■-oO^ -rj^ V ,0 ■d ^ ,-■ - -^^ ^^ S - ' r-. ^ ^ ■^^' .r 'P %.^^ 7 -^ A-^ S^%. o 0^ .-.V -i ,\ , N , -^-^ ' o .-^^ ^^ ^. * .0 ^. ^ S^^ ,^-^ INCLUDING A BRIEF BUT GENERAL VIEW OF THE ftlSTOUX 0¥ THE WOTLliTJ, CIVIL, MILITARY, AND RELIGIOUS, FRO^I THB EARLIEST TIMES TO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1820. BFJOHJ^TB. COLVIJ^, Eso. SECOND EDITIOSr. Histoiy is Pliilosophy, teaching by Example..,. „«^o/. GEORGETOWN, D. C. PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH MILLIGAN. JACOB GIDEON, JUN, PRINTER, WASHINGTON OITY. 1821. I ^ ■^7 \^1 Co ?/ DISTRICT OF VIRGIJ^U, to wit : BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the sixteenth day of November, in the thirty-seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, Samukl Pleasants hath deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the Mords following, to wit : HISTORICAL LETTERS, including a brief but general vietv of the History oftlie World, Civil, JVIilitary , and Religious, from the earliest times to the year of our Lord, 1811. — " History is PInlosophy, teacMng by exam- ple.''''— ^^o\. ^In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An act for the encouragement of learn- ing, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authoi's and proprietors of such copifes during the times therein mentioned," and also to an act, entitled " An act supplementary to an act, entitled an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and - extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, en- graving, and etching, historical and other prints." WILLIAM MARSHALL, Clerk of the ZHstrict of Virgima. ro THE READER. The • tters of this small volume were originally publish*., in a newspaper at Richmond, in Virginia, From the columns of which, in the same type, and on ordinary paper, they were reprinted in the form of a Book. A second edition having been required, it is now offered to the public, in an improved ty- pographical dress. When this work was first published, the author of it, conceiving that a volume of history could not, like a novel, be properly committed to the taste and judgment of the public without the sanction of com- petent living authorities as to the accuracy of the facts it contained and the manner of its execution, took the liberty of submittinji it to sv-me of the first characters in the United States. The question was, . in particular, asked with respect to its value as a i school book. These ge'stlemen were so kind as to express their opinions in the following letters; and to them the publisher begs leave to refer with regard to the real merits of the publication. Charleston, April 19th, 1813. SIR, I have received your *' Historical Letters," and read them with great pleasure. For this valua- ble present I beg you to accept my thanks. I have read many compends of general history, but none of them, in my opinion, so much deserves the compli- ment of multum in parvo as yours. With respect to dates and facts, you are correct. It is s'i'arcely , possible to give more historical knowledge in an IV equal number of words and pages. I am particular- 1/ pleased with your sacred history. Every man who reads his Bible, will be able to read it with much more understanding after having perused your letters. The dress of the work is far inferior to its merit. Every man should wish to know what has been doing in our world before he was born. By reading your book, which he may do in a few days, he may acquire such general knowledge of the great events which have heretofore taken place in it, as will make him feel comparatively at home. With- out such knowledge, he must be like a stranger in an unexplored country, with respect to past events, even in the land of his nativity. I wish you great success in the sale, and am with great respect, your most obedient servant, DAVID RAMSAY. J. B, Colvin, esquire, Washington City, Richmond, May 7th, 1813. SIR, I received sometime past a copy of your " Historical Letters," accompanied with a request that I would give my opinion of them. I have read them with attention, and have mentioned in Mr, Pleasants' office my wish to be classed with subscri- bers. I pray you, sir, to receive my thanks for this mark of politeness and consideration. In a work comprising the history of the known world, in a small duodecimo, not much more is to be looked for than an accurate chronological index of the great events which have been transmitted to us in detail, presented in such a form as to give a general idea of the nations which have at different times made a conspicuous figure on our earth, and of the order in which they have succeeded each other. By compressing these events- into a narrow compass, the mind may embrace, at one view, all past time ; and it is probable the youthful reader, thus aided in the commencement of his course, ma}^ perceive more distinctly, and with less embarrass- ment, the connexion between the histories of differ- ent nations. Of the value of the plan I cannot speak confi- dently, although I rather incline to suppose it may be useful ; but to whatever may be its value, yoiir book is, I think, entitled. The events selected ap- pear well calculated to give a correct idea of the general history of each nation, and the narrative is, I believe, faithful. I am sir, respectfully, your obe- dient servant, J. MxVRSriALL. J. B, Colvin, escfiir£, Washin»'ton, Columbia* MoNTicELLO, April 8th, 181S. SIR, f thank you for the historical work you liave been so kind as to send me ; but to give the precise opinion on it which you ask, is not \ery easy. His- tory is on^ of those branches of science which dif- ferent persons will pursue to greater or less extent, in proportion to their views and opportunities. Those of higher aims will resort to the original au- thors, that nothing known to others may be un- known t(» them. Students to whom i\\i<< branch will be a necessary, yet secimdary, object, v»ill call fo? vx the larg;er compilers ; while those whose other oc- cupations aftord little time or means to indulge their historical appetite, must be contented with t)-e most succinct abridgments. Among these different classes of readers, the scale of the " Historical Let- ters" will find its place, and will become valuable and instructive in the degree which ^^uits them. It will also be a convenient Manual even to proficients, who often wish to consult shorter works for a re- freshment of memory when occasion occurs for taking mere general views. For these purposes, doubtless, the work you sent me will be useful, and its cheapness, as well as brevity, will probably bring it into considerable demand. In wishing it success, I contemplate not only your gratification but the en- largement it may produce in the field of information among our fellow citizens. I tender you the assu- rance of my esteem and respect. TH : JEFFERSON. Mr, J. B. Colvin, Washington^ Jamaica, L. I. August 20th, 1814. SIR, I have read with satisfaction the small ▼o- lume of " Historical Letters" you have been good enou8;h to send me. The execution of the work ap- pears to me to be creditable to its author ; and I think the " Historical Letters" entitled to hold a respectable station among the abridgments of gen- eral history. With much respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant, RUFUS KING. Mr* J> B. Colvin, Departimnt of State* Vll R. RUv^H presents his compliments to Mr. Col- vin, and is much indebted to him for his little work upon history. As yet R. R. has onlj been able to look into it in a general way, but he has seen enoug;h of its plan to discover its utility. Such compends of historical knowledge, where men of parts and in- dustry will undertake them, are not only most ac* ceptable presents to young minds, but highly con- venient remembrancers to the more advanced reader. R. R regards this of Mr. Colvin's as a valuable lit- tle volume added to his library, and thanks him for his kindness in sending it. Washington, March 22rf, 1813. Salem, Mass. April 11, 181S. SIR, I beg to return you my sincere thanks for your acceptable present of the " Historical Letters." Owing to severe indisposition in my family I have not been able to give it an extensive perusal ; but as far as a cursory survey would enable me to judge, the work does honor to the diligence, the learning, and the accuracy, of the author 1 hope that you may receive sufficient encouiagement to make the work profitable to yourself as well as to the public. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH STORY, John B. Coli'in, esquire t Washington, District Columbia. PREFACE DEDICATORY, TO MSS. JAMES MADISOTf. Madam, I DO myself tlie honor of requesting 3^ou to accept the dedication of this small volume o^ Histn- rical Letters, as a pioot of the estimation in which I hold your intellectual endowments. It is, of course, a work of compilation, and nofc one of invention. History being the narrative of what has transpired in the world, the chief merit de- rived from writing it consists in a scrupulous adhe- rence to the truth of facts. But, at the same time, r.lthough there is no scope in such a performance for the imagination, there is a great deal to interest and occupy the mind ; and to those who hare not al- ready made the subjects of it their study, it presents all me charms of the most engaging novelty. The utmost efforts of human genius can pourtray nothing more surprising than the incidents which the annals of the world furnish for our instruction and amuse- ment. The images of fiction shrink before the more substantial forms of real life. In the pursuits of philosophy, the true mode of proceeding is from particulars to generals ; from the known to the unknown. In the matl-ematicvS, too, it is essential th^t the inculcation of particular rulej? LV . PREFACE DEDICATORY. should precede the knowledge of universal principles. But it appears to me, that in histori/, where the chief point to be regarded is chronology, where the things to be recited are equally on record, and where the understanding is not to be gradually trained from simple to complex and abstract combinations, it is best, in the first instance, to acquire a general idea. By this means we may comprehend, Avith less diffi- culty, the references which are necessarily made in the history of one people to the transactions of ano- ther ; and having traced on our minds an accurate outline of the occurrences of nations, fill up the in- tervals with the details of particular histories. If the opinion be correct, may I not hope that this lit-'^ tie book may become current and usaful in society ? As a pocket companion, it may prove a valuable re- membrancer to those who have already pored over the pages of the writers of antiquity and of modern times, or stimulate such as are only superficially in- formed to further reading. No pains of research have been spared to make the work correct : Such topics have been selected from the history of each country as are most inter- esting; and where there has been nothing in the policy or laws of a community to invite attention, I have dwelt upon geographical, commercial or reli- gious circumstances. Whatever may be the omis- sions, it may be relied on that what is stated is as authentic as the received authorities can make it. Reliections have been sparingly introduced : They should be rather excited than expressed. Something ought always to be left to exercise the mind of the reader. Of those that do occur, a part of them ar» ©riginal ; others have been drawn from Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus ; some from Hume, from Robertson, and from Gibbon ; and some from French authors, more PREFACE DEDICATORY. V especially Le Sage. Advantage has been taken of the lights derivable from tlie commentators on the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Asiatics, ancient and modern. In relation to America, recourse has been had to all the compilers commonly known and re- spected in literature ; and by comparing them one with another, I have frequently arrived at a degree of accuracy which no single one of them would have enabled me to attain. Prejudice is the great vice oi those who have written history, and wherever it could be discerned it has been discarded. In a performance of this nature, nothing brilliant is to be expected from an author. The histories of past times are built one upon another. Different ar- rangements of words may rectify or pervert the cha- racter of events, but they cannot alter truth. Lan- guage is the atmosphere of ideas, and it may be clouded by dulness or purified by perspicuity ; yet the narrator of facts who builds his fame on a mode of e.vpression, and not on his veracitij, will find his historical reputation as short lived as the fashion of a prevailing style. The object ought to be so to re- present things as to make them appear in their genu- ine form, easy of perception, and unembarrassed with too much description. "Whoever does this best, is the best writer. These observations have been made to apprize you that no credit is claimed for the literary composition of these Letters. If they are constructed with judg- ment, and are susceptible of a clear comprehension, my ambition, in that respect, will be gratified. It is not wished, however, to underrate the beau- ties of language. It is, nevertheless, in works of rhetoric and of poetry, that tliey ought chielly to be employed, and are principally to be admired. On occasions*^ where feelino; is iiot to be; excited, it i^: S HISTORICAL LETTERS? Divisions ofdncient Profane History, If, adopting the Hebrew text, we reckon forty cen- turies from the creation to Jesus Cliristj and as there were seventeen centuries from the creation to the deluge altogether unknown to Profane History, it re- sults that there remain but twenty-three centuries, which are commonly divided into three unequal parts, to wit: 1. 2Vie times of uncertaintif, in which is placed the origin of the most ancient nations, embracing 2. Fabulous or Heroic Times, or the times filled with Mythology, embracing 3. Historical Times, when his- tory began to obtain some autheu- ticity, wliich contains 5 Centuries^- 10 Centuries, 8 Centuries. C. LETTER II. Of the Egyptians. THE Egyptians are allowed to be the most an- cient civilized nation upon the earth : their com- mencement is unknown to us : in searching into their history we find them at an early period familiar with the arts and sciences, and with every species of hu- man knowledge, which proves a long existing state of society. They are themselves as ignorant as we are of the antiquity of their origin, which they magni- fy into a duration of twenty thousand years. Their history is as fabulous as their chronology. They re- gresent to us that the gods were their first rulers : HISTORICAL LETTERS. 9 after that, the demi-gods ; and subsequently, num- berless dynasties and a throng of sovereigns ; in which is to be found much of fable, a great deal of obscurity, and very few incidents. They boast, however, of a Sesostris, whose conquests, or, more properly speaking, whose military march (if we could give credit to it) embraced the major part of Asia, and who penetrated to the verge of Europe. Be that as it may, it is at least certain that tliis is the only time that this people are mentioned as conquerors. Their destiny has uniformly been that of subjugation oi- submission. We may reduce to three principal points all that is worthy of observa- tion of the numerous details which fill the different volumes that give an account of the Egyptians; that is to say: 1st. The state of their civilization. 2d. The colonies which they founded. 5d. The monuments which they have left behind them. Civilization of the Egijptians, The Egyptions lived under a regular govern- ment; they Were acqainted with the distribution of power into civil, military and religious ; they had re- spectable magistrates, wise laws, establislied morals, and reigning custonjs. In a word, they possessed all those branches of order which characterize a state of complete civilization. Many of their laws and customs merit our attention as well as curiosity. The marvellous period of Egyptian history, that . which excites our astonishment and awakens our ad- miration, either by the wisdom of her laws or the immensity of her monuments, is precisely that which is least known to us, and it would be altogether una- vailing to attempt to penetrate if. We do not pos- sess a single literary work of the ancient Egyptians* 10 HISTORICAL LETTERS. All that we know anciently of these people is deri* ved from the Holy Scriptures, or from ttie Greeks, and chiefly from Herodotus, who saw the objects which he describes, and received those interpreta- tions with respect to their monuments which he has transmitted to us. About three centuries th.ereafter, Manetho, an Egyptian, the high priest and guardian of the sacred archives, has given the history of his country, by order ot one of the Ptolemies. It is from him that we learn the existence of the thirty dynasties which, accordi)ig to his calculation, gives to the Egyptian monarchy, computing from its origin to the time of Alexander the Great, a duration of five thousand three hundred years. It is well, however, to observe to the reader, in order to regulate his confidence in the asseitions of Manetho, that although high priest, he v/as not enabled, owing to the many revolutions that had occurred in Egypt, to do more tlian afford a general interpretation of the hieroglyphics, there re- maining at the time he v/rote no faithful tradition of the exact sense in which they were originally intend- eil. Moreover, this work has been lost, and v/e are no otherwise acquainted with it than by those frag- ments cited by Josephus, the Jewish historian. Much later still than Manetho, and about the times or Augustus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, and Pliny, wrote upon the same subject. The concur- rence 01" disac^eement of these different testimonies constitute, and will, most probably, continue to con- stitute, at all future netiods, the sum of our know- ledge relative to tlie primitive Ei^yptians. In vaiii the expedition of the French into Egypt, the taien-ta and the zeal of those pi\ih>sophers who followed in the train of Bona])arte's army, held out the pros- pect of new discoveries! The labors of the French HISTORICAL LETTERS. 11 institute at Cairo, the travels of ISI. Denon, the writ- ings of Gen. Andreossi, and those of several other French and Englislimen, have furnished us with a perfect topographical description of the coun- try, and with accurate and curious details with re- spect to the Egyptian monuments : they have pre- sented us with interesting dissertations, ingenious h^^otheses, and, in a word, tliey have enriched the arts and the sciences ; but they have thrown no new light upon the early period of the history of Egypt. Colonies founded by the Egyptians. All the world knows that the Greeks, tliose vene- rable models of good taste, of arts, and of science, received from the Egyptians the first germs of their knowledge; and, if we may be permitted to believe the plausible theoiy of M. de Guignes, the Chinese of our day were originally a colony from Egypt. M. de Gui{2;nes thinks he has discovered that the sovereigns of China are precisely the same as those of Thebes in the Upper Egypt. He demonstrates a considerable resemblance between the Chinese alphabet and the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Whether the conjectures of this gentleman be true or not, it is certain that he has discovered an extraordinary similitude in t)ie manners, the genius, the morals, and the characters, of these two widely separated nations. Monuments left by the Egyptians. These are the pyramids, the obelisks, lake Moeris, the famous labyrinth, &c. &c. In general, all these celebrated works astonish more by tlieir colossal im- mensity, and tlie patience possessed by those who erected them, than by their taste and their utility. Some of them are still to be seen. On the road to 12 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Cairo three pyramids are in view, which have resist- ed the destructive interval of many thousand years. It is said that the largest of these is two thousand six hundred and forty French feet in circumference, and five hundred feet in height, that one hundred thousand men were constantly employed, and that the labor of erection endured for tliirty years. The general opinion is, that they were destined to be re- ceptacles for the dead ; but some have imagined that their immen.se surface was intended to receive and perpetuate, in hieroglyphics, the annals and the learning of this astonishing people. Wliat is re- markable, in a mathematical point of view, is, that the four faces of these pyramids precisely corres- pond with the four cardinal points, and that they in like manner designate the meridian. xVs mucli uncertainty prevails relative to the period •at which these pyramids were constructed as upon the subject of their utility. Herodotus, who was initiated among the priests of Egypt, and to whom we are indebted for all the tokens of Egyptian anti- quity which we at tliis time possess, fixes their con- struction about the time of the Trojan war ; that is, about one thousand one hundred and ninety-four years before Jesus Christ. The obelisks are simple monuments of stone, sup- posed to have been erected in a polished age, before the invention of alplsabetical writing, by the kings of Egypt, principally at Thebes and Heliopolis, Seve- ral of them were transported to Rome by tlie empe^ rors ; and the largest of tl^e whole, which is to be seen in our day, was conveyed thither by the orders of Constantius. The lake Mceris, calculated for greater utility, was formed for the purpose of remedying the too great irregularity of the inundations of the Nile. The HISTORICAL LETTERS. 1^ ancients computed that it was two hundred and forty miles or eighty leagues in cicuniference; but the mo- derns appear to agree in the opinion that it is not more than sixty miles or twenty leagues. The an- cients must have exaggerated, or the lake must have been considerably reduced in its dimensions by the revolutions of nature. The famous Labyrinth embraced a magnificent con- gregation of twelve palaces or three hundred halls, which communicated with each other by an almost infinite number of windings and intricate ways. C. LETTER in. Egypt — Concluded. THE ancient Egyptian stock is supposed to be still extant in the Copts, who, as modern travellers tell us, are distinguished by the moral qualities of ignorance, drunkenness, cunning, and finesse. The first period of their degradation was the conquest of Egypt by Cambyses, an event that occurred five hun- dred and twenty-five years before Chiist. He changed the laws, persecuted the priests, and demo- lislied the temples. The second period is supposed to have been the persecution of Dioclesian, when Christianity had taken deep root in the country. Af- ter the death of Cambyses, Egypt continued under the Persian yoke, until Alexander the ^reat over- turned tliat monarcliy and built Alexandria. To him succeeded Ptolemy, the son of Lago, about three hun- dred and twenty-four years before Christ ; and this B 14 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Ptolemy was followed by ten kings of that name until the time of the accomplished and voluptuous Cleopa- tra, the sister of the last Ptolemy, when Egypt be- came a Roman province, and so continued until the reign of Omar, the second caliph of Mahomet's suc- cessors, by whom the Romans were driven out after a possession of seven hundred years. When the ca- liph power declined, Saladine set up the empire of the Mamelouks, who eventually extended their do- minion over a great portion of Arabia, Syria, and Af- rica. A Turkish emperor, of the name of Selim, then conquered Egypt. Ali Bey attempted to wrest it from tlie Ottomans ; but he was defeated and killed in one thousand seven hundred and seventy three. His adherents, after his death, kept it in a very dis- tracted state, until a compromise took place in 1789. In 1799, it was invaded by the French, who landed at Alexandria, proceeded to Rosetta and Cairo, but were repulsed and arrested in their career at St. John d'Acre, by the intrepidity and skill of Sir Sidney Smith, a British naval officer of great merit. There can be no doubt but the subjugation and colonization of Egypt has been an object upon which the French government has for many years fixed its most serious attention. Denon informs us that France, for a long period of time, has had it for a natural object other policy; the motive of which, he alleges, is to counterbalance, or to endeavor to destroy, the British empire in India. But, in the present condi- tion of France, the attainment of such an object must be very remote. Besides the Copts, Egypt is at present inhabited by various races of men, of which the Arabs are the most numerous. These latter are divided into three descriptions of persons, namely : The Arab Sliep- berd, who is lively and of a penetrating phisiognomy: HISTORICAL LETTERS. 15 'The Bedouin Arab, who lives in a state of continual warfare, and is of a savage and ferocious character: And, lastly, the Arab cultivator, the most civilized, the most corrupted, and most degraded of the three. There is, also, the dull and heavy Turk, the wily Greek, the accumulating Jew, whose character is every where the same, and the Barabras, from Nubia and the frontiers of Abyssinia, of a jetty, shiining black. ^ The higher classes of Egyptian women have some interesting points of character, but the lower orders are by no means fascinating. Despotism and frequent subjugation have instilled into the minds of the men the most servile principles, and accustomed them to the most abandoned vices ; whilst the jealous notions of their masters have doomed the females to a life of seclusion. As typical of their abject condi- tion, the ass, that dull beast in other countries, seems to exist in the highest perfection in Egypt, and is, comparatively speaking, quite a lively animal. The fruitfulness of Egypt is proverbial — and under pro- per cultivation it would be a granary for Europe. C. LETTER IV. Of the Phoanicians and Carthagenians, PHOENICIA was a sterile country, bordering upon th€ eastern extremity of the Mediterranean sea. It was there that commerce first took birth. It is said the ancient and famous city of Sidon was the first to cultivate it. This city, in a moment of its greatest splendor, founded the colony of Tyie, lO HISTORICAL LETTERS. which after a time surpassed the parent state. Tyre; erected upon the same continent, and at no great distance from Sidon, became the arbiter of commerce and the mistress of the sea, when it was besieged by the kings of Assyria. One of these was Nebuchad- onosor, so famous in holy writ. This prince be- sieged, took, and totally destroyed it. The inhabit- ants, however, were not extirpated ; but escaping from the ruins of their city, erected a new one on a little island, at a small distance from their former si- tuation. This celebrated city, become a second time . the sovereign of the seas and a mart for the riches of the world, fell beneath the sword of Alexander the Great, who became master of it after a laborious seige, and totally destroyed it. The celebrated Dido, being compelled to fly from Tyre, to escape the avidity of her brotiier, king Pyg- malion, who, for the sake of his v/ealth, had basely murdered her husband Sichseus, one of the priests of Hercules, was followed by several vessels with adherents, and established herself on the coast of Africa, opposite to Sicily. She there purchased as much land as she could encompas with a bull's hide, which, cutting into small stripes, environed therewith a considerable quantity of ground, on which she built Carthage, which, from this female trick, has also been called Eyrsa, that is, the Hide, Dido founded Car- thage about the seventieth year of Rome. Virgil pretends that she killed herself because iEneas for- sook her: bi3t this is mere fiction, which may be well permitted to a poet. Hiarbas, king of the Ge- fulians, would have forced her by arms to marry him, but rather than violate her vow to her first hus- band sjie put an end to her life. Such is the origin, wholly fabulous perhaps, of the celebrated Carthage, so distinguished in history by her vast wealth, her HISTORICAL LETTERS* 17 great power, her long struggle for the empire of the world ; and, in short, for lier terrible downfall. Car- thage existed for about seven hundred years ; but it is only the last century of her history which excites gi'eat interest, because it embraces the three famous Punic wars, and the celebrated expedition of Han- nibal. C, LETTER V. Carthas:e — Concluded, o THE famous Hannibal, who is considered as one of the greatest generals of antiquity, was not more than twenty-six years of age wlien he commen- ced his celebrated expedition into Italy. He depart- ed from Carthage, and, in the sliort space of five months and an half, reached the plains of Piedmont, after having traversed, in defiance of the obstacles of nature and the efforts of man, the Ebro, the Pyren- nees, the Rhone, and the Alps. It would not be can- did to judge of the labors of this march from the con- dition of Spain and Italy in modern times. These countries at present have tolerable roads and are in- habited by a civilized people ; but at the period that Hannibal invaded Italy, the routes were less penetra- ble, and the inhabitants, for a great part, were bar- barians. His march cost him more than one half the number of his soldiers ; for he left Spain at the head of sixty thousand men, and when he arrived in Italy he could only count twenty-five thousand. With this small number of troops he found himself at B 2 18 HISTORICAL LETTERS, an immense distance from his country, environed on every side by powerful and angry enemies, without the possibility of retreat, and without apparent re- rtources^ Such was the critical situation of Hanni- bal, in which his intrepid soul, fearless of danger, ap- peared to glory. Indeed it required a spirit of ro- mantic valor, and a firm composure that no accident could ruffle, to extricate him from his difficulties. liis first exploit was the taking of Turin ; shortly af- ler which he defeated on the Tessino, Scipio, one of ihe Roman consuls, and on the Trebia he totally over- threw his colleague, the presumptuous Sempronius. Pursuing his successes with ardor, he traversed the Appenines, penetrated into Tuscany through dread- ful marshes, and for four da^s proceeded up to his middle in water. From these fatigues, and the insa- lubrity of putrid exhalations, Hannibal lost an eye. At last he overtook the rash Flaminius, on the bor- ders of the lake Thrasymine, where he overcame and slew him. At this moment Rome had been lost but for the prudence of Fabius. Hannibal, unable to bring Fabius to action, employed himself and forces in the central parts of Italy, subduing and ravaging different portions of it, and watching a favorable op- portunity for some new blow against his chief enemy. This opportunity soon presented itself. The wise Fabius, whose dilatory mode of warfare had rendered liim unpopular with his fellow citizens, was thrown aside, and the imprudent Varro appointed in his stead. Varro lost the battle of Cann?e, where, it is said, there perished seventy thousand Romans. Hannibal sent to the senate of Carthage, as part of the fruits of this victory, a bushel of gold rings, taken from the Roman nobility (so great was the slaughter !) w"ho were left dead on the field of battle. Here it has become a reproach to Hannibal that HISTORICAL LZTTERS. 19 he did not march directly to Rome. But was it, in fact, an error, or could he, under the circumstances, act otherwise than he did? Opinions are divided on the subject. Be it as it may, after the victory of Can- nae he overran the country in various directions by marches and counter-marches, subdued many cities, deprived the Romans of their allies, and took up his winter-quarters at Capua. The pleasing but perni- cious indulgencies which his troops there experienced enfeebled their spirit and relaxed their discipline. It is certain that from this period the great successes and the good fortune of Hannibal ceased. He com- menced, indeed, the siege of Rome; but he was com- pelled to raise it, finding himself perpetually har- rassed by the enem}^ who had retaken Capua and Tarentum. Meanwhile, a hostile faction at Car- thage deprived him of all succors from thence. His brother Asdrubal, in conducting reinforcements to him from Spain, across the Alps, was defeated and killed. The young Scipio, whose brilliant exploits had rendered him a prodigy, having subjugated Spain, transported himself and army to the shores of Carthage. A multitude of circumstances combined to defeat the plans of Hannibal, and to free Rome and Italy from his presence. This terrible enemy of the Romans was finally constrained to return and defend his own country. It is said that he shed tears on leaving Italy, where, for sixteen years, in a de- lightful countr}^ he had exhibited a victorious career, and was accustomed to regard his conquests as his patrimony. Hannibal and Scipio encountered one another at Zama, on the Carthagenian territory ; and these two celebrated heroes decided, in a single day, the desti- nies of the two most powerful nations in the world. Hannibal was vanquished, although, according to the 20 HiSTonr'AL letters. testimony of his antagonist, he surpassed his former actions in tliis unfortunate battle. Scipio obtained a complete victory ; and from that day Rome knew no rival in the universe. Hannibal eventually became a solitary wanderer in foreign countries, his name and his genius a terror to the Romans, till, wearied with misfortunes, he put a period to his existence by a dose of poison, which he carried about him, concealed in a ring, for the purpose. C. LETTER VI. •^ssyrianst — Greece, and the chief objects connected ivith her History. THERE were four great monarchies of antiqui- ty ; the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman. Of the Assyrian monarchy we know but little ; and what we do know is still liable to the fluctuation of uncertainty. It is said to have been founded in the year 22S3 before Jesus Christ, by Jfimrod, who, by some, is said to be the same as Ni- nus and Belus, whilst others insist that he is the Sa- turn or tlie Bacchus of fable. It endured for four- teen hundred years, down to the year before Christ 770. The principal cities of this kingdom were Nineveh, upon the Tigris, and Babylon upon the Eu- phrates. Diodorus Siculus says that Nineveh was erected by Ninus, who was desirous of rendering it the greatest and the most celebrated city of the uni- verse; it was twenty-four leagues in circumference, was encircled with a wall one hundred feet in height^ mSTORICAL LETTERS. 21 and of such thicKiiess that three chariots could pass abreast. The walls were flanked by towers of two hundred feet in height. Babjlon, embellished by Se- miramis, and those wlio succeeded her, is represented as a still more marvellous place than Nineveh. It is said that its walls were three hundred feet in height, seventy-five feet in thickness, twenty-four leagues in circumference, and had one hundred brazen gates. The monarchy ended with Sardanapalus, several of whose officers, selecting Belesis, the governor of Media, for their cliief, revolted from their sovereign, and besiged him in his palace, where he was compel- led iA) burn himself with all his treasures. From the fragments of the Assyrian, were formed three otlier monarchies, namely, that of the Medes, of which Ec- batana was the capital ; tliat of the Ninevites, and that of the Babylonians. The most interesting ob- jects of the Assyrian history, according to Diodorus Siculus, who copied from Ctesias, were the celebra- ted expedition of Ninus against the Bactrians, at the head of one million seven hundred thousand infan- try and two hundred thousand cavalry; and the reign of Semiramis, with whom Ninus became ac- quainted at the siege of Baclra, where that wonder- ful woman displayed her extraordinary genius. Se- miramis, having become a widow, signalized herself in the arts of government. She traversed her em- pire, embellished and enlarged it. This princess conquered sk part of Ethiopia, and from thence made an expedition to India, which was famous and unfor- tunate. The wonders of Babylon have attracted at- tention. Ctesias, the physician, first of the younger Cyrus, and afterwards of his brother, has written the listory of the Assyrians and of the Persians, in twenty-three books. A few remains of this writer have reached us. He is the source of all the fables 3ii HISTORICAL LETTERS. which fill tliis period : lie almost invariably contra- dicts Herodotus, and frequently deviates from Xeno- phon. Aristotle judged him little worthy of credit ; but notwithstanding that, Diodorus Siculusand many others have given him the preference, and often copy him. Among the moderns, RoUin, in his ancient his- tor}'-, lias united all that the Greek and Roman histo- rians have said upon the subject. Next in order would follow an account of the Per- sian monarchy; but as the most remarkable events of this kingdom, and those which are chiefly worthy our notice, grew out of its contests with the Greeks, I will first describe the principal republics of that far- famed people, who still claim and receive the homage of our unfeigned respect. Sparta, one of the four famous republics of Greece, was founded one thousand live hundred and sixteen years before Jesus Christ. Lelex is the first king of Lacedemon whose name we know. He was reckon- ed the founder, and appears to have been a native of Laconia. Castor, Pollux, Helen, and Clytemnestra, names celebrated in fable, were descended from him. The government of Sparta was an aristocracy : eight hundred and eighty-four years before Christ, Lycur- gus, of the royal house, became the legislator of his country, in which character he caused his fellow ci- tizens to adopt the most extraordinary constitution that has ever been known. He placed the authority of the state in the hands of a senate for life, in which the laws were approved or rejected by the peo- ple. The magistrates were two hereditary kings, and five annual Ephori, or popular magistrates, something like the tribunes of the Romans. The period of the greatest grandeur for Sparta was after thq war of Peloponnesus, when, having humbled Athens and seized Thebes, she beheld Syracuse and the HISTORICAL LETTERS. 23 Persians suing for her alliance. Her destiny was completed about one hundred and eighty-six years before Christ, when Sparta was taken by Philopwtnan, chief of the Achpen league. The city surrendered at discretion, but was treated as a place taken by as- sault : the walls were razed and the laws of Lycur- gus were abolished. In the year before Jesus Christ 1557, Athens was founded by Cecrops, who brought a colony out of E- gypt and established himself in Attica. He taught the natives agriculture and introduced the olive among them. It was Cecrops who instituted the Areopagus. The government of Athens was demo- cratic. In the year 594 before Christ, after the death of Codrus, the last king, the city erected itself into a republic, the constitution of which was framed by -Solon : he placed the sovereignty in the hands of the populace, who decided upon the objects which had been deliberated upon by a senate of great numbers. The magistrates of the Athenian republic were Ar- chons, who were at first chosen for life, afterwards for ten years, and finally they were increased and elected annually. The period of greatest grandeur for Athens was about the time of the Persian war, when she was seen to accomplish acts of firm cou- rage and to exhibit the most astonishing virtues. The fate of Athens was decided four hundred and four years before Clnist, when the city was taken by Xiysander, a Lacedemonian chief, towards the con- clusion of the Peloponnesian war: her walls Mere thrown down and her government changed. From this severe blow she never recovered. Thehps was founded in the year 1494 before Christ, by Cadmus, who arrived from the neighborhood of Tyre with a colony of Phoenicians, and built the city of Thebes in Bcetia, the citadel of which took from 24 HISTORICAL LETTERS. him its name. He carried along with him the art oi writing. The government was variable. The mis- fortunes of Laius, of Jocasta, of CEdipus, of Eteocles* and of Polynices, are identified with the history of the Thebans, and have furnished subjects for the theatres. The magistrates were Boeotarchs, who were supreme in Thebes, and at the same time the head of the Boeotian league. The time of their high- est renown was under Pelopidas and Epaminondas, who freed their country from the Lacedemonian yoke, and gave them a superiority over the rest of the Greeks. About three hundred and eighty years before Christ the city was taken by Alexander, a- gainst whom it had revolted ; it was then demolished and burnt, with the exception of the house of Pindar, who was accounted the chief of the nine Lyric poets, viz: Alcfeus, Alcman, Anacreon, Bacchylides, Iby- cus, Sappho, Stersichorus, Simonides, and Pindarus or Pindar. He was a man of a sublime and majestic genius, and Horace describes his style as being adorn- ed with a fluency beautifully irregular. It was for his poetical talent that Alexander spared him. All the inliabitants of Thebes were sold. Corinth was founded in the year 1326 before Je- sus Christ. Properly speaking, Sisyphus was the first king, the Corinthians having previously submit- ted to tiiose of Argos and Mycene. Her com- mencement is much more obscure than that of the other cities just mentioned. Generally, the govern- ment of Corinth was oligarchic. About one liundred years after the siege of Troy, the race of Sisyphus was driven out, and to it succeeded that of the Bac- chides, under whom Corinth assumed a republican form of rule, with the authority in the hands of the Elders. The magistrates were the Prytanes, of an aristocratical cast, elected by the elders, who chose HISTORICAL LETTERS*. try was so stronq;, that he sometimes descended to inferior stations for the public good, as was the case when he yielded the command of the fleet at the bat- tle of Salamis to Ids rival Eurybiades. He fortified Athens and the Piraeus, and added to her navy. His countrymen, nevertheless, with their characteristic caprice, banished him. He took refuge with Artax- erxes, the son of the same Xerxes whom he had not a great while before driven out of Greece. He was received with great friendship and high honors by th© sovereign of Persia, who assigned to him the revenue of three rich cities to find him in bread, meat, and wine. But Themistocles was still a Greek at heart, and pined for the mountains and vallies of Attica, He could not, in sucli a temper of mind, carry on wsn' against Athens, antl either poisoned liimself or died broken-heailed. His bones were conveyed home by the Athenians, who erected a splendid monument to his memory. Aristides who has been called the just, was chiefly distinguished for his rin;id probity and temperance. He shrunk before the masterly genius of Themistocles, who occasioned his banishment. He was, however, recalled, took part in the Persian war, and distin- guished himself at the battle of Platca, where he held command in conjunction with Pausanias. He died poor, was buried at the public expense, and in consi- deration of the father's virtue and their indigence his daughters, when marriageable, received a dowry from the purse of the republic. Nicias was a general of much courage and expe- rience, but of a fearful understanding, slow, and in- decisive. It was he, who contrary to his own advice and will,had the direction of the expedition against Si- cily, in concert with Demosthenes, another general, who, we are to observe, was not the great orator ot D 38 HISTORICAL LETTERS. that name. They both perished by the hantls of the hangman, contrary to the law of nations and the faith of treaties. Conon was an Athenian naval commander, who obtained celebrity by his successes and his misfor- tunes. Brasidas, Gylippus, and Callicratidas, exhibited considerable talents and eftected great things on the part of the Lacedemonians : but Lysaiider eclipsed them all : He covered his country with glory by his successes. He was arrogant and fond of praise — but valiant in battle and subtle in council. He aim- ed at absolute power, but never could completely at- tain it, and finally fell in a combat with the Haliar- tans, who attacked him by surprise. The spoils of Athens eventually avenged her misfortunes upon her victorious rival. They were for Sparta the empoison- ed tunic of Nessus ; for the riches which I^ysander introduced into the bosom of his country paved the way for the destruction of the Lacedemonians. The reader wlio is curious to go more at large into the history of the illustrious men who were particu- larly distinguished among the Greeks, may resort to tiie entertaining biography of Plutarch : But I must not altogether omit the story of Xenophon and the wonderful retreat of the ten thousand. This is an action, the most celebrated of its kind that history has transmitted to us. Tlie young Cyrus, brotlier of Artaxerxes Mnemon, king of Persia, commanded in the Western provinces of that empire in Asia Minor. Impelled by a blind and culpable ambition, he revolt- ed against his sovereign and marched upon Babylon at the head of 100,000 barbarians and of 13,000 Greeks, with the intention of dethroning his brother ! The latter met him at the head of more than 900,000 men. The ttvo armies fought on the plains of Cu- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 39 Tiaxa, vviiiiin sixty miles of the capital of the empire. Trie young Cyrus, in the midst of victory, seized with fuiy at the siglit of liis brother, rushed impetuously upon him, but was thrown from his horse and slain. Ilie Greeks, w ho, in the wing where they were station- ed, had achieved an entire victory, found themselves placed by the death of Cyrus in a very singular pre?- dicament. Deprived of their prince, environed by enemies, more than 1800 miles from home, vvithout provisions and without allies, they were summoned •to surrender : But they proudly refused, and demand- ed a free and peaceable passage to their country: this was granted to them ; for the Persians were afraid to attack them, and believed it easier to destroy them by treachery than subdue them by force. In truth, Clearchus, with many other of their officers, were soon afterwards put to death. Xenophon, a young Athenian, lull of wisdom, revived the drooping spirits of his companions on this trying occasion, and they placed him at their head. It was he who had the glo- ry of effecting this memorable retreat, so often refer- red to by men of science as one of the most admira- ble expeditions recorded in the annals of nations. Constantly pursued by a multitude of enemies, the Greeks had to pass rivers, to cross mountains, and to traverse deserts innumerable. In a word they were perpetually compelled to tight, to vanquish, to march, to find th<»mselves in provisions; and yet it was not above fifteen months, after having overcome every natural obstacle as well as the attacks of their foes, that the ten thousand Greeks, reduced to eight thou- sand six hundred, reached their native borders. They had marched upwards of 1,300 leagues. The sage Xenophon, who was their guide and became their his- torian, has immortalized himself under both these titled. lie was a disciple of Socrates, and devotetl 40 ' KISTOaiCAL LETTEKS. himself (111 ring tlie latter part of liis life to philoso^- phv and literature. liis style of writing was so dis- tiiiguihhed for simplicity and sweetness that he ob^- tained the surnauie oP the Bee of Greece^ and Quin- lilian has paid hini a Itigh compliment on the beauty of his diction. All he wrote was calculated to in- spire his readers with a love of virtue, to v. hose dic- tates he likewise conformed in his personal deportr rtrpnt'.