news of Europe. He inquired eagerly if all was tranquil in France, and Louis the 18th secure on the throne. On our answering in the affirmative, he expressed a sincere pleasure. It must be acknowledged that under the Bourbons, France saw its most flourishing and happy times. The little but useful fishing islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, where the French fishermen were accustomed to clean and cure cod and hollibut, taken on the banks, were lost with the change of dynasty and the adoption of a war system. Whatever may be the qualifications of the present government in France, some security at least, appears to be afforded to the peaceful pursuits of

commerce.

Several whales, some larger than our ship, (which being of 350 tons, was none of the smallest,) surrounded us, spouting up the water to an immense height, through their nostrils, and continued to accompany the vessel until out of soundings.

22th October-Land was descried from our mast head, and the news spread rapidly through the ship. It was received with the greatest satisfaction by all on board. One of the seamen was venting his joy in loud terms, at seeing his native country once more, after an absence of twelve years. I inquired the cause of so unusual a feature in the history of an American seaman, conceiving it could only arise from captivity or some such occurrence. It appeared that he had been three times pressed into the British navy. In the first instance he was taken out of an English brig, and notwithstanding his protection as an American subject, and native of the United States, was produced, yet, being found sailing under British colours, he was not regarded as exempt. The plea for the second impressment, appears to have been founded solely on the precedent of the first: this seems hard. What should we say, were the Americans to press into their navy British seamen, found on board of American ships? It seems impolitic to compel a foreigner to enter the service of a government he does not prefer. Impressment, is at all times a severe hardship, but surely it ought to be restricted to natives of our own soil, who owe allegiance to, and live under our constitution, such as it is. We are not to regulate the subjects of foreign powers by our own policy. Every subject of every country, has inalienable rights, which ought to be respected, or national quarrels, as we have already seen, may be engendered, and individual wrongs may justify public aggressions. This poor man, I understood, was one of many more under precisely similar circumstances. The American consul in London, with a laudable attention, had shipped him for Boston.

We were now drawing near to the close of the voyage. Cape Cod bore S. S. W. about three leagues, and it was with no common feeling of curiosity and desire, I saw our approximation to the coast. The land of Washington and of Franklin-presenting a practical example of the simplest, most economical, and most perfect form of government, suited to a thinking people-confined no longer in its existence to the reveries of the schoolmen, or Utopia of the theorist. Such considerations, together with a crowd of

others, connected with the probable future part this country may be destined to perform in the politics of the world, occupied my mind in the intervals of lighter conversation, and gave rise to such a train of reflections as a sanguine imagination loves to indulge. I contemplated the mighty objects before me-I saw, in idea, a flou rishing empire, destined to give laws to the new world, extending perhaps, at some future day, from the Arctic Circle to Cape Horn, and civilizing its boundaries to the western shore, where new riches and new resources break upon the astonished view. To bear a part in the great work of general civilization, to assist in diffusing the blessings of good government throughout regions ignorant of them and enslaved-were to my mind objects of inexpressible interest and delight. I felt as though I had something new to live for: and that mind, the noblest endowment of nature, was created for purposes beyond the solitary gratification of the individual.

Late at night we had run considerably up the bay, and off Boston light house were boarded by a pilot, who conducted us safely to our anchorage opposite the town.

Next morning I sallied on shore, and landed on Long Wharf, which is constructed of land gained from the sea, one mile in projection. I was much pleased with this instance of public spirit and enterprize. A row of warehouses, or as the Americans term them, stores, line one side. In front and rear, vessels from almost every quarter are moored. The destination and name of each is denoted by a board affixed to the shrouds, with the words painted, as an index for those wanting to ship goods or take passage. There are three other public wharves, appropriated to the reception of vessels, distinguished by their respective appellations, viz. Russia Wharf, India Wharf, and English, sometimes called Liverpool Wharf, threefourths of the vessels from England, coming from the port of Liverpool alone. Besides these, there are many private wharves. The first object that strikes the attention is the busy throng in Statestreet, the principal avenue into the town from Long-Wharf. As you advance, the eye is attracted towards a lofty pile, with an elegant dome of glass. The Exchange Coffee House, originated in the speculation of an individual; who was ruined by the want of that support, which the meritorious nature of his undertaking might have entitled him to. On the ground floor is a splendid saloon well lighted from the top of the building; beside different compartments, one appropriated to a handsome coffee room, another to a news room, in which are kept files of papers from every part of the union and from Europe; also a register book, in which is noted hourly, the latest intelligence received, sometimes by express, sometimes from personal inquiry of masters of vessels, whether political, mer cantile, or maritime. The conductors of the institution, certainly manage this department with great zeal and public spirit.

