History of the American wars: comprising the war of the revolution and the war of 1812.

Front matter

Class _ tliOl Book T^b

HISTORY

AMERICAN WARS:

Preface

The history of the two great wars, which the American states maintained against Great Britain, constitutes the most interesting portion of our national annals, and it has been looked upon as a serious deficiency in our libraries that they possess no properly executed work embracing that important period distinguished by these events. Separate histories of both the wars have been written by many hands, but the want has been felt of a continuous history, commencing with the outbrealc of the revolutionary hostilities, and brought down to the termination of the war of 1812, when the United States of America, having emerged with success from a second grand struggle with the greatest naval power of Europe, took a prominent rank among the nations of the earth, and convinced the people of the old world, by evidences not to be mistaken, that a powerful empire was rising in the west, under the auspices of the free institutions of America.

In attempting to supply this deficiency, the author of the following work has, of course, been compelled to go over ground which has been traversed by many a preceding writer. Yet he has not confined himself to a bare repetition of the facts which the pages of those writers already present. He has sought for new facts, new illustrations, and 1*

Vi PREFACE.

new attractions for the reader. He has endeavored to combine a proper degree of entertainment with the soUd usefulness of an accurate historical work. Anecdotes and minute details have been introduced occasionally, not only to give variety and picturesqueness to the narrative, but as serving the main piupose of liistorical writing, by affording occasional dimpses into the genuine spirit and temper of the times, and placing the scenes and personages before the reader's eye with a dramatic vividness, which is doubly sure to arouse the attention and dwell long upon the memory.

The author tnists that he has done adequate justice to the patriotism, courage, and virtues of our revolutionary sires, and the heroic combatants by land and sea. who so nobly vindicated their country's honor, and covered with glory the star-spangled banner during the late war with the " mistress of the ocean." It has been his object to set forth the achievements of the American arms with the foil meed of praise to which our brave soldiers and sailors are entitled, and on all occasions to excite a proper national feeling. At the same time he has studied to observe a strict and honest impartiahty in the narrative, and to do justice to the motives of all parties.

The reader, it is beheved, will find this volume a more full, accurate and satisfactory compendirun of the historyof the United States, during the period embraced in it. than any publication, in a popular shape, that has yet appeared. In the style and illustrations, the author has studied clearness and perspicuity, and in the occasional remarks and moral reflections, he has introduced such sentiments as, it is hoped, will have a tendency to strengthen our esteem for the wise and good men of our country, and augment the attachment of every American to the free institiuions under which we hve.

Chapter I

iKTEODUCTIOy. .13

CHAPTEE II.

AxEKicAX RETOLmox. — State of feeling among the North American colonists — Loyalty of the Americans — Effect of the peace of Paris — Political privileges of the colonies — Scheme for taxing the Americans — Eesoiations of the House of Commons — Imposition of duties on imports — Penal enactments — Remonstrances of the colonists — Scheme for a stamp act — Opposition in the House of Commons — Speech of Colonel Barre — Tne stamp act passed — Franklin's remark upon the stamp act — Consternation in America — General disaffection of the colonies — Resolutions in the legislature of Virginia — Speech of Patrick Henry — Combination among the colonies — Excitement on the subject of the stamp act — Disnubances at Boston — Affairs in Connecticut and the southern colonies — Stamped paper btimt at ZVew York — General opposition to the stamp act — Discontent in England — Speech of Lord Chatham in parliament — Repeal of the stamp act — Farther designs of the British government — The tea tax — Proceedings in 3Iassachusetts — Convention at Boston — British troops sent to Boston — Xon-importatioa league — Boston Massacre — Discovery of the Hutchinson leners — Great excitement at Boston — Arrival of the tea ships — Ferment at Boston — Destruction of the tea, . . .25

Chapter III

Amekicax RzvoLmoy. — Indignation of the British government at the destruction of the tea — Boston port-bill — General Gage eovemor of 3Iassachusetts — The Quebec bill — General congress at Philadelphia — Further encroachments of the British in 3Iassachusens — Gage forrines Boston Xeck — General court at Concord — Outrage in Boston — Oo:urrences in Rhode Island and New Hampshire — Efforts of Lord Chatham and Dr. Franklin in behalf of the colonies — Gage's expedition to Salem — Exasperation of the people of Massachusetts — Battle of Lexingtoii—

Vm CONTENTS.

