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Brief Contents
PART 1 Introduction and 10 Credit Market Imperfections:
Measurement Issues  1 Credit Frictions, Financial Crises,
1 Introduction  2 and Social Security  264

2 Measurement  25 11 A Real Intertemporal Model with

Investment  289
3 Business Cycle Measurement  47
PART 5 Money and Business Cycles  331
PART 2 Basic Macroeconomic 12 A Monetary Intertemporal Model:
Models: A One-Period Model, Money, Banking, Prices, and
and Models of Search and Monetary Policy  332
Unemployment  67
4 Consumer and Firm Behaviour: 13 Business Cycles  363
The Work–Leisure Decision and
Profit Maximization  68 14 Inflation: Phillips Curves and
Neo-Fisherism  390
5 A Closed-Economy One-Period
Macroeconomic Model  101 PART 6 International
Macroeconomics  415
6 Search and Unemployment  134 15 International Trade in Goods
and Assets  416
PART 3 Economic Growth  163
7 Economic Growth: Malthus 16 Money in the Open Economy  439
and Solow  164
PART 7 Money, Inflation,
8 Income Disparity among Countries and Banking  475
and Endogenous Growth  205 17 Money and Inflation:
A Deeper Look  476
PART 4 S
 avings, Investment, and
Government Deficits  225 18 Financial Intermediation
9 A Two-Period Model: The and Banking  496
Consumption–Savings Decision
and Credit Markets  226

iii
Preface
This text follows a modern approach to macroeconomics With a basic knowledge of static macroeconomic the-
by building macroeconomic models from microeconomic ory from Part 2, we proceed in Part 3 to the study of eco-
principles. As such, it is consistent with the way that mac- nomic growth. In Chapter 7 we discuss a set of economic
roeconomic research is conducted today. growth facts that are then used to organize our thinking in
This approach has three advantages. First, it allows the context of models of economic growth. The first growth
deeper insights into economic growth processes and busi- model we examine is a Malthusian growth model, consis-
ness cycles, the key topics in macroeconomics. Second, an tent with the late-eighteenth century ideas of Thomas Mal-
emphasis on microeconomic foundations better integrates thus. The Malthusian model predicts well the features of
the study of macroeconomics with approaches that stu- economic growth in the world before the Industrial Revo-
dents learn in microeconomics courses and in economics lution, but it does not predict the sustained growth in per
field courses. Learning in macroeconomics and microeco- capita incomes that occurred in advanced countries after
nomics thus becomes mutually reinforcing, and students 1800. We also explore what the Solow growth model has to
learn more. Third, in following an approach to macroeco- say about the sources of inequality in wealth and income.
nomics that is consistent with current macroeconomic Finally, Chapter 7 explains growth accounting, which is an
research, students will be better prepared for advanced approach to disentangling the sources of growth. In Chap-
study in economics. ter 8 we discuss income disparities across countries in light
of the predictions of the Solow model, and introduce a
model of endogenous growth.
Structure In Part 4, we first use the theory of consumer and firm
The text begins in Part 1 with an introduction and study of behaviour developed in Part 2 to construct (in Chapter 9) a
measurement issues. Chapter 1 describes the approach two-period model that can be used to study consumption–
taken in the text and the key ideas that students should take savings decisions, the behaviour of credit markets, and the
away. It previews the important issues that will be addressed effects of government deficits on the economy. Credit mar-
throughout the text, along with some recent issues in macro- ket frictions, with a particular focus on applications related
economics, and highlights how these will be studied. to financial crises, is the topic of Chapter 10. The two-
­Measurement is discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, first with period model is then extended to include investment
regard to gross domestic product, prices, savings, and behaviour in the real intertemporal model of Chapter 11.
wealth, and then with regard to business cycles. In Chapter 3, This model will then serve as the basis for much of what is
we develop a set of key business cycle facts that will be used done in the remainder of the text.
throughout the text, particularly in Chapter 13, where we In Part 5, we include monetary phenomena and
investigate how business cycle theories fit the facts. banking in the real intertemporal model of Chapter 12, so as
Our study of macroeconomic theory begins in Part 2. to construct a monetary intertemporal model. This model is
In Chapter 4, we study the behaviour of consumers and used in Chapter 12 to examine the effects of changes in
firms in detail. In the one-period model developed in monetary policy on the economy. Then, in Chapter 13, we
Chapter 5, we use the approach of capturing the behav- study non-Keynesian and Keynesian theories of the
iour of all consumers and all firms in the economy with a business cycle. These theories are compared and contrasted,
single representative consumer and a single representa- and we examine how alternative business cycle theories fit
tive firm. The one-period model is used to show how the data and how they help us to understand recent business
changes in government spending and total factor produc- cycle behaviour in Canada. Chapter 14 extends the New
tivity affect aggregate output, employment, consumption, Keynesian sticky price model in Chapter 13, so that the
and the real wage. This model is also extended to explore, causes and consequences of inflation can be studied, along
in a preliminary way, some elements of Keynesian eco- with the control of inflation by central banks. This chapter
nomics, which explains a role for government policy in also introduces neo-Fisherian theory, which is a provocative
stabilizing the economy. Then, in Chapter 6, we develop alternative to conventional central banking theories of
two models of search and unemployment, so as to study in inflation control.
detail the macroeconomic determinants of labour market Part 6 is devoted to international macroeconomics. In
behaviour. Chapter 15, the models of Chapters 9 and 11 are used to

xi
xii Preface

show what determines the current account surplus, along End-of-Chapter Summary
with an analysis of the default on sovereign debt. Then,
Each chapter wraps up with a summary of its key ideas.
in Chapter 16, we show how exchange rates are determined,
and we investigate the roles of fiscal and monetary policy
in an open economy that trades goods and assets with the Questions for Review
rest of the world.
These questions are intended as self-tests for students
Finally, Part 7 examines some important topics in
after they have finished reading the chapter material. The
macroeconomics. In Chapter 17, we study in more depth
questions relate directly to ideas and facts covered in the
the role of money in the economy, and the effects of money
chapter, and answering them will be straightforward if
growth on inflation and on aggregate economic activity.
the student has read and comprehended the chapter
Then, in Chapter 18, we examine banking in depth. The
material.
Diamond-Dybvig model provides an an explanation for
banking panics and financial crises, and we study the role
of deposit insurance and moral hazard in the banking Problems
industry. The end-of-chapter problems will help the student in
learning the material and applying the macroeconomic
models developed in the chapter. These problems are
Features intended to be challenging and thought provoking.
Several key features enhance the learning process and illu- Students can complete these problems on the MyLab
minate critical ideas for the student. The intent is to make Economics, new for this edition, and receive feedback and
macroeconomic theory transparent, accessible, and relevant. tutorial help.

Real-World Applications Glossary of Key Terms

Key terms are highlighted in bold typeface where they are
Applications to current and historical problems are
first explained within the chapter. A Glossary at the end of
emphasized throughout in two running features. The first
the text lists each key term in alphabetical order and pro-
is a series of Theory Confronts the Data boxes, which
vides a complete definition.
show how macroeconomic theory comes to life in match-
ing (or sometimes falling short of matching) the character-
istics of real-world economic data. A sampling of some of Mathematics and Mathematical
these sections includes the “The Beveridge Curve,”
Appendix
“News, the Stock Market, and Investment Expenditures,”
and “Instability in the Money Demand Function in In the body of the text, the analysis is mainly graphical,
Canada.” The second running feature is a series of Macro- with some knowledge of basic algebra required; calculus is
economics in Action boxes. These real-world applications not used. However, for students and instructors who
relating directly to the theory encapsulate ideas from desire a more rigorous treatment of the material in the text,
front-line research in macroeconomics and the history of a mathematical appendix develops the key models and
economic thought, and they aid students in understand- results more formally, assuming a basic knowledge of
ing the core material. For example, some of the subjects calculus and the fundamentals of mathematical economics.
examined in these boxes are “Housing, Collateral, and The Mathematical Appendix also contains problems on this
Mortgage Debt in Canada,” “Foreign Exchange Interven- more advanced material.
tion in Canada and Switzerland,” and “The Bank of
Canada’s Goals.“ Notation
For easy reference, definitions of all variables used in the
Visualization of Data text are included in a Notation Appendix.
Graphs and charts are plentiful in this text. They act as
visual representations of macroeconomic models that can
be manipulated to derive important results and show the Flexibility
key features of important macro data in applications. To This text was written to be user friendly for instructors
aid the student, graphs and charts use a consistent system with different preferences and with different time alloca-
that encodes the meaning of particular elements in graphs tions. The following core material is recommended for all
and of shifts in curves. instructors:
 Preface xiii

Chapter 1 Introduction Advanced Mathematical Treatment

Chapter 2 Measurement Add material as desired from the Mathematical Appendix.
Chapter 3 Business Cycle Measurement

