NEWBURGHPORT. 



43 



never being addressed to them, and their assiduous attentions 

 unacknowledged. In no instance did I observe a female 

 attendant seat herself at table, nor even in the room with the 

 guests of a hotel, and only on one occasion, in a private house, 

 a help of slender years occupied a seat in a dark corner of the 

 room during tea, when her assistance was not required. I 

 do not see why a help of low or high degree should not seat 

 herself when her services are not wanted. There are many 

 anomalies in human customs. In Asiatic countries, the 

 slave is required to bend himself almost in the dust, while in 

 Britain the superior exacts homage in an erect posture. 



Remaining for the night at Newburghport, we hired a gig 

 for the purpose of visiting a farm fourteen miles distant, 

 belonging to a gentleman residing at New York, to whom, for 

 his polite and friendly attention, I am much indebted, and 

 should feel pleasure in having an opportunity of expressing 

 my gratitude by deeds. We returned by Newburghport, in 

 time for dinner, after which we proceeded by stage to Lowell, 

 along the banks of the Merrimack by Andover. 



The country from Boston to Newburghport and the inte 

 rior, which we visited, is low and marshy, with a poor soil 

 and inferior crops. The pastures appeared in most cases 

 suffering from want of drainage and previous management. 

 In the eastern States of America, and more especially in those 

 of New England, hay is the best paying article of farm pro 

 duce, which induces farmers to mow their grass lands when 

 first sown down, year after year, so long as the herbage can 

 be collected with the scythe, after which it is converted into 

 pasturage. Grass land so treated cannot fail of yielding a 

 poor return in pasturage in any country, and more especially 

 in the States of New England, where there are few natural 

 grasses, the soil poor, and where the husbandman does not 

 assist nature by a judicious supply of seeds. Many of the 

 enclosures consist of stone walls ; and in one instance, near 

 Boston, I observed an excellent thorn hedge. On the farm 

 which we visited, there was a good short-horn bull, and a 

 thrashing-machine. The wheat straw of the preceding year 

 was sadly mildewed. In one instance I observed meadow 



