which therefore in summer, it may well be imagined, is intolerable to persons brought up in the temperature of such a country as England. And the inclemency of seasons consists not only in the regular extremes, in summer and winter, but also in sudden violent changes, which may take place indifferently at one season or another. To the sufferings and diseases caused by these extremes of weather, are to be added all the inconveniences contributed to the account by the exhalations of vast stagnant marshes, and by an infinity of reptiles and musquitoes. The following are some of the circumstances of a New England summer.

For several days together in the hottest weather there is not a breath of air; and the nights, with the additional annoyance of swarms of that aggravating and poisonous insect the musquitoe, upon which some observations have already been made, are nearly insupportable to an European. He will undergo a complete perforation of the skin, and every wound will poison to the diameter of half an inch, till his blood is reduced to the state of that of the natives, or the temper of the climate, when he may find respite from their nocturnal attacks. They make a buzzing noise nearly equal to that of the honey-bee, and yet, with this notice, you cannot guard against their assaults. The croaking of the toad, of which there are infinite varieties-the creeking of the locustand the no less offensive chirping of the grasshopper, together with the noises of many other restless reptiles, join in dismal discord to deprive the way-worn traveller of his rest. With these his disturbed fancy may associate the birds and beasts of prey under his window. Custom will, however, reconcile man to all things. He will soon find that these inharmonious sounds will as effectually lull him to rest, as the most soft and soothing strains. In addition to all these inconveniences, he will be sure to find his bed overstocked with bugs and fleas, which will attack him in one quarter, while the musquitoes seize him in another. Curtains of thin gauze are some defence against the latter, but, from the harbour the former find in the coarse woollen bed-chamber furniture, they rove at large and uncontrouled.

To many days intense heat, a violent storm of wind and rain will perhaps succeed, attended with tremendous thunder and lightning; which often sweeps away whole fields of corn, and deluges the earth; then again will the heat break out with redoubled violence, causing fevers, dysenteries and agues, which of late years have proved a dreadful Scourge in America.

The following observations on the atmosphere in New England will shew the heat of the summer of 1795. On the first of August, the thermometer, being placed in the north shade, was,

• On the last-mentioned day, when moved where the sun shone upon it, in a few moments the mercury rose to 124-and when moved back again, into the north shade, it fell to 92.

When we consider that 98 is blood-heat, and 112 fever-heat; we may conceive what effect such a climate would have upon an English constitution. The diurnal prints of New England about this time were full of accounts of people being suddenly killed by the coup de soleil, or stroke of the sun. Strangers would do well to provide themselves, during the hot weather, with white hats, the advantages of which are obvious.' pp. 57 — 59.

In traversing each part of the Union, Mr. J. was attentive to the natural produce, and to the state of the cultivation. He has given various particulars relative to the culture of indigo, cotton, rice, Indian corn, and tobacco.

Being advised to purchase a few hogsheads of the latter plant, as a convenient mode of remittance to England, and being at the time too much in haste to inspect the article himself, our author relied, as he informs us, on the integrity of the Quakers with whom he transacted, and learnt the propriety of cautioning those who may trade to Philadelphia for tobacco, not to trust to the weights marked on the hogsheads, but stipulate to have them re-weighed. In his three hogsheads, the weight as marked in a British custom-house was nearly 5 cwt. less than it had been marked in America. And this kind of deception, he says, is very usual.

The work is deficient in point of information, respecting the domestic character of the Americans, as displayed in their forms of politeness, the cast of conversation in the different ranks, (if we may employ that term) the treatment, estimate, accomplishments, and influence of the women, and the education of children. The author tells us he was not so happy as to become a lover in America; but it was not therefore necessary that he should hardly seem to recognize the existence of the female sex on a great continent, the moral destiny of the inhabitants of which, as of every other civilized country, will depend so much on the education and character of that sex. Perhaps the interrogative impertinence of the Miss Archbolds, who harrassed him so cruelly on the day after his arrival, irritated him into a vow that he would never condescend to notice or mention their country-women as long as he should live. And, as if in desperate revenge, he fills page after page with the praises and adventures of a lady of his own country, the magnanimous wife of Major Acland, a British officer employed in the American war. Without making any pretensions to gallantry, we do think it is an unpardonable offence against the women of America, that their entire number, amounting possibly to fifteen hundred thousand, should not

be deemed to deserve as much space in his book, as one Englishwoman that happened to tread on their ground in the year 1775. But it is not on the score of sentiment that we remark on this subject; it is on account of the absolute moral and political importance of the women, as constituting the one half of a nation, and most essentially influencing the whole, that we alledge, not a defect of feeling, but of observation and judgement, against a traveller, who, in surveying a foreign country, overlooks the character and situation of the female part of its inhabitants. Two or three circumstances, casually mentioned, respecting children, give us a very unfavourable surmise as to their education. Somewhat more is said about servants, and the following short passage may convey the essence of the information.