Chapter 4 Consumer and Firm Behaviour: The Work–

Leisure Decision and Profit Maximization
What’s New in the Sixth
Chapter 5 A Closed-Economy One-Period Macroeconomic Canadian Edition
Model The first five Canadian editions of Macroeconomics had
Chapter 9 A Two-Period Model: The Consumption–Savings excellent receptions in the market. In the sixth Canadian
Decision and Credit Markets edition, I build on the strengths of the first through fifth
Canadian editions while modifying and streamlining exist-
Chapter 11 A Real Intertemporal Model with Investment ing material and adding new topics, in line with the inter-
Some instructors find measurement issues uninterest- ests of students and instructors, new developments in
ing and may choose to omit parts of Chapter 2, although, macroeconomic thought, and recent events in the Canadian
at the minimum, instructors should cover the key national and world economies. As well, applications have been
income accounting identities. Parts of Chapter 3 can be added to help students understand macroeconomic events
omitted if the instructor chooses not to emphasize business that have occurred since the fifth edition was written, and
cycles, but there are some important concepts introduced the end-of-chapter problems have been expanded. In more
here that are generally useful in later chapters, such as the detail, here are the highlights of the revision:
meaning of correlation and how to read scatter plots and • Organizational changes: Chapters 13 and 14 from
time-series plots. the fifth edition have been merged into a single
Chapters 7 and 8 introduce economic growth at an chapter—Chapter 13 Business Cycles—and Chapter 18
early stage. However, Chapters 7 and 8 are essentially self- from the fifth edition has been split into two chapters—
contained. If students are interested in business cycle and Chapter 17 Money and Inflation: A Deeper Look, and
financial issues, instructors may want to forego growth, in Chapter 18 Financial Intermediation and Banking.
favour of search and unemployment (Chapter 6), and
• Chapter 5 includes a new section on Keynesian sticky
monetary and business cycle theory in Chapters 12 to 14.
wages and prices.
Though the text has an emphasis on micro foundations,
Keynesian analysis receives a balanced treatment. For • In Chapters 7 and 8, there are new sections discussing
example, we examine Keynesian ideas in Chapter 5, and growth and distribution of income.
we study a New Keynesian sticky price business cycle • Chapter 11 has a new section on housing market
model in Chapters 13 and 14. Instructors can choose to bubbles and aggregate activity.
emphasize economic growth or business cycle analysis, or • In Chapter 12, a section has been added on corridor
they can give their course an international focus. As well, it systems and floor systems.
is possible to de-emphasize monetary factors. As a guide,
• Chapter 14 includes a new section on monetary policy
the text can be adapted as follows:
goals.
• Chapters 15 and 16 include new coverage of tariffs.
Focus on Economic Growth • A new section titled “Anticipated Inflation and the
Include Chapters 7 and 8, and consider dropping Chapter 6, Friedman Rule: A Lagos-Wright Model” has been
or Chapters 13 and 14, depending on time available. added to the restructured Chapter 17.
• We have replaced several Macroeconomics in Action
Focus on Business Cycles and Theory Confronts the Data with new topics to
ensure contemporary relevance of the material.
Drop Chapters 7 and 8, and include Chapter 6 and
• New end-of-chapter problems have been added
Chapters 12 to 14.
throughout the text, which are also available on the
new MyLab Economics.
International Focus • New MyLab Economics personalizes the learning
Chapters 15 and 16 can be moved up in the sequence. experience and improves results for each student.
Chapter 15 can follow Chapter 11, and Chapter 16 can follow MyLab Economics helps students have more practice
Chapter 12. and build their problem-solving skills.
xiv Preface

Acknowledgments
For this sixth Canadian edition, I am grateful to the many Andy Pollak
economists who have provided formal reviews of the pre- University of Saskatchewan
vious editions. Their observations and suggestions have
Fiona Rahman
been very helpful.
University of Waterloo

Ahmet Akyol Saktinil Roy

York University Athabasca University

Marcelo Arbex Joseph Steinberg

University of Windsor University of Toronto, St. George
Rizwan Tahir
Daniel Barczyk
Wilfrid Laurier University
McGill University
Special thanks go to Kimberley Veevers, Söğüt
Matthew Doyle
Y. Güleç, Rachel Stuckey, Gurpreet Sohal, Sarah Gallagher
University of Waterloo
at Pearson Canada, and Manas Roy at SPi Global for their
Alexander Gainer work on this edition.
University of Alberta
Stephen D. Williamson
Dozie Okoye
Dalhousie University
About the Author
Stephen Williamson is the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in of Tilburg, the Netherlands; the London School of
Central Banking at Western University (also known as the Economics; the University of Edinburgh; Victoria
University of Western Ontario), in London, Ontario. He University of Wellington, New Zealand; Seoul National
received a B.Sc. (Honours, Mathematics) and an M.A. in University; Hong Kong University; Indiana University;
Economics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and Fudan University, Shanghai. Professor Williamson has
and received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin– published scholarly articles in the American Economic
Madison in 1984. He has held academic positions at Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal
Queen’s University, Western University, the University of of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies, the Journal of
Iowa, and Washington University in St. Louis, and has Economic Theory, and the Journal of Monetary Economics,
worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of among other prestigious economics journals. His research,
St. Louis, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and focused mainly on macroeconomics, monetary theory, and
the Bank of Canada. Professor Williamson has also been the theory of financial intermediation, has been supported
an academic visitor at the Federal Reserve Banks of by the Jarislowsky Foundation, the Bank of Canada
Atlanta, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Fellowship Program, the National Science Foundation, the
Philadelphia, at the Board of Governors of the Federal Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and the Social
Reserve System in Washington, D.C., and at the Bank of Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Canada. He has been a long-term visitor at the University Professor Williamson lives in London, Ontario.

xv
Part 1
Introduction and
Measurement Issues
Part 1 contains an introduction to macroeconomic analysis and a description of the
approach in this text of building useful macroeconomic models based on microeconomic
principles. We discuss the key ideas that will be analyzed and some current issues that
the macroeconomic theory developed in Parts 2 to 7 will help us to understand. Then,
to lay a foundation for what is done later, we explore how the key variables relating to
macroeconomic theory are measured in practice. Finally, we analyze the key empirical
facts concerning business cycles. These facts will prove useful in Parts 2 to 7 in show-
ing the successes and shortcomings of macroeconomic theory in explaining real-world
phenomena.
 Chapter 1
Introduction
Learning Objectives
After studying Chapter 1, students will be able to
1.1 State the two focuses of study in macroeconomics, the key
differences between microeconomics and macroeconomics, and the
similarities between microeconomics and macroeconomics.
1.2 Explain the key features of trend growth and deviations from trend
in per capita gross domestic product in Canada from 1870 to 2017.
1.3 Explain why models are useful in macroeconomics.

1.4 Discuss how microeconomic principles are important in

constructing useful macroeconomic models.
1.5 Explain why there is disagreement among macroeconomists, and
what they disagree about.
1.6 List the 11 key ideas that will be covered in this text.

1.7 List the key observations that motivate questions we will try to
answer in this text.

This chapter frames the approach to macroeconomics that we take in this text, and it
foreshadows the basic macroeconomic ideas and issues that we will develop in later
chapters. We first discuss what macroeconomics is and then go on to look at the
two phenomena of primary interest to macroeconomists—economic growth and business
cycles—in terms of Canadian economic history since 1870. Then, we explain the
approach this text takes—building macroeconomic models with microeconomic prin-
ciples as a foundation—and discuss the issue of disagreement in macroeconomics.
Finally, we explore the key lessons that we will learn from macroeconomic theory in
this text, and we discuss how macroeconomics helps us understand recent and cur-
rent issues.

LO 1.1 State the two focuses of

study in macroeconomics, the
What Is Macroeconomics?
key differences between Macroeconomists are motivated by large questions, by issues that affect many people
microeconomics and and many nations of the world. Why are some countries exceedingly rich and others
macroeconomics, and the exceedingly poor? Why are most Canadians so much better off than their parents and
similarities between grandparents? Why are there fluctuations in aggregate economic activity? What
microeconomics and causes inflation? Why is there unemployment?
macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is the study of the behaviour of large collections of economic
agents. It focuses on the aggregate behaviour of consumers and firms, the behaviour
of governments, the overall level of economic activity in individual countries, the eco-
nomic interactions among nations, and the effects of fiscal and monetary policy.
2
 Chapter 1 Introduction 3

Macroeconomics is distinct from microeconomics in that it deals with the overall

effects on economies of the choices that all economic agents make, rather than the
choices of individual consumers or firms. Since the 1970s, however, the distinction
between microeconomics and macroeconomics has blurred, for microeconomists and
macroeconomists now use much the same kinds of tools. That is, the economic models
that macroeconomists use, consisting of descriptions of consumers and firms, their
objectives and constraints, and their interactions, are built up from microeconomic
principles, and these models are typically analyzed and fit to data using methods
­similar to those used by microeconomists. What continues to make macroeconomics
distinct, though, are the issues on which it focuses, particularly long-run growth and
business cycles. Long-run growth refers to the increase in a nation’s productive
capacity and average standard of living that occurs over a long period of time, whereas
business cycles are the short-run ups and downs, or booms and recessions, in aggre-
gate economic activity.
The approach in this text will be to consistently build up macroeconomic analysis
from microeconomic principles. There is some effort required in taking this type of
approach, but the effort is well worth it. The result will be that you better understand
how the economy works and how to improve it.

