*' was «botanist staccato.

w.

. LITERATURE;

Tan Gamers IN 1841 : By Sis RICHARD Bonnrcas'rui, Warrant-Colonel, Royal Engineers, and Lieutenant-Colo.- ml in the Militia of Upper Canada,- v

They were now approaching the St. Lawrence, ,when they saw a phenomenon which it would have been well worth the scyage and all its perils to see. “ About two in the morning, the mate suddenly roused all the sleep- ers in their hammocks, by calling loudly for the master to come on deck, as he observed a most unusual appear- ance on the leeebOW. The weather had been cold, but there was a clear starry firmament, when in a moment the heavens became overcast to the southward, and _an

instantaneous and intensely brilliant light, resembling a fiery aurora, shot out of the sea, and rendered every thing" minutely discernible, even to the masthead. The taste and his watch immediately put the helm down, calling up the whole crew, and awakeped the captain; but before this was accomplished, ’the light had spread more vividly than ever over the whole sea, and, the waves, hitherto tranquil, became much agitated, while thick dark clouds from the landg5seemetl to threaten dreadful weather. The spectacle continued to increase in beauty. The whole sea, as far as could be seen, was at length one entire sheet of an awfully brilliant flame,

, above which shone along the base of the high, frowning, and dark land abreast of them}. a long and magnificent line of fire.

“ The fish, plentiful in these latitudes an eize, seemed alarmed; long, tortuous, dart iight, in a contrary direction to the sea, showed im- mense numbers oflarge fish, flying' about as if they were lost. The wind, which had increased a little, had a pet culiar hollow sound; and, after a length of time passed in contemplating this splendid and extraordiiiaryrscene, the day broke slowly, the sun rising” very fiery and

loornily. ' ' l , " «

“ To sail on a sea of fire,”.the writer observes, “ is

the only similitude [can fancy to this’really awful scene. I have frequently, seen thonvaters of the ocean on fire, as it is vulgaily termed; but seen only in small masses, and no more to be compared to what we there witnessed, than a November day when the sun passes murkily through the fog of England, is to the bright and glori— ous appearances“ that luminary on a fine day in the tropics. . The oldest sailor in our vessel had never wit-

nessed anything bearing even adistant resemblance to

it, except the master, who asserted that he had once seen something very like it somewhere in the Trades.

The brilliancy of the light-may be conceived, when l t say, that the lpritsail-yard and tnizen-b‘Oom were lit by the refl ction as if they had gas lights suspended to them; and before the day broke, at four o'clock, I could see the most minute objects on the face of my watch. This appearance came first from the north-west, and there had been a slight aurora about eleven

o’clock.”

We envy the writer ofsuch an exhibition.—-Its beauty But we wish that he, had examined his philosophical instruments

must have been of the most surprising order.

during its continuance; we should like to know especi

ally what efi‘ect'it had upon any magnetic apparatus, or

if he had nothing of the kind iii his possession—whicl we can scarcely suppose in the provision of an en " ' ' resen

. ‘ I ' r r aurora making its theatre of the ocean, instead of daz Fling us from the skies.

At length came the pilot, and all was security and

eagerness for shore.

But another fine di In t' in reserve for them. 5p y was 5 ll

cities. of all on board. tion, each equally distinct.

, -way down the lower mountains of the coast.

b'lI‘hey had now got into the St. Lawrence, and were a be toenjoy life free from the terrors ofthe voyage, the no lost expanse of the finest river in North America, and

In the

scenery of remxrkable diversity and grandeur. :ptritof good'humour with everything round him, the olonel pays a debt of gratitude to his dinner.

tables we had every day as well as ireser d .

' y a v a tea and breakfast, and our Th l "3 mt proved gmdh flmes water had

The traveller ma \ '

“gammy of mOdemyimyell icong'ratulate himself on the ~ ‘ ' . ention, which thus supplies him I With fresh provrstons in traversing the ocean. A voyaoe from China may now be made with a dinner suppliZd every day which would not disgrace the London tavern As the. vessel advanced up the river, the features of the Canadian shore loomed out to greater advantaoe Pais- atng’ the Falls of Montmoreiicy, one of the moZt beauti- ulofrpascades, though not one of the orandest in a rut which boasts of Niagara, they reaZlied the meat V ._ "goof the St. Lawrence, " a road capable of coniain- .3) any nayy that ever swam." Here they were sur-

rounded with the picturesque. The lofty promontor of Cape Diamond rose before them, the rich and larch island ofOrleans lay asterii, the bold mountains of (fit- nada were on the right, and Point Levi on the left As they pressed towards the shore of Point Levi they saw a group which reminded them that they had reached the new world of the West. An Indian encampment was seengtpgthe woods near the beach, their nioht fires were expirin ,‘and a man and woman were pacific about re their canoes, evidently watching them:3 The ere drops in a little sentimentality, at which we

d in a man of his sense. He tells us that 5 seem to have been pushed back in- 1- woods, by the arrogantintruders

