of his country with the same zeal, when its interests were entrusted to San Martin as when they were in the hands of his friends. When Buenos Aires undertook the emancipation of Chile, Rodriguez was one of the most forward in council and in action. His chivalrous spirit induced him to choose the most perilous and important office, that fell to the lot of any one engaged in the enterprise, that of personally conveying information to the friends of insurrection in Santiago, and ascertaining the disposition of the people at large in Chile. In the execution of this trust he proved himself another Proteus. Though cautious and prudent, where the interest of his cause was in jeopardy, yet there was no personal hazard or adventure that had not a charm for him. He engaged to cross the Andes and enter Chile for purposes of secret observation at a time, when the government could not but have been jealous and wary, as well of the Carrer party, as of the people of Buenos Aires. During the period between the battles of Rancagua and of Chacabuco, while the royalists retained undisturbed possession of the kingdom, he passed the mountains and entered Chile in various disguises, three different times, travelling generally on foot. He appeared sometimes in the dress of a miner, sometimes of a friar begging alms for his convent, and sometimes of a pedlar. In this manner he went as far south as Talca, eighty leagues from Santiago, and about the same distance towards Coquimbo, frequently making himself known, but only to those with whom he was thoroughly acquainted. At one time in Santiago, whan he thought himself pursued, he was concealed for a day, and part of a night, in the house of one of his friends, in a tenaca, or large earthen wine jar; at another time, when returning from Chile to Mendoza, he was impressed by an officer, who, with a guard of soldiers, had been posted in a pass of the Cordilleras, for the very purpose of interrupting the correspondence, and preventing communication with the other side, and whose men were then employed in repairing the road. Rodriguez was immediately set to work, and showed that he could handle the spade and axe, as skilfully as he had formerly done his pen. He was detained two days, and all the time had concealed about his person important letters and papers, the discovery of any one of which would inevitably have cost him his head.

He frequently went at noonday to the houses of some of the first men in the city, in tatters, and with a basket of fruit upon

his head, and while bargaining for the fruit made himself known, and received important communications.

Rodriguez accompanied the army of San Martin into Chile, and after the battle of Chacabuco he returned to the city, and set himself quietly down in his study. He mingled no further in public affairs, than any other decided private patriot, till the dispersion of San Martin's army at Canchariada. When the news of this disastrous event reached the city, all eyes were instantly turned on Rodriguez. To him was owing in a great measure the success of exertions, which have too often been attributed exclusively to San Martin. For the moment, he assumed the office of Director, and executed its duties. He harangued the people, exposed to them the folly of despair, the rashness of flight, and the absolute necessity of a last struggle, although it should be the struggle of death. He succeeded in calming their fears and inspiring hope. The soldiers, who were all on the wing for the Cordilleras, he induced to remain and prepare to be organized anew; and before the arrival of San Martin and the Director was announced in the capital, he had quelled the first impulse of terror in the inhabitants, and put affairs into the train, that led to the glorious results which ensued.

In the space of three days he raised and organized a corps of six hundred horsemen; and in as many more had them disciplined and ready for the field. This would be incredible, did we not know that a Chileno's home is on horseback, and that the youth of the better sort are universally accustomed to the exercise of the broadsword. This corps received the appellation of La Batallon de la buena Muerte. In the hard fought battle of Maypu, an important post was assigned to it, and Rodriguez proved himself on that occasion as well fitted for the field as for the cabinet. Unfortunately, however, it soon appeared, that more of the credit of this victory, and the events preparatory to it, were by popular opinion attributed to him, than was consistent with his safety. Six or eight days after the battle and in the midst of the festivities consequent upon it, he suddenly disappeared, and no man dared to ask, Where is Rodriguez? He has never since been seen.

Thus was this remarkable man cut off prematurely, before he had attained his thirtyfirst year. There can no longer be any doubt, if there ever was any, that he was secretly murdered by order of those in high authority, who feared the influence of his name and his talents with the people.

The early history of the press in Chile is curious, as will be seen by the following facts, for which we are indebted to Colonel Worthington's memoranda. The first printing press arrived at Valparaiso on the 21st of November, 1811. It was sent from New York, and cost six hundred and fifty dollars. The Carreras paid for it eight thousand in Chile. In January following the press was put in motion, and the first paper was issued which ever appeared in the country, and was called the Aurora of Chile. It was conducted by Johnson, Garrison, and Berbridge, all citizens of the United States, who went out with the press from New York. The editor was Henriques Camilla. The Aurora continued about two years, during which time Iresarri, a native of Mexico, published a weekly paper. When the royalists retook the country the press expired; but after the battle of Chacabuco it was revived, and a paper called the Gazette of Chile was set up, and was continued under that name till the battle of Maypu. It then took the name of the Ministerial Gazette, and for a most frivolous pretext it was put under the control of the Secretary of State, Iresarri. Then followed the Argus of Chile, and two papers of little significance, the Fairy and the Sun. Since that time many other papers have successively risen up and expired, and there are now several published in the country, containing intelligence and free political discussions.