Gross Domestic Product, Economic LO 1.2 Explain the key features

of trend growth and deviations
Growth, and Business Cycles from trend in per capita gross
domestic product in Canada
To begin our study of macroeconomic phenomena, we must first understand what from 1870 to 2017.
facts we are trying to explain. The most basic set of facts in macroeconomics has to do
with the behaviour of aggregate economic activity over time. One measure of aggre-
gate economic activity is gross domestic product (GDP), which is the quantity of goods
and services produced within a country’s borders during some specified period of
time. GDP also represents the aggregate quantity of income earned by those who con-
tribute to production in a country. In Figure 1.1 we show real GDP per capita for Can-
ada for the period 1870–2017. This is a measure of aggregate output that adjusts for
inflation and population growth, and the unit of measure is 2012 dollars per person.
The first observation we can make concerning Figure 1.1 is that there was sus-
tained growth in per capita real GDP during the 148-year period 1870–2017. In 1870,
the average income of a Canadian was about $3800 (2012 dollars), and this grew to
almost $55 000 (2012 dollars) in 2017. Thus, the average Canadian became more than
16 times richer in real terms over the course of 148 years, which is quite remarkable!
The second important observation from Figure 1.1 is that, while growth in per capita
real GDP was sustained over long periods of time in Canada during the period 1870–2017,
this growth was certainly not steady. Growth was higher at some times than at others,
and there were periods over which per capita real GDP declined. These fluctuations in
economic growth are business cycles.
Two key, though unusual, business cycle events in Canadian economic history
that show up in Figure 1.1 are the Great Depression and World War II, and these
events dwarf any other twentieth-century business cycle events in Canada in terms of
the magnitude of the short-run change in economic growth. Two other very significant
events are the major recession in the early 1920s and the subsequent boom leading up
to the Great Depression, but we will focus here on the Great Depression and World
War II, as these were events of worldwide macroeconomic significance. During the
Great Depression, real GDP per capita dropped from a peak of $11 120 (2012 dollars)
per person in 1928 to a low of $7218 (2012 dollars) per person in 1933, a decline of
about 35%. At the peak of war production in 1944, GDP had risen to $16 174 (2012 dollars)
per person, an increase of 124% from 1933. These wild gyrations in aggregate
4 Part 1 Introduction and Measurement Issues

Figure 1.1 Per Capita Real GDP for Canada, 1870–2017 (2012 dollars)
Per capita real GDP is a measure of the average level of income for a Canadian resident. Two unusual,
though key, events in the figure are the Great Depression, when there was a large reduction in living
standards for the average Canadian, and World War II, when per capita output increased greatly.
SOURCE: Adapted from Statistics Canada database, Tables 17-10-0005-01, 36-10-0222-01, 36-10-0255-01,
36-10-0277-01, and from the Statistics Canada publication Historical Statistics of Canada, Catalogue 11-516,
1983, Series F33–55, A1. © Stephen D. Williamson.

60

55

Per Capita Income in Thousands of 2012 Dollars

50

45

40

35

30

25

20 WWII

15

10

5 Great Depression

0
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year

economic activity over a 16-year period are as phenomenal, and certainly every bit as
interesting, as the long-run sustained growth in per capita real GDP that occurred
from 1870 to 2017. In addition to the Great Depression and World War II, Figure 1.1
shows other business cycle upturns and downturns in the growth of per capita real
GDP in Canada that, though less dramatic, represent important macroeconomic
events in Canadian history.
Figure 1.1 thus raises the following fundamental macroeconomic questions,
which will motivate much of the material in this text:

• What causes sustained economic growth?

• Could economic growth continue indefinitely, or is there some limit to growth?
• Is there anything that governments can or should do to alter the rate of economic
growth?
• What causes business cycles?
• Could the dramatic decreases and increases in economic growth that occurred
during the Great Depression and World War II be repeated?
• Should governments act to smooth business cycles?

In analyzing economic data to study economic growth and business cycles, it

often proves useful to transform the data in various ways, so as to obtain sharper
insights. For economic time series that exhibit growth, such as per capita real GDP in
Figure 1.1, a useful transformation is to take the natural logarithm of the time series.
To show why this is useful, suppose that yt is an observation on an economic time
series in period t; for example, yt could represent per capita real GDP in year t, where
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 Chapter 1 Introduction 5

t = 1870, 1871, 1872, etc. Then, the growth rate from period t - 1 to period t in yt can
be denoted by gt, where
yt
gt = - 1.
yt - 1

If x is a small number, then log (1 + x) ≈ x, that is, the natural logarithm of 1 + x

is approximately equal to x. Therefore, if gt is small,

log (g t + 1) ≈ g t

or
yt
log a b ≈ gt
yt - 1

or
log yt - log yt - 1 ≈ g t.

Since log yt - log yt - 1 is the slope of the graph of the natural logarithm of yt
between periods t - 1 and t, it follows that the slope of the graph of the natural logarithm of
a time series yt is a good approximation to the growth rate of yt when the growth rate is small.
In Figure 1.2 we graph the natural logarithm of per capita real GDP in Canada for
the period 1870–2017. As previously explained, the slope of the graph is a good approxi-
mation of the growth rate of real per capita GDP, so that changes in the slope represent
changes in the growth rate of real per capita GDP. It is striking that in Figure 1.2, except
for the large fluctuations that occur from about 1920 to 1945, a straight line would fit the
graph quite well. That is, over the period 1870–2017, growth in per capita real GDP has
been “roughly” constant at about 1.8% per year.

Figure 1.2 Natural Logarithm of Per Capita Real GDP

Here, the slope of the graph is approximately equal to the growth rate of per capita GDP. Excluding
the period from 1920 to 1945, the growth rate of per capita GDP is remarkably close to being
constant during this period. That is, a straight line would fit the graph fairly well.
SOURCE: Adapted from the Statistics Canada database, Tables 17-10-0005-01, 36-10-0222-01, 36-10-0255-01,
36-10-0277-01, and from the Statistics Canada publication Historical Statistics of Canada, Catalogue 11-516,
1983, Series F33–55, A1. © Stephen D. Williamson.

4.5

4
Natural Logarithm of Per Capita Income

3.5

2.5

1.5

1
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year
6 Part 1 Introduction and Measurement Issues

Figure 1.3 Natural Logarithm of Per Capita GDP and Trend

Sometimes it is useful to separate long-run growth from business cycle fluctuations. In the figure, the
black line is the log of real per capita GDP, while the coloured line denotes a smooth growth trend fit
to the data. The deviations from the smooth trend then represent business cycles.
SOURCE: Adapted from the Statistics Canada database, Tables 17-10-0005-01, 36-10-0222-01, 36-10-0255-01,
36-10-0277-01, and from the Statistics Canada publication Historical Statistics of Canada, Catalogue 11-516,
1983, Series F33–55, A1. © Stephen D. Williamson.

4.5

Log of Per Capita Income and Trend

3.5

Trend
2.5

2
Actual

1.5

1
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year

A second useful transformation to carry out on an economic time series is to sepa-

rate the series into two components: the growth or trend component, and the business
cycle component. For example, the business cycle component of real per capita GDP
can be captured as the deviations of real per capita GDP from a smooth trend fit to the
data. In Figure 1.3 we show the trend in the log of real per capita GDP as a coloured
line,1 while the log of actual real per capita GDP is the black line. We then define the
business cycle component of the log of real per capita GDP to be the difference
between the black line and the coloured line in Figure 1.3. The logic behind this
decomposition of real per capita GDP into trend and business cycle components is
that it is often simpler and more productive to consider separately the theory that
explains trend growth and the theory that explains business cycles, which are the
deviations from trend.
In Figure 1.4 we show only the percentage deviations from trend in real per capita
GDP. Note in Figure 1.4 that the Great Depression and World War II represent enor-
mous deviations from trend in real per capita GDP relative to anything else during the
time period shown in the figure. During the Great Depression, the percentage devia-
tion from trend in real per capita GDP was about - 20%, whereas the percentage devi-
ation from trend was close to 15% during World War II. In the period after World War II,
which is the focus of most business cycle analysis, the deviations from trend in real
per capita GDP were typically within the range of {5%.2

1
Trend GDP was computed using a Hodrick-Prescott filter, as in E. Prescott, 1986, “Theory Ahead of
Business Cycle Measurement,” Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review, Fall.
2
Note that the extremely large deviation from trend in real per capita GDP in the late 1920s is principally
a statistical artifact of the particular detrending procedure used here, which is akin to drawing a smooth
curve through the time series. The presence of the Great Depression forces the growth rate in the trend
to decrease long before the Great Depression actually occurs.
 Chapter 1 Introduction 7

Figure 1.4 Percentage Deviations from Trend in Per Capita GDP

Note the reduction in the volatility of real per capita GDP since World War II.
SOURCE: Adapted from the Statistics Canada database, Tables 17-10-0005-01, 36-10-0222-01, 36-10-0255-01,
36-10-0277-01, and from the Statistics Canada publication Historical Statistics of Canada, Catalogue 11-516,
1983, Series F33–55, A1. © Stephen D. Williamson.

