- Farewell. This Will Most Likely Be The Last Letter You Will Receive From Me On This Side Of The Atlantic.

The French have already taken two hundred sail of american vessels.

I hope my next may not be dated from _Brest_.

_To Mr. - - - - ,_

_State of - - - - ._

DEAR SIR,

In consequence of my promise at parting, I sit down to give you some account of _Yankee Land_. You were perfectly right in telling me I should find the New England states very different from your part of America.

The first object that would strike you is the population of the country. In one day's journey through Connecticut, I saw as many towns, villages, and houses, as I ever remember seeing, when travelling the same distance in England; a prospect you _Buck-skins_ can have no idea of.

The next is the beauty of the women, (I beg their pardon; that would be the _first_ object that would strike _you!_) Their great superiority in that respect may be accounted for, from their being of _engllsh_ descent. Your women have not all that _advantage_, ('True english prejudice this!' methinks I hear you mutter): great part are of _dutch_, or _german_ descent. The close iron stoves they have introduced among you are terrible enemies to beauty. Why you so obstinately persist in a custom so prejudicial to health, I cannot imagine. Your plea, that the coldness of the climate makes them indispensable, I can-not admit of; you know, that we are here three degrees to the north of you, and that the present is the coldest winter since the year 1780-81; and yet I have not seen a close stove since I left New York. The tavern bills in these states are near one hundred per cent under yours. The exorbitant charges of your tavern-keepers are a disgrace to the country: I could never account for your submitting so quietly to their impositions.

Whether it be owing to the abolition of negro slavery, and the sale of irish, and german redemptioners, (which, by the by, is nearly as bad, and ought not to be tolerated in a free country,) or to the great population, or to the produce of the land being of less value than in the south: I say whether it be owing to any, or to all of these causes, I know not; but certain it is, a greater strain of industry runs through all ranks of people than with you; and it is equally certain, that the lower order of citizens receive a better education, and of course are more intelligent, and better informed. This you will not wonder at, when I tell you there are seven free schools in Boston, containing about nine hundred scholars, and that in the country schools are in a still greater proportion. They are maintained by a tax on every class of citizens, therefore education may be claimed by _all_ as a _right_.

This climate is much colder, compared with yours, than I can account for geographically; but it may perhaps be owing to our having a greater proportion of easterly winds, which, coming immediately from the banks of Newfoundland, are attended with a cloudy sky, and thick atmosphere.

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