DISCO URSE 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 MORE ESPECIALLY AS 
 
 a ytomoter 
 
 HATURAZ. SL PBYSZOAZ. SOIBNOE. 
 
 Pronounced before the New-York Lyceum . 
 &c. 
 
 BY SAMUEL L. MITCHIL1, 
 
GIFT OF 
 EVGENE 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Character and Services 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, 
 
 WORE ESPECIALLY AS A 
 
 PROMOTER 
 
 OF 
 
 
 
 N ATURAL AND PHYSICAL 
 SCIENCE. 
 
 Pronounced, by request, before the New-York Lyceum of Natural 
 History, on the llth October , 1826. 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, 
 
 A Supporter of his Administration, three years in the House of Representatives, and five 
 in the Senate of the United States; Member of the American Philosophical 
 Society at Philadelphia ; of the American Academy of Arts and 
 Sciences at Boston ; of the Antiquarian Societies at Wor- 
 cester and Nashville ; Member of the Literary 
 and Philosophical Society at New-York ; 
 President of the Association for 
 instructing the Deaf and 
 Dumb, tc. &c. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CARVILL. 
 1826. 
 
 

 Cv 
 
 W. E. Dean, Printer, JVo. 3 Wall-Street. 
 
 1 
 
Lyceum of Natural History, 
 New-York, Oct. 16, 1826. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In compliance witk u Resolution of this Society, we 
 have been appointed a Committee to solicit a copy of your Eulogy 
 upon Mr. Jefferson for publication. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient Servants, 
 
 SAMUEL AKERLY, 
 fyft DELAFIELD, 
 JOHN J. GRAVES. 
 To Dr. S. L. MitchilL 
 
 344868 
 

A DISCOURSE, 
 
 &C. &C* 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 THE removal by death of a citizen who had been elect- 
 ed an honorary associate of this Society, in 1817, has serv- 
 ed as a warning to the surviving members. They have 
 determined, in the spirit of good feeling, to perform an act 
 of respect toward THOMAS JEFFERSON. His name is regis- 
 tered in our book, with those departed worthies Haiiy and 
 Correa ; in honour of whom, with all their virtues and mer- 
 its, we have decreed no ceremonial. Indeed, occurrences 
 of this solemn kind are so frequent that, if funereal dis- 
 courses were to be pronounced upon every defunct indivi- 
 dual, the time and talent of the living would be too much 
 devoted to the deceased. The wisest course, therefore, 
 seems to be, to let the multitude go and rest in their long 
 homes, without expending upon them unnecessary words. 
 
 There are, nevertheless, exceptions to the general remark ; 
 Persons now and then exist, whose lives and actions af- 
 ford materials for the instruction and amendment of the hu- 
 man race. To those who have ceased to be inhabitants of 
 this world it is, probably, a matter of no moment whether the 
 biographer shall celebrate them, or not. Still there is a 
 tribute due to their worth. A good name is part, and a 
 most important one too, of a family inheritance. The hope 
 
6 
 
 Ihat a mrai's legitimate successors will be the better for it, is 
 a strong incentive to worthy exertion. But when to this is 
 superadded, the consideration, that the history of certain 
 persons embraces many of the important events of their 
 age, and exhibits models or patterns for the guidance of the 
 succeeding generations, it becomes additionally proper to 
 note their sayings, to trace their doings, and to shew what 
 they have performed for the benefit or detriment of society. 
 
 In undertaking the task assigned to me by the partiality 
 of the Lyceum, I am fully sensible of its peculiar delicacy. 
 The great and eloquent gentlemen who have preceded me 
 in the same service may be considered as having seized 
 all the important topics, and employed them to the best ad- 
 vantage. When an Everett, a Duer, a Sergeant, a Grandy, 
 and a Wirt, able harvesters, have pre-occupied the field, 
 nothing remains to an humble and distant follower like my- 
 self but to glean the scattered straws they have dropped. 
 Perhaps, huwever, in searching the stubble, it may be my 
 lot to find a few grains worthy of being picked up. 
 
 For fifty years and more he whom we have assembled to 
 honour, has occupied a \\ide space in his native State, 
 in the Fredonian divisions ol IN oith America, in Europe, 
 and throughout the civilized world. His name and influ- 
 ence were even more extensive ; for the savage tribes along 
 our frontier, and the barbarous pirates of Africa had heard 
 of him, and considered him with a sentiment of respect min- 
 gled with fear. Washington and Rush, our countrymen, 
 whose fame has resounded far and near, have been thought 
 by many the only two who could pretend to vie with Jef- 
 ferson. 
 
 It is, as I interpret the commission under which I act, 
 particularly expected that I should enumerate, as far as 
 practicable, the additions he made to the natural and phy- 
 sical sciences ; the undertakings he planned or patronized 
 for their promotion ; and the success that followed the efforts 
 for their enlargement. There can, in my judgment, be no 
 doubt, that he alone has done more for their encouragement, 
 than all the Presidents of the United States severally and 
 
 
jointly. They were very much, almost exclusively, politi- 
 cal men ; but Jefferson was a political man, and a great 
 deal more. His mind comprehended an extensive range 
 of general knowledge ; and he knew better than most men 
 where were the lacunae or gaps. Of course he could take 
 such measures as might be in his power, to fill them. Though 
 he had no greater means than have fallen to the lot of other 
 citizens who have been executive chiefs of states or nations, 
 he has turned his opportunities to much more satisfacto- 
 ry and excellent account- The officer of the government, 
 who has most nearly imitated him in explorations and ex- 
 peditions for enlarging the boundaries of knowledge, is John 
 C. Calhoon, the late Secretary at War. Under the pro- 
 tecting shield of his department, unknown regions were vi- 
 sited, by land and by water, for gaining a better acquain- 
 tance with the aboriginal natives, for repelling hostility and 
 conciliating peace ; for fixing military and trading stations ; 
 for obtaining topographical surveys; for determining the 
 productions and value of the lands ; and, in short, for ac- 
 quiring that knowledge of our dominions which the govern- 
 ment ought to possess. The report of Major Long's voyag- 
 ings and journeyings is a most interesting document, 
 evincing how much had been performed by him and his 
 worthy companions, under the aforesaid patronage. But, 
 it has been told me, that information of a very momentous 
 nature for science is treasured among the archives of the 
 war department, far beyond the reach of geographical and 
 philosophical inquirers. 
 
 I shall not, therefore, trace Mr. Jefferson from his birth 
 to his boyhood ; nor thence through school, college, and 
 profession, by regular steps- I must take him when in the 
 thirty-fourth year of his age, vigorous in understanding, and 
 ardent in patriotism, he made his appearance as a mem- 
 ber of the Continental Congress. 
 
 And, with much restriction I foresee there will be quite 
 enough to occupy my hour ; and if I should be obliged to 
 transgress it, 1 crave your indulgence; less however from 
 personal considerations, than the interesting nature of the 
 subject. 
 
 
8 
 
 There is perhaps no written composition so generally 
 admired by our citizens, as the Declaration of Independence, 
 by our United States of America in congress assembled, 
 on the fourth day of July, 1 776. This famous paper was 
 prepared by a select committee appointed on the llth of 
 June preceding ; consisting of Messrs Jefferson, J. Adams, 
 Franklin, Sherman, and R. R. Livingston. The chair- 
 man has the credit of having composed it. The resolve 
 " that the colonies are and of right ought to be, free and in- 
 " dependent states ; that they are absolved from all allegi- 
 " ance to the British crown ; and that all political connec- 
 " tion between them, is and ought to be totally dissolved," 
 was agreed to on the 10th. On the 1st July, the report 
 was considered in the committee of the whole. This was 
 afterward done on the 2nd and 3rd ; and it was finally 
 adopted on the 4th. For sententious brevity, strong expres- 
 sion, and orderly disposition of the topics, the reading of it 
 always brings to my mind that incomparable performance, 
 the Litany of the Christian church- In this, miserable sin- 
 ners invoke the father of heaven ; in that, suffering subjects 
 submit facts to a candid world. In the latter, the One in 
 Three is entreated to spare from all evil and mischief those 
 who have been redeemed ; in the former, a worldly prince, 
 for a continuance of cruelties, is denounced as a tyrant, and 
 unfit to be the ruler of a free people. In the Litany, the 
 church supplicates blessings and comforts from a being 
 willing to grant them ; in the Declaration, the nation puts 
 at defiance the power that neither pities nor forgives. 
 
 The reputation acquired by this spirited, able, and patri- 
 otic a<"t, was in due time succeeded by his appointment to 
 the office of Governor. While in this situation, he availed 
 himself of the opportunity to procure correct and detailed 
 information relative to almost every department of the 
 State and its Government. It is much to be wished other 
 executive magistrates would follow the example. 
 
 About five years afterwards, that is, during 1 78 1 and 1 782, 
 before the termination of the revolutionary war, were writ- 
 ten his celebrated notes on Virginia. A few copies 
 
soon printed and distributed among his friends ; and a trans- 
 lation, with such modification as the laws of the press ren- 
 dered necessary, was published in France- In 1787, he 
 published the whole, in their original form and language. 
 The work purports to have been written in answer to que- 
 ries proposed to the author, by a foreigner of distinction 
 then residing in the country. These are twenty-three in 
 number- The information, relative to the military and ma- 
 rine force, to counties and towns, to the constitution and 
 laws, to religion and manners, to the public revenue and 
 expence, is not especially needed in the present enquiry. 
 Nor is there any thing very material for our purpose, in the 
 disquisitions on tories, manufactures, commerce, money, 
 histories, memorials, and state-papers. 
 
 But the book treats of several other matters which lie 
 fairly within the province you have allotted to me. On the 
 extent of the commonwealth, he makes a calculation that 
 the area within the boundaries amounts to one hundred and 
 twenty : one thousand, five hundred and twenty-five square 
 miles, which is one third larger than the two islands of 
 Great Britain and Ireland. Though^ to render the con- 
 clusion correct for the geography of the present day, Ken- 
 tucky must be deducted ; as also all the bed and islands of 
 the river Potomac whose southern margin is the Virginia 
 boundary. 
 
 The description of the rivers is instructive as it an- 
 nounces their fitness for navigation ; but the introduction of 
 the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Kaskaskia, the Illinois, the 
 Alleghany, the Muskingum, the Scioto, the Wabash, and the 
 two Miamis, with an account of Virginia, is, as the law- 
 yers say, travelling somewhat out of the record- In his ob- 
 servations on the Mississippi as one of the principal chan- 
 nels of future commerce for the regions situated west of the 
 Alleghany mountains, he speaks of the current as too rapid 
 to be stemmed by the force of wind alone acting upon sails : 
 and decides, that a vessel navigated with oars may come 
 up at any time, and receive much aid from the wind. At 
 the old rate of passing up and down, a batteau went in three 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 weeks from the mouth of the Ohio to that of the Mississippi \ 
 and occupied from two to three months to get back again. 
 The introduction of steam, for propelling boats, has made 
 extraordinary alterations in the conduct of this business 5 
 such as the author, with all his perspicacity, could not be 
 supposed to have foreseen. (Page 7.) 
 
 In his reflections upon the modes of connecting the West- 
 ern waters with the Atlantic Ocean, (page 18,) he discusses 
 the facilities afforded by the Hudson, the Potomac, and the 
 Mississippi itself. Under a conviction that all heavy com- 
 modities will pass down the latter, and that the men who 
 conducted the arks, rafts, and productions with which they 
 were freighted, would go home in light boats or by land, he 
 supposes the main competition will be between the two 
 former. After a laboured comparison, he concludes, like a 
 man of southern interests and feelings, in favour of the Po- 
 lomac ; through a rational deduction from an estimate of 
 distances and of impediments, as they present themselves 
 on both routes. He could not have foreknown, with 
 all his sagacity as a politician and an economist, the com- 
 pletion of a canal, for internal navigation and intercourse, 
 extending from Albany to Bufifaloe, a distance of more 
 than three hundred miles. It was not to be expected he 
 could have predicted that New- York should have perform- 
 ed the work from her own resources, unassisted by the na- 
 tional government or any other auxiliary. There was some- 
 thing far beyond the reach of the most consummate calcu- 
 lation of the time, that the vast work, began on the 4th July 
 in the year 1817, should have been brought to a final con- 
 clusion, on October 26th, 1 825, a little more than seven 
 years after ground was broken. 
 
 Virginia will have the pleasure, reward, and instruction 
 of following so capital a precedent. The book published 
 in quarto by the common council of New- York city, is a 
 splendid exhibition of the canal operations, from their be- 
 ginning to their ending. 
 
 His notices of the mountains are brief, inasmuch as he 
 refers for their particular geography to Fry and Jefferson's 
 
11 
 
 map of Virginia, and to Lewis Evans's analysis ot his map 
 of North America, for the most philosophical views of them. 
 Reference may now be had to Volney's book on the United 
 States, and to Madison's Map of Virginia, for still more 
 recent intelligence. He mentions them truly as not being 
 solitary or scattered confusedly over the State, but as com- 
 mencing at about 150 miles from the sea-coast, and dispos- 
 ed in ridges, one behind the other, in a course nearly pa- 
 rallel with the coast ; that is, N. E- and S. W. ; though 
 rather approaching it as they proceed north-easterly. To 
 the south-west they converge into a single ridge, called the 
 Apalachian mountain. The great dividing chain is the 
 Alleghany, which is not penetrated by any water-course ; 
 while the North Mountain, the Blue Ridge, and other ele- 
 vations, are broken through by James River and the Poto- 
 mac as they force their way south-east wardly. 
 
 The remarks he makes on the moderate height of our 
 mountains are the result of observation- The Peaks of Ot- 
 ter are considered as being about 4000 feet above their 
 base: and these are the most elevated in Virginia. And, 
 to be sure, the round top of the Kaatskill in New- York is 
 only 3804 ; and Killington Peak in Vermont and the White 
 Mountains in New Hampshire, are not sufficiently elevated 
 to be the bearers of perpetual snow, nor to class with the 
 Alps, the Andes, and the other lofty summits of the globe. 
 (See Note A.) 
 
 The passage of the united waters of the Shenandoah and 
 Potomac through the Blue Ridge at Harper's Ferry, is 
 written with the emotion and wonder of a young traveller. 
 The colouring, is so high, that many persons who have been 
 induced to visit the place, have returned with disappoint- 
 ment. I am one of that number, having deliberately exa- 
 mined it in 1812. The scenery is really picturesque and 
 sublime : but, in my judgment, is much inferior to the 
 transit of the Hudson through the Highlands in New- York. 
 
 The substance he mentions as a pumice-stone, that comes 
 floating down the Missouri, is supposed to have been form- 
 ed by the fire of the burning banks, jor plain* as they have 
 
 
12 
 
 been sometimes Called. It is said that beds of ignited coal, 
 near the margin of that copious stream, have scorified some 
 of the overlaying materials, and converted certain of them 
 into this light and porous substance. 
 
 The answer to the fifth query, which treats of cascades 
 and caverns, comprehends the information he had prepared 
 for his friend on those subjects. The only memorable des- 
 cent of water he thinks it worth the while to introduce, is 
 that of the falling spring in Augusta. This proceeds from 
 a source near one of the heads of James river, which, at 
 about three quarters of a mile from the spot from which it 
 gushes, is precipitated two hundred feet into the chasm be- 
 low. The stream, which is 12 or 15 feet broad above, is 
 broken two or three times in its breadth, but not at all in 
 its height ; and at the bottom, there is a space between it 
 and the rock sufficiently wide to permit a visiter to pass 
 dry between them. 
 
 The Lime-stone region is remarkably diversified there as 
 in other countries, by excavations. The hollow and cham- 
 bered spaces are numerous. Among them he particularizes 
 Madison's and Zane's Caves ; the former dripping with 
 water that forms numerous and large stalactites ; and the 
 latter profound enough to preserve an uniform temperature 
 of 57. The Blowing Cave is described as it exists near the 
 Panther Gap, as having a diameter of one hundred feet in a 
 side-hill, and as emitting perpetually a current of air strong 
 enough to prostrate the plants in its passage to the distance 
 of twenty yards. 
 
 He mentions also a blowing cave in the Cumberland moun- 
 tain, which intermits. The theory of both, especially of 
 the former, requires further solution. He next gives a cir- 
 cumstantial account of the natural bridge, as it has been call- 
 ed, over Cedar Creek in Rockbridge County, which affords 
 a public and convenient road across a r vine that cannot 
 be traversed in any other place for a considerable distance. 
 The calcarious material of which this connecting mass con- 
 sists is 45 feet long at the bottom ; and 90 at the top ; it is 
 sixty feet broad in the middle, and wider at the ends ; and 
 
13 
 
 the depth of the fissure, over which the arch expands is 
 more than 200 feet. Chattelleux has given a very good print 
 of it in his book of travels ; and it well deserves the con- 
 spicuous situation it occupies. But when our author pro- 
 nounces it " the most sublime of nature's works," (page 30) 
 he certainly forgot the mountains of Kimmalaya in Tibet, 
 the stormy ocean, the sun and his accompaniment of pla- 
 nets, and the starry firmament at night ; and when he de- 
 clares that " it is impossible for emotions arising from the 
 " sublime to be felt beyond what they are there," he did not 
 recollect the avalanches from the Alps, burying whole vil- 
 lages with ice and snow ; the winds of Arabia, covering en- 
 tire caravans, on their march with suffocating dust ; nor the 
 eruptions of Vesuvius and other volcanos, overwhelming 
 villages and plantations with torrents of melted lava or 
 showers of igneous stones. 
 
