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the authority of Parliament . The colonists who took the part of the mother cormtiy were called Tories by the Americans . . ' - .... " The fact is , " continues iibrd John , " that the old ground of the Tory party . had been j froni the aacession of George III ., abandoned , and the Whig dqctrines of the Constitution ^ as they had been , professed in the reigns of'William III ; and George I ., were adopted by the leading statesmen of ail parties , however they , might differ as to the im ^ mediate questions of foreign or domestic policy . As to-the remark of Lord North , it had no doubt some foundation , but the fact . to which he alludes will bear ¦ a , YQry " different .- interpretation . The Americans could not object to the " 'Houses of Parliament as advisers of the Grown , but when the House of
Commons voted taxes to be levied in America , they naturally deprecated the interference of Parliament in -a . " matter which iiroperly belonged to themselves , and appealed to the Crown on the ground of their charter . Lord jSTorth . soon again returned to his favourite policy of vain and foolish appearances of conciliation . ' The liaitic of Howe was popular in America . Admiral Lord Howe was sent to join his brother , General Howe , and a joint ' commission was given them to treat for . pacification . But as their instructions merely ' empowered them to receive submissions and remedy grievances , after the convention , committee , or association of any province , ' which have usurped powers , ' should have been dissolved , these overtures were rather endeavours to divide the people of America , than to give them real satisfaction . They were , in fact , so considered . "
I ^ ord North , though secretly of opinion that the system he was pursuing would ^ end . in ruin to the King and to the country , continued still to obey ' the" commands of his sovereign and-. ' observe a course of conduct that was due to weakness of character and a slavish spirit of devotion , fatal to the welfare of the State . Mr . Burke and Mi-. Fox , were howr ever , so ill sxipported hy the pxiblic opinion of their country , that they were constrained to abandon , the contest , and in 1776 absented themselves with their followers from the House when any question relative to America was in debate . Systematically ; they made their bow to the Speaker , -andformally withdrew . They indeed only appeared in their places on the matters of private bills and / particular interestLord Malion fcthis impeaches their
. » r patriotism ; Lord John Russell , defends it . Nevertheless , Mr . Fox attended in his placethough alone— -to oppose Lord North ' s bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act , in respect to all persons suspected of high treason in America or on the high seas . lie drew the attention of Parliament to the fact that France had long been secretly hostile to Great Britain , and that she was in treaty with the members of the American Congjress , or with persons authorised and deputed from them . At length Mr . Fox triumphed , and the ftdminstratioh of'Lord North , came to ah . ignominious end . The interval , however , comprises the first effort of Mr . Pitt , and the great . popular triumph of Fox in his being elected for Wesunin-.
stor . Lord John Russell goes too much into detail in his description of the American warfare . . Ho should have epitomised where he ; has enlarged , and subordinated these imuI other public transactions to his hero . But as it is , Washington And Generals Howe and IJxirgoyne fill the pages , and it is only in an occasional sentence , that wo catch the name of Mr . Fox . The same fault ' prevails in regard to the parliamentary history of the time ; tor one paragraph bestowed on Mr . Fox , there are a dozen pages occupied with Mr . Burke , and other politic-inns of the period . This first ; volume parries the reader clown to the Shclburne administration , and the peace of 1783 ;
Previous to that , however , was the Rockingham administration , which succeeded that of LordNorjth . A whole system , sa ) 's our biographer , had passed away ; and Goorgq III ., its inventor , was no longer his own minister . Henceforth ho had to reign as a constitutional living . Too long had ho attempted absolutism;—the woapon that would not bend , broke in his hand . America , by insisting on her own independence , had secured the liberty of Great Britain . The affairs of Ireland now succeeded to those of America . Mr . Fox was in the Cabinet , but ibuiul bia position uneasy , owing to the , intrigues of Lord Bholburno . The death of Lord liookinghiun on 1 st July , 1782 , brought their ditferonogs to a climax ; and ! Lord Sholburno was in power . Mr . Fox , accoi'dingly , resigned the seals into the King ' s hands . Unfortunately , ho
failed in canyihg the whole Rockingham party with him out ' . -office . A -. personal antipathy to Fox was , besides , deeply rooted in the royal-bosom . ; The Prince of Wales , too , now came vnxm the stage of politics , and , by evincing openly his want of respect for hisi .-royal parent , aggravated matters . " The King was shocked bv the morals , thwarted by the politics , and deeply irritated by the personal connexions of his son . " The new Government , however , made the concessions in relation to America that had been reqiiired , and the United States were regarded as free and independent . We shall await the following volumes of this work with considerable impatience .