- C; LETTER 1%. AS a pei-son embarking on his travels into distant countries, casts, from on shipboard, a lingering, fare- well look, towards the receding shore, and recalls to his mind a thousand pleasing incidents ; so I, in passing from my biief historical view of ancient Greece, cannot resist tlie temptation of recurring to the fabulous part of her annals. Her history is that of gods, of heroes, and of great men. It is through her tliat we have come to the knowledge of nations w hich preceded her, and of those \\ liich were cotem- poraneous with her : And it is impossible to contem- plate subjects connected with tlie arts and sciences without thinking of a country where they chielly ori- ginated and were brought to the greatest perfection. Considerations like these incline us to view with re- verence, and regard as import^int, every invention and every institution of the Grecian commonwealths. This letter, therefore, will be devoted to a sketch of the Divinities, of the JMuses, of the Demigods, of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, the seven wonders of HISTORICAL LETTERS* 41 the World, and of the diiferent sects of Philosophers of Antiquity, all of whicli are, more or less, interwo- ven with the establishments of the Greeks. Principal Divinities of the Pagan World, Jupiter, the master of the o:ods, was the son of Sa- turn, and had Juno for his wife. Neptune, brother of Jupiter and god of the Ocean, had Amphi trite for wife. Pluto, brother of Jupiter and god of hell, was mar- ried to Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres. Mars, the god of war, had Bellona for his sister and Terror and Fear for cliildren. Minerva, or Pallas, (sprung from the brain of Jupi- ter,) goddess of wisdom, of the arts, and of war. Venus, 2:oddess of love and beauty; the Smiles and Graces compose her train. Cupid, the son of Venus and of Vulcan, who presid- ed over fire, and was the patron of all artists who ^^■orked in iron and metal. Apollo, or Phoebus, son of Jupiter and Latona,god of Music and Poetry. He conducted the chariot of \!{\Q. Sun and presided at the concerts of tlie Muses. Diana, sister of Apollo, goddess of t'le chase ; In liell she is called Hecate. Ceres, presided over agriculture. The god Tcr~ n»inus presided over the bounds and limits of land. Hebe, goddess of youth ; and Ganymede, eui- played by Jupiter to pour out nectar for the gods. Bacchus, god of wine ; Old Silenus vvas his foster- father. Mercury, messenger of the gods and. god of craft, and eloquence. He had a variety of occupations as- signed him. rhen)i8, was the goddess of J uslice. D 5 4S HISTORICAL LETTERS* Iris, with vain-bow wings, of a thousand colorSj was the messenger of Juno. Aurora, with rosy fingers, goddess of the morning. Morpheus, god of sleep and dreams. iEolus, god of winds and tempests. Nemesis god- dess of vengeance. Flora and Pomona, goddesses of flowers and of fruits. Pan and Sjlvanus, gods of shepherds and of groves. Dryads, Hamadryads, and Lymnades, nymphs of w oods, trees, and lakes. Naiades, nymphs of woods and mountains : Ne- reides, nymphs of the sea. Syrens, sea-nymphs, who enchanted passengers by the melody of their voices. Fawns and Satyrs, country divinities, followers of Bacchus. The three Graces, Aglaia, Euphrosina, and TKalia, followers of Venus. The three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who presided over human life. The three Furies, Alecto, Megera, and Tisiphone, armed with torches and with serpents. The tln^ee Judges of Hell, Minos, JEacus, and Rhadamanthus. The three Harpies, with antiquated visages, the bodies of vultures, and claws of iron. The three Uesperides, Eglea, Arethusa, and Hy- perethusa, who guarded the golden apples. The three Gorgons, (who had between them only one eye and one tooth,) Euryale, Medusa, and Stheno; they changed into stone all who looked upon them. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 43 The J\*ine Muses, ivho presided over the Liberal drts; ivith their Attributes, Clio, presides over History ; crowned with laurel, having a trumjDet and a book. Euterpe, presides over Music ; crov/ned with flow- ers and playing the flute. Thalia, presides over Comedy; ^having on socks or sandais, and holding a mask in her hand. Melpomene, presides over Tragedy ; having on buskins, and armed with a poignard. Terpsichore, presides over IJancing ; crowned with garlands, and holding a harp. Erato, presides over lyric poetry ; crowned with myrtle and roses, holding a lyre. Polyhymnia, presides over rhetoric ; crowned with jev/els and armed with a sceptre. Calliope, presides over eloquence and heroic poe- try; crowned with laurel. Urania, presides over astronomy ; crowned with stars and holding a celestial globe. The HeroeS) or Demigods; and their principal ac- tions, Perseus, the son of Jupiter and Dan?e, husband of Andromeda, whom he delivered from a sea monster ; His principal action was his victory over the Gor- gons ; one of whom, Medusa, he slew. Hercules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, hus- band 01 Dejanira, is the most celebrated of all the Heroes or Demigods : He is particularly famous for his twelve labors. Orpheus : The most rapid rivers restrained their currents; the most savage beasts hastened from the forests ; the mountains descended from their sum- 44 HISTORICAL letters; mits to their bases, at tlie sound of his harmoiiioub voice. He charmed all hell with his lyre^ and ob- tained from Pluto permission for his wife Eurydice to return to the earth on conditions which his impa- tience did not permit him to fulfil. Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Jupiter and Leda, and brothers of the beautiful Helen. Castor havins: been killed, Pollux was permitted to partake of his immortality ; so tliat they lived and died, alternately, every six months. Jason, the chief of the Argonauts, particularly ce- lebrated for his conquest of the golden fleece at Col- chis : He was enabled to eftect it by the aid of Medea, who became his wife. Theseus, famous, in particular, for his destruction of the Minotaur. He effected it by the assistance of Ariadne, who rescued him from the Labyrinth by means of a clue of thread. The Twelve Labors of Hercules. 1. The Lion of Nemea, which he strangled and wore the hide. The scene ot this action was in Ar- golis. 2. The Hydra of Lerna, from which the heads, aa frequently as they were cut oif, sprang out again in great numbers. The scene of this action was like- wise in Argolis. S. The w ild boar of Mount Erymanthus, which he took alive and conveyed on his shoulders to Eurys- theus. Tlie soene o^ this action was in Arcadia. 4. The Hind with brazen feet, which lie took in the chase on Mount Menale. The scene of this action was also m Arcadia. 5. The teriible birds of lake Stymphalis, which were carnivorous. Hercules exterminated them by HISTORICAL LETTERS. 45 ahowers of arrows. The scene of this action was in Arcadia likewise. 6. The Biiil of the island of Crete, which he con- veyed alive into Peloponnesus. The scene of this action, of course, was Crete. 7. The Mares of Diomedes, which fed on human fiesh, and which Hercules carried oC The scene of this action v/as Thrace. 8. The Girdle of Hypolyte, queen of the Amazons, which he secured after having defeated her. The scene of this action was Thermodon. 9. The Stables of Augias, which he cleansed by changing the course of the river Alpheus. Tlie scene of this action was Elis. 10. The monster Gerion, king of Gades, whom he killed, and carried oft' his flocks. The scene of this action was in Spain. 11. The golden apples of the Hesperides, which he carried oft' after having killed the dragon. The scene of tliis action was in Africa. 12. Theseus, whom he delivered from hell, and carried oil' the terrible three-headed dog Cerberus in chains. The scene of this action was hell. The Seven TVonders of the World, 1. The Colossus of Rhodes, one hundred and five io-^t in height, between the legs of which vessels could pass. 2. The Tomb of Mausoleus, king of Caria, erected bv Artemisia, his Mife, who was inconsolable for his deatli. 3. The Pyramids of Egypt, several of which still exist. 4. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus, set oo fire hy 46 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Erostratus, for tlie purpose of rendering bis name immortal. 5. The Statue of Jupiter Oljmpus, seventy-live feet in height, carved in gold and in ivory by Pliidias. 6. The walls of Babylon and her celebrated Gar- dens suspended in the air. 7. The famous Labyrinth, on the borders of Lake Mftris, in Egypt. Others have added to these wonders, the Palace of Cyrus, the Temple of Solomon, the Capital, the tow- er of Pharos, the Jupiter Amnion, the Minerva of Athens, &c. &c. Tlie Fhilosoj-fhers and their different Sects. Philosophy, among the Greeks, was designated as the love and the pursuit of wisdom or knowledge. It comprehended two distinct branches, namely, the study of nature, which elevates and ennobles the soul ; and the study of morals, which inspires us with virtue and conducts us to happiness. Many cele- brated men have traced different routes by which mankind may arrive at v.'isdom and felicity, and the diEerence of their principles has given birth to a great many sects, whereof I proceed to specily tlie most remarkable. The Greeks recognised two principal schools, sub- divided into several branches. The first of these principal schools was the Ionics founded by Thales, of Miletus, wlio lived about the year 680 before Jesus Christ. Thales was the first of the Greeks who studi- ed astronomy ; he fixed the computation of time ; and, according to him, water was the grand principle of all tilings. Anaxagoras, the master of Pericles, was one of his disciples ; but the honor and glory of his schooi was the famous* Socrates, the most wise, HISTORICAL LETTERS. 47 the most virtuoiis, and, perhaps, the most perfect of men. Socrates was the creator oi good morals and the discoverer of immortal truths. He believed in the unity of the godhead; in the immortality of the soul ; and in the rewards and punishments of a fu- ture life. He had a throng of distinguished disciples; among whom were Antisthenes, Alcibiades, Xeno- phon, Aristippus, and Euclides;but the most renowned of all was Plato. Plato, one of the finest genii of anti- quity, was the founder of the sect of the academy. He composed his doctrine of the physicks of Heraclitus, of the Metaphysicks of Pythagoras, and of the Mo- rals of Socrates. The Apology for Socrates, Phedon, or Dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul, and his Treatise of the Republic, are considered his best works. Of his numerous disciples, Aristotle, pre- ceptor of Alexander the Great, was tlie most cele- brated. He founded the sect of the Peripatetics, so named because they had a custom of giving their les- sons walking. Aristotle was the author of many works, the number and variety of which it would be difficult to specify. He was supposed to possess the most penetrating, vast, and solid intellect of antiqui- ty. He was the institutor of what is called logic. His Treatise on Rhetoric, his Poetics, and his Trea- tise on Politics, are the productions held in the most estimation. Antisthenes was founder of tiie sect of the Cynics. He placed the happiness of mankind in virtue, and virtue in the contempt of riches and of the enjoyments of life. Diogenes, his disciple, push- ed these maxims almost to delirium, and the idea of personal independence almost to the neglect of every thing like decorum. It was Diogenes who connected the ideas of effrontery and impudence with the word cynicy and thereby ruined the repu- tation of his sect. Zeno resuscitated it under .the 4B HISTORICAL LETTERS. name Stoic, stripped of all its vices and embellished with all its virtues. Properly understood, it is the tnost excellent tfiat has been conceived, and is the most suitable to the true dignity of the human mind. The real stoic pursues virtue from inclination, and does good from choice : equally inaccessible to plea- sure and to grief, he flies from honors and applauses, and supports with equanimity the favors and the frowns of fortune. Always calm, always just, always master of himself, his fortitude and his reason are constantly employed for the preservation, in his soul, in all its integrity, oF that divine essence which ought always to maintain its empire over the brutal part of our nature. The true stoic is the image of all that ap- proaches nearest to the Deity ; in a word, he is a per- fect sage, which perhaps never existed. The most admirable characters of antiquity, such as Epaminon- das, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius, professed the maxims of the stoic school, which ought to be those of all kings and of all who have the government of men. Tlie doctrine of the stoics, as well as that of other philosophical sects, will be found pourtrayed in a very lively and interesting manner in the Essays of David Hume. The second of these principal schools was the Ifa- llariy founded by Pythagoras, who lived about the year 560 before Jesus Christ. He left Samos, his native country, and fixed himself in Italy, where he produced a revolution in ideas and in morals. He taught the Metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls from one body to another, which occasioned those of his sect to abstain from the use of meats < The present system of the universe was first con- ceived by Pathagoras, who held that the Sun was placed in the centre of the planets, which moved in eliptical orbits round it. This system w^s, however, HISTORICAL LETTERS. try was so strong, that he sometimes descended to inferior stations for the public good, as was the case when he yielded the command of the fleet at the bat- tle of Salamis to his rival Eiirybiades. He fortiued Athens and the Pirseus, and added to her navy. His countrymen, nevertheless, with their characteristic' caprice, banished him. He took refuge with Artax- erxes, the son of the same XerSes whom he had not a great while before driven out of Greece. He was received with great friendship and high honors by the sovereign of Persia, who assigned to him the revenue of three rich cities to find him in bread, meat, and wine. But Themistocles was still a Greek at heart, and pined for the mountains and vallies of Attica. He could not, in such a temper of mind, carry on war against Athens, and either poisoned himself or died broken-hearted. His bones were conveyed home by the Athenians, who erected a splendid monument to his memory. Aristides who has been called the just, was chiefly distinguished for his rio;id probity and temperance. He shrunk before the masterly genius of Themistocles, who occasioned his banisliment.* He M^as, however, recalled, took part in the Persian war, and distin- guished himself at the battle of Phitea, wliere he held command in conjunction with Pausanias. He died poor, was buried at the public expense, and in consi- deration of the father's virtue and their indigence his daiigliters, wlien marriageable, received a dowry from the purse of the republic. Nicias was a general of much. courage and expe- rience, but of a fearful understanding, slov/, and in- decisive. It was !ie, who contrary to his own advice and will, had the direction of the expedition against Si- cilv, in concert with Demosthenes, another o-eneral, who, we are to observe, was not the G;reat orator of D S8 HISTORICAL LETTERS. that name. They both perished by tlie haiuis of tlie hangman, contrary to the law of nations and the faith of treaties. Conon was an Athenian naval commander, who obtained celebrity by his successes and his misfor- tunes. Brasidas, Gylippus, and Callicratidas, exhibited considerable talents and effected great things on the part of the Lacedemonians : but Lysander eclipsed them all : He covered his country with glory by his successes. He was arrogant and fond of praise — but valiant in battle and subtle in council. He aim- ed at absolute power, but never could completely at- tain it, and jfinally fell in a combat with the Haliar- tans, who attacked him by surprise. The spoils of Athens eventually avenged her misfortunes upon her victorious rival. They were for Sparta the empoison- ed tunic of Nessus ; for the riches which Lysander introduced into the bosom of his country paved the way for the destruction of the Lacedemonians. The reader who is curious to go more at large into the history of the illustrious men who were particu- larly distinguished among the Greeks, may resort to the entertaining biography of Plutarch : But I must not altogether omit the story of Xenophon and the wonderful retreat of the ten thousand. This is an action, the most celebrated of its kind that history has transmitted to us. Tlie young Cyrus, brother of Artaxerxes Mnemon, king of Persia, commanded in the Western provinces of that empire in Asia Minor. Impelled by a blind and culpable ambition, he revolt- ed against his sovereign and marched upon Babylon at tlie head of 100,000 barbarians and of 13,000 Greeks, with the intention of dethroning his brother: The latter met him at the head of more than 900,000 men. The tf/o armies fought on the plains of Ct?-* filSTORICAL LETTERS. S9 iiaxa, within sixty miles of tlie capital of the empire. The young Cyrus, in the midst oi victory, seized with fury at the sight of his brother, rushed impetuously lipun him, but was thrown from his horse and slain. Ihe Greeks, wlio, in the wing where they were station- ed, had achieved an entire victory, found themselves placed by the death of Cyrus in a very singular pre- dicament. Deprived of their prince, environed by enemies, more than 1800 miles from home, \\ithout provisions and without allies, they were summoned to surrender : But they proudly refused, and demand- ed a free and peaceable passage to their country : this was granted to them ; for the Persians w ere afraid to attack them, and believed it easier to destroy them by treachery than subdue them by force. In truth, Clearchus, with many otlier of their officers, were soon afterwards put to death. Xenophon, a young Athenian, full of wisdom, revived the drooping spirits of his companions on this trying occasion, and they placed him at their head. It was he who had the glo- ry of effecting this memorable retreat, so often refer- red to by men of science as one of the most admira- ble expeditions recorded in the annals of nations. Constantly pursued by a multitude of enemies, the Gieeks had to pass rivers, to cross mountains, and to traverse deserts innumerable. In a word they were perpetually compelled to fight, to vancpush, to march, to find themselves in provisions ; and yet it was not above fifteen months, after having overcome every natural obstacle as well as the attacks of their foes, that the ten thousand Greeks, reduced to eight thou- sand six hundred, reached their native borders. They had marched upwards of 1,500 leagues. The sage Xenophon, who was their guide and became their his- torian, has immortalized himself under both these titles. He w as a disciple of Socrates, and devoted 40 HISTORICAL LETTERS. himself during the Litter part of his life to philoso- phy and literature. His style of writing was so dis- tinguished for simplicity and sweetness that he ob- tained the surname of the Bee of Greece, and Quin- lilian has paid him a high compliment on the beauty of his diction. All he wrote was calculated to in- spire his readers with a love of virtue, to whose dic- tates he likewise conformed in his personal deport- ment. C. LETTER IX. AS a person embarking on his travels into distant countries, casts, from on shipboard, a lingering, fare- well look, towards the receding shore, and recalls to his mind a thousand pleasing incidents ; so I, in passing from my brief historical view of ancient Greece, cannot resist the temptation of recurring to the fabulous part oi her annals. Her history is that of gods, of heroes, and of great men. It is through her that v.e have come to the knowledge of nations which preceded her, and of those ^^ hich were cotem- poraneous with her : And it is impossible to contem- plate subjects connected with the arts and sciences without thinking of a country where they chiefly ori- ginated and were brought to the greatest perfection. Considerations like tiiese incline us to view w ith re- verence, and regard as important, every invention and every institution of the Grecian commonwealths. This letter, therefore, will be devoted to a sketch of the Divinities, of the Muses, of the Demigods, of the Twelve Labors of Hercules, the seven wonders of HISTORICAL LETTERS. 41 the World, and of the different sects of Philosophers of Antiquity, all of which are, more or less, interwo- ven with the establishments of the Greeks. Principal Divinities of the Pa^an World, Jupiter, the master of the j2;ods, was the son of Sa- turn, and had Juno for his wife. Neptune, brotlier of Jupiter and god of the Ocean, had Amphitrite for wife. Pluto, brother of Jupiter and god of hell, was mar- ried to Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres. Mars, the god of war, had Bellona for his sister and Terror and Fear for children. Minerva, or Pallas, (spruno; from the brain of Jupi- ter,) goddess of wisdom, of the arts, and of w ar. Venus, goddess of love and beauty; the Smiles and Graces compose her train. . Cupid, the son of Venus and of Vulcan, who presid- ed over fii-e, and was i\\^ patron of all artists who worked in iron and metal. Apollo, or Phoebus, son of Jupiter and Latona, god of Music and Poetry. He conducted the chariot of the Sun and presided at the concerts of tl'.e Muses. Diana, sister of Apollo, goddess of the chase ; In hell she is called Hecate. Ceres, presided over agriculture. The 2;o^ Ter- minus presided over the bounds and limits of land. Hebe, goddess of youth ; and Ganymede, em- ployed by Jupiter to pour out nectar for the gods. Bacchus, god of wine ; Old Silenus was his foster- father. Mercury, messenger of the gods and god of craft, and eloquence. He had a variety of octu]>ations as- signed him. Themis, was the goddess of Justice. D 2 A2 HISTORICAL LETTERS, Iris, with rain-bow wings, of a thousand colors, was the messenger of Juno. Aurora, with rosy fingers, goddess of the morning. Morpheus, god of sleep and dreams. ^olus, god of winds and tempests. Nemesis god- dess of vengeance. Flora and Pomona, goddesses of flowers and of fruits. Pan and Sjlvanus, gods of shepherds and of groves. Dryads, Hamadryads, and Lymnades, nymphs of woods, trees, and lakes. Naiades, nymphs of woods and mountains : Ne- reides, nymphs of the sea. Syrens, sea-nymphs, who enchanted passengers by tlie melody of their voices. Fawns and Satyrs, country divinities, followers of Bacchus. The three Graces, Aglaia, Euphrosina, and Thalia, followers of Venus. The three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who presided over human life. The three Furies, Alecto, Megera, and Tisiphonc, arrhed with torches and with serpents. The tln-ee Judges of Hell, Minos, ^acus, and Rhadamantlius. The three Harpies, with antiquated visages, the bodies of vultures, and claws of iron. The three Uesperides, Eglea, Arethusa, and Hy- perethusa, who guarded the golden apples. The three Gorgons, (who had between them only one eye and one tooth,) Euryale, Medusa, and Stheno: they changed into stone all who looked upon them. KISTORICAL LETTERS. 43 The JS^ine Muses, who pr^e sided over the Liberal ' Arts; with their Mtributes, Clio, presides over History ; crowned with laurel, having a trumpetnirid a book. Euterpe, presides over Music ; crowned with flow- ers and playing the flute. Thalia, presides over Comedy; having on socks or sandals, and holding a mask in her hand. Melpomene, presides over Tragedy ; having on buskins, and armed with a poignard. Terpsichore, presides over Dancing; crowned with garlands, and holding a harp. Erato, presides over lyric poetry ; crowned with mvrtle and roses, holdino; a Ivre. Polyhymnia, presides over rhetoric ; crowned with jewels and armed with a sceptre. Calliope, presides over eloquence and heroic poe- try ; crowned with laurel. Urania, presides over astronomy ; crowned with stars and holding a celestial globe. The Heroes, or Demigods; and their principal ac- tions, Perseus, the son of Jupiter and Danpe, husband of Andromeda, whom he delivered from a sea monster: His principal action was his victory over the Gor- gons ; one of whom, Medusa, he slew* Hercules, the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, luis- band oi" Dejanira, is tlie most celebrated of all the Heroes or Demigods : He is particularly famous for his twelve labors. Orpheus : The most rapid rivers restrained their currents; the most savage beasts hastened from the forests ; the mountains descended from their sum- 44 HISTORICAL LETTERS; inits to their bases, at tlie sound of his harmoiiious voice. He charmed all hell with his Ivre, and ob- tained from Pluto permission for his wile Eurydice to return to tlie earth on conditions which his impa- tience did not permit him to fulfil. Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Jupiter and Leda, and brothers of the beautiful Helen. Castor having been killed, Pollux was permitted to partake of his immortality ; so that they lived and died, alternately, every six months. Jason, the chief of the Argonauts, particularly ce- lebrated for his conquest of tlie g;olden fleece at Col- chis : He was enabled to effect it by the aid of Medea, Vrho became his wife. Theseus, famous, in particular, for his destruction of the Minotaur. He effected it by the assistance of Ariadne, who rescued him from the Labyrinth by means of a clue of thread. The Twelve Labors of Hercules. 1. The Lion of Nemea, which he strangled and wore the hide. The scene of this action was in Ar- golis. 2. The Hydra of Lerna, from which the heads, as frequently as they were cut off, sprang out again in great numbers. The scene of this action was like- wise in Argolis. S. The wild boar of Mount Erymanthus, which he took alive and conveyed on his shoulders to Eurys- theus. The soene oi this action was in Arcadia. 4. The Hind with brazen feet, which he took in the chase on Mount Menale. The scene of this action was also in Arcadia. 5. The terrible birds of lake Stymphalis, which weje carnivorous. Hercui^^s exterminated them by HISTORICAL LETTERS. 45 showers of arrows. The scene of this action was in Arcadia likewise. 6. The Bull of the island of Crete, which he con- veyed alive into Peloponnesus. The scene of this action, of course, was Crete. 7. Tlie Mares of Diomedes, which fed on human flesh, and which Hercules carried off. The scene of this action was Thrace. 8. The Girdie of Hypolyte, queen of the Amazons, which he secured after having defeated her. The scene of this action was Thermodon. 9. The Stables of Augias, which he cleansed by changing the course of the river Alpheus. The scene of this action was Elis. 10. The monster Gerion, king of Gades, whom he killed, and earned off his flocks. The scene of this action was in Spain. 11. The golden apples of the Hesperides, which he carried off after having killed the dragon. The scene of this action was in Africa. l'-2. Theseus, whom he delivered from hell, and cairied ofl'the terrible three-headed dog Cerberus ia chains. The scene of this action was hell. The Seven Wonders of the World, 1. The Colossus of Rhodes, one hundred and five feet in height, between the legs of which vessels could pass. 2. The Tomb of Mausoleus, king of Caria, erected by Artemisia, his wife, who was inconsolable for his death. 3. The Pyramids ot Egypt, several of which still exist.' 4. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus, set on fire by 46 HISTORICAL LETTERS, Erostratus, for the purpose of rendering his name immortal. 5. The Statue of Jupiter Olyinpus, seventy-five feet in heiglit, carved in gold and in ivorvby Piiidias. 6. The \valis of Babylon and her celebrated Gar- dens suspended in the air. 7. The famous Labyrinth, on the borders of Lake Mceris, in Egypt. Others have added to these wonders, the Palace of Cyrus, the Temple of Solomon, the Capital, the tow- er of Pharos, the Jupiter Amnion, the Minerva of Athens, &c. &:c. Tlie Philosophers and their different Sects, Philosophy, among tlje Greeks, was designated as the love and the pursuit of wisdom or knowledge. It comprehended two distinct branches, namely, the study of nature, which elevates and ennobles the soul ; and tlie study of morals, which inspires us w itb virtue and conducts us to happiness. Many cele- brated men have traced different routes by which mankind may arrive at wisdom and felicity, and the difference of their principles has given birth to a great many sects, whereof I procted to specify the must remarkable. The Greeks recognised two principal schools, sub- divided into several branches. The first of iheae principal schools was the Ionic, founded by Thales, of Miletus, who lived about the year 680 before Jesus Christ. Thales was the first of the Gieeks who studi- ed astronomy; he fixed tlie computation of time ; and, according to him, water was the grand principle of ail things. Anaxagoras, the master of Pericles, was one of his disciples ; but the honor and glory of his school was the famous Socrates, the most wise. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 47 tlie most virtuous, and, perliaps, the most perfect of men. Socrates uas tlie creator o; good morals and the discoverer of immortal truths. lie believed in the unity of the godhead ; in the immortality of the «o\il ; and in the rewards and punishments of a fu- ture life. He had a throng of distinguished disciples; among wliom were Antisthenes, Alcibiades, Xeno- phon, Aristippus, and Euclides; but the most renowned of all was Plato. Plato, one of the finest genii ot anti- quity, was the founder of the sect of the academy. He composed his doctrine of the physicks of Heraclitus, of the Metaphy sicks of Pythagoras, and of the Mo- rals of Socrates. The Apology for Socrates, Phedon, or Dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul, and his Treatise of the Republic, are considered his best works. Of his numerous disciples, Aristotle, pre- ceptor of Alexander the Great, was the most cele- brated. He founded the sect of tlie Peripatetics, so named because they had a custom of giving their les- sons walking. Aristotle was the author of many works, the number and variety of which it would be difficult to specify. He was supposed to possess the most penetrating, vast, and solid intellect of antiqui- ty. He was the institutor of what is called logic. His Treatise on Rhetoric, his Poetics, and his Trea- tise on Politics, are the productions held in tlie most estimation. Antisthenes was founder of the sect of the Cynics. He placed the happiness of mankind in virtue, and virtue in tlie contempt of riclies and of the enjoyments of life. Diogenes, Ids disciple, push- ed these maxims almost to delirium, and the idea of personal independence almost to the neglect of every thing like decorum. It was Diogenes who connected the ideas of effrontery and impudence with the word cynic, and thereby ruined the repu- tation of his sect, Zeno resuscitated it under tlie 48 HISTORICAL LETTERS. name Stoic, stripped of all its vices and embellished with all its virtues. Properly understood, it is the most excellent that has been conceived, and is the most suitable to the true dignity of the human mind. The real stoic pursues virtue from inclination, and does good from choice : equally inaccessible to plea- sure and to griel, he flies fi'om lionors and applauses, and supports with equanimity tlie favors and the frowns oi fortune. Always calm, always just, always mastei" of himself, his fortitude and his reason are constantly employed for the preservation, in his soul, in all its integrity, ol that divine essence which ought always to maintain its empire over the brutal part of our nature. The true stoic is the image of all that ap- proaches nearest to the Deity ; in a word, he is a per- fect sage, whicli perhaps never existed. The most admirable characters of antiquity, such as Epaminon- das, Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius, professed the maxims of the stoic school, wliich ought to be those of all kings and of all who have the government of men. The doctrine of the stoics, as well as that of other pliilosopliical sects, will be found pourtrayed in a very lively and interesting manner in the Essays of J)avid Hume. The second of these principal schools w^as the 7f«- liariy founded by Pytliagoras, who lived about the year 560 before Jesus Christ. He left Samos, his native country, and fixed l)imself in Italy, where he produced a revolution in ideas and in morals. He taught the IMetempsychosis, or transmigration of souls from one body to another, which occasioned those of his sect to abstain^rom the use of meats. The present system of the universe was first con- ceived by Pathagoras, who held that the Sun was placed in the centre of the planets, which moved in eliptical orbits round it. This svstem was, howevei". HISTORI(!JAL LETTKRSi 49 regarded as a cliimera, till it was verified in the six- teenth century of our era. The Italian school pro- duced four sects, which were more celebrated for their singularity tlian for their justness or utility ; that of Heraclitus, of which misanthropy formed the chief characteristic: he wept at every thing. Democri- tus, on the contrar}^ the most celebrated of Uie Eleatic sect, laughed at every thing, banished care, and in- culcated indifference. Virtue, according to him, does not differ from vice, only in the 0])inio!is of men: He believed tliat the soul perishes with the body, lie did not admit a supreme author of the universe, but substituted the doctrine of a concussion of atoms, which, by their rencontre in a grand vacuum, com- posed the organization of the world : he moreover maintained that every thing is incomprehensible, and that he was not certain of his own existence. Pyrrho has given his name to the Pyrrhoneans or Sceptics ; that is to say, those who doubted every thing, because in every thing they found reasons for aflirming and for denying : he held that there was no difference be- tween life and death. Epicurus has given his name to the sect of Epicureans, the basis of whose princi- ples may be found in the doctrine of Democritus. Epicurus propagated the system of atoms, did not be- lieve that the Deity interfered in the affairs of this world, and placed happiness, or the supreme good, in voluptuousness. But, in truth, many contend that Epicurus merely alluded to a voluptuousness of soul; namely, those delicious emotions which arise from the practice of virtue and are the sweetest recompense of good actions. Be this as it may, his disciples, abandoned to their natuial inclinations, exempt, by their principles, from the restraint of religion and a belief in God, have recognised nothing but a sensual E 50 HISTORICAL LETTERS. voluptuousness, by which they have discredited theiV master and ruined his doctrines. Before I close this letter, it mny be proper to re- mark, that the prevailing opinion is, that the Greeks received the germs of tlieir knowledge from the Egyptians. Lesage asserts, that a Frencli inquirer into the soundness of this opinion, ol the name of Petit-Radel, has given to the institute of France se- veral lectures to prove that Greece was civilized a long time before the arrival of colonies from Egypt ; and by the analogy of certain fortifications, (between which and those of the Peruvians he has also disco- vered a singular identity,) Petit-Radel does not de- spair ot being enabled to trace up an original con- nexion between the Greeks and the Hyperborean na- tions, who inhabited the northern parts at Europe and Asia. In corroboration of this new theory, I will add that De Pauw, (quoting Diodorus,) states, that no passage of Athenian history discovers the slighest proof that any colony ever arrived there from Egypt. To terminate this matfer, (continues De Pauw,) we have the testimony of Plato, who affirms that not a single drop of Egyptian blood ever circulated in the veins, of the Athenians. C. LETTER X. The Persians — Macedonians — E.vpedltion of Jllex- ander the Great — and the Quarrels of his Generals. THE Persian monarchy lasted for about two hundred years ; fro>ia the year 538 to the year 336 HISTORICAL letters; 51 before Christ. It was Ibuiided by Cjrus, who, by in- heritance or by cofiqiiest, reunited under one head the kingdoms oi' Persia, ol' Media, of Lydia, of Ba- bylon, and of Nineveh. Historians do not a«;ree in the circunistaiices of the biitli, actions, virtues, and death ofthis prince. Those wiio have undertaken to describe hiui are Herodotus, Ctesias, and Xenophon. Herodotus atid Xenophon are altogether opposed to each other in their recital of the leading incidents of the reign of Cyius. Cicero thinks that u e ought not to regard tiie work of Xenopiion as a genuine history, but merelv as an historical romance, wherein the au- thor has painted his hero, !iot what he is, but what he ought to be. Yet the facilities which Xenophon en- jo ed of obtaining intoiniation from an authentic source at the court of the younger Cyrus, and the well- known partiality of the Greeks in geneial against the Persian.^^, have induced many to prefer Xenophon, who is favorable to them, to Herodotus, who seems on all occasions to decry them too much. The Persian dominion extended from the Indus to the Euxiue and the Mediteiranean, and from the Jax- artes and the Casj)ian sea to Ethiopia, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. Babylon, of course, became a prin- cipal city of the Persian monarchy, Cyrus having made himself master of it by turning tiie course of the Eu])hrates. It may not be amiss to mention here, what might have been more properly inserted under the description of the Assyrian monarchy, namely, that in tlie time of Semiramis, (tr of her immediate suc- cessors, two magniiicent palaces, erected on tlie op- posite shores of the Euphrates, communicated with each other by a subterranean vault constructed under the river ; in one of these palaces were to be found those sus])ended gardens, so famous among the Greeks. Susa, Ecbatana, and Perscpolis, were ce-r 5-2 Historical letteris. lebrated cities of Persia, and occasionally the resi- dence of the royal family. Passaa:?ida was the place whcj'e the kin<*;s were usually crowned. The chief occurrences of Persian history, exchw sive of the expeditions O' Darius and Xerxes into (Greece, aiid the retreat of the ten tiiousand Greeks under Xenophon, (which I have already noticed,) are, tlie incidents connected with the life of the founder (Jyrus ; one of which was the overthrow and captivi- ty of Crcesus, the most wealthy of mankind, who marched witli four hundred and twenty thousand infantry and sixty thousand cavalry to appose Cyrus, wlio had only two hundred thousand under his com- mand, with which he defeated Crcesus and condemn- ed him to be burnt alive, i)ut afterwards reversed the sentence and made Crcesus his friend, on the cap- tive's having recited to Cyrus certain observations of Solon relative to human happiness. Eocpedltion of Alexander — Macedonian Monarchy. The Persian empire became extinct by the death of Darius Codomanus, who was attacked l)y Alexan- der the Great : It was succeeded b}" the Macedonian monarchy, M'hich was founded by Alexander. This conqr.eror was tlie son of Philip, king of ■NJacedon, and of Olympias his wife. Philip was a sagacious, artful, intriguing, and valiant prince; and by fraud and force had subjugated the states of Greece to his control. It was against the machinations of Philip tliat Demosthenes, the illustrious Athenian orator, distinguished himself. He roused his fellow-citizens to a sense of their danger; and, if his courage had been equal to his eloquence, he might, perhaps, have saved tl\e sinking fortunes of his country : But in the battle of Cheronpa he flod like a coward, and the HISTORICAL LETTERS. 5S Greeks lost their independence. The ambition of Philip was the cause of some of the best orations of Demosthenes, which are hence called Fhilippics. This prince had prepared to invade Asia at the head of an army of Macedonians and Greeks, when he was suddenly slain by an assassin, at the instigation, as has been supposed, of his wife Olympias, who was jealous of him. Alexander, who succeeded Philip, determined to prosecute the projected enterprise of his father, and at an age not exceeding twenty-live, he undertook that expedition which has inspired pos- terity with so mucli admiration oii account of its bril- liancy and extent. He left the shores of Greece, ac companied by only thirtv thousand foot and five tliousand .horse, one month's provisions, and seventy talents, or about fifty thousand dollars. vSuch were the means by whicli he sallied forth to con(|uer the richest and most powerful empire of the world. The first exploit of the Macedonian hero was the passage of the Granicus, which river he crossed in the face of one hundred and ten thousand Persians, com- manded by Memnon of Rhodes, the wisest and the most able of the generals of Darius. Twenty thou- sand of the enemy fell in the action, and Asia Minor became the fruit of this first victory. Sardis, Ephe- sus, Miletus, and Halicarnassus, were taken or sub- mitted : He entered Gordium, where it is said he cut the celebrated knot, upon wliich, according to the oracle, depended the dominion of the world. Tra- versing Phrygia and Cappadocia, he marclied upon Tarsus, where he was seized with a dangerous ma- lady in consequence of his having, when over-heated, bathed in the river Cydnus. It was on this occasion that he exliibited that celebrated trait of magnanimi- ,tv in an interview with his physician Philip, when he tpok with confidence and without hesitation the un E ii .t4 historical letters, known potion which Philip offeied to him, notwith- standing he had been previously apprised that it was intended to poison him. The battle of the Granicus took place in tlie year 334 before Christ. ' Alexander had Scarcely recovered when he pur- sued Darius, who had reassembled an immense force, and gained over the Persian king the renowned bat- tle of Issus, in the defiles of Cilicia, which separate Asia Minor from Syria. It is said that the Persians lost in this action one hundred thousand men ; the mother, the wife, and the children of Darius being made prisoners, and himself escaping with difficulty fro^m tlie hands of the concpieror. After this victory Alexander marched through Syria ; took Damascus, full of the immense treasures. of Darius; destroyed Tvre, vvliich he carried bv assault after a difficult siege of seven months; entered Jerusalem; sacked Gaza; connpelled Egypt to submit; visited in the desert the temple of Jupiter Ammon, where he caus- ed himself, (by bribing tlie priests,) to be acknowledg- «.m1 as tlie son of that god ; and founded the well- known city of Alexandria. Alexander departed from Egypt in search of Da- rius, who had vainly made several times the most advantageous propositions of peace. Darius assem- bled all tlie forces of his empire on the eastern shore of the Tigris, the most rapid oi all the rivers oF Asia. Alexander crossed the Euphrates and the Tigris and arrived witiiin view o; the Persian army between Gau- gamel and Arbela. It was on this famous field that the fate of Asia was decided. The Macedonian kinjr, at; the head of torty thousand foot and from seven to eight thousand horse, combated six hundred and ^(ty thousand Persians, of whom were slain, it is said, three hundred thousand men. This is the battle that de- stroyed the Persian monarchy, made Darius a fugi* HISTORICAL LETTERS. 55 tive, and rendered Alexander immortal. It was fought in the year 331 before Jesus Chi-ist. Baby- lon and Susa became the first Fruits of this victory, as did t^ersepolis, to which, in a moment of excessive drunkenness, he set fire, at the instigation, as we are told, of the courtezan Thais. Alexander did not relinquish his pursuit of Darius, who eventually fell, a victim to t!ie most infamous treason. _ The satrap Bessus, one of his officers, snz- ed upon him for the purpose of making terms for him- self with the victor, or, in case of a reverse of fortune, to ])lace himself on the throne of Persia. Perpetu- ally harassed4)y the enemy, this traitor basely assas- sinated his sovereign who refused to follow him. Alexander, afflicted at the death of Darius, immedi- ately went in quest of his murderer; but despairing of overtaking him at that time, he repaired to Heca- tompolis, the capital of Partliia, where he reposed liis troops. Soon after, however, he resumed his victori- ous march, entered Hyrcania, and subjugated all the nations to the south ol the Oxus. It is there where the scene of his interview, (no doubt fabulous,) with Thalestris, queen of the Amazons, is placed. She had come a great distance, it seems, to contem»plate th^ man whose fame filled the whole world. It is said by some, that on seeing him she expressed her contempt at the smallness of his stature; by others, that her . desire was to leave posterity by Alexander. Be it as it may, this is most certain and unfortunate for his glory, that about this time he caused Philotas and Parmenio his father to be put to death ; the one hav- ing until that time been his friend ; the other the most illustrious, the most zealous, the most faithful of his generals. The son was put to death under the pretext of a conspiracy; and the father was most vilely as- sassinated for fear he should avensre the death of his 56 HISTORICAL LETTERS. son. These are the first stains upon the memory of Alexander ; anil, dark as thej may be considered, they are, unhappily, neither the only ones nor the worst. This prince, obstinately bent on the punish- ment of Bessus, crossed the country, rendered sterile by nature or devastated by the enemy, who believed himsel' safe from the Macedonians on account of the deseVts. The constancy of Alexander surmountecK every obstacle. He finally got possession of Bessus, who was delivered up by his own partizans in Sogdi- ana, and found in a terrible death the punishment of a regicide. He was reconducted toEcbatana, where, after having been mutilated, he was faiftend alive to four trees, which by force had been bent together, and which, returning to their natural position with a spring, tore asunder the limbs of the culprit. Alexander at length arrived at the Jaxartes, which formed the northern bounds of the Persian empire. He seized Cyropolis,- whicli was founded by Cyrus, crossed the river and defeated the Barbarians who inhabited the opposite shore. He afterwards aban- doned this route, for the pui-pose of employing him- self in more solid enterprises, and turned his mind ?ind his marcTi towards the regions of India. At Ma- jracanda, the capital of Sogdiana, he slew, in a fit of drunkenness, old Clytus. This brave veteran, bro- ther of the prince's nurse, expired under his blows after having saved the life of Alexander in the first of his victories, when crossing the Granicus. The Macedonian monarch now crossed the Indus, and arrived on the Indian territory. Taxiles, a king of that country, received him in a friendly manner ; but another, named Porus, opposed him courageously. More brave than fortunate, this last was defeated en the other side of the Hydaspes, and fell into the HISTORICAL LETTEHS. 