his difficulty, he resolved to undertake levelling the rock. To effectuate this, great numbers of large trees were felled; and a huge pile raised against it, and set on fire. 10. The rock being thus heated, says Livy, was softened by vinegar, and a way opened, through which the whole army might safely pass. After this, no obstacles of any comparative moment occurred; for as he descended, the vallies between the mountains became more fertile; so that the cattle found pasture, and the soldiers had time to repose. Thus at the end of fifteen days, spent in crossing the Alps, the Carthaginian found himself in the plains of Italy with about half his army remaining; the rest having died with the cold, or were cut off by the natives. Note. Rome, the ancient seat of the Roman empire, is on the river Tiber, 800 miles southeast from London, in about 42° north latitude.-Spain, a kingdom of Europe, is 700 miles long and 500 broad. It is bounded on the northeast by the Pyrenees, which mountains separate Spain from France.-Italy, a country of Europe, lies west of the Gulf of Venice, between 380 and 47° north latitude. The Alps, the highest mountains in Europe, separate Italy from France and Germany. QUEBEC. 1. THIS seat of ancient dominion-now hoary with the lapse of two centuries-formerly the seat of a French Empire in the west-lost and won by the blood of gallant armies, and of illustrious commanders-throned on a rock, and defended by all the proud defiance of war, is the strongest town in America, and with the exception of Gibraftar, is the strongest in the world. It is situated on a bold promontory, formed at the junction of the river St. Charles with the St. Lawrence, and rising above 300 feet above the level of the water 2. It is, therefore, possessed of great natural advantages; the lofty perpendicular precipices of rock, which, on the south and east, separate a great part of the lower town from the upper, constitute, in themselves, on those sides, one insurmountable barrier; the river Charles, with its shallow waters, and low flats of sand and mud, drained almost dry, by the retiring of the tide, forms an insuperable impediment to the erection of commanding works, or to the location of ships on the east and north, not to mention that all this ground is perfectly commanded by the guns above. 3. The only vulnerable point is on the west and south from the plains of Abraham. Cape Diamond, the highest point of the town, it is true, is rather more elevated than any part of the plains, but the highest ground on the plains of Abraham commands most of the works on this side of the town; besides, there is no barrier of rock, no river, ravine, or marsh, or other natural obstacle, to hinder an approach upon this side; this is the vulnerable side of Quebec, and here, therefore, it is fortified with the most anxious care. 4. The distance across the peninsula, from one river to the other, is very nearly one mile. The circuit within the walls is two miles and three quarters; immediately without it is probably three miles, and the average diameter is very nearly six sevenths of a mile. A complete wall of massy stone, hewn and laid up with elegance, as well as strength, completely encircles the town, and is furnished with strong massy arches and gates, and with deep ditches. The walls vary much, in different parts, in height and thickness. Every where, however, they are high enough to render escalade very difficult, and a breach almost hopeless. 5. In the strongest parts, next to the plains of Abraham, they are fifty feet thick, and equally as high. Even the lofty precipices of naked rock are surmounted with a stone wall, and with cannon, and the highest points are crowned with towers and distinct batteries. In general, the curtains of the walls are looped for musketry, and projecting bastions present their artillery to the assailant in every direction, and of course so as to rake the ditches Immediately adjacent to the inner wall, which we have already remarked is fifty feet thick, runs a deep ditch, and then there is an exterior but lower wall, and other ditch, both of which must be scaled, before the main wall can be approached. 6. A storming party would be dreadfully exposed while mounting this exterior wall. The avenue to the Gate St. Louis, which opens to the plains of Abraham, is bounded on both sides by a high wall, and makes several turns in zig zag. At every turn cannon point directly at the approacher; and generally down every ditch, and in every possible direction, where the wall can be approached, great guns are ready to cut down the assailants. The promontory of the rock, which constitutes the loftiest point of the fortifications, is called Cape Diamond, and upon this is erected the famous citadel of Quebec. 7. This is not, as one might suppose, a building or castle covered with a roof; it is open to the heavens, and differs from the rest of the works only in being more elevated, stronger, and therefore more commanding. The highest part of the citadel is Brock's battery, which is a mound, artificially raised, higher than every thing else, and mounted with cannon, pointing to the plains of Abraham. From the citadel, the view of the river, of the town, and of the surrounding country, is, of course, extremely beautiful. Within the walls are numerous magazines, furnished with every implement and preparation, and more or less proof against the various missiles of war. 8. Piles of cannon balls are every where to be seen, and the cannons mounted on the walls and other places amount to several hundred. Beyond the walls, on the plains of Abraham, are the four Martello towers. They are solidly constructed, about forty feet high, the diameter at the base being about the same; as they have cannon on their tops. They of course sweep the whole plain, and effectually command it; the particular object of their construction is to prevent an enemy from occupying the high ground on the plains of Abraham. 