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The thirst of gold, which excited both the enterprize and the barbarity of the settlers of South-America, pervaded in some degree the colonists of Virginia. About the year 1607, a glittering earth was discovered in the channel of a small stream near Jamestown, and from that time, says Stith in his history, “there was no thought, no discourse, no hope, and no work, but to dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, and load gold.” Capt. Smith's representations of the folly of such conduct had no effect, and they persisted in loading a vessel for England with this drossy dust. “Two vessels,” says Judge Marshall, “returned thither in the spring and summer of 1608, one laden with this dust, and the other with cedar: the first remittances ever made from America by an English colony.”

Among the colonists of New England, who came under the protection of the son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in 1623, was the Rev. William Morrell, an Episcopal Clergyman, bearing a Commission from the Ecclesiastical Court in England to exercise superintendency over such churches as might be established in the new region. He was a man of classical taste, and described that part of the country which he explored, in an elegant Latin poem, a few specimens of which are subjoined with an attempt at translation. But he early made the discovery that the climate was uncongenial to his favourite art, and too frigid for the expansion of genius, and he returned to his native country, after an absence of one year.

Another poet, also, at a still earlier period, hazarded a transportation to our western clime. This was Stephen Parmenias, a man of great learning, who was born at Buda, in Hungary, about the middle of the 16th century. For the completion of his education, he visited the most celebrated European universities, and during his residence in England, forming a friendship for Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh, decided to accompany him in his expedition to America, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. In the summer of 1583, they arrived at Newfoundland, and took possession of it, in the name of the British crown. The Hungarian poet preserved the memory of this expedition, in an elegant Latin poem, rich with classical allusions, but on his return to Europe the same year, unfortunately perished in a violent storm, together with the admiral, and nearly a hundred of the crew. The poem alluded to, and likewise a more particular account of this interesting Hungarian, may be found in the ninth volume of the “Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.”

Powhatan told Captain Smith that he was “very old, and had seen the death of all his people thrice, so that not one of the first generation was living beside himself.” Mr. Jefferson, in his “Notes on Virginia, relates that at the first settlement of the English, the territories of Powhatan, were said to comprise 8000 square miles.

Capt. John Smith, who accompanied the Colony, which, in 1607, planted itself at Jamestown, displayed so many uncommon talents, suited to the exigencies of those difficult times, that the early historians have been eloquent in his praise. Stith, in his History of Virginia, written in the year 1747, records in his antiquated style, the testimony of the soldiers, and fellow-adventurers of Smith. “They confess that in that age, there were many captains who were no soldiers, but that he was a soldier of the true old English stamp, who fought, not for gain or empty praise, but for his country's honour and the public good; that his wit, courage and success were worthy of eternal memory; that by the mere force of his virtue and courage, he awed the Indian kings, and made them submit and bring presents; that notwithstanding such a stern and invincible resolution, there was seldom seen a milder and more tender heart than his was; that he had nothing in him counterfeit or sly; but was open, honest, and sincere, and that they never knew a soldier before him, so free from the military vices of wine, tobacco, debts, dice, and oaths.” Judge Marshall, in his biography of Washington, in describing the expedients which Capt. Smith devised, and the dangers which he encountered for the protection of the colony, remarks, that “he preserved his health unimpaired, his spirits unbroken, and his judgment unclouded, amidst the general misery and dejection.” After his liberation from captivity by Powhatan, he concerted measures for the safety of the colony, and the welfare of his government, he undertook a bold expedition to explore the waters of the Chesapeake, and to make researches into the countries upon its shores. “He entered,” says Marshall, “most of the large creeks, and sailed up many of the great rivers to their falls. He made accurate observations on the extensive territories through which he passed, and on the various tribes inhabiting them, with whom he alternately fought, negotiated and traded. In the various situations in which he found himself, he always displayed judgment, courage, and that presence of mind, which is so essential to the character of a commander; and he never failed finally to inspire the savages whom he encountered, with the most exalted opinion of himself, and of his nation. When we consider that he sailed above three thousand miles in an open boat; when we contemplate the dangers, the hardships, he endured, and the fortitude, patience, and courage with which he bore them; when we reflect on the useful and important additions which he made to the stock of knowledge, respecting America, then possessed by his countrymen, we shall not hesitate to say that few voyages of discovery, undertaken at any time, reflect more honour on those engaged in them, than this does on Captain Smith.”

