JUVENILE POLITENESS. 51 



and the life of that great man seems to have had no small 

 share in stamping the character of this class of the popu 

 lation. 



The external appearance of the houses after passing the 

 Green Mountains became gradually less attractive, till at 

 last they were little better than mere log-houses. 



Primary or State schoolhouses were frequently seen, and I 

 regretted not having an opportunity of examining the profi 

 ciency of the pupils. The little boys attending the schools 

 were often going without stockings or shoes, and the girls 

 generally wore flowing trowsers to their ankles. On one 

 occasion, in passing through the state of Vermont, I observed 

 four little girls and two boys going to school, dressed in clean 

 clothes, with nice little baskets over their arms, which I con 

 jectured to contain their dinner. When the stage passed by 

 them, the misses curtsied, and the boys bowed to the pas 

 sengers. I was much gratified at this voluntary and unex 

 pected display of juvenile politeness, and repeatedly kissed 

 my hand in return ; but recollecting they might not under 

 stand such a mode of acknowledgment, I leant my head out 

 at the coach window and bowed familiarly, when they seemed 

 delighted at my interchange of civilities, and smiled to each 

 other. 



A valued friend, residing in the neighbourhood of Montreal, 

 informed me he was visiting at Rochester, in the state of New 

 York, in 1831, when a plain-dressed little girl approached 

 the window of a cottage at which he was seated, on a fine 

 summer evening, and curtsying, asked him for a rose, a flower 

 which was growing profusely round the cottage. He told her 

 to help herself to the prettiest she could find, but being afraid 

 of injuring the bush, she returned, asked the use of his knife, 

 which being granted, she departed with the object of her 

 affections. 



The surface of the New England States is often hilly, 

 always highly undulating, and the soil generally rocky, and 

 of the most inferior description of sand. The staple crop 

 appeared to be rye ; and we did not observe fifty acres of 

 wheat throughout a journey of 400 miles. The grass was 

 scanty, and seemingly incapable of fattening oxen, from its 