- t venturing to defend the

on their 5 conduct of the

3,26%? b? generally, _ rinciples and practice dwindfdfiuon m saying, tha ‘ : Purse, We have and _ Emaway, the work is thb Tribes have Misgheiziznii, “1M have lhinne ' diBease

' ,4 r - -‘ _. them to a me of 8 British Government cou m'

I they hav their original life was .

and. the happiest of all ex-

ization—but there are Wil- and the wretched Indian (pinst make up his mind s, or where he can.

and famine,

, . gery is s" '

{ul beggars in all countrigll who sells everything for ruiri

, to dwell in the cove of the wo'o

d ofalarge to fiiiil a vessel in which they can neither be ing lines of

gilleef

_ . The northern latitudes certainly seem rich in brilliant developments of the upper re- They had a sunset which excited the attention First, there was a double sun bv reflec- . Afterwards, when 'the orb descended a certain depth, a solid bodv ofliarlit equal in breadth“ With thesun, but of great lientrtha from the shore, shot‘down on the sea, and remainedulike a broad golden: lcolum'n, Or bar, until the black hirrh land hid the luminary itself. This occurred near Ciipe Demon. onjthe opposrte shore all was dull, the clouds being

“ At

our first anchorage,” says he “ our dinner consisted of presprved turkey, preserved soup and bouilli, and new pota oes which had been kept in earth. These vege-

always

\

‘ . 'From the anchorage at the King’s Wharf, the Quebec opens on the view, and the whole scen singularly imposing. Towering over the mast-hea rose Cape Diamond, above the river, its summit crown rounded with powerful fortifications. . right, along tlievwaterls edge, extends the Lower city, surmounted by theUpper. well as the situation,renders Quebec a pictures ject. The assemblage of numerous spires, coate tin, glittering like silver in the sun; the strong stone dwellings, mixed with painted Wooden houses, hanging, as it were, on t works, which look impregnable; from which signals were continually making; men busy on bastions, high above a land view strikingly combinedgw tbelbright bosom of the mighty sixty-four gun ship, bearing the long line of nierchantmen, steam directions, boats of every kind sailing or r to complete the picture'by a characteristic o try, the birch canoe ofthe Indian paddling along. there is another species of boat used here, which in be well adopted in England wherever the heavy expense )f the steamer was a consideration. This is a team- whecls, moved by four horses, tread- of the waist. It appears to well, and to be a popular bably glad blown up, our burnt; but its powers are limited—it wants the mighty strength that makes the steam-boat a floating palace marching the rapids and the ocean. Quebec in the Lotver town, shows its French origin at first sight. High stone houses, with long folding windows, ofa substantial but an unfinished appearance; arrow streets, very far from clean; but little display 0 shop .ylindows, and no great outward signs of busi- ness, mafiitliis portion oftlie city. Severalsteep flights of steps, which must be i/ery awkward and dangerous in the winter, lead to the Upper town, where wider streets, kept in rather better order, a better style of building and more apparent comfort prevail.

At the distance of about halfa mile from the city is a spot hallowed to English recollections—the field oti which the gallant General \Volfe conquered Canada—- the heights of Abraham. It is a sort of plain, much broken, covering the centre of a jagged ridge. The cove where, under the face of an apparently impassable series of rocks, piled above each other, he eflected his landing before day-break ou the 13th of Septetnber, 1759, is an object of great interest to the traveller; but there is some difficulty in finding it without a guide. The C0- lonel, in the true spirit of one who honours the memory of a hero, suggests that the ground should be made pub- lic property, and that a monument should be raised to the memory of the conqueror and his brave companions. He tells us that even the stone which Was put to mark the spot where Wolfe fell, has been removed by the owner ofthe ground; and that the reason of this miser- able act was, “ to prevent the curious from intruding on his premises.” No doubt the Joe Hume breed is to be found among the pedlars of Canada, as well as, unhappi- ly, among ourselves; and its patriotic parsimony would raise an outcry against any honour to talent and bravery

ewasi

the lofty watch-tower, the work-

boots darting in all

fthe coun- But

( boat with paddle ing in a circle in the centre answer the helm perfectly mode of conveyance—the passengers are pro

)

l

.«

adopt the suggestion. “ This hallowed earth,” says the spirited writer, “should never have passed into private hands. The public ofa land where freedom is not a frame, claim it for their own. There should have been reared the ‘starry-pointing pyramid,’ which, by the hapd’pf Lord Dalbousie, has been placed at the Chateau ga e.

