Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

seems to flow and increase and widen along with it, till it loses itself in the abyss of waters.

The objects of art, as well as those of nature, in this new world, are at present in such a state, as affords the highest entertainment to these faculties of the mind. The progression is begun: here and there, in the midst of venerable woods, which, scarce a century ago, were the uncultivated haunts of roaming savages, the power of cultivation presents itself to the traveller's view, in opening lawns, covered with the richest verdure, fields of corn, orchards, gardens, and meadows fertilized by well directed streams. Hamlets, villages, and even populous cities, with their towering spires, excite our admiration. We are struck with the charm of novelty wherever we go. The comparison is always at hand-for, within the compass of a short mile, we may beholl at once, nature in her original rusticity, and art rising by rapid advances to perfection.

The progress of the human mind may here likewise be observed to keep equal pace with the external improvements: the gradual polish of manners, from awkwardness itself even to courtly civility; from superstitious notions, and bigoted religious attachments, to genuine spiritual devotion, may very readily be traced by a thoughtful and inquisitive mind. All the powers of nature seem to be upon the stretch, as if they were in pursuit of something higher still, in science, in manners, in religion itself, than the mother country can afford.

Indeed, my Lord, I feel my heart expand at the immense prospect that irresistibly opens upon me. I see new kingdoms and empires rushing forth from their embryo state, eager to disclose their latent powers; whilst the old ones on the other side of the Atlantic, "hide their diminished heads," lost in a superior lustre. I see learning stripped of all scholastic pedantry, and religion restored to gospel purity. I see the last efforts of a powerful Providence exerted in order to reclaim our wandering race from the paths of ignorance and error. I see the setting rays of the Sun of Righteousness shining forth with seven-fold lustre to the utmost bourn of this Western Continent.

Wonder not then, my Lord, at my attachment to this favoured spot. I tread the hallowed soil with far higher pleasures from anticipation than your classic enthusiasts feel from reflection, whilst they kiss the floor of Tusculum, or walk the "Eternal flint by Consuls trod."

There is one thought, indeed, that throws a damp upon that ardour of joy, which such speculations generally produce in my breast. From the strange propensity of human nature to abuse the richest gifs of Providence, (of which history as well as experience affords us so many sad examples) I fear, lest the old leaven of wickedness should insinuate itself again by degrees, till it has corrupted the whole mass; lest the melancholy scenes we have beheld in the king loms and churches of the East should be acted over again in the West; and the declension of sound knowledge and virtuous practice, should be more rapid than their increase and advancement.

Your lordship has seen the works of the divine Herbert. You may remember how excessively fond Dr. Ry was of his poems, and how earnestly he would recommend his excellent little treatise, called The Country Parson, to all his pupils who were to be candidates for holy orders. Lest you should not have the book by you, I must beg leave to transcribe a very remarkable passage from a poem entitled The Church Militant, which, as it relates wholly to America, and breathes a kind of prophetic spirit, has generally been called "Herbert's Prophecy." The language is uncouth and the measure

1

far from harmonious-but there is something very striking and animated in the sentiment:

Religion stands on tip-toe in our land

Ready to pass to the American strand, &c.*

You see, my Lord, from the short sketches which I have given you, that Herbert's Prophecy, if it may be so called (though it is no more than what our schoolmen have styled reading from analogy), is fulfilling fast. Arts and religion still keep pace with each other; and 'tis not impossible, as he conjectures, that their return to the East will be the "time and place where judgement shall appear."

HENRY CRUGER.

HENRY CRUGER was the first American who sat in the British House of Commons. He was a member of a leading family in the society and politics of the colony and city of New York, and a nephew of John Cruger, mayor of New York, and speaker of the Colonial Assembly at the time of the passage of the stamp act, and a proposer, and afterwards prominent member of the first Provincial Congress held in New York, in 1765. The "Declaration of Rights" issued by that body was written by him. Henry Cruger was born in New York, in 1739, and on arriving at manhood became connected in business with his father, who had established himself at Bristol, which then held a position, in reference to American commerce, similar to that of Liverpool at the present day, and was elected mayor of the city. The father's popularity seems to have been shared by the son, as he was also chosen mayor, and in 1774 one of the two representatives of the city, in the House of Commons, his colleague being Edmund Burke.