57 |>ower of Alexander, whose esteem he secured by his Valor. Always victorious, and possessing the greatest avidity for conquests, Alexander directed his steps towards tlie Ganges, with the intention of crossing it and penetjating to the eastern bound arses of the earth. But his soldiers, frightened by the difficulties aud the deserts of this unknown country, refused to follow him, and compelled him to renounce his inten- tion. He returned upon the Indus by Oxydrace, at the sie"e of which he was near iosing; his life, havinjj mounted tae. wails aloae and leaped into the city, where he was under the necessity oi defending him- self single-handed against a multitude of enemies, until his soldiers had forced the gates and come to his succour. . Alexander afterwards descended the Indus and arrived within sijiht of the ocean, where he observed with surprise the new and curious spectacle ol its flux and reflux, to which lie vvas a stranger as well as those who%^ere with him. He then took the road to Babylon; leaving his fleet, under the command of Nearchus, to navigate an unkrmwn sea. It arrived, however, in safety, at the port of Harmosias, situ- ated at the entrance of the Persian gulf. On his return, Alexander espoused Statira at Per- sepolis : she was the eldest dauditer of Darius. He gave her youngest sister to Hepliestion, the most be- loved of alt his favoriteSjWho died soon afterwards frora. an excess of intemperance. The victorious, the gieat, the immortal Alexander, speedily followed him, a victim also to a shameful death. He died in the thirty-second year of his age, at Babylon, after hav- ing made his triumphal entry and exposed the spoils of the East to the view of the ambassadors assembled there from all part."* of the earth. Such is th« expe- 58 _ HISTORICAL LETTER^. ditionof this great captain, of this celebrated heroj It is computed that in less tliau seven years he had caused liis army to travel over a fepace of two thou- sand leagues or six thousand miles. Quarrels of the Generals of Alexander, The conquests of Alexander were, without doubt, a scouige to his people; but h.is death was for them a catastropiie still more afflicting. This will be con- fessed wlien it is known that the dissentions between the Macedonian otlicers of the first rank, who sur- vived him, lasted for twenty-four vears, and they were distinguished chieily by blootly battles, pillage, perfidy, and murder. Alexander would not name his successor for fear he should not be obeyed ; but at the moment of his death he gave a ritig to Perdiccas, who was one of the most celebrated of his generals. In consecjuence of this circumstance he was nominated by his col- leagues regent daring the minority of flie son of Alexander. He attempted to make use of this title to secure the empire to himself; but his compairlons b'lfiied his designs, and he perished two years after- wards, in the ye.'.r 3^2^2 before Christ, being slain in his tent in Kgypt, where he waged a fruitless war against Ptolemy. ' Antipater was intrusted with the regency after Perdiccas : Fipirus in Greece fell to his government : he quelled the revolt of Athens, and was the occa- sion oftlie dea')> of Demosthenes the orator. A re- gency like that of Antipater appears to have been no- thing more tlian a vain title of now cr, serving as a pretext for quarrels with his colleagues. It was, in eftect, for him nothing but a source of expeditions and alarms. AVhen he died he bequeiitheil the re.- IlISTORlCAL LETTERS. 59 gsencj LoPolysphercoM ; but reserved the states under his rule for his son Cassander. J olysphercon, the oldest of Alexander's captains, enjoyed the regency after Aiitipater. He had a con- test with Athens, and occasioned the death of the virtuous Pliocioii. lie recalled Olynipias, the mother of Alexander, to the government ; and iier return was an augmentation of the prevailing troubles. The regency of Polysphercon was one continued scene of terrible warfare between Idmand Cassander, the son of Antipater. The two rivals both contended that they were the su])porteus of the interests of the son of Alexander. During their contlicls Olynipias was massacred. Eumen3s, of an obscure birth, but to whom Alex- ander had given the sister o! one of his wives in mar- riage, was one of the most accomplished of the Mace- donian chiefs, as well in the qualities of the heart as by his talents for war. lie was the most deserving of all the captains of Alexander, but the portion of territory that fell to his share was the worst of all. He had Cappadocia, where, nevertheless, Antigonus would not permit him to establisli himself. His life was a perpetual combat: He defeated and silled Cra- terus, and beat Antipater ; but was vanquished, deli- vered up bv treachery to Antigonus, and perished iw the year before Christ 315. Craterus had been a i'avorite of Alexander, to whom he had always showed himself a rigid and vir- tuous courtier. He enjoyed such a high reputation among the Macedonians that they were desirous of seeing him succeed Alexander. He allied himself with Antipater, and was beaten and killed by Eu- menes in the year before Christ 321. Antigonus had his partition of empire in Asia: He was the first that took the title of king, and aimed at 60 HISTORICAL LETTERS, universal monarchy. He was ably seconded by his son Demetrius Polyorcetes, (that is, a destroyer of towns,) a prince, whose spirit, gracefulness, courage, and generosity, cast a peculiar lustre over this me- lancholy period of atrocities. The overgrown pow- er of Antigonus alarmed the other generals of Alex- ander, who united against him, fought the famous battle of tiie Ipsus, where he was beaten and killed 301 year& before Christ. Tliis action decided the Macedonian empire, which was definitively divided between the four great chiefs who had combined against Antigonus. The life of Demetrius, after the death of his father, was a succession of military ad- ventures, which evinced the ardor of his courage more than the wisdom of liis policy. He conquered and lost provinces, was for a moment king of Mace- donia, and died in the chains of Seleucus in the year before Christ 285. The four kingdoms that grew out of these dissentlons, weie Egypt, Syria, Macedonia, and Thrace. Ptole- my, who is believed to have been the natural brother of Alexander, and who was one of his most intimate favorites, found himself, at the death of the conquer- or, master of Egypt. He was one of the finest cha- racters of these tempestuous times. Mild, humane, and wise, he encouraged the arts and sciences in Egypt, and consulted the happiness of the people. In the long quarrel for the succession to Alexander, his rivals could never make any impression' upon him, and he always had the address to keep the war out of Egypt. From the assistance which he gave to the people of Rhodes against Demetrius, he was called Soter, or Saviour. Ptolemy wrote an account of the campaigns of Alexander, which has been unhappily lost. This prince was the founder of the Ecryptian monarchy, and his family reigned for two hundred HISTORICAL LETTERS. 6l and fifty years, ending in the person of the elegant Cleopatra, in the time o( Augustus Ceesar. Seleucus, one of the most meritorious captains of Alexander, established himself at Babylon, \\here, after many vicissitudes of fortune, he founded the em])ire of upper Asia, generally known by the name of the kingdom of Syria. He is the head of the Se- leucid?e, who reigned in the age of Pompey, when that general reduced their states into the form of a Roman province. Seleucus built Antioch, (which, for a long time, was considered the capital of the east,) Se- leucia, Laodicea, and nearly forty other cities. I.ysimachus, who took apart in all the troubles of the time, was cruel and avaricious. After the battle of Ip- sus, he took for his portion Thrace, Bythinia, &c. He seized upon Macedonia, where he reigned ten years and rendered himself odious. He was killed in Asia by Seleucus 282 years before Cluist. At his death his kinojdom was dismembered, which occasioned many calamities, and gave rise to new states, the whole of which, however, were eventually incorporat- ed with the Roman empire. Cassander, the son of Antipater, succeeded his father in the government of Macedonia, and was a conspicuous character in tlie conflicts of that day. — He made war upon Polysphercon, seized upon Athens, where he established Demetrius Pbaletrus, destroyed Olympias the mother of" Alexander, put to death liis wife Roxana and the children which Alexander had by her. Coming at length to the throne of Macedon by the force of his crimes, the battle of Ipsus fixed him there. He died in the year 297 before Jesus Christ, leaving, by a relative of Alexander, two sons, wOio perislied unhappily. In these last was extin- guislied the legitimate race of Philip ; of that Mace- donian hero, whose son, still greater than bis father F 62 HISTORICAL LETTERS. has filled the earth with his name, and seemed for & moment to give laws to the universe. Nearly forty years liad expired ; and of this fine lustre ot glory and of fortune ; of the employment of so much ge- nius, of labor, and oi victory, what remained ? Philip, Alexander, their wives, their children, perished by violent deaths ; their vast empire was no more; and the wrecks of it only served as aliment for the dis- cord of princes and for the misfortunes of the peo- ple. The historians who treat of Alexander are, among the ancients, Quintus Curius Rufus, who is admired for tlie elegance of his style, but is condemned for his anachronisms and geographical and historical mis- takes. His history was divided into ten books, of which the two first, the end of the fifth, and the be- ginning of the sixth, are lost : and Arrianus, a phi- losopher of Nicomedia, and priest of Ceres and Pro- serpine. He composed seven books upon the expe- dition of Alexander, and these are considered the most accurate in relation to this prince. Arrian was cotemporaneous with Marcus Aurelius. Among the modems, Rollin may be safely consulted. C. LETTER XI. IVie Romans, THE Romans having conquered and governed the world, their history includes that of almost all other states. In fact, the greater part of modern nations, their laws, their knowledge, their literature, and their HISTORICAL LETTERS. 63 moiniments, may be traced up directly to these mas» ters of the universe. The duration of the Roman power, or that of its history, embraces a period of about twelve centuries, fiom the foundation of Rome by Rornulus to the destruction of the western em- pire under Romulus Augustulus. Tliis immense in- terval may be divided into three grand and distinct epochs, that is to say, 1. The kings : 2. The Repub- lic : 3. The Emperors. Rome, under her kings, endured for the space of two hundred and forty-fuur years. In the year 753 before Jesiis Christ, Ronmlus, at the head of a band of robbers, founded the city and established general rules of policy for the government of his adherents-. He w^as succeeded in 715 by Numa Pompilius, who instituted religious worship for his subjects. After him, in 672, reigned Tullus liostilius, who consoli- dated the work of his two predecessors. AncusMar- cius came to the throne in the year 640, and extend- ed the territory of Rome by his conquests. In 616 Tarquin the elder w^as king, and embellished the city. To him, in the year 578, succeeded Serving Tullius, who created the Roman aristocracy, and by bis measures prepared the way for the republic. — • The seventh and last king was Tarquin the Proud, who was expelled, and on his expulsion royalty was abolished. The wars of the Romans, under their kings, were, that which took place in 750 against the Sabines, on account of the treacherous rape committed by the soldiers of Romulus on the w^omen of the latter, who had been invited to be spectators of some Roman sports, in tlie midst of wlijch they were seized and borne oft' by violence. The war was conducted on the part of the Romans by Romulus, and on that of the Sabines by Tatius, and ended in the union of (34 HISTORICAL LETTER'S. the two people. Tatius consented to come with his subjects and reside in Rome, where he shared the rojal authority with tlie founder of the city. The second war occurred in the year 667, under TuUus Hostiiius, against the people of Alba, which ended .in the destruction of the latter. It was in this war tliat the famous combat took place between three Ro- mans and three Albans, the Horatii and Curiatii, on TJie success of which victory depended. Two of the Horatii were killed in the encounter ; but the third, combining artitice with valor, slew the Curiatii one after anotli6r. The conqueror, returning home, was reproached by his sister for the murder of one the Curiatii, to whom she was engaged in marriage, where- upon he slew her; for which he was condemned to death by the Roman people ; but, in consideration of liis service:^ to the state, the punislnnent was com- muted to that of passing under the yoke. The third war of the Romans took place in the year 600 against their neighbors, under Tarquin the elder, in which many victories were gained, and the ceremony of the Tnumph was instituted. In the year 509 the war against Tarquin the Proud commenced, who had been compelled to leave the city on account of the rape of Lucretia by Sextus, the son of Tarquin.-— The story of the rape is briefly this : A number of young Roman noblemen were assem- bled at Ardea, among whom were Tarquinius Collati- nus and the son of Tarquin the Proud. Boasting of the domestic virtues of their wives, they resolved to leave the camp and go to Rome to verify to each other the praises which they had respectively lavished upon their ladies. Lucretia was the wife of CoUatinus, who had Ihe pleasure to find her, whilst the wives of the other Romans were involved in the riot and dis- •^ipation of a, feast, employed in the midst of her . fe- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 65 male servants and assisting in their labors. Sextus was struck with tlie beauty and innocence of Liicre- tia, cherished his flame, and, afterwards withdrawing from the camp, went to her house ; where he was kindly received. He stole at night to her chamber, but the lady refused to his entreaties what he extort- ed from her by threats. She yielded to her ravisher when he threatened to murder her and to slay one of her slaves and put him in her bed, that this apparent adultery might seem to have met with the punisliment it deserved. Lucretia in the morning sent for lier husband and her father, revealed to them the indig- nity she had recei\ed, conjured them to avenge her wrongs, and stabbed herself with a dagger, which she bad concealed under her clothes. The body of the virtuous Lucretia was exposed to the view of the Se- nate, and a rebellion ensued, which was inflamed by the harangues of Brutus, vvho was present at the tragi- cal end of this noble lady. Tarquin M'as expelled ; his various attempts to regain the throne were ably re- sisted by Lucretius, Brutus, and Collatinus ; kingly government was extinguished ; and the republic \vas jPounded. Notwithstanding that the atrocious crime of Sextus was the immediate cause of this revolution, tlie truth is tliat the public mind at Rome had been long pre- pared for the event by the conduct of his father and of some other of the kings. The leading Republicans only waited for a pretext to abolish royalty, wliicli never fails, sooner or later, to become odious to a wise and spirited people. Rome, as a republic, endured for the space of about five hundred years. The history of this> period is ex- ceedingly interesting, and admits of two distinct di- visran«^ namely : that of foreign affairs, and tlmt of domestic occurrences. Always at war and always F 2 66 HISTORICAL LETTERS. victorious, the republic marched from success to sue* cess, invading countries, destroyiug nations, and sub- jugating people; till, in fine, she became mistress of the world, when she fell under the weight of her own power, and yielded herself a victim to the ambition of her generals. At home, two parties continually divided the republic : The PatricianSy who wished to retain all the power of the state in their own hands; and the Plebeians, who demanded and acquired, al- most ev^ry day, some new right. These pledges of their libei-ty increased until they eventually became, in the hands of cunning and able men, the instruments of their servitude. Thus Rome, by having conquer- ed too much, subdued herself; and the Romans, by increasing their liberty to licentiousness, fell into slavery. A striking example that all excesses ought to be avoided. The principal Dignities of Rome under the Republic. The Dictator was a magistrate supreme, sovereign, and absolute. There was no stated time for his elec- tion ; but he was chosen accidentally, in crises of great danger, and only for six months. His first act was to nominate for himself a first lieutenant, under the title of general of cavalry. All the authorities ceased on his nomination, except that of the tribunes. He named the ordinary consuls. The dictator was preceded by twenty-four lictors with the fasces : T. Latius Flavus was the first Dictator, in the year 498 before Jesus Christ. The dignity ceased under Auo-iistus, who refused it. The consuls were the two first magistrates of the re- public. They were elected annually by the people ; conductj^d the armies ; presided in the Senate, and HISTORICAL LETTERS* 6T regulated the affairs of the republic : they were pre- ceded by twelve lictors. It is to the yearly election 6f consuls that Montesquieu chieily attributes the glory and the triumphs of Rome. JL. Junius Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus were the first consuls, in the year 508 before Jesus Christ. This dignity ceased under Justinian, who abolished it. The Censors were two magistrates, elected in the first instance for five years, but afterwards f(*r eighteen months only. Tiieir functions were, to enumerate the citizens and tlieir estates, and to be vigilant in the preservation of morals and the main- tenance of the laws. They purified the Senate by the expulsion of such members as had rendered them- selves unworthy of a seat tliere, and, in effect, cor- rected abuses of every kind among every class of citizens. The registers and public acts were in their keeping. L. Papirius Mugillanus and Sempronfus Atratinus were the first Censors, in the year 444 be- fore Jesus Christ. This dignity was merged in that of the emperors and their attributes. The Aidiles Major were two magistrates, to whom were intrusted the police of tlie city. They had a superintending authority over enteitainments and games ; were the inspectors of public buildings, and exercised vigilance for the safety of private ones. It was their duty to see that the highways were re- paired ; to regulate the standard of weights and measures ; to watch over the supplies of provisions necessary for the city, &c. &,c. They were called iGdiles major, to distinguish them from tliose magis- trates or the same name who were their assistants fop the inspection and execution of a good police. The Prsetors were two annual magistrates, whose functions were principally to administer justice. — pn^ of them had cognizance of differences between 68 HISTORICAL LETTERS. citizens, and was called Prcetor Urbanus ; the other had coo;nizance of diHerences between strangers, and was called Prcetor Peregrnnus, The Pr?etors, be- sides, pi esided at public lestivals, and took care of the sacrifices. Their office was the second dignity of Rome. Their number varied much towards the end of the republic and under the emperors. Some- times they continued in place after their year, and then they took the name of Pro-Praetors. These five magistrates, ol whom I have spoken, were called the major magistracy, or the magistracy CuruleSf because those who exercised the offices in question had the right to sit, during the performance of their functions, on a high seat of ivory, called the curule chair. Tiie Tribunes were magistrates of the people, charged to watch over their rights and liberty. They were ten in number, and were changed annually. — Tlieir power was very great, and if abused exceed- ingly dangerous. Their persons were inviolable and vSacred. Their ambitious attacks upon the Senate, and the resistance of the latter, furnish a key to all the intestine troubles which agitated Rome under the Republic. It cannot be doubted, however, that their authority, when virtuously exercised, was a great check upon the corruptions of the state. Tlie Qufestors were annual magistrates, intrusted with the public treasure. It was their duty also to receive ambassadors, kings, &c. and to make presents to them, &c. The Pro-Consuls were magistrates sent to govern the Roman provinces, with consular authority. Emperor, or ImperatoVt was, under the Republic, nothing more than an honorable and accidental de- nomination. After a victory the soldiers were ac- customed to salute their generals on the field of bat- HISTORICAL LETTEHS,> 6^ tie with the title of Imperator. In the end, after" the fall of the Republic, the word took the significa" tion of a sovereign chief and an absolute monarch, a LETTER XIL TJie Romans — Continued, During the space of five hundred years, the wars of the Republic were nunierous,and their consequen- ces advantageous and splendid. I proceed to relate them ; to mark the incidents which they produced ; to designate the great men who flourished during their prevalence, and to state their political results. The banished Tarquin found a supporter in Por- senna, the king of Etruria, and in the year 507 before Jesus Christ, war took place between hin\ and the Romans. Tiie chief events of this contest were, the actions of Horatius Codes, who singly opposed the whole army of Porsenna at the head of a biidge, whilst his countrymen in his rear were cutting off the communication with the opposite shore. The bridge being destroyed. Codes, although he was wounded, leaped into tiie Tiber and swam across it with his armor: for his eminent services he had a brazen statue raised to him in the temple of Vulcan, by the consul Publicola: of Mutius Scfevola, wlio disiruised himsei. in theliabit of a Tuscan, and, speak- ing the language fluently, he gained an easy introduc- tion into the camp of Porsenna, and afterwards into tlie royal tent ; Porsenna a?id his secretary were sit- ting alone when Mutius entered ; the latter, mistalc»« 70 HISTORICAL LETTERS. ing the secretary for the king, rushed upon him and stabbed him to the heart; unable to escape, Mutius was seized and brought before the king ; to the multi- plied inquiries of the courtiers he gave no answer, only telling them that he was a Roman ; and, as a proof of his fortitude, laid his right hand on an altar of burning coals, and looking sternly at the king, with- out uttering a groan, he boldly declared that three hundred young Romans like himself had conspired against his life, and entered his camp in disguise, determined either to destroy him or to perish in the attempt; this intrepid declaration alarmed Porsen- na, who made peace with the Romans and retired from their city; Mutius obtained the surname of Sceevola, because he had lost the use of his right hand by burning it in the presence of the Etrurian king: that of Clelia, a Roman virgin, one of the hostages which Porsenna had demanded as one of the condi- tions of the peace ; escaping fvom her guards, and pointing out the way to the rest of her female com- panions, she swam over the Tyber on horseback, amidst showers of darts from the enemy, and pre- sented herself to the Consul ; fearful of the conse- quenses of detaining her, the Consul sent her back, when Porsenna, not to be outdone in generosity, gave liberty to her, and permitted her to choose such of the hostages of the other sex ffor there were in all ten young men and ten virgins) as she should think fit to attend her ; she, with great modesty, chose the young- est, as least capable of sustaining the rigors of slave- ry: the battle of Regillee was another remarkable occurrence of this war ; it was fought about twenty miles from Rome, between twenty-four thousand Romans and forty thousand Etrurians, who were headed by the Tarquins ; the Romans obtained the victory, and scarce ten thousand of the enemy escap- HISTORICAL LETTERS, 71 ed from the field of battle : the great men of the day Were Brutus, Collatiims, Aruns, Valerius, Publicola, and jLartius : the consequences of the war were the ■abolition of royalty, the consolidation of the republic, and the establishment of the dictatorship. In the year 493 before Christ, civil broils broke out among the people, who revolted against the power of the aristocracy, and the Plebeians, under the conduct of one of their order, named Sicmius Bellutus, retired to Mons Sacer, on the banks of the river Anio, about three miles from Rome, with the intention of form- ing a new state. It was on this occasion, after all other arguments had failed, that Menenius Agrippa^ a great favorite of the people, addressed to them the well known fable of the belly and members, which is recorded by Livy : this had the desired eftect, and the Plebeians, on the consent of the Senate to the in- stitution of the tribunate, returned to their duty : tlie principal cause of these commotions was the debts of the commonalty, which were finally abolislied by the Senate : the chief personages of this period of anarchy were Appius and Menenius Agrippa. The revolt of Coriolanus occurred in the year before Christ 487; he fled to the Volscians, joined their leader Tullius Attius, advanced and besieged Rome, which was only saved from destruction by the prayers and tears of Veturia, the mother of Coriolanus, and the entreaties of his wife Volumnia, her two children, and a long train of weeping females ; Coriolanus, moved to compassion, raised the siege of Rome, and was afterwards slain in an insurrection of the Vols- cians, excited against him by Tullus, who had long envied his glory. In the year 476, the republic was engaged in a war with the Volsci, the ^qui, and other of their neighbors ; many fortunate battles took place, and the Romans enlarged their territory by rS inSTOllIOAL LETTERS. their conquests ; Menenius and Fabius were the he- roes of the day. In 448 the Decemvirs were expell- ed and the Decemvirate was abolished, in consef quence of an attempt by Appiiis to dishonor Virginia, the beautiful daughter of Viro;inius ; the maiden's honor was preserved by her father's stabbing lier in the presence of the people ; Appius killed himself, and his adherents were compelled to fly from the city. In 403, the Romans made war upon the Veians, . and after a siege of ten years made themselves mas- ters of the city of Veii : Camillus was the distin- guished personage of the time, and the republic ex- perienced considerable aggrandizement. In the year 388 the Gauls invaded Italy, and took Rome, under the conduct, of Brennus ; the city was eventually regained by tlie intrepid courage ol Manlius, and the patriotic decision of Camillus: this war ended in the destruction of the invading Gauls. In 341 the Romans waged war with the Samnites, which lasted nearly seventy-one years, procured for the re- public twenty-four triumphs, and Rome, by degrees, appjoached to the dominion of Italy ; Papirius, Pon- tius, and Curius, Were the principal characters that arose during these contests. In the year 279 the Tarentine war commenced, which endured for about ten years ; Pyrrhus and his minister Cyneas, and Fabricius and his remarkable virtue, are the objects worthy of notice in this conflict : Rome now became the mistress of all Italy. In 264 began the first Punic v/ar, and continued for twenty-four years, in which the Romans fought their first naval battle : this peri- od was marked by the defeat of Regulus ; and Duil- lias, Regulus, Xantippus, Lutatius, and Amilcar Bar- cas, on one side or the other, were the most remar- kable persons of the time ; the contest ended in the acquisition of Sicily by the Romans, who had now HISTORICAL LETTERS. 73 got a fleet and enjojetl additional celebrity. In 231 the Iiljiian war occurred, in which Rome was, as usual, successful, having subdued and disgraced Teu- ta, the queen of Illjria ; the Romans were in this enterprise approaching Greece. In £26 the republic made war upon Cisalpine Gaul, during whicli was fought the battle of Clusium ; the Romans crossed the Po and subjugated the country. The second Punic war broke out in the year 219, and continued for seventeen years ; it was distinguished by tlie expedition of Hannibal, the siege of Syracuse, the fate of Archimedes, and the battle of Zama ; Fabius, Marcellus, Scipio Africanus the first, and Lelius, were the the chief men of the day ; the result of the contest was the destruction of Carthage and the acquisition of Spain. In 201, Rome carried her arms against Philip and the A^itolians, Perseus, and Antiochus, and the battles of Cynoceplialus, Ther- mopyl 86, Magnesia, and Pydna, were fought; Fla- minius Acilius, Scipio Asiaticus, Paulus Emilius, and Licinius,made a great figure in these w^ars, which ended in the Romans conquering Macedonia and penetrating into Asia. The third Punic war began in 149, and continued for three years ; it eventuated in the siege and capture of Carthage ; Rome was left without a rival : the shining personages of this peri- od were Scipio Africanus the second, Lelius, Poly- bius, and Cato the Censor. Tiie Achaean war com- menced in the year 147, in which Metellus and Mum- mius distinguished themselves. Corinth was de- stroyed and Greece was conquered by the Romans. In the year 141, the republic was engaged in the Numantian war, which continued for eight years, and in which Scipio Africanus tl^e second was the principal actor ; it ended in the destruction of Nu- mantia. In 133 Rome experienced great civil trou- G 74 HISTORICAL LETTERS, bles, the question of tile Agrarian law was agitated ; the Gracchii and Scipio Nasica were the great men of the time ; the commotions ended in the massa;v ere of the Gracchii. In the year 113 the Romans waged war against Jugurtha for thei space of seven years ; it was marked by the success of Metellus ; and Marius, Sylla, and Bocchus, were persons of note durins: its continuance; it concluded in the conquest of Numidia. A seven years war next en- sued between the Romans and the Cimbri, in which Marius, Catullus, and Sylla, rendered themselves conspicuous; the Cimbri were totally vanquished. — In the year 91, before Christ, the allies of '-.ome re- volted against her, and for three years a social war raged with fury ; Drusus, Marius, Sylla, Pompey, all tlistinguished themselves on the occasion ; the war ended in the allies becoming citizens of Rome. In the year 88, a civil war broke out between Marius and Sylla, which endured for thirteen years ; the most frightful proscriptions took place during this period, and Sylla was made perpetual dictator ; Sylla, Ma- rius, and his sons, Cinna, Sertorius, and Perpenna, were leading men of the day: this is the real epoch of the fall of the republic. In the year 88 also a war was undertaken against Mithridates, which was not terminated for twenty-six years : during this con- flict Athens was taken by the Roman arms, and the battles of Cheronea and Orchomenus were fought : the chief characters of this period were Sylla, Lu- cullus, Pompey, Tigranes, Pharnaces, and Monimia : the war ended in the conquest of Pontus, Cappadocia, and Syria. The year 73, and the years immediately following, before Christ, were rendered remarka^ble in the annals of Rome by the revolt of the slaves, the exploits of Spartacus, and the achievements of Cras- sus and Pompey ; in this contest the slaves were ex- HISTORICAL LETTERS, To terminated. In the year 63 the conspiracy ofCata- line took place, in which extteniity Cicero acquitted himself with great ability, and saved Rome from ihe lawless designs of the conspirators ; Cicero, Cataline, C?esar, and Clodius, were the most extraordinary in- dividuals of the time. In the year 60 the first tri- umvirate was formed between Pompey, Cgesar, and Crassus; Ceesar, hov/ever, ti-iumphed over his rivals in the battles of Pharsalia, of Thapsus, and oi Munda, and remained sole master of Rome. A second tri- umviiate was formed after the death of C?esar,in the year before Christ 43, between Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius ; innumerable proscriptions took place dur- ing this period, to which Cicero fell a victim ; the battles of Philippi and Actium were fought, and young Octavius, after subduing all his opponents, reigned sole arbiter of the Roman world. He assum- ed the name of Augustus, and proved himself a states- man of great capacity. C. LETTER XIIL Tke Romans — Continued, DURING the five centuries that Rome was go- verned by the emperors, she was engaged in tliree wars oi' a general cfescription. 1. The wars of Europe, against the nations of Germany, upon the Rhine and the Danube : 2. The wars of Asia, against the Par- thians ahd the Persians, upon the Euphrates and the ■Tigris ; 3. The civil wars occasioned by the ambi- tion of particular persons, and the Ucentiousnesg of ?b HISTORICAL LETTERS. tlie soldiery. In the wai's of Europe Drusus pushed the Roman anus as far as the Elbe, where he erected a trophy ; Varus, with three legions, was massacred by Arniinius, a warlike general of the Germans ; but Germanicus, in two great battles, repaired this terri- ble misfortune, and Arminius was poisoned by one of his friends: Trajan conquered and united Dacia to the empire : Marcus Aurelius executed a famous ex- pedition against the Marcomanni : Maximinus pene- trated into the heart of Germany: Aurelius was con- vstrained to abandon Dacia : the Barbarians passed the Danube and tiie Rhine, inundated the empire, overturned it, and established themselves upon its ruins. In the wars of Asia, Trajan undertook his famous expedition against the Partliians, and acquir- ed immense territories, which were abandoned by his successor Adrian : Mesopotamia was added to the empire by Severus and Caracalla: v,ar was main- tained against Artaxerxes and Sapor, kings of Persia : the emperor Valerian was made prisoner by Sapor : the history of these Asiatic wars also embraces the interesting fate of Odenatus and Zenobia, the queen cf Palmyra : a treaty was concluded under the em- peror Dioclesian : Sapor the second, a terrible enemy of the Romans, reigned in this period ; and Julian, the Apostate, undertook his celebrated expedition against Persia, in which he lost his life and liazarded that quarter of the empire : Jovian, the successor of Julian, was compelled to abandon Mesopotamia. — The revolts and civil wars of the Roman imperial history are of too complex a nature to be delineated in tlie space allotted to these letters : the reader will find them satisHictorily pourtrayed in the celebrated work of Gibbon. The empire of Rome was above two thousand miles in breadth, from the wall of Antoninus and HISTORICAL LETTERS. / / the northern limits of Dacia, to Mount Atlas and the Tropic of Cancer, and extended in length more than three thousand miles, from the Western Ocean to the Euphrates : It was situated in the finest part of the temperate zone, between the twenty-fourth and fifty- sixth degrees of northern latitude ,and is supposed to have contained above sixteen hundred thousand square miles, for the most part of fertile and well cul- tivated land. It comprised nine provinces : 1, Britain : Subdivided into Britain the first, Bri- tain the second, Fhavian-Cesarian, Great-Cesarian, and Valentinian. The principal cities were York, London, Colchester, Bath, Lincoln, Chester, Glou- cester, &c. The natives consisted of tribes of Bri- tons; among which were reckoned as many as twenty- two settlements, the inhabitants of wliich resembled the people of Gaul or of Germany ; their origin is not fully ascertained, but it is believed to have been Celtic : the Druids were their priests. The Romans who conquered or united Britain to the empire, were Julius C?esar, wlio first invaded it fifty-five years be- fore Jesus Christ : Plantius, under the emperor Clau- dius, and after himOstorius Scapula advanced a con- siderable way in the subjugation of the Island ; they both had to contend with the brave Caractacus ; Juli- us Agricola completed the conquest of it. When the Romans, in the decline of their empire, withdrew their legions from Britain, it was invaded by the Saxons and the Angles, who were called in by the natives to defend them from their neighbors the Picts and the Scots ; but the invaders conquered for them- selves : the Danes desolated the country for some time, and finally established themselves there. The present inhabitants are the English. 2. Gaul : Subdivided into Narbonnese, Aquitaine, Lyonnese, Belgic, and Germanic ; and many other G 2 TS HISTORIC At LETTiERS, inferior divisions. The principal cities were Mar- seilles, Narbonne, Nimes, Lyons, Toulouse, Autun, Bordeaux, Rheims, Treves, Mayence, Cologne, &c. Gibbon reckons twelve hundred. The natives were tribes of Gauls, of which there were one hundred and fifty. They spoke the Celtic and followed the religion of the Druids, one class of whom, under the name of Bards, consecrated by their songs the actions of their heroes. The Romans who subdued the coun- try, were Sextus Calvinius, who established himself there, and founded the village of Aix, in Provence, 120 years before Jesus Christ; Domitiiis and Fabius reduced into a Roman province all the meridional part of the country, and Julius C?esar united it to the empire as far as the Rhine. The Barbarians who invaded Gaul, were the Francs, who fixed themselves there ; the Burgundians, who yielded to the Francs ; the Visigoths, the Allemanni, the Huns, the Suevi, the Alains, the Vandals, who marched through the country ; the Normans, and the Saracens, who were driven back. The present inliabitants of ancient Gaul are the French and the Swiss. 3. Itah.j : Subdivided into Cisalpine Gaul, Liguria, Etruria, Latium, Campania, Apulia, Lucania, and Brutium. The principal cities were Rome, Milan, Verona, Aquileia, Ravenna, &c. Gibbon reckons ele- ven hundred and ninety seven. The natives of Italy were the Etruscans, the Sabines, the Latins, the Ru- tulians, the Volscians, the Hernians, the Equians, the Samnites, and the Tarentines. The conquerors of the country were, the kings, the consuls, and the dictators, during the first 500 years of Rome ; for it took tliat period of time for the Romans to become masters of Italy. The Barbarians who invaded it were the Vandals, the Suevi, the Huns, and the Visi- goths, who traversed and desolated it ; the Heruli- HISTORICAL LETTERS. ^9 ans, the Ostrogoths, and the Lombards, who establish- ed themselves in the country. Tlie present inhabi- tants are, the Italians, the Genoese, the Romans, the Tuscans, Neapolitans, &c. 4. Spain : Subdivided into Tarraconensis, Lusita- nia, and Bo3tica. The principal cities were, Cadiz, Carthagena, Saguntum,Numantia; and Italica, found- ed by Scipio, afterwards the birth place of the em- perors Trajan, Adrian, and Theodosius. The natives were numerous and diversified tribes of Celtiberians, Cantabrians, Vascones, Callaians, Asturians, Lusita- nians, &c. The Romans who reduced Spain into the form of a province, were Scipio Africanus the first, who, by his victories, opened the way for the Roman power : F. Flaccus and S. Gracchus subdued the Celtiberians ; Scipio Africanus the second, con- quered Numantia; and Augustus subjugated the Cantabrians. The Barbarians who inva'. ord or pi- lum. Besides their arms, the legionaries, when march- ing, were laden with their kitchen furniture, the in- strjments of fortification, and the provision of many days : under this weight they were trained by a re- gular step to advance, in about six hours, near twen- ty miles. On the appearance of an enemy they threw aside their baggage, and by easy and rapid evolutions converted the column of march into an order of bat- tle : the slingers and archers skirmished in the front ; the auxiliaries formed the first line, and were second- ed or sustained by the strength of the legions; the cavahy covered the flanks, and the military engines were placed in the rear. In tlie time of the Antonines, the military peace establishment of the empire consisted of thirty le- gions, composed of twelve thousand five hundred men eacli, making a total standing force of three hundred and seventy-five thousand men, to which add the Pr?etorian bands, computed at twenty thou- sand, and the marine forces, reckoned at about fifty- five thousand, and we have a total of four liundred and fifty thousand men. The tliirty legions were distributed as follows : three in Britain; five upon the Rhine; eleven upon the Danube; eight upon the Euphrates ; one in Egypt ; one in Africa ; and one in Spain. The legions were encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the frontiers of the Bar- barians. The city cohorts and Prpetori an guards watch- ed over the safety of tlie monarch and the capital. Two permanent fleets were stationed in the most conve- nient ports of Italy, tlie one at Ravenna, on the Adri- atic, the other at Misenum, in the bay of Naples.— HISTORICAL LETTERS, 85 Besides these two ports, a very considerable force was stationed at Frejus, on the coast of Provence, and the Euxine was guarded by forty ships and three thousand soldiers. To all these add the tleet which preserved the communication between Gaul and Britain, and a great number of vessels constantly maintained on the Rhine and the Danube, to harrass the country or to intercept the passage of the Barbarians. It is estis mated that the general annual income of the Roman provinces could seldom amount to less than fifteen or twenty millions sterling, or from sixty to eighty millions of dollars. For the details of these interest- ing topics, I refer the reader to the very excellent work of Mr. Gibbon. " C. LETTER XIV. The Romans — Continued, THE invasion of the Barbarians who overthrew the Roman empire, presents one of the most impor- tant points of historical study; at the same time it is the most obscure and the most difficult to be re- tained in the memory. It is scarcely possible to fol- low, with precision, by the aid of words alone, this scene of confusion and disorder. I nmst, never- tlieless, attempt to pourtray it; for the various jiordes who overran the empire of the Cgesars are the elements of which the nations of modern Europe, of Asia Minor, and part oi Africa, are composed. The Huns came from the frontiers ot China, and their principal chiefs were the celebrated Attila and H 86 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Bleda. They invaded Illyria, Gaul, and Asia ; beat and displaced the Alains, dissipated the monarchy of the Goths, established to the nortli of the Danube by old Hermanrick,and determined those violent move- ments of the Barbarians which produced the fall of the empire of the Romans. Under the guidance of Attila, the Huns founded an immense empire from the Danube to the Baltic, and from the borders of the Rhine to the shores of the eastern ocean. This prince, to whom the affrighted world gave the name of Scourge of God, invaded Gaul with seven hun- dred thousand men, and was completely defeated in 451, in the plains of Chalons, or in those of Sologne, near Orleans, by Actius,the Roman general, second- ed by the Franks, conducted by Merovius, and by the Visigoths, commanded by Theodoric. It is com- puted that Attila lost in this battle three hundred thousand men; but this did not prevent him from making, in tlie following year, a new irruption into Italy, and penetrating as far as Rome, where peace and his retreat were purchased by a large sum o1 mo- ney, Attila returned, laden with booty, to his royal village in Pannonia, where he died, a. d. 453, of an uncommon eftusion of blood the first night of his miptials. His soldiers enclosed his body in a coffin of gold, which they again enclosed in a coffin of silver, which was placed in a coffin of lead, conveyed the wliole to a wild and solitary place, caused a grave to be prepared by slaves, and put to death their assist- ants, in order that the place of sepulture might re- main a secret. After the death of Attila his empire was dissolved, and the Huns became mixed and lost among the different hordes which they had subjugat- ed. They made their appearance a. d. 375, and fin- ished their career about 460. inSTORIOAL LETTERS. 67 The Goths, who invaded Dacia, Iliyria, &c. had for their principal leaders Herinanrick and Athana- ric. The name of Goths is a common name for ma- ny hordes of Barbarians arising from the same stock ; such, in particular, were the Visigoths, the Ostro- goths, and Gepides. It is said they were originally irom Sweden, where are still to be found the pro- vinces of Gothia and Ostrogothia. So early as the year of our Lord 250, this people were established on the banks of the Neister, and at that time began to direct the most terrible blows at the Roman pow- er. The emperor Decius and his Son perished in battle against them. Hermanrick, the hero of this nation, by,a very singular destinv, became a con- queror at eighty years of age. It was at this age, when others tliink of quitting life, that he commenced the foundation of a monarchy, which he pushed, by his conquests, from the shores of the Danube to those of the frozen ocean. He lived to be one hundred and ten years of age, and perished unexpectedly, with the empire which he had formed, a victmi to tHe sudden iri'uption and good fortune of the Huns, who, at the first onset, ravished from him his life and over- turned his throna. The Visigoths, a branch of the Goths, from the southern parts of Sweden, had for their leaders Fri- tigern and the celebrated Alaric, and invaded Italy, Gaul, and Spain* Defeated and pursued by the Huns, they obtained permission from the court of Constan- tinople to pass the Danube and to establish them- selves in Thrace. They afterwards turned their arms against those who had granted them this indul- gence, and A. D. 378 exterminated i:t\e emperor Valens and his army under the w*alls of Adrianople. The emperor Theodosiusthe Great subdued and restrain- ed them during his reign, but at his death they revolt- 88 HISTORICAL LETTERS. ed anew, under the conduct of the famous Alaric, deso- lated all the Illyrian provinces, those of Italy, took and pillaged Rome, passed the Alps, and established themselves in the southern parts of Gaul, forty-three years after their passage of the Danube. Afterwards, crossing the Pyrennees, they fixed the seat of their empire in Spain, upon the ruins, or in the traces, of the Alains, the Suevi, and the Vandals, and they reigned nearly three hundred years, at the end of which tliey were destroyed in their turn by the Sa- racens, who came Irom Africa. Alaiic died at Co- zenza, in the South of Italy : his army turned the course of a river in order to deposite his corpse, and afterwards restored it to its usual channel. This people attached great importance to the concealment of the remains of their great chiefs from the observa- tion of mankind. The career of the Visigoths com- menced A. B. 376 and ended 712. The Ostrogoths, also a branch of the Goths, from the South of Sweden, invaded Illyria and Italy, and had for their principal chief Theodoric. Conquered, in the first instance, by the Huns, the Ostrogoths re- covered their independence on the death of Attila, and" followed the track of the Visigoths, who had pre- ceded them : they traversed the Danube and establish- ed themselves in Mcesia. Theodoric the Great, the hero of the nation, raised at first in the character of a hostage at the court of Constantinople, rendered con- siderable services to the emperor Zeno, who adopted him as his son, granted him the honors of a triumph, and permitted him to proceed into Italy, to oppose Odoacer, king of the Ilerulians, who came to put an end to the empire of the west. Theodoric, victorious, became the founder of a new monarchy, which was ^strengthened by his laws and flourished under his careful vigilance. The celebrated Cassiodorus, dis- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 89 tiiiguished for his knowledge and capacity, was the minister of Theodoric. The Ostrogoths were de- stroyed, eighty years after the foundation of their empire, by Narses, a general under Justinian, empe- ror of t!ic East. Jor::andes, who lived in the sixth century, and was at first royal secretary, and after- wards bishop of Ravenna, is the historian of the Os- trogoths. They were remarkable on the revolution- ary theatre of these tempestuous times, from a. d. 4G0 to 553. The Lombards originally emigrated from tlie shores of tiie Baltic, invaded Illyria and Italy, and had Alboin for their principal chief. In their marcli towards the south they destroyed the Ilerulians, and WTre established in Pannonia by the emperor Justi- nian, wlio conceived the project of opposing them to the Gepides. In truth, these two people v/ere not slow in seeking a quarrel, and the Lombards entirely exterminated the Gepidas. Itivited afterwards by the eunuch Narses, (who had cause to compLiin ot Justinian and the empress Sophiu,) they penetrated into Italy under the conduct of their chief Alboin, who was prochiimed king by his soldiers after thf» capture oiPavia, of Milan,. &c. The monarchy of the Lombards, which comprised nearly the whole of the north of Italy, endured for almost two hundred years, and was overturned by Chiiilenuigne, under Didier, tlielr last king. The history of this monar- chy furnishes a collection of curious laws and custom?