of events, he led the troops to a third attack. It was directed against the redoubt, at three several points. The artillery of the ships not only prevented all reinforcements from coming to the Americans, by the isthmus of Charlestown, but even uncovered, and swept the interior of the trench, which was battered in front at the same time. The ammunition of the Americans was nearly exhausted, and they could have no hopes of a recruit. Their fire must, of necessity, languish.. Meanwhile, the English had advanced to the foot of the redoubt. The provincials, destitute of bayonets, defended themselves valiantly with the butt end . of their muskets. But the redoubt being already full of enemies, the American general gave the signal of retreat, and drew off his men.

10. While the left wing and centre of the English army were thus engaged, the light infantry had impetuously attacked the palisades, which the provincials had erected in haste, upon the bank of the river Mystic. On the one side, and on the other, the combat was obstinate; and if the assault was furious, the resistance was not feeble. In spite of all the efforts of the royal troops, the provincials still maintained the battle in this part; and had no thoughts of retiring, until they saw the redoubt and upper part of the trench were in the power of the enemy. Their retreat was executed with an order not to have been expected from new levied soldiers. This strenuous resistance of the left wing of the American army was, in effect, the salvation of the rest; for, if it had given ground but a few instants sooner, the enemy's light infantry would have taken the main body and right wing in the rear, and their situation would have been hopeless.

11. But the Americans had not yet reached the term of their toils and dangers. The only way that remained of retreat, was by the isthmus of Charlestown; and the English had placed there a ship of war and two floating batteries, the balls of which raked every part of it. The Americans, however, issued from the peninsula, without any considerable loss. It was during the retreat, that Dr. Warren received his death. Finding the corps he commanded hotly pursued How many times did the English approach the redoubt before they drove the Americans from it?

by the enemy, despising all danger, he stood alone before the ranks, endeavoring to rally his troops, and to encou rage them by his own example. He reminded them of the mottos inscribed on their ensigns; on one side of which were these words "An appeal to Heaven ;" and on the other "Qui transtulit, sustinet;" meaning, the same Providence which brought their ancestors through so many perils, to a place of refuge, would also deign to support their descendants.

12. An English officer perceived Dr. Warren, and knew him; he borrowed the musket of one of his soldiers, and hit him with a ball, either in the head or in the breast. He fell dead upon the spot. The Americans were apprehensive lest the English, availing themselves of victory, should sally out of the peninsula, and attack the head-quarters at Cambridge. But they contented themselves with taking possession of Bunker's Hill, where they entrenched themselves, in order to guard the entrance of the neck against any new enterprise on the part of the enemy. The provincials, having the same suspicion, fortified Prospect Hill, which is situated at the mouth of the isthmus, on the side of the main land. But neither the one nor the other were disposed to hazard any new movement; the first, discouraged by the loss of so many men, and the second, by that of the field of batle, and the peninsula. The provincials had to regret five. pieces of cannon, with a great number of utensils, employed in fortification, and no little camp equipage.

13. General Howe was greatly blamed by some, for having chosen to attack the Americans, by directing his battery in front against the fortifications upon Breed's Hill, and the trench that descended towards the sea, on the part of Mystic river. It was thought, that if he had landed a respectable detachment upon the isthmus of Charlestown, an operation, which the assistance of the ships of war and floating batteries would have rendered perfectly easy to him, it would have compelled the Americans to evacuate the peninsula, without the necessity of coming to a sanguinary engagement. They would thus, in effect, have been deprived of all communication with their camp, situated without the peninsula ;

How came Dr. Warren by his death ?-In what important partien lar has it been thought that general Howe erred?

and, on the part of the sea, they could have hoped for no retreat, as it was commanded by the English.

14. In this mode, the desired object would, therefore, have been obtained without the sacrifice of men. Such, it is said, was the plan of general Clinton; but it was rejected, so great was the confidence reposed in the bravery and discipline of the English soldiers, and in the cowardice of the Americans. The first of these opinions was not, in truth, without foundation; but the second was absolutely chimerical, and evinced more of intellectual darkness in the English, than of prudence, and just notions upon a state of things. By this fatal error, the bravery of the Americans was confirmed; the English army debilitated; the spirit of the soldiers, and perhaps the final event of the whole contest, decided.

BURNING OF CHARLESTOWN.

