cultivated understanding; with these at his command, it may be added, Mr Clinton was enabled to give full force to the discussion in which he was engaged, and to avail himself of the peculiar advantage it afforded him of directing his attention to, and of observing the effects of his argument upon every individual of the body he addressed. Such too was his perception of the effect produced upon his auditory, that I have often, heard him say, that when speaking in the senate, or other deliberative assemblies, he could decide at the moment the probable result of his address, and at once ascertain, how far it was safe to urge the question immediately to a decision, or to suggest the expediency of deferring such decision to a more distant day, when he could have the opportunity of adding to the friends of the measure he wished to accomplish.'

'He never indulged in rant or vehemence, either in voice or gesture, yet his clear and logical method and arrangement, the force and perspicuity of style, and dignity of manner, his strong and manly tone of voice, united with his undaunted firmness, gave to his discourse, whether in the judgment-seat or in the hall of legislation, an influence and effect, which no other individual, except the lamented Hamilton, Wells, and Emmet, has ever exercised in our state. As far as inductive reasoning, happy illustration, strong and vigorous language, a style always dignified, and oftentimes highly ornamented, can be considered as constituting eloquence, and are calculated to arrest the attention, and to carry conviction to his auditory, Mr Clinton is entitled to the denomination of an eloquent speaker.' pp. 37-41.

His style, not remarkable for precision of thought, or refinement and accuracy of expression, is animated, bold, and strong; the language lofty and sweeping; the illustrations and allusions, though not always in the most exact taste, drawn from a wide range of reading and study, are always striking. The style, on the whole, faithfully exhibits the expanded views, lofty motives, the elevation above the petty manœuvring and wily intrigues of party, the stern integrity and fearless intrepidity of the man.

Though during a great part of his active life he was tossing the currents and eddies of our turbulent politics, sufficiently boisterous and agitated in every part of the country, but not least so in New York, yet he snatched a great deal of time for more quiet pursuits, the solaces of 'reflection and intellectual culture, and cheerfully lent his talents, influence, and labors to various charitable, literary, and economical objects. He was an active member of the New York Historical Socie

ty, which is greatly indebted to him for its present flourishing condition, and promise of future usefulness. His Discourse before that society on Indian character and antiquities, is the fruit of great industry and research in a course of studies diverging widely from his ordinary pursuits. He was an active member of the Academy of Arts, contributed materially towords the establishment of the Orphan Asylum, the system of public schools, the agricultural societies, the New York City Hospital, the free-school societies. Every philanthropical institution or enterprise found in him a ready, zealous, indefatigable, and powerful friend; the eyes that saw him blessed him, and in future generations thousands will bless without seeing him.

He was a highly distinguished member of the masonic fraternity. We will not enter here into the question of the utility, expediency, or safety of these societies, in respect to which the public has of late been excited. But no doubt the influence obtained by Mr Clinton as a member of this fraternity, greatly extended his means of public usefulness.

Yielding faith,' says Dr Hosack, to the doctrine of contagion, as taught and sustained by the highest authorities in medical philosophy, Mr Clinton was the most strenuous advocate of the most rigorous system of quarantine regulations." Though this is doubtless meant by the author in commendation, it will be considered otherwise by a vast body of the medical profession, as well as others; and admitting the doctrine of contagion in its full latitude, it would not thence follow that the most rigid quarentine regulations are the best. One of the severe quarentine regulations is that of imprisonment, which is undoubtedly justifiable, when required by the safety of the community; but the necessity certainly ought to be pretty satisfactorily made out.

Upon the most rigid scrutiny of his productions, not a line or word will be found to justify a resort to implied authority from ambiguous phraseology, or to the tyrant's "plea of necessity," for a latitude of construction in ascertaining the extent of limited grants of power. On the contrary, as a Senator, as a Judge, and as a Governor of the State, he constantly repressed the claims of power, steadily resisted the encroachments of the different branches of the government upon the province of each other, and firmly, at much hazard, vindicated the sovereignty of the State, and the individual rights of the citizen.' p. 43.

On some occasions, of which this Memoir supplies instances, Mr Clinton showed himself the assertor of the authority of the laws in opposition to the momentary excitements of popular feeling. We are not, therefore, to infer from the above passage, that he carried his apprehensions of the usurpations of authority to the extreme of screening the criminal from the just penalties of the violated laws. The general expression above quoted of "vindicating the sovereignty of the State" has some reference, we presume, to those passages in Governor Clinton's addresses and messages relating to the jurisdiction and legal administration of the courts of the United States. But we think the ground taken by him on this subject, was at least very questionable; we certainly should not choose these passages as the fittest subjects of eulogy.

Mr Clinton died at Albany on the eleventh day of February 1828. The concluding scene of his life is thus described;

On the Friday preceding his death, after a long conversation I held with him in his library, I bade him a last farewell, under the fullest conviction, as I confidently expressed to his more immediate friends, that I should never see Mr Clinton more.

