Glass ^ ir r 
 
HISTORY 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 THEIR FIRST SETTLEMENT AS OOLONIES, 
 
 THE PERIOD OF THE FIFTH CENSUS, 
 IN 1830. 
 
 sei 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 Zvtry Important Political Event ; with a Progressive View of the Jihorigirxes ; Pppit 
 lation, ^rrriculturs, and Commerce; of the Arts, Sciences, and Literature; and 
 Occasional Biogrnphies of the most Remarkable Colonists, IVriters and Philosopbet%, 
 Warriors and Statesmen. 
 
 ACCOMPANIED BY A BOOK OF QUESTIONS AND A KEY 
 
 BY WILLUM GRIMSHAW, 
 
 Atitlior of a History of England, ^e. 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 GRIGG & ELIJOT No. 9 NORTH FOURTH STREET. 
 
 184L 
 
Instructors of youth are respectfully informed, that stereotype edi- 
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 expressly for the use of academies and schools in the United States, con- 
 tinue to be sold, by all the booksellers, on the most liberal terms : — 
 
 History of England, Life of Napoleon, 
 
 History of France, History of South America, 
 
 Each in one volume, accompanied by a book of Questions and a Key, 
 on a plan v^^hich affords unusual facilities, both to the teacher and the 
 student. ' 
 
 CT The demand for Grimshaw's Histories, for the last twenty 
 years, has been greater than was ever known for any other historical 
 works, in any age, or in any language. 
 
 Entered, according to the Act of Congress in the year 1832, by 
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 (2) 
 
 stereotyped by J. FAG AN. 
 PRINTED BY T. K. iiND P. O. COLLINS, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 ,9^"^ 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Refiedtions. Improvements in Astronomy^ Navigation, and 
 Geography. Voyages of Columbus. 
 
 Although the period of man's residence in this sub- 
 lunary world, is much curtailed, his amount of happiness 
 is increased. Providence has more than compensated for the 
 diminution of his years, by the extension of his knowledge. 
 His mental faculties are no longer engrossed by the mere 
 operations of his body. His mind now ranges with delight 
 over the cultivated field of science. His acquaintance with 
 distant regions is enlarged ; he goes abroad to indulge his 
 curiosity, or makes an ideal excursion to amuse his imagi- 
 nation. 
 
 The exploring of the deeply hidden nature of the ele- 
 ments, has not been more tardy than our advances in geo- 
 graphy. It is true, that the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, 
 at a time even beyond the most ancient records of authen- 
 tic history, had marked the revolutions of the heavenly 
 bodies, with a degree of industry and success, not less wor- 
 thy of admiration, than difficult of comprehension, when we 
 contemplate their scanty apparatus ; and, that during the 
 refined ages, many centuries before the Christian era, the 
 latter, or perhaps the Greeks, had discovered the form, and 
 the dimensions, of this globe, with a geometrical exactness 
 approaching nearly to the truth ; yet, their ideas concern- 
 ing distant countries were extremely defective and per- 
 plexed. On this subject, their theories were, in general, 
 absurd, and tended to restrain inquirv ; thus, strengthening 
 
 1 # ' (5) 
 
6 HISTORY OF 
 
 the maxim, that conscious ignorance is less injurious than 
 dogmatical error. 
 
 About six centuries before Christ, Pythagoras of Samos 
 became acquainted with the learning of Egypt, and dif- 
 fused his observations througliout Greece and Italy. He 
 taught, that the sun was the centre of the universe, that 
 the earth was round, that people had antipodes, and that 
 the moon reflected the rays of the sun ; a system deemed 
 chimerical, until the philosophy and deep inquiries of the 
 sixteenth century proved it to be incontestible and true. 
 Philolaus, who flourished about a century after Pythagoras, 
 proceeded a step further in astronomy. Embracing the 
 same doctrine, he asserted the annual motion of the earth 
 around the sun ; and, only a short time had elapsed, 
 when its diurnal revolution on its own axis was promul-% 
 gated by Hicetas, a Syracusan. Nearly at the same time, 
 Meton and Euctemon made improvements in the science 
 at Athens ; and, subsequently, in various parts, Eudoxus 
 and Calippus, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Archimedes, and 
 Hipparchus ; the last of whom, about one hundred and forty 
 years before our era, ascertained the latitudes and longi- 
 tudes of more than one thousand of the fixed stars, and 
 enriched astronomy with many other valuable discoveries. 
 In our first century, Ptolemy, an Egyptian, formed a theory, 
 which, although erroneous, was followed by all nations 
 for many ages. He composed, in the Greek language, a 
 great work, called the Almagest, containing his own and 
 the observations of his most illustrious predecessors. This 
 record, saved from the destruction of the Alexandrine 
 library, when burned by the Saracens in the seventh cen- 
 tury, was translated into Arabic in the ninth, and (by the 
 emperor Frederic,) into Latin, in the thirteenth ; and thus 
 were the acquirements in astronomy happily preserved, and 
 extensively diff*used. 
 
 From the latter period, until the discovery of America, 
 the science was cherished by many distinguished philoso- 
 phers, — Alphonso, king of Castile, Roger Bacon, an Eng- 
 lish monk, Purbach, and Muller. The last mentioned, a 
 native of Koeningsberg, who died in 1476, invented several 
 instruments useful in navigation 5 amongst which, was an 
 armillary astrolabe, resembling one formerly used by Hip- 
 parchus and Ptolemy, at Alexandria; with which, and a 
 good timepiece, he made many observations. 
 
 Enabled by this preliminary sketch, to appreciate more 
 fully the efforts of the different navigators in extending the 
 
THE UiNITED STATES. 7 
 
 sptTere of commercial enterprise, we shall review, with ad- 
 ditional pleasure, their adventures, from the earliest ac- 
 counts, to the accomplishment of that great undertaking, 
 which gave, to what is denominated the old world, a know- 
 ledge of the new. 
 
 To the desire of riches, may chiefly be assigned our 
 enlarged acquaintance with the globe which we inhabit. 
 The ancients were not less eager than the moderns in the 
 pursuit of wealth ; but their progress was unaided by the 
 faithful and constant guide, which now directs the mariner, 
 during the darkness of the night, or the gloomy horrors of 
 the tempest. Though acquainted with the property of the 
 magnet, by which it attracts iron, its more important and 
 amazing quality, of pointing to the poles, had entirely es- 
 ^ caped their notice. Their navigation was therefore timid 
 and uncertain. They seldom dared to sail beyond the sight 
 of land ; but crept along the coast, exposed to every dan- 
 ger, and retarded by innumerable obstructions. 
 
 The Sidonians and Tyrians were more enterprising than 
 any other people of antiquity. Astronomy, on its decline 
 in Chaldea and Egypt, having passed into Phenicia, those 
 people applied it to navigation ; steering by the north polar 
 star : and, hence, became masters of the sea, and almost of 
 the Avhole commerce of the world. Their ships frequented 
 not only all the ports in the Mediterranean, but were the 
 first that ventured beyond the strait of Gades, now called 
 Gibraltar ; or that visited the western coasts of Africa and 
 Spain. At the same time, having obtained several com- 
 modious harbours towards the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, 
 they established, after the manner of the Egyptians, a regu- 
 lar intercourse with Arabia and the continent of India, on 
 the one hand, and with the coast of Africa, on the other ; 
 from which countries, they imported many valuable com- 
 modities, and, for a long while, engrossed that lucrative 
 trade, without a rival. They landed their cargoes at Elath, 
 the safest harbour in the Red Sea, towards the north. 
 Thence, they carried them, by land, to Rhinocolura on the 
 Mediterranean, re-shipped them, and transported them to 
 Tyre ; and the vast wealth which the Phenicians had ac- 
 quired by this monopoly, incited the Jews, under David 
 and Solomon, to pursue a similar trade. Carthage, a colo- 
 ny of Tyre, applied to naval affairs, with unremitting ar- 
 dour, ingenuity, and success. It early rivalled and sur- 
 passed the parent state in opulence and power. Without 
 contending with the mother country, for the trade of the 
 
8 HISTORY OF 
 
 east, the Carthaginians directed their attention towards the 
 west and north; and, following the course already opened, 
 passed the strait of Gades, visited not only all the coasts 
 of Spain and Gaul, but reached the more distant shores of 
 Britain. Stimulated by the extent of these discoveries, they 
 carried their researches to the south. Stretching along 
 the western coast of Africa, thoy sailed almost to the tropic 
 of Cancer ; planted several colonies, in order to civilize the 
 natives and accustom them to commerce, and discovered 
 the Fortunate Islands, now known by the name of the Ca- 
 naries ; the utmost boundary of ancient navigation in the 
 western ocean. 
 
 Curiosity, as well as commercial avidity, induced them 
 to continue their researches. To those motives, were ow- 
 ing the famous voyages of Hanno and Himilco. Their 
 fleets were equipped by authority of the senate, and at the 
 public expense. Proceeding towards the south, Hanno ad- 
 vanced much nearer to the equinoctial line, than any former 
 navigator; and Himilco explored the western coasts of 
 Europe. Of the same nature, was the extraordinary voy- 
 age of the Phenicians around Africa. A Phenician fl^et, 
 prepared by Necho, king of Egypt, sailed, we are told, 
 about six hundred years before the Christian era, from a 
 port in the Red Sea, passed the southern promontory of 
 Africa, (now called the Cape of Good Hope,) and, after a 
 voyage of three years, arrived by the strait of Gades, at the 
 Nile. Unfortunately, the particulars of those navigations 
 were not communicated to the rest of mankind. All au- 
 thentic memorials respecting the great naval skill of the 
 Phenicians and Carthaginians, seem, in a great measure, 
 to have perished, when the maritime power of the former 
 was annihilated by Alexander, and the empire of the latter 
 was overturned by the Roman arms. 
 
 The states of Greece pursued scarcely any commerce 
 beyond the confines of the Mediterranean. Their ignorance 
 of geography is almost incredible to us. But their know- 
 ledge was much enlarged by Alexander's expedition to the 
 east. Nor were the Romans less remarkable for their in- 
 attention to that science. In the history of the Roman 
 empire, hardly one event occurs, evincing a regard to geo- 
 graphical inquiry or navigation, further than it was con- 
 nected with the desire of conquest. Indeed, there prevail- 
 ed, amongst the ancients, an opinion, which conveys a 
 striking idea of the small progress made by them in the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 9 
 
 knowledge of the habitable globe. They supposed, that 
 the earth was divided into five regions ; which they distin- 
 guished by the name of zones. Two of these, one at the 
 north, the other at the south pole, they termed frigid ; 
 believing, that the extreme cold which reigned perpetually 
 in both, was destructive to animal life. Another, which 
 was seated under the line, and extended on each side to- 
 wards the tropics, they called the torrid zone ; imagining 
 it to be so burned up with unremitting heat, as to be equal- 
 ly destitute of inhabitants. To the other two regions, they 
 gave the appellation of temperate ; and taught that these, 
 being the only situations in which life could possibly sub- 
 sist, were assigned to man for his habitation. Wild, as 
 seems this opinion at the present day, it was adopted, as a 
 system, by the most enlightened philosophers, and the most 
 accurate historians, of Greece and Rome. Promulgated 
 by so respectable authority, that extravagant theory served 
 to render their ignorance perpetual ; as it represented all 
 attempts to open a communication with distant regions of 
 the earth, impracticable and hopeless. Even the small de- 
 gree of accurate geographical knowledge, which they had 
 occasionally obtained, was almost entirely lost, on the fall of 
 the Roman empire. The various nations of the north, who, 
 in the fifth century, settled in the different provinces, were 
 unacquainted with regular government or laws ; strangers to 
 letters, destitute of arts, ignorant of their use, unambitious 
 of their acquirement. No intercourse existed even amongst 
 themselves. Constantinople, however, was so fortunate 
 as to escape their destructive rage. There, the ancient 
 arts and discoveries were preserved, and commerce con- 
 tinued to flourish, when almost extinct in every other part 
 of Europe. 
 
 At length, the rude tribes in Italy having acquired somft 
 idea of regular government, and some relish for the modes 
 of civil life, Europe gradually recovered from its degrada- 
 tion. The Italian merchants, notwithstanding the violent 
 antipathy, which, as Christians, they possessed against the 
 followers of Mahomet, repaired to Alexandria, and esta- 
 blished with that port a lucrative trade. The commercial 
 spirit of Italy became active and enterprising. Venice, 
 Genoa, and Pisa, rose from inconsiderable towns, to be 
 wealthy and populous. Their naval power increased ; they 
 visited the sea-ports of Spain, France, the Low Countries, 
 ^nd England ; and infused a taste for thq alluring pirocJuQ. 
 tioQs of the East. 
 
10 HISTORY OF 
 
 The crusades served greatly to hasten the mercantile 
 progress of the Italians. The martial inclination of the 
 Europeans, im.pelled by religious zeal, and inflamed by su- 
 perstition, having prompted them to attempt the deliver- 
 
 nQfi ^^^^ ^^ Holy Land from the dominion of the In- 
 fidels, vast armies, composed of all the nations in 
 Europe, marched upon this wild enterprise, towards Asia. 
 The Italian sea-ports furnished the necessary shipping and 
 military stores ; for which, immense sums were received. 
 Venice, in particular, advanced in commerce, } ' ;^r, and 
 riches. Nor did their employers make those ex}. "' '^ e and 
 disastrous voyages without future benefit. They became 
 familiar v/ith distant regions, which, before, they knew only 
 by name, or by the reports of credulous pilgrims ; and as- 
 certained the arts, manners, and productions, of nations 
 more polished than themselves. 
 
 That intercourse subsisted for nearly two hundred years ; 
 during which period, many religious missionaries penetrated 
 the East, far beyond the countries entered by the crusaders. 
 After these, followed several illustrious travellers, incited 
 either by the hope of riches, or a pure spirit of inquiry. 
 Of the former passion, the most distinguished votary was 
 1 S22 ^^^^o Polo, a nobleman of Venice : of the latter, sir 
 John Mandeville, of England ; who returned, after an 
 absence of more than thirty years, and published an account 
 of his observations. 
 
 While this inclination towards research was gradually 
 increasing, a discovery was made, the wonderful property 
 of the magnet, which communicates to iron a tendency of 
 pointing to the north, that had greater influence on naviga- 
 tion, than all the eflforts of preceding ages. The precise 
 epoch of this discovery cannot be ascertained. It is gene- 
 rally attributed to Gioia, a Neapolitan, and dated in the year 
 1302; but the supposition appears erroneous. The earliest 
 notice with which we are acquainted, is by a French writer, 
 Guyot de Provins ; who, in a poem written about the year 
 1180, plainly alludes to the magnetic needle being then in 
 common use. The Historia Oriental is, of Vitriacus, who 
 had made many voyages by sea, and published that work 
 about forty years subsequent to the former ; the writings of 
 Vicentius, at the same period, and many other authorities ; 
 coincide in establishing its previous introduction, and, con- 
 sequently, in depriving the Neapolitan of any honour, fur- 
 ther than for having increased its utility, by fixing it on a 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 11 
 
 pivot, and enclosing it in a box.* Seamen were now enabled 
 to abandon their timid course along the shore, and fearlessly 
 to launch into the wide bosom of the ocean. The first ap- 
 pearance of increasing confidence, may be dated from the 
 voyages of the Spaniards to the Canary islands. These, 
 which, we have already mentioned, had been visited by the 
 Carthaginians, were again discovered by that people : but 
 the genius of naval enterprise was not at this period fully 
 roused ; as navigation seems not to have advanced, then, 
 beyond the limits which circumscribed it before the down- 
 fall of the Roman empire. 
 
 The era at length arrived, when man was allowed to pass 
 the boundary within which he had been so long confined. 
 The next considerable effort was made by the seamen of 
 Portugal. In 1420, they sailed to Madeira; (to which, they 
 were directed by its accidental discovery by an English- 
 man ;) about forty years from that date, they discovered the 
 Cape de Verd islands ; and soon afterwards, the Azores, 
 situated in the Atlantic, nine hundred miles from any con- 
 tinent. When prosecuting their researches along the shores 
 J .,^, of Africa, they ventured to cross the equinoctial 
 line ; equally pleased and astonished, on finding that 
 region not only habitable, but populous and fertile. This 
 occurred in the reign of Alphonso. His son, John the se- 
 cond, possessed talents, capable both of forming great de- 
 signs and carrying them into execution. Patronised and 
 aided by this indefatigable monarch, the examination and 
 colonizing of the African continent became ardent and 
 unremitting. As they advanced towards the south, the 
 Portuguese found, that, instead of extending, according 
 to the doctrine of Ptolemy, it appeared to contract, its 
 breadth, towards the east. This unexpected discovery was 
 not unprofitably made. It induced them to credit the an- 
 cient Phenician voyages around Africa, which had long 
 been deemed fabulous ; and led them to conceive hopes, 
 that, by following the same track, they might arrive at the 
 East Indies, and engross, for a while, a traflic, which had 
 
 * " Valdo neeessarius est acus navig^antibus marl," says Vitriacus : — 
 the needle is very necessary to seamen. " Cum enim," observes Vicen- 
 tius, " vias suas ad portum dirig-ere nesciunt, cacumen acus ad adamantem 
 lapidem fricatum, per transversum in festuca parva infigunt, et vasi plena 
 aquee immittunt :" — for, when they (the navigators,) know not how to 
 find their way into a harbour, they fix the point of a needle, rubbed upon 
 a hard stone, crosswise in a piece of wood, and place it in a small vessel 
 full of water. 
 
12 HISTORY QF 
 
 always been so eagerly desired. The attainment of this 
 object was entrusted to Bartholomew Diaz ; an experienced 
 officer, distinguished alike for his sagacity, fortitude, and 
 perseverance. After advancing a thousand miles farther 
 than any of his predecessors, exposed to violent tempests, 
 ■lAQj mutinies, and famine, he at last beheld that lofty 
 promontory which terminates Africa on the south. 
 But, to behold it, was all that he could accomplish. The 
 violence of the winds, the shattered condition of his ships, 
 and turbulent spirit of his men, compelled him to return. 
 
 Diaz had called that promontory the Stormy Cape ; but 
 the king, now entertaining a sanguine expectation of having 
 found the long desired route to India, gave it a more ap- 
 propriate name, The Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The vast length of this voyage, with the furious storms 
 which Diaz had encountered, so alarmed and intimidated 
 the Portuguese, that some time was requisite to prepare 
 their minds for the prosecution of their great design. In 
 the interval, an event occurred, not less extraordinary than 
 unexpected, unparalleled in the annals of naval enterprise— 
 the discovery of a new continent, situated in the west. 
 
 The honour of accomplishing an exploit so sublime, was 
 gained by Christopher Columbus. This great man, a na- 
 tive of Genoa, descended from a respectable family, was 
 well qualified, by nature and education, to become distin- 
 guished on the ocean. Ardently inclined towards that ele- 
 ment, he went to sea at the age of fourteen ; and, in a hw 
 years, visited the coast of Iceland, (then frequented by the 
 English on account of its fishery,) and advanced several 
 degrees within the polar circle. After a variety of adven- 
 tures, serving more to enlarge his knowledge, than to in- 
 crease his fortune, he went to Lisbon ; a city in which 
 there lived many of his countrymen, and where, having 
 married a Portuguese lady, he fixed his residence. This 
 alliance did not lessen his'early attachment to the sea. It 
 fortunately contributed to enlarge his naval information, 
 and excite a desire of still further extending it. His wife 
 was a daughter of Perestrello ; one of the captains employ- 
 ed by the Portuguese in their former navigations, and who 
 had first carried them to Madeira. Columljus obtained pos- 
 session of his journals ; the study of which inflamed his fa- 
 vourite passion, and rendered irresistible his impatience to 
 visit the several countries which Perestrello had described. 
 He accordingly made a voyaae to Madeira ; and continued, 
 durmg many years, to trade with the Canaries, the Azores, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 13 
 
 the coast of Guinea, and all the other places discovered by 
 the Portuguese on the continent of Africa. 
 
 At that period, the great object of the Portuguese, as al- 
 ready narrated, was to tind a passage to the East Indies. 
 But they searched for it only by steering towards the south ; 
 in hopes of accomplishing their wishes by turning to the 
 east, when they had reached the southern extremity of Af- 
 rica ; a course of so great extent, that a voyage from Eu- 
 rope to India must have appeared to them equally arduous 
 and uncertain. Stimulated by this reflection, the active 
 mind of Columbus, after attentively comparing the obser- 
 vations of modern pilots with the conjectures of the an- 
 cients, at last concluded, that, by sailing directly to the 
 west, across the Atlantic Ocean, new countries, which it 
 was likely formed a part of the great continent of Asia, 
 must infallibly be discovered. The spherical figure of the 
 earth was known ; its magnitude ascertained with some de- 
 gree of accuracy : and sir John Mandeville had already, 
 from astronomical demonstration, asserted, that it might 
 be circumnavigated. It was evident, that the continents 
 -of Europe, Asia, and Africa, formed but a small portion of 
 the terraqueous globe. It seemed rational, that the vast, 
 unexplored space, was not entirely covered by water, but 
 was occupied in some measure, by countries fit for the re- 
 sidence of man. These deductions did not rest merely on 
 conjecture. Although the ofl!spring of scientific theory, 
 they were supported by recent observations. Timber, ar- 
 tificially carved, driven by a westerly wi-id, was seen float- 
 ing at an unusual distance in the ocean : to the west of the 
 Madeira isles, there had been found another piece, fashion- 
 ed in the same manner, brought by the same wind ; and 
 canes, of enormous size, resembling those described by 
 Ptolemy, as peculiar to the Indies. Trees were frequently 
 driven upon the Azores ; and, at one time, the dead bodies 
 of two men, with singular features, not corresponding with 
 the inhabitants of Europe, Africa, or Asia. 
 
 Fully satisfied with the truth of his system, Columbus 
 was impatient to bring it to the test of experiment. The 
 first step towards this, was to secure the patronage of some 
 considerable power. As long absence had not lessened his 
 aflTection for his native country, he wished that Genoa should 
 reap the fruits of his ingenuity and labour ; and, according- 
 ly, laid his scheme before the senate. But he had resided 
 so long abroad, that his countrymen were unacquainted with 
 his character ; and, not being able to form any just idea of 
 2 
 
14 HISTORY OF 
 
 the principles upon which he founded his hopes of success, 
 they rejected his proposals, as the dream of a chimerical 
 projector. 
 
 Columbus had now performed a natural duty ; a conduct, 
 which, though it does not form the grandest, is certainly 
 one of the most amiable features in his history ; and must 
 be admired, while there is a mind clear enough to discern, 
 or a heart sufficiently warm to conceive, an act of gene- 
 rosity. 
 
 He was not discouraged by this repulse. Instead of re- 
 linquishing his undertaking, he pursued it with increasing 
 ardour. He made his next overture to the king of Portu- 
 gal ; in whose dominions, he had long resided ; and whom 
 he considered, on that account, as having the second claim 
 to his services. John listened to his proposals, and appoint- 
 ed three eminent cosmographers to examine the merits of 
 his plan. But these men, after drawing from Columbus all 
 the information that treachery could devise, or their capa- 
 cities understand, basely conspired to rob the ingenious 
 seaman of his expected glory ; and the king adopted their 
 perfidious counsel. The pilot, however, chosen to execute 
 the fraud, was not less deficient in courage, than were his 
 employers in dignity and justice. He returned to Lisbon, 
 execrating the project as extravagant and dangerous. 
 
 Disgusted by this transaction, Columbus resolved to break 
 off all intercourse with a nation, capable of so flagrant 
 treachery. He instantly went to Spain, that he might lay 
 his plan before Ferdinand and Isabella. But, he wisely in- 
 creased the chances of success, by sending his brother Bar- 
 tholomew into England, to negotiate Avith Henry the seventh ; 
 who was reported to be one of the most sagacious and opu- 
 lent princes of the age. 
 
 Though Spain was then engaged in a serious contest with 
 Granada, the last of the Moorish kingdoms in that country, 
 yet, Ferdinand and his queen paid so much regard to Co- 
 lumbus, as to submit the consideration of his plan to a con- 
 fidential minister. To enumerate all the objections offered 
 to his scheme, or describe, in appropriate language, the 
 firmness with which the philosophic stranger combated his 
 successive disappointments, would neither be conformable 
 with our design, nor within the compass of our ability. 
 Some asserted, that he would find the ocean of infinite ex- 
 tent ; others, that, if he persi^ed in steering to the west, 
 beyond a certain point, the convex figure of the earth would 
 prevent his return ; and, that il was absurd to attempt open- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 15 
 
 ing a communication between the two opposite hemi- 
 spheres, which nature had for ever disjoined. 
 
 But the total expulsion of the Moors produced a happy 
 change in the disposition of the Spanish court, and excited, 
 iUW further, the vigilant and generous patrons of Colum- 
 bus, — Quintanella, and Santangel ; who took advantage of 
 this prosperous situation of affairs, to press, once more, the 
 solicitations of their friend. Their effort was successful. 
 Though Ferdinand was still restrained by his characteristic 
 caution and reserve, Isabella, alive to the glory which nuist 
 Eiccrue from the accomplishment of so grand an enterprise ; 
 and, if historians be correct, anxious to spread the know- 
 ledge of the Christian religion ; declared her resolution of 
 employing Columbus ; and, regretting the low state of her 
 finances, offered to pledge her jewels, in order to complete 
 the preparations for the voyage. A measure so humilia- 
 ting to a feeling mind, was, however, fortunately prevented. 
 Transported with gratitude and admiration, Santangel kissed 
 Isabella's hand, and engaged to advance, immediately, the 
 necessary sum. 
 14Q2 ^^ ^^^ ^'^^^^ ^^ April, more than seven years from 
 the date of his first application, an agreement with 
 Columbus was concluded. The ships, of which he was to 
 have the command, were fitted out at Palos ; a small town 
 in the province of Andalusia. But the armament was not 
 suitable, either to the rank of the nation by which it was 
 equipped, or to the important service for which it was in- 
 tended. It consisted only of three vessels. The largest, 
 of inconsiderable burthen, called the Santa Maria, was com- 
 manded by Columbus, as admiral ; the second, named the 
 Pinta, not superior in size to a large boat, by Martin Pin- 
 zon ; the third, of similar dimensions, called the Nigna, 
 by Vincent Pinzon, a brother of the latter. The whole 
 were victualled for twelve months, and provided with ninety 
 men. 
 
 On the 3d of August, Columbus set sail. He steered 
 directly for the Canary islands ; and, having refitted his 
 crazy vessels, departed from Gomera, on the 6th day of 
 September. Holding his course due west, he left the usual 
 track of navigation, and stretched boldly into seas unfre- 
 quented and unknown. His sailors, alarmed at the dis- 
 tance which they had proceeded without finding the ex- 
 pected land, began to mutiny, threatened to throw him 
 overboard, and placed him in a situation, in which any other 
 man would have yielded to their entreaties to return. But 
 
16 HISTORY OF 
 
 he still maintained his accustomed serenity and resolution. 
 Fertile in expedients, possessing a thorough knowledge of 
 mankind, an insinuating address, and the talent of govern- 
 ing the minds of others, he promised solemnly to his men, 
 that, provided they would obey his commands for three days 
 longer, and that, in the meantime, land were not discovered, 
 he would comply with their request. 
 
 Columbus did not hazard much, by confining himself to 
 a period so short. For some days before, the sounding line 
 had reached the bottom, and brought up soil which indica- 
 ted land to be at no great distance. The flocks of birds 
 increased, and contained many of a description supposed 
 not to fly far from shore. A cane was observed, that seem- 
 ed to have been recently cut ; and a branch of a tree, with 
 fresh berries. The clouds around the sun assumed a new 
 appearance ; the air was more mild, and, during the night, 
 the wind became unequal and variable. Each succeeding 
 hour confirmed Columbus in his opinion of being near land. 
 On the evening of the 11th of October, he ordered the sails 
 to be furled, the ships to lie to, and a strict watch to be 
 kept, to guard against the danger of running ashore in the 
 night ; an interval of suspense and expectation, during 
 which all remained on deck, intently gazing towards that 
 quarter where they hoped to discover the interesting object 
 of their wishes. 
 
 The period at length arrived. Columbus observed a 
 light, which seemed to be carried from place to place ; and, 
 a little after midnight, there was heard from the Pinta the 
 joyful cry of Laivd ! 
 
 When morning dawned, an island was seen, about two 
 leagues to the north, presenting the aspect of a delightful 
 country. All the boats were immediately manned and 
 armed. The Spaniards rowed towards the shore, with their 
 colours displayed, with martial music, and all the dazzling 
 insignia of military pomp. As they approached the beach, 
 they saw it covered with a multitude of people, whose atti- 
 tudes and gestures expressed wonder and amazement. 
 Columbus was the first who set foot on this new world 
 which he had discovered. His men followed ; and all 
 kneeling, kissed the ground which they had long desired, 
 but expected never to behold : he then erected a crucifix, 
 returned thanks to God, and, with the usual formalities, took 
 possession of the country. 
 
 To this island, called by the natives Guanahani, Co- 
 lumbus gave the name of St. Salvador. It is one of that 
 
THE UNITED STATES. IT 
 
 large cluster, called the Lucaya or Bahama isles ; situated 
 above three thousand miles to the west, but only four de- 
 grees to the south, of Gomera; so little had he deviated 
 from his intended course. 
 
 After discovering several other islands, amongst which 
 were Cuba and Hayti, (the latter named by Columbus, 
 Hispaniola,) the shattered condition of his vessels, and the 
 general eagerness of his seamen to return to their native 
 country, constrained him to make preparations for his de- 
 parture. He did not, however, neglect using every pre- 
 caution to secure the benefit of a first discovery. With 
 the consent of the cazique or sovereign of the district, he 
 erected a fort in Hispaniola : in which, he left a party of 
 his men ; and, on the 4th of January, sailed for Europe ; 
 lAQQ where he arrived, after experiencing dangers and 
 fatigues which required all his skill and fortitude to 
 surmount. 
 
 Various conjectures were formed respecting these newly 
 discovered countries. Columbus adhered to his original 
 ^opinion, that they were part of those vast regions of Asia, 
 comprehended under the general name of India. From 
 their productions, this idea seemed correct. Gold was 
 known to abound in India ; a metal of which he had obtain- 
 ed samples so promising, as led him to believe that rich 
 mines of it would be found. Cotton, another production of 
 the Indies, was common there. The pimento of the islands 
 he imagined was a species of the India pepper. The birds 
 brought home by him were adorned with the brilliant plu- 
 mage which distinguishes those of India : the alligator of the 
 one, seemed to be the crocodile of the other. That opinion 
 of Columbus, the Spaniards and the other nations of Europe 
 have adopted. The name of Indies was given to those islands 
 by Ferdinand and Isabella, in a ratification of the former 
 agreement with the illustrious discoverer ; and, even after the 
 error which gave rise to that opinion was detected, the 
 name of West Indies has remained, and the aborigines are 
 called Indians. 
 ^4QQ In his third voyage, Columbus reached the conti- 
 nent, and landed in several places on the coast of 
 those provinces now known by the name of Paria and Cu- 
 mana. But he was deprived of the honour of associating 
 his name with this vast portion of the earth. Amongst the 
 officers, who, in the following year, accompanied Ojoda, to 
 explore still farther these new regions, was Amerigo Ves- 
 pucci, a gentleman of Florence ; who, as he was an experi- 
 
 9 # 
 
18 HISTORY OF 
 
 enced seaman, acquired so great authority amongst hia 
 companions, that they willingfy yielded to him the super- 
 intendence of the voyage. The crafty Florentine made an 
 extraordinary use of his situation. Soon after his return 
 to Spain, he transmitted an account of his adventures to 
 one of his own countrymen ; so ingeniously framed, as to 
 make it appear that he had the glory of first discovering 
 the continent of the new world. His narrative was drawn 
 not only with art, but with elegance. It contained an 
 amusing history of his voyage, and judicious observations 
 on the natural productions, the inhabitants, and customs, of 
 the places which he had visited. His description was the 
 first given to the public. It circulated rapidly, and was 
 read with admiration. The country, of which Amerigo 
 was supposed to be the discoverer, gradually received his 
 name, or a modification of it; an error, which the injustice 
 of mankind has continued. 
 
 In the summary view, which, previous to our entering 
 on the voyages of Columbus, was given, of the gradual pro- 
 gress of discovery in the eastern hemisphere, we last allud- 
 ed to the advance of Diaz within sight of the great south- 
 ern cape of Africa. Rather stimulated than depressed by 
 the amazing issue of the patronage which they had denied 
 Columbus, the Portuguese attentively pursued their fa- 
 vourite object. Their endeavours were successful. On 
 the 20th of November, in the year 1497, Vasco de Gama, 
 employed by the king of Portugal, "doubled" that cele- 
 brated promontory, and, in the month of May following, 
 arrived at Calicut, on the coast of Malabar. 
 
 Twenty-three years after that great event, Magellan, a 
 native of Portugal, in the service of Spain, penetrated into 
 the Pacific ocean, by the strait which bears his name, situ- 
 ated at the southern extremity of the American continent ; 
 thus, opening a new route to the East Indies, and developing 
 a vast region of water, interspersed with beautiful and fer- 
 tile islands. 
 
 It seems owing to accident, that England had not gained 
 the renown which accrued to Spain, the fortunate em- 
 ployer of the persevering Genoese. In his voyage thither, 
 Bartholomew Columbus was captured by pirates; who, 
 having entirely robbed him, detained him a prisoner for 
 many years. When, at length, he arrived in London, his 
 indigence was so great, that he was obliged to employ 
 himself, during a considerable time, in drawing and selling 
 maps^ as a means of raising money sufficient to purchase a 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 19 
 
 decent dress, in which to appear at court. He was there 
 treated with merited respect. Notwithstanding the exces- 
 sive caution of Henry the seventh, he received the over- 
 tures of Columbus with more attention than any monarch 
 to whom they had been before presented, and invited him 
 to England. But it was then too late. The achievement 
 was already accomplished. Bartholomew, in his return, 
 was informed, at Paris, of the issue of his brother's voyage ; 
 an event not less exhilarating than unexpected. 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Newfoundland discovered by Cabot. Abortive attempts to 
 settle Roanoke, by Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 The English were the second people that ventured to 
 the new world, and the first that discovered the continent 
 'of America. Two years had not elapsed, after the consum- 
 mation of the great navigator's hopes, when Giovanni Ga- 
 boto, (or Cabot,) a Venetian who had settled in Bristol, and 
 his three sons, were commissioned, by Henry the seventh, 
 to sail in quest of unknown countries, and endeavour to 
 reach India by a western course ; agreeably to the system 
 of Columbus, which the former had adopted. Accordingly, 
 the father and his second son, Sebastian, were despatched 
 from that city, the place of the hitter's nativity, on board a 
 ship furnished by the king, accompanied by four small 
 barks provided by the merchants. Sebastian, for it was he 
 who had the direction of the voyage, conjectured, that by 
 steering farther to the north, he might reach India, by a 
 shorter course than that chosen by Columbus. On the 
 24th of June, 1497, he discovered a large island, to which 
 he gave the name of Prima Vista, or first seen ; now called 
 Newfoundland. He then changed his course ; steering to 
 the north : but, finding that the land continued to oppose 
 him in that direction, and that there was no appearance of 
 a passage, he tacked about, and ran as far as Florida ; the 
 island of Cuba, as he relates, being on his left. Here, his 
 provisions f^iilitig, he resolved to return to England ; having 
 on board three natives, who accompanied him from New- 
 foundland. 
 
 The commercial progress of the English did not relax, 
 during the succeeding reigns of Henry the eighth and Ed- 
 
20 HISTORY OF 
 
 ward the sixth. In the former reign, many adventures 
 were made, along the southern portion of America ; in the 
 latter, the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland became 
 an eager object of attention. But, after the accession of 
 Mary, their enterprises were directed towards another quar- 
 ter. That she might allay the jealousy of the Spanish 
 monarch, to whom she was espoused, the queen devoted all 
 her patronage to an intercourse opened in the preceding 
 reign with Russia. 
 
 On the accession of Elizabeth, a period commenced, 
 highly auspicious to mercantile extension. The domestic 
 tranquillity ; the peace with foreign nations, which subsisted 
 more than twenty years after she was seated on the throne ; 
 her economy ; all, were favourable to that rising spirit. 
 The opening of a direct intercourse with India, by sea, was 
 again attempted : but a route was marked out, different 
 from any that was before pursued. As every attempt to 
 accomplish this by the west, and the north-east, had proved 
 abortive, a scheme was formed, to hold an opposite course, 
 by the north-west ; the conduct of which was entrusted to 
 Martin Frobisher. In three successive voyages, that en- 
 
 1 57fi_'7-'8 ^6^'P^'ising officer examined the coast of La- 
 brador ; but without discovering any rational 
 appearance of a passage. The disappointment, however, 
 was in some measure compensated by sir Francis Drake ; 
 who accomplished, about this time, his celebrated voyage ; 
 round the globe ; an exploit, which, in conjunction with i 
 their other marine achievements, impressed the English ! 
 with a just confidence in their own abilities and courage. ^ 
 They had displayed their flag in every region to which na- \ 
 vigation then extended ; and were not excelled in naval ex- J 
 ploits by any nation of the age. 
 
 A more interesting period of our history now approaches.. 
 The British at length began to form plans of settling colo- ' 
 nies in those countries, which, hitherto, they had only visit- ' 
 ed. The projectors and patrons of these were chiefly men j 
 of rank and influence. Amongst the number, sir Hum- * 
 phrey Gilbert, of Devonshire, an officer distinguished for { 
 his military talents, and his attention to naval science, ob- 1 
 tained a patent from the queen, investing- him with the 
 necessary powers. But, two expeditions, both of which he* 
 conducted in person, were unfortunate. The last voyage' 
 
 1580 ^?^ awfully disastrous : when returning to England,: 
 
 without having performed any thing more important 
 
 than the empty ceremony of taking possession of Newfound-I 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 21 
 
 land, the frigate in which he sailed was lost at sea, and all 
 on board found a watery grave. 
 
 Bi.it that misfortune did not discourage his relative, sir 
 Walter Raleigh. Adopting all the ideas of his brother-in- 
 law, he applied to the queen, in whose fiivour he stood high, 
 at that time, and procured a patent, with similar jurisdic- 
 tion and prerogatives. Raleigh despatched two small ves- 
 ■.roA sels, under the command of Philip Amadas and Ar- 
 thur Barlow. They sailed on the 27 Ih of April, and 
 reached the coast now called North Carolina on the 4th of 
 July ,• making their passage in sixty-seven days : which was 
 not a long voyage, when we consider their course, by the 
 Canary and West India islands, and their having spent 
 many days, at those places, in trading and recruiting their 
 provisions. They touched first at an island, which they 
 call Wocokon, (probably Ocacoke ;) then, at Roanoke, 
 near the entrance of Albemarle Sound ; and, after spend- 
 ing a few weeks in trafficking with the natives, and visiting 
 the adjacent continent, returned to England. Amadas and 
 Barlow gave so splendid a description of the country ; its 
 iJeauty, fertility, mildness of climate, and serenity of at- 
 mosphere ; that Elizabeth gave it the name of Virginia, as 
 a memorial that this happy discovery was made under a 
 maiden queen. 
 
 The great profusion of grapes attracted their particular 
 notice. So plentiful were they along the shore, that the 
 surge of the sea overflowed them ; and, in all places, they 
 observed so many, on the sand in the plains, and on the 
 verdant ground upon the hills ; on every little shrub, and 
 climbing towards the tops of the lofty cedars ; that, in the 
 whole world, they declare, a similar abundance had not been 
 found. When they discharged their arms, so large a flock 
 of cranes arose around them, and with so lj»^d a cry, re- 
 doubled by many echoes, that the noise equalled the com- 
 bined shouting of an army. They had remained at the 
 island two days, before they saw any of the natives. Ori the 
 third day, they beheld a small boat rowing towards them, 
 containing three men; one of whom was taken on board, and 
 presented with some clothes, meat, and wine ; with which, 
 he was highly pleased. The pleasure he received was not 
 unrecompensed. He returned to his little boat, and, after 
 fishing for about half an hour, and lading it as deeply as it 
 would allow, he came to a point of the land ; then, dividing 
 his fish into two parts, assigned one as the portion of the 
 ship, the other as the share of the pinnace; and, having thus 
 
22 HISTORY OF 
 
 repaid his debt, he departed. The following day, there ap- 
 peared several other boats. In one of these, was Granga- 
 nimeo, brother of the king Wingina ; accompanied by forty 
 or fifty men ; " very handsome and goodly people, and, in 
 their behaviour," it is said, " as mannerly and civil as any 
 in Europe." In the present age, this comparison may seem, 
 at the first view, extravagant and unjust : but, if we consider 
 the state of civilized society more than two centuries ago, 
 and reflect, that while these have been constantly advancing 
 the other, from nearly the same cause, have been declining, 
 in their acquirement of what is supposed to be the standard 
 of refinement, we shall no longer doubt its general correct- 
 ness. 
 
 -J.. Encouraged by this pleasing report, Raleigh fit- 
 ted out a squadron of seven small vessels, with one 
 hundred and eighty adventurers : which sailed from Ply- 
 mouth, under the command of sir Richard Greenville. 
 This colony, he left on the island of Roanoke, under the 
 care of captain Lane, assisted by some men of eminence ; 
 amongst whom, was Hariot, a distinguished mathematician. 
 The latter individuals faithfully discharged their duty, in 
 obtaining a more ample knowledge of the country ; having 
 carried their researches farther than could have been ex- 
 pected, with so inconsiderable aid, and from a situation so 
 disadvantageous. But the same praise is not due to Lane, 
 and the majority of his subordinate companions. They 
 seemed to think nothing worthy their attention, except 
 gold and silver. Amused by the Indians, with extraordi- 
 nary tales, concerning pearl fisheries and rich mines of 
 those precious metals, they neglected the cultivation of the 
 soil ; and, being disappointed in attaining treasures, which 
 were only the invention of a people, now as anxious to de- 
 stroy, as they were before to assist, these dangerous intru- 
 ders, they were assailed by a two-fold calamity, hostility 
 and famine. Reduced to extreme distress, they were pre- 
 paring to disperse in quest of food, when sir Francis Drake, 
 returning from the West Indies, appeared with his fleet, 
 and offered them assistance : but his generous intention 
 was frustrated by a storm. A small vessel, with provisions 
 destined for their service, was dashed to pieces ; and, as he 
 could not supply them, a second time, with adequate relief, 
 at their imanimous request, he carried them home to Eng- 
 land. Thus ended, that ill-conducted experiment, after ^ 
 trial of nine months. ^ 
 
 Only a few days had expired, when a small bark, with som^ 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 27 
 
 stores, despatched by Raleigh, arrived at the place whei is 
 those men had been settled; but, on finding it deserted,^, 
 she returned : and scarcely was that vessel gone, before 
 Greenville appeared with further aid. He searched for the 
 colony ; but, receiving no information of its fate, he left fif- 
 teen of his crew, to retain possession of the island, and 
 departed. 
 
 Early in the following year, the proprietors despatched 
 three vessels, under the command of captain White, with 
 one hundred and fifty men. In the month of July, they 
 arrived at Roanoke, and endeavoured to find the small par- 
 ty left there by sir Richard Greenville ; but, of their fate, 
 they collected no satisfactory account. It is most proba- 
 ble, that their misconduct had caused their dispersion ; 
 perhaps their death : the bones of one person were seen ; 
 the fort which Lane had erected was demolished ; but their 
 dwellings remained unhurt. Both were overgrown with 
 melons. Some deer had entered within the deserted walls, 
 and were feeding on the fruit, which perhaps their late in- 
 habitants had planted ; a melancholy scene. 
 V In about a month after the arrival of captain White, his 
 daughter, the wife of Ananias Dare, one of the assistants, 
 gave birth to a female child, in Roanoke ; which, being the 
 first born in the colony, was named Virginia. 
 
 But misfortune pursued even this settlement. Insubordi- 
 nation, anarchy, distress, were every day increasing. At 
 the desire, therefore, of the inhabitants, the governor re- 
 turned to England, for supplies ; .and, at his request, a fleet, 
 under the command of Greenville, was prepared at Biddi- 
 ford : but, on account of the Spanish Armada, which then 
 threatened the parent country with subjection, this oflicer, 
 whose talents were now required in a more important ser- 
 vice, was ordered not to sail. White, however, obtained 
 two small pinnaces, the Brave and the Roe ; the former of 
 thirty, the latter of only twenty-five tons, burthen ; with 
 which, he departed for America. The object of the voyage 
 was, however, soon neglected ; the distressed situation of 
 the colony, forgotten. Piracy engrossed the whole atten- 
 tion of the seamen. Having plundered every vessel they 
 could overtake, British, Scotch, or foreign ; chased and 
 beaten oflf an armed vessel of two hundred tons, with a de- 
 gree of courage worthy of a better cause, one of the pin- 
 naces was attacked by two large French privateers ; when, 
 after a desperate battle, in which many men on both sides 
 were killed, she and her consort were themselves plundered, 
 
24 HISTORY OF 
 
 and forced to return to England ! " Thus," says the narra- 
 tor of these adventures, " God justly punished the former 
 thievery of our evil-disposed mariners." 
 
 This atrocious desertion of their duty proved fatal to the 
 colony. Receiving no supply, its inhabitants perished 
 miserably by famine, or by the hands of their surrounding" 
 enemies. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Exertions of Richard Hahluyt. Establishment at James 
 Town, in Virginia, Life and adventures of captain 
 Smith. Marriage of captain Rolfe with Pocahontas, 
 Productions of Virginia ; agriculture, mode of living, 
 religion, and appearance, of the Indians. 
 
 During the remainder of Elizabeth's reign, no further 
 efforts were made to establish a colony in Virginia. Al- 
 lured by new objects, and always giving a preference to the 
 most arduous and splendid, Raleigh engaged in under- 
 takings, much beyond his power of accomplishing ; and, be- 
 coming cold to this unprofitable scheme, assigned his in- 
 terest in that country, which he had never visited, to sir 
 1596 ^^^"^^^ Smith and a company of merchants in Lon- 
 don. But they were satisfied by a petty traffic with 
 the natives, and made no attempt to take possession of the 
 soil. 
 
 A few years previous to this, Richard Hakluyt, preben- 
 dary of Westminster, in order to stimulate his countrymen 
 to naval enterprise, published a valuable collection of voy- 
 ages and discoveries made by Englishmen, and translated 
 some of the best accounts of the voyages of the Spaniards 
 and Portuguese to the East and West Indies. The mo- 
 tives of this publication are singular and interesting. They 
 display an affectionate regard for the honour and welfare of 
 his native land. By a long continued attention to the duties 
 of lecturing on geography, and an ardent curiosity in all 
 matters relating to distant countries, Hakluyt had grown 
 familiar with the principal sea-captains, and most eminent 
 merchants of the age ; by which means, his knowledge be- 
 came extensive and correct. Appointed to accompany the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 2^7 
 
 [jueen's ambassador to the court of Paris, during the fi\ is 
 yrears he remained in that service, his patriotic feelingst 
 ivere daily wounded by the reproaches thrown out, in con- 
 versation and in books, against the sluggish indifference of 
 his countrymen, and by the extravagant praises lavished upon 
 ather nations, for their discoveries and naval enterprise ; a 
 neglect the more remarkable, on the part of England, in so 
 long and happy a time of peace. On his return, he imme- 
 diately commenced his voluminous and laborious undertak- 
 ing. In the preface of this work, which is dedicated to sir 
 Francis Walsingham, he strongly evinces the ardency of his 
 feelings, and presents an interesting summary of the foreign 
 relations of his country. " Which of the kings of England, 
 before her majesty," he demands, " displayed their banners 
 in the Caspian Sea? Which of them have ever traded with 
 the emperor of Persia, and obtained for her merchants nu- 
 merous and important privileges ? Who, at any time before, 
 beheld an English regiment in the stately porch of the 
 Grand Signior at Constantinople? W^ho ever found Eng- 
 lish consuls and commercial agents at Tripolis in Syria ; at 
 ^leppo, at Babylon, at Balsara : and, still more, who, before 
 this period, ever heard of Englishmen at Goa : what English 
 ships did heretofore anchor in the great river Plate, pass and 
 repass the strait of Magellan, range along the coast of Chili, 
 Peru, and all the western side of New Spain, farther indeed, 
 than the vessels of any other nation had ever ventured; 
 traverse the immense surface of the South Sea, land upon 
 the Luzones, in despite of the enemy ; enter into alliance, 
 amity, and traffic, with the princes of the Moluccas and the 
 isle of Java ; double the famous Cape of Good Hope, arrive 
 at the isle of St. Helena, and, last of all, return home richly 
 laden with the commodities of China ?" 
 
 By the zealous endeavours of a person, respected equally 
 by traders and men of rank, numbers of both orders formed 
 an association, again to establish colonies in America ; and 
 petitioned James the first, to sanction the execution of their 
 plans. The period was highly favourable to their wishes. 
 James was scarcely seated on the throne, when he conclud- 
 ed, by an amicable treaty, the tedious war which had been 
 carried on with Spain ; and now readily granted their re- 
 quest. He divided, into two districts, of nearly equal ex- 
 tent, that portion of North America which stretches from 
 the 34th to the 45th degree, of latitude, excepting the ter- 
 ritory of any other Christian prince or people, already occu- 
 pied ; one, called the First, or South Colony, the other, the 
 3 
 
26 HISTORY OF 
 
 Second, or North Colony, of Virginia. He authorized sir 
 P^^ Thomas Gates, sir George Summers, Richard Hak- 
 luyt, and others, mostly resident in London, to settle 
 in a limited district of the South. An equal extent of the 
 North, he allotted to several gentlemen and merchants of 
 Bristol, Plymouth, and other parts of the west of England. 
 As the object of association was new, so the plan of con- 
 ducting their affairs was uncommon. The supreme gov- 
 ernment of the colonies was vested in a council, resident in 
 England, to be nominated by the king ; the subordinate ju- 
 risdiction, in a council, which was to reside in America, and 
 also to be named by the crown, and act conformably with 
 its instructions. Several clauses, however, evinced con- 
 siderable liberality. Whatever was required for their sus- 
 tenance, or for the support of commerce, he permitted to 
 be shipped from England free of duty, during the space of 
 seven years : and, as a further incitement to industry, grant- 
 ed them the liberty of trading with other nations ; appropri- 
 ating the duties to be laid on foreign traffic for twenty-one 
 years, as a fund for their exclusive benefit. 
 
 Though many persons of distinction became proprietors 
 in the company which undertook to plant the first colony 
 in Virginia, its stock was inconsiderable, and its efforts ex- 
 tremely feeble. In those days, the arts were not understood, 
 by which vast undertakings can be accomplished, as much 
 by the credit, as by the capital, of a corporation. A vessel 
 of only a hundred tons, and two barks, under the command 
 of captain Newport, sailed with one hundred and five men, 
 destined to remain in the country. Some of these were of 
 respectable families ; particularly Mr. Percy, a brother of 
 the Earl of Northumberland, and several officers who had 
 served with reputation in the preceding reign. In follow- 
 ing the ancient course by the West Indies, Newport made 
 a tedious passage. But, though his passage was retarded, 
 his arrival was propitious. The first land that he discovered 
 was a promontory, the southern boundary of the Chesa- 
 April P^^^^ ' which he named Cape Henry, in honour of 
 1607 ^^^ prince of Wales. He immediately entered that 
 spacious inlet; and, keeping along the southern 
 shore, sailed about sixty miles up a river, called by the na- 
 tives Powhatan ; but to which he gave the name of James 
 River, through respect to his sovereign. Here, the colony 
 determined to reside. Having, therefore, chosen a proper 
 site for their infant settlement, they conferred on it the 
 name of Jamestown ; which it still retains : and, though 
 
THE UNITED STATES. W 
 
 it never advanced either to opulence or importance, it is 
 on one account remarkable : it can boast of being the most 
 ancient habitation of the English on the American conti- 
 nent. 
 
 In its earliest infancy, this feeble society vi^ere involved in 
 w'ar. Imprudent in their conduct towards the natives, the 
 suspicion, already excited in the minds of these independent 
 people, always watchful against invasion, was now height- 
 ened into resentment, at this open violation of their rights. 
 I'o war, was added a calamity more dreadful, that bravery 
 ivould oppose in vain. A scarcity of provisions, approach- 
 ing to a famine, introduced diseases ; which, aided by the 
 stfects of a sultry climate upon their exhausted frames, in 
 1 few months swept away half their number, and left the 
 •emainder sickly and dejected. " In such trying extremi- 
 :ies," says an admired historian, " the comparative powers 
 3f every individual are discovered and called forth ; and 
 3ach, naturally, takes that station, and assumes that ascen- 
 iency, to which he is entitled by his talents and force of 
 nind." Every eye was now turned towards captain Smith, 
 ;vho had been appointed in England one of the council ; 
 md all willingly devolved on him the government ; an au- 
 -hority much greater than that of which, on their arrival, 
 hey had unjustly deprived him. 
 
 A character so distinguished in the annals of Virginia ; 
 !0 marked, by nature, with those bold traits of spirit and of 
 renins ; arrests the historian's pen, and claims a more than 
 )rdinary notice ; a degree of attention, in some measure pro- 
 )ortioned to the transactions with which he is associated. 
 i:!aptain John Smith, the father of Virginia, was born of an 
 mcient family, in 1579, at Willoughby, in Lincolnshire, 
 md educated in the schools of Alford and Louth. His pa- 
 rents, who died when he was only in his thirteenth year, 
 eft him a small estate ; which, however, through his own 
 vant of economy, and the inattention of his guardians, be- 
 came soon inadequate to his support. He then accompa- 
 lied a son of the famous lord Willoughby to France ; and, 
 ifter remaining there a short time, returned to his relations; 
 vho gave him a few shillings, out of his own estate, as an 
 icquittance from any further demands. He next served 
 or some years in the Low Countries, against the Spaniards, 
 rhence, passing over into Scotland, he remained there a 
 ihort time amongst his friends : but, weary of the successive 
 ntemperance of company, in which he had never felt de- 
 ight, he retired, with a faithful servant, into the midst of 
 
28 HISTORY OF 
 
 an extensive forest, and, on the margin of a little brook, 
 entwined an arbour of boughs ; in which he lay, with no 
 other bed than leaves, no covering except his ordinary 
 dress. His study consisted in Machiavel's art of war, and 
 Marcus Aurelius ; his exercise, a good horse, with his 
 *' lance and ring ;" his food, the deer, the rambling inhabit- 
 ant of the woods. Satiated, at length, by retirement, he 
 allowed himself again to intermingle in society, was again 
 disgusted, and entered, a second time, into the wars against 
 the Spaniards ; but, abhorring a contest, in which one 
 Christian was employed in the slaughter of another, he de- 
 termined to use his sword in a cause more congenial with 
 his feelings. Accordingly, after various misfortunes, and 
 extraordinary, romantic adventures, he joined the Hunga- 
 rian army, at that time fighting under the banners of Aus- 
 tria, against the Turks. By his ingenious stratagems, he 
 contributed highly to his party's success. When encamp- 
 ed before the walls of Regall, in Tpnsylvania, he had an 
 opportunity of distinguishing himself in a most singular 
 adventure. So much time had been spent by the Chris- 
 tians in erecting batteries, that the Turks were apprehen- 
 sive lest their enemy would depart, without making an 
 assault upon the town; and, thereby, prevent them from 
 gaining honour in their repulse ; an honour, the more de- 
 sirable, as many ladies of exalted rank were anxious ob- 
 servers of the siege, and longed, after so much delay, to 
 see "some court-like pastime." In that chivalrous age, 
 when every soldier fought under the patronage of a favour- 
 ite mistress, whose image was impressed upon his heart, 
 to request was to ensure performance. A Turkish noble 
 immediately challenged any captain of the besieging army 
 to single combat, " for each other's head." The challenge 
 was readily accepted. The champion was appointed by 
 lot, and fate selected the intrepid Smith. — The combat soon 
 commenced, and soon the Turk paid the forfeit of his head: 
 the ladies were desirous of another trial, and again Smith 
 was rewarded with a head ; the request was repeated, and 
 the issue was the same. Shortly afterwards, he aided in 
 taking the place by storm; and, for his former exploit, 
 (which nothing but the manners of the age can excuse,) his 
 name Avas enrolled in the heraldic records of Transvlva- 
 ma, with the appropriate armorial bearing of three Turks' 
 heads. 
 
 The undaunted temper of Smith, deeply tinctured with 
 the romantic spirit of the times, was happily adapted to the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 29 
 
 present trying situation. The vigour of his constitution 
 was unimpaired, and his mind knew not the sensation of 
 danger. As the recompense of his toils, he saw abundance 
 and contentment re-established, and hoped that he should 
 be able to maintain his people in a comfortable state, until 
 the arrival of supplies from England. But his expectation 
 was destroyed by an interesting misfortune. When hunt- 
 ing in the woods, he was attacked by two hundred Indians, 
 who poured upon him a continued flight of arrows. Seiz- 
 ing one of the assailants. Smith tied him with his garter to 
 his arm, and used him as a shield to arrest the darts ; a re- 
 source which did not induce his companions to desist, nor 
 was it sufficient to prevent their weapons from occasionally 
 reaching the intended mark. He sunk, in this unequal 
 contest, and was made prisoner. Charmed, however, by 
 the various arts which he used to astonish or to please his 
 Indian victors, they released him from captivity. Three 
 hundred more, however, of these wandering people, a sec- 
 ond time pursued him, forced him to seek refuge in a marsh, 
 and, after he had thrown away his arms, which, by reason 
 of the cold, he could no longer use, obliged him to surren- 
 der, and carried him in triumph to Powhatan, the principal 
 chieftain of Virginia. The doom of death being pro- 
 nounced, he was led to the place of execution, and his head 
 already bowed down to receive the fatal blow ; when the 
 tender sentiment of female pity interposed in his behalf. 
 At that instant, the favourite daughter of Powhatan rushed 
 in between him and the uplifted club ; and, by her entreaties 
 and her tears, prevailed on her father to recall his sentence. 
 Nor did the beneficence of this amiable child, (for she had 
 not yet attained her thirteenth year,) terminate in the sav- 
 ing of his life : she soon afterwards procured his liberty, 
 and sent him, from time to time, seasonable presents of 
 provisions. 
 
 On his return to Jamestown, Smith found the colony 
 reduced to thirty-eight persons ; who, in despair, were 
 making preparations to abandon a country, which they 
 thought not destined to be the habitation of Englishmen. 
 This resolution, he with difficulty induced them to defer. 
 The anxiously expected succour from England shortly af- 
 terwards arrived. Plenty was again restored : one hundred 
 new planters were added to their number ; and they receiv- 
 ed all things required for the interest of agriculture. But, 
 an unlucky incident diverted their attention from the prop- 
 er means of securing comfort to their situation. In a small 
 
30 HISTORY OF 
 
 stream that issued from a bank of sand, near Jamestown, 
 there was discovered a shining mineral substance, resem- 
 bling gold. Every hand was now employed in its collection : 
 large quantities of this glittering dust were gathered ; and, 
 by the judgment of an artist, whose ignorance of minerals 
 was exceeded only by the credulity of his companions, it 
 was pronounced extremely rich. With this imaginary 
 wealth, the first vessel returning to England was entirely 
 laden. The culture of the land, and every useful employ- 
 ment, were neglected ; either forgotten, or abandoned with 
 contempt. 
 
 The effects of this delusion were soon severely felt. Not- 
 withstanding all the provident activity, the unremitting 
 anxiety, the extraordinary self-denial, of captain Smith, the 
 colony began to suffer as much as formerly, from scarcity 
 of food and the consequent visitation of distempers. In the 
 hope of obtaining some relief, Smith proposed to open an 
 intercourse with the remote Indian tribes, and to ascertain 
 their state of culture and population. The execution of 
 this arduous and dangerous design, he, with his accustom- 
 ed bravery and zeal, undertook himself; with a small open 
 boat, a feeble crew, and a very scanty stock of provisions. 
 , r,r^o He began his survey at Cape Charles ; and, in two dif- 
 ferent excursions, which occupied above four months, 
 visited all the countries on the eastern and western shores 
 of the bay, entered most of the considerable creeks, traced 
 many of the great rivers to their falls, and obtained a sup- 
 ply of food for the suffering colony. After sailing upwards 
 of three thousand miles, and surmounting the severest 
 hardships, with fortitude equal to whatever is related of 
 the most daring adventurers, he returned to Jamestown ; 
 bringing an account of that large tract of country, now 
 comprehended in the states of Virginia and Maryland : so 
 full and correct, that from his map nearly all the subsequent 
 delineations have been formed. 
 
 1609 ^^ ^^^^ period, a change was made in the consti- 
 tution of the company, that promised to aflbrd the 
 colony security and happiness. 
 
 The supreme direction of all their operations, which the 
 king had reserved to himself, discouraged persons of rank, 
 property, or independent spirit, from becoming members 
 of a society, subjected to the arbitrary decisions of the 
 crown ; upon a representation of which to James, he grant- 
 ed them a new charter, with privileges more ample and ex- 
 plicitly defined. He enlarged the boundaries of the colo- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 31 
 
 ny ; abolished the jurisdiction of the council in Virginia ; 
 vested the government entirely in one residing in London, 
 the members of which were to be chosen by a majority of 
 the proprietors ; whom he empowered to nominate a govern- 
 or, who should remain in Virginia, and carry their orders 
 into execution. 
 
 To that important office, the new council appointed lord 
 Delaware : but, as this nobleman could not immediately 
 leave England, sir Thomas Gates and sir George Summers, 
 the former of whom had been chosen lieutenant general, 
 the latter, admiral, were despatched, with live hundred 
 planters. Unfortunately, a violent hurricane separated, 
 from the rest of the fleet, the vessel in which these officers 
 had embarked. The remainder arrived safely at James- 
 town. The accident, however, produced consequences 
 which were serious and embarrassing. The original form 
 of government was held abolished ; no legal warrant could 
 be found, for establishing any other ; and every thing tend- 
 ed to the wildest anarchy. Smith was not in a condition 
 to act with his accustomed vigour. By an accidental ex- 
 . plosion of gun-powder, this generous hero, at once the Fa- 
 bius and Marcellus, the shield and sword, of the infiuit colo- 
 ny, had been so dreadfully mangled, that he was incapa- 
 ble of moving ; and was under the necessity of being carried 
 to England, in the hope of recovering by a mode of treat- 
 ment, more skilful than he could meet in Virginia. 
 
 We shall not attempt to exhibit a picture of the wretch- 
 edness which followed. We are unequal to the task ; and, 
 even were the task accomplished, the exhibition would be 
 alike superfluous and disgusting. In less than six months, 
 of five hundred persons, whom Smith had left in Virginia, 
 only sixty remained alive ; so feeble and dejected, that they 
 could not have prolonged their existence for many days, 
 had not succour arrived from a quarter, whence it could not 
 
 jf^n have been expected, even by hope itself. Gates and 
 Summers made their appearance. Although wreck- 
 ed on one of the Bermuda islands, none of their compan- 
 ions had perished; and a considerable part of their pro- 
 vision had been saved. In that delightful spot, the hand of 
 nature was so liberal, that one hundred and fifty persons 
 subsisted comfortably, for ten months, upon her bounty. 
 Impatient, however, to escape from a place where they 
 were cut off* from the rest of mankind ; for, all was solitude, 
 — not a wandering Indian was found amidst its forests ; they 
 commenced the building of two barks ; which, by wonder* 
 
32 HISTORY OF 
 
 fill ingenuity and perseverance, they at length completed, 
 and, in these, after a more prosperous voyage than could 
 reasonably have been expected, they arrived at Jamestown. 
 But the relief which they afforded, though it saved the 
 wretched survivors from immediate death, was unable to 
 preserve them until the autumn. Nothing now remained, 
 but that the whole should abandon the colony, and seek 
 more immediate assistance. With only sixteen days' pro- 
 vision, they set sail, therefore, in hopes of soon reaching 
 the banks of Newfoundland, and getting relief from their 
 countrymen, employed there, at that season, in the fishery. 
 But, before they had proceeded to the mouth of the river, 
 they were met by lord Delaware ; who brought a large 
 supply of sustenance, a considerable number of new settlers, 
 and every thing requisite either for cultivation or defence. 
 ■in-.^ Under the humane and skilful administration of 
 
 this nobleman, the colony began, once more, to as- 
 sume a promising appearance. He was succeeded by sir 
 Thomas Dale ; who concluded a treaty of friendship with 
 the Powhatans ; one of the most powerful and warlike tribes 
 in Virginia. 
 
 An event, not very honourable to the governor, prepared 
 the way for that union. Pocahuntas, to whose intercession 
 captain Smith was indebted for his life, having persevered 
 in her attachment to the English, frequently visited their 
 settlements ; and, during this intercourse, was betrayed, by 
 a reward of a copper kettle given to an old Indian woman, 
 on board a vessel, and there imprisoned. Her father, who 
 loved her with most ardent affection, was now obliged to 
 discontinue hostilities, and conclude a treaty, on such terms 
 as were dictated by his treacherous enemy. The treaty, 
 thus begun in perfidy, was, notwithstanding, productive of 
 signal benefit ; and, in consequence of a subsequent oc- 
 currence, cherished by its victim, with as much attach- 
 ment, as it had before experienced his opposition. The 
 beauty of Pocahuntas made so great an impression on Mr. 
 Rolfe, a young gentleman of considerable rank, that he 
 warmly entreated her to accept of him as a husband. The 
 princess readily consented, and her father did not disap- 
 , ^, .:v prove the alliance. The marriage was celebrated, 
 
 with extraordinary pomp ; and, from that period, a 
 friendly correspondence subsisted between the colony and 
 all the tribes subject to Powhatan, or that were under the 
 influence of his power. Rolfe and his princess went to 
 England ; where, by the introduction of captain Smith, she 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 33 
 
 was received at court, with the respect due to her birth, 
 and to the happy advantages arising from the union ; was 
 carefully instructed in the Christian religion, and publicly 
 baptized. In her return to America, Pocahuntas died at 
 Gravesend. She left one son : from whom are sprung 
 some of the most respectable families in Virginia ; who 
 boast of their descent from this celebrated female, the 
 daughter of the ancient rulers of the country. 
 
 Powhatan had sent with the princess a cunning Indian, 
 under pretence of merely officiating as her servant ; but, it 
 soon appeared, that this man was vested with a very differ- 
 ent, and far more important, commission — the numbering 
 of the inhabitants of England ; in fact, the making of a sta- 
 tistical survey of the nation. For this purpose, on his ar- 
 rival at Plymouth, he procured a long stick, upon which 
 he assiduously began to note the census : but, a very short 
 time being sufficient to convince him that his arithmetic 
 was inadequate to so extended a task, he wisely relinquished 
 the design. 
 
 Meanwhile, sir Thomas Dale, not satisfied with the con- 
 ' cessions already extorted from Powhatan, deputed a mes- 
 senger to that prince, with further indications of his friend- 
 ship. " The governor," said the agent of this insidious 
 offer, " has sent you two pieces of copper, five strings of 
 white and blue beads, five wooden combs, ten fishing-hooks, 
 and a pair of knives ; he will also give you a grind-stoiie, if 
 you think proper to convey it from the settlement : hearing 
 of the excellent qualities of your youngest daughter, he in- 
 tends to marry her, and desires that you will send her to 
 him by me." — "I gladly accept your salute of love and 
 peace," replied the wary chieftain, "which, while I live, I 
 shall respect ; and I thankfully receive the pledges of his 
 esteem : but, as for my daughter, I have given her to a 
 prince who resides about three days' journey hence." — 
 "You can, however, recall her, to gratify 'your brother,'" 
 rejoined the messenger ; " and the more easily, as she is 
 now only twelve years old." — "Never," returned the in- 
 dignant father ; " I love my daughter as my life ; and, 
 though I have many children, I delight in none so much 
 as in her. Should I not often behold her, I could not pos- 
 sibly exist : and see her I could not, were she to be con- 
 signed to him : having resolved not to put myself into the 
 hands of your people, nor go amongst them. Carry back, 
 then, to my brother, this answer, — that I desire no further 
 proof of his friendship, than the promise he has made ; 
 
34 HISTORY OF 
 
 from me, he has a pledge, one of my beloved daughters ; 
 which, during her life, must be sufficient : when she dies, 
 he shall have another. But I hold it not a brotherly part, 
 his desiring to bereave me of two of my children, at once. 
 If any injury be offered, my country is large enough to se- 
 cure me from his grasp : I am old, and wish to conclude 
 my days in peace." 
 
 Hitherto, no right of individual property in lands was 
 established. The small quantity which had been cleared, 
 was cultivated by the joint labour of the whole ; the pro- 
 duce was lodged in common store-houses, and distributed 
 weekly to every family, according to its numbers and its 
 wants. A society, so constituted, might, indeed, under a 
 rigid discipline, and the terrors of actual famine, produce 
 the mere requisites of existence; but it was not formed to 
 advance beyond that lowest approximation to a state of in- 
 fancy. The idle must still be a weight on the industrious. 
 To remedy this evil, the governor divided a considerable 
 extent of land into small lots, and granted one of these, for 
 ever, to each individual ; from which period, the colony 
 161g rapidly extended and improved. They began the 
 culture of tobacco, a native of that soil, since be- 
 come the gfeat staple of Virginia. But the eager demand 
 for this article in England, caused, for some time, another 
 scarcity of food ; the inconsiderate attention to its produc- 
 tion constrained the settlers again to plunder the unhappy 
 Indians, revived their antipathy to the English name, and 
 called forth a renewal of their desolating vengeance. 
 
 Notwithstanding this dreadful state of alarm, the colo- 
 nists still pursued the cultivation of the favourite plant ; 
 and, as they formed more extensive projects, were unex- 
 pectedly furnished with the means of executing them with 
 greater facility. How much would we rejoice, could the 
 cause, at this moment, be buried in oblivion, its effect be 
 no longer traced ! A Dutch ship, from the coast of Guinea, 
 having sailed up James' River, sold to the planters a part 
 of her negroes ; which race has been augmented in Virginia, 
 by successive importations, and the natural increase, un- 
 til it exceeds the number of the whites. What a climax 
 cf human cupidity and turpitude ; what a glaring inconsist- 
 ence, between the public professions, and the private ac- 
 tions, of individuals ; are here presented for consideration ! 
 Only forty years were elapsed, since Holland had burst the 
 fetters of a Spanish despot. She was, at this period, the 
 favourite asylum of the oppressed : thus, enjoying a politi- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 35 
 
 cal freedom, made yet sweeter by the recollections of a 
 sanguinary bondage, and the proud satisfaction of receiving 
 within her bosom the trembling victims of superstition. But, 
 the fetters which her citizens had thus broken, and cast 
 upon the ground, are quickly lifted and repaired. With 
 adamantine permanence, they are transferred to the feeble, 
 unoffending native, of another clime. The commerce, 
 which liberty had extended, is now made subservient to the 
 increase of slavery. The colonists become partakers in the 
 crime : they place the last rivet to the chains, and plead ne- 
 cessity in exculpation. But, there was no necessity : the 
 land which they had deserted maintained only a scanty 
 population, and required not their removal. Its neglected 
 soil was more generous, its climate more congenial, than 
 was either in the country that they adopted ; its laws more 
 liberal than those which they now obeyed. It had not driv- 
 en these colonists away : their emigration was voluntary ; 
 embraced with ardour, because dictated by ambition. 
 
 Scarcely had they committed this violence on the liber- 
 ty of others, when they succeeded in the extension of their 
 own. While trampling on their fellow men, they seemed 
 'to rise in their own importance, and be impressed with a 
 mt>re lively sense of the value of freedom. In compliance 
 IfiQ w^*^ ^^i^ spirit, the governor, sir George Yeardley, 
 called a general assembly, the first held in Virginia. 
 Population was now so increased, and the settlements were 
 so dispersed, that eleven corporations sent representatives to 
 this convention ; which was permitted to assume legislative 
 power, one of the natural rights of man. The supreme au- 
 thority was lodged partly in the governor, partly in a council 
 of state appointed by the company, and in a general assem- 
 bly, composed of representatives of the people. The first 
 resembled the sovereign ; the second, the house of peers ; 
 the last, the house of commons, of the British constitution : 
 then the best mode of free government ever established by 
 any nation of the world, and the system from which all sub- 
 sequent English colonial policy has been formed. 
 
 A natural effect of that happy change, was an increase of 
 their agriculture. There was now produced tobacco, ade- 
 quate not only to the consumption of Great Britain, but 
 some also for a foreign market. The company opened a 
 trade with Holland, and established warehouses in Middle- 
 burgh and Flushing. This measure is remarkable, as hav- 
 ing produced the first difference of sentiment between the 
 colony and the parent state. Jealous at seeing a commodi- 
 
36 HISTORY OF 
 
 ty, for which the demand was every day increasing, con- 
 ducted to foreign ports, without being subject to its control, 
 thereby causing a diminution of its revenue, the latter en- 
 deavoured to check this colonial enterprise ; the former con- 
 sidering the restraint a breach of the sacred principles of 
 justice. 
 
 The bold spirit of discussion which the new constitution 
 had infused into the general courts of the colony in London, 
 having soon drawn the attention, and roused the suspicion, 
 of James, their charter, by a decision of the king's bench, 
 was forfeited, and the company dissolved. His successor, 
 Charles the first, adopted all his father's maxims, with re- 
 spect to Virginia ; so that, during a great part of his reign, 
 it knew no other law than the royal will. But, the colonists 
 not quietly submitting to this system of oppression, Charles 
 yielded to the people's voice : he recalled Harvey, his ob- 
 noxious governor, and in his place appointed sir William 
 Berkeley ; a man of consummate abilities and exalted rank, 
 prudent, virtuous, and popular : under whose administra- 
 tion, Virginia remained, with some short periods of inter- 
 ruption, almost forty years. This pleasing change in the 
 person of the governor, was accompanied by a still farther 
 amelioration in the mode of government. The growing 
 opposition experienced by the king, from domestic subjects, 
 prompted him to court the affections of those abroad. 
 Berkeley, though the literal tenor of his commission was 
 the same with that of his predecessor, received instructions 
 to declare, that, in all its concerns, civil and ecclesiastical, 
 the colony would be governed by the laws of England. He 
 was directed to issue writs for choosing representatives of 
 the people ; who, in conjunction with himself and the coun- 
 cil, were to form a general assembly, and possess supreme 
 legislative power, (subject, however, to the ratification of 
 the general courts in England,) and to establish courts of 
 justice, in which all causes should be decided, agreeably to 
 the forms of procedure in the parent state. 
 
 After royalty was abolished in Great Britain, by the 
 execution of the king, and the consequent establishment 
 of a commonwealth, the authority of the crown continued 
 to be acknowledged in Virginia. Retaining a lively grati- 
 tude towards a monarch, from whom, through whatevei 
 reason, they had received immunities, not less valuable 
 than unexpected, the colonists had preserved unshaken 
 loyalty to Charles, during all his misfortunes. But the 
 measures of the commonwealth were prompt and vigor- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 37 
 
 ^-^ "ous. A numerous squadron, with a considerable 
 body of land-forces, was despatched, to reduce the 
 Virginians to obedience. Berkeley made resistance to this 
 formidable armament ; but could not long maintain so une- 
 qual a contest. He was soon defeated. His gallant con- 
 duct, however, instead of injuring, was of service, to his 
 people. They received indemnity for the past, and were 
 allowed all the privileges of citizens. But the governor 
 disdained to make any stipulations for himself; and, choos- 
 ing to pass his days far from a government which he de- 
 tested, he continued, for some years, in Virginia, as a pri- 
 vate man, beloved and respected by all over whom he had 
 presided. 
 
 The English commonwealth was not satisfied with the 
 mere subjection of the colonies. It next turned its atten- 
 tion to securing, by an express law, the benefit of their in- 
 creasing commerce. With this view, the parliament framed 
 two acts : one, prohibiting all mercantile intercourse be- 
 tween the colonies and foreign states ; the other, the im- 
 portation of Asiatic, African, or American produce, into 
 'the dominions of the commonwealth, except in vessels be- 
 longing to English subjects, or to the people of the respect- 
 ive colonies from which the importation was made ; navi- 
 gated by an English commander, and by crews, the greater 
 part of which must be Englishmen. 
 
 On the death of Mathews, the last governor appointed 
 by Cromwell, after he had usurped the supreme power, the 
 Virginians, no longer under the control of authority, burst 
 out with the utmost violence. They forced sir William 
 Berkeley from his retirement, boldly erected the royal 
 standard, and proclaimed Charles the second, son of the 
 late monarch, their lawful sovereign. Thus, they were 
 the last British subjects who renounced, and the first who 
 returned, to their allegiance ; a distinction, which, with 
 whatever degree of pride they were once fond of recollect- 
 ing it, would, now, be willingly relinquished. 
 
 Indeed, the satisfaction of living under their ancient sove- 
 reign, was all, perhaps, they had expected. For, though 
 the unbending disposition of the Stuarts promised no 
 amendment in the government, their title was undisputed, 
 their family, from its antiquity, more respected than that 
 which had usurped their place ; considerations of moment- 
 ous influence, on the minds of a large number of men of 
 rank, recently arrived in the colony, to avoid the dangers 
 to which their principles exposed them in England. For- 
 4 
 
S9 HISTORY OF 
 
 tunately for the Virginians, another revolution soon placed 
 Charles the second on the throne, and saved them from the 
 chastisement to which they were exposed by their previous 
 declaration in his favour. But, gracious professions of es- 
 teem were the only return made by the new king for their 
 loyalty and service ; and the new parliament, instead of re- 
 moving the restraints imposed upon their trade by the com- 
 monwealth, not only adopted all their ideas, but carried 
 them still further. This produced the memorable Act of 
 Navigation. It enjoined, that no commodities should be 
 imported into any British settlement, in Asia, Africa, or 
 America, or exported from them, except in vessels built 
 in England, or in the plantations ; of which vessels, the 
 masters and three fourths of the mariners should be Eng- 
 lish subjects : and that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indi- 
 go, or woods used in dying, of the growth or manufacture 
 of the colonies, should be shipped from them to any country 
 except England. Soon afterwards, this act was extended, 
 and prohibited the importation of any European commodity 
 into the colonies, unless laden in England, in vessels navi- 
 gated according to the tenor of the act. 
 
 From that period, until the English revolution in 1688, 
 if we except an insurrection raised by Nathaniel Bacon, a 
 colonel of militia, there is no occurrence in the history of 
 Virginia, essential to be noticed. The number of its inha- 
 bitants then exceeded sixty thousand ; by which, it appears, 
 that in the previous twenty-eight years its population had 
 doubled. 
 
 The college of William and Mary, at Williamsburg, 
 until the establishment of the university, at Charlotteville, 
 the principal seminary of learning in this state, was founded 
 in 1691, in the reign of the sovereigns whose name it bears. 
 To aid in its erection and support, they gave nearly two 
 thousand pounds, out of their private purse, and granted 
 twenty thousand acres of land, besides a penny a pound on 
 all tobacco sent from the province and from Maryland to 
 the other English plantations. The assembly gave it addi- 
 tional revenues ; which increased its annual income to up- 
 wards of three thousand pounds ; and a considerable dona- 
 tion was added, by the great Irish philosopher Boyle, for 
 the literary and religious instruction of the Indians. 
 
 When the continent of North America was first visited 
 by Europeans, the whole country, with the exception of 
 small patches cleared by the aborigines, and the prairies^ 
 or natural meadows, since discovered in the western terri- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 39 
 
 tories, was one uninterrupted forest. The groves were 
 generally thick and lofty. Sometimes, the trees were felled 
 by the aid of fire and of sharp stones, but, for the most part, 
 they grew, died, and decayed, upon the same spot. Much 
 of the surface, especially near the sea-coast and along the 
 banks of rivers, was covered with swamps and stagnant 
 waters. There were no horses, cows, sheep, swine, nor 
 tame animals of any kind ; but plenty of deer, moose, elks, 
 and buffaloes ; bears, squirrels, and rabbits : also wolves, and 
 a kind of lion ; besides other quadrupeds, amounting in the 
 whole, by the accounts received in Virginia, to twenty- 
 eight different species. There was abundance of wild tur- 
 keys, pigeons, swans, geese, ducks, partridges, herons, 
 cranes, and hawks ; and a vast number of other birds ; mak- 
 ing, in all, eighty-five kinds. Sturgeon, herring, trout, ray, 
 mullet, plaice ; together with crabs, lobsters, tortoises, mus- 
 cles, and oysters ; abounded in the rivers. In the woods, 
 the natives gathered, chesnuts, grapes, walnuts, medlars, 
 apple-crabs, hurtleberries, and strawberries ; they cultivat- 
 ed maize, peas, beans, pompions, melons, and gourds ; and 
 ^.were furnished, by the hand of nature, with an extensive va- 
 riety of large bulbous roots, which they dried and used as 
 bread. In agriculture, they had made some progress. 
 With wooden instruments, they broke up the surface of 
 the ground, and levelled the weeds and old stalks of corn ; 
 which, after remaining for a while exposed to the sun, they 
 burned to ashes, and scattered as manure. At a distance 
 of three feet, and in regular rows, they made holes, in each 
 of which they sowed four grains of corn, every grain being 
 separate ; and, in the intervals, planted beans, peas, pom- 
 pions, melons, and other useful vegetables. This is very 
 similar to the most improved method of the present day ; 
 and, when viewed in conjunction with the produce, leads 
 to an opinion, that these people were not inferior, in the 
 arts of husbandry, to the cotemporaneous inhabitants of 
 Great Britain ; and that they w^anted only the aid of iron, 
 to render them superior.* " An English acre, amongst 
 the Indians," says Hariot, the acute observer, from whom, 
 chiefly, is drawn this account of their domestic economy 
 
 * " Agriculture, though much improved," says Hume, " was still very 
 imperfect. So much so, that the people of England, in a great measure, 
 depended upon foreign nations for their daily bread. Wheat was con- 
 sidered low at thirty-two shillings; barley, at sixteen shillings per quarter 
 of eight bushels." — Reign of James the Jirst. 
 
40 HISTORY OF 
 
 and means of subsistence, " will yield, of corn, beans, and 
 peas, two hundred London bushels ; whereas, in England, 
 forty bushels of wheat from the same extent, are considered 
 as a large crop." In some other parts, however, they pur- 
 sued the cultivation of the soil on a much more extended 
 scale. Towards the south, in those districts now known 
 by the names of West Florida and Alabama, many thou- 
 sand bushels of corn were collected against a time of need, 
 in the public granaries. This grain, distinguished in Eu- 
 rope by the name of maize, was called by the Indians poga- 
 tour. In Virginia, there were silk-worms, of a large 
 species ; grass, resembling silk, of which a piece of cloth 
 was manufactured in England ; besides flax and hemp, 
 equal in quality to those of Britain. But, of all the ob- 
 jects of cultivation, the most careful attention seemed 
 given to the uppowac ; at present known, in commercial 
 language, by the name of tobacco. This was sown in beds, 
 distinct from every other plant; as if to preserve it from 
 the unhallowed contact of an ignoble companion ; it being 
 the favourite incense offered to their deity, and considered 
 eflicacious in quelling the stormy waves. They did not, 
 however, confine its use to the altar of the invisible spirit. 
 It had an extensive consumption, in the ordinary mode of 
 smoking, in pipes made of clay, as a potent averter of dis- 
 ease. 
 
 Their houses were built in a variety of forms, and of va- 
 rious dimensions. Some were framed with small poles, 
 brought together and fastened at the top, in a round, or an 
 oval form, resembling an arbour in an English garden, and 
 covered with bark, or with mats made of long rushes : 
 others were constructed with whole trees, in the manner of 
 the present log-house, and covered with palmetto leaves. 
 In several of these, which, according to the opinion of Ha- 
 rlot, were not inferior to the houses of Great Britain, a hun- 
 dred people slept in one room ; there being a separate apart- 
 ment for the king and queen. Each person lay on a log of 
 wood, hollowed so as to accommodate the back, with the 
 head supported on a higher piece, which formed the pillow. 
 The fire was kindled in the centre, and the smoke found a 
 passage through the door.* Ignition was produced by a 
 
 * England, about the same period, offers a similar picture of do- 
 mestic economy. "At this time, the ciwellingrs of people, even of 
 considerable estate, were of plank, badly put together, and chimneys 
 were almost unknown in England. The fire was kindled by the wall, 
 
THE- UNITED STATES. 41 
 
 continued rubbing together of two sticks. They had nei- 
 ther chair nor stool, but sat on the ground, commonly with 
 their elbows on their knees ; a mode and attitude still in 
 general practice amongst the poor peasantry in some parts 
 of Europe. A few wooden and stone vessels served every 
 domestic purpose. Their knife was a sharp stone, shell, 
 or reed ; with v/hich, they cut their hair, and trimmed their 
 bows and arrows. They made their axes of stones, in 
 shape similar to those of iron. They had wooden mor- 
 tars, stone pestles, and chisels ; and dressed their corn with 
 a clam-shell, or with a stick made flat and sharp at one end. 
 They had hooks made of flexible bone, which they used for 
 fishing; and nets, for the same purpose, thirty feet long, 
 wrought with cords of hemp, twisted by the women. Their 
 towns, near the sea-coast, were small, and few in number. 
 They contained each from ten to thirty houses ; and were 
 not unfrequently defended by a wall of stakes, driven closely 
 together into the ground. 
 
 The language of one community was diflferent from that 
 of another ; and the greater the intervening distance be- 
 tween the nations, the more perceptible was the dissimi- 
 larity. 
 
 Notwithstanding that these people were very ignorant, 
 when compared with the English, (in the opinion of the 
 same writer,) yet, making allowance for their want of means 
 to display their acquirements, they were both smart and in- 
 genious. Nor were they destitute of religion. Unaided 
 by the blessings of revelation, they had, by the mere dic- 
 tates of natural reason, received a system, which was, in a 
 great measure, adequate to the prevention of injustice. 
 They believed, that there were many gods ; who were of 
 various degrees, and possessed peculiar attributes : but, 
 that there was one God, above the whole, by whom the 
 others, and the universe, were made : that the soul was 
 immortal ; and that there was, in a future state, a place of 
 reward for the virtuous, and punishment for the wicked. 
 I'hey had priests ; and also temples, where were placed 
 images of their gods, in human shape, which they wor- 
 shiped. 
 
 and the smoke found its way through the roof, door, or v/indows. The 
 furniture was appropriate. The people slept on straw pallets, having a 
 log under their heads for a pillow, and almost every domestic utensil was 
 of wood." — Reign of Mary. — Hume, 
 
 4* 
 
42 HISTORY OF 
 
 The priests were not so positive in regard to the truth 
 of their own religion, as to prevent their expressing great 
 doubts of its correctness, and listening, with much atten- 
 tion, to the doctrines of Christianity ; a respect, however, 
 caused by an impression, that the English were, in compa- 
 rison with themselves, a superior order of beings. They 
 treated their governors with profound reverence ; and were 
 obedient to the laws ; which inflicted penalties in propor- 
 tion to the crime, extending, for enormous offences, to life 
 itself. 
 
 The narrow circle within which we have confined our ob- 
 servations, precludes our relating the manners and customs 
 of many Indian nations, advanced much higher towards 
 civilization. The Peruvians and Mexicans had risen far 
 above those of the north ; and, in the less remote districts, 
 bordering on the great western waters of the present Uni- 
 ted States, works of considerable importance in the science 
 of defensive warfare, as well as institutions of civil govern- 
 ment, evinced a degree of elevation, much above the rude 
 operations of primitive society. No stronger evidence need 
 be offered in support of the latter assertion, than the cir- 
 cumstance of females being, in several nations, invested 
 with supreme authority. Amongst a people as yet un- 
 acquainted with the salutary restraints imposed by a so- 
 cial contract of civil government, and whose natural ener- 
 gies are solely turned to the business of war, those, only, 
 are honoured with the chief station, who are qualified, by 
 their valour and experience, to lead the nation against an 
 enemy. But, here, the long-established practice of civ- 
 ilized monarchies appeared. Hereditary accession had 
 gradually arisen, when the people, having acquired a relish 
 for domestic comforts, no longer sought to enlarge their 
 territories, by the extermination of a neighbour, but aimed 
 solely at guarding their ancient possessions against occa- 
 sional incursion. 
 
 In their persons, the Indians of America are, in general, 
 tall, straight, and well proportioned ; with dark eyes, and 
 aquiline nose : their colour is a dark brown, approaching 
 more to a black, than a red, hue : their hair, we believe, is 
 universally black, of uncommon strength. Beards are rare- 
 ly seen amongst them : a smooth chin is considered an es- 
 sential mark of decency : and, accordingly, a hair is not 
 suffered for a moment to appear ; a fashion since adopted 
 in Europe, though entirely opposite to that which prevailed 
 there at the period of the first English settlement in Vir- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 43 
 
 ginia; as the mustachio was then universal. Captain Smith 
 speaks of accidentally meeting " his old friend Mosco, a lus- 
 ty savage of Wichomoco," whom he took to be " a French- 
 man's son, because he had acquired a black bushy beard." 
 — " Buffbn," observes Mr. Charles Thomson, in allusion to 
 the characteristic traits of the aborigines, " has, indeed, 
 given an affecting picture of the man of America : but, 
 sure I am, that there never was a picture more unlike the 
 original. ' They have no beard,' that author asserts ! 
 Had he known the pains and trouble it costs the men to 
 pluck out, by the roots, the hair which grows on their faces, 
 he would have confessed that nature had not been deficient 
 in that respect. I have seen an Indian beau, with a glass 
 in his hand, examining his face for hours together, and 
 pulling out every hair he could discover, with a kind of 
 tweezer, which he used wuth great dexterity." 
 
 In dress, and artificial appearance in general, they resem- 
 bled the ancient Britons. They were partially clothed in 
 deerskins, coloured yellow, red, russet, or black : their bo- 
 dies, also, were stained, and punctured with thorns, to make 
 ' the paint more lasting. The women sometimes wore gowns 
 of moss, ingeniously matted into a kind of cloth. A few of 
 the men had in their ears a small green and yellow snake, 
 about half a yard in length ; which, twining itself around 
 their necks, would often familiarly kiss their lips. Some 
 ornamented their heads with the wing of a bird, or a large 
 feather and a rattle : others, with the entire skin of a hawk, 
 stuffed, and the wings extended. Their arms were similar 
 to those used by all nations unacquainted with gunpowder, 
 — bows, darts, and clubs. Their boats were formed mostly 
 from the solid tree, hollowed by stones and fire ; and many 
 were capacious enough to carry twenty men, with their 
 arms and baggage. 
 
 The Indian is more remarkable for agility than strength ; 
 fitted rather for the rapid pursuit of the forest game, than 
 the laborious duties of agriculture. His frame has habitual- 
 ly assumed a texture corresponding with his employment ; 
 and, in a thinly populated country, this lies amidst the 
 swift-footed tenants of the woods. In the same manner, the 
 miller, the porter, the city chairman, display their several 
 professions, in the conformation of their shoulders, and the 
 muscular rotundity of their legs or arms. 
 
 Of all uncivilized people, the Indians are the most dis- 
 tinguished orators. When addressing the passions, their 
 language is highly figurative and bold ; warm, animating, 
 
44 HISTORY OF 
 
 and interesting. They have an ingenious mode of retain- 
 ing the substance of their debates. A number of persons 
 stand around the speaker, and, at the end of every division 
 of his discourse, receive from him, in succession, a small 
 piece of stick, as a memorial of the preceding passage : 
 which, on any future occasion, they are thus enabled fully 
 to recollect. 
 
 These are all the observations which it is thought ma- 
 terial to make, in this place, respecting the aborigines of 
 America. We have not endeavoured to give extraneous 
 ornament to history, by ingenious fictions of the imagina- 
 tion ; to associate falsehood with truth, and degrade millions 
 of our fellow beings, by unsupported assertions of physical 
 inferiority. European writers have assigned to the Indian, 
 qualities of mind and body — passions of the one, and imbe- 
 cilities of the other — which are alike erroneous and un- 
 founded. Having discovered a new world, they think that 
 it should be inhabited by a people wholly different from 
 those of the old, in every thing except the human form : 
 but, recollecting that it is taught in Scripture, that the whole 
 race of man are descended from a common parent, and that 
 this parent was created in Asia, they trace his journey from 
 the old world, and show, with industrious anxiety, his Asia- 
 tic resemblance. They pursue another branch of their flim- 
 sy system, and before their treatise is concluded, destroy the 
 entire romance by unavoidable collision. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Settlement of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticvt, New 
 Hampshire, and the district of Maine. Sir William Phipps. 
 
 We have already mentioned the partition made of the 
 great territory of Virginia, into North and South colonies. 
 The operations of the Plymouth company, to whom was 
 assigned the conduct of the northern division, were still 
 more feeble than those of the southern ; though animated 
 by the zeal of sir John Popham, chief justice of England, 
 sir Ferdinando Gorges, and other public spirited gentlemen 
 of the west. 
 
 The first vessel which they sent out was captured by the 
 Spaniards ; and their next attempt was not more successful. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 45 
 
 In the following year, 1607, the same in which Jamestown 
 was founded, they began a small settlement on the river 
 Sagahadoc, now called the Kennebec : but, on account of 
 the rigour of the climate, it was soon abandoned ; and, 
 for some time, nothing further was attempted, than a few 
 fishing voyages to Cape Cod, or a petty traffic with the 
 natives. One of the vessels equipped for this purpose, in 
 1614, was commanded by captain Smith; who was employ- 
 ed also on objects more congenial with his enterprising 
 mind. He explored its coast and delineated its bays and 
 harbours. On his return, he laid before the prince of 
 Wales, the map, on which he had inscribed " New Eng- 
 land ;" a title that the prince, delighted by the representa- 
 tions of Smith, immediately confirmed. 
 