' As an engineer, the Colonel’s opinion on the fortifica- tions has a peculiar value; and we are gratified at hear- ing that when the city, in addition to the works which had already made it famous among the fortresses of the second order, shall have those which are contemplated it Will be one ofthe strongest places oftlie kind in the; world; and that, on the whole, “it presents an excellent study ofan irregular fortress to the militarv eye.” Those we regard as good tidings; for we know that, within eventhe last ten years, serious apprehensions were en- tertained by military men of its insecurity, in case an unexpected rush were made in force from the American stde. Forty or fifty thousand men, headed by a oood ofli.cer,land conducted by any of those clever Frgnch artillerists and engineers who were then flockino to America, might formidably try the strength of the :fort« ress by a caup-dc-mnin. That no American force could take Quebec, if prepared for a siege, we fully believe' but its importance is incalculable; iiiid we shall be irlad to feel assured that it is made stronrr eiiouuh to Kris! at any notice, both the disaffectioii which radicalism has sowed within Lower Canada, and the rancorous and tinprinciplcd hostility which the perpetual cravinrr of the United States for every thing that beloncrs to ofliers nurtures beyond the frontier. The garrisoii at present IS‘ strong—it ustially consists of two Regiments of the Line, two Companies of Artillery, and two of Sa ers and Miners. ‘Besides‘ these, there arekat all timegpim: ’_ corps of Militia Cavalry, and ‘ ‘ ~wtt a proportion ofArtiller ' so that the place is n ver inadequately garrisoned.£

The fixed population cfth it ' . latitude is 46 deg. 50 sec.8 01 y 15 mom 18,000. The

EDINBURGH REVIEW—AUTHORSHIP oi? THE LETTERS or JUNIUS.

The last number ofthis celebrated periodical contains an admirable article, extended to nearly one hundred pages, own work recently published by the Rev M

Gleig, entitled “ Memoirs ofthe life of‘Varre . r. first Governor General of Bengal.” At the very outset the reviewer pounces on the biographer iu'the followinii terms, and throughout lashes him very severely for glossa-

ing over acts highly equivocal, if not immoral Y

reverend should have been the l

n Hastings,

' ' ast man to wink at '— I‘his book seems to have been manufact I

suance of a contract, by which the representatives f Warren Hastings, on the one part, bound themselv 9 t furnish papers, and Mr. Gleig, on the other hand hes t3 himselfto furnish praise. It is butjust to say thatihoun venants on both sides have been most faithfull e co- the resglt is before us in three big bad volumes esed correSpondence and undiscernino paneo' ric “ . gzirs previous to his mission to Tiidia by ' whom we take to be no other tha

.Ykept; and i

contribn ‘ . view. Some u the splendid essay . racterised by very high e o.

- endid articles to the Edinburtrli Re- t . we well remember—shah as t

bile thestyle or gef- I

city of neral structure,

d self aware, and now three hundred and twenty feet' g ed and its brow sur- of Further to the pares the Poets; The style of building, as t qtte ob- s d with dream 0 I _ into composmon -as'w most authors of the right he face of a precipice; the military r. city. Ranibler,:stately and nob the mast-head, gave p ith that afi‘ordgd by hence, river. rTliere lay a i Adiniral’s flag, the l . written wi owing, and, r

ight every sentence.

‘ to cost its ocket halfa farthing. Still onesiatl we u v iopet attic ritis overiimen W1

ured in put. 5

quence.

party which he clearly preferred to ever other th ofGeorge Grenville, had been scattered by the dzaliiirbf

, fullofundi- o d

, {an sviga- faction must hav

I . . n r.i ac- J ' i

representativesofthe cityofEdinbiirgh frumus“ H )

. brown down his ' ' ' - , us of Mmon_were cha_ w P911 In misauthI'OPlG despair. His fare~

as by far toovornate, but seems to be him- labours after what some would call reater simplicity of diction, and others the' maXimum matter in the minimum of space. Any one who com-f Johnson’s Rambler or Rasselas With the Lives 0 or Campbell’s Pleasures of Hope with Ger- rude onyoining, cannot

of the sentences w

f not meretricious. Of this the ant

fail to be struck, as far as

’ ‘ the ' 5, With the change thathad came over me goef the authors. The florid occastonally enters

ell as Gothic architecture; and sort, as they advance inhexpe- d fondness for Grecian simpli- were so much quizzed in the lefas the prosody is, found no Savage, Dryden- and.Pope,; “and perhaps, the remark of Moore 3—7“ It is a curious fthe labour which simplicity requires, that he Ramblers of Johnson, elaborate as they appear, were ease, and seldom required reViSion; while ang‘uage of' Rousseau, which appears to frOm the heart, was the slow production of n every word and balancing

e a marke

ience', achir _ 'ads ,which

The in lace in the Lives of

llustration 0

he siinplvggfil

come flowing _ pziinful’l'abour, paustng o

5’

