as it would be to attempt to add to the majesty of the cataract the pouring of a bucket of water at its side through a tea-kettle. Several thousands of people, however, collected on both sides, many of whom probably had never before curiosity enough to see the falls themselves-if even they saw them now. The descent and wreck of a vessel among the rapids was, however, an interesting sight. I had the pleasure to-day of forming some acquaintance with a Canadian gentleman by the name of Stuart, now engaged in the practice of law at Niagara. He is a great-grandson of Sir William Johnson, and is a gentleman of intelligence and genteel address. He was an officer in the late war in the Canadian service, and was engaged in all the active engagements along this frontier. He communicated many curious and interesting facts and anecdotes to me touching the events of that unprofitable contest.

Wednesday, October 7. Spent the day in studying the cataract.

It is surprising how near to the falls themselves the adventurous watermen will ply their boats upon the surface of these angry whirlpools, and with perfect safety. In the afternoon the celebrated Sam Patch, of jumping notoriety, leapt from a ladder one hundred and ten feet high into the deep, at the end of Goat Island, and picked himself safely up.

Thursday, October 8. A clear sky and warm sun rendered it an inviting day for a drive and we availed ourselves of it to visit what is called the "whirlpool," at the distance of five miles below the falls. This is a very wild and romantic spot, and second only in interest to the cataract itself. The whirlpool is formed by the full torrent of the river rushing through a narrow pass, into a bay or cove, bounded by high precipitous rocks, and after whirling round in the basin escapes through another narrow pass. It is altogether a scene of peculiar grandeur. The ride through Lundy's Lane to and from this rarely visited spot was delightful. We returned to the pavilion to dinner, and in the afternoon took the stage for Buffalo, part of which ride was by moonlight.

Friday, October 9. After breakfast this morning, we ascended to the cupola of our excellent hotel, and had a fine view of the village, the foot of Lake Erie, and of the surrounding country. In the course of the forenoon we likewise walked pretty extensively over the town.

Buffalo is a very large village, regularly laid out, and handsomely built, and appears like a place of some commercial importance. The harbor is an artificial one. It is computed that there are upwards of one hundred vessels engaged in the commerce of this lake, and this number will be increased from year to year, as the rich territory bordering on the lakes becomes peopled. The United States Bank has recently decided in favor of

locating a branch of that institution at Buffalo in preference to Utica or Rochester, over which the inhabitants are much elated, as hitherto they have been quite unfortunate in their banking undertakings. Buffalo is the third town of Erie county. There is a seminary for the education of young ladies at this place, and also an academy in which a military feature is incorporated. The examinations were in progress, and Mr. McKay politely invited me to attend. I was glad to find that the military instruction is only intended, however, to relieve the other and principal studies, so far as exercise is necessary. Rathburn's hotel is evidently the best ordered, the best arranged, the neatest and best kept, of any public house or hotel I have been in since leaving New York. It deserves to be mentioned as a model, and the landlady ought to establish a seminary for teaching new beginners in this important branch of the science of political economy.

At half-past two P.M., we left our elegant quarters, with much regret, and took the canal packet-boat for Rochester. The afternoon was uncommonly fine, and the sail along the margin of the river through Black Rock very pleasant. In passing Grand Island we were shown the site of the famous city of Arrarat, founded by Mordecai, " the governor and judge of Israel." Like Thebes and Palmyra, Troy and Babylon, however, those mighty monuments of human glory and power, not a vestige of this ancient capital now remains. Its palaces have disappeared, its towers and battlements have tumbled into ruins; tall trees choke up its beautiful streets and avenues, and even the corner-stone, once consecrated by a great mogul, now lies in the cellar of a distinguished Gentile in Black Rock. Historians have neglected to notice this great city and its illustrious founder. At the distance of thirteen miles from Buffalo, the canal leaves the margin of the Niagara, and ascends for eight or ten miles in the bed of a deep, sluggish stream, the lands on both sides low, marshy and unhealthy. This was mostly passed in the evening, and a beautiful evening it was. Leaving the riverbed, the canal now entered the deep cutting of the mountain ridge. The evening was so beautiful and the scenery so interesting, that we enjoyed both upon the deck of the slow-sailing vessel, until we had passed across the mountain and descended to the plain toward the east.

Saturday, October 10. Arrived at Rochester at half past twelve o'clock, P.M., and took lodgings at the Rochester House, where I was exceedingly gratified to fall into the company of my old and valued friend Simeon Ford, and his family, formerly of Herkimer county. Mr. Ford is a lawyer of eminence and character.

Sunday, October 11. Rain in the morning and a cloudy upleasant day.

Attended church with Mr. H. Ely, with whom we dined. The preacher was an able and eloquent young man. His subject in the morning was the duty of the Christian world to diffuse the gospel among the heathen. In the afternoon he preached upon the means of regeneration, and the freeness of the gospel to all mankind. Our personal intercourse with the preacher at the house of Mr. Ely was of the most agreeable description.