20

15 WWII
Percentage Deviation from Trend

10

−5

−10

−15

−20 Great Depression

−25
1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year

Macroeconomic Models LO 1.3 Explain why models are

useful in macroeconomics.
Economics is a scientific pursuit involving the formulation and refinement of theories
that can help us better understand how economies work and how they can be
improved. In some sciences, such as chemistry and physics, theories are tested through
laboratory experimentation. In economics, experimentation is a productive and grow-
ing activity, but for most economic theories experimental verification is simply impos-
sible. For example, suppose an economist constructs a theory that implies that
Canadian output would drop by half if there were no Toronto Stock Exchange. To
evaluate this theory, we could shut down the Toronto Stock Exchange for a year to see
what would happen. Of course, we know in advance that the Toronto Stock Exchange
plays a very important role in helping the Canadian economy function efficiently, and
that shutting it down for a year would likely cause significant irreparable damage.
Thus, it is extremely unlikely that the experiment would be carried out. In macroeco-
nomics, most experiments that might be informative are simply too costly to carry out,
and in this respect macroeconomics is much like meteorology or astronomy. In pre-
dicting the weather or how planets move in space, meteorologists and astronomers
rely on models, which are artificial devices that can replicate the behaviour of real
weather systems or planetary systems, as the case may be.
Just like researchers in meteorology or astronomy, macroeconomists use models,
which in our case are organized structures that explain long-run economic growth,
business cycles, and the role economic policy should play in the macroeconomy. All
economic models are abstractions. They are not completely accurate descriptions of
the world, nor are they intended to be. The purpose of an economic model is to cap-
ture the essential features of the world needed for analyzing a particular economic
problem. To be useful, then, a model must be simple, and simplicity requires that we
leave out some “realistic” features of actual economies. For example, an electronic
8 Part 1 Introduction and Measurement Issues

road map is a model of part of the earth’s surface, and it is constructed with a particu-
lar purpose in mind: to guide motorists through the road system from one point to
another. A road map is hardly a realistic depiction of the earth’s surface, as it does not
capture the curvature of the earth, and it does not typically include a great deal of
information on topography, climate, and vegetation. However, this does not limit the
map’s usefulness; it serves the purpose for which it was constructed, and does so
without a lot of extraneous information.
To be specific, the basic structure of a typical macroeconomic model is a descrip-
tion of the following features:

1. The consumers and firms that interact in the economy

2. The set of goods that consumers want to consume
3. Consumers’ preferences over goods
4. The technology available to firms for producing goods
5. The resources available

In this text, the descriptions of these five features of any particular macroeco-
nomic model will be provided in mathematical and graphical terms.
Once we have a description of the main economic actors in a model economy (the
consumers and firms), the goods consumers want, and the technology available to
firms for producing goods from available resources, we want to then use the model to
make predictions. This step requires that we specify two additional features of the
model. First, we need to know what the goals of the consumers and firms in the model
are. How will consumers and firms behave given the environment they live in? In all
the models we will use in this text, it is assumed that consumers and firms optimize—
that is, they do the best they can given the constraints they face. Second, we must
specify how consistency is achieved in terms of the actions of consumers and firms. In
economic models, this means that the economy must be in equilibrium. Several dif-
ferent concepts of equilibrium are used in economic models, but the one that we will
use most often in this text is competitive equilibrium. In a competitive equilibrium,
we assume that goods are bought and sold on markets in which consumers and firms
are price-takers; they behave as if their actions have no effect on market prices. The
economy is in equilibrium when market prices are such that the quantity of each good
offered for sale (quantity supplied) is equal to the quantity that economic agents want
to buy (quantity demanded) in each market.
Once we have a working economic model, with a specification of the economic
environment, optimizing firms and consumers, and a notion of equilibrium, we can
begin to ask the model questions.3 One way to think of this process is that the eco-
nomic model is an experimental apparatus, and we want to attempt to run experi-
ments by using this apparatus. Typically, we begin by running experiments for which
we know the answers. For example, suppose that we build an economic model so that
we can study economic growth. The first experiment we might like to run is to deter-
mine, by working through the mathematics of the model, using graphical analysis, or
running the model on a computer, whether in fact the model economy will grow. Fur-
ther, will it grow in a manner that comes close to matching the data? If it does not,
then we want to ask why and determine whether it would be a good idea to refine the
model in some way or abandon it altogether and start over.
Ultimately, once we are satisfied that a model reasonably and accurately captures
the economic phenomenon we are interested in, we can start running experiments on
the model for which we do not know the answers. An experiment we might want to
conduct with the economic growth model is to ask, for example, how historical growth
3
The following description of macroeconomic science is similar to that provided by Robert Lucas in
“Methods and Problems in Business Cycle Theory,” reprinted in Studies in Business Cycle Theory, 1981,
MIT Press, pp. 271–296.
 Chapter 1 Introduction 9

performance would have differed in Canada had the level of government spending
been higher. Would aggregate economic activity have grown at a higher or a lower
rate? How would this have affected the consumption of goods? Would economic wel-
fare have been higher or lower?
In keeping with the principle that models should be simple and designed spe-
cifically for the problem at hand, we will not stick to a single, all-purpose model in
this text. Instead, we will use an array of different models for different purposes,
though these models will share a common approach and some of the same princi-
pal building blocks. For example, sometimes it will prove useful to build models
that do not include international trade, macroeconomic growth, or the use of
money in economic exchange, whereas at other times it will prove crucially impor-
tant for the issue at hand that we explicitly model one, two, or perhaps all of these
features.
Generally, macroeconomic research is a process whereby we continually attempt
to develop better models, along with better methods for analyzing those models.
­Economic models continue to evolve in a way that helps us better understand the
­economic forces that shape the world we live in, so that we can promote economic
policies that will make society better off.

Microeconomic Principles LO 1.4 Discuss how

microeconomic principles are
This text emphasizes building macroeconomic models on sound microeconomic prin- important in constructing
ciples. Since the macroeconomy consists of many consumers and firms, each making useful macroeconomic models.
decisions at the micro level, macroeconomic behaviour is the sum of many microeco-
nomic decisions. It is not immediately obvious, however, that the best way to con-
struct a macroeconomic model is to work our way up from decision making at the
microeconomic level. In physics, for example, there is often no loss in ignoring micro
behaviour. If I throw a brick from the top of a five-storey building, and if I know the
force that I exert on the brick and the force of gravity on the brick, then Newtonian
physics will do a very accurate job of predicting when and where the brick will land.
However, Newtonian physics ignores micro behaviour, which in this case is the behav-
iour of the molecules in the brick.
Why is it that there may be no loss in ignoring the behaviour of molecules in a
brick, but that ignoring the microeconomic behaviour of consumers and firms when
doing macroeconomics might be devastating? Throwing a brick from a building does
not affect the behaviour of the molecules within the brick in any way that would sig-
nificantly change the trajectory of the brick. Changes in government policy, however,
will generally alter the behaviour of consumers and firms in ways that significantly
affect the behaviour of the economy as a whole. Any change in government policy
effectively alters the features of the economic environment in which consumers and
firms must make their decisions. To confidently predict the effects of a policy change
in terms of aggregate behaviour, we must analyze how the change in policy will affect
individual consumers and firms. For example, if the federal government changes the
income tax rate, and we are interested in the macroeconomic effects of this policy
change, the most productive approach is first to use microeconomic principles to
determine how a change in the tax rate will affect an individual consumer’s labour
supply and consumption decisions, on the basis of optimizing behaviour. Then, we
can aggregate these decisions to arrive at a conclusion consistent with how the indi-
viduals in the economy behave.
Macroeconomists were not always sympathetic to the notion that macro models
should be microeconomically sound. Indeed, before the rational expectations
­revolution in the 1970s, which generally introduced more microeconomics into mac-
roeconomics, most macroeconomists worked with models that did not have solid
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purpose for its site—and the again diminished stream is softly
murmuring by its side. That is the Cottage in the Glen. If you please,
we will descend, and take our station in front of it. Before we turned
that angle to attain this spot, you were about to exclaim, "This is the
very home of solitude, shut out from the rest of creation." But look
straight down the valley, and far—far off, see the picturesque and
busy village of ——, and the sparkling waters of the river. The valley
is so straight and narrow, and widens so gradually towards its
mouth, and the banks on either side are so precipitous, that it
produces the same effect on the scene beyond, that a tube does in
viewing a picture. Is it not beautiful! Now if you will climb with me to
the foot of that tree that stands part way up the bank, we will be
seated in the shade, and I will give you a sketch of the inhabitants
of the cottage.

Mr. Kirkwood, a native of Massachusetts, and head of the family, is

now upwards of seventy-five years of age; and until verging towards
sixty, was decidedly a man of the world. He was educated at Harvard
University, and at the age of twenty-eight, when he married, was a
good scholar, a finished gentleman, and a successful lawyer.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."

Mr. Kirkwood seized the favorable moment, and his wealth rapidly
increased. He wished to be rich; not to hoard his wealth—but that
he might be enabled to procure all the indulgencies and elegancies
of life, and move at the head of society. His wish was gratified. He
became rich; lived in splendid style; and his house was the favorite
resort of the wealthy, the elegant, and the fashionable. His wife was
a model of good housewifery, propriety and politeness; and his only
child, a son, was all that the heart of a man of the world could wish.
Highly gifted by nature, and favored with every advantage for the
cultivation of his talents, young Kirkwood was ushered into society,
elegant in person, elegant in mind, and correct in morals. It was
generally conceded that whoever obtained him, would gain a first
rate prize in the matrimonial lottery. Of course, there was no little
competition among mothers who had daughters to dispose of; and
young ladies who wished to dispose of themselves. But the lovely,
well educated, and retiring Mary Bust, engaged his affections
without seeking them; and in winning her heart, and securing her
hand, he insured his own earthly felicity. Gentle by nature, polished
and enlightened by education, unblemished in reputation, and
thoroughly well principled, through the assiduous care and
unwearied instructions of wise and pious parents,—she was all a
man could wish for as a wife, companion and friend; all he could
wish for as the mother of his children. The son's choice gave perfect
satisfaction to his parents; and when in the course of a few years,
the young wife gave successively to the arms of her husband, three
sons and a daughter,—there seemed to be around this family, a
confluence of all that constitutes the felicity of earth.

