wine was made out of the Madeira grape. They have now greatly augmented the number of their vineyards, which, when bearing, present to the eye of the observer, the most interesting agricultural prospect, perhaps ever witnessed in the United States. They also cultivate Indian corn, wheat, potatoes, hemp, flax, and other articles necessary to farmers, but in quantities barely sufficient for domestic use. Some of their women manufacture straw hats, made quite differently from the common straw bonnets, by tying the straws together, instead of plaiting and sewing the plaits. They are sold in great numbers in the neighboring settlements, and in the states of Mississippi and Indiana. Population, about fifteen hundred.

Vincennes, the seat of justice for Knox county, Indiana, stands on the east bank of the Wabash, one hundred and fifty miles from its junction with the Ohio. The plan of the town is handsomely designed; the streets are wide, and cross each other at, right angles. Almost every house has a garden in its rear, with high substantial picket fences. The common field near the town contains nearly five thousand acres, of excellent prairie soil, which has been cultivated for more than half a century, and yet retains its pristine fertility. Population about eighteen hundred. This town was settled in 1735, by French emigrants from Canada, and, next to Kaskaskia, is the oldest town in the western world. Of late years, it has rapidly improved, and now contains three hundred houses, besides churches, and the usual county buildings.

Waltham, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, on the north side of Charles river, is a pleasant town, and contains three cotton factories, among the most extensive and best conducted in the country. These establishments were commenced in 1814. The proprietors of the factories support two schools at this place, where gratuitous instruction is regularly provided. Population, two thousand five hundred and ninety-three.

Warwick, seat of justice of Kent county, Rhode Island, is one of the most important manufacturing towns in the country. The fisheries are also extensive. The branches of the Pawtucket river unite here, and furnish valuable water power. Population, six thousand seven hundred and twenty-six.

Washington, capital of the District of Columbia, and seat of the general government of the United States, is situated on the left bank of the Potomac, near the head of tide water, and by the river and bay two hundred and ninety miles from the Atlantic. It is divided into three distinct divisions, which are built about the navy yard, the capitol, and the Pensylvania avenue. The principal streets meet from all points of the compass, at the capitol, and bear the names of the older states in the union. Some of the minor streets are distinguished by the letters of the alphabet, and tracts of ground have been reserved for public squares. Except during the sessions of congress, when the city is thronged with strangers from all parts of the country, there is little to interest one but the public buildings and the navy yard. The president's house is a large edifice of white marble, with Grecian fronts, situated about a mile west of the capitol, and near the public offices. It is two stories high with a lofty basement, and one hundred and eighty feet long, by eighty-five in width; it is surrounded by a wall. The entrance hall leads into the drawing room, where the company are received at the levees. The capitol is placed in an area of above twenty acres of ground, inclosed by an iron railing, and commands, by the sudden declivi

ty of the ground on one side, a very charming view of the city and adjoining country, and of the river Potomac. The building is three hundred

and fifty-two feet in front, and the greatest height to the top is one hundred and forty-five feet. The chamber of representatives is semi-circular, in

the form of the ancient Grecian theatre. It is surrounded by twenty-four columns of variegated native marble, from the banks of the Potomac, which stand on a base of free-stone, and support the magnificent dome. The seats for the members are conveniently disposed; each member has his fixed place, a chair, and a small desk. An engraved plan of the house, a copy of which is easily procured at the door, points out the name and place of each member, so that by referring to the plan, every member is at once known. The hall of the senate is a good deal smaller than that of the representatives, and is very elegantly fitted up. It is also semicircular, and the president's chair is in the centre. In another part of the building is the library of congress; the great hal! contains four national

pictures, painted by Colonel Trumbull, and four relievos in marble, representing scenes connected with various portions of our history.

The treasury, navy, war, and land offices are all in the vicinity of the president's house; as, also, are the residences of the foreign ministers. The patent office is in the same building with the general post office, and

contains numerous models of inventions, in all branches of art. There are more than three thousand dwellings in Washington, and the population is twenty-three thousand two hundred and three.*

A recent traveller, who entertains no great partiality for the institutions of our country, but whose volume is well written, and entertaining, makes the following observations on the society of our metropolis:

Washington is, undoubtedly, the gayest place in the union; and must, I should Imagine, be the very paradise of hackney coachmen. If these gentlemen do not get

Waterville, a town of Kennebec county, Maine, on the west side of the river Kennebec, eighteen miles north by east of Augusta. The principal village stands at the head of boat navigation, and its trade is flourishing. The Wesleyan seminary is established here; in this institution, the students contribute to their support by manual labor. Population, two thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine.

Watervliet, a town of Albany county, New York, six miles north of Albany, belonging principally, to the manor of Rensselaerwick. At this place the Erie crosses the Mohawk canal, and descends by double locks to the Champlain canal. In the west part is Niskayuna, a settlement of the Shakers. At Gibbonsville, another village of the township, is an arsenal of the United States. Population, ten thousand one hundred and forty

one.

Wethersfield, in Hartford county, Connecticut, is a very pleasant town, having broad streets shaded with elms. It was founded in 1634, and is the oldest settlement on Connecticut river. Rich and extensive meadows border the river, and a broad and high level tract, at about a mile distant, affords a fine soil for onions, which are raised here in large quantities. The state prison at this place has been erected within a few years, and the discipline pursued here is similar to that of Auburn. For details on the

rich, it must be owing to some culpable extravagance, for their vehicles are in continual demand from the hour of dinner till five in the morning, and long distances and heavy charges are all in their favor. Washington, too, is the only place in the union where people consider it necessary to be agreeable; where pleasing, as in the old world, be comes a sort of business, and the enjoyments of social intercourse enter into the habt tual calculations of every one.

The reason of this is obvious enough. The duties of legislation bring together a large body of gentlemen from all quarters of the union, whose time in the morning is generally passed in the capitol; but who, without the delassements of dinner parties and balls, would find their evening hours a burden somewhat difficult to dispose of. Idle men are always pleasant; they feel the necessity of being so, and make it their occu pation, when they have no other. Your lawyer, or your merchant, on the other hand, is so engrossed by weightier matters, that he has no time to cultivate the graces of life, or those thousand arts of courtesy which contribute so materially to enhance the enjoy. ments of society. The experience of the world is in favor of the assertion, that it is impossible to excel both in pleasure and business. A man of talent may select the sphere of his ambition, the bar, the pulpit, the exchange, the senate, or the drawingroom; but to attempt the honors of a double triumph is, in general, to secure but dupli city of failure.

In Washington, all are idle enough to be as agreeable as they can. The business of congress is no great burden on the shoulders of any of its members; and a trip to Washington is generally regarded as a sort of annual lark, which enables a man to pass the winter months more pleasantly than in the country. A considerable number of the members bring their families, with a view of obtaining introduction to better society than they can hope to meet elsewhere; but the majority leave such incumbrances at home; some, may be presumed, from taste, and others from economy,

There are few families that make Washington their permanent residence, and the city, therefore, has rather the aspect of a watering place, than the metropolis of a great nation. The members of congress generally live together in small boarding-houses, which, from all I saw of them, are shabby and uncomfortable. Gentlemen with fami lies take lodgings, or occupy apartments in a hotel; and it is really marvellous, at the Washington parties, to see how many people are contrived to be stowed away in a drawing-room, somewhat smaller than an ordinary-sized pigeon-house. On such occa sions, one does not suffer so much from heat as from suffocation; for not only does the whole atmosphere become tainted in quality, but there seems an absolute deficiency in quantity for the pulmonary demands of the company.