Introduction 



"friends, who have never visited that country, for 

 "they will be entertained by it." 



The following observations were the result of this 

 advice; they were written upon the several spots to 

 which they refer; and were intended for no other 

 purpose, than that of serving as memorandums. 

 They appeared, by the time I returned to Europe, 

 according to the gentleman's prediction, so very 

 familiar to me, that I scarcely thought them deserv- 

 ing of the perusal of my friends. Some of these, 

 however, were so obliging as to bestow upon them 

 that trouble; and it is by their advice, and the con- 

 sideration of the present critical situation of affairs, 

 that I now submit them to the judgment of the pub- 

 lic. Whatever may be their merit, which I fear is 

 but small, I can assure the reader of one thing, I be- 

 lieve they are generally true. They are the fruit of 

 the most impartial inquiries, and best intelligence, 

 that I was able to procure in the different colonies 

 which I visited. If I have been led into any error, 

 or have misrepresented any thing, it has been unde- 

 signedly: a spirit of party is universally prevalent 

 in America, and it is not always an easy matter to 

 arrive at the knowledge of truth; but I believe, in 

 general, I have been pretty successful. I conversed 

 indiscriminately with persons of all parties; and en- 

 deavoured, by allowing for prejudices and collating 

 their different accounts, to get at the true one. If I 

 have any doubt myself about any particular part of 



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