But, alas, in the tide of men's affairs, there is an ebb as well as

flood; and this the Kirkwood family now began to experience. The
elder Kirkwood had just begun to discover that his affairs were in
some confusion, when his wife was suddenly snatched away by
death. It was a heavy blow, and he felt it as such. But men seldom
die of grief! Millions have buried the wife of their youth, and been
very comfortably supported under the bereavement; and so was Mr.
Kirkwood. Indeed he had little time to spend in unavailing sorrow, or
in brooding over the memory of the departed one; for the clouds of
adversity became more and more dense about him, and he soon
found that the combined energies of himself and son, could not
avert the storm. Poverty seemed coming upon them "like an armed
man." In the meantime, two of the blooming grandsons were in
quick succession conveyed to the tomb; and just as the storm burst
upon them in all its fury, the younger Kirkwood followed his mother
and his two children to the world of spirits. After this tempest of
adversity, Mr. Kirkwood stood like an oak, scathed by the lightning,—
its verdure blasted, and its branches scattered abroad. He sunk,
overwhelmed, and gave way to the most hopeless despondency.
There is a spirit in woman that will sustain her under circumstances
which will drive man to despair. And when that spirit is moulded,
guided, and strengthened by religion, it is invincible. Soft as the
harp-tones of the "sweet singer of Israel," did Mary's voice now
breathe on the ear of her disconsolate father.

"'Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil,' my father? Let us endeavor to say, 'The Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away, and blessed be his name!' Arise, my father,
and call upon our God. He 'hears the young ravens when they cry,'
and will he not give his children food? He clothes the lilies of the
field, and will he not clothe us? He binds up the broken heart; will he
not then console ours?"

"Alas, my daughter," cried the old man, "He is thy God, but not
mine. In the hour of prosperity I forgat him; in the hour of adversity
I dare not approach him. May he, indeed, feed, and clothe, and
console thee, and thy remaining little ones. For me—his vengeance
alone will pursue me. Would I could hide me from his avenging
hand, and lay my head in the grave!"

The despondency of her father added not a little to the load of

sorrow that pressed on Mary's heart; but she had no time for idle
lamentation. She had duties to perform; duties to him, herself, and
her children; and laying herself low before the throne of mercy, she
spread her sorrows and her wants before her Father in Heaven, and
taking fast hold of Almighty strength, she went forward.

"My father," said Mary, "'Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth;' and, 'like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.'"

"But I have not feared him, Mary,—therefore he does not pity me.
And his chastening is the chastening of an offended judge—in
vengeance—not the chastening of a father."
Mary despaired not, though her father thus repelled all consolation;
and when he sat absorbed in melancholy, and she scarcely dared
intrude upon his thoughts, she would move about the room, just
breathing the lines,

"Come ye disconsolate, where'er you languish,

Come, at the shrine of God, fervently kneel;
Here bring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal;"

and at the same time raise a fervent prayer, that his sorrow might
not ultimately prove to be that "sorrow of the world that worketh
death," but the "sorrow that worketh repentance unto salvation."
Her prayer was heard; her efforts were successful. It was not long
ere with heartfelt gratitude, she heard him say, "'It is good for me
that I have been afflicted.' 'The Lord gave,' but I have abused his
gifts; and he 'hath taken away,' and blessed be his name for thus
bringing an erring son near to himself." When this happy change first
took place in the feelings of her father, Mary felt as though she had
scarcely a care or a sorrow left. A future world, uncorroded by cares,
unstained by tears, unblemished by sin, and unvisited by sorrow,
opened on the eye of faith,—and all was peace within. But their
pilgrimage was not yet accomplished; this home was not yet
attained; and in the meantime, something must be done. Scarcely a
wreck of their fortune remained; and Mr. Kirkwood, verging towards
sixty, with the energies of his mind crushed by misfortune, felt it
impossible to begin again his career as a lawyer. The remaining pride
of his heart, rendered it extremely painful to remain amidst his
former associates, with whom he could no longer, on equal terms,
hold intercourse; and where every scene called back the visions of
former splendors, and buried friends, with a sickening influence.

"Let us fly far from hence, my daughter," said he; "elsewhere I may
recover something of my energy, and be capable of making some
effort; here I can do nothing. Let us fly from the world, and hide
ourselves in seclusion. My soul needs repose. A withering blast has
swept over it, to tear away its idols. The work is done—but the
wounds are still bleeding: and though, I trust, the great physician is
at work, there needs time to perfect a cure. Let us fly from hence,
and in some new and humble occupation, strive to support ourselves
for the remainder of life's journey, and rear these little ones for
immortality."

So that she could be with her father, and her children, to receive the
blessing of the one, and the caresses of the others, it mattered little
to Mary what spot on earth she called home. She was a "widow
indeed." The long, bright vista, through which she had looked on
years of future happiness, with the husband of her love, was closed
by death; and what mattered it, where she fulfilled the remaining
duties of life, so they were but faithfully discharged?

Through the agency of a friend, the Cottage in the Glen, with the
mill that appertained to it, and a few acres of ground, were
purchased. Mary collected together the few articles that remained of
former abundance; and with the feelings of a woman of cultivated
mind and literary taste, and with all the providence of a mother,
foreseeing the future wants of her children, did she most carefully
gather up all the books that remained of the once large and well
selected library. All things finally arranged, they removed hither.

A complete revolution had taken place in Mr. Kirkwood's views. He

felt that nothing is really degrading that is not sinful; and he
resolved, as far as practicable, to do his own labor with his own
hands. But, until he could learn the art himself, he was constrained
to hire an assistant, to take charge of his little mill; once familiar
with the business, it was his own employment. The family were very
comfortable, and soon became very happy. Though the furniture of
the cottage was scanty, it was arranged with so much taste, and
kept in such perfect order, that it wore the air of gentility; and a
profusion of wild flowers in the summer, and a blazing fire in the
winter, gave an additional cheerfulness to its appearance. The mill
supplied them with bread, and many other comforts of life, beside
paying a poor man for a day's labor now and then on their little
enclosure of potatoes. They procured an honest and faithful maid
servant, who milked their two cows, prepared the butter and cheese,
and spun the wool of their half a dozen sheep, beside doing all the
more laborious work of the family. No human eye was upon them
that had seen them in former days, and they were fast forgetting a
world, by which they were already nearly forgotten. No real want of
nature remained unsatisfied, and their Heavenly Father was as near
them here, as in any other place. Glorious and consoling idea! that
his children can be carried to no spot in creation, where he will not
be present to sustain and comfort them! How glorious the idea of an
Omnipotent God!

Nothing, under the power of religion, served so much to console the

heart of Mr. Kirkwood, as the presence and the happiness of his
grandchildren. Frederic was eight, and Clara three years old; and
they were as happy at the Cottage in the Glen, as they would have
been in the palace of the Thuileries. From his heart, he could adopt
the language of Paley: "I seem to see the benevolence of the Deity
more clearly in the pleasures of young children, than in any thing
else in the world. The pleasures of grown persons may be reckoned
partly of their own procuring; but the pleasures of a healthy child
are so manifestly provided for by another, and the benevolence of
the provision is so unquestionable, that every child I see at its sport,
affords to my mind a kind of sensible evidence of the finger of God."

"These children are happy, Mary," he would say; "they feel no

regrets for the past—no fears for the future, but enjoy the present
with zest. Our wants are scarcely greater than theirs. Let us, then,
not regret the past; let us not be anxious for the future; but in
performing present duty, and being grateful for present good, let us
trust our heavenly father, without fear or misgiving."

Neither Mr. Kirkwood nor his daughter found any leisure for idle
repinings. The indispensable labors of each day, with the care and
instruction of the children, occupied them fully. Frederic was sent to
the district school, there to acquire what he could of education; but
he was an intellectual and thinking boy, and soon began to call on
his grandfather to assist him through the difficulties he encountered,
as his mind rapidly developed. The education of Clara, Mrs. Kirkwood
considered her own peculiar business. And when the little girl was
old enough to go to school, she still preferred pursuing the task
herself, as she dreaded lest her daughter should breathe other than
a pure moral atmosphere.

Next to religion, the abundant means of education is undoubtedly

the glory and bulwark of New England. And the district school,
where the son of the town pauper may obtain the foundation of an
education that will render him intelligent and useful, is an
incalculable blessing. But wherever human nature is, there is
depravity; and where human beings mingle together, this depravity
is called into exercise. Even young children are not the innocent
creatures some persons appear to suppose; but in almost every
school may be found the germ of almost every vice. So thought Mrs.
Kirkwood; and it led her to educate her daughter entirely at home.

Time rolled on; and the children at the cottage increased in wisdom
and stature: the parent and grandparent in meetness for the
kingdom of heaven. Industry and economy, both of time and goods,
was the order of the house; and the children cheerfully followed the
example set them by their superiors. Frederic was always diligently
employed, when not engaged with his books; and the healthful and
joyous little Clara was the assistant of each one, as circumstances
required, from her grandfather in the mill, to the servant girl at the
washing tub. Permission to play in the open air, was a holiday to her
heart; and she was light and joyous in spirit as the warblers of the
grove. Content and peace reigned in the family. With each returning
sun, their orisons were duly offered on the family altar; and when
the shades of evening closed around, their thanksgivings and praises
ascended to the throne of the Eternal.
 "A holy incense—sweeter, richer far
Than that upon the golden altar shed
In Judah's sacred fane."

No change of any moment took place in their circumstances, and

nothing in futurity was looked forward to with peculiar interest, until
Frederic attained his fifteenth year. Then, one evening, after having
been unusually thoughtful and silent, he suddenly looked up, and
said,

"I want to be a minister of the gospel, and I want to go to college,

grandfather."

