Retrofpect of American Literature—Hiflory; 
tions, the contents of which might many 
ef them be loft but for fo refpeétable a’ 
repofitory as the prefent. The author 
of the prefent work, in not arrogating to 
herfelf the honors of an original hiftorian, 
has exonerated herfelf from a large fhare 
of refponfibility, and at the fame time has 
earned confiderable merit by the judicious 
ufe which fhe has made of: the labor of 
others, in expanding or abridging their 
accounts as occafion demanded, and in 
mingling with them the fagacious and 
liberal refleétions which her own {trong 
underftanding fuggefted. 
“ The Hiftory of Pennfylvania in 
North America, from the Original Infti- 
tution and Settlement of that Province, &c. 
in 1681, till after the year 17425 with an 
Introduétion refpeéting the Life of Wil- 
fiam Penn, and the Society of Quakers, 
with the Rife of the Neighboring Colo- 
nies, &c. &c. &c. by Robert Proud.” 
Mr. Proud is one-of thofe valuable 
hiftorians, from whom future writers will 
draw. their. materials, and who will al- 
ways be confulted for the accuracy of his 
narratives and the fidelity of his faéts. 
His work has no claim to merit for ele- ° 
gant language, lucid arangement, or phi- 
lofophical refleétion: thefe, on the con- 
trary, are defiderata much tobe regretted ; 
its excellence confifis in the minutenefs 
and abundance of its faéts, which are labo- 
rioufly drawn from original records and 
memorials, {cattered through many a pub- 
lic office and many a private library. 
Whether from a diffidence in his abilities, 
or a real preference to the mode of com- 
pilation here purfued we know not, but 
Mr. Proud, inftead of relating faéts in 
his own words and referring to the docu- 
ments whence he drew them, has generally 
contented himfelf with giving as he found 
them, {craps of Charters, Jaws, ‘and 
Treaties in their. original-’tirefome ‘and 
circuitous phrafeology. Mr. Proud is 
himfelf one of the people called Quakers ; 
and that he fhould bow with deep venera- 
tion to the founder of Pennfylvania, or 
difplay an occafional bias to the religion 
which he adopts, and which has prevailed 
in fo profperous a ftate. ought to excite 
neither our animadverfion ner furprife. 
Dr. BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON has 
publifhed a work which if it cannot with 
propriety be admitted into the clafs of 
hnftory, we know not where to arrange : 
in a fmall oftavo volume he has given us 
fome “ New Views of the Origin of the 
Tribes and Natives of America.” Vari- 
ous haye been and ftill are the opinions 
entertained by philofophers as to the ori- 
645° 
gin of the inhabitants of America; fome 
have fuppofed that the Eaft and Weft 
Continents once‘ joined, and numerous 
have been the conjeétures as to the point o£ 
junction: others have, with more proba- 
bility, fuppofed that accident or the reft- 
lefs fpirit of enterprife in fome Tartar 
families might tempt them to migrate to 
the neareft ifland, and proceed from one 
to another till they reached the coaft of 
America. Dr. Barton, a very eminent 
naturalift, has it feems for feveral years 
devoted his attention to the prefent fub- 
ject: his opinion is, that fimilitude of 
language forms the beft ground for de- 
ciding on the affinity of nations. Dr. 
Robertfon (who in his hiftory of Ame= 
rica has incorporated a fhort difquifition 
on the probable origin of its population} 
juftly we think obferves, that the refem- ~ 
blance of manners, or of religious rites, 
between two tribes is very infufficient to 
authorize a conclufion. that they were 
originally conneéted or derived from the 
fame ftock. ‘* The character and occu- 
pations of the hunter in America,” fays 
he, ** muft be little different from thofe 
of an Afiatic, who depends for fubfiftence 
on the chace. A tribe of favages on the 
‘banks of the Danube mut nearly refemble 
one upon the plains wafhed by the Mifif- 
fippi. Inftead then of prefuming on this. 
fimilarity, that there is any affinity be- 
tween them, we fhould only conclude, 
that the difpofition and manners ef men 
are formed by their fituation, and arife 
from the ftate of fociety in which they 
live.” Dr. Barton, though he feems to 
pay rather more attention than Dr. R. 
to thefe circumftances, yet as was before 
obferved, confiders fimilitude of language 
as the beft criterion of affinity: he has 
therefore with great labor and perfe- 
verance collected words from the Indian 
and Tartarian languages, and formed a 
catalogue of the dialeéts. The refult of 
his arduous refearch is an opinion, that 
all the natives of America except the 
Efquimaux are nearly akin to the natives 
of Siberia: this point he is folicitous.to 
prove, and he thinks it is eftablifhed b 
the fimilitude of their vocabularies. Dr. 
B. we underftand is préparing for the 
prefs fome further illuftrations of the 
ancient ftate of America, which, from the 
prefent fpecimen of ‘his acutenefs and 
ability, will be expeéted with impatience. 
The laft article which we have to men- 
tion under the head of Hiftory, is a very 
interefting ‘* Defcription of the Settlement 
of the Genefee Country in the State of 
New York, in a feries of Letters from a 
40 Gene 


