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UNITED STATES (LITERATURE). 



the period of the first emigrations downward, we 

 bave contemporaneous narratives and documents, 

 with few interruptions. It is true, that the first 

 150 years of colonial history, or rather the public 

 history of that period, presents little variety of in- 

 cidents, and has none of the grandeur and brilliancy 

 which gives a charm to the story of great empires. 

 It is also true, that the Americans have produced 

 no historical works which can lay claim to high 

 literary merit, or which attract notice merely from 

 the excellence of their execution. But, though 

 most of the works which we shall enumerate in 

 this department are local in their nature, many 

 of them are of general interest to those who 

 would trace the developement of seminal principles 

 into life, watch the cradle of a recent people, 

 and witness the growth of families and villages 

 into populous communities and powerful states. 

 Among the earlier works on colonial history are 

 Morton's New England Memorial (Cambridge, 

 1669), of which the fifth edition (Boston, 1826) 

 contains notes by the editor, J. Davis ; Winthrop's 

 Journal (first complete edition, with notes, by J. 

 Savage, Boston, 1825) ; Hubbard's History of New 

 England (Boston, 1825) ; Mather, Magnalia Christi 

 Americana (folio, London, 1702) ; Beverly's His- 

 tory of Virginia, from 1587 to 1700 (London, 1705); 

 Stith's History of Virginia (Williamsburg, 1747); 

 W. Smith's History of New York (London, 1757) ; 

 Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts (2 vols., 

 1764; 3d vol., London, 1828); Franklin's Histori- 

 cal Review of the Constitution and Government of 

 Pennsylvania (London, 1759) ; Proud's History of 

 Pennsylvania (1745) ; Smith's History of New 

 Jersey, to 1721 (1765). Many of these works were 

 written at a much earlier period than the date of i 

 their publication, and, though several were pub- ' 

 lished in England, were from the pens of colonists. 

 Of a more recent date are Jefferson's Notes on Vir- 

 ginia, Burk's History of Virginia (3 vols., 8vo., 

 1803) ; Ramsay's History of the Revolution in 

 South Carolina (2 vols., 1785) ; and History of 

 South Carolina (2 vols., 1809) ; Moultrie's Memoirs 

 of the Revolution in North and South Carolina and 

 Georgia (2 vols., 1802) ; Drayton's View of South 

 Carolina (1802), and Memoirs of the Revolution in 

 South Carolina (2 vols., 1821) ; Lee's Memoirs of 

 the War in the South (2 vols., 8vo., 1812) ; Wil- 

 liamson's History of North Carolina (1812); Minot's 

 History of Massachusetts (2 vols., 8vo., 1789) ; 

 Bradford's History of Massachusetts, from 1764 (3 

 vols.) ; Belknap's History of New Hampshire (3 

 vols., 1792); Williams's History of Vermont (2 

 vols., 1809); Sullivan's History of Maine (1795); 

 Williamson's History of Maine (2 vols., 1832) ; 

 Yates and Moulton's History of New York (1825) ; 

 Trumbull's History of Connecticut (2 vols., 1818) ; 

 Flint's History and Geography of the Western 

 States (2d edition, 2 vols., 1832); Stoddard's 

 Sketches of Louisiana (1812) ; M'Call's History of 

 Georgia (2 vols., 1816). Of works of a more gene- 

 ral nature may be mentioned Ramsay's History of 

 the United States (3 vols., 1816), and his Universal 

 History (12 vols.,8vo., 1819) ; Holmes's Annals of 

 America, from 1492 to 1826 (2d edition, 1829, 2 

 vols.,8vo.); Marshall's History of the Colonies (2d 

 edition, 1824) ; Pitken's Political and Civil History 

 of the United States, from 1763 to 1797 (2 vols", 

 8vo., 1828) ; Douglass' Summary, Historical and 

 Political, of the British Settlements in North 

 America (2 vols., 1749) ; Trumbull's General His- 

 tory of the United States to 1765 ; Thomas's His- 



tory of Printing in America (2 vols., 8vo., 1810) ; 

 Millar's Retrospect of the Eighteenth Century (2 

 vols., 8vo., New York, ISOS") ; Whcaton's History 

 of the Normans (Philadelphia, 1831); Lyman's 

 History of the Diplomacy of the United States (2 

 vols., Boston, 1828). In biography, we may men- 

 tion Marshall's Life of Washington (2d edition, 2 

 vols., 1832) ; Ramsay's and Bancroft's Lives of the 

 same ; Tudor's Life of Otis ; Wirt's Life of Henry ; 

 Lee's Lives of the Lees; Quincy's Life of Quinry ; 

 Wheaton's Life of Pinkney ; Kirkland's Life of 

 Ames ; Franklin's and Jefferson's Autobiographies ; 

 Johnson's Life and Correspondence of Greene ; 

 Austin's Life of Gerry ; Sparke's Life of Morris ; 

 Sanderson's Lives of the Signers of the Declaration 

 of Independence (by different hands, 12 vols., 

 Philadelphia, 1823 27) ; Belknap's American Bio- 

 graphy ; Sparks's Life of Ledyard ; Irving's Life of 

 Columbus; Biddle's Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, 

 &c. We have given this long list of works, not, 

 certainly, on account of their literary value, but in 

 general as the most authentic sources of information 

 in regard to the United States. 



12. Miscellaneous. Some political works of 

 merit have issued from the American press. Pass- 

 ing by those of earlier date, we shall mention here 

 only the Federalist ; Adam's Defence of the Ame- 

 rican Constitutions (London, 1787) ; Everett's 

 Europe (1822), and America (1827), and Walsh's 

 Letters on the Genius and Spirit of the French 

 Government. The results of the expeditions sent 

 out by government, at different times, to explore 

 the interior of the continent, are given in Lewis 

 and Clarke's Expedition to the Sources of the Mis- 

 souri (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1814) ; Pike's Expedi- 

 tion to the Sources of the Mississippi (8vo., atlas, 

 4to., 1810); Long's Expedition to the Rocky 

 Mountains (2 vols., 8vo., and atlas, 4to. 1823) ; 

 Keating's Narrative of Long's Expedition to the 

 Source of St Peter's River,&c. (2 vols., 8vo.,1824). 

 Noah, Silliman, Griscom, Slidell, Dwight, Ander- 

 son, Bigelow, and others, have published their 

 travels in different countries of Europe ; Silliman, 

 Dwight, Flint, Brackenridge, Schoolcraft, Schultz, 

 &c., their travels in the United States. Cooper's 

 Notions of the Americans (1828) also belongs to 

 this class of works. Dr Cooper, Cardozo, Ray- 

 mond, Everett and Phillips have published works 

 on political economy. In geography, Morse's Uni- 

 versal Geography, which has passed through many 

 editions, and Worcester's Universal Gazetteer (2 

 vols., 8vo., 2d edition, 1823), deserve mention. In 

 lexicography, Webster's Dictionary (2 vols., 4to., 

 New York, 1828) is complete in respect to its 

 vocabulary. Murray's English Grammar (1795) is 

 the first considerable attempt of the kind in the 

 English language : it has gone through numerous 

 editions, and has been translated into German. 

 John Quincy Adams, since president of the United 

 States, is the author of two volumes of Lectures 

 on Rhetoric and Oratory (8vo., 1810). The most 

 complete of the English encyclopaedias, Rees's 

 Cyclopaedia, and Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopae- 

 dia, have been republished in the United States, 

 with large additions. 



Contents of the article United States of America. 



HISTORY, 



From 1607 to 1776, 

 From 1776 to 1832, 



GEOGRAPHY AXD STATISTICS, 

 1. Physical Geography, 



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