by maligning their opponents. He placed the American cause in the most favorable light, and did not indulge in that urbane condescension toward opponents which sometimes marks the meritorious work of Lord Mahon, and he never imperiled his case as Lecky, an abler writer than Lord Mahon, sometimes has done by inattention to facts essential to its support. Nor, on the other hand, did Sparks conceal ugly facts,* or change their import by artful and disingenuous arrangement of them. He arrayed all the forces, friendly or hostile, although, as it sometimes happened, his flank was turned, or his front disordered by mutinous auxiliaries which he had brought into the field. History was regarded by Sparks, as it ought to be by every one, as the record of impartial judgment concerning the motives and conduct of men, of parties, and of nations, set forth in their best light; and he was incapable of attempting to pervert that judgment by doubtful testimony, or by unscrupulous advocacy, which represents one party as altogether wise and patriotic, and the other as altogether unwise and malignant, an attempt which must ultimately fail, since it finds no support in the nature of man, in intelligent observation, or in common sense. He had a healthy contempt for demagogues-historical demagogues in particular-as corruptors of youth. H. B. Adame *"Lord Mahon charged him with doing so, but I think Sparks' vindication of his integrity is complete. The strongest case against him is that of suppressing Washington's reiteration of an opinion unfavorable to New England. There is no doubt that Washington entertained such an opinion. That constitutes an historical fact; but if he has recorded that opinion in a letter to Brown, does it make any more a fact that he has also recorded it in letters to Jones and Robinson? Sparks gives the first record, but to save space omits the paragraphs in which similar opinions are given in letters to two other correspondents. That, I think, states the case fairly. It may be said that Sparks should have given all such passages, or indicated their omission by stars or otherwise. Why those opinions more than others? To have given a résumé of all omitted passages would have swelled his volumes unduly. If proper editing would require such notice of repetitious passages, why not, on the same grounds, the omission of all repetitious or unimportant letters? It may be admitted, however, that Sparks' editorial rules are not those now in vogue; but in fairness it ought not to be forgotten that in dealing with such a mass as the Washington papers, Sparks was confronted with a new and very difficult problem." ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF MARQUIS DE MONTCALM, 1744 From the Collection of W. C. Crane, New York [The letter of which the following is a fac simile is believed to be the only one signed by Montcalm in the United States. It was found in London in 1884. Montcalm was born in the Chateau of Candiac, near Nimes, France, February 29, 1712; died in Quebec, Canada, September The history of his military career on this continent is well known.-EDITOR.] 14, 1759. NOTES LORD ELLENBOROUGH AND THE BANDBOXES-Lord Ellenborough, Chief Justice of England, was once about to go on the circuit, when Lady Ellenborough said she should like to accompany him. He replied that he had no objections provided she did not encumber the carriage with bandboxes, which were his utter abhorrence. During the first day's journey Lord Ellenborough, happening to stretch his legs, struck his foot against something below the seat. He discovered that it was a bandbox. Up went the window, and out went the bandbox. The coachman stopped, and the footman thinking that the bandbox had tumbled out of the window by some extraordinary chance, was going to pick it up, when Lord Ellenborough furiously called out, "drive on!" The bandbox accordingly was left by the ditch side. Having reached the country town where he was to officiate as judge, Lord Ellenborough proceeded to array himself for his appearance in the court-house. "Now," said he, where's my wig?" "My lord," replied his attendant, "it was thrown out of the carriage window."-Table Talk of Samuel Rogers. 66 CHARLES GRATIOT-One of the early settlers of Winconsin was Henry Gratiot, born in St. Louis, April 12, 1789, eighteen days before Washington's inauguration as first President of the United States. "His father Charles Gratiot, was a remarkable man in his day and generation, and had a history of almost romantic interest; his parents were Huguenots, of La Rochelle, in France, and were driven from their native land by the savage act of Louis XIV., revoking the edict of Nantes. They fled to Switzerland, and took up their residence in Lausanne, where Charles Gratiot was born in 1753." This lad was sent to London to receive a mercantile education, and developed an extraordinary capacity for business. He came to America while yet quite young, and traveled through the vast region of the Northwest. With a trading post at Mackinaw, he penetrated every part of the country where Frenchmen and Indians were to be found, for the purposes of trade. About 1770 he visited Green Bay and Prairie du Chien; and in 1793 made the trip from St. Louis to Montreal in a canoe-by way of the Mississippi to the Wisconsin, thence to Green Bay, from there to Mackinaw, and down the lakes to Montreal—“a wonderful trip," writes Hon. E. B. Washburne in the tenth volume of the Wisconsin Historical Collections," and one hard to conceive of at this day." Charles Gratiot had four sons-Charles, the professional engineer, Henry, John P. B., and Paul -all of whom became useful and important members of the great American household, and their families are scattered through the Western States. LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE-The descendants of the Huguenots who may visit La Rochelle at the present day will find a city possessing not a few of the characteristic features that were familiar to the generation that fled from it two centuries ago. The streets, for the most part nar row and tortuous, derive a quaint and sombre aspect from the long porches or arcades that border them on either side. Opening from this covered side-walk, the entrance to a Huguenot dwelling of the olden time was often distinguishable by some pious inscription, frequently a text of Scripture, or a verse from Marot's psalms, to be read over the door-way. Some of these inscriptions are still legible. Small and severely plain, this door-way led often to a dwelling that abounded with evidences of wealth and taste; the upper stories of which were ornamented, both within and without, by rich carvings in wood and stone. Approached from the sea, La Rochelle presents much the same appearance as of old; with its outer and inner port separated by a narrow passage, on either side of which rise the massive forts of Saint Nicholas and La Chaine. A remnant of the ancient wall of the city connects the latter structure with the yet loftier tower of La Lanterne, originally built to serve as a beacon for ships seeking the harbor, but used in times of persecution as a prison of state. . . . It was among these scenes and associations that the young Bernons, Faneuils, Bandonins, Allaires, Manigaults-grew up. The streets and quays where the great commercial houses still maintained themselves, though in diminished state, had witnessed many events of stirring inter mayor during the siege of 1628, was still pointed out. Many of the localities possessing such historic interest were associated also with the personal and domestic history of our Huguenots. One of the houses owned by Pierre Jay, at the time of his escape from France, was situated hard by the Lanterne tower.-History of the Huguenot Emigration to America, by Charles W. Baird, D. D. AUTOGRAPH OF BUTTON GWINNETTMr. Lyman C. Draper tells us in a very interesting paper read before the Wisconsin Historical Society on the "Autographs of the Signers," a curious anecdote of how an accident furnished what the most patient inquiry had failed to supply. Mr. Israel K. Tefft of Savannah was visiting a friend near the city, and while walking on the lawn a paper was blown across his path which he picked up in a listess manner. It proved to be the rare autograph of a Georgia signer of the Declaration of Independence, the only one he then lacked to complete his set, and of which he had long been in active pursuit. When his business was finished with his friend he was asked to name his fee. "Nothing," said Mr. Tefft, "if you will allow me to keep this piece of paper which I have found in your lawn." The owner quickly assented, remarking that the writer once occupied the place, and his servants had recently been clearing an old garret of papers, and throwing them away. The autograph thus found "was that of Button. Gwinnett, the rarest, not only of the Georgia signers, but, save Lynch, of the whole immortal fifty-six." QUERIES AMARACA-Editor Magazine of American History: Will you or some of your illustrious readers confer a priceless favor upon the world by settling the interesting questions as to how and why the name America was given to the western continent? Has not the fact been pretty clearly established that Columbus discovered a remote country that had been for ages called Amaraca (variously spelled) by its heathen inhabitants? Was not the similarity of names the only basis for the magnificent Amerigo Vespucci fable? Will not antiquarian research disclose to us proofs without number that the Spaniards called the new world by the same sacred name REPLIES BISHOP LEAMING [xix. 439]-Editor Magazine of American History: Rev. Jeremiah Leaming was born in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1717. His father's name was Jeremiah, and his mother's Abigail Turner. They were married by a justice of the peace July 4, 1716, and he was baptized May 12, 1717, by Nathaniel Chauncey, pastor of the first Congregational Church in Durham. His grandfather, Christopher Leaming, came from England (of a York family), landed at Boston about 1660, and became a resident of Southampton, Long Island, in 1663. He married Esther Burnett, and had a family of children. Whales becoming scarce in Peconic Bay (he followed whalefishing) he, with Shamgar Hand, founded the colony of Cape May, New Jersey. He took his eldest son, Thomas, with him, and was followed by Aaron, his second son, some time after. The wife and the remaining children lived for a time at Southampton and at Easthampton. But the family, or part of the family, removed to Middletown, Connecticut, which became their home. Aaron, a younger brother of Jeremiah, married Sarah Grant, and had a large family of children from whom the writer is descended. Jeremiah Leaming graduated at Yale. College in 1745, and immediately connected himself with the Church of England. Rev. Dr. Johnson, many years rector of the Church at Stratford, and afterward president of King's College, New York. was his personal friend, as was also the second Dr. Johnson, also president of the same college, renamed |