1. THE horror of the scene of Bunker's Hill was increas ed by the conflagration of Charlestown, effected during the heat of the battle, by the orders of Gen. Gage. Charlestown, besides two hundred other buildings, contained, at that time, six public edifices, and about four hundred dwelling houses. In justification of this wanton act of barbarity, it was given out, that the American troops had stationed themselves in these buildings, and under their covert successfully annoyed their enemies. The truth is, there were no American troops in the town. What may have been the motives which produced the devastation, it is impossible to determine.

2. It may have been the indulgence of revenge; or an intention to strike terror into the Americans, and to teach them, that their towns were universally destined to the flames. It may have been an expectation of adding to the confusion of the day, and of giving in this manner a favorable issue to the conflict. Whatever was the motive, it is probable, that the buildings were regarded as belonging to the rebels, and as being, therefore, of little value. But this act was unnecessary, useless, and wanton; and must attach

By whose orders was Charlestown burnt ?-How many buildings did it contain ?-What was the alleged reason for burning it?

to the authors of it perpetual infamy. Two thousand people were in a moment deprived of their habitations, furniture, and other necessaries; and property, amounting to one hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling, perished in the flames.

3. Nor was this conflagration less unwise, than wicked. Instead of terror, it excited only rage-instead of producing submission, it roused a more determined hostility. The attack in the field was such as war authorizes; was on men, and on soldiers; and could be easily forgotten. Here the assault was made on the man of grey hairs, the defenceless female, and the cradled infant. It edged therefore a resentment, already keen-a breach, which before was wide, it rendered immeasurable.

4. In Europe, where events of this nature have received a dreadful kind of justification from immemorial custom, towns and cities perish, and their inhabitants are consigned to ruin, without resentment or surprise. Scarcely a sigh is breathed, or a tear falls, at the recital of the melancholy tale. But America was in her youth; and the scene was here a novelty. The genuine emotions of nature, approved by reason, and founded in truth, sprang up, therefore, instinctively in every bosom. On the soundest principles, every man, when he heard the story, determined that no plea could be alleged for this piece of cruelty. The sufferings of the inhabitants he regarded with intense pity, and the authors of them with loathing and horror.

5. But unjust and unworthy, as the burning of Charlestown was, its flames wonderfully enhanced the dreadful magnificence of the day. To the vollies of musketry, and the roar of cannon; to the shouts of the fighting, and the groans of the dying; to the dark and awful atmosphere of smoke, enveloping the whole peninsula, and illumined in every quarter by the streams of fire from the various instruments of death, the conflagration of six hundred buildings added a gloomy and amazing grandeur. In the midst of this waving lake of flame, the lofty steeple, converted into a blazing pyramid of fire, towered, and trembled over the vast pyre; and finished the scene of desolation.

Was the burning of Charlestown favorable to the British?

GENERAL LYMAN.

1. FEW Americans have a better claim to the remembrance of posterity, than major-general Phinehas Lyman, of Suffield, Connecticut; and the history of few men, who have been natives of it, can be more interesting. He graduated at Yale College, in 1738, aged twenty-two years. When a senior sophister, he was chosen one of the Berkleian scholars, and in 1739 was appointed a tutor. In this office he continued three years with much reputation. He then devoted himself to the profession of the law, in which he soon became eminent. In 1755, he was appointed major general and commander-in-chief of the Connecticut forces; and he held this office until the Canadian war was ended. He then went as commander-in-chief of the American troops in the expedition to the Havanna, in the year 1762. In all these employments he rendered important services to his country; and acquired a high reputation for wisdom, integrity, bravery, military skill, and every honorable characteristic of a soldier.

2. During the whole course of the war, besides the high testimony given to his worth by the state, he received many others; particularly from the British officers who were his companions in service; by several of whom he was holden in peculiar esteem. By these gentlemen he was so advantageously spoken of in Great Britain, that an invitation was given him by some persons in high office to visit that country.-A company had been formed, by his exertions, under the name of Military Adventurers; composed chiefly of such as had been officers, during the preceding war. Their object was to obtain from the British government a considerable tract of land, bordering on the rivers Mississippi and Yazoo on this tract they proposed to plant themselves, and as large a colony of their countrymen as they could induce to join them. General Lyman went to England as agent for this company; and entertained not a doubt, that his application would be immediately successful.

3. Soon after his arrival, his own friends in the ministry were removed. Those who succeeded them, had other friends to

Where did general Lyman live before leaving Connecticut ?-What induced him to go to England?