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For this phenomenon, as he calls it, he finds it difficult to account. He takes this opportunity to burst out in so eloquent a strain, that we cannot resist the temptation of inserting the whole passage:

"What, then, was the cause of this miracle? The love of country-the love of liberty. It was the consciousness of the dignity of man-it was the noblest of feelings, which pervaded and fired the souls of our defenders-which made them bear patiently with their sufferings, because the country required it of them. They felt that they ought to resist an enemy who had come to invade and to subdue their country;-they knew that their wives, their children, their nearest and dearest friends were but a few miles behind their encampment, who, but for their exertions, would inevitably become the victims and the prey of a licentious soldiery. A noble city and a rich territory looked up to them for protection;-those whom their conduct was to save or devote to perdition, were in sight, extending to them their supplicating hands. Here was a scene to elicit the most latent sparks of courage. What wonder, then, that it had so powerful an effect on the minds of American soldiers of Louisianian patriots! Every one of those brave men felt the honour and importance of his station, and exulted in the thought of being the defender of his fellow citizens, and the avenger of his country's wrongs. Such are the men who will always be found, by those who may again presume to insult a free nation, determined to maintain and preserve her rights."

The other instance of a happy discovery and elegant delineation of a nice trait of the American character, is in pages 244-245, where he describes the humane feelings of our army after the battle of the eighth of January, and contrasts them with what they felt on other less glorious occasions. We copy the whole passage.

"In my account of the affair of the 8th January, which I beg the reader to compare with the report of general Lambert, I have forgotten to mention a circumstance that reflects the highest honour on our troops. I shall insert it here; and it cannot fail to afford pleasure to the feeling mind.

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"At the time of the preceding attacks, those of the 28th of December and first of January, after our artillery had silenced that of the enemy, and forced his troops to retire, repeated huzzas from the whole of our line rent the air; the most lively demonstrations of joy were every where exhibited by our soldiers--a presage of the fate of the enemy, in a general attack. On the 8th of January, on the contrary, no sooner was the battle over than the roar of artillery and musketry gave place to the most profound silence. Flushed with victory, having just repulsed an enemy who had advanced to scatter death in their ranks, our soldiers saw, in the numerous corpses that strewed the plain, only the unfortunate victims of war;--in the wounded and prisoners, whom they hastened to attend, only suffering and unhappy men; and in their vanquished enemies, brave men, worthy a better cause. Elated with their success, but overpowered by the feelings of a generous sympathy for those unfortunate victims of the ambition of their masters, they disdained to insult the unfortunate by an untimely exultation, and cautiously avoided any expression of joy, lest they should wound the feelings of those whom the chance of battle had placed in their hands. In the midst of the horrors of war, humanity dwells with delightful complacency, on the recital of such noble traits; they sooth the heart under the pressure of adversity, and divert the mind from the contemplation of ills which we can neither avoid nor entirely remedy."

We are sorry to observe that major Latour has sometimes indulged himself in indecorous expressions against the British government and nation; such as "our ferocious enemy," and the like; which ought never to find place in an historical work: ---yet we do not find that these feelings have made him swerve any where from the strictest impartiality. He bestows due praise on the courage of our late enemies-on the intrepidity of the unfortunate Packenham, and on the honourable and "soldierly conduct" of major-general Lambert. But he severely criticises the official reports of admiral Cochrane, general Keane, and some other British officers, and it appears that his criticisms, though dealt with no sparing hand, are in general just, and founded on the truth of facts which those gentle

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men had rather too much discoloured. Perhaps the reader will be curious to know in what manner our author takes notice of the celebrated charge which was made against the commanders of the British army, of having given the words Beauty and Booty" for a parole and countersign, on the memorable eighth of January. This subject is only mentioned in a note at the end of the Memoir, with which we shall conclude our extracts, and our review of this interesting and valuable book.

