no traitor, but a priest; ready to suffer in the name of Him ho redeemed me. God forbid that I should fly for fear of your swords, or recede from justice.' They required him, once more, to take off the censures from the prelates. 'No satisfaction has yet been made.' was the answer, and I will not absolve them. Then they told him he should instantly die. Reginald,' said he to tzurse, I have done you many kindnesses; and do you come against me thus armed?' The Baron, resolute as himself, and in a worse purpose, told him to get out from thence, and die; at the same time laying hold of his robe. Becket withdrew the robe, and said, he would not move. Fly, then,' said Fitzurse, as if at this moment a compunctious feeling had visited him, and he would have been glad to see the intent frustrated, in which his pride, more than his oath, constrained him to persist. Nor that either,' was Becket's answer; if it is my blood you want, I am ready to die, that the church may obtain liberty and peace: only, in the name of God, I forbid you to hurt any of my people. Still it appears, that in some, at least, there was a wish to spare his life: one struck him between the shoulders with the flat part of the sword, saying, Fly, or you are dead!" And the murderers themselves, afterwards declared, their intention was to carry him prisoner to the king; or if that was impossible, put him to death in a place less sacred than the church; but he clung to one of the pillars, and struggled with the assailants. Tracy he had nearly thrown down, and Fitzurse he thrust from him with a strong hand, calling him pimp. Stung by the opprobrious appellation, Fitzurse no longer hesitated whether to strike. A monk, Edward Grimes, of Cambridge, was his name, interposed his arm, which was almost cut off by the blow. Becket, who had bowed in the attitude of prayer, was wounded by the same stroke in the crown of his head. His last words were, To God, to St Mary, and the Saints, who are patrons of this church, and to St Dennis, I commend myself, and the church's cause! The second blow brought him to the ground, on his face, before St Benedict's altar; he had strength and composure enough to cover himself with his robes, and then to join his hands in prayer, and in that position died under their repeated strokes, each pressing near, to bear a part in the murder. Brito cleft his scull; and an accursed man, the subdeacon, Hugh of Horsea, known by the appellation of the III Clerk, scattered the brains over the pavement from the point of his sword. command that the body should be honourably buried; As the pope had authorized and enjoined prayers to the new saint, that he should intercede with God for the clergy and people of England, Henry, either from prostration of mind, or in policy far less to be excused, determined to implore his intercession in the most public manner, and with the most striking circumstances. Landing at Southampton, he there left his court and the mercenaries whom he had brought over, and set off on horseback with a few attendants for Canterbury. When he came within sight of its towers he dismounted, laid aside his garments, threw a coarse cloth over his shoulders. and proceeded to the city, which was three miles distant, barefoot over the flinty road, so that in many places, his steps were traced in blood. He reached the church trembling with emotion, and was led to the martyr's shrine; there, in the crypt, he threw himself prostrate before it, with his arms extended, and remained in that posture, as if in earnest prayer, while the Bishop of London solemnly declared in his name, that he had neither commanded nor advised, nor by any artifice contrived the death of Thomas à Becket, for the truth of which he appealed to God; but because his words, too inconsiderately spoken, had given occasion for the commission of that crime, he now voluntarily submitted himself to the discipline of the church. The monks of the convent, eighty in number, and four bishops, abbots, and other clergy who were present, were provided each with a knotted cord; he bared his shoulders, and received five stripes from the prelates, three from every other hand. When this severe penance had been endured, he threw sackcloth over his bleeding shoulders, and resumed his prayers, kneeling on the pavenient, and not allowing a carpet to be spread beneath him; thus he continued all that day, and till the midnight bell tolled for matins. After that hour, he visited all the altars of the church, prayed before the bodies of all the saints No single circumstance shows more clear-votions at the shrine till day-break. During this who were there deposited, then returned to his dely how deeply the fetters of Romish super- whole time he had neither eat nor drank; but now, stition had sunk into men's souls, than the after assisting at mass, and assigning, in addition to terrible penance which Henry II. under- other gifts, forty pounds a year for tapers, to burn went for his hasty utterance of feelings, perpetually before the martyr's tomb, he drank which were certainly justified, if any meassome water, in which a portion of Becket's blood was mingled. He then set off for London, where ure of provocation can justify anger. His he found himself in a state incapable of exertion, enemies did not pretend that he wished to and it was necessary to bleed him. The believers suggest the assassination of Becket, or that in Becket have not failed to remark, that on the the death of this