Both the grandfather and the mother looked up in some

astonishment; but they listened patiently to his plans, and heard him
declare what efforts he was willing to make—what deprivations to
endure.

"Dear grandfather—dear mother," said the eager boy, in conclusion,

"do listen to me kindly. It will do me no harm to make the attempt.
You, grandfather, and our good pastor, will help fit me for college;
and I doubt not, that by my own industry, and what you can
conveniently do for me, I shall some how or other get through. I feel
that I can do nothing without an education."

"We will think on the subject, my son," said his grandfather, "and in
due time let you know the result of our deliberations. Meantime,
attend to your present duties, and 'take no anxious thought for the
morrow.'"

The important subject was not mentioned again for the evening; but
it engrossed Mrs. Kirkwood's mind, and kept her waking many hours
of the night. From her son's birth, she had consecrated him to the
service of her Heavenly Father, though she knew not in what way
that service might be demanded. Now she hoped he had
consecrated himself; and that what seemed so aspiring in a youth in
his situation in life, was an impulse from above, rather than the
natural workings of an ambitious mind. But she was helpless in
herself, and could only ask to be directed by Him who is perfect in
wisdom; to be provided for by Him who is infinite in riches. What
needed she more!

The next day Mr. Kirkwood and his daughter held a consultation on
the subject; and when, toward evening, Frederic saw his mother
searching over a chest of old books, his eyes sparkled, and his heart
throbbed with feverish impatience to ascertain if his conjectures
were accurate. His joy was complete, when he saw the necessary
books and grammars come forth; some in a mutilated state, it is
true,—but no matter, so the important parts were but entire. He
went about his task like one in earnest; his progress was rapid; and
in due time he was admitted at college.

The years of his collegiate life passed rapidly away. The vacations of
spring and autumn he spent in the bosom of his family, giving
delight to the hearts of all by his improvement; assisting in their
labors,—and superintending with deep interest, and assiduous
tenderness, the education of his sister. But the long winter vacation
was devoted to school-keeping,—the most lucrative employment to
which he could, for such limited periods, devote himself. Once he
was so highly favored as to get a school in the neighborhood of the
Glen; and then his labor was a delight, rather than a task, as he
could be with his beloved friends, and direct his sister in her studies.
The family at the Glen, it is true, had to practice more than wonted
frugality, to help in defraying his unavoidable expenses; but no self-
denial was hard, when one so dear was to be benefitted—no
sacrifice painful that was made for so important an object. Clara was
by no means the least efficient in her endeavors to aid her darling
brother. As soon as she completed her thirteenth year, at her earnest
and reiterated entreaties, the servant girl was dismissed, and she
cheerfully took her labors on herself, that Frederic might have the
considerable sum thus saved to the family.
Meanwhile, Clara's own education progressed, notwithstanding her
situation seemed so unfavorable for study. But she was a rigid
economist of time; and when that is the case with any one, great
things may be accomplished. Although her hands were busily
employed a large portion of the time, a mind, thirsting for
knowledge, surmounted all difficulties. She could not, indeed, touch
the keys of a piano, or the strings of a harp; the spinning wheel and
other domestic machines demanded too large a portion of her time,
to have permitted the acquisition of skill on these instruments, even
had she possessed them. But she knew who Dugald Stewart was,
and what he thought of the "active and moral powers of man;" with
Smellie she was intimately acquainted; and Rollin, Hume, Gillies and
Gibbon were her daily companions. The works of Pascal and
Massillon she could read in the language in which they were written;
and with Virgil she could converse in his native tongue. Above all,
she had studied the volume of inspiration, and had learned the way
of eternal life.

Never had the family at the Glen been happier than when Frederic
returned home, bearing his parchment roll, duly adorned with the
riband, and the imposing seal; and, after some preamble, running
thus:

Notum esto, quod nos, consentiendibus honorandis admodum ac

reverendis collegii antedicti Inspectoribus, anno Christi MDCCC—
admisimum Fredericus Kirkwood ejusdem alumnum, ad gradum
Baccalaurealem in Artibus; &c. But when he joined the domestic
circle, authorized to preach the everlasting gospel, their joy was of a
deeper, holier character. Would I could show you a picture of the
group, as they encircled the blazing hearth on that happy evening. I
will even make the attempt. There sits the venerable grandfather, in
his large arm-chair, his white hairs smoothly parted from off his
ample forehead, with every feature speaking of passions subdued,
and a heart full of gratitude, content and love. Next the mother, with
something like the bloom of youth stealing over her matron cheek,—
while her eye moves in a tear that rises from that deep fountain of
mingled feeling, known only to a pious mother's heart, as she looks
on the son of her love, and that son a believer! Between these two
sits Frederic, comely in manly strength, his whole countenance
expressing heart-felt benevolence to all mankind—and peculiar love,
gratitude and veneration for those by whom he is encircled. Last,
and the darling of all, is Clara, seated on her brother's knee, with
one arm around his neck, while her other hand is sometimes clasped
in his,—sometimes straying amid his dark luxuriant hair. She is not
exactly beautiful, but she is lovely. Her stature is rather below than
above the medium size; and fresh air and healthy exercise have
given elasticity to her limbs, and a bloom to her cheek, that rivals
the richness of the peach. If her features are not regular, they defy
criticism; for her whole face has such a glow of love and happiness,
that the delighted beholder cannot seek for defects. Thus they all
sat, enjoying the full tide of domestic happiness; and each might
have said to the other, with Galatee,

"Tu me demandais ton bonheur,

Et c'etait moi que tu rendais heureuse."

Even the knowledge that Frederic was soon to leave them, to enter
on the duties of his vocation, could scarcely moderate their joy.

He has now entered on his holy calling; and though far removed
from those who loved him so tenderly, nurtured him so carefully,
governed him so wisely, and made such personal sacrifices to fit him
for usefulness, they are happy still. Far from selfishly regretting that
at the moment he was fitted for action, and capable of making some
return for all their kindness, they are obliged to resign him
altogether,—in the benevolence of their hearts they rejoice that they
have been used as instruments to prepare him for a life of
usefulness in the world; and their most fervent prayer for him is,
that he may "turn many to righteousness," and then "shine as a star
forever."
Yes, the family at the Glen are happy still. The aged grandfather is
"waiting patiently his appointed time till his change come," with a
"hope full of immortality." The mother, patient, gentle, subdued,
serene, in fulfilling her quiet and unostentatious duties, is carefully
laying up treasure, where "neither moth nor rust corrupt nor
destroy." And the lovely Clara is the sunshine in the path of both.
She hushes the sighs,—wipes the tears,—soothes the pains, and
lightens the cares of each. Her voice is music to their ears; her
presence brings gladness to their hearts; and they both pronounce
her blessed.

But you inquire,—is she who breathes such fragrance around,

forever to be immured in this sequestered valley? No—she will move
in a wider sphere; yet it is doubtful whether she elsewhere tastes
such pure and peaceful happiness as she has tasted here. She may
find more luxuriant roses, but then she must encounter the thorns;
and what she may gain in untried sources of happiness, will be
counterbalanced by unknown cares and sorrows. Yet she will, by and
by, run the hazard: for her brother's dearest college friend once
begged an invitation to spend a vacation at the Cottage; and when
he left it, he left his heart behind him. Clara could do no less than
give her's in exchange; and so she has promised, at some future
day, to become his wife.

And now, as I have finished my sketch, we will leave the valley.

Do you further inquire what is the secret of their happiness? and

whether she who has been so eagerly sought through the wide
world, has chosen this for her favorite residence? I will give you the
answer Mr. Kirkwood gave to Clara, when she asked him a question
of similar import.

"Happiness, my daughter, has, on earth, no local habitation. She

may dwell in the palace or in the cottage; with the rich, or with the
poor; with the learned, or with the ignorant. Her seat is in the soul,
—and its security does not depend on external circumstances. A
peaceful conscience, and a humble, contented heart, grateful for
blessings bestowed, and feeling no craving desire for those that are
withheld, are the pillars of her throne. But there are two classes of
persons that she will never deign to visit, be their rank or station
what it may. Neither the idle nor the vicious are ever happy."
 S. H.

For the Southern Literary Messenger.

PICTURE OF OLD VIRGINIA.

Look here upon this picture—and on this,

The counterfeit presentment.—Hamlet.

Virginia had been beautiful

And owned a lovely land;
Her sons, who were so dutiful,
Went with her heart and hand;
They raised her to the highest seat,
By talents and by worth,
And sent her name in accents sweet,
Far ringing through the earth.

But lately she had fallen off;

Her beauty was impair'd;
Her younger sons were heard to scoff—
They might at least have spared.
'Twas said that she was growing blind,
Was lazy and supine,
And that she weakly lagged behind
Her sisters, grown divine.

That all her days were spent, forsooth,

In one eternal chime
About her deeds of early youth—
"Resolves" of former time.
Naught could be said and nothing told
But she more devils spied;
"More devils than vast hell could hold—"
Or all the world beside.

And strangers1 did her land deride—

With wagging tongue, reviled;
Wild beasts, they said, had multiplied
In that most barren wild;
Her houses were untenanted—
The fox2 had manned her walls;
And "rank grass" waved around his head,
As in old Ossian's halls!

Her moral strength and physical,3

Aye, both of them were gone,
And every man seem'd phthisical,
Or like to tumble down;
Her talents all were buried deep,
Or in some napkin hid,
Or with the mighty dead, did sleep
Beneath the coffin lid.

