insisting on correctness in orthography and grammar. In this employment, I had sometimes the good fortune to excel the other boys; and when this happened, my master never failed to praise me very liberally before them all; and he would frequently transmit my letters. to my father and mother.-This excited in my mind a spirit of emulation, and, I believe, gave me the first taste for correct and elegant composition. I acquired, however, all this time, but very little learning; and when my uncle (on my father's death) took me under his protection, his agent in Bristol considered me as neglected by Mr. Foot, and immediately removed me to a French boarding school in the same city, where I soon obtained the French language, and, having access to a circulating library, I acquired a passion for books, which has since become the solace of my life.

In 1759, a younger and the only brother of my great and good uncle came to England, and, settling in London, took me to reside with him, in a high and elegant style of life. He was a representative in Parliament for Abingdon, and afterwards for his native town. -Farther I cannot speak of him so favourably as I could wish, for I remember that; at the period I allude to, his conduct towards me was such as not to inspire me with much respect he perceived it, and soon after, in the latter end of the same year, sent me to Jamaica.

This proved a happy and fortunate change in my life, for I found my eldest uncle the reverse, in every possible circumstance, of his brother. To the most enlarged and enlightened mind he added the sweetest temper, and the most generons disposition. His tenderness towards me was excessive, and I regarded him with more than filial affection and veneration. Observing my passion for books, and thinking favourably of my capacity, he engaged a clergyman (my loved and ever to be lamented friend Isaac Teale) to reside in his family, chiefly to supply by his instructions my deficiency in the earned languages. Mr. Teale had been master of a free grammar school, and besides being a most accomplished scholar, possessed an exquisite taste for poetry, of which the reader will be convinced by referring to the Gentleman's Magazine, for August 1771, the beauti ful copy of verses, there first published, called "The Compliment of the Day," being of his composition. I dare not say, however, that 1 made any great progress in the languages under his tuition; I acquired "small Latin and less Greek ;" even now, I find it diffi. cult to read the Roman poets in their own language. The case was, that not having been grounded in the Latin grammar at an earlier period of life, I found the study of it insupportably disgusting, after I had acquired a taste for the beauties of fine writing. Poetry was our chief amusement; for my friend, as well as myself, preferred the charms of Dryden and Pope, to the dull drudgery of poring over syntax and prosody*. We preferred belles lettres. We laughed away many a happy hour over the plays of Molière, and wrote verses on local and temporary subjects, which we sometimes published in the Colonial newspapers. Yet the Latin classicks were not altoge ther neglected; my friend delighted to point out to me the beauties

Vide Armstrong.

of

of Horace, and would frequently impose on me the task of translate. ing an ode into English verse, which, with his assistance in constru ing the words, 1 sometimes accomplished.

Having made myself known to the publick by my writings, it is probable that after I am in the grave, some collector of anecdotes, or biographical compiler, may pretend to furnish some particulars concerning my life and manners. It is not pleasant to think that misrepresentation or malice may fas en on my memory; and I have: therefore made it the amusement of an idle hour, to compile a short account of myself. My personal history, however, is of little importance to the world. It will furnish no diversified scenes of fore tune, nor relate many circumstances of myself, worth remembering. Yet I feel the fond ambition of an Author, and am willing to hope, that those who have read my book with approbation, will be glad te know something farther concerning me;

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, &c.

For the satisfaction then of such kind readers (if such there are) and the information of my posterity, I have drawn up this paper, which I desire my Bookseller to prefix to the next Edition of my History of the West Indies.

B. E.

This is indeed merely a sketch; and surely without infringing the sacred deposit committed to his charge, the editor might have supplied, in an additional preface, the particulars which are wanting to complete this rapid and unadorned outline, Sir William, however, justly embalms the memory of his friend, by asserting the firmness of his mind, the cheer fulness of his temper, and his claim to the character of "a benevolent and upright man."