Captain Smith was born at Willoughby in 1759, and at the time of his slavery in Constantinople, when most of the romantic adventures of his life had terminated, the hero had only attained the age of 23 years.

Marseilles, the ancient Massilia, is situated at the foot of a rocky mountain near the sea. Its natural advantages for commerce were such, that its trade flourished even in the days of Gothic barbarism. The politeness and literature of its early inhabitants, were so conspicuous, that Livy pronounced it to have been as much polished as if it had risen in the midst of Greece; and Cicero denominated it the “Athens of the Gauls.”

The niche, in which the statue of the Virgin is placed in the “Casa Santa” of the church at Loretto, is adorned among other costly declarations, with 71 large Bohemian Topazes; near it stands an angel of cast gold, profusely enriched with gems and diamonds; and the lustre of the precious stones with which this cell is ornamented, has been compared by pilgrims to a rainbow, eclipsing the lamps with which it is contrasted. The chamber, containing this statue, is alleged by the adherents of the Romish church, to have been carried through the air by angels in the month of May, 1291, from Galilee to Tersato, in Dalmatia. From thence it was removed in the same manner, after having reposed somewhat more than four years, and set down in a wood in Italy, about midnight in the month of December, where it remained nearly 200 years, before it was noticed by any author of that country.

The doctrine of Purgatory, which some have derived from the Platonic fancies of Origen, the Montanism of Tertullian, pretended visions, or doubtful expressions of the later fathers, was introduced in part towards the close of the fifth century, but not positively affirmed till the year 1140, nor made an article of faith, till the council of Trent.

Moscow, in its conflagration, was emphatically compared to an “Ocean of flame.”

Between Samos and Icaria, the intensely deep blue colour of the water has been noticed by voyagers; and in the ‘Childe Harolde’ of Lord Byron, it is denominated the “dark blue sea.” Athenæus relates, that in Samos, the fig-trees, apple-trees, rose-trees, and vines, bore fruit twice in a year.

The etymology of Rhodes, has been sought in the Greek word “Rhodon,” signifying a rose, with which flower that island abounded. The classical traveller, Clarke, observes, “from the number of appellations it has borne at different periods, it might at last have received the name of the Polynoman Island. It has been called Ophiusa, from the number of its serpents; Telchynis; Corymbria; Trinacria; Æthræa, from its cloudless sky; Asteria, because at a distance its figure appears like that of a star; Poessa; Atabyria; Oloessa; Macaria, and Pelagia. Some are of opinion that Rhodes was first peopled by the descendants of Dodanim, the fourth son of Javan. Both the Septuagint and Samaritan translation of the Pentateuch, instead of Dodanim use Rodonim; and by this appellation the Greeks always distinguished the Rhodians.”

The exuberant fertility of the soil of this island gave occasion to those fables embellished by the poets, of golden showers which they pretended to have fallen upon it. They feigned also a story of the love of Phœbus for Rhodes, and asserted it to have been an uninhabitable marsh, until it was loved by him, and drawn from the waters by his powerful influence. But now, under Turkish oppression, the island no longer merits the appellation of “fortunate;” and the golden showers of fiction, are changed to the iron influence of tyranny and desolation.

The Coliseum, sometimes called the Flavian amphitheatre, was commenced by Flavius Vespasian, in the year 72, but finished by Titus, who employed upon it such of the Jews, as were brought in slavery to Rome. This vast structure was viewed with wonder by the Gothic conquerors; and the venerable Bede records a proverbial expression of the pilgrims of the north, by which in the 8th century they testified their admiration: “As long as the Coliseum stands, will Rome stand, when the Coliseum falls, Rome must fall, and with Rome, the world shall fall.”

Notwithstanding the Coliseum had in various instances been the subject of dilapidation, had furnished stone for the construction of the Farnese Palace, by Michael Angelo, and had even been thrown open as a common quarry; in the 14th century, for the use of the multitude, yet in the middle of the 16th century, its exterior circumference of 1612 feet still remained inviolate, and a triple elevation of fourscore arches was preserved, rising to the height of 108 feet.

