DEFICIENCY OF EXERCISE. 311 education is from 12 to 32 dollars per annum, according to the class in which they may be; the lowest or 6th class being 3 dollars per quarter, and the highest or first class being 8 dollars per quarter. This experiment, which has now been continued for upwards of twenty years, has proved abundantly what many still affect to disbelieve or doubt, that the female intellect is in no degree whatever inferior, in its capacity to receive and retain instruction, in the highest and most difficult branches of learning, to the male; that their powers of application, and their zeal for information, is also quite equal to that of the other sex; and that such differences as have hitherto existed between the intellectual condition of male and female youths, have been wholly owing to their being subjected to different modes of education. The same defect which belongs to every plan of scholastic training that I have yet witnessed, characterizes this; namely, that no portion of time seems to be allotted to physical training. There is neither walking, riding, gymnastics, nor any other fixed and regular exercises for the body. The consequence is, that among the 400 pupils of the Academy there did not seem a single example of vigorous or robust health. Slender forms, pale cheeks, and feeble physical powers, were the general characteristics where the constant drain upon the mental powers, in the study of most of the subjects taught in the Academy, and particularly in geometry and the mathematics tended still more to enfeeble frames of great delicacy: and was calculated, as it seemed to me, to shorten life, as well as to make that portion which remained less healthy for the individuals themselves, and less favourable for their offspring, than if they had two or three hours less of learning per day, and two or three hours of walking, riding, or gymnastic exercises, suited to their years and sex, in the open air. It is a very general belief among the more elderly people of America, that the present race of female youths are greatly inferior in physical stamina to the preceding generation; and considering the mode of life they lead, with little or no systematic plan of exercise in the open air; with very early and severe application to studies while at school; correspondingly early introduction into life, passing from 15 to 17 amid the late hours and dissipation of fashionable parties, thinly clad, and especially during the most inclement parts of the winter; early marriages, from 16 to 18; and early bearing of children, with the drain upon the strength, of nursing; insufficient sleep, ill-prepared food, hasty and unmasticated meals, profusion of pastry, sweetcakes, and ice-creams, which destroy the appetite for more simple, and more nourishing food, and require frequent recourse to medicine; it is hardly to be wondered at, when all these deteriorating causes are considered, and their accumulated force from generation to generation, taken into account, that the effect should be a declining stamina in every succeeding race. CHAP. XVI. Religious establishments in Albany-Number of churches possessed by each sect-Proportion of the whole population attending worship-Liberal support of the clergy or ministry-Beneficial effects of the voluntary system-Anecdote of a noble lord in America-Sunday schools and teachers in Albany-Most ancient churches of the city-Public buildings-the Capitol-the City hall the new State hall-Newspapers of Albany, number and character Specimens of political partizan warfare-Pugilistic encounter in the Hall of Congress-Causes of the excessive irritability of southern members-Parallel influences on the British in India-The same in naval officers of all nations. NEXT to the establishments for education, those for religious worship deserve attention; and these are here, as every where that we had yet visited, numerous, well furnished, and well sustained. The Methodists have the greatest number of churches, there being six belonging to that body of Christians. The Presbyterians come next, having five churches The Dutch Reformed Religion has three, and the Baptist, three. The Episcopalians have two, St. Peter's and St. Paul's; the Catholics have two, one of them a very fine building; and the German Lutherans, the Universalists, and the Quakers, one each. There are thus 24 large churches, containing, in the whole, perhaps, accommodation in seats for 24,000 persons out of a population of 30,000, of which, taking into account the infants, the very aged, the sick, and the infirm, there will be always at least 6,000 or one-fifth that could not attend public worship; so that the means of religious observances are amply sufficient for every individual, who could possibly profit by them; and, it is believed that at least 20,000 persons out of the 30,000, do really attend the places of public worship on the Sabbath in Albany. The contrast which this offers to England is very remarkable. I have seen estimates, by which it appeared that not more than one in one hundred attended public worship in London; and I think that in Norwich, where the churches are very numerous, and much zeal exerted to procure attendance, not more than twelve in one hundred, or about an eighth of the whole population frequented any church. It is probable, that in no part of England is there accommodation in the churches or chapels of the towns or districts for one-half the population of such places; and it is doubtful where there is any town in England in which one-third of the entire population really attend regularly any place of worship; while here at Albany, two-thirds of the whole community are found in attendance in one or other of the churches every Sunday. The whole of these establishments are sustained by the voluntary system of support—each congregation first choosing, and then maintaining, its own pastor, which they do with great liberality—no minister receiving less than 1,000 dollars, or 2001. per annum as regular stipend, besides presents at baptisms, weddings, &c., sometimes equal, on the whole, to the salary itself; and others receiving 2,000 dollars per annum, with the same additional perquisites; the scale of which may be inferred from the fact, that while we were at Albany, a marriage was solemnized between two members of the same congregation, and a present of 500 dollars, or 100l. was sent to the minister on this occasion. The voluntary system of supporting religion, while it is certainly more agreeable to the parties who have to make the payments, is, on the whole, more uniformly beneficial to those who are paid; as the average incomes of religious teachers in America greatly exceeds the average incomes of the established clergy in England. Besides this, it leads to great care and circumspection on the part of the people who are to choose and pay their pastor, to see that he is in every respect an honour to their choice and worthy of their reward. The consequence is, that an ill-educated or an immoral man cannot find his way into the American clergy. There is no opening of patronage, or interest, or purchase, by which he can make an entry into that body; and being carefully selected in the first instance, and having every conceivable motive for retaining his ground, and justifying the soundness of the choice, in the second; his zeal, industry, and correct conduct are all called forth to their utmost, and the greatest harmony of respect and affection almost uniformly reigns between the pastor and his flock. The estimation in which the clergy are held here, and the influence which they consequently exercise over the taste and conduct of the community, is much greater than it is in England; and thus it is that the churches are more uniformly filled, the services are altogether more decorous, more impressive, and more efficient; the seats more commodious, the furniture more substantial, the |