One of the most prominent features of upright and noble minds is a promptitude in acknowleging a fault, and in correcting any error or mistake into which they may have been betrayed. An instance of this ingenuousness and candour is displayed by Mr. Edwards, in the advertisement which he prepared to be prefixed to this volume. Having been led by the report of the French colonists, to reflect on the character of M. Augustus de Grasse (son of the late gallant Admiral Comte de Grasse), he now makes the following public reparation:

In a paper formerly transmitted to me from St. Domingo, and annexed to the 8th chapter of my work, intitled, Notes sur l'Evene ment du Cap, this gentleman was unjustly charged with having been present at the destruction of that town by the rebel negroes, aiding, abetting, and co-operating with their chiefs. I am now convinced that this atrocious charge is altogether groundless, and I cannot suf ficiently express the concern I feel on reflecting, that I was made the instrument of conveying it to the press.I have therefore, in this

edition,

edition, not only reprinted the sheet, and omitted the calumny, but I insert in this place, with great satisfaction, a certificate, which M. DE GRASSE has transmitted to me, in a very polite letter, from South Carolina, dated the 22d of October 1799.'

We cannot make room for the certificate, which is in French, and of considerable length.-The remainder of this advertise ment is occupied by remarks exculpatory of the conduct of the French planters at St. Domingo, on the occasion of the first arrival of British troops: but this subject would not be particularly interesting to our readers.

The Historical Survey of St. Domingo, with the additional notes and illustrations, occupies 258 pages of this volume; and then succeeds A Tour through the several Islands of Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Antigua, Tobago, and Grenada, in the years 1791 and 1792, by Sir William Young, Bart. This journal is written in a sprightly and entertaining manner; and though we cannot lead the reader minutely through these rambles, we shall give one specimen of the author's mode of delineating West Indian scenery and negro politeness. Describing St. Vincent's, he says:

• The vale of Buccament brings to mind the happy and secluded valley of Rasselas, prince of Abyssinia. The valley, containing about 3,000 acres, is hemmed in on each side by towering hills, whose steep ascents have in parts peeled off or split in the storm, and now are left precipices of bare rock, appearing between streaks of the highest verdure, from which occasionally shoots the mountain cabbage tree*. In the centre of the valley stands an insulated mountain, whose height, through an interstice in the rugged boundary of the wale, looks down on the garrison of Berkshire hill, and Berkshire hill is 627 fect above the sea. The hills or rocks that shut in the valley, again command the hill in the centre. Down the vale runs a fine and rapid river, abounding with the finest mullet and other fish; its bed is obstructed with fragments of racks from the skirting mountains. Its murmurs fill the vale. It winds round the centre hill, and then pours straight into the sea. The valley, as it coasts the sea, is about one mile over. It stretches inland about five miles; its greatest breadth, half-way from the sea, is two miles. From the mount, in the centre, it forms a most luxuriant picture of cultivation, contrasted with romantic views, and seems wholly secluded from all the world. My Pembroke estate takes in the hill in the centre, and thence runs along the river side, comprehending all the valley on one side, to within a quarter of a mile of the sea.

A negro gave signal of my approach to the house, and all the negroes came forth to greet me, and with a welcome as warm as that at Calliaqua. They caught hold of my bridle, my feet, and my coat; every one anxious for a share in leading me up to the house; and indeed they attempted to take me off my horse and carry me, but I begged them to desist.

Called also the Palmeto-Royal!

Friday,

Friday, Jan. 6. I visited Berkshire hill, and went over the fortifi, cations. The hill itself is a rock, and, from its precipices, is scarcely assailable; where it is sc, parts have been cut away, and, take art and nature together, the place may be deemed impregnable. The point above hath been flatted off, so as to admit room on its surface for most commodious barracks for a complete regiment, stores, reservoirs, &c. all bomb-proof. In my different excursions, I continued to inspect the persons of the negroes, and I can assert, that not one in fifty of those I have seen has been marked with the whip, with exception to the gang employed at the public works on Berkshire hill. This gang may be supposed to consist for the most part of reprobate and bad negroes, who have been sold from estates for riddance of their practices and examples. They chiefly belong, as an entire gang, to the overseer of the works, who may be supposed to pick them up cheap, being had characters, though competent to their business, under the control of the military, The inhabitants, not willing to send their able men to the public works, for fear of evil communication, commute their quota of labourers, by paying the overseer a certain sum to find others in their room.

