Romances, were confined to our sea ports; or, if known in the coun|try, were read only in the families of Clergymen, Physicians, and Law|yers: while certain funeral discours|es, the last words and dying speeches of Bryan Shaheen, and Levi Ames, and some dreary somebo|dy's Day of Doom, formed the most diverting part of the farmer's library. On his return from captivity, he found a surprising alteration in the public taste. In our inland towns of consequence, social libraries had been instituted, composed of books, designed to amuse rather than to in|struct; 0