to the happy hunting grounds where he shall rejoin the spirits of his tribe, is very well done; as are several other passages designed to exhibit the apparent incapacity of the red man to conceive the religion of the whites. The attitude of the Indian, for example, in the following short extract, is not more characteristic of his nation, than the entire opposition of the feeling which accompanies it to the meek spirit of Christianity.

"John," said the divine, when the figure of Judge Temple disappeared, the last of the group, "tomorrow is the festival of the nativity of our blessed Redeemer, when the church has appointed prayers and thanksgivings, to be offered up by her children, and when all are invited to partake of the mystical elements. As you have taken up the cross, and become a follower of good, and an eschewer of evil, John, I trust I shall see you before the altar, with a contrite heart, and a meek spirit."

"John will come," said the Indian, betraying no surprise, if he did not understand all the terms used by the other.

"Yes," continued Mr Grant, laying his hand gently on the tawny shoulder of the aged chief, "but it is not enough to be there in the body only; you must come in the spirit, and in truth. The Redeemer died for all, for the poor Indian, as well as for the white man. Heaven knows no difference in color; nor must earth witness a separation of the church. It is good and profitable, John, to freshen the understanding, and support the wavering, by the observance of our holy festivals; but all form is but stench, in the nostrils of the Holy One, unless it be accompanied by a devout and humble spirit."

The Indian stepped back a little, and, raising his body to its utmost powers of erection, he stretched his right arm on high, and dropped his forefinger downward, as if pointing from the heavens, and striking his other hand on his naked breast, he said, with energy

"The eye of the Great Spirit can see from the clouds;-the bosom of Mohegan is bare."

"It is well, John, and I hope you will receive profit and consolation, from the performance of this duty. The Great Spirit overlooks none of his children; and the man of the woods, is as much an object of his care, as he who dwells in a palace. I wish you a good night, and pray God to bless you."

The Indian bent his head, and they separated-the one to seek his hut, and the other to join the party at the supper table.'

It is hardly fair, however, in giving the scene, to omit Ben Pump's nautical views of this subject.

**As he was opening the door, for the passage of the chief, he cried, in a tone that was meant to be quite consoling,

،

"The parson says the word that is true, John. If so be, that that they took count of the color of a skin in heaven, why, they might refuse to muster on their books, a christian born, like myself, just for the matter of a little tan, from cruising in warm latitudes; though, for the matter of that, this damned norwester is enough to whiten the skin of a blackamoor. Let the reefs out of your blanket, man, or your red hide will hardly weather the night, without a touch from the frost."' VOL. 1. pp. 106, 107.

The Last of the Mohicans, we believe has generally been the more popular of these two books. But for ourselves, we still hold to the Pioneers, and trust our author will in future always write to please himself, although we are not sure we might not have as long a catalogue of errata to correct in this production, as in that which we have so copiously noticed, if time and space did not fail us. The truth is, we have concerned ourselves chiefly to notice our author's faults, because Mr Cooper is already too far advanced to stand in need of our praise; and we desire, not only that the public taste should be correct on the subject of our native literature, but also, if it be possible, and any suggestion of ours can effect it, to see something from this pen free from the numerous defects which deform its present productions, and every way worthy of the great powers and far spread fame of the American novelist.

1

ART. X. Sampson's Discourse and Correspondence with various learned Jurists upon the History of the Law, with the Addition of several Essays, Tracts, and Documents relating to the Subject. Compiled and published by Pishey Thompson. Washington City. Svo. pp. 202.

UPON the leading article of this collection we have already commented at length in our fortyfifth Number; and we have no reason to alter our opinion of its merits or utility. We have no doubt that it has had much influence, and been instrumental in bringing about that change, which is evident in the public mind

and that of many of the profession, in respect to the important subject of our jurisprudence.

The principal object, which Mr Sampson proposed in his Discourse, delivered before the Historical Society of New York, on the sixth of December, 1823, was, as he expressed it, 'to challenge into the noblest field of exertion the talent and genius of our country, much of which is now lost in barren erudition;' and in this his success will appear from the various pieces to which his Discourse has given rise, many of which are contained in the volume under consideration. For the embodying of these pieces in a permanent form, the publisher is entitled to his share of credit, although, as he states in his preface, 'in the series of the communications he has not been able to observe an exact order, as several of them were not obtained till after the book was in the press.'