 The replies to the sixth query seem, however, to contain 
 the most elaborate and pointed of all his statements. After 
 offering what he knew, concerning the mines and subter- 
 ranean productions, such as gold, lead, copper, iron, plum- 
 bago, coal, emerald, amethyst, marble, limestone, marie, 
 salt, and some others, he mentions the organic remains 
 existing in Shistus, of which there are extensive strata, near 
 the eastern base of the north mountain, presenting the re- 
 semblances of shells. He had received, besides these, pe- 
 trified shells from the sources of the Kentucky river, which 
 bore no resemblance to any he had ever observed on the 
 tide-waters- To account for these oceanic and other re- 
 mains raised so high, and in the Cordilleras, as Abbadia 
 states, to an elevation of 15,000 feet above the main ocean, 
 he quotes the three hypotheses which have been proposed : 
 1. The operation of an universal deluge : 2. In times an- 
 terior to tradition <*r history, a heaving up of the bed of the 
 ocean, by some enormous convulsion of nature with its mol- 
 luscous and other creatures : and, 3. A whimsical notion 
 that the relicks under consideration are erroneously ascrib- 
 ed to animals ; inasmuch as they are mineral formations, 
 assuming by their natural configuration, the shapes of shells ; 
 
u 
 
 at first microscopically small, and afterwards enlarging with 
 the stone ! All these are dismissed as unsatisfactory ; and 
 the phenomena left for his successors to explain. 
 
 After noticing the warm, hot, sweet, and other medicinal 
 springs, he mentions the issues of hydrogenous air, in seve- 
 ral places, capable of being inflamed by a lighted candle, and 
 of burning afterwards for several days without extinction : 
 of the same kind with that which in New- York has been 
 employed by the hunters to boil water for cooking, to supply 
 a village in Chatauge with gas-light ; and a light-house 
 along Lake Erie with an unceasing supply of material for 
 directing navigators on their voyages. He then comes to 
 such enumeration as he has prepared, of vegetables ; re- 
 ferring to Clayton's Flora, as edited by Professor Gronovius, 
 for more minute and detailed particulars. His very brief 
 lists contain the species he names under the titles of medi- 
 cinal, esculent, ornamental and useful for fabrication. 
 There is no harm in observing that the inquirer of the present 
 day will obtain more ample intelligence from the publica- 
 tions of the Michaux, Pursh, Eaton, Torrey, and the recent 
 botanists of our region. 
 
 His great strength is expended on the Zoology of Virgi- 
 nia ; and indeed from the extent of his survey, of the two 
 Americas. Two distinguished Europeans had taken the 
 liberty of undervaluing the climate, and disparaging the pro- 
 ductions of the animal race belonging to the western he- 
 misphere. These were the Count de Buffon, intend ant of 
 the King's Garden and Museum in Paris, and the Abbe 
 Raynal who wrote the History of European settlements in 
 the Indies. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson encounters with great intrepidity and com- 
 plete success the opinion advanced by Buffon, " that the 
 " animals common to both the old and the new world are 
 " smaller in the latter ; that those peculiar to the new are 
 " on a smaller scale ; that those which have been domesti- 
 " cated in both, have degenerated in America ; and, that 
 " on the whole, it exhibits fewer species." The admirable 
 zoologist of France, ought to have known better than to 
 
15 
 
 have published such a crude and wrong-headed deci- 
 sion. He was in an egregious error ; and fashionable as 
 that blunder was, our fellow-citizen has completely exposed 
 and refuted it. This he has effected both by reasoning and 
 by fact ; and on the latter point, has appealed to the final 
 and unanswerable judgment of the balance. That the 
 matters in difference should be fairly displayed, he has ar- 
 ranged the animals under three heads. 1. Such as are 
 aboriginals of both hemispheres: 2. Such as are aborigi- 
 nals of one only : and 3. Such as are domesticated in both. 
 
 The inquiry relative to the first head informs us, that of 
 the twenty-six quadrupeds common to the two continents, 
 7 are reputed larger in America, 7 of equal size, and 1 2 
 not sufficiently examined. The proceeding under the se- 
 cond head has this result ; that there are 1 8 quadrupeds pe- 
 culiar to Europe, while there are 74 peculiar to America 5 
 and that one of these, the Tapir, outweighs all the Euro- 
 peans put together. The conclusion from the third head, 
 that of the quadrupeds domesticated in both countries, 
 such as kine, horses, swine, sheep, &c. is, that with equal 
 food and care, the climate of America will preserve the 
 races of domestic animals as large as the European stock 
 from which they are derived. In short, he may be consider- 
 ed as having obtained a glorious triumph over the prepos- 
 session and prejudice he combats. 
 
 He next examines the dogma of the Count which extends 
 the vilifying and deteriorating effect of the American cli- 
 mate to the human inhabitant, and affirms that the man of 
 the western hemisphere, whether indigenous or introduced, 
 is a degenerate being. After an able and satisfactory vin- 
 dication of the Indian natives, he modestly suggests a doubt 
 " whether (page 93) the bulk and faculties of animals de- 
 " pend on the side of the Atlantic on which their food hap- 
 " pens to grow, or which furnishes the elements of which 
 " they are compounded ?" and also, " whether nature has 
 " enlisted herself as a Cis or a Transatlantic partizan ?" 
 For myself, I am persuaded, from careful examination of the 
 evidence, that the men of Asia and America are radically 
 
16 
 
 the same on both continents and their islands ; Malays in 
 the south, and Tatars in the north ; with an intermixture 
 of races between. And, a comparison or a contrast between 
 an European and a Siberian, a Chinese or a Polynesian, 
 would be quite as sensible and edifying as the one institut- 
 ed between that race and the American. 
 
 Having shown that the American native possesses a full 
 proportion of mental energy and corporeal vigour, he pro- 
 ceeds to the consideration of the paucity of genius and ta- 
 lent, which, according to the Abbe Raynal, characterizes 
 the descendants f European emigrants. " One may well 
 " be astonished," says he, " that America has not yet pro- 
 " duced a good poet, an able mathematician, a man of ge- 
 " nius in a single art or a single science." (7 Hist. Phil, 
 p. 92.) This assertion Mr. Jefferson indignantly and com- 
 pletely repels. Still the presumption arid pride of Europe- 
 ans admit of explanation. They were the colonizers of 
 America. The emigrants they sent forth were under their 
 laws and government. For a long time, in many settle- 
 ments, there were very deficient means of education for the 
 children of the emigrants. Offices of almost all kinds were 
 filled by Europeans. The most important civil and military 
 places were occupied by persons of such origin. Preach- 
 ers, schoolmasters, lawyers, and physicians, were abun- 
 dantly supplied from the same sources. The Mother Coun- 
 try and the Father Land were familiar terms, expressive of 
 the dependence of children upon parents ; and in some in- 
 stances, the relation bore a strong resemblance to that sub- 
 sisting between servants and masters. This assumed su- 
 periority begat by degrees a corresponding sense of inferio- 
 rity. The Colonists and their offspring really believed that 
 Europeans of the country from which they themselves de- 
 rived origin, were a more exalted race of men ; and for a 
 long time yielded to their arrogant claims of supremacy. 
 Even now, aft^r the lapse of half a century, the humiliating 
 sentiment has not wholly disappeared ; for it is not yet ob- 
 solete, in mentioning a voyage to Great Britain, to speak of 
 it as " going home." In addition to this circumstance, it 
 
17 
 
 may be observed, that the disasters oflife, the hardships of 
 adventure, the hazards of war, and even the arrival of old 
 age and death itself, are all charged to the infelicity of the 
 climate to which the adventurers were exposed. Thus, 
 the Creoles, or descendants of Europeans, acquiescing in 
 the notion of their own inferiority, were under the necessity 
 of struggling a long time to regain their lost character. It 
 required more than pacific activity and talent ; nothing less 
 would do than the assertion of their discovered and asserted 
 right by force, whereby it was proved to the whole world, 
 that they possessed the moral and physical qualities to bear 
 them to independence through war. Mr. Jefferson, in 
 stepping forward as he did in favour of American power, 
 may be almost said to have proclaimed emancipation a se- 
 cond time. 
 
 His list of birds is confessedly borrowed from Catesby, 
 and nothing at all is given about insects and fishes. 
 
 To his observations on Albinos may be added, that they 
 are varieties happening occasionally in all the races of men. 
 red, white and black ; and that negroes have now and then 
 actually turned white without incurring the tint of Albi- 
 nage. It is worthy of note too, that other animals, such as 
 rats, mice, rabbits, minks, beavers, crows, grakles, robins, 
 and various others are known to display at times this pecu- 
 liar hue, and the corresponding redness of eyes. 
 
 As regards the honey bee, which the author denies to be 
 a native of our continent, Dr. Belknap has sufficiently 
 shown that it is indigenous in the south, and has been im- 
 ported into the north. 
 
 But, next to man, the article of Zoology, which he has 
 laboured with the greatest study, is that of the hugh Mas- 
 todon, called by the Indians the big BufTaloe, and by our 
 white inhabitants, the Mammoth. (Page 55, 62, 73, and seq.) 
 He maintains the doctrine, " that such is the economy of 
 " nature, that no instance can be produced, of her having 
 " permitted any one race of her animals to become ex- 
 " tinct ; of her having formed any link in her great work so 
 " weak as to be broken." He supports, of course, the no- 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 tion that individuals of the Mammoth are yet alive. With- 
 in a very few years, a written communication was made to 
 me from the Prairie du Chien, in which the respectable 
 writer entertained a similar belief. The evidence, never- 
 theless, is far from being conclusive. This enormous ani- 
 mal is now considered by the best judges to be extinct, as 
 scores of other tribes are which have once been inhabitants 
 of the globe. He, however, justly concludes, that the 
 bones and teeth alone should have sufficed to rescue the 
 earth, the animal it inhabited, and the atmosphere it 
 breathed, from the imputation of impotence in the concep- 
 tion and nourishment of animal life on a large scale. 
 
 The caverns abounding with the nitrous acid are some 
 of the very memorable things the State contains. From 
 the experiments made during the late war of 1812 14, up- 
 on the saltpetre they are capable of affording, there is every 
 reason to believe our country wholly independent of every 
 other in this essential ingredient of gunpowder. The caves 
 consist of calcarious carbonate. The bottoms are covered 
 with a layer, several feet thick, of a nitrous earth* It seems 
 to be a nitrate of lime ; for to convert it into saltpetre, it is 
 carried out and put into letch-tubs. Wood is then burned 
 in the immediate vicinity. The potash so formed is dis- 
 solved in water, and poured upon the nitrous earth. By its 
 action, the nitrous acid quits the calcarious earth, joins the 
 potash, and escapes into the receiving- vessel below. The 
 saltpetre so formed is then purified and crystallized for use ; 
 while the spent material is carried back to the cavern for a 
 new impregnation with the nitrous acid. Whence, in the 
 name of science, does this acid proceed ? 
 
 The next memorable event in connection with my sub- 
 ject is his mission, as minister plenipotentiary, to France in 
 1 784. He had prepared the way for a welcome reception 
 there, by an extensive acquaintance with the officers who 
 commanded the fleet and army sent by our great and good 
 ally, Louis XVI., to aid us during our revolutionary war, 
 under Rochambeau and De Grasse ; by the circulation, in 
 the French tongue, of his book, and by the general res- 
 
19 
 
 pectability of character he had attained while there, he ex- 
 tended his knowledge of scientific men and things : he 
 made tours and journeys of observation ; he collected books 
 of rare occurrence and of precious editions, even from the 
 shops and fairs of Germany. I recollect well the minute 
 and detailed history he had written of the grape, and of the 
 several sorts of wine it afforded ; and the whole nation 
 knows how the destruction of the Congressional library at 
 the Capitol by an incendiary enemy was repaired by the 
 purchase of his rich and diversified collection. If his func- 
 tion iii Europe had been confined to the accumulation of so 
 much intellectual treasure, both the present and future ge- 
 nerations ought to be thankful. 
 
 But an event was preparing in his own country which 
 rendered it expedient for him to come home. The political 
 association of the States, which bore them through the 
 revolution, was found incapable of sustaining them with 
 credit and effect afterward. In 1787, a convention of 
 delegates from the States assembled in Philadelphia, 
 and formed a new constitution for the nation. Dur- 
 ing the residue of that and the succeeding year, it was ra- 
 tified by a sufficient number of the States to render it ope- 
 rative. The functionaries of this novel government assem- 
 bled in New- York in 1789. It pleased the President of 
 the United States to nominate Mr. Jefferson Secretary of 
 State. In that capacity he was called upon to prepare a 
 Report on Weights and Measures, pursuant to the powers 
 vested in Congress for regulating the same. In this per- 
 formance he recommended the pendulum as the instrument 
 for finding the standard of Measure ; a method which suc- 
 ceeding calculators and ssavans have not sanctioned. The 
 astronomers and geometricians of France have preferred the 
 mensuration of an arc of the meridian ; the ten millionth of 
 which they recommended for the purpose. Yet even this, 
 after seven and more years of labour performed by some of 
 the most scientific men that ever honoured human nature, 
 has failed in a great degree to accomplish its object. Dif- 
 ficulties, hitherto insuperable, have stood in thb way. In 
 
20 
 
 1817 the Senate of the United States referred the subjeci 
 to John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State ; who, in 
 1821, made them a return highly indicative of his industry 
 and research. Indeed, without comparing this exercise 
 with any other performed by the same distinguished indivi- 
 dual, I may observe, if he had written nothing else while he 
 held that office, he would deserve to be quoted with respect 
 and honour. After giving the history of the particulars 
 which signalized the metrical system of France during their 
 revolutionary period, Mr. Adams continues : " the spec- 
 " tacle is at once so rare and so sublime, in which the ge- 
 " nius, the science, the skill, and the power of great confe- 
 " derated nations are seen joining hand in hand in the true 
 " spirit of fraternal equality, arriving in concert atone des- 
 " tined stage of improvement in the condition of human 
 " kind ; that not to pause for a moment, were it even from 
 " occupations not essentially connected with it, to enjoy 
 " the contemplation of a scene so honourable to the cha- 
 " racter and capacities of our species, would argue a want 
 " of sensibility to appreciate its worth. This scene formed 
 < ; an epocha in the history of man. It was an example and 
 " an admonition to the legislators of every nation, and of 
 " all after times." (Page 69.) Adams, on this occasion, 
 silently, as such things are usually and generally passed 
 over, has shown himself worthy of the illustrious university 
 (Harvard in Massachusetts) of which he was a learned and 
 eloquent professor. After all the labour bestowed upon 
 these researches, and the exalted hopes entertained from 
 their accomplishment, he nevertheless proposes (p. 92) that 
 " no present change whatever should be attempted in our 
 " existing weights and measures ; to let the standards re- 
 " main precisely as they are ; and to confine the proceed- 
 " ings of Congress at this time to authorize the executive to 
 " open communications with the European nations where 
 " we have accredited ministers and agents, and to make 
 " such declaratory enactments and regulations as may se- 
 " cure a more perfect uniformity in the weights and mea- 
 " sures throughout the Union* 35 In page 46, there is a re- 
 
21 
 
 specltul allusion to the Report made to the House of Re- 
 presentatives by his predecessor. 
 
 In tracing the eventful life of this distinguished citizen, 1 
 come now to mention his election to the Presidency of the 
 American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia. 
 Here he was the member chosen to fill the chair left 
 vacant by the death of David Rittenhouse. He held 
 the place until he voluntarily withdrew, and gave room for 
 the elevation of Caspar Wistar. To preside over this asso- 
 ciation is, perhaps, as high an honour as can be conferred 
 upon a scientific man in our country. It is the oldest of 
 our institutions of that class, and has laboured with more 
 diligence and effect than any other. In the series of Trans- 
 actions, it has published many papers promotive of know- 
 ledge and creditable to the authors. Nor are the members 
 weary or discouraged. Their labours continue ; and in con- 
 venient progression, an additional volume of valuable mat- 
 ter is added to those which went before. 
 
 I now proceed to mention his memoir printed in the fourth 
 volume of the Society's Transactions, No. xxx. page 
 246 and seq., on the discovery of certain bones of a 
 quadruped of the clawed kind in the western parts of 
 Virginia. The paper was read on the 10th March, 
 1797. This communication seems to have been made 
 while he was Vice-President. In it he states various 
 matters of a memorable kind. They may, perhaps, be best 
 exhibited in the form of an abstract. 
 
 The excellent author mentions the saltpetre caverns in 
 the country situated beyond (reckoning from the Atlantic 
 region) the blue ridge of mountains. In one of these caves 
 of Green Briar County, the labourers, at the depth of two 
 or three feet, dug out some bones, the size and form of which 
 bespoke an animal new to them. It is generally known that 
 the substratum beyond the mountains is limestone, and 
 that the natural excavations abound in saltpetre- From 
 these caverns, some of which are nine miles in extent, this 
 neutral salt is obtained in great quantities. They may be 
 Considered, as already said, the unexhaustible store-houses of 
 
the article, for all future wars and contingences. The bones 
 he procured from his friends, who collected them, consist ot 
 1. a small fragment of the femur, or thigh-bone ; 2. a radius, 
 perfect ; 3. a broken radius, whose two portions can never- 
 theless be adapted \ 4. Three claws and half a dozen 
 other bones of the foot, with a few fragments. He proposes 
 to call the creature, of whose skeleton these are portions, 
 Megalonyx or the Great Claw; a name so happily selected, 
 that it has been adopted by the zoologists. The author 
 endeavours to prove, by ingenious estimates and venato- 
 rial narrations, that the former owner belonged to the Lion- 
 family, but was more than three times as large as the lion. 
 Some of the adventures of the early settlers are told with 
 so much spirit and taste, as, with all their seriousness, to im- 
 press the mind with the stories of bewitching fiction. 
 
