looser, and more pleasant, in this torrid clime. "When a lady goes out, she has usually four, or more, female slaves attending her, one of whom bears her betel box. They are sumptuously adorned with gold and silver, and this ostentatious luxury the Indian ladies carry to a very great excess. "They seldom mix in company with the men, except at marriage feasts. "The title of My Lady is given exclusively to the wives of counsellors of India. "The ladies are very fond of riding through the streets of the town, in their carriages, in the evening. Formerly, when Batavia was in a more flourishing condition, they were accompanied by musicians: but this is little customary at present, no more than rowing through the canals that intersect the town fa little pleasure-boats; and the going upon these parties, which are equally enlivened by music, was called orangbayen. "When I came to Batavia, there was a theatre there; but it was given up before my departure. "The coaches used at Batavia are small and light. No one is restrained from keeping a carriage, but all are limited with respect to its decoration and painting. These are scrupulously regulated, accord.. ing to the respective ranks. Glass windows to coaches are alone al lowed to the members of the govern ment, who have also the privilege of painting or gilding their carriages agreeable to their own taste. "It is ordained, that a slave shall run before every wheel-carriage, with a stick in his hand, in order to give notice of its nearness, and 'prevent all accidents; for the streets not being paved, the approach of the carriage cannot be otherwise easily perceived. "A yearly tax is paid to the company for keeping a carriage; but most people hire one, at the rate of sixty rixdollars a month, of the li censed stable-keepers, by whom the duty is paid. Counsellors of India, and a few others of the company's upper servants, are exempted from it. "Sedan-chairs are not in use here. The ladies, however, sometimes employ a conveyance, that is somewhat like them, and is called a norimon. This is a kind of box, narrower at the top than the bottom, and carried by a thick bamboo pole, fastened over the top. They sit in it, with their legs crossed under them, and have then just room enough to sit upright, without being seen." [From the first Volume of TRAVELS, &c. by the DUKE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULT LIANCOURT.] SN America, or at least in some spent, therefore, the morning in are suffered to travel on Sundays; this is the case in the state of New York. Mr. Mac Elroy and myself who have formed a settlement, three or four miles from the inn. Had I not been indisposed the preceding evening, evening, I should have seen them at work, and, by means of my continual queries, might have obtained some accurate information concerning their origin, their regulations, the mode of husbanding and distributing the common wealth of the society, the manner of purchasing estates, of recruiting an dpreserving the society, and especially on its present state. We were now obliged to content ourselves with view ing their villages, the inside of their houses, their gardens, and their religious worship, without any guide, and to rest satisfied with what intelligence we could obtain from our landlord and another man, who said that he was well acquainted with the society. "As to their form of government, the society is a republic, governed in a despotic manner. All the members work for the benefit of the society, which supplies them in clothes and victuals, under the direction of the chief elder, whom they elect, and whose power is unlimited. Subordinate to him are inspectors of all classes, invested with different degrees of authority. The accounts reach him in a certain regular order and gradation; and in the same manner are his orders car ried into effect. It would be high treason to address the chiefelder himself, unless the adresser belongs to a class which enjoys this privilege; in any other case this offence is severely punished, or censured, if it be committed by a stranger, ignorant of this law. Marriage is prohibited in this society, which is recruited merely by proselytes, who are, how ever, far less numerous at present, than eighty years ago, when they first settled in this country. Married men and women are admitted into the society, on condition that they renounce each other. They fre quently bring their children with them, who in this case become a common property of the society. It sometimes happens, that, in spite of the prohibition, the flesh will have its way; bot, in such cases, a severe, exemplary, and corporeal punishment is inflicted on the of fender; and this punishment is not mitigated, if they effect their escape to join in lawful wedlock, for, on their being apprehended, they are punished with the same severity as if they were not married. Although the members of this society do not bind themselves by vows, yet, in close adherence to their tenets, men and women live in separate apartments, though in the same house. The village contains four such houses; all the other buildings are stores or shops, in which all sorts of trade and manu. factures are carried on. They make cloth, gauze, shoes, saddles, whips, nails, cabinet-work, in short, every article