked is a necessary result of the great number of instincts with which is mind is endowed. These instincts are gradually unfolded, and produce, after a mature age, reason, abstraction, invention, science. To confirm this truth, it would be fruitless to have recourse to metaphysical arguments, which generally mislead and bewilder human reason. A diligent attention to the actual operations of Nature is sufficient to convince any mind that is not warped and deceived by popular prejudice, the fetters of authorities, as they are called, whether ancient or modern, or by the vanity of supporting preconceived opinions and favourite theories. Let any man reflect on the progress of children from birth to manhood. At first, their instincts are limited to obscure sensations, and to the performance of a few corporeal actions, to which they are prompted, or rather compelled, by certain stimulating impulses unnecessary to be mentioned. In a few months, their sensations are perceived to be more distinct, their bodily actions are better directed, new instincts are unfolded, and they assume a greater appearance of rationality and of mental capacity. When still farther advanced, and after they have acquired some use of language, ans some knowlege of natural objects, they beginto reason; but their reasonings are feeble, and often prposterous. In this manner they uniformly proceed in improvement till they are actuated by the last instinct, at or near the age of puberty. After this period, they reason with some degree of perpicuity and justness. But, though their whole instincts are now unfolded and in action, every power of their minds requires, previous to its utmost exertions, to be agitated and polished by an examination of a thousand natural and artificial objects, by the experience and observations of those with whom they associate, by public or private instruction, by studying the writings of their predecessors and contemporaries, and by their own reflections, till they arrive at the age of thirty-five. Previous to that period, much learning may have been acquired, much genius may have been exerted; but,  before that time of life, judgment, abstraction, and the reasoning faculty, are not fully matured. This progress is the genuine operation of Nature, and the gradual source of human sagacity and mental powers. The same progress is to be observed in the powers of the body. It arrives, indeed, sooner at perfection than the mind. But, if the progress of the mind greatly preceded that of the body, what a miserable and aukward [sic] figure would human beings, at an early period of their existence, exhibit? Active and vigourous minds, stimulated to command what the organs of their bodies were unable to obey, would produce peevishness, anger, regret, and every distressing passion.

The bodies of men, though not so ductile as their minds, are capable, when properly managed by early culture, of wonderful exertions. Men, accustomed to live in polished societies, have little or no idea of the activity, the courage, the patience and the persevering industry of savages, when simply occupied in hunting wild animals for food for themselves and their families. The hunger, the fatique, the hardships, which they not only endure, but despise with fortitude, would amaze and terrify the imagination of any civilized Euopean. . . .

TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION, &c. &c. &c.

LETTER I.

Kentucky.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

THE task you have given me, however difficult, I udnertake with the greatest pleasure, as it will afford me an opportunity of contrasting the simple manners and rational life of the Americans, in these back settlements, with the distorted and unnatural habits of the Europeans: which have flowed, no doubt, from the universally bad laws existing on your continent, and from that pernicious system of blending religion with politics, which has been productive of universal depravity.

While ignorance continued to darken the horizon of Europe, priestcraft seems to have forged fetters to the human mind, and, in the security of its own omnipotence, to have given a stamp to the writings and opinions of men, that rivetted the tyranny of those ingenious sophists -- The consequence has been lamentable in the extreme.

There are aeras favourable to the rise of new governments; and though nature is governed by invariable laws, the fortunes of men and states appear frequently under the dominion of chances: but happily for mankind, when the american [sic] empire was forming, philosophy pervaded the genius of Europe, and the radiance of her features moulded the minds of men into a more rational order.

It was the zenith of your power, and the inflated grandeur of visinary plans for dominon, which the remains of gothic tyranny produced, that gave occasion to the rise of our independence. We claim no merit or superior wisdom in avoiding the complication of laws which disgraces the courts of Great Britain, as well as the rest of Europe. We have only approprated the advantages of new lights, as they have shone upon us; which you have an equal chance of doing; and your not doing it, must remain a monument of your folly, calculated to excite the astonishment and indiganation of a more manly progeny. However, I shall leave this subject for the present, and proceed in order in the history, &c. which you request; hoping that you will be content to receive my remarks by letter, from time to time, as I may find an opportunity of sending them.