Monday, October 12. Spent the morning in a lounge at the Athenæum, and went through the spacious flouring mills of General Beach. It is the largest establishment of the kind in the United States. It is not so compactly built, however, as the new mill of Mr. Ely. An immense business is transacted here in the flour manufacture. Mr. Ely's mills grind from twelve to fifteen bushels per hour, and the flour is cooled and packed as fast as it is made. The mills of General Beach produce an average of five hundred barrels per day. These though the largest are by no means the only ones. There are a large number here. Visited this morning in company with Mr. Johnson and Dr. Ward the new Episcopal church in St. Paul street, called also St. Paul's. It is a noble Gothic structure of stone, but not yet completed. The cost is estimated at $16,000. In New York it would have cost $60,000. Mrs. Stone and myself dined at Mr. Ely's with some other guests. In the afternoon Mr. Ely politely took us to drive to the falls of the Genessee river at Carthage, and also to those just below the city of Rochester. The former cataract is the most imposing, though the actual plunge of the water is not so great as the fall above, which is ninety-six feet, perpendicular descent. The bed of the river is much broader here than at Carthage. Rochester must always be a place of extensive business as long as wheat grows and water runs. The village was commenced in 1812, when Colonel Rochester and two friends from Maryland, perceiving the natural advantages of the place, purchased 100 acres of land at $17 an acre, and began building a town which is already a city in size and opulence.

Tuesday, October 13. Left Rochester in a coach for Canandagua. Passed on the way the pleasant village of Pittsford, built principally of brick. We arrived at Canandagua to dine. The weather being fine, I chartered a horse and gig, and took Mrs. Stone out for a drive about the village and suburbs.

[To be continued.]

THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY

ORIGIN OF THE EPITHET

Editor of Magazine of American History

In the Magazine of American History [VI., 142], it is shown that in 1776, when hostilities were already in progress against the American colonies, the above epithet was applied to George III. in London, in a legend surrounding his vignette. That, however, was the year after news had reached London of the application of the epithet to Peyton Randolph, first president of the Continental Congress.

In the Gentleman's Magazine [XLV., 345], July, 1775, a careful account of the troubles between Lord Dunmore and the citizens of Williamsburg, Virginia, contains the following interesting passage. The italicised words are in the original, where they seem equivalent to quotation marks. "In consequence of the first proclamation [that is of Lord Dunmore, summoning the Burgesses] the General Assembly being met, it was judged expedient to require the attendance of their speaker, the Hon. Peyton Randolph, Esq., who, being one of the delegation to the Continental Congress, had previously repaired to Philadelphia. But it being suspected that the malevolent dæmons from whom the evils in America had originated had combined in treachery to ensnare his Honour's life and safety, a troop of the Williamsburg Volunteers met him at Ruffin's Ferry and escorted him to town, where he was met by the whole body, and complimented the next day by a congratulatory address, in which they intreat him in a particular manner to be attentive to his safety, and at the same time tender their services, to be exerted at the expense of everything dear to freemen, in defence of his person and constitutional liberty. They conclude with praying Heaven to lengthen the life of the Father of their Country.”

Yours truly,

MONCURE D. CONWAY

MINOR TOPICS

THE ANGLO-AMERICANS

Editor of Magazine of American History:

A few days ago, while drinking afternoon tea with Mr. and Mrs. Bennoch, who were Mr. Nathaniel Hawthorne's oldest friends in England, my hostess spoke most glowingly of their mutual friend, Mr. Martin F. Tupper's-whom Mr. Hawthorne visited while in England-great admiration and friendship for the American people. This feeling has a most satisfactory foundation in that Mr. Tupper owed his success here to the reaction of a first great success in America, for it was to an immense sale of the "Proverbial Philosophy" there, which culminated in his deriving fifteen hundred pounds a year for twelve years from that book alone, that he enjoyed his distinction here. In our tea talk, my friends told me that there were at the time of the American Revolution relatives of the Tuppers residing in Massachusetts, and at the battle of Bunker Hill two Major Tuppers fought facing each other. One was Major John Tupper, who commanded the marines after the death of Pitcairn and, as is recorded at the Horse Guards in London, gained for their corps the crown and laurel; the other was Major Tupper, a descendant of one of the Pilgrim Fathers, who was in Washington's army. It seems, according to the family account, that when after the battle some courtesy was generously proffered by the "Rebel Major Tupper, the "Royalist Tupper" indignantly refused it.

Still more recently we were all visiting Mrs. Clayton Adams, Mr. Tupper's daughter Mary, at their picturesque home at Enhurst, near Guildford Surrey, and she showed me among her father's autograph treasures, a signed pass made out for George Washington, and what even more interested me, Abraham Lincoln's visiting card on the back of which was written :

"Allow Mrs. McClelland, the bearer, to see her son john McClelland, prisoner of war, on his way South. A. Lincoln.

March 13th, 1865.

Mr. Martin F. Tupper, whose many volumes of poems contain frequent generous references to America, is now eighty years old and in failing health.

I hope another bit of treasure-trove I exhumed from a second-hand bookshop last week may prove worth your reading. On an odd leaf loose from an old book on the county of Northumberland, among its "eminent persons" it paid a high tribute to one Reverend George Walker F.R.S., who was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne about 1734. He was the author of a petition to the English people for recognizing the American Independence. Of this petition, Edwin Burke “declared that he would rather have been the author of that piece than of all his own compositions." KATHERINE ARMSTRONG

BEDFORD PARK, CHISWICK, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.