to take them to church. There are no taxes on carriages or horses, and as the cost of keeping a family conveyance is not a fourth of what it would be in England, they are within every one's reach. The interior of the church was crowded, galleries and all, with an entirely agricultural population; and it was the finest opportunity that could be enjoyed for seeing this class in their natural state and condition.

The men among the farmers looked as much as possible like our yeomen of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, in England. They were all decently dressed, in plain and coarse cloth garments, without the least attempt at fashion or finery. They had the large hands of labouring men, and the bronzed complexions of those who work much in the open air : for here the maxim of Poor Richard is universally observed:

"He that by the plough would thrive,

Himself must either hold or drive."

The young men were good-looking and athletic; the old men healthy and cheerful, and with their low-crowned and broad-brimmed hats, and gray locks often flowing over their shoulders, looked grave and venerable among their children and children's children, by whom they were surrounded.

The women, both old and young, were of more delicate appearance, and did not at all resemble the farmers' wives and farmers' daughters of England. There were no ruddy cheeks, nor fully developed forms among them; but all were pale, slender, and delicate, and in their dress, air, and manner, looked

more like persons who had nothing to do, than as being actively engaged either in domestic or other occupations.

We

This arises, no doubt, from the difference of their position, and different mode of life. Instead of going to market, managing the dairy, making butter and cheese, taking care of the poultry, milking the cows, and doing a great deal of active out-door as well as in-door work, which the wives and daughters of farmers in the humble ranks of life in England do, the American women are occupied almost wholly with their children, and in strictly domestic affairs. saw no females employed in any manner in the fields, either weeding, hoeing, clearing the ground of stones, hay-making, or in any other way, through all the tract of country over which we had yet passed; and hence, no doubt, the delicacy of appearance and manner possessed by the female population of an American agricultural district, as compared with the same class in England.

Nothing could exceed the attention paid by all the meeting to the facts and arguments in favour of the Temperance Reformation, which I was enabled to lay before them in the course of a two hours' address; and at its close, a large number of the audience came forward voluntarily to join themselves to the Temperance Society, and to sign the pledge of abstinence from all that could intoxicate, as well as to discourage by every suitable means, the use of intoxicating drinks among their friends and neighbours. The meeting was altogether a very happy one; and calculated, it was believed, to produce much good, by

scattering the information there laid before the hearers, through all their respective districts, as it would be the subject of conversation among them for weeks to come; and in the discussions to which it might give rise, truth would be sure to triumph.

CHAP. XXV.

Leave Ballston for the Falls of Niagara-Departure from Schenectady by the rail-road - Beautiful valley of the Mohawk Little Falls on this river-Rich alluvial plains of the German flats - Villages of Herkimer and Frankfort - Romantic beauty of the Mohawk valley-Arrival and stay at Utica-Stage journey from Utica to Syracuse-Comparison of American and English coaches-Use of sea-phrases by American drivers-Villages of New Hartford, Manchester, and Vernon-Oneida castle Indian reservations-Arrival and stay at Syracuse-Journey to Auburn by wooden rail-road-Arrival and short stay at Auburn -Departure from Auburn for Canandaigua-Passage by bridge over the Lake Cayuga-Village built on the Seneca falls-Pass through Waterloo to Geneva.

ON Tuesday, the 7th of August, we quitted the hospitable mansion of Mr. Delavan, on our projected tour to the Falls of Niagara, this being considered the best season of the year for making the journey, and seeing the Falls to advantage.

Mr. Delavan accompanied us as far as Schenectady, where we took the rail-road for Utica at ten o'clock; and starting from thence, proceeded along the valley of the Mohawk river, which winds its way from the westward till it empties itself into the Hudson, and by it into the Atlantic. On leaving Schenectady, we crossed over the stream of the Mohawk by a bridge of 800 feet in length, going in a northerly direction, but after a space of about a mile, the road curved to the west, and ran along in nearly

the direction of the stream chiefly on its northern bank, bringing us, after a distance of about eight miles more, into the beautiful valley named.

The first place of any size passed on our way was the village of Amsterdam, first settled, no doubt, by some patriotic Dutchman, and so called after the capital of his native country. It has about 200 houses, which are yearly increasing in number, an excellent bridge across the Mohawk, and a small stream which descends from higher ground through the village to the river, and affords good water-power for mills and manufactures. The Erie canal, which is about 40 feet in breadth, is to be widened to nearly double its present dimensions, to admit of the requisite space for the increased navigation, no less than 400 additional boats having been launched upon the canal during this present season; and the works for this widening of the canal were just beginning to be put in opera

tion here.

About four miles beyond this, in passing round the foot of a promontory, called Tripe's Hill, the view becomes more expanded, more varied, and more beautiful, and justifies all that has been said in praise of this lovely valley of the Mohawk, which is exquisitely rich in its scenery, and combines the soft and the wild, the cultivated and the picturesque, in an eminent degree.

A very pretty settlement, called Fonda, appeared four or five miles further on; and as this has been fixed on for the county town of the district in which it is situated, several public buildings have already begun to make their appearance. The court-house is of chaste Grecian architecture, surmounted by a grace