efei ii,iiiii,,v;: 7 
 
^. ^ /'c:.>^^/;/k^ii^. 
 
 9^ —' 3 — ' A 6 
 
 gtgcaa^ggga j aosg^a J iggaasQsg; 
 
 I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. % 
 
 Sheli 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA^ ^5 
 
^ 
 
V. 
 
 ^rNT 
 
 BEAUTIES 
 
 AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 .r-m-miiiimlffll iM'H i) 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 EVENINaS IN BOSTON, &c. 
 
 ,V 
 
 a 
 
 NEW Y O R K : 
 PUBLISHED BY ALEXANDER V. BLAKE, 
 
 77 FULTON STREET. 
 
 
D7S 
 
 .3 
 
 Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by 
 
 ALEXANDER V. BLAKE, 
 
 in the clerk's office of the district court of the United States, 
 
 for the Southern district of New York. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 3. FAGAN, STEREOTYPER. 
 
 (4) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There are many passages in the History of 
 the United States which are peculiarly fitted to 
 inspire in the young mind the love of country, 
 and the admiration of what is great, heroic, 
 and noble, in the human character; and to 
 elevate the standard of public virtue in the 
 juvenile breast. It has been the purpose of 
 the author of this volume to select some of the 
 most striking of these historical beauties, and 
 to present them in an attractive form to the 
 young. He has deemed it unnecessary to pay 
 much attention to chronological order ; because 
 the history of our country is judiciously made 
 a branch of study in the common schools ; so 
 that almost every young person is qualified to 
 refer every event to its proper date. The 
 moral and patriotic features of each delineation 
 have been regarded as most attractive. The 
 love of country and the love of virtue have 
 been considered the most important objects in 
 view. The youth of America have noble ex- 
 amples before them. May they never forget 
 that they are the countrymen of Washington, 
 
 and of . There is a long list of 
 
 worthies ; but that name is enough. 
 
 1* (5) 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Discovery of America by the Northmen Page 9 
 
 Landing of Columbus 18 
 
 Discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Nunez de Balboa. ... 21 
 
 Coligny and his Colony in Florida 24 
 
 Voyage of Amidas and Barlow 29 
 
 Voyage of Gilbert and Gosnold 34 
 
 Settlement of St. Mary's 37 
 
 Landing of the Pilgrims 41 
 
 The Treaty with Massasoit 45 
 
 Sir William Phips 47 
 
 First English Conquest of Canada 51 
 
 Settlement of Connecticut 53 
 
 Benevolent exertions of Elliot and Mayhew 57 
 
 Escape of Mr. Dustan 65 
 
 The Bell of St. Regis 67 
 
 John Winthrop „ . . . . 75 
 
 Goffe the Regicide 78 
 
 Judicial Integrity 79 
 
 Early Heroism of Washington 80 
 
 Colonel M'Lane 81 
 
 Governor Johnstone's attempt on Mr. Reed 85 
 
 American Courtesy 86 
 
 Capture of Stony Point 87 
 
 Daniel Boone 90 
 
 Brilliant Exploit of Colonel Barton 92 
 
 Mrs. Warren, the Historian 93 
 
 Benjamin West, a Soldier 96 
 
 Samuel Adams 98 
 
 Firmness of Adams 100 
 
 Captain George Little 102 
 
 General Lee 104 
 
 Early American Heroism 106 
 
 Exploit of Mr. Jasper 109 
 
 Death of Captain Biddle 115 
 
 Conquest of New York 119 
 
 Hickory Clubs 122 
 
 Mrs. Abigail Adams 123 
 
 Washington's Farewell 127 
 
 Preservation of the Connecticut Charter 129 
 
 (7) 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Expedition of de la Barre 131 
 
 Evacuation of New York by the British 134 
 
 Founding of Harvard College 135 
 
 Battle of Bunker Hill 137 
 
 Paul Jones 139 
 
 Chief Justice Marshall 140 
 
 Flight of Horses 144 
 
 Death before Dishonour 146 
 
 Death of Baron de Kalb 148 
 
 The Wife of Washington 152 
 
 Penn's Treaty 156 
 
 Young American Tar 159 
 
 Boston Massacre 161 
 
 The Brave not Mercenary 163 
 
 Don't give up the Vessel 164 
 
 Heroic Exploit of Peter Francisco 165 
 
 Destruction of the Gaspee 167 
 
 Destruction of the Tea in Boston 168 
 
 Spirited Conduct of Captain Wadsworth 172 
 
 General Oglethorpe's Defence of Georgia 174 
 
 Frank Lilly 179 
 
 Capture of Quebec 183 
 
 Lafayette 191 
 
 Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief 197 
 
 The Tripolitan War 199 
 
 Bombardment of Tripoli 202 
 
 Destruction of the Intrepid 204 
 
 Romantic Expedition of General Eaton 206 
 
 General Harrison's Expedition against the Indians 208 
 
 Perry's Victory and its Consequences 209 
 
 Naval Victories of 1812 211 
 
 Capture of Louisbomg 213 
 
 James Otis's Resistance of the Writs of Assistance. • . . 217 
 
 Retirement of Wasliington from the Presidency 219 
 
 Noble Defence of Charleston 222 
 
 Battle of Eutaw Springs 229 
 
 Battle of Trenton, 1776 230 
 
 Battle of Princeton 234 
 
 Siege of Yorktown 237 
 
 Battle of New Orleans 245 
 
 Battle of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain 249 
 
 Algerine War of 1815 250 
 
BEAUTIES OF 
 
 AMERICAN HISTORY, 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 One of the most curious facts connected with 
 American history, is its alleged discovery by a 
 native of Iceland. The following are the facts, 
 as recorded by the ancient sagas, and the au- 
 thorities followed by Snorro Sturleson. — Her- 
 julf, a descendant of Ingulf, and his son Biarn, 
 subsisted by trading between Iceland and Nor- 
 way, in the latter of which countries they 
 generally passed the winter. One season, their 
 vessels being as usual divided, for the greater 
 convenience of traffic, Biarn did not find his 
 father in Norway, who, he was informed, had 
 proceeded to Greenland, then just discovered. 
 He had never visited that country ; but he 
 steered westward for many days, until a strong 
 north wind bore him considerably to the south. 
 After a long interval he arrived in sight of a 
 low, woody country, which, compared with the 
 description he had received of the other, and 
 from the route he had taken, could not, he was 
 sure, be Greenland. Proceeding to the south- 
 west, he reached the latter country, and joined 
 
 (9) 
 
10 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 his father, who was located at Herjulfsnoes, a 
 promontory opposite to the western coast of 
 Iceland. 
 
 (A. D. 1001.) The information which Biarn 
 gave of this discovery induced Leif, son of 
 Eric the Red, the discoverer of Greenland, to 
 equip a vessel for the unknown country. With 
 thirty-five persons he sailed from Herjulfsnoes 
 towards the south, in the direction indicated 
 by Biarn. Arriving at a flat, stony coast, with 
 mountains, however, covered with snow, visible 
 at a great distance, they called it Hellu-land. 
 Proceeding still southwards, they came to a 
 woody, but rather flat coast, which they called 
 Mark-land. A brisk north wind blowing for 
 two days and two nights, brought them to a 
 finer coast, woody and undulating, and abound- 
 ing with natural productions. Towards the 
 north this region was sheltered by an island; 
 but there was no port until they had proceeded 
 farther to the west. There they landed ; and 
 as there was abundance of fish, in a river 
 which flowed into the bay, they ventured there 
 to pass the winter. They found the nights and 
 days less unequal than in Iceland and Norway; 
 on the very shortest (Dec. 21st,) the sun rising 
 at half-past seven, and setting at half-past four. 
 From some wild grapes which they found a few 
 miles from the shore, they denominated the 
 country Vinland, or Winland. The following 
 spring they returned to Greenland. 
 
 This description, as the reader will readily 
 recognize, can apply only to North America. 
 
DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 11 
 
 The first of the coasts which Leif and his navi- 
 gators saw, must have been Newfoundland, or 
 Labrador ; the second was probably the coast 
 of New Brunswick ; the third was Maine. The 
 causes which led to the voyage, the names, the 
 incidents, are so natural and so connected, as 
 to bear the impress of truth. And Snorro, the 
 earliest historian of the voyage, was not an in- 
 ventor ; he related events as he received them 
 from authorities which no longer exist, or from 
 tradition. Neither he nor his countrymen en- 
 tertained the slightest doubt that a new and 
 extensive region had been discovered. The 
 sequel will corroborate the belief that they 
 were right. 
 
 (1004 to 1008.) The next chief that visited 
 Vinland was Thorwald, another son of Eric 
 the Red. With thirty companions he proceeded 
 to the coast, and wintered in the tent which 
 had sheltered his brother Leif. The two fol- 
 lowing summers were passed by him in exa- 
 mining the regions both to the west and the 
 east ; and, from the description in the Icelandic 
 sagas, we may infer that he coasted the shore 
 from Massachusetts to Labrador. Until the 
 second season, no inhabitants appeared ; but 
 two, who had ventured alonor the shore in their 
 frail canoes, were taken, and most impolitically, 
 as well as most inhumanly, put to death. These 
 were evidently Esquimaux, whose short stature 
 and features resembled those of the western 
 Greenlanders. To revenge the murder of their 
 countrymen, a considerable number of the in- 
 
12 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 habitants now appeared in their small boats ; 
 but their arrows being unable to make any im- 
 pression on the wooden defences, they precipi- 
 tately retired. In this short skirmish, however, 
 Thorwald received a mortal wound ; and was 
 buried on the next promontory, with a cross at 
 his head and another at his feet, a proof that he 
 had embraced Christianity. Having passed 
 another winter, his companions returned to 
 Greenland- The following year Thorstein, an- 
 other son of Eric the Red, embarked for the 
 same place with his wife Gudrida and twenty- 
 five companions ; but they were driven by the 
 contending elements to the remote western 
 coast of Greenland, where they passed the win- 
 ter in great hardships. His adventure was 
 fatal to Thorstein, whose corpse was taken 
 back to the colony by his widow. 
 
 (1C09.) The first serious attempt at colo- 
 nizing Vinland was made by a Norwegian 
 chief, Thorfin, who had removed to Greenland, 
 and married the widowed Gudrida. With 
 sixty companions, some domestic animals, im- 
 plements of husbandry, and an abundance of 
 dried provisions, he proceeded to the coast 
 where Thorwald had died. There he erected 
 his tentSj which he surrounded by a strong 
 palisade, to resist the assaults, whether open or 
 secret, whether daily or nocturnal, of the na- 
 tives. They came in considerable numbers to 
 offer peltries and other productions for such 
 commodities as the strangers could spare. 
 Above all, we are assured, they w^anted arms, 
 
DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 13 
 
 which Thorwald would not permit to be soM ,• 
 yet, if an anecdote be true, their knowledge of 
 such weapons must have been limited indeed. 
 One of the savages took up an axe, ran with it 
 into the woods, and displayed it with much 
 triumph to the rest. To try its virtues, he 
 struck one that stood near him ; and the latter, 
 to the horror of all present, fell dead at his 
 feet. A chief took it from him, regarded it for 
 some time with anger, and then cast it into the 
 sea. Thorfin remained three years in Vinland, 
 where a son was born to him ; and after va- 
 rious voyages to different parts of the north, 
 ended his days in Iceland. His widow made 
 the pilgrimage to Rome ; and on her return to 
 the island retired to a convent which he had 
 erected. Many, however, of the colonists 
 whom he had led to Vinland remained, and 
 were ultimately joined by another body under 
 Helgi and Finnbogi, two brothers from Green- 
 land. But the latter had the misfortune to be 
 accompanied by a treacherous and evil woman, 
 Freydisa, a daughter of Eric the Red, and who 
 in a short time excited a quarrel, which proved 
 fatal to about thirty of the colonists. Detested 
 for her vices, she was constrained to return to 
 Greenland ; but the odour of her evil name re- 
 mained with her ; she lived despised, and died 
 unlamented. 
 
 (1026 to 1121.) Towards the close of the 
 
 reign of Olaf, the saint, an Icelander, named 
 
 Gudlief, embarked for Dublin. The vessel 
 
 being driven by boisterous winds far from its 
 
 2 
 
14 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 direct course, towards the south-west, ap- 
 proached an unknown shore. He and the 
 crew were soon seized by the natives, and car- 
 ried into the interior. Here, however, to their 
 great surprise, they were accosted by a venera- 
 ble chief in their own language, who inquired 
 after some individuals of Iceland. He refused 
 to tell his name ; but, as he sent a present to 
 Thurida, the sister of Snorro Gode, and an- 
 other for her son, no doubt was entertained 
 that he was the scald Biarn, who had been her 
 lover, and who had left Iceland thirty years 
 before that time. The natives were described 
 of a red colour, and cruel to strangers ; indeed, 
 it required all the influence of the friendly 
 chief, to rescue Gudlief and his companions 
 from destruction. From this period to 1050, 
 we hear no more of the northern colony esta- 
 blished by Thorfin ; but in that year a priest 
 went from Iceland to Vinland to preach Chris- 
 tianity. His end was tragical, — a proof that 
 if any of the original settlers had been chris- 
 tians, they had reverted to idolatry. In 1121, 
 a bishop embarked from Greenland for the 
 same destination, and with the same object; 
 but of the result no record exists. We hear 
 no more, indeed, of the colony, or of Vinland, 
 until the latter half of the fourteenth century, 
 when the two Venetians Zeni are said to have 
 visited that part of the world. From that 
 time to the discovery of the New World by 
 Columbus, there was no communication — none, 
 at least, that is known — between it and the 
 north of Europe. 
 
DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 15 
 
 This circumstance has induced many to doubt 
 of the facts which have been related. If, they 
 contend, North America were really discovered 
 and repeatedly visited by the Icelanders, how 
 came a country, so fertile in comparison with 
 that island, or with Greenland, or even Nor- 
 way, to be so suddenly abandoned ? This is 
 certainly a difficulty ; but a greater one, in our 
 opinion, is involved in the rejection of all the 
 evidence that has been adduced. It is not 
 Snorro only who mentions Vinland : many other 
 sagas do the same ; and even before Snorro, Ad- 
 am, of Bremen, obtained from the lips of Sweyn 
 II., King of Denmark, a confirmation of the 
 alleged discovery. For relations so numerous and 
 so uniform, for circumstances so naturally and so 
 graphically related, there must have been some 
 foundation. Even fiction does not invent, it 
 only exaggerates. There is nothing improba- 
 ble in the alleged voyages. The Scandinavians 
 were the best navigators in the world. From 
 authentic and indubitable testimony we know 
 that their vessels visited every sea from the 
 Mediterranean to the Baltic, from the extremity 
 of the Finland Gulf to the entrance at least of 
 Davis' Straits. Men thus familiar with distant 
 seas must have made a greater progress in the 
 science of navigation than we generally allow. 
 The voyage from Reykiavik, in Iceland, to Cape 
 Farewell, is not longer than that from the south- 
 western extremity of Iceland — once well colo- 
 nized — to the eastern coast of Labrador. But 
 does the latter country itself exhibit, in modern 
 
16 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 times, any vestiges of a higher civilization than 
 "we could expect to find if no Europeans had 
 ever visited it ? So at least the Jesuit mission- 
 aries inform us. They found the cross, a know- 
 ledge of the stars, a superior kind of worship, 
 a more ingenious mind, among the inhabitants 
 of the coast which is thought to have been colo- 
 nized from Greenland. They even assure us 
 that many Norwegian words are to be found in 
 the dialect of the people. The causes which 
 led to the destruction of the settlement were 
 probably similar to those which produced the 
 same eflect in Greenland. A handful of colo- 
 nists, cut off from all communication with the 
 mother country, and consequently deprived of 
 the means of repressing their savage neighbours, 
 could not be expected always to preserve their 
 original characteristics. They would either be 
 exterminated by hostilities, or driven to amal- 
 gamate with the nativ. ; probably both causes 
 led to this unfortunate result. The only diffi- 
 culty in this subject is that which we have be- 
 fore mentioned, viz., the sudden and total cessa- 
 tion of all intercourse with Iceland or Green- 
 land ; and even this must diminish when we 
 remember that in the fourteenth century the 
 Norwegian colony in Greenland disappeared in 
 the same manner, after a residence in the coun- 
 try of more than three hundred j^ears. On 
 weighing the preceding circumstances, and the 
 simple natural language in which they are re- 
 corded, few men not born in Italy or Spain will 
 deny to the Scandinavians the claim of having 
 
DISCOVERY BY THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 n 
 
 been the original discoverers of the New World. 
 Even Robertson, imperfectly acquainted as he 
 was with the links in this chain of evidence, 
 dared not wholly to reject it. Since his day, 
 the researches of the northern critics, and a 
 more attentive consideration of the subject, 
 have caused most writers to mention it with 
 respect. 
 
 2* 
 
18 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 
 
 LANDING OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 On the eleventh of October the indications of 
 land became more and more certain. A reed 
 quite green floated by the vessel ; and a little 
 after some kind of fish were seen, which were 
 known to abound in the vicinity of rocks. The 
 Pinta picked up the trunk of a bamboo and a 
 plank rudely carved. The Nina saw a branch 
 of a tree with berries on it. They sounded at 
 sunset, and found bottom. The wind was now 
 unequal ; and this last circumstance completely 
 satisfied the mind of Columbus that land was 
 not far off. The crew assembled as usual for 
 evening prayer. As soon as the service was 
 concluded, Columbus desired his people to re- 
 turn thanks to God for having preserved them 
 
LANDING OF COLUMBUS. 19 
 
 in so long and dangerous a voyage, and assured 
 them that the indications of land were now too 
 certain to be doubted. He recommended them 
 to look out carefully during the night, for that 
 they should surely discover land before the 
 morning ; and he promised a suit of velvet to 
 whoever first descried it, independent of the 
 pension of ten thousand maravedis which he 
 was to receive from the king. About ten o'clock 
 at night, while Columbus was sitting at the 
 stern of his vessel, he saw a light, and pointed 
 it out to Pedro Gutieres : they both called San- 
 chez de Segovia, the armourer, but before he 
 came it had disappeared : they saw it, never- 
 theless, return twice afterwards. At two o'clock 
 after midnight, the Pinta, which was ahead, 
 made the signal of land. It was in the night 
 of the eleventh of October, 1492, after a voyage 
 of thirty-five days, that the New World was 
 discovered. The men longed impatiently for 
 day : they wished to feast their eyes with the 
 sight of that land for which they had sighed so 
 long, and which the majority of them had des- 
 paired of ever seeing. At length day broke, 
 and they enjoyed the prospect of hills and val- 
 leys clad in delicious verdure. The three ves- 
 sels steered towards it at sunrise. The crew 
 of the Pinta, which preceded, commenced chant- 
 ing the Te Deum ; and all sincerely thanked 
 Heaven for the success of their voyage. They 
 saw as they approached a number of men col- 
 lected on the shore. Columbus embarked in 
 his cutter, with Alonzo and Yanez Pinzon, car- 
 
20 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 rying the royal standard in his hand. The mo- 
 ment he and all his crew set foot on land, they 
 erected a crucifix, and prostrating themselves 
 before it, with tears in their eyes, thanked God 
 for the goodness he had manifested towards 
 them. When Columbus rose, he named the 
 island Sa?i Salvador, and took possession of it 
 in the name of the king of Spain, in the midst 
 of the astonished natives, w^ho surrounded and 
 surveyed him in silence. Immediately the Cas- 
 tilians proclaimed him admiral and viceroy of 
 the Indies, and swore obedience to him. The 
 sense of the glory which they had acquired re- 
 called them to their duty, and they begged par- 
 don of the admiral for all the vexations they 
 had caused him. 
 
mSCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
 
 21 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN BY 
 NUNEZ DE BALBOA. 
 
 This enterprising officer, being placed in 
 command of Darien, made numerous incursions 
 on the territories of the neighbouring caciques, 
 in the course of which he received intelligence 
 from the Indians of a great sea a few days' 
 journey to the south. This he justly concluded 
 to be the ocean which Columbus had so long 
 sought in vain. Inflamed with the idea of ef- 
 fecting a discovery which that great man had 
 been unable to accomplish, and eager to reap 
 the first harvest of victory in countries said to 
 abound with gold, he boldly determined to 
 march across the isthmus, and witness with his 
 
22 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 own eyes the truth of what he heard. But, in 
 the execution of his design, he had to contend 
 with every difficulty which could be opposed to 
 him by the hand of nature or the hostility of 
 the natives : he had to lead his troops, worn out 
 with fatigue and the diseases of a noxious cli- 
 mate, through deep marshes, rendered nearly 
 impassable by perpetual rains, over mountains 
 covered with trackless forests, and through de- 
 files, from w^hich the Indians, in secure ambus- 
 cade, showered down poisoned arrows. But 
 no sufferings could damp the courage of the 
 Spaniards in that enterprising age; Balboa sur- 
 mounted every impediment. As he approached 
 the object of his research, he ran before his 
 companions to the summit of a mountain, from 
 which he surveyed, with transports of delight, 
 the boundless ocean which rolled beneath ; then 
 hurrying to the shore, he plunged into the 
 waves, and claimed the sovereignty of the 
 Southern Ocean for the crown of Castile. This 
 event took place in September 1513. The in- 
 habitants of the coast on which he had arrived 
 gave him to understand that the land towards 
 the south was ivithout end; that it was pos- 
 sessed by powerful nations, who had abundance 
 of gold, and who employed beasts of burden. 
 These allusions to the civilization and riches 
 of Peru, Balboa supposed to apply to those In- 
 dies w^hich it was the grand object of European 
 ambition to approach ; and the rude sketches 
 of the Peruvian lama, drawn by the Indians on 
 the sand, as they resembled the figure of the 
 
DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
 
 23 
 
 camel, served to confirm him in his error. De- 
 lighted with the importance of his discovery, 
 he immediately despatched messengers to Spain, 
 to give an account of his proceedings, and to 
 solicit an appointment corresponding to his ser- 
 vices. But the Spanish court was more liberal 
 in exciting enterprise than in rewarding merit, 
 and preferred new adventurers to old servants. 
 The government of Darien was bestowed on 
 Pedrarias Davila, who, regarding Balboa with 
 the hatred which conscious weakness always 
 bears towards superior worth, meditated un- 
 ceasingly the destruction of his rival. He at 
 length found an occasion to satisfy his ven- 
 geance; and the heroic Balboa was publicly 
 executed in Darien, in 1517, affording another 
 instance of the unhappy fate which attended 
 the first conquerors of America. 
 
24 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 COLIGNY AND HIS COLONY IN FLORIDA. 
 
 [See Frontispiece.] 
 
 Among the many characters distinguished in 
 European history, there is scarcely any one 
 more deserving the attention of the American 
 patriot than the celebrated Admiral Coligny. 
 If the Pilgrim Fathers of New England are 
 worthy of all praise, for founding an asylum for 
 religious liberty, Coligny is not less to be com- 
 mended for having planned and attempted a 
 colony for the same purpose, and that too upon 
 our own shores ; and while they gain the ap- 
 plause which results from brilliant success, he 
 should not be refused the reverence and sym- 
 pathy which are due to greatness, virtue, and 
 above all, misfortune. 
 
 The Admiral de Coligny was born at Catil- 
 lon-sur-Loin, in they ear 1516, of noble parents, 
 and received the best education that the times 
 afforded. He was brought up in the Protestant 
 faith, from which he never swerved during his 
 whole life. In his youth he distinguished him- 
 self in several battles, under the reigns of Fran- 
 cis I. and Henry H., by his great bravery and 
 skill. After the death of the last mentioned 
 king, Catherine de Medici was declared regent, 
 and by her rigorous acts against the Protestants, 
 she caused them to rise in arms. The Prince 
 de Conde and Admiral Coligny were chosen as 
 commanders of all the Protestant forces. After 
 
COUGNY AND HIS COLONY IN FLORIDA. 25 
 
 the death of Conde, which happened at the bat- 
 tle of Jarnac, the whole command devolved 
 upon Coligny ; and well did he prove himself 
 worthy of the trust reposed in him. He car- 
 ried on the war against the troops of Catherine 
 with various success, sometimes conquering, 
 sometimes suffering a defeat, but never permit- 
 ting himself to be disheartened, however great 
 his loss might be. Catherine de Medici, find- 
 ing, at length, that she could not exterminate 
 the Protestants by force of arms, resolved to 
 do so by stratagem. She therefore concluded 
 a peace with them, and invited the principal of 
 thom to court, where they were receiv-ed with 
 tJ.e greatest apparent cordiality. But Coligny, 
 k owing the treachery of the queen, and sus- 
 pecting some plot to be concealed under this 
 veil of kindness, resolved to defeat her ends. 
 For this purpose he intended to form a colony 
 in the New World, where the Protestants, should 
 circumstances hereafter compel them, might re- 
 tire and live in peace and security. With this 
 design, in the year 156*2, he sent out an expe- 
 dition consisting of two ships, under the com- 
 mand of John Ribaut. These vessels arrived 
 on the coast of Florida in the month of May in 
 the same year, and Ribaut entered a river 
 which he called the May, but which was sub- 
 sequently named San Mateo, by the Spaniards ; 
 it is now called St. John's. Here he erected a 
 column (of stones,) on which was inscribed the 
 arms of France, as a token of possession ; he 
 then sailed farther north, and left a colony at 
 3 
 
26 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 the bay of Port Royal. But this colony, on 
 account of dissensions among the chiefs, was 
 soon abandoned. A short time afterwards, 
 Coligny sent out three other vessels, under the 
 command of Laudonniere. He reached Florida 
 on the 20th of June, 1564, and sailed up the 
 river May. Here he found the column which 
 had been left by Ribaut still in existence, and 
 decorated with garlands of flowers, which the 
 Indians had hung around it, and which the 
 chief Saturiova now showed him with great 
 apparent gratification. Laudonniere, struck 
 with the beauty of the place, determined to 
 form his settlement here, and commenced build- 
 ing a fortress, which he called Fort Carolina. 
 But a scarcity of provisions arose, and the 
 colonists became discontented, and desired to 
 return to their native country. Laudonniere 
 withstood their demands as long as possible, 
 but finally yielding to their importunity, he 
 embarked on the 28th of August, and began his 
 voyage; but he had sailed only a short distance 
 when he met with a fleet of several vessels, 
 commanded by Ribaut, who was appointed to 
 succeed him in the command. They, therefore, 
 all returned, and the colony soon advanced to 
 a more flourishing condition. But things were 
 not long allowed to remain in this state. On 
 the 20th of September an expedition of the 
 Spaniards, under Melendez, arrived at the fort, 
 and, with the exception of women and chil- 
 dren, massacred every living soul. This proved 
 a death-blow to all the hopes of Coligny ; and 
 
27 
 
 hus the colony which, had it been suffered to 
 lave flourished, would have saved France a 
 civil war, and prevented the great massacre 
 of St. Bartholomew's day, was entirely de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 Charles IX. and Catherine now began to dis- 
 play their hostility more openly than ever 
 against the Protestant religion. They imposed 
 such rigorous exactions upon its professors, that 
 they once more rose in arms, and once more 
 Coligny led them to battle. Here he met with 
 various success ; but, on the whole, fortune 
 seemed to incline in his favour. Catherine, at 
 last, despairing of ever conquering the Protest- 
 ants in the field, again concluded a treaty with 
 him. Coligny was invited to Paris, where he 
 was received with the most distinguished marks 
 of favour. He had one hundred thousand 
 francs given him by Charles IX, as an in- 
 demnity for his losses in the wars, and was 
 admitted to a seat in the council. 
 
 Things continued in this condition until the 
 nio[ht of St. Bartholomew's, the 24th of Ausjust, 
 1572, a night in which one of the most horrible 
 transactions that ever disgraced humanity oc- 
 curred; a night in which thousands of innocent 
 beings were sent to their final account without 
 previous warning; a night in which deeds were 
 perpetrated (the result not more of religious 
 than political animosity) which are now equally 
 reprobated by Catholic and Protestant. Par- 
 ticular orders had been given to prevent all 
 chance of Coligny's escape. The Duke of 
 
28 BEAUTIES OF A^TERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 Guise, with a band of miscreants, hastened to 
 his house, which they surrounded. A man by 
 the name of Besme then entered the room in 
 which Coligny was sitting. " Art thou Colig- 
 ny ?" said he ; "I am he indeed," said the ad- 
 miral ; " young man, you ought to respect my 
 grey hairs ; but, do what you will, you can 
 shorten my life only by a few days." Besme 
 immediately plunged his sword into his body, 
 and his companions pierced him with many 
 wounds. The body was then thrown out of 
 the window into the street, where Guise was 
 impatiently waiting to see it. He wiped the 
 blood off his face, in order to recognize the 
 features, and then gave orders to cut off his 
 head, which he sent to Catherine. This head 
 w^as then embalmed and sent to the pope, w^hilst 
 his body remained in the street, exposed to 
 every indignity from the ferocious rabble. 
 
 Thus perished Coligny, one of the greatest 
 and most remarkable men that France ever 
 produced. Well might his enemies exult in 
 his fall ; for he was the bulwark of the cause 
 which he had espoused. With him perished the 
 best hopes of Protestantism in France. The 
 succeeding leader renounced the faith ; and 
 then there followed persecution, exile and apos- 
 tacy, till the Revolution levelled all distinc- 
 tions, and seemed, for a time, to have extin- 
 guished all religion with a deluge of political 
 fanaticism. 
 
VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW. 
 
 29 
 
 VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW. 
 
 Captain Philip Amidas and Captain Arthur 
 Barlow, set sail from the west of England on 
 the 27th of April, 1584, and the 10th of May- 
 arrived at the Canaries, from whence they bent 
 their course to the Caribbee Islands, which they 
 made on the 10th of June, keeping a more south- 
 erly course than they needed to have done, as 
 they themselves observed afterwards, appre- 
 hending that the current set so strong to the 
 northward on the coast of Florida or Virginia, 
 that there was no stemming it ; and that mis- 
 take made them go two or three thousand miles 
 out of their way : however, they arrived at the 
 Island of Wokokon, near the coast of Virginia, 
 3* 
 
30 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 or rather of North Carolina (of which this coun- 
 try is now reckoned a part) and took possession 
 thereof in the name of Queen Elizabeth, whom 
 they proclaimed rightful queen and sovereign 
 of the same, to the use of Mr. Raleigh, accord- 
 ing to her Majesty's grant. But they soon dis- 
 covered it to be but an island of twenty miles 
 in length, and six in breadth, and lying in 34 
 degrees odd minutes north latitude; the land 
 producing cedars, cypress, pines, and vast quan- 
 tities of grapes ; nor was there any want of 
 deer, hare, rabbits, and wild fowl. 
 
 After they had continued here three days, an 
 Indian came on board them, and was entertain- 
 ed in the ship ; after which he caught some fish 
 and presented to the English ; and the next day 
 Granganimo, the brother of Wingina, King of 
 Wingandacoa (as the neighbouring continent 
 was called) came down with forty or fifty of 
 his people to the sea-side. Whereupon several 
 English officers w^ent over to him, and were in- 
 vited to sit down with him on the mats that 
 were spread for that purpose, the Prince strik- 
 ing his head and his breast, and making a great 
 many signs to signify they were heartily wel- 
 come, as they apprehended. Whereuvon they 
 made him some small presents, as th y did to 
 four of his people, who sat on the lower end of 
 the same mat ; but the Prince took away the 
 things from his men, intimating that they were 
 his servants, and that all presents were to be 
 made to him. And having taken leave of the 
 English, he returned with more of his people 
 
VOYAGE OF AMID AS AND BARLOW. 31 
 
 two days after, bringing deer-skins, buff, and 
 other peltry to trade with them. Whereupon 
 they showed Granganimo all their merchandise, 
 of which nothing pleased him so much as a 
 bright pewter-dish : he took it up, clapped it 
 upon his breast, and having made a hole in the 
 brim, hung it about his neck, intimating it would 
 be a good shield against his enemies' arrows. 
 This pewter-dish they exchanged for twenty 
 skins, worth twenty nobles, and a copper-kettle 
 for fifty skins, worth as many crowns. They 
 offered also a very advantageous exchange for 
 their axes, hatchets, and knives, and would have 
 given anything for their swords ; but the Eng- 
 lish would not part with them. 
 
 Two or three days after, the king's brother 
 came on board their ships, and eat and drank 
 with them, and seemed to relish their wine and 
 food very well, and some few days after he 
 brought his wife and daughter, and several more 
 of his children with him. His wife had good 
 features, but was not tall ; she appeared exceed- 
 ing modest, and had a cloak or mantle of a skin, 
 with the fur next her body, and another piece 
 of a skin before her. About her head she had 
 a coronet of white coral, and in her ears pen- 
 dants of pearls, about the size of peas, hanging 
 down to her middle, and she had bracelets on 
 her arms. Her husband also wore a coronet or 
 band of white coral about his head sometimes, 
 but usually a coronet of copper, or some other 
 shining metal, which at first our adventurers 
 imagined to be gold, but were mistaken. His 
 hair was cut short, but his wife's was long. 
 
82 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 The rest of his habit was like his wife's. The 
 other women of the better sort, and the Prince's 
 children, had several pendants of shining cop- 
 per in their ears. The complexion of the peo- 
 ple in general being tawny, and their hair 
 black. The Prince's wife was usually attended 
 by forty or fifty women to the sea-side; but 
 when she came on board (as she did often) she 
 left them on shore, and brought only two or 
 three with her. 
 
 The King's brother, they observed, was very 
 just to his engagements ; for they frequently 
 delivered him merchandise upon his word, and 
 he ever came within the day and delivered 
 what he had promised for them. He sent them 
 also every day, as a present, a brace of bucks, 
 with hares, rabbits, and fish, the best in the 
 world ; together with several sorts of fruits, 
 such as melons, walnuts, cucumbers, gourds, 
 peas, and several kinds of roots, as also maize, 
 or Indian corn. 
 
 Afterwards seven or eight of the English 
 officers went in their boat up the river Occam, 
 twenty miles to the northward, and came to an 
 island called Roanoke, where they were hospi- 
 tably entertained by Granganimo's wife in his 
 absence. She pressed them to stay on shore 
 all night, and when they refused she was much 
 concerned they should be apprehensive of any 
 danger, and sent the provision on board their 
 boat which she had provided for their supper, 
 with mats for them to lie upon : and the cap- 
 tain who wrote the relation, it seems, was of 
 
VOYAGE OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW. 33 
 
 opinion they might safely have continued on 
 shore; for a more kind and loving people he 
 thought there could not be in the world, as he 
 expressed himself. 
 
 These Indians having never seen any Euro- 
 peans before, were mightily taken with the 
 whiteness of their skin, and took it as a great 
 favour if any Englishman would permit any 
 of them to touch his breast. They were 
 amazed also at the magnitude and structure 
 of their ships, and at the firing of a musket 
 they trembled, having never seen any fire-arms 
 before. 
 
 The English continued to trade with the 
 Indians till they had disposed of all the goods 
 they had brought, and loaded their ships with 
 skins, sassafras and cedar. They procured 
 also some pearls from them, and a little tobac- 
 co, which they found the Indians very fond of. 
 After which they parted with this people in a 
 very friendly manner, and returned home to 
 England, taking with them Manteo and Wan- 
 chese, two Indians, who appeared desirous to 
 embark for England with tliem ; and having 
 made a very profitable voyage, they gave Mr. 
 Raleigh and the rest of their employers such a 
 glorious account of the country, as made them 
 impatient till they had provided ships for an- 
 other voyage. The tobacco the captains Ami- 
 das and Barlow brought home with them in 
 this voyage was the first that had been seen in 
 England, and was soon cried up as a most 
 valuable plant, and a sovereign remedy for 
 almost every malady. 
 
34 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 VOYAGE OF GILBERT AND GOSNOLD. 
 
 In the year 1602, on the 26th of March, Cap- 
 tain Gilbert also set sail from Plymouth, Eng- 
 land, with thirty-two mariners and landsmen ; 
 the landsmen being commanded by Captain 
 Gosnold, and designed for a colony. They ar- 
 rived in New England, being in 42 degrees 
 north latitude, on the 14th of May following; 
 where there came on board them several of the 
 natives in an European boat, some of whom 
 also being clothed like Europeans, the boat and 
 clothes having been given them by some fisher- 
 men who frequented Newfoundland ; but most 
 of them had mantles of deer-skins. They after- 
 wards sailed to the southward, and came to a 
 promontory called Cape Cod, from the shoals 
 of Cod-fish they met with there, and that name 
 it retains to this day. Here Captain Gosnold 
 went on shore, and found peas, strawberries, 
 and other fruits growing, and saw a great deal 
 of good timber. 
 
 They sailed from this point to the southward, 
 and arrived at another promontory, which they 
 called Gilbert's Point, the name of the captain 
 of the ship, the shores appearing full of people. 
 Some of them came on board, and though they 
 were peaceable enough, they were observed to 
 be thievish. The English afterwards bending 
 their course to the south-west, they came to an 
 uninhabited island in 41 degrees, to which they 
 
VOYAGE OF GILBERT AND GOSNOLD. 35 
 
 gave the name of Martha's Vineyard ; and to 
 another island, a little further to the southward, 
 they gave the name of Elizabeth Island ; and 
 these islands are still called by those names. 
 
 Upon Elizabeth Island, lying about four miles 
 from the continent. Captain Gosnold proposed 
 to settle with his little colony, and to that end 
 went on shore there on the 28th of May. He 
 found the island covered with timber and un- 
 derwood, among which were oak, ash, beech, 
 walnut, hazel, cedars, cypress, and sassafras. 
 And as to fruits, here were cherries, vines, 
 gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, ground- 
 nuts, and peas; and also a variety of roots and 
 salad-herbs. Here, in the middle of a fresh- 
 water lake, which surrounded a little rocky 
 island, containing an acre of ground, they be- 
 gan to erect a house and fort capable of receiv- 
 ing twenty men. 
 
 While this was doing, Captain Gosnold sail- 
 ed over to the continent, where he found a great 
 many people, and was treated very courteously 
 by them, every one making a present of what 
 he had about him, such as skins, furs, tobacco, 
 chains and necklaces of copper, shells, and the 
 like, for which the English gave them some toys, 
 and returned to their fort. 
 
 Two or three days afterwards, one of the In- 
 dian chiefs, with fifty stout men, armed with 
 bows and arrows, came over from the continent 
 to the island in their country boats, and there 
 being then but eight Englishmen on shore, they 
 stood upon their guard until the natives gave 
 
36 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 them to understand they came in a friendly 
 manner to visit them. Whereupon they were 
 invited to eat and drink, and sat down to din- 
 ner with the Englisii on their heels, expressing 
 a great deal of good humour. 
 
 The Indians made them another visit two or 
 three days after, when they behaved themselves 
 very peaceably also ; but one of the natives 
 having stolen a shield, was made to return it, 
 and they seemed apprehensive the English 
 would revenge it ; but finding them still easy 
 and sociable, they were merry together, and 
 parted again in a friendiV manner. But as two 
 of the English were straggling by the sea-side 
 two days after, to get crabs, four Indians at- 
 tacked them, and wounded one of the English 
 with an arrow ; whereupon the other English- 
 man disarmed the aggressor, and the rest ran 
 away. 
 