In introducing the name of Philip Francis, 'as the ryblest of the Indian Commisswners, whose appomtment exercised such influence over the fortunes of Warren Hastings, Mrf Macaulay gives the followmg realfonstflp; believing him to be the 'real Simon Pure, touc iiig .

most celebrated letters thatwere perhapsever penned .* .“ It is scarcely possible‘to mention this eminent man without adveriing for a moment to the question which his name suggests at once to every mind. Was he the. author of the'Letters of Junius’l Our own firm belief is, that he was—The external evidence is, we think, such as would support a verdict ma cwil, nay, in'a‘cri— .miiial'proceediug. The handwritmg of Junius tswlllit: verypeculiar handwriting of It rant-.15, slightly disguise . As to the position, pursuits, and conneXions of drunius, the following are the most important facts which can be considered as clearly proved :‘ first, that he was ac- quainted with the technical forms_ of the secretary of state’s office; secondly, that he was intimately acquaint- ed with'the business of the war-oflice; thirdly, that be, during the year 1770, attended debates in the House of Lords, and took notes of speeches of Lord Chatham ;—-—

fourtlily, that be Mr. Chaniier to the pl fifthly, that he was bound b Lord Holland. Now, Francis passe secretary of state’s office. He was so ' clerk of the war—office. He repeatedly mentioned that he had himself, in 1770, heard speeches of Lord Chat- ham: and some of those speeches were actually printed frotn his notes. He resigned his clerkship at the war- oflice from resentment at the appo mier. It was by Lord Holland that he was introduced into the public service. Now, here are five marks, all ofwhich ought to be found in Junius. found in Francis. We do not believe that more than two of them can be found in any other person whatever. If this arrangement does not settle the question, there is an endof all reasoning on circumstantial evidence.

“ The internal evidence seems to us to point the same

ace of deputy secretary at war ; y some strong tie to the first d some years in the

generally taken for-granted, t

un- llv .-

equal force against every claimant that has ever been

tainly was not Junius. And What conclusion, after all, can be drawn from mere inferiority? Every writer must produce his best work ; and the interval between his best work and his second best work may be very wide indeed. Jutiius are more decidedly superior to the acknowledged works of Francis, than three or four of Corueille’s tra- gedies to the rest; than three or four ofBeii Johnson’s comedies to the rest; than the Pilgrim’s Progress to the other works of Bunyan; than Don Quixotte to the other works of Cervantes. Nay, it is certain that the man in the mask, whoever he may have been, "its a most un- equal writer. To go no further than ,t i ' bear the signature of Junius;——the'l'ett%t"f to the kan and the letters to Home Tooke, have little in commo—ii except the asperity; arid asperity was an ingredient sel- dom wanting either in the writings or in the speeches of Francis.

“Indeed, one of the strongest reasons for believing that Francis was Junius, is the moral resemblance be- tween the two men. It is not difficult, from the letters which, under various signatures, are known tos'rh'ave been written by Junius, and from his dealinas rwith Woodfall and others. to form a tolerably correcta notio of his character. He was clearly arnan not destitute ofreal patriotism and magnanimity—a man whose vices were’not of a sordid kind. But he must also have been a man in the highest degree arrogant and insolent a man prone to malevolence, and prone to the error,of mistaking his malevolence for public virtue. ‘Doest thou well to be angry ?’ was the question asked of old pfthe Hebrew prophet. And he answered ‘I do well ’ [‘his was evtdetitly the temper of Junius " and to this cause we attribute the savage cruelty which disu'races several ofhts letters. No man is so merciless Lwas he who, under a strong self delusion, confounds his anti a: tliies Will'h‘l'lls duties. It may be added, that Juniiis :hough allied with the democratic party by common e'nmi: fizrlwas thevery opposite ofa democratic politician.

i e attacking individuals With a ferocity which er- petually Violated all the laws of literary warfare, hepre-

garded the most defective partsofold institutions with

a respect amounting to pedaiitry ;>= pleaded the cause of

Old Sarum with fervour,and contem tuo s

capitalists of Manchester and Leeds, tliiat,uifythrta;kihhl:: ted votes, they might buy land and become freeholders of Lancashire and Yorkshire. All this we beli ’

. might stand, with scarcel , eve, which a Philip Francis.

y any chafie, for a character of

“It is not strange that the ' . I great anon mo hould have been Willing at that time to leayve tilt: ry which had been so powerfully stirred by his elo. Every thing had gone against him. That