Wenbruger

The election was a sharply contested one. Burke was introduced on the hustings by Cruger, and made a brief speech, at the conclusion of which, a Mr. C is reported in the newspapers of the day to have exclaimed, "I say ditto to Mr. Burke.' The story has passed into the jest books, and been fastened upon Cruger, who, as he had just before spoken, is not likely to have spoken again; or if he did, would not, as his future career shows, have expressed himself so briefly. The true author of this famous speech was a Mr. Carrington.

Cruger made his maiden speech December 16, 1774, in the debate on the Army Estimates. Josiah Quincy, Jun., was present in the gallery, and mentions the circumstance in one of his letters. A New York clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Vardell, of Trinity Church, was also an auditor, and wrote home the following enthusiastic account of the new member, in a letter, which we find printed in the Memoirs of Peter Van Schaick:

Mr. Cruger's fame has, I suppose, by this time reached his native shore. His applause has been universally sounded in this country. Administra

*Sec Art. Berkeley, ante, p. 163.

tion applauds him for his moderation; Opposition for the just line he has drawn, and all men for his modest eloquence and graceful delivery. His enemies are silenced by the strongest confutation of their charges against him of illiberal invective against the people of England, by his manly defence of his country, and honorable approbation of his opponents wherever he thought them justifiable. I was in the house on the debate. It was remarkably crowded with members, and the galleries were filled with peers and persons of distinction. When Mr. Cruger rose, there was a deep silence. He faltered a little at first, but, as he proceeded, the cry of "Hear him! hear him!" animated him with resolution. Hood, the Irish orator, sat behind me. He asked, "Who is that? who is that? A young speaker? Whoever he is, he speaks more eloquently than any man I have yet heard in the house." I took great pains to learn people's sentiments, and found them all in his favor. Mr. Garrick, a few days after, in a discussion on the subject, said, "he never saw human nature more amiably displayed than in the modest manner of address, pathos of affection for his country, and graceful gesture, exhibited by Mr. Cruger in his speech." I am thus particular because you must be curious to know what reception the first American member met with in the most august assembly in Europe. My heart beat high with anxiety; I trembled when he arose with the most awful and affecting jealousy for the honor of my country. When "Hear him! hear him!" echoed through the house, joy rushed through every vein, and I seemed to glory in being a New-Yorker.

In this speech, while he dissents from many of the measures pursued by the Americans, he praises them for their love of liberty; dwells on the importance of the colonial trade to Great Britain; urges the necessity of conciliation, and the uselessness of coercion.

Even should coercive measures reduce them to an acknowledgment of the equity of Parliamentary taxation, what are the advantages that will result from it? Can it be believed that Americans will be dragooned into a conviction of this right? Will severities increase their affection and make them more desirous of a connection with, and dependence on Great Britain? Is it not, on the contrary, reasonable to conclude that the effect will be an increase of jealousy and discontent? That they will seek all occasions of evading laws imposed on them by violence? That they will be restless under the yoke and think themselves happy in any opportunity of flying to the protection of some other power, from the subjection of a mother whom they consider cruel and vindictive?

I would not be understood, sir, to deny altogether the good intentions of administration. The abilities of the minister, it seems, are universally acknowledged. But, sir, I must add the maxim of "humanum est errare." And though an American, I must applaud his zeal for the dignity of parliament, and must think the impolicy and inexpediency of the late measures may reasonably be imputed to the difficulty and embarrassments of the occasion, and the unsettled and undefined nature of the dependence of the Colonies on the mother country. But, on the other hand, candor must admit the same apology for any violence or mistakes of the Ameri

cans.

But, sir, since these measures have been found, by sad experience, to be totally inexpedient; since they

Lord North.

[ocr errors]

have served only to widen the breach instead of closing it-have diminished the obedience of the Colonies instead of confirming it-have increased their turbulence and opposition instead of allaying them-it may well be hoped that a different course of conduct and of treatment may be pursued; and some firm, enlightened, and liberal constitution be adopted by the wisdom of this House, which may secure the Colonists in the enjoyment of their liberties, while it maintains the just supremacy of parliament.

