PREFACE TO PAR? III. 



849. IN giving an account of the United States of America, it 

 would not have been proper to omit saying something of the 

 Western Countries, that Newest of the New Worlds, to which so 

 many thousands and hundreds of thousands are flocking, and 

 towards which the writings of Mr. Birkbeck have, of late, drawn 

 the pointed attention of all those Englishmen, who, having some 

 thing left to be robbed of, and wishing to preserve it, are looking 

 towards America as a place of refuge from the Boroughmongers 

 and the Holy Alliance, which latter, to make the compact complete, 

 seems to want nothing but the accession of His Satanic Majesty. 



850. 1 could not go to the Western Countries ; and, the accounts 

 of others were seldom to be relied on ; because, scarcely any man 

 goes thither without some degree of partiality, or comes back 

 without being tainted with some little matter, at least, of self- 

 interest. Yet, it was desirable to make an attempt, at least, 

 towards settling the question : &quot; Whether the Atlantic, or the 

 &quot; Western, Countries were the best for English Farmers to settle 

 &quot; in.&quot; Therefore, when MR. HULME proposed to make a Western 

 Tour, I was very much 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 farming as well as 

 of manufacturing affairs ; his capacity of estimating local ad 

 vantages 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 

 perseverance 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. 



851. 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. 



852. The American reader will perceive, that this Letter is 

 intended principally for the perusal of Englishmen : and, there- 



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