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS OF CHARLES II . Personal Memoirs of Charles II . By J . W . Clayton , Esq . .-. 2 vols . Charles .. J . Skeet : Captain Cxayton who is already favourably known by his entertaining works- ^ - " Letters from the ; Nile " and " Ubique "—has taken a bold step in the work before us . It having oecured to"him that no separate modern Avork was devoted to the simple biography of tie merry monarch , though hundreds of historical -volumes of general history and others referring to special portions of his reign would furnish ample materials for one , he determined to enter . upon the task of its compilation . This difficulty lay , of course , not in the scarcity ,, but in the abundance of matter at his disposal , and he h . conscientiously compressed the largest amount of iriterestin < r detaiiinto the smallest conceivable space .
The lively author of " TJbique '' makes . no pretensions to be a Dryasdust . ' He has not ransacked foreign libraries , provincial munimentrrooms and charter chests , or the dead stock of the second-hand book shops . His divining rod has disclosed no new springs . He has opened no new lights into tlie politics , conspiracies , or court life of the time , lie will earn small thanks therefore from historical Students . But he has diligently culled a biography from the vast network of recognised historical
highways and byeways , open to him as to all ., lror statements of fact , he lias laid under contribution the works of Whitelocke , Riishworth , Ormond , D'Ewes , Thurloe , Bumet , Clarendon , Pcpys , Grammont , King , Jesse , Strickland , Jameson , Lingard , Hucldleston , and many others ; and has drawn liis deductions with good sense and liberality . The result is a l > ook of no slight value- to tlie multitude , who must truly ,. now-a-days , read as they run , and Who can find no time to wander on their own account into the fascinating : fields of historical investigation .
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THE RIVERINE REPUBLIQS . La Plata , The Argentine Confederation , and Paraguay Being a narrative of the exploration the tributaries of the River La Plata , under the orders of the United States Government . By Thomas J . Page , U . S . Navy . London ; Trubner . The vague general notion which nine-tenths of newspaper readers have of the South American Republics is that they are fragmentary and insignificant remains of the great empire of the Spanish Main , that they are all deeply indebted to English bondholders , that their population have degenerated into worthless half-castes by constant intermarriages with the Indians , and that they arc constantly either fighting against each other , or electing ,
deposing , tyrannised over by , and intriguing against , dictators of their own . These states naturally divide themselves into two classes ; those lying along tho north shore of the continent , and watered by the Amazon and its confluents ; and thoso lying along the shores of the Parana and Paraguay , whioh bear you from Monte Video and Buenos Ayres , away up behind Brazil , into the north ¦ of tho central part of the continent . Tho range of the Andes running close to the western shore of South America , js , speaking generally , entirely watered by xuvers that loll into the Atlantic . And all trade with the interior that cannot ; bo conducted by the channel of the Amazon , must pass along tho
River Plnta , tho navigability of whoso brandies for two thousand miles into the interior , Captain Pago has practically established . Many valuable volumes of this character have , in rocont years , issued from the Amcrioan press ; whether ait the expense and , instigation of the federal Government , which has been lately voting " appropriations , " for much loss meritorious objects , wo know not ; at all events they have been tho results uud records ! of discovery and exploration , undertaken , by orders given worn Waslxington ,
Of these , not the least important have been Dr . Kane ' s narrative of ' tlie Arctic expedition , and the accounts of the embassy to Japan ,-. and of the exploration of the Chinese Seas , and Behring ' s Straits . The volume before iis is ; an interesting and , as far as we can judge , a trustworthy addition to - . this important catalogue . In 1851 , Mr . Page undertook the •• command of an expedition , for the survey of the Rio de la Plata , and its tributaries , amf had