In the debate on the Disturbances in North America, Feb. 2, 1775, Colonel Grant remarked, "That he knew the Americans well, and was certain they would not fight,” and was responded to so warmly by Cruger, that the latter was called to order by the Speaker. Cruger also spoke in the debate on the Representation and remonstrance of the General Assembly of New York, May 15, 1775, and in that on Mr. Fox's motion for an Enquiry into the cause of the ill-success of the British Arms in North America, February 20, 1776. We quote the conclusion of this, which is one of his most successful efforts.

Admitting for the present, sir, that a force sufficient to subdue the colonies can be sent out-admitting that this country will patiently bear the enormous weight of accumulated taxes, which so distant and unequal a war will require-admitting that foreign powers (the natural enemies of Britain) will, with composure and self-denial, neglect so favorable that your fleets, unopposed, shall level to the ground an opportunity of distressing their rivals—admitting those cities which rose under your protection, became the pillars of your commerce, and your na tion's boast-admitting that foreign mercenaries spread desolation, that thousands fall before them, and that, humbled under the combined woes of poverty, anarchy, want, and defeat, the exhausted colonies fall suppliant at the feet of their conquerors -admitting all this will be the case, (which cannot well be expected from the past.) there necessarily follows a most momentous question; What are the great advantages that Great Britain is to receive in exchange for the blessings of peace and a lucrative commerce, for the affection and loyalty, for the prosperity, for the lives of so many of its useful subjects sacrificed? Would the bare acknowledgment of a right in Parliament to tax them, compensate for the millions expended, the dangers incurred, the miseries entailed, the destruction of human happiness and of life that must ensue from a war with our colonies, united as they are in one common cause, and fired to desperate enthusiasm by apprehensions of impending slavery? Or can you be so absurd as to imagine that concessions extorted in a time of danger and of urgent misery, will form a bond of lasting union? Impoverished and undone by their exertions, and the calamities of war, instead of being able to repay the expenses of this country, or to supply a revenue, they would stand in need of your earliest assistance to revive depressed and almost extinguished commerce, as well as to renew and uphold their necessary civil establishments.

I am well aware, sir, that it is said we must maintain the dignity of Parliament. Let me ask what dignity is that which will not descend to make millions happy-which will sacrifice the treasures and best blood of the nation to extort submissions, fruitless submissions, that will be disavowed and disregarded the moment the compulsory, oppressive force is removed? What dignity is that which, to enforce a disputed mode of obtaining a revenue,

will destroy commerce, spread poverty and desolation, and dry up every channel, every source, from which either revenue or any real substantial benefit can be expected?

Is it not high time then, Mr. Speaker, to examine the full extent of our danger, to pause and mark the paths which have misled us, and the wretched, bewildered guides who have brought us into our present difficulties? Let us seek out the destroying angel, and stop his course, while we have yet anything valuable to preserve. The breach is not yet irreparable, and permit me, with all deference, to say, I have not a doubt but that liberal and explicit terms of reconciliation, with a full and firm security against any unjust or oppressive exercise of parlia mentary taxation, if held out to the colonies before the war takes a wider and more destructive course, will lead speedily to a settlement, and recall the former years of peace, when the affections and interests of Great Britain and America were one.

But, sir, if, on the contrary, we are to plunge deeper into this sea of blood; if we are to sacrifice the means and materials of revenue for unjust distinctions about the modes of raising it; if the laurels we can gain, and the dignity of Parliament we are to establish, can be purchased only by the miseries of our fellow-subjects, whose losses are our own; if the event is precarious, and the cause alien to the spirit and humanity of Englishmen; if the injury is certain, and the object of success unsubstantial and insecure, how little soever the influence my poor opinion and arguments can have on this House, I shall at least free my conscience by having explicitly condemned all such impolitic, unjust, ina lequate, injudicious measures, and by giving to this motion my most hearty concurrence and support.