^ relative to the times in which they prevailed, par- ticularly upon the article of fiefs and feudal customs^ wliereof many authors allege the I^ombards to have been the authors. The commencement and end of the Lombards was from the year of our Lord 568 to 774, II 3 90 HISTORICAL LETTERS. The Mains came from the borders of the Caspian sea, and invaded Gaul and Spain. Thej had for their principal chiefs Respendial and Gonderic. Es- tablished beyond the Tanais, and dislodged by the Huns, they at first settled in Pannonia, but soon af- terwards united with a numerous horde conducted by Radagaisus. Such as escaped from the defeat which these experienced in Italy, crossed the Rhine and turned towards Gaul, over wiiich they travelled and penetrated beyond the Pyrennees into Spain, in the eastern parts whereof they established themselves. Soon afterwards they experienced a defeat, and their existence and their name disappeared before the Vi- sigoths, their vanquishers, who came from Gaul under the guidance of Wallia, their leader. The Alains were the most cruel and the most sanguinary of all fae hordes of that deluge of Barbarians who, about the fifth century, inundated the civilized world. — The period of their carreer was from the year of our Lord 376 to 417. The Burgimdians, the Suevi^ and the Vandals, left their native land, the shores of the Baltic sea, at the commencement of tlie fifth century, and di- recting their course towards the south, they recruit- ed in their march the Alains, climbed the Alps and poured down upon Italy, where they divided into two bodies; tlie one ravaged the banks of the Po, v.'hilst the other, conducted by the famous Radagai- sus, who is represented to us as a plienomenon ol size and strength, directed itself towards Florence, of which it formed tlie siege. This unfortunute city was menaced with an approaching fall, when the celebrated Roman general Stilicho came to its relief, which he effected by a prodigious victory in which perished Radagaisus and almost all his numerous follower*. The body of Barbarians who remained HISTORICAL LETTERS, 91 behind, then retired into Germany, wandering about at random: some deserters gave them information concerning the Gauls, with whom, until that time, they were unacquainted : they immediately directed them- selves towards the Rhine, and marched to pillage these new regions. The Burgundians settled themselves in the eastern part of Gaul, where they founded a kingdom adjacent to that of the Franks, under whom they fell at the end of about a century. Gundicar was the principal chief of the Burgundians. — Comband, or Gondeband^ issued a general and cele- brated edict, comprising a collection of their laws and customs : it is this precious piece which historians commonly call " laloy Goinbette." The Burgundians commenced a. d. 413 and ended in 536. The Van- dals traversed Gaul and penetrated into Spain, fix- ing themselves at first in the southern parts ; but soon afterwards, crossing the straits, they arrived in Africa, ravaged the Roman provinces, founded a king- dom upon the ruins of Carthage, embarked for Italy, took Rome by assault, and avenged the Carthageni- ans at the end of six hundred years. The Vandals, who because proverbial for their rage for devastation, returned to Africa, and continued a monarchy which was destroyed after about one hundred years dura- tion, by the renowned Bellisarius, one of the gene- . rals of the emperor Justinian. The Vandals com- menced A. D 409 and ended in 534. Their princi- pal chief was Genseric. The Suevi invaded Spain in concert with the Alains and the Vandals, their rov- ing companions, and establishing themselves in the western parts, founded a monarchy which was over- thrown by the Visigoths one hundred and eighty years afterwards. Their principal leader was Her- momrick. Of all the Barbarian people who isvaded the Roman empire, the Suevi are, perhaps, a horde 92 HISTORICAL LETTERS. respecting which history is the most silent. Thej commenced a. d. 409 and finished in 58*2. The Franks came from the shores of the Rhine nnd of the Weser, and had for their |^ rincipal chiefs Pharamond and Clovis. The prevailing opinion con- cerning this people is, that they were a confederation of many German tribes, situated between the Rhine and the Weser, who united against the Romans for the preservation of their common independence. — After a long time and numerous combats witli the Romans, they finally effected a settlement on the left bank of the Rhine, to which they even obtained the consent of tlie emperors of the west, and by de- grees they advanced into Gaul under favor of the troubles which hastened the decline of the empire. — The commencement of tlieir history and the epoch of the foundation of the French nmnarchy, are, in general, dated in the reign of Pharamond, one of their chiefs, about the year of our Lord 42i). Clovis, one of his successors, conquered the greater part of GauU was the hero of his race, and ought to be re- garded as the true founder of the monarcliy. It may not, perhaps, be imperlinent to remark, that of all thti Barbarians v/ho invaded the Roman empire, (Im) Franks and the Angles are the oidy people who have survived the revolutions of time, and prolonged to our day their existence and their names. The AngloSaxotifi came originally from the bor- ders of the Elbe, and had for their principal chiefs Hengistand Horsa. Having been called in by the Britons to defend them against the Picts and Scots,, they landed in Britain under the conduct of these two brothers, who eventually conquered the country w^ith the aid of numerous other adventurers who spee- dily followed. After this 8axon conquest the coun- try was divided into seven different kingdoms, which HISTORICAL LETTERS. 93 was called the Heptarchy. In the course of time these seven kingdoms were united, by inheritance or by subjugation, in the person of Egbert, who com- menced the English monarchy, which has continued to our days. George the Third, now on the throne, is the descendant and lineal successor of this Egbert, from whom he is separated by fifty sovereigns and thirty generations. The Anglo-Saxon career began A. D. 450. The Saracens came from Arabia, and their prin- cipal chief was Abderaman. They were the tribes united by Mahomet, and effected, almost in an in- stant, under the conduct of the caliphs and their suc- cessors, the conquest of an immense country. They subdued, on the one hand, Persia, Syria, and penetrat- ed as far as the gates of Constantinople ; whilst, on the other, they traversed Egypt, inundated Africa, the islands of the Mediterranean, and Spain — they also broke into France, where nothing could arrest their progress till they were opposed by Charles Mar- tel, whose valor and abilities completely defeated them in the vicinity of Poictiers, forcing them to re- tire into Spain, where they founded, upon the ruins of the Visigoths, a dominion which continued for se- ven hundred and eighty years, with more or less lus- tre, until they were totally subjugated and expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella, who got possession of Grenada, their last asylum, a. d. 1492. The Saracens of Asia were destroyed by the Tartars a. d. k248. — The name only is ail that remains to us at this day of this celebrated people, who, at one time, gave laws to a great portion of the earth. Nevertheless, the Saracens of Bagdad merit a generous recollection for the lustre which, in the time of their caliph Haroun Al-Rascliid, they shed upon science and letters.—- 94 HISTORICAL LETTERS. The Saracens commenced a. d. 632 and ended their career in 1492. The Mlemanni had for their principal chief Chono- domar. They were a confederacy of a great num- ber of different tribes, which circumstance is sup- posed to have given rise to their name, which implies a collection of all men, or of all sorts of men. The confederation took place about the year 215 after Jesus Christ, between the Leek and the upper Rhine. Others will have it that their name was derived from the little river Altmuhl, in Franconia, otherwise call- ed Allemanus — but according to Pfeftel (in his abridg- ment of the history and public law of Germany) it remains to be ascertained whether it was the river that gave its name to the people in its vicinity, or the people who o;ave their name to the river. The Alle- manni undertook many unfortunate expeditions against Italy and Gaul, in which they were constant- ly repulsed, particularly by the emperor Julian, near Strasburg, a. d. 375 ; and by king Ciovis, at the cele- brated battle of Tolbiac, near Juliers, a. d. 496. Af- ter these misfortunes the Allemanni remained on their native soil, where, in the course of time, their name has become a o:eneral denomination for all the people beyond the Rhine; M^hilst that of Suabia served them ibr a long time as a particular denomi- nation. Besides the nations I have mentioned, there were other liordes of Barbarians instrumental in the de- struction of the Roman empire. The Gepides had a common origin with the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths, from whom they separated on their arrival, from Swe- den, in Gei-many. To the north of the Danube they founded a kingdom, which was destroyed by the Lombards. The Ileruli were one of those numer- ous colonies with which German v was covered : itis HISTORICAL LETTERS. 95 said tliey were destroyed by the Lombards. In truth, it is the custom to call Odoacer, who overturn- ed the empire of the west, king of the Herulians ; but it is because he was of the Herulian nation, and not because he invaded Italy at the head of the He- rulians. This prince was in the pay of the emperors, as were a number of Barbarian auxiliaries. He re- volted, put himself at their head, dethroned Augiis- tulus, and took t!ie title of the king of Heruli. Th^ Jlvars were chased from Asia by the Turks, and ar- rived at the mouth of the Danube about the middle of the sixth century. They founded an empire, which, for a long time, proved an inconvenient neigh- borhood to the eastern empire of the Romans. The Bulgarians emigrated from Scytliia, succeeded ta the Avars on the shores of the Danube, about th€ end of the seventh century, and subdivided themselves, in the course of time, into Sclavonians, Croatians, Moravians, Wallachians, Bosnians, &c. T'le Venedi and the Slavl were colonies that were settled on the borders of the Baltic, and, in a lapse of years, were subjugated and incorporated with the Germanic em- pire. The Danes and the JK'^ormans were maritime people of the coasts of Jutlantl and Norway. Tliey laid Europe waste about the ninth and tenth centu- ries ; landed on the sea coasts, sailed up the rivers, pillaging, burning, and sacking, every thing in their course. In this manner they visited Germany and France, and invaded England and Ireland. The Hungarians arrived from the east of the Volga to- wards the end of tlie ninth century, and for a long time were a plague to the Greeks and the Franco- Germans. The Turks commonly dwelt at the foot oi' Mount Imaus, in the centre of Asia : At first they were .the slaves of a Scythian horde from which they revolted ; and, becoming masters in their turn, they 96 HISTORICAL LETTERS. subjugated all the people that surrounded them. — - Their princes, under the title of Sultans, made them- selves by force the lieutenants of the Saracen Ca- liphs of Bagdad, penetrated into Syria, into Asia Mi- nor, and even took possession of Constantinople, which they now govern. The Barbarians who effected the destruction of the Roman empire, may be divided into three classes ; 1. Those of Europe. 2. Those of Asia. And, 3. Those of an intermedial origin. If, from the penin- sula of the Crimea to the mouths of the Dwina, we imagine an irregular line in that direction, we shall have to its left the Barbarians of Europe : if, again, we imagine another line from the mouths of the Don or Tanais, to those of the Oby, we shall have to its right the Barbarians of Asia : and as to the interme- diary hordes, they occupy the space between these two lines. Tlie Barbarians of Europe, or Germans, were re<^ markable for the beauty of their persons, the fairness of their complexions, and the length of their hair.— The Teutonic was the language common to them all, under various dialects. They gained their subsist- ence by hunting, lived in huts, and seldom changed tlieir residence unless compelled by circumstances. They wore their vestments close to their body, had but one Vvdfe each, and their principal military force consisted in infantry. Under the general denomi- nation of Barbarians of Europe may be comprised the Franks, the Allemanni, the Gotlis, subdivided into Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Gepides ; the Lombards, the Burgundians, the Vandals, the Suevi, the Heruli, the Qiiadi, the Marcomanni, the Angles, the Saxons, the Danes, and the Normans. The Intermedial Barbarians, or the Scythians and Sarmatians, united the complexion and tbrm of the HISTORICAL LETTERS. 9;* Barbarians of Europe to the customs and language of those of Asia, and thus served at once as a bar- rier and a link between these two different species. These nations, continually pressing to the south, re* cruited, without intermission, the mass of people which they found to the right and to the left, and who occupied the void space which their excursions occasioned. Under the general denomination of in- termedial Barbarians, ought to be comprised the Sclavi, the Venedi, the Bulgarians, the Bosnians, the Servians, the Croatians, the Polanders, and the Rus- sians. The Barbarians of Jlsia^ or the Tartars, were cha- racterised by the deformity of their persons and the brown complexion or sun-burnt color of their skins. The Sclavonian was the language common to them all, under different dialects. They were shepherds, constantly residing in the midst of their numerous herds of cattle, and always seeking for new pas- turage. They encamped under moveable tents, wore loose, floating garments, had many wives, and their principal military force consisted of cavalry. In a word, they presented a perfect contrast with those of Europe. Under the general denomination of Barbarians of Asia, we may comprehend the Huns, the Alains, the Avars, the Hungarians, and the Turks. The Arabs, or Saracens, are excluded from this enumeration, inasmuch as they belong is> the south of Asia. C. 98 HISTORICAL LETTEllS. LETTER XV. The Romans — Concluded. S ALLUST, a Roman of senatorial dignity, and at once a libertine and an elegant writer, in speaking of the causes of the prosperity and misfortunes of Rome, fixes our attention by some very acute ob- servations. " Upon reading many, and hearing of many glorious achievements (says he) which the Roman people did, at home and in war, by sea and land, I was accidentally inclined to consider nar- rowly what things had chiefly supported such great performances. I was sensible that often with a small handful they had engaged with mighty armies of their enemies : I liad found, that wars had been car- ried on by small forces with potent kings : and fur- tlier, that they had often borne the shocks of fortune : that tlie Greeks for eloquence, the Gauls for reputa- tion in war, were before the Romans. And to me, upon revolving many things, it appeared certain, that the extraordinary conduct of a few citizens had ef- fected all ; and hence it came to pass, that poverty vanquished riches and a handful multitudes. But after tlie city was debauched with luxury and idle- ness, the commonwealth, in its turn, by its own gran- deur, supported the vices of its generals and magis- trates ; and, as happens to a mother past bearing, there has been, indeed, for many years, not any one eminent for a great character at Rome. But in my 4)wn4:ime there have been two men, Cato and Cpesar, of extraordinary abilities, yet different in their way.'* And in the portraits which Sallust draws of these two distinguished persons, may be recognised a spe- cimen of the republican virtues and manners^ and an HISTORICAL LETTERS* 99 example of the spirit and conduct that were best calculated to attract attention and fix admiration af- ter corruption had crept into the commonwealth. — *' The extraction of Cato and Ceesar, (according to Sallust,) their age^ their eloquence, were almost equal; their greatness of soul was the same, as also their glory ; but in each of a different kind. Ceesar was es- teemed great for his kind offices and generosity ; Cato for the integrity of his life. The former became fa- mous by clemency and compassion : rigid strictness gave a mighty reputation to the latter. Caesar ac- quired glory by giving, by relieving, by forgiving ; — Cato by offering no presents to bribe the people. In the one there was a refuge for the miserable ; in the other certain destruction for the wicked. The frank- ness of the former was celebrated ; the steadiness of the latter. Finally, Caesar had put on a resolution to labor and to watch ; quite taken up with the aflairs of his friends he neglected his own ; and refused no- thing that was worth the giving : he wished for great command to himself, for an arm}^ for an uncommon Avar, where his vast abilities might be displayed. — But for Cato was ihe study of sobriety, of decency, but especially of strict discipline. He did not vie with the rich in riches, nor in faction with the party- man ; but in bravery with the brave, in modesty with the modest, in innocence with the guiltless. lie chose rather to be good than appear so ; and the less he courted fame the more it followed him." In brief, we may conclude, from what Sallust says, and from the information which we derive from other sources, that had Caesar lived in the early days of the repub- lic, he would have been as rigidly virtuous as Cato ; but perceiving that the Roman people were corrupt- ed, he accommodated himself to the s^nrit of the times, and won the alfections of the multitude by 100 HISTORICAL LETTERS* those artifices which are the most likely to prevail in a luxurious age. Cato, with his thorny virtues, was so indiscreet as to attempt to revive, in a voluptuous generation, the sturdy principles of the first of the Romans; and thereby made proselytes for Caesar more expeditiously than Ceesar could have made ihem for himself. In this eftbrt he experienced the fate of those emperors, who, in succeeding times, at- tempted to restore the relaxed discipline of the le- gions. Cato eventually perished by his own hand, despairing of the commonwealth. It is thought by many, that had he been somewhat more flexible of temper, had he concerted his plans of reformation more upon the actual circumstances of his country, and less upon a severe abstract idea of republican probity, he might have prolonged the duration of the free institutions of Rome. Ceesar, however, prevail- ed. He was one of tlie most subtle, enterprising, and magnanimous men of his day. At once valiant, learn- Bd, eloquent, and witty, he gave brilliancy to all these qualities by temperance and activity. I speak of Csesar as a man, and not as the subduer of his country's liberties. But, in truth, it was not so much Ceesar, as it was the Roman people themselves, who enslaved the republic. Their vices, their passions, their factions, overthrew the fair fabric of freedom, which had been reared by the courage and frugality of their ancestors : and it maybe safely laid down as a maxim, that no people can be enslaved by their own great men, ii they are true to themselves. Upon the death of Julius Ceesar, after the punish- ment of his assassins, Augustus having overthrown all his rivals, became emperor, and under republican forms of government wa& the absolute master of tlie Roman world. Confiding wholly neither in the peo- ple nor in the soldiery^ he interposed the majesty of HISTORICAL LETTERS. 101 the senate between himself and the latter, and claim- ed their obedience as the first magistrate of the re- public : whilst, to crush the first movements of re- bellion in the empire, and to awe. the populace of the citj, he instituted the Preetorian Guardg, which ori- ginally consisted of nine or ten thousand men, di- vided into as many cohorts. Vitellius increased them to sixteen thousand, and they never afterwards sunk much below that number. These favored troops were distinguished by double pay and superior pri- vileges. Fearful of alarming and irritating the peo- ple, Augustus only stationed three cohorts in the city, the remainder being quartered in the adjacent towns of Italy ; but fifty years afterwards, when peace and servitude had enervated the minds of the Romans, Tiberius collected the whole body at Rome, in a permanent camp, fortified with skill and care, and placed in a commanding situation. It was thus that a military force was substituted for the will of the citizens ; and the moment the people lost their liber- ty, tliey lost their influence in the government. It became, in the end, a maxim with the emperors, that the fidelity of the army was all that was necessary to the stability of the throne. The courage and patriotism of the Romans under the republic, achieved and sustained its conquests. But the destruction of Carthage and the plunder of tiie east filled the city with riches ; these, in time, occasioned vast inequality of property, which, on the one hand produced indolence, pride, and personal ambition ; whilst, on the other, it infused into the lower classes a spirit of servility and indifference for national prosperity. Virtue, the great prop of na- tions, being dissipated by such causes, the emperors had to seek the means of defending their provinces and sustaining their grandeur in discipline, which, 1 2 it)2 IHSTORICAL LETTERS. SO long as it lasted, (connected with the ancient re- nown of the legions,) successfully guarded the Ro- man world from the incursions of the Barbarians. — But what had happened among the people during the republic in the election of their consuls, in time occur- red among the soldiery in the election of the empe- rors: donations and largesses corrupted the one as they had corrupted the other ; and as the corruption of the people had occasioned the destruction of the republic, so did the corruption of the soldiery bring on the ruin of the empire. Relaxed in their discipline, and feeling their own power, the legions made a traf- fic of the imperial throne, and on one occasion actu- ally set it up at public sale, when it was purchased by a rich senator of the name of Didius Julianus, a silly old man, who was beheaded as a common cri- minal after a reign of sixty-six days. The legions of the provinces held out the longest against corrup- tion ; but the circumstance that chiefly upheld their military reputation proved pernicious to the state. — Tiieir ranks were occasionally recruited from among the Barbarians, who, acquiring the art of war, in the sequel turned their arms against the empire, invited hordes of invaders from the most remote situations, and finally annihilated the dominion of the masters of the w^orkl. But that which more than any thing else precipi- tated the downf[ill of the Roman power, was the transfer of the seat of empire from Rome to Byzan- tium, by Constantine, from whom it has since borne the name of Constantinople. This event occurred A. D. 324, when Constantine adopted the Christian religion, and fought under the auspices of the Holy Cross. At length, a. d. 364, a solemn partition of the empire took place, Valentinian presiding over the empirs of the west, and Valens presiding over that HISTORICAL LETTERS. lOS of the east. This was a death-blow to the western empire, which included the citj of Rome, for it did not survive this division much longer than one cen- tury. The eastern empire can, in reality, be consi- dered as very little more than a fragment of the old Roman empire ; the provinces appertaining to it were situated chiefly in Asia ; and after having been gra- dually diminished by the different attacks of the Bar- barians of that quarter of the world, it entirely dis- appeared under the Turks, who took Constantinople by assault, and put an end to a dominion which had subsisted, from the time of Valens to that of Constan- tine Paleogolus, for nearly eleven hundred years, during which it successively bore the names of the empire of the east, the Greek empire, the empire of Constantinople, and tlie lower empire. It fell by the vices of the government and of the people. In the twelfth century it did not extend much further than the walls of the capital. In the thirteenth centu- ry Constantinople was captured by the Crusaders, of whom the greater part were French. They kept possession of it more than sixty years, under the de- nomination of empire of the French or Latins. The principal houses (or royal families) seated upon the throne of Constantinople, during the eleven centu- ries that the empire of the east had subsisted, were the Theodosian, the Justinian, the Heraclian, the Isaurian, the Phrygian, the Macedonian ; tliose of Ducas, of Comnena, of Angelo, of Flanders, of Cour- tenay, of Brienne, of Cantacuzene, and of Paleogo- lus. It was A. D. 1453 that Mahomet the second got possession of Constantinople, and commenced the Turkish empire in Europe, which hais continued down to our time§ under twenty-two emperors of the same family. 104 HISTORldAL LETTERS. Tbe Romans originally borrowed their laws from tbe Greeks. Three hundred years after the founda- tioiA of the city the people were still governed by the arbitrary and uncertain decrees of their judges. On the complaints of the citizens ambassadors were sent to Athens to study the Grecian laws, a code of which they brought back with them, and ten men were chosen, under the title of Decemviri, to super- intend their institution. These caused the laws to be inscribed on ten tables, which thereafter occasion- ed them to be called the laws of the ten tables : two tables having been subsequently added to the ten, they have, from that circumstance, since taken the name of the laws of the twelve tables. These De- cemviri were made absolute for a year, during which all other magistrates were suspended. At the end of the year they refused to lay down their power, but became the tyrants of the republic, maintaining their usurped authority by force : but the people final- ly expelled them, and for that time preserved their freedom. These laws, the basis of the Roman juris- prudence, grew and improved with the increase and prosperity of the republic and the empire. Univer- sal toleration in religion prevailed ; philosophy and philosophers were generally patronised ; the magis- trates were enlightened and respected ; the freedom of the city was liberally extended to the vanquished ; colonies and municipal towns were established and generally fostered ; the Greek and Latin languages were cherished in those parts of the empire where they respectively predominated or were interwoven with the prejudices of the people, whilst among the polished classes of society both languages were cul- tivated with success ; with this difference, however, that the Latin was the language of the law, and the Greek most commonly that of science and literature* HISTORICAL LETTERS. 105 The Romans, like the Greeks, had their slaves, the treatment of whom varied according to the variation of manners. Italy and the provinces were covered with monuments, many of which were erected at private expense, and the most of them were for public use, consisting of temples, theatres, aqueducts, &c. The ruins of these attest in our times their former magni- ficence. The roads were extensive and excellent ; navigation was encouraged, agriculture and the arts of luxury found a protecting hand ; foreign trade was patronised ; and, in fiue, every thing was at- tended to that could promote the wealth and happi- ness of the inhabitants of so extensive an empire. — ■ Intervals of peace and universal felicity brought on imperceptibly the decline of courage and of genius, and eventually produced that degeneracy which yielded to the vigor of the Barbarians. The old Ro- man empire ended a. d. 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor. C. LETTER XVI. Sacred History. THE influence which the introduction of Chris- tianity has had upon human affairs, and, particularly, its instrumentality in rescuing mankind from the ignorance and tyranny of those governments which were established upon the ruins of the Roman power, render it necessary to enter briefly into an analysis of Sacred History. In the year 4004 before Jesus Christ we date the creation, or birth oi Adam, The 106 HISTORICAL LETIeBTS,, description of this period acquaints us with the cir- cumstances of the formation of the world, and de^ monstrates to men their immediate connexion with their Creator. The facts rehated rest upon tlie au- thority of the Bible, which is composed oi two parts, the Old and the JS\w Testaments. The Old Testa- ment contains Genesis, w4iich describes the creation, and embraces a period of two thousand years : Ex- odus, wliich gives us the departure of the Israelites from Egypt : Leviticus, containing the law of tiie priesthood : Numbers, or recapitulation of the peopled and Deuteronomy, or recitation of the law. These five books were written by Moses, and are called the Pentateuch. They form the most antique monument with which we are acquainted, and comprise a body of laws which, by a very singular duration, are ob- served by a people still existing. The book of Je- shua, is the history of his ov»'n times. The book of Judges gives the names and thie history of the Judges : The book of Ruth, ascribed to Samuel, is a private history. The four books of Kings give the history of Israel for six hundred years. Paralipomena, or things forgotten, is commonly called the two books of Chronicles. The tvv^o books oi Esdras give us the history of, and after, the captivity of the Jews. The four books 0- Tobit,* Judith,* Esther, and Job, are private histories. The one hundred and fifty Fsalms, were written principally by David. The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, by Solomon. — The book of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and the books of the Prophets. There are sixteen Prophets, of whom four are called the Great Prophets, from the importance o: their writings ; namely, Isaiah, Jere- miah, with his secretary Baruch ; Ezekiel, and Da- niel. The twelve others are the lesser Prophets ; that is to say, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Abdias, JonaK HISTORICAL LETTERS. "107 Micah, Nahirni, Habbakiik, Zephanial), Haggai, Za- cheriah, and Malacbi. The two books of Maccabees* conclude the Sacred History of the Old Testament, 130 years before Jesus Christ. In all forty-five books, according to the decision of the council of Trent, All the books marked thus (*) are admitted as canonical by the Roman, but not by the Protes- tant, Church. The books of tlie New Testament are, the four Evangelists, that is to say, St. Matthew, St. Maiic, St. Luke, and St. John. The Acts of the Apos- tles. Fourteen epistles of St. Pa* About the middle of the fourth century the Pelagians sprung up from Pelagius, a native of Britain, whose original name was Morgan : he held that the general resurrection of the dead does not follow from our Savior's resurrection ; that rich men cannot enter into Heaven unless they part with their estates, &c : his doctrines spread far over the world, and were vigorously opposed by the orthodox party. Monta- nus, a Phrygian by birth, founded the sect of the Montanists" about the latter end of the second centu- ry ; he pretended to inspiration and great favor with the Holy Ghost, a. d. 429, Nestorius, bishop of Con- stantinople, broached the Nestorian heresy ; he taught that there were two natures in Christ, and two per- sons, the divine and the human : this heresy was con- demned by the council of Ephesus, and Neslorius was deposed and banished by the emperor Theodo- sius : one Sergius, a Nestorian monk, assisted Ma- homet in writing the Koran, and another got himself declared king in the province of Indostan, and grew famous by the name of PresteV'-John. The Priscil- lianistshad their rise from one Priscillian, a Spaniard, and bishop of Avila: he pretended to work miracles by magic, held the principal notions of the Manichees, and maintained that it was lawiul to make false oaths to support oae's cause and interest : this heretic, with all his followers, was beheaded a. d. 382, by order of the emperor Maximus. The Sabellians sprung from Sabellius, who taught that there was but one person in the Trinity. The Sethians worshipped Seth, the son of Adam, whom they contended was Jesus Christ : they were guilty of great debaucheries. The most ancient sect of heretics was the Simonians, followers of Simon Magus, from whom the greatest number of heresies took their rise : they w^orshipped him as s '1 HISTORICAL LETTERS. 123 god, and were guilty of great lewdness. The Ta- tianites arose from one Tatian, who taught the notions of the Valentinians and Marcionites, and held that Adam and Eve could not be saved. The sect of Zacheans sprung from Zacheus, about the middle of the fourth century : he held that God required of men nothing but prayer. The Zanzalians sprung from Zanzales, a native of Syria; he rejected bap- tism by water, and held that they ought to baptize with fire, and all his disciples were branded with a red hot iron three times, in the name of the Fathei-, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Jovinians sprung from Jovinian, a monk of Milan, who held that when a man has received grace in baptism he can never lose it : they existed about the latter end of the fourth cen- tury. About tlie beginning of the same century Me- lecius, bishop of Licopolis, in Egypt, founded the sect of Melecians : they rejected all Christians that had apostatised, and hung little bells to the bottoms of their garments, and sung their prayers, dancing all the time to appease the wrath of God. Sabbatlius, a Jew, instituted another sect, who propagated a mix- ture of Christian and Jev*'ish doctrines. The Satur- ninians had for their founder one Saturninius, a philo- sopher of Antioch : he taught that God created seven angels, who created the world, with tv'o kinds of men; the good, who v/ere to be saved, and the bad, who were to be condemned. These were all^the he- retics of any note in the primitive church. Heresy is understood by Divines to mean a total deviation from the principles of the Christian faith; schism is to divide the church and disturb its peace without any just cause ; and blasphemy consists in ascribing any thing to the Deity unbecoming the perfections of his Godhead. By the common law blasphemy is defined 'taconsist in the denial of the being and providence of 124 HISTORICAL LETTERS. God, and a reproaching of the holy name of Jesub Christ. In the year of our Lord 314, Constantino the Gr^at 'embraced the Christian religion, but was not baptized till a short time before his death: he issued an order that all the revenues appropriated for the support of |j the heathen temples should be bestowed on the Chris- tian clergy. J[n the fourth century, a. d. 325, the famous council of Nice met, and formed the creed whicii bears their name, and this creed was confirm- ed in a general council at Constantinople, a. d. 381. It cannot be disguiseil that the Christian clergy, as ^oon as tlwyhad got a civil establishment, still smart- ing witli injuries, turned persecutors and pursued the heathens with rigor instead of pious persuasions. Pilgrimages to places supposed to be holy began to take place in the fourth century ; as did the giv- ing the Eucharist to children about the end of it. — In the fifth century the bishops of Rome began to make great progress towards Papal power ; and ima- ges began to be placed upon the altars in Christian churches : the practice of having god-fathers for children was also introduced in this age, t\ie reason of which seems to have been, that the parents of ma- ny c!iildren were heathens, and it was necessary to have some of the faithful as surety. In the sixth century the bishops of Rome claim^ed a saperiority over ali the other bisliops, and this was acquiesced in. In the seventh century the papal power was pretty fijinly established, and the popds were honor- ed with the tiara, or triple crown. This word Fope, is from the Latin word Fapa, (a father,) and was a name given to all bishops till the time of pope Gre- gory the seventh, when it was appropriated to the bishops of Rome : it was in the seventh century tliat the Lord's prayer was first publicly read in the HISTORICAL LETTERS. 125 churches, and organs introduced. In the eighth cen- tury the papal power made great progress, and the ceremony of kissing the pope's toe was practiced, the emperor Justinian being the first who submitted to it, A. D. 711. During tlie ninth century the popes be- came very powerful in politics as well as in religion. In the tenth century the temporal power of the popes increased so much that the greatest Christian princes thought it an honor to be allied to them. In the ele- venth century the celebrated Hildebrand Vvas pope, under the name of Gregory the seventh : the cardi- nals, originally Popish priests in Rome, had now the red hat given them as an ensign of their dignity : the cardinals are seventy in number, divided into three classes, namely : six cardinal bishops, fifty cardinal priests, and fourteen cardinal deacons : these com- pose the sacred college, elect the pope, and have ab- solute power durin"; the vacancy of the hoi v see : the dress of the cardinal is a red sattane, a rochet, a short purple mantle, and a red hat : Hildebrand rais- ed i\\e authority of the popes very high. In the ele- venth century the crusades took place, promoted by the ecclesiastical zeal of the ao;e : there were eij^ht of these crusades, the last of them took place a. d, 1280 : and it is calculated that above two millions of men, the flower of the youth and nobility of Europe, perished in them. In the thirteenth century pope Boniface the eighth assumed the power of deposing princes^and instituted the jubilee to be observed once every century. The fourteenth century was distinguished by several conflicts betv/een the popes and temporal princes. In the fifteenth century the popes thought their power fully established, although some sparks of Protestantism began to appear in tiie atmosphere of the church. In the sixteenth century Luther gave impetus to what is called the reformation, L 2 H6 historical letters. which has given birth to an infinitude of sects, all pro- fessing Christianity. From the time of St. Peter the Roman Catholic church reckons about two hundred and fifty popes, including Pius VII. who, a. d. 1801, entered into the Concordat with France, and in 1804 went to Paris to crown the emperor Napoleon. His holiness was afterwards degraded and made a prison- er of by Napoleon ; biit was restored to his freedom and dignity on the overthrow of that emperor. In the year ot our Lord 726, a great dispute arose in the . church concerning images, which endured for one | hundred and twenty years ; and in 787 was held the Seventh general council of Nice against the Icono- clasts, or Image-breakers. There were ten consi- derable persecutit)ns against the Christians, to wit : 1. Under Nero ; 2. Domitian ; 3. Trajan ; 4. Marcu* Aurelius ; 5. Severus; 6. Maximinus; 7. Decius ; 8. Valerian ; 9. Aurelian; and 10. Under Galerius and Dioclesian. At the end of the second and be- ginning of the third century, the monkish life took its rise in Egypt in the deserts of the Thebais : the first monks were the Anchorites who lived separate- ly ; they were established by Paul the hermit ; and the Cenobites, who lived in communion ; these last were instituted by St. Anthony, a. d. 5 1 6. the Chris- tian era was brought into vogue by Dennis the Small. A. D. 609, Mahomet preached a new religion, and | produced in Asia a revolution in the religious and * political world. About the year 755 the temporal power of the popes was established by the donations of Pepin and Charlemagne. The Danes were con- verted to Christianity in 946, and the Russians in 986, by the marriage of Wlodomir, duke of Kiovia, with tlie sister of the emperor of Constantinople. The first crusade, or Holy War, took place in 1096. In 1 1 13 the Ilospitali^rs^ of St. John of Jerusjilem. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 127" {since knights of Malta,) were founded. In 1191, the Teutonic order was founded in Germany. Be- tween 1204 and 1209 the Inquisition was establish- ed. In 1377 the Wickliffites, or Lollards, arose in England; and in 1410 the Hussites in Bohemia: these were the earliest dissenters from the authority of the popes. It was A. D. 15 15, that Luther took his stand against fhe church of Rome. In 1522 the Anabaptists sprung up : In 1533 the church of England was separated from the Roman church: in 1534 the society of Je- suits was established by Ignatius Loyola: this sect is noted for the cunning of its maxims, as well poli- tical as religious : the founder was originally a sol- dier. In 1535 Calvin commenced the propagation of his doctrine. In 1545 a general council was held at Trent against the Lutherans. The Hugonots sprung up in France in 1560. In 1565 the Molinists arose. In 1568 the bull In con a Domini was issued. In 1569 the Puritans arose in England ; and in 1608 the Armenians in Holland. In 1610 more than nine hundred thousand Moors were chased out of Spain on account of their religion. The Jansenists had their origin in 1653. The Quakers, or Society of Friends, sprung up in England in 1655.. In 1685 was the revocation of the edict of Nantz ; an edict which had been issued for the protection of the Pro- testants in France ; and the revocation of which caused the emigration of numbers of French families, many of which came to America. In 170.0 the bull Um^'pnitiis was issued, which caused great troubled in France. In 1773, the society of Jesuits was sup- pressed, having been found to meddle too much in the affairs of government. I have thus given a history of the church as briefly as possil^k, including an account of its early heresi^ 128 HISTORICAL LETTERS. its rise, power, progress and divisions; wijich, inde*' pendently of the edification it may afford the reader, will serve to convince him of the Divine origin of a system that has stood so many shocks and continued to flourish amidst such a series of corruptions. . It is a pleasing reflection that the governments of Europe appear to be growing more tolerant in reli- gious matters. The inquisition is nearly if not en- tirely abolished : Protestants are tolerated in France ; and Roman Catholics in Great Britain have a certain latitude of conscience allowed them, although still shcrt of what in reason ought to prevail. But in he- reditary monarchies, where an established church is necessary to prop the throne, perhaps a liberal tole,' ration is all that may be expected. Religious liberty, is the boast of the citizens of the United States ; and the sacred regard to this freedom of Christian v/or- ship manifested by our most enlightened magistrates, acting in the true spirit of our glorious constitution, may be discerned in the official veto which James Madison, president of the United States, put upon two bills enacted by Congress in the session of 1810- 1 1, which slightly involved the subject. Let us liope that these precedents will be adhered to through all successive changes of parties and politics. C. LETTER XYIL Re-estaUishment of Government and^ Laivs, after the Fall of the Roman Empire^ among the Barba^ rians who effected its overthrow, THE various hordes of Barbarians that overturned the power of Rome were as free as they v/ere martial,; mSTORISAL LETTERS. 129 and the spoils of a predatory incursion, or the dura- ble advantages of a permanent conquest, as they were achieved by a common effort of valor, so they were shared in common among the chieftains and their fol- lowers. The cement of their union, whilst they were in pursuit of plunder and a place of residence, was the desire of the necessaries of life and of a new home : but when that desire was gratified by success, ii prevailing sense of danger in the midst of a hostile country, and the necessity of defending, if they wish- ed to enjoy, what they had acquired, compelled them to adopt a system of polity for the general security. Each individual of these hordes, hitherto accustomed to consult nothing but his own inclinations, was in- duced to barter a part- of his personal independence for tlie assurance of quiet possession and enjoyment of the spoils assigned him. Every freeman, upon receiving a portion of tlie lands which were divided, was bound to appear in arms against the enemies of the community. The condition upon which he re- ceived and held his lands, was this obligation to per- form military service. The king, or general, who led them to conquest, had the largest portion allotted to him as the head of the colony: he parcelled out his lands, binding those on whom they were bestowed to resort to his«tandard with a number of men, in pro- portion to the extent of the territory they received, and to bear arms in his defence : the chief oilicers imitated the example of their sovereigns, distributed their lands among their dependents, and annexed the same condition to the grant. This arrangement is called the feudal system, and was in the end pro- ductive of petty intestine wars, of much bloodshed, and of a state of general anarohy. The powerful vassals of the crown extorted a confirmation ibr life of those grants of land which at tirst had been be» 130 1 HISTORICAL LETTERJ5. stowed only 'during pleasure: they next procured them to be converted into hereditary possesions, and finally prevailed to have them rendered unalienable. They also appropriated to themselves titles of honor as well as offices of power and tfust ; and these per- sonal marks of distinction, the legitimate reward of merit and abilities alone, were annexed to certain families and transmitted from father to son by here- ditary riglit. They succeeded likewise in obtaining the power of supreme jurisdiction, both civil and cri- minal, within their own territories ; the right of coin- ing money, and the privilege of carrying on war against their private enemies in their own name and by their own authority. The nobles at last, scorn- ing to consider themselves as subjects, openly aspir- ed at independence : kingdoms, powerful in name and extent, were broken into as many separate pi'in- cipalities as they contained powerful barons. Europe, filled with the contests of these lords, was covered with castles and places of strengtli for the protec- tion of the inhabitants against internal hostilities ; the people were in general reduced to a state of ac- tual servitude, and kings beheld themselves stripped of prerogative and power to enforce obedience to their mandates. This state of society and govern- ment endured in Europe from the seventh to the ele- venth centurj^ The superior genius of Charlemagne, for a moment, united all these disjointed and discor- dant members, and forming them again into one bo- dy, restored to government that degree of activity which distinguishes his reign. Upon his death, the genius which animated and sustained the vast system which he had establisiied being v^^ithdrawn, it fell in- to pieces, and a still more dreadful anarcliy afflicted the kingxloms into which his empire was split. HISTORICAL LETTERS*. 