258 WANDERINGS IN 



FOURTH the world, whose mild eye. and sweet and placid 



JOURNEY. ' 



features, seem to beckon to me, and say, as it 



were, " Speak but civilly to me, and I will do 

 what I can for you. ' Such a face as this is worth 

 more than a dozen letters of introduction ; and 

 such a face, gentle reader, I found on board the 

 steam-boat from New York to the city of Albany. 



There was a great number of well-dressed 

 ladies and gentlemen in the vessel, all entire 

 strangers to me. I fancied I could see several, 

 whose countenances invited an unknown wan- 

 derer to come and take a seat beside them ; but 

 there was one who encouraged me more than the 

 rest. I saw clearly that he was an American, and 

 I judged, by his manners and appearance, that he 

 had not spent all his time upon his native soil. I 

 was right in this conjecture, for he afterwards 

 told me that he had been in France and England. 

 I saluted him as one stranger gentleman ought 

 to salute another when he wants a little in- 

 formation ; and soon after, I dropped in a word 

 or two by which he might conjecture that I was 

 a foreigner ; but I did not tell him so ; I wished 

 him to make the discovery himself. 



He entered into conversation with the open- 

 ness and candour which is so remarkable in the 

 American ; and in a little time observed that he 

 presumed I was from the old country. I told 

 him that I was, and added, that I was an entire 

 stranger on board. I saw his eye brighten up at 