In the debate on Mr. Wilkes's motion for the Repeal of the American Declaratory Act, December 10, 1777, Cruger says: "From my connections in America I have had an opportunity of collecting the sentiments of men of all orders and parties, and have reason to believe that independency is not yet the great object of the majority of the people." On the 5th of May, 1780, in the debate on General Conway's bill for quieting the troubles in America, "Mr. Cruger contended that the bill by no means went far enough. He said the American war, the real source of all our distresses and burdens, should be put an end to at all events; in order to do this, the independency must be allowed, and the thirteen provinces treated as free states." This is the last mention of his name in Hansard's Reports. He spoke only on American affairs, and was evidently not desirous of a separation between the colonies and the mother country, but when such a step became inevitable, acquiesced. Had he lived in America, he would no doubt have been prominent on the side of independence.

It is characteristic of the manner in which families were divided in political opinions, during the Revolution, that while Henry Cruger was in parliament, one of his two brothers in America was a colonel in the royal army, and employed in the southern campaign, while the other, a New York merchant, trading with the West Indies, though taking no active part in the contest, was identified with the Whig side, and a friend of General Washington.

Henry Cruger returned to New York after the war, and was elected to the state senate, while still a member of the British House of Commons,

his term of service not having expired. He does not appear to have taken any active part in the Legislature, nor in any public affairs after the expiration of his term of office. He died in New York on the 24th day of April, 1827.

frank, and at the same time polished manners; He was noted throughout his career for his qualities which, combined with a handsome figure, no doubt contributed their share to his great personal popularity in Bristol, and his high social position in his native city. He was not forgotten after resuming his residence in New York, by his old constituents on the other side of the water; a spirited election ballad of 1812 referring to past triumphs under his leadership, as an incitement to exertion in favor of a distinguished successor, Romilly. We quote its opening stanzas:

[blocks in formation]

COLERIDGE, whose love of universal knowledge and constant desire to gratify the imagination, led him to be a diligent reader of the reports of travellers, particularly those who made original observations in regions of adventure and discovery, of the fidelity and essential value of whose narratives he was a most discriminating judge, said of these productions, "the latest book of travels I know, written in the spirit of the old travellers, is Bartram's account of his tour in the Floridas. It is a work of high merit every way."t The author, who was the honored subject of this eulogy, was William Bartram, who printed in Philadelphia in 1791, in an octavo volume, his Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee

Thirty-eight years before Mr. Cruger was first chosen Member of Parliament.

+ Specimens of the Table Talk of the late Samuel Taylor Coleridge, March 12, 1827.

Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Choctaws. Containing an account of the soil and natural productions of those regions; together with observations on the manners of the Indians. The style of this work is distinguished by its simple love of nature and vivacity. It breathes of the freshness of a new land: every sensation is pleasurable, welcomed by health. The writer lived before that stage of the civilization of great cities which silences the voice of natural emotion raised in the expression of gratitude to Heaven or affection to man. Perhaps the simple life and pure tastes of the Quaker facilitated his lively gratification of the senses and emotions. All his faculties are alive in his book, whether he describes a tree, a fish, a bird, beast, Indian, or hospitable planter. He detects fragrance, vitality, and health everywhere in the animal world.

Will." Bartram

William Bartram came naturally by his tastes in these pursuits. He was the fourth son of John Bartram-born in Pennsylvania in 1699-the earliest of American botanists, and the founder of the first Botanical Garden in the country. His acquaintance with medicine and occupation as a farmer had led him to the study of plants. The specimens which he collected were sent to London, and secured him the correspondence of Peter Collinson, the Quaker lover of science and the friend of Franklin. He was a great traveller in search of his favorite objects in natural history in the old provinces, making his way to the head waters of the lakes and rivers of New York and Pennsylvania, through what was then a wilderness, and accomplishing, when he was nearly seventy, a full exploration of the St. John's river in Florida. In 1751 some observations made by Bartram on his travels from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, and communicated to his friends in London, were published by them in a thin octavo, with an appendix containing the account of Niagara by the Swedish traveller Kalm.* The style of Bartram is crude, but his observations show the genius of the naturalist.

