northern part of it lies the Blue Ridge of Mountains. A road full of hills and recks brought us to the straggling village of Hacketstown: near it is a mineral spring, much frequented in summer, with no better accommodations than an old cask, covered with a bunch of willows, to shelter the well where the company bathe. When I compared this with the bath-house at Buxton, and other medicinal springs in England, Mr. Franklin reminded me that there was an essential difference between a country colonized but a few centuries, contending with savage nations and uncultivated deserts; and one civilized, and arrived at the utmost refinement of wealth and luxury.

The towns are thickly 'set from Morristown to New York: neat painted houses compose this pretty village, which stands on a branch of the Rariton, and is the chief town of Morris County. The court of justice, the Presbyterian church, another for the Anabaptists, a handsome academy, and a great square planned out in the centre, give this town an air of consequence. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in rearing cattle for the markets of Philadelphia and New York.

We passed a flat, marshy country, to the Falls of the Pasaik, over a road made of logs laid close together, and kept dry by a ditch on each side. The river flows with a gentle current, till it reaches the brink of the descent, where it is about thirty feet

wide, and then tumbles in one vast sheet over a ledge of rocks eighty feet high, into a deep chasm beneath, formed by immense crags, that rise above the top of the cataract, and appear to have been torn asunder by some violent convulsion of nature. Every thing belonging to this majestic cascade bears an air of sublimity, and impresses the mind with an inexpressible awe.

Near these Falls is a rich copper mine, originally discovered by a person who was passing by very early in the morning, and observed a blue flame issuing from the ground: struck with the singularity of the phenomenon, he marked the spot, and on examination the earth was found to contain a valuable vein of copper.

Peaches are as common as apples in England, but they are not very high-flavoured. The Americans have a method of drying both peaches and apples, in slices, for puddings and pies; but they are acid and tasteless.

Several species of the red fruit grow here in plenty, though unknown in Europe; and the trees are full of little birds, in size, shape, and colour resembling a blackbird, but their head is of the most brilliant plumage, and they are remarkably

tame.

On our approach to the North River, a noble view of the city of New York, on the opposite shore, with the harbour and shipping, burst upon

our

our sight. The pleasing variety of the high banks of the river, richly wooded with trees almost dipping into the water; and numbers of vessels moving in all directions, complete the beauty of the animated picture.

We have now fixed our abode in that city, in ready-furnished lodgings, for a few weeks, and have dispatched the faithful Sancho to fetch his wife from Charlestown, in a vessel that was bound to that port; hoping to be able to settle him in the island of Nantucket, as a cooper, an employment he has been used to when a slave. I know your feeling heart will partake my pleasure, in seeing him a free man, and enjoying an independent right to whatever he may acquire by his industry.

Adieu, my Catherine. Tell Louisa I shall have a box full of curiosities for her, when I return.

Your's, &e.

ARTHUR MIDDLETON.

I

LETTER

LETTER XXV.

Mr. Henry Franklin to Edwin Middleton.

Boston:

MY DEAR EDWIN,

The pleasure you express on reading the events of our journey,' encourages me to proceed in my correspondence, and to neglect no opportunity of writing, when I have a collection of matter to supply you with amusement.

The reception we have met with at New York has rendered our abode there very agreeable. We find the inhabitants polite, gay, and hospitable, but not so dissipated as those of Charlestown. Entertainments are frequent amongst them; and, as strangers, we were always invited. The furniture and apartments of the genteelest houses, as well as the style of the table, are in the English fashion.

The city is large, and finely situated on a small island of the same name, encircled by the North and East Rivers, and a creek that connects them together. Part of the town was burnt during the American war, which gave an opportunity of rebuilding it in a superior manner to the old streets, which are narrow, inconvenient, and dirty.

Our

Our apartments are in the Broadway, which is very wide, nearly a mile long, and formed by exceedingly handsome brick houses. This noble street is terminated by a square, with the governor's residence in the front of it. Between this edifice and the river, where the fort formerly stood, is a fine public walk, that overlooks Long and Staten Islands, the river, and the shipping. Arthur and I often walk here, as we are almost sure of finding some of our acquaintance amongst the company, of a fine evening.

There are no grand public buildings, though the churches and meeting houses amount to twenty; for here, as in other parts of America, every man follows that mode of worship that he thinks most acceptable to his Creator, without diminishing his civil rights: there being no national establishment endowed with peculiar privileges, as in the ancient nations of Europe.

There are three market places; but, except a more plentiful supply of fish, they are inferior, in every respect, to those of Philadelphia.

The inhabitants are very benevolent, as appears from the number of well-regulated charitable establishments; particularly the hospital and dipensary. The prison is a modern building, adapted to the security and health of its unfortunate inmates. The same humane code of laws, with some small difference, is adopted here, as at Philadelphia. No 12 crime