 Although that adventure had been lucrative, and easily 
 accomplished, it was not sufficient to allure the people to 
 emigration. The splendid description which Smith pub- 
 lished of his discoveries, as well as the profit arising from 
 his voyage, was regarded with suspicion. The one was 
 viewed as the transcript of a mind, naturally enthusiastic 
 ^nd easily deceived by novelty ; the other, as the fruits of 
 piratical violence. But, what could not be effected by the 
 desire of pecuniary emolument, was accomplished by the 
 operations of a higher principle. Religion had gradually 
 excited amongst a large body of the English, a spirit emi- 
 nently fitted to encounter the dangers, and surmount the 
 obstacles, which, hitherto, had rendered abortive the 
 schemes of the company at Plymouth. To this, are the 
 various settlements in New England indebted for their ori- 
 gin. It is not our intention, nor is it essential, to trace, 
 minutely, the various decrees fulminated against the exer- 
 cise of all religious ceremonies, or against the promulga- 
 tion of religious tenets, at variance with the court opinions, 
 by the tyrannical Henry, or the less severe ministers of 
 Edward ; the ferocious Mary, or the more cautious, and 
 less rigid, policy, of Elizabeth and James. To the disgrace 
 of Christian professors, the sacred rights of conscience and 
 of private judgment, were not properly understood ; nor the 
 charity and mutual forbearance taught by their sacred mas- 
 ter, at that period practised, in any country. Every church 
 employed the hand of power, in supporting its own doc- 
 trines, and opposing the tenets of another ; in disseminating 
 its own truth, and destroying another's error. When re- 
 forming the ritual and exterior symbols of the church of 
 England, Elizabeth, lest, by a too wide departure from the 
 
46 HISTORY OF 
 
 Roman church, she might alarm the populace, who are 
 attached to religious worship, more through the medium 
 of the senses than of the understanding, had allowed many 
 of the ancient ceremonies to remain unaltered. With seve- 
 ral of these, however, a large number of her subjects being 
 dissatisfied, they wished to address their Crea^r agreeably 
 to their own opinions, but were subjected to very rigorous 
 penalties. One of the most strenuous and popular declaim- 
 ers against the established church, was Robert Brown ; who 
 reduced his ideas to a system, and prohibited his people 
 from holding communion with any other. From their 
 founder, his followers were called Brownists ; and, though 
 he abandoned his disciples, and accepted a benefice in the 
 established church, the sect continued to spread, especially 
 in the middle and lower ranks of life. But, as they were 
 carefully observed, and rigorously punished, a body, weary 
 of living in continual danger and alarm, retired to Holland, 
 and settled in Leyden, under the care of a respectable pas- 
 tor, Mr. John Robinson. After remaining there for many 
 years, the society were desirous of removing to some other 
 place, where they might profess and disseminate their opin- 
 ions with more pleasure and success ; and, not deterred 
 by the hardships to which all former emigrants had been 
 exposed, they turned their thoughts upon America, and 
 applied to James ; who, though he refused to give them 
 any positive assurance of toleration, seems to have inti- 
 mated some promise of passive indulgence, so long as their 
 conduct was inoffensive. 
 
 Accepting the terms, they readily procured a tract of 
 land from the company of Plymouth. But their prepara- 
 tions were very inadequate to begin a settlement in a dis- 
 tant region. Only one hundred and twenty persons were 
 collected for this arduous undertaking. They sailed from 
 Plymouth, in 1620 ; their destination being Hudson's River : 
 however, the captain of their vessel having been bribed, it 
 is said, by the Dutch, who had already formed a plan, af- 
 terwards accomplished, of sending thither a colony, carried 
 them so far towards the north, that the first land they 
 reached was Cape Cod. This treacherous behaviour placed 
 them not only beyond their stipulated territory, but even 
 beyond the boundaries of the company from whom they 
 derived their title. To proceed farther was dangerous. 
 It was now the 11th of November. Winter was approach- 
 ing, and the hardships of a long voyage had caused a gene- 
 ral imbecility and sickness. But the disappointment, so far 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 47 
 
 from being injurious, seems a fortunate event : as the coun- 
 try of tiieir destination was thickly inhabited by Indians, 
 and this, ahnost depopulated : a pestilence having recently 
 swept off more than three fourths of its inhabitants. Be- 
 fore landing, they bound themselves, by a written covenant, 
 to be ruled by the majority ; elected John Carver their 
 governor for one year; and, on the 11th of December, 
 chose for their station a place, called by the Indians Patux- 
 et, to which they gave the name of New Plymouth ; partly 
 because the harbour in which it is situated had been styled 
 Plymouth by captain Smith, and partly in remembrance of 
 the kind treatment they had received in the port of that 
 name in England. 
 
 Before the spring, half their number were cut off by 
 famine or disease ; and even those who remained were un- 
 able to give the requisite attention to the providing of food. 
 They were frequently employed in skirmishing with the 
 Indians. Let it not, however, be imagined, that the latter 
 were the aggressors. The records of the ancient settlers 
 incontestibly prove that the Indians were attacked without 
 provocation. In a few days after the English landed, cap- 
 tain Standish, with a party of sixteen men, well armed, 
 went to explore the country; and, about a mile from the 
 sea, discovered five " savages," who immediately fled. 
 " He pursued them about ten miles ; but, night coming on, 
 he placed sentinels, kindled a fire, and rested quietly." In 
 the morning, lie continued the pursuit^ as far as Pamet river, 
 without seeing either inhabitants or habitations. Early in 
 December, he set out upon a fourth expedition of disco- 
 very. On the first day, he saw a small party of Indians, 
 who fled ; and about midnight, when sleeping in the woods, 
 being roused by the sentinel, his men fired two guns, but 
 perceived no enemy : the shots, however, alarmed the poor 
 natives, who were probably lurking in the neighbourhood, 
 anxious to watch the motions of an enemy, who had in- 
 vaded their territory, and assailed them without reason. 
 Wherefore, in the morning, a shower of arrows was poured 
 against the English, accompanied by savage yells, not less 
 terrible to the Europeans, than were the explosions of the 
 death-dealing musket to the Indians. 
 
 Amongst the various traces of civilized life, then ob- 
 served, there was one evidence worthy of attention, as it 
 will aid in removing the erroneous estimate of the social 
 improvement of those people, so generally entertained. Af- 
 ter passing some corn-fields, the notice of the English wag 
 
48 HISTORY OF 
 
 arrested by a regular burying--yard, encompassed with pali- 
 sades, driven closely together ; several of the graves being 
 carefully surrounded in the same manner. 
 
 It was a favourite opinion with all the enthusiasts of that 
 age, that the Scriptures contained a complete system of 
 civil government, as well as of spiritual instruction ; and, 
 in consequence, without attending to the peculiar circum- 
 stances, or situation, of the people whose history is there 
 recorded, they deduced general rules, for their own con- 
 duct, from what had been ordained to men in a very differ- 
 ent state. Influenced by this erroneous idea, the colonists 
 of New Plymouth, in imitation of the primitive Christians, 
 placed all their property in a common stock, and carried 
 on every work of industry by their joint labour, for public 
 benefit. . This method, though it displayed the sincerity of 
 their professions, retarded the progress of their colony. 
 The same fatal effects flowed from this community of 
 goods, that had, before, from different motives, been expe- 
 rienced in Virginia; and it was soon, through necessity, 
 relinquished. Excited by the same notion, and viewing 
 themselves as a chosen people of God, all their institutions 
 had reference to some scriptural laws; the language of their 
 familiar and historical writings, was mostly quotations from 
 the Bible ; their hopes, their fears, their prospects of vic- 
 tory, or prognostications of defeat, all, were regulated by 
 the impulse of imaginary inspiration. Under these im- 
 pressions, their increase was extremely slow. Their reli- 
 gious principles were so extraordinary and unsocial, that, 
 at the end of ten years, these well-meaning people, when 
 they became incorporated with their more powerful neigh- 
 bours of Massachusetts Bay, did not exceed three hundred. 
 
 Of the latter colony, it is now our intention to treat. Not- 
 withstanding the persecutions, to which religious dissenters, 
 of every denomination, were still exposed in Britain, their 
 zeal and number continued to augment ; and, as they des- 
 paired of obtaining, in their own country, any relaxation 
 of the penal laws against their sect, they hoped to find an 
 asylum in New England. By the activity of Mr. White, 
 a non-conformist minister at Dorchester, an association 
 having been made to conduct a colony thither, they pur 
 chased from the council of Plymouth, a territory, extending 
 in length, from three miles north of Merrimack, to three 
 miles south of Charles River ; and in breadth, from the At- 
 lantic to the Pacific Ocean ; a boundary, then supposed to 
 be not very far distant from the western shore. They found 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 4d 
 
 no difficulty in procuring partners sufficient to attempt its 
 occupation. But, as they entertained doubts concerning 
 the propriety of founding a colony on the basis of a grant 
 from a private company of patentees, who, though they 
 might convey a right to the soil, could not authorize the 
 formation of a government, they applied for the neces- 
 sary powers to Charles the first ; who granted their request, 
 with a facility that appears extraordinary, when we con- 
 sider their principles and views. The charter which they 
 obtained was similar to that given to the two Virginia 
 companies, by James. They were formed into a corpora- 
 tion, empowered to dispose of the lands, and govern the 
 people who should settle on them; and, notwithstanding 
 their migration to America, they and their descendants 
 were to have all the rights of natural-born subjects. The 
 first governor and his assistants were appointed by the 
 crown : the right of electing their successors was vested in 
 the corporation. Charles seems not to have foreseen, nor 
 to have suspected, the secret intentions of those who pro- 
 jected the measure. So far was he from encouraging emi- 
 grants by any hope of religious indulgence, that he ex- 
 pressly provided for having the oath, acknowledging his 
 supremacy in the church, administered to every inhabitant 
 of the colony. But, whatever were the intentions of the 
 king, the adventurers kept their own object steadily in 
 view. In the year 1629, they fitted out for New England 
 five ships ; on board of which there embarked upwards of 
 three hundred passengers ; amongst whom, were several 
 eminent non-conforming ministers. On their arrival, they 
 found the miserable remains of a small party, that had left 
 England the preceding year, under the conduct of Mr. 
 Endicott ; who, prior to their incorporation by royal char- 
 ter, had been appointed deputy governor. They were set- 
 tled at a place, called by the Indians, Naunekeag ; to which, 
 he had given the Scripture-name of Salem. Immediately, 
 the new colonists began the formation of their church ; 
 without regarding the intentions of the king, but in accord- 
 ance with that system which has since been distinguished 
 by the name of Independent. They elected, by the impo- 
 sition of hands, a pastor, a teacher, and an elder ; and all 
 who were admitted members of the church, gave an account 
 of the foundation of their own hope as Christians. They 
 disencumbered their public worship of every superfluous 
 ceremony, and reduced it to the lowest standard of Calvin- 
 istic simplicity. 
 5 
 
50 HISTORY OF 
 
 Much as we respect that noble spirit, which enabled 
 them to part with their native soil ; by some, held dearer 
 than friends, relatives, or children, and, by every generous 
 bosom, preferred even to life itself; we must condemn the 
 proceedmgs which ensued. In the first moment when they 
 began to taste of Christian liberty themselves, they forgot 
 that others had a right to the same enjoyment. Some of 
 the colonists, who had not emigrated through motives of 
 religion, retaining a high veneration for the ritual of the 
 English church, refused to join the colonial state-establish- 
 ment, and assembled separately to worship. But their ob- 
 jections were not suffered to pass unnoticed, nor unpunish- 
 ed. Endicott called before him the two principal offenders ; 
 and, though they were men of respectability, and amongst 
 the number of original patentees, he expelled them from 
 the colony, and sent them home in the first ships returning 
 to England. Had this inquisitorial usurpation been no fur- 
 ther exercised, some apology, or at least, palliation, might 
 be framed. More interesting and painful consequences, 
 however, not long afterwards, resulted. The very men 
 who had countenanced this violation of Christian duties, 
 lived to see their own descendants excluded from church 
 communion ; to behold their grandchildren, the smiling in- 
 fants at the breast, denied the sacred rite of baptism. 
 
 As the intolerant disposition of archbishop Laud, in the 
 parent country, exacted religious conformity with increas- 
 ing rigour, the desire of emigration grew proportionally 
 ardent ; and several who now felt indignant at those meas- 
 ures, were persons of greater opulence, and of higher rank, 
 than any who had hitherto settled in New England. By 
 their influence, an important alteration was effected. The 
 company consented that the government of the colony 
 should be transferred to America, and vested exclusively 
 in those members who should reside there. 
 
 This transfer, though perhaps irregular, met no oppo- 
 sition from the crown. In a general court, John Win- 
 throp was appointed governor, and Thomas Dudley, depu- 
 ty governor, with eighteen assistants ; to whom, and the 
 body of freemen, were intrusted all the corporate rights of 
 the company. In the course of the ensuing year, fifteen 
 hundred persons sailed for Massachusetts ; amongst whom, 
 were many distinguished families; some in easy, several 
 in afiluent, circumstances. On their arrival, a number 
 were so dissatisfied with the situation of Salem, that they 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 51 
 
 - ^„^ removed ; and, settling in various places around the 
 bay, founded Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Rox- 
 borough, and other towns, since become of considerable 
 importance. Boston was named, through respect to Mr. 
 Cotton, after a town in Lincolnshire, of which, before his 
 arrival in New England, he had been minister. The ex- 
 tension of these settlements was aided by the sudden de- 
 crease of the natives. The small-pox, introduced by the 
 English, had carried off the Indian race in so great multi- 
 tudes, that whole tribes disappeared, and thus left vacant 
 a country in which they might remain without disturbance. 
 
 The first general court was held at Charlestown, on 
 board the ship Arabella. In this meeting, they ventured to 
 deviate from their charter, in a matter of great moment ; a 
 deviation which strongly affected all the future operations 
 of the colony. A law was passed, declaring that none 
 should be admitted as freemen, or be entitled to any share 
 in the government, or even to serve as jurymen, except 
 those who had been received as members of the church ; 
 by which measure, every person whose mind was not of a 
 ^peculiar structure, or accidentally impressed with peculiar 
 ideas, was at once cast out of society, and stripped of his 
 civic rights. 
 
 This fanatical spirit continued to increase. But the next 
 transaction was more puerile than injurious ; rather a sub- 
 ject of amusement, than a matter of alarm. A minister in 
 Salem, named Roger Williams, having conceived an aver- 
 sion to the cross of St. George, a symbol in the standard 
 of England, declaimed against it with so much vehemence, 
 as a relic of superstition and idolatry, which ought not to be 
 retained amongst a people so sanctified and pure, that En- 
 dicott, in a transport of zeal, cut out the cross from the en- 
 sign displayed before the governor's gate. This frivolous 
 matter interested and divided the colony. Some of the 
 militia were now unwilling to follow a standard in which 
 there was a cross, lest they should do honour to an idol ; 
 others refused to serve under a mutilated banner, lest they 
 should be suspected of having renounced their allegiance 
 to the crown of England. The contest was at length ended 
 by a compromise. The cross was retained in the ensigns 
 of forts and vessels, but erased from the colours of the 
 militia. 
 
 The restless disposition of Williams had caused his ban- 
 ishment from Salem ; a circumstance to which is owing, 
 
52 HISTORY OF 
 
 -^o^ the foundation of another state; for, so great was 
 the attachment of his hearers, that many accompa- 
 nied him in his exile. They directed their march towards 
 the south ; and purchased from the natives a considerable 
 tract of land, to which their leader gave the name of Provi- 
 dence : and, two years afterwards, William Coddington, a 
 wealthy merchant of Boston, having, with seventy-six 
 others, been banished from Massachusetts, for favouring the 
 religious doctrines of the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, and 
 holding not less than eighty erroneous opinions, purchased, 
 from the Indians, Aquetneck, a fertile island in Naraganset 
 bay ; and named it Rhode Island, (after the island of 
 Rhodes ;) under which title, the previous settlement, by 
 Williams, is now included. Protection being afforded to 
 the oppressed, their new settlement became, in a few years, 
 so populous, as to send out colonists to the adjacent shores. 
 After his removal, Mr. Coddington embraced the senti- 
 ments of the Quakers, or Friends, and became the head of 
 that society in the island. The first establishment was 
 made at the north end, and named Portsmouth ; the next, 
 on a fine harbour, at the south-east, which was called New- 
 port ; a town that in a few years became the capital of the 
 colony. They received a charter from the British parlia- 
 ment, shortly after the commencement of the civil wars in 
 the reign of Charles the first ; and a confirmation and en- 
 largement of their constitutional powers from his successor. 
 By this, it was ordered, that " none were ever to be molest- 
 ed for any difference of opinion in religious matters :" yet, 
 the very first assembly convened under this authority, ex- 
 cluded Roman Catholics from voting at elections, and from 
 every office in the government. 
 
 To similar causes, the state of Connecticut is indebted 
 for its origin. About one hundred persons, with their 
 families, accompanied by Mr. Hooker, a favourite minister 
 of Massachusetts, after a fatiguing march through M'oods 
 and swamps, settled on the western side of the great river 
 Connecticut, and laid the foundation of Hartford, Spring- 
 field, and Weathersfield ; the first of which is now the capi- 
 tal. This settlement was attended with great irregularities. 
 Part of the lands lay beyond the limits of the territory 
 granted to the colony of Massachusetts Bay ; the authority 
 from which the emigrants derived the power of jurisdiction. 
 Two distinct claims were now made to the tract which they 
 occupied ; one, by the Dutch, the other, by lord Say-and- 
 Seal, and lord Brook. The former, then established at Man- 
 
THE UNITED STxVTES. 63 
 
 hattan, (called by them New Amsterdam, and, subsequent- 
 ly, by the British, New York,) had discovered the Con- 
 necticut river ; and the latter, the heads of two illustrious 
 families in England, who were disgusted by the arbitrary 
 measures of Charles the first, had taken possession, by 
 building a fort ; which, from their united names, they called 
 Say Brook. By degrees, however, the Massachusetts' ad- 
 venturers were freed from both these competitors. The 
 Dutch were themselves soon expelled from the adjoining 
 district; the others assigned to the colony whatever title 
 was derived from a first possession ; and, at a subsequent 
 period, it was incorporated by royal charter. 
 
 One of the most remarkable laws in the infancy of Con- 
 necticut, was aimed against the use of tobacco. A similar 
 denunciation was fulminated in Massachusetts. It enacted, 
 that no person under the age of twenty, nor any other not 
 already habituated to it, should use it, until he had brought 
 a certificate from a physician, stating that it was necessary 
 for his health, and had, in consequence, received a license 
 'from the court. Those who had already addicted them- 
 selves to this obnoxious plant, were prohibited from using 
 it in any company, at their labour, or on their travels, un- 
 less they were at least ten miles from a house ; and, then 
 only once a day, under a penalty of six-pence for each of- 
 fence : of which, the constables were directed to give in- 
 formation to the district court. The Connecticut settlers 
 treated the Quakers with little less severity than their Mas- 
 sachusetts brethren. For the fourth breach of the law 
 framed against them, the offender was to be imprisoned, 
 kept to hard labour, and his tongue bored through with a 
 red-hot iron. 
 
 The next province that demands attention, is New Hamp- 
 shire. Under the authority of a grant from the council of 
 New Plymouth, sir Ferdinando Gorges and captain John 
 Mason, in conjunction with several merchants of London, 
 Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Shrewsbury, and Dover, at- 
 tempted the establishment of a colony and fishery at the 
 river Piscataqua. For this purpose, in the spring of the 
 year 1623, they sent over David Thompson, a Scot, Ed- 
 ward and William Hilton, fishmongers of London, and a 
 number of people, furnished with the requisite supplies. 
 They were in two parties. One landed at k place which 
 they called; Little Harbour; where they built a house, after- 
 wards named Mason Hall. l^he other went farther, and 
 settled at a olace since called Dover. But the funds of 
 
54 HISTORY OF 
 
 this company were inadequate to the undertaking. Nor 
 did the people, to whom they intrusted the establishment, 
 possess that enthusiasm which animated their neighbours 
 of Massachusetts with vigour to struggle through the hard- 
 ships attending an infant colony. It is probable, therefore, 
 that they must have abandoned their design, had not the 
 same motives which caused the migrations into Rhode 
 Island and Connecticut, assisted in the advancement of 
 New Hampshire. Mr. Wheelright, a clergyman of some 
 note, having, for his opposition to the church government, 
 been banished from Massachusetts, took a route opposite 
 to that of the other exiles, and founded the town of Exeter, 
 on a small river that flows into Piscataqua Bay. For a 
 long time, the parent colony claimed jurisdiction over New 
 Hampshire ; and the first reduction of its constitution into 
 a regular form, was subsequent to the English revolution. 
 
 In the beginning of the eighteenth century. New Hamp- 
 shire received considerable increase, by an emigration of 
 above one hundred families from the north of Ireland ; 
 chiefly Presbyterians of Derry, accompanied by their min- 
 isters. These industrious people introduced the manufac- 
 ture of linen, and excited much curiosity by their spinning- 
 wheels : as the species which they brought over, being set 
 in motion by the foot, was a novelty amongst the colonists. 
 They also taught the cultivation of the potato ; a vegetable 
 well known to have been carried to Ireland from Mexico, 
 about the middle of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The first attempt to colonize the District (now State) of 
 Maine, was made in 1607, on the west side of the Kenne- 
 bec, near the sea ; but no permanent settlement was then 
 eftected. In 1635, Gorges obtained a grant of this territo- 
 ry, and in four years afterwards, a royal charter ; under the 
 authority of which, he appointed a governor and council. 
 Upon his death, the people unanimously combined, and 
 formed a constitution, on a more liberal and extended basis: 
 by which, they were governed until 1652, when they sub- 
 mitted to Massachusetts, which claimed the soil and juris- 
 diction of the province, as far as the middle of Casco Bay ; 
 and Maine took the name of Yorkshire ; having liberty to 
 send deputies to the general court of Boston. 
 
 By extending their settlements, the English became ex- 
 posed to serious danger. The Indians around Massachusetts 
 Bay, being feeble and unwarlike, and having received from 
 the early settlers what they deemed an equivalent for their 
 lands, gave ho indicj^tions of hostility : but Providence and 
 
THE LNITED STATES. 65 
 
 Connecticut had to contend with nations more numerous 
 and powerful. Among these, the most considerable were 
 the Naragansets and the Pequods. The latter could bring 
 into the field a thousand warriors ; not inferior, in disci- 
 pline and courage, to any Indians in America. Foresee- 
 ing that the extermination of their entire race must be 
 the consequence of permitting Europeans to spread over 
 the continent, they applied to the Naragansets; request- 
 ing them to forget their mutual animosities for a season, 
 and co-operate in expelling a common enemy. But the 
 latter, with a refinement in policy, similar to that which 
 deluges with blood the numerous countries of the Christian 
 world, perceived, in this, a favourable opportunity of weak- 
 ening, if not of totally destroying, an ancient rival : instead, 
 therefore, of acceding to this prudent offer, they discovered 
 the hostile intention of their neighbours to the governor of 
 Massachusetts, and entered into an alliance with the Eng- 
 lish against them. 
 
 *',^07 More exasperated than discouraged by this treach- 
 ery, the Pequods took the field, plundered and 
 burned remote settlements, and attacked fort Say Brook ; 
 from which, when driven off", they retired to places deemed 
 inaccessible to an invading enemy. The troops of Con- 
 necticut were soon assembled, and ready for the field : but 
 the march of those from Massachusetts was retarded by 
 the most singular cause that ever influenced the operations 
 of a modern army ; reminding us of the superstitious Spar- 
 tans, who, when solicited to join the Athenians in opposing 
 the arms of Persia on the plains of Marathon, made answer, 
 that it was an established law with them, not to begin a 
 march before the full moon. When mustered, it being 
 found that some of the oflficers and many of the private 
 soldiers were " under a covenant of works," it was declared, 
 that a blessing could neither be implored nor expected to 
 accompany the arms of such unhallowed men. The alarm 
 became general ; and many arrangements were necessary, 
 to cast out the unclean, and render this little band sufficient- 
 ly pure to fight the battles of a people who entertained so 
 high ideas of their own sanctity and importance. 
 
 Not waiting for their puerile allies, the Connecticut 
 troops, with the Naragansets, commanded by captain Ma- 
 son, advanced against the enemy ; who had posted them- 
 selves in the middle of a swamp, near the head of the river 
 Mistic, and surrounded their camp with palisades. But they 
 
 rlisnl;iv<:>rl mrtrf- r»riirloiif«o in r»lif»n«in<T thpir faifnntinn th;in 
 
66 HISTORY OF 
 
 in guarding it from surprise. Their assailants reached the 
 paling unperceived, and if a dog had not given the alarm, 
 the Indians must have been massacred while asleep. In 
 a moment, the vi^arriors were in arms, and, raising the war- 
 cry, prepared to repel this formidable attack. Notwith- 
 standing, however, that, like the defenders of the Roman 
 capitol, they had been summoned by an instinctive guard- 
 ian, they were not equally successful in overthrowing their 
 invaders. A dreadful carnage ensued. Entering hastily 
 by two winding passages, which had been left open, the 
 English directed their guns towards the floors of the little 
 huts, covered with their inhabitants asleep. Roused 
 from their dreams by the unremitting discharges of mus- 
 ketry, if they came forth, they rushed against the sur- 
 rounding swords ; if they reached the palisades, and at- 
 tempted to climb over, they were met by a shower of balls. 
 Their crowded dwellings were soon in flames : many, afraid 
 to venture out, remained in the devouring fire ; others, who 
 had recoiled from the deadly weapons, rushed amidst the 
 blaze, and shared their fate. In a few minutes, " five or 
 six hundred lay gasping in their blood, or were silent in the 
 arms of death." " The darkness of the forest," observes 
 a New England author, " the blaze of the dwellings, the 
 ghastly looks of the dead, the groans of the dying, the 
 shrieks of the women and children, the yells of the friendly 
 savages, presented a scene of sublimity and terror, inde- 
 scribably dreadful." The spirit of extermination was not 
 satiated here. The Massachusetts' troops, under captain 
 Stoughton, at length arrived, and in a few months the Pe-^ 
 quods ceased to be a nation. Their very name was heard 
 no more. Those who had been taken alive were sold as 
 slaves, abroad, or reduced to servitude at home. 
 1643 ^^^^ dangers, to which the New England colonies 
 were exposed, from domestic and foreign enemies, 
 induced them to form an alliance, for their defence. This 
 confederation included all except Rhode Island, which 
 Massachusetts was unwilling to admit ; and was regulated 
 by stated assemblies, continued, with little alteration, until 
 their charters were annulled by James the second. 
 
 While the settlers were lessening the number of the an- 
 cient inhabitants, they were daily receiving an addition to 
 their own. Notwithstanding all the efforts of the British 
 government, to check the tide of emigration, the measures 
 of the crown were so hostile to the public rights, that, in 
 the course of the year 1638, about three thousand persons 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 67 
 
 embarked for New England ; choosing rather to bear all 
 the consequences of a royal mandate, than remain longer 
 under oppression. But, on the assumption of the supreme 
 power by the parliament, those motives to emigrate entirely 
 ceased. The Puritanical maxims, with respect to the gov- 
 ernment of the church and state, became predominant in 
 England, and were enforced by the hand of power. Up to 
 this period, twenty-one thousand British subjects had set- 
 tled in New England ; but the number of people with which 
 it afterwards recruited the parent country, is supposed, to 
 equal the amount previously received. Some returns also 
 for the expenses incurred by its planters, were now made. 
 They began to extend the fishery, and to export corn and 
 lumber to the West Indies. At length, a decided indication 
 of increasing importance was displayed. In the year 1652, 
 the general court of Massachusetts ordered a coinage of 
 silver money at Boston, stamped with the name of the 
 colony, and with a tree, as an appropriate symbol of pro- 
 gressive vigour. No other colony ever presumed to coin 
 money. But the royal government in England was recent- 
 *ly overthrown. The mint-master, John Hull, made a large 
 fortune. It was commonly reported, that he gave his 
 daughter a marriage portion of thirty thousand New Eng- 
 land shillings. 
 
 Although these children of the forest thus approached 
 the condition of their parent, in the external relations of 
 society — in wealth, in commerce, in population — they seem- 
 ed to make an opposite movement in rectitude of judg- 
 ment : the absence of which produced bigotry, superstition, 
 intolerance, and cruelty. That persecuting spirit, which 
 consigned its victims to the flames, having spent its rage 
 in almost every European nation, and been, in England, 
 long since exhausted, or restrained by a superior power, 
 now burst forth from those bosoms which had indignantly 
 recoiled from its effects. We here allude to the treat- 
 ^^-^ ment of the Quakers. A number of these people, 
 ^ having arrived from England arid Barbadoes, and 
 given offence to the clergy of the established church, by 
 the novelty of their religion, at that time, certainly a little 
 extravagant, were imprisoned, and, by the first opportunity, 
 sent away. A law was then made, which prohibited mas- 
 ters of ships from bringing any Quakers into Massachu- 
 setts, and themselves from coming there ; under a graduated 
 penalty, rising, in case of a return from banishment, as 
 
58 HISTORY OF 
 
 high as death. In consequence of this barbarous proscrip- 
 tion, several were hanged ; a mode of punishment not 
 adopted on account of its being more ignominious than 
 that of burning, practised in Europe, but perhaps to avoid 
 a too strict conformity with the usage of their ancient ene- 
 mies.* These proceedings are still the more reprehensi- 
 ble and remarkable, when contrasted with a previous de- 
 claration of their government, which tendered " hospitality 
 and succour to all Christian strangers, flying from wars, 
 famine, or the tyranny of persecution." 
 
 But this sanguinary conduct was soon prohibited, by an 
 order from Charles the second. During its continuance, 
 the number of Quakers in Massachusetts increased, instead 
 of being diminished. The pillory served, there, as a pulpit 
 for the celebrated George Fox, the founder of the sect. 
 
 The Anabaptists were the next object of persecution. 
 Many of them were disfranchised, and some were banished. 
 But, as oppression again created what it was intended to 
 destroy, the court judged it expedient to withdraw it, and 
 persecution for a while ceased. 
 
 Why, it may be asked, are these early scenes of folly re- 
 coloured, and exhibited on the stage of history, in this re- 
 mote age? Are they meant to calumniate the fathers of 
 our people, and augment the inclination towards religious 
 intolerance ; to wound the feelings of our youth, and create, 
 anew, the malignant spirit of recrimination ? No, it is an- 
 swered ; they are to guard against a repetition ; by reminding 
 society, that the same causes will produce similar effects, 
 in every nation, and in every age ; and that the same as- 
 cendency over the civil authorities, which then prevailed, 
 might plunge us, even at this enlightened period, into that 
 unhappy state, now contemplated with so much regret. — 
 A great American statesman and profound philosopher, in 
 acknowledging the receipt of a discourse on the consecration 
 
 * The followini^ Quakers were hanged, for returning- after banish- 
 ment : William Robinson, and Marmaduke Stephenson, on the 27th of 
 October, 1656; William Ledlea, on the 14th of March, 1660; Mary 
 Dyer, on the 1st of June. 
 
 Toleration was preached against, as a sin in rulers, that would bring 
 down the judgment of Heaven upon the land. Mr. Dudley died with a 
 copy of verses in his pocket, of which the two following lines make a 
 part. 
 
 " Let men of God, in court and churches, watch, 
 O'er such as do a toleration hatch." 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 59 
 
 of a synagogue, expresses himself in these words : " Your 
 sect, by its sufferings, has furnished a remarkable proof of 
 the universal spirit of religious intolerance, inherent in 
 every sect; disclaimed by all while feeble, and practised 
 by all when in power. Our laws have applied the only an- 
 tidote to this vice ; protecting our religious, as they do our 
 civil, rights, by placing all on an equal footing. But, more 
 remains to be done ; for, though we are free by the law, we 
 are not so in practice : public opinion erects itself into an 
 inquisition, and exercises its office with as much fanaticism 
 as fans the flames of an auto da /e."* 
 
 On the accession of James the second, several of the 
 New England colonies were deprived of their charters ; 
 which, however, with various modifications, were restored 
 after the ensuing revolution. But, that was not the only 
 evil arising from the contests of this period. France, be- 
 ing engaged in war with the parent state, thought the op- 
 portunity favourable for disturbing her American domin- 
 ions : and, from the contiguity of Canada, where the former 
 was then established, was enabled to keep the northern 
 j)rovinces in continual alarm. Vigorous exertions were 
 made to carry hostilities into the colony of the aggressor. 
 The command w^as given to sir William Phipps, a distin- 
 guished character of those days, and the first governor ap- 
 pointed under the new charter. His earliest object was the 
 conquest of L'Acadie, now called Nova Scotia. Having 
 sailed from New England with a force of seven hundred 
 men, he arrived at Port Royal, and took possession of the 
 entire province for Great Britain. But his next attempt 
 was wholly unsuccessful. Proceeding with a much larger 
 equipment, and arriving before Quebec, the winter was so 
 far advanced, that the troops from Connecticut and New- 
 York returned, after they had reached the lakes : and his 
 own troops being sickly and discouraged, he relinquished 
 his intentions ; sailing again to Boston, with the loss of one 
 thousand men. 
 
 The new charter, while it curtailed the liberties, extend- 
 ed the territory, of Massachusetts. To it, were now annex- 
 ed. New Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia, with all the 
 country between the two latter and the river St. Lawrence : 
 also Elizabeth Islands, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard. 
 The people, however, had reason to complain : they no 
 
 * Mr. Jefferson's letters to Mr. Noah, of New- York, dated Monticello, 
 
 May 28, 1818. 
 
60 HISTORY OF 
 
 longer chose their governor, secretary, nor officers of the 
 admiralty : the militia was placed under the control of the 
 governor, and the same officer levied taxes and tried capi- 
 tal offenders. Against these innovations, however, an ad- 
 mirable spirit was evinced, in the very first act passed un- 
 der the new constitution. It was resolved, that no loan or 
 imposition of any kind, should be raised in the colony, un- 
 less with the approbation of the council and the represent- 
 atives of the people, assembled in general court. 
 
 "Sir William Phipps," observes a New England histo- 
 rian, " found the province in a most deplorable situation, j 
 An Indian war was wasting the frontiers; an agitation, al 
 terror in the public mind, in the greater part of Essex coun- 
 ty, was driving the people to the most desperate conduct. 
 In the tempest of passion, a government of laws, trial by 
 jury, all the guards against oppression, were too feeble to 
 protect the person or property of the most loyal subject. 
 The pillars of society were shaken to their foundation, by 
 the amazing powers of imaginary witchcraft. The people 
 of that county had lived amongst the Indians ; they had 
 heard their narratives of Hobbamocko, or the Devil ; of his 
 frequent appearances to them, of his conversations with 
 them, and of his sometimes carrying them off. These were 
 the familiar tales of their winter evenings ; which confirm- 
 ed their opinions, laid the basis of superstition, and furnish- 
 ed materials for approaching terrors. The circumstances 
 attending the first strange accounts, were most unfortunate, 
 and powerfully tended to give them currency. They appear- 
 ed in the family of their minister : he was credulous ; this 
 excited belief in others. An Indian and his wife were in 
 the house : they were supposed adepts in the science of 
 witchcraft ; their opinions were important : to complete the 
 misery, the physician joined his suffrage ; the evidence now 
 in the public mind was conclusive. It is no wonder, that 
 the alarm was sudden and terrible. Children, not twelve 
 years old, were allowed to give their testimony. Indians 
 related their own personal knowledge of invisible beings, 
 and women told their frights. The testimonies then re- 
 ceived, would now be considered a burlesque on judicial 
 proceedings. One circumstance, however, deserves to be 
 noticed. The persons accused had generally, if not uni- 
 versally, done some singular or forbidden action ; were 
 mostly in the lower walks of life, and their misfortunes or 
 accidents, of thirty years standing, were now arrayed as fa- 
 tal charges against them. The frenzy was greatest from 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 61 
 
 March to October, 1692. In the beginning of this period 
 of delirium, fasts were held at the ministers' houses ; after- 
 wards, in several congregations in the infected neighbour- 
 hood ; and, finally, the general court appointed a fast 
 throughout the colony." 
 
 A very learned pastor of New England, Cotton Mather, 
 was a firm believer in all those ridiculous stories. He re- 
 lates, with a degree of seriousness, that is now amusing, as 
 many supernatural events, as would fill a volume ; prefac- 
 ing his ghostly narrative with a regret, that " the neigh- 
 bours hTive not been careful enough to record and attest 
 the prodigious occurrences of this importance, and that 
 many true and strange occurrences from the invisible world, 
 have been buried in oblivion." He first mentions a woman 
 afflicted by a devil, that spoke Dutch ; after which, he pro- 
 ceeds to a more entertaining narrative, which is here given 
 in his own words. — "In the year 1679, the house of Wil- 
 liam Morse, at Newberry, was infested with demons, after 
 a most horrid manner. It would fill many pages, to relate 
 all the infestations ; but the chief of them were such as 
 tjiese : — Bricks, sticks, and stones, were often, by some in- 
 visible hand, thrown at the house, and so were many pieces 
 of wood : a cat was thrown at the woman of the house, and 
 a long staff danced up and down in the chimney ; and af- 
 terwards the same long staff was hanged by a line, and 
 swung to and fro ; and, when two persons laid it on the fire, 
 to burn it, it was as much as they were able to do, with 
 their joint strength, to hold it there. An iron crook was 
 violently, by an invisible hand, hurled about ; and a chair 
 flew about the room, until, at last, it lit upon the table, 
 where the meat stood ready to be eaten ; and had spoiled 
 all, if the people had not, with much ado, saved a little. A 
 chest was, by an invisible hand, carried from one place to 
 another, and the doors barricadoed, and the keys of the fam- 
 ily taken, some of them from the bunch where they were 
 tied, and the rest flying about, with a loud noise of their 
 knocking against one another. For, one while, the folks 
 of the house could not sup quietly, but ashes would be 
 thrown into their suppers, and on their heads, and their 
 clothes, and the shoes of the man being left below, one of 
 them was filled with ashes and coals, and thrown up after 
 him. When they were in bed, a stone, weighing three 
 pounds, was, divers tirnes, thrown upon them. A box and 
 a board w^ere likewise thrown upon them ; and a bag of 
 hops being taken out of a chest, they were, by the invisible 
 6 
 
62 HISTORY OF 
 
 hand, beaten therewith, till some of the hops were scattered 
 on the floor, where the bag was then laid and left. The 
 man was often struck by that hand with several instru- 
 ments : and the same hand cast their good things into the 
 fire : yea, while the man was at prayer with his household, 
 a besom gave him a blow on his head behind, and fell down 
 before his face. When they were winnowing their barley, 
 dirt was thrown at them ; and assaying to fill their half- 
 bushel with corn, the foul corn would be thrown in with 
 the clean, so irresistibly, that they were forced thereby to 
 give over what they were about. * 
 
 " While the man was writing, his ink-horn was, by the 
 invisible hand, snatched from him, and being able nowhere 
 to find it, he saw it drop out of the air, down by the fire. 
 A shoe was laid on his shoulder, but when he would have 
 caught it, it was rapt from him : it was then clapped upon 
 his head, and there he held it so fast, that the unseen fury 
 pulled him with it backward on the floor. He had his cap 
 torn oflf his head, and was pulled by the hair, and pinched, 
 and scratched, and the invisible hand pricked him with 
 some of his awls, and with needles, and bodkins ; and blows, 
 that fetched blood, were sometimes given him. Frozen 
 clods were often thrown at the man ; and his wife going to 
 milk the cows, they could by no means preserve the ves- 
 sels of milk from the like annoyances, which made it fit 
 only for the hogs: 
 
 " She, going down into the cellar, the trap-door was im- 
 mediately, by an invisible hand, shut upon her, and a table 
 brought and laid upon the door, which kept her there till 
 the man removed it. When he was writing, at another 
 time, a dish leapt into a pail, and cast water on the man, 
 and on all the concerns before him, so as to defeat what he 
 was then upon. His cap jumped ofl* his head, and on again, 
 and the pot-lid went off" the pot into the kettle, then over 
 the fire together. A little boy belonging to the family was 
 a principal sufferer by these molestations ; for, he was flung 
 about at such a rate, that they feared his brains would have 
 been beaten out : nor did they find it possible to hold him. 
 The man took him, to keep him in a chair ; but the chair 
 fell a dancing, and both of them were very near being 
 thrown into thie fire. 
 
 " These, and a thousand such vexations befalling the boy 
 at home, they carried him to live abroad at a doctor's. 
 There, he was quiet ; but, returning home, he suddenly 
 cried out ' he was pricked on the back ;' where they found 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 6S 
 
 strangely sticking, a three-tined fork, which belonged unto 
 the doctor, and had been seen at his house after the boy's 
 departure. Afterwards, his troubles found him out at the 
 doctor's also ; where, crying again ' he was pricked on the 
 back,' they found an iron spindle stucl^ into him ; and the 
 spectre would make all his meat, when he was going to eat, 
 fly out of his mouth ; and instead thereof make him fall to 
 eating ashes, sticks, and yarn." 
 
 Twenty persons, men and women, having been executed, 
 the supposed sufferers, by their alleged enchantments, be- 
 came more daring, and accused some of the best people in 
 the country. Suspicion was now aroused ; condemnation 
 ceased ; the accusers were silent ; those under sentence were 
 reprieved, and afterwards pardoned. 
 
 Seldom, does the historic page offer to the biographer a 
 character more strongly marked, than that of Phipps ; of 
 whose life, a cursory sketch may be found both instructive 
 and entertaining. He was born at a small plantation on the 
 river Kennebeck ; his father was a gun-smith, formerly of 
 Bristol, in England. His mother had twenty-six children, 
 M;wenty-one of whom were sons. William, one of the young- 
 est, remained with her when a widow, tending sheep, until 
 arrived at the age of eighteen. Actuated now by a power- 
 ful impulse, he conceived that he was born to fill a more 
 important part in the drama of human life, resisted the de- 
 sire of his friends that he would become ?i planter, and, as 
 the first step towards attainining his imagined elevation, 
 bound himself apprentice to a ship-carpenter. In this fwo- 
 fession, he shortly became an adept. Having removed to 
 Boston, he there followed his trade for about a year, and, by 
 his good conduct, obtained in marriage the daughter of cap- 
 tain Spencer, a respectable citizen. Notwithstanding a 
 severe disappointment and loss which soon afterwards befel 
 him, he was still buoyed up by his early expectation of ad- 
 vancement : he frequently told his wife, that he should yet 
 be captain of a king's ship, and have the command of bet- 
 ter men than he accounted himself. But he did not vainly 
 imagine, that riches would reward him in indolence, or that 
 honours would pursue him in retirement. He felt that he 
 possessed the vigour to attain what his ambition so eagerly 
 desired ; and that his prophecies might be fulfilled, by wis- 
 dom and prudence in the design, and patience and diligence 
 in the pursuit. Upon hearing of a Spanish wreck at the 
 Bahama islands, he made a voyage thither, to search for 
 treasure ; but with no greater success than just enabled him 
 
64 HISTORY OF 
 
 to visit England. His object in this, was to procure the 
 means of examining another, and far richer, Spanish wreck; 
 and, so forcible were his representations to the government, 
 that, in 1683, he was appointed "captain of a king's ship," 
 as he had prognosticated ; in which vessel, a frigate of 
 eighteen guns, this enterprising American arrived in his 
 native country. 
 
 Many years were spent in fruitless endeavours to ascer- 
 tain the position of the wreck ; many dangers surmounted, 
 with a degree of patience and presence of mind, fortitude 
 and courage, scarcely surpassed by any hero, either of an- 
 cient or modern times. A few examples will be sufficient 
 to establish the justice of our remarks. His men, wearied 
 by their ineffectual endeavours, having mutinied, approach- 
 ed him on the quarter-deck, with drawn swords, and re- 
 quired that he should join them in running away with the 
 ship, for the purpose of carrying on the trade of piracy in 
 the Southern ocean. But their brave commander was 
 neither intimidated by their number, nor alarmed by their 
 ferocity. Unarmed, unaided, unprepared, he rushed with 
 heroic boldness upon the crowd, and, by the mere vigour 
 of his blows, defeated his antagonists, and compelled them 
 to their duty. At another time, whilst his frigate lay ca- 
 reening in a desolate island, by the side of a rock, from which 
 was laid a plank reaching to the shore, his men, of whom 
 he had about one "hundred, went all, except eight or ten, to 
 amuse themselves, as they pretended, in the woods. Here, 
 another conspiracy was formed. They determined, that in 
 the evening they would seize their captain and the few 
 faithful seamen who had remained on board, leave them to 
 perish on the island, and sail with the ship, to perpetrate 
 the robberies which they had planned before. Informed 
 of their intentions, and assured of the fidelity of the others, 
 he prepared immediately to guard his vessel against sur- 
 prise, and reduce the mutineers to obedience. Owing to 
 the inclined posture of the frigate, all the provisions had 
 been, through necessity, carried on shore ; where they were 
 placed in a tent, and secured by cannon from the possibili- 
 ty of an attack by the Spaniards. These, he silently or- 
 dered to be unloaded, and turned towards the interior ; 
 then, pulling up the bridge, he brought his own guns to 
 bear on every part of the tent, and signified his intention of 
 abandoning his atrocious crew to the fate which they had 
 prepared for him. Terrified now by the apprehension of 
 immediate destruction from the guns, or, at the less instant- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 65 
 
 ancous, though more dreadful death, from the want of 
 food, tliey quickly brought the stores on board; and, hav- 
 ing, on their knees, with eager supplications, displayed that 
 cowardice which is the prominent feature of the assassin, 
 they submitted to his orders. But Pliipps would no longer 
 intrust his person, nor seek to accomplish his design, with 
 such a crew. He sailed to Jamaica, and discharged them. 
 When arrived at Hispaniola, and informed, by a very old 
 man, that the object of his desire was certainly upon a reef 
 of shoals a few leagues from Port de la Plata, he sailed 
 again for England ; where, by the aid of the duke of Albe- 
 marle, and other persons of distinction, who became part- 
 ners in his adventure, he prepared the necessary imple- 
 ments, and, with the most sanguine hopes, departed for the 
 wreck. His perseverance was at length rewarded by suc- 
 cess : an Indian diver led him to the long-lost treasure. 
 Besides a large quantity of silver, brought up by a person 
 named Adderly, of Providence, our hero recovered thirty- 
 two tons ; which, with some gold and jewels, amounted to 
 ^ three hundred thousand pounds sterling. So generous, 
 however, was he to his men, and so faithful to his partners, 
 tliat only sixteen thousand were left to himself. But he 
 received marks of distinction from his sovereign, which, to 
 his noble mind, were more valuable than riches. He was 
 honoured, tlien, with the title of knighthood ; and, for his 
 general deportment, afterwards appointed to those stations 
 in which we have already observed him, — commander-in- 
 chief and governor of the colony. 
 
 His family has since been ennobled by the king of Eng- 
 land. Captain Phipps, a distinguished British navigator, is 
 descended from the persevering American ; and now bears 
 the title of lord Mulgrave. 
 
 In the years 1627 and '38, '63, and '70, New England 
 experienced violent earthquakes; which produced serious 
 ahu-m, but no real injury, to the inhabitants. In 1638, 
 Harvard college, near Boston, the oldest seminary of learn- 
 ing in the United States, was founded. Two years before, 
 the general court having voted four hundred pounds for the 
 establishment of a public school, at Newtown, that sum 
 was more than doubled by a bequest from Mr. John Har- 
 vard, a highly esteemed minister of Charlestown : who, in 
 his will, left to the infant seminary half his entire estate. 
 Thus endowed, tjie school was formed into a college ; re- 
 ceiving, in memory of its benefactor, the name of Harvard; 
 and Newtown, through respect to the university in England, 
 
66 HISTORY OF 
 
 where many of the original emigrants had been educated, 
 was called Cambridge. The first Commencement was 
 held two years afterwards; when nine students were hon- 
 oured with the degree of bachelor of arts. The first mas- 
 ter of the college, was Nathaniel Eaton ; a good scholar, 
 but without the other requisites for the instruction and 
 government of youth. He was displaced for avarice, in 
 withholding necessary commons ; and for cruelty, in beating 
 his usher with a cudgel, while two of his servants held him 
 by the legs and arms. 
 
 Some years from that period, a building was erected there 
 for an Indian college ; into which, several natives entered : 
 but only one attained academical honours, before death, and 
 other events, disorganized an institution so truly benevolent. 
 But the generous designs entertained towards the improve- 
 ment of that people, did not rest here. As a further com- 
 pensation for the injury suffered by them, from the en- 
 croachment on their lands, and consequent diminution of 
 the means of supporting life, Mr. Eliot, a pious clergyman 
 of Roxbury, translated the Bible into their own language, 
 and had it printed at the expense of a society established for 
 the spreading of the Christian religion. Besides, he com- 
 posed for them a primer, a grammar, and a book of psalms, 
 with several other useful works ; and was the means of 
 opening schools in the Indian settlements, where the chil- 
 dren were instructed, not only in their own language, but in 
 the English, Greek, and Latin. Judicial courts were es- 
 tablished amongst them, on the same principles as the 
 county courts of the colony ; in which, one English lawyer 
 was united with the judges appointed by the natives. 
 
 But, let us inquire, what were the fruits of those institu- 
 tions, so liberally gifted, and planned with wisdom apparent- 
 ly so profound? Have the seeds, thus industriously sown, 
 and assiduously cherished, yielded a harvest commensurate 
 with the care devoted to their culture? Or, have they 
 perished in a barren soil? Has the mode of cultivation 
 been erroneous, the atmosphere injurious to increasing 
 vigour? The soil, Ave believe, was generous: but there 
 was a want of skill in the labourer ; a destructive tendency 
 in the climate. The Indian was overwhelmed with a mul- 
 titude of doctrines, not less mysterious to the teacher, than 
 incomprehensible to the pupil. The conduct of his patrons, 
 towards their own brethren, offered an example at variance 
 with their precepts ; rendering him indifferent to their pro- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 67 
 
 tection, and careless of a religion, that had not subdued in 
 themselves those passions which they now sought to re- 
 strain in others. Would he not eiclaim, as did the simple 
 Mexican, " Are any of these people in that Heaven to which 
 we are invited ? If there are, we desire not to follow !" 
 Nor could he, though Virtue herself were to tender him 
 salvation through a distorted creed, of which more than 
 eighty opinions had been rejected by a Christian, receive 
 it with sincerity : he might profess it for a season ; but he 
 would repay the labour of his ephemeral conversion in the 
 accustomed deceptions of hypocrisy. 
 
 The third provincial seminary of letters, was established 
 at New Haven, in Connecticut, in 1701 ; ten years after that 
 of William and Mary in Virginia. It was called Yale col- 
 lege, in honour of one of its principal benefactors ; and in- 
 tended chiefly for training up young men to the duties of the 
 church. Dartmouth college, also, situated at Hanover, in 
 New Hampshire, is a respectable institution. It was found- 
 ed in 1769, and named after the earl of Dartmouth, one of 
 its most liberal promoters. 
 
 * The first printing press established in the British colo- 
 nies, was in 1639, at Cambridge, superintended by Stephen 
 Daye ; but erected chiefly at the expense of Mr. Glover, an 
 English clergyman, who died on his passage to America. 
 
 The first newspaper printed in the British colonies, was 
 the Boston News Letter; in 1704. It was printed weekly, 
 by Nathaniel Greene, for the proprietor, John Campbell, 
 postmaster of Boston. No other paper was required, until 
 1719, a period of fifteen years; when William Brooker, 
 then at the head of the post-office, published the Boston 
 Gazette, and employed, as printer, James Franklin ; an 
 elder brother of the celebrated Benjamin Franklin. In 1721, 
 James began the publication of another journal, the New 
 England Courant. Its patrons formed themselves into a 
 club, and furnished it with short, original essays, in imita- 
 
 I tion of the Spectator ; which soon brought the Courant in- 
 to notice. It was warmly opposed by the rigid puritans ; 
 while it was, with equal ardour, supported by men of more 
 liberal opinions. But the press was then, as it had been 
 during more than fifty years, in Massachusetts, under a 
 rigorous censorship. Nothing could, with impunity, be 
 published, unless pleasing to the colonial government. 
 Franklin was soon imprisoned, and ordered to discontinue 
 his paper, unless he would submit it to a previous super- 
 vision : but, not inclining to yield submission, he conducted 
 
6S HISTORY OF 
 
 it, for some years, in the name of Benjamin ; who had been 
 one of its ablest contributors. 
 
 In about seventeen years after the first emigration to 
 New England, negroes were imported there, as a regular 
 branch of traffic with the West Indies. The number 
 brought into the northern colonies, was small, in compari- 
 son with that into the southern ; a circumstance which we 
 may attribute to the difference of climate : as, it appears 
 probable, that the same people who assented to the principles 
 of a trade, would have felt no repugnance to its extension, 
 had it been demanded by their immediate interest. It is 
 only just, however, in reflecting on this conduct of the early 
 settlers, to make a large allowance, in extenuation of that 
 practice. The rights of man, as regarded either his civil 
 or religious liberty, were not, in those days, fully under- 
 stood : nor the mental faculties of the sable African proper- 
 lj( examined and acknowledged. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Settlement of Maryland, ; of North and South Carolina ; 
 New-York^ New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and 
 Georgia. 
 
 Maryland was founded by sir George Calvert, baron 
 of Baltimore in Ireland ; a Roman Catholic nobleman, born 
 in England. Inclined to form a settlement in America, as 
 an asylum for himself and his friends, he came over to Vir- 
 ginia ; but, meeting an unwelcome reception on account of 
 his religion, and observing that the inhabitants had not ex- 
 tended their plantations beyond the Potomac, he fixed his 
 attention on lands northward of this river, and when he re- 
 turned to England, obtained a grant of them from Charles 
 the first. But he did not survive the completion of the 
 patent. After his death, however, it was given to his eldest 
 son, Cecilius ; who succeeded to his titles ; the country 
 being called Maryland, in compliment to the queen, Hen- 
 rietta Maria. 
 
 The religious toleration established by that charter, the 
 first draft of which was written, it is said, by sir George 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 69 
 
 himself, is highly honourable to his memory, and was strict- 
 ly respected by his son. 
 
 Leonard Calvert, the first governor of Maryland, was the 
 brother of Cecilius ; who sent him to America at the head 
 of the colony in 1633. Having sailed up the Potomac, he 
 anchored near an island, which he named St. Clements ; and 
 there took formal possession of the country, in the name of 
 his sovereign. Thence, he went fifteen leagues higher, to an 
 Indian town on the Virginia side of the river, now called 
 New Marlborough ; where he was received in a friendly 
 manner by the natives. He next sailed to Piscataway, on 
 the Maryland shore, and had an interview with the chief- 
 tain. " Are you willing," said that lover of justice, " that a 
 settlement should be made in your country '/" — " I will not 
 bid you go," replied the chief, " neither will I bid you stay : 
 you may use your own discretion." — This, however, was 
 not thought a sufficient warrant for remaining. He visited 
 a creek on the northern side of the river, about four miles 
 from its mouth, where was an Indian village ; which he 
 purchased from the natives, called it St. Mary's, and the 
 tireek St. George's, and granted to each emigrant fifty acres 
 of land. In 1694, the town of Severn, was made a port 
 of trade, and received the name of Annapolis ; and, five 
 years afterwards, the legislature removed thither, from St. 
 Mary's ; since which time, Annapolis has been the seat of 
 government. 
 
 While Virginia harassed all who dissented from the Eng- 
 lish church, and the northern colonies all who dissented 
 from the Puritan, the Roman Catholics of Maryland, a sect, 
 who, in the old world, never even professed the doctrine of 
 toleration, received and protected their Christian brethren 
 of every church, and its population rapidly increased. But 
 this enlightened spirit was, in the course of time, controlled. 
 In the beginning of the eighteenth century, power, in this 
 province, fell into other hands, and laws were enacted, 
 equally severe with those of Virginia and New England, 
 against the profession of any religious sentiments not ac- 
 cording with the principal tenets of the Church of England. 
 
 The next province that claims our attention, is North 
 Carolina. Though, by the unhappy termination of the 
 colony of Roanoke, and the subsequent deviation which 
 caused the discovery of the Chesapeake, this lost the honour 
 of being the earliest state ; yet the Union is indebted to those 
 events for a more propitious commencement, and a more 
 rapid approximation to maturity and strength. Of all the 
 
70 HISTORY OF 
 
 colonial family, none, we believe, is less gifted than North 
 Carolina with the means of supporting a numerous off- 
 spring. A generous soil, a wide diffusion of navigable 
 streams, a salubrious air; every thing which ministers to 
 the wealth, or to the happiness, of man ; seem here denied. 
 
 About the middle of the seventeenth century, some emi- 
 grants, chiefly from Virginia, began a settlement in the 
 county of Albemarle : and soon afterwards, another es- 
 tabli^ment was made at Cape Fear, by adventurers from 
 Massachusetts ; who obtained a transfer of the lands from 
 the ancient owners of the soil. They were held together 
 by the laws of nature, without any written code, without 
 the least degree of constitutional restraint. But they did 
 not long remain in this extraordinary situation. The coun- 
 try being claimed by England, was made subservient to the 
 interest of the ruling monarch. Charles the second grant- 
 ed to lord Clarendon and others, the whole tract lying be- 
 tween the thirty-first and thirty-sixth degrees of north lati- 
 tude, and extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. 
 The proprietors, anxious to hasten the improvement of 
 their extensive regions, offered every inducement to imrni- 
 gration. They established a free government, a perfect 
 freedom in religion, and, for the first five years, offered 
 certain portions of land at one halfpenny per acre. 
 
 The settlers in Albemarle were placed under the super- 
 intendence of sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia ; 
 who, having repaired thither, after appointing civil officers, 
 and directing the calling of a general assembly, assigned 
 his authority to Mr. Drummond. 
 
 In 1671, the proprietors extended their settlements to 
 the banks of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, where Charles- 
 ton now stands ; and, in 1729, having, for a sum of money, 
 surrendered to the crown their interest in the soil, the col- 
 ony was divided into North and South Carolina, and a royal 
 governor appointed over each. 
 
 The exports of the latter colony, during the first twenty- 
 five years, were lumber, peltry, and naval stores. In 1700, 
 the growth of cotton was introduced. Two years after- 
 wards, governor Landgrave Smith received a small bag of 
 rice out of a vessel from Madagascar; which, being dis- 
 tributed amongst the planters, for seed, this highly nutritive 
 grain became the prominent staple : and, about the year 
 1748, there was added indigo; the manufacture of which 
 was taught by Miss Lucas. In the character of these two 
 productions of Carolina, there is a wide dissimilarity ; the 
 
THE UxNITED STATES. 71 
 
 rice being as remarkable for the excellence, as the indigo is 
 for the inferiority, of its quality. The indigo, as well as the 
 sumac plant, grows spontaneously, not only in this state, but 
 in almost every part of the American continent : the col- 
 lecting of the sumac, however, for a foreign market, seems 
 confined to a trifling attention in some of the New England 
 states ; though the consumption in Europe, of this indis- 
 pensable article in dying, is very large, chiefly of Sicilian 
 growth. 
 
 New-York was first settled by the Dutch ; by whom, it 
 was held for half a century. They founded their claim on 
 prior discovery, by Henry Hudson, a celebrated English 
 navigator, employed by them, in 1609, and on subsequent 
 actual occupation. The English, however, claimed the same 
 country, from its having been first visited by Cabot, above 
 a century before ; and because Hudson, under a commission 
 from the king of England, had, as early as the year 1608, 
 discovered Long Island, and Manhattan, the site of the 
 town of New-York, with the river which now bears his 
 name. It is of small importance, at the present day, to 
 kiquire whose title was the best. Neither had a just claim 
 upon the property of the native possessors : but, if we be 
 guided by the arbitrary rule of the European powers, in mat- 
 ters of this kind, the dominion must be awarded to Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant, the third and last Dutch governor of 
 this colony, began his administration in 1647. Assailed by- 
 New England, on the one hand, and by a Swedish colony 
 and Maryland, on the other, this active officer was inces- 
 santly employed. He was distinguished as much for his 
 fidelity, as for his vigilance. He earnestly stated to his em- 
 ployers, the West India Company of Holland, the embar- 
 rassments which he experienced ; and the probability of an 
 attack from England : but his representations were un- 
 availing. Meanwhile, a war having commenced between 
 Great Britain and the commonwealth, Charles the second 
 assigned to his brother, the duke of York, all the territory 
 now called New-York and New Jersey, together with a part 
 of Connecticut, and of what has since received the names 
 of Pennsylvania and Delaware ; and privately despatched 
 1664 ^^ armament to take possession of the colony. Stuy- 
 vesant was a brave officer ; but, not being supported 
 in his defence by the magistrates, was, with much reluct- 
 ance, constrained to surrender. In the following month, 
 Fort Orange, on Hudson River, capitulated, and received 
 
72 HISTORY OF 
 
 the name of Albany, after the second title of the duke. 
 The British arms were equally successful against both the 
 Dutch and Swedes in the south ; so that the whole of Nova 
 Belgia was thus subjected to the English crown. 
 
 Few, however, of the inhabitants were removed. Govern- 
 or Stuyvesant retained his estate, and died in the colony. 
 His posterity still survive, and hold a respectable rank 
 among the citizens of the United States. The government 
 was administered, for several years, by colonel Nichols, the 
 officer intrusted with its reduction; and, after him, by colo- 
 nel Lovelace ; under whom, the people lived very happily, 
 until, in 1673, his powers were annulled by the re-surren- 
 der of the colony ; an event caused by the treachery of one 
 Manning, who had the command of the principal fort. But 
 the Dutch enjoyed their ancient possession only for a short 
 period ; in the following year, a treaty of peace restored it 
 to the English. 
 
 Being a conquered country, it was governed by the duke's 
 officers, until the year 1688; when representatives of the 
 people were allowed a voice in the legislature. Amongst 
 the governors, we perceive the name of Burnet ; who pre- 
 sided from 1720 until 1728 : a man not more remarkable on 
 account of his being a son of the celebrated prelate who 
 wrote the history of the Reformation, than for his admira- 
 ble talents and correct deportment. He was easy and fa- 
 miliar in his manners, and universally esteemed by men of J 
 letters. M 
 
 The duke of York sold that part of his grant now calle< 
 New Jersey, to lord Berkeley and sir George Carteret, 
 had previously been settled by Hollanders and Swedes, wit 
 a small intermixture of emigrants from Denmark : all o 
 whom remained there, and became English subjects. Th 
 county of Bergen was the first inhabited. Here, was ereci 
 ed a small town, of the same name, in which the settlei 
 resided ; having their plantations at a distance. Very soor 
 there were four other towns in the province ; Elizabetl; 
 Newark, Middleton, and Shrewsbury ; which, and the ad 
 jacent country, in a few years received a large accession o: 
 inhabitants, from Scotland, England, and the neighbourii 
 colonies. 
 
 Though, in reviewing the formation of the new govern 
 ment in Jersey, we perceive no striking features to excit 
 a lively interest in its history, such as are in general th 
 chief materials for inquiry ; yet we feel the highest degre 
 of pleasure when contemplating one particular trait — thi 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 73 
 
 no violence was committed on the unoffending natives. In 
 allotting lands to the settlers, Mr. Carteret, the first gov- 
 ernor, invariably obliged them to satisfy the Indians. The 
 result of so equitable an order, was not less favourable than 
 merited. They became good neighbours ; thereby allowing 
 the colonists to direct their whole attention to the arts of 
 peace. Carteret fixed his residence at Elizabethtown ; which 
 thus became the earliest capital of the province : but the 
 present seat of government is Trenton. 
 
 To dwell on the successive changes which occurred in 
 the proprietorship ; its division into East and West Jersey, 
 its mode of government, or the names of its several govern- 
 ors, would be not only tedious, but unessential. Amongst 
 the latter, however, it may be proper to mention the cele- 
 brated Barclay, author of the Apology for the Quakers : of 
 which sect, a large number had established themselves 
 there ; setting their accustomed example of good order and 
 industry. 
 
 A college, originally commenced at Newark, was, in the 
 ygar 1748, finally established at Princeton. Its chief bene- 
 factor was governor Belcher ; to whom, an offer was made 
 of associating his name with the institution : but the honour 
 was declined. This seminary is indebted for its origin to 
 the same pious motives that founded the college in Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 Pennsylvania commands a more than usual share of cu- 
 riosity ; as well on account of the illustrious individual 
 whose name is perpetuated by its title, as its important 
 rank in the present American union. 
 
 The founder of this state was William Penn, son of sir 
 \Villiam Penn, a distinguished admiral in the British navy, 
 during the protectorate of Cromwell and part of the reign 
 of Charles the second. From principle, and in opposition 
 to all worldly motives, at an early period of his life, he 
 joined the Quakers, when they were an obscure and a per- 
 secuted sect. As one of their members, and a preacher, 
 he was repeatedly imprisoned. When brought to trial at 
 the Old Bailey, in London, he pleaded his own cause, with 
 the usual freedom of a Briton, and the boldness of a hero. 
 The jury, at first, brought in a special verdict; which being 
 declared informal by the court, they were menaced, and 
 sent back. Upon this, Penn said to them, " Ye are Eng- 
 lishmen ; mind your privilege ! give not away your right !" 
 The next morning, they made the same return, were again 
 threatened, and again remanded to their chamber. But, 
 7 
 
74 HISTORY OF 
 
 neither attentive to the instructions, nor fearful of the 
 threats, of a corrupted judge, the jury remained firm to 
 their opinion, and returned a verdict of acquittal. For this, 
 they were severely fined, and, with the accused, imprisoned, 
 until the unjust penalties were paid. Roused by proceed- 
 ings so atrocious, Penn's feelings and reflections led him to 
 adopt the most liberal ideas of toleration : a love of free in- 
 quiry, and a total abhorrence of persecution, took entire 
 possession of his expanded mind. 
 
 He had become, by purchase, a large owner of New Jer- 
 sey ; but, being dissatisfied with his partners, he formed the 
 design of acquiring a separate estate, and accordingly peti- 
 tioned the king ; who, as an acquittance of sixteen thousand 
 ,^o^ pounds due to William Penn's father, granted him 
 an extensive tract, which Charles named Pennsylva- 
 nia, in honour of the admiral. He soon afterwards obtain- 
 ed from the duke of York a conveyance of the town of New- 
 castle, with all that country which now forms the state of 
 Delaware. The patent provided for the king's sovereignty, 
 and for obedience to British acts regarding commerce, and 
 gave power to call a legislative assembly ; as well as to 
 make such la\vs for the benefit of the province, as should 
 not be repugnant to the laws and rights of England. 
 
 The first colony, who were chiefly of his own sect, began 
 their settlement above the confluence of the Schuylkill and 
 Delaware rivers. By these, the proprietor sent a letter to 
 the natives ; informing them, that " the great God had been 
 pleased to make him concerned in their part of the world, 
 and that the king of the country w^here he lived had given 
 him a great province therein ; but that he did not wish to 
 enjoy it without their consent : that he was a man of peace ; 
 that the people whom he sent were of the same disposition ; 
 and that if any difi^erence should happen between them, it 
 might be adjusted by art equal number of men chosen on 
 both sides." He also mentioned, that he had appointed 
 commissioners to treat with them, and that he himself 
 w^ould shortly visit them for the same purpose. 
 1 fiS2 Having selected a few confidential companions, 
 this amiable man embarked, in the month of August, 
 with about two thousand emigrants, and, in October, ar- 
 rived in the Delaware. His reception must have been 
 highly congenial with his feelings. As his ship sailed up the 
 river, the inhabitants came on board, and saluted their new 
 governor with an air of joy and satisfaction. He landed at 
 Newcastle, (the Casimer of the Swedes, and Niewer Amstel 
 
THE UNITED STATES'. 75 
 
 of the Dutch,) and immediately cultivated the good will of 
 the natives ; from whom, he purchased a sufficient quantity 
 of land for the present use of the colony. Besides those 
 sent out by himself, and those who accompanied him, there 
 were, along the right bank of the Delaware, at least three 
 thousand Europeans, — Swedes, Dutch, Finlanders, and 
 English ; and, in the course of a year, the settlements ex- 
 tended from Chester to the falls of Trenton. 
 
 The first legislative assembly was held at Chester ; at 
 that time, called Upland. The Territories, (for, by this ti- 
 tle, was distinguished the purchase from the duke of York,) 
 were then annexed to the province ; but, afterwards, they 
 were detached, and continued a separate colony, with a dis- 
 tinct assembly, yet under the superintendence of the govern- 
 or of Pennsylvania. The laws at this period enacted were 
 perfectly consistent with the mild tenor of the founder's 
 professions. In addition to several, tending to encourage 
 industry and repress the exercise of cruelty, it was declared, 
 *' that none, acknowledging one God, and living peaceably 
 in society, should be molested for his opinions, or his prac- 
 tice ; nor compelled to frequent or maintain any ministry 
 whatever." To these liberal sentiments and wise regula- 
 tions, may be attributed the rapid improvement of Penn- 
 sylvania, and the spirit of diligence, order, and economy, 
 for which its inhabitants have been so much admired. 
 
 Philadelphia, which was begun on the site of the Indian 
 village, Coquanoc, derives its name from a city in Asia 
 Minor, celebrated, in sacred history, for having been the 
 seat of an early Christian church. During the first twelve 
 months after its foundation, about a hundred houses were 
 erected ; and, since that period, it has received a continual 
 accession of inhabitants from Ireland and Germany. Penn's 
 residence in America was, at this time, not of long continu- 
 ance. In 1684 he went to England, with the humane in- 
 tention of soliciting a relaxation of the penal statutes against 
 the Quakers, and all other dissenters from the church of 
 England. In November, 1699, he returned, accompanied 
 by his family ; at a period when a malignant fever had just 
 ceased in Philadelphia, after carrying off two hundred per- 
 sons. The number of houses in the city was then seven 
 hundred : the inhabitants were about four thousand. But 
 his residence was again only temporary, and much shorter 
 than the interest of the colony required. After remaining 
 about two years, his presence was necessary in England, to 
 
76 HISTORY OF 
 
 remonstrate against a design of the British government to 
 deprive the several colonies of their charters, as well as to 
 adjust disputed boundaries between himself and lord Bal- 
 timore. 
 
 The humanity of William Penn's disposition, while it 
 embraced the most extended range, did not neglect the mi- 
 nutest object. His biographers have recorded many pleas- 
 ing occurrences. In a journey through the province, as ah 
 assiduous minister of his simple church, amongst the places 
 he visited was Haverford. He was on horseback, and, 
 overtaking a little girl, who was walking to attend the 
 meeting at that place, with his usual good nature, he de- 
 sired her to get up behind him ; and, drawing near to a 
 convenient place, she mounted, and thus rode away ; her 
 bare legs dangling by the side of the governor's horse. 
 
 Though Penn was a wise and good man, and the people 
 whom he led to Pennsylvania were in general orderly and 
 well disposed, yet there existed almost constant bickerings. 
 He changed the form of government three times, and each 
 change was apparently an improvement, and increased the 
 satisfaction of the inhabitants ; yet, there seldom was an 
 harmonious feeling between the people and the governoi:. 
 From the opposition he had to encounter in England, and 
 the difficulties in Pennsylvania, his life was a continued 
 scene of vexation. His private fortune was materially in- 
 jured by his advances to promote the infant settlement, 
 particularly to preserve the friendship of the Indians ; and, 
 after being harassed by his creditors, he was obliged to un- 
 dergo a temporary deprivation of his personal liberty. But, 
 though during his life, he was necessitous, on its termina- 
 tion he was wealthy. Having reached his seventy-fifth 
 year, he died at London, in 1718 ; leaving an inheritance to 
 his children, ultimately of immense value : which they en- 
 joyed until the Revolution, when it was assigned to the 
 commonwealth for an equitable sum in money. 
 
 The first seventy years, including the period in which 
 the Quaker principles ruled the colonial legislature, has 
 been termed the golden age of Pennsylvania. No instance 
 had occurred of the Indians killing unarmed people, unless 
 they appeared to have connexion with others that were 
 armed. This displays a striking contrast with the early 
 and long continued wars maintained against the natives in 
 New England ; and confirms our previous assertion, that 
 the Europeans were, in that quarter, the aggressors. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 77 
 
 In the last years of the seventeenth, and the first of the 
 eighteenth century, during the destructive warfare between 
 England and France, the defence of New-York, which 
 borders on Canada, being considered as both the duty and 
 interest of the other provinces, Pennsylvania was called on 
 for her proportion of men and money. But the assembly, 
 composed almost wholly of Quakers, firm to their principles, 
 would neither pass laws for the enrolling of militia, nor do 
 any other act which bore a military aspect. The necessity 
 at length was extreme, and the danger hourly increasing. 
 Assistance was most urgently demanded. But, as hitherto, 
 the noise of distant warfare was ineflfectual, an attempt was 
 made to produce the terrors of actual invasion, by a strata- 
 gem. Evans, the governor, spread over the country an 
 alarm, on the foundation of false intelligence, that a num- 
 ber of hostile vessels had entered the Delaware bay, and ad- 
 vanced a considerable way towards its head. As the govern- 
 I or held the Quaker doctrine of non-resistance in contempt, 
 I he believed they would not stand a serious trial ; and, on 
 
 ■ Ihe receipt of this intelligence, which came from Newcastle 
 by a preconcerted express, he rode through the streets of 
 
 j Philadelphia, with a drawn sword in his hand, apparently 
 1 in much emotion, commanding and urging all to come for- 
 ward and defend the city. For a while, several believed 
 
 ■ the report ; and, accordingly, concealed their property, or 
 ; removed with their families and efl^ects out of the reach of 
 
 I immediate danger. But no indication of the Quakers' arm- 
 ' ing was given, and, before the close of the day, the impo- 
 sition being discovered, the governor and his friends were 
 insulted, as the authors of a studied deception. 
 ' Shortly afterwards, there was practised a more innocent 
 stratagem; by which, Pennsylvania was relieved from an 
 illiberal demand of the Territorial government ; a duty, 
 payable in powder, on all vessels not owned by residents, 
 when passing the fort at Newcastle. Against this exaction, 
 the state had often remonstrated in vain. However, a few 
 Quakers, amongst whom was Richard Hill, adopted a novel 
 mod^ of defeating this claim, and without violating their 
 pacific principles. Hill had a vessel ready for sea ; but, 
 doubting the resolution of his captain to pass the fort with- 
 out a permit, he himself went in her down the river ; and, 
 a little before arriving abreast of the fort, dropped anchor, 
 went ashore, and used many arguments to obtain a free 
 passage for his ship. His reasoning, however, was ineffec- 
 tual. There was no relief except by stratagem. He there- 
 7* 
 
78 HISTORY OF 
 
 fore returned to his vessel, stood to the helm himself, and, 
 passing the fort, received its fire unhurt. The commander, 
 in an armed boat, pursued. On his approach, Hill threw 
 out a rope, and brought him on board. The rope was in- 
 stantly cut. The boat fell astern. The commander was 
 conducted peaceably to the cabin ; while the vessel, with 
 her new passenger, pursued her voyage ; soon after which 
 determined conduct, the demand of powder was relin- 
 quished. 
 
 In the interval between 1730 and the period when this 
 history will relinquish the distinct colonial proceedings, to 
 conduct the narrative of a sublime and awful period, when 
 individual interests combine and move forward with a unity 
 of action, there was an annual influx of emigrants. These 
 were principally from Germany and Ireland. They set- 
 tled in the counties of Lancaster, York, and Cumberland ; 
 Northampton, Berks, Bedford, Northumberland, and West- 
 moreland. The Irish and German people, at an early day, 
 brought the useful arts and manufactures into Pennsylvania. 
 To the former, she is indebted for the spinning and weaving 
 of linen and woollen cloth ; to the latter, for various trades 
 of indispensable utility to agriculture and society at large. 
 Of all nations who have settled in America, the Germans 
 have availed themselves the least of the unjust and demor- 
 alizing aid of slavery ; a circumstance the more remark- 
 able, as the governments under which they had been edu- 
 cated were almost invariably despotic. The Irish and the 
 French emigrants had enjoyed a large share of civil liberty, 
 had boldly contended for a total enfranchisement from regal 
 domination, and, in many instances, the latter seemed to 
 desire the annihilation of all dominion : yet, in the southern 
 states, no people less reluctantly practise this worst species 
 of tyranny ; thus, when in power, openly denying that bless- 
 ing to others, which, when in subjection, they had claimed 
 for themselves. 
 
 The honour of printing the first newspaper in Pennsyl- 
 vania, belongs to Andrew Bradford and John Copson ; who, 
 in the year 1719, published the American Weekly Mercu- 
 ry. The foundation of a medical school in the new world 
 was laid in 1764, by a course of lectures delivered at the 
 University of Pennsylvania by Dr. Shippen. 
 
 Delaware was first visited by the Swedes and Finlanders. 
 In 1627, they purchased from the natives a large tract on 
 each side of the river which now bears that name, and gave 
 their colony the name of New Sweden. Having, by their 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 79 
 
 excellent deportment, obtained the friendship of the Indians, 
 they made a settlement on Christiana-creek ; laid out a 
 handsome town on the west side of the Delaware ; and, sooh 
 afterwards, formed establishments at Lewistown, Tenecum, 
 and Chester ; at each of which, they erected forts. Tenecum 
 was their seat of government. About this period, the Eng- 
 lish began a settlement at Elsingburg, on the Jersey side of 
 the river : whence, they were expelled by the Dutch govern- 
 or ; who employed the Swedes to keep them entirely out of 
 the Delaware. Of this opportunity, the Swedes, however, 
 made an unjustifiable use. Having raised a fort, on the 
 very ground from which they had expelled the English, 
 they asserted their own exclusive right to the navigation of 
 the river, and exercised authority over every vessel that 
 ' entered ; from wiiich usurpation, the Dutch themselves 
 were not exempted. But this exclusion was not allowed to 
 pass unnoticed. The Swedes soon felt the efiects of their 
 imprudence. Stuyvesant reduced all their forts, on both 
 sides of the Delaware, sent the officers and principal inhabi- 
 tants in confinement to Holland, and incorporated the re- 
 mainder with his own government ; under which they re- 
 mained, until their invaders were overthrown, as already 
 related, by the superior power of the English. 
 
 We come now to speak of Georgia ; the last settled of 
 the thirteen colonies that revolted from the government of 
 Britain, and established their independence. 
 
 It derives its name from the sovereign, George the sec- 
 ond ; by whose authority it was established. Its promoter 
 
 1^09 was general Oglethorpe. Under his conduct, one 
 hundred and sixteen persons embarked at Graves- 
 end, in November ; and, early in the ensuing year, on the 
 site of an Indian village, called Yomacrow, laid the founda- 
 tion of Savannah ; a town named from the river upon which 
 it stands. A treaty was shortly afterwards made with the 
 Indians ; from whom was obtained a considerable cession 
 of lands ; which, for the purpose of defending the colony, 
 were, at first, granted to the settlers as military fiefs, on 
 condition that they were, when called upon, to appear in 
 arms. 
 
 As the Spaniards laid claim to Georgia, Oglethorpe en- 
 gaged with activity in the essential business of defence. 
 He erected forts at Augusta and Frederica. The policy 
 of this measure was soon apparent. In a few days after 
 
 ,,^^2 their completion, the Spaniards sent against him 
 three thousand men, to drive his people from the 
 
80 HISTORY OF 
 
 colony. "When the invaders v/ere proceeding up the Alta- 
 Ciaha, the governor was obliged to retreat to Frederica. 
 Besides some Indians, he had not more than seven hundred 
 men : yet, with only a part of this inferior force, he bravely 
 advanced within two miles of the enemies' camp, designing 
 to attack them by surprise ; when a French soldier of his 
 party fired his musket, and ran into the Spanish lines. 
 Oglethorpe's situation was truly critical : he knew that the 
 deserter would make known his weakness. But though he 
 now despaired of repelling the enemy by force, he hoped 
 to induce them to retreat by his address. Returning to 
 Frederica, he wrote a letter to the deserter, desiring him 
 to acquaint the Spaniards of its defenceless state, and urge 
 them to the attack. If he could accomplish this object, he 
 was directed to use all his art in persuading them to remain 
 three days at fort Simons's ; as, within that period, he 
 should have a reenforcement of two thousand land-troops, 
 with six ships of war : and, at the same time, he was cau- 
 tioned not to drop a hint of admiral Vernon's intended en- 
 terprise against St. Augustine. This letter was given to 
 a Spanish prisoner, under a promise of delivering it to the 
 deserter ; but he handed it, as was expected, to the com- 
 mander-in-chief. The Frenchman was accordingly placed 
 in irons. He was no longer considered a deserter, but a spy. 
 Meanwhile, three ships of war, despatched from Carolina, 
 appeared upon the coast ; thus, realizing the apprehensions 
 of the Spaniard, and, in part, the ingenious stratagem of 
 his opponent. The enemy were agitated and alarmed : in 
 their consternation, they set fire to the fort, and hastily em- 
 barked. 
 
 For many years, during the infancy of Georgia, it lan- 
 guished, through various causes ; — the peculiar tenure of 
 the lands, the restriction on the importation of rum, (which 
 deprived it of a market for its lumber, in the West Indies,) 
 and the total prohibition against the introduction of slaves. 
 As regards the first, we believe that the arrangement was 
 both illiberal and impolitic ; the second was perhaps erro- 
 neous, though dictated by a parental feeling for the health 
 and morals of the colony : but the law respecting slaves is 
 approved by every generous, every manly feelmg, of the 
 heart ; required by justice, by reason, by religion. Applica-' 
 tion, however, was frequently made to the proprietors for 
 its annulment. With this, do the annals of the world afford 
 a parallel ; except in the appeal made, above two centuries 
 before, by the Spaniards in Hispaniola, against the withhold- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 81 
 
 ing from exterminating slavery the legitimate tenants of 
 1752 ^^^ ^^^^^ "^^^ restriction, however, upon the sur- 
 render of the charter to the crown, was immediately 
 removed ; a measure which, though it may have increased 
 the riches of the colony, has placed the name of Georgia 
 pre-eminent amongst the supporters of this unhappy traflic. 
 The early settlers in this state were principally from 
 Scotland. Its founder was a native of England. Entering 
 the army at an early age, he served on the continent of 
 Europe under the celebrated prince Eugene, until the res- 
 toration of peace, when he was returned a member of the 
 British parliament. In that assembly, general Oglethorpe 
 distinguished himself as a useful legislator, by proposing 
 several laws for the benefit of trade and the reform of pris- 
 ons. His philanthropy should not be forgotten. At the 
 beginning of the colonial misunderstanding with the mother 
 country, he was offered the command of the British army 
 in America ; but, highly to his honour, he refused the im- 
 portant office, on the principle of not being commissioned 
 tp do that degree of justice to the people, to which he 
 might be equitably inclined. This able soldier, and virtu- 
 ous and accomplished citizen, died, after the contest was 
 decided, at the venerable age of ninety-seven years ; being 
 the oldest general in the English service. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 George Washington. Defeat of Braddock. Death of gen- 
 eral Wolfe. Conqvest of Canada. Dr. Franklin. Dis- 
 putes with the British Parliament. Meeeting of Congress. 
 War. Declaration of Independence. 
 
 We have only slightly glanced at the uninterrupted hos- 
 tilities hitherto carried on between the colonists and the 
 French in one quarter, and the Spaniards in another. Nor 
 is it our intention, henceforward, to detail them with minute- 
 ness. Nothing shall be introduced, here, further than what 
 seems essential, to preserve the continuity of history, and 
 enable us, when describing an event, to see perspicuously 
 the channels through which it flowed, and the source from 
 which it sprung. 
 
 In reviewing the desolating collision that so long subsist- 
 ed between the crowns of France and England, we are na- 
 turally led to inquire, to which party belonged the most 
 
82 HISTORY OF 
 
 equitable right of possession. It is evident, that as far as 
 depended on discovery, England had the advantage ; but, 
 as regarded occupation, the claims of France were, in some 
 respects, superior, and, in all, nearly equal. The settle- 
 ments at Jamestown and Quebec, the first respective capitals 
 of each, were made so nearly at the same time, as to be with- 
 in fifteen months of each other. The first established was 
 Quebec. But the period at length arrived, when the ques- 
 tion of boundary was no longer to be a subject of diplomatic 
 ingenuity, but of a more decisive mode of argument, the 
 sword. France, besides having possession of Canada, in 
 the north, had also a territory on the Mississippi, called 
 Louisiana, in the south ; and strove, by a military chain, 
 the links of which were formed of out-posts stretching 
 along the Ohio and the lakes, to connect these two extremi- 
 ties, and thus restrain the British colonists within the ar- 
 bitrary limits of her own dictation. The latter, however, 
 were not disposed, either to submit to the curtailment, or 
 to incur the additional inconvenience of a savage warfare, 
 nurtured by that means, at their very doors. They had 
 too severely felt the influence of the French, when more dis- 
 tant, by their encouraging the Indians to destroy them : 
 and, moreover, they claimed the entire lands from the At- 
 lantic to the Pacific ocean. 
 
 An iuteresting character was, by this misunderstanding, 
 brought forward. Repeated complaints of violence having 
 been made to the governor of Virginia, he determined to 
 send a suitable person to the French commandant near the 
 Ohio, with a letter, demanding the reason of his hostile pro- 
 ceedings, and insisting that he should evacuate a fort which 
 he had lately erected. For this arduous undertaking, 
 George Washington, a major of the militia, then little more 
 than twenty-one years of age, offered his service. The 
 distance of the French settlement was above four hundred 
 miles : half the route led through a wilderness, inhabited 
 by hostile Indians. He received his instructions 'from gov- 
 ^go ernor Dinwiddle, on the last day of October, and im- 
 mediately commenced his journey. On the way, his 
 horse failed. He nevertheless proceeded, with a single 
 companion, on foot, with a gun in his hand, and his shoul- 
 ders burthened by a pack ; on the 12th of December, reach- 
 ed a French fort on the river Le Bceuf, (situated in that part 
 of Pennsylvania, now included within the County of Erie,) 
 and gave the letter to the commander. In a few days, he 
 received an answer ,* which, about the middle of January, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 83 
 
 he delivered to the governor at Williamsburg, after as fa- 
 tiguing and perilous a journey as it is possible to conceive. 
 Throughout the whole, he and his friend experienced a con- 
 tinued series of cold, wet weather. Every moment, they 
 were in danger from a hidden foe ; and, at one time, an In- 
 dian, belonging to a party who had lain for the purpose in 
 ambush, discharged a rifle at them, when within less than 
 fifteen yards ; but fortunately missed his object. Yet, under 
 all these disadvantages, Washington was enabled, by his 
 own observations, and by inquiries from others, to gain very 
 extensive information ; respecting the face and soil of the 
 country, the distances and bearings of places, and the num- 
 ber, size, and strength, of nearly all the enemy's forts. 
 
 George Washington was born in the parish which bears 
 his family name, in the county of Westmoreland, in Vir- 
 ginia, on the 11th (corresponding with the new style 22d) 
 of February, 1732. He was the third son of Augustine 
 Washington, a planter, of respectable talents, distinguished 
 integrity, and large estate ; descended from an ancient fa- 
 mily of Cheshire, in England : one of whom removed to 
 Virginia, about the middle of the seventeenth century, and 
 became the proprietor of a large tract of land in King 
 George's county. Inhaling a pure mountain air, and ac- 
 customed to the healthful occupations of a rural life, his 
 limbs expanded to a large and well-proportioned size, cor- 
 responding with his majestic stature. His education was 
 suited to the business of the country. His classical studies 
 w^ere not pursued beyond the rudiments of the Latin tongue ; 
 but his knowledge of the most useful branches of mathe- 
 matics, was sufficiently extensive. 
 
 At the age of ten years, his father dying, the charge of 
 a numerous family devolved on major Washington's eldest 
 brother, Lawrence ; a young gentleman of promising tal- 
 ents, who had a captain's commission in the provincial 
 troops, employed in the celebrated attack against Cartha- 
 gena, under admiral Vernon. On his return, Lawrence 
 married the daughter of the honourable William Fairfax, 
 and settled on his patrimonial estate ; which, through re- 
 spect to his admiral, he called Mount Vernon. He was af- 
 terwards made adjutant-general of the militia of Virginia : 
 but did not long survive the appointment. He left one 
 daughter, who died young ; and his second brother also, 
 laving died without children, the major succeeded to Mount 
 Vernon. The genius of Washington was on the point of 
 peing exercised on a different element from that on which 
 
84 HISTORY OF 
 
 he has been already introduced. At the age of fifteen, he 
 was entered as a midshipman in the British navy ; but his 
 mother, then a widow, unwilling that he should be employedi 
 at so great a distance, that profession was abandoned. ; 
 
 The reply which the French commander had given, 
 brought matters to a crisis. The Virginia assembly were 
 induced to organize a regiment, in order to support the 
 claims of Britain over the territory in dispute. Of this, 
 Mr. Fry was appointed colonel, and young Washington 
 -.^nA lieutenant colonel. With two companies, the latter 
 pushed forward as far as the Great Meadows ; where 
 he surprised and captured, in the night, a party of French 
 who were advancing towards the English settlements. 
 Shortly afterwards, Mr. Fry died, and Washington became 
 commander of the regiment. Having then collected the 
 whole at the Meadows, and being joined by two independ- 
 ent companies, he went on to dislodge the enemy from Fort 
 Duquesne (the site of the present Pittsburg ;) a post 
 which they had recently erected at the confluence of the 
 Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. On his way, however, 
 being informed that the garrison had been strongly re- 
 enforced, and that the French were again advancing with 
 nine hundred men, besides Indians, his own party not being 
 four hundred, he deemed it prudent to fall back, and make 
 a stand at a fort which he had thrown up previous to his set- 
 ting out. Before he had time to complete his fortifications, 
 he was attacked by De Villier. He made a brave defence, 
 behind his small unfinished works ; but, after a contest of 
 nine hours, in which two hundred of the enemy were killed, 
 he was under the necessity of agreeing to a capitulation ; 
 his men being allowed to march out with all the honours of 
 war, to retain their arms and baggage, and retire, unmolest- 
 ed, into the inhabited parts of Virginia. 
 
 To draw forth the colonial resources, in a uniform sys- 
 tem of operations, a meeting of the governors and most 
 distinguished members of the provincial assemblies was 
 held at Albany, in the state of New-York ; where, it was 
 proposed, that a grand council should be formed, of per 
 sons chosen by the respective assemblies ; which council, 
 together with a governor, to be chosen by the crown, should 
 be authorized to make general laws, and to raise money, 
 from all the colonies, for the common defence. But this 
 plan was not acceptable tio the British ministry. They pro- 
 posed another ; that the governors, attended by one or two 
 members of their respective councils, which were, for the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 85 
 
 most part, of royal appointment, should concert measures 
 for all the colonies ; erect forts, and raise troops : with 
 power to draw on the English treasury, in the first instance ; 
 but the expense to be ultimately reimbursed hy a tax laid 
 on the colonies hy act of parliament. This plan was as much 
 disrelished by the colonies, as the former had been by the 
 British ministry. Having been communicated, through 
 one of the royal governors, to Dr. Franklin, and his opinion 
 thereon requested, this sagacious patriot expressed his sen- 
 timents in writing; and, by his strong reasoning powers, 
 discovered, in the intended measure, the germ of a con- 
 troversy in which he himself holds so conspicuous and hon- 
 ourable a place. 
 
 By whatever means, however, the supplies were to be 
 raised, both England and the colonies agreed that no time 
 should be lost in commencing the military operations. It 
 was therefore resolved to drive the French from the Ohio, 
 and from all the posts which they held within the limits 
 claimed by the king of Great Britain. To eflect the first 
 ^^^rr purpose, general Braddock was sent from Europe to 
 
 Virginia, with two regiments ; where he was joined 
 by as many as increased his force to twenty-two hundred 
 men. He was a brave man ; but his bravery was unaccom- 
 panied by experience. He was strict in the camp ; but his 
 strictness was tinctured with severity, and his severity ap- 
 proached to arrogance. He particularly slighted the colo- 
 nial militia, and the Virginia officers. Washington, who 
 acted as aid-de-camp of the general, asked permission to 
 ,go before him, and scour the woods with provincial troops ; 
 who were well acquainted with that service. But this was 
 refused. Braddock, with twelve hundred men, pushed on, 
 incautiously, until, on the 9th of July, within about eight 
 miles of Fort Duquesne, near the eastern bank of the 
 Monongahela, he fell into an ambuscade of French and 
 Indians. The invisible enemy commenced a heavy and well- 
 directed fire on his uncovered troops. The van was forced 
 back on the main body, and the whole was thrown into con- 
 fusion. The slaughter was dreadful : particularly amongst 
 the oflicers. In a short time, Washington was the only aid- 
 de-camp left alive, and not wounded. He had two horses 
 shot under him, and four bullets passed through his coat : 
 but he escaped unhurt. Throughout the whole of the car- 
 nage and confusion, he displayed the greatest coolness and 
 self-possession. Braddock, too, was undismayed, amidst 
 a shower of bullets ; and by his countenance and example 
 
 S 
 
86 HISTORY OF 
 
 encouraged his men to stand their ground : but valour was 
 useless, and discipline only offered a surer mark to the de- 
 structive aim of unseen marksmen. The action lasted near- 
 ly three hours, and seven hundred of his men were killed upon 
 the spot. The general had three horses shot under him, 
 and received a mortal wound. All the officers in the Brit- 
 ish regiments evinced the utmost bravery : their whole 
 number was eighty-five ; of whom sixty-four were killed or 
 wounded. Their men were so disconcerted, by the unusual 
 mode of attack, and the dreadful war-whoop of the Indians, 
 that they soon broke, and could not be rallied : but the pro- 
 vincials, more accustomed to the scene, were much less af- 
 fected. They continued, an unbroken body, under colonel 
 Washington, and covered the retreat of their associates. 
 
