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Whenever he spoke, men of all parties listened with profound attention; for they all knew, that he never spoke unless to propose new subjects of consideration, or to place those, which were under discussion, in a new and important light. At the same time the exact decorum which he observed, the politeness and delicacy with which he treated his opponents, and the candour which he manifested on every subject, although they could not subdue the stubbornness of party, compelled the respect even of its champions for himself.

In the year 1807, while he was deeply engaged in arguing a cause of great moment before the superior court of Connecticut, he was arrested by a disease, which ultimately terminated his life.

It is hardly necessary to say, that such a man excelled in every private station, relation, and duty of life.

There are many reasons to hope that he died a Christian.

I am, Sir, &c.

L

VOL. IV.

(

SECOND JOURNEY

ΤΟ LAKE

WINIPISEOGEE, OR WENTWORTH.

LETTER I.

Journey to Andover through Providence. To Portsmouth through Newburyport. Rochester. Norway Plain. Middleton. Wolfborough. Governor Wentworth. Tuftonborough. Moultonborough. Prospect of the Lake Winipiseogee or Wentworth from the Red Mountain. Squam, or Sullivan's Lake. Return.

DEAR SIR;

IN the year 1813 I left New-Haven, September 6th, the public commencement having been holden the preceding week, on account of a national fast; and, proceeding through Hartford and Providence, arrived at Charlestown on the 10th. On the 21st I rode to Andover. The 23d I proceeded to Salem; the 24th to Newburyport. The 25th I made an excursion along the banks of the Merrimac to Bradford, and from thence proceeded to Essex bridge, newly built upon strong iron chains, probably the best mode of building bridges hitherto adopted in this country, when the water is deep and the channel not very wide. On the 27th I reached Portsmouth. My companions in the journey to Charlestown were two young gentlemen, to whom were added at Charlestown two others; all of them A. B. in Yale college.

From Providence to Andover our road was the same which has been heretofore mentioned. Of this part of my journey I shall only observe, that the American board of commissioners,

with whom I met at this time, found their affairs prosperous; and were amply assured by the liberality, with which their funds were increased, that the disposition in their countrymen to diffuse the blessings of the Gospel was very honourably extending itself, and becoming more vigorous in places, where it had been before manifested.

The theological seminary at Andover I found prospering. The number of students was fifty.

The country between Andover and Salem, except the township of Danvers, is dull and spiritless. Its surface is undulating, but without beauty. The soil, the enclosures, and the buildings are indifferent. Danvers is, generally, a rich and beautiful township, containing a succession of fine enclosures and good houses, throughout every part of its limits on this road.

The country between Newburyport and Bradford, lying twelve miles along the Merrimac, is a succession of hills and vallies; both almost universally and elegantly arched; the concave of the latter being little else than a counterpart to the convex of the former. The soil, also, is excellent; and the prospects are beautiful.

It deserves to be mentioned, as a fact not a little interesting, that Mr. Bartlett, on a farm which he possesses at Methuen, and Capt. Stannard, on the plantation formerly belonging to Tristram Dalton, Esq., in Newbury, have renewed the culture of wheat in this region, and with very good success. Capt. Stannard raised, on three acres, one hundred bushels. I ate some of the bread, made of the wheat from Mr. Bartlett's farm, and found it excellent. For more than one hundred years, if I mistake not, it has been proverbially and universally asserted, that wheat could not come to perfection throughout most of the eastern half of Massachusetts. The charm is now broken, and the authority of this grey-haired prejudice destroyed. To Mr. Bartlett the credit is, I believe, due of having first furnished decisive proof, that it was without foundation.

On Tuesday, the 28th, we left Portsmouth, and rode to Middleton, crossing Piscataqua bridge, and passing through Dover and Rochester; thirty-four miles. The road lies on the north side of Cocheco, and is tolerably good, except the

last six or eight miles, which are very bad. The part which was good was made under the direction of his Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., then governor of the province of New-Hampshire.

I found Dover considerably improved and beautified since my last visit, and, what was not a little gratifying to me, furnished with a good minister of the Gospel. The lands immediately west of Dover, and within the limits of that township, generally appeared well on this road, and were ornamented with a number of good farmers' houses. After passing three or four miles, the country assumed a lean and unpromising appearance. The surface was composed of hills, rising with easy and long acclivities to a very considerable height, and open vallies between them. The soil was evidently poor, though probably of a worse appearance on account of a severe drought, under which the country at this time laboured. A few of the buildings looked well. The prospects were in several instances extensive, and in one magnificent.

Norway plain, so called from the multitude of Norway pines growing upon it, contains a decent village of the same name. It is within the township of Rochester, and the only one between Dover and Wolfborough.

Four miles farther, or twenty-eight from Portsmouth, the road continued to be good. The remainder ascended and descended, a succession of gradual acclivities, covered with rocks and stones to such a degree, as to make travelling not only excessively inconvenient, but at times dangerous. The inhabitants, who are few, and thinly dispersed, seem to have done every thing in their power to lessen the evil; but, unless they are assisted from some other quarter, they must labour many years before excursions to Wolfborough will be invited by the road. The forests, throughout the whole of this tract, are oak.

We arrived at Middleton a little after sun-set. The soil of this township is pretty good grazing land.

The next morning we rode to Wolfborough bridge, where there is a decent village, consisting of about twenty houses. The situation of this village is very pleasant. It stands on both sides of the outlet, by which the waters of Smith's lake, and another of a small size, the name of which I did not learn, are discharged into the Winipiseogee. Just below the bridge

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