 This seems to have been the only quarrel 
 there was between the English and the Indians 
 in this voyage : however, the colony which was 
 designed to be left there, who were twenty in 
 number, being apprehensive it would be diffi- 
 cult for them to subsist till supplies and rein- 
 forcements came from England, if the natives 
 should prove their enemies, especially as their 
 provisions, upon examination, appeared much 
 shorter than was expected ; it was resolved to 
 abandon their little fort in the island, and re- 
 turn (all of them) to England. Having, there- 
 fore, taken on board some cedar and sassafras. 
 
SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARy's. 37 
 
 beaver-skins, deer-skins, black fox-skins, and 
 other peltry they had received of the natives 
 for the goods they carried thither, they set sail 
 from the island of Elizabeth on the 18th of June, 
 arriving at Exmouth in Devon, on the 23d of 
 July following, without having lost one man. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARY'S. 
 
 The Lord Baltimore having obtained a grant 
 of Maryland, sent over his brother, the honour- 
 able Leonard Calvert, Esq., with several Ro- 
 man Catholic gentlemen and other adventurers, 
 to the number of two hundred, to take posses- 
 sion of the country ; who setting sail from Eng- 
 land on the 22d of November, 1633, arrived at 
 Point Comfort, in the Bay of Chesapeake, on 
 the 24th of February following ; where being 
 kindly treated, received, and supplied with pro- 
 visions by the English of Virginia, they con- 
 tinued the voyage northward to the river Poto- 
 mac, appointed to be the boundary between 
 Virginia and Maryland, on the west side of the 
 bay. 
 
 The adventurers sailed up this river, and 
 landing in several places on the northern shore, 
 acquainted the natives they were come to set- 
 tle among them and trade with them ; but the 
 natives seemed rather to desire their absence 
 4 
 
38 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 than their company. However, there were no 
 acts of hostility committed on either side, and 
 the English returning down the river Potomac 
 again, made choice of a place near the mouth 
 of a river (which falls into it, and by them 
 called St. George's River) to plant the first 
 colony. 
 
 They advanced afterwards to an Indian town, 
 called Yoamaco, then the capital of the coun- 
 try, and at a conference with the Weroance or 
 sovereign of the place, to whom they made con- 
 siderable presents, the Weroance consented that 
 the English should dwell in one part of the 
 town, reserving the other for his own people 
 till the harvest was over ; and then agreed to 
 quit the whole entirely to the English, and re- 
 tire further into the country, which they did 
 accordingly ; and the following March Mr. Cal- 
 vert and the planters were left in the quiet pos- 
 session of the town, to which they gave the 
 name of St. Mary's ; and it was agreed on both 
 sides, that if any wrong was done by either 
 party, the nation offending should make full sat- 
 isfaction for the injury. 
 
 The reason the Yoamaco Indians were so 
 ready to enter into a treaty with the English, 
 and yield them part of their country, w^as in 
 hopes of obtaining their protection and assist- 
 ance against the Susquehanna Indians, their 
 northern neighbours, with whom they were 
 then at war, and indeed the Yoamaco Indians 
 were upon the point of abandoning their coun- 
 
SETTLEMENT OF ST. MARY's. 39 
 
 try to avoid the fury of the Susquehanna na- 
 tion before the English arrived ; from whence 
 it appears, that the adventurers sent over by 
 the Lord Baltimore cannot be charged with any 
 injustice in settling themselves in this part of 
 America, being invited to it by the original in- 
 habitants. 
 
 The English being thus settled at St. Mary's, 
 applied themselves with great diligence to cul- 
 tivating the ground, and raised large quantities 
 of Indian corn, while the natives went every 
 day into the woods to hunt for game, bringing 
 home venison and turkeys to the English colony 
 in abundance, for which they received knives, 
 tools, and toys in return. And thus both na- 
 tions lived in the greatest friendship, doing good 
 to each other, till some of the English in Vir- 
 ginia, envious of the happiness of this thriving 
 colony, suggested to the Indians that these stran- 
 gers were not really English, as they pretended, 
 but Spaniards ; and would infallibly enslave 
 them, as they had done many of their country- 
 men : and the Indians were so credulous as to 
 believe it, and appeared jealous of Mr. Calvert, 
 making preparations as if they intended to fall 
 upon the strangers ; which the English per- 
 ceiving, stood upon their guard, and erected a 
 fort for their security, on which they planted 
 several pieces of ordnance, at the firing where- 
 of the Yoamacos were so terrified that they 
 abandoned their country without any other 
 compulsion, and left the English in possession 
 of it ; who, receiving supplies and reinforce- 
 
40 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 ments continually from England, and having 
 no other enemy to contend with than agues and 
 fevers (which swept off some of them before 
 they found out a proper regimen for the climate) 
 they soon became a flourishing people, many 
 Roman Catholic families of quality and fortune 
 transporting themselves hither to avoid the pe- 
 nal lav.'s made against them in England; and 
 Maryland has been a place of refuge for those 
 of that persuasion from that day to this. 
 
LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 
 
 41 
 
 LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 
 
 When the light of the Reformation had 
 dawned upon Europe, the doctrines and prac- 
 tices of the Romish church filled the minds of 
 those who opposed them with horror and irre- 
 concilable aversion. The spirit which prevailed 
 at that time was by no means satisfied either 
 with the partial changes which took place in 
 the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, or 
 the imperious manner in which these sovereigns 
 dictated a creed to their people : and the less 
 so, as the opinions of the royal theologians 
 
42 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 themselves, especially those of the former, had 
 undergone considerable alterations. Elizabeth, 
 determined that all her subjects should conform 
 to the belief which she had chosen for them* 
 established a High Commission for ecclesiastical 
 affairs ; with powers, not inferior, or less hostile 
 to the rights of conscience, than those of the 
 Inquisition in Spain. Some attempts were 
 made in the house of commons to check these 
 arbitrary and odious proceedings; but Elizabeth 
 interfered with her prerogative, and the guar- 
 dians of the people were silent. They even 
 consented to an act, by which those who should 
 be absent from church for a month were sub- 
 jected to a fine and imprisonment, and, if they 
 persisted in their obstinacy, to death, without 
 benefit of clergy. In consequence of this ini- 
 quitous statute, and the distresses in which the 
 Puritans were involved, a body of them called 
 Brownists, from the name of their founder, left 
 England, and settled at Leyden, in Holland, 
 under the care of Mr. John Robinson, their 
 pastor. But this situation at length proving 
 disagreeable to them, and their children inter- 
 marrying with the Dutch, they were apprehen- 
 sive lest their church, which they regarded as 
 a model of untarnished purity, should gradually 
 decay; and having obtained a promise from 
 James I. that they should not be molested in 
 the exercise of their religion, and a patent from 
 the South Virginia company, they chartered 
 two small vessels, in one of which they sailed 
 from Delfthaven, July 22d, 1620, and joined 
 
LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 43 
 
 the other at Southampton. They were obliged 
 afterwards to leave one of their vessels behind, 
 on account of its leaky condition, and finally 
 sailed from Plymouth in the May Flower, the 
 captain of which having been bribed by the 
 Dutch, who had a settlement at New York, to 
 take them beyond their limits, they made the 
 land as far north as Cape Cod, on the 9th of 
 November. 
 
 Finding that they were not within the juris- 
 diction of South Virginia, and that they had no 
 right to the soil or powers of government, they 
 entered into a voluntary compact, conceived in 
 the following words : " We, &c. do, by these 
 presents, solemnly and mutually, in the pre- 
 sence of God and one another, covenant and 
 combine ourselves together, into a civil body 
 politic, for our better ordering and preservation, 
 and furtherance of the ends aforesaid ; and, by 
 virtue hereof, to enact, constitute and frame 
 such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, con- 
 stitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall 
 be thouorht most meet and convenient for the 
 general good of the colony, unto which we pro- 
 mise all due submission and obedience." 
 
 This, the earliest American constitution, is 
 dated November 11th, 1620, and signed by 
 forty-one persons. The w^hole company, in- 
 cluding women and children, amounted to one 
 hundred and one. After thus settling a social 
 contract, they proceeded to explore the coast, 
 and on the 20th of December, having found a 
 port and harbour suited to their purpose, they 
 
44 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 landed on the rock of Plymouth, a spot which, 
 as the asylum of religious liberty, is still re- 
 verenced by the sons of the Pilgrims, who 
 annually celebrate the anniversary of their 
 landing. 
 
 The inclemency of the season, their previous 
 sufferings at sea, and the hardships and priva- 
 tions to which they were still exposed, thinned 
 their ranks, till, at the end of four months from 
 their landing, nearly one half their number had 
 perished. At times only six or seven were fit 
 for duty. Before leaving England the Pilgrims 
 had formed a sort of partnership with certain 
 London merchants, by which they were bound 
 to carry on all their commerce in common for 
 seven years. This proved a serious bar to the 
 advancement of the colony. At the end of the 
 term the colonists bought the shares of their 
 partners, and divided their joint property 
 among themselves. The government was ad- 
 ministered by a governor and seven assistants, 
 chosen annually by the people. 
 
TREATY WITH MASSASOIT. 45 
 
 THE TREATY WITH MASSASOIT. 
 
 About the middle of March, 1621, Samoset, 
 one of the Indian sagamores, or captains, came 
 into Plymouth in a friendly manner, and gave 
 the people to understand they were welcome 
 into the country, and that his people would be 
 glad to traffic with them. And coming again 
 the next day with several other Indians, they 
 informed the English that their great Sachem, 
 or king, whom they called Massasoit, had his 
 residence but two or three days' march to the 
 northward, and intended them a visit; and 
 accordingly Massasoit arrived on the 22d of 
 March, with a retinue of about sixty people, 
 and being received by Captain Standish at the 
 head of a file of musketeers, was conducted to 
 a kind of throne they had prepared for his In- 
 dian majesty in one of their houses. 
 
 They relate that this monarch was of a large 
 stature, middle aged, of a grave countenance, 
 and sparing in his speech ; that his face was 
 painted red, and both head and face smeared 
 over with oil ; that he had a mantle of deer- 
 skin, and his breeches and stockings, which were 
 all of a piece, were of the same materials ; that 
 his knife or tomahawk hung upon his breast on 
 a string, his tobacco-pouch behind him, and his 
 arms were clothed with wild-cat skins ; and in 
 the same garb were his principal attendants. 
 
46 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 They did not observe any marks of distinction 
 between this prince and his subjects, unless it 
 were a chain of fish-bones which Massasoit 
 wore about his neck. 
 
 Soon after the prince was seated, Carver, the 
 governor, came in with a guard of musketeers, 
 a drum and trumpet marching before him: 
 whereupon Massasoit rose up and kissed him; 
 after which they both sat down, and an enter- 
 tainment was provided for the Indians, of which 
 no part appeared more acceptable to them than 
 the brandy, the sachem himself drinking very 
 plentifully of it. In Massasoit's retinue was 
 the above-mentioned Squanto, w^ho had been 
 carried to Europe by Hunt and brought to New 
 England again, as related above. This Indian 
 it seems had a very great affection for the Eng- 
 lish, among whom he lived several years ; and 
 it was to his favourable representation of the 
 colony that the sachem was induced to make 
 them this friendly visit : and at this first meet- 
 ing to enter into an alliance oflfensive and de- 
 fensive with the English, and even to acknow- 
 ledge King James for his sovereign, and pro- 
 mise to hold his dominions of him ; and as an 
 evidence of his sincerity, Massasoit granted 
 and transferred part of his country to the plant- 
 ers and their heirs for ever. This alliance be- 
 ing founded upon the mutual interests of the 
 contracting parties was maintained inviolably 
 many years. The sachem, who had been in- 
 formed by Squanto how powerful a people the 
 
SIR WILLIAM PHIPS. 47 
 
 English were, both by sea and land, promised 
 himself their assistance against the Narragan- 
 set Indians, his enemies ; and the English stood 
 in no less need of his friendship and assistance 
 to establish themselves in that country. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM PHIPS. 
 
 This hero was born of mean parents, in 
 1650, at a small plantation on the banks of the 
 river Kennebeck, the north-east frontier of New 
 England. His father was a gunsmith, and left 
 his mother a widow with a large family of small 
 children. This William being one of the young- 
 est, kept sheep in the wilderness till he was 
 eighteen years of age, and was then bound ap- 
 prentice to a ship-carpenter. When he had 
 served his time he went to sea, and having been 
 successful in some small adventures, at length 
 discovered a rich Spanish wreck, near the port 
 of La Plata, in Hispaniola, which gained him 
 a great reputation in the English court, and in- 
 troduced him into the acquaintance of some of 
 the greatest men in the nation. 
 
 The galleon, in which this treasure was lost, 
 had been cast away upwards of fifty years, and 
 how Captain Phips came to the knowledge of it 
 does not appear to us ; but upon his applying 
 to King Charles II. in the year 1683, and ac- 
 
48 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 quainting his majesty with the probabihty there 
 was of recovering it, the king made him com- 
 mander of the Algier Rose, a frigate of 18 guns, 
 and 95 men, and sent him to Hispaniola in 
 search of the prize. Here he was informed by 
 an old Spaniard of the very place where it was 
 lost, and began to fish for it, but his ship's crew 
 looking upon it as a romantic undertaking, after 
 some little trial despaired of success, and com- 
 pelled him to return to England without effect- 
 ing anything. And though the captain assured 
 the ministry that the impatience of the seamen 
 only prevented his success, the court refused to 
 be concerned in the enterprise any further, and 
 it was dropped for some time. 
 
 However, the captain continuing his applica- 
 tion to some great men, the Duke of Albemarle, 
 and several other persons of distinction, fitted 
 him out again in the year 1686; and arriving 
 at the port De la Plata with a ship and tender, 
 the captain went up into the woods, and built 
 a stout canoe out of a cotton tree, large enough 
 to carry eight or ten oars. This canoe and ten- 
 der, with some choice men and skilful divers, 
 the captain sent out in search of the wreck, 
 whilst himself lay at anchor in the port. The 
 canoe kept busking up and down upon the shal- 
 lows, and could discover nothing but a reef of 
 rising shoals, called the boilers, within two or 
 three feet of the surface of the water. 
 
 The sea was calm, every eye was employed 
 in looking down into it, and the divers went 
 down in several places without making any dis- 
 
SIR WILLIAM PHIP9. 4d 
 
 covery, till at last, as they were turning back, 
 weary and dejected, one of the sailors looking 
 over the side of the canoe into the sea, spied a 
 feather under water, growing, as he imagined, 
 out of the side of a rock ; one of the divers 
 was immediately ordered down to fetch it up, 
 and look out if there was anything of value 
 about it. 
 
 He quickly brought up the feather, and told 
 them that he had discovered several great guns ; 
 whereupon he was ordered down again, and 
 then brought up a pig of silver of two or three 
 hundred pounds value, the sight of which filled 
 them with transports, and convinced them suf- 
 ficiently, that they had found the treasure they 
 had been so long looking for. When they had 
 buoyed the place, they made haste to the port, 
 and told the captain the joyful news, who could 
 hardly believe them, till they showed him the 
 silver, and then with hands lifted up to heaven, 
 he cried out, Thanks be to God we are all made! 
 
 All hands were immediately ordered on board, 
 and sailing to the place, the divers happened to 
 fall first into the room where the bullion had 
 been stored, and in a few days brought up 32 
 tons of silver, without the loss of any man's life. 
 When they had cleared the store-room they 
 searched the hold, and amongst the ballast of 
 the ship found a great many bags of pieces of 
 eight. It is observable, that these bags having 
 lain so long under water amongst ballast, were 
 crusted over with a hard substance like lime- 
 stone, to the thickness of several inches, which 
 5 
 
60 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 being broken with irons contrived for that pur- 
 pose, the rusty pieces of eight tumbled out in 
 prodigious quantities. Besides these things they 
 found vast treasures of gold, pearls, jewels, and 
 everything that a Spanish galleon used to be 
 laden with. 
 
 There was one Adderley, of Providence, who 
 had been with Captain Phips in his former voy- 
 age to this place, and promised to assist him 
 again if ever he should make a second adven- 
 ture, who met him with a small vessel at port 
 De la Plata, and with the few hands he had on 
 board took up six tons of silver for themselves. 
 They both staid till their provision was spent, 
 and then the captain obliging Adderley and his 
 men not to discover the place of the wreck, nor 
 come to it himself till the next year, they weigh- 
 ed anchor and returned. The reason of this 
 obligation was, because the last day of their 
 fishing the divers brought up several sows of 
 silver, which made the captain imagine that 
 there was a great deal of treasure yet behind, 
 though it afterwards appeared that they had in 
 a manner quite cleared the ship of her bullion 
 before they left her. 
 
 The captain steered directly away for Eng- 
 land without calling at any port by the way, 
 and arrived the latter end of the year, with 
 about three hundred thousand pounds sterling, 
 sixteen thousand of which, after all charges 
 paid, and gratuities to the sailors, came to his 
 own share : besides which, the Duke of Albe- 
 
FIRST ENGLISH CONQUEST OF CANADA. 51 
 
 marie made his wife a present of a golden cup 
 of a thousand pounds value. 
 
 Some of King James's courtiers would have 
 persuaded him to have seized the ship and its 
 cargo, under pretence that the captain had not 
 rightly informed him of the nature of his pro- 
 ject when he was graciously pleased to grant 
 him his patent ; but the king replied, that Phips 
 was an honest man, and that it was his coun- 
 cil's fault that he had not employed him him- 
 self, and therefore he would give him no dis- 
 turbance in what he had got ; but as a mark 
 of his royal favour conferred upon him the ho- 
 nour of knighthood. 
 
 FIRST ENGLISH CONQUEST OF CANADA. 
 
 The British dominion in America underwent, 
 in the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
 some vicissitudes which in after years affected 
 materially the prosperity both of New England 
 and of the other colonial establishments in the 
 same quarter of the world. The war which 
 the king so wantonly declared against France 
 in 1627, and which produced only disgrace and 
 disaster to the British arms in Europe, was 
 attended with events of a very different com- 
 plexion in America. Sir David Kirk having 
 obtained a commission to attack the American 
 dominions of France, invaded Canada in the 
 
52 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 summer of 1628; and so successful was the 
 expedition, that in July, 1629, Quebec was 
 reduced to surrender to the arms of England. 
 Thus was the capital of New France subdued 
 by the English, about one hundred and thirty 
 years before they achieved its final conquest by 
 the sword of Wolfe. This signal event was 
 unknown in Europe when peace was re-estab- 
 lished between France and England ; and 
 Charles, by the subsequent treaty of St. Ger- 
 main, not only restored this valuable acquisi- 
 tion to France, but expressed the cession he 
 made in terms of such extensive application, as 
 undeniably inferred a recognition of the French, 
 and a surrender of the British claims to the 
 province of Nova Scotia. This arrangement 
 manifestly threatened no small prejudice to the 
 settlements of the English ; and it was soon 
 found that what it threatened, it did not fail 
 to produce. 
 
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 53 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 
 
 The increasing numbers of the colonists, 
 causing the inhabitants of some of the towns 
 to feel themselves straitened for room, sug- 
 gested the formation of additional establish- 
 ments. A project of founding a new settlement 
 on the banks of the river Connecticut was now 
 embraced by Mr. Hooker, one of the ministers 
 of Boston, and a hundred of the members of 
 his congregation. After enduring extreme 
 hardship, and encountering the usual difficulties 
 that attended the foundation of a society in this 
 quarter of America, with the usual display of 
 puritan fortitude and resolution, they at length 
 succeeded in establishing a plantation, which 
 
54 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 gradually enlarged into the flourishing state of 
 Connecticut. Some Dutch settlers from New 
 York, who had previously occupied a post in 
 the country, were compelled to surrender it to 
 them ; and they soon after obtained from Lord 
 Brooke and Lord Say and Seal, an assignation 
 to a district which these noblemen had acquired 
 in this region, with the intention of flying from 
 the royal tyranny to America. They had at 
 first carried with them a commission from the 
 government of Massachusetts Bay, for the ad- 
 ministration of justice in their new settlement ; 
 but, afterwards reflecting that their territory 
 was beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities 
 from whom this commission was derived, they 
 combined themselves by a voluntary association 
 into a body politic, constructed on the same 
 model with the state from which they had 
 separated. They continued in this condition 
 till the Restoration, when they obtained a char- 
 ter for themselves from King Charles IL That 
 this secession from the colony of Massachusetts 
 Bay was occasioned by lack of room in a 
 province as yet so imperfectly peopled, has 
 appeared so improbable to some writers, that 
 they have thought it necessary to assign another 
 cause, and have found none so satisfactory as 
 the jealousy which they conclude Mr. Hooker 
 must inevitably have entertained towards Mr. 
 Cotton, whose influence had become so great in 
 Massachusetts that even a formidable political 
 dissension was quelled by one of his pacific dis- 
 courses. But envy was not a passion that 
 
SETTLEMENT OF CONNECTICUT. 55 
 
 could dwell in the humble and holy breast of 
 Hooker, or be generated by such influence as 
 the character of Cotton was formed to exert. 
 The sense of a redundant population was the 
 more readily experienced at first from the un- 
 willingness of the settlers to remove far into the 
 interior of the country and deprive themselves 
 of an easy communication with the coast. 
 Another reason, indeed, appears to have 
 enforced the formation of this new settlement ; 
 but it was a reason that argued not dissension, 
 but community of feeling and design between 
 the settlers who remained in Massachusetts and 
 those who removed to Connecticut. By the 
 establishment of this advanced station, a bar- 
 rier, it was hoped, would be erected against the 
 troublesome incursions of the Pequod Indians. 
 Nor is it utterly improbable that some of the 
 seceders to this new settlement were actuated 
 by a restless spirit which had hoped too much 
 from external change, and which vainly urged 
 a farther pursuit of that spring of contentment 
 which must rise up in the mind of him who 
 would enjoy it. 
 
 In the immediate neighbourhood of this new 
 settlement, another plantation was formed 
 about two years after, by a numerous body of 
 emigrants who arrived from England, under 
 the guidance of Theophilus Eaton, a gentleman 
 of fortune, and John Davenport, an eminent 
 puritan minister. Massachusetts Bay appear- 
 ing to them overstocked, and being informed of 
 a large and commodious bay to the south-west 
 
56 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 of Connecticut river, they purchased from the 
 natives all the land that lies betw^een that 
 stream and Hudson's river, which divides the 
 southern parts of New England from New 
 York. Seating themselves in this bay, they 
 spread along the coast, where they built first 
 the town of New Haven, which has given its 
 name to the settlement, and then the towns of 
 Guilford, Milford, Stamford, and Brainford. 
 After some time they crossed the bay, and 
 planted several settlements in Long Island ; in 
 all places where they came, erecting churches 
 on the model of the independents. When we 
 perceive the injustice and cruelty exercised by 
 the government of Britain, thus contributing to 
 cover the earth with cities, and to plant religion 
 and liberty in the savage deserts of America, 
 we recognise the overruling providence of that 
 great Being who can render even the fierceness 
 of men conducive to his praise. Having no 
 patent, nor any other title to their lands than the 
 vendition of the natives, and not being included 
 within the boundaries of any colonial jurisdic- 
 tion, these settlers entered into a voluntary 
 association of the same nature and for the same 
 ends with that which the settlers in Connecti- 
 cut had formed for themselves : and in this con- 
 dition they remained till the Restoration, when 
 New Haven and Connecticut were united 
 together by a charter of King Charles H. 
 
BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 57 
 
 BENEVOLENT EXERTIONS OF ELLIOT AND 
 MAYHEW. 
 
 The circumstances that had promoted th» 
 emigrations to New England, had operated 
 with particular force on the ministers of the 
 puritans ; and so many of them had accom- 
 panied the other settlers, that among a people 
 who derived less enjoyment from the exercises 
 of piety, the numbers of the clergy would have 
 been thought exceedingly burdensome, and very 
 much disproportioned to the wants of the laity. 
 This circumstance was highly favourable to the 
 promotion of religious habits among the colo- 
 nists, as well as to the extension of their settle- 
 ments, in the plantation of which the co-opera- 
 tion of a minister was considered indispensa- 
 ble. It contributed also to suggest and facili- 
 tate missionary labour among the heathens, to 
 whom the colonists had associated themselves 
 by superadding the ties of a common country 
 to those of a common nature. While the peo- 
 ple at large were daily extending their industry, 
 and overcoming by cultivation the rudeness of 
 desert nature, the clergy eagerly looked around 
 for some addition to their peculiar sphere of 
 usefulness, and at a very early period enter- 
 tained designs of redeeming to the dominion of 
 piety and civility, the neglected wastes of hu- 
 man character that lay stretched in savage 
 ignorance and idolatry around them. John 
 
58 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 Elliot, one of the ministers of Roxbury, a man 
 whose large soul glowed with the intensest 
 flame of zeal and charity, was strongly pene- 
 trated with a sense of this duty, and for some 
 time had been diligently labouring to overcome 
 the preliminary difficulty by which its perform- 
 ance was obstructed. He had now at length 
 attained such acquaintance with the Indian 
 language as enabled him not only himself to 
 speak it with fluency, but to facilitate the 
 acquisition of it to others, by the construction 
 and publication of a system of Indian gram- 
 mar. Having completed his preparatory inqui- 
 ries, he began, in the close of this year, a scene 
 of labour which has been traced with great 
 interest and accuracy by the ecclesiastical his- 
 torians of England, and still more minutely, I 
 doubt not, in that eternal record where alone 
 the actions of men attain their just, their final, 
 and everlasting proportions. It is a remarka- 
 ble feature in his long and arduous career, that 
 the energy by which he was actuated never 
 sustained the slightest abatement, but, on the 
 contrary, evinced a steady and vigorous 
 increase. He appears never to have doubted 
 its continuance ; but, constantly referring it to 
 God, he felt assured of its derivation from a 
 source incapable of being wasted by the most 
 liberal communication. He delighted to main- 
 tain this communication by incessant prayer, 
 and before his missionary labours commenced, 
 he had been known in the colony by the name 
 of "praying Elliot" — a noble designation, if 
 
BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 50 
 
 the noblest employment of a rational creature 
 be the cultivation of access to the Author of 
 his being. Rarely, very rarely, I believe, has 
 human nature been so completely embued, re- 
 fined, and elevated by religion. Everything he 
 saw or knew occurred to him in a religious 
 aspect : every faculty, and every acquisition 
 that he derived from the employment of his fa- 
 culties, was received by him as a ray let into his 
 soul from that Eternity for which he continually 
 panted. As he was one of the holiest, so was 
 he also one of the happiest of men ; and his life 
 for many years was a continual outpouring of 
 his whole being in devotion to God and charity 
 to mankind. 
 
 The kindness of Mr. Elliot's manner soon 
 gained him a favourable hearing from many of 
 the Indians ; and both parties being sensible of 
 the expediency of altering the civil and domestic 
 habits that counteracted the impressions which 
 he attempted to produce, he obtained from the 
 general court an allotment of land in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the settlement of Concord, in Mas- 
 sachusetts, upon which a number of Indian 
 families proceeded, by his directions, to build 
 fixed habitations, and where they eagerly re- 
 ceived his instructions both spiritual and secu- 
 lar. It was not long before a violent opposition 
 to these innovations was excited by the powaws, 
 or Indian priests, who threatened death and 
 other inflictions of the vengeance of their idols 
 on all who should embrace Christianity. The 
 menaces and artifices of these persons caused 
 
60 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 several of the seeming converts to draw back, 
 but induced others to separate themselves more 
 entirely from the society and converse of their 
 countrymen, and seek the benefit and protec- 
 tion of a closer association with that superior 
 race of men who showed themselves so gene- 
 rously willing to diffuse and communicate all 
 the means and benefits of their superiority. A 
 considerable body of Indians resorted to the 
 land allotted them by the colonial government, 
 and exchanged their wild and barbarous habits 
 for the modes of civilized living and industry. 
 Mr. Elliot was continually among them, in- 
 structing, animating, and directing them. They 
 felt his superior wisdom, and saw him continu- 
 ally happy ; and there was nothing in his cir- 
 cumstances or appearance that indicated sources 
 of enjoyment from which they were debarred ; 
 on the contrary, it was obvious that of every 
 article of selfish comfort he was willing to divest 
 himself in order to communicate to them what 
 he esteemed the only true riches of an immortal 
 being. He who gave him this spirit, gave him 
 favour in the eyes of the people among whom 
 he ministered ; and their affection for him 
 reminds us of those primitive ages when the 
 converts were willing, as it were, to pluck out 
 their eyes if they could have given them to 
 their pastor. The women in the new settlement 
 learned to spin, the men to dig and till the 
 ground, and the children were instructed in the 
 English language, and taught to read and write. 
 As the numbers of domesticated Indians 
 
BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYHEW. 61 
 
 increased they built a town by the side of 
 Charles river, which they called Natick; and 
 they desired Mr. Elliot to frame a system of 
 internal government for them. He directed 
 their attention to the counsel that Jethro gave 
 to Moses ; and, in conformity with it, they 
 elected for themselves rulers of hundreds, of 
 fifties, and of tens. The colonial government 
 also appointed a court which, without assuming 
 jurisdiction over them, offered the assistance 
 of its judicial wisdom to all who should be wil- 
 ling to refer to it the determination of their 
 more difficult or important subjects of contro- 
 versy. In endeavouring to extend their mis- 
 sionary influence among the surrounding tribes, 
 Mr. Elliot and his associates encountered a 
 variety of success corresponding to the visible 
 varieties of human character and the invisible 
 predeterminations of the Divine will. Many 
 expressed the utmost abhorrence and contempt 
 of Christianity : some made a hollow profession 
 of willingness to hear, and even of conviction, 
 with the view, as it afterwards appeared, of 
 obtaining the tools and other articles of value 
 that were furnished to those who proposed to 
 embrace the modes of civilized living. In spite 
 of every discouragement the missionaries per- 
 sisted ; and the difficulties that at first mocked 
 their efforts seeming at length to vanish under 
 an invisible touch, their labours were blessed 
 with astonishing success. The character and 
 habits of the lay colonists tended to promote 
 the efficacy of these pious labours, in a manner 
 6 
 
62 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 which will be forcibly appreciated by all who 
 have examined the history and progress of mis- 
 sions. Simple in their manners, devout, moral, 
 and industrious in their lives, they enforced the 
 lessons of the missionaries by demonstrating 
 their practicability and beneficial efl^ects, and 
 presented a model which, in point of refinement, 
 was not too elevated for Indian imitation. 
 
 While Mr. Elliot and an increasing body of 
 associates were thus employed in the province 
 of Massachusetts, Thomas May hew, a man 
 who combined in a wonderful degree an aflfec- 
 tionate mildness that nothing could disturb, 
 with an ardour and activity that nothing could 
 overcome, together with a few coadjutors, not 
 less diligently and successfully prosecuted the 
 same design in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket 
 and Elizabeth Isles, and within the territory 
 comprehended in the Plymouth patent. Abasing 
 themselves that they might elevate their species 
 and promote the Divine glory, they wrought 
 with their own hands among those Indians 
 whom they persuaded to forsake savage habits; 
 and zealously employing all the influence they 
 acquired to the communication of moral and 
 spiritual improvement, their labours were emi- 
 nently blessed by the same Power which had 
 given them the grace so fully to devote them- 
 selves to his service. The character and man- 
 ners of Mayhew appear to have been singularly 
 calculated to excite the tenderness no less than 
 the veneration of the objects of his benevolence, 
 and to make them feel at once how amiable 
 
BENEVOLENCE OF ELLIOT AND MAYKEW. 63 
 
 and how awful true goodness is. His address 
 derived a captivating interest from that earnest 
 concern, and high and holy value, which he 
 manifestly entertained for every member of the 
 family of mankind. Many years after his death 
 the Indians could not hear his name mentioned 
 without shedding tears and expressing trans- 
 ports of grateful emotion. Both Elliot and 
 Mayhew found great advantage in the practice 
 of selectinor the most docile and ins^enious of 
 their Indian pupils, and by especial attention 
 to their instruction, qualifying them to act as 
 schoolmasters among their brethren. To a zeal 
 that seemed to increase by exercise, they added 
 insurmountable patience and admirable pru- 
 dence; and, steadily fixing their view on the 
 glory of the Most High, and declaring that, 
 whether outwardly successful or not in pro- 
 moting it, they felt themselves blessed and 
 hoppy in pursuing it, they found its influence 
 sufficient to light them through every perplexity 
 and peril, and finally conduct them to a degree 
 of success and victory unparalleled, perhaps, 
 since that era when the miraculous endowments 
 of the apostolic ministry caused a nation to be 
 born in a day. They were slow to push the 
 Indians upon improved institutions ; they de- 
 sired rather to lead them insensibly forward, 
 more especially in the adoption of religious 
 ordinances. Those practices, indeed, which 
 they considered likely to commend themselves 
 by their beneficial effects to the natural under- 
 Standing of men, they were not restrained from 
 
64 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 recommending to their early adoption; and 
 trial by jury very soon superseded the savage 
 modes of determining right or ascertaining 
 guilt, and contributing to improve and refine 
 the sense of equity. In the dress and mode of 
 cohabitation of the savages, they also intro- 
 duced, at an early period, alterations calculated 
 to form and develope a sense of modesty, in 
 which the Indians were found to be grossly and 
 universally defective. But all these practices 
 which are, or ought to be, exclusively the fruits 
 of renewed nature and Divine light, they 
 desired to teach entirely by example, and by 
 diligently radicating and cultivating in the 
 minds of their flocks the principles out of which 
 alone such practices can lastingly and benefi- 
 cially grow. It was not till the year 1660 that 
 the first Indian church was founded by Mr. 
 Elliot and his fellow-labourers in Massachu- 
 setts. There were at that time no fewer than 
 ten settlements within the province, occupied 
 by Indians comparatively civilized. 
 
ESCAPE or MR. DUSTAN. 
 
 65 
 
 ESCAPE OF MR. DUSTAN. 
 
 In 1698, when Haverhill was attacked and 
 fired by the Indians, a troo{3 of them approached 
 the house of a Mr. Dustan, who at that time 
 was abroad in the fields. He flew to the house, 
 which contained his wife and eight children. 
 He directed the children to escape as fast as 
 possible, while he attempted to save his wife, 
 who was sick in bed. Before this could be 
 done, the savages were at hand. He flew to 
 the door, mounted his horse, seized his gun and 
 hastened away with his children. The Indians 
 pursued and fired upon them ; but Dustan re- 
 turned the fire, and keeping himself in the rear 
 6* 
 
66 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 of his troop of little ones, held the savages at 
 bay till he had retreated to a place of safety. 
 Mrs. Dustan, with her infant, six days old, 
 and their nurse, fell into the hands of the 
 Indians. 
 
 The child was soon dashed against a tree and 
 killed. The Indians divided into several par- 
 ties for subsistence, and Mrs. Dustan and her 
 nurse, and a boy taken from Worcester, fell to 
 the lot of a family of twelve, with whom they 
 travelled through the wilderness to an island, 
 at the mouth of Contoocook river, in the town 
 of Bowcawen, N. H. where they encamped for 
 the night. Just before daylight, finding the 
 whole company in a profound sleep, she arose 
 and armed herself and companions with the 
 Indian tomahawks, which they wielded with 
 such destructive effect, that ten of the twelve 
 were instantly despatched ; one woman escaping 
 whom they thought they had killed, and a 
 favourite boy was designedly left. They took 
 the scalps of the conquered enemy, and taking 
 a canoe for their own use, and cutting holes in 
 one or more that were left, to prevent pursuit, 
 they descended the river, and arrived home in 
 safety. She received a reward of fifty pounds 
 from the treasury of the colony. The place 
 whence they were taken, is about one mile 
 north of the town ; it is still owned by her 
 descendants, and part of the house is still 
 standing. 
 
THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 67 
 
 THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 
 
 When Canada was in possession of the 
 French, a Catholic priest, named Father Ni- 
 cholas, having assembled a considerable number 
 of the Indians whom he had converted, settled 
 them in the village which is now called St. 
 Regis, on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The 
 situation is one of the most beautiful on that 
 noble river, and the village at this day the most 
 picturesque in the country. The houses, high 
 roofed and of a French appearance, are scattered 
 round the semicircle of a little bay, and on a 
 projecting headland stands the church, with its 
 steeple glittering with a vivacity inconceivable 
 by those who have not seen the brilliancy of 
 the tin roofs of Canada contrasted in the sun- 
 shine with the dark woods. 
 
 This little church is celebrated for the legend 
 of its bell. 
 
 When it was erected, and the steeple com- 
 pleted, father Nicholas took occasion, in one of 
 his sermons, to inform his simple flock that a 
 bell was as necessary to a steeple as a priest is 
 to a church, and exhorted them, therefore, to 
 collect as many furs as would enable him to 
 procure one from France. The Indians were 
 not sloths in the performance of this pious 
 duty. Two bales were speedily collected and 
 shipped for Havre de Grace, and in due time 
 the worthy ecclesiastic was informed that the 
 
68 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 bell was piirchased and put on board the Grand 
 Monarque, bound for Quebec. 
 
 It happened that this took place during one 
 of those wars which the French and English 
 are naturally in the habit of waging against 
 one another, and the Gi^and Monarque, in con- 
 sequence, never reached her destination. She 
 was taken by a New-England privateer and 
 carried into Salem, where the ship and cargo 
 were condemned as prize, and sold for the cap- 
 tors. The bell was bought for the town of 
 Deerfield, on the Connecticut river, where a 
 church had been recently built, to which that 
 great preacher, the Rev. John Williams, was 
 appointed. With much labour it was carried 
 to the village, and duly elevated in the belfry. 
 
 When father Nicholas heard of this misfor- 
 tune, he called his flock together and told them 
 of the purgatorial condition of the bell in the 
 hands of the heretics, and what a laudable 
 enterprise it would be to redeem it. 
 
 This preaching was, within its sphere, as 
 inspiring as that of the hermit Peter. The 
 Indians lamented to one another the deplorable 
 unbaptized state of the bell. Of the bell itself 
 they had no very clear idea; but they knew 
 that father Nicholas said mass and preached in 
 the church, and they understood the bell was 
 to perform some analogous service in the 
 steeple. Their wonted activity in the chase 
 was at an end ; they sat in groups on the mar- 
 gin of the river, communing on the calamity 
 which had befallen the bell ; and some of them 
 
THE BELL OP ST. REGIS. 69 
 
 roamed alone, ruminating on the means of res- 
 cuing it. The squaws, who had been informed 
 that its voice would be heard farther than the 
 roaring of the rapids, and that it was more 
 musical than the call of the whip-poor-will in 
 the evening, moved about in silence and dejec- 
 tion. All were melancholy, and finely touched 
 with a holy enthusiasm ; many fasted, and some 
 voluntarily subjected themselves to severe pe- 
 nances, to procure relief for the captive, or 
 mitigation of its sufferings. 
 
 x\t last the day of deliverance drew near. 
 
 The Marquis de Vaudrieul, the governor of 
 Canada, resolved to send an expedition against 
 the British colonies of Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire : the command was given to Major 
 Hertel de Rouville: and one of the priests 
 belonging to the Jesuit's College at Quebec 
 informed father Nicholas, by a pious voyageur, 
 of the proposed incursion. The Indians were 
 immediately assembled in the church ; the 
 voyageur was elevated in the midst of the con- 
 gregation, and father Nicholas, in a solemn 
 speech, pointed him out to their veneration as 
 a messenger of glad tidings. He then told 
 them of the warlike preparations at Quebec, 
 and urged them to join the expedition. At the 
 conclusion, the w^hole audience rose, giving the 
 war-whoop; then simultaneously retiring to 
 their houses, they began to paint themselves 
 with their most terrible colours for battle, and, 
 as if animated by one will at their council fire, 
 they resolved to join the expedition. 
 
