18038.] 
i, and failed up the river a confiderable 
Bohence, when he received a letter by the 
hands of an Indian chief, written by one 
of, De Salle’s companions. The truth of 
Prine difcovery of the river being thus, to 
his great joy, confirmed, he returned to 
the bay of Biloxi, where he learned that 
an Englifh corvette had been at the mouth 
of the river, and on being ordered away, 
threatened to return with a greater force. 
‘This information determined him to fe- 
cure the poffeffion of LaSalle. He there- 
fore erected a fmall fort on the bank of the 
river, on which he placed four pieces of 
cannon. He was here agreeably fur- 
prized with the arrival of M. Tarti, (De 
Salle’s companion,) with about twenty 
Canadians, who had before fettled among 
the Lilincis. After finsfhing the fort, he 
afcended the river, as far as the Natches, 
where he deigned to lay the foundation of 
anew city, by the name of Rofalia, in 
honour of the Countefs of Pontechartrain. 
In 1650, the feitlement on the Ifle de 
Dauphine was plundered and burnt by an’ 
Englith cruifur. The fame year Louis 
XIV. by letters patent, granted the ex- 
tenfive commerce of Louifiana to M. Cro. 
zat tor fixteen years, and the property of 
all the mines and minerals he might difco- 
ver. Crozat inftituted a new government 
for the colony, but met with fo many dif- 
ficulties and difappointments, that in 
1717 he furrendered his chaster to the 
King. 
At this time the well-known Miffiffip- 
pi-fcheme was projected by the celebrated 
Law, and a company was formed under 
his direétion to carry it into execution.— 
Towards the end of the fame year the 
foundation of the new city of Orleans was 
laid. It is remarkable what romantic 
hopes this charming country, in every 
ftage of its hiftory, has infpired, from 
its fountain of youth, fo eagerly fought by 
De Leon, to the fair profpects of Law. 
The country lying eaft of the river, 
and now comprehended under the defcrip- 
tion of the Miffiffippi territory, is per- 
haps, in regard to foil, climate, and pro- 
ductios, the moft delightful fpot in Ame- 
rica 3 and is it not a fubject of regret 
that thefe natural advantages fhould be 
tendered of no value ? 
The country claimed and poffeffed by 
France under the name of Louifana, was 
bounded on the fouth by the Gulph of 
Mexico, on thé north by Canada, and on 
the eaft and welt indefinitely compre- 
hending a greater extent than that of the 
United States. The activity, wifdom, 
Account of Louifiana, { 44935 
and addrefs, with which that nation has 
invariably purfued its {chemes of aggran- 
difement, are well known. In 1752 fhe 
had nearly compleated a chain of forts 
from New Orleans to Quebec, by which 
the Englith colonies were hemmed in, and 
would have been confined to the country 
on this fide of the Allegany mountains. 
Thefe gigantic projects were defeated 
by Great Britain in the war of 1756.— 
The Houfe of Bourbon was- humbled be- 
fore the mighty genius of a Pitt. His 
ereat and comprehenfive mind embraced 
the whole extent and magnitude of the 
empire, penetrated the artful {chemes of 
the French Court, and feized every occa- 
fion to paralyze a cunning and dangerous 
enemy. He defpifed the feeble councils 
and fhort-fighted views of felfifh and fnal- 
low politicians, who facrifice the folid in- 
tereft and honour of the State to the ephe- 
meral advantage of a deceitful peace, or 
to whatever may in the leait endanger 
their popularity. Hie 
By the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, be- 
tween Great Britain, France, and Spain, 
all the poffeflions in Canada, and that part 
of Louifiana lying eaft of the MiffiMppi, 
and including the Floridas, were ceded to 
Great Britain ; France referved New Or- 
leans, and the ifland on which it is built, 
which, with that part’ of Louifiana ly- 
ing weft of the Miffiffippi, fhe gave to 
-Spain. 
By the treaty of 1783, the Floridas 
came again into the poffeffion of Spain. 
© 4 —ai 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
CANNOT inform Rufticus by what 
author the epithet Pollems is applied to 
Venus, It cannot have efcaped your ob- 
fervation, however, that -Dews is reckoned. 
of the common gender, and is ufed as 
feminine by Virgil, I believe, in feveral 
parts. For inftance, in A®neid II. line 
632, the words Deo ducente occur, in al- 
lafion to Venus; andin Bneid VII. line 
498, Deus is likewile applied to the Fury 
Ale&to. In the edition zz Ufum Lelphinis 
there ig a note in the firt-line, citing va- 
rious paflages from different authors, in 
which Deus and @os are both uled as femi- 
nine. So that, if the mafculine character 
of Venus depend on no better grounds 
than the applicationof Deus to her, the 
title muft be confidered as indifferently 
efiabhithed, and, at beft, but very equi- 
vocal. 
Crouch-End, Sept. 1%, 1803. 
Hh2 To 
Joeus 