Provincial congress in Massachusetts— Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point— Movements of the British at Boston — Battle of Bunker Hill, 52

Chapter IV

Washington appointed commander-in-chief — Siege of Boston — Perfidy of General Gage — Howe assumes the command — Siege of Boston — Burning of Falmouth — Confederation of the colonies — Sufferings of the inhabitants of Boston — Bombardment of the town — The Americans occupy Dorchester Heights — Evacuation of Boston by the British — Expedition of Sir Peter Parker against South Carolina — Defeat of the British at Charleston — Declaration of Independence — British expedition to New York — Battle of Long Island — Retreat of the Americans — Capture of New York — Disasters of the Americans — Conquest of the Jerseys, . . .74

Chapter V

American Revolution. — Project for the invasion of Canada by the Americans — Extraordinary march of Arnold through the woods of Maine — Expedition of Montgomery against Canada — Capture of Montreal — . Siege and attack of Quebec — Death of Montgomery — Perseverance of Arnold — Evacuation of Canada by the Americans — Desperate condition of the American camp — Fortitude and resolution of Washington — Capture of the Hessians at Trenton — Affair of Princeton — Successful movements of Washington — The British expelled from the Jerseys, . 92

Chapter VI

American Revolution. — I^abors of congress — Continental currency — Ravages committed by the British — Tryon's expedition to Connecticut — Adventures of Putnam — Campaign in the Jerseys — Expedition of the British against Philadelphia — Battle of Brandywine — Capture of Philadelphia — Battle of Germantown — The army at Valley Forge — Anecdote of Lydia Darrah — Campaign in the north — Burgoyne's expedition — Capture of Ticonderoga — Siege of Fort Stanwix — Defeat of Herkimer — Stratagem of the Americans — Murder of Miss M'Crea — Burgoyne's advance — Battle of Bennington — Gates commander of the northern army — Battle of Stillwater — Retreat of Burgoyne to Saratoga — Surrender of Burgoyne, , . 110

Chapter VII

American Revolution. — Effects of the capture of Burgoyne in Europe — Astonishment and mortification of the British — Opposition in parliament — Obstinacy of the ministry — Treaty of alliance with France — War between France and England — Evacuation of Philadelphia by the British — Battle of Monmouth — Arrival of a French fleet in America — Campaign in Rhode Island — Ravages of the British — Anecdotes of the war — Thomas Paine— Intrigues of the British — Massacre at Wyoming— Surprise and massacre of Colonel Baylor's regiment— Savage warfare in Pennsylvania

CONTENTS. IX

—Campaign in Georgia— Capture of Savannah by the British— Invasion of South Carolina— Peril of Charleston— Georgia overrun by the British —They retreat from Charleston— Devastations of the British in Virginia, ... 134

Chapter VIII

Amekicam Revolution. — Tryon's marauding expedition to Connecticut — New Haven plundered — Barbarities of the British— Capture of Stony Point— Sullivan's expedition against the Indians— Exploits of Paul Jones — Failure of the expedition to the Penobscot— War in the south — Arrival of D'Estaing's fleet— Siege of Savannah — Repulse of the French and Americans— Death of Pulaski— Gallant exploit of Colonel AVhite — The British evacuate Rhode Island — Clinton invades South Carolina— Siege of Charleston— Surrender of the town — Defeat of Colonel Buford at the Waxhaws — General Gates appointed to the command in the south — Partisan war of Marion and Sumter— Knyphausen's excursion to New Jersey — Arrival of a French fleet and army, under DeTiernay and Rochambeau — Lord Cornwallis in South Carolina — Battle of Camden — Disasters of the Americans — Cornwallis threatens North Carolina — 'Colonel Furguson's expedition to the north — Defeat of the British at King's Mountain — Atrocities of the war — Imprisonment and escape of General Wadsworth, 157

Chapter IX

American Revolution. — Treason of Arnold — Capture and execution of Andre — Adventures of Sergeant-Major Champe — Arnold's invasion of Virginia — His marauding expedition to Connecticut — Capture of New London — Catastrophe of Fort Griswold — Revolt of the Pennsylvania line — Foreign relations of the United States — Aflairs in Florida and Louisiana — Capture of Mr. Laurens — Mission of John Adams to Holland, 177

