LIFE OF WILSON. 



out to me the route of the British the American intrench- 

 ments the place where the greatest slaughter was made the 

 spot where Warren fell, and where he was thrown amid heaps 

 of the dead, I felt as though I could have encountered a whole 

 battalion myself in the same glorious cause. The old soldiers 

 were highly delighted with my enthusiasm; we drank a glass 

 of wine to the memory of the illustrious dead, and parted al- 

 most with regret. 



"From Boston to Portland,- in the District of Maine, you 

 are almost always in the neighbourhood, or within sight, of the 

 Atlantic. The country may be called a mere skeleton of rocks, 

 and fields of sand, in many places entirely destitute of wood, 

 except a few low scrubby junipers, in others covered with pines 

 of a diminutive growth. On entering the tavern in Portland, 

 I took up the newspaper of the day, in which I found my song 

 of Freedom and Peace,* which I afterwards heard read before 

 a numerous company, (for the supreme court was sitting,) with 

 great emphasis, as a most excellent song; but I said nothing on 

 the subject. 



" From Portland I steered across the country for the northern 

 parts of Vermont, among barren, savage, pine-covered moun- 

 tains, through regions where nature and art have done infinitely 

 less to make it a fit residence for man than any country I ever 

 traversed. Among these dreary tracts I found winter had al- 

 ready commenced, and the snow several inches deep. I called 

 at Dartmouth College, the president of which, as well as of all 

 I visited in New England, subscribed. Though sick with a se- 

 vere cold, and great fatigue, I continued my route to this place, 

 passing and calling at great numbers of small towns in my way. 

 "The legislature is at present in session the newspapers 

 have to-day taken notice of my book, and inserted my advertise- 

 ment I shall call on the principal people employ an agent 



* A certain military association of Philadelphia, being disposed to dignify 

 the national celebration of this year, offered a gold medal for the best song 

 which should be written for the occasion; and Wilson bore away the prize 

 from many competitors. 



