political tenets are fully displayed in his Lectures on Government.

"In his style I regard him as one of the best prose writers in the United States, at once rich, flowing, and classical; ornate and copious, yet pure and chaste; full of energy, yet full of grace; intense, yet stately; passionate, yet never with a forfeiture of dignity.

"His novel of George Balcombe is a bold, highly spirited, and very graceful border story, true to the life, a fine picture of society and manners on the frontier-animated and full of interest. It lacked color or warmth of tone, wanting the softening effects of fancy, though not without imagination. Rea-on was his predominant faculty. There was a sternness in his writings, a directness and an inten-ity, which show the author disdainful in the pursuit of his object of all the flowers of the wayside. When he deals with the pathetic, he rather sports with it. This is the one chief qualification of the merits of the book, which is one of the most vigorous of American novels as a narrative of action and the delineation of mental power."

The Partisan Leader is a curious anticipative political history, published in 1837; the scene is laid in Virginia in 1849, twelve years ahead. Van Buren is represented in his third presidential term at the head of a consolidated government, with the forms of a republic and the powers of a monarchy. The Southern states, with the exception of Virginia, have seceded. Its design was to show what the novelist thought fit to suppose the probable effects of the Van Buren party continuing in power, in the destruction of the Constitution, the dissolution of the Union, and the conflict of small Republics which would follow.

Gertrude, an original novel, appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger, for 1844-45.

Of Professor Tucker's discharge of his college duties at William and Mary, we learn from Professor Totten that his force of character "made a strong impression on the minds of his pupils. The greater part adopted his views on all subjects in which he instructed them. He had an original and what might be called an executive mind. He was exceedingly happy in his illustrations, and seldom presented the most common idea in the same form with others. His conversation had in consequence an unusual attraction. He had a warm heart, was cordially loved by his friends, and as cordially hated by his enemies.

"Christianity occupied his attention greatly in his later years. He wrote down his seasonings as he advanced in the investigation. He gave me these papers to read, and I was much interested in tracing the progress of a powerful and original intellect in its course from doubt to the most child-like confiding faith. For many years preceding his death, he was a devout and exemplary Christian."t

HENRY COLMAN.

HENRY COLMAN, a prominent writer on agriculture, was born in Boston, September 12, 1785. After completing his collegiate course at Dart

*The Partisan Leader, a Tale of the Future, by Edward William Sydney. Washington City. James Caxton, 1837. + MS. Letter of Prof. Silas Totten, March 15, 1855.

mouth in 1805, he studied theology, and was ordained June 17, 1807, minister of a Congregational church at Hingham, where he was also engaged as the teacher of a school. In 1820 he resigned his charge and removed to Boston, where he remained, principally employed as a teacher, until February, 1825, when he removed to Salem to take charge of a new Unitarian church and congregation formed for the express purpose of securing his services. He remained in this place, performing its functions with great acceptability, and increasing his already extensive reputation as a preacher, until his resignation in consequence of ill health, December, 1831.

Henry Colman

Mr. Colman now established himself on a farm on the banks of the Connecticut, and gave his whole attention to his favorite pursuit of agriculture. The reputation of his experiments and successful culture, and of his contributions to agricultural journals, became extended, and on the establishment of an agricultural commissioner by the state of Massachusetts, he was appointed to the office by Governor Everett.

Mr. Colman pursued the duties of this trust with unwearied energy and industry, and after an extensive tour throughout the state, and the publication of several Reports, in the autumn of 1842 sailed for Europe to continue his investigations. The ensuing six years were passed in a tour through Great Britain and the continent, the results of which were given to the public on his return in 1848 in his Agriculture and Rural Economy of France, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland; European Agriculture and Rural Economy, two volumes; and European Life and Manners in Letters to Friends, two volumes, works which exhibit to advantage his powers as a writer as well as observer.

In 1849 Mr. Colman returned to Europe in the hope of restoring his health, which had now become much impaired. The result was unsuccessful, as his death occurred soon after his arrival, at Islington, on the 14th of August.