prelate did not deeply af- morning when Henry completed his reconciliation flict him. He was the actual, but the invol- with the canonized martyr, the king of Scotland was untary, cause of his death; and for this offence, a powerful monarch, who was, to say no more, no way deficient in intellect or moral energy, suffered thus. When the news reached Henry, he was at once struck with remorse for the cause of the crime, and alarmed for its consequences. At first, he broke out into loud and passionate lamentations, then seemed to be overpowered and stupified by the violence of his emotions; he put on sackcloth and ashes, and for three days was incapable either of consolation or counsel. At length, by the advice of those who, meantime, had consulted what might best be done in these unexpected and most critical circumstances, an embassy was sent to the pope, and messengers to Canterbury. The latter were instructed to inform the clergy of that church, how deeply the king grieved for the death of Becket, and abhorred the murder: to say, that if any guilt attached to him for words rashly spoken in his anger, it might best be expiated by their prayers; and to defeated and taken. 357 these observations are equally honourable to his candor and to his good sense. The corruptions, doctrinal and practical, of the Roman Church were, in these ages, at their height. They are studiously kept out of view by the writers who still maintain the infallibility of that church; the religion of the Gospel, and so opposite to its and in truth, that a system, in all things so unlike spirit, should have been palmed upon the world, and established as Christianity, would be incredible, if the proofs were not undeniable and abundant. The indignation, which these corruptions ought properly to excite, should not, however, prevent us from perceiving that the papal power, raised and supported as it was wholly by opinion, must originally have possessed, or promised, some peculiar and manifest advantages to those who acknowledged its authority. If it had not been adapted to the condition of Europe, it could not have existed. Though in itself an enormous abuse, it was the remedy for some great evils, the palliative of others. We have but to look at the Abyssinians, and the Oriental Christians, to see what Europe would have become without the papacy. With all its errors, its corruptions, and its crimes, it was, morally and intellectually, the conservative power of Christendom. Politically, too, it was the saviour of Europe; for, in all human probability, the west, like the east, must have been overrun by Mahommedanism, and sunk in irremediable degradation, through the pernicious institutions which have every where accompanied it, if, in that great crisis of the world, the Roman Church had not roused the nations to an united and prodigious effort, commensurate with the danger. In the frightful state of society which prevailed during the dark ages, the church every where exerted a controlling and remedial influence. Every place of worship was an asylum, which was always respected by the law, and generally even by lawless violence. It is recorded, as one of the peculiar miseries of Stephen's miserable reign, that during those long troubles, the soldiers learned to disregard the right of sanctuary. Like many other parts of the Romish system, this right had prevailed in the heathen world, though it was not ascribed to every temple. It led, as it had done under the Roman empire, to abuses which became intolerable; but it originated in a humane and pious purpose, not only screening offenders from laws, the severity of wrong, affording time for passion to abate, and for which amounted to injustice, but, in cases of private the desire of vengeance to be appeased. The cities of refuge were not more needed, under the Mosaic dispensation, than such asylums in ages when the administration of justice was either detestably inhuman, or so lax, that it allowed free scope to individual resentment. They have therefore generally been found wherever there are the first rudiments of civil and religious order The churchyards also were privileged places, whither the poor people conveyed their goods for security. The protection which the ecclesiastical power extended in such cases, kept up in the people, who so often stood in need of it, a feeling of reverence and attachment to the church. They felt that religion had a power on earth, and that it was always exercised for their benefit. The tenth chapter gives a "View of the Papal System," and no part of the work appears to have been composed with more care. We regret that the limits which the The civil power was in those ages so inefficient nature of the work imposed, prevented Mr for the preservation of public tranquillity, that when Southey from enlarging upon a fact in the was liable to be disturbed by private wars, india country was at peace with all its neighbours, it history of religion of much interest, which viduals taking upon themselves the right of decidhas lately been much illustrated. We meaning their own quarrels, and avenging their own the obvious and direct derivation of a large wrongs. Where there existed no deadly feud, part of the ritual and practices, and not a pretexts were easily made by turbulent and rapafew of the tenets of the papal church, from cious men, for engaging in such contests, and they the classical paganism which it supplanted. oned, for the purpose of extorting a ransom. No