which is sure to find a ready market. They sell their commodities either here or in the neighbouring towns. The women perform such business as is generally allotted to their sex. "This frame of society has attained, it should seem, a high degree of perfection. The emulation among the members is uncommonly great, and the society possesses considerable property, the amount of which is, however, known to none but the chief elder. The Shakers are an honest, good-natured, set of people; they perform their engagements with the utmost punctuality, are excellent neighbours, faithful workmen, and very moderate in their prices. This is the wholestock of information which I have been able to collect on the absurdi. ties and peculiarities of the Shakers. "In regard to the form of their religious worship, I can speak from my own observation. On our ar rivabthey were already assembled in the place where they held their meeting. This is a hall, about seventy feet in length by forty five or fifty in breadth, with eighteen windows, by which light and a free circulation of air is procured. At each end of the hall is a fire-place; benches are placed all along the walls, and some on the right of the fire place. The doors, by which the men and women enter the hall, are in one of the long sides. The inside is overlaid with plaister of paris; the ornaments of wood, and window-frames, are painted light, blue and the benches red. Who ever could find room sat down; and the rest, by far the greater part, were standing. The chief elder was seated nearly in the centre, on a bench opposite the door, and a place between the two doors was asssigned to our party. The most profound silence was observed. The men were dressed in a blue coat, black waistcoat, and pantaloons of blue and white spotted cloth. The women wore a long white gown, a blue petticoat, an apron of the same cloth of which the men's pantaloons were made, a large, square, well plaited handkerchief, and a plain cap, tied under the chin, such as the porteresses of nunneries are accustomed to wear. The hair of the men is combed straight down; the hats were all hung on nails. When a man or a woman is tired of sitting, or wishes to make room for another member, they get up, and their seat is occupied by others, Every eye is fixed on the ground; every head is bent downward; and stupidity is the characteristic feature of every face. The women hold in their hand a blue and white handkerchief, and they stood all, like the men, and their arms folded, lasted nearly half an hour ou a signal of the chief elder, all the members present arose from their seats; and men and women formed two distinct rows opposite to each other,in form of a fan, the central point of which was occupied by the chief elder, standing in the same place, where he was seated before; the rows opened to wards the corners of the hall, and their position was studied in such degree, that they were long deliberating on the place, where they had to put their feet, before they began to move. After a silence of several minutes observed in the same position, during which the hands and faces of many of the members were strongly convulsed, and their knees and legs shook and trembled, the chief, made another signal, without which nothing is done. They fell all on their knees, and arose again a few minutes after. The chief elder now commenced a chaunt, in which both the nose and throat bore an equal share, and which was confined within the compass of four deep notes; no words could be distinguished. The whole meeting repeated the chaunt; and again ceased, on a signal from the chief elder. After a short silence, and upon another signal, the posi tion was changed. Men and women, who are constantly separate, drew up in nine or ten ranks, facing the chief elder, by whose side two or three men and as many women, the elders of the society, had taken their seats. The troop of women was disjoined from that of the men by a small interval of one or two. paces. I have omitted mentioning, that the men, previously to their drawing up in rank and file, pulled off their coats, which they hung up by their hats, and appeared in their shirt-sleeves, tied with a black rib. band. The woinen changed not their. ...d dress. dress." The chief elder commenced another chaunt, much the same as the former, accompanied by the elders, and the first part sung by the women, which rendered it to member of the society; bu. In thi I was disappointed. Upon a signal from the chief elder the meeting was broken up; the members top their hats and sticks, moved off two "of" lerably melodious. This chaunt and two: and the Cher fol lowed, conducted elders. The women, after having covered their flat cap with a hat equally flat, went out of the hall by a separate door, and brought up the rear, at an equal step, and their arms folded. "We were told, that they were going to dinner, but could not learn any farther particulars. On Sundays no strangers obtain admittance to their garden; we could only view it over the railings and found, it was large, beautiful; and kept in good order. All the culi nary plants, which are not wanted for their own consumption, shoot up into seed, of which they sell considerable quantities. All their railings and doors are painted with as much care as