tender or violent, but always of a passionate character, gushing warm and unsolicited from the heart. Sylla, so much superior to French characterization in general, presides over the whole scene with a stern, imperturable serenity, that seems to control every thing by the terror of his frown. Catiline, on the other hand, tossed by conflicting passion, sets the elements in motion, and moves triumphant in the storm.

The events in the French play are feebly developed; the intrigue shuffles on in an indistinct, unexciting manner, and terminates in a bloodless denouement of a calm and imposing majesty the abdication of Sylla. The conspiracy in Catiline is matured before the eyes of the spectator, (although its development is not equal to that of most good English tragedies,) and, in the last act, expanding into a vein of sublimity and pathos, it hurries on to a bold and sanguinary catastrophe-the victory and death of Catiline.-The Genius of French tragedy should be personified by a marble statue, in the cold severity of sculpture-the Genius of English tragedy, in the warm and varied coloring of the canvass; the former with a composed and elevated aspect, in the well defined and delicate proportions of art; the latter in the shifting hues of passion, and the flexible graces of nature.

ART. VIII-A complete history of the United States of Amer

ica, embracing the whole period from the discovery of North America down to the year 1820. By Frederick Butler, A. M. Three vols. 8vo.

SEVERAL of our readers may recollect, like ourselves, that two or three years since a subscription paper for this work was offered them. Wisely to prevent all cavil, a specimen of the work was exhibited with the subscription paper. This specimen was a bound octavo volume of the common size, consisting, if we remember, of about forty printed pages, and the rest of the volume fair blank paper. The strongest assurances were given, that the work should not be inferior to this specimen ; and we must say we think that these assurances have not been verified. Three decently bound blank books would have been by no means without value. The printing in these volumes, while it has ruined the paper for any other use, is itself nearly

worthless. We are not sure, however, that any one can complain; for, after all, the Introduction, which was bound up with the blank leaves, is a fair sample of the work. Those subscribers only, who took the blank leaves for the sample, have a right to murmur. We will satisfy our readers, that we do not commit an injustice in this account.

In a historical work, the materials made use of by a writer are of course of greater importance, than in almost any other species of composition. At the end of our author's preface we have this N. B. I shall insert at the end of the third volume a list of the numerous authorities I have consulted, in compiling this work.' This was no more than Dr Robertson had done, our author's great predecessor in American history, who makes a modest apology for subjoining to his work a large list of Spanish writers, in print and in manuscript. We confess we were pleased to see Mr Butler following the example. As Dr Robertson had pleaded the authority of Gibbon, Mr Butler could well plead that of Dr Robertson, and we supposed that in drawing up the list of his numerous authorities on American history, our author intended to steal a march on Mr Southey, who has promised a catalogue and account of his authorities, in another volume of the history of Brazil. It being well known that Dr Robertson was not acquainted with all the materials in existence when he wrote, and that various new sources of information have been opened since his time, we had anticipated no slight gratification of national feeling at the sight of Mr Butler's list. On turning to the close of the third volume, we find his numerous authorities' given, to the following amount: 'Rollin's Ancient History,

Robertson's South America,
Morse's Universal Geography,

Neal's History of the Puritans,

Mather's Magnalia,

Belknap's History of New Hampshire,

Hutchinson's Massachusetts,

Williams' Vermont,

Benedict's History of the Baptists,

Smith's New York,

New Jersey,

Proud's Pennsylvania,

Dobson's edition of the Encyclopædia,

Smith's Virginia.

Jefferson's Notes on Virginia,
Williamson's Carolina,

Gordon's American Revolution,
Lee's Southern War,

Marshall's Life of Washington,

Burr's Trial,

Gilleland's late war with England,
Mnemonika, [?]

Dana's Sketches of the Western States."

The title of Morse's Universal Geography occurs thrice in the catalogue, but there seems to be no good reason for counting that work more than once. Our readers will begin to judge by this time into what hands the subscribers to this history of the United States have fallen.

