Canada, having determined to send an officer | to take possession of the Illinois country in the name of his Britannic majesty, looked round for a gentleman possessed of the talents and spirit necessary for this undertaking; and at length fixed on Captain Morris. A French prisoner, named Godefroi, who had forfeited his life, and expected to be executed for treason, being acquainted with the Indian languages, was thought a proper person to act as his guide. Accordingly, on this condition, he received life and liberty, which he afterwards merited by his fidelity; and he conducted himself with uncommon address and courage. In the execution of this hazardous mission Capt. M. encountered many dangers. He was once made prisoner by the Indians, and condemned to die at the stake; at the moment when the women and children were peparing to inflict those tortures upon him which are too shocking to relate, his former humanity to an old Indian Sachem, whose life he had saved, pleaded in his behalf; and this old man happening to be present, snatched him from impending death.

While in America, Captain Morris lived in great intimacy with General Montgomery, who was his companion and fellow-soldier for

many years.

Captain Morris, who had beheld the Colonists fighting side by side with the British regulars against the common enemy, returned to England in 1767, after witnessing a most astonishing reverse; for, in the course of a short but eventful period, he beheld twentyfour regiments in revolt; a general Indian war; the British provinces, one only except ed, in a state of insurrection; and the very slaves of the southern states, as if unconscious of their own chains, vociferating, liberty, property, and no stamp act." In 1709, he married Miss Chubb, daughter of a respectable merchant at Bridgewater in Somersetshire, by whom he had six children. On this occasion he left his regiment in the city of Cork, where he had first joined it; and thus retired, after an active life of twentyone years, without having attained even a Majority in the usual gradation of service.

When a student at Winchester, this gentleman appears to have imbibed a taste for letters, without which, if the latter portion of his life had not proved doll and monotonous, it would at least have been less pleasant both to himself and his friends.

On his return from this seminary to his paternal mansion, he brought his taste for the classics with him; but his father, having conceived an idea, that one language only ought to be acquired by a British officer, and that that language was French, appeared very uneasy whenever he saw a Greek book in the hand of At length he insisted on his visiting the continent; exacting at the same tinge a

his son.

promise to obtain a thorough knowledge of his favourite tongue before his return.

Captain Morris accordingly repaired to Paris, at the age of twenty-one, having obtained leave of absence for that purpose while at Kinsale. Immediately on his arrival, he set himself earnestly to fulfil the intentions of his father; and knowing that French was pronounced with peculiar grace and purity on the stage, he frequented either the play or the opera-house every night. This circumstance also inspired him with a taste for theatrical performances, and he began to speak and write on the drama and dramatis personæ, with considerable critical acumen.

The literary labours of Captain Morris would fill many volumes: only a part of his works have been published. His remarks on Racine's Phædra, in which he had often seen and admired Mad. de Menil, the heroine of the French stage, still remains in manuscript.

Like many other men of sensibility he hailed the expected halcyon days which were confidently, but falsely promised by the French National Assembly, of which he then augured favourably. The same feeling which induced him to take part with a nation, now unhappily subjected to the iron yoke of military despotism, urged him, nearly at the same time, to declare against the slave trade: and with this view, in 1796, he published Quashy; or, the Coal-black Maid,” a Tale.

It will convey no contemptible opinion of his powers of criticism, when we observe, that Captain Morris has suggested emendations in the works of Pope, the most correct of our English poets; nor of his learning, that Homer was generally open upon his desk, and that he read both the Iliad and Odyssey annually. For some years past, he lived sequestered hermit-like, in the neighbourhood of Hampstead; but at the period of his death, (Jan. 8,) he occupied apartments in Mary-street, Fitzroy square,

Rev. JOHN NEWTON, Rector of the united parishes of St. Mary, Woolnoth, and St. Mary, Mountchurch Haw, London. This gentleman died at the close of 1807; but, as we had not the means of furnishing any particulars respecting him for our last Supplement, we proceed to lay the following short account of him before our readers :—