Chapter X

American Revolution. — -Campaign in the south — General Greene appointed to the command of the southern army — jMarch of Cornwallis to North Carolina — Battle of Cowpens — Defeat of Pill's tory regiment — Greene's retreat to Virginia — Battle of Guilford — March of Cornwallis to Virginia — Clinton sends troops to the Chesapeake — Battle between Green and Rawdon — Devastations of the British in Virginia — Manoeuvres of Steuben and La Fayette — bold stratagem of General Wajme — Greene's movements in South Carolina — Battle of Eutaw Springs — War in Virginia — Cornwallis fortifies himself in Yorktown — Washington's dexterous manoeuvres — Arrival of De Grasse's French fleet — Battle between De Grasse and Admiral Graves — Siege of Yorktown — Surrender of Cornwallis — Campaign of Greene and Wayne in the south — Expulsion of the British from the Carolinas and Georgia, ....... 196

Chapter XI

American Revolution. — Obstinacy of George III. — Effects of the surrender of Corn'ti'allis — Opposition in parliament — Change of ministry — Sir Guy

X CONTENTS.

Carleton appointed to the command in America — Negotiations at Paris — Peace between the United Slates and Great Britain— General pacification in America and Europe — Treatment of American prisoners by the British — The Jersey prison-ship — Depreciation of the continental currency — Discontents of the army— Mutiny of the Pennsylvania line— Outrage committed upon congress— Decisive measures of Washington — The army disbanded — Washington resigns his commission 216

Chapter XII

The Confedkration. — Washington retires to private life — State of the country — Defects of the old confederation — Embarrassments after the termination of the war — Foundation of the Order of Cincinnati — Trouble in the Eastern States — Insurrection of Shays — The militia of Massachusetts raised — Affair of Springfield— Defeat of the insurgents— Tranquillity restored — Plan for a new federal government — Convention of Philadelphia — Formation of the Federal Constitution — Washington elected president— His tour through the country — Hamilton's financial system — United States Bank established — "Vermont admitted into the Union — First census — Indian war — Defeat of St. Clair — AVayne's campaign — Defeat of the Indians — Treaty of Grenville — The Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania — Commencement of the French Revolution — Arrival of ' Genet in the United States — His extraordinary behavior and recall — Jay's treaty — Adams elected president — Hostility of the French Directory — Capture of the Insurgente — Peace with France — Death of Washington, 226

Chapter XIII

Jefferson's Administration. — Purchase of Louisiana — Commercial afi^airs — War Avith Tripoli — Destruction of the frigate Philadelphia — March of General Eaton from Egypt — Capture of Derne — Peace with Tripoli — Affairs with Spain — Burr's conspiracy — Reelection of Jefferson — Troubles with Great Britain — Attack on the Chesapeake — Singular effects of this outrage— Depredations upon American commerce — Paper blockades — Napoleon's Berlin decree — The British orders in council — Mr. Jefferson's gun-boat system — The embargo — Non-intercourse with England — Madison elected president — Erskine's mission — Affair of the President and Little Belt — Revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees and the British orders in council, . 242

Chapter XIV

Settlement of the Western States. — Expedition of Daniel Boone to Kentucky — Henderson's expedition — Indian wars — Battle of Blue Licks — Emigration to the west — Settlement of Tennessee — Settlement of Ohio — Purchase of Indian lands — Expedition of Lewis and Clarke — Intrigues of the British among the Indians — Hostility of Blue Jacket and Tecumseh — Impostures and intrigues of the prophet — Treaty of the Wabash — Negotiations with Tecumseh — Confederacy of the Indian tribes against the United States — Indian murders and robberies — General Harrison marches

CONTENTS. XI

against the Imlians— Battle of Tippecanoe— Defeat and dispersion of the enemy — Flight of the prophet, 258

Chapter XV

War of 1812.— Relations with Great Britain— Bad faith of the British cabinet — Impressment of American seamen — Affair ^f John Henry — Party dissensions — Declaration of war with Great Britain — Mob at Baltimore — Cruise of Commodore Rogers — Chase of the Constitution — Capture of the Guerriere — Capture of the Alert— Capture of the Macedonian — Capture of the Frolic — Capture of the Java — Exultation of the Americans — Military operations by land— Errors of the cabinet — Campaign of General Hull — Invasion of Canada — Capture of Mackinaw by the British — Surrender of Hull's army — Harrison's march — Capture of Fort Defiance — War on the Niagara frontier — Dearborn's armistice — Attack on Queenstown — Misconduct of the New York militia — Affairs on the lakes — End of the campaign of 1812 — Meeting of congress — Negotiations for peace — Reelection of Mr. Madison, 281