70 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 It was in the depth of winter when they set 
 out to unite theniselves with De R< uville's 
 party at the fort of Chambly. Father Nicholas, 
 with a tall staff, and a cross on the top of it, 
 headed them ; and, as they marched off, their 
 wives and children, in imitation of the hymns 
 which animated the departures of the first 
 crusaders under the command of Godfrey de 
 Boulogne, chanted a sacred song which the 
 holy father had especially taught them for the 
 occasion. 
 
 They arrived at Chambly, after a journey 
 of incredible fatigue, as the French soldiers 
 w^ere mounting their sleighs to proceed to Lake 
 Champlain. The Indians followed in the track 
 of the sleighs, with the perseverance peculiar 
 to their character. Father Nicholas, to be the 
 more able to do his duty when it might be 
 required, rode on a sleigh with De Rouville. 
 
 In this order and arra}^ the Indians, far 
 behind, followed in silence, until the whole 
 party had rendezvoused on the borders of I^ake 
 Champlain, which, being frozen, and the snow 
 but thinly upon it, was chosen for their route. 
 Warmed in their imaginations w^ith the un- 
 happy captivity of the bell, the Indians plodded 
 solemnly their weary way ; no symptom of 
 regret, of fatigue, or of apprehension, relaxed 
 their steady countenances ; they saw with 
 equal indifference the black and white inter- 
 minable forest on the shore, on the one hand, 
 and the dread and dreary desert of the snowy 
 ice of the lake, on the other. 
 
THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 71 
 
 The French soldiers began to suffer extreme- 
 ly from the toil of wading through the snow, 
 and beheld with admiration and envy the fa- 
 cility with which the Indians, in their snow 
 shoes, moved over the surface. No contrast 
 could be greater than the patience of father 
 Nicholas's proselytes and the irritability of the 
 Frenchmen. 
 
 Vf hen they reached the spot on which the 
 lively and pretty town of Burlington now 
 stands, a general halt w^as ordered, that the 
 necessary arrangements might be made to pene- 
 trate the forest towards the settled parts of 
 Massachusetts. In starting from this point, 
 father Nicholas was left to bring up his divi- 
 sion, and De Rouville led his own with a com- 
 pass in his hand, taking the direction of Deer- 
 field. Nothing that had been yet suffered was 
 equal to the hardships endured in that march. 
 Day after day the Frenchmen went forward 
 with indefatigable bravery, — a heroic contrast 
 to the panics of their countrymen in the Rus- 
 sian snow-storms of latter times. But they 
 were loquacious ; and the roughness of their 
 course and the entangling molestation which 
 they encountered from the underwood, pro- 
 voked their maledictions and excited their 
 gesticulations. The conduct of the Indians 
 was far different: animated with holy zeal, 
 their constitutional taciturnity had something 
 dignified — even subhme, in its sternness. No 
 murmur escaped them ; their knowledge of tra- 
 velling the woods instructed them to avoid 
 
72 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 many of the annoyances which called forth the 
 pestes and sacres of their not less brave, but 
 more vociferous companions. 
 
 Long before the party had reached their 
 destination, father Nicholas was sick of his 
 crusade ; the labour of threading the forest had 
 lacerated his feet, and the recoiling boughs 
 had, from time to time, by his own inadvertency 
 in following too closely behind his companions, 
 sorely blained, even to excoriation, his cheeks. 
 Still he felt that he was engaged in a sanctified 
 adventure ; he recalled to mind the martyrdoms 
 of the saints and the persecutions of the fa- 
 thers, and the glory that would redound to 
 himself in all after ages, from the redemption 
 of the bell. 
 
 On the evening of the 29th of February, 
 1704, the expedition arrived within two miles 
 of Deerfield, without having been discovered. 
 De Rouville ordered his men to halt, rest, and 
 refresh themselves until midnight, at which 
 hour he gave orders that the village should be 
 attacked. 
 
 The surface of the snow was frozen, and 
 crackled beneath the tread. With great sa- 
 gacity, to deceive the English garrison, De 
 Rouville directed, that in advancing to the 
 assault, his men should frequently pause, and 
 then rush for a short time rapidly forward. 
 By this ingenious precaution, the sentinels in 
 the town were led to imagine that the sound 
 came from the irregular rustle of the wind 
 through the laden branches of the snowy 
 
THE BELL OF ST. REGIS. 73 
 
 forest ; but an alarm was at last given, and a 
 terrible conflict took place in the streets. The 
 French fought with their accustomed spirit, 
 and the Indians with their characteristic forti- 
 tude. The garrison was dispersed, the town 
 was taken, and the buildings set on fire. 
 
 At daybreak all the Indians, although greatly- 
 exhausted by the fatigue of the night, waited 
 in a body, and requested the holy father to 
 conduct them to the bell, that they might per- 
 form their homages and testify their veneration 
 for it. Father Nicholas was not a little dis- 
 concerted at this solemn request, and de Rou- 
 ville, with many of the Frenchmen, who were 
 witnesses, laughed at it most unrighteously. 
 But the father was not entirely discomfited. 
 As the Indians had never heard a bell before, 
 he obtained one of the soldiers from De Rou- 
 ville, and despatched him to ring it. The 
 sound, in the silence of the frosty dawn and 
 the still woods, rose loud and deep ; it was, to 
 the simple ears of the Indians, as the voice of 
 an oracle ; they trembled, and were filled with 
 wonder and awe. 
 
 The bell was then taken from the belfry, and 
 fastened to a beam with a cross-bar at the end, 
 to enable it to be carried by four men. In this 
 way the Indians proceeded with it homewards, 
 exulting in the deliverance of the '' miraculous 
 organ." But it was soon found too heavy for 
 the uneven track they had to retrace, and, in: 
 consequence, when they reached their starting 
 point, on the shore of Lake Champlain, they 
 7 
 
74 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 buried it, with many benedictions from father 
 Nicholas, until they could come with proper 
 means to carry it away. 
 
 As soon as the ice was broken up, father 
 Nicholas assembled them again in the church, 
 and, having procured a yoke of oxen, they pro- 
 ceeded to bring in the bell. In the meantime 
 all the squaws and papooses had been informed 
 of its marvellous powers and capacities, and 
 the arrival of it was looked to as one of the 
 greatest events " in the womb of time." Nor 
 did it prove far short of their anticipations. 
 One evening, while they were talking and 
 communing together, a mighty sound was- heard 
 approaching in the woods ; it rose louder and 
 louder ; they listened, they wondered, and 
 began to shout and cry, " It is the bell." 
 
 It was so. Presently the oxen, surrounded 
 by the Indians, were seen advancing from the 
 woods; the beam was laid across their shoul- 
 ders, and, as the bell swung between them, it 
 sounded wide and far. On the top of the 
 beam a rude seat was erected, on which sat 
 father Nicholas, the most triumphant of mortal 
 men, adorned with a wreath round his temples; 
 the oxen, too, were ornamented with garlands 
 of flowers. In this triumphant array, in the 
 calm of a beautiful evening, when the leaves 
 were still and green, and while the roar of Le 
 longue Saulte rapid, softened by distance, rose 
 like the hum of a pagan multitude rejoicing in 
 the restoration of an idol, they approached the 
 village. 
 
JOHN WINTHROP. 75 
 
 The bell, in due season, was elevated to its 
 place in the steeple, and, at the wonted hours 
 of matins and vespers, it still cheers with its 
 clear and swelling voice the solemn woods and 
 the majestic St. Lawrence. 
 
 JOHN WINTHROP. 
 
 The first John Winthrop came into this coun- 
 try in the year 1630, only ten years after the 
 landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. He was 
 a man of talents, learning, and virtue, and was 
 early promoted in the infant colony. In the 
 year 1015, when he was deputy governor, he 
 was cliarged before the General Court with 
 having been guilty of an invasion upon the lib- 
 erties of the people. Upon a hearing, notwith- 
 standing a considerable degree of passion had 
 been excited, he was honourably acquitted, and 
 the persons who were at the bottom of the at- 
 tack upon him, were afterwards severally fined 
 and censured. Upon resuming his seat as gov- 
 ernor, he addi-essed the court in the following 
 speech, which we think would do no discredit 
 to any magistrate, of any country, at any pe- 
 riod :— - 
 
 " I shall not now speak anything about the 
 past proceedings of this court, or the persons 
 therein concerned. Only I bless God that I see 
 an issue of this troublesome affair. I am well 
 
76 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 satisfied that I was publicly accused, and that 
 I am now publicly acquitted. But though I am 
 justified before men, yet it may be that the 
 Lord hath seen so much amiss in my adminis- 
 tration, as calls me to be humbled; and indeed 
 for me to have been thus charged by men, is a 
 matter of humiliation, whereof I desire to make 
 a right use before the Lord. If Miriam's fa- 
 ther spit in her face, she is to be ashamed. — But 
 give me leave before you go, to say something 
 that may rectify the opinions of many people. 
 The questions that have troubled the country 
 have been about the authority of the magistra- 
 cy, and the liberty of the people. It is you that 
 have called us into this office; but being thus 
 called, v.'e have our authority from God ; it is 
 the ordinance of God, and it hath the image of 
 God stamped on it; and the contempt of it has 
 been vindicated by God with, terrible examples 
 of his vengeance. I entreat you to consider, 
 that w^hen you choose magistrates, you take 
 them from among yourselves, men subject unto 
 like passions with yourselves. If you see our 
 infirmities, reflect on your own, and you will 
 not be so severe censurers of our's. We count 
 him a good servant who breaks not his cove- 
 nants : the covenant between us and you, is the 
 oath you have taken of us, w hich is to this pur- 
 pose, that ive shall govern you, and judge your 
 causes according to God's laws and our own, ac- 
 cording to our best skill. As for our skill, you 
 must run the hazard of it ; and if there be an 
 error, not in the will, but only in the skill, it 
 
JOHN WINTHROP. 77 
 
 becomes you to bear it. Nor would I have you 
 to mistake in the point of your own liberty. 
 There is a liberty of corrupt nature^ which is 
 affected both by men and beasts to do what they 
 list ; and this liberty is inconsistent with all au- 
 thority, impatient of all restraints; by this lib- 
 erty, sumus omnes deteriores : 'tis the grand ene- 
 my of truth and peace, and all the ordinances 
 of God are bent against it. But there is a 
 
 CIVIL, A MORAL, A FEDERAL LIBERTY, 
 
 which is the proper end and object of author- 
 ity ; it is a liberty for that only which is just 
 and good; for this liberty^ you are to stand 
 with the hazard of your very lives ; and what- 
 ever crosses it, is 7iot authority, but a distemper 
 thereof This liberty is maintained in a way 
 of subjection to authority ; and the authority 
 set over you, will in all administrations for your 
 good, be quietly submitted unto, by all but such 
 as have a disposition to shake off the yoke, and 
 lose their true liberty, by their murmuring at 
 the honour and power of authority." 
 
 " The spell," says Cotton Mather, " that was 
 upon the eyes of the people, being thus remov- 
 ed, their distorted and enraged notions of things 
 all vanished ; and the people would not after- 
 wards entrust the helm of the weather-beaten 
 bark in any other hands but Mr. Winthrop's 
 until he died." 
 
 7* 
 
78 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 GOFFE THE REGICIDE. 
 
 In the course of Philip's war, which involved 
 almost all the Indian tribes in New England, 
 and among others those in the neighbourhood 
 of Hadley, the inhabitants thought it proper to 
 observe the first of September, 1675, as a day 
 of fasting and prayer. While they were in the 
 church, and employed in their worship, they . 
 w^ere surprised by a band of savages. The peo- 
 ple instantly betook themselves to their arms — 
 which, according to the custom of the times, 
 they had carried with them to the church — and 
 rushing out of the house, attacked their invad- 
 ers. The panic, under which they began the 
 conflict, was, however, so great, and their num- 
 ber was so disproportioned to that of their ene- 
 mies, that they fought doubtfully at first, and 
 in a short time began evidently to give way. 
 At this moment an ancient man, with hoary 
 locks, of a most venerable and dignified aspect, 
 and in a dress widely differing from that of the 
 inhabitants, appeared suddenly at their head, 
 and with a firm voice and an example of un- 
 daunted resolution, reanimated their spirits, led 
 them again to the conflict, and totally routed 
 the savages. When the battle was ended, the 
 stranger disappeared ; and no person knew 
 whence he had come, or whither he had gone. 
 The relief was so timely, so sudden, so unex- 
 
JUDICIAL INTEGRITY. 79 
 
 pected, and so providential ; the appearance and 
 the retreat of him who furnished it were so un- 
 accountable ; his person was so dignified and 
 commanding, his resolution so superior, and his 
 interference so decisive, that the inhabitants, 
 without any uncommon exercise of credulity, 
 readily believed him to be an angel, sent by 
 Pleaven for their preservation. Nor was this 
 opinion seriously controverted, until it was dis- 
 covered, several years afterward, that Goffe 
 and Whalley had been lodged in the house of 
 Mr. Russell. Then it was known that their 
 deliverer was Goffe ; Whalley having become 
 superannuated some time before the event took 
 place. 
 
 JUDICIAL INTEGRITY. 
 
 Judge Sewall, of Massachusetts, who died 
 in 1760, went one day into a hatter's shop, in 
 order to purchase a pair of second-hand brushes 
 for cleaning his shoes. The master of the shop 
 presented him with a couple. " What is your 
 price?" said the judge. *' If they will answer 
 your purpose," replied the other, " you may 
 have them and welcome." The judge, upon 
 hearing this, laid them down, and bowing, was 
 leaving the shop ; upon which the hatter said 
 to him, " Pray sir, your honour has forgotten 
 
80 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 the principal object of your visit." " By no 
 means," answered the judge ; " if you please to 
 set a price I am ready to purchase : but ever 
 since it has fallen to my lot to occupy a seat on 
 the bench, I have studiously avoided receiving 
 to the value of a single copper, lest at some 
 future period of my life, it might have some 
 kind of influence in determining my judgment. 
 
 EARLY HEROISM OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddie having informed the 
 assembly of Virginia, on the 1st of November, 
 1753, that the French had erected a fort on the 
 Ohio, where Pittsburg now stands, it was re- 
 solved to send a message to M. St. Pierre, the 
 commander, to claim that country as belonging 
 to his Britannic Majesty, and to order him to 
 withdraw. Mr. Washington, the future father 
 of his country, a young gentleman just arrived 
 at age, offered his services on this important 
 and hazardous mission. The distance from Wil- 
 liamsburg, the capital of Virginia, was upwards 
 of 400 miles; more than one half of which was 
 through a trackless and howling desert, inhab- 
 ited by cruel and merciless savages ; and the 
 season was uncommonly severe. Notwithstand- 
 ing these discouraging circumstances, Mr. 
 Washington, attended by one companion only, 
 
COLONEL M'lANE. 81 ^ 
 
 set out upon this arduous and dangerous enter- 
 prise ; travelled from Winchester on foot, car- 
 rying his provisions on his back, executed his 
 commission, and after incredible hardships, and 
 many providential escapes, returned safe to 
 Williamsburg, and gave an account of his 
 negotiation to the assembly, the 14th day of 
 February following. 
 
 COLONEL M'LANE. 
 
 This venerable and distinguished soldier of 
 the revolution, after having^ reached the patri- 
 archal age of eighty-three, closed his earthly 
 pilgrimage at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1829. 
 
 Colonel M'Lane was distinguished for daring 
 personal courage, and for his unremitted activity 
 as a partisan officer. He was long attached to 
 Lee's famous legion of horse, which, throughout 
 the w^ar, was the terror of the British. An 
 instance of his personal prowess, related to us 
 by himself, we may be permitted to give. 
 
 While the British occupied Philadelphia, 
 Colonel M'Lane was constantly scouring the 
 adjacent country, particularly the upper part 
 of Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery coun- 
 ties — seizing every opportunity to cut off the 
 scouting parties of the enemy, to intercept their 
 supplies of provisions, and to take advantage 
 of every opening which offered for striking a 
 
82 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 sudden blow. In this capacity, he rendered 
 many important services to the army, and 
 caused great alarm to the British ; and though 
 they frequently attempted to surprise and take 
 him, yet such was his constant watchfulness, 
 that none of their attempts succeeded. Having 
 concerted with Captain Craig, the plan of an 
 attack upon a small detachment of the enemy, 
 they agreed to rendezvous at a house near 
 Shoemakertown, eight miles from Philadelphia, 
 on the Willow Grove turnpike. Col. M'Lane, 
 having ordered his little band of troopers to 
 follow at some distance, commanded two of 
 them to precede the main body, but also to keep 
 in his rear ; and if they discovered an enemy to 
 ride up to his side and inform him of it without 
 speaking aloud. While leisurely approaching 
 the place of rendezvous, in this order, in the 
 early grey of the morning, the two men directly 
 in his rear, forgetting their orders, suddenly 
 called out, " Colonel, the British !" faced about, 
 and putting spurs to their horses, were soon 
 out of sight. The colonel, looking around, dis- 
 covered that he was in the centre of a powerful 
 ambuscade, into which the enemy had silently 
 allowed him to pass, without his observing 
 them. They lined both sides of the road, and 
 had been stationed there to pick up any strag- 
 gling party of the Americans that might chance 
 to pass. Immediately on finding they were dis- 
 covered, a file of soldiers rose from the side of 
 the highway, and fired at the colonel, but with- 
 out effect — and as he put spurs to his horse, 
 
COLONEL M'lANE. 83 
 
 and mounted the roadside into the woods, the 
 other part of the detachment also fired. The 
 colonel miraculously escaped : but a shot 
 striking his horse upon the flank, he dashed 
 through the woods, and in a few minutes 
 reached a parallel road upon the opposite side 
 of the forest. Being familiar with the country, 
 he feared to turn to the left, as that course led 
 to the city, and he might be intercepted by 
 another ambuscade. Turning, therefore, to the 
 right, his frightened horse carried him swiftly 
 beyond the reach of those who fired upon him. 
 All at once, however, on emerging from a piece 
 of w^oods, he observed several British troopers 
 stationed near the roadside, and directly in 
 sight ahead, a farm-house, around which he 
 observed a whole troop of the enemy's cavalry 
 drawn up. He dashed by the troopers near 
 him, without being molested, they believing 
 he w^as on his way to the main body to surrender 
 himself. The farm-house was situated at the 
 intersection of two roads, presenting but few 
 avenues by which he could escape. Nothing 
 daunted by the formidable array before him, he 
 galloped up to the cross-roads, on reaching 
 which he spurred his active horse, turned sud- 
 denly to the right, and was soon fairly out of 
 the reach of their pistols, though as he turned, 
 he heard them call loudly, " Surrender or die !" 
 A dozen were instantly in pursuit ; but, in a 
 short time, they all gave up the chase, except 
 two. Colonel M'Lane's horse, scared by the 
 first wound he had ever received, and being a 
 
84 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 chosen animal, kept ahead for several miles, 
 while his two pursuers followed with unwearied 
 eagerness. 
 
 The pursuit at length waxed so hot that, as 
 the colonel's horse stepped out of a small brook 
 which crossed the road, his pursuers entered at 
 the opposite margin. In ascending a little hill, 
 the horses of the three were greatly exhausted, 
 so much that neither could be urged faster than 
 a walk. Occasionally, as one of the troopers 
 pursued on a little in advance of his companion, 
 the colonel slackened his pace, anxious to be 
 attacked by one of the two — but no sooner was 
 his willingness discovered, than the other fell 
 back to his station. They at length approached 
 so near that a conversation took place between 
 them : the troopers calling out, " Surrender, 
 you damned rebel, or we '11 cut you to pieces. '^ 
 Suddenly, one of them rode up on the right side 
 of the colonel, and without drawing his sword, 
 laid hold of his collar. The latter, to use his 
 own words, " had pistols which he knew he 
 could depend upon." Drawing one from the 
 holster, he placed it to the heart of his antago- 
 nist, fired, and tumbled him dead on the ground. 
 Instantly the other came up on his left, with 
 sworn drawn, and also seized him by the collar 
 of his coat. A fierce and deadly struggle here 
 ensued ; in the course of which Colonel M'Lane 
 was desperately wounded in the back of his left 
 hand, cutting asunder the veins and tendons of 
 that member. Seizing a favourable opportu- 
 nity, he drew his other pistol, and with a stea- 
 
ATTEMPT TO BRIBE MR. REED. 85 
 
 diness of purpose which appeared even in the 
 recital of the incident, placed it directly between 
 the eyes of his adversary, pulled the trigger, 
 and scattered his brains on every side of the 
 road. Fearing that others were in pursuit, he 
 abandoned his horse in the highway : and ap- 
 prehensive, from his extreme weakness, that he 
 might die from lOss of blood, he crawled into 
 an adjacent mill-pond, entirely naked, and at 
 length succeeded in stopping the profuse flow 
 of blood occasioned by his wound. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSTONE'S ATTEMPT ON 
 MR. REED. 
 
 On Sunday, June 21st, 1778, Mr. Joseph 
 Reed, of Philadelphia, received a written mes- 
 sage from Mrs. Ferguson, expressing a desire 
 to see him on business, which could not be 
 committed to writing. On his attending in the 
 evening, agreeably to her appointment, after 
 some previous conversation, she enlarged upon 
 the great talents and amiable qualities of 
 Governor Johnstone, and added, that in several 
 conversations with her, he had expressed the 
 most favourable sentiments of Mr. Reed ; that 
 it was particularly wished to engage his interest 
 to promote the objects of the British commis- 
 sioners, viz: — a reunion of the two countries, 
 if consistent with his principles and judgment; 
 8 
 
86 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 and that in such case it could not be deemed 
 unbecoming or improper in the British govern- 
 ment to take a favourable notice of such con- 
 duct : and that in this instance Mr. Reed might 
 have ten thousand pounds sterling, and any 
 office in the colonies in his majesty's gift. Mr. 
 Reed, finding an answer expected, replied, *' I 
 am not worth purchasing, but such as I am the 
 King of Great Britain is not rich enough to do 
 it." This anecdote is given by Dr. Gordon, 
 who was on the royalist side in the war. 
 
 AMERICAN COURTESY. 
 
 " When," says Dr. Gordon, " the British 
 prisoners taken at Saratoga began their march 
 to Boston, the Americans lined the road on 
 each side. They expected to have met with 
 many insults while passing through the centre 
 of them, supposed to be between eleven and 
 twelve thousand troops ; but to their great sur- 
 prise, not even the least gesture was made use 
 of by way of insult." Considering the exas- 
 perating character of the previous warfare, 
 this generous courtesy of the American victors 
 is remarkable. Other instances of their for- 
 bearance in the hour of triumph are numerous. 
 
CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. 87 
 
 CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. 
 
 No sooner did General Washington observe 
 how Sir H. Clinton had strengthened the posts 
 of Stony Point and Verplank, than he enter- 
 tained the design of attacking them. Toward 
 the end of June, he ordered that a trusty, intel- 
 ligent person should be employed to go into the 
 works of the first ; and on the 8th of July, he 
 was informed by a deserter, that there was a 
 sandy beach, on the south side of it, running 
 along the flank of the works, and only obstructed 
 by a slight abbatis, which might afford an easy 
 and safe approach to a body of troops. He 
 formed plans for attacking both posts at the 
 same instant; the executions of which were 
 intrusted with General Wayne and General 
 Howe. All the Massachusetts light infantry 
 marched from West Point, under Lieutenant 
 Colonel Hull, in the morning of the 15th, and 
 joined Wayne at Sandy Beach, 14 miles from 
 Stony Point. The general moved off the ground 
 at twelve o'clock. The roads being exceedingly 
 bad and narrow, and the troops having to pass 
 over high mountains, through difficult defiles 
 and deep morasses, were obliged to move in 
 single files the greatest part of the way. This, 
 and the great heat of the day, occasioned much 
 delay, so that it was eight in the evening before 
 the van arrived within a mile and a half of the 
 enemy, where the men formed into columns, 
 
88 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 and remained till several of the principal 
 officers, with General Wayne, returned from 
 reconnoitering the works. At half-past eleven 
 o'clock, the whole moved forward ; the van of 
 the right consisting of one hundred and fifty 
 volunteers, under Lieutenant Colonel Fleury, 
 the van of the left, consisting of one hundred 
 volunteers, under Major Stuart, each with un- 
 loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, preceded by 
 a brave and determined officer, with twenty 
 picked men, to remove the abbatis and other 
 obstructions. The last, and the overflowing of 
 the morass in front, by the tide, prevented the 
 assault's commencing till about twenty minutes 
 after twelve (July 16th). Previous to it, Wayne 
 placed himself at the head of the right column, 
 and gave the troops the most pointed orders not 
 to fire on any account, but place their whole 
 dependence on the bayonet, which order was 
 faithfully obeyed. Such was the ardour of the 
 troops, that in the face of a most tremendous 
 and incessant fire of musketry, and from cannon 
 loaded with grape-shot, they forced their way 
 at the point of the bayonet, through every 
 obstacle, and both columns met in the centre 
 of the enemy's works nearly at the same instant. 
 Fleury struck their standard with his own 
 hand. Notwithstanding the provocations given 
 by the plunderings and burnings at New Haven, 
 East Haven, Fairfield, and Green Farms, of 
 which they had heard, such was the humanity 
 of the continental soldiers, that they scorned to 
 take the lives of the foe calling for mercy, so 
 
CAPTURE OP STONY POINT. 
 
 89 
 
 that there were but few of the enemy killed 
 upon the occasion. Great was the triumph of 
 the Americans upon the success of this enter- 
 prise, and justly, for it would have done honour 
 to the most veteran troops. Wayne had but 
 fifteen killed and eighty-three wounded, not 
 above thirty of which were finally lost to the 
 service. The general himself received a slight 
 wound in the head with a musket-ball; but it 
 did not prevent his going on with the troops, 
 and he is not included in the wounded. The 
 enemy had only sixty-three killed. Lieutenant 
 Colonel Johnston, who commanded the fort, 
 with other officers and privates, amounting to 
 five hundred and forty-three, were made pri- 
 soners. 
 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 DANIEL BOONE. 
 
 The first settlement within the limits of 
 Kentucky was made by the celebrated Daniel 
 Boone, in 1775. He was a native of Maryland, 
 and as early as 17G9, made a visit to this coun- 
 try. In 1770 he was living alone in the woods, 
 the only white man in Kentucky. The next 
 year, he, with his brother, explored the country 
 as far as Cumberland river, and in 1775, Boone 
 had collected a company of forty-five persons, 
 who attempted to form a settlement; but they 
 were attacked by the Indians and lost their 
 cattle. In 1775, he built a fort where Boons- 
 borousfh now stands, and this was the first 
 
DANIEL BOONE. 91 
 
 effectual settlement in the state. Boone was 
 afterwards taken prisoner by the savages, but 
 escaped and arrived at Boonsborough, after a 
 journey of one hundred and sixty miles through 
 the woods, which he performed in four days, 
 eating but a single meal in that time. He was 
 afterwards actively engaged in warfare with 
 the Indians, who continually annoyed the early 
 settlers with hostilities. Being subsequently 
 vexed with law-suits respecting his title to the 
 land in his possession, he retired to the banks 
 of the Alissouri, and led a solitary life among 
 the forests. " We saw him," says Mr. Flint, 
 *' on those banks, with thin, grey hair, a high 
 forehead, a keen eye, a cheerful expression, a 
 singularly bold conformation of countenance 
 and breast, and a sharp and commanding voice, 
 and with a creed for the future, embracing not 
 many articles beyond his red rival hunters. 
 He appeared to us the same Daniel Boone, if 
 we may use the expression, jerked and dried to 
 high preservation, that he had figured, as the 
 wanderer in the woods, and the slayer of bears 
 and Indians. He could no longer well descry 
 the wild turkey on the trees; but his eye still 
 kindled at the hunter's tale, and he remarked 
 that the population on that part of the Missouri 
 was becoming too dense, and the farms too near 
 each other for comfortable range, and that he 
 never wished to reside in a place where he 
 could not fell trees enough into his yard to keep 
 up his winter fire. Dim as was his eye with age, 
 it would not have been difllcult, we apprehend, 
 
92 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 to have obtained him as a volunteer on a 
 hunting expedition over the Rocky Mountains. 
 No man ever exemplified more strongly the 
 ruling passion, strong in death." He died in 
 1822, aged eighty-five. 
 
 BRILLIANT EXPLOIT OF COLONEL BARTON. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Barton, of a militia 
 regiment belonging to Rhode Island, with 
 several other oflicers and volunteers, to the 
 number of forty, passed by night (July 10th, 
 1777,) from Warwick Neck to Rhode Island, 
 then in possession of the British army ; and 
 though they had a passage of ten miles by 
 water, eluded the watchfulness of the ships of 
 war and guard-boats which surrounded the 
 island. They conducted their enterprise with 
 such silence and dexterity, that they surprised 
 General Prescot in his quarters, about one mile 
 from the water side, and five from Newport, 
 and brought him, with one of his aids-de-camp, 
 safe to the continent, which they had nearly 
 reached before there was any alarm among the 
 enemy. This adventure, w hich with impartial 
 judges must outweigh Colonel Harcourt's cap- 
 ture of General Lee, produced much exultation 
 on the one side, and much regret on the other, 
 from the influence it would necessarily have on 
 Lee's destination. But more than a month 
 
MRS. WARREN, THE HISTORIAN. 93 
 
 before, Congress had received information that 
 Lee was treated by General Howe with kind- 
 ness, generosity, and tenderness, which had led 
 them to desire that Colonel Campbell and the 
 five Hessian officers should be treated in a simi- 
 lar manner, consistently with the confinement 
 and safe custody of their persons. They re- 
 solved, within a few days after hearing of Pres- 
 cot's being taken, that an elegant sword should 
 be provided and presented to Colonel Barton. 
 
 MRS. WARREN, THE HISTORIAN. 
 
 Mercy Warren, the wife of James Warren, 
 a distinguished statesman and patriot, who 
 flourished before, and during the revolutionary 
 conflict, was born at Barnstable, in the old 
 colony of Plymouth, in 1727. She was the 
 daughter of Colonel James Otis, of Barnstable, 
 and sister to James Otis, the great leader of the 
 revolution in Massachusetts. Mrs. Warren 
 had fine talents, highly cultivated. Her brother, 
 the great patriot, two years older than herself, 
 was an excellent scholar, and directed and 
 assisted his sister in her studies. Mrs. Warren 
 had an active, as well as a powerful mind, and 
 took a part in the politics of the day. She kept 
 a correspondence with some of the active 
 statesmen of the times, and of course was well 
 informed in all that was going on in this country 
 
94 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 and in England. She wrote several satirical 
 pieces, poetical and dramatic, which, it is said, 
 by those who lived at that time, had a good 
 etfect in keeping down tory influence. The 
 bold and daring Brigadier Ruggles, severely 
 felt the force of her lash. It is said she intended 
 to designate him by one of the characters in the 
 " Group," an irregular dramatic piece, contain- 
 ing much satire even now, when some of the 
 peculiar incidents are lost. Mrs. Warren wrote 
 also two tragedies, of five acts each, and of 
 common length. The first is, the " Sack of 
 Rome," and the other, " The Ladies of Castile." 
 These dramas were written during the war, 
 and published before the close of it, as early as 
 1778. These productions are full of patriotic 
 feeling and heroic sentiments. The writer was 
 master of rhythm, and her lines can be scanned; 
 a century hence they will be sought for, and 
 read with enthusiasm. They are preserved in 
 a volume with other poems, which were printed 
 in her life-time. It is not easy, at the present 
 time, for us to believe all that has been said of 
 the effects of her v»^ritings ; but the tradition is 
 too well authenticated to leave a doubt of it on 
 our minds. She also wrote the history of the 
 revolutionary war, which she published in three 
 volumes, in 1805, more than twenty-two years 
 after the close of the scenes she narrates. This 
 is an excellent work of its kind, rather com- 
 bined with a free spirit of democracy. In her 
 delineations of character, she was a little too 
 suspicious of aristocratic feelings. In drawing 
 
MRS. WARREN, THE HISTORIAN. 95 
 
 the portrait of John Adams, she exhibited him 
 as inclining to aristocratic principles, which 
 produced a sharp correspondence between the 
 statesman and historian, but which was ami- 
 cably settled, and notes of courtesy passed 
 between them. She held a free pen, and the 
 great defender of independence was not remark- 
 able for the virtue of the man of Uz. This his- 
 tory shows great research and sound judgment. 
 It is seldom that women have written of 
 battles with any success, even in fiction. Miss 
 Porter is perhaps an exception, and certainly 
 Mrs. Warren shows that she had some idea of 
 a fight. In the American female historian's 
 works, there is one remarkable feature, that is, 
 she is careful in detailing circumstances, and 
 indulges in no fears in defeat, and no rhapsodies 
 in victory. Mrs. Warren was in advance of 
 the age as a female writer. Neither Hannah 
 More, Miss Edgeworth, Baillie, or any of that 
 bright coterie of fair ones, who have come for- 
 ward of late years, were in her time known to 
 the reading public ; and it was settled almost 
 as common law, that women were not to pre- 
 sume to teach the reading world, particularly 
 in the graver matters of history and politics. 
 Mrs. Warren made herself unpopular in taking 
 a part against the adoption of the constitution. 
 She supplied the opposition in the convention 
 of Massachusetts, of 1777, with all their argu- 
 ments ; but they could not deliver them with 
 her eloquence, and they failed. Mrs. Warren's 
 life was protracted to a great age. She died in 
 
96 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 the autumn of 1814, aged eighty-seven, having 
 possessed as good a share of intellect, as much 
 information, and more influence, arising from 
 mental superiority, than falls to the lot of more 
 than one woman in one age. Her descendants 
 are numerous and respectable ; and some one 
 of them should give us a biography of their 
 ancestor, with a collection of her letters. 
 
 BENJAMIN WEST, A SOLDIER. 
 
 WnEJf a very young man, West deviated into 
 a course not at all professional — he became a 
 soldier, and, joining the troops of Gen. Forbes, 
 proceeded in search of the relics of that gallant 
 army lost in the desert by the unfortunate Gen- 
 eral Braddock. To West and his companions 
 were added a select body of Indians ; these 
 again were accompanied by several officers of 
 the Old Island Watch — the well-known forty- 
 second — commanded by the most anxious per- 
 son of the detachment, Major Sir Peter Ilalket, 
 who had lost his father and brother in that un- 
 happy expedition. Though many months had 
 elapsed since the battle, and though time, the 
 fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the 
 wild men more savage than they, had done their 
 worst, Halket was not without hopes of finding 
 
BENJAMIN WEST. 97 
 
 the remains of his father and brother, as an In- 
 dian warrior assured him that he had seen an 
 elderly officer drop dead beneath a large and 
 remarkable tree, and a young subaltern, who 
 hastened to his aid, fall mortally wounded across 
 the body. After a long march through the 
 woods, they approached the fatal valley. They 
 were affected at seeing the bones of men, who, 
 escaping wounded from invisible enemies, had 
 sunk down and expired as they leaned against 
 the trees ; and they were shocked to see in other 
 places the relics of their countrymen mingled 
 with the ashes of savage bivouacks. When they 
 reached the principal scene of destruction, the 
 Indian guide looked anxiously round, darted 
 into the wood, and in a few seconds raised a 
 shrill cry. Halket and West hastened to the 
 place — the Indian pointed out the tree — a cir- 
 cle of soldiers was drawn round it, whilst others 
 removed the leaves of the forest which had fall- 
 en since the fight. They found two skeletons 
 — one laying across the other — Halket looked 
 at the skulls — said faintly, " it is my father !" 
 and dropped senseless in the arms of his com- 
 panions. On recovering, he said, " I know who 
 it is, by that artificial tooth." They dug a 
 grave in the desert, covered the bones with a 
 Highland plaid, and interred them reverently. 
 This scene, at once picturesque and pious, made 
 a lasting impression on the artist's mind. After 
 he had painted the death of Wolfe, he proposed 
 the finding of the bones of the Halkets, as an 
 9 
 
98 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 historical subject ; and describing to Lord Gros- 
 venor the gloomy wood, the wild Indians, the 
 passionate grief of the son, and the sympathy 
 of his companions, said, he conceived it would 
 form a picture full of dignity and sentiment. 
 
 . SAMUEL ADAMS. 
 
 On the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, 
 an affray took place between the military quar- 
 tered in Boston and some citizens, which result- 
 ed in a loss of lives on both sides. On the fol- 
 lowing morning, a public meeting was called, 
 and Samuel Adams addressed the assembly with 
 that impressive eloquence which was so pecu- 
 liar to himself. The people, on this occasion, 
 chose a committee to wait on the lieutenant- 
 governor, to require that the troops be immedi- 
 ately withdrawn from the town. The mission, 
 however, proved unsuccessful, and another reso- 
 lution was immediately adopted, that a new 
 committee be chosen to wait a second time upon 
 Governor Hutchinson, for the purpose of con- 
 veying the sense of the meeting in a more pe- 
 remptory manner. Mr. Adams acted as chair- 
 man. They waited on the lieutenant-governor, 
 and communicated this last vote of the town ; 
 and, in a speech of some length, Mr. Adams 
 stated the danger of keeping the troops longer 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 99 
 
 in the capital, fully proving the illegality of the 
 act itself; and enumerating the fatal conse- 
 quences that would ensue, if he refused an im- 
 mediate compliance wit ^ the vote. Lieutenant- 
 Governor Hutchinson, with his usual prevari- 
 cation, replied, and roundly asserted, that there 
 was no illegality in the measure ; and repeated, 
 that the troops were not subject to his author- 
 ity, but that he would direct the removal of the 
 twenty-ninth regiment. Mr. Adams again rose. 
 The magnitude of the subject, and the manner 
 in which it was treated by Lieutenant-Governor 
 Hutchinson, had now roused the impetuous feel- 
 ings of his patriotic soul. With indignation 
 strongly expressed in his countenance, and in a 
 firm, resolute, and commanding manner he re- 
 plied, '' that it was well known, that, acting as 
 governor of the province, he was, by its char- 
 ter, the commander-in-chief of his majesty's 
 military and naval forces, and as such, the troops 
 were subject to his orders; and if he had the 
 power to remove one regiment, he had the power 
 to remove both, and nothing short of this would 
 satisfy the people ; and it was at his peril, if the 
 vote of the town was not immediately complied 
 with, and if it be longer delayed, he, alone, must 
 be answerable for the fatal consequences that 
 would ensue." This produced a momentary 
 silence. It was now dark, and the people were 
 waiting in anxious suspense for the report of 
 the committee. A conference in whispers fol- 
 lowed between Lieutenant-Governor Hutchin- 
 son and Colonel Dalrymple. The former, finding 
 
100 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 himself so closely pressed, and the fallacy and 
 absurdity of his arguments thus glaringly ex- 
 posed, yielded up his positions, and gave his 
 consent to the removal of both regiments ; and 
 Colonel Dalrymple pledged his word and honour 
 that he would begin his preparations in the 
 morning, and that there should be no unneces- 
 sary delay until the whole of both regiments 
 were removed to the castle. 
 
 FIRMNESS OF ADAMS. 
 
