252 Preface. 



pleased, seeing that, of all the men I knew, he was 

 the most likely to bring us back an impartial account 

 of what he should see. His great knowledge of farm- 

 ing as well as of manufacturing affairs ; his capacity 

 of estimating local advantages and disadvantages ; the 

 natural turn of his mind for discovering the means of 

 applying to the use of man all that is furnished by the 

 earth, the air, and water ; the patience and perseve- 

 rance with which he pursues all his inquiries; the 

 urbanity of his manners, which opens to him all the 

 sources of information : his inflexible adherence to 

 truth : all these marked him out as the man, on whom 

 the public might safely rely. 



451. I, therefore, give his Journal, made during, 

 his tour. He offers no opinion as to the question above 

 stated. That / shall do ; and when the reader has 

 gone through the Journal he will find my opinions as 

 to that question, which opinions I have stated in a 

 Letter, addressed to Mr. Birkbeck. 



452. The American reader will perceive, that this 

 Letter is intended principally for the perusal of English- 

 men : and, therefore, he must not be surprised if he 

 find a little bickering in a group so much of a. family 

 cast. 



Wm cobbett, 



North Hempstead, 

 19th December, 1818, 



