Note 12 — A VIEW OF THE LEAD-MINES OF MISSOURI.

The following sketch of the life of Burton is given by Colonel Thomas H. Benton, of St. Louis, in the Enquirer of that city, October 16, 1818:—"He is a Frenchman, from the north of France. In the fore-part of the last century, he served in the Low Countries, under the orders of Marshal Saxe. He was at Fontenoy when the Duke of Cumberland was beat there by that Marshal. He was at the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, and assisted in the assault of that place when it was assailed by a division of Marshal Saxe's army, under the command of Count Lowendahl. He has also seen service upon this continent. He was at the building of fort Chartres, on the American bottom; afterwards went to fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburgh), and was present at Braddock's defeat. From the life of a soldier, Burton passed to that of a hunter; and in this character, about half a century ago, while pursuing a bear to the west of the Mississippi, he discovered the rich lead-mines which have borne his name ever since. His present age cannot be ascertained. He was certainly an old soldier at fort Chartres, when some of the people of the present day were little children at that place. The most moderate computation will make him a hundred and six. He now lives in the family of Mr. Micheaux, at the little rock ferry, three miles above St. Genevieve, and walks to that village almost every Sunday to attend mass. He is what we call a square-built man, of five feet eight inches high, full chest and forehead; his sense of seeing and hearing somewhat impaired, but free from disease, and apparently able to hold out against time for many years to come."