residing there for some years. He may be regarded therefore as an authority whose representations are worthy of confidence.

The author seems a light-hearted sort of person, who is as prone to a joke as another to a slice of bread and butter. He is quite at home, therefore, in the merry anecdote, and by some good fortune, or by a peculiar power of penetration, he is able to pick up on the road-side, we may say, the choicest materials for a cheerful story. We shall endeavour to prove our words in the following paper.

Mr. Mackenzie, it is proper to remind the reader, is travelling, we presume, for his pleasure, here and there in America; he is destitute of chart and compass-thinks but little of the course of the sun, and seems to be characterized by a strong resolution of just doing the very thing, and going to the very place, according as the impulse of the moment directs him. His system of observation, and his plan of giving the result of his experience, he has also placed under the same lax discipline, so that if we find Mr. Mackenzie capricious and undetermined about his excursions, and now and then superfluously retracing his steps from one place to another, we ought in justice to him to remember that he has stipulated for our indulgence upon the condition, no doubt, that he will compensate in amusement for what he is deficient in regularity.

At Philadelphia (to begin with something respectable), he tells us that they live in great comfort all are well off, including even the blacks, who drive out in carriages like human beings, as a Barbadoes planter would say. But the carriage is not a decisive criterion of negro quality, for he knows that such alone prevails in Canada amongst the ci-devant niggers. There is a barber, he says, in York, a town of Upper Canada, who is married to a black woman, and instead of knowing any thing about slavery in her own person, she is the happiest woman alive, to be waited upon by white helpers all the way from Europe.

In Montreal, Mr. Mackenzie tells us, the ladies vote at the elections; and when we state that an Irishman on a certain occasion was one of the candidates, it is quite superfluous to add (when we remember the diffusion of the suffrage), that "his honour" was successful. Among the many practices of Upper Canada which arise from its civilization, that of kidnapping is set down as a frequent one by the author. At the Indian Queen Hotel, in the renowned city of Baltimore, Mr. Mackenzie had the luck to contemplate a very extraordinary piece of furniture. "In the dining-room there are hung up several pairs of flappers, which extend the whole length of the table, and that is about the usual extent of a rope walk. One or more blacks, by means of a string and pulleys, flap away like good fellows, causing utter dismay to the insect tribes, and producing an agreeable current of air in every part of the room."

Some of the columns of the Capitol, which was finished at the period of Mr. M.'s visit to Washington (in 1829), "have carvings

of Indian corn stalks substituted for flutings and filletings, while the capitals are made of the ears of corn half stripped, having, on the whole, an appearance very like to the Corinthian or Composite order. The representative chamber is semi-circular, lighted from the roof, which is supported by massy columns of breccia, a darkbluish, siliceous pudding-stone, hard and highly polished. It is known to the natives by the name of Washington marble."

Mr. Mackenzie takes occasion to introduce into these miscellaneous pages occasional biographical notices, and two excellent sketches, one of the life of Van Buren, the other of General Jackson, have very particularly attracted our attention. Mr. Van Buren was placed in a lawyer's office at the early age of fourteen, and in 1803 was licensed as an attorney of the Supreme Court. He was of plebeian birth, began life as a democrat, but disdaining to court the favour of the powerful in the pursuit of riches, he yielded to the ambition which urged him to aspire to the highest honours of his profession. His private character is that of a man mild and benevolent, who unites great knowledge of the world with great frankness and ease, and very unusual command of temper.

Our traveller, who had imbibed some strong prejudices against General Jackson, found upon an introduction to him, that the latter was altogether a different character from that which he (Mr. M.) had conceived him to be. "The countenance," says he, "and person of the President are such as, once seen, will not soon be forgotten his tall erect figure and singularly original physiognomy, allow of no mistakes as to the individual. His looks are far more manly, commanding and open than the portraits in the print shops would indicate, and his eye seems to betray a disposition ardent and passionate, but never sullen or petulant. His forehead is very high, and the lines thereon deeply indented; his complexion_dark and sun-burnt, and his visage that of the war-worn veteran. I was impressed with his contemplative, thoughtful countenance, and strongly marked features; well do they correspond with the eventful tale of his adventurous life. His exterior appearance is remarkably plain, he wears a black dress, without any badge indicative of his rank and office, yet are his person and demeanour well calculated to inspire a stranger with a sentiment beyond mere respect."