Persons of the highest dignity had places assigned to them in a part of the amphitheatre called the Podium, near the centre of which was the Imperial Pavilion, lined with silk, and embellished in the most splendid manner.

The Cunei distinguished the seats appointed for the different classes of the people, so that every one might be conducted to the place allotted, by the laws of the amphitheatre, to his respective rank. The strictest attention was exercised, lest any might obtain a dignity of station to which he was not entitled; and the Cunei were under the direction of officers called Locarii, while the general care of the Coliseum was entrusted to the grand Villicus amphitheatri.

The entrances to the passages and stair-cases were styled Vomitories; and the crowd passing through them to witness favourite exhibitions was immense. Justus Lipsius asserts, that the Coliseum was capable of accommodating 87,000 spectators on benches; and Fontana added 22,000 for the galleries, stair-cases, and passages. On the ground plan, the exterior surface of the ellipsis covered a superficies of 246,661 feet, (more than five and a half acres,) and consisted of eighty arches, opening into a spacious double corridor, from whence radiated eighty passages and staircases, leading either to two inner corridors, to the arena, or to the galleries.

At the summit of the Flavian amphitheatre was a sixth story, or rather floor, appropriated to those who managed the Velum, which was an awning of various colours, occasionally stretched to protect the audience from rain, or the heat of the sun, and which, by means of cords and pullies, could be extended or withdrawn at pleasure.

The combats of Gladiators, were early exhibited at Rome, and the people became so strongly attached to these entertainments, that the emperors found it politic to indulge their barbarous taste. Julius Cæsar, during his ædileship, gratified the populace with combats between 320 pair of gladiators; and Gordian, before the imperial purple was conferred upon him, gave those shows twelve times in a year, in some of which 500 couple were engaged. Titus exhibited a show of gladiators, wild beasts, and representations of sea-fights upon the Coliseum, which lasted 100 days, and Trajan continued an exhibition of the same nature during one third of a year, in the course of which he brought out 10,000 gladiators. The master, by whom these miserable combatants were instructed in the science of defence, forced them to swear that they would fight till death, and if they displayed cowardice, they were made to expire by fire, sword, or whips, unless the voice of the emperor, or the people, gave them life.

“The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.”—Acts xi. 26. Ignatius was the second bishop of this church, and, according to Eusebius, succeeded Euodius, near the close of the first century after the death of Christ. He suffered martyrdom in the amphitheatre at Rome, during the persecution of Trajan; and was venerated, even among his foes, for his years and piety.

Ignatius was the first who introduced antiphonal singing among the churches of the East, which, according to Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, he first learnt from a vision, in which the glorified spirits of heaven appeared, singing in alternate measures, hymns of praise to the Everlasting Trinity.

Trajan, in the year 104, constructed a bridge over the Danube, which was long admired as a relic of antiquity. After his conquest of Assyria, he descended the Tigris with his fleet, and had the honour of being both the first and the last Roman general who navigated the Indian Ocean.

The arch of Titus is of the composite order, and represents upon its frieze his conquest of Judea, a delineation of the river Jordan, with the captives who attended his triumph, and the spoil and sacred utensils from the desolated temple.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who erected the celebrated Antonino column, to the memory of Antoninus Pius, made such great and early proficiency in his studies, that at the age of twelve years he assumed the philosophical gown. With the gravity of a philosopher he blended no severity, but continued virtuous without pride, and grave without melancholy. Such was the enthusiasm of his gratitude to those who had aided him in the pursuits of knowledge, that he kept their images of gold in his domestic chapel, and offered garlands of flowers at their tombs.

The splendid reign of Constantine, when the Church past from a state of suffering to one of comparative power, when she was appointed to “arise from the dust, and put on her beautiful garments,” is well known to every reader of ecclesiastical history. Among the triumphs of Christianity which shed lustre on the annals of this prosperous prince, may be numbered the prohibition of the barbarous spectacles of gladiators, which was decreed by him in the East, on the first of October 325, and by Theodoric in the West, about the year 500.