The dedication of the publisher to the nineteenth Congress, being in a single sentence, for its brevity's sake we here insert; 'To the Senate and Representatives in the Nineteenth Congress of the United States now assembled, charged by the Sovereign States and People of the Union to guard their interests, promote their wellbeing, provide for their wants, and effectuate their wishes, this volume is respectfully dedicated, by the Publisher.' Whether the subject of the book might not usefully have occupied the time and attention thrown away upon other matters, and with satisfaction to the people at large, we will not say; the public may, and probably will, judge of that. And how far it belongs to the national legislature, with its limited jurisdiction, to lead the way, or for the State legislatures to make the necessary reforms in their respective codes, is a question upon which we are not prepared to give any opinion; but we are very well pleased to see the public feeling alive upon so important a concern, and shall do what we can to keep it so, and to promote free, fair, and liberal discussion.

Before the publication of Mr Sampson's Discourse, there was a prevailing idea, not merely with the profession of the law, who imbibed it at the outset of their studies and cherished it from habit ever after, that there was some mysterious excellence in the common law; that it had its source in the purity and simplicity of some ancient but undefined epoch; that as letters were not much used in those times of wise simplicity, it had been handed down by tradition from age to age, and generation to generation; and that though the corrupt learning of the

schools which obtained in late ages, and the false refinements of modern innovation, had greatly impaired its original purity and pristine vigor, yet its regenerating principle was gradually operating to restore its primitive virtues, and original sanctity. And what gave most authority to this notion was the eloquent and persuasive manner in which it was set forth by Sir William Blackstone, in his otherwise excellent and elegant Commentaries on the Laws of England.

It required both industry and courage to encounter such authority, and to array, in opposition to opinions of so long standing, however weak their foundation, the overwhelming proofs which were necessary to do away those ancient prejudices. In neither of these qualities was the author of the Discourse deficient. These proofs were to be found in history, and the occasion was propitious. Mr Sampson was invited by a learned society, instituted for the purposes of historical knowledge and investigation, and he contrived by the power of rigorous condensation to bring together such evidence as it was impossible to refute, all going to prove that an ideal perfection had been ascribed to times and persons quite inconsistent with any correct view of the history of those persons or those ages.

It was, however, natural to suppose that so bold and animated an attack upon actual opinions and prejudices would excite at tention; and so it accordingly happened, as the various pieces in the collection before us manifestly show. Some, without thinking it necessary to argue upon what they considered as fixed and first principles, thought of nothing but the pious duty of crying down the new heresy and the heretic; others, who had before inclined to such opinions, and rejoiced to see their own thoughts so fully developed, abounded in the sense of the author; others commended the style and manner, and even the matter, but cautiously, and without saying why, reserved their judgments. We have had the curiosity to look back upon the opinion we ourselves then formed, and we find (Vol. xix. p. 416) these words, 'We estimate highly his learning and genius; we approve for the most part the views he has taken of an important subject, and admire the generous zeal with which he has thrown himself into the front ranks of those who contend for the cause of truth and reason with little chance of honor or success.'

We are now glad to find that this latter qualification might have been spared. If the reprinting of the Discourse in this country and in Europe, with so much encomium and such favorable notice, be an honor to the author, or the influence it has had on opinions, be success, these objects have been attained; and if we have duly estimated the character of the author, nar row views of self interest do not belong to it.

Certain it is, that a great point has been gained. The ablest jurists in our country are now agreed, and this agreement is now open, declared, and manifest, that it was a vain superstition to impute the wisdom of the common law to the ancient inhabitants of Britain, or to what Sir William Blackstone, with a fond partiality, calls 'our own Saxon princes.' For this it will be sufficient to cite the work of Mr Du Ponceau on the Jurisdiction of the Courts of the United States.

This learned author, and the other jurists of our country who vindicate the principles, but not the defects of the common law, expressly exclude from their admiration the common law of the Saxons, Danes, and Normans, as also that which prevailed during the reigns of the Plantagenets and the first Stuarts; but they are for upholding that which took its rise in the middle of the seventeenth century, to which the second revolution in 1688 gave shape and figure, which was afterwards improved in England, but received its greatest lustre in this country. We have already commented upon Mr Du Ponceau's work, and we are not ashamed to say, that upon the great and remaining question of substituting entire new textuary codes of positive enactment in the place of this traditional and judicial law, we have hesitated, or even vacillated somewhat in our opinions. Thus much, however, we promise to our readers, that we will be attentive to the subject, and as proper opportunities occur, apprize them of its progress, and endeavor to form an opinion in which we can ourselves confide, upon full and mature consideration. Already the enactment of new and entire codes, each part made with a view to the whole, has been recommended by two state governors, Mr Wilson, late governor of South Carolina, and Mr Clinton, governor of New York. Why the recommendation has not been acted upon in the legislature of either of those states, we do not know. Things less honorable to the legislators who have passed them by, have certainly been debated. England has, to her honor be it spoken, done more within these few years; and we fear, in this, as in too many other things, our dependence will appear.

It would lead us too far, at present, to follow this considera