But far! oh far beyond all these,

She had displeased her God;
Inter dolosos cineres,
She on volcano trod;
She could not get o' nights her rest;
At midnight bell for fire,
She hugged her infants to her breast,
Prepared for fun'ral pyre.

Virginia roused herself one day

And took her picture down;
And as she gazed, was heard to say—
Am I thus hideous grown?
And am I stupid—lazy—blind—
A monomaniac too!
Relaxed in body and in mind?
Oh no! it is not true.

There lies outstretched my glorious land,

With her capacious bay;
My rivers rush on every hand,
With sail and pennon gay;
My mountains, like a girdle blue,
Adorn her lovely waist,
"And lend enchantment to the view,"
As in "the distance" traced.

I'll hie me straight to Richmond town,

And call my liege men there;
And they shall write these libels down,
Or fill me with despair.
I have a friend, who'll make some stir,
And take my work in hand;
I'll send him forth my "MESSENGER"—
To "spy out all the land."4

That Messenger went gaily forth

Throughout her old domain,
And there found many men of worth
Would snatch their pens again;
And since their mothers' blood was up—
To cast her odium by,
Would shed—of ink—their latest drop
T' inscribe her name on high.

The land which he went out to sift,

No milk and honey floods—
It takes not two her grapes to lift—5
But grapes festoon her woods.
No want of food, for beast or man,
There met his eager gaze;
Find better bacon!—greens!—who can?
Or finer fields of maize!6

Her Tuckahoes 'tis true, are slim,

And of a bilious hue;
But then he found the Anakim
Beyond the mountains blue:
Some men he found in safety chains—
All crossed upon the breast—
They seem'd indeed to have no brains:
But these all lands infest.

The women look'd so passing fair,

How shall their charms be told?
By their Iachimo's7 they were
Like brilliants set in gold.
Of such pure water was each maid;
So sparkling unto view—
No wonder that it should be said
They never could turn blue.

No foxes here, peep'd windows through;

But oft at early morn
They're seen to brush the glittering dew,
Pursued by hounds and horn:
Her "hounds are of the Spartan breed"—
"So sanded and so flew'd,"—
All "dewlap'd" they, and all "crook-kneed"—
As Cadmus e'er halloo'd.

In short, all zealots are run mad

T' abuse this pleasing sod;
Where people sleep as sound, egad,
 As in the land of Nod:
What! colonize old coachman Dick!
My foster brother Nat!
My more than mother, when I'm sick!
"Come, Hal, no more of that."
NUGATOR.

1 See Col. Benton's description of Virginia, done into verse, beginning thus:

"As Benton jogg'd along the road,

'Twas in the Old Dominion,
His thoughts were bent-on finding food,
For preconceiv'd opinion," &c.

2 "The fox peeped out of the window, and the rank grass waved around his head.
Desolate is the dwelling of Moina—Silence is in the house of her fathers."—Ossian.

Man's strength is gone, his courage—zooks!

And liberty's fine motions, &c.—Benton.

4 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan.

5 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol and cut down from thence a branch with
one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff, ... and they told
him, and said we came unto the land whither thou sentest us and surely it floweth
with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it.

In old Virginia stint of food

Diseases have engender'd—
The mind is gone—to want of blood
Good morals have surrender'd.

Houses are fallen—fences down—

 And men are now much scarcer—
Wild beasts in multitudes are known,
That every day get fiercer.

Flee gravel—grit—and heartless clay—

Nor corn nor oats will grow there—
To westward hie—away—away!
No heartless Clay you'll know there.—Benton.

7 The yellow iachimo.—Shakspeare. [Cymbeline.]

For the Southern Literary Messenger.

A LEAF FROM THE JOURNAL OF A YOUNG AMERICAN

TOURIST IN ITALY.

The "sable goddess" had been seated for some time upon her "ebon
throne," when we passed through the ponderous gate and rattled
along the principal street of Genoa the Proud. It was a beautiful
night. The firmament was studded with sparkling gems, and the
silver queen rode steadily in the heavens, diffusing that pure and
hallowed illumination which prompted the ancients to worship her as
the goddess of chastity, and uninterrupted by any of those envious
clouds whose intervention between her face and the earth furnishes
poets with so favorite a figure to express the idea of virtue obscured
and oppressed with misfortune. It was not, however, a night in
which "creation sleeps,"—or, to use the pompous phrase of Racine,
in which "tout dort, et les vents et Neptune,"—for the wind was
tempestuously high, and the waves evinced all their usual
restlessness at being roughly visited by the subjects of old Æolus. As
we whirled along, nothing like an animated being was to be seen;
not even a mouse was stirring; and the rush and whistling of the
wind through the street, seemed to bring out the solemn stillness
which otherwise prevailed, into the strongest relief. How we strained
our eyes to catch glimpses of the glorious palaces which have so
filled the trump of fame, and to which the city is indebted for her
magnificent title! And how impressive, how imposing was their
appearance in the partial development and mellowed effect of their
splendor, afforded by the beams of the moon! The whole street was
one consecutive, uninterrupted row of princely buildings,—and
exquisite indeed was the effect of light and shade there exhibited
—"leaving that lovely which was so, and making that which was
not."

We had given directions to be taken to the Hotel of the Cross of

Malta—L'Albergo della Croce di Malta, and when the carriage
stopped, we got out with the expectation of being at our destined
domicil. No sign, however, of a hotel was visible, and one of our
party began to make an accompaniment to the noise of the wind by
storming a little at the postillions for not obeying his orders,—when
the courier informed us that we were as near as the vehicle could
get to the house, as it was located in a street hard by, too narrow
for any but pedestrians. This position of one of the principal hotels
of a city denominated la superba, appeared singular enough, and
with our ideas of its superbness somewhat diminished, we followed
the man a short distance up a lane in which two persons could
scarcely walk abreast, until we reached the door of the
establishment, whose aspect was not particularly inviting, in despite
of its towering altitude. Our fears, however, as to the manner in
which we might be accommodated, or rather unaccommodated,
were soon put to rest, when we mounted the spacious stairway, and
were ushered into a suite of apartments which to the simplicity of an
American, republican eye, wore an air of absolute magnificence.
What a difference there was between the first aspect of things in
this our Hotel of the Cross of Malta, and that which is presented in
the places of entertainment for man and horse in the United States.
Instead of being ushered into a bar-room filled with the fumes of
whiskey and tobacco, crowded with boots to be blackened,
decorated with "tintanabulent appendages" innumerable, and
affording palpable evidence in every way that the establishment is as
much entitled to the motto, "e pluribus unum," as the government of
the country itself, we were received at the portal by a single
domestic and conducted to our rooms without seeing or hearing the
slightest indication that any other "mortal mixture of earth's mould"
besides ourselves, was in the house. And then the difference in the
appearance of the apartments! The recollection of the closets or
pigeon holes, styled chambers by the courtesy of our mother
tongue, so limited in their dimensions, that like the cell of the poor
Hibernian, in which he "did nothing but walk up and down," you
cannot "stand in them at all," furnished with a bed, a wash-stand,
two chairs, and a looking glass, in which you may see one moiety of
your face at a time, if you exert yourself with sufficient industry, did
not certainly excite any very lively regrets, as we gazed on the
spacious apartments glittering with mirrors, the walls and ceiling
frescoed and gilded ad unguem, mantles supported by sculptured
goddesses, chairs and lounges covered with damask, and beds so
richly curtained and attired, that it seemed as if one could scarcely
sleep in them, for thinking of the luxury in which he was reposing.
The hotel was formerly a palace, whose glories, in part, it still
retains. Yet, to tell the truth and shame a certain nameless
gentleman, before my head had been long laid upon the pillow, I
would willingly have exchanged the grandeur and the spaciousness
of the room in which I was courting the sweet restorer of tired
nature, for the plainness and contractedness of any of the closets to
which I have alluded. Verily I paid for my magnificence. Never did I
suffer from cold as on that night—the very exercise which I took in
shaking and shivering ought to have induced perspiration, but in
spite of a respectable quantity of bed-clothes, with the addition of all
my habiliments piled on top of them, I could not make myself warm
enough to allow the god of sleep to exercise his balmy influence
upon my eyes for an instant. Italian dwellings, unfortunately, as I
thought then, are constructed much more in reference to the
weather of the torrid than of the frigid zone. Every method is
devised of letting in as much of the coolness of the external
atmosphere as possible, and of adapting the materials of the
apartments to the nullification of all caloric; and the one in which I
was quaking, was in no way an exception to the prevalent custom.
The marble floors and unpapered walls, notwithstanding the warmth
of the colors with which the latter were filled, created a resistless
disposition to chilliness in themselves; the wind came pouring
through several windows, reaching almost from the ceilings to the
floor, whose looseness provided it with abundant facility for ingress;
no fire-place offered its aid for combating the power of the
blusterer; and the bed in which I lay, curled up into a heap, to
prevent the "genial current" from entirely freezing, was of amplitude
commensurate with the dimensions of the chamber. Napoleon, with
his whole staff, might have been accommodated in it, when he
visited Genoa. Whenever I attempted to make a change of position,
I might as well have fallen into an ice-house. What joy when the
morning's light dawned upon my eyes! Never did I observe the
maxim with regard to early rising with so much good-will, as when I
left the inhospitable couch, determined not to entrust myself to it
again. By the time I had dressed I was as near congelation as I well
could be; the only thing that kept my blood in circulation was the
prospect of an exhilirating fire in the sitting-room, and there I
steered with all possible speed; but alas, for human expectations!
On opening the door my optics were immediately filled with smoke,
and as they are not of that "nice" character which are requisite "to
see what is not to be seen," I could discern nothing like a blaze. The
badly constructed hearth manifested the most invincible repugnance
to permit the wood to ignite, but kindly enabled us to obtain all the
warmth we could from fumigation. I confess I became somewhat
dispirited. One of my motives in coming to Italy was to escape the
cold of the winter at home, and here on my very entrance into its
mild and genial atmosphere, as it is always called, had I suffered
more chattering of the teeth than I ever did before for the same
length of time. This may be an escape thought I, but if it is, it is one
amazingly like that of Lieutenant O'Shangnessy, who escaped from
the field of battle into the ranks of the enemy.