In addition to his agricultural works Mr. Colman was the author of two volumes of sermons, published during the period of his active ministerial labors.

HENRY LEE.

HENRY LEE, the author of a spirited work on Napoleon, and of a pungent volume on Jefferson, was the son of General Henry Lee of the Revolution, by his first wife Matilda, daughter of Colonel Philip Tredwell Lee, who was long a member of the King's Council, and the elder brother of the two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee, of Dr. Arthur Lee, who served his country during the Revolution in several diplomatic appointments, and of William Lee, who was an alderman of London when that struggle commenced, but who heartily joined his brothers in maintaining it, and afterwards became the American Minister at the Hague.

Henry Lee was born at Stratford, Westmoreland County, Virginia, 1787, in the same room distinguished as the birthplace of two of the signers of the Declaration just mentioned. He was educated at William and Mary, where he became an excellent Latin scholar, and developed a taste for letters which accompanied him through life. During the war of 1812 he was appointed by Madison a Major in the twelfth regiment, designed chiefly for interior defence, but soon went to the Canadian frontier as Aide to General Wilkinson, and afterwards served General Izard in the same capacity.

On his return from Canada he met the late Edinburgh Reviewer, Jeffrey, in New York, then at the height of his reputation. They were both possessed of brilliant conversational powers, and their meeting was the delight of the inany entertainments where they came together.

At the close of the war, Major Lee retired from the army, and married Miss Ann M'Carty, whose estate adjoined his own paternal Stratford, where he lived many years, more devoted to hunting than farming; when only the odd hours of good days, and the dull ones of wet weather, were amused with books. The correspondent to whom we are indebted for these details of his life, mentions as an anecdote of his skill with the rifle, that he has often killed two wild ducks at one shot, by firing as they swam slowly by each other exactly as their necks came within the range of a single ball.

He was first impelled to literary labor by Judge William Johnson's Life of General Greene. That work was deemed by him so unjust to his father's fame, and that of his brave legion, that he resolved to defend both, which he did with success in an octavo volume entitled, Campaigns of 1782 in the Carolinas,* published in 1824. Major Lee having been by education and conviction attached to the Federal school, was politically proscribed by the dominant, so called, democratic party. On the nomination of Jackson, however, who had in 1812 opposed this proscription, he became one of the most influential advocates for his election, in a series of essays which he published in his behalf.

He was appointed by Jackson as Consul at Algiers, whither he proceeded in 1829, but his appointment not having been confirmed by the Senate, he did not remain there a year. His classical recollections induced him to visit Italy on his way home, and in Rome he saw Madame Mère, the mother of Napoleon. His lively impressions of the Italian campaigns of the latter, and his admiration for the hero, induced him to attempt a vindication of his character from slander, and an adequate record of his deeds. He was delayed in the execution of this congenial task by the necessity he found himself under of discharging a more private and sacred one. again entered the field as the defender of his father's memory from assaults in the published writings of Jefferson, and wrote his Observations on the Writings of Thomas Jefferson, published

He

The Campaign of 1781 in the Carolinas; with remarks historical and critical on Johnson's Life of Greene, to which is added an appendix of original documents relating to the history of the Revolution. By H. Lee. Phila. 1824. 8vo.

in New York in 1832.* As a controversial work this was written with ability, its arguments securing the admiration of Judge Marshall. The "Observations" made their mark, and have never been directly answered, though Tucker's Life of Jefferson touches on the topics involved. In 1845 it was republished with additional notes meeting Tucker's remarks, by C. C. Lee, Esq., of Powha

tan.

After completing this work, Major Lee devoted himself to what he designed to be a Life of the Emperor Napoleon, and the first volume was published in Paris and New York with that title in 1835,† bringing the narrative to the year 1796. An appendix of nearly half the volume is occupied with an argumentative examination of the positions of Sir Walter Scott in his History of Bonaparte.