"It has been asserted from the concurrent report of a great number of the British prisoners and deserters, that on the memorable 8th of January, the parole and countersign of the enemy's army were Beauty and Booty. Although this report is generally believed in the United States, particularly as it never has been formally denied by those whom it most concerns, I have not thought it sufficiently authenticated to record it as an historical fact. It is indeed a most heinous charge, and if untrue, requires not only a clear and positive denial, but also the proof of the genuine parole and countersign, which may be easily obtained, as it is well known that it is consigned in the orderly books of every corps in the army. It has been said that the British government considers it below its dignity to condescend to refute a calumny which has been only circulated through the medium of newspapers and other periodical publications in the United States. But this will not do; the almost unanimous assertion of the deserters and prisoners on which this report is founded, is a fact too serious to be looked over, and it is but too much supported by the positive and repeated threats of admiral Cochrane, in his letters of the 18th August and 19th September, 1814; by the letters of other officers, intercepted on board the St. Lawrence, and the conduct of the British at Hampton, Alexandria, and other places. It cannot be considered derogatory to the dignity of any government to undeceive a great nation, among whom every individual exercises a portion of the sovereignty. The voice of that nation will be heard, and its historians, if the British government persists in its unjustifiable silence, will at last no longer be swayed by the motives of delicacy and respect to a vanquished enemy which have actuated the au

thor of these Memoirs. The fame of general Packenham and his officers, the moral character of the British military, strongly implicated by a charge of this nature, and the honour of the British government, all imperiously demand that it be refuted, if capable of refutation, which may be easily done, if general Lambert, whose honourable conduct in the course of this campaign does not permit the least doubt to be entertained of his veracity, will only come forward and state the real fact-otherwise, and if proof, such as this, cannot be obtained, the report must be considered as true, and I leave to future historians the unpleasant task of animadverting upon a conduct so shocking to humanity."

[Communicated.]

REMARKS ON ADDISON'S CRITICISM OF THE SEVENTH BOOK OF PARADISE LOST.

LOOKING Over that delightful collection of essays, The Spectator, of which Addison's make by far the best part, I particularly noticed in the 339th number, his celebrated criticism upon the seventh book of Paradise Lost. Addison extols in very high terms Milton's thought of the Creator taking his golden compasses "to circumscribe this universe and all created things;" and says "it is a noble incident in this wonderful description." Now, with all due deference to so great a critic, I think the thought a very poor one. The Creator, who had only to say, let the world be, and the world was," is represented almost irreverently, certainly most unworthily, like a mechanic, taking a pair of compasses to circumscribe the bounds of the universe. This thought, which would do honour to Blackmore, and might make a figure in Pope's Art of Sinking, is yet-merely because Milton wrote it, and Addison praised it-extolled by thousands, who are ready to pronounce it wonderfully sublime.

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But Addison tells us that this thought is "altogether in Homer's spirit." I grant it is much more like a heathen poet's idea of his gods, than like that which a Christian ought to entertain of the Great Creator. Homer frequently represents his deities engaging in contests with men, and not always successfully:-Even Mars is once sent bellowing from the field of battle, having been wounded by the sword of Diomed. But how different are these gods from that Almighty Being, to whose greatness the highest human imagination cannot elevate itself!-who "beheld, and drove asunder the nations;❞—at whose presence "the everlasting mountains were scattered." What a sublime idea is here presented of the Supreme Being, in comparison with Homer's Minerva, with "her spear," which would overturn whole squadrons, "and her helmet that was suf ficient to cover an army drawn out of an hundred cities;" or even with Milton's notion of the Creator taking a pair of compasses, and centering one foot and turning the other round— to lay out the world in an exact circle. How feeble are these conceptions compared with the representation given of the Eternal Spirit, in the first book of Genesis-simple as that appears, and unadorned by that magnificence of language, with which Milton has clothed his ideas. In his whole poem there is hardly greater beauty of versification than in the passage to which I allude; and this charm imposes upon many who mistake elegance of diction for grandeur of thought.

How many, while repeating the following lines, will condemn my criticism?

"Then stay'd the fervid wheels and in his hand
"He took the golden compasses, prepared
"In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
"This universe, and all created things.
"One foot he centered, and the other turned
"Round through the vast profundity obscure,
"And said, thus far extend, thus far thy bounds,
"This be thy just circumference, O world!”

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