616 
will be the term before this extenfive re- 
gion ceafts to afford room for the multi- 
plication of itsinhabitants ? And how nu- 
merous and powerful will be the commu- 
nicy (unle!s civil difeord fhould rear its 
direful crsft) which is defined to behold 
this vat furiace, cccupied and cultivated 
by all the arrs and improvements of an en- 
lightened people. 
The natioxal expenditure of the United 
States, fo far from 1 creating at every ftep 
of their profperity, is either ttationary, or 
in a ccurfe of diminution. The great 
mais of pabii ic wealth, infiead of being 
lavithed in the profecation of inceflant 
wars, fuch as vex and exhauf moit other 
nations, is here converted into the means 
of acvancing the improvement and ad ea 
nels of the comrmauniry.- The eye of phi- 
Janthropy mef dwell with ra pture ‘on the 
proipeét of a country who!e whcle energy 
is feadily and faithfully devoted to the 
acceleration of its progrefs i 1n that courfe 
which !eads to the higheft elevation of 
public felicity. 
No new burthens are laid on the people 
in thisfavoured country. Inftead of tor- 
turing invention to Gevife plans of reve- 
ue, and exhaufing all the fources of tax. 
ation, the Government has relinquifhed 
many duties which had bees found inconve- 
nient and unpopular, and fill finds the.na- 
tional income adequate to the ex penc jiture. 
The debt of the nation is undergoing ex- 
tinguifhment with a rapidity and fteadi- 
ne{s rel NCAT any where elie, ane in 
the prefent courfe will foon be entirely re- 
deemed. May ve the whele werld be 
challenged to point out a nation where the 
public affsirs are proceeding in fuch a 
fran? And ovght not the friend of man- 
kind devoutly to return thanks to heaven 
that there is at leafe cne {pet_on the globe 
where man is irue to bimfelf, and where 
he fucce!sfully vindicates his rights, his 
dignity, and his high deftination ? 
HiSTORY. 
The Iierature of Aocrica has not yet 
had mech, to boaft ef in the eee ok nt of 
hiftory.- This is the more ic be lamented, 
as the lap/e of time is ince aptly oblite- 
rating much of the knowleige concerning 
the early fet:lement and pregrets of the 
cor Seer which 16 now within reach of 
the ili igent inquirer, and ought to be 
hich F prize ‘dw It is to be biped that this 
repreach will foon be removed by exer- 
tions prep. ‘toned to the rifling importance 
t the United Stetes. 
t is judged ees to place under this 
heed, sather than that of biography, 
* The Lic of GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
Retrofpect of American Literature.—Hiffory. ) 
Commander ‘in Chief of the Americas 
Forces, &c.; by JoHN MarsHatt, 
Chi ief Juftice of the Supreme Court of the 
United Stetes.”’ 
Two volumes of this work are already 
before the publie, and the remaining 
number, yet indefinite, may fpeedily be 
expected. ‘Fhe plan of this publication is 
fuch, that it may. be confidered rather as a 
Hiftory of the American Revolution, than 
mercly as a Life of General Washington. 
The firft volume is devoted to’an account 
of the difccvery and fettlement of the Bri- 
tith colonies and plamtatians in North 
America, which now form the territory of 
the United States. The fecond begins 
with the birta of the General, gives a 
brief narrative of his education, and the 
early part of his lite ; follows the courfe 
of his miiitary enterprizes while he held a 
fuboriinate fiation ; and exhibits his more 
important career from his appointment as 
Commander in Chief of the American 
forces to the clofe of the a 
r77ot 
This work had been long promifed to 
the public, and long expected with impa- 
tience. The illuftvious charatter of Ge- 
neral Wafhington is fo widely known, 
and kis meriis fo warm! ly cherifhed by the 
people of almoft every civilized part of the 
world, that the defire of becoming ac- 
quainted with every authentic fac con- 
cerning his public life, has long been 
warmiy felt. How far this work may 
anfwer the fpeculations of the public, it 
would be perhaps premature to pronounce 
before the entire completion of it. As 
the writer has accefs to all the papers and 
documents left by the General, which are 
undeiftood to be very volunsinous, his_ 
materials muft be fuppofed to be of the 
belt kind. Some have cenfured the occu- 
pying of folarge a portion of the work as 
a whole volume with the preliminary ac- 
count of the dilcovery, fettlement, and 
progrels, of the Britith colonies, previous 
to the war of their revoluiion. And this 
arrangement is the more liable to objec- 
tion, as the materials of this part-of the 
narrative are to be found in bocks which — 
are in every body’: bands. But whatever 
imperfections of this kind may be remark~ 
edia Mr. Marfhall’s plan, it is undeniable 
that he gives a much move full, clear, and 
facisfakory, view of General Wafhing- 
ton’s life, than has ever hitherto been pre- 
fented tothe public, and that in the fame 
proportion he will more amply gratify” 
curtofity. The. more important the re-- 
publican empire of America becomes in 
the eyes of the world, the greater will t 
Gis 