Lee died before a second volume was completed at Paris, January 30, 1837. After his death, the first volume and the additional matter which he had prepared, were published in a large octavo in London and Paris, with the title, The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, down to the Peace of Tolentino, and the close of his First Campaign in Italy,

RICHARD HENRY LEE, the author of the lives of his great grandfather, R. H. Lee, and of his great uncle, Dr. Arthur Lee, is the son of the late Tredwell Lee, of Loudon County, and Flora, the second daughter of Colonel Philip Tredwell Lee, of Stratford, Va. He studied law, and after practising in the profession a few years, betook himself to the more congenial pursuit of letters, and is now a Professor in Washington College, Pennsylvania.

SAMUEL G. DRAKE.

SAMUEL G. DRAKE was born October 10, 1798, at Pittsfield, N. H. He was educated at the common schools of the neighborhood, at that time held only during a few winter months. At the age of twenty he became a district school teacher,

* Observations on the Writings of Thomas Jefferson, with particular reference to the attack they contain on the memory of the late General Henry Lee, in a series of letters, by H. Lee of Virginia. New York. 1882.

The Life of the Emperor Napoleon, with an Appendix, containing an Examination of Sir Walter Scott's "Life of Napoleon Bonaparte;" and a notice of the principal errors of other writers, respecting his character and conduct. By H. Lee. Vol. I. New York: Charles de Behr. 1835. We are not aware that this work was translated into French. It was received by eminent Frenchmen, as the Duke of Bassano, with great favor. General Napier, the author of the Peninsular Campaigns, commended it highly.

The following notice of his death appeared in Galignani's (Paris) Messenger at the time:

"Death of Major Henry Lee, author of the Life of Napoleon, &c., &c. This distinguished American has fallen a victim to the epidemic which now pervades the capital. He expired yesterday morning after much suffering, from a short illness of complicated influenza.

"In the prime of life, and in the full vigor of a well cultivated intellect, the riches of which have already contributed to the literature of the age, his untiring assiduity has been suddenly arrested in the promising career in which his hopeful friends with so much pleasure saw him fast advancing.

"While letters lose in him a zealous votary, his numerous friends, who know the greatness of soul which characterized his actions, the suavity of his temper, his modesty and urbanity of manners, will mingle their tears with those of a disconsolate widow, and long regret that that hand which was as firm in friendship as it was strong in battle' has been so soon palsied by the cold grasp of death."

earnest. A little table was assigned him in his father's private study, and instruction partly given by his parent and partly by tutors under his direction. Perhaps the greatest advantage to him was derived from the continual intercourse with a man of quick intellect and learning, who possessed a happy method of communicating knowledge on all subjects.

In 1830 Mr. Drake established the antiquarian book store in Boston, with which his name has been long and favorably connected.

His labors as an antiquarian commenced in 1824, as editor of a reprint of Colonel Church's History of King Philip's War, of which we have already spoken. This was followed in 1832 by the Indian Biography, and in 1833 by The Book of the Indians, or a Biography and History of the Indians of North America, a work of much research and information, the popular success of which is vouched for by the eleven editions which have been published.t

In 1836 Mr. Drake published a number of contemporary narratives of the early colonial wars, with the title, The Old Indian Chronicle. In 1839 he prepared Indian Captivities, a volume of the original narratives of the sufferers.

In 1847 the New England Historical and Genealogical Register was commenced by Mr. Drake, by whom it is still conducted, under the auspices of a society of a similar title. It has already done much for family and local history.

In 1852 Mr. Drake commenced the publication of his chief work, The History of Boston. It will form when completed (as is anticipated within the present year), a large octavo, profusely illustrated with portraits, autographs, and views of buildings and localities. It is a work of great research, and contains much original information, particularly in reference to the early discovery of the New England coast, which has already been of service to writers as well as readers of history.

HENRY M. BRACKENRIDGE.

