try-no sectional prejudices"-and that, although the eagle of victory did not then rest upon our flag, yet the stout hearted bearer kept it "full high advanced" beyond the reach of the motley crew who would have trailed it in the dust and dirt of sectional agitation and the filth of abolition. The defeat of the democratic party in that contest, is one of those events which cannot be accounted for, by any system of political deduction, founded upon ordinary premises, but must be ascribed to a general prevalence of misapprehension-perhaps indifference. The result should teach a salutary lesson, which every democrat should carry inserted at the head of his political creed, that "eternal vigilance is the price of success." CHAPTER XVIII. Gen. Cass' acquirements and literary standing-His power as a writer-His command of language-Contributions to the Reviews-His sketches of Indian character-His exposure of the frauds and inaccuracies of certain writers of Indian History-His account of the battle of New Orleans-His travels in the East-Extract from North American Review-His addresses on several occasions-Extract-Extracts from his address before the New England Society of Michigan-France, its King, Court and Government-Extract from address before the Agricultural Society of Michigan-His personal appearance, &c.— Conclusion. The more immediate object of this work is to present in connection, the principal events in the life of Gen Cass, which have marked his career as a public man, on the field of battle, in the Cabinet, at a foreign Court, and in the halls of legislation. In closing this sketch of his public life, a brief mention of his literary productions will serve to show that his pen has not been confined exclusively to the advocacy of political theories; and that even amid the labors of the camp, the treaty ground, or the diplomatic circle, he has found time to add to the literary wealth of our country, and enrich its stores by giving to the public his views and impressions on subjects about which they have felt more than ordinary interest. His essays and reviews exhibit a most profound and extensive acquaintance with the subjects of his research, and his reflections are clothed in language pure, comprehensive and definitely expressive of the idea of the writer. Certainly no better illustration of the strength and power of the English language, can be found, than in his writings. For felicity and clearness of expression; for using just the right word in the right place, and an entire absence of all "fantastic barbarism of expression," they hold a high rank in the world of letters. His contributions to the North American Review, in the days of its commanding influence and superiority, added as well to the celebrity of that magazine, as to the dissemination of correct information upon subjects which formed the text of his criticisms. The most accurate and reliable account of the condition, traits manners. of character, and philological peculiarities, of the Indian tribes is to be found in the articles of Gen. Cass, published in the North American Review during the year 1827, reviewing the works of Hunter, Halkeld, Heckwelder and Rawle, on Indian customs and The gross misrepresentations of the first named writer, the results of ignorance and a design to create odium against the United States, were exposed in a masterly manner, by Gen. Cass, in the January number of the Review, for 1827; and the errors and inaccuracies of the devoted missionary, Heckwelder, caused by his close intimacy with, and fondness for, one single tribe, investigated and corrected in a spirit of enlightened criticism seeking to impart truth, while it regretted the necessity of counteracting the effects of the erroneous opinions and prominent errors of the zealous and self-sacrificing Moravian. Additional contributions to knowledge of Indian affairs, and a correct understanding of the policy of the United States, in regard to the Indians, were made by Gen. Cass in elaborate communications to the same Review, in the years 1828 and 1830, in which the relations of the government with the aborigines are fully explained and investigate d. The statements of the London Quarterly Review, upon which it based its censures of the treatment which the Indians received from the United States, were shown, by indisputable proof, to be equally destitute of courtesy and truth. The siege of New Orleans forms the subject of an article from the pen of Gen. Cass, published in the American Quarterly Review for January, 1835—and, although the account of a British officer, of the attack on New Orleans, is placed at the head of the article, the reader will find the article to be a separate and distinct narrative of that brilliant event. When Gen. Cass accepted the office of Minister to France, it was with the condition, that if the duties of his station would permit it, he should fulfil a determination previously made, of visiting the lands of ancient story and classic history. Opportunity favor ed this determination, and Gen. Cass visited the countries famed in history as the theatre of great events, sacred and profane. He ascended the Nile-traversed the Holy Land--saw the Mount of Olives the garden of Gethsemane, Mount Gihon, and the pools and fountains around Jerusalem, as recorded in Bible history. It is to be regretted that he has not given to the world a continuous account of his travels in the East. The following extracts from an article in the North American Review, will afford an example of Gen. Cass' power of description: * * "This great sandy desert extends along the Mediterranean, at a short distance from its shores, and reaches to the Red