 Subsequent enquiry by those who have classified ani- 
 mals according to their organization, has decided that the 
 being to whom these relicks belonged was a member of the 
 Bradypus, or Sloth family ; and that the race seems to be 
 already extinct. It would be foreign to my purpose to in- 
 stitute a formal enquiry wherefore it happens that the Crea- 
 tor should destroy, or doom to destruction, any works of his 
 hands. Every day indicates that individuals of a race ex- 
 pire ; while notwithstanding, the race itself, by the procrea- 
 tive and multiplying power, is perpetuated. In other cases, 
 there is memorable reverse. The individuals of a species 
 drop off until none survive. It is, as I should suppose, be- 
 cause in the judgment of the ALL-WISE, it ought to be so ; 
 we ought to submit reverently to the decision. I feel singu- 
 lar satisfaction in stating to you, that through the active in- 
 strumentality of Professor Harlan, a member of this society, 
 the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia made a 
 generous donation, worthy of being mentioned with honour, 
 to the New- York Lyceum of the aforesaid peculiar articles. 
 In connection with the subject, the mention is unavoidable 
 of another extinct species of the Bradypus, called the Ma- 
 gatherium ; one specimen of which, as to bony structure, 
 disinterred in Paraguay, is preserved in the King of Spain's 
 
23 
 
 museum in Madrid. And the partial skeleton of another j 
 found on Skiddaway Island, Georgia, having been reported 
 to us, our associate William Cooper, Esq. has procured all 
 the articles he could, and registered the facts in our annals ; 
 and the bony relicks in our museum, together with some of 
 the teeth, prove that the remains of this quadruped, hereto- 
 fore only known by his fossil relicks found in the southern 
 hemisphere, has also been an inhabitant of about an equal 
 latitude in the northern- Mr- Hackley, late Consul of our 
 United States in the capital of Spain, obligingly forwarded 
 an elegant print of the skeleton from the bank of the river 
 La Plata : so that, putting all the articles of intelligence 
 together, our Cabinet contains good pieces of Megatherian 
 and Megalonic relicks. 
 
 It is proper to observe that there is a particular descrip- 
 tion, with figures, of these bones, which had been deposited 
 in the museum of the society, in the same volume, page 
 526 and seq by an able anatomist, Dr. Caspar Wis- 
 tar, the late Professor in the University of Pennsylvania. 
 After full examination, he decided in a manner since deem- 
 ed correct by Cuvier and the other recent zootomists, that 
 the Great Claw of Virginia belonged to a creature different 
 from that of Paraguay. 
 
 The next of his publications of a scientific character is 
 intitled the Description of a Mould-board of the least re- 
 sistance, (printed in the same volume, No. xxxviii. page 313 
 and seq.) and of the easiest and most certain construction, 
 taken from a letter to Sir John Sinclair, President of the 
 Board of Agriculture at London. It was read on the 4th 
 May, 1798. Herein he describes in detail how this part of 
 the plough may be constructed so as not only to raise, but 
 to turn over the sward. He affirms that five years trial had 
 convinced him that it answered in practice what it promis- 
 ed in theory. If elevating the sod was all, the wedge would 
 do the business. But as the sod is to be turned over, one 
 edge of the wedge is not to be raised at all ; while the other 
 edge is to be raised until it passes the perpendicular, that 
 the sod may fall by its own weight. And that this may be 
 
 
24 
 
 done so as to give the smallest resistance, it must be made 
 to rise gradually from the moment the sod is received. The 
 Mould-board then, in this second office, operates as a trans- 
 verse or rising wedge, the point of which sliding back hori- 
 zontally on the ground, the other end continues rising till it 
 passes the perpendicular. He gives precise directions how 
 to form such a Mould- board, which, he says, may be made 
 by the coarsest workman, after a process so exact, that its 
 form shall never be varied a single hair's breadth. It is to 
 be regretted that the several figures illustrating the method 
 do not accompany the memoir- I remember well the wood- 
 en model he used to show at Washington. Considering the 
 plough the most useful instrument invented by man, he was 
 desirous of contributing his labours for its improvement, 
 under a conviction that its perfection could not be deemed 
 an idle speculation. 
 
 This is the place, in the order of events, to mention his 
 proceedings under a Resolve of Congress approved on the 
 16th April 1800, relative to the copper mines (as they were 
 then called) on the south side of Lake Superior. Mr. Jef- 
 ferson was then Vice-President of the United States. The 
 exaggerated accounts of vast beds of that metal, lying bare 
 on the earth and beds of rivers, led to the adoption of this 
 provision. It " authorized the President to employ an 
 " agent, who should be instructed to collect all material in- 
 " formation concerning the copper mines on the south side 
 " of Lake Superior, and to ascertain whether the Indian 
 " title to such lands as might be required for the use of the 
 " United States, be yet subsisting ; and if so, the terms on 
 " which the same can be extinguished : and that the said 
 " agent be instructed to make report to the President in such 
 " time, as the information he may collect be laid before 
 " Congress at their next session-" The person appointed 
 for this service drew a sum from the Treasury as an outfit, 
 and he delayed the expedition too long to present the 
 report within the specified time. Meanwhile Mr. Jeffer- 
 son himself became President ; and&eing satisfied the mis- 
 sion was idle, and, if needful, in improper hands ; directed 
 
a suspension of the proceedings, and an account to tho 
 Treasury for the money. (See Note B.) 
 
 I come now to an event which ranks among the most 
 memorable of his administration the acquisition of Louisia- 
 na. The western and southern boundaries of our national 
 territory had always been matter of anxiety and doubt. 
 When Mr. Jay negociated the treaty at Madrid, the Span- 
 iards claimed the greater part of the country situated to the 
 westward of the Alleghany Mountains. I have seen a map, 
 on which was a painted line to that effect, made by the 
 Duke D'Aranda's own hand. Our able minister, however, 
 succeeded in settling the middle of the river Mississippi as 
 the boundary, from its source to the 3 1st degree of latitude ; 
 but beyond that, Spain possessed the whole jurisdiction and 
 navigation of the stream to its junction with the gulf. This 
 power was always a subject of uneasiness to our people, 
 and occasionally of discontent. The produce of the west- 
 ern states could not reach the ocean, without the permission 
 of a foreign government. Indeed, it became necessary to 
 solicit a place of deposit there ; and likewise to establish a 
 hospital for sick boatmen and adventurers. The order of 
 an intendant had interrupted this arrangement, and thrown 
 our citizens inhabiting the trans- alleghanian lands into se- 
 rious alarm. With the progress of population and increase 
 of labour, the difficulty appeared to invite force, if the im- 
 pediment could not be removed by milder means. 
 
 A method of attaining a result so desirable occurred 
 during the year 1803. France, under the Buonapartean 
 rule, was now in great want of money ; and it was contriv- 
 ed to raise fifteen millions of dollars by the acquisition and 
 sale of Louisiana. On this occasion, it may be proper to 
 mention a few particulars relative to title and extent. That 
 vast region, comprehending the Mobile settlements, had 
 been colonized by the French. The grants to Messrs. 
 Crozat, Law, and others, having been relinquished in the 
 year 1731, the French monarchy ceded so much of the pro- 
 vince as lies beyond the Ibberville river, including the Is- 
 land New Orleans, by a secret treaty m 1762^ to Spain : 
 
 D 
 
2J6 
 
 and by the general treaty of peace which followed the Ca- 
 nadian war in 1 763, the whole territory of France and 
 Spain r eastward of the middle of the Mississippi to the Ib- 
 berville, thence through the middle of that river and the 
 Lakes Maurepas and Ponto Chartrain to the sea, was ceded 
 to Great Britain. Under the former possession by France, 
 the eastern limit of Louisiana was the river Perdido This, 
 under the British sovereignty, was, with some territory situ- 
 ated to the eastward, denominated West Florida. Spain, 
 during the war of our revolution, conquered this and East 
 Florida too from Great Britain, and acquired the right to 
 them both by the treaty of 1783. Afterwards, to wit, in 
 1800, the Catholic King retroceded to France the whole of 
 Louisiana, according to its ancient and proper limits. This 
 having been confirmed by the treaty of Madrid in 1801, the 
 French Government sold the entire province, in its full ex- 
 tent, as heretofore possessed by France and Spain, for the 
 aforesaid sum to our United States. On this occasion it 
 was the good fortune of .Mr. Jefferson to have Robert R 
 Livingston, (see Note C,) as his Minister Plenipotentiary at 
 the Court of France. By vigilance and adroitness in seiz- 
 ing the proper opportunity, and particularly in urging the 
 claims of our merchants upon the French Government for 
 spoliation on their property to the amount of three millions 
 and seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he at length 
 closed the bargain. 
 
 Lawful possession having been acquired on the 20th De- 
 cember 1803, Mr. Jefferson immediately exerted himself to 
 acquire as much information as he could concerning a coun- 
 try of such unknown condition and extent ; and he has 
 thereby placed himself before the world as one of the most 
 substantial promoters of statistical, natural, and physical 
 science. 
 
 He began this work of inquiry, by writing letters to sen- 
 sible persons, requesting them to collect and transmit to the 
 executive the intelligence he sought. These applications 
 brought forward answers to a large amount. As the infor- 
 mation they contained was intended for the nation, through 
 
their representatives in Congress, and the original commu- 
 nications were too rough and voluminous for publication, 
 totidem verbis, the whole mass of documents was put into 
 the hands of a competent person for the purpose of being re- 
 duced to a condensed abstract or compendium- This came 
 forth in print under the title of " An Account of Louisiana ; 
 " being an abstract of documents in the offices of the de- 
 " partments of state and the treasury," &c- With other 
 matters, this very instructive work treats of boundaries, 
 divisions, general description of Upper Louisiana, estimate 
 of the tribes and numbers of the native Indians, the culti- 
 vation of sugar, and the low state of learning. 
 
 Among the alleged facts adduced on this occasion, was 
 the story of a Salt Mountain about one thousand miles up 
 the Missouri, and not far from its bank. This was a sub- 
 ject of much wonder and animadversion at the time. Some 
 persons went so far as to deny its existence. It is certain, 
 nevertheless, the President believed it ; for he exhibited, and 
 even distributed, specimens of the article said to have been 
 brought from the mountain- His correspondents deceived 
 him in this particular. There is no mountain there ; far less 
 a mountain of salt. But salt is so abundant, as in some 
 places to distress travellers for want of fresh water to 
 drink. The real account, as far as I could gather from the 
 Osages,the French settlers, hunters and others, is this : Be- 
 tween the northern branches of the river Arkansa is an ex- 
 tensive plain, called the Salt Prairie. This is several leagues 
 in diameter. The salt springs are constantly oozing out 
 their contents- In the dry season, part of the water evapo- 
 rates, and the salt concretes on the surface like an incrus- 
 tation or a hoar-frost. Marine plants grow there. The 
 place is frequented by innumerable bisons (or buffaloes) 
 in herds. A project has been started for carrying oysters 
 to the Arkansa, for propagation. There is salt without end ; 
 only it does not seem to be, as in some other parts of the 
 globe, heaped into mountains of Sal Gem. Captain Lewis 
 himself assured me that the story of the salt mountain was 
 incorrect. 
 
Pending these negotiations, the foresight of the Presi- 
 dent (of the United States) had procured the enactment 
 of a statute, approved Feb. 28, 1803, denominated " An 
 " Act for extending the external commerce of the United 
 " States." Under the moderate appropriation of two thou- 
 sand five hundred dollars, provision was made for a grand 
 expedition. It will be remembered, to the honour of Mr. 
 Jefferson and the Congress, that this step, with all its bold- 
 ness, was authorized before the treaty for the country was 
 adopted. 
 
 Fully sensible of the importance attached to an acquaint- 
 ance with our territory, he had selected two gentlemen, 
 holding the commission of captains in the army, to conduct 
 the enterprize. The name of one was Lewis, and the other 
 Clarke ; the former distinguished for his astronomical and 
 other scientific attainments, and the latter for his military 
 ability to command, and for that professional tact, which 
 on an emergency demanding something to be done in an 
 instant, enables the agent to decide right. The preparation 
 was begun immediately. The persons employed were, to 
 lessen expence and to ensure success, military men of the 
 army. They returned during 1806. Their instructions 
 were to penetrate as far as the Pacific or great Western 
 Ocean. 
 
 During the expedition, communications relative to the 
 condition and productions of the country were, on all prac- 
 ticable occasions, forwarded to the President. Where that 
 mode of intercourse was not possible, the articles collected 
 were reserved to be brought home by the adventurers in 
 person. They atchieved so much, that I told Lewis one day 
 shortly after his return to Washington, when he dined with 
 me, I looked upon him almost as a man arrived from ano- 
 ther planet. Among other things a better map of the coun- 
 try was prepared than ever had been compiled before. 
 Until then, the best delineation known, probably, was that 
 by the Indians, on the tawed hide of a huge bison, forward- 
 ed to the Government by General Wilkinson. 
 
29 
 
 There was a considerable lapse of time before their jour- 
 nal appeared. The manuscript required revision and 
 amendment. The specimens in natural history stood in 
 need of description and classification. Drawings were in 
 some instances wanted. All these operations required 
 time. Meanwhile a private soldier of the party, named 
 Patrick Gass, published at Pittsburgh an account of the ad- 
 venture in a cheap and brief form ; which, though written 
 by an humble man, served to gratify in a considerable de- 
 gree publick curiosity, and to disclose a number of interest- 
 ing facts. It was several years before the authentic narra- 
 tive came forth : but then it was under the sanction of the 
 noble projector himself. It would be foreign to the object 
 of my appointment to lay before you even an epitome of its 
 contents ; but I may disclose to you, that Lewis thought 
 the signal advantage to be ultimately derived from their 
 geographical and zoological discoveries, would be the esta- 
 blishment of a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia 
 River, for expediting the commerce in furs to China. 
 
 In his message to Congress of Dec. 2, 1&06, Mr. Jeffer- 
 son observes thus : " The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and 
 " Clarke for exploring the river Missouri, and the best com- 
 " munication from that to the Pacific Ocean, has had all 
 " the success which could have been expected. They have 
 " traced the Missouri nearly to its source, descended the 
 " Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, ascertained the geography 
 " of that interesting communication across our continent, 
 " learned the character of the country, of its commerce and 
 " inhabitants ; and the whole party deserve well of their 
 " country." 
 
 The party had started, as I said, in 1803, and returned in 
 1 806. Lewis was rewarded by being made Governor of 
 Upper Louisiana territory, now the State of Missouri. An 
 attempt was also made to compensate Clarke by promoting 
 him from the rank of Captain to that of Colonel ; but the 
 senate negatived the President's nomination. This gallant 
 officer then went to his native State, Kentucky, where he 
 was requested by Mr. Jefferson to cause the ground near 
 
30 
 
 the Salines, called the Bigbone Licks, to be dug tip ; and 
 the fossil relicks to be forwarded for him to Washington ci- 
 ty. This was so faithfully executed during 1 807, that a 
 consignment which arrived in the Potomac early in March 
 1808, by the way of New-Orleans, was charged with ex- 
 pences for transportation, &c. to the amount of three hun- 
 dred dollars. The collection was probably the most exten- 
 sive that was ever seen together at one display. As they 
 lay on the floor of one of the great saloons in the President's 
 honse, the present narrator surveyed them in company with 
 the owner ; and methodized them under the following heads: 
 1 . Many dozens of the smaller bones, apparently of the 
 mastodon, which seem to have been parts of the feet, and 
 might serve to complete the whole compages belonging to 
 those parts, by enabling anatomists and zootomists to com- 
 plete the osseous remains thereabout ; 2. Bones of the legs ; 
 3. Bones of the head and upper jaw ; 4. Two kinds of 
 teeth, very large and detached from the sockets some of 
 the mastodon and others of the elephant ; 5. Fragments of 
 the lower jaw, with grinders in their proper place ; 6. An 
 enormous tusk, much larger than that of the elephant : 
 though decayed at both extremities, it was ivory ; 7. Seve- 
 ral smaller tusks- the least of which was three feet long; 
 they possessed great specific gravity, were decayed and 
 broken at the ends, and disposed to crumble and drop to 
 pieces by exposure to the air; 8 Ribs of the shape common 
 to mastodon skeletons; 9. Skulls and clints of bisons, dis- 
 interred with the preceding ; 10. Very large vertebrae. 
 (See Note D-) It was understood at the time, that he ar- 
 ranged these fossil bones into three parcels ; one of which 
 he kept himself, one he sent to Philadelphia, and the other to 
 Paris. The Count De la Cepede's letter, (dated Sept. 1 808), 
 on receiving information of the gift to the national institute 
 of France, is now before me. It attaches peculiar value 
 to the articles, and states that they should be deposited in 
 the royal museum of natural history, for the most effectual 
 gratification of public curiosity. The donation evidently 
 
31 
 
 paved the way for his election to the exalted situation of a 
 foreign member of the national institute. 
 
