were alive, but where the father being a drunkard, and the mother scarcely able to maintain herself, the little children were really as badly off as if both father and mother had been in the grave. I was assured by the director, Mr. Wood, that in an investigation which he deemed it his duty to make, previously to preparing one of the last annual reports, he had found that in fully nineteen cases out of every twenty, the little children, whether orphans or otherwise, were destitute and helpless, entirely because their fathers, or mothers, or both, had been persons of intemperate habits, and expended what they ought to have bestowed on their children in intoxicating drink.

children in the At their entry,

There are at present about 100 Asylum, from 3 to 10 years of age. if there be any persons who have a claim to them by relationship or otherwise, the consent of such person is obtained to the giving up the child wholly to the direction of the Asylum till it shall be 21 years of age. The child is then provided in food, raiment, and lodging, and receives a plain, but religious, education. Their diet is wholly vegetable; and this is found, by some years' experience, to be not only sufficiently nutritious to ensure all the required strength, but superior to animal diet in its being less likely to engender diseases, the average health of the children, notwithstanding the destitute condition in which many of them are taken in, being greater than the average condition of any similar number not so fed. They work in the garden with great cheerfulness, cultivating their own food; and this again, while it is a pleasurable and even instruc

tive recreation, is found to be highly favourable to their health.

During our visit, which was just before sun-set, the little children were assembled to go through some of their exercises; and a little fellow of about seven years old, being directed to step out of the ranks for the purpose, was requested to commence the examination. He began to question them on Geography, and they really evinced considerable knowledge for their age. They sang, also, prettily, and in good time. At the close of these exercises, another youth, of about the same age, was invited to repeat an address which he had delivered at the last anniversary; and as it is characteristic of the style of thought and sentiment with which all the early lessons of the American youth abound, I transcribe it, from a copy furnished at my request. The young orator, advancing to the

front of the floor, said:

"America, my native country, was unknown to the white man a little more than 300 years ago-but now, what is her history? It is but 217 years since our pilgrim fathers fled from their homes, in the storm of persecution, and found, in this then wilderness world, an asylum, a peaceful retreat. It was for Christian liberty they fled; and it was then that they first sowed in this soil those seeds of freedom which have since so fertilized our happy land. Though England held her sovereign power to rule awhile, her dominion was but short; and we bless the glorious day when our patriot fathers, aroused by noble indignation, broke the chains of tyranny that were too long imposed upon them; and then liberty, sweet liberty, smiled on all these States. But what has our free

dom cost? The toils, the sufferings, and the death, of many a valiant friend of human rights. Their sacrifices dearly purchased for us the gift which we cannot too highly value. And will you, our fathers now, continue to guard her sacred rights till we, your sons, shall stand up in your stead, to defend her cause? Yes! I know you will; and though war and tumult rage both north and south of us, (alluding to the insurrection in Canada, and the Indian warfare in Florida), yet on us shall peace and plenty still continue to smile."

After this, a hymn was sung by all the children, standing, to the air of "God save the King," the first stanza of which was as follows:

"My country!-'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing.

Land of the pilgrim's pride,

Land where my fathers died,
From every mountain-side,
Let freedom ring."

Such are the sentiments of love of country, veneration for its first founders, and respect for those who, following after, established its independence, that are everywhere implanted in the infant mind of America. The subsequent exercises of their schoolbooks reiterate all this in later youth and early initiation into political doctrines follows soon after, by pupils, almost as soon as they have completed their studies, becoming members of Young Men's Conventions, held from time to time, to declare adherence to certain political principles, and organize plans of action,

The impressions thus become so deep and permanent, that there is no subsequent danger of their obliteration; for in politics, as in morals and religion, more depends on the first impressions planted in early youth, and the frequent repetition of them from thence to manhood in one unbroken chain, than upon the reasoning powers of individuals; and thus it is that national faiths, habits, and forms of government, are so continuously preserved from generation to generation.

The annual expense of this Asylum for feeding, clothing, and educating 100 orphans, is about 3,000 dollars or 600l. annually; being about 50 cents, or two shillings sterling, per head, per week; and the funds for this are readily obtained by subscriptions in the city, as the Asylum is a favourite charity. Every suitable opportunity is taken to place the children out at the proper age in advantageous situations in life; and hitherto the institution has been a great blessing to the destitute objects of its care, and an honour to its directors and supporters.

The last of the public institutions we saw in Albany was the Museum, which has been spoken of as one of the best in the country. We found it inferior, however, to any we had yet seen, in the limited extent and variety of its collections, as well as in the defective arrangement, and inferior quality of almost everything belonging to it.

CHAP. XVIII.

Excursion to the Shaker village of Niskyuna-Description of their place of worship-Arrangement for the reception of strangers— Costume of the Shakers, male and female-Silent commencement of their devotions-Address of one of the male eldèrsFirst hymn sung by all the worshippers-Address of a second elder to the visitors-Attitude of kneeling, and invitation to the Angels-Defence of the character of the Institution-Speech of one of the female elders-Commencement of the devotional dancing-Gradually increasing fervour of their devotionHymns to quick song-tunes, and a gallopade-Extravagant evolutions of the female dancers-Comparison with the whirling Dervishes of Damascus-Fanaticism of Christians, Mohammedans, and Hindoos.

ON Sunday, the 15th of July, we left Albany at nine in the morning, on a visit to the establishment of the religious sect called "The Shakers," at Niskyuna, a distance of eight miles from Albany in a north-west direction. Having a comfortable open carriage, and a good pair of horses, our journey was easy and agreeable. A great part of the road was bordered with a rich variety of wood, and other parts showed extended tracts of cultivation; while the range of the Catskill mountains, to the south, formed an interesting feature in the general picture. The sky was bright-the heat not oppressive-the thermometer at 80° in the town, and 75° in the