OLIVER WOLCOTT.

"A profound theologian, perspicuous and simple in his manner; an universal scholar, acquainted with human nature; a grave, dignified. solemn speaker;-he brought all the advantages derived from these sources, to the illustration and enforcement of divine truth. His social qualities rendered him one of the most companionable of men."

Doctor Witherspoon was twice married; the first time in Scotland, at an early age, to a lady of the name of Montgomery; and the second time, at the age of seventy years, to a lady who was only twenty-three. He had several children, who all passed, or are passing, honorably through life. He died on the 15th day of November, 1794, in the seventy-third year of his age. His works have been collected in four volumes, octavo.

OLIVER WOLCOTT.

OLIVER WOLCOTT was born in Connecticut in the year 1726. His family was ancient and distinguished; and his ancestors successively held a long list of honorable offices in the State. He was graduated at Yale College in 1747; and the same year received a commission as At the head of a company, Captain in the army, in the French war. which was raised by his own exertions, he proceeded to the defence of the northern frontiers, where he continued until the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.

At this time he returned to his native State, and entered upon the study of medicine. He never engaged in the practice of the profession, however, in consequence of receiving the appointment of Sheriff of the county of Litchfield. In 1774, he was elected an Assistant in the Council of the State, and continued in the office till 1786. He was also for some time Chief Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the county, and Judge of the Court of Probate for the district of Litchfield. In 1776, he was chosen a Delegate from Connecticut to the National Congress, which assembled at Philadelphia. He participated in the deliberations of that body, and had the honor of recording his name in favor of the Declaration of Independence.

From the time of the adoption of that measure until 1786, he was either in attendance upon Congress, in the field in defence of his country, or, as a Commissioner of Indian affairs for the northern department, assisting in settling the terms of peace with the Six Nations. In 1786, he was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of Connecticut, an office which he continued to hold for ten years, at the expiration of which he was raised to the Chief Magistracy of the State. He died on the 1st of December, 1797, in the seventy-second year of his age.

Mr. Wolcott was possessed of great resolution of character; and his attainments in literature were of a superior order. He was also distinguished for his love of order and religion. In 1755, he was married to a Miss Collins, of Guilford, an estimable woman, with whom he enjoyed much domestic felicity, for the space of forty years.

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GEORGE WYTHE.

GEORGE WYTHE was born in the county of Elizabeth city, Virginia, in the year 1726. His mother, who was a woman of superior acquirements, instructed him in the learned languages, and he made considerable progress in several of the solid sciences, and in polite literature. Before he became of age, he was deprived of both his parents; and inheriting considerable property, he became addicted, for several years, to dissipated courses and habits of profligacy. But at the age of thirty, he abandoned entirely his youthful follies, and applied himself with indefatigable industry to study; never relapsing into any indulgence inconsistent with a manly and virtuous character.

Having studied the profession of law, he soon attained a high reputation at the bar, and was appointed from his native county to a seat in the House of Burgesses. He took a conspicuous part in the proceedings of this assembly, and some of the most eloquent state papers of the time were drawn up by him. The remonstrance to the House of Commons, which was of a remarkably fearless and independent tone, was the production of his pen. By his patriotic firmness and zeal, he powerfuly contributed to the ultimate success of his country.

In 1775, Mr. Wythe was elected a Delegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He assisted in bringing forward and urging the Declaration of Independence, and affixed his name to that deathless instrument. During this latter year, he was appointed, in connexion with Thomas Jefferson, Edward Pendleton, and others, to revise the laws of the State of Virginia. In the year 1777, Mr. Wythe was chosen Speaker of the House of Delegates, and during the same year was made Judge of the High Court of Chancery. On the new organization of the Court of Equity, in a subsequent year, he was appointed sole Chancellor, a station which he filled with great ability, for more than twenty years. In the course of the Revolution, Mr. Wythe suffered much in respect to his property. By judicious management, however, he contrived to retrieve his fortune, and preserve his credit unimpaired. Of the Convention of 1787, appointed to revise the Federal Constitution, he was an efficient member. During the debates, he acted for the most part as chairman. He was a warm advocate for the Constitution, and esteemed it the surest guarantee of the peace and prosperity of the country. He died on the 8th of June, 1806, in the eighty-first year of his age, after a short but very excruciating sickness. By his last will and testament, Mr. Wythe bequeathed his valuable library and philosophical apparatus to his friend, Mr. Jefferson, and distributed the remainder of his little property among the grand-children of his sister, and the slaves whom he had set free.

EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA.

Ir is a singular fact, that the principal European nations owe their possessions in America to the enterprise and skill of Italian navigators, though not a single colony was planted by the Italians themselves. Columbus opened to Europe a new world, and acquired for Spain a dominion wide and rich enough to satisfy even Castilian ambition, and his recompense was ingratitude, imprisonment, and an old age dishonored by chains. Cabot, a Venetian in the English service, acquired claims upon the lasting remembrance of Great Britain, whose extent he never lived to realize. Verazzani, of Florence, explored America for the benefit of France, but when sailing in a second expedition to this country, perished at sea. Amerigo Vespucci, who was also a Florentine, though he associated his name in imperishable union with the new world, bought but an empty fame for himself and his country.

