shedding of human blood; and as a statesman the object of his policy was the welfare of the people, and the prosperity of the country. The qualities of his character, and the actions of his life, distinguished him above all other men, and present him to posterity as worthy of attachment and veneration.

The legislature of Virginia, his native province, at their first session after his resignation, ordered a statue to be erected, of the finest marble and best workmanship, with this inscription on its pedestal.

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA HAVE CAUSED

THIS STATUE

TO BE ERECTED, AS A MONUMENT OF AFFECTION AND

GRATITUDE TO

GEORGE WASHINGTON,

WHO, UNITING TO THE ENDOWMENTS OF THE HERO THE VIRTUES OF THE PATRIOT,

AND EXERTING BOTH IN ESTABLISHING THE LIBERTIES OF HIS COUNTRY,

HAS RENDERED HIS NAME DEAR TO HIS FELLOW

CITIZENS, AND GIVEN THE WORLD

AN IMMORTAL EXAMPLE OF TRUE GLORY.

In the volumes of Dodsley's Annual Register from 1772 to 1783, are copious and valuable materials relating to the history of General Washington; but the largest and best record of him is by Judge Marshall, in

five volumes, which has indeed been disparaged by some of the English reviewers, but is commended by Dr. Dwight as equal to any piece of biography written in Great Britain, with the exception of the lives of Johnson; and the last volume he says is almost singularly excellent. For the accommodation of those to whom a voluminous and expensive work is inaccessible from it by Cyrus Edmonds, and published in two neat and unsuitable, a compendious account is collected pocket volumes. As a faithful and perspicuous memoir of an illustrious character is always a good book, and as a memoir of Washington will always be wanted, Mr. Edmonds's account of him is likely to engage attention and acquire popularity.

BUONAPARTE.

WRITTEN AFTER READING THE LIFE OF HIM BY BOURRIENNE, AND O'MEARA'S VOICE FROM ST. HELENA.

"Is this the man that did make the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof ?"

"What havock does ambition make!"

Isaiah, 14, 16.

Addison.

"He was resolved to stick at nothing for the securing and advancing of his honour and power. Right or wrong, he would get what he could and keep what he had, and be the ruin of any one that stood in his way." Matthew Henry.

"Such overgrown murderers, robbers, and scourges of mankind, think the horrors and miseries of war a mere pastime they act as if the wealth of the world were created for them alone, and as if every man deserved death who was not willing to be their slave."

Thomas Scott.

As we wish to gain information about those who are highly celebrated, and of whom we have seen partial and indistinct accounts, a memoir of Buonaparte, by an author who had opportunities of acquiring full and correct intelligence, is a book which is likely to be read. To humanity it is indeed painful to pore over the deeds of a conqueror; but to curiosity and an inquisitive mind it is interesting to trace the rise and progress, and to contemplate the greatness, of a man who emerged from obscurity, and struggled through difficulties; who advanced to the highest dignity, and

acquired absolute power; who attracted the attention of the whole civilized world, and whose fame will extend to future ages.

Success so amazing must be ascribed to his characteristic qualities, which were most extraordinary,-to that passion for fame, that restlessness of spirit, that insatiable ambition, which reigned in his soul, and stimulated his powers. In every stage of his course, and at every time of his life, he was aiming at something higher, and grasping at something more. Whether he waged war or concluded peace, whether he avowed himself an enemy or professed friendship and promised great things, he sought his own aggrandizement; and stuck at nothing,—at no professions however false, at no crimes however atrocious,-which would be subservient to his purpose. Above all things he hated liberty and independence, and set himself to destroy them; the liberty of France was crushed beneath his despotism, and the independence of all neighbouring states was conquered by his arms. It was his ambition to have kings for his vassals, and to annex all adjacent countries to his dominions.

England was the object of his earliest and most enduring malignity, and he once thought of paying us a visit; but when it came to the point, his heart failed him, and he could not get up his courage to make the attempt. He cast many a wistful look at us from Boulogne, but durst not venture across the channel.*

• How great was our danger at that crisis, and what reason we have

When he gave up the design of invading our coasts, his mode of hostility was to ruin our trade; and that he hoped to effect by excluding our manufactures from the continent. The scheme was foolish and impracticable; and the continental system, as it was called, was more injurious to his own subjects and his tributaries, than to those against whom it was directed.

The crimes he committed, and the misery he diffused, in the prosecution of his plans and the pursuit of his objects, were enormous beyond all precedent, and extensive beyond all calculation. There is, however, a limit to the diabolism of tyrants and the sufferings of

to be thankful to that gracious providence which averted the horrors of an invasion, will appear from the following quotations.

"The grand project of Buonaparte was the invasion of Great Britain, for which attempt he made preparations of much greater magnitude than those in the late war. Conceiving that gun vessels might be constructed, capable, by their strength and number, of crossing the channel in the face of a British squadron, he collected by extraordinary exertions a vast flotilla at Boulogne, and assembled an army ready to embark on the first favourable opportunity."

Aikin's annals of George III., Vol. 2, p. 140. "An army of 500,000 veterans, flushed with victory, and embittered by former disappointments, lay just across the channel, ready to invade our shores" The preparations on the other side of the water are incessant, and on a prodigious scale. The spirit of the people is roused, and they are in general well disposed to act; but I really fear all may be ruined by the inefficiency of the government."--"It is really shocking how low our establishments are reduced. We could not resist 40,000 men getting to London."-"The most enlightened and experienced in naval and military matters in this part of the world are most alarmed." "The present government seem every where in low estimation. In every quarter they are accused of gross remissness and incapacity." Life of Wilberforce, Vol. 3, pp. 97. 118. 120 130. 141.