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Show IS TRAVELS TI-IROUGH NOR TEI AMERICA: always defirable to behold between :nan and man, let th~ir _i,itu;:tions ~r~ life be what they may, and which 1s not contrary to the ch~tatcs of tM turc, or to the fpirit of genuine liberty, as it is obfervabk 111 the. beha-. vionr of the wi]d Indians that wander through the foreft~ of th1s va!l: continent, the moll: free and independent of all human bemgs. In the United States, however, the l0wer claiTes of people will retur~ _rud~ and impertinent anfwers to queftions eouched in the rn o!l: ClVJl terms, and will infult a pcrfon that bears the appearance of a gentleman, _on purpofe to Q1ew how 1nuch they confider themfelves upon an equahty with him. Civility cannot be purchafed from them on any terms ; they feetn to think that it is incompatible with frc~dom, an~ that there is no other way of convincing a il:ranger that he JS really 111 a land of liberty, but by being furly and ill mannered in his prcfencc. LETTER III. Journey to Baltz"more.-Difcri'ption of the Country about Philadelpbia.Floating Bri'dges over the Schuylkill, how conjlrueled.-Mills in Brandywine Creek.-Improvement in the Mach£nery of. Flour Mills in America.- Torzvn of Wilmington.-Log Houfes.-Bad Roads.-Fine Pro- JPeCls.-How relijhed by Americans.-Taverns.-Sufiluehannah River.c: town of Baltimore.-Pian of the 'Iown.-Harbour.-Public and pri" Vate Buildings.-Inhabitmlts.-Coulltry betrzveen Baltimore and Wajhington.- Execrable Rottds. MY DEAR SIR, Wafhington, November QN the 16th of November I left Philadelphia for Baltimore. The only mode of conveyance which offers for a traveller, who is not provided with his own horfes or carriage, is the public fiage waggon; it is poffible, indeed, to procure a private carriage at Philadelphia to go on to Baltimore, for which a great price is always dcn1anded; but there ~ . JOURNEY TO BALTIMORE. there is no {uch thing as hiring a carriage or horfcs fi·om il:age to fiage. The country about Philadelphia is well cultivated, and it abounds with neat country houfes; but it has a bare appearance, being ahnofi totally firipped of the trees, which b2ve been cut down without mercy for firing, and to n1akc way for the plough ; n ither arc there any hedges, an idea prevailing that they impovcrilh the land wherever they arc planted. The fences arc all of the con1n1on pofi: and raiJ, or of the angular kind. Thcfc lafi: arc made of rails about eight or nine feet long, roughly fp1it out of trees, and placed horizontally above one another, as the bars of a gate ; but each tier of rails, or gate as it were, inil:cad of being on a firaight line with the one next to it, is put in a different direCtion, fo as to fonn an angle fufficient to pern1it the ends of the rails of one tier to refi fieadily on thofc of the next. As thefc fences, fron1 their fcrpentinc courfe, occupy at lcafi: fix times as much ground as a comn1on pofi: and rail fence, and require alfo a great deal more wood, they are n1ofl:ly laid afide whenever land and timber become objeCts of importance, as they foon do in the neighbourhood of large towns. The road to Baltimore is over the lowcfi: of three floating bridges, which have been thrown acrofs the river SchuylkilJ, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. The view on palling this river, which is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, is beautiful. The banks on each fide are high, and for n1any 1niles above afford the mofl: delightful fituations for villas. A very elegant one, laid out in the Englifl1 t,dl:c, is fcen on paffing the river jufl: above the bridge. Adjoining to il arc public gardens, and a hou{e of entertainment, with f<.;veral gooJ rooms, to which the citizens of Philadelphia rdort in great nUJnbers during the fumtner feafon. The floating bridges arc fonned of larg~ trees, which ar placed j 11 the water tranfvericly, and chaincJ together; bean1s arc then laid lengthways upon thefc, and the whole boarded over, to render the \vay convenient for paif~ngers. On each fide there is a railing. When very heavy carriages go <1crofs thefe bridges, they fink a few inches below the furface of ~he water; ~ut ~he palfage is by no nlefl.ns d;1ngerous. They are kept m an even d1rechoDr acrofs the river, by 111eans of chains and anchors in D 2 difrerent |