131 The disorders in the feudal system had attained their utmost point of excess about the close of the eleventh century. From that era the return of go- vernment and manners in a contrary direction may be dated. The first cause of this regeneration was the crusades, or expeditions to rescue the Holy I collection of ;dl the French Fiistorians, from the origin of the monarchy to Philip Augustus ; it was continued by liis son to the time of Philip-le-Bel. Sully, the celebrated friend of Henry VI. and a great statesman ; his memoirs, arranged by the abbe de i'EchisejgivejWith great, interest, the reigns of Charles IX. Henry III. and Henry iV. The Sairite Marthes, celebrated by their genealogical history of tiie house of France. Dupleix, historiographer of France, wrote memoirs of the Gaels, which is much esteemed as an introduction to Fiench history. Pere- lixe, who wrote the history of Henry IV. in an easy style. Gomberville, who has left a tract upon tlie ori.y;in of the French. I^e Laboureur, distinguished by his excellent edition of the memoirs of Castelnau. The Cardinal de Retz, celebrated by his politics and memoirs of the troubles of the Fronde. Mezerai, who has given a larjie history of France in three vols, folio, and is more distinguislied by the bulk than the excellence of his writings. Vittoris Siri, an Italian abbe and historiographer of France, chiefly distin- guished by his Mercory or history of the times and his memoirs. Du Cange, who has left, among a great number of learned works, the history of Constantino- ple under the French emperors. Madame de Motte- ville, favorite of Anne of Austria, has left memoirs of that princess. Madem.oiselle de Montpensier, has left some speculative memoirs. Father Ansel m, has left a genealogical and chronological history of the house of France, and of the great otBcers of the crov> n, HISTORICAL LETTERS. 155 continued by Diifourny and fathers Ange and Sim- plicien. Varillas,has left the history of France from the birth of Louis XI. to the death of Henry IK.— Saint Simon, has left interesting memoirs upon the reign of Louis XIV. and. the times of the regency.-—. Le Loiig has left some very excellent historical col- lections relative to France. Count de Boulanvilliersjias written very well upon the history of France. Father Daniel has made some critical observations upon the liistojy of Mezeiai, which are much esteemed. Le Gendre has written upon the history, manners, and customs of the French, and is in good repute. Father Montfaucon has left monuments of tlie French monarchy in five vols, folio. Dubos, negotiator and historian, has given a methodi- cal and brilliant critical history upon the establishment of the French monarchy. Leaglet Dufiesnoy has left many historical works ; he is diffuse, obscure, and very agreeable ; his best work is his method of stu- dying history. Valley has written a general history of France down to Philip-de-Valois, in an easy, sim- ple, and natural style; it has been continued by Vil- laret and afterwards by Garnier. The President Hai- nault, has left a chronological work on the history of Fi-ance, and is much esteemed. Duclos has left some memoirs, and the life of Louis XL The abbe Millot, who died in 1785, has leTt the elements of the history of France. The abbe Mabiy, who also died in i785, has left many historical monuments, parti- cularly his considerations upon French history. Be- sides these, there is Voltaire's Age of Louis XIV. and that of Louis XV. and the interesting works of An- quetil. ♦ 154 HISTORICAL LETTERS. LETTER XIX. Formation of the Kingdoms and States of Modern Europe, after the fall of the Roman Empirey Continued. ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES, IRELAND: AT PRESENT FORMING THE UNITED KINGDOMS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. ENGLAND, still barbarous under tlie name of Britain, shared the fcite common to other nations : she was subjugated bj tlie Romans in the first century of the Christian era, and remained in a state of sub- jection nearly four hundred years. 1 ranquil under the protection of Rome, the Britons presently aban- doned their repugnance to the blessings of peace, and, relinquishing the rude exercise of arms, betook themselves to the cultivation oi arts more congenial to human happiness. Dozing for this period of time in the lap of security, they became effeminate; and when the Romans,(pressed on all sides by the Bar- barians of the North, were obliged to abandon their remote possessions and concentre their legions, the Britons were unable to oppose the inroads of their neighbors the Scots and Picts. In this dilemma they had recourse, according to the custom of the times, to one description of Barbarians to defend them from another ; they called in the Angles and Saxons, who, arriving from the coasts of Holland and of Holstein, plundered those whom they had promised to defend. The Britons, assailed by these perfidious allies, were destroyed or dispersed ; the fugitives took shelter in the mountainous country of Wales, or emigrated to one of the provinces of Gaul, which, from them, ' HISTORICAL LETTERS. 155 took the name of Little Britain, and retains it to this daj. A striking analogy in the language of the two people still attests this catastrophe, at the dis- tance of thirteen centuries. Nothing is more com- mon than to see the sailors of Wales or Eritanv, whom the, chance of war throws into the power of each other, astonished to find themselves speaking the same language. In the midst of their surprize they thank heaven for the singular favor, and enjoy the benefit of being understood, without the least surmise of the ancient misfortune that occasioned it. The Anglo-Saxons, become masters of Britain, founded seven kingdoms in their new conquest ; and their history, comprised under the title of the Ifep- tarchi/y presents nothing but scenes of battles, mur- ders, and pillage, the natural consequences of such dangerous divisions. About the commencement of the ninth centur}^ Egbert, the inheritor or the con- queror of all these kingdoms, gave a more settled form to the government ; and it is at this epoch that we begin to feel interested in the details of the En- glish monarchy. Seven families, in succession, have since occupied the throYie : the Saxon, the Danish, the Norman, the Anjouvine, those of Tudor, of Stu- art, and of Brunswick. The three first obtained the crown by conquest; the four last reached it by in- heritance. It is not necessary to dwell upon the Saxons and Danish families ; we lose sight of their wars and revolutions in the invasion of the Normans, which occasioned a complete change in the laws, customs, property, and language. Family of nN*ormandy, Rollo, chief of one of those troops of northern ad- venturers, who ravaged the central parts of Europe 156 HISTORICAL LETTERS. during the Hinth and tenth centuries, received from Charles-the-Simple, under the title of a duchy, a Con- siderable establishment on the western coast of France. Kollo and his band tixed themselves in this country, which, from them, took the name of Nor- mandy. William, surnamed the Bastard, from the circumstance of his birth, and the Conqueror, from his success in arms, was the heir of this famous Rollo, and the sixth in descent from him. Troubles and revolutions had, for a long time, agitated the neigh- boring island ; and its inhabitants had long been ac- customed to derangement in tlie order of royal suc- cession ; the vSaxons and the Danes had, in turn, oc- cupied the throne: Edward the Confessor, ot the Saxon line, having died, such was the aversion of the English to the Saxon yoke, tliat they were induced^ to elevate to the throne an individual named Harold, to the detriment, at the same time, of the oftspring of the Saxon family, Edgar Atheling, who w^as only an infant, and not equal to the task of governing in tnose turbulent times. I^Ieanwhile appeared William the Bastard, duke of Normandy; his court had served as an asylum to Edward the Confessor, when this prince had been unfortunate, and during the prospe- rity of Edward he had visited him in London. Wil- liam pretended that the grateful monarch had made a will in his favor : and it is upon this title, (which he never exhibited,) that all his pretensions rest ; but the battle of Hastings, in which his rival lost his life, was to him a much stronger title. W^illiam reii*;ned over subjugated England, and Ijis family possessed the crown sixty-nine years. Matiida, the last prin- cess of tills house, transferred the succession by mar- riage to that of Anjou. HISTORICAL LETTERS, 1^,7 Family of Anjoiu Geoffry Plantagenet, who espoused Matilda, was count of Anjou; his mother was heiress of Maine ; and his father, who had espoused in second marriage the heiress of Jerusalem, went to regn in Asia, where his posterity of the second bed did not become ex- tinct till the third generation. Henry, the son of Ma- tilda, the first of the Plantagenents who came to reign in England, was, therefore, heir of England and Nor- mandy in right of his mother; of Maine, Anjou, and Touraine, in riglit of his father ; and to these bene-- fits he united immense possessions by marrying Ele- onora, heiress of Aquitaine, who brought with her all the western provinces of France from the Loire ta tlie Pyrennees. It was with these patrimonial ad- vantages that the house of Anjou was established irt England, wliere it reigned three hundred years, pro- duced the most brilliant sovereigns of the monarchy, and furnished the most important materials for his- tory. Henry II. Edward I. Edward III. and Henry V. are princes who are recollected with pleasure.— Their victories, their conquests, and their laws, are equally worthy of praise and remembrance : whilst* on the other hand, the reverses, the misfortunes, and the tragical end of this celebrated house, have furnish- ed abundant reflections to the politicians and phi- losophers of every succeeding age in every country. The family of Anjou finished its career on the field of battle. It was there thai the house of Tudor, which came in by the female line, gathered its bloody -spoils. Family of Tudor* The Tudors, who are asserted by some authors to be descended from the ancient princes of Wales, O 158 HISTORICAL LETTERS* whilst others will hardly allow them the title of sim- ple gentlemen, are indebted for their first instance of good fortune to Owen Tudor, who became the hus- band of Queen Catherine of France, widow of Henry v. This illustrious marriage procured for the son of Owen another alliance, still more profitable. Ed- mund (that was his name) espoused Margaret of Somerset, whose son became, by the contests of the two roses, the representative of the Lancastrians and heir to the English throne. This family reigned up- wards of a century, and among the sovereigns which it produced, two more especially occupy the atten- tion of history, Henry VHI. so famous by the tyran- ny of his government and the capriciousness ol his character ; and Elizabeth, admirable for her great ability, the extent of her views, and the grandeur of her genius. She was the last of her house, and the crown passed from her into the family of the Stuarts, who were the nearest relations and the true heirs. Family of the Stuarts, Walter, Seneschal or Steward of Scotland, whose office has served as a name for his descendants, had espoused the sister and heiress of the last king ; and it was by this marriage that the Stuarts were called to the throne. No family ever presented such a suc- cession of misfortunes as was experienced by this. Those who believe in the influence of happy and un- happy fortune, may reflect at their leisure upon the vicissitude of good and evil whicli distinguishes the history of this family. Robert III. second king of this house, died oi grief at the imprisonment of his son, whom Henry IV. king of England, unjustly de- tained. James I. came to the throne after eighteen years of captivity in England, and perished in his bed HISTORICAL LETTERS. 159 of twenty-six sword wounds inflicted by the hands of his subjects. James II. who was king at seven years of age, perished by a cannon shot at the siege of Rox- burgh. James III. reached the throne when seven years old, and perished in battle against his subjects. James IV. v^as killed in the battle of Flowdon against the English. James V. who was king when one year and an half old, died in a war against the English, of chagrin at his disasters. A week before his death he lost his tv/o sons in one day. Mary, a queen from her infancy, perished upon the scaffold, after a cap- tivity of eighteen years. The Stuarts then passed to the throne of England, but misfortune still accom- panied them : Charles I. was decapitated by his subjects, and James II. lost the throne by his bigotry. The reign of the Stuarts is one of the most stormy and important epochs of the English monarchy: it is equally interesting in politics and philosophy ; for great statesmen and enlightened individuals. This family endured for more than one hundred years, and was succeeded by that of Brunswick; which occupies tlie English throne at this day. Faintly of Brunswick^ The origin of this family, illustrious by its antiquity as well as by its power, is lost in the obscurity of the first modern centuries : the genealogists trace it up to the Roman Consuls, three hundred years after Jesus Christ ; but historians carry it no higher than Azo of Este, who lived in the year one thousand. This prince, who was margrave of Liguria and of Tuscany, espoused in Germany the heiress of the Welfs, or Guelphs, a famous Bavarian family. The fruits of this marriage were two children : the eldest inherited the name and the goods of the mother, and 160 HISTORICAL LETTERS. was the founder in Germany of the house of the Welfs ; the younger remained in Italy upon his pater- nal estates, and continued the house of Este. The family of the Welfs, by judicious marriages and much good fortune, became in a very little time renowned and powerful. Scarcely a century had elapsed from its establishment in Germany, when it found itself in possession of tlie duchies of Saxony and Bavaria, in a much greater extent than they wefe in 1806. If to these Germanic possessions we add a <2onsiderable inheritance beyond the Alps, that of the Countess Matilda, it may be said that the Guelphs, in the twelfth century, could proceed from the shores of the Baltic to the banks of the Tiber, without going beyond the limits of their possessions. But the mo- ment arrived when this surprising fortune, which had been so rapidly accumulated, was to disappear with equal celerity. The house of the Welfs had become, by its po^er, an object of universal fear and jealousy. Henry the Lion was its chief. Having brought on a quarrel with the emperor and the States by his haugh- tiness and imprudence, he was put to the ban of the empire, proscribed, despoiled of his sovereignties, and reduced to the allodial possessions of his house, which were thecountry of Brunswick, of Lunenburg, and of Hanover. This event occurred about the year 1182, It is celebrated in Germany on account of the rich spoils which it furnished and the revolutions of for- tune that it occasioned. Many sovereignties, some ec- clesiastical, some laical, were elevated upon the ruins of the Guelphs ; many others were increased at their expense ; in fine, many imperial cities, such as Lu- beck and Ratisbon, for example, owe their origin to this famous catastrophe. The posterity of Azo of Este in Germany, after this great misfortune, changed their name from Guelph to that of Brunswick, derived HISTORICAL LETTERS. !6l from their territories, which have since been erected into a diichj of the Empire. William, (the Long- Sword), tlie third son of the unhappy Henry the Lion, was the father of the first duke, and tlie head of many branches, who all reigned over morsels of their ducal patrimony. At this time there only exist two branches oi this illustrious house ; the eldest, which remains in Germany ; and the youngest, which occu- pies the English throne. The cliief foreign wars of England have been three. 1. That with Wales, which endured until the union of the two countries in 1283. 2. That with Scotland, which lasted until its union with England in 1603. 3. The wars with France, which were continued almost incessantly ti-ll the English lost their provinces on the continent of Europe. The religious troubles were, those of Thomas-a- Becket, under Henry II. the famous troubles under John Lackland : those of the Wickliffites or Lollards, under Edward III. the reformation under Henry VIII. of Protestantism under Edward VI. the troubles of Catholicism, which was re-established by Mary : of Protestantism, under Elizabeth: of the Presbyterians, under James and Charles I. of Catholicism under James II. Of civil wars and troubles, the most remarkable were, those between Henry I. and Robert his eldest brother : those between Stephen and Matilda : be- tween Henry II. and his children : between John Lackland and the barons: those between Henry III. and the barons : between Edward II. and his wife Isabella : the insurrection of Wat Tyler under Rich- ard II. the conflict between Richard II. and Henry IV. his cousin : the famous civil war of the two roses: the insurrection of tanner Ket, under Edward VI. the catastrophe of Lady Jane Grey : the wars of Charles o 2 162 ' HISTORICAL LETTERS. I. against the Parliament ; the invasion of Charles 11. under Cromwell : the expulsion of James II. the first enterprise of the Pretender in 1715; and the second enterprise of the Pretender in 1745. The titles of honor in England are, 1. The Dukes, created bv Edward III. 2. The Marquisses, created bj Richard II. 3. The Earls, who existed before the Norman conquest : 4. The Viscounts, created by Hen- ry VI. 5. The Barons, who came in at the conquest: These five classes alone form the whole nobility of England, and compose the House of Lords in Parlia- ment. They are styled my lords, and are magistrates and legislators born. Their nobility and its prero- gatives do not descend to all the children, but solely and inevitably to the eldest amongst them. Besides these, there are the Knights Baronets, crea- ted by James I. in 1611 : the Knights of the Garter, by Edward III. in 1350 : the Knights of the Bath, revived by George I. in 1725 : the Knights ot the Thistle, revived by Queen Anne in 1 703 : and the Knights of St. Patrick, created by George III. in 1783 There have been six minorities of the English crown, namely, 1. Henry III. at eight years of age, under the protectorship of the Earl of Pembroke : 2. Edward III. at fourteen years of age, who was under the guardianship of a council directed by Isabella : 3. Richard II. when eleven years old, under a council directed by his uncles : 4. Henry VI. at nine months old, under the protectorship of Bedford, his uncle: 5. Edward V. at twelve years of age, under the re- gency of Gloucester, his uncle : 6. Edward VI. at ten years of age, under the protectorship of his uncle Somerset. The Courts of Justice are, the House of Lords, which is the Supreme Court : the Court of Chancery, HISTORICAL LETl'ERS. 163 in which the Chancellor is the sole judge : the Court of King's Bench, composed of four judges : the Court of Common Pleas, composed also of four judges : and the Court of Exchequer, likewise composed of four judges. These twelve judges of England are nomi- nated by the king, and hold their places during good behavior. There is, moreover, an ecclesiastical court called Doctors Commons. All these courts are held in London. With respect to the counties, the twelve judges, once or twice annually, proceed through cer- tain circuits, two and two, in such a way that all the prisons in England are cleared of criminals at least once in each year. The supreme power of the English monarchy is vested in the king and the two houses of Parliament, the latter consisting of the Lords and the Commons. In ancient times, according to the feudal constitu- tion, none but the immediate vassals of the crown could be admitted into the legislative assembly: in the reign of William the first, these vassals did not amount to more than six hundred, and the whole land of the kingdom, in property or superiority, ex- clusive of the royal demesne, being divided among this small number of persons, the original members of Parliament were, in general, men of great wealth and power. Whilst their riches lasted, tliey very willingly attended in Parliament, to court prefer- ment, to assert their privileges, or to display their in- fluence and magnificence. But in the course of time the members of that assembly were subjected to great revolutions, their property was dismembered and subdivided, their numbers increased, the rank and consideration of individuals were impaired, and ma- ny of those who had appeared in eminent stations were reduced to poverty and obscurity. These changes are attributed to three different causes, viz. 164 HISTORICAL LETTERS. the constant struggle between the crown and aristo- cracy; the advancement of arts and manufactures; and the divisions of landed property, by the course of legal succession, the cutting off of entails, &c. These changes produced a distinction between the great and the small barons, that is, between those nobles whose opulence enabled them still to attend their duty in Parliament and those lesser vassals of the crown whose diminished fortunes made them de- sirous of being exempted from it. The latter, there- fore, were, in the sequel, permitted to send repre- sentatives to Parliament, to whose expenses they contributed; and this was the first origin oi Knights^ of the Shire, This institution was as early as the reign of Edward III. After the boroughs had been incorporated, and had been raised by their trade to a degree of consideration and independence, they also began to send representatives to Parliament. The first recorded instance of the attendance of the Burgesses in Paiiiament, occurs in the 49th year of Henry III. but the number was not fixed, nor were they accustomed to give a regular attendance until the' twenty-third year of Edward 1. when directions were given to summon regularly the knights of the shires together with the Burgesses, of wliich, after the example of the former, two were generally sent from each borough; and from that period both these classes of representatives continued to be constant members of the legislature. The members of the great council, under the feudal government, were originally divided into two classes, the one composed of lay, the other of ecclesiastical, barons: in the con- . duct of national business tliey usually held sepa- rate conferences among tliemselves, and in joint meeting, instead of voting promiscuously, they deli- vered, upon the part of each, the result of their pre^ HISTORICAL LETTERS'. 165 vious deliberations: in all public transactions which they had occasion to determine, the concurrence of both way lield indispensable. Hence, by long custom, they became two separate estates, having each a ne- gative upon the resolutions of the legislature; when the Burgesses were admitted, they, too, obtained a separate voice in the assembly, and formed a third estate. The Burgesses were the representatives of the commercial part of the nation, and from their number and the weight of their influence, after they came to be regularly summoned to parliament m the reign of Edward I. they found it convenient to have a different place of meeting from the other members of Parliament, and began to form a separate body, ^vhich was called the House of Commons. The Knights of Shires continued for some time after, to sit in what now became the House of Peers. Al- though the small Barons were, in general, excused from personal attendance, yet, as crown vassals, they had still a title to vote in Parliament; and such of them as attended, even in consequence of an elec- tion, were at first considered in the same light with the greater nobility. By appearing frequently, how- ever, in the character of mere representatives, not only elected, but having their charges borne by their constituents, tlieir privilege of attending in their own right was gradually lost and forgotten. In con° sequence of the progressive alienation and division of landed property their personal influence was con- tinually sinking, while that of the mercantile people was rising in the same proportion; and, as these two classes were thus brought nearer to a level, the landed gentry were often chosen indiscriminately to repre- sent either the one or the other. In such a situation it became at length an obvious improvement, that the deputies of the counties and boroughs, as by the 166 HISTORICAL LETTERS. eircumstance of their being representatives, and re- sponsible to those who had appointed them, they were led into a similarity of procedure, should meet in the same house, aiid carry on their deliberations in com»non. It is conjectured by Carte the historian, that this change was not effected before the latter pat t oi the reign of Edward III. The coalition of these two orders of deputies may perhaps be regard- ed as the oreat cause of the authority acquired by the English House of Commons. After the mem- bers of Parliament had been accustomed to meet re- gularly in two separate places, the three estates were gradually melted down and lost, in the division of the two houses. The ecclesiastical and lay barons were led to promiscuous deliberation, which was promoted by the more regular establishment of go- vernment; and the progress of knowledge and the arts having diminished the power of the clergy, they seldom ventured a contest with the nobles, so tliat the two orders gradually sunk into the present Hcuss of Lords. The House of Commons, from the nature of its original establishment, (which was to furnish supplies to the crown,) obtained the sole power of bringing in money bills: in this business they were tuided by the instructions of their constituents, who xed the rate of assessment to which the representa- tives should consent. These instructions served to regulate the conduct of the members of the House of Commons, and precluded all deliberation: On these money-bills, therefore, the maivimutn o^ which was fixed by the constituents of the House of Commons, the House of Peers had only a simple assent or ne- gative, and this is supposed to have been the origin of the practice of money-bills originating in the po- pular branch of the legislature. A-- the commons in- terfered by degrees in legislation, and in various other HISTORICAL LETTERS. l6f branches of the business, their interpositions became too extensive and complicated to permit that they should be regulated by the opinion of constitutents living at a distance. In consequence of more liberal vievi^s, it came also to be considered as the duty of each representative to promote the good Oi the na- tion at large, even in op] osition to the interest of that particular community which he represented. I'he instructions, therefore, of constituents, were laid aside, or regarded as prod ucing^ no obligation, upon any set of deputies, to depart from the dictates of their own conscience. Upon the establishment of the two houses of Parliament, the supreme judiciary power was, on the other hand, appropriated to the House of Peers. This latter division of power was thus appropriated on account of the members of the House of Peers holding their seats in their own right, which the representatives did not, and from the in- structions to which the represent;atives were liable ; it being impossible for their constituents to instruct them on the subject of a law-suit, with the particulars of which they were unacquainted. The Peers, sitting in their own right, had the liberty of forming their opinions on the spot, and, by an immediate investiga- tion of the circumstances, were capable of deciding from the impressions made upon their own minds. The House of Lords being thus constituted the su- preme tribunal, the right of impeachment very ra- tionally fell into the hands of the Commons. The House of Lords is composed of an unlimited number ov English, of sixteen Scotch, and thirty-two Irish Peers: the House of Commons of four hundred and eighty-nine English members, chosen without any reference to local population; of forty-five Scotch members, twenty-four Welch members, and of one i68 HISTORI0AL LEtTERS. hundred Irish members. Scotland has thirty-three counties, England forty, Ireland thirty-two, and Wales twelve. The territory of Wales was united to that of England in 1282 by Edward 1. and thence- forward the King's eldest son has borne the title of Prince of Wales : A legislative union was formed between the two countries under Henry VIII. in 15S7. The territorial union of Scotland with Eng- land took place under James I. in 1G03, and the le- gislative union under Queen Anne in 1706. The territorial union of Ireland with England under Hen- ry II. in 117 2, and the legislative union under George III. in 1800. Exclusive of Ceylon and many other colonies, the Antilles, Canada, &c. the extent and population of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, were, in 1801, about fifteen thousand square leaguCvS and fourteen millions of inhabitants; their immediate possessions in the Indies thirty-seven thousand square leagues and twenty-three millions of inhabi- tants ; and their allies and tributary vassals in the same quarter, embraced about forty thousand square leagues and eighteen millions of inlmbitants. In 1800 the commerce of England employed eighteen thou- sand eight hundred and seventy-seven vessels, com- puted at one million nine hundred and five thousand four hundred and thirty-eight tons, and employing fortj^-three thousand six hundred and sixty one sea- men. In 181S, the debt of the British nation was computed at about six hundred millions of pounds sterling ; amounting to two billions six" hundred and forty millions of dollars of the United States. England, which, properly speaking, is onl}'^ a por- tion 0= the island of Britain, serves, occasionally, as a denomination for the whole British empire. The HISTORICAL LETTERS. 16^ present Parliament, which is called the Imperial Parliament^ is the only legislative body of the nation. Certain countries are visited for tlieir monuments : others for the mildness of their climate ; and some for the charms of society. But England is admired on account of her political institutions, her commer- cial operations, and the extent of her finances ; and in these aspects she unquestionably presents one of the most interesting objects of either ancient or mo- dern times : Her commerce is immense, her credit incalculable, owing as much to the vastness of her resources as to the nature of her government. Her colonies are gigantic ; their extent and their popula- tion surpass those of the parent country. England reckons, in her own bosom, simple individuals who, I under the name of a company ^ possess in the Indies a country more extensive, more populous, and richer than lierself The British empire, which elevates itself in the midst of the ocean, seems formed to rule the seas. Its situation, its habits, its genius, all conspire to give to it the sovereignty of that element ; \ and it is on this account that Great Britain is ranked among the first powers of Europe. She forms, with France, the two great weights of the political ba- lance, with which combine the other powers of Eu- rope, following their politics, their decisions and their ■views. This circumstance has established between the two countries a natural jealousy and constant ri- valry, which neither the habitual communication nor the reciprocal esteem of the two people can extin- X guish; but which the least excitement suffices, on the contrary, to increase to the highest degree ol irrita- tion. This inevitable evil, however, is not without its benefits : it nourishes the glory and the fine ac- tions of the two countries : it developes and keeps in motion, without cessation, all their faculties : it P irO mSTORieAL LETTERS. confirms their love of country, perfects their indus- try, animates discovery, enlivens the genius of men of letters, and promotes the arts and the sciences ; and, in this point of view, the national rivalry almost ceases to be an evil, and may be almost considered as a blessing. No reflecting Englishman or French- man can heartily wish for the total destruction of either England or France by tiie power of one or the other, because all history proves that the overthrow of the vanquished is soon followed by ihe ruin of the vanquisher. The contests betv/een Scotland and England, be- fore the union, were generally for superiority ; and although the genius of Scotland sometimes brighten- ed with success, yet that of England commonly pre- vailed. These contests produced many considerable men on both sides — but it was in the wars with France that the greatness of the English character was principally displayed. The battles of Cressy, of Poictiers, and of Agincourt, will forever immortalize the English name. The war of the two roses, was a conflict between two branches of the royal family for precedency, and lasted for tlurty years: it terminated in the marriage of the heiress of the House of York with Henry VII. wlio was of the House of Lancas- ter, after the almost total destruction of the members of both families. Ireland, of which the obscure annals lose them- selves in the night of time, was, of all the countries adjacent to England, the first to be conquered and the last to be incorporated. When the Danes and the Normans ravaged the western coasts of Europe, it was the first to fall into their hands ; but Ireland owes to these barbarians her first steps towards civili- zation ; they laid the foundations of her first cities ; Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Wexford, and Cork, HISTORICAL LETTERS. 171 were their work. From that time more than three hinidred years passed away under the domination of these first conquerors, when civil dissentions and lo- cal quarrels among their descendants brought upon them a new invasion and a new race of masters : it was that of the English, who, conducted by Richard Strongbow^ Earl of Pembroke, and other adventurers ofthat nation, made a descent on the island and soon subdued it. After some time, in which policy as well as arms vras emplo^^ed to secure the conquest, Ireland was declared a fief of the crown of England; and since that period her history has formed a part of that of England. The population of Ireland, estimated at five millions of inhabitants, embraces about three* Catholics for one Protestant ; and the Protestants being the dominant party, that is, the minority exercising the pov.er of the State, there is a per- petual agitation of the country by the efforts of the Catholics to regain their rights and the contri- vances of the Protestants to keep them in a state of subjugation. The principal English Historians are, Ingulph, Se- cretary of William the Conqueror, and the first His- torian after the conquest : William of Poictiers, Chaplain to the conqueror, who has left an esteemed history of the conc[uest : William of Malmsbuiy^ much esteemed ; Matthew Paris, a celebrated histo- rian, who concludes v/ith Henry III. ^latthew of Westminister, has culled the flowers of his predeces- sors, and concludes in 1307 : Froissard, who died in 1402, and was educated at the court of Edward III. Caxton, who introduced printing into England, and has left a general history down to 1483 : Sir Thomas More, chancellor under Henry VIII. who was deca- pitated in 1535, has written very finely tlie reign of Edward Y. and part ofthat of Richard III. Polydore 172 jaisTomcAL letters. Virgil, remained forty years in England, the most elegant writer of his time, but not the most faithful : .llollingshed, who died in 1580, one of the most esteemed chroniclers of his time : Buchanan precep- tor of James VI. the best Scotchwriter, eloquent and judicious, but much the enemy of the court : vStow, who spent forty years in the judicious collection of historical materials : Speed, author of the best Eng- Sisli Chronicle, which comes down to James I. Camb- den, famous hy his Britannia, or opinion of the in- habitants, laws, &c. has left an excellent history of Elizabeth: Lord Bacon, vidio died in 1626, has left 'ihe history of Henry VII. much esteemed : Sir R. •f^otton, whose name oudit to be held in honor by all the friends of science, devoted forty years to the col- lection, at a great expense, of a mass of manuscripts, which at this time compose one of the most precious monuments of England : Sir H. Spelman, famous for his Glossary, a real treasure of ancient customs and English constitutions : Sir U. Baker, author of a chronicle, died in 1644: Lord Herbert, who has written the reign of Henry VIII. Sir S. Dewees, has left a journal of the Parliament under Elizabeth. Selden, a man of prodigious science, famous by his work on titles of honor : Buck, under Charles I. the first avenger of tlie memory of Richard III. since fol- lowed by Horace Walpoie and many others, who no longer leave a doubt of the injustice with v/hich that prince has been overwhelmned : Eikon Basilike, the best and most complete justification of Charles I. written by himself: Rushworth, secretary of Lord Fairfax, is very precious with respect to the affairs of his own time : Lord Clarendon, chancellor under Charles I J. and father-in-law of James II. has left a celebrated history of the Rebellion : Whitlocke, of the parliamentary party, lias left authentic monu- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 1* ^ ments oftlKanv^-s; of his time : Rymer, who died in 1713, has left the faiuQus Frfidera, or collection of public acts ; he was historiographer to William III. Burnet, Bishop of »Salisbury, celebrated for his his- tory of Reformatit-n from Henry VIII. to 1559; he is very severe agait^t Popery : Rapin of Thoiras, a French refugee, who lied in 1725, a judicious writer i Carte, very zealous foithe Stuarts ; has left a gene- ral history that is much esteemed : Goldsmith, who died in 1774, has made m Abridged History for the Schools : Hume, wlio died in 1776, ranks among the most celebrated historians: for the graces of his style, the moderation of his principles, and the wisdom of his reflections : Doctor Robert Henry, who died in 175^1, has left a history of Great Britain upon a new plan, much esteemed : Robertson, who died in 1797, jo well known by liis history of Charles V. has writ- ten the history of Scotland. \ cannot close this letter, without adverting to the curous circumstance relative to Richard III. The longiistof evil deeds with which Richard has been repnached, has gradually disappeared under the ingeiious developments of Horace Walpole and othc's : the assassin, the poisoner, the tyrant, and the usurper, appear now to have been a prince va- liait and just, lawfully called to the throne, and cowned by the desire of the nation ; his sole crime sems to have been his overthrow and destruction b\ aiostile faction: the historians of his happy rival pinted him according to their caprice or their in- trest ; whilst terror or death prevented any one fr»m defending him. This singular discovery at the ^amt time it proves how long and how completely he ^vo•ld has-been imposed on, admonishes us to re- ceive w*b increased caution the statements of party writers. The profession, the employment, or the ^^^ HISTORICAL LETTERS. sect of a writer, inevitably influenr'^ ^'-^ narrations and perverts his opinions. C. LETTER XX. Formation of the R7ngdons of Modern Eiirop&i after the fall of the Itomati Empire — Continued, SPAIN. ^ SPAIN is bounded to the northeast by tie i*y- rennees ; Poitugal forms a pirt of its western frou tier; tlie Mediterranean to the right and the ocean to the left, wash its shores in every other direction. Its climate is warm, its temperature happy ; and its soil, although in general sandy, is not niggardly ujder , the hand of the industrious cultivator. The ciron^ the orange, the olive, and the mulberry, cover it» nu- merous mountains and its smiling vallies. Spaii has in its bosom mines of gold and silver; on its suface are to be found celebrated vines and famous hores ; its wool is the finest of Europe: It has coloiies which have furnished it with immense treasures; ts coasts are lined with excellent ports, numerousi- vers irrigate the land, and nature has profusely sw- plied it with the means of defence; yet, with all thee advantages, it is very far from possessing, in a p»> portionate degree, tlie military importance of France, the maritime influence of England, the popt»-'atio& the activity, the commerce, in a word,-the pj-^speri^ ©f either. The causes of this difference *^'J'l p70- bably be found in the rigid adherence o^ its govern- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 175 ment to the forms of ajiticiuity, in the predominance of a sellish hierarchy and a gloomy suj»erstition, in the paralyzing influence of a monopolizino- colonial policy, and in that siipineness and corruption which all tliese have a tendency to produce. Peter the great used to say that the arts and the sciences make the tour of the world ; and the same remarkmay be made ofthe rank and the genius of nations] each one has its period of glory, when it eclipses or rules over others. Spain enjoyed this high privilege until the time of Louis XIV, who wrested it from her. It took is birth in the days of Isabella, and was carried to Hs greatest height under Charles V. I ntil about the middle of the seven- teenth century the Spaniards gave the tone to Eu- rope ; they furnislied tlie models of politeness and of magnilicence ; their gallantry became proverbial ; their language was considered as a part of liberal edu- cation, their modes were followed, and their litera- ture was cultivated. At one mqinent Spain held in a state of subjugation a great portion of the New World, and made the Old World tremble for its in- dependence. At this instant she experiences a sad and cruel reverse ! The modern kingdom of Spain was formed ofthe inheritance of Isabella, of that of Ferdinand, and of the acquisitions which they made after their union, I will particularize them in proper order. J. Old Castile. The first kings of Asturias, in ex- tending their dominion at the expense ofthe Moors, placed in Old Castile depiendent counts, who served as a rampart or advance-guard to their frontiers : One of these, Ferdinand Gonsalvo, the hero of his time, and for whom the lustre of his fine actions ac- quired the name of great, became, towards the middle of the tenth century, independeat and hereditary 1T6 HISTORICAL LETTERS. count of all Caslile. His descendants succeeded him in this country, freed from the domination of the kings of Asturias or of Leon, until the third genera- tion, w hen Elvira, his great grand daughter, convey- ed it to Sancho the Great, king of Navarre, her hus- band. Castile was left, by the same Sancho, to Fer- dinand, his second son, with the title of kingdom. Such are the origin, the progress, and the different circumstances, which was the primitive domain of Isabella's inheritance. Not veiy fertile, and thinly peopled, it derives its principal revenue from its wool, which is much esteemed. 2. JS'^eiv Castile. This is an extensive and fine province, the fruit of the conquests of many kings of Castile, particularly of Alphonso VI. who dethroned the Moorish king of Toledo, and took that city, Ma- drid, and many other places. New Castile, fertile in wine and grain, notwithstanding the aridity of the soil, which is not well supplied with water, contains the most beautiful buildings and the finest palaces of the kingdom : the environs of Madrid are em- bellished by the superb palace of the Escurial, the magnificent royal house of St. lldefonso, the delight- ful residence of Aranjuez, and the charming man- sions of Buen-Retiro and del Pardo. 3. Mtiirias, Leon, and GaUicia. The Moors, having overthrown the monarchy of the Visigoths, and inundated Spain, Felagius, of the blood royal, es- caped the torrent, and took shelter in the mountains of Asturias. His asylum became the cradle of the Spanish monarchy : he there reigned under the title of king of Asturias. His victories, those of Alphonso I. his son-in-law, and those of many of his successors, extended the new dominion into GaUicia and Leon. The descendants of Pelagius reigned over this coun- try under the successive titles of kings of Asturias, ftlSTOmeAL LETTERS. ITT ol" Ovieclo, and of Leon, until the twelfth generation, when Veremond III. the last amongst them, was kil- led, in 1036, in an action against Ferdinand the Great, kingof Castile, his brother-in-law, who claim- ed his kingdom in right of , his wife. Leon has since served, on many occasions, as a portion to the young- er branches of the kings Castile, and formed a se- parate kingdom. Finally, the marriage of Berenger and Alphonso IX. united them, for the last time, upon the head of St. Ferdinand, their son, about the yeav 1230. The province of Asturias, which gives its name to the heir apparent, is full of forests and mountains ; it produces corn, fruits, and excellent wines; it con- tains mines of gold, of mineral dyes ; and its breed of horses is remarkable for strengh and swiftness. Galiicia is mountainous, not very fertile, and the air is humid ; it produces grain, oil, good wines, and a breed of horses and mules is there raised that is much esteemed ; it contains valuable mines, and has some convenient seaports. ' Leon presents pretty near the same aspect and yields nearly the same productions. 4. Estvemadura, was partially wrested from the Moors by different kings of Leon and of Castile. Al- phonso IX. took Badajoz, its capital, about the year 1230. This province was subject to tlie kingdom of Leon. It abounds in vines and pasturage. 5, Jindaluaia^ separated by a chain of mountains from New Castile, mms conquered from tiie Moors by tiie successive victories of many Castilian monarchs, and principally by St. Ferdinand, who took posses- sion of Cordova and of Seville. This province is the most fertile and the most commercial of Spain : its grain, its oil, its fine wines, and its celebrated horses, have occasioned its being called the granary, the eel- 178 HISTORICAL LEFfERS. lar, and the stable of Spain. Its mountains contain mines of quicksilver, of copper, of antimony, of lead, and of the loadstone. 6. Murcia. St. Ferdinand, pursuing the advantages wliich he had obtained over the Moors, sent his son, afterwards Alphonso X. against the king of Murcia,- who, attacked in another quarter by the king of Gre- nada, surrendered his kingdom to the power oi the Castilians. Alphonso, become king, completed and consolidated the acquisition of this fine province. Murcia produces in abundance all sorts of excellent fruits ; oranges, citrons, olives, &c. its wine is very good ; honey is found tliere, and the sugar-cane, and plenty of mulberry trees ; these enable the inhabit- ants to furnish immense productions of silk, which constitutes the chief part ol their wealth. 7. Biscay, This province, which formerly bore the name of Cantabria, and which made part of tlie kingdom of Pelagius, enfranchised itself by degrees from the kings of Leon, and subsisted in a kind of in- dependence under the successive domination of the familes of Haro, of Lara, oi Lacerda, and was finally reunited by Henry II. in 1376, notwithstanding the reclamations of the count of Alencon, who had es- poused Maria de Lacerda, heiress of the house of Lara by her mother. Biscay, rude, mountainous, but nevertheless quite agreeable, produces little grain, but abundance of fruits ; its principal trade is in iron, of which great quantities are found in its mountains, in wool, in saffron, and in rosin, procured from the forests of pine with which it is covered. These seven divisii-o \'inces (with the llalearic islands) of all which Madrid was the metropolis. These provinces were Galiicia, Astm-ias, Biscay, Navarre, Arragon, Cata- lonia, Leon, Old Castile, Estremadura, New Castile, Valencia, Andalusia, Grenada, and Murcia. The late condition of Spain formed a melancholy contrast to her former reputation in arms, and the spirit of freedom which the Spaniards manifested ajivalnet tho encroachments of tluur princes. The Vandals and Goths, who overturned the Roman power in Spain, establislied a form of government, and introduced customs and laws, perfectly similar to those which were establislied in the rest of Eu- rope by other tribes of Barbarians; Society advanc- ed there by the same stops and seemed to hold the same course as in the otiier nations of that quarter f the world ; but a sudden stop was put to this pro- i;ress I'y tlie invasion of .the . Saracens or Moors from Africa, A. D. TIS, when, having subdued the greatest part of Spain, ihi^.j introduced the Maho- metan religion, the Arabic langua^^e, the manners of the East, together with that taste for the arts, and that love of elegance and splendor, which the Ca- liphs hail begun to cultivate among their subjects. 