NEW ENGLAND. 



161 



the city officers, some of the principal <;hizens, strangers of distinction, &c. After the exam- 

 ination is gone through, all the boys who have distinguished themselves in the different schools 

 join the procession with their masters, and partake of a dinner in Faneuil Hall. The appear- 

 ance of the company is peculiar ; the children, their countenances glowing with the distinction 

 they have acquired, are here seated at a pubhc feast with the most venerable and dignified citi- 

 zens of the town. They are here introduced, for the first time, into the liall where their fathers 

 maintained the rights of their country, and which they may be called upon hereafter to support. 

 After the cloth is removed, the children place themselves as they please, and are scattered about 

 the hall in various groups, while the company are listening to songs, and drinking toasts, enjoy- 

 mg with a moderate hilarity a festival in which the finest feelings of the parent and citizen are 

 deeply interested. The mixture of infancy and age, this public honor paid to education, this 

 stimulating reward to childish merit, the sparkling pleasure of the young, and the mild satisfac- 

 tion of the aged, the introduction of these boys into the public forum where they are hereafter 

 to discharge their duty as citizens ; these together, present one of the most pleasing, and cer- 

 tainly most republican festivals that can be witnessed. 



The following extract from an English traveler, may show how well informed the people are, 

 even on subjects not connected with themselves. " As soon as we were known to be Enghsh- 

 men, the first question of every pot-house is, 'well, and what are you going to do with your 

 queen ? ' Even the old widows in the asylum took a private opportunity, while my conductors' 

 backs were turned, to squeeze out of me all the information they could on the subject." " The 

 Green Mountain boys appear to be as free and independent as in the times when Mrs. Grant 

 describes them, and perhaps a little more enhghtened. I scarcely saw an inn without a bible 

 m the parlor, and there were, generally, other books. At one place, where we changed horses, 

 was the Life of Harriet Newell, a present from the minister to the innkeeper's daughter. White- 

 field's Sermons, Young's Poems, &c. ; at another, the poems of Walter Scott, the Pastor's 

 Fireside, Blair's Lectures, Paley's Moral Philosophy, Darwin's Botanic Garden, Grammar, 

 English Dictionary ; and all these in one room at a country inn." It is probable, however, 

 that the inns in general have more books, and better selected. 



24. Religion, Marriages, Funerals. It is not to be supposed, that the descendants of the 

 puritans, of the men that dared all and endured all for conscience' sake, should be other than 

 an eminently pious people. To see this, a stranger in New England need only see the manner 

 in which the Sabbath is there kept. The observance of it is provided for by strict laws, but it 

 IS better secured by public opinion. The people generally attend their various churches, and 

 with a solemnity of demeanor which shows that they go not there for idle ceremony or show. 

 The "works of necessity or mercy" in which it is held lawful to engage on the Sabbath, are 

 of a very limited number, and traveling is not one of them. In some of the States, it was for- 

 merly prohibited by law, and the law was rigorously enforced. There are few if any houses in 

 the country where there is not at least one bible, and the New Testament is generally read in 

 schools. There are, besides, great numbers of religious papers and periodicals, which are 

 widely circulated, and the best devotional books are found in numerous editions. 



The numbers of the ditTerent rehgious denominations may be found in their proper places, 

 and here we may describe a sect that is peculiar in its doctrines, and very thrifty in worldly 

 affairs. They form a sort of political as well as religious community, and call themselves 

 Shakers, partly because of their violent dancing and gesticulation, and partly from a text in 

 scripture "vvhich they interpret as having allusion to the extension of their doctrine ; " I will 

 shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come." They are in general the harmless 

 race of men that may be expected from the union of fanaticism with simplicity. The Elders, 

 however, have more wisdom, or at least craft ; all sins are confessed to them, their authority is 

 despotic, and they pretend or aspire to visions, which they interpret in a manner well adapted 

 to advance their own interests. They believe that all the affections are sinful, and children are 

 instructed to forget, or to insult their parents, and husbands and wives to separate from each 

 ''her, and their children. Their settlements are remarkable for neatness, and their wares and 

 productions have the best character in the markets. Their dress is somewhat like that of the 

 Friends. 



In New England, there are many more living in celibacy than formerly. The advances 

 made in wealth and refinement, seem to impose the necessity of sacrificing more to ostentation, 

 so that it is now more difficult than it formerly was, to provide properly for a family. But tho 

 people mnrry at as early an age as is common in most countries, and the marriages are not only 