 Every method had been tried to induce Mr. 
 Adams to abandon the cause of his country, 
 which he had supported with so much zeal, 
 courage, and ability. Threats and caresses had 
 proved equally unavailing. Prior to this time 
 there is no certain proof that any direct attempt 
 was made upon his virtue and integrity, although 
 a report had been publicly and freely circulated, 
 that it had been unsuccessfully tried by Gover- 
 nor Bernard. Hutchinson knew him too well 
 to make the attempt. But Governor Gage was 
 empowered to make the experiment. He sent 
 to him a confidential and verbal message by 
 Colonel Fenton, who waited upon Mr. Adams, 
 and, after the customary salutations, he stated 
 the object of his visit. He said that an adjust- 
 ment of the disputes w^hich existed between 
 England and the colonies, and a reconciliation, 
 
FIRMNESS OF ADAMS. 101 
 
 was very desirable, as well as important to the 
 interests of both. That he was authorized from 
 Governor Gage to assure him, that he had been 
 empowered to confer upon him such benefits as 
 would be satisfactory, upon the condition, that 
 he would engage to cease in his opposition to 
 the measures of government. He also observed, 
 that it was the advice of Governor Gage, to 
 him, not to incur the further displeasure of his 
 majesty ; that his conduct had been such as 
 made him liable to the penalties of an act of 
 Henry VHL, by which persons could be sent 
 to England for trial of treason, or misprision of 
 treason, at the discretion of a governor of the 
 province ; but by changing his political course, 
 he would not only receive great personal ad- 
 vantages, but would thereby make his peace 
 with the king. Mr. Adams listened with appa- 
 rent interest to this recital. He asked Colonel 
 Fenton if he would truly deliver his reply as it 
 should be given. After some hesitation he as- 
 sented. Mr. Adams required his word of ho- 
 nour, which he pledged. 
 
 Then rising from his chair, and assuming a 
 determined manner, he replied, " I trust I have 
 long since made my peace with the King of 
 KINGS. No personal consideration shall induce 
 me to abandon the righteous cause of my coun- 
 try. Tell Governor Gage, it is the advice 
 OF Samuel Adams to him, no longer to insult 
 the feelings of an exasperated people." 
 9* 
 
102 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 CAPTAIN GEORGE LITTLE. 
 
 Among the vessels which were built by the 
 state of Massachusetts, during the war of the 
 Revolution, was the sloop Winthrop. She was 
 built in the then District of Maine, and for the 
 express purpose of protecting our coasting 
 trade, which had suffered much by the cap- 
 tures, &c. of the enemy. She mounted thirteen 
 guns, and was commanded by captain George 
 Little, of Mansfield, who had been the first 
 lieutenant of the staff ship Protector, John 
 Foster Williams, Esq. commander, and who, 
 in our quasi war with France, in 1798, com- 
 manded the frigate Boston. His first lieute- 
 nant in the Winthrop was Edvv^ard Preble, of 
 Portland, who also had been an officer on board 
 the Protector, and who was afterwards Com- 
 modore Preble. The Winthrop was a very 
 fortunate vessel, and more than answered the 
 expectations of those who built her. She pro- 
 tected the coasting trade, made many prizes, 
 and covered herself with glory. Soon after 
 sailing on her first cruise, she fell in with two 
 ships which made a formidable appearance, but 
 boldly running down upon them, she captured 
 them both. They proved to be two stout Bri- 
 tish Letters of Marque, and she immediately 
 returned with them to Boston. She made a 
 number of prizes afterwards, and recaptured 
 some American vessels. In one of her cruises, 
 
CAPTAIN GEORGE LITTLE. 103 
 
 she recaptured a sloop belonging to the late 
 William Gray, Esq., which had been taken by 
 the British brig Meriam, of equal or superior 
 force to the Winthrop, and with a prize-master 
 and crew on board, was ordered for Penobscot, 
 to which place the Meriam herself had gone. 
 Captain Little immediately resolved upon the 
 daring plan of cutting her out. Disguising his 
 vessel, so as to give her as much as possible the 
 appearance of the prize sloop, he entered the 
 harbour of Penobscot in the evening; as he 
 passed the fort, he was hailed, and asked what 
 sloop that was — he answered, ** The Meriam's 
 Prize." It is said that the fort had some sus- 
 picions of him, but they suffered him to pass. 
 He then ran up towards the brig, and, as he 
 approached her, was again hailed and gave the 
 same answer — " Take care (said they on board 
 the Meriam) you '11 run foul of us." He in- 
 formed them that he had been ashore on a reef 
 and lost his cables and anchors, and requested 
 them to throw him a warp, which was imme- 
 diately done. The sloop was then hauled up 
 to the brig, and Lieutenant Preble, as had been 
 appointed, jumped on board with a number of 
 men, who had their various duties assigned 
 them — while some slipped the cables, others 
 made sail, &c. Preble himself, with a few fol- 
 lowers, entered the cabin, where the officers 
 were just changing their dress for the purpose 
 of going on shore. They made some attempts 
 to get their arms for defence, but were soon 
 subdued. When they were coming out of the 
 
104 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 harbour, the fort fired upon them, but Captain 
 Little judged it best not to return the fire — he 
 kept steadily on his course, and when out of 
 reach of their shot, triumphantly let off thirteen 
 sky-rockets. In the same cruise he took two 
 other vessels, one of which was a schooner of 
 eight guns, which he had driven ashore. He 
 manned out his boats, went on shore, made the 
 crew prisoners, and got off the schooner — with 
 his four prizes he returned to Boston. The 
 five vessels entered the harbour together in 
 fine style, with a leading breeze ; and a gallant 
 show they made. 
 
 GENERAL LEE. 
 
 General Lee was remarkably slovenly in 
 his dress and manners; and has often, by the 
 meanness of his appearance, been subject to 
 ridicule and insult. He was once attended by 
 General Washington, to a place distant from 
 the camp. Riding on, he arrived at the house 
 where they were to dine sometime before the 
 rest of the company. He went directly to the 
 kitchen, demanding something to eat, when the 
 cook, taking him for a servant, told him she 
 would give him some victuals in a moment — 
 but he must help her off with the pot. This 
 he complied with, and sat down to some cold 
 meat, which she had placed before him on the 
 
GENERAL LEE. 105 
 
 dresser. The girl was remarkably inquisitive 
 about the guests who were coming, particularly 
 of Lee, who she said she had heard was one 
 of the oddest and ugliest men in the world. In 
 a few moments, she desired the General again 
 to assist her in placing on the pot, and scarcely 
 had he finished, when she requested him to take 
 a bucket and go to the well. Lee made no 
 objections, and began drawing water. In the 
 mean time, General Washington arrived, and 
 an aid-de-camp was despatched in search of 
 Lee; whom, to his surprise, he found engaged 
 as above. But what was the confusion of the 
 poor girl on hearing the aid-de-camp address 
 the man with the title of general ! The mug 
 fell from her hands, and dropping on her knees, 
 she began crying for pardon ; — when Lee, who 
 was ever ready to see the impropriety of his 
 own conduct, but never willing to change it, 
 gave her a crown, and turning to his aid-de- 
 camp, ot)served, " you see, young man, the 
 advantage of a fine coat — the man of conse- 
 quence is indebted to it for respect — neither 
 virtue nor abilities without it will make you 
 look like a gentleman." 
 
106 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 EARLY AMERICAN HEROISM. 
 
 During one of the former wars between 
 France and England, in which the then colo- 
 nies bore an active part, a respectable individual, 
 a member of the society of Friends, of the name 
 
 of , commanded a fine ship which sailed 
 
 from an Eastern port, to a port in England. 
 This vessel had a strong and effective crew, 
 but was totally unarmed. When near her des- 
 tined port, she was chased, and ultimately 
 overhauled, by a French vessel of war. Her 
 commander used every endeavour to escape, 
 but seeiiig, from the superior sailing of the 
 Frenchman, that his capture was inevitable, 
 he quietly retired below : he was followed into 
 the cabin by his cabin hoy, a youth of activity 
 and enterprise, named Charles Wager : he 
 asked his commander if nothing more could be 
 done to save the ship — his commander replied 
 that it was impossible, that every thing had 
 been done that was practicable, there was no 
 escape for them, and they must submit to be 
 captured. Charles then returned upon deck, 
 and summoned the crew around him — he stated 
 in a few words what was their captain's con- 
 clusion — then, with an elevation of mind, dic- 
 tated by a soul formed for enterprise and noble 
 daring, he obf^.erved, " if you will place your- 
 selves under my command, and stand by me, 
 I have conceived a plan by which the ship may 
 
EARLY AMERICAN HEROISM. 107 
 
 be rescued, and we in turn become the con- 
 querors." The sailors, no doubt feeling the 
 ardour, and inspired by the courage of their 
 youthful and gallant leader, agreed to place 
 themselves under his command. His plan was 
 communicated to them, and they awaited with 
 firmness the moment to carry their enterprise 
 into effect. The suspense was of short dura- 
 tion, for the Frenchman was quickly alongside, 
 and, as the weather was fine, im.mediately 
 grappled fast to the unoffending merchant-ship. 
 As Charles had anticipated, the exhilarated 
 conquerors, elated beyond measure, with the 
 acquisition of so fine a prize, poured into his 
 vessel in crowds, cheering and huzzaing ; and 
 not foreseeing any danger, they left but few 
 men on board their ship. Now was the moment 
 for Charles, who, giving his men the signal, 
 sprang at their head on board the opposing 
 vessel, while some seized the arms, which had 
 been left in profusion on her deck, and with 
 which they soon overpowered the few men left 
 on board; the others, by a simultaneous move- 
 ment, relieved her from the grappiings which 
 united the two vessels. Our hero now having 
 the command of the French vessel, seized the 
 helm, and placing her out of boarding distance, 
 hailed, with the voice of a conqueror, the dis- 
 comfited crowd of Frenchmen who were left 
 on board of the peaceful bark he had just 
 quitted, and summoned them to follow close in 
 his wake, or he would blow them out of water, 
 (a threat they w^ell knew he was very capable 
 
108 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 of executing, as their guns were loaded during 
 the chase.) They sorrowfully acquiesced with 
 his commands, while gallant Charles steered 
 into port, followed by his prize. The exploit 
 excited universal applause — the former master 
 of the merchant vessel was examined by the 
 Admiralty, when he stated the whole of the 
 enterprize as it occurred, and declared that 
 Charles Wager had planned and effected the 
 gallant exploit, and that to him alone belonged 
 the honour and credit of the achievement. 
 Charles was immediately transferred to the 
 British navy, appointed a midshipman, and his 
 education carefully superintended. He soon 
 after distinguished himself in an action, and 
 underwent a rapid promotion, until at length 
 he was created an admiral, and known as Sir 
 Charles Wager. It is said, that he always held 
 in veneration and esteem, that respectable and 
 conscientious Friend, whose cabin-boy he had 
 been, and transmitted yearly to his old master, 
 as he termed him, a handsome present of Ma- 
 deira, to cheer his declining days. 
 
EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. 109 
 
 EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. 
 
 Mr. Jasper, a sergeant in the revolutionary 
 army, had a brother who had joined the British, 
 and who, likewise, held the rank of sergeant in 
 their garrison at Ebenezer. No man could be 
 truer to the American cause than sergeant 
 Jasper ; yet he warmly loved his tory brother, 
 and actually went to the British garrison to 
 see him. His brother was exceedingly alarmed, 
 lest he should be seized, and hung as an Ameri- 
 can spy ; for his name was well known to many 
 of the British officers. " Do not trouble your- 
 self," said Jasper ; " I am no longer an Ameri- 
 can soldier." 
 
 " Thank God for that, William," exclaimed 
 his brother, heartily shaking him by the hand ; 
 " and now only say the word, my boy, and 
 here is a commission for you, with regimentals 
 and gold to boot, to fight for his majesty, king 
 George." 
 
 Jasper shook his head, and observed, that 
 though there was but little encouragement to 
 fight for his country, he could not find it in his 
 heart to fight against her. And there the con- 
 versation ended. After staying two or three 
 days with his brother, inspecting and hearing 
 all that he could, he took his leave, returned to 
 the American camp, by a circuitous route, and 
 told General Lincoln all that he had seen. 
 
 Soon after, he made another trip to the Eng- 
 10 
 
110 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 lish garrison, taking with him his particular 
 friend, sergeant Newton, who was a young 
 man of great strength and courage. His bro- 
 ther received him with his usual cordiality; 
 and he and his friend spent several days at the 
 British fort, without giving the least alarm. 
 On the morning of the third day, his brother 
 observed that he had bad news to tell him. 
 
 " Ay ! what is it ?" asked William. 
 
 " Why," replied his brother, " here are ten 
 or a dozen American prisoners, brought in this 
 morning, as deserters, from Savannah, whither 
 they are to be sent immediately ; and, from 
 what I can learn, it will be apt to go hard with 
 them, — for it seems they have all taken the 
 king's bounty." 
 
 " Let us see them," said Jasper. So his 
 brother took him and his friend Newton to see 
 them. It was indeed a melancholy sight to 
 see the poor fellows hand-cuffed upon the 
 ground. But when the eye rested on a young 
 woman, wife of one of the prisoners, with her 
 child, a sweet little boy of five years, all pity 
 for the male prisoners was forgotten. Her 
 humble garb showed that she was poor ; but 
 her deep distress, and sympathy with her un- 
 fortunate husband, proved that she was rich in 
 conjugal love, more precious than all gold. She 
 generally sat on the ground, opposite to her 
 husband, with her little boy leaning on her lap, 
 and her coal-black hair spreading in long, 
 neglected tresses on her neck and bosom. 
 Sometimes she would sit silent as a statue of 
 
EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. Ill 
 
 grief, her eyes fixed upon the earth ; then she 
 would start with a convulsive throb, and gaze 
 on her husband's face with looks as piercing 
 sad, as if she already saw him struggling in the 
 halter, herself a widow, and her son an orphan. 
 While the child, distressed by his mother's 
 anguish, added to the pathos of the scene, by 
 the artless tears of childish suffering. Though 
 Jasper and Newton were undaunted in the 
 field of battle, their feelings were subdued by 
 such heart-stirring misery. As they walked 
 out into the neighbouring wood, the tears stood 
 in the eyes of both. Jasper first broke silence. 
 " Newton," said he, " my days have been but 
 few ; but I believe their course is nearly 
 finished." 
 
 "Why so, Jasper?" 
 
 " Why, I feel that I must rescue those poor 
 prisoners, or die with them; otherwise, the 
 remembrance of that poor woman and her child 
 will haunt me to my grave." 
 
 " That is exactly what I feel, too," replied 
 Newton ; " and here is my hand and heart to 
 stand by you, my brave friend, to the last drop. 
 Thank God, a man can die but once ; and why 
 should we fear to leave this life in the way of 
 our duty ?" 
 
 The friends embraced each other, and entered 
 into the necessary arrangements, for fulfilling 
 their desperate resolution. 
 
 Immediately after breakfast, the prisoners 
 were sent on their way to Savannah, under the 
 guard of a sergeant and corporal, with eight 
 
112 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 men. They had not been gone long, before 
 Jasp'er, accompanied by his friend Newton, 
 took leave of his brother, and set out on some 
 pretended errand to the upper country. They 
 had scarcely, however, got out of sight of 
 Ebenezer, before they struck into the woods, 
 and pushed hard after the prisoners and their 
 guard, whom they closely dogged for several 
 miles, anxiously watching an opportunity to 
 make a blow. The hope, indeed, seemed ex- 
 travagant; — for what could troo unarmed men 
 do against ten, equipped w^ith loaded muskets 
 and bayonets? However, unable to give up 
 their countrymen, our heroes still travelled on. 
 About two miles from Savannah, there is a 
 famous spring, generally called the Spa, well 
 known to travellers, v/ho often stopped there 
 to quench their thirst. *' Perhaps," said Jasper, 
 " the guard may stop there." Hastening on 
 through the woods, they gained the Spa, as 
 their last hope, and there concealed themselves 
 among the thick bushes that grew around the 
 spring. Presently, the mournful procession 
 came in sight of the spring, where the sergeant 
 ordered a halt. Hope sprung afresh in the 
 bosoms of our heroes, though no doubt mixed 
 with great alarms ; for " it was a fearful odds." 
 The corporal, with his guard of four men, con- 
 ducted the prisoners to the spring, while the 
 sergeant, with the other four, having grounded 
 their arms near the road, brought up the rear. 
 The prisoners, wearied with their long walk, 
 were permitted to rest themselves on the earth. 
 
EXPLOIT OF MR. JASPER. 113 
 
 Poor Mrs. Jones, as usual, took her seat oppo- 
 site to her husband, and her little boy, over- 
 come with fatigue, fell asleep in her lap. Two 
 of the corporal's men were ordered to keep 
 guard, and the other two to give the prisoners 
 drink out of their canteens. These last ap- 
 proached the spring, where our heroes lay con- 
 cealed, and, resting their muskets against a 
 pine tree, dipped up water. Having drunk 
 themselves, they turned away, with replenished 
 canteens, to give to the prisoners also. " Now, 
 Newton, is our time," said Jasper. Then, 
 bursting like lions from their concealment, they 
 snatched up the two muskets that were resting 
 against the pine, and in an instant shot down 
 the two soldiers who were upon guard. It was 
 now a contest who should get the loaded mus- 
 kets that fell from the hands of the slain ; for 
 by this time a couple of brave Englishmen, 
 recovering from their momentary panic, had 
 sprung and seized upon the muskets ; but, 
 before they could use them, the swift-handed 
 Americans, with clubbed guns, levelled a final 
 blow at the heads of their brave antagonists. 
 The tender bones of the skull gave way, and 
 down they sunk, pale and quivering, without 
 a groan. Then hastily seizing the muskets, 
 which had thus a second time fallen from the 
 hands of the slain, they flew between their 
 surviving enemies and their weapons, grounded 
 near the road, and ordered them to surrender ; 
 which they instantly did. They then snapped 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 the hand-cuffs of the prisoners, and armed them 
 with muskets. 
 
 At the commencement of the fight, poor Mrs. 
 Jones had fallen to the earth in a swoon, and 
 her little son stood screaming piteously over 
 her. But when she recovered, and saw her 
 husband and his friends freed from their fetters, 
 she behaved like one frantic with joy. She 
 sprang to her husband's bosom, and with her 
 arms round his neck, sobbed out, " My husband 
 is safe — bless God, my husband is safe!" Then, 
 snatching up her child, she pressed him to her 
 heart, as she exclaimed, " thank God ! my son 
 has a father yet !" Then kneeling at the feet 
 of Jasper and Newton, she pressed their hands 
 vehemently, but in the fulness of her heart she 
 could only say, ''God bless you! God Almighty 
 bless you !" 
 
 For fear of being retaken by the English, 
 our heroes seized the arms and regimentals of 
 the dead, and with their friends and captive 
 foes, recrossed the Savannah, and safely joined 
 the American army at Purisburgh, to the inex- 
 pressible astonishment of all. 
 
DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIDDLE. 115 
 
 DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIDDLE. 
 
 On the night of the 7th of March, 1778, the 
 fatal accident occurred, which terminated the 
 life of this excellent officer. For some days 
 previously he had expected an attack. Captain 
 Blake, a brave officer, who commanded a de- 
 tachment of the second South Carolina regi- 
 ment, serving as marines on board the General 
 Moultrie, and to whom we are indebted for sev- 
 eral of the ensuing particulars, dined on board 
 the Randolph two days before the engagement. 
 At dinner. Captain Biddle said, " We have been 
 cruising here for some time, and have spoken a 
 number of vessels, who will, no doubt, give 
 information of us, and I should not be surprised 
 if my old ship should be out after us. As to 
 anything that carries her guns upon deck, I 
 think myself a match for her." About three, 
 P. M. of the 7th of March, a signal was made 
 from the Randolph for a sail to windward, in 
 consequence of which the squadron hauled upon 
 a wind, in order to speak her. It was 4 o'clock 
 before she could be distinctly seen, when she 
 was discovered to be a ship, though as she near- 
 ed and came before the wind, she had the ap- 
 pearance of a large sloop with only a square- 
 sail set. About seven o'clock, the Randolph 
 being to windward, hove to ; the Moultrie, be- 
 ing about one hundred and fifty yards astern, 
 and rather to leeward, also hove to. About 
 
116 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 eight o'clock the British ship fired a shot just 
 ahead of the Moultrie, and hailed her ; the an- 
 swer was, " the Polly, of New York ;" upon 
 which she immediately hauled her wind, and 
 hailed the Randolph, She was then, for the 
 first time, discovered to be a two-decker. After 
 several questions had been asked and answered, 
 as she was ranging up alongside the Randolph, 
 and had got on her weather-quarter. Lieuten- 
 ant Barnes, of that ship, called out, " This is 
 the Randolph," and she immediately hoisted her 
 colours, and gave the enemy a broadside. 
 Shortly after the action commenced. Captain 
 Biddle received a wound in the thigh, and fell. 
 This occasioned some confusion, as it was at 
 first thought that he was killed. He soon, how- 
 ever, ordered a chair to be brought, said that 
 he was only slightly wounded, and being car- 
 ried forward encouraged the crew. The stern 
 of the enemy's ship being clear of the Randolph, 
 the captain of the Moultrie gave orders to fire, 
 but the enemy having shot ahead, so as to bring 
 the Randolph between them, the last broadside 
 of the Moultrie went into the Randolph, and it 
 was thought by one of the men saved, who was 
 stationed on the quarter-deck near Captain Bid- 
 die, that he was wounded by a shot from the 
 Moultrie. The fire from the Randolph was con- 
 stant and well-directed. She fired nearly three 
 broadsides to the enemy's one, and she appear- 
 ed, while the battle lasted, to be in a continual 
 blaze. In about twenty minutes after the ac- 
 tion began, and while the surgeon was examin- 
 
DEATH OF CAPTAIN BIDDLE. 117 
 
 ing Captain Biddle's wound on the quarter- 
 deck, the Randolph blew up. 
 
 The enemy's vessel was the British ship Yar- 
 mouth, of sixty-four guns, commanded by Cap- 
 tain Vincent. So closely were they engaged, 
 that Captain Morgan, of the Fair American, 
 and all his crew, thought that it was the ene- 
 my's ship that had blown up. He stood for the 
 Yarmouth, and had a trumpet in his hand, to 
 hail and inquire how Captain Biddle was, when 
 he discovered his mistake. Owing to the dis- 
 abled condition of the Yarmouth, the other ves- 
 sels escaped. 
 
 The cause of the explosion was never ascer- 
 tained, but it is remarkable that just before he 
 sailed, after the clerk had copied the signals and 
 orders for the armed vessels that accompanied 
 him, he wrote at the foot of them, " In case of 
 coming to action in tlie night, be very careful 
 of your magazines." The number of persons 
 on board the Randolph was three hundred and 
 fifteen, who all perished except four men, who 
 were tossed about for four days on a piece of 
 the wreck before they were discovered and taken 
 up. From theinformation of two of these men, 
 who were afterwards in Philadelphia, and of 
 some individuals in the other vessels of the 
 squadron, we have been enabled to state some 
 particulars of this unfortunate event, in addi- 
 tion to the accounts given of it by Dr. Ramsay 
 in his History of the American Revolution, and 
 in his History of the Revolution of South Car- 
 olina. In the former work, the historian thus 
 
118 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 concludes his account of the action : " Captain 
 Biddle, who perished on board the Randolph, 
 was universally lamented. He was in the prime 
 of life, and had excited high expectations of 
 future usefulness to his country, as a bold and 
 skilful naval officer." 
 
 Thus prematurely fell, at the age of twenty- 
 seven, as gallant an officer as any country ever 
 boasted of. In the short career which Provi- 
 dence allowed to him, he displayed all those 
 qualities which constitute a great soldier — brave 
 to excess, and consummately skilled in his pro- 
 fession. 
 
CONQUEST OF NEW YORK. 
 
 119 
 
 CONQUEST OF NEWYORK. 
 
 During nearly ten years of peace, Stuyve- 
 sant used diligent exertion in extending and 
 consolidating the colony of New Netherlands ; 
 all his labours were, however, doomed to prove 
 unavailing to the advantage of his country. 
 Charles II. had now ascended the British throne; 
 and although he had received, during his exile, 
 more courtesy from the Dutch than from any 
 other nation, he had conceived a peculiar aver- 
 sion towards the people of Holland ; and did 
 not hesitate to use every means to provoke the 
 resentment of the States-general : among others, 
 he asserted his claim to the province of New 
 
120 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 Netherlands ; and, without any attempt at nego- 
 tiation with the States, he executed a charter, 
 conveying to the Duke of York the whole ter- 
 ritory, from the eastern shore of the Delaware, 
 to the western bank of the Connecticut. This 
 grant took no more notice of the existing pos- 
 session of the Dutch, than it showed respect to 
 the recent charter of Connecticut, which, whe- 
 ther from design or ignorance, it tacitly, but 
 entirely superseded. No sooner did the Duke 
 of York obtain this grant, than he conveyed to 
 Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret all that 
 portion now constituting the province of New 
 Jersey. 
 
 It was manifest that this grant would require 
 a military force to carry it into effect. While 
 the Dutch, notwithstanding the intimations they 
 received from Stuyvesant, continued unsuspect- 
 ing or incredulous, an armament, under the 
 command of Colonel Nichols, who was also ap- 
 pointed governor of the province he was about 
 to conquer, was prepared and despatched. 
 After touching at Boston, the fleet sailed to 
 Hudson river, and took a position before the 
 capital of New Netherlands. Stuyvesant re- 
 solved to make a gallant defence, but his senti- 
 ments did not pervade the minds of the inhab- 
 itants, who, apprehending all resistance to the 
 disciplined forces, and powerful artillery of the 
 invaders, utterly hopeless, the most valorous 
 and faithful satisfied themselves with the reso- 
 lution not to remain the subjects of their tyran- 
 nical conqueror, but could not perceive the pro- 
 
CONQUEST OF NEW YORK. 121 
 
 priety of aggravating their distress by exposing 
 their persons and habitations to the certainty 
 of capture by storm, and the extremity of miU- 
 tary violence. 
 
 Colonel Nichols lost no time in sending a sum- 
 mons to surrender the fortress, towns, and the 
 whole territory to the king of England, as his 
 lawful right, which had been intruded on and 
 usurped by the Dutch. The reply of Stuyve- 
 sant gave an authentic account of the grounds 
 of the claims of the Dutch. 
 
 The reasoning of Stuyvesant, as might have 
 been anticipated, did not produce any effect on 
 his opponents, who made immediate prepara- 
 tions for the reduction of the fort. These prompt 
 measures induced the governor to make another 
 attempt at negotiation; but Colonel Nichols 
 replied, that he could treat on no subject but 
 that of surrender. Unsupported as was Stuy- 
 vesant by his countrymen, he felt compelled to 
 agree to a treaty of capitulation, which was 
 concluded on the most favourable terms to the 
 inhabitants ; and, to gratify the punctilious feel- 
 ings of Stuyvesant, an article was introduced, 
 that the English and Dutch limits in America 
 should be settled by the court of England and 
 the States-o^eneral. On the 27th of August, 
 1664, the commissioners, on behalf of both par- 
 ties, met at the governor's farm, and signed the 
 articles of capitulation. 
 11 
 
122 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 
 
 HICKORY CLUBS. 
 
 Baron de Glaubeck having signalized him- 
 self in many engagements after the battle of 
 Guilford, General Greene recommended him to 
 the governor of North Carolina, and advised 
 him to put the cavalry of that State under his 
 command. The governor took the general's 
 advice, and accordingly placed the Baron at the 
 head of the cavalry ; but to his great astonish- 
 ment, not a man among them had a sword; 
 however, in order to supply the deficiency, he 
 ordered every man to supply himself with a 
 substantial hickory club, one end of which he 
 caused to be mounted with a heavy piece of 
 iron ; then, to show an example to his men, he 
 threw aside his sword, armed himself with one 
 of these bludgeons, and mounted his horse. 
 After giving his men the necessary instructions 
 in wielding their clubs, he marched with his 
 whole body, consisting of three hundred, to- 
 wards Cornwallis's army, in order to reconnoi- 
 tre his lines, where he arrived the same day, 
 about one o'clock. Cornwallis was then retreat- 
 ing towards Wilmington, and his men being 
 fatigued, had halted to take some refreshment. 
 The Baron having seized this favourable oppor- 
 tunity, charged two Hessian picquets, whom he 
 made prisoners; and routed three British regi- 
 ments, to whose heads he applied the clubs so 
 effectually, that a considerable number were 
 killed on the spot ; and finally he retreated with 
 upwards of sixty prisoners. 
 
MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS. 123 
 
 MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS. 
 
 Mrs. Ada3is was the daughter of a New 
 England clergyman settled within a few miles 
 of Boston : a man respectable in his holy office, 
 and who educated his children in the best man- 
 ner of the times. The personal and mental 
 accomplishments of his daughter attracted the 
 attention and secured the affection of Mr. 
 Adams, then a young man of distinction at the 
 bar in Massachusetts. They were married in 
 the year 17G4, and resided in Boston. The 
 revolutionary difficulties were then fast increas- 
 ing, and Mr. Adams was conspicuously engaged. 
 When a continental congress was formed, he 
 was sent a delegate from Massachusetts to this 
 body. It was a perilous moment. The wise 
 were baffled, the courageous hesitated, and the 
 great mass of the people were inflamed, but 
 confused; they had no fixed and settled pur- 
 pose, but all was left for the development of 
 time. Mr. Adams was one of the boldest in 
 the march of honest resistance to tyranny. He 
 looked farther than the business of the day, and 
 ventured at that early period, to suggest plans 
 of self-government and independence. To Mrs. 
 Adams he communicated his thoughts freely on 
 all these high matters of state, for he had the 
 fullest confidence in her fortitude, prudence, 
 secrecy, and good sense, without the test which 
 the Roman Portia gave her lord, to gain his 
 
124 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 confidence in matters of policy, ' when the state 
 was out of joint/ When Mr. Adams was 
 appointed to represent his country at the court 
 of St. James, his wife went with him, and such 
 was her exquisite sense of propriety, her repub- 
 lican simplicity, her delicate and refined man- 
 ners, her firmness and dignity, that she charmed 
 the proud circles in which she moved, and they 
 speak of her, to this day, as one of the finest 
 women that ever graced an embassy to that 
 country. 
 
 When Mr. Adams was chosen vice-president, 
 she was the same unaffected, intelligent, and 
 elegant woman. No little managements, no 
 private views, no sly interference with public 
 affairs, was ever, for a moment, charged to her. 
 When her husband came to the chair of the 
 chief magistrate, the widest field opened for the 
 exercise of all the talents and acquirements of 
 Mrs. Adams ; and her fondest admirers were 
 not disappointed. She spruced the table by her 
 courtesy and elegance of manners, and delighted 
 her guests by the powers of her conversation. 
 Through the drawing-room she diffused ease 
 and urbanity, and gave the charm of modesty 
 and sincerity, to the interchanges of civility. 
 But this was not all ; her acquaintance with 
 public affairs, her discrimination of character, 
 her discernment of the signs of the times, and 
 her pure patriotism, made her an excellent 
 cabinet minister; and, to the honour of her 
 husband, he never forgot nor undervalued her 
 worth. The politicians of that period speak 
 
MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS. 125 
 
 with enthusiasm of her foresight, her prudence, 
 and the wisdom of her observations. Tracy 
 respected, Bayard admired, and Ames eulo- 
 gized her. All parties had the fullest confi- 
 dence in the purity of her motives, and in the 
 elevation of her understanding. It was a 
 stormy period. Fatigue and anguish often 
 overwhelmed the president, from the weight 
 and multiplicity of his labours and cares ; but 
 her sensibility, affection, and cheerfulness, 
 chased the frown from his brow, and plucked 
 the root of bitterness from his heart. To those 
 who see the matters of state at a distance, or 
 through the medium of letters, all things seem 
 to go on fairly and smoothly ; but those who 
 are practically acquainted with the difficulty 
 of administering the best of governments, will 
 easily understand how much necessity there is 
 for the wisdom of the serpent, united with the 
 gentleness of the dove ; and they too can com- 
 prehend how much the delicate interference of 
 a sagacious woman can effect. Pride, vanity, 
 and selfishness are full of claims and exactions, 
 all bustling and importunate for office and dis- 
 tinction. Peremptory denial produces enmity 
 and confusion, but gentle evasion and cautious 
 replies soften the hearts of the restless, and tem- 
 per the passions of the sanguine. An intelligent 
 woman can control these repinings, and hush 
 these murmurings with much less sacrifice or 
 effort than men. A woman knows when to 
 apply the unction of soft words, without for- 
 getting her dignity, or infringing on a single 
 11* 
 
126 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 principle which the most scrupulous would 
 wish to maintain. Mrs. Adams calmed these 
 agitations of disappointment, healed the rankling 
 wound of offended pride, and left men in admi- 
 ration of her talents, and in love with her sin- 
 cerity. Notwithstanding these numerous duties 
 and great exertions as the wife of a statesman, 
 Mrs. Adams did not forget that she was a 
 parent. She had several children, and felt in 
 them the pride and interest, if she did not make 
 the boast of the mother of the Gracchi. Many- 
 women fill important stations with the most 
 splendid display of virtues ; but few are equally 
 great in retirement; there they want the ani- 
 mating influence of a thousand eyes, and the 
 inspiration of homage and flattery. This is 
 human nature in its common form, and the 
 exception is honourable and rare. Mrs. Adams, 
 in rural seclusion at Quincy, was the same dig- 
 nified, sensible, and happy woman, as when 
 surrounded by fashion, wit, and intellect. No 
 hectic of resentment, no pangs of regret were 
 ever discovered by her, while indulging in the 
 retrospection of an eventful life, in these shades 
 of retirement. Her conversation showed the 
 same lively interest in the passing occurrences, 
 as though she had retired for a day only, and 
 was to have returned on the morrow to take 
 her share in the business and pleasures of poli- 
 tical existence. There was no trick, no disguise 
 in this. It arose from a settled, and perfectly 
 philosophical and christian contentment, which 
 great minds only can feel. Serenity, purity, 
 
Washington's farewell. 127 
 
 and elevation of thought preserve the faculties 
 of the mind from premature decay, and, indeed, 
 keep them vigorous in old age. To such, the 
 lapse of time is only the change of the shadow 
 on the dial of life. 
 
 The hours whicli are numbered and gone are 
 noticed, but tiieir flight does not " chill the 
 genial current of the soul." Religious thank- 
 fulness for the past, and faith in assurances for 
 the future, make " the last drop in the cup of 
 existence clear, sweet, and sparkling." 
 
 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL. 
 
 On Tuesday noon, (December 4th, 1783,) the 
 principal officers of the army assembled at 
 Frances's (alias Black Sam's) tavern, to take a 
 final leave of their much-beloved commander- 
 in-chief. After awhile General Washington 
 came in, and callinof for a glass of wine, thus 
 addressed them: " With an heart full of love 
 and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I 
 most devoutly wish, that your latter days may 
 be as prosperous and happy, as your former 
 ones have been glorious and h«jnourable." 
 Having drunk, he said, " I cannot come to 
 each of you to take my leave, but shall be 
 obliged to you, if each will come and take me 
 by the hand." General Knox being nearest, 
 turned to him ; Washington, with tears rolling 
 
128 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 down his cheeks, grasped Knox's hand, and 
 then kissed him : he did the same by every 
 succeeding officer, and by some other gentle- 
 men who were present. The passions of human 
 nature were never more tenderly agitated, than 
 in this interesting and distressing scene. The 
 whole company were in tears. When Wash- 
 ington left the room, and passed through the 
 corps of light infantry, about two o'clock, in 
 his way to Whitehall, the others followed, 
 walking in a solemn, mute, and mournful pro- 
 cession, with heads hanging down and dejected 
 countenances, till he embarked in his barge for 
 Powle's Hook. When he had entered, he 
 turned, took off his hat, and with that bid them 
 a silent adieu. They paid him the same affec- 
 tionate compliment, and the barge pushing oflT, 
 returned from Whitehall in like manner as they 
 had advanced. 
 
CONNECTICUT CHARTER PRESERVED. 
 
 129 
 
 
 PRESERVATION OF T?IE CONNECTICUT 
 CHARTER. 
 
 Connecticut was destined to suffer, with the 
 rest of the colonies, from the violent acts com- 
 mitted in the last year's reign of the Stuarts. 
 Massachusetts had been deprived of her char- 
 ter, and Rhode Island had been induced to sur- 
 render hers, when, in July, 1685, a writ o^ quo 
 xcarranto was issued against the governor and 
 company of Connecticut. The colonial govern- 
 ment was strongly advised by Vane to comply 
 with the requisition, and surrender the charter ; 
 but it was determined neither to appear to 
 defend the charter nor voluntarily to surrender 
 
130 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN fflSTORY. 
 
 it. Sir Edmund Andros made repeated appli- 
 cations for the surrender of the charter, but 
 without success. The singular mode of its 
 escape from his demand in person, is thus 
 recorded by Trumbull : *' The assembly met as 
 usual, in October, 1G87, and the government 
 continued, according to charter, until the last 
 of the month. About this time. Sir Edmund, 
 with his suite, and more than sixty regular 
 troops, came to Hartford, where the assembly 
 were sitting, demanded the charter, and de- 
 clared the government under it 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 im- 
 portant affair was debated and kept in suspense 
 until the evening, when the charter was brought 
 and laid upon the table where the assembly 
 were sitting. By this time, great numbers of 
 people were assembled, and men sufficiently 
 bold to undertake whatever might be necessary 
 or expedient. The lights were instantly extin- 
 guished, and one Captain Wadsworth, of Hart- 
 
EXPEDITION OF DE LA BARRE. 131 
 
 ford, in the most silent and secret manner, car- 
 ried off the charter, and secreted it in a large 
 hollow tree, fronting the house of the Honoura- 
 ble Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates 
 of the colony. The people appeared all peacea- 
 ble and orderly. The candles were officiously 
 relighted, but the patent was gone, and no dis- 
 covery could be made of it, or of the person 
 who had conveyed it away." Though Sir Ed- 
 mund was thus foiled in his attempt to obtain 
 possession of the charter, he did not hesitate to 
 assume the reins of government, which he 
 administered in a manner as oppressive in this 
 as in the other colonies. When, on the arrival 
 of the declaration of the Prince of Orange at 
 Boston, Andros was deposed and imprisoned, 
 the people of Connecticut resumed their previ- 
 ous form of government, having been interrupted 
 little more than a year and a half. 
 
 EXPEDITION OF DE LA BARRE. 
 
