710 
conneéted feries of important and ufe- 
ful facts, arranged in chronological or- 
der, interfperfed with judicious reflec- 
tions, and narrated in a claffical and 
dignified ftyle, will find himfelf difap- 
pointed inthe perufal ofthis work. It 
much more ‘refembles the disjointed 
-materials, thrown here and there, than 
the well-adjufted parts of a regular hif- 
~ tory. On the whole, notwithftanding 
this volume contains a fund of valu- 
able materials, we can hardly admit 
that it merits a confpicuous place 
among the hiftorical writings of this 
country. ‘From carelef{nefs and hatte, 
or a want of an adequate knowledge 
of the force of words, and the ftruc- 
ture of language, there is throughout 
“great obfcurity in the ftyle, and the 
writer is occafionally betrayed into ab- 
furdities, which excite the fimile of the 
reader. 
A valuable mafs of documents and 
materials; chiefly relative to the fettle- 
ment, antiquities, and progrefs of the 
colonies of North America, now the 
United States, is to be found in the 
*¢ Collections of the Maiflachufetts Hif- 
torical Society for the Year 1800,”’ late- 
ly publifhed. This is the fecond vo- 
lume of a periodical. publication, whofe 
plan we much approve, and which we 
hope to fee long and zealoufly conti- 
nued. The contents of the prefent 
volume, though lefs copious and diver- 
fified than the former, will be found to 
be ufeful to the hiftorian, and inftruc- 
tive to the general reader. 
POLITICS. 
In the United States of America, 
as might be expected, fromthe fpirit of 
freedom which pervades the federal 
conttitution, as well as thofe of the fe- 
veral ftates, a great portion of public 
attention is devoted to politics. The 
difputes and ftruggles of parties, infe- 
parable from popular governments, are 
often carried to an extravagant height. 
Yet, it muft be admitted, to the praife 
of the mild and pacific charaéter of 
the people, that tumults and riots are 
rarely heard of among them. The 
ftrife and altercations of competitors 
in elections, though often animated 
and accompanied with the exertion of 
every poffible effort confiftent with the 
peace of fociety, are commonly confined 
toa war of words, new{papers, and pam- 
phiets. The diftinétion of parties into 
republicans and federalifts is well under- 
ftood among people of information inEu- 
rope, as wellas in America. The tri- 
2 
Retrofpeé of American Literature.—Politicse 
umph of the former party, in the elec- 
tion of Mr. Jefferfon tothe prefidency, 
and in a great majority of the ftate- 
elections which have occurred fince, 
afcertains a decided preponderance of 
that political intereft throughout the 
union. In both houfes. of the federal 
legiflature, the republicans out-number 
their opponents. An afcendancy fo 
complete as this, aided by the influence 
of the executive, will give the ftamp 
of republicanifm to all the meafures of 
the national government; and an op- 
portunity will now be afforded to the 
party in power to difplay thofe princi- 
ples of patriotifm, and that facred re- 
gard for the public good, which they 
have fo long profeffed, and for which 
they have fo perfeveringly contended. 
The calmnefs of Mr. Jefterfon’s ad- 
miniftration, notwithftanding all the ani- 
mofity of his opponents, would proba- 
bly have been liable to’ little diftur- 
bance, if he had not, at his entrance 
‘on the duties of the prefidency, found 
nearly all the offices of honour and . 
emolument in the hands of the fede- 
ralifts. It had been, moft unfortunate- 
ly, one of the maxims of the preceding 
adminiftration to appoint none to of- 
fice but fuch as embraced and practifed | 
federal principles. To correét the in- 
juftice and invidioufnefs of this fyfte- 
matic exclufion of one half of the com- 
munity from all the favours of go- 
vernment, and to lay the broadeft foun- 
dation of future harmony and content- 
ment among the people, he determined: 
to deftroy this monopoly of office, and 
to eftablifh an equilibrium between the 
parties as exact as circumftances would 
allow: for this purpofe, it became ne- 
cefiary to make removals of certain of- 
ficers from their places, and to appoint 
perfons of the oppofite political party 
in their. ftead. ‘This duty, which the 
Prefident muft have found to be equal- 
ly painful and neceffary, excited the. 
tefentment and clamour of all thofe 
who had oppofed his eleétion. In one — 
remarkable inftance, of the removal of 
a cuftom-houfe-officer, at New Haven, 
in the ftate of Connecticut, a number 
of the merchants of that city, in very 
ftrong terms, remonftrated againft that 
executive act, and urged the Prefident 
to revoke the new appointment.. To 
this remonftrance of the merchants of 
New Haven, the Prefident made a re- 
ply, ftating the rule and motives of his 
paft and future. conduét, in appoint- 
ments to ofice, and his determination — 
- : te 