President Jackson is distinguished in America as the real friend of the poor; he is in favour of universal education, and has publicly recommended the appropriation of the public lands to that object. He is opposed to the principle of imprisonment for debt, of legislative interference in religion, and the avowed foe of all licensed monopolies.

Speaking of American governors, Mr. Mackenzie presents us with an account of the very singular system pursued in the state of Illinois. There," he tells us, "the government is no burden to the people, nor is it a government opposed to their wishes and

interests. It is exceedingly cheap, the whole of the civil list establishment not amounting to the one-thirtieth part of the cost of the Upper Canada system. The governor of Illinois is chosen by the people, and a good governor he is. His name is Gilmer, and he keeps a capital tavern at the seat of his government, and boards the members of Assembly like so many princes at two dollars a-week, presiding, of course, with due decorum at the head of his own table! His inn pays well, and the good folks of Illinois give him 500l. a-year for governing them. Mr. Gilmer is getting rich, and he is no burden to the country."

The sale of books annually in the United States is calculated to amount to the value of ten millions of dollars; in addition to which is to be considered the value of the sale of newspapers, and the amount of that item is about three millions of dollars. It may be of importance to English booksellers to be apprized, that since March, 1833, a considerable change in the duties on imported books into America has taken place. "On English books," the author observes," a drawback of three pence per lb. is now allowed on their exportation to the United States, or other foreign countries. The publishers or proprietors of new or copyright works and stereotyped publications, printed in Great Britain, may profit by the change made in the United States tariff. This drawback, added to the difference between the tariff duties of 1828 and 1832, will form an additional inducement to English publishers to print an additional number of copies of each new work, for the American market, to be sold there at a price far below the rate charged in England. In this they have the example of the government; for by its regulations glass, paper, soap, &c. made in Britain, are sold lower in Quebec than in London, or at the door of the manufactory."

The Methodist body in the upper province of Canada alone amounts to 14,901 members, of whom 1,090 are Indians. Mr. Mackenzie, speaking from his own experience, describes them as a highly respectable and intelligent body, and that their ministers are often men of great talent, knowledge of mankind, and of unceasing zeal in the discharge of their duties. The most remarkable part of the account of the Methodists, however, is that which describes a camp meeting. The description of this singular spectacle is from an eye-witness, and is presented to us by Mr. M. as being perfectly unobjectionable on the score of authenticity. The place of the camp was situated about six miles from Torento near York in Upper Canada.

There is about the space of a moderate field cleared of under-brush, and the trees thinned so as to leave a shade from the sun (in the midst of the forest), which is inclosed by a fence and string of tents which surround the area. The tents are like the booths in a country fair, tables for the owners and their friends to eat at being substituted for the counters. There is a large stand or stage for the preachers, of rough workmanship, but suitable

to hold a number, and secured against rain. About a dozen preachers were present; and I should say that 3000 people were collected together. The greater part of the people bring provisions and beds for three or four days. The camp is shut and opened by means of a large gate placed at one end, which is watched at night to prevent the entrance of disturbers and disorderly persons. I had often felt a desire to attend one of these meetings, having heard a great deal both of bad and good respecting them. The services consist of preaching, prayer-meetings, &c., both public and in the tents,-class meetings, &c. and are continued, nearly without interruption, day and night. The sermons I heard were both able in composition and powerful in delivery. The preachers speak extempore. It is indeed very few good sermons I have heard in this country except at camp meetings. There is something very remarkable in the prayer-meetings; the people collect in considerable numbers, and are called mourners. There is a long table with a railing round, at a little distance sufficient to contain them. They kneel down, and several preachers and others pray; sometimes the whole people together pray. All is extempore. There are persons, both male and female, employed in the meantime [I suppose the writer here means in the intervals between these prayers."-M.] in going round and talking to them on the state of their minds; and both at these and at the prayer-meetings in the tents there will be, every now and then, one who will, we should say in England, faint-go into hysterics. These cases I will presume to say little of; it is indeed a mysterious thing, and the universal cause to which it is attributed here is the influence of the Spirit. I have carefully observed the appearance of women in this situation: they appear quite dead as to any power or sensibility remaining in them, excepting warmth and a feeble pulse. You may prick them with needles, and it will have no effect whatever. The people will in no case use any means or method to recover them till they recover of themselves. I told you once that Mr. his wife, and eldest son, had joined the Methodists; they