Chapter XVI

War of 1812. — Harrison's winter campaign — Massacre at the River Raisin — Affairs on Lake Ontario — Capture of York — Death of General Pike — Capture of Fort George — Disaster at Stony Creek and Beaver Dam — Attack on Sackett's Harbor — War on the Atlantic coast — Devastations of the British in the Chesapeake — Bombardment of Lewistown — Cockburn's marauding expedition — Capture of the Peacock — Loss of the frigate Chesapeake — Loss of the Argus — Capture of the Boxer — Loss of the Essex — War in the west — Defence of Sandusky by Major Croghan — Perry's victory on lake Erie — Harrison's invasion of Canada — Battle of the Thames and death of Tecumseh, 300

Chapter XVII

War of 1812. — Operations on the northern frontier — Wilkinson appointed to the command — Expedition against flloutreal — Affair of Chrystler's Field — March of Hampton — Failure of the campaign — Naval affairs on lake Ontario — Burning of Newark — Capture of Fort Niagara — Burning of Buffalo — Indian war in the south — Massacre at Fort Mimms — Hostile movements of the Creeks — Jackson's campaign — Battle of Talladega — Defeat of the Indians— Battle at the Horse-Shoe Bend— Pacification of the south, 327

Chapter XVIII

War of 1812. — Operations on the northern frontier— Affair of La Cole Mill — Operations on lake Champlain— Naval aflairs on lake Ontario— Capture of a British force at Sandy Creek— Operations on the Niagara frontier—Gallant exploit of Captain Holmes— War on the Atlantic coast- Attack of Saybrook— Gun-boat battle in Long Island Sound— Capture of Eastport— Bombardment of Stonington— Invasion of Maine— Cruise of the Constitution— Capture of the Epervier, Reindeer and Avon— Loss

Zll CONTENTS.

of the Presideui — Capture of the Cyane and Levant — Cruise of the Hornet — Captiire of the Penguin — Gallant exploit of the privateer Armstrong, 346

CHAPTEE XIX.

War of 1812. — l^egotiations for peace — Campaign on the Niagara — Battles of Chippeway and Bridgewater — Affairs in the Chesapeake — Capture of Washington — Attack on Baltimore — Affairs on the Champlain frontier — Invasion of Prevost — Battle of Plattsburg and M'Donough's victory — Invasion of Louisiana — Battle of New Orleans — Peace of Ghent, 364

Appendix

Declaration of Ixdependence, . . . . . . .381

Anecdotes of the Revolution, 386

Chapter I. Introductory Sketch

The following work will be found to contain a complete history of the American Republic, from that period when the North American states, inspired by a unity of principle, and aiming at a common purpose, combined their sympathies, their aspirations, and their endeavors in a grand national effort, which cemented still more strongly the original ties of kindred blood and common parentage, and led to the great federal miion of the present day. The sources of American history are clear and distinct. The people of this country are not compelled to search for their origin, like most other nations, in the obscurity of barbarous ages and the regions of fiction. Their genealogy is too short ai 'oo well ascertained to admit of the embellishments ana exaggerations of a poetical fancy. At a period comparatively recent, their ancestors, consisting of a few families, were detached from the great mass of the European population, and left to their own resources in a vast wilderness, where they were surrounded by enemies and forced to struggle against every disadvantage. In the short space of two centuries, while some of the older states of Europe have scarcely made any perceptible advances, these few families increased to a great nation, and took their place among the most powerful and enlightened states in the world. The soVirces of national wealth, and the productive powers of man, which are obscurely traced in the slow progress of old and populous communities, are developed here on a gigantic scale. It is a fortunate thing for the philosophic student, that the history of a people whose career has been so singular and instructive, is remarkably 2 full and complete. All the leading events and circumstances which have influenced the fortunes or character of the people of this country, from the first settlement of a few forlorn emigrants, down to the present day, are within the reach of investigation; and the steps of that unexampled progress, by which a handful of men have expanded to a mighty nation, can be accurately and satisfactorily traced.

