442 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



Hall. He wore no shirt, his whole 

 dress being skins of different ani- 

 mals. On the morning after, when 

 this distressed man came to draw 

 his provisior.s, Mr. Brice, the dt- 

 pi'.ty-muster-master-gcneral of the 

 provincial forces, and the commis- 

 sary, asked him several questions. 

 He said that he had lived for three 

 years in the woods, under ground ; 

 that he had been frequently sought 

 after by the Americans, and was 

 certain of instant death whenever 

 he should be taken; that he sup- 

 ported himself by what he got in 

 the woods ; that acorns served him 

 as bread ; that they had, from long 

 use, become agreeable to him ; that 

 he had a family, some of wliom, 

 once or twice a year, came to 

 him in the woods ; that his only 

 crime was being a loyalist, and 

 having given offence to one of the 

 rcpubhcnn leaders in that part of 

 the country where he used to live." 

 Again, having observed in his 

 conclusion, which we have been in- 

 formed is generally, and we think 

 justly, admired, that the American 

 revolution is the grandest effect of 

 combination that has been yet ex- 

 hibited to the world, he quotes in 

 a note what follows : " Captain 

 Newte, in his philosophical and 

 very interesting tour in Englandand 

 Scotland,* having delineated Scot- 

 land and the North of England as 

 shaped by the hand of natun-, is led, 

 from the names of places, to speak 

 of the geographical knowledge, and 

 the natural quickness, in general, of 

 mankind in a savage state. On this 

 subject he says, " In the country of 

 the IlHonois, a chief of the Casca- 

 bkias conceived th'^ sublime idea of 



uniting all Indian rations and tribes 

 into one grand alliance, offensive 

 and defensive. If this had been 

 realized. Dr. Franklin's confedera- 

 tion of the Thirteen States would 

 have cut but a poor figure on the 

 American continent, and the natu- 

 ral man would have outdone the 

 philosopher." 



It is not consistent v.ith the con- 

 cise form of our Review, to enter 

 more minutely into the cliaracter of 

 captain Stedman's excellent History, 

 (which is undoubtedly the most sa- 

 tisfactory and comprehensive,as well 

 as the most candid, and the best 

 aiTanged and composed, that has 

 yet been published of the American 

 war) than just to take notice of some 

 important particulars in which he 

 differs (we doubt not on good 

 grounds), or is otherwise distinguish- 

 ed, from otherhistorians. The Ame- 

 ricans are not represented by this 

 writer as enthusiastic and ardent in 

 the cause of liberty, but rather as 

 steady, phlegmatic, and patient of 

 hardships. They were excellent 

 instruments in the hands of a few 

 able men, whose genius and perse- 

 verance moved the mass, and finally 

 eflected the revolution. On the 

 other hand, captain Stedman as- 

 cribes to the Americans a greater 

 portion of genius and invention 

 than is commonly allowed to tln;m. 

 To the contrivance ot necessity and 

 inventive genius, which he exem- 

 plihes on a variety of occasions in 

 the course of his history ; he attri- 

 butes, in a great measure, the suc- 

 cess of their struggle for indepen- 

 dence. General Washington has 

 commonly been considered as a 

 Fab'ius } but captain btedman repre- 



* This English gentleman's ohseivations on Scotland have drawn great attention 

 •n that country. He has lately been made a tt'llowof the Royal Societ) ot" Edinburgh, 

 and doctor of iawj, by two universities. 



sents 