 With a determination to acquire further knowledge of 
 the new territory annexed to the United States, Mr. Jeffer- 
 son, in August 1 805, sent Lieutenant, (afterwards General) 
 Pike, with a military escort, to trace the Mississippi from 
 St. Louis to its source. He visited Leech Lake and Red 
 Cedar Lake, two of the high sources of that river. The 
 latter of these lakes is not more than two leagues distant 
 from some of the waters running into Hudson's bay. Its 
 latitude was 47 42' 40" N- ; and the longitude 95 8' W. 
 from Greenwich- The time employed in this service was 
 not quite nine months- The report made to the Govern- 
 ment was accompanied with a map. 
 
 This intelligent and enterprising officer had succeeded so 
 well, that in 1806 he was sent upon another mission for the 
 purpose of making discoveries. He started from St. Louis, 
 and travelled to the Osage towns and the Kanza villages 
 as a peace-maker, and passed the country to the Arkansa, 
 where the party divided ; one section under Lieut. Wilkin- 
 son descending toward the Mississippi, and the other un- 
 Lieut. Pike himself ascending toward the source. After 
 visiting the river Platte and returning to the Arkansa, he 
 made an attempt to find the Red River ; but labouring un- 
 der a mistake in regard to its true source, he went so far to 
 the westward as to miss it altogether ; and to his great sur- 
 prize, found himself within the Spanish settlements near the 
 banks of the Bravo or Rio del Norte, where he was made 
 a prisoner and called a spy ! The general idea he gave of 
 the vast regions he traversed is that of the most dismal ste- 
 rility. Their aspect uninviting and inhospitable in the ex- 
 treme. For many a day's journey in succession there is 
 not a tree, and scarcely a shrub, to relieve the dreariness of 
 the scene- Waste and sandy deserts occupy the principal 
 spaces between the great rivers. Those extensive and level 
 regions are in many places so impregnated with salt, that 
 the streams are sometimes too briny to be drunk : and the 
 water even capable of being evaporated for the purpose of 
 
32' 
 
 obtaining that article. The wilderness of Louisiana has 
 thus a near resemblance to the deserts of Arabia, the plains 
 of Tatary, and Zaara of Numidia ; and by its savageness 
 and expanse, it will be capable of forming a wide and last- 
 ing barrier between our United States and their neighbours 
 to the west and south. This nakedness of the country 
 does not appear to be the consequence of fires in the woods 
 changing the forests to savannas, but of the natural steri- 
 lity of the soil ; owing, in many spots, to its impregnation 
 with salt, producing a coarse and scattered grass that serves 
 to feed the herds of bisons roaming over these dreary tracts. 
 From the scarcity of wood, it was sometimes necessary to 
 collect the dung of these animals for fuel. There is great 
 scarcity of dew and rain. Between the Kanza and the 
 Bravo, the Indians wage exterminating wars ; and Lieut. 
 Pike informed me, so shy and wary were the inhabitants, 
 that for a distance of between 700 and 800 miles between 
 the two rivers, though he saw a few times tracks and ves- 
 tiges of men, he did not behold a human creature all the 
 way, but his own people. 
 
 Intent upon exploring the country, an expedition up the 
 Red River was confided to Mr. Freeman ; which, though 
 conducted with zeal and prudence meriting entire approba- 
 tion, was not equally successful. For, after proceeding up 
 it for about six hundred miles, nearly as far as the French 
 settlements had extended, the geographers were obliged to 
 return without completing their work. 
 
 I mention another instance of the unceasing efforts he 
 made to ascertain the condition and worth of the purchase. 
 In October, 1804, Messrs. Dunbar and Hunter proceeded 
 up the Washita or Black River. After visiting the station 
 called Fort Miro in 30 30', and various other places, amidst 
 many difficulties among shoals and rapids, they at length 
 reached the hot springs situated toward the source of the 
 river, in lat. 34 31'. Their journal was illustrated by a 
 map* (See Note E.) 
 
 The lead mines, situated west of the Mississippi, are pro- 
 bably the most abundant on the face of the globe. That 
 

 metal is so very important in its relation to the arts, anil es- 
 pecially to the operations of war, that it is particularly de- 
 sirable a nation should possess a domestic and abundant 
 supply of it. Mr. Jefferson therefore procured in 1804, an 
 account of their names and localities from Moses Austin, 
 Esq. which he laid before Congress in a printed form. The 
 subject has since been treated more at large by Mr. School- 
 craft. It is memorable for having given rise to the noto- 
 rious stock-jobbing project of Mr. Law, a little more than 
 a century ago. The ore is a galena, or a combination of 
 the metal with sulphur. Great quantities of lead are ex- 
 tracted for supplying the western States, and for the con: 
 sumption of the Atlantic region, by exportation through 
 New Orleans. It is affirmed that the working of this mi- 
 neral has wrought a remarkable change in fhe manners of 
 the Indians around the Prairie des Chiens. As the wild 
 animals became scarce, these aboriginal tribes grew poor 
 and necessitous. But they at length discovered that lead 
 would purchase for them at the factories, blankets, vermil- 
 lion, and other things, quite as well as furs and skins. At 
 first they carried the crude ore to the traders ; but these 
 men, to avoid the trouble and expence of melting out the 
 metal, refused after a while, to receive the galena in pay- 
 ment, and thereby compelled the natives to reduce it. And 
 thus, by a sudden and peculiar transition, hunters were chang- 
 ed to metallurgists. 
 
 He deserves honourable noticafor ajecomfnemimg^o Cpn- 
 gress the establishment of a National University. This 
 measure, however, though urged in strong terms, never met 
 the approbation of the national legislature. Some mem- 
 bers entertained doubts of its constitutionality ; while others 
 thought that seminaries of learning ought generally to be 
 patronized by the States respectively. Such was the dis- 
 like of the project, that, on one occasion, during a subsequent 
 administration, when I acted as chairman of a select com- 
 mittee on the paragraph of the executive message relative 
 to a national university, there were only two members out of 
 seven in its favour, and the chairman was made to perform 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 the hard service of preparing a report unfavourable to the 
 object, and adverse to his own opinion. All that has been 
 done, is the incorporation of a college, under another title, 
 at Washington city. 
 
 " Education," he observes in his message of December 2, 
 1806, " is here placed among the articles of public care ; 
 " not that it would be proposed to take its ordinary branch- 
 " es out of the hands of private enterprise, which manage 
 " so much better all the concerns to which it is equal ; but 
 " a public institution can alone supply those sciences, 
 " which, though rarely called for, are yet necessary to com- 
 ." plete the circle, all the parts of which contribute to the 
 " improvement of the country, and some of them to its pre- 
 " serration. The subject is now proposed for the consi- 
 " deration of Congress ; because, if approved, by the time 
 " the "State legislatures shall have deliberated on this ex- 
 " tension of the federal trusts, and the laws shall be passed 
 *' and other arrangements made for their execution, the ne- 
 " cessary funds will be on hand and without employment. 
 " J suppose an amendment to the constitution, by consent 
 " of the States, necessary ; because the objects now recom- 
 * c mended (meaning roads, rivers, canals, &c.) are not 
 i{ among those enumerated in the constitution, and to which 
 *' it permits the public monies to be applied. The present 
 " consideration of a national establishment for education 
 " particularly, is rendered proper by this circumstance also, 
 " that if Congress, approving the proposition, shall think it 
 "more eligible to found it on a donation of lands, they 
 " have it now in their power to endow it with those which 
 " will be among the earliest to produce the necessary in- 
 ' come. This foundation would have the advantage of be- 
 ' ing independent on war, which may suspend other im- 
 u provements, by requiring for its own purposes the re- 
 " sources destined for them.' 7 
 
 Though he held just ideas of the animal economy, and 
 understood as well as any body the art of living, yet he does 
 not appear to have laboured much in the cause of medicine. 
 Yet there are two occasions on which he came forward ; 
 
35 
 
 one was, on the substitution of the cow-pock for the Vario- 
 lous disease ; when it was said, and I believed it, that so 
 zealous was he in its favour, that he vaccinated numbers 
 with his own hand. The other was, notice of the yellow fe- 
 ver, in one of his messages, as a malady confined to tide-wa- 
 ters, and not originating or spreading beyond their reach or in- 
 fluence. The sentiment is in unison with the views of those 
 persons who believe it invariably a disease of foreign parts, 
 and of introduction from the sea-ports of the south. It co- 
 incides with the sanitary statutes and regulations of the 
 State legislatures, who have generally and substantially en- 
 acted the provisions of the Marseilles' code, for guarding 
 Christendom against the plague of the Mahometans. 
 The same tide- water principle has been urged very forcibly 
 in a late publication by the Chevalier Beauregard of Paris, 
 who affirms that the yellow fever never spreads beyond four 
 or five leagues from the oceanic swell. 
 
 It may be proper to mention iiere an anecdote of the wa- 
 riness with which he sometimes credited intelligence. It is 
 well known that in December 1807, there was a descent 
 of stones from the atmosphere to the earth in the towns of 
 Fairfield, Weston, and Huntington, Connecticut, immedi- 
 ately consequent upon the explosion of a fiery meteor- My 
 correspondents, Holley and Brunson, who went early on a 
 tour of exploration, wrote me an account of their adven- 
 ture, and sent me by the mail a specimen of the aerolite. I 
 was then at Washington city attending the session of Con- 
 gress, and received the intelligence, with the article, a day 
 sooner than any person ; even before the representatives of 
 Connecticut knew any thing about the occurrence. The 
 news excited great sensation, particularly as the whim was 
 then prevalent that these productions were ejected from the 
 moon by volcanic fire The curiosity of a senator who 
 lodged at the same house with myself was worked to a high 
 pitch. He had accepted an invitation to dine with the Pre- 
 sident that day ; and he induced me, by earnest solicitation, 
 to lend him the letter and its accompaniment for communi- 
 cation to the philosopher of Montecello. He returned from 
 
nie party indignant at the reception of his story. He said 
 it produced the most perfect sang froid, or provoked a sort 
 of scornful indifference : and that J. said he could answer it 
 in five words. The gentleman desirous of knowing what 
 they were, was told they were these it is all a lie. To my 
 friend then I replied, they had so imposed upon him in rela- 
 tion to the mountain of salt, that he seemed to be resolutely 
 on his guard against a trick by a shower of stones. 
 
 It is now time to mention the discussion that took place 
 in February 1 804, relative to the extent and boundaries of 
 Louisiana. It had been the lot of the person who now ad- 
 dresses you to act in the capacity of chairman to a select 
 committee appointed by the House of Representatives to 
 enquire into the expediency of enabling the President of the 
 United States to cause certain remote and unknown parts 
 of Louisiana to be explored. During the performance of 
 that service he held official conference with the chief execu- 
 tive about the business. In determining the limits, the 
 chairman observed, that beside the tracts on the east side 
 of the Mississippi, it included all the regions lying to the 
 westward thereof, to the dividing ridge called the Shining 
 or Rocky Mountains ; and beyond that chain quite to the 
 Pacific Ocean, occupying all the space between the territo- 
 ries claimed by Great Britain on one side and by Spain on 
 the other. To this proposition 1 objected that the claim 
 was extravagant, and the vast tracts lying on the eastern 
 slope of those mountains, as watered by the streams falling 
 into the Mississippi, with as much coast as we could procure 
 along the gulf, was, in all conscience, enough. After some 
 further conversation, he concluded that if I chose to report 
 according to my own plan, he saw no actual harm in it ; 
 for in the present case, as in a declaration at law, under a 
 large demand, any smaller amount might be recovered. I 
 reported so ; the money was appropriated, the explorations 
 went on, and public opinion has ever since sanctioned the 
 doctrine that the purchase rightfully reaches quite through 
 to the ocean of the west. (See Note F.) 
 
 It here becomes me to notice the project begun under 
 
reign of Washington, and continued beyond that of Jeffer- 
 son, for civilizing the Indians. There were two methods of 
 proceeding toward these people ; one warlike ami extermi- 
 nating ; the other pacific and civilizing. Both had their ad- 
 vocates. After mature deliberation, and after the defeats 
 of Harmar and St. Clair, it was resolved to make an over- 
 ture of a friendly nature ; first, to the numerous tribes of the 
 Cherokees, and afterward to the more powerful bands of the 
 Creeks. Benjamin Hawkins, a senator in Congress from 
 North Carolina, consented to undertake the bold and dubi- 
 ous mission. Among the former, the experiment has so far 
 succeeded that they hold property in severally, cultivate 
 land, raise cotton and manufacture it into cloths, own cat- 
 tle, horses, andnegroe slaves, keep ferries, support schools 
 for reading and writing, count monied currency, and have 
 stationary settlements. The latter too had made admirable 
 advances, but their promising progress toward the domestic 
 and useful arts was sadly interrupted by the death of Colo- 
 nel Hawkins, by feuds and quarrels among themselves, and 
 by the severe and desolating war in which they and their 
 bad advisers implicated themselves with our United States. 
 The narrative of this distinguished citizen, who possessed 
 singular talent and zeal for the work, ought to be known to 
 every philanthropist. (See Note G.) 
 
 The latter years of his life were industriously devoted to 
 the furtherance of riteraTure and science in his native State. 
 Measures had been adopted during the latter part of the 
 17th century to establish a college in the colony ; and the 
 English sovereigns, William and Mary, distinguish to this 
 day the august personages who were honoured as patrons. 
 But its location, however judicious it might have been con- 
 sidered at the time, was by no means conducive to its ulti- 
 mate prosperity. Williamsburgh was, in the course of events, 
 forced to yield its seat of government to Richmond, as more 
 salubrious and central. The same reasons which took away 
 the representatives of the people from this spot as a place 
 for legislative deliberation, withheld many of the most 
 wealthy planters from sending their sons to it as a semina- 
 
38 
 
 ry of education. An opinion was rationally formed by the 
 citizens who inhabited the lands above the flow of the es- 
 tuaries and beyond the rapids of the rivers, that the high 
 country was preferable to the low, for a temple of the 
 Muses. Virginia had pride and feeling enough to wish for 
 a university of its own. Snli, for a century and more, there 
 were insuperable difficulties in the way. Williamsburgh, 
 by degrees, assumed the appearance of a deserted village, 
 or decayed borough ; surrounded by lands exhausted by til- 
 lage, depreciated by governmental desertion, oppressed by 
 a slave population, and remote from the route of travelling, 
 the resort of fashion, and centre of business : the proper- 
 ty of the college, indeed, remained ; but what could that 
 avail without students? It had been the custom of parents 
 to send a portion of their sons to Europe for instruction, 
 and other portions to institutions in the neighbouring States. 
 In fine, the termination of Mr. Jefferson's political career 
 happened when the crisis of literary depression had arriv- 
 ed. He became satisfied it was high time to make an ef- 
 fort honourable to himself, useful to the commonwealth, and 
 beneficial to families, in a healthy and accessible situation, 
 where the male youth might be trained to all the studies 
 preparatory to the civic, professional, official and military 
 duties of life. He may, I believe, without disparaging the 
 labours of any other gentleman, be pronounced the " auc- 
 " tor, promoter, et perfector Operis ;" the man without whom, 
 the undertaking would never have been begun, or, if com- 
 menced, would have incurred a failure. The site having 
 been fixed near his own residence, he gave the plan and 
 the construction an extraordinary space of his personal su- 
 perintendance. His influence and example seem to have 
 had a powerful effect upon private and public feeling ; in- 
 somuch that requisite funds were procured and applied ; 
 and the ancient dominion, as Virginia has been quaintly 
 denominated, now contains within her own precincts, a well 
 endowed corporation, with the title and authority of a uni- 
 versity. 
 I believe I have noticed, however briefly, the principal 
 
39 
 
 events of his life that have a bearing upon the physical and 
 natural sciences. Yet other matters remain to be mention- 
 ed. 
 
 He seems to have been blessed with a good organization 
 that bore him fourteen years beyond the threescore and ten 
 allotted to man, without memorable disability of any kind. 
 Even the penmanship of his latter days bears evidence of 
 a clear eye, a steady hand, and a discriminating mind. No 
 mortal knows the term of his existence here. It is a high 
 felicity for such as are doomed to protracted vitality, to es- 
 cape the pain and languor of disease ; for, without at least 
 a moderate degree of health, I can discover very little to 
 enjoy in this world. 
 
 Such a good frame enabled its possessor to be industri- 
 ous, and at the same time rendered industry operative and 
 effectual. He probably lost fewer hours and minutes than 
 most men. His capacity embraced so many objects, that 
 in city or country, alone or in company, at home or abroad, 
 there was always something upon which it might be exer- 
 cised. There was neither need nor room for idleness ; for 
 in the constant succession of, objects, torpor, lassitude, and 
 ennui had no admittance. Perhaps the adage, /TJ^XW -mXa 
 f^a0*vwv I grow old learning many things, was seldom bet- 
 ter illustrated. 
 
 Much, therefore, of his writing was done by his own pen. 
 It could scarcely be supposed by those who did not know 
 him, how much paper he covered with manuscript. Even 
 messages to Congress and communications to the Senate, 
 that might have been well enough done by a secretary, of- 
 ten bore the autograph of the President. 
 
 From this habit of business, though always occupied, he 
 was seldom or never in a hurry- He was easy of approach ; 
 and rarely secluded himself from the visits of those who 
 wished to see him. He kept his work so much a-head, that 
 he could patiently hear communications at full length, and 
 either answer them, or put them in a train for considera- 
 tion. 
 