The interesting scene of modern Greece contending with her oppressors, for her ancient birthright, and her long-trampled liberty, leads the mind back to the noble exploits of Scanderberg the Great, Prince of Albania. He was sent, when young, as a hostage to Amurath II. by his father, who held his territory in subjection to the Turkish government. Here he received the best education consistent with the Mahometan system, and so early distinguished himself for courage and military ability, that he received the command of a body of troops, at the age of eighteen. The death of his father in 1432, filled him with an unconquerable desire to redeem his native principality from Turkish thraldom. Attending the Mahometan army into Hungary, he entered into an alliance with the celebrated Huniades, king of that country, and soon after began to contend for the liberties of Albania. After many years of warfare with Mahomet II. the successor of Amurath, he established his dominion, and compelled his foes to propose conditions of peace. His invincible courage was acknowledged throughout Europe; and in him the spirit of the ancient heroes and conquerors of Greece seems to have revived. He died at the age of 63, and from that period Albania has been the subject of Turkish oppression. Even foes were constrained to pay homage to the valour and greatness of Scanderberg, and when they besieged Lissa, the place of his sepulchre, they disinterred his bones, and had them set in silver, viewing them as precious relics and powerful amulets.

“During the sieges of Olumpagh, and Alba-Regalis, young Smith was the projector of stratagems, and the conductor of certain modes of attack, which manifested an unusual talent for the art of war, and rendered the most essential services to the Christian cause. The command of a horse, and the rank of first major, were conferred on him, as an acknowledgement of his high desert.”—

Smith, at his return from this eventful tournament, was attended by 6000 men at arms to the pavilion of the general, where he received the most flattering reception, and was presented with a noble war-horse, richly caparisoned, and a scimitar and belt of great value. The Duke of Transylvania gave him his own miniature set in gold, accompanied with the kindest expressions of regard, and issued letters patent of nobility, giving him for his arms three Turks' heads emblazoned on a shield. These were afterwards recorded in the herald's office in England, and became the permanent arms of Smith and his descendants.

This was at the unfortunate engagement of Rottenton, in 1602, when the carnage of the Christian army was very extensive. Smith was left on the field among the dead, but the pillagers perceiving that he still breathed, and supposing from the elegance of his armour, that his ransom would be ample, took great pains to restore his life. After this was effected, and no one sought his redemption, he was sold at auction with other prisoners, and purchased by a bashaw, as a present to his mistress, a lady of distinguished beauty.

The partiality of Charitza exciting the jealousy of her mother, Smith was sent into Tartary, to her brother, the timor-bashaw of Nalbrits, on the Palus Mœotis.

Smith, exasperated by the personal brutalities of his master, struck him dead with a threshing bat, in his barn, about a league from his mansion. Burying the body beneath the straw, he arrayed himself in the clothes of the dead bashaw, mounted his horse, and with only a knapsack of corn for his subsistence, fled for three days with the utmost precipitation through the deserts of Circassia. Accidentally finding the main road to Muscovy, he travelled upon it 16 days, under the greatest pressure of hunger and fatigue, until he reached a garrison on the Russian frontier, where he found a safe refuge and a cordial welcome.

After taking a range through various countries of Asia and Europe, he met at Leipsic his faithful patron, the Duke of Transylvania, who presented him with 1500 ducats to repair his decaying finances, and furnished him with letters of recommendation, setting forth his military services. He then took an extensive circuit through Germany, France and Spain. He passed also into Africa, and was allured, says his biographer, “by the rumours of war, and the native affinity of his mind for dangers, to spend some time at the court of Morocco.” This must have been at the period of those competitions for the sovereignty which succeeded the death of Muley Achmet in 1603, and which were finally decided by the succession of his youngest son, Muley Sidon, who reigned until the year 1630.

The Nereum Oleander, a beautiful tree, delighting in moist situations, adorns the margin of the Mulluvia, a considerable river, which rises in Mount Atlas, and pursues its course to the Mediterranean, partly dividing Algiers from Morocco.