184 HISTORICAL LETfEUS. The Gothic nobles, who disdained to submit to the Moorish joke, fled for refuge to the inaccessible mountains of Asturias, whence, sallying forth, after the most persevering efforts for nearly eight centu- ries, and fighting about three thousand seven hun- dred battles, the Moors were driven out A. D. 1492. As the several provinces of Spain were wrested from the Moors by the Christians at different times and under different leaders, almost every province was formed into a separate kingdom, and the capi- tals of these several kingdoms could boast of a throne and the presence of a monarch. By con- quest, marriage, and succession, however, the petty sovereignties were gradually diminished, until about the year 1481, by the fortunate marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, the former the hereditary monarch of Arragon, and the latter raised to the throne of Castile by tiie affection of her subjects, all llie Spanish crowns were united, and descended in the same line. Previously to this marriage the pov/- er of the kings of Spain was very much ciicum- scribed : In the expeditions against tlie Moors, the Christian princes were compelled to reward tlieir nobles with portions of the conquered territory, which gave to them a degree of splendor and impor- tance nearly e([ual to that of the princes them- selves ; this naturally made them bold and indepen- dent; and whilst, on the one hand, the nobility overawed the monarch, the influence of the cities held him in check on the other, so that lie was redu- ced almost to a cyp!»er. llie powers of the king were greater or less in different provinces, accord- ing to the different constitutions of the CortcF, or parliament. In general, however, the executive part of the government was committed to the king, with a limited prerogative : the legislative authontj' HISTORICAL LETTERS. 185 resided in the cortes, which was composed of the iiobilitj, the dignified ecclesiastics, and the represen- tatives of the cities. The members of tlie three dif- ferent orders who had a ri^ht of suffrage met in one place, and deliberated as one collective body, the decisions of wliichwere regulated by the sentiments of the majority. The right of imposing taxes, of enacting laws, and of redressing grievances, belong- ed to this assembly : and in order to secure the assent of the king to such statutes and regulations as were deemed salutary or beneficial to the kingdom, it was usual in the cortes to take no step towards grantinj> money until all business relative to the public welfare was concluded. The deputies from the cities in these bodies were persons of great con- sidera'ion, and scarcely inferior to the nobility in their political influence. Ferdinand laid the foun- dation for the advancement of the royal authority and the subversion of the liberties of Spain, by in- troducing greater splendor into his court, by institu- ting Tiew orders of knighthood, by employing men of abilities, who were not nobles, in public affairs, and by countenancing various establishments of a politi- cal nature, the principal one of which was the Socie- ty of the Holy Brotherhood. This association, administering justice in the name of the king, cur- tailed the powers of the seignoral jurisdiction of the great Spanish lords, and added immensely to the royal authority. One efficient member of the cortes being enfeebled, encroacliments were continued by degrees, until Charles V. finally destroyed the an- cient constitution of that respectable assembly, and rendered it too weak to assert with energy the rights of the nation. Adhering, nevertheless, in form to their old customs, the nobility maintaining the ceremonies, without the virtues, of their ancestors, q2 186 HISTORICAL LETTERS. and the whole nation mantling itself in the cloke of superstition, it is only of late years the Spaniards have shewn themselves worthy of their former fame. Spain has many colonies. In Africa, Ceuta, Oran, &c. In Asia, the Philippines, and other islands. In North America, Cuba, Porto Rico, Mexico, &c. and in South America, Peru, and all the known parts of the continent, except Guiana and Brazil. The late invasion of Spain by the French, the distractions which that invasion occasioned, and the imbecility with which the cause of Spanisli in- dependence was mana2;ed in old Spain, all combine ed to inspire the Spanish American colonists with a resolution to escape from the pressure of the colo- nial system, to separate themselves from the parent state, and to proclaim themselves independent and free. This revolution is now in a state of pro- gression, and naturally attracts our attention to the leading points in the history of Spanish America The subversion of the authority of Napoleon in the year 1814, relieved the Spanish nation from any further apprehensions of subjugation to the French power; but the return of peace did not immediately bring with it those political blessings which the gal- lantry and fidelity of the Spaniards of every rank now merited. Charles the IVth who had been decoyed into an abdicati(m of his crown m favor of the late emperor of the French in the year 1 808, did not resume the exercise of the royal functions on the expulsion of the armies of France. His son, Ferdinand the Vllth. who had been preferred and supported, during the French invasion, by the cortes, ascended the throne; and, sustained by the army and the principal ecclesiastics, suppressed the liberal constitution which had been framed in 1812, and persecuted those who had been most distin- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 187 guished as the friends of civil and religious liberty. For five years he continued to reign, de-^pised and detested by his own subjects, and contemned by foreign powers. In the year 1820. jjowever, a crisis arrived, which put an end to his licentiousness and despotism. A body of soldiers, assembled at Cadiz for the avowed purpose of being embarked for Spa- nish America, to aid in putting down the rebellion in that part of the Spanish dominions, either from the want of pay or a disinclination to the service for which they were intended, revolted, turned their arms against the royal authority, proclaimed the constitution which had been formed by the cortes in 1812 ; and, having been joined by detachments of troops in other parts of the kingdom, and encourag- ed by the people, finally compelled the king to con- voke the national cortes in form, and svi^ear to main- tain the constitution which he had formerly sup- pressed. That body accordingly assembled at Madrid, in the month of July, in the year 1820. They appear to be busily engaged in remodelling the government, and adapting the institutions of the monarchy to the new circumstances in which Spain finds herself. PORTUGAL. Portugal, to which most of the observations rela- tive to Spain will literally apply, fronts Spain in almost its whole length. It is separated from it by high mountains, by sterile plains; and still more by a constant rivalry, and an interminable jealousy, which has animated these two neighboring nations. The Portuguese and the S|)aniards have a common origin, and hence there exists between them a great similitude of language, of manners, of habits, of laws 188 HISTORICAL LETTERS. and government. This resemblance, nevertheless, has ijeen productive ot" nothing but evil ; ot prolong- ed quarrels, of reciprocal claim?, of mutual invasions, of successes and reverses, of fears and dangers, whicli, for a long period, have created between the two people an enmity that time has made habitual, and which policy has formed into system. Ever since the establishment of the balance of power in Europe, Portugal has been found arrayed against Spain. It was only when engaged in a common cause with Spain against France, her arms were united ■with those of the Spaniards. I have already said that every nation has its moment of glory and cele- brity : that of Portugal was under Emantiel the Great, when V'asco di Gama opened to Europe the route by sea to India, and to his countrymen the path to immortal renown : Albuqueique elevated Portugal to a high decree of splendor, whilst Ca- moens sung her praises for posterity. There are six provinces in Portugal ; Entre-Douro and Minho, Trafos-Montes, Beira, Estremadura, Alentejo, and Alj^arva. Of these, Entre-Douro and Minho and Tralos Montes were the primitive do- main, given in dowry to Henry of Burgundy by Alphonso VI. king of C'astile, about the year 1090 : Beira and Estremadura were conquered chiefly by Alphonso Henriquez ; and Alentejo and Algarva ■were conquered principally by Sancho I. and Al- phonso III. The air of Portugal is considered more temperate than that of Spain on account of its proxi- mity to the sea Its productions are olives, wines, oranges, lemons, almonds, figs and raisins. There are mines of iron, tin, lead, quarries of marble, and some precious stones. Much salt is made from the sea water, especially in the bay of St, Ubes, whence a great deal is exported. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 189 In the year 1580 there was a failure in the royal line of Portugal, and Phiiip II. kir:g of Spain sub- dued the country ; but in 1640 there was a great revolution, and the crown was conferred on John, duke of Braganza, whose descendants still enjoy it. Lisbon is the capital of Portu«;ai. But this city having been threatened by the French, previously to their late invasion of Spain, the royal family was conveyed, under convoy of a British squadron, to Brazil, a Portuguese colony in South America, and established the seat of government at Rio Janeiro. Besides this colony, the Portuguese have several others in Asia and Africa. In the year 1808, the population of Portugal amounted to 3,000,000 of souls. The presence of the royal family in Brazil ne- cessarily gives to that portion of the Portuguese territories a great dea;ree of importance. It has of late been dignified with the name of kingdom ; and, from present appearances, the sovereign and his court will remain there, and thus place Portugal, with regard to its government, in the posture of a colony. This degradation has been already felt ; and to that cause, as well as to long continued poli- tical, civil, and religious, abuses, and the favor shewn to British officers, who have been placed in high commands there, in disregard of the natives, may be ascribed the recent revolutionary movements in Portugal. The military force at ()porto, following the example of those at Cadiz, in vSpain, has invok- ed the nation to the formation of a free constitution, to the necessity of wliich the Portuguese people seem willingly to assent. C. 190 HISTORICAL LETTERS. LETTER XXr. Formation of the ICluo-doins of Modern Europe, af- ter the fall of the Roman Empire — Continued, rrALY. The country of Italy is, without contradiction, the most interesting of Europe, on account of its history, its estraordinary work?, and its soil ; it possesses one of the most delicious temperatures ot the earth ; and it has been the cradle of tha arts, the school of taste, the repository of the master-works of antiquity and of modern beauties. Anciently, Italy vanquished and subjugated tlie universe ; but as if she were doomed to expiate in the most cruel manner so elevated a fortune, she has since been trodden under feet by all nations. To the anarchy produced in Italy by the disnuem- berment of the empire of Cliarlemagne, succeeded, by conquest, the domination of the emperors of Germany. Their pjower was absolute during the times of the family f Saxe ; but it was greatly sha- ken under that of Franconia, and totally destroyed under that of Suabia, by tlse intrigues and f. he policy of the Popes ; who, dreading such powerful neigh- bors, contrived to keep them in a state of perpetual embarrassment at home and abroad. This famous quarrel between the Emperors and the Popes, known under the name of the war of the Priesthood, or of the Guelphs and GhibbelHnes, continued three centuries, during which Italy, after experiencing all the miseries and horn-rs of fanaticism, of confusion, and of intestine broils, finalh took the form which, in a great measure, it has preserved to our days. HISTORICAL LKTTER.S. 191 This form embraces a variety of subordinate prin- cipalities. Of Naples I have already spoken. Tuscany, after innumerable revolutions and troubles without end, together with Florence, found repose and happiness under the administration of the Me- dici, who reigned a long time by the reputation of their virtues before they reigned under the authority of a title. Alexander, the first duke, was created by Charles V. in 1531. Pius V. elevated Cosmo to the dignity of grand duke in 1569. This country, on the extinction of the house of Medici, passed to that of Lorraine in 1737, on condition that it should never be united to the Austrian monarchy. In 1802 it passed, by treaty, from the house of Lorraine to the Bourbons of Parma, who possessed it for some time under the appellation of the kingdom of Etruria. Parma and Placenza, after having been given by the Popes to the house of Farnese, passed, on its ex- tinction, to a Branch of the Bourbons of Spain, who subsequently ceded it to France in exchange for the kingdom of Etruria. Modena, possessed for a long time by the house of Este, was merged by changes in the modern king- dom of Italy. Its sovereign, the last male of the family, received the Brisgaw as an indemnity. Milan and Mantua, by various political circum- stances, passed to the house of Austria in 1714 and 1708. This division of Italy disappeared under jEew arrangements, and made part of the kingdom of Italy. Genoa, after a multitude of revolutions, became, jin 1528, by the courage of the famous Andrew Doria, a celebrated aristocratical republic, which lost its constitution by the revolutions of Europe, tnd was united to France in 1805. 192 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Piedmont and Montserrat accrued to the house of Savoy by marnnge, by the favor or grant of the emperors. The revolutions which aifected so many other states, annexed these also to France. Venice, which had formed itself, in lapse of time, into an aristocratical republic, and which has exist- ed until our days, displaying much of wisdom, of glory, of policy, and of power, has disappeared amidst the convulsions of modern times, and com- posed a great part of the kingdom of Italy. The possessions of the Popes, whoie temporal power was chiefly founded by Pepin and Charle- magne, and which were considerably increased by papal policy and the influence of spiritual authoiity, were, for a short period, entirely wrested from the Holy Father. Part of these possessions were incorpo- rated with tlie kingdom of Italy, and part politically united to tlie French empire As a consolation to the Romans for the loss of their Pontiff* Napoleon pro- claimed Rome the second imperial city of his domi- nions, and exerted himself to cleanse and embellish that ancient mistress of the world. But these modern arrangements, which were con- sequent upon the wars of the French revolution, were, for the most part, disregarded by the powers of Europe upon the downfall of Napoleon. The states of Italy were carried back, as nearly as possi- ble, to their organization in 1792. They were re- modelled to their present territorial limits and go- vernment by the treaty of Vienna of the 9th of June, 1815. By that treaty, Genoa was united to Sardi- nia, certain districts of Savoy were ceded to the*^' canton of Geneva, and the ancient sovereignty of the house of Austria in Italy was fully recognised. In this recognition are included Istria, Dalmatia, the ancient Venetian isles of the Adriatic, the HISTORICAL LETTEUS. 193 moulhs of the Cattaro, the city of Venice, with its waters, as well as all the other provinces and dis- tricts of the fonnerl J Venetian states of the Terra Firma, upon the bank of the Adige, the duchies of Milan and Mantua, the principalities of Brixen and Trent, the county of Tyrol, and other valuable pos- sessions. The sovereignty of the duchies of Mode- na, Reggio,and Mirandola, was given to the Arch- duke Francis d'Este, and the sovereignty and pro- perty of the duchy of Massa, and the principality of Carara, and the imperial fiefs in Lunigiana, to the arch-duchess Maria Beatrice d'Este. To the Empress Maria Louisa, the wife of Napoleon, were given, in full property and sovereignty, the ducliies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla. The duchy of Tuscany was re-established in its ancient integrity, and the rights of sovereignty and property re-in- vested in the archduke Ferdinand of Austria, as formerly possessed by him. The principality of Lucca was erected into a duchy; and the Fope having been previously reinstated at Rome, the Marches, with Camerino, and their dependencies, the duchy of Benevento, and the principality of Ponte Corvo, were restored to the Holy See, which, by the same treaty of Vienna, was also authorized to resume possession of the legations of Ravenna, Bologna, and a part of Ferrara. Ferdinand the IVth was restored to the throne of Naples ; and such regulations were adopted and guarantees entered into, by the principal monarchs, as seemed to ensure the duration of the sovereignties, thus re-established in Italy, upon the basis of an ameliorated feudality. More liberal ideas, however, appear to have beea too widely disseminated, by the political agitations of the French revolution, to allow of tiie repose so desirable to despotic rulers. Representative govern- 194 HISTORICAL LETTKRS. ment is tlie great object at which the subjects of the emperors and kin<;s of Europe all aim ; and tlie Italian states, next, perhaps, to Spain, are the most extensively pervaded by the spirit of reformation. This has been manifested during the present year (18^0) in the revolution which has occurred in Naples, where the soldiery, emulating the Spanish army at Cadiz, have been instrumental in subvert- ing the despotic government which had so long pre- vailed in tliat delightful region. The painter who should pretend to delineate on the map of Italy, the marches and the conflicts of the various armies which, at different periods, have harassed its population and stained its soil with blood, would soon find his pallet exhausted of colors and his tablet devoid of intelligence. I shall, there- fore, not attempt to pourtray in words what would be so difficult for the pencil ; and, abandoning the military tracks of Bonaparte, of Suwarrow, of Championet and of Macdonald, as well as the routes of those invaders who preceded them, I will turn my attention to the poets and the artists of a coun- try, whose genius, in one shape or another, appears to be almost imperishable. PoetSy Sfc* Dante, of Florence, the father of Italian poetry, was famous by his Helly his Purgatory, and his Paradise. Petrarch, of Arezzo, has immortalized the lovely Laura, the Fountain of Vaucluse, and himself, by his tender and harmonious verses. Boccace, of Tuscany, the disciple and the friend of Petrarch, was admired for his Novels. He lived HISTORICAL LETTERS. 195 a considerable time at Naples in the reign of queen Joan. Machiavel, of Florence, was celebrated for his political treatise entitled Tlie Prince, and by his Floientine history. Ariosto, of Reggio, was the first poet of Italy w^ith Tasso ; more lively, more animated, than the latter. He is the author of Orlando Furioso. The late Charles James Fox, who, with a view, to improve his elocution as well as his literary taste, made himself well acquainted with the merits ot the best ancient and modern poets, ranks Ariosto next to Homer. Guicciardini, of Florence, was celebrated by his personal worth and his writings ; and above all, by his history, in Italian, from 1494 to 1532. Paul Jovian, bishop of Nocera, was celebrated by bis writings, and particularly by his history, in 45 books, which comes down to 1544. Tasso, of Naples, was the first poet of Italy with Ariosto ; but moie noble and more correct tban the latter. He has written Jerusalem Delivered and Aminta. Mr. Fox thinks Tasso below Ariosto; yet at the same time acknowledges that Metastasio, who he admits ought to be a better judge of Italian poe- try than himself, upon the whole gives Tasso the preference. Guarini, of Ferrara, was a poet celebrated by hie works, of which the most known is the Faster Fido, Gallileo, of Pisa, was celebrated for his science and misfortunes. He rendered himself immortal by his astronomical discoveries. Torricelli, of Faenza, was the successor of Gal-i- leo in the mathematical career. He invented the microscope. 196 HISTOniCAL LETTLRS. Metastasio, of Rome, was a dramatic poet, cele- i)rated by the perfection to which he brought lyric tragedy. Faint erSy S^'c. Cimabuc and Giotto, of Fh)rence, were tlie resto- rers of painting and the futheis of tlie B'lorentine scliool. Tiaphaol Sanzio, of LVbino, ranks among the first of painters. Leonard! da Vinci, of Florence, was one of the greatest men of his time. Perugino, of Perugia, was the master of Raphael. Of tlicse, the chief productions are, the Tvanafi' juration, an immortal work, (by Raphael,) consi- dered as the first picture of the world : St. Cecilia^ which is very famous; and tlie celebrated Halls of the Vatican, Andrew del Sarto Vanucchi, of Florence, is chiefly esteemed for variety : The Maduna del Sacco, and St. Andrew adoring the cross, are his principal works. He was a faithful copier. Corre^io Allegri, of Correnio, excelled in the graces ot liis art, and was the inventor of his own style of painting. He was skilful in fore-shorten- ing. Among his best productions is the Christmas A^i^ht, which is allowed to be admirable. 'Ihe Parmesan Mazzola, of Parma, who was call- ed the son of the Graces, and whose works are very rare, distinguished himself by his Jloses, his Adam and Eve, and some other pieces. He is supposed to have been the inventor of the art of etching with aquafortis. Julius Romani Pippi, of Rome, was a pupil of Raphael, and equal to his master. Among otlier HISTORICAL LETTERS. 197 works, he left the Victory of JiqnUr over the Giants, Michael Angelo Buonarotti, of Tuscany, was the first of the Italians for architecture and sculpture, and the emulator of Raphael in paintinjr. His chief v'orks are tb.e last Judgment, the Criicijiociony and the Church of St. Peter, Titian Vecellio, of Venice, was tlie first of the Venetian school ; and the greatest colorist ever known. Reubens is compared to him. Among his best performances are the Martyrdom of St. Feter, A last Supper, and Christ crowned with Thorns. Paul Veronese Caliari, of Verona, possessed the richest and the finest genius for the composition of a picture. Of his performances, Jesus Christ with the Pharisee is distinguished. Tintoretto Robusti, of Venice, astonished by the enthusiasm of his genius and the boldness of his pencil. St. Mark, and the C» ucifixion of Jesus Christ, arc among his best pieces. Caravagio Amerigi, of Milan, had fine talents ; but has too frequently copied nature in her deformitiei. Barocchi, of Urbino, excelled in subjects of devo- tion. Many of his performances are to be found at the Louvre, in Pans. The Caracchi, Lewis, Anthony, and Hannibal, to- gether with their pupils, broug;ht the art of painting to great perfection in all its branches. Among their productions the Jlother of Fit y, by Hannibal, is dis- tinguished. Many of their works are held in great esteem. Dominichini Zampieri, of Bologna, excelled in purity of design, in the beauty of his heads, and the naturalness of his attitudes. His Comwufiioti of St. Jerome, (which ranks after the Transfiguration of Raphael,) is his chief piece. r2 198 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Guido Reni, of Bologna, was remarkable for the aggregate of his perfections ; without being equal to certain great masters, he united more of beauty, of grace, and of finish, than any of them. His master- work is St, Peter IVeeplug, a celebrated perfor- mance, and supposed to be the most complete of Italy. This artist's love of gaming reduced him to great distress. Joseph Ribera, a Spaniard, is considered as the first of the Neapolitan School. He delighted in subjects of the terrible kind, and, among other things, has painted the Twelve Proph-ts. He some- times engraved in aquafortis. Albano, of Bologna, was principally celebrated for the noble and regular graces of h\s heads. There is, however, very little variation in these heads ; for, having a beautiful wife and fine children, Albano sought for no other models. The fair Doralice was his Venus, and his sons were his Cupids. Cavedoni, of Modena, was an esteemed disciple of Hannibal Caracchi, whose style he has imitated. He was so unhappy in his family that he died mad. Andrew Sacchi, a Roman, and a disciple of Alba- no, imitated the graces of the latter, and is thought to have surpassed him in taste. Of his works, St JRomuald is very much esteemed. Guerchini Barbieri, so named because he haire of Charlemagne were erected into Grand Duchies, whose dukes did not hesitate to assume 'he highest authority, and to administer the aftairs of their ter- ritories by means of Margraves, Rhingraves and Landgraves, who were a kind of earls, that, accord- ing to their situations on the frontiers or marches, in the interior of the country or on the Rhine, took this denomination. To counterbalance this ducal p(Aver, the emperors created provincial palatines, who, with regal commissions, and with the assis- tance of burgraves, m the principal towns, were ena- bled in a great degree to check the jurisdiction of the dukes, and to increase the imperial prerogative* To these we may add the clergy, who, from the sanctity of the clerical functions, or from the weak- ness or design of the emperors, obtained a prodigi- ous infiaecice m the body politic of Germany. In the German constitution may be plainly discerned the leading idea of the confederation of the North American states, the latter having improved the German constitutional codes by adopting the most liberal features of the English frame of government. The Emperor, like the President of the United States, had a dispensing power in the administration of justice, superintended the mint, nominated to offices, and convoked the General Diet of the States. This Diet, composed of the representatives of the several states of the empire, enacted laws of a gene- ral nature, had the power of impeachment, and, like HISTORICAL LETTERS. 213 tl»e congress, rlecitled questions of peace or war. The individual German states, like those of the union, held a peculiar sovereignty, and administer- ed law with respect to their local aftairs without control. !f any person is disposed to investigate the rise, progress, decay, and regeneration, of the Germanic body more minutely, he may be amply gratified by consulting the particular histories of the Diets of Nuremburg and Metz, held A. D. 1356, when the ordinances of the Golden Bull were proclaimed ; of the Diet of Worms, held in the year 1495, when the Imperial chamber vi'as established for the settle- ment of disputes between the individual German states; of the Diet of Treves and Cologne, in 1512, bv which Germany was divided into circles ; of the Diet of Augsbourg in 1555, wiiich gave a constitu- tional existence to the protestant religion in Ger- many; of the treaty of Westphalia, which regulated and strengthened the constitution of the empire; and also the histories of the treaties of Luneville, of Presburg, of Tilsit, the convention between Austria and France, which immediately preceded the family alliance between the houses of Lorraine and Bona- parte ; and the treaty of Vienna, of the 9tii of June, 1815. " C. 214 HISTORICAL LETTERS. LETTER XXIil. Formation (4 the Kingdoms of Modern Europe, af- ter the fall of the lioman Empire — continued. HOLLAND. Kfolland, or the United Provinces of the Netiier- lands, grew into a political confederacy about the year 1579. Each province administered its local aflau's with an absolute authority ; but the States- General was vested with the supreme legislative power of the Union, which was formed of deputies sent from each of the states, and was clothed with power to make war and peace, levy taxes, and pro- vide for the general welfare. The country, in the time of the Roman empire, was inhabited by the Frisii, the Batavi, and other warlike tribes, who, as occasion served, were in alliance or hostility wiih Kome. The name of Civilis, a Batavian chief, will be immortal, for his genius, policy, and courage, dis- played in a bold but ineffectual effort to \v^q his country and the neighboring nations from the Ro- man yoke. His fortunes and his character are des- cribed by Tacitus. The Hollanders have been a patient and a labo- rious people, and by unexampled perseverance, made their country, (the surface of which is in ma- ny places below the level of the sea, which is fen- ced out by dykes) a theatre of immense wealth and population, the result of an industry that puts all comparison at defiance, unless a parallel may bo drawn from a community of bees : Celebrated for their herring, cod, and whale fisheries; for tlieir na- vigation, by which, at one tnne, they engrossed the TilSTOalCAL LETTERS. SI 5 carrying trade of Europe ; for tlieir possessions in the Kast indies, and for their naval strengtii, which enabled them for many years to dispute the domini- on of the seas with Great- Britain, and at one period to insult the proud metropolis of her English rival. Political faction has been the rock upon which the prosperity of the Hollanders has been wrecked. Ac- customed to be governed by Stadtholders, or Princes of the states, they occasionally abolished that office ; and the whole republic was long convulsed by the conflicts of the party of the Stadtholders and of that of Louvestein. The house of Nassau has enjoyed the chief executive dignity of the commonwealth. This house boasts great antiquity, and some of its princes were men of admirable abilities, particularly William lil. who succeeded to the British crown, and still retained in his hands a general superin- tending authority over the affairs of Holland. Ever since that period Great Britain had a prevailing in- fluence in her political concerns, until the com- mencement of the French revolution. In the year 1795, the whole country was overrun by the French, and the Stadtholder was compelled to seek, for him- self and his family, an asylum in England. The connexion of Holland with Great Britain under William HI, and her association with France in 1795, have been the cause of her decay. The French government, treating her first as an independent power in the form of a republic, then erecting the country into a kingdom, under a prince of the house of Bonaparte, had completely succeeded in breakino- down the spirit of the people, in absorbing their riches, and in the incorporation of the inhabitants into the French empire, under the name of Depart- ments. The fate of Holland affords an awful ad- monition to weak states how they enter into asso* 216 HISTORICAL LETTERS. ciations with powerf'jl ones ; and warns a free peo- ple to confide for security in nothing but their own industry and valor. Louis, a brother of Napoleon, and for a while the phantom king oi Holland, after the usurpations of the French, sunk into obscurity. Recent revolutions have again changed her destiny. Holland, the ancient United Provinces of the Ne- therlands, and the late Belgic Provinces, have, by the dismemberment of Napoleon's empire, been formed into the kingdom of the Netherlands, which is acknowledged by the monarchs of Europe in the last treaty of Vienna, as existing under the sove- reignty of the prince of Orange Nassau. DENMARK. Denmark, in ancient times, was the country of the Teutones and the Cimbrians, and afterwards furnished those bands of hardy adventurers who in- vaded England, and laid waste the maritime parts of Europe. The government, in its origin, was an elective monarchy, and as tranquillity or intestine broils prevailed in Germany, was independent or dependent on that Empire. As Christianity spread in the north of the European continent, tiie sove- reigns of Denmark were converted to the Gospel ; but, although they extended their possessions along the southern shores of the Baltic, none of them make any great figure in history, till about the year 1387, when the celebrated Margaret of Waldemar began to reign. By esjwusing the king of Norway she became his heir, and succeeded in causing her- self to be chosen queen of Sweden. By her policy she extorted from the three kingdoms, in 1397, the treaty of Calmar, which contained an engagement for the perpetual union of the people of Sweden, HISTORICAL LETTERS. 217 rCoivvay and Denmark, under the same crown. The successors of Margaret were feeble or cruel princes, and Sweden, in 1523, was wrested from the crown of Denmark by the heroism of Gustavus Vasa. It is the house of Kolstein that possesses the Danish throne. This house, branches of which reign in Russia and in Sweden, attained royal power A. D. 1448, by election, in the person of Christian I. Christian IT. guilty of ail sorts of excesses, was dri- ven from his throne, became a fugitive and a prison- er, but finally died a penitent, aged 78 years, ten of which he reigned, nine he passed in exile, and twen- ty-seven as a captive. Christian 111. to whom Christian II. was indebted for his libera,tion from a dungeon, is represented as an able prince, who es- tablished Luthcranism in Denmark, and under whose reign Norway was firmly united to his king- dom. In the year 1G60 a very singular revolution occurred : the crown, at that period elective^^ was made hereditary in tlie posterity of Frederick III. This occurrence took place in consequence of the arrogance of the nobility. The clergy and the com- monalty, depressed by the nobles, determined to rescue themselves from oppression by throwing their weight into the scale of the executive branch of the government. Accordingly, in an assembly of the three orders of the state, held at Copenhagen, the bishop and the burgomaster of that city, both popular characters, suddenly proposed to render the crown hereditary, and immediately, in the name of the classes which they represented, made a tender to that effect to the sovereign. The nobles, taken without warning, followed the example ; and thus the world beheld the extraordinary spectacle of a whole people making a voluntary surrender of their liberties. The year 1772 is distinguished in Da- T 318 HISTORICAL LETTERS. nish history by tlie misfortunes of Matilda, sister of George III. king of Great Britain, and wife of Chris- tian VII. This unhappy woman had obtained a complete ascendency over her husband, and, taking into her own hands the management of public busi- ness, had elevated to power persons that were odi- ous to the people. This did not escape the notice of the queen dowager, who was mother-in-law of Christian YII. She did not fail to excite popular discontent against her rival Matilda and her favo- rite, whose name was Struenzee. Seizing a conve- nient moment, the queen dowager and her adhe- rents extorted from the kmg, whose mind had been previously filled with jealousy, an order for the ar- rest of Matilda and her favorite. Struenzee, and a friend of his named Brandt, were beheaded, and the queen only escaped death by the interposition of the British ambassador at the court of Denmark. The principal wars of the Danes have been with Sweden, if we except a contest of about five years duration against Austria, in the war of thirty years. They have been more distinouished in modern times by commercial than by military transactions ; and, independently of their possessions in Europe, com- prizing Denmark proper, Hoi stein and Norway, they could at one period boast of colonics in Africa, Asia, and America. Of these, however, they were, for the most part, stripped by the British, dur- ing the w^ar which commenced in the year 1803 between France and England. The policy of the Danes, during the wars of the French revolution, was pacific ; and they did not relinquish it till compelled to take an active part in the conflict by their more powerful neighbors. Copenhagen, tlie Capital of Denmark, has been treated with much cruelty by the British. In the year 1801 they bom- HISTORICAL LEITERS. 219 barded it with great slaughter, in order to compel the Danish government to relinquish certain princi- ples of maritime law inimical to the commercial and naval interests of England. The Danes, after ma- king a gallant defence, were obliged to submit, and sign a convention agreeable to the British ministry. In the year 1807, the Englis!) again appeared before Copenhagen in force, and, investing it also by land, obliged tlie Danes to deliver up the ships of war then in their possession The alleged reason for this latter coercion, was the danger of the Danish navy's falling into the hands of the French to the detriment of Great Britain. Denmark adhered to the French interest until the overthrow of Napoleon atLeipsic in 1813, when, menaced by the Swedish forces under prince Ber- nadotte, she sought for peace, and concluded a treaty with Great Britain and Sweden, to the latter of whom she ceded Norway in exchange for Swedish Pomerania. The British restored what they had conquered from the Danes; and the latter, having been subsidized by Great Britain, joined their troops to those of the allies againt France. SWEDEN. The early history of Sweden, like that of all the northern German communities, is but faintly dis- cernible through the night of time. That country is the ancient Scandinavia, the store-house of those swarms of Barbarians who, crossing the Baltic sea, spread terror and desolation wherever they advan- ced. The monarchy, like that of Denmark, was originally elective. By the union of Calmar, in the year 1397, Sweden became a mere tributary king- dom to Denmark. This Union, which was eflfected 220 HISTORICAL LETTERS* by tlie abilities of Margaret of Waldemar, who was denominated the Semiiamis of the North, was iu the end productive of great inquietudes : After her death a stru^i^le ensued between the Danes and the Swecles, for subjection on the one side, and for in- dependence on the other. At length Christian li. of Denmark, a bloody and remorseless tyiant, in or- der to destroy every hope of freedom in the hearts of the people of Sweden, conceived the gigantic wick- edness of butchering all the noble and powerful families of that kingdom. From this dire tragedy, one gallant youth escaped ; and seeking shelter among the Dalecarlians, a race of hardy moun- taineers, roused them to a sense of their degrada- tion and to an act of vengeance. This youth was Gustavus Vasa, whose story has furnished a subject for the drama, and who, putting himself at the head of the peasantry of Dalecailia, triumphantly repulsed the Danes, and for his valor and patriotism was re- warded witli the crown. The royal authority con- tinued in the house of Vasa untd the abdication of Christiana in the year 1654, when the crown was transferred to the house of Deux Fonts, of which the celebrated Charles XII. was a descendant. This prince, and Gustavus Adolplms, who was of the house of Vasa, were the most distinguished sove- reigns of the Swedish monarchy. Both of them were addicted to war, and both are believed to have perished by assassination. The wars of Sweden nave been, in general, with the Danes, the Gennans, the Poles, and the Russians; sometimes for liberty, often for revenge, but chiefly for extension of ter- ritory. Sweden has been prolific in sovereigns of singu- lar fortune. Gustavus Adolphus, perhaps, is the only one of her monarchs, who, besides Gustavus HISTORICAL LETTERS. 221 Vasa, truly deserves the name of hero : his reign was a period offflorj for the Swedes, who may boast, without blushino;, of the battle of Lcipsic, anA of that of Lutzen, where the brave Adolphus fell in the year 1632. The heroism of Charles XII. has been regarded by many as a species of insanity ; and the rei^n of F/ric XIV. the eldest son of Gus'tavus Vasa, who at one time aspired to the hand of queen Eliza- beth of Enc^land, was a continued scene of profliga- cy and madness. A branch of the house of Holstein succeeded to that of Deux Fonts; of this branch Gustavus III. who was assassinated in 1793, was the most respectable sovereign : His efforts to main- tain the royal authority, although prosperous in the first instance, eventually cost him his life. He fell by the hand of an assassin named Ankerstrom. His successor, Gustavus IV. after a long struggle against France, and impoverishing Sweden by the war in which he embarked, was dethroned on the 1 4th of March 1809. He first sought an asylum in Great Britain, but afterwards returned to the continent, and resided for some time as a private geiitleman in Switzerland, under the name of Count Gottorp. On his being driven out of the kingdom, the duke of Sudermania, in May, of the same year, was made king under the title' of Charles XHl. The duke was uncle to Gustavus IV. and was regent during: the minority of the exiled monarch, who came to the regal dignity at the age of fourteen. The sequel of this affair exposes the interference of France in the traniiaction. Marshal Bernadotte, prince of Ponte- Corvo, a distinguished French general, passed over to Sweden, abjured the Roman Catholic creed, and was declared heir-apparent to the Swedish crown. Charles XIII. having died, Bernadotte is now king of Sweden and Norway, the latter country having t2 222 HISTORICAL LETTERS. been wrested from Denmark, to reward the new 1< ng for his services, whilst crown-prince of Swe- den, to the allied powers against Napoleon, to whose downfall he ably contributed. The nominal equivalent to Denmark lor Norway, was Swedish Pomerania. Of all the marshals and princes crea- ted by I^./naparte, Charles John Bernadotte is the only one who has had the good fortune to survive the overthrow of the emperor of the French with an increased authority. He is acknowledged as a legitimate sovereign by th« old monarchical races of Europe, who have hitherto supported him against the claims of the house of Gustavus the IVth. which is represented as not having entirely relinquished the hope of obtaining possession of the crown. C. LETTER XXIV. Formation of the Kingdoms of Modern Europe, after the fall of the Roman Empire, RUSSIA. ^ The fables of history, as well as those of bio^ra-" hy, owe their origin to the inattention of mankind. he early stages of a nation's progress to grandeur, and the nrst actions of a great man, are, in general, too obscure and insignificant to attract notice. It is not until both the one and the other have performed some distinguished deed, or until, from their power, their influence begins to be felt in the society of na- tions or of men, that the human mind is drawn to a HISTORICAL LETTERS. 223 serious consideration of their birth and condition. Iniapnation must then supply uhat authentic re- cords do not furnish, and tancj, volatile and inven- tive, fre(|ucntl^ creates incidents which reason will not sanction. Sucli, emphaticallv, is the case with Ivussian history, which is made to commence, by men of the most diligent research, about the middle of the ninth century. One Rurick, who governed a wide population on the shores of tiie Baltic, either invited by the people of Novorogod, or impelled by ambition, led thither an army, and finally esta- blished himself in the country. The successors of this chieftian inherited a divide*! empire, which in the end fell a prey to the Tartars, who governed it from the thirteenth to the middle of the fifteenth century, until Ivan Wasieliwitz freed his inherit tance from ignondnious servitude. On the death of Ivan II. confusion was produced in the government, and order was not restored until the family of Ro- manoff was called to the throne. From this family Peter the Great descended; and he is very justly regarded as the founder of the present Russian em- pire. The empress Klizabetli was the last sove- reign of the house of Romanoff: 8he was followed by Peter III of the Holstein family, who was de- posed and put to death at the instigation, and by the paramours, of his wife Catharine U. who succeeded him on the throne Catharine reigned thirty-four years ; anri in the midst of the most execrable vo- luptuousness, governed Russia with masculine abi- lity, and filled Europe with the fame of her policy and the renown of her arms. Those who are desi- rous of gaining particular knowledge of the institu- tions of this empire, are advised to study the trans- actions of the government of this princess, and those of tlie reign of Peter the Great. Paul I. was the 224 HISTORICAL LETTERS. sijccessor of Catharine II. He was an eccentric man, and too much under the influence of a sirbli- mated imagination. Durinu; his sovereignty the Russians astonished t! e world by their warlike ef- forts, and iniinortalized their valor under the con- duct of SuwMrrow, who had also distinguished him- self in the time of Catharine. The great military exertions of Paul, however, exhausted the resources of the empire so much, that he rendered himself un- popular ; and a combiiiation having been entered into among the leadins; men of the court, he was |5rivately assassinatetl A D. 1801. The faction which put Paul te death immediately united in pro- claiming the present incumbent of tlie throne, Alex- ander Paulowitz, einperor of all the Uussias. This prince, who is represented as humane, and naturally inclined to peace, has been engaged in several wars with France, m conjunction with Austria or Prussia, or botli. The two most memorable of these were those of 1806-7 and 1812. That of i80G-7 was tei minated by the treaty of Tilsit on the 9th of July of the former year. By this treaty Prussia was re- du 0(1 to a third rate power, and Napoleon's politi- cal association, known by the name of the confede- ration of the Rhine, was extended to a part of Po- land. This confederacy, embracing, in eftect, the idea- of Henry IV. of France, placed the French enipire at tlie head of an armed league, composed of the principal states of Europe ; and promised, in time, to realize the expression of Frederick the Great ot Prussia, who asserted, thaf if he were king of France there should not be a cannon fired on the European continent without his consent. The war of 1812, however, put au end to those splendid ptos- pects Napoleon, who invaded the flnssiau empire at tlie head of four hundred thousand warriors, and HISTORICAL LETTERS. 