These discordant characters were to assemble in one apartment, and vote as a single body. This parliament could initiate nothing. The bills to be laid before it were first to be prepared and assented to in the grand council, composed of the governor, the nobility, and the deputies of the proprietors, who were invested also with the executive power. At the end of every century, the laws were to become void without the formality of a repeal. Various iudicatories were erected, and an infinite variety of minute perplexing regulations were made. This constitution, which was declared to be perpetual, soon furnished an additional evidence to the many afforded by the, human race, of the great but neglected truth, that experience is the only safe school in which the science of govern ment is to be acquired, and that the theories of the closet must have the stamp of practice before they can be received with implicit confidence.

The duke of Albemarle was chosen the first palatine; but he did not long survive his election, and lord Berkeley was appointed his successor. The other proprietors were also named to high ounding offices, and Mr. Locke was created a landgrave.' P. 203.

Under this government the colony lingered till 1714, during which period a deplorable course of experience had plainly shewn its inefficiency for all the purposes of political union. The proprietors at last consented to surrender their charter for a sum of money: the proprietary government was, of course, finally dissolved; and the people of Carolina joyfully exchanged the visionary system of the philosopher, for the solid and effectual protection of the crown. The colonists, now pleased with their situation, turned their attention to domestic and agricultural pu: suits, and the face of the country soon evidenced the happy effects which result from contented industry, directed by those who are to receive its fruits.' Vol. I. p. 373

We cannot resist the temptation to insert an extract from a very curious address presented by the general court of Massachussets to Charles the Second on his restoration. The strange cant, the uncouth Babylonish dialect,' in which it is conceived, strongly illustrates the spirit of the times, and the sentiments of a people whose faith has been described by Burke as 'the protestantism of the Protestant religion.' It commences thus:

Most Gracious and dread Sovereign,-May it please your majesty, (in the day wherein you happily say, you now know that you are again king over British Israel) to cast a favourable eye upon your poor Mephiboseths now, and by reason of lameness, in respect of distance, not until now appearing in your presence, we mean New England, kneeling, with the rest of your subjects, before your majesty, as her restored king. We forget not our ineptness as to these approaches. We at present own such impotency, as renders ms unable to excuse our impotency of speaking unto our lord the king; yet, contemplating such a king, who hath also seen adver.

sity, that he knoweth the hearts of exile, who hath been himself an exile, the aspect of majesty, thus extraordinarily circumstanced, influenceth and animateth exanimated outcasts (yet outcasts as we hope for truth) to make this address unto their prince, hoping to find grace in his sight: we present this script, the transcript of our loyal hearts, into your royal hands.' Vol. I. P. 177.

We are also impelled to transcribe, for the amusement of our readers, the following very curious circumstance. James the Second, being resolved to unite the colonies of New England, appointed sir Edmund Andros their governor; who, being ordered to annex Connecticut to Massachussets, repaired, in Oc tober 1687, with his suite and some regular troops, to Hertford, where the assembly was then sitting, demanded the charter, and declared the government to be dissolved.

The assembly were extremely reluctant, and slow with respect to any resolve to surrender the charter, or with respect to any motion to bring it forth. The tradition is, that governor Treat strongly represented the great expense and hardships of the colonists, in planting the country: the blood and treasure which they had expended, in defending it both against the savages and foreigners; to what hardships and dangers he himself had been exposed for that purpose; and that it was like giving up his life, now to surrender the patent and privileges so dearly bought and so long enjoyed. The important affair was debated, and kept in suspence until the evening, when the charter was brought and laid on the table where the assembly were sitting. By this time, great numbers of people were assembled, and men sufficiently bold to enterprise whatever might be necessary or expedient. The lights were instantly extinguished; and one captain Wadsworth, of Hertford, in the most silent. and secret manner, carried off the charter, and secreted it in a large hollow tree fronting the house of the honourable Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of the colony. The people appeared all peaceable and orderly. The candles were officiously relighted; but the patent was gone, and no discovery could be made of it, or of the person who had conveyed it away.' Vol. I. P. 231.

This venerable elm was long afterwards deemed sacred by the people.

We shall close our extracts from this part of the work with a fact which, though of no great immediate importance, may be considered as remarkable in the history of America. We are told by the author, in a note to page 305, Vol. I., that

So early as the year 1692, the difference of opinion between the mother country and the colonies, on the great point which afterwards separated them, made its appearance. The legislature of Massachussetts, employed in establishing a system of laws under their new charter, passed an act containing the general principles respecting the liberty of the subject, which are asserted in Magna

Charta, and in which was this memorable advice: "No aid, taxs tallage, assessment, custom, loan, benevolence, or imposition whatsoever, shall be laid, assessed, or imposed, on any of their majesty's subjects, or their estates, on any pretence whatsoever, but by the act and consent of the governor, council, and representatives of the people assembled in general court." It is almost unnecessary to add, that the royal assent to this act was refused.'

The events of the war which ended in the expulsion of the French from Canada, have been so often told, and are so universally known, that we think they might, without injury to the design, have been either entirely omitted, or at any rate much more concisely related.

We

In our account of the remaining volumes we feel by no means disposed to follow the method of the author, and to drag our readers through all the campaigns of the American war. shall select such particulars only as strictly relate to general Washington, and form them into a brief sketch of the portion of his life which is exhibited in that part of the publication at present before us.