In the empire of Morocco, there is no code of laws, but the will of a despotic monarch disposes of wealth, liberty, opinion, or existence, without appeal. Wherever he happens to be, he grants public audience four times a week, for the distribution of justice, sitting on horseback, while a groom holds an umbrella over his head. This the Moors call holding the “Meshooar;” though there is also a place in the city of Morocco distinctively styled “the Meshooar,” because devoted to these audiences. It is surrounded by walls, and situated between the old palace and the magnificent pavilions erected by Sidi Mahomet.

Smith returned to his native country by the way of France, and in his passage across the channel in a French galley, was in a desperate conflict with two Spanish ships of war, which continued nearly three days, and terminated in the discomfiture of the Spaniards.

Capt. Smith was one of the original company to which James I. under the date of April 10th, 1606, granted letters patent for the colonization of America. He was appointed to a seat in the first council of what was then denominated the “South Colony,” and though he met with the opposition which envy testifies to superior merit, he was afterwards elected president of that body. He embarked with his associates from England, with Capt. Grosnold, on the 19th of December 1606, but did not arrive on the coast of Virginia, until past the middle of the succeeding spring.

The Indian monarch at this audience was seated on a throne somewhat resembling a bedstead, clothed in a flowing robe composed of the skins of the Racoon, with a fanciful coronet of feathers upon his head. His residence was at Worowocomoco, and his sway not only extensive but imperial, in the true signification of the term; for he exercised dominion over thirty tributary kings.

The death of Count Ugolino and his sons, by hunger, in the prison of Pisa, during the contest of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, at the close of the thirteenth century, furnished a subject for one of the most striking historical pictures of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and is described by Dante in his “Inferno,” with great poetical energy.

The Princess Pocahontas, in many instances, besides the rescue of Capt. Smith, signified a firm friendship for the English colony. From famine and secret conspiracy, she was more than once the instrument of deliverance. “Oft times,” says Capt. Smith, in his history of Virginia, “in the utmost of my extremities, hath that blessed Pocahontas, the daughter of the great king of Virginia, saved my life.” With the heroic magnanimity of a noble soul, she united the softness and tenderness of the feminine character. Yet notwithstanding all her acts of disinterested kindness to the English, she was treacherously decoyed by them on board one of their vessels, and carried to Jamestown. Still their sense of honour moved them to treat her with all that respect which her correct deportment and high rank deserved.

“The motive to this step,” says Judge Marshall, in his Life of Washington, “was a hope, that the possession of Pocahontas would give the English an ascendancy over Powhatan, her father, who was known to dote on her. In this, however, they were disappointed. Powhatan offered first, corn, then friendship, if they would immediately restore his daughter, but refused to come to any terms until that reparation was made for what he resented as an act of treachery. During the detention of the Princess at Jamestown, she made an impression on the heart of Mr. Rolfe, a young gentleman of estimation in the colony, who also succeeded in gaining her affections. They were married with the consent of Powhatan, who by this event was entirely reconciled to the English, and ever after continued their sincere friend.” After the arrival of Pocahontas in England, with her husband, a petition was addressed in her behalf to Queen Anne, by Capt. Smith, bearing the date of June 1616, in the course of which he mentions, “Being taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan, I received from this great savage exceeding great courtesy, especially from his son Nantaquas, the manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit that I ever saw in an Indian, and this sister Pocahontas, the king's most dear and well-beloved daughter, whose compassionate, pitiful heart of my desperate estate, gave me much cause to respect her. I being the first Christian that this proud king and his grim attendants ever saw, and thus enthralled in their barbarous power, I cannot say that I ever felt the least occasion of want, which was in the power of these my mortal foes to prevent. After some six weeks falling under these savage courtiers, at the moment of my own execution, she hazarded the beating out of her own brains to save mine, and then Nantaquas so prevailed with his father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown, where I found about 38 miserable, poor and sick creatures, to keep possession for all those large territories of Virginia. Such was the weakness of this poor commonwealth, that had not the Indians fed us, we directly had starved. And this relief, most gracious Queen, was commonly brought us by the Lady Pocahontas, who, notwithstanding all the changes when inconstant fortune turned our peace into war, would not spare to dare to visit us; and by her our jars have been often appeased, and our wants still supplied. When her father, with the utmost of his policy and power, sought to surprize me, having but eighteen with me, the dark night could not affright her from adventuring through the darksome woods, and with tearful eyes giving me the intelligence, with her best advice how to escape his fury, which had the king known he had surely slain her. She, under God, was the instrument to preserve this colony from death, famine, and utter confusion: for if in those times it had been once dissolved, Virginia might have lain unto this day, as it was at our arrival.”

