Mr. Everett's oration lasted more than three hours, and is generally considered as one of the finest and ablest accounts of the rise and progress of the United States that has ever been delivered. His explanations of the early settlement of the country at Plymouth and Dorchester, the progress and difficulties of the earliest colonists, and their indomitable perseverance are admirably told with all the powers of true cloquence; nor did the speech lose any of its interest from the circumstance, that, on the very heights where it was delivered, Washington first lighted his camp-fires at the opening of the great struggle which terminated in American Independence. The oration, however, on account of its length, was not delivered in full, but it was published a few weeks afterwards, and I would strongly recommend its attentive perusal to all that would truly appreciate the historical facts illustrative of the early settlement of America, and especially her connexion with the parent country.

Though not honoured by a nomination to the post of a deputy from the English town of Dorchester, for the very good reason that the people of that place were not aware of my residence in its transatlantic namesake, I was nevertheless present, by invitation, during the whole of the festivities, and I look back to the day with pride and satisfaction, as the speeches, toasts, and sentiments were all full of a generous, cordial warmth that was highly gratifying to a stranger. A display of fireworks on Mount Bowdoin concluded the

amusements of the day, which was kept with the usual honours, also, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other cities of the Union.

XIV.-EARLY SETTLEMENT AT
PLYMOUTH, &c.

THE early history of British enterprise in America was, from my earliest recollection, ever a subject fraught with the greatest interest to me; and it was in order to satisfy my thirst for information on this subject, that I paid a visit to the ancient town of Plymouth, about forty-five mile south-east of Boston, remarkable in history as the landing-place, in 1620, of the pilgrim fathers, who emigrated in the good ship Mayflower. The actual rock on which the adventurers first landed, has long been nearly covered with stores and warehouses; but I saw some traces of them in the old church-yard, where are many tombstones dating as far back as 1720, and they were buried there, I was told, as early as 1622. The pilgrims, however, had to be very particular in burying their brethren, not to leave any records of the deceased, as the Indians were much exasperated at the great mortality among them, and obstinately held that the invaders had introduced a scourge to afflict the natives. This church-yard stands on a hill several hundred feet above the level of the

sea, and commands a noble prospect of the ocean and surrounding country.

The PILGRIM'S HALL is a sort of antiquarian museum, comprising an interesting collection of papers and curiosities, presented to the town of Plymouth by the descendants of these early settlers. I noticed in particular many highly curious articles brought over in the Mayflower, such as a small cabinet of very peculiar workmanship, a part of a sea-chest, a large antique sofa, wearing apparel, two bibles, a couple of oldfashioned wooden chairs much disfigured by the knives of antiquity-hunting visitors, and other items. I saw, likewise, an admirable painting, executed by W. S. Sargent, that represents the adventurers landing with their wives and children; nor could one gaze without pity at the forlorn condition of the pilgrims landing on the bleak shore amid ice and snow, accompanied by their beloved partners, whose delicate frames, in many instances, sank beneath the severity of the trials to which they were exposed. The picture is of large dimensions, and I was especially struck by the commanding attitude of Sagamore, the friendly Indian chief.

Another curiosity that we inspected was a parchment-deed, sent by the Protector, Oliver Cromwell, to Governor Winslow, dated 1654, investing the latter with power to act as arbitrator between the English nation and the States-general, with several other letters of an almost equally early date, that can be read with

a little patience. Fronting the hall is a piece of the identical rock, which the inhabitants placed as a memorial inside an enclosure; on the railing is inscribed the forty-eight names of those illustrious fathers of the Anglo-American Republic, who, driven from their English homes by religious persecution, sallied forth across the ocean to plant the standard of the Cross in an almost unknown and savage land, thus inaugurating a new era in the history of the world. In fine, looking back through the annals of the two last centuries, one cannot contemplate without admiration the vast amount of agricultural enterprise and commercial greatness that has been achieved in so short a time; and could the pilgrim fathers rise from their graves, to see the rich harvest that has since arisen from the humble seed sown by themselves, they would be fairly astonished that the continent, which in their time was tenanted only by the red Indian and the beasts of the forest, is now endowed with all the inestimable blessings of a free government, and offering every incentive of activity and enterprise, not only to her own sons, but to strangers from other lands.

PART II.

My Tour Through Canada.

As one who looks on landscapes beautiful,
Will feel their spirit all his soul pervade;
Even as the heart grows stiller by the lull
Of falling waters when the winds are laid.

HAVING long felt a desire to visit the British posses

sions in America, I obtained a month's leave of absence for that purpose; and in July, a season of intense heat, left Boston for Burlington, passing through Fitchburg, Concord, and numerous other cities and towns, in my way to New Hampshire; nor could I avoid being struck with the magnificent woodland scenery, and wild natural beauty that presented themselves to the eye, as we passed in the railway carriages.

I. THE WHITE MOUNTAIN NOTCH.

VERMONT, with her chain of snow-clad mountains, whose summits seem to pierce the sky, is a county presenting scenery of a most romantic and sublime character. Some of my readers must be acquainted with the story of the White Mountain Notch, where an entire family of nine persons was buried some years ago under an