REMINISCENCES. 



NO. I. 



The American public need not be reminded of the folly 

 of those tourists, who, after a week's residence in a capi- 

 tal city, take passage in a line of coaches, and hastily 

 circumambulating a small portion of a great continent, 

 return to launch out into profound disquisitions on na- 

 tional character and the mutability of governments. I 

 am not of this school ; but as no one can travel round 

 two thirds of the circumference of our globe, either by 

 land or sea, without acquiring many facts, and making 

 many observations highly interesting to those who quietly 

 enjoy the sweets of social intercourse around the paternal 

 hearth, I hope that these detached reminiscences, while 

 they contribute to my own happiness by recalling scenes 

 of grandeur and of beauty which I can never hope to 

 revisit, may also prove a harmless recreation, 