Of his southern journey an account was published in 1766.† It consists of a description of the country in its main features of climate, soil, natural productions, and opportunities for cultivation,

Observations on the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, Rivers, Productions, Animals, and other matters worthy of notice, made by Mr. John Bartram, in his Travels from Pennsylvania to Onondago, Oswego and the Lake Ontario, in Canada. To which is annexed a curious account of the Cataracts at Niagara,

by Mr. Peter Kalm, a Swedish gentleman who travelled there. London. J. Whiston & White, 1751. 8vo. pp. 94. Kalm was a pupil of Linnæus at Upsal, and came to America at his instigation. From 1748-51 he was in America, where he was intimate with Colden, Logan, Franklin, and Bartram. His three volumes of travels in this country were translated from the Swedish into German, and thence into English by J. Reinold Forster, in 1771. Kalm died in 1779.

A Description of East-Florida, with a journal, kept by John Bartram, of Philadelphia, Botanist to His Majesty for the Floridas: upon a journey from St. Augustine up the river St. John's, as far as the Lakes. With explanatory botanical notes. Illustrated with an accurate Map of East Florida, and two plans, one of St. Augustine, and the other of the Bay of Espiitu Santo. The third edition, much enlarged and improved.

with a journal appended of actual observations (Dec. 9, 1765, Feb. 11, 1766). These are introduced in the edition before us by a dedication and recommendation from the pen of Dr. William Stork, who had the settlement of the country at heart. Bartram's observations are plainly set down, and his tract has the interest of most original notices of the kind. His mention of the staple productions of the several colonies in 1766, is a point from which to measure the development of the country:-"Since every colony in America seems to have, as it were, a staple commodity peculiar to itself, as Canada the fur; Massachusetts Bay, fish; Connecticut, lumber; New York and Pennsylvania, wheat; Virginia and Maryland, tobacco; North Carolina, pitch and tar; South Carolina, rice and indigo; Georgia, rice and silk."

In a letter to Jared Eliot, dated Philadelphia, Sept. 1, 1775, introducing John Bartram, Franklin writes, "I believe you will find him to be at least twenty folio pages, large paper, well filled, on the subjects of botany, fossils, husbandry, and the first creation." Hector St. John, in his Letters of an American Farmer, has a long description of an alleged visit paid by a Russian gentleman to John Bartram, which is evidently an account of his own observations of the amiable naturalist. He mentions an inscription over the door of his greenhouse,

Slave to no seet, who takes no private road,
But looks through nature up to nature's God.

John Bartram

The character of John Bartram was marked by its strength and simplicity, and by his love for the moral precepts of the Bible. Born and educated a Quaker, he did not escape some imputations of imperfect orthodoxy. His natural piety was witnessed by the inscription engraved by his own hands upon a stone placed on the outside of his house, over the front window of his study"Tis God alone, Almighty Lord, The Holy one, by me adored. JOHN BARTRAM, 1770.

He died September 21, 1777.

It was at the Botanic Garden on the banks of the Schuylkill, which the father founded, and in the house also built by his own hands, that William Bartram, the son, was born, February 9, 1739. He had for his tutor Charles Thomson, subsequently the honest and spirited republican of the old Continental Congress. He had an early talent for drawing, which led him to think of the congenial pursuits of printing and engraving; but he adopted the life of a merchant, which he soon abandoned; for before he was thirty years of age

Hic Segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvæ
Arborei Fructus alibi, atque injussa viresennt
Gramina Nonne vides croceos ut Tmolus Odores,
India mittet Ebur, molles sua Thura Sabæi?

Virgil, Georgia.

London; sold by W. Nicoll, at No. 51 St. Paul's Church Yard; and T. Jefferies, at Charing-Cross, Geographer to his Majesty. MDCCLXIX.

we find him accompanying his father on his Florida tour, and engaging in the cultivation of indigo. His own travels in that region were com

Bartram's House.

