LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxvii 



is a great sportsman a man of fortune and education and 

 has a considerable number of stuffed birds, some of which he 

 gave me, besides letters to several gentlemen of influence in 

 Boston. I endeavoured to recompense him in the best man- 

 ner I could, and again pursued my route to the north-east 

 The country between this and Hartford is extremely beautiful, 

 much resembling that between Philadelphia and Frankford. 

 The road is a hard sandy soil; and in one place I had an im- 

 mense prospect of the surrounding country, nearly equal to 

 that which we saw returning from Easton, but less covered 

 with woods. On reaching Hartford, I waited on Mr. Gk, a 

 member of congress, who recommended me to several others, 

 particularly a Mr. W., a gentleman of taste and fortune, who 

 was extremely obliging. The publisher of a newspaper here 

 expressed the highest admiration of the work, and has since 

 paid many handsome compliments to it in his publication, as 

 three other editors did in New York. This is a species of cur- 

 rency that will neither purchase plates, nor pay the printer; 

 but, nevertheless, it is gratifying to the vanity of an author 

 when nothing better can be got. My journey from Hartford 

 to Boston, through Springfield, Worcester, &c. one hundred 

 and twenty-eight miles, it is impossible for me to detail at this 

 time. From the time I entered Massachusetts, until within 

 ten miles of Boston, which distance is nearly two-thirds the 

 length of the whole state, I took notice that the principal fea- 

 tures of the country were stony mountains, rocky pasture 

 fields, and hills and swamps adorned with pines. The fences, 

 in every direction, are composed of strong stones; and, unless 

 a few straggling, self-planted, stunted apple trees, overgrown 

 with moss, deserve the name, there is hardly an orchard to be 

 seen in ten miles. Every six or eight miles you come to a 

 meeting-house, painted white, with a spire. I could perceive 

 little difference in the form or elevation of their steeples. 



" The people here make no distinction between town and 

 township; and travellers frequently asked the driver of the 

 stagecoach, What town are we now in?" when perhaps we 