Friday, January 13, 1792. The Charaibe chief of all, Chatoyer, with his brother du Vallee, and six of their sons, came to pay me a visit, and brought their presents; a stool of Charaibe workmanship, and a very large cock turkey of the wild breed, which with a hen I mean for England. Chatoyer and du Vallee were well dressed; as a mark of respect, they came without arms. We had much conversation with them, and I gave in return a siver mounted hanger to Chatoyer, and a powder horn to du Vallee. The latter is possessed of nine negro slaves, and has a cotton plantation. He is the most enlightened of the Charaibes, and may be termed the founder of civilization among them. Chatoyer and his sons dined at the villa, and drank each a bottle of claret. In the evening they departed in high glee, with many expressions of friendship.'

Subjoined are Mr. Edwards's Observations on the Disposi tion, Character, Manners, and Habits of Life among the Maroon Negroes of Jamaica; which were published separately in 1796, and of which we gave an account in M. R. vol. xxI. P. 414. N. S.

To this paper are affixed Appendices relative to the Sugar Ant of the Island of Grenada, by John Castles, Esq. and on the Cultivation of the Clove Tree in the Island of Dominica, by William Hobson Buée, Esq.-together with a postscript to the Historical Survey of St. Domingo, containing a brief review of the transactions and condition of the British army there, during the years 1795, 6, 7, and 8, until the final evacuation of the country. Every true Briton must peruse these details with sorrow.The mortality among our troops, and the loss of lives in this ill-fated expedition, having been lately mentioned in the Houses of Parliament, we shall transcribe a part of what Ms. Edwards advances on this melancholy subject;

! Towards

Towards the latter end of April 1795, the 81st and 96th regi ments (consisting together of 1,700 men) arrived from Ireland; the 82d, from Gibraltar, landed 985 men in August; and in April 1796, the 66th and 69th regiments, consisting of 1,000 men each, with 150 artillery, arrived from the same place, under the command of General Bowyer: so that the whole number of effective men which had landed in St. Domingo, down to this period, (including some small detachments sent up at different times from Jamaica,) amounted to 9,800. In June following, four regiments of infantry, and a part of two others *, arrived from Cork, under the command of General Whyte. These were soon afterwards followed by seven regiments of British †, together with three regiments of foreign cavalry; besides two companies of British, and a detachment of Dutch artillery; making in the whole a farther reinforcement of about 7,900 §.

But what avail the best concerted schemes of human policy against the dispensations of Divine Providence? A great part of these gallant troops, most of them in the bloom of youth, were conveyed, with little intermission, from the ships to the hospitalfrom the hospital to the grave! Of the 82d regiment, no less than 630 became victims to the climate, within the short space of ten weeks after their landing. In one of its companies, no more than three rank and file were fit for duty. Hompesch's regiment of hussars were reduced, in little more than two months, from 1,000 to 3c0; and the 96th regiment perished to a man! By the 30th of September, 1796, the registers of mortality displayed a mournful diminution of no less than 7,530 of the British forces only; and towards the latter end of 1797, out of the whole number of troops, British and foreign, which had landed and were detained in this devoted country, during that and the two preceding years, (certainly not far short of 15,000 men,) I am assured that not more than 3,000 were left alive and in a condition for service ||.'

Of Toussaint the following notice is taken:

This man, at the commencement of the revolt in 1791, was ▲ slave to Monsieur Noé, a considerable plaater in the neighbourhood of Cape François, now residing in London. Having taken an active -part in the rebellion, Toussaint had acquired, in a short time, great weight among the negroes, and at length obtained such an ascendancy among his adherents, as invested him with absolute and undis. puted authority over them. His attachment however to the French government was thought extremely doubtful; and, in truth, he seemed to have no other immediate object in view, than that of The 17th, 32d, 56th, and 67th, with part of the 93d and 99th.' The 13th, 14th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 26th, and 29th." The York, Hompesch, and Rouen Hussars.'

Out of this number are however to be deducted the 32d infantry and the 26th dragoons; the former of which were sent from St. Domingo to Bahama, and the latter to the Windward Islands.'

The loss of seamen in the ships employed on the coast is not included. It may be stated very moderately at 5,000 meu.'. consolidating