ices, and, indeed, the evident excellence of its general
arrangement, must strike every stranger with admiration, and doubtless
presented to the commissioners of inquiry recently appointed from
England many hints worthy of adoption for home use. Of the merits of the
system itself it does not become me to speak; it has been well
considered by wise and worthy men, who continue to watch over its
working with a philanthropic spirit; but I confess that the impressions
I received from my visits to these prisons were anything but in its
favour.

At eight A.M. we quitted Auburn, the weather clear and mild: we crossed
the head-water of the Seneca Lake upon a well-built bridge, a mile and a
quarter in length, and, with this exception, observed no point of
interest until we approached the Lake of Geneva.

This is one of the lions of this route, and in no way disappointed our
raised expectations. Gradually winding about the eastern bend of the
lake, the road affords to the traveller a continuous view of the
location of the little city; and certainly nothing was ever more happily
chosen than the fine hill over whose side it is built, its streets
rising gradually from the edge of the clear water in which they are
reflected.

Entering the main street, I observed that the stores were large and
substantially built; there was a great bustle, and an air of business
too, about most of them, which it was pleasant to look upon. The hotel
at which we drew up was a large, well-appointed house: the landlord,
finding that we were strangers, civilly invited us to ascend to the
gallery upon the roof; and certainly the view it afforded was one I
should have been sorry to miss.

The environs appear to possess an unusual number of tasteful villas; on
all sides these might be distinguished, giving and receiving adornment
from the situation. The lake itself looked like a huge mirror; and from
its polished surface was clearly reflected every turn of its shores, and
each cloud that floated over it. Its characteristics are softness and
repose; of a certainty it must have been a feminine spirit that presided
at the creation of this spot, for its features are all of gentleness and
beauty.

At Canandaigua we stopped to dine at a very large, and, I should
imagine, good hotel: the landlord was exceedingly obliging. The regular
dinner of the house was long past, but he managed to get us a very
tolerable meal; and what was wanting in this he made up by giv