utters rivets your attention; and, almost unconsciously, your sympathies
are excited, and you are carried onward by the reasonings and the
eloquence of this disciple of the Gardens. The impression made on the
audience assembled on that occasion was really wonderful. Once or twice,
when I could withdraw my attention from the speaker, I regarded the
countenances of those around me, and certainly never witnessed any thing
more striking. The high-wrought interest depicted in their faces, added to
the breathless silence that reigned throughout the building, made the
spectacle the most imposing I ever beheld. She was the Cumaean Sibyl
delivering oracles and labouring under the inspiration of the God of
Day.--This address was chiefly of a political character, and she took care
to flatter the prejudices of the Americans, by occasionally recurring to
the advantages their country possessed over European states--namely, the
absence of country gentlemen, and of a church establishment; for to the
absence of these the Americans attribute a large portion of the very great
degree of comfort they enjoy.

Near Hoboken, about three miles up North river, at the opposite side to
New York, a match took place between a boat rowed by two watermen, and a
canoe paddled by two Indians. The boat was long and narrow, similar in
form to those that ply on the Thames. The canoe was of the lightest
possible construction, being composed of thin hickory ribs covered with
bark. In calm weather, the Indians propel these vessels through the water
with astonishing velocity; but when the wind is high, and the water much
disturbed, their progress is greatly impeded. It so happened on this day
that the water was rough, and consequently unfavourable to the Aborigines.
At the appointed signal the competitors started. For a short distance the
Indians kept up with their rivals, but the long heavy pull of the oar soon
enabled the boatmen to leave them at a distance. The Indians, true to
their character, seeing the contest hopeless, after the first turn, no