the northern shore of the river.  Nothing could be hoped, but the escape of the boats, and the safety of the troops.  They were brought back without much loss, and every thing was replaced in its former situation.

“Every thing now verged to the dreaded crisis.  The fire of the besiegers was heavy and unintermitted.  The British could not return a gun, and the shells, their last resource, were nearly exhausted.  They were themselves worn down with sickness and continual watching.  A few hours it appeared must infallibly decide their fate.  And if any thing were still wanting, the French ships which had entered the mouth of the river, seemed prepared to second the general assault on their side.  In this situation, lord Cornwallis, not less calm and humane, than he was intrepid, chose not to sacrifice the lives of so many brave men to a point of honour, but the same day proposed to general Washington a cessation of twenty four hours, in order mutually to adjust the terms of capitulation.

“The troops which surrendered in the posts of York and Gloucester amounted to between five and six thousand men, but there were not above three thousand eight hundred of these in a capacity for actual service.  They were all obliged to become prisoners of war.  Fifteen hundred seamen were included in the capitulation.  The commander, unable to obtain terms for the loyal Americans, was obliged to have recourse to a sloop, appointed to carry his dispatches, and which he stipulated should pass unsearched, to convey them to New York.  The British fleet and army arrived off the Chesapeak five days after the surrender.  Having learned the melancholy fate of their countrymen, they were obliged to return, without effecting any thing, to their former station.

“Such was the catastrophe of an army, that in intrepidity of exertion, and the patient endurance of the most mortifying reverses, are scarcely to be equalled by any thing that is to be met with in history.  The applause they have received undiminished by their subsequent misfortunes, should teach us to exclaim less upon the precariousness of fame, and animate us with the assurance that heroism and constancy can never be wholly disappointed of their reward.”

The publication before us is written with that laudable industry, which ought ever to distinguish a great historian.  The author appears to have had access to some of the best sources of information; and has frequently thrown that light upon a recent story, which is seldom to be expected, but from the developements of time, and the researches of progressive generations.