menced in 1772, at the request of Dr. Fothergill, the distinguished botanist and liberal and benevolent friend of science, and he occupied five years in his natural history pursuits in Georgia, South Carolina, and the Floridas. On his return to Philadelphia he quietly passed his time in scientific occupations, residing at the old Botanic Garden at Kingsessing, never marrying, though occasionally rallied on the subject by his London friend Collinson. In 1782 he was elected Professor of Botany in the University of Pennsylvania, but did not accept the position on account of his health. He assisted Wilson in his American Ornithology. His friend Barton was indebted to his pencil for drawings of the plates of his Elements of Botany. In 1789 he wrote a reply to a series of questions proposed to him on the condition of the Creek and Cherokee Indians, of whose manners he had been a diligent and curious observer, which has been lately reprinted from the original manuscript in the Transactions of the American Ethnological Society. The name of his correspondent in this work has been lost, but the probability rests with Dr. B. S. Barton, who refers in his Memoir on the Origin of the American Nations, to a MS. of Bartram on these subjects in his possession. His views of the character of the Southern Indians in this sketch, as well as in his Travels, place them in a very favorable light, for their possession of many honorable personal qualities.

**

In May, 1797, he was visited by Dunlap, in company with Brockden Brown, at the Botanic Garden, and the curious historiographer and painter has left a sketch of his appearance:"Arrived at the botanist's garden, we approached an old man, who, with a rake in his hand, was breaking the clods of earth in a tulip bed. His hat was old and flapped over his face; his coarse shirt was seen near his neck, as he wore no cravat or kerchief; his waistcoat and breeches were both of leather, and his shoes were tied with leather strings. We approached and accosted him. He ceased his work, and entered into conversation with the ease and politeness of nature's nobleman. His countenance was expressive of

Prefatory note, by E. G. Squier, to Observations on the Creek and Cherokee Indians, by William Bartram.-Transactions Am. Eth. Soc. vol. iii. pt. 1.

VOL. 1.-15

| benignity and happiness. This was the botanist, traveller, and philosopher we had come to see. He had pointed out many curious plants."*

Bartram appears to have been engaged in these friendly pursuits of science to the last, for it is recorded he wrote an article on the natural history of a plant, a few minutes before his death, which happened suddenly, by the rupture of a bloodvessel in the lungs, July 22, 1823, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. The correspondence of the Bartrams and Humphry Marshall, who was the cousin of John Bartrain and author of a valuable Treatise on the Forest Trees of North America, with their scientific friends in Europe and at home, is of interest for its simple, unaffected character, and the curiosity and information of many of its details. This correspondence was published in 1849, with many other interesting memorials, by William Darlington.t

[graphic]

EPHEMERA.

Leaving Picolata, I continued to ascend the river. I observed this day, during my progress up the river, incredible numbers of small flying insects, of the genus termed by naturalists Ephemera, continually emerging from the shallow water near shore, some of them immediately taking their flight to the land, whilst myriads crept up the grass and her bage, where remaining for a short time, as they acquired sufficient strength, they took their flight also, following their kindred to the main land. This resurrection from the deep, if I may so express it, commences early in the morning, and ceases after the sun is up. At evening they are seen in clouds of innumerable millions, swarming and wantoming in the still air, gradually drawing near the river. They descend upon its surface, and there quickly end their day, after committing their eggs to the deep; which being for a little while tossed about, enveloped in a viscid scum, are hatched, and the little Larvæ descend into their secure and dark habitation, in the oozy bed beneath, where they remain gradually increasing in size, until the returning spring; they then change to a Nymph, when the genial heat brings them, as it were, into existence, and they again arise into the world. This fly seems to be delicious food for birds, frogs, and fish. In the morning, when they arise, and in the evening, when they return, the tumult is great indeed, and the surface of the water along shore broken into bubbles, or spirted into the air, by the contending aquatic tribes; and such is the avidity of the fish and frogs, that they spring into the air after this delicious prey.

Early in the evening, after a pleasant day's voy. age, I made a convenient and safe harbor, in a little lagoon, under an elevated bank, on the West shore of the river; where I shall entreat the reader's patience, whilst we behold the closing scene of the short-lived Ephemera, and communicate to each other the reflections which so singular an exhibition might rationally suggest to an inquisitive mind. place of observation is happily situated under the protecting shade of majestic Live Oaks, glorious Magnolias, and the fragrant Orange, open to the view of the great river and the still waters of the lagoon just before us.

Hist. Am. Theatre, 170.

Our

+ Memorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall, with Notices of their Botanical Contemporaries, by William Darlington, 1849.

« AnteriorContinuar »