A few observations are necessary to inform the reader of the circumstances under which the following work has been prepared, and of the objects aimed at by the author.

In 1832 Dr Spurzheim proceeded to the United States of America, with the view of diffusing a knowledge of Phrenology by public lectures. He had not completed his first course in Boston, when he was taken ill; and he died on the 10th November in the same year. Brief as was the space during which he was permitted to labour,his expositions of this science had excited great and extensive interest, not in Boston only, but very generally over the Union. After his death, numerous invitations were sent to me by the friends of Phrenology to repair to the United States, and follow up the work which he had so successfully begun. For several years this was not in my power; but at last, in 1838, circumstances permitted me to obey the call, and I sailed for New York in September, and commenced a course of lectures in Boston in October, of that year. I continued in the United States till 1st June 1840; and during the whole period was incessantly engaged,–in the winter and spring, in lecturing on Phrenology in the cities; and in summer,–in preparing a work on Moral Philosophy for the American press, and in making excursions into the interior of the country for necessary recreation.

March. 2. Phrenology.—I commenced my second course of lectures in Philadelphia this evening in the Music Fund Hall. The attendance was 342, of whom a large proportion were “Friends,” both orthodox and Hicksites. Many of those who attended the first course have subscribed also for this one.

The Maine Boundary.—War with England.—On the 9th of February Mr Van Buren presented to the House of Representatives at Washington a report from the Secretary of State, with the relative documents, regarding the dispute with England about the Maine Boundary; and on the 1st of March both Houses of Congress were engaged from noon till midnight in discussing the subject, and finally passed a bill to authorize the President to engage 50,000 volunteers, and take other measures of a warlike character, to support the Governor of Maine. Mr Webster, on whose cool judgment great reliance is placed, is reported to have said in his speech in the senate, that “if England did not settle this matter by the 4th of July next, the disputed territory should be seized by the United States.”

The effect of these discussions on the public mind has been very striking. In every circle into which we enter, almost every voice is raised for war. The battles, both by land and sea, in which the Americans have been victorious over the British, are fought over again in the newspapers; and if one were to judge from the tone of the public mind, war would appear inevitable.

The circumstances in which this work was composed, and the objects aimed at by the author, are explained in the Introduction. Although written as a journal, only a small portion of it is devoted to personal adventures, or to those topics which usually constitute the substance of a work bearing that form. I cannot, however, allow this opportunity to pass, without expressing my gratitude towards those kind and excellent friends whose society and attentions rendered our residence in the United States at once instructive and agreeable. My acknowledgments are due in a special manner to Dr John Bell of Philadelphia, and Dr Andrew Boardman of New York, for much kind and valuable assistance; while to Mr Charles Humberston of Liverpool and Mr George Hart of New York, I am indebted for benefits which those can best appreciate who have experienced the impediments to communication between foreign nations, unavoidably presented by Custom-House regulations. During our whole residence in America, the unwearied attention and punctuality of these two gentlemen conferred on us favours which we cannot return, but which it gives us pleasure thus publicly to acknowledge.

The Map is from the meritorious work of Mr David Stevenson of Edinburgh, published in 1838, under the title of “Sketch of the Civil Engineering of North America;” and Mr Stevenson, to whom I am indebted for the use of the plate, has been good enough to revise it, and to add, from “Tanner's Railroads and Canals of the United States,” edition 1840, the principal lines of Railway which have been completed since the period of his American tour.

Sept. 28. Voyage to Albany.–We embarked this morning at seven o'clock on board of the Champlain steam-boat for Albany. The boat sailed punctually at the hour, and we found ourselves rushing up the majestic Hudson at the rate of twelve miles an hour. A thick mist, however, almost immediately enveloped us, and our speed was lowered to avoid accidents. No smoking is allowed except in the fore part of the main-deck. A few passengers, obviously belonging to the lower grade, spat plentifully on the deck; but one of the servants of the ship constantly employed a mop in cleansing the defiled places. The upper, or hurricane deck, was strewed with charcoal being the lighter embers of the fuel, which are carried up the funnels of the engines by the powerful draught, and which fall, often red-hot, and burn the clothes of the passengers. We now saw the first specimens of American dispatch. The steam-boat took in and let out passengers at several stations on the river, and the operation was admirably managed. A few minutes before arriving at a town, a man went round the boat ringing a bell, and calling on the passengers who meant to land there, to prepare their luggage. It was sought out, and carried to the gangway of the ship; and, in a very few minutes, six or eight passengers, with all their effects, were transferred into the small boat which was lowered to receive them.