The vestiges of civilizatin described by Carver and others on this side of the Allegany mountains, are entirely imaginary. Every mark that is human has the feature of barbarism, and in every comparison of the natives and animals, with those of the old world, tends to confirm the opinion of those sensible men (some of whom wrote more than a century agao) who thought that America was peopled from Scythia, by the streights of Kamtschatka: which opinion has been followed by your judicious natural historian Pennant, in his preface to his Arctic Zoology. They say, first, "America has always been better peopled on the side towards Asia, than on that towards Europe: Secondly, The genius of the Americans has a greater conformity to that of the Tartars, who never applied themselves to arts: Thirdly, The colour of both is pretty much alike; it is certain that the difference is not considerable, and is perhaps the effect of the climate, and of those mixtures with which the Americans rub themselves: Fourthly, The wild beasts which are seen in America, and which cannot reasonably be supposed to have been transported thither by sea, could only have come by the way of the Tartary." An addition to these arguments is, that the bison of Scythia, and what is called the buffalo in America, are precisely the same species of animal; besides, the animals of both countries bear the strongest resemblance to each other.

Every thing tends to convince us, that the world is in an infant state. If it is subject to change only from the gradual wear which the operations of the elements necessarily produce, and which is so insensible as to require us to contemplate the immensity of time and space to comprhend a cause for the alterations we discover, still the various phaenomena, which are everywhere to be found, both on the surface and in the bowels of the earth, afford sufficient proof that there has been a recent alteration upon the face of the globe. Whether or not mankind came originally from the East, signifies little. It is however certain, that Europe was in its infancy three thousand years ago; and that America was still less advanced to maturity, I believe also will be acknowledged; though the barbarism of the one, and the comparative civiliztion of the other, is no argument: for, let our hemisphere have been peopled as it would, it had the disadvantage of having no polished country in the neighbourhood of its vast extent of dominion; and if it received emigrants from Tartary, they wer equally savage with themselves; or if from the wreck of a chinese or japanese vessel, they seem to have been too rare (if ever) to have been productive of much good to the Americans. The idea of the incas in Peru being of chinese origian merits no consideration.

That man possesses from nature the talents necessary to his own civilization, and that perfection of philosophy and reason which dignifies his nature, admits, I should conceive, of no dispute.

In all the countries that wear the marks of age, men seem always to have been advancing their improvements for the comfort and order of society. Adventitious circumstances have rapidly increased them in modern times in the old world, while they have retarded them in the new, among the natives. The improvements in navigation led to the overthrow of two empires in America which had attained considerable improvements; and if the natives which still remain are barbarous, we must, in justice to human nature, allow that the contempt with which the whites have always treated them, and the nefarious policy of encourageing their fury for intoxication, have proved the only cause of it. They produced such an effect, that the population of the indian nations had decreased more than a twentieth nearly a century ago, according to the account of Charlevoix. . . .

Biographical, Literary, and Political Anecdotes of Several of the Most Eminent Persons of the Present Age.  Never Before Printed.  With an Appendix; Consisting of Original, Explanatory, and Scarce Papers.  By the Author of Anecdotes of the Late Earl of Chatham.  In Three Volumes.  Volume I.  London: Printed for T. N. Longman, and L. B. Seeley.  In Pater-Noster-Row.  1797. 

CHAPTER XI.

Secret and True History of the Irish Octennial Bill.

Irish Electors instruct their Representatives to bring in a Septennial Bill.  Extraordinary Preamble to it, with a View to Defeat it.  Sent to England.  Delayed.  Remarks.  Altered.  Returned to Ireland.  People of Dublin assemble in immense Numbers, and compel their Representative to pass the Bill. Further Remarks.  Management of the Parliament of Ireland, and of the last Parliament of Scotland.  Anecdote of Lord William Gordon. 

Before the year 1768, when this bill passed, the Parliament of Ireland was only determined by the King's life; but now (according to this law) the Parliament of that kingdom is to be chosen once in eight years.  A short history of this extraordinary event cannot be underserving the reader's attention.  No blame attached to the Lord Lieutentant in this affair; but a great deal of something worse attaches to the secret cabinet at St. James's, whose design was to have defeated the measure, and to have transferred the odium of that defeat upon those, who, for other purposes, they had encouraged to demand it. 

