d been adduced for it,
he fully believed, in his own mind, that the majority of the mob were
influenced more by _curiosity_ than any other feeling. The Convent was
_sealed_ to them, and they were determined to know what was in it.
"Why, sir," continued he, "I will lay a wager that if the authorities
were to nail together a dozen planks, and fix them up on the Common,
with a caution to the public that they were not to go near or touch
them, in twenty-four hours a mob would be raised to pull them down and
ascertain what the planks contained." I mention this conversation, to
shew in what a dexterous manner this American gentleman attempted to
palliate one of the grossest outrages ever committed by his countrymen.

VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SIX.

Crossed over to New Jersey, and took the railroad, to view the falls of
the Passaic River, about fifteen miles from New York. This water-power
has given birth to Patterson, a town with ten thousand inhabitants,
where a variety of manufactures is carried on. A more beautiful wild
spot can hardly be conceived; and to an European who has been accustomed
to travel far in search of the picturesque, it appears singular that at
so short a distance from a large city, he should at once find himself in
the midst of such a strange combination of nature and art. Independent
of their beauty, they are, perhaps, the most singular falls that are
known to exist. The whole country is of trappe formation, and the black
rocks rise up strictly vertical. The river, which at the Falls is about
one hundred and twenty yards wide, pours over a bed of rock between
hills covered with chestnut, walnut, pine, and sycamore, all mingled
together, and descending to the edge of the bank; their bright and
various foliage forming a lovely contrast to the clear rushing water.
The bed of black rock over which the river runs, is, at the Fall,
suddenly split in two, vertically, and across the whole width of the
river. The fissure is about seventy feet deep, and not more than twelve
feet wide at any part. Down into this chasm pour the whole waters of
the river, escaping from it, at a right angle, into a deep basin,
surrounded with perpendicular rocks from eighty to ninety feet high.
You may therefore stand on the opposite side of the chasm, looking up
the river, within a few feet of the Fall, and watch the roaring waters
as they precipitate themselves below. In this position, with the swift,
clear, but not deep w