*

and elegantly built with brick; and above two thousand inhabitants. It abounds with mechanics, who cultivate most of the different manufactures that are to be found in any other part of the United States; and possesses upward of forty retail stores, which all seem continually busy. To this place most of the goods conveyed in waggons over the mountains in spring and autumn, and destined for the Kentucky and Louisiana trade, are brought, to be ready for embarkation.

Many valuable manufactories have been lately established here; among which are those of glass, nails, hats, and tobacco. The manufacture of glass is carried on extensively, and that article is made of an excellent quality. There are two establishments of this sort; one for the coarser, and the other for the finer kinds.

Ship-building is practised to a considerable extent in and near this town, and several vessels of from 10 to 350 tons are now on the stocks. They are frequently loaded here with flour, hemp, glass, and provisions and then descend with the stream to the sea, à distance of 2300 miles; the only instance of such a length of fresh-water inland navigation, for vessels of such burthen, known in the world.

The principal inhabitants of Pittsburg are Irish, of of Irish origin this accounts for the commercial spirit of the place, and the good-breeding and hospitality which in ge neral prevail throughout it.-Colonel O'Hara, and majors Kirkpatrick and Grey, have been long distinguished for the liberality of their character, and their generous attention to strangers. I am indebted to them for much information and kindness; and whenever my mind wants a subject capable of affording it the most pleasing contemplation, it shall revert to the many happy hours which I enjoyed in their society, and that of their amiable families. The influence of these and many other gentlemen of similar sentiments, is very favourable to the town; and has hindered the vicious propensities of the genuine American character, from establishing here the horrid dominion which they have assumed over the Atlantic States.

*The common name for the places of sale in America and the colonies; differing from shops in being generally larger, and always dealing in a vast variety of articles, including every thing that can be expected to be asked for.

Education is not attended to by the men, so much as by the ladies. The former enter into business so early, that they are obliged to abandon their studies before they are half completed; but the latter having no other view than the improvement of their faculties, pass many years in pursuit of solid information and fashionable attainments. Hence they acquire a great superiority over the other sex. The ladies of Pittsburg manifest this superiority in a very high degree, but do not abuse it. Modest and unassuming, they conceal for a considerable time their embellishments; and when they permit them to shine out, it is to please a husband, father, or acquaintance, and not for the gratification of ambition or the humiliation of friends. None of their sensations appear to be vi olent their character exhibits more of a serene repose than of a boisterous energy. Their form is slender, person fall, and voice melodious; the hair light; the eye mild; the gesticulation easy and in a word, the whole of their manner, action, and appearance, denotes a temperate soul, an excellent heart, and an improved mind. I am happy to say that these are the leading features of many American women: it gives me great pleasure to render this justice to them; and to assure you that when 1 expressed the supreme disgust excited in me by the people of the United States, the ladies were by no means included in the general censure. Indeed it is a highly interesting fact, that the character of women is in every country more fixed and stable than that of men: the polished females of your court, the innocent ones of your fields and villages, and the females (cultivated or savage) of the most distant regions, have one universal indeliable obligation impressed upon them; to be the entertaining companions, the charming associates, the bosom-friends, and the faithful comforters, of man. This obligation they obey throughout the world. The vicissitudes of life, which cause a deplorable difference in the conduct of men, exercise no power over their affections; except that their love is strengthened by our adversity, and their friendship increased by our calamities. When the yellow fever is preying on the exanimate wretch; when the vital stream urges a passage from every pore; when his servants, and the nearest and dearest of his own sex, fly the dread contagion; who stays to check the crimson effusion, to offer the last sad.

remedy, to cool the burning tongue, to correct the putrid air, to receive the solemn parting injunction, and the last agonizing embrace? who but the wife of his bosom, or the favourite of his heart?

Happily for this place, religion is not extinct, though the professors of it are employing the best possible means for effecting its destruction. They are frittering it into a thousand ceremonies, a thousand absurd and eccentric shapes. In fact, religious worship is expressed here by every vagary that can enter into a disturbed mind. Some sit still, and appear to commune with themselves in silence and solemnity others, on the contrary, employ themselves in violent gesticulation, and shouting aloud. Some, in mere obedience to the letter of the apostle's instruction, to "become as little children," think it right to play and roll on the floor, tumble, dance, sing, or practise gymnastic and various other juvenile games. Others deny the necessity of at all frequenting the house of the Lord: and accordingly turn out into the wilderness; where they fast, pray, and howl in imitation of the wolves. I did not inquire into the arguments by which the merits of these contradictory proceedings are supported: I was content on being assured that the better kind of people frequent the protestant church and the Romish chapel.—I cannot omit mentioning, that even the dress and the costume of the hair and beard, are made subservient to religious opinions. Yesterday, while walking with an intelligent acquaintance,. there advanced toward us out of a wood, a being that appeared to me a bear in disguise; wrapped-in an immense cloak; and a hat like an umbrella unfurled, covering its head. Under this impression, I could not help exclaiming: "What the deuce is that " My friend laughed, and told me it was a Menonite: "a harmless creature," con-tinued he," belonging to a sect who never inhabit towns,. nor ever cut their beard, hair, or nails; wash or clean themselves; and whose dress, habits, and general mode of life, are at variance with those of the rest of mankind." Pity now succeeded the error which I at first entertained.

