But why must that which should be the medicine of our govern ment, be looked to as its ordinary nutriment? Why should not the nation always have the best talents of the country in her service? Why should not all her public establishments be on a scale worthy of a great as well as of a free people?

REVIEW.

The Life of the late General William Eaton; several years an officer in the United States' army; Consul at the Regency of Tunis, on the coast of Barbary, and commander of the Christian and other forces that marched from Egypt through the desert of Barca, in 1805, and conquered the city of Derne, which led to the treaty of peace between the United States and the Regency of Tripoli: principally collected from his correspondence and other manuscripts. Brookfield, 8vo. pp. 448.

THE distinguished agency which the late General Eaton had, in our affairs in the Mediterranean, during our contest with some of the Barbary powers, in the year 1804, and the adventurous part he took in endeavouring to restore the exiled Bashaw, Hamet Caramanly, to the sovereignty of Tripoli, are events which, taken in connexion with collateral circumstances, are sufficiently interesting to claim the attention both of the reader and of the writer of history. The hostile measures which our government have recently found it necessary to adopt against Algiers will not tend to diminish this interest; and although the transactions of General Eaton had but little relation to that regency, yet, as the manners, policy, and mode of warfare of the Barbary states, are very similar, a view of one of them, will enable us to form a pretty correct idea of the character of the rest. With respect to the intrinsic merits of this work as a piece of biography, we shall reserve our remarks till the conclusion of the present article, which, being calculated more for the purposes of information than of criticism, will chiefly consist of a summary of the contents of the volume.

General Eaton was born in Connecticut, in the year 1764, and

very early in life gave tokens of an enterprising disposition, accompanied with a great deal of eccentric behaviour. He was taught reading, writing, and a little arithmetic by his father, who was a plain farmer; and at the age of sixteen began his career of adventures by running away, and enlisting in the army, where he continued upwards of a year, in the capacity of a waiter to one of the majors. Being discharged from the service on account of ill health, he bent his way homewards; but, not being sufficiently recovered to pursue his journey, he was under the necessity of seeking repose and support in the family of a farmer, whose kindness he repaid to his full satisfaction, by repairing his old chairs, and acting as a schoolmaster to his children. Having returned home and reestablished his health, he again joined the army, in which he continued till his regular discharge in the year 1783; having, in the mean time, been promoted to a sergeant. He now turned his attention to classical studies, and, in the year 1785, entered Dartmouth College, where, after several long and irregu lar intervals of absence, during which he employed and maintained himself by teaching school in different places, he finally was readmitted, and graduated in the year 1790. His passion for the profession of arms being still unsubdued, he soon afterwards made interest for a military commission, and, by the patronage of a friend in the senate, he was appointed, in 1792, a captain in the army.

Being naturally of an arrogant and obstinate disposition, and of an irascible and impetuous temper, he was often haunted by provocations that hurried him into sallies of vehement language, and violent behaviour. This propensity soon manifested itself in his new situation. Being charged by the acting adjutant general at a review with disobeying the word of command relative to some evolution, he contradicted him in a very positive manner, which instantly produced a most violent altercation in the presence of the commander, and was soon afterwards followed by a challenge from Captain Eaton. The form of the challenge is truly laconic, but we are inclined to imagine that if Edipus had been required by the Sphinx to guess the meaning of such a communication, the life of the monster might have been insured a few years longer at a very moderate premium.

"SIR,

"Legionville, 17th March, 5 o'clock, P. M.

"I am to understand-and am to be understood by Captain Butler. "EATON.

"The Acting Adj. Gen."

In the Indian war of 1794, Eaton served under General Wayne, and was engaged in several skirmishes; but it does not appear that he had any particular opportunity of signalizing himself in battle. The following brief outline of the character of Wayne is a proof that he was not unwilling, through envy or self-conceit, to yield the tribute of praise to superior worth, and at the same time shows that a good understanding subsisted between him and that meritorious veteran.

"He is firm in constitution as in resolution;-industrious, indefatigable, determined and persevering;-fixed in opinion, and unbiased in judgment;-not over accessible; but studious to reward merit. He is a rock against which the waves of calumny and malice, moved by the gust of passions natural to envy, have dashed-have washed its sides. He is still immoveable on his base. He is in some degree sus ceptible of adulation, as is every man who has an honest thirst for military fame. He endures fatigue and hardship with a fortitude uncommon to men of his years. I have seen him, in the most severe night of the winter, 1794, sleep on the ground like his fellow soldier; and walk around his camp at four in the morning, with the vigilance of a sentinel.

"His manners are austere and forbidding, but his heart is susceptible of the finest feelings of sensibility. When in danger, he is in his element; and never shows to so good advantage as when leading a charge. His name is better in an action, or in an enemy's country, than a brigade of undisciplined levies." P. 19, 20.

Government having determined to establish a military post, and an Indian trading factory, on the river St. Mary, Colonel Gaither was appointed to the command, and Captain Eator received or ders to repair to that station. The Colonel is represented, by Eaton, to have been of a splenetic and jealous temper, and of a speculating and avaricious disposition; and the superintendant of the factory as of a morose and unaccommodating character. Mis