thenæum without special leave from one of their number.

The privilege is certainly one of the greatest treats; the building being one of the largest in the city, pleasantly shaded with trees, the rooms spacious, and as silent as night; no one is allowed to speak above their breath lest they might interrupt the readers. Each room is accommodated with chairs, tables, pen and ink, for taking extracts if you wish so to do. Besides the library, the Athenæum contains a choice collection of statuary and painting. For this invaluable treasure, the citizens of Boston are indebted to the taste, zeal, and indefatigablc research of Shaw, Esq. a man of platonic virtue, and once secretary of the ex-president Adams, to whom he is related. He was the founder of the Atheneum ; and to whose politeness I am indebted for my introduction into it; here the first citizens of Boston repair in their leisure hours to read. Besides this libra there are scveral in the city. The law library has been mentioned ; the city library contains 6063 volumes. The books in all the libraries are well selected; want what author you will, it is to be found in Boston.

Markets.—The market of Boston yields to none, and in many things it excels, particularly in its fish ; the hut. ter is sweet and abundant, much more so than in NewYork; but there is no market that I have seen which equals Boston for its excellence in fish. The meat and vegetables also are fine and plentiful, with carly fruit of delicious flavor; but they have no market-house worth the name

The butchers assemble under Fanueil Hall, and another place adjoining ; but the venders of vegeta. bles line themselves in rows at random, or sell out of carts the best way they can; the fishmongers have a kind of a shed, with a long bench, ncar to which they have large tubs of water with the finest salmon, fresh from the ocean, and every kind of fish that can be mentioned, The fish market is exemplary for neatness. But how they have, with their population, lived so long without a market house is a mystery. They are now building one, which is nearly finished; it would, for length, make about one square of the Philadelphia market, and wide enough for two. It is laughable (I mean for those who are not con

tra disposed.) to see the pains and cont they are at to
construct a building the least calculated for the purpose
intendod of any thing elsc. It is a massy building of
frce-stone, finished in superior stylo, carried up in a solid
wall, like a house, whereas the beauty is out of the ques.
tion. I incan the convenience of a market-house in, to
have it long, narrow, and open on all sides, so that the
articles may be spread abroad, and the people may have
both room und light. The name money they are spend.
ing on this, would have built a complete market. house,
thrre times as long, and ten fold more 10 the purposc.
They have the neatest arched windows and doors, all of
the whitest free-stonć and first architecture; and instead
of placing this mont worthy cdilice in the contro of the
city, they have built it-nearly at the bay. I dare say it
will cont nonne hundred thousund dollars. Their fire dc.
partment is also badly organized; this, however, they
are about to remedy. Boston has only been incorporai.
od u fow years ; before this, it was governed by select
mcn, lo whose want of foresight on the subject of the
general wcal, inay be the supposed cause of the city's
being kept rather In the back ground.

Museum.-The milsсum of Boston is a good collection,
but kept in a slovenly condition, and the subjects boully
preacrvcd. In this respect it is grcally inferior to that
of Philadelphia or New-York. It is chiesly valuable for
its specimong in the finc orin, which connine of paintinge
and statuary: besides thesc, an ancient shield, and the
clinir uned lov Gov. Winthrojs

, when administering justicc, were the most interesting objects. The elephant that was killed while crossing the bridge, is handsomely preserved, and standing on its feel, in the museum, though not enclosed in glass, like the one I saw in New York ; it is, however, much larger: it also contains a great Greenland white bcar, which, for size, has no cqual; al: 80 a variety of wax figures, which always disgust mc. Among the pointings is Trumbull's representation of Gen. Washington crossing the Delaware, after the breaking up of the ice. lle is in the act of giving his horse, upon which he in mountud, a sudden check by the rein, whilst with his head turned over one shoulder toward the

f id st ar th 'T SU bi hocsie B hi no al br to th hlo a E

of the army

ose allo all irpose id ing of

isolid ques. 15, 10 at the

have pend. jouse, posc. all of tead rihe ay it e de. they oral. elect i the city's

river, he is earnestly watching the progress of the
and artillery over the stream.