 Three successive campaigns had procured nothing but 
 expense and disappointment. The French had the com- 
 mand of the lakes, a complete ascendency over the Indians, 
 and were in possession of the whole country, the disputed 
 occupation of which had caused the war. With an inferior 
 force, they had been successful in every campaign ; in 
 America, in Europe, and in Asia. Gloomy apprehensions 
 were entertained as to the destiny of the British colonies. 
 
 ,^f.^ These fears were soon removed. A change of min- 
 istry took place. William Pitt, (afterwards lord Chat- 
 ham,) was intrusted with the public helm. To despair, 
 succeeded hope ; and to hope, victory. His active mind, 
 and enterprising genius, seemed to be diffused throughout 
 the empire, — through the senate and the people, the army 
 and the navy. Supplies were granted with liberality, and 
 given without reluctance : soldiers enlisted freely, and fought 
 with enthusiasm. In a short time, the French were dispos- 
 
 ■t^nq sessed, not only of all the territories in dispute, but 
 of Quebec, and their ancient province of Canada ; so 
 that all that remained to them, of their numerous settlements 
 in North America, was New Orleans, with a few plantations 
 on the Mississippi. The French regular troops were trans- 
 ported to France : the Canadians, being secured in the 
 possession of their property, and in the undisturbed enjoy- 
 ment of their religion, submitted, and took the oath of al- 
 legiance to the king of England. 
 
 The siege of Quebec recalls the name of an illustrious 
 British officer, the gallant Wolfe ; the general who led the 
 European and colonial troops to victory before its walls, 
 and fell in the moment of success. His youth, his spirit, 
 his amiable and social manners, and an engagement which 
 he had formed in England with the interesting object of his 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 87 
 
 affections ; all, awaken the tenderest sympathies of a gene- 
 rous breast. The name of Wolfe will be recollected with a 
 pleasing sorrow. The closing scene of his military glory, 
 i drawn by the commanding pencil of Barry, and of West, 
 I will be a lasting subject of admiration. 
 Hl7fi'> After hostilities had raged nearly eight years, a 
 general peace was concluded. France ceded Canada 
 ' to Great Britain ; and Spain, having taken part in the war, 
 i relinquished, as the price of recovering Havanna, both East 
 I and West Florida ; leaving Britain in possession of an ex- 
 i tent of country equal to the combined dimensions of several 
 i kingdoms in Europe. The addition of Canada on the north, 
 and the Floridas on the south, made her almost sole mis- 
 tress of the northern continent.* 
 
 Important considerations attended the termination of this 
 colonial struggle. To enable us to form a just estimate of 
 i the contending arguments, it will be useful to relate the 
 occurrences by which they were preceded. As often as 
 pecuniary or military aid had been required from the colo- 
 nies, during the continuance of that widely-extended warfare, 
 > requisitions were made upon their respective legislatures ; 
 [which, in general, w^ere cheerfully answered. Very pow- 
 erful assistance was given. Four hundred colonial priva- 
 teers cruised with successful vigilance, and twenty-four thou- 
 \ sand provincial soldiers co-operated with the English regu- 
 j lars in North America. 
 
 ! The recent addition to the British empire, of those vast 
 'regions, which would gradually be advancing in population 
 ;and in power, not only excited the jealousy of sovereigns, 
 \ but occasioned doubts in the minds of enlightened politi- 
 i ci'ans, whether acquisitions so immense would contribute to 
 the welfare of the parent state. To combine, in one uniform 
 system of government, the extensive territory then subject- 
 ed to the British sway, appeared to men of reflection an 
 impracticable task. Nor were they mistaken in their con- 
 jectures. The high sentiments of liberty and independence, 
 nurtured in the colonies, from their situation and habits of 
 society, w^ere increased by the removal of hostile neigh- 
 bours. War, also, had left impressions not less likely to in- 
 fluence their future destination. They had gained ex- 
 perience in the field, and confidence in their own ability. 
 Foreseeing their importance, from the rapid increase of 
 , their numbers, and extension of their commerce ; and be- 
 
 * The Spaniards regained the Floridas, in the great American war. 
 
88 HISTORY OF 
 
 ing jealous of their rights ; they readily admitted, and with 
 pleasure indulged, ideas favourable to independence : and, 
 while combustible materials were collecting in the new 
 world, a brand to enkindle them was preparing in the old. 
 
 During their infancy, Great Britain regarded her planta- 
 tions as mere instruments of commerce. Without charg- 
 ing herself with the care of their internal police, or seeking 
 from them a revenue, she was contented with a monopoly 
 of their trade. Until the year 1764, the colonial regulations 
 seemed to have no other object than the common good of 
 the whole empire. But a new era of political experiment 
 then commenced. When the colonies had grown more 
 capable of resisting impositions, she changed the ancient 
 system, under which they had long flourished. When pru- 
 dence would have dictated a relaxation of her authority, 
 she rose in her demands, and multiplied her restraints. She 
 enacted that their bills of credit should cease to have legal 
 currency, and commenced the anomalous system of raising 
 from them an efficient revenue, by direct internal taxes, 
 laid by authority of parliament ; a measure, universally re- 
 probated, as contrary to their natural and chartered rights, 
 and now brought forward as a means of reducing her na- 
 tional debt, amounting to nearly one hundred and fifty mil- 
 lions sterling. The minister urged, that it was reasonable 
 the colonies should contribute a just portion of the expen- 
 ses incurred by the late w^ar, which had originated on their 
 account. To this principle, the latter made no objections : 
 but, while they admitted the principle, they opposed the 
 manner of enforcement. They believed, that the chief ex- 
 cellence of the British constitution lay in the right of the 
 subjects to grant, or to withhold, taxes : and in their hav- 
 ing a share in the enactment of laws, by which they were 
 to be governed ; and, as they were not represented in the 
 British parliament, that they should not be obliged to con- 
 tribute what that body might find it their interest to exact. 
 
 At the time of that disastrous warfare, in which Wash- 
 ington rose upon the ruins of the incautious Braddock, re- 
 solutions had passed the British parliament for laying a 
 stamp-duty in America ; but they were not followed imme- 
 diately by any legislative act. The declaratory opinion of 
 that body met no opposition, on either side of the Atlantic ; 
 because " the omnipotence of parliament" was then a fa- 
 miliar phrase : but, afterwards, when the measure was ex- 
 amined, it was better understood, and constitutional objec- 
 tions were urged by many sagacious statesmen, both in 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 89 
 
 England and America. But, notwithstanding the powerful 
 reasons offered against this unjust and hazardous experi- 
 ment, George Grenville, impelled by a partiality for a long- 
 1765 ^^^^^^sh^d scheme, in the following year, again 
 brought into the house of commons this unpopular 
 bill, and succeeded in its enactment. By this, the instru- 
 ments of writing in daily use amongst a commercial people, 
 were to be null and void, unless executed on paper or 
 parchment stamped with a specific duty. Law documents 
 and leases, articles of apprenticeship and contracts, pro- 
 tests and bills of sale, newspapers and advertisements, al- 
 manacs and pamphlets, — all, must contribute to the British 
 treasury. 
 
 When the measure was debated, Charles Townshend 
 delivered a speech in its favour; in concluding which, 
 " Will these Americans," he said, " children planted by 
 our care, nourished by our indulgence, till they are grown 
 up to a degree of strength and opulence, and protected by 
 our arms ; will they grudge to contribute their mite, to re- 
 lieve us from the weight of that heavy burthen under 
 iw4iich we lie ?"—" They, planted by your care!" replied 
 [colonel Barre : " No ; they were planted by your oppres- 
 sions. They fled from tyranny, to an uncultivated, unhos- 
 pitable country, where they exposed themselves to all the 
 hardships to which human nature is liable ; and, amongst 
 others, to the cruelty of a savage foe, the most subtle, and, 
 I will take it upon me to say, the most formidable, people, 
 311 the face of this earth : and yet, actuated by principles 
 of true English liberty, they met all hardships with pleas- 
 ure, compared with what they had suffered in their own 
 poyntry, from the hands of those that should have been 
 their friends. — They, nourished by your indulgence ! They 
 ^revv^ up by your neglect. As soon as you began to extend 
 your care, that care was displayed in "sending persons to 
 rule them, in one department and another, who were, per- 
 haps, the deputies of deputies to some members of this 
 [louse : sent to spy out their liberties, to misrepresent their 
 ictions, and to prey upon their substance : men, whose be- 
 haviour, on many occasions, has caused the blood of those 
 sons of freedom to recoil within them: men promoted to 
 :he highest seats of justice — some, who, to my knowledge, 
 A^ere glad, by going to a foreign country, to escape being 
 Drought to the bar of a court of justice in their own. — They, 
 Drotected by your arms ! They have nobly taken up arms 
 n your defence, have exerted a valour, amidst their con- 
 
90' HISTORY OF 
 
 stant and laborious industry, for the defence of a country^ 
 whose frontier was drenched in blood, while its interu 
 parts yielded all its little savings to your emolument. And^i 
 believe me, that the same spirit of freedom, which actuated} 
 these people at first, will accompany them still : — but, pru^ 
 dence forbids me to explain myself further. God knows, I; 
 do not, at this time, speak from any motives of party heat. 
 I deliver the genuine sentiments of my heart. However 
 superior to me, in general knowledge and experience, the 
 respectable body of this house may be, yet, I claim to know 
 more of America than most of you ; having seen that coun- 
 try, and been conversant with its people. They are, I be- 
 lieve, as truly loyal as any subjects the king has ; but a 
 people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate 
 them, if ever they should be violated. But the subject is 
 too delicate : I w^ll say no more." 
 
 The night after the bill passed. Dr. Franklin wrote to 
 Mr. Charles Thomson, " The sun of liberty is set ; you must 
 light up the candles of industry and economy." — Mr. Thom- 
 son answered : " I was apprehensive that other lights would ' 
 be the consequence, and I foresee the opposition that will 
 be made." 
 
 By a clause in the stamp-act, it was not to have opera-' 
 tion until the first day of November ; a period of more than 
 seven months from its passing. This gave the colonists 
 an opportunity of leisurely examining the subject, and 
 viewing it on every side. The voice of legislative oppo- 
 sition was, at this time, first heard in Virginia. In an an- 
 imated speech, Mr. Patrick Henry, on the 20th of May, 
 brought into the house of burgesses in that colony, a num- 
 ber of resolutions, which were substantially adopted, and 
 which concluded by declaring, " That every individual, 
 who, by speaking or acting, should assert or maintain, that 
 any person, or body of men, except the general assembly 
 of the province, had any right to impose taxation there, 
 should be deemed an enemy to his majesty's colony." 
 
 " Caesar," exclaimed the orator, "had his Brutus ; Charles 
 the first, his Cromwell ; and George the third — may profit 
 by his example." 
 
 A declaration, similar to that of Virginia, had been made, 
 nearly a century before, in Massachusetts. 
 
 Those resolutions were immediately disseminated through 
 the other provinces. The tongues and pens of the well- 
 informed citizens laboured in kindling the latent sparks of 
 patriotism. The fire of liberty blazed forth from the press, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 91 
 
 ind its influence became general. As the legislative assem- 
 jlies met, they displayed a similar feeling. The people, in 
 ;heir town meetings, instructed their representatives to op- 
 Dose the innovation. The assembly in Massachusetts (before 
 •he arrival of the Virginia declarations) passed a resolution 
 n favour of a continental Congress ; fixed a day in October 
 or its meeting in New York, and sent letters to the speakers 
 Df the other assemblies, requesting their concurrence. 
 
 This first advance towards a union was seconded by 
 •^outh Carolina. The other colonies, too, with the excep- 
 ion of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, prevented 
 3y their governors, and New Hampshire, which dissented 
 Vom the proposition, espoused the invitation, and assem- 
 jled at the appointed place. Here, they agreed on a de- 
 claration of their rights, and a statement of their grievances ; 
 asserting, in strong language, their exemption from all 
 taxes, not imposed by their own representatives ; and drew 
 up a petition to the king, with memorials to the house of 
 lords and the house of commons. 
 ' I *'There was, however, a considerable degree of timidity 
 evinced in this congress ; and the members were on no 
 measure unanimous. Thomas Ruggles, of New York, who 
 f presided, refused to affix his name to the memorial ; and Mr. 
 Ogden, then speaker of the New Jersey assembly, followed 
 •his example : for which conduct, he was burned in effigy, in 
 Imany counties of his province, and removed from his situa- 
 ition. The boldest, and most impressive arguments were of- 
 ifered by James Otis of Massachusetts ; who was one of the 
 learliest patriots of that time, and fell a private sacrifice to 
 *the cause which he had so fearlessly defended. 
 I At length, arrived the first of November ; the day on 
 jwhich the obnoxious impost was to commence its opera- 
 !tion. The general aversion to the act was demonstrated 
 ■in a variety of ways. The people of Boston forcibly dis- 
 iplayed their feelings. The morning which matured its 
 existence, spoke forth its destroying agency in the mourn- 
 ,ful accents of the funeral knell; many shops and stores 
 twere closed ; effigies of the unpopular characters were pa- 
 raded through the streets, and exposed to that derision 
 ^which was merited by the originals. At Portsmouth, in 
 ;New Hampshire, the day was ushered in with similar evi- 
 idence of hostility and grief. The proceedings there were 
 ■ remarkably affecting. In the course of the day, notice 
 having been given to the friends of Liberty, to attend her 
 
92 HISTORY OF 
 
 funeral, a cofRn, neatly ornamented and inscribed with th 
 word, " Liberty," was carried to the grave. The procer 
 sion moved forward from the state-house, attended by ur 
 braced drums. Minute guns were fired, and continue, 
 until the coffin arrived at the place of interment. Then 
 a eulogium on the deceased was pronounced. It wa 
 scarcely ended, before the coffin was taken up ; it havin< 
 been perceived that some remains of life were left : the in 
 scription was immediately altered to " Liberty Revived :" 
 the bells exchanged their melancholy, for a joyful sound 
 and satisfaction appeared in every countenance. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the stamp-law was to have operator 
 from the first of November, yet legal proceedings in the 
 courts were carried on as before : vessels entered and de- 
 parted without stamped papers : printers boldly circulated 
 their newspapers, and, in most departments, business was 
 conducted, by common consent, in. defiance of the parlia- 
 ment, as if no stamp act was in existence. The people of 
 Philadelphia, and, after them, nearly all the commercial • 
 population of English America, prohibited lawyers from in- 
 stituting any action for money due to an inhabitant of Eng- 
 land. Nor was this determined spirit of opposition con- 
 fined to a mere defensive means of parliamentary defeat. 
 Still further measures were adopted. Associations were 
 formed against importing British manufactures, until that 
 law should be repealed ; which, by throwing many thousands 
 in the mother country out of employment, and depriving 
 her merchants of the usual benefits attending extensive or- 
 ders, made it the interest of both classes in England to ad- 
 vocate the cause of the Americans. 
 
 In order to remedy the deficiency of British goods, the 
 colonists applied with diligence to domestic manufactures: 
 to increase the quantity of wool, they abstained from eat- 
 ing lamb : and to form a barrier against the enforcement of 
 the obnoxious act, they resolved to protect, by force of arms, 
 all who should be in danger from resistance. 
 17fi6 Conduct so magnanimous and firm had the desired 
 eflfect. Warm discussions followed in the British 
 parliament. The marquis of Rockingham, much esteemed 
 for his sincerity and the vigour of his genius, was appointed ^ 
 first lord of the treasury, in the room of George Grenville ; 
 and general Conway was called to fill the place of colo- 
 nial secretary. Anxiously desirous to obtain a revocation 
 of the obnoxious taxes, the new administration invited the. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 93 
 
 d of the opinion and authority of Dr. Franklin ; who, as 
 
 lent for some of the colonies, was examined at the bar of 
 
 e house of commons ; and, in that pungent manner, charac- 
 
 ristic of his superior mind, gave extensive information, 
 
 iiich served greatly to remove prejudices, and promote a 
 
 sposition friendly to a repeal. The ablest speakers in 
 
 )tli houses denied the justice of taxing the colonies. " You 
 
 ive no right," said William Pitt, " to tax America. I re- 
 
 >ice that she has resisted. Three millions of people, so 
 
 st to every sense of virtue, as voluntarily to submit to be 
 
 avcs, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of 
 
 1 the rest." The opposition could not be withstood : the 
 
 Jipeal was carried in March ; an event which caused great 
 
 * hy in England. The ships in the river Thames displayed 
 
 '^ |ieir colours, and the city was illuminated. In America, 
 
 " ke homespun clothes were presented to the poor, and or- 
 
 fers for British goods were given more extensively than' 
 
 •ver. 
 
 ' ! But, though the taxes were repealed, the right of levying 
 
 ' Hem was not relinquished. Simultaneously with the revo- 
 
 ' I'ation, was passed the declaratory act, purporting that the 
 
 ':gislature of Great Britain had a right to make laws to bind' 
 
 ic colonies in all cases whatever. This alleged power 
 
 ould not, however, it was thought, have been used, had 
 
 ot the Rockingham administration been displaced by the 
 
 aneful counsels of lord Bute ; Avho was enabled to influence 
 
 le king, in consequence of having superintended his edu- 
 
 ation. The chief reins of government were now given to 
 
 he duke of Grafton. Charles Townshend, the new chancel- 
 
 Dr of the exchequer, immediately procured a bill for grant- 
 
 ng in the colonies, duties on glass, paper, painters' colours, 
 
 f.nd tea. 
 
 The fire of opposition, which had been deprived of its 
 
 fuel by the repeal of the former impost, was now kindled, 
 
 vith additional ardour, by the same principle exhibited in 
 
 !ts new form. John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, was an 
 
 jible advocate of his country's rights. He attracted public 
 
 lotice in a series of letters, signed " A Farmer ;" proving 
 
 [he extreme danger that threatened the liberties of Arneri- 
 
 ;a, from submission to a precedent establishing the claim 
 
 )f parliamentary taxation. Dr. Franklin afterwards pub- 
 
 rished a number of pieces, much in the style of the Irish 
 
 '^)atriot, Swift; which, by their excellent wit and humour, 
 
 -combined with the pointed justness of the allegory, had a 
 
 '■ )owerful influence on the understanding of the people. 
 
94 HISTORY OF 
 
 Virginia held a pen, which poured forth conviction in the 
 captivating style of. classic elegance. The Monitor's Let- 
 ters, by Dr. Lee ; a Summary View of the Rights of Brit- 
 ish America, by Thomas Jefferson ; an Inquiry into the 
 Rights of the British Colonies, by Richard Bland ; and 
 " Considerations," by Robert Carter Nicholas, as well as 
 the memorials, remonstrances, and other public acts of that 
 colony ; were all written in a masterly manner. South 
 Carolina produced a poem, entitled " Liberty," under the 
 assumed name of Rusticus ; which, for dignity and vigour, 
 will vie with any that has ever appeared, on the subject of 
 politics. Its motto, " Et majores vestros et posteros cogi- 
 tate''' (Think of your fathers, and your posterity,) was hap- 
 pily appropriate ; addressing every noble and generous 
 affection of the human breast. The controversy was ably 
 supported also in New England. The subsequent orations 
 of Warren and Hancock, in commemoration of an affray 
 in which their fellow-citizens of Boston were slain, exhibit 
 fine specimens of impassioned eloquence. But, the most 
 powerful writer was the celebrated Thomas Paine, of Lon- 
 don, who afterwards acted as Secretary for Foreign Affairs 
 to the congress of the United States ; and, in a work 
 entitled Common Sense, roused the public feeling to a de- 
 gree unequalled by any previous appeal. 
 
 As might have been expected, the new duties gave rise 
 to a second association for suspending importations of Brit- 
 ish manufactures. Uniformity in this measure was pro- 
 moted by the Massachusetts' assembly ; whose activity 
 drew forth the marked displeasure of the crown. They 
 were ordered to cancel their resolutions ; and, on their re- 
 fusal, were dissolved. 
 
 The bad humour which already so much prevailed, was 
 •tr-in^ about this time inflamed to a high degree of resent- 
 ment and violence, by the seizure of Mr. Hancock's 
 sloop Liberty, for not having entered all the Avines she had 
 brought from Madeira ; a refusal made in accordance with 
 the recent spirit of non-importation. Soon afterwards, two 
 regiments and some armed vessels arrived in Boston, to 
 assist the revenue officers in the execution of their duty. 
 These served to restrain the fury of the multitude ; but they 
 increased the displeasure and vigilance of the more import- 
 ant members of society. Out of ninety-seven townships, 
 deputies from ninety-six attended a convention in that town, 
 reviewed the transactions of the past, turned their minds to 
 the alarming prospect of the future, and stated to the world 
 their opinions, and the causes of their meeting. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 95 
 
 Encouraged by the expectation of quelling the refracto- 
 y by arms, or by the too often tried system of division, 
 he parliament, for a while, maintained with obstinacy 
 heir determination to enforce the duties. They continued 
 o dissolve the opposing assemblies, and even threatened 
 till further infringements and severity. But the colonists 
 etained their accustomed firmness : each inroad upon 
 heir rights caused a new sacrifice of commercial advan- 
 age, a fresh retrenchment of domestic luxury and comfort. 
 Phis collision, the mercantile and manufacturing classes in 
 England having felt with destructive force, lord North, who 
 lad succeeded the duke of Grafton as prime minister, 
 
 ■i^-^Q dreading the effects of popular resentment, paused 
 for a moment in the career of ruin and disgrace, and 
 )btained a repeal of the duties on glass, paper, and paint- 
 ers' colours, — but retained it upon the tea. 
 
 This concession was followed by a temporary calm. 
 From the pledges then given by the British government, 
 ;hat they would not again attempt to lay .taxes on the colo- 
 lies for the purpose of revenue, and from the various 
 sources by which they were supplied with tea, without be- 
 ing under the necessity of infringing their determinations 
 igainst importing it from Great Britain, the mercantile in- 
 tercourse with the mother country was renewed ; and many 
 tioped that the contention was closed for ever. In all the 
 provinces, except Massachusetts, appearances favoured 
 that opinion. But many incidents operated there, to dis- 
 turb that harmony which had begun, in other places, to re- 
 turn. The stationing of a military force amongst the in- 
 habitants in that province, was a fruitful source of uneasi- 
 ness. Reciprocal insults soured the tempers, and mutual 
 injuries embittered the passions, of the opposite parties. 
 Some high-spirited persons in Boston, who thought it an 
 indignity to have troops quartered on them, w^ere constant- 
 ly exciting the populace to quarrel with the soldiers. On 
 the second of March, an affray took place between a private 
 soldier and an inhabitant : on the fifth, a party, when under 
 arms, were insulted by a mob, pelted with stones, and dared 
 to fire ; and, at length, unable to withstand the increasing 
 i^iolence, a few muskets being discharged, by which three 
 men were killed, nothing but a promise to remove the 
 irmy from the town, prevented the inhabitants from taking 
 
 mmediate revenge. The captain who commanded, and 
 (he privates who fired on the people, were tried on a charge 
 )f murder, but acquitted; a result which reflects great 
 
96 HISTORY OF 
 
 honour on their counsel, John Adams and Josiah Quincey, 
 and also upon the jury ; on the one, for thus boldly exerting 
 their professional abilities ; on the other, for giving an up- 
 right verdict, in defiance of popular opinion or resentment. 
 
 " The events of that tragical night," observes a well-in- 
 formed historian, " sunk deep into the minds of the people, 
 and were made subservient to important purposes. The 
 anniversary of it was observed with great solemnity. Elo- 
 quent orators were successively employed, to deliver an 
 annual oration, to preserve the remembrance of it fresh in 
 their minds ; and thus, the blessings of liberty, the horrors 
 of slavery, the dangers of a standing army, the rights of 
 the colonies, were presented to the public, in their most 
 pleasing and alarming forms." 
 
 From these, and other occurrences not essential to be 
 noticed in the pages of an epitome, no other than the most j 
 guarded conduct, on both sides, could prevent a universal 
 explosion. 
 
 But an impolitic scheme, afterwards concerted between 
 the British ministry and the East India Company, led the , 
 contending parties again on the disputed ground, and, 
 formed them in hostile array against each other. The com- ! 
 pany were now authorized to export their tea, to all^ 
 places, free of duty. By this regulation, that article, ! 
 though loaded, in the colonies, with an exceptionable im- 
 post, would be cheaper, there, than before it was made a 
 source of revenue ; the duty thus removed when exported 
 from Great Britain, being greater than that to be paid 
 on its importation into America. Confident, therefore, of 
 success, in finding a market for their tea, in this manner 
 lowered in its price, and also of collecting a duty on it in 
 the colonies, the company freighted several ships with this 
 commodity, and appointed agents for its disposal. How- 
 ever, as the time approached when their arrival might be 
 expected, such measures were adopted, as were the most 
 likely to prevent the landing of their cargoes. The con- 
 signees were in several places compelled to relinquish 
 their appointments: the pilots, in the Delaware, were 
 warned not to conduct any of the tea-ships into that river ; 
 and, in New York, popular vengeance was denounced 
 against all who would contribute, in any measure, to for- 
 ward the views of the East India Company. In conse- 
 quence, the captains, destined to New York and Philadel- 
 phia, returneti directly to Great Britain, without making 
 any entry at the custom-house. But it was otherwise at 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 97^ 
 
 tJoston. The tea, for the supply of that port, was consign- 
 ed to the sons and particular friends of governor Hutchin- 
 on. They were resolute in their determination to receive 
 t ; the custom-house officers and the governor equally 
 Strenuous to prevent the vessels from departing, without a 
 Regular entry and clearance. A new method of defence, 
 jhercfore, became necessary. What was so zealously im- 
 ported for their consumption, the people, with a correspond- 
 mg energy, were determined to destroy. Countenanced 
 ^y the general voice, a party, dressed as Indians, boarded 
 fhe tea-ships, broke open their cargoes, and threw the con- 
 
 nts into the sea. 
 
 The event of this business was very different from what 
 iad been expected in England. With so much vigour had 
 he colonists acted, that there was not a single chest sold, 
 if all that were sent out by the East India Company. 
 ,^^- Enraged against the people of Boston, the parlia- 
 ment resolved to take legislative vengeance on that 
 levoted town. Disregarding the forms of the British con- 
 tPtution, by which none are to be condemned unheard, or 
 lunished without a trial, they passed a bill, closing, in a 
 bmmercial sense, its port : and, soon afterwards, its cus- 
 tom-house officers, and consequently its trade, were re- 
 moved to Salem : there, to remain, until reparation should 
 U made for the property destroyed. The charter of the 
 blony was new-modeled ; so that the whole executive gov- 
 ernment was taken from the people, and the nomination 
 10 all important offices vested in the crown. Nor was this 
 ihought sufficient. It was enacted, that if any person was 
 ndicted for murder, or for any capital offence committed 
 n aiding the magistrates, the government might send him 
 !o another colony, or to Great Britain, to be tried ; a pre- 
 laution evidently superjfluous ; as a remarkable proof of 
 he dispassionate administration of justice in Massachusetts, 
 Itood recorded, in the case of the British officer and his 
 »arty. 
 
 Property, liberty, and life, were thus subjected to minis- 
 jerial caprice. But, though these violations excited grief, 
 hey failed to produce terror, amongst the Americans, 
 rhey awoke the indifferent ; they inflamed the ardent. One 
 !Oul now animated nearly all the colonies. The parlia- 
 nent, notwithstanding, did not rest here : they advanced 
 mother step ; which increased their enemies on one side of 
 he Atlantic, and alienated their friends on the other. They 
 massed an act, relating to the government of Canada; by 
 9 
 
98 HISTORY OF 
 
 which, its boundaries were extended southward to the Ohio, 
 westward to the Mississippi, and northward to the borders 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company : its laws were assimilated 
 to the French : dispensing, in civil cases, with the trial by 
 jury : thereby, rendering its inhabitants passive agents in 
 the hands of power ; to aid, it was supposed, in deterring 
 the neighbouring provinces, and imposing on them consti- 
 tutions modeled after the same form. 
 
 Within little more than a month after the intelligence of 
 these arrangements reached America, it was communicat- 
 ed from state to state : and a flame was kindled in almost 
 every breast, through the widely-extended provinces. 
 
 In order to understand the mode by which this feeling 
 was spread, with so great rapidity, over so large an extent 
 of country, it is necessary to observe, that the several colo- 
 nies were divided into counties, and these subdivided into 
 districts. Accordingly, under the association formed to 
 oppose the revenue act of 1767, committees had been estab- 
 lished, not only in the capitals of every province, but in 
 most of the subordinate divisions ; an important and indis- 
 pensable means of union, which was at this period revived. 
 
 The British cabinet had no sooner finally resolved on 
 closing the port of Boston, than they determined to order 
 thither a large military force. General Gage, the com- 
 mander-in-chief of North America, was sent, in the addi- 
 tional capacity of governor of Massachusetts ; and, soon 
 afterwards, two regiments of foot, with a detachment of ar- 
 tillery, arrived ; and re-enforcements from Ireland, New 
 York, Halifax, and Quebec. 
 
 Hitherto, Boston had been the seat of commerce and 
 plenty. The scene was now reversed ; and every class was 
 affected by the change. The income of landholders either 
 entirely ceased, or was much diminished : the immense 
 property expended on stores and wharves, was rendered 
 useless. Labourers, artificers, and others, employed 
 in the numerous occupations arising from an extensive 
 trade, felt the general calamity ; a calamity rendered more , 
 intolerable, from the recollection of past enjoyments. Yet, 
 all these inconveniences and hardships were borne with in- 
 vincible fortitude. Their determination to persist in the 
 same line of conduct which had been the occasion of their 
 sufferings, was unabated. If they had not a prospect of 
 mercy from their oppressors, they had the consolation of 
 sympathy from their friends. Addresses poured in from 
 corporate towns, town meetings, and provincial assemblies,' 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 99^ 
 
 applauding their conduct ; and aid was provided, to sup- 
 port their perseverance. Marblehead generously offered 
 to Boston the use of her harbour, wharves, and warehouses, 
 and the personal attendance of her people, free of expense ; 
 and Salem, with a magnanimous self-denial, to which com- 
 mercial annals afford no parallel, refused to adopt the trade 
 3f the devoted town, and build its fortune upon the wreck 
 3f a suffering neighbour. 
 
 Affairs rapidly approached the crisis. Both parties tend- 
 3d towards the awful collision with accelerating progress, 
 rhe proceedings and apparent disposition of the people, 
 together with the military preparations daily making 
 through the province, induced general Gage to fortify the 
 leck of land which joins Boston to the continent, and to 
 5eize the powder lodged in the arsenal at Charlestown. 
 fhis excited a most violent ferment. Several thousand 
 people assembled at Cambridge ; who were with difficulty 
 restrained from marching immediately to Boston, to de- 
 nand a return of the powder, and, in case of a refusal, to 
 ittack the troops. 
 
 During the confusion, a rumour went abroad, that the 
 •oval fleet and military were firing upon Boston. In less than 
 ;wenty-four hours, thirty thousand Americans were in arms, 
 narching towards the town : other risings of the people 
 :ook place, in different parts of the colony ; whose violence 
 vas so great, that, in a short time, all who had taken an 
 ictive part in favour of Great Britain, were obliged to 
 screen themselves in the capital. 
 
 A provincial congress now assembled at Concord, chose 
 lohn Hancock president, and remonstrated with the gov- 
 jrnor against his hostile proceedings on Boston Neck, 
 rheir admonitions were unavailing. In consequence, they 
 •esolved to enlist a number of the inhabitants, who were 
 obliged to turn out at " a minute's warning," and over 
 kvhom, and the militia, they commissioned as general offi- 
 cers, Messrs. Pribble, Ward, Pomeroy, Thomas, and Heath. 
 
 As the winter approached, general Gage ordered bar- 
 •acks to be erected for his troops ; but, so powerful was the 
 influence of the popular leaders, that the workmen desisted 
 from fulfilling his wishes, though their wages would have 
 t)een regularly paid. An application to New York was 
 equally unsuccessful ; and similar obstructions were thrown 
 m the way of getting even clothing for the winter. The 
 tnerchants of the latter city answered, that they would never 
 supply any article for the benefit of men sent to the country 
 
100 HISTORY OF 
 
 as enemies. The farmers in Massachusetts were discouraged j 
 from selling them straw, timber, boards, and such articles 
 of convenience. The first, when purchased for the royal 
 service, was frequently overturned : vessels with brick were, 
 sunk, and carts with wood overturned. 
 
 Measures of a still more decisive character were taken. 
 At Newport, in Rhode Island, the people seized and re- 
 moved from the public battery, about forty pieces of can- 
 non ; and at Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, a company 
 of volunteers, headed by John Sullivan and John Laugdon, 
 having attacked the royal castle, secured the garrison, uu- 
 til they got possession of the powder. Cannon-balls and 
 other munitions of war, were carried from Boston to places 
 of safety in the country, through the English guards, in carts 
 apparently loaded with manure ; and powder was conveyed 
 in the panniers and baskets of persons returning from the 
 market. 
 
 Meanwhile, on the 5th of September, a general congress 
 of the American states assembled in Philadelphia. Then- 
 place of meeting was Carpenter's Hall ; their president, 
 Peyton Randolph of Virginia ; their secretary, Charle^j 
 Thomson of Pennsylvania. Twelve colonies were now re- 
 presented ; comprising all the old British settlements ex- 
 cept Georgia : which, from prudential reasons, satisfactory 
 to the others, had not elected deputies. This august body, 
 combining the first virtue and talent in the colonies, en-j 
 tered into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non- 
 exportation agreement, prepared addresses to the people; 
 and the sovereign of Great Britain, as well as to all the in- 
 habitants of North America ; and directed their attention 
 to every means of averting the dreadful calamity of civil 
 war. These addresses, which were drawn under the im- 
 mediate dictation of Messrs. Livingston and Jay; Adams, f 
 Johnson, John Dickinson, and Rutledge ; are distinguished 
 for their pure and constitutional principles, and command- 
 ing energy of style. 
 
 Having, in the following month, finished their important : 
 business, they dissolved ; after recommending that another ■ 
 congress should be held on the 10th of May, in the ensuing ! 
 year, in case a redress of their grievances was not previous- i 
 ly obtained. 
 
 Impressed with a lively feeling of the sweets of liberty, ! 
 and a high respect for the members of the late assembly, |l 
 the greatest zeal was evinced, by a large majority of the jl 
 people, to comply with their determinations. While theji 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 101 
 
 "orms of the old government subsisted, a new and inde- 
 pendent authority was really established. It was so gener- 
 illy the sense of the people, that the public good required 
 I compliance with the recommendations of congress, that 
 iriv man who discovered anxiety about the continuance of 
 rade, was viewed as a selfish individual, preferring his own 
 iitcrest to the good of his country. But the intemperate 
 2cul of the populace frequently transported them so farTje- 
 v'ond the limits of moderation, as to apply unjustifiable 
 umishments to persons who contravened the general opin- 
 ion of the community. Some were placed beneath a pump, 
 lud underwent forcible ablution ; others, after being smear- 
 ed with tar, were rolled in feathers, and, in this state, ex- 
 posed to the ridicule of the spectators : yet, a more com- 
 Qion mode, was to treat them with contempt and scorn; 
 arising, in particular cases, to an exclusion from all social 
 uitercourse ; and to placard their names, with the appella- 
 tions of tories, traitors, cowards, and enemies. 
 
 When the British parliament assembled, the king, in his 
 sjieech, dwelt strongly on the tumultuous proceedings in 
 Massachusetts. An address from the commons, in reply, 
 recommending the punishment of that colony, brought on, 
 as usual, a spirited debate. In the house of lords, a con- 
 ciliatory plan was ofl'ered by the venerable Chatham, and 
 supported by all the force of his unrivalled eloquence. But, 
 in both cases, the ministerial benches overthrew the oppo- 
 sition, by a large majority ; and petitions, in favour of pa- 
 cific measures, from "the chief manufacturing and commer- 
 cial towns, were consigned to dishonourable oblivion. This 
 line of conduct was not indeed very wonderful. The min- 
 ister received all his information respecting the colonial 
 ferment from agents in America, who, in the true spirit pf 
 lord Chesterfield's system of flattery and deceit, transmitted 
 their reports in accordance with the preconceptions of their 
 employers. The maxim which teaches the hearing of both 
 parties, is seldom found within the precincts of a court. 
 Upon such representations, a bill v/as passed, to restrain 
 the general commerce of the colonies: from which law, 
 however, New York, Delaware, and North Carolina, were 
 exempted, apparently to create disunion ; and at the same 
 time the determination was matured, of arresting the 
 progress of American disaffection by an overwhelming 
 army. 
 
 But the ministers were again defeated. The golden har- 
 vest thus offered to these three, was suffered to fall unreap- 
 9* 
 
102 HISTORY OF 
 
 ed : and preparations on the one side were answered by in- 
 listments on the other. The coercive measures of the pa- 
 rent state inclined the colonies to extend their claims. Ha- 
 tred took the place of kind affections, and the calamities 
 of war were substituted for the benefits of commerce. 
 
 Meanwhile, the leading men of Massachusetts were, with 
 admirable prudence and address, preparing for the last ex- 
 tremity. They were furnishing the people with arms, and 
 training the militia. They had also stored munitions of 
 war in several places, particularly at Concord, about twen- 
 ty miles from Boston. These, general Gage now deter- 
 mined to destroy. He wished to prevent hostilities, by 
 depriving the inhabitants of the means of conducting war : 
 for, though zealous in his royal master's service, he dis- 
 covered a prevailing desire for a peaceable accommodation ; 
 and, wishing to accomplish his object without bloodshed, 
 took every precaution to effect it by surprise. At eleven 
 ,-,-,K o'clock at night, on the 18th of April, eight hundred 
 grenadiers and light infantry marched for Concord, 
 under the comm.and of colonel Smith. But neither the 
 secrecy with which this expedition was designed, nor the 
 silent hour chosen for its march, was sufficient to conceal 
 the intelligence of its movements from the country militia. 
 About two in the ensuing morning, a hundred and thirty 
 of the Lexington corps, under captain Parker, had assem- 
 bled in that town, to oppose them. These, however, from 
 the uncertainty as to the British soldiers appearing, were 
 dismissed ; with orders to muster again at beat of drum. 
 Between four and five in the morning, seventy of their 
 number had again collected ; and, soon afterwards, the Eng- 
 lish regulars approached. The officer who led the ad- 
 vanced guard, rode up to the militia, and called out ; " Dis- 
 perse, you rebels ; throw down your arms, and disperse." 
 They still however continued in a body ; on which, he dis- 
 charged his pistol, and ordered his soldiers to fire. This 
 was done with a huzza. The militia returned a few shots; 
 three or four of their number were killed on the green;* 
 and a few more when dispersing. The royal detachment 
 then proceeded to Concord ; where they disabled two can- 
 non, and destroyed the public stores. Here, they experi- 
 enced farther opposition. They were assailed by a party 
 of militia, under colonel Barrett, were allowed not a mo- 
 ment for refreshment, and began a retreat towards Boston. 
 This was conducted with expedition. The adjacent inhabit- 
 ants had assembled in arms, and attacked them in every 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 103 
 
 quarter. At Lexington, the royalists were joined by nine 
 hundred men under lord Percy, sent out by general Gage 
 to their support ; which re-enforcement, having two pieces 
 of cannon, awed the provincials, and kept them at a greater 
 distance ; but they continued a constant, though irregular 
 fire, which did great execution. A little after sunset, the 
 regulars reached Bunker's Hill, worn down by excessive 
 fatigue, and smarting with their wounds ; having marched 
 that day between thirty and forty miles, and been employed 
 during their retreat in an uninterrupted battle. On the next 
 day, they crossed Charlestown ferry, and returned to Bos- 
 ton. Their loss was sixty-five killed, besides two hundred 
 and eight wounded and made prisoners; that of the provin- 
 cials, fifty killed, and thirty-eight wounded and missing. 
 
 Intelligence that the British troops had marched out of 
 Boston into the country, on some hostile purpose, being 
 forwarded from one committee to another, great bodies of 
 the militia, not only of Massachusetts, but of the adjacent 
 colonies, grasped their arms and flew to offer battle. The 
 Americans who had fallen were revered by their country. 
 Resentment against the British burned more strongly than 
 before. The forts, magazines, and arsenals, which, by the 
 constitution of the country, had been in possession of the 
 king, were, for the most part, seized by the provincial mili- 
 tia. Ticonderoga was surprised and taken by adventurers 
 from different states, under the direction of colonels Allen 
 arid Arnold ; Crown Point was captured by colonel Warner; 
 and provincial money, which had been collected in conse- 
 quence of previous grants, was appropriated to the com- 
 mon cause. 
 
 Hitherto, the Americans had no regular army. The 
 congress of Massachusetts, then assembled at Watertown, 
 ten miles from Boston, immediately after the battle of Lex- 
 ington, voted, that thirty thousand men should be raised, 
 in the New England colonies. In consequence, the busi- 
 ness of recruiting was begun ; and, in a short time, an army, 
 under the command of general Ward, was paraded in the 
 vicinity of Boston, much superior in number to the royal 
 troops. 
 
 These military arrangements, were not confined to the 
 New England states. They were general throughout the 
 colonies. Arms and ammunition, forts and fortifications, 
 were secured by the Americans, and money was coined for 
 their support. But the amount of money was extremely 
 small ; their forces were almost wholly destitute of experi- 
 
104 HISTORY OF 
 
 enced leaders ; the arms and ammunition, lamentably defi- 
 cient. When, however, they viewed the comparative 
 smallness of their funds, they relied on mutual confidence 
 for extension : when they reflected on their want of discip- 
 line, they looked for success from their courage. Paper 
 money was issued for the common benefit ; the pulpit, the 
 press, the bench, and the bar, laboured to unite the people, 
 and animate them to resistance. 
 
 About the latter end of May, a great part of the re-en- 
 forcements ordered from Great Britain arrived at Boston. 
 Three British generals, How^e, Burgoyne, and Clinton, 
 whose conduct in the preceding war had gained them high 
 reputation, came over about the same time. Thus strength- 
 ened, general Gage prepared for acting with more decision ; 
 but, before he proceeded to extremities, he issued a procla- 
 mation, holding forth the alternatives of peace or war ; by 
 ofiering pardon to all who would lay down their arms, and 
 return to their respective occupations. From this indul- 
 gence, however, were excepted, Samuel Adams and John 
 Hancock. Their oflfences were said to be of too flagitious a 
 nature, to admit of any other consideration than the severest 
 punishment. 
 
 As martial law was at the same time proclaimed, it was 
 supposed that those measures were a prelude to open war. 
 Accordingly, the Americans made preparations for the 
 event. A considerable height, named Bunker's Hill, at 
 the entrance of the peninsula of Charlestown, was so situ- 
 ated, as to render its possession a matter of great import- 
 ance, to either of the contending parties. Orders were 
 therefore issued, by the provincial commanders, that colo- 
 nel Prescott, with a detachment of a thousand men, should 
 intrench upon its summit. But, in fulfilling the orders, an 
 error was committed. Instead of Bunker's, they intrench- 
 ed on Breed's Hill : high and large like the other, but situ- 
 ated a few hundred yards nearer to Boston. With so much 
 diligence did they work, that, between midnight and the 
 dawn of morning, on the seventeenth of June, they had 
 thrown up a redoubt, forming a square of eight rods ; and 
 so profound a silence was observed, that they were not 
 heard by the British on board their vessels, though at a 
 very trifling distance. The first information was given 
 them when the rising sun beamed against the works, which 
 filled them with amazement. An incessant firing was im- 
 mediately directed against the heights. Tiie provincials 
 bore it with veteran firmness, and continued to labour until 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 105 
 
 they had thrown up a small breastwork, extending from 
 the east side of the redoubt to the bottom of the hill. As 
 this eminence overlooked Boston, general Gage thought 
 it necessary to have possession : about noon, therefore, he 
 detached for this purpose generals Howe and PJgot, with 
 the flower of his army and a body of marines ; making in 
 the whole nearly three thousand men. 
 
 In the meantime, the Americans, fc» their further se- 
 curity, in the interval between the extremity of their trench 
 and Mystic river, pulled up some post and rail fences, set 
 them down in two parallel rows, at a small distance from 
 each other, and filled the intervening space with hay. 
 General Putnam, an old officer of Connecticut, directed in 
 chief, aided by Pomeroy and Nolten of the same province, 
 Starke of New Hampshire, and Joseph Warren, a physician 
 of Massachusetts. 
 
 The king's troops formed in two lines, and advanced 
 slowly, to give their artillery time to destroy the American 
 works. This allowed the provincials a better opportunity 
 for taking aim. They in general reserved their fire, until 
 the assailants were within sixty yards, and then commenced 
 "a furious discharge of small-arms, loaded with balls and 
 buck-shot. The stream of the American fire was so in- 
 cessant, and did so great execution, that the royal troops 
 retreated in disorder and precipitation. Their officers ral- 
 lied them, and impelled them forward with their sv.ords ; 
 but they renewed the attack with much reluctance. The 
 Americans again reserved their fire, and put them a second 
 time to flight General Howe and his officers redoubled 
 their exertions, and pushed on their men, who were as re- 
 luctant as before. At this critical juncture, generals Clin- 
 ton and Burgoyne hastened from Boston with a re-enforce- 
 ment, the powder of the Americans began to fail, and 
 their fire proportionably to slacken. The British brought 
 some cannon to bear ; which raked the inside of the breast- 
 works, from end to end : the fire from the ships and batte- 
 ries was increased ; and the redoubt was attacked on three 
 sides at once. Under these circumstances, a retreat from 
 it was ordered ; but the provincials delayed, and made so 
 long resistance, with the butts of their discharged muskets, 
 the greater part being without bayonets, that the king's 
 troops had half filled the redoubt, before it was abandoned. 
 It was apprehended, that the enemy would improve their 
 advantage, by marching immediately to the American head 
 quarters at Cambridge ; but they advanced no farther than 
 
106 HISTORY OF 
 
 Bunker's Hill. There, they threw up works for their own 
 security. The provincials did the same, on Prospect Hill, 
 about a mile distant, in their front. Both were guarding 
 against an attack ; and both were in a bad condition to re- 
 ceive one. 
 
 Few battles, in modern wars, produced a greater destruc- 
 tion of men, than this short engagement. The loss of the 
 British was one thousand and fifty-four ; amongst whom, 
 were nineteen officers killed, and seventy wounded. None 
 of the provincials had rifles : but they were good marks- 
 men, and aimed chiefly at the officers ; which accounts for 
 so unusual a destruction of the latter. The Americans lost, 
 in killed, wounded, and missing, four hundred and fifty. 
 Their number, at the commencement of the battle, was fif- 
 teen hundred ; only half the amount of the assailants. They 
 particularly lamented the death of general Warren ; a man, 
 who, to the purest patriotism and most undaunted bravery, 
 added the virtues of domestic life, the eloquence of an ac- 
 complished orator, and the wisdom of an able statesman. 
 He was killed in the retreat. Finding his corps hotly pur- 
 sued by the enemy, despising all danger, he stood alone 
 before the ranks, endeavouring to rally his troops, and en- 
 courage them by his example. He pointed to their ensigns, 
 and reminded them of their cheering mottos. An English 
 officer perceived him, and knew him; and, having borrow- 
 ed a musket, and hit him with a ball, he fell dead upon the 
 spot. 
 
 AVhile the engines of war were employed on each side 
 in the business of death, the property of the Americans was 
 yielding, within view, to the consuming flames. As the 
 British were advancing to the attack, they received orders, 
 through a military policy, to burn Charlestown ; and, in a 
 short time, this ancient place, consisting of five hundred 
 buildings, chiefly of wood, was in one great blaze. The 
 lofty steeple of the meeting-house formed a pyramid of fire, 
 and struck the astonished eyes of numerous beholders with 
 an awful spectacle. 
 
 Congress, agreeably with an arrangement made before 
 its dissolution in the preceding year, had assembled at Phil 
 adelphia, on the 10th of May. They again chose Mr. Pey 
 ton Randolph president; and, on his being under the ne 
 cessity of returning home, Mr. Hancock. When they re 
 ceived a report of the aflair at Lexington, they issued di 
 rections for retaliating commercial distress on Britain ; and 
 with their accustomed tone of moderation, dignity, and firm 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 107 
 
 ness, proceeded in the general business of the colonies. 
 Once more, they addressed the king, as well as the inhabit- 
 ants of Great Britain and Ireland ; and, at the same time, 
 published to the world the reasons of their appeal to arms. 
 *' We are reduced," said they, " to the alternative of choos- 
 ing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated 
 ministers, or resistance by force. The latter is our choice. 
 We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing 
 so dreadful as voluntary slavery." 
 
 The next object was a suitable person to conduct their 
 armies. In deciding this important question, there was 
 only one opinion throughout the provinces. George Wash- 
 ington was appointed, by congress, commander-in-chief of 
 all the forces at that time raised, or afterwards to be embodied. 
 
 For three years subsequent to the defeat of Braddock, 
 Washington superintended the troops of Virginia; in which 
 highly dangerous service, he continued, until peace was 
 given to the frontiers of his native colony, by the reduction 
 of Fort Duquesne ; an enterprise undertaken in conformity 
 with his repeated solicitations, and accompanied by himself, 
 at the head of his own regiment. The arduous duties of his 
 '^situation, rendered irksome by the invidious treatment ex- 
 perienced from the governor, and by the unmanageable dis- 
 position of the officers and privates under his command, 
 were related by himself, in a highly interesting narrative, 
 and fully acknowledged by the assembly of Virginia. Soon 
 afterwards, he retired to his estate at Mount Vernon, and 
 pursued the arts of peaceful life, with great industry and 
 success. When the proceedings of the British parliament 
 had alarmed the colonists with apprehensions that a blow 
 was leveled at their liberties, he again came forward to 
 serve the public ; was appointed a delegate to congress ; 
 and, in that body, was chairman of every committee selected 
 to make arrangements for defence. He was now in his forty- 
 fourth year, possessed a large share of common sense, and 
 was directed by a sound judgment. Engaged in the busy 
 scenes of life, he knew human nature, and the most proper 
 method of accomplishing his plans. His passions were 
 subdued, and held in subjection to reason. His mind was 
 superior to prejudice and party spirit ; his soul, too gener- 
 ous, to burthen his country with expense ; his principles, 
 too just, to allow his placing military glory in competition 
 with the public good. 
 
 On the president of congress announcing his commission, 
 he replied : " Though I am truly sensible i>{ the high honour 
 
108 ' HISTORY OF 
 
 done me in this appointment, yet, I feel great distress 
 from a consciousness, that my abilities and military experi- 
 ence may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. 
 However, as the congress desire it, 1 will enter on the mo- 
 mentous duty, and exert every power I possess, in their ser- 
 vice, for the support of the glorious cause. I beg they will 
 accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testi- 
 mony of their approbation. But, lest some unlucky event 
 should happen, unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it 
 may be remembered, by every gentleman in the room, that 
 I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think 
 myself equal to the command I am honoured with. As to 
 pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the congress, that, as no pe- 
 cuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept 
 this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic 
 ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit fiom 
 it. I will keep an exact account of my disbursements ; 
 those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I de- 
 sire." 
 
 In subordination to the commander-in-chief, four major- 
 generals, one adjutant-general, and eight brigadier-gene- 
 rals, were appointed. The first were, Messrs. Ward, 
 Charles Lee, Schuyler, and Putnam : the commission of ad- 
 jutant-general was given to Horatio Gates : the brigadier- 
 generals were Messrs. Pomeroy, Montgomery, and Wooster ; 
 Heath, Spencer, Thomas, Sullivan, and Greene. Lee and 
 Gates were natives of England, and had gained considerable 
 reputation in the British army. 
 
 Even the women were desirous of signalizing their zeal 
 in defence of their country. In Bucks county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, they raised and equipped a regiment at their own ex- 
 pense, and armed those who were unable to bear the charge. 
 The lady who presented the colours, embroidered with ap- 
 propriate mottos by her own hands, made an eloquent ha- 
 rangue, exhorting the soldiers never to desert the banners 
 of the American fair. 
 ■J- , o When general Washington joined the army at 
 ^ * Cambridge, he found the British intrenched on 
 Bunker's Hill ; having three floating batteries on Mystic 
 river, and a twenty gun ship below the ferry, between Bos- 
 ton and Charlestown. They had also a battery on Copse's 
 Hill, and strong fortifications on the Neck. The Americans 
 were intrenched at Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and Roxbu- 
 ry ; with posts of communication extending over a distance 
 of ten miles, and small parties stationed in several towns 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 109 
 
 along the sea-coast. Every thing essential to an army, ex- 
 cept courage, was wanting in the patriot army. They had 
 neither engineers to plan suitable works, nor sufficient tools 
 to erect them. Instead of tents, the soldiers were only par- 
 tially covered with sails ; now useless to the mariner, from 
 the obstructions of commerce. They had no commissaries : 
 individuals brought to camp their own provisions, on their 
 own horses : — nor, uniformity of dress : the hunting shirt 
 was introduced, to abolish provincial distinctions. On the 
 4th of August, the whole stock of powder in the American 
 camp, and in all the public magazines of New England, 
 would have made little more than nine rounds. A supply 
 of several thousand pounds weight was soon afterwards ob- 
 tained from Africa. Domestic rum was sent thither, in 
 charge of confidential agents ; who proceeded with so much 
 address, that every ounce for sale in the British forts on the 
 African coast, was purchased and brought off for the use of 
 their opponents in America. Some fearless patriots of 
 South Carolina in the following year boarded an English 
 vessel at St. Augustine ; from which, they obtained fifteen 
 thousand pounds : and a large quantity was manufactured 
 31 Philadelphia ; where a single mill produced five hundred 
 pounds each week. 
 
 The continental army, placed under the command of 
 Washington, amounted to fourteen thousand five hundred 
 men. These had been so judiciously stationed around Bos- 
 ton, as to confine the British in the town, and exclude them 
 from the provisions aflforded in the adjacent country and the 
 islands in the bay. They were now arranged in three grand 
 divisions. General Ward commanded the right wing, at 
 Roxbury ; general Lee, the left, at Prospect Hill ; and the 
 centre, the head quarters of which were at Cambridge, was 
 under the immediate command of Washington himself. The 
 military skill of adjutant-general Gates, in his particular 
 department, was eminently conspicuous. He introduced 
 punctuality and method, taught the officers and privates to 
 know their respective places, and to have the mechanism 
 as well as movements of an army. 
 
 Having thus accomplished a respectable beginning upon 
 land, the continental energies were directed also to another 
 element, the sea. In November, the Massachusetts assem- 
 bly and the general congress resolved to fit out armed ves- 
 sels, to cruise on the American coast ; for the purpose of 
 intercepting warlike stores and supplies destined for the 
 British army. The object was at first limited to these ; but, 
 10 
 
110 HISTORY OF 
 
 as the prospect of accommodation receded, it was extended 
 to all British property afloat. The Americans were diffi- 
 dent of their ability to effect any thing on water, against the 
 naval power of England, the greatest in the world. But 
 even their earliest attempts were successful, and inspired 
 them with confidence to venture on a larger scale. The 
 Lee privateer, under the direction of captain Manly, took 
 an ordnance vessel from Woolwich, containing a large brass 
 mortar, several pieces of brass cannon, a large quantity of 
 small arms and ammunition, warlike tools, utensils, and 
 machines ; a cargo so appropriate, that, had congress sent 
 an order for supplies, they could not have made a list of ar- 
 ticles more suitable to their present wants. Scarcely had 
 the first joyful impressions caused by this relief subsided, 
 when Manly gave additional proofs of successful vigilance. 
 Within a few days, he captured three other vessels, laden 
 with various stores from England, and one ship from Anti- 
 gua, with rum. Invigorated by this promise of important 
 aid from a new field of enterprise, congress determined to 
 create a national marine ; and gave orders for building five 
 vessels of thirty-two, five of twenty-eight, and three of 
 twenty-four guns, each. 
 
 About this time, one of the sea-port towns of Massachu- 
 setts suffered a melancholy devastation. Falmouth, con- 
 taining upwards of four hundred dwelling-houses and stores, 
 was totally destroyed, by shells and red-hot shot ; thrown 
 into it without intermission, during a whole day, from a 
 ship of eighteen guns, commanded by captain Meet. 
 
 The seizure of Ticonderoga and other places on the lakes 
 adjoining Canada, in which enterprise, colonel Arnold bore 
 a distinguished part, has been already mentioned. Encour- 
 aged by the success of his first essay in the field, this am- 
 bitious ofiicer lost no time in projecting more extensive 
 operations. He wrote a letter to congress, strongly urging 
 an expedition into Canada, and offering, with two thousand 
 men, to reduce the whole province. In his zeal to oppose 
 Great Britain, or satiate his desire of glory, he had advised 
 the adoption of offensive war, even before congress had or- 
 ganized an army, or appointed a single officer. His impor- 
 tunity, however, together with a belief that the Canadians 
 were, in general, discontented with their government, in- 
 duced that body to adopt his daring project. But, though 
 they acquiesced in his opinion, they did not invest him with 
 the command. The arrangements in the northern depart- 
 ment were committed to generals Schuyler and Montgome- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. Ill 
 
 ry : the former was stationed at Albany, to conclude a treaty 
 with the Indians ; the latter was sent forward to Ticon- 
 deroga, with a body of troops from New York and New 
 England. 
 
 The nearest British post in Canada was St. John's ; situ- 
 ated about a hundred miles to the north of Ticonderoga : 
 which, since the fall of the latter and Crownpoint, was just- 
 ly considered as the key of that province. Against this, 
 Montgomery erected a battery ; but, on account of the 
 scarcity of ammunition, was not likely to succeed in its re- 
 duction, until, by the capture of fort Chamblee, a post a few 
 miles below St. John's, on the same river, he obtained a 
 large supply of powder. In the meantime, a British force, 
 in number about eight hundred, chiefly Indians and militia, 
 when attempting to relieve St. John's, by crossing the river 
 St. Lawrence opposite to Louqueil, were compelled to re- 
 tire with considerable loss, by three hundred Green Moun- 
 tain men, under the command of colonel Warner, This 
 affair decided the fate of the besieged. Five hundred 
 regulars and one hundred Canadians surrendered to Mont- 
 gomery ; with forty-eight pieces of artillery, and eight hun- 
 *dred stand of arms. The advantage gained by the invad- 
 ers was, however, in a small degree lessened, by the cap- 
 ture of the brave colonel Allen and a party of eighty men, 
 when on a tour of observation, near Montreal. But the 
 enemy were allowed only a short period to enjoy the satis- 
 faction of this trifling acquisition. Pursuing his good 
 fortune, general Montgomery immediately appeared before 
 Montreal, and, on the 13th of November, obtained a sur- 
 render of the place, together with general Prescott and the 
 garrison : besides eleven sail of vessels, laden with ammu- 
 nition, provisions, intrenching tools, and every thing re- 
 quired for the clothing and comfort of his army. General 
 Carleton, the commander-in-chief and governor of Canada, 
 very narrowly escaped being taken. Being blockaded in 
 that part of the vSt. Lawrence which lies between the city 
 and the mouth of the river Sorel, he threw himself into a 
 boat, and, aided by muffled oars and the obscurity of the 
 night, had the good fortune to pass the American guards. 
 
 After leaving some troops in Montreal, Montgomery, 
 with little more than three hundred men, proceeded for the 
 capital, Quebec, But his situation was now very embar- 
 rassing. " Much to be pitied," observes a cotemporary 
 writer, " is the officer, who, having been bred to arms in 
 the strict discipline of regular armies, is afterwards called 
 
112 HISTORY OF 
 
 to command men who carry with them the spirit of free- 
 dom into the field. The greater part of the Americans, 
 officers as well as privates, having never before seen any 
 service, were ignorant of their duty, and feebly impressed 
 with the military ideas of union, subordination, and disci- 
 pline. They were soon tired of a military life. Novelty, 
 and the first impulse of passion, had led them to the camp ; 
 but the approaching cold season, together with the fatigues 
 and dangers incident to war, induced a general wish to re- 
 linquish the service. Though, by the terms of inlistment, 
 they were to be discharged in a few weeks, they could not, 
 even for that short space of time, bear an absence from 
 their homes." 
 
 About the same time that Canada was invaded by the 
 usual route from New York, a CQnsiderable detachment of 
 the American army was brought thither by a new and unex- 
 pected passage. Arnold, who conducted this bold under- 
 taking, acquired, thereby, the name of the American Han- 
 nibal. He was sent, by general Washington, with a thou- 
 sand men, from Cambridge ; with orders to penetrate into 
 that province by ascending the river Kennebeck, and then, 
 after crossing the mountains which divide Canada from 
 Maine, by descending the Chaudiere, to the St. Lawrence. 
 Great, were the difficulties, and severe the deprivations, 
 they had to encounter, in marching, three hundred miles, 
 by an unexplored way, through an uninhabited country. 
 In ascending the Kennebeck, they were constantly obliged 
 to struggle against an impetuous current ; were often com- 
 pelled, by cataracts, to land, and haul their batteaux up 
 rapid streams, and over falls of rivers. They had to con- 
 tend with swamps, woods, and craggy mountains. At 
 some places, they had to cut their way, for miles together, 
 through forests, so embarrassed, that their progress was 
 only four or five miles a day. One third of their number 
 were, from sickness and want of food, obliged to return. 
 Provisions grew at length so scarce, that some of the men 
 cat their dogs, cartouch-boxes, leather small-clothes, and 
 shoes. Still, they proceeded with unabated fortitude. 
 They gloried in the hope of completing a march, which 
 \yould rival the greatest exploits of antiquity; and, on the 
 third of November, after thirty-one days spent in traversing 
 a hideous desert, they reached the inhabited parts of Cana- 
 da, where, the people, struck with amazement and admira- 
 tion when they saw this armed force emerging from the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 113 
 
 wilderness, received them with kind attention, and supplied 
 them with every thing requisite for their comfort. 
 
 A manifesto, subscribed by general Washington, which 
 had been sent with this detachment, was circulated amongst 
 the Canadians. They were informed, that the American 
 army came, not as enemies, but friends ; not to plunder, 
 but to protect them : and were invited to arrange themselves 
 under the common standard of security and freedom. 
 
 So favourable were the prospects of the united colonies at 
 this period, that general Montgomery began to form a 
 regiment of Canadians. James Livingston, a native of New 
 York, who had long resided in Canada, was appointed to 
 command them. The inhabitants, on both sides of the river, 
 were very friendly. Expresses, in the employment of the 
 Americans, continued to pass without molestation between 
 Montreal and Quebec ; before which place, Arnold had 
 now arrived. Many individuals performed important ser- 
 vices in favour of the invaders. Amongst those, Mr. Price 
 stands conspicuous ; having advanced them, in gold and 
 silver money, five thousand pounds. 
 
 On the 13th of November, the fifth night after his ap- 
 pearance before Quebec, Arnold crossed the St. Lawrence, 
 in hopes of entering the fortress by assault. But his chance 
 of succeeding, by this mode, was, in that short space of 
 time, greatly diminished. The critical moment, by un- 
 avoidable delay, was then lost ; the panic, occasioned by 
 his first appearance, had abated ; and solid preparations 
 were made for its defence ; wherefore, having no artillery, 
 after surmounting the craggy precipice which had been as- 
 cended by general Wolfe, and drawing up his little band near 
 the plains of Abraham, he withdrew; and, until the arrival 
 of Montgomery, aimed at nothing more than to cut oflT sup- 
 plies from the garrison. 
 
 This officer at length joined the blockading army, sum- 
 moned the garrison to surrender, without eftect, soon after- 
 wards commenced a bombardment, and opened a six-gun 
 battery ; but his metal was too light. Defended by the 
 united fortifications of art and nature, Quebec, the last Ca- 
 nadian post remaining to the British, stood uninjured. Ani- 
 mated by the presence, and directed by the counsel of the 
 governor, sir Guy Carleton, the garrison could not be we^ 
 ried to submission. The fate of the besiegers was becom- 
 ing dangerous. Towards the end of the year, the tide of 
 fortune began to turn. Dissensions threatened the annihi- 
 lation of discipline ; resources were every day declining ; 
 10* 
 
114 HISTORY OF 
 
 fatigue weakened the bodies, and depressed the spirits of 
 the men. Difficulties of every kind were rapidly increasing. 
 The alternatives must be decided, of immediate retreat, or 
 an attempt to enter the place by storm. Montgomery de- 
 termined on the latter; though it was an undertaking in 
 which success was barely possible, and despair seemed 
 triumphant over hope. 
 
 The garrison numbered fifteen hundred, the assailants 
 only eight hundred men. Having divided this little force 
 into four detachments, he ordered two feints to be made 
 against the upper town ; one, by colonel Livingston, at the 
 head of the Canadians, against St. John's gate ; the other, 
 by major Brown, against Cape Diamond : reserving to him- 
 self and colonel Arnold the two principal attacks against 
 the lower town. On the last day of the year, at four o'clock 
 in the morning, in the midst of a heavy storm of snow, the 
 columns were put in motion. Montgomery passed the 
 first barrier ; but, when attacking the second, was killed, 
 and his division was led back. Arnold, being severely 
 wounded, was carried off the field : yet his party, placed 
 under the conduct of captain (afterwards general) Morgan, 
 contended amidst the works for three hours, until overpow- 
 ered by superior numbers. One hundred Americans were 
 killed, and three hundred made prisoners. 
 
 Few men have fallen in battle so much regretted, by 
 both sides, as general Montgomery. He had engaged in the 
 American cause from principle ; and left the enjoyment of 
 an easy fortune, in Ireland, and the highest domestic hap- 
 piness, to take an active share in the dangers and fatigues 
 of a war, instituted to defend a community of which he was 
 an adopted member. 
 
 Although the besiegers were so much weakened as to be 
 scarcely equal to their own defence, Arnold, who succeeded 
 Montgomery in the command, had the boldness to encamp 
 within three miles of the town, and the address, even with 
 his reduced numbers, to impede the conveyance of provis- 
 ions into the garrison. His situation was extremely diffi- 
 cult. His men were exposed, in the open air, when the 
 snow lay four feet deep, and the ri^purs of a Canada winter 
 assailed them with a severity beyond any degree which they 
 had before experienced. 
 , rj^r. But the failure of this enterprise did not extinguish 
 the ardour of their countrymen. They yet retained 
 hopes of reducing in that quarter the English power. Gen- 
 eral Washington arranged measures to embody for the ser- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 115 
 
 vice of the north three regiments in New Hampshire ; and 
 congress resolved to forward the re-enforcements previously 
 voted, as well as to raise four battalions in New York. 
 That the army might be supplied with blankets for this win- 
 ter expedition, a committee was appointed to procure, from 
 householders, all that could be spared from their families. 
 To obtain a supply of hard money, proper persons were 
 employed to exchange paper notes for coin ; and such was 
 the enthusiasm of the times, that many thousand silver 
 dollars were frequently given at par for the bills of congress. 
 No means of insuring success were overlooked. The cause 
 of the Americans had received so powerful aid from the 
 publications in their own gazettes, and from the fervent ex- 
 hortations of popular preachers, which connected the cause 
 of liberty with the animating sentiments of religion, that it 
 was determined to employ those two powerful engines of re- 
 volution, printing and preaching, to operate on the minds 
 of the Canadians. Accordingly, a printer and a clergyman, 
 with a complete apparatus, were sent into that province, 
 also Dr. Franklin, Mr. Chase, and the Reverend Mr. John 
 Carroll, of Maryland, a respectable clergyman of the Ro- 
 -man Catholic persuasion, (the prevailing doctrine of that 
 country,) to invigorate the seeds of revolution ; by promising 
 that Canada should be received into the colonial association 
 on equal terms, that the inhabitants should enjoy the free 
 exercise of their religion, and the quiet possession of their 
 ecclesiastical estates. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding all these exertions to support the 
 war in Canada, their interest there, after the fall of Mont- 
 gomery, gradually declined. Their unsuccessful assault on 
 Quebec, made an impression, both on the Canadians and 
 Indians, unfavourable to their views ; and the reduction of 
 that place now seemed an object to which their resources 
 were inadequate. The inhabitants listened with jealous 
 diffidence to the declarations in favour of protecting their 
 religion. They reverted, with philosophic caution, to the 
 early breaches of civil faith amongst their neighbours, in 
 ,Ncw England, and the stubborn animosity which theologi- 
 cal collision, had evcrj where produced. To render still 
 weaker the chances of success, the small-pox found its way 
 throughout the invading army ; and, owing to the limited 
 practice of early inoculation at that period, was a serious 
 calamity. It reduced their effective number from three 
 thousand, to nine hundred men. While the forces of the 
 one party were thus decreasing, and their spirit sinking by 
 
116 HISTORY OF 
 
 1 
 
 disease, those of the other were recruiting, their energies 
 and hopes reviving. Determined to recover, without de- 
 lay, the ground which they had lost, the British government 
 suffered not a moment to elapse, after intelligence of these 
 events arrived, before they despatched a numerous re-en- 
 forcement for its relief; and, early in May, the van of this 
 body made its way up the river St. Lawrence, through the 
 ice. The besiegers immediately made preparations to re- 
 treat. Carleton led out a detachment to attack them, and 
 got possession of all their cannon and military stores : which, 
 in their confusion, they had abandoned. Thus, at the end 
 of five months' operations, the siege was raised ; after a 
 display of fortitude and perseverance, which reflects the 
 highest honour on the officers and privates of both armies. 
 
 From an enemy, the conduct of general Carleton merits 
 distinguished praise. To the abilities of the accomplished 
 soldier, by which he fulfilled an arduous duty to his country, 
 he superadded the amiable qualities of a generous foe. The 
 numerous sick in the American hospitals, unavoidably de- 
 serted by their companions, he cherished with most tender 
 care : he fed and clothed them, and, when recovered, per- 
 mitted them to return ; and, by a humane proclamation, re- 
 moved the fears of those who might possibly be scattered 
 in the woods ; recommending them to go home, and apply 
 themselves again to the peaceful labour of their farms. 
 
 When the retreating army had reached the Sorel, and 
 thrown up some slight works for their defence, they were 
 joined by a few battalions who were marching to re-enforce 
 them. General Thomas, the American commander in 
 chief in Canada, having died, his commission devolved on 
 Arnold, now advanced to the same rank : and afterwards 
 on general Sullivan. But, notwithstanding their increase 
 of numbers, it soon became evident that they must abandon 
 the entire province ; yet, from a desire of doing something 
 which would counterbalance, in the minds of the Canadians, 
 the injurious effects of their retreat, an attack, planned by 
 general Thompson, was made on the British post at the 
 Three Rivers. The assailants, however, were repulsed;/ 
 Thompson and two hundred men were made prisoners/ 
 and about twenty-five were killed. Soon afterwards. Carle-- 
 ton, at the head of the main body of the enemy, arrived, and 
 commenced a serious pursuit. The retreat, nevertheless, 
 was conducted by general Sullivan, with so much industry 
 and judgment, that the baggage, cannon, and military stores, 
 were brought off, and the numerous sick escorted to Crovjn 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 117 
 
 Point; where he arrived on the 1st of July, and made his 
 first stand. 
 
 At this period of the contest in the north, it becomes ne- 
 cessary to view the transactions, which, in the meantime, 
 had occurred at home. The tirst province that demands 
 attention, is Virginia. The inhabitants in that quarter, 
 though there was not a British soldier within its limits, 
 were involved, by the indiscretion of its governor, lord 
 Dunmore, in difficulties, little short of those which had as- 
 sailed the people of Massachusetts. This officer, aided by a 
 party from a royal vessel in James' River, having conveyed 
 the powder from the colonial magazine at Williamsburg, by 
 which conduct he brought upon himself the indignant fury 
 of the people, threatened, in case of farther opposition, to 
 enfranchise the negroes, and arm them against their for- 
 mer masters. This irritated, but did not intimidate. A 
 body of gentlemen, headed by Patrick Henry, compelled 
 him to pay the value of the powder ; and so alarmed him, 
 that he was induced to send his lady and family on board 
 a man-of-war, and surround his palace with artillery. Af- 
 4"airs, thenceforward, grew daily more tempestuous. He 
 retired from his dangerous habitation ; with the aid of the 
 royalists, runaway negroes, and some frigates, established 
 a marine force, ravaged plantations, and at length attempt- 
 ed to destroy Hampton by a cannonade ; but was driven off 
 by the riflemen stationed on the shore. In a few days from 
 this, he entered Norfolk ; but, after a skirmish at the great 
 bridge, in which a party of British grenadiers were defeat- 
 ed by the provincials, he abandoned the town, and again 
 retired with his motley forces on board his ships. Nor- 
 folk, however, survived only a short time this triumph over 
 the royal governor. Provisions being withheld from the 
 king's vessels in the harbour, the town, with all the pro- 
 perty which it contained, amounting in the whole to more 
 than a million of dollars, was, on the 1st of January, re- 
 duced to ashes. 
 
 Nor was the adjoining colony of North Carolina exempted 
 from disturbance ; though in a less serious degree. The 
 governor's party, there, was soon defeated, and he himself 
 compelled to follow the example of Dunmore, by retiring 
 on board a ship. Similar retreats were made by the royal 
 governors of the other colonies ; except by Mr. Trumbull, 
 of Connecticut, who espoused the American cause ; and, 
 before the year expired, the regal authority had entirely 
 ceased throuirhout the union. 
 
118 HISTORY OF 
 
 All this time, the British troops at Boston were suffering 
 the inconvenience of a blockade ; and the blockading forces 
 were equally impatient for want of employment. Accus- 
 tomed to industry and motion on their farms, the latter could 
 not patiently bear the inactivity and confinement of a camp. 
 Fiery spirits declaimed in favour of an assault : they prefer- 
 red a thoughtless enterprise, which might bring immediate 
 glory, to passive fortitude and distant victory. To be in 
 readiness for the attempt, a council of war recommended 
 the assembling of seven thousand militia ; which, added to 
 the regular army before Boston, would have made a force 
 of about seventeen thousand men. But the Americans still 
 laboured under a scarcity of arms and ammunition. Though 
 great exertions had been made to manufacture gunpowder, 
 and to collect arms throughout the interior, the supply was 
 slow and inadequate. The eyes of all were now fixed on 
 general Washington ; who, it was, notwithstanding, expect- 
 ed, would, by a bold exertion, free Boston from the English 
 troops. The dangerous situation of public affairs had led 
 him to conceal his real deficiency of means ; and, with that 
 magnanimity which distinguishes the virtuous patriot, but 
 is often absent even from the brave, to suffer his character 
 to be assailed, sooner than vindicate himself by exposing his 
 army's weakness. There were not wanting persons, who, 
 judging from the superior number of his men, asserted, 
 that if he were not desirous, like the Marlborough of 
 England, to prolong his importance at the head of an army, 
 he might, by a vigorous attack, drive the enemy from Bos- 
 ton. Such insinuations were reported, and, by several, be- 
 lieved. But they were uncontradicted by Washington ; 
 who chose to risk his fame, rather than expose the lives of 
 his soldiers and the liberties of his country. 
 
 The patient vigilance of the correct general at length 
 gained a bloodless victory. Alarmed by the appearance of 
 the besiegers on Dorchester heights, which, on the night of 
 the 4th of March, had been fortified, under cover of a bom- 
 bardment and cannonade, sir William Howe, leaving behind 
 a large quantity of artillery and other munitions of war, 
 evacuated Boston on the 17th, and sailed with his troops to 
 Halifax. His retreat was not impeded by the blockading 
 army ; lest an attack, at that period, mio-ht have caused him 
 to burn the town. The embarkation of the British troops 
 was scarcely finished, when general Washington with his 
 army entered ; amidst marks of approbation and rejoicing 
 more flattering than a Roman triumpli. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 119 
 
 For some months past, every exertion had been made to 
 place South Carolina, and especially its capital, Charleston, 
 in a respectable posture of defence. Works were accord- 
 ingly erected upon Sullivan's island ; which is situated so 
 near the channel, as to be a convenient post for annoying 
 vessels when attempting to approach the town. These 
 proved a judicious precaution. The place had soon to with- 
 stand a formidable attack. On the 28th of June, a British 
 admiral, sir Peter Parker, entered the harbour, with six 
 frigates and four smaller ships of war ; mounting in the 
 whole, two hundred and seventy guns, and having on board 
 three thousand land-troops, under the command of sir Hen- 
 ry Clinton. To oppose these, the fort had thirty-six guns, 
 consisting of eighteen, twenty-four, and forty-two, pounders, 
 manned by about four hundred militia and soldiers of the 
 line, commanded by colonel Moultrie. This small garri- 
 son made a most gallant and effectual defence. They fired 
 with deliberation ; for the most part took aim ; and seldom 
 missed their object. The ships were torn almost to pieces ; 
 the killed and wounded on board exceeded two hundred 
 men. The loss of the garrison was only ten men killed and 
 twenty-two wounded. The fort being built of palmetto, 
 was little damaged : the shot which struck it was buried in 
 its soft wood. Colonel Thompson, with seven hundred 
 men, was stationed at the east end of the island, to oppose 
 the crossing of a British division, which had landed on Long 
 Island, in their rear ; but, to effect that, no serious attempt 
 was made. The firing ceased in the evening ; the vessels 
 slipped their cables ; before morning, they had retired about 
 two miles ; and, in a few days, the troops re-embarked, and 
 the whole sailed for New York. 
 
 Two grand objects of the British armaments were decid- 
 ed ; one, to relieve Canada, which had been successful ; the 
 other, to make a strong impression in the south, which end- 
 ed in defeat. A third remained to be determined, — the 
 possession of New York. The command of the force de- 
 signed to operate against the latter, was given to admiral 
 lord Howe, and his brother, general sir William Howe ; 
 officers, who, as w^ell from their individual characters, as the 
 known bravery of their family, stood high in ministerial 
 confidence, and were commissioned either to subdue by the 
 power of arms, or end the war by negotiation. The army 
 amounted to thirty thousand men; a force which exceeded 
 any before seen in America, and was, besides, supported by 
 a numerous fleet. 
 
120 HISTORY OF 
 
 On their approach, the enemy found every part of New 
 York Island, and the most exposed parts of Long Island, 
 fortified, and well defended by artillery. About fifty British 
 transports anchored near Staten Island ; which had not been 
 so much an object of protection. The inhabitants of this 
 place, either through fear, or affection, or policy, expressed 
 great joy on their arrival ; and many of them, joined by 
 about sixty persons from New Jersey, were embodied as a 
 royal militia. 
 
 But, whatever might be the hopes of Britain to obtain a 
 more absolute dominion over her colonies, by arms, the 
 time had now passed, when even the ancient connexion could 
 be retained, by negotiation. Offers of pardon were not 
 less insulting, than inappropriate. A new era had arisen in 
 the west. The link, which had, for ages, bound England 
 to her rising progeny, was, by the corroding influence of 
 evil ministers, severed from its ancient hold. The chain 
 which had stretched its political radii, to their common cen- 
 tre in Great Britain, now assumed a fresh arrangement, by 
 attaching together the children in resistance to the parent. 
 On the 4th of July, a few days after the arrival of this great 
 armament, the congress at Philadelphia agreed on a declar- 
 ation of Independence ; thereby, absolving the colonies 
 from every allegiance to the crown of England. The mo- 
 tion for this purpose, first made on the 7th of June, by 
 Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and seconded by John 
 Adams, of Massachusetts, in conformity with the particu- 
 lar instructions of the former's constituents and the general 
 voice of all the states, was decided by an almost unani- 
 mous vote. 
 
 " WHEN, in the course of human events," says this 
 celebrated document, — " it becomes necessary for one peo- 
 ple to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
 them with another, and to assume, among the powers of 
 the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws 
 of nature and of nature^s God entitle them, a decent re- 
 spect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should 
 declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 
 
 " We hold these truths to be self-evident ; — that all men 
 are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
 with certain unalienable rights ; that, among these, are life, 
 liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these 
 rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
 their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 121 
 
 whenever any form of government becomes destructive of 
 these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abol- 
 ish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda- 
 tion on such principles, and organizing its powers in such 
 form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safe- 
 ty and happiness. Prudence, indeed, wiH dictate, that gov- 
 ernments long established should not be changed for light 
 and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath 
 shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while 
 evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing 
 the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long 
 train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the 
 same object, evinces a design to reduce them under abso- 
 lute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
 3uch government, and to provide new guards for their future 
 security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these 
 ::olonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains 
 them to alter their former systems of government. The 
 history of the present king of Great Britain, is a history of 
 repeated injuries and usurpations ; all having in direct ob- 
 ject the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
 st'ates. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
 world. 
 
 " He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome 
 and necessary for the public good. 
 
 " He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- 
 diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
 operation, till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so 
 suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He 
 has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
 large districts of people, unless those people would relin- 
 quish the right of representation in the legislature — a right 
 inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 
 
 " He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
 usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
 their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
 into compliance with his measures. 
 
 " He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
 opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights 
 of the people. 
 
 " He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
 to cause others to be elected ; whereby, the legislative pow- 
 ers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people 
 at large, for their exercise ; the state remaining, in the 
 11 
 
122 HISTORY OF 
 
 meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from with- 
 out, and convulsions within. 
 
 " He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
 states ; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturaliza- 
 tion of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their 
 migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appro- 
 priations of lands, 
 
 " He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re- 
 fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 
 
 " He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
 tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
 salaries. 
 
 " He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
 hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and -eat out 
 their substance. 
 
 " He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing ar- 
 mies, without the consent of our legislatures. 
 
 " He has affected to render the military independent of, 
 and superior to, the civil power. 
 
 " He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
 diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by 
 our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legis- 
 lation ; for quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
 us: for protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment 
 for any murders which they should commit on the inhabit- 
 ants of these states : for cutting off our trade with all parts 
 of the world:: for imposing taxes on us without our consent: 
 for depriving ^us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
 jury : for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
 tended offences ; for abolishing the free system of English 
 laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein a"n 
 arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as 
 to render it at once an example and fit instrument for in- 
 troducing the same absolute rule into these colonies : for 
 taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
 laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our govern- 
 ments : for suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
 themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
 cases whatsoever. 
 
 " He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
 of his protection, and waging war against us. 
 
 " He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
 our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 
 
 " He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
 mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 123 
 
 yranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and 
 )erf]dy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and 
 otally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 
 
 " He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
 m the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to be- 
 -ome the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to 
 all themselves by their hands. 
 
 " He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and 
 las endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers 
 he merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare 
 s an undistinguished destruction of ail ages, sexes, and 
 ;oi!ditions. 
 
 " In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
 or redress, in the most humble terms : our repeated peti- 
 ions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, 
 I'hose character is thus marked by every act which may 
 lefine a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 
 
 " Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British 
 >rethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
 ttempts made by their legislature to extend an unwarrant- 
 ible jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the 
 ;i¥cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
 lave appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and 
 ve have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, 
 o disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably inter- 
 upt our connexions and correspondence. They, too, have 
 >een deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We 
 nust therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces 
 uv separation ; and hold them, as we hold the rest of man- 
 :ind — enemies in war, in peace friends. 
 
 " We, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
 if America, in general congress assembled, appealing to 
 Ihe Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our 
 ntentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good 
 ►eople of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that 
 hese united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and 
 Independent states ; that they are absolved from all allegi- 
 nce to the British crown, and that all political connexion 
 between them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought 
 be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent 
 tates, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
 ontract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other 
 cts and things which independent states may of right do. 
 Lnd, for the support of this declaration, with a firm reli- 
 
124 HISTORY OF 
 
 ance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually 
 pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred 
 honour."* 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 Continuatiofi of the war. Success of the Americans. Peace 
 of Paris. 
 
 It had early occurred to general Washington, that the 
 possession of New York would be with the British a favour- 
 ite object. Its central situation, and contiguity to the ocean, 
 might enable them to carry the war to any part of the sea- 
 coast. Its acquisition was rendered still more valuable, by 
 the ease with which it could be maintained. Surrounded 
 on all sides by water, it was defgnsible by a small number 
 
 * Tliis declaration was composed by Thomas Jefferson; member of a 
 committee appointed for the purpose. It was signed in the State-house, 
 at Philadelphia, in a chamber of the right wing, on the ground floor ; the 
 first which you enter from the centre hall of that building. 
 
 A painting, commemorative of this great event, in which are drawn the 
 persons of its illustrious authors, (whose names are here recorded,) in their 
 position at the time of its being presented by the committee for the ap- 
 proval of congress, has been drawn by an American artist, colonel Trum- 
 bull ; and placed, in 1819, in the capitol at Washington. 
 
 John Hancock, President. Charles Thomson, Secretary. 
 
 New Hampshire ; Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thorn- 
 ton. Massachusetts ; Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, 
 Elbridge Gerry. Rhode Island, &.c. Stephen Hopkins, William EUery. 
 Connecticut ; Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntingdon, William Williams, 
 Oliver Wolcott. New York ; William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis 
 Lewis, Lewis Morris. Neiv Jersey ; Richard Stockton, John Wither- 
 spoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. Pennsylvania ; 
 Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George 
 Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. 
 Delaware; Caesar Rodney, George Reed. Maryland; Sanjuel Chase, 
 William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. Virginia ; 
 George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Har- 
 risori, Thomas Nelson, junior, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. 
 North Carolina; Williitm Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. South 
 Carolina; Edward Rutledge, Thomas^lay ward, junior, Thomas Lynch, 
 junior; Arthur Middleton. Georgia; Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, 
 George Walton. 
 
 Of these patriots, the last survivor, Charles Carroll, died on the 14th 
 of Nov. 183i.*, in the 96th year of his age. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 125 
 
 of British ships, against adversaries whose whole navy con- 
 sisted only of a few frigates ; and Hudson's river, being nav- 
 igable for vessels of the largest size, to a great distance, 
 aiforded an opportunity of severing the eastern from the 
 other states, and of almost preventing between them any 
 communication. 
 
 In proportion to the desire which general Washington 
 judged that the British felt for the possession of New York, 
 did this sagacious officer direct his attention to its defence. 
 He had, in April, fixed his head quarters in that city, and 
 given it all the strength that wisdom could invent, or indus- 
 try accomplish. He made a new distribution of the army : 
 leaving a part in Massachusetts, ordering a small division 
 to Canada, but drawing the greatest portion into New York. 
 Thus, although he now laboured to secure this important 
 place, he was not forgetful of the other districts of his coun- 
 try. His comprehensive mind embraced, in one view, the 
 condition of the whole ; and his experience taught him the 
 most effectual method of preserving them. He determined 
 on a " war of posts ;" the best suited to the condition of his 
 infant troops, and the least adapted to the interest of his 
 j^nemy : as, while it increased the confidence of the one, 
 I it retarded the operations of the other, by continual alarm. 
 The enemy resolved to make their first attempt on Long 
 Island ; a position more advantageous than that on which 
 the city stood, as it abounded with fresh provisions. On 
 the 22d of August, they landed without opposition between 
 two villages, Utrecht and Gravesend. The American 
 works protected a small peninsula ; having Wallabout Bay 
 on the left, Red Hook, to which they extended, on the right, 
 and East River, in the rear. General Sullivan, to whom 
 was entrusted the defence of the island, was encamped with 
 a strong force within these works, at Brooklyn. The passes 
 leading through the hills were all guarded, and a battalion 
 of riflemen observed the motions of the British. 
 
 General Heister, with his Hessian auxiliaries in English 
 pay, took post at Flatbush ; and, on the following morning, 
 the 27th, general Clinton gained possession of a height 
 commanding one of the defiles. The guard fled, without 
 making any resistance. Early on the 28th, an attack was 
 made by the Hessians, and by another body under general 
 Grant ; which was well supported for a considerable time, 
 on both sides. The Americans who opposed general Heis- 
 ter were the first informed of the approach of Clinton, who 
 had come round upon their left. They immediately began a 
 11* 
 
126 HISTORY OF 
 
 retreat to their camp ; but were intercepted by the latter 5 
 who, having gained their rear, attacked them with his 
 light infantry and dragoons. The Americans were driven 
 back, until met by the Hessians ; and were thus chased, 
 alternately, by two parties. Some of the regiments, how- 
 ever, found their way to the camp. The Americans, under 
 lord Stirling, consisting of colonel Miles's two battalions, 
 Alice's, Smallwood's, and Hatch's regiments, who were 
 opposed to general Grant, fought with great resolution, 
 for about six hours. But, from their total want of cavalry, 
 being ignorant of the movements made by general Clinton, 
 until some of his troops had traversed the whole extent of 
 country in their rear, their retreat was intercepted. Seve- 
 ral, notwithstanding, broke through, and got into the woods, 
 and a considerable number escaped to the lines. Many, 
 however, were drowned, and others perished in the mud. 
 
 The king-'s troops displayed great valour throughout the 
 whole day. The variety of ground occasioned a succession 
 of small engagements, pursuits, and slaughters, which last- 
 ed many hours. British discipline, however, in every in- 
 stance triumphed over the mere bravery of raw forces : who 
 had never been in any action, and whose officers were unac- 
 quainted with the stratagems of war. 
 
 The loss of the enemy, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
 or, as it is concisely termed by the French, the number 
 placed hors de combat, was four hundred and fifty. That of 
 the Americans was above a thousand. Amongst the pri- 
 soners taken of the latter, were two generals, Sullivan and 
 Stirling, and eighty-two other officers, including every 
 rank. 
 
 During the retreat, general Washington had brought 
 over re-enforcements to the scene of action ; and, after he 
 had collected his principal force there, it was his wish and 
 hope that sir William Howe would attempt to storm his 
 works. But the remembrance of Breed's-hill, restrained the 
 British general from an assault. On the contrary, he made 
 demonstrations of a siege, and opened trenches within three 
 hundred yards, to the left, at Putnam's redoubt. Though 
 general Washington had wished for an immediate assault, 
 yet, being certain that his works would be untenable when 
 the British batteries were fully opened, he called a council 
 of war, to determine on the most proper measures. It be- 
 ing resolved, that the objects in view were ifi no degree; 
 proportioned to the dangers, to which, by a continuation on 
 the island, they would be exposed, dispositions were made 
 
 \ 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 127 
 
 for retreating. This commenced soon after it was dark ; 
 from two points, the upper and lower ferries on East river. 
 General M'Doug-al superintended the embarkation at one ; 
 colonel Knox, at the other. Never was any movement more 
 skilfully ordered, conducted with more consummate ad- 
 dress, or seemingly more favoured by the aid of Providence. 
 The field-artillery, tents, baggage, and about nine thousand 
 men, were conveyed to New York, over a river upwards of 
 a mile wide, in less than thirteen hours ; and without the 
 knowledge of the British, though not distant six hundred 
 yards. The wind seemed, in one place, to change accord- 
 ing to their wants ; and, in another, a fog veiled them from 
 the hostile view. Half an hour after general Mifflin, with 
 the rear guard, had left the lines, they were entered by the 
 British. 
 
 Not rightly appreciating the spirit of the American lead- 
 ers, which was not subdued, but made more resolute, by 
 defeat, lord Howe considered the late reverse as favourable 
 to promote submission ; and, accordingly, sent general Sul- 
 livan, already mentioned amongst the prisoners, with a mes- 
 sage to the congress. In a few days. Dr. Franklin, John 
 Adams, and Edward Rutledge, were deputed to have an 
 interview with the British general, on Staten Island. They 
 were politely received ; but there arose no approximation 
 towards a peace. When concluding, lord Howe expressed 
 to Dr. Franklin, with whom, a mutual friendshio had for 
 some time before existed, the extreme pain he woiTld suffer, 
 in being obliged to distress those that he so much regarded. 
 " I feel thankful to your lordship," replied Franklin, " for 
 your regard. The Americans will show their gratitude, 
 by endeavouring to lessen the pain you may feel on their 
 account, in exerting their utmost abilities to take good care 
 of themselves." 
 
 It was happy for the cause of freedom, that a principle, 
 yet higher than that which often animates the common sol- 
 dier to maintain his post, actuated the superior officers en- 
 trusted with its defence. The army became universally 
 dispirited. The militia ran off by companies, and the reg- 
 ulars were infected by the example. The situation of 
 those generous leaders, who knew no fear, except in the 
 prospective ruin of their country ; who offered every thing, 
 but honour, a sacrifice to avert its degradation ; cannot be 
 described. How must the heart of Washington have been 
 wrung with anguish ! To retreat, subjected him to animad- 
 versions, painful to bear, yet impolitic to refute. To stand 
 
1-2S HISTORY OF 
 
 his ground, and thus hazard the fate of America, on one 
 engagement, in which fortune might decide, was contrary 
 to every rational plan of defending his extensive charge. 
 A middle line, between abandoning and defending, v/as, 
 therefore, for a while adopted. The public stores were re- 
 moved to Dobb's ferry, about twenty-six miles distant: 
 twelve thousand men were ordered to the northern extremi- 
 ty of New York island ; four thousand five hundred remain- 
 ed to defend the city, and the rest were stationed withiii 
 the intermediate space, to act as occasion might require. 
 
 The same short-sighted politicians who had before cen- 
 sured general Washington for his caution, in not storming 
 the British lines at Boston, renewed the clamours against 
 him for this system of evacuation and retreat. But the 
 same wisdom which had then devised it as the best, now 
 confirmed his resolution to maintain it. Supported by a 
 consciousness of his own integrity, and by a full conviction 
 that these measures were the most advantageous to his 
 country, he again voluntarily subjected his fame to be over- 
 shadowed by a passing cloud. 
 
 General Howe pursued his object with unabating dili- 
 gence. Having prepared every thing for a descent on New 
 York island, he landed his men near Turtle-bay. The 
 Americans instantly fell back; and though some detach- 
 ments, under the command of colonel Knowleton of Con- 
 necticu^and major Leitch of Virginia, the former of whom 
 was killed and the latter wounded, had actually beaten their 
 immediate adversaries from the field, yet it became neces- 
 sary to evacuate the city. On the 12th of October, it was 
 entered by a brigade of the enemy. They had been only a 
 few days in possession, when a dreadful fire broke out, 
 which consumed a thousand houses. The Americans took 
 a position on the north end of the island ; but, soon after- 
 wards, left three thousand men in Fort Washington, near 
 Kirfgsbridge, and retired. The royal army follow'ed, in two 
 columns : and, after sustaining a considerable loss, by the 
 fire of a party which general Lee had posted behind x. wall, 
 halted with the Brunx in front : upon which, the Americans 
 assembled their main force at White Plains; where they 
 formed intrcnchments. A severe action took place, and 
 several hundreds fell. The British were commanded by - 
 general Leslie ; the Americans, by general M'Dougal. 
 