 His topics of knowledge were so ample and various that he 
 
40 
 
 could converse agreeably on almost any subject. On those 
 of which he had acquired the mastery, it was instructive to 
 listen to him ; where his attainments were less, he was still 
 a pleasing colloquist ; and if he sought information, no one 
 knew better the art of listening and inquiring than he. His 
 faculty of recollection was very ready ; and that which he 
 did not instantly call to mind he knew where to go and 
 find. I have known one of his political adversaries, during 
 the rage of the bitterness and violence which prevailed du- 
 ring his administration, enter into his presence with a senti- 
 ment formed from the Opposition gaxettes, as if he was go- 
 ing to see a fury or a monster, and return from the inter- 
 view undeceived and disappointed, praising him as a well- 
 bred and well-informed gentleman. 
 
 It can now be comprehended in some measure how he 
 attained his happy power of epistolary composition ; I mean 
 particularly the art or knack, if I may so call it, of answer- 
 ing written communications. He attained a proficiency in 
 this, which perhaps was never equalled, certainly not sur- 
 passed by any one. He was addressed by persons who were 
 strangers to him, as well as by those whom he knew, on an 
 almost endless diversity of subjects ; and where the manner 
 was respectful he generally took some notice of the appli- 
 cation. In these exercises, which have been extensively 
 spread before the public, he has given numberless proofs 
 of his admirable, I may almost say, inimitable powers of 
 language and expression. I know no compositions in that 
 way which surpass his. He had the scavoir dire, et It sea- 
 voirfaire ; or, in other words, the true mode of explanation 
 and exhibition of himself to folks, in the most becoming and 
 winning mode. (See Note H.) 
 
 Among the subjects of conversation, I take this oppor- 
 tunity of mentioning one which is rather of an uncommon 
 nature. It relates to anonymous, abusive, and threatening 
 letters. In the course of my public life I had been assail- 
 ed repeatedly by such missiles. I told this to Mr. Jefferson, 
 and asked if he had not experienced the like. He had re- 
 ceived a great number of such epistles ; some filled with ma- 
 
41 
 
 iedictions, some replete with denunciations, and others 
 menacing even murder and assassination. I told him my 
 proceeding on reading such communications was to lock 
 them up or to burn them, and to say nothing to any per- 
 son whatever about the matter. He observed, that it was 
 the right course ; for that such writers were cowards and 
 not the objects of dread or apprehension ; and that, by 
 keeping the secret inviolable, if any thing was ever said on 
 the subject, it must come from the author or from some one 
 to whom the author had told it. 
 
 He was exceedingly displeased with the increase of the 
 public debt during the reign of the President who preced- 
 ed him. He thought the payment of that and the whole 
 amount incurred by the revolutionary war, ought to be made 
 in the shortest possible time. For this every effort should 
 be used- Economy in every department was not only re- 
 commended, but actually practised- The army was reduc- 
 ed to an inconsiderable body the judiciary was retrench- 
 ed the public ships were mostly dismantled and laid up 
 in ordinary and even the military academy at West Point, 
 the school for educating artillerists and engineers, felt, from 
 the diminution of appropriations, decreased ability to impart 
 instruction ; and it was not until the next administration, 
 that, on the earnest and active solicitation of the director, 
 Col. Jonathan Wifcms, that it was renewed and new-mo- 
 delled by a special act of Congress. But it was the rul- 
 ing notion of the day that an economical system of peace 
 should be preserved, and that an embargo and even a non- 
 intercourse should be adopted, rather than the costly alter- 
 native of war- 
 
 His temper was prone at times to mirth and recreative 
 pleasantry. His fondness for antiquarian investigation and 
 literary composition would have been gratified by the fol- 
 lowing legend alleged to have been derived from the Greek, 
 but which came to hand too late to be transmitted to him. 
 It is now offered. 
 
42 
 PYTHAGORAS & SAPPHO: 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE DIAMOND AND THE ROSE. 
 
 One social day, 'tis well expressed, 
 
 Pythagoras the Seer 
 This question artfully addressed 
 
 To beauteous Sappho's ear : 
 
 When hence thou shalt be forced to flee 
 
 By transmigration's power, 
 Wouldst thou, dear friend, prefer to be 
 
 A JEWEL or a FLOWER? 
 
 The Lesbian maid these words returned 
 
 To greet the Samian sage : 
 " For gems my passion never burned ; 
 *' And flowers my choice engage. 
 
 " The glittering stones, though rich and rare, 
 
 " No animation know ; 
 While vegetables, fine and fair, 
 
 " With vital action glow. 
 
 " The senseless gem no pleasure moves 
 
 " Displayed in fashion's use : 
 v< While flowers enjoy their gentle \ *es, 
 
 " And progeny produce. 
 
 '' Then when I shall surmount," she cried, 
 
 " Rude dissolution's storm ; 
 * Oh, let me not be petrified, 
 
 rt But wear a living form. 
 
 <v Those matchless rays the Diamond shows 
 
 " With promptness I decline ; 
 " That I may dwell within the Rose, 
 
 u And make its blossoms mine." 
 
 But this effusion is now nothing to him. He has under- 
 gone that change which in time will await us all. He has 
 passed to another state of being. What it exactly is, no 
 
mortal seems to understand. It is a subject that can never 
 he contemplated without seriousness- To pass from strength 
 to impotence, from life to insensibility, from health to pu- 
 trefaction, from the mansion to the grave ; to quit wealth, 
 titles, and honours ; to close the concerns of this anxious 
 world ; to bid farewell to them forever ; to pass, perhaps, 
 beyond the tomb to some region we know not where, and 
 to be employed in some manner we know not how ; are 
 matters which engage and embarrass the inquiring mind. 
 Yet, puzzling as the theme of our exit is, it is not more so 
 than that of our entrance upon the mundane theatre. Who 
 can explain more satisfactorily, how clustered atoms assum- 
 ed vitality, than how, after a certain growth and develope- 
 ment, they laid it aside and became unvital again ? One is 
 as natural, and, at the same time, as incomprehensible as 
 the other. We tug at the solution in vain. We must wait 
 for regular initiation into these higher degrees of knowledge ^ 
 we must be patient until the whole scenery, of which we 
 behold here but a few sections, shall, in regular order and 
 due succession, be displayed before us. 
 
 In estimating the character of our Jefferson, he may be 
 ranked as a highly favoured person. He lived in eventful 
 times. He saw the colonies, provinces, and plantations of 
 his own country (as they were called) rise to independent 
 States. He viewed the stupendous struggle, termed the 
 French revolution, from its commencement prior to the 
 overthrow of the Bourbons, and under the Buonapartean 
 dynasty, to the restoration of the Bourbons again. He be- 
 held the settlements made in America under the crown of 
 Spain abjure the royal despotism, and present themselves 
 to an admiring universe as a brotherhood of nations. He 
 witnessed the unexampled march of science and art evincing 
 the mighty and increasing power of mind over matter. And, 
 above all, he surveyed for half a century the advance arid 
 prosperity of the people to whose welfare he was particu- 
 larly devoted, notwithstanding his extended benevolence 
 toward the entire family of man. 
 
 Considering how much he has atchieved for the 
 
44 
 
 and ibr those whom he found it needful to patronize or as- 
 sist, he may be ranked among the persons who are, as far 
 as convenient or practicable, the executors of their own 
 wills. I have often meditated with approbation on the con- 
 duct, among others, of Mr- Phillips of Boston, Col. Rut- 
 gers of New- York, General Van Rerissellaer of Albany, 
 and Admiral Coffin in Nantucket, in performing generous 
 and munificent actions during the continuance of their re- 
 spective lives, instead of leaving them to be done by the 
 trustees or agents named in their testaments. There is so 
 much prudence and propriety in the proceeding, that it is a 
 pity the practice was not more frequent. Among other 
 considerations, this one is prominent that a man is sure to 
 have the good of it before he ends his mortal career. Upon 
 the supposition that there is no hereafter, such a man is the 
 gainer by all the good emotions he thus secures in the pre- 
 sent life : upon the calculation that there is a future state, 
 it is probable, from all that has been revealed on the subject, 
 that the condition of the resurgent will be infinitely remote 
 from sublunary cares, or too much engaged to bestow a 
 look or even a thought upon the small concerns of this world. 
 Upon either way of reasoning, the argument is conclusive 
 in favour of procuring for ourselves, while here, as much 
 solace as possible by the performance of good deeds. 
 Under these or the like feelings, Mr. Jefferson appears to 
 have contemplated his end with a composure worthy of 
 those intrepid travellers toward the tomb, Horatio Gates, 
 Joseph Priestley, and Lindley Murray. (See Appendix, 
 Notes H, I, & J.) 
 
 In fine, if virtuous conduct gives cause for a hope, or 
 more, lays ground for an expectation that heavenly bliss 
 will be its consequence or reward, let us indulge the senti- 
 ment, fanciful as some may think it, that the immaterial 
 spirit, quitting its connection with the body, not weak and 
 clumsy like the chick disclosed by the egg, but perfect and 
 active as the butterfly bursting its crysalis, shall wing its 
 course through tracts of sustaining and elemental ether to 
 the Paradise of God, and then be nourished, for a duration 
 -without end, by the bread and the water of life. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 (NOTE A.) 
 
 The altitude of Ascutney Mountain in Vermont, and Moose-Hil- 
 lock in New-Hampshire, ascertained barometrically, by AJden 
 Partridge, Esq Capt. of Engineers stationed at Governors-Isl- 
 and. Sept. 24th. 1817, and addressed to Sam. L Mitchill. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I take the liberty to transmit on the opposite page, several altitudes which 
 I calculated when absent during vacation in the month of August last. As- 
 cutney is a beautiful insulated, conical mountain, situated in the State of Ver- 
 mont, in the towns of Windsor and Weathersfield the summit about five 
 miles southwest from the village of Windsor, and about the same distance 
 west from Connecticut river. Moose-Hillock is the most elevated peati of a 
 long range of mountains, which commences about three miles from New- 
 Haven, in the State of Connecticut, at a rocky precipice called Ea-t-rock. 
 From this place the range takes a northeasterly direction, crossing Connec- 
 ticut river, below North- Hampton in the State of Massachusetts, thence tak- 
 ing a more northerly direction, it passes into the State of New-Hampshire, 
 forming for a considerable distance the height of land, between Connecticut 
 river on the west, and Merrimack river on the eajit. This range, I believe, 
 is joined, previous to crossing the New- Hampshire boundary, by another 
 range commencing near Lyme in the State of Connecticut, and called the 
 Lyme range of mountains, but which does not attain any considerable ele- 
 vation. The celebrated White Mountains are a spur from this range, 
 branching off to the north-ea--t. Moose-Hillock is situated about forty-five 
 miles, a little to the east of north, from Dartmouth College, and about fifteen 
 miles east from the village of Haverhill, which adjoins Connecticut river. 
 It is so called in consequence of formerly having been much frequented by 
 Moose. The rocks, and also the fallen trees on the sides of the mountains, 
 are covered with a thick bed of moss. Hard timber, such as Beech, Maple, 
 and Birch, intermixed with a few Evergreens, grow around the foot of the 
 mountains, but as we ascend, the Evergreens, Hemlock, Spruce, and Firs, 
 wholly prevail ; these, as we approach the summit, dwindle into mere shrubs, 
 about three feet in height. Their branches are so interlocked that it is al- 
 most impossible to get through them ; the summit of the north peak was 
 burned over a few years ago, and is now entirely bald ; a mere mass of bare 
 granite rocks. A silver mine is reported to have been discovered many years 
 ago by some hunters, on the side of the mountain. The position of this re- 
 
46 . ' 
 
 ported mine, however, is not now known, though much vain search has beeu 
 made to ascertain it. 
 
 In haste, with the greatest respect, 
 yours, sincerely, 
 
 A. PARTRIDGE. 
 HON. SAM. L. MITCHILL. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Altitude of Ascutney Mountain above the Sea, 3320 
 
 Altitude of the same, above Connecticut river at Windsor Bridge, 2903 
 
 Altitude of the same, above the house of Mr. Giles Gills, near the foot 
 
 of the mountain, 2595 
 
 Elevation of Connecticut river, at Windsor Bridge above tide water, 417 
 Altitude of the south peak of the Moose-Hillock above the Sea, 4556 
 
 Altitude of the same, above the house of Mr. Eastmans, in the town 
 
 of Coventry near the foot of the mountain, 3246 
 
 Altitude of the same, above Connecticut river at Orford Bridge, 4032 
 
 Altitude of the same, above Merrill's tavern, in the town of Warren, 
 
 near Baker's river, 3816 
 
 Altitude of Connecticut river at Orford Bridge, above tide water, 504 
 
 Altitude of Fairlee Mountain, near the Meeting-House in Fairlee, 
 
 above Connecticut river, at Orford Bridge, 547 
 
 Altitude of the same above the Sea, 1051 
 
 JVo/e. The north peak of Moose-Hillock is rather higher than the south 
 peak. At the time I was on the south peak the weather was so extremely 
 thick and inclement as to prevent my passing to the north peak. From my 
 own observations, however, and from the best information I could obtain, I 
 think the difference between the two peaks does not exceed one hundred 
 feet. I presume, therefore, that four thousand six hundred and thirty-six 
 feet may be taken for the altitude of the north peak, without essential error ; 
 this is, undoubtedly, the highest mountain (except the White Mountains) in 
 the northera States, if not on this side the Mississippi. The prospect from 
 the top of Ascutney is very fine. I have witnessed more extensive ones, but 
 never a more beautiful one ; the foregoing altitudes were calculated from 
 barometrical, and thermometrical observations in the month of August, 
 1817. 
 
 A. PARTRIDGE, Capt. of Eng. 
 
 Summary of all the memorable Eminences within View of Hudson 
 River, arranged in the Order in which they present themselves 
 to an Observer entering the Bay of New-York at Sandy Hook+ 
 and passing by Water to Albany. 
 
 Altitude of Mount Mitchill, the highest of the Neversink, 282 
 
 Do. of Tompkins' Hill, on Staten-Island, 307 
 
 Do. of Hempstead Hill, on Long-Island, 31 P 
 
47 
 
 Altitude of the Craggy Cliff, near Weehawk Ferry, 175 
 
 Do. of Fort Lee, 311 
 
 Do. of Fort Constitution, near Fort Lee, 301 
 
 Do. of Lydecker's Bluff, a little below Spiten Devil, 378 
 
 Do. of the Bluff opposite Spiten Devil, 407 
 
 Do. of the Bluff a little above Spiten Devil, 479 
 Do. of Bompey's Hook, two miles above Closter Dock, . 517 
 
 Do. of the high Bluff north of Bompey's Hook, 549 
 Do. of Closter Mountain, a little south of the territorial line between 
 
 New- York and New-Jersey, at lat. 41. 539 
 Do. of the South Peak of the Hook Mountain, immediately north of 
 
 Nyack, 668 
 
 Do. of the North Peak of the same, 640 
 
 Do. of the South Peak of the high Bluff, near Hayerstraw, . 698 
 
 Do. of the North Peak of the same, 852 
 
 Do. of the Torn Mountain, above Pierson's Manufactory, 768 
 
 Do. of the same above tide-water, 1067 
 
 Do. of Pierson's above tide- water, 299 
 
 Do. of Fort Washington, on York-Island, 238 
 
 Do. of Fort Tryon, a little north of Fort Washington, 229 
 
 Highlands between Peekskill and Newburgh. 
 
 Altitude of Antony's Nose, on the east side of the river, 935 
 
 Do. of the Sugar Loaf, on the east side, 866 
 
 Do. of Bare Mountain, on the west side, 1350 
 
 Do. of Fort Putnam, on the west side, 598 
 
 .Do. of West Point Plain, on the west side, 188 
 
 Do. of the Crow's Nest, on the west side, 1418 
 
 Do. of Bull Hill, on the east side, 1486 
 
 Do. of Break-Neck Hill, on the east side, 1187 
 
 Do. of Butter Hill, on the west side, 1529 
 
 Do. of New Beacon, on the east side, 1585 
 
 Do. of the Old Beacon, on the east side, 1471 
 
 Catskill Range. 
 
 Altitude of the Round Top, above tide-water, 3804 
 
 Do. of the same above the base of the range, 3105 
 
 Do. of the High Peak, above tide-water, 3718 
 
 Do. of the same above the base of the range, 3019 
 
 Do. of the base of the range, above tide-water, 699 
 I remain yours, with the greatest respect, 
 
 A. PARTRIDGE. 
 
 (NOTE B.) 
 
 Experiments made by the Assay -Master of the King of the Nether- 
 lands* at the mint of Utrecht, on the native copper existing in 
 huge blocks, on the South side of Lake Superior, in a letter from 
 
48 
 
 his Excellency William Eusiis, Minister Plenipotentiary and 
 Envoy Extraordinary from the United States, $*c. to Samuel 
 L. Mitchill, dated Hague, Oct. 12, 1817. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Perceiving by the public newspapers, that my friend Dr. Le Baron had 
 presented you a piece of copper, I inclose you the analysis of a piece, which 
 he gave me, at the mint of Utrecht, a portion of which, in its crude state, 1 
 presented to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to be deposited in the University 
 of Ley den. My object in procuring an assay in a foreign country, was first 
 to add to the diffusion of information respecting our country, and secondly 
 that it might be compared with experiments made in the United States. I 
 had hoped to return this autumn, and to have taken it with me, but the state 
 of our commercial relations with this country has necessarily deferred that 
 hope until the spring. If Dr. Le Baron is near you, I will thank you to 
 present me to him ; with great respect and esteem, 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. EUSTIS. 
 
 The HON. SAMUEI L. MITCHILL. 
 New-York. 
 
 The report from the mint, is in these words : 
 
 From every appearance the piece of copper seems to have been taken from 
 a mass that has undergone fusion. The melting was, however, not an opera- 
 tion of art, but a natural effect caused by a volcanic eruption. 
 
