comes as near the grandeur and dignity of a king, as any viceroy in the world. The parliament of Ireland previous to the union of that country with England was convened, prorogued, and dissolved at the pleasure of the king, and the laws made by the parliament were sent to England for the king's approbation!

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The English, conducted by John Cabot, in the year 1497, (although the discovery has generally, but erroneously, been attributed to his second son, Sabastian, who at that time could not have been more than twenty years of age) found the way to North-America soon after Columbus had successfully crossed the Atlantic; but as the torrents in that country brought down no gold, and the Indians were not bedecked with any costly ornaments, no attempts were made to explore the country for near a century after its dicovery. Sir Francis Drake, who traversed the whole circumference of the globe in one voyage, and in one ship, A. D. 1577, &c. which had never been achieved before, when afterwards annoying the Spaniards in the West-Indies, and on the main, gained some knowledge of the eastern shore of the northern continent, as he had before of the western parts on the Pacific Ocean, about the same parallel. Sir Walter Raleigh, however, was the first navigator who explored the coast, bestowed on it a name, and attempted to settle a colony, A. D. 1584; but the lands were overspread with thick woods, the caprices of a savage race were to be soothed, their jealousies of new settlers to be removed, or their power to be opposed; and, when all these difficulties should be surmounted, the colonists must continue subject to the first condemnatory sentence denounced on the human race, "by the sweat of their brow to eat their bread."

At that time colonization made no part of the system of government, so that there were few stimulants to abandon a native soil for the purpose of seeking possessions in another hemisphere. At length a powerful incentive arose, stronger than the influence of kings, than the love of ease, than the dread of misery. Religion, which had long been converted into the most powerful engine which human subtilty ever made use of to subjugate the mass of mankind, no sooner ceased to be so perverted, than by its own proper force it impelled large bodies of people to renounce every present enjoyment, the instinctive love of a native soil, rooted habits, and dearest connections, and to settle in the dreary wilds of a far distant continent.

When England, by a very singular concurrence of circumstances, threw off the papal yoke, state policy so predominated in the measure, that the consciences of men were still required to bend to the discipline, conform to the ceremonials, and assent to the doctrines which the governing powers established. Although a dissent from the church of Rome was considered as meritorious, yet a dissent from the church of England was held to be heretical, and an offence to be punished by the civil magistrate. The human mind, somewhat awakened from a long suspension of its powers by a Wickcliffe, farther enlightened by an Erasmus and Melancthon, and at length called forth into energy_by the collision of those two ardent and daring spirits, Luther and Calvin, then began to bend all its attention toward religious enquiries, and exercised all its powers in such pursuits. Hence arose a vast diversity of opinions, which gave rise to numerous sects and denominations of Christians; but as the Protestant establishment in England held it essential to preserve a unity of faith, those novel opinions obtained no more quarter there than under papal power.

The eastern coast of North America, comprehending a vast extent of country, was considered as of right belonging to England, and was then known by no other

names than those of North and South Virginia, which it had received from Sir Walter Raleigh. The persecuted and desperate religionists easily obtained a royal grant of a very extensive tract of land, whither they repaired, not to amass wealth, or to exterminate the inhabitants, but to subsist by industry, to purchase security by honorable intercourse with the natives, and to acquire strength under the auspices of freedom. The establishment made by the quakers, under the conduct of Penn, realized these professions; in other parts a spirit of intolerance too much prevailed, and insidious arts were practised on the Indians, which soon excited rancorous animosity in those tribes. The Spaniards had found the southern division of this vast continent peopled with a pusillanimous and defenceless race of men, whom they sacrificed without scruple or remorse to their ambition and avarice; the European settlers on the coast of North-America were not actuated by such a cruel and exterminating spirit; they had juster notions of the rights of man: they also found the inhabitants of that country possessing very different characteristics, less numerous indeed than toward the south, but subsisting by hunting, expert in the use of offensive weapons, sagacious, persevering, not insensible of kindnesses conferred, but implacable when offended, and ever gratifying their revenge by means the most artful, concealed, and cruel. An acquaintance with Europeans has ever been baneful to uncivilized communities in all parts of the globe. These Indians soon discovered a fondness for spirituous liquors, with which the artful traders were too ready to supply them; by the excessive use of these, their natural ferocity had been increas ed, their passions inflamed, their best principles perverted, diseases never before known introduced, their lives shortened, and their numbers rapidly reduced.

The attention and assistance which Great-Britain gave to these colonies increased with the increasing commer、 cial spirit of the nation; indeed the English Americans may be said to have been, like Minerva, born adult: no

age of barbarism involved in obscurity and ignorance the early period of their existence. Arts and sciences were cultivated ere their woods were cleared; their minds were enlarged without their manners being depraved. The fostering hand of Great-Britain nursed the rising genius of the colonies, and an immense expanse of country taught them to contemplate on futurity with exultation. Their towns were built far from the din of war; their people had multiplied amidst the blessings of peace; their situation and employments rendered them robust and enterprising, without becoming sanguinary. The inroads of the Indians, those aborigines, whose territory they had in most instances rather seized upon than honorably purchased, were confined to their back settlements, and served to keep them attentive without endangering the general safety. The apprehensions from the encroachments of the French were dispelled soon after they had been seriously entertained, and the fortunate termination of that four years conflict served to teach them to value a security which then became permanent. Civil commotions and intestine wars have stained with blood every kingdom and state, both in ancient and modern times: the Americans were not to expect an exemption from the common lot of humanity; and the time at length arrived, when the horrors and desolations of war were to overspread the country.

Perhaps no event in the history of the world has been more important than the revolution in America, which the contentions between the mother country and the colonies produced, by the erection of so many independent, but confederate republics on that continent. The pursuits of America must now be directed to different objects. Whilst colonists, they were perhaps become too much a commercial people; as states, agriculture will demand their first and chief attention. The immense country to the westward is now likely to be brought much sooner into a state of cultivation than if they had continued colonics; population may be expect

ed to advance in a proportion hitherto unknown; and, among a people enjoying such advantages, the human mind ought to be exercised, and its powers enlarged, without being depraved; simplicity of manners, uncontaminated by the impatience of becoming rich, should prevail; and the favoured Americans be known as a people exemplary for integrity in their dealings, for honour, and public virtue.

BOUNDARIES.] By the definitive treaty of peace between the king of Great Britain and the United States of America, which was executed at Paris, on the 3d of September, 1783, the boundaries of these states are fixed to extend on the N. from Nova-Scotia, across the four great lakes of Ontario, Eric, Huron, and Superior, assigning to the states the southern half of each, and in the latter the islands Royal and Phillipeaux: lake Michigan they possess entire: though these lakes have ever been considered as making a part of Canada, and no new regulation of limits has excluded them. This boundary is farther extended through the centre of the lake of the Woods to its most western point. It may be supposed that a want of acquaintance with the geography of the country has caused it to be added "from thence on a due West course to the river Mississippi:" for if the boundary is carried due West, it will reach the Pacific Ocean, about one degree of latitude South of Nootka Sound. The line, in order to touch the Mississippi, should have been carried from the western side of the lake of the Woods due South. In consequence of this inaccuracy no boundary is settled throughout a space of near three degrees of latitude; it being resumed along the middle of the river Mississippi to thirty-one degrees North latitude, where that river begins to divide West Florida from Louisiana. The American States are bounded on the South by the two Floridas. They possess all the eastern coast from the mouth of the river St. Croix, in the bay of Fundy, to St. Mary's river, which divides Georgia from East Florida,