The famous treaty of Penn with the Indians is also represented, though in small design. Penn is standing, with his head uncovered, under the renowned elm, amidst an immense crowd of whites and Indians. The whites are on his left, and the Indians on his right hand, all of whom have their cycs fixed on him in deep attention ; Penn, with his hands spread in token of sincerity, secms to have concluded the treaty. A number of trunks are standing on the ground, and some of the white people arc on their knces unlocking them, taking out the goods they contain, and distributing them amongst the Indians. Thc Gill family (one of the most distinguished in Mas. sachusetts) by Copely, likewise deserves notice. Gill himself, his first and second wife, his mother-in-law, with her brother, Nicholas Boylston, arc all represented in full size, in rich attire ; the ladies in full dress of bluc salin; Boylston has a rich mantle of crimson satin thrown over him, while he is regarding you with the keenest eye in nature. This gentleman is celebrated for his wealth, as also in history for his liberality in bestowing to Cambridge University a library of 28,000 volumes. Hero too, is a full size representation of a French princess, in the reign of Louis XIV. by Nutter. The left side of her head is as plain as my hand, the right is curled into ringlets, and twisted high up on the temple, ornamented with a garland of flowers. Her neck is bare, her bosom full, and her waist screwed to nothing. Her arms, which are finely turned, are bare to the elbow, from which drops, in luxuriant folds, a double tier of the richest lace. Her cyebrows arc arched, her face masculine, but fair, with much expression and dignity in the countenance. Also Rittenhouse, with his hair parted in front, from the crown of his head, and never was any thing more plain and simple. Likewise a portrait of Chancellor Livingston, who is looking me in the face with a calm, steady countenance, surpassing the unruffled sea. But the giant Hercules frightens the beholder; he is 'represented dying,

eyes thrown up to heaven, bis masculine limbs, his

his

grim countenance, his face besmeared with blood; he is ierrible even in death!

Manners and Appearance. Whatever may be the cause, and however strange it may appear, yet it is nevertheless true, that in proportion as one part of society advance in science and civilization, the other part sink into vapid igporance ; like turbid water, the pure particles rise to the top, wbiie the dregs settle to the bottom. Whether the cause of this difference is to be sought for in the physical or moral structure of the buman mind, I leave to those whom it may more deeply concern to 'investigate. This truth is perhaps in no community more clearly manifest. ed than in Boston. The people differ as widely as tho' they lived on opposite sides of the globe. How happens

this? The means of education are the same to all; there are not less than an hundred schools in Boston and its vicinity, free to all, many of them without money and without price ; Cambridge is in sight! Never were the means so ample as in Boston ; the whole state is one seminary of education; no excuse for ignorance; the poor are taught gratis.

One part of the community have realized these advan. tages while the other has not. In no city, perhaps, in America, are to be found a greater body of what may be called gentlemen than in Boston : whatever can be conceived of wealth, whatever can be conceived of talent, or intellect embellished by education or improved by business, is eminently displayed in the gentlemen of Buston. Here the human mind appears to be perfectly unfolded; most of them, indeed all of them, are men of liberal education, whether professional or not, and by associating constantly together, and reciprocating those delicious waters which fow from the fountain of know.

ledge, their manners, of course, accords with the excel: lenre of those attainments. They are affable, mild, and

liberal, in cvery sense of the word. They are mostly Unitarians and Universalists in religion, the most humane and benevolent sects I have met with; the for. mer, however, predominate. The ladies, like the gentlemen, are not exceeded by any on the continent; in accomplished manners, they possess all the yielding soft

ness of the southern ladies, with warmer hearts, and minds
improved by travelling, most of them having made the
tour of Europe. Their countenance is diffused with a
magic charm of irresistible sweetness, to which they join
the utmost grace of gesture and harmony of voice. As
to beauty, the ladies of Boston are celebrated throughout
the world. But that which deserves our greatest ap.
plause, is their unbounded benevolence and charity to-
wards the distressed; " which things the angels desired
to look into.” All the females, of every class, have a
flexible softness in their manners peculiar to them.
What
may

be called the lower class, for their opportu-
nily, are ignorant, proud, and abrupt in their manners,
particularly the men; nor do they mix at all with the
higherclass, or have any intercourse with them, more than
with the inhabitants of a distant country. They do not
know them in the streets, they are as absolutely separa-
ted as though an impassable gulph lay between them.
These last, I cannot call them clowns, for a clown though
awkward is bashful; but these are presuming, pert, and
in some cases rude, nor have they a spark of that yield-
ing charity which distinguishes their more refined neigh-
bors. Their manners and their dialect perfectly corres-
pond, though they can read and write, and many, in faci,
all, I am told, go to the grammar schools ; a chamber-
maid will read as correct as the most finished scholar,
and yet their dialect is wretchedly defective. Here are
a few of their phrases ; had'nt ought, ought not; 'T be, I
am, do what you'r mine'to, use your pleasure, on to it, on
it, with a number of such. But guess, and what'say, are
their favorites, and make a part of every sentencce. It
is amusing enough to hear about a dozen of their what'-
says and guesses assembled together. What'say is a sub-
stitute for sir or madam, (which amongst them you sel.
dom hear,) and answers to the how, of New York; it is
a habit they have contracted from asking a question to
be repeated again, although they have beard it distinct-
!y. They have the hickups here too. All the learning
iu the world will never break them of those vulgar hub-
its. Thousands of dollars are expended annually in
Boston for no other purpose than to eradicate this igao-

in ac.