 Soon afterwards, general Washington changed his front ; 
 his left wing standing fast, while his right fell back to some 
 contiguous hills. In this position, admirable for de- 
 
THE UiNITED STATES. 129 
 
 fence, he both desired and expected an attack ; but general 
 Howe having declined it, and drawn off his forces to 
 Dobbs's ferry, the Americans retired to Northcastle. 
 
 Leavin(r seven thousand men under general Lee, Wash- 
 ino-ton crossed Hudson River, into New Jersey, and took a 
 po'^sition in the neighbourhood of Fort Lee. In the mean- 
 time sir William Howe commenced the reduction of Fort 
 Washington. On the 16th of November, the royal army 
 attacked in four divisions : the first was led by general Knip- 
 hausen ; the second, by general Matthews, supported by 
 lord Cornwallis ; the third was under the direction of colo- 
 nel Stirling; and the fourth, commanded by lord Percy. 
 The trarrison consisted of three thousand men, under colo- 
 nel Mao-aw. Their outworks being carried, their defenders 
 crowded into the fort, and the whole surrendered prisoners 
 of war The loss of the assailants was considerable. 1 heir 
 killed and wounded, from the fire of the garrison, and of 
 Rawling's corps of riflemen stationed in a wood through 
 which one of their divisions passed, were at least twelve 
 hundred. 
 V Shortly afterwards, lord Cornwallis crossed over to the 
 Jersey shore, and captured Fort Lee, with all its artillery 
 and stores ; the garrison having been saved by a previous 
 evacuation. General Washington then retreated to New- 
 ark. But he saw no hopes of being able to remain even 
 there. He feared that he would be compelled to retire still 
 further. " Should we retreat," said he, addressing colonel 
 Reed " to the back parts of Pennsylvania, will the inhabit- 
 ants support us1" The colonel replied, that if the lower 
 counties were subdued, and surrendered, the upper districts 
 would do the same. " We must retire, then,' rejoined 
 Washington, " to Augusta county, in Virginia : numbers 
 will be obliged to repair to us for safety, and if overpower- 
 ed, we must cross the Allegheny mountains." 
 
 But the general's situation became yet more distressing. 
 The term for which his army had enlisted was on the point 
 of expiring : the British commander offered pardon and re- 
 ward to alFwho would, within sixty days, desert the colonial 
 interest : and, when it was expected that he would withdraw 
 to winter quarters, pursued the diminished army m its re- 
 treat. Lord Cornwallis, at the head of six thousand regulars, 
 was so close behind general Washington, as he retired, dur- 
 ing nineteen days, with about three thousand undisciplined 
 troops, to Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton, and the Pennsyl- 
 vania side of the Delaware, that the rear of the one army 
 
130 HISTORY OF 
 
 pulling down bridges, was often within shot of the other's 
 van, hastening to repair them. 
 
 Scarcely one of the people joined the retreating army, 
 while numbers were daily flocking to the royal standard, to 
 obtain forgiveness and protection. Not only the lower 
 classes changed sides in this gloomy season of adversity, but 
 some of the leading men in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,^ 
 particularly Mr. Gallaway and Mr. Allen, two members of^ 
 congress, adopted the same dastardly expedient, and declar- 
 ed themselves, at all times, averse to independence. Every . 
 thing seemed tending to colonial overthrow. General Lee,^ 
 one of the most distinguished continental officers, was tak- ' 
 en prisoner ; a dispirited half-clad army was on the eve of 
 being disbanded ; the neighbourhood of Philadelphia be- 
 came the seat of warfare, and congress removed for safety 
 to Baltimore. 
 
 In proportion as difficulties increased, that assembly re- 
 doubled their exertions. They addressed the states in ani- 
 mated language ; recommended them to appoint a day of 
 solemn fasting and humiliation, invested Washington with 
 extraordinary powers, and endeavoured to obtain assistance 
 from foreign nations. 
 
 These judicious measures in the cabinet, were accom- 
 panied with proportionate vigour in the field. A bold enter- 
 prise was formed by Washington, of re-crossing into Jersey, 
 and 3' tacking those parties of the enemy which were station- 
 ed at Burlington, Bordenton, and Trenton. In the evening 
 of Christmas day, he made arrangements for passing the 
 DelaAvare in three divisions ; two under the respective orders 
 of generals Cadwalader and Ewing, and one division to 
 be directed by himself. But, owing to the quantity of 
 broken ice, only the main body, commanded by Washing- 
 ton, succeeded in its purpose, at M'Konkey's Ferry, nine 
 miles above Trenton ; and the passage even of this was so 
 retarded, that it was three o'clock in the morning before the 
 artillery was landed. On arriving in Jersey, this party was 
 arranged in two divisions ; one commanded by general Sulli- 
 van, the other by general Greene, aided by Stirling, Mer- 
 cer, and St. Clair ; who were ordered to proceed to Tren- 
 ton by different roads, and charge the enemy before they had 
 time to form. At eight o'clock, they reached the advanced 
 posts, within three minutes of each other. The out- 
 guards of the Hessian troops soon fell back, but kept up a 
 retreating fire ; their main body, after losing half their artil- 
 lery, and finding themselves surrounded, laid down their 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 131 
 
 arms. The detachment in Trenton consisted of fifteen hun- 
 dred German infantry, and a troop of British cavalry : of 
 whom, forty were killed or wounded, and nine hundred 
 taken prisoners ; the remainder, about six hundred, having- 
 escaped towards Bordenton. Captain Washington, of the 
 Virginia troops, a relation of the commander in chief, and 
 five or six other Americans, were wounded : two were kill- 
 ed, and two or three frozen to death. 
 
 History affords few examples superior to this master-stroke 
 in the art of war. Nothing seemed more improbable than 
 such an attempt, to the commander in chief of that district. 
 When colonel Rahl, the officer in Trenton, sent to his su- 
 perior, general Grant, for a cautionary re-enforcement, 
 " Tell the colonel," he replied, " he is very safe. I will 
 undertake to keep the peace in New Jersey with a corpo- 
 ral's guard." 
 
 The British had a strong battalion of light infantry at 
 Princeton, and a force yet remaining near the Delaware, su- 
 perior to the American army. General Washington, there- 
 fore, in the evening after his victory, conceived it the most 
 prudent to re-cross into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners. 
 These being secured, he returned to Trenton. The enemy, 
 as might have been expected, did not allow him to remain 
 long undisturbed. Their detachments, which had been can- 
 toned over Jersey previous to the capture of the Hessians, 
 assembled immediately at Princeton ; where they were join- 
 ed by the army from Brunswick, under lord Cornwallis. 
 ,«,^^ From this position, they proceeded, on the 2d of 
 January, towards Trenton ; hoping, by a vigorous 
 onset, to repair the injury sustained by the late defeat. 
 About four in the afternoon, they encountered a party of 
 the Americans, posted with four field-pieces a little to the 
 northward of the latter, and compelled them to retreat. 
 This advantage, however, was only for a short time retained. 
 They were checked by some artillery, stationed on the op- 
 posite banks of Assanpinck creek, fell back out of the reach 
 of the shot, and halted for the night. 
 
 Truly critical, however, was the situation of the Ameri- 
 can army. A retreat would endanger Philadelphia, the 
 capital of the infant union : an action with a superior force, 
 whilst a river lay behind, was dangerous and imprudent. 
 But the genius of the commander suggested a relief, by 
 which not only defeat might be averted, but victory obtain- 
 ed. He determined to get round the advanced party of the 
 
132 HISTORY OF 
 
 enemy, and attack them in the rear. Soon after it became 
 dark, he ordered the baggage to be silently removed : when, 
 leaving guards, as well as kindling fires, for the purpose of 
 deception, he marched, by a circuitous route, to Princeton. 
 This place, situated about ten miles distant towards the 
 north, he reached early in the morning; and would have 
 completely surprised the British there, had not a party, on 
 their way to Trenton, descried his troops, and sent back 
 couriers to give an alarm. The royalists, consisting of three 
 regiments of infantry, an artillery corps with two field-pieces, 
 and three troops of light dragoons, charged the centre of 
 the Americans, on their march. The latter gave way in 
 disorder. The danger was extreme. Washington instant- 
 ly rushed forward. He placed himself between his own 
 men and the British, with his horse's head fronting the lat- 
 ter. The Americans made a stand ; returned the enemy's 
 fire ; and the general, though exposed on both sides, 
 escaped unhurt. A party of the enemy fled into the col- 
 lege, and surrendered. 
 
 In the course of the engagement, sixty of their number 
 w^ere killed, many more wounded, and three hundred made 
 prisoners. The rest eluded capture : some, by pushing on 
 towards Trenton : others, by returning towards Brunswick. 
 The American loss was numerically small : but amongst 
 the killed were some valuable officers ; particularly, general 
 Mercer, a native of Scotland ; who, like Montgomery, was 
 amiable in private life, brave and experienced in the field. 
 
 While they were engaged in Princeton, the British in 
 Trenton were under arms, chiding the tardy coming of the 
 dawn ; which, with confident anticipation, was to light them 
 to easy conquest : for, with so much address had the 
 stratagem been conducted, that general Washington went 
 completely oflf the ground, with his entire force, stores, 
 baggage, and artillery, unobserved and unsuspected. When 
 the British heard the report of the artillery at Princeton, 
 though it was in the depth of winter, they believed it to be 
 thunder : and so great was their consternation, at these un- 
 expected movements, that the whole immediately retreated 
 to New Brunswick and Amboy. 
 
 During the late occupation. New Jersey had suffered 
 dreadfully, in the waste of property and insults upon the 
 inhabitants. The soldiers of the royal army, particularly 
 the Hessians, had unloosed the reins of every selfish, fero- 
 cious, and brutal passion, of human nature. Their oflicers 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 133 
 
 could not restrain them : friends and foes, loyalists and re- 
 publicans, all shared a common fate. 
 
 Seldom, however, there happens an evil, without a con- 
 comitant or succeeding good. That whole country now 
 became hostile to the invaders. The militia of New Jer- 
 sey, who hitherto, had behaved most disgracefully, from 
 this time forward, redeemed their character ; and evinced 
 a spirit and discipline equal in many respects to what dis- 
 tinguishes regular soldiers. 
 
 During those winter movements, both armies suffered 
 extraordinary hardships ; but the Americans underwent the 
 greatest. Many of them were without shoes, though 
 marching over frozen ground ; which so gashed their feet, 
 that their steps were marked with blood. They were mis- 
 erably deficient in blankets, and almost wholly destitute of 
 tents. Yet, in this situation, the American army, which, 
 after the affair at Princeton, had retired to Morristown, 
 were inoculated ; and, as very few, either of the officers or 
 privates, ever had had the small-pox, the disorder was nearly 
 universal. It had previously spread amongst them in the 
 natural way, and proved mortal to many ; but, after inocu- 
 lation was introduced, the fatality was small ; and the effect 
 so gentle, that, from the beginning, there was not a single^ 
 day in which they could not have exchanged the situation 
 of invalid for that of soldier, and appeared in arms against 
 the English. 
 
 The campaign of one year had not ended, until carried 
 into the first month of the succeeding. For some time, 
 however, there had existed a state of comparative inactivi- 
 ty. Since the battle of Princeton, the operations extended 
 not beyond a few skirmishes ; unimportant in themselves, 
 yet productive of future benefit. At Springfield, a small 
 party of Germans were beaten by an equal number of Jer- 
 sey militia, under colonel Spencer. Near Somerset court- 
 house, general Dickinson, with four hundred of the same 
 description, and fifty Pennsylvania riflemen, defeated a large 
 foraging party, and obtained possession of their convoy. 
 Colonel Barton, desirous of retaliating the capture of general 
 Lee, embarked with forty militia, in whale-boats, surprised 
 general Prescott at his quarters between Newport and Bris- 
 tol ferry, in Rhode Island, and brought him to the main 
 land. General Putnam was eminently useful, in guarding 
 the army against surprise ; and so much vigilance was 
 every where displayed, that sir William Howe was con- 
 fined to limits so narrow, as would not, had a purchaser 
 12 
 
134 HISTORY OF 
 
 been found, have re-imbursed the expense of the attain- 
 ment. 
 
 Hitherto, the Americans were deficient in ^rms and am- 
 munition, as well as in men ; but in the spring, they receiv- 
 ed from France twenty thousand stand of arms and a thou- 
 sand barrels of powder. 
 
 Before the royal army took the field, in prosecution of 
 the main business of the campaign, they accomplished 
 two enterprises, for the destruction of American stores. 
 At Peekskill, about fifty miles above New York, they cap- 
 tured or destroyed a considerable quantity of necessary ar- 
 ticles ; which had been collected there, notwithstanding the 
 orders given by general Washington to the commissaries, 
 not to allow a large accumulation of provisions near the 
 water. At Danbury, the Americans lost sixteen hundred 
 barrels of pork and flour, two thousand bushels of corn, and 
 seventeen hundred tents. On returning to their ships, the 
 British were attacked, at Ridgefield, by a party hastily col- 
 lected, under generals Wooster, Arnold, and Silliman, and 
 suflfered a loss, in killed and wounded, of two or three hun- 
 dred men. The Americans had twenty killed ; amongst 
 whom, was the brave general Wooster ; who, though seven- 
 ty years old, behaved with the vigour and spirit of youth. 
 Not long afterwards, colonel Meigs, one of the intrepid com- 
 panions of Arnold in the expedition to Canada, led a detach- 
 ment of one hundred and seventy men, in whale-boats, to 
 Long Island ; burned twelve British vessels, with a large 
 quantity of forage, in Sagg-Harbour, killed six soldiers, and 
 brought off ninety prisoners, without losing a single man. 
 
 As the season advanced, the American army in New 
 Jersey was re-enforced by successive arrivals of recruits ; 
 nevertheless, at the opening of the campaign, in the begin- 
 ning of June, it amounted only to seven thousand men. 
 
 General Washington, having left his winter-quarters at 
 Morristown, took a strong position at Middlebrook. Sir 
 William Howe marched from Brunswick, and extended 
 hia van as far as Somerset court-house ; but, in a few days, 
 was constrained to resume his former station. He then 
 endeavoured to provoke general Washington to engage ; 
 leaving no manceuvre untried, to induce him to quit his 
 post. At length, convinced of the impossibility of com- 
 pelling a battle, on equal terms, and aware of the danger 
 of crossing the Delaware while the Americans were in 
 his rear, he proceeded to Amboy, and thence passed over 
 to Staten Island ; resolved to pursue the objects of the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 135 
 
 campaign by another route. His real designs were in- 
 volved in obscurity. Washington was much embarrassed. 
 The enemy seemed, at one time, moving to the south ; at 
 another, to the north. At last, on the 23d of July, their 
 main body departed from Sandy Hook, and were reported 
 to steer to the southward. A letter from sir William 
 Howe to general Burgoyne, then stationed in Canada, was 
 intercepted, which mentioned that they were steering to 
 New Hampshire. But the deception was so superficially 
 veiled, that, in conjunction with some particulars attending 
 the embarkation, it removed the uncertainty from the mind 
 of Washington, instead of misleading him to an opposite 
 direction. Within an hour after receiving the letter, he 
 gave orders for marching to the south. But he was yet so 
 much impressed with a conviction that it was the true in- 
 terest of Howe to form a junction with Burgoyne, that he 
 ordered his army to halt for some time at the Delaware ; 
 suspecting that the southern movement was a feint, intended 
 to draw him farther from the Hudson. 
 
 The British fleet was a week at sea, before it reached 
 Cape Henlopen. Here, sir William Howe, being informed 
 that the passage of the Delaware was obstructed, abandoned 
 his original intention of reaching Philadelphia by ascending 
 that river, and resolved on a circuitous route, by the Chesa- 
 peake. From Henlopen, he had a tedious passage. Though 
 the distance, in a direct line, is only about forty leagues, 
 twenty days elapsed before he entered the capes of Virginia. 
 He proceeded up the bay with a favourable wind, and landed 
 his troops, sixteen thousand in number, at Turkey Point, on 
 the eastern side of Elk River. The American army was 
 immediately put in motion to oppose them. Its number, on 
 paper, amounted to fourteen thousand; but its effective force, 
 on which dependence might be placed in the day of battle, 
 did not much exceed eight thousand men ; many of whom 
 were without shoes. Its several divisions were command- 
 ed principally by Greene, Maxwell, and Stephens, Stirling, 
 Sullivan, and V/ayne. The enemy advanced with boldness, 
 until within two miles of the Americans ; who were then 
 posted near Newport, in the state of Delaware. Washington 
 soon changed his position, and halted on the high ground 
 near Chadd's ford, on Brandywine creek, in Delaware coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania ; with an intention of disputing the pas- 
 sage. It was tlie wish, but by no means the interest, of the 
 Americans, to try their strength in an engagement. Their 
 regular trooj>s were inferior, not only in discipline, but, 
 in numbers, to tiie royal army. Popular opinion, however, 
 
136 HISTORY OF 
 
 imposed a degree of necessity on the general, to keep his 
 troops in front of the enemy, and risk an action for the se- 
 curity of Piiiladelphia ; though, had he taken the ridge of 
 high land on his right, the British, ignorant of his army's 
 weakness, must have respected his numbers, and would 
 probably have followed him into the country. By this 
 policy, the campaign might have been prolonged ; while 
 the Americans would have been strengthened, and the in- 
 vaders wasted, by delay. For once, however, Washington 
 relinquished his usual policy, and hazarded a disadvanta- 
 geous action. 
 
 At daybreak, on the 11th of September, the royal army 
 moved forward in two columns, commanded by Kniphau- 
 sen and Cornwallis. The first kept the direct road to 
 Chadd's ford, and made a show of passing it, in front of 
 the main body of the Americans : the other column marched 
 up on the west side of the Brandywine, to its fork, ^bout 
 four miles above Chadd's ford, in the county of Chester ; 
 crossing both its branches, and then marching down on its 
 east bank, with the view of turning their adversaries' right 
 wing. This, they accomplished : after a series of endeavours 
 throughout the entire day, the Americans were broken, and 
 every exertion to rally them was ineffectual. The retreat 
 soon became general, and was continued to Chester, on the 
 river Delaware ; with the loss of twelve hundred men, killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 Two distinguished foreigners served under the Ameri- 
 can banners at the Brandywine ; the Marquis De La Fayette, 
 and count Pulaski ; the one, a native of France, the other, 
 of Poland. Animated 'by the love of liberty, La Fayette, 
 a nobleman of high rank, had left the country of his birth, 
 and offered his service to congress. While in France, and 
 only nineteen years of age, he espoused the cause of the 
 Americans, with the most disinterested and generous ar- 
 dour ; and, having determined to join them, communicated 
 his intentions to their commissioners at Paris. His offer 
 was gratefully received. They justly considered, that a 
 patron of so much importance would be of the utmost ser- 
 vice to their cause. Before he embarked, intelligence had 
 arrived in Europe, that the American patriots, reduced to 
 two thousand men, were flying before a British force of 
 thirty thousand ; under which circumstances, the commis- 
 sioners thought it their duty to dissuade him from the pre- 
 sent prosecution of his dangerous enterprise. But their 
 candour was expressed in vain. His zeal to serve a strug- 
 gling country, was heightened, not abated, by her misfor- 
 
TIIPJ UNITED STATES. 137 
 
 tunes. His personal risk was not the only one which mig-ht 
 have deterred him. He hazarded his large fortune, by the 
 laws of France ; and also imprisonment, in case of capture 
 when on his way to the United States : for, his sovereign 
 having forbidden his proceeding, despatched orders to the 
 "West Indies, to have him, if found in that quarter, confined. 
 He was appointed a major-general in the American army ; 
 an honour, of which he showed himself in the highest de- 
 gree deserving. Though wounded in the late battle, he 
 continued in the field ; exerting himself, not ordy by his 
 voice, but his example, to rally the broken troops. Pulas- 
 ki was a " thunderbolt of war." It was he, who, a few 
 years before, carried off king Stanislaus from his capital, 
 though the monarch was surrounded by a numerous body 
 of guards, and by a Rusi^ian army. 
 
 The situation of his troops precluded Washington from 
 long impeding the enemies' advance. After a few days, he 
 was compelled to leave them in undisturbed possession of 
 tlie roads leading to Philadelphia. His troops were worn 
 down by a succession of severe duties ; a thousand of his 
 men were barefooted ; and, to increase his misfortunes, 
 Wayne's regiment, encamped near the Paoli tavern, was 
 surprised in the night by general Grey, and about fifty of 
 its number slain with the bayonet. 
 
 It was no longer safe for congress to remain in Philadel- 
 phia. This august assembly, w^hich, after a short residence 
 at Baltimore, had returned, w^ere obliged, a second time, to 
 consult the public interest, by flight. They retired, first to 
 Lancaster, and afterwards to York. 
 
 Sir William Howe, having left the greater part of his 
 army in Germantown, a village about six miles northward 
 of the capital, entered Philadelphia on the 26th of Septem- 
 ber ; where he was received by many with a real or appar- 
 ent welcome. 
 
 The possession of the largest city in the United States, 
 together with the dispersion of that grand council which 
 had hitherto conducted their affairs, was viewed by the 
 short-sighted as decisive of their fate. But, in the present 
 contest for sovereignty, the result was not in the power of 
 a single ruler, or a body of rulers, nor was it to be deter- 
 mined by the possession, or the loss, of any particular place : 
 it was the public mind, the sentiments and opinions of the 
 people, that were to decide. Indeed, it was conceived by 
 the more discerning politicians, that the luxuries of a great 
 city would so far enervate the British troops, as to indis- 
 12* 
 
138 HISTORY OF 
 
 pose them, like the conquerors of Cannae, for those active 
 exertions, to which they were compelled, while inconveni- 
 ently encamped in the open country. This speculation 
 was inculcated in France by Dr. Franklin, with his charac- 
 teristic humour. To remove the impression which the 
 British progress might have made in that country, and 
 place a modern Capua in view, he observed, that, " Instead 
 of saying sir William Howe had taken Philadelphia, it 
 would be more proper to say that Philadelphia had taken 
 sir William Howe." 
 
 One of the first objects of the English, after they had ob- 
 tained possession of the city, was to erect batteries for the 
 purpose of commanding the river, and protecting the town 
 from insult by water. On the other hand, the British ship- 
 ping was prevented from ascending the Delaware, by ob- 
 structions sunk at Mud Island ; on which had been erected 
 a battery, and a fort, called in honour of general Mifflin. 
 Opposite, on the Jersey shore, is a height called Red-bank ; 
 where, also, a battery was erected : and between the two 
 fortresses, which were about half a mile distant from each 
 other, the American naval armament for the protection of 
 the Delaware made its harbour of retreat. 
 
 The flattering anticipations, cherished by the continental 
 patriots, that effeminacy would forfeit the acquirements of 
 the sword, were not sufficient to check the accustomed 
 vigour of the field. Such refinements enter not amongst 
 the calculations of the soldier. He rests his hope on the 
 more decisive agency of arms. General Washington, hav- 
 ing been re-enforced by twenty-five hundred men, and in- 
 formed that sir William Howe had detached a considerable 
 party for reducing the works in the Delaware, conceived 
 the design of secretly issuing from his position at Skippack 
 creek, and attacking the British post at Germantown. 
 Their line of encampment crossed the town at right angles, 
 near its centre ; their left wing extending to the Schuylkill, 
 with strong parties of chasseurs and infantry stationed in 
 advance. The American divisions of Sullivan and Wayne, 
 flanked by Conway's brigade, were to enter the town by the 
 way of Chesnut-hill ; while general Armstrong, with the 
 Pennsylvania militia, should fall down Manatawny road, 
 and attack the British in the left and rear. The divisions 
 of Greene and Stephens, flanked by M'Dougal's brigade, 
 were to proceed by the Lime-Kiln road ; the militia of Ma- 
 ryland and Jersey, under generals Smallwood, and Furrnan, 
 by the old York road, and fall upon the rear of their right; 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 139 
 
 and Stirling, with Nash's and Maxwell's brigades, formed 
 a corps of reserve. 
 
 The Americans began the attack about sun-rise on the 
 4th of October. Their first assault obliged a body on Ches- 
 nutT4iill road to retreat with precipitation ; but a thick fog, 
 concealing the true situation of the parties, occasioned mis- 
 takes, and an ill-judged attempt to expel a small regiment 
 of the royal army from Mr. Chew's large stone house, caused 
 so much delay, that the British had time to recover from 
 their first surprise. The Americans left the field hastily, 
 and all efforts to rally them were ineffectual. General Ste- 
 phens was cashiered, for misconduct in the retreat. Their 
 loss, including four hundred prisoners, was a thousand men. 
 Among the slain, were general Nash, and his aid-de-camp, 
 major Witherspoon. Of the royal army, general Agnew and 
 colonel Bird were killed, and about five hundred others, 
 slain, wounded, or made prisoners. 
 
 Soon after this battle, the British left Germantown, and 
 devoted their principal attention to the opening of a free 
 communication between their army and their shipping. 
 Two thousand Hessians, led by colonel Donop, made a fu- 
 rious attack on Red-bank, but were repulsed, with consid- 
 erable loss, by colonel Greene ; and an assault, about the 
 same time, on Fort Mifflin, by a naval force, was equally 
 disastrous. However, their next attempt counterbalanced 
 these misfortunes. The accumulation of sand against the 
 chevaux-de-frise, placed between these works, having, at 
 length, obstructed the passage of the water, the current was 
 diverted into a new channel, and deepened the river on the 
 Pennsylvania side of Mud Island ; so as to admit vessels of 
 considerable draught. This post, therefore, was no longer 
 tenable. A large English ship, cut down, so as to require 
 only a small depth of water, enfiladed the works. Colonel 
 Smith, who had bravely defended the place during more 
 than forty days, being wounded, was removed to the main ; 
 and, within a week afterwards, major Thayer, who had 
 volunteered to take charge of this dangerous post, was 
 obliged to save his remaining companions by an evacuation. 
 This was not done, however, until the works were entirely 
 beaten down, every piece of cannon dismounted, and one 
 of the British ships so near, that she threw hand-gre- 
 nades into the fort, and killed the men upon the platform. 
 Three days afterwards, the garrison was withdrawn from 
 Red-bank ; and, thus, the British accomplished the much 
 desired communication. — The conduct of colonel Smith and 
 
140 HISTORY OF 
 
 commodore Hazelwood obtained the thanks of congress, 
 signified by their voting to each a sword ; their long*' pro' 
 tracted defence of the Delaware having deranged the ene- 
 my's plans for the remainder of the campaign," and, conse- 
 quently, saved the adjacent country. 
 
 About this time, the presidential chair of congress be- 
 came vacant, by the departure of Mr. Hancock ; after he 
 had ably discharged its duties for nearly two years and a 
 half. In his place, was elected Mr. Laurens, of South Car- 
 olina ; a gentleman of easy fortune, much political experi- 
 ence, and incorruptible integrity : whom, the danger of 
 losing one estate could not intimidate, nor the offer of a 
 larger, corrupt. 
 
 The season for action was now almost spent, and with the 
 season, the desire of the British general for battle. After 
 a mutual display of the military art, by sir William Howe, 
 and the cautious Washington, both retired to winter quar- 
 ters ; the former into Philadelphia, the latter to Valley 
 Forge. At this place, situated on the river Schuylkill, in 
 the county of Chester, distant from the city about twenty 
 miles, his companions, in a great measure without shoes or 
 stockings, tents or blankets, all cheerfully retired into a wood, 
 in the latter end of December ; sheltering themselves from 
 the severity of an American winter in temporary huts. 
 
 During these operations in the middle districts, a war, 
 equally extensive, and of more important issue, was prose- 
 cuting in the north. 
 
 Sangui^ne in their expectation of forming a line of com- 
 munication between New York and Canada, the British 
 ministry had left nothing undone that could promote sue- 
 cess. The troops destined for this service were upwards 
 of seven thousand ; with a train of artillery, the finest, and 
 the most efficiently supplied, that had ever been assigned 
 to second the operations of an equal force. Arms and ac- 
 coutrements were provided for the Canadians, and several 
 nations of Indians induced to take up the hatchet under 
 the royal banners. The command was given to o-eneral 
 Burgoyne; an officer whose abilities were well known, and 
 whose spirit of enterprise, and thirst of military frime, iould 
 not be exceeded. The British had the exchisiVe navigation 
 of lake Champlain. Their marine force on that inland sea, 
 with which, in the preceding campaign, they had destroyed 
 the American flotilla, was not only entire, but unopposed. 
 
 Having gained possession of Ticonderoga, as well .as of 
 the other defences which had served to prevent or to im- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 141 
 
 pede the advance of an enemy into the United States on 
 the side of Canada, and with a degree of alacrity and per- 
 severance not to be excelled, reached Fort Edward, on the 
 Hudson, Burgoyne proceeded, in the beginning of August 
 to force his passage down towards Albany. In the mean- 
 time, every obstruction had been thrown in his way, by 
 Schuyler, Arnold, St. Clair, and other vigilant command- 
 ers ; who, at this period, owing to the evacuation of the 
 northern forts, and the exertions of the leading patriots in 
 New York and the contiguous provinces, had in that quar- 
 ter an army of thirteen thousand men. 
 
 In his advance to Albany, Burgoyne formed a plan to 
 draw resources from the farms of Vermont. For this pur- 
 pose, he detached five hundred Hessians and one hundred 
 Indians, with two field-pieces, under the command of colo- 
 nel Baum ; a force deemed sufficient to seize a magazine of 
 provisions collected by the Americans at Bennington. But 
 he proceeded with less caution than his perilous situation 
 required. On the 16th of August, colonel Starke attacked 
 kirn, near that place, with about eight hundred New Hamp- 
 shire militia, — undisciplined, without bayonets, or a single 
 piece of artillery ; killed or captured the greater part of his 
 detachment, and got possession of his cannon. This was a 
 brilliant service. Another achievement, scarcely less con- 
 spicuous, immediately succeeded. Colonel Breyman, who 
 had been sent by general Burgoyne to support that party, 
 arrived on the same ground, and on the same day, not, 
 however, until the action w^as decided. Instead of meeting 
 his friends, he found himself vigorously assailed. This at- 
 tack was made by colonel Warner ; who, with his conti- 
 nental regiment, had come up, also to support his friends, 
 and was well assisted by Starke's militia, which had just 
 defeated the party of colonel Baum. Breyman's troops, 
 though fatigued with the preceding march, behaved with 
 great resolution ; but were at length compelled to abandon 
 their artillery, and retreat. In these two actions, the Amer- 
 icans took four brass field-pieces, four ammunition wagons, 
 and seven hundred prisoners. 
 
 The overthrow of these detachments was the first, in a 
 grand series of events, that finally involved in ruin the whole 
 royal army. It deranged every plan for extending, or even 
 holding, the advantages previously obtained; inspired the 
 Americans with confidence, animated their exertions, and 
 filled them with justly-formed expectations of future vic- 
 tory. 
 
142 HISTORY OF 
 
 After the evax^uation of Ticonderoga, the Americans had 
 fallen back, from one place to another, until they at last 
 rested at Vanshaick's island. Soon after this retreating 
 system was adopted, congress removed their commanding 
 officers, and placed general Gates at the head of the north- 
 ern army. His arrival, on the 19th of August, gave fresh 
 vigour to the inhabitants. Encouraged by a hope of cap- 
 turing the whole British forces, a spirit of adventure burst 
 forth from every quarter, and Avas carried into various di- 
 rections. An enterprise was undertaken by general Lincoln, 
 to recover Ticonderoga and the other posts in the rear of 
 the British army ; and, though the first object was not ac- 
 complished, yet with* so much address did colonel Brown, 
 who was despatched to the landing at lake George, pro- 
 ceed, that, with five hundred men, he not only surprised all 
 the out-posts between the landing at the north end of the 
 lake and the body of that fortress ; took Mount Defiance and 
 Mount Hope, the old French lines, and a block-house ; also 
 two hundred batteaux, several gun-boats, besides two hun- 
 dred and ninety prisoners ; but, at the same time, released 
 one hundred Americans. 
 
 Burgoyne, after crossing the Hudson, advanced along its 
 banks, and encamped about two miles from general Gates ; 
 a short distance above Still-Water. The Americans thought 
 no more of retreating; and, on the 19th of September, en- 
 gaged him with firmness and resolution. The conflict, 
 though severe, was only partial, for the first hour and a 
 half; but, after a short pause, it became general, and con- 
 tinued for three hours without intermission. A constant 
 blaze of fire streamed forth, and both sides seemed deter- 
 mined on victory or death. The Americans and British 
 were alternately driven by each other, until night ended the 
 effusion of blood. The enemy lost five hundred men, in- 
 cluding killed, wounded, and prisoners ; the Americans, 
 three hundred. 
 
 Every moment made the situation of the British army 
 more critical. Their provisions were lessening, their In- 
 dian and provincial allies deserting; while the animation 
 and numbers of the Americans increased. From the un- 
 certainty of receiving further supplies, Burgoyne curtailed 
 the soldiers' rations. His opponents pressed him on every 
 Bide. Much hard fighting ensued. The British were again 
 defeated. One of Burgoyne's generals, together with his 
 aid-de-camp, was killed, and he himself narrowly escaped ; 
 as a ball passed through his hat, and another through his 
 
, THE UNITED STATES. 143 
 
 t| waistcoat. The American generals, Arnold and Lincoln, 
 were wounded. To avoid being surrounded, general Bur- 
 goyne left his hospital to the humanity of Gates, and retreat- 
 ed to Saratoga. He was still followed, and harassed ; driven 
 on one side and straitened on another. The situation of 
 ■ his army was truly distressing : abandoned by their allies, 
 unsupported by their fellow-soldiers in New York, worn 
 down by a series of incessant efforts, and greatly reduced 
 ,j in number ; without a possibility of retreat, or of replenish- 
 ij ing their exhausted stock of provisions : a continual cannon- 
 ade pervaded their camp, and grape-shot fell in many parts 
 of their lines. 
 
 The 12th of October arrived ; the day until which hope 
 had bidden the afflicted general wait for the promised as- 
 sistance from New York. But expectation vanished with the 
 departing sun. He took an account of his provisions. 
 There was only a scanty subsistence for three days. A 
 council of war declared that their present situation justified 
 a capitulation on honourable terms ; and a negotiation was 
 commenced. After various messages passed between the 
 kostile armies, it was stipulated, that, on the 17th, the Brit- 
 ish were to march out of their camp with the customary 
 honours of war ; the arms to be piled by word of command 
 from their own officers ; and an undisturbed passage allow- 
 ed them to Great Britain, on condition of their not serving 
 1 again in North America during the war. 
 
 By this convention, were surrendered five thousand seven 
 I hundred and ninety, of all ranks ; which number, added to 
 I the killed, wounded, and prisoners, lost by the royal army 
 I during the preceding part of the expedition, made, alto- 
 gether, upwards of ten thousand men ; an advantage ren- 
 dered still more important to the captors, by the acquisi- 
 tion of thirty-five brass field-pieces, and nearly five thousand 
 muskets. The regular troops in general Gates's army were 
 nine thousand ; the militia, four thousand ; but, of the for- 
 mer, two thousand were sick or on furlough ; and of the lat- 
 ter, five hundred. 
 
 The celebrated Polish patriot, Kosciuski, was chief en- 
 gineer in the army of general Gates. 
 
 On learning the fate of Burgoyne, the British on the 
 North river retired to New York. Those who had been left 
 in his rear destroyed their cannon, and, abandoning Ticon- 
 deroga, retreated to Canada ; so that this whole country, 
 after experiencing for several months the devastations of 
 war, was now restored to perfect tranquillity. 
 
144 HISTORY OF 
 
 Amongst the numerous tragical events arising from the 
 employment of the Indians by the British, one scene was 
 presented, which we select, not as having relation to the 
 public concerns of the army, but from the interest which 
 it excites. This was, the murder of a Miss M'Crea. The 
 engaging manners and beauty of this young lady having 
 gained the heart of a British officer, he induced a return 
 of his affection, and her consent to become his wife. Anx- 
 ious for her safety, he wished to remove her from the neigh- 
 bourhood of a hostile army. On the day appointed for 
 the nuptials, he engaged a party of Indians to convey her 
 to the camp ; promising to reward the person who would 
 accompany her, with a barrel of rum. Two of the Indians, 
 both eager for the reward, disputed, after conveying her 
 some distance, which should present her to the intended 
 husband ; and the one killed her with his tomahawk, to 
 prevent the other from receiving it. Many will here ex- 
 claim. This is characteristic of the Indians. But it is other- 
 wise : it is a remarkable deviation from their accustomed 
 veneration for the weaker sex. The most delicate females 
 have been led captive by them for days and weeks, through 
 the midst of the unfrequented forest, without experiencing 
 the smallest degree of injury or insult. 
 
 It has been already mentioned, that congress had laid, 
 the foundation of a national fleet, and authorized the fitting 
 out of private armed vessels. Commodore Hopkins, cap- 
 tain-general of the navy, made a sudden descent at New 
 Providence, where he seized a large quantity of warlike 
 stores, and in his return engaged a British frigate, and cap- 
 tured an armed brig. The American privateers rapidly 
 increased, and were unusually successful. In the first nine 
 months of 1776, embracing the period of their existence in 
 that year, they captured property worth a million sterling. 
 In the present year, they advanced in boldness. They carr 
 ried their enterprising spirit to a degree unprecedented by 
 the vessels of any nation ; obliging the enemy to appoint,, 
 convoys, for the purpose of guarding their commerce, even' 
 in the Irish channel. Captain Barney and the volunteers 
 who accompanied him in the Hyder Ally, a vessel equip- 
 ped by the inhabitants of Philadelphia, achieved an hon- 
 ourable service, by capturing a sloop of war, much supe- 
 rior in force, oflf the Delaware : but the most daring of all 
 the officers sailing under the republican flag, was a native 
 of Scotland, the celebrated Paul Jones. 
 
 Until the capture of Burgoyne, the European nation^ 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 145' 
 
 viewed the war between Great Britain and her colonies 
 only as spectators. Anxious for the territorial dismem- 
 berment of a powerful rival, yet, fearful that an early 
 interference might close the breach it was their interest to 
 widen ; they had cautiously abstained from positive declar- 
 ations of assistance, while there remained any appearance 
 of conciliation, or any danger of defeat. France was the 
 first ally which the breath of hostility carried to the aid of 
 America. Even the sound of freedom, so discordant to the 
 ear of royalty, was not sufficient to destroy the inveterate 
 competition. Her sovereign consented that the colonies 
 should be free, if Britain could, by that means, be render- 
 
 ^^ ed weak. On the 6th of February, a treaty, nego- 
 tiated by Silas Deane, Dr. Franklin, and Arthur 
 Lee, was signed by the United States and Lewis the Six- 
 teenth ; on the basis of perfect reciprocity of interest, and 
 in which the French monarch guaranteed their commerce 
 and independence. 
 
 Only three days had elapsed, when the British govern- 
 ment received information of this treaty. Immediately, 
 f^esh terms of reconciliation were transmitted to their com- 
 manders in the United States, and offered to the consider- 
 ation of congress at York ; but, notwithstanding that this 
 assembly was yet ignorant of the important European aid, 
 they were again rejected. The English ministry proposed, 
 that no military force should be stationed in North America, 
 without the approbation of the colonies ; and that, to re- 
 move the former objections against the laying on of taxes, 
 unless with an accompanying representation, provincial 
 deputies should be allowed a seat in the parliament of Brit- 
 ain. But the United States would consider no propositions 
 which did not include their independence. Their citizens 
 could not be intimidated in the field, nor purchased in the 
 cabinet. To an offer of court remuneration, made through 
 a late royal governor, Johnstone, to an influential member 
 of congress, the patriot replied : " I am not worth purchas- 
 ing ; yet, such as I am, the king of Great Britain is not rich 
 enough to buy me." 
 
 It has already been mentioned, that the hostile armies of 
 Washington and Howe had withdrawn into their respective 
 winter quarters ; the former to the huts at Valley Forge ; 
 the latter, into the warm accommodation of Philadelphia. 
 That season, and the early part of summer, had almost 
 elapsed, without producing any events more remarkable 
 than a few successful excursions of the royal troops into the 
 13 
 
146 HISTORY OF 
 
 neighbouring country, for the purpose of bringing in sup- 
 plies, and destroying merchandise and shipping. The trea- 
 ty with France roused both armies from their long-contin- 
 ued inaction. Apprehensive that a French fleet would be 
 despatched to block up the British squadron in the Dela» 
 ware, the ministry ordered sir Henry Clinton, who had re- 
 cently succeeded general Howe in the command of the 
 British army, to evacuate Philadelphia, and concentrate the 
 royal forces in New York, Accordingly, the troops in that 
 city passed, on the 22d of June, by the way of Gloucester 
 Point, into New Jersey. The intended movement was not 
 unknown to Washington. He immediately sent general 
 Maxwell's brigade to co-operate with the Jersey militia in 
 obstructing their progress ; then, crossing the Delaware at 
 Coryell's Ferry, above Trenton, followed with his whole ar- 
 my, and halted in the vicinity of Princeton. From this, fif- 
 teen hundred men were detached, to act against their flanks 
 and rear, under the command of general Scott. The British 
 were at this time proceeding towards Sandy Hook, by the 
 way of Allentown and Monmouth court-house. Another 
 detachment was sent forward, under general Wayne, ac- 
 companied by La Fayette : the latter having orders to take 
 charge of both the advanced parties ; a command which af- 
 terwards devolved on Lee ; who had been exchanged for 
 general Prescott. The main body followed at a proper dis- 
 tance, and reached Cranbury on the 28th. But, when they 
 had proceeded a few miles farther, Washington was sur- 
 prised to find Lee retreating ; without having offered any 
 obstruction of importance. The commander-in-chief re- 
 monstrated ; Lee replied with warmth and unbecoming lan- 
 guage ; but, at length, consented to fight the enemy on a 
 piece of ground which Washington assigned him. A warm 
 cannonade immediately began between the artillery, and a 
 heavy firing of musketry between the advanced troops, of 
 the British and Americans. The latter stood their ground 
 until intermixed with the enemy ; and general Lee was the 
 last on the field of battle, and brought off the rear of the re- 
 tiring troops. The advantage, however, which the British 
 thus gained, was only momentary. The check which they 
 had received enabled Washington to make a favourable dis- 
 position of his left wing and his second line in a wood ; and 
 to plant some cannon on an eminence, under the able direc- 
 tion of lord Stirling. Generals Greene and Wayne, also, 
 bore a conspicuous part in the engagement ; which was 
 continued with much spirit until dark. In the night, the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 147 
 
 British troops went off, with so much silence, that general 
 Poor, though very near them, knew nothing of their de- 
 parture ; and, continuing their march without farther in- 
 terruption, they soon reached Sandy Hook. The Ameri- 
 sans proceeded for the borders of North River. Colonel 
 Bonner, of Pennsylvania, and major Dickinson, of Virginia, 
 two highly-esteemed officers, were amongst the slain. Be- 
 sides the usual destruction attending military engagements, 
 the emotions of the mind, added to fatigue in a very hot 
 day, brought on so great a suppression of the vital powers, 
 that sixty of the British, and some of the Americans, were 
 found dead on the field of battle, without any marks of vio- 
 lence. 
 
 The conduct of general Lee could not be withheld from 
 investigation. The public interest demanded a proper scru- 
 tiny. He was tried by a court martial ; and, being pro- 
 nounced guilty of making an unnecessary retreat ; of dis- 
 obedience of orders, and disrespect to the commander-in- 
 chief; was sentenced to be suspended from his professional 
 functions for the space of one year ; a judgment, which, 
 tjiough approved by the majority in the United States, was 
 not without dissentients ; as, while every one admitted his 
 violence, and impatience of subordination, none seemed to 
 question his jfidelity and courage. 
 
 Soon after the battle of Monmouth, the American army 
 took a station at White Plains, beyond Kingsbridge ; where, 
 the British, though only a few miles distant, did not molest 
 them. They remained there from an early day in July until 
 nearly the end of autumn, and then retired to Middle Brook, 
 in Jersey ; at which place, they built for themselves huts, 
 in the same manner as at Valley Forge. 
 
 Immediately on the departure of the British from Phila- 
 delphia, congress returned to its former place of delibera- 
 tion, and soon afterwards, had a new, and most pleasing, 
 duty, to perform — to give public audience to a minister 
 plenipotentiary of France. Thus, in little more than a cen- 
 tury and a half from the period when their struggling germ 
 was planted amidst the forest, the United States had attain- 
 ed an elevated rank amongst the sovereign nations of the 
 earth. 
 
 The first object of the French fleet, as had been conjec- 
 [tured by the British government, was to surprise their ad- 
 miral in the Delaware. But its passage from Toulon had 
 been so tedious, that lord Howe, by sailing to New York, 
 was enabled to evade the almost certain mortification of 
 
148 HISTORY OF 
 
 yielding to a doubly superior force; a remarkable escape; 
 from which, as the interest of the colonies did not finally 
 suffer, it is not, in one point of view, to be regretted. The 1 
 subsequent conduct of the French admiral, D'Estaign, in 
 avoiding his antagonist ; who, though re-enforced by a squad- 
 ron sent from England with lord Byron, was still his infe- 
 rior ; induces a generous mind to withhold, even from one's 
 ally, an easily acquired victory. Much inconvenience, ac- 
 crued to the land-troops of the United States from this want 
 of co-operation by the admiral ; and Rhode Island was evac- 
 uated by the brave men intrusted with its recovery from 
 the British. 
 
 The disastrous invasion of Canada had not taught con- 
 gress the impolicy of carrying the war beyond the limits of 
 the Union : an enterprise against Florida, conducted by the 
 American general Howe, with two thousand men, of whom 
 a fourth fell victims to the climate, exhibited, again, the ) 
 unprofitable waste of foreign expeditions. j 
 
 Hitherto, the British had made only a feeble effort to | 
 promote the grand object of the war, by operations in the ; 
 south. More than two years of comparative peace had 
 been allowed that portion of the states. But, Georgia, 
 one of the weakest members of the Union, and, moreover, 
 abounding with provisions, being now marked out as the 
 most advantageous ground on which to try the fortune of 
 the English arms, colonel Campbell, an officer of known 
 courage and ability, arrived in November, at Savannah, 
 with about two thousand men. From the landing-place, 
 a narrow causeway of six hundred yards in length, with a ' 
 ditch on each side, led througii a swamp. A body of the 
 British light infantry moved forward along this passage. 
 On their advance, they received a heavy fire from a small 
 party, under the command of captain Smith ; but the Brit- 
 ish forced their way, and compelled him to retreat. Gen- 
 eral Howe, the American officer to whom the defence of 
 Georgia was committed, took his station on the main 
 road ; and posted his little army, consisting of about one 
 thousand continentals and militia, between the landing- 
 pl<|ce and the town : with the river on his left, and a morass 
 in front : a position which offered great difficulties before 
 he could be dislodged. But these were obviated by a for- 
 tuitous event. Information being received from a negro, 
 of an unguarded path through the swamp, a party of the 
 British found their way unobserved, and appeared in the 
 rear of the Americans. Howe ordered an immediate re^ 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 149 
 
 trdat ; the British pursued : upwards of a hundred Amer- 
 leans were killed ; four hundred and fifty officers and pri- 
 vates, seven pieces of cannon, the fort, with its ammunition 
 and stores, the shipping in the river, and a large quantity 
 of provisions, were all, in the space of a few hours, in pos- 
 session of the enemy. 
 
 With the capital of Georgia, the entire province seemed 
 re-united to the British crown. Colonel Campbell acted 
 with great policy in securing the submission of the inhabit- 
 ants. His moderation and prudence were more successful 
 in reconciling their minds to the regal government, than 
 the severity which had generally been adopted by other 
 British commanders ; as Georgia was the only state in the 
 Union, in which, after the declaration of independence, a 
 legislative body assembled under the authority of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Meanwhile, general Prevost arrived, with his troops 
 from St. Augustine, and, having in his way overpowered 
 the garrison at Sunbury, took the command of all the Brit- 
 ish forces in tlie province : at which period, the campaign 
 ended ; the least animated of any since the beginning of 
 the war. 
 
 In the American marine, severe loss had been sustained, 
 from the destruction of some of its largest vessels in the 
 Delaware ; yet, for these misfortunes, regret produced no 
 higher feeling than had arisen from the diminution of na- 
 tional power. But the fate of the Randolph was unusually 
 afflicting. This vessel, a frigate of thirty-six guns and 
 three hundred men, having sailed on a cruise from Charles- 
 ton, and engaged, in the night, an English vessel of sixty- 
 four guns, in about a quarter of an hour, blew up ; when 
 only four of her men were saved upon the fragment of the 
 wreck. These had subsisted, during four days, on rain- 
 w^ater, which they drank from a piece of blanket.^ On the 
 fifth day, captain Vincent, of the British vessel, Yarmouth, 
 on .discovering them, humanely suspended a chase, and 
 took the wretched sufferers on board. Captain Biddle, the 
 commander of the Randolph, was universally lamented. 
 In the prime of life ; skilled in his professional duties ; bold 
 in their execution ; he had excited high anticipations of fu- 
 ture benefit to his country. 
 
 The inadequacy of the provision made for the support of 
 
 military officers, had induced many resignations. This 
 
 forced on congress some improvement in their condition. 
 
 From a conviction of the justice and policy of rendering 
 
 13* 
 
150 HISTORY OF 
 
 commissions valuable, impressed by the warm but disJIi^e- 
 rested recommendations of general Washington, that body 
 resolved, that half-pay should be allowed their officers, for 
 the term of seven years after the expiration of their service, 
 a remuneration subsequently extended to the duration of 
 their lives. 
 ^j^Q Throughout the year into which we are now en^ 
 tering, the British aimed at little more, in the states 
 to the north of Carolina, than depredation and distress. 
 For this purpose, they planned several expeditions. Sir 
 George Collier and general Matthews, accompanied by na- 
 val and land-forces, having, in May, proceeded to Virginia, 
 took possession of Portsmouth ; crossed the river to the 
 remains of Norfolk, and seized the shipping. They next 
 marched to Suffolk, Kemp's Landing, Gosport, and other 
 places in the neighbourhood ; burned or otherwise destroyed 
 the naval stores, shipping, and provisions ; and, embarking 
 with three thousand hogsheads of tobacco, returned in safe- 
 ty to New York. Soon afterwards, governor Tryon was 
 despatched, with a similar intention, against Connecticut. 
 Accompanied by a numerous force, under the escort of ad- 
 miral Collier, he landed at East Haven ; then, visited New 
 Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk : in each of which places, 
 there was exhibited a barbarous scene of plunder and con- 
 flagration, insult and devastation. No object was too valua- 
 ble, none too contemptible, to save it from destruction, or 
 their grasp. No building was sufficiently sacred to restrain 
 the torch : what was spared by one party, in the morning, 
 was, by another, in the evening, destroyed. 
 
 While they were carrying on this desultory warfare, the 
 American army was incapable of covering the country ; or 
 the navy, of protecting the creeks and harbours. Had 
 Washington divided his army, in conformity with the 
 wishes of the invaded, he would have subjected his whole 
 force to be destroyed. It was, therefore, his uniform prac- 
 tice, to risk no more than was consistent with the general 
 safety: and to lie, with his main body, at a convenient dis- 
 tance from the head quarters of the British. His army 
 was, at this period, stationed on both sides of the North 
 river; the enemy, v/ithin their lines, at New York. 
 
 This campaign, though barren of important events, was 
 distinguished, on the fifteenth of July, by one of the most 
 gallant enterprises that occurred during the whole war, — 
 the capture of Stony-Point, on the North river, by general 
 Wayne. 
 
THE UiNITED STATES. 151 
 
 But that achievement, as well as the brilliant surprise of 
 an English garrison at Paulus Hook, by major Lee, was 
 more than counterbalanced by the disastrous termination 
 of an enterprise undertaken by the state of Massachusetts, 
 without the knowledge of general Washington, against a 
 British post at Penobscot. The land-forces were intrusted 
 to general Lovcl ; the fleet, to commodore Saltonstall. In- 
 stead of boldly assaulting the half-finished works, upon 
 which not a single gun was, at his first appearance, mount- 
 ed, the general sat respectfully down, at seven hundred 
 and fifty yards distance, as before a regular fortification, 
 proceeded to erect a battery, and cannonaded the feebly de- 
 fended place, for about a fortnight. This delay gave time 
 for admiral Collier to arrive with his squadron to its relief. 
 The American fleet, being overpowered, was either captured 
 or destroyed. Level converted the siege into a retreat, and, 
 not only with his soldiers, but the seamen also, who had 
 escaped on shore, had to return to Boston, a great part of the 
 way by land, through thick and unfrequented woods. 
 * We must again turn our attention to the southern states. 
 In Carolina and Georgia, the royal forces were now carry- 
 ing on a vigorous warfare. Although, in the north, hostili- 
 ties had no other than the avowed object of wasting a coun- 
 try which could not be retained, the re-establishment of 
 British authority was seriously attempted in the south. To 
 the command of the American forces in that quarter, con- 
 gress appointed general Lincoln. But his army, except a 
 few hundred regulars, consisted only of inexperienced, dis- 
 orderly militia ; who added more to his numbers, than to his 
 strength. 
 
 The first object of the British at Savannah, after being 
 re-enforced by the junction of the troops from St. Augustine, 
 was to obtain possession of Port Royal, in Carolina. From 
 this, however, their detachment was gallantly repulsed, by 
 general Moultrie. Restrained in that direction, they ex- 
 tended themselves over a great part of Georgia; fixing posts 
 at Ebenezer and Augusta, and endeavouring to increase 
 their strength, by drawing to their standard the " tories" 
 in the western districts of this state and Carolina. Several 
 hundred of these royalists proceeded towards Augusta. 
 Their general character was that of a plundering banditti, 
 more solicitous for booty than for the interest of the king. 
 They immediately began to rob the defenceless settlements. 
 But they were not allowed to commit, with impunity, so 
 atrocious an outrage against society. Colonel Pickens, 
 
152 HISTORY OF 
 
 having assembled a few hundred of the inhabitants, over- 
 took them at Kettle-creek; and, in three-quarters of an hour, 
 killed, captured, or dispersed the whole.. 
 
 General Lincoln fixed encampments on the Carolina side 
 of the Savannah river, at Black Swamp, nearly opposite to 
 Augusta. From these posts, he formed a plan of enter- 
 ing Georgia ; with a view of confining the British to the low 
 country, near the ocean. In the execution of this design, 
 general Ashe, with fifteen hundred North Carolina militia, 
 and a few regular troops, after crossing the Savannah, took 
 a position on Briar-creek ; but, on the 3d of March, he was 
 surprised by colonel Prevost ; who, having made a circuit- 
 ous march, came on his rear with nine hundred men. The 
 militia were thrown into confusion, and fled at the first fire. 
 One hundred and fifty of the Americans were killed, and as 
 many taken prisoners. The few continentals, under Elbert, 
 made a brave resistance ; but the survivors of this body, . 
 with their gallant leader, were at last compelled to surren- 
 der. This event was a serious misfortune. It deprived' 
 general Lincoln of one fourth of his numbers, and opened a 
 communication between the British, the Indians, and the 
 royalists of North and South Carolina. 
 
 Great apprehensions were accordingly entertained for the 
 safety of the adjacent states. The militia of South Caro- 
 lina was therefore more efficiently organized, a regiment of 
 cavalry embodied, and JohnRutledge, a man of distinguish- 
 ed abilities, called to the provincial chair ; and, in conjunc- 
 tion with his council, invested with dictatorial power. The 
 original design of penetrating into Georgia, was now re- 
 sumed ; and troo])s, under general Lincoln, for that purpose 
 began their march. But, when he had ascended about a 
 hundred and fifty miles towards the head of the Savannah, 
 general Prevost, availing himself of the critical moment, 
 crossed, with twenty-four hundred, over the same river, into 
 Carolina. Proceeding for the capital, he drove before him 
 one division left under Moultrie, to defend the frontiers 
 but, at the same time, lie was himself followed by another, 
 under Lincoln ; who had re-crossed the Savannah, intend- 
 ing to arrest tlie enemy's progress to Charleston. Had the 
 British general continued his march, with the same rapidi 
 ty with which it was begun, he might have entered the; 
 town by a covp-de-maln : but he halted two or three da 
 when advanced nearly half the distance; and, thus, allow 
 ed the Carolinians to make extensive preparations for it;: 
 defence. For its security, all the houses in the suburb; 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 153 
 
 were burned; lines were carried, in its rear, across the 
 peninsula, between Ashley and Cooper rivers, cannon 
 mounted along the whole extent, and three thousand men 
 assembled within the works. 
 
 The main body and baggage of the English army being 
 left on the south side of Ashley river, a detachment of nine 
 hundred men crossed the ferry, and appeared before the 
 town. But, after a short stay, which the defenders had 
 artfully consumed by negotiations, the British general, in- 
 formed that Lincoln was coming on his rear, retreated with 
 his whole force to the islands near the sea. Both armies 
 observed each other's motions, until the 20th of June; 
 when, an attack was made by general Lincoln, with about 
 twelve hundred men, on six or seven hundred of the British, 
 advantageously posted at Stono-ferry ; but, owing to some 
 mismanagement, by which the assailants were disappointed 
 in support, they were under the necessity of withdrawing ; 
 after being deprived of the services of one hundred and fifty 
 men, who were killed or wounded. Amongst the slain, 
 was colonel Roberts; an artillery officer of distinguished 
 abilities. Bred to arms in his native country, England, he 
 *'had been particularly serviceable in diffusing military know- 
 ledge amongst the less informed of the American officers. 
 His last moments were truly characteristic of the soldier. 
 Being visited on the field of battle by his son, captain Rob- 
 erts, of his own regiment, the expiring father, presenting 
 to him his sword, " Behave worthy of it," he said ; " use it 
 in defence of liberty and your country. Return to your 
 proper station : there, you may be useful ; but, to me, you 
 can now be of no service." 
 
 Immediately after this repulse, the American militia, 
 wearied by absence from their homes, retired to their plan- 
 tations : the continentals, under the command of Lincoln, 
 withdrew to Sheldon ; a healthy situation in the vicinity of 
 Beaufort ; and the British retreated to Port Royal and Sa- 
 vannah. 
 
 Both armies remained in their respective encampments, 
 until the arrival of a French fleet off the coast of Georgia, 
 roused the whole country to activity. Admiral D'Estaign, 
 by the desire of the authorities in Carolina, having sailed, 
 on the first of September, from the West Indies, appeared 
 so unexpectedly to the British, that a ship of fifty guns and 
 three frigates fell into his hands. General Lincoln march- 
 ed towards Savannah ; and orders were given for the militia 
 of Georgia and South Carolina to rendezvous near the same 
 
154 HISTORY OF 
 
 place. The British were equally diligent in preparing for 
 defence. D'Estaign, previous to the arrival of Lincoln, 
 had demanded the surrender of the town ; upon which, 
 Prevost asked for a suspension of hostilities, during twenty, 
 four hours, that he might prepare terms of capitulation. 
 This was inconsiderately granted. Before the time elapsed, 
 several hundred British soldiers, who had been stationed at 
 Beaufort, made their way through many obstacles, and 
 joined the royal army in Savannah ; and the works were 
 hourly strengthened by the labour of the negroes, directed 
 by a skilful engineer. As the hurricane season was ap- 
 proaching, when it would be imprudent for D'Estaign to 
 risk his fleet on so dangerous a coast, no alternative remain- 
 ed, but an assault, or an immediate retreat. A sense of hon- 
 our determined the besiegers to adopt the former. On the 9th 
 of October, before day, two feints were made with the coun- 
 try militia, and a real attack on Spring-Hill battery, with 
 thirty-five hundred French troops, six hundred continent- 
 als, and three hundred and fifty inhabitants of Charleston, 
 under the command of D'Estaign and Lincoln : but a heavy 
 fire from the batteries and the shipping threw the front of 
 their columns into confusion. Two standards were, notwith- 
 standing, planted on the British redoubts : after which, it 
 became necessary to retreat. Six hundred of the French, 
 and upw;ads of two hundred of the Americans, were killed 
 or wounded. D'Estaign and count Pulaski were wounded ; 
 the latter, mortally. The force of the garrison was between 
 two and three thousand. Their loss was trifling ; as they 
 fired from behind a cover, and few of the assailants return- 
 ed a shot. 
 
 Not many hours before this attack, a council of war had 
 been held by the assailants, the determinations of which 
 became known to a spy, who had the address to stand as 
 sentinel at the entrance of the tent where the officers were 
 deliberating; and, escaping in the dark, conveyed their in- 
 tention to the British. 
 
 The siege being raised, D'Estaign re-embarked his 
 troops ; the continentals retreated over the Savannah river ; 
 and the militia again returned to their plantations. The 
 presence of the French admiral in the American waters 
 was not, however, without benefit to the republican interest. 
 It caused a useful diversion of the royal troops, and the 
 garrison of Rhode Island was accordingly withdrawn, on 
 the 15th of October, into New York. 
 
 While the fate of Savannah was pending, an enterprise 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 155 
 
 was effected by colonel John White, of the Georgia militia ; 
 which, for extraordinary success, cannot, it is conceived, 
 be paralleled in the annals of military achievements. Cap- 
 tain French had been stationed, with about one hundred 
 British soldiers, near the river Ogechee. There were also 
 at the same place forty sailors, on board of five English 
 vessels ; four of which were armed. All these men, together 
 with the vessels, were surrendered to colonel White, cap- 
 tain Elholm, and four others ; one of whom was the colonel's 
 servant. On the preceding night, this small party had 
 kindled a number of fires, and adopted the parade of a large 
 encampment ; by which, and a variety of other stratagems, 
 the British officer, impressed with an opinion that nothing 
 but immediate submission, in conformity with a perempto- 
 ry summons, could save his men from being cut to pieces 
 by a superior force, yielded, without making any resist- 
 ance. 
 
 Although this campaign affords several instances of dis- 
 tinguished vigour, yet, on the whole, it is remarkable for 
 the general lethargy of the Americans. Causes which had 
 previously excited their energy, had, in a great measure, 
 lost their influence. In the beginning of the war, enthusiasm 
 4br liberty made them indifferent as to the most valuable 
 property, and fearless of the greatest dangers. Their suc- 
 cesses had gained them allies, and their allies had inspired 
 confidence. The brisk circulation of a large quantity of 
 paper money, had caused both activity and decision. Every 
 fear of an unsuccessful termination of the contest, was, by 
 these means, banished, and every past misfortune unlamented. 
 But, the failure of each succeeding scheme of co-operation 
 with the French, produced despondency amongst the troops ; 
 the depreciation of the paper money, stagnation in the pur- 
 suits of commerce ; and it was, for a time, doubtful, whether 
 the Americans were to be independent citizens or conquered 
 subjects.* 
 
 * The depreciation of the continental money, the manner of redeem, 
 ing which, can never be considered by an honest mind, without feelings of 
 deep regret, began at different periods in the different states ; but, in gen- 
 era!, about the middle of 1777 : two years after its first appearance. To. 
 wards the end of that year, the depreciation was about two or three for 
 one. In 1778, it increased to six, and, in the following year, to twenty- 
 eight, for one : in 1780, when it amounted to two hundred millions, to fitly 
 or sixty for one of silver ; afler which period, its circulation was only par- 
 tial; but, where it did pass, it,soon fell to one hundred and fifty for one. 
 In a few places, it continued in circulation for the first four or. five months 
 
156 HISTORY OF 
 
 No sooner was the departure of the French fleet from 
 Savannah known to the British in New York, than sir Hen- 
 ry Clinton, assigning the command of the royal army in this 
 city to general Kniphausen, embarked for the south, with 
 seventeen regiments of foot, two hundred and fifty cavalry, 
 and a powerful detachment of battering and field guns. 
 After a tedious and dangerous passage, in wiiich, most of 
 ^„Q^ the artillery and all the cavalry horses were lost, 
 the troops effected a landing, on the 4th of February, 
 about thirty miles from Charleston ; took possession of 
 John's Island and Stono-ferry, James's Island and Wappoo- 
 Cut; and, having thrown a bridge over a canal, part of their 
 number took post on the banks of Ashley river, opposite to 
 Charleston. 
 
 The governor of the state immediately summoned the 
 militia: but, though the necessity was great, few obeyed 
 the pressing call. He did not, how^ever, neglect any means 
 that could induce their assembling. When the love of 
 country was insufficient to promote resistance to the com- 
 mon enemy, he appealed to another passion ; which, in the 
 absence of the former, is seldom found inactive. Under his 
 extraordinary powers, he issued a proclamation, requiring 
 those in the country who had been regularly enrolled, and 
 all the inhabitants of Charleston capable of bearing arms, 
 to join the American standard, under pain of confiscation. 
 Still, however, their brethren in the capital received only 
 trifling aid from the people of the interior. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton, after being re-enforced from the gar- 
 rison of Savannah, made arrangements for commencing the 
 siege. He formed a depot, and erected fortifications, on 
 James's Island, as well as on the main land, opposite to the 
 southern and western extremities of the city, and sent 
 across the Ashley an advanced party ; who, on the first of 
 April, broke ground at the distance of eleven hundred 
 yards from the American w^orks. At successive periods, 
 he erected five batteries on Charleston Neck ; and, alto- 
 gether, conducted his approach on a scale of magnitude 
 seldom witnessed before a town, which, notwithstanding 
 the assiduity of the garrison, had no other defences than 
 
 of 1781 ; but, at this time, many would not take it at any price ; and Ihey 
 who did, received it at the rate of several hundreds for one. Besides that 
 immense sum, the paper bills of the individual states amounted to many 
 milHons ; which added still further to its depreciation. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 157 
 
 common field-works. The British marine force, consist- 
 ing of eight frigates, carrying in all two hundred and eigh- 
 ty guns, crossed the bar, and anchored in Five-Fathom 
 Hole. The American fleet, composed of nine ships, under 
 commodore "Whipple, mounting only two hundred and 
 twenty guns, was not thought equal to engage the enemy, 
 and therefore fell back to the city ; where, the commodore 
 landed his men and guns, to re-enforce the batteries. On 
 the 9th of April, the British admiral passed all the forts in 
 the harbour ; after which, colonel Pinckney, and a part of 
 the men under his command, were withdrawn from Sulli- 
 van's Island into Charleston. Fort Moultrie surrendered on 
 the 6th of May. On the same day, the remains of the 
 American cavalry, which had escaped from a late surprise 
 at Monk's Corner, were again surprised, by colonel Tarle- 
 ton, at Laneau's ferry, on the Santee ; when the whole were 
 either killed or captured, or dispersed ; and the British thus 
 gained entire command of Cooper River. Their batteries 
 of the third parallel were opened. Shells were thrown into 
 almost every quarter of the town, and several houses were 
 burned. The cannon played at a less distance than a hun- 
 dred yards. The Hessian chasseurs were so near the Amer- 
 ican lines, that they could easily strike any object on them 
 with their rifles. The British crossed the wet ditch by sap, 
 advanced within twenty-live yards of the works, and were 
 ready for making a general assault, by land and water. All 
 expectation of succour was at an end. The only remaining 
 hope was, that nine thousand men, the flower of the British 
 army, supported by a naval force, might fail in storming 
 extensive lines, defended by less than three thousand. The 
 period was awful. Perseverance might provoke revenge, 
 but could not ensure success. On the 11th of May, a num- 
 ber of the citizens addressed general Lincoln ; declaring 
 their acquiescence in the terms of surrender which the be- 
 siegers had some time before offered, and urging him to 
 accept them. The general wrote, accordingly, to sir Hen- 
 ry Clinton ; who, wishing to avoid the extremity of entering 
 the town by storm, and unwilling to press the unconditional 
 surrender of an enemy whose friendship he wished to con- 
 ciliate, returned a favourable answer. A capitulation was 
 signed on the 12th ; and, on the next day, the British took 
 possession of the city. By this agreement, the garrison 
 were to march out of the town, and deposit their arms in 
 front of the works : but their drums were not to beat a Brit 
 ish march, nor their colours to be uncased. The continent 
 U 
 
158 HISTORY OF 
 
 al troops and seamen were to retain their baggage, and re- 
 main prisoners of war until exchanged. The militia were 
 allowed to return home, as prisoners on parole ; and the in- 
 habitants of the town were placed in the same situation. 
 
 The number that surrendered, including every adult 
 male inhabitant, was live thousand ; but the proper garri- 
 son did not exceed twenty-five hundred. The artillery 
 amounted to four hundred. The loss on both sides, during 
 the siege, was nearly equal : of the Americans, eighty-nine 
 were killed, and one hundred and forty wounded : of the 
 royal army, seventy-six were killed, and one hundred and 
 eighty-nine wounded. 
 
 After the fall of Charleston, the Alliance and Deane 
 frigates were the only remnant of the American navy. 
 These were soon afterwards sold, the navy-board dissolved, 
 and all maritime adventures ceased, except by the armed 
 vessels of individuals. 
 
 The next object with the British, was to secure the gen- 
 eral submission of the state. To this end, they posted gar- 
 risons in different parts of the country, and sent two thou- 
 sand men towards North Carolina. Colonel Tarleton ad- 
 vanced rapidly, with about seven hundred horse, in pursuit 
 of three or four hundred infantry, and a few cavalry, who 
 were retreating under colonel Buford ; and, having over- 
 taken them at the Waxhaws, brought them to an action : 
 in which, though the Americans had, in the very begin- 
 ning, sued for quarter, the greater part of their number 
 were either killed, or so cruelly mangled, as to be incapable 
 of being removed from the field of battle. 
 
 Early in June, sir Henry Clinton, leaving about four 
 thousand men for the southern service, embarked, with the 
 main army, for New York. On his departure, the command 
 devolved oh lord Cornwallis ; who, having committed the 
 care of the frontier to lord Rawdon, (afterwards entitled 
 earl of Moira, and marquis of Hastings,) repaired to 
 Charleston ; where he devoted his principal attention to the 
 civil regulations of the state. In the meantime, the im- 
 possibility of removing with their families and property, 
 and the want of an army, around whose standard they might 
 repair, induced the people, except in the extremities of the 
 province bordering on North Carolina, to relinquish all 
 schemes of further resistance. This was followed by an 
 unusual calm ; which induced the British to suppose that 
 the state was entirely conquered. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 159 
 
 As the enemy advanced to the upper districts, a consid- 
 erable number of patriots retreated before them, and took 
 refuge in North Carolina. Amongst these, was colonel 
 Sumpter ; a distinguished individual, whom a party of exiles 
 had selected as their leader. They had no pay, no uniforms, 
 nor any certain means of subsistence : they lived upon what 
 chance, or their own courage, provided them. They ex- 
 perienced even a want of arms and ammunition ; but they 
 made themselves rude weapons from the instruments of 
 husbandry ; and, instead of balls of lead, they cast them of 
 pewter, from the dishes furnished by the patriots for that 
 purpose. But these resources were far from being suffi- 
 cient. They several times encountered the enemy with 
 only three charges of ammunition to each man ; and some, 
 who were without arms, remained aside, waiting until tlie 
 death or wounds of their companions permitted them to 
 take their place. Having, at the head of this little band 
 of freemen, returned to his own state, Sumpter took the 
 field against the victorious invaders; and, on the 12th of 
 July, two months after the fall of Charleston, routed a de- 
 tachment posted in a lane at Williamson's plantation ; the 
 first effort of renewed warfare, and the first advantage gain- 
 ^1 over the British, since their landing in the beginning of 
 the year. His troops, which were, at this time, only one 
 hundred, increased, in a few days, to six hundred. With 
 these, he made a spirited attack on a party at Rocky Mount : 
 but, as he had no artillery, and the enemy were secured be- 
 hind a breast-work, he was obliged to retreat. His next en- 
 terprise more than compensated for this disappointment. 
 Having attacked another detachment, consisting of a small 
 British regiment and a large body of royalists, posted at 
 Hanging-Rock, he almost totally destroyed the former, and 
 dispersed the latter, who had advanced from North Caro- 
 lina, under colonel Bryan. This achievement produced 
 most important advantages. The panic, occasioned by the 
 fall of Charleston, daily abated. The whig militia, on the 
 extremities of the state, formed themselves into parties, un- 
 der leaders of their own choice, and harassed the royal ar- 
 my with continual disturbance. 
 
 While Sumpter kept up the spirit of the people, by a 
 succession of gallant enterprises, a respectable continental 
 force Avas advancing through the middle states to their re- 
 lief. These, consisting of the Maryland and Delaware 
 troops, under general Gates, reached Clermont, thirteen 
 
160 HISTORY OF 
 
 miles from Camden, about the middle of August ; after 
 escaping imminent danger of destruction, from the heat of 
 the season, the unhealthy climate, and insufficiency of food ; 
 in passing many hundred miles, through pine barrens, 
 swamps, and sand-hills. 
 
 As those indefatigable Americans were approaching, lord 
 Rawdon concentrated his forces at Camden. Encouraged 
 by these favourable events, — the retreat of the enemy from 
 their out-posts, and the appearance of their friends ; the citi- 
 zens of Carolina, impatient of insolence, rapine, and sub- 
 jection, rejoiced in the prospect of freeing their country 
 from its oppressors. Gates displayed the utmost energy 
 and wisdom in fostering the growing spirit. His measures 
 were followed by a general revolt; and his strength, increas- 
 ed by the arrival of some Virginia militia, led by general 
 Stephens, promised a durable emancipation. His army was 
 nearly four thousand men ; of whom, however, only a fourth 
 were regulars. On the approach of Gates, lord Cornwallis 
 hastened from Charleston to Camden ; where he arrived on 
 the 14th of August. His force did not exceed two thou- 
 sand ; an inferiority which would have justified a retreat : 
 but, choosing rather to stake his fortune on the decision of 
 an immediate battle, he marched from Camden on the fol- 
 lowing night ; intending to attack the Americans in their 
 camp at Clermont. Gates, also, having moved forward, 
 that he might secure an advantageous position, their ad- 
 vanced parties met in the night, and engaged. The Amer- 
 ican cavalry recoiled at the first fire, and threw the whole 
 line of the main body into confusion. But they soon re- 
 covered their order, and both armies skirmished until morn- 
 ing. "When the day broke, the engagement became gene- 
 ral. The Americans suffered a heavy loss. At the first 
 onset, nearly all the Virginia militia, on being charged with 
 bayonets, threw down their arms, and fled ; and a consider- 
 able part of the North Carolina militia followed the unwor- 
 thy example. But the regular troops of Maryland and 
 Delaware, commanded by a German officer, baron de Kalb, 
 bravely maintained their ground, until overpowered by 
 numbers, and almost surrounded. The British took two 
 hundred and ninety wounded prisoners ; of whom, two hun- 
 dred were continentals, eighty were North Carolina, and 
 two Virginia militia ; together with the whole of the Amer- 
 ican artillery, two hundred wagons, and the greater part ; 
 of the baggage. General Gregory, who commanded that 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 161 
 
 portion of the North Carolina militia which continued in 
 action, was twice wounded by a bayonet. Baron de Kalb, 
 the second in command under general Gates, was taken 
 prisoner by Tarleton's cavalry, and died, on the next day, 
 of his wounds. Congress resolved that a monument, with 
 a very honourable inscription, should be erected to his 
 memory, at Annapolis ; which, it is to be regretted, has not 
 yet been executed. 
 
 To imbitter the distressing situation of the Americans, 
 the defeat of Gates was followed by the surprise and disper- 
 sion of Sumpter's corps. Sumpter, now promoted to the 
 rank of brigadier-general, after taking a number of prison- 
 ers, and depriving the British of some stores, had found it 
 expedient, on learning the misfortune which had befallen 
 his superior, to retreat ; when, his party, overcome by fa- 
 tigue, and unable to observe even the usual caution in guard- 
 ing against surprise, were attacked at Fishing-creek ; and all 
 that were not killed or captured, were dispersed. 
 
 South Carolina seemed a second time subdued. Those 
 who had nobly entered the field of battle, were scattered or 
 imprisoned; or had fallen, never again to aid in rescuing 
 their country. Some, whose professions, or imbecilities, 
 had prevented them from becoming soldiers, but whose 
 "firmness on the side of liberty made them, even when at 
 home, dangerous enemies to the invaders, were banished 
 from the state ; many submitted to the victors through ne- 
 cessity ; others through inclination. The mischievous ef- 
 fects of slavery now became apparent. As the slaves had 
 no interest in their own persons, a change of masters was 
 to them no misfortune ; as they had no interest in the state, 
 its subjugation was a matter of triumph. 
 
 After the defeat of general Gates, the miserable remnant 
 of his army, which had rendezvoused at Charlotte, retreat- 
 ed to Salisbury, and from Salisbury to Hillsborough. There 
 was no army to oppose lord Cornwallis. But, what was 
 wanting in the strength of one party, was in a great measure 
 supplied by the weakness of the other. Unaccustomed to 
 the noxious air of a Carolina summer, sickness restrained 
 the weapons which could not be opposed, and checked the 
 British soldiers in their pursuit of conquest. 
 
 About the time when Sumpter was rewarded with the 
 rank of general, another partisan was advanced to the same 
 rank. This was Marion ; an ardent and zealous officer, 
 highly and most deservedly celebrated in the annals of his 
 country. For several weeks he had under his command 
 14* 
 
162 HISTORY OF 
 
 only seventy men ; at one time, not more than twenty-five. 
 Yet, with this little band, he kept the field amidst sur. 
 rounding foes, and harassed the quarters of the royal army 
 by unremitting sallies. With only thirty companions, he 
 surprised and captured in the night a party of ninety Brit- 
 ish soldiers, on their march to Charleston with two hun- 
 dred American prisoners. But open resistance to British 
 government was not confined to those. There was, with- 
 out any apparent concert, a powerful combination of sev- 
 eral commanders of the adjacent states. Colonel Camp- 
 bell, of Virginia; colonels Cleveland, Shelby, Sevier, and 
 M'Dowell, of North Carolina; together with colonels La- 
 cey, Hawthorn, and Hill, of South Carolina ; assembled with 
 sixteen hundred men : , though they were under no general 
 command, and were not called upon by any authority what- 
 ever. They had so little of the mechanism of a regular 
 army, that the colonels, by mutual consent, commanded, 
 each in rotation, for a day. The hardships sufliered by these 
 volunteers were great. At night, the earth afforded them 
 a bed, and the limbs of trees were their only covering. 
 Ears of corn or pumpions, thrown into the fire, with occa- 
 sional supplies of beef or venison, killed and roasted in the 
 woods, were the chief articles of their provision. The run- 
 ning stream quenched their thirst : they had neither spiritu- 
 ous liquors nor stores of any kind. 
 
 A particular instance of privation deserves recording. 
 A British oflicer, having been sent from Georgetown, to ne- 
 gotiate an exchange of prisoners, was conducted, after the 
 usual ceremony of blindfolding, into Marion's encampment. 
 When the business was concluded, the officer took up his 
 hat to retire. — " Oh, no !" said Marion, " it is now about 
 our time of dining ; and I hope, sir, you will give us the 
 pleasure of your company to dinner." — On mention of the 
 word dinner, the British officer looked around him; but, 
 to his great mortification, could see neither pot nor pan, 
 nor any other utensil that could raise the spirits of a hun- 
 gry man. — "Come, Tom," said the general, to one of his 
 men, "give us our dinner." — The dinner, to which he al- 
 luded, was no other than a few sweet potatoes roasting un- 
 der the embers, and which, Tom, with his pine-stick poker, 
 soon drew from their concealment ; pinching them, every now 
 and then, with his fingers, especially the large ones, to ascer- 
 tain whether they were sufficiently roasted ; then, having 
 cleansed them from the ashes, partly by blowing them with 
 his breath, and partly by brushing them with the sleeve of his 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 163 
 
 old cotton shirt, he piled some of the best on a large piece 
 of bark, and placed them between the British officer and 
 Marion, on the trunk of a fallen pine, on which they sat. — 
 " I fear, sir," said the general, " our dinner will not prove 
 so palatable as I could wish ; but it is the best we have." — 
 The officer, who was a well-bred man, took up one of the 
 potatoes, affecting to eat it, as if he had found a great dain- 
 ty : but presently, he broke out into a hearty laugh, Mari- 
 on looked surprised. — "I beg pardon, general," said the 
 other; "I was only thinking, how drolly some of my brother 
 officers would look, if our government were to give them 
 suoh a bill of fare as this !" — " I suppose," replied Marion, 
 " it is not equal to their style of dining." — " No, indeed," 
 said the officer ; " but this, I imagine, is one of your acci- 
 dental lent dinners : in general, no doubt, you live much bet- 
 ter." — " Rather worse," rejoined the American ; " for often 
 we don't get enough of this." — " But, though stinted in 
 provisions^ you draw noble pay." — " Not a cent, sir," re- 
 plied Marion, — " not a cent." — 
 
 On his return to Georgetown, he was asked by colonel 
 Watson, why he looked so serious. — " I have cause, sir," 
 replied he, "to look serious." — "Has Marion refused to 
 treat ?" — " No, sir." — " Has Washington defeated sir Hen- 
 ry Clinton ?" — " No, sir, not that neither ; but worse. I have 
 seen an American general and his officers, without pay, and 
 almost without clothes, dining on roots, and drinking water, 
 and all these privations undergone for Liberty. What 
 chance have we against such men !" 
 
 Colonel Watson was little animated by this discovery ; 
 and the young officer was so affected by Marion's senti- 
 ments, that he resigned his commission, and retired from 
 the service. 
 
 Having selected about a thousand of their best men, col- 
 onel Campbell and his associate leaders mounted them on 
 their fleetest horses ; and, on the 7th of October, attacked 
 major Ferguson, a British officer who had collected a corps 
 of royal militia, on the top of King's Mountain, near the 
 confines of North and South Carolina. The Americans 
 formed three parties. Colonel Cleveland addressed his 
 division in the following unvarnished, but energetic lan- 
 guage ; " My brave fellows, we have beaten the tories, 
 and we can again beat them. They are all cowards. If 
 they had the spirit of men, they would join their fellow 
 citizens, in supporting the independence of their country. 
 When engaged, you are not to wait the word of command 
 
164 HISTORY OF 
 
 from me. I will show you, by, my example, how to fight. 
 I can undertake no more. Every man must consider him- 
 self as an officer, and act from his own judgment. Fire as 
 quick as you can, and stand as long as you can. When you 
 can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat. But I beg 
 you Avill not run quite off. If we be repulsed, let us make 
 a point to return, and renew the fight. Perhaps, we may 
 have better luck in the second attempt, than in the first. If 
 any be afraid, they have leave to retire ; and are requested 
 immediately to take themselves off." 
 
 Ferguson boldly met the assailants with fixed bayonets, 
 and compelled them successively to retreat : but they fell 
 back only a short distance ; and, concealed amongst trees 
 and rocks, renewed the fire. The British being uncovered, 
 were aimed at by the marksmen, and many of their party 
 were slain. After a severe battle, major Ferguson, who had 
 displayed the utmost bravery, received a mortal wound ; 
 and as there was no prospect of successful resistance, or of 
 escape, the contest was ended by his submission. Upwards 
 of eight hundred became prisoners, and two hundred were 
 killed and wounded. An unusual number of the killed Avere 
 found shot in the head. Riflemen brought down each other 
 so effectually, that their eyes remained, after they were dead, 
 one shut and the other open ; in the ordinary manner of 
 marksmen when leveling at their object. 
 
 During the first three months which followed the defeat 
 of the American army near Camden, general Gates was 
 industriously preparinfr to take the field. Having collected 
 a force at Hillsborough, he advanced to Salisbury, and, soon 
 afterwards, to Charlotte. He had done every thing in his 
 power to repair the injuries of his defeat, and was again in 
 a condition to meet the enemy : but, from the influence, 
 which, in a commonwealth, popular opinion has over public 
 measures, congress resolved to supersede him, and order an 
 inquiry into his conduct. 
 
 In the northern states, the campaign was barren of im- 
 portant events. The only movement, worthy of attention, 
 was made by general Kniphausen, from New York ; intend- 
 ed rather for devastation than conquest. From Elizabeth- 
 town, in New Jersey, this officer proceeded, in June, to 
 Connecticut farms : where, besides a number of dwelling 
 houses, he burned the Presbyterian church, and then con- 
 tinued his progress towards Springfield. As he advanced, 
 he was annoyed by colonel Dayton, with a few militia, and 
 by general Maxwell ; who, with some continental troops, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 165 
 
 was stationed at a bridge to dispute his passage. Here, 
 the British made a halt; and soon afterwards returned to 
 Elizabethtown : but, being re-enforced, they advanced, a 
 second time, towards Springfield. They were now oppos- 
 ed by general Greene, with a considerable body of regulars 
 from the head-quarters of the northern army at Morris- 
 town. But superior numbers compelled the Americans to 
 retreat. The British, instead of improving their advan- 
 tage, began to burn the town of Springfield; and, after 
 destroying about fifty houses, again retired ; with the en- 
 raged militia in their rear, until they reached Elizabeth- 
 town. By such desultory operations, were hostilities, at 
 this time, carried on, in the northern states. Individuals 
 were killed, houses were burned, much injury was done, 
 but nothing effected, tending either to reconcilement or 
 subjugation. 
 
 The distress suffered by the American army, did not ar- 
 rive at its highest pitch until the present season. The of- 
 ficers of the Jersey line, now addressed a memorial to their 
 state legislature, complaining, that four months' pay of a 
 private would not procure for his family a single bushel of 
 wheat ; that the pay of a colonel would not purchase oats 
 ,for his horse ; and that a common labourer received four 
 times as much as an American officer. They urged, that 
 unless an immediate remedy were provided, the total dis- 
 solution of their line was inevitable ; and concluded, by 
 saying, that their pay should be realized, either by Mexi- 
 can dollars, or something equivalent. Nor was the insuffi- 
 ciency of their support the only motive to complaint. Other 
 causes of discontent prevailed. The original idea of a 
 continental army, to be raised, paid, and regulated, upon 
 an equal and uniform principle, had been, in a great mea- 
 sure, exchanged, for that of state establishments ; a perni- 
 cious measure, partly originating from necessity, because, 
 state credit was not quite so much depreciated as conti- 
 nental. Some states, from their superior ability, furnished 
 their troops, not only with clothing, but with many articles 
 of convenience. Others supplied them with mere neces- 
 saries ; while a few, from their particular situation, could 
 give little, or perhaps nothing. The officers and men, in 
 the routine of duty, daily intermixed, and made compar- 
 isons. Those who fared M'orse than others, were dissatis- 
 fied with a service that allowed such injurious distinctions. 
 Mutiny began to spread, and at length broke out amongst 
 the soldiers at fort Schuyler. Thirty -one privates of that 
 
166 HISTORY OF 
 
 garrison went off in a body. They were overtaken, and 
 thirteen of their number instantly killed. About the same 
 time, two regiments of Connecticut troops mutinied, and 
 got under arms ; determined to return home, or gain sub- 
 sistence by the bayonet. Their officers reasoned with them, 
 and used every argument that could interest their passions 
 or their pride. They at first answered, " Our sufferings 
 are too great — we want present relief." But military feel- 
 ings were, in the end, triumphant : after much expostula- 
 tion, they returned to the encampment. 
 
 It is natural to suppose, that the British commander 
 would not lose so favourable an opportunity of severing the 
 discontented from their companions, and attracting them 
 to his own standard. He circulated a printed paper in the 
 American camp ; tending to heighten the disorder by ex- 
 aggeration, and create desertion by promises of bounty and 
 caresses. But, so great was the firmness of the soldiery, 
 and so strong their attachment to their country, that, on ! 
 the arrival of only a scanty supply of meat, for their imme- 
 diate subsistence, military duty was cheerfully performed, • 
 and the rolls were seldom dishonoured by desertion. 
 
 The necessities of the American army grew so pressing, 
 that Washington was constrained to call on the magistrates 
 of the adjacent counties for specified quantities of provis- > 
 ions, to be supplied in a given number of days ; and, was 
 compelled even to send out detachments, to collect sub- 
 sistence at the point of the bayonet. Even this expedient 
 at length failed ; the country, in the vicinity of the army, 
 being soon exhausted. His situation was painfully embar- 
 rassing. The army looked to him for provisions ; the in- 
 habitants, for protection. To supply the one, and not of- 
 fend the other, seemed impossible. To preserve order and 
 subordination, in an army of republicans, even when well * 
 fed, regularly paid, and comfortably clothed, is not an easy ^ 
 task ; but, to retain them in service, and subject them to ; 
 the rules of discipline, when wanting, not only the com- 
 forts, but often the necessaries, of life, require such address 
 and abilities, as are rarely found in human nature. These 
 were, however, combined in Washington. He not only • 
 kept his army in the field, but opposed those difficulties 
 with so much discretion, as to command the approbation 
 both of the soldiers and the people. 
 
 To obviate these evils, congress sent a committee of its 
 own members to the encampment of the main army. They -^ 
 confirmed tlic representations previously made, of the dis- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 167 
 
 tresses, and the disorders arising from commissarial mis- 
 management, which every where prevailed. In particular, 
 they stated, that the army was unpaid for five months ; that 
 it seldom had more than six days' provision in advance ; 
 and was, on different occasions, for several successive days, 
 without meat ; that the horses were destitute of forage ; that 
 the medical department had no sugar, tea, chocolate, wine, 
 nor spirituous liquors of any kind ; that every department 
 was without money, and without credit; and that the pa- 
 itience of the soldiers, worn down by the pressure of com- 
 plicated sufferings, was on the point of being exhausted. 
 
 Misfortunes, from every quarter, were, at this time, pour- 
 ing in upon the United States. But they seemed to rise 
 jin the midst of their distresses, and gain strength from the 
 pressure of calamities. When congress could obtain neither 
 money nor credit for the subsistence of their army, the in- 
 habitants of Philadelphia gave three hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, to procure a supply of necessary provisions for the 
 suffering troops : and the ladies of that city, at the same 
 time, contributed largely to their immediate relief. Their 
 example was very generally followed. The patriotic flame, 
 which blazed forth in the beginning of the war, was rekind- 
 led. The different states were ardently excited; and it was 
 arranged, that the regular army should be raised to thirty- 
 five thousand effective men. 
 
 France, too, about the same time, determined to augment 
 her co-operation. The marquis La Fayette had gone over, 
 for a short time, to that country, and successfully urged 
 the government to enlarge its aid. On the 10th of July, 
 admiral de Ternay arrived at Rhode Island, with a squad- 
 iron of seven sail of the line, five frigates, and five smaller 
 armed vessels ; besides, a fleet of transports, having on 
 board six thousand men, under the command of general 
 count de Rochambeau. 
 
 United both in interest and affection with the Amer- 
 icans, the French troops eagerly desired an opportunity to 
 act with them against the common enemy. Only a short 
 time, however, was allowed for the indulgence of these sen- 
 timents, before the French fleet and army were blocked up 
 at Rhode Island, by admiral Arbuthnot, with ten sail of 
 the line. Hopes were, nevertheless, indulged, that, by the 
 arrival of another fleet, then in the West Indies, under the 
 command of count de Guichen, the superiority would be so 
 much in favour of the allies, as to enable them to prose- 
 
168 HISTORY OF 
 
 cute their original design of attacking New York. But, 
 when the expectations of the Americans were raised to the 
 highest pitch, intelligence arrived that de Guichen had 
 sailed for France. This disappointment was extremely 
 mortifying. Their pleasing anticipations were suddenly 
 extinguished, and deeper shades were added to the heavy 
 cloud, which, for some time past, had hung over their af- 
 fairs. 
 
 While the American cause was thus openly endangered 
 by defeat and disappointment, it was secretly assailed by 
 domestic treachery. A distinguished officer engaged, for a 
 stipulated sum of money, to betray into the hands of the 
 British an important post. The person who committed 
 this foul crime, was general Arnold, of Connecticut ; a man 
 who had been amongst the first to take up arms against 
 Great Britain, and to widen the breach between the parent 
 state and the colonies. His conspicuous military talents 
 had procured him every honour that a grateful nation could 
 bestow. Poets and painters had marked him as a rich sub- 
 ject for their labours. His country had not only loaded him 
 with honours, but forgiven him his peculations. Though, 
 in his army accounts, there was much room to suspect im- 
 position, yet the recollection of his gallantry and good con- 
 duct in the field, had in a great measure, consigned them to 
 oblivion. But the generosity of the states did not keep pace 
 with his extravagance. A sumptuous table and expensive 
 equipage, unsupported by the resources of private fortune, 
 and unaided by economy, soon increased his debts, beyond 
 a possibility of his discharging them. Oppression, extortion, 
 and misapplication of the public money, furnished him with 
 the means of gratifying his ruling passions : treachery and 
 ingratitude afforded the only hope of evading a scrutiny, and 
 replenishing his exhausted coffers. He solicited for the 
 command of West Point, called the Gibraltar of America; 
 a post strengthened for the defence of the North River, 
 and deemed the most proper for commanding its naviga- 
 tion. Rocky ridges, shelving one above anothor, rendered 
 it incapable of being invested by less than twenty thousand 
 men. Some, even then, entertained doubts of Arnold's fi« 
 delity. But Washington, in the unsuspecting spirit of a 
 soldier, granted his request, and intrusted him with the im- 
 portant barrier. Thus invested with the command, Arnold 
 began a correspondence with sir Henry Clinton ; and agreed, 
 that he would make a disposition of his forces, which 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 169 
 
 would enable the British general to surprise West Point; 
 under such circumstances, that the garrison must either 
 lixy down their arms, or be cut to pieces. The agent em- 
 ployed by sir Henry Clinton, was major Andre, adjutant- 
 general of the British army ; a young officer of great hopes 
 and uncommon merit. His fidelity pointed him out for this 
 negotiation ; but his candour made him inexpert in the ne- 
 cessary arts of deception. When returning from a confer- 
 ence with Arnold, devested of his uniform, he was inter- 
 cepted on the 22d of September, near Tarrytown, by three 
 faithful militia soldiers, John Paulding, Isaac Van Wert, 
 and David Williams ; and, by the laws of war, forfeited his 
 life to a country struggling with an accumulation of disas- 
 ters, and constrained to guard, by the most vigilant atten- 
 tion, against the destructive agency of treason. 
 
