broken by General Wayne, of thirteen chiefs of the Wyandots one only survived, and he badly wounded. The following

anecdote illustrates this trait in their character.

"When General Wayne assumed the position of Greenville, in 1793, he sent for Captain Wells, who commanded a company of scouts, and told him, that he wished him to go to Sandusky and take a prisoner, for the purpose of obtaining information.' Wells (who, having been taken from Kentucky when a boy, and brought up amongst the Indians, was perfectly acquainted with their character) answered, that he could take a prisoner, but not from Sandusky.' And why not from Sandusky?' said the General. 'Because,' answered the Captain, 'there are only Wyandots there.' 'Well, why will not Wyandots do?' For the best of reasons,' said Wells, 'because Wyandots will not be taken alive."" -p. 51.

We are left by our author to learn the last important chapter in the history of most of the Indian tribes, once conspicuous in the valley of the Ohio, from other pens than his own. Beyond a brief allusion, in the concluding paragraphs of the Discourse, to the conduct of the celebrated chieftain Tecumthè, at the council of Vincennes, in 1810, there is no reference to those momentous events and struggles, in which General Harrison himself performed the most conspicuous part. This celebrated Indian chieftain, who may with propriety be placed by the historian on the same page with King Philip, Pontiac, and Brant, was the son of a Shawanoe father and Cherokee mother, a descent which admirably adapted him to achieve that project, which, to some extent, is supposed to have been contemplated by the other eminent Indian chieftains whom we have named, that of bringing all the Indian tribes into one grand confederacy. This policy, as far as it extended, was the secret of the strength of the Five Nations. It is even affecting to hear these poor children of nature, by their speaker Canassatego, at the council of Lancaster, in 1744, recommending Union to the American colonies. At the session of the FOURTH OF JULY of that year, the eloquent Onondago warrior used this remarkable language;

"We have one thing further to say, and that is, we heartily recommend union and good agreement between you and your brethren. Never disagree, but preserve a strict friendship for each other, and thereby you, as well as we, will become the stronger.

"Our wise forefathers established union and amity between the Five Nations; this has made us formidable; this has given us great weight and authority with our neighbouring nations.

We are a powerful confederacy; and, by your observing the same methods which our wise forefathers have taken, you will acquire fresh strength and power; therefore, whatsoever befalls you, never fall out with each other." *

If this is the language of barbarism, what is civilization! While we write these lines, the intelligence reaches us, that, in virtue, rather let us say by force, of one of those monstrous impositions called Indian treaties, negotiated, in the present instance, against the wishes of fourteen fifteenths of those whose lands it cedes, the last remnant of those sagacious and formidable tribes, whose representative, in 1744, uttered these counsels of friendship and wisdom, are about to be driven from their last foothold in New York, and transported to a "new home" west of the States of Arkansas and Missouri. Whatever doubts may rest on the question discussed in the address before us, whether the victorious arms of the Five Nations were ever pushed to the Mississippi, no doubt, unhappily, will be left to the future historian, that they are now to be driven across that river, by their civilized, hunane, and Christian neighbours; and this by force of a treaty, of which the President of the United States remarks, in communicating it to Congress, "that improper means have been employed to obtain the assent of the Seneca chiefs, there is too much reason to believe." That their condition will be improved by the removal is an opinion, we know, entertained by persons of integrity and honor, and we devoutly hope that it may be realized. But this opinion, however confidently entertained, and however likely to be justified by the result, furnishes no apology, so long as their right to occupy their reservations is admitted, for forcing them to quit their homes, under the forms of a mock treaty, concluded against the wishes, however unenlightened or misguided, of a great majority of the tribe.

* Colden's History of the Five Nations; in the Papers annexed, p. 149.

Paris: Librairie de 1840.

ART. IV. 1. Vie, Correspondance et Ecrits de Washington, publiés d'après l'Edition Américaine et précédés d'une Introduction sur l'Influence et le Caractère de Washington dans la Révolution des Etats Unis de l'Amérique ; par M. GUIZOT, Membre de l'Institut. Charles Gosselin. 6 tomes. 8vo. 2. An Essay on the Character of Washington and his Influence in the Revolution of the United States of America. By M. GUIZOT. Translated from the French. Boston: James Munroe & Co. 1840. 16mo.