were not scrupulous whom they seized and imprisBut a part of two paragraphs is all that is law, therefore, was ever more thankfully received, given to this subject. Before he speaks of than when the Council of Clermont enacted, that, the defects and abuses of this system, he from sunset on Wednesday to sunrise on Monday, makes an eloquent admission of its vast on pain of excommunication. Well might the inin every week, the truce of God should he observed, usefulness, and remarks upon its adaptation offensive and peaceable part of the community to the state of society in which it existed; (always the great, but in evil times, the inert, and 358 * * * therefore the suffering part) regard, with grateful ject to any secular authority, seeing that they could The reverse of this picture calls forth all the author's powers. His eloquent exposure of the horrible falsehoods and villanies of the church must satisfy the most violent hater of the papacy. The seven-hilled city is to him a moral and spiritual Gehenna;and one cannot but think, as he reads the closing paragraphs of this chapter, that Mr Southey must have permitted the works of unauthorized writers to inculpate the church of Rome further than justice would allow, and have thrown upon this church an entire responsibility for the monstrous errors and crimes of individuals. We refer to such passages as these: If the boundless credulity of mankind be a mourn- be found in the prodigious doctrine of Transubstan- pronounced, the bread becomes that same actual part. Of all the corruptions of christianity, there was none which the popes so long hesitated to sanction as this. When the question was brought before Hildebrand, he not only inclined to the opinion of Berenger, by whom it was opposed, but pretended to consult the Virgin Mary, and then declared, that she had pronounced against it. Nevertheless, it prevailed, and was finally declared, by Innocent III., at the fourth Lateran Council, to be a tenet necessary to salvation. Strange as it may appear, the doctrine had become popular, with the people, for its very extravagance,-with the clergy, because they grounded upon it their loftiest pretensions. For if there were in the sacrament this actual and entire sole presence, which they denoted by the term of transubstantiation, it followed that divine worship was something more than a service of prayer and thanksgiving; an actual sacrifice was performed in it, wherein they affirmed the Saviour was again offered up, in the same body which had suffered on more than God! All this was certain, because the church was infallible. Where this infallibility resided, the Romanists have differed among themselves, some vesting it in the pope, others requiring the concurrence of a General Council. Infallible, however, it was determined that the Roman Catholic Church must be, and thus the key-stone was put to this prodigious structure of imposture and wickedness. It may be that this language is well de served; but, after all, this Roman Church If the first of these volumes speaks of the 66 The truth is, that the had not yet found its way men's hearts; bigotry, fier persecuting, was the con all those who had the pow A wiser and better princi planted there, but it repi and was of tardy and impe suppose that few of the d puritans will be indignan that our fathers brought ercised upon each other, ance akin to that from wh "Lords Brethren" wore the "Lords Bishops," nor do we know why Eng far behind them in a spi her church peculiar glory tion. This was a glorio who forwarded it are wo everlasting remembranc not Englishmen alone. so boundless in its range was not the result of p Wickliffe have due hon remembered that Huss Prague, and Luther, and of many nations toiled an cause in which he and his We are unable to f through his second volu much that we proposed t his work. It is in a high and, as a history, is undo correct; but some of hi Iments, which we cann larize, appear to us err been perplexed by his thorities, even when which he cannot conside Indeed he scarcely refe writer, excepting some a terly Review, which ar own. He gives no ot neglect, than that the is not one which would display of research," insufficient. Antiquarian Researches tory of the Indian W bordering Connecticu Adjacent, and other from the first Landi to the Conquest of Car in 1760 with Notice dations in the Neig and of the first Plan Settlements in New E and Canada. By E. field, Mass. 1824. 8 Collections of the New cal Society, for the Y Concord, N. H. 1824 It is a goodly matter to consider your ignorance! THE early history of o said the undaunted woman, to those who sate in judgment on her. Not long ago you burnt Anne become an object of Ascue for a piece of bread, and yet came your-and interest to the selves soon after to believe and profess the same doc- which have elapsed sin ual character and conduct. Two centuries have gradually deepened the obscurity, which involves the minute history of the olden times, and enlarged the shadowy precincts, within which imagination may range with that freedom, which is obstructed by the dull realities of the present. The forms of our fathers loom through the haze of antiquity, which rests on the intellectual horizon, concealing the thousand details, which fetter the energies and chill the ar dour of fancy, and presenting only the grander features of the prospect. The situation and circumstances of the planters of New England, during the first sixty or seventy years