Mr. Newton was born in London, in 1725. His father was commander of a vessel in the Mediterranean trade, and consequently little at home. The care of his younger years devolved entirely on his mother, who began his education so early, and with such great success, that at three years of age he could read Eng| lish fluently. She also instilled into him those principles of religion which, during a period of his life, by his own account suffici

ently profligate, were never totally forgotten by him. She died in 1732, and on his father's marrying again, in the following year, young Newton was sent to a school in Essex, where, however, he continued but a short time; for in 1736, when he was only eleven years old, his father took him to sea. Between that time and 1742 he made several voyages to the Mediterranean, and might have remained at Alicant under very advantageous circumstances, but this his unsettled turn of mind caused him to decline. In 1742 he had an offer of going to Jamaica under the protection of an old friend of his father's, and with the fairest prospect of success; but going to visit some relations in Kent previous to his departure, he there contracted an attachment to the lady whom he afterwards married, which caused him to linger so long in the country, that the ship in which he was to have gone to the West Indies sailed without him. In 1743, Mr. Newton made a voyage to Venice; soon after his return from which, he fell into the hands of a press-gang, and was sent on board the Norwich man of war, where, through his father's interest, he was shortly afterwards rated a midshipman; but in the following year, on the vessel's being ordered for the East Indies, his unconquerable dislike to the voyage made him attempt to run away from his ship, in which he was detected, and in consequence was flogged and turned before the mast. When the Norwich man of war arrived at Madeita, some sailors belonging to a Guineaman lying there, having entered on board her, Mr. Newton obtained permission to go on board the vessel they had quitted, which happened to be commanded by an acquaintance of his father's. In this vessel he went to the coast of Guinea; but when she had completed her cargo, and was on the point of sailing, he left her, and entered into the service of a settler in the island of BanaMr. Newton had been so imprudent as to make no agreement with his new master, who was a dealer in slaves. During an illness with which he was seized soon after his landing, he was treated with little humanity, and the whole fifteen months which he continued with this man was one prolonged series of hardships. During this period, when almost destitute of food and clothing, it may appear strange that he could turn his mind to the study of geometry; yet this he did. Barrow's Euclid was the only volume in his possession, and this, when he could find time, he used to study, drawing the diagrams with a stick on the sand: thus he made himself master of the first six books of Euclid. Having quitted the service of his first master, for that of a second who treated him with less inhumanity, he was sent to a factory on the river Kittam, where, shortly after, a vessel called, the captain of which had directions to

noes.

render him every service in his power. Mr. N. went on board this ship, which was collecting gold-dust, ivory, &c. and when her cargo was completed, sailed in her for England. During the voyage homeward, the vessel suffered so extremely from hard weather, that they reached Ireland with the greatest difficulty. They were on short allowance for eight weeks; and when they cast anchor in Lough Swilly, the last of their provisions were boiling in the pot. On his arrival in England in 1748, he found that his father had sailed for Hudson's Bay, having been appointed to the government of York Fort, where he shortly after died.

Mr. N. made another voyage to Guinea as mate in a slave ship; on his return from which, in 1750, he was married to the lady who had so long possessed his affections. He afterwards made several voyages as master in the same trade; during which he acquired, by his own exertions, a competent knowledge of the Latin language. He continued in the African trade till 1754, when, in consequence of an apoplectic fit, his physician dissuaded him from another voyage. It ought not to be forgotten that while commander of a ship, he solemnized divine worship regularly twice every Sunday, according to the liturgy of the church of England. He obtained the place of tide-waiter at Liverpool, where he continued some years, and at length turned his thoughts to the ministry. After some diffi-. culty he succeeded in obtaining ordination in the church of England. He was for several years curate of Olney in Buckinghamshire, where he became the friend of the poet Cowper. A volume of "Olney Hynins," their joint production, was intended" to perpetu ate the remembrance of this intimate and endeared friendship."-"We had not proceeded far (Mr. N. observes) upon our proposed plan, before my dear friend was prevented by a long and afflicting indisposition from affording me any farther assistance." Mr. Cowper's Hymns are distinguished by the letter C. About 1779, Mr. Newton was presented to the rectory of St. Mary, Woolnoth, in Lombard Street, the duties of which he con tinued to discharge till a short time before his death, among a people warnily attached to him. He survived Mrs. Newton seventeen years, and died December 21, 1807, in his 83d year. His writings are highly esteemed in the religious world; particularly amongst the evangelical class of readers. The following are his principal publications: The Ecclesiastical History of the first century. Letters by Omicron. Cardiphonia, or Utterance of the Heart, in Letters. Olney Hymns. A Narrative of the Particulars of his own Life, in Letters to the Rev. Dr. Haweis. A miscellaneous Volume of Sermons. Apologia, or Letters to the Minister of an Independent Church. Mes

siah, or Discourses on the passages of Scripture | in Handel's Oratorio. Letters to his Wife. Mr. N.'s character contributes to enforce the remarks, that early instruction finds its reward, sooner or later; that the recovery of the greatest wanderer from the path of virtue should not be considered as wholly desperate; and that there must be something influential in that religion, which is professed and proclaimed by an individual who formerly had treated it with all the contempt and contumely in his power.