On the Monday following, the eleventh of February, he performed his ordinary duties at the capitol; rode a few miles into the country with his family; returned to town; met some friends at dinner, and afterwards, as was his habit, retired to his study for the transaction of official business, and his accustomed literary pursuits. While sitting in his library, he was suddenly seized with a sense of oppression and stricture across the chest; he spoke to his son sitting near him, who was then writing, performing some duty that had been directed by his father, described to him the distressful and, as he feared, fatal sensation he experienced. Medical aid was instantly called for. By the direction of his son, some drink was given him. He walked into the hall, but soon returned to his chair in the library;-the hand of death was upon him his head fell upon his breast. A physician arrived, but too late;-all efforts, though unremittingly continued for some hours, to recall his parting spirit, proved unavailing ;-sense-consciousness-intelligence-had fled for ever;-Clinton was no more.'

p. 131.

Mr Clinton's 'person was tall, exceeding six feet in height, of a fine form, and well proportioned. In his earlier years he was remarkable for his thin and slender make; but in the latter part of his life, his frame became expanded, and in consequence of lameness from an accidental injury, by which he was deprived of his customary exercise, he acquired a fulness of habit, which predis

posed him to the diseases that ultimately supervened, and in their consequences led to his dissolution. His carriage was elevated; his movements deliberate and dignified, sometimes manifesting great earnestness, but never precipitancy.

His head was well formed and particularly distinguished for the great height and breadth of his forehead; his hair was brown; his complexion brilliant; his nose finely proportioned and of the Grecian form; his lip thin, and of that peculiar configuration that some critics have deemed indicative of eloquence.

His eyes were of a dark hazel color, but peculiarly quick and expressive; sometimes indicating all the playfulness of the most vivid imagination; upon other occasions, moistened with a tear, displaying the most tender emotion that can weigh upon the heart; but when a sense of injury or wrong called for redress, the same eye could flash the fire of indignation in expressing the powerful feelings that were then passing through his mind. The muscles of his face, especially when exercised in conversation, or in public speaking, were strongly marked, and exhibited the impulse and energy of the soul that animated them.' p. 120.

In all the changes of a long and eventful life, he was never known to abandon a faithful friend. His gratitude for past services was ever a prominent trait in his character; his fidelity to those from whom he had ever received an act of kindness was proverbial.' p. 123.

Mr Clinton was twice married; first to Maria Franklin, daughter of Walter Franklin, a merchant of New York, and member of the society of Friends. Of the ten children of this lady, four out of seven sons, and two out of three daughters, have survived both parents, and are now living. His second marriage was in 1819, to Catharine Jones, daughter of Thomas Jones, a physician of New York. It appears that Mr Clinton left his family little other inheritance than the rich one of his fame, and the affectionate recollections of all who knew him.

This Memoir by Dr Hosack is written in a very candid, liberal spirit. Though he was the warm friend and great admirer of Mr Clinton, he does not indulge in resentment towards his competitors and enemies. The work does great credit to his industry and good judgment. We think that the public will join with the assembly before which the discourse was delivered, in thanking Dr Hosack for his performance. He has shown an indefatigable activity in collecting materials, by a wide range of inquiry and correspondence; and has thus drawn out many historical facts and documents to be transmitted to posterity, which but for his labors would probably not have been rescued from oblivion.

ART. XII.-Travels in North America in the Years 1827 and 1828. By Captain BASIL HALL, Royal Navy. 2 vols. Edinburgh.

CAPTAIN HALL is entitled to the thanks of those, with whom he became acquainted in the United States, for the abstinence from personality which marks his work. Almost every one of his countrymen, who had preceded him, had filled his Travels with personal anecdotes of the individuals whom he met. The names of the gentlemen who invited him to dinner, the domestic relations of the families to which he was introduced, the conversation of the social table and of the fireside were basely resorted to, often with the most profligate admixture of pure fiction, to give piquancy to the book. The inference naturally drawn, that these travellers were no gentlemen in the real sense of that term, and knew neither what belonged to politeness nor common decency, carried with it little consolation to the victims. At length America was honored by a tourist of a different class; no Manchester traveller, no Scotch gardener, no legacy-hunting Cockney, who, in the failure of honester resources, was fain to defray the expenses of his voyage by the sale of a volume of libellous trash, seasoned to the prevailing appetite for abuse of the United States. Far otherwise; we were visited by a noble, even a princely stranger; a member of one of the most enlightened reigning families in Europe, brought up in courts. In the record of his travels, we expected, at least, to be safe against this inglorious annoyance; but as the fatality of the case would have it, his Serene Highness turned over the entire contents of his portfolio, to an unlucky professor at Jena, who, under the influence of that principle of loyalty, which Captain Hall commends as the peculiar glory of the British character, deemed that nothing which his master had noted, sketched, or collected could be improved, either by retrenchment or selection, and wisely inflicted the whole farrago of the princely traveller, with all its personalities and private gossip, on the unoffending community of the travellés. We have some authority for saying, that nobody can regret this untoward occurrence, more than the Duke of Saxe-Weimar himself. Captain Hall, as the next prominent successor of the Duke, is doubly entitled to praise, for keeping his pages free from the names of individuals, and