it was the first of that series of revolutions, which in the close of the last and beginning of the present century have shaken the very foundations of government throughout Europe and America. Not that we would compare with it those, by which it has been followed. It was as different from them in its ori

gin and conduct, as in its event. But it had no small influence in producing them, for while the character and motives of those who accomplished it were, as they still are, little known among foreigners, its result was conspicuous, and appeared to those, who saw no more, to offer an example easily imitated. It derives an additional interest from its effects on the political ideas and feelings of men. It affords support to the theoretical principles on which republics are founded, gives the confidence of experience to those who maintain that it is practicable and useful as well as speculatively right for the citizens of a state, however extensive and populous, to exercise a direct control over their rulers, and a strong impulse. to that desire of security, that restlessness under arbitrary power, which has long existed wherever the English language was spoken, and has lately found its way to the humblest and most ignorant classes on the continent of Europe; and which, feeble, unenlightened, and misguided as it now is there, is yet destined, if we are not mistaken in the signs of the times, to alter materially the whole structure of society among them.

But the historical interest of our revolution does not depend solely on the importance of its direct consequences and the extent of the political and moral changes, which it has tended at least to hasten. It will always command attention as a complete development of the temper, motives, and resources of a whole nation. It was not, like most wars, a contest between cabinets or armies, a mere trial of military or diplomatic skill, but the united effort of a people as individuals for the vindication of their rights. Nor was it a single burst of exasperated feeling, a short madness, one of those revolutions, in which men sometimes exhaust themselves by struggling to acquire a liberty, which they know not how to value or to maintain, and then fall back into the same condition as before; but a sober, deliberate, calculating resistance of oppression, adapting its means to its end, and pursuing that end through the greatest sacrifices of comfort and feeling. It does not indeed excite attention by accounts of very numerous armies or remarkably bloody battles, yet we do not therefore think, as some have

done, that it is deficient in interest; for the passions of the contest operated directly and intensely on every man, and war itself often found its way to the fireside and severed the strongest and tenderest ties; circumstances, which give the clearest insight into the temper and character of the people and make the most lively impression on the feelings. It is no less true in real than in fictitious narrative, that the most engaging and pathetic scenes are those, which exhibit the efforts and sufferings of individuals.

It has been said that the history of the American revolution, at least before the meeting of Congress, necessarily wants unity, as it is not an account of one nation, but of thirteen different states, among which the attention is distracted. But it seems to us that the unity of the subject is not diminished by this variety of agents, since their exertions were all directed to the same end. The establishment of so close an union among thirteen distinct unconnected and in some instances jealous colonies, that it has lasted much longer than the particular danger which gave rise to it, is in itself a most interesting phenomenon, and the means, by which it was effected are well worthy of our study.

The simple fact that the revolution was accomplished within the limits of a single life, so that the same persons who began, lived to complete it and enjoy its result, adds another charm to its history; for in consequence of this, our interest in many of the individuals conspicuous at the beginning of the contest, never ceases, but is combined throughout with that which we feel in the event. Besides the freedom of debate and of the press not only excited and developed more perfectly the passions of those engaged in the controversy, but has provided better means of information than could have been obtained under any other circumstances. Add to all this, that Mr Botta may claim the authority of an almost contemporary historian, while as a foreigner he is exempted from the danger and even from the suspicion of partiality, to which contemporaries are commonly exposed.

He seems well aware of the advantages peculiar to his subect, especially of those, which tend to render his work attracive and entertaining, evidently choosing the ancient historians is his model, and endeavoring to instruct his readers by eximples, to present a connected and winning narrative, more han to exhibit a view of the moral, intellectual, and political

condition of reflections of

does not co

means suffici merce of the restraints, wh revolution, as sequent pros degree, what historian, the probably did anecdote, bu and complet various, are are duly prop It has been tion in this wo Indies and in tion, and viola tests between

and had each nation of hos dence. The great accurac to the interes of those imm at the expens motive than th humiliation of

gles of the cold thing but a bar motives, and b der their skir time in compa far more consp Our author

in the main which distingu many of the la Boston gives a

a map; and th complete and

condition of the people. He makes, indeed, some general reflections on the manners and pursuits of the colonists, but does not communicate any statistical details, and is by no means sufficiently particular in giving an account of the commerce of the colonies, and of the restraints imposed on it, restraints, which were the chief cause of complaint before the revolution, as our exemption from them has been of our subsequent prosperity. This writer possesses in a remarkable degree, what Rapin deems the most essential quality of an historian, the art of telling a story, by which we mean, and so probably did the learned critic, not the art of relating a single anecdote, but that of making his whole work one continuous and complete narrative, the several parts of which, though various, are connected by natural and agreeable transitions, are duly proportioned to each other, and each in its place.