The age of Pocahontas, at the time of her saving the life of Capt. Smith, is usually fixed at thirteen years, though Mr. Davis, in a note to his song of the “Angel of the Wild,” represents her as a child of only eleven years. As this poetical effusion happily displays the tender sensibility of that noble heroine, it is extracted as a close to this note.

Clarkson, in his life of William Penn, describes the manner in which his great treaty with the Indians was confirmed, in the year 1682. “The religious principles of Penn,” says his biographer, “which led him to the practice of the most scrupulous morality, did not permit him to look upon the king's patent, or legal possession according to the laws of England, as sufficient to establish his right to the country, without purchasing it by fair and open bargain of the natives, to whom it properly belonged. He had instructed commissioners who arrived in America before him, to buy it of the latter, and to make with them a treaty of eternal friendship. This, those commissioners had done, and now, by mutual agreement between him and the Indian chiefs, it was to be solemnly ratified. He proceeded, therefore, accompanied by his friends, consisting of men, women, and young persons of both sexes, to Coaquannoc, the Indian name for the place where Philadelphia now stands. On his arrival, he found the sachems and their tribes assembling. They were seen through the woods, as far as the eye could reach, and looked frightfully both on account of their number and their arms. The Quakers are reported to have been but a handful in comparison, and without any weapon; so that dismay and terror must have seized them, had they not confided in the righteousness of their cause. It is much to be regretted, when we have accounts of minor treaties, between William Penn and the Indians, that no historian has any particular detail of this, though so many mention it, and all concur in considering it the most glorious of any in the annals of the world. There are, however, relations in Indian speeches, and traditions in Quaker families, descended from those who were present on the occasion, from which we may learn something concerning it. It appears that though the parties were to assemble at Coaquannoc, the treaty was made a little higher up, at Shackamaxon. Upon this site, Kensington now stands, the houses of which may be considered as the suburbs of Philadelphia. There was at Shackamaxon, an elm tree of a prodigious size. To this, the leaders on both sides repaired, approaching each other under its widely-spreading branches. William Penn appeared in his usual dress. He had neither crown, sceptre, mace, sword, halberd, or any insignia of eminence. He was distinguished only by wearing a sky-blue sash round his waist, made of silk net-work, and of no larger dimensions than an officer's military sash, which, except in colour, it resembled. On his right hand was Col. Markham, his secretary and relative; on his left, his friend Pierson, followed by the train of Quakers. Before him were carried various articles of merchandize, which, when they came near the Sachems, were spread upon the ground. He held a roll of parchment, containing the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity, in his hand. One of the Sachems, who was the chief of them, then put upon his own head a kind of chaplet, in which appeared a small horn. This, according to scripture language, and among the primitive eastern nations, was an emblem of kingly power; and whenever the Chief who had a right to wear it, put it on, it was understood that the place was made sacred, and the persons of all present inviolable. Upon putting on this horn, all the Indians threw down their bows and arrows, seating themselves round their Chiefs, in the form of a half moon upon the ground. The principal Sachem then announced to William Penn, by the aid of an interpreter, that the nations were ready to hear him. He then said, that the Great Spirit, who made him and them, who ruled the heavens and the earth, and was acquainted with the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and serve them to the utmost of their power. It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, therefore, came they to this treaty unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. They had met them on the broad path-way of good faith and good will, so that no advantage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood and love. After these and other words, he unrolled the parchment, and by means of the same interpreter, conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of the purchase, and the words of the contract then made for their eternal union. Among other things, they were not to be molested in their lawful pursuits, even in the territory they had alienated, for it was to be common to them, as well as to the English. They were to have the same liberty to do all things therein, relating to the improvement of their grounds, and providing sustenance for their families, which the English had. If any dispute should arise between the two, it should be settled by twelve persons, half of whom should be English, and half Indians. He then paid them for the land, and made them many presents beside, from the merchandize which was spread before them. Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again, that the ground should be common to both people. He then added, that he would not do like the inhabitants of Maryland, that is, call them only children or brothers; for parents were sometimes unkind to their children, and brothers would often differ; neither would he compare the friendship between them to a chain, which the rain might rust, or a tree fall upon and break; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, the same as if a man's body was to be divided into two parts. Taking up the parchment, he then presented it to the Sachem who wore the horn in his chaplet, and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed between them, when they were no longer living to repeat it. It is to be regretted that the speeches of the Indians, on this memorable day, have not come down to us. It is only known that they solemnly pledged themselves, according to the manner of their country, to live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon should endure. Thus ended this famous treaty, of which more has been said in the way of praise, than of any other ever transmitted to posterity.”