 The stream of lava probably carried along in its course the aforesaid body 
 of copper that had formed into one collection, as fast as it was heated enough 
 to run, from all parts of the mine. The united mass was probably borne, in 
 this manner, to the place where it now rests in the soil. 
 
 The crystal >zed form, observable every where on the original surface of 
 the metal that has been left untouched or undisturbed, leads me to presume 
 that the fusion it has sustained was by a proces* of nature ; since this crys- 
 tallized surface can only be supposed to have been produced by a slow and 
 gradual cooling, whereby the copper assumed regular figures as its heat pass- 
 ed into other substances and the metal itself lay exposed to the air. 
 
 As to the properties of the copper itself, it may be observed that its colour 
 is a clear red ; that it is peculiarly qualified for rolling and forging ; and that 
 its excellence is indicated by its resemblance to the copper usually employed 
 by the ENGLISH for plating. 
 
 The dealers in copper call this sort Peruvian copper, to distinguish it from 
 that of Sweden, which is much less malleable. The specimen, under consi- 
 deration, is incomparably better than Swedish copper, as well on account of 
 its brilliant colour, as for the fineness of its pores, and its extreme ductility. 
 
 Notwithstanding, before it is used in manufactures, or for the coining of 
 

 money, it ought to be melted anew, Cor the purpose ot" purifying it from such 
 earthy particles which it may contain. 
 
 The examination of the North American copper^ in the sample received 
 from hu excellency the minister, by the operations of the cupel and the test 
 by fire, has proved that it does not contain the smallest particle of silver, goldi 
 or any other metal. 
 
 (NOTE C.) 
 
 A Letter from ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, Minister Plenipotentiary 
 from the United States to France, detailing the proceedings in 
 the Negociation for Louisiana, dated Paris, 13th July, 1803. and 
 written to Samuel L. Mitchill, a Representative in Congress 
 from the State of New- York. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have for some time past been so much occupied by measures that have 
 eventuated in the completion of our treaty for Louisiana, and the subsequent 
 organization of a Board for settlement of our debts, that I have not had the 
 leisure to reply to your favor of 7th February. 
 
 I had long foreseen that the possession of the left bank of the Mississippi, 
 to which alone the views of our Government extended, would be insufficient 
 to insure our tranquillity, if an active, powerful, and enlightened people, oc- 
 cupied the west bank, particularly that beautiful country that lies above 
 the river Arkansa, opposite to our western establishments. 
 
 I therefore (though without powers) first endeavoured to satisfy the people 
 in power here that the establishments would be of no use to them : that 
 if they possessed Louisiana, it was proper to give us all the country above 
 the Arkansas, in order to interpose us between them and Canada. I got my 
 reflections on this subject submitted to the First Consul, through his brother ; 
 and notwithstanding his violent attachment to it, procured an assurance from 
 him that some arrangement should be made satisfactory to us on this subject ; 
 and that it should be done in America by General Bernadotte. In March 1 
 ventured upon what was here considered as a bold and hazardous measure > 
 a direct and forcible address to him personally on the subject of our claims 
 upon which, having received from him ^positive assurance that they should be 
 fully and promptly paid, I began to look forward to this as a mean of accom- 
 plishing my other object, because I was sure he could not go back fromliis 
 personal promise ; nor, in case of a war, which began to be probable, would 
 he find any other means of discharging it. The spirited conduct of our na- 
 tion in the affair of New Orleans was also of use, and so strongly pressed by 
 me that the Minister called upon me for some proposition relative to that 
 country. Though I was wholly without powers, I ventured on the 14th of 
 March, to make them explicitly for the east side of the river, and all above 
 the Arkansas on the west ; and I received a verbal assurance a few davs af- 
 
 G 
 
50 
 
 lei-, that the next day should bring me a full and satisfactory answer; and { 
 doubt not that such was prepared ; when, unfortunately, letters from Pichon 
 were received, "and that all was quiet." This determined them to wait to 
 see whether the war would pass over, and whether a better bargain could 
 not be made. But as I continued to press the execution of their promise for 
 the debt, and an explicit recognition of our right of dep6t, the First Consul 
 announced to council on the 8th (four days before Mr. Monroe arrived here) 
 his determination to sell the country to us. The next day the minister call- 
 ed upon me for a specific proposition. The day after (the business being put 
 into Mr. Marbcis's hands for reasons that I cannot venture to explain, but as 
 they afterwards said in compliment to me, as my friend,) the minister alarm- 
 ed me by pretending that he had no particular authority to speak to me on 
 the subject, but again called on me to say what I would give. As I had heard 
 of Mr. Monroe's arrival at Havre 1 refused to act till he arrived, but asked 
 why they wished me to propose for the whole of Louisiana when I had only 
 asked the east side of the river and a portion on the west ? He told me that 
 F had asked all that was worth having, and therefore must take the whole ; 
 to which I told him I had no objection, but would now wait till Mr. Monroe 
 came up. On the evening of the 12th Mr. Monroe arrived. On the 13th, 
 while at dinner with me, I saw Mr. Marbois walking in rny garden ; I sent to 
 ask him in, he said he would return in the evening; when he came he ap- 
 peared surprised to see Mr. Monroe, not having, as he said, heard of his arri- 
 val ; but after a short visit, as there was much company at my house, he beg- 
 ged that I would come to the treasury that evening at eleven. I went accord- 
 ingly ; when we formally discussed the whole business of the cession, which I 
 told him I would communicate to MY. Monroe, and he promised to get full 
 powers. We were together till past two. The next day I presented Mr. 
 Monroe to the minister, who received him politely, but said nothing of busi- 
 ness. The great point having been got over, the difficulty of bringing the Con- 
 sul to sell, our subsequent discussion related only to the price and matters of 
 form, so that if Mr. Munroe had not been taken ill and confined to his bed for 
 ten or twelve days, having been taken the fourth day after his arrival, we 
 should have agreed probably on or before the 20th of April. It is impossible 
 to tell you, my friend, the difficulties I have had to encounter in this negocia- 
 tion and my alternate hopes and fears even after they had determined to sell, 
 and called upon me for a proposition ; and even after the arrival of Mr. Mun- 
 roe at Havre, there was a moment in which I doubted Mr. Tallerand's since- 
 rity, particularly when on the 10th he told me that his proposition was un- 
 authorized. I sincerely wished at that instant that Mr. Monroe had brought 
 with him an assurance that New Orleans was in our possession. This would 
 not have injured us ; but as things have turned out, it is better as it is. I have 
 been very happy iu the perfect accordance of sentiments between Mr. Mon- 
 roe and myself in every measure that regarded the treaty, and in steps that 
 1 had taken to pave the way for its execution previous to his arrival. After 
 that event, nothing was left but some commercial arrangements and the price ; 
 in which we met with much candour on the part of Mr. Marbois. 1 trust 
 that it may be found acceptable to our country. Here it is considered as a 
 most important acquisition, and has procured for me the congratulations o* 
 
51 
 
 'all the corps diplomatique who knew the difficulties I had to encounter ou 
 my arrival, and who are warmly and vainly soliciting the payment of their 
 claims, and that we have got so happily satisfied. I have given you this de- 
 tailed account, because I consider this as one of ths most important treaties 
 made by ourcountry ; and it may be interesting to you, as a Statesman, to know 
 the steps by which it was accomplished. 
 
 I meant to have treated with you on some interesting philosophical 
 and agricultural subjects, but politics have occupied too much of this to let 
 me touch upon any other. Mr. Monroe yesterday went to England as resi- 
 dent minister. I have some thoughts, as all the court is absent now, to make 
 that interesting kingdom a visit also ; but am not sure whether I shall effect 
 it. Nothing is more united and enthusiastic than this nation in war mea- 
 sures,though nothing would have been originally more averse to war ; but they 
 consider it as totally unprovoked on the part of Britain, and are resolved to 
 avenge it. Almost every community have imposed voluntary taxes upon 
 themselves to defray the expence of ships, boat?, &c. 
 
 We have had a very gay 4th of July ; I had 60 of my countrymen at din- 
 ner, and a ball and supper for my fair country-women, of which there are ma- 
 ny here by birth, marriage, or adoption. 
 
 Adieu my dear Sir , shew this to Mr. Clinton and present him my compli- 
 ments, and tell him that he has been for some time my debtor for a letter 
 I am, with the highest esteem, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obedient humble servant, 
 
 ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON*. 
 SAMUEL L. MITCHILL, ESQ. 
 
 [The British will probably take some merit with us for our treaty, but 
 have aot the least claim to it. Lord Whitworth assured me, a few days before 
 he left this, that Louisiana had never been an object of discussion between 
 him and the French Government ; this appears by the papers laid before par- 
 liament, and Lord North, upon announcing our treaty, declares he had no 
 knowledge of it till it was communicated officially (by our directions) by 
 Mr. King, who himself knew nothing of it till concluded.] 
 
 (NOTE D.) 
 
 Description of a Fossil Elephant, discovered in Wythe Coun- 
 ty, southwest of the River Ihanhawa, in Virginia, written 
 by Dr. John Stranger, to lieut. Wra. L. Brownlow, of the 
 U. S. Marine Corps, stationed at New-York, dated Wythe 
 County, March 10, 1818. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your letter has been received some weeks ago, after my return from 
 North-Carolina, which should have been answered before this time, had I 
 not been at a loss to know what particular information Dr. Mitchill wishes 
 
With regard to the teeth and bones found on Mr. Kinsa's land. However 
 that you may not think your friendly application to me disregarded, I will 
 now comply with your request, as well as 1 can. The place where the dis- 
 covery was made, is a small marshy piece of ground, not more than 40 feet 
 square, in a field which has been for more than 20 years in cultivation, and 
 has previous to that time, as I am informed, been used as a lick by horses and 
 cattle, a small spring of mineral taste oozes from the spot. The owner of the 
 field observed repeatedly in the summer season, in dry weather, after a re- 
 freshing shower, that the place was covered with a white substance like salt. 
 Under this impression he began to dig in search of salt water. The ground 
 being opened a few feet in depth, he found a few uncommon teeth and small 
 round bones, about 4 inches long and about l inches in diameter, solid and 
 pomewhat larger in circumference at each end, like joints of a tail, or toe. 
 The news of this discovery induced several persons to visit the spot : I also 
 went, and being desirous to make a farther search, I obtained permission to 
 make a larger opening, say 12 feet square, and found a number of still larger 
 teeth and bones, belonging, in my opinion, to two different species of animals, 
 larger than any we now have within our States. The bones were so much 
 decayed, that they would generally fall to pieces, when exposed to the air ; 
 the teeth I preserved, and sometime afterwards put them in the possession of 
 Dr. John Floyd, (a member from Virginia in the present congress) residing 
 in Montgomery county, who probably, sent them to some Museum. The 
 poil was so strongly impregnated with the mineral, that it tasted like copperas 
 itself. The position in which the teeth and bones were found was some- 
 what remarkable. The large teeth, two of which weighed 161b. each, and 
 several more of less weight and size, were deposited in a manner by them- 
 selves, and deeper in the ground, according to their gravity ; round about 
 these, some little distance off, were the teeth and bones of the lesser animals, 
 placed in a semicircle ; of the latter 1 found sereral jaw-bones with their 
 teeth sticking fast ; and in one upper-jaw I found besides a tusk, about 20 
 inches long, shaped like a cow's horn, round, crooked, tapering off to a point, 
 hollow at the base, and pointing forward towards the nose, also a couple of 
 ribs and shoulder blades. The smaller animals I judged to have been of the 
 carnivorous, from the shape of their teeth, which had a double row of high 
 conic processes, three to each row, between 3 and 4 inches from the bottom 
 of the root to the top of the tooth, and each was about 3 inches loag. All 
 the teeth of the large animal (1 found no bones of this animal) were flat, and 
 ribbed transversely. This remarkable position of the different bones arid 
 teeth, made me suppose, that the large animal had died in a conflict with the 
 smaller ones. Or why should I have found several sets of teeth and bones of 
 the one kind, and all in that semicircle, and but one set of teeth of the large 
 animal opposite to them. None of these teeth were deeper than about 6 feet 
 in the ground, when a flat limestone rock commenced, which rock must have 
 been once nearer to the surface, for I found pine-knots, and pieces of rotten 
 wood within two feet above it. This, sir, is all the information I can think 
 nf ; should Dr. Mitchill be desirous to know any other circumstance relative 
 to this affair, I will cheerfully give it, if in my power. 
 
 I am, Sir. respectfully, Your humble servant, 
 
 JOHN STRANGER. 
 
(NOTEE.) 
 
 Jt Description of the Hot Springs , near the river Washitaw, and of 
 {he Physical Geography of (he adjacent country ; in a Communi- 
 tionfrom Major S. H. Long, of the U. S. corps of Engineers, to 
 Samuel L. Mitchill, dated St. Louis, Missouri, February f3, 
 1818. (Read before the Lyceum of Natural History at Ar- 
 York, 20th April, 1818.) 
 
 J\fy Dear Sir, 
 
 1 take the liberty of communicating; upon a subject which you will no doubt 
 consider somewhat interesting, not only because it relates to a curiosity of the 
 first magnitude, but because it is connected also with a profession which is 
 greatly indebted to yourself, for its respectability and advancement in this 
 country. The subject alluded to, is the Hot Springs of the Washitaw, 
 which I visited on the first day of January last, on my return from Red river. 
 Together with an unvarnished description of the Springs, I hereafter present 
 you a rude sketch of the adjacent country, which will enable you to form 
 some idea of their locality. 
 
 These remarkable springs are situated in N. lat. 34 Q 14' 7", upon a small 
 creek of the Washitaw, bearing their name, and uniting with that river at 
 the distance of 12 or 14 miles from the springs. The country in which they 
 are situated is extremely hilly and broken, the highlands being divided into 
 numerous ridges and knobs by creeks, runs, &c. The rocky formations, in 
 this neighbourhood, are both various and interesting, exhibiting various or- 
 ders of concretion, from the softest slate to the hardest flint. On the Washi- 
 taw, slate of an excellent quality for tiling is found in abundance. Near the 
 springs 1 observed several varieties of this formation, one of which appeared 
 well adapted for writing slates, and a second, sufficiently hard and fissile for 
 tiles. On Hot Spring creek, and several other water courses in its vicinity, 
 are extensive quarries of stone, resembling, in colour and texture, the Tur- 
 key oil stone, which, by numerous experiments, has been proved equally as 
 useful in sharpening tools, &c. On the hills, tiff and other mineral sines 
 abound. The stones in many places are strongly impregnated with iron, and 
 rich ore of this metal is frequently to be met with. Upon the hill from which 
 the Hot Springs issue, the rocky formations are different in many icspecls 
 from any I have observed upon the other hills. By the operation of heat, as 
 also of the water which holds in solution a large portion of the carbonate of 
 lime, no where else to be seen upon the surface of the ground, various chan- 
 ges have been wrought upon them. In some instances the works are so in- 
 crusted with calcarious concretions, that it is difficult to ascertain their ori- 
 ginal character without a minute examination. In others, pebbles and stones 
 of various forms and complexions, are so strongly cemented together with 
 iron and calx combined, as to constitute large masses of compact and solid 
 stone. The rocks and stones generally upon the hills, are extremely ragged 
 and favillous, vast bodies of them, in many instances, having the appearance 
 
01' being composed entirely of the calcarious matter once held in solution by 
 the hot water of the springs. In regard to the natural growth, I observed 
 nothing peculiar to the hill whence the springs flow, that was not common 
 also to the other neighbouring heights. The high lands generally, in this 
 quarter, are covered with forests of yellow or pitch pine, and support an exu- 
 berant growth of vines, furze, bramble, &c. 
 
 The course of the creek in passing the springs, is nearly south. The quan- 
 tity of water running in it, is, at this time, (Jan. 1,) about one thousand gal- 
 lons per minute Hot Spring hill, or mountain, (as it is more frequently 
 called,) is situated on the east side of the creek, and is about 550 feet high. 
 The extent of its base along the creek is about six hundred yards. The hill 
 is of a conical form, and has a base not exceeding l miles in diameter. It 
 is completely insulated from the other hills by which it is environed, by 
 creeks, brooks, and ravines. Directly north of it, on the same side of the 
 creek, is another hill somewhat higher, separated from the former by u small 
 brook. On the west side of the creek, directly opposite to Spring hill, is a 
 third, considerably higher than either of the last mentioned, and situated a 
 little distance from the creek, leaving an area of considerable extent between 
 its base and the creek, upon which cabins are built for the accommodation of 
 those who visit the springs. 
 
 There are said to be sixty different springs or fountains of hot water, occu- 
 pying a distance of about four hundred yards along the east side of the creek. 
 On the west side there is but one, situated immediately upon the shore, and 
 discharging but a moderate quantity of water : while on the other side, they 
 are variously situated, some of them near the edge of the creek, upon the 
 same level, and others on different parts of the declivity, elevated from 10 to 
 150 feet above the water level, and discharging from one to fifteen or twenty 
 gallons each, per minute. Immediately in the vicinity of some of the hot 
 springs, are fountains of cold water, in some instances gushing out of the 
 ground within a very few feet of the Hot Spring. 
 
