than ever it did in the fairest period of its prosperity the vast empire of china with population and and wealth of nations has through a succession of drowsy ages were it not for internal revolution and the of its ancient by the i v te � i � � i of nothing but an detail of dull monotonous prosperity and he might have passed into oblivion with a herd of their if they had not been fortunately overwhelmed by a the renowned city of has acquired only from its ten years distress and final � paris rises in importance by the plots and which have ended in the exaltation of the illustrious napoleon � and even the mighty london itself has through the records of time celebrated for nothing of moment excepting the plague the great fire an s plot � cities and seem to creep along in silent obscurity under the pen of the historian until at length they burst forth in some tremendous calamity � and snatch as it were immortality from the explosion the above principle being admitted my reader will plainly perceive tliat the city of new and its dependent province are on the high road to greatness dangers and threaten from every side and it is really a matter of astonishment to me how bo small a state has been able in so short a time to itself in so many difficulties ever since the province was first taken by the nose at the fort of good ik h il days of s romantic resolution van has it been gradually increasing in historic importance and never could it have had a more appropriate to conduct it to the of grandeur than peter in the fiery heart of this iron headed old warrior sat all those five kinds of courage described by and had the philosopher mentioned five hundred more to the back of them i verily believe he would have been found master of them all � the only misfortune was that he was deficient in the better part of called discretion a cold blooded virtue which could not exist in the tropical of his mighty soul hence it was he was continually into those unheard of that give an air of romance to all his history and hence it was that he now conceived a project worthy of the hero of la himself this was no other than to repair in person to the great council of the bearing the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the other � to require immediate for the innumerable of th t treaty which in an evil hour he had formed to put a stop to those repeated on the eastern borders � or else to throw his and appeal to arms for satisfaction on declaring this resolution in his council the venerable members astonishment op his council vast astonishment for once in their lives they ventured to setting forth the of exposing his sacred person in the midst of a strange and barbarous people with sundry other � all which had about as much influence upon the of the peter as you were to endeavour to turn a rusty with a therefore to his presence his van he commanded him to hold himself in readiness to accompany him the following morning on this his enterprise now the was a little stricken in years yet by dint of keeping up a good heart and having never known care or sorrow having never been married he was still a hearty wag and of great capacity in the this last was ascribed to his living a jolly life on those at the hook which peter had granted to him for his gallantry at fort be this as it may there was nothing that more delighted than this command of the great peter for he could have followed the hearted old governor to the world s end with love and loyalty � and he moreover still red the and dancing and handling he and other of the east and entertained dainty recollection of numerous kind and he longed exceedingly again to encounter thus then did this mirror of set forth with no other attendant but his upon one of the most perilous ever recorded in the annals of knight � for a single warrior to venture openly among a whole nations of foes but above all for a plain downright to think of with the whole council of new england � never was there known a more desperate undertaking � ever since i have entered upon the of this but hitherto has he kept me in a state of incessant action and anxiety with the toils and dangers he is constantly � oh for a chapter of the tranquil reign of van that i might repose on it as on a feather bed is it not enough peter that i have once already rescued thee from the of these terrible by bringing the whole powers of to thine aid � is it not enough that i have followed thee like a guardian spirit into the midst of the horrid battle of fort � that i have been put to my to keep thee f and � now oflf with my sin peter s pen the shower of blows that fell upon thy rear � now narrowly thee from a deadly thrust by a mere tobacco thy with when even thy stubborn ram failed to resist the sword of the stout � and now not merely bringing thee off alive but triumphant from the of the gigantic by the desperate means of a paltry stone � is not all this enough but must thou still be plunging into new difficulties and in headlong thy and thy historian and now the ruddy faced like a chamber maid draws aside the curtains of the night and out from his bed the jolly red haired startled at being caught so late 