Burnaby's Travels through North America

"Travels Through North America, " by Andrew Burnaby, was originally published in London and this reprint is from the third edition of 1798. It is somewhat amusing to read the prognostications of the keen-eyed and quick-brained doctor of divinity, when he says: "He still thinks that the present union of the American States will not be permanent or last for any considerable length of time; that that extensive country must necessarily be divided into separate states and kingdoms; and that America will never, at least for many ages, become formidable to Europe, etc." What would he think were he to be able to visit us now? He is a wise prophet who knows beforehand, and, who, if he does not know, is shrewd enough to veil his prophecies in ambiguity.
But the book is well worth the republishing. It is full of interesting accounts by a careful eyewitness of events and conditions, habits and customs just prior to the War of the Revolution. There are kind and manly words spoken of Washington and some excellent descriptions of the scenery and cities of that time. The localities which Burnaby reached in his travels were as follows: Virginia, the Falls of the Potomac, Maryland, Chesapeake Bay, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.