 There have been 14 or 15 rude cabins constructed along the creek, by per- 
 sons who resort hither, occasionally, for the benefit of the springs. They are 
 situated mostly on the west side, and are calculated merely for a summer re- 
 sidence, very few of them having chimneys. At present none of them are 
 occupied, except one, in which a family took a temporary residence a few 
 days since. There are no settlements yet made nearer than the Washitaw, 
 where there are three at the distance of about eight miles from the spring?. 
 From these settlements, residents at the springs obtain provisions by paying 
 a high price ; but, to the credit and generosity of the settlers, it may be said, 
 that they are equally as ready to supply the poor, as the rich, although they 
 run the risk of never receiving payment for their produce. There have been 
 instances where they have refused to take double their selling price for their 
 corn, but have chosen rather to divide it between (he poor and rich, not ac- 
 cording to their ability to pay, but in proportion to the necessities of the pur- 
 chasers, and the quantity of provisions absolutely required for their subsis- 
 tence. 
 
 During my delay at the springs, I made the following observations relative 
 
 
55 
 
 to their respective temperatures, &c. commencing in the creek immediately 
 below the springs, and passing up along its eastern shore as far as they extend. 
 The numbers annexed to the springs are merely accidental, indicating the 
 order in which I examined them. 
 
 Temperature of the creek below the springs, 64 deg. Fahrenheit, probable 
 discharge, 1100 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 1, being the lowermost on the creek, 122 deg. 
 probable discharge per minute, 4 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No 2, a few feet from No. 1, 104 deg. probable 
 discharge per minute, 1 gallon. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 3, about 25 yards above the last, 126 deg. pro- 
 bable discharge per minute, 2 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 4, after uniting with a spring of cold water, 124 
 deg. probable discharge per minute, 2 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of springs No. 5, 6, and 7, rising very near each other, the 
 hottest most elevated, 126, 94, and 92 deg. probable discharge per minute, 8 
 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 8, elevation 50 feet, after mingling with a cold 
 spring, 128 deg. probable discharge per minute, 10 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 9, elevated 60 feet above the water level, 132 
 deg. probable discharge per minute, 2 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 10, elevated 40 feet, bushes growing in the wa- 
 ter's edge, 151 deg. probable discharge per minute, 5 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 11, issuing near the margin of the creek, elevat- 
 ed 3 feet, 148 deg. probable discharge per minute, 14 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 12, 20 yards from the last, ha vingasweat house 
 upon it, 132 deg. probable discharge per minute, 20 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of springs Nos. 13, 14, and 15, all excavations for baths, situ- 
 ated just above No. 12 ; 124, 119, 108 deg. probable discharge per minute, 6 
 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring No. 16, an excavation also, near the last, 122 deg. 
 probable discharge per minute, 2 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of spring Nc ? 17, uppermost on the creek, and has a sweat 
 house and bath, 126 deg. probable discharge per minute, 5 gallons. 
 
 Temperature of springs Nos. 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22, all rising near together 
 on the level area, 126, 128, 130, 136, and 140 deg. probable discharge per 
 minute, 9 gallons. 
 
 The last mentioned cluster is situated upon a prominent part of the hill, 
 elevated at least one hundred feet above the level of the creek. In the same 
 area are several others, and what is particulary remarkable, several springs 
 of cold water rise in the same plat, one of them within a very few feet of the 
 hottest spring. In some of these springs, I observed bubbles rising in rapid 
 succession, but could not discover any remarkable scent emitted from them. 
 
 Temperature of the creek immediately above the springs, 46 deg. probable 
 discharge per miuute, 1000 gallons. 
 
 Besides the springs enumerated above, there are many others situated on 
 the same side of the hill, at different elevations above the water level. 
 
56 
 
 The heat of the water in the summer season, is said to be much greater 
 than at present, and the discharge somewhat less. The water is then hot 
 enough to draw tea or coffee, cook eggs, and even meat. In the hottest of 
 the springs, I observed bushes growing, as also an abundance of beautiful 
 moss of a deep green colour, and of a vegetating appearance ; and what is 
 still more wonderful, a kind of water insect, something longer than the wood 
 louse, but resembling it in shape, lives and sports in the heated element. 
 
 There is a spring of cold water about 3 miles from the hot springs, in a 
 north-easterly direction, which has obtained some notoriety from the cir- 
 cumstance of its having occasioned the death of a man who had heated him- 
 self in pursuing a bear, and drank too freely of its water, and has therefore 
 obtained the nama of the Poison Spring. From the description given me of 
 this spring, I am inclined to think it a chalybeate, pretty strongly impreg- 
 nated, and containing, possibly, some arsenic. Its waters deposit an abun- 
 dance of ocreous earth, adhering to the stones in the bottom and sides of the 
 channel through which they flow. 
 
 Believe me, dear Sir, with sincere regard, your most obliged, humble ser- 
 vant, 
 
 S. H. LONG. 
 
 (NOTE F.) 
 
 Extract from the report made by Dr. Mitchill, Chairman of the 
 Committee for Commerce and Manufactories, to the House of 
 Representatives, February 18, 1804, on the boundaries of 
 Louisiana, &c. 
 
 " By a series of memorable events, the United States have lately acquired 
 " a large additional soil and jurisdiction. This is believed, besides the tracts 
 " on the east side of the Mississippi, to include all the country which lies to 
 " the westward between that river and the great chaiu of mountains that 
 t{ stretch from north to south, and divide the waters running into the Atlan- 
 " tic from those which empty into the Pacific ocean; and beyond that chain, 
 " between the territories claimed by Great Britain on the one side and by 
 " Spain on the other, quite to the South Sea. 
 
 " It is highly desirable that this extensive region should be visited, in 
 u some part at least, by intelligent men." 
 
 (NoTE G.) 
 
 The progress of the Human Mind from Rudeness to Refinement 7 - 
 exemplified in an Account of the Method pursued by Col. Ben- 
 jamin Hawkins, under the Authority of the Government of the 
 United States, to civilize certain Tribes of Savages within 
 
07 
 their Territory. New-York, 1816. 
 
 The war which in 1814 led the inhabitants df Tennessee and Georgia t& 
 destroy, in their own defence, a considerable part of the Creek nation, has 
 been interpreted by some persons as proving the inutility of attempts to civil- 
 ize savages. This conclusion is incorrect. The Cherokees have been initia- 
 ted into the arts of improved life as well as the Creeks; and yet the Creeks 
 only have engaged in hostility against the United States, There must there- 
 fore have been some other cause than the lessons they have learned from 
 our agents. And this was probably the instigation of our secret and avow- 
 ed enemies. 
 
 Until this exterminating warfare arose, the great problem of civilizing the 
 aborigines was believed by many to have been in a fair way of being solved, 
 or rather that it was already solved in the United States. The subjects of 
 this philanthropic and instructive experiment were the Creeks and Chero- 
 kees. The former of these nations of Indians came from the west of the 
 Mississippi. There is a tradition among them, that there are in the fork of 
 Red-River, two mounds of earth, and that at that place the Cussatuhs, 
 Cowetuhs and Chickasaws found themselves ; that being distressed by wars 
 with red-men, their forefathers crossed the Mississippi, and travelling east- 
 ward, they passed the falls of Tallapoosa above Tookaubatche, and settled 
 below the rapids of Chatahooche. Hence they spread out to Ocmulgee, 
 Oconee, Savannah, and down the sea-coast towards Charleston, where they 
 first saw white people. By those they were resisted and compelled to re- 
 treat to their present settlements. 
 
 This nation possessed a tract of country about three hundred miles square, 
 It is for soil and climate, as well as natural advantages in general, not sui> 
 passed perhaps by any spot of equal extent, upon the face of the earth. The 
 number of warriors at the last enumeration amounted to about four thousand. 
 Their settlements have been surrounded for many years by the Americans, 
 the French, Spaniards and English. They were tempted in various ways to 
 be concerned in the leagues and stratagems of their neighbours, who wished 
 to get possession of their lands. They, however, generally conducted them- 
 selves with remarkable prudence, and avoided such alliances as might impli- 
 cate them in depopulating wars. Accordingly, they preserved their national 
 existence, and at the commencement of our federative government, attracted 
 a large and early attention. 
 
 The greatness of their numbers, the value of their lands, and their conti- 
 guity to the colonies of the enterprising nations of Europe, made it necessary 
 to have a seasonable and full explanation with them* At that time George 
 Washington was President of the United States : and the Creeks were ina 
 hostile mood. Congress was sitting in the city of New- York ; and the prin- 
 cipal subject then under consideration was, whether they should be treated 
 by forcible and warlike operations, or by gentle and pacific means. The* 
 considerate statesmen of the United States were dividefl in opinion on these' 
 points. Some wer* ia favour of the exterminating, and ethers of thfe coqci,. 
 4J&tory plafl. Amojig thft "fcttjsr was Benjamin Hawfcinl* t-hnr a 
 
58 
 
 Congress irom North Carolina, \vho dissuaded in strong terms the project o* 
 hostile operations against the Creeks. By his interference a military expe- 
 dition was withheld until a negotiator could be sent into the nation, and in- 
 vite them to a peaceful parley. The man selected for this service was 
 Marinus Willet. He was employed in preference to a clergyman whom it 
 was originally intended to send. Willet penetrated their country, obtained 
 a hearing, and brought with him M'Gillivray, and a deputation of the nation 
 to New- York. Here a treaty was held, and a peace established in the year 
 J790. 
 
 The meditated war having thus failed, the next thing to be done was to 
 regulate trade and intercourse between the red men and the white. For this 
 purpose Congress passed a law directing the manner of dealing with them, 
 delineated the boundaries, and appointed an agent to superintend the de- 
 partment of Indian affairs south of the river Ohio. This was during the ad- 
 ministration of Mr. Adams. Mr. Hawkins was appointed the manager of 
 this business. He had previously acted a distinguished part in several ne- 
 gotiations with the natives, and had acquired much knowledge of their situ- 
 ation, their wants, and the mode of doing business with them. Accepting 
 the commission, this gentleman left the Senate, quitted polished society, and 
 entered upon the arduous work of protecting and civilizing the Indians. 
 
 An undertaking of this sort has of late been deemed chimerical or impos- 
 sible. The labours of the zealous Jesuits and the industrious Moravians had 
 so frequently proved abortive, that few even of the well wishers of the expe- 
 riment entertained much expectation of its success. The agent, however, 
 was sanguine in the cause, and the government seconded his views. In the 
 course of about ten years, he succeeded in advancing some of these people 
 from the state of hunters to those of herdsmen, cultivators of the soil, and 
 manufacturers ; and the changes in their moral, intellectual and social dispo- 
 sition, have been effected without the assistance of other missionaries, or of 
 scholastic or collegiate education. Indeed Mr. Hawkins entertained an opi- 
 nion that an introduction to the mysteries of religion, and an acquaintance 
 with the intricacies of literature, ought to follow, and not precede, an initiation 
 into the more useful and necessary arts, such, for example, as those of pro- 
 curing food and clothes. 
 
 This active reformer did not commence his undertakings by teaching his 
 pupils the shapes and sounds of letters in the alphabet, nor the dogmas and 
 doctrines in the catechism. He omitted these things altogether ; or rather, 
 he studiously forbade their introduction. He adhered to a rule of interdic- 
 tion against all preachers of every sect, from holding converse with the 
 Creeks, but treated members of the church with great politeness in other re- 
 spects, whenever they visited the agent at the factory ; and for several 
 years, the alarms of the natives were not excited by the discipline and les- 
 sons of schoolmasters. When Mr. H. first presented himself among the In- 
 dians, and talked to the assembled chiefs on his project of civilizing them, 
 they replied to him in the most insulting terms, reprobated his scheme with 
 great bitterness ; and concluded by uttering sounds of the most contemptu- 
 ous signification around the circle. 
 
 After their disgust and merriment nad in some measure subsided, be fold 
 
them in a mild and frank discourse, that he was now done with the men ; 
 but that, as he was by no means discouraged, he should quit them, and ad- 
 dress himself to the other sex. This he soon found means to accomplish ; 
 and by soothing arts, by kind treatment, and by assuring them that he could 
 teach them now to procure plenty of provisions and clothes with their own 
 hands, he gained the confidence of several girls and women. To them he 
 imparted the arts of carding, spinning, and weaving ; and to these they be- 
 came soon attached, because petticoats, jackets and other articles of dress 
 could thereby be easily procured. 
 
 But it was not possible to make all the females spinsters. Some for want 
 of inclination or opportunity, and others though lack of machinery, could not 
 practise those domestic employments. They still laboured after the manner 
 of Indian women ; and among other occupations, tended a little patch of 
 maize for subsistence. Finding that sometimes the women had a surplus of 
 corn, the agent's next point was to teach them to exchange it for something 
 to make petticoats and other raiment. With this view he instructed them 
 in the use of measures, and these he reduced to an intelligible value in mo- 
 ney. A bushel of corn, for example, was valued at a quarter of a dollar ; 
 and where this precise coin was not at hand, the sign of it was a single white 
 mark, called a chalk. This word thence became a nominal coin, or rate of 
 value ; and as a chalk of corn denoted a " bushel," so a chalk of calico, to- 
 bacco, or any thing else would signify as much of either of these articles as 
 could be bought by a quarter of a dollar, the estimated value of a bushel of 
 corn. 
 
 While this agent was proceeding by these means to improve and enlarge 
 the minds of the Creeks, he was not neglectful of the use and application of 
 tveights. He made figures to illustrate the construction of steelyards, on a 
 piece of paper. He explained this to one woman, and after making her com- 
 prehend it, handed it to another. And by" ascertaining the weight of hogs, 
 and other things, which used always to be sold by tale, and reducing them to 
 chalks or quarter dollars, he made his learners understand that a heavy hog 
 was worth more than a light one ; and by actually paying them in propor- 
 tion to the weight, demonstrated to them the difference in value between 
 things heretofore rated alike. This gave them great satisfaction, and made 
 them more careful to fatten their hogs. The like happened in respect to corn. 
 This was formerly sold by the varying quantity of a basket full, till Mr. H. 
 instructed them in the use of an established and unvarying measure, the half 
 bushel ; taught them to reduce such a measure to a certain weight by the steel- 
 yard ; and then again to calculate this weight in chalks or quarter dollars. 
 
 At the same time, as much pains was taken as possible to instruct the boys 
 and girl's about the agent's house, and in his family, in the practice of the En_ 
 glish tongue. In like manner the Indian children who lived with his negroes, 
 were taught to speak our tongue. But all this was accomplished by rote, and 
 without the sight or mention of a book. 
 
 Progressing in these ways, the spinning and weaving of cotton increased ra- 
 pidly. There were in 1805, twenty looms in the lower, and ten among the up- 
 per towns. Of the former, twelve were wrought by Indian?, and eight ofthem 
 were constructed by Indians. Of the latter, three were worked by natives. 
 
 
GO 
 
 fend three were built by them. Three of the looms in the upper towns Weib, 
 Jcept agoing by a white woman for a toll which was fixed at every fifth yard. 
 The women on the Flint river had then applied for fifty additional spinning 
 wheels. And such was the power of example prompted by interest, that some 
 old men and boys learned to spin, and seemed to take pleasure in the exer- 
 cise. In the upper towns there Was at that time a demand for five more looms and 
 one hundred and fifty more spinning wheels. Several men of the half breed-, 
 had both constructed looms and wove cloth in them, with their own hands. 
 
 Encouraged by these prospects and successes, the women appointed a time- 
 and solicited a talk with the agent. They appointed one of their venerable 
 ittatrons to deliver the talk to him in their behalf. He met them, and in the 
 assembly of the women, was thus addressed : " Father, we women are poor and 
 foolish ; but you, as our great father, will excuse our poverty, and pardon our 
 lolly. When white men have came into our nation, they have never studied 
 the good of the women, nor endeavoured to better their oppressed condition. 
 All they have hitherto done is to make our situation more wretched. They 
 have employed every art to raise and shorten our petticoats, and have there- 
 by left us more exposed and naked than they found us. But you, father, 
 commiserate our condition ; you pity our nakedness and weakness ; you say 
 you will instruct us to cover ourselves, and be decent and warm ; you will 
 enable us to support ourselves, so that we and our children shall be in no 
 danger of starving in the swamps. You come to lengthen our petticoats, 
 and extend them over us from the hips to the ankles. Father, we will follow 
 .your advice : speak, and we will obey." 
 
 He by degrees encouraged them to split rails, to make fencies of them, to 
 inclose their fields, and to till them with their own hands; himself showing 
 them how, and by his example, convincing them that it was at once respec- 
 table and Useful. Among the Creeks there was a peculiar difficulty in over- 
 coming the aversion of the men to labour. Inured alternately to hunting, 
 indolence and war, they threw all the toil of domestic affairs, the carrying of 
 burthens, and the drudgery of life uoon their females. It was therefore a 
 hard lesson to make the men work at all ; and particularly to assist the wo- 
 men in their laborious occupations. The men, however, had learned by 
 this time, that as game grew scarce in the forests, the employments of the 
 women and girls turned to much better account than their own, and that 
 with their pigs, maize, and cotton, the females had already rendered them* 
 selves in a good degree independent of the men. ft was now that the agent 
 advised the young women to. refuse favours to their sweethearts, and the 
 married women to repel the caresses of their husbands, unless they would as- 
 sociate with them, and assist them in their daily labours. This expedient, 
 though perhaps not rigidly enforced, nor in all cases adhered to, was how- 
 ever not without its effect in breaking the ferocity of the masculine temper, 
 find reducing it to a milder and softer tone. 
 