of the colonies, were of a peculiar character, and such as take a strong hold upon the imagination. They were stirring times in which our ancestors lived, and this peaceable, calculating, and realizing land was once the very country of romance. suggested by the perusal of such works as 2001 estates, according to the proportion which such men used to pay, to whom such apparel is suitable and allowed The following, though a quotation from another writer, we notice here, as worthy of the consideration of those, who imagine that the standard of education is lower, in some of our colleges, at this day, than it was in that of Cotton Mather, because the professors do not talk Latin fluently and quote the ancients on all occasions, whether in season or out of it. Sir Henry Saville, in the preamble of the deed by which he annexed a salary to the mathematical and astronomical professors in Oxford, says geomEngland. The best learning of the age was the etry was almost totally abandoned and unknown in We have read Mr Hoyt's book with a great deal of interest, and cheerfully recommend it to the public. To the general reader we think it will be more amusing than any history of the period with which we are acquainted. The style is easy and agreeable; the accounts of various writers are digested in a judicious and pleasing manner, while some particulars are sup-study of the ancients. plied, which we believe can be found in no We cannot agree with the author in his other publication. The writer passes light-defence of the morality and expediency of a iy over many portions of our annals, which bounty on Indian scalps. The effect of such are of a more dry and uninteresting char- a practice on the minds of the scalp-huntacter, and dwells at greater length on those particulars which are likely to gratify those in cold blood, the captives who were unaers-the temptation thus held forth to slay, who read only for amusement. We think, ble to keep up with the victorious party; therefore, that it will be a popular work, and the example given to the natives, seem and hope the author will enjoy, as we think to us powerful considerations against it. As he deserves, the opportunity of a second a measure of expediency it seems to have edition, to present it to the public freed been feeble. from the various typographical errors to for single scalps was occasionally enormous, Though the bounty offered which he alludes, and in a more elegant -on one occasion, we believe, a hundred form than it is at present. pounds, but a small amount on the whole seems ever to have been paid for those barbarous trophies; and we hope, for the honour of human nature, that it was because there were few to ask for it. Melan After these general remarks, we shall notice a few things which may amuse or interest our readers, as they occurred to us in the course of our perusal. What adventure indeed could be more wild, than that of the passengers in the May-Flower, and what language would have been thought too extravagant to describe it, had it been unsuccessful. Such a project, undertaken at such hazards and with such means, would be looked upon, at this day, as utter madness. Indeed the Pilgrims themselves considered their success as the result of a direct and special interposition of Providence. The first settlers did not, it is true, traverse the country with good steed, lance, and brand, in search of captive knights or distressed damsels, but their conduct and their language was often little less extravagant. Their enemies appeared in a different, but scarcely a more questionable shape. They were not giants, or ogres, ensconced in castles of steel and defended by attendant sprites; but savage warriors, swift of foot and subtle of mind, lurking in trackless forests and swamps, and assisted, as our ancestors most religiously believed, by the devil. Spectres If these were ever really carried into and witchcraft were received articles of execution, it seems remarkable, in the first belief, and, with the sword in one hand and place, that any person should have been the Bible in the other, our progenitors" pressed or forced against his will to go waged war alike against the visible and in visible world. The character of the aborigines is now likewise regarded with the interest which it deserves. They were once considered as little better than the brutal tenants of the soil; as a race cowardly, treacherous, mindful of injuries, but insensible to benefits, whose ferocity could never be tamed and their affections never secured. But this was a false representation. More attentive consideration has shown that their aggressions were rarely unprovoked, and that, in the fury of contest, there were some who remembered and repaid future benefits. If some of the alleviations of civilized warfare were unknown among them, some of its worst features were equally absent, and among the anecdotes, which have come down to us, of the chieftains who figured in those eventful times, many may compare with those of Spartan or Roman greatness. Considerations like these are naturally Among the collection of laws framed by Ward and Cotton, and accepted by the magistrates in 1641, which were copied almost literally from those of Moses, is the following. Men betrothed and not married, or newly married, or such as have newly built or planted, and not received the fruits of their labour, and such as are faint-hearted men, are not to be pressed or forced against their wills, to go forth