9. These towers are very strong on the side farthest from the town, and weaker on the side next to it, that they may be battered from it, should an enemy obtain possession of them. On the whole, Quebec is so strong in its defences, and so well garrisoned, that an attempt to take it by any force whatever, would undoubtedly prove a fruitless undertaking. Note. Gibraltar is a town in the south of Spain, in 36° north latitude. Its fortifications, which are probably the strongest in the world, command the straits of Gibraltar, or the narrow Sea which connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean.-St. Lawrence, one of the largest rivers in North America, proceeds from Lake Ontario, from which it runs in a northeast direction, 700 miles, to the Atlantic Ocean. It is navigable for the largest vessels to Quebec, 400 miles from its mouth. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL LEE. 1. CHARLES LEE, a major general in the army of the United States, was born in Wales, and was the son of John Lee, a colonel in the British service. He entered the army at a very early age; but though he possessed a military spirit, he was ardent in the pursuit of knowledge. He acquired a competent skill in Greek and Latin, while his fondness for travelling made him acquainted with the Italian, Spanish, German, and French languages. In 1756, he came to America, and was engaged in the attack upon Ticonderoga, in July, 1758, when Abercrombie was defeated. 2. In 1762, he bore a colonel's commission, and served under Burgoyne, in Portugal, where he much distinguished himself. Not long afterwards, he entered into the Polish service. Though he was absent when the stamp act was passed, he yet by his letters zealously supported the cause of America. In the years 1771, 1772, and 1773, he rambled over all Europe, for he could never stay long at one place. During this excursion he was engaged with an officer in an affair of honour, and he slew his antagonist, escaping himself with the loss of two fingers. 3. Having lost the favour of the ministry, and the hopes of promotion, in consequence of his political sentiments, he came to America, in November, 1773. He travelled through the country, animating the colonies to resistance. In 1774, he was induced by the persuasion of his friend, general Gates, to purchase a valuable tract of land, of two or three thousand acres, in Berkley county, Virginia. Here he resided until the following year, when he resigned a commission which he held in the British service, and accepted a commission from Congress appointing him a major general. 4. He accompanied Washington to the camp at Cambridge, where he arrived July 2, 1775, and was received with every mark of respect. In the beginning of the following year he was despatched to New York to prevent the British from obtaining possession of the Hudson. This trust he executed with great wisdom and energy. He disarmed all suspicious persons on Long Island, and drew up a test to be offered to every one, whose attachment to the American cause was doubted. His bold measures carried terror wherever he appeared. 5. He seems to have been very fond of this application of a test; for, in a letter to the President of Congress, he informs him, that he had taken the liberty, at Newport, to administer to some of the tories a very strong oath, one article of which was, that they should take up arms in defence of their country, if called upon by Congress; and he recommends that this measure should be adopted in reference to all the tories in America. Those fanatics who might refuse to take it, he thought should be carried into the interior. 6. Being sent into the southern colonies, as commander of all the forces which should there be raised, he diffused an ardour among the soldiers which was attended with the most salutary consequences. He was very active in giving directions and making preparations previously to the unsuccessful attack of the British on Sullivan's Island, June 28, 1776. In October, by the direction of Congress, he repaired to the northern army. As he was marching through New Jersey, from the Hudson, to form a junction with Washington in Pennsylvania, he quitted his camp in Morris county, to reconnoitre. 7. In this employment he went to the distance of three miles from the camp and entered a house for breakfast. A British colonel became acquainted with his situation by intercepting a countryman charged with a letter from him, and was enabled to take him prisoner. He was immediately mounted on a horse, without his cloak and hat, and carried safely to New York. He was detained until April or May 1778, when he was exchanged for general Prescott, taken at Newport. He was engaged soon after in the battle of Monmouth. 8. Being detached by the commander in chief to make an attack upon the rear of the enemy, general Washington was pressing forward to support him on the twenty-eighth of June, when, to his astonishment, he found him retreating without having made a single effort to maintain his ground. Meeting him in these circumstances, without any previous |