We Must Not Be Surprised, That Numbers, Who Cultivate An Ungrateful Soil In This Cold Climate, Should Be Induced, By Such Descriptions As The Above, To Emigrate To Our Orator's Land Of Promise, I Am Informed Ten Thousand Persons Emigrated From These States To Kentucky _Alone_, In One Year.

I have lately seen a flattering description of this country, published in London:

That the accounts are exaggerated, I have no doubt, as it is said to be written by a speculator; deeply interested in the sale of lands in the new settlements. I had a strong suspicion our fellow traveller was of this description, and took every opportunity to cross-examine him on this subject; he stuck true to his text, insisted that all he advanced was literally true, but acknowledged he was going to receive a sum of money for land he had sold to some emigrants from the province of Main, and that he expected to sell a considerable tract before his return. I arrived at Boston the 23d instant, four hundred and seventy-four miles from Baltimore.

Yours, &c.

_P.S._ I find we are to have a most vigorous theatrical opposition. A sort of dramatic mania has lately seiz'd the inhabitants. The _primitive_ Bostonians would as soon have admitted the plague as a company of players; but the present inhabitants having more liberal sentiments, a company of comedians came to this town about four years ago, and ventured to exhibit dramatic pieces, under the title of _Moral Lectures_. At length a bill passed the General Assembly of Massachusetts to licence theatrical performances; and as it is natural for mankind to run from one extreme to another, they have this year _two_ theatres, both of which are attended with a prodigious expence. Some of the performers are engaged at upwards of 20_l_. english per week; and Mrs. Whitlocke (sister to Mrs. Siddons, whom you may perhaps recollect at the Haymarket) is to have 180_l_. sterling for six nights. This opposition will in all probability end in the ruin of the managers, or rather of the _subscribers, who are bound for the payments_.

* * * * *

_Boston, October 3d, 1796._

DEAR SIR,

The first leisure day after my arrival here, I went to Bunker's Hill, attended by two persons, who were spectators of the engagement, and were kind enough to point out and explain a number of particulars I wished to be acquainted with, for the purpose of enabling me to form a tolerable idea of this famous action. If general Howe meant only to give the _Yankies_ a specimen of british valour, and his contempt of them and their intrenchment, he succeeded in both. - His enemies on this side the water say, "they gave him a _Rowland_ for his _Oliver_; _that_ he paid _too dear_ for this victory; _that_ a more prudent general would have found a better place to land the troops, and a safer mode of attack; _that_ the _price_ he paid for this little redoubt ought to have convinced him, he could not afford even to _bid_ for Dorchester heights, if once the Americans got possession of those hills; _that_ he should therefore have fortified them _himself_; _that_ - - " But as nothing is easier than to see all these _thats_ when it is _too late_, I shall plague you with no more of them, but conclude with an inscription from a monument on the scene of action.

Yours, &c.

"ERECTED, 1794, By King Solomon's Lodge of Free Masons, [Footnote: General Warren was a brother.] constituted at Charlestown, 1783, In Memory of MAJOR GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN, AND HIS BRAVE ASSOCIATES, Who were slain on this memorable spot, June 17th, 1775.

None but they, who set a just value on the blessings of LIBERTY, are worthy to enjoy her. In vain we toil'd, in vain we fought, We bled in vain, if you, our offspring, Want valour to repel the assaults of her invaders."

CHARLES TOWN settled 1628. - - - - - - burnt 1775. - - - - - - rebuilt 1776.

_P. S._ I was yesterday introduced to Cox, the celebrated bridge-architect: he is famous for throwing a bridge over waters, where, from the _depth_ or _strength_ of the current, this operation was thought impracticable. He always constructs his bridges of wood, and endeavours to give as little resistance to the water as possible: his supporters are numerous, but slender; and there is an interval between each. He tells me this idea first struck him from reading Aesop's fable of the Reed and the Oak: the reed, by _yielding_, was unhurt by a tempest, which tore up the sturdy oak by the roots.

Cox served his apprenticeship to a carpenter; and it was late in life before he attempted bridge-building. He proved his new theory on a small bridge in the country, which answering beyond his most sanguine expectations, he delivered proposals for connecting Boston to the continent, at Charleston, by means of a draw-bridge. His plan was by some supposed to proceed from a _distempered brain_. It is usual for the _ignorant_ to call a projector _insane_, when his schemes exceed the bounds of _their shallow comprehensions_.

After some time, a subscription was raised; and, to the confusion of his enemies, he erected a bridge 1500 feet long, by 42 wide, where there was, at the _lowest ebb_, 28 feet of water, and the flow of the tide was from 12 to 16 feet _more_. But what is the most surprising, this bridge has stood the shock of prodigious bodies of ice, sometimes three or four feet in thickness; which are, every thaw violently forced against it with a powerful current. He was rewarded with the sum of two hundred dollars above his contract. He then went to Ireland, where he built seven bridges; the largest was at Londonderry, 1860 feet long, by 40 wide; the depth of water 37 feet, and the flow of the tide from 14 to 18 feet more. He compleated this bridge so much to the satisfaction of the gentlemen who employed him, that he was presented with a gold medal and one hundred pounds above his contract.

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