LETTER III. BOSTON LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS-MALL STATE HOUSE CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY ANNIVERSARY ORATION VISIT TO A SEVENTY-FOUR GUN SHIP-PROCESSION OF FREE NEGROES- LUNATIC ASYLUM PENITENTIARY AMERICAN PRISON DISCIPLINE -HARVARD UNIVERSITY - NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW-BOSTON ATHENÆUM- -HONOURABLE ACT OF BENEVOLENCE-STATE OF RELIGION-SERMONS-HEAT OF THE WEATHER-FROG CONCERT-FIREFLIES. Boston, July, 1818. DURING the period which has elapsed since the date of my former letter, I have traversed several hundred miles of this western continent, and after visiting both Upper and Lower Canada have arrived by a circuitous route in Boston; I delay however, for the present, giving any account of my Canadian travels, as it is probable that a better opportunity will afterwards occur, and proceed rather to make you somewhat acquainted with the ancient capital of New England. Boston occupies a small peninsula in Massachusetts bay, and possesses a safe and commodious harbour, strongly defended from maritime attacks. The commerce of Boston is very considerable; probably in this respect it ranks as the fourth city in the United States, for New York, Philadelphia, and I believe New Orleans, are before it. The town has outgrown the limits of the position which it occupies, and Charlestown upon an opposite peninsula, and South Boston upon the main land, may be regarded as integral parts of the city. Circumscribed, however, as they are, the citizens have had the good taste to reserve a park of upwards of forty acres, upon which no buildings have been allowed to encroach. The Mall, as this is called, is surrounded with spreading elms, and is the finest that is to be found within the limits of any considerable town in the United States. It would be needless to remark how much it contributes to the beauty of the town, and the comfort of the inhabitants, were it not that so simple and so obvious an ornament is strangely overlooked in the larger American cities, notwithstanding the abundance of elbow room which all of them enjoy. Boston has much more of the appearance of a British town than New York. Many of the buildings are of a fine white granite, and most of the others are of brick; the streets are very compactly built, and although many are narrow and crooked, all exhibit a degree of order and cleanliness which will in vain be looked for in New York. On a finely rising ground at the upper part of the Mall, stands the State House, a building of humbler pretensions as to size and materials than the New York City Hall, but in situation and architectural outline greatly superior. It is nearly square; in front is a lofty projecting colonnade of the Corin STATE HOUSE-FOURTH OF JULY. 47 thian order, twelve columns in length, springing from a piazza of rusticated arches, but unhappily bearing only a balustrade, over which rises a small attic story with a pediment; and overtopping all is a large circular dome terminated by a small square lantern. From the lantern of the State House a most commanding view is obtained of the surrounding country. In front is Boston bay, studded with nearly forty islands, with fortifications and a light house; the shores which surround its ample basin, advancing and receding with most capricious irregularity, and forming numerous capes and peninsulas, on one of the largest of which is the city. The vast amphitheatre around the bay exhibits a country richly variegated with hill and valley, immense forests and cultivated ground; and sprinkled with about twenty little towns of snowy whiteness, among which a dozen of spires may be counted. The celebration of the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the national independence, took place since my arrival here; but the public demonstrations of joy were, in most respects, so similar to those with which we hail our king's birth day that a very minute detail of them is unnecessary. In the morning the national banner was displayed from all the public buildings, and from the masts of the vessels in the harbour. The Independence of seventy-four guns, and the Guerriere of forty-four, were both at anchor in the bay; the former of which was profusely decorated with colours, and each, at noon, fired a salute of twenty guns. In the Mall were numerous booths, where refreshments of various kinds found ready customers, but I thought this system of punch-drinking little calculated to sustain the dignity of the festival. The militia and volunteers of the city and neighbourhood paraded in the forenoon and fired a feu de joie. The volunteers resembled very much those at home, excepting that in place of being collected into one respectable battalion they consisted entirely of independent companies of fifty or sixty men; each company had a different uniform, blue, red, or white, and no way remarkable for neatness of make or decoration. It seems strange that they should choose a system of training, which prevents them from ever acquiring a knowledge of battalion movements, and could in the event of active service produce nothing but confusion. The Governor of Massachusetts received the congratulations of the various public functionaries, and distinguished citizens, and sat down, with above four hundred persons, to a cold collation which was served up in the principal room of the State House. The apartment was decorated with banners of various kinds, disposed in tasteful festoons upon the walls; and the pillars which support the roof were encircled by a double row of muskets and bayonets, the upper ones inverted and the bayonet points meeting each other. The whole had a very im |