also committed to him the task of contracting a treaty of commerce with the Republic of Paraguay . The latter task he achieved , although it would appear somewhat fruitlessly , for the States are now blockading tlie ports of that republic . As the result of the exploration of the rivers , we have the establishment of their navigability far into the interior , and many valuable hints as to openings for profitable trading at various points in ' -their
courses . . On the-arrival of the expedition at Buenos Ayres Captain Page found Urquiza , President of the * Argentine Confederation , who-hadbeen the emancipator of the republics from ., the . power wMlo ^ is , bosiegih « y tlie capital , -that state having rendered herself obnoxious to the sister republics further -np . the rivers , by attempting to use hw position at their mouth to lier own exclusive commercial advantage . Captain Page and his vessel ,: the "VV ' ate ' T "Witch , were detained till pacification was established , by tlie agency of the -American-representative .. And his- ' instrunicntalitv towards this most desirable
object greatly ' . facilitated , the progress , of" the treaties with the republics , which have made tlie rivers entirely open to England and Fivuice , as well as to America . . After this . delay . —a'detention for four months—^ the AVaterWitch started up tlie country . About three years ' , sailing produced these' results . The river . ' . Uruguay , . which U the western , boundary of the republic of the > i \ iiiename , . and of which , the chief-seaport . is ISlonto Video , was found navigable almost to the north - west , corner of the state . " The Parana was traversed to its head , that is , to '' the ' . point where-it-Joscs ; its name in those of its continents The : Paraguay was
found navigable to jt-. point two thousand iniles froni li'U . cnps Ayres . The whole western frontiers of Uruguay and Paraguay were found to be in easy . communication with the ocean . It was proved that ships can sail from the southvest to the north-west point of the Argentine federation ; and that some hundreds of miles of-the common frontier of Brazil and Bolivia , fur uy in the very centre of tho continent , are also accessible . These summary results , of the expedition we have gathered from tlie narrative , aided by tlie large and well-executed ' map which is appended to-it . The book is enlivened , too , by a prolusion oi creditable woodcuts , representations of 1 lie principal ports of Guacho and colonist life , & < . ' .
The main excellences of this work are <> t a eommcrcinl nature , indications to tho enterprise ol traders of new markets for fabrics , new ^ iv « rioiw of production of profitable mateilals . '" tliu - general reader , interes ^ d only in travcllcrrf upstrviptioils of scenery , men and inunnens it will j ) rove far from uninteresting . As pnrtiul cujiiinnation of our commendation , we extiaet tnc following description of " n , waltz with a lady ot Concepuiun- ;"" Wo wore invited on tho first evening of our arrival to ' a ball at the comnmndunte ' s , whew wwu
assembled all tlio beauty and distinction ot sue ){ uw .. The floor of tlio Imll-rwm wiw of tile ,, tlio hjjlits t" » ' indeed , there was little to meet a oosmoixihlaii sun-< lnrd of elegance , but tho eoml-brt'edhiK n \ n \ nnint tact of tho people . made it un ooeiision of onjov " *; * to us nil . Thoro is no village ; or rogion of tlio «•« " , » so small or remote as not to huvu Us "uiipoi ¦ mn % . The knowledge of this fact placed my in a tlUi . ' ""™ ' 3 Joli ) tf tho " ttoflor Conuuandantcs" i was cspectuu to sfilm . t . us il lmrtnop for tho waits * , the most UlSUliviis
guishod huly present . ^ 'Iwn all lookeduliko , it impoBuiblo to discriminate : iv nilstakp . w * nihl Iron , a national insult . In this quandary , 1 ]> « w myself in the hands of tho coiuninndnnto . wuwuiisnu oft"to n formidably row offemalos at tho uppor «"" of tho room , flrpm wlionco ho brought forth n i '" " ""' assuring my shy danced divinely . Tliw I ( ' olll ( „ ? « loubt , for w ) uvt woman in Spanish America tnui iriUta , and wait / , well ? but was-nlio <> " * «* » t''ll 8 S 8 U often found in this country , thut "» 0 V > , iSlvH H , vtllC « Tho music began , oiY wo started , tolli . vc 1 bytno oflloors-of tho Wiitoe Witch , and » U tho U-lu « lionux of tho town . Wound and round , wli I ¦ « J " ¦ whirl— " Bravo , Boflor Commandanto J -T ' *' " ^ , . * aiblo oxolunmtlon of . our host as wo passed--liea » »« flound ililntly in my oar ; on , on > vy How j I no iwb "
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332 THE LEADER . [ No . 468 , March 12 , 1859 ,
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Leader (1850-1860), March 12, 1859, page 332, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2285/page/12/
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