JAMES PAULL, Esq.-The impartial biographer ought, at all times, to keep in view the well known sentiment of Shakespeare-Nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice."

In sketching the life of such a man as Mr. Paull, it should be most inflexibly adhered to. Mr. P. was born at Perth, in Scotland, about 1770. His father was either a clothier, or a tailor-perhaps both of considerable property, who after giving a liberal education to six sons, retired from business. His second son, James, w3 sent from the grammar school, at Perth, to finish his education at the College of St. Andrews; he was afterwards articled to a respectable attorney, at Perth; and, at a subsequent period, his father procured for him a situation as a writer in the East-India Company's service. At this time he was about twenty years of age:-it is said, that he had scarcely been two years in India, before he remitted enough to remunerate the expences of his equipment; requiting also his mother's partiality, by a small annuity which he increased with the increase of his finances. After an absence of about fourteen years, he returned to Perth, but went again to India in 1802. In the service of the company Mr. Paull rose to inoderate wealth, and was employed up the country in superintending commercial concerns of importance. By permission, he also traded for himself, and with considerable success. On the arrival of the Marquis Wellesley in India, he was employed as a delegate from some merchants to that nobleman, and a correspondence took place between them. Mr. Paull was handsomely treated, and even patronised, by the governor; but, in consequence of some misunderstanding, the origin of which is not publicly known, Mr. Paull left India, and returned to England, in 1804. His first appearance in this country, as a public character, was as a member of parliament, in which character he moved for an impeachment against his former patron. It is generally

He took his seat in the house of commons, June 8, 1805, for Newtown, in the Isle of Wight.

understood, that he was encouraged by the promised support of the Opposition of that day, who were probably desirous of making him an instrument to check the influence of the Wellesley connection. Mr. Paull pressed the subject on the house, with considerable vigour and tenacity, though with little talent. He accumulated papers beyond bounds, and never relaxed in his search after matter of crimination. Mr. Paull always voted with the Opposition. He publicly affirmed, that he received great promises of support from a personage of high rank, all of which were either broken or evaded. The friends of this illustrious personage, however, accused Mr. Paull of gross self-delusion, and a most ungentleman-like breach of confidence. On the termination of Mr. Pitt's administration, and Mr. Fox's admission to power, Mr. Paull conceived that his impeachment could not fail of success he was disappointed; for though the Opposition was content to use him as a tool, they intended nothing farther. The coalition ministers, regarding the Wellesley impeach.nent as a millstone round their necks, and not willing to produce a schism in the party, which would have been the consequence, if, contrary to the inclination of the Grenvilles, they had supported Mr. Paull, endeavoured to silence him, it is said, by splendid offers. He rejected these offers; and refused to abandon his impeachment. The consequence was, that on a renewal of the business in the house of commons, his former friends, (except Mr. Windham) left him to his own unaided efforts. The dissolution of parliament suspended his further proceedings, and the confederate parties did their utmost to preclude Mr. Paull from a seat. Irritated by what he regarded as illiberality and persecution, he deserted his former party, and encou raged by the support of Sir Francis Burdett, he offered himself a candidate for Westminster. The history of the first election is well known. He petitioned parliament against the return of Mr. Sheridan, contrary to the opinion of his friends; but a dissolution prevented the merits of the petition from being tried. A second dissolution again brought him forward as a candidate for Westminster. His quarrel with Sir Francis Burdett, and his controversy with Horne Tooke, are still fresh in the public memory. The election contest being finished, Mr. Paull was hastening fast into obscurity. He had injured his fortune, which was never gerat, by the expences of the election, and his petition to parliament; and, from some disappointments in his mercantile transactions, he had become uneasy in his mind. The wound he had received in a duel with Sir Francis Burdett, had for a long time given him great pain. Another wound which he had received in a duel during his residence in India, had latterly deprived him of