 To enforce the necessity of industry, M. H. availed himself of thescanti* 
 Vtess of provisions to give them an exhortation. Some instances had been re- 
 ported of children dying of hunger, and particularly, of two little girls, as 
 lie was on his way to a conference with the chiefs. At the conference, the 
 subject was mentioned by Mr. C-'arnelis th& interpreter, and after some ob* 
 
61 
 
 5 crvations made by the chiefs, Mr. H. stated that these events had made a 
 serious impression upon his mind, and on the way to the conference he had 
 put the question to himself, who killed these little girls? This answer imme- 
 diately obtruded itself: "You, Mr. Hawkins, you murdered these little 
 girls. You Efau Hai3'o, Oche' Haiyo, and Tushinmeggee Telhco, you 
 murdered these little girls. You chiefs and rulers of the nation, you mur- 
 dered these little girls, In all countries it is the business of the rulers to di- 
 rect the labour of the community so as to support the people, and if they 
 neglect to do it, they are answerable for the consequences. If a bear, or any 
 man, red or white, had attempted to murder these little girls, you would 
 have risked your lives individually or collectively to save theirs. And yet 
 you would not exert yourselves to destroy this enemy called hunger." 
 
 The presenting the subject in this dress caused some se r ious conversations 
 among the Indians, and the result was that they would sow wheat, and exert 
 themselves to destroy the enemy called hunger. Preparatoy to this they had 
 in 1804, committed to the earth one hundred and seventy-six bushels of 
 seed ; this afforded an excellent crop, and was instrumental in saving several 
 lives. The agent furnished the seed from his own stock. The wheat crop 
 is ripe in May ; and the corn crop, which in favourable seasons is also ex- 
 ceedingly good, comes to maturity in June. 
 
 The speaker of the nation has his farm in good fence, staked and ridered. 
 He cultivates his whole crop with the plough. Last year he planted about 
 one hundred and fifty peach trees, and sowed three bushels of wheat. He had 
 also begun the culture of cotton, and had a fine field of it ; likewise a pro- 
 raising show of corn, potatoes, pumpkins, ground peas and beans. He had 
 nine females of his family employed in spinning, and a loom in his house with 
 a spring shuttle. The like was done by several other of the most considera- 
 ble men, who employed the plough in agriculture and clothed themselves in 
 homespun. 
 
 Neat cattle were owned in large numbers by the Indians. Several of them 
 have herds amounting to 100, 500, 1000, and eveu 2000 heads. They had be- 
 come very much attached to this kind of stock, and took great pains to pro- 
 cure them. These creatures are computed to double their numbers every 
 three years. Their owners exchange them with Georgians for cloths. Butter 
 and cheese have been made in more than an hundred place". In 1804, these 
 arts were rapidly increasing. The men had also become acquainted wilh the 
 tanning of hides into leather ; and the making of the latter into saddles. 
 
 They also had negro slaves to work for them. The African temperament, 
 which bends to servitude under the dominion of the black and white man, sub- 
 mits also to the sovereignty of the red-man. Several of the more wealthy In- 
 dians hold a number of such domestics. They were rapidly acquiring a 
 knowledge of real estates, a >d of the utility of holding their lands and improve- 
 ments in severally. In evidence of which, it may be mentioned that a num- 
 ber of them were growing solicitous about deeds and titles. 
 
 One remarkable fact concerning their progress in calculation is well wor- 
 thy of notice. In teaching them the use of the steelyard, they necessarily 
 became acquainted with arithmetical cyphers. By a little practice, not 
 more than other persons are obliged to take, they learned the use of these 
 signs in adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers, and became 
 
02 
 
 j 
 
 ready and correct calculators. And this they accomplished without being 
 able to read a single letter. The symbols of numbers being signs of ideas, 
 were acquired with equal ease by persons of all languages, while letters or 
 alphabetical characters being signs of simple sounds, can be comprehended 
 by the persons only who are conversant in the tongue which they are intend- 
 ed to explain. A Muskogee Indian, therefore is exactly in this state of ad- 
 vancement ; he can sum up an invoice or bill of parcels, by virtue of his 
 knowledge ofjigures t but he cannot read a word nor line of the writing on 
 account of his total ignorance of letters. 
 
 Thus they begin to find the usefulness, and suffer the want of literature. 
 The inconveniences and disadvantages of this situation rendered the older 
 class, and especially those who had property, desirous of procuring a better 
 education for then ch Idren. And under the operation of this conviction* 
 they begun to admit schoolmasters, to make their idle and vagrant boys sub- 
 mit to restraint, and to receive regular instruction in reading and writing the 
 English language. 
 
 Great solicitude, however, was expressed on this subject by the chiefs. Seve- 
 ral of their young men had been educated from home, among and by the white 
 people, and had returned into the nation, completely ruined for all the 
 purposes of usefulness. They had acquired such a contempt for the In- 
 dian life and manners, that they violated the customs their forefathers, and 
 disobeyed the rulers. Losing public confidence in this manner, they were suf- 
 fered to wander and prowl through the nation, without being taken notice 
 of, or suffered to have a share in its government. There was no small ana- 
 logy between these youths, and those of our own nation who go to Europe 
 for instruction. They but too often acquire foreign manners and habits, con- 
 ceive a dislike for their country, its inhabitants and institutions, and often- 
 times mar their own happiness, and turn out useless to the public. So an In- 
 dian lad, educated among white people, has never in any instance been known 
 to say one word in recommendation of the wheel,the loom or the plough, of use- 
 ful arts, or domestic manufactures, or, in short, of any thing conducive to the 
 general welfare. On the contrary, their discourse principally turns on the ex- 
 travagance in which they lived, and the dissipations in which they shared ; but 
 they utter not a sentence on the condition of the greater part of their species, 
 and of the human race who are doomed to live by labour. But education in 
 their own country, of the kind which their state of society requires, and to 
 the degree called for by their actual need, will gradually creep in and be fol- 
 lowed by the most salutary changes in their situation. 
 
 In many of the villages, particularly of the Lower Creeks, the natives had 
 already made considerable progress in the silversmith's business Ornaments 
 of silver, such as spurs, broaches, rings, silver beads, ornaments for the ears 
 and nose, armbands and wristbands were manufactured to a considerable ex- 
 tent. 
 
 Considerable steps had also been taken in the gunsmith's art, particularly 
 stocking the pieces, and doing some of the work about the locks. 
 
 These are some of the leading features of Mr. Hawkins' mode of treating; 
 these uncivilized tribes, and leading them on froa rudeness toward refinement. 
 Indeed, the business of civilizing Indians, however problematical it may 
 
63 
 
 once have seemed, was deemed to have been in a train of successful progress. 
 There came in 1805 a deputation of eighteen Cherokees to the seat of the na- 
 tional government : they were all men of property, and lived, when at home, 
 on enclosed and cultivated farms. They were clad after our manner, in 
 homespun cloth of their own spinning, dyeing and weaving. And several of 
 them speak our tongue, I have seen letters written by Cherokee girls of 
 the half-breed, as well expressed, and in an good a hand as our young females 
 write. 
 
 I might relate to you what other measures had been adopted to instil into 
 the minds of these people more correct notions and practices of civil and cri- 
 minal law, than the barbarous and bloody policy they formerly pursued. 
 The agent had progressed so far as to take punishment out of the hands of 
 th irritated individual, and inflict it upon the offender by the public arm. 
 And he had instituted a court of law, where substantial justice was speedily 
 obtained by a trial upon the naked merits of the case. 
 
 The influence of music was tried with remarkable benefit among the Che- 
 rokees. The young women had clothed themselves handsomely, after our 
 manner, in cotton fabrics of their own manufacture. They then were qua- 
 lified to dance to the tunes of the violin. Care was taken to teach the steps, 
 figures and gestures of the white people. They soon became active and 
 graceful dancers. This had a surprising effect upon the young men. For 
 they were excluded from the company, unless they would dress themselves 
 in a decent manner. The attire and the occasion obliged them to behave 
 themselves properly. And thus were their manners softened and refined. 
 
 On surveying the efforts of theological missionaries ever since the settle- 
 ment of our country, it is truly lamentable that they have done so little. 
 Generally speaking, their labours, even those of the early and zealous Je- 
 suits, have been lost or misapplied. Many of our considerate and contem- 
 plative men have altogether despaired of either civilizing or christianizing 
 the savages. It now appears what is the cause of so many and such lament- 
 able failures. We discern wherefore, with such mighty efforts, so small an 
 amount of good has been done. 
 
 Missionary individuals and societies have begun the work at the wrong 
 end. They have attempted to instil the doctrines of a sublime religion, be- 
 fore they introduced arts and manufactures, and before they tamed man, and 
 made him a settled and domestic animal. And while they proceeded in this 
 way, they either totally failed, or made but trifling progress whereas, if 
 they would employ the same amount of capital, and zeal, and talent in hu- 
 manizing the wild hunters of the forest, their condition would instantly im- 
 prove ; their tribes be preserved from extinction ; by degrees the useful arts 
 of agriculture and manufacture would gain an establishment; and upon this 
 foundation every kind of improvement might be erected. 
 
 (NOTE H.) 
 
 Dear Sir, Monticello, June 13, 1800. 
 
 Your favour of May 15, happened to be written on the very day on which 
 I left Philadelphia ; and as I took a very circuitous route and was long on th* 
 
 
way, it is but lately I have received it here. The interesting paper it eov .- 
 ered goes by this post to the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. The ca- 
 lamities which our great cities have experienced from the new infection ren- 
 tier it important to discover what are those principles in nature which forbid 
 the soil to be covered here with a solid block of buildings, and men to be pil- 
 ed on one another, as they may with impunity in Europe. Do our cloudless 
 skies and the solar heat consequently accumulated, generate effects here on 
 the same materials which are innocent under the bank of clouds constantly 
 hovering over Europe? However, while those, who, like yourself, hold the 
 clues to nature's secrets, are engaged in pursuing them, we of the multitude 
 may rest in tranquillity under the assurance that they will at length be laid 
 open. Nor is it in physics alone that we shall be found to differ from the other 
 hemisphere. I strongly suspect that our geographical peculiarities may call 
 for a different code of natural law to govern our relations with other nations 
 from that which the conditions of Europe have given rise to there. I sincere- 
 ly join in your congratulations on the revival of those principles on which 
 our republic has been founded; perhaps future ages may never know the real 
 soporific, which, in gentle slumbers, was earring them to their grave. 
 
 I am with great esteem, and respect, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, 
 DR, MITCHILL. 
 
 Washington, May 21,1 805. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON presents his friendly salutations to Dr. Mitchill, and 
 sends him the extract of a letter he has received from Mr. T. M. Randolph, 
 with a small bag containing, as he supposes, the specimen of salt mentioned by 
 Mr. Randolph. He received but one, though tw are mentioned. 
 
 " A person from Greenbriar county of this state, the owner of a very large 
 cave near the court house, from which great quantities of saltpetre have 
 been made, has, a day or two since, lodged with me a specimen of a kind of 
 salt produced in an attempt to make saltpetre from the earth of a newly 
 discovered chamber of the cave. This specimen seems to consist of at least 
 two distinct neutral salts, one of which is to my tongue Glauber's salts exact- 
 ly. I suspect a third to exist also, but I have no means of ascertaining, nor 
 even of determining the form of the chrystals, which are so small that they 
 quire a glass to magnify them. I send by the stage a specimen to you, and 
 and one for Dr. Mitchill, which I must trouble you to forward to him. A pro- 
 mise which I could not avoid making the proprietor of the cave, to have the 
 product of it analysed and its value determined for him, forces me to give 
 you this trouble." 
 
 THOS. JEFFERSON presents his compliments to Dr. MitchiU and his thank* 
 for the pamphlet he was so kind as to send him, and which he communica- 
 ted to Mr. Randolph. He expects on his return to Washington (which will 
 be in three weeks from this time) to find there a great collection of the cheny- 
 ical subjects of Louisana which Captain Lewis has senrt, with a desire 'f < 
 
65 
 
 forward to the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia : from them we are td 
 hope to learn their contents. He tenders to Dr. Mitchill his friendly saluta- 
 tions and assurances of great respect. 
 
 Monticillo, September 8, 1805. 
 
 THOMAS JFFFERSON returns his thanks to Dr. Mitchill for the statistical 
 manual of New- York, and is pleased with every evidence of the growth and 
 prosperity of so important a city. The Secretary at War would have set out 
 this day, but for 'he rain now falling, to meet the Vice President and Colonel 
 Williams there, to consider what works can be of any avail towards protect- 
 ing that city from naval enterprises. Thomas Jefferson salutes Dr. Mitchill 
 with friendship and respect. 
 
 Washington, June 24, 1807. 
 
 (NOTE I.) 
 
 February 27, 1806. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Wednesday, February the 19th, was delivered a message from the Presi- 
 dent of the United States to the Senate and House of Representatives, relative 
 to the discoveries made upon the Missouri River ; whereupon it was ordered, 
 that 1000 copies of the message, together with the accompanying communi- 
 cations be printed for the use of the members ; I request you will send me 
 one of the accompanying communications, by the post. I am very weak, 
 and have evident signs of an approaching dissolution ; but I have lived long 
 enough since - have lived to see a mighty people animated with the spirit 
 to be FREE, and governed by transcendant abilities and honour. If where 
 I am going 1 am allowed to look down and behold the world I leave, I shall 
 rejoice to find the United States, beyond example, a great and a flourishing 
 people. I am, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your Obedient Servant, 
 
 HORATIO GATES. 
 
 (NOTE J.) 
 
 Extracts of Letter from Dr. PRIESTLEY, dated at Northumberland, 
 and addressed to Dr. MITCHILL at Washington, Jan. 9, 1802. 
 
 I feel myself much obliged to you and Dr. Miller for so early an admission 
 of my paper on Galvanism into the Medical Repository. I have another in 
 answer to Mr. Cruickshank in Nicholson's Journal to Woodhouse, to be for- 
 warded to the Repository; which I hope you will insert when convenient. I 
 am very glad to hear of the extensive circulation of that valuable work, 
 
 I 
 
66 
 
 which does so much credit to the conductors and the country. I shall always 
 think myself honoured by the publication of any article of mine in it. 
 
 My bookseller in L-mdon having disappointed me, I am at present much 
 behind hand in philosophical intelligence, by which I suffer much. In win- 
 ter, also, I am not fond of going much into my laboratory ; so that I do very 
 little in the way of experiments at present ; though, in other respects, I am 
 not quite idle. I feel, however, the effect of years, and am by no means so 
 active as I have been. Neither have I recovered from the effect of the fever 
 I had i. Philadelphia. I am much thinner and weaker; and this I fancy has 
 been in some measure the cause of the ague which I have had lately, and 
 which I nerer had before. What matters of importance have you in discus- 
 sion? 
 
 April 17, 1802. 
 
 I am obliged to you for your curious account of the federal city ; but it 
 does not excite any wish to visit it I shall be glad to know how long your 
 session is likely to continue, and to be informed of any thing of a political na- 
 ture that is not to be expected in a common newspaper. 
 
 Jan. 8, 1803. 
 
 I think myself much honoured by the respectful mention of me by your 
 friends in Congress, and could wish to pay them a visit. But at my time of 
 life, the inconvenience of a journey at this season of the year would be too 
 great for me. As to the rhaplainship to Congress, I should not think of it. 
 They have my best wishes and prayers too, without any salary. 1 rejoice 
 greatly in the present aspect of public affairs, and hope it will long continue. 
 Our excellent President will, I doubt not, keep war and every other evil as 
 far as he can from us. 
 
 J. PRIESTLEV. 
 
 [A Letter from John S. Mitchell, of Sunbury, states some particulars of the 
 disease which preceded his death a stricture at the upper orifice of the sto- 
 mach, &c. The event took place on the 6th of February, 1804.] 
 
 (NOTE K.) 
 
 It is long since I received a letter from my old friend, Doctor Mitchill. I 
 have, indeed, heard of him now and then through another medium : but it 
 would be agreeable to me to see a letter written by himself. 
 
 I have been so much indebted to him for the extensive circulation of my 
 grammar, in my native country, that I am solicitous he would accept a copy 
 of the new edition of it, which I lately completed. The first volume of this 
 octavo impression, besides ,many corrections and alterations, contains more 
 than forty pages of additional matter : and the author ventures to presume 
 that this third edition of the book, in its present form, will be found to be not 
 a little superior to all the preceding impressions. 
 
67 
 
 It will give me pleasure to hear that my friend's health continues to be 
 good, and that he is yet able to pursue the path of usefulness in which he 
 has long travelled. That he may be blessed with as great a portion of true 
 enjoyment as this mutable, unsatisfying world can afford, and when his 
 setting sun approaches, may be cheered by the prospect of a bright and hap- 
 py day that shall last forever, is my earnest desire. 
 
 It will be pleasing to my friend to be informed that now, in the 72nd year 
 of my age, I am favoured with a comfortable state of health, though I have 
 been confined to my sitting and lodging rooms, for more than six years. I can 
 sit up through the day, read and write a little, and see a few of my select 
 friends ; but the weakness of my voice, which is often confined to a whisper, 
 precludes me from having company that might otherwise be gratifying to 
 me ; and 1 am often obliged to deny myself this satisfaction. I am, how- 
 ever, amidst my various privations, under deep obligations to Divine Provi- 
 dence, for the many blessings which I enjoy ; and I earnestly hope that I 
 may be enabled and disposed to improve them all to the glory of the Great 
 Giver of all good, and to my own final well being. 
 
 Be so obliging as to remember me very respectfully to our worthy friend, 
 Dr. Samuel Miller, who I hope enjoys a good state of health. 
 
 I remain thy sincere friend, 
 
 LINDLEY MURRAY. 
 
 
 , - 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 In the Letter of the Committee, page 3, instead of John read Joieph, 
 
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