knowledged the existing government; and thus terminated the Since that period, they have been ruled with absolute sway by the dictator, Francia.

civil war.

CHILI.

776. Little is known of the history of Chili, until the year 1450, when Upanquis, who governed Peru, having extended his empire to the borders of Chili, determined on attempting its subjugation he accordingly dispatched one of his princes, who subdued the four northern tribes, and extended his conquests to the river Rapel, but was interrupted in his career by the Promancian tribe, and defeated in a sanguinary battle. The Peruvians, however, retained possession of their conquest till 1535, when the Spaniards first visited it. Almagro, having heard that Chili possessed great mineral riches, resolved to invade the country he therefore collected 570 Spaniards, and 15,000 Peruvians; and crossing the mountains, reached Copiapo; the severity of the weather, the rugged nature of the road, and the almost unconquerable hostility of the Indians, made him lose 150 Spaniards, and 10,000 Peruvians, on his march.

777. The cruelties exercised by the Spaniards over the Chilians, produced such animosity in the minds of the aborigines, that Almagro and his adventurers grew disgusted, and returned to Peru in 1538. Two years afterwards, Piza.ro, ambitious of extending his conquests, dispatched P. de Valdivia, with 200 of his countrymen, and a numerous body of Peruvians, accompanied by women, children, priests, and domestic animals, with the intention of settling such districts as he could reduce under his subjection.

778. Valdivia found the natives of Copiapo determined to oppose his entrance by force, the conduct of Almagro having convinced them of the perfidy of the Europeans; yet he succeeded in overcoming their resistance; and having conquered several districts, arrived with little loss in the country of Mapocho. Here he laid the foundation of a city, which he called Santiago, on the 24th of February, 1541. The Promancians having again assembled some forces, Valdivia marched to give them battle, but was no sooner gone than the Mapochians attacked the new settlement, and the inhabitants were obliged to take shelter in their fort, from the surrender of which they were relieved by the timely return of Valdivia.

779. Hostilities continued for six years, when he, in 1545, concluded a treaty, and an alliance with the Promancians, and visited Peru the following year. On his return, he brought with him a commission as governor, and a supply of soldiers and

stores. Having settled his power in the northern provinces of Chili, he turned his arms against the southern portion of the country, which he subdued after many severe struggles, and sanguinary battles with the Araucanians. The city of Imperial was founded under his auspices, and another which he called by his own name, in the territory of the Cunches Indians; after which he returned to Santiago.

780. While Valdivia was engaged at Santiago, in schémes by which he conceived his power might be confirmed, the Araucanians were preparing a force which totally overthrew it. Caupolicar, the chief of these warlike savages, having destroyed two of the Spanish settlements, advanced against Valdivia :— the armies met; a fierce contest ensued; victory at first inclined towards the Spaniards; but a young chief, who had been baptized, and employed as a page by Valdivia, suddenly deserted his standard; and putting himself at the head of his countrymen, renewed the attack with such vigor, that the Spaniards, and the Promancians, their allies, were cut to pieces, only two of the latter escaping. Valdivia himself was taken prisoner; and, while a council was deliberating on his fate, an old chief put an end to his existence with a club. He was suc ceeded in command by Villagran, who was again defeated by the Araucanians, and forced to retreat to Conception, which place he was obliged to abandon, and proceed to Santiago.

781. In 1557, Garcia de Mendoza, viceroy of Peru, sent his son with a large force to Chili, and the war was continued with great obstinacy on both sides until the year 1598, when a general insurrection of the Araucanians took place; and, assisted by their allies, they put to death every Spaniard whom they found outside the forts. The towns of Villanca, Valdivia, Imperial, and several others were taken, and Conception and Chillar were burned.

782. Preliminaries of peace were finally settled between the marquis of Baydes, governor of Chili, and the Araucanians, in 1641. This peace continued till 1655, when hostilities again broke out with their former fury, and continued ten years, with various success. At the end of this period, a formal treaty was made, and the conditions of it observed with more fidelity than the preceding compacts, for from this time to the beginning of the eighteenth century, the history of Chili presents little deserving of record.

783. Though tranquil for so long a space of time, the spirit of the Araucanians was not broken, nor was their aversion to the Spaniards abated. In 1722, a general conspiracy was

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formed by the nations from the borders of Peru to the river Biobio. At a fixed moment, when the watch-fires were to blaze on the mountains, the Indians were to rise against the whites, and release the country from their yoke. The design, however, was rendered abortive, for only the Araucanians took up arms, and after a short contest, peace was again concluded.

784. In 1742, don Josef Manto, then governor, collected the colonists into towns, divided the country into provinces, and founded several new cities. In 1770, don Antony Gonzago gave rise to a new war, by attempting to compel the Araucanians to adopt habits of industry, and to associate in towns. The Pehuenches, allies of the Spaniards, were defeated by the Araucanians: many battles were fought, the most terrible of which took place in 1773, and caused prodigious slaughter. At length tranquillity was restored, one condition of which was, that the Araucanians should keep a minister resident at Santiago; a stipulation which proves their power and importance.