To the commendation which the biographer of the Man of Peace bestows on this honourable transaction, we add the concise eulogium of Voltaire, who pronounced it to be “the only treaty which was ratified without an oath, and the only one which was never broken.”

Admiral Penn, being greatly displeased at his son's adoption of religious principles of an unpopular class, and which would preclude his preferment at court, treated him with severity, and twice indignantly sent him from the shelter of the paternal roof, but was eventually softened by his meekness and consistency of deportment, into reconciliation and the renewal of affection.

Heckewelder observes, that “never will the tribe of the Delawares forget their elder brother Miquon, as they affectionately and respectfully call him. ‘The great and good Miquon came to us,’ they say, ‘bringing the words of peace and of good will.’ When they were told the meaning of the name of Penn, they translated it into their own language by Miquon, which means a feather or quill. The Iroquois also called him Onas, which in their idiom signifies the same thing.”—

The commendations bestowed on the Rechabites, in the 35th chapter of the prophet Jeremiah, for their strict obedience to the injunctions of a departed father, might be in a degree applied to the followers of William Penn, for their inflexible adherence to his precepts with regard to our aborigines. Considered too, generally, by the other settlers, either as foes to be exterminated, or vassals to be oppressed, they received from these mild colonists the charities of brethren. Pennsylvania, rising on the basis of fair and open purchase, unpolluted by injustice, or persecution of the natives, in her institutions acknowledged their allodial right to the soil, and has ever been preserved from those desolating wars, which distressed the infancy of many of our territories, and threatened to destroy their existence.

Orellana was chief of a powerful tribe in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres. With ten of his followers he was seized, and treacherously conveyed on board a Spanish ship, which, with a large crew of Spaniards, and a number of English and Portuguese prisoners, set sail from the mouth of the river La Plata, in the month of November 1745.

The Spaniards treated the Indians with great insolence and barbarity. It was common for the meanest officers in the ship to beat them most cruelly, and one of them, a very brutal fellow, ordered Orellano aloft, a service which he knew he was incapable of performing, and under pretence of disobedience beat him with such violence as to leave him bleeding on the deck, stupified with bruises and wounds. Orellana and his followers bore these outrages without complaint, but they were secretly meditating revenge on their oppressors.

Previous to their bold attempt, the Chief, and his companions in wretchedness, had secretly employed their leisure in cutting thongs from raw hides, and in fitting to each extremity of them the double headed shot of the small quarter-deck guns. These, when swung around their heads, according to the custom of their country, were a dangerous weapon, in the use of which the natives of Buenos Ayres are trained from their infancy, and consequently very expert.

The crew consisted of nearly 500 men, and the ship mounted 66 guns. That an Indian Chief, with only ten followers, ignorant of nautical management, unacquainted with the use of fire-arms, and unable to procure any weapon, except the knives used for their food, and the thongs already described, should be able to lay 40 Spaniards at their feet, and so to intimidate a formidable crew of more than 40 times their number, as to keep uninterrupted possession of the ship for two hours, and then that they should be attacked merely by shot fired at random through the cabin doors, and other crevices, by disciplined men who feared to approach them, is a fact without parallel in the pages of history.