in the best kept English garden. The former run along the streets, to separate them from the houses. Neat little posts, painted with equal care, - mark the foot-way, The whole forms the neatest, prettiest, and most pleasant sight, I ever saw. I repeat it once more, that what little I have seen of this society is sufficient to convince me, that, with the utmost absurdity in point of religious principles and worship, the Shakers unite "auth order, activity and good sense in their business, and uncommon abilities in the management of their affairs A was no sooner begun, than the whole assembly started into a sort of dance, made a spring and a bow forwards, a spring and a bow to the right, a spring and a bow back wards, a spring and a bow to the left, twelve springs and twelve bows for wards, and then began the same motions again, until the chief elder ceased to sing, which is the signal of silence for the elders, and of immobility for the dancing members. The courtesies both of the men and women consist in a genuflection; the head is bent downwards, the arms are open, and the feet advance with a sort of light caper. The women make the same courtesies as the men, but they glide along rather than caper. All these motions are made to the tune, with a precision and exactness which would do honour to the best disciplined regiment. When this ceremony is over, they first resume their former position in rows, and afterwards their seats near the walls. The chief elder at times utters a few words, but they are unintelligible to a stranger. When all these different scenes have been acted, two women appear, each furnished with a broom, and sweep first the place occupied by the men, who draw up in close order to make room for the sweepers, and then that occupied by the women, which being done, the "Among the sisters were some same courtesies, chaunts, and ca- very handsome girls, but the major pers, recommence again. The whole part were rather advanced in years. service lasted about three hours. I The number of young men is com had armed myself with a sufficient sparatively much greater. This ad share of patience, to wait the close ciety, which has nothing in cou of the ceremony, in hopes that I mon with the friends or quake, should be able to converse either was transplanted, twenty two years with the chief elder, or another ago, from England to America. The The first and principal settlement was formed in 1774, at Nisqueunia, in the state of New York, a few miles above Albany; since that time, one or two more have been instituted. The chief leader of the sect is a woman; the first was one Ann Lecoq, who, it is reported, had been kept by an English officer. She died in 1784, and was succeeded by another, elected by the sect, from an opinion, that, like her predecessor, she is infallible and allied with the deity; she resides in Nisqueunia. The chief elders are her deputies in the different settlements." COMMON TRAITS of CHARACTER, STATE of EDUCATION, useful INSTITUTIONS, and prevalent MANNERS among the INHABITANTS of NORTH AMERICA. [From the second Volume of the same Work.] HE traits of character com "THE traits of the ardour for enterprise, courage, greediness, and an advantageous opinion of themselves. The title of the most enlightened nation of the whole world, which the committee of the house of representatives appointed to propose the answer of the house to the address of the president, in December 1796, has given to the people of the United States, will be of itself a proof of that good opinion they have of themselves, which I give as a common characteristic, especially if it be known with what labour, and after what long discussions, the house determined to make the sacrifice of this superlative, with which the modesty of the majority of the United States had not been embarrassed. 1 quote this example as the most striking and the most national; but, to tell the truth, almost all the books printed in America, and the individual conversations of the Americans, furnish proofs of it dai'y. This character, which none of those, I believe, who have seen America will deny to be that of the United States, is an exaggeration proceeding from the newness of their establishments, and will wear out in time. Their courage will be more exceptionable still to those who have the slightest knowledge of the war for independency. Habituated to fatigue from their infancy, having for the most part made their fortune by their labour and their industry, fatigue and labour are not yet become repugnant even to those in the most easy circumstances; while they wish to enjoy the ease and sweets of life, they do not regard them as absolute wants; they know how to dispense with them, and to quit them and travel in the woods whenever their interest requires it; they can forget them, whenever a reverse of fortune takes them away; and they know how to run after fortune when she escapes them; for, as I have often said before, the desire of riches is the ruling passion, and indeed their only passion. "The ridiculous assertion advanced by some writers, that the new world could not produce genius and talents like the old, has been proved to be absurd by the mere citation of the name of soine inhabitants of the United States, whose genius and F brilliant |