to wars. forth to wars;" and secondly, that if such a And in war, men of a corrupt and false religion Truly we wonder our ancestors did not carry the parable so far as to fight against Sassacus' fort with ram's horns; it would have been little less extravagant, when we consider that those under "a covenant of works" were looked upon as men of a "corrupt and false religion." There was more worldly wisdom in the sumptuary law, which directed the selectmen of each town choly must be the state of that country, which has no better defenders than those who are ready to hunt and mangle human beings for a price. Much cruelty is doubtless inseparable from a warfare conducted with savages. The passions are necessarily excited to a degree unknown in the technical and mechanical combats of civilized armies-and many horrible examples of this are in every history of this kind. But the feelings with which a scalp is stripped from a dying enemy, to be preserved for barter, are of another character, and such as we trust were rare in the darkest days of New England. We have alluded to the bitterness of the passions, which occasionally prevailed among the partisans of the time. The following is an instance. In Captain Lovewell's battle at Pigwacket, his lieutenant, Robbins, who, by the way, had been a scalp-hunter, was wounded-and we are told that conscious of his fate, he requested his companions to load his gun, that he might despatch another of the enemy, should he return to the spot. We select the following as a specimen of our author's manner of writing. We wish the story had been more to the credit of the colonial government. tion, and advanced within bow shot. Be But prior to the termination of the war Miantonimoh invaded the Mohegans with nine hundred of his warriors; Incas met him at the head of five hunówof his men, on a large plain; both prepared wing to take notice of the apparel of any of the in- conflict commenced, Uncas advanced si of the judge to exceed their rank and abilities, in the cost- ber of men with you, and so have I wio encourhabitants, and to assess such persons as they shall thus addressed his antagonist. You hto illusliness or fashion of their apparel, in any respect, a great pity that such brave warriors, important especially in wearing ribbons and great boots, ated in a private quarrel between usad critically 360 Truly the contriver of this abominable deception had his reward. man, as you profess to be, and let us fight it out his delusive conduct, seized and disarmed the whole the case stood, or rather hung with their Wonalonset, the chief, squaw horse, who unhorsed their mare and If kill me, my men shall be yours; but if I kill without the loss of a man. you you, your men shall be mine.' Miantonimoh re- with his Pennacooks, and others who had agreed plied, my men came to fight, and they shall fight. on the peace, were released: the others being fugi-brought her to her former tameness.” The latter part of this story, we observe Uncas instantly fell upon the ground, and his men tives from Philip, were retained prisoners, to the poured a shower of arrows upon the Narragansets number of about two hundred, and afterwards sent en passant, which speaks of the iron-heels, and with a horrible yell, advanced rapidly upon to Boston, and seven or eight of their leaders hang- rather forgets the beginning, which would them and put them to flight. Uncas and his men ed; the remainder were sold into s.avery in for- seem to imply that the animal had been pressed on and drove them down a precipice, scat- eign parts. long enough in the woods to get clear of tering them in all directions. Miantonimoh was her shoes. overtaken and seized by Uncas, who by a shout called back his furious warriors. About thirty Narragansetts were slain, and many wounded, among whom were several noted chiefs. Finding himself in the hands of his implacable enemy, Miantonimoh remained silent, nor could Uncas, by any art, force him to break his sullen mood. Had you taken me,' said the conqueror, I should have asked you for my life.' No reply was made by the indignant chief, and he submitted without a murmur to his humiliating condition. He was af terwards conducted to Hartford, by his conqueror, and delivered to the English, by whom he was held in duress, until his fate should be determined by the commissioners of the colonies. The seizure of the Indians by Major Waldron was not forgotten. Some who had been sold into slavery abroad, had found means to return home, and with impatience awaited an opportunity to revenge themselves. A confederacy was formed by the Pennacooks and Pigwackets, and some others, to surprise Waldron and his neighbours at Dover. The place was then defended by five garrisoned houses, situated on each side of the river, in which the people generally secured themselves in the night. But as the Indians were frequently in the town for the purpose of trading with the people, no suspicions were entertained of their hostile plan, and the guards had become very remiss. After an examination of his case, the commissioners resolved, 'That as it was evident that Uncas could not be safe while Miantonimoh lived; but either by secret treachery, or open force, his life would be constantly in danger, he might justly put such a false and blood-thirsty enemy to death; but this was to be done out of the English jurisdiction, and without cruelty or torture.' Miantonimoh was delivered to Uncas, and by a number of his trusty men