cularly fond of asparagus dressed with oil; but he was intimately acquainted with an abbé who loved to eat this delicious vegetable served up with butter. One day the abbé dropped in unexpectedly to dinner, and Fontenelle, who had ordered his favourite dish, with great kindness directed that half should be dressed with oil and the rest with butter.-The value of this sacrifice is proved by the sequel of the story. The abbé falling down dead in a fit, Fontenelle, without a moment's delay, darted to the top of the stairs, and exclaimed to the cook-" Dress the whole with oil, the whole with oil, as I told you before." London Magazine.

ODE TO FORTITUDE.

NYMPH of the rock, alike serene,
Whether the golden eye of day
Beam on the earth his cheerful ray,
And gild with living light the scene;
Or if black storms and whirlwinds howl,
If deep-toned thunders shake the pole,
If meteors dart their glare around,
And lightnings fire the blasted ground:

In such an hour of wild affright,
That stuns the ear, appals the sight,
When all Creation shrinks aghast,
As if Destruction wing'd the blast,
Undaunted does thy soul the shock sustain,
Nor reck the whirlwind's howl or thunder-blasted plain.

For thee her adamantine shield

Does heaven-descended Virtue wield:
'Tis thus thou hear'st without dismay
The din of arms and discord bray,
The tiger yell, the lion roar,

That scour the tainted plain for gore.

On rocks, that beetle o'er the deep,
Where yawn the jaws of Ruin steep,
O'er ravening gulfs, where ghastly Death
Watches his bloody trade, beneath
The narrow ridge's dizzy line,-
With steadfast eye to walk is thine.

Where'er thou turn'st thy purposed way,
With iron arms in firm array,
Labour with all his hardy crew,
And Toil, that knows no rest, pursue.

Even Fate, whose adamantine chain
All human force assails in vain,
Relenting from his stern decree,
Yields the triumphant crown to thee.

And wizard Danger, from whose sullen howl
Starts, chill'd with horror, every soul,
Scar'd by the lightning of thine eagle eyes,

Low stoops his haughty crest, and shrinks his giant size. Cambridge.

T.

ACCOUNT OF WILLIAM PENN'S TREATY WITH THE AMERICAN INDIANS,

PREVIOUS TO HIS SETTLING IN PENNSYLVANIA.

THE country assigned to him by the royal charter was yet full of its original inhabitants; and the principles of William Penn did not allow him to look upon that gift as a warrant to dispossess the first proprietors of the land. He had accordingly appointed his commissioners, the preceding year, to treat with them for the fair purchase of a part of their lands, and for their joint possession of the remainder; and the terms of the settlement being now nearly agreed upon, he proceeded, very soon after his arrival, to conclude the settlement, and solemnly to pledge his faith, and to ratify and confirm

the treaty in sight both of the Indians and planters. For this purpose a grand convocation of the tribes had been appointed near the spot where Philadelphia now stands; and it was agreed that he and the presiding Sachems should meet and exchange faith, under the spreading branches of a prodigious elm-tree, that grew on the bank of the river. On the day appointed, accordingly, an innumerable multitude of the Indians assembled in that neighbourhood; and were seen, with their dark visages and brandished arms, moving, in vast swarms, in the depth of the woods which then overshaded the whole of that now cultivated region. On the other hand, William Penn, with a moderate attendance of friends, advanced to meet them. He came of course unarmed in his usual plain dress-without banners, or mace, or guard, or carriages; and only distinguished from his companions by wearing a blue sash of silk network (which, it seems, is still preserved by Mr. Kett, of Seething-hall, near Norwich), and by having in his hand a roll of parchment, on which was engrossed the confirmation of the treaty of purchase and amity. As soon as he drew near the spot where the Sachems were assembled, the whole multitude of Indians threw down their weapons, and seated themselves on the ground in groups, each under his own chieftain; and the presiding chief intimated to William Penn, that the nations were ready to hear him.

Having been thus called upon, he began :-" The Great Spirit," he said, " who made him and them, who ruled the heaven and the earth, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power. It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fellow-creatures, for which reason they had come unarmed. Their object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. They were then met on the broad pathway of good faith and good will, so that no advantage was to be taken on either side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood, and love."

After these and other words, he unrolled the parchment, and by means of the same interpreter conveyed to them, article by article, the conditions of the purchase, and the words of the compact then made for their eternal union. Among other things, they were not to be molested in their lawful pursuits even in the territory they had alienated, for it was to be common to them and the English. They were to have the same liberty to do all things therein relating to the improvement of their grounds, and providing sustenance for their families, which the English had. If any disputes should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve persons, half of whom should be English and half Indians. He then paid them for the land, and made them many presents besides from the merchandize which had been spread before them. Having done this, he laid the roll of parchment on the ground, observing again, that the ground should be common to both people. He then added, that he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them Children or Brothers only; for often parents were apt to whip their children too severely, and brothers sometimes would differ; neither would he compare the friendship between him and them to a chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall and break it; but he should consider them as the same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one man's body were to be divided into two parts. He then took up the parchment, and presented it to the Sachem who wore the horn in the chaplet, and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed between them, just as if he himself had remained with them to repeat it.

The Indians, in return, made long and stately harangues of which, however, no more seems to have been remembered, but that "they pledged themselves to live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon should endure." And thus ended this famous treaty, of which Voltaire has remarked, with so much truth and severity, "that it was

the only one ever concluded between savages and Christians that was not ratified by an oath-and the only one that never was broken!"

Such, indeed, was the spirit in which the negotiation was entered into, and the corresponding settlement conducted, that, for the space of more than seventy years, and so long indeed as the Quakers retained the chief power in the government, the peace and amity which had been thus solemnly promised and concluded never was violated; and a large and most striking, though solitary example afforded of the facility with which they who are really sincere and friendly in their own views may live in harmony even with those who are supposed to be peculiarly fierce and faithless. We cannot bring ourselves to wish that there were nothing but Quakers in the world, because we fear it would be insupportably dull; but when we consider what tremendous evils daily arise from the petulance and profligacy, and ambition and irritability, of sovereigns and ministers, we cannot help thinking it would be the most efficacious of all reforms to choose all those ruling personages out of that plain, pacific, and sober-minded sect.

Edinburgh Review.

SIEGE OF SANCERRE.

MR. EDITOR,

IN one of my daily perambulations round London, I by chance met with a very curious old book, in good preservation, full of very interesting and highly entertaining matter relative to the troubles of France, more particularly during that period when the protestants were so cruelly and inhumanly persecuted, under the bigoted and relentless Duke of Guise. It is entitled "An Historical Collection of the most Memorable Accidents and Tragicall Massacres of France, under the Raignes of Henry II.-Francis I.-Charles IX.-Henry III.-Henry IV.