North America was discovered by John Cabot, in 1498. He then held a commission from Henry the seventh, of England, to make discoveries and take possession of new territories in the name and in behalf of the king of England. Acting upon the principles then current in Europe, that all countries inhabited by heathens became the property of any Christian power that first discovered them, the British sovereign maintained his claim to the northern part of the new world. Though Queen Elizabeth and James I. denied the authority of the pope to give away the country of the infidels, yet they so far adopted the fanciful distinction between the rights of heathens and the rights of Christians, as to make it the foundation of the respective grants by which they conveyed the several portions of the territory of North America to their own subjects. They freely gave away what did not belong to them, with no other proviso than that "the territories and districts so granted, be not previously occupied and possessed by the subjects of any other Christian prince or state." The first English patent which was given for the purpose of colonizing the country discovered by Cabot, was granted, by Elizabeth, to Sir Humplirey Gilbert, in 1578. In 1584, she licensed Sir Walter Raleigh to "search for heathen lands not inhabited by Christian people," and granted to him all the soil " within two hundred leagues of the places where his people should make their dwellings and abidings." Under his auspices a small colony took possession of a part of the American coast, which now forms North Carolina; but no permanent settlement was effected till the reign of James the first.

Virginia is the most ancient of the British American colonies ; but the New England settlements were those which exercised the most powerful influence in the western world.

It was a most favorable circumatance for the United States that the country was colonized chiefly by men of the Saxon race. What would have been its situation had it been peopled by any of the southern nations of Europe, is well apparent from the present state of the Spanish American communities. The English, who formed the leading part of the colonists, had been, to a great degree, emancipated from superstition and priestcraft by the Reformation. They had imbibed more liberal ideas in politics than any other nation of the world, and had made greater progress in industry and the useful arts. The first settlers, no doubt, considered their removal to the western continent as a painful sacrifice, but, after they had acquired strength to maintain themselves against the Indians, the advantages of their situation began to appear. An immense territory was spread out before a small number of men, who possessed the skill and industry of a mature society. The colonists left Europe when the effects of industry, the true source of national strength, had begun to develop themselves ; when civil liberty began to be understood and valued ; when religion was stripped of many of its corruptions; when knowledge was advancing, and society was settling on its proper basis.

What was the extent of the obligations by which the colonies were bound to the mother country, is a subject of nice discussion ; whether they arose from nature and the British constitution, or from compact, is a question necessarily connected with many others. While some contended that the king of England had a property in the soil of America, by virtue of a right derived from prior discovery, and that his subjects, by migrating from one part of his dominions to another, did not lessen their obligation to obey the supreme power of the nation, it was inferred that the emigrants to the English colonies continued to owe the same obedience to the king and parliament as if they had never quitted the land of their nativity. But if, as others maintained, the Indians were the only lawful proprietors of the country in which their Creator had placed them, and they sold their claims to men who, as emigrants, had a right to leave their native country, and, as subjects, had obtained chartered permission to do so, it would follow, from these premises, that the obligations of the colonists to the parent state must have resulted more from compact and the prospect of reciprocal advantage, than from natural obligation. This opinion was held by the people of New England, who were the first among the colonists to perceive the encroachments of the royal power, and the foremost in resisting it.

Although Virginia claimed the appellation of the "Old Dominion," in consequence of having received the first English colony in America, yet the settlers there were so deficient in enterprise, ingenuity, hardihood and perseverance, that their establishments remained for a long time in a state of insignificance, and they scarcely deserved the appellation of a regular colony till many years after the settlement in New England. The true history of the United States began here. New England is the quarter from which has proceeded the greatness of the western republic. Plymouth rock is the foundation of American freedom. Religious persecution compelled the English puritans to seek an asylum in the western world. They landed on the shores of Massachusetts in December, 1620. The country was an inhospitable wilderness, and the severities of a North American winter made this wilderness more dreary and appalling. They were at first received by the savage inhabitants with a degree of simple humanity. They smoked with them the pipe of peace, purchased a tract of the uncultivated waste, erected huts on the frozen shore, and established a community on the broadest principles of political liberty. They entered into a voluntary compact with each other, to form a regular society, and drew up a covenant by which they bound themselves to submit to order and subordination. Their jurisprudence was marked with wisdom and dignity, and their simplicity and piety were displayed in the regulation of their police, the nature of their contracts, and the punctuality with which they observed them. They chose their own magistrates, independent of any foreign control. A perfect democracy was founded on the shores of Massachusetts Bay; and this obscure transaction, on which the world did not bestow even a passing notice at the time, now stands chronicled in history as the most important event of the seventeenth century.