 The interior of New York was originally 
 inhabited by a confederacy, which consisted at 
 first of five, and afterwards of six, nations of 
 Indians. This confederacy was formed for 
 mutual defence against the Algonquins, a pow- 
 erful Canadian nation, and displayed much of 
 the wisdom and sagacity which mark the insti- 
 tutions of a civilized people. By their union 
 
132 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 they hud become formidable to the surrounding 
 tribes. Bcino: the allies of the English, the 
 French were alarmed at their successes, and 
 became jealous of their power. In the year 
 1081, De la Barre, the governor of Canada, 
 marched to attack them, with an army of seven- 
 teen hundred men. Ilis troops sutiercd so much 
 from hardships, famine, and sickness, that he 
 was compelled to ask i)cace of those whom he 
 had come to exterminate. lie invited the chiefs 
 of the Five Nations to meet him at his camp, 
 and those of three of them accepted the invita- 
 tion. Standing in a circle, formed by the chiefs 
 and his own oiiicers, he addressed a speech to 
 Garrangula, of the Onondaga tribe, in which he 
 accused the confederates of conducting the 
 English to the trading grounds of the French, 
 and threatened thorn with war and extermina- 
 tion if they did not alter t'leir behaviour. Gar- 
 rangula, knowing the distresses of the French 
 troops, heard these threats with contempt. 
 After walking five or six times round the circle, 
 he addressed De la Barre in the following bold 
 language, calling him Yonnondio, and the 
 English governor, Corlear: 
 
 ** Hear, Yonnondio ; I do not sleep ; I have 
 my eyes open, and the sun which enlightens 
 me, discovers to me a great captain, at the head 
 of a company of soldiers, who speaks as if he 
 was dreaming. He says that he only came to 
 smoke the great pipe of peace with the Onon- 
 dagas. But Garrangula says, that he sees the 
 contrary ; that it was to knock them on the 
 
EXPEDITION OF DE LA B ARTIE, 133 
 
 head, if sickness had not weakened the arms of 
 the French. We carried the English to our 
 lakes, to trade there with the Utawawas, and 
 Quatoghies, as the Adirondacs brought the 
 French to our castles, to carry on a trade which 
 the English say is theirs. We are born free; 
 we neither depend on Yonnondio nor Corlear. 
 We may go where we please, and buy and sell 
 what we please. If your allies are your slaves, 
 use them as such ; command them to receive no 
 other but your people. Hear, Yonnondio! 
 what I say is the voice of all the Five Nations. 
 When they buried the hatchet at Cadaracui, in 
 the middle of the fort, they planted the tree of 
 peace in the same place, to be there carefully 
 preserved, that instead of a retreat for soldiers, 
 the fort might be a rendezvous for merchants. 
 Take care that the many soldiers who appear 
 there do not choke the tree of peace, and pre- 
 vent -it from covering your country and ours 
 with its branches. I assure you that our war- 
 riors shall dance under its leaves, and will never 
 dig up the hatchet to cut it down, till their 
 brother Yonnondio or Corlear shall invade the 
 country which the Great Spirit has given to 
 our ancestors." 
 
 De la Barre was mortified and enraged at 
 this bold reply ; but, submitting to necessity, he 
 concluded a treaty of peace, and returned to 
 Montreal. His successor, De Nonville, led a 
 larger army against the confederates; but fell 
 into an ambuscade, and was defeated. 
 12 
 
134 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 EVACUATION OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH. 
 
 On Tuesday, November 25th, 1783, was the 
 day agreed upon for the evacution of New 
 York. To prevent every disorder which might 
 otherwise ensue from such an event, the Ameri- 
 can troops under the command of General 
 Knox, marched from Harlaem to the Bowery 
 Lane in the morning. They remained there 
 till about one o'clock, when the British forces 
 left the posts in the Bowery, and the Americans 
 marched forward and took possession of the 
 city. 
 
 This being effected, Knox and a number of 
 citizens on horseback rode to the Bowery to 
 receive their excellencies General Washington 
 and Governor Clinton, who, with their suites, 
 made their public entry into the city on horse- 
 back ; followed by the lieutenant governor and 
 the members of council, for the temporary 
 government of the southern district, four 
 abreast — General Knox and the officers of the 
 army, eight abreast — citizens on horseback, 
 eight abreast — the speaker of the assembly and 
 citizens on foot, eight abreast. The procession 
 ceased at Cape's tavern. 
 
 The governor gave a public dinner at Fran- 
 ces's kivern ; at which the commander-in-chief 
 and other general officers were present. The 
 arrangements for the whole business were so 
 well made and executed, that the most admira- 
 
FOUNDING OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 135 
 
 ble tranquillity succeeded through the day and 
 night. On Monday, (December 1st,) the go- 
 vernor gave an elegant entertainment to the 
 French ambassador, the Chevalier de la Lu- 
 zerne. Gen. Washington, the principal officers 
 of New York state and of the army, and 
 upwards of a hundred gentlemen, were present. 
 Magnificent fire-works, infinitely exceeding 
 everything of the kind in the United States, 
 were exhibited at the Bowling Green in Broad- 
 way, in the evening of Tuesday, in celebration 
 of the definitive treaty of peace. They com- 
 menced by a dove's descending with the olive- 
 branch, and setting fire to a maroon battery. 
 
 FOUNDING OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 
 
 Scarcely had the venerable founders of New 
 England felled the trees of the forest, when 
 they began to provide means to insure the sta- 
 bility of their colony. Learning and religion 
 they wisely judged to be the firmest pillars of 
 the commonwealth. The legislature of Massa- 
 chusetts, having previously founded a public 
 school or college, had, the last year, directed 
 its establishment at Newtown, and appointed a 
 committee to carry the order into effect. The 
 liberality of an individual now essentially con- 
 tributed to the completion of this wise and 
 benevolent design. John Harvard, a worthy 
 
136 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY* 
 
 minister, dying this year at Charleston, left a 
 legacy of nearly £800 to the public school at 
 Newtown. In honour of their benefactor, the 
 collegiate school was, by an order of court, 
 named Harvard College; and Newtown, in 
 compliment to the institution, and in memory 
 of the place where many of the first settlers of 
 New England received iheir education, was 
 called Cambridge. At this time also, Rowley, 
 in Massachusetts, was founded by about sixty 
 industrious families from Yorkslure, under the 
 guidance of Ezekiel Rogers, an eminent minister. 
 These settlers, many of whom had been clothiers 
 in England, built a fulling-mill ; employed their 
 children in spinning cotton wool ; and were the 
 first who attempted to make cloth in North 
 America. A still more important branch of 
 business was introduced this year, that of print- 
 ing, the first press ever used in North America 
 being established at Canibridge. 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 
 
 137 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^p^ 
 
 
 a^^^- - 
 
 " ^^^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^H 
 
 
 .^=- V 
 
 -s^^^^S 
 
 
 
 
 g^^ 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 — y^^ 
 
 "^^^^g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^fe| 
 
 ^H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ffi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^ 
 
 ^^^^^^ 
 
 
 
 ,11^^ 
 
 ij^^S^^ 
 
 ^^fc^^^^^^ 
 
 j^^^^^^a 
 
 
 
 - 1 
 
 ;^x;%>:r^ 
 
 ^^£ 
 
 ^^^^^rf 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 
 
 On the 16th of June, 1775, the Americans 
 took possession of Bunker's Hill, an eminence 
 which overlooks and commands the town of 
 Boston ; and labouring with incredible dili- 
 gence and secrecy? they threw up a redoubt, 
 and protected it by means of an entrenchment, 
 before the approach of day enabled the British 
 to discover what they had done. From this 
 position General Gage thought it necessary to 
 dislodge them. Accordingly, he directed a 
 strong body of men, under the orders of 
 Generals Howe and Pigot, to land at the foot 
 of Bunker's Hill, and to proceed with a detach- 
 12* 
 
138 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 ment of the artillery against the Americans. 
 But the latter, having the advantage of the 
 ground, poured upon them such an incessant 
 and deadly fire of musketry, that the British 
 were thrown into confusion ; and so many of 
 the officers were killed, that General Howe was 
 left almost alone. Yet though twice repulsed, 
 with great loss, in consequence of the well- 
 directed fire of their opponents, the king's troops 
 rallied and advanced again towards the fortifi- 
 cations which ttiG provincials had erected. The 
 redoubt was now attacked on three sides at 
 once ; the ammunition of the colonists began to 
 fail ; and the British pressing forward, the Ame- 
 ricans were constrained to abandon the post, 
 and to retreat in the face of the enemy over 
 Charlestown Neck ; where they were exposed 
 to a galling fire from the ships in the harbour. 
 In this battle the town of Charlestown, which 
 is separated from Boston by a narrow sheet of 
 water, was reduced to ashes by the order of 
 General Pigot, who was saved by that measure, 
 as w^ell as by the arrival of General Clinton, 
 from the ignominy of a defeat. 
 
 Though the victory in the attack at Bunker's 
 Hill was claimed by the royalists, it was not 
 gained without considerable loss on their part. 
 The flower of the English troops in America 
 were engaged, and their killed and wounded 
 amounted to 1054; while those of the provin- 
 cials were not above half of that number. But 
 while the colonists suffered a defeat in this en- 
 counter, they were elated, in no ordinary de- 
 
PAUL JONES. 139 
 
 gree, at the intrepidity which their forces had 
 displayed; and they entertained the hope that 
 patriotism and an ardent love of freedom would 
 enable them to withstand the assaults of the 
 British, till experience should render them equal 
 to them in discipline and military skill. 
 
 They erected fortifications on the heights in 
 the neighbourhood of Charlestown, and reduced 
 the king's troops in Boston to very great dis- 
 tress, for want of provisions. Far from enter- 
 taining any thought of submission, they redou- 
 bled their exertions, and increased their vigi- 
 lance. 
 
 PAUL JONES. 
 
 After Paul Jones's crew, of the Ranger pri- 
 vateer, from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, had 
 landed at Lord Selkirk's, in Scotland, in May, 
 1778, stripped the house of the plate, and car- 
 ried it on board, the ship lay to, while Captain 
 Jones wrote a letter to his lordship, which he 
 sent on shore, and in which he ingenuously ac- 
 knowledged that he meant to have seized and 
 detained him as a person of much consequence 
 to himself, in case of a cartel ; but disclaiming, 
 at the same time, any concern in taking off his 
 plate, which, he said, was done by his crew, in 
 spite of his remonstrances ; who said they were 
 determined to be repaid for the hardships and 
 
140 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 dangers they had encountered in Kirkcudbright- 
 bay — and in attempting, a few days before, to 
 set fire to the shipping in the harbour of White- 
 haven. Captain Jones also informed his lord- 
 ship that he had secured all his plate, and would 
 certainly return it to him at a convenient op- 
 portunity. This he afterwards punctually per- 
 formed, by sending it to Lord Selkirk's banker, 
 in London. This fact, authenticated by Lord 
 Selkirk himself, is to be found in Gilpin's tour 
 to the lakes in Scotland. 
 
 CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 It is frequently remarked that the most laud- 
 able deeds are achieved in the shades of retire- 
 ment ; and to its truth history testifies in every 
 page. An act of heroism or philanthropy, per- 
 formed in solitude, where no undue feelings can 
 aflfect the mind or bias the character, is worth 
 to the eye of an impartial observer whole vol- 
 umes of exploits displayed before the gaze of a 
 stupid and admiring multitude. It is not long 
 since a gentleman was travelling in one of the 
 counties of Virginia, and about the close of the 
 day stopped at a public house to obtain refresh- 
 ment and spend the night. He had been there 
 but a short time, before an old man alighted 
 from his gig, with the apparent intention of be- 
 coming a fellow guest with him at the same 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 141 
 
 house. As the old man drove up he observed 
 that both the shafts of his gig w^ere broken, and 
 that they were held together by withes formed 
 from the bark of a hickory sapling. Our tra- 
 veller observed further that he was plainly clad, 
 that his knee-buckles were loosened, and that 
 something like negligence pervaded his dress. 
 Conceiving him to be one of the honest yeoman- 
 ry of our land, the courtesies of strangers pass- 
 ed between them, and they entered the tavern. 
 It was about the same time that an addition of 
 three or four young gentlemen w^as made to 
 their number ; most, if not all of them, of the 
 legal profession. 
 
 As soon as they became conveniently accom- 
 modated, the conversation was turned by one 
 of the latter, upon an eloquent harangue which 
 had that day been displayed at the bar. It was 
 replied by the other, that he had witnessed, the 
 same day, a degree of eloquence no doubt equal, 
 but that it was from the pulpit. Something 
 like a sarcastic rejoinder was made to the elo- 
 quence of the pulpit ; and a warm and able 
 altercation ensued, in which the merits of the 
 Christian religion became the subject of discus- 
 sion. From 6 o'clock until 11, the young cham- 
 pions wielded the sword of argument, adduc- 
 ing, with ingenuity and ability, everything that 
 could be said, pro and con. During this pro- 
 tracted period, the old gentleman listened with 
 all the meekness and modesty of a child, as if 
 he was add in s" new information to the stores of. 
 
142 BEAtTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 his own mind ; or perhaps, he was observing, 
 with philosophic eyes, the faculties of the youth- 
 ful mind, and how new energies are evolved by 
 repeated action ; or, perhaps, with patriotic 
 emotion, he was reflecting upon the future des- 
 tinies of his country, and on the rising genera- 
 tion upon whom those destinies must devolve ; 
 or, most probably, with a sentiment of moral 
 and religious feeling, he was collecting an argu- 
 ment, which, characteristic of himself, no art 
 would " be able to elude, and no force to resist." 
 Our traveller remained a spectator, and took no 
 part in what was said. 
 
 At last one of the young men remarking that 
 it was impossible to combat with long and estab- 
 lished prejudices, wheeled around, and with 
 some familiarity, exclaimed, " Well, my old gen- 
 tleman, what think you of these things?" If, 
 said the traveller, a streak of vivid lightning 
 had at that moment crossed the room, their 
 amazement could not have been greater than it 
 was with what followed. The most eloquent 
 and unanswerable appeal w^as made for nearly 
 an hour by the old gentleman that he had ever 
 heard or read : so perfect was his recollection 
 that every argument urged against the Chris- 
 tian religion, was met in the order in which it 
 was advanced. Hume's sophistry on the sub- 
 ject of miracles was, if possible, more perfectly 
 answered than it had already been by Camp- 
 bell. And in the whole lecture there was so 
 much simplicity and energy, pathos and sublim- 
 
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. 
 
 113 
 
 ity, that not another word was uttered ; an at- 
 tempt to describe it, said the traveller, would 
 be an attempt to paint the sunbeams. It was 
 immediately a matter of curiosity and inquiry 
 who the old gentleman was : the traveller con- 
 cluded it was the preacher, from whom the pul- 
 pit eloquence had been heard ; but no, it was 
 
 the CHIEF JUSTICE OP THE UNITED STATES, 
 
144 BEAUTIES OI?' AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 FLIGHT OF HORSES. 
 
 About the 10th of June, 1810, ^at 2 o'clock 
 in the morning, while Col. R. M. Johnson's re- 
 giment was encamped on the Peninsula, below 
 Fort Wayne, in a beautiful grass plain, some 
 of the horses that had passed the line of senti- 
 nels and got some distance up the St. Joseph, 
 became alarmed and came running into camp 
 in a great fright. This alarmed all the horses 
 in the regiment, which united in a solid co- 
 lumn within the lines, and took three courses 
 round the camp. It would seem almost incred- 
 ible, but it is a fact ; they appeared not to cover 
 more than about 40 by 60 yards of ground, and 
 
FLIGHT OF HORSES. 145 
 
 yet their number was about 600. The moon 
 shone at the fall, the camp was an open plain, 
 and the scene awfully sublime. They at length 
 forced their passage through the lines, overset 
 several tents, carried away several pannels of 
 fence, passed off through the woods, and were, 
 in a few minutes, out of hearing of the loudest 
 bells that belonged to the regiment. The next 
 day was spent in collecting them, some of which 
 were found ten or twelve miles from the camp 
 up the St. Joseph, and about 20 or 25 were 
 never found, although pursued above 20 miles. 
 This alarming flight of the horses of that regi- 
 ment injured them more than could have been 
 supposed ; for they had run so long in such a 
 compact body that very few had escaped with- 
 out being lamed, having their hind feet cut by 
 the shoes of those that crowded on them. 
 
 The writer of this was an oflicer of the guard, 
 and then on duty. The night being clear and 
 calm, the moon rolling in full splendour, the 
 flight of the horses, which resembled distant 
 thunder, the idea of an immediate attack from 
 the Indians, and the ground of our encampment 
 being paved with the bones of former warriors, 
 all combined to furnish one of those awfully 
 sublime JVight Scenes that beggar all descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 A similar flight of the horses took place about 
 the 22d of June, after the regiment arrived at 
 Fort Meigs. 
 13 
 
146 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR. 
 
 A NuaiBER of the citizens belonging to Mas- 
 sachusetts and New York, who had, in the year 
 1788, purchased of the State of Massachusetts 
 a large tract of land lying westward of New 
 York, and within the territories of the Six Na- 
 tions, sent a committee into the Indian country 
 to treat with the natives about a quit-claim. 
 The Indians heard of their coming, and suppos- 
 ing them to be another company, who were aim- 
 ing at the same purchase, sent them word to 
 com.e no farther, lest they should be involved in 
 trouble. The committee having advanced a 
 considerable distance into their country, were 
 unwilling to retrace their steps without effect- 
 ing the object of their mission. One of them, 
 Major Schuyler, wrote a letter to the command- 
 ing officer at Fort Niagara, explaining their 
 intentions, and requesting his influence with the 
 Indians in removing their misapprehensions. 
 One of the Indian messengers undertook to carry 
 the letter to Niagara, and bring back the an- 
 swer. The committee remained where they 
 were. In the mean time Major Schuyler was 
 taken sick, and sent towards Albany, The mes- 
 senger returned ; and being asked if he had got 
 a letter in answer to the one he had taken, he 
 told them (through the interpreter) that he had ; 
 but looking round, observed, *' I do not see the 
 man to whom I promised to deliver it." They 
 
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR. 147 
 
 informed him of the cause of the major's ab- 
 sence ; but told him they were all engaged in 
 the same business, had one heart, and that the 
 letter was intended for them all; and wished 
 he would deliver it. He refused. They con- 
 sulted among themselves, and offered him fifty 
 dollars, as a reward for his service and an in- 
 ducement to deliver them the letter. He spurn- 
 ed at their proposal. They again consulted, 
 and concluded as they w^ere sufficiently numer- 
 ous to overpower him and the other Indians 
 who were present, they would take it by force ; 
 but first requested the interpreter to explain to 
 him the whole matter, the difficulty they were 
 in, their loss of time, &c. &c., and their deter- 
 mination to have the letter. As soon as this 
 w^as -communicated to the Indian, he sternly 
 clenched the letter in one hand, drew his knife 
 with the other, and solemnly declared that if 
 they should get the letter by violence, he would 
 not survive the disgrace, but would plunge the 
 knife in his own breast. They desisted from 
 their purpose and reasoned with him again, but 
 he was inflexible. They then asked him if he 
 was willing, after having taken so long a jour- 
 ney, to go a hundred miles farther for the sake 
 of delivering the letter to Major Schuyler. He 
 answered, " Yes, I do not value fatigue ; hut, 
 I will never he guilty of a breacli of trust J ^ Ac- 
 cordingly, he went, and had the satisfaction of 
 completing his engagement. The letter was 
 favourable to their views, and they entered into 
 a treaty for the land. 
 
148 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 DEATH OF BARON DE KALB. 
 
 Immediately on receiving orders of depart- 
 ure, we waited on the good old De Kalb to take 
 our leave, and to express our deep regret at 
 parting w^th him. " It is with equal regret, 
 my dear sire, that I part with you," said he ; 
 " because I feel a presentiment that we part to 
 meet no more !" 
 
 We told him we hoped better things. 
 
 " Oh no !" replied he, " it is impossible. VYar 
 is a kind of game, and has its fixed rules, 
 whereby, when we are well acquainted with 
 them, we can pretty correctly tell how the 
 trial will go. To-morrow, it seems, the die is 
 to be cast; and, in my judgment, without the 
 least chance on our side. The militia will, I 
 suppose, as usual, play the hack-gaine ; that is, 
 get out of battle as fast as their legs will carry 
 them. But that, you know, won't do for me. 
 I am an old soldier, and cannot run ; and I 
 believe I have some brave fellows that will 
 stand by me to the last. So, when you hear 
 of our battle, you will probably hear that your 
 old friend De Kalb is at rest," 
 
 I never w as more affected in my life ; and I 
 perceived tears in the eyes of General Marion. 
 De Kalb saw them too ; and taking us by the 
 hand, he said, with a firm tone and animated 
 look, " No ! no ! gentleman ; no emotion for me, 
 but those of congratulation. I am happy. To 
 
DEATH OF BARON DH KALB. 149 
 
 die is the irreversible decree of him who made 
 us. Then what joy to be able to meet death 
 -without dismay ! This, thank God, is my case. 
 The happiness of man is my wish ; that happi- 
 ness I deem inconsistent with slavery. And to 
 avert so great an evil from an innocent people, 
 I will gladly meet the British to-morrow, at 
 any odds whatever." 
 
 As he spoke this, a fire flashed from his eyes, 
 which seemed to me to demonstrate the divinity 
 of virtue, and the immortality of the soul. We 
 left him with feelings which I shall never for- 
 get, while memory maintains her place in my 
 aged brain. 
 
 It was on the morning of August 15th, 1780, 
 that we left the army in a good position, near 
 Rugeley's mills, twelve miles from Camden, 
 where the enemy lay. About ten, that night, 
 orders were given to march and surprise the 
 enemy, who had, at the same time, commenced 
 a march to surprise the Americans. To their 
 mutual astonishment, the advance of both ar- 
 mies met at two o'clock, and began firing on 
 each other. It was, however, soon discontinued 
 by both parties, who appeared very willing to 
 leave the matter to be decided by day-light. 
 A council of war was called, in which De Kalb 
 advised that the army should fall back to Ruge- 
 ley's mills, and wait to be attacked. General 
 Gates not only rejected this excellent counsel, 
 but threw out insinuations that it originated in 
 fear. Upon this, the brave old man leaped from 
 his horse, and placed himself at the head of his 
 13* 
 
150 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 command on foot, saying, with considerable 
 warmth, " Well, sir, perhaps a few hours will 
 show who are the brave." 
 
 As day-light increased, the frightened militia 
 began to discover the woods, reddened all over 
 with the scarlet uniform of the British army, 
 which soon, with rattling drums and thundering 
 cannon, came rushing on to the charge ; and 
 they scarcely waited to give them a distant 
 fire before they broke, and fled in every direc- 
 tion. General Gates clapped spurs to his 
 horse, as he said, " to bring the rascals back." 
 However, he did not bring himself back, nor 
 did he stop till he reached Charlotte, eighty 
 miles from the field of battle. Two thirds of 
 the army having thus shamefully taken them- 
 selves off, the brave old De Kalb and his hand- 
 ful of continentals were left to try the fortun-e 
 of the day. More determined valour was never 
 displayed: for though out-numbered more than 
 two to one, they sustained the whole British 
 force for more than an hour. Glorying in the 
 bravery of his continentals, De Kalb towered 
 before them like a pillar of fire. But, alas ! 
 what can valour do against equal valour, aided 
 by such fearful odds? While bending forward 
 to animate his troops, the veteran received 
 eleven wounds. Fainting with loss of blood, 
 he fell to the ground, while Britons and Ameri- 
 cans were killed over him, as they furiously 
 strove to destroy or to defend. In the midst 
 of clashing bayonets, his only surviving aid. 
 Monsieur de Buy son, stretched his arms over 
 
DEATH OF BARON DE KALB. 151 
 
 the fallen hero, and called out, ^' Save the 
 Baron de Kalb ! save the Baron de Kalb !" 
 The British officers then interposed, and pre- 
 vented his immediate destruction. 
 
 De Kalb died, as he had lived, the uncon- 
 quered friend of liberty. When an English 
 officer condoled with him for his misfortune, he 
 replied, " I thank you, sir, for your generous 
 sympathy ; but 1 die the death I always prayed 
 for ; the death of a soldier, fighting for the 
 rights of man." He survived but a few hours, 
 and was buried in the plains of Camden, near 
 which his last battle was fought. 
 
 Many years after, when the great Washington 
 visited Camden, he eagerly inquired for the 
 grave of De Kalb. It was shown to him. 
 Gazing upon it thoughtfully, he exclaimed, with 
 a deep sigh, " So, there lies the brave De Kalb; 
 the generous stranger, who came from a distant 
 land to fight our battles, and to water, with his 
 blood, the tree of our liberty. Would to God 
 he had lived to share its fruits !" 
 
152 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Martha Washington, wife of General George 
 Washington, was born in Virginia, in the same 
 year with her husband, 1732, according to 
 Weems ; and probably he knew as well as any 
 of Washington's biographers. She was the 
 widow Custis when she married Colonel Wash- 
 ington, in 1758. She is mentioned by Ramsay, 
 Marshall, Bancroft and Weems, as wealthy 
 and beautiful, one to whom Washington had 
 been long attached; but neither of them give 
 her maiden name; and all but Weems forgot 
 to mention the time of her birth. But we 
 believe that her maiden name was Dandridge. 
 She was known, to those who visited Mount 
 Vernon, as a woman of domestic habits and 
 kind feelings, before her husband had gained 
 more than the distinction of a good soldier and 
 gentlemanly planter, with whom one might 
 deal with safety, and be sure of getting fair 
 articles at a fair price. After Washington was 
 appointed to command the American armies, 
 and had repaired to Cambridge to take the 
 duties upon himself, Mrs. Washington made a 
 visit to the eastern states, and spent a short 
 time with her husband in the camp at Cam- 
 bridge. The quarters were excellent, for the 
 Vassals and other wealthy tories had deserted 
 their elegant mansions at Cambridge, which 
 were occupied by the American officers. After 
 
THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 153 
 
 this visit Mrs. Washington was seldom with 
 her husband, until the close of the war. She 
 met him at Annapolis, in Maryland, when he 
 resigned his commission, at the close of the 
 year 1783. It is not remembered that she 
 came to New York with the president, when 
 the federal government was organized, in 1789; 
 but was at Philadelphia during the first session 
 after its removal to that city. A military man 
 like Washington could not suffer even the cour- 
 tesies of social intercourse to move on without 
 a strict regard to economical regulations. 
 These were displayed with good manners and 
 taste. Mrs. Washington, in her drawing-room, 
 was of course obliged to exact courtesies which 
 she thought belonged to the officer, rather than 
 those which were congenial to herself. The 
 levees in Washington's administration were 
 certainly more courtly than have been known 
 since. Full dress was required of all who had 
 a right to be there, but since that time, any 
 dress has been accepted as proper which a 
 gentleman chose to wear. At table, Mrs. 
 Washington seldom conversed upon politics ; 
 but attended strictly to the duties of the hostess. 
 Foreign ambassadors often attempted to draw 
 her into a conversation upon public affairs, but 
 she always avoided the subject with great pro- 
 priety and good sense. 
 
 It was not in the saloons of Philadelphia, 
 when heartless thousands were around her, that 
 Mrs. Washington shone the most conspicuous. 
 
154 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 It was at her plain mansion-house, at Mount 
 Vernon, that she was most truly great. There 
 she appeared, with her keys at her side, and 
 gave directions for every thing, so that, without 
 any bustle or confusion, the most splendid din- 
 ner appeared, as if there had been no effort in 
 the whole affair. She met her guests with the 
 most hospitable feelings, and they always de- 
 parted from the place with regret. Her first 
 husband, John Custis, died young, and her son 
 died still younger, leaving two children, a son 
 and a daughter. A great part of her time was 
 absorbed in assisting in the education of these 
 children. They were the favourites of Mount 
 Vernon. The place was one of general resort 
 for all travellers ; and every one, from every 
 nation, who visited this country, thought that 
 his American tour could not be finished unless 
 he had been at Mount Vernon, and had seen 
 the Washington family, and partaken of the 
 cakes of the domestic hearth. Of course, no 
 eastern caravansary was ever more crowded 
 than the mansion-house at Mount Vernon, in 
 the summer months. Washington died in less 
 than three years after his retirement from 
 office. He was as great, if not a greater, 
 object of curiosity in retirement, than in public 
 life ; for it was almost miraculous, to a foreign- 
 er, to see the head of a great nation calmly 
 resigning power and office, and retiring to a 
 rural resideiice to employ himself in agricul- 
 tural pursuits. Seeing was to them the only 
 
THE WIFE OF WASHINGTON. 155 
 
 method of believing ; and they would see. 
 Mrs. Washington did not long survive her hus- 
 band ; in eighteen months she followed him to 
 his grave. She was an excellent parent, a 
 good wife, an important member of society, 
 and passed a long life without an enemy. It 
 is to be regretted that an ample memoir of this 
 excellent woman has not been written ; but we 
 must content ourselves at present with a scanty 
 notice. The few letters, that have been pub- 
 lished, that came from her, show that she wrote 
 with good taste and in a pleasant style. Her 
 ashes repose in the same vault with those of her 
 august husband, a family tomb, built within the 
 pale of the pleasure grounds around the house, 
 at Mount Vernon. 
 
156 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 PENN'S TREATY. 
 
 The colonies in general merit little praise 
 for their wisdom and discretion in their conduct 
 with the Indians. They were too prone to 
 look on the wild man as an inferior being, and 
 to set themselves up as lords over his rights 
 and property, without remembering that they 
 were intruders on his soil, or condescending to 
 meet him, even in the land of his fathers, on 
 equal and amicable terms. But the memorable 
 interview of Penn with the Indians, on the 
 banks of the Delaware, exhibited a different 
 scene; the even scales of justice, and the mild 
 persuasion of Christian love, were the powerful 
 
penn's treaty. 157 
 
 engines with which he swayed the barbarian 
 mind, and taught the savage to confide in the 
 sincerity of the white man ; and the first page 
 in the annals of Pennsylvania is one of the 
 brightest in the history of mankind, recording 
 an event not more to the credit of the wise 
 and benevolent legislator, through whose agency 
 it happened, than honourable to humanity itself. 
 At a spot which is now the site of one of the 
 suburbs of Philadelphia, the Indian sachems, 
 at the head of their assembled warriors, awaited 
 in arms the approach of the quaker deputation. 
 Penn, distinguished from his followers only by 
 a sash of blue silk, and holding in his hand a 
 roll of parchment that contained the confirma- 
 tion of the treaty, arrived, at the head of an 
 unarmed train, carrying various articles of 
 merchandise, which, on their approach to the 
 sachems, were spread on the ground. He 
 addressed the natives through an interpreter, 
 assuring them of his friendly and peaceable 
 intentions ; and certainly the absence of all 
 warlike weapons was a better attestation of his 
 sincerity than a thousand oaths. The condi- 
 tions of the proposed purchase were then read ; 
 and he delivered the sachems not only the 
 stipulated price, but a handsome present of the 
 merchandise which he had spread before them. 
 He concluded by presenting the parchment to 
 the sachems, and requesting that they would 
 carefully preserve it for three generations. The 
 Indians cordially acceded to his propositions, 
 and solemnly pledged themselves to live in love 
 14 
 
158 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 with William Penn and his children as long as 
 the sun and moon should endure. 
 
 The prudence with which Penn conducted 
 himself was strictly consistent with a sincere 
 attachment to his own opinions. He evidently 
 appreciated more correctly the rights of his 
 fellow men than his northern neighbours, the 
 puritan colonists. He believed, and acted on 
 the belief, that the Indians had as much right 
 to hold the peculiarities of their creed, as he 
 had to hold his own religious tenets ; and he 
 never gave them unnecessary offence by treat- 
 ing their sentiments with bitterness, or, what 
 is more keenly felt, by contempt. This prudent 
 conduct, together with a still more extraor- 
 dinary reliance upon the protection of Provi- 
 dence in refusing to maintain any armed force, 
 although surrounded with the warlike abori- 
 gines, was attended by a no less singular 
 exemption from evils arising to every other 
 European colony, without exception, from the 
 neighbourhood of the Indian tribes. Whatever 
 animosity the Indians might conceive against 
 the European neighbours of the Pennsylva- 
 nians, or even against Pennsylvanian colonists 
 who did not belong to the quaker society, they 
 never failed to discriminate the followers of 
 Penn, as persons whom it was impossible for 
 them to include within the pale of legitimate 
 hostility. This unique and interesting fact 
 has, doubtless, availed more than all arguments 
 in support of the alleged immorality of all kinds 
 of resistance which can result in the depriva- 
 tion of human life. 
 
YOUNG AMERICAN TAR. 159 
 
 YOUNG AMERICAN TAR. 
 
 While the frigate United States was lying 
 in the harbour of Norfolk, some time anterior 
 to the declaration of war in 1812, a little boy 
 in petticoats was in the habit of accompanying 
 his mother, a poor woman, who frequently vis- 
 ited the ship to wash for the seamen. The lad, 
 whose name was John Kreamer, soon became 
 a favourite with the sailors, and it was deter- 
 mined by them, if his mother would consent, to 
 adopt him as one of their number. He came 
 on board, and recommended himself by his ac- 
 tivity and shrewdness to the favour of every 
 one. War was subsequently declared against 
 Great Britain, and the frigate sailed upon a 
 cruise, in which she captured the enemy's fri- 
 gate Macedonian. As the two vessels were 
 approaching each other. Commodore Decatur, 
 who was standing upon the quarter-deck, watch- 
 ing with his glass the movements of his adver- 
 sary, noticed that little Jack appeared anxious 
 to speak to him. " What do you want ?" said 
 Decatur. Jack coolly answered, that ." he had 
 come to ask that his name might be enrolled on 
 the ship's books!" " For what purpose?" said 
 the Commodore. " Because," replied Jack, " I 
 want to draw my share of the prize-money." 
 Pleased with the boy's confident anticipation 
 of victory, Decatur immediately gave orders to 
 have his name registered, and when the prize- 
 
160 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 money allowed by Congress was distributed. 
 Jack received his proportion. From that time 
 he was regarded by the commodore with more 
 than ordinary interest, was taken into his cabin, 
 and prepared for the duties of a higher station. 
 He was constantly about Decatur's person, and 
 acted as the coxswain of his own barge. So 
 soon as his age would justify an application to 
 the Navy Department for a midshipman's war- 
 rant, it was made, and promptly complied with. 
 Little Jack, as he was formerly styled by the 
 sailors, was thus transformed into Mr. Kreamer, 
 and was with Decatur in the President when 
 she was captured, and in the Guerriere in the 
 expedition to Algiers. He afterwards sailed in 
 the Franklin 74, with Commodore Stewart, to 
 the Pacific Ocean. That was his last cruise. 
 He was upset in one of the ship's boats by a 
 sudden squall in the harbour of Valparaiso, and 
 sunk to the bottom before any assistance could 
 be afforded. 
 
BOSTON MASSACRE. 
 
 161 
 
 BOSTON MASSACRE. 
 
 Frequent quarrels had arisen between the 
 inhabitants and the soldiers, who had been sta- 
 tioned at Boston in the autumn of 176S ; but the 
 public peace was preserved till the evening of 
 the 5th of March, 1770, when a scuffle ensued, 
 near the barracks, between a few soldiers and 
 some young men of the town ; the soldiers pur- 
 sued the young men through the streets ; the 
 townsmen took the alarm ; the bells of the 
 churches were rung; the multiiude assembled 
 at the custom-house, and insulted and threat- 
 ened the sentinel stationed there. Captain Pres- 
 ton, the officer on duty at the time, hastened 
 14* 
 
162 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 with a party to support the sentinel : he endea- 
 voured to persuade the people to disperse ; but 
 his humane and peaceful efforts were unavail- 
 ing. The mob became more riotous than be- 
 fore, throwing stones and other missiles at the 
 military. At length a soldier who had been 
 struck fired on the multitude ; some of his com- 
 rades soon followed his example : four persons 
 were killed, and several wounded. The crowd 
 fled, but soon collected in another street. The 
 drums beat to arms ; the troops were drawn 
 out ; and the utmost agitation and confusion 
 prevailed in the town. 
 
 A meeting of the inhabitants was held, and 
 a deputation sent to the governor, requesting 
 him to remove the troops. He assembled the 
 council, who were of opinion that the removal 
 of the troops would be for the good of his ma- 
 jesty's service. The troops were accordingly 
 removed to Castle William. Captain Preston 
 surrendered himself for trial ; and the soldiers 
 who had been under his command at the cus- 
 tom-house were taken into custody. 
 
 Some days afterwards, the bodies of those 
 who had been killed in the riot, accompanied 
 by a great concourse of people, displaying em- 
 blematical devices calculated to inflame the 
 popular mind, were carried in funeral proces- 
 sion through the town to the place of sepulture. 
 The colonial newspapers gave an inflammatory 
 account of the transaction, representing it as 
 an atrocious massacre of the peaceable inhab- 
 itants. 
 
THE BRAVE NOT MERCENARY. 163 
 
 Fortunately for Captain Preston and his party, 
 their trial was delayed till the month of Octo- 
 ber. Before that time the irritation of the pub- 
 lic mind had somewhat abated ; and Captain 
 Preston and six of his men, after the examina- 
 tion of many witnesses, were acquitted even 
 by a Boston jury. Two of the party were 
 found guilty of manslaughter. 
 
 THE BRAVE NOT MERCENARY. 
 
 Count Dillon, commander of the Irish brig- 
 ade, in the service of France, and who led on 
 the third column of the allied armies in their 
 assault of the British garrison at Savannah, on 
 the 9th of October, 1779, anxious that his regi- 
 ment should signalize itself, offered 100 guineas 
 as a reward to the first of his grenadiers that 
 should plant a fascine in the fosse, which was 
 exposed to the whole fire of the garrison. Not 
 one offered to advance. The Count, mortified 
 and disappointed beyond measure, began up- 
 braiding them with cowardice, when the ser- 
 geant-major made the following noble reply : — 
 " Had you not, sir, held out a sum of money as 
 a temptation, your grenadiers would one and 
 all have presented themselves." — They did so 
 instantly, and out of one hundred and ninety- 
 four, of which the company consisted, only 
 ninety returned alive. 
 
164 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 DON'T GIVE UP THE VESSEL. 
 
 In May, 1776, Captain Mugford, command- 
 ing the continental armed schooner Franklin, 
 captured a British ship of about 300 tons, and 
 mounting six guns. In the then state of the 
 country she was invaluable, as her cargo was 
 made up entirely of the ammunitions of war. 
 Captain Mugford, after seeing his prize safe 
 into Boston harbour, was going out again, but 
 the tide making against him, he came to an an- 
 chor off Pudding-gut Point ; the next morning, 
 by the dawn of day, the sentry saw thirteen 
 boats, from the British men-of-war, making for 
 them ; they were prepared to receive them be- 
 fore they could board the schooner. She sunk 
 five of the boats, the remainder attempting to 
 board, they cut off the hands of several of the 
 crews as they laid them over the gunwale. The 
 brave Captain Mugford, making a blow at the 
 people in the boats with a cutlass, received a 
 wound in the breast, on which he called his 
 lieutenant, and said, " I am a dead man : don^t 
 give up the vessel ; you will be able to beat them 
 off; if not, cut the cable and run her on shore." 
 He expired in a few minutes. The lieutenant 
 then ran her on shore, and the boats made off. 
 Those who were taken up from the boats which 
 were sunk, say they lost seventy men ; the 
 Franklin had but one man killed besides the 
 captain. 
 
HEROIC EXPLOIT OF PETER FRANCISCO. 165 
 
 HEROIC EXPLOIT OF PETER FRANCISCO. 
 