W.

NEW ENGLAND.

The place from which the following letter is indited, can be forgotten by no one that
has ever seen it. A fine view of Northampton may be had from the top of the Mansion
House, where the visiter commonly abides; but whoever ascends Mount Holyoke, is
rewarded for his pains, with a prospect of surpassing beauty. In Virginia, we may
have from our summits, a view of mountains on the one hand, and on the other a
country comparatively level, with occasional spots of cultivation; but there is seldom
any greater variety. Nothing else is afforded by the Peaks of Otter. Mount Holyoke,
furnishes a combination of beauties. The spectator beholds mountains and lowland; a
country wild and rugged in one direction and in the highest state of cultivation in
another. He has before him the lovely village of Northampton, with others not far
distant. And the Connecticut, is seen winding its way, amongst its fertile meadows, in
so circuitous and yet so regular a manner, as to make the country on its banks
resemble a beautiful parterre. The water prospect gives to the scene its chief source
of interest. Mount Holyoke, rises not so high as Catskill; nor is the Connecticut so
distant from it, as the Hudson from the latter. And it is owing to this, that the water
view, is finer from its summit, than from the Pine Orchard. The distance is sufficient
to "lend enchantment to the view"—not so great as to prevent a spectator from
seeing any beautiful object that a nearer view would embrace, with all the
distinctness that is desirable. A Virginian, who has high authority for supposing that a
visit to Harper's Ferry is worth a trip across the Atlantic, may ask if Mount Holyoke
surpasses this famous Virginia scene. State pride must yield to candor, and
acknowledge that it does. The prospect from what is called the Eagle Rock, two miles
distant from Harper's Ferry on the Loudoun side, is certainly very fine, and calculated
to remove in some degree that disappointment, which one who has read Mr.
Jefferson's description is apt to feel, when the scene from the Jefferson Rock is first
beheld by him. But the view of the streams at Harper's Ferry, beheld from any point,
cannot compare in beauty with the Connecticut at Northampton. And, in other
respects, Harper's Ferry must yield to Mount Holyoke. It will not do to put the
workshops of the former against the beautiful villages seen from the latter. Harper's
Ferry cannot in any way obtain pre-eminence, until the spectator becomes conscious
of the justness of Mr. Jefferson's opinion as to the mode in which the water first
passed through the Blue Ridge. And, to be able to acknowledge the correctness of
that opinion, must be a work of some difficulty after looking at the Potomac and
Shenandoah, and seeing how small a power is produced by the two streams
combined.

The author of the letter, in speaking of the ladies of New England, repudiates what he
terms a leading argument for slavery. The individual who is led by a perusal of the
letter to make the following remarks, is certainly not an advocate of slavery; but his
own observation, has brought him to some conclusions, from which he inclines to
think, the intelligent gentleman by whom that letter was written, will scarcely dissent.
Whoever has travelled in a stage or steamboat in Virginia, and travelled also in stages
and steamboats in the non-slave-holding states, must have perceived that more
deference and respect are shown towards female travellers with us, than in the
northern and eastern states. In a southern steamboat, men will not be seen
scrambling for seats at table, before the ladies are provided with places; and, in a
southern stage, a female traveller will always be offered that seat which it is
supposed she would prefer. If more consideration be shown for female travellers, in
the slave-holding than in the non-slave-holding states,—the next inquiry is, whether
slavery be the cause of the difference. It may be admitted, that in the southern
states, the men who travel are for the most part gentlemen; while to the north, a
large proportion of those who are perpetually moving about, are persons who have
never been accustomed to any good society, and have very little idea of good
breeding. Again—it may be admitted, that our steamboats are generally less crowded,
and there is consequently less inducement to be guilty of that indelicacy, which is so
often seen in a northern boat. Do these facts explain the cause of the difference
above alluded to? They do not. For we find to the south, that a theatre, or a place for
the delivery of a public speech, may be filled by citizens, without any distinction of
persons; and yet respectable females coming to a place thus crowded, would be
treated with more consideration than would be shown towards them at the north
under similar circumstances. There must be some other cause for the difference; and
slavery is in a great degree that cause. To the north, in consequence of the absence
of slavery, many females, even in respected ranks of life, perform duties which here
would devolve upon our slaves. Nor do the duties which they perform consist merely
of unseen employments within doors. A very large proportion of the sex engage in
the business of buying and selling, and travel about unattended. Thus embarking in
what with us would be regarded as the proper offices of men, the consequence is
that they are treated with not more respect than is shown towards men. This remark
is applicable, as before stated, to a large proportion—to so large a proportion, that
the general rule of deference towards the sex, which prevails to the south—can
scarcely be said to prevail, in the northern states; but those by whom, and to whom
that deference is there shown, are rather to be regarded as exceptions. A gentleman
to the north, will treat one whom he knows to be a lady, with courtesy and respect.
To the south, this previous information, is not so indispensable. We act upon a
general presumption in favor of the sex. A female with us, is treated with courtesy
and respect, unless something be known as to her character, or be apparent in her
conduct, which justifies the conclusion that she is not entitled to be so treated.

C.

From the Fredericksburg Arena.

LETTERS FROM NEW ENGLAND.—NO. 1.

BY A VIRGINIAN.

Northampton, Mass. July 24, 1834.

And you will positively "excommunicate" me if I do not send you

"some first impressions" of Yankee-land? Have at you then;
though, really, my time has been so filled with seeing and
hearing, that hardly a scrap remains to write down a hundredth
part of the curious or striking things that meet my eyes and
ears.

Unusual opportunity has been afforded me for seeing various

lights and shades of Yankee character. In stage and steamboat,
in jersey wagon and on foot, on highways and by-ways, in farm
houses and city palaces, I have seen and chatted with all sorts
of people, from the —— of the —— down to the tavern porter
and the country laborer. Five days I have spent in a pedestrian
stroll, calling often at the country houses to get a draught of
water, rest myself, and talk with the farmer or his wife. These
gossipings, you may well suppose commonly produced
amusement and frequently solid information, at least solid
materials for reflection; and, considering that it is only a little
more than three weeks since my entry into New England,
methinks I have a pretty exact measure of Jonathan's foot. Yet
for all this preface, do not expect any very astounding
revelations. From the thousand incidents that, unitedly, make
my tour extremely interesting to myself, it is not certain that any
one, or any dozen can be selected, which will materially interest
another person.

In the visible face of Massachusetts and Connecticut, the

features which, by their novelty or beauty, most strike a
Virginian eye, are the small farms, usually of from fifty to two
hundred acres; the small fields in proportion, there being
sometimes fifteen or twenty in one farm; the stone fences,
rendered necessary and numerous in many places by scarcity of
timber, and by the troublesome superabundance of stone; the
universality of hay crops, on hills as well as in meadows; the
almost entire absence of wheat, (the only grains generally
cultivated being corn, rye and oats,) the clustering of
habitations together in villages, instead of having them
dispersed at intervals of a mile over the country; the white
painted village churches, all with stately spires, visible for miles
around, having gilt vanes, and clocks of hands so large and
stroke so loud, that I have repeatedly seen and heard the hour
half a mile off.—The country is more hilly, or rolling, as our
farmers would say, than the lower half of Virginia; and the hills
have, generally, a smaller base and a more gracefully swelling,
dome-like top, than our hills. These rotundities, with their
concomitant hollows, traversed by numberless stone fences,
with here and there patches of woodland and detached white
farm houses, half imbosomed in elms and fruit trees; while,
perhaps, two or three villages, with steeples piercing the sky,
are at once within the view, exhibit everywhere landscapes of a
beauty unknown to eastern, or indeed, to western Virginia. Here
is not a hundredth part of the appearance of abject, squalid
poverty, that our state presents. I have not seen a log house in
New England; and nine-tenths of the ordinary farm houses are
painted. Brick and stone buildings are not common, except in
the cities. This village, the most lovely to the eye in all the
north, and Worcester, (take care to call it Wooster) having
respectively, 3000 and 4 or 5000 inhabitants, contain, both
together, hardly more than one hundred and fifty brick and
stone houses.

But the morale of New England, the character of her people,

their tone of thought and feeling upon some important subjects,
their social and political institutions, regulations, and usages,
have interested me far more than her physical lineaments.

Would that time and space were mine to explain the road,
pauper, and school systems of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
(They and Rhode Island are the only states of New England
which I have visited.) But that would require too much detail.
Their felicitous organization may be inferred from their effects.

The common roads are all, or nearly all, ridged up, turnpike
fashion, and fully as good as our turnpikes. I do not mean such
as a certain one not far from ——, which the traveller knows to
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