The upper part of the building is partitioned off, for broker's offices and counting houses.

It is the custom in America for strangers to repair to a boarding house on their arrival, where they are lodged and boarded very

comfortably for various sums, according to the fare, and the respectability of the situation. A gourmand might be well pleased with his accommodation for a dollar a day. Few persons resort to taverns, unless farmers and their families who make a short stay, and have their horse and chaise with them. As a proof of this country being highly favourable for the emigrant, I am credibly informed, that thirty-seven persons, who arrived two days before us, all got into employ in the course of one week in Boston; they were stone masons, bricklayers, carpenters, and other handicraft trades. My own personal knowledge extends to this. I recognized an Irish seaman, who had worked his passage out in our ship, employed on board a vessel in the harbour, helping to unload her. I asked him how he got on. "Faith, sir," replied Pat, "this is a fine country indeed; I get a dollar and a half a day, and board with a countryman of mine for three and a-half dollars a-week. In England I could not get any thing to do."

A Swiss confectioner, who, when he first arrived, was glad to get employ as journeyman, now keeps a shop in State-street, rented at eight hundred dollars per annum. Judge Robbins informed me of a family, consisting of a man, his wife, and nine children, only a few months from the neighbourhood of Northampton: He had himself taken one of the boys to assist in his farm, the father and two other of the sons were employed in a tannery at Roxbury; they had followed the tanning business in Northamptonshire until the cessation of war left them without orders. The daughters had been in a lace manufactory, and now got more lace to make for the ladies of Boston than they could accomplish-the people of Massachusetts are certainly kind to the distressed, and will not see a person suffering from want. Public institutions of every kind are well conducted. A number of very sensible men are entrusted with the regulation of municipal affairs. The state legislature or general assembly of the delegates of the state, holds its sittings in a very spacious and commanding edifice, built on an ascent. From its cupola, the eye is gratified with a noble view of the town, shipping, and surrounding country. Bunker's Hill, celebrated during the revolutionary war, as the spot where a sanguinary engagement was fought between the British and American armies, in which the former lost an unprecedented number of officers by the enemy's marksmen, is clearly discernible at a distance only of two miles from Boston, and is designated by a stone monument to the memory of one of the American generals.

In another quarter, the eye is attracted to the town and university of Cambridge. There are four halls or colleges, the principal of which is Harvard College, so called after its founder and benefactor John Harvard, Esq. It is a handsome free-stone edifice. A botanic garden, well stored with rare exotic plants, is attached to it. This is the principal seat of learning in America.

In descending, your way to the town lies through the Mall, planted with trees-the houses substantially built and very elegant. In many parts of Boston, indeed, houses are to be met with, that even