In the month of August, 1767, Lord Townshend was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.  During the preceding year, a considerable majority of the electors of Ireland instructed their representatives on the subject, or, as they termed it, on the necessity of bringing in, and passing, a bill, to limit the duration of Parliament to seven years; in like manner, as the Parliament of Great Britain is limited; and so warm and so numerous were the electors, particularly all the lower class, in support of this measure, that there was scarcely a town or country throughout the kingdom which did not instruct or insist upon their representatives voting for such bill; and the electors of some places carried their enthusiasm so far, as to compel their Members to make oath they would vote for it.  Accordingly, when the Irish Parliament met in the month of November, 1767, the heads of a bill for limiting the duration of Parliaments to seven years were brought into the House of Commons, and immediately passed.  But, agreeable to the mode of enacting laws at that time in Ireland, these heads of the bill were transmitted to England, for the approbabtion of the King and Council, that being the next stage of progress.  And here it must be observed, that the reason of the Commons passing the bill, was not the positive commands of their Constituents, but the sanguine hopes which the Irish Patriots themselves entertained, that it would, without a doubt, be rejected in England.  And therefore, in order to make this wished-fo rejection as certain as possible, the preamble of the bill stated, that, "Whereas it it the undoubted right of the people of Ireland to a more frequent choice of their representatives, &c." They they changed the request of a boon into a demand of a right; which was certainly neither a respectful nor a proper mode of soliciting the resignation of a power that had been exercised by the Crown during a long period of years; for it implied, that the right had been withheld from the subject all that time [...] 

The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.

To write the life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the lives of others, and who, whether we consider his extraordinary endowments, or his various works, has been equalled by few in any age, is an arduous, and may be reckoned in me a presumptuous task.

Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man's life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited. But although he at different times, in a desultory manner, committed to writing many particulars of the progress of his mind and fortunes, he never had persevering diligence enough to form them into a regular composition. Of these memorials a few have been preserved; but the greater part was consigned by him to the flames, a few days before his death.

As I had the honour and happiness of enjoying his friendship for upwards of twenty years; as I had the scheme of writing his life constantly in view; as he was well apprised of this circumstance, and from time to time obligingly satisfied my inquiries, by communicating to me the incidents of his early years; as I acquired a facility in recollecting, and was very assiduous in recording his conversation, of which the extraordinary vigour and vivacity constituted one of the first features of his character; and as I have spared no pains in obtaining materials concerning him, from every quarter where I could discover that they were not to be found, and have been favoured with the most liberal communications by his friends; I flatter myself that few biographers have entered upon such work as this, with more advantages; independent of literary abilities, in which I am not vain enough to compare myself with some great names who have gone before me in this kind of writing.

Since my work was announced, several Lives and Memoirs of Dr. Johnson have been published, the most voluminous of which is one compiled for the booksellers of London, by Sir John Hawkins, Knight, a man, whom, during my long intimacy with Dr. Johnson, I never saw in his company, I think but once, and I am sure not above twice.  Johnson might have esteemed him for his decent, religious demeanour, and his knowledge of books and literary history; but from the rigid formality of his manners, it is evident that they never could have lived together with companionable ease and familiarity; nor had Sir John Hawkins that nice perception which was necessary to mark the finer and less obvious parts of Johnson's character.  His being appointed one of his executors, gave him an oppotunity of taking possession of such fragments of a diary and other papers as were left; of which, before delivering them up to the residuary legatee, whose property they were, he endeavoured to extract the substance.  In this he has not been very successful, as I have found upon a perusal of those papers, which have been since transferred to me.  Sir John Hawkins's ponderous labours, I must acknowledge, exhibit a farrago, of which a considerable portion is not devoid of entertainment to the lovers of literary gossiping; but besides its being swelled out with long unnecessary extracts from various works, (even one of several leaves from Osbourne's Harleian Catalogue, and those not compiled by Johnson, but by Oldys,) a very small part of it relates to the person who is the subject of the book; and, in that, there is such an inaccuracry in the statement of facts, as in so solemn an author is hardly excusable, and certainly makes his narrative very unsatisfactory.  But what is still worse, there is throughout the whole of it a dark uncharitable cast, by which the most unfavourable construction is put upon almost every circumstance in the character and conduct of my illustrious friend; who, I trust, will, by a true and fair delineation, be vindicated both from the injurious misrepresentations of this authour, and from the slighter aspersions of a lady who once lived in great intimacy with him.

INTRODUCTION

A DESIRE of knowing something of the United States, of which we hear so much, and know so little, together with some occurrences in business, induced me to make a trip thither during the last Summer. I have been highly gratified: and as my account is chiefly founded on my own actual experience and observation, and different in many respects from any other account, I am induced by these motives, as well as by the request of many friends, to send my Journal forth into the world. It is published in the same order in which it was written in the spot, which I hope will be an excuse for the want of method, and the errors and occasional repetition to be found in some places.

 In Narratives of this kind, the world is generally better pleased with plain matter of fact, than abstract disquisitions, or the Author's own sentiments obtruded too much on the Reader.

