mitted to arm for their own defence, and to make prizes. This last act was vehemently resisted by the very party which had most zealously and passionately defended Genet for fitting out privateers under the French flag, in American ports, to cruize against the British. These French sympathizers could see no wrong in arming French cruizers, but were exceedingly shocked at the idea of arming American vessels to defend themselves against piratical captures by the French. George Washington was, with the concurrence of all parties, appointed Lieutenant-General of the force to be raised, and his acceptance of the appointment was a warrant to the whole nation that he thought the quarrel just. In his letter of acceptance he says: "The conduct of the Directory of France towards our country, their insidious hostilities to its government, their various practices to withdraw the affections of the people from it, the evident tendency of their acts and those of their agents, to countenance and invigorate opposition, their disregard of solemn treaties and the laws of nations, their war upon our defenceless commerce, their treatment of our minister of peace, and their demands amounting to tribute, could not fail to excite in me corresponding sentiments with those which my countrymen have so generally expressed in all their addresses to you. * "Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and to exhaust to the last drop the cup of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and may confidently trust the final result to that kind Providence which has hereto fore and so often signally favored the people of the United States." Congress passed all the laws requisite to give efficiency to the national feeling. It was at this session that the laws, known as the Alien and Sedition Laws, were enacted. The latter, although pronounced unconstitutional by Virginian theorists, was the copy of a statute of Virginia in October, 1776. Hamilton, Pinckney and Knox were appointed majorgenerals under Washington, and the attitude of the nation was warlike, when, in February, 1799, without consulting any of his cabinet, without having received any assurances from France of their willingness to receive an envoy from the United States, and in the face of his message of 21st June of the preceding year, in which he said, "I will never send another minister to France without as surances that he will be received, respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful and independent nation," the President nominated Wm. Vans Murray, of Maryland, as minister to France. A thunder-bolt falling from a cloudless sky, could not have excited more astonishment; for in pursuance of the recommendation of the President's own message at the commencement of the session, warlike preparations occupied all minds and all attention. But objection was made, and repeated efforts to induce the President to withdraw the nomination, but in vain. The utmost that could be done was to substitute a commission for a single envoy, and Chief Justice Ellsworth and Patrick Henry were appointed, with Mr. Murray, joint commissioners, and on the declining of Mr. Henry, Edward Davie of North Carolina, was named in his place. A very full examination is gone into by our author, of the moving causes which induced the President to institute this mission, which we can only allude to here, referring all curious readers to the volume itself. That it became the apple of discord which proved fatal to the Federal party, is unquestionable. That it was the occasion of any benefit to the country, either in its interests or its honor, can hardly now be contended. The dismissal, contumeliously, of the Secretary of State, Mr. Pickering, the forced resignation of the Secretary of War, Mr. McHenry, and the voluntary resignation of Wolcott as Secretary of the Treasury-all occurring in 1800-gave tween the President and the Federal parevidence to the whole country that bety all confidence was lost. In this year, also, occurred the fourth election of a President; and the alienation which Mr. Adams' conduct as such had occasioned between him and his party, was greatly instrumental in bringing about the choice of Mr. Jefferson. Not that any portion of the Federal party supported him for they judged him then, as they never ceased to judge him. as unsound in politics and unfaithful to the real interests of the country; and they who, at this comparatively remote and therefore measurably impartial period, will carefully study the history of the measures and the men of the day, will, it is believed, ratify the judgment. But there was an actual division among the Federalists, as to the candidate, and General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina, the author of the noble senti- The private correspondence bearing on this very interesting period in our political history, is copious and full of explanation. The public, too, had before had the views of Mr. Jefferson as to this period, as disclosed in his writings; and party has ever since been busy in misrepresenting the motives and the acts of the leading Federalists of that day. Of these distinguished individuals, many in this volume speak for themselves for the first time. They speak with all the warmness of confiding friendship-and with all the earnestness of excited feeling It is the history of their feelings and aims, written at the time to their trusted friends and associates, and therefore worthy of all credit as testimony; and the very warmth betrayed in many of their letters -sometimes amounting to the harshest imputations, in the plainest forms of speech-is decisive of the sincerity of the writers, and of the truth of their convictions That they judged accurately on all occasions of the motives and measures of their opponents, it is not meant here to affirm, but only that the opinions they express, they honestly entertained, and had very probable grounds for entertain ing. They acted and spoke, too, under great provocation. The effect of this latter cause is thus shortly adverted to by our author, in a passare inmediately follow ing his mentio of the flagitious but utterly 1 VOL. IV.