It has been objected, but we think incorrectly, that the relation in this work of the battles, which took place in the West Indies and in Europe, is irrelevant to the American revolution, and violates the unity of the narrative. They were contests between the allies and the enemies of the United States, and had each its influence in hastening or retarding the termination of hostilities and the acknowledgment of our independence. They are described too with all due brevity and with great accuracy and spirit, and appear to us to add not a little to the interest of the story. The bloody and fruitless conflicts of those immense fleets and armies, collected and equipped at the expense of millions, by rival nations, with no other motive than their mutual desire of subjecting each other to the humiliation of defeat, form a striking contrast with the struggles of the colonists, who, destitute of wealth, of arms, of every thing but a bare subsistence, engaged in war from the highest motives, and brought about such important results, as will render their skirmishes, inconsiderable as they seemed at the time in comparison with the battles of the European powers, far more conspicuous in history.

Our author's sketches of the characters of individuals are in the main just, but want that discriminating minuteness, which distinguishes his descriptions of scenery and events. In many of the latter he is singularly happy. His description of Boston gives as distinct an idea of the town and its vicinity as a map; and that of the situation and siege of Gibraltar is a complete and glowing picture. He evinces much discretion

and good taste in adapting the length and particularity of different parts of his history to the interest of the subjects to which they relate, rapidly glancing over those events, which, however talked of when they happened, do not fix our attention by the importance of their consequences, or afford an opportunity for delighting his readers by beautiful and poetical description.

The candor and impartiality displayed throughout this history are a great excellence in the work, though considering the situation of the author, it may be thought less meritorious in him to possess, than it would have been disgraceful to want them. His diligence in consulting the best sources of information within his reach, and the accuracy which, in general, results from it, are still more worthy of praise and not less important. We would not be understood to say that his statements of fact are never erroneous. In his account of the battle of Breed's hill he conveys the idea that the Americans remained there two nights; for he says that the Americans continued to work the whole day after they took possession of the heights with unshaken constancy, and towards night had much advanced a trench, which descended towards Mystic river; that the English then took the resolution to attack them, and that on the seventeenth of June in pursuance of this resolution the British camp was in motion between twelve and one clock. He mentions also the grateful liberality of the state, in extending every mark of kindness and protection to the children of General Montgomery. Now unluckily the general never had any children. These mistakes of fact are of little importance, and we believe that even of such as these the work contains a far smaller number than might be expected from the minuteness with which circumstances are often detailed in it, and the difficulty of obtaining correct information with regard to our history on the continent of Europe. But few as they are, it would have been convenient to the American reader, if the translator had corrected them in his

notes.

Mr Botta thinks himself at liberty to deviate from the exact truth in recording public speeches. For this he has the example of ancient writers, but it is not admissible according to the rules of modern criticism. An author may insert in his history any speech actually made, or an extract from it, or its substance expressed in his own words, giving his readers to un

derstand whi

to ascribe to lowing is the 'There will courses of a c different speal those very occ however, men what has beer Sometimes, al to historians, which appeare orator, and pi especially in th and against in Dickinson. 'It will not courses are fou affirm that thes

thors cited. In poets, always m translate them, Now, in our words of anot least fairly, pr of the original! he has taken a Would lead us t are indeed trans least not very m from the speech

in answer to W we believe them

ful fiction, not a is put, and tendi than to illustrate The moral an erally ingenious too much subtle and intrigues of France and Spa

war, yet attempt

New Series, J

derstand which of these he has undertaken to do, but ought not to ascribe to any individual arguments not his own. The fol lowing is the notice of the author in relation to this subject.

There will be found, in the course of this history, several discourses of a certain length. Those I have put in the mouth of the different speakers have really been pronounced by them, and upon those very occasions which are treated of in the work. I should, however, mention that I have sometimes made a single orator say what has been said in substance by others of the same party. Sometimes, also, but rarely, using the liberty granted in all times to historians, I have ventured to add a small number of phrases, which appeared to me to coincide perfectly with the sense of the orator, and proper to enforce his opinion: this has happened especially in the two discourses pronounced before Congress, for and against independence, by Richard Henry Lee, and John

Dickinson.

'It will not escape attentive readers, that in some of these discourses are found predictions which time has accomplished. I affirm that these remarkable passages belong entirely to the authors cited. In order that these might not resemble those of the poets, always made after the fact, I have been so scrupulous as to translate them, word for word, from the original language.' p. ix.

Now, in our opinion, whenever he professes to repeat the words of another he ought to translate them, if not literally, at least fairly, preserving substantially the ideas and arrangement of the original. And we must say further, that the liberties he has taken are, in some instances, greater than this notice would lead us to suppose. Many of the discourses introduced are indeed translated into Italian with sufficient fidelity, or at least not very materially altered, but some are very different from the speeches actually made, as that of Captain Harvey in answer to Wilkes; and as to those of Lee and Dickinson, we believe them to be mere fictions, the former too an unskilful fiction, not appropriate to the individual in whose mouth it is put, and tending to misrepresent his style of oratory, rather than to illustrate it.

The moral and political reflections of this writer are generally ingenious and pertinent, though they sometimes betray too much subtlety and refinement of thought. The designs and intrigues of the various courts of Europe, the motives of France and Spain for aiding the Americans to carry on the war, yet attempting to prevent the establishment of their indeNew Series, No. 7.

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