IT is universally acknowledged, that no tion of writing comprehends so much amuser entertainment as well written accounts of voy travels, especially in countries little known. voyages of a Cook and his followers, explor the South Sea Islands, and the travels of a a Park, in the interior regions of Africa, rited and obtained celebrity, the work now to the public cannot but claim a similar mer western part of America, become interesting point of view, has been little known, and sented by the few writers on the subject, led tives of interest or traffic, and has not h been exhibited in a satisfactory manner. M the author of the present work, and who has turned to America, here gives an account e satisfactory. With all the necessary acqui he went on an exploratory journey, with the of examining this interesting country; and searches, delivered in the familiar style of le which he carries the reader along with him fail to interest and inform the politician, the st the philosopher, and antiquary. He explains lusions that have been held up by fanciful writers as to the country, by which so many pivuguit jui watu tu པས༤ Pལབ-པ་ --བ་ ་པས It will be seen that the fallen race who now inhab America, are the successors of men who have been ca pable of architectural and other work, that would d honour to any people or any age; and the remarkabl antiquities which he describes, cannot but induce still more minute inquiry and investigation of object of such great importance. habit n ca d do Kable ce a jects AMERICA. LETTER I. General Character of the North-eastern States rica: Of the Middle States: The SouthernPittsburg- Alleghany Mountains - Lancas Susquehanna-Harrisburg-Shippensburg, burg-Interesting Account of a Tavern and piers-Bedford-Sublimity and Horrors of passed in a Forest-Thoughts on Natural His Pierre. DEAR SIR, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Oct THOUGHT that you knew my heart too wel bute my silence to a decay of affection; and I that you entertained too just an opinion of my hea pect from me extraordinary discoveries in phil politics. At the same time, I hope to convinc my supposed neglect has operated to the advant correspondence. The American States through which I have p unworthy of your observation. Those to the nort indebted to nature for but few gifts: they are bette for the business of grazing than for corn. The equally subject to the two extremes of burning hea cessive cold; and bigotry, pride, and a maligna to the mother-country, characterize the inhabita middle States are less contemptible: they produce exportation; but wheat requires much labour, and to blast on the sea-shore. The national features not strong, and those of different emigrants hav little. Society is here in a shameful degeneracy: an add tional proof of the pernicious tendency of those detestab principles of political licentiousness, which are not only a verse to the enjoyment of practical liberty, and to the ex istence of regular authority, but destructive also of comfo and security in every class of society; doctrines here foun by experience, to make men turbulent citizens, abandond Christians, inconstant husbands, unnatural fathers, and trea cherous friends. I shun the humiliating delineation, an turn my thoughts to happier regions which afford contem plation without disgust; and where mankind, scattered i small associations, are not totally depraved or finally con rupt. Under such impressions, I shall write to you with pleasure and regularity; trusting to your belief, that m propensity to the cultivation of literature has not been en couraged in a country where sordid speculators alone suc ceed, where classic fame is held in derision, where grace and taste are unknown, and where the ornaments of style ar condemned or forgotten. Thus guarding you against ex pectations that I should fear to disappoint, I proceed to en deavour at gratifying the curiosity which my ramblings ex cite in your mind. The town of Pittsburg* is distant rather more than 300 miles from Philadelphia; of which space, 150 miles are a continued succession of mountains, serving as a barrier against contending seas; and as a pregnant source of many waters, which take opposite directions, and after fertilizing endless tracts, and enriching various countries, are lost in the immensity of the Mexican Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean. Knowing the road to be mountainous and stony, I preferred travelling on horseback to going in a stage-coach, that is seven or eight days on the road; and the fare in which, for the whole journey, is twenty-four dollars. The first sixty miles were a turnpike road; and my horse, which cost me only eighty dollars, arrived tolerably fresh at the end of them in twelve hours. *Situated in latitude 40° 26' north, and longitude 790 48' west from London. |