The sudden influx of merchants and adventurers into Chile, for a few years after the revolution, produced a scene of tumult and confusion rarely witnessed among civilized people. Neither the language of those who came to traffic, nor the value or use of the articles of merchandise they brought, was understood. It was not a state of things that had grown out of the genius and habits of the people; every thing was forced and unnatural. A few of the first adventurers, as is always the case in political and commercial revolutions, met with success, and realized their hopes; but others that followed their steps, and adventured largely, found disappointment and ruin. The people at large in Chile, more perhaps than in any other part of South America, are obstinately attached to ancient habits, and have a distrustful aversion to changes of any sort. They have the pride and prejudice of old Spaniards, with minds much less enlightened, and, of course, less susceptible of the improvements of commerce. Their habits and modes of life have, in a good measure, grown out of their peculiar climate, and the nature of the country.

On entering a Bogeda in Valparaiso, designed at first as a storehouse for eighty or a hundred thousand bushels of wheat, you might, during the period we have alluded to, almost have imagined yourself in a London or Manchester warehouse; and the Plaza of Santiago resembled a Leipsic fair. In preparing articles for that market, regard must be had not only to their general fabric, and the materials of which they are made, but even the most skilful must learn anew how to manufacture them. You would find it difficult to induce a Chileno to mount his horse in an English riding cloak, when the poncho, which his Indian neighbors have taught him to weave, will answer his purpose much better; and the fair of Chile will furnish but poor customers for pins and bodkins, while there is not one in a hundred among them, that ever saw a pin, or felt the need of one. The owner of a hacienda, who, before sowing season, has fifty or a hundred ploughs in constant use, will hardly be persuaded to pay ten pounds for an English plough, while those that cost him ten rials are quite as advantageous to him; or to supply his hundreds of peons with iron spades and shovels, when those of wood, which each one makes for himself, will serve their turn as well; besides, ploughs and shovels like these were used by his father before him. Nor would the Señoras of the land patiently submit to the uncertainty and fluctuations of commerce, and live in dependence for supplies of China tea upon voyages across the Pacific, when they find in the herba of a neighboring province, a beverage quite as fine flavored and refreshing, and which has the further powerful recommendation, that it is the same which their mothers were accustomed to sip.

It may moreover be added, that the eagerness with which this new channel of commerce was followed up by foreigners, not only misled the adventurers themselves, but blinded the eyes of the Chilian government to their own commercial interests. A new, and rich, and apparently simple source of public revenue was suddenly opened to them, and committed to the direction of men grossly ignorant, or, to say the least, extremely inexperienced in the great fundamental and reciprocal principles of commerce. Hence, duties on foreign merchandise were imposed, with nearly the same regulations as were used in other and very different times, and in levying internal taxes, the scheme of the tariff, indeed, seemed to have regard to hardly any other considerations, than the immediate exigen

cies of the government, and the ability of the merchant. Salutary changes are gradually and slowly taking place; yet there is abundant room for improvement, not more in the commercial regulations, than in the political and civil institutions of Chile.

ART. III.-Life of Theobald Wolfe Tone, Founder of the United Irish Society, and Adjutant General in the Service of the French and Batavian Republics. Written by Himself, and continued by his Son; with his Political Writings, and Fragments of his Diary, whilst Agent to the General and Sub Committee of the Catholics of Ireland, and Secretary to the Delegation who presented their Petition to His Majesty George III. His Mission to France; with a complete Diary of his Negotiations to procure the Aid of the French and Batavian Republics for the Liberation of Ireland; of the Expedition of Bantry Bay, the Texel, and of that wherein he fell. Narrative of his Trial, Defence before the Court Martial, and Death. Edited by his Son, WILLIAM THEOBALD WOLFE TONE; with a brief Account of his own Education and Campaigns under the Emperor Napoleon. 2 vols. 8vo. Washington.

THIS ample title page promises much variety, and in that the reader will not be disappointed; and though to such as hold a great book to be a great evil, twelve hundred pages of autobiography may seem somewhat appalling, yet many will think, when they have read the work and felt its interest and importance, that it is not too long. We are of opinion, however, that with regard to its popularity and general circulation, it might have been condensed to advantage. The multiplicity of books in these days renders economy of time as well as of purse, a necessary consideration.

It has become a fashion of late, and it is sanctioned by the example of the most ingenious authors of our times, to interweave with affecting stories of individuals, often creatures of the brain, important passages of history, and thus to enlist curiosity and sensibility in aid of useful acquirements. The nearer those works resemble or approach the truth, the greater are their merit and their charm. The narrative before us comes