-NO. VI. 41 fruitless attempt to involve Wolcott in a charge of having co-operated in firing the Treasury building just at the period of his resignation, in order to destroy the evidence of his official malversation. The attempt recoiled upon its base projectors: but, asks his biographer, "Is it to be wondered at that when such scenes as these were enacted under the instigation or countenance of the anti-federal leaders; when the lying pen of Callender was subsidized by Jefferson to slander his political enemies; when Paine received the honors of an ambassador for an attack upon Washington; when Bache, Freneau, Duane, and a countless horde of lesser mercenaries, were rewarded by the patronage of party; when every wretch, who, by zealous assiduity in sedition or falsehood, had arrived at the dignity of a state prosecution-every clerk, who, turned out of employ for worthlessness or incapacity, sought to revenge himself by furnishing garbled accounts or fabricated conversations, was exalted into a political martyr; when a general warfare was carried on against their private character as well as their political opinions, that the federalists cherished a bitter and envenomed hatred against their opponents; that with the righteous indignation of outraged honor and calumniated purity, they, in turn, pursued and exposed the practices with which they were encountered, and by which they were defeated? Much has been said and written of the vindictiveness with which they assailed their successful rivals when finally driven from power; but let their experience of the malignity of those rivals be remembered, let the ferocity with which the whole artillery of legislative and executive vengeance was armed against them, be recalled, and the assertions of the federalists, if ever unjust, will at least be found not without example or provocation. Never was a body of men more unscrupulously or wickedly belied in their own day and generation; never a party in reviling which more ingenuity and zeal were displayed; but the names to which the future historian will turn with most satisfaction, and the patriot of succeeding ages will point with most pride, will yet be found in the ranks of those of whom WASHINGTON was the chief and the example." Wolcott retired to his native town poorer in fortune than when he took office with Washington, at the institution of the Federal Government, and after ten or eleven years zealous service to the Union, and almost as many more before to the public in his native State; but with faculties greatly enlarged, improved and dis ciplined, with the respect and affection of numerous friends, and, in spite of the malicious efforts of a few partisans, with the confidence even of political oppo nents. He had disapproved openly and frankly, but not with personal vindictiveness, the later course of the President; he avowedly preferred that General Pinckney, rather than Mr. Adams, should have been the candidate of the Federal party in 1800; and because of the avowed preference, when it was ascertained that Mr. Pinckney could not be the candidate, Mr. Wolcott felt bound in honor not to remain longer in the Cabinet of a chief whose re-election he had opposed. It was therefore a just and natural gratification to Mr. Wolcott, that, after the passing of the bill, on Feb. 13, 1801, for "the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States"-without any suggestion from himself or any of his friends-in opposition, indeed, to a recommendation by them of another person, they not supposing that Mr. W. could be acceptable to the President-he was nominated by the President, Judge of the Circuit, comprehending Vermont, Connecticut, and New York-and that the Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination. A letter from James Hillhouse, then a Senator from Connecticut, may be found on pp. 492, 3 and 4 of Vol. II., respecting this appointment, and the manner in which he, when consulted on behalf of the President, treated it, and spoke of Mr. Wolcott's qualifications, which is a model of manly integrity, of patriotism and of true friendship, and which-for it was received, as appears by the reply, in the spirit in which it was written-honors alike the writer, his correspondent, the age in which they lived, and the party of which they illustrated the principles. We wish we had room for it, if only to show the degeneracy of modern days; but in default of the requisite space, recommend it to attention in the work itself. Mr. Jefferson, as is well known-who by the natural instinct of a demagogue hated the Judiciary, as a branch that could not be awed nor bent, nor made subservient to popular caprice, or the changing will of majorities--among his first acts, caused the Judiciary law to be repealed, and Wolcott again became a private man. These volumes terminate in 1801, with the installation of Mr. Jefferson. All who read them will, we think, unite in the opinion which we confidently express-that the materials yet in the hands of the author should be given to the country in a future volume. Mr. Wolcott survived till after the close of the war of 1812, in active correspondence with many of the leading men of the day. The mass of letters and papers yet unused is large, and it is to be desired in the interests of truth and of historical justice as well as accuracy, that these may be published with the same frankness and trust in the capacity of the country to make up an impartial award upon the merits of bygone days and men, that mark the work now before us. In the name, therefore, of truth and of the country, we venture to claim from Mr. Gibbs-who has with such signal ability and boldness prepared and edited these two volumes that he complete the series. As coming down to our own times, and re-enkindling fire not yet extinct, and concerning men, some of whom are yet on the scene, it may be more difficult and hazardous; but having given proof already that neither difficulties nor hazards can hold him back from the exposition of what he believes to be true, and of good tendency, we shall be the less disposed to allow any force to such objection for what remains to be done. Give us then the sequel-with all the correspondence. THE QUADRUPEDS OF NORTH AMERICA.* 66 J. J. AUDUBON is again in the field. The announcement of a new Work in Natural Science by this illustrious individual, we feel to be no common-place event. We feel it so as Americans jealous of the honors he has already won to our National youth, and proud that in this instance he has not been compelled, as in that of the "Birds of America," to go to the Old World for patronage and skill sufficient to bring out his work. We may justly congratulate ourselves that in the "Quadrupeds of America," we have at last a Great National Work, originated and completed among us-the authors, artists, and artisans of which, are our own citizens. Although a sufficient time has not elapsed since the publication of the Birds of America," for us to have forgotten how the pulse of Civilization quickened to the very mention of that prodigious achievement, or how our own National pride was moved by such demonstrations-yet there has always been a mingled sense of shame and alienation in our regard of that Work. We could not help being proud of it, for our Father-Lands were filled to the echo with its praises; but it was quite as impossible for us to stifle the feeling of self-reproach in reference to it. The glory of its promulgation was ours in no degree or part. We had weighed the poor Young Artist and his noble enterprise here, in the same scales on which we rolled our Pork and Codfish barrels, and because he could not draw them up, he was dismissed with a stupid sneer. We all remember how his indomitable consciousness sustained him in his friendless and unheralded appeal to the Old World; and how amongst the polished Edinburghers that gallant faith met its suc cess. Nor can we forget, that when those wise and liberal Scotchmen had given the first impulse to public enthusiasm, and the Birds of America had been received with an absolute furor throughout Europe; we, after stolidly chuckling over the pale reflex of his glory which fell to our share because it had cost us nothing-proceeded, like a magnanimous people as we are, to bestow a characteristic and worthy re ward. We claimed him-admitted him to * The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. By John James Audubon, F.R.S. &c., &c.: and the Rev. John Bachman, D.D., &c. &c. ng Public, another exemplar of "Misdilected Powers." But fortunately he was one of those stern spirits, born not to be crushed even by the mountainous stupidity of his whole nation, but to elevate it in spite of itself to something like the level of his own place. We are gratified to perceive in the list of subscribers to this new work the practical effects of the lever he has been wielding. A much greater proportion of American names appears there, than is to be found in the list for the Birds. The sense of shame has begun to assert itself at last; and the fact that he has been thus for able to carry his enterprise through at home, shows that there has been some amelioration in public taste, and, from whatever source, a more clear apprehension of the Dignity of Art amongst us. That the mechanical department of Art has made itself worthy of this advanced appreciation, the superb finish of the Plates most conclusively shows. No clearer evidence could be afforded that our Engravers and Printers need only opportunity and a liberal patronage to mate themselves with all the conditions of higher and progressive Art. Let it never be said again, that American Painters and men of Genius must go to Europe for engravings and illustrations, because they can find here neither the en terprise, the means, nor the mechanical skill necessary. The taunt will no longer apply now, and it need not have been thrown at us years ago, if our artisans had only been surrounded by anything like fair circumstances. But these were by no means the most formidable difficulties which were to be met and overcome in the progress of a work like this of the Quadrupeds of America. Mr. Audubon, in spite of the sordid and ignorant prejudices which in this country have seemed to take special delight in wreaking them selves upon all that is exalting and beautifying in Art-which had made his early life one incessantly recurring scene of disheartening struggle with pecuniary difficulties, and had driven him to the amazing expenditure of energies necessary-not only for the prosecution of his great work, out in the fields and wilds, but as well for the maintenance of a family and provision for a large surplus inevitably entailed for the material necessary to his pursuits-has still been enabled to place himself in a condition to "pay his way," in this last enterprise, almost without reference to home patronage. As this is the case, no Yankee will fail to understand how he has been enabled to publish here in such style. But we think these astute calculators would be somewhat puzzled to comprehend-with all the shallow flurry of go-a-head-ativeness, concerning which they vapor so much-that sublime dedication of unconquerable energies to Science, which could make-after their own fashion--and expend two or three fortunes, with holy faith, in her service; and that with no apparent interruption to other more immediate and astonishing labors in the same cause, and at the same time. Be this as it may, Mr. Audubon had other great difficulties to contend with which his own individual resources could not so well master; and one of the most prominent of these was the existing conditions of intelligence with regard to the Mammalogy of America. Little, very little, had as yet been accomplished upon the regular basis of true Science, and what had been done was distributed through such diverse and remote mediums, as to render the task of collection a most disheartening and apparently endless one. The best years of Mr. Audubon's life had been expended upon his work on the "Birds of America;" and although, with the universality of vision which belongs to such a Philosopher, he had not failed, in the course of his tireless investigation and illustration of their habits, to note as well the localities and conditions of this cognate department--yet of course it would have been little short of a miracle, had he been able to give to Mammalogy an equal degree of accurate observation with that necessarily expended upon Ornithology. In the history of the circumstances which have enabled Mr. Audubon, thus far, to accomplish this final achievement of a long and honorable life, in defiance of every obstacle, we have one of the finest examples of a far-reaching unity of purpose aided by what seems almost Providential interposition, which we remember in the annals of successful Genius. Mr. Audubon married, early, a daughter of the Bakewells of England. The Family name-so well known in this country-is a sufficient pronunciation of her probable worthiness to share the fortunes of such a man. But apart from all such extraneous considerations, her life is the best commentary upon, and her Sons the best illustration of, what such a matron should be. She shared, with a |