HENRY M. BRACKENRIDGE is the son of the author of Modern Chivalry, and was born in Pittsburg the 11th of May, 1786. His father discovered in him very early indications of superior intellect, and resolved to give his personal attention to its cultivation. The course of education was begun almost in infancy, by himself with the assistance of others; and after ten years of age, excepting about six months at the Pittsburgh academy, and about the same length of time at Jefferson College, the course of instruction was strictly private. At seven years of age he was consigned to the charge of a gentleman who visited Louisiana, and placed at a French school at St. Genevieve, in Upper Louisiana, for the purpose of learning the French vernacularly. This was so successful that in less than six months he had forgotten the English entirely. Various causes prevented his being restored to his home until near ten years of age. It was at this time, Mr. Brackenridge states in his

On the appointment of his father to the supreme bench of the state, young Brackenridge, then fifteen years of age, was placed for two years in the office of prothonotary or clerk of the court, preparatory to entering the office of a practising attorney for the purpose of studying law. His range of reading and general information was singularly extensive for his age, and his mind remarkably precocious, although his proficiency in the ancient classics and in mathematics was not equal to his other attainments; this was owing to not having carried the study of them into maturer years, and the too great variety of his other studies. He had imbibed their quintessence, however, without the labor of digesting them in bulk; thus forming his taste on the finest models ancient and modern.

At the age of twenty Mr. Brackenridge was admitted to the bar as a well grounded lawyer. After this he repaired to the residence of his father in Carlisle, where, under his directions, he continued for a year or more to apply himself to the law of equity and maritime law, intending to qualify himself for practice in Baltimore. On going to that city he entered the office of a practitioner in chancery; he also attended the courts, where he had an opportunity of hearing the able lawyers who then flourished at that bar. His youth, want of means to enable him to "bide his time," and the great numbers who occupied every branch of the profession, discouraged him from attempting the practice without previous exercise of his faculties on some more humble stage. Hearing that there was but one lawyer in the town of Scmerset, he repaired to that place, and at once took

possession of the office which had been recently vacated by the death of the other. There being but two lawyers in this place he had the satisfaction of being engaged on one side or other of every case, thus obtaining an opportunity of exercising his faculties which had been denied in Baltimore. The business was not so great as to deprive him of ample leisure for reviewing his studies, and going through a course of historical reading, revising Gibbon, Robertson, Hume, and other classical English writers. He had made some progress in Italian and German, to which he regularly devoted a portion of his time. With the French literature he was familiar. A year was thus passed here to advantage, when he received a letter from a friend in New Orleans who had been appointed sheriff, and who promised a very tempting opening there in the profession.

In the spring of 1810, Mr. Brackenridge took his departure from Pittsburgh for Upper Louisiana, being desirous of visiting the scenes of his infancy, to which his recollections fondly clung. He was most kindly received at St. Genevieve by the family in which he had lived; and it happening to be the court week became engaged in several important cases. From this place he went to St. Louis and followed the spring circuit, but without changing his ultimate determination of going to the south. After the courts were over, instead of taking an office he set to work to collect materials for an account of the country. These formed a series of essays published in the only newspaper of the country, and which were afterwards used as the groundwork of his volume on Louisiana, a work spoken of in high terms when published in Pittsburgh in 1812, two years afterwards. He availed himself, while at St. Louis, of the opportunity of improving himself in the Spanish language under an excellent teacher, aud afterwards made himself master of it in Louisiana. Being addicted to no vices and few pleasures, he found abundance of time to apply to study.

In the autumn of 1811, Mr. Brackenridge descended the river to New Orleans in what was called a keel-boat, steam not being then in use. It was not more than a month or two after his arrival until he was appointed Deputy-AttorneyGeneral for the territory of Orleans, afterwards State of Louisiana. When the constitution went into operation the next year he received the appointment of District Judge, although not more than twenty-three years of age. It became necessary to turn his attention to the Spanish law, the Siete Partidas, and to the Code Civil, &c., all based on the Roman civil law. Here a wide field opened before him, to which he devoted himself for two or three years with great earnestness; at the same time giving a large portion of his attention to Spanish literature, for which he enjoyed the best opportunities. He acquired the language so as to speak and write it with fluency. During the latter part of the war of 1812 he corresponded with the general government, and gave important information as to the designs of the enemy and the condition of the country for defence. In 1814, in the month of September, he left Louisiana on a visit to Washington on an invitation to engage in a diplomatic capacity, but was taken ill in Kentucky, and did not reach the seat of government until after peace had been proclaimed. His re