M. GUIZOT, under whose auspices this work appears, may with great justice be reputed among the most distinguished individuals of the age. His recent appointment, as the French ambassador in England, is a sufficient indication of his standing among the public men in France; inasmuch as he can owe his designation to this high and responsible post, to none of those considerations of hereditary rank and wealth, which decided such appointments under the old régime. As a philosophical historian, he has acquired a reputation second to no other in Europe. Not to mention a number of earlier productions, which evince a fertility and readiness not inferior to the higher qualities of his pen, his "History of the English Revolution," and still more his "History of Civilization," abundantly entitle him to this rank, among living writers. Sir James Mackintosh was accustomed to speak of the first-named work as the best which had been written on the subject. The "History of Civilization" is a production of great originality and power, and will exercise a very extensive influence over the public mind. It will do more, with reflecting minds, than all other works which have been written, to bring up the phenomena of past history with the freshness and reality of passing events, by presenting them in those natural groups, and connecting them by those influences and sympathies, which nothing short of the finest tact and most profound sagacity are competent to trace through the obscurity and confusion of distant and barbarous ages.

In our review of Mr. Sparks's edition of the "Writings of Washington," we mentioned, that those portions of them,

*North American Review, Vol. XLVII. p. 379 et seq.

which are best adapted for the European reader, would be selected by M. Guizot and published in a French translation. The volumes before us appear in execution of the arrangements made for this purpose. They contain a complete and literal translation of the Life of Washington" (which fills the first of Mr. Sparks's volumes), and those parts of the Correspondence which were deemed by M. Guizot most important and interesting to the French public, 1. As throwing light on the relations of France and the United States during the Revolution, and the agency of the former in bringing about this glorious event; 2. As developing the policy of Washington, in reference to the formation of the constitution, and the establishment of the government, of the United States; 3. As displaying the character, disposition, and manners of their illustrious author.

The translation is preceded by an Introductory Discourse, from the pen of M. Guizot, on the character, influence, and political career of Washington, written in the best manner of this distinguished statesman and scholar. This Introduction gives a value to the present publication, even for the American reader, familiar as, of course, he must already be, with every other portion of its contents. M. Guizot here employs his luminous pen, which has shed original light upon the entire history of modern civilization, in illustrating that pure and canonized name, of which it has already become doubtful, whether it is more an object of veneration or of love. The American citizen, uncertain as he cannot but feel himself at times, whether he pays his homage to the real and unexaggerated merit of the father of his country, or to an ideal excellence created under the influence of gratitude after the lapse of years, and seeking refuge from the selfish pretensions and pompous egotism of men and parties of the present day, is delighted to find his highest estimation of Washington confirmed by the calm judgment and philosophical investigation of the other hemisphere. The opinion of an enlightened foreigner, studiously formed and pronounced voluntarily and in good faith, has something not unlike the gravity of the judgment of after times. It is generally as little possible for moderate worth and mere party merit to cross the abyss of waters as the abyss of ages. The contemporary world beyond the ocean is a kind of anticipated posterity.

The Advertisement," prefixed to this publication, announces its importance in the judgment of the French public, and pays a just tribute to the merit of Mr. Sparks's labors. "No distant event," say the editors, "has created in France so lively an interest as the Revolution of the United States of America. No great man in foreign countries has been, to the same extent as Washington, the object of general admiration in France. He possessed the favor of the country and of the court, of the old régime and of the regenerated nation. During his life, Louis the Sixteenth lavished upon him the marks of his esteem; at his death, Napoleon decreed him a public mourning and a funeral discourse."

The original edition of Mr. Sparks is characterized in the following terms;

"An able editor, Mr. Sparks, already well known by his important historical labors, and especially by his ' Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States during the War of Independence,' published at Boston, in twelve volumes octavo, has examined these papers and made extracts and selections from them. The family of Washington, his surviving friends, and some of the most intelligent and distinguished members of Congress, have assisted him in this patriotic task. Mr. Sparks has not remained content with the collection of materials, already so ample, which were within his control; he travelled over America and Europe, and the public archives and private collections of France and England were liberally opened to him. He has sought after, and brought together from all quarters, the documents necessary to illustrate and complete the authentic biography of a great man, which is the history of the infant years of a great people; and a work in twelve large octavo volumes, adorned with portraits, plates, and fac-similes, under the title of The Writings of George Washington,' has been the result of this labor, which has been animated by patriotism, a sense of duty, and a love of the subject."-Advertisement, pp. vii, viii.

After a statement of the contents of the volumes, the Advertisement proceeds;

"Each volume is terminated by an Appendix, in which the Editor has collected a variety of historical documents of great interest, and, generally speaking, hitherto unpublished, illustrative of the principal events of the period and of the most important portions of the life and character of Washington.

"Finally, numerous and accurate notes, scattered through