marched to the spot, where he was captured, attended by two Englishmen, to see that no torture was inflicted; and the moment that he arrived at the fatal spot, one of Uncas' men came up behind, and with his hatchet split the scull of the unfortunate chief. It is stated that the savage Uncas then cut out a piece of the shoulder of the dead body, and ate it, with triumph, exclaiming, It is the sweetest meat I ever ate; it makes my heart strong! The body was buryed on the spot, and a heap of stones piled upon the grave. The place since that time has been known by the name of Sachem's Plain, and is situated in the town of Nor-drawn into his hall, and seating him in a chair, wich in Connecticut. Horrible as the action of Uncas on this occasion must appear to every one, it was that of a savage, whose education had not taught him better things; and we have no hesitation in considering it less worthy of detestation, than the treacherous conduct at Cocheco, of Major Waldron, a man educated under the light of christianity, and one of place and authority among a people who valued themselves upon the purity of their religion. The account is thus given by Mr Hoyt. Hostilities, which had extended along the sea Wal The work remaining to be noticed in this article, is the first fruits of the New Hampshire Historical Society. The great benefit, which has accrued to the interests of literature and science, by the division of literary labour effected by various associations, is too well understood and appreciated to need any consideration in this place. We may only observe that the objects of the various historical and antiquarian societies in this country are particularly praiseworthy. Much has thus been already preserved, that would long since have probably been lost to the world and much more will doubtless be collected, that is now in a fair way to become so. The night of the twenty-seventh of June was chosen for carrying their plan into excution. In the evening two Indian women were admitted into several of the garrisoned houses, which gave them Among the various interesting articles an opportunity of observing the manner in which the gates were opened. They informed Major contained in this work, we shall notice one Waldron that a number of Indians would arrive or two which we think particularly so. the next day to trade with him; and an Indian Nearly half the volume is occupied by a then at the house, hospitably entertained, said to reprint of Penhallow's Narrative of Indian the Major, while at supper, Brother, what would Wars from 1703 to 1726, a book so exceedyou do if the strange Indians should come.' dron replied, that he would assemble one hundred ing scarce, that it was with great difficulty men by the motion of his hand. No suspicions that a perfect copy could be found in the however were excited by these insinuations, and country. It is an entertaining account, but, the family retired to repose. In a short time a like all other original accounts, is too frelarge body of Indians entered the town; Waldron's gate was opened, and they rushed into his room. quently such as to be little creditable to the "When I Springing from his bed, and seizing his sword, he morality of the first settlers. drove them back, but as he was returning for his asked one of the chief sachems," says Pengun, he was stunned by the stroke of a hatchet-hallow, wherefore it was that they were so bigotted to the French, considering their they asked, Who shall judge Indians now?" They traffic with them was not so advantageous then proceeded to torment him, by cutting his body and face in the most horrid manner; and at length as with the English? he gravely replied, despatched him, took the other people, pillaged the that the friars taught them to pray, but house, and set it on fire. the English never did,"" and he admits that the argument was well founded. Among other stories in this account, we have one of the conduct of an Indian widow, which shows that the natives were not always without a certain share of what Touchstone calls, "natural philosophy." The author, while speaking of the Indian deer traps (which were made by bending down a sapling, having a loop affixed to the end, and securing it so as to be easily disengaged by an animal passing through it) alludes to an anecdote related, in a very ludicrous manner, by Wood in his New Eng- Samuel Butterfield, who being sent to Groton as land's Prospect. As one of our principal a soldier, was with others attacked as they were aims in this Gazette is to amuse our read-gathering in the harvest; his bravery was such, ers, we shall extract the account from Wood, though not particularly to the purpose of this review. that he killed one and wounded another, but being overpowered by strength, was forced to submit; and it happened that the slain Indian was a saga coast into Maine, still continued, and most of the settlements in that quarter partook of the general more, and of great dexterity in war, which caused calamity. The Massachusetts forces were now at "An English mare, having strayed from a matter of lamentation, and enraged them to such liberty to turn their arms in that direction; and her owner, and grown wild by her long so- a degree that they vowed the utmost revenge: some Captains Sill and Hawthorn, with two companies, journing in the woods, ranging up and down were for whipping him to death, others for burning were sent to Cocheco, where they joined Major with the wild crew, stumbled