tage it derived from its easy harbour,
but with the abolition of that traffic came the downfall of its
prosperity; for having no back country by the exportation of whose
produce it might sustain itself, it was speedily deserted by the
mercantile community, and its carrying trade usurped by Providence,
although the latter is situated some thirty miles higher up the river. A
railroad from Boston through the wealthy manufacturing districts might
nevertheless, I should imagine, bestow upon this place the supremacy
which the difficulty of land-carriage alone has withheld from it.

Its great natural advantage to visitors is the charming climate with
which it is favoured, owing to its being on all sides surrounded by deep
water: this is a point that cannot be changed by a decree in Congress,
or removed by order of the Board of Trade, and likely to be of more use
to the place, if made the most of, than the dockyard and depot which
they seek to establish.

If the English plan was adopted, and small snug cottages built and
furnished for the use of families resorting here, these families would
naturally quit the arks in which they are now congregated, and live each
after the manner of its kind, as all wise animals do; in which case, I
cannot anywhere imagine a more charming abode, or one possessing
superior advantages.

The general aspect of the neighbourhood puts me in mind of the Lothians;
whilst some of the rides amongst the shady lanes, through whose high,
loose hedgerows glimpses were constantly occurring of the sea and rocky
shore, were not unworthy a comparison with portions of that Eden of our
western coast, the Isle of Wight.

The harbour of Newport is of vast extent, easy of entrance, and
perfectly secure from all the winds that blow: its advantages in the
event of a naval war must ultimately render it the chief general depot
of these States. The government appears quite sensible of the policy of
rendering this noble station perfectly secure in good season: a series
of defences, of first-rate importance, are in a course of erection
which, when completed, it is supposed will render the harbour
impregnable to any attempt from the sea. To Fort Adams, the rough-work
of which is completed, I paid more than one visit; and nothing can be
more substantially put together.

The necessity of a dockyard of the first order being established at this
point appears to have been long and warmly pressed upon the
administration by al