have appeared in its support. Of these, the only one which I shall mention is the existence, in the larger mounds, of fragments of earthern ware, which have in their composition a perfect identity with that fabricated since the discovery of America, even up to the present time, by many of the tribes low on the Mississippi. A single fact cannot establish a theory; but upon viewing this discovery, in conjunction with what has been written by the ingenious authors just cited, it must, I think, be acknowledged, that this hypothesis is rendered more plausible than any other." It may be recollected that Ashe's Travels was one of the worthy authorities for the libels of the Quarterly Review; from the gross ignorance and absurdity of the book, we doubted if he had ever been in this country; but we found some account of him in a note, where the author is speaking of the fossil bones discovered in this region, and we copy it for the edification of those who have perused those travels, or the Quarterly Review. "In the years 1802 and 3, Dr. William Goforth, with an ardour of curiosity that deserved a better reward than awaited his exertions, dug up at this place, and transported to Cincinnati, several waggon loads of these bones. They were, by the Doctor and George Turner, one of the members of the American Philosophical Society, examined attentively, and supposed to be the remains of no less than six nondescript quadrupeds, most of them gigantick! Among the rest, some of the bones of the rhinoceros were thought to be ascertained. Judge Turner made accurate drawings of the most curious of these fossils, but has been so unfortunate as to lose them. "In the spring of the year 1803, the Doctor formed a design of transporting these bones to the Atlantick states. They reached Pittsburgh, and were there stored. Early in 1806, Professor Barton made an application to purchase them; but at that time they had attracted the attention of a foreign swindler, named Thomas Arville, alias Ashe, who obtained permission of the owner to ship them to Europe for exhibition; since which they have not been heard of. To this personal injury of a worthy individual, the miscreant has since added a libel on the American people, and a gross insult to the British nation, by the publication of a book of travels, redundant in the most puerile and malicious falsehoods," If we should say that sound policy on the part of the State of Ohio, would now lead them rather to discourage than promote emigration to their territory; that they have now a sufficient population, to stock their whole country in a few years; that it would be wiser to commence now to fix their habits, institutions and character, by the force of custom and fellowship, on a sedentary population gradually advancing its numbers, without extraneous aid, than to have its whole surface agitated by the impetuous flood of emigration; if we should say that this. would conduce more to the consistence and solidity of the State, than the promiscuous introduction of new settlers, we should no doubt find that we were talking to land speculators, and not to statesmen. We have alluded to this topick however, only to suggest to the author, that in the next edition of his work he might add a very interesting chapter, in describing minutely the process of the new settlers, from their first entrance into the forest, till the farm and the village make their appearance. This is a state of things almost peculiar to this country; highly characteristick and picturesque in its details. The emigrants from various parts of the United States as well as from Europe, proceed to their place of settlement, uncertain of the particular locality, and with very vague notions of the geography of the country. The general point of meeting however is at Pittsburgh, as the pilgrims to the Holy Land formerly met at Marseilles from different quarters of Europe. At Pittsburgh, they embark on the river, and trust their destiny to the current of the Ohio. A convenient eddy, a point of land, the entrance of a small stream, may decide the location. The spot thus selected undergoes a transformation more rapid than can be easily imagined; in a few years the block-house, which was an outpost for protection against the savages, becomes an awkward incumbrance in the streets of a city, and the spot, where the Indian hunter had kindled a camp fire, is occupied by the furnace of a steam engine. Even the birds on their return from a summer's migration, may seek in vain for the forest in whose covert they were hatched. The history of one of these settlements from the first encampment with a waggon, till some of the comforts of a farm are obtained, would be an interesting narration. A gentle man told us that he was at Pittsburgh a year or two since, and going to the banks of the river, he entered into conver ! sation with some emigrants. Three families which chance had brought together, their first meeting being on the banks of the stream, had purchased a boat of rude construction to float them to the place of their destination, "the Miami country." Of these families one was from Cape Cod, one from Middleburgh in Vermont, and one from Troy in NewYork; in the three families were twenty one children, of all ages, from infancy to manhood. The men were calm and resolute in their purpose, the women generally repining, and apprehensive, regretting what they had left, and uneasy at the uncertainty of the future. The mania for emigrations, is an epidemick that prevails occasionally with considerable violence; the natural surplus of our population may usefully seek for new territories, but in numerous instances the rash removals of many have proved only a sad delusion. They often leave a good and healthy situation for an inferiour and unhealthy one; and the restless and discontented find, that in migrating from the Eastern to the Western States, from this side of the mountains to the other, that they have only changed their sky, and not their disposition. They know when they have descended the western rivers hundreds of miles, that facilis descensus est, but in their situation, that revocare gradum, is nearly impossible. We take our leave of Dr. Drake, in recommending his work to all those who wish to obtain information about the Western country. Historical Memoir of the war in West Florida and Louisiana in 1814–15—with an atlas. By Major A. Lacarriere Latour, principal Engineer in late the Seventh Military District United States' Army. Written origi nally in French, and translated for the author, by H. P. Nugent, Esq. Philadelphia: Published by John Conrad and Co. 1816. 