From the local situation of the Massachusetts settlers, who were separated by a broad ocean from their kindred of the parent state, and surrounded by a world of savages, a compact with the king of England was thought necessary. A charter was easily obtained, which stipulated, on the part of the crown, that Massachusetts should have a legislative body within itself, subject to no control, except the king's negative within certain limits, to any laws which might be thought prejudicial to the realm of England. Modes of government, nearly similar to that of Massachusetts, were established in most of the other colonies. But the corrupt principles which prevailed in the courts of the Stuart dynasty, quickly followed the emigrants into their distant retreats and disturbed them in the enjoyment of their free institutions. It soon became evident that there was a strong party in England who wished to govern the colonists with a rigorous hand. They discovered their inclinations by repeated attempts to alter and annul the American charters on the most frivolous pretences.

The colonists, and, above all, the New Englanders, looked upon their charters as a voluntary compact between their sovereign and themselves, by which they were bound neither to be subject to, nor to seek protection from, any other prince, nor to make any laws repugnant to those of England. They did not consider the charters as binding them to yield any obedience to a parliament in which they were unrepresented. The prospects of advantage which the emigrants to America expected from the protection of their native sovereign, and the prospect of aggrandizement which the sovereign expected from the extension of his empire, made the one as willing to grant, as the other to receive, the charters ; but neither party reasoned clearly on their nature, nor understood their extent and significance, nor distinctly foresaw their tendencies. For a while the 2* charters opposed a barrier to all open and gross encroachments of tiie mother comitry on the rights of the colonists. Long before the declaration of independence, several of the colonies, on different occasions, had declared that they onght not to be taxed, bnt by their own provincial assemblies, and that they considered subjection to acts of a British parliament, in which they had no representation, as a grievance.

It is particularly worthy of remark, as illustrating the question of the original political rights of the Americans, that, of the whole thirteen colonies which took up arms against the encroachments of the crown, not one was settled at the expense of the government, excepting Georgia, the most recently established and least important of the number. Towards the settlement of that southern frontier, considerable sums had at diflerent times been granted by parliament, but the twelve other provinces had been wholly settled by private adventurers, without any advances from the national treasury. It does not appear, from existing records, that any compensation for their lands was ever made to the aborigines of America, by the crown or parliament of England ; but policy as well as justice led the colonists to purchase and pay for what they occupied.

Another point, important to be kept in mind, is that the first American settlers left England at a period when the dread of arbitrary power was the predominant feeling of the nation. Except in the case of.Georgia, all the colonies obtained their charters between the years 1603 and 16S8. During this period a remarkable struggle between prerogative and privilege commenced, and was carried on till it terminated in a revolution in England, which was highly favorable to popular liberty. The religion of the colonists also nurtHred a love for liberty. They were chiefly protestants, and all protestantism is fovinded on a strong claim to natural freedom, and the right of private judgment. A majority of them were of that class of men, called, in England, dissenters ; their tenets, embracing the most rigid portion of the protestant religion, are hostile to all interference of authority in matters of opinion, and predispose those who cherish them to an inclination for civil liberty.

The inhabitants of the colonies, from the beginning, especially in New England, enjoyed a government very little short of mdependence. They had not only the image, but the substance, of the English constitution. They chose most of their magistrates, and paid them all. They had in effect the sole direction of their internal government. The chief mark of their subordination consisted in their making no laws repugnant to the laws of the mother country ; in submitting their laws to the approbation of the king, and obeying such restrictions as were laid on their trade by parliament. These restrictions were to a great extent evaded with impunity. The other small checks were scarcely felt, and, for a long time, were in no respects injurious to their interests. Under these favorable circumstances the colonies had advanced nearly to the magnitude of a nation, Avdiile the greater part of Europe was almost wholly ignorant of their progress. Some arbitrary proceedings of the governors appointed by the crown, some proprietary partialities or democratical jealousies, now and then interrupted their political calm, but the circumstances of the country afforded but little scope for the intrigues of politicians or the turbulence of demagogues. All this time they were rising higher, and, though not aware of the fact, growing fast to a greater degree of political consequence.