225 seized upon Moscow after having beaten and over- turned every thin^ in his way thither, found in the severity of that northern climate an enemy which no hunjan force could resist. Compelled to retreat tor want of supplies, and incessantly harassed by aa exasperated population, it was in vain that the French battalions sustained their former glory in every combat. Under the circumstances in which they were placed, victory led to the same result as defeat; and perishing by thousands in the surround- ing snows, the remnant of their fugitive and shat- tered columns, deserted by their Prussian allies, regained the frontiers of the French empire in a condition strangely contrasted with the bright visi- ons with which the campaign had been commenced. The Russians, in 1813 and 1814, followed up their blows ; and all Germany, smarting under the rod of Napoleon, rose ai2;ainst him in a mass, and, seconded by Spain and aided by the delinquency of Italy, hurled him from his throne. By the treaty of Vi- enna in 1815, the emperor Alexander gained an accession of territory in Poland, which he has erect- ed into a kingdom. He has, also, in conjunction with the sovereign of Austria, the kings of Prussia and France, and other monarchs of the continent of Europe, formed a Holy League; which is a treaty of crowned heads to arrest the progress of political reformation. The principal wars in which the true interests of Russia have been most consulted, are those with the Turks. Catharine II. whilst she was not inattentive to European politics, pushed her conquests, more than any other Russian sovereign, on the side of the Black Sea, and in the direction of Asiatic Turkey. The most splendid achievement of her reign was, perhaps, the acquisition of the Crimea, the ancient 226 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Taurica Chersonesus, the peaceable possession oi' which was secured to her in 1791, by the Turks, who ceded the fortress of Oczakow. It was in the transactions of t!ie Crimea, that Potemkin, the favo- rite of Catharine, and a very extraordinary man, distinaiiished himself. The history of his life is equally interesting to the philosopher, the states^ man, and the soldier. It would be unpardonable to omit in this letter, all notice of Catharine I. who, by the graces of her person and the force of her understanding, rose to the imperial dignity. A peasant by birth, and ex- posed in her early years to the caprices and mise- ries of so humble a fortune, in the course of her sin- gular adventures she attracted the regard of Peter the Great, and gaining an ascendency over him by the wisdom of her counsel and the excellence of her judgment, he married her, and caused her to be solemnly crowned empress of Russia. At the death of her husband she ascended the throne, guided and supported by the abilities and the influence of a fa- vorite whose name was ^.lenzikolF. History almost takes the complexion of Romance in reciting the tale of this wonderful woman. In infancy an object of charity, at fourteen years married to a Swedish dragoon, from whom she was immediately separated never more to meet, next a prisoner of war, then the mistress of general Bauer, of Menzikoff, and of Pe- ter the Great, who eventually espoused her, the incidents of her life are not exceeded in singularity by those of the most extravagantly drawn heroine of chivalry. Duiing her reign Menzikoff flourished, the chief of her cabinet and the absolute lord of the state. But, corrupted by power and proudly arro- gant, the death of Catharine was the signal for his downfall. He was banished to Siberia, and died HISTORICAL LETTERS. 227 there in 1729. Under the reign of (he empress Anne, two extraorrlinarj men arose to chequer, by the strange vicissitudes of their lives, the scene of Russian transactions. Tiiese personages were Biron and Munich, the first a Courlander, raised bj royal bounty to be duke of that duchy ; and the latter a Danish military adventurer of considerable merit, who had been distinguished by the partiality of the sovereigns of Russia. Biron was the favorite of Anne, and governed the nation with imperial sway ; but he sunk beneath the genius of Munich, who oc- casioned him to be banished ; a sentence which was siibsequently inflicted on Munich himself. What is most curious in the hisiory of these two individu- als, IS the circumstance of their recall from Siberia, and their meeting in their old age at St. Petersburg, the theatre of their former intrigues, and from which they had been absent so many years. Russia embraces in her immense expansion a ter- ritory that nearly touches America in a north eas- tern direction, bounds on China, sw^eeps over the bosom of Asia, through the Caspian and the Black Seas, in a northwestern direction, to the shores of the Baltic, and the Gulph of Finland. This large tract of country has been brought under Russian do- mination by gradual accretions under the two Ivans, who drove out the Tartars, under the house of Ro- manoff, particularly Alexis Romanoff" and Peter the Great, his son, and under Catharine II. It IS computed that Russia occupies the twenty- eighth part of the entire surface of the globe, and the ninth part of the solid earth. Over this vast space are spread forty millions of souls, two millions five hundred thousand of whom are supposed to in- habit Asiatic Russia. But this great population comprehends people of almost every description j 228 HISTORICAL LETTEHS. various Tartar hordes, tribes of Cossacks, and per- sons of German origin. In the government of such a discordant mass, the maxims of state must neces- sarily be diversified : Accordingly, the emperor of Russia adapts his policy and his plans to the actual condition of his subjects, and from local causes is frequently obliged to act upon the principles which a complete state of civilization, in every part of his empire, would render repreliensible. In truth, so- ciety as well as law, in Russia, is still in an elemen- tary state ; but if that country should ever arrive at the high degree of improvement of vvhicli it is sus- ceptible, so that all its resources are brought into action, the Russians, in a military point of view, might become the masters of the earth. It is not, however, likely, that, under a dense population, a single sovereign would enjoy their present extent of territory ; nor can it be reasonably presumed that in future times the inhabitants of the shores of Beh- ring's straits will submit to the rule of a prince who holds his court on the banks of the Neva. Russia is divided into about tifty local govern- ments, the first of which is that of Moscow. The city of that name was the capital of the empire be- fore St. Petersburg was built; it is enclosed by a rampart of twenty-six miles in circumference, con- tains about 300,000 souls, and is supposed to be tlie largest city of Russia. The sovereigns of the na- tion have, in general, been crowned there. It was burnt by its governor, Rostopchin, at the time Na- poleon entered it ; but has been since rebuilt. By the first partition of Poland, in 1772, Catha- rine II. acquired 1,226,000 subjects ; by a secoad partition, in 1793, she acquired 5,750,000 1 and by a final partition in 1795, 1,500,000 more, Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, originally projected this HISTORICAL LETTEUS. 239 ilivision in the year 1772, in conjunction with the empress of Russia and the emperor of Germany. The dissentions of the Poles, in the choice of their kings, who were elective, furnished a pretext for foreign interference; and the spirit of party among the nobles, prevailing over every other consideration, Poland was for a time blotted out of the map of Eu- rope. General Kosciusko, in the year 1794, made a courageous stand, at the head of a Polish army, in defence of the liberties of his country ; but the Rus- sians were victorious, and signalized the triumph of injustice by the most sanguinary atrocitier,. The brave Kosciusko survived the freedom of Poland; and after wandering for some time from place to place, finally took up his residence near Paris. He is now dead. Napoleon, in his campaign of 1807, against the Russians, made use of the popularity of Kosciusko with his countrymen, and induced the old general to address the Poles in a very energetic manner, inviting them to unite with the emperor of the French in order to effect the emancipation of Poland. All that Napoleon did for the country, notwithstanding his promises, was to incorporate the Poles into his armies, and to erect Warsaw into a duchy, more as a military post to hold the Russi- ans in check, than as a mark of his friendliness to Polish independence. Mr. Campbell, the Scotch poet, has pathetically described, in his Pleasures of Hopey the fall of Poland. The duchy of Warsaw having been ceded to Russia by the last treaty of Vienna, the emperor Alexander has given the Poles a separate constitution, which is regal, and himself the king. This kingdom has been irrevocably uni- ted, by its new master, to the Russian empire. 230 HISTORICAL LETTERS. LETTER XXV. ASM, including Turk ey, Arabia, Persia, India and the Tartaries. Asia is a country of all others the most interest- ing to a Christian people. It is in that quarter of the world, which is larger than Europe and Africa, that the race of man is supposed to have originated, and where Christ is known to have been born and crucified. Of this portion of the globe, the empire of the Turks is the most contiguous to Europe. The power of their chief bestrides, like a Colossus, the ancient Hellespont, (now called the strait of Gallipoli, which is defended by the Dardanelles,) and enforces the tenets of Malioniet where the cross was once displayed with imperial magnificence. But the crescent is waning to obscurity; and the princes of Christendom, instigated by ambitious as well as by religious motives, threaten to drive back these infidels to the land of their ancestors. The Turks were originally a Scythian horde, re- siding in the vicinity of Mount Imaus, about the centre of Asia. Bursting from the chains of servi- tude in which they were held by a neighboring pow- er, they spread themselves over the plains of Scy- thia, drove before them, or subdued, the hordes who had previously inhabited the country, and establish- ed an extensive empire, which, in time, was broken and dismembered. The hordes of the west, freed from their sway, precipitated themselves upon Eu- rope, where their descendants compose a part of the states at present in existence. The eastern hordes threw themselves into Persia, became united with the Saracens in that part of Asia, whom they even- H[STORieAL L¥/rTERS. 231 tually siibjiigatcd, after imbibing from them tlie doctrines of Mahomet. About tlie eleventh centurj' the Turkish chieitaius took the name of Sultan, and proclaimed themselves lieutenants of the caliphs of Bagilad, which v/as the ancient Babylon, seated on the Tigris, and then the seat of the Saracen empire. In the thirteenth century the Turks established a new sovereignty on the ruins of the Saracens, and parcelled out their kingdom into petty seignories, the lords of which, as they rose to supremacy, insti- tuted dynasties, w^hose names only tended to gratify pride and confuse history. Othman, an emir or prince of a district in Asia Minor, taking advantage of the times in which, he lived and the death of his sovereign, seized upon a portion of the country in liis Gv/n right, and attracted by his valor and wis- dom new troops of Turks to aid him. These, view- ing in him the founder of a rising kingdom, assumed ihe, name Ottomans in honor of their leader. Oth- man died A. D. 1326. Bursa, or Prusa, in the first instance, was tlie capital of his empire. This city, celebrated for its fountains and the elegance of its mosques, or Mahometan churches, stands at the foot of Mount Olympus, only ninety-nine miles south of Constantinople. Orchan, who succeeded Othman^ carried his arms into Europe, and espoused the daughter of the emperor of Constantinople. Orchan was followed by Amu rath I. a v^'arlike prince, -who transferred tlie seat of his empire to Adrianople, and instituted the military order of the Janizaries. Ba- jazet was the successor of Amuratli, and mounted the throne in 1389. lie v/as restless and ambitious, and, in consequence of the rapid success of his arms, was called the Thunderbolt. He subjugated Thes- saly, Macedonia and Bulgaria, and had the honor of obtaining a great victory at Nicopolis, near the Da- ^32 HISTORICAL LESTKKS. nube, in 1396, over a Christian army under Sigis- rnond, king of Huniiary. But in the year 1-102, he was totally defeated on tl.e plains of Angora, by tho celebrated Tinuir, or Tamerlane. Some writers affirm that Timur exposed him to public view in an iron cage, whilst others assert that the victor treat- ed him with great libera}itj. This disaster was in some measme retrieved bj Mahomet I. Amu rath [I. obtained the crown in 142*2. He defeated the Hungarians at Varna with great slaughter, and was successful in almost all his warlike en terprizes, ex- cept in that against George Castriot, the celebrated Scanderbeg, king of Albania, Mho freed himself from the tyranny of the Othmans, maintained the rights of his family, and obliged Amurath to conclude peace with him on honorable and advantageous terms. In tlie year 1453 Mahomet il. the most illustrious of the Ottoman emperors, took Constan- tinople by assault, and made it the capital of the Turkish empire. In 1520 Soliman II. surnamed the magnificent, succeeded his father Selim I. He made alarming inroads into Europe: In 1521 he took Belgrade; in the next year Rhodes; in 1524 he captured Breda, and laid siege to Vienna; but he was compelled to retire from the latter place with the loss of 80,000 men. The first peace be- tween Turkey and France took place under this prince with Francis I. Vienna was besieged a se- cond time by the Turks in 1683, under Slahomet IV. but was relieved by John Sobieski, king of Po- land. Mustapha IV. occupies the throne at pre- sent, elevated to that dignity by the Janizaries, who had previously dethroned' Selim III. * ?The possessions of the Turks in Europe are Bos- nia, Servia, Albania, Morea, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romelia, Vv'^allachia, and Moldavia. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 233 As wars are carried on, from time to time, between them and tl'.e Russians, and peace, with them, is in general, but loosely observed, it is impossible pre- cisely to define the present extent or number of the Turkish provinces on the European side of Mar- mora and the Black Sea- On the Asiatic side they possess the finest countries, once held by the Ro- mans. These are the several districts of Asia Minor, and Syria, Palestine, &c The Grand Seignor can also boast considerable authority and influence in Arabia. His authority over Egypt, ia Africa, is very precarious. The Koran is both Bible and law to the Moslems. The Elima, or learned, tlie highest order in the em- pire, are its interpreters At the head of the Elima IS the Mufti, or Shaikh-alislam, whose decrees are called fatwas. Europe and Asia have each a Cadi- lesker, or military judge, appointed annually. The next in dignity is the Istombul I^flfendi, or judge of Constantinople. In the courts of other principal cities Mulas preside; and in those of less note jus- tice is administered or sold by a ('adi. At Bursa, Adrianople, and Constantinople, there are univer- sities, for the instruction of those who are devoted to the study of religion, or of civil and religious ju- risprudence. The office of professor is called Ma- daris. The ecclesiastical order consists of the Shaikh, who preaches every Friday in the mosques ; of the Khatib, who recites the Khutba, attesting the unity of God and the prophetic character of Maho- met ; of the Imam, who perfoi ms a certain service five times a day ; and of the Muezzin, who, from the top of the Minarets, or towers, summons the Moslems to prayers. The Grand Vizier is the chief executive officer of the stat<^, and formerly presided in the Divan, which u2 234 HISTORICAL LE.TERS. was composed of six councillors, afterwards in- creased to twelve. The Sultan, or Grand Seignor, frequently attends tlie deliberations of this body in person. A Pacha of three tails is the supreme de- legated governor of a province. It is believed that this distinction arises out of the original constitu- tion of the Turkish dignities, designated by the number of cavalry the officer commands. If the number be double that of a common Munsub, or disunity, the commander is a Pacha of two tails; if triple, he is a Pacha of three tails. A Pachalic is divided into military districts called Sangiacs, or Standards. The Janizaries, Spahis, Yaims, Timari- ots, (a kind of vassals holding lands or other benefi- ces in virtue of military service) are obliged, in case of war, to unite under a commander called Sangiac bey, and wait the orders of the Pacha. The law of the Turks permits poligamy, which, however, in strictness, is confined to four wives. They are a people fond of indolence, moderate in their eating ; and generally charitable to strangers. They believe in one God, and consider Mahomet as his principal prophet. Constantinople is still the capital of the empire. Arabia has been divided into three parts : 1. Arabia Petrca ; 2. Arabia Deserta ; and, 3. Arabia Felix. Each of these denominations is descriptive of the portion of the country to which it appertains. The smallest of the three divisions is Arabia Petrea, which is mountainous and barren, and differs very little from Arabia Deserta, which, in general, is a sterile sand Arabia Felix is the most fertile, and produces frankincense, myrrh, balm of Gilead, and the best of coffee, which is of superior quality in the vicinity of Mocha. The Arabians of the desart are at the same time herdsmen and plunderers ; they HISTORICAL LETTERS. 2S5 live in tents, and remove from place to place, for the sake of pasture and pillajje. The caravans which travel from Bassora to Aleppo, and from Egypt to Mecca, frequently feel the efl'ects of the predatory disposition of these wandering tribes. Arabia is chiefly distinguished in history by com- merce and religion. Mahomet attracted the inha- bitants from the pastoral life, to which, fiom the earliest times, they had been accustomed ; and, as his doctrines were propagated by the sword, his proselytes, conquering Persia and Egypt, led them- selves into temptations which the gains ot trade in those countries hehl forth. They carried on com- merce with India in its usual channel from the Per- sian gulph, and advancing beyond the boundaries of ancient navigation, brought many of the most preci- ous commodities otthe East directly from the coun- tries which produced them. In order to engross all the profits arising from the sale of them, Bassora was founded, a few years after the conquest of Per- sia, by the Caliph Omar, on the w estern banks of the great stream formed by the junction of the Eu- phrates and the Tigris. Goods imported from India were conveyed from this new city into all the wes- tern parts of Asia. Mahomet himself, in his religi- ous institutions, had an eye to traffic. He enjoined on all his followers to visit once in their lifetime the Caabaa, or square building in the temple of Mecca, the immemorial object of veneration among his countrymen, not only on account of its having been chosen (according to their tradition) to be the resi- dence of man at his creation, but because it was the iirst spot on the earth that was consecrated to the worship of God. In order to preserve continually upon their minds a sense of obligation to perform this duty, he directed, that in all tne multiplied acts 236 HISTORICAL LETTERS. of devotion, uhlch his religion prescribes, -true be- lievers should always turn their faces towards that holy place. In obedience to this injunction, the votaries of the prophet advance to Mecca from the sliores of the Atlantic on the one hand, and from the most remote regions of the East, on the other. Mecca is thus crowded, not only with zealous devotees, but. with opulent mercliants. By this means a fair for trade is established, the greatest, perhaps, on the face of the earth. i\!ercantile transactions are car- ried on in it to an iuimense value, of which the des- patch, the silence, the mutual confidence and good faitii in conducting then), are the most unequivocal proof. The muslins and chintzes of Bengal and the Deccan, the shawls of Cachemcre, the pepper of Malabar, the diamonds of Golconda, the cinnamon of Ceylon, the nutmegs, doves and mace of the Mo- luccas, and an immense number of other Indian commodities, form the articles of merchandize at these fails of Mecca. Mahomet, who gave at the same time a religious and a commercial bias to the Arabians, was born at Mecca, A. D. 571. He was of the tribe of Koreish, and his family was noble. His circumstances, ne- vertheless, were mean. In his infancy his father died, and the care of him devolved upon his uncle Abu Taleb, who was a merchant, and employed Mahomet until he became twenty-five years of age, as a driver of Camels into Syria. At the age of twenty-eight, lu' espoused Cadija, the wealthy wi- dow of a trader; and thus becoming one of the richest men of Mecca, he aspired to the sovereignty of it. Political ambition excited his genius; and he finally framed, and successfully propagated, one of the grossest impostures that the world ever wit- nessed. Ten years after his marriage with Cadija, HISTORICAL LETTERS. 237 he put on the appearance of extraordinary sanctity, retired every morning to a solitary cave in the vici- nity of Mecca, and continiuMl the whole day in prayer and meditation. In his fortieth year, he proclaimed himself a prophet and the apostle of God ; and four years afterwards, began to oppose the Paganism of his countrymen, and would have fallen a sacrifice to their resentment, if he had not been protected by the powerful influence of his un- cle. Mahomet invented a system of divinity, which he pretended had been revealed to him by the Deity, in visions, or through the medium of the Angel Ga- briel. This system he embodied in tiie Koran, a work manifestly selected from the Bible, the works of the christian fathers, and such writings and pre- cepts as were most in vogue among the Jews. Im- postors always deal in mystery ; and the cunning of Mahomet has, in that respect, been almost an over- match for the prying curiosity of his enemies, who knowing his ignorance of letters, were determined to ascertain by whose assistance this new prophet had been enabled to compile a work of so much pu- rity of style as the Koran. It was at length, how- ever, ascertained, that it was the performance of Abdia Ben Salem, a Persian Jew, and of Sergius, a monk of the sect of Nestorians. The ingenuity of Mahomet, notwithstanding, furnished many curious fables for the Koran ; and he proved himself a match for the puzzling questions put to him by his oppo- nents. They demanded of him a miracle; but he cut that m2.tter short, by alleging, that God had sent Moses and Jesus with miracles, and yet men would not be obedient to his word ; and that, there- fore, he now had sent him, in the last place, without miracles to force them bv the power of the sword to do his will. And pursuant to this subtilty, he 2S8 HISTORICAL LETTEH 9, commanded his disciples to desist from argument and to fight for tlieir doctrines. On the death of Cadija, he married three wives, and in the twelfth year of his mission, he g:ave out that he had been favored vvith a journey to Heaven, attended by the Angel Gabriel. The incredible falsehoods which he propagated on this occasion, lost him many friends, and he was compelled to fly from Mecca to Medi- na ; which flight is called Hegira, and is the period from which the Mahometans reckon their years. It takes its beginning from the l6th of July, A. 1). 622. He now erected liis standard and armed his follow- ers, and commenced expeditions against tlie trading caravans between ?.iecca and Syria, and thereby ac- quired considerable wealth. In 624, he made war on those Arab tribes who professed the Jewish reli- gion. In the same year, he was defeated and dan- gerously wounded, which staggered the faith of ma- ny of his proselytes. He then invented the notion oi'fate, and asserted, that all Musselmen who die in battle, go immediately to Paradise. He afterwards made a truce with his enemies, which he subsequent- ly broke, got possession of Mecca, and in 631 his religion and empire were established throughout all Arabia. He died in that year, of poison, which had been given to him, three years before, by an Arabi- an girl in the City of Caibar. The poison was ad- ministered on a shoulder of mutton, which Mahomet tasting, but not liking, spit out. He survived for the time, yet it finally killed him. The girl being asked why she did it, answered, " that sne had a mind to try whether he was a true prophet; for, if he. was, he certainly would know that the meat was poisoned ; and if he was not, it would be a good thing to get rid of so wicked a tyrant." The im- postor was buried at Medina. HISTORICAL LETTEI^.S. S39 The Koran contains some fine moral sentences ; but Mahomet was a voluntuary. and he made his pa- radise to consist in cartial delights. Those that die believers, he tells them, are to enter into pleasant gardens, where rivers and fountains perpetually ilow, and there be attended by beautiful women. Whatever could excite the sensual appetites of the Arabians, was held out by way of inducement; and whatever could inspire horror, such as the drinking of boiling and stinking water, the breathing exceed- ingly hot winds, was denounced in terror to unbe- lievers. Me is thought to have deduced his maxims from the temperament of his own constitution. He M-as addicted to women, and he, therefore, made that one of the circumstances of supreme felicity .• Wine did not agree with him, and hence his follow- ers are forbidden to use it. Persia has always enjoyed a considerable name in history; but, like other nations, she has experien- ced great vicissitudes of fortune. The Persians succeeded to the power of the Medes and Babyloni- ans, and grew in splendor till they threatened, under Xerxes, (who is said to have invaded Greece with two millions of men,) to inundate Europe. The Greeks were avenged for this insult by the triumphs of Alexander the Great. Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander's Captains, usurped, and his successors lost, the Macedonian command over the East. About the same time that they resigned to the Romans the country on this side of Mount Taurus, they were driven from all the provinces of Upper Asia by the Parthians. The power of the Parthians was, how- ever, in turn, subverted by Andohir, or Artaxerxes, the founder of a new dynasty, which, under the name of Sassanides, governed Persia till the inva- sion of the Arabs. This occurred A. D. 226. Ar- 240 HISTORICAL LETTERS. taxerxes raised the Persian monarch j to great grau- deur ; reformed the Magian religion, and by estab- lishing tiie authority of the priestliood, secured his own power. Zoroaster was the prophet and philo- sopher of the Persians, and the Zendavesta the writ- ten guide of their faith. Tiic doctrines of that an- cient preceptor are singuhir, chiefly for tlic funda- mental article of his system, which attempts to reconcile moral and physical evil with the attributes of a beneficent Creator and Governor of the world : The first and original Being, is denominated by Zoroaster TimeivUhout Hounds: Kither from the blind or the intelligent operation of this Infinite Tune, the two secondary, but active, principles of the universe were from all eternity produced, Ormusd and Ahriman, each of t'nem possessed of the powers of creatioii, but each disposed, by his invariable nature, to exercise them with different designs. The malice of Aliriman has long since pierced Ormusd''s egg, or, in other words, has violated the harmony of his works. Since that fatal irruption, the most minute articles of good and evil are mingled and agitated together ; the rankest poisons spring up amidst the most salutary plants ; deluges, earthquakes, and conilagrations, attest the conflict of nature, and the little world of miui is per- fectly shaken by vice and misfortune. Tiie Persi- ans sacrificed "on the highest mountains, and their hymns and prayers were uttered in the op^n air. " The code of laws instituted by Artaxerxes, was respected as the ground work of the civil and reli- gious policy of the Persians, till the last periods of the monarchy. Successive revolutions have intro- duced new laws and a new relii^ion. They are now chiefly Mahometans of the sect of AH, v;ho was the cousin and son-iii-law of Mahom.et, and being ex- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 24i eluded from the Caliphate bj Omar and Othman, he broached certain tenets of his own, and raised a party to himself The Persians, whilst governed by their native Princes, never carried on any trade by sea with In- dia, but they were supplied with the elegant manu- factures of that part of Asia by land-carria*2:e. The commodities destined for the supply of the Northern provinces of Persia, were transported on Camels from the Banks of the Indus to those of the Oxus, down the stream of which they were carried to the Caspian Sea, and distributed, partly by land carri- age and partly by navigable rivers, through the dif- ferent countries bounded on the one hand by the Caspian and on the other by the Euxine Sea. The commodities of India, intended for the southern and interior provinces, proceeded by land from the Cas- pian to some of the great rivers, by which they were circulated through every part of the country. After the overthrow of the empire of the Parthians, all the considerable ports of India were frequented by traders from Persia, who conveyed the merchandise which they procured in exchange for tlie produc- tions of their own country, up the Persian Gulph, and, by means of the great rivers Euphrates and Ti- gris, distributed them through every province of their empire. They supplanted the merchants of the Arabian Gulph in all the marts of India to which silk was brought by sea from China, where it is sup- posed to have been originally known. Monopoli- zing this article of trade, the Persians raised the price of it so high, that two monks, about the year 551, brought the eggs of the silk worm from China in a hollow cane, and with them, the mystery of the wonderful manufacture. These eggs were hatched by the heat of a dung-hill, fed with the leaves of a ■242 HISTORICAL LETTERS. wild mulberry tree, and being propagated througk Europe, cheapened the commodity and furnished a new object for industry. Persia, in the northern and eastern parts, is mountainous and cold ; in the middle and south- eastern parts it is sandy and desert; in the south- ern and western, level and extremely fertile, though for several months very hot. The productions of the country are various and valuable; Among them are dates, pistachio nuts, and poppies that yield the finest opium. There are extensive plantations of trees for silk worms ; and large flocks of sheep and goats. The camels, horses, mules, asses, oxen and buffaloes, are the best of their kind. The principal manufactures are satins, tabbies, taffetas, brocades, gold tissues, gold velvets, calicoes, and camlets. For nearly a century past, Persia has been deso^ lated by rival competitors for the sovereignty. The usurper Nadir Shah was assassinated in 1747, when Ahmed Abdallah, one of his generals, founded the kingdom of Candahar, annexing to it the provinces of Korasau and Segestan, in the eastern part of Per- sia, together with the provinces of Hindoostan Pro- per, west of the Indus, that had been ceded by the Great Mogul, in 1737, to Nadir Shah. Another of Nadir's officers, named Kerim-Kahn, obtained the sovereignty of all the southern provinces. He trans- ferred the seat of government from Ispahan to Schiras In 1779 he died, when new pretenders to the throne sprung up, harassing the people and de- vastating the country. The English nave taken great pains to cultivate the friendship of the Persi- ans, with a view to the greater security of the Bri- tish possessions in India ; whilst the French seek to inspire them with a jealousy of the growing power of HISTORICAL LETTERS. 243 tlie Enjriish in the East, in order to embarrass the government of Great Britain in that quarter. India is a roMutry, whose inhabitants are suppos- ed to have been the earliest civilized people on the globe^ The whole body of the community in that part of Asia were divided originally into four orders or casts. The first wns the most sacred, and studi- ed the principles of reli^ia?] ; were destined to per- form its functions, and cultivate the sciences: the second was entrusted with the government and de- fence of the state : the third was composed of hus- bandmen and merchants ; and t\\Q fourth of artisans, laborers and servants. None of these can ever quit his own cast, or be admitted into another. The members of each cast adhere invariably to the pro- fession of tlieir forefiithers : from generation to ge- neration the same families have followed, and continue to follow, one uniform line of life. To this isascribable the high degree of perfection observable in Indian manufactures. The sovereign is consi- dered as the sole universal proprietor of all the land in his dominions, and from him is derived every species of tenure by which his subjects can hold it. The Hindoo code of laws that prevailed in India contains the jurisprudence of an enlightened and commercial people. Their lawyers are called Pun- dits. Their housi'S for religious exercises are deno- minated Pagodas, are magnificent, and adorned not only with rich offerings, but with the most exquisite works of painting and sculpture which the artists highest in estimation among them were capable of executing. The rites and ceremonies of their reli- gion are pompous and splendid. The Brahmins are the ministers of religion ; these take their name from Brama, the founder of their faith, and author of their bible, called Vcdam ; they have a regular 244 HISTORICAL LETTKIIS. hierarchy and gradation of ranks, and are thereby enabled to preserve a more absolute dominion over the minds of tJie people. Tlie conquests both of the Mahomedans and Europeans have had considerable effect upon the manners and customs of the natives. It is doubtful whether the seclusion of their women is of native or Mahomcdan orij2;in. Some of the Hindoos in the town of Calcutta have so far depart- ed from their former customs that they drive about in English chariots, sit upon chairs, and furnish their houses with mirrors. The 2i<^nd source of Jn- dian literature, the parent of almost every dialect from the Persian ^ulph to the China seas, is the Sanskreet, a language of the most venerable and unfathomable antiquity. The Egyptians and Phenicians, the most ancient navigators mendor.id in history, were the first peo- ple of the west who opened a communication by sea with India. The first establishment of any foreign power there is supposed to be th.at of the Persians, under Darius, the son of Hystaspes. For many centuries Alexandria was the chief seat of trade with it, and it has been conjectured that it was one grand object with Alexander the Great, in order to promote his political views, to open to Asia and Eu- rope in general more eligible routes for commerce with that ilourisliing countiy. Several attempts were made, subsequently to the expedition of Alex- ander, by princes of Asia, to make conquests in In- dia; but none of them proved very successful. From about one hundred years befoie the Christian era till the close of the fifteenth century, when the Por- tuguese, by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, open- ed a new communication with the East, no Europe- an power acquired territory or fixed its dominions there. Intercourse, nevertheless, was kept up; and HISTORICAL LEITERS. 245 Indian manufactures have uniformly been in great demand in all countries where navigation or com- merce have been objects of pursuit. In the year 1497, under the reign of king Imma- nuel the Great, of Portugal, Vasco di Gama, after a navigation of thirteen months, arrived at ( alicut, on the coast of Malabar He scarcely took time to view the country ; and was followed, in a second voyage, by Alvarez Cabral, who laid the founda- tion of Portuguese glory. In a third expedition Albuquerque established the power of Portugal there The decay of her power, however, was a3 rapid as its growth. The Dutch drove the conque- rors from almost all their newly acquired posses- sions ; and in our day they only preserve in that quarter of the globe Macao, upon the coast of China, a part of the island of Timor, Goa, and Diu, and some other small establishments on the Malabar coast. The first expedition of the Dutch to India, was under Cornelius Houtman, in the year 1595. The second voyage was undertaken by Van Neek, in 1598 ; he met with considerable success, and return- ed laden with riches. On his return the India com- pany of Holland was formed, which sent out to those parts admiral Warwick, with a proper equip- ment ; and he is considered the founder of the Dutch power in Asia. They were very successful in forming establishments on the Islands of the In- dian seas. Batavia, in the island of Java, is the capital of all the possessions of the Hollanders in India. They are the only Europeans who have been permitted to trade at Japan. But their glory and their power in that quarter have been obscured by the English. v2 246 HISTORICAL LETTERS. The conflicts of the Portuguese and the Dutch in India, at the commencement of the seventeenth centurj, attracted the attention of Europe, and drew thither the English, in order to secure a part of the spoils. Their present dominion over the best part of Indostan attests the success of their arras. Thej have not, at this time, a European competitor, and draw annually from thence to Great Britain immense wealth. Of the various attempts of the English, individu- ally, to open a trade thither, none proved successful till queen Elizabeth, by a charter, dated December 31, A, D. 1600, established the first incorporated company by the name of the London East India Company. The original shares were fifty pounds sterling each, and the capital was under four hund- red thousand pounds. The shareholders, after con- siderable changes, were subsequently designated by the name of " United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies.^* By degrees this body has become the richest and most powerful corporation that ever existed, and has for a long time enjoyed a controlling influence in the British government. In the reign of Louis XIV. the French minister Colbert endeavoured to secure some of the profits of East Indian commerce to his countrymen ; but although they obtained a footing in Bengal, and on the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, and main- tained severe conflicts with the British for superiori- ty, they have never been able to fix an advantageous establishment in the country. In 1618 the Danes made a settlement on the Co- romandel coast, called Tranquebar; and towards the close of the sixteenth century the Spaniards settled HISTORICAL LETTERS, 247 themselves at the Philippine Islands, the only pos- sessions which they have in Asia. India, on this side of the Gan2;es, has been called the Mogul empire, from the name of the Tartars who subjugated it; and it is also denominated Indos- tan, from the Hindoos, or Gentoos, who inhabit it. The Mogul empire was shattered by Thomas-Kouli- Kahn, who, in re-establishing the dethroned prince, left him nothing more than a shadow of power. Tlie late Great Mogul, possessed little more than the city of Delhi and the adjacent territories. All the peninsula of India, which, under the administration of Rajahs, Subads,and Nabobs, was formerly depen- dent on the Mogul empire, has, by degrees, been liberating itself from that domination ever since the invasion of Thomas-Kouli Kahn, and at this time is divided into several states, of which the most pow- erful are the possessions of the English Elastlndia Company, those of the Nizam, and those of the Mahrattas. Delhi is the capital of the Mogul em- pire: Agra is the greatest city of India. I'he hi- ther coast of the Indian peninsula is called Malabar; the farther coast bears the name of Coromandel. India, beyond the Ganges, is little known to the moderns, and was less known to the ancients. It contains many states or kingdoms, of which the most spoken of are Ava, Pegu and Aracan, compo- sing the Birman empire ; together with Siam, Ma- lacca, Tonquin, Cochin-China, &c. China is reputed to be the best cultivated and most populous country of the earth, and is singular for its laws, its morals, usages and manners. We are very imperfectly acquainted with it, owing to the policy of the government, which is extremely jealous of foreign visitors. The most authentic de- tails respecting the Chinese and their institutions, 248 HISTORICAL LETTERS. are to be found in the account given of the English ambassador, liOrd Macartney's, mission to the So- vereign of that Empire, which took place in 179S. China dates her origin four thousand years ago. She furnishes an uninterrupted history from about two hundred 3'^ears before Jesus Christ ; and lays a doubtful claim to the invention of gun powder, printing and the mariner's compass, previously to their discovery in Europe. A fortified wall, 1500 miles in extent, forms a defence for her nortliern frontier, and it is said to have been made about 2000 years ago. .The Chinese have a canal of more than 180 leagues in length, traversing a part of the em- pire from south to north. According to the docu- ments procured by Lord Macartne}', the territory of China comprehends 1,297,999 square miles; 333,000,000 of inhabitants ; has 4,400 walled towns; and an armed force of 1,000,000 of infantry and 800,000 cavalry. Pekin is the capital, and is said to contain 3,000,000 of inhabitants. Canton, the only port at which Europeans are permitted to trade, has one million two hundred thousand inhabitants. 1 he people in general are Pagans ; and Confucius is iiieir most celebrated philosopher. Tea is the grand C(nnmodity of exportation from China, and has be- come an article of use and merchandise all over the globe. The porcelain of that part of the world was not known to the ancients. The Portuguese began to import it not long after their first voyage to China, A. D. 1517; but it was a considerable time before the use of it became extensive. The Tartaries are three in number. Russian Tartary, which extends from the Volga to Kams- chatka.: It is separated from the north west coast of America by Behring's Streights, which are not very wide, and are perpetually obstructed by ice. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 249 Tobolsk is the capital. Chinese Tartary includes tlie Mantchou Tartars, and the black and yellow Moa;uls. Titsicar is the capital. Independent Tar- tary is situated between the other two, and is envi- roned by China, India and Persia ; the inhabitants are chiefly the Calmuc and the Usbec 'J'artars. The principal cities are Saraarcand, Balk, Bokara, Otrar and Toncat. In Asia, several conquerors liave marked a wider circuit than Alexander the Great. Towards the close of the 12th century, Gengis-Kan succeeded liis father in the government of several Mogul Tar- tar hordes, to the north of China. By his talents and his courage, he made himself master of e\erj thing around hitn ; subdued the nations from the Volga to the w-all of China, and from the peninsula ofCoreato the Euphrates. At his death, his em- pire was divided between his four sons, each of v^hom found himself one of the most powerful mo- narchs of the earth. The descendants of Gengis were eclipsed of their power b;y the victories of Ta- merlane. Timur, or Tamerlane, born without inheritance, created for himself an empire more extensive than that of the Macedonian hero. His conquests includ- ed Indostan, Persia, part of Asia, Turkey in Asia, Independent and part of Chinese Tartary. He de- leated tiie Turkish Emperor Bajazet, on the plains of Angora, in Phrygia, in 1402, where a ^rant battle vvas fought between the two rivals, in which, it is said, 2,000,000 of men were engaged. The posteri- ty of Timur, like that of Gengiy, have sunk beneath the superior fortune and abilities of succeeding princes, who sprung up in Asia Minor, in Persia, India, and other parts. Aurengzebe, flie Mogul Emperor, who died in 1707, at the age of more 256 HISTORICAL LETTERS. than one hundred, was one of his descendants. His race, however, h;is possessed nothins; but a nomi- nal authority ever since 1739, when Thomas-K.ouii- Kahn overturned its authority in India. This Tho- inas-Konli'Kahn reigned over Persia up.der the name of Shah-Nadir^ 0. LETTEM XXVI. JFRIC^^t including Egypt, the Coast of Barhari/y the Western, Southern, and Eastern Coasts, and the Interior, With the exception of Egypt and the coast of Barbary, Africa was, perhaps, less known to the an- cients than to the moderns. The stupid barbarity of its inhabitants, the ferocity of its beasts, and the venom of its reptiles, seem to mark it, in some mea- sure, as the refuse of creation. Egypt, which, in effect, was the cradle of human knowledge, and is not included in the preceding re- marks, has been already spoken of. The Egyptians fdled the earth with the fame of their wisdom, of their laws, their government, and their works, whilst the Carthaginians, situated more to the west, were celebrated for their riches, their conflicts and their fall. Barbary, on the coast of which Carthage was situated, was considered, both under the Car- thaginian and Roman dominion, as the garden of the world. The fortune of Carthage sunk beneath that of Rome, which, in turn, yielded to the valor of bar- barians. In the fifth century the Vandals, under HISTORICAL LETTERS. 