into one of these submitted the issue to the Squaw Widow, conclud him alive, but differing in their sentiments, they Waldron at that place. At this time about four hundred Indians had assembled in the vicinity of traps, which stopt her speed, hanging her, ing she would determine something very dreadful; the Major's house, part of whom were Pennacooks, like Mahomet's tomb, betwixt earth and but when the matter was opened, and the fact coawho had agreed on terms of peace, but now began heaven; the morning being come, the Insidered, her spirits were so moderate as to make to show a hostile spirit. Sill and Hawthorn were dians went to look what good success their no other reply than Fortune L'guerre. Upon desirous of attacking them, but the Major finally venison traps had brought them, but seeing if by killing him, you can bring my husband to which some were uneasy, to whom she answered, devised a plan to seize them by a stratagem. He proposed to the Indians a training and sham-fight such a long-scutted deer prance in their life again, I beg you to study what death you whe next day. With the forces he had with him, merritotter, they bade her good morrow, please; but if not, let him be my servant; which thankas to join the two companies of Sill and Haw- crying out, "What cheer, what cheer, Eng- he accordingly was, during his captivity, and had it, whe which were to form one party, and the In-lishman's squaw horse?" having no better favor shewn him. offered ue other, and the latter agreed to the play. epithet than to call her a woman-horse; the Crossne appointed the parties met, and Wal performed anmender, diverted them some time, and but being loth to kill her and as fearful to had before rir harmless fire; he then contrived to approach the friscadoes of her iron-heels, Maker of Hem, and closing in his troops, changed they posted to the English to tell them how which they de sumption was We suspect that Butterfield was comely of aspect, as well as strong of arm. We were much interested by the last will and testament of Standish, the famess Plymouth commander, which is here published entire. We have usually suspected the worthy captain, if his descendants will allow us the expression, to have been a kind of Gallio in too many things, and were gratified to find the following among the codicils of his will. Further my will is, that Martha Marcye Robenson, whom I tenderly loue for her grand farthers sacke, shall haue three pounds in some thing to go forward for her two years after my decease which my will is my overseers shall see performed. That he had some longings after the "flesh-pots of Egypt," appears from the last devise. I give vnto my son and heire aparent Allexander Standish, all my lands as heire aparent by lawfull| deceat in Ormistick, Borsconge, Wrightington, Maudsley, Newburrow, Crawston, and in the Isle of Man, and given to mee as right heire by lawful decent but surruptuously detained from mee, my great grandfather being a vond or younger brother from the house of Standish of Standish. ant on this side the Atlantic. In the work before us, the author has not the country, might, like Fontenelle, thank attempted to make the thorough reforma- bis stars that he has not yet learned what tion, which, we suppose, he would agree grammarians call a preposition. There is with us in thinking desirable. Although very little exaggeration in this. It is ache has introduced some valuable improve- tually true, that very few of our eminent ments, he has retained the general system scholars of fifty or sixty years of age, can of grammar taught in all our schools. We parse an ordinary paragraph according to regard this systein as radically, and almost common grammatical rules; and many of totally false; and the study of the common them never learned to do it. books which teach it, as one of the most useless and stupid exercises ever imposed upon the growing mind. We shall not new detail our reasons for this opinion, as most of them have been given to our readers, in the remarks which have been published in several numbers of the Gazette, "On the Common Systems of English Grammar." It may be said, that most of the learned, who did not make English grammar a sepa rate study, yet acquired much knowledge of it from studying the Latin and Greek. There is some truth in this; but much less than is commonly imagined. The study of these languages affords great assistance in determining the exact meaning of the words in our own; not only of those which are derived from the Latin and Greek, but of all that are brought into use during the study. The constant use of the dictionary for the purpose of determining what English word will express precisely the meaning of the Latin or Greek word, gives the mind a habit of selecting terms for expressing its meaning with facility and accuracy, and greatly enlarges its stock, from which the selection is to be made. Add to this, that when the etymology of an English word is discovered, its exact meaning is generally better understood, and less liable to be forgotten. We do not mean to deny, that the study of grammar is attended with important advantages; but we believe, that few of these advantages result from the system itself. They appear to be almost wholly incidental. We think this matter worthy the atten- The mind is exercised in determining the tion of the heirs male, if there be any now meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, remaining of this intrepid