 While the British army were spreading 
 havoc and desolation all around them, by their 
 plundering and burnings in Virginia, in 1781, 
 reter Francisco, an American trooper, had been 
 reconnoitring, and whilst stopping at the house 
 of a Mr. Wand, in Amelia county, nine of Tarle- 
 ton's cavalry coming up with three negroes, 
 told him he was a prisoner. Seeing himself 
 overpowered by numbers, he made no resist- 
 ance ; and believing him to be very peaceable, 
 they all went into the house, leaving the pay- 
 master and Francisco together. He demanded 
 his watch, money, Slc, which being delivered 
 to him, in order to secure his plunder, he put 
 his sword under his arm, with the hilt behind 
 him. While in the act of putting a silver 
 buckle in his pocket, Francisco, finding so fa- 
 vourable an opportunity to recover his liberty, 
 stepped one pace in his rear, drew the sword 
 with force from under his arm and instantly gave 
 him a blow across the scull. " My enemy," 
 observed Francisco, " was brave, and though 
 severely wounded, drew a pistol, and, in the 
 same moment that he pulled the trigger, I cut 
 his hand nearly off. The bullet grazed my side. 
 Ben Wand (the man of the house) very ungen- 
 erously brought out a m^usket, and gave it to 
 one of the British soldiers, and told him to make 
 use of that. He mounted the only horse they 
 
166 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 could get, and presented it at my breast. It 
 missed fire. I rushed on the muzzle of the gun. 
 A short struggle ensued. I disarmed and wound- 
 ed him. Tarleton's troop of four hundred men 
 were in sight. All was hurry and confusion, 
 which I increased by repeatedly hallooing, as 
 loud as I could. Come on, my brave boys ; now 's 
 your time; we will soon despatch these few, and 
 then attack the main body ! The wounded man 
 flew to the troop ; the others were panic-struck, 
 and fled. I seized Wand, and would have des- 
 patched him, but the poor wretch begged for 
 his life ; he was not only an object of my con- 
 tempt, but pity. The eight horses that were 
 left behind, I gave him to conceal for me. Dis- 
 covering Tarleton had despatched ten more in 
 pursuit of me, I made ofl". I evaded their vigi- 
 lance. They stopped to refresh themselves. I, 
 like an old fox, doubled and fell on their rear. 
 I went the next day to Wand for my horses ; 
 he demanded two, for his trouble and generous 
 intentions. Finding my situation dangerous, 
 and surrounded by enemies where I ought to 
 have found friends, I went off" with my six 
 horses. I intended to have avenged myself of 
 Wand at a future day, but Providence ordained 
 I should not be his executioner, for he broke his 
 neck by a fall from one of the very horses." 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE. 167 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE GASPEE. 
 
 The occurrences of the year 1772, afforded 
 new sources of mutual animosity. The destruc- 
 tion of his majesty's revenue-schooner, Gaspee, 
 was one of those popular excesses which highly 
 incensed the British ministry. Lieutenant Dod- 
 dington, who commanded that vessel, had 
 become very obnoxious to the inhabitants of 
 Rhode Island, by his extraordinary zeal in the 
 execution of the revenue laws. On the 9th of 
 June, the Providence packet was sailing into 
 the harbour of Newport, and Lieutenant Dod- 
 dington thought proper to require the captain 
 to lower his colours. This the captain of the 
 packet deemed repugnant to his patriotic feel- 
 ings, and the Gaspee fired at the packet to 
 bring her to : the American, however, still per- 
 sisted in holding on her course, and by keeping 
 in shoal water, dexterously contrived to run the 
 schooner aground in the chase. As the tide 
 was upon the ebb, the Gaspee was set fast for 
 the night, and afforded a tempting opportunity 
 for retaliation ; and a number of fishermen, 
 aided and encouraged by some of the most 
 respectable inhabitants of Providence, being 
 determined to rid themselves of so uncivil an 
 inspector, in the middle of the night manned 
 several boats, and boarded the Gaspee. The 
 lieutenant was wounded in the afifray ; but, 
 with everything belonging to him, he was care- 
 
168 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 fully conveyed on shore, as were all his crew. 
 The vessel, with her stores, was then burnt ; 
 and the party returned unmolested to their 
 homes. When the governor became acquainted 
 with this event, he offered a reward of five 
 hundred pounds for the discovery of the offend- 
 ers, and the royal pardon to those who would 
 confess their guilt. Commissioners were ap- 
 pointed also to investigate the offence, and bring 
 the perpetrators to justice ; but, after remain- 
 ing some time in session, they reported that they 
 could obtain no evidence, and thus the affair 
 terminated; a circumstance which forcibly 
 illustrates the inviolable brotherhood which 
 then united the people against the government. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA IN BOSTON. 
 
 The British government, having determined 
 to carry into execution the duty on tea, at- 
 tempted to effect by policy what was found to 
 be impracticable by constraint. The measures 
 of the colonists had already produced such a 
 diminution of exports from Great Britain, that 
 the warehouses of the East India Company 
 contained about seventeen millions of pounds 
 of tea, for which a market could not readily be 
 procured. The unwillingness of that company 
 to lose their commercial profits, and of the 
 ministry to lose the expected revenue from the 
 
DESTRUCTION OP THE TEA. 169 
 
 sale of the tea in America, led to a compromise 
 for the security of both. The East India Com- 
 pany were authorized by law to export their 
 tea, free of duties, to all places whatever; by 
 which regulation, tea, though loaded with an 
 exceptionable duty, would come cheaper to 
 America than before it had been made a source 
 of revenue. The crisis now approached, when 
 the colonies were to decide whether they would 
 submit to be taxed by the British parliament, 
 or practically support their own principles, and 
 meet the consequences. One sentiment appears 
 to have pervaded the entire continent. The 
 new ministerial plan was universally considered 
 as a direct attack on the liberties of the colo- 
 nists, which it was the duty of all to oppose. A 
 violent ferment was everywhere excited ; the 
 corresponding committees were extremely ac- 
 tive ; and it was very generally declared, that 
 whoever should, directly or indirectly, coun- 
 tenance this dangerous invasion of their rights, 
 would be an enemy to his country. The East 
 India Company, confident of finding a market 
 for their tea, reduced as it now was in its 
 price, freighted several ships to the colonies 
 with that article, and appointed agents for the 
 disposal of it. Cargoes were sent to New York, 
 Philadelphia, Charleston, and Boston. The 
 inhabitants of New York and Philadelphia sent 
 the ships back to London, *' and they sailed up 
 the Thames to proclaim to all the nation that 
 New York and Pennsylvania would not be 
 enslaved." The inhabitants of Charleston un- 
 15 
 
170 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 loaded the tea, and stored it in cellars, where it 
 could not be used, and where it finally perished. 
 At Boston, before the vessels arrived with it, 
 a town-meeting was called to devise measures 
 to prevent the landing and sale within the pro- 
 vince. The agreement not to use tea while a 
 duty was imposed was now solemnly renewed ; 
 and a committee was chosen to request the con- 
 signees of the East India Company neither to 
 sell nor unlade the tea which should be brought 
 into the harbour. They communicated the 
 wishes of the town to the merchants, who were 
 to have the custody and sale of the tea ; but 
 they declined making any such promise, as they 
 had received no orders or directions on the 
 subject. On the arrival of the vessels with the 
 tea in the harbour of Boston, another meeting 
 of the citizens was immediately called. " The 
 hour of destruction," it was said, '' or of manly 
 opposition, had now come ;" and all who were 
 friends to the country were invited to attend, 
 " to make an united and successful resistance 
 to this last and worst measure of the adminis- 
 tration." A great number of people assembled 
 from the adjoining towns, as well as from the 
 capital, in the celebrated Fanueil Hall, the usual 
 place of meeting on such occasions, but the 
 meeting was soon adjourned to one of the largest 
 churches in the town. Here it was voted, as it 
 had been at a meeting before the tea arrived, 
 that they would use all lawful means to prevent 
 its being landed, and to have it returned imme- 
 diately to England. After several days spent 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 171 
 
 in negotiations, the consignees still refused to 
 return the tea, and, fearing the vengeance of an 
 injured people, they retired to the castle. The 
 owner of the ship which brought the tea w^as 
 unable to obtain a pass for her sailing, as the 
 officer was in the interest of the British minis- 
 ters. Application was then made to the go- 
 vernor, to order that a pass be given for the 
 vessel ; but he declined interfering in the affair. 
 When it was found no satisfactory arrangement 
 could be effected, the meeting broke up ; but, 
 late in the evening, a number of men, disguised 
 as Mohawk Indians, proceeded to the vessels, 
 then lying at the wharf, which had the tea on 
 board, and in a short time every chest was 
 taken out, and the contents thrown into the 
 sea; but no injury w^as done to any other part 
 of their cargoes. The inhabitants of the town, 
 generally, had no knowledge of the event until 
 the next day. It is supposed, the number of 
 those concerned in the affair was about fifty ; 
 but who they were has been only a matter of 
 conjecture to the present day. 
 
 This act of violence, which, in its effects, 
 rapidly advanced the grand crisis, appears 
 rather to have been the result of cool determi- 
 nation, than of a sudden ebullition. The popu- 
 lace appear to have been fully warned by their 
 leaders as to the important consequences which 
 would result from any destruction of the pro- 
 perty of the East India Company. " One of 
 the citizens, Josiah Quincy, equally distinguish- 
 ed as a statesman and patriot,'' says Bradford^ 
 
172 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 *< addressed the meeting with unusual warmth 
 and solemnity. He seemed deeply impressed 
 with a sense of the serious consequences of 
 their proceedings on this interesting occasion. 
 The spirit then displayed, and the sentiments 
 then avowed, he warned them, should be such 
 as they would be ready to approve and main- 
 tain at any future day. For, to retreat from 
 the ground they should then take, would bring 
 disgrace on themselves, and ruin on the coun- 
 try." That Mr. Quincy did not overrate the 
 importance of that memorable day was very 
 apparent in the sequel. 
 
 SPIRITED CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN 
 WADSWORTH. 
 
 Colonel Fletcher, Governor of New York 
 had been vested with plenary powers to com- 
 mand the militia of Connecticut, and insisted on 
 the exercise of that command. The legislature 
 of Connecticut, deeming that authority to be 
 expressly given to the colony by charter, would 
 not submit to his requisition ; but, desirous of 
 maintaining a good understanding with Go- 
 vernor Fletcher, endeavoured to make terms 
 with him, until his majesty's pleasure should be 
 further known. All their negotiations were, 
 however, unsuccessful ; and, on the 26th of 
 October, he came to Hartford, while the assem- 
 bly was sitting, and, in his majesty's name, 
 
CONDUCT OF COLONEL WADSWORTH. 173 
 
 demanded submission ; but the refusal was 
 resolutely persisted in. After the requisition 
 had been repeatedly made, with plausible 
 explanations and serious menaces, Fletcher 
 ordered his commission and instructions to be 
 read in audience of the trainbands of Hartford, 
 which had assembled upon his order. Captain 
 Wadsworth, the senior officer, who was exer- 
 cising his soldiers, instantly called out, " Beat 
 the drums !'' which, in a moment, overwhelmed 
 every voice. Fletcher commanded silence. No 
 sooner was a second attempt made to read, than 
 Wadsworth vociferated, '* Drum, drum ! I say." 
 The drummers instantly beat up again, with 
 the greatest possible spirit. " Silence, silence," 
 exclaimed the governor. At the first moment 
 of a pause, Wadsworth called out earnestly, 
 ''Drum, drum! I say !" and, turning to his 
 excellency, said, " If I am interrupted again, I 
 will make the sun shine through you in a mo- 
 ment." Col. Fletcher decliiied putting Wads- 
 worth to the test, and abandoning the contest, 
 returned with his suite to New York. It has 
 been already observed, that the history of the 
 American colonies has been decidedly under- 
 valued and neglected ; this must have been the 
 case even with the best educated classes of 
 society, or surely, after such specimens of deter- 
 mined independence of spirit as the history of 
 this colony, and of Massachusetts, exhibits, the 
 measures which ultimately led to an entire 
 separation would never have received the 
 sanction of the British senate. 
 15 * 
 
174 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 GENERAL OGLETHORPE'S DEFENCE OF 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 As soon as intelligence of the declaration of 
 war against Spain (23d of October, 1739,) 
 reached Georgia, General Oglethorpe passed 
 over to Florida with four hundred select men 
 of his regiment, and a considerable party of 
 Indians ; and a few days after, he marched with 
 his whole force, consisting of above two thou- 
 sand men, regulars, provincials, and Indians, to 
 Fort Moosa, within two miles of St. Augustine. 
 The Spanish garrison evacuating the fort on his 
 approach, and retiring into the town, put them- 
 selves in a posture of defence ; and the general, 
 soon discovering that an attempt to take the 
 castle by storm would be presumptuous, changed 
 his plan of operations, and resolved, with the 
 assistance of the ships of war which were lying 
 at anchor off Augustine bar, to turn the siege 
 into a blockade. Having made the necessary 
 dispositions, he summoned the Spanish governor 
 to a surrender ; but, secure in his stronghold, 
 he sent him for answer, that he would be glad 
 to shake hands with him in his castle. Indig- 
 nant at this reply, the general opened his bat- 
 teries against the castle, and at the same time 
 threw a number of shells into the town. The fire 
 was returned with equal spirit from the Spanish 
 fort, and from six half-galleys in the harbour; 
 but the distance was so great, that the cannon- 
 
Oglethorpe's defence of Georgia. 175 
 
 ade, though it continued several days, did little 
 execution on either side. It appears that, not- 
 withstanding the blockade, the Spanish garrison 
 contrived to admit a reinforcement of seven 
 hundred men, and a large supply of provisions. 
 All prospect of starving the enemy being lost, 
 the army began to despair of forcing the place 
 to surrender. The Carolina troops, enfeebled 
 by the heat of the climate, dispirited by sick- 
 ness, and fatigued by fruitless efforts, marched 
 away in large bodies. The naval commander, 
 in consideration of the shortness of his provi- 
 sions, and of the near approach of the usual sea- 
 son of hurricanes, judged it imprudent to hazard 
 his fleet longer on that coast. The general 
 himself was sick of a fever, and his regiment 
 was worn out with fatigue, and disabled by 
 sickness. These combined diasters rendered it 
 necessary to abandon the enterprise ; and Ogle- 
 thorpe, with extreme sorrow and regret, returned 
 to Frederica. 
 
 After a lapse of two years the Spaniards 
 prepared to retaliate by the invasion of Georgia, 
 intending, if successful, to subjugate the Garo- 
 linas and Virginia. On receiving information 
 of their approach. General Oglethorpe solicited 
 assistance from South Carolina : but the inhabi- 
 tants of that colony, entertaining a strong pre- 
 judice against him, and terrified by the danger 
 which threatened themselves, determined to 
 provide only for their own safety, though with- 
 out avowing their intention. General Ogle- 
 thorpe, however, made preparations for a 
 
176 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 vigorous defence. He assembled seven hundred 
 men, exclusive of a body of Indians, fixed his 
 head-quarters at Frederica, on the island of 
 St. Simon, and, with this small band, determined 
 to encounter whatever force might be brought 
 against him. It was his utmost hope that he 
 might be able to resist the enemy until a rein- 
 forcement should arrive from Carolina, which 
 he daily and anxiously expected. On the last 
 day of June, the Spanish fleet, consisting of 
 thirty-two sail, and having on board more than 
 three thousand men, came to anchor off St. 
 Simon's Bay. Notwithstanding all the resist- 
 ance which General Oglethorpe could oppose, 
 they sailed up the river Alatamaha, landed upon 
 the island, and there erected fortifications. 
 Convinced that his small force, if divided, must 
 be entirely inefficient, Oglethorpe assembled 
 the whole of it at Frederica. One portion he 
 employed in strengthening his fortifications ; 
 the Highlanders and Indians, ranging night and 
 day through the woods, often attacked the out- 
 posts of the enemy. The toil of the troops was 
 incessant ; and the long delay of the expected 
 succours, still unexpectedly withheld by South 
 Carolina, caused the most gloomy and depress- 
 ing apprehensions. Oglethorpe, at length, learn- 
 ing by an English prisoner who escaped from 
 the Spanish camp, that a difference subsisted 
 between the troops from Cuba and those from 
 St. Augustine, so as to occasion a separate 
 encampment, resolved to attack the enemy 
 while thus divided. Taking advantage of his 
 
Oglethorpe's defence of Georgia. 177 
 
 knowledge of the woods, he marched out in the 
 night with three hundred chosen men, the 
 Highland company and some rangers, with the 
 intention of surprising the enemy. Having 
 advanced within two miles of the Spanish camp, 
 he halted his troops, and went forward himself 
 with a select corps to reconnoitre the enemy's 
 situation. While he was endeavouring cau- 
 tiously to conceal his approach, a French soldier 
 of his party discharged his musket, and ran 
 into the Spanish lines. Thus betrayed, he has- 
 tened his return to Frederica, and endeavoured 
 to effect by stratagem what could not be 
 achieved by surprise. Apprehensive that the 
 deserter would discover to the enemy his weak- 
 ness, he wrote to him a letter, desiring him to 
 acquaint the Spaniards with the defenceless 
 state of Frederica, and the ease with which his 
 small garrison might be cut to pieces. He 
 pressed him to bring forward the Spaniards to 
 an attack ; but, if he could not prevail thus far, 
 to use all his art and influence to persuade them 
 to stay at least three days more at Fort Simon; 
 for within that time, according to advices he 
 had just received from Carolina, he should have 
 a reinforcement of two thousand land forces, 
 with six British ships of war. The letter con- 
 cluded with a caution to the deserter against 
 dropping the least hint of Admiral Vernon's 
 meditated attack upon St. Auj^ustine, and with 
 an assurance that for his service he should be 
 amply rewarded by the British king. Ogle- 
 thorpe gave it to a Spanish prisoner, who, for 
 
It8 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN IIISTORV. 
 
 a small reward, together with his liberty, pro- 
 mised to deliver it to the French deserter. On 
 his arrival at the Spanish camp, however, he 
 gave the letter, as Oglethorpe expected, to the 
 commander-in-chief, who instantly put the 
 deserter in irons. This letter perplexed and 
 confounded the Spaniards ; some suspecting it 
 to be a stratagem to prevent an attack on 
 Frederica, and others believing it to contain 
 serious instructions to direct the conduct of a 
 spy. While the Spanish officers were delibe- 
 rating what measures to adopt, an incident, not 
 within the calculation of military skill, or the 
 control of human power, decided their counsels. 
 Three ships of force, which the governor of 
 South Carolina had sent out to Oglethorpe's 
 aid, appeared at this juncture off the coast. The 
 agreement of this discovery with the contents 
 of the letter convinced the Spanish commander 
 of its real intention. The whole army, seized 
 with an instant panic, set fire to the fort, and 
 precipitately embarked, leaving several cannon, 
 with a quantity of provisions and military 
 stores; and thus, in the moment of threatened 
 conquest, was the infant colony providentially 
 saved. 
 
 Thus was Georgia, with trifling loss, delivered 
 from the most imminent danger. General Ogle- 
 thorpe not only retrieved, but established his 
 reputation. 
 
FRANK LILLY. 179 
 
 FRANK LILLY, 
 
 Jonathan Riley was a seri^eant in the 
 
 regiment, had served under Gen. Amherst in 
 the old French war, and was with the provin- 
 cials at the taking of Havana. This man was 
 often selected for dangerous and trying situa- 
 tions ; and his uniform courage and presence of 
 mind insured him success. He was at length 
 placed on a recruiting station, and in a short 
 period enlisted a great number of men. Among 
 his recruits was Frank Lilly, a boy about 16 
 years of age, a weak and puny lad, who would 
 not, perhaps, have passed muster, were we not 
 greatly in want of men. The soldiers made 
 this boy the butt of their ridicule, and many a 
 sorry joke w^as uttered at his expense. They 
 told him to swear his legs, in other words to get 
 them insured. Yet there was something about 
 him interesting, and at times he discovered a 
 spirit beyond his years. To this boy, for some 
 unknown cause, Riley became greatly attached, 
 and seemed to pity him from the bottom of his 
 heart. Often on our long and fatiguing marches, 
 dying almost from want, harassed incessantly 
 by the enemy, did Riley carry the boy's knap- 
 sack for miles, and many a crust for the poor 
 wretch was saved from his scanty allowance. 
 But Frank Lilly's resolution w^as once the cause 
 of saving the whole detachment. The Ameri- 
 can army was encamped at Elizabethtown, The 
 
180 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 soldiers stationed about four miles from the 
 main body, near the bay that separated the 
 continent from Staten Island, forming an ad- 
 vance picket guard, were chosen from a south- 
 ern regiment, and were continually deserting. 
 It was a post of some danger, as the young am- 
 bitious British officers, or experienced sergeants, 
 often headed parties that approached the shore 
 in silence, during the night, and attacked our 
 outposts. Once they succeeded in surprising 
 and capturing an officer and twenty men, with- 
 out the loss of a man on their part. General 
 Washington determined to relieve the forces 
 near the bay, and our regiment was the one 
 from which the selection was made. The ar- 
 rangement of our guard, as near as I can recol- 
 lect, was as follows : 
 
 A body of 250 men were stationed a short 
 distance inland. In advance of these were seve- 
 ral outposts, consisting of an officer and thirty 
 men each. The sentinels were so near as to 
 meet in their rounds, and were relieved in every 
 two hours. — It chanced, one dark and windy 
 night, that Lilly and myself were sentinels on 
 adjoining posts. All the sentinels were directed 
 to fire on the least alarm, and retreat to the 
 guard, where we were to make the best defence 
 we could, until supported by the detachment 
 in our rear. In front of me was a strip of 
 woods, and the bay was so near that I could 
 hear the dashing of the waves. It was near 
 midnight, and occasionally a star to be seen 
 through the flying clouds. The hours passed 
 
FRANK LILLY. 18 1 
 
 heavily and cheerlessly away. The wind at 
 times roared through the adjoining woods with 
 astonishing violence. In a pause of the storm, 
 as the wind died suddenly away, and was heard 
 only moaning at a dis»iance, I was startled by 
 an unusual noise in the woods before me. Again 
 I listened attentively, and imagined that I heard 
 the heavy tread of a body of men, and the rat- 
 tling of cartridge-boxes. As I met Lilly, I in- 
 formed him of my suspicions. All had been 
 quiet in the rounds, but he would keep a good 
 watch, and fire on the least alarm. We sepa- 
 rated, and I had marched but a few rods, when 
 I heard the following conversation. *' Stand." 
 The answer was from a speaker rapidly ap- 
 proaching, and in a low, constrained voice. 
 "Stand yourself, and you shall not be injured. 
 If you fire, you are a dead man. If you re- 
 main where you are, you shall not be harmed. 
 If you move, I will run you through." 
 
 Scarcely had he spoken, when I saw the flash, 
 and heard the report of Lilly's gun. I saw a 
 black mass rapidly advancing, at which I fired, 
 and with all the sentinels retreated to the guard, 
 consisting of thirty men, commanded by an 
 ensign. An old barn had served them for a 
 guard-house, and they barely had time to turn 
 out, and parade in the road, as the British were 
 getting over a fence within six rods of us, to the 
 number of eighty, as we supposed. We fired 
 upon them, and retreated in good order towards 
 the detachment in the rear. The enemy, disap- 
 pointed of their expected prey, pushed us hard, 
 16 
 
182 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 but we were soon reinforced, and they in their 
 turn were compelled to retreat, and we followed 
 them at their heels to the boats. We found the 
 next morning that poor Frank Lilly, after dis- 
 charging his musket, was followed so close by 
 the enemy that he was unable to get over a 
 fence, and he w^as run through with a bayonet. 
 It was apparent, however, that there had been 
 a violent struggle. But in front of his post was 
 a British non-commissioned officer, one of the 
 best formed men I ever saw, shot directly 
 through the body. He died in great agonies, 
 as the ground was torn up with his hands, and 
 he had literally bitten the dust. We discovered 
 long traces of blood, but never knew he extent. 
 of the enemy's loss. Poor Riley toe a Lilly's 
 death so much to heart that he never afterwards 
 was the man he previously had been. He be- 
 came indifferent, and neglected his duty. There 
 was something remarkable in the manner of his 
 death. He was tried for his life, and sentenced 
 to be shot. During the trial, and subsequently, 
 he discovered an indifference truly astonishing. 
 On the day of his execution, the fatal cap was 
 drawn over his eyes, and he was caused to kneel 
 in front of the whole army. Twelve men were 
 detailed for the purpose of executing him, but 
 a pardon had been granted, unknown to Riley, 
 in consequence of his age and services ; they 
 had no cartridges. The word " ready," was 
 given, and the cocking of guns could be dis- 
 tinctly heard. At the word *' fire," Riley fell 
 
CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 183 
 
 dead upon his face, when not a gun had been 
 discharged. 
 
 It was said that Frank Lilly was the fruit of 
 one of Riley's old love affairs with a beautiful 
 and unfortunate girl. There was a sad story 
 concerning her fate ; but I am old now, and 
 have forgotten it. 
 
 CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 
 
 The expedition against the capital of Canada 
 was the most daring and important. Strong 
 by nature, and still stronger by art, Quebec 
 had obtained the appellation of the Gibraltar 
 of America ; and every attempt against it had 
 failed. It was now commanded by Montcalm, 
 an officer of distinguished reputation; and its 
 capture must hav 3 appeared chimerical to any 
 one but Pitt. He judged rightly, however, 
 that the boldest and most dangerous enterprises 
 are often the most successful, especially when 
 committed to ardent minds, glowing with en- 
 thusiasm, and emulous of glory. Such a mind 
 he had discovered in General Wolfe, whose 
 conduct at Louisbourg had attracted his atten- 
 tion. He appointed him to conduct the expedi- 
 tion, and gave him for assistants Brigadier 
 Generals Moncton, Townshend, and Murray; 
 all, like himself, young and ardent. Early in 
 
184 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 the season he sailed from Halifax with eight 
 thousand troops, and, near the last of June, 
 landed the whole army on the island of Orleans, 
 a few miles below Quebec. From this position 
 he could take a near and distinct view of the 
 obstacles to be overcome. These were so 
 great, that even the bold and sanguine Wolfe 
 perceived more to fear than to hope. In a let- 
 ter to Mr. Pitt, written before commencing 
 operations, he declared that he saw but little 
 prospect of reducing the place. 
 
 Quebec stands on the north side of the St. 
 Lawrence, and consists of an upper and lower 
 town. The lower town lies between the river 
 and a bold and lofty eminence, which runs 
 parallel to it far to the westward. At the top 
 of this eminence is a plain, upon which the 
 upper town is situated. Below, or east of the 
 city, is the river St. Charles, whose channel is 
 rough, and whose banks are steep and broken. 
 At a short distance farther down is the Mont- 
 morency ; and between these two rivers, and 
 reaching from one to the other, was encamped 
 the French army, strongly entrenched, and at 
 least equal in number to that of the English. Gene- 
 ral Wolfe took possession of Point Levi, on the 
 southern bank of the St. Lawrence, and there 
 erected batteries against the tow^n. The can- 
 nonade which was kept up, though it destroyed 
 many houses, made but little impression on the 
 works, which were too strong and too remote 
 to be materially affected ; their elevation, at 
 the same time, placing them beyond the reach 
 
CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 185 
 
 of the flert. Convinced of the impossibility 
 of reducing the place, unless he could erect 
 batteries on the north side of the St. Lawrence, 
 Wolfe soon decided on more daring measures. 
 The northern shore of the St. Lawrence, to a 
 considerable distance above Quebec, is so bold 
 and rocky as to render a landing in the face 
 of an enemy impracticable. If an attempt 
 were made below the town, the river Mont- 
 morency passed, and the French driven from 
 their entrenchments, the St. Charles would 
 present a new, and perhaps an insuperable 
 barrier. With every obstacle fully in view, 
 Wolfe, heroically observing that " a victorious 
 army finds no difficulties," resolved to pass the 
 Montmorency, and bring Montcalm to an en- 
 gagement. In pursuance of this resolution, 
 thirteen companies of English grenadiers, and 
 part of the second battalion of royal Americans, 
 were landed at the mouth of that river, while 
 two divisions, under Generals Townshend and 
 Murray, prepared to cross it higher up. Wolfe's 
 plan was to attack first a redoubt, close to the 
 water's edge, apparently beyond reach of the 
 fire from the enemy's entrenchments, in the 
 belief that the French, by attempting to sup- 
 port that fortification, would put it in his power 
 to bring on a general engagement ; or, if they 
 should submit to the loss of the redoubt, that 
 he could afterwards examine their situation 
 with coolness, and advantageously regulate his 
 future operations. On the approach of the 
 British troops the redoubt was evacuated ; and 
 16* 
 
186 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 the general, observing some confusion in the 
 French camp, changed his original plan, and 
 determined not to delay an attack. Orders 
 were immediately despatched to the Generals 
 Townshend and Murray to keep their divisions 
 in readiness for fording the river; and the 
 grenadiers and royal Americans were directed 
 to form on the beach until they could be pro- 
 perly sustained. These troops, however, not 
 waiting for support, rushed impetuously toward 
 the enemy's entrenchments ; but they were 
 received with so strong and steady a fire from 
 the French musketry, that they were instantly 
 thrown into disorder, and obliged to seek shel- 
 ter at the redoubt which the enemy had aban- 
 doned. Detained here awhile by a dreadful 
 thunder storm, they were still within reach of 
 a severe fire from the French ; and many gallant 
 officers, exposing their persons in attempting to 
 forin the troops, were killed, the whole loss 
 amounting to nearly five hundred men. The 
 plan of attack being effectually disconcerted, 
 the English general gave orders for repassing 
 the river, and returning to the isle of Orleans. 
 
 Compelled to abandon the attack on that 
 side, Wolfe deemed that advantage might result 
 from attempting to destroy the French fleet, 
 and by distracting the attention of Montcalm 
 with continual descents upon the northern 
 shore. General Murray, with twelve hundred 
 men in transports, made two vigorous but 
 abortive attempts to land; and though more 
 successful in the third, he did nothing more 
 
CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. IS7 
 
 than burn a magazine of warlike stores. The 
 enemy's fleet was effectually secured against 
 attacks, either by land or by water, and the 
 commander-in-chief was again obliged to sub- 
 mit to the mortification of recalling his troops. 
 At this juncture, intelligence arrived that 
 Niagara was taken, that Ticonderoga and 
 Crown Point had been abandoned, but that 
 General Amherst, instead of pressing forward 
 to their assistance, was preparing to attack the 
 Isle-aux-Nois. While Wolfe rejoiced at the 
 triumph of his brethren in arms, he could not 
 avoid contrasting their success with his own 
 disastrous efforts. His mind, alike lofty and 
 susceptible, was deeply impressed by the dis- 
 asters at Montmorency; and his extreme anxie- 
 ty, preying upon his delicate frame, sensibly 
 affected his health. He was observed frequently 
 to sigh; and, as if life was only valuable while 
 it added to his glory, he declared to his intimate 
 friends, that he would not survive the disgrace 
 which he imagined would attend the failure of 
 his enterprise. Nothing, however, could shake 
 the resolution of this valiant commander, or 
 induce him to abandon the attempt. In a 
 council of his principal officers, called on this 
 critical occasion, it was resolved that all the 
 future operations should be above the town. 
 The camp at the Isle of Orleans was accord- 
 ingly abandoned ; and the whole army having 
 embarked on board the fleet, a part of it was 
 landed at Point Levi, and a part higher up the 
 river. Montcalm, apprehending from this 
 
188 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 movement that the invaders might make a dis- 
 tant descent and come on the back of the city 
 of Quebec, detached M. de Bougainville with 
 fifteen hundred men, to watch their motions, 
 and prevent their landing. 
 
 Baffled and harassed in all his previous as- 
 saults, General Wolfe seems to have determined 
 to finish the enterprise by a single bold and 
 desperate effort. The admiral sailed several 
 leagues up the river, making occasional demon- 
 strations of R design to land troops ; and, during 
 the night, a strong detachment in flat-bottomed 
 boats fell silently down with the stream, to a 
 point about a mile above the city. The beach 
 was shelving, the bank high and precipitous, 
 and the only path by which it could be scaled 
 was now defended by a captain's guard and a 
 battery of four guns. Colonel Howe, with the 
 van, soon clambered up the rocks, drove away 
 the guard, and seized upon the battery. The 
 army landed about an hour before day, and by 
 daybreak was marshalled on the heights of 
 Abraham. 
 
 Montcalm could not at first believe the intel- 
 ligence ; but, as soon as he was assured of its 
 truth, he made all prudent haste to decide a 
 battle which it was no longer possible to avoid. 
 Leaving his camp at Montmorency, he crossed 
 the river St. Charles, with the intention of at- 
 tacking the English army. No sooner did 
 Wolfe observe this movement, than he began 
 to form his order of battle. His troops con- 
 sisted of six battalions, and the Louisbourg 
 
CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 189 
 
 grenadiers. The right wing was commanded 
 by General Monckton, and the left by General 
 Murray. The right flank was covered by the 
 Louisbourg grenadiers, and the rear and left 
 by Howe's light infantry. The form in which 
 the French advanced indicating an intention to 
 outflank the left of the English army, General 
 Townshend was sent with the battalion of 
 Amherst, and the two battalions of royal 
 Americans, to that part of the line, and they 
 were formed en potence, so as to present a 
 double front to the enemy. The body of re- 
 serve consisted of one regiment, drawn up in 
 eight divisions, with large intervals. The dis- 
 positions made by the French general were not 
 less masterly. The right and left wings were 
 composed about equally of European and colo- 
 nial troops. The centre consisted of a column, 
 formed of two battalions of regulars. Fifteen 
 hundred Indians and Canadians, excellent 
 marksmen, advancing in front, screened by 
 surrounding thickets, began the battle. Their 
 irregular fire proved fatal to many British ofli- 
 cers, but it was soon silenced by the steady 
 fire of the English. About nine in the morning 
 the main body of the French advanced briskly 
 to the charge, and the action soon became 
 general. Montcalm having taken post on the 
 left of the French army, and Wolfe on the right 
 of the English, the two generals met each other 
 where the battle was most severe. The Eng- 
 lish troops reserved their fire until the French 
 had advanced within forty yards of their line. 
 
190 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 and then, by a general discharge, made terrible 
 havoc among their ranks. The fire of the 
 English was vigorously maintained, and the 
 enemy everywhere yielded to it. General 
 Wolfe, who, exposed in the front of his bat- 
 talions, had been wounded in the wrist, betray- 
 ing no symptom of pain, wrapped a handker- 
 chief round his arm, and continued to encourage 
 his men. Soon after, he received a shot in the 
 groin ; but, concealing the wound, he was 
 pressing on at the head of his grenadiers, with 
 fixed bayonets, when a third ball pierced his 
 breast. The army, not disconcerted by his 
 fall, continued the action under Monckton, on 
 whom the command now devolved, but who, 
 receiving a ball through his body, soon yielded 
 the command to General Tovvnshend. Mont- 
 calm, fighting in front of his battalions, received 
 a mortal wound about the same time; and Gene- 
 ral Senezergus, the second in command, also 
 fell. The British grenadiers pressed on with 
 their bayonets. General Murray, briskly ad- 
 vancing with the troops under his direction, 
 broke the centre of the French army. The 
 Highlanders, drawing their broadswords, com- 
 pleted the confusion of the enemy; and after 
 having lost their first and second in command, 
 the right and centre of the French were en- 
 tirely driven from the field ; and the left was 
 following the example, when Bougainville ap- 
 peared in the rear, with the fifteen hundred 
 men who had been sent to oppose the landing 
 of the English, Two battalions and two pieces 
 
CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 191 
 
 of artillery were detached to meet him ; but he 
 retired, and the British troops were left the 
 undisputed masters of the field. The loss of 
 the French was much greater than that of the 
 English. The corps of French regulars was 
 almost entirely annihilated. The killed and 
 wounded of the English army did not amount 
 to six hundred men. Although Quebec was 
 still strongly defended by its fortifications, and 
 might possibly be relieved by Bougainville, or 
 from ^lontreal, yet General Townshend had 
 scarcely finished a road in the bank to get up 
 his heavy artillery for a siege, when the in- 
 habitants capitulated, on condition that during 
 the war they might still enjoy their own civil 
 and religious rights. A garrison of five thou- 
 sand men was left under General Murray, and 
 the fleet sailed out of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 LAFAYETTE, 
 
 Lafayette was born a subject of the most 
 absolute and most splendid monarchy in Eu- 
 rope, and in the highest rank of her proud and 
 chivalrous nobility. He had been educated at 
 a college of the University of Paris, founded 
 by the royal munificenco of Louis XIV., or of 
 his minister. Cardinal Richelieu. Left an or- 
 phan in early childhood, with the inheritance 
 of a princely fortune, he had been married, at 
 
192 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 sixteen years of age, to a daughter of the house 
 of Noailles, the most distinguished family of the 
 kingdom, scarcely deemed in public considera- 
 tion inferior to that which wore the crown. He 
 came into active life, at the change from boy to 
 man, a husband and a father, in the full enjoy- 
 ment of everything that avarice could covet, 
 with a certain prospect before him of all that 
 ambition could crave. Happy in his domestic 
 affections, incapable, from the benignity of his 
 nature, of envy, hatred, or revenge, a life of 
 " ignoble ease and indolent repose" seemed to 
 be that which nature and fortune had combined 
 to prepare before him. To men of ordinary 
 mould this condition would have led to a life of 
 luxurious apathy and sensual indulgence. Such 
 was the life into which, from the operation of 
 the same causes, Louis XV. had sunk, with his 
 household and court, while Lafayette was rising 
 to manhood, surrounded by the contamination 
 of their example. Had his natural endowments 
 been even of the higher and nobler order of 
 such as adhere to virtue, even in the lap of pros- 
 perity, and in the bosom of temptation, he might 
 have lived and died a pattern of the nobility of 
 France, to be classed, in aftertimes, with the 
 Turennes and the Montausiers of the age of 
 Louis XIV., or with the Villars or the Lamoign- 
 ons of the age immediately preceding his own. 
 
 But as, in the firmament of heaven that rolls 
 over our heads, there is, among the stars of the 
 first magnitude, one so pre-eminent in splendour, 
 as, in the opinion of astronomers, to constitute 
 
LAFAYETTE. 193 
 
 a class by itself; so, in the fourteen hundred 
 years of the French monarchy, among the mul- 
 titudes of great and mighty men which it has 
 evolved, the name of Lafayette stands unrival- 
 led in the solitude of glory. 
 
 In entering upon the threshold of life, a ca- 
 reer was open before him. He had the option 
 of the court and the camp. An office was ten- 
 dered to him in the household of the king's bro- 
 ther, the Count de Provence, since successively 
 a royal exile and a reinstated king. The ser- 
 vitude and inaction of a court had no charms 
 for him ; he preferred a commission in the army, 
 and, at the time of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, was a captain of dragoons in garri- 
 son at Metz. 
 
 There, at an entertainment given by his rela- 
 tive, the Marechal de Broglie, the commandant 
 of the place, to the Duke of Gloucester, bro- 
 ther to the British King, and then a transient 
 traveller through that part of France, he learns, 
 as an incident of intelligence received that 
 morning by the English Prince from London, 
 that the Congress of Rebels, at Philadelphia, 
 had issued a Declaration of Independence. A 
 conversation ensues upon the causes which have 
 contributed to produce this event, and upon the 
 consequences which may be expected to flow 
 from it. The imagination of Lafayette has 
 caught across the Atlantic tide the spark emit- 
 ted from the Declaration of Independence ; his 
 heart has kindled at the shock, and, before he 
 17 
 
194 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 slumbers upon his pillow, he has resolved to 
 devote his life and fortune to the cause. 
 