 The exchange of one of their best officers for the worst 
 man in the American army, was the only effect of this 
 grand project of the enemy. Arnold, who, on the capture 
 of major Andre, had escaped, was immediately appointed 
 a brigadier-general in the service of Great Britain. But, 
 though his new companions had wished to profit by the 
 treason, they viewed the traitor with contempt. " What 
 ffeatment," inquired Arnold from a British officer, " am I 
 to expect, should the rebels make me their prisoner?" — 
 " They will cut off," replied the officer, " the leg that was 
 wounded at Saratoga, and bury it, with all the honours of 
 war ; but, having no respect for the rest of your body, they 
 will hang it on a gibbet."* 
 
 It is a subject of reproach to the United States, that 
 they so much indulged a man of Arnold's character : but it 
 is honourable to human nature, that a great revolution, con- 
 tinued through an eight years' war, produced only one such 
 example. His singular case, however, enforces the policy, 
 indeed the moral obligation, of conferring high trust, ex- 
 clusively, on men of unspotted reputation ; and of withhold- 
 ing all confidential situations from those who are under the 
 dominion of expensive pleasure. 
 
 France was not the only nation that felt an interest in the 
 colonial war. Spain did not suffer the favourable juncture 
 to elapse, without attempting to regain at least a part of 
 her former losses in the western hemisphere. The sum- 
 mer in which Louis had declared his friendship for the 
 
 * General Arnold died in London, in 1801. 
 15 
 
170 HISTORY OF 
 
 United States, had scarcely commenced, when the Spanish 
 monarch, on some general pretences, declared hostilities 
 ag-ainst Britain ; and directed his governor of Louisiana 
 to invade her settlements in East and West Florida; an 
 enterprise attended with complete success. But he was 
 not so fortunate in the designs of recovering Gibraltar and 
 Jamaica. By the vigilance of admirals Rodney and Darby, 
 general Elliot, having received a supply of provisions for 
 the starving garrison of Gibraltar, was enabled, by extraor- 
 dinary exertions, to frustrate the Spaniards, in their mem- 
 orable siege of that great fortress ; and the superior sea- 
 manship of Rodney having caused the defeat and cap- 
 ture of admiral De Grasse, in the West Indies, there no 
 longer existed any fear for the safety of Jamaica. 
 
 These abortive plans operated severely against the Unit- 
 ed States ; especially the latter misfortune : which, as al- 
 ready noticed, prevented the co-operation of count de 
 Guichen with admiral de Ternay, when the latter was 
 blocked up by the English, at Rhode Island. But this was, 
 in a short time, counterbalanced, by the opposition made 
 to Great Britain through the armed neutrality of the north- 
 ern powers, and a rupture between that country and the 
 Dutch. 
 
 The naval superiority of England had, for ages, been to 
 the other European states a subject of envy and regret. 
 The imperious claim which she had long enforced, that the 
 flags of all nations should pay obeisance to her ships of 
 war, could not be otherwise than mortifying to independent 
 sovereigns. This, however, was not their only subject of 
 complaint. Various litigations had arisen, between the 
 commanders of British armed vessels and those in the ser- 
 vice of neutral countries, as to the extent of the commerce 
 allowable during a strict and fair neutrality. The British 
 insisted on capturing all supplies intended for their enemies. 
 The empress of Russia opposed this innovation ; which, 
 power, not right, had prompted them so injuriously to prac- 
 tise. She addressed a manifesto to the courts of London, 
 Versailles, and Madrid ; the three European belligerants : 
 wherein she maintained, That neutral ships should enjoy a 
 free navigation, even from port to port, of the nations at 
 war, and on their coasts ; and that all articles belonging to 
 the contending parties, should, when on board those vessels, 
 be free from capture ; excepting warlike stores, and goods 
 destined for places actually blockaded or besieged. These 
 principles were communicated by Catharine to the Dutch 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 171 
 
 republic, and to the sovereigns of Denmark, Sweden, and 
 Portugal ; from all of whom, except the latter, a concur- 
 rence in opinion was received. Thus, the usurped authority 
 of Great Britain was checked ; a restraint the more embar- 
 rassing, as it emanated from a power in whose friendship 
 she had confided. 
 
 Holland, it appears, required not the stimulating hand 
 of Russia, to array her against a nation, which, in the pre- 
 ceding century, in violation of an ancient treaty, had sur- 
 prised her colonies, and made extensive inroads on her com- 
 merce. Few European states had a brighter prospect of 
 advantage from American independence : none was more 
 acute in discerning, none more ready in discovering, the 
 means of promoting the profit of her merchants. Com- 
 plaints had been made by the court of London, respecting 
 the illicit commerce alleged to be carrying on between the 
 Dutch at St. Eustatia and the Americans ; and succours 
 were demanded by the British government, agreeably with a 
 compact formed in the reign of Charles the Second. But the 
 event which occasioned a declaration of war, was the capture 
 of Mr. Laurens, when on his passage to Holland, in order to 
 negotiate a loan and a treaty on the part of the United 
 States. Papers being found with the American minister, 
 confirming the British in their suspicions of the hostile in- 
 tention of the Dutch republic, the English ambassador re- 
 ceived instruction from his government to depart from the 
 Hague ; and war against that country was soon afterwards 
 published in London. The gathering storm of British ven- 
 geance burst forth on St. Eustatia ; an island of small 
 value in itself, but highly important as the seat of an ex- 
 tensive commerce. The wealth then concentrated in this 
 barren spot, is almost incredible. The whole island seem- 
 ed one vast magazine : the store-houses were filled, the 
 beach was covered, with valuable commodities. The amount 
 of three millions sterling fell into the hands of the British 
 captors ; a booty still further increased by subsequent ar- 
 rivals. Yet the public interest of Britain was deeply in- 
 jured by the prize. While admiral Rodney and his officers 
 were bewildered in the sales of confiscated property at St. 
 Eustatia; and, especially, while his fleet was weakened 
 by a large detachment, sent with the produce of the sales 
 to England ; the French were silently executing a scheme, 
 which insured them a superiority on the American coast, 
 and caused the total ruin of the British army in the United 
 States. 
 
172 HISTORY OF 
 
 -,«Q, Some extraneous aid appeared essential to sup- 
 port the patriots, amidst the numerous misfortunes 
 which assailed them. At no period of the war, were their 
 domestic affairs in a more deplorable situation. Famine, 
 mutiny, amongst the Pennsylvania, and part of the New 
 Jersey, troops ; as well as a total annihilation of public 
 credit ; threatened the dissolution of the army, and a mel- 
 ancholy termination of all their labours. The American 
 general Clinton, in a letter to Washington, dated at Alba- 
 ny, about the middle of April, says ; " There is not now, 
 independent of Fort Schuyler, three days' provisions for the 
 troops, in the whole department ; nor any prospect of pro- 
 curing any. 7'he recruits of the new levies I cannot re- 
 ceive, because I have nothing to give them. The Cana- 
 dian families, I have been obliged to deprive of their scanty 
 pittance ; contrary to every principle of humanity. The 
 quarter-master's department is wholly useless. The pub- 
 lic armoury has been shut up for nearly three weeks : and 
 a total suspension of every military operation has ensued." 
 These events, however, were not unforeseen by the rulers 
 of America. New resources were providentially opened, 
 and the war was carried on with the same vigour as before. 
 A large amount of gold and silver was introduced, by a 
 beneficial trade with the Spanish West India islands ; and 
 the king of France lent the United States several millions 
 of livres, besides pledging his security for a larger sum, bor- 
 rowed for their use, in Holland. A regular system of finance 
 also was adopted, under the direction of Robert Morris; 
 who made the different arrangements with great judgment 
 and economy. The Bank of North America, at Philadel- 
 phia, the oldest monied institution in the United States, this 
 year established by a charter from congress, was eminently 
 useful in furnishing it with the sinews of war. The issuing 
 of paper money under the authority of government was 
 discontinued, and the public engagements were made paya- 
 ble in coin. The old continental money ceased to have cur- 
 rency. Two hundred millions of paper dollars were made 
 redeemable by five millions of silver; a measure submitted 
 to without any tumults. Public faith was indeed violated : 
 but the money, having, in a great measure, gone out of the 
 hands of those who had received it at the original value, it 
 was in the possession of others, who had obtained it at the 
 rate not exceeding what was fixed by the scale of deprecia- 
 tion ; and the redemption of the bills at their nominal value, 
 instead of remedying the distresses of the suflcrcrs, would, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 173 
 
 it was thought, in many cases have increased them ; by sub- 
 jecting their property to a taxation of greater amount than 
 that of the paper which had finally rested in their hands. 
 
 The British were, at this time, carrying on the most ex- 
 tensive plan of operations attempted since the beginning of 
 the war. Hostilities raged, not only in the vicinity of their 
 head-quarters at New York, but in Georgia, South Carolina, 
 North Carolina, and Virginia. The industry with which the 
 perfidious Arnold lent his aid, under his new commission, 
 was calculated to impress the idea of a sincere devotion to 
 the British cause. His extensive ravages, together with his 
 plundering achievements, in Virginia and Connecticut, made 
 it difficult to judge, whether his recent warfare, in the cha- 
 racter of incendiary and robber, did not more than compen- 
 sate the enemy for the damage before sustained from the 
 arms of his heroic countrymen, led by himself to successive 
 victories, through a desire of fame. 
 
 The good fortune which attended the British troops, 
 since they had reduced Savannah and Charleston, encour- 
 aged them to pursue their object, by advancing from the 
 latter to North Carolina. To relieve the southern states, 
 though congress were unable to forward either men or 
 * money, yet they did what was equivalent. They sent them 
 a general, whose military talents were equal to a numerous 
 army. The nomination to this important trust was left to 
 the commander-in-chief. He advised the appointment of 
 general Greene, as an officer in whose abilities, fortitude, 
 and integrity, from a long and intimate acquaintance, he 
 had the most entire confidence. 
 
 The same day on which general Grjgene took charge of 
 the army at Charlotteville, he received information of a 
 gallant enterprise by colonel (late captain) Washington. 
 Being on a foraging excursion, this active officer had pene- 
 trated within thirteen miles of Camden, to Clermont ; the 
 seat of colonel Rugely, of the British militia. This was 
 fortified by a block-house, encompassed by an abattis, and 
 defended by one hundred inhabitants who had submitted 
 to the royal government. Colonel Washington advanced 
 before it, mounted the trunk of a pine tree on wagon- 
 wheels, so as to resemble a field-piece, and peremptorily 
 demanded a surrender. The stratagem had the desired ef- 
 fect. Dreading a cannonade, the garrison instantly obeyed 
 the summons, without a shot having been fired on either 
 side. * 
 
 The whole southern army now consisted of about two. 
 15* 
 
174 HISTORY OF 
 
 thousand men ; more than half of whom were militia, in a 
 very relaxed state of discipline. Having divided his force, 
 the commander sent general Morgan with a detachment 
 into the district of Ninety-six, in the western extremity of 
 South Carolina ; while he himself marched with the main 
 body to Hick's creek, on the north side of the Pedee, op- 
 posite to Cheraw Hill. Morgan was not long without em- 
 ployment. Lord Cornwallis, being at this time far advanced 
 in preparations for invading North Carolina, could not, 
 agreeably with the policy of war, leave an enemy in his 
 rear ; and therefore sent against him colonel Tarleton, at the 
 head of about eleven hundred men. Tarleton had two 
 field-pieces, a superiority of infantry, in the proportion of 
 five to four, and of cavalry, in the proportioa of three to 
 one. With these advantages, he attacked general Morgan 
 at the Cowpens, in South Carolina, on the 17th of January; 
 with the expectation of driving him out of the state. But 
 the impetuosity of Tarleton, which had gained him high 
 reputation, when he had surprised an incautious enemy, or 
 attacked a panic-struck militia, was at this time the occasion 
 of his ruin. Impatient of delay, he engaged with fatigued 
 troops, led them into action before they were properly form- 
 ed, or the reserve had taken its ground ; and, after one of 
 the severest conflicts witnessed in the course of the whole 
 war, was defeated, with the loss of three hundred men kill- 
 ed and wounded ; besides five hundred prisoners, his artille- 
 ry, and baggage. The Americans had only twelve killed 
 and sixty wounded. General Morgan was ably supported 
 by colonels Washington, Howard, and Pickens ; who, as 
 well as their commander, were honoured by congress with 
 distinguished testimonies of their good conduct in this ar- 
 duous engagement. 
 
 Tarleton could not bear to hear his enemy praised. 
 When some ladies in Charleston were eulogizing colonel 
 Washington, he replied, with a scornful air; "I would be 
 very glad to get a sight of colonel Washington : 1 have 
 heard much talk of him, but have never yet seen him." — 
 " Had you looked behind you, at the battle of the Cowpens," 
 rejoined one of the ladies, " you might easily have enjoyed 
 that pleasure." 
 
 The defeat of Tarleton, his favourite officer, surprised 
 and mortified, but did not discourage, lord Cornwallis. By 
 vigorous exbrtion, he hoped soon to repair the late disaster ; 
 and, accordingly, commenced a pursuit of general Morgan ; 
 who had moved off* towards Virginia with his prisoners. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 175 
 
 Greene immediately left his main army under the command 
 of general Huger, and, escorted by a few dragoons, rode a 
 hundred and fifty miles through the country, to join the de- 
 tachment under Morgan ; that he might be in front of lord 
 Cornwallis, and superintend the movements of both divis- 
 ions. As Cornwallis was gaining ground upon him, the 
 American commander ordered the prisoners to Charlotte- 
 ville, and the troops to Guilford Court-house ; whither, he 
 had directed Huger to proceed with the main army. The 
 British general at length destroyed nearly all his baggage ; 
 and thus, relieved from the burthen of every appendage not 
 essential for immediate subsistence, urged the pursuit, with 
 so much rapidity, that he reached the Catawba the evening 
 of the same day on which his flying adversary had crossed 
 it. Before the next day, a heavy fall of rain made the river 
 impassable ; an event, which, in a signal manner, favoured 
 the Americans : had it taken place only a few hours earlier, 
 general Morgan, with his whole detachment, and five hun- 
 dred prisoners, would have had scarcely any chance of 
 escaping. Still, the ardour of the British was unabated. 
 When the freshet had, in some degree, subsided, they 
 marched through the river, which was upwards of five hun- 
 dred yards wide, and three feet deep ; sustaining a constant 
 fire from the militia on the opposite bank, without return- 
 ing a single shot until they had effected their passage. As 
 soon as they reached the shore, the Americans dispersed. 
 The latter continued to fly, and the former to pursue. But 
 the swelling of the river Yadkin again offered a barrier to 
 obstruct the British army : a second interposition of the 
 floods ; which, being considered, by many, as the immedi- 
 ate hand of Providence, gave fresh vigour to their exertions 
 in favour of independence. 
 
 In the meantime, the two divisions of the American army 
 had formed a junction, at Guilford Court-house ; but their 
 number was so much inferior to the British, that general 
 Greene could not, with any propriety, risk an action. He 
 therefore held a council of officers ; who unanimously con- 
 curred in opinion, that he ought to retire over the Dan, and 
 avoid a battle, until re-enforced. Lord Cornwallis had yet 
 hopes of intercepting the Americans, before they reached 
 Virginia. But in this expectation he was deceived. The 
 rapidity of one general was evaded by a corresponding ce- 
 lerity in the other. On the 14th of February, the American 
 light troops having retired on that day upwards of forty 
 
176 HISTORY OF 
 
 miles, general Greene crossed the river Dan into that pro- 
 vince, with his entire army, artillery, and baggage. 
 
 He did not allow his men to remain long inactive. Being 
 informed that many of the inhabitants of North Carolina 
 were preparing to submit to the British general, he shortly 
 afterwards re-crossed the river ; accompanied by a brigade 
 of Virginia militia ; for the purpose of keeping alive the 
 courage of his party. Some of his light troops, command- 
 ed by colonel (late major) Lee, fell in with three hundred 
 and fifty of the royalists, on their way to join the British 
 standard at Hillsborough, and, mistaking the Americans 
 for a royal detachment sent to their support, were cut down, 
 as they were crying out " God save the king !" and making 
 protestations of their loyalty. That was not the only mis- 
 fortune of a similar kind, which attended these unnatural 
 attempts at co-operation. Colonel Tarleton put to the 
 sword several parties of the same description, in their ad- 
 vance to the British quarters; mistaking them for the patri- 
 otic militia of the country ; events which overset all the 
 schemes of lord Cornwallis, and entirely stopped the re- 
 cruiting service in behalf of the royal army. 
 
 While general Greene was unequal even to defensive 
 operations, he lay, for seven days, within a few miles of the 
 British camp : but took a new position every night ; by 
 which frequency of movement, lord Cornwallis could not 
 gain intelligence of his situation, in time to attack him with 
 proper advantage. He manoeuvred in this manner for thr»e 
 weeks ; during which time, he was often obliged to ask 
 bread from the common soldiers, having no provisions of 
 his own. At the end of that period, a re-enforcement ar- 
 rived. This gave him a superiority of numbers, and de- 
 termined him no longer to avoid a battle. An action took 
 place, on the 15th of March, at Guilford Court-house. The 
 American army consisted of four thousand four hundred 
 men, drawn up in three lines ; of whom, more than half 
 were militia; the British, of twenty-four hundred; chiefly 
 troops inured to victory. After a brisk cannonade in front, 
 the British advanced in three columns, and attacked the 
 first line, composed of North Carolina militia. It gave 
 way, before the enemy were within a hundred yards. This 
 was owing to the misconduct of a colonel ; who called out 
 to an officer at some distance, that he would be surrounded. 
 The militia were obliged to quit the field. The regulars 
 maintained the conflict with great spirit for an hour and a 
 half; but the discipline of the British soldiers finally pre- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 177 
 
 vailed. A retreat was therefore directed ; and general 
 Greene, about four hundred of his men having been killed 
 or wounded, retired in good order to Speedwell's iron- 
 works, ten miles from the field of battle. This was a dear- 
 ly purchased victory. Lord Cornwallis lost the service df 
 a third of his army, by death or wounds, and was in no con- 
 dition to improve his advantage. 
 
 One day, in the middle of winter, general Greene, when 
 passing a sentinel who was barefooted, said : " I fear, my 
 good fellow, you suffer much from the severe cold." — " Yes, 
 very much," was the reply, " but I do not complain. I 
 know I should fare better, had our general the means of 
 getting supplies. They say, however, that, in a few days, 
 we shall have a fight ; and then, I shall take care to secure 
 a pair of shoes." 
 
 In the same campaign. Dr. Faysough, when joining 
 Greene's army, called at the hut of general Huger, and was 
 refused admission. The doctor insisted on his right to en- 
 ter : the sentinel repeated his refusal. But Huger, recogniz- 
 ing the voice of his friend, ordered that he should be allow- 
 ed to pass. " Pardon me, sir," said the general, who lay 
 on the ground, wrapped up in an old military cloak, " for 
 jthis ungracious reception. The fate of war has robbed me 
 of every comfort, and I confined myself to solitude and an 
 old cloak, while my washerwoman is preparing the only 
 shirt I own." 
 
 During those distressing occurrences, the whig inhabit- 
 ants of South Carolina were animated by the gallant exer- 
 tions of Sumpter and Marion ; the former, in the western 
 extremity, ably supported by colonels Neil, Lacey, Hill, 
 Bratton, Winn, and Brandon ; the latter, in the north-east- 
 ern; aided by colonels Peter and Hugh Horry, colonels Bax- 
 ter and Postell, with majors Postell and James. 
 
 An aftair in which major Postell was concerned, may 
 serve to show the spirit of the times, and, especially, the 
 indifference for property which then prevailed. A captain 
 of the royal army, with twenty-five grenadiers, having taken 
 post in the house of Postell's father, the major placed his 
 small army of twenty-one militia, so as to command its 
 doors, and then called on them to surrender. This being 
 refused, he set fire to an out-house ; was proceeding to burn 
 the dwelling in which they were posted ; and nothing but 
 their immediate submission restrained him from sacrificing 
 his father's valuable establishment for the interest of his 
 countrv. 
 
178 HISTORY OF 
 
 Another event is still more worthy of admiration ; as pro- 
 ceeding from the patriotic feeling of the female sex, who 
 are less enabled to recover, by future industry, from the 
 devastations of civil war. The British having built some 
 works around Mrs. Motte's dwelling, situated above the 
 fork, on the south side of the Congaree, she aided the 
 Americans in burning her" own house ; and was thus the 
 means of compelling the garrison of nearly two hundred 
 men to surrender at discretion. The manner of accom- 
 plishing this was singular. Opposite to the hill on which 
 this lady's mansion stood, was another elevation, where she 
 resided in the old farm-house. On this height, colonel Lee 
 was posted, while general Marion occupied the eastern de- 
 clivity of the ridge on which the fort stood. Lee having 
 imparted to Mrs. Motte his design of burning her mansion 
 by means of combustible matter conveyed by arrows, this 
 magnanimous woman cheerfully presented him with a bow 
 and its apparatus imported from India. The first arrow 
 struck, and kindled a flame : a second and a third were 
 equally successful, and very soon the entire roof was in a 
 blaze. 
 
 The escape of one of the prisoners taken at Mrs. Motte's 
 house, was attended with a remarkable incident. Amongst 
 the tories, was a person named Smith ; who, greatly dread- 
 ing the resentment of his countrymen, prevailed on a sickly 
 mun, to whom he was hand-cuffed, to join him in eluding 
 the guard. They had not travelled far into the woods, be- 
 fore his yoke-fellow, quite exhausted by fatigue, declared he 
 could go no farther, and fell insensible, in a swoon. Con- 
 fined by the hand-cuffs. Smith was compelled to lie by him 
 two days and as many nights, without meat or drink; his 
 comrade being frequently in convulsions. On the third day, 
 he died. Smith could remain no longer: with his knife, he 
 separated himself from the dead man, by cutting off his 
 arm at the elbow, which he bore with him to the royal gar- 
 rison at Charleston. 
 
 An American soldier, flying from a party of the enemy, 
 sought the protection of Mrs. Richard Shubrick. His pur- 
 suers pressing closely after him, insisted that he should be 
 delivered up, and, in case of refusal, threatened immediate 
 destruction to her house. But, this intrepid female placed 
 herself before the chamber into which the unfortunate fugi- 
 tive had been conducted, and resolutely said; "To men of 
 honour, the chamber of a lady should be sacred. I will de- 
 fend it, though I perish. You may succeed and enter it ; 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 179 
 
 but it shall be over my corpse." — The officer was, for a 
 moment, speechless. " If muskets," he exclaimed, " were 
 placed in the hands of a few such women, our only safety 
 would be in retreat. Your heroism. Madam, protects you ; 
 I relinquish the pursuit." 
 
 So much, indeed, were the ladies of the south habituated 
 to injuries, and so warmly were they interested in the con- 
 test, that misfortunes were a cause rather of jocularity, 
 than regret. Mrs. Sabina Elliott having witnessed the ac- 
 tivity of an officer who had ordered the plundering of her 
 poultry-house, and finding an old Muscovy drake which had 
 escaped the general search, had it caught, ordered a ser- 
 vant to follow, on horseback, and deliver the fowl to the of- 
 ficer; with her compliments, that she concluded, in the 
 hurry of departure, it had been left behind, altogether by 
 mistake. 
 
 An anecdote is related of Mrs. Charles Elliott. A Brit- 
 ish officer, noted for inhumanity and oppression, meeting 
 this lady in a garden adorned with a great variety of flowers, 
 asked the name of the chamomile, which seemed to flour- 
 ish with remarkable luxuriance. " That is the rebel flow- 
 er," she replied. — " The rebel flower !" rejoined the officer, 
 ^' Why did it receive that name?" — "Because," answered 
 the lady, " it thrives most, when most trampled on." 
 
 Volumes would not record all the heroism of the Amer- 
 ican females. Shortly after the commencement of the war, 
 the family of Dr. Channing, then residing in England, re- 
 moved to France, and sailed thence in a well-armed vessel 
 for America. They had proceeded only a short way, when 
 they were attacked by a privateer. A fierce engagement 
 ensued ; during which, Mrs. Channing staid on deck, hand- 
 ing cartridges, dressing the wounded, and exhorting the 
 crew to resist till death. The colours of her vessel, were, 
 however, struck ; when, seizing the pistols and side-arms 
 of her husband, she threw them into the sea; declaring, 
 that she would rather die, than see them surrendered to the 
 English. 
 
 The boys also were courageous, and wielded the arms of 
 war at a very tender age. At the battle of Ramsour's Mill, 
 when captain Falls received a mortal wound, and fell, his 
 son, a youth of fourteen, rushed to the body, when the man, 
 who had shot him, was beginning to plunder it ; and, re- 
 gardless of his opponent's strength, snatched up his father's 
 sword, and laid him dead at his parent's feet. 
 
 The movements of lord Cornwallis after the battle of 
 
180 HISTORY OF 
 
 Guilford, indicated rather a defeat, than a victory. Leaving 
 his sick and wounded with tlie neighbouring loyalists, he 
 began a march towards Wilmington ; which had all the 
 appearance of a retreat. The Americans followed, until 
 they arrived at Ramsey's mill, on Deep river. Cornwallis 
 refreshed his army for about three weeks, and then moved 
 to Petersburg, in Virginia. Even before it was known 
 that the British commander had determined on this step, 
 general Greene had formed the bold resolution of returning 
 to South Carolina. Here, the British had erected a chain 
 of forts, from the capital to the extreme districts of the state ; ; 
 which had regular communication with each other. The 
 first object of Greene's attack, was Camden ; a village gar- 
 risoned by lord Rawdon, with nine hundred men. But, as 
 his force consisted only of about an equal number of con- 
 tinentals, with a few hundred militia, he was unequal to the '\ 
 task of carrying the place by storm, or of completely in- 
 vesting it ; and therefore chose a good position, about a 
 mile distant, in expectation of alluring the garrison from 
 their lines. Lord Rawdon indulged him in his desire. 
 With great spirit, he sallied out, on the 25th of April, and 
 defeated his antagonist, at Hobkirk Hill ; after which, he 
 returned to Camden ; while the Americans, having retreated 
 in good order, encamped about five miles beyond their for- 
 mer position. 
 
 Soon afterwards, lord Rawdon, finding that his commu- 
 nication with the capital was cut off, burned a considerable 
 portion of the town, and retired to the southward of the 
 Santee. The British lost six posts in rapid succession, and 
 abandoned all the north-eastern extremities of the state. 
 But the bright prospect, now opening to the American ar- 
 my, was, in a short time, obscured, by a heavy gloom. 
 When nearly masters of the whole country, they experi- 
 enced many severe repulses, particularly at Ninety-six, 
 (afterwards named Cambridge,) and were compelled to re- 
 treat to its utmost boundary. Greene was advised to re- 
 tire, with his remaining force, to Virginia. To this sug- 
 gestion, he replied, " I will recover South Carolina, or die 
 in the attempt." He adopted the only expedient now left 
 him; that of avoiding an engagement, until the British 
 force should be divided. His determination was rewarded 
 with most signal success. After a series of manceuvres, 
 which deranged the entire plan of the British operations, 
 on the eighth of September, he attacked their main body, 
 encamped, under the command of colonel Stuart, at Eutaw 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 181 
 
 Springs, and overthrew them, with a loss, on their side, of 
 eleven hundred men, including prisoners and wounded. 
 
 When Marion's brigade was engaged m this battle, cap- 
 tain Gee was supposed to be mortally wounded. A bail 
 passed through the cock of his hat, very much tearmg, not 
 only the crown, but also his head. He lay, for many hours, 
 insensible ; but, suddenly reviving, his first mquiry was after 
 his hat: which being brought to him, a friend at the same 
 time lamenting the mangled state of his head, he exclaimed : 
 " Oh, I care nothing about my head : time and the doctors 
 will mend that; but it grieves me^to think that the rascals 
 have ruined my new hat for ever." • ,u 
 
 In the close of the year, Greene moved down into the 
 lower country ; and, about the same time, the British, aban- 
 doning their out-posts, retired, with their whole force, 
 to Charleston Neck. The holding of the interior was re- 
 linquished : the conquerors, who had lately earned their 
 arms to the extremities of the state, now seldom aimed at 
 any thing more than to secure themselves in the vicinity ot 
 
 the capital. v xi 
 
 The battle of Eutaw may be considered as ending the war 
 in South Carolina : a few excursions were afterwards made 
 by the British; but nothing of more general consequence 
 "than the loss of property and of individual lives. 
 
 When last we spoke of lord Cornwallis, he was march- 
 iiiff towards Petersburg. Various plans of operation had 
 occurred to him : whether he should return to South Caro- 
 lina by sea; follow general Greene directly through the 
 barren country; or, leaving that province to the care ol 
 lord Rawdon, persevere in his design against Virginia. 
 The last object was, after much deliberation, embraced; 
 judging that the possession of this state would, at any time, 
 insure the obedience of South Carolina. In less than a 
 month, he reached Petersburg; where he was joined by a 
 numerous detachment, under general Philips : but, in pro- 
 Deeding on his march, he was closely observed, and occa- 
 sionally impeded, by the Marquis La Fayette; who with 
 a few thousand troops, was intrusted with the principal com- 
 mand in Virginia. At Williamsburg, the rear of the Brit- 
 ish army, being attacked by colonel Butler, sustained con- 
 siderable loss; and was afterwards much harassed by the 
 mancBUvring of general Wayne. Finally, lord Cornwa"^^ 
 conformity with the instructions of sir Henry Clinton, but 
 much against his own judgment, took a station at York- 
 
182 HISTORY OF 
 
 town, as the most desirable for a strong, permanent place 
 of arms, both for the army and navy. 
 
 Expecting a re-enforcement from the West Indies, the 
 British naval officers conceived that important operations 
 would shortly be commenced in Virginia. But, while 
 they were indulging these hopes, the count De Grasse, with 
 a French fleet of twenty-eight sail, entered the Chesa- 
 peake ; and, about the same time, intelligence arrived, that 
 the combined armies, which had been stationed in the more 
 northern states, were approaching. Before the British had 
 fully contemplated the danger of their situation, De Grasse 
 blocked up York River with three large ships and some 
 frigates, and moored the principal part of his fleet in Lyn- 
 haven Bay. Three thousand French troops, commanded by 
 the marquis De St. Simon, were disembarked ; which, hav- 
 ing formed a junction with the continental troops under La 
 Fayette, the whole took post at Williamsburg. An at- 
 tack on this force was designed : but, in consequence of 
 promised re-enforcements, lord Cornwallis thought it more 
 consistent with military prudence to defer his original in- 
 tention : and, as his instructions to hold his ground were 
 considered positive, he used, at this period, no endeavour 
 to abandon his station, though becoming, every day, more 
 dangerous. 
 
 Admiral Greaves, with twenty sail of the line, made an 
 effort for the relief of Cornwallis ; but without effecting 
 his purpose. On the 5th of September, when he appeared 
 off the capes of Virginia, count De Grasse went out to 
 meet him, and an indecisive engagement took place. The 
 British were willing to renew the action ; but De Grasse, 
 for good reasons, declined the challenge. His chief design 
 was to cover a French fleet, of eight line of battle ships, 
 expected from Rhode Island ; an object which he accom- 
 plished : for, while he was manoeuvring with admiral 
 Greaves, they passed the latter in the night, and got with- 
 in the capes. This gave the French a decided superiority : 
 Greaves soon departed, and De Grasse re-entered the Ches- 
 apeake. 
 
 Before sir Henry Clinton was informed of that engage- 
 ment, his solicitude had urged him to send a gallant offi- 
 cer, with a letter to lord Cornwallis. This hazardous duty 
 was performed by major Cochrane. The British admiral 
 had left the Virginia waters before his arrival : yet at every 
 peril, he ran through the whole French fleet, in an open 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 183 
 
 boat, landed safely, and delivered his despatches ; but im- 
 mediately, his head was shot off by a cannon ball. 
 
 The loss ultimately sustained by the British, in the cap- 
 ture of St. Eustatia, was now apparent. Weakened by the 
 absence of a squadron sent to England with the wealth ac- 
 quired in that island, their fleet was rendered inferior to 
 the French ; and thus, although individuals were enriched, 
 the interest of the nation severely suffered. 
 
 Meanwhile, in accordance with the well-digested plan 
 of the campaign, the French and American forces were 
 marching through the middle states, on their way to York- 
 town. 
 
 New York had been fixed as the grand object of assault ; 
 but subsequent events had rendered an attack on Yorktown 
 more desirable. A show of prosecuting the original de- 
 sign, was, nevertheless, continued. A letter from general 
 Washington, detailing the particulars of the first intended 
 operations, had been intercepted by sir Henry Clinton ; so 
 that this officer bent his whole force to the strengthening 
 of that post : and, believing that every movement towards 
 Virginia was a feint, he suflfered the allied forces to pass 
 him unmolested. 
 
 ^ Washington and Rochambeau reached Williamsburg on 
 the 14th of September; and, with a few confidential officers, 
 visited the count De Grasse on board his ship, and decided 
 the arrangements. On the 25th, the combined forces, un- 
 der the care of general Nelson, arrived there ; and, in a few 
 days afterwards, general Washington moved down with the 
 whole towards Yorktown. 
 
 The works erected for its security, on the right, were re- 
 doubts and batteries, with a line of stockade in the rear. 
 A marshy ravine lay in front of the right ; over which, was 
 placed a large redoubt. A morass extended along the cen- 
 tre, guarded by a line of stockade and batteries. On the 
 left of the centre, was a horn-work, with a ditch, a row of 
 frise, and an abattis. Two redoubts were advanced before 
 the left. The combined forces took possession of an out- 
 ward position, from which the British had retired. About 
 this time, the latter detached some cavalry to Gloucester ; 
 which, general De Choisy so fully invested, as to cut off 
 all communication between it and the country. In the 
 meantime, the royal army were exerting every nerve to 
 complete their half-finished works, and impede,'- by their 
 artillery, the operations of the combined army. On the 
 9th of October, the latter opened their batteries, and kept 
 
184 HISTORY OF 
 
 up a well-directed fire, from heavy cannon, mortars, and 
 howitzers. The shells of the besiegers reached the vessels 
 in the harbour. 
 
 On the 10th, another messenger arrived, with a despatch 
 from sir Henry Clinton to lord Cornwallis, which stated 
 various circumstances, tending to lessen the probability of 
 relief, by a direct movement from New York. 
 
 The besiegers commenced their second parallel, two 
 hundred yards from the British works ; but, two redoubts, 
 advanced on the left of these, greatly impeded the progress 
 of the combined army. It was, therefore, proposed to en- 
 ter them by storm. To excite a spirit of emulation, the 
 reduction of one was committed to the French ; of the 
 other, to the Americans. The latter, led by colonels Ham- 
 ilton and Laurens, marched to the assault with unloaded 
 muskets ; and, having passed the abattis and palisades, over- 
 came the redoubt in a few minutes, with inconsiderable 
 loss. Eight of the British were killed, one hundred and 
 twenty were captured, and a few escaped. The French 
 were equally successful; though at a greater expense of 
 lives. They took the redoubt assigned to them with rapidi- 
 ty ; but, being more numerously opposed, their loss amount- 
 ed to nearly one hundred men. These works being, im- 
 mediately afterwards, included in the second parallel, their 
 occupation facilitated the subsequent approaches. 
 
 The situation of the besieged was hourly growing more 
 distressing. Their fate was hastening to a crisis. The 
 assailants poured destruction upon them, from the very 
 means which they had erected for defence ; while continu- 
 ed sallies to repel them, could not, with propriety, be risk- 
 ed. One was projected, with four hundred men, command- 
 ed by colonel Abercrombie. He proceeded so far as to 
 force two redoubts, and spike eleven pieces of cannon ; but, 
 though the officers and privates displayed great bravery in 
 this enterprise, their success produced no essential advan- 
 tage. The cannon were soon unspiked and rendered fit for 
 service. 
 
 By this time, the batteries of the besiegers were covered 
 with nearly a hundred pieces of heavy ordnance ; and the 
 works of the besieged were so much damaged, that they 
 could scarcely show a single gun. Lord Cornwallis had 
 no safety left, except in capitulation or escape. He deter- 
 mined on the latter. Means were accordingly prepared, 
 to carry the troops, in the night, to Gloucester Point; 
 but, after one party had crossed over, a violent storm dis- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 185 
 
 persed the boats, and frustrated the entire design. ThuH 
 weakened by separation, the royal army was exposed to in- 
 creased danger ; and orders were sent •to those who had 
 passed, to return. Longer resistance would aggravate, 
 without offering the remotest probability of averting, their 
 misfortune. Lord Cornwallis, therefore, wrote a letter to 
 general Washington, requesting a cessation of arms for 
 twenty-four hours, and the appointment of commissioners 
 to arrange the terms of a surrender. A capitulation was 
 agreed on ; by which, the posts of York and Gloucester 
 v/ere entered by the combined forces, on the 19th of Octo- 
 ber. The honour of marching out with colours flying, 
 which had been refused to general Lincoln on his giving 
 up Charleston, was now refused to Cornwallis : and Lincoln 
 was appointed to receive the submission of the royal army, 
 precisely in the same way in which sir Henry Clinton had 
 received his own. 
 
 The troops of every kind that surrendered, exceeded 
 seven thousand ; but, so great was the number of sick and 
 wounded, that there were not four thousand capable of 
 bearing arms. The regular forces, employed in their re- 
 duction, consisted of seven thousand French, and five thou- 
 sand five hundred continentals with the addition of about 
 four thousand militia. 
 
 This may be considered as the closing scene of the re- 
 volutionary war. The whole project was conceived with 
 ■profound wisdom, and the incidents were combined with 
 singular propriety. The French and American engineers 
 and artillery merited the highest praise. Generals Du 
 Portail and Knox, with colonel Gouvion, and captain Roche- 
 fontaine, were promoted. Washington, Rochambeau, De 
 Grasse, and all the oificers and men under their command, 
 were honoured with the thanks of congress. Unusual trans- 
 ports of joy pervaded the Avhole people. It is asserted, 
 that the nerves of some were so agitated, as, to produce 
 convulsions; and the aged door-keeper of congress, expir- 
 ed from the violence of his feelings. General Washington 
 ordered, that those who were under military arrests, should 
 be pardoned, and that divine service should be performed 
 in the different brigades of the army ; at which, he recom- 
 mended the presence of all the troops not upon duty, to 
 assist, with a serious deportment and grateful heart, in of- 
 fering thanks to that Providence who had so remarkably 
 extended his hand in their behalf. Moved by a similar 
 feeling, congress resolved to go in procession to church, to 
 16* 
 
186 HISTORY OF 
 
 give public acknowledgment to Almighty God ; and issued 
 a proclamation for religiously observing the 13th of De- 
 cember following,#as a day of thanksgiving and prayer. 
 
 We cannot quit this interesting period of our history, 
 without paying a tribute of respect to the admirable de- 
 portment of the French army, since their first arrival in 
 the United States. At Rhode Island, where they had spent 
 the chief part of their time, they conducted themselves 
 towards the inhabitants as brothers. In their march to York- 
 town, five hundred miles of their journey lay through a 
 country abounding in fruit, and at a time when the most 
 delicious productions of nature, growing on and near the 
 high-ways, presented both opportunity and temptation to 
 gratify their appetites, rendered eager by the effects of a 
 parching sun ; yet, in this long route, amongst a people of 
 different principles, customs, language, and religion, so 
 complete was their discipline, that scarcely an instance 
 could be produced of a peach or an apple being taken, with- 
 out the consent of the inhabitants. 
 
 A happy reward of all their labours, a full compensation 
 for the streams of blood so generously shed by the Ameri- 
 can patriots, w^ere now almost obtained. The year ter- 
 minated in every part of the United States, in favour of the 
 cause of freedom. It began with weakness, mutiny, and 
 devastation, and ended in confidence, victory, and joy. 
 
 General Washington, with the greater part of his forces, 
 returned, after the completion of this conquest, to the state 
 of New Y^ork. An obstruction of the intercourse between 
 the town and country, was all that he at this period attempt- 
 ed ; and the British, on their part, were contented to remain 
 within their lines. In Carolina, the same conduct was 
 mutually observed. But, in one of the desultory skirmishes 
 which occurred in the neighbourhood of Charleston, the 
 Americans had to deplore the loss of the amiable and in- 
 trepid colonel Laurens. In Georgia, the war ended with a 
 severe, though indecisive, engagement, near Savannah ; in 
 which, the royal troops, aided by a large number of Creek 
 Indians, were opposed by an American detachment under 
 general Wayne. The English government, having deter- 
 mined to relinquish, at least for the present, an offensive 
 warfare in the United States, withdrew their forces from 
 this, and the adjoining province of South Carolina. 
 
 It was happy for all the contending parties, that the na- 
 tional pride of Britain did not interfere, to prevent what 
 was so forcibly urged by policy. Humbled by the defeat 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 187 
 
 at Yorktown, it required the splendid victories gained by 
 her navy in the West Indies, and her army at Gibraltar, to 
 reconcile her to the independence of the revolted colonies ; 
 for, England never admits that she is vanquished. France, 
 as well as Spain, saw no prospect of success. Disappointed 
 in their immediate views, both, it may easily be conceived, 
 would have sheathed the sword, and allowed the young re- 
 public to struggle, unaided, for existence. Britain, wearied 
 by a contest, in which one hundred millions sterling had 
 been added to her debt, and the lives wasted of fifty thousand 
 of her subjects ; in which, defeat was doubly disgraceful, 
 and victory without the consolation of renown, would glad- 
 ly have desisted from offensive operations in the United 
 States. But the Americans, firm to their stipulations, 
 were determined not to remain inactive, and to conclude 
 no arrangement which did not comprise their European 
 allies. 
 
 In the British parliament, which met in December, short- 
 ly after the capitulation at Yorktown became known in 
 London, the decided language of the king's speech, point- 
 ing to the continuance of the American war, was approved, 
 or, at least, assented to, by a majority of both lords and 
 ^commons. A few days afterwards, a motion was introduced 
 in the lower house, declaring. That all farther attempts 
 to reduce the Americans, to obedience, by force, would be 
 ineffectual, and injurious to the best interests of Great 
 Britain. This, however, was not carried ; though the de- 
 bate on the subject w^as prolonged until two o'clock in the 
 morning, and the friends of peace, amongst whom, Mr. 
 Burke and Mr. Fox were particularly distinguished for 
 their eloquence, had received additional strength. As the 
 opposition party became every day more numerous, and the 
 nation was now almost universally actuated by the same 
 feelings, general Conway soon afterwards brought forward 
 ^^oQ a similar resolution; w^hich, after much strenuous 
 debating, was successful, by a respectable majority. 
 A new administration was the necessary consequence of 
 this change in the public sentiment. Lord North's situa- 
 tion was assigned to the marquis of Rockingham ; and, on 
 the decease of the latter, the chief reins of government 
 were intrusted to the earl of Shelburne, assisted by Wil- 
 liam Pitt, son of the celebrated lord Chatham. This no- 
 bleman, whose memory is entitled to the highest degree of 
 respect and gratitude, in the breast of every American, 
 had been removed in the year 1778, by death, frofti the 
 
188 HISTORY OF 
 
 uneasy contemplation of those destructive measures which 
 he had so ably combated, and which were now on the eve 
 of being abandoned. 
 
 To remove constitutional impediments, an act of parlia- 
 ment w^as passed, giving the crown a power of negotiating 
 wnth the revolted colonies ; an indispensable authority : as, 
 by the terms on which the king holds the executive func- 
 tions of the British empire, he cannot devest it of any of its 
 ancient appendages. 
 
 Commissioners on the part of Great Britain and her late 
 colonies, entered on the important business of pacification, 
 at Paris. The latter confided their interests to John Adams, 
 Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens ; the for- 
 mer, to Mr. Fitzherbert and Mr. Oswald. Two of the first 
 sovereigns of Europe, the empress of Russia and the em- 
 peror of Germany, were mediators, in promoting the desi- 
 rable agreement. Preliminary articles of peace were signed 
 ■tjQr> on the 30th of November, 1782; and on the 3d of 
 September in the next year, they were ratified and 
 inserted in a definitive treaty between Great Britain and 
 France. The independence of the states was acknowledged. 
 Very ample boundaries were allowed them ; comprehending 
 the fertile and extensive countries on both sides of the 
 Ohio, and on the east side of the Mississippi. They were 
 also allowed the right of fishing on the banks of Newfound- 
 land, and in all other waters hitherto visited for that pur- 
 pose by both nations. The ministers of congress procured 
 for their countrymen better terms than they had reason to 
 expect ; larger boundaries than the states, when colonies, 
 had ever claimed : but the additional territories might, if 
 retained by Great Britain, have occasioned another war. 
 
 Peace was proclaimed in the American army, on the 
 19th of April; just eight years from the memorable day 
 when the first blood was shed between the colonies and the 
 parent state, in the fields of Lexington and Concord. 
 
 In the midst of the pleasing reflections on the past, and 
 anticipations of the future, the circumstances of the brave 
 Americans who had spent the prime of their lives in com- 
 bating even more than a human enemy could inflict, drew 
 forth the commiseration of every generous breast. The 
 states, which owed to them their political existence, were 
 unable, at this period, to fulfil their stipulations with their 
 troops ; and several were unwilling, through selfish motives, 
 to join with congress in establishing a uniform rate of im- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 189 
 
 port duties, from which a fund might arise for doing jus- 
 tice to them hereafter. Officers and privates were about 
 to be dismissed, many of whom had not, for five years, re- 
 ceived the smallest pecuniary compensation, to reward their 
 dangers and fatigues, or cancel the debts contracted in 
 their absence by their families. Consequences the most 
 serious were apprehended. Anonymous letters (since as- 
 certained to have been written by general Armstrong) were 
 circulated, to inflame the minds of the unrequited forces, 
 and induce them to insist on a redress of grievances, be- 
 fore they parted with their arms. The dignified coolness 
 of general Washington interposed to dispel the storm. He 
 requested the general and field officers, and an officer from 
 each company, to assemble at an early day ; and, previous 
 to the meeting, sent for one of them after another, and en- 
 larged, in private, on the loss of character, to the whole 
 army, which would result from intemperate resolutions. 
 When they were afterwards convened, he addressed them 
 in a speech, well calculated to soothe their minds ; pledging 
 himself to exert all his influence in their favour, and ap- 
 pealing to their honour, their humanity, and their regard 
 to the military, as well as the national character of their 
 rising country. He then retired. No reply whatever was 
 attempted. Softened by the eloquence of their beloved 
 commander, those who had entered the meeting irritated 
 in the highest degree, by the contemplation of their wrongs 
 and the extent of their sufferings, acquiesced in a reso- 
 lution, " That no circumstances of distress, or danger, 
 should induce a conduct that might tend to sully the repu- 
 tation and glory they had acquired ; that the army continu- 
 ed to have unshaken confidence in the justice of congress 
 and their country ; and that they viewed with abhorrence, 
 and rejected with disdain, the infamous proposition in the 
 late anonymous addresses." 
 
 Soon afterwards, congress determined, that the officers 
 who preferred an immediate sum to the half-pay for life, 
 before promised them, should be entitled to receive, in its 
 place, the amount of five years' full pay, in money, or in 
 securities bearing interest. 
 
 To avoid the inconvenience of dismissing a great num- 
 ber of soldiers, in a body, furloughs were readily granted to 
 individuals ; without enjoining their return. Thus, a great 
 part of an unpaid army was disbanded, and dispersed over 
 the several states, without tumult or disorder. About 
 eighty, however, of the Pennsylvania levies, formed an ex- 
 
190 HISTORY OF 
 
 ception to the general disposition of the army. Having, in 
 defiance of their officers, marched to Philadelphia, where 
 they prevailed on some other troops to join them, the whole, 
 amounting to upwards of three hundred, proceeded, with 
 fixed bayonets, to the state-house, in which, congress and 
 the executive council of Pennsylvania were assembled ; 
 placed guards at the door, and sent in a written message to 
 the president and council, threatening them with military 
 vengeance, if their demands were not satisfied in less than 
 twenty minutes. Dreading the fury of an enraged soldiery, 
 congress, after a three hours' confinement, retired, and ap- 
 pointed their next place of meeting at Princeton. Washing- 
 ton again displayed his parental care. He immediately or- 
 dered a strong detachment of his army to march to Phila- 
 delphia. Several of the mutineers were tried, and condemn- 
 ed to suffer death ; but they were all ultimately pardoned. 
 Four months' pay was, afterwards, through the great ex- 
 ertions of the superintendent of finance, given to the army ; 
 a sum, which, although trifling, was all the recompense the 
 states were at that time able to make. 
 
 On the 25th of November, about three weeks after the 
 American army was discharged, New York was evacuated 
 by the British forces ; and Washington, accompanied by 
 governor Clinton, made a public entry into that city, in 
 grand procession. An interesting moment was approach- 
 ing. The period arrived, when the commander-in-chief 
 was to bid adieu to his officers ; men endeared to him by 
 a long series of common sufferings and dangers, and by the 
 successful issue of their exertions. The parting was solemn 
 and affecting. Calling for a glass of wine, Washington 
 thus addressed them : " With a heart full of love and grati- 
 tude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that 
 your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your 
 former have been glorious and honourable." The officers 
 advanced to him successively ; he took an affectionate fare- 
 well of each; and then passed through a corps of light in-, 
 fantry to the place of embarkation. They followed in mute 
 procession, with countenances expressive of their serious 
 feelings. He entered the barge, turned to the companions 
 of his glory, waved his hat, and bade them a silent adieu. 
 
 His military cares being ended, Washington lent his fos- 
 tering regard to the civil administration. Anxious that 
 they should enjoy in tranquillity, what they iiad gained by so 
 great an expenditure of lives, he addressed a circular letter 
 to the governors of the different states ; in which, with all 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 191 
 
 the charms of his distinguished eloquence, he inculcated 
 the necessity of justice, of subordination to the arrange- 
 ments required by their new situation, and improvement in 
 the original bond of political union. 
 
 He next proceeded to Annapolis, then the seat of con- 
 gress, to resign his commission. In every town and village 
 through which he passed, he was met by demonstrations of 
 gratitude and joy. The 23d of December, having been 
 appointed for that interesting ceremony, general Washing- 
 ton appeared before them ; when, addressing the president, 
 " The great events on which my resignation depended," 
 said he, " having at length taken place, I have now the 
 honour of offering my sincere congratulations to congress, 
 and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into 
 their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the in- 
 dulgence of retiring from the service of my country. Hap- 
 py in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, 
 and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States 
 of becoming a respectable nation, I resign, with satisfaction, 
 the appointment I accepted with diffidence ; a diffidence of 
 my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task : which, how- 
 ever, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of 
 our cause, in the support of the supreme power of the Union, 
 and the patronage of Heaven. The successful termination 
 of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations : my 
 gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assist- 
 ance I have received from my countrymen, increases with 
 every review of the momentous contest. While I repeat 
 my obligations to the army, in general, I should do injustice 
 to my own feelings, not to acknowledge, in this place, the 
 peculiar services, and distinguished merits, of those gentle- 
 men who have been attached to my person during the war. 
 It was impossible' the choice of confidential officers, to com- 
 pose my family, could have been more fortunate. Permit 
 me, sir, to recommend, in particular, those who have con- 
 tinued in the service to the present moment, as worthy of 
 the favourable notice and patronage of congress. 
 
 " I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last 
 solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests 
 of our country to the protection of Almighty God, and 
 those who have the superintendence of them to his holy 
 keeping. 
 
 " Having thus finished the work assigned me, I retire 
 from the great theatre of action ; and, bidding an affectionate 
 farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have 
 
192 HISTORY OF 
 
 long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave 
 of all the employments of public life." 
 
 After an eloquent and affecting reply by the president, 
 general Mifflin, Washington withdrew. He hastened, with 
 exquisite delight, to Mount Vernon ; where he exchanged 
 the anxious labours of the camp, for the pleasing industry 
 of a farm ; the instruments of war, for those of husbandry ; 
 and became the patron and example of ingenious and pro- 
 fitable agriculture, as well as the successful promoter of 
 inland navigation. 
 
 Having thus followed the great military exertions of the 
 American patriots to a happy termination, a short account 
 of the legislative proceedings of the individual colonies may 
 here be given with advantage. 
 
 The important revolution, as regarded their dependence 
 on Great Britain, required a corresponding alteration in 
 their governments. This had been recommended by the 
 general congress, at an early period of the war. Except 
 in Rhode Island, which retained the charter granted by ; 
 Charles the second, conventions were assembled ; which ; 
 formed new constitutions, agreeably with the strictest prin- 
 ciples of republicanism, retaining whatever was desirable 
 in the original institutions, and providing every additional 
 security against tyranny and corruption, that ingenuity or 
 experience could dictate. In these, though, in some mat- 
 ters there is an opposition of sentiment, yet, in the main 
 objects, tending to allow to man his natural right of liberty 
 and equality, the features have a striking resemblance. 
 With a few exceptions, the mind is uncontrolled in its in- 
 tercourse with God. There is no inconvenience, either 
 civil or political, suffered by individuals who differ in reli- 
 gious opinions from the predominant party in the state. All 
 religions are equally protected ; and all citizens of good 
 moral character, not denying the existence of one superin- 
 tending Being, with a future state of rewards and pun- 
 ishments, are, in most of the American communities, eligi- 
 ble to the highest honours that the several republics can 
 confer. 
 
 The statute and common laws of England, formerly ob- 
 served in the provincial courts of justice, remain in practice, 
 as before, unless altered or annulled. The inestimable pri- 
 vilege, of British derivation, a trial by jury ; the freedom of 
 the press, with the additional right, in case of prosecuting 
 for a libel, of giving evidence as to the truth of the facts al- 
 leged in the obnoxious publication, where the matter is a 
 
THE UNITED STATES, 193 
 
 proper subject of public interest ; are declared fundamental 
 principles of the newly adopted constitutions : also, that debt- 
 ors shall not be imprisoned, after delivering to their creditors 
 a true schedule of all their property ; that capital punish- 
 ments shall be inflicted only for enormous crimes ; and that 
 no conviction in a court of justice shall cause the forfeiture 
 of the criminal's estate, or any degree of injury to the rights 
 of his descendants. No hereditary honours can be granted. 
 No titles, except those which designate an office, are recog- 
 nized by law. There is only one deviation from the latter 
 essential mark of the republican spirit. Massachusetts has 
 conferred the ephemeral title of " His Excellency" on the 
 governor; and upon the lieutenant-governor, of the state, 
 that of " His Honour." But, although these . aristocratic 
 customs are so generally denounced by the laws, they are 
 eagerly followed by the people. They are universally 
 usurped, and mutually allowed, by the members of the 
 state and general governments, and as freely applied by 
 their constituents. There are in the United States more 
 nominal nobility, than any country in the world exhibits, of 
 legitimate creation. Every governor is Excellent ; every 
 judge, senator, and representative, is Honourable ; and every 
 lawyer, and justice of the peace, distinguished by the chival- 
 ric title of Esquire. These frivolities should be carefully 
 discouraged, and the dangerous assumptions, by every real 
 friend of liberty, opposed. They are the first robes in which 
 a republic advances to aristocracy ; thence, to monarchy ; 
 and, from monarchy, to oppression and extravagance. 
 
 The governments resemble, in their principal organiza- 
 tion, the frame of the new federal constitution. They con- 
 sist of three branches ; a governor, a senate, and a house 
 of representatives. But, in nearly all the states, property 
 is required to qualify the candidates for their situations ; 
 and, in many, it is a requisite qualification in the elector. 
 In New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania ; Dela- 
 ware, South Carolina, and Georgia ; the greatest liberality, 
 in that respect, prevails. In those states, every free citi- 
 zen of twenty-one years of age, after residing a certain time 
 within the respective commonwealths, and contributing his 
 share of the public expenditure, (excluding, in some, the 
 inhabitants of colour,) is allowed a vote. Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut; New York, New Jersey, and Virginia; 
 confine the elective right to citizens possessed of property. 
 New Jersey formerly extended the right of voting to fe- 
 males. Maryland allows no political liberty except to 
 17 
 
194 HISTORY OF 
 
 Christians; North Carolina observes a similar jealousy of 
 all but Protestants : and Christians are the only people en- 
 titled to general protection by the constitutions of New 
 Hampshire and Massachusetts. Senators are required to be 
 more advanced in years than members of the lower house : 
 they hold their stations for a longer period of time ; and, in 
 some states, are not chosen directly by the people, but by 
 the representative bodies, or by intermediate electors, ap- 
 pointed by the former. In New York, and Maryland, North 
 and South Carolina, and Georgia, clergy are not eligible as 
 members of either branch of the legislature.* 
 
 Compensation is allowed to members of the legislature, 
 for their attendance at the seat of government; a regula- 
 tion similar to the ancient practice in England. That fre- 
 quent recurrence may be had to the judgment of the peo- 
 ple, the terms of representative service are short. Elec- 
 tions, for the lower branch, are, in general, made yearly. 
 The votes are, in some states, given by ballot ; in others, by 
 open voice ; both modes having their advocates ; as it is dif- 
 ficult to ascertain whether, in practice, the former method 
 is entitled to a preference. 
 
 The interruption suffered by foreign commerce, gave a 
 lively stimulus to domestic ingenuity. To the revolution, 
 the United States are indebted for the cultivation of sugar 
 from the maple tree. Determined to use, so far as possi- 
 ble, no productions except of their own growth or manufac- 
 ture, the inhabitants tried every means of supplying their 
 conveniences from their native stores ; and a farmer, at 
 Bernardstown, in Massachusetts, in the early stage of the 
 misunderstanding with the British parliament, succeeded 
 in producing, from the northern forest, a species of sugar, 
 little inferior to that usually manufactured from the cane. 
 
 The department of literature is the next subject that 
 claims attention. Several years before the revolution, a 
 type-foundry was commenced at Germantown, but em- 
 ployed cliiefly for the presses of its owner, Christopher 
 Sower, who printed the Bible, and other works, in the Ger- 
 man language ; and, in 1769, Abel Buel of Killingsworth, 
 in Connecticut, began the casting of types, on a small scale ; 
 but, the first, who regularly pursued this business in the 
 United States, was John Baine, of Edinburgh, who settled 
 in Philadelphia, soon after the termination of the war. 
 
 * Those are the principal features of the original constitutions ; which, in 
 several of the states, have subsequently undergone considerable alterations. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 195 
 
 Some of the early settlers in Virginia were men of letters : 
 but, with the exception of their historians, Smith, Stith, 
 Beverley, and Keith, they have left no writings of import- 
 ance. Before the revolution, the only work of general in- 
 terest published in the colonies, was the first volume of the 
 Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, insti- 
 tuted in 1743, and held in Philadelphia. Men of science 
 had promulgated their ordinary ideas in the newspapers, 
 and their essays, of a higher character, through the medium 
 of the Royal Society of London. Fourteen Americans, — 
 four of the name of Winthrop, Paul Dudley, and president 
 Leverett; Thomas Brattle, Cotton Mather, doctors Frank- 
 lin, Boylestone, Mitchell, Morgan, Rittenhouse, and Gar- 
 den ; were members of that association. 
 
 The families of Winthrop and Mather were distinguished 
 amongst the first inhabitants of New England, for their 
 virtues and general abilities. Of the latter, (not fewer than 
 ten of whom exercised, at the same time, the clerical pro- 
 fession,) Cotton Mather was the most conspicuous. He 
 j was one of the most voluminous writers of his day. His 
 Magnalia, published in the beginning of the last century, is 
 an extraordinary performance ; alike interesting, as con- 
 fining the church history of New England, and curious, as 
 displaying a puerile inconsistency with his liberal education, 
 in his belief of witchcraft, and its whole train of antichris- 
 tian absurdities. Dr. Boylestone, in the year 1720, intro- 
 duced into Boston the practice of inoculation for the small- 
 pox ; before which time, it was not used in any part of the 
 American continent. 
 
 The name of Franklin, which has frequently appeared in 
 our political narrative ; a name inseparably associated with 
 that of liberty; is not less illustrious in the annals of philos- 
 ophy. Benjamin Franklin will be a lasting theme of admi- 
 ration. Endued by nature with an originality of thought, 
 uncommon accuracy of judgment, and deep penetration ; 
 his mental faculties unclouded by intemperance ; his whole 
 time devoted to industry ; his resources improved by a rigid 
 system of economy ; he rose, from an humble station, to 
 eminence in business, enjoyed the highest honours within 
 his adopted province, and enriched the field of science with 
 the sublimity of his researches. In developing the subtle 
 nature of the electric fluid, he was unrivalled. Though his 
 theory of " positive and negative electricity" has not been 
 demonstrated to the entire satisfaction of philosophers, yet, 
 no other has been imagined to supply its place ; nor have 
 
196 HISTORY OF 
 
 any experiments, in the smallest degree, shaken the proba- 
 ble correctness of his system. But a discovery of a grand- 
 er character was reserved for Dr. Franklin. To him, the 
 world is indebted, for showing the electrical quality of 
 lightning ; and, consequently, the means of preserving out 
 dwellings and shipping from the destructive flash. No one 
 should be unacquainted with the mental treasures contained 
 in his various works. His biography and maxims, togeth- 
 er with a sketch of his principal discoveries, should be in 
 the hands of every youth ; and the whole of his essays and 
 transactions, studied with minute attention by the philoso- 
 pher. Boston may justly be proud of being the birth-place 
 of Dr. Franklin ; and Pennsylvania will gratefully remem- 
 ber the services of her adopted citizen. Besides the foun- 
 dation of the Philadelphia Library, in 1731, his country re- 
 mains largely indebted to him for innumerable institutions, } 
 as well as for pecuniary bequests mentioned in his will.* 
 
 The translation of Cicero's treatise on old age, made, in 
 the year 1734, by Mr. Logan, of Pennsylvania, is highly de- 
 serving the perusal of those who are advanced in years, and 
 of young persons in their progress to maturity. Much 
 comfort will be received from it by the aged, and much 
 good advice by inconsiderate youth. It illustrates the ad- 
 vantages of temperance, and of early mental improvement, 
 by copious examples of men, who, long after the period 
 usually allowed to human life, had served their country with 
 distinction in the senate, enlightened mankind by their 
 wisdom, or enjoyed the satisfaction of domestic retirement. 
 The translator has furnished notes, containing a more ex- 
 tended biography of the characters mentioned in the origi- 
 nal ; thereby rendering the work more interesting to read- 
 ers not extensively conversant with ancient history : and 
 Franklin, by whom it was originally published, has confer- 
 red an important obligation on those who are deficient in 
 sight, by printing it with a type of unusually large size. In 
 the prefcice. Dr. Franklin says, " this is the first translation 
 made of any of the ancient classics, in the western world ;" 
 an assertion, that is, we believe, erroneous: as, in 1623, 
 more than a century before, it appears, that Mr. Sandys, 
 treasurer of the Virginia Company, translated Ovid's Meta- 
 morphoses, — the most ancient literary production of Amer- 
 
 * Dr. Franklin died in Philadelphia, in the year 1790, at the advanced 
 age of eighty.four. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 197 
 
 As a botanist, Dr. Clayton, of Virginia, holds an honoura- 
 ble station, and Rittenhouse of Pennsylvania is equally dis- 
 tinguished in astronomy. The former passed a long life in 
 examining the plants of his native province. His Flora 
 Virginica, published at Leyden in the year 1762, ranks him 
 amongst the most industrious and useful enlargers of the 
 botanical catalogue. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NEW FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. 
 
 National Bank. Insurrection in Massachusetts, and in Penn- 
 sylvania. Vermont. Kentucky. War with the Indians. 
 
 By the treaty of peace, large territories, which had not 
 been granted to individuals, were ceded to the United 
 States. But these lands were included within the charter- 
 ed limits of particular states, and were in actual posses- 
 sion of the aborigines. Ample cessions were, however, 
 made in favour of the general government, by the former ; 
 and a large tract of country, situated to the north-west of the 
 Ohio, was surrendered by the latter ; on condition of their 
 enjoying the friendship of the United States, and a regular 
 supply of merchandise. Having joined the British in the 
 revolutionary contest, they were considered, by the laws of 
 war, as a conquered people ; a principle which was men- 
 tioned to their leaders, and upon which the terms of this 
 arrangement were, in a great measure, conducted. 
 
 There yet remained for discussion, a subject of much 
 higher importance. The general government was not es- 
 tablished on a solid foundation. The articles of union, 
 formed under the pressure of common danger, were found 
 inadequate to the efficient management of the same country, 
 in the selfish periods of peace and security. It was neces- 
 sary that there should be a radical reform. The original 
 compact required the concurrence of seven states to every 
 act, and of nine, to several higher objects, of legislation. 
 It frequently happened, that some of the states were not 
 represented in the general congress ; or, perhaps, by only 
 one member, or by an even number, equally divided in 
 opinion ; cases, in which, their votes were of no effect. 
 17* 
 
198 HISTORY OF 
 
 This bond of union was defective, not only in its powers, 
 but in the means of executing them. Its acts required the 
 interposition of the states composing it, to give them effect 
 within their respective jurisdictions. The laws of con- 
 gress, without the ciid of state laws to enforce them, were 
 nugatory ; and, thus, the government was paralyzed. No 
 efficient fund being provided to pay the interest of the na- 
 tional debt, the public securities of the United States fell 
 to one-tenth of their nominal value. The soldier, who had 
 received a certificate for the payment of his hard-earned 
 dues, was often, from necessity, obliged to transfer his right 
 for an insignificant consideration. The monied man, who 
 had trusted his country in the hour of its distress, was de- 
 prived, not only of his interest, on which he depended for 
 support, but of a great part of his capital. A necessity 
 was created, or an apology furnished, for the non-payment 
 of private contracts ; mutual confidence received a deadly 
 wound ; and the morals of the people were seriously im- 
 paired ; evils, which general Washington, in his circular 
 letter, before his resignation, most forcibly predicted. 
 These sufferings were increased by restrictions on Ameri- 
 can commerce. The intercourse with the British West 
 India islands, from which, the colonies had derived large 
 quantities of gold and silver, was forbidden to them by the 
 English government, in their new character of independent 
 states : Spain denied their right of navigating the Missis- 
 sippi : and they could no longer safely enter the Mediter- 
 ranean ; a privilege which they had always enjoyed, when 
 a part of the British empire. Unable to defend themselv( 
 against the Algerines, whose forbearance was purchased 
 by England, they were constrained either to relinquish a 
 beneficial trade, or insure their adventures, to that quarter, 
 at a ruinous premium. Thus, when the people supposed 
 their troubles at an end, they found that they were only 
 varied ; that they had obtained liberty, without the con- 
 comitant blessings of freedom; the name, without the at- 
 tributes of a nation. 
 
 Feeling the pressure of their sufferings, and unprovided 
 with a remedy, because unacquainted with their source, 
 the inhabitants became uneasy ; and many were ready to 
 adopt any desperate measures that turbulent leaders recom- 
 mended. Several thousand disorderly citizens of Massa- 
 chusetts, headed by Daniel Shay, who had been a subaltern 
 i-^aa officer in the revolutionary war, complaining of 
 heavy taxes, threatened to march to Boston and 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 199 
 
 compel the general assembly to reduce them ; attacked 
 the arsenal at Springfield, and thus opposed the laws which 
 their own authority had framed. However, by the mod- 
 eration of the legislature, aided by the bravery and good 
 conduct of generals Lincoln and Shepherd, who were plac 
 ed at the head of a firm and well-affected militia, the m- 
 surgents were speedily dispersed, with inconsiderable loss 
 
 of lives. , . 1 . uT*,r 
 
 The friends of social order and national respectability, 
 were not idle spectators of this accumulating danger. In 
 accordance with a motion of James Madison, a proposal 
 was made by Virginia, to all the other states, to meet in 
 convention, for the purpose of digesting a form of govern- 
 ment, equal to the exigences of the Union. Delegates, 
 from every state, except Rhode Island, met in Philadelphia, 
 on the 25th of Mav ; chose general Washington 
 ^^^^ president; and, after deliberating with closed doors 
 until the 17th of September, agreed on a new plan of na- 
 tional government. This, being transmitted to the sta e 
 legislatures, was by them referred to conventions, specially 
 appointed in each, by the people; and, at length, but not 
 without considerable opposition, was adopted. 
 ^ When the people were examining the merits of this plan, 
 its principle and arrangement were ably developed and de- 
 fended in a series of essays, signed Publius. These, which 
 now appear in a volume entitled the Federalist were written 
 by three authors, (colonel) Alexander Hamilton, Mr. Jay, 
 and Mr. Madison ; but the last two furnished only a few 
 papers; nearly the whole being from the pen of Hamilton. 
 This work may be ranked in the highest class of writings 
 on the economy of government. The view which it af- 
 fords of the several confederations, amongst the states ot 
 Greece and Germanv, Switzerland and Holland, and of the 
 constitution of Great Britain ; thereby displaying, in a lu- 
 minous train of argument, the superiority of the American 
 constitution; renders it invaluable to the politician ;espe. 
 ciallv, of the United States; and places the Federahst in 
 honourable competition with the labours oi De l.olme, 
 Montesquieu, and Blackstone. 
 
 By the new constitution, all legislative powers are vested 
 in a congress of the United States, consisting of a senate, 
 and a house of representatives. ■ ^ , u^ 
 
 The executive power is vested in the president ; who 
 must be a natural born citizen, or have been a naturalized 
 citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption 
 
200 HISTORY OF 
 
 of this constitution ; of the age of thirty-five years, four- 
 teen of which he must have resided within the country. 
 He holds his office during the term of four years ; and, 
 together with a vice-president, chosen for the same period, 
 is appointed by electors, chosen according to regulations 
 of the several states. The president is commander-in-chief 
 of the land and sea forces of the United States, and of the 
 militia of the individual states when called into the general 
 service. 
 
 The senate is composed of two persons from each state ; 
 chosen, by its own legislature, for six years ; divided, after 
 its assembling, as equally as possible, into three classes ; of 
 which, the seats of the first class are vacated at the end of 
 the second year; those of the second, at the expiration of 
 the fourth ; and those of the third class, at the termination 
 of the sixth year. A senator must have attained the age 
 of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
 States. 
 
 The house of representatives is composed of members 
 chosen by ballot, without any reference to their property 
 or their religion, every second year, in the several states ; 
 by electors having the same qualifications necessary to en- 
 title them to vote for delegates to the most numerous 
 branch of their respective state legislatures. No person 
 can be a representative, who has not attained the age of 
 twenty-five years; been seven years a citizen of the United 
 States ; and who is not, when elected, an inhabitant of that 
 state in which he shall have been chosen. The number of 
 representatives must not exceed one for every thirty thou- 
 sand of the population. 
 
 Congress assembles at least once in every year; which 
 meeting is fixed to be on the first Monday in December. 
 Members of both houses receive a compensation for their 
 services, paid out of the treasury of the United States ; and 
 are privileged from arrest, during their attendance, or their 
 journey, in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of 
 the peace. 
 
 No senator or representative can be appointed to any civil 
 office, under the authority of the United States, which shall 
 have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have 
 been increased, durinjr the term of his election ; and no 
 person holding any official situation in the general govern- 
 ment, can be a member of either house, during his continu- 
 ance in office. 
 
 Every bill, when it has passed the house of representa- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 201 
 
 tives and the senate, must, before it becomes a law, be car- 
 ried to the president of the United States. If he approve, 
 he shall sign it ; but, if he disapprove, he shall return it, 
 with his objections, to that house in which it originated; 
 where it shall be re-considered. If two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers shall then agree to pass the bill, it is sent, together 
 with the objections, to the other house ; by whom, likewise, 
 it is to be re-considered ; and, if approved, by a similar 
 majority, it becomes a law : or, if any bill shall not have 
 been returned by the president within ten days after its 
 presentation, it becomes a law, as if it had received his sig- 
 nature. 
 
 Congress has power to lay and collect taxes ; to pay the 
 debts, and provide for the common defence and general 
 welfare, of the United States ; to borrow money ; to regu- 
 late foreign commerce ; to establish a uniform system of 
 naturalization ; to coin money, and fix the standard of 
 weights and measures ; to establish post-offices and post- 
 roads ; to declare war, grant letters of marque, raise and 
 support armies, and provide and maintain a navy. 
 
 No title of nobility can be granted, either by the united 
 or the individual states ; nor can any person, holding a pub- 
 ^lic office, accept of any emolument, employment, or title, 
 from a foreign state, without the consent of Congress. 
 
 The United States guarantee to every member of this 
 great political family a republican form of government; 
 and are bound to protect it against invasion, and domestic 
 violence. Provision is made for the occasional amending 
 of the constitution ; to uphold which, all officiating persons 
 are pledged, by oath or affirmation : but no religious test is 
 ever to be required as a qualification for any office under 
 the United States. 
 
 The judicial power of the United States is vested in one 
 supreme court, and in such district and circuit courts as 
 congress shall think proper to erect. 
 
 Thus, were established, two separate governments over 
 the Union ; one, for local purposes, over each state, by the 
 people, as citizens of each state ; the other, for national 
 purposes, over all the states, by the people, as citizens of 
 the United States. 
 ,--oQ Members of both branches of the legislature as- 
 sembled, in the beginning of April, at New York ; 
 where, they were, soon afterwards, joined by the former 
 commander-in-chief; who, now in his fifty-seventh year, 
 by the unanimous voice of the people, had again been call- 
 
202 HISTORY OF I 
 
 ed from his agricultural pursuits, and, with much reluc- 
 tance, consented to act as president of the United States. 
 On his way to the seat of government, one emotion of i 
 delightful recollections pervaded the whole community. 
 When he had crossed the Delaware, and landed on the 
 Jersey shore, he was saluted by the inhabitants with three 
 cheers ; the spontaneous greetings of overflowing hearts ; j, 
 more grateful to a patriot's ear, than the hired flourishes , I 
 of a thousand trumpets. When he came to the brow of | 
 the hill, on his way to Trenton, he beheld, on the bridge 
 which crosses the Assanpinck creek, a triumphal arch, 
 erected under the superintendence of the ladies of the 
 place. The crown of the arch was highly ornamented 
 with flowers and laurels ; and displayed, in large characters, 
 in commemoration of the surprise of Trenton, " December 
 26th, 1776: The hero who defended the Mothers, will 
 also protect the Daughters." On the north side, were little 
 girls, dressed in white, with garlands on their heads, and 
 baskets of flowers on their arms : in the second row, stood 
 the young ladies, and behind them the matrons, of the 
 neighbourhood. When Washington was passing the arch, 
 the children began to sing the following ode : 
 
 " Welcome, mighty chief, once more, 
 welcome to this grateful shore : 
 now, no mercenary foe 
 aims again the fatal blow, 
 aims at thee the fatal blow. 
 
 " Virgins fair and matrons grave, j?: 
 
 (these, thy conquering arm did save,) m 
 
 build, for thee, triumphal bowers. — .«! 
 
 Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers, 
 strew your hero's way with flowers."* 
 
 The 30th of April was fixed for his taking the oath of 
 oflRce : which was administered by Mr. Livingston, chan- 
 cellor of the state of New York, in the presence of an im- 
 mense concourse of citizens. When the president retired 
 to the senate chamber, he addressed both houses in an im- 
 pressive speech ; reminding them, that no truth was more 
 thoroughly established, than that there exists an indissolu- 
 ble union between virtue and happiness; — between duty 
 and advantage ; between the genuine maxims of an honest 
 
 * The author of this work, by using a capital letter only at the begin- 
 ning of each period, has taken the liberty of varying from the established 
 mode of writing English poetic verse. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 203 
 
 and magnanimous people, and the solid rewards of public 
 prosperity and felicity ; and that the propitious smiles of 
 Heaven could never be expected on a nation who disre- 
 garded the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven 
 itself had ordained. He concluded by saying, that, in con- 
 formity with the principle he had adopted when command- 
 er-in-chief, he renounced all pecuniary compensation for 
 his presidential duties, further than was equivalent to his 
 additional expenditure in office : which should not, at any 
 time, be greater than was required for the public good. 
 
 The annual salary of the president was fixed at twenty- 
 five thousand dollars; of the vice-president, secretary of 
 state, and secretary of the treasury, each five thousand : 
 the secretary of war was to receive four thousand five hun- 
 dred dollars; and the attorney-general, three thousand. 
 John Adams was elected vice-president : the remaining 
 great political departments were, by Washington's ap- 
 pointment, filled, respectively, by Thomas Jeflferson, colo- 
 nel Hamilton, general Knox, and Edmund Randolph. John 
 Jay received the office of chief justice : the associate judges 
 were John Rutledge, James Wilson, John Gushing, Robert 
 Harrison, and John Blair. 
 
 The people of the United States now possessed the means 
 *bf future happiness in a more ample measure than they had 
 ever been enjoyed by any other ; — a constitution framed by 
 their wisest and most virtuous men, and approved by them- 
 selves ; embracing all that was valuable, and excluding 
 every thing that was found injurious, in the British form 
 of government ; with deficiencies supplied, and superflui- 
 ties retrenched ; in which, merit was rewarded by election, 
 and hereditary distinctions were unknown : a chief, saga- 
 cious to discern, able and determined to protect, the in- 
 terest of society ; to repress the turbulent, and conciliate 
 the discontented : a soil fertile to generate, and a climate 
 suitable to mature, the various productions of the globe ; 
 stored with every mineral essential to the real wants of 
 society, and with many required for its decoration : streams, 
 which in one place perform the office of human labour, and 
 in another facilitate the exchanges of foreign and domestic 
 commerce. 
 
 To replenish the empty treasury, was the first object of 
 legislative attention. For this purpose, duties were levied 
 on imported merchandise, and reasonable taxes imposed 
 
 _Q^ on the tonnage of vessels. The next, was the sup- 
 port of public credit. In the month of January, 
 
204 HISTORY OF 
 
 colonel Hamilton brought forward a system, luminous in 
 its detail, and ingenious in its application ; perhaps the best 
 that could be devised to unite the conflicting interests. His 
 mode of funding the public debt, gave rise to much ani- 
 mated discussion ; in which, James Madison proposed an 
 amendment, more difficult in practice, and not less objec- 
 tionable in its principle. Mr. Hamilton advocated a reduc- 
 tion of the established interest ; Mr. Madison, a discrimi- 
 nation between the original lender of money and the pres- 
 ent holder of certificates. The principle of the secretary, 
 however, and nearly his entire plan, were adopted ; fund- 
 ing one part of the debts at three per cent. ; deferring the 
 accruing of any interest on another portion, for ten years ; 
 and limiting the highest rate of interest to six per cent. In 
 this arrangement, besides fifty-four millions of the general 
 debt, were included twenty-one millions and a half of the 
 debts of individual states ; confined to certificates issued 
 above their just proportion, for general defence, during the 
 revolutionary war. The assumption of the state debts re- 
 quired additional revenue ; and suggested the laying of du- 
 ties on domestic distilled spirits ; a measure, which, while 
 it increased the credit of the United States, had a serious 
 effect on the tranquillity of particular sections. 
 
 Notwithstanding the arguments that might justly be of- 
 fered against the manner in which the public debts were 
 funded ; the system was, on the whole, eminently benefi- 
 cial to the country. Public paper, which had previously 
 sunk in the proportion of ten to one, rapidly advanced to 
 par; and, being now convenient for circulation, invigorated 
 agriculture and commerce, to a degree not less than would 
 have resulted from the-introduction of an equal quantity of 
 metallic coin. 
 
 To complete the financial department, colonel Hamilton 
 recommended the formation of a national bank. This meas- 
 ure was strenuously opposed. Some objected to the utili- 
 ty of any banking establishment ; others, to the plan of the 
 one proposed : but more, to its institution, on the ground 
 of the inadequate constitutional powers of congress ; on 
 which, the legislature and the cabinet were divided. A 
 law for the purpose having at length passed both houses, 
 the president, who was extremely guarded against infring- 
 ing the constitution, required from the heads of depart- 
 ments their opinions on the subject ; and then, examining 
 it in all its relations, deliberately gave it the sanction of his 
 name. The bank was chartered for twenty years ; its capi- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 205 
 
 tal was ten millions, in shares of four hundred dollars each. 
 The instalment certificates were in so great demand, that 
 they rose in a short time to two hundred dollars advance 
 on the first payment of twenty-five. Branches, termed of- 
 fices of discount and deposit, were established in the prin- 
 cipal sea-ports of the United States ; the parent bank be- 
 ing placed in Philadelphia, at that time the seat of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 But the public blessings which we have been contem- 
 plating, were not without alloy. The immense wealth ac- 
 quired by individuals, from the increase in the value of 
 property, and especially of the public stocks, made them 
 objects of envy. While the partizans of Hamilton, and 
 those enriched by his plans, adored him as the financial sa- 
 viour of the United States, others reviled him as the friend 
 of monarchy, who wished to invest the government with 
 artificial strength, by raising up a monied aristocracy, obe- 
 dient to its will ; and, at the very time when the country 
 was enjoying unexampled prosperity from the wise ad- 
 ministration of an efiicient government, its authors were 
 loaded with execrations, by a large portion of their fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 V A criminal resistance was thus promoted to the payment 
 of the excise duty on domestic spirits. This duty was par- 
 ticularly obnoxious to those inhabitants of Pennsylvania 
 
 ^jq^ who dwelt on the western side of the Allegheny 
 mountains. A meeting of delegates from the mal- 
 contents was held at Pittsburgh ; where, all who should 
 obey or execute the excise law, were proscribed as enemies 
 to their country. Government was careful to remove all 
 real grievances. In the following summer, the law was re- 
 vised, and every reasonable objection cancelled or amend- 
 ed. But the amendment was unavailing. The ^very prin- 
 ciple of excise was the object of hostility. A second meet- 
 ing was convened ; in which, resolutions were adopted for 
 
 , jq. opposing the execution of the law : the marshal, 
 when in the performance of his duty, was shot at by 
 a party of armed men ; and, on the following day, the in- 
 surgents, to the number of five hundred, attacked the house 
 of the inspector, and forced him, together with a small 
 military guard, to surrender. 
 
 Sensations the most distressing pervaded the breast of 
 general Washington. Humanity restrained the avenging 
 sword of justice, in one hand ; while the solemn obliga- 
 tions of duty directed his attention to the balance, in the 
 18 
 
206 HISTORY OF 
 
 other. He determined to execute the laws; and, to em- 
 ploy an army sufficient, from its numbers, to make re- 
 sistance desperate. The utmost force the insurgents could 
 bring into the field, was supposed to be seven thousand. 
 A requisition was accordingly made, to the governors of 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, for an 
 army of fifteen thousand. The militia turned out with un- 
 common alacrity. The troops of New Jersey and Penn- 
 sylvania rendezvoused at Bedford ; those of Maryland and 
 Virginia, at Cumberland, on the Potomac. The president 
 visited each division, and left the whole under the com- 
 mand of general (late colonel) Lee, then governor of Vir- 
 ginia. He marched into the disturbed country ; but found 
 no armed bodies of the insurgents : the greatness of the 
 force produced the desired effect, and restored tranquillity, 
 without bloodshed. 
 
 While the extremity of Pennsylvania w^as thus suffering 
 from the insurrectionary spirit, its capital was afflicted with 
 a melancholy visitation of Providence. In the year 1793, 
 Philadelphia was ravaged by the awful effects of a yellow 
 fever. It commenced early in August, and continued for 
 about three months ; during which time, there died four 
 thousand, out of a population of sixty thousand, by that dis- 
 order alone. Its greatest height was about the middle of 
 October ; when, one hundred and twenty persons were car- 
 ried off in a single day. Many fled to the country : the 
 usual vocations of society were abandoned. The streets 
 became a desert. Distress appeared in every form. In the 
 midst, however, of this calamity, much benevolence was 
 shown. A committee took charge of the sick poor, and 
 provided them with a house, medicine, and attendance ; 
 and the orphans were nursed, fed, and furnished with 
 every comfort. About the middle of November, the dis- 
 order ceased ; the citizens returned ; and business re-assum- 
 ed its course. Since that period, a similar species of fever 
 has, at intervals, appeared in Philadelphia, and other com- 
 mercial cities in the United States ; particularly, in New 
 York, Baltimore, Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans : 
 but, from the precautionary measures of the several boards 
 of health, malignant fevers, for nearly the last twenty years, 
 are almost unknown in any of the towns situated to the 
 north of Charleston. 
 
 Amongst the distinguished individuals during that ca- 
 lamitous season, the most conspicuous was Benjamin Rush ; 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 207 
 
 whether we consider his humanity, his fearless conduct 
 amidst the appalling scenes of contagion, or the skill with 
 which he combated the destructive antagonist. This ac- 
 complished physician, already known as an active member 
 of that congress which voted the independence of his coun- 
 try, was a native of Pennsylvania. He was born about 
 twelve miles from Philadelphia ; the third in descent from 
 English ancestors, who accompanied William Penn. His 
 classical education was completed at Princeton ; his medi- 
 cal, in the celebrated school of Edinburgh. Ambitious, at 
 an early age, to excel in his profession, he registered, in a 
 common-place book, every occurrence worthy of remem- 
 brance. Great, was the benefit derived from his juvenile 
 record. To that journal, happily commenced in his eigh- 
 teenth year, he had recourse, at the age of fifty, for the on- 
 ly account then extant of a malignant fever which had pre- 
 vailed in Philadelphia in the year 1762 ; having thereby, 
 preserved valuable information as to its general symptoms, 
 and the most effective mode of resisting its effects. In cases 
 of an alarming or desperate nature, his decisions were firm, 
 and his practice intrepid. He not unfrequently lost credit, 
 for a time, in subduing sickness, and saving life, by reme- 
 i^dies that were not approved by his connexions or his friends. 
 This trait in his character. Dr. Rush now strikingly dis- 
 played. His house, although itself the abode of siskness, 
 was the resort of thousands, whom he was unable io visit at 
 their dwellings. Their confidence was not misplaced. He 
 devised a mode of treatment, which tended greatly to over- 
 come the malignant power of the disease : and, devoting 
 himself entirely to the service of the afflicted, he remained 
 at his post until the mortality ceased ; although he himself 
 had been a subject of its attack, and many of the faculty 
 had sought an asylum in the country. His professional 
 works are contained in three volumes ; entitled, Medical In- 
 quiries and Observations ; and a fourth volume, composed 
 of introductory lectures.* 
 
 Two new states had now been admitted as members of 
 the great federal government, — ^Vermont and Kentucky. 
 Vermont was formed into an independent community 
 against much opposition, and received into the Union in 
 1791. Owing to British acts of parliament, inconsistent 
 with each other, the soil was claimed by several adjacent 
 states; particularly, by New York. Civil war between the 
 
 * Dr. Rush died, after a short illness, in the year 1813. 
 
208 HISTOR,Y OF 
 
 parties was repeatedly approached ; but hostilities were re- 
 strained by the paternal advice of Washington, and finally 
 prevented by the eloquence of Alexander Hamilton ; who 
 induced New York to acquiesce in the demand of Vermont 
 for independence. — Kentucky owes its political existence to 
 the liberal spirit of Virginia. It was a part of this province, 
 until she authorized and encouraged the former in the es- 
 tablishment of a separate government, to be organized by 
 the free voice of its own inhabitants. This was according- 
 ly done, in the year 1785; and, in 1792, it was admitted 
 into the Union, on equal terms with its indulgent parent. 
 Kentucky, (a name which signifies, in the Indian language, 
 the Land of Blood,) was known, at an early period, by the 
 French ; but was long carefully hidden from the knowledge 
 of the British colonies. In 1714, Mr. Spotswood, governor 
 of Virginia, made a journey to the Allegheny mountains; 
 ascertained the practicability of crossing them ; and, from 
 their lofty summits, beheld the beautiful western plains 
 comprehended within his jurisdiction. Hunters and Indian 
 traders, before and afterwards, had occasionally traversed 
 them ; but James M'Bride was the first white person that 
 visited the country with a view of settling. In 1754, he 
 carved his name on a tree, as an evidence of his taking pos- 
 session. The French war, however, which immediately fol- 
 lowed, prevented the execution of his design. The earliest 
 permanent settlement was made by colonel Daniel Boon ; 
 who, with a few companions, explored it in 1769. But this 
 little colony, meeting with nothing but hardships, grew ex- 
 ceedingly disheartened. They were plundered, dispersed, 
 or killed, by the wandering Indians ; except Boon himself, 
 who continued a solitary inhabitant of the wilderness, until 
 the year 1771. The colonel was not easily discouraged. He 
 returned to this fertile region, accompanied by forty fam- 
 ilies of Powell's Valley ; who, in 1773, were the whole popu-- 
 lation of Kentucky. The oldest settlement is Boonsborough. 
 Lexington was commenced in 1782. This country was 
 never inhabited by the Indians : it was only known to them 
 by the name of the Dark and Bloody Ground ; being claim- 
 ed by various tribes, whose titles, if they had any, were so 
 obscure, as to render it doubtful to which nation it be- 
 longed ; and hence, it became a theatre of war, and the re- 
 sidence only of wild beasts. Its progress in population and 
 general improvement, almost exceeds belief. The annals 
 of colonization do not, as far as our information extends, 
 afford any previous instance of similar advancement. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 209 
 
 The extension of settlements beyond the Ohio, was much 
 retarded by the hostile disposition of the Indians, Com- 
 pelled, through necessity, to make a seeming relinquish- 
 ment of those lands, on which they had drawn their earliest 
 breath, and ranged, undisturbed, in pursuit of their favourite 
 game, the untutored children of the forest, like the sophis- 
 ticated politicians of the eastern world, adhered to their 
 agreements no longer than they were constrained by inte- 
 rest or fear. The Indians were now a formidable people. 
 They had been instructed by the French in the use of fire- 
 arms, iron tomahawks, and swords ; and had acquired con- 
 siderable knowledge of their discipline. In natural cour- 
 age, they were never deficient : though, in bodily strength, 
 they were inferior to the Virginians, and other descendants 
 of Europeans ; especially, to those who inhabited the hilly 
 country of the west. 
 
 In the south, the Creek Indians, whose fighting men 
 amounted to six hundred, under M'Gillivray, the son of a 
 white man, had been at war with Georgia: peace, however, 
 was restored there, in 1790, in consequence of a treaty sign- 
 ed by that chieftain, at New York. Pacific overtures, made 
 ^to the north-western Indians, were rejected. In the follow- 
 ing year, fourteen hundred men, of whom three hundred 
 were regulars, and- the remainder militia from Kentucky 
 and Pennsylvania ; the whole under the command of gen- 
 eral Harmar ; were sent to destroy their settlements on the 
 Scioto and the Wabash ; but the militia being panic-struck, 
 the expedition was defeated, with the loss of three hundred 
 and sixty men killed. The next attempt against these peo- 
 ple, was still more disastrous. General St. Clair, at that 
 time governor of the western territory, being placed at the 
 head of two thousand militia and regulars, proceeded to 
 destroy the Indian villages on the Miami, and expel the 
 inhabitants from that country : but, owing to the shameful 
 conduct of the militia, he was completely routed, by an in- 
 ferior number of the enemy ; who killed, in the battle and 
 during the retreat, thirty-eight officers and nearly six hun- 
 dred privates. Amongst the dead, was the gallant general 
 Butler : amongst the wounded, were colonels Gibson and 
 Darke, major Butler and adjutant Sargent ; officers of dis- 
 tinguished merit. Seldom, had the Americans experienced 
 so severe a loss ; and never from an enemy so contemptible 
 in number. St. Clair, having resigned, was succeeded by 
 general Wayne ; who, in September, 1793, reached the 
 ground where that officer had been defeated, erected a fort, 
 18* 
 
210 HISTORY OF 
 
 to which he gave the name of Recovery, and unde every 
 preparation for advancing against the Indian settlements 
 early in the following year. On the 20th of August, after 
 ineffectual endeavours to negotiate a peace, a general en- 
 gagement ensued near the Miami. The Indians amounted 
 to about two thousand ; the American army, to three thou- 
 sand: of whom, two-thirds were regulars, 'and the remain- 
 der mounted militia, from Kentuckv, commanded bv gen- 
 eral Scott. " ^ ^ 
 
 The action was decisive: the Indians were completely 
 routed. General Wayne drove them out of the country, 
 and erected forts in the midst of their late settlements, to 
 prevent their return. 
 
 In the year after, Wayne concluded, at Greenville, treat- 
 ies with the hostile Indians north-west of the Ohio; by 
 which, peace was established, on terms mutually satisfac- 
 tory and beneficial. A humane system now commenced 
 for ameliorating their condition, they were, henceforth, 
 protected by the United States from the impositions and 
 incursions of lawless white people ; taught the use of the 
 loom ; and encouraged in the pursuits of agriculture : meas- 
 ures reflecting high praise on colonel Hawkins, who was 
 amongst the first to execute the benevolent intentions, 
 originally projected by the humane spirit of general Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 Short War with France. Jay's treaty with Great Britain. 
 Death of General Washington. 
 