Most of the modern accounts of the United States have been published under the influence of prejudice. While some have rated them too highly in the class of nations, others have depreciated them too much, even to contempt. Imlay's is the puff direct, and Cooper's the puff oblique. On the other hand, the Author of Letters on Emigration, lately published by Kearsley, has viewed every thing with a jaundiced eye. I took Brissot's Travels in my hand, and passed over the same ground as he did, from Boston through Connecticut to New York, and afterwards to Philadelphia, and frequently stopt at the same inns. His account is tolerably accurate: however, in a period of five years, some considerable alterations and improvements have taken place. His book gives much real information. His account of Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Wadsworth, and of the President, agrees with my own observations, as I was in company with, and at the table of each of them.

Brissot justly observes of the Northern States, (particularly Connecticut) that the ease and abundance universally reign there: for industry is sure to receive the reward of independency.

But he has exceeded the truth respecting the success of a vineyard, at Spring Mill, twenty miles from Philadelphia, which, he says, (page 252) succeeds well, and produces much good wine. The fact is, it does not succeed at all. The Frenchman who began it, does not make it answer, nor can any vineyards succeed, while there remain such immense flights of birds and insects.

His meteorological account for Pennsylvania, is far less in the extreme than the fact, (page 256).

The present appears to me, a good point of time to take a sketch of America, and to mark its progress since it began to rank among the nations of the earth. This government is raising itself in a new system, -- without Kings -- without Nobles -- without a Hierarchy. Religion is left to its own intrinsic worth and evidence, and we now shall see whether it can support its due influence among men, without acts of parliament to inforce it; and whether it is essential to Religion, that its eminent men "should rear their mitred fronts in Courts and Parliaments." It will be grateful to posterity to mark the beginnings of an Empire, not founded on conquest, but on the sober progress and dictates of reason, and totally disencumbered of the feudal system, which has cramped the genius of mankind for more than seven hundred years past.

In these States, you behold a certain plainness and simplicity of manners, which bespeak temperance, equality of condition, and a sober use of the faculties of the mind -- the mens sana in carpore sano. It is seldom you hear of a mad man, or a blind man, in any of the States; seldom of a felo de se, or a man afflcited with the gout or palsy. There is, indeed, at Philadelphia, an hospital for lunatics. I went over it, but found there very few, if any, who were natives; they were chiefly Irish, and mostly women. The disorders in the United States, arise chiefly from external causes. A bilious remittent fever is common on the south and middle States, about the close of every hot summer, owing to the increased exhalations, at that season, of the stagnant waters, which abound. But this evil is lessening in proportion to the cultivation of their soil, which tend to render the climate itself more temperate.

The Author of Letters on Emigration, amongst other objections, observes, "That there does not exist a more sordid, penurious race, than the Captains of passage and merchant vessels." I returned from America with one of them, and found it quite otherwise -- plenty of all kinds of provisions, fresh as well as salted; a cow on board, which afforded us milk every day for our coffee and tea; we had good Port, sherry, porter, and beer, daily with our dinner; as well as oranges, nuts, almonds, and raisins, very frequently, by way of desert. Many of the native American Captains being used to live with extreme frugality themselves, do not think much about the provisions necessary for the passengers; in such cases, they must look into it themselves, and see that every thing proper is provided, before they go on board. The Author also remarks on the uncomplying temper of the landlords of the country inns, in America; they will not, indeed, bear the treatment we, too often, give ours at home. They feel themselves, in some degree, independent of travellers, as all of them have other occupations to follow; nor will they put themselves into a bustle on your account, but, with good language, they are very civil, and will accommodate you as well as they can. The general custom of having two or three beds in a room, to be sure, is very disagreeable: it arises from the great increase of travelling within the last six years, and the smallness of their houses, which were not built for houses of entertainment. The last mentioned book appears to be written purposely to check emigration, as much as Cooper's and Imlay's are to encourage it; and perhaps both in the extreme.

With regard to emigration thither, and how far it is eligible to Englishmen; I answer, that it is a question every person must resolve for himself, as it depends on how he can bear changes of any kind in society, modes of life, customs, and manners. I have stated matters of fact, as far as I could collect, so that every prson, by reading these occurrences, may form a judgment for himself. The sacrifice of pleasant and well-established connections, is undoubtedly great; such a sacrifce must be peculiarly distressing to a mind whose habits of attachment have been long formed, and feels not that uneasiness which results from stritened circumstances. If, however, troubles should arise in this country on political accounts, or persecutions for mere matters of opinion, I know of no country that would afford the sufferer a more happy asylum than America, if he is not a man of luxury.

The arts and imrovements proceed very slow in America, from the want of that patronage so prevalent in England. The Americans being, many of them descendants of the English, are partial to their manners and customs; yet, it must be acknowledged, that in the interior of the country, things appear, at least, half a century behind them in point of comfort.

Salisbury, 1795.