The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-09-01
ENQUIRER.
RICEMOND ::
SATURDAY,, SEPTEMBER |, lsc


tant tract of antiquity. 1t gives perhaps the
mott authentic and particular rxtant account al
an important ezra in the hifory Of Virginia the
caute, courie and catastrophe OF Bacon's Rebel
| lion.
| 1t is much to be la'nentcd, that no coJnpe-
tent author has yet undertaken TO compile to-
gether the fcatteTed manuscripts and pubncd
tracts, which relate 10 The hii,ory of our own
| fate. We have as yet 10 conpieat, elegant S
philosophical account of the various revolutions
which our country mas experienced. Should
fuch h;ftorian hereafter aritt, 70 iiuita.e the
annals of Virginia, and to add ne,v luft-e TO
her name by the genius ard learning he cifpiays
the prefent tract viii probably be found of iuvf-
, timable value.
Four hiRories have hitherto been pubihed,
peculiarly devoted TO the affairs the colony of
| Virginia. Capt. Smiths hifory, brings down
the ferries of events not lower than the year
1854. The work of the Rev Mr.. Stth, a ma
tive of our fate, embraces merely the fame ezra.
! OF coure neither of thc!e hiforans have touch
ed upon the events which this tract records
&c The Progrefs and Concuiion of Bacon's Re-
bellion." Beverley's hitory condenfes a much
| wider view into much fInaller compass. The
view which he has pretended to dclGcate for
our INFECTION embraces the long and important
interval from the period Of the firlt proportions
of Sir Walter Raleigh to the year 1900. But it
| is view 10 miniature like, TO completely deiti-
tute of the graces and interelt of particularly,
that it ieldom has the merit OF touching
| the heart or enlightening the understanding.
Bacon's Rebellion is an event, which has
attracted his attention AS much as any other
but even Of this event he has prefented us with
! too faint and general an outline. In the Lon
don edition of 1922, which now lies before me,
perceive that he has only devoted to it, the
1 fpace between page Ga to page rs, and that on
a large type. He has given a tolerably minute
account of its origin and progrets, up to the
period when Bacon's convention had met, and
pledged thenfelves by an oath to defend his
caufe. But all the events, which come after
wards, are difmihcd in the courfe of one or two
pages. Almoft all the circumstances which this
tract embraces from page SO to II mutt conie-
qucntly be new and unknown to this hiltory.-
Sir VIM. Keith's hiitory l have not yet had an
opportunity of examining. am told however
that it is ihort and un;ntereftiEg.
As to the tract ititlf, which we have now the
pieaure of pretending TO the public, it is fuffici-
emily particular to make it intereftng. To
no other attractions can it politely afpre. 1t
bears the traces of mind converfant with its
fubjeet but that mind appears to have been
diftinguiihed by no extraordinary powers. We
never find ourlelves elevated by the grandeur of
its eloquence Dor melted By the tenderness of
pathos. Ofa that relates to the phofophy of
hiftory to the connecting togethar of events
in a regular and ratiocinative method, and to
| the explaining in an abftra6t manner how one G.
vent naturally grew out of that which went be-
fore it, and naturally INTRODUCES that which
comes after; our author was either entirely ig-
norant, or perhaps wifely concluded that it had
nothing to do with the fmple object, which he
was purifying. He feems TO have felt 10 other
ambition than the with of giving plain and cor
rect narrative of the event which he records.
The ftyle Of competition is itfef fmple and I'M
adorned. 1t would be ridiculous to compare
fIch man with Milton and Clarendon, men of
the fame age in which he lived, & whole modes of
competition are allowed by the beft critics to be
far inferior to the ftyle of the prefent day. But
if fuch companion were ever inftituted at all,
it would only terminate in proving to us, how
! ftrongly thofe authors were contracted.
| The EngHih language, it is well known, has
undergone many changes in Its photography.
The reader will readily perceive that our author
has employed (if l may uie the exprefiion) ma
ny of the ancient idioms of fpeliing. Some of
the words have final (e) as flame. Words,
which we write with one final Q) appear with
double ~, as ufIall. Other words ALTO end
fometimes in double letters as hee, lit. There
is one peculiarly, which the author carefully
preferves through his whole competition. Eve
ry word, which we begin with a Jingle (f), be-
gins in this manuscript with double g.; as
flight. Neither the Arcadia of Sir Philip Sid
ney which " made its frft appearance from the
prefs in $780," nor the edition of Shakespeare
in $50, " commonly called the fecond folio"
appear to have adopted this method of fpelling.
In the printing of this Manuscript we have at
tempted to preferve mott of its various charac-
terrific traits. We have given its Index not
that it will be of any ufe to our readers in dfco-
verng the pages, but that it may ferve to difcr-
inmate the contents of the tract. The only Pc
culiarity which will not appear in the print, are
fome of the Authorizations. The word (the) for
inftance, is exprelled by a(y) with an (e) placed
obliquely above it. The word (fummer) is fpelt
fumer) with daih above the (m) and all the
words, which we have been accnaanea to f;,eH
with double (m) are exprelTed with the fame
Authorization and the fame dafh above it.
| In the WedneGday's paper we lhall publifh
the remainder of this curious piece of antiquity.
The Saturdays paper will furniih anew banquet
for the appetite of the inquifitive antiquarian.
| have now before me another manuscript, per.
| haps equally curious with the firit, and certainly
more ancient, for which / am indebted to the
| politeuefs of gentleman, whole refearches into
| the hiltory of Virginia, have probably been as
extenlive as thofe of any man VINO ever attend
| ed to the iubjecf. This fecond Manuscript,
| anidf other topics, prefents us ALTO with fome
account of Bacon's Rebellion. 1t was written
in 1876, the very year of the rebellion, by the
nervous and mafculiue of n female Il, ali