The arrogance of domestics in this land of republican liberty and equality, is particularly calculated to excite the astonishment of strangers. To call persons of this description servants, or to speak of their master or mistress, is a grievous affront. Having called one day at the house of a gentleman of my acquaintance, on knocking at the door, it was opened by a servant-maid, whom I had never before seen, as she had not been long in his family. The following is the dialogue, word for word, which took place on this occasion:" Is your master at home?"" I have no master." Don't you live here?" I stay here."" And who are you then?""Why, I am Mr. 's help. I'd have you to know, man, that I am no sarvant; none but negers are sarvants.' pp. 87, 88. With regard to the prominent and general qualities which constitute what may be called the national character, the reader of the work before us will be led to form a different estimate, from what his benevolence would have wished. The conviction will be forced upon him that, however melancholy may be the moral condition of Europe, it is not to America that he is to look at present for the reign of virtue, for liberal views, for the rapid progress of knowledge, or for amiable manners. He cannot avoid discerning that the predominant principle is an unremitting passion for gain; the cultivation of taste, the studies of abstract truth, and even the splendid attractions of ambition, are regarded with indifference or contempt in this grand pursuit; and we wish it could not be added that a scrupulous morality is seldom allowed to impede its success. The transaction of the Georgian government, related p. 263, is an indication that the moral character of the individual is also that of the state. All things are reduced to pecuniary calculation, nature and art, sea and land, the things on the earth, and the things under the earth. While a man of taste and reflection contemplated one of the vast rivers, as a noble spectacle in the natural world, the American would be considering it merely as a channel of trade; while the one

looked with a sentiment of almost superstitious awe into the gloom of an immeasurable forest, the venerable kingdom of silence and solitude, excepting as haunted by mysterious and invisible beings, with which his imagination would people the twilight of every grove, the other would be reckoning how many years and dollars would be required to burn and clear a space of it, from this river to yonder hill. We must acknowledge, however, that the passion for gain approaches nearer, than in any other of its forms, to something respectable and magnanimous, in this spirit of enterprise, which is continually invading and conquering the western wilderness with the implements and fires of cultivation.

Another conspicuous characteristic of the Americans is, an ostentation of their freedom. They feel it a sufficient licence to be rude, that they cannot be compelled to be otherwise. They are unable to comprehend, how manners softened into mildness and deference, can at all consist with a feeling of independence. They cannot verify it to their own satisfaction that they really are not slaves, but by continually reminding you that you are not their master; and this is done alternately by inattention and obtrusive familiarity.

We wish Mr. Janson had more clearly marked the difference between the manners of the town and the country. The following is a picture of the latter.

Again mounted, I proceeded on my excursion till I came to a place where the road branched out in different directions; one of them was to be pursued, and confident that I could not miss the stage-road, I had made no minute enquiries, and not a soul appeared to direct me. After several minutes consideration, I chose the wrong branch, and thus did not get under shelter till between two and three, greatly fatigued by the heat, and the length I had contrived to make the stage. On asking for dinner, I was roughly answered by the landlord that they had all dined long ago; and was about to make him understand that I had not, but before I could do so, he espied some swine in his garden, which the window overlooked, and, upon this, ran roaring out the disaster, and left me to entertain myself as I pleased. In vain I might have waited his return, for I saw him very deliberately take a spade and begin to repair the disorder made among his cabbages. I now began to explore the house, but met not a single individual till I reached the kitchen, where a girl was clearing away the fragments of the family dinner. The inmates had dispersed, as usual in America, immediately after a meal has been hastily dispatched, in several directions, and to their different avocations. To this Maid of the Kitchen I made known my wants, and though greatly out of humour, I was aware if I betrayed myself, my situation would not be mended. Assuming, therefore, a pleasant air, through the medium of a little flattery, I succeeded so far as to hear her express concern that there was nothing for me to eat in the house. pp. 81, 82.

Arrived at your inn, let me suppose, like myself, you had fallen in with a landlord, who at the moment would condescend to take the trouble to procure you refreshment after the family hour, and that no pig, or other trifling circumstance called off his attention, he will sit by your side, and enter in the most familiar manner into conversation; which is prefaced, of course, with a demand of your business, and so forth. He will then start a political question (for here every individual is a politician,) force your answer, contradict, deny, and finally, be ripe for a quarrel, should you not acquiesce in all his opinions. When the homely meal is served up, he will often place himself opposite to you at the table, at the same time declaring, that, "though he thought he had eaten a hearty dinner, yet he will pick a bit with you." Thus will he sit, drinking out of your glass, and of the liquor you are to pay for, belching in your face, and committing other excesses still more indelicate and disgusting. Perfectly inattentive to your accommodation, and regardless of your appetite, he will dart his fork into the best of the dish, and leave you to take the next cut. If you arrive at the dinner-house, you are seated with "mine hostess" and her dirty children, with whom you have often to scramble for a plate, and even the servants of the inn; for liberty and equality level all ranks upon the road, from the host to the hostler. The children, imitative of their free and polite papa, will also seize your drink, slobber in it, and often snatch a dainty bit from your plate. This is esteemed wit, and consequently provokes a laugh, at the expence of those who are paying for the board. No check must be given to these demonstrations of unsophisticated nature; for the smallest rebuke will bring down a severe animadversion from the parent.' p. 85.

An English farmer, in the north especially, when asked the price of his grain, will answer with modest diffidence: nay, will often be abashed at the attempt to undervalue the article. In America, the meanest planter must go through his routine of interrogatories, and perhaps mount his political hobby-horse, before you receive an answer to your question. Should you happen to observe that you can purchase for less than he demands, he will give you the lye, accompanied with a grin and an oath, and tell you to go where you can obtain it cheaper.' p. 86.

The excessive curiosity of the Americans, of which our author often complains, might be sometimes teasing and impertinent; but we think he was rather too irritable under his frequent examinations and cross-examinations. And we may be allowed to suggest, that his vanity would perhaps have been a little piqued, if the good people had not thought it worth while even to ask him a single question, about either himself or his country. The following dialogue might perhaps have become amusing, if his impatience had not so suddenly snapped it off.

Seeing a pleasant little cottage on the river Connecticut, and understanding that it was to be let, I knocked at the door, which was opened by a woman, of whom I enquired the rent of the house" And where are you from?"-was the reply." Pray madam," I again asked, " is this house to be let ?". "Be you from New York or Boston?" said the in