ception by Mr. Madison was kind, and he was introduced by him to Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, to whom he communicated his intentions in his favor. In Mr. Monroe he afterwards found, on all occasions, a warm and ardent friend. In the meantime he took up his residence at Baltimore. At the instance of a bookseller he wrote a popular history of the incidents of the late war, which still holds its place after passing through many editions. It was translated into French and Italian by distinguished authors.

The question of the acknowledgment of the independence of the South American republics being the order of the day, Mr. Brackenridge, in conjunction with Mr. Clay, took an active part in their favor; he made numerous translations of South American papers, and wrote for the newspapers on the subject. But his principal production was a pamphlet of a hundred pages, being in the form of a letter by an "American," addressed to Mr. Monroe, then President of the United States. This pamphlet was immediately republished in England in the "Pamphleteer;" and it being supposed to express the views of the American government, the Spanish minister, the Duke de San Carlos, employed a writer to prepare a reply. This pamphlet of Mr. Brackenridge was translated into French by the Abbé du Pradt, afterwards Archbishop of Malines, who passed a high encomium on the production.

About the same period a very elaborate dissertation appeared from his pen in Walsh's Register in support of the views of the administration on the subject of the "boundaries of Louisiana" as described in the treaty of cession by France and Spain. It was regarded as a conclusive argument on the American side of the question.

The government in 1817 having determined to send Commissioners to the South American republics as a preliminary step to their recognition, Mr. Brackenridge received the appointment of Secretary. The commission sailed in the Congress Frigate in December, and after visiting Brazil, Buenos Ayres, and the island of Margaritta, returned to New York in 1818. Mr. Brackenridge availed himself of every opportunity to collect information, and in the course of the year published his Voyage to South America in two volumes octavo, and an improved edition in London the year after. This work was declared by Humboldt to contain an extraordinary mass of information, and to be replete with philosophic views."

66

This experience of diplomacy satisfied him; he found that it was very uncertain as a pursuit in this country, there being no diplomatic corps where promotion might follow merit, as in the army or navy. He, therefore, determined to pursue his profession, and took an office and made some successful efforts at the bar, by which he obtained reputation but no regular business; this could only have been the result of time where the practice was already monopolized. Popularity, however, had been obtained; he was twice elected to represent the city in the state legislature: but this only rendered mere professional success more distant. His speech in favor of the liberty of conscience, in the debate on what was called "the Jew Bill," which was published, added to his reputation. At the same time he published an

elaborate argument on the powers of the Court of Equity, to compel a witness to disclose facts on a bill of discovery to be used in another state, there being no means to coerce his testimony. This case has been since provided for by an express act of Congress. The want of success in obtaining clients began to render him impatient, and he thought of the new countries to the west and south, which offered a more immediate prospect of occupation. About this time the treaty of cession of Florida was negotiated, presenting a new opening where the course would be clear to him. On consulting with Mr. Monroe and Mr. Adams he received assurances from those gentlemen that he would be remembered in the organization of the territorial government. He accordingly proceeded to St. Louis in the fall of 1820, with the intention of going to Florida in the spring, at which time the American government would take possession of the new acquisition.

In April, 1821, he took passage in a steamboat for New Orleans, and on his way overtook General Jackson, who had been appointed Commissioner to take possession of Florida, and afterwards to act as governor. The boat in which he had taken passage having been disabled, he and his suite were transferred to the one which had overtaken it. The General sent for Mr. Brackenridge and requested him to join his military and diplomatic family in the capacity of a volunteer, his services as a civilian, and his knowledge of the French and Spanish languages, being a desideratum in this party. He accordingly accompanied the general to Pensacola, and rendered him valuable assistance as secretary, negotiator, and counsellor. That the General was well satisfied with these services will appear from the following letter, written from the first stage after his departure from Florida.

