pc' 
o 5 
reposed on the piazza, or went to and from the house, produced 
a very agreeable effect. The people here are exceedingly reli¬ 
gious, and, besides going to church on Sundays, they go thrice 
during the week. When we arrived, the service had just ended, 
and we saw some very handsome ladies come out of the church. 
Each bed-chamber of our tavern was provided with a bible. To¬ 
day I observed also a new mode of delivering letters and news¬ 
papers. The driver of the mail-coach throws the letters and news¬ 
papers, with which he is entrusted, before the houses where they 
are to be left; he sometimes throws them even into open fields, 
along the lane leading from the main road to the house. 
About two years ago, Messrs. Cogswell and Bancroft establish¬ 
ed a boarding-school at Northampton. The day after our arrival, 
11th of August, Mr. Cogswell paid me a visit, and introduced 
one of his professors, Dr. Beck, of Heidelberg, a step-son of Dr. 
De Wette, of Weimar, who teaches the Latin and Greek languages. 
Another German professor, whom, however, I did not see, directs 
the gymnastic exercises. Both these gentlemen conducted us to 
the institute, which is situated on Round Hill, about a mile from 
Northampton. 
Northampton contains about four thousand inhabitants, and 
its buildings are, apparently, very much like those of Worcester; 
it has one bank, a court-house, prison, and a printing-office. From 
Mr. Cogswell’s institute, you have a magnificent view of the fer¬ 
tile and well-cultivated valley of the Connecticut river, which, in 
this place, winds between two lofty mountains, Holyoake and 
Mounttoby. On the left, the lofty mountains of New Hampshire 
present a beautiful prospect. In 1824, this institution had but 
forty pupils, and in 1825, it numbered no less than seventy-four, 
so that Mr. Cogswell is obliged, although he has three large houses 
belonging to his establishment, to erect a fourth and larger one. 
The gymnastic exercises, for which a place is provided in the 
woods, with the necessary apparatus, form a principal part 
of the instructions of this seminary. The boys are entirely 
excluded from the world; but that they may not become too 
much estranged, Mr. Cogswell accompanies them annually in 
various pedestrian tours through the surrounding country. I 
visited Mr. Bancroft at his room. Both these gentlemen enter¬ 
tain the warmest enthusiasm for Germany and the German method 
of instruction, and are determined to regulate every thing accord¬ 
ing to that system. Mr. Bates, a lawyer introduced to us by 
Mr. Cogswell, returned with us to town, and showed us the 
church, court-house, and a collection of minerals, in the possession 
of Dr. Hunt, in which I admired particularly two specimens of 
American beryl and several specimens of rock-crystal. On our 