8vo. pp. 454. Bis Tusei Rutulos egere ad castra reversos, Disjectique duces, desolatique manipli, VIRG. The late war has given rise to endless discussions. Whether it was glorious or disgraceful, whether it was ad vantageous or ruinous, are questions that have been warmly and elaborately argued in speeches and essays, and opposite conclusions, drawn by different reasoners. Whenever the debate on this subject is carried on, Federalism or Democracy, being obligato, to borrow a musical term, this diversity of opinion must always result; whenever it is considered without the trammels of party, there is no difficulty in arriving at the indisputable fact, that the war was disgraceful to the administration, and glorious to the nation. In using the term Administration, we do not confine ourselves to the mere Executive officers of the government: whenever the secret anecdotes of the times are known, it will probably be found, that the majority of these were opposed to engaging in the war; but whether they led, or were driven, is of no consequence as to the result; in speaking of the Administration, we include the majority of both Houses of Congress, who made the declaration. The war was disgraceful to the Administration under this comprehensives view, in being declared utterly without preparation or foresight, in taking some of the important interests of the country completely by surprise, in rashly exposing the frontiers to all the ravages of the enemy, and meanly shrinking before the idle breath of popularity, by refusing to impose taxes of the most urgent necessity; in destroying the confidence of capitalists, by the destruction of the National Bank, and in a series of measures, that would inevitably plunge the finances of the country into fatal confusion; in the proclamation of doubtful rights,* every one of which they abandoned; in the plan of a campaign absurd in the extreme; in directing all their efforts to the conquest of Canada, in which success would have been injurious to ourselves, and unimportant to the enemy; in pursuing a line of conduct, which was intended to crush and annihilate a most powerful party in the nation, instead of endeavouring to conciliate and unite them in the hour of peril. * We allude particularly to the subject of impressment; this abuse, the very idea of which is insupportable, is now involved in doubt by our process of naturalization, and it is one of the greatest evils attending the impolitick and mischievous facility of our laws on the subject. If the question regarded only the protection of our own proper citizens, is there a man who would not wage a war of extermination rather than endure, that they should be forced by violence into the service of a foreign State? Vol. III. No. 8. 30 The arrogance of this course was only equalled by its impolicy, and was pursued with eagerness, cruel and unrelenting. The manner in which parties are composed in the Eastern States, is perfectly well understood there, and no statesman, in any other part of the country, ought to be uninformed on the subject. The democratick party in Massachusetts, followed a plan of proceedings so monstrous and unprincipled, that the publick were astonished at it, even in them; they attempted to perpetuate power in their own hands, by mutilating the political map of the state, and the new-fangled districts gave rise to the name of a monster, which will be long remembered; they sought with as much ig norance as profligacy, to command all the wealth of the state, by a scheme of refusing the renewal of the Bank charters just then expiring, while they proposed a bank of their own on a large scale, in which, for the first time, the condition of subscription was party conformity, and it was openly, unblushingly limited to the adherents of their own faction. To confirm this party, which possessed nothing but numbers, thousands of which would drop from its branches in the first frost of adversity-the administration directed all their efforts. The wealth, the talents, the services of the Federalists availed them nothing. The hour of national danger was selected for their final proscription. So far from being called, with a spirit of magnanimity, in the time of trial, to share in the councils of their country, in the welfare of which their stake was so immense; even the father, who had shed his blood to establish its independence, could not obtain a subaltern commission for his son to march to its defence. Thus devoted to destruction, it is not surprising that the Federal party resorted to every expedient in their power, for self defence; we do not pretend to say, that all their steps were politick or justifiable; but some allowance must be made for the circumstances in which they were placed. In one of the grand districts of the United States, a majority in number, possessing a vast proportion of the property and talent existing in the community, saw themselves exposed without any defence, by the general government, to the incursions of the enemy; while all the measures, all the patronage, all the intrigues of the Administration, were directed to humble and crush them, to drive them from their influence in the State governments, and elevate in their |