A DESCEIPTION OF EARLY BOSTOI^ 195 



due precautions are not taken. We have also a quantity 

 of rattlesnakes, but they are not to be seen as yet. 



The English who inhabit these countries are, as else- The Good 

 where, good and bad; but one sees more of the latter '"' ^'' 

 than of the former class, and to tell it to you in a few 

 words, there are all kinds, and consequently all kinds of 

 life and manners. It is not that strife and quarrels occur 

 among them, but it is that they do not lead a good life 

 Ihere are some that practice no other formality of mar- 

 riage than that of taking each other by the hand : and 

 they live together peaceably ■ there are others, sixty years 

 of age, who have not yet been baptized because they are 

 not members. About a month ago, a woman forty-five 

 yeai-s of age was baptized in our church, with five of her 

 children. They would not baptize her among the Pres- 

 byterians because she had not become a member " 



It will not do to place too much reliance upon the 

 writer s remarks as to the moral character of the people 

 His associations were evidently not of the best. What 

 he says about looseness of marriage ties does not accord 

 with the Puritan strictness. His narrative is to be taken 

 with the same large allowance that belongs to the tourists 

 who spend a few weeks in America and then write vol- 

 umes of description. 