George Washington, the third son of Augustine Washington, was born in Virginia, at Bridges Creek in the county of Westmor Jand, on the 22d of February, 1732. He was the great grandson of John Washington, a gentleman of very respectable family in the north of England, who had emigrated about the year 1657, and settled on the place where young Mr. Washington was born.

Very early in life the cast of his genius disclosed itself. The war in which his country was then engaged against France and Spain, first kindled those latent sparks which afterwards blazed with equal splendour and advantage; and at the age of fifteen he urged so pressingly to be permitted to enter into the British navy, that the place of midshipman was obtained for him. The interference of a timid and affectionate mother suspended for a time the commencement of his military course.

He lost his father at the age of ten years, and received what was denominated an English education; a term which excludes the acquisition of other languages than our own. As his patrimonial estate was by no means considerable, his youth was employed in useful industry and in the practice of his profession, as a surveyor, he had an opportunity of acquiring that information respecting vacant lands, and of forming those opinions concerning their future value, which afterwards greatly contributed to the increase of his private fortune.' Vol. II. p. 1.

When not more than nineteen years of age, at a time when the militia were to be trained for actual service, he was appointed one of the adjutants-general of Virginia, with the rank of major. The duties of this situation he soon ceased to perform, being chosen by the lieutenant-governor of Virginia as a proper

person to present a remonstrance to the commandant of the French forces on the Ohio, on the subject of their encroachments on the extensive tracts which lie to the westward of the British settlements; and which, though then unoccupied by the colonists, were deemed to be included in their original grants from the crown. This perilous and laborious service he undertook with alacrity, and performed with perseverance, intrepidity, and address. A curious and interesting account of his journey through the frightful wilderness which lies between Virginia and the French forts on the Ohio, is preserved in the report of his proceedings which he presented to the lieutenant-governor. (Vol. II. P. 5.)

He was soon after appointed lieutenant-colonel in a regiment raised for the protection of Virginia: and made his first essay in arms by conducting a small expedition against a detachment' of the enemy; which, though it terminated unfortunately, afforded him an opportunity of displaying such courage as was noticed by a vote of thanks from the legislature. After a short retirement to his estate, occasioned by his disgust at the degradation of the provincial officers, who were allowed no rank when serving with those commissioned by the crown, he was invited back into the service by general Braddock, who made him his aide-de-camp. After the defeat and death of that officer, he was appointed to the command of a regiment, and by the same commission was nominated commander-in-chief of all the forces of Virginia; in which character he made unremitting exertions to organize more effectually the defence of the colony, and to protect its frontiers from the tomahawk and scalpingknife of the Indians. When the evacuation of fort Du Quesne by the enemy had relieved his country from immediate danger, he resigned his commission, retired to domestic privacy, and was married to the widow of a Mr. Curtis, 'a lady who to a large fortune and a fine person added those amiable accomplishments which fill with silent felicity the quiet scenes of private life.'

From the period of his marriage, the attentions of colonel Washington, who had retired to Mount Vernon, were for several years principally directed to the management of his estate, which had now become considerable, and which he greatly improved. He continued, however, a most respected member of the legislature of his country, in which he took an early and a decided part in the opposition made to the principle of taxation asserted by the British parliament. He was chosen by the independent companies formed through the northern parts of Virginia, to command them; and was elected a member of the first congress that met at Philadelphia, in which body he was very soon distinguished as the soldier of America. He was placed on all those committees whose duty it

was to make arrangements for defence; and when it became neces sary to appoint a commander in chief, his military character, the solidity of his judgment, the steady firmness of his temper, the dignity of his person and deportment, the confidence inspired by his patriotism and integrity, and the independence of his circumstances, combined with that policy which actuated New England, and induced a wish to engage the southern colonies cordially in a war, to designate him in the opinion of all as the person to whom the destinies of his country should be confided.

He was unanimously chosen "General and Commander in Chief of the army of the United Colonies, and all the forces now raised or to be raised by them." Vol. II. p. 298.

The events of Washington's life during the period of his commanding the forces of the states are so notorious, that it will not be necessary to furnish our readers with any account of them. We shall therefore only remark, that the last of these volumes concludes with the campaign of 1778, in which Philadelphia was evacuated by the British troops.

In this part of the work the author has interwoven a copious account of every material event in the course of our contest with America; so that, as we have remarked above, he appears before the public rather in the character of an historian than a biographer. The only circumstance in which his performance can be said to differ from a history of America, is the lavish insertion of the letters and remonstrances of Washington to the congress, and of his general orders, addresses, and exhortations, to his forces. We cannot say that we were much enlightened or entertained by his extracts. A judicious and sparing use of these papers might have heightened the interest of the narrative, by a display of the almost insurmountable difficulties with which the general was embarrassed, and the temperate firmness with which he encountered and subdued them. But the author does not appear to have been easily wearied with the labour of transcription. He has crowded his pages with such large portions of these precious manuscripts, that their chief effect is to excite impatience by vexatious repetition, and to obstruct the progress of the mind, which is hastening forward to circumstances of greater moment. The addresses of the commanderin-chief to his soldiers contain little that has not often been said before, and said better, on similar occasions.

The controversy on the subject of colonial taxation, the opinions prevalent in America respecting the supremacy of the British legislature, and the gradual revolution of sentiment which ended in the assumption of national sovereignty and independence, are stated with considerable ability; though the narration is too much loaded with the addresses, appeals, and remonstrances, of congress, to the crown, the parliament, and