soldier. Who and, by this means, acquires the habit of knows but the broad lands of Borconge, attending carefully and critically to the Maudsley, &c., more substantial matters sense of what is heard and read. This is than the landless coronet of the Dudleys, nearly all the advantage that can be demay one day find, like that, a lawful claim-rived from studying the common treatises on grammar, and it is obvious that this does not depend on the correctness of the system. Some of the rules of orthography are useful, but these belong to a child's second Spelling-Book. A few definitions of words are given more accurately than in our dictionaries; these, with the examples of incorrect modes of expression, and some of the rules for punctuation, are useful. It is commonly supposed, that parsing is of great consequence, from its disclosing the relations which exist between the several words We close this desultory article with the in a sentence; but this will appear of much In these prefatory remarks, we shall not be expression of our best wishes for the suc-less account, when it is observed, how very understood as casting any censure upon Mr cess of the respective authors of the works, few of these relations are accurately defined. Picket. He has doubtless a more favourawhich have given occasion to it, and our It cannot add much to the scholar's knowl-ble opinion of the common system of English best acknowledgments for the entertain- edge, to tell him, that a preposition shows grammar than we have expressed, or he ment they have afforded us. the relation between two words, while the would not have made it the ground-work of nature of that relation is not explained; or his book. But our objections to the general that a conjunction connects two words, while system cannot be applied to this, more than the connexion is undefined. to other grammars; and the author has made some very important improvements, that give to his work a real value, which Towards the end of the volume is a resolve of the Commissioners of the United Colonies concerning the Quakers. This, which is in the usual bigoted and intolerant style of the day, we should not have noticed, but for a qualification annexed to the signature of Governor Winthrop, which, if we rightly understand it, is in the highest degree honourable to him. "Looking," says he," at the article as a query, and not as an act, I subscribe." Analytical School Grammar. Picket's Grammar of the English Language, comprising its Principles and Rules: Adapted to the business of Instruction in Primary Schools. By A. Picket, Author of the American School Class Books, the Juvenile Spelling Book, &c. &c. Second Edition modified, and greatly improved. New York. 1824. 19mo. pp. 252. PROBABLY many of our readers already know, that Mr Picket has for many years been a most faithful and efficient labourer in the good cause of improving our system of education. We cannot say, whether his exertions have been uniformly judicious; but we believe his principles to be generally correct; his labours have certainly been great; and we regret to learn, that his compensation has been far less than his services have merited. His principles have been considerably in advance of those which are applied in most of our schools, and the public cannot be immediately prepared to appreciate them. These are great and important aids towards an extensive and correct knowledge of our language; and we think, that they constitute the principal advantages which are derived from studying the dead languages. The grammatical structure of these is so different from that of our own, that very little advantage can be derived from comparing them. we can concede to no other within the reach of the public. Our business, therefore, with him, is to give him credit for all the good he has done, and thereby encourage him, and others, to make further advances in the work of reformation. If a knowledge of the common system of parsing the English language be so important as is generally imagined, how comes i to pass that so few good writers of any age have been at all dependent upon it? It is scarcely a century since parsing was unknown. Our aged fathers all tell us, that it was taught little or none when they went to school. Even the most literary men The first of these improvements, which among us,—those who are distinguished for we shall mention, consists in the definitions good writing and speaking, have rarely which are given to the technical language much acquaintance with this notable art. of this science. These definitions are given Had we a sent. nce hard to resolve accord-in the form of explanations and remarks ing to the principles and rules of Murray, we surely should not consult a president or a professor of a college, except he were very young, nor a learned clergyman, nor an eminent lawyer or judge. Nay, if both houses of congress would make your question the order of the day, in committee of the whole, it is doubtful whether they could afford any aid; and many a one of them, whose eloquence is celebrated throughout after the several sections; and they are much more numerous, clear, and comprehensive than are to be found in the works in common use. Many of them are, however, partial, obscure, or erroneous, owing to the general vagueness and falsity of the system which they are designed to illustrate. But enough is well done, to encourage the scholar greatly in the important habit of inquiring carefully and critically |