was accustomed liberally to subscribe), the urbanity of his demeanour in his intercourse with individuals, united with the generosity of his disposition, soon caused him to be regarded more in the light of a fellow-citizen than as a stranger; and in process of time all such local distinctions as his numerous friends could bestow upon him, or induce him to accept, were conferred on him. The influence he thus acquired was chiefly and successfully exerted in the support of the small but increasing church professing the Protestant faith at Nantes. To several Frenchmen residing at Nantes Mr. Grahame became warmly attached; but though his spirit of general benevolence led him to take a warm interest in those among whom he lived, and notwithstanding he saw much among the French to admire and respect, yet the character of his mind and habits, staid, serious, and retired, did not permit his feelings towards that country to approach to any thing like the warmth of his affection and admiration for either America or England." Although Mr. Grahame had finished writing his History in December, 1829, he was far from regarding it as ready for the press. He had attributed the ill success of his first two volumes to the haste with which they had been published; he therefore resolved to devote several years to the revision of the entire work, and often expressed a doubt of its publication in his life-time. Nearly four years had elapsed, and the silence of the European public concerning Mr. Grahame's volumes had not been broken by any voice from this side of the Atlantic. The high price of the English edition rendered its general circulation in this country hopeless; and American editors were yet to learn that it was possible for a foreigner and a Briton to treat the early history of the United States with fairness and impartiality. The knowledge of its nature and true value was confined to a few individuals. At length, in January, 1831, a just and discriminating critical notice of the work appeared in the North American Review. After expressing regret at the neglect with which it had hitherto been treated in America, and pointing out the causes of the little interest it had excited in this country, the reviewer proceeds to do justice to the independent spirit of the author; to his freedom from prejudice; to "the happy discrimination he had manifested on the solution of the leading principles that led to the colonization of the several States, and the able exposition of the results which followed "; and to his having "corrected with proper boldness the mistakes, whether of ignorance or malignity, which his predecessors in the same labors had committed." The reviewer adds, "Mr. Grahame, with a spirit able to appreciate the value of his subject, has published what we conceive the best book that has anywhere appeared upon the early history of the United States. He has not invariably avoided errors, but has coped very successfully with the disadvantages of his situation." This is believed to be the first time Mr. Grahame's History had been made, either in America or Europe, the special subject of notice in any leading Review. This high commendation of the two volumes then published appears by his journal to have been " very gratifying" to Mr. Grahame, and to have encouraged him to proceed with the revision and preparation of his extended work. While, under this new incitement, he was assiduously employed in reëxamining the details of his History, and exerting himself to render it as accurate as possible, he was interrupted by events which filled his domestic circle with grief and anxiety. In May, 1833, the death of Mrs. Wilson, his wife's mother, for whom he entertained an affection truly filial, was immediately followed by the dangerous illness of his only daughter. Her physicians, both in France and England, having declared that her life depended upon a change of climate, Mr. and Mrs. Grahame immediately accompanied her to Madeira; whence, after a residence of nine months, they returned, her restoration being now deemed hopeless. She eventually recovered, however, in a manner "incomprehensible and unparalleled in medical experience," and ultimately attained a state of fair and permanent health, to which the assiduous attention of her excellent mother-in-law greatly contributed. On his return from Madeira, Mr. Grahame first heard of the death of La Fayette, to whose memory he pays the following tribute in his diary:-"La Fayette is - dead! This sun of glory' is blotted from the political firmament, which he has so long adorned. Every honest and generous breast must feel the sigh sincere' for the loss of this great man, the extinction of an effulgence of honor, virtue, and wisdom so benignly bright. Fully and beautifully did he exemplify the words of Wolsey: Love thyself last,' and Corruption wins not more than honesty.' He drew his last breath, and ceased to be a part (how honored, how admirable a part!) of human nature, at an early hour on the twentieth of this month [May], at the age of nearly seventyseven. Pity that his last days must have been embittered by the existing dissensions in his beloved America! Of the human beings I have known, and knowing have regarded with unmingled veneration, there exist now only Mr. Clarkson and my father. It seems strange to me that La Fayette should be no more, that such an illustrious ornament of human nature should disappear, and yet the world continue so like what it was before. Yet the words La Fayette is dead' will cause a keen sensation to vibrate through every scene of moral and intellectual being on earth. A thousand deep thoughts and earnest remembrances will awaken at that name, over which ages of renown had gathered, while yet its owner lived and moved and had his being among us. France, in losing this man, seems to me to have lost the brightest jewel in her national diadem, and to have suffered an eclipse of interest and glory." During his residence in Madeira, Mr. Grahame continued the revision of his History, and on his return, after devoting another year to the same object, he took up his residence in London for the purpose of superintending its publication. Here, again, his anxiety and unremitting industry induced a dangerous illness. His restoration to health he attributed to the assiduous care of two of his friends, Mrs. Reid and Dr. Boott. The former took him from his hotel to her own house, and thus secured for him retirement, quiet, and her undivided attention. "From her," he says, "I have received the most comfortable and elegant hospitality, the kindest and most assiduous care and conversation, seasoned with genius, piety, and benevo lence, and the finest accomplishments of education." Concerning Dr. Boott, who is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, established as a physician in London, Mr. Grahame thus writes in his diary:-"His knowledge is great; his abilities excellent; his flow of thought incessant; his heart and dispositions admirable. He insists that his valuable attendance upon me be accepted as friendly, and not remunerated as professional, service. In this man, America has sent me one of her noblest sons, to save the life of her historian." After an interruption of six weeks, Mr. Grahame resumed the revision of the proof-sheets of his work; and, having finished this labor, returned to his family, at Nantes, in December. In the ensuing January (1836), his History was published. Eleven years had now elapsed since Mr. Grahame had commenced writing the history of the United States. More earnest and assiduous research had seldom been exerted by any historian. His interest in the subject was intense. His talents were unquestionable. There was no carelessness in the execution, no haste in the publication. A Briton, highly educated, universally respected, of a moral and religious character which gave the stamp of authenticity to his statements and opinions, had devoted the best years of his life to the task of introducing his countrymen and the world to an acquaintance with the early fortunes of a people who had risen with unparalleled rapidity to a high rank among the nations of the earth; yet a second time his work was received with neglect by those literary Reviews in Great Britain which chiefly guide the taste of the public, and distribute the rewards and honors of literary industry. Although highly wrought, elevated in sentiment, generous and noble in its design, all its views and influences made subservient to the cause of pure morals and practical piety, yet, as has been already observed, it was obviously not adapted to conciliate either the prejudices, the interests, or the feelings of the British public. It could not well be expected, that, under an Episcopal hierarchy, whose Roman Catholic origin and tendencies are manifest, a history of successful Puritanism would be acceptable. It could not be hoped, that, in a nation which had risen to the height of civilization and power under a monarchy based on an aristocracy, a work illustrative and laudatory of institutions strictly republican would be countenanced, — much more, generally patronized. Mr. Grahame had, moreover, not only imbibed the political principles of the Puritans, but had caught much of their devotional spirit. Hence his language, at times, is ill suited to the genius of an age which does not regard religion as the great business of life, nor the extension of its influences as one of the appropriate objects of history. Owing to these causes, his work received little encouragement in Europe, and the knowledge of its claims to respect and attention was limited. Nor were these consequences confined to Great Britain. American readers commonly rely on the leading Reviews of that country for notices of meritorious productions of Englishmen, and are not apt to make research after those which they neglect or depreciate. As Mr. Grahame belonged to no political or literary party or circle, he was without aid from that personal interest and zeal which often confer an adventitious popularity. He trusted the success of his work wholly to its own merits, and, when disappointed a second time, neither complained nor was discouraged, supported, as before, by a consciousness of his faithful endeavours, and by a firm belief in their ultimate success. He had assumed the whole pecuniary risk of his extended publication, in four volumes octavo, which resulted in a loss of one thousand pounds sterling, -and that, at a time, as he states, when it was not easy for him to sustain it. Taking no counsel of despondency, however, he immediately began to prepare for a second edition of his entire work, and devoted to it, during the remaining years of his life, all the time and strength which a constitutional organic disease permitted. Hitherto, Mr. Grahame's interest in America had been derived from the study of her history and institutions; but in 1837 he formed an acquaintance with a few distinguished Americans, and received from them the respect due to his historical labors. Among these was Robert Walsh, Esq., who, after a brilliant and effective literary career in this |