 You have before you the cause and the man. 
 The self-devotion of Lafayette was two-fold. 
 First, to the people, maintaining a bold and 
 seemingly desperate struggle against oppression, 
 and for national existence. Secondly, and 
 chiefly, to the principles of their Declaration, 
 which then first unfurled before his eyes the 
 consecrated standard of human rights. To that 
 standard, without an instant of hesitation, he 
 repaired. Where it would lead him, it is scarcely 
 probable that he himself then foresaw. It was 
 then identical with the stars and stripes of the 
 American Union, floating to the breeze from the 
 Hall of Independence, at Philadelphia. Nor 
 sordid avarice, nor vulgar ambition, could point 
 his footsteps to the pathway leading to that ban- 
 ner. To the love of ease or pleasure nothing 
 could be more repulsive. Something may be 
 allowed to the beatings of the youthful breast, 
 which make ambition virtue, and something to 
 the spirit of military adventure, imbibed from 
 his profession, and which he felt in common 
 with many others. France, Germany, Poland, 
 furnished to the armies of this Union, in our 
 revolution struggle, no inconsiderable number 
 of officers of hi«jh rank and distinguished merit. 
 The names of Pulaski and De Kalb are num- 
 bered among the martyrs of our freedom, and 
 their ashes repose in our soil side by side with 
 the canonized bones of Warren and of Mont- 
 gomery. To the virtues of Lafayette, a more 
 
LAFAYETTE. 195 
 
 protracted career and happier earthly destinies 
 were reserved. To the moral principle of po- 
 litical action, the sacrifices of no other man 
 were comparable to his. Youth, health, for- 
 tune ; the favour of his. king ; the enjoyment of 
 ease and pleasure; even the choicest blessings 
 of domestic felicity — he gave them all for toil 
 and danger in a distant land, and an almost 
 hopeless cause ; but it was the cause of justice, 
 and of the rights of human kind. 
 
 The resolve is firmly fixed, and it now re- 
 mains to be carried into execution. On the 7th 
 of December, 177G, Silas Deane, then a secret 
 agent of the American Congress at Paris, stip- 
 ulates with the Marquis de Lafayette that he 
 shall receive a commission, to date from that 
 day, of Major-General in the army of the Uni- 
 ted States ; and the Marquis stipulates, in re- 
 turn, to depart when and how Mr. Deane shall 
 judge proper, to serve the United States with 
 all possible zeal, without payor emolument, re- 
 serving to himself only the liberty of returning 
 to Europe if his family or his king should recall 
 him. 
 
 Neither his family nor his king were willing 
 that he should depart; nor had Mr. Deane the 
 power, either to conclude this contract, or to 
 furnish the means of his conveyance to Ameri- 
 ca. Difficulties rise up before him only to be 
 dispersed, and obstacles thicken only to be sur- 
 mounted. The day after the signature of the 
 contract, Mr. Deane's agency was superseded 
 by the arrival of Doctor Benjamin Franklin and 
 
196 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 Arthur Lee as his colleagues in commission; 
 nor did they think themselves authorized to con- 
 firm his engagements. Lafayette is not to be 
 discouraged. The commissioners extenuate 
 nothing of the unpromising condition of their 
 cause. Mr. Deane avows his inability to fur- 
 nish him with a passage to the United States. 
 " The more desperate the cause," says Lafay- 
 ette, " the greater need has it of my services ; 
 and, if Mr. Deane has no vessel for my passage, 
 I shall purchase one myself, and will traverse 
 the ocean with a selected company of my own." 
 
 Other impediments arise. His design be- 
 comes known to the British Ambassador at the 
 Court of Versailles, who remonstrates to the 
 French government against it. At his instance, 
 orders are issued for the detention of the ves- 
 sel purchased by the Marquis, and fitted out at 
 Bordeaux, and for the arrest of his person. To 
 elude the first of these orders, the vessel is re- 
 moved from Bordeaux to the neighbouring port 
 of Passage, within the dominion of Spain. The 
 order for his own arrest is executed ; but, by 
 stratagem and disguise, he escapes from the cus- 
 tody of those who have him in charge, and, be- 
 fore a second order can reach him, he is safe on 
 the ocean wave, bound to the land of Independ- 
 ence and of Freedom. 
 
 It had been necessary to clear out the vessel 
 for an island of the West Indies; but, once at 
 sea, he avails himself of his right as owner of 
 the ship, and compels his captain to steer for 
 the shores of emancipated North iVmerica. He 
 
WASHINGTON COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 197 
 
 lands, with his companions, on the 25th of April, 
 1777, in South Carolina, not far from Charles- 
 ton, and finds a most cordial reception and hos- 
 pitable welcome in the house of Major Huger. 
 
 WASHINGTON APPOINTED COMMANDER- 
 IN-CHIEF. 
 
 On the 15th of June, 1775, Congress pro- 
 ceeded to choose, by ballot, a commander-in- 
 chief of the provincial or continental forces, and 
 unanimously elected George Washington to 
 that arduous office. That gentleman afterwards 
 acted such a distinguished part in the war, and 
 acquired such an illustrious name, that it is 
 proper to glance at his personal history previ- 
 ous to the period under consideration. He was 
 the third son of Augustus Washington, and was 
 born in Virginia, in the year 1732. By the 
 death of his elder brothers, he succeeded to the 
 patrimonial estate, at an early age ; was major 
 of militia, and was appointed by the governor 
 of Virginia to negotiate with the French go- 
 vernor of Fort Du Quesne, concerning the 
 boundaries of the French and British govern- 
 ments. He became soon afterwards lieutenant- 
 colonel of a regiment of militia, which the 
 colony raised for the defence of its frontier. In 
 a short time he succeeded to the command of 
 the regiment ; and was present, as a volunteer, 
 17* 
 
198 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 in General Braddock's unfortunate expedition 
 in 1755. Such was the confidence placed in 
 his talents, that on that occasion the retreat 
 was conducted under his direction. He was 
 afterwards engaged in another expedition to 
 the Ohio ; and in the year 1758, on account of 
 ill health, he resigned his commission, and lived 
 in retirement and rural tranquillity. 
 
 From this outline of his personal history, it 
 is obvious that his experience in military affairs 
 was extremely limited. But he was known to 
 be a man of sound understanding, undaunted 
 courage, and inflexible integrity. He enjoyed, 
 in a high degree, the confidence of his country- 
 men, and had been chosen one of the deputies 
 to Congress for his native province of Virginia. 
 He had used neither solicitation nor influence 
 of any kind to procure the appointment; and 
 when the president informed him of his election, 
 and of the request of Congress that he would 
 accept tlie office, he stood up in his place, and 
 addressed the president in the following terms : 
 " Though 1 am truly sensible of the high 
 honour done me by this appointment, yet I feel 
 great distress from a consciousness that my 
 abilities and military experience are not equal 
 to the arduous trust. But, as the Congress 
 desire it, I will enter on the momentous duty, 
 and exert every power I possess in their ser- 
 vice, and for the support of the glorious cause. 
 I beg they will accept my cordial thanks for 
 this high testimony of their approbation." He 
 besought Congress to remember that he thought 
 
THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 199 
 
 himself unequal to the command with which 
 they had honoured him; that lie expected no 
 emolument from it, but that he would keep an 
 exact account of his expenses, and hoped they 
 would reimburse him. 
 
 THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 
 
 The United States had for some time enjoyed 
 the undisputed repose of peace, with only one 
 exception. Tripoli, the least considerable of 
 the Barbary states, had made demands, founded 
 neither in right nor in compact, and had de- 
 nounced war on the failure of the American 
 government to comply with them before a given 
 day. The president, on this occasion, sent a 
 small squadron of frigates into the Mediterra- 
 nean, with assurances to that power of the 
 sincere desire of the American government to 
 remain in peace ; but with orders to protect 
 our commerce against the threatened attack. 
 It was a seasonable and salutary measure ; for 
 the bey had already declared war; and the 
 American commerce in the Mediterranean was 
 blockaded, while that of the Atlantic was in 
 peril. The arrival of the squadron dispelled 
 the danger. The Insurgente, which had been 
 so honourably added to the American navy, and 
 the Pickering, of fourteen guns, the former com- 
 manded by Captain Fletcher, the latter by 
 
200 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 Captain Hillar, were lost in the equinoctial 
 gale, in September, 1800. In 1801, the Enter- 
 prise, of fourteen guns. Captain Sterrett, fell in 
 with a Tripolitan ship of war of equal force. 
 The action continued three hours and a half, 
 the corsair fighting with great obstinacy, and 
 even desperation, until she struck, having lost 
 fifty killed and wounded, while the Enterprise 
 had not a man injured. In 1803, Commodore 
 Preble assumed the command of the Mediter- 
 ranean squadron, and, after humbling the Em- 
 peror of Morocco, who had begun a covert war 
 upon American commerce, concentrated most 
 of his force before Tripoli. On arriving off that 
 port, Captain Bainbridge, in the frigate Phila- 
 delphia, of forty-four guns, was sent into the 
 harbour to reconnoitre. While in eager pur- 
 suit of a small vessel, he unfortunately advanced 
 so far that the frigate grounded, and all attempts 
 to remove her were in vain. The sea around 
 her was immediately covered with Tripolitan 
 gunboats, and Captain Bainbridge was com- 
 pelled to surrender. This misfortune, which 
 threw a number of accomplished officers and a 
 valiant crew into oppressive bondage, and which 
 shed a gloom over the whole nation, as it seemed 
 at once to increase the difficulties of a peace an 
 hundred fold, was soon relieved by one of the 
 most daring and chivalrous exploits that is 
 found in naval annals. Lieutenant Stephen 
 Decatur, then one of Commodore Preble's sub- 
 alterns, proposed a plan for recapturing or 
 destroying the Philadelphia. The American 
 
THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 201 
 
 squadron was at that time lying at Syracuse. 
 Agreeably to the plan proposed, Lieutenant 
 Decatur, in the ketch Intrepid, four guns and 
 seventy-five men, proceeded, under the escort 
 of the Syren, Captain Stewart, to the harbour 
 of Tripoli. The Philadelphia lay within half 
 gun-shot of the bashaw's castle, and several 
 ciuisers and gunboats surrounded her with 
 jealous vigilance. The Intrepid entered the 
 harbour alone, about eight o'clock in the evening, 
 and succeeded in getting near the Philadelphia, 
 between ten and eleven o'clock, without having 
 awakened suspicion of her hostile designs. This 
 vessel had been captured from the Tripolitans, 
 and, assuming on this occasion her former 
 national appearance, was permitted to warp 
 alongside, under the alleged pretence that she 
 had lost all her anchors. The moment the 
 vessel came in contact, Decatur and his follow- 
 ers leaped on board, and soon overwhelmed a 
 crew which was paralysed with consternation. 
 Twenty of the Tripolitans were killed. All the 
 surrounding batteries being opened upon the 
 Philadelphia, she was immediately set on fire, 
 and not abandoned until thoroughly wrapped 
 in flames ; when, a favouring breeze springing 
 up, the Intrepid extricated herself from her 
 prey, and sailed triumphantly out of the har- 
 bour amid the light of the conflagration. Not 
 the slightest loss occurred on the side of the 
 Americans, to shade the splendour of the 
 enterprise. 
 
202 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF TRIPOLI. 
 
 In July, 1804, Commodore Preble brought 
 together all his forces before Tripoli, deter- 
 mined to try the effect of a bombardment. The 
 enemy having sent some of his gunboats and 
 galleys without the reef, at the mouth of the 
 harbour, two divisions of American gunboats 
 were formed for the purpose of attacking them, 
 while the large vessels assailed the batteries 
 and town. On the 3d of August this plan was 
 put in execution. The squadron approached 
 within gun-shot of the town, and opened a tre- 
 mendous fire of shot and shells, which was as 
 promptly returned by the Tripolitan batteries 
 and shipping. At the same time the two divi- 
 sions of gunboats, the first under the command 
 of Captain Somers, the second under Captain 
 Stephen Decatur, who had been promoted as a 
 reward for his late achievement, advanced 
 against those of the enemy. The squadron was 
 about two hours under the enemy's batteries, 
 generally within pistol-shot, ranging by them 
 in deliberate succession, alternately silencing 
 their fires, and launching its thunders into 
 the very palace of the bashaw ; while a more 
 animated battle was raging in another quarter. 
 Simultaneously Vv'ith the bombardment, the 
 American gunboats had closed in desperate 
 conflict with the enemy. Captain Decatur, 
 bearing down upon one of superior force, soon 
 carried her by boarding, when, taking his prize 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF TRIPOLI, 203 
 
 in tow, he grappled with another, and in like 
 manner, transferred the fight to the enemy's 
 deck. In the fierce encounter which followed 
 this second attack. Captain Decatur, having 
 broken his sword, closed with the Turkish com- 
 mander, and, both falling in the struggle, gave 
 him a mortal wound with a pistol-shot, just as 
 the Turk was raising his dirk to plunge it into 
 his breast. Lieutenant Trippe, of Captain 
 Decatur's squadron, had boarded a third large 
 gunboat, with only one midshipman and nine 
 men, when his boat fell oflT, and left him to wage 
 the unequal fight of eleven to thirty-six, which 
 was the number of the enemy. Courage and 
 resolution, however, converted this devoted 
 little band into a formidable host, which, after 
 a sanguinary contest, obliged the numerous foe 
 to yield, with the loss of fourteen killed and 
 seven wounded. Lieutenant Trippe received 
 eleven sabre wounds, and had three of his party 
 wounded, but none killed. Several bombard- 
 ments and attacks succeeded each other at 
 intervals throughout the month. Day after day 
 death and devastation were poured into Tripoli 
 with unsparing perseverance, each attack exhi- 
 biting instances of valour and devotedness which 
 will give lustre to history. The eyes of Europe 
 were drawn to the spot where a young nation, 
 scarcely emerged into notice, was signally 
 chastising the despotic and lawless infidel, to 
 whom some of her most powerful governm.ents 
 were then paying tribute. 
 
204 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE INTREPID. 
 
 On the 4th of September, 1804, Commodore 
 Preble, in order to try new experiments of 
 annoyance, determined to send a fireship into 
 the enemy's harbour. The Intrepid was fitted 
 out for this service, being filled with powder, 
 shells, and other combustible materials. Cap- 
 tain Somers, who had often been the emulous 
 rival of Decatur in the career of glory, was 
 appointed to conduct her in, having for his 
 associates in the hazardous enterprise. Lieu- 
 tenants Wadsworth and Israel, all volunteers. 
 The Argus, Vixen, and Nautilus, were to con- 
 vey the Intrepid as far as the mouth of the 
 harbour. Captain Somers and Lieutenant 
 Wadsworth made choice of two of the fleetest 
 boats in the squadron, manned with picked 
 crews, to bring them out. At eight o'clock in 
 the evening she stood into the harbour with a 
 moderate breeze. Several shot were fired at 
 her from the batteries. She had nearly gained 
 her place of destination when she exploded, 
 without having made any of the signals previ- 
 ously concerted to show that the crew Vv'as safe. 
 Night hung over the dreadful catastrophe, and 
 left the whole squadron a prey to the most 
 painful anxiety. The convoy hovered about 
 the harbour until sunrise, when no remains 
 could be discovered either of the Intrepid or her 
 boats. Doubt was turned into certainty, that 
 she had prematurely blown up, as one of the 
 
V^oTHLCTION OF THE INTREPID. 205 
 
 enemy's gunboats was observed to be missing, 
 and several others much shattered and damaged. 
 Commodore Preble, in his account, says, that 
 he was led to believe " that those boats were 
 detached from the enemy's flotilla to intercept 
 the ketch, and without suspecting her to be a 
 fireship, the missing boats had suddenly boarded 
 her, when the gallant Somers and the heroes 
 of his party, observing the other three boats sur- 
 rounding them, and no prospect of escape, 
 determined at once to prefer death, and the 
 destruction of the enemy, to captivity and tor- 
 turing slavery, put a match to the train leading 
 directly to the magazine, which at once blew 
 the whole into the air, and terminated their 
 existence ;" and he adds, that his " conjectures 
 respecting this aflfair are founded on a resolu- 
 tion which Captain Somers and Lieutenants 
 Wadsworth and Israel had formed, neither to 
 be taken by ihe enemy, nor suffer him to get 
 possession of the powder on board the Intrepid." 
 Soon after these events. Commodore Preble gave 
 up the command in the Mediterranean to Com- 
 modore Barron, and returned to the United 
 States. His eminent services were enthusiasti- 
 cally acknowledged by his admiring fellow- 
 citizens, as well as those of his associates in 
 arms, " w^hose names," in the expressive lan- 
 guage of Congress on the occasion, " ought to 
 live in the recollection and affection of a grateful 
 country, and whose conduct ought to be 
 regarded as an example to future generations." 
 18 
 
206 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 ROMANTIC EXPEDITION OF GENERAL EATON. 
 
 While the squadron remained before Tripoli, 
 other deeds of heroism were performed. Wil- 
 liam Eaton, who had been a captain in the 
 American army, was, at the commencement of 
 this war, consul at Tunis. He there became 
 acquainted with Hamet Caramauly, whom a 
 younger brother had excluded from the throne 
 of Tripoli. With him he concerted an expedi- 
 tion against the reigning sovereign, and repaired 
 to the United States to obtain permission and 
 the means to undertake it. Permission was 
 granted, the co-operation of the squadron re- 
 commended, and such pecuniary assistance as 
 could be spared was afforded. To raise an 
 army in Egypt, and lead it to attack the usurper 
 in his dominions, was the project which had 
 been concerted. In the beginning of 1805, 
 Eaton met Hamet at Alexandria, and was 
 appointed general of his forces. On the 6th of 
 March, at the head of a respectable body of 
 mounted Arabs, and about seventy Christians, 
 he set out for Tripoli. His route lay across a 
 desert one thousand miles in extent. On his 
 march, he encountered peril, fatigue, and suffer- 
 ing, the description of which would resemble 
 the exaggerations of romance. On the 25th of 
 April, having been fifty days on the march, he 
 arrived before Derne, a Tripolitan city on the 
 Mediterranean, and found in the harbour a part 
 of the American squadron destined to assist 
 him. He learnt also that the usurper, having 
 
EXPEDITION OF EATON. 207 
 
 received notice of his approach, had raised a 
 considerable army, and was then within a day's 
 march of the city. No time was therefore to 
 be lost. The next morning he summoned the 
 governor to surrender, who returned for answer, 
 *' My head or yours." The city was assaulted, 
 and after a contest of two hours and a half, 
 possession was gained. The Christians suffered 
 severely, and the general was slightly wounded. 
 Great exertions were immediately made to 
 fortify the city. On the 8th of May it was 
 attacked by the Tripolitan army. Although 
 ten times more numerous than Eaton's band, 
 the assailants, after persisting four hours in the 
 attempt, were compelled to retire. On the 10th 
 of June another battle was fought, in which the 
 enemy were defeated. The next day the Ameri- 
 can frigate Constitution arrived in the harbour, 
 which so terrified the Tripolitans that they fled 
 precipitately to the desert. The frigate came, 
 however, to arrest the operations of Eaton in 
 the midst of his brilliant and successful career. 
 Alarmed at his progress, the reigning bashaw 
 had offered terms of peace, which being much 
 more favourable than had before been offered, 
 were accepted by Mr. Lear, the authorized 
 agent of the government. Sixty thousand dol- 
 lars were given as a ransom for the unfortunate 
 American prisoners, and an engagement was 
 made to w^ithdraw all support from Hamet. 
 The nation, proud of the exploits of Eaton, 
 regretted this diplomatic interference, but the 
 treaty was subsequently ratified by the presi- 
 dent and senate. 
 
208 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 GENERAL HARRISON'S EXPEDITION AGAINST 
 THE INDIANS. 
 
 For several years the Indian tribes, residing 
 near the sources of the Mississippi, had occu- 
 pied themselves in murdering and robbing the 
 white settlers in their vicinity. At length the 
 frontier inhabitants, being seriously alarmed by 
 their hostile indications, in the autumn of 1811, 
 Governor Harrison resolved to move towards 
 the Prophet's town, on the Wabash, with a body 
 of Kentucky and Indiana militia, and the fourth 
 United States regiment, under Colonel Boyd, 
 to demand satisfaction of the Indians, and to 
 put a stop to their threatened hostilities. His 
 expedition was made early in November. On 
 his approach within a few miles of the Prophet's 
 town, the principal chiefs came out with offers 
 of peace and submission, and requested the 
 governor to encamp for the night ; but this w^as 
 only a treacherous artifice. At four in the 
 morning the camp was furiously assailed, and a 
 bloody contest ensued ; the Indians were how- 
 ever repulsed. The loss on the part of the 
 Americans was sixty-two killed, and one hun- 
 dred and tw^enty-six wotmded, and a still greater 
 number on the side of the Indians. Governor 
 Harrison, having destroyed the Prophet's town, 
 and established forts, returned to Vincennes. 
 
PERRY S VICTORY. 209 
 
 PERRY'S VICTORY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 By the exertions of Commodore Perry, an 
 American squadron had been fitted out on Lake 
 Erie early in September. It consisted of nine 
 small vessels, in all carrying fifty-four guns. A 
 British squadron had also been built and 
 equipped, under the superintendence of Commo- 
 dore Barclay. It consisted of six vessels, mount- 
 ing sixty-three guns. Commodore Perry, im- 
 mediately sailing, offered battle to his adversary, 
 and on the lOth of September, the British com- 
 mander left the harbour of Maiden to accept 
 the oflfer. In a few hours the wind shifted, 
 giving the Americans the advantage. Perry, 
 forming the line of battle, hoisted his flag, on 
 which were inscribed the words of the dying 
 Lawrence, " Don't give up the ship." Loud 
 huzzas from all the vessels proclaimed the ani- 
 mation which this motto inspired. About noon 
 the firing commenced ; and after a short action 
 two of the British vessels surrendered, and the 
 rest of the American squadron now joining in 
 the battle, the victory was rendered decisive 
 and complete. The British loss was forty-one 
 killed, and ninety-four wounded. The Ameri- 
 can loss was twenty-seven killed, and ninety- 
 six wounded, of which number tv.'enty-one were 
 killed and sixty-two wounded on board the flag- 
 ship Lawrence, whose whole complement of 
 able-bodied men before the action was about 
 18*^ 
 
SlO 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 one hundred. The commodore gave intelligence 
 of the victory to General Harrison in these 
 words : '* We have met the enemy, and they 
 are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner, 
 and one sloop." The Americans were now 
 masters of the lake ; but the territory of Michi- 
 gan was still in the possession of Colonel Proc- 
 tor. The next movements were against the 
 British and Indians at Detroit and Maiden. 
 General Harrison had previously assembled a 
 portion of the Ohio militia on the Sandusky 
 river ; and on the 7th of September, four thou- 
 sand from Kentucky, the flower of the state, 
 •with Governor Shelby at their head, arrived at 
 his camp. With the co-operation of the fleet, 
 it was determined to proceed at once to Maiden. 
 On the 27th the troops were received on board, 
 and reached Maiden the same day ; but the 
 British had, in the mean time, destroyed the 
 fort and public stores, and retreated along the 
 Thames towards the Moravian villages, together 
 with Tecumseh's Indians, amounting to twelve 
 or fifteen hundred. It was now resolved to 
 proceed in pursuit of Proctor. On the 5th of 
 October a severe battle was fought between the 
 two armies at the river Thames, and the British 
 army was taken by the Americans. In this 
 battle Tecumseh was killed, and the Indians 
 fled. The British loss was nineteen regulars 
 killed and fifty wounded, and about six hundred 
 prisoners. The American loss, in killed and 
 wounded, amounted to upwards of fifty. Proc- 
 tor made his escape down the Thames. 
 
NAVAL VICTORIES. 211 
 
 NAVAL VICTORIES OF 1812. 
 
 On the 19th of August, Captain Hull, com- 
 manding the Constitution, of forty-four guns, 
 fell in with the British frigate, Le Guerriere. 
 She advanced towards the Constitution, firing 
 broadsides at intervals ; the American reserved 
 her fire till she had approached within half- 
 pistol shot, when a tremendous cannonade was 
 directed upon her, and in thirty minutes, every 
 mast and nearly every spar being shot away, 
 Captain Dacres struck his flag. Of the crew, 
 fifty were killed and sixty-four wounded ; while 
 the Constitution had only seven killed and seven 
 wounded. The Guerriere received so much 
 injury, that it was thought to be impossible to 
 get her into port, and she was burned. Captain 
 Hull, on his return to the United States, was 
 welcomed with enthusiasm by his grateful and 
 admiring countrymen. The vast difference in 
 the number of killed and wounded, certainly 
 evinced great skill, as well as bravery, on the 
 part of the American seamen. But this was 
 the first only of a series of naval victories. On 
 the 18th of October, Captain Jones, in the 
 Wasp, of eighteen guns, captured the Frolic, of 
 twenty-two, after a bloody conflict of three- 
 quarters of an hour. In this action the Ameri- 
 cans obtained a victory over a superior force ; 
 and, on their part, but eight were killed and 
 wounded, while on that of the enemy about 
 
212 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 eighty. The Wasp was unfortunately captured, 
 soon after her victory, by a British ship of the 
 line. On the 25th, the frigate United States, 
 commanded by Captain Decatur, captured the 
 British frigate Macedonian. In this instance, 
 also, the disparity of loss was astonishingly 
 great : on the part of the enemy, a hundred and 
 four were killed and wounded ; on that of the 
 Americans, but eleven. The United States 
 brought her prize safely to New York. A most 
 desperate action was fought, on the 29th of 
 December, between the Constitution, of forty- 
 four guns, then commanded by Captain Bain- 
 bridge, and the British frigate Java, of thirty- 
 eight. The combat continued more than three 
 hours; nor did the Java strike till she was 
 reduced to a mere wreck. Of her crew, a 
 hundred and sixty-one were killed and wounded, 
 while of that of the Constitution, there were 
 only thirty-four. 
 
 These naval victories were peculiarly grati- 
 fying to the feelings of the Americans ; they 
 were gained in the midst of disasters on land, 
 and by that class of citizens whose rights had 
 been violated ; they were gained over a nation 
 whom long-continued success had taught to 
 consider themselves lords of the sea, and who 
 had confidently affirmed that the whole Ameri- 
 can navy would soon be swept from the ocean. 
 Many British merchantmen were also captured, 
 both by the American navy and by privateers, 
 which issued from almost every port, and were 
 remarkably successful. 
 
CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG. 21^ 
 
 CAPTURE OF LOUISBOURG. 
 
 Commerce in general, and especially the fisli- 
 eries, suffered great injury from privateers fitted 
 out at Louisbourg, a French port on Cape Bre- 
 ton. Its situation gave it such importance, that 
 nearly six millions of dollars had been expend- 
 ed on its fortifications. The place was deemed 
 so strong as to deserve the appellation of the 
 Dunkirk of America. In peace, it was a safe 
 reh'eat for the ships of France, bound home- 
 ward from the East and West Indies. In war, 
 it gave the French the greatest advantage for 
 ruining the fishery of the northern English colo- 
 nies, and endangered the loss of Nova Scotia. 
 The reduction of this place was, for these rea- 
 sons, an object of the highest importance to 
 New England ; and Mr. Vaughan, of New 
 Hampshire, who haa often visited that place as 
 a trader, conceived the project of an expedition 
 against it. He communicated it to Governor 
 Shirley, and being ardent and enthusiastic, con- 
 vinced him that the enterprise was practicable, 
 and inspired him with his own enthusiasm. 
 Early in January, before he received any an- 
 swer to the communications he had sent to Eng- 
 land on the subject, he requested of the mem- 
 bers of the general court, that they would lay 
 themselves under an oath of secresy to receive 
 from him a proposal of very great importance. 
 They readily took the oath, and he communi- 
 
Sl4 BEAUTIES OF AMEIIICAN HISTORY, 
 
 cated to them the plan which he had formed of 
 attacking Louisbourg. The proposal was at 
 first rejected ; but it was finally carried by a 
 majority of one. Letters were immediately 
 despatched to all the colonies, as far as Penn- 
 sylvania, requesting their assistance, and an 
 embargo on their ports. Forces were promptly 
 raised, and William Pepperrell, Esq., of Kittery, 
 was appointed commander of the expedition. 
 This officer, with several transports, under the 
 convoy of the Shirley snow, sailed from Nan- 
 tucket on the 24th of March, and arrived at 
 Canso on the 4th of April. Here the troops, 
 joined by those of New Hampshire and Con- 
 necticut, amounting collectively to upwards of 
 four thousand, were detained three weeks, wait- 
 ing for the ice, which environed the island of 
 Cape Breton, to be dissolved. At length Com- 
 modore Warren, agreeably to orders from Eng- 
 land, arrived at Canso in the Superbe, of sixty 
 guns, with three other ships of forty guns each ; 
 and, after a consultation with the general, pro- 
 ceeded to cruise before Louisbourg. The gen- 
 eral soon after sailed with the whole fleet ; and 
 on the 30th of April, coming to anchor at Cha- 
 peaurouge Bay, landed his troops. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Vaughan conducted the first column 
 through the woods within sight of Louisbourg, 
 and saluted the city with three cheers. At the 
 head of a detachment, chiefly of the New Hamp- 
 shire troops, he marched in the night to the 
 north-east part of the harbour, where they 
 burned the warehouses containing the naval 
 
t)APTURE OF LOUISBOURG. 215 
 
 stores, and staved a large quantity of wine and 
 brandy. The smoke of this fire, driven by the 
 wind into the grand battery, so terrified the 
 French, that they abandoned it; and, spiiving 
 the guns, retired to the city. The next morn- 
 ing Yaughan took possession of the deserted 
 battery; but the most difficult labours of the 
 siege remained to be performed. The cannon 
 were to be drawn nearly two miles over a deep 
 morass within gun-shot of the enemy's princi- 
 pal fortifications ; and for fourteen nights the 
 troops, with straps over their shoulders, sinking 
 to their knees in mud, were employed in this 
 arduous service. The approaches were then 
 begun in the mode which seemed most proper 
 to the shrewd understandings of untaught mili- 
 tia. Those officers who were skilled in the art 
 of war talked of zig-zags and epaulements ; but 
 the troops made themselves merry with the 
 terms, and proceeded in their own way. By 
 the 20th of May they had erected five batteries, 
 one of which mounted five forty-two pounders, 
 and did great execution. Meanwhile, the fleet 
 cruising in the harbour had been equally suc- 
 cessful ; it captured a French ship of sixty-four 
 guns, loaded with stores for the garrison, to 
 whom the loss was as distressing as to the be- 
 siegers the capture was fortunate. English 
 ships of war were, besides, continually arriving, 
 and added such strength to the fleet, that a 
 combined attack upon the town was resolved 
 upon. 
 Discouraged by these adverse events and me- 
 
216 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 nacing appearances, Duchambon, the French 
 commander, determined to surrender ; and, on 
 the 16th of June, articles of capitulation were 
 signed. After the surrender of the city, the 
 French flag was kept flying on the ramparts ; 
 and several rich prizes were thus decoyed. 
 Two East Indiamen, and one South Sea ship, 
 estimated at 600,000/. sterling, were taken by 
 the squadron at the mouth of the harbour. 
 This expedition was one of the most remarka- 
 ble events in the history of North America. It 
 was not less hazardous in the attempt, than suc- 
 cessful in the execution. " It displayed the 
 enterprising spirit of New England ; and though 
 it enabled Britain to purchase a p ace, yet it 
 excited her envy and jealousy again: t the colo- 
 nies, by whose exertions it was acquired." The 
 intelligence of this event spread rapidly through 
 the colonies, and diflfused universal joy. Well 
 might the citizens of New England be some- 
 what elated ; without even a suggestion from 
 the mother country, they had projected, and 
 with but comparatively little assistance achiev- 
 ed, an enterprise of vast importance to her and 
 them. Their commerce and fisheries were now 
 secure, and their maritime cities relieved from 
 all fear of attack from a quarter recently so 
 great a source of dread and discomfort. 
 
JAMES OTIS. 217 
 
 JAMES OTIS'S RESISTANCE OF THE WRITS OF 
 
 ASSISTANCE. 
 
 The writ of assistance was to command all 
 sheriffs and other civil officers to assist the per- 
 son to whom it was granted in breaking open 
 and searching every place where he might sus- 
 pect any prohibited or uncustomed goods to be 
 concealed. It was a sort of commission, during 
 pleasure, to ransack the dwellings of the citi- 
 zens ; for it was never to be returned, nor any 
 account of the proceedings under it rendered 
 to the court whence it issued. Such a weapon 
 of oppression in the hands of the inferior officers 
 of the customs, might well alarm even innocence, 
 and confound the violators of the law. 
 
 The mercantile part of the community united 
 in opposing the petition, and was in a state of 
 great anxiety, as to the result of the question. 
 The officers of the customs called upon Mr. 
 Otis for his official assistance, as advocate-gen- 
 eral, to argue their cause : but as he believed 
 these writs to be illegal and tyrannical, he re- 
 signed the situation, though very lucrative, and 
 if filled by a compliant spirit, 'leading to the 
 highest favours of government. The merchants 
 of Salem and Boston applied to Otis and Thach- 
 er, who engaged to make their defence. The 
 trial took place in the council chamber of the 
 Old Town House, in Boston. The judges were 
 19 ^ ^ 
 
218 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 five in number, including Lieutenant-Governor 
 Hutchinson, who presided as chief justice ; and 
 the room was filled with all the officers of go- 
 vernment and the principal citizens, to hear the 
 arguments in a cause that inspired the deepest 
 solicitude. The case was opened by Mr. Grid- 
 ley, who argued it with much learning, inge- 
 nuity, and dignity, urging every point and au- 
 thority that could be found, after the most dili- 
 gent search, in favour of the custom-house pe- 
 tition ; making all his reasoning depend on this 
 consideration, — "if the parliament of Great 
 Britain is the sovereign legislator of the British 
 empire." He was followed by Mr. Thacher 
 on the opposite side, whose reasoning was inge- 
 nious and able, delivered in a tone of great mild- 
 ness and moderation. " But,'* in the language 
 of President Adams, " Otis was a flame of fire ; 
 with a promptitude of classical allusion, a depth 
 of research, a rapid summary of historical events 
 and dates, a profusion of legal authorities, a pro- 
 phetic glance into futurity, and a rapid torrent 
 of impetuous eloquence, he hurried away all 
 before him. American independence was then 
 and there born. The seeds of patriots and he- 
 roes to defend the Mon sine Diis anirnosus in- 
 fans, to defend the vigorous youth, were then 
 and there sown. Every man of an immense 
 crowded audience appeared to me to go away 
 as I did, ready to take arms against writs of 
 assistance. Then and there was the first scene 
 of the first act of opposition to the arbitrary 
 
HETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 219 
 
 claims of Great Britain. Then and there the 
 child Independence was born. In fifteen years, 
 i, 6., in 1776, he grew up to manhood and de- 
 clared himself free." 
 
 RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON FROM THE 
 PRESIDENCY. 
 
 As the period for a new election of a Presi- 
 dent of the United States approached, after 
 plain indications that the public voice would be 
 in his favour, and when he probably would 
 have been chosen for the third time unanimous- 
 ly, Washington determined irrevocably to with- 
 draw to the seclusion of private life. He pub- 
 lished, in September, 1796, a farewell address 
 to the people of the United States, which ought 
 to be engraven upon the hearts of his country- 
 men. In the most earnest and affectionate man- 
 ner he called upon them to cherish an immova- 
 ble attachment to the national union, to watch 
 for its preservation with jealous anxiety, to dis- 
 countenance even the suggestion that it could 
 in any event be abandoned, and indignantly to 
 frown upon the first dawning of every attempt 
 to alienate any portion of the country from the 
 rest. Overgrown military establishments he 
 represented as particularly hostile to republican 
 liberty. While he recommended the most im- 
 plicit obedience to the acts of the established 
 
220 BEAUTIES OF AJiERiCAN HISTORY. 
 
 government, and reprobated all obstructions to 
 the execution of the laws, all combinations and 
 associations, under whatever plausible charac- 
 ter, with the real design to direct, control, coun- 
 teract, or overawe the regular deliberation and 
 action of the constituted authorities, he wished 
 also to guard against the spirit of innovation 
 upon the principles of the constitution. Aware 
 that the energy of the system might be enfee- 
 bled by alterations, he thought that no change 
 should be made without an evident necessity ; 
 and that, in so extensive a country, as much 
 vigour as is consistent with liberty was indis- 
 pensable. On the other hand, he pointed out 
 the danger of a real despotism, by breaking 
 down the partitions between the several depart- 
 ments of government, by destroying the recip- 
 rocal checks, and consolidating the different 
 powers. Against the spirit of party, so pecu- 
 liarly baneful in an elective government, he ut- 
 tered his most solemn remonstrances, as well as 
 against inveterate antipathies or passionate at- 
 tachments in respect to foreign nations. While 
 he thought that the jealousy of a free people 
 ought to be constantly and impartially awake 
 against the wiles of foreign influence, he wished 
 that good faith and justice should be observed 
 towards all nations, and peace and harmony 
 cultivated. In his opinion, honesty, no less in 
 public than in private affairs, was always the 
 best policy. Providence, he believed, had con- 
 nected the permanent felicity of a nation with 
 its virtue. Other subjects to which he alluded, 
 
 mA 
 
RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 221 
 
 were the importance of credit, of economy, of 
 a reduction of the public debt, and of literary 
 institutions ; above ail, he recommended religion 
 and morality as indispensably necessary to po- 
 litical prosperity. This address to the people 
 of the United States was received with the 
 highest veneration and gratitude. Several of 
 the State legislatures ordered it to be put upon 
 their journals, and every citizen considered it 
 as the legacy of the most distinguished Ameri- 
 can patriot. 
 
 On the 7th of December, 1796, the President 
 for the last time met the National Legislature. 
 In his speech, after taking a view of the situa- 
 tion of the United States, regardless of opposi- 
 tion and censure, he recommended the attention 
 of Congress to those measures which he deemed 
 essential to national independence, honour, and 
 prosperity. On the 4th of March, 1797, he 
 attended the inauguration of his successor in 
 office. Great sensibility was manifested by the 
 members of the legislature and other distin- 
 guished characters when he entered the senate 
 chamber, and much admiration expressed at the 
 complacence and delight he manifested at see- 
 ing another clothed with the authority with 
 which he had himself been invested. Having 
 paid his affectionate compliments to Mr. Adams, 
 as President of the United States, he bade adieu 
 to the seat of government, and hastened to the 
 delights of domestic life. He intended that his 
 journey should have been private, but the at- 
 tempt was vain ; the same affectionate and re- 
 19* 
 
222 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 spectful attentions were on this occason paid him 
 which he had received during his presidency. 
 In his retirement at Mount Vernon he gave the 
 world the glorious example of a man volunta- 
 rily disrobing himself of the highest authority, 
 and returning to private life, with a character 
 having upon it no stain of ambition, of cove- 
 tousness, of profusion, of luxury, of oppression, 
 or of injustice; while it was adorned with the 
 presence of virtues and graces, brilliant alike 
 in the shade of retirement and in the glare of 
 public life. 
 
 NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 
 
 In the latter part of the year 1775 and be- 
 ginning of 1776, great exertions had been made 
 in Britain to send an overwhelming force into 
 America; and on the 2d of June the alarm 
 guns were fired in the vicinity of Charleston, 
 and expresses sent to the militia officers to 
 hasten to the defence of the capital with the 
 forces under their command. The order was 
 promptly obeyed ; and some continental regi- 
 ments from the neighbouring states also arrived. 
 The whole was under the direction of General 
 Lee, who had been appointed commander of all 
 the forces in the southern states, and had under 
 him the continental generals, Armstrong and 
 Howe. 
 
NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 223 
 
 The utmost activity prevailed in Charles- 
 ton. The citizens, abandoning their usual 
 avocations, employed themselves entirely in 
 putting the town into a respectable state of 
 defence. They pulled down the valuable store- 
 houses on the wharfs, barricadoed the streets, 
 and constructed lines of defence along the shore. 
 Relinquishing the pursuits of peaceful industry 
 and commercial gain, they engaged in incessant 
 labour, and prepared for bloody conflicts. The 
 troops, amounting to between five and six 
 thousand men, were stationed in the most ad- 
 vantageous positions. The second and third 
 regular regiments of South Carolina, under 
 colonels Moultrie and Thomson, were posted 
 on Sullivan's Island. A regiment, commanded 
 by Colonel Gadsden, was stationed at Fort 
 Johnson, about three miles below Charleston, 
 on the most northerly point of James's Island, 
 and within point blank shot of the channel. 
 The rest of the troops were posted at Haddrel's 
 Point, along the bay near the town, and at such 
 other places as were thought most proper. 
 Amidst all this bustle and preparation, lead for 
 bullets was extremely scarce, and the windows 
 of Charlestown were stripped of their w^eights, 
 in order to procure a small supply of that 
 necessary article. 
 
 While the Americans were thus busily em- 
 ployed, the British exerted themselves with 
 activity. About the middle of February, an 
 armament sailed from the Cove of Cork, under 
 the command of Sir Peter Parker and Earl 
 
224 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 Cornwallis, to encourage'and support the loyal- 
 ists in the southern provinces. 
 
 After a tedious voyage, the greater part of 
 the fleet reached Cape Fear, in North Carolina, 
 on the 3d of May. General Clinton, who had 
 left Boston in December, took the command of 
 the land forces, and issued a proclamation, pro- 
 mising pardon to all the inhabitants who laid 
 down their arms; but that proclamation pro- 
 duced no effect. Early in June, the armament, 
 consisting of between forty and fifty vessels, 
 appeared off Charleston bay, and thirty-six 
 of the transports passed the bar, and anchored 
 about three miles from Sullivan's Island. Some 
 hundreds of the troops landed on Long Island, 
 which lies on the west of Sullivan's Island, and 
 which is separated from it by a narrow chan- 
 nel, often fordable. On the 10th of the month, 
 the Bristol, a fifty-gun ship, having taken out 
 her guns, got safely over the bar; and on the 
 25th, the Experiment, a ship of equal force, 
 arrived, and next day passed in the same way. 
 On the part of the British every thing was now 
 ready for action. Sir Henry Clinton had nearly 
 three thousand men under his command. The 
 naval force, under Sir Peter Parker, consisted 
 of the Bristol and Experiment, of fifty guns 
 each ; the Active, Acteon, Solebay, and Syren 
 frigates, of twenty-eight guns each ; the Friend- 
 ship, of twenty-two, and the Sphinx, of twenty 
 guns ; the Ranger sloop, and Thunder bomb, 
 of eight guns each. 
 
 On the forenoon of the 28th of June, this 
 
NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 225. 
 
 fleet advanced against the fort on Sullivan's 
 Island, which was defended by Colonel Moul- 
 trie, with three hundred and forty-four regular 
 troops, and some militia, who volunteered their 
 services on the occasion. The Thunder bomb 
 began the battle. The Active, Bristol, Experi- 
 ment, and Solebay followed boldly to the at- 
 tack, and a terrible cannonade ensued. The 
 fort returned the fire of the ships slowly, but 
 with deliberate and deadly aim. The contest 
 was carried on during the whole day with 
 unabating fury. All the forces collected at 
 Charleston stood prepared for battle ; and 
 both the troops pnd the numerous spectators 
 beheld the conflict with alternations of hope 
 and fear, which appeared in their countenances 
 and gestures. They knew not how soon the 
 fort might be silenced or passed by, and the 
 attack immediately made upon themselves ; but 
 they were resolved to meet the invaders at the 
 water's edge, to dispute every inch of ground, 
 and to prefer death to what they considered 
 to be slavery. 
 
 The Sphinx, Acteon, and Syren were ordered 
 to attack the western extremity of the fort, 
 which was in a very unfinished state; but, as 
 they proceeded for that purpose, they got en- 
 tangled with a shoal, called the Middle Ground. 
 Two of them ran foul of each other: the Acteon 
 stuck fast ; the Sphinx and Syren got off*, the 
 former with the loss of her bowsprit, the latter 
 with little injury; but, happily for the Ameri- 
 cans, that part of the attack completely failed;. 
 
226 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 It had been concerted that, during the attack 
 by the ships, Sir Henry Clinton, with the 
 troops, should pass the narrow channel which 
 separates Long Island from Sullivan's Island, 
 and assail the fort by land : but this the general 
 found impracticable ; for the channel, though 
 commonly fordable, was at that time, by a long 
 prevalence of easterly winds, deeper than usual. 
 Sir Henry Clinton and some other officers 
 "waded up to the shoulders; but, finding the 
 depth still increasing, they abandoned the in- 
 tention of attempting the passage. The sea- 
 men, who found themselves engaged in such a 
 severe conflict, often cast a wistful look towards 
 Long Island, in the hope of seeing Sir Henry 
 Clinton and the troops advancing against the 
 fort ; but their hope was disappointed, and the 
 ships and the fort were left to themselves to 
 decide the combat. Although the channel had 
 been fordable, the British troops would have 
 found the passage an arduous enterprise; for 
 Colonel Thomson, with a strong detachment of 
 riflemen, regulars, and militia, was posted on 
 the east end of Sullivan's Island, to oppose any 
 attack made in that quarter. 
 
 In the course of the day the fire of the fort 
 ceased for a short time, and the British flattered 
 themselves that the guns were abandoned ; but 
 the pause was occasioned solely by the want 
 of powder, and when a supply was obtained, 
 the cannonade recommenced a? steadily as 
 before. The engagement, which began about 
 eleven o'clock in the forenoon, continued with 
 
NOBLE DEFENCE OF CHARLESTON. 227 
 
 unabated fury till seven in the evening, when 
 the fire slackened, and about nine entirely- 
 ceased on both sides. During the night all the 
 ships, except the Acteon which was aground, 
 removed about two miles from the island. Next 
 morning the fort fired a few shots at the Acteon, 
 and she at first returned them ; but, in a short 
 time, her crew set her on fire and abandoned 
 her. A party of Americans boarded the burn- 
 ing vessel, seized her colours, fired some of her 
 guns at Commodore Parker, filled three boats 
 with her sails and stores, and then quitted her. 
 She blew up shortly afterwards. 
 
 In this obstinate engagement both parties 
 fought with great gallantry. The loss of the 
 British was considerable. The Bristol had 
 forty men killed, and seventy-one wounded ; 
 Mr. Morris, her captain, lost an arm. The 
 Experiment had twenty-three men killed, and 
 seventy-six wounded ; captain Scott, her com- 
 mander, also lost an arm ; Lord William Camp- 
 bell, the late governor of the province, who 
 served on board as a volunteer, received a 
 wound in his side which ultimately proved 
 mortal ; Commodore Sir Peter Parker received 
 a slight contusion. The Acteon had Lieutenant 
 Pike killed, and six men wounded. The Sole- 
 bay had eight men wounded. After some days 
 the troops were all reimbarked, and the whole 
 armament sailed for New York. The garrison 
 lost ten men killed, and twenty-two wounded. 
 Although the Americans were raw troops, yet 
 they behaved with the steady intrepidity of 
 
228 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 veterans. In the course of the engagement the 
 flag-staff of the fort was shot away ; but Ser- 
 geant Jasper leaped down upon the beach, 
 snatched up the flag, fastened it to a sponge 
 staff*, and, while the ships were incessantly 
 directing their broadsides upon the fort, he 
 mounted the merlon and deliberately replaced 
 the flag. Next day president Rutledge pre- 
 sented him with a sword, as a testimony of 
 respect for his distinguished valour. Colonel 
 Moultrie, and the officers and troops on Sulli- 
 van's Island, received the thanks of their coun- 
 try for their bravery ; and, in honour of the 
 gallant commander, the fort was named Fort 
 Sloultrie. 
 
 The failure of the attack on Charlestown 
 was of great importance to the American cause, 
 and contributed much to the establishment of 
 the popular government. The friends of con- 
 gress triumphed ; and numbers of them, igno- 
 rant of the power of Britain and of the spirit 
 which animated her counsels, fondly imagined 
 that their freedom was achieved. The diffident 
 became bold : the advocates of the irresistibility 
 of British fleets and armies were mortified 
 and silenced ; and they, who from interested 
 motives had hitherto been loud in their profes- 
 sions of loyalty, began to alter their tone. The 
 brave defence of Fort Moultrie saved the south- 
 ern states from the horrors of war for several 
 years. 
 
BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 229 
 
 BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 
 
 Lord Rawdon having returned to England, 
 the command of the British troops in South 
 Carolina devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Stewart ; who, in the beginning of September, 
 took post at Eutaw Springs. General Green 
 marched against him from the hills of Santee. 
 The rival forces were equal, amounting on 
 each side to two thousand men. On the 8th 
 an attack was made by the Americans : a part 
 of the British line, consisting of new troops, 
 broke, and fled ; but the veteran corps received 
 the charge of the assailants on the points of 
 their bayonets. The hostile ranks were for a 
 time intermingled, and the officers fought hand 
 to hand ; but Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, who had 
 turned the British left flank, charging them at 
 this instant in the rear, their line was soon 
 completely broken, and driven off the field. 
 They were vigorously pursued by the Ameri- 
 cans, who took upwards of five hundred of 
 them prisoners. The British, on their retreat, 
 took post in a large three-story brick house, 
 and in a picketed garden ; and from these ad- 
 vantageous positions renewed the action. Four 
 six-pounders were ordered up before the house; 
 but the Americans were compelled to leave 
 these pieces and retire. They formed again at 
 a small distance in the woods; but General 
 Green, thinking it inexpedient to renew the 
 20 
 
230 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 desperate attempt, left a strong picket on the 
 field of battle, and retired with his prisoners to 
 the ground from which he had marched in the 
 morning. In the evening of the next day, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, leaving seventy 
 of his wounded men and one thousand stand 
 of arms, moved from Eutaw towards Charles- 
 ton. The loss of the British, inclusive of pri- 
 soners, was supposed to be not less than eleven 
 hundred men. The loss of the Americans, in 
 killed, wounded, and missing, was about half 
 that number. This battle was attended by 
 consequences very advantageous to the Ameri- 
 cans, and may be considered as closing the 
 revolutionary war in South Carolina. 
 
 BATTLE OF TRENTON, 1776. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Philadelphia now be- 
 coming the seat of war. Congress adjourned to 
 Baltimore; resolving at the same time ''that 
 General Washington should be possessed of full 
 powers to order and direct all things relative to 
 the department and the operations of the war." 
 In this extremity, judicious determinations in 
 the cabinet were accompanied with vigorous 
 operations in the field. The united exertions 
 of civil and military officers had by this time 
 brought a considerable body of militia into their 
 ranks. General Sullivan, too, on whom the 
 
BATTLE OF TRENTON. 231 
 
 coiTimand of General Lee's division devolved 
 on his capture, promptly obeyed the orders of 
 the commander-in-chief, and at this period join- 
 ed him, and General Heath marched a detach- 
 ment from Peek's Kill. 
 
 The army, with these reinforcements, amount- 
 ed to seven thousand men, and General Wash- 
 ington determined to commence active and bold 
 operations. He had noticed the loose and un- 
 covered state of the winter quarters of the Bri- 
 tish army, and contemplated the preservation 
 of Philadelphia, and the recovery of New Jer- 
 sey, by sweeping, at one stroke, all the British 
 cantonments upon the Delaware. The present 
 position of his forces favoured the execution of 
 his plan. The troops under the immediate com- 
 mand of General Washington, consisting of 
 about two thousand four hundred men, were 
 ordered to cross the river at M'Konkey's ferry, 
 nine miles above Trenton, to attack that post. 
 General Irvine was directed to cross with his 
 division at Trenton ferry, to secure the bridge 
 below the town, and prevent the retreat of the 
 enemy that way. General Cadwallader receiv- 
 ed orders to pass the river at Bristol ferry, and 
 assault the post at Burlington. The night of 
 the 25th was assigned for the execution of this 
 daring scheme. It proved to be severely cold, 
 and so much ice was made in the river, that 
 General Irvine and General Cadwallader, after 
 having strenuously exerted themselves, found it 
 impracticable to pass their divisions, and their 
 part of the plan totally failed. The command- 
 
232 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 er-in-chief was, however, more fortunate, and, 
 though with much difficulty and considerable 
 loss of time, succeeded in crossing the river, 
 and reached Trenton by eight o'clock in the 
 morning. The brave Colonel Rawle, the com- 
 manding officer, assembled his forces for the 
 defence of his post ; but he was mortally wound- 
 ed by the first fire, and his men, in apparent 
 dismay, attempted to file oflf towards Princeton. 
 General Washington, perceiving their intention, 
 moved a part of his troops into this road in 
 their front, and defeated the design. Their ar- 
 tillery being seized, and the Americans pressing 
 upon them, they surrendered. Twenty of the 
 Germans were killed, and a thousand made pri- 
 soners. By the failure of General Irvine, a 
 small body of the enemy stationed in the lower 
 part of the town escaped over the bridge to 
 Bordentown. Of the American troops, two pri- 
 vates were killed and two frozen to death, and 
 one officer and three or four privates were 
 wounded. Could the other divisions have cross- 
 ed the Delaware, General Washington's plan, 
 in its full extent, would probably have succeed- 
 ed. Not thinking it prudent to hazard the fruits 
 of this gallant stroke by more daring attempts, 
 the General the same day recrossed the Dela- 
 ware with his prisoners, with six pieces of artil- 
 lery, a thousand stand of arms, and some mili- 
 tary stores. 
 
 This display of enterprise and vigour on the 
 part of the Americans astonished and perplexed 
 General Howe, and, though in the depth of 
 winter, he found it necessary to commence ^c- 
 
BATTLE OF TRENTON. 238 
 
 live operations. Such was the reviving influ- 
 ence on the minds of the American soldiers, and 
 such the skill which the commander-in-chief 
 exercised, that, after several successful opera- 
 tions following that of Trenton, he not only 
 saved Piiiladelphia and Pennsylvania, but reco- 
 vered the greatest part of the Jerseys, in defi- 
 ance of an army vastly superior to his, in dis- 
 cipline, resources, and numbers. Of all their 
 recent extensive possessions in the Jerseys, the 
 English retained now only the posts of Bruns- 
 wick and Amboy. These successful operations 
 on the part of the Americans were immediately 
 followed by a proclamation, in the name of Gen- 
 eral Washington, absolving all those who had 
 been induced to take the oaths of allegiance 
 tendered by the British commissioners, and pro- 
 mising them protection on condition of their 
 subscribing to a form of oath prescribed by 
 Congress. The effects of this proclamation were 
 almost instantaneous. The inhabitants of the 
 Jerseys, who had conceived a violent hatred to 
 the British army, on account of their unchecked 
 course of plundering, instantly renounced their 
 allegiance to Great Britain, and attached them- 
 selves to the cause of America. Several who 
 were resolved to avenge their wrongs, joined 
 the army under General Washington, while 
 others rendered equal service to the side to 
 which they attached themselves, by supplying 
 the American army with provisions and fuel,, 
 and by conveying intelligence of the operations 
 of the British army. 
 20* 
 
234 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 
 
 Having secured the Hessian prisoners on the 
 Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, Washing- 
 ton recrossed the river two days after the ac- 
 tion, and took possession of Trenton. Generals 
 Mifflin and Cadwallader, who lay at Borden- 
 town and Crosswix with three thousand six 
 hundred militia, were ordered to march up in 
 the night of the 1st of January, to join the com- 
 mander-in-chief, whose whole effective force, 
 including this accession, did not exceed five 
 thousand men. The detachments of the Brit- 
 ish army which had been distributed over New 
 Jersey, now assembled at Princeton, and were 
 joined by the army from Brunswick under Lord 
 Cornwallis. From this position they advanced 
 toward Trenton in great force, on the morning 
 of the 2d of January ; and, after some slight 
 skirmishing with troops detached to harass and 
 delay their march, the van of their army reach- 
 ed Trenton about four in the afternoon. On 
 their approach, General Washington retired 
 across the Assumpinck, a rivulet that runs 
 through the town, and by some field pieces, 
 posted on its opposite banks, compelled them, 
 after attempting to cross in several places, to 
 fall back out of the reach of his guns. The 
 two armies, kindling their fires, retained their 
 positions on opposite sides of the rivulet, and 
 kept up a cannonade until night. The situa- 
 
BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 235 
 
 tion of the American general was at this mo- 
 ment extremely critical. Nothing but a stream, 
 in many places fordable, separated his army 
 from an enemy in every respect its superior. 
 If he remained in his present position, he was 
 certain of being attacked the next morning, at 
 the hazard of the entire destruction of his little 
 army. If he should retreat over the Delaware, 
 the ice in that river not being firm enough to 
 admit a passage upon it, there was danger of 
 great loss, perhaps of a total defeat ; the Jer- 
 seys would be in full possession of the enemy ; 
 the public mind would be depressed ; recruiting 
 would be discouraged ; and Philadelphia would 
 be within the reach of General Howe. In this 
 extremity, he boldly determined to abandon the 
 Delaware, and, by a circuitous march along the 
 left flank of the enemy, fall into their rear at 
 Princeton. When it was dark, the army, leav- 
 ing its fires lighted, and the sentinels on the 
 margin of the creek, decamped with perfect 
 secresy. About sunrise two British regiments, 
 that were on their march to join the rear of the 
 British army at Maidenhead, fell in with the 
 van of the Americans, conducted by General 
 Mercer, and a very sharp action ensued. The 
 advanced party of Americans, composed chiefly 
 of militia, soon gave way, and the few regulars 
 attached to them could not maintain their 
 ground. General Mercer, while gallantly ex- 
 erting himself to rally his broken troops, re- 
 ceived a mortal wound. General Washington, 
 however, who followed close in their rear, now 
 
236 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 led on the main body of the army, and attacked 
 the enemy with great spirit. While he exposed 
 himself to their hottest fire, he was so well sup- 
 ported by the same troops which had aided him 
 a few days before in the victory at Trenton, 
 that the British were compelled to give way, 
 and Washington pressed forward to Princeton. 
 A party of the British that had taken refuge in 
 the college, after receiving a few discharges 
 from the American field-pieces, surrendered 
 themselves prisoners of war ; but the principal 
 part of the regiment that was left there, saved 
 itself by a precipitate retreat to Brunswick. 
 In this action upwards of a hundred of the 
 British were killed, and nearly three hundred 
 were taken prisoners. Great was the surprise 
 of Lord Cornwallis when the report of the ar- 
 tillery at Princeton, and the arrival of breath- 
 less messengers, apprised him that the enemy 
 was in his rear. Alarmed by the danger of his 
 position, he commenced a retreat ; and, being 
 harassed by the militia and the countrymen 
 who had suffered from the outrages perpetrated 
 by his troops on their advance, he did not deem 
 himself in safety till he arrived at Brunswick, 
 from whence, by means of the Raritan, he had 
 communication with New York. 
 
SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 237 
 
 SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 
 
 Brilliant as were the successes of General 
 Green in the Carolinas, it was in Virginia that 
 the last great stroke in favour of American 
 independence was to be effected. The army 
 under the commander-in-chief had passed an- 
 other distressing winter, and symptoms of 
 mutiny had again manifested themselves, but 
 were happily suppressed. Deplorably deficient 
 in provisions and supplies, and promised rein- 
 forcements being grievously delayed, Washing- 
 ton still remained undiscouraged, and deter- 
 mined, in conjunction with the French fleet, to 
 resume vigorous operations. New York was 
 the destined point of the combined attack ; but 
 the large reinforcements which had recently 
 arrived there, and other unfavourable circum- 
 stances, induced the commander-in-chief, so 
 late as August, entirely to change the plan of 
 the campaign, and to resolve to attempt the 
 capture of the army of Lord Cornwall is, which 
 had now taken up a position at Yorktown, in 
 Virginia. The defence of West Point, and of 
 the other posts on the Hudson, was committed 
 to General Heath, and a large portion of the 
 troops raised in the northern states was for this 
 service left under his command. 
 
 General Washington resolved in person to 
 conduct the Virginia expedition. The troops 
 under Count Rochambeau, and strong detach- 
 
238 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 ments from the American army, amounting to 
 more than two thousand men, and consisting 
 of the light infantry, Lamb's artillery, and 
 several other corps, were destined for it. By 
 the 25th of August the whole body, American 
 and French, had crossed the North River. An 
 intercepted letter of General Washington's, in 
 which he communicated, as the result of a con- 
 sultation with the French commanders, the 
 design to attack New York, had excited the 
 apprehensions of the British general for the 
 safety of that city. This apprehension was 
 kept alive, and the real object of the Americans 
 concealed, by preparations for an encampment 
 in New Jersey, opposite to Staten Island, by 
 the route of the American army, and other 
 appearances, indicating an intention to besiege 
 New York ; and the troops had passed the 
 Delaware, out of reach of annoyance, before 
 Sir Henry suspected their destination. General 
 Washington pressed forward with the utmost 
 expedition, and at Chester he received the im- 
 portant intelligence that Count de Grasse had 
 arrived with his fleet in the Chesapeake, and 
 that the Marquis St. Simon had, with a body 
 of three thousand land forces, joined the Mar- 
 quis de Lafayette. Having directed the route 
 of his army from the head of the Elk, he, 
 accompanied by Rocliambeau, Chatelleux, Du 
 Portrail, and Knox, proceeded to Virginia. 
 They reached Williamsburgh on the 14th of 
 September, and immediately repaired on board 
 the Villa de Paris, to settle with Count de 
 
SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 239 
 
 Grasse the plan of operations. The whole 
 body of American and French troops reached 
 Williamsburgh by the 25th of September. At 
 this place the allied forces were joined by a 
 detachment of the militia of Virginia, under 
 the command of Governor Nelson, and pre- 
 parations were soon made to attack the en- 
 trenchments of Lord Cornwalli-s. 
 
 Yorktown, the head-quarters of Lord Corn- 
 wallis, is a village on the south side of York 
 River, the southern banks of which are high, 
 and where ships of the line may ride in safety. 
 Gloucester Point is a piece of land on the oppo- 
 site shore, projecting considerably into the 
 river. Both these posts were occupied by the 
 British ; and a communication between them 
 was commanded by their batteries, and by 
 several ships of war. The main body of Lord 
 Cornvvallis's army was encamped on the open 
 grounds about Yorktown, within a range of 
 outer redoubts and field-works; and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Tarleton, with a detachment of six or 
 seven hundred men, held the post at Gloucester 
 Point. 
 
 The legion of the Duke de Lauzun, and a 
 brigade of militia under General Weedon, the 
 whole commanded by the French general De 
 Choise, were directed to watch and restrain 
 the enemy on the side of Gloucester ; and the 
 grand combined army, on the 30th of Septem- 
 ber, moved down to the investiture of York- 
 town. On the night of the 6th of October, 
 advancing to within six hundred yards of the 
 
240 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 English lines, they began their first parallel, 
 and laboured with such silence and diligence, 
 that they were not discovered until morning, 
 when the works they had raised were sufficient 
 to protect them. On the 9th, several batteries 
 being completed, a heavy cannonade was begun. 
 Many of the British guns were dismounted, 
 and portions of their fortifications laid level 
 with the ground. On the night of the 11th, 
 the besiegers commenced their second parallel, 
 three hundred yards in advance of the first. 
 This approach was made so much sooner than 
 was expected, that the men were not discovered 
 at their labour until they had rendered them- 
 selves secure from all molestation in front. The 
 fire from the new batteries was still more furious 
 and destructive. From two British redoubts, 
 in advance of their main works, and flanking 
 those of the besiegers, the men in the trenches 
 were so severely annoyed, that Washington 
 resolved to storm them. The enterprise against 
 one was committed to an American force under 
 the Marquis de Lafayette, that against the 
 other to a French detachment. Colonel Hamil- 
 ton, who led the van of the former, made such 
 an impetuous attack tha*^^ possession was soon 
 obtained, with little slaughter. The French 
 detachment was equally brave and successful, 
 but sustained greater loss. On the 16th, a 
 sortie was made from the garrison by a party 
 of three hundred and fifty, commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie, who forced 
 two batteries, and spiked eleven pieces of can- 
 
 41 
 
SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 241 
 
 non ; but the guards from the trenches imme- 
 diately advancing on them, they retreated, and 
 the pieces which they had hastily spiked were 
 soon rendered fit for service. In the afternoon 
 of the same day the besiegers opened several 
 batteries in their second parallel ; and in the 
 whole line of batteries nearly one hundred 
 pieces of heavy ordnance were now mounted. 
 The works of the besieged were so universally 
 in ruins as to be in no condition to sustain the 
 fire which might be expected the next day. 
 In this extremity. Lord Cornwallis boldly re- 
 solved to attempt an escape by land with the 
 greater part of his army. His plan was to 
 cross over, in the night, to Gloucester Point, 
 and forcing his way through the troops under 
 De Choise, to pass through Maryland, Penn- 
 sylvania, and Jersey, and form a junction with 
 the royal army at New York. In prosecution 
 of this desperate design, one embarkation of 
 his troops crossed over to the opposite point ; 
 but a violent storm of wind and rain dispersed 
 the boats, and frustrated the scheme. 
 
 On the morning of the 17lh, the fire of the 
 American batteries rendered the British post 
 untenable. Lord Cornwallis, perceiving further 
 resistance to be unavailing, about ten o'clock 
 beat a parley, and proposed a cessation of hos- 
 tilities for twenty-four hours, that commission- 
 ers might meet to settle the term.s on which 
 the posts of York and Gloucester should be 
 surrendered. General Washington, in his an- 
 swer, declared his " ardent desire to spare the 
 21 
 
242 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 effusion of blood, and his readiness to listen to 
 such terms as were admissible ;" but to prevent 
 loss of time, he desired " that, previous to the 
 meeting of the commissioners, the proposals of 
 his lordship might be transmitted in writing, 
 for which purpose a suspension of hostilities 
 for two hours should be granted." The terms 
 proposed by his lordship v/ere such as led the 
 general to suppose that articles of capitulation 
 might easily be adjusted, and he continued the 
 cessation of hostilities until the next day. To 
 expedite tlie business, he summarily stated the 
 terms he was willing to grant, and informed 
 Earl Cornwallis, that if he admitted these as 
 the basis of a treaty, commissioners might 
 meet to put them into form. Accordingly, 
 Viscount de Noailles and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Laurens, on the part of the allies, and Colonel 
 Dundas and Major Ross, on the part of the 
 English, met the next day, and adjusted articles 
 of capitulation, which were to be submitted to 
 the consideration of the British general. Re- 
 solving not to expose himself to any accident 
 that might be the consequence of unnecessary 
 delay. General Washington ordered the rough 
 draft of the commissioners to be fairi^' tran- 
 scribed, and sent to Lord Cornwaiiis early 
 next morning, with a letter expressing his 
 expectation that the garrison would march out 
 by two o'clock in the afternoon. Hopeless of 
 more favourable terms, his lordship signed the 
 capitulation, and surrendered the posts of York 
 and Gloucester, with their garrisons, to General 
 
SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 243 
 
 Washington; and the shipping in the harbour, 
 with the seamen, to Count de Grasse. The 
 prisoners, exclusive of seamen, amounted to 
 more than seven thousand, of which between 
 four and five thousand only were fit for duty. 
 The garrison lost, during the siege, six officers 
 and five hundred and forty-eight privates in 
 killed and wounded. The privates, with a 
 competent number of officers, were to remain 
 in Virginia, Maryland, or Pennsylvania. The 
 officers not required for this service were per- 
 mitted on parole to return to Europe, or to any 
 of the maritime posts of the English on the 
 American continent. The terms granted to 
 Earl Cornwallis were, in general, the terms 
 which had been granted to the Americans at 
 the surrender of Charleston ; and General Lin- 
 coln, who on that occasion resigned his sword 
 to Lord Cornwallis, was appointed to receive 
 the submission of the royal army. The allied 
 army, to which Lord Cornwallis surrendered, 
 amounted to sixteen thousand ; seven thousand 
 French, five thousand five hundred continental 
 troops, and three thousand five hundred militia. 
 In the course of the siege they lost, in killed 
 and wounded, about three hundred. The siege 
 was prosecuted with so much military judgment 
 and ardour, that the treaty was opened on the 
 eleventh, and the capitulation signed on the 
 thirteenth day after ground was broken before 
 the British lines. 
 
 The capture of so large a British army 
 excited universal joy, and on no occasion 
 
244 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 during the war did the Americans manifest 
 greater exultation. From the nature and dura- 
 tion of the contest, the affections of many had 
 been so concentrated upon their country, and 
 so intense was their interest in its fate, that the 
 news of this brilliant success produced the most 
 rapturous emotions, under the operations of 
 which, it is said, some were even deprived of 
 their reason, and one aged patriot in Philadel- 
 phia expired. The day after the capitulation 
 General Washington ordered " that those who 
 were under arrest should be pardoned and set 
 at liberty;" and announced, that " Divine ser- 
 vice shall be performed to-morrow in the dif- 
 ferent brigades and divisions. The commander- 
 in-chief recommends, that all the troops that 
 are not upon duty do assist at it with a serious 
 deportment, and that sensibility of heart which 
 the recollection of the surprising and particu- 
 lar interposition of Providence in our favour 
 claims." Congress, as soon as they received 
 General Washington's official letter, giving 
 information of the event, resolved to go in 
 procession to the Dutch Lutheran church, and 
 return thanks to Almighty God for the signal 
 success of the American arms; and they issued 
 a proclamation, recommending to the citizens 
 of the United States to observe the 13th of 
 December as a day of public thanksgiving and 
 prayer. 
 
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 245 
 
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 On the 22d of December, 1814, the British, 
 having landed, took a position near the main 
 channel of the river, about eight miles below 
 the city. In the evening of the 23d, General 
 Jackson made a sudden and furious attack upon 
 their camp. They were thrown into disorder; 
 but they soon rallied, and fought with a brave- 
 ry at least equal to that of the assailants. Sat- 
 isfied with the advantage first gained, he with- 
 drew his troops, fortified a strong position four 
 miles below New Orleans, and supported it by 
 batteries erected on the west bank of the river. 
 On the 28th of December, and the 1st of Janu- 
 ary, vigorous but unsuccessful attacks were 
 made upon these fortifications by the English. 
 In the mean time both armies had received re- 
 inforcements ; and General Sir E. Pakenham, 
 the British commander, resolved to exert all his 
 strength in a combined attack upon the Ameri- 
 can positions on both sides of the river. With 
 almost incredible industry, he caused a canal, 
 leading from a creek emptying itself into Lake 
 Borgne to the main channel of the Mississippi, 
 to be dug, that he might remove a part of his 
 boats and artillery to that river. On the 7th 
 of January, from the movements observed in 
 the British camp, a speedy attack was antici- 
 pated. This was made early on the 8th. The 
 British troops, formed in a close column of about 
 21* 
 
246 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTOHY. 
 
 sixty men in front, the men shouldering their 
 muskets, all carrying fascines, and some with 
 ladders, advanced towards the American forti- 
 fications, from whence an incessant fire was kept 
 up on the column, which continued to advance, 
 until the musketry of the troops of Tennessee 
 and Kentucky, joined with the fire of the artil- 
 lery, began to make an impression on it which 
 soon threw it into confusion. For some time 
 the British officers succeeded in animating the 
 courage of their troops, making them advance 
 obliquely to the left, to avoid the fire of a bat- 
 tery, every discharge from w^hich opened the 
 column, and mowed down whole files, which 
 were almost instantaneously replaced by new 
 troops coming up close after the first : but these 
 also shared the same fate, until at last, after 
 twenty-five minutes continual firing, through 
 which a few platoons advanced to the edge of 
 the ditch, the column entirely broke, and part 
 of the troops dispersed, and ran to take shelter 
 among the bushes on the right. The rest re- 
 tired to the ditch where they had been when first 
 perceived, four hundred yards from the Ameri- 
 can lines. There the officers with some diffi- 
 culty rallied their troops, and again drew them 
 up for a second attack, the soldiers having laid 
 down their knapsacks at the edge of the ditch, 
 that they might be less encumbered. And now, 
 for the second time, the column, recruited with 
 the troops that formed the rear, advanced. 
 Again it was received with the same galling fire 
 of musketry and artillery, till it at last broke 
 
BATTLE or NEW ORLEANS. 247 
 
 again, and retired in the utmost confusion. In 
 vain did the officers now endeavour, as before, 
 to revive the courage of their men ; to no pur- 
 pose did they strike them with the flat of their 
 swords, to force them to advance : they were 
 insensible of everything but danger, and saw 
 nothing but death, which had struck so many 
 of their comrades. The attack had hardly be- 
 gun, when the British commander-in-chief, Sir 
 Edward Pakenham, fell a victim to his own in- 
 trepidity, while endeavouring to animate his 
 troops with ardour for the assault. Soon after 
 his fall, two other generals, Keane and Gibbs, 
 were carried off the field of battle, dangerously 
 wounded. A great number of officers of rank 
 had fallen : the ground over which the column 
 had marched was strewed with the dead and 
 wounded. Such slaughter on their side, with 
 scarcely any loss on the American, spread con- 
 sternation through the British ranks, as they 
 were now convinced of the impossibility of car- 
 rying the lines, and saw that even to advance 
 was certain death. Some of the British troops 
 had penetrated into the wood towards the ex- 
 tremity of the American line, to make a false 
 attack, or to ascertain whether a real one were 
 practicable. These the troops under General 
 Coffee no sooner perceived, than they opened 
 on them a brisk fire with their rifles, which 
 made them retire. The greater part of those 
 who, on the column's being repulsed, had taken 
 shelter in the thickets, only escaped the batte- 
 ries to be killed by the musketry. During the 
 
249 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 whole hour that the attack lasted, the American 
 fire did not slacken for a single moment. By half 
 after eight in the morning, the fire of the mus- 
 ketry had ceased. The whole plain on the left, 
 as also the side of the river, from the road to 
 the edge of the water, was covered with the 
 British soldiers who had fallen. About four 
 hundred wounded prisoners were taken, and at 
 least double that number of wounded men escap- 
 ed into the British camp ; and a space of ground, 
 extending from the ditch of the American lines 
 to that on which the enemy drew up his troops, 
 two hundred and fifty yards in length, by about 
 two hundred in breadth, was literally covered 
 with men, cither dead or severely w^ounded. 
 Perhaps a greater disparity of loss never oc- 
 curred ; that of the British in killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners, in this attack, was upwards of 
 two thousand men ; the killed and wounded of 
 the Americans was only thirteen. 
 
BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG, &C. 249 
 
 BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG AND LAKE 
 CHAMPLAIN. 
 
 The march of the troops from Plattsburg 
 having left that post almost defenceless, the ene- 
 my determined to attack it by land, and, at the 
 same time, to attempt the destruction of the 
 American flotilla on Lake Champlain. On the 
 3d of September, Sir George Prevost, the go- 
 vernor-general of Canada, at the head of four- 
 teen thousand men, entered the territories of 
 the United States. On the 6th they arrived at 
 Plattsburg. It is situated near Lake Cham- 
 plain, on the northern bank of the small river 
 Saranac. On their approach, the American 
 troops, who were posted on the opposite bank, 
 tore up the planks of the bridges, with which 
 they formed slight breastworks, and prepared 
 to dispute the passage of the stream. The Brit- 
 ish employed themselves for several days in 
 erecting batteries, while the American forces 
 were daily augmented by the arrival of volun- 
 teers and militia. Early in the morning of the 
 11th, the British squadron, commanded by Com- 
 modore Dow^ne, appeared off the harbour of 
 Plattsburg, where that of the LTnited States, 
 commanded by Commodore M'Donough, lay at 
 anchor prepared for battle. At nine o'clock 
 the action commenced. Seldom has there been 
 a more furious encounter than the bosom of this 
 transparent and peaceful lake was now called 
 
S50 BEAUTIES OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 to witness. During the naval conflict the Brit- 
 ish on land began a heavy cannonade upon the 
 American lines, and attempted at different 
 places to cross the Saranac ; but as often as the 
 British advanced into the water they were re- 
 pelled by a destructive fire from the militia. 
 At half-past eleven the shout of victory heard 
 along the American lines announced the result 
 of the battle on the lake. Thus deprived of 
 naval aid, in the afternoon the British withdrew 
 to their entrenchments, and at night they com- 
 menced a precipitate retreat. Upon the lal-e 
 the American loss was one hundred and ten ; 
 the British one hundred and ninety-four, besides 
 prisoners. On land, the American loss was one 
 hundred and nineteen; that of the British has 
 been estimated as high as two thousand five 
 hundred. 
 
 ALGERINE WAR OF 1815. 
 
 While the people of the United States were 
 rejoicing at the return of peace, their attention 
 was called to a new scene of war. By a mes- 
 sage from the President to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, w^ith a report of the Secretary of 
 State, it appeared that the dey of Algiers had 
 violently, and without just cause, obliged the 
 consul of the United States, and all the Ameri- 
 can citizens in Algiers, to leave that place, in 
 violation of the treaty then subsisting between 
 
ALGERINE WAR. 251 
 
 the two nations ; that he had exacted from the 
 consul, under pain of immediate imprisonment, 
 a large sum of money, to which he had no just 
 claim ; and that these acts of violence and out- 
 rage had been followed by the capture of at 
 least one American vessel, and by the seizure 
 of an American citizen on board of a neutral 
 vessel ; tiiat the captured persons were yet held 
 in captivity, with the exception of two of them, 
 who had been ransomed ; that every effort to 
 obtain the release of the others had proved abor- 
 tive ; and that there was some reason to believe 
 they were held by the dey as means by which 
 he calculated to extort from the United States 
 a degrading treaty. In March war was de- 
 clared against the Algerines. 
 
 An expedition was immediately ordered to 
 the Mediterranean, under the command of Com- 
 modore Bainbridge. The squadron in advance 
 on that service, under Commodore Decatur, lost 
 not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterra- 
 nean in seeking the naval force of the enemy, 
 then cru'bing in that sea, and succeeded in cap- 
 turing iwo of his ships, one of them command- 
 ed by -he Algerine admiral. The American. 
 comiTiander, after this demonstration of skill 
 and prowess, hastened to the port of Algiers, 
 where he readily obtained peace, in the stipu- 
 lated terms of which the rights and honour of 
 the United States were particularly consulted 
 by a perpetual relinquishment, on the part of 
 thedey, of all pretensions to tribute from them. 
 The impressions thus made, strengthened by 
 
252 
 
 BEAUTIES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 
 
 subsequent transactions with the regencies of 
 Tunis and Tripoli, by the appearance of the 
 larger force which foliowed under Commodore 
 Bainbridge, and by the judicious precautionary 
 arrangements left by him in that quarter, afford- 
 ed a reasonable prospect of future security for 
 the valuable portion of American commerce 
 which passes within reach of the Barbary 
 cruisers. "^ 
 
 THE END, 
 
° 01 1447 815 5