.

The object of our author is sufficiently grand and comprehensive. He has, it seems, published a former work, under the name of sketches of Universal History;' one of the objects of which was to shew, that 'one supreme, eternal God created the universe, and by his almighty fiat spake all worlds into existence, with all beings that inhabit them.' As we have never had the good fortune to see these sketches, we are unable to say how far our author has fulfilled this object. His aim in the present work is equally elevated; being to shew, the same superintending power, wisdom, and government of God, in planting his church in this wilderness of the west; and thus laying the foundation of a great nation, which has grown up and taken its rank among the free and enlightened nations of the earth.' It may easily be conceived that a history, which is intended to contain a complete course of natural theology, must take a tolerably wide range, and our author accordingly begins with the departure of the Jews from Egypt, about fifteen centuries before our Lord. Not contented with this seasonable beginning, he soon goes back to the origin of navigation, where his style, his knowledge of antiquity, and his arrangement of facts are so finely displayed, that we will treat our readers with a sentence. A spirit of commerce and naval enterprise commenced with the Phoenicians and Egyptians, as early as two thousand years before Christ; this opened the way for the Egyptian colony, which Cadmus led into Greece; where, in about three hundred years after, it [?] led to the expedition of the Argonauts to Cholchos, [?] in quest of the golden fleece;

which opened the way for the commerce of Greece, and laid the foundation of her future naval glory. The ships of Greece bore her heroes to the Trojan war, in the year of the world 2900. About the time of the expedition of the Argonauts, it [?] extended from Phoenicia into Africa, &c. from all which authentic facts, grouped in this masterly manner, great light is thrown upon the history of America and the Almighty fiat, which spake all worlds into existence.'

In the same discriminating style he speaks of the discovery of America. It is worthy of notice, that the commencement of the reformation under John Wickliffe, and the art of printing, were simultaneous with the discovery of the mariner's compass; and that these combined, opened the way for the spread of the Gospel into the new world, and planted the Puritan church in the wilderness of the West.'-The discovery of Columbus, says our author, in pursuing this train of deduction, happened in 1492 about one [two] whole century, after Goya [Gioja] unfolded the secrets of magnetism.'-This is followed by a sentence, which, being in Italics, we suppose contains an important truth, but which we are unable either to construe, parse, or understand :- The coincident circumstances attending this wonderful adventure, are worthy of notice; may serve to illustrate the great plan of Infinite Wisdom, in opening a high way into the west and into the east about the same time. The first to prepare an asylum for his afflicted, persecuted church, and the other to furnish means to support and protect her in her remote retreat.'

One is sometimes able to judge of a writer's most familiar occupation by his figurative language and the objects from which his metaphors are drawn. We should suppose our author to have been a toll-gatherer or a turnpike man, did not his title page inform us that he is master of arts. He writes but few sentences, without opening a way; sometimes by the construction it is opening a way to the opening of a way: but of all the ways he has opened, the following-in a grave history of America-is the most curious. The Italics, are our author's own fancy, in this, as in our other citations. This superstition and ignorance [that the earth was round] reigned in the hearts of the princes of that age; but this glorious adventure has opened the way for me to entwine one more laurel round the brows of woman.'-It seems evident here, that the

proof of a superintending providence was not out author's only object in this excellent work.

The discovery of Columbus, the settlements in the West Indies, and the conquests of Cortez, as related by our author, are in truth the most grotesque specimens of history we ever met. We are not sure, upon the whole, but they are worth the money, were it only for the rich improvements in the orthography. It may be observed, that this whole part of his work is a condensed translation, into a dialect not mentioned by Mr Adelung in his list of twelve hundred American tongues, from what our author pleases to call 'Robertson's South America,' being that part of Robertson's History of America, of which the scene is almost exclusively in the Northern portion. Dr Robertson's orthography is itself somewhat arbitrary, and in our author's hands it is a most extraordinary affair. In casting our eye over a few pages, we have gathered the following instances: