which

provinces in North America, afforded great superabundance of provisions, and from the West India colonies, which always possessed superfluities. It was here that the enmity of the king and the English nation met the unfortunate settlers most unexpectedly, and most severely. In North America, and In North America, and in the West India Islands, the most savage pirates and buccaneers, men who might be termed enemies to the human race, and had done deeds which seemed to exclude them from intercourse with mankind, had nevertheless found repeated refuge, had been permitted to refit their squadrons, and, supplied with every means of keeping the sea, had set sail in a condition to commit new murders and piracies. But no such relief was extended to the Scottish colonists at Darien, though acting under a charter from their sovereign, and establishing a peaceful colony according to the law of nations, and for the universal benefit of mankind.

The governors of Jamaica, Barbadoes, and New York, published proclamations, setting forth, that whereas it had been signified to them (the governors) by the English Secretary of State, that his Majesty was unacquainted with the purpose and design of the Scottish settlers at Darien (which was a positive falsehood), and that it was contrary to the peace entered into with his Majesty's allies (no European power having complained of it), and that the governors of the said colonies had been commanded not to afford them any assistance; therefore, they did strictly charge the colonists over whom they presided, to hold no correspondence with the said Scots, and to give them no assistance of arms, ammunitions, provisions, or any other necessary whatsoever, either by themselves or any others for them; as those transgressing the tenor of the proclamation, would answer the breach of his Majesty's commands at their highest peril.

These proclamations were strictly obeyed; and every species of relief, not only that which countrymen may claim of their fellow-subjects, and Christians of their fellow-Christians, but such as the vilest criminal has a right to demand, because still holding the same human shape with the community whose laws he has offended, the mere supply, namely, of sustenance, the meanest boon granted to the meanest beggar,—was denied to the colonists of Darien.

Famine aided the diseases which swept them off in large numbers; and undoubtedly they, who thus perished for want of the provisions for which they were willing to pay, were as much murdered by King William's government, as if they had been shot in the snows of Glencoe. The various miseries of the colony became altogether intolerable, and, after waiting for assistance eight months, by far the greater part of the adventurers having died, the miserable remainder abandoned the settlement.

Shortly after the departure of the first colony, another body of fifteen hundred men, who had been sent out from Scotland, arrived at Darien, under the hope of finding their friends in health, and the settlement prosperous. This reinforcement suffered by a bad passage, in which one of their ships was lost, and several of their number died. They took possession of the deserted settlement with sad anticipations, and were not long in experiencing the same miseries which had destroyed and dispersed their predecessors. Two months after, they were joined by Campbell of Finnab, with a third body of three hundred men, chiefly from his own Highland estate, many of whom had served under him in Flanders, where he had acquired an honourable military reputation. It was time the colony should receive such military support, for, in addition to their other difficulties, they were now threatened by the Spaniards.

Two years had elapsed since the colo

nisation of Darien had become matter of public discussion, and notwithstanding their feverish jealousy of their South American settlements, the Spaniards had not made any remonstrance against it. Nay, so close and intimate was the King of Spain's friendship with King William, that it seems possible he might never have done so, unless the colonists had been disowned by their sovereign, as if they had been vagabonds and outlaws. But finding the Scottish colony so treated by their prince, the Spaniards felt themselves invited in a manner to attack it, and not only lodged a remonstrance against the settlement with the English

cabinet, but seized one of the vessels wrecked on the coast, confiscated the ship, and made the crew prisoners."

The fate of the colony now came to a crisis. The Spaniards attacked the settlement in great force, and after a desperate defence the besieged were obliged to consent to an honourable capitulation. The survivors of this unhappy settlement were so few, and so much exhausted, that they were unable to weigh the anchor of the vessel in which they were to leave the fatal shore, without assistance from the conquering Spaniards. Such was the end of the unlucky Darien expedition.

How PETER

W

E are so much accustomed now to think of Russia as one of the great family of European nations, that we are apt to forget that less than two centuries ago it was quite a barbarous country. The man who made it what it is was Peter, well called the Great. He, at any rate, began the change. Of his early life there is nothing of extreme importance chronicled. He was, an old writer tells us, the son of Alexis Michaelowitz. He was born the 11th June, 1672. His father, a little before his death, when Peter was scarce five years of age, declared General Menesius, a Scotchman, his governor; a person well qualified for that employment, being thoroughly acquainted with the affairs of Europe, and speaking perfectly well all the European languages. But the commotions raised, a few years after, by the Princess Sophia,

obliged him to retire, and Peter thereby lost the benefit of so able a preceptor. Yet we shall see, that from the strength of his natural genius, unassisted by any of those accomplishments which other princes acquire by education, he was able to surpass them all; to conquer foreign countries; to new form his own; and, unpolished as he was at first himself, to polish others, who were but one degree removed from savages. The inclination of this young prince to military exercises began to show itself very early; he was pleased, in his infancy, with beating the drum; he would not amuse himself, as a child, with a vain noise, but to learn one of the functions of a soldier, which he did effectually, in so much as sometimes to give lessons to others.

Alexis Michaelowitz left eight children at his death, anno 1676. Two sons, Theodore and John, and four daughters, Sophia, Catherine, Mary, and Sediassa, were by his first wife; and one son and one daughter, Peter and Natalia Alexowna, by a second. Theodore, his