 While the administration were employed in quelling the 
 refractory, and restraining the inroads of a subtle enemy, 
 within the bosom of the Country, they were unexpectedly 
 involved in a foreign war, by the great political convulsions 
 of Europe. Emboldened by the success of the American 
 revolution, the people of France had proceeded in their en- 
 deavours to obtain freedom, until thev had deprived their 
 unhappy monarch of his sceptre, and finally of his life ; and 
 were now contending, single-handed, against the surround- 
 ing states. In this situation, the French Directory turned 
 
THE UNITED STATES. t 211 
 
 their eyes towards America, and demanded, in the friend- 
 ship and assistance of the emancipated colonies, a return for 
 the aid rendered them by Louis ; an aid given by a sovereign 
 whom they had deposed ; whose interest was unconnected 
 with his people's : and that the United States would violate 
 the bond of peace, the attainment of which was the only 
 merit claimed by their former allies. The minister ap- 
 pointed by their fallen monarch having been recalled from 
 the United States, M. Genet was sent over in his place. 
 This envoy treated the American republic more like a 
 tributary vassal, than a country holding a high rank amongst 
 independent nations. In a few days after his landing, which 
 was at Charleston, he undertook to authorize the arming of 
 vessels in that port, and the enlisting of men ; giving com- 
 missions, in the name of the French government, to cruise 
 at sea, and commit hostilities on land, against nations with 
 which the United States were at peace. The British min- 
 ister remonstrated. The president, before the arrival of 
 Genet, had determined on the lii^e he should pursue ; which 
 was, a strict neutrality ; and issued the proper orders for 
 defeating the unwarrantable interference of the French am- 
 bassador. A large body of the people, however, were, at 
 this time, favourable to the French encroachments ; — some, 
 enlightened men, who were willing to sacrifice every thing, 
 to aid a country struggling for liberty against a world in 
 arms ; many, through a desire of profit ; and more, through 
 ignorance, — anxious to repay an obligation, yet unable to 
 discover to whom they were obliged. Encouraged by 
 these generous feelings, Genet designed a measure unex- 
 ampled in the page of history. He threatened an appeal 
 to the people. They, only, he declared, and not the dele- 
 gated authorities, possessed the sovereignty, in a demo- 
 cratic state. This appeal offended and alarmed all who 
 felt for the honour and independence of their country. 
 The president requested that he should be recalled ; and 
 he was accordingly superseded. His successors were less 
 violent in their deportment, but nearly similar in their de- 
 signs. Every day gave indications of an open rupture. 
 Not contented with seizing enemies' property when found 
 on board vessels of the United States, the French Directo- 
 ry authorized the indiscriminate capture of all vessels sail- 
 ing under their flag; demanded a large sum of money, as 
 the price of a negotiation ; and ordered general Pinckney 
 and Mr. Marshall, two envoys from the American govern- 
 ment, to quit thie territories of France. 
 
212 t HISTORY OF 
 
 -^Q« In the meantime, general Washington, having 
 completed a double period of his magisterial duties, 
 was succeeded by John Adams, the late vice-president ; the 
 office of the latter being filled by Thomas Jefferson, secre- 
 tary of state. 
 
 When the lawless proceedings of the French government 
 were known in the United States, they excited the keenest 
 and most extensive indignation. The ardour of the revolu- 
 tionary period, was rekindled ; the rancour of party was 
 suspended. " Millions for defence, but not a cent for tri- 
 bute," resounded throughout the Union. Authority was 
 given for capturing French armed vessels. Two severe and 
 well fought actions took place in the West India seas ; the 
 first, between the American frigate Constellation, of thirty- 
 
 1700 sight guns, commanded by commodore Truxtun, 
 and the French frigate, L'Insurgente, of forty ; the 
 second, between the Constellation, and La Vengeance of 
 fifty guns. L'Insurgente was captured ; but La Vengeance, 
 after having struck, escaped in the night, by reason of the 
 disabled state of her antagonist. 
 
 Addresses poured in upon the president, from every 
 part of the Union ; promising him the most efiicient 
 support. A military resistance being determined on, all 
 eyes were again turned towards their beloved Washington ; 
 as the man, who, more than any other, could draw into the 
 public service the best military talents, and the whole nat- 
 ural strength, of the country. He obeyed the call, and 
 accepted the charge of organizing the army, and directing 
 its operations. What could not be effected by negotiation, 
 was accomplished by the conduct of an heroic soldier. 
 When supplicating, America was insulted ; when armed, 
 she was respected. France soon intimated a desire ^ for 
 peace. Envoys were, accordingly, sent to Paris ; where, 
 they found the Directory overthrown, and the government 
 in the hands of Buonaparte, with the title of first consul. 
 The ambassadors were now received with the respect due 
 to their character and country ; all disputes were speedily 
 adjusted, and, shortly afterwards, a new treaty between the 
 two nations was concluded. 
 
 To the prudent neutrality which the American govern- 
 ment maintained, while, for a long series of years, the sev- 
 eral kingdoms of Europe were involved, by their indiscre- 
 tion, in a destructive war, may be attributed the greater 
 part of the wealth gained by the merchants of the United 
 States ; the increase and experience of their seamen ; the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 213 
 
 improved skill of their mechanics, and the unrivalled pros- 
 perity of their farmers. 
 
 But there was still another power, the great antagonist 
 of France, with which, disputes, of not less importance, 
 Avere to be adjusted. This was Great Britain. Although, 
 since the definitive treaty of Paris, there had occurred no 
 open hostilities between "England and the United States, yet 
 they were far from being on terms of perfect amity and re- 
 conciliation. Soon after the termination of- the revolutionary 
 contest, the two countries charged each other with having 
 violated that treaty ; a charge, which, though reciprocally 
 I denied, was reciprocally proved. The British had stipu- 
 jlated that they would not carry off the negroes, or destroy 
 other property, of the Americans. But the greatest vigi- 
 I lance, and the purest intentions, could not have secured 
 the entire fulfilment of this agreement. Good faith to the 
 blacks produced an infraction of contract with the whites ; 
 for, many of the former, being in possession of freedom, in 
 i consequence of having joined the royal standard, could not, 
 I on any principle of English law, be delivered as slaves to 
 i their American masters. One failure produced another. 
 The Americans had agreed to pay the British merchants 
 all debts contracted before the war, in sterling money. 1 his 
 stipulation was very generally infringed. Some were pre- 
 vented from fulfilling their engagements by the loss of their 
 negroes, and the consequent non-cultivation of their lands ; 
 others, by the unjust measures of the individual states, com- 
 pelling the acceptance of depreciated paper, in place ot 
 coin. The evil did not terminate with these. The non- 
 payment, on the part of the Americans, of their mercantile 
 debts, was assigned by Great Britain as a reason for retain- 
 ina the military posts on the south side of the lakes, which 
 fonn the northern boundary of the United States. In this 
 unsettled posture of affairs. Great Britain became opposed 
 to France in the great continental war, which has already 
 been a subje'Bt of ^our notice. As France was then gene- 
 rally beloved in the United States, and England proportion- 
 ablv hated, the hostile feeling that before existed, was 
 thenceforth increased; not only from the previous excite- 
 ment, but from new causes, arising from the war. ine 
 Americans had become the shipping carriers otJ^ ranee; 
 and, adhering to their favourite principle, that " free ships 
 make free goods," were indignant at the frequent searches, 
 as well as captures of their vessels, and of French property 
 on board. But of this conduct, the American merchants 
 
214 HISTORY OF 
 
 could, in justice, only partially complain. By the treaty 
 which ended the revolutionary war, the search of their ves- 
 sels, and the seizure of enemies' property on board, were 
 formally permitted : notwithstanding, that, by a previous 
 agreement between the United States and France, a contrary 
 principle had been sanctioned, as regarded the relations of 
 the latter. 
 
 As an ultimate resource for the preservation of peace, 
 Mr. Jay, chief-justice of the United States, was deputed (in 
 1794, by general Washington) envoy extraordinary to Lon- 
 don. A treaty was the result of this mission, in the ensuing 
 year. But, though more was now yielded than at any for- 
 mer period of the negotiation, the concessions, on the part 
 of England, were much less, and, on the part of the United 
 States, much greater, than were pleasing to the majority of 
 the American people. The posts were given up, and com- 
 pensation was made for several of the illegal captures. 
 Their favourite maxim, however, that " free ships make 
 free goods," was abandoned, and the search of their mer- 
 chant vessels admitted. The United States agreed to pay 
 six hundred thousand pounds sterling to the British gov- 
 ernment, in trust for the English creditors of the Amer- 
 icans, for all remaining claims of individuals of the one 
 nation against individuals of the other: thus, settling all 
 grounds of controversy emanating from the revolution. 
 
 The happiness arising from the accommodation with the 
 French, was more general ; but it was mingled with a re- 
 cent grief, that checked the full expression of public feel- 
 ing. Washington, than whom, though none was ever more 
 alert in war, none more sincerely cherished the benign 
 sentiments of peace, was not allowed to partake in the 
 general joy. Before accounts arrived of this amicable ad- 
 justment, he ceased to be numbered with the living. 
 
 He had received a slight sprinkling of rain, while at- 
 tending some improvements at Mount Vernon. In the fol- 
 lowing night, he was seized with an inflammation in his 
 throat ; shortly afterwards followed by fever and difficulty 
 of breathing. He was immediately bled ; but would not 
 allow his family physician to be called before day. Dr. 
 Craik arrived about eleven, and, by his recommendation, 
 was soon joined in consultation by two other physicians. 
 But their united powers were unavailing. On the 14th of 
 December, in about twenty-four hours from the time of his 
 usual health, he expired, in the sixty-eighth year of liis age. 
 
 The equanimity which attended him through life, did 
 
I THE UNITED STATES. 215 
 
 iBot forsake him on his death-bed. He submitted, to the 
 i inevitable stroke, with the becoming firmness of a man, the 
 calmness of a philosopher, the resignation and confidence of 
 a Christian. When convinced that his dissolution was fast 
 approaching, he requested leave to die without further in- 
 terruption : then, undressed himself, went tranquilly to bed, 
 and, having placed himself in a suitable attitude, soon af- 
 'terwards closed his eyes with his own hands, and yielded 
 up his spirit without a struggle. 
 
 As no pencil has been able correctly to delineate the im- 
 pressive dignity of his countenance ; nor any chisel, the ma- 
 jestic figure of his person ; so, no pen can fully concentrate 
 the transcendent qualities of his mind, or the amiable dis- 
 positions of his heart. The history of his country is his 
 best eulogium ; his most faithful monument, the love and 
 admiration of the world. 
 
 I The same Providence which guided the affairs of the 
 i revolution, and, in the agency of Washington, raised man 
 almost above his accustomed rank in the creation, withdrew 
 his favourite production, when human talent, or human 
 virtue, was no longer sufficient to preserve the tranquillity, 
 or retain the veneration, of his country. The pages of fu- 
 turity, if then unfolded, would have reversed the deep sen- 
 ] sations of regret; by changing into thankfulness, the un- 
 i equalled feelings caused by a departure, at an age that prom- 
 , ised many years of happiness to himself, and benefit to his 
 
 country. 
 j The mind of the great Washington was not more solici- 
 I tous for the welfare of the nation, than for the comfort of 
 the poor. His charities, while given with a discerning, 
 were diffused with an unsparing, hand. On each of his 
 plantations, a corn-house was every year filled, solely for 
 their use ; on one of his best fishing-shores, he kept, in 
 complete order for them, a boat and net ; and men ready to 
 help those who were themselves too weak to haul the seine: 
 and, so feelingly attentive was he to any poor persons who 
 wished to speak to him, that he had a room set apart for 
 them ; and, though in company with the most distinguished 
 characters, he instantly begged a few moments' absence, 
 and attended the distressed. 
 
 General Washington had never any offspring. In his 
 twenty-seventh year, he had married Mrs. Custis ; a lady, 
 who, to a handsome person and large fortune, added every 
 accomplishment that contributes to the felicity of the con- 
 nubial state. To Mrs. Washington, his domestic partner 
 
216 HISTORY OF 
 
 for forty years, he bequeathed, during her life, Mount 
 Vernon, and a considerable share of his extensive lands ; 
 which, on her decease, were to become the property of his. 
 nephew, Bushrod Washington. To his brother Charles, 
 he left only a memorial of his affection ; in consideration of 
 the ample provision made by him for his children. Mrs. 
 Washington's grand-children were remembered as his, 
 own : every branch of his numerous relations, and many 
 charitable institutions, experienced the liberality of his 
 heart. He directed that his negroes should be emancipated,, 
 after Mrs. Washington's decease ; lamenting that impedi- 
 ments insurmountable had prevented his liberating them 
 before : he provided for the support and education of the 
 young on his plantations, and for the maintenance of the 
 old and infirm. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FOUNDING OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Removal of the seat of government to the new capital, Wash- 
 ington. War with Tripoli. Tennessee. Ohio. Purchase 
 of Louisiana. Trial of Aaron Burr. 
 
 It had been strongly advised by Washington, that the 
 seat of government should be removed to a place more con- 
 venient for the general interest of the United States, than 
 either New York or Philadelphia. Accordingly, at the sec- 
 ond session, after the formation of the new federal govern- 
 ment, his recommendation was adopted. A territory, ten 
 miles on every side, now called the District of Columbia, 
 having been ceded, for this purpose, by Virginia and Mary- 
 land, a city, bearing the name of the illustrious protector of 
 his country, was founded on the Potomac, in that portion 
 given by the latter state. The ancient laws of the ceded ter- 
 ritory were secured to the respective divisions; and the sove- 
 reign authority of the District was vested in the general 
 congress. In 1800, the public offices were removed from 
 Philadelphia (the seat of the federal government for the 
 preceding ten years) to the infant capital ; in which, mag- 
 nificent buildings had been erected for their accommodation; 
 and congress met there in December. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 217 
 
 ^ At the usual period before the completion of the 
 presidential term of duty, John Adams was again 
 a candidate, but was successfully opposed by Thomas Jef- 
 ferson ; the vice-president elected being Aaron Burr. 
 
 Harmony now subsisted between the United States and 
 the great European powers. But a new scene of vexation, 
 and eventually of war, arose, from the piracies of the Bar- 
 bary states. The disputes which had, for some time, ex- 
 isted, with the tributary princes of the Turkish empire, 
 those of Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco, were settled by trea- 
 ty, without the occurrence of any remarkable event. But 
 there remained another of these barbarian freebooters, with 
 whom a similar adjustment was impracticable, until chas- 
 tised, in some degree, to submission. 
 
 The bashaw of Tripoli, having dismissed the American 
 consul, and threatened speedy depredations on the Amer- 
 ican commerce, unless certain demands of tribute were con- 
 ceded ; on the refusal of the United States to comply with 
 these degrading terms, proceeded to the execution of his 
 threats. Several vessels were accordingly captured. But 
 these insults were not suffered to remain long unavenged. 
 The navy of the United States, though small in number, 
 was not deficient in activity and courage. Captain Sterret, 
 in the schooner Enterprise, fell in with a Tripolitan cruiser, 
 off Malta. A desperate engagement ensued. It was, in 
 the first instance, continued several hours, when the Tri- 
 politan hauled down her colours. The crew of the Enter- 
 prise, quitting their guns, gave three cheers ; whereupon, 
 the faithless pirate fired a broadside into the American, 
 hoisted her flag, and renewed the action with additional fe- 
 rocity. But she was soon, again, overcome, and ordered 
 under the quarters of the Enterprise. Here, she a second 
 time re-commenced the contest, by pouring a broadside into 
 her antagonist ; at the same time, hoisting the bloody flag, 
 and making strenuous attempts to board. The indignation 
 of a generous enemy was now raised to the utmost pitch. — 
 " Fight on, and sink the perfidious villains to the bottom," 
 [exclaimed the American commander. — "Sink her to the 
 'bottom," vociferated his enraged companions. — A position 
 was taken, which enabled them to rake her fore-and-aft. 
 Her mizen-mast was shot away; her sides, opened by well- 
 directed shots, admitted overwhelming torrents from the 
 sea; her commander, throwing his colours overboard, im- 
 plored for mercy. The supplication was not made in vain, 
 19 
 
218 HISTORY OF 
 
 The wretches were allowed the unmerited rights of civilized 
 warfare. His instructions not permitting him to capture the 
 vanquished corsair, captain Sterret ordered her crew to throw 
 her guns into the sea ; and, having paid every attention to 
 the wounded Tripolitans that humanity could dictate, he or- 
 dered their vessel to be dismantled. Her remaining masts 
 were cut down : a spar was erected, to which was hung, as 
 a flag, a tattered sail ; and, in this condition, she was sent 
 into Tripoli, as an awful specimen of what might be expect 
 ed from a nation determined to pay tribute only in powder 
 and ball. The reception of her treacherous commander was 
 in comformity with the sentiments of his barbarian chief: 
 he was punished, not for his perfidy, but for his defeat. 
 Mounted on a jackass, he was paraded through the town, as 
 an object of public scorn, and afterwards, chastised, with 
 five hundred bastinadoes. 
 
 In the course of the year, the United States sent three 
 frigates and a sloop of war into the Mediterranean, under 
 commodore Dale. On his arrival, he blockaded the port of 
 Tripoli ; by which means, the piratical vessels being con- 
 fined within their harbours, the American commerce was 
 effectually secured from molestation. In the following 
 year, commodore Murray, when cruising off Tripoli in the 
 frigate Constellation, was attacked, during a calm, by a 
 formidable number of gun-boats ; but, dashing in amongst 
 them, he obliged them to retire in confusion and dismay. 
 1 ftOS ^^^^ '^^■^^ naval occurrence excites considerable re- 
 gret : not, however, as proceeding from misconduct, 
 but from unavoidable misfortune. Determined on vigorous 
 measures against Tripoli, the government of the United 
 States despatched to the Mediterranean, a squadron of sev- 
 en sail, — the Philadelphia and Constitution, each of forty- 
 four, with the Argus and Syren, the Nautilus, Enterprise, 
 and Vixen, of from fourteen to eighteen guns each ; under 
 the command of commodore Preble. The Philadelphia, 
 commanded by captain Bainbridge, when returning from a 
 fruitless chase, ran upon a rock, not laid down in any known 
 chart ; distant about five miles from the town of Tripoli. 
 To lighten the vessel, all her cannon were thrown over- 
 board, except a few, on the upper deck, reserved as a de- 
 fence against the gun-boats, which were fast advancing to 
 attack her. The fore-mast was cut away, every art was 
 tried to get her off; but all proved unavailing. Her situa- 
 tion was awfully distressing. Not a ray of hope appeared, 
 to lessen, even by fallacious expectation, the terror of ap- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 219 
 
 proaching bondage ; a bondage more dreaded by her in- 
 dignant crew, than immediate death. Assailed on all sides, 
 deprived of every means of effectual resistance, the Phila- 
 delphia was compelled to strike her colours, was taken pos- 
 session of by the Tripolitans, and her officers and crew, 
 amounting to three hundred, were made prisoners. 
 
 This victory, which accident, not valour, had given to 
 the barbarians, was, in the following summer, in a great 
 measure, regained. Whatever anticipations of future ben- 
 efit the Tripolitan chief was enabled to enjoy, in the con- 
 templation of individual ransom, he was not long allowed 
 the pleasure of beholding the recent accession to his navy. 
 A young officer in the American squadron, conceived the 
 design of re-taking, or, at least, of destroying, the captured 
 frigate ; which had been towed off by the enemy, and was 
 then lying at anchor within the harbour. Lieutenant Ste- 
 phen Decatur, the projector of the intended enterprise, 
 having submitted his plan to the commodore, and received 
 his approbation, performed the daring service, with that 
 gallantry and judgment, which have, subsequently, in more 
 important actions, gained him the respect and admiration 
 of his country. Furnished with a small schooner, the In- 
 trepid, and seventy men, he sailed from Syracuse, and, 
 jQr^* under a neutral flag, appeared off Tripoli on the 
 16th of February, accompanied by the brig Syren; 
 which vessel was directed to remain in a convenient station, 
 for the purpose, if required, of covering a retreat. When 
 within two hundred yards of his object, Decatur was hailed, 
 and ordered to anchor, on the peril of being sunk. His pilot 
 replied, that her anchors were lost, and carried the schooner 
 to within fifty yards of the frigate ; where she was becalmed. 
 Decatur warped up his vessel, laid her alongside, sprang 
 on board, followed by his determined crew; rushed, sword 
 in hand, upon the Tripolitans, soon overcame them, and, 
 amidst a tremendous assault, from two corsairs and the bat- 
 teries on shore, set fire to the Philadelphia, and, with his 
 brave companions, retired. 
 
 For the intrepidity and skill displayed in this bold enter- 
 prise, Decatur was advanced to the rank of post-captain. 
 
 From the 3d to the 29th of August, Preble made three 
 general attacks on the Tripolitan batteries ; all conduct- 
 ed with admirable gallantry, and producing a correspond- 
 ent effect. In the first engagement, lieutenant Decatur, 
 brother of the captain, was killed ; but, on the whole, the 
 loss was trifling. In another, the American vessels fired 
 
220 HISTORY OF 
 
 a hundred and twenty rounds each, and sunk several gun. 
 boats and a polacre. The Tripolitan force, on this occa- 
 sion, was very great. They had in the harbour twenty-four 
 armed vessels, one hundred and fifteen guns on the batte- 
 ries, and, besides the inhabitants, forty-five thousand Arabs 
 to defend the city. 
 
 But these long-continued demonstrations of heroic reso- 
 lution, were not sufficient to break the fetters of captivity, 
 nor lessen the rigours of barbarian insolence. 'Xhe prison- 
 ers were treated with atrocious cruelty. They encountered 
 cold and hunger, labour, menaces, and stripes : they were 
 chained to loaded carts, and, like oxen, compelled to drag 
 them through the town. Every remonstrance made by 
 captain Bainbridge in behalf of his companions, was un- 
 heeded ; every effort to mitigate their sufierings, unsuc- 
 cessful. Some new experiment was imperiously demanded. 
 It was, therefore, resolved by the American ministry, to 
 try another enterprise ; in order to gain the liberation of 
 the prisoners, and a speedy and honourable peace. This 
 was, a co-operation with Hamet, the ex-bashaw of Tripoli ; 
 who had been driven from the government, by the usurpa- 
 tion of his younger brother. Accordingly, William Eaton, 
 of Massachusetts, who had been, for many years, American 
 consul at Tunis, was despatched, to communicate the pro- 
 ject to Hamet, and make arrangements for its execution. 
 Eaton performed his part with distinguished lustre. After 
 much embarrassment, he efiected an interview with the 
 exiled sovereign, in Upper Egypt ; where he had associ- 
 ated with an army of Mamelukes, at war with the Turkish 
 government. Hamet was well pleased with the scheme of 
 the Americans, and appointed Eaton commander of the 
 forces destined for its accomplishment ; an event that would 
 restore Hamet to his throne. It was designed to penetrate 
 by land into the Tripolitan dominions ; with whatever force 
 could be mustered amongst the partizans of Hamet, sup- 
 ported by as many Americans, and other Christians, as felt 
 for the distresses of the imprisoned seamen. On the 6th 
 1805 ^^ March, general Eaton, accompanied by Hamet, 
 with three hundred well-mounted Arabs, seventy 
 Christians, and about a hundred camels laden with baggage 
 and provisions, began his march from Alexandria ; and, 
 after fifty-two days, spent in traversing a hideous desert of 
 five hundred miles, during which, all the dangers and per- 
 severance related in romance seemed realized, he arrived 
 before Derna, a city in the regency of Tripoli. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 221 
 
 An army, sent by the reigning bashaw, was hastening to 
 its relief; and was then within one day's march of the town. 
 No time was therefore to be lost. Eaton summoned it to 
 surrender. The governor returned an answer of defiance. 
 An assault was made on the next day ; when, after a com- 
 bat of two hours and a half, supported, on the water side, 
 by part of the American squadron, the town was carried 
 by the bayonet. The Christians suffered severely in the 
 action ; nearly a third of their number were killed, and 
 Eaton himself was wounded. 
 
 On the 18th of May, the Tripoli tans advanced, with the 
 design of recovering the captured city : but, after a contest 
 of four hours, in which the Christians engaged the barba- 
 rians in the proportion of one to a hundred, the latter has- 
 tily retreated behind the mountains. On the 10th of June, 
 a general battle again occurred ; the American vessels a 
 second time co-operated, and galled the enemy by a well- 
 directed fire. It lasted nearly five hours, and ended in the 
 further overthrow of the assailants. 
 
 The brilliant progress of general Eaton promised the 
 most glorious and beneficial result. But the fruits of his 
 achievement were blasted, before they reached maturity. 
 The object which had been pursued by arms, was suddenly 
 attained by treaty ; a mode always to be preferred, when it 
 involves no degradation of national character ; always to be 
 shunned, when there is a sacrifice of honour. This ar- 
 rangement, made with the reigning bashaw, by Mr. Lear, 
 and ratified in the United States, obtained the release of 
 the prisoners for the sum of sixty thousand dollars ; and 
 engaged that the Americans, in withdrawing their forces, 
 should use their influence to induce Hamet to retire. 
 
 The state of Massachusetts was not forgetful of the war- 
 rior of Derna. While congress was debating whether gen- 
 eral Eaton should be rewarded by a sword, or by a medal, 
 his countrymen displayed a becoming liberality, in voting 
 him ten thousand acres of land. 
 
 Fostered by the parental nature of the government, emi- 
 grations from the European world continued to increase. 
 New manufactures were introduced into the United States : 
 the sciences were annually spreading. Hardy labourers 
 from Germany and Ireland assisted in giving strength to 
 the republic, by an important addition to its numbers. The 
 axe every where resounded through . the western forests, 
 and new communities sought association with the old. 
 Since we noticed the establishment of Kentucky, two other 
 19* 
 
222 HISTORY OF 
 
 states were joined in the federal constitution, — Tennessee 
 and Ohio : formed out of the ancient dominions of the 
 Union. In 1789, North Carolina had assigned to the United 
 States a large tract of her western lands. This country 
 was called the southern territory, and erected by congress 
 into a separate government, on the same plan as the north- 
 western. In 1794, its inhabitants, having amounted to 
 thirty thousand, sent a delegate to congress, who, by law, 
 was allowed a seat in the lower house, with a right of de- 
 bating, but not of voting ; and, in two years afterwards, it 
 was erected into a state, called Tennessee, and admitted to 
 a full participation in the advantages of the Union. — Ohio, 
 a portion of the territory westward of Pennsylvania, became 
 a member of the general government in the year 1802 ; 
 under the first American constitution, that declared, ex- 
 plicitly, against the practice of holding slaves ; in conform- 
 ity with a restriction humanely, imposed, by congress, upon 
 all that region of which it forms a part. Its earliest set- 
 tlers were a colony from New England ; who, in 1788, 
 founded Marietta, under the superintendence of general 
 Putnam. 
 
 In 1803, Louisiana was purchased from the French gov- 
 ernment, for the sum of fifteen millions of dollars ; two mil- 
 lions and a half of which were to be retained by the United 
 States, as compensation for illegal captures made by France. 
 At this period, its population did not entitle it to an inde- 
 pendent rank ; but a district of it was subsequently admit- 
 ted to that privilege, and formed the eighteenth member of ■ 
 the great American confederation.* 
 
 In Louisiana, from the undisturbed navigation of the 
 Mississippi, now secured ; by which, the Atlantic is con- 
 nected with the remote regions of the west, and, (by its 
 joining the Ohio,) with the ancient colonies as far as Penn- 
 sylvania ; the United States have acquired a territory, less- 
 ened in value only by its magnitude. Nature is there found 
 in all the majesty of youth. A new field of enterprise is 
 opened, and new productions are added to the rich variety 
 of their former catalogue. The sugar of New Orleans, in 
 size and brilliancy of grain, is not excelled by any in the 
 world : the cotton of the lower district is abundant, and 
 superior, in staple, to the upland species of Georgia or of 
 Carolina. A large quantity of indigo was formerly pro- 
 duced there ; but this article, like the indigo of Carolina, 
 
 * In the year 1812. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 223 
 
 gli&s been, for many years past, degenerating in quality, as 
 HjWell as decreasing in amount ; the planters having trans- 
 ; ferred their attention to a more profitable cultivation. 
 
 Louisiana, the boundaries of which were not then com- 
 pletely ascertained, formed part of the vast region, includ- 
 ed, by the Spaniards, under the general name of Florida. 
 One of their officers, De Soto, seems to have passed through 
 the lower districts of this province, and to have reached the 
 Mississippi, at a very early period after the discovery of 
 America. But the interior regions were not in any manner 
 explored, by Europeans, until about the year 1673; when, 
 the French government of Canada sent a few persons to 
 learn the truth of a report given by the Indians, respecting 
 the existence of that great river. They descended the 
 Mississippi, as far down, at least, as the Missouri. But 
 little more was done in its examination, until undertaken 
 by the enterprising La Salle ; who, boldly following its 
 course, arrived, in 1682, at its mouth, in the Gulf of Mex- 
 ico, and named the country after Louis the fourteenth. 
 ' New Orleans was founded, and became the seat of govern- 
 ment, in 1721. The whole population of the colony did 
 not then exceed five hundred. In 1762, by the treaty of 
 Fontainbleau, which gave England possession of Spanish 
 Florida, France, in a secret article, transferred Louisiana to 
 the king of Spain ; with whom, it remained, until restored 
 to the French republic, in the year 1800. But the acqui- 
 sition was only nominal. The maritime superiority of 
 England rendered it impossible for the French to convey 
 an army destined for its occupation ; and it was, in conse- 
 quence, assigned to the United States, at the period already 
 mentioned. 
 
 To render the purchase af the utmost benefit, as well as 
 to extend the field of natural science, Messrs. Lewis and 
 Clarke, both officers of the regular army, were sent by the 
 president, Mr. Jefferson, with instructions drawn by himself, 
 to explore the river Missouri and the contiguous countries, 
 and discover the best communication with the Pacific Ocean. 
 Never was an arduous enterprise accomplished with more 
 ability and prudence. Accompanied by thirty-five persons, 
 mostly soldiers, they embarked at St. Louis, in suitable 
 boats, in May, 1804, and ascended the Missouri to its stu- 
 pendous falls, a distance of three thousand miles ; thence, 
 crossed the Rocky Mountains, impeded by their everlasting 
 snows, and descended various streams, until after travel- 
 ling four hundred miles, they reached the navigable waters 
 
224 HISTORY OF 
 
 of the Columbia ; and, following its course six hundred 
 and forty, were recompensed for all their toils and priva- 
 tions by a view of the Pacific. '?hey reached St. Louis, on 
 their return, in September, 1806, after an absence, from all 
 civilization, of more than twenty-seven months. The jour- 
 ney from St. Louis, was above four thousand miles ; in re- 
 turning, thirty-five hundred ; making, in the whole, seven 
 thousand five hundred miles. Only one of their party, of 
 a sickly constitution, had died. Amongst all the Indian 
 nations through which they passed, they were only once 
 incommoded by a skirmish, in defending a rifle. 
 
 Their most dangerous enemies were the bears. These 
 are described as most formidable animals, and frequently 
 assailed them. One evening, the men discovered a large 
 brown bear, lying on the open ground, about three hundred 
 paces from the river. Six good hunters immediately went 
 to attack him; and, concealing themselves by a small emi- 
 nence, approached within forty yards. Four of their num- 
 ber now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body — two of 
 them directly through his lungs. The furious beast sprang 
 up, and ran at them with open mouth. As he came near, 
 the two hunters who had reserved their fire, gave him two 
 wounds ; one of which, having broken his shoulder, retard- 
 ed his motion for an instant : but, before they could reload, 
 he was so close, that the whole party were compelled to 
 run towards the river, and, before they reached it, he had 
 almost overtaken them. Two jumped into the canoe ; the 
 remaining four separated, and, hiding amongst the willows, 
 fired as fast as they could re-load. They struck him several 
 times; but, instead of weakening the monster, or causing 
 him to retreat, each shot seemed to invigorate him, and 
 direct him towards the hunters :< till, at length, he pursued 
 two of them so closely, that they threw aside their guns 
 and pouches, and jumped down a perpendicular bank, 
 twenty feet, into the river. The bear sprang after them, 
 and was within a few feet of the hindmost, when one of the 
 hunters on shore shot him through the head, and killed 
 him. Captain Lewis, himself, was exposed to a similar 
 peril. Having shot a buffalo, one of at least a thousand 
 which formed a herd, before he could re-load, he was chased 
 by a huge bear for three hundred yards ; when, plunging 
 into the river, and presenting his spear, the animal was 
 deterred ; and, wheeling about, retreated, in as much haste 
 as he had pursued. 
 
 The exploring party were frequently invited to share in 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 225 
 
 the rude festivities of the Indians. The journal of their ob- 
 servations particularly describes an entertainment given 
 them by a tribe of the Sioux, called Tetons. After eating 
 and smoking for an hour, it became dark, and every thing 
 was cleared away for a dance ; a large fire being kindled 
 in the centre of the house. The orchestra was composed 
 of ten men ; who played on a sort of tambarine, formed 
 of a skin stretched across a hoop ; and made a jingling 
 noise with the hoofs of deer and goats, suspended from a 
 long stick. The third instrument, was a small skin bag, 
 containing pebbles. These, with five or six young men, 
 for the vocal part, made up the band. The women then 
 came forward, highly decorated : some, with poles in their 
 hands, to which were hung the scalps of their enemies ; 
 others, with spears, guns, and different trophies, taken in 
 war, by their husbands, brothers, or connexions. Having 
 arranged themselves in two columns, one on each side of 
 the fire, they danced towards each other, until they met in 
 the centre ; when, the rattles were shaken, and they all re- 
 tired to their places. They had no step, but shuffled along 
 the ground ; nor did their music appear to be any other 
 than a confusion of noises, distinguished only by hard or 
 gentle blows. The song w^as wholly extemporaneous. In 
 the pauses of the dance, any of the company came forward, 
 and recited, in a low guttural tone, some little story or 
 event ; which was either martial or ludicrous, or voluptu- 
 ous and indecent. This was repeated, in a higher tone, by 
 the orchestra and dancers ; the latter, at the same time, 
 moving in accordance with its strain. The dances of the 
 men, which were always separate from those of the women 
 were conducted nearly in the same way ; except that thf 
 men jumped up and down, instead of shuffling; and in the 
 war dance, the recitations were all of a military cast. The 
 harmony of the entertainment was a little disturbed by one 
 of the musicians ; who, thinking he had not received a due 
 share of the tobacco which Lewis and Clarke had distrib- 
 uted, put himself into a passion, broke one of the drums, 
 threw two into the fire, and left the house. 
 - Q^^ In the following year, Mr. Pike, an officer highly 
 conspicuous for his subsequent conduct in the field 
 of battle, accomplished an extensive geographical survey 
 of Louisiana ; which, with the former expedition, and the 
 industrious researches of Mr. Bradbury, in the botanical 
 department, have given all the information required of 
 
226 HISTORY OF 
 
 these countries, in the present state of American popula- 
 tion. 
 
 This period is remarkable, on account of the trial of 
 Aaron Burr, for a serious offence against the laws of the 
 United States. The circumstances that led to so unpleas- 
 ant an occurrence, and to the tragical fate of a distinguish- 
 ed member of the republic, by which it was preceded, de- 
 serve to be related. At the close of the year 1800, the elec- 
 tion for president and vice-president had again occurred ,• 
 when, the candidates were, besides John Adams and Thomas 
 Jefferson, the magistrates then in office, Charles Pinkney 
 and colonel Aaron Burr. Party feeling was high. Strenuous 
 efforts were made to change what was called the " federal" 
 administration of Mr. Adams, for one thought to be more 
 truly democratic. Although the friends of Mr. Jefferson, 
 the democratic candidate, had intended Burr only as vice- 
 president, yet, as he had an equal number of votes, the 
 awarding of pre-eminence, agreeably with the constitution, 
 devolved on the house of representatives. But, after thirty- 
 five several ballotings, the issue was indecisive. However, 
 Burr having at length declined aspiring to the presidency, 
 two federal members, who had supported him merely 
 through opposition to Mr. Jefferson, withdrew; and, on 
 the thirty-sixth appeal to the ballot, the latter was elected 
 to the first, and Burr, of course, became entitled to the 
 second, situation. 
 
 This scene agitated the public mind more than any of a 
 civil nature that had occurred during the whole adminis- 
 tration of the government. It was requisite to guard against 
 a recurrence of so inflammatory result ; and, accordingly, 
 by an amendment of the constitution, the electors are di- 
 rected to designate the office intended for each individual. 
 
 From that time. Burr, who had been a leading man 
 amongst the democratic party, declined in favour with his 
 political adherents. They suspected, that he had connived 
 with the opposition, to supplant Mr. Jefferson, and, there- 
 by, procure his own election. His genius, acknowledged 
 to be of the highest order, began to form a plan to recover 
 his former influence. He became a candidate for the office 
 of governor of New York ; calculating on success from a 
 junction of his numerous personal friends with the federal 
 party in that state, who formed a respectable minority. The 
 design, however, was not successful. It was defeated by 
 Alexander Hamilton ; long the professional rival and politi- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 227 
 
 cal opponent of colonel Burr. The disappointed candidate 
 was determined on revenge. He addressed a note to Mr. 
 Hamilton ; the consequence of which was a duel, on the 12th 
 of July, 1804, at Hoboken, in New Jersey: where, at the 
 first fire, the latter was mortally wounded. 
 
 During the winter, Burr conceived the project of an en- 
 terprise in the west. His designs have remained in some 
 degree of obscurity : but, public opinion concluded, that 
 he intended either a governmental separation of the west- 
 ern from the Atlantic portion of the Union ; or an invasion 
 of Mexico and other Spanish provinces in the neighbour- 
 hood of the United States. For this purpose, having se- 
 duced to his interest some individuals of wealth and in- 
 fluence, he assembled a few desperate partizans on the 
 Ohio, and steered his course towards the Mississippi. But 
 the vigilance of the public officers defeated his intentions. 
 He was apprehended, and conveyed a prisoner to Rich- 
 mond, in Virginia; the state in which his adherents had 
 first collected. Qn the 17th of August, 1807, he was 
 brought to trial. Several days were consumed in the ex- 
 amination of witnesses ; who proved an assembling of twen- 
 ty or thirty persons on Blennerhassett's island, situated in 
 the Ohio, in the preceding December : but, as it did not ap- 
 pear that the conspirators had used any force against the au- 
 thority of the United States, or that Burr was present at the 
 meeting, he was acquitted. Indictments had been found 
 against Herman Blennerhasset, and five other persons, for a 
 similar oflfence : but, on the issue of colonel Burr's trial, the 
 attorney-general declined any further proceedings. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, of whose valuable services the 
 country was now deprived, was born in the island of St. 
 Croix. His father was a descendant of an English family ; 
 his mother was a native of one of the British colonies now 
 comprised in the United States. At the age of sixteen, 
 Mr. Hamilton emigrated to New York, and entered as a 
 student of Columbia College ; where, he first manifested 
 those extraordinary talents that afterwards raised him to 
 public notice. Only three years were given to collegiate 
 studies. He could no longer remain in the academic grove, 
 when his adopted country was in danger ; and, accordingly, 
 in his nineteenth year, he entered the patriot army, as cap- 
 tain of artillery ; in which capacity, having distinguished 
 himself in several arduous engagements, he was, at an early 
 period of the war, selected by the commander-in-chief as his 
 first aid-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. From 
 
228 HISTORY OF 
 
 that period, 1777, until the capture of lord Cornwallis, 
 Washington and Hamilton were inseparable companions. 
 At the siege of Yorktown, he led, by his own request, 
 the American detachment, which, simultaneously with an 
 attack made by another party from the French army, gal- 
 lantly stormed one of the enemy's out-works. In the year 
 1782, he was elected a member of congress from the state 
 of New York ; in which office, he was a distinguished lead- 
 er, in all the most important measures of the session. Hav- 
 ing returned to the practice of the law, he soon gained the 
 foremost rank in the profession. In 1787, he was chosen 
 a member of the convention which formed the new federal 
 constitution. In 1798, when the French republic threat- 
 ened to invade the United States, and Washington again 
 yielded to his country's call in marshalling her forces, the 
 appointment of Hamilton to the post of second in com- 
 mand, was made an inseparable condition of his acquies- 
 cence ; and, when his illustrious companion was removed 
 from this scene of trouble, he was, in course, at the head 
 of the American army. General Hamilton was killed in 
 the forty-seventh year of his age. Although under the 
 middle stature, he possessed a striking and manly appear- 
 ance. His mental faculties were of the highest order. As 
 a lawyer and an orator, a soldier, financier, and statesman, 
 he was profound and eloquent ; brave, ingenuous, and up- 
 right. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THREE YEAES' WAR. 
 
 Berlin and Milan Decrees of Napoleon. British Orders in 
 Council. Capture of American vessels. Impressment of 
 Amei'ican seamen. Embargo. Non-intercourse. War with 
 Great Britain. 
 
 From domestic events, it now becomes necessary to re- 
 vert to the affairs of Europe ; to those vast occurrences, the 
 destructive influence of which is almost hidden by their 
 sublimity. For a long time after the spoliations on the com- 
 merce of the United States had ceased, in consequence of 
 the treaty negotiated by Mr. Jay, their shipping interest 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 229 
 
 experienced few impediments, worthy of animadversion. 
 Their merchants were enriched by the European warfare, 
 beyond any previous example : their flag, for many years, 
 was the only one that enjoyed the happy and enviable ad- 
 vantage of neutrality. But that great national blessing was 
 doomed to have a period. When, in the year 1804, the 
 flames of inveterate hostility, which had been withdrawn, 
 not extinguished, by the short-lived peace of Amiens, burst 
 forth, and spread with unequalled fierceness ; and the feel- 
 ing's of Great Britain, in refusing to acknowledge the im- 
 perial dignity assumed by Napoleon, were responded by all 
 the royal families of Europe ; the civilized world was shak- 
 en by the awful contest. Every antagonist except Britain, 
 was crushed by the arms of France. Napoleon's ambition 
 was bounded only by the fleets of England ; her fleets were 
 supported by her commerce and manufactures ; and, to an- 
 nihilate the one, it was necessary to destroy the others. 
 Britain seemed contending for existence ; but, while strug- 
 gling to avert her individual ruin, she affected to be the 
 bulwark of the world. Flattered by this proud assumption 
 of disinterested generosity, the encroachments of Napo- 
 leon on neutral rights were met by corresponding obstruc- 
 tions ; and, when France interdicted all commerce with 
 Great Britain, the latter denounced all commercial inter- 
 course with France. The Berlin decree of 1806, and that 
 of Milan in the succeeding year, (both issued by Napoleon, 
 ■to prevent the American flag from trading with his enemy,) 
 were followed by the British orders in council ; not less ex- 
 tensive than the former, in their design, and equally repug- 
 nant to the established law of nations. 
 
 France, however, had, at this period, no power upon the 
 ocean. Her fleets were, by the fate of war, transferred to 
 her victorious rival. There, France could wage only a 
 combat of decrees. She was unable to preserve a single 
 cruiser, against the superior discipline of the British navy. 
 It was not until the friendly vessels had reached her ports, 
 after sailing from her opponent's harbours, that the con- 
 fiscations were effected. The plunders, by the other belli- 
 gerant, could be made at all times ; on the ocean, or within 
 her harbours. England was jealous, because America de- 
 layed resistance to the feeble marine of France : the latter, 
 enraged, from the patience with which the neutral suffered 
 the encroachments of England. Both continued their de- 
 predations ; and each strove to rouse the vengeance of the 
 injured against the other. 
 20 
 
230 HISTORY OF 
 
 But there was a further cause of irritation ; arising, sole- 
 ly, from the conduct of Great Britain. This was, the cus- 
 tom of searching American vessels on the ocean, and im- 
 pressing from them British seamen ; a custom at variance 
 with the free principles of the English constitution, when 
 applied to h,er own, and with the rights of independent na- 
 tions, when practised against foreign, vessels. The seamen, 
 and consequently the trade, of the United States, were af- 
 fected, in a peculiar manner, by this proceeding. Using 
 the same language with the native subjects of the British 
 monarch ; speaking with the same provincial dialects ; re- 
 sembling them in dress and in personal appearance ; it was I 
 impossible to distinguish, with legal certainty, the sailors 
 of one country from the people of the other ; and, besides, s 
 the United States had always exercised a right of natural- ; 
 izing, after a certain length of residence, the inhabitants of 
 every nation : England had long been in the practice of ex- 
 tending to foreigners, who entered her naval service, a 
 similar privilege ; and it was asserted, that to invade the 
 deck of a ship on the common sea, was an act of hostility, 
 not less than the invasion of the land to which the vessel 
 belonged. 
 ^c,Q<j The climax of audacity and insult at length ar- 
 rived. Hitherto, the custom of impressment had 
 been confined to private vessels ; but, now, it was carried to 
 the utmost point to which aggression could extend. Nation- 
 al armed ships were not exempted from intrusion. Four 
 seamen, deserters from the British navy, were reported to 
 have entered the service of the United States, and to have 
 been received on board the frigate Chesapeake, at that 
 time lying in Hampton Roads, preparing for the Mediter- 
 ranean. The American government having refused to per- 
 mit the frigate to be searched, admiral Berkely, command- 
 er of his Britannic majesty's fleet on the Halifax station, 
 ordered the officers of a squadron within the capes of Vir- 
 ginia to follow the American beyond the waters of the 
 United States, and then procure from her, by force, if ne- 
 cessary, the reputed deserters. This service was under- 
 taken by captain Humphries, of the Leopard. He follow- 
 ed the Chesapeake ; and, on the 22d of June, after demand- 
 ing the deserters, attacked her with a broadside. This un- 
 expected occurrence so disconcerted her commander, com- 
 modore Barron, that he struck his colours, and permitted 
 the four seamen to be taken, without resistance. The 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 231 
 
 Leopard carried fifty guns, the Chesapeake only thirty- 
 six. On board the latter, four men were killed and sixteen 
 wounded : one of the impressed seamen was soon after- 
 wards hanged, and another died in prison. Three of their 
 number were natives of America. 
 
 Commodore Barron was tried by a court martial, found 
 guilty of neglect of duty, and suspended from command for 
 the term of five years. 
 
 The indignant feeling which arose from that tragical 
 occurrence, was for a moment lessened by the succeeding 
 conduct of the British government. Admiral Berkely's 
 orders were immediately disavowed ; he was removed from 
 the American station, and naval officers were instructed to 
 respect, in future, the national armed vessels. But the 
 wound inflicted upon American dignity was yet unhealed. 
 Something further was demanded as an atonement. An 
 apology was required, not less conspicuous than the ag- 
 gression. Yet, while the offending admiral was degraded 
 in one quarter, he received an appointment, of higher hon- 
 our, in another : new systems of blockade were invented ; 
 the catalogue of commercial articles deemed contraband 
 was still more grievously enlarged. From the amplitude 
 of these, and of the French imperial decrees, a general cap- 
 ture of all American property afloat seemed almost inevi- 
 table. Congress, therefore, on the recommendation of Mr. 
 Jefferson, ordered an embargo ; prohibiting the exportation 
 of every article from the United States. 
 
 In a moment, the commerce of the American republic, 
 from being, in point of extent, the second in the world, was 
 reduced to a coasting trade between the individual states. 
 But, though all had, in public meetings, urged the adop- 
 tion of elficient measures against the belligerent parties, 
 and pledged themselves to aid the general government in 
 any measures calculated to avenge the honour, or, at least, 
 to guard the property, of the country, yet, many were un- 
 willing to support the very laws which they had recom- 
 mended. Several states declared against the embargo; and 
 individuals, throughout the whole, seized every opportuni- 
 ty of infringement. Overrating their relative importance in 
 the commercial scale of the Union, the New England charged 
 the southern and the western states, which were more em- 
 ployed in agricultural pursuits, WMth having sacrificed the 
 mercantile interest, through sectional hostility ; and trad- 
 ers, in every port, sought to reap a double harvest by in- 
 fraction. Forgetting the solemn compact, by which the 
 
232 HISTORY OF 
 
 interest of each state was surrendered for the benefit of all, 
 the former aimed only at their own gratilEication : unmindful 
 of the sacred duty of citizens, the latter paralyzed the opera- 
 tions of their own representatives, for the sordid consider- 
 ation of individual gain. The opposition in the eastern 
 states daily grew more violent. The restriction could not 
 be enforced, there, without military coercion. The govern- 
 ment, therefore, which, for many years, had sacrificed 
 largely for the preservation of peace with foreigners, found 
 laoQ ^^ expedient to observe a similar conduct at home. 
 They repealed the embargo law, and substituted a 
 non-intercourse with France and England. 
 
 The 3d of March having concluded the administration 
 of Thomas Jefferson, after a second election, he was suc- 
 ceeded in the presidential office by James Madison. 
 
 A ray of national prosperity shortly afterwards burst ' 
 through the general gloom. But the renewal of commer- 
 cial intercourse with England, arising from the magnani- 
 mous reparation for recent injury, offered by Mr. Erskine, 
 (an envoy commissioned to the United States by the liberal 
 administration of Mr. Fox,) and the conciliatory tone used 
 by those enlightened patriots, was, in a short time, sus- 
 pended, by the refusal, on the part of their successors, now 
 under the baneful influence of lord Castlereagh, to ratify 
 ^Q^l the treaty concluded by Mr. Erskine. The insult- 
 ing deportment of the succeeding negotiator, Mr. 
 Jackson, heightened the resentment of the republic ; and a 
 rencounter between the American and British ships of war, 
 the President and the Little Belt, increased the unfriendly 
 sentiments of England. 
 
 The affairs, however, between the Leopard and Chesa- 
 peake, the President and Little Belt, were, on the arrival 
 of Mr. Foster from the court of London, finally adjusted. 
 Provision was made by the British government, to support 
 the seamen who had been disabled, together with the fami- 
 lies of the unfortunate men killed or wounded by the Leo- 
 pard ; and the two impressed sailors, yet remaining alive, 
 were restored, on the same deck from which they had been 
 unjustly taken. 
 
 This was an important victory. But much was still to 
 be accomplished. Every experiment had failed, in pro- 
 curing a change of the systems practised by Great Britain 
 and France against American trade. The United States 
 now proposed for their consideration, that the non-intercourse 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 233 
 
 would be discontinued, towards either of the belligerants, 
 or both, as soon as they, respectively, ceased to violate the 
 neutral commerce of the republic. This alternative propo- 
 sition caused a line of proceeding, singularly artful on the 
 part of France. It enabled her ruler to maintain a peace 
 with the United States, and involve the other power in the 
 calamity of war. Napoleon's minister having informed 
 general Armstrong, the American resident at Paris, that 
 the decr^^s of Berlin and Milan were revoked, the non-in- 
 tercourse, as regarded France, was, by proclamation of the 
 pr^esident, withdrawn. But, Great Britain, suspecting the 
 intentions of Napoleon, did not believe that the French de- 
 crees were, at this period, actually annulled. Indeed, when 
 it is considered, that nearly two years elapsed, before a 
 copy of the document, by which the emperor asserted they 
 had been repealed, was handed to the American minister ; 
 and that its date was seven months earlier than the period 
 of its communication, an impartial observer cannot avoid 
 declaring, that there was greater reason for suspicion than 
 belief. 
 ^a^2 "^^^ formal publication of that mysterious annul- 
 ment, was followed by a corresponding retraction, 
 on the part of England. But the measure was then too 
 late. The American government had resolved, that what 
 could not be obtained through a sense of justice, should 
 be enforced by the aid of arms. When intelligence of the 
 repeal arrived in the United States, war had commenced 
 against Great Britain. The bill for this purpose was voted 
 in the house of representatives by a majority of thirty mem- 
 bers in a hundred and twenty-eight ; in the senate, by a 
 majority of six in thirty-two ; and confirmed by the appro- 
 bation of the president. 
 
 This ultima ratio (the last appeal) was made on the 18th 
 of June ; and, as the questions of search and impressment 
 were still unsettled, it was thought to be the interest of the 
 nation that hostilites should be continued, until after a final 
 adjustment of every dispute. It had been long manifest, 
 I that both Great Britain and France concurred in the opin- 
 ion that the spirit of the United States was not martial, 
 and that the majority of the American ""people were under 
 the influence of commerce : from which supposition, caused 
 by the past forbearance of the government, they presumed, 
 that they would make no other than a war of plenipoten- 
 tiaries and countervailing statutes. That solemn resolu- 
 tion was not a little hastened by a communication of an ex- 
 20* 
 
234 HISTORY OF 
 
 traordinary nature, made to congress, by the president. A 
 person named John Henry, more conspicuous for his ability 
 than virtue, had been commissioned by sir James Craig, 
 governor of Canada, to heighten the dissatisfaction of the 
 eastern states, and, thereby, tempt them to withdraw from 
 the federal union. His endeavours proving ineffectual, his 
 mission was not acknowledged by the British ministers, nor 
 his labour, in any manner, rewarded : he therefore assumed 
 a new character ; and, as his friends had not reniunerated 
 his exertions as a spy, he sought, from his intended vic- 
 tims, the wages of an informer, and obtained fifty thousand 
 dollars for the disclosure. * 
 
 Some months before the declaration of hostility, congress 
 were seriously engaged in preparing for the contest. Be- 
 sides the ordinary militia, they voted that an addition of 
 twenty-five thousand should be made to the regular land 
 forces ; thus, increasing the latter to thirty-one thousand 
 men : that the existing navy should be placed in a proper 
 state for service, and that two hundred thousand dollars 
 should be annually appropriated to its increase : a loan of 
 eleven millions was authorized, and five millions were di- 
 rected to be raised by the issue of notes from the treasury 
 department. The duties on goods imported were in gen- 
 eral doubled. Taxes were afterwards laid on certain arti- 
 cles of domestic manufacture ; upon lands, houses, and 
 nearly every other description of property. In using these 
 resources, however, great improvidence was shown. From 
 the hope entertained of a favourable issue of the negotia- 
 tion, or the dread existing in the legislators of losing their 
 popularity, internal taxes were not laid on until long after 
 the commencement of actual warfare. The consequence 
 was severely felt. The credit of the government was im- 
 paired. Speculators seized the opportunity afforded by a 
 sudden demand for money, and supplied the exhausted 
 treasury by giving eighty dollars each for debentures not 
 redeemable under a hundred. 
 
 A few days after the declaration of war, the town of Bal- 
 timore was seriously disturbed. Some harsh strictures on 
 the conduct of government having appeared in a newspaper 
 of that city, entitled the " Federal Republican," the resent- 
 ment of the opposite party was shown by destroying the 
 office and press of that establishment. The commotion 
 excited by this outrage, had, however, in a great measure, 
 subsided, and the transaction was brought before a criminal 
 court for investigation. But events more alarming and 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 235 
 
 -ftragical shortly afterwards succeeded. On the 26th of July, 
 Mr. Hanson, the leading editor of the obnoxious journal, 
 who had deemed it prudent to leav^ the disordered city, 
 returned ; accompanied by his political adherents ; amongst 
 whom, was general Henry Lee, of Alexandria; an officer 
 distinguished in the revolution, for his bravery in partizan 
 warfare at the head of a legion of cavalry ; afterwards gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, and a representative from that state in 
 the congress of the federal government. Determined to 
 re-commence the paper, by first printing it in Georgetown, 
 in the district of Columbia, and then transmitting it to 
 Baltimore for distribution, a house was, for this purpose, 
 occupied in Charles street, secured against external vio- 
 lence, and guarded by a party well provided for defence. 
 On the 28th, papers were accordingly issued. These con- 
 tained severe animadversions against the mayor, police, 
 and people of Baltimore, for the depredations committed 
 on the establishment in the preceding month, and were 
 generally circulated throughout the city. 
 
 In the course of the day, it became known, that Mr. Han- 
 son was in the new office in Charles street, and it was early 
 whispered that the building would be assailed. A number 
 of citizens, who espoused his opinions, went, therefore, to 
 the house, and joined in its protection. Towards the even- 
 ing, a crowd of boys collected ; who, after using opprobri- 
 ous epithets to those within, began to throw stones at the 
 windows ; and, about the same time, a person on the pave- 
 ment, endeavouring to dissuade the youths from mischief, 
 was severely wounded, by something ponderous thrown 
 from the house. They were cautioned from the windows 
 to desist ; but still continued to assail the place with stones. 
 Two muskets were then fired from the upper story ; charg- 
 ed, it was supposed, with blank cartridges, to deter them 
 from further violence ; immediately, the crowd in the street 
 greatly increased ; the boys were displaced by men ; the 
 sashes of the lower windows were broken, and attempts 
 made to force in the door. Muskets, in quick succession, 
 were discharged from the house : some military arrived to 
 disperse the crowd ; several shots were fired in return ; and, 
 at length, a doctor Gale was killed, by a shot from the office 
 door. The irritation of the mob was increased. They 
 planted a cannon against the house, but were restrained 
 from discharging it, by the timely arrival of an additional 
 military force, and an agreement that the persons in the 
 house would surrender to the civil authority. Accordingly, 
 
236 HISTORY OF 
 
 early in the following morning, having received assurances, 
 on which they thought themselves safe in relying, they 
 surrendered, and werfe conducted to the county jail, con- 
 tiguous to the city. The party consisted of about twenty 
 persons ; amongst whom, were general Lee, general James 
 Lingan, and Mr. Hanson. 
 
 The mayor directed the sheriff to use every precaution 
 to secure the doors of the prison, and the commander of 
 the troops to employ a competent force to preserve the 
 peace. In the evening, every thing bore the appearance of 
 tranquillity ; and the soldiers,, by the consent of that magis- 
 trate, were dismissed. But, shortly after dark, a great 
 crowd of disorderly persons re-assembled about the jail, and 
 manifested an intention to force it open. On being ap- 
 prized of this, the mayor hastened to the spot, and, with 
 the aid of a few other gentlemen, for a while prevented the 
 execution of the design : but they were at length overpow- 
 ered, by the number and violence of the assailants. The 
 mayor was carried away by force ; and the turnkey com- 
 pelled to open the doors. A tragedy ensued, which can- 
 not be described : it can be imagined only by those who 
 are familiar with scenes of blood. General Lingan was 
 killed; eleven were beaten and mangled, with weapons of 
 every description, such as stones, bludgeons, and sledge- 
 hammers, and then thrown, as dead, into one pile outside 
 of the door. A few of the prisoners fortunately escaped 
 through the crowd : Mr. Hanson, fainting from his repeat- 
 ed wounds, was carried by a gentleman (of opposite politi- 
 cal sentiments) at the hazard of his own life, across the ad- 
 joining river, whence, he with difficulty reached the dwell- 
 ing of a friend. 
 
 No effectual inquisition was ever made into this signal 
 violation of the peace, nor punishment inflicted on the 
 guilty. The leaders, on both sides, underwent trials ; but, 
 owing to the inflammation of the public feelings, they were 
 acquitted. 
 
 The Indians on the western frontier were not inat- 
 tentive to the hostile attitude of the British government. 
 They deemed the opportunity favourable, to invade the ter- 
 ritories which they had, by treaty, surrendered to the Unit- 
 ed States. Under the influence of a fanatic of the Shawa- 
 nese tribe, who assumed the name of Prophet, brother of a 
 celebrated chief, Tccumseh ; and inflamed, it must, with 
 historical justice, be admitted, by the encroachments of 
 some lawless citizens ; the Indians inhabiting the neigh- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 237 
 
 bourhood of the Wabash had formed a powerful combina- 
 tion, and assailed the unprotected white settlers with the 
 accustomed barbarities of savage warfare. To repel this 
 invasion, and recover the plundered property, a force was 
 assembled in the Indiana country, consisting of regulars 
 and neighbouring militia, and placed under the command 
 of Mr, Harrison, governor of that district. The expedition 
 was conducted with the greatest prudence, and eflfectually 
 relieved the unhappy settlers. By the unremitting vigi- 
 lance of the commander, a treacherous attack on his en- 
 campment at the Tippecanoe, a branch of the Wabash 
 river, (on the 7th November, 1811) was repelled, and am- 
 ple vengeance inflicted, by the dispersion of the entire 
 confederation. But this service was not performed without 
 the loss of many valuable lives. One hundred and eighty 
 American citizens were slain or wounded. Of the former, 
 none were more deservedly lamented than major Davies 
 and colonel Abraham Owens, of Kentucky ; men, respected 
 equally for their deportment in time of peace, as for their 
 conduct in the day of battle. 
 
 Amongst the number of general officers about this time 
 appointed, was William Hull ; then, governor of the Mi- 
 chigan territory : who was entitled to public confidence 
 from his military services during the revolution. Antici- 
 pating the commencement of hostilities with Britain, the 
 war department had given personal instri^tions to general 
 Hull ; agreeably with which, he had proceeded for his des- 
 tination to the north-west, early in the month of May ; and, 
 when arrived at Dayton, a town situated on a branch of the 
 Great Miami, the forces which he had collected in Mary- 
 land, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, were joined by a body of 
 volunteers. These were from the latter state ; under the 
 command of colonels Cass, Findley, and M'Arthur. The 
 general then marched directly towards Detroit ; a strong 
 military post in Michigan, eighteen miles from lake Erie. 
 
 The object of this expedition, was the invasion of Cana- 
 da. Accordingly, on the 12th of July, intelligence of the 
 war with England having reached the commander, he cross- 
 ed over into that province, and fixed his head-quarters at 
 Sandwich. He was now distant only a few miles from 
 Maiden, the strongest fortress in Upper Canada ; reputed 
 to be in general guarded by about one hundred and sixty 
 men. At this time, the garrison had been increased ; more, 
 however, in its number than its strength : it consisted of 
 Canadian militia, British regulars, and Indians ; a motley 
 
238 HISTORY OF 
 
 assemblage, amounting, in all, to about one thousand. Sev- 
 eral parties were detached from the American army, to 
 reconnoitre the surrounding country; and inconsiderable 
 skirmishes ensued, producing no immediate , advantage to 
 either side. But, in the end, they were beneficial to the 
 enemy. Their numbers were, in the meantime, increasing : 
 the spirits of the American army were suffered to cool ; 
 their confidence in their leader was rapidly declining. The 
 Canadians were allowed a whole month, to deliberate on 
 the question of submission or resistance : during which 
 interval, they ascertained the materials of the invading 
 army ; that they were volunteers and militia, not regular 
 soldiers; and that, whatever might be their individual 
 courage, their bravery would be rendered ineffective by the 
 misconduct of their commander. 
 
 Meanwhile, a severe disaster befell the United States, 
 from an invasion by the enemy. While the American 
 general was losing, in vain parade, the opportunity of cap- 
 turing a British post, his antagonists succeeded in gaining 
 possession of Michillimackinac, by surprise. This fortress 
 is situated at the entrance of the strait that connects the 
 lakes Michigan and Huron, on an island ; where, was an- 
 nually held a market ; at which the Indian traders and 
 merchants of Albany and Montreal convened, to exchange 
 the peltries of the north for the commodities of the east ; 
 and is important, as commanding the intercourse between 
 those great waters, and a convenient passage between Can- 
 ada and the United States. 
 
 When information of this misfortune reached the Amer- 
 ican camp at Sandwich, general Hull was filled with most 
 gloomy anticipations. He dreaded, lest the " northern 
 hive" of Indians would be poured upon his rear, and speed- 
 ily envelop his entire army. Some decisive step, he saw, 
 must immediately be taken. His troops ardently wished 
 to repel the ideal danger, by a victorious assault on the 
 British works : but their leader resolved to avoid it, by a 
 contrary movement — a retreat. On the 8th of August, he 
 determined on returning to Detroit. The British general, 
 Brock, was at no great distance in his rear ; and, when ar- 
 rived at the margin of the adjoining strait, made several 
 demonstrations of an intention to cross it, in order to be- 
 siege the American fort. Either panic-struck or influenced 
 by treacherous engagements, general Hull now exhibited 
 strong indications of an intention to surrender that important 
 post, and the whole army under his command, to the very 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 239 
 
 inferior force of the enemy. Language cannot describe 
 the indignant feelings of his brave associates. When his 
 intention was suspected, a plan was immediately in agita- 
 tion, to deprive him of his command ; and failed only from 
 the precipitation of his surrender. He had not the smallest 
 reason for alarm. A regiment of the line was stationed in 
 the fort : the Ohio volunteers, with a part of the Michigan 
 militia, behind some pickets; so situated, that the whole 
 flank of the enemy, would, in their approach, be exposed 
 to a destructive fire ; and the remainder of the latter regi- 
 ment were in the upper part of the town, to resist the in- 
 cursions of the Indians. Two pieces of artillery, twenty- 
 four pounders, loaded with grape-shot, were placed on a com- 
 manding eminence ; ready to sweep the advancing column 
 of the enemy, as it approached the fort. Full confidence 
 in a favourable result was felt by the American army. 
 Every man expected a proud day for his country ; and each 
 was anxious to contribute to the victory, by his individual 
 exertion. 
 
 On the 15th of August, when the head of the British 
 column arrived within five hundred yards of the American 
 lines, general Hull ordered that the whole should retreat 
 into the fort, and that the twenty-four pounders should not 
 be fired. Immediately, there was heard a universal burst 
 of indignation. The folly was apparent, of crowding eleven 
 hundred men into a work that could be fully manned by 
 three hundred ; and into which, the shot and shells from 
 the Canadian shore were continually falling. The order, 
 however, could not be disobeyed. It was not the com- 
 mander's intention that the garrison should long remain in 
 danger. They were directed to stack their arms ; a white 
 flag was hung out upon the walls, and a communication 
 passed between the two generals, which was shortly fol- 
 lowed by a capitulation. — Not an ofiicer had been consult- 
 ed. No one, except the commander, thought of a surren- 
 der, until the flag was displayed ; and even the women were 
 indignant at so shameful a degradation. 
 
 The volunteers and militia, being disarmed, returned, in 
 sorrow, to their respective homes ; on condition of not 
 serving again during the war, unless exchanged. The 
 general, and the regular troops, were sent to Quebec, as 
 prisoners of war. 
 
 But, it was not thought sufllicient to give the enemy un- 
 disputed possession of the fortress. The whole territory 
 of Michigan was included in the capitulation. The United 
 
240 HISTORY OF 
 
 States were not deprived alone of the services of the troops 
 within the fort : detachments, unconnected with the gar- 
 rison, were involved in the dishonourable agreement. Cap- 
 tain Brush and his party became prisoners at Fort Dear- 
 borne : six hundred men under colonel Miller, and three 
 hundred under colonel M' Arthur, (the former on his re- 
 turn from Brownstown, where he had defeated a body of 
 British and Indians,) were also obliged to ground their arms. 
 
 On being exchanged, general Hull was arrested and 
 brought to trial; charged with treason, cowardice, and neg- 
 lect of duty. The court martial, not having legal juris- 
 diction in treasonable matters, declined giving judgment 
 on the first charge,* at the same time, stating, that they 
 did not believe him guilty of treason : yet they found him 
 guilty of the other charges. He was sentenced to be shot : 
 but, in consideration of his revolutionary conduct, and of 
 his advanced age, the court recommended him to the mercy 
 of the president ; and the punishment of death was, in con- 
 sequence, remitted. His name was then struck from the 
 roll of officers; a substitution, less rigorous, as regards the 
 law, but equally painful to every man possessing the hon- 
 ourable feelings of a soldier. 
 
 On another element, the Americans received ample con- 
 solation for that afflicting disaster. Unexpected laurels 
 crowned their brave defenders on the ocean. A series of 
 achievements had commenced, which, in the course of this 
 arduous contest, raised the naval glory of the United States 
 to an elevation, scarcely surpassed by any nation in the 
 world. Her fleet was few in number ; at this period, only 
 seven frigates, eight sloops and brigs, four schooners, and 
 one corvette : yet, with this inconsiderable force, her sea- 
 men courted a participation in the struggle, against the 
 gigantic fleets of Britain ; which, amounting to a thousand 
 vessels, were then riding triumphantly over the watery sur- 
 face of the globe. 
 
 The Constitution, captain Hull, had sailed from An- 
 napolis on the 5th of July. On the 17th he was chased by 
 a ship of the line and four frigates ; when, by an exertion 
 of able seamanship, than which, victory itself, though more 
 beneficial, could not be more worthy of applause, he es- 
 caped from the unequal combat. On the 19th of August, 
 he had an opportunity of trying his frigate against a sin- 
 gle vessel of the enemy. This was the Guerriere ; one of 
 the best, of the same class, in the British navy, and in no 
 way averse to the rencounter ; as she promptly awaited 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 241 
 
 Ker antagonist's arrival. She had, for some time, been 
 searching for an American frigate ; having given a formal 
 challenge to every vessel of the same description. At one 
 of her mast-heads, was a flag : on which her name was in- 
 scribed, in conspicuous letters ; and on another, the words, 
 " Not The Little Belt ;" alluding to the broadsides which 
 the President had fired into that sloop, before the war. — 
 The Constitution being made ready for action, now ap- 
 proached ; her crew giving three cheers. Both continued 
 manceuvring for three quarters of an hour : the Guerriere 
 attempted to take a raking position ; and failing in this, 
 soon afterwards began to pour out her broadsides, with a 
 view of crippling her antagonist. From the Constitution, 
 not a gun had been fired. Already, had an officer twice 
 come on the quarter-deck, with information that several of 
 the men had fallen at the guns. Though burning with im- 
 patience, the crew silently awaited the orders of their com- 
 mander. The long expected moment at length arrived. 
 The vessel being brought exactly to the designed position, 
 directions were given to fire broadside after broadside, in 
 quick succession. Never was any scene more dreadful. — 
 For fifteen minutes, the lightning of the Constitution's guns 
 is a continued blaze, and their thunder roars without in- 
 termission. The enemy's mizen-mast lies over her side, 
 and she stands exposed to a fire that sweeps her decks. 
 She becomes unmanageable ; her hull is shattered, her 
 sails and rigging cut to pieces. Her main-mast and fore- 
 mast fell overboard, taking with them every spar, except 
 the bowsprit. — The firing now ceased, and the Guerriere 
 surrendered. Her loss was fifteen killed, and sixty-three 
 wounded : the Constitution had seven men killed, and seven 
 wounded. The Guerriere was so much damaged, as to 
 render it impossible to bring her into port : she was, there- 
 fore, on the following day, blown up. The Constitution re- 
 ceived so little injury, that she was, in a few hours, ready 
 for another action. 
 
 This brilliant event spread unbounded joy over the w^hole 
 country. Captain Hull and his equally gallant officers were 
 received with enthusiastic demonstrations of gratitude, 
 wherever they appeared. He was presented with the free- 
 dom of all the cities through which he passed to the seat 
 of government, and with many valuable donations. Con- 
 gress voted fifteen thousand dollars to the crew, as a re- 
 compense for the loss of the prize. Sailing-master Alwyn, 
 who had been severely wounded, was promoted to the rank 
 21 
 
242 HISTORY OF 
 
 of lieutenant ; lieutenant Morris, who also had been wound- 
 ed, to the rank of post-captain. The achievement was re- 
 markable. Great Britain had not, in the course of thirty 
 years, lost a frigate in any conflict, with a similar equality 
 of force. 
 
 Another victory, not less glorious to the American navy, 
 was soon afterwards gained, by the frigate United States, 
 commanded by commodore Decatur; an officer, already 
 distinguished for his skill and courage, particularly in the 
 Mediterranean. On the 25th of October, the United States, 
 after an action of two hours, captured, off the Western 
 Isles, the British frigate Macedonian. The liberal conduct 
 of the American seamen drew forth a species of praise 
 from the enemy, not less grateful than that experienced 
 from their friends. All the private property belonging to 
 the officers and crew of the Macedonian was restored, with 
 the most rigid exactness ; and they were treated with the 
 greatest humanity and politeness. 
 
 The carpenter of the United States, being amongst the 
 killed, had left three small children to the care of a profli- 
 gate mother. This circumstance, when known to the gen- 
 erous crew, produced an act of benevolence, which deserves 
 to be recorded. They instantly raised a fund amongst them- 
 selves, amounting to eight hundred dollars, for the main- 
 tenance and education of the unhappy orphans. 
 
 The next naval achievement, was the capture of the brig 
 Frolic, of twenty-two guns, by the Wasp ; a sloop of war 
 commanded by captain Jones. The Frolic fired as she rose 
 upon the water ; so that her shot was either thrown away, 
 or touched the rigging of the American ; the Wasp, on the 
 contrary, fired as she descended ; and, thus, at every dis- 
 charge, struck the hull of her antagonist. On boarding the 
 British vessel, the surprise of the Americans can scarcely 
 be imagined. They beheld only three officers, and the sea- 
 man at the helm. The deck was slippery with blood ; pre- 
 senting a most awful scene of havoc and distress. The col- 
 ours were still flying ; there being no one left to haul them 
 down. The birth-deck was crowded with the dead, the 
 dying, and the wounded ; and the masts soon afterwards fell, 
 covering every thing beneath, and leaving her a melan- 
 choly object of devastation. The loss on board the Frolic, 
 was thirty killed and fifty wounded ; on board the Ameri- 
 can, five killed and five wounded. Neither of the vessels, 
 however, arrived in the United States. They were both 
 captured before evening, by a British ship of the line. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 243 
 
 No subject of martial discipline ; not even the long dis- 
 puted question, which was the most efficient, the Macedo- 
 nian phalanx, or the legion of the Roman army ; ever cre- 
 ated a more eager spirit of inquiry, than did the extraordi- 
 nary success of the American navy. The British assigned, 
 as the cause, the superior dimensions of their enemy's ves- 
 sels : the Americans, the voluntary enlistment of their sea- 
 men. But neither the one nor the other reason, will bear 
 the test of experience. The first is erroneous ; because the 
 superiority of a few guns, could not produce a continuation 
 of similar results : the second is equally untrue ; being con- 
 tradicted by historical evidence. During the revolution, the 
 British mercenary soldiers almost invariably overthrew the 
 American militia ; and, in the English navy, no difference 
 has been, at any time, recorded, between the exertions of 
 the impressed seamen, and the volunteer. The cause, how- 
 ever, may easily be discovered. It arose, entirely, from the 
 superior accuracy of the American fire ; and the point to 
 which the shot was, in every instance, directed. The French 
 aim their engines of destruction at the rigging ; thus, hop- 
 ing to escape from a disabled enemy ; the English, chief- 
 ly at the deck ; but the Americans pursue a system differ- 
 ent from either, and combining the advantages of both. 
 They pour their unerring fury against the hull ; the shat- 
 tered sides admit overwhelming torrents of the ocean, and 
 the descending vessel compels the drowning enemy to strike 
 his colours. 
 
 Feats of naval prowess were not confined to the public 
 ships of the United States. The exploits of private armed 
 vessels, daily filled the gazettes. Privateers sailed from 
 every port; to distress, or reap advantage from, the ene- 
 my ; and exhibited the same superiority that was display- 
 ed by the regular navy. One of the first at sea, was the 
 Atlas, commanded by captain Moffit; which, with the 
 Dolphin, commanded by captain Endicott, the Comet, the 
 General Armstrong, and the Decatur, became particular- 
 ly conspicuous. A revolutionary veteran, also, commodore 
 Barney, sailed from Baltimore, in the Rossie ; and evinced, 
 by a rapid series of success, that none of his early vigour 
 was abated by the hand of time. Before the meeting of 
 congress, in November, nearly two hundred and fifty ves- 
 sels were captured from the enemy ; and more than three 
 thousand prisoners. Upwards of fifty of those were armed ; 
 carrying nearly six hundred guns. 
 
 The good effect of these splendid triumphs, in promoting 
 
244 HISTORY OF 
 
 confidence, soon extended beyond the element on which \ 
 they had been gained. A spirit was, thereby, roused on 
 land ; producing a happy contrast to the previous languor 
 of despondence. In the western and southern states, vol- 
 unteer corps were, every where, forming, and tendering 
 their services to march to any quarter of the Union. Great 
 alacrity was shown in the western counties of Pennsylvania 
 and Virginia ; but this generous zeal was the most forcibly 
 displayed in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Civil pur- 
 suits were, there, forsaken, for the operations of war : pri- 
 vate concerns were abandoned, for the general interest of 
 the nation ; and this enthusiasm pervaded the bosoms of 
 both sexes, and every age. Females, in the humblest, as well 
 as in the highest, rank of life, prepared military clothing 
 and knapsacks for their relations and friends. In a few 
 weeks, more than four thousand volunteers were, in these 
 states, ready for the field. The command of the Kentucky 
 forces was assigned to general Payne ; those of Ohio were 
 placed under general Tupper ; the troops of Virginia and 
 Pennsylvania, respectively, under generals Crooks and Left- 
 wich. General Harrison was invested with the supreme 
 command in the west; and, by his subsequent exertions 
 against the Indians, near the Wabash, the Miami of the 
 Lakes, and other places in that distant quarter, maintained 
 the confidence merited by his previous operations. 
 
 Towards the close of the year, the American forces on 
 the northern frontier were concentrated chiefly into two 
 bodies : one division near Lewistown ; consisting of some 
 regulars newly enlisted, and militia, under general Van 
 Renssalaer of New York : the other, in the neighbourhood 
 of Plattsburg and Greenbush ; under the commander-in- 
 chief, general Dearborne. The former was named the 
 army of the Centre ; to distinguish it from the division of 
 Harrison : the latter, the army of the North. Some regu- 
 lars and militia were stationed also at Black Rock, Ogdens- 
 burgh, and Sackett's Harbour. It was expected, that, be- 
 fore October, every thing would be ready for a formidable 
 invasion of Canada. But, from an extraordinary cause, 
 there was experienced considerable disappointment. Un- 
 friendly to the war, particularly to its being made offen- 
 sive, the governors of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 
 Connecticut, refused to allow the militia of these states to 
 march, under the requisition of the president. They de- 
 clared, that they were, themselves, the propor judges, in 
 accordance with the federal constitution, of the necessity 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 245 
 
 which might require them in the field. Their refusal de- 
 layed, for a short time, the intended movements, but did 
 not depress the spirits of the troops collected. Dearborne, 
 who had been appointed in consequence of his experience 
 in the revolutionary war, aided by general Alexander Smyth 
 of Virginia, who was considered an able tactician ; together 
 with such officers as Pike, Boyd, and Scott ; was unremit- 
 tingly engaged in drilling the undisciplined, and diffusing 
 organization throughout the whole. Nearly ten thousand 
 men were, at length, embodied on the northern lines, and 
 skilful sea-officers were employed in forming a navy on 
 lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain. 
 
 An achievement, performed on lake Erie, by lieutenant 
 Elliot, in the capture of two British vessels, the Detroit 
 and Caledonia, kindled, in a high degree, the ardour of the 
 forces. They demanded to be instantly led to the invasion 
 of Canada. Unless gratified, some of the volunteers threat- 
 ened, immediately to return home. An opportunity was 
 soon given by their commander, of ascertaining, whether 
 this eagerness was the spirit of the genuine soldier, or the 
 puerile rashness of inexperience. General Van Renssalaer 
 having resolved to attack the heights of Queenstown, made 
 an attempt, at four in the morning of the 11th of Novem- 
 ber, to cross the Niagara. The passage, however, could 
 not then be effected. The failure rendered the troops al- 
 most ungovernable ; and no time was therefore lost in pre- 
 paring for a second trial. Early on the morning of the 
 13th, the men were again embarked, under cover of the 
 American batteries ; the force designed to storm the heights 
 being divided into two columns ; one, of three hundred mi- 
 litia, under colonel Van Renssalaer ; the other, of as many 
 regulars, under colonel Christie ; to be followed by colonel 
 Fenwick's artillery and the remainder of the army. Van 
 Renssalaer, who led the advance, and directed the entire, 
 having scarcely reached the shore with a hundred men, 
 when he was severely wounded, the command of his party 
 devolved on captain Ogilvie ; who, at the head of this tri- 
 fling number, drove the enemy with precipitation down the 
 hill. The detachment under colonel Christie now landed, 
 and re-enforcements arrived from the main body of the ar- 
 my. On the other hand, the British received an accession 
 of force, with equal rapidity ; general Brock arriving with 
 six hundred regulars. A sanguinary contest ensued. Brock's 
 regiment was put to flight, by afn inferior body, under 
 Christie ; and, in the carnage, he himself with his aid-de- 
 21* 
 
246 HISTORY OF 
 
 camp was slain. Thinking the victory complete, general 
 Vah Renssalaer now arrived, for the purpose of fortifying 
 a camp against any future attacks, in case the enemy were 
 re-enforced. But the fortune of the day was not yet de- 
 cided. Joined by several hundred Indians, the British, at 
 three o'clock, made another assault, and, at the point of the 
 bayonet, were a second time repulsed. A third attempt 
 was made ; and thrice had the Americans been victorious : 
 yet, their equally brave antagonists were determined not to 
 leave the field. They were soon rallied ; and hastened, a 
 fourth time, to regain the disputed ground. The American 
 commander was not inattentive to their approach. He re- 
 passed the river, to quicken the departure of the reserve ; 
 who, he perceived, were tedious in entering the boats. But 
 they positively refused to embark ! The same men, that, in 
 the morning, had reproved the tardy movements of their 
 leader, now, with equal insubordination, opposed every en- 
 treaty to assist him. Threats, supplications ; appeals to 
 their honour, their patriotism, their humanity ; were made 
 in vain. More than twelve hundred men, under arms, stood 
 on the opposite beach, as idle spectators of their associates' 
 destruction. They pleaded constitutional privilege for their 
 desertion : thus, using the rights of freemen as an apology 
 for cowardice. 
 
 In the meantime, the engagement was renewed, with 
 mutual desperation. The American militia were soon driv- 
 en off the ground ; the regular soldiers, not above three 
 hundred, were left to sustain the action alone, and at length, 
 overpowered by superior numbers, the whole were obliged 
 to surrender prisoners of war. These, with their brave 
 companions who had fallen in the contest, amounted to at 
 least one thousand. 
 
 During the embarkation, a fire had been opened from 
 Fort St. George, on the Canadian shore, against the Amer- 
 ican fort, Niagara; which was returned, and continued, on 
 both sides, throughout the day. A battery, intrusted to 
 captain M'Keon, was managed with conspicuous ability ; 
 having enveloped in flames several houses, near the British 
 works : and, in a few days afterwards, in the time of an- 
 other tremendous engagement between the forts, in which 
 major Armistead, of the United States artillery, was par- 
 ticularly useful, the former officer was again equally distin- 
 guished. 
 
 On this occasion, a remarkable instance of female bravery 
 occurred. The wife of a common soldier, named Doyle, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 247 
 
 who had been taken prisoner at Queenstown, incensed to 
 a high degree by the captivity of her husband, volunteered 
 her service, and continued to serve red-hot shot until the 
 last gun was fired ; although the shells from the enemy'3 
 batteries fell constantly around her. 
 
 "Van Renssalaer having resigned, the command devolved 
 on general Alexander Smyth ; who announced, in a most 
 vaunting manner, his resolution of immediately retrieving 
 the honour of his country, by another attack on the Cana- 
 dian frontier. He accounted for the late disasters, by the 
 injudicious operations of his predecessor ; and invited fresh 
 bands of volunteers, to partake in the glory which was to 
 proceed from the well-directed plans of a brave and accom- 
 plished leader. 
 
 His address excited considerable animation. Before 
 the end of November, he was attended by nearly five 
 thousand men ; consisting of regulars, and volunteers, 
 from Pennsylvania, New York, and the town of Baltimore. 
 These were carefully drilled, and properly equipped. A 
 sufficient number of boats was in readiness to carry them, 
 at once, to the scene of action. Two detachments, sent over 
 in advance, by their spirited assault, (particularly that led 
 by captain King,) gave a cheering presage of success. 
 But this bright prospect was soon converted into a sadden- 
 ing gloom. A portion of the recent unmilitary feeling, or, 
 rather the entire, seemed transfused into the breast of the 
 present leader : the embarkation of the main body was re- 
 tarded much beyond the appointed time ; so that, when 
 twelve o'clock arrived, only two thousand men had left 
 the shore. At this time, the enemy had prepared to op- 
 pose their landing, and general Smyth had changed his 
 plan of invasion. He ordered, that the troops which were 
 on their way should immediately return. Great murmur- 
 ing followed this unaccountable procedure ; but it was, in 
 some measure, silenced, by the assurance, that he would 
 soon make another attempt. The general can scarcely be 
 charged with a breach of promise : on the 29th, the entire 
 body, except about two hundred, were in the boats ; the 
 men conducting themselves with great order and obedience. 
 Nothing was now wanting but the word to move ; when 
 orders were suddenly given for the whole to disembark, 
 and make arrangements for going into winter-quarters ; as 
 the invasion of Canada was postponed until the following 
 season. 
 
 A loud burst of indignation assailed the vacillating lead- 
 
248 HISTORY OF 
 
 er : the greater part of the militia threw down their arms, 
 and returned home : much dissatisfaction was every where 
 excited ; and his military reputation from that period rap- 
 idly declined. 
 
 The array of the North, stationed along the St. Lawrence, 
 was, in the meantime, sufficiently energetic. But the la- 
 mentable surrender of general Hull having defeated its 
 principal design, the capture of Montreal, nothing of im- 
 portance was effected before the ensuing year. Captain 
 Forsythe and colonel Pike made bold incursions into the 
 enemy's country : and general Brown, of the New York 
 militia, after a sharp action of two hours, repelled a large 
 body of British soldiers, who, in retaliation, had attempted 
 the destruction of Ogdensburg. 
 
 The indefatigable exertions of commodore Chauncey, in 
 creating a fleet upon the northern lakes, produced most 
 beneficial results. During the revolutionary war, the ope- 
 rations on these inland seas extended not beyond the con- 
 tests of temporary gun-boats, or inconsiderable schooners ,* 
 but preparations were now making, from which, arose, a 
 sublimity of combat, not less interesting than the battles on 
 the extended waves of the Atlantic. In the beginning of 
 October, the Americans had not a single armed vessel on 
 lake Erie ; and their whole force on lake Ontario was a brig 
 carrying sixteen guns. The commodore began his opera- 
 tions on the former in the first week of November. His 
 fleet then consisted of the Oneida of sixteen guns, and five 
 smaller vessels, carrying all together thirty-two guns ; 
 while the British fleet carried more than a hundred ; yet, 
 notwithstanding this great inequality of strength, he occa- 
 sionally skirmished with squadrons of the enemy ; at one 
 time, causing the flight of the Royal George of twenty-six, 
 and at another, capturing the Prince Regent schooner of 
 eighteen guns. 
 
 Thus, the navy had been invariably successful, and the 
 army, though equally brave, when brought into action, had 
 been, in almost every instance, unfortunate. The one had 
 been the early favourite of the party that now opposed the 
 war ; the other, considered, by the ministerial adherents, 
 as the only means of national defence, (excepting gun- 
 boats,) worthy of attention. When congress re-assembled 
 in November, the glory of the seamen was contrasted with 
 the misfortunes of the army, as a fresh argument against 
 the measures of the existing government. Party spirit rose 
 to an alarming height ; and, as usual, the members of the 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 249 
 
 several legislatures were not less under its influence, in 
 their public, than in their private situations. Mutual 
 charges were made, of French control and improper sub- 
 mission to the outrages of Britain. Some degree of justice 
 seemed to be on the pacific side ; yet, the advocates for 
 war were able to produce arguments, equally meriting at- 
 tention. A proposal for an armistice, made by the govern- 
 or of Canada, had been thought inadmissible ; and a simi- 
 lar offer by admiral Warren, was, on the same principle, 
 rejected ; but, on the other hand, the American minister at 
 liOndon had made a pacific overture, which proved abor- 
 tive ; and a mediation offered to the British government, 
 by the emperor of Russia, was equally ineffectual. 
 
 Congress had not been long in session, when the public 
 feelings were once more excited by most flattering news. 
 The flag of another British frigate was transferred to the 
 capitol, and placed amongst the former trophies of the 
 American navy. This achievement was gained by the 
 Constitution ; a vessel already distinguished under the 
 command of captain Hull, and now bearing the flag of 
 commodore Bainbridge. In October, this frigate, with the 
 Hornet, captain Lawrence, sailed from New York, to eftect 
 a junction with the Essex, commodore Porter ; which de- 
 parted about the same time from the Delaware ; the whole 
 intending to cruise in the Pacific Ocean, and destroy, in 
 that quarter, the British fisheries and commerce. The 
 junction not happening at the place appointed, commodore 
 Porter passed round Cape Horn, alone ; and, in the mean- 
 time, on the 29th of December, a few leagues west of St. 
 Salvador, the Constitution, which had, some days before, 
 separated from the Hornet, descried a British frigate. Af- 
 ter a severe action, which continued about an hour, the 
 enemy lay an unmanageable wreck. Having struck her 
 colours, she was found to be the Java, commanded by a 
 gallant officer, captain Lambert; who was mortally wound- 
 ed. Besides her own crew, of four hundred men, she had 
 a hundred, designed for service in the East Indies : also, a 
 number of distinguished passengers; amongst whom, was 
 general Hislop, governor of Bombay. The Constitution 
 had nine killed and twenty-five wounded ; the Java, sixty 
 killed; and a hundred and twenty wounded. The prize was 
 in a miserable condition. It being found impossible to 
 bring her into port, she was, in a few days afterwards, 
 blown up. On arriving at St. Salvador, the commodore 
 received the public acknowledgments of governor Hislop ; 
 
250 HISTORY OF 
 
 who, in consideration of that officer's polite treatment, pre- 
 sented him with an elegant sword. The private passengers 
 were released, without being viewed as prisoners : those 
 holding situations under their government, as well as the 
 officers and crew, were liberated on parole. 
 ^ ^^ o A melancholy contrast to that gratifying incident 
 was soon offered to the public mind. Fresh disas- 
 ters in the west, accompanied by circumstances that rarely 
 occur in the annals of history, tended greatly to check the 
 national joy, for that second victory of the Constitution. 
 
 General Harrison had fixed his head-quarters at Frank- 
 linton ; his object being to concentrate a respectable force 
 at the Rapids, and, thence, proceed to the reduction of 
 Detroit. In the meantime, general Winchester continued 
 at Fort Defiance, with about eight hundred men ; many of 
 the volunteers having returned home, after the expiration 
 of the term of service. Those who remained were chiefly 
 from Kentucky : the greater part ranked amongst the 
 wealthiest and most distinguished citizens of the state. 
 Early in the month of January, general Winchester, having 
 received intimation from the inhabitants of Frenchtovvn, a 
 village situated on the river Raisin, between the Rapids 
 and Detroit, that a large body of the British and Indians 
 designed to concentrate there ; and that they dreaded the 
 horrors of an Indian massacre ; the sensibility of the young 
 volunteers was strongly excited, and they earnestly be- 
 sought the general to lead them to their defence. With 
 some reluctance, and, contrary to the arrangements of the 
 commander-in-chief, he yielded to their wishes. Accord- 
 ingly, he sent forward a detachment, under colonels Lewis 
 and Allen, with orders to wait at Presque Isle until the 
 arrival of the main body. An advanced party of the enemy 
 having already taken possession of Frenchtown, it was de- 
 termined instantly to attack them. There followed a se- 
 vere conflict. But the British were at length defeated, 
 pursued by a continual charge for many miles, and entirely 
 dispersed. The Americans then encamped, and remained 
 in their position until the 20th ; when they were joined by 
 general Winchester. His whole force was now about 
 seven hundred and fifty men. Of these, six hundred were 
 placed within a breast- work, and the remainder encamped 
 in an open field. But they were allowed only a short res- 
 pite from fatigue. On the morning of the 22d, they were 
 suddenly attacked by a combined force, under general 
 Proctor and the Indian leaders, Split-Log and Round-Head ; 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 251 
 
 I and, though quickly ready for their reception, their strength 
 I was every moment failing. It was fruitless to contend with 
 the enemy's superior numbers. In order to preserve the 
 remainder of his brave party, the general surrendered them 
 prisoners of war ; on condition of their being allowed to re- 
 tain their private property and side arms, and of being pro- 
 tected against the usual fury of the Indians. At this time, 
 the killed, wounded, and missing, of the little army, amount- 
 ed to more than three hundred. But the loss during the 
 engagement was the least deplorable disaster. Instead of 
 being guarded by the British soldiers, the prisoners were, 
 with few exceptions, assigned to the charge of the Indians, 
 to be marched in the army's rear, to Maiden ; and the 
 greater part were murdered on the way. Those who had 
 escaped the dreadful tomahawk or scalping knife, were re- 
 served, by the cruel escort, for an abominable traffic. They 
 were dragged from door to door through the streets of De- 
 troit, and offered to the inhabitants for sale. 
 
 The people of Detroit exhibited a degree of tenderness 
 for their unfortunate countrymen, which entitles them to 
 everlasting gratitude. All classes eagerly sought oppor- 
 tunities of redeeming the unhappy captives. For their pur- 
 chase, many parted with every thing of value. The female 
 sex were particularly conspicuous for their sympathy : they 
 promptly bartered what clothing they could spare ; next, 
 their ear-rings, and, when nothing else remained, the blan- 
 kets from their beds. Mr. Woodward, formerly a judge 
 of the supreme court, was a father to the survivors. He 
 remonstrated with general Proctor, in the manly tone of his 
 injured country ; depicting, in appalling language, his in- 
 famous behaviour. Several of the British officers, also, are 
 deserving of praise : particularly, major Muir, captains 
 Aiken and Curtis ; the reverend Mr. Parrow and Dr. Bowen. 
 