251 Oenseric, drove cut the Romans, and founded his throne upon the ruins of ancient Carthage From the presence of these destructive hordes this fine portion of the earth was relieved bj the martial genius and active courage of the renowned and un- happy Belisarius, at the head of the armies of the eastern division of the Roman empire. This tri- umph of civilization, however, was but temporary. The Saracens entered the country and reduced it to a state of rudeness. These Masters of Barbary di- vided, and formed distinct establishments. Fez, IMorocco, Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli, were founded under different sovereigns. After a reign of some centuries, distinguished for nothing but licentious- ness and depredation, the Saracens were subjugated by the Turks, who have preserved and promoted the ignorance and barbarism wliich they found in the country. The conquests of the Turks in Africa were divided among the lieutenants of the Grand Seignior, upon whom the states of Barbary are at present only nominally dependent. Thus arose the present political constitution of the Barbary powers, where the Dey is the tyrant, the Turkish soldiers the senate, and the inhabitants are slaves- Agri- culture is neglected, piracy is encouraged ; and the ruling chieftains acknowledge the Grand Seignior as their superior, without paying any regard to his commands. EoTtPT, which at present strongly attracts the at- tention of European potentates, is divided into Up- per, Middle, and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt con- tains Girge, Siut, Cosseir, and Assuan. Middle Egypt contains Cairo, Boulac, Fioum, and Suez ; And Lower Egypt comprehends Alexandria, Da- mietta, Rosetta, and Aboukir. The Grand Seignior deputes a Vice Roy to govero Egypt; but the real 252 HISTORICAL LETTERS. sovereigns were, for a long time, twenty-four Beys, elected by a standing military force of 10,000 Ma- melukes. The power of the Beys, however, has been diminished, if not extinguished, by the cruel policy of the Ottomans. B AKBAriY includes the empire of Morocco, the re- gencies of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, the country. of Barca and Tafilet, Sugelmessa, Billedulgerid, &c. Morocco is an imperial despotism, founded by the Arabs. The regencies are aristocracies, whose chiefs are called Deys or Beys, and are elected by the Turkish soldiers. The French and Spaniards, in modern times, have occupied a few posts on the coasts of Barbary. The western coast of Africa, or Guinea, embraces an immense extent of country, from Cape Blanc to Cape Negro. It is that part of Africa which is most frequented b}"" Europeans., and is the principal thea- tre of their commerce. From thence are exported gums, ivory, wax, gold dust, andes|JLecially slaves. Of the latter, it is computed that, before the com- mencement of the French revolution, there were ex- ported from Guriiea more than one hundred thou- sand annually. The inhabitants receive, in exchange for slaves, powder, lire- arms, brandy, gliss-ware, and silk and cotton stuffs. Guinea is peopled by various hordes, who are in a state of perpetual war- fare with each other, and thereby furnish a supply for the slave market. The United States of Ame- rica, in framing their constitution, in 1787, led the "way to the abolition of this scandalous traffic. By that instrument, Congress were empowered, in the year 1808, to prohibit the importation of slaves ; and accordingly, on the second day of March, 1807, that body passed a law, which was approved by the then President Thomas Jefferson, declaring it illegal HISTORICAL LETTERS. '25S from and after the first day of January, 1808, to im- port or bring into the United States or the territories thereof, from any foreign kingdom, plaCe or country, any negro, mulatto, or person of color, with intent to hold, 'sell, or dispose of, such negro, mulatto, or per- son of color, as a slave, or to be held to service or labor. Great Britain, finding that the United States were determined to carry into rigid execution their constitutional provision relative to the slave-trade, yielded to the spirit of humanity, and interdicted to her subjects a commerce which, however lucrative, only served to disgrace them. Guinea is subdivided into several districts, denominated Senegal, Gam- bia, Sierra Leona, the Grain Coast, Ivory Coast, the Slave Coast, the Gold Coast, the kingdoms ot Benin, of Loango, of Congo, of Angola, Benguela, Bamba, &c. The Portuguese formerly possessed all the Southern ports, and were the first who dealt in slaves ; and the Dutch and Danes had establish- ments; but the English, from the superiority of their navy, hold a preponderating control over all the settlements in that part of Africa. The Southern point of the African continent, or the Cape of Good Hope, comprehending an exten- sive district of country, was formerly subject to the Dutch East-India Company, from whom it was cap- tuied by the British in 1795. This is the country of the Cafties and the Hottentots, of whom inter- esting accounts have been furnished by Barrow, Vaillant, and others. The colony of the Cape of Good Hope was founded by the Dutch in 1650, un- der the direction of a surgeon named Vanriebeck, and served as a convenient place for refitting ships bound to India. It is inhabited by about 15,000 Europeans and 50,000 slaves ; and produces a very %54 KlStOKlCAL LETTEllS. delicious wine, known by the name of the Cape or Constantia wine. Of the Eastern Coast of Africa, very little is known. The Portuguese are the only Europeans who have established themselves there, which they did in virtue of their discovery of the passage to India by the Cape of Good-Hope. Having no rival in that quarter, they have exercised authority in a ^^ery arbitrary manner. This tract of country in- cludes the districts of Monomotapa, Sofala, which is thought to be the Ophir of Solomon ; Mozam- bique, Zanguebaf,Melinda, Brava, Magadoxo, Abys- sinia, Nubia, &c. The forms of government among the natives on the Eastern Coast, are, in general, monarchical or despotic ; but they are almost all tributary or dependent on the Portuguese. The Interior of Africa has been either very lit- tle visited by travellers, or is altogether unknown. All that we know with certainty is, that it is over- spread, in various parts, with arid deserts, frightful beasts, and uncivilized men. The Interior com- prehends Sahara, or the Great Desert, v/hich is sub- divided into the districts of Zanhaga, Zuenziga, Targa, Lemta, and Berdoa ; the country of Tombut, Fezzan, Cashna, Bornou, Darfour, the greater part of Caflraria, Monomugi, &c. In 1788, there was formed in London a society for encouraging discoveries in the Interior of Africa. This Society dispatched several missionaries into that country ; Of these, the first soon died ; the se- cond furnished very little information that was au- thentic ; but the third, Mungo Park, has published interesting recitals of his discoveries ; which he pro- secuted in the years 1795, 1796, and 1797. Park set out from the mouth of the river Gambia, traver- sed the space between the Gambia and the Senega!;, HISTORICAL LET'ir.US. 155 and proccGtlecl as far as a place ealleci 8illa, seated on the river Niger, whence he returned, by a devious route, to the pLice from which he started. In a sub- sequent expedition. Park IS supposed to have perish- ed ; as no authentic accounts have ever been received from him. In 1781, Vaillant undertook to explore a portion of the African continent. He set out from the Cape of Good -Hope, and penetrated a considerable dis- tance into the countries of the Hottentots and Caffres. He has furnished some very curious par- ticulars of the customs and manners of these people. Browne, another traveller, departed from Cairo, in Egypt, ascended the Nile to Siout, and diverging to the right of that river, passed along the skirts of Nubia, and reached as far as a place called Gobbeh. Bruce is another traveller into Africa, of great celebrity. He traversed Nubia to Sennar, and pro- ceeded, in search of the sources of the Nile, through Abyssinia, where he alleges thnt he found them. In 1798, Hornmann prosecuted travels into Afri- ca, crossing Egypt towards Barca, and proceeded as far as Mourzook, the capital of Fezzan. These have been succeeded by other travellers, with but little success in satisfactory discoveries. There are many Islands that appertain to the continent of Africa, in the Western Ocean are Madeira, the Canaries, Cape de Verds, Goree, As- cension, St. Helena, &c. In tlie Eastern Ocean are Madagascar, the Isles of France and Bourbon, of Comora, and some others. Notwithstanding the aridity of the African cli- mate, the discoveries which have been made indi- cate that many parts of the Interior are fruitful, and might, with industry and knowledge, contribute to the comfort and happiness of mankind ; The Interi- '256 HISTORICAL LEITERS. or of that continent, the coasts and islands of which BOW serve chiefly for resting places and ports of re- freshment, may, it is hoped, in after-times, when more fully explored, become a scene of the fairest virtues and the noblest actions of the human race. C. LETTER XXVII. AMERICA — including the British Possessions in J\/*orth America; the United States ; and the Spanish and Poriuguese Possessions in JS^orth and South America. Christopher Columbus, a Genoese, arguing, fropi the nature of a globe, which the world was held to be, that by keeping a course continually west he should eventually arrive at the Eastern Coasts of Asia, or discover some new land in his passage, ap- plied, successively, to the o;ovemments of Genoa, of France, of England, and of Portugal, lor the means of verifying this conjecture : But he was treated by all of them as a man deluded by a chimera. Colum- bus, however, had reasoned with too much calmness and accuracy upon the subject to be induced easily to abandon his idea, and after eight years of solici- tation at the court of Isabella, queen of Castile, he succeeded in procuring a small equipment where- with to execute his enterprize. He departed in 1492, with a few vessels of no great burthen, which had been granted to his importunity rather than confided to his wisdom. After being at sea for thirty- three days, during which his crew had eviiiced the HISTORICAL LETTERS. 95T most mutinous disposition, he discovered one of the Bahama Islands, which, in reference to his pei'sonal situation, he called Saint Salvador ; for he would have had to return to Spain, or have perislied by the hands of his mariners, if he had not, about that time, approached the land. From Saint Salvador he proceeded to Hayti, which he found full of peo- ple, and abounding in gold and all sorts of useful productions. To Hayti he gave the name of Hispa- niola, vvliich is the same island that is now generally denominated St. Domingo. He then returned to Spain, where he was received with the most extra* vagant demonstrations of joy. Such is the history of the discovery of America, the nominal honor of which has, in some degree, been filched from Co- lumbus by a native of Florence, whose name was Americus Vespucius, and who, coasting some years afterwards along the continent, published the first charts of the country. Columbus made several voyages to America, in the course of which he took possession of other Islands in the name of his sove- reign. He died in Spain in loOC, having experien- ced much of royal ingratitude, and having been per- secuted by those who envied his reputation. A great portion of the North Ameiican Continent is almost unknown: And this portion is, perhaps, greater in extent than all Europe. It is inhabited by tribes of Indians, who, generally speaking, are perfectly savage. It was for a long time a prevail- ing opinion, that there existed a passage by sea from the eastern to the western coast of this conti- nent ; but the travels and voyages of several adven- turers have nearly, if not totally, destroyed it. None have more assisted in elucidating this contested point than Vancouver, who, by his researches and observatioHS'for a period ot five years, has succee^eti w2 Q5S HISTORICAL LETTERS. in makins; the north-west coast of America one of the best known points of our globe. Nootka Sound, which lies in that direction, was visited by captain Cook in 1777. The English established themselves there in 1785, in order to promote a trade in furs to China: The Spaniards becoming jealous of this es- tablishment, sent thither a force which dispossessed the English, and this pr'oduced an altercation be- tween the two powers that had nearly ended in a war, but was amicably adjusted in the year 1790. The British Possessions in North-America are divided into several provinces. New Britain em- braces all the tract north of Canada, comprehending the Esquimaux country, which includes Labrador, and New South Wales. Canada, of which Quebec is the chief town. Nova Scotia, having for its capi- tal Halifax; and New-Brunswick, the capital of which is St. John's. New Britain is an immense country, which environs Hudson's Bay : the, boun- daries of it are very inaccurately defined j and the inhabitants, who are the Eskimaux Indians, are alto- gether uncivilized Canada and Nova-Scotia are, comparatively speaking, in a very flourishing condi- tion: Ever since the independence of the United States the British have paid great attention to them, particularly to their commerce, which has given an impulse to industry and tended greatly to increase their population. Canada was taken possession of by the French in 1525; Quebec was built in 1608; but in 1759 the whole country was conquered by the English, and has been in their possession ever since. Nova Scotia was settled by Sir Wm. Alex- ander in 1622, but ten years afterwards it was sold to the French. It was taken again in 1654, and ceded back in 1662; recovered by Sir William Phipps in 1690, and given again to the French in HISTORICAL LETTERS. 259 1697; but the English conquered it once more in 1710, and it was confirmed to them at the peace of Utrecht in 1713. New-Brunswick was formerly a part of Nova'Scotia, and was erected into a separate province in 1784. For our knowledge of these nor- thern countries we are greatly indebted to the efforts of those vA\o endeavored to find a north-western passage to Cliina. Frobisher vainly attempted it in 1576: he discovered Labrador. Davis made the experiment in 1585, and has given his name to the straits that lead into Baffin's Bay. Henry Hudson made sundry voyages in tliat direction in 1607, in 1608, and in 1610: he discovered the Bay which bears his name and perished in 1611, a victim to his zeal and the rage of a majority of his crew, who for- ced him and his son and some otliers into a shallop which was never after heard of. The mutineers ar- rived at Plymouth in September 1611. Another effort was made by Ellis in 1746, which, as to its ultimate object, was also fruitless. An exclusive trade to a part of America was granted in 1670, by Chailes It. to the Governor and Compamj of Adventurers of England trading to Hudsoti*s Buy : tliey wei'e to have the sole trade and commerce of and to all the seas, ba3"s, straits, creeks, lakes, rivers and sounds, in whatsoever lati- tude, that lie within the entrance of the strait com- monly called Hudson's straits ; together with all the lands, countries and territories, upon the coasts of such seas, bays and straits, which were then possess- ed by any Englisli subject or the subjects of any other Christian state ; togetlier with the fishing of all sorts of fish, of whales, sturgeon, and all other royal fish, together with the royalty of the sea. But this extensive charter has not received any parlia- mentary confirmation or sanction. They carry on 260 HISTORICAL LETTERS. a considerable trade in furs and peltries. By their communication with the Indians, the Englisli find a considerable vent for their coarse manufactures. Authority is exercised in these provinces by Govern- ors General, sub-governors, and local assemblies, acting under the sanction of the crown and parlia- ment. The United States were formerly British colo- nies They are situated in the center of the nor- thern part of the continent of America, are in pos- session of the knowledge and the arts of the oldest nations of Europe, are rapidly augmenting in popu- lation and wealth, will at some future period un- doubtedly give the law to the western hemisphere, and check the expansion of European domination. The American Union has been formed out of differ- ent states, founded at different epochs, by various European emigrants. Sebastian Cabot, in the service of Henry VII. of England, first discovered the continent of North America in 1497. About the same time numerous expeditions were fitted out for making discoveries in the New World, and curiosity being stimulated by avarice, settlements began to be formed in the succeeding century from the gulf of Mexico to the river St. Lawrence, It would seem, however, that none of a permanent nature were effected till 1608, when the French commenced an establishment at Quebec. In the year 1609, lord De la War esta- blished the colony of Virginia : In 1610 Newfound- land was settled by Governor John Guy. New Jer- sey was colonized by the Dutch in 161 6, and by the English in 1664. About 1616 the Dutch settled New-York. In 1620 Plymouth was settled by part of Mr. Robinson's congregation of Puritans ^ and in 1628 captain John Endicott and company made a "HISTORICAL LETTERS. 261 colonial establishment at Massachusetts Bay. In 1627 Pennsylvania was planted by the Swedes and Fins; and in 1682 by William Penn. The Swedes and Fins also settled in Delaware in 1627. New Hampshire was founded in 1623 by the English. Maryland was settled by Lord Baltimore in 1633. The colony of Connecticut was commenced by Mr. Fen wick, at Saybrook, in 16S5. Mr. Roger Willi- ams retired from Massachusetts with his persecuted brethren in 1637, and founded Rhode Island. In ]|^669 South Carolina was settled by Governor Sayle; and North-Carolina by the English in 1728. Gene- ral Oglethorpe founded Georgia in 17S2 ; and Ken- tucky was explored and settled by Col. Daniel Boon in 1773. Emigrants from Connecticut, and other parts of New England, were established in Vermont from 1764 to 1777. Emigrants from all parts of the Union settled Tennessee about the year 1783; and in 1787 the settlement of the Territory North West of the river Ohio was promoted by the Ohio and other companies. Such is the current of those esta- blishments, out of which have grown the present United States. Louisiana and a part of West-Flo- rida were purchased from the French in 1803. Before the association was formed and whilst the States were colonies, the American provinces were invariably involved in the wars which grew out of the passions of the governments of Europe. Those establishments appertaining to Great Britain, were sparing neither in money nor men, to insure the tri- umph of the British arms, and to sustain the honor of the British name, and at the close of the war be- tween France and Great Britain in 1763, which was distinguished by victories and conquests in both he- mispheres, they flourished in population, commerce and wealth. But the splendor of her successes 262 HISTORICAL LETTERS, abroad impoverished the subjects of Great Britain at home ; and whilst her flag waved unrivalled over every sea, she was oppressed with a load of debt and increasing expenses, that called incessantly for new taxes and impositions on her people. The in- genuity of her jinancial statesmen was perplexed in a labyrinth of difficulty, from which they attempted to escape by an expedient that finally lost to Great Britain the most considerable part of her American possessions In the year 1764 a bill was passed in parliament, by which heavy duties were laid on goods imported by the colonists from such West- Jndia Islands as did not belong to the British, and the duties were to be paid into the exchequer in specie : And immediately after another bill was framed to restrain the currency of paper money in the colonies. The Americans complained and re- monstrated, without avail ; and at length resorted to an agreement to import no more British manufac- tures, but by all means in their power to encourage those of domestic fabric. The English ministry would not relax, but proceeded to impose stamp du- ties throughout the continent. The stamp act met with much opposition in its passage through parlia- ment ; but it eventually passed. When it arrived at Boston it was received with universal indigna- tion. The stamps, wherever they could be found, were destroyed ; and those who were appointed to receive the duties were terrified into a resignation of their offices. It was now broadly asserted that Great Britain had no right whatever to tax the co- lonies without their consent. This doctrine was maintained on the ground that British subjects could not be lawfully taxed without being represent- ed in the legislature. Virginia took the lead, and all the rest of the provinces followed the example, HISTORICAL LETTKRS. 265 in the declaration tliat Great Britain had no right to tax them, and that every attempt to vest others with this power besides the king, or the governor ot the province, and his general assembly, was unconstitu- tional and unjust. Non-importation agreements were every where entered into, and it was even re- solved to prevent the sale of an}' more British o;oods. The ladies agreed to renounce the use of every ornament manufactured in Britain. This general confederacy determined the ministry to repeal some of the most obnoxious of these statutes. The stamp act was revoked ; but the joy which the revocation gave rise to was damped by the ungracious and con- comitant declaration in a bdl, published for the pur- pose, of the authority of tlie mother country over her colonies, and her power to bind them by laws and statutes in all cases whatever. A spirit of jea- lousy still prevailed, and a strong party was formed watchful of the rights of the American people. Soon after an act was passed, imposing a duty upon tea, papers, painters' colors, and glass, imported into America. This roused the resentment of persons of all classes, and a more general combination than ever was formed to resist the pretensions of parlia- ment. The inhabitants of the Massachusetts colony behaved in the most intrepid manner; open contro- versies took place between the assembly and the go; vernor, and the latter soon lost all influence in the province. It would be incompatible witli the limits of this work to recite all the incidents which mark- ed the early stages of this contest between the pa- rent country and the colonies. The Bostonians at length made forcible opposition to the duty on tea, by not suffering the cargoes of several ships laden Avith it to be landed, and, in the dress of Mohawk Indians, going on board and throwing 342 chests of 264 HISTORICAL LETTERS. tea into the sea. This happened in November 1775, and was the immediate prelude to the revolutionary struggle. The British ministry were highly exas- perated and passed a number of acts exceedingly obnoxious to the provincials. Among these was the Boston Port Bill, shutting up the port of Boston and cutting off its trade. Gen. Gage now arrived as Governor, and removed the assembly to Salem. Here that body passed a resolution declaring the ne- cessity of a general congress, composed of delegates from all the provinces, in order to take the affairs of the colonies at large into consideration, and five gentlemen were forthwith chosen to represent Mas- sachusetts. A summary of grievances was then drawn up and circulated through the country. Vir- ginia boldly stood forth as the champi(m of freedom and united in promoting a general congress. Penn- sylvania and New York gradually came into the measure. At Boston a solemn league and covenant was entered into, whereby the signers bound them- selves to relinquish the use of British goods, to as- sociate with none who did use them, or who refused to subscribe the covenant. Similar agreements were simultaneously entered into throughout Ame- rica. Gen. Gage, in a proclamation, denounced this combination as illegal and traitorous, and threaten- ed such as signed or countenanced it with the pains of the law. His proclamation, however, had little effect. Delegates were chosen for each province,in number from two to seven for each colony, though no colony had more than one vote. The congress met at Philadelphia, as the most central place, in autumn 1774; and the patriotic proceedings of the people in different quarters were approved. Thej addressed a letter to Gen. Gage, stated their griev- ances, in treated him to desist from military open- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 265 tions and published a dpclaratiori of their rights as Enj^lishmen The British forces at Boston, never- theless, continued to increase; find Gen. Gage be- gan to fortify tlie neck of land which joins the town of Boston to the continent. This gave great um- brage to the citizens, who vel^emently remonstrated against it. Gage paid no attention to their remon- strances, but proceeded to seize the provincial pow- der, ammunition and military stores, at Cambridge and CharlestoM^n. Tlie Americans were by this time universally inflamed with resentment, began to study the art of war, established con.panies of minute-men, to be ready for service at a moment's warning, and took such other steps as were consi- dered necessary to insure success to their cause. Things were in this state, when, on the 19th of April 1775, Gen. Gage sent a party of his troops to destroy, the military stores collected at Concord, about twenty miles from Boston. This party had marched before day-break, and about five in the morning had reached Lexington, fifteen miles from Boston, where some militia were exercising. An ofiicer called out to the latter to disperse, and it be- ing alleged tliat at the moment some shots were fired from an adjacent house, the British military made a discharge, which killed and wounded seve- ral of the militia. The detachment then proceeded to Concord, destroyed the stores, had a scufile with the Americans, and several persons fell on both sides. The king's troops retreated through a sharp fire kept up from Concord to Lexington, where their ammunition failed, and they would have been en- tirely cut oft if lord Percy had not come to their aid with two field pieces. The spirits of the Americans were much elevated by this conflict. They assem- bled a lar^e army in the neighborhood of Boston> A, 266 HISTORICAL Letters. and held the British in check. Towards tlie end of May, however, the latter received considerable rein- forcements under Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. Some skirmishing had taken place, in which the Americans had the advantage : But on the night of the 16th of June they took possession of a high ground, that overlooks the town of Boston, called Bunker-s or Breed's Hill, and before day- light almost completed a redoubt and a strong en- trenchment. Before mid-day the work was com- pleted, notwithstanding a heavy cannonade from the British. These how marched to the attack of the Hill under Generals Howe and Pigot, supported by General Clinton. The Americans received them with a fire that occasioned a prodigious slaughter. By burning Charlestown, where the Americans had taken post, the British succeeded in carrying the Hill, having lost about one thousand men, among whom were nineteen officers killed and seventy wounded. The American loss was about five hun- dred, including Gen. Warren, who was much lamented. This battle, in whicb the king's troops claimed the victory, taught them to respect their adversaries, and made them more cautious in their movements. The war had now seriously commenc- ed. The exportation of provisions was every where prohibited to such colonies of America as continued to adhere to the British interest. Congress resolv- ed to establish an army, and to issue a large paper currency to support it. Private parties were organ- ized in favor of the public cause : Colonels Kaston and Ethan Allen, with about 250 men, surprised Crown Point and Ticonderoga on the side of Cana- da. Articles of confederation and perpetual Union were drawn up and proposed to the States. HISTORICAL LETTERS. 267 On the 6th of July, 1775, Congress published a very eloquent declaration, reciting their grievances, asserting their rights, proclaiming that "honor, jus- tice and humanity, forbade them tahr.ely to surren- der that freedom which they received from their gallant ancestors, and which their innocent posteri- ty had a right to receive from ihem." This Con- gress rejected a conciliatory proposal made by Lord North and appointed George Washington to command their armies in chief. His commission was made out in the name of the states, signed by John Hancock, President of Congress, and by Charles Thompson, as Secretary. Horatie Gates was chosen adjutant-general, and Charles Lee a major general: Both these were English officers of considerable reputation — Artemas Ward, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam, were also nominated major-generals. Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgo- mery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spen- cer, John Thomas, John Sullivan and Nathaniel Green, were chosen brigadier-generals. It was then determined to invade Canada and reduce Que- bec, daring the winter. For this purpose 3000 men were put under the command of Generals Montgo- mery and Schuyler, with directions to proceed by lake Champlain. In the course of the expedition General Schuyler was taken sick, and Montgomery was left to command alone. He succeeded in getting possession of St. John's, a strong fort on the river So- rel, a branch of the St. Lawrence, notwithstanding he was vigorously opposed by General Carleton, a man of capacity for war. Montreal next fell into the hands of General Montgomer3% vvhich opened the way to Quebec. Meanwhile Colonel Arnold, penetrating with a body of troops through frightful morasses and solitAides, found a nearer wav to that 568 HISTORICAL LETTERS. place* A junction being formed before the town by these two officers, and it beinji; found impossible to take the place by siege. General Montgomery deter- mined to attempt a surprise on the last day of De- cember 1775. Two real and two fei":ned attacks were made, in order to distract the garrison. The Americans advanced by break of day in the midst of a heavy fall of snow ; but the sio;naI for the attack being ^^^ . ... 1776 46,891 25,000 S ^^^'^^^'^^^ 1777 34,830 £6,000 24,986,646 1778 32,899 19,000 24,289,438 1779 27,699 18,000 10,794,620 1780 21,015 19,000 3,000,000 1781 13,292 10,000 l,94ij!,465 1782 14,256 11,000 3,632,745 1783 13,476 12,000 3,226,583 X784 548,525 Total 92,485,688 Add to this the debt incurred of about 42,708,009 And we have an aggregate specie sum of - - -..-.- 8135,193,697 To the preceding the militia of each State maybe added. On an average the}' amounted to about half as many as the regulars : their pay was included in the list of expenses which were reduced in funding the public debt. In addition to this expense large bounties were given by the States in lands and mo- ney, and depreciation was made good. The an- nexed statement exhibits the amount paid by the States respectively. New-Hampshire, - - - S 4,278,015 Massachusetts, - - - - 17,964,613 Rhode-Island, .... 3,782,074 Connecticut, - - . - 9,285,737 New-York, 7,179,982 New-Jersey, 5,342,770 £eansylvauia, - , . - 14,137,076 Carried forward, S 61,970,267 HISTORICAL LETTERS. 279 Brought forward, S 61,970,267 Delaware, 839,319 Maryland, 7,568,145 YnTUiia, 19,085,981 North-Carolina, - - - - 10,427,586 South-Carolina, - . - . 11,52S,S99 Georgia, 2,993,800 Total. DoUars, 114,408,397 From these particulars, a tolerably accurate idea may be formed of the expenses of the war for inde- pendence. After the war, the articles of confederation and pel petual union were found to be inadequate to all the objects of a permanent government; and the question having been agitated among the most en- lightened men of the nation, (in consequence of a proposition first made by James Madison in 1785) a convention of delegates chosen by each state met at Philadelph.ia in the summer of 1787; where a new constitution of government was suggested, and was finallv adopted. This constitution, with subse- quent amendments, is the one under which we have now the happiness to live. It secures to the people every thing that is desirable in human society. Li- berty of conscience, freedom of speech and of the press, and the trial by jury, are guarantied by it. All legislative pov/er is vested in Congress, which consists of a Senate and Plouse of Representatives : The Senate is composed of two members from each state, each of whom is entitled to hold his seat for six vears ; but by a classification at the first institu- tion^ of this body, one third of the members go out every two years, so that it is renewed every six years, although as a body it is never defunct. Each 'Senator is entitled to one vote, must be thirty years old, have beea nine years a citizen of the United 28i> KISTORICAL LETTERS. States, and must be an inltabitant of the state for which he is chosen when elected. The Vice-Presi- dent of the United States is President of the Senate, but has no vote except on an equal division- The Senate may choose a Vice-President pro tempore in case of the absence or death of the Vice-Presi- dent, or of his serving as President of the United States; as also is Secretary and other necessary officers. The Senate have tlie sole power of trying impeachments, and likewise a power of approving or rejecting treaties and nominations to certain offi- ces made by the President. The House ot Repre- sentatives consists of members chosen every two years, aoreeably to a ratio of numbers calculated upon a census of population taken at the end of eve- ry ten years. No person can be a Representative unless he is twenty-five years of age, been seven years a citizen of the United States, and is an inha- bitant of the State for wliich he is elected at the time of election. Tlie number of Representatives cannot exceed one for every tliirty thousand. Each member of the House has a vote. This body cliooses its Speaker, Clerk, and subordinate ofiicers, has the exclusive power of originating money bills, and se- veral other peculiar powers. Congress is authorized to lay and collect taxes, raise and support armies and a navy, declare war, regulate commerce, coin money, &c. Every bill, before it becomes a law, must be presented to the President of the United States for signature : if he approves, he signs it ; if he disapproves of it, he sends it back with his ob- jections : and unless it is repassed by two-thirds of both houses of Cong.ress it does not become a law : but the President must return it within ten days, (Sundays excepted,) otherwise it becomes a law. The Senators and Representatives have a pecuniary per diem allowance for their services. The Presi- HISTORICAL LETTERS. 381 Went of the United States is the chief executive offi ^ cer of the crovernment, and he is elected, as well as the Vice-Fresideijt, for four years, by electors cho- sen by the people or legislatures of the states. The number of these electors is, for each state, equal to the mnnber of Representatives aad Senators of the state in Congress. The sulgoined table exhibits the number to which each state has been entitled for the |)ast ten years, the ratio of representation being 35,000 : JVo. of Representatives, JVe. of Electors. New-York, - 27 - - 29 Virginia, - 23 - - 25 Pennsylvania, - 23 • - 25 Massachusetts, - IJO - - 23 North-Carolina, - IS - - 15 Kentucky, - 10 - - 12 Maryland - 9 - - 11 South- Carolina, - 9 - - 11 Connecticut, - 7 • - 9 New Hampshire, - 6 - - - 8 Vermont, - 6 .. - 8 New- Jersey, - 6 - - 8 Tennessee, .6 - -8 Georgia, - 6 - - 8 Ohio, - 6 - - 8 Rhode-Island, - 2 - - 4 Delaware, - 2 - - 4 Louisiana, - 1 - - 3 Indiana, .1 . . 5 Illinois, - 1 . - 3 Mississippi, .1 - . 3 Alabama, • ] . - S 186 230 Additional for Maine, - - . - 2 t2 f»32 282 HISTORICAL LETTERS. The electors are obliged to designate the person voted for as President or Vice-President, and the person having a majority of the whole number of votes for either station is duly entitled to the ofSce. The votes are transmitted to the President of the Senate, who open*them in the presence of the mem- bers of both houses of Congress, and they are counted. If tliere is no choice by the electors, the House of Representatives, voting by states, are to, choose the President from the three candidates having the highest number of votes. If there be no choice of Vice-President by the electors, then the Senate choose him from the two candidates having the highest number on the lists. In case of the death, resignation, or inability, of the President to discharge the functions of his post, the Vice-Presi- dent is to act as President; and m case of the death, &r. of both these officers. Congress may by law de- clare who shall discharge the duties of the station. The Vice President has an annual salary of 5000 dollars. The President is commander in chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the service of the United States. His annual salary is 25,000 dollars; and he is impeachable, and may be removed for misconduct. Wnenever he is tried the chief justice must preside. George Washington was the first President of the United States, and was inaugurated the ^SOth of April, 1789 ; he vv^as re- elected on the 4th of March 1793: On the 4th of March 1797 he relinquished the office, and died, universally admired and regretted, on the 14th of December 1799. In March 1797 John Adams was chosen President: In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was elected to the same office, and was re-chosen in 1805 : He voluntaiily retired in 1809, when James HISTORICAL LETTERS. S83 Madison succeeded him Mr. Madison retired in 1817, and was succeeded by James Monroe, who is the actual President There are four principal de- partments under the President, to W5t : the Depart- ment of State, of the Treasury, of War, and of the Navy, over each of which there is a Secretary ; who, toji;ether with the Attorney General of the United States, form a council of consultation for the Presi- dent, and, by this means, he is enabled to bring to his aid the best abilities of the nation. The Secre- tary of State is the organ of diplomatic intercourse with foreign nations, and of correspondence, in rela- tion to his Department, with the Governors of States, Territories, &c. The Secretary of the Trea- sury superintends the collection of the revenue, which arises from duties on tonnage, on imported goods, postage of letters, and the sales of public lands. In ordinary years the yearly revenue amounts to about 14,000,000 of dollars : All disbursements of public money are made and adjusted at the Trea- sury Department. The Secretary of War superin- tends the affairs of tliearmy, which, in time of peace, consists of a small number of regular troops: These, however, are augmented in time of war ; But the chief reliance for defence is on the militia, which, according to the census of 1810, may be reckoned at 1,119,944. Ordinarily the military establisment costs the United States nearly 4,000,000 of dollars per annum. The Secretary of the Navy has the care of our infantine marine, which, includinu ships of the line, frigates, Sec amounts to about 50 vessels of war, rating from 1 to 106 guns, and car- rying, in the aggregate, about 1500 guns ; besides which there are several bomb-kef ches and gun boats. The common an? ual expense of the Navy Depart- ment has been about 3,000,000 of dollars. Tlic 284 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Attorney-General is the principal law-officer of the government. The United States established a mint m 1792. The gold coins are eagles, half eagles, and quarter eagles; the silver coins are dollars, half dollars, quarter dollars, dimes, and half dimes ; the copper coins, are cents and half cents. Dollars, cents and mills, are the denominations generally used in computation ; but the latter are merely no- minal. The post office is under the direction of a postmaster general and two assistants. All these departments and institutions are under the general observance of the President. The Judicial power of the government is vested in certain courts, of which there arc three kinds : A supreme court, circuit courts, and district courts. The constitution establishes the first, and the two last |iavo been instituted by Congress. The Su- preme court consists of a chief justice and six asso- ciate judges, and the Attorney -General of the Uni- ted States is the public prosecutor before it. The circuit court consists of a Judge of the Supreme court and the district judge of tlic State ; and for this purpose the United States are divided into cir- cuits and districts. The circuit courts sit twice a jear in each district composing the circuit, and the judge must reside in one of them. The district court is held by the judge of the district, whose au- thority is confined to it. A district attorney is the public prosecutor before the circuit and district courts ; and there is a marshal appointed for each district, who exercises the powers of a Sherifl'. Each state has a government independently of this general government, sovereign in every parti- cular except as to those national interests of which the federal constitution takes coo:nizance. The go- vernment of the several States, however varying ia HISTORICAL LETTERS. 285 ioriii, are essentially republican, and calculated to proniote the happiness of the pe«>| le. The United States, now twenty-three in number, have Territories, which, as tliey increase in popula- tiois are allowed a more liberal frame of o-overnment until they become States, to winch privilege they are admitted when they contain 60,000 inhabitants. The President, with the approbation of the Senate, appoints the Governors, Secretaries, and other offi- cers of the Territories, and they are paid out of the national treasury. The District of Columbia is un- der the exclusive jurisdiction of the general govern- ment; and, being the seat of its deliberations, it is probable it will remain so. Washington City is the capital of the vi'hole United States. The population of the United States and theip Territories, according to the census of 1810, amounts to 7,239,903 souls, of which the following is an accurate table : STATES. Maine and Massachusetts, - - 700,745 New-Hampshire, - - - . 214,460 Vermont, 217,895 Rhode>IsIand, - - - - - 76,931. Connecticut, 261,942 New-York, 959,049 New-Jersey, 245,562 Pennsylvania, 810,091 Delaware, 72,674 Maryland, 380,546 Virginia, 974,622 Kentucky, 406,511 North-Carolina, - . - . 555,500 Tennessee, ----- 961,727 South-Carolina, _ - - - 415,115 Georgia, 252,435 286 HISTORICAL LETTER S. Ohio, 230,760 TERRITORIES— ill 1810. Orleans, - - - - - - 76,556 Mississippi, - « - - _ 40,552 Indiana, s-i.'^ao Louisiana, - - - - - 20,845 Illinois, - - - - - 12,282 Michigan, . - - 4,762 District of Colvmbia, - - - 24,023 Total 7,239,903 The population of the United States and Territo- ries increased, from 1800 to 1810, nearly 2,000,000. And manufactures, of almost every description, have made considerable progress. Since the revolutionary conflict, the United States have been engaged in several Indian wars, in a war with France, one >vith Tripoli, and a war declared against Great Britain in 1812, wl.ich terminated in 1815, with great increase of military and naval renown to the Americans In every one of these national contests they have had the advantage. The Spanish Possessions of America, before the prevailing revolution, which has so much shattered that monarchy, consisted, in the J\hrth, of New Mexico, part of the Floridas, of California, and Old Mexico. Tlie origin of the power of Spain in that section of the country is singular. Velasquez, a governor of Cuba, desirous of rendering his adminis- tration remarkable, undertook a small expedition of discovery, which he confided to Fernando Cortes. This commander set out in 1519, at the head of about 600 men, a few horse, and some pieces of artillery. He coasted along the peninsula of Yucatan, landed at Tabasco, and founded the colo- ny of Vera-Cruz. Here he threw off the authority HISTORICAL LETTERS. 287 of Velasquez, and having gained intelligence of the riches and splendor of Mexico, marciied thither, subduing or conciliating the nations of Indians in his way. Arriving at Mexico he was received as a friend ; but in the true spirit of an invader he seized the emperor Montezuma in his palace, kept him close prisoner, and after three years of conflicts, in which he had to combat with a Spanish -force sent by Velasquez to arrest him, he succeeded in subju- gating this fine country. Cortes, when he set out from Vera Cruz upon this enterprize, burnt his fleet. Robertson has collected, in a very interesting nar- rative, the principal events of this extraordinary conquest. In South America the Spaniards own Terra-Firma, Peru, Chilly and Paraguay. Of these provinces the history of Peru is the most engaging. It was the domain of a race of magnificent princes entitled Incas. The people were wealthy, industri- ous, and considerably advanced in the arts of civi- lization : In this respect they are thought to have exceeded the Mexicans, who were tolerably polish- ed. These people had the misfortune, in the year 1531, to be the object of an expedition undertaken by Francis Pizarro, Diego Almagro, and a priest. These conquerors had a very small military force ; bat the Peruvians were divided by a contest between two brothers for the throne. The Spaniards inter- fered and finally reduced the country under their own yoke, after committing the greatest cruelties, quarrelling among themselves, and plundering the natives. The events of this achievement are like- wise detailed by Robertson. The direction of the provinces of Spanish Ameri- ca has been heretofore committed to the council of the Indies. And the king's representative in eacii province was either a vice-roy or a captain general. 288 HISTORICAL LETIERS^ As this part of the world is at present in a state of revolution, in which the old aiitliority trembles and new governments are not yet firailj established, it would be improper to pursue their history further at this time. The Baron Humboldt, who has furnislied the latest and most authentic description of some of the prin- cipal Spanish possessions in America, reckons the population of Mexico alone, at about 6,500,000. The policy of the Spaniards has always been to exclude foreigners and free trade from their colo- nies. The Portuguese Possessions in South-America consist of Brazil and Guiana. The former was discovered in the year 1500, by Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on a voyage to the East-Jndies. It is a very rich province, and gives the title of prince of Brazil to the heir apparent to the Portuguese crown. This country has become interesting of late frotn the emigration of the royal family thither from Lis- bon. We have no accurate knowledge of tlie popu* lation, but there are supposed to be nearly as many blacks as whites. Brazil abounds in line bays and harbors, furnishes many articles for commerce, such as excellent sugar, drugs, and Brazil wood ; and produces gold and diamonds. In all the Spanisli and Portuguese possessions in America, the Roman Catholic Religion is the esta- blished worship. In the interior of South America a large portion of the country remains almost unexploied. It is called Amazonia. This is also the case with the •^* extremity of that part of the continent called Pata- gonia, or the Magellanic region, of which, as well as of the body of land between the Straits ofLe Mairea. HSTORICAL LETTERS. 289 and tliose of Magellan, called Terra del Fuego, we, in truth, have very little certain knowledge. I do not think it necessary, in this brief general historical view, to enter into a description of those islands which lie in the sea between East Florida and the river Oronoco. Cuba, the chief of them, is at present in the hands of the Spaniards, daily liable to revolution, and altogether at the mercy of the English ; who, by means of their formidable navy, hold the principal sw^ay in these islands. St Do- mingo or Hayti, the next in size and importance, is at this time under the dominion of the Blacks, who, as rulers, are represented even as more severe task- masters to their x\frican biethren than the whites. The different European nations that have planted colonies, have introduced their own peculiar institu- tions; so that a traveller who should pass from one island to another, and make the whole circuit, would meet with all the variety of laws, customs and man- ners, that are to be found in F^urope, together with many of native srowth. Before I conclude, it may not be amiss to men- f tion that by the purchase of Louisiana in the year 1803, the United States obtained the customary title to a vast body of land and considerable population on the western banks of the Mississippi. The country thus acquired was, in part, at first divided into two Territories, that is to say, the Territory of Orleans and the Territory of Louisiana, which were wverned agreeably to the Ordinances of Congress. In 1812, the population of Orleans being more than 60,000 souls, that Territory was erected into a State. There exists some dispute concerning the bounda- ries of Louisiana as it was originally purchased from the French, and the United States have taken measures to secure their rights in that particular. 290 HISTORICAL LETTERS. Since tlie country was bought, an exploring party,* conducted by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, travelled across the continent to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The views which that enterprize opened for posterity are truly interesting. AVith respect to the Indians who reside in and adjacent to the United States, it has been the policy of the American «overnment to inculcate amonjr them sentiments of concoid, and to propagate the arts of civilization. The eftbrt has, in some degree, succeeded ; but, in many cases, the friendly endea- vors of the United States have been attended with no beneficial eftects whatever. C. ^^vi. ^o .^' ^ -0^ .>: ^- V » U ■ V # •^oo^ '^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper pre Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: "^ ' A ^^^ o , ^ , „^ ^ ' PreservationTechnoloc ^'^ ^ '^ ^ ■ " *^ A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVj ^^^iv>^.^ o>^ :'^s^. <-■ \> ^x-y^'^-. 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 ^724)779-2111 ^^:^ -e. ^^ -'■ .V ^'^ ^^^ OO .x^ i^-' -f- cT L^ ^ ^. \ i^ . '-- * N ^ \V ^-v "^^ - ^ ^ ^ *„ cP^ ,v\^' -^^ ,X\^ ^^- ^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS