Governor Wright having obtained permission to return to England, he went on board the Scarborough, an armed vessel, on the 11th of February, 1776. There were then several public vessels in the river, which wanted supplies. The Governor wrote to the Council requesting them to furnish fresh supplies to the fleet. They refused, and preparations were immediately made for extorting by force what could not be obtained by negotiation. Three armed vessels, and two transports with soldiers, passed up the river for that purpose.

"Having previously sounded Back river, two of the vessels on the 2d of March sailed up that channel. One anchored directly opposite the town, and the other grounded at the west end of Hutchinson's Island in attempting to pass round it and come down upon the shipping from above. During the night, the troops from the first vessel under Majors Maitland and Grant, were silently marched across Hutchinson's Island, and embarked in merchant vessels which lay on the other side. When the morning of the 3d of March, 1776, revealed the proximity of the naval and military force, the inhabitants were filled with the utmost indignation. The grounded vessel was immediately attacked by a company of riflemen under Major John Habersham, who soon drove every man from its deck, and would have made it his prize, but, having no boats to effect it, he had the mortification of seeing her float off at high water and escape. In the mean time General McIntosh had collected a few troops, and despatched a flag of truce with several officers, to demand why the soldiers had been brought up to town, and placed in merchantmen in the river? The flag was detained; another, sent to learn the cause of the detention, was denied admittance; and, firing upon the soldiers who had insolently ordered it off, received in return a volley, which wounded one man, and so shattered the boat that it with difficulty reached the shore. Having no artillery of sufficient calibre to dislodge them, an order was given to set the vessels on fire. In the afternoon a few adventurers, among whom was General James Jackson, he, who was in the first and the last battle in Georgia, proceeded to the ship Inverness, loaded with rice, deer skins, &c., which they set on fire, and slipping her cable, she drifted with the tide upon the brig Nelly, which was soon wrapped in flames. The officers and soldiers precipitately abandoned her, and, in their confusion, threw themselves in the half-drained and uliginous rice fields, whence they were extricated the next morning with the loss of their arms and ammunition. Two other vessels were also consumed, and the invaders totally routed, not however without the sacrifice of several valuable lives." — pp. 34, 35.

The above extracts will show the nature of the particulars contained in Dr. Stevens's Discourse. There are many other facts not less interesting or important, and they carry with them the greater weight as being drawn from the most authentic sources.

17.-The Louisiana Law Journal, devoted to the Theory and Edited by GUSTAVUS SCHMIDT, Vol. I. - Nos. 1 & 2. 8vo.

Practice of the Law.
Counsellor at Law.

We are glad to see these Numbers of a new Journal devoted to law. They are published at New Orleans, and, naturally, have a tincture of the soil of Louisiana. The Roman and French jurisprudence is brought into view, rather than our Common Law. This circumstance, we fear, will restrain the circulation of the Journal within a very limited range, as unfortunately the number is very small in this country of those who cultivate foreign jurisprudence. The law of Louisiana is drawn originally from France and Spain, - both of which nations in turn are indebted to ancient Rome, but it has recently borrowed some of the invigorating maxims and forms of practice of the Common Law. Such are the relations between the various systems of law, that we cannot doubt that the practitioners of our less genial system will be instructed by the discussions in the present Journal, though their bearing will be more strongly felt and better appreciated in Louisiana.

The object of the editor is, to select whatever is best calculated to throw light on the present state of the law in Louisiana, and to point out the analogies and contrasts between the legislation of that and the other States of the Union. He very properly deems it useful as well as instructive to cast at least an occasional glance, on the state of jurisprudence in foreign countries, and to compare it with our own, in order to profit by whatever ameliorations may have been introduced, either in legislation or in the practical administration of justice. The editor also proposes to give, in each number, an account of the cases in the Supreme Court, of general interest, which have been decided in the three months preceding the appearance of the Number.

The first Number contains an interesting article on the history of the jurisprudence of Louisiana; two reviews, on M. de Savigny's Treatise of Possession, and on Mr. Justice Story's Conflict of Laws; reminiscences of the late Chief Justice Marshall; and some celebrated trials in foreign countries. The second number has, among other articles, an interesting history of the famous Batture Question, where Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Livingston crossed their swords. There are two pleasant letters in this number from those two great jurists, Mr. Justice Story and Mr. Chancellor Kent, expressing strong approbation of the character of the new Law Journal. Perhaps the taste of the editor would have been entitled to higher praise, if VOL. LIV.No. 114.

33

he had resisted the temptation to publish these, and had treated them as private communications, which they clearly were. The practice of publishing private letters is unfortunately too common in this country. It deserves the rebuke of Cicero; "Quis enim unquam, qui paulum modo bonorum consuetudinem nôsset, literas ad se ab amico missas, in medium protulit, palamque recitavit? Quid est aliud, tollere e vitâ vitæ societatem, quam tollere amicorum colloquia absentium ?"

18.

The Poems of JOHN G. C. BRAINARD. A New and Authentic Collection; with an Original Memoir of his Life. Hartford E. Hopkins. 1841. 12mo. pp. 191.

MR. BRAINARD was one of those poets, whose works gave promise of something better in the future than the performances of the past. Every thing he wrote was hastily written amidst the pressure of editorial labors, and to serve a present purpose. Time and labor are as necessary to the poet as to the painter, if he would produce finished works. There is no such thing as striking out a poem for immortality at a heat. Single thoughts of exquisite beauty, stanzas of ravishing melody, may spring from the poet's pen, (like sparks from the blacksmith's anvil,) while he is hammering out, with desperate speed, something to fill a corner in the daily or weekly sheet. But a well-proportioned work of poetic art, the thoughts fully unfolded, and linked together by the golden chains of harmony; each part well-proportioned, and nicely adjusted to the rest, -expressed in language fitly chosen, through which, as through a transparent medium, the thought shines undimmed and unrefracted, cannot be wrought by the finest genius without toil and care, and nice comparison and selection.

Mr. Brainard never had time to do full justice to his powers. But his works contain many passages that show a brilliant genius. Several of his shorter pieces, are marked throughout by very melodious rhythmical movement and felicitous imagery. His lines on Niagara Falls have often, but not very judiciously, been referred to as remarkable. They are what any one, who had never seen the Falls (as was the case with Brainard) might have written; very commonplace and vague. But The Sea-Bird's Song," and "The Storm of War," shine with all the vividness of his genius. Some of his humorous pieces are excellent.

The present edition is very neatly and correctly printed. The "original memoir," is not a tasteful tribute to a poet's memory. The poetical character of Brainard is not drawn in it with any force, or finished with discriminating touches.

QUARTERLY LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

ANNUALS.

The Rose of Sharon; a Religious Souvenir, for 1842. Edited by Miss Sarah C. Edgarton. Boston: A. Tompkins. 12mo. pp. 302. The Violet; a Christmas and New Year's Gift, for 1842, with eight elegant Illustrations from Engravings on Steel. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart. 12mo. pp. 216.

The Dahlia, or Memorial of Affection, for 1842. Edited by a Lady. New York: James P. Giffing. 12mo. pp. 180.

The Gem; a Christmas and New Year's Present, for 1842. Philadelphia: Henry F. Anners. 12mo. pp. 288.

The Gift; a Christmas and New Year's Present, for 1842. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart. 12mo. pp. 322.

Friendship's Offering. Edited by Mrs. Catharine H. W. Esling. 1842. Boston: E. Littlefield. 12mo. pp. 320.

The Annuallette; a Christmas and New Year's Gift for Children. Boston: William Crosby & Co. 32mo. pp. 137. The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1842. Boston: D. H. Williams. 12mo. pp. 328. The Lady's Annual Register, and Housewife's Almanac, for 1842. Boston: William Crosby & Co. 12mo. pp. 108. The Child's Gem, for 1842. Colman. 32mno, square. pp. 144.

Edited by a Lady. New York: S.

The Child's Token. New York: S. Colman. 32mo, square. pp.

119.

Youth's Keepsake; a Christmas and New Year's Gift for Young People. Boston: William Crosby & Co. 16mo. pp. 191.

The American Pocket Book, for 1842; containing a Complete System of Portable Book-keeping. Arranged for the Day, Week, Month, Quarter, and Year, together with an ample Diary and Almanac, &c. &c. By a Philadelphia Editor. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. 16mo. pp. 72.

BIOGRAPHY.

The Life of Gilbert Motier de la Fayette, a Marquis of France; a General in the American and French Revolutions; the Competitor and Friend of Washington; the Champion of American Independence, and of the Rights and Liberties of Mankind. From Numerous and Authentic Sources. By Ebenezer Mack. Ithaca, N. Y.: Mack, Andrus, & Woodruff. 12mo. pp. 371.

EDUCATION.

The Common School Grammar. A Concise and Comprehensive Manual of English Grammar; containing, in addition to the First Principles and Rules briefly stated and explained, a Systematic Order of Parsing; a number of Examples for Drilling Exercises, and a few in False Syntax; particularly adapted to the Use of Common Schools and Academies. By John Goldsbury, A. M., Teacher of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Boston: James Munroe & Co.

pp.

94.

12mo.

A System of Latin Prosody and Metre, from the best Authorities, Ancient and Modern. By Charles Anthon, LL. D., Professor of the Greek and Latin Languages in Columbia College, New York, and Rector of the Grammar School. New York: Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 216.

The Principles of English Grammar, comprising the Substance of the most approved English Grammars extant, with copious Exercises in Parsing and Syntax, for the Use of Academies and Common Schools. On the plan of Murray's Grammar, Fourth Edition, Revised and Crrected. By the Rev. Peter Bullions, D. D., Professor of Languages in the Albany Academy, Author of Principles of Greek Grammar. Albany O. Steele, 1842. 12mo. pp. xii. and 187.

The Principles of Latin Grammar, Comprising the Substance of the most approved Grammars extant; for the Use of Colleges and Academies. By the Reverend Peter Bullions, D. D., Professor of Languages in the Albany Academy; Author of Principles of English Grammar; and Principles of Greek Grammar. New York: Collins, Keese, & Co. 12mo. pp. viii. and 303.

A Grammar of the Greek Language. Part First. A Practical Grammar of the Attic and Common Dialects. By Alpheus Crosby, Professor of the Greek Language and Literature in Dartmouth College. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. 12mo. pp. 239.

HISTORY.

American Antiquities, and Researches into the Origin and History of the Red Race. By Alexander W. Bradford. Boston: Saxton & Pierce. 8vo. pp. 435.

The History of Connecticut, from the first Settlement to the Present Time. By Theodore Dwight, Jr. New York: Harper & Brothers. 18mo. pp. 450.

An Historical and Descriptive Account of Iceland, Greenland, and the Faro Islands. New York: Harper & Brothers. 18mo. pp. 360.

History of Michigan. From its earliest Colonization to the Present Time. By James H. Lanman. New York: Harper & Brothers. 18mo. pp. 269.

The History of Christianity, from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire. By the Reverend H. H. Millman, Prebendary of St. Peter's, and Minister of St. Margaret's. Westminster. With a Preface and Notes, by James Murdock, D. D. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 528.