were all mourners on this occasion. Speaking of this, I may tell you, that

among the Methodists it is very common, in their large meetings, to have not only many speakers engaged in prayer at once, but also the whole of the people. It has struck me very remarkably on one or two of these occasions, when I have been present, to hear a hundred persons, or more, praying together. I could not, of course, distinguish what any one of them said. It was different from the repetition of the Litany in some of the churches, where the people join in an audible voice, for you knew, or could imagine, what they were speaking of. A concert of music I have heard, but had not before (except as in the Litany) heard an audible concert of prayer. There was not, in the latter case, a harmony of sound, but I presume there was a harmony of feeling. The ground at the camp-meeting is illuminated all night by means of stages, each of them twelve feet high, and of the breadth of an ordinary sized breakfast-table on the top, on which are kept blazing fires of pine-wood. The Calvinists here, as well as with you, are exceedingly prejudiced against the Methodists; and the government and its officers have endeavoured in many ways to injure them. It is certain, however, that they have done a great deal of good, and been the real benefactors of the people of this country.-pp. 107-9.

Mr. Mackenzie found, during a tour in the county of York in Upper Canada, that a new order or sect of Christians had been

started in that part of the world, which was not so remarkable perhaps for any great peculiarity in doctrine, as for the splendour with which the worship is conducted. This body of new religionists call themselves the Children of Peace, and consist of about thirty or forty families, residing in or near the village of Hope, which is situated in the township of East Gwillimbury, about 35 miles from York, and 4 from Newmarket, in Upper Canada. There are two schools in Hope, kept up as institutions for the young members of the Children of Peace. One school is for ordinary education, the other for instructing young girls in knitting, sewing, spinning, making chip hats, &c.; they cook their own victuals, make their own clothes, and keep the garden in order. But the object which most powerfully attracts the stranger in the village of Hope is the new temple of the Children of Peace, which, from its situation, dimensions, and architecture, is the most extraordinary which our traveller had ever beheld. The edifice is built on a scale of the most extensive nature, consisting of a series of towers, large windows for concentrating light, whilst the interior is decorated by splendid paintings and other ornaments. The worship is carried on by the aid of artificial light, and an orchestra, consisting of players on flutes, violins, bass-viols, bassoons, clarionets, and flageolets, &c. The music is altogether of profane composition, and the hymns are contributed by the members.

Mr. Mackenzie made a visit to Lower Canada, where he found that the Catholic religion was professed by a majority of the people. The Catholic clergy are maintained by a contribution of a twentysixth part of the produce of the land belonging to Catholics alone, so that no one is forced to support the clergy but those who directly receive their services. He proceeds, at considerable length, to notice the objects worthy of description in the cities and towns through which the course of his tour conducted him, and upon the whole, presents the Canadian community as in a very thriving and promising state. Whilst at Albany, Mr. Mackenzie devoted a considerable interval of his time to the study of the mode of doing business in the senate and assembly of this state. It seems that they transact a great deal of business, very much to the purpose, in a short time, simply by attending to method, and setting aside all useless formalities. They read their minutes without turning out the public-they clothe their speakers neither with wigs, gowns, nor three-cocked hats-members rise in their places and make reports, instead of getting up in pairs, and striving who shall obtain the floor and catch the speaker's eye first-their order and rule of proceeding cannot be departed from without the common consent of every member, given without discussion; the ayes and noes are taken with great accuracy in the shortest possible time, and without troubling any member to rise; the assistant clerks have their places near the speaker; the reporters for the public press have comfortable seats assigned them also near the speaker, but are not