 The news of this melancholy affair reached general Har- 
 rison when on his march to Frenchtown with a re-enforce- 
 ment. He had heard, with displeasure, the unauthorized 
 movement of general Winchester : apprehending the result, 
 had then ordered a detachment to push forward to his re- 
 lief: and, now, sent on a chosen body, to save any of the 
 wretched party who might have escaped. But their num- 
 ber was very small : the snow, being deep, rendered it al- 
 most impossible for them to make their way. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, the general erected at the Rapids a 
 defence ; named by him, in honour of the governor of Ohio, 
 Fort Meigs. The enemy had been, for some time past, 
 
252 HISTORY OF 
 
 collecting in considerable numbers, for the purpose of be- 
 sieging this place ; which, as the troops expected from 
 Ohio and Kentucky had not yet arrived, was in considera- 
 ble danger : but the Pennsylvania brigade, under general 
 Cooks, although its term of service had expired, volunteer- 
 ed for its protection. This fort is situated on a rising 
 ground, a few hundred yards distant from the river ; the 
 banks of which are chiefly natural meadows. With the aid : 
 of captains Wood and Gratiot, his two principal engineers, I 
 the general laboured, night and day, to strengthen its for- '| 
 tifications : the garrison, amounting to about twelve hundred J 
 men, being in high spirits, and resolved to defend them- i 
 selves to the last extremity. — On the first of May, the Brit- 
 ish commenced a fire, with one twenty-four pounder, one 
 twelve, a six pounder, and a howitzer. By these, no mate- 
 rial injury was done ; though general Harrison narrowly 
 escaped being killed : a ball struck a bench on which he 
 was sitting, and, at another time, a man was mortall) 
 wounded by his side. On the 3d, an additional battery as- 
 sailed the American works, at the distance of about two 
 hundred and fifty yards, furnished with a .mortar ; which, 
 after throwing a number of bombs, was completely silenced, j 
 The Indians now mounted on the trees, fired into the fort, i 
 and killed and wounded several of the garrison. At this .| 
 time, the levies under general Clay, were seen approaching, | 
 and orders were instantly sent to this officer to detach eight ! 
 hundred men, for the purpose of landing on the opposite J 
 side of the river, and destroying the enemy's batteries ; a A 
 sortie from the garrison being, in the meantime, projected, | 
 against the battery erected on the same side with the foi't. | 
 Colonel Dudley, who was charged with the performance of f| 
 the first service, overcame the four batteries in an instant, i 
 compelling their defenders to retire; and, having executed 1- 
 his orders, commanded a retreat. But his men, elated by fj 
 success, and eager to avenge the recent slaughter of their'f 
 countrymen, pushed forward, with irresistible impetuosity, 'i 
 The consequence was dreadful. In a few moments, they i 
 were surrounded by an Indian army, three times their num- % 
 ber, headed by the brave Tecumseh ; a desperate fight en- 
 sued, and a scene of slaughter almost as terrible as at the 
 river Raisin. Only a hundred and fifty escaped : the rest 
 were either killed or taken prisoners. Colonel Dudley was 
 amongst the slain ; a melancholy sacrifice to rashness and 
 insubordination. 
 
 This, in some measure, disconcerted the plan of the sortie 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 253 
 
 from the fort. Yet, colonel Miller sallied out at the head 
 of three hundred men, assaulted the besiegers' entire line, 
 though manned by three hundred and fifty regulars and as 
 many Indians, spiked the cannon of the principal batteries, 
 and returned with above forty prisoners. 
 
 Happily, this was the last occasion requiring the garrison 
 to display their active bravery. The Indians, after their 
 successful ambuscade, having, according to their usual cus- 
 tom, returned home, notwithstanding the entreaties of Te- 
 cumseh and his subordinate chieftains, general Proctor 
 made instant preparations to retreat ; when, a cessation of 
 hostilities taking place, arrangements were entered into for 
 an exchange of prisoners, and, on the 9th of May, after an 
 assault of thirteen days, the enemy withdrew. 
 
 The termination of this siege was glorious to the defend- 
 ers, and reflected lustre on the American army. It taught 
 their enemies, that, in future, they must expect to meet a 
 resistance different from what they had experienced from 
 Hull ; and, that if they would succeed in overcoming an 
 American fortress, they must previously destroy the gar- 
 rison. 
 
 Designing to organize the expected forces, general Har- 
 rison returned to Franklinton. Here, a deputation from all 
 the Indian tribes residing in Ohio, and some of the territo- 
 ries of Indiana and Illinois, having made a tender of their 
 services to follow him into Canada, their offer, after some 
 deliberation, was accepted ; as, hitherto, the United States 
 employed none of the friendly Indians, with the exception 
 of a small band commanded by Logan, a distinguished chief, 
 a nephew of Tecumseh. They were advised to remain 
 neutral. But the advice could not be understood by these 
 jivarlike people : they considered it rather as a reproach upon 
 ;heir courage, than a desire to promote their welfare ; es- 
 Decially, as several inroads had been made upon their set- 
 lements by the hostile tribes : for which reason, general 
 Harrison now consented to their wishes ; on condition that 
 they should be merciful to their prisoners, and, in all things, 
 conform to the established rules of civilized warfare. 
 
 Our attention is next drawn to the military operations on 
 the northern frontier ; where, events of a very important 
 haracter had occurred. 
 
 During the winter. Great Britain had sent a number of 
 troops to Halifax ; for the purpose of ascending the St. Law- 
 rence in the spring, and being in early readiness to aid in 
 .he defence of Canada. Recent victories of the allied sov- 
 22 
 
254 HISTORY OF 
 
 ereigns on the European continent, by which, Napoleon's 
 gigantic power was ahnost annihilated, had decreased her 
 necessity, and, consequently, her desire, of pacification with 
 the United States. A larger force could therefore be di- 
 rected against her trans-atlantic enemies ; and, besides, the 
 militia of her American provinces were disciplined with 
 unusual care. 
 
 By an exchange of prisoners, many valuable officers, tak- 
 en in the first campaign, were restored to the American 
 army. The troops enlisted in the middle and northern dis- 
 tricts, were marched to Sackett's Harbour and other places 
 in the neighbourhood ; where, by the indefatigable industry 
 of Pike, now promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, ^ 
 they were converted into efficient soldiers. 
 
 The first interesting engagement, in that quarter, took 
 place on the 21st of February ; when, the British, with 
 twelve hundred men, having attacked Ogdensburg, com- 
 pelled the Americans, under colonels Forsythe and Bene- 
 dict, to evacuate the place. The vanquished troops, how- 
 ever, had, soon afterwards, an opportunity of silencing the 
 triumphs displayed by the enemy on this occasion. Lake 
 Ontario was no sooner clear of ice, than a descent on the 
 Canada shore was projected ; the first object of attack, being 
 York, the capital of the upper province, the dep6t of the 
 British military stores for supplying their western posts, 
 and a place of great importance to the success of either 
 party. The plan, chiefly suggested by general Pike, was 
 highly judicious ; and, at his particular request, general 
 Dearborne intrusted him with its execution. On the 27th 
 of April, the troops, escorted by commodore Chauncey, 
 who rendered most important assistance, reached the place 
 of debarkation, at the ruins of Toronto, about ten miles 
 from the town of York. Major Forsythe, and his corps of 
 riflemen, were the first on shore, amidst a galling fire of 
 musketry, and were in a moment engaged with the whole 
 force. General Pike followed; and, afterwards, a detachment 
 under major King ; consisting of the light artillery, a volun- 
 teer corps, and a few' riflemen, commanded by major Eus- 
 tace, colonel M'Clure, and lieutenant Riddle. Placing him- 
 self at the head of the first formed, general Pike ordered the 
 rest to follow rapidly, and ascended the bank against a show- 
 er of bullets from the grenadiers. He charged with impetu- 
 osity : they were thrown into confusion, and fled. Scarcely j 
 was this achieved, when the bugles of Forsythe announcedi 
 that he, also, had been victorious. — A fresh body of the! 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 255 
 
 enemy's grenadiers now suddenly issued from the woods ; 
 making a desperate charge on major King's regiment. It 
 faltered for a moment ; but immediately rallied, and drove 
 the British from the field. Again, they were seen forming 
 at a distance ; but re-enforcements having, by this time, land- 
 ed from the fleet, they retreated from the adjacent garrison. 
 
 The American troops were now arranged according to 
 the intended order of battle. They moved forward with 
 becoming ardour and veteran precision. They confided in 
 their leader, and their leader placed a well-grounded confi- 
 dence in them. On emerging from a wood, a twenty-four 
 pounder opened from one of the enemy's batteries : but this 
 was soon taken, and the column moved on to the second, 
 which was abandoned on their approach. General Pike 
 here ordered his men to halt; for the purpose of learning 
 the strength of the garrison of York, and obtaining other 
 information ; for, as the barracks appeared to be evacuated, 
 he suspected a stratagem, to draw him within the reach of 
 some secret force. Lieutenant Riddle was sent forward to 
 ascertain the enemy's situation. Meanwhile, the heroic Pike, 
 as humane as he was brave, occupied himself in removing 
 a wounded British soldier from a place of danger ; and, after 
 performing this act of generosity, was calmly seated on the 
 stump of a tree, in conversation with another soldier who 
 had been taken prisoner ; when, suddenly, the air was con- 
 vulsed by a tremendous explosion. The British magazine, 
 at the distance of two hundred yards, near the barracks, 
 had blown up. Huge stones and fragments of wood were 
 rent asunder, and whirled aloft, by the exploding of five 
 hundred barrels of gunpowder. Immense quantities of 
 those fell in the midst of the victorious column, killing and 
 wounding more than two hundred men. Amongst the 
 wounded, was general Pike. But the Americans, though 
 for a moment confounded, soon recovered their former or- 
 der : the ranks were instantly closed, and their undaunted 
 spirit was evinced by three loud huzzas. 
 
 The wound of the gallant Pike was soon found to be 
 mortal ; yet he still retained the fire and solicitude of the 
 soldier and commander. " Move on, my brave fellows," 
 he exclaimed, " and revenge your general." They instant- 
 ly obeyed. He was then carried on board a vessel, and, 
 shortly afterwards, gratified by the sight of the British flag. 
 On seeing the victorious trophy, his eyes, over which ap- 
 proaching death had already drawn the prophetic film, for 
 
256 HISTORY OF 
 
 a moment, resumed their lustre ; and, making signs for it to 
 be placed under his head, he contentedly expired. 
 
 After a short delay, the Americans, under colonel Pearce, 
 moved forward towards the town, and, on their way, were 
 met by an offer of capitulation. The public stores were as- 
 signed to the invaders, and all the troops surrendered pris- 
 oners of war. The British loss, in men, amounted to seven 
 hundred and fifty, in killed, wounded, and captured ; of the 
 latter, there were fifty of the line and five hundred militia. 
 The public property destroyed was immense ; and that which 
 was reserved uninjured, amounted in value to at least half 
 a million of dollars. 
 
 The object of the expedition being now fully attained, 
 the American forces evacuated York on the 1st of May, 
 and re-embarked : but the fleet did not leave the harbour 
 until the 8th. 
 
 An attack on Fort George, and Fort Erie, unsuccessful- 
 ly attempted the year before, was the next thing to be un- 
 dertaken. Accordingly, on the morning of the 28th, (a se- 
 vere cannonade between the opposite batteries having oc- 
 curred the day before, decidedly advantageous to the Amer- 
 icans) generals Dearborne and Lewas embarked, with their 
 whole force, amounting to four thousand men. The ad- 
 vance, under colonel Scott, consisting of five hundred, was 
 exposed, in approaching the shore, to incessant volleys of 
 musketry, from at least twelve hundred regulars, stationed 
 in a ravine ; yet, they faltered not a moment : no sooner 
 were they formed on the beach, than they were led to the 
 charge, and dispersed the enemy. Meanwhile, the works, 
 on each side of the river, were furiously engaged. Fort 
 George being in a short time rendered untenable, the Brit- 
 ish laid trains to their magazines, and hastily retired. 
 The American light companies took possession of the aban- 
 doned works ; captains Hyndrnan and Stockton having enter- 
 ed first, and extinguished the fire intended to create the ex- 
 plosion. The former withdrew a match at the imminent haz- 
 ard of his life. Before twelve o'clock, the wholjg of the for- 
 tifications in that quarter were surmounted by the American 
 flag : the enemy having lost, in killed and wounded, above 
 two hundred and fifty men, besides six hundred prisoners ; 
 their antagonists, only thirty-nine killed, and a hundred and 
 eight wounded. High praise was given by the commodore 
 and the general to the forces under their respective orders. 
 Scott and Boyd were particularly mentioned ; and much 
 honour was gained by colonel M.Porter and major Arm- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 257 
 
 istead of the artillery ; captain Totten of the engineers, 
 and lieutenant Oliver H. Perry of the navy. Commodore 
 Chauncey himself bore a distinguished part in this splen- 
 did enterprise ; the judicious attack with his vessels, on the 
 different batteries, having largely contributed to its suc- 
 cess. / 
 
 A few days afterwards, it became known, that the enemy, 
 under general Vincent, amounting to fifteen hundred men, 
 had encamped on the heights at the head of Burlington 
 Bay. The American commander determined to allow them 
 no repose. A force, therefore, much superior in numbers, 
 under Chandler and Winder, in a short time arrived with- 
 in a few miles of their position ; using every means, as well 
 to prevent their escape, as to guard against surprise. The 
 situation of the British army was almost hopeless. To con- 
 tend openly, would have been the last refuge of despair ; 
 yet, what could not be gained by this alternative, might, 
 notwithstanding, be accomplished by address. Their com- 
 mander resolved to try the fortune of an attack in the night. 
 The fires kindled by the Americans, while they guided the 
 assailants to their camp, served to conceal them during 
 their approach. Several of the American sentinels, owing 
 to the extreme negligence of the main guard, w^ere silently 
 bayoneted by the enemy ; who, to the number of seven or 
 eigiit hundred, passed them when asleep. The assailants 
 now raised a tremendous Indian yell. The main body of 
 the Americans were, by this, suddenly awoke, and, seizing 
 their arms, commenced a heavy and destructive fire. An 
 awful combat immediately overspread the encampment. A 
 scene of confusion followed, equally distressing to the com- 
 manders, and diflScult of description. The soldiers of one 
 party were intermingled with those of the other; the dark- 
 ness of the night rendered friends undistinguishable from 
 foes, and the irregular firing of the whole prevented the. 
 respective orders being heard. General Chandler was at 
 length entangled amongst the enemy ; general Winder soon 
 afterwards found himself in the same situation, and both 
 were taken prisoners. Finding two pieces of artillery lim- 
 bered, the British drove them off, overturned others, hastily 
 retired, and, before day-light, concealed themselves with 
 the main body in a wood. The Americans returned to 
 Fort George ; harassed, nearly the whole way, by the In- 
 dians, and their disappointment rendered still more griev- 
 ous, from the capture, by an armed schooner, of nearly all 
 their camp equipage and baggage. 
 22* 
 
258 HISTORY OF 
 
 The movement of general Dearborne agamst the fortifi- 
 cations on the Niagara, was attended with imminent dan- 
 ger to Sackett's Harbour. In his absence, it experienced 
 a formidable attack. Sir George Prevost having embark- 
 ed, with a thousand men, on board the fleet of sir James 
 Yeo, scarcely had commodore Chauncey arrived at Niaga- 
 ra, when the British squadron appeared off the harbour. 
 An alarm was immediately given. General Brown, with 
 about a thousand men, of every description — seamen, ar- 
 tillerists, militia, invalids, and volunteers — made the best 
 preparation that the occurrence would permit. At the only 
 place of landing, he hastily raised a battery and breast- 
 work ; behind which, some militia and artillery were sta- 
 tioned ; and the remainder of his forces, in a second line 
 near the public buildings. The approach of the enemy's 
 boats, did not, at first, disturb the firmness of the militia, 
 who formed the front line ; but, when they had discharged 
 their muskets, they were seized with a sudden panic, and 
 neither threats nor entreaties could arrest their flight. A 
 sharp conflict now began, with the regulars and artillery 
 under colonel Backus : who retired gradually ; taking pos- 
 session of the houses and barracks, and continuing to an- 
 noy the assailants from the windows. At this time, the 
 hopes of the American commander revived. Ashamed of 
 their panic, (to which, indeed, the bravest troops, if inex- 
 perienced, are subject,) a considerable part of the militia 
 had rallied near the scene of action : with these, general 
 Brown marched silently through the woods, in apparent 
 secresy, yet intending to be discovered. The stratagem 
 was successful. Believing that his rear was in danger of 
 assault, and perhaps informed that a strong re-enforcement 
 to the Americans was approaching, the British commander 
 ordered a retreat, and, leaving his dead and wounded on 
 the field, hastily embarked. 
 
 The attack, however, although repulsed, created con- 
 siderable damage. Supposing that his friends were en- 
 tirely beaten, commodore Chauncey, agreeably with a pre- 
 vious arrangement, set fire to the public store-houses, and, 
 before the flames were suppressed, the destruction was ex- 
 tensive. 
 
 General Dearborne, having been, for some time, labour- 
 ing under a severe indisposition, now retired from service, 
 assigning Fort George to the care of colonel Boyd. The 
 American arms soon afterwards experienced a severe re- 
 verse, by an irrational attack on a British party at La 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 259 
 
 Goose's House, about seventeen miles from the fort: and 
 on the 8th of July a general skirmish ensued, without any 
 advantage remaining on either side. Losses were frequent- 
 ly occurring, from the peculiar warfare of the Indians : 
 Boyd, therefore, considering the forbearance, hitherto ob- 
 served, in refusing the service of the friendly tribes, inju- 
 rious to the army, accepted the aid of the Seneca nation, 
 having about four hundred warriors, under young Corn- 
 planter : with a stipulation of the same nature as that en- 
 tered into by the western Indians with general Harrison. 
 On the last day of July, twelve hundred British landed at 
 Plattsburg, destroyed the public stores, and carried off 
 .large quantities of private property ; interesting engage- 
 ments continued between sir James Yeo and commodore 
 Chauncey ; in which, the latter, though he contended with 
 the utmost gallantry and skill, suffered occasional defeats. 
 
 During the first year of the war, the Atlantic shore en- 
 joyed a state of comparative peace. Early in the spring, 
 however, a devastating mode of hostility began, against the 
 most exposed southern states ; a distinction having been 
 made between the north and south : from a belief that the 
 northern states were not only unfriendly to the war, but 
 strongly inclined to separate from the Union, and return 
 to their former allegiance under the king of England. On 
 the 4th of February, a British squadron, consisting of two 
 ships of the line, three frigates, and some shipping of in- 
 ferior size, ascended the Chesapeake, destroyed the small 
 vessels employed in navigating the bay, and effectually 
 blockaded its entire waters. About the same time, another 
 squadron, under admiral Beresford, entered the Delaware, 
 and, on the 10th of April, demanded from the people in 
 the village of Lewistown a supply of provisions : which 
 were spiritedly refused by colonel Davis ; the officer com- 
 manding at this place. The frigate Belvidera then moved 
 near the village, and commenced a furious bombardment. 
 But this mode of obtaining a supply was equally ineffective. 
 Her fire being returned from a small battery hastily erect- 
 ed on the shore, after a cannonade of twenty-four hours, 
 the attempt was relinquished. Another trial, near the same 
 place, in tlie ensuing month, met a similar opposition : the 
 admiral having attempted to land a party from his barges, 
 major Hunter, who was detached by colonel Davis with a 
 hundred and fifty men, made so gallant a resistance, that 
 he compelled them to hasten to the shipping : soon after 
 which, the squadron returned to Bermuda. 
 
260 HISTORY OF 
 
 In the meantime, scenes of the most distressing kind 
 were presented in the Chesapeake. Admiral Cockburn 
 was satiating his unmanly and unsoldierlike propensities, 
 in a species of warfare, at once reflecting dishonour on the 
 brave and generous character of the British navy, staining 
 his own memory with indelible reproach, and imbittering, 
 for ages, that antipathy, which, since the early period of 
 the revolution, was still existing. Having taken possession 
 of several islands in the bay, particularly Sharp's, Tilgh- 
 man's, and Poplar islands, he could make an easy descent 
 upon the neighbouring shores. At first, his depredations 
 were confined to the farm-houses and seats of private 
 gentlemen. These were plundered, their owners, in the 
 rudest manner, insulted; and cattle which could not be 
 removed were wantonly destroyed. This devastating hos- 
 tility was, in a short time, practised on a bolder and more 
 extensive scale. Frenchtown and Havre de Grace ; the one 
 a village situated on Elk River, the other, a more consid- 
 erable town, higher up the bay, on the Susquehanna, and 
 both places of deposit for military and mercantile property, 
 in its passage between Baltimore and Philadelphia; were 
 plundered, and entirely burned. Georgetown and Frcd- 
 ericktown, two beautiful villages on the river Sassafras, 
 experienced a similar destruction. The opposition made 
 by the few inhabitants and militia who hastily assembled, 
 was unavailing, against five hundred well disciplined ma- 
 rines. The people of Frenchtown, after firing a few shots, 
 fled on the enemy's approach ; with the exception of an 
 old Hibernian, named O'Neil. This heroic citizen con- 
 tinued the battle, alone ; loading a piece of artillery, and 
 firing it himself, until, by recoiling, it ran over his leg, and 
 w^ounded him severely ; and even then, exchanging his 
 piece of ordnance for a musket, and limping away, he still 
 kept up a retreating fight with the advanced column of the 
 British. He was, at length, made prisoner, but, soon after- 
 wards, released. — The behaviour of colonel Veazy and a 
 small party at Fredericktown, was equally deserving of 
 applause. Aided by a few militia, the remainder of fifty 
 who had opposed the enemy on their landing, this brave 
 officer continued a steady and well-directed fire, until longer 
 delay would bring inevitable destruction upon themselves, 
 and increased severity upon the neighbourhood. 
 
 The arrival of admiral Warren augmented the British 
 naval force in the Chesapeake, to a formidable number. 
 Seven ships of the line and twelve frigates, with a pro- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 261 
 
 )ortional attendance of smaller vessels, and a large body of 
 and troops accompanied by sir Sidney Beckwith, held un- 
 listurbed possession of the bay. The unguarded villages 
 lad already felt the unsparing hand of barbarous warfare : 
 he strongest cities were now in danger of destruction. 
 Baltimore, Annapolis, and Norfolk, wore equally in ex- 
 >ectation of assault. 
 
 Norfolk was destined as the first object of attack. The 
 laval and military commanders were alike active in making 
 )rcparations against the impending danger. Commodore 
 I!assin, having received intelligence that a squadron of the 
 memy had arrived in Hampton Roads, ordered that the 
 rigate Constellation should be anchored between the two 
 brts, which command the approach to Norfolk; and that 
 ;he gun-boat flotilla, under captain Tarbell, should engage 
 ;he foremost of the enemy. Ten thousand militia were 
 ilready assembled in the town. The flotilla did considera- 
 ble damage to one of the advancing frigates ; but was soon 
 mder the necessity of retiring. Four days afterwards, (on 
 ;he 22d of June,) the British were discerned approaching, 
 iviih about four thousand land troops : whom, they endea- 
 i^oured to disembark on Craney Island, out of the reach of 
 ;he American gun-boats. But, in avoiding one danger, 
 ;hey encountered another, more destructive. A battery, 
 jnder the direction of lieutenant Neale, was managed with 
 5o much precision, that several of their boats were cut in 
 two, the admiral's barge was sunk, and the whole force, 
 ifter half their number had landed, compelled to make a 
 precipitate retreat. Nor was this the only scene of their 
 disappointment. A large body who had disembarked on 
 the main shore, were not less ably resisted by the Virginia 
 Volunteers, on their crossing the narrow inlet to the west, 
 pere, too, they were forced to relinquish the attempt ; 
 ^heir loss, altogether, being two hundred in killed and 
 f\^ounded, besides a number who seized the opportunity of 
 peserting. The Americans lost not a single man. 
 !, The safety of Norfolk, as well as of Gosport, Portsmouth, 
 and other places, is to be attributed to the resolute defence 
 af Craney Island. The conduct of lieutenant Neale and 
 his equally brave companions, Shubrick, Saunders, and 
 Brcckenridge, was gratefully acknowledged by the inhab- 
 itants ; and colonel Beaty and his officers were not less en- 
 titled to applause. 
 
 Changing the mode of approach, the enemy determined 
 3n proceeding against Hampton ; a town, distant about 
 
262 HISTORY OF 
 
 eighteen miles from Norfolk. The fortifications of this 
 place were of small importance : the garrison was weak ; 
 not exceeding four hundred men. Possessed of this place, 
 it was thought that Norfolk would be the more easily sub- 
 dued ; as its communication with the upper country would 
 then be entirely interrupted. On the 25th, admiral Cock- 
 burn advanced, with a number of barges, tenders, and small- 
 er vessels ; throwing rockets, and firing towards the town : 
 -while general Beckwith landed below, at the head of two 
 thousand men ; intending to march up, and gain the Amer- 
 ican rear. But the admiral was so warmly received by ma- 
 jor Crutchfield, the oflicer commanding at Hampton, who 
 opened against him a few pieces of artillery, that he was 
 compelled, instantly, to withdraw, and conceal his men be- 
 hind a point. 
 
 The general now appeared, and was severely galled by 
 a rifle company under captain Servant, which had been 
 posted in a wood. Major Crutchfield soon afterwards 
 brought his infantry to their support ; but, finding himself 
 unable to stand against numbers so superior, he retreated. 
 The enemy were rapidly gaining ground. Captain Pryor, 
 who had been left to command the battery that had opposed 
 them in their landing, when the royal marines had ap- 
 proached within sixty yards, and his party were in imme- 
 diate danger of being captured, ordered the guns to be 
 spiked ; and, charging upon the enemy, threw them into 
 confusion : by which act of desperation, he effected his 
 escape, without losing any of his men. Altogether, the 
 Americans lost, in killed and wounded, nineteen ; the Brit- 
 ish, thirty-eight. 
 
 With painful feeling, and reluctance, we here record the 
 barbarities that followed. Unwilling to perpetuate the recol- 
 lection of atrocities, and, consequently, prolong the hostile 
 feeling towards the British, we would pass them over in si- 
 lence ; yet, a brief memorial seems imperiously required, to 
 animate the exertions of every citizen against invasion at a 
 future day. The troops employed in the attack on Craney 
 Island, were chiefly of the vilest description ; prisoners, of 
 various nations, taken from the French armies in Spain : who 
 had entered the British service with a view of rewarding 
 their own desertion by the plunder of their friends. No soon- 
 er was the town in possession of these wretches, than leave 
 was given them to satiate the worst passions of corrupted 
 nature. Neither age nor sex, sickness nor decrepitude of i 
 years, restrained tlie monstrous cruelties of these barbari- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 263 
 
 ms. Some justification of their enormities was offered by 
 ;he British commander. When appealed to by general 
 Faylor, sir Sidney Beckwith declared, that excesses were 
 permitted in retaliation for the conduct of the Americans 
 it Craney Island, in shooting at a crew of English seamen, 
 vho had clung to their barge when overset; nevertheless, 
 ;hat the troops had proceeded to a degree of severity, un- 
 warranted, and that, on learning the extent of their enor- 
 nities, he had ordered them to re-embark. The Ameri- 
 cans, however, deny the existence of that ground of retalia- 
 ;ion ; it having, after solemn inquiry, appeared, that they 
 lad acted with uniform humanity. 
 
 During the remainder of the summer, the British were 
 employed, chiefly, in threatening Washington, Annapolis, 
 md Baltimore. Admiral Cockburn was permitted to follow 
 lis inclination, by moving with a large squadron to the 
 south ; where he carried on, in the Carolinas and in Geor- 
 gia, the same species of warfare so extensively practised by 
 lim in the Chesapeake. 
 
 To this, a pleasing contrast was shown, in the deportment 
 )f commodore Hardy ; who commanded a squadron off the 
 lorthern states. His conduct was brave, honourable, and 
 lumahe : while performing his duty as a British officer, 
 le did not forget the laws of established warfare : he fought 
 the battles of his country ; but, with the severity of the sol- 
 iier, he blended the mildness of the Christian. 
 
 The United States now so justly estimated the value of 
 their marine department, that congress, during the last 
 session, authorized the building of several additional ves- 
 sels. 
 
 This confidence, arising from the success of the past, 
 ivas not impaired by the achievements of the future. Suc- 
 ceeding victories were equally splendid with the former. 
 The arrival of the Hornet gave another addition to the 
 long catalogue of naval triumphs. Captain Lawrence had 
 been ordered to blockade a British ship of war at St. Sal- 
 vador ; which vessel was formally challenged by the Hor- 
 net ; but, unwilling to risk the loss of a large amount of 
 silver, she thought it prudent, though of superior force, to 
 decline the combat. The Hornet afterwards sailed for Per- 
 nambuco ; on the 4th of February, captured an English 
 brig of ten guns, with above twenty thousand dollars ; then, 
 sailed along the coast of Maranham, and on the 22d steered 
 for Demerara. The next day captain Lawrence engaged 
 a large national armed brig, the Peacock ; pouring into her 
 
264 HISTORY OF 
 
 so heavy a fire, that, in fifteen minutes, she not only surren- 
 dered, but hoisted a signal of distress. She was cut almost 
 to pieces, and had already six feet of water in her hold. 
 The sea rushed impetuously through her wounds ; threat- 
 ening every moment to ingulf her. A party were immedi- 
 ately sent to remove her crew on board the Hornet. They 
 found, that her captain had been killed, that the greater 
 part of her men were either killed or wounded, and that 
 she was rapidly sinking, notwithstanding all their efforts to 
 keep her above the water. Her guns were now thrown over- 
 board, the shot-holes stopped, while a part of the Hornet's 
 crew laboured strenuously to save the vanquished. But 
 the utmost exertions of these generous men were unavail- 
 ing : she sunk, in the midst of them ; carrying down nine 
 of her own men, and three of the Americans. 
 
 Hitherto, invariable success had attended the navy ; but, 
 for a while. Great Britain seemed to have regained her an- 
 cient character of invincibility. Perhaps, this change was 
 beneficial to the United States. A longer continuance of 
 victory might have relaxed that vigorous discipline, which, 
 the want of confidence, not experience, had established. 
 
 On the 10th of April, a few days after the arrival of the 
 Hornet, the Chesapeake frigate returned to Boston, from a 
 four months' cruise ; when, her commander, captain Evans, 
 being appointed to the New York station, she was assigned 
 to captain Lawrence. About the latter end of the month, 
 the British frigate Shannon, commanded by captain Broke, 
 appeared off- Boston Harbour, prepared for a desperate ren- 
 counter ; and sent a formal challenge to captain Lawrence : 
 which, unfortunately, he did not receive. He was, at this 
 time, absent from the port. On arriving, he was informed, 
 that a British frigate was lying off the harbour ; apparently 
 inviting a combat with an American. He was pleased with 
 the occasion ; as he burned with impatience again to meet 
 the enemy. But his spirit was more commendable than 
 his prudence. He did not sufficiently inquire into the rela- 
 tive condition of the vessels. The greater part of the 
 Chesapeake's crew had been recently discharged ; others 
 had been enlisted, and several of the officers were sick. 
 Under these disadvantages, he sailed out on the first of 
 June, determined to risk a battle. When he came within 
 sight of the Shannon, he addressed his crew; but found 
 that they listened with no enthusiasm: some heard him with 
 sullen coldness ; others, with murmurs and dissatisfaction. 
 They alleged, as a reason of complaint, the non-payment of 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 265 
 
 heir prize-money. For this, he immediately gave them 
 ickets, and thought that they were reconciled : but he was 
 mistaken ; they were, at this moment, almost in a state of 
 nutiny. At length, the Chesapeake closed with the enemy, . 
 ,nd gave her a broadside ; which was returned with equal 
 iestruction : but the Chesapeake was more unfortunate in 
 he loss of officers. A second and a third broadside were 
 xchangcd, with the same misfortune. A hand grenade 
 brown from the Shannon, exploded in the arm-chest of the 
 ;^hesapeake, with disastrous effect. Captain Broke, with 
 ^reat alertness, seized the moment of distress, and boarded 
 he American. A scene of horrid carnage ensued. Captain 
 ^awrence had been mortally wounded early in the action, 
 md carried below ; exclaiming as he left the deck, " Don't 
 rive up the ship ;" every officer, qualified for command, 
 vas either killed or severely wounded, and, of the crew, 
 »ne-third were disabled. In twelve minutes from the com- 
 nencement of the action, the ship was overcome, and her 
 !olours hauled down. Of the enemy, twenty-three were 
 dlled and fifty-six wounded. On board the Chesapeake, 
 ibout eighty men were killed, and as many wounded ; the 
 rreater portion of which loss was sufifered after the enemy 
 lad gained the deck. 
 
 I The bodies of captain Lawrence and lieutenant Ludlow, 
 L^ho, also, had been mortally wounded in the action, were 
 Interred by the enemy at Halifax, with every honour, — 
 ^ivil, naval, and military. A passport being obtained from 
 commodore Hardy, they were afterwards brought to the 
 Jnited States, by Mr. Crowninshield of Salem, in his own 
 )arge, manned by twelve masters of vessels. 
 
 Seldom did any victory create in England, amongst the 
 idherents of the government, a more pleasing sensation, 
 ban the capture of the Chesapeake. Not even the bril- 
 jant achievements of Wellington in Spain, nor of Nelson, 
 m the ocean, had called forth more lively expressions of 
 atisfaction; and, in accordance with this feeling, the prince 
 egent conferred upon the victor, who had undoubtedly 
 vinced the utmost contempt of danger, the honour of 
 ^nighthood. 
 
 On the 4th of August, another American vessel was cap- 
 ured by the British. A sloop of war, the Argus, had the 
 fiisfortune to be vanquished. After conveying Mr. Craw- 
 Drd, the United States' minister, to France, the Argus 
 roceeded early in June to cruise in the English channel ; 
 rhere she continued for two months, committing extensive 
 28 
 
266 HISTORY OF 
 
 havoc amongst the enemy's shipping ; and causing so much 
 alarm, that the British merchants were unable to procure 
 insurance on their vessels, navigating in that quarter, un- 
 der three times the customary premium. Several ships 
 of war were ordered out in search of this daring and des- 
 tructive foe ; one of which at length discerned her, amidst 
 the flame of a brig which she had set on fire. This was tlie 
 Pelican ; a vessel of her own class, but said to be two guns 
 superior to her in force. An action commenced, at the 
 distance of musket shot ; the Pelican being to windward. 
 At the first broadside, captain Allen of the Argus fell, se- 
 verely wounded; and lieutenant Watson, also, on whom 
 the command devolved, after a brave and skilful perform- 
 ance of his duty for an hour and a half, was rendered unfit 
 for service, and was succeeded by lieutenant Allen. In five 
 minutes more, the Argus was so greatly damaged in her 
 rigging, that she could no longer be manceuvred ; and, after 
 sustaining a tremendous raking fire for half an hour, she 
 surrendered. 
 
 Captain Allen, who was justly a favourite of his country, 
 with midshipmen Delphy and Edwards, died in England ; 
 where they were buried, with all the professional tributes 
 of respect. 
 
 America was soon afterwards consoled for the loss of the 
 Argus. Victory again favoured the republic. In the follow- 
 ing month, the brig Enterprise, lieutenant Burroughs, when 
 a few days out of Portland, captured the Boxer ; a vessel 
 rather superior in efl^ective force. The Enterprise had only 
 one killed and thirteen wounded ; but that one was the la- 
 mented Burroughs. The British loss was more consider- 
 able ; and amongst their slain, also, was their commander, 
 captain Blythe : who was buried by the side of his antago 
 nist, in Portland. 
 
 Meanwhile, extensive preparations were making on t 
 land. In the west, the campaign opened with an aflTa: 
 which, though of small importance, as affecting the chi 
 object of the war, was, nevertheless, conspicuous for 
 brilliancy. This, was the remarkable defence of Fort San 
 dusky, by major Croghan ; a youth of only twenty-one years 
 of age. When commanding at another post, Croghan, hav- 
 ing received information that the enemy intended to invest 
 the fort of Lower Sandusky, had marched hither, with 
 some additional men, and been occupied, with great assidu- 
 ity, in placing it in the best posture of defence. But the 
 only addition that he was enabled to complete, was a ditch 
 
 I 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 267 
 
 around the stockade of pickets ; a species of fortification 
 which encloses these hastily constructed forts, but affords 
 small protection against artillery. One six pounder was his 
 entire ordnance : a hundred and sixty men, regulars, and 
 Pittsburg and Petersburg volunteers, the total number of 
 his garrison. There seemed no likelihood of his defending 
 the place. General Harrison, conceiving it impossible to 
 hold it, ordered him, on the approach of the enemy, to de- 
 stroy the works, and retire. But this, the heroic Croghan, 
 taking the responsibility on himself, determined to disobey. 
 
 On the 1st of August, general Proctor appeared, with 
 about five hundred regulars and seven hundred Indians, 
 together with some gun-boats ; when, after making the 
 most prudent arrangements to cut off the garrison's re- 
 treat, he demanded a surrender. But the major refused to 
 obey the summons. Finding that his companions would 
 support him to the last, he retained, in presence of the 
 enemy, the same courage as when expecting their arrival, 
 and returned the answer of a soldier. He withstood, un- 
 daunted, the whole fury of their cannon, directed against a 
 single point of his defence ; strengthening it with bags of 
 flour and sand : concealed his six pounder loaded with slugs 
 and grape, in the bastion that covered the angle through 
 which the assailants meant to enter; and, reserving his 
 fire, until several hundred of their number had reached the 
 ditch, commenced, with an effect, so destructive, that near- 
 ly the whole were either killed or wounded. The resolu- 
 tion of the assailants, seemed equal to the calm gallantry 
 of the defenders. The assault was repeated, with bravery 
 augmented by resistance. But those who escaped destruc- 
 tion from the cannon, were met by a shower of bullets from 
 the small-arms, the remainder sought shelter in the woods, 
 and, the next morning, disappeared. 
 
 This exploit called forth the admiration of every party in 
 the United States. The commander, and his companions, 
 captain Hunter, lieutenants Johnson, Bayley, Anthony, and 
 Meeks ; ensigns Ship and Duncan ;* of the regular army; as 
 well as all the other oflicers and volunteers; were highly com- 
 plimented by the general, and received the still more con- 
 spicuous approbation of congress. Croghan was promoted to 
 the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and to render his happiness com- 
 plete, was presented with a sword by the ladies of Chillicothe. 
 
 The utmost exertions had been making to gain the as- 
 cendency on lake Erie. The completion of the naval force 
 
 * Subsequently governor of Illinois. 
 
268 HISTORY OF 
 
 in that quarter ; a means so essential to check the British 
 progress in the west ; was intrusted to commodore Perry, 
 an officer, already mentioned in our history, who joined the 
 steadiness of age with the ardour and enterprise of youth. 
 He was then in his twenty-eighth year. His fleet consist- 
 ed of two vessels, each of twenty guns ; two of four, one of 
 three, one of two, and three of one gun each: in all, nine 
 vessels, carrying fifty-six guns. The British squadron, 
 which was commanded by captain Barclay, comprised one 
 vessel of twenty-one guns, one of seventeen, one of fifteen, 
 another of ten, and two of three, guns each ; in the whole, 
 six vessels, mounting sixty-nine guns. On the morning of 
 the 10th of September, the enemy appeared off Put-in-Bay, 
 where commodore Perry was at anchor, bearing down up- 
 on the latter with a fair wind. The American squadron 
 soon got under way : the engagement having commenced 
 with the largest vessel in advance, became general along 
 the line. The conflict was tremendous. The British fought 
 with a degree of bravery worthy of their ancient fame ; the 
 Americans, with resolution becoming the defenders of their 
 country. The flag-ship of commodore Perry suffered dread- 
 fully in the loss of men; and was, every moment, on the 
 point of sinking. He descended into a boat, and proceeded, 
 amidst the hottest of the fire, to another vessel ; at the same 
 time, waving his sword on high, to invigorate his men. 
 Three hours, had the battle held the combatants in awful 
 suspense, before the scale of victory was turned. At length, 
 the laurel crown was assigned to Perry ; the triumph was 
 complete ; — not a single vessel of the enemy escaped. 
 
 The Americans were now masters of the lake ; but they 
 still felt the effects of Hull's surrender. Part of their terri- 
 tory was yet in possession of the British. The next move- 
 ments of general Harrison were against the captured for- 
 tress of Detroit, and the Canadian fort at Maiden. Placino-, 
 at the former, a strong guard under colonel M'Artliur, on 
 the 27th of September, he embarked, with his main body, 
 consisting of several thousand regulars, militia, and volun- 
 teers from Ohio and Kentucky ; and, passing over lake 
 Erie, landed about three miles below Amherstsburg. The 
 British general. Proctor, had, in the meantime, evacuated 
 Detroit, and destroyed the fort and public stores of Mai- 
 den ; and, joined by Tecumseh's Indians, retreated across 
 the Thames. General Harrison determined on pursuing. 
 On the 2d of October, he marched with thirty-five hun- 
 dred of his most active troops, consisting of a few regu- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 269 
 
 lars, colonel Ball's dragoons, colonel Johnson's regiment, 
 with some of governor Shelby's volunteers ; and, after skir- 
 mishing vi'ith the Indians, and capturing a guard with a 
 large quantity of arms and ammunition, reached the place 
 where the enemy had, the night before, encamped. They 
 were drawn up across a narrow strip of land; hemmed in, 
 on one side, by a swamp, and, on the other, by the Thames : 
 their right consisting of Indians, under Tecumseh ; posted 
 in a thick wood, in the vicinity of a morass. General Har- 
 rison immediately prepared for battle. His manner of at- 
 tack was judicious. Knowing the dexterity of back-woods- 
 men in riding through a forest, and the ease with which 
 they carry rifles in that situation, he determined to sur- 
 prise the regulars, by charging them with colonel John- 
 son's mounted regiment ; who were, accordingly, drawn 
 up in front. The horses, at first, recoiled from the enemy's 
 fire ; but, soon afterwards, again getting in motion, at full 
 speed, with irresistible impetuosity, broke through the op- 
 posing column. In a moment, the contest was over, in the 
 foremost ranks. The Americans instantly forming in their 
 rear, were preparing to make another charge ; when, the 
 British officers, finding it impossible to form, with suffi- 
 cient rapidity, their shattered ranks, immediately surren- 
 dered. Much, however, was still to be accomplished. The 
 Indians were not yet disturbed. They remained, unshaken, 
 at their post. The tremendous voice of Tecumseh was dis- 
 tinctly heard, encouraging his warriors, who, though beset 
 on every side, fought with more obstinate courage than had, 
 at any time, been witnessed in these people. But the gal- 
 lantry of Johnson soon deprived them of their spirit. Rush- 
 ing towards the spot where the faithful warriors clustered 
 around their chief, amidst the well-aimed bullets which 
 the conspicuous figure of the brave Kentuckian, from his 
 uniform and white horse, attracted as he approached, he 
 was discovered by Tecumseh, when covered with wounds, 
 and at the moment when his horse was about to sink, from 
 the loss of blood. The chief, having discharged his rifle, 
 sprang forward with his tomahawk ; but, amazed by the 
 appearance of his antagonist, for a moment withheld his 
 blow. The interval was fatal. Leveling a pistol at his 
 breast, colonel Johnson instantly brought him to the ground ; 
 and the Indians, no longer hearing the voice of their leader, 
 soon afterwards dispersed. 
 
 The British loss in this engagement was seventy killed 
 and wounded, and si.\ hundred prisoners. The Americans 
 23 * 
 
270 HISTORY OF 
 
 lost, in killed and wounded, about fifty; amongst the slain, 
 was colonel Whitely, a soldier of the revolution ; who serv- 
 ed, on that occasion, as a private. Shelby, the venerable 
 governor of Kentucky, bore a distinguished part in the 
 honours of the day. Though, in the struggle for indepen- 
 dence, particularly on King's Mountain, he had, already, 
 entailed a heavy debt of gratitude upon his country, he 
 now, at an age approaching seventy, came forward to es- 
 tablish what he had aided in acquiring. 
 
 The Indians left a hundred and twenty on the field : but 
 the fall of Tecurnseh was more weakening than the loss of 
 half their nation. No longer attempting to renew the war, 
 they were received by the Americans as allies. — Tecurnseh 
 was the most formidable chief that ever raised the toma- 
 hawk against the United States. Subtle, brave, eloquent, 
 and liberal; of a dignified and commanding aspect; a form, 
 at once well proportioned and majestic ; he was fitted to 
 gain the afi'ections of his people, and lead them to the most 
 desperate encounters. 
 
 Harrison now allowed the greater part of the volunteers 
 to return home ; and, stationing general Cass at Detroit, 
 with about a thousand men, proceeded, according to in- 
 structions, with the remainder of his force, to join the army 
 of the centre, at Buffalo. 
 
 To make a serious impression on Canada, if not a total 
 conquest of the province, was, again, a favourite object 
 with the American government. Recent victory had in- 
 creased the confidence of the administration, and revived 
 the martial spirit of the people. A larger force, than at 
 any former period, was collected along the northern fron- 
 tier. At the head of the war office, was placed general 
 Armstrong ; a man of acknowledged energy and talents ; 
 naturally inclined to military study; and, by a long resi- 
 dence in Europe, skilled in all the modern improvements 
 in that arduous department. Dearborne was succeeded by 
 general Wilkinson, from the southern district; an officer 
 supposed to possess more extensive military science than 
 any other in the United States: and general Wade Hamp- 
 ton, from the same quarter, distinguished, as well as Wil- 
 kinson, amongst the revolutionary soldiers, was also sum- 
 moned to aid in the intended enterprise. The troops col- 
 lected under the former, on the Niagara frontier, amounted 
 to eight thousand regulars ; independent of those shortly 
 expected under Harrison. The latter assembled at Platts- 
 burgh ; numbering four thousand men ; and, making a to- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 271 
 
 tal superior to any mustered since the beginning of the 
 war. The Americans had the command of the water com- 
 munication : Fort George and the neighbouring shores were 
 in their possession. General Armstrong himself, with more 
 solicitude, however, than prudence, visited the army, to de- 
 liver instructions for the campaign; and the ablest officers 
 that the Union could afford — Brown, Scott, and Macomb ; 
 Boyd, Porter, and Forsythe — accompanied the expedition. 
 
 Montreal was destined to be the first object of attack. 
 The chief place of rendezvous was Grenadier's Island ; half 
 way between Sackett's Harbour and Kingston : whence, it 
 was appointed that the army should embark, and proceed 
 down the St. Lawrence to a convenient place for landing. 
 A brilliant rencounter, which occurred on the 21st of No- 
 vember, between an American regiment, under colonel 
 Ripley, and a superior number of the enemy, at Chrystler's 
 field, gave a happy specimen of bravery and skill, and prom- 
 ised a glorious consummation of the army's hope ; but, a 
 letter received by the commander-in-chief, from general 
 Hampton, declaring the impracticability of his co-operating 
 in the original design, stopped any further prosecution of 
 the campaign. The army then retired into winter-quarters 
 at Frenchtown Mills. 
 
 Opinion was much divided as to the causes of this failure, 
 as well as to the party that should bear the blame. The 
 dissatisfaction was in proportion to the flattering anticipa- 
 tion of success : and even the government Vv'as not without 
 a share of the universal censure ; for having associated two 
 officers, Wilkinson and Hampton, between whom there had 
 previously existed a well-known spirit of hostility. 
 
 But the injury suffered by the United States did not end 
 merely in disappointment. Failing in the extension of their 
 conquests, they were deprived of their former acquisitions 
 on the Canadian shore. Fort George was shortly afterwards 
 abandoned. Before the middle of December, the force un- 
 der general M'Clure, to whom, the charge of that fortress 
 had been given, being reduced, by the departure of the 
 militia, on the expiration of their term of service, to a num- 
 ber insufficient for its defence ; it was evacuated and blown 
 up. His retreat was preceded by an act which excited 
 universal dissatisfaction throughout the United States, and 
 caused severe retaliation by the enemy. Misconceiving 
 his instructions, he left the handsome village of Newark in 
 flames: this provoked the resentment of sir George Prevost ; 
 and, accordingly, Fort Niagara being surprised, owing 
 
272 HISTORY OF 
 
 to the negligence of captain Leonard, by a party of British 
 soldiers, the garrison, nearly three hundred in number, 
 were, all, except about twenty, put to the sword : and, im- 
 mediately the invaders began to lay waste the adjoining 
 frontier ; burning Lewistown, Manchester, Youngstown, the 
 Indian village of the Tuscaroras, and Buffalo. 
 
 In the meantime, commodore Chauncey had skirmished 
 with the enemy's squadron ; capturing, by unremitting 
 vigilance and consummate abilities, several armed vessels, 
 and forcing the remainder to keep within their harbour : 
 but the inconsiderable breadth of the passage which sepa- 
 rates the frontiers in the neighbourhood of the several forts, 
 allowed the British to cross over in their small boats, and 
 rendered his naval superiority, in that respect, unavailing. 
 ■,Q-,M The impolicy of carrying on offensive war, for the 
 purpose of conquering a British province, was, eve- 
 ry day, more apparent. Though the army had improved 
 in discipline, and individuals had acquired renown, the 
 national aspect was becoming, on the whole, more gloomy. 
 Inexperience in commissar ial affairs promoted waste and 
 disappointment. At one time, the soldiers were furnished 
 with exuberance ; at another, they were destitute of suffi- 
 cient food. Those comforts which preserve the health, 
 and invigorate the spirits, of an army, were generally want- 
 ing ; and, in the snowy regions of the north, the men, thus 
 neglected, or made subservient to individual avarice, suf- 
 fered more by sickness than the sword. The expenditure 
 was, thus, three times larger than the ministerial estimates; 
 and the consumption of the regular soldiers, greater th;in 
 could be balanced by recruiting. Militia and volunteers 
 could be assembled for defence: but regulars, only, were suit- 
 able for offensive war; and recruits for the regular service 
 came forward with reluctance, because the name of enlisted 
 soldier was held in disrepute. No expedient, however, was 
 left untried, to remove the prejudice, or act on the cupidity, 
 of the people. The pay was enlarged, immediate bounty 
 offered in money, and future benefit in lands. Several 
 millions of acres, were, for this purpose, surveyed, in Illi- 
 nois, and a large quantity in Missouri ; of which, a hun- 
 dred and sixty were to be given to each private, and a pro- 
 portionate allowance to subordinate officers, on the conclu- 
 sion of the war. 
 
 In the beginning of the year, a British flag of truce ar- 
 rived at Annapolis, with despatches for the American gov- 
 ernment ; announcing the expulsion of Napoleon's armies 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 273 
 
 from Spain, his signal defeat, about the same period, at 
 Leipsic, and, that, notwithstanding the rejection of the 
 Russian mediation, the prince regent of England was will- 
 ing to enter on direct negotiations of peace. The presi- 
 dent having frankly acceded to the proposal, it was agreed, 
 that commissioners should assemble at Ghent. Henry 
 Clay, speaker of the house of representatives, and Jonathan 
 Russel, were appointed, on the part of the United. States, 
 to proceed to Europe ; and, with John Quincy Adams, (son 
 of the ex-president Adams,) James A. Bayard, and Albert 
 Gallatin, diplomatists already there, to commence the 
 pleasing business of conciliation. 
 
 Mr. Clay had filled the arduous duties of his office with 
 conspicuous dignity and attention. His chair was, at his 
 departure, assigned to Langdon Cheves, an eminent lawyer 
 of Carolina; who, by his talents and uniform disinterested- 
 ness, gained, in that exalted station, the universal esteem 
 of his country. 
 
 After the failure of the campaign against the British 
 provinces, the northern army remained in winter quarters, 
 without any material occurrence, until the latter end of 
 February. General Wilkinson had submitted several plans 
 of attack on the different posts in his vicinity : which, how- 
 ever, did not meet the concurrence of the secretary of war ; 
 who directed, that the army should be withdrawn from its 
 position, to Plattsburgh, and that general Brown iiiiouid 
 proceed with two thousand men to Sackett's Harbour, ac- 
 companied by a due proportion of field and battering artil- 
 lery. On the 13th of March, general Wilkinson, at the 
 head of about four thousand men, recrossed the Canadian 
 lines, for the purpose of attacking La Colle's Mill : a forti- 
 fied stone-house, garrisoned by about two thousand, under 
 major Handcock : but, after a persevering assault, in which, 
 he sufiercd considcral>le loss, he was obliged to relinquish 
 the design. The unfortunate issue of this affair, combined 
 with the failure of the late campaign, having brought Wil- 
 kinson into disrepute, the administration suspended him 
 from command, and, in his place, appointed general Izard. 
 Wilkinson, however, after a minute investigation, was hon- 
 ourably acquitted of every charge. 
 
 While M'Donough was employed in forming a navy on 
 lake Champlain, the indefatigable Chauncey was equally 
 industrious in keeping pace with the enemy's preparations 
 on lake Ontario. It was required, that every nerve should 
 be exerted, in this quarter. The British were here build- 
 
274 HISTORY OF 
 
 ing a ship, of not less magnitude than a hundred and twelve 
 guns ; and, as they had failed in contending with the Amer- 
 ican vessels when afloat, they endeavoured, by formidable 
 incursions, to destroy them on the stocks, as well as the 
 naval stores, intended for their equipment. Their most 
 daring attempt was made against Oswego. Here, colonel 
 Mitchell commanded ; and, though, after a heavy bombard- 
 ment, by a superior number of the enemy, under general 
 Drummond, he was compelled to evacuate the fort, yet, by 
 his provident removal of the stores, and obstinate resist- 
 ance, they gained only a barren victory, with considerabl(3 
 loss of men. Their killed and wounded were at least two 
 hundred. The Americans were not tedious in following 
 their example. On the 29th of May, a party, under major 
 Apling and captain Woolsey, having entered Sandy Creek, 
 carried off a hundred and thirty seamen, together with all 
 the boats and cutters in the harbour ; an enterprise severely 
 felt by the British squadron ; as it lost thereby, many of its 
 ablest officers, and commodore Chauncey regained the 
 command of lake Ontario. 
 
 The death of colonel Forsytlfe, one of the most distin- 
 guished officers in the whole army, who, at this period, 
 was killed in a skirmish with the enemy, was deeply la- 
 mented. But an occurrence of a different kind, about the 
 same tii;;e, caused a much more serious impression on the 
 public mind. An American officer, colonel Campbell, 
 having crossed lake Erie with five hundred men, and land- 
 ed at Dover, a small Canadian village, destroyed the mills, 
 together with the greater part of the private dwellings ; a 
 proceeding that underwent the investigation of a military 
 court : by which, it was determined, that, although the 
 destruction of the mills might be justified, by the usages 
 of war, on account of their having furnished the British 
 troops with supplies, the damage inflicted on the dwellings 
 could not pass without disapprobation. 
 
 The eastern states did not escape, entirely, from the evils 
 attending this extensive warfare. The aversion to hostili- 
 ties entertained by the majority in New England, nor the 
 partiality which it was supposed they felt for the British, 
 in comparison with the French government, was not suffi- 
 cient to protect their coasts, throughout the war, from the 
 ravages of the English navy. Say brook and Brock way's 
 Ferry, Wareham and Scituate, had, in the beginning of 
 April, to lament the entire destruction of their shipping. 
 A part of the district of Maine, lying between Penobscot 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 275 
 
 river and Passamaquoddy, as well as all the islands on the 
 eastern side of the bay, were, soon afterwards, completely 
 Dverrun by the invaders. They declared this section to be 
 1 portion of the British empire, and induced two-thirds of 
 the people to swear allegiance to the crown of England. 
 Very different, however, was their reception at Stonington. 
 [ts destruction was prevented by the gallantry of its inhab- 
 itants ; and victory, considered by the enemy as certain, 
 thus changed, into the mortification of defeat. 
 
 The American navy continued to be an interesting object 
 Df attention. Commodore Porter, although, on the 28th of 
 March, constrained to yield the Essex at Valparaiso, suffered 
 Qo loss of reputation. His services, before entering the Pa- 
 cific Ocean, and his glorious cruise in that distant quarter, 
 ivhere twelve armed ships, carrying above a hundred guns, 
 bad been taken by him from the enemy, could not be erased, 
 by his yielding to a superior squadron, while apparently pro- 
 tected by the usages of a neutral port. Nor is commodore 
 Decatur the less entitled to national esteem, though, in the 
 following year, on the 15th of January, the chance of war 
 placed him in contact with another squadron, which, anxious 
 ;o revive the drooping laurels of the British flag, had roused 
 lis indignation, by transferring the fruit of their combined 
 nanoeuvres to a single frigate. The confidence in these dis- 
 :inguished officers underwent not the smallest diminution : 
 ;he American navy maintained, in every action, the same su- 
 3eriority by which its glory was acquired. The sloop of war. 
 Peacock, by the capture of the brig Epervier, impressed the 
 lame of Warrington on the public mind ; and a vessel of 
 :he former class, the Wasp, (lately built,) which compelled 
 ;he surrender, in different actions, of the Reindeer and 
 A.von brigs, caused yet stronger feelings of respe'ct for the 
 nemory of Blakely. His memory is all that his fellow- 
 Mtizens can now contemplate. The Atlanta, a vessel of 
 sight guns, taken off Madeira, was the last trophy gained 
 jy that officer. The Wasp never returned to the United 
 States : no information of her fate has been received, and 
 ill hopes of her arrival have, long since, disappeared. This 
 vas a severe affliction. But, if a continuation of success 
 iould, in any manner, diminish the regret for the loss of so 
 nany valuable lives, the United States, in the ensuing 
 spring, received no small degree of consolation. The Hor- 
 let sloop of war, commanded by captain Biddle, captured 
 ;he English national brig. Penguin ; and the Constitution, 
 ander captain Stewart, overcame the united forces of the 
 
276 HISTORY OF 
 
 Cyane and the Levant ; the latter carrying eighteen guns ; 
 the former, thirty-four. 
 
 On the northern frontier, the army not only retained its 
 accustomed spirit, but emulated the high character of the 
 navy, by its improvement in discipline. The battle of 
 Chippewa, in which, on the 4th of July, the British com- 
 mander, , Riall, retreated before general Broun, was an 
 achievement happily gained on the anniversary of Amer- 
 ican independence ; and Niagara soon afterwards witnessed, 
 that, although general Drummond, the superior of the 
 vanquished leader, had determined to retrieve tlie misfor- 
 tune of his arms, the victorious officer was able to heighten 
 the brilliant character of himself and his companions, by a 
 second conquest. Chippewa is remarkable in the annals 
 of America: but the battle of Niagara may justly be ranked 
 before all the anterior engagements of the war. The ob- 
 stinacy displayed by the British soldiers, enhanced the 
 merit of their enemy, but did not prevent general Riall, nor 
 even the aid-de-camp of general Drummond, from gracing 
 the triumph of the victors. — In these actions, generals 
 Scott, Ripley, and Porter, conducted their several divisions 
 in the brave and able manner insured by their previous con- 
 duct : colonel Miller, with majors Hindman and Jessup, 
 Leavenworth and M'Neil, though of inferior stations, were 
 not less energetic in their duty; and captain Towson evinced 
 the same precision in the management of his artillery, that, 
 since the commencement of the contest, had rendered his 
 name a familiar topic of applause. — A party of the enemy, 
 who had crossed the Niagara with the design of recapturing 
 general Riall, were repulsed by the firmness of major Mor- 
 gan ; and a more formidable attack on Fort Erie, (retaken 
 by the Americans,) in which the whole energies of the Brit- 
 ish officers were exerted, was repelled by the good conduct 
 of the army under the prudent superintendence of general 
 Gaines. 
 
 But these conspicuous proofs of advancement in military 
 knowledge, did not enable the Americans to enlarge the : 
 boundaries of their conquests, nor even to retain a footing 
 on the Canadian side. The weather growing cold, and the 
 season of inaction fast approaching, it was thought expe- 
 dient to transport the whole army into the United States ; 
 thus, terminating the third invasion of that British prov- 
 ince. 
 
 Early in June, intelligence having arrived of the com- 
 plete success oi the allied powers in Europe, and the con- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 277 
 
 sequent dethronement of Napoleon, most serious appre- 
 hensions were entertained from the exertions of Great Brit- 
 ain, now directed against a single point. It was naturally 
 supposed, that some place in the southern portion of the 
 Union, would feel the earliest effects of her concentrated 
 force. This conjecture was soon realized. Twenty-one sail 
 of the line, under admiral Cochrane, arrived in the Chesa- 
 peake, on the 16th of August. Another fleet from Bermuda, 
 followed, under the command of admiral Malcolm. Accom- 
 panying these, were several thousand land troops, the flow- 
 er of lord Wellington's army, under one of his most active 
 officers, general Ross. Despatching to the Potomac two 
 frigates, together with some rocket and bomb vessels, in 
 charge of captain Gordon, for the purpose of demolishing 
 Fort Washington ; and a strong division of his fleet, with 
 sir Peter Parker, to threaten Baltimore ; admiral Cochrane 
 sailed with the main body up the Patuxent. The troops 
 were landed at Benedict, and, on the 21st of August, 
 marched to Nottingham. Thence, they pursued their 
 route to Upper Marlborough ; where, they arrived at two 
 o'clock in the afternoon of the following day. To this 
 place, eighteen miles from Washington, commodore Bar- 
 ney, after a long continuance of gallant service in these 
 waters, having retreated, some time before, he now, on the 
 approach of his formidable antagonist, retired, to join the 
 American army in his rear ; leaving a party of marines : 
 who, agreeably with his orders, accomplished the destruc- 
 tion of his flotilla. 
 
 ! General Ross had debarked thirty-five hundred men. 
 fThe army destined to oppose him, was confided to general 
 iW^^inder ; who had been recently exchanged. It amount- 
 sd to fifteen thousand ; of which number, about one-half 
 were actually assembled, or approaching. Five hundred 
 of these were infantry of the line ; a hundred and fifty, reg- 
 ular dragoons : six hundred were seamen and marines ; and 
 the remainder, militia, of the states of Virginia and Mary- 
 land, and the District of Columbia. 
 
 While the enemy were advancing, general Winder was 
 collecting his forces at the Wood Yard, fourteen miles 
 jfrom Washington ; falling back, when he had reached Up- 
 per Marlborough, to a place called the Old Fields : where, 
 jhe encamped. At noon, on the ensuing day, he detached 
 colonel Scott of the United States' thirty-sixth regiment, 
 major Peter of the Georgetown artillery, and captains Da- 
 ividspn and StuU with their several corps, to reconnoitre 
 I 34 
 
279 HISTORY OF 
 
 the enemy, and impede them on their march. About six 
 miles from the American camp, they perceived the head 
 of the British column, moving directly for the capital. A 
 slight skirmish ensued, and the party returned to the main 
 body. The enemy advanced, and, in the evening, halted 
 within three miles of general Winder. The general again 
 changed his position. To avoid a battle in the night, which 
 would deprive him of his great superiority in cannon, (hav- 
 ing above twenty pieces, and the British not more than 
 three,) he marched, about sun-set, into Washington, and 
 encamped near the bridge above the navy-yard. The ene- 
 my were seen from Bladensburg, about noon, on the 24th. 
 General Stansbury had arrived there on the 22d, with 
 thirteen hundred men from Baltimore ; followed by colonel 
 Sterrett with three hundred artillery, commanded by cap- 
 tains Myers and Magruder, and a light battalion of rifle- 
 men, under major Pinkney : the whole, nearly exhausted, 
 from the heat of the weather, and an insufficient supply of 
 provisions ; during a tantalizing march ; in which, at one 
 time, they were obliged to halt for orders, and at another, 
 urged on with the greatest possible rapidity. General 
 Stansbury took a position on the west side of the eastern 
 branch of the Potomac ; being on the noHh of the turn- 
 pike road which leads through Bladensburg to Washing- 
 ton. Between his infantry and the bridge, he stationed his 
 artillery and riflemen ; with which advanced party, the ac- 
 tion now commenced. In the meantime, general W^inder 
 had arrived, and sanctioned the arrangement: then, riding 
 back about half a mile from the bridge, he met his main 
 body approaching, under general Smith of the Columbia 
 militia. It was now too late, to make such a disposition of 
 the whole, as might have been the most advantageou?;. 
 Without halting more than twenty minutes after coming 
 in full view of the American front line, the enemy moved 
 in column at a quick pace, through Bladensburg, to the 
 bridge. Their van, led by colonel Thornton, were, for a 
 moment, checked ; but, encouraged by their officers, they 
 proceeded firmly to the charge, and forced their passage.^ 
 General Ross, accompanied by admiral Cockburn, crossed; 
 with the main body ; and, meeting no impediment, except 
 from major Peter's artillery, continued steadily along the 
 road. The Baltimore artillerists and riflemen, who formed 
 the front line, broke, and retreated ; when, pressing on 
 Stansbury's infantry, who forified the second, they caused 
 them to participate in the confusion, and, with the former, 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 279 
 
 to abandon the scene of action. Peter's guns continued to 
 assril the invaders with a destructive fire : but they pushed 
 forward undismayed. Smith's brigade was now on the point 
 of engaging, when general Winder ordered a retreat. This 
 was made in as orderly a manner as the ground would permit. 
 After falling back a few hundred yards, it was perfectly form- 
 ed, and ready to oppose the enemy ; but was again directed 
 to retire. Immediately before this, commodore Barney, with 
 his flotilla men, arrived ; also captain Miller, with the marines. 
 The commodore opened a most destructive fire upon the 
 enemy's front ; while Miller enfiladed their left flank. The 
 first discharge from one of Barney's eighteen pounders, made 
 extensive havoc, and literally cut an avenue through their 
 column. They deliberated, for a moment, and then tried to 
 deploy upon Miller's division. But they could not accomplish 
 their design. They received so copious a discharge from 
 his twelve pounders, doubly loaded with canister shot, and 
 from his musketry, at the same time, that their leading pla- 
 toons were thrown into confusion, and fell back upon the ad- 
 vancing column. At this moment, the enemy might be re- 
 garded as defeated. They would, probably, have surrendered, 
 had the commodore's left been covered by a few resolute in- 
 fantry; or, by as many marines as were on the right, command- 
 ed by such an officer as himself, or by another Miller. But 
 this protection not being aflJbrded, the opportunity was lost : 
 general Ross succeeded in manceuvres, which, in that case, 
 he would not even have attempted. His left pushed forward 
 J up the hill, in front of Beall's Maryland militia ; who fled, 
 j without making the least resistance ; the marines were charged 
 in front, and simultaneously, on their flanks, by a division 
 three times their number. Their commander was wounded, 
 and, resigning them to captain Sevier, ordered them to retire. 
 Barney's corps continued to make dreadful havoc, until 
 nearly surrounded, and the British had even seized on their 
 pieces : but, unable to effect any thing more, in that place, 
 they joined the marines in their retreat. The commodore 
 now lay bleeding on the ground, and, with captain Miller, fell 
 into the hands of the enemy ; both receiving from them, in 
 I consideration of their distinguished gallantry, every enco- 
 f mium and attention. 
 
 The marines and flotilla corps had expected to find, with- 
 in a short distance, the army rallied and posted for a sec- 
 ond contest. But, by general Winder's order, they had 
 ij left the field. Mr. Madison, general Armstrong, colonel 
 I Monroe, (afterwards president of the United States,) and 
 
280 HISTORY OF 
 
 the other chief officers of the government, were present on 
 the commencement of the battle ; but, in its progress they 
 judged it prudent to retire. They intimated to general 
 Winder the possibility of still defending the city ; to which 
 suggestion, he replied, that his army was dispersed, and 
 broken down by fatigue. Thus, the fate of Washington 
 was decided. General Ross, with a thousand men, slowly 
 approached the city ; where he arrived at eight o'clock in 
 the evening; his horse being shot under him, by some im- 
 prudent person, who fired from a window. The rear came 
 up afterwards, and encamped within sight of the capitol. 
 The invaders then proceeded to burn this fine building; con- 
 taining the senate-chamber and representative-hall, supreme 
 court-room, congressional library, and public records. The 
 treasury, war, and navy offices, shared in the conflagration. 
 Every public building, except the general post-office, con- 
 taining the models of ingenious patented inventions in the 
 arts, was subjected to the same Vandalic torch ; in retalia- 
 tion, it was declared, for the burning of York and other 
 places, in Canada. Immense damage was sustained, also, 
 from the burning of the stores at the navy-yard, by Ameri- 
 can orders ; to prevent their falling into the hands of the 
 enemy. 
 
 General Ross remained in Washington until eight o'clock 
 on the evening of the 25th. He then began his return, over 
 the same road by M^iich he had advanced. His army re- 
 tired in great disorder. It did not reach Bladensburg until 
 the afternoon of the 26th, distant only five miles; nor Ben- 
 edict until the evening of the 27th. It was in detachment?; 
 marched by different routes ; was separated by intervals of 
 many miles, and preceded by a drove of sixty or seventy 
 head of cattle. No impediment, however, except by the 
 country people, was offered to this straggling enemy 
 though, it can hardly be doubted, that half the Ar 
 ican troops, overcome by them at Bladensburg, mi 
 if resolutely commanded, have retrieved their lost honor 
 in a vigorous pursuit. Several officers of rank, and about 
 a hundred and fifty non-commissioned officers and privntf s 
 of the British army, whose wounds would not permit th* ir 
 removal, were left behind. Their loss, altogether, was' 
 very great. Four hundred were killed and wounded, be- 
 sides five hundred more who were made prisoners, or de- 
 serted. This indicated, not so much a victory, as a defeat. 
 The report from the vanquished army was the reverse: 
 twelve killed, and about thirty wounded. It is only just, 
 
 I'enty 
 f the| 
 emy | 
 
 M 
 
 no^P 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 281 
 
 however, to mention, that a court of inquiry, held in Bal- 
 timore, investigated the conduct of general Winder, and 
 exonerated him from the charges which had been made, of 
 insufficient alacrity. 
 
 Captain Gordon was, in the meantime, ascending the 
 Potomac. On the 27 th of August, two days after the 
 evacuation of the capital by general Ross, he approached 
 Fort Washington, situated on the east side of the river, 
 about six miles below Alexandria: when, having com- 
 menced a distant fire, the officer intrusted with its defence, 
 blew it up, in accordance with his instructions ; and, with- 
 out returning a single shot, retreated with his garrison. 
 The consequence of this proceeding was the capture of the 
 town. One hour, only, was allowed the corporation, to re- 
 ply to the terms dictated by the English squadron. All 
 public and private stores were, accordingly, surrendered ; 
 the vessels in the harbour, fully equipped by their respec- 
 tive owners ; those sunk for its security, raised, and placed 
 in sailing order ; were delivered ; and the merchandise, of 
 every description, including that removed since the 19th 
 of the month, embarked, by the inhabitants, on board the 
 surrendered ships. Sixteen thousand barrels of flour, one 
 thousand hogsheads of tobacco, besides a large amount of 
 wine, sugar, and cotton, were thus lost to Alexandria. 
 
 The same good fortune did not attend captain Parker. 
 Having landed with two hundred and fifty marines, in the 
 neighbourhood of Moor's Fields, on the eastern shore of 
 Maryland, he was opposed by colonel Reid with a hundred 
 and seventy militia, supported by two pieces of artillery : 
 by whom, after an obstinate contest, which lasted for an 
 hour, he was repulsed ; himself being mortally wounded, 
 and thirteen of his party left dead upon the field. 
 
 There was only one opinion respecting the next grand ob- 
 ject of attack. All anxiously awaited the fate of Baltimore. 
 The unvaried hostile sentiments evinced towards the Brit- 
 ish government, by its inhabitants ; the arrangements of 
 the invading enemy ; their recent victory at Bladensburg, 
 and easy acquisition of the capital; induced most solicit- 
 ous endeavours for its defence. Nor were the citizens of 
 Baltimore, alone, affected by its dangerous situation. Phil- 
 adelphia was moved by scarcely less fearful anticipation ; 
 and New York, still further distant from the interesting 
 scene, was equally industrious in guarding against an as- 
 sault by land. 
 
 Large bodies of militia, from Pennsylvania and Virginia, 
 24* 
 
282 HISTORY OF 
 
 and the interior of Maryland, assembled in Baltimore. 
 Commodore Rodgers, with his marines, took charge of 
 the principal batteries on the high ground, situated on the 
 eastern side of the town ; the only point through which it 
 was assailable by land: where, a ditch was hastily thrown 
 up, and guarded by at least ten thousand men. One divi- 
 sion of this force was confided to general Winder ; another, 
 to general Strieker ; and the whole were under the com- 
 mand of general Samuel Smith ; an officer distinguished 
 in the revolutionary war, by his defence of Fort MitHin. 
 The approach to the city, by water, was defended by Fort 
 M'Henry, (two miles from Baltimore,) garrisoned by one 
 thousand men, under major Armistead ; by large vessels 
 sunk in the opposite channel ; besides two temporary works, 
 in the rear, superintended by lieutenants Newcomb and 
 Webster. 
 
 On the 11th of September, admiral Cochrane appeared 
 at the mouth of the Patapsco, with a fleet, of ships of war 
 and transports, amounting to fifty sail. The next morning 
 at seven o'clock, general Ross, having landed five thousand 
 troops near North Point, about eight miles from the city, 
 immediately marched forward. General Strieker, who had 
 been sent out to impede his progress, with a brigade of 
 three thousand, commenced a vigorous series of skirmish- 
 ing. The firing had not continued long before the British 
 general was killed. The command devolved on colonel 
 Brooke ; who pushed towards the city, while the Ameri- 
 cans gradually retired, until the evening; when, they rest- 
 ed within half a mile of their intrenchments. The enemy 
 sufl^ered heavily. Their loss in killed and wounded, was at 
 least three hundred. The American loss was comparative- 
 ly small : about a hundred and sixty. On the following 
 morning, the British were seen at a distance of only two 
 miles in front of the lines ; and, shortly afterwards, they 
 moved towards the right, as if desirous of entering by the 
 York and Hartford roads : in which intention, having been 
 frustrated by skilful manoeuvres, they advanced within one 
 mile, apparently with a design of assaulting the works, in 
 front. 
 
 Meanwhile, Fort M'Henry was furiously assailed. At 
 sun-rise, the British admiral, having brought sixteen ships 
 within two miles and a half of this important defence, be- 
 gan the assault with five bomb vessels, still further in ad- 
 vance. At this time, the fort remained entirely silent. The 
 enemy were not within the range of the American guns. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 283 
 
 Biit, when they moved yet nearer, major Armistead opened 
 •a tremendous fire, which compelled them to resume their 
 former position. When it became dark, they attempted 
 to land some troops, by ascending the river towards Spring 
 Garden : but, though they had passed the outer works, un- 
 noticed, they were discovered by the smaller forts in the 
 rear, and obliged to withdraw ; after losing one of their 
 barges, with all that were on board. 
 
 When colonel Brooke's movements showed a design of 
 forcing the intrenchments, general Smith prudently station- 
 ed Winder and Strieker on the left, to assail the enemy on 
 their right, and on their rear, if they seriously attempted 
 the assault. This, perhaps, changed the intention of the 
 British land troops : the admirable defence made by Fort 
 M'Henry caused them to await the issue of the bombard- 
 ment, and, at the same time, determined the marine to de- 
 cline the contest. The capture of Baltimore was abandon- 
 ed. In the course of the night, admiral Cochrane held a 
 conference with colonel Brooke, the land forces retreated 
 towards their boats, and, the next morning, returned on 
 board their ships.* 
 
 High praise is due to the defenders of Baltimore, par- 
 ticularly to those stationed at the fort. A bombardment, 
 that, during twenty-five hours, had expended fifteen hun- 
 dred shells, a large portion of which burst over their heads, 
 and a great number within the^works, scattering fragments 
 in cA'^ery direction, and seriously djjmaging several of the 
 buildings, demanded considerable firmness ; though the 
 personal injury, the killed being only four, and the wounded 
 twenty, was less than might have been expected from its 
 magnitude. , 
 
 But it req^iired the brilliant victory on lake Champlain, 
 and the equally splendid defence of Plattsburg, to remove 
 the unfavourable impression made on the negotiations in 
 ! Europe, by the unfortunate surrender of the capital. Com- 
 modore M'DoROUgh, by the defeat of the British squadron 
 under captain Downie ; and general Macomb, by the re- 
 pulse of the army under sir George Prevost ; (two achieve- 
 ments which occurred simultaneously, and at the same 
 place, on the 11th of September;) have gained imperish- 
 able honour to themselves and their brave companions. 
 
 * Admiral Coolirane is an uncle of the g^allant naval officer and distin- 
 guished patriot, lord Cochrane ; and a brother of the earl of Dundonald, 
 ft scientific nobleman of Scotland. 
 
284 HISTORY OF 
 
 The American squadron on lake Champlain, consisted, of 
 fourteen vessels, carrying eighty-six guns and eight hun- 
 dred and twenty-six men ; the British, of seventeen vessels 
 with ninety-five guns and one thousand and fifty men. Of 
 these, one frigate, one brig, and two sloops, were captured, 
 some were sunk, and others escaped ; eighty-four men were 
 killed, one hundred and ten wounded, and eight hundred 
 and fifty. six made prisoners. — General Prevost, with seve- 
 ral thousand men, endeavoured to cross the river Saranac in 
 three several places, and storm the forts at Plattsburg, 
 defended by an inconsiderable force, principally militia ; 
 but was repulsed in every attempt. The British army lost 
 in killed and wounded, and by desertion, above two thou- 
 sand ; the American, in killed and wounded, a hundred and 
 twenty-one. 
 
 It might rationally have been supposed, that the war 
 would, before this period, have ceased. Suflicient evidence 
 had been offered to the enemy, that no serious impression 
 could be made on the United States. The pacification of 
 Europe had withdrawn the immediate causes of dispute, 
 and the American commissioners had been directed to al- 
 lov/ the subject of impressment to remain unsettled. But 
 the English government were not equally desirous of peace. 
 They proposed, as an essential requisite to obtain this 
 great blessing, a most insulting relinquishment ; — not less 
 than a surrender of a large portion of territory, and the to- 
 tal abandonment of the coast along the lakes. 
 
 Early in September, it became known, tiiat the enemy 
 were preparing to make a formidable invasion of Louisiana. 
 Governor Claiborne ordered the two divisions of the militia 
 of that state ; the first, under general Villere, and the sec- 
 ond, under general Thomas ; to hold themselves in readi- 
 ness to march at a moment's warning : and sent forth an 
 animating address, calling on the inhabitants to rise, for 
 the defence of their families and homes. But the majority 
 of the planters, there, at least of French extraction, had 
 felt little interest in the war: the militia, therefore, were 
 scarcely organized, instead of being disciplined and armed. 
 Nothing short of actual invasion could rouse them, in the 
 country. In the city, the case was different. Every man, 
 that could carry arms, had, in New Orleans, become a sol- 
 dier. The free people of colour, too, a numerous class, 
 were permitted to form volunteer companies, and join the 
 white citizens in the momentous duty of protection. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 285 
 
 But the chief safety of the inhabitants was in the nature 
 of their country. It was exceedingly difficult of access, by 
 sea. In front, was a shallow coast ; and the principal en- 
 trance, a river; which, after crossing the bar, is narrow, 
 deep, and rapid, and of a course so winding, as to render 
 it easily susceptible of being fortified. On the west are 
 impassable swamps ; and, on the east, the low, marshy 
 coast, can be approached only through a shallow lake. 
 Gun-boats, the most appropriate means of annoyance, had, 
 notwithstanding, been neglected. As regarded men, arms, 
 and military works, Louisiana was in a most defenceless 
 situation : the legislature had been convened ; but, instead 
 of actively providing for the public safety, its time was 
 wasted in discussion. 
 
 When danger suddenly approaches, the energetic mind 
 of an individual may be of greater service, than the com- 
 bined wisdom of a senate. The formalities of law are ill suit- 
 ed to expel an enemy, when at our very doors. Happily for 
 New Orleans, the commander of the district, general Jack- 
 son, arrived there, on the 2d of December, from Mobile ; 
 to which place, he had returned, after performing an im- 
 portant military service at Pensacola, and, at an earlier pe- 
 riod of the war, rendering himself conspicuous, by the al- 
 most total annihilation of the Creek Indians. His presence 
 was instantly felt, in the confidence which it inspired, and 
 in the unanimity with which the people seconded his prompt 
 arrangements. He visited, according to his invariable cus- 
 tom, every point where it rriight be necessary to erect 
 'Works to oppose the enemy. He directed that all the in- 
 lets from the x\ttakappas to the Manchack, should be ob- 
 structed ; that the banks of the Mississippi should be for- 
 tified, and a battery erected on the Chef Monteur. He 
 stationed about a thousand regulars in the city ; which 
 troops, together v/ith the Tennessee militia, under generals 
 Coffee and Carroll, he distributed at the most vulnerable 
 points. 
 
 Three days had not elapsed, after the arrival of general 
 Jackson, when intelligence was received, that the British 
 fleet, consisting of at least sixty sail, was off the coast, to 
 the east of the Mississippi. Commodore Patterson imme- 
 diately despatched some gun-boats, to watch their motions; 
 but, on the 14th, this little squadron was captured by a su- 
 perior force; not, however, without having made a spirited 
 resistance. This misfortune enabled the enemy to choose 
 their place of landing, and, at the same time, prevented 
 
286 HISTORY OF 
 
 the Americans from gaining information. But the general 
 neglected no means of guarding the several land-passes. He 
 stationed troops below the town, at every place where an 
 entry was considered practicable ; and, to cause the utmost 
 vigour in every department, immediately proclaimed mar- 
 tial law. 
 
 All the principal bayous or inlets, communicating with 
 lake Ponchartrain, as well as the narrow strip of land on the 
 border of the Mississippi, had been secured. There was, 
 however, a communication with lake Borgne, called the 
 Bayou Bienvenu, little known, and used only by fishermen, 
 its head near the plantation of general Villere, seven miles 
 below the city. Guided by some traitors, the enemy, on the 
 22d, came suddenly on the American guard, through that 
 secret passage, and made them prisoners ; one of their divi- 
 sions, under general Keane, at four o'clock in the morning, 
 reached the commencement of Villere's canal, having dis- 
 embarked and rested a few hours, proceeded through the 
 cane-brake, and, at two in the afternoon, arrived on the 
 bank of the river. The alarm being given, general Jack- 
 son resolved immediately to attack him. In four hours, 
 the American corps were united on Rodrigues' canal, six 
 miles below the city. The whole did not then exceed two 
 thousand. The British force, at this time, amounted to 
 three thousand ; but, convinced that the most arduous part 
 of the enterprise was achieved, instead of marching direct- 
 ly towards the city, they had encamped, and were prepar- 
 ing their evening repast. They were soon made sensible of 
 their error. Never were any troops more suddenly disturb- 
 ed. The first intimation of the Americans' approach, was 
 a raking broadside from commodore Patterson's schooner, 
 the Caroline ; the fires enabling him to take deliberate aim. 
 Coffee's division impetuously rushed upon their right, while 
 Jackson's, with equal rapidity, advanced against their front. 
 Though surprised, and several hundreds killed and wound-, 
 ed, they were not yet defeated : extinguishing their fires,, 
 they came boldly forward into action. The fighting, how- 
 ever, soon afterwards ceased. A thick fog having produced 
 some confusion in the American troops, Jackson prudently 
 called them ofi', lay on the field until morning, and then 
 took a position on the other side of the canal. His loss 
 was twenty.four killed, and about two hundred wounded and 
 prisoners : that of the British, about four hundred. 
 
 The American general lost no time in fortifying his post. 
 This was effected by a simple breast- work, from the river 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 287 
 
 to the swamp, with a ditch in front ; cotton bales, of a 
 square form, being used, as the cheeks of the embrasures. 
 Meanwhile, the enemy having blown up the Caroline, which 
 was previously abandoned by her crew, their commander- 
 in-chief, sir Edward Packenham, landed the main body of 
 his army ; on the 28th, advanced up the levee, with the in- 
 tention of driving Jackson from his intrenchments, and, at 
 the distance of half a mile, began the attack on the unfin- 
 ished works, with Congreve rockets and a heavy cannonade. 
 But they were a second time repulsed. A fresh American 
 schooner having been brought up, caused great havoc 
 amongst their columns : the fire from the batteries was not 
 less destructive; and, after an obstinate struggle of seven 
 hours, the British general retired. The Americans at this 
 time, lost fifteen in killed and wounded j the enemy, consid- 
 erably more. 
 .^,_ On the 1st of January, the invaders made another 
 attempt to force general Jackson's fortifications. 
 They had, in the night, erected a battery, and, early in the 
 morning, opened a brisk cannonade ; making, at the same 
 time, two bold efforts to turn his left wing : but they were 
 a third time repulsed, with the loss of about seventy men. 
 
 On the 4th, general Jackson received an increase of twen- 
 ty-five hundred militia, from Kentucky, under generals 
 Thomas and Adair ; and on the 6th, the British were re-en- 
 forced by the arrival of general Lambert. Their whole 
 number was now fourteen thousand. General Jackson com- 
 manded about six thousand. An interesting moment was 
 approaching. Serious preparations were commenced, for 
 storming the American works, now strengthened by addi- 
 tional batteries, and by additional small-arms. The lines, 
 on the right bank, were intrusted to general Morgan ; with 
 the Louisiana, and detachments of New Orleans and Ken- 
 tucky, militia. The works on the left bank, covering the 
 main body, were occupied by general Jackson himself; with 
 the Tennessee forces, under generals Coffee and Carroll ; 
 also, a part of the Kentucky and New Orleans militia ; the 
 seventh and forty-fourth regiments of United States' infan- 
 try ; with corps of active sailors and marines. Here, the 
 intrenchments extended about a thousand yards, between 
 the river and the swamp : strengthened, on the flanks, by 
 batteries ; and, in front, by a wet ditch, having about four 
 feet depth of water. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 8th of January, the British 
 columns moved forward, at the same time, against the right 
 
268 HISTORY OF ^ 
 
 and left of the American batteries. They approached with*, 
 a determined countenance, with their muskets shouldered, 
 accompanied by detachments carrying fascines and ladders. 
 The former were designed to fill up the ditches in front ; 
 and with the latter they intended to mount the ramparts. 
 The American artillery opened a tremendous fire, at the 
 distance of nine hundred yards, and mowed them down with 
 terrible slaughter. But they still moved on with a firm 
 step ; invariably supplying the place of the fallen, with fresh 
 troops. At length, they came within reach of the Amer- 
 ican small-arms. The whole of Jackson's line was now en- 
 veloped in flames. The cannon thundered from every bat- 
 tery : the rifles were leveled with deadly aim ; grape-shot 
 and shells were scattered as thick as hail-stones, over the 
 plain. The enemy's columns faltered, but were, in a mo- 
 ment, pressed forward by their oflicers. But all their ef- 
 forts succeeded only in leading their veteran soldiers to de- 
 struction : the men shrunk from a contest, in which they 
 saw nothing but immediate slaughter. The columns broke, 
 and retreated in confusion. A few pushed boldly forward ; 
 dropping half their men in the desperate adventure. Some 
 of the head platoons, led by colonel Renee, leaped the ditch, 
 and clambered up the rampart : but, scarcely had they 
 reached the parapet, and raised a shout, when the whole, 
 with a single exception, were brought down, and their dead 
 bodies tumbled into the ditch. The repulse was now uni- 
 versal. A second eflfort was notwithstanding tried. Col- 
 lecting all their courage, and animated by rage and disap- 
 pointment, the invaders made another furious assault. But 
 it was with the same result : every exertion to reach the in- 
 trenchments was ineflfectual. 
 
 On the right bank, however, the enemy had gained the 
 advantage. By some unaccountable misconduct of the 
 troops, who had, on other occasions, displayed great intre- 
 pidity, a detachment, conducted across the river in boats, 
 by colonel Thornton, obtained possession of the batteries. 
 But, as soon as the fate of his companions, on the left bank, 
 was known, the conquest was abandoned. 
 
 The loss of the British army, on this memorable day, was 
 seven hundred killed, fourteen hundred wounded, and five 
 hundred captured. That of the Americans, on the left bank 
 of the Mississippi, was not more than six killed, and nine 
 wounded : on both banks, it was thirteen killed, thirty-nine . 
 wounded, and nineteen missing. The invaders had to re- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 289 
 
 gret the death of many experienced and gallant officers. 
 General Packenham, a brother-in-law of lord Wellington, 
 fell early in the engagement. Generals Keane and Gibbs, 
 who, as well as Packenham, had distinguished themselves 
 against the French in Spain, were dangerously wounded. 
 Keane survived only a few days ; the command having, in 
 the interim, devolved on general Lambert. 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 PEACE OF GHENT. 
 
 Banks. The Army and Navy. 
 
 The splendid preservation of New Orleans is the last 
 military subject, material for us to notice. The defeat of 
 Ihe British before Plattsburg, having given a new turn to 
 the negotiation, a treaty of peace Avas signed at Ghent on 
 the 24th of December, in the preceding year, 1814, ratified 
 by the prince regent of England on the 28th, and by the 
 president of the United States, with the approbation of the 
 senate, on the last day of February, 1815. Both nations 
 agreed to restore their respective conquests, to appoint com- 
 missioners for settling disputed boundaries, and pledged 
 themselves to use their utmost endeavours towards the en- 
 tire abolition of the slave trade. No allusion was made to 
 the causes of the war. Security against their recurrence, 
 rests, however, on a much firmer basis than the provisions 
 of the most solemn treaty. Britain has been taught to ap- 
 preciate the strength of the republic. She will read, in the 
 history of the late struggle, the most convincing arguments 
 against the invasion of neutral rights. 
 
 Hostilities had continued two years and eight months ; 
 but, for the purpose of distinction, the contest will be known 
 as the Three Years' War. It increased the public debt a 
 hundred millions of dollars, and made the whole arrears 
 about a hundred and fifty millions; a sum that can, in a few 
 years, be discharged, by the ordinary revenue. But the 
 germ of a lasting evil was created, in the nearly universal 
 25 
 
290 HISTORY OF 
 
 failure of the banks. So largely, had they speculated in 
 the national funds, (except the banks of the eastern states, 
 which were restrained by prudence, and aversion to the 
 war,) that, in the autumn of 1814, not a single institution, 
 south of New England, could redeem its notes. The west- 
 em states felt a similar embarrassment. The national bank 
 had ceased to exist, on the expiration of its charter. The 
 notes of all that were not able to pay their engagements in 
 metallic coin, depreciated from twenty to thirty per cent. 
 Mercantile failures were alarming. The fiscal operations 
 of the government were almost suspended. Opportunities 
 of fraud were every day increasing. Designing individuals, 
 who possessed not any capital, nor any credit, unless at a 
 distance from their habitations, spread innumerable banks 
 throughout the country, got into their hands immense sums 
 of money, by discounting promissory notes, and employing 
 agents for the circulation of their paper; and, sanctioned by 
 the situation of the more respectable establishments, amass- 
 ed fortunes, by the issuing of bills, upon which they allow- 
 ed no interest against themselves, while they Avere charging 
 the accustomed interest to others. Patriotism can not be 
 adduced to extenuate the injury done by those enormous 
 subscriptions to the public loans. Except the magnani- 
 mous aid given to the old congress, by the Bank of North 
 America, at Philadelphia, history furnishes no evidence of 
 disinterested assistance, on the part of any body, formed, 
 as are all similar companies, upon the narrow basis of 
 private benefit. 
 
 The peace establishment of the regular army was fixed 
 at ten thousand men. The militia, however, assembles 
 monthly, and includes, with a few exceptions, every citizen 
 of vigorous age. The naval power, as regarded the larger 
 vessels, was not diminished ; but, on the contrary, was al- 
 lowed gradually to augment. On the Atlantic service, there 
 were now afloat, one ship of seventy-four guns, seven frig- 
 ates, nine sloops of war, and fourteen schooners : on the 
 lakes, were twenty-nine vessels, carrying three hundred and 
 sixty guns ; making the whole naval force, including gun- 
 boats, two hundred and seventy-four vessels, with fifteen 
 hundred guns. 
 
 In 1791, the national mint was established at Philadel- 
 phia ; in 1798, the navy department at Washington ; and, in 
 1802, the military academy at West Point, on the same 
 principles as the polytechnic school at Paris. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 291 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 
 CESSION OF FLORIDA. 
 
 Commercial Treaty with England. Re-establishvieiit of a 
 ' National Bank. Indiana. 3Tississippi. Illinois. Ala- 
 bama. Maine. Missouri. Florida ceded by Spain. 
 Progress of the Arts and of Literature ; of Population 
 and Emancipation. 
 
 ' The amicable relations with Great Britain, which had 
 Ibeen restored by the treaty of Ghent, were soon afterwards 
 drawn closer by a treaty of commerce. This convention, 
 negotiated at London by Messrs. Adams, Clay, and Galla- 
 tin, and concluded by them on the third of July, stipulates, 
 that the duties charged on merchandise and tonnage shall 
 be reciprocally the same, in both countries, whether the ves- 
 sels entering their respective ports be of Great Britain or 
 the United States ; and, that the vessels of the latter shall 
 be allowed, under certain limitations, to trade with the 
 principal British settlements in the East Indies. But, a 
 similar privilege was not extended by England, with regard 
 to her colonies in the West Indies, and on the continent of 
 North America. Her navigation laws, made in the reign 
 of Charles the second, were, in respect to these, with the 
 exception of Bermuda, Halifax, and St. John's, most rigor- 
 ously maintained ; and, consequently, the United States, 
 judging it expedient to enact a countervailing regulation, 
 afterwards excluded from their ports all vessels sailing from 
 the American colonies of England. 
 ,Q,p But those pacific conventions did not lessen the 
 propriety of augmenting the national defence. Peace 
 is the most advantageous time for preparing the means of 
 war. Congress resolved that the navy should be still fur- 
 ther increased ; and, for this purpose, voted an annual ap- 
 propriation of one million of dollars, during eight years, 
 and authorized the president to have built, independent of 
 vessels of a smaller size, nine ships of the line, twelve frig- "^ 
 ates, and three floating batteries ; the latter to be propelled 
 by steam. 
 
