ite well, and so is Anne, whose smartness surpasses
belief. They yearn for home, and so do I.

"Of course you will not see in the papers any true account of our
voyage, for they keep the dangers of the passage, when there are any,
very quiet. I observed so many perils peculiar to steamers that I am
still undecided whether we shall not return by one of the New York
liners. On the night of the storm, I was wondering within myself where
we should be, if the chimney were blown overboard; in which case, it
needs no great observation to discover that the vessel must be instantly
on fire from stem to stern. When I went on deck next day, I saw that it
was held up by a perfect forest of chains and ropes, which had been
rigged in the night. Hewitt told me (when we were on shore, not before)
that they had men lashed, hoisted up, and swinging there, all through
the gale, getting these stays about it. This is not agreeable--is it?

"I wonder whether you will remember that next Tuesday is my birthday!
This letter will leave here that morning.

"On looking back through these sheets, I am astonished to find how
little I have told you, and how much I have, even now, in store which
shall be yours by word of mouth. The American poor, the American
factories, the institutions of all kinds--I have a book, already. There
is no man in this town, or in this State of New England, who has not a
blazing fire and a meat dinner every day of his life. A flaming sword in
the air would not attract so much attention as a beggar in the streets.
There are no charity uniforms, no wearisome repetition of the same dull
ugly dress, in that blind school.[46] All are attired after their own
tastes, and every boy and girl has his or her individuality as distinct
and unimpaired as you would find it in their own homes. At the theatres,
all the ladies sit in the fronts of the boxes. The gallery are as quiet
as the dress circle at dear Drury Lane. A man with seven heads would be
no sight at all, compared with one who couldn't read and write.

"I won't speak (I say 'speak'! I wish I could) about the dear precious
children, because I know how much we shall hear about them when we
receive those letters from home for which we long so ardently."

* * * * *

Unmistakably to be seen, in this earliest of his letters, is the quite
fresh and unalloyed impression first received by him at this memorable
visit; and it is due, as well to himsel