416 



Ohfervatlons during a Tour in America. 



[Dec. 1, 



Pittfcurgli is 300 miles from Philadelphia, 

 and from that city the fare is twenty dol- 

 lars. 



It may not be amifs fo obferve, that 

 (diflFerent authors have exhibi;ed very <iif. 

 ferent views of the Unif-d States. P.iif- 

 fot faw every thing wifh tne determined 

 eye of a democratic prejudice. Imlay has 

 been accufed of aepi6fing a paradilc, 

 ♦vhen he Ihould have de.'cnbed a counry ; 

 mor have writers bcMi wanting, who, aftu- 

 Zted by attachment to in narchiol prin- 

 ciples, have viewed with rqusi iiorror and 

 difguli every principle, produftion, and 

 climate, of republican Amenci. Nor 

 can it be denied that a laie celebrated 

 French writer, foured by perfoual incivi- 

 lities, and perhaps repenting of former 

 political crimes and hcrelies, has added 

 one more to the number of thofe who 

 have done injuftice to this coui,try by 

 their defciiptioi.s. Two wriiers mu(V, 

 however, be txempteil from either charge. 

 Thomas (now Judge) Cooper's '« Fa6\s 

 relative to the United Starts," pubhlhed, 

 I believe, in 1794, and the " Letters" of 

 Mr. Toulmin, Secretary of State for the 

 ftste of Kentucky, publlHied in the 

 Monthly Magazine, are equally creditable 

 to the veracity and judgment of thofe 

 gentlemen. I mean not, however, to af- 

 fert, that the other writers have inten- 

 tionally erred. The cbfervations of all 

 men are limited, and the traveller is, of 

 all others, moft apt to be deceived. In 

 pafling haftily through any country, he 

 polfefTes but little opportunity of appre- 

 ciating charafter, and thereby judging of 

 the verity <;f the narrative he hears. Hs 

 mind is frequently foured by litde difap- 

 pointments and perplexities, and his eye, 

 its faithful pencil as well as mirror, depifts 

 in fuch delonnity and erior, that, difFe- 

 lently circumftanced, he would not him- 

 ie!f again recognize the fcenery he has 

 purchafed. 



Tc thofe accuftomed to travel in fo ele- 

 gant a vehicle as an Englifli mail coach, 

 ^n American llage muft appear a wretched 

 conveyance. It is a carriage fimilar to 

 thofe often ufed for cairyin^ wJd-bealls 

 in the country-parts of England, and 

 pafiengers fiom Gravefend to London. — 

 It has five rows of feats, including the 

 driver's, and thofe it conveys are guarded 

 againft cold, (n'>w, and rain, by leather 

 cui tains, which button to the body of the 

 carriage, but which are often torn, F.nd 

 eljvays, in confequencs of difter.fion, 

 io< fe, and confiquenfly admit a, great 

 deal of air. Thi: baggage of all the pal- 



fengers is crammed into the coach j and 

 not tmfrequently three paflengers are im- 

 pafled upon each feat. In the winter 

 fonie ftages acccmmodate their paflengers 

 with a blanket, which lines the coach, 

 and is very comfortable. This, how- 

 ever, is not always the cafe ; and in the 

 fummer, when it is neceflary to ride with 

 the curtains up, the paflengers are expof- 

 ed to cl uds of duit, a burning fun, and 

 fultry winds. Such carnages are, how- 

 ever, ui;\voiciablc in tht prefent (late of 

 our roads, whic^i ar; frequently ovcrlha- 

 dowed by the projeiting limbs of large 

 trees. Good roads may certainly be 

 clafled amon^ ti.e elegancies of life, con- 

 iequentiy muir be amonq; the later im- 

 provements of a liew country. The fpirit 

 of pa;rioiilni w'lich n.iw animates our citi 

 zens, and which has been To llrongly in- 

 vipTora'ed by 1 he prtfent excellent ac'mini- 

 flranon of the United States, bids fair 

 fpee.^ily to render our public roads as 

 good as thofe of any other nation j indeed 

 it is faid that many in and north of Penn- " 

 fylvania are already fo j and many turn- 

 pikes are now making in all parts of the 

 Union, and more contemplated. Good 

 roads neceflarily produce convenient car- 

 riages ; nor can any thing tend to pro- 

 duce thefe defirable ends more than the 

 eftablifhment of public mail-ftages.— 

 Like caufc and etFeft reciprocally ai5ling 

 upon each other, public carriages and 

 public roads operate a mutual ameliora- 

 tion. On this account great praii'e is due 

 to the prefent director of the polf-ofiice 

 eftablifliment of the United States (Gi- 

 deon Granger, Efq.) for the pains he has 

 taken to extend ihc benefits of mail-car- 

 riage. During his fliort adminiflration, 

 without adding one cent to the public 

 burthens, this additional fecurity has 

 been given to about fix thousand miles of 

 road, the mails of the United States 

 being novi' carried in coaches through an 

 extent of fifteen thoufand miles, viz. from 

 Portfmouth in New Hampfhire, to Htvf 

 Orleans at the mouth of the MiffilTippi, 

 and from the Teat of government to Pittf- 

 buipji, helides a variety of ramifying 

 braiiches to towns of lefltr importance.— 

 It is now in contemplation to extend the 

 line of mail-coaches from Pi tfburgh 

 through the county of Trumbull to De- 

 troit, the feat of government for the nev» 

 territory of Michigan, as well as to Lex- 

 ington in Kencucky. In which cafe the 

 citizens of the United Sfates will poffefs a 

 length of fafe communication, which, 

 even were we ilifpoi'ed to admit the Ro- 

 man 



