open air is striking and peculiar; and the admirable prayers of our liturgy are no less sublime in the forests of Ohio than in the consecrated and timehonoured minsters of York or Canterbury.

The service concluded, we return on foot, and as we approach the college with weary steps, the fireflies glisten in the increasing darkness. We arrive at our rooms fatigued in body, but refreshed in mind, and encouraged to new efforts. I have mentioned that a number of the young men are engaged in a similar manner; and you will at once perceive that on account of the distance of their schools, they can but rarely be present at the regular morning and evening service at the college. The great majority of the students are however punctual attendants at Divine worship, and the bishop and professors are faithful in their sermons and exhortations.

I have already protracted my letter to an unreasonable length. It will, nevertheless, interest you to be informed that I have determined to remain in this country; and if life and health are spared, to become a clergyman of the American Episcopal Church. I have accordingly been admitted as a candidate for holy orders, and shall be required by the canons to continue in my present state of probation for a period of three years, unless the bishop should think fit to shorten the term in my case.

But at all events, my candidateship must continue at least one year. I have prosecuted my studies of late with much satisfaction to myself, and have just taken my degree of A.B., after an examination in Greek, Latin, English composition, declamation, mathematics, natural philosophy, and political economy. In my next, I hope to give you some further information respecting this country and the Church.

CHAPTER III.

LETTER TO A FRIEND.-OHIO.

General description of Ohio.—Knox County.-Description of two townships. Their inhabitants.-Character of the inhabitants. Author lost in the woods.-Log-cabin.-View of the country and people.-Newark.-Columbus.-Legislature of Ohio.Episcopal worship at Columbus.-Antiquities at Circleville. -Chillicothe.-Cincinnati.-Return to Gambier.

KENYON COLLEGE, June, 1831.

OHIO, as I have already observed, is nearly equal to England in extent. It is bounded on the north by lake Erie, on the south by the Ohio river, on the east by the Ohio and Pennsylvania, and on the west by Indiana. Its shape is nearly square, and it contains seventy-two counties, chiefly laid off in the form of parallelograms. Its principal rivers are the Maumee, Sandusky, and Cuyahoga, which fall into Lake Erie; the Great and Little Miami, the Scioto, the Hocking, and the Muskingum, which fall into the Ohio. The soil is fertile, con

sisting of a rich vegetable mould; and the face of the country is level, or gently undulating.

The staple production is wheat, and the principal exports are flour and pork. The chief towns are Cincinnati, Columbus, Chillicothe, and Zanesville. Columbus is the seat of the state government; but Cincinnati is the chief town, and contains a population of nearly 30,000. The principal collegiate institutions are the Ohio University at Athens, supported by the state; Kenyon College, which I have in part described; and the Miami University near Cincinnati, under the control of Presbyterians.

I have mentioned the activity of some of the students in behalf of Sunday-schools. Another work in which they have also voluntarily engaged is the diffusion of the Bible. Shortly after my arrival here, they determined to supply with a Bible every family in the county destitute of one, and their determination was soon carried into effect. A benevolent society furnished them with the books, and the main business was the distribution. Knox county is thirty miles long by twenty wide; and contains a population of about 15,000. It is divided, like the other counties, into square townships, of which it contains twenty-four. These townships were apportioned by the young men among themselves; and to my share fell two, situated sixteen