Columbus sailed on his first voyage of discovery, from the bar of Saltes, a small island in front of the town of Huelva, early on the morning of the 3d of August, 1492. He directed his course in a south-westerly direction, for the Canary Islands, and immediately commenced a minute journal of the voyage, in the preface to which he recounted the motives which led him to the expedition. In the conclusion of this preface, he says, "I intend to write, during this voyage, very punctually, from day to day, all that I may do, and see, and experience, as will hereafter be seen. Also, my sovereign princes, beside describing each night all that has occurred in the day, and in the day the navigation of the night, I propose to make a chart, in which I will set down the waters and lands of the Ocean sea, in their proper situations under their bearings; and, further, to compose a book, and illustrate the whole in picture by latitude from the equinoctial, and longitude from the west; and upon the whole, it will be essential that I should forget sleep, and attend closely to the navigation, to accomplish these things, which will be a great labor."

The first land that Columbus expected to meet was Cipango, which had been placed by geographers at the eastern extremity of India. This was the name given to the island now called Japan, by Marco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller. The most extravagant accounts of the riches of this country were given by the writers of that age, and the Admiral was anxious to proceed directly there. At sunrise, on Sunday, the 7th of October, the Nina, which had outsailed the other vessels, on account of her swiftness, hoisted a flag at her mast-head, and fired a gun, as a signal of having discovered land. There had been a reward promised by the King and Queen to the man who should first make this discovery; and each of the vessels was striving very eagerly to get ahead, and obtain the promised recompense. As they found nothing of

the land the Nina made signals for, the Admiral shifted his course, about evening, towards the west-south-west, with a determination to sail two days in that direction. The reason for making this change was from watching the flight of the birds. The Portuguese had discovered most of their islands in this manner, and Columbus noticed that the flocks which passed them all flew from the north to the south-west. He inferred from this that land was situated in that quarter. After sailing a day or two, they found the air as soft as that of Seville in April, and wonderfully fragrant; the weeds appeared very fresh, and many land birds were taken. The men, however, had lost faith in all signs of land, and did not cease to murmur and complain. The Admiral encouraged them in the best manner he could, representing the riches they were about to acquire, and adding that it was to no purpose to complain; for, having come so far, they had nothing to do but to continue, till, by the assistance of Heaven, they should arrive at the Indies.

On the 11th of October, they met with signs of land that could not be mistaken; and all began to regain spirits and confidence. The crew of the Pinta saw a cane and a log, and picked up a stick, which appeared to have been carved with an iron instrument, a small board, and abundance of weeds that had been newly washed from the banks. The crew of the Nina saw other similar signs, and found, beside, a branch of a thorn full of red berries. Convinced, by these tokens, of the neighborhood of land, Columbus, after evening prayers, made an address to his crew, reminding them of the mercy of God in bringing them so long a voyage with such fair weather, and encouraging them by signs that were every day plainer and plainer. He repeated the instructions that he had previously given, that when they had sailed seven hundred leagues to the westward without discovering land, they should lie by from midnight till daybreak. He told them that, as they had strong hopes of finding land that night, every one should watch in his place; and, besides the thirty crowns a year, which the Spanish sovereigns had promised to the first discoverer, he would give him a velvet doublet.

About ten o'clock that evening, while Columbus was keeping an anxious look-out from the top of the cabin, he thought he beheld a light glimmering at a great distance. Fearing that his hopes might deceive him, he called two of his companions to confirm him. One of them came in season to observe it, but the other was too late. It had disappeared. From this they supposed it might be the torch of some fisherman, raised up and then suddenly dropped again. They were all confident of being near land. About two o'clock in the morning, the Pinta gave the signal of land. It was first perceived by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana; the thirty pounds a year were not granted to him, but to the Admiral, who had first seen the light in the midst of darkness. His son says," that this signified the spiritual light he was spreading in those dark regions." When the day appeared, they perceived before them a large island, quite level, full of green trees and delicious waters, and, to all appearance, thickly inhabited. Numbers of the people immediately collected together, and ran down to the shore. They were very much astonished at the sight of the ships, which they believed to be

living creatures. The ships immediately came to anchor. The Adiniral went ashore in his boat, well armed, and bearing the royal standard. The other captains each took a banner of the green cross; containing the initials of the names of the King and Queen on each side, and a crown over each letter. The Admiral called upon the two captains, and he rest of the crew who landed, to bear witness that he took possession of that island for his sovereigns. They all gave thanks to God, kneeling upon the shore, shedding tears of joy for the great mercy received. The Admiral rose, and called the island San Salvador. The Indians called it Guanahani, and it is now called Cat Island, and belongs to the group of the Bahamas. Many of the natives came down to witness this ceremony. They were very peaceable and quiet people, and the Admiral gave them some red caps, glass beads, and a few other trifles of small value, with which they were much delighted. They imagined that the strangers had descended from heaven, and valued the slightest token they could receive from them, as of immense worth.

When the Admiral and his companions returned to their vessels, the natives followed them in large numbers. Some swam; others went in

their canoes, carrying parrots, spun cotton, javelins, and other articles, to exchange for hawks' bells, and strings of beads. They went entirely naked, seeming to be very poor and simple. They were generally young, of good stature, with thick and short black hair. Their features were good, and their countenances pleasant, though an extreme highness of the forehead gave them rather a wild appearance. Some were painted black, others with white and red; some on the face only, others over the whole body. They had no knowledge of weapons, and grasped the swords which were shown to them by the blades. Their javelins were made of sticks, with points hardened at the fire, and armed with fish bones instead of iron. They easily learned the words that were spoken to them. No beasts were seen upon the island, and no birds but parrots, in which the sailors and the Indians continued trafficing till night.

Columbus pursued his voyage among the many green, fertile, and