MANUELS, October 8, 1821.

DEAR SIR,-I had a great desire to have had a few minutes' private conversation with you before I left Pensacola, but this, from the business with which I was surrounded, was prevented me.

I had a wish personally to say to you, the gratitude I feel for the aid I have received from you in the organization and administration of the govern ment, and to know if there was anything in which I could render you any service. As you have made Pensacola your residence you can render much good to the public and to yourself in a public capacity. And as far as my influence will extend it will afford me much pleasure in using it in your behalf. I therefore will be grateful to receive a letter from you addressed to me at Nashville, Tennessee, stating whether you would prefer a seat in the judiciary or any other office in the Floridas that would enable you to do the duties and pursue the practice of the law. It will afford me great pleasure to forward to Dr. Bronaugh letters in your behalf to obtain such appointment as may be most agreeable to you. I therefore request you to write to me on this subject.

Having left the administration of the government in charge of Colonel Walton, for whom I have formed a friendship, my dear sir, permit me to ask of you your aid to him and his situation, a responsible one, and I have a great desire that he may administer the government satisfactorily to the nation and with credit to himself.

Accept, my dear sir, a tender of my sincere regard and unfeigned friendship. Yours, ANDREW JACKSON,

In May, 1821, Mr. Brackenridge received the appointment of United States Judge for the Western District of Florida, which office he continued to fill for more than ten years to the general satisfaction. In 1882 General Jackson superseded all the judges of the territories on the plan of making room for political partisans. Mr. Brackenridge having married a lady of Philadelphia, in whose right he held a valuable tract of land on the Pennsylvania Canal near Pittsburgh, removed to that place, where he now resides. He became an active politician, made speeches, and published pamphlets and articles for the reviews and newspapers. In 1834 he published the first volume of his Recollections of Persons and Places in the West, the remainder being still in manuscript. His publications of speeches, addresses, &c., are numerous, but not collected into volumes. Among his unpublished works are a History of the Western Insurrection, one of the most important episodes in our national history.

At the election of General Harrison in 1840 he obtained a seat in Congress, and the year following was appointed a Commissioner under the Mexican treaty, in conjunction with Governor Marcy of New York. With this exception, and the service of one session in the state legislature in 1844, he has remained in private life, but still devoted to letters. In 1847 he published a series of letters in favor of the cause of the nation in the Mexican war. His works are very numerous, and as various as numerous, and exhibit an unusual scope of knowledge on every subject. The essay on Trusts and Trustees is a work which displays legal research and acumen, although, like "Jones on Bailment," intended to illustrate a particular case. His Eulogy on Jefferson and Adams, delivered at Pensacola in August, 1820, was highly eulogized at the time by William Wirt. The continuation of the "Recollections" would form a most valuable addition to our contemporary history, as few persons have had better opportunities of seeing and observing, or a more intimate acquaintance with the prominent actors on the scene in his day, and few writers, we may add, are better qualified to convey their impressions in a full, minute, and agreeable manner. Mr. Brackenridge apparently writes with ease to himself, and certainly with pleasure to his readers.

ST. GENEVIEVE ON THE MISSISSIPPI AT THE CLOSE OF THE LAST CENTURY.

My guardian carried me directly to the house of M. Bauvais, a respectable and comparatively wealthy inhabitant of the village, and then took his departure the same evening. Not a soul in the village, except the curate, understood a word of English, and I was possessed of but two French words, ous and non. I sallied into the street, or rather highway, for the houses were far apart, a large space being occupied for yards and gardens by each. I soon found a crowd of boys at play; curiosity drew them around me, and many questions were put by them, which I answered alternately, with the aid of the before mentioned monosyllables, "Where have you come from?" "Yes." "What is your name?" "No." To the honour of these boys be it spoken, or rather to the honour of their parents who had taught them true politeness-instead of turning me into ridicule,

From Recollections of the West.