in England, would be greatly admired. The streets are pleasantly laid out. The inhabitants of New-England, if I may judge from the specimens at Boston and Newburyport, are a keener and more subtle people in trade and money matters, than their brethren in the old country. They wear a serious meditative air, are wholly absorbed in revolving their pecuniary concerns, and apparently very suspicious and cautious to guard against being cheated. Whether it be a constitutional circumstance or an acquired habit, it is evident, that a lurking reserve is to be read in their countenances, which I am sorry to perceive are never lighted up with that cheerful animation so characteristic of a Briton. I brought to this country no prejudices, and should be sorry to partake of any such feelings of malevolence as appear so visible in the accounts of some of my countrymen who have visited America-Farmer Parkinson, Weld, and Ashe-but I must be allowed to say what I think. New England courtesy is deficient; and when a man, in reply to a civil question, is answered in a dry cold-hearted manner, with a pause and hesitation, as if his motives in asking it were made the subject of doubt and suspicion, it leaves no pleasing impression upon the mind. Affability, in short, appears to be scarcely within the pale of their local vocabulary of virtues. This may be hereditary defect, to be traced in generations; the only way of remedying which, is in that case, to encourage intermarriage with some of the blooming buxom young women of Lancashire or its vicinity, who would assuredly resort to Massachusetts in numbers, were encouragement offered; tending to improve the tone of society, and infuse new life into the character of the rising progeny. By cheerfulness is not meant levity-but a certain openness of disposition, a candour in demeanor, that suaviter in modo in short, perfectly compatible with the strictest prudence. Politeness is a pleasing, and oftentimes a most useful accomplishment, the attribute of a refined mind. It may be cultivated too, at no expense.

The remarkable shrewdness and intelligence of the people on most subjects, we must ascribe in some measure, to the originality of natural parts, and equally to the general avidity for information so cheaply disseminated in the public newspapers, and accessible to all. There exists a great jealousy as to their political rights; and two leading parties, termed Federalists and Republicans seem equally strenuous, in watching and defending them according to their own views of the question-each of course has its supporters, and it is to the struggles of the two together, with their unceasing vigilance, animated by the arguments of the respective prints, that I think I can trace the thirst for knowledge so generally prevalent. There is, besides a predominant desire of bettering their condition, a zeal for public improvements, as connected with their own proximate or remote interest, and a very praiseworthy attention to education— such at least as qualifies their children to be skilful in commerce and the ordinary acquirements of life. The time is not yet arrived when large sacrifices are made to promote the advancement of youth in the higher branches of attainment, nor does literary occu

pation assume, as in England, extensive rank as a separate division of labour. In this respect, however, the New England States, from what I can understand, are more forward than their neighbours. The value of advanced acquisitions in learning and the sciences are, as yet, but imperfectly appreciated, and the literary taste of the country requires to be farther cultivated and promoted, before they can receive that encouragement, which would redound both to individual and national honour and advantage. It cannot be from any want of capital in the country that the higher departments of genius languish in obscurity-all classes appear to be engaged in lucrative, or at least productive employment-the value of the shipping, moveable property, and warehouses, (of which an immense line is now building, carried to a considerable height) bear evidence of the prosperity of the place, and the wealth of the inhabitants. It is well known that some of the most monied characters in the United States are to be found in Massachusetts. The influx of distinguished foreigners will, it is to be hoped, have a beneficial effect, in time, upon the literary and scientific character of the people-importing from countries where talents and acquirements alone constitute a title to consideration-those principles and opinions, the diffusion of which would beneficially illuminate the human mind in this new world.

To pass from these considerations to others of less moment, I cannot but censure a depravity of taste, as connected with a deficient perception of propriety in the audience of a Boston theatre, laughing loudly at certain gesticulations of the performer in parts necessary to elucidate mixed feelings in the play, when the attention ought to be fixed in unravelling them, and I could not see that the English custom of sitting uncovered, in compliment to the ladies and the house, which has a striking appearance certainly of decency and decorum, was in many instances observed.—I do not suppose, as a companion remarked to me, that it proceeded from a feeling of pride and independence, when no opportunity could be so unseasonable for their display, as in an assemblage of hearers met to profit by the moral examples or inferences of the drama.

The young men appear ostentatious of much hair smoothly combed and projecting from the head: elder people too, tie up their hair in a manner that has not a prepossessing appearance. Indeed, I have observed in America a reluctance to part with their hair, at which I am surprised, considering its weight and oppression on the head, which have a tendency to produce pain, and even obtusion of the faculties, affecting possibly the sensorium of the brain by sympathy.

Before taking my leave of Boston I must notice the very respectable footing on which the custom-house is conducted. The officer placed on board our vessel very politely declined examining any baggage, merely requiring the trunks to be opened, slightly glanced at, and then closed. An American custom house officer would spurn the offer of a present or a bribe; they are paid suffici