 The return of peace had not yet restored the currency of 
 metallic coin. The banks continued to inundate the coun- 
 try with paper money. Except in Massachusetts, all these 
 
292 HISTORY OF 
 
 institutions had now ceased to pay their notes in gold or 
 silver. Speculators were still lavishly supplied by new is- 
 sues, and no termination appeared of the vexatious embar- 
 rassments arising from these fertile sources of national evil. 
 In the absence of an adequate amount of specie, to meet the 
 public claims, and create a respectable circulation, as well 
 as a test of their solidity, the re-establishment of a national 
 bank, which had ceased, by the expiration of its charter, in 
 1810, was thought to be the most speedy cure. It was, 
 therefore, enacted, after a most strenuous opposition, that 
 a bank should be organized, with a capital of thirty-five 
 millions of dollars, to continue twenty-one years from the 
 first of July. Its labours to attain these ends, were, in the 
 beginning, highly beneficial. A day was fixed, on which 
 should be resumed a simultaneous payment of notes, in coin. 
 All banking companies, that did not, accordingly, redeem 
 their promises, were known to be insolvent; a salutary check 
 was thus placed on the immoderate circulation of their 
 notes, and commercial adventure confined by the prudent 
 employment of only a sufficient capital. But, the general 
 management of this great monied corporation was most 
 reprehensible. Its first salutary influence was counterbal- 
 anced by its succeeding conduct. Extravagant sums were 
 advanced, in the way of discounts, on the security of its 
 own hypothecated stock ; shares of which, originally ob- 
 tained for a hundred dollars, were thus inflated to a hun- 
 dred and sixty, but afterwards, on the exposure of this fraud- 
 ulent scheme, they declined to eighty. Several millions 
 were, in consequence, lost by the institution, and many in- 
 dividuals were rendered pennyless. Congress was not inat- 
 tentive to this perversion, which, instead of relief, had dif- 
 fused ruin, throughout the country. Its president was re- 
 moved, and in his place was appointed Mr. Cheves, former- 
 ly speaker of the house of representatives, and, more recently, 
 one of the judges of South Carolina ; under whose able and 
 impartial direction, the capital of the bank having been 
 gradually restored, its stock gradually rose above par. 
 
 The next subject that engrossed the attention of con- 
 gress, was a revision of the duties on goods imported. Jii 
 forming the new tariflf", a judicious attentiori was given to 
 protect domestic manufactures, without, at the same time, 
 injuring the national revenue, or lessening, by over-indul- 
 gence, the industry and economy requisite to their full suc- 
 cess. The double war imposts were, with few exceptions, 
 reduced ; but, a large increase was made to the duties on 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 293 
 
 some fabrics, particularly cotton cloths, of a coarse de- 
 scription, especially when imported from the East Indies ; 
 where, these articles are manufactured by persons content- 
 ed with daily wages not exceeding a few cents, and from a 
 material not grown in the United States. 
 
 ,Q,« Mr. Madison having filled the office of president 
 a second period of four years, and, in conformity 
 with the example of his several predecessors, not having, a 
 third time, offered himself as a candidate for that honoura- 
 ble station, was succeeded by James Monroe ; the vice pres- 
 idential chair being assigned to Daniel D. Tompkins of New 
 York. 
 
 Mr. Monroe, who enjoys the rare happiness of promoting 
 the esteem, and combining in his favour the suffrages, of 
 all parties, is, as were all the presidents, except Mr. Adams, 
 a native of Virginia. At the early age of seventeen, he was 
 dangerously wounded in the battle of Trenton, was soon af- 
 terwards appointed aid-de-camp to lord Stirling, and sub- 
 sequently colonel of a regiment. In 1782, he was intrust- 
 ed with a seat in the legislature of his native state, in the 
 following year he was a representative in congress, and in 
 1790 a senator of the United States. Soon after the form- 
 ation of the French republic, he was deputed, by general 
 Washington, as an ambassador to Paris ; and, at another 
 time, by Mr. Jefferson, to negotiate, with the consulate of 
 France, the purchase of Louisiana. In 1803, he was ap- 
 pointed minister to London, and, two years afterwards, was 
 sent on a special mission to Madrid. On his return, he was 
 elected governor of Virginia; in the following year, was ap- 
 pointed secretary of state ; and, after the capture of the city 
 of Washington, he consented to undertake the arduous du- 
 ties of secretary of war. 
 
 1819 ^" ^^^^ winter of this year, the country was de- 
 prived of the services of commodore Perry ; who fell 
 a victim to the climate of Trinidad : and, in the following 
 spring, Decatur was killed in a duel, near Washington, by 
 commodore Barron. 
 
 Since the termination of the war, by the peace of Ghent, 
 the foreign and domestic trade of the United States, con- 
 tinued to be variable and unprofitable. Merchandise and 
 shipping, as well as landed estates, which, in the first two 
 years of peace, had risen to an almost unprecedented de- 
 gree, did not long maintain their value. The channels of 
 consumption in America, became gradually supplied and 
 25* 
 
294 HISTORY OF 
 
 overfilled. The use of her grain, in Europe, had almost 
 ceased. The universal peace allowed the ships of every 
 nation to be its own carriers, and its own citizens to be 
 again its merchants. The flag of the United States, (as it 
 had been before their rupture with England) was no longer 
 the agent in trading between the various belligerants, nor 
 were their sea-ports the general entrepots of the world. 
 The terms of freight rapidly declined, vessels rotted in the 
 American ports, ware-houses groaned under the stagnant 
 pressure of accumulating merchandise. Internal traffic 
 was not sufficient to employ the numerous individuals, com- 
 pelled to seek, at home, a field of enterprise, now closed 
 to them abroad. Competition, throughout the Union, be- 
 came excessive. Houses and lands were advanced to dou- 
 ble, and in many places, to treble, their former prices. 
 Bank-loans had created a superabundance of paper-money, 
 and furnished unlimited means of speculation and of sump- 
 tuous living. But the crisis at length arrived. After the 
 re-establishment of the national bank, the redemption of 
 that easily acquired money was no longer optional, but 
 compulsory. Loans were, henceforth, given with caution, 
 payment was demanded of those already issued, property 
 was hurried into the market, to answer this sudden call, and 
 estate of all kinds declined to its former price. This, is a 
 brief exhibition of the disasters produced by the transition 
 from a warlike to a pacific condition, and which may be 
 expected in changing also from peace to war. Let us, 
 however, pray fervently for peace ; and seek comfort by the 
 slow but faithful aid of industry and economy, rather than 
 splendour by the rapid career of deceitful speculation. 
 
 The public revenue could not escape being impaired by 
 these multifarious embarrassments. It became inadequate 
 to the expenditure, lately increased by a support given to 
 the revolutionary soldiers. By an act of congress, in 1818, 
 a yearly pension, sufficient for their decent maintenance, 
 having been granted to those officers and privates wlio had 
 served three successive years, more than thirty thousand of 
 that venerable army made application for relief. Severn! 
 millions were annually required to satisfy their claims. 
 Money was, in consequence, obtained by loans, and other 
 public expenses were curtailed. The military was reduced 
 ^cjif^ in number, and the building of ships of war, in some 
 degree, suspended. The army now* consists of six 
 
 *In 1830. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 295 
 
 thousand men ; the navy, fit for service, of eight vessels of 
 the line, seven frigates, seven sloops or corvettes, and ten 
 brigs and schooners. 
 
 Since the admission of Louisiana, in 1812, six other states 
 have been received into the Union, — Indiana, Mississippi, 
 Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. The original 
 members of the federal government were thirteen : they are 
 now twenty-four. Indiana was admitted in 1816, Missis- 
 sippi in 1817, Illinois in 1818; Alabama in 1819, Maine 
 and Missouri* (the latter conditionally) in 1820. In- 
 diana and Illinois are sections of the same territory from 
 which Ohio was made a state : Mississippi and Alabama 
 belonged to Georgia ; Maine was separated from Massachu- 
 setts, and Missouri from the vast tract ceded by the French, 
 under the name of Louisiana. Slavery is forbidden, by a 
 law of congress, to exist in Indiana and Illinois, and had 
 long ceased in Maine, as a district of Massachusetts. 
 
 A negotiation, commenced with Spain, for the remainder 
 of that portion of her territory, named Florida, which had 
 been interrupted by the temporary overthrow of the old 
 Spanish dynasty by Napoleon, was, on the return of Ferdi- 
 nand the seventh to Madrid, renewed. That region was, at 
 length, assigned to the United States. A treaty was con- 
 cluded at Washington, on the twenty-second of February, 
 1819; which, after many vexatious delays on the part of 
 Spain, was ratified by Ferdinand on the twenty-fourth of 
 October, in the succeeding year, approved by the senate 
 of the United States on the nineteenth, and by the pres- 
 ident, on the twenty-second of February, 1821. Five mil- 
 lions of dollars were named as the price of Florida. This 
 sum was not, however, to be paid to Spain. It was to be ap- 
 portioned amongst those American citizens, whose property 
 was illegally seized in Spanish ports, when under the un- 
 controllable influence of France. Florida, though desirable 
 as an extensive field of profitable agriculture, is more im- 
 portant, as placing the southern boundary of the United 
 States on the Gulf of Mexico ; and, consequently, removing 
 the disagreeable jealousies, which had frequently irritated 
 the feelings of the two nations, caused by the occupation 
 of Amelia Island and other places, by disorderly troops, 
 
 * The legislature of Missouri, havings signified its concurrence with the 
 act of congress, restricting it from preventing the residence of free persons 
 of colour, il was formally declared a state, by a proclamation of the pres- 
 ident, on the tenth of August, 1821. 
 
296 HISTORY OF 
 
 under ill-judged commissions from the South American re- 
 publics ; as well as by the inroads of the Seminole and 
 other nations, when stimulated either by their own chiefs, 
 or foreign white people who had visited them for trade: — 
 and the treaty designates the boundary on the side of 
 Mexico, (as delineated in the map of the United States, by 
 Melish,) which had been undefined in the cession of Louis- 
 iana. 
 
 Literature and science; the arts, useful and ornamental; 
 are every year extending in the United States. No coun- 
 try has more liberally provided for seminaries of learning, 
 as respects the rudimental instruction of the labouring clas- 
 ses ; and few governments have devoted more attention to 
 the studies of the accomplished scholar, than the different 
 legislatures of this great republic. Useful education is very 
 generally attained. Works of polite literature, as well as | 
 on scientific subjects, are much esteemed, by all who claim | 
 association with refined society ; and writings of domestic j 
 origin evince, that there continues to be a large fund of na- 'j 
 tive talent in the United States. Many of those have been j 
 already noticed. Dr. Morse has laid the foundation of a i 
 geographical dictionary. The Notes on Virginia show, that I 
 Jefferson, when treating on geological subjects, has min- ' 
 gled a little scepticism with much strong philosophical ar- ; ■ 
 gument. Ramsay's history of the Revolution is written , 
 with sufficient dignity and elegance, and with as rigid im- ^ 
 partiality as any narrative that ever issued from an honest »: 
 pen : his biogra])hy of Washington, though an abridgment, . 
 in comparison with the life by Marshall, should be translat- 
 ed into every language, and placed, at an early age, in the 
 hands of every youth. There is another history of the re- 
 volutionary period, from the accomplished hand of Mrs. 
 W^arren. Dwight was a voluminous writer on theology, 
 and courted the favour of the poetic muse. His version of 
 the Psalms is approved by several respectable congrega- 
 tions, but his Conquest of Canaan is little read. He has the 
 ear, without the imagination, of a poet. This production 
 is the out-pouring of a mind, encumbered and overwhelm- 
 ed by the accumulated lines of other writers. It displays 
 no novelty of thought, nor variety of style. One who is 
 familiar with only a small number of poems, can not easily 
 persuade himself that the Canaan is a new work. The an- 
 tithetic and condensed structure of Pope, and the flowing 
 melody of Goldsmith, are pleasing, when accompanied by 
 a teeming richness of fancy ; but the monotonous imitations 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 297 
 
 by Dwight, are insupportably fatiguing.* In the Vision of 
 Columbus, or Columbiad, of Joel Barlow, the language 
 is smooth and stately ; the allusions are judicious, the simi- 
 lies mostly well drawn, and appropriate. It is, altogether, 
 a respectable performance, and superior to the Canaan. 
 But dignity, softness, and general propriety, are its whole 
 merits. Those bold, happy efforts of the imagination, which 
 interest and delight us, equally by their novelty and inge- 
 nuity, are seldom found in the Columbiad. The structure 
 of tile Iliad ; its manner, similies, and figures, as copied or 
 varied in the ^neid, and reflected in the fine translations 
 of the former by Pope and Cowper, and of the latter, by Pitt 
 and Dryden ; incessantly recur. M'Fingall, a Hudibrastic 
 satire by Trumbull, exhibits more invention than either of 
 the preceding. Charles Thomson has translated the Bible 
 from the Septuagint. John Quincy Adams has published 
 his brilliant course of rhetorical lectures. The " British 
 Spy" of Wirt, decidedly claims a place amongst the Ameri- 
 can classics. Salmagundi, the combined effusions of Ir- 
 ving, Paulding, and Verplanck, is an admirable fund of hu- 
 mour, and contains some beautiful specimens of poetry. 
 The semi-historical volumes, entitled Knickerbocker's His- 
 tory of New-York, by Irving, give a most humorous cari- 
 cature of real events. Paulding's allegorical history, bearing 
 the title of John Bull and Brother Jonathan, will not apj- -xr 
 the less entertaining, when compared with the happiest ef- 
 fort of Swift, in the same difficult line of political satire. 
 The last three authors possess fine talents for the comic 
 drama. Brackenridge writes with energy and clearness. 
 
 * " Give me the line that ploughs its stately course, 
 Like a proud swan, conquering the stream by force ; 
 That, like some cottage beauty, strikes the heart, 
 Quite' unindebted to the tricks of art. 
 When labour and when dullness, club in hand, 
 Like the two figures at St. Dunstan's, stand, 
 Beating alternately, i.i measured rhyme, 
 F'xact and regular tlie sounds will be. 
 But such mere quarter-strokes are not for tne." 
 
 Cowper's Table. Talk. 
 
 Speaking of Pope, Cowper says : 
 
 " But he, (his musical finesse was such,) 
 So nice his ear, so delicate his touch, 
 Made poetry a mere mechanic art, 
 And every warbler has his tune by heart." 
 
298 HISTORY OF 
 
 In wortis of the imagination, Cooper, formerly an officer of 
 the navy, surpasses all other American writers: — indeed, 
 he may be viewed as the only citizen of the United States, 
 that has yet written a novel of intense interest, such as 
 will become a universal favourite, without the adventitious 
 and dishonest aid of purchased eulogy. 
 
 Architecture, except in a few buildings at New York and 
 Philadelphia, and the capitol and president's house at Wash- 
 ington, has not yet appeared in classical elegance or gran- 
 deur; but, in private dwellings, there is shown a neatness, 
 durability, and elegance of workmanship, not surpassed in 
 the finest cities of the old world. Useful inventions are en- 
 couraged by the legislature, and the fertility of American 
 genius is commensurate with the protection. It is not a just 
 criterion of ingenuity, that, in twenty-four years, two thou- 
 sand general patents were obtained, to secure the inventors' 
 rights : a considerable number of these improvements are of 
 European growth, and many American theories are proved 
 illusive by the hand of practice ; but the inventive faculty 
 in the United States is demonstrated by various exhibitions 
 of mechanical economy. Whittimore's engine for making 
 wool and cotton cards, is a wonderful display of mental fac- 
 ulty ; and the machinery for cutting nails, the invention, we 
 believe, of Briggs, embraces, in its successive improve- 
 me'nts, an interesting variety of labour-saving modifications. 
 The uccoiuplishment of an efl^ective steam-boat, is an epoch 
 in human progress. Fulton is entitled to the same degree 
 of merit, for his successful adaptation of the power of steam 
 to navigation, that is due to Watt, of Great Britain, for his 
 improvement in the steam-engine. A century had elapsed, 
 from the time when the first hint of this engine was given 
 by the marquis of Worcester, to its consummation by the 
 philosophic Watt ; and nearly as long an interval, from the 
 first experiment on the steam-boat, by Jonathan Hulls, of 
 London, to its completion by Robert Fulton. Hulls obtain- 
 ed a patent for his invention, fronji George the second, in 
 the year 1737 ; Fitch propelled a boat, by the same princi- 
 ple, on the Delaware, in 1783 : Miller, of Scotland, con- 
 structed a double boat, with a wheel in the centre, with 
 which, he made a passage to and from Sweden, in 1789 : 
 and, finally, after various trials, by different persons, on the 
 Thames and on the Seine, Fulton rendered the plan sus- 
 ceptible of little further improvement, in 1807. The Cler- 
 mont was then driven on the Hudson, at the rate of five 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 299 
 
 miles an hour ; and, subsequently, all the great rivers of the 
 United States have been navigated, by similar vessels, more 
 than twice the distance in the same space of time. In the 
 summer of 1819, the Atlantic was crossed, for the first time, 
 by a steam-boat. A vessel driven by steam, with the occa- 
 sional aid of sails, was despatched by some enterprising 
 merchants of Savannah, to St. Petersburgh, and made her 
 passage home in fifty days. Fulton, celebrated also for his 
 submarine explosions, was born in Little Britain, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and educated in the town of Lancaster ; whence, hav- 
 ing removed to Philadelphia, he attended, for a short time, 
 the business of a jeweller, and acquired, in his leisure hours, 
 considerable proficiency in the art of painting. He lived 
 many years in England, under the patronage of the Amer- 
 ican West ; and, becoming known to his countryman, Rum- 
 sey, the duke of Bridgewater, lord Stanhope, and many 
 other opulent promoters of the arts, attended, thencefor- 
 ward, chiefly his favourite inclination towards the formation 
 of canals. Paris was the next theatre of his enterprise ; 
 where he remained, for several years, the companion of the 
 American minister, Joel Barlow, and the inmate of his 
 house. He returned to his native country, in 1806; and 
 died, when little above the middle age, by inflammation of 
 the lungs, in 1815, at New York. 
 
 The neutrality, so long maintained by the American re- 
 public, oflfered an asylum to many distinguished Europeans. 
 The visit of Moore, the lyric poet, was one of pleasure. 
 But Talleyrand, the great political Proteus, resided several 
 years in the United States, to avoid the proscriptions of his 
 own country ; a son of the marquis la Fayette, Chateaubriand, 
 Volney, general Moreau, Joseph and Jerome Buonaparte ; 
 Dr. Priestley, the celebrated philosopher and polemical 
 divine ; also Thomas Paine ; sought refuge in different places 
 of the Union. Dr. Priestley died at Northumberland, in 
 Pennsylvania ; Thomas Paine, in New York. Jerome Buona- 
 parte was unworthy of protection. His conduct, in deserting, 
 by his brother Napoleon's mandate, the daughter of a respect- 
 able citizen of Baltimore, whom he had married, and after- 
 wards placing on his throne a princess of Napoleon's choice, 
 will always be remembered with detestation. Her disap- 
 pointment, and his own reverse, remind us, when impelled 
 by inordinate ambition, that happiness cannot be secured by 
 exalted rank, nor a throne by the power of armies. 
 
 In the year 1820, the fourth census of the inhabitants 
 was recorded. In 1790, the population was three millions 
 
300 HISTORY OF 
 
 nine hundred and twenty-one thousand; in 1800, five mil- 
 lions three hundred and twenty thousand; in 1810, seven 
 millions two hundred and forty thousand; in 1820, nine 
 millions six hundred and thirty-eight thousand. At the last 
 of these periods, the inhabitants of Boston numbered forty, 
 two thousand ; of Providence, twelve ; New York, one hun- 
 dred' and twenty ; Philadelphia, one hundred and fifteen ; 
 Pittsburg-, seven thousand ; Baltimore, sixty-two; Washing- 
 ton, thirteen ; Norfolk, eight ; Richmond, twelve ; Charles- 
 ton, twenty-five ; Savannah, seven ; New Orleans, twenty, 
 seven thousand. The Indians within the federal jurisdic- 
 tion, are not included in the census. In 1790, six hundred 
 and ninety-eight thousand were slaves; in 1800, eight hun. 
 dred and ninety.seven thousand; in 1810, one million one 
 hundred and ninety-one thousand; in 1820, one million five 
 hundred and thirty thousand. In those which are denom- 
 inated slave-holding states, the largest proportion appeared, 
 then, in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia ; Missis- 
 sippi, Virginia, and Alabama; North Carolina, Maryland, 
 Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri; descending, in com. 
 parative amount, from South Carolina, where fifty-one out 
 of every hundred of the entire population were in bondage, 
 to Missouri, in which were fifteen in every hundred. Dela- 
 ware and New Jersey possessed a considerable number of 
 slaves : the latter, comparatively the smallest. The number 
 in New York was proportionably less than in New Jersey : 
 Rhode Island had only forty-eight; Connecticut, propor- 
 tionably fewer ; Pennsylvania, fewer still ; Maine, Massa- 
 chusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, none. 
 
 Since the middle of the last century, expanded minds 
 have been, with slow gradations, promoting the decrease of 
 slavery in North America. The progress of truth is slow ; 
 but it will, in the end, prevail. The first voice raised against 
 this uncharitable practice, was by a Quaker, the amiable 
 and enlightened John Woolman, of Mount Holly, in New 
 Jersey. He wrote his sentiments on that subject in the 
 year 1746 ; strenuously recommended its abolition, at the 
 several stated meetings of his society; and, in 1754, pub- 
 lished his " Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes ;" a 
 work admirable for its dispassionate and lucid style of ar- 
 gument ; highly beneficial in his own time, and deserving 
 most serious attention at the present. Anthony Benezet, 
 of Philadelphia, though his writings were subsequent to 
 Woolman's, has acquired a yet higher rank among philan- 
 thropists. His labours, in the same field, were singularly 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 301 
 
 active, and conspicuously successful. St. George Tucker, 
 of Virginia, also, wrote an able dissertation against slavery. 
 A duty on the importation of slaves was laid by New York, 
 in 1753; by Pennsylvania, in 1762; and by New Jersey, in 
 1769. Virginia, the first state concerned in their introduc- 
 tion, was also the first that set an example of their exclu- 
 sion ; having, in the year 1778, amidst the perplexing scenes 
 of civil warfare, passed an act to discontinue their entry in- 
 to her ports. In 1780, Pennsylvania made a law for the 
 gradual abolition of slavery ; a law, which, although it did 
 not allow all the natural rights declared in her constitution, 
 has the merit of being the earliest legislative proceeding of 
 the kind, in any nation ; and, soon afterwards, there was in- 
 stituted in the same state, a society " for promoting the 
 abolition of slavery, for the relief of free negroes unlawfully 
 held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the 
 African race." All the other states, north and east of Mary- 
 land, have since made laws for their gradual emancipation. 
 On the adoption of the federal government, congress was au- 
 thorized to prohibit, at the end of twenty years, the import- 
 ation of negroes, into any part of the United States ; and, 
 accordingly, no arrivals have legally occurred since 1807. 
 In 1820, a society for colonizing free people of colour, be- 
 gan a settlement at Sierra Leone, on the coast of Africa, 
 A heavy grievance, however, is yet to be removed. Vir- 
 ginia, as well as every other American republic that still 
 sanctions domestic bondage, will, we confidently anticipate, 
 at no distant period, make arrangements, to unloosen, by 
 degrees, the fetters, which are not less alarming to the mas- 
 ter, than galling to the slave. Let us not only declare by 
 words, but demonstrate by our actions, " That all men are 
 created equal ; that they are endowed, by their Creator, 
 with certain unalienable rights ; that, amongst these, are 
 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Let us vener- 
 ate the instruction of that great and amiable man, to whom, 
 chiefly, under Providence, the JJnited States are indebted 
 for their liberties ; the world, for a common home : " That 
 there exists an indissoluble union between virtue and hap- 
 piness, between duty and advantage." 
 
 26 
 
[ 302 ] 
 
 [After the third edition of this history had been published, the Author 
 was favoured with the following letter, from the distinguished philan- 
 thropist, Mr. Roberts Vaux :] — 
 
 Philadelphia, Smo. 18, 1824. 
 TO WILLIAM GRIMSHAW, ESQ. 
 
 Respected Friend. — Yesterday, on looking over for the 
 first time, thy ^^ History of the United States, <5'c." I was 
 struck with an error, or rather an omission in point of fact, in 
 regard to the original promulgation of sentiments which led 
 to the abolition of negro slavery in Pennsylvania. In page 
 300, of the third edition, of thy History of the United States, 
 a very just notice of the amiable and excellent John Woolman, 
 and the equally beneficent Anthony Benezet, is to be found ; 
 but, for the fidelity of history, it is due, to say, that these 
 valuable men were by no means the^rs^ to awaken reflection, 
 upon this important subject. As early as 1698, a settlement 
 of Friends, (or Quakers) near Germantown, expressed their 
 opinion of the unrighteousness of human bondage, and con>. 
 veyed that opinion to the yearly meeting of Friends, solicit- 
 ing its attention specially to the consideration of the practice. 
 In 1718, Benjamin Lay publicly protested against the in- 
 human custom, and was aided in the same cause by Ralph 
 Sandiford. For a more particular account of the labours of 
 these benevolent individuals, I would refer thee to Memoirs 
 of their Lives, which I prepared, and had published a few 
 years since. Thy useful work will no doubt be generally 
 read in our country, and from its character seems to be well 
 adapted for schools ; it is important, therefore, to give it 
 every possible degree of authenticity ; and to this end I 
 would call thy attention to a correction of the part alluded 
 to, in a future edition. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 ROBERTS VAUX. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 303 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 General Jackson appointed governor of Florida. Independ- 
 ence of the South American Republics acknowledged. 
 Piracies suppressed by the American squadron. Loss of 
 the Hornet. 
 
 ly pursuance of an act passed at the termination of the ses- 
 sion of congress in 1821, providing for the temporary govern- 
 ment of Florida, according to the laws then existing in that 
 province, and authorizing the president to take possession ; 
 on the seventh of March, he appointed general Jackson gov- 
 ernor of the territory, and invested him with the powers for- 
 merly exercised by the Spanish governors. Elijeus Fromentin 
 was appointed chief-justice. The Spanish authorities re- 
 luctantly yielded their respective commands, on the twenty- 
 second of August, the last day allowed by the treaty for that 
 purpose ; manifesting a disposition to embarrass, as much as 
 they possibly could, the operations of the new government. 
 1 822 ^^ ^^® spring of this year, the independence of the 
 South American republics, and also of the state of 
 Mexico, was recognized by congress, and an appropriation 
 made to defray the expenses of establishing with them a diplo- 
 matic intercourse. This recognition was not without a bene- 
 ficial influence upon the European powers. Slowly and cau- 
 tiously following the example of the United States, Great 
 Britain, in the year 1824, recognized the republics of South 
 America, as independent sovereignties. Six years have 
 elapsed since the last hostile banner of Spain has been furl- 
 ed in the southern republics; yet still their governments are 
 unsettled, and there exists internal discord, attended with 
 the effusion of human blood.* 
 
 Desperate gangs of pirates, of various nations, and of all 
 colours, infested the American seas, from the year 1818, to 
 1823, to so great an extent, as to render the navigation ex- 
 tremely perilous ; their robberies being often accompanied 
 with the most cool-blooded and barbarous murder. Their 
 principal haunts were on the northern coast of Cuba, from 
 one hundred to two hundred miles distant from Havana. 
 There, they found a region uninhabited, beyond the opera- 
 tions of the Spanish authorities, indented with numerous nar- 
 row inlets, affording secure places of retreat for their small 
 
 *A. D. 1830. 
 
804 HISTORY OF 
 
 vessels, and inaccessible to ships of any considerable size. 
 The pirates had their agents at Havana and Matanzas, to 
 give them notice of the sailing of merchant vessels from 
 those ports ; and any that ventured to sail without convoy 
 almost invariably became their prey. 
 
 To protect their commerce in those seas, the measure first 
 pursued by the government of the United States, was to station 
 there the Congress frigate and eight small vessels. This 
 force, in the year preceding November, 1822, captured and 
 destroyed more than twenty piratical vessels on the coast of 
 Cuba; but it did not fully effectuate the purpose, not being 
 provided with the means of following them into their re- 
 cesses, and breaking up their haunts. The proper species 
 of vessels, was, however, at length supplied. In December, 
 congress made provision for an armament, to consist of light 
 vessels and boats, calculated to pursue the pirates into their 
 retreats; and accordingly, an additional force, consisting of 
 the Peacock sloop of war, a steam galliot, and ten small ves- 
 sels, carrying three or four guns each, was despatched to the 
 West India seas, and, with the fleet then on that station, 
 placed under the command of Commodore Porter. 
 lfi2S '^'^® armament sailed in the ensuing February, for 
 St. Thomas, the place of their first rendezvous ; and 
 having been divided into four squadrons, it was sent to re- 
 connoitre the northern coasts of Cuba and St. Domingo. 
 
 High praise is due to the officers and seamen employed in 
 that expedition. Scarcely ever was there undertaken a more 
 harassing service. A long and continued exposure to a trop- 
 ical sun by day, and deadly chills and damps by night, 
 threatened the lives of the little bands, who were seeking, in 
 open boats, and vessels of the smallest size, the haunts of 
 the freebooters amongst the rocks and shoals of the unin- 
 habited coasts of Cuba and St. Domingo. It was performed, 
 however, with so remarkable zeal and success, that, at the 
 end of sixty days from the commencement of his operations, 
 the commodore, in his official despatches to the secretary of 
 the navy, was enabled to say, that there was not a pirate 
 afloat in the region of Matanzas, the scene of their greatest 
 depredations, larger than an open boat ; and that not a single 
 piratical act had been committed on the coast of Cuba, since 
 he had organized and arranged his forces. 
 ■,^C4 It is with regret, that we have now to record an 
 affair, which involved the gallant commander of the 
 American squadron in difficulties, the most serious, as re- 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 305 
 
 garded his own standing in the navy, and might have pro- 
 duced consequences still more unfortunate to his country. 
 We allude to an affair which occurred at Foxardo. In Octo- 
 ber, 1824, lieutenant Piatt, in a small schooner, was cruising, 
 off the island of St. Thomas, about thirty miles eastward of 
 Porto Rico, when a company of American merchants, re- 
 siding in St. Thomas, informed him that their store had been 
 broken open, and property to a large amount stolen from it, 
 requesting his assistance, and offering, for its recovery, a re- 
 ward of a thousand dollars. Suspicious circumstances in- 
 duced a belief, that the property had been carried to Foxardo, 
 a small town in Porto Rico. Lieutenant Piatt engaged with 
 zeal in its restoration ; and, taking on board the clerk of the 
 house, proceeded to Foxardo, and made known his character 
 and business to the authorities of the town. But as he ap- 
 peared before them in the dress of a private citizen, and on 
 an affair in no way connected with his official duty, he be- 
 came himself an object of suspicion, and was detained, with 
 circumstances of some indignity, until he could send on 
 board his vessel, and produce his uniform and his commis- 
 sion, when he was released, without having obtained any in- 
 formation or assistance, as to the object of his pursuit. On 
 commodore Porter's return from the United States, whither 
 he had gone on account of the ill health of some of his 
 crews, the lieutenant reported to him the circumstances of 
 this unfortunate proceeding. The commodore, viewing the 
 treatment experienced by his lieutenant as an insult to the 
 American flag — an inference in which we do not concur with 
 that gallant officer — immediately proceeded with three ships 
 to the harbour of Foxardo ; landed with a party of marines ; 
 took possession of a small fort which guarded its entrance ; 
 marched to the town, and demanded an apology, such as he 
 himself should dictate, for the insult suffered by his lieute- 
 nant ; in case of refusal, threatening the destruction of the 
 place. The Spaniards were thus intimidated, the required 
 apology was given, and the commodore re-embarked. 
 
 This transaction was at variance with the commodore's in- 
 structions, which required him, by all the means in his power, 
 congistent with the honour of his government, to cultivate a 
 good understanding with the Spanish authorities in the West 
 Indies. Lieutenant Piatt's undertaking to recover the lost 
 goods of the St. Thomas merchants, was entirely out of the 
 line of his duty. Appearing at Foxardo in the character of 
 a searcher for stolen goods, he forfeited his claim to any 
 
306 HISTORY OF 
 
 special honours as a naval officer of the United States, how- 
 ever justice and common courtesy might require the inhabit- 
 ants to aid him in his object. The commodore's military 
 visit to avenge a supposed insult, could be considered in no 
 other light than a hostile invasion of a peaceful territory ; 
 while the weakness and inability of the village to make re- 
 sistance, aggravated, rather than diminished, the offence. 
 
 The commodore was arrested, and tried by a court mar- 
 tial, on two charges ; the first, for disobedience of orders, in 
 the affair of Foxardo ; the second, for insubordinate and un- 
 officer-like conduct, in relation to the time of publishing a 
 certain pamphlet in vindication of his conduct. He was 
 found guilty on both charges, and sentenced to be suspended 
 from his command for six months. The sentence was ap- 
 proved by the president, and carried into execution. The 
 commodore felt himself greatly aggrieved by these proceed- 
 ings. He therefore resigned his command in the American 
 navy, and entered into a negotiation with the Mexican go- 
 vernment, by which he became commander-in-chief of all 
 the naval forces in Mexico, with an annual salary of twenty- 
 five thousand dollars ; an engagement, in direct violation of 
 the laws of the United States. 
 
 The loss of the American sloop of war Hornet, some years 
 afterwards, in the gulf of Mexico, is an event which brought 
 sorrow to the heart of many a family in the United States. 
 At the worst period of the autumnal equinox, that vessel was 
 compelled to remain off" l^ampico, to protect American pro- 
 perty during the tumults attending the invasion of Barradas i 
 by the Spanish troops. She had taken on board a consider- 
 able sum of money, and the day before her loss a number of 
 the inhabitants visited her on a party of pleasure. It was 
 destined to a fearful termination. The weather became 
 threatening, and, on the tenth of September, 1829, the Hor- 
 net put to sea, carrying with her all her ill-fated guests. The 
 prognostic proved too true : the blast came, one of the most 
 tremendous ever known in that region of violent convulsions. 
 Sweeping down the lofty mountains, it overturned all within 
 its course: crops, buildings, men, and animals, disappeared 
 before its fury. The vessels anchored in the smooth river 
 of Tampico, and sheltered by its banks, were either stranded 
 or overset: and those lying in the harbour, without, were 
 either driven to sea, or foundered at their anchors. It is now 
 more than two years, since the disappearance of the Hornet. 
 Not a word of intelligence has been received from her. The 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 307 
 
 mariner who has passed with an anxious eye over the scene 
 of her departure, has been able to trace no vestige of her 
 wreck. Of the thousand floating objects that generally cast 
 themselves from a sinking ship, and swim on the surface of 
 the deep, nothing — not so much as an oar or a handspike — 
 has yet been found, to tell her fate with something more than 
 the uncertainty of a vague and cruel apprehension : — the sea 
 seems, in its insatiate vortex, to have swallowed all ! Three 
 hundred officers and men, together with her visiters who 
 stepped upon her deck full of life and joy, have descended 
 to one common grave — the bottom of the stormy deep ! 
 
 Captain Norris, the commander of the Hornet, bore a high 
 character in the navy, as a cool, collected officer, and skilful 
 seaman ; and, of the second in rank, lieutenant Mackey, it is 
 doing no injustice to his brother officers, to say, that he has 
 not left his superior behind him. 
 1824 '^'^^ election of an individual to fill the high and 
 honourable office of president of the United States, at 
 this period excited more than ordinary attention. One of the 
 first objects of the combatants was to secure the co-operation 
 of as many of the presses as possible, for their respective 
 candidates. Six hundred diffi3rent newspapers were now in 
 circulation in the United States, amongst a million and a 
 half of electors. Their influence is powerful and controlling, 
 and, as the period of voting approached, by the zealous ex- 
 ertions of partizan editors, the people were induced to take 
 sides in the electioneering contest. In the electoral colleges, 
 the votes were, for gen. Jackson, 99 ; being a majority of 
 eleven states; for Mr. Adams, 84 ; a majority of seven states; 
 for Mr. Crawford, 41 ; three states ; for Mr. Clay, 37 ; also 
 three states. No one of the candidates having a majority 
 of the whole number of votes, in conformity with the pro- 
 visions of the constitution, the election from the three high- 
 est candidates devolved upon the house of representatives ; 
 the votes to be given by states, each state having an equal 
 voice, and a majority of all the states being necessary to con- 
 stitute a choice. The ill health of Mr. Crawford, and his 
 small number of votes compared with the highest two, placed 
 him out of the question; and, for many weeks before the ulti- 
 mate canvass, gen. Jackson and Mr. Adams were considered 
 as the only real candidates. On the 9th of February, 1825, 
 the house divided itself into state sections, and proceeded to 
 the election of a president. On the first ballot, Mr. Adams had 
 the votes of P^Iaine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode 
 
30S HISTORY OF 
 
 Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Maryland, Ken- 
 tucky, Ohio, Louisiana, Illinois, and Missouri ; being thir- 
 teen states : general Jackson had the votes of New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama, 
 and Mississippi ; seven states : Mr. Crawford, the votes of 
 Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia ; four 
 states: and thus, Mr. Adams, though not having a majority 
 of all the votes of the electors, or of the house of representa- 
 tives taken individually, yet, having a majority of the states, 
 was declared to be duly elected. 
 
 One of the most annoying and persevering opponents of 
 the new administration, was the eloquen but eccentric John 
 Randolph, of Roanoke. On the eighth day of April, 1826, 
 a duel was fought, near Washington, between that gentleman 
 and Mr. Clay, in consequence of a challenge from the latter, 
 arising from certain expressions used by Mr. Randolph in a 
 recent debate in the senate, which Mr. Clay considered of- 
 fensive, and applied personally to himself. Mr. Randolph 
 was attended by colonel Tatnall of Georgia, and major Ha- 
 milton of South Carolina ; Mr. Clay, by general Jessup, of 
 the army, and Mr. Johnson, of Louisiana; and at the second 
 fire, the ball of Mr. Clay passed through Mr. Randolph's 
 clothes. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FIFTH CENSUS. 
 
 Visit of La Fayette. Settlement of Liberia. Creeks and 
 Cherokees. National Jubilee. Death of John Adams 
 and Thomas Jefferson. Internal Lnprovements. Fifth 
 Census. 
 
 Not inferior in interest to the presidential election, was 
 the visit of general La Fayette to the United States, in the 
 year 1824. His participation in the revolutionary contest, 
 has already formed a prominent subject of this liistory ; and 
 his independent conduct during the revolutionary struggle in 
 his native country, and subsequent imprisonment at Olniutz, 
 have been noticed in our history of France. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 309 
 
 In 1823, he made known his intention of visiting America. 
 On being apprised of this, congress passed a resolution ex- 
 pressing a grateful recollection of his services, and requesting 
 the president to offer a public ship, for his accommodation. 
 La Fayette, however, preferred a private vessel ; and having 
 engaged a passage in the Cadmus, under the command of 
 captain Allen, he sailed from Havre, on the thirteenth day of 
 July, and arrived in the harbour of New York, on Sunday 
 the fifteenth of August, 1824, accompanied by his son, Mr. 
 George Washington La Fayette, and his secretary, Mr. Le- 
 vasseur. 
 
 In visiting America, almost half a century from the period 
 of his military career, and, at the age of sixty-seven. La 
 Fayette could hope to meet few of his former associates in 
 arms. Most of them had found rest in the silent grave. A 
 new generation had risen to manhood ; a new army had re- 
 crimsoned with their blood, that soil which he had assisted 
 to set free ; and a third generation were springing up, ready 
 to fight again in the fields of their fathers' glory. He ex- 
 pected to pass silently and unnoticed, amongst the tombs of 
 his patriotic comrades, and, as a stranger amongst their de- 
 scendants, with the occasional satisfaction of taking an old 
 fellow-soldier by the hand. 
 
 He was equally surprised and delighted, on his approach 
 to the American shores. History furnishes no record of an 
 individual receiving so universal and spontaneous a demon- 
 stration of respect. At the entrance of New York bay, he 
 was received by governor Tompkins ; and, on his landing, 
 was conducted to the residence of that gentleman, on Statea 
 Island. The next day, preparations were made for his re- 
 ception in the city. Business was suspended, and, at an 
 early hour, the inhabitants were in motion, to witness the 
 landing of the illustrious guest. The ringing of bells, the 
 roar of cannon, the waving of the national flag, and the pa- 
 rade of the military, proclaimed it a day of universal joy. 
 The numbers collected on this occasion, were estimated to 
 be not less than fifty thousand. At ten o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, a steamboat, manned by two hundfed Americans, and 
 decorated with tlie flags of the various nations whose ships 
 were in the harbour, set off for Staten Island, accompanied 
 by six other steamboats, crowded with passengers, and en- 
 livened by bands of martial music. The committee of ar- 
 rangements, the officers of the United States army and navy, 
 the general officers of the New York militia, and the com- 
 
%\o HISTORY OF 
 
 mittee of the Cincinnati Society, proceeded to the island, an^ 
 received the general on board. At two o'clock, he landed at 
 the battery; where he. was received by a salute from the 
 military, accompanied by the reiterated cheers of the im- 
 mense concourse of citizens, assembled to bid him welcome. 
 
 La Fayette remained in New York four days, visiting the 
 public places, and receiving the congratulations of the peo- 
 ple. Thence, he proceeded to Boston, in a splendid car- 
 riage provided by the corporation, and attended by four al- 
 dermen of the city. 
 
 His tour, eastward, as far as Portsmouth ; southward, as 
 far as New Orleans ; and westward, to St. Louis, in the state of 
 Missouri ; and back to Boston, by the way of Louisville, Cin- 
 cinnati, Pittsburg, Rochester, Schenectady, Utica, Troy, and 
 Albany ; a journey of more than five thousand miles, was 
 every where signalized by the same enthusiastic attentions 
 and congratulations. Welcome La Fayette ! Health, Hap- 
 piness, Honour, and Long Life to the Nation's Guest, re- 
 .sounded from every quarter of the union. 
 
 At Washington, on the tenth of December, La Fayette was 
 introduced, by a committee, consisting of one member from 
 each state, into the hall of the house of representatives ; 
 where the speaker, in the name of the whole people of the 
 United States, bade him a cordial welcome. The general 
 replied, in language expressive of a deep sense of gratitude, 
 for the distinguished honour. Congress, however, could not 
 satisfy themselves, or do justice to the public feeling, with- 
 out giving their illustrious guest a more substantial token of 
 the nation's gratitude. From t^e sacrifices made by him to 
 the American cause, and the confiscations of his property by 
 the revolutionists in his own countj-y. La Fayette had become 
 poor. A numerous family depended on him for support; 
 and he had not the means of maintaining them in the style 
 which their rank in society required. In his message, at the 
 opening of the session, Mr. Monroe noticed, in appropriate 
 and affectionate terms, the arrival of La Fayette ; and re- 
 commended to congress, that, " Considering his very im- 
 portant services, his losses and sacrifices, such provision 
 should be made, and tendered to him, as would correspond 
 with the sentiments, and be worthy the character of the 
 American people." 
 
 A committee of the senate, to whom the subject was re- 
 ferred, reported two resolutions ; one granting him two hun- 
 dred thousand dollars in money ; the other, a township of six 
 
\ 
 
 THE IJ^NITED STATES. 311 
 
 miles square, of any of the unappropriated lands, which the 
 president should direct. These resolutions, after encoun- 
 tering some opposition, on the ground that there were meri- 
 torious officers, citizens of the United States, now living in 
 poverty and dependence, whose services were unrewarded, 
 passed both houses, by large majorities, and were presented 
 to the general by a joint committee, accompanied by a com- 
 plimentary address. 
 
 After making a second visit to Boston, in order to witness 
 the laying of the corner-stone of a monument at Bunker's 
 Hill, erected in commemoration of the battle fought there, on 
 the seventeenth of June, 1775, just half a century before, 
 General La Fayette returned to Washington, preparatory to 
 leaving the United States ; and became a guest of Mr. Adams, 
 at the presidential mansion. On Thursday, the seventh of 
 September, 1825, he took an affectionate leave of the presi- 
 dent, and numerous citizens assembled on the occasion ; on 
 the same day, he was conveyed from the city in the steam- 
 boat Mount Vernon, and went on board the newly built 
 frigate Brandywine, which had been named in honour of the 
 battle-ground where he had shed his first blood for American 
 independence, and prepared for his accommodation. The 
 vessel sailed on the following day; and on the eighth of Oc- 
 tober, after a short but boisterous passage, arrived at the port 
 of Havre, in France. 
 
 In a previous chapter, we stated, that in 1820 a society for 
 colonizing free people of colour began a settlement at Sierra 
 Leone, on the coast of Africa. In December, 1821, an agent 
 on behalf of the society, sailed, in the schooner Alligator, 
 commanded by lieutenant Stockton, for Cape Montserado ; 
 and with much difficulty succeeded in purchasing from the 
 natives, for merchandize of the value of six hundred dollars, 
 a tract of land, forty miles square, at the mouth of the Mont- 
 serado river, in six degrees north latitude, two hundred and 
 fifty miles south of Sierra Leone. The tract has a good har- 
 bour, is high, fertile, and the healthiest in that region. The 
 colonists were immediately transferred to thd new establish- 
 ment ; and, in the ensuing August, the settlement was rein- 
 forced by the arrival of a vessel from Baltimore, with thirty- 
 five emigrants and fifteen recaptured Africans. 
 
 The territory was afterwards named Liberia, and the set- 
 tlement at Montserado called Monrovia, in honour of the 
 president of the United States, under whose audioes* it had^ 
 been conducted, ^* \ ? ^ 
 
312 HISTORY OF 
 
 Another mode of disposing of the free coloured population, 
 was tried, but with little success. The president of Hayti, 
 desirous of increasing the number of his subjects, invited 
 them to his dominions, offering them the privileges of free 
 citizens, and as much land as they would settle upon and 
 cultivate, and to bear the expenses of their transportation, 
 and also of their support, until they could provide for them- 
 selves. In 1^24, president Boyer sent Mr.Grenville to New 
 York, with these propositions, offering to make provision for 
 the immediate transportation of six thousand, i he members 
 and friends of the colonization society, in the northern states, 
 favoured the object ; viewing it as auxiliary to the main de- 
 sign of furnishing a proper retreat for the coloured popula- 
 tion of the United States. But the plan was universally 
 opposed in the south. The existence, in their vicinity, of a 
 nation of free negroes, was viewed with jealousy and distrust. 
 A considerable number accepted the propositions of Mr. 
 Grenville, embarked for Hayti, but not to the extent of the 
 provision. Finding, however, that subsistence was not to be 
 obtained there without laborious exertion, the emigrants be- 
 came discontented ; many of them returned to the United 
 States, and the project failed. 
 
 To a proposition for the formation of a distinct colony of 
 emigrants in his dominions, to be governed by their own 
 laws, and connected with him only by alliance, the president 
 of Hayti gave a decided negative ; stating that every resident 
 on the island must be subject to the general laws of the 
 country. 
 
 In the winter of 1825, a numerous deputation from the 
 Creek nation of Indians, convened at Washington, and, after 
 a tedious negotiation, were with difficulty induced to sign a 
 treaty, in February, 1826 ; by which they ceded more than 
 four millions of acres of their lands in Georgia, retaining 
 rather less than one million, and the remainder was after- 
 wards purchased by the United States, for the benefit of 
 Georgia ; and thus terminated a warm and protracted contro- 
 versy between Georgia and the Creek nation. 
 
 But there is yet another nation, whose appeals to the pro- 
 tection of the laws of the United States, against the alleged 
 usurpations of the state of Georgia, excite a more than ordi- 
 nary feeling of sympathy in the breasts of disinterested 
 Americans. We allude to the Cherokees, a people who 
 number about fifteen thousand, and who possess a territory 
 
 I 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 313 
 
 often millions of acres, on the borders of Georgia, Alabama, 
 and Tennessee, and lying partly in each of these states. 
 
 In November, 1821, there arrived at Washington, accom- 
 panied by major O'Fallon, Indian agent on the Missouri, a 
 deputation from the Pawnee, Omakar, Kansas, Otoe, and Mis- 
 souri tribes. Their object was to visit their great father, the 
 president, and learn something of that civilization of which 
 they had hitherto remained in total ignorance. They were 
 from the most remote tribes with which we have intercourse ; 
 und were believed to be the first of those nations that ever 
 had been in the midst of our settlements. The Pawnees are 
 said to be the most warlike tribe, of which we have any 
 knowledge ; not so numerous as some others, but more for- 
 midable, because united. 
 
 In the winter of 1828, an interesting deputation of the 
 "Winnebago nation, were introduced to the president of the 
 United States. After partaking of some refreshments, an 
 old chief stepped forth into the centre of the room, having in 
 his hand a long uncouth pipe, which, after a brief ceremonial, 
 he brought near to the president, and waved over his head. 
 It was the calumet of peace. Holding it then before him, 
 and pointing to it, he began an harangue, in slow, guttural 
 tones, accompanied with much earnest gesture. He spoke 
 in short paragraphs, while an Indian of the half-blood re- 
 ported them in French, and a second interpreter conveyed 
 the English. 
 
 " Father," said he, " I am glad to see you. I hold out this 
 pipe, and I take your hand in friendship. — Father : A cloud 
 has been between us. It was thick and black. I thought 
 once it would never be removed. But I now see your face. 
 It looks upon me pleasantly. — Father : A long way stretched 
 between us. There were those who told me it was blocked 
 up. They said the red men could not pass it. I attempted 
 it. It is like the plain path which conducts to the Great 
 Spirit. — Father : When I came in sight of your home, it 
 looked white and beautiful. My heart rejoiced. I thought 
 now I should talk with you. — Father: The Great Spirit gave 
 to his children, the Winnebagoes, a pleasant plant. It is good 
 to smoke. I have it here" — touching with his finger the 
 bowl of the pipe — " I give it to you in peace. — Father ; I 
 am as old as you. My heart is true. They told me your 
 heart was black. It is not so. We salute in friendship.— 
 Father : I say no more. My talk is little. I am a chief 
 27 
 
314 HISTORY OF 
 
 among my people. But one is here, who will speak to you 
 soon, and tell you better our thoughts." 
 
 The address being ended, a young Winnebago advanced, 
 in obedience to a signal from the old warrior, and lighted the 
 pipe with fire struck from a flint. The pipe was then pre- 
 sented to the president, the chief still holding its stem. He 
 inhaled a {ew puffs, and, as the smoke curled gently upward, 
 the savage group gazed with intentness, and uttered a low 
 murmur of satisfaction. The chief then handed the calumet 
 to all the spectators, in order, and lastly to each of his tribe. 
 It was next transferred, in form, to the president, to be re- 
 tained ; and he, requesting the Indian to lay one hand upon 
 it again, while he pledged him with the other, proceeded to 
 dictate to the interpreter his reply : 
 
 " Say to this chief, I rejoice to see him. He and his bre- 
 thren are welcome to me and my children. Tell him, it has 
 grieved me that a cloud has been between us ; but I am 
 pleased equally with him, that it has been dissipated. It is 
 dispersed like the fumes of the pipe we have smoked. — May 
 it never close down upon us more ! 
 
 " Say — I am glad that he and his companions meet me on 
 this propitious day. Bid him look to the face of the heavens. 
 No cloud is there. The sun shines brightly upon us. The 
 Great Spirit looks down, and smiles upon our meeting. 
 
 "Say — I hope the same sun will light his path in peace to 
 the abodes of his fathers. When he is gone, I will look upon 
 this pipe with pleasure ; and should I hear, ever after, that 
 in place of pacific, any hostile dispositions break forth 
 amongst his nation, towards my brethren, and children, I 
 will say it is impossible : for I have the word of a Winne- 
 bago, which must be true, that his people pledge their amity 
 with mine, and have left this pipe in token of sincerity.' 
 
 " Say — I yesterday beheld with satisfaction the sports of 
 himself and his associates, as they practised their ancient 
 war-dance on the green beneath my windows. But a higher 
 pleasure I now experience — and one, the memory of which 
 will endure — in cordially greeting him within these walls, 
 and reciprocating assurances of plighted concord." 
 
 Each of these periods, as soon as interpreted, drew forth a 
 hoarse plaudit from the savage auditors. Once, it swelled to 
 a deafening howl, in acknowledgment of the compliment paid 
 to the inviolable integrity of their word. 
 
 It is a beautiful expression of moral sentiment, that the 
 Indians were little moved by the compliment paid to their 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 315 
 
 dancing, but howled their satisfaction at the profession of d 
 belief in their integrity. 
 
 The fourth of July, 1826, having completed fifty years 
 since the declaration of independence, the day was celebrated 
 as a national jubilee. The retrospect was truly cheering 
 and delightful. The annals of the world exhibit no previous 
 example of so rapid a progress, in agriculture and commerce, 
 the arts, manufactures, and population. From weakness, 
 the states had advanced to strength ; from infancy, to man- 
 hood; from thirteen, they had increased in number to twonty- 
 four ; from a population of three millions, thinly scattered 
 along the border of the Atlantic, they had increased to tea 
 millions, spread beyond the banks of the Mississippi, to the 
 base of the Rocky Mountains ; and, as if to mark the fiftieth 
 anniversary of the nation's birth, by events of signal and un- 
 precedented coincidence, Adams and Jefferson, two of the 
 signers of the declaration of independence, of the three who 
 were yet permitted to witness their country's happiness and 
 glory, beheld the sun of that joyous day arise, and beheld it 
 for the last time. Mr. Jefferson died at his seat at Monti- 
 cello, Virginia, at one o'clock in the afternoon of the fourth 
 of July, in his eighty-fourth year ; Mr. Adams, at Quincy, 
 Massachusetts, in his ninety-first. They were the only sur- 
 viving members of the committee appointed to draft the de- 
 claration : Mr. Jefferson was himself the composer of that 
 celebrated instrument ; they had both been presidents of the 
 United States ; they were the most distinguished leaders of 
 their respective political parties; Mr. Jefferson had expressed 
 a strong desire to see the jubilee of American independence; 
 Mr. Adams expressed his patriotic feelings in a sentiment, to 
 be used that day at the festive board. 
 
 The nation mourned their loss. By an order of the presi- 
 dent, appropriate funeral honours were rendered at all the 
 military and naval stations, and the officers directed to wear 
 badges of mourning for six months; and in the principal 
 cities and towns, days were set apart for the same purpose, 
 and funeral processions and eulogiums manifested a universal 
 sentiment of national sorrow. 
 
816 HISTORY OF 
 
 CHAPTEH XVI. 
 
 IJhTERIVAL IMPR0VE>IE^'T3. 
 
 Canals and Rail-roads. Tariff. 
 
 The want of sufficient skill and perseverance, not less than 
 of adequate pecuniary nneans, had long rendered abortive 
 every attempt to facilitate the intercourse between the distant 
 parts of the United States, by artificial navigation. To New 
 York, is due, the enviable honour of having accomplished 
 the first American canal of any considerable extent. The 
 project of uniting the waters of the lakes on its north-western 
 border, with the Atlantic, had early employed the attention 
 of public-spirited and scientific men, in that enterprising 
 state. In ISIO, the legislature appointed a board of com- 
 missioners, to investigate the subject. They reported, that 
 the object was of immense utility, but that, in their opinion, 
 the expense was too great for individuals or private corpora- 
 tions, and that it ought to be undertaken by the national 
 government, or individual states. The legislature accord- 
 ingly directed application to be made for assistance to con- 
 gress, and to several of the state legislatures supposed to he 
 the most deeply interested in the project: these applications, 
 however, were unsuccessful, and all further proceedings 
 were suspended by the war of 1812. 
 
 Soon after the peace, in 1815, the state of New York, 
 with great energy, resumed her favourite design, relying alto- 
 gether on her own resources ; and connecting, at the same 
 time, with this greater object, the plan of a canal from the 
 Hudson to lake Champlain. The same commissioners were 
 appointed for both purposes; and, after a serious opposition, 
 overcome chiefly by the resolution and perseverance of De 
 Witt Clinton, the legislature determined to commence the 
 work. Operations began on the fourth of July, 1817 ; and 
 the first boat from lake Erie arrived at New York on the 
 twenty-sixth of October, 1825. The whole length of the 
 Erie Canal is three hunired and fifty three miles. The for- 
 mation of the Champlain canal, extending near the margin 
 of the Hudson river, and lake George, in length sixty-one 
 miles, proceeded at the same time ; and the expenses of 
 both, constituting the canal debt, amounted to nine millions 
 six hundred and twenty-nine thousand dollars. 
 
THE UNITED STATES. 3lt 
 
 The utility of these canals, and the transportation effected 
 by them, surpassed the most sanguine expectations. The 
 annual receipt of tolls, now exceeds one million of dollars. 
 The canal fund will speedily extinguish the debt, and the 
 tolls will be applicable to any purposes that the legislature 
 may direct. 
 
 Three communications between the Atlantic and the val- 
 ley of the Mississippi, have since been undertaken : one, a 
 canal and rail-road, by the state of Pennsylvania, from Phila- 
 delphia to Pittsburg ;* the second, a rail-road from Baltimore 
 to the Ohio river ;f the third, a canal from the Potomac, at 
 Georgetown, to the Ohio.J Besides these, there have also 
 been completed what is called a slack-water navigation, on 
 the river Schuylkill, from Philadelphia to Pottsville ; the 
 tJnion Canal, connecting the Susquehanna at Middleton, with 
 the Schuylkill at Reading; and a canal without locks, by 
 which vessels can pass from the Delaware to the Chesapeake 
 Bay.§ 
 
 Another great enterprise, to which the Erie and Hudson 
 Canal gave birth, and which is intimately connected with it, 
 is a canal leading from Cleaveland, on lake Erie, to the 
 mouth of the Scioto, on the Ohio river. The ceremony of 
 removing the first shovel-full of earth, was performed by 
 governor Clinton, invited from New York, for that purpose, 
 on the fourth of July, 1 825 ; and the first boats reached 
 Cincinnati, by this navigation, on the seventeenth of March, 
 1828. The work was undertaken solely by the state of 
 Ohio, and, when completed, will open an inland navigation 
 from the city of New York to New Orleans, a distance of 
 nearly three thousand miles. 
 
 Two hundred large boats, driven by steam, are now plying^ 
 on the western waters, and their number is rapidly increas- 
 ing. 
 
 Within the last ten years, Pennsylvania has enriched her- 
 self, to a degree unparalleled, by her coal mines of boundless 
 extent, particularly in the counties of Schuylkill and Lu- 
 zerne ; the very existence of which, before that period, was 
 , 13 . 
 
 * Commenced in the summer of 1826 : the estimated expense, about 
 thirteen millions. 
 
 t The corn pf -stone laid the fourth of July, 1828, by the venerable 
 Charles Carroll. 
 
 tThe ^rst spade put into the ground on the same day, by John 
 Quincy Adams. 
 
 § Oammenced, the fifth of April, 1824 ; completed, the fourth of July, 
 182^3. 
 
 27* 
 
818 HISTORY OF 
 
 but little known. North Carolina and Georgia, also, boast 
 of the discovery of rich mines of gold ; an event, from which 
 they may receive some pecuniary benefit ; but the iron and 
 coal mines of Pennsylvania, instead of demoralizing her popu- 
 lation, will promote industry and habits of good order, and 
 confer upon her citizens more substantial wealth, than the 
 diamonds of Golconda, or the gold and silver of Peru. 
 
 On the second of April, 1827, was laid the corner-stone 
 of the Naval Asylum of the United States. This institution, 
 situated on the left bank of the river Schuylkill, near Phila- 
 delphia, and designed as a place of refuge for disabled offi- 
 cers, seamen, and marines, as regards extent, solidity, and 
 beauty of architectural design, would do honour to any coun- 
 try in the world. The expense of the building was defrayed 
 out of a fund raised by the monthly contributions of those 
 employed in the naval service, which commencjed in the 
 year 1793. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 GREAT PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST. 
 
 Election of general JacTcson. View of his administration. 
 
 •,o()Q The approaching presidential election, in 1829, 
 was the universal theme of political discussion in the 
 preceding year. At no period since the organization of the 
 federal constitution, had the people been so strongly excited 
 in their respective hostility to one candidate, and their pre- 
 dilection for another. The bond, which for more than half a 
 century, had been strong enough to keep together the several 
 parts of the great American Union, seemed now too weak to 
 prevent its being torn asunder by the fury of electioneering 
 warfare. j||: 
 
 A minute detail of the events of this election, we willingly 
 exclude from this epitome. The contest ended in the choice 
 of electors in November, 1828; and the result was, a tri- 
 umphant majority in the electoral colleges for general Jack- 
 son ; one hundred and seventy-eight votes for bim, and 
 eighty-three for Mr. Adams. The latter had the votes of 
 
THE UiNITED STATES. 319 
 
 New Jersey and Delaware ; all the New England votes, ex- 
 cept one from Maine ; sixteen from New York, and five from 
 Maryland. All the other votes were for general Jackson. 
 
 llie close of a presidential term, especially when attended 
 with a change of administration, is a proper period to review 
 the past, and record the present condition of the country, in 
 order to afford the means of comparing it with what it may 
 be at the end of the succeeding term. 
 
 The treasury report gave a detailed view of the finances 
 under Mr. Adams s administration, compared with that of the 
 preceding four years; the material results of which, were, 
 that the absolute increase of revenue exceeded eighteen mil- 
 lions: that the tariff of 1824, by which the duties on foreign 
 manufactured articles, for the encouragement of domestic in- 
 dustry, were greatly enlarged, had considerably increased the 
 receipts at the treasury : that the annual consumption of 
 foreign merchandize, had, on an average, been eighteen per 
 cent, more, than in the preceding four years: that all the ac- 
 cruing interest, and more than thirty millions of the principal 
 of the national debt, had been paid ; leaving its amount, on 
 the first of January, 1830, about fifty-one millions, exclusive 
 cf seven millions due to the bank of the United States, 
 against which the government owned an equal amount of 
 stock ; and that fourteen millions had been applied to per- 
 manent internal improvements, and to objects of defence 
 
 The third of March, 1829, terminated the labours of the 
 twentieth congress, and the administration of 1825. 
 1830 , ^^® subject of the Cherokee Indians, was one of 
 the most interesting questions that engaged the at- 
 tention of the succeeding congress. As their last hope, the 
 Indians sent a second delegation to the congress of 1829-30 
 to solicit their protection. Their application was enforced 
 by numerous memorials from citizens of the United States 
 who thought they saw in the proceedings of the general 
 government, in relation to that unhappy people, the most 
 flagrant injustice and violation of the public faith. Their 
 claims were referred, as a matter of course, in both houses, 
 to their respective committees on public affairs. Here, again, 
 the unfortunate Indian found himself in the hands of his 
 enemies. A majority of both committees were from states 
 interested in obtaining the Indian lands, by whom the views 
 of the administration, in relation to them, were sanctioned 
 Their reports adopted the new system ; abrogated the ricrhts 
 of the Indians to their possessions, and to self-government, 
 
320 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and sustained the state authorities in extending ovet theili 
 their jurisdiction. 
 
 The FIFTH CENSUS, taken in the year 1830, shows the 
 white and coloured population of the United States and ter- 
 ritories, to be as follows : — 
 
 Maine, 
 
 . 399,462 
 
 S. Carolina, . . 
 
 .. 581,458 
 
 N. Hampshire, 
 
 .. 269,533 
 
 Georgia, 
 
 .. 516,567 
 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 . 610,014 
 
 Kentucky, . . . 
 
 .. 688,844 
 
 Rhode Island, 
 
 . . 97,210 
 
 Tennessee, . . . 
 
 .. 684,822 
 
 Connecticut, . . 
 
 .. 297,711 
 
 Ohio, 
 
 .. 937,679 
 
 Vermont, 
 
 . . 280,679 
 
 Indiana, 
 
 .. 341,582 
 
 New York, . . . 
 
 1,913,508 
 
 Mississippi, . . . 
 
 .. 136,806 
 
 New Jersey, . . 
 
 . 320,779 
 
 Illinois, 
 
 .. 157,575 
 
 Pennsylvania, . 
 
 . 1,347,672 
 
 Louisiana, . , . 
 
 .. 215,791 
 
 Delaware, 
 
 . 76,739 
 
 Missouri, . . . . 
 
 .. 140,084 
 
 Maryland, . . . 
 
 . 446,913 
 
 Alabama, .... 
 
 .. 309,206 
 
 D. Columbia, . 
 
 . 39,858 
 
 Michigan, 
 
 .. 31,128 
 
 Virginia, 
 
 1,211,266 
 
 Arkansas, 
 
 . . 30,383 
 
 N. Carolina, . . . 
 
 . 738,470 
 
 Florida, 
 
 . . 34,725 
 
 Total, 12,856,464. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 ^«lair. jr-eneral, 287. 
 
 Uams, John. 96, 100, 120, 124, 127, 
 
 ij;!<, 203, 212,217. 
 tlams, John Quiac~, 273, 291, 297. 
 \dMnis, Samuel, 104, 124. 
 \labamH, 295. 
 ^Ibuny, 71,84. 
 (^Itxaudria, 281. 
 Algiei-s, 198,217. 
 ^[lex\, c!i]>tHiu, 266. 
 Allen, colonel, l03, 111. 
 Andre, major, 169. 
 Anniipolis, 69. 
 
 Armistcad, major, 246, 256, 282, 283. 
 Armstrong, gen. 189, 270, 271, 279. 
 Arnold, -en. 103, 110, 112, 113, 114 
 
 116, 134, 140, 142, ley, 169, 173. 
 Augusta, 79. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, col. 38a 
 Bainbndi^e, com. 218, 249. 
 Ciiltimore cjf.v, 6P., 234, 281, 283, 
 
 300. 
 Baltimore, lord, 68 76. 
 Banks, 172, 2C4, 2S9, 290, 291, 292 
 Barclay, governor, 73. 
 Barlow, Joel, 297. 
 B;-.rney, com. 144, 243, 277, 279. 
 Barre, col. 89. 
 Batvon, com. 230, 231, 293. 
 Barton, col. 133. 
 Ea3;«rd, James A. 273. 
 Beckwith, gf^n. 2G1, 262, 26^ 
 B-nezet, Anthony, 300. 
 Bennington, 141. 
 Berkely, sir W. 36 37, 70. 
 Biddls, capt. 275. 
 Blaciensburg, 278. 
 Blakel/, capt. 275. 
 Blennerlvaaset, 227. 
 Boon, col. 208. 
 Boston, 51.300. 
 Buyd, gen. 245, 258, 259, 27 !. 
 Boylestoae, Dr. 195. 
 Braddock, gen. 85. 86. 
 Urandywiae, 136. 
 
 Breed's Hill. See Bunker's HOI. 
 
 Brock, geti. 245. 
 
 Brown, gen. 248, 258, 213, 276 
 
 Brown, Robert, 46. 
 
 Brownstown, 240. 
 
 Ruffaloe, 272. 
 
 Blinker's Hill, 104, 105, 108. 
 
 Buonaparte, Jerome, 29r». 
 
 Buonaparte, Joseph, 299. 
 
 Buonaparte, Napoleon, 212, 229, 
 
 233. 254, 273, 274, 277. 
 Burgoync, gen. 104, 105, 135, 140 
 
 141, 142, 143. 
 Burke, Edmund, 187. ^ 
 Burlington bay, 257. 
 Burr,col. 217, 226, 227. 
 Burroao-hs, lieul. 266. 
 Bute, lo'rd, 92. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabot, 19. 
 
 Calvert, sir George, 68. 
 Cambridge, 66. 
 Camden, 160, 180. 
 ,Canada, 86, 87. 
 Carleton, gen. Ill, 113, 116. 
 Carroll, gen. 285. 
 Carver, John, 47. 
 Cassin, com. 261. 
 Chamblee, fort. 111. 
 Cliampiain, lake, 2?j3. 
 Chandler, gen. 257. 
 Charleston, 70, 119, 156, 157, 300. 
 Cnarlestown, 51, 106, 119, 156, 157. 
 Chatham, lord, 86, 93, 101, 1H7. 
 Chairnoey, com. 248, 257, 258, 259^ 
 ^ 272, 273. 
 Chesapeake, 26. 
 Chcstf-r, 75, 79. 
 Chftvcs, l.angdon, 273, 292. 
 *>h;ppeway, 276. 
 Christie, col. 245. 
 ChrystlerVfield, 271. 
 Clay, Henry, 273, 291. 
 Clayton, i>r. 197. 
 Clermont, 173. 
 Cleveland, col. 162, 163. 
 1 Cluiton, American ^on. 17^. 
 
322 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Clinton, British ^en. 104, 105, 119,1 
 12d, 126, 146, 156, 157, 158, 172,1 
 181, 182, 183, 184. j 
 
 Cochrane, adm. 277, 282, 283. 
 
 Cockburn. adm. 260, 262, 263, 278. 
 
 Coddington, William, 52. 
 
 Coffee, gBQ. 285, 286. 
 
 College, Dartmouth, 67. 
 
 College. Harvartl, 65. 
 
 College, New Haven. 67. 
 
 College, Princeton, 73. 
 
 College, William & Mary, 38. 
 
 College, Ycle, 67. 
 
 Columbia, District of, 216. 
 
 Columbus, 12, 13, 14,15, 16,17 18. 
 
 C'Oncord, 102. 
 
 Congress, old, 91, 100, 106, 130, 137, 
 147, 190. 
 
 Connecticut, 52, 193. 
 
 (constitution, federal, 199. 
 
 Cotton, Rev. Mr. 51. 
 
 Cornwailia, lorii, 129, 131, 136, 158, 
 160, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 180, 
 181, 182, 184, 185. 
 
 Cotton, culture of, 70. 
 
 Cowpens, 174. 
 
 Craney Island, 261. 
 
 Croghan, col. 266, 267. 
 
 Crov'u- point, 103. 
 
 Crutcufieid, major, 262. 
 
 Dale, com. 218. 
 
 Davis, col. 259. 
 
 Deane, Silas, 145. 
 
 Dearborne, sun. 244, 245, 256, 258. 
 
 Debt, nuiional, 204, 289. 
 
 Decatur, com. 219, 242, 275, 293. 
 
 D'Estuign, adm. 148, 153, 154. 
 
 De Grasse, adm. 170, 182, 183, 185. 
 
 De Guichen, adm. 167, 168, 170. 
 
 De Kaib, baron, 160, 161. 
 
 Delaware, lord, 31,32. 
 
 Delaware, state, 7i, 74, 78, 193. 
 
 Dcrna, 220, 221. 
 
 De TernHy, adm. 167, 170. 
 
 Detroit, '238, 239, 268. 
 
 Dickenson, gen. 1S3. 
 
 Dickenson, John, 93, 100. 
 
 Dinwiddle, governor, 82. 
 
 Dorchester, 51, 118. 
 
 Dover, 63. 
 
 Orummond, gea. 276 
 
 Dudley, Thomas, 50. 
 Du Portall, gen. 185. 
 Duquesne, fort, 84, 107 
 
 E. 
 
 Eaton, gen. 220, 22 i. 
 Elholni, capt. 155. 
 Elizabeth Islands, 59 
 Elizabethtown, 73. 
 Elliott, gen. 170. 
 Elliott, Rev. Mr. 66. 
 Embargo. 231, 232. 
 Endicott, governor, 49, 61. 
 Erie, fort, 256, 276. 
 Erie, lake, 248, 267. 
 Eutaw, 180. 
 Exeter; 54. 
 
 F. 
 
 Falmouth, 110. 
 
 Fenwick, col. 245. 
 
 Fishing-creek, 161. 
 
 Florida, 87, 170, 295. 
 
 Forsythe, col. 248, .254, 271. 
 
 Fox, C. J. 187, 232. 
 
 Fox, George, 58. 
 
 France, 166, 172. 
 
 Franklin, Benj. 67, 85, 90, 115, 124, 
 
 127, 138, 145, 188, 195, 196 
 Franklin, James, 67. 
 Frenchtown, rMich.) 250. 
 Frenchtown, {De].) 260. 
 Fredericktowa, 260. 
 Fulton, Robert, 298, 299. 
 
 Gage, gea. 98, 99, 102, 103, IftI, 
 
 105. 
 Gaines, gen. 276. 
 Gallatiii, Albert, 273, 291. 
 Gates, gen. lOe, 109, 142, 160, 164. 
 Genet, M. 211. 
 George, fort, 246, 25C, 271. 
 Georgetown, 260. 
 Georgia, 79, 193, 104. 
 Germantown, 75, 138. 
 Gibbs, ^en. 289. 
 Government, 192, 193, 199, 
 Grafton, duke of, 93, 95 
 Great Meadows, 84. 
 Greaves, adm 182. 
 Greene, ool. 139. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 323 
 
 Graene,g:en. 108, 130, 135, 138, 146, 
 165, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, li>0, 
 181. 
 
 Grenville, George, 89. 
 
 Guilford, 176. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hakluyt, Richard, 24, 25, 26. 
 Hamilton, gen. 184, 199, 203, 204, 
 
 205, 226, 227. 
 Hampton, g-en. 270, 271. 
 Hampton, town, 117, 261. 
 Hancock, John, 94, 9S, 104, 106, 124, 
 
 140. 
 Hano^ing Rock, 159. 
 Hardy, com. 263, 265. 
 Harinar, g^en. 209. 
 Harrison, gen. 237, 244, 250, 251 
 
 252, 253, 267, 268, 269, 270. 
 Hartford, 52. 
 Havre de Grace, 260. 
 Hazlewood, com. 140. 
 Heath, g^en. 99, 108. 
 Henry, John, 234. 
 Henry, Patrick, 90, 117. 
 Hobkirk, Hill, 18a 
 Holland, 171. 
 Hooker, Rev. Mr. 52. 
 Hopkins, com. 144. 
 Howard, col. 174. 
 Howe,adm. 119, 147. 
 Howe, gen. 104, 105, 118, 119. 126, 
 127, 128, 129, 133, 134, 135, 137, 
 138, 140, 146, 148. 
 Huger, gen. 175, 177. 
 Hull, capt. 240, 241. 
 Hull, £:en. 237, 238, 239, 240. 
 Hull, John, 57. 
 Hutchinson, Ann, 52. 
 Hutchinson, gov. 97. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 59, 93, 124, 20^ 
 
 212,217,223,232. 
 Johnson, col. 269, 
 Jones, capt. 242. 
 Jones, Paul, 144, 
 Judiciary, 201. 
 
 K. 
 
 Keace, gen. 287. 28!^. 
 Kentucky, 207, 208. 
 Kettle-creek, 152. 
 King's-mountain, 162. 
 Kniphausen, gen. 129, 136, 156, 164 
 Knox. gen. 127, 185, 203. 
 Kosciuski, gen. 143. 
 
 I. 
 
 [llinois, 295. 
 
 (ndependence, declaration oC, 190. 
 
 Indiana, 295. 
 
 ndians, 42, 43, 44, 209. 
 
 fndigo, 70. 
 
 izard, gen. 273. 
 
 fackson, gen. 285, 286, 287, 288. 
 
 'amestown, 26, 29, 30, 82. 
 
 'ay, John, 100, 188, 199. 203, 214. | 
 
 La Colic's Mill, 273. 
 
 La Coose's House, 258, 259. 
 
 La Fayette, 136, 146, 167, 181, 182. 
 
 Lambert, gen. 287, 289. 
 
 Langdon, John, 100. 
 
 Laurens, col. 184, 186. 
 
 Laurens, Henry, 140, 171, 188. 
 
 Lawrence, capt. 249, 263, 264, 2«5. 
 
 Lee, Arthur, 145. 
 
 Lee, gen. Charles, lOJJ, 109, 128, 
 
 129, 130,146,147. 
 Lee, gen. Henry, 151, 176, 178, 206 
 
 235. 
 Lee, R. H. 120, 124. 
 Lewis and Clarke, 223. 
 Lewistown, 79, 259. 
 Lexington, 102, 103. 
 Lincoln, gen. 142, 151, 153, 157, m 
 
 199. 
 Licgnn, gen. 236. 
 Livingston, chanc. 100, 202. 
 Li^nngston, col. 113, 114. 
 Logan, Mr. 196. 
 Long Island, 7l, 1£5. 
 Louisiana, 82, 222, 223. 
 Level, gen. 151. 
 
 M. 
 Macomb, gen. 271. 
 Madison, James, 199, 204, 8321 C7^ 
 
 295. 
 Magnet, 7, 10. 
 Maine, 54, 59, 295. 
 Maize, 40. 
 Manly, capt. 110. 
 Marietta, 222. 
 
•a'^■i 
 
 INDKX. 
 
 Marion, gen. 161, 162, 163, 177, 178, 
 
 ICt. 
 rwarth.-rs Vineyard, 59. 
 Maryland, 68, 193, 194. 
 Massachusetts, 48, 193, 194. 
 Mather, Cotton, 61, 195. 
 M'Clure, geu. 254,271. 
 M^Uonouj^h, com. 273, 283. 
 M-Dous-Ul, -en. 127, 128, 138 
 Medical School, 77. 
 Mei<;s, col. 134. 
 Meig?, fort, 25 1,2,52. 
 Mercer, gen. 130, 132. 
 M'Henry, fort, 282, 283. 
 MichilUinackiuac, 238. 
 Mifllin, fort, 138, 139. 
 Mimin, gen. 127, -138,, 192. 
 Military Academy, 290. 
 Miller, cap!. 279. 
 Miller, g^n. 240, 253. 
 Mint. 290. 
 
 Mississijrpi, river, 223. 
 Mi5sissi}>pi, state, 295. 
 Missouri, 295. 
 
 Money, continental, 155, 172. 
 Monmouth, 146. 
 Monroe, James, 230, 293. 
 Montgomery, gen. 108, 1 10, 11 1, 1 1 3, 
 
 114. 
 Montreal, 111,271. 
 Moor's Fields, 281. 
 Morgan, gen. 1 14, 174, 175. 
 Morocco, 217. 
 Morris, eapt. 242. 
 Morris, R,obert, 124. 
 Mottc, Mrs. 178. 
 Moultrie, gen. 119, 151, 152. 
 Mount Vernon, 83, 216. 
 Murray, com, 218. 
 
 N. 
 NanXucket, 59. 
 Na^7, 109, 110, 158, 263, 291, 2H 
 
 295. 
 Negroes ; see Slaves. 
 NewarK, (Canada^) 271. 
 Newcastle, 74. 
 New England, 45, 56. 
 New Hampshire, 53, 193, 194. 
 New Jersey, 71,72, 193. 
 New Orleaiis, 86, 223, 284, 285, 286, 
 
 287, 288. 
 Saw Plymouth, 47, 43, 59. 
 
 Newport, 52, 100. 
 
 New Providence, 144. 
 
 >;ew York, city, 53, 128, 190. 300 
 
 New York, stnte, 71, 193, 194. 
 
 Newspapers, 67, 77. 
 
 N.agara, battle, 276. 
 
 NiagnrK, fort, 246, 271. 
 
 Ninety-six, 180. 
 
 Non-intercourse, 232. 
 
 Norfolk, 117, 150, 261,300. 
 
 North Carolina, 21, 69, 194. 
 
 North, lord, 95, 187. 
 
 North i'oiut, 282. 
 
 Nova Scotia, 59. 
 
 O. 
 
 Ogden.<bTirg, 248, 254. 
 
 Ogechee, 155. 
 
 Oglethorpe, gea. 79, 80, 81. 
 
 Ohio, 222. 
 
 Oswego, 275. 
 
 Otis, James, 91. 
 
 P. 
 
 Tackenham, ^en, 287, 283 
 •f*aine, Thonias, 94, 299. 
 Paoli tavern, 137. 
 Parker, adm. il9. 
 Patterson, com. 285, 286. 
 PaulusHook, 151. 
 Paulding, John, 169. 
 Pennsylvania, 71, 73, 193. 
 Penn, 'William, 73, 74, 75, 76. 
 Penobscot, 151. 
 Pensacola, 285. 
 Perry, com. 257, 56P, 293. 
 Peter, major, 278, 279. 
 Philadelphia, 75, 137, 146, 300. 
 Phipps, sir William, 59, 60, 63, 6 
 
 65. 
 Pickens, col. 151, 174. 
 Pike, gen. 225, 245, 248, 254, 255. 
 Pittsburg, 84, 300. 
 Pitt, William, 187. 
 platUburg, 259, 283, 284. 
 Pocahuntas. 29, 32, 33. 
 Pomeroy, gen. 99, 105, 108. 
 Population, 35, 50, 57, 299, 300. 
 Porter, com. 249, 275. 
 Porter, gen. 256, 271, 276. 
 J*ort Royal, 151. 
 Portsmouth, R. I. 52. 
 Portsmouth, N U 100 
 
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 edition of Lord Byron's Poetical Works ever published in the United States. 
 
 BENNET'S (Rev. John) LETTERS TO A YOUNG LA- 
 
 DY, on a variety of subjects calculated to improve the heart, to form the 
 manners, and enlighten the understanding. "That our Daughters may be 
 as polished corners of the Temple." 
 
 The publishers sincerely hope, (for the happiness of mankind^) that a copy 
 of this valuable little work will be found the companion of every young lady, 
 as much of the happiness of every family depends on the proper cultivation 
 of the female mind. 
 
 SAY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY. A Treatise on Political 
 Economy, or the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth. By 
 Jean Baptiste Say. Fifth American edition, with Additional Notes, by C. 
 C. Biddle, Esq., in 1 vol. 8vo. 
 
 The editor of the North American Review, speaking of Say, observes, 
 that "he is the most popular, and perhaps the most able writer on Political 
 Economy, since the time of Smith." 
 
 CARPENTER'S NEW GUIDE. Being a complete Book 
 of Lines, for Carpentry, Joinery, &c., in 1 vol. 4to. 
 
 The Theory and Practice well explained, and fully exemplified on eighty- 
 four copperplates, including some observations, &.C., on the strength of 
 Timber; by Peter Nicholson. Tenth edition. This invaluable work super- 
 seded, on its first appearance, all existing works on the subject, and still 
 retains its original celebrity. 
 
 Every Carpenter in our country should possess a copy of this invaluable 
 work. 
 
 A TREATISE ON CATTLE, their Breeds, Management 
 and Diseases; published under the superintendence of the Society for the 
 Diffusion of Useful Knovv'ledge. With numerous plates. 1 vol. 8vo, 
 
 This is an invaluable work to Farmers. 
 
 WEEMS' LIFE OF GEN. MARION. 
 
 WEKMS' LIFE OF GEN. WASHINGTON. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY RELIGION: with a 
 
 selection of Hymns and Prayers, adapted to Family Worship, and Tables for 
 the regular Reading of the Scriptures. By the Rev. S. G. Winchester, A. M. 
 
 Tiie subject is one of incalculable practical importance, and is treated in a 
 masterly manner. It contains an able, elaborate and highly instructive 
 Essay on the obligation, nature and importance of Family Religion; and 
 we hope, ere long, it will be found in the Library of every fiimily. 
 
 JOSEPHUS'S (FLAVIUS) WORKS. By the late William 
 Whiston, A. M. From the last London edition, complete. 
 
 As a matter of course, every family in our country has a copy of the 
 Holy Bible — and as the presumption is, the greater portion oflen consult its 
 
VALUABLE BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GR1(5G & ELLIOT, 
 
 pages, we take Iho liberty of saying to all those tliat do, that the perusal of 
 the writings of Josephus will be found very interesting and instructing. 
 
 All those who wish to possess a beautiful and correct copy of this invalu- 
 able work, would do well to purchase this edition. It is for sale at all the 
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 in the Southern and Western States. 
 
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 Discourses on the principal doctrines of the Gospel; intended for the use of 
 families, Sunday schools, or companies assembled for religious instruction 
 in country villages. By George Jiurder. To which is added, to each Ser- 
 mon, a short Prayer, with some general prayers for families, schools, &c., 
 at the end of the work. Complete in 1 vol. 8vo. 
 
 These sermons, which are characterized by a beautiful simplicity, the en- 
 tire absence of controversy, and a true evangelical spirit, have gone through 
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 ing many individuals, but also of introducing the Gospel into districts, and 
 even into parish churches, where before it was comparatively unknown." 
 
 "This work fully deserves the immortality it has attained." 
 
 This is a fine library edition of this invaluable work, and when we say 
 that it should be found in the possession of every family, we only reiterate 
 the sentiments and sincere wishes of all who take a deep interest in the 
 eternal welfare of mankind. 
 
 BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS, 12 
 
 colored plates. 
 
 BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS, 12 co- 
 lored plates. 
 
 PERSIA. A DESCRIPTION OF. By Shoberl, with 12 
 
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 These works ere got up in a very superior style, and well deserve an 
 introduction to the shelves of every family library, as they are very interest- 
 ing, and particularly adapted to the juvenile class of readers. 
 
 HIND'S POPULAR SYSTEM OF FARRIERY, taught 
 
 on a new and easy plan, being a Treatise on all the diseases and accidents 
 to which the Horse is liable. With considerable additions and improve- 
 ments, adapted particularly to this country, by Thomas M. Smith, Vete- 
 rinary Surgeon, and Member of the London Veterinary Medical Society, in 
 1 vol. 12mo. 
 
 MASON'S POPULAR SYSTEM OF FARRIERY; com- 
 
 prising a general description of the noble and useful animal the Horse, 
 together with the quickest and simplest mode of fattening; necessary treat- 
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 and management of stables; different marks for ascertaining the age of a 
 Horse: also, a concise account of the diseases to which the Horse is subject; 
 with such remedies as long experience has proved to be effectual. By 
 Richard Mason, M. D., formerly of Surrey Co., Va. Ninth edition, with 
 additions. To which is added, a Prize Essay on Mules, and An Appendix 
 containing observations and recipes for the cure of most of the common 
 distempers incident to Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves, Sheep, Lambs, Swine, 
 Dogs, &c. &.C. Selected from different authors. Also, an Addenda, contain- 
 ing Annals of the Turf, American Stud Book, Rules for Training, Racing, 
 &c. 
 
 I 
 
VALUABLE BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GllIGG & ELLIOT. 
 
 The publishers have received numerous flattering notices cf the great 
 practical value of these works. The distinguished editor of the American 
 Farmer, speaking of them, observes — "We cannot too highly recommend 
 these books, and therefore advise every owner of a horse to obtain them." 
 
 NEW SONG BOOK.— Grigg's Southern and Western Song- 
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 which are original, in 1 vol. 18mo. 
 
 Great care was taken in the selection, to admit no song that contained, 
 in the slightest degree, any indelicate or improper allusions, and with great 
 propriety it may claim the title of "The Parlour Song Book or Songster." 
 The immortal Shakspeare observes — 
 
 " The man that hath not music in himself. 
 Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 
 Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils." 
 
 RUSH ON THE MfND. New fine edition. Tiiis work is 
 
 valuable and highly interesting for intelligent readers of every profession; 
 it is replete with curious and acute remarks, both medical and metaphy- 
 sical, and deserves particular praise for the terseness of its diction. 
 
 A DICTIONARY OF SELECT AND POPULAR QUO- 
 TATIONS, which are in daily use: taken from the Latin, French, Greek, 
 Spanish, and Italian languages; together with a copious collection of Law 
 maxims and Law terms; translated into English, with illustrations, historical 
 and idiomatic. Sixth American edition, corrected with additions. 1 vol. 
 12mo. 
 
 In preparing this sixth edition for the press, care has been taken to give 
 the work a thorough revision, to correct some errors which had before 
 escaped notice, and to insert many additional Quotations, Law maxims and 
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 This little work should find its way into every family library. 
 
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 and Banking. By Condy Raguet, LL.D. 1 vol. 12mo. 
 
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 DR. EBERLE ON DISEASES AND PHYSICAL EDU- 
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 HEBER, POLLOK and CRABBE'S POETICAL WORKS 
 
 complete in 1 vol. 8vo. 
 
 "Among the beautiful, valuable, and interesting volumes which the enter- 
 prise and taste of our publishers have presented to the reading community, 
 we have seldom met with one which we have more cordially greeted and 
 can more confidently and satisfactorily recommend, than that, embracing 
 in a single, substantial, well bound, and handsomely printed octavo, the po- 
 etical works of Bishop Heber, Robert Pollok, and the Rev. George Crabbc. 
 What a constellation of poetic ardor, glowing piety, and intellectual bril- 
 liancyl Such writers require no eulogy. Their fame is established and 
 universal. The sublimity, pathos, and piety of all these writers, have given 
 them a rank at once with the lovers of poetry and the friends of religion, 
 unsurpassed perhaps by that of any other recent authors in our language. 
 
6 VALUABLE BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GRIGG & ELLIOT. 
 
 A more delightful addition could scarcely be made to the library of the gen- 
 tlernan or lady of ta&te and refinement. The prize poems, hymns, and 
 miscellaneous writings of Bishop Heber, the 'Course of Time' by Pollok, 
 and the rich, various, and splendid productions of the Rev. George Crabbe, 
 are among the standard works, the classics of our language. To obtain 
 and preserve them in one volume, cannot but be a desirable object to their 
 admirers." And it is to be hoped it will be found in the library of every 
 lamily. 
 
 A writer in the Boston Traveller holds the following language with refer- 
 ence to these valuable editions: 
 
 Mi: Editor — I wish, without any idea of puffing, to say a word or two 
 upon the "Library of English Poets" that is now published at Philadelphia, 
 by Grigg &, Elliot; it is certainly, taking into consideration the elegant 
 manner in which it is printed, and the reasonable price at which it is aflford- 
 ed to purchasers, the best edition of the modern British Poets that has ever 
 been published in this country. Each volume is an octavo of about 500 
 pages, double columns, stereotyped, and accompanied with fine engravings 
 and biographical sketches, and most of them are reprinted from Galignani's 
 French edition. As to its value we need only mention that it contains the 
 entire works of Montgomery, Gray, Beattie, Collins, Byron, Cowper, Thorn- 
 son. Burns, Milton, Young, Scott, Moore, Coleridge, Rogers, Campbell, 
 Lamb, Hemans, Heber, Kirk White, Crabbe, the Miscellaneous Works of 
 Goldsmith, and other martyrs of the lyre. The publishers are doing a great 
 service by their pubHcation, and their volumes are almost in as great demand 
 as the fashionable novels of the day, and they deserve to be so, for they are 
 certainly printed in a style superior to that in which we have before had 
 the works of the English Poets. 
 
 THE BEAUTIES OF HISTORY, or Examples of the Op- 
 posite ElicLts of Virtue and Vice, for the use of Schools and Families, with 
 Questions fur the Examination of Students. 1 vol. ISmo., with plates. 
 
 This work is introduced into our High School. It is particularly adapted 
 for a Class Book in all our male and female Seminaries, &c. 
 
 " We have received from the publishers, Messrs. Grigg & Elliot, a very 
 neat duodecimo volume, entitled 'TAe Beauties of History; or, Examples 
 of the opposite effects of Virtue and Vice, drawn from real life.' After a 
 careful examination of this book, we can conscientiously recommend it to 
 parents and teachers as a most meritorious performance. There are here 
 collected, within a narrow compass, the most striking examples of individual 
 virtue and vice which are spread forth on the pages of history, or are re- 
 corded in personal biography. The noblest precepts are recommended for 
 the guidance of youth; and in the most impressive manner is he taught to 
 conquer the degrading impulses which lower the standard of the human 
 character. We have not lately met with a volume which, in design and 
 execution, seemed so acceptable as this. The book, moreover, is hand- 
 somely got up, and illustrated with wood engravings." 
 
 GRIMSHAW'S LADIES' LEXICON, and Parlour Com- 
 
 panion; containing nearly every word in the English language, and exhi- 
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 Inrly adapted to the use of Academies and Schools. By William Grimshaw, 
 Esq., author of the Gentlemen's Lexicon, &c. 
 
 THE GENTLEMEN'S LEXICON, or Pocket Dictionary; 
 containing nearly every word in the English language, and exhibiting the 
 
VALUABLE BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GRIGG & ELLIOT. 
 
 plurals of nouns and the participles of verbs; being alsQ particularly adapted 
 to the use of Academies and Schools. By William Grimshaw, author of 
 the Ladies' Lexicon, History of England, of the United States, &c. 
 
 "The public are agam im^ebted to the talents of Mr. Grimshaw, for the 
 very useful books which he has called 'The Ladies' and Gentlemen's Lex- 
 icon.' The peculiarity and advantages of these works may be collected 
 from the following portion of the prefiice. 'They differ from all preceding 
 works of the kind in this^ that they exhibit the plurals of all nouns which 
 are not formed by the mere addition of the letter S, and also the participles 
 of every verb now generally used, and unless accompanied by a particular 
 caution. No word has been admitted which is not now of polite or popular 
 use, and no word has been excluded which is required either in epistolary 
 composition or conversation.'" 
 
 BOOK OF POLITENESS— The Gentleman and Lady's 
 Book of Politeness and Propriety of Deportment. Dedicated to the Youth 
 of both sexes. By Madame Celnart. Translated from the Sixth Paris edi- 
 tion, enlarged and improved. Fifth American edition. 
 
 Scliool Books. 
 
 Grimshaw's History of England, --.-.. bound. 
 
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 Beauties of History, new ed., ....... sheep. 
 
 The Young Gentlemen's Lexicon, ..-.-- sheep. 
 
 The Young Ladies' Lexicon, - - sheep. 
 
 Conversations on Natural Philosophy, Jones' edition, - . bound. 
 
 Conversations on Chemistry, Jones' edition, .... bound. 
 Malte-Brun's New College and Family Atlas, with 40 colored 
 
 Maps, 4to., bound. 
 
 Virgil Delphini, bound. 
 
 Horace Delphini, -.....--. bound. 
 
 Hutchinson's Xenophon, with notes, ..... bound. 
 
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 Torrey's Pleasing Companion, ..... half-bound. 
 
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 Smiley's Table-book, ........ stitched 
 
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VALUABLE BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GRIGG & ELLIOT. 
 
 Smiley's Geography and Atlas, new edition, 
 
 Murray's Exercises, 12mo. -..-.. half-bound. 
 
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 First Reading Lessons. 
 
 Bentley's American Instructor. • 
 
 Hegewisch's Introduction to Historical Chronology. 
 
 Weems' Marion^ . 
 
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 Life of General Harrison. ' •' 
 
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 much enlarged, bound. 
 
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 EberJe on Diseases and Physical Education of Children, 1 vol. 
 [D° This IS a new edition much improved, containing a table exhibiting 
 the doses of medicines, according to the different ages. 
 
 Eberle's Notes for Students, new edition. 
 
 Bayle and Hollard's Manual of Anatomy, . « . . bound. 
 
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 Vclpeau's Treatise on Midwifery, new improved edition, by Dr. Meigs. 
 
 %* The above are used as text books in the principal medical schools in 
 the United States. 
 
 *,,t* All the new Medical Works received and for sale as soon as published 
 on the most reasonable terms. 
 
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