785. Chili enjoyed tranquillity during the remainder of the eighteenth century, and being relieved from the hostility of the Araucanians, agriculture and commerce, which had been greatly neglected, soon revived. The occupation of Spain by the French troops in 1809, caused a revolutionary movement in Chili, as well as in other parts of Spanish America. The party which espoused the cause of independence, was at first successful; but nearly the whole district was subdued by a roy alist army from Peru in 1814.

786. Chili remained under control of the royalists, until 1817, when general San Martin, with a body of troops from Buenos Ayres, entered the country, and being joined by the generality of the people, defeated the royalists in several engagements. The independence of the country was finally achieved by the victory obtained at the decisive battle on the banks of the Maypo, in April, 1818, under generals O'Higgin and San Martin. A free constitution has been established, and from the courage and intelligence of the people, will probably be maintained. The arms of Chili have since been directed against Peru, with signal success; and the fall of Lima, in June 1821, attests the skill and bravery of San Martin and his republican army. No event of importance has occurred since this period to disturb the tranquillity of the Chilians.

HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.

CONJECTURES ON PEOPLING AMERICA-CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS-STATE OF THE BRITISH COLONIES BRITISH IMPOSE DUTIES ON THE COLONISTS.

1. COLUMBUS, in his third voyage, having attained the great object of his ambition, by discovering the continent of America; his success produced a number of adventurers from all nations; the year before this, Sebastian Cabot, in the service of Henry the VII of England, discovered the Northern continent, of which it is intended now explicitly to treat. The questions which first present themselves to our notice are, from what part of the Old World has America been peopled? and how accomplished? Few questions in the history of mankind have been more agitated than these. Philosophers and men of learning and ingenuity have been speculating upon them ever since the discovery of the American Islands by Columbus. But notwithstanding all their labors, the subject still affords an ample field for the researches of the man of science, and for the fancies of the theorist.

2. It has been long known that an intercourse between the old continent and America, might be carried on with facility, from the north-west extremities of Europe and the north-east boundaries of Asia. In the year 982, the Norwegians discovered Greenland and planted a colony there. The communication with that country was renewed in the last century by Moravian missionaries, in order to propagate their doctrines in that bleak uncultivated region. By them we are informed that the north-west coast of Greenland is separated from America by a very narrow strait; that at the bottom of the bay it is highly probable they are united; that the Uskemeaux of America perfectly resemble the Greenlanders, in their aspect, dress, and manner of living; and that a Moravian missionary, well acquainted with the language of Greenland, having visited the country of the Uskemeaux, found, to his astonishment, that they spoke the same language, and were, in every respect, the same people. The same species of animals are also found in the contiguous regions. The bear, the wolf, the fox, the hare,

the deer, the roe-buck, and the elk, frequent the forests of North America, as well as those in the north of Europe.

3. Other discoveries have proved, that if the two continents of Asia and America be separated at all, it is only by a narrow strait. From this part of the old continent also, inhabitants may have passed into the new; and the resemblance between the Indians of America and the eastern inhabitants of Asia, would induce us to conjecture, that they have a common origin. This opinion is doubted by the celebrated doctor Robertson, in his History of America. The more recent and accurate discoveries of that illustrious navigator, Cooke, and his successor, Clerke, have brought the matter still nearer to a certainty.

4. The sea, from the south of Behring's strait, to the crescent of isles between Asia and America, is very shallow. It deepens from this strait, as the British seas do from that of Dover, till the soundings are lost in the Pacific Ocean; but that does not take place except to the south of the isles. Between them and the strait is an increase from 12 to 54 fathoms, only at Thaddeus-Noss, where there is a channel of greater depth.

5. From the volcanic disposition, it has been judged probable, not only that there was a separation of the continents at the strait of Behring, but that the whole space from the isles to the small opening, had once been occupied by land; and that the fury of the watery element, assisted also by that of fire, had, in some remote time, subverted and overwhelmed the tract, and left the islands as monumental fragments.

6. There can be no doubt that our planet has been subject to great vicissitudes since the deluge: ancient and modern historians confirm this truth, that lands are now plowed, over which ships formerly sailed; and that they now sail over lands, which were formerly cultivated: earthquakes have swallowed some lands, and subterraneous fires have thrown up others: the sea retreating from its shores, has lengthened the land in some places, and encroaching upon it in others, has diminished it; it has separated some territories which were formerly united, and formed new bays and gulfs.

7. Revolutions of this nature happened in the last century. Sicily was once united to the continent of Naples, as Euboea, now the Black sea, was to Bootia. Diodorus, Strabo, and other ancient authors, say the same thing of Spain, and of Africa; and affirm, that by a violent irruption of the ocean upon the land between the mountains of Abyla and Calpe, that communication was broken, and the Mediterranean sea was formed.