I am sorry that I cannot make a favourable report of the. scholastic establishments of this town. There is but one of a public nature; which is called an academy, and supported by the voluntary munificence of the place. It is under the direction of a number of trustees; who employ

themselves so much in altercation whenever they meet, that they have not yet had time to come to any mutual understanding on its concerns. There is however a mas-ter appointed; who instructs about twenty boys in a sort of transatlantic Greek and Latin, something in the nature of what the French call patois, but which serves the purpose of the pupils as well as if their teacher were a disciple of Demosthenes or Cicero.

There are a few private schools where the principles of grammar, rhetoric, and a sound English education, may be acquired the young ladies while day-scholars, generally attend a master, and the present minister of the English church is principal of a school for the fair sex. His course of study is very liberal, philosophical, and extensive. Some of his scholars compose with great elegance, and read and speak with precision and grace. He makes them acquainted with history, geography, and polite literature; together with such other branches of instruction as are necessary. to correct the judgment and refine the taste.

The market-house, which stands in a square in the centre of the town, is frequented almost daily, but more particularly on two stated days of the week by vast numbers. of country-people who bring to it provisions of every description.,

The beef is excellent, and is often sold as cheap as three cents a pound; good veal, at seven cents; and pork at three dollars a hundred weight. Remarkable fine fowls cost about a shilling a couple. Quails, partridges, pigeons and game of various kinds, are abundant, and sold at pri-ces equally reasonable. Venison and bear-meat also are often brought to marketa haunch of the former may be bought for half a dollar, and a fiftch of the latter for about twice as much. Vegetables and fruit are plentiful, but rather higher in proportion than other articles. Butter is generally fourteen cents a pound; eggs five cents a dozen ; and milk, three cents a quart. From this statement you will readily perceive that living here must be extreme ly cheap, the best taverns charge half a dollar a day for three meals and lodging; and there are boarding-houses on the terms of only a hundred dollars a year for board, lodg-, ing, and washing. The great towns on the Atlantic, are

*A hundred cents make a dollar...

vastly dearer; in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston, the average price of decent accommodation being ten dollars a week. Those places however have the advantage in respect to foreign manufactures, wine, and Liquor for there Madeira is a dollar a bottle, but here it is a dollar and a half; and spirits of course are in the same rates. This is the natural effect of the dangerous, diffiault, and expensive, land-carriage. As these latter are articles of luxury, their weight falls alone on the affluent : the other classes of society have excellent porter brewed. in the town at a very cheap rate, and whiskey is to be had for two shillings a gallon.

The price of land varies with the quality, the distance from the town, and other causes. Farms on the margins of navigable waters are 300 per cent. dearer than those lying behind them. Good land on the banks of a river, and near a market-town, is not to be had under ten dollars an acre; but land under contrary circumstances brings only from one to two or five dollars. Such land yields from twenty. to thirty bushels of wheat, and from forty to sixty bushels of Indian corn.

As for the amusements here, they are under the domin ion of the seasons. In winter, carioling or sleying predomi nates; the snow no sooner falls, than pleasure, bustle, and confusion, banish business, speculation, and strife; nothing is seen but mirth, and nothing is heard but harmony. All young men of a certain condition provide themselves with handsome carioles and good horses, and take out their favourite female friends, whom with much dexterity they drive through the streets; calling on every acquaintance, and taking refreshment at many an open house. For the night, an appointment is generally made by a large party (for instance, the company of twenty or thirty carioles) to meet at a tavern several miles distant; to which they go by torch-light, and accompanied by music. On arriving there, the ladies cast off their fur pelisses, assume all their beauties, and with the men commence the mazy dance. This is followed by supper, songs, catch-es, and glees. When the voice of Prudence dispels the charm, they resume their vehicles, and return delighted with the moments which they have thus passed :—this is repeated frequently during the snow. The summer amuseent consist principally of concerts, evening walks, and.