Sea. It obtains, very soon, a considerable elevation, and then presents the aspect of an irregular plane, varied by hills and hollows. A traveler in this region would see before him a chain of sand hills, extending across the line of his route, and, on attaining their summit would see beneath him an immense valley. Whether approaching by the Lybian or the Arabian desert, the aspect would be the same. He would stand upon a sandy ridge, with all that the imagination could conceive most desolate behind him, and before him one of the most magnificent prospects ever presented to human eyes. He would survey a deep valley, bright with vegetation, and teeming with a depressed but laborious population, engaged in the various labors of agriculture. He would see opposite to him another eternal rampart, which, with the one he stands upon, shuts in this valley, and between them a mighty river, flowing in a winding course, from the foot of one chain to the other, furnishing lateral canals, which become fountains, whence the water is elevated by wheels and buckets of the rudest structure, worked sometimes by men and sometimes by cattle, and no doubt identical with the process in use in the days of Sesostris; and this water is conveyed over the surface, and communicates that wonderful fertility, which formerly rendered this country the granary of the world, and yet endows it with a power of production unknown even in the most highly cultivated parts of Europe. And this river is the Nile, and this valley is Egypt; the Egypt of the enslaved Israelites, and of their proud task-masters; the Egypt of the Pharaohs, of the Ptolemies, and of the Mamelukes; the Egypt of On, of Thebes, of Memphis, and of — Damietta; the Egypt of early civilization, where science and literature were first cultivated, and whence they were sent to enlighten the nations of the west, and the Egypt of the Fellahs, and of the grossest ignorance and misery. * * * Jerusalem has been a fruitful theme in the journals of the travelers. Tradition has marked the spot of every interesting incident, which the Scriptures record as having occurred within its walls. Credulity and skepticism have equally examined and discussed these legendary tales. Men of the ardent temperament of Chateaubriand and Lamartine, believe every thing; while others, like Volney, whose mental temperament is different, believe nothing. Probably not one stone of ancient Jerusalem remains in its place. They point to a part of the foundation of the walls, facing the valley of Jehoshaphat, where are some large blocks, apparently of an earlier age than the rest of the structure, and consider these as the relics of the ancient city. But this is a mere conjecture, resting upon no established proof. Jerusalem has been swept with the besom of destruction. The imprecations against it have been fulfilled. The Assyrian, the Greek, the Roman, the Crusader, the Turk, the Egyptian, have marched over its walls, and established their camps in its holy places. Superstition, fanaticism, revenge, have conspired to sweep away its monuments and to make it desolate. The great features of its topography no human power can change. They have been imperishably marked out by an Almighty hand. Its site occupies the projecting point of a high hill, bounded on the east by a deep, narrow valley, successive portions of which were called the valley of Kedron, of Jehoshaphat, and of Siloam, in the bottom of which flows the brook of Kedron; and on the southwest and south by the valley of Sihon, where trickles the little stream called Gihon. These rivulets unite, a short distance below the pool or spring of Siloam, and wind their way among broken mountains to the Dead Sea. On the northwest the city joins the table land of the country, and it is in this direction, that it has been successively enlarged and contracted, as prosperity or adversity augmented or diminished its population. And, although it has been supposed by some writers, that the ancient city extended across the valley of Gihon, yet the conjecture has been advanced solely to render the legendary sites of some of the miraculous events which occurred within its walls, consistent with Scripture narrative, and is contradicted by the nature of the ground; for it is unreasonable to suppose, that the advantage of a strong position would be abandoned by enclosing a deep valley, when there was space enough on the table land for indefinite extension. * * * * * The reverberation of the sun's rays gave to the vale of Siddim an equatorial heat in the month of August, and we raised ourselves from the fount of Elisha, and resumed our route to the Dead Sea, before the dawn of day, to avoid, as much as possible, the noontide sun. We traversed much of the space between Jericho and the shore of the lake in the night, and a most impressively mournful ride we had of it; over barren sands, covered here and there by low, stunted bushes, every now and then striking us in the face, to warn us, as it were, that the home of the wild Arab was around us. And, as the streaks of morning light dawned over the mountain of Moab, a most extraordinary spectacle presented itself to our eyes; an army appeared upon the dreary, deserted sand, between us and the dark water, which stretched away beyond our view, lost in the high ridges, which overhung it. No deception was ever more complete; for long ranks of soldiers seemed drawn up, marching and countermarching in all directions, with great regularity. It looked as if the genius